Episode 1x01

 

 

Starship Bound (I)

 

Star Trek: Osiris

Episode 1x01:

Starship Bound (I)

Prologue

 

For nearly seven years Admiral Thomas Kelley had been the commanding officer of the Martian orbital shipyards known as Utopia Planitia and had seen the worst ravages of the Dominion war as battered ships came in for repair and new ones were built to replace those that had been destroyed or damaged beyond salvage. The war had ended less than eight months ago and Planitia had never been busier as impossible repair schedules were posted by the Commander-in-Chief to get Starfleet back on its feet. From his office Kelley was looking at the latest ships to come in and the crew transfer lists. Many wanted Earthside postings after their battle-damaged ships came in for extended periods. This was going to be his last tour of duty before he retired and he wanted to leave his mark but there had been no way to do that, until now. For most of his life Kelley had wanted to be an engineer and he had been until the bridge crew had been killed in a battle with an unknown species.

He had taken command and when the battle was over he transferred from mustard yellow of engineering to the red of command and never looked back. There were times when he wished that he was back on a starship but he knew that those days were over. In his hand was a padd with the designs of a brand new ship-class, the design that he had worked on in his spare time for the last ten years. Before the war began Starfleet Command had agreed to build the design as the latest edition to the deep-space exploratory fleet, the Sovereign. The design was put through its paces and eventually Starfleet agreed to put the vessel into production. Many had been built, including the new flagship, the Enterprise. Kelley often thought about his ship and now was no exception. He had finished looking over the reports generated by that day’s repairs and problems and was about to go home when his combadge chirped.

‘Kelley.’

‘Sir, a ship has just dropped out of warp. It’s another Sovereign-class and its commander is asking for a docking berth,’ his aide responded.

‘Lieutenant, why is this a problem for me?’ Kelley asked.

‘They asked for you specifically.’

Kelley had to think for a moment and then remembered that one of the berths had just been repaired. ‘Give them berth forty-seven. I’ll meet them there.’

‘Aye sir, Dgev out.’

Kelley sighed, suddenly thinking that his day might last for quite some time, much longer than he had hoped. He beamed over to the docking berth and reached the window in time to see the ship come in to dock. His heart stopped in his chest as he saw the sleek ship glide into its berth.

‘Kelley to Dgev.’

‘Sir?’

‘Who is the commander of that vessel?’

‘Admiral Astor.’

Kelley sighed. He shouldn’t really have been surprised. But he was surprised when she materialised in the berth’s transporter alcove ten feet from him.

‘What do you think of her?’

‘What am I supposed to think? She’s my baby. Why is this one so important?’

‘Because it just rolled off the production line,’ she answered.

‘Why bring her here, do you have a plan up your sleeve?’

‘As always,’ Astor smiled and then turned to face Kelley.

Admiral Geraldine Astor had aged gracefully. She was reaching her ninth decade but was still as spry as she had been thirty years before. Geri Astor smiled at Kelley and then she turned to face the ship.

‘At the moment she’s got a skeleton crew but she’s performed well above expectations. Her maiden voyage was a roaring success. The crew have already been assigned, except for the senior officers.’

Kelley looked at her for some kind of hidden agenda. ‘Who did you have in mind for commanding officer?’

‘My granddaughter,’ Astor answered.

Kelley grimaced. ‘She hasn’t been a captain for that long and I think she’s inexperienced.’

‘She’s your niece for heaven’s sake,’ Astor scolded him. ‘Don’t play devil’s advocate with me Thomas. I know you far too well. You know as well as I do that she’s much stronger now than she was before her ship was destroyed.’

‘I was thinking of that very incident,’ Kelley retorted. ‘Losing your friends…and lover…like that can be devastating. She’s been on Earth since she was rescued from the escape pod, and I seriously doubt that she’s been mourning her crew.’

Astor’s smile faded. ‘She has been mourning. I’ve seen her visit his grave almost every other day.’

‘You’ve been keeping an eye on her.’

‘Of course, she is my granddaughter and my only remaining blood relative.’

Kelley nodded his head in acquiescence. ‘Do you honestly think she’s ready?’

‘I wouldn’t be asking for her if I didn’t. I might be her grandmother but my primary duty is to Starfleet and making sure that each and every starship has the best command crew that it can.’

Kelley grudgingly admitted that. ‘I’ll call her here.’

Astor laid a hand on his shoulder. ‘I would appreciate it if you went to Earth to talk to her.’

Kelley sighed. ‘I’m far too busy here.’

‘Good, that settles it.’

‘What is that supposed to mean?’

‘Haven’t you heard?’

‘Heard what?’

‘Richard is shuffling the Admiralty around.’

Kelley sighed again. ‘Who’s moving where?’

‘I’m moving here,’ Astor answered, waving her arms to indicate the shipyards. ‘And Kathryn is taking my place.’

‘Chevolleau?’

Astor nodded.

‘It could be worse. How long do I have?’

‘You can go and talk to her whenever you’re ready.’

‘I’ll go as soon as I can.’

Events conspired to prevent Kelley going to see his niece for nearly six weeks.

 

Chapter One

 

San Francisco’s Presidio Cemetery was not actually within the Presidio, which was now the headquarters of Starfleet Command (as it had been for the last two hundred or so years), but located nearly two miles away from it. There were now thousands of graves, those who had died bravely in battle for Starfleet and the Federation and many whose names were only that because their ships had been destroyed. Commander Joseph San Miguel, formerly the chief engineer of the Nova-class USS Bristol, was laid to rest here in name only. Elizabeth Astor stood by his plaque as the rain poured down around her. She took no notice of it or anything else until she felt a presence behind her. She self-consciously reached up and wiped away the tears with her hand.

‘Lizzy,’ said the voice and she turned.

‘Uncle Tom?’ she asked. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I came to see you.’

‘Why here?’

Kelley had no immediate response to that and it was plainly obvious. ‘I’m sorry about Joe. I know you two were close.’

It wasn’t enough, not nearly enough but she understood the thought. ‘Thanks. We planned on getting married after the war. Guess the Dominion had other ideas.’

Kelley looked around and spotted a name that was familiar to him, to both of them. ‘I didn’t know that she was here too.’

Astor turned to face the plaque and another tear came to her eyes. ‘They’re all here,’ she told him and pointed them out. ‘Captain Margaret Astor, Captain James Astor. Commander Janine Kelley is out there somewhere,’ and her hand went to the actual graves.

Kelley faced her once again. ‘Come, let me buy you a coffee.’

The archaic phrase made her smile. ‘Why did you really come here?’

‘I have something that I want to talk to you about.’

‘What?’

‘Come on, let’s get out of here. It’s a little depressing.’

Astor had to agree with that and agreed to being led away with her arm in her uncle’s. They walked to a café about a mile away and by then the rain had stopped. Kelley took a seat and Astor sat opposite him. A waiter came and they gave their orders, sitting in silence until the drinks were in front of them and the waiter had gone.

‘So why did you leave your office?’

‘I’m retired,’ Kelley answered.

Astor looked shocked. ‘Since when?’

‘About three weeks ago,’ Kelley answered and took a sip of the tea.

She shot him an odd glance. ‘How come I didn’t know?’

‘Why would you, you’ve been on extended medical leave and not privy to top-level secrets.’

‘Your retirement would hardly be considered a secret.’

‘True, and what I have to talk to you about isn’t a secret either.’ Astor looked intrigued and Kelley saw his chance. ‘I’ve spoken with your doctor at Starfleet Medical and he thinks that you’re ready to rejoin the community.’

‘I’m not sure that I am,’ she retorted and downed her tea almost in one gulp.

‘I think you are and…’

‘And what?’

‘And so does your grandmother,’ Kelley admitted.

‘How did I guess that she would be involved. What are you two cooking up this time?’

Kelley tapped his foot on the floor, a sign of his thinking of an answer. ‘Your grandmother has taken over my post.’

That made Astor sit up. ‘How come?’

‘Last tour of duty, like mine. She wants to retire.’

‘At nearly ninety, I’m not surprised. Most retire a good twenty years earlier.’

‘As the former Director of Starfleet Operations she made one final request and it was immediately granted. The Commander-in-Chief signed the orders straight away.’

‘What orders?’

‘For a new ship to be temporarily assigned to her until a replacement could be found,’ Kelley answered her question in such a tone of voice that she couldn’t mistake the intention.

‘Me?’

Kelley nodded as he downed the rest of his tea.

‘I don’t think I’m ready.’

‘Well, your grandmother thinks you are because she’s been talking to her replacement about selecting senior officers that you’ve worked with before. As many as possible.’

‘Who’s replacing her?’

‘Chevolleau.’

‘An inspired choice,’ Astor acknowledged. ‘And she just went along with it?’

‘Your grandmother has a lot of clout.’

‘Hmm.’

‘Well?’

‘Well what?’ Astor asked.

‘Will you accept the assignment?’

‘I want to see the ship first.’

‘Come by Planitia tomorrow evening and I’ll show her to you. I want you to wear your uniform.’

Astor smiled wanly.

 

At 1700 the next afternoon the striking figure of an attractive woman in her late thirties materialised on the transporter pad. Her dark brown hair flowed in waves down her neck and shoulders and made her look like a mythical siren. Standing at the transporter console was Admiral Thomas Kelley, he was the only other person there.

‘Glad you could make it, Captain.’

Elizabeth Astor was wearing her uniform. The grey-ribbed band covering the upper chest and black the rest of the way down with a coloured undershirt denoting the specialist division of science, security or command, and the rank pips on the undershirt.

‘I wanted you to come here so you could see the new ship. We’ll take an inspection pod so you can see what she looks like as we go slowly.’

Astor followed her uncle to the inspection pod and then stared out the window as the pod passed several docking berths. She recognised the classes and mentally ticked them off. There were Oberth, Miranda, and Saber. Galaxy, Akira and Freedom. Even a few Ambassador and Excelsior. There were some that she didn’t recognise and Kelley was staying quiet, allowing her the time to think. After almost twenty minutes he coughed politely and Astor turned her head toward the front of the pod.

Her eyes widened when she saw the vessel. It was the most beautiful sight that she had ever seen. The elliptical saucer section gave way to a tapering engineering hull from which the two graceful nacelles sprouted. The design was stylish, aesthetic but still practical. She felt a tear come to her eye and quickly brushed it away. Kelley directed the inspection pod to virtually float past the huge vessel.

‘Wow,’ was Astor’s first vocalised thought.

‘Twenty-four decks,’ Kelley was telling her the specifications. ‘Auxiliary craft consist of six type-8 shuttlecraft, six type-9 shuttlecraft and four type-11 shuttles. The weapons are the brand new mark-IV photon torpedoes, Q-II quantum torpedoes and the type-XII phaser arrays, the new regenerative shield technology…’

‘All the comforts of home,’ Astor completed.

‘Exactly,’ Kelley replied, slightly miffed at not being able to complete the list. ‘What do you think?’

‘She’s beautiful.’

‘She’s yours,’ Kelley told his niece and she smiled.

‘Bring the pod around. I want to see her name.’

Kelley did so and as the pod reached the bow Astor could see the name clearly. She rolled it around her tongue as if was a sweet.

‘Sovereign-class,’ Kelley said to her. ‘Just like the Enterprise-E.’

‘Osiris,’ she muttered as if in awe.

Kelley programmed the pod to make another pass. ‘I need to tell you a few things about what your mission will be. The executive officer will give you a tour tomorrow.’

‘Who is the executive officer?’

‘That’ll have to be a secret. I like to keep everyone on their toes.’

‘Grandmother’s been a bad influence on you.’

Kelley smiled. ‘Starfleet Command kept telling me that it needed all the ships it could get to patrol the outer fringes of Federation space, just in case anyone tried to attack while we’re rebuilding our fleet. That’s the official line and I’ll be honest with you, its nonsense.’

Astor nodded but kept silent.

‘Many of the systems in the outer fringes believed that the Federation was losing the war or that the Federation had deserted them and they reclaimed their space, taking control of other systems as well. Many of the systems that the Federation annexed during the war had no strategic importance. It was just a psychological ploy as we lost more and more territory to the Dominion. Technically, it is actually Federation space but I doubt many of the races within those sectors realise that. Your job will be to remind them that they’re in Federation space and solve any disputes that might arise, either as a result of being reminded or just the fact that they’ve been on their own for years.’

‘And continue Starfleet’s mantra of peaceful exploration?’

‘Yes and no,’ Kelley answered. ‘Explore the sector, yes, but make sure that the sector is stable beforehand. See if you gain allies too, Starfleet needs all the help it can get.’

‘Shouldn’t be too hard,’ Astor replied with a smirk.

‘Captain, I have to warn you. Starfleet Command has assigned you the Serik sector. It has many problems and a fairly high number of inhabited systems, many more than other surrounding sectors. You’ll probably have your work cut out for you as soon as you arrive, before you get down to any exploring.’

‘Not a problem, sir,’ Astor told him. ‘We can handle anything that space throws at us.’

‘That’s the response I was hoping for. You’re not scheduled to leave for another two months or so, it should give you ample time to familiarise yourself with her systems and crew.’

‘You’re sure you won’t tell me who my executive officer is?’

‘No, these are my last few hours in this uniform and to be quite honest with you, I will be quite glad to enjoy my retirement.’

‘Are you going to find time to make a family?’

‘I’m nearly fifty, Lizzy,’ Kelley replied with a smile.

‘So, what has age got to do with anything these days?’

Kelley had to admit that several of his fellow officers had younger partners, often much younger. ‘Very true.’

The inspection pod had made its pass and was bleeping for attention. Kelley took the controls and piloted her back to Planitia’s main hangar. When they had docked and emerged from the pod Kelley’s combadge chirped.

‘Kelley here.’

‘Sir, Admiral Chevolleau is on subspace for you. It’s urgent.’

‘I’m on my way, Kelley out. Sorry Liz, we’ll have lunch tomorrow and I’ll hand you over to your exec.’

‘Thank you,’ Astor said sincerely.

Since seeing the ship she did start to believe that she really could be ready to be back out there. She felt that the great void was calling to her. Time to say goodbye to her neighbours on Earth for a while.

 

Chapter Two

 

Captain’s Personal Log, stardate 53704.9:

After three months of shakedown cruises my crew and I are finally ready to leave Utopia Planitia and any help that Starfleet and the Federation can provide in difficulty. Admiral Kelley was right, I have worked with most of the senior staff before but I wish that he had told me that he was assigning me Aaron Wright as my executive. He and I had been lovers once and it had ended badly. To be blunt about it, Aaron was part of my past and he’s now part of my present again. I thought at first that it would be awkward but it would seem that our previous relationship is most definitely relegated to the past. We have a very good professional relationship and I can’t see any reason why I should bring up the past. The Osiris is the most advanced deep-space craft in the fleet. My uncle designed a powerful little cruiser and I am honoured to be her first official captain…

 

Astor paused in her recording of her log as the door to her quarters chimed.

‘Enter.’

‘Captain Astor,’ the strong female voice intoned as the doors slid open.

Astor gaped. She had never met the Admiral but the woman’s exploits were well known. Kara Chevolleau was the now-legendary captain who had fought the Dominion and returned her crew home from the other side of the Gamma Quadrant. Now, here she was, standing on the threshold of Astor’s quarters.

‘Come in, Admiral,’ Astor replied and gestured toward a seat.

‘I can’t stay long,’ Chevolleau said but did sit down.

‘I wasn’t aware that we were being given a top-brass send off,’ Astor began.

Chevolleau raised her hand dismissively. ‘It is not what you think. The Sovereign-class starships—and the Osiris in particular—represent Starfleet’s newest technology and what I believe can be one of her finest crews. I’ll be honest with you, Captain. Since the end of the war there have been numerous bushfires to put out and I’ve got almost every available ship on it. The Corps of Engineers are fixing things across two quadrants and the fastest ships in the fleet are acting as couriers to ferry supplies here and there. You, and a handful of other captains, are spearheading our new era of exploration.

‘In the last ten years Starfleet and the Federation have faced the Borg, the Cardassians, Klingons, and the Dominion. We’ve lost our way over the last fifty years and I for one think it’s time to do what we were chartered to do. Unfortunately Fate has other plans. While the ships that we originally planned for the new exploratory era are currently putting planetary governments back together, Starfleet has decided that we still need that to happen and your ship has been chosen. The Luna-class ships are still in development and I know that certain admirals already have ideas for who will command them, but I was holding out for you.

‘Sorry about being unable to wait, but I do have several obligations to juggle. Hopefully you won’t be diverted in the next few hours. I just came here to wish you good luck and to say that, for the moment, you are Starfleet’s only vessel in Operation: Explore.’

‘Admiral, shouldn’t we wait around in case anyone needs help?’

‘I’ve got plenty of ships to help. Starfleet Medical has just bullied the Admiralty into providing six new medical ships and Captain Scott at the Corps of Engineers is pushing for more ships, but we haven’t got enough engineers to staff them.’

‘So we should be out there looking for friends and exploring every cubic millimetre of our fair galaxy,’ Astor returned to Chevolleau’s smile.

Chevolleau was about to say more when her combadge chirped. ‘Chevolleau here.’

‘Admiral? It’s Commander Tyrex. We’ve just received a distress call from the Clementine, they’re stuck in a minefield that shouldn’t be there.’

‘Talk to Captain Scott, send his engineers out there, Chevolleau out. Sorry about that, Captain. Where were we? Ah yes. Exploring your little sector might not seem glamorous but it is needed. The Federation have a lot of protectorates in the far reaches and they need our help, they need to know that we’re still here.’

‘They will, Admiral,’ Astor replied. ‘Some may join and others may wish to trade but I’m aware that none of the above will happen if the balance of power in the sector is upset.’

‘Good answer. Well, I’ll leave you to your last minute preparations. Once again, good luck.’

‘Thank you Admiral.’

Once Chevolleau was gone, Astor looked at the chronometer in her quarters and realised that her personal log would have to wait. She had to launch within the next two hours.

 

Those two hours passed quickly and Astor took her seat on the bridge. Her senior officers were all seated at their stations and they were ready to go.

‘Lieutenant Talen,’ she said, talking to the Aenar Operations officer, ‘signal the Dockmaster that we are ready to depart.’

The Operations console was next to the Conn console, at the front of the bridge. ‘Aye sir,’ Talen replied and his fingers flew across the console.

The Aenar had met Astor during the war, at a layover on Deep Space Nine. He’d expressed a wish to be transferred and Commander Astor had got him assigned as operations officer on the ship she was first officer on, the Nova-class Bristol. Talen had stayed on the Bristol until it was destroyed. He was one of only eleven to survive.

‘Dockmaster to Osiris, you are clear for departure. Spacedock out.’

‘Cast off all mooring lines and set thrusters to station-keeping,’ Astor continued.

‘Mooring lines away,’ Talen responded.

‘All departments report operational,’ Commander Aaron Wright added.

Wright remembered serving with her, while she was a Lieutenant Commander, on the Miranda-class Ulster where she saved his life twice. Once from an exploding conduit after a battle with the Cardassians and the second time on an away mission to a planet where civil war was rife.

‘Ensign Larson, one-tenth impulse until we clear the dock.’

‘Aye sir,’ the Human helmsman replied.

Larson had only just graduated from Starfleet Academy. But Astor had known his father, had served with his father on the Ambassador-class Newbury while she was an Ensign and, in typical Starfleet fashion, had promised that if his son graduated then she would pick him to be under her command. John Larson died during the war, when the Newbury was destroyed. He was the Captain and went down with the ship. He was the only one that didn’t survive. Larson had been the Captain of the Newbury for thirty-one years. If Larson was even half the man his father was then he would be a bonus for any Captain. He had the massive helm console to himself at the very front of the bridge, just a little back from the viewscreen.

The lights on the Osiris’ hull lit up with intensity, showing to all and sundry that she was ready and she was going. Larson engaged the impulse engines and the sleek starship glided out of the massive docking berth where she had been since arriving a few months ago to undergo final tests and get her full crew complement. Astor’s eyes glowed as she watched the spacedock recede in the distance before the front-view was restored and the vastness of space beckoned to her very soul once more.

‘As soon as we clear the system go to maximum warp,’ she advised Larson. We want to reach our assigned patrol sector as quickly as possible.’

‘Aye sir,’ the helmsman responded.

*          *          *

Captain’s Log, stardate 53748.7:

After sixteen days travelling at high warp the Osiris has arrived in the Serik sector and we are making final preparations before we start our exploration. At present there are no problems for the crew to deal with, or rather, none that have been communicated to us. The sector wasn’t well explored when the previous Starfleet vessel, the USS Malvinas, was here as its only remit was to find allies against the Dominion. Commander Wright was the second officer on board at the time, under the command of John Stapleton, and therefore knows the sector better than anyone else on board. His knowledge will be invaluable as we try to maintain the balance of power here. Our mission here will be to solve the problems that will inevitably crop up and also to fully explore the sector, finding resources that the Federation can use and perhaps some inhabitable planets which might be suitable for colonisation.

 

The landscape and size of Renera IX made it more like a moon than a planet but it orbited the hot sun at a distance roughly equal to that of Earth in the Sol system and as a consequence was exceptionally hot even in what should be the dead of night. The same side of Renera IX always faced the sun and so night was an arbitrary period of time in the planetoid’s orbit. The cold side was too cold even for an unprotected Aenar but the hot side was just about bearable, even a Cardassian would have enjoyed it. It was an unusually high-gravity world and it was the perfect exercise for a man who had spent too much time in space and not enough in the gym. Even a stroll was likely to make one sweat profusely and this hike certainly made Commander Aaron Wright sweat. Mount Valparaiso was his name for the highest mountain on Renera IX and he was climbing it without aids. Well, actually he was cheating.

The holodeck programme he’d had created for him gave him the sweaty workout he needed without any of the dangerous radiation effects that he would have had had he been actually been on Renera. It was the middle of the night on board the Osiris but the two senior officers were not asleep. They were walking side by side up Mount Valparaiso. Captain Astor was walking beside Commander Wright and talking about anything that entered her mind, it was her defence mechanism when she was getting tired out but she continued nonetheless, not wanting to falter in front of him. He suspected that she had requested a transfer after their relationship ended. But none of that mattered now, they had become fast friends and their previous history made them comfortable with each other. They had almost reached the summit when Astor’s combadge chirped.

‘So much for a night-time stroll in hell,’ Astor said sarcastically and then tapped her combadge to reply. ‘Astor.’

‘Sir, its Lieutenant Davies on gamma shift,’ the young voice replied unnecessarily. Astor knew very well who the gamma shift commander was, she’d assigned her personally last week. ‘We’re receiving a distress signal from one of the nearby planetary systems.’

‘Which system?’ Astor asked.

There was silence for a moment. ‘The Abanaki system.’

‘Damn,’ Wright cursed before getting control of himself again. ‘The Abanaki Triumvirate.’

‘Thank you Lieutenant. We’ll on the bridge shortly, set a course – full impulse.’

‘Aye sir, Davies out.’

‘Computer, end programme,’ Astor said, taking control of the situation.

The arid mountainous landscape disappeared, replaced by the brand new holodeck grid. She looked at her executive officer with a glare which told him that she wasn’t impressed with his outburst, but also conveyed acknowledgement that he knew what he was talking about. ‘Start talking, Commander.’

‘The Abanaki Triumvirate are very much like the Roman Empire’s political trio of Pompey the Great, Julius Caesar, and Marcus Crassus in around 60 BC, two and a half thousand years ago. The Triumvirate run everything within the system, much like the Vulcan High Command did about two hundred years ago. The Triumvirate are quite xenophobic. Well, they were when Stapleton spoke to them.’

Astor felt it polite not to make her view of Stapleton known to her executive officer even though he seemed to think the same of his former commanding officer. ‘But they’re supposed to be members of the Federation?’

‘They were made a protectorate during the war, like some of the other warp-capable species in this sector,’ Wright replied. ‘No formalities were ever observed because Captain Stapleton didn’t really care about the mission, he was just happy to be away from the war. When the Malvinas left, this sector was left to its own devices and I have to say that the sector was unstable then, but Captain Stapleton ignored me and the other senior officers when we mentioned it to him in a briefing. I know that the conversation never made it to his log.’

‘Commander, have I given you permission to speak freely?’

‘No ma’am,’ Wright replied, abashed.

‘I’m well aware of John Stapleton’s shortfalls, I made my views known when he came up for promotion, but the Admiralty overrode me. I was just a Lieutenant Commander back then, so what I said wasn’t taken seriously.’

‘Wish they had taken your advice.’

‘So do I, it would mean that we wouldn’t be here to pick up the pieces of his incompetence. But we’re here so I suggest we get along with what can. I suppose we’re probably going to be unwelcome if we start looking for a ship in their territory?’

‘Yes ma’am, that’s putting it lightly. They had formidable weaponry for a race have only recently discovered warp drive.’

‘Go and have a shower Aaron. I’ll meet you on the bridge. I think that gamma shift should be relieved. Our day is going to start a little early.’

‘Aye sir. Computer, arch.’

The arch materialised and both stepped from the minimal lighting of the holodeck into the muted lighting of shipboard night. Wright turned left toward his quarters while Astor turned right. Wright entered his quarters and walked directly to the shower cubicle. He felt the water cascade over him as he thought about Stapleton’s actions in the sector. The man was completely inept and privately, very privately, he was glad that Stapleton had been killed by the Dominion. The Malvinas was destroyed and most of the crew had survived, Stapleton and three of the other bridge crew also perished. They all blindly followed Stapleton and Wright was relieved that they were dead. He shook himself free of the evil thoughts and dried himself.

When Wright emerged onto the bridge fifteen minutes later, Astor was seated in the raised centre seat and the rest of the alpha shift personnel were seated at their stations. He blinked, the light on the bridge was brighter than usual for this time of night. Astor must have brightened it when she arrived. He took his seat to her right, in the central area of the bridge. He looked to her but she was glancing at one of the displays on the viewscreen. They were still travelling at impulse speeds and he was about to ask why when she started asking questions.

‘Do we have any more information on the distress call?’

‘Not yet sir, we’re still too far away,’ the Betazoid, Lieutenant Commander Sheena Gonzales, answered her as she glanced at her own console. The tactical console, as was roughly standard on most Starfleet vessels, was situated behind and slightly to the right of the executive officer’s chair.

She had been an Ensign when she’d first encountered Lieutenant Commander Astor. Astor was the newly-installed first officer of the Akira-class Edgehill and took Gonzales under her wing. The two became good friends but Gonzales was promoted and transferred to the Yucatan as second in command of security, possibly due to Astor, but she could never be sure.

‘The energy signal does look familiar,’ Wright interjected.

She looked at him when he did not elaborate. ‘Well?’

He took a deep breath, and returned the stare. He had to tell her what he found. ‘It’s Starfleet.’

Her eyes narrowed at him, as if to say “What’s the problem.” ‘Code one-alpha-zero, ship in distress.’

‘Sir—’

‘Commander, if that is a Starfleet ship then we owe it to them to mount a rescue.’

‘We should determine whether it is in fact a Starfleet vessel or a trap first, before deciding on a rescue mission,’ Gonzales replied, agreeing with Wright’s sentiment.

‘The signal is old,’ Wright added, looking at the information scrolling across the screen from the distress call. ‘From the oscillations it looks like it is repeating the same message.’

‘I want to know what that message is,’ Astor told them. ‘See to it.’

‘We need to get closer,’ Gonzales said from the tactical station, ‘to know precisely what vessel the distress call is coming from.’

‘Agreed,’ Astor said. ‘How close is the system?’

‘Half a parsec,’ Talen answered.

‘Captain, I’m detecting a vessel approaching,’ Gonzales said anxiously.

‘Hail them,’ Astor ordered.

‘No response,’ Gonzales added, barely giving the ship time to answer.

‘I recognise the configuration from my time on the Malvinas,’ Wright told Astor and the others. ‘It’s an Abanaki Patroller. Heavily armed from what I remember.’

‘Keep hailing,’ Astor told Gonzales. ‘What are its armaments?’

‘Comparable to Starfleet,’ The Betazoid answered.

‘I’ve got it,’ Wright said suddenly. His hands flew across the console as he double-checked his readings. ‘Sensors identify it as the Constitution-class USS Winceby, NCC-1734.’

‘Never heard of it,’ Talen said.

He was a self-confessed expert in ships of the line of the late twenty-second century but this one had him stumped. He thought that he knew every single Constitution-class ship ever built, the last he knew of was built in 2263, and he wondered if that one was built before or after. The Constitutions were all built at Utopia Planitia, so he doubted that it was built elsewhere.

‘It was the last of the Constitutions ever built, in 2265,’ Wright told them, reading the information scrolling across his screen. ‘Commanded by Eric Cavendish. The Winceby was sent out on a deep space mission to map the Alpha quadrant in 2267 but never returned. Starfleet lost contact in 2271 but didn’t have another vessel spare to go looking. It’s officially listed as missing, even after all this time. By the time another ship did get to the area all they found was a message buoy that stated the Winceby had entered some kind of spatial phenomenon.’

‘Well, we found it,’ Ensign Larson said from the helm.

‘Have you got the distress call yet?’ Astor asked.

‘Yes ma’am,’ Wright answered and played the message.

“This is Captain Eric Cavendish of the Federation Starship Winceby to any vessel nearby. We have been pulled in to some kind of spatial phenomenon and my science officer tells me that he is detecting some kind of temporal signature. We cannot escape the gravitational pull of the phenomenon…This is Captain Eric Cavendish of the Federation Starship Winceby to any vessel nearby. We have been pulled in to—”

‘It just continues to repeat,’ Wright added.

‘Where’s the Patroller?’ Astor asked.

‘Slowing to one-quarter impulse, they’re hailing us,’ Gonzales answered.

‘This is Captain Roti Kei of the Abanaki Triumvirate Patroller Totality,’ the man said gruffly. ‘You are trespassing in our territory. Withdraw or you will be destroyed.’

 

Chapter Three

 

‘I am Captain Elizabeth Astor of the Federation Starship Osiris. I was led to understand that the Abanaki Triumvirate is a Protectorate of the United Federation of Planets.’

Roti Kei looked at her with an amused grin. ‘That may well be, but where were our Federation allies when the Jumani Militia attacked us?’

‘Fighting a war to keep the galaxy safe,’ Astor answered honestly. ‘Against the Dominion. Perhaps you did not know about that?’

‘A war?’ Kei’s glance turned sympathetic but did not soften. ‘And this system did not concern you?’

‘Allow me to send you our data on the war. You can decide for yourself whether this war was worth our attention, diverting us from our allies in this system,’ Astor responded politely though inwardly she was seething at this aggressive upstart.

‘Very well. I will transmit this data to the Triumvirate Senate. They will analyse your information. Do not attempt to enter the system or you will be fired upon.’

The screen went blank and Astor sighed. ‘Commander?’

‘The Senate are the two junior members of the Triumvirate. One is responsible for the military personnel and the other for the general populace. The senior member of the Triumvirate is the Emperor.’

‘How long will we have to wait?’

‘That I can’t tell you, sir.’

‘Gonzales, I want to know everything about that ship,’ Astor told her tactical officer.

‘Aye sir, using passive sensor sweeps,’ the Betazoid replied as her hands flew across the sensor control panel.

Astor watched the viewscreen, watched the Abanaki ship, waiting for the answer to come so she could get on with her mission. Hers was the only starship in the sector so she would no doubt be very busy over the next few weeks. She knew that this was going to be the first of many meetings with representatives of alien cultures that had supposedly undergone a first contact (even if it was with Stapleton) and trying to bring them back into the fold of the Federation family. Though from what she could see none of them were at the stage the Federation would actually accept them into the galactic empire at large.

She would agree to letting them have their own territory to control without interference if that was what they wanted. Several peoples over the years had asked Starfleet not to interfere and though those races agreed to being Federation protectorates they also wanted Starfleet to maintain a presence in the sector but not interfere. She hoped that she could bring everyone in but then she also knew the type of problems that Captain Calhoun faced in sector 221-G, Thallonian space, as it was sometimes known, after the war. Astor was mulling over recent events that conspired to get her back into space again and smiled, but it was a grim smile.

‘Captain,’ Gonzales said suddenly with a tone sounded anxious.

Astor whirled to look at her Betazoid tactical officer. ‘What is it?’

‘I think they’ve just received a reply, the captain seems really angry about something, I’m getting strong waves off him.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘They’re hailing us,’ Gonzales replied in answer.

Astor placed a smile on her face, she should know better than to question her Betazoid tactical officer. The fact that she was a Betazoid actually made her a very good officer because she could tell when someone was lying and when they were going to fire. It had undoubtedly saved her comrades many times. Astor was lucky to have her and she knew it.

‘On screen.’

Roti Kei’s face appeared on the screen. He did indeed look angry and was not doing a very good job of hiding it, if he was even trying.

‘The Emperor wishes to grant you an audience on Abanaki Prime, against my better judgement. We will escort you at all times. Be warned, if you deviate from your assigned course, we will destroy you.’

Astor hid her grin at the oft-repeated “we will destroy you,” this man was obviously used to being feared by all who encountered him and the Emperor undoubtedly did not feel that way, hence the obvious animosity.

‘That is acceptable,’ she replied. ‘Lead on.’

The screen blinked out and the Totality started moving off.

‘Ensign, set a course to follow the Totality, precisely.’

‘Aye sir,’ Larson replied with a snicker that Astor chose to ignore. After all, she had meant it as a joke.

‘Looks like we’ll have to do some smart talking,’ Wright said.

‘As long as we can get to the Winceby it doesn’t really matter, does it?’

‘I guess not sir,’ Wright grudgingly admitted, but he knew it might not be that easy.

The Emperor was not an easy man to talk to, although Stapleton hadn’t been the best diplomat. Astor was a far better captain, and much easier to get along with, which might mean that the Emperor might be better to get along with, as long as Astor kept her cool. Wright recognised the signs that she had been beginning to lose it with Kei. It was her Bajoran side showing. After all, her people had fought a lost cause for sixty years and finally won.

*          *          *

Abanaki Prime was a beautiful Earth-like world with three orbiting moons, but it was the fourth planet (of seventeen) in the system. The Totality slowed almost to a halt as it reached an orbital position and the bridge crew watched as the lower section of the massive ship changed to a flat delta-like triangle. It descended into the upper atmosphere easily and Astor looked on with disbelief. The ship was larger than even a Galaxy-class starship and she could not believe that it was possible for something that size to actually land on a planetary surface.

‘Bring us into a synchronous orbit,’ Wright told Larson. He too looked surprised at the way the Totality slipped into the atmosphere.

‘Commander Wright, Commander Gonzales,’ Astor said, ‘you’re with me.’

‘Aye sir,’ Wright replied.

‘Lieutenant Talen, the bridge is yours.’

Talen nodded as Astor and the others headed for the turbolift. She directed it to take them to the main shuttlebay. As the doors open they could see a technician working on one of the type-9 shuttles, prepping it for launch. The Resnik (named for one of the ill-fated crew of the space shuttle Challenger in the late twentieth century) was ready and the three officers stepped aboard. Astor and Wright sat in the pilot’s chairs and Gonzales sat just behind them. Talen gave them permission to launch and the Resnik slid into space, following the Abanaki starship through the atmosphere.

The sun was shining brightly as Resnik came to rest with a gentle bump on the landing platform about two hundred metres from the Totality, which was venting something from numerous ports. Considering that this probably happened frequently there did not seem to be a great amount of pollution on the planet’s surface, so Gonzales thought as she glanced at the readouts on her screens.

‘What a beautiful world,’ Talen muttered. ‘A bit too warm for me though,’ he added with a grin.

The few Aenar in Starfleet had become accustomed to the warmth of human ships since the chartering of the Federation two hundred or so years before but still much preferred the almost-arctic coldness of their homeworld, a fact that most of the crew was well aware of.

Wright smiled at Talen’s comment but the grin soon disappeared. ‘I’ve seen this world before, but I was worried last time.’

‘Why?’ Astor asked, turning to face her executive officer.

‘Captain Stapleton, he dislikes dictatorships and he thought that this was one. It coloured his view of the planet and its people, and its leaders.’

‘So I take it the meeting didn’t go too well?’

‘Not in the least. We were practically thrown off the planet moments after we arrived.’

‘I hope that that won’t be the case this time,’ Astor vocalised.

‘Sir, if I may say so, you are far less arrogant than Stapleton and much friendlier to alien species, not to mention the fact that you don’t jump to conclusions so quickly.’

‘Thank you, Commander. Any more compliments might go to my head,’ Astor replied and Gonzales sniggered.

Wright shot her a sour look but she grinned at him and he looked away.

‘What are we expecting, sir?’ Wright asked Astor.

‘Problems,’ she answered. ‘Commander, do you have your phaser?’

‘Yes ma’am,’ Gonzales answered. ‘I picked it up just a moment ago.’

‘Do not surrender it at any cost.’

‘It’s a hand-phaser Captain; I can hide it almost anywhere.’

‘Good.’

‘Where?’ Wright asked with a conspiratorial grin.

‘Wouldn’t you like to know,’ Gonzales returned the smile.

‘Will it be detectable by any security devices?’ Astor asked, ignoring the looks that were passing between her two senior officers. She knew that Aaron and she were friends, but she wished he was more discreet when it came to Sheena and he.

‘A metal detector, maybe.’

‘I suppose you’ve hidden it where it could be mistaken for something else?’ Wright asked.

‘Yes sir.’

‘Do you think it wise to take a weapon?’ Wright asked.

‘Commander, the Triumvirate seems to me to be very megalomaniacal and controlling. I’m aware that talking might be no good and I need options just in case diplomacy fails. That is not a conclusion, merely an assumption.’

‘Aye sir, we’ll keep an open comlink with the Osiris at all times.’

‘Good.’

They stepped out into the sunlight that made Astor blink, but neither of the other two did so, both were far more used to it, having spent a lot of time planetside on missions. Astor stepped onto the platform as Roti Kei and a phalanx of guards arrived to meet them. Gonzales took note of the guards. They wore obvious military uniforms with what appeared to be projectile weapons hanging at their sides. It surprised her but then they might have spent more time (and possibly money) on their space travel than weapons. The insignia on the shoulders of the guards, and on Roti Kei, was an equilateral triangle slit into three sections. A diamond occupied the upper section of the triangle and then two smaller triangles beside it and she quickly realised that it wasn’t a rank designation because all the soldiers had identical insignia. The left triangle was in white whereas the other two sections were not coloured, just hollow shapes and Gonzales took that to be the division of the military, ruled by one of the two Senate members.

‘This way,’ Kei barked and the guards surrounded the three Starfleet officers.

He started walking and the others followed, careful not to make any sudden movements. Wright was looking around at the spaceport and thinking there weren’t all that many vessels capable of long distance spaceflight, most of the crafts he saw were orbital (at best) or transcontinental flitters. Astor was silent in front of him. Her eyes were on the city ahead of them. It looked like a mass of skyscrapers built in peculiar block formations. Kei moved left and all three officers saw a low building—well low compared to everything else, it was more than thirty stories high—with a much larger version of the shoulder patch that the guards wore. This one had all three sections coloured in white against the bleak grey of the building itself. Wright knew that the place looked different than it had last time though he couldn’t say why in particular.

‘This is the Headquarters of the Abanaki Triumvirate,’ Kei told them and Astor could see the security. The spaceport was actually closed off from the rest of the city by a wide river and Gonzales saw shield generators along the perimeter. There were more guards in front of the building and presumably hundreds more inside, as there didn’t seem to be any guards in the rest of the spaceport.

‘Who will we be speaking to?’ Astor asked.

‘Emperor Veuti III,’ Kei answered her. ‘He is quite old so you might need to speak up.’

That struck Astor as odd, especially in light of Kei’s previous comment. It sounded like the military, or maybe just he, was falling out of blind obedience to the status quo. It could be an asset. As Kei walked up to the wall Wright saw that there did not appear to be an entrance to the building but Kei touched his shoulder patch and disappeared inside. Astor and the others followed him and the guards came in behind them. Things had definitely changed since he was here last. Security was much tighter than it had been just a few years previously.

‘This way,’ Kei said and walked up a flight of stairs to a turbolift. He allowed them to enter and then the guards filed in and he entered last. ‘We’ll be going directly to the Triumvirate Audience Chamber.’

The turbolift sped upward and Wright felt his stomach contract. They soon emerged in a large chamber. Astor looked ahead of her and saw a massive dais upon which three old men sat, two on a lower platform and the Emperor on a much higher one. The Emperor looked down at the visitors and then banged a large gavel that looked too heavy for his frail hand to hold, let along bang.

‘Roti Kei,’ the Emperor spoke in a parade ground voice, ‘you will leave us. And take your guards with you.’

Kei looked ready to argue but decided against it. He ushered the guards out and then the turbolift doors closed. Once Kei and the guards had gone the Emperor stood up and disappeared behind the massive desk he sat at upon the high platform. Astor—with Wright to her left and Gonzales to her right in a typical, hierarchical, pyramid formation—stood firm until the Emperor emerged from the dais with his two senators in tow.

‘I apologise for the way that Kei has treated you,’ Veuti told them in a soft voice that sounded like it came from a young man. ‘He belongs to an old military family that have always been at odds with the Triumvirate on matters of alien intervention in our affairs.’

Astor glanced at her companions. ‘Does that mean that the Triumvirate wishes for the Abanaki people to join the Federation?’

‘I did agree to join the Federation, yes,’ Veuti admitted. ‘But I began to change my mind when messages that were sent were not replied to. We have had a war here ourselves Captain Astor.’

‘I apologise on behalf of the Federation for not assisting but I assure you we did have our hands full.’

‘I’ve read everything you sent, and I must say that you have my sympathies for your lost comrades.’

‘Everything?’ Wright asked incredulously.

‘Thank you, Emperor,’ Astor replied.

Veuti smiled. ‘Do not allow my age to confuse you. I may be nearly six hundred but my term of office is nearly up. I can read almost as fast as some of the computers on our world, a side-effect of the slow-aging genes. Allow me to explain,’ he added when all three officers looked surprised. ‘Every three hundred years a handful of Abanaki are born with slow-aging genes and many go on to become leaders on our colonies but due to the large concentrations of pollution in our atmosphere this has not happened.

‘We detected very little pollution,’ Gonzales interjected as politely as possible.

‘The capital city has the lowest levels of pollution but the outlying cities, where the slow-ageing Abanaki are usually born, have excessive levels,’ Veuti responded. ‘We are the last slow-aging leaders and we’re dying. I agreed to join the Federation so that my people would still have a leader when I died.’

Astor swallowed. ‘We’ll do what we can to make the transition easier for your people.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Veuti replied. ‘But at present the situation is not that simple. We are at war with our neighbouring system, the Jumani, and they are currently working on a weapon capable of striking through our shield generator.’

‘You should not be telling them this,’ one of the senators murmured.

‘Quiet,’ Veuti hissed. ‘They are our last chance for peace.’ Turning to Astor he spoke again in the soft voice. ‘Until the conflict with the Jumani is over there can be no peace. Now,’ he sat on the lowest step at the front of the dais. ‘What was it that you wished to speak with me about.’

Astor knelt beside him. ‘Our sensors have picked up a Federation ship on the fifteenth planet and we were hoping to mount a rescue mission.’

‘That will be a problem,’ Veuti said sorrowfully. ‘You see, the Jumani annexed the planets in the outer system, as we have annexed many of their planets.’

‘So we need to talk to the Jumani about allowing the rescue mission to go ahead?’

‘I’m afraid it is worse than that,’ Veuti told her. ‘That ship you speak of crashed on the planet fifteen years ago and the Jumani have enslaved its crew. I believe that they have taken something from the ship and are using it to build the weapon.’

‘Antimatter,’ Gonzales whispered, dismay colouring her tone.

‘What is this “antimatter” that you speak of?’

 

Chapter Four

 

Gonzales answered him. ‘Antimatter is the substance that Starfleet and many other races in the galaxy use as a power source for their vessels. But it can also be used as a weapon of the type that we have aboard our vessel. It is extremely dangerous and in the wrong hands can cause a large number of deaths.’

Veuti acknowledged the Betazoid’s answer with a tip of his head. ‘This would explain the level of radiation that the nearby asteroid field is emitting. They are testing the weapon.’

‘Captain,’ Gonzales said. ‘They could be killing themselves without the proper forcefields.’

‘Excuse me?’ Veuti asked, looking at Gonzales for the explanation.

‘Antimatter is unstable, Emperor,’ Gonzales told him. ‘If it comes into contact with ordinary matter, like a life form or gas or liquid of any kind, if it comes into contact with anything it can be exceptionally deadly, destroying everything nearby. Without the proper precautions antimatter is one of the most dangerous substances in the galaxy.’

‘You must stop this weapon,’ he told Astor in a grim tone of voice. ‘At all costs. Our planet will be destroyed if you do not stop them.’ Veuti switched to a more humorous tone. ‘The Federation cannot accept ghosts into its family.’

‘We’ll do what we can, Emperor,’ Astor assured him, ignoring his feeble attempt at humour. ‘But we must return to our vessel and investigate the matter as quickly as possible. It’s the only way we will have a chance of stopping them.’

‘Very well. You will a have free run in this system. And the Abanaki will gladly join the Federation once this disaster has been averted.’

‘Thank you Emperor.’

Kei was recalled to take them back to the ship, without the guards this time. Once they were in the turbolift on their way back to the bridge Wright mentioned what had been on his mind.

‘The Winceby must have entered some kind of temporal wormhole.’

‘And ended up here?’ Astor asked, trying to think about the ramifications of such an event.

The temporal prime directive was not to interfere with the history of any race, though several times such things had happened. She had reports from as far back as the mid-twenty-second century about history being played with by advanced alien races from the distant future. There was no far for her, or her crew, to fix the timeline and send the Winceby and its crew home, so they would have to do what they could to preserve the timeline and prevent the Jumani from doing more damage, if it was a temporal problem. Astor shook her head to free it of those very difficult thoughts.

‘It’s possible. If they have been enslaved we must rescue them.’

‘And restore the balance of power,’ Gonzales added.

‘By removing the Winceby and the antimatter from the equation.’

‘By opening a dialogue between the Abanaki and the Jumani,’ Astor told them.

‘It’s not going to be easy.’

‘It never is,’ Astor agreed. ‘But the balance of power here must be restored. We’ll try to save the Winceby and its crew, but if not then the ship will have to destroyed and the crew—’

She left the sentence hanging. It was something that none of them wanted to consider.

*          *          *

Astor was in her ready room after making the necessary log for Starfleet Command and was thinking about the asteroid field that they managed to navigate past. It was small, about eighty million kilometres across, a relatively new asteroid field. The next one would be harder, it had a complete orbital ring that was six million kilometres wide at its narrowest point, and the Osiris would have to fly through it to reach the outer system where the Winceby was. The ship was travelling through the system at full impulse when they approached the asteroid field.

‘Slow to one quarter,’ Astor ordered as she emerged onto the bridge.

Larson slowed the ship accordingly.

‘Its pretty crowded out there,’ Wright said, looking at his display.

‘Gonzales, are you detecting any ships in the vicinity?’

‘Can’t tell sir, too much radiation is interfering with sensors.’

‘Can you tell what type of radiation?’

‘It could be residual ionisation from antimatter explosions,’ Wright chimed in.

‘So they’ve definitely been testing something,’ Astor mused aloud.

‘Commander, could the astrometric sensors help us to navigate this field?’ asked Talen from the Operations console, turning to face him.

‘It’s possible. I’ll head down there and check it out,’ Wright answered after receiving the nod from the captain.

‘Ensign, one-eighth impulse, take us through slow and steady,’ Astor said as Wright disappeared into the turbolift.

‘Aye sir,’ Larson replied and his fingers flew across the console.

‘Captain, the Jumani may have listening devices in the asteroid field, to detect Abanaki ships,’ Gonzales warned.

‘Let me know if you spot anything out there,’ Astor replied.

‘Aye sir.’

‘Wright to bridge.’

‘Go ahead, Commander.’

‘I’ve plotted a course but it’s erratic and may change because of the trajectories of the asteroids.’

‘Send what you have to Larson’s console, and make alterations where necessary.’

‘Aye sir,’ Wright replied.

Astor was watching the viewscreen as the asteroids crashed into one another and the debris began hurtling toward them. Larson piloted the Osiris around the bigger asteroids and the smaller ones rattled harmlessly off the shields. So far he was following Wright’s course.

‘Big one at bearing 3-4-1-mark-0-3-9,’ Wright said from astrometrics and the bridge crew could see it too. It was massive, easily the size of Mount Everest on Earth.

Gonzales fired the phasers at the centre of the leviathan and it shattered into thousands of chunks.

‘Keep firing,’ Wright said over the comlink, ‘that’s the only way through. We need to clear a path,’ he added.