STAR TREK: EQUINOX
After being pulled into the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker in 2370, Captain Rudolph Ransom made the decision to continue through territory controlled by the Krowtonan Guard and half his crew were killed. He and his crew would never fully recover from this blow and it would lead to their eventual destruction.
What would have happened if Ransom had added those extra six years to his crew’s journey and gone around Krowtonan space?
Let’s go back to the beginning and find out...
After being pulled into the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker in 2370, Captain Rudolph Ransom made the decision to continue through territory controlled by the Krowtonan Guard and half his crew were killed. He and his crew would never fully recover from this blow and it would lead to their eventual destruction.
What would have happened if Ransom had added those extra six years to his crew’s journey and gone around Krowtonan space?
Let’s go back to the beginning and find out...
TEASER
Dressed up to the nines in his EVA suit, Captain Rudolph Ransom paused from his collection of biological detritus and looked around him. Four other crewmembers were also in their EVA suits taking biological samples from the barren asteroid. A few days earlier a cloud of comets passed through this system and left some interesting debris behind. Ransom and his brand new crew of scientists were sent by Starfleet on a newly-commissioned Nova-class science vessel to shake out the bugs on a milk run. Ransom had left his first officer, a prickly by-the-book woman whose family had been in the fleet since before the founding of the Federation, to supervise the engineers as they tuned and retuned the engines, and tweaked half the systems on the ship. He preferred to lead by example and against his XO’s advice had donned the EVA suit and been the first into the shuttle. Ransom had a plan for his new crew. He would stop off at Deep Space Nine for some rest and relaxation, take in the scientific sights on Bajor and then head back to Earth for debriefing and reassignment.
Ransom turned his gaze away from the asteroid and looked up at the small starship overhead. The USS Equinox was right off the production line and he was its first commander. One of a new breed of science vessels, the Equinox was destined to push the boundaries of the known science and take the Federation into a new era of knowledge. Although initially hesitant of taking command, since his promotion was only due to a freak run of luck, Ransom had taken to the centre chair with aplomb and relished the seat, knowing that he could make a difference while he was sat there. But he also liked being on the forefront of all the activity, a trait which his XO told him would get him killed, but he never wanted his crew to do anything that he wouldn’t do himself.
‘Captain, we’ve got all the samples we need from this asteroid. That’s the last of them,’ the chief science officer, Lieutenant John Bowler, said to his commanding officer. ‘I’d love to take a look at these under the ’scope.’
Ransom smiled. As a scientist himself he knew what drove these people. ‘Alright people, our chariot awaits. The sooner we’re done here, the sooner I can get you to Bajor.’
That prompted smiles from everyone and a few minutes later Ransom was back on the bridge, allowing Commander Macha Hernandez to return to her own chair. Ransom entered a command on the arm of his chair and it reclined slightly, allowing him to relax while still providing a commanding presence. The bridge was bright and airy, reminiscent of the old Constitution-class ships of the previous century, though without the primary colours and he liked it that way, feeling that it was comfortable to work in.
The turbolift doors opened and Bowler emerged, dressed in his uniform once again. ‘Captain, all the biological samples have been safely secured and I have my team analysing the cometary fragments. We’re ready when you are.’
Ransom nodded and turned to Hernandez. ‘Anything else before we get underway?’
His XO let a small grin touch at her lips as she shook her head. ‘No sir, the engineers haven’t caused too many problems.’
‘Alright then; helm, lay in a course for Deep Space Nine and engage at half impulse until we clear the system.’
‘Aye sir,’ Ensign Dorothy Chang replied as she input commands into her console.
‘Captain, I’m picking up an unusual energy signature,’ tactical officer and security chief Lieutenant Maxwell Burke called out. ‘We’re being scanned. It’s some kind of coherent tetryon beam.’
Ransom was out of his chair instantly. ‘Can you identify the source?’
Burke shook his head as he tried in vain to do so. ‘No sir, it’s almost as if it came out of nowhere.’
Ransom around command area to the tactical console. ‘What have you got?’
‘Nothing, whatever scanned us has gone.’
Ransom didn’t like the idea of being scanned by something in the shadows. ‘Keep the sensors on it just in case.’
‘Captain,’ Chang said. ‘There’s a displacement wave heading toward us.’
‘Go to full impulse, how long before we can go to warp?’
‘Thirty seconds, but the wave will be overtake us in twenty.’
‘Ransom to engineering, I need more power to the impulse engines, now!’
‘Working on it,’ the chief engineer, Lieutenant William Yates replied harriedly.
‘Fifteen seconds,’ Chang called out as she tried in will the small science vessel to go faster.
‘Yates, I need those engines!’ Ransom called down again.
‘Go!’ Yates replied.
Chang slammed the heel of her palm on the impulse engines pad and the ship surged ahead. ‘It’s still with us, eleven seconds.’
‘Can we outrun it?’ Hernandez asked, her by-the-book stoicism slipping slightly.
‘If you can give me five seconds,’ Chang replied.
‘All hands brace for impact,’ Ransom toggled the ship’s comm and sat down in his chair.
The displacement wave broke over them, sending the small science ship spinning out of control. Even though everyone was holding on to something, many were still tossed around, slamming into bulkheads and hitting the deck with sudden force.
All of a sudden, the ship came to a stop.
Ransom was the first to open his eyes, and he immediately wished he hadn’t. His bridge crew were sprawled across the deck, and the smell of burnt wiring and charred flesh assaulted his nostrils. Conduits hung down from the ceiling and several circuits and consoles were burnt out, the remnants of the fire suppression system still in the air. He struggled to sit up and realised that he was pinned by a fallen beam.
The last thing he saw before the darkness claimed him, was the ship’s dedication plaque, and the motto he had chosen to explore the galaxy beside.
“The night of time far supasseth the day” – Sir Thomas Browne, 1658
