The Hansen Diaries
- Thread starter Tiberius
- Start date
Here's the next chapter. I'm back at work now, so updates won't be as frequent as they have been, alas. But that just means you can give me more feedback. 
The star glowed dimly in the void, the last flicker of a candle in a dark room before it runs out of wick. Tenaj was an isolated system, and the relay station was the only sign of the Federation.
Erin turned from the helm. “We’ll be within transporter range of the station in thirty seconds,” she said.
“Okay,” said Magnus. “Erin and I will go over and try to access the station’s computers.”
Jason turned to Tahli at the tactical console. “Are there any signs that the Borg are still in the area?’ she asked. “I’ve been monitoring long range sensors,” said Tahli. “There’s no sign of them. I’ll run a full graviton scan of the system, see if I can determine their heading.”
“I don’t think you’ll find very much,” said Magnus. “After more than a month, their engine wake would have completely dissipated.”
“The Kyushu report indicated that the Borg left no engine traces,” Sue said.
“There might still be a chance we can detect something,” Tahli said.
An indicator on the helm activated. “We’ve entered transporter range of the relay station,” said Erin.
“Alright,” said Magnus after a moment. “Sue, can you give Tahli access to the graviton scanner? I’ll take an away team. Erin, you’re with me. Jason, can you give Tahli a hand with the scans?”
“No worries,” said Jason, moving to sit next to Tahli at tactical.
*
The station was dark when Magnus and Erin beamed aboard. It was powered down, the only illumination coming from a few computer displays. The air was stuffy and clung close around them.
“Computer,” said Magnus, “activate lighting and bring environmental systems to one hundred percent.”
The lights came on and the environmental systems hissed as fresh air was pumped into the habitat module. The interior of the station was clean and crisp, and around them, screens came to life, displaying data about the transmissions going through the station’s computer cores.
“Erin, could you set up a comlink with the Raven?” asked Magnus. “I’ll access the station’s computers, find the sensor records of the Borg.”
As Erin began her work, Magnus went to the main console, a large wall display mounted above a wide panel. Magnus tried to call up the sensor records, but the system refused, buzzing loudly.
“Computer, run a level four diagnostic on the LCARS system,” said Magnus.
The computer beeped. “Diagnostic complete. There is sub molecular damage to sections 915102 through 915159 of the computer core. Some sensor logs have been fragmented.”
“That explains why I can’t access them,” said Magnus.
“Can you access the logs individually?” asked Erin.
“Yes,” said Magnus, “but I’d have to examine each log individually. I won’t be able to search the logs for any signs of Borg activity except by actually sitting down and watching them all. Computer, execute defragmentation protocols on the affected sections.”
“Acknowledged,’ said the computer. “Estimated time to completion is two point seven hours.”
“Computer, tell me the cause of the sub molecular damage,” said Magnus.
The computer’s answer was brief: “Tri-quantum waves.”
Erin looked up from the console where she was working. “Tri -quantum waves?” she asked. “The Tentak IV log buoy indicated that the outpost detected tri-quantum waves before they were destroyed. Do you think it could be what we’re looking for?”
“Well,” said Magnus, “it’s a starting point at least. Computer, are the sensor logs of the tri-quantum waves intact?”
“Affirmative.”
“Display them,” said Magnus.
Erin quickly completed the comlink and came over to see the display. The relay station had only performed basic scans, due to the limitations of its sensor systems, but the graph it displayed showed the appearance of the tachyon pulse and tri-quantum waves in a surprisingly short period of time, only a few seconds.
She indicated a large spike displayed on the graph. “The source of these readings was localised less than ten kilometers from the station.”
“Computer, is there a visual record of the source of these readings?” asked Magnus.
“Affirmative.”
“Display it,” said Magnus.
The screen changed to show a starfield. There was a sudden burst of green as the image distorted, and a Borg Cube rushed into view. The Cube vanished, and the distortion faded. Magnus replayed the log, freezing the image just as the Cube was entering the distortion.
“This distortion is the source of the tri-quantum waves,” Erin said. “The Borg ship emitted a high energy tachyon pulse and vanished when it entered the distortion. It looks like it may be a wormhole or something similar. If it’s artificial, it may be a type of propulsion system,” said Erin.
“Very inefficient for warp travel,” said Magnus. “Look at the power readings.”
“If the Borg used this type of propulsion at Tentak, it would explain why the Kyushu sensors failed to detect it,” said Erin. “They weren’t looking for tri-quantum waves.”
“Still,” said Magnus, “I can’t see why the Borg would waste this much power on warp or impulse drives.”
“With this much power, they could most likely leave warp speed in their dust,” said Erin. “The Borg may have transwarp drive. If they do, we may never find them.”
“Oh, don’t say that,” said Magnus. “Let’s download these data logs to the Raven and start an analysis. We may be able to use them to determine the Cube’s course, find out where they went.”
*
“Romulan space,” said Tahli. “The Borg went through Romulan space.”
“Oh, God…” moaned Erin.
The team had gathered for a meeting after dinner, sitting around a table in the mess hall. Tahli and Jason had been able to analyse the sensor readings and extrapolate the Cube’s course based on the phased plasma residue it had left behind. Unfortunately, the residue, after a month, had almost completely dissipated and they couldn’t be sure of the accuracy of their results. However, they had little choice but to follow whatever leads they could find.
Magnus nodded. “It certainly does present us with a problem,” he said.
“We can set a course around Romulan space, can’t we?” said Jason. “Catch up to the Borg on the other side?”
“Setting a course around Romulan space isn’t a problem,” said Erin. “But catching up to the Borg would be virtually impossible. We’re a month behind the Cube. Travelling around Romulan space is going to put us even further behind.”
“Is it worth continuing if we’re going to be so far behind?” asked Sue.
“We’ve come too far to turn back now,” said Magnus. “We’re going to continue until we can’t go any further.”
“I’ll get to work plotting a course first thing in the morning,” said Erin. “I suggest we stop at Deep Space Four. It’s on the way, and they might be able to help us fix some of our systems malfunctions.”
Tahli nodded. “That sounds like a good idea,” she said.
“I know Annika won’t complain,” said Jason. He meant the vibration in the deck plating.
Magnus nodded. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll send a message to Starfleet letting them know our plans.”
*
Erin stayed awake for hours after Magnus had gone to bed that night, working on a course for them to follow around Romulan space, shaving off a few light years, then revising her plan and shaving off a few more. When she finally decided to go to bed, it was the early hours of the morning, and Magnus did not wake up when she climbed into the bed next to him.
*
The next morning, the team met in the Astrometrics lab. Erin had the large wall display showing the course she had planned.
“This is the course to Deep Space Four, in the Omega sector,” she said. “We’re currently following it at warp seven. Magnus has sent a message to Starfleet, and they are forwarding our flight plan to Deep Space Four.”
Jason shook his head. “Beats me why we can’t just speak to DS4 directly,” he muttered.
“Part of our mission plan, you know that,” said Magnus. “All messages we send out have to be cleared through Starfleet headquarters.”
Erin made a derisive noise.
“I know exactly how you feel, Erin,” Tahli said. The entire team knew how Erin felt; they all thought that Starfleet had gone to unnecessary lengths to ensure secrecy in their mission. Even the messages Magnus and Erin had sent to Irene had been sent through Starfleet.
“Anyway,” said Erin, “I’ve tried to make the detour around Romulan space as short as possible, and we will be passing through unexplored space, the Typhon Expanse.”
“Do we have any idea what we’ll find in the Typhon Expanse?” asked Jason.
“No,” said Erin. “I searched the navigational database and found only one entry. The USS Bozeman was sent to investigate the area in 2278, but they disappeared before they could make a report.”
“Sounds like a good ghost story,” said Sue.
“And we’re going through this region?” asked Tahli.
“Needless to say,” said Magnus, “we’ll be careful.”
A shudder passed through the ship.
“What was that?” asked Tahli.
The computer suddenly spat out a harsh alarm. “Warning. Antimatter containment at 67 percent and falling. Auto ejection systems active.”
“Hold on!” cried Magnus, and then the floor flew out from under them. They all fell to the floor, but Tahli fell more awkwardly than the others, her hands smacking against the wall. She cried out in pain.
Erin picked herself up from the floor. She opened a panel on the wall, taking out a medkit and holding the tricorder to Tahli’s wrist. Tahli looked up at her.
Erin nodded in answer to the unspoken question. “Yep, it’s broken,” she said. “We’ll get you to sickbay.” She helped the young woman to her feet and led her out.
Magnus activated the status display on the wall, calling up readings of the ship’s systems. “We’re at impulse,” he said. “All the antimatter pods have been ejected. Warp drive is offline. We’re not going anywhere soon.”
Jason looked up at the others. “What the hell happened? How did the containment systems get so low without the computer warning us?”
Magnus stepped forward. “I’d better go and check on Annika. Then I’ll check the damage on deck four, see if there’s anything I can do. Jason, Sue, can you see how those pods are and get them back on board if they are alright?”
Sue nodded. “We’ll get to it, Magnus,” she said.
Sue and Jason headed to the bridge to run the scans while Erin tended Tahli’s injury. Magnus checked on Annika, who had tumbled out of bed, but she was not injured, only shaken up. After assuring himself that she was alright, he went to deck four to see if any damage had been done when the pods were dumped. As he crossed the cargo bay, he could see a scorched wall at the far end and some containers that had been knocked over by an explosion, but surprisingly little damage otherwise. He performed a scan with his tricorder, and he heard footsteps behind him, and he turned to see Sue and Jason approaching.
“What happened here?” asked Jason. “This couldn’t be from an antimatter explosion.”
“We blew some plasma conduits, that’s all,” Magnus said. “Two EPS conduits blew out. That’s what caused the vibrations we felt.”
Sue gave Magnus a confused look. “How could that cause the ship to eject the antimatter pods?”
“It must have triggered a cascade failure that caused a false reading in the containment sensors,” said Magnus. “The diagnostics must have missed the faulty sensors.”
Sue cursed. “Those damn diagnostic subroutines! They’re completely screwed. We’ve gotta get them repaired. It started with the problems with the port ramscoop, now this, and it’s just going to get worse. We need to put in at a starbase. No offense to Jason, but this isn’t something we can fix ourselves.”
Jason nodded. “I replaced the subroutines with the backup files, but if they’re damaged as well, then those files must be corrupted as well. We’ll have to put in at a starbase, like Sue said. The only other option is to write new diagnostics myself, and that will take a few months.”
Magnus nodded. “Okay. We’re going to Deep Space Four anyway, we might as well let them do it. In the meantime, I’ll create a new EPS waveguide pathway to isolate the sensors so this doesn’t happen again.”
“I’ll give you a hand with that, Magnus,” said Jason.
“How are the pods?” said Magnus.
“All in good condition,’ said Jason. “The built in containment systems are working well, and they are floating in space about thirty nine kilometers away. All we have to do is collect them.”
The doors at the forward end of the cargo bay opened, and Erin and Tahli came in. Sue explained what had happened, and Erin agreed with the decision to reinstall the diagnostics at DS4.
“Some more bad news, Magnus,” said Jason, who had called up a level five diagnostic one the terminal on the wall.
“What is it?”
“It looks like the cascade failure caused damage to a few other systems,” he said.
Magnus looked at him. “Specifically?”
“The deflector grid,” said Jason. “Maybe some other systems as well, but there’s definitely been damage to the shield emitters on the hull.”
“Damn,” said Magnus after a moment. “Alright, Jason, Sue and I will get to work on the repairs to the EPS lines, that should keep us busy for the rest of the day.”
“Is there anything I can do?” asked Erin.
Magnus thought for a moment, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Uh, can you perform a physical check on the shields? Get an overview of the damage and the repairs we’ll need to make.”
Erin nodded. “I’ll get right on it,” she said, and headed off.
Sue knelt down and picked up an EPS conduit, a piece of tubing the length of her arm. “Looks like this is the source of all our problems,” she said.
Jason looked up from his work. “That?”
“Yeah,” said Sue. “There was a microfracture in this conduit. It was only a matter of time before it ruptured and caused a plasma feedback surge.”
“I think we should run a level one diagnostic on the entire ship, bypass the computer routines and physically check all major systems,” Magnus said.
“All major systems?” said Jason. “That’s going to take at least a week.”
“We’ll get started as soon as we finish repairs on the EPS system,” said Magnus.
*
Erin worked late again that night, completing the check on the shield systems. By the time she returned to the quarters she shared with Magnus, he had gone to sleep, but he woke up as she came in.
“Erin?”
She looked at him in the darkness. “Did I wake you?” she asked.
“Yeah, but it’s okay,” he said.
“I checked on Annika,” Erin said, as she started to undress. “She’s asleep in the briefing room. You must be worn out. Did you manage to repair the IDF?”
“Yeah,” Magnus said. “But we aren’t going to continue until the level one diagnostics are complete.”
Erin nodded. “Better safe than sorry.”
“Yeah,” said Magnus. He sat up. “Any word on the shields?”
“There’s good news and bad news,” said Erin.
Magnus sighed. “What’s the bad news?”
“The damage to the shields is greater than we thought,” she said. “We’re going to have to check every single relay in the system.”
“Damn,” said Magnus. “We’ve already got to run level one diagnostics of all major systems, so I suppose we were going to check the relays anyway.” He yawned. “What’s the good news?”
“I had an idea to adjust our shields while I was running the diagnostic,” she said as she got into bed next to Magnus.
“What sort of adjustment?” asked Magnus.
“Well, the flight data recorder from the Gauvreau had information on the Borg sensor scans,” said Erin. “I think I can adjust our shields to adapt to multiple types of scans, interfere with any emissions that they might be scanning for.”
“Multi-adaptive shielding?”
Erin smiled. “I guess. A way to hide from the Borg is something I’d like to have.”
“Sounds good, Erin,” Magnus said. “Shielding to hide us from their scans is a good idea.”
“I’ll need your help to design the modifications though,” Erin said. “You’re a better engineer than I am.”
“Okay,” said Magnus. “I’ll get started on helping you with it tomorrow.” He turned over to face her. “I don’t think we should tell the others though.”
Erin looked at him, surprised. “What?” she said. “Why not?”
“Well,” said Magnus, “technically, it can be argued that this is a form of cloaking device, and as such, it’s illegal for us to operate it.”
“God, I never even thought of that,” said Erin with a sigh. “I think I should make the modifications myself then.”
“Do you think you can finish the modifications before we finish the diagnostics?” asked Magnus.
“If I start first thing tomorrow, I should be able to,” said Erin.
“Great,” said Magnus. “Now let’s get some sleep. We’re going to be very busy over the next few days.”
*
Gremlins
The star glowed dimly in the void, the last flicker of a candle in a dark room before it runs out of wick. Tenaj was an isolated system, and the relay station was the only sign of the Federation.
Erin turned from the helm. “We’ll be within transporter range of the station in thirty seconds,” she said.
“Okay,” said Magnus. “Erin and I will go over and try to access the station’s computers.”
Jason turned to Tahli at the tactical console. “Are there any signs that the Borg are still in the area?’ she asked. “I’ve been monitoring long range sensors,” said Tahli. “There’s no sign of them. I’ll run a full graviton scan of the system, see if I can determine their heading.”
“I don’t think you’ll find very much,” said Magnus. “After more than a month, their engine wake would have completely dissipated.”
“The Kyushu report indicated that the Borg left no engine traces,” Sue said.
“There might still be a chance we can detect something,” Tahli said.
An indicator on the helm activated. “We’ve entered transporter range of the relay station,” said Erin.
“Alright,” said Magnus after a moment. “Sue, can you give Tahli access to the graviton scanner? I’ll take an away team. Erin, you’re with me. Jason, can you give Tahli a hand with the scans?”
“No worries,” said Jason, moving to sit next to Tahli at tactical.
*
The station was dark when Magnus and Erin beamed aboard. It was powered down, the only illumination coming from a few computer displays. The air was stuffy and clung close around them.
“Computer,” said Magnus, “activate lighting and bring environmental systems to one hundred percent.”
The lights came on and the environmental systems hissed as fresh air was pumped into the habitat module. The interior of the station was clean and crisp, and around them, screens came to life, displaying data about the transmissions going through the station’s computer cores.
“Erin, could you set up a comlink with the Raven?” asked Magnus. “I’ll access the station’s computers, find the sensor records of the Borg.”
As Erin began her work, Magnus went to the main console, a large wall display mounted above a wide panel. Magnus tried to call up the sensor records, but the system refused, buzzing loudly.
“Computer, run a level four diagnostic on the LCARS system,” said Magnus.
The computer beeped. “Diagnostic complete. There is sub molecular damage to sections 915102 through 915159 of the computer core. Some sensor logs have been fragmented.”
“That explains why I can’t access them,” said Magnus.
“Can you access the logs individually?” asked Erin.
“Yes,” said Magnus, “but I’d have to examine each log individually. I won’t be able to search the logs for any signs of Borg activity except by actually sitting down and watching them all. Computer, execute defragmentation protocols on the affected sections.”
“Acknowledged,’ said the computer. “Estimated time to completion is two point seven hours.”
“Computer, tell me the cause of the sub molecular damage,” said Magnus.
The computer’s answer was brief: “Tri-quantum waves.”
Erin looked up from the console where she was working. “Tri -quantum waves?” she asked. “The Tentak IV log buoy indicated that the outpost detected tri-quantum waves before they were destroyed. Do you think it could be what we’re looking for?”
“Well,” said Magnus, “it’s a starting point at least. Computer, are the sensor logs of the tri-quantum waves intact?”
“Affirmative.”
“Display them,” said Magnus.
Erin quickly completed the comlink and came over to see the display. The relay station had only performed basic scans, due to the limitations of its sensor systems, but the graph it displayed showed the appearance of the tachyon pulse and tri-quantum waves in a surprisingly short period of time, only a few seconds.
She indicated a large spike displayed on the graph. “The source of these readings was localised less than ten kilometers from the station.”
“Computer, is there a visual record of the source of these readings?” asked Magnus.
“Affirmative.”
“Display it,” said Magnus.
The screen changed to show a starfield. There was a sudden burst of green as the image distorted, and a Borg Cube rushed into view. The Cube vanished, and the distortion faded. Magnus replayed the log, freezing the image just as the Cube was entering the distortion.
“This distortion is the source of the tri-quantum waves,” Erin said. “The Borg ship emitted a high energy tachyon pulse and vanished when it entered the distortion. It looks like it may be a wormhole or something similar. If it’s artificial, it may be a type of propulsion system,” said Erin.
“Very inefficient for warp travel,” said Magnus. “Look at the power readings.”
“If the Borg used this type of propulsion at Tentak, it would explain why the Kyushu sensors failed to detect it,” said Erin. “They weren’t looking for tri-quantum waves.”
“Still,” said Magnus, “I can’t see why the Borg would waste this much power on warp or impulse drives.”
“With this much power, they could most likely leave warp speed in their dust,” said Erin. “The Borg may have transwarp drive. If they do, we may never find them.”
“Oh, don’t say that,” said Magnus. “Let’s download these data logs to the Raven and start an analysis. We may be able to use them to determine the Cube’s course, find out where they went.”
*
“Romulan space,” said Tahli. “The Borg went through Romulan space.”
“Oh, God…” moaned Erin.
The team had gathered for a meeting after dinner, sitting around a table in the mess hall. Tahli and Jason had been able to analyse the sensor readings and extrapolate the Cube’s course based on the phased plasma residue it had left behind. Unfortunately, the residue, after a month, had almost completely dissipated and they couldn’t be sure of the accuracy of their results. However, they had little choice but to follow whatever leads they could find.
Magnus nodded. “It certainly does present us with a problem,” he said.
“We can set a course around Romulan space, can’t we?” said Jason. “Catch up to the Borg on the other side?”
“Setting a course around Romulan space isn’t a problem,” said Erin. “But catching up to the Borg would be virtually impossible. We’re a month behind the Cube. Travelling around Romulan space is going to put us even further behind.”
“Is it worth continuing if we’re going to be so far behind?” asked Sue.
“We’ve come too far to turn back now,” said Magnus. “We’re going to continue until we can’t go any further.”
“I’ll get to work plotting a course first thing in the morning,” said Erin. “I suggest we stop at Deep Space Four. It’s on the way, and they might be able to help us fix some of our systems malfunctions.”
Tahli nodded. “That sounds like a good idea,” she said.
“I know Annika won’t complain,” said Jason. He meant the vibration in the deck plating.
Magnus nodded. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll send a message to Starfleet letting them know our plans.”
*
Erin stayed awake for hours after Magnus had gone to bed that night, working on a course for them to follow around Romulan space, shaving off a few light years, then revising her plan and shaving off a few more. When she finally decided to go to bed, it was the early hours of the morning, and Magnus did not wake up when she climbed into the bed next to him.
*
The next morning, the team met in the Astrometrics lab. Erin had the large wall display showing the course she had planned.
“This is the course to Deep Space Four, in the Omega sector,” she said. “We’re currently following it at warp seven. Magnus has sent a message to Starfleet, and they are forwarding our flight plan to Deep Space Four.”
Jason shook his head. “Beats me why we can’t just speak to DS4 directly,” he muttered.
“Part of our mission plan, you know that,” said Magnus. “All messages we send out have to be cleared through Starfleet headquarters.”
Erin made a derisive noise.
“I know exactly how you feel, Erin,” Tahli said. The entire team knew how Erin felt; they all thought that Starfleet had gone to unnecessary lengths to ensure secrecy in their mission. Even the messages Magnus and Erin had sent to Irene had been sent through Starfleet.
“Anyway,” said Erin, “I’ve tried to make the detour around Romulan space as short as possible, and we will be passing through unexplored space, the Typhon Expanse.”
“Do we have any idea what we’ll find in the Typhon Expanse?” asked Jason.
“No,” said Erin. “I searched the navigational database and found only one entry. The USS Bozeman was sent to investigate the area in 2278, but they disappeared before they could make a report.”
“Sounds like a good ghost story,” said Sue.
“And we’re going through this region?” asked Tahli.
“Needless to say,” said Magnus, “we’ll be careful.”
A shudder passed through the ship.
“What was that?” asked Tahli.
The computer suddenly spat out a harsh alarm. “Warning. Antimatter containment at 67 percent and falling. Auto ejection systems active.”
“Hold on!” cried Magnus, and then the floor flew out from under them. They all fell to the floor, but Tahli fell more awkwardly than the others, her hands smacking against the wall. She cried out in pain.
Erin picked herself up from the floor. She opened a panel on the wall, taking out a medkit and holding the tricorder to Tahli’s wrist. Tahli looked up at her.
Erin nodded in answer to the unspoken question. “Yep, it’s broken,” she said. “We’ll get you to sickbay.” She helped the young woman to her feet and led her out.
Magnus activated the status display on the wall, calling up readings of the ship’s systems. “We’re at impulse,” he said. “All the antimatter pods have been ejected. Warp drive is offline. We’re not going anywhere soon.”
Jason looked up at the others. “What the hell happened? How did the containment systems get so low without the computer warning us?”
Magnus stepped forward. “I’d better go and check on Annika. Then I’ll check the damage on deck four, see if there’s anything I can do. Jason, Sue, can you see how those pods are and get them back on board if they are alright?”
Sue nodded. “We’ll get to it, Magnus,” she said.
Sue and Jason headed to the bridge to run the scans while Erin tended Tahli’s injury. Magnus checked on Annika, who had tumbled out of bed, but she was not injured, only shaken up. After assuring himself that she was alright, he went to deck four to see if any damage had been done when the pods were dumped. As he crossed the cargo bay, he could see a scorched wall at the far end and some containers that had been knocked over by an explosion, but surprisingly little damage otherwise. He performed a scan with his tricorder, and he heard footsteps behind him, and he turned to see Sue and Jason approaching.
“What happened here?” asked Jason. “This couldn’t be from an antimatter explosion.”
“We blew some plasma conduits, that’s all,” Magnus said. “Two EPS conduits blew out. That’s what caused the vibrations we felt.”
Sue gave Magnus a confused look. “How could that cause the ship to eject the antimatter pods?”
“It must have triggered a cascade failure that caused a false reading in the containment sensors,” said Magnus. “The diagnostics must have missed the faulty sensors.”
Sue cursed. “Those damn diagnostic subroutines! They’re completely screwed. We’ve gotta get them repaired. It started with the problems with the port ramscoop, now this, and it’s just going to get worse. We need to put in at a starbase. No offense to Jason, but this isn’t something we can fix ourselves.”
Jason nodded. “I replaced the subroutines with the backup files, but if they’re damaged as well, then those files must be corrupted as well. We’ll have to put in at a starbase, like Sue said. The only other option is to write new diagnostics myself, and that will take a few months.”
Magnus nodded. “Okay. We’re going to Deep Space Four anyway, we might as well let them do it. In the meantime, I’ll create a new EPS waveguide pathway to isolate the sensors so this doesn’t happen again.”
“I’ll give you a hand with that, Magnus,” said Jason.
“How are the pods?” said Magnus.
“All in good condition,’ said Jason. “The built in containment systems are working well, and they are floating in space about thirty nine kilometers away. All we have to do is collect them.”
The doors at the forward end of the cargo bay opened, and Erin and Tahli came in. Sue explained what had happened, and Erin agreed with the decision to reinstall the diagnostics at DS4.
“Some more bad news, Magnus,” said Jason, who had called up a level five diagnostic one the terminal on the wall.
“What is it?”
“It looks like the cascade failure caused damage to a few other systems,” he said.
Magnus looked at him. “Specifically?”
“The deflector grid,” said Jason. “Maybe some other systems as well, but there’s definitely been damage to the shield emitters on the hull.”
“Damn,” said Magnus after a moment. “Alright, Jason, Sue and I will get to work on the repairs to the EPS lines, that should keep us busy for the rest of the day.”
“Is there anything I can do?” asked Erin.
Magnus thought for a moment, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Uh, can you perform a physical check on the shields? Get an overview of the damage and the repairs we’ll need to make.”
Erin nodded. “I’ll get right on it,” she said, and headed off.
Sue knelt down and picked up an EPS conduit, a piece of tubing the length of her arm. “Looks like this is the source of all our problems,” she said.
Jason looked up from his work. “That?”
“Yeah,” said Sue. “There was a microfracture in this conduit. It was only a matter of time before it ruptured and caused a plasma feedback surge.”
“I think we should run a level one diagnostic on the entire ship, bypass the computer routines and physically check all major systems,” Magnus said.
“All major systems?” said Jason. “That’s going to take at least a week.”
“We’ll get started as soon as we finish repairs on the EPS system,” said Magnus.
*
Erin worked late again that night, completing the check on the shield systems. By the time she returned to the quarters she shared with Magnus, he had gone to sleep, but he woke up as she came in.
“Erin?”
She looked at him in the darkness. “Did I wake you?” she asked.
“Yeah, but it’s okay,” he said.
“I checked on Annika,” Erin said, as she started to undress. “She’s asleep in the briefing room. You must be worn out. Did you manage to repair the IDF?”
“Yeah,” Magnus said. “But we aren’t going to continue until the level one diagnostics are complete.”
Erin nodded. “Better safe than sorry.”
“Yeah,” said Magnus. He sat up. “Any word on the shields?”
“There’s good news and bad news,” said Erin.
Magnus sighed. “What’s the bad news?”
“The damage to the shields is greater than we thought,” she said. “We’re going to have to check every single relay in the system.”
“Damn,” said Magnus. “We’ve already got to run level one diagnostics of all major systems, so I suppose we were going to check the relays anyway.” He yawned. “What’s the good news?”
“I had an idea to adjust our shields while I was running the diagnostic,” she said as she got into bed next to Magnus.
“What sort of adjustment?” asked Magnus.
“Well, the flight data recorder from the Gauvreau had information on the Borg sensor scans,” said Erin. “I think I can adjust our shields to adapt to multiple types of scans, interfere with any emissions that they might be scanning for.”
“Multi-adaptive shielding?”
Erin smiled. “I guess. A way to hide from the Borg is something I’d like to have.”
“Sounds good, Erin,” Magnus said. “Shielding to hide us from their scans is a good idea.”
“I’ll need your help to design the modifications though,” Erin said. “You’re a better engineer than I am.”
“Okay,” said Magnus. “I’ll get started on helping you with it tomorrow.” He turned over to face her. “I don’t think we should tell the others though.”
Erin looked at him, surprised. “What?” she said. “Why not?”
“Well,” said Magnus, “technically, it can be argued that this is a form of cloaking device, and as such, it’s illegal for us to operate it.”
“God, I never even thought of that,” said Erin with a sigh. “I think I should make the modifications myself then.”
“Do you think you can finish the modifications before we finish the diagnostics?” asked Magnus.
“If I start first thing tomorrow, I should be able to,” said Erin.
“Great,” said Magnus. “Now let’s get some sleep. We’re going to be very busy over the next few days.”
*
Great - like the nods to the Bozeman, the modified shields and the risky move to traverse Romulan Space.
Now with all the gremlins one could get suspicious that someone or something is trying to sabotage the mission.
Keeping up the mystery factor very good.
Now with all the gremlins one could get suspicious that someone or something is trying to sabotage the mission.
Keeping up the mystery factor very good.
Actually, the gremlins aren't a result of sabotage, but because the Raven is, in essence, a brand new and untested ship. I put them in so that they'd have to repair the shields, giving them the opportunity to create the multi-adaptive shields that we learn about in "Dark Frontier."
Well I liked how they figured out a way to adapt the shields by chance and it was a good way for them to come upon the idea. As for sabotage I guess I'm just a suspicious guy.
Deep Space Four
Field notes, USS Raven, Stardate 30689.2. After a month, we’ve managed to repair the most serious systems malfunctions, but still, we’re glad to have the opportunity to have the Raven checked at a proper starbase facility. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen any indications of Borg activity since we were in the Tenaj System. We hope we’re still on the right track.
*
The space station floated almost peacefully in space, but it orbited a cold sun. Its white hull glowed faintly in the darkness of the void, a beacon to the few ships that wandered the lonely spacelanes of the Omega Sector. The Raven flew at impulse, approaching the outpost, and it joined the plethora of small ships that already hovered around the oasis that was Deep Space Four.
Unlike Spacedock, very few of the ships docked at the space station were of Federation registry. This was not unexpected; the Drexler system was an isolated one, and most traffic was from traders. Magnus could see numerous freighters, but none of them bore Starfleet markings. They were vessels from other governments; among them, Magnus could see a small Yridian ship approaching the docking ports, an Argosian freighter that had already docked, as well as a Vulcan science vessel, and several other smaller craft that he couldn’t see clearly enough to identify.
Magnus and Erin’s secret project to develop multi-adaptive shielding had been going well. They’d managed to attach phase compensators to the power waveguide conduits that led to the shield emitters, and computer simulations had indicated that the system would be able to provide almost complete invisibility to over thirty different scan types. They’d also had a live test, late one night when the others were asleep, launching a probe and using it to perform random scans. In each case, it had taken them less than a minute to determine the scan the probe was performing, and once the shields were adjusted, the Raven had become, for all intents and purposes, invisible.
Magnus turned to Tahli, who was sitting at her usual seat at the tactical station. “Open a channel please,” he said.
Tahli tapped her console, opening a channel.
“USS Raven to Deep Space Four Operations,” Magnus said, turning back to the viewscreen. “Request permission to dock.”
“Raven, this is Lieutenant Dunbar. Please stand by,” came the response.
Erin looked at Magnus with a confused look on her face. “Is there a problem, Operations?” she asked.
“Affirmative, Raven. Yridian shuttle Yagmar is slightly behind schedule,” reported Dunbar. “We’ll have it cleared up in a few minutes.”
“Acknowledged, DS4,” said Erin. “USS Raven standing by.”
The computer spat out a harsh alarm. “Proximity alert,” called Tahli. “Unidentified vessel at 352 by 015, distance five hundred meters. They’ve just deviated from their flight plan and they’re closing fast!”
“Erin, take evasive action!” Magnus called out.
Under Erin’s hand, the Raven slewed off to the side. The freighter filled the screen, a great ugly red fist of metal, and it rushed across their bow, narrowly missing them. The Raven shuddered as the larger ship raced past. Seconds later, a beam of phaser fire from the station flashed after the freighter, crashing against its hull.
“We’re taking damage from engine wash!” Sue called from the engineering station. “The hull is incurring microfractures. Integrity down to 97 percent.”
“Damn it!” Erin cursed. “Sue, get those shields up! And find out who the hell they were!”
“Records indicate a private ship,” Magnus said. “Name of Nomannic.”
Erin angrily hit the console, opening a channel to the freighter. “USS Raven to Nomannic,” she said. “Nomannic, respond.”
“No response,” said Tahli. “They just went to warp.”
“Damn it,” said Erin, striking the console with the heel of her hand.
“We’re being hailed by the station,” said Tahli. She tapped the console and opened the channel.
“Raven, what’s your status?” came Dunbar’s voice.
“Our hull has taken some damage, and we’re a bit shaken up, DS4,” said Erin. “Other than that, we’re fine.”
“Can you catch the Nomannic?”
“Yes,” said Erin. “What’s happened?”
“It’s a Kressari freighter,” said Dunbar. “They’ve just come across the Neutral Zone. We wanted to check them for contraband, but they ran. We managed to disable their weapons, but their engines suffered only minor damage.”
“They’re smugglers?” said Magnus.
“It seems like it,” said Dunbar.
“We’re on our way,” said Erin. She tapped the console. The Raven spun around and rushed forward.
“The Nomannic is travelling at warp six,” said Tahli. “We’ll catch them in about thirty seconds.”
“Tahli, open a channel to the freighter,” said Magnus.
Tahli tapped her console. “You’re on, Magnus,” she said.
“Freighter Nomannic, this is the Federation Starship Raven,” Magnus said. “Cut your engines and prepare to be boarded.”
“No response,” said Tahli. The panel beeped and she looked down. “They’re increasing power to their engines, looks like they going to try to outrun us.”
“Tahli, arm a torpedo and lock onto their engines,” said Magnus. “We’ll force them out of warp.”
“Torpedo armed, target locked,” she reported.
“Fire,” said Magnus.
The torpedo burst from the Raven’s launchers and quickly crossed the distance to the Kressari vessel.
“Torpedo away,” said Tahli. “Their engines are down. They’re slowing to impulse.”
“Good,” said Erin, and she hit the panel. “Raven to Nomannic,” she said. “Lower your shields and prepare to be boarded.”
The computer beeped. “Their shields are down,” said Magnus. “Sensors indicate only four life forms aboard. I’ll beam over and take the ship back to DS4. Sue, Jason, you’re with me.”
“I hope you’re going to take phasers,” said Erin.
“Of course,” said Magnus. “We’ll follow you back to the station.”
*
Commander Hertzler, the officer in command of DS4, met them at the airlock when the ships docked. There was a security team waiting to escort the Nomannic’s small crew to the holding cells. The guards led them away, phasers drawn. Hertzler ignored them, stepping up to the team.
Hertzler reached out to shake their hands. “Welcome to Deep Space Four,” he said. “Fine work you did with the Nomannic. It seems that they panicked when they detected the Raven approaching. They must have thought that the Federation was after them. In any case, your performance out there was excellent.” He indicated a pair of gold uniformed officers. “Doctor Betcher, Doctor Nguyen, Doctor Kio, my men will escort you to your quarters.”
“Thank you,” said Sue. She and the others headed off. They had been eager to spend a few days off the ship; the Raven was starting to become a little claustrophobic. Magnus and Erin, however, had chosen to stay on the Raven.
“Doctors,” said Hertzler turning towards the Hansens, “I wonder if I may speak with you.”
“Of course,” said Erin.
“My engineering crew is going to be very busy,” said Hertzler. “It will be a while before the damage the Nomannic did to our tractor beams is repaired, but I’ve got an engineering crew on it. The work on your ship is underway as well. You were correct, the Raven’s diagnostic routines are badly corrupted, but we’re repairing the damage. It should be complete the day after tomorrow. We have also received a message from Starfleet Command.”
Magnus turned to the commander. “What did they say?” he asked.
“I have been notified that you would be arriving here, but Command did not give me any information about your mission,” said Hertzler. “They just reported that you would be travelling along the Federation side of the Neutral Zone, towards the Ivor and Jouret systems.”
“That’s the general plan at the moment,” said Erin.
“I’ve arranged a briefing for your team tomorrow in Operations,” said Hertzler. “It’s scheduled for eleven hundred. We’ve got a lot of information about the space you’ll be travelling through; hopefully we can help you develop a flight plan.”
“That would be appreciated, Commander,” said Erin. “Thank you.”
The doors of the turbolift hissed open and the Hansens stepped forward into Ops. Annika had been in a bad mood for some reason that morning, and her grumbling had delayed Magnus and Erin. As a result, the rest of the team had already arrived in Operations by the time they arrived.
At the front of the large room, the viewscreen stretched across the wall, and consoles and stations ringed the other walls. In the center of the room, a table displayed a map of the local space, the Romulan Neutral Zone tracing a harsh dark line through the stars.
“Ah, good morning,” said Hertzler, looking up from the central table as the Hansens stepped out of the lift. “Welcome to Operations.” He walked up to them.
“Thank you, Commander,” said Magnus.
Hertzler led them back down towards the central situation table where the rest of the team was gathered. “As soon as Starfleet sent us word that you would be passing through the Omega Sector, we launched a class eight probe along the Neutral Zone border towards the Ivor system. We’ve been getting the telemetry from the probe for a little over three weeks now. In addition to this, we’ve been able to gain access to the computer banks on the Nomannic. It had come across the Neutral Zone, as we had suspected, and they had some rather detailed information on Romulan activities.”
Sue looked at the display on the table. “What information have you got so far?”
Hertzler tapped the panel on the side of the table and the display changed to show the data from the probe. The course it had followed had taken it up alongside the Neutral Zone and through the Ivor and Jouret systems before heading into unknown space. “It would seem that your best option is to follow the Neutral Zone up towards the Typhon Sector and around the Typhon Expanse, trailing the probe’s course.”
“We were planning on cutting through that region,” said Erin.
“I’d recommend against that,” said Hertzler. “It’s an area of space that hasn’t been explored. The few scans that the Federation has made of the region show subspace distortions, more than would have been expected in a region of its stellar density. Because of the limited knowledge we have about the area, we recommend that you continue around it, without going through.”
“That looks like a fair distance out of the way, cutting around the Expanse and Romulan space like that,” said Sue. “There’s no shorter way?”
“I’m afraid not,” said Hertzler. “This route is the shortest possible way around the Expanse and Romulan space. Four hundred light years.”
“How much will it add to the distance we’ll have to travel?” asked Erin.
“It’s a little over one hundred and twenty five light years further than a straight line distance across Romulan space,” said Hertzler.
Erin sighed. “An extra one hundred and twenty five light years? That’s going to add almost three months to our journey,” she said. “There’s got to be a shorter way.”
“We’ve looked at the alternatives, and this is the shortest route,” said Hertzler.
“It looks like we don’t have a choice,” said Tahli.
“Yeah, it does look that way,” said Erin. She turned to Hertzler. “I’ve never flown in this area before,” she said. “What can you tell us about the space ahead?”
Hertzler tapped the panel again, and the course appeared on the screen. “If you follow the course the probe has travelled, the route will take you through the Tarod System,” he said. “It’s a yellow dwarf system with seventeen planets. Eight of them are Class J gas giants.”
“That would create a great deal of electro-magnetic radiation, wouldn’t it?” asked Sue
Hertzler nodded. “Affirmative,” he said. “The magnetic fields of the gas giants create very high levels of radiation.”
“Can anything be done to reduce the effects of the radiation on the Raven’s systems?” asked Magnus.
“Yes,” said Hertzler. “I’ve already instructed the repair crews to make the appropriate modifications.”
“Right,” said Jason. “What else is in the Tarod System?”
“There’s an outpost on the ninth planet,” said Hertzler, “placed there to monitor any Romulan activity.”
“Has there been any?” asked Magnus.
“None at all,” said Hertzler. “The Federation hasn’t detected any sign of Romulan activity since the incident with the warbird Tomed in 2311.”
“Good,” said Erin. “The last thing we need is to run into the Romulans.”
“What’s after the Tarod System?” asked Magnus.
“Not very much,” said Hertzler. “The majority of the Typhon Sector hasn’t been explored yet, so we can’t accurately predict what you’ll find. After you’ve passed through the Typhon Sector, you’ll go through the Ivor and the Jouret systems. We have small colonies in both of those systems, and they will be able to repair any damage you sustain from the radiation. Past that is Starbase 185, on the edge of Federation space. Beyond that, we know very little.”
Erin smiled. “Unexplored space. I’m looking forward to it.”
“The probe we launched will be about a fortnight ahead of you,” said Hertzler. “We’ll upload the transmission protocols to your computer so you can access the telemetry.”
“A look ahead,” said Tahli.
“Exactly,” said Hertzler, nodding. “We’ve sent a message to our colonies on Ivor Prime and Jouret IV notifying them that you’ll be passing through. Meanwhile, all the data we’ve received from the probe has been downloaded into the LCARS database. You will have the opportunity to examine it in your quarters. In the meantime, please feel free to make use of the facilities we have here on the station.”
“Thank you, Commander,” said Magnus.
An alarm suddenly blared into life, and Commander Hertzler wheeled around.
“Commander, we’re getting a distress call from the Olympia ,” said the officer at the communications station.
“Put them on,” said Hertzler.
A female voice came over the speakers. “This is Captain Lisa Cusak of the Federation starship Olympia,” she said. “We have been attacked and have taken heavy damage. Deep Space Four, we require urgent medical aid. We have fifty three severely wounded.”
“Olympia, you have clearance for an emergency docking at docking port three,” Hertzler said.
“Thank you, Deep Space Four,” said Cusak. “We estimate ETA in four minutes.”
Hertzler turned to the officer at the communications station. “Ensign Marshall, alert all ships to the situation. I don’t want anyone getting in their way as they come in. Bridge to sickbay.”
The doctor’s voice came over the comline. “Doctor Travis, go ahead.”
“Doctor, the Olympia is coming in with fifty three wounded,” said Hertzler. “Prepare sickbay.”
“I don’t have the staff to treat that many wounded,” said Travis. “I’d like anyone with any medical training to report to sickbay to help.”
“Acknowledged, Doctor,” said Hertzler. “Operations out.”
Erin stepped forward. “Commander,” she said, “I’ve had some medical training.”
“Good,” said Hertzler. “Report to sickbay.”
“Commander,” said Magnus, “I can help with repairs to the Olympia.”
“I’m willing to assist as well,” said Sue.
“Okay,” said Hertzler. “When the Olympia arrives, report to its engineering section.”
*
Erin and Commander Hertzler walked through the doors to the station’s sickbay. It was a small sickbay; there were less than one hundred people on the station, and as such, the medical facilities weren’t as extensive as those found aboard larger starbases. Erin stepped into the room, moving around people with bloodied noses or arms cradled in slings. The biobeds were all occupied, and those whose injuries were less severe stood or sat on the floor along the walls. She could hear low moans of pain coupled with the soft hums and the whirs of medical devices healing organs and knitting bone. The air around her had the metallic tang of blood.
One of the staff working in sickbay, a Human man about thirty five years old, looked up as Erin entered the room. “Erin Hansen?” he asked, ignoring the commander. There was blood on his arms up to his elbows.
“Yes,” said Erin. “You’re Doctor Travis?”
“Yes,” he said. “Glad to have you here. I could use a hand with Captain Cusak.”
“Sure,” said Erin.
Erin and Hertzler followed him to the biobed where Captain Cusak lay. The clamshells of the biobed’s sensor cluster were closed over her, but when Travis lowered them, Erin could see the blood stains that went down the left leg of her uniform.
Travis held out his hand to Erin without looking at her. “Tricorder.”
Erin quickly placed a medical tricorder in his hand, and Travis scanned the woman on the bed before him. “There’s internal bleeding, as well as a broken femur. I’ll have to set the bone or it could do more damage. First things first though. That bleeding has got to stop.” He held out his hand again. “Tissue mitigator.” Erin handed it to him, and he passed the instrument over her abdomen. “That’s helping with the bleeding,” Travis said, “so let’s move on to fixing that broken femur, shall we?”
While Erin assisted Doctor Travis, Commander Hertzler spoke to the Captain.
“Lisa,” he said, “what happened out there?”
“We were attacked,” Cusak said. Her voice was weak, coming in ragged gasps.
“Keep it short, Commander,” Travis said.
If Hertzler heard the doctor, he gave no indication. “Attacked?” he said. “Was it the Romulans?”
“No,” said Cusak. “We got a distress call, and went to help,” she said. Travis turned her leg slightly, and she moaned in pain. “It was a freighter. We were going to beam aboard to help, but they attacked when we lowered our shields.” Cusak moaned again, crying out in pain.
“I’m almost finished, Captain,” Travis said.
“They disabled our weapons… and our shields and engines with their first volleys.”
“Did you identify the ship?” asked Hertzler.
“Yes,” said Cusak. “A freighter called Nomannic.”
Erin looked up. “The ship we intercepted,” she said.
Cusak looked at Erin, then at Hertzler. “You caught them?” she asked.
“Dr Hansen here and her crew did,” Hertzler said, inclining his head towards Erin. “The crew is in our brig at the moment, and we’ve got security officers on the ship now.”
“Do you know why they attacked?” said Cusak.
“They were smugglers, and they probably thought you were going to find out about their cargo,” said Hertzler. “My teams found twelve canisters of biomimetic gel in the cargo hold. It looks like they were smuggling it across the Federation border. We’re analysing the ship’s data core to see if we can find out where it came from, and we’ve already discovered a lot of information about Romulan activity on the other side of the Neutral Zone.”
Travis lowered Cusak’s leg back down to the biobed gently. “The femur is healing nicely,” the doctor said. “There’s still some damage around the lateral condyle, so your knee will be sore for a few days. I’ll prescribe some painkillers for it, and you should be able to walk normally in a week or so.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” she said. “Commander, it seems that we’ve made quite a catch. That freighter’s computer could contain important tactical information about Romulan ship movements. Good work.”
“Thank you, Captain,” said Hertzler.
*
“Annika’s asleep,” Magnus said, coming back into the living area of their quarters on the Raven. The ship seemed much quieter now with the rest of the team on the station. He sat down on the lounge and picked up the padd that was laying on the arm.
“That’s good to hear,” said Erin with a sigh. She turned the desktop terminal she was looking at so that Magnus could see the screen. It showed a starchart of the local area, with a glowing line snaking around the border of Romulan space. “I’ve been looking at the stellar cartography database and cross referencing it with the data collected by the Olympia.”
“Been planning a course?”
“Trying to, yes,” said Erin. “How long before the Raven is ready to leave?”
“Commander Hertzler told me that the repairs to the Raven will be finished by ten tomorrow morning.”
“That’d be great if we had somewhere to go,” said Erin.
Magnus lowered the padd. “What do you mean, Erin?” he asked.
“We’d be losing three months, Magnus!” she exclaimed, swinging the terminal back around to face her. “Going around Romulan space will take us more than eight months. We might as well turn around now. The only way we can continue is if we cross the Neutral Zone.”
“Even if we did,” said Magnus, “crossing Romulan space will take us almost five months.”
“That beats more than eight months if we go around Romulan space,” said Erin. “And if we cut across the Neutral Zone, at least we can follow the Borg’s projected course without losing any more time. It will give us our best chance of picking up the trail again. Besides, at the moment, we’re a month behind the Borg. Going around Romulan space will leave us more than four months behind them. And that’s out of the question.” She was quiet for a beat, looking at Magnus’ face. She knew the expression he was wearing. “If we were to do this, what about the rest of the team?”
Magnus sighed. “They’re not likely to agree with this decision,” he said. “And we can’t exactly ask them. If they don’t agree with us, they’re going to go straight to Hertzler, and the mission will be cut short.” He was quiet for a moment, taking a deep breath. “We’ll have to leave without them.”
Erin nodded. “Agreed,” she said. “We’ll have to continue on our own.”
Magnus looked up at her. “So, you really think that’s the only way to go?”
Erin leaned back with a sigh. “I think so,” she said. “If we go the long way around, the trail will be long cold by the time we pick it up again.”
“Okay, so we’re agreed,” said Magnus. “We’ll cut through Romulan Space.”
“Yeah,” said Erin. “And download the Nomannic’s database from the station’s computer. If it has spent time in Romulan space, it would have a lot of information we can use.”
“A computer virus should be able to allow us access,” said Magnus, playing with the padd. “It won’t cover our tracks for long though. I’ll be able to write a crude virus by morning, just enough to access the computer for a few minutes.”
“We won’t need it for long,” replied Erin. “By the time they find out what we’ve done we’ll be long gone.” She sighed. “But with the Olympia at the station… We could never outrun her.”
“If we could,” Magnus said, gently tapping his fingertips against the back of the padd, “if I had a way to get past the Olympia, would you try for Romulan space?”
Erin looked up at him, silent for a moment. “Yes,” she said.
“Then let’s do it,” Magnus said.
Erin recognised the roguish look in her husband’s eyes. “What have you got?” asked Erin.
Magnus lifted the padd. “Something I found while I was working in the Olympia’s engineering section today,” he said. “It’s going to help us with that.”
Erin leaned forward, her curiosity piqued. “What?” she asked.
Magnus tossed her the padd. Erin looked at the numbers displayed on the screen:
184924609
She looked up at her husband, a confused expression on her face. “What’s this?” she asked.
Magnus smiled. “That,” he said, “is the Olympia’s prefix code.”
*
Magnus had created the computer virus and it had worked perfectly, sending a copy of the Nomannic’s database to the Raven’s computers and then deleted the traces it left behind. Magnus was proud of it; it had been a nifty little program.
Magnus and Erin spent most of the next morning in the cantina of Deep Space Four. There was a large area for games, lounges along the windowed wall that looked out into space as well as an eating area with a number of tables and replicators along the wall.
They were sitting at a table in the eating area having an early lunch with Annika when a call came down from Operations. “Commander Hertzler to Doctors Hansen.”
“Erin here. What is it, Commander?”
“I’ve got some good news,” said Hertzler. “The repairs to the Raven have been completed, and she’s ready to go.”
Magnus and Erin looked at each other. They were both somewhat apprehensive about the course they had decided on, but they had also decided that the research had to come first. Magnus pushed the nervousness away. “That’s great,” he said.
“Have you completed your flight plan yet?” asked Hertzler.
Erin looked at Magnus, her expression taking on a more worried appearance. Since they had decided to cross the Romulan Neutral Zone, they hadn’t created a flight plan as it was hardly likely to be approved; it would only have alerted Commander Hertzler to their plans, and they would have been placed under arrest. They hadn’t even had the opportunity to create a false flight plan; they’d been too busy sorting out the details of their planned trip across Romulan space. All they had was the basic flight plan that had been transmitted to Starfleet. “Uh, we still need to finalize some of the details,” she said.
“Very well,” said Hertzler, and the channel closed.
Magnus turned to Erin. “Erin,” he said, “we’re going to have to get away from the station somehow.”
“Well, Commander Hertzler’s hardly about to let us go without filing a flight plan,” said Erin.
“Then we’ll have to give him a reason to let us go,” said Magnus. “And I have an idea about that. Come on, Annika, time to go.”
The three of them headed away from the cantina, making their way through the corridors towards the docking module.
*
Magnus turned to Erin as they stepped through the airlock onto the Raven. “You’re ready to do this?” he asked.
Erin took a deep breath. She had no great love of the Federation’s extensive rulebook; she felt they constricted her too much, limited her freedom. However, now that she was about to break one of those rules, she was beginning to have second thoughts. “I’m ready,” she said, but her voice betrayed her uneasiness.
Magnus gave her a reassuring smile. “Let’s get to the bridge,” he said.
They left Annika in her quarters playing with her stuffed Toby the Targ before heading to the bridge. When they got there, Magnus went to the engineering station and ran a diagnostic. “Looks like they did a good job,” he said. “All engineering systems are functioning at full efficiency, and navigational systems are online.” He turned to the conn. “You really sure you want to do this, honey?”
Erin looked at him. “Yes, Magnus,” she said.
Magnus looked at her. “Alright,” he said. He turned back to the panel and entered a series of commands. “I’m taking the antimatter containment fields to twenty percent over three minutes.”
Magnus entered the final command, and the computer spat out a harsh alarm. “Warning: antimatter containment at ninety five percent and falling. Containment failure in three minutes.”
“Erin, open a channel to Operations.”
Erin tapped the panel. “Open,” she said as the commander appeared on the viewscreen.
“Commander Hertzler, our antimatter containment fields are failing,” Magnus said. “In less than three minutes we’ll lose antimatter containment and we can’t stop it. Release the docking clamps and we’ll move the ship to a safe distance.”
“Warning: antimatter containment at ninety percent and falling. Containment failure in two minutes, fifty seconds.”
Hertzler turned and gave an order to someone they couldn’t see. “We’ll keep a transporter lock on you, Doctors,” he said, turning back to face them. “Good luck.”
“Thank you, Commander,” Magnus said, and Erin closed the channel.
“Warning: antimatter containment at eighty five percent and falling. Containment failure in two minutes, forty seconds.”
A soft vibration echoed through the ship, and a light glowed into life on the helm. “Docking clamps have been released,” said Erin, and she ran her fingers over the panel. “Setting a course away from the station.”
The Raven moved back from DS4’s docking module, then turned, rotating away from the station and moved forward, leaving Deep Space Four behind them.
“Warning: antimatter containment at eighty percent and falling. Containment failure in two minutes, thirty seconds.”
“I’m bringing containment to one hundred percent,” said Magnus, entering the commands into the engineering station. “Erin, raise shields.”
Erin tapped the helm. “Shields up,” she said. “We’re being hailed. I’m putting them on.”
Hertzler’s voice came angry over the channel. “What the hell are you doing? Raven, return to the station immediately!”
“Don’t respond,” said Magnus.
“Magnus, the Olympia is powering up with orders to pursue,” said Erin.
“Don’t worry about it,” said Magnus.
Erin turned to him. “You’re sure that this is going to work?”
Magnus didn’t look up from his console. “Trust me,” he said. “How long until we reach the Neutral Zone?”
“Thirteen minutes, twenty eight seconds, once we go to warp,” said Erin. “We’re being hailed again. It’s Captain Cusak on the Olympia.” She tapped a control and opened the channel.
“What are you doing?” came Cusak’s voice. “Turn your ship around at once! Do not cross into the Neutral Zone!”
Erin looked at Magnus. “I’m sorry, Captain,” she said to Cusak. “Our sensors are experiencing some minor malfunctions and we are unable to get a positive reading on our location. Raven out.”
“They’re increasing power to their impulse engines, Erin,” said Magnus. “Time to go to warp.”
Erin tapped the helm. “Going to warp eight,” she said, and the stars leapt forward behind a curtain of shimmering blue.
“The Olympia is pursuing,” said Magnus. “They’re at warp nine point five. Three minutes to intercept.” He looked up at Erin. “I think it’s time we showed our hand.”
Magnus turned to the tactical console, tapping the panel. “I’m trying to establish a datalink with their computer.” His hands ran over the console, attempting to bypass security subroutines.
“Two minutes thirty seconds to intercept, Magnus,” said Erin. “But they’ll be in weapons range in less than one minute.”
“I’ll get it, Erin,” said Magnus, not looking up. “Just need to get past the security lockout, another few seconds…”
“Intercept in two minutes fifteen.”
The panel started beeping. “Got it,” said Magnus. “I’m in. I’m sending the prefix code and ordering the Olympia to run a level one diagnostic on all warp drive systems. It should shut down their warp core for at least three hours.” He entered the commands and the computer panel beeped. “The code’s been sent,” said Magnus.
“No change in readings,” said Erin. “Their warp drive systems are still operating at full capacity.”
Magnus looked up at her. “Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Their drive systems are still at nominal levels. They’ll intercept in two minutes, they’ll be in weapons range in nine seconds.”
“I’ll send the code again,” said Magnus, turning back to the panel.
The computer beeped, and Erin looked down. “It worked, Magnus!” she cried out joyously. “Their warp field just collapsed and they’re dropping to impulse.” She turned and grinned at him. “We did it!”
Magnus sighed, leaning back in his chair. “I knew we’d make it,” he said softly.
Leaving the disabled Olympia behind, the Raven flew towards Romulan space.
*
The midmorning sun was shining in through the windows in Admiral Jameson’s office, reflecting in the star chart displayed on his desktop monitor, showing the Al-Batani and the Klingon research vessel M’Groth in the Arias sector. He’d been worried about this mission; despite public enthusiasm, there were still threats to the uneasy peace between the Federation and the Klingons, though so far the joint science mission had been without incident.
The comm chirped softly. Jameson looked away from the monitor and tapped the panel. “What is it, Alyssa?”
“We’ve just received a message from Deep Space Four, sir.”
Jameson sighed. “Can’t it wait?” The Hansen’s team wouldn’t have any significant results yet, and he’d much rather keep his eye on the Arias sector.
“I’m sorry sir,” said Alyssa, “but it’s labelled Priority One.”
“Fine, send it through.” Jameson sighed again, though with more irritation than before. It was probably Erin. He wouldn’t put it past her to send a message as Priority One just to make him sit up and take notice of the mission he had tried to prevent. He tapped the controls, and the message appeared on the monitor.
It wasn’t Erin.
“Admiral, Sue Betcher reporting. We’ve got a problem. Magnus and Erin have stolen the Raven and are headed for the Romulan Neutral Zone. The starship Olympia was at the station and went after them, but the Hansens were able to shut down the Olympia’s warp core. At this time, the Raven is approximately five minutes from crossing into the Neutral Zone.” Jameson checked the time delay – nearly four hours. The Raven had crossed the Neutral Zone and violated the treaty with the Romulans almost four hours ago. “Tahli and Jason are on the station,” Sue continued, “but the Hansens did take their daughter with them. Tahli, Jason and I will remain here for further instructions.”
Jameson was stunned. The Hansens had risked the peace with the Romulans to chase the Borg? It was beyond belief! Jameson smacked the heel of his hand against his table hard, and the impact pushed his chair away. “Shit!” he cursed. “Damn them!”
The door to his office hissed open. Alyssa was standing there, a worried look on her face. “Are you alright sir?” she asked.
“Yes,” snapped Jameson. Alyssa turned to leave, rebuked. “Alyssa, wait.”
She turned back. “What is it, sir?”
“I want a secure Priority One channel to Deep Space Four, I want a secure Priority One channel to the Federation President, I want to access the records of Magnus Hansen, Erin Hansen and Annika Hansen in the Federation Registry, and the record of the USS Raven in the Starfleet Registry.”
“Aye sir,” Alyssa said. She turned and the door hissed shut behind her. After a moment her voice came over the comm. “The connections are ready sir.”
“Thank you,” said Jameson. He tapped the console for the channel to DS4. “Doctor Betcher, this is Admiral Jameson. Remain on Deep Space Four. I will arrive as soon as possible to interview you, the other team members and the captain of the Olympia. I also expect written reports from each of you. I have informed the Federation President of the situation and taken appropriate action.”
He sighed and tapped the controls to send the message, then opened the channel to the Federation President. “Madam President, this is Admiral Jameson. We have a security problem with the Hansens’ research mission. Magnus and Erin have stolen the Raven and crossed into the Romulan Neutral Zone. It’s possible they are defecting. To protect Federation interests, I see no option but to remove their status as Federation citizens, file criminal charges against them and list the Raven as lost in the line of duty.”
He closed the channel and opened the Federation Registry, changed the Raven’s status to LOST and revoked the Hansens’ Federation citizenship status.
“That’s good to hear,” said Erin with a sigh. She turned the desktop terminal she was looking at so that Magnus could see the screen. It showed a starchart of the local area, with a glowing line snaking around the border of Romulan space. “I’ve been looking at the stellar cartography database and cross referencing it with the data collected by the Olympia.”
“Been planning a course?”
“Trying to, yes,” said Erin. “How long before the Raven is ready to leave?”
“Commander Hertzler told me that the repairs to the Raven will be finished by ten tomorrow morning.”
“That’d be great if we had somewhere to go,” said Erin.
Magnus lowered the padd. “What do you mean, Erin?” he asked.
“We’d be losing three months, Magnus!” she exclaimed, swinging the terminal back around to face her. “Going around Romulan space will take us more than eight months. We might as well turn around now. The only way we can continue is if we cross the Neutral Zone.”
“Even if we did,” said Magnus, “crossing Romulan space will take us almost five months.”
“That beats more than eight months if we go around Romulan space,” said Erin. “And if we cut across the Neutral Zone, at least we can follow the Borg’s projected course without losing any more time. It will give us our best chance of picking up the trail again. Besides, at the moment, we’re a month behind the Borg. Going around Romulan space will leave us more than four months behind them. And that’s out of the question.” She was quiet for a beat, looking at Magnus’ face. She knew the expression he was wearing. “If we were to do this, what about the rest of the team?”
Magnus sighed. “They’re not likely to agree with this decision,” he said. “And we can’t exactly ask them. If they don’t agree with us, they’re going to go straight to Hertzler, and the mission will be cut short.” He was quiet for a moment, taking a deep breath. “We’ll have to leave without them.”
Erin nodded. “Agreed,” she said. “We’ll have to continue on our own.”
Magnus looked up at her. “So, you really think that’s the only way to go?”
Erin leaned back with a sigh. “I think so,” she said. “If we go the long way around, the trail will be long cold by the time we pick it up again.”
“Okay, so we’re agreed,” said Magnus. “We’ll cut through Romulan Space.”
“Yeah,” said Erin. “And download the Nomannic’s database from the station’s computer. If it has spent time in Romulan space, it would have a lot of information we can use.”
“A computer virus should be able to allow us access,” said Magnus, playing with the padd. “It won’t cover our tracks for long though. I’ll be able to write a crude virus by morning, just enough to access the computer for a few minutes.”
“We won’t need it for long,” replied Erin. “By the time they find out what we’ve done we’ll be long gone.” She sighed. “But with the Olympia at the station… We could never outrun her.”
“If we could,” Magnus said, gently tapping his fingertips against the back of the padd, “if I had a way to get past the Olympia, would you try for Romulan space?”
Erin looked up at him, silent for a moment. “Yes,” she said.
“Then let’s do it,” Magnus said.
Erin recognised the roguish look in her husband’s eyes. “What have you got?” asked Erin.
Magnus lifted the padd. “Something I found while I was working in the Olympia’s engineering section today,” he said. “It’s going to help us with that.”
Erin leaned forward, her curiosity piqued. “What?” she asked.
Magnus tossed her the padd. Erin looked at the numbers displayed on the screen:
184924609
She looked up at her husband, a confused expression on her face. “What’s this?” she asked.
Magnus smiled. “That,” he said, “is the Olympia’s prefix code.”
*
Magnus had created the computer virus and it had worked perfectly, sending a copy of the Nomannic’s database to the Raven’s computers and then deleted the traces it left behind. Magnus was proud of it; it had been a nifty little program.
Magnus and Erin spent most of the next morning in the cantina of Deep Space Four. There was a large area for games, lounges along the windowed wall that looked out into space as well as an eating area with a number of tables and replicators along the wall.
They were sitting at a table in the eating area having an early lunch with Annika when a call came down from Operations. “Commander Hertzler to Doctors Hansen.”
“Erin here. What is it, Commander?”
“I’ve got some good news,” said Hertzler. “The repairs to the Raven have been completed, and she’s ready to go.”
Magnus and Erin looked at each other. They were both somewhat apprehensive about the course they had decided on, but they had also decided that the research had to come first. Magnus pushed the nervousness away. “That’s great,” he said.
“Have you completed your flight plan yet?” asked Hertzler.
Erin looked at Magnus, her expression taking on a more worried appearance. Since they had decided to cross the Romulan Neutral Zone, they hadn’t created a flight plan as it was hardly likely to be approved; it would only have alerted Commander Hertzler to their plans, and they would have been placed under arrest. They hadn’t even had the opportunity to create a false flight plan; they’d been too busy sorting out the details of their planned trip across Romulan space. All they had was the basic flight plan that had been transmitted to Starfleet. “Uh, we still need to finalize some of the details,” she said.
“Very well,” said Hertzler, and the channel closed.
Magnus turned to Erin. “Erin,” he said, “we’re going to have to get away from the station somehow.”
“Well, Commander Hertzler’s hardly about to let us go without filing a flight plan,” said Erin.
“Then we’ll have to give him a reason to let us go,” said Magnus. “And I have an idea about that. Come on, Annika, time to go.”
The three of them headed away from the cantina, making their way through the corridors towards the docking module.
*
Magnus turned to Erin as they stepped through the airlock onto the Raven. “You’re ready to do this?” he asked.
Erin took a deep breath. She had no great love of the Federation’s extensive rulebook; she felt they constricted her too much, limited her freedom. However, now that she was about to break one of those rules, she was beginning to have second thoughts. “I’m ready,” she said, but her voice betrayed her uneasiness.
Magnus gave her a reassuring smile. “Let’s get to the bridge,” he said.
They left Annika in her quarters playing with her stuffed Toby the Targ before heading to the bridge. When they got there, Magnus went to the engineering station and ran a diagnostic. “Looks like they did a good job,” he said. “All engineering systems are functioning at full efficiency, and navigational systems are online.” He turned to the conn. “You really sure you want to do this, honey?”
Erin looked at him. “Yes, Magnus,” she said.
Magnus looked at her. “Alright,” he said. He turned back to the panel and entered a series of commands. “I’m taking the antimatter containment fields to twenty percent over three minutes.”
Magnus entered the final command, and the computer spat out a harsh alarm. “Warning: antimatter containment at ninety five percent and falling. Containment failure in three minutes.”
“Erin, open a channel to Operations.”
Erin tapped the panel. “Open,” she said as the commander appeared on the viewscreen.
“Commander Hertzler, our antimatter containment fields are failing,” Magnus said. “In less than three minutes we’ll lose antimatter containment and we can’t stop it. Release the docking clamps and we’ll move the ship to a safe distance.”
“Warning: antimatter containment at ninety percent and falling. Containment failure in two minutes, fifty seconds.”
Hertzler turned and gave an order to someone they couldn’t see. “We’ll keep a transporter lock on you, Doctors,” he said, turning back to face them. “Good luck.”
“Thank you, Commander,” Magnus said, and Erin closed the channel.
“Warning: antimatter containment at eighty five percent and falling. Containment failure in two minutes, forty seconds.”
A soft vibration echoed through the ship, and a light glowed into life on the helm. “Docking clamps have been released,” said Erin, and she ran her fingers over the panel. “Setting a course away from the station.”
The Raven moved back from DS4’s docking module, then turned, rotating away from the station and moved forward, leaving Deep Space Four behind them.
“Warning: antimatter containment at eighty percent and falling. Containment failure in two minutes, thirty seconds.”
“I’m bringing containment to one hundred percent,” said Magnus, entering the commands into the engineering station. “Erin, raise shields.”
Erin tapped the helm. “Shields up,” she said. “We’re being hailed. I’m putting them on.”
Hertzler’s voice came angry over the channel. “What the hell are you doing? Raven, return to the station immediately!”
“Don’t respond,” said Magnus.
“Magnus, the Olympia is powering up with orders to pursue,” said Erin.
“Don’t worry about it,” said Magnus.
Erin turned to him. “You’re sure that this is going to work?”
Magnus didn’t look up from his console. “Trust me,” he said. “How long until we reach the Neutral Zone?”
“Thirteen minutes, twenty eight seconds, once we go to warp,” said Erin. “We’re being hailed again. It’s Captain Cusak on the Olympia.” She tapped a control and opened the channel.
“What are you doing?” came Cusak’s voice. “Turn your ship around at once! Do not cross into the Neutral Zone!”
Erin looked at Magnus. “I’m sorry, Captain,” she said to Cusak. “Our sensors are experiencing some minor malfunctions and we are unable to get a positive reading on our location. Raven out.”
“They’re increasing power to their impulse engines, Erin,” said Magnus. “Time to go to warp.”
Erin tapped the helm. “Going to warp eight,” she said, and the stars leapt forward behind a curtain of shimmering blue.
“The Olympia is pursuing,” said Magnus. “They’re at warp nine point five. Three minutes to intercept.” He looked up at Erin. “I think it’s time we showed our hand.”
Magnus turned to the tactical console, tapping the panel. “I’m trying to establish a datalink with their computer.” His hands ran over the console, attempting to bypass security subroutines.
“Two minutes thirty seconds to intercept, Magnus,” said Erin. “But they’ll be in weapons range in less than one minute.”
“I’ll get it, Erin,” said Magnus, not looking up. “Just need to get past the security lockout, another few seconds…”
“Intercept in two minutes fifteen.”
The panel started beeping. “Got it,” said Magnus. “I’m in. I’m sending the prefix code and ordering the Olympia to run a level one diagnostic on all warp drive systems. It should shut down their warp core for at least three hours.” He entered the commands and the computer panel beeped. “The code’s been sent,” said Magnus.
“No change in readings,” said Erin. “Their warp drive systems are still operating at full capacity.”
Magnus looked up at her. “Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Their drive systems are still at nominal levels. They’ll intercept in two minutes, they’ll be in weapons range in nine seconds.”
“I’ll send the code again,” said Magnus, turning back to the panel.
The computer beeped, and Erin looked down. “It worked, Magnus!” she cried out joyously. “Their warp field just collapsed and they’re dropping to impulse.” She turned and grinned at him. “We did it!”
Magnus sighed, leaning back in his chair. “I knew we’d make it,” he said softly.
Leaving the disabled Olympia behind, the Raven flew towards Romulan space.
*
The midmorning sun was shining in through the windows in Admiral Jameson’s office, reflecting in the star chart displayed on his desktop monitor, showing the Al-Batani and the Klingon research vessel M’Groth in the Arias sector. He’d been worried about this mission; despite public enthusiasm, there were still threats to the uneasy peace between the Federation and the Klingons, though so far the joint science mission had been without incident.
The comm chirped softly. Jameson looked away from the monitor and tapped the panel. “What is it, Alyssa?”
“We’ve just received a message from Deep Space Four, sir.”
Jameson sighed. “Can’t it wait?” The Hansen’s team wouldn’t have any significant results yet, and he’d much rather keep his eye on the Arias sector.
“I’m sorry sir,” said Alyssa, “but it’s labelled Priority One.”
“Fine, send it through.” Jameson sighed again, though with more irritation than before. It was probably Erin. He wouldn’t put it past her to send a message as Priority One just to make him sit up and take notice of the mission he had tried to prevent. He tapped the controls, and the message appeared on the monitor.
It wasn’t Erin.
“Admiral, Sue Betcher reporting. We’ve got a problem. Magnus and Erin have stolen the Raven and are headed for the Romulan Neutral Zone. The starship Olympia was at the station and went after them, but the Hansens were able to shut down the Olympia’s warp core. At this time, the Raven is approximately five minutes from crossing into the Neutral Zone.” Jameson checked the time delay – nearly four hours. The Raven had crossed the Neutral Zone and violated the treaty with the Romulans almost four hours ago. “Tahli and Jason are on the station,” Sue continued, “but the Hansens did take their daughter with them. Tahli, Jason and I will remain here for further instructions.”
Jameson was stunned. The Hansens had risked the peace with the Romulans to chase the Borg? It was beyond belief! Jameson smacked the heel of his hand against his table hard, and the impact pushed his chair away. “Shit!” he cursed. “Damn them!”
The door to his office hissed open. Alyssa was standing there, a worried look on her face. “Are you alright sir?” she asked.
“Yes,” snapped Jameson. Alyssa turned to leave, rebuked. “Alyssa, wait.”
She turned back. “What is it, sir?”
“I want a secure Priority One channel to Deep Space Four, I want a secure Priority One channel to the Federation President, I want to access the records of Magnus Hansen, Erin Hansen and Annika Hansen in the Federation Registry, and the record of the USS Raven in the Starfleet Registry.”
“Aye sir,” Alyssa said. She turned and the door hissed shut behind her. After a moment her voice came over the comm. “The connections are ready sir.”
“Thank you,” said Jameson. He tapped the console for the channel to DS4. “Doctor Betcher, this is Admiral Jameson. Remain on Deep Space Four. I will arrive as soon as possible to interview you, the other team members and the captain of the Olympia. I also expect written reports from each of you. I have informed the Federation President of the situation and taken appropriate action.”
He sighed and tapped the controls to send the message, then opened the channel to the Federation President. “Madam President, this is Admiral Jameson. We have a security problem with the Hansens’ research mission. Magnus and Erin have stolen the Raven and crossed into the Romulan Neutral Zone. It’s possible they are defecting. To protect Federation interests, I see no option but to remove their status as Federation citizens, file criminal charges against them and list the Raven as lost in the line of duty.”
He closed the channel and opened the Federation Registry, changed the Raven’s status to LOST and revoked the Hansens’ Federation citizenship status.
A lot of adventure in these segments. Erin and Magnus can turn their hand to a lot of things. They are quite adaptable themselves, which probably makes them the ideal choice to follow the Borg.
You managed to dump the other crew in a clever tactic by Magnus and Erin. Early on I wondered how they would be wrangled out of the story to fit in with the Voyager canon history of the Raven. These segments do a lot to explain and match up the details. So well done. Especially since some of my ideas included them getting killed in some fashion which I would have thought would make Erin and Magnus putting Annika in such danger. So it was a wise move and nicely executed.
Had the surfluous crew not been ousted at this stage I would have commented that there had been little character development of these characters. We got little in the way of expanding the type of person Sue was for example. However, seeing as how they were dumped in this section, I'm happy to over look that fact.
Still enjoying the ride. I wonder now how they will fare in Romulan space? Looking forward to more.
You managed to dump the other crew in a clever tactic by Magnus and Erin. Early on I wondered how they would be wrangled out of the story to fit in with the Voyager canon history of the Raven. These segments do a lot to explain and match up the details. So well done. Especially since some of my ideas included them getting killed in some fashion which I would have thought would make Erin and Magnus putting Annika in such danger. So it was a wise move and nicely executed.
Had the surfluous crew not been ousted at this stage I would have commented that there had been little character development of these characters. We got little in the way of expanding the type of person Sue was for example. However, seeing as how they were dumped in this section, I'm happy to over look that fact.
Still enjoying the ride. I wonder now how they will fare in Romulan space? Looking forward to more.
Oh, wow...you're doing a spectacular job of highlighting that deadly combination of recklessness and singlemindedness that got the Hansen family into such a horrible situation in the end. As if I weren't already mad enough at them for endangering a child, this is just making me even more furious at them for bringing Annika along for the ride!
I love writing the adventure stuff. That's probably why I have such a hard time writing stuff with Annika; it's hard to put her into the adventure stuff without making her parents look like pricks.
Originally I was going to have Magnus and Erin go alone (with Annika), but I quickly realised that this would be very hard to believe. Doing things this way fits in better, I think, with the line Erin has in one of the flashbacks we saw in "Dark Frontier"... "Our colleagues obviously think we are insane."
Also, I've always felt that this technique was pretty much the same that Tom Riker used to steal the Defiant from DS9. I've tried to think of something different, but the fact is that it's a plan that works, and the way I did it works pretty well, I think.
I know, there was very little character development with them. But they were never intended to be anything more than means to an end, even after they had their roles expanded to go with the Hansens on the Raven.
Oh, I had a blast writing those bits. You'll get a taste in the next chapter. Although I do remember there was one chapter involving the Romulans that I put off writing for months, because (as they say), it's always perfect until you start writing it. Only then do you see the bad bits.
Yeah, writing this has firmly convinced me that the Hansens were stupid idiots for taking Annika with them.
BTW, anyone get the jokes in this chapter? Try spelling the name of the freighter backwards. Also, the Olympia's prefix code is the registry number of a spaceship that appeared in a very famous movie. And the commander of DS4 is related to an actor from Star Trek, apparently.
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I caught the thing with Hertzler's name, yes. The rest, I didn't until you pointed it out.
yeah the Hansens are quite reckless but from their point of view merely dedicated and committed scientists. With their blinkers on they don't see the dangers, plus no-one probably quite foresaw the danger the Borg were going to be.
Got the Hertzler bit though admittedly didn't realise an intentional nod. I wonder is that prefix a default setting?
As for the name I thought you were going for a play on Nomadic - but cinnamon?
Got the Hertzler bit though admittedly didn't realise an intentional nod. I wonder is that prefix a default setting?
As for the name I thought you were going for a play on Nomadic - but cinnamon?Quiet a few names in this story are just regular words spelled backwards. The Tenaj system was named for a friend of mine named Janet, for example. But actually, the Nomannic was taken from a freighter in the computer game "X-wing vs. Tie Fighter." I always thought it sounded cool (although the description of the freighter itself is based on a description of the JMC mining vessel Red Dwarf from one of the novels. )
BTW, as I said in the first post, this is a work in progress. I'm still writing it as we speak. For the last two weeks or so I've been working on a chapter regarding the Borg power generation and transwarp coils. So far, I'm pretty happy with it. And when you read it, you'll finally learn why the Borg had that huge empty space inside the Cube (that we saw in that pullback at the beginning of First Contact).
)BTW, as I said in the first post, this is a work in progress. I'm still writing it as we speak. For the last two weeks or so I've been working on a chapter regarding the Borg power generation and transwarp coils. So far, I'm pretty happy with it. And when you read it, you'll finally learn why the Borg had that huge empty space inside the Cube (that we saw in that pullback at the beginning of First Contact).
Mmm ... interesting my mind boggles about that space now. To be honest I'd never paid it much mind but it does now strike me as an inefficient use of space!
So presumably it's not retail space for rent? One Borg Mocha please.
So presumably it's not retail space for rent? One Borg Mocha please.
Romulan Space
Field notes, USS Raven, Stardate 30997.4. After a full day crossing the Neutral Zone, we’ve entered Romulan space. In an effort to remain undetected, we’ve shut down all non-essential systems and taken the Raven to grey mode.
Magnus had spent a few hours now at the tactical station looking over the Nomannic’s database, and it had proven to be very useful. After spending hours sifting through the database, Erin had been able to plot a course for the Raven through Romulan space. The information they recovered from the freighter had proven invaluable; the Nomannic had been in Romulan space for almost two months and not only had it given them detailed starcharts, but it had provided them with information about Romulan ship movements. The best they could hope for was a trip of almost five months, but still, it was an improvement on the eight month journey they would have faced if they had chosen to travel around Romulan space. A big risk, but one that, if it paid off, would enable them to gain valuable ground on the Borg.
On the bridge of the Raven, Magnus and Erin were maintaining constant vigilance. Since crossing into the Neutral Zone, they had been at grey mode so as to minimize their power signature. They were travelling at warp six, and long range sensors were operating at minimum, using only passive scans to look for any indication of Romulan ships. Their multi-adaptive shielding would be able to hide them from cursory sensor scans, so they would still have low power systems such as replicators, but higher power systems – holodecks and weapons – would be offline.
“Magnus, we’re crossing into Romulan space,” Erin said, looking up from the helm. “All non-essential systems are operating at grey mode and are stable.”
Magnus turned from the tactical station. “Have you been able to plot a course?”
“Yes,” said Erin, tapping her console and bring up a starchart of the course she had plotted over the last few hours. “We’ll be passing through a sparsely populated region of space, but there are some outposts. I’ve adjusted our course to avoid them by at least a light year.”
“How many star systems will we be passing through?”
“Twenty seven,” said Erin. “Eight of them are inhabited, but they are all pre-industrialized civilisations. We’ll be passing through the first system in about a week.”
*
The Raven flew on through Romulan space, remaining at grey mode, all the while watchful for the approach of any Romulan vessels. They passed stellar nurseries of coalescing matter, globular clusters of stars dancing slow waltzes, and nebulae that reached out with great gaseous fingers and tried to draw them in with great pillars of dust that were cold, dark, and stunning, yet, preoccupied by their search for the Borg, the Hansens remained indifferent to the spectacle.
“Magnus, we’re approaching the Unroth system,” said Erin. “All systems are still at grey mode.”
Magnus called up the readouts of the system. “According to the Nomannic database, there’s nothing in this system to give us any trouble.” He sighed thoughtfully. “But we should stay at grey mode anyway, just to be on the safe side.”
Erin smiled back at him. “I wasn’t suggesting otherwise,” she said. She looked down at the helm display. “We’re passing the outermost planet. We’ll be through in twenty three minutes.”
“Acknowledged,” said Magnus.
The Raven sped past the small icy planet and continued through the system, towards a gas giant. Great waves of radiation generated by the planet’s massive magnetic field flowed forth from it.
“We’re approaching the next planet,” said Erin. “The radiation is creating some minor fluctuations in our multi-adaptive shielding.”
Magnus looked up from the tactical console. “How bad is it?” he asked.
“Nothing too major,” said Erin. “I’m working on it now.”
“Make it quick, Erin,” said Magnus. “We can’t afford to…” He was cut off by a harsh alarm from his console, and he spun back to the station. “Erin, I’m reading a power signature coming from the third moon!” he called. “We need those shields online!”
Erin worked feverishly, but the fluctuations refused to be eliminated. “I can’t!” she cried out. “The radiation from the gas giant is wreaking havoc with the calibrations.” She looked at him. “We’ll need to be at least a quarter million kilometers from the gas giant for the multi-adaptive shields to operate properly. I’m setting a course away now.”
Magnus spun to face her. “No!” he said urgently. “Take us back towards the third moon.”
“What?” Erin was incredulous.
“Whatever’s causing that power signature has to be destroyed before it transmits our location,” said Magnus. “We’ll never be able to get out of range in time.”
“Setting a course,” said Erin. “ETA in 25 seconds.”
Magnus activated the weapons systems. “I’m arming the torpedo launcher and targeting the coordinates.” A harsh alarm spat out a warning, and Magnus cursed. “Shit! Erin, we’re being scanned!” He hit his fist onto the panel, launching the torpedo. The weapon burst out of the launcher and raced towards the source of the reading, detonating and destroying its target in a brilliant explosion.
Magnus looked up from the display. “It looked like a sensor array,” he said, turning back to Erin.
“Did it transmit our location?” asked Erin.
Magnus examined the sensor logs. “I’m not sure,” he said. “It got out a partial transmission, but I don’t know if coordinates were sent.”
Erin was quiet for a moment. “What do we do now?” she asked.
“We get the hell out of here,” Magnus said. “If we stay, we will be found. Sooner or later, the Romulans will turn up to find out what happened to their sensor array.”
Erin nodded. “I’m taking us back to our original course, increasing speed to warp eight.”
*
They had remained at warp eight long enough to leave the Unroth system far behind them, then reduced to warp six to minimize their warp signature. As the Raven headed through hostile space, hidden by her multi-adaptive shielding, Erin kept an eye on the sensors, watching for signs of pursuit. For the three weeks since then there had been no sign of Romulan activity, but both she and Magnus expected a warbird to decloak at any moment.
“Magnus, could you run a level four diagnostic on the aft sensor cluster?” asked Erin, turning to him from the helm.
“Okay, stand by,” he said. “The aft sensor cluster is operating within normal parameters.” He turned to her. “Is there a problem?”
Erin looked over her panel, her eyebrows knitting together. “I’m not sure,” she said. “Maybe you should have a look.”
Magnus stood and went to the helm. Erin moved over so he could see the display.
“This reading here,” Erin said, indicating the navigational reference display. “I thought it might be a malfunction.”
Magnus shook his head. “No, the sensors are fine,” he said. “It’s not a sensor ghost.”
“It’s a ship then?”
“It’s not reading as a ship,” Magnus said thoughtfully. “No hull configuration, no warp signature, just a slight subspace variance.”
“If it is a Romulan ship,” said Erin, “then their cloaking device may not be completely hiding them from our sensors.” She looked at Magnus. “Do you think that a cloaked Romulan ship at warp speeds might produce a detectable subspace variance?”
Magnus nodded. “It’s possible,” he said. “Can you bring up a starchart of this sector?”
Erin changed the display; the main viewer showed the stars and the bright line of the Raven’s projected course.
Magnus stepped forward and pointed at a bright point on the map. “There’s a system just ahead, the Dargin system, less than a light year off our course.”
“You think we can evade the Romulans there?” Erin asked.
Magnus turned back to the helm and tapped the controls, bringing up a representation of the system. He indicated the seventh planet. “This gas giant,” he said. “If we hide above the planet’s magnetic pole, the radiation should be able to hide us from the Romulan sensors. That, combined with the multi-adaptive shields – ”
An alarm sounded and Erin looked down at the sensor readings on her display. “There’s another sensor reading, coming in from ahead, the other side of the system.”
“Damn,” said Magnus. “That sensor array must have been able to send coordinates, determine our course. We’ve got to make it to the Dargin system or we won’t have a chance.”
Erin ran her hands over the panel. “I’ve increased speed,” she said. “We’ll be over the gas giant’s pole in less than an hour.”
Magnus turned and headed towards the exit. “I’ll be right back,” he said over his shoulder.
Erin turned to him. “Where are you going?” she asked.
“Torpedo bay,” said Magnus. “I want to modify a probe, leave it at the edge of this system.”
*
It was three quarters of an hour later when Magnus returned to the bridge. Erin looked up as he came in.
“What’s our status?” Magnus asked, taking his seat at the tactical station.
“We’re approaching the gas giant and sensor resolution is dropping,” said Erin. “The last data on those sensor readings…” She looked up. “They’re definitely on an intercept course. But once they drop out of warp, we’ll lose the variance and we won’t be able to detect them at all.” Her hands danced lightly on the panel. “I’m moving us into position above the pole.”
The display at the tactical console fluctuated, and a warning light flashed. “I’m reading power fluctuations,” Magnus said, his heart leaping into his throat. “Two ships are decloaking. I’ve got a visual.”
They appeared on the screen, two shimmering silhouettes that coalesced into sleek, dangerous shapes. The Romulan ships were double-hulled, with wide sweeping wings. A secondary hull stretched forward from the wings, curved downwards like the viciously hooked beak of a falcon.
“I’m cross referencing with the Nomannic database,” said Magnus. “I’ve got a readout, according to the Nomannic database they’re D’Kalax class warbirds, the Venator and Eversor. Their weapons systems just came online. They’re looking for us.”
“We can’t stay here,” said Erin. “The multi-adaptive shields are worthless in this radiation, and the Romulans will modify their sensors to scan through the radiation in a few minutes. We don’t have long before they find us.”
“We’ve got a while before they find us,” said Magnus. “The asteroid field in this system has a high concentration of actinides. That, combined with the multi-adaptive shields, might do a better job at confusing the Romulan sensor readings.”
Erin turned to him, her eyes wide. “You want us to go into an asteroid field?”
“They’d be crazy to follow us.”
“But we’d need to get there first,” said Erin. “The instant we move, we’ll be giving away our position.”
Magnus turned to her and smiled. “Erin, darling,” he said, “I’m way ahead of you. Can you determine their scan parameters?”
“I should be able to,” she said. She ran a passive scan of the Romulan ships and sent the results to Magnus’s station. She turned to him. “Magnus, it’s no good,” she said. “The Romulans would have spotted us by the time we’re far enough away from the planet to bring the multi-adaptive shields online. They’re already entering orbit.”
Magnus tapped his console. “I’m bringing the probe online,” he said. “Its fusion driver coils are active. The Romulans should detect the impulse wake from the probe and head after it. As soon as they are more than two million kilometers away, engage a course for the asteroid field.”
“The course is laid in, ready to engage,” said Erin. “The multi-adaptive shields have been modified to screen us from the Romulan sensors.”
“The Romulans are moving away,” said Magnus. “Eight hundred thousand kilometers… one million. Erin, prepare the impulse engines.”
“Ready, Magnus.”
“One and a half million, one point seven million,” said Magnus. “Erin, engage on my signal.”
Erin nodded.
“Two million kilometers!” He spun around. “Now, Erin!”
“Impulse engines engaged,” she said. The Raven emerged from the radiation field and rushed towards the asteroid belt. “We’ll be entering the field in eight minutes, three minutes ahead of the Romulans. Multi-adaptive shields will be online in sixty seven seconds.”
“The Romulans have spotted us, and they’re moving to intercept,” said Magnus. “They’ve increased speed, but it will still be ten minutes before they catch up to us.”
“They’re not going to stop looking for us until they find us,” said Erin. “They know we’re here.”
“I’ve got an idea,” said Magnus. “I’m releasing a torpedo from the launcher.”
The torpedo emerged from the Raven’s launcher and fell into position beside the starship, matching her course and speed. As the Raven entered the asteroid field, the torpedo fell away from the ship’s flank and positioned itself near an asteroid a few thousand kilometers away.
“We’re entering the asteroid belt,” said Erin. “With all this rock, I’ll have to bring the navigational deflector to one hundred percent.”
“The asteroid density isn’t as high as I thought,” Magnus said. “The actinide levels may not be high enough to hide us completely.”
Erin turned to him. “If we take the Raven into one of the larger asteroids, the actinides in the rock may do the trick.”
“Into one of them?” asked Magnus.
Erin shrugged. “If I can find one with a large enough fissure.”
“We’d need to be fairly deep inside one to remain invisible to the Romulan sensors,” said Magnus. “Almost a kilometer.”
“I think I’ve got one,” said Erin. “Bearing 347 mark 079, twenty eight thousand kilometers.”
“The Romulans have split up,” said Magnus. “The Eversor is headed this way, and the Venator is heading to the far side of the asteroid field.”
“To search the field more effectively, no doubt,” said Erin.
“No doubt,” agreed Magus.
“We’re approaching the asteroid,” said Erin. “The chasm is deep enough for the Raven to enter. I’m taking us in.”
The Raven slipped inside the crevasse, hiding in the darkness. Around the ship, long fingers of rock jutted out. On the bridge, the proximity sensors flashed, warning of the danger.
“The Eversor is approaching,” said Magnus. “They’re initiating a sensor scan.” He looked up, fixing Erin with a concerned look. “They may have detected our impulse wake.”
“We’re point nine four kilometers inside the asteroid,” Erin said. “That should be deep enough to evade their scans. But as long as they’re out there looking for us, we’re stuck. They know we’re in here somewhere, and they aren’t going to stop looking for us.”
“Then we’ll give them a reason to think we aren’t here anymore,” said Magnus. “I’m activating the torpedo.”
On the far side of the asteroid field, the torpedo came to life. It moved away from the asteroid it had been hanging beside, then turned and accelerated back towards the rock. It slammed into the surface and detonated, the warhead tearing apart the rock and lighting up the nearby asteroids.
“The Romulans have detected the explosion, but there’s no change in their status,” said Magnus. “Their engines are still at minimal power.”
“Could they know it was a torpedo and not a warp core breach?” asked Erin.
“I don’t think so,” said Magnus. “With the actinide levels in this belt, their sensors shouldn’t be able to get a reading accurate enough to discriminate between the two. They should have detected just an antimatter explosion, with no indication of the cause.”
“Then it’s down to whether they follow the remnants of our impulse wake or the antimatter detonation,” said Erin.
“The explosion should have an antimatter signature large enough to look like a warp core breach,” said Magnus. “If they investigate, they should find enough duritanium polyalloy to convince them we crashed and were destroyed.”
“And if they don’t?” asked Erin.
“Then we’re stuck here for a long time,” said Magnus. There was an alert from his console, and he turned to it. “The Romulans are powering their engines. They’re moving off, heading for the asteroid where the torpedo detonated. They’re scanning it…”
“If they don’t buy this, they’ll be able to find us,” Erin said. “They’ll follow our impulse wake right back here, it will lead them straight to us.” She turned to him. “There’s no way we could outfight them, is there?”
Magnus shook his head. “Not a chance,” he said. “There’s just no way we could get the advantage. If we could disable their shields or engines, then maybe, but we’re just a small science ship against two Romulan warships. At the moment, they have us outmatched at least two hundred to one.” His console beeped, the display changing. “The Romulans have finished scanning the asteroid. They’re moving away.”
Erin looked at him. “What’s their heading?” she asked.
Magnus studied the readouts. “They’re moving out of the system, going to warp,” he said. He turned to Erin and smiled. “They went for it.”
Erin leaned back in her chair, sighing heavily, feeling the build up of stress leaving her. She turned to her console. “I’ll take us back to our original course,” she said.
“Wait until the Romulans are at least a light year away,” said Magnus. “Minimize the risk of them detecting us.”
“Okay, Magnus,” said Erin. “Our multi-adaptive shields should be able to disguise our energy emissions, but I’ll adjust our heading to avoid the rest of the solar systems on our course.”
“In the meantime,” said Magnus, “I’ll send the probe on ahead, give us a chance to gather more up to date intelligence than what we got from the Nomannic databanks. How long before we can continue?”
“About an hour and a half at the Romulans’ present speed,” said Erin.
“Good,” said Magnus. “The sooner we’re out of Romulan space, the better.”
Now I'm REALLY starting to dislike the Hansens where at least I could sympathize with them before (even though I disagreed with their tactics). These guys are crazy enough to pick a fight with Romulans?! Good grief.
Pick a fight with them? They spent this chapter trying to hide from them. The only time they fired a shot against the Romulans in this chapter is when they had no choice. They had to destroy the sensor array to minimise the chances they'd be detected.
By the way, those Romulan ships aren't the huge battle cruisers we saw in TNG. They're much smaller, the Romulan equivilent of a miranda class ship or something. Lightly armed for patrols, etc.
(Anyway, teh Raven's cutting across Romulan space. Do you really think that nothing will happen to them in there?)
By the way, those Romulan ships aren't the huge battle cruisers we saw in TNG. They're much smaller, the Romulan equivilent of a miranda class ship or something. Lightly armed for patrols, etc.
(Anyway, teh Raven's cutting across Romulan space. Do you really think that nothing will happen to them in there?)
No didn't expect less than for them to walk into trouble. They have a knack for it. They really did bring it upon themsleves wwhen they decided upon crossing Romulan space.
The Hansens had some neat tricks - well Magnus had - but a lot of luck really saved their bacon.
I know you don't particularly enjoy the parts with Annika but it would be nice to know what does she do in a line or two whilst Mammy and daddy face off Romulans.
The Hansens had some neat tricks - well Magnus had - but a lot of luck really saved their bacon.
I know you don't particularly enjoy the parts with Annika but it would be nice to know what does she do in a line or two whilst Mammy and daddy face off Romulans.
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