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"Arrival"
"Morning," Marie said casually as she slipped into the seat beside the helm console. "How're you doing?" "Can't complain," Jonothan replied. "I don't think the eggs I had for breakfast agreed with me, but I'll be right. How 'bout you?" "Well enough. Looks like we'll need all the rest we can get to be ready for what lies ahead of us." She deliberately made her statement sound cryptic and ominous, knowing that David could hear from behind them if he chose to listen. Jonothan nodded, "Yeah, I've heard from a few old hands that shakedowns can be pretty rough. But," he shrugged, "I'm sure it'll be fun." "Hah." Marie gave a joking sneer. "You obviously haven't been doing any background checks. This is more than a shakedown cruise..." This caught Jonothan's attention. "More than a shakedown cruise?" Marie playfully wiggled her eyebrows. "We're on a secret mission to uncover a mystery in the Elarian sector. And since we're almost there we should be finding out soon what the mystery is about." Captain Spencer overheard the soft mumble of voices and looked up to see Marie whispering to Lieutenant Fitzgerald. When she wiggled her eyebrows mischievously at him, he couldn't help but smile. He didn't know what it was about, but it was nice to see her teasing someone else for a change. "Poor Fitzgerald" he thought as he turned his attention back to the report he was reading. Jonothan looked down at his console and confirmed it with his own eyes. "Interesting," he said. "So how did you uncover this information?" Marie leant in close to Jonothan. "I'm sleeping with someone high up," she whispered, then winked. Straightening up her expression turned serious again. "Really, though, I was just reading through some old files. A Starfleet ship was attacked by the Romulans there, and I suppose we'll try to find out what they were protecting..." Jonothan was interested, but skeptical at the same time - he wasn't sure if Larron was very resourceful, or had a vivid imagination. But he continued nonetheless. "What ship?" he asked. "When?" "A few years back... the USS Shapiro," Marie said casually, already savoring what she was about to say next: "Captain Spencer was the Shapiro's XO then. And I'm not telling any secrets here, either, because it's all in his file." "Ms. Larron!" Spencer interrupted from the Captain's chair behind them. "What is the estimated time of arrival at the Elarian system?" The Captain tried to pull his officers attention back to the business at hand. While he didn't mind a little friendly conversation, he also didn't want it to interfere with what they needed to do... Of course it could just be that the Captain was getting jittery... ***Two Hours Later*** "Now entering the Elarian star system," Marie announced, feeling a small but undeniable surge of excitement. Finally they were here... She called up the file she had probably already memorized from going through it so often, and read out the details for everyone on the bridge to hear. "Red giant system, seven planets, none of them M class. Has two of the largest gas giants that were ever recorded." Turning around to face Spencer she cocked her head and gave him a light smile. "Where to next, captain?" Spencer stood up and circled around to the side of Marie's navigation station. He stared at the screen as if his naked eye could detect something that the ship's sensors couldn't. "Start experimenting with the new sensors." He said to Marie over his shoulder. "Give the system a complete scan and let me know if you find any anomalies." "Mr. Fitzgerald," He finally turned to face his officers. He shared a glance with Marie before crossing to the helm station. "Contact the Engineer, he should have a list of maneuvers he would like to use to test various systems." Jonothan grinned at the captain's order. "Aye, sir," he said. This was one of those rare orders to have fun. As a helmsman, this was certainly his idea of fun - running a ship through it's paces, testing every last bolt in the hull. It was what he lived for. Marie
started scanning. A "complete scan", as David had called it, would take
several hours, but then again... without the scan they were never going
to find whatever it was they were looking for.
"A
Spark"
Everything was normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. Marie would have grown bored a long time ago - her shift was almost over, too - had it not been for the fact that this was the system that held so much meaning to David. She could feel him peeking over her shoulder now and then; he was growing a restless, and it was infectious. So Marie felt actually relieved when her sensors picked up something out of the ordinary. "Elevated energy readings on the fifth planet," she announced. "Source... unknown so far, we'd have to get closer." "Helm! Bring us about and reduce speed to one quarter impulse!" Captain Spencer snapped out of his chair and crossed next to Marie. "What kind of energy is it, Marie?" his voice lowered to an almost conspiratorial level. He watched the screen intently as the planet swung into view and grew slowly larger. Marie shook her head in slight silent disapproval, hoping that no one had heard him call her by her first name. That would certainly make people suspicious. Then she concentrated on her readings again. "There's more than once source," she explained, her readings getting more accurate the closer they came to the planet. "They're all different. Different locations, different strength... There's magnetic energy, heat, electro-magnetic - looks like a thunderstorm. And a few types I've never seen." She peered up at the viewscreen. The swirling gases of the planet were in constant movement, lighting up now and then in various spots, darkened in other places, or twisted into strange patterns by some unseen force. Marie shook her head in amazement. "I wouldn't like to be down there right now..." "I'm not so sure I wouldn't like to be down there." David smiled before turning his attention to the science officer. "Mr. Brazier! Do Starfleet records make any mention of energy activity on that planet?" "Negative, sir." His french accent seemed to echo Marie's. "The only information on any of the Elarian planets is limited to basic size and categorization." "Record these readings and continue to scan." he turned back to Marie. "I want you to plot a parabolic course that brings us into a long range orbit so we can continue to scan the whole planet from a safe distance." "Mais oui," Marie mumbled and complied. All in all this seemed a little too easy, and she wondered if she would have to keep David from doing anything stupid. He certainly sounded excited enough. "The
Flying Dutchman"
Tarrah found herself alone in the observation deck. She had completed organizing the Captain’s schedule and filing his paperwork, so she was able to once again take time to revel in her renewed sense of sexual supremacy. Knowing that she could still get a response out of men, she relaxed into the role. Once she returned to her quarters and changed into an off duty outfit (specifically designed to encourage the kind of responses she was once again receiving), she enjoyed the gaping stares that followed her down the corridors. It was just like her first days at the Academy. Now, sitting in the dark room, staring out at the stars she felt like she was at the top of the universe; a supreme queen with every man at her beck and call. She reclined on one of the sofas and stretched her arms over her head. Now, if only she could get herself some male slaves to attend to her every want and desire. And the system they were traveling through couldn’t have been more beautiful. What a glorious place to begin the reign she was fantasizing about. It was filled with large colorful gas giants as well as some bright volcanic planets; no place to live, but from the safety of the starship it was definitely a glorious background for the Universe’s newest goddess. Suddenly she sat up and stared out the window. Something caught her eye, a movement. At first she didn’t see it again, then she slowly began to focus on it. Separating itself from a nearby moon, a slight pastel tinge to the blackness of space became an independent blur against the stars. The more she stared at it, the more visible it became. Could this be a cloaked vessel? She knew both the Romulans and the Klingons used cloaking devices regularly and she had even seen early recordings of ships decloaking during battle. But this didn’t really look the same. Whatever it was wasn’t really decloaking, it was just… fading into existence. It was as if she had to learn how to see it before it could be revealed to her; her eyes had to adjust to its existence. Soon she could clearly see what was out there. Behind the Republic, just beyond the starboard nacelle, she could see what looked like another ship. The overall shape of it didn’t look that different than a Federation design, but it was still very blurry and distorted, and she could still see stars shining through it proving that it wasn’t completely solid. But the colors were astounding. Now that she could see it clearly, every color imaginable seemed to glimmer across its surface. Since it seemed to glow with an inner aura rather than reflect light as a solid object would, it was impossible to judge just how big it was, but if it did match the Republic in size, it was right on their tail. Almost close enough to reach out and touch. Despite it’s beauty, there was a frightening element to its appearance. Tarrah noted the absence of any kind of alarm being raised on the Republic; that must mean that no one else had yet seen the mysterious apparition behind them. When she was at the academy, she had heard tales of ghost ships terrorizing sailors on Earth’s seas. This ethereal image behind them seemed to fit the same elements as those early tales of horror. So she had to decide if this was a real threat to the ship, or had she just gone crazy? The Doctor had just implied that there was nothing wrong with her, but this didn’t seem like a rational experience. Should she call the bridge? Would she be made the laughing stock of the whole crew? She just stood and stared for several long moments as the apparition maneuvered around to the other side of the Republic. It didn’t appear to be making any threatening movements, it just hung there. Slowly Tarrah backed towards the door unable to take her eyes off the mysterious vision. Once her hand reached the door behind her, it activated and she was able to dart into the corridor. Without
another moment of hesitation, she raced to the nearest turbolift and jumped
inside. Her heart was pounding and she was having difficulty catching
her breath. “Bridge.” She finally gasped. She still didn’t
know what she was going to say when she got there, but she knew that she
had to see David directly.
“Illusions”
Tarrah burst through the turbolift doors and froze. She stared around the room for a moment before focusing on the center chair. “David?” the word barely squeaked out of her. Most of the bridge crew took in her off duty outfit first. The tight fitting but lightweight dress matched the color of her skin so closely that a second was required to realize that she wasn’t naked. But the plunging neckline and the barely legal length of the sleeveless skirt seemed to suggest more than full nudity would anyway. Even her slim sandals seemed to make her look barefoot. But Captain Spencer, spinning around in his command chair, was immediately able to look past that and see that the young woman was on the verge of hysterics and was barely holding it in. He had known the Orion girl for a while now and he knew something big was bothering her. He launched himself out of the chair and crossed to her. “Tarrah?” he grabbed her shoulders, trying to help her focus and calm down. “Are you alright?” “David!” In return she grabbed the front flap of his uniform for support. “There’s something out there. There’s something following us.” “What?” Spencer pulled her closer to stare into her eyes. He needed to get as much information from her as he could. “Where?” “Behind us. It was like a ghost ship.” “Nickels,” Spencer raised his voice to the nearby communications officer. “Give me a reverse angle on the viewer.” As soon as his attention was turned, Tarrah huddled next to him for support. Spencer, subconsciously, wrapped a protective arm around her. They both stared at the main viewer. Other than the receding moon, nothing else was visible behind them. “Are you sure it wasn’t a cloaked ship?” he asked. “No, it was there, but it wasn’t.” Tarrah began to feel better as she realized the Captain didn’t think she was insane. “Sensors aren’t reading anything behind us, Sir” Ensign Nickels reported. “Where did you see this, Tarrah?” Spencer turned back to the young girl. “In the main observation deck.” “Come on.” He said quickly as he led her onto the turbolift. ***Observation Deck*** “I don’t see anything.” Spencer walked right up to the largest window and looked out among the stars. Tarrah stood a few steps behind him. “It takes a few minutes to see it. You can’t … try to see it really; you just have to kind of look past it. But once you see it, you can’t not see it.” It was once again coming into focus for Tarrah, but she avoided pointing it out to Spencer just to make sure he saw it on his own. “It’s like a stereogram” He turned to look at her for confirmation. “I use to make them in elementary school art class. It would look like an abstract pattern until you looked at it just right, then you’d see a 3d image.” “Yes, that’s what it was like.” Tarrah exclaimed. She stepped back up behind him as he looked out the window again. Within seconds, the ethereal image became visible to Captain Spencer as well. It was a huge, gaseous form filled with shifting shapes and colors. It maintained a cautious distance from the Republic even though it was obviously following them. Spencer just stared at it for several long minutes. This was obviously more than a gas cloud, there seemed to be some kind of structure and intelligence to it. “Stay
here and keep an eye on it.” Spencer raced to the nearest com unit and
punched it. “Spencer to sickbay; Dr. Finnley meet me on the bridge
immediately!” then he ran out, leaving Tarrah alone in the dark room with
the stars and the ghost ship staring back at her.
"Disillusions"
When the small green Orion burst throught the turbolift doors onto the bridge, Marie turned to look at her with interest, not irritation. But the outfit certainly demanded attention, not just from the male crewmembers, and it was when the Orion called David by his first name in front of everyone present that Marie for the first time felt a sting of jealousy. She watched David cross over to her without so much as a second of hesitation, take her by the shoulders in an almost affectionate gesture, and begin to talk to her in a low voice. Marie turned back to her station so as not to attract attention, all the while straining to make out the words, but she couldn't. Again she gazed over her shoulder, just in time to see David pull her closer... It looked as if they were talking about something important, but did he have to touch her and bring her so close? "Nickels," David said to the communications officer. "Give me a reverse angle on the viewer." Now he was even wrapping his arm around her... Marie shook her head, annoyed with herself, and turned back to her station. She was not going to get a fit of jealousy on the bridge with everyone watching. No no no. She wouldn't. "Sensors aren't reading anything behind us, Sir," Ensign Nickels reported. Most people, not just Marie, turned to David after that, but instead of explaining anything he turned to the Orion and left with her. And Marie sat and stared at her console, not seeing anything of the readouts, not caring what it was that David had looked for on the main viewer. Inside her she felt burning jealousy, and she didn't like it. She had been betrayed before, she didn't want it to happen again. But she knew that the Orion yeoman was more than attracted to David, and she also knew that she, Marie, couldn't compete with green skin or the kind of outfits the girl frequently wore. Marie
decided that she would have to talk to her. Or David. Or both.
"Allusions"
Tomoe yawned and started to stir as her computer chimed softly, signalling that it was time to wake up. Tomoe grunted and rolled over, stuffing her pillow over her head for a few more winks. Sleep had been elusive for her lately, no thanks to the... er... noises coming from next door. Starship walls had been constructed way too thin for her liking, Tomoe decided. It was one thing to hear loud music every now and then, quite another to hear moans and shrieks of ecstasy sometimes multiple times per day. With another mutter, she rolled out of bed and switched on the hot water pot to make some tea. Hopefully it would wake her up enough to give her a start on the day. However irksome it might be at times, her responsibility was to be discrete and foster good relations among the crew. Even if the crew was already having excellent relations, judging from the occasional shout of "Répetez, s'il vous plaît!" from the captain's bedroom. The teapot gave a little 'ding' as the water reached the desired temperature, mercifully distracting Tomoe from her previous train of thought. With her new cup of hot tea, she sat down and began to ponder the current situation. A mysterious luminous cloud had taken to following the ship. Whether it was a new kind of cloaking device, a mobile energy field, or a never-before-seen intelligent entity was to be determined by further analysis. So far no visible threat had been posed, so the ship remained on yellow alert, with crew rotations proceeding as usual, although cautiously. After finishing off her cup, Tomoe wasted no time in donning her uniform and heading out to the observation deck to get a current status report on the object. There was quite a crowd gathered to stare at it, their gazes openly entranced by the periodic shiftings of color and depth within the glowing cloud. It was difficult for Tomoe to break her own stare at first seeing the object. The thing seemed to invite one to sit down and meditate upon the order and beauty of the universe. Her
focus shifted to the Orion yeoman who had first sighted the object. Her
standard-issue jumpsuit was unbuttoned at the front, revealing an ample
portion of her skin-tight white undershirt beneath. Cadet Tarrah seemed
a bit distressed, judging from the way her chest heaved with each shallow
breath. Tomoe gestured her aside, intending to try to calm the yeoman
down if possible. And perhaps suggest a slight adjustment of attire. But
first things first. "Are you all right?" she inquired with genuine concern.
"Exposing
the Dimensions "
"Helm, I want a full stop and bring us about!" Spencer burst back onto the bridge and crossed directly to the communications officer. "Ensign Nickels, I want a reverse angle on the viewer, zero magnification, and I want all computer enhancements turned off. Understand?" "Yes, sir." Nickels stared back in open confusion. "All computer enhancement, sir?" "That's what I said, Ensign." Spencer moved back to his chair. "I want a pure visual spectrum image on that viewscreen." At the back of the bridge another set of turbolift doors whooshed open, revealing doctor Finnley with a medical kit slung over his shoulder, and two emergency medical technicians following in his wake. "Captain! What is the emergency?" he asked. "Doctor," Spencer pointed to the forward viewscreen. "Look at the screen and tell me what you see." The doctor quickly glanced around the bridge and noticed that there was no medical emergency. He motioned to the two techs who stepped back into the lift. The doors swished shut. The doctor walked down the ramp to the front of the bridge where he could examine the view screen. "A star field captain? A gas giant on the left? What exactly am I supposed to see?" "Keep looking. Don't try to see anything. Just... Look past the stars." As soon as he said it, the Captain knew it didn't really make sense, but it was the best way of seeing what needed to be seen. It was already coming into focus for Spencer, but he knew he couldn't just point it out to Finnley. "I know it sounds crazy, Doctor, but please bear with me." Even as the Captain finished saying this, the doctor heard Ensign Larron gasp. He also noticed that several other crew members had varying looks of concentration or consternation on their faces. "Captain, if you mean to suggest that whatever you're looking at must be viewed in a stereoscopic fashion, I am sorry to inform you, but I'm incapable of stereoscopic vision. Never have been." The Captain considered this for a moment, and then he crossed to the science station. "Then let's make the ship do the work for us." He turned to Ensign Brazier, "Ensign, realign the port and starboard cameras forward and eliminate all computer enhancements. I want pure optic, visible light spectrum images from both cameras. Have the computer overlay the images and filter out any common instances." "Aye, Sir." The Frenchman said as his fingers danced across his board. "I think I've got it, Captain." He said after a moment. Suddenly the image on the viewscreen shifted, the dark background faded to a pure neutral blackness and most of the stars vanished. The nearby moons and planets also faded into the background quite a bit, but suddenly standing out among them was an enormous foggy shape. While it was still blurry and nondescript, it seemed to hold a basic shape similar to the Republic. But the shapes and colors that shifted across its surface were incredible. The roaming patterns gave it an energy and presence that was both enticing and intimidating. "That!” The Captain asked bluntly, pointing toward the object on the screen, “Is that a living creature, Doctor?" The doctor stared at the image, which had been brought to life on the forward viewer with a significant level of consternation. He began walking towards the viewscreen, getting closer to the image, almost as if he wanted to be able to reach out and touch what he saw - make sure it really was there and that he hadn't been kicked in the head... He turned around. The Captain looked at the doctor with an inquisitively quirked eyebrow, as if to say "Well???" Baxter shrugged his shoulders slightly, then turned to a nearby science station and displaced the ensign manning it. "It seems we're having trouble reading this thing with sensors, but I believe if I use the parameters being applied to the image on the screen... Ah, there we go. It seems they're not quite so hard to find once you know how to look for them..." The doctor continued punching away at buttons on the console. "I'm detecting every element we know of to one degree or another in that object, all in the form of gaseous molecules... as well as a large number of energy patterns. They don't appear to be entirely discreet from one another, but neither do they appear to be one singular whole. I think we're going to need more analysis before I can tell you much more than that, Captain, but the energy patterns do appear to be complex enough to represent life." “Would you please work with the other science divisions and put together as much information as you can as quickly as you can. We need to figure out what that is as soon as possible.” Spencer returned to his chair. “…Like three years ago…” he mumbled. "Aye Captain. I'll head up to the Science lab immediately. I'll let you know the instant I find anything." The doctor moved towards the rear turbolift. He entered, and as the doors began sliding shut he leaned over to a comm pannel and said, "Dr. Baxter to Ensign Brazier!" |
