Captain's log, stardate 46154.2. The USS Enterprise has entered a previously unknown region of space, its mission, to chart this region for any scientific curiosities. This is the farthest from federation space we have been to, and all hands are uneasy due to the innate silence of this kind of deep space. I have the utmost confidence in my crew however, and believe that they will perform admirably.
Captain Picard sat back at his desk in the ready room, and studied the map of the sector the Enterprise had been sent to scan. The constant hum of the ship was the only sound in the room, with the smell of a freshly brewed Earl Gray tea slowly filling the cabin. Taking a sip of the hot tea, he studied the small map that had been made from the preliminary scans of the system. "Fascinating." He said sarcastically to himself, as the system they were in was entirely uninteresting. Three class D planets, essentially balls of dust and radiation from the star, and one class Y planet. The star itself, while as majestic as any other star, was a simple blue dwarf star. Leaning back into the chair, he swiveled to look at the fish tank in the corner of the room, and watched the fish swim lazily in the small container. "I sometimes feel as if I understand the way you feel" Picard told the fish, standing up. "trapped in a container, even if I captain it I can never leave. And always another problem to solve, another crises to prevent." He gazed into the depths of the tank before leaving the room to rejoin the crew on the bridge. "I can only hope that this mission won't have any of that, everyone could use a break from defying death." As the door closed, the hum of the ship was once again the only sound in the room.
"Ensign, can you hand me the gravitic caliper? This plasma regulator is giving me a bit more trouble then I expected." Geordi's voice echoed through the Jefferies tube, to a waiting ensign with a tool kit. Geordi was reaching his hand out to grab the offered tool when the ship suddenly shifted, smacking his head against a support strut and nearly knocking him unconscious. "You okay down there Lieutenant?" The ensigns voice carried down to Geordi. "Yeah, probably got a major concussion. Mind lending me a hand real quick? I think I should probably get out, I can't exactly fix this problem like this." The ensign and Geordi grunted with exertion, getting the bruised Lieutenant commander out tube. Geordi's badge almost immediately activated with the telltale chirp, "Geordi, what the hell was that?" Riker's voice shot out. "Well commander I'm not certain. I was doing a repair when we got hit with whatever it was, I have a concussion but otherwise I feel okay. I'm heading to medical, but Data was in Engineering I think." Holding his head, Geordi began moving toward the turbolift.
Lieutenant Commander Data was in fact in Main Engineering when the wave hit, his internal compensators barely given enough time to keep him on his feet. The biological crew-members were not so lucky, most falling in the tremors if not face planting into the walls as the ground became far more mobile than any of them could have expected. He was already scanning the source of the issue when his com-badge chirped on, and Riker's voice came out. "Data, we were just hit by something, Geordi is going to medical. Do you have any idea what hit us hard enough to knock out the ship's stabilizers?" Data looked at the numbers, a scientific rarity was the only conclusion that he could come up with. All the millions of calculations pointed toward only one object with that sort of gravitational wave. "Data to Commander Riker, I believe I have an explanation but it would perhaps be best if I gave it to all of the senior crew. If possible, I believe we should meet in the observation lounge. For now the danger is past."
All the senior officers gathered in the dark lounge, large windows pointing out to the nothing of space and all were almost reminded that they were truly alone out here. No human had ever explored this far, and if they had any problems they would be truly alone, with no star base within a week's worth of warp travel. All the members had recent bruises, with Geordi looking the worse for wear, using an ice pack to help with the pounding headache from his close encounter with a part of the ship. The Security Chief, Worf, tapped his fingers impatiently on the table. His usual Klingon frown now accented in the darkness of the lounge, making it and his ridges all the more pronounced. Across from him, the ship's counselor, Deanna Troi sat with regal grace as always, her face calm and attentive, offering no opinion on current events. To her left sat Commander Riker, his bearded face most used for his trademark smile now bore a frown to rival Worf's, signaling his feelings on how he felt the crew had been in danger. To Worf's left sat the Doctor Beverly Crusher and Head Engineer Geordi. Beverly looked over Geordi, her red hair slightly messy from the amount of work she was now under with a ship full of minor injuries rushing her infirmary. At the head of the table sat Captain Jean-luc Picard, his face mirroring that of his subordinates in concentration. All eyes were focused on the view screen, where Commander Data was standing. "Captain, I believe that we were caught in the gravitational wake of a rogue planet." His mechanical voice was calm, a single tone throughout as if he were commenting on the weather. "Now hold on Data" Geordi's voice called in, "A rogue planet is incredibly rare, the odds of finding one are, well astronomical. How did we not only come across one, but have it not come up on our scanners?" Data turned to look toward the table, his eyes coming to rest on Picard. "I do not know how our scanners did not pick up an object of this scale, but only something of planetary mass would be able to overpower the compensators of the ship, not to mention the size of the wake produced." Captain Picard sat up in his chair, a tell tale sign that he was about to begin speaking. "A rogue planet is an extraordinary discovery Data, very few have been able to be fully studied. Is there any chance we can, catch up to the planet and study it safely without damaging the ship or endangering the crew?" Data looked towards the screen, his eyebrows bunching in what could be interpreted as concentration before once more addressing the captain. "I believe so. We now know the location of the planet, it merely is now just like any other planet in the system. It will leave the system in thirty minutes. With that speed, we will catch up to it in an hour." Captain Picard looked toward his crew and addressed them once more, his voice taking on the authority of a captain. "We have come across something truly special, Prepare to reconvene on the bridge in one hour. Doctor, you may remain in the infirmary. Dismissed."
The planet on the view screen was an enigma. It was uninteresting compared to the planets Ensign Wesley crusher had seen in his time aboard the Enterprise. Serving aboard the ship on an official internship rather than the unofficial field promotion he received before attending Starfleet Academy, he was still unimpressed. Even so, the planet was still intimidating. The size of a large gas giant, it seemed to defy fundamental physics. The gravity was close to Earth's intensity, an impossibility considering the mass of the planet at work. The whole planet was black, with huge mountains and vistas, carved out of stone as black as obsidian. The makeup was like any other rocky planet, but visually it was anything but. Huge storm systems ravaged the land, but with no water there was only lightning and wind. Without any sun, all the water had frozen to the planet, giving the whole planet the feel of a large ball of black ice, with the surface jutting toward the sky as if the planet were in pain. Wesley tried to shake off the fear he felt looking at the planet, but it made him feel cold. Looking toward his console, he began to maneuver the ship. Regardless of his personal feelings, he had a mission to complete. Slowly and laboriously, the Enterprise closed in toward the dark planet.
"Commander Data, what can you tell me about the planet?" Picard's voice cut through the room, the feeling Wesley had felt by everyone on the bridge. "Well Captain, I can't really tell much. The size and composition of the planet cannot be sustainable, along with the strength of the gravity. It is as if the laws of the universe simply do not pertain to this planet." Worf stood upright, straightening his back. "Perhaps, there is someone or something causing the planet to behave this way?" Picard, still looking toward the view screen, turned his head towards Troi, his eyes never leaving the screen. "What do you make of it Councilor? Can you sense anything?" Troi closing her eyes, shook her head. "Not in a traditional sense Captain. I believe I can sense something, but it isn't a life form. It's like nothing I've never felt before." Putting her head in her hands, Picard noticed the change. "Councilor, are you alright? Do I need to call Doctor Crusher?" Troi brought her head up, and shook it giving a small weak smile. "No, that will not be necessary. I just think I need some rest, all the fear from the crew has left me with little headaches. If it is all the same to you, I think I would like to head back to my quarters to relax." Captain Picard nodded his head, turning his attention back to the planet. "Permission granted. If you need assistance, contact Beverly. I'll call if we need more of your expertise." As Troi stood up and walked to the turbolift, all attention was once again placed on the screen toward the impossible dark planet.
"Captain, I believe the scanners have picked up something." Data's voice once again cut through the purveying silence like a knife. "It is a faint signal, but it appears something down there is leaking a vast amount of energy." Picard and Riker looked each other in the eyes, an unspoken conversation passing through them with a single raised eyebrow from Riker. "What kind of energy Data?" Riker asked him, standing up to walk over to Data's console. "Well commander it is a form of electromagnetic energy, it appears that the energy potential is," Data paused, his face once again showing a form of concentration, a sign that he was running through millions of calculations, "Infinite sir." Commander Riker looked over his shoulder towards Picard with a look of undisguised shock. "Data, that's impossible. The law of entropy makes infinite energy an impossibility." The Captain looked on with a face now in his own frown of concentration, Data is very rarely wrong but in this case it simply isn't possible. "I have no solution Captain, that is simply what the scan shows. Whatever is down there is a source of infinite energy, able to sustain entire planets. With multiple of whatever it is, it's possible each planet could have the energy potential to keep the entire galaxy powered forever." Picard stood up slowly, looking toward the planet. The impossible planet, a black sphere of rock and mystery. "Number one," he started slowly, "collect your away team. I want to find out exactly what it is that is able to generate that power."
