Alt Trek Enterprise
Pacifica
In Hyperspace
The Enterprise is resting stationary in the fourth level of Hyperspace, the so called Delta Band. It is in a wide orbit of a Blue star. There are no planets in Hyperspace, only stars and a few other gravitic anomalies. Behind the Enterprise, floating in Hyperspace is a Communications Buoy. Two small workpods are floating around it. They are very small one person craft with thrusters and waldo arms. They were just finishing maneuvering the Buoy.
"Powering up now!" said Rostov, the operations officer on the Enterprise in the first workpod.
Lights and diagnostic routines lit up along the relay.
They heard Hoshi Sato, the Enterprise communications officer say, "Starting Echo network diagnostics. Sending test signal to Earth."
"How long will it take them to get that signal?" asked Cmd Tucker, the Enterprise Chief Engineer, who was floating in the second one.
"It's 15 light-years so they should get the test signal in about 13 hours, give or take. We should get the response tonight." said Hoshi.
Rostov said, "Did the other buoys confirm connection?"
"Hold on," said Hoshi. "Gamma band buoy's signal is strong but the Beta band buoy is not responding."
"Damn it! Are we going to have to replace all of the buoys laid down by the Pacifica? I was hoping we could skip at least a few of them." said Tucker.
"I don't think that they were shielded enough when they were put together. Nobody knew how much radiation there was in parts of hyperspace." said Rostov.
"Yeah, but it's more work for us." said Tucker. "This one is fully deployed. Tell them down in Engineering to ready a replacement for the Beta Band and possibly for the Alpha band AND normal space. This is getting tedious. We are coming back in." Tucker turned his workpod back towards the Enterprise.
Rostov followed.
They made it into the cargo bay. It was laid out fairly wide and running from the middle to the aft end of the secondary hull. There was a runway that goes forward into the cargo area and heavy machine shop. Shuttlecraft were set on either side. They pulled into a smaller set of bays above the shuttlecraft bays. They closed the main shuttlebay doors.
"Tucker to Bridge. We're in." said Tucker.
"Acknowledged," said Commander Mathis on the bridge.
On the Bridge:
"Charge Jump Point Generator. Set for Beta Band this time." said Mathis.
Generator charged for Beta band." said Lt. Joseph, standing in on Operations for Rostov.
"Initiate Jump Point." said Captain Archer.
A gravitic pulse from the Jump Point Generator punched a hole from one level of hyperspace to another. A swirling tunnel of energy formed the wormhole between the realms.
"Enter jump point." said Archer.
Lt. Mayweather said, "Aye sir."
The Enterprise moved into the swirling tunnel and came out in another realm but analogous to the same place in space. They turned the ship around and scanned the older communications buoy that had been left behind by the Earth Mothership Pacifica.
Archer said, "Hoshi?"
Hoshi started trying to access the buoy. "Hold on, I've got basic access. There seems to be some errors in the operating system. We will need to swap out for the more shielded systems on this one too. I'm going to wipe this one and upload a newer OS."
Archer pressed a button on his wrist, "Bridge to Tucker, Go out and upgrade the shielding on this one too."
Tucker said, "Joy!"
"I've got the new OS installed and I have access to it's data." said Hoshi.
"That was fast," said Mathis.
"The OS for a comm buoy is extremely simple. It doesn't need much in the way of..." Hoshi became distracted by her panel.
Archer stood up, "Hoshi, you okay?"
"Sir you might want to look at this." said Hoshi.
"Main viewer," said Archer.
Hoshi touched a few buttons and the view of the communications buoy was replaced with the picture of a human admiral. "This is Admiral Serrano of the Mothership Pacifica. We have encountered a hostile species in system J25 in sector 22. There seems to be a problem with the Echo network so I don't know how long this will take for another human vessel to receive this message but be advised that there is a hostile species here with some fairly advanced technology. We have not been able to translate their language as of yet. Avoid this system. I will send another update as I am able to. Admiral Serrano of the Pacifica out."
Everyone looked at each other quietly for a moment.
"How long ago was that sent?" asked Archer.
Hoshi said, "Three days ago."
Archer said, "Set course for system J25, maximum speed."
T'Pol said, "Setting course for system J25."
Mathis said, "Charge Jump Point Generator for Delta Band"
Lt. Joseph said, "Charging"
Mathis touched his wrist comm, "Bridge to Tucker, You two better get inside and back to your stations. We have a situation."
"Everything okay up there?" said Tucker
"No, someone attacked the Pacifica." said Mathis.
"On our way." said Tucker, subdued.
Mayweather said, "Course laid in."
Joseph said, "Jump point generator charged."
Archer said, "Initiate jump point."
The Enterprise jumped into a higher level of hyperspace and took off.
The next day:
Archer came on to the bridge. Mathis stood up and let him sit down.
Archer said, "What do we have?"
T'Pol said, "We are approaching system J25."
Mathis said, "Do you want us to come in close or farther out and take a look?"
Archer said, "Farther out. Let's see what we have here."
Mathis turned to Travis, "Bring us out at 20 AU from the star."
"Aye Sir" said Mayweather. He turned to his station and adjusted his course.
"I've got a signal from the Beta band. It's the J25 comm relay." Said Hoshi. "Do you want me to initiate contact?"
"Yes, see if you can raise the Pacifica." said Archer.
Hoshi said, "I have a connection. Raising the Pacifica."
Reed said, "Let's hope they are still there."
Hoshi said, "Enterprise to Pacifica, come in please."
A voice came over the comm system, "Enterprise, this is Pacifica. We read you. How far out are you?"
Archer looked over at T'Pol. She said, "Approximately 212.3 light minutes."
Archer grinned and mouthed Approximately? Then he said, "We are about 210 light minutes out. What is your situation?"
The voice came back, "210 light minutes? I don't see you on any of our sensors. Are you coming in under stealth?"
"No, we are coming in through the Delta band." said Archer.
"Delta Band?! of Hyperspace? I didn't know that we had anything that had made it into the Delta Band, much less a starship!" said the voice.
"Who are you talking to?" said another voice over the comm.
"It's the Enterprise, sir. They are in the Delta Band!" said the first voice.
Most of the bridge crew was grinning at this point, except for T'Pol of course.
"Give me that!" said the second voice. "This is the Mothership Pacifica. Identify yourself."
Archer said, "This is Captain Johnathan Archer of the starship Enterprise. We have come from Earth to reconnect with the colonies. We received a message in the Echo network about a hostile species. Are you in danger?"
"This is Admiral Serrano, captain, it's good to hear your voice, though I didn't expect help this quickly. We could use some extra fire power. What kind of ships do you have with you?"
"We are just a single light cruiser. We are not a part of a fleet. We are with Starfleet and we are here to reestablish communications." said Archer.
"What is Starfleet?" said Serrano.
"It's an exploratory organization. It was put together a few years after you left." said Archer.
"They set up an exploratory organization AFTER the mother ships leave? What the hell kind of logic does that make? Well you might as well join us. One light cruiser won't make much of a difference, unless you have some new weapons to go with that new hyperdrive." said Serrano.
"No, we only have moderate weapons for our size. Like I said we are an exploratory vessel - not a combat vessel." said Archer.
"Well Hadley here will send you a map of the system. Just come in and we will talk. I need to direct a recovery operation." said Serrano, "Serrano out."
Archer looked over at Mathis with his eyebrows high.
Hoshi said, "Receiving the data. Transferring it to navigation."
"Set course for the Mothership." said Archer. He looked over at Mathis and grinned. "Why do I feel like I'm in some scifi movie after I say that?"
Mathis laughed. Then his face became serious and he leaned closer to Archer, "How far into this are you planning to get?"
"Well I'm not going in guns blazing if that is what you are asking." said Archer.
"You and I know that but what about the Admiral. He may not pay attention to the fact that we are in different services. He may just see Admiral and Captain and not think about it past that." said Mathis quietly. "Plus some of the military came right out of the Fusion Wars. They may still have some old feelings against Earth."
"That is why I plan to keep him at arms length." said Archer. "If he gets on board then he may decide to take what he wants but he won't want to fire on a human vessel, especially out here."
"If nothing else we are a lot faster then he is." said Mathis.
Mayweather said, "Slowing for jump point entry."
Rostov said, "Jump engines charged."
"Initiate jump point." said Archer. "Is the area clear?" He looked over at Reed.
Reed checked his sensors, "There is a ship near the jump point. It looks like a Battleship, moderate damage. It is scanning the jump point."
"Hmm ... I don't like this." said Archer. "Scan the system."
Reed checked his sensors and adjusted them on various object he was picking up. He put up a tactical display to the right of the main viewer. "I am picking up several ships with moderate to serious damage in this area. There is more debris towards the inner system. I am also picking up another fleet of ships around the third planet. I don't recognize their configuration."
Archer looked over at T'Pol. "Do you recognize these ships?"
T'Pol checked her sensor readings, "I don't have a full database for ship recognition but accounting for our location I believe these to be Bolian ships."
"Are they usually aggressive?" said Archer.
"No they are not." said T'Pol. "Our encounters with them have always been peaceful."
"Is this one of their colonies?" asked Mathis.
"I do not know." said T'Pol.
"Maybe that is why they are acting this way." said Mathis.
"Could be." said Archer.
An alarm came from Reed's panel. "Captain! They are targeting weapons at the jump point!"
"Close the Jump Point!" said Archer.
They looked at each other and relaxed.
Mathis said, "At least they can't reach us here."
"Sir! I'm detecting a jump point forming!" said Reed.
"You had to say something." said Archer.
A single ship came through the jump point.
"It's a Bolian ship." said T'Pol in a calm voice. It sounded less reassuring than mocking at that point.
"Hail them." said Archer.
The main viewer switched to a picture of a very blue skinned humanoid. It had a ridge from the top of his bald head to the bottom of his chin. He said something.
Archer said, "Greetings. I am Captain Archer of the starship Enterprise. We were hoping to talk with you and see if we could work out the difficulties you have been having with the Pacifica."
The Bolian looked like he did not understand. He looked off to the side and spoke to someone else.
Archer turned to T'Pol, "You said that your people have encountered Bolians before. Do you have their linguistic database?"
"It was not relevant to the original mission I was sent on so no I do not." said T'Pol.
Hoshi said, "What about Rigelian? If they are the traders that they make themselves out to be then it may work as a trade language."
Archer said, "Try it out."
Hoshi touched some controls on her panel, "I am repeating your greeting in Rigelian."
The Bolian on the screen smiled and nodded, "Yes, we have been trying to prevent them from landing on the planet. We have been have a great deal of difficulty communicating with them and they do not stop their approaches." The translation was written in subtitles along the bottom of the screen.
"I'm sorry that there has been so many difficulties." said Archer through the translation. "Is this planet a colony of yours?"
"No, it is a protected planet." said the Bolian.
"Protected planet? I don't understand. What do you mean a protected planet." said Archer.
The Bolian thought about it for a moment. "It contains weaker technologies then we have and we want to keep them safe."
"Weaker technologies? Oh, are you studying them?" said Archer, understanding them. "They have a more primitive technological level and you are keeping others from interfering with their development."
"Yes. It is one of our highest directives when dealing with other species." said the Bolian smiling.
"Okay, I will see if I can make the people in the other ship leave you alone." said Archer.
"Oh no, we don't want to be left alone. We want to contact your people. We don't want your people to scare or confuse the Parvex." said the Bolian. "I am called Korvin Rixx."
"We would love to learn about your people as well Mr. Rixx." said Archer. "Maybe we can meet with each other face to face once we make the Pacifica understand that they need to leave the planet alone."
"That would be an excellent opportunity." said Rixx. "May we trade linguistic information so that we can learn more about each other?"
"Yes. We will prepare one and send it before we leave the system." said Archer.
"We will go back to normal space and monitor communications." said Rixx.
"Talk with you later" said Archer.
The screen switched back to a view of the Bolian Ship.
Mathis said, "Well that turned out well."
"As I said, our dealings have always been peaceful." said T'Pol.
"So the Admiral must have pushed them into a corner." said Mathis.
"Yeah, I can't see Admiral Serrano doing that." Archer said sarcastically.
T'Pol looked confused, "I believe there is ample evidence of his behavior to support that theory."
Archer and Mathis looked at her for a moment.
Then Mathis turned to Archer, "Do you think that he will believe us?"
"Maybe," said Archer.
"Do you want to meet him on his terms or ours?" said Mathis.
"After that incident with the Battleship? I think that we can talk through the comm relay to start with." said Archer.
Mathis looked over at Rostov, "Charge jump generators for Beta Entry."
"Charging" said Rostov.
"What do we do if they don't listen?" said Mathis.
Archer looked at the screen and didn't have an answer.
"Jump point generator ready." said Rostov.
"Initiate Jump Point." said Archer. "Scan for activity"
T'Pol said, "I detect no activity in the Beta band near the jump point."
"Jump" said Archer.
The Enterprise moved through the Jump Point from the Delta band to the Beta band of hyperspace.
"Establish contact with the Pacifica." Archer said to Hoshi.
"Contact established," said Hoshi. "Admiral Serrano on sir."
The Admiral looked out of the main viewer and started yelling immediately, "What the hell have you been doing!? I told you to come over to the Pacifica! That meant right now!"
"I'm sorry Admiral, there seems to be a misunderstanding. We don't answer to you. We answer to Starfleet Command which is an organization that you are not a part of if you remember commenting on not knowing what it was in our last conversation." said Archer. He took a deep breath, "Now I have some information that could solve your problems if you will listen for a moment."
Admiral Serrano blinked a few times as he processed that information and tried to change mental gears. Before he got his focus back the screen changed and another face appeared.
"Captain Archer! My name is Daniel Kincaid. I am the Administrator for this Colony. I'm sorry that I was unavailable to speak with you earlier. I understand that you have some information for me?" said Kincaid.
Archer grinned, "Yes, I was just telling the Admiral that."
"Oh don't worry about him. I'm the Administrator of this colony. He was just our ride. Now what kind of information did you have?" said Kincaid.
The main viewer became static.
Archer looked over at Hoshi, "Can you get them back?"
"Actually we have them both but they are trying to override each others channel." Hoshi said with a grin.
Archer sighed, "Can you get them both on separate channels and split the screen?"
Hoshi said, "Yes sir."
The screen resolved with the Admiral on the left and the Administrator on the right. They looked up from trying to manipulate the signal. Both said, "Captain Archer!" at the same time.
Archer held up his hand for silence, "I have made contact with the Bolians ..."
"Bolians?" "How do you know..."
Archer held up his hand again, "The Vulcans have already made contact with them in the past and we have a database of a language that we both have access to. It's a trade language called Rigelian. We were able to communicate with them and find out what is going on."
"They are here to protect the colony from any outside interference. There is a race down there called the Parvex that they are protecting. The Bolians want to establish communications with us but they won't allow anyone to land on the planet." said Archer.
Kincaid said, "The Parvex" as if he was tasting the word in his mouth. "What do you know about these Parvex?"
"Nothing, except that they are a low tech culture." said Archer.
"Interesting. This can be a gold mine. Think of the anthropological studies that can be made, the biological studies! An entire ecosystem to explore that developed it's own sentient race! This will be a huge boon for science!" Kincaid was getting really excited.
Archer said, "I don't think you understand..."
Serrano said, "So these Bolians don't want anyone to land on the planet? I still don't follow why."
"They protect other races that they find that are at a lower tech level. It is some sort of cultural prime directive of theirs. They didn't explain why they do this but we can ask them. We are trying to set to meet again with them to trade linguistic databases and get to know them. We might even see if they can give us a map of the area for other viable colony sites." said Archer.
Serrano seemed very interested, "That would be extremely helpful. We only have the information from our telescopes until we send a scout into a system. If we had a map with the local political boundaries it would make things a lot easier in the future."
"What do you think Administrator?" asked Archer.
Kincaid looked up and waved his hand, "Maps? Sure that would be great. You two get right on that. I've got some work to do." and he left the conference call.
Archer asked, "Is he always like this?"
Serrano said, "Oh him. I'll deal with him later. Now what can you tell me about this Starfleet. I thought that I was going to be on the edge of discovery out here but that changed a lot quicker than I thought it would."
Archer smiled. "I'm sure Starfleet would be glad to have you."
Archer had the Enterprise come out of Hyperspace after getting to know the Admiral. For his part the Admiral apologized for the incident with the Battleship earlier.
Several hours later:
On the Bridge of the Enterprise, Mathis had the con with Archer coming out of his ready room with the Admiral.
Serrano said, "This is a fine ship. I can see they've been busy back at Earth, though I still think that it is odd to have a science vessel this size. I am more used to smaller scout ships, but I can see the logic behind a light cruiser being used this way. So does Starfleet have anything larger?"
"They are setting up Battleships and more military type vessels as system defense craft in case we meet anything really dangerous." said Archer. "Most of them at this point are older Earth Force vessels being refit with the new Delta class Hyperdrives and gravitic tech. Once the Echo network connects all the colonies we should be able to get a defense force out to any colony in a few days."
"That is amazing. It took us several years to get out this far. We though that we were going to be mostly cut off from the rest of humanity for decades at a time. Now this!" said Serrano. "It is truly amazing."
A beep caught the attention of Lt. Reed at Tactical. He checked it, "Sir, we have a colony shuttlecraft leaving the Pacifica. It is headed for the Parvex home world."
"What?" said Archer. "Mayweather pursue."
"Aye sir!" said Mayweather. "That should be easy."
"Who let that shuttle launch?" said Serrano. "I need communications!"
Archer turned to Hoshi, "Please contact the Pacifica for the Admiral."
Hoshi pressed her panel, "You are on Admiral."
The main viewer switched to a view of a communications officer from the Pacifica, "Admiral"
"Jones! Who let that shuttlecraft leave?" yelled Serrano.
"The Administrator did." said Jones.
"Kincaid! Why did you let him?" yelled Serrano.
"Jones kind of shrugged, "He has the authority to do it. I wasn't told that he wasn't allowed to."
"Damn it!" yelled Serrano. He looked at Hoshi, "Shut him off!"
Hoshi closed the channel.
"We are along side the shuttlecraft." said Mayweather.
"Get a tractor beam on that shuttle." said Archer.
"Aye Sir," said Reed. "We have them."
"Hail them," said Archer.
Hoshi touched her panel, "Hailing...I'm getting the automated transponder but no open channel."
T'Pol said, "I am reading 56 humans on board including 14 children."
"Children!" said Archer.
"Damn it! What does he think he is doing?!" yelled Serrano.
Reed said, "A Bolian ship is coming up to intercept."
Serrano said, "He was going to cause a further diplomatic incident with the Bolians and get themselves killed in the process."
T'Pol said, "I am reading a build up in the inertial compensators for the shuttlecraft."
"Is he trying to break free?" asked Archer.
"He doesn't have nearly the power to do so with that shuttlecraft." said Rostov. "Especially with our newer power systems."
"T'Pol said, "The inertial compensators are reaching a critical state. If they do not shut down their engines soon they will destroy themselves in the process."
"Damn it!" said Archer. "Release them."
"The shuttlecraft is away," said Reed.
Archer sat back and thought for a moment, "Can we take out their engines without hurting the passengers?"
Reed nodded no, "With that type of shuttle it would be too chancy. If we used a heavy enough laser to cut through the thruster bell then it would likely cut through the whole shuttlecraft. If we hit the fuel area then it would explode."
"Too bad we can't just teleport them all off." said Hoshi.
T'Pol raised her eyebrow, "I assume you are referring to Quantum Teleportation. However that is not possible on a large scale."
"I was reading that they were making some progress in trying to adapt it to large scale by compressing a person's molecules into a data stream." said Hoshi.
"I'm not sure that I am ready to have my molecules compressed into a data stream." said Reed.
"Alright people let's focus on what is possible." said Archer.
Rostov said, "Why not use the compensators from the Enterprise. We grab them again with the tractor beam and pull them up against the ship. They we use our inertial field to augment theirs. The outer field wins in this kind of thing so no matter how much they fire their engines our compensators will negate it. The most he will be able to do is make some burn marks on the outer hull."
"Great thinking Lieutenant!" said Archer. "Helm bring us above them and close. Reed grab them with the tractor beam. Rostov extend our inertial field."
Reed said, "We got them. Bringing them against the hull."
There was a loud bump that rang through the hull.
"You scratched the paint!" said Archer.
"Sorry sir." said Reed.
"We have them in the inertial field." said Rostov. "They are not going anywhere."
"Sir, the Bolians are here." said Mayweather.
"All stop," said Archer. "Rostov, be careful with the inertial shift here."
"They are hailing us," said Hoshi.
"On screen, tie in the Rigelian translator." said Archer.
"Done," said Hoshi.
Korvin Rixx appeared on the screen. Through the translator, "Greetings. Is there a problem?"
Archer said, "No, not everyone got the memo that the planet was off limits. We will take care of them."
"Very good. I have a linguistic database ready for you." said Rixx.
"Please send it. We are working on our own but we can send you a partial one." said Archer.
"That would be good. Thank you." said Rixx.
"We will contact you in a few hours so that we can meet once we take care of this situation." said Archer.
"That would be acceptable." said Rixx.
Archer looked over at Hoshi. She said, "Transmissions complete. I've got half of the science department working on our database. It should be ready on time."
Archer looked back at the screen, "We will talk again later."
"Thank you" said Rixx and the channel closed.
Admiral Serrano said, "I had no idea that they were such nice people."
Archer looked over at him and smiled, "You would be surprised at the help you can get out here."
Two days later:
Captain's Log: June 24th, 2645. Starfleet has agreed to take the Pacifica into the fleet. They are upgrading their hyperdrive systems and inertial compensators now. Then they will be on their way to a new planet that the Bolians promise would make a great colony. They also have the new designs for the Echo relays so we won't have to replace theirs anymore.
I am told that Mr. Kincaid has lost his rank and is in their brig for several months for endangering the lives of his colonists. He apparently thought that the Bolians would not fire on the shuttle if it has children. We checked with the Bolians and he was horrified to learn that the Bolians sensors were not that good when it comes to life signs of non-Bolians.
We have finally been able to communicate directly to the Bolians in their own language. Hoshi says that she really enjoys it and the Bolians have been speaking a fair amount of English around us as well. They are an interesting and kind people. With the blessings of Starfleet we are setting up some communications protocols in the Echo network for the Bolians to contact us in the future.
We are getting a tour from the Bolians about what they have learned about the Parvex. I guess we are lucky that the Parvex don't have telescopes at this point.
We will be staying for at least a couple of weeks and then we will cross over to the travel path of the Atlantica Mothership and start checking out the Echo network in that direction. After that we will be headed spinward. The Bolian map lists a group out in that direction called the Romulans. I wonder if they are nice people.