Chapter One: Yesterday's Mistakes
CHAPTER ONE – YESTERDAY’S MISTAKES
Six Years Ago ...
A single shuttle - the Einstein - was making its way towards a large, green planet. Only a few minutes earlier it had cleared the shuttle bay of the nearby cruiser USS Columbia. The small craft approached a gray, circular device that lay calmly in the planet’s lower orbit. Its peculiar form distinguished it from more traditional satellites. Shaped like a wine glass, a steady blue energy beam emitted from its long stem which was focused on a particular point on the surface of the planet. The pulsating beam, functioning like an anchor, kept the peculiar satellite firm in place. The opposite end – an empty dish – pointed into outer space.
The Einstein began to change its heading to begin its decent towards the planet’s surface, towards the source of the energy beam, thousands of meters below. The surface was not directly visible from space. The energy beam seemed to disappear beneath a massive buildup of green and grey clouds. Circular lightning patterns shot through the coverage. Every so often super-charged yellow particles would flash up in the skies. The storm was impressive and yet it hadn’t reached its full strength yet. A few miles west from where the beam disappeared, even stronger and more erratic storm patterns were building up and moving eastwards. From space, the few miles looked like a few inches but it would take at least another hour for the storm to hit.
Inside the shuttle Lieutenant Commander Michael Timothy Owens watched the spectacle below with great curiosity. He stood just behind the sitting pilot, calmly and seemingly unconcerned, his dark blue eyes fixed on the storm below. He had just very recently become the first officer of the Columbia and at thirty-two that was quite an accomplishment. Owens had always been a career officer. He was an explorer at heart but his greatest desire was to one day become a starship captain. He had made plenty of sacrifices in his life to achieve that dream. His personal desires had taken a backseat in order for him to dedicate himself to that one goal. Sometimes he regretted the choices he had made. There were plenty of things he had never gotten around to do and many people he wished he had gotten to know better. But it had all been worth it, he told himself. Sacrifices were a necessity for people with great ambitions.
And he generally liked the way his life had turned out so far. He enjoyed his work and he liked the people he worked with. And most importantly his recent promotion ensured that he was once again right on track to someday command his own starship.
He focused his thoughts back on the job at hand. The shuttle was quickly drawing closer to the surface and quite suddenly the storm below looked much more threatening than it had from a higher orbit.
“You’re sure we can make it through that?”
The pilot turned his head to look at Owens. He was a young Andorian officer, youthful but showing no signs of inexperience. Owens knew he was one of the best pilots Columbia had to offer.
His blue antennae on his head twitched slightly as he spoke. “We should be alright,” he said, “Our shields will deflect most of the discharges. It won’t be a smooth ride. I suggest that you brace yourself, sir.”
Owens gave him a curt nod. A soft hand touched his shoulder and he looked around to see an angel standing behind him.
He knew perfectly well that DeMara Deen was as real as he was. And yet he couldn’t blame anybody for making that mistake. She was beautiful beyond measure. It wasn’t just her perfect body, or her shimmering golden hair, or those radiant purple eyes. It was more than physical; Deen possessed what could only be called a mystical and unexplainable aura that seemed spellbinding to most persons in her presence.
Owens noticed the Andorian officer losing his focus for a mere second before turning back to his instruments. Deen had that effect on people. Michael Owens was more resistant. Not because she found her any less enchanting but because he had been fortunate enough to be one of the first to be allowed to visit her home world and spent significant time with the Tenarian people. In fact he had been among the Starfleet crew to make first contact with the Tenarians just five years earlier. It had been as his assignment as Starfleet liaison on Tenaria that he had met DeMara. She had been fascinated with humans and he had been more than glad to teach her everything she wanted to know. She had been only eleven years old then but no longer a child. Tenarian’s matured much faster than most other humanoid species. She was sixteen now but to all outward appearances looked like a woman in her early twenties. Only few people realized that behind that young and gorgeous face lured an incredibly sharp mind.
She smiled at him and Owens couldn’t resist smiling back. He might have been able to keep his focus but to resist her smile he had not yet learned.
“You better take a seat,” she said softly. Her voice was perfectly suited for her character. Even though comforting, her voice carried with it a self-confidence that hinted towards her high intelligence.
Owens nodded and followed Deen to the back of the small craft. There they both sat down on opposite benches lined up against the hull.
Deen looked at her friend. She might not have been a specialist in reading humans but she had spent enough time with Owens to know what he was thinking.
“Your first duty as an executive officer, your first major responsibility. You’ll do fine.”
Owens turned to look at her smiling. “With you at my side what could possibly go wrong?”
“I am not the one who will make this work. Doctor Frobisher and your brother are the real heroes here. They have done some amazing work. This will be a landmark event for science.”
Deen’s excitement was hardly a surprise. She had been looking forward to this day for weeks now, ever since the Columbia had been assigned to the project. Owens was not as well versed in the exact science of this experiment. He knew the basics of course. He knew that it was the first attempt by Federation scientists to transport matter from one star system to another; many light years apart. He knew that it utilized a new revolutionary technology and he was also aware that if it was a success it wouldn’t be long until starships might become obsolete. A sad thought for him and yet Deen’s excitement was contagious. And of course she was completely correct in pointing out that this would his first serious assignment as a first officer. It would fall to him to ensure everything went according to plan.
He turned to look at the storm again. The shuttle was now just moments away from diving into the dark clouds.
Deen followed his glance. “This planet is the perfect testing ground. I heard it took Frobisher and your brother years to find it.”
Owens nodded. “They predicted this storm would hit the surface six years ago.” Owens didn’t even attempt to understand it but something within this electromagnetic storm was unique. It had something to do with the electron density in the lightning charges that would properly stimulate the dark anti-matter on which the experiment relied and make the matter transport possible. What puzzled him the most was the fact that this sort of anomaly had not been witnessed on any other planet in the known galaxy and as far as he knew it would not happen again on Periphocles V for another hundred years or so. This was the only chance for this experiment to take place. So if this could only be done once every hundred years how could this technology become valuable at all? Deen had tried to explain it to him but he still didn’t fully understand. Apparently Frobisher and Matthew were trying to learn something that might help them to reproduced similar conditions artificially.
“Brace yourselves,” the Andorian said.
Owens held on tightly to his seat as the shuttle dived into the storm. He soon found out that the pilot had clearly understated the storm’s strength. The small shuttle began to jerk and shake not unlike a small rowboat caught in a massive hurricane.
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The shuttle pilot proved his worth and steered the Einstein safely through the thickening storm and landing it near a provisional encampment. The small dwelling was made out of large tents and small temporary buildings. Doctor Owens and Doctor Frobisher had made this encampment their home for the last two years, working feverishly on their experiment. It usually also housed the forty-something assistants and workers that had been part of this undertaking from an early stage. However the lead scientists had decided to have them evacuated to the Columbia for the actual experiment. It had been considered safer to have only a handful of people around when the experiment began.
Michael Owens wasn’t sure if he considered himself lucky to be among the few to witness the event. He stepped out of the shuttle, closely followed by Deen who appeared much more enthused about being there.
As soon as they had both cleared the ship the Einstein took off again and shot back into the sky. Owens watched the departing ship until it had disappeared in the dense green clouds above. Blue and yellow lightning shot silently through the thick sky. As he looked into the distance he noticed what was still to come. A front of pulsating green mass was moving towards them. It looked mad and angry as if nature herself was out to unleash all its fury at once.
A deafening roar emanated from the approaching inferno and Owens was momentarily stunned. When he had recovered he looked over to where Deen stood. She seemed fascinated by the spectacle, not in the slightest intimidated by the sudden noise. She was a scientist, nature did not frighten her.
Owens turned his attention to his surroundings. Periphocles V was a rough and uninhabited world mostly covered by wasteland. It bordered on a miracle that it contained a sustainable atmosphere. There was not much to look at, mostly wide open spaces with a few mountain ranges in the distance. The entire land was drowned in an eerie greenish color.
A few hundred feet from the landing platform, on a slightly elevated plateau, stood a large round structure about twelve meters high and eight in diameter and shaped almost like a delicate old-fashioned flower vase, with a wide, round base and a slim top. It was connected through all sorts of conduits to machinery nearby. Owens had visited the encampment before but he had not seen the finished device until now. It was unimpressive from the outside but he had been told that it housed some of the most astonishing technology available. Or at least that was what its designers had claimed. At the top of the structure sat a large emitter that shot out a pulsating blue beam into the sky.
Owens and Deen began to approach the device. Coming closer they noticed a second emitter, this one pointed at a small platform close by. On the platform were a number of containers and crates, no doubt the test subjects.
Suddenly the second emitter came to life shooting out a red beam that began to surround the objects on the platform.
Owens threw Deen a concerned glance. The experiment was not scheduled to begin for another hour.
“It’s a containment beam,” she explained as they walked up the plateau. “It helps to reinforce the matter particles of the test subjects and prepares them for the exposure to dark anti-matter.”
Owens nodded pretending that he understood what she had told him. It was harmless that’s all he needed to know.
They reached the device and found just one person working on what looked like final adjustments. It was Columbia’s chief engineer Lieutenant Commander Amaya Donners. She was not working directly at the machine itself. Westren Frobisher and Doctor Owens had not allowed any Starfleet engineers to touch their invention. Donners was double checking the power levels from an auxiliary monitoring station placed near the machine.
Owens’ hesitated. He hadn’t been looking forward to this meeting. He had been Columbia’s first officer for just a few weeks and had managed to avoid the chief engineer for the most part.
Deen noticed his reluctance immediately. She had arrived on Columbia shortly after Owens and didn’t know Donners very well. But she seemed to be an efficient engineer. Deen had sensed Owens’ discomfort around Donners before and had unsuccessfully tried to get an explanation out of him. He had shown an uncustomary indisposition to speak about the subject. She had realized that if she wanted to find out what exactly was the matter between them, she had to approach Donners.
The chief engineer turned around. She was an attractive woman about Owens age but easily passing for five years younger. She had creamy brown skin and short straight hair. Owens didn’t like the hairstyle; it seemed too professional, too distant. But he could see that she carried herself with distinction, like a person meant for greater things. There was little doubt that the woman possessed a sharp intellect and great ingenuity. Her dark eyes made contact with Owens’ for just a few seconds, shooting him an icy glance.
“We are all set here,” she said matter-of-factly. “All systems are working perfectly and we should achieve optimal atmospheric conditions in about one hour and twenty-two minutes.”
For a few seconds nobody spoke.
“Where are the doctors?” asked Deen finally, not able to bear the silence any longer.
“They’re going through last minute calculations,” she replied. “They should be joining us shortly.”
Deen nodded and looked at Owens. “Dark anti-matter can be extremely dangerous if any of the calculations are wrong. But if this experiment succeeds it might become a new reliable power source, ten times more powerful than regular anti-matter reactions.”
Owens wasn’t listening. His focus had remained on Donners who had returned to work without paying any attention to him at all.
The first officer stepped closer to the device, faking curiosity in a control panel close to where Donners was working at. “This is quite something,” he said to nobody in particular, still looking at the control panel. “We’re going to be witness to history in the making. Exciting, isn’t it?” said Owens with a smile, turning towards Donners.
“Quite,” she said with no emotion in her voice. She was not looking at Owens.
Deen watched both of them with curiosity.
“Do you think this machine has the potential to make us obsolete?” he asked, glancing up at the accelerator.
“What do you mean?”
He looked at her. “If we can just beam people from one planet to another there wouldn’t be any need for starships anymore. Certainly no chief engineers.”
Donners frowned and Owens immediately regretted his choice of words.
“Or first officers,” he quickly added.
“I am sure you’d find another job. Getting ahead in life has never been a problem for you,” Donners said. Her voice revealing a hint of spite.
It was so slight that Deen almost missed it. But she was suddenly painfully aware that she was eavesdropping on the conversation. She quickly turned away to focus her attention on a power conduit nearby. But not without keeping at least one ear honed in.
Owens’ smile had faded. “If I remember correctly you were as dedicated to success as I was. And you’ve done pretty well for yourself if I may say so.”
“I am so glad that you approve.” She made no effort to hide the sarcasm now. “And I am proud of what I have accomplished. On my own, without stepping on anybody’s toes.”
Donners confirmed a suspicion Owens had entertained for a while now. Donners had wanted to replace Columbia’s outgoing first officer and he was now pretty sure that she had lobbied hard with Captain Mendez to get that position. But in the end, for whatever reason, Mendez had decided to give the post to somebody else. He knew it couldn’t have been her age; their birthdays were just ten days apart.
“Not that it matters but I didn’t ask for this position.” Owens went on the defensive. There was no reason to do that. He did not have to justify anything to Amaya Donners. But then why did he feel like he had to?
Donners cracked a malicious smile. “I bet it helps having friends in high places though,” she said and turned away to leave.
That point hit home. She knew Owens had never been happy about having an admiral as a father. He hated to be reminded and he had always vehemently denied any notions of nepotism that colleagues liked to entertain. But in the end how could he even be sure? He was in his father’s realm of influence if he wanted to or not. The obvious link to his father had often caused him to doubt himself and his achievements. It was his Achilles’ heel; he knew that and apparently so did Donners.
He took a deep breath and a decisive step forward. The last thing he wanted to do now was to think of his father. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind as he moved closer to Donners until his face was just inches form the back of her head. The sweet smell of her hair filled his nostrils. For a short moment it brought back pleasant memories.
“Commander, if you have a problem with me as your commanding officer I suggest you say so,” he said with a stern voice that he managed to keep at a level not much louder than a whisper. “We will need to have to work together and I don’t want it to become a problem.”
Amaya Donners didn’t reply, didn’t even turn around. Instead she just walked away.
Owens couldn’t quite believe her disregard. “Commander?” he called after her, his voice much louder now.
Donners stopped and turned to face him. “You won’t need to worry about that, sir,” she said putting special emphasis on the title. “I’m leaving Columbia next week.”
Owens was speechless. “You requested a transfer?”
“Oh please, don’t flatter yourself. I was offered a position as a first officer. I’m just thinking of my career, Michael. Of all people I am sure you’d understand,” she said and then quickly excused herself and left for the encampment.
Owens simply stood there, watching her leave.
Deen stepped next to him. “Good for her,” she stated, looking at Owens.
He nodded. “She always said she’d make captain before me. Who knows, she might be right.”
“You two go back, don’t you?”
Owens didn’t reply.
“What happened?”
The first officer turned to the large machine, inspecting the same control panel he had looked at before.
A roaring thunder made the ground of Periphocles V tremble slightly. Owens looked skyward. The pulsating clouds were almost on top of them now.
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