Star Trek: The Typhoon Supervention
By Slipstream3D
Stardate 56021.1- SS Ronin- Jupiter
Levek hated Ferengi. No matter how hard he tried, he always managed to get shafted when dealing with them. Except this time. He had bought a shipment of precious ores at a mining station on Mars, and then managed to outwit the local Ferengi business consortium. If Levek could get to Trastus II, he could sell his cargo with huge profits.
This, he thought to himself for the umpteenth time, is finally my big break.
He glanced out the window of his modified shuttlecraft, hacked together from parts of a Federation class 9A shuttle and his old cargo freighter. Jupiter filled most of his view, in its yellow and reddish majesty. Some of its moons could be seen as tiny specks.
Suddenly, an orange streak flashed into existence across the heavens. A sleek, black starship pulled away from the already dissipating ribbon of color.
Levek was surprised. As a cargo trader of his experience, he wasn't surprised easily. There wasn't any reason for a ship of such obvious power to be here. Maybe they're having difficulties.
"Warning," came the calm, cool male voice of the computer. "Newly arrived vessel's course intersects current course. Suggest course modification. Possible impact in one minute, seven seconds. Ship cannot be identified."
"Yeah, computer. Change course enough to get this crate out of their way."
"Affirmative. Changing course by eleven degrees. Warning: unidentified vessel's course has been modified to intersect our own. Possible impact in 56 seconds."
"Computer, hail them. All frequencies."
"Comm channel open," reported the computer.
"Unidentified vessel, this is the private vessel Ronin, registry number NAR-62746. Your course intersects my own. Please make a course change."
Nothing.
"Unidentified vessel, are you having system problems? I have operational long-range comm devices and can call for assistance. If you cannot transmit, please respond by photon flare, or blink your lights, or something."
Still nothing.
"Computer, cut the channel. All stop."
The Ronin slowed to a halt. Turning slightly, the other vessel continued to glide towards him.
The blue glow of what Levek recognised as a Starfleet tractor beam surrounded the Ronin. Before Levek could react, the spine-tingling sensation of a transporter beam engulfed him, and everything went black.
Stardate 56021.3 – U.S.S. Challenger, Hawking system
Captain Harrison sighed and stared at his PADD. The brown haired, balding man had only been captain for a month and already he felt overloaded. It didn't help that Starfleet Command was too disorganised to get him a first officer, either. He glanced up at the bridge of his ship, taking in the white and grey colouring, and his crew at work. The captain's eyes stopped at the dedication plaque, and he read its engraved words once again- "U.S.S. Challenger- Prometheus Class. Second starship to bear the name." The first wasn't really a Starfleet vessel, but rather the legendary Challenger space shuttle; the precursor to all that Starfleet would become. Captain Harrison wasn't worried his ship would suffer the same fate as the original Challenger, but instead was proud to command the ship bearing its name.
"Captain, the anomaly's delta field is starting to destabilise." It was Lieutenant Tania, the Challenger's science officer.
"Thank you, lieutenant," replied the captain, in his gravelly voice.
The Challenger had been studying a Jensen's Pinwheel, an eccentric spatial anomaly that had only been spotted a handful of times in known history. The fiery redness of the pinwheel filled the viewscreen, with snapping, tearing tendrils of plasma clawing and groping at any objects foolish enough to be too close. One of those objects was an asteroid half the size of Earth's own moon.
"Ensign Vaughn, ease us back about twenty thousand kilometres. We don't know exactly will happen and I want to be safe."
"Aye, sir."
Harrison reached for his PADD and realised it wasn't where he had left it. He frowned and looked around, glancing up just in time to see it bounce off the main viewscreen. The artificial gravity was off because of the anomaly and Harrison knew it, but old habits die hard.
The captain undid his restraining harness and pushed off, floating towards the rogue PADD. Suddenly, the viewscreen flared intensely orange. Tremors surged through the ship.
"Lieutenant! What the hell was that?" shouted Harrison, PADD in hand.
"I'm not sure quite yet, captain. Sensors don't know what to make of it, so I'm doing a manual analysis… oh." A grave look suddenly crossed Tania's soft, amiable face. "We need to talk. In private." the Lieutenant had already started towards the captain's ready room. Harrison normally would have objected, him being the captain, but something about her intense change in attitude made him stop.
Halfway to the ready room door another violent shock rippled through the ship, and the already dimmed lights went out. Seconds later, emergency lighting came on, and in the new light Harrison noticed the viewscreen. The asteroid that was there seconds ago was being torn to shreds by the anomaly's plasma streamers, with force that made it seem that the legendary gates of Hell were being opened and dæmons and banshees were tearing their way out.
"Vaughn! Full reverse!" yelled the captain as he launched himself towards his command seat. "Tania! What the hell was that? The anomaly's supposed to be collapsing, not expanding!"
"The pinwheel's been excited by the energy from the passing ship," stated the science officer. "It's pulling us in!"
What ship? Harrison thought to himself.
The Challenger's engines strained against the energy of the pinwheel, but it was no use. The spinning red mass loomed larger. Red tendrils shot out of the anomaly, tearing and scratching at the Challenger's state-of-the-art shielding.
"Captain, this isn't working. Full reverse impulse and manoeuvring thrusters aren't enough, and going to warp would probably do more damage than the anomaly is," reported Ensign Vaughn.
Lieutenant Tania spoke up again. "I think I have a solution. The energy is attracted to our shields- the more shield energy, the stronger the reaction- but if we lower the shields or reduce power, we'll be torn apart. There's one thing we can do- activate multi-vector assault mode. The Challenger's three separate pieces should have enough power by themselves to escape the lowered force from the pinwheel."
The captain nodded his head. "Computer! Engage multi-vector assault mode. Authorisation Harrison theta delta six niner. No target. Evasive manoeuvres only!"
"Identity confirmed. Multi-vector assault mode separation engaged," came the computer's response.
Yet again, a shudder ran through the decks of the Challenger, only this time it was to save the ship, not harm it. As immensely powerful locks disengaged, the computer systems prepared to become three separate vessels. The forward "saucer" section, complete with the bridge, the upper stardrive, and lower stardrive sections prepared to come apart and become autonomous vehicles.
"Separation complete. Multi-vector assault mode achieved. Evading hostile distortion," reported the computer.
Vaughn hooted. "It's working! We're pulling away!"
"Ensign Vaughn, take us out of range of the distortion- at least a million kilometres- and drop a stationary sensor probe. Reintegrate the hulls and set a course for Starbase One," ordered Harrison.
"Aye sir, gladly."
Harrison nodded at Lieutenant Tania and started towards the ready room.
. . .
Once inside the captain's ready room, Harrison questioned her.
"All right, Lieutenant. What's this all about? What 'passing ship'?"
"Captain, what's the progress on the Typhoon slipstream project?" returned Tania.
"I believe I'm the captain here. What's this about?"
"Just answer my question please, sir."
"I believe they have the main spaceframe built, but they're still running simulations on the drive. Apparently, they've been having problems with it destabilising." Harrison knew this had something to do with that orange flash, but his mind was too clouded, and the situation too grave, for him to be guessing.
"That was a slipstream, created by a slipstream capable starship, and it almost hit us. Sensors didn't pick up any real detail on the ship- it happened so fast- but it appears to be of the Typhoon class."
The captain raised his eyebrows. Tania tapped a computer panel in the ready room's wall and a three dimensional image of the Typhoon class vessel flared into existence. The ship was incredibly streamlined, with the bow of the inadequately named 'saucer' section being a mere point, and leading back into the wider stern. This is where the ship differed radically from other Starfleet vessels. Instead of a lower engineering section with two warp nacelles sticking out on pylons, the Typhoon has what looks like a blunt cone covering the entire back of the saucer section. This cone has, running down each side, a blue strip led by a red triangle- the only resemblance to typical warp engines, and a design element to be phased out as soon as the slipstream drive becomes perfected. Inset on the lower forward facing surface of the cone are not one, but two half-round deflector dishes. The whole vessel was finished out in partially reflective silver, rather than the typical Starfleet grey.
Tania explained, "This, as you know, is the Typhoon class prototype. And this-," Tania tapped the panel again. "This is the ship that was detected."
A jet-black ship, nearly identical in design, appeared next to the Typhoon. The lone design difference was the absence of full sized warp coils- their slipstream drive worked.
"Well," Harrison stated, "it appears we have a problem."
Stardate 56021.4 – U.S.S. Challenger, en route to Starbase 1, Earth Orbit
Ensign Wass, a rather fidgety member of the engineering staff, was getting extremely impatient. His team had been trying to fix a burnt out hologrid, and was nearly finished when they were told to put it on hold and leave for some lousy announcement. The crew had gathered in the cavernous main shuttlebay, the only place large enough to hold the entire crew. He, and nearly everyone else, had been waiting an hour for the captain to arrive. At least they were on the ground again, being far enough away from the pinwheel to turn artificial grav back on.
At last, the door slid open and Captain Harrison, still talking with Lieutenant Tania, stepped inside. Tania joined the crowd while Harrison got up on the podium set up at the front of the room.
Harrison addressed the crowd, "Thank you all for assembling on such short notice and for being so patient. I just got back from a top priority Starfleet briefing. What I am about to tell you should never leave this ship until it has been officially cleared by Starfleet Command. I know I can trust you all.
"For several years after a transmission was received from the U.S.S. Voyager, stranded in the Delta quadrant, Starfleet has secretly been developing a prototype starship with a revolutionary new drive system called the quantum slipstream. This new development would allow space travel at speeds ten to one hundred times faster than current warp drive. During initial trials, existing ships were outfitted with the new drive system, but this proved to be too unstable- resulting in the destruction of the U.S.S. Hudson, which, fortunately, was unmanned at the time- so a new ship had to be developed for the project.
"This," a giant holographic image of the Typhoon appeared over Harrison's head, "is the Typhoon class prototype. She's about half done construction- that's where the problem comes in.
"We have detected a vessel, nearly identical in design, in a fully operational state. The only thing we do know about it is Starfleet is not in command of it. It is believed as of now that a pirate organisation somehow obtained plans and built it at incredible speed, on their own."
A slight murmur arose in the crowd.
"Our mission," Harrison continued, "is to retrieve the ship intact, or, if all else fails, destroy it and any unauthorised plans.
"We are currently en route to the Sol system, where similar readings to what we experienced near the pinwheel were detected by the sensor net set up during the Dominion War. When we complete repairs at Starbase 1, we will rendezvous with the U.S.S. Concordia, and assist in finding out where that ship went. Failure could compromise the security of the Federation. Dismissed!"
Stardate 56021.6 – U.S.S. Challenger, Earth Orbit
The massive mushroom shaped facility called Spacedock filled the Challenger's viewscreen. A bustle of activity could be seen- starships moving in and out, shuttlecraft and work bees dodging obstacles ranging from a sleek Sovereign-class dreadnought to hulking cargo vessels.
Captain Harrison addressed the ship's computer, "Open a channel to Spacedock and request docking clearance."
"Affirmative," came the computer's feminine voice. Then, a few seconds later, "channel open."
The smiling face of Admiral Linda Stens replaced Spacedock. "Hello, Harrison! Good to see you all again. Glad you made it through that damned Dominion war in one piece. You're cleared to dock as soon as the Talisman is clear of the main doors."
Harrison replied, "It's good to see you again too. Unfortunately, there's business to take care of. When is the Concordia due to arrive, Admiral?"
"The U.S.S. Concordia is actually already here. A malfunctioning secondary computer core caused them to skip their last mission. The crew has been here on a much-deserved leave while the core was replaced. Work is finished and the Concordia will be ready to go as soon as you are. Captain Maiaa is anxious to talk to you as soon as you have time."
As Admiral Stens spoke, a Vulcan lieutenant wearing the gold-trimmed uniform of a security officer moved into sight on the viewscreen. He handed a PADD to the Admiral, who looked it over, then handed it back. As the lieutenant left, the Admiral said, "Well, duty calls, Captain. I'll see you soon. Stens out."
After she finished speaking, the viewscreen snapped back to the image of Spacedock. A Steamrunner class vessel that the computer labelled as the U.S.S. Talisman was just pulling away from Spacedock's vast main hangar doors. As the starship sped up and disappeared from view, Captain Harrison gave the command to pull in and dock. Passing through the main doors, the size of the hanger dwarfed them. Four other starships, including the Nebula class Concordia, a massive Galaxy class with a missing warp nacelle, an Oberth class science vessel, and the Sovereign class Enterprise-E were docked, with plenty of room for more. There was a rumour going around that some Borg circuitry had re-activated onboard the Enterprise, but Harrison decided to ignore such rumours until they have evidence founding them.
As the Challenger reached their docking bay, the corridors that would integrate their vessel to Spacedock extended and locked onto the ship. These corridors transfer not only people, but also the very turbolifts themselves, in addition to information, power, and communications. Once the ship was secure, Harrison gave the appropriate orders to his crew, and walked towards the turbolift.
"Computer, conference room four, Spacedock."
Stardate 56021.9 – Spacedock, Earth Orbit
Lieutenant Tania was starting to get mad. Harrison had called her to the conference room over an hour ago and she had still not been let in. Harrison seems to be developing a reputation for this sort of thing, she thought to herself dryly. She plucked her gold and silver commbadge off her uniform and started fidgeting with it. Just then, a short, bald man ran around the corner and straight into her.
"So sorry! I'm in a real rush to get to the next hoverball match-," the odd man glanced at his ancient watch, one with real mechanical workings. He didn't look terribly sophisticated, so Tania assumed it to be a fake.
"Blast! Missed it, the doors'll be closed by now. Say, aren't you from the Challenger?"
"Yes, sir." Tania noticed, almost too late, the three pips on his collar showing him to be a commander. "Lieutenant Mandy Tania, chief science officer aboard the U.S.S. Challenger."
"I'm Bruce Willingston, second in command on the Concordia. You don't need to call me 'sir' right now. Personally, I hate the formality of it all, but I love the rest of my job so I've got to stick with it," he explained.
"So," the lieutenant started, but she was cut off as the grey and red conference room doors slid open and Admiral Stens, Captain Maiaa, and Captain Harrison emerged. The Admiral rushed down the hallway and disappeared around a corner.
Captain Maiaa spoke up. "Commander, Lieutenant; get back to your posts as quickly as possible. A science vessel returning to Earth has picked up residual quantum fluctuations. That ship's close and we're going to catch it!"
Stardate 56022.0 – U.S.S. Challenger, outside Sol system
Captain Harrison surveyed the bridge. Everyone was busy- the helm following the zigzagging course the Concordia was making in its efforts to trace their target, the science and engineering crews analysing data in order to help.
The murmuring of ventilation, engines, computers, and quiet conversations was broken by Harrison's commbadge.
"Engineering to Captain Harrison," came the raspy voice of Ensign Wass.
Surprised and somewhat irritated by the disturbance, Harrison tapped his commbadge and replied flatly, "Yes?"
"Sir, we've got some really bizarre stuff going on down here. Some computers were taken apart- we just finished putting them back together- and there's some, um, devices attached to the warp core and plasma relays. I'd try to take 'em off and figure out what they are, but we'd have to drop out of warp. None of us, not even the Chief, have the slightest what this stuff is."
"I believe I can provide you with an answer." Admiral Stens' face appeared on the viewscreen, transmitted from the Concordia. Stens was obviously along for the mission. "The Challenger has been equipped with its very own slipstream drive. As it is of Prometheus class, the ability to separate into three self-contained vehicles allows brief flights, at most of three minutes. The saucer section would ride ahead, sending information back to the stardrive sections, which would be apart but held in place by tractor beams. This is to insure that the slipstream can be modified at any time, but just to be sure, an automatic computer override has been put in place that will dissipate the slipstream if anything goes wrong. Sorry about the mess, but we were caught off guard by the appearance of the quantum signatures.
"Speaking of which, the Concordia has picked up massive quantum activity in an uninhabited system about ten hours away. Head for these coordinates-," the Admiral tapped a keypad- "Get there as fast as possible. We'll meet you there. Stens out."
"Coordinates received and course laid. Shall I engage?" asked the helmsman.
"Let's go- maximum warp."
Stardate 56022.4 – U.S.S. Challenger, Tadrissa System
The sleek shape of the U.S.S. Challenger, one of the most advanced ships in the Federation fleet, slid out of warp and glided into the outer reaches of the Tadrissa system. A minute later, the U.S.S. Concordia did the same, falling into formation next to the Challenger. In the distance, two blue and pink swirled gas giants lumbered in their hundred year orbits around Tadri, the system's primary star.
The crew of both ships stood ready, tense, not knowing what to expect.
On the bridge of the Challenger, Captain Harrison sat in his command chair waiting for word from the Concordia. The advanced sensor pod attached to the top of the Concordia nearly doubled the range of their long-range sensors; therefore, it automatically took priority in scanning for their foe. Or were they really a foe? Harrison began considering this line of thought when a communication from Admiral Stens filled the viewscreen.
"Captain, we've located the Typhoon copy. It's near the gas giants, heading on an intercept towards us, but at low speeds. They seem rather confident about themselves. However, we can't get any more detail on the vessel. Some sort of jamming system is active that makes it seem as if it were out of focus on an ancient telescope. It's not terribly effective, luckily, so we can track the ship itself fairly easily."
"Great. Let's go have a chat, shall we?" Harrison replied. Speaking to his crew, he ordered, "Close the channel. Red alert! All hands to battlestations. Keep our weapons on standby but don't charge them up, we don't want to provoke these people, at least until we know something about them. Intercept course, full impulse!"
Two Federation starships, battle-ready in an instant, sped forwards to meet with an unknown enemy.
"We're in communications range, sir," came the voice of Lieutenant Commander Duvall, the ship's tactical and comms officer. "Shall I hail them?"
"Do so- all frequencies."
"Channel open, sir, but there's no reply at the other end. If they're listening, and if that's really a Typhoon, they should be able the hear us."
Harrison addressed the mystery ship, which had grown larger on the viewscreen.
"This is Captain Harrison of the Federation starship Challenger. We have no quarrel with you, but there are some questions we would like to ask. Please respond."
"Nothing, sir." Duvall said.
"Cut the channel, but keep looping that message and tell me if anything comes through. What's the ship doing?"
"It's continuing towards us at a steady speed. We'll be within conventional weapons range in another twenty seconds, if they want to shoot," reported Duvall.
Ten seconds passed. The display on Harrison's chair reported that the Concordia had tried similar diplomatic means, without success.
Tania spoke, "We've got more detail on the ship, Captain. Their shields are raised and seem to be comparable to our own, weapons systems appear to be somewhat stronger than ours, but in fewer numbers, and they're powered down. There's some erratic power readings- even for a completely unknown ship. I haven't the slightest idea what they're doing."
The time had passed- they were within weapons range. Admiral Stens' voice came over the comm system. "Unknown vessel, you are in illegal possession of Federation technology and have travelled illegally in Federation space. Please lower your shields and prepare to be boarded."
If only that worked, Harrison thought to himself. Guys like this never lower their shields without a fight- only they're not fighting this time.
"Captain! There's a massive energy surge coming from the unknown ship. It could be the slipstream drive powering up, but they're pointed right at us!" Tania yelled.
"Helm! Evasive manoeuvres! Get us out of the way!" Harrison ordered.
The Challenger rapidly changed course, moving out of the way with all thrusters firing. The Concordia could be seen doing the same, in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, the ageing Nebula class, although still powerful, was not as manoeuvrable as the newer Prometheus class. It was taking too long.
Only the Typhoon class vessel's slipstream drive did not come online. Instead, its impulse drive pulsed on to full power and the ship screamed up next to the Concordia, where the Challenger was just an instant ago.
For a moment, only a fraction of a second, the bridge was frozen. The unknown starship broke the silence. Down the port side of the vessel, along one deck, small circles lit up with fiery blue brightness, and milliseconds later, shafts of glimmering light shot out into the U.S.S. Concordia. The beams passed straight through the shields, which were flickering feebly against the energy. Where they contacted the hull the Concordia started to glow.
Before Harrison could say "Open fire," an eerie blue glow had engulfed half the ship. The points that the beams had touched were starting to disappear. The beams traced their way along the hull of the helpless Concordia and then snapped off as fast as they had appeared. With a crackling blue flash, the space that had been the U.S.S. Concordia was empty.
Six phaser banks and three quantum torpedo launchers sprang to life on the U.S.S. Challenger's bow. Their foe began absorbing damage.
"Sir, there's another power surge building. If we activate multi-vector assault mode, they'll need to fire three times as many shots to eliminate us." The shock in Lieutenant Tania's voice was obvious.
"Computer- multi-vector assault mode. Avoid those cannons, Mr. Vaughn!" The Captain and his crew knew now was not a time to fall apart, even against such incredible odds. Starfleet captains seemed to have a reputation for beating the odds, he realised.
The blue glow had begun to appear along the near side of the unknown vessel. If he failed, only part of the U.S.S. Challenger will make it home. Captain Harrison felt himself preparing for the same fate as the Concordia—
And suddenly every light on the enemy ship's hull blinked out, the warp nacelles and deflector dishes quickly fading. It was as if someone had unplugged an illuminated toy. The dark hull of the mysterious vessel fell dark, and would have been pitch black but for the feeble pinkish light cast by Tadri.
"Tania! What just happened to that ship?" Harrison demanded.
"I wish I could say- it's as if the whole damn thing just shorted out. There's no trace of energy coming from the entire ship, and the dampening field is gone. There are no life signs onboard, and no active life support. Even the quantum reactor is offline, and shutting it down, at least in Starfleet's design, needs command-code authorisation- something only live Captains possess. There's absolutely no outside influence that could have shut down that vessel without effecting us, either." Tania looked as perplexed as Harrison had ever seen her.
The Captain spoke. "Cease fire. Hail them, Mr. Duvall. Same diplomatic greeting as before."
"No response whatsoever, Captain. She's dead, and it wasn't our fire that did it," Duvall stated.
"Assemble an away team. I want our best security team, an engineering team, and someone trained in psychology. Make sure everyone's got assault gear and the best weapons they're trained for. Verify the ship is empty, and disable anything that might let their crew back- we don't know anything about what they're capable of." Harrison did not want to get caught unprepared.
Stardate 56022.5 - U.S.S. Challenger, Tadrissa System
The security team was getting ready to go. Assault gear and phaser rifles were retrieved from lockers. During the Dominion War, Starfleet had finally realised that conventional security and away teams were not good enough for the jobs at hand, and specialised teams were created, formed from the best of the crew on each starship.
Assault gear consisted of body armour capable of absorbing a few low energy phaser blasts, leg gear with a snap-on phaser holster, arm gear with a snap-in tricorder for hands-free scanning, and a helmet with a computer-guided flashlight and heads-up display system. A computer would calculate where you are looking and guide the flashlight there, and the heads-up display would show tricorder data, as well as other customisable information, for example, circuitry diagrams for the engineers. Built into the helmet was an adaptive air filter, capable of killing many diseases and filtering poisons, as well as releasing oxygen from other chemicals present in the air.
Once the teams were prepared, they headed to the transporter room. Five security team members, led by Chief of Security, Lieutenant Commander Lannx, three engineers, including Ensign Wass, and the ship's counsellor and xenopsychologist, Doctor Craus, all arranged on two separate transporter pads.
Lieutenant Commander Lannx, in his heavily accented Risan voice, explained the situation.
"The security team and Doctor Craus will beam into the halls surrounding main engineering, because they are the most tactically sound, and sweep the ship for any life signs. Then we'll move- carefully, because of the possibility of automated defences- into main engineering. Doctor Craus will be there in case of a situation requiring diplomacy or negotiation. When engineering is secure, the engineering team will beam over and attempt to repair and capture the vessel, starting with the quantum reactor-here- and the main computer core-here. Is that clear?"
He made his points clear by jabbing his finger at an animated 3d diagram of the Typhoon copy, projected from his tactical situation monitor tricorder. The TSM tricorder was capable of mapping entire vessels down to the junk on the floors, and tracking crew members' positions and status.
"Clear. Let's move out," sounded eight voices, more or less in unison. Although Lannx was from a planet renowned for vacations and pleasure, there was hardly a more meticulous and intelligent tactical planner in all of the Federation. Never has the Challenger's crew questioned his planning, and never has one of Lannx's operations failed as a result of any mistake on his part.
"Chief-" Lannx addressed Transporter Chief Huu'mal, "Energise the first team."
…
The security team reenergised inside the dark hallways outside the vessel's engineering core.
"Okay squad, you know the drill. Move out." Lannx started the team moving in the ship-wide sweep.
Ensign Penn, a smallish Bajoran, spoke up. "Is it just me, sir, or is it really creepy that these hallways look identical to a Starfleet ship? I mean, pirates or whoever built this ship would take the trouble to make it look the same on the outside- which it doesn't- but the interior doesn't make any sense. It seems an awful waste of their time."
"I don't know why they'd bother, Penn, but maybe they stole corridors from another ship. There's plenty of wreckage from the Dominion War, and most Starfleet ships are modular in design, so they could just snap them in," Lannx explained. "Keep quiet, we don't want to attract attention."
The quick sweep of the ship's halls turned up no one, sped up from the fact that there were quite a few less halls and rooms than a standard vessel- on this ship, only what was needed was put into place, the rest was left empty, exposed to vacuum.
The group returned to the engineering core hallways, satisfied the ship was empty of any life except them.
"That was boring. Maybe we'll get to shoot some automated defence turrets in Engineering. Woah! Would you look at all the extra bioneural circuitry around here!" Lieutenant Casey's tricorder transmitted information to everyone's heads up display, illuminating the hundreds of half-organic, half-electronic computer components inside the walls.
He explained, "The U.S.S. Voyager—" he chuckled to himself, "the ship that got us into this mess—was the first vessel to be equipped with bioneural circuitry, simply because it's faster and better. However, it was limited to gel packs that replaced regular optical stuff- this ship's got more of it in the halls we can see right now than the entire Federation fleet has in use! I can't think of any possible reason for all of it."
"That's for the engineers to figure out, Casey. Shut your trap. Prepare to move in on Main Engineering. Set your tricorders to emit jamming biosigns in case there are active defences." Lannx pushed a button on his arm and lifted up his rifle.
"Go, go, go!"
The rush into Main Engineering was as uneventful as the rest of the away mission. The six team-members assembled in the centre of the y-shaped room, surveying their surroundings. Every computer panel and light they had encountered was off due to lack of power, and engineering was no exception. The room's design was nearly identical to the real Typhoon, even down to colour- with one exception. They had come in on one of the two forks in the y-shape, and at the opposite end of the room was the quantum reactor, cold and lifeless. However, in the centre between the two forks, where the low output warp core for powering the backup engines was supposed to be, there was a massive and completely unfamiliar towering metal cylinder, running from floor to ceiling- huge considering Main Engineering spanned three decks.
Casey had ridden one of the small lifts up to the catwalks around the outer edge of the second level. His flashlight could be seen glancing around in the darkness above.
Lannx called up, "Casey, if you're so interested in the engineering end of things, what the hell is this?"
"This would be the main computer core, sir."
"And how could you possibly know that?"
"Because it says 'Main Computer Core Maintenance Access' on the door here, sir."
"In English?"
"Yes, sir. The core we assumed was the main one from sensor readings must be a backup or a secondary unit."
"Well, I'll be damned. This ship doesn't make any sense." Lannx tapped his commbadge. "Lannx to Engineering team. It's safe to beam over."
A few seconds later, the body of Ensign Wass along two others from the Challenger crew materialised in Main Engineering.
"Change of plans, Mr. Wass. Looks like the computer core's right behind you." Lannx looked over the massive core once again, the light from his flashlight barely reaching the top where it disappeared into the reflective chrome ceiling.
The three engineers turned around.
"Wow. That's bigger than I expected. This'll be fun!" Wass looked like a kid in a candy shop. The others looked less enthusiastic, however.
"If this is that big, it'll be different from our schematics. We'll have to learn it from the ground up!" exclaimed one.
"Exactly," said Wass. "You didn't sign up to this team because it was easy, did you?"
"Enough chit-chat, Wass. Let's get this ship running for our side."
"OK- first, we'll have to get the computer core online. We'll beam in emergency power cells. That way, the computer can monitor the quantum reactor start-up sequence. Normally, the warp core would power the computer during the process, but there seems to be a lack of warp cores here.
"Wass to engineering. Beam over three high output emergency power cells."
A minute later, the blue and silver cells materialised next to Wass and his team.
"Alright, get these hooked up. It looks like the power interface is there-" he pointed at a small hatch in the floor marked with three lightning bolts pointing outwards from a circle. One of the engineers pulled a retracted cable from the cell while the other opened the hatch. The cable could be heard clicking in. It fit perfectly.
Immediately, the emergency lighting snapped on throughout Main Engineering. The huge room was bathed in a soft blue light. As the other two power cells were connected, the lights brightened slightly.
"Well, that's a relief," commented Penn. "I hate my stupid flashlight."
Wass was scanning the computer core with his tricorder. He pointed at a sliding door set about five feet above the ground.
"In here looks like a standard Starfleet computer core interface. I'm going to restart the computer, but I'll set my diagnostic unit to shut it down if there is any hostile activity. OK, here goes."
Wass slid the hatch open. Behind it was a myriad of connectors and lights, all dark. He snapped a cable from his diagnostic unit, a PADD with a large silver box attached to the back, into one of the connectors. Bits of the panel lit up.
"Great, it's not fried. Here goes."
The engineer tapped a button on the PADD. Suddenly, hundreds of small blue lights running down the towering computer core came on, their brightness pulsing with a steady rhythm. A deep whirring noise could be heard. Snaking tubes running into the walls began circulating iridescent blue bioneural fluids.
"Wow," Ensign Wass said again. "This thing is… woah! The reactor's running its warm-up sequence!"
Behind them the quantum reactor core began glowing. Red conduits warmed up and the system started displaying information across a large screen.
"Wass! Shut it down! We want to do this at our own pace- anyway, we don't know if the computer's in good enough operating condition to start the core up," Lannx said.
Wass was frantically sending the computer commands through his diagnostic unit. "Sorry sir, but the thing's locked out. We can't do anything until the reactor's powered up! We could smash it, but then the ship would be useless. It seems like the computer and the quantum reactor need each other- without the quantum reactor, the computer has no power, and without the computer, the quantum reactor has nothing controlling it. We've got to let it start itself up, otherwise we can't do anything with this ship."
"I don't like it, Wass, but let it run. If anyone wishes to beam out in case this damned thing might explode, go right ahead."
No one moved. The quantum reactor was coming to full power now, and its incredible energy could be felt as if there were a charge in the air. Its full operational presence was on the verge of magnificence- something so oddly familiar, yet completely alien. However, the computer control panels lining the walls were still dark and useless.
With a shattering alarm tone, all the lights down the computer reactor turned red, and the red alert status lights in every corridor and bordering every computer console glowed menacingly.
"Warning—hostile presence detected. Switching to automatic defence mode in thirty seconds." The vessel's main computer voice announced.
"Oh hell!" Wass yelled. "I made sure this wouldn't happen!"
"Team, ready! Watch for turrets! Air filters on! Wass- if you don't shut this thing down, I'll shoot you when we get back to the Challenger!" Lannx started organising covered positions for his team members.
Wass examined his diagnostic unit again, tapping controls with almost inhuman speed.
"Maybe if I enter-" Wass was cut off.
"Access denied. Twenty-four seconds." The computer's voice cruelly mocked his attempts.
Wass tried something else.
"Access denied."
"Wass, get out of there- time to leave before the ship raises shields," Lannx yelled from behind a console.
"Fifteen seconds."
"What the…? There's some sort of low-level backup in here! If I load it…" Wass looked confident all of a sudden.
"Five-," the computer never finished the countdown. All the lights returned to blue. Red alert had been averted. Ensign Wass' sweat could be seen through his helmet.
Before they could so much as breathe a sigh of relief, every computer console in the room came on- but not in a way expected by any of them. Instead of the flat touchscreens seen on nearly every vessel in the known universe, the controls appeared as three-dimensional interfaces, with diagrams of every ship system floating centimetres above the sleek black consoles. Above them was a massive vessel-wide situation monitor hologram, the entire vessel slowly rotating on both its z and x-axes. Wass stared in awe.
Lannx started to speak. "I told you this ship didn't make any sense."
A holographic person started taking shape in front of their bewildered eyes. First it appeared only as a shapeless mass, radiating yellow light, but within a fraction of a second it had reformed itself into the shape of a human man- wearing a Starfleet uniform.
"Welcome, ladies and gentleman, to the Federation starship Rapier!"