Star Trek: Immunisation

[di_mar]

Introduction : The 'Primme' Directive


"I don't know why I commissioned this ship in the first place."
Admiral Primme was feeling the heat of his own guilt. Councelor Deanna Troi shook her head. "Don't worry. How were you supposed to know it was going to happen?"
Primme opened his mouth, but no words came out. He just shook his head, looking at the white wall behind Deanna.
"Look, just don't blame yourself. They ran into trouble. They didn't have the right weapons array, or shields."
"I know, Deanna, I know! But, thanks to my dislike with regards to the Vulcan heirachy, I told them, 'No, it's best to let human eyes discover this new sector of space!' I should have listened to them! Their logic was correct! I was so intent on getting us humans to this un-discovered sectory of space first that I... I don't know!"
Primme banged the table with his inhuman-like fist and Deanna felt herself shake along with the table as digged in her nails to the edge of her seat. Primme sat up in his, pushing his back against the leather.
"I should have sent a probe. Made sure it was safe... the Delta Quadrant is a huge one. But, the probe would have probably gotten destroyed by all the electron storms. I don't know."
Deanna blinked, and then felt her insides churn as she sensed something beyond emotion. It felt like anxiety, possibly regret - but it was so deeply engraved into this person whose emotions she had intercepted - Deanna was sure that these were not Primmes' emotions. Sure, he felt bad, but this was entirely different. It was like someone was there.. watching.
"Oh, Deanna.." muttered Primme, his head on his palms. He had disturbed Deannas' thoughts: "prepare the memorial for the.." he paused as he looked behind himself - "dead crewmen.." Deanna nodded, but then Primme spoke unexpectedly: "and tell them to launch Project Immunis."
Deanna nodded, unsure of what he meant. She blinked as she sensed his deep emotions - guilt, fear... and secrecy. Classification.
One advantage of being a betazoid - your hunches are probably right.

--
Comments appreciated!

 

[di_mar]

Captain Daemia stood in her quarters, looking up at the stars. As she realised what she had been doing (rather absent-mindedly), she shook her head as she considered that she was being somewhat 'cheesy'.
She had already met with her Chief of Medicine and First Officer. But that was way back.. Daemia paused to remember her times with them, but no memories, not even foggy ones, like those on a day where you can't even see the end of your home, where it looks like the end of the world, came to mind.
Daemias' ship, the USS Immunis, was about to leave Deep Space Seven. It was quite a big ship - Nebula class, state-of-the-art shields and weapons array.
When the Immunis was first commissioned by Admiral Primme, in 48315.4, it was proposed to be a 'safety net' for emergencies. It would be provided with the best weaponry and shields. It was classified. Nobody except the Starfleet High Command could have knowledge of this ship. It was intended to try and find the USS Voyager.. but hope had been given up even then. By most of Starfleet, anyway.
The USS Immunis could cause single planets heavy damage with a few blasts... maybe even destroy them. But that was not the intention.

Daemia stroked the side of the window affectionately, as if to calm the 'nervous' ship. She then picked up it's manual and started to read it for the, possible, tenth time.
She read aloud: "Brief below: Commissioned to serve the Federation of Planets. Classified."
The Captain sighed as she realised how stupid she was to believe that Admiral Primme would be specific...no. He was a 'vague' man. She rolled back her eyes comically, and then got back to reading aloud: "To be used in severe circumstances under the supervision of Starfleet High Command."
Daemia had no idea what she was supposed to do with this ship. Primme was supposed to contact her soon with her first mission.

Captain Daemia jumped as her door sounded. She quickly threw down the Immunis manual and said: "Enter!"
In came a young Ensign. She smiled at Daemia as she stood with her hands by her sides. Daemia smiled at her back, and told her to relax. The Ensign then smiled yet again and started to pull at the sides of her uniform - it was if it was a habit. Daemia made a mental note of this then decided to break the.. silence.
"So.. Ensign..? What brings you here?"
"Lanner, Ma'am. I just wanted to meet my Captain,"
"Ensign Lanner.. thats nice to know. First name?"
"Lorna, Ma'am."
Daemia nodded as she tried to surpress her giggles. A captain would not laugh at someones name, however much illiteration they encountered.
"Well, Lorna, I'm Captain Daemia."
"Oh, I know.. I read about you in the database."
"That's good to-"
Beep.
The Captain slowly closed her mouth and sighed, "seems we have company. Enter."
Another Ensign came in. Daemia recognised the other Ensign from her personal file - Ensign Katie Enome.
"Lorna.. I thought we had an agreement- oh, sorry, Captain," she looked down at the floor.
Daemia nodded and beckoned for the two to speak to eachother outside, "I'll leave you to it. Just make sure you're here at zero three-hundred hours."

It was 14:58. Captain Daemia sat in her ready room, waiting to leave for the corridors, where every crew member was to line-up politely, ready to met by the Captain. She was in front of the mirror, carefully applying each ranking button to her collor. She was on her second button so far. Daemia slowly picked up another button, her third, and then thought back to her First Officer times. Serving on the USS.. the USS... she couldn't remember, strangely enough. The Captain desperately tried to remember her old ship - trying to jog her memory by rubbing her third button in a circular movement. It did no good. She sadly bit her lip as she fought with her last button. For a fraction of a second, Daemia hated her fourth button.. it symbolised all that she was now... and all that she had lost.
Her door sounded, and Daemia quietly let in the awaiting guest. Her first officer.
"Henry," murmured Daemia as the First Officer stepped into her ready room wearily, "looking forward to being in command?"
Henry Quo smiled broadly - his signature smile that could comfort anyone. A smile that could pretend that all was well, "yes. Again.." Henry shook his head as he dismissed the what he had said. It was a questionable remark, but he wished to arouse no interest in the matter, so he briefly moved on, "so, how are you, Dia?" Daemia blushed at the sound of her old nickname in Starfleet academy. "Captain Daemia to you, Commander Quo!" she replied playfully. Henry felt his smile slip away from his face at, what seemed the millionth, mention of 'Commander Quo'.
Daemia saw this and then brushed down her uniform, physically changing the subject, "Ready for this.. meet and greet? The ship launches tommorrow, you know."

 

[di_mar]

A nice, light Trekkie story to read.. be kind, it is my first attempt!
-
Episode One - Part I - "The Rebel"

"Thankyou, all. For being here," Daemia glanced at Henry, who was beside her, with a glass of champagne in hand. The crewmen looked up at their Captain, in their lines of discipline, identical to Henry, with a glass of champagne in their hands. They were smiling.
"We will all enjoy our time on the USS Immunis, I am sure. It's a lovely ship.. Nebula Class.. I can just imagine us all now, trekking through the Beta Quadrant!"
A series of laughter ran through the audience.
"But I must warn you all.. to be alert. This ship is no toy, I grant you. In fact, I haven't even recieved our first mission. But, I'm sure you will do more than exceed my expectations, on the optimistic side. To the Immunis!" Daemia held up her champagne glass, and the crewmen did the same, all smiling cheerfully. They all obediently said; "To the Immunis!"
Daemia was never good at giving speeches.

Henry and Daemia laughed together, for old times sake. They both devoured the replicated champagne and chatted with nearly every crew member. Daemia could just see Ensigns Lorna Lanner and Katie Enome talking together. Because she was nosy when she was intoxicated (slightly), Daemia moved away from Quo to get a better view.
At this moment in time, a Lieutenant came over to talk to Lorna. Katie looked down at her feet as soon as she came over, and Lorna conversed briefly with the Lieutenant. Ensign Enome then asked Lorna a rather personal question - like an inside joke about their time in Starfleet together. Lorna smiled at the Lieutenant, and then answered Katie. They became engulfed in quite a conversation. The Lieutenant wondered off, feeling rather confused as to why Enome had pretended that she wasn't there, but then became pre-occupied with the likes of the cheif medical officer.
The cheif medical officer, co-incidentally, was the brother of Henry Quo. They were quite alike in many ways. James Quo was charming, like Henry, and chatty. Again, like Henry. But James had a fascinating quality about him - he could never resist discussing somebodies' medicinal faults.
"So, Lieutenant Harrods. Part Cardassian, I see? Fascinating. You'll have to be careful, though. I've known many-a Cardiassian to die from splituosis. A horrible disease. Only runs in female Cardassians. I read, once, that your stomach starts to digest your organs during only the first stage of splituosis.."
Daemia rolled her eyes as she recounted her embarrasing experiences with James. Henry must have sensed Daemia peering at his brother, as he glided over to grace James, Daemia and Lieutenant Harrods with his presence.
"Dear brother of mine - does our bordem not phase you?"
"Oh, Henry.. I didn't see you come over here..." James rolled his eyes, and he looked at Harrods as if to be sympathetic. His white eyebrows had reached the top of his head.
As the Captain watched this, she realised that James must have been at least five, or even ten years older then Henry. His hair was combed back over his wrinkled forehead, showing many gray hairs among roots of his original hair colour - a dark hazlenut brown. James showed both experience and an emotional youth.
Despite both brothers being at least in their fifties, they acted like teenagers - each brother embarrassed by the other.
"James, I really-"
The whole ship was suddenly jolted forward. Champagne was spilt everywhere, and the crew were all looking at eachother for any answer they could provide.
"Report!" said Daemia, waving to her com badge. The ship hadn't even launched yet - it was still in the docking station.
"Sorry, Captain, just some spacial fluctuations. A wormhole seems to be opening."
"What kind of wormhole?"
Another jolt. This time, many crew members fell over.
"It's closing now, Ma'am. All should be fine. Docking station twelve out."
The Captain, fustrated, closed off her com, wishing that the crewman from the station could have been more helpful. She held up her now empty glass and tapped it lightly with a spoon she retrieved from the floor, which had fallen onto the ground during the spacial fluctuations.
"All crewmen report to their stations immediately!"
As soon as the words escaped the Captains' mouth, all of the people in the room hurried off to their posts, apart from James, Henry and Daemia.
"James, for goodness sake! Look at my uniform!" Indeed, Champagne had been spilt all over the uniform belonging to Henry. He feebly tried to 'dust' off the liquid.
"It was spacial fluctuation! There was nothing I could do...you're so narcissistic!"
"Gentlemen.. please. We have a problem on our hands." Daemia beckoned the quarreling brothers to their assigned posts hurriedly.

 

[di_mar]

All crew members on the bridge were at their assigned stations. They all stood bolt upright as soon as Captain Lorelai Daemia and Commander Henry Quo arrived at the bridge. Daemia was surprised at how much the 'common' bridge had changed since her last posting in the USS Promethius. This bridge was sleek, smooth and plated with latinum, for extra stability - a ferengi gold mine. Previous bridges were blocky and awkward. But the USS Immunis was different.
The bridge was dark, as the main computer hadn't even been activated yet - the only functions used on the ship so far were corridor lights, turbolifts, and the replicators (for the champagne).
It all felt new - you could distinguish that this ship was unnacustomed just by touching a station, or even a seat. Daemia certainly could as both her and Henry settled in rather comfortably into their leather seats.
Suddenly, a huge jolt sent them all forward for the third time. Of course, the Immunis, being a sturdy ship, was invincible to small spacial fluctuations, but Daemia still felt unsure as to what these fluctuations were. It made her feel anxious and vunerable. And, besides, wasn't the wormhole supposed to be closing? According to scans, it was getting bigger..
"Ensign..." said Daemia, talking to Ensign Enome, who appeared to be at the hull.
"Yes, Captain?"
"Hail the docking station."
"Unfortunately, Captain, I cannot hail them without com systems being online."
The Captain sighed, as she knew that initiating the ships' main computer would be breaking about fifty Starfleet regulations. Daemia didn't particularly care about this. She tried to avoid breaking rules when possible - not taking risks, et cetera et cetera. But, maybe an unknown wormhole would be an exception? The thing that haunted Daemias' mind the most was her crews' safety - they could stay here, and wait for their ship to be destroyed by the ever-growing fluctuations, or, break the rules and start up a ship that hadn't even been scanned by Daemias' engineering crew.
"I'm only going to ask this once-"
Commander Quo looked at Daemia, his smile as mischievous as ever, "Lorelai, go with your gut instinct."
Daemia nodded, then threw her head back and started to laugh. Nobody had called her Lorelai in a while. A while being... ten years. It was funny that this was the particular time in which Henry had to use her first name, Lorelai.
The situation went from critical to humorous. She could feel the stare of the crewmen on her neck, raising the possibility that their captain could be crazy.
"Re-route power to the main computer and stand by to initiate."
"Yes, Captain."
Daemia glanced triumphantly at Henry, who said: "I never recommended you do this..." rather loudly. But, he smiled, showing his white teeth, as if to say, "but I did imply it."
The lights gently got brighter and brighter, and eventually, the bridge could be fully scoped, as it was by most of the crewmen on the bridge.
"Hail docking station twelve, Enome."
"Yes, Ma'am. Hailing them now," Daemia aknowledged this and pulled herself out of her rather comfortabe captains' chair. She was now standing, and ready to speak to docking station twelve.
"They're not responding, Captain. Their com system seems to be non-functional.."
Daemia scowelled, and looked at Henry expectantly, who shrugged his soldiers.
"Scan them. Life signs?"
Lieutenant Shyn Harrods started to tap around her console, her cardassian ridges as clear as ever as she tried to scan for life signs, "I cannot scan them, Captain, as another wormhole is opening up two hundred and thirty degrees off our port-bow."
"The USS Stargazer..." remembered Daemia, giving herself a mental pat-on-the-back before, again, remembering that she could not rely on her memory: "they're docked here, right?" Daemia asked Katie Enome. "I'm not sure, Captain. Our sensors aren't functioning."
"Yes, I am aware of that... but are they docked here?"
Katie wracked her mind as she desperately tried to remember the ships in docking station twelve. But she failed to remember.
"Time's up, Katherine," said Daemia. She thought about how much people relied on sensor readings instead of their minds, then turned to Ensign Lanner and raised her eyebrows, "Lorna. Is the USS Stargazer here?"
"Yes, Captain." Lorna vaguely remembered when she came here in the shuttle with Katie. She remembered thinking that the Stargazer was a colossal ship.
Katie bowed her head and carried on working at the hull. Lorna did not turn to face her; usually one would look boastfully towards their rival after a victory - but Lorna carried on at her station. Henry could sense the awkwardness between them, but he was sure that Daemia did not. She seemed oblivious to the secret race for glory in which Lorna and Katie were both competitors.
"Maybe, and I'm speaking strictly on a hypothetical basis... we could board the Stargazer?"
A huge surge of energy pulsed through the ship, sending them all crashing head-first onto their stations. Another spacial fluctuation - much worse this time.
Daemia, after falling out of her chair, picked herself and blew the hair out of her face, irritated. "Report!"
"Damage reports are coming in.. hull breaches on decks twelve, ten and nine. Many casualties. Structual intergrity at fifty percent." reported Henry.
The Immunis obviously wasn't used to this type of spacial fluctuation.
"Wait, Captain... we might be able to scan the ship nearest to us - they'd have to be at least a few kilometres near us. We'd have to boost power to the sensors though, in order to penetrate the energy being released from the wormhole fluctuations. However, we are not able to scan the wormhole itself." Shyn kept herself busy by trying to re-calobrate the sensor array.
"Do it, Harrods!"
Shyn silently worked her way around the console, when she eventually managed to get sensors online, "scanning now, Captain."
A sudden crash sounded - it seemed to unaffect the Immunis. Everyone fell silent as the ever-lasting echo of the crash was fading. Daemia raised her hands as if to silence anybody who prematurely considering speaking.
A second later, a huge explosion was heard. It all seemed a blur to Daemia; most of the crew were hurled to the other side of the room. The Captain thought she was flying, rather peacefully, through air, but she faintly heard screams and shouts... she was surrounded in a yellow light. Then she hit the ground, and was dragged back rather gruesomely to reality.
She threw her arms back and hoisted herself up - Daemia could smell smoke around her. It filled her lungs, but, even worse, the emotional dread of what was behind her affected Daemia the most.
So she turned around.. and was surprised to see that the Immunis was untouched. Many crewmembers seemed engaged in concussion, but apart from that, the bridge seemed fine.
Henry even managed to climb back into his seat, pretending that he hadn't been knocked by the explosion.
"Harrods, what.. what was that?"
Harrods shook her head and wiped her brow, "I.. er.. a ships' hull was severly damaged and... it just.. blew. But, I think it was due to the last spacial fluctuation. "
"Which ship?"
"I'm gathering data now... it appeared to be USS Stargazer, Ma'am."
"But that's a pretty big ship. Constellation class. Similar to us."
"The Stargazer was undergoing repairs, Captain."
Daemia flopped back into her seat, not able to absorb what Shyn had told her. But this was not a time to throw herself into bereavement.
"Make a note in the ships log. USS Stargazer destroyed by spacial fluctuations, zero five hundred hours and sixteen minutes. Stardate 54976.3."
Henry briefly nodded, the triumphant smile now turned into a mourning curve, and recorded this data.
"Another ship severly damaged," said Shyn, alerting the captain, "the USS Rexon. They've got breeches on almost every deck.."
"But thats an Intrepid class ship... surely not-"
"And what about us?" said Daemia, cutting into Henry and his disbelief sharply.
"Our structual integrity is decreasing due to the energy being released from the wormhole, which is causing the spacial fluctuations."
"And how long have we got until the next fluctuation?" retorted Henry, obviously, in a friendly way, trying to be vengeful towards Daemia for cutting him short.
"According to my calculations... three minutes, Sir..." Shyn desperately wanted to get away from these fluctuations.. distortions - whatever they were. She felt slightly claustrophobic, which was ironic considering she was the Science Officer on a starship. She accidentally exposed a little bit of her desperation in her voice.
Daemia had to make a quick decision. "Henry, in my ready room.. now.."