Star Trek: Tales of the Annapurna "Cold Station 47"

[tenmei]

With much nervousness, I post the opening of the first story in my (hopefully) fanfiction series - Tales of the Annapurna.

I realised that there are elements that seem similar to those in some of the tales that TLR has been spinning about the Border Fleet - but this wasn't intentional and the story was actually inspired by the tv-series Sea Patrol. Anyway, without further ado ...



USS Antiem NCC 3200,
En-route to the Sanctuary Fold


Lieutenant Nina Kidder looked out of the window of the passenger vessel Antiem as it moved, at warp, towards its eventual destination. She had come onboard the shuttle when it had rendezvoused with the Hercules and would leave it, alongside several others, when it rendezvoused with her new assignment - the Annapurna.

The others, whom Kidder had spent the duration of her passage on the Antiem avoiding, were scientists that the Annapurna would, in turn, deliver to their eventual destination, an arid desert planetoid that hosted a respected research station.

Kidder intended to avoid her new crewmates too as she had no intention of staying on the Annapurna for longer than she needed to request a transfer off the ship. It wasn't that she was ungrateful for the promotion, or the chance for her career to progress, it was simply that she had been happy beavering away as a Lieutenant JG and as Chief Engineer of the USS Hercules.

And now she found herself the First Officer of a lowly patrol vessel, out in a boring backwater sector with no hostile borders for several sectors in any direction, in command of nineteen people - much less than the engineering department she had presided over on the Hercules.

It felt like a step down.

The door to the small lounge slid open, admitting a slim young Bajoran man with brown hair entered. He was wearing gym shorts and a vest, showing his sculpted arms and he was carrying a pair of boxing gloves in his hand. And as he saw her, he smiled.

Nina frowned. She'd been trying to avoid her fellow passengers - the scientists on the ship were one thing but this young man was another because, in two days, he would be one of her crew.

Carrying a tray over in her direction, he took the seat across from her and began to peel the Kaferian orange that he had carried from the replicator.

"Enjoying the trip, Lieutenant?"

Kidder frowned inwardly - she could tolerate his presence but conversation was a step above that. Ensign Kalen Oak, the Bajoran, was fresh from the Academy and was annoyingly youthful and naive and, from his personnel file, had requested the assignment to the Annapurna.

"It's giving me time to catch up on my reading, Ensign," said Kidder, indicating the PADD on the table that she was fingering. Hopefully giving Oak the sign that he should leave her alone.

No such luck.

"Aren't you excited about serving in the Sanctuary Fold ?"

Kidder focused her attention on the PADD, not even bothering to raise her eyes from it when she replied.

"Not really. It's just another assignment," she replied, her tone never wavering and hopefully not inviting further conversation. Oak popped the last piece of his Kaferian orange into his mouth before standing and picking up his tray.

"Nice speaking to you, Sir," he said as he weaved his way back to the replicator station, depositing his tray there and getting a replicated flask of ice water that he sipped tentatively as he exited.

At least he got the message eventually, thought Kidder.

xxxx
​

Ensign Kalen Oak returned to the quarters he had been assigned for the duration of his stay on the Antiem, stripped off his workout gear and enjoyed the feel of the sonic shower as it cleansed him. Afterwards, he fixed his Bajoran earring to his ear and put on his civvies and threw himself onto the bed where he grabbed a PADD he had been reading and commenced from where he had left off - with a new chapter of a murder mystery set in the early days of Ancient Bajoran society.

Kalen lost himself in the story and, the next thing he knew, it was two hours later and his door chime was buzzing.

"Enter!"

The door slid open revealing the shapely form of Doctor Abigail Lang, one of the scientists the Antiem was transporting to the Annapurna and which the Annapurna would then transfer on to the research station. Lang and Kalen had struck up an easy friendship on their first night on the Antiem and, for the past three days, had made it a date to have dinner in the mess every evening.

The menu was bland, but filling and the conversation was definitely better than he had found Lieutenant Kidder to be able to provide. There was something about the way Kidder spoke to him that made it seem like she didn't want any friends.

"Took your time, honey -" said the blonde woman, her hair scooped back into a pony tail. As she took in his discarded boxing gloves, "Good work out?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Now, you'd better be hungry, honey, because I've got this pasta dish I've heard about that I'm thinking we're going to try tonight ..."

Lang led Kalen along the passenger corridor into the mess - similar in size to the lounge that Kalen had visited earlier but without the couches and with more tables and replicator slots. Kalen noticed Kidder's absence and a table of other scientists caught his attention, waving him and Lang over to join them.

Lang grabbed two trays and two helpings of the pasta dish from the recipe slot whilst Kalen headed across the room and took the space that a young lab technician named Samuel had kept for him. Kalen found Samuel's dusty blond hair and farm-boy charm rather attractive and was sure that Samuel felt the same way about him from the way the tech's eyes sparkled.

But nothing more than an over-extended hug had given him any further clues.

"When we get to the research station, it'll seem odd not having dinner with you every night, Oak," said Samuel. "I'll miss your company."

Kalen digested a mouthful of pasta. It was good and tasty and wholesome, he thought. And the pasta wasn't bad either.

"I'm assigned to the sector, Samuel, we'll be popping in to resupply you guys on the odd occasion and, after all, I'm only a comm-channel away ..."

Samuel blushed and shifted his attention to the corned beef sandwich on his plate. Kalen let his hand drop to his side where it drifted over Samuels and, before he knew what was happening, he was holding hands with the dusty haired lad tech.


Cold Station 47
Somewhere in the Sanctuary Fold


Doctor Persis Indeskar left the laboratory where she had spent the day conducting research and headed to recreation room where she found her fellow scientists huddled round a table on the balcony that overlooked the sandy expanse of the planet and, closer to home, the shuttle landing strip.

The others were talking shop, the biological research projects that were consuming there time were beginning to bore her. She hoped that with the upcoming arrivals of fresh staff there would be something new to talk about, even if it was only about new research projects.

But one of her old friends, Doctor Abigail Lang, was joining the research station on her own research project. So that would bring some opportune time for catching up and doing, she smirked at the thought, girly things.

The other scientists didn't seem to want do indulge in such recreation, preferring to spend their time on their research or, as she had witnessed, talking about it at length.

CS47, as the scientists called it, was hosted on a tectonically inert planetoid in the Sanctuary Fold. "Landlocked" by at least two other sectors in all directions from any enemy or unaligned territory, it was one of the safest areas of space in the whole of the Federation - and, by being such, it was a perfect place to conduct highly delicate research.

Persis was completely unaware that within two days, everyone on the station was going to be dead and that their deaths were going to be put conclusively down to her research. And she was unaware that the same incident would endanger the crew of a Starfleet vessel.

Persis was aware, however, that she wanted to try out the new Mexican dish that Abigail had sent her in exchange for the pasta dish that Abigail had promised to try out that night.
​

 

[mirandafave]

Oh I like the character of Nina Kidder. For some unfathomable reason many a Starfleet officer thinks serving on a border cutter is a step down - how very rude! I suppose in this instance she might have a point seeing as how her 'promotion' means she is XO over nineteen others. First, I'm interested to know what kind of ship it is she has been assigned to. Second, I'm intrigued to how she expects to work in such small environs with such a small crew if that is her attitude. In such a place I'd imagine all the greater need to relate to all members of the crew. This does not bode well for her communication skills.

And interesting that you set the border patrol mission in a safe region of space. I wonder how that will tell out in the stories and missions. The 'events' at the science post that lead to this particular danger and story are mysterious at present and I'm looking forward to finding out more. I like too that there's a sense of an 'inter-stellar community' out there helping each other and having friendship with recipes trades and all to boot.

In my opinion, a good start with a promising character in Kidder and an interesting impending disaster alluded to.

 

[kes7]

Gosh, Kidder is a ray of sunshine, isn't she? She's sure to have conflicts with the Pollyanna-ish Kalen Oak. Should be fun to watch.

This is a great start, I'm interested to read more. I love slice-of-life stuff in Trek, and the setting here seems like it may be conducive to some of that -- recipe swapping, hand holding, and the like -- except that a bunch of people are apparently about to die.

I look forward to the next installment!

 

[Gibraltar]

A great beginning to what promises to be a fascinating story! I like Kidder, as well as the blossoming young relationship between Samuel and Kalen.

Whatever's about to happen at CS47 is going to be ugly, and it looks as if our heroes will be smack in the middle of it.

One question about the vessel Antiem's name... were you shooting for Antietam, or was someone at Starfleet's Ship Naming Bureau just a big fan of The Wizard of Oz?

 

[tenmei]

I'm flattered by your kind words - and am hard at work on the next section in which we eventually go onboard the Annapurna itself, meet a few more members of her crew and let the cards fall into place for the massacre at Cold Stration 47.

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

A very promising start, Tenmei! I think writing about smaller ships allows for some very interesting character development and situations that you can't always manage on some Sovereign -class hero ship. That's my personal bias, anyway.

A nice, safe research station well within Federation borders. What could possibly go wrong? Oh, lots and lots I suppose.

Looking forward to more.

 

[tenmei]

Thanks for the praise, TLR, it means a lot!

The next installment ought to be posted tommorow evening.

 

[Warp Rider]

Keep going with this man.

 

[tenmei]

The next installment - hope it doesn't disappoint


USS Annapurna NCC 70000
Somewhere in the Sanctuary Fold


The blue light on the transporter pad coalesced into five figures, two of them in Starfleet uniforms. One, a dark haired and tanned Bajoran man in medical blue whilst the other, a red headed humanoid female in command red and the rank indicators of a Lieutenant.

His XO and Medical Officer, presumed Commander Marius Darcy. The other three figures were all wearing civilian dress. He recognised one as Doctor Abigail Lang and the other two, a sandy haired young man and a slim Vulcan female, were both unknown to him.

Still, he fixed his best smile to his face and welcomed them onboard the vessel.

"Welcome to the USS Annapurna. I'm Commander Marius Darcy, Captain of the Annapurna. You would be Lieutenant Nina Kidder and Ensign Kalen Oak?" as the new arrivals stepped down from the platform, he shook their hands. Kalen was all wide eyed naivette, Kidder looked disgruntled and looked down her nose as the vessel. "And the famous Doctor Lang ..."

"Please, Marius, no need for the flattery." Abigail flashed him a smile and pulled him into a warm hug. He was suprised that the break up had gone so amicably that they could be such good friends, he'd heard horror stories from friends. "This is my assistant, Doctor Saatik, and my lab technician, Samuel Tolliver ..."

Darcy flashed them each a smile and a mock salute.

"Saatik, Tolliver. I'll show you all to your quarters, we're a small ship so it's not a long walk ..."

Indeed, the USS Annapurna was a Ramjet Class vessel. Half the size of the near decade old Defiant Class which had become the stalwart of the Dominion War, the Ramjet Class had three decks and twenty one permanent crewmembers though, as it was currently, it could carry a handful of passengers.

It was the sole permanent Starfleet presence in the Sanctuary Fold. Other Starfleet vessels would come and go on a mission-by-mission basis but it was the mission of the Annapurna to provide support and assistance to the colonies and peoples in the Fold.

Darcy had soon shown the five new arrivals to their cabin and was walking back to his own quarters where he would prepare for a meal with his new First Officer and try and break through the icy exterior she had been holding. As he turned a corner and stood outside his cabin, he felt a pair of hands slip over his eyes.

"Guess who?"

He sighed.

"I couldn't possibly begin to guess," He turned to face the person who had slipped their hands over his eyes, finding they belonged to Abigail Lang. "Abigail, I thought you were going to stow away your equipment and ..."

"I thought we could have something to eat?"

Darcy shook his head, his mane of raven hair shifting so a lock fell over his forehead. He pushed it back into place.

"I can't. I have a meeting with Lieutenant Kidder in an hour," he replied. "Though it'll be another day until we arrive at Cold Station 47 so we can have breakfast tommorow, if you were interested ..."

Lang nodded.

"I'll see you tommorow morning in the mess then?"

Darcy nodded, watched the shape of his former partner retreat down the corridor and vanish into the stairwell. He was beginning to think that although he had got over the break-up of their relationship, that she had not gotten over it as well as he had. Trust him to count his chickens before they had hatched.

A short while later, Darcy had replicated some food from his mothers Lebanese culture that he hoped Lieutenant Kidder would enjoy. Hoummous, figs, dates, some roast goat, stuffed grape leaves, babba ghanouj, batata harra, fattoush and falafal and even a plate of his mothers own-recipe baklava for a tasty desert alongside glasses of jallab and a pot of coffee.

He changed out of his uniform and into a shirt and trousers so that the meal wasn't too formal. When she arrived, it was clear that Lieutenant Kidder hadn't picked up on the subtle hint in his invitation and had come to the meal wearing her uniform.

When he let her in, she cast a caustic eye over his civvies.

"I thought this was a formal meeting?"

Darcy sighed and invited her to sit at the table where he asked her how she liked her coffee. Pouring a cup, without sugar and without milk, he told her that she should begin to help herself from the platters of food that he had arranged on the table in his quarters.

Darcy's quarters were the largest on the Annapurna, about the size of a small cabin on a bigger ship, with a seperate bedroom and a lounge/office area. The other crewmembers either shared cabins with bunkbeds or, in some lucky cases, had one of those cabins to themselves.

Kidder, Darcy knew, was one of the lucky few.

"What do you think of our little ship so far, Lieutenant?" inquired Darcy as he dipped some pita bread into the baba ghanouj and brought it to his mouth. The egg plant dip was excellently spiced, he'd programmed the replicator correctly.

"It's ... small ..." she stated, washing a mouthful of batata harra and roast goat down with a swig of her coffee. No clarification, that was her answer and she wasn't going to elaborate.

"Maybe, but the crew are nice and they ought to welcome you in, no problem," continued Darcy, determined to chip away at the facade that Kidder presented. "I'm not sure if you're interested, but once a month we have a meal together where the food comes from one of our homeworlds. A culinary tour of the Federation, if you will ..."

"I'm sure that's lovely."

"If I'm right in remembering, Lieutenant, we've got Delta IV up next. I'm curious about what foods Lieutenant Orra is going to present for us to try ..." Darcy knew that Kidder wasn't going to respond in big sentences, she wasn't interested in the group meal - something he'd taken onboard when he'd been dating Abigail Lang - so he decided to switch track. "Have you ever been to the Fold before ?"

Kidder looked up from her food, fixed him in a glare.

"No," she stated quite firmly. "Never."

Darcy knew that her personel file didn't reveal anything to contradict that firm statement but he had a feeling deep down in his stomach that the response that Kidder had given wasn't entirely true.


USS Annapurna NCC 70000
En-route to Cold Station 47

Kalen navigated the corridors of the Annapurna with ease. The vessel was compact and the walk from the small Sickbay to the quarters he would share with the vessels Chief Engineer was mercifully short. With all the excitement of arriving onboard and the time he had spent aclimatising himself to the sickbay and its equipment and the crews medical records, he was exhausted.

After sending a short note to Samuel to apologise for having to bow out of dinner, he wanted nothing more to collapse into his bunk after a nice cup of herbal tea. As he walked into his cabin, though, he noticed the other bunk was occupied with a tall, slim, Human male in boxer-shorts and a Pike City Hammerheads's sleeveless t-shirt.

Lieutenant Jg Bilal Patanjali sat up in his bunk as his roommate entered the room.

"Welcome to the Annapurna, Ensign ..." Patanjali offered Kalen his hand and Kalen took it. "You get the top bunk, I'm afraid. But, on the bright side, I don't snore - or, at least, your predecessor never told me I did ..."

"Oh, that's okay," said Kalen as he unzipped his jumpsuit. "I'm a heavy sleeper, it won't bother me much."

Stripped down to his boxer-shorts, Kalen climbed into his bunk and pulled the quilt over him. The room was small, a rectangular room with a bunk bed along one of the longer walls - lockers on the opposite wall alongside a replicator slot and a door to the bathroom that the cabin shared with another. A small desk and computer terminal were positioned underneath a window on the wall opposite the door.

Most of Kalen's classmates at Starfleet Academy had been assigned to ships on the leading edge of frontier with bathrooms that matched the size of his shared cabin, but Kalen didn't mind that, he was just so excited to be out there, doing something.

"I'm so exhausted. You don't mind if I just go to sleep, do you ..."

"Patanjali, Bilal Patanjali. But you can call me Billy," offered the Chief Engineer. "And sure, I was about to catch some sleep myself so I'll just turn the light off ..."

Billy tabbed the light switch and the cabin was plunged into darkness with only the twinkling of the stars through the window illuminating the room. Kalen watched the stars zipping past the window for only a moment, and then he was out like a light.

 

[mirandafave]

Gosh, really got the impression of a small ship cramped for space and privacy. I can't see how Kidder hopes to get on with her new assignment with her attitude but now we have a reveal that she has been here before in some capacity so i wonder why she is hiding it. Maybe her secret accounts for her attitude. Alls I know she'll have to drop the attitude some time soon.

Darcy seems an ok guy and has what appears to be a more relaxed style. So I can see tensions between the pair soon enough. Looking forward to discovering more about the captain [with a complicated love-life it seems] and seeing how he works with Kidder.

 

[TheLoneRedshirt]

Another good segment - nice description of the ship and its compactness. Darcy seems like a laid-back C.O. who strives to build a sense of good crew morale. He's going to have a challenge with Lt. Kidder. The chip on her shoulder might be a bit large for such a small ship. Darcy is going to have to address her aloofness sooner or later.

Already some intersting inter-personal dynamics at play here: The Commander's old flame aboard, the reticent XO, and the Bajoran rookie. Nicely done.

 

[kes7]

This ship is really tiny! I would go mad stuck that close to my coworkers day in, day out -- I might even start acting like Nina. (I really need my space sometimes.)

Kalen is so likable he's almost annoying. (Which is not a slam on the way you're writing him at all -- I know real people like that, and I have to try hard not to be annoyed by them, too!) He's so enthusiastic and unspoiled.

Darcy seems like a good fit for this mission -- you've got to be easygoing to manage people in such cramped conditions.

Good stuff! Keep it up!

 

[tenmei]

Thanks for all the comments. Nice to know I haven't disappointed you all - yet. Just in the middle of writing the next installment - in which we'll see the beginning of the catastrophe at Cold Station 47, see more of Doctor Abigail Lang and also meet one more members of the Annapurna's command crew.

I may name-drop another ship from another fanfic on here into the chapter as one of the previous assignments of Captain Darcy as well, so keep your eyes open for that.

 

[kes7]

Hey, I have a question about Kalen Oak -- is Oak his given name, or did he switch his name placement to fit in with the majority of the Federation?

 

[tenmei]

Oak is his given name. We'll learn more about his backstory in upcoming installments of this story - and in any installments of future stories that may result from this story.

 

[kes7]

Oak is his given name. We'll learn more about his backstory in upcoming installments of this story - and in any installments of future stories that may result from this story.

 

[Gibraltar]

Terrific stuff, tenmei. You've got an interesting crew dynamic going here, and this may be the smallest fanfic ship I've ever read about, so you're coming at this story from a unique perspective. Looking forward to more.

 

[kes7]

Terrific stuff, tenmei. You've got an interesting crew dynamic going here, and this may be the smallest fanfic ship I've ever read about, so you're coming at this story from a unique perspective. Looking forward to more.

Indeed, it's the smallest I've read about, too! I can't help wondering how many of these Ramjet class ships would fit inside the Tesseract, or even just the hangar bay of the Tesseract.

 

[tenmei]

I based the Annapurna on the Armidale Class used by the Australian Navy and built up the description of the ship from there. However, the name of the class was borrowed from the Ramjet Class, a vessel designed (and not used) for the Star Trek Online game and that was the first design of the ship.

At present the exterior appearance of the Annapurna (and therefore, the Ramjet Class) is a TNG-ised version of the Archer Class used in the ST:Vanguard novels. I may also changed the name of the class of the ship to something more suitable to the derivation of the ship names from mountain ranges.

 

[tenmei]

And the latest installment -


Cold Station 47
Somewhere in the Sanctuary Fold


Persis Indeskar finished calibrating the scanner in her laboratory and yawned. The Mexican food that Abigail had recommended had been tasty but had disagreed with her palate. She'd been kept awake for most of the night, not being able to get comfortable in her bed and hadn't managed to catch much sleep.

Hopefully she would sleep peacefully that night.

With the scanner calibrated, Indeskar filtered the bio-agent into the analysis dock and started the analysis program. It would take an hour before the bio-agent had finished analysis so she decided to catch up on the reports she was supposed to be sending back to Starfleet Intelligence on Earth about the project.

As she was quietly beavering away on the reports at her desk, she was none the wiser that the analysier equipment had developed a serious fault. A barely perceptible crack in the equipment meant that the bio-agent was slowly seeping into the casing of the analyser and, once it had escaped into the casing, it was going to inevitable that it would be released into the air-conditioning and spread throughout the station.


USS Annapurna NCC 70000
En-route to Cold Station 47


Marius Darcy rolled over in his bed and settled his eyes on the spread of food he hadn't tidied away the night before. Lieutenant Kidder had remained determined to answer questions in as brief a sentence as possible and steadfastly refused to open conversation herself.

He'd been unable to discover the truth behind her apparant denial of having been to the Sanctuary Fold before and made a mental note to do some digging in the computer databanks to see if there was anything that would hint at something.

After a quick shower, he pulled on his uniform and busied himself by putting the plates and bowls and cups into the replicator slot where they were dematerialised. Ordinarily he might have grabbed a snack in his quarters before heading up to the Bridge, but he had promised Doctor Lang that he'd dine with her and he wasn't one to break his promises.

But first he'd make a quick check-in on the Bridge with Lieutenant Orra to make sure everything was okay. It's not like the command deck was out of his way on such a small vessel.

Lieutenant Orra was in the command chair when Darcy stepped through the hatch. The Bridge of the Annapurna wasn't much bigger than the cockpit of a Danube Class runabout and shared design elements of the Danube, Defiant and Intrepid Class command decks.

Orra made to let Darcy take the command chair but Darcy waved her back into place and a casual "Just popping my head through the door, Lieutenant." The bald Deltan female stayed standing and turned to face her superior - the crewman manning helm and the crewman manning tactical, both cadets on their field training, both acknowledged their commanding officer with a nod.

"Anything interesting I ought to know about, Orra?"

"Not really, Sir. Just the usual comm-traffic and requests from the colonies for a visit. Nothing we need to worry about. I've sent a message on ahead to Cold Station 47 informing them of our ETA ..."

Darcy took this all in and nodded.

"Keep up the good work. I'll be in the mess if anything comes up. Want anything brought back up?" inquired the commander. When Orra and the other crewman said thanks for the offer but they'd grab something when their shift finished in a few hours, Darcy turned on his heel and exited the command deck, taking the stairs down one level and following the corridor round to the mess hall where Abigail had already commandeered them a table. She had replicated them what appeared to be bowls of fruit salad, glasses of fruit juice and some sort of exotic alien pastries.

"I know how you like a good breakfast," she said, indicating a spair chair as he approached her, nodding to acknowledge the handful of his crew that were already taking breakfast including Ensign Kalen dining with the sandy haired scientist that had come onboard with Lang. "So I've replicated some of your favourite foods."

"All of a sudden, it feels like I've wandered into Hansel and Gretel," said Darcy. "Like you're feeding me up or something. Thankyou for preparing such a lovely breakfast, Abigail ..."

Darcy had met Abigail Lang when he had returned to work at Starfleet Academy as an instructor after a tour of duty on the USS Bluefin, an Albacore Class border cutter that had been (and was, to this day, as far as he knew) patrolling an area known as the Molari Badlands. They'd entered into a relationship which had soon promised to yield an engagement wedding but when the Dominion War had erupted and he had been shipped out to serve on a ship, he had broken it off.

Whilst they had remained in-contact and he considered her a friend, they hadn't ever tried resuming the relationship. He'd believed she had moved on, like he himself had, but he had his doubts about the truth in that.

"I bet you can't wait to get to Cold Station 47, Abigail," said Darcy as he took a bite out of an almond and custard pastry. "Get down to work. You've been petitioning the Vulcan Scientific Institute to back your research for, what, seven years now?"

Abigail nodded.

"Almost," she replied. "Six years, eight months, two weeks and five days until the Vulcans deigned to fund my research. And they only agreed to that on the proviso that Saatik join the project."

Darcy couldn't help but laugh.

"You'll be in good company ..." But before Darcy could finish his sentence with 'at Cold Station 47', his communicator beeped so he tapped it to open the channel.

"Darcy here."

"Captain, this is Orra on the Bridge. I've got something you definitely want to see," came the voice of the Deltan Second Officer. "We've just recieved a distress signal from Cold Station 47 ..."

Darcy and Abigail exchanged nervous looks.

"I'll be right up there. Doctor Lang will be joining me. Inform the XO that her presence is required on the Bridge," said Darcy as the comm channel closed. He looked down at his half-eaten pastry with a dispondent look before standing and brushing his jumpsuit down.

Abigail was already half out the door.

Darcy grabbed the half-eaten pastry and chewed on it as he followed Abigail out into the corridor before leading the way back up to the Bridge, colliding with Lieutenant Kidder in the corridor outside. Although fully dressed, Kidder had obviously been fast asleep when the call had come in from Lieutenant Orra that her presence was required.

Together, the threesome stepped onto the Bridge to see Orra standing over the cadet manning tactical. The lights from the stations monitor reflected off of her bald head.

"What is it, Lieutenant?"

Orra turned.

"As I said, we've recieved a message from Cold Station 47. It must have been intended for Doctor Lang but it ended up in the main cache, for some reason ..." said Orra. "But, well, see for yourself, Sir."

Orra nodded to the cadet who pressed a button, putting the message on the main screen. It was full of static, the image kept cutting out but it was clearly an Indian female wearing a scientists tunic with the insignia of Cold Station 47. The woman was panicked, the laboratory behind her although cast in shadow, had been thoroughly decimated.

"Abigail ... don't come ..." The static kept cutting out what the woman was saying. "Send ... help ... my project compromised ..."

Darcy looked at Lang who shrugged.

"I've got no idea what's gone on, Marius," said Lang.

"Thomas, if we increase to maximum warp, what would our ETA be?" asked Darcy of Cadet Huw Thomas, the raven haired young Welshman at the helm.

"Approximately two hours, Sir."

"Increase speed. Get a message to the entire command staff, I want a meeting in the briefing room in half an hour. I want to go in their with a plan, with some idea about what's gone on ..."