The outer reaches of the United Federation of Planets, close the vast space of the Romulan Star Empire had never truly been explored by Starfleet since the earliest days before the Earth-Romulan War. With one ship hand selected by the Federation to explore the outermost region to remap the area with a more sophisticated sensor systems, the information was to be freely shared with the one time enemy as tensions between the two stellar Super-powers had begun to slowly thaw. Transferred from a nearby outpost to the Enterprise for the duration of the mission of exploration and to remap the region, Lieutenant Commander Mira Andrews, a half Human and half Betazoid officer had taken her post at the auxiliary science station on the bridge of the Galaxy Class Starship, USS Enterprise to monitor the sensors slowly remapping the region. At the age of 32 Earth years old, the Lieutenant Commander Andrews had eventually earned a Doctorate in both Geology and Archaeology along with a passion for history of numerous worlds, including Earth an interest she had picked up due to her Human mother's speciality in early Starfleet history.
"Captain, mapping of this system is now complete. However sir, with your approval? I would like permission to mark the fourth planet in this system for a later exploration? there are signs of minerals which I have not seen on a planet of this classification?"
"Very well, Commander. Mark the system for a more in depth survey, at a later date" Replied the Captain, slowly.
"Thank you Captain. I shall have a report on the planet for your approval before the start of my next shift on the bridge"
"Thank you Commander. Helm, set course for the next system. Warp three"
"That will be our fourth system in as many weeks Captain…"
"Indeed Will. I find it hard to believe that the Romulans have yet to map this region in depth"
"Captain, if I may?" Andrews called out, with a soft smile. "These systems are a treasure trove to a geologist as these planets have minerals each as… valuable as the next. However sir? We are all familiar with the rumours of this sector as mentioned in the reports"
"Aren't you a little old to believe in Ghost Ships Commander?" The First Officer replied with a smile.
"You'd be surprised what I have seen out here Commander. You, yourself have witnessed things that the Federation once believed to be impossible? With respect Commander Riker, it is why we are out here in the first place, is it not?"
"It is. However… Ghost Ships? I find that hard to believe"
"Indeed, Number One" Replied the Captain. "However, Commander Andrews, perhaps you should monitor the sensors for any sign of the Mary Celeste?"
"Yes Captain, I will do just that at your request. If by chance I do see the vessel, I will call out… 'Ship Ahoy!' Commander Riker"
A slight laughter filled the bridge while the Captain turned with a slight smile and nod towards the Science Officer as she winked before turning back towards her station. Having spent over eight hours in the bridge with little more than visits to off-bridge Head and quick breaks to her temporary quarters, it seemed as if she would see sensor readings in her sleep as the finally left the bridge and returned to her quarters.
Personal Log. Supplemental.
I have just received word from back home that my divorce has been finalised and I don't know how to feel about the news. Paul is a good man, but we seemed to have drifted apart over the past few years and I know that was the reason behind his affair, I can't say that I blame him though. We'd been married for three years but in that time? I had taken an amazing transfer offer to the Outpost while he remained onboard the USS Tempest and we hadn't seen much of each other in the past nineteen months.
Accepting this temporary posting on the very Flagship of the Federation however, was an amazing offer that I could not turn down and although I have been onboard this ship for a month? I still get lost in the endless corridors. At first? I found it difficult to settle in, perhaps because many of the crew know of my past. One stupid mistake after another as a kid has followed me wherever I go. Although I have tried to settle in with the Geology department? I spend much of my time on the bridge or in my assigned quarters, but I do know one thing for sure. The First Officer, Commander Riker? Doesn't like me very much and has continued to find new ways of trying to embarrass and annoy me before the crew, but over the years? I have developed a thick skin and there is little that he can say which will offend me as I have heard it all.
End Log Entry.
Refusing to unpack her personal belongings for placement around the large assigned officer's quarters onboard the primary hull of the Galaxy Class Starship, her personal items remained inside of a small bag which was her only luggage brought with her on the temporary assignment. Maintaining her wardrobe by replicating clean uniforms each day after placing the worn clothing back into the replicator for recycling, Mira Andrews had lived her life with little attachments to her current assignment with the exception of her issued Starfleet Communicator, rank pips and boots. Sleeping only for four hours after spending much of her free time writing her reports for the Captain's approval, she once again stepped onto the bridge with a standard issue Starfleet Pad in her left hand while looking directly at the First Officer with a slight smile and nod as he rolled his eyes. Hand delivering the lengthy report to the Captain in his ready room whilst standing at attention, her half Betazoid senses instantly picked up on a rise in tension from the bridge crew which caused her to turn her head slowly towards the entrance to the bridge, before a voice called out over the ship's intercom unit requesting the Captain's presence on the bridge.
Stepping back onto the bridge, behind the Captain as a sign of respect for his rank, her eyes instantly looked towards the large view screen to see a deep black vessel with green glowing warp nacelles illuminating a small section of the vessel.
"Captain, the vessel appeared before us moments ago…" Reported the First Officer while the Captain stepped to his seat. "… although we can see it? The sensors are recording nothing ahead"
"Ship Ahoy, Commander Riker?" Andrews said with a slight smile.
"Indeed Commander. Mister Data?"
"Our sensors are reporting that nothing is ahead…"
"Status of the vessel Mister Worf?"
"Our sensors can not detect the vessel Captain. The vessel appears to be deflecting our sensor scans. Impressive"
"A natural cloak?" Andrews said with a smile. "Captain Picard? Back in the late 20th Century, an aircraft was designed to deflect RADAR perhaps in a similar way, making the vessel almost invisible to detection. However, the technology was not perfect… everything that moves leaves behind it a wake, even in space…"
"Intriguing. How do you know of this Doctor Andrews?" The Android officer replied.
"I'm also a student of history Mister Data. If I am right Captain? That ship is doing something similar to our sensors. Perhaps even in a similar way as a cloak would… I have an idea that may…"
Appearing before the main screen on the ship, the image of a young blonde haired human female flickered into life while the Klingon Officer leapt from his post at the tactical station with a weapon drawn. As if examining each of those before her, the image slowly raised her hands with a calming smile on her face before turning towards the Captain to nod respect.
"You will not need your weapon, Mister Worf. I am merely projecting this image from another and distant location using our vessel as a relay"
"A Hologram?" Commander Riker called out, as he instantly stepped to the Captain's side.
"An obsolete term, Commander Riker. You have questions I see? The vessel been alongside your ship for eighteen hours and I am familiar with your Command Crew, we have been monitoring you, our Standard procedure, please forgive me Captain Picard"
"You are Human?"
"Yes Captain Picard, I am Human. A descendant of Earth although, centuries removed. The vessel before you is not hostile and has made itself partially visible to you for one reason. With your permission Captain Picard? Our ship will escort you to our world where you will be our honoured guests and perhaps to solve a centuries old, Earth Mystery?"
"Who are you?" Picard asked, politely.
"My name is Faith Williams. Forgive me Captain but this connection is weak due to the distance and power required to speak directly with you. If you will please follow the ship before you? All will be revealed and I give you my word Captain, no harm will come to your ship or your crew. We hope to see you soon"
Captain's Log. Stardate: 48212.4.
The appearance of the young woman in the form of a Hologram on the bridge of the Enterprise had raised numerous questions amongst the crew. Many of which have been directed towards the mysterious vessel which had appeared alongside the Enterprise, a vessel of which has been identified as an only 22nd Century Starfleet vessel. Although highly modified perhaps even beyond our own technologies.
Escorted by the deep black vessel with deep green warp engines, the Captain of the Enterprise had ordered a meeting of the senior staff in the briefing room behind the bridge of the Starship. Taking their positions in their seats along with Lieutenant Commander Andrews sat two seats away from the main crew, her eyes continued to examine the information on the numerous Starfleet issue pads while the meeting continued around her.
"… And with the modifications to the sensor array? We have confirmed that the vessel IS of mid 22nd Century, Starfleet design although her systems are beyond that level of technology Captain, perhaps even beyond our own"
"Crew complement?" Picard asked to the room around him.
"Unusually for the size of the ship Captain? We have detected a crew of twelve, all are Human"
"However Captain? That vessel is not of Starfleet construction, there is no sign of Starfleet technologies on that ship, no signs of her supposed age, she appears to be a relatively new craft" Replied the Chief Engineer.
"A deeper mystery" Commander Riker replied.
"Holy crap, it can't be?" Andrews called out to herself, as those around her looked at her instantly.
"Something to add, Commander Andrews?"
"No Sir… actually? Yes Commander Riker. Something about that ship looks very familiar, beyond it's design of course. Each ship of the era and that class? Was different in someway, sometimes minor changes and sometimes? A different layout. My mother was a historian sirs, specialising in 22nd century Earth Starfleet, I guess that it had rubbed off on me more than I thought. In the years before she died, she had become obsessed with one ship and it's fate. The Atlantis, of that time. It was an NX Class, launched in the middle of the Earth-Romulan War?… the official records states that ship had launched to join with a taskforce of eight ships on the front lines. Within days of reaching the front lines? She disappeared along with another ship, the Wellington and old patrol ship which had been upgraded. Atlantis was to be the command ship of that fleet, when Starfleet finally arrived after loosing contact with the taskforce? They found only wreckage of five ships… Atlantis and Wellington had vanished, presumed destroyed"
"What does that ship have to do with this, Commander Andrews?" Riker asked, with little regard for her report.
"Commander, the Atlantis was a new vessel and adapted with new technologies, for the time. Unlike the earlier vessels of her class for that time? Her warp nacelles where slightly thicker and 2.5 meters longer. She was also originally designed to carry the proposed secondary hull, but launched before the completion and installation of that hull and… also had what was considered at the time as a larger bridge. According to these scans? This ship displays identical dimensions to that ship… perhaps even a replica of that vessel"
"Data?" Riker called out, as if shaking off the Commander's report.
"Accessing. Sirs, the Commander's report appears to be accurate"
Days of travel at warp speeds and far from their assigned path for their survey, the USS Enterprise entered a small nebula at impulse speeds whilst under the close escort and scrutiny of the unusual vessel at their side. Under the directions of the vessel off of their port side, the shields had been modified to a specific frequency to avoid damage to the hull of the pride of the Federation. Finally passing through the dense clouds an into open space, deep inside of the nebula, a small star system had appeared before them as the holographic image once again appeared before the command crew at a requested time.
"Captain Picard, we are honoured to have the Federation Flagship within our little corner of the galaxy. Word of your arrival has begun to spread amongst my people… and I must say that we are all very excited to have you as our guests"
"Miss Williams. As you can imagine, we have numerous questions"
"I can imagine Captain. I hope that your journey here has not caused you any problems? The nebula can often be difficult for passing vessels"
"With several modifications… we made it through, with thanks to your vessel and her crew" Picard said with a gracious nod.
"With your permission Captain? My people are prepared to transport yourself and Councillor Troi to my location for…"
"Captain? I must protest" Worf replied instantly.
"I give you my word Lieutenant Worf, they will be unharmed" Replied the hologram, before turning to the temporary officer stood near the Readyroom. "… And who might you be? I am familiar with the Enterprise crew, I'm very sure that I would remember you from those files"
"Lieutenant Commander Mila Andrews. A temporary transfer…"
"Well, Lieutenant Commander Andrews. I look forwards to meeting you also. With your approval Captain shall we say, five minutes?" The hologram replied, without moving her gaze from Andrews.
A star system hidden away from the galaxy and surrounded by deadly radiation of an almost impenetrable nebula had somehow formed a M Class planet, lush and green with deep blue calming oceans of a tropical world. On the equator of the second planet, a large and ancient city had somehow been constructed amidst the endless growth of trees and into the very ocean itself. Refusing to use the unknown transporter systems of the unknown city, the three officers from the USS Enterprise which had been invited to a private meeting with the woman known only as Faith Williams, materialised inside of what had appeared to be a large command center of the city. Guided by a young woman identifying herself as the Assistant Administrator towards a small office surrounded by a glass wall, the woman whom had appeared before the crew on the bridge bowed with respect for her honoured guests before stepping towards the Captain.
"Captain Jean-Luc Picard, it is a pleasure to finally meet you in person sir. Councillor Deanna Troi and Lieutenant Commander Mila Andrews. I am Faith Williams, Chief Administrator of Lakaria City"
"Chief Administrator Williams" Picard replied slowly.
"Please sir, call me Faith. I imagine that you have taken numerous scans of our city?"
"We have" Andrews replied as she sat on a large sofa, once the Captain had taken a chair. "Our sensors state that this city is…"
"Our estimates place the city at 15'245 years old. Earth calendar of course. I see a thousand questions in your beautiful eyes, Commander Andrews? Allow me to explain what I believe that you may already have guessed. That ship out there, was constructed around 50 years ago and highly modified over those years. My descendants are from Earth, from the time during the war with the Romulan Star Empire, not to avoid the war? But by accident and necessity. The Atlantis and her battle group where ambushed by a Romulan fleet while they where answering a distress call, 14 Romulan ships decloaked around the battle group, which took heavy damage. Atlantis, Carling and Wellington where able to escape with eight Romulan ships in close pursuit, as the slowest ship? the Carling was destroyed within hours. The Romulans pursued the two remaining ships for days, weeks, teasing them and taking pot-shots at them and forced them into the nebula which surrounds this system. Heavily damaged, the Atlantis had no warp capability and no weapons, the Wellington was in much worse shape…"
"That's not in the history books, Miss Williams" Andrews replied with a sigh.
"It wouldn't be Commander. Anyway, barely holding on and unable to move beyond one third impulse and with the Romulans searching the nebula for them? The crews of those ships moved into the inner areas of their ships while the hulls began to degrade from the radiation, four weeks of exposure and running on fumes and contaminated supplies from the radiation? The found themselves in a small pocket of open space, this system. Within days, they found this city. My own family records called this place an oasis in the desert. Starving and suffering from exposure to the radiation? They sent down a small team to assess this city, it was safe and advanced beyond their understanding. The ships where dying up there, the hulls degrading, being eaten away by the radiation and practically inoperative, they where stranded… but, there was still hope within the city for the survival of the crews. Surveying as much of the city as possible, they found four large hangers, each large enough to house the ships…"
"Those ships, entered the atmosphere? They weren't designed for that!" Andrews called out.
"No, but they somehow survived the ascent. Salvaging as much technology as they could from Wellington and from this very city? It took my ancestors four years to repair the Atlantis and with heavy modifications which they had learned from this city, a new shield grid had been installed. Entering orbit with a crew of just twelve volunteers? The newly redesigned ship left the nebula and set course for Earth to call for assistance. You see, in that time? Our numbers had grown… children where born into the city. It took that ship three months to reach Earth with the newly redesigned warp drive…"
"Why is there no mention of this in the Federation Database?" Picard asked politely.
"Captain Picard, when the newly rebuilt Atlantis arrived at Earth? A horrible truth had been revealed. Radiation from the nebula, along with the damage to the two ships had altered those two vessels, that's why the Romulans had never followed them, never found them? When they returned to Earth? It was in the year… 1954. Those two ships had been thrown back in time by centuries"
"What?" Troi whispered softly.
"When they returned? The truth was revealed to our people. My people have been in this city for four centuries…"
"Are all of your people, Female. Miss Williams?" Commander Andrews asked as she looked towards the command center of the city.
"Between five and six years after my people arrived here? The male population of the city, fell ill and before that had happened? Each child born into this city was a female. The male population died out, within a decade of our arrival here. They could not have known that a virus had once been released into this city, thousands of years ago, either as a weapon or by accident we don't know. But that virus had lain dormant for many centuries until my ancestors arrived. Captain, you are very safe here, it would take years of constant exposure to the virus to become fatal. With no hopes of a male being born and our population aging after 25 years of being alone on this planet of the 42 women, once 18 years old and above, while using a technology discovered within the city? Two of their most prominent scientists created the first stable clone within the city"
"A clone?" Picard said with a deep sigh as he remembered an earlier incident involving a species of clones.
"Yes. You see, the older donor was one of their most prominent scientists. Cloning herself was a way to keep her knowledge alive as well as increasing the population of the city. Within the clone's DNA, a genetic marker was placed which separated the clone from the donor and within two years? The population of the city doubled as each person was cloned within the same way. The clones where looked at as family, sisters to their donors…"
"An interesting story, so you continued to clone yourselves since that day?" Picard said with a smile.
"Something like that, Captain. With reproduction via intercourse, no longer required for reproduction of our people, we tried something different, using DNA samples from two separate donors to create a single person and as unique as yourself is from Commander Riker"
"Have you tried to clone a male, Administrator?"
"Many times Commander Andrews, each time the male dies a most painful death. Within the following years, our population continued to expand while we explored more of this city we uncovered more technologies many of which is still beyond us. Forgive me for staring at you Captain Picard, but neither of us within this city has ever seen a male before, beyond the database of course. We are a peaceful people sir and I am aware that you still have countless questions…"
"To say the least Miss Williams" Picard said with a gentle smile.
"With your permission Captain? I will have a full copy of our historical files sent to your ship for you to analyse. Sara, can you come in please?" Faith called out, into a small console on the arm of her seat.
"Administrator?" Called out a young woman, barely 16 years old as she stepped into the office.
"Would you see to it that a duplicate of our historical files are dispatched to the Enterprise?"
"Yes Ma'am. I'll see to it personally"
Meeting with the Chief Administrator of the ancient city in her office had seemingly lasted for hours amidst the long and unusual claims of the young blonde woman, however it had seemed as if the more questions where answered, the more unanswered questions had been raised within the minds of the three Starfleet officers. Returning to the USS Enterprise with the most unusual of mission debriefing to the command staff of the ship, an unusual feeling had continued to resonate within the Captain as he asked the one question which had been on the minds of the three since they had returned to the vessel from the ancient city. 'Do we trust them?'.
"They are definitely hiding something Captain…"
"They are afraid, Counsellor" Andrews replied instantly. "They haven't seen a single male Human in centuries and now there is a ship above their world, and it is their world by the way… a Starship with males from different species. I didn't sense any form of deception when we spoke with Miss Williams, although she was hiding something, behind her own fears"
"So what do you suggest that we do Commander Andrews, beam down there and ask her what she is hiding?" Riker said with a slight grunt in his voice.
"Why not, unless anyone has a better idea? That city is remarkable, we can all see that from our orbital scans. It appears to be constructed from some form of artificial crystal which had been grown into a predetermined shape. I was brought to this ship because of my field of study, I am a Geologist Commander, and a damned good one but more than that Commander? I am one half Betazoid and unless Councillor Troi is lying about her qualifications? I'm the perfect choice to both examine the city and to see what they are hiding, if anything"
"Are you certain that you can investigate… quietly, Commander Andrews?" Picard asked with a slight smile upon his face.
"I can do this Captain Picard. Besides, Enterprise is overdue to make contact with Command and at best speed? It will take this ship a day to get within communications range of Command, transmit and receive a message and then return. I can have those answers within that time Captain?"