Beginnings
Philip Whitehead
USS Trafalgar, NCC 7339, Year 2374, Federation Sector 322-gamma
"Sir, incoming hail from the UFPSV Pinafore."
"Put them through, ensign." Captain Mark Lorenz leaned forward in his chair, looking at the viewscreen. The USS Trafalgar was escorting the Federation Science Vessel Pinafore on a charting mission to an almost empty sector. The only thing that interested the Federation in this area of space was that subspace eddies made only a small corridor navigable, known as the Liebarran corridor. Federation scientists had postulated that a number of wormholes might be causing the eddies, so they had sent an escorted Bellengaria class lab barge to investigate.
"Give three cheers, and one cheer more, for the Captain of the Pinafore, eh?" Said Commander Donaldson. Lorenz frowned at her, and pressed the button to put through the message. An image of the lab barge Pinafore's bridge appeared on the screen. It's captain, an Alex Haber, stepped up from his chair.
"Captain Lorenz, my sensors indicate that we will reach the Liebarran corridor in three hours. We should prepare probes for the survey."
"Agreed, Captain Haber. We should also be on the lookout for potential Orion pirate threats."
"You know how my scientists feel about the military aspect of Starfleet, captain. They're barely tolerating your presence as it is. As commander of this mission, I will not allow you to power up your weapons."
Lorenz opened his mouth to say something then stopped. Clearly politics was going to take a backseat to practicality on this mission. "Captain Haber, I find your decision most unwise, considering our proximity to Orion space…"
"You have your orders." Snapped Haber, and cut the channel.
"Well, he was polite." Observed Commander Donaldson. "Even by Neues Leipzigian standards."
"Does he come from Neues Leipzig?" Asked Lorenz.
"It's what he told me. Captain, what he said was that you couldn't arm weapons. He didn't say anything about Red Alert."
Mark Lorenz stood up. "Red Alert's a bit strong, but thank you, number one. Ensign Ylla, sound general quarters. Helmsman Bennett, bring us about and put us between Orion space and the Pinafore. Meanwhile, I believe the Science Department has some probes to prepare."
USS Trafalgar, NCC 7339, Year 2374, Federation Sector 322-epsilon, Liebarran Corridor
"Receiving telemetry from the probes, Captain" Ensign Ylla at communications said, antennae bobbing slightly. "I'm patching it through to you now"
As the data appeared on the Captain's screen, some of the officers looked at the data and gasped.
"Wow!" Breathed Fiona Donaldson, uncustomarily lost for words.
"Amazing…" Said Captain Lorenz. "Just amazing."
The data showed that the eddies were caused by thousands of millimetre-wide stable wormholes, but the next discovery was to be even more astounding.
"Captain," Said Sinak, the Vulcan Science Officer. "I have found one wormhole with chroniton distortions that appears to lead to the Delta Quadrant, two thousnad years ago."
"Try and get a scanning beam inside it, Sinak."
The Vulcan nodded and busied himself with his console.
"This data will keep our scientists in pay for years, Captain" said Donaldson.
"In pay?"
"It's a twentieth-century phrase."
"Oh. Ensign Ylla, make sure the Pinafore is getting all this data."
"Captain!" Half-shouted Sinak, just a twinge of excitement in his supposedly emotionless Vulcan voice. "I have managed to get a visual through the wormhole, and, I believe it is the Borg homeworld before they became cyborgs."
Gasps came from around the bridge. "On screen, Lieutenant."
On the viewscreen appeared a slightly grainy shot of an Earth-like planet, blue oceans, white clouds, tan-green continents, and two icecaps. The image zoomed in on a section of the coast, which appeared to be one of their main cities.
"Captain, I am reading a power surge at those co-ordinates…"
On the screen, a warehouse or laboratory of some sort exploded, almost immediately, some of the buildings nearby were assimilated, growing conduits, mechanical appendages and other devices in a blink of an eye. "Ops, zoom in on that plaza, at e3 on the screen."
The screen showed an open, concreted area, where humanoid lifeforms were running from the advancing tide of nanoprobes. Over the next thirty minutes, they viewed and recorded the assimilation of the whole planet, nearly two thousand years in the past from their perspective.
Enterprise Café, Starfleet Command Complex, San Francisco, Earth, Year 2374
"…And it was the Borg homeworld, being assimilated before our eyes!"
"No!" Said Commander Donaldson's companions in unison.
"Come on Fiona, you've got to be kidding!" Said Roger Donaldson, her husband.
"View the tapes if you don't believe me, in thirty years when they're declassified. And the amazing thing was, if we had been just ten minutes later, we would have missed the whole thing. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?"
Philip Whitehead
USS Trafalgar, NCC 7339, Year 2374, Federation Sector 322-gamma
"Sir, incoming hail from the UFPSV Pinafore."
"Put them through, ensign." Captain Mark Lorenz leaned forward in his chair, looking at the viewscreen. The USS Trafalgar was escorting the Federation Science Vessel Pinafore on a charting mission to an almost empty sector. The only thing that interested the Federation in this area of space was that subspace eddies made only a small corridor navigable, known as the Liebarran corridor. Federation scientists had postulated that a number of wormholes might be causing the eddies, so they had sent an escorted Bellengaria class lab barge to investigate.
"Give three cheers, and one cheer more, for the Captain of the Pinafore, eh?" Said Commander Donaldson. Lorenz frowned at her, and pressed the button to put through the message. An image of the lab barge Pinafore's bridge appeared on the screen. It's captain, an Alex Haber, stepped up from his chair.
"Captain Lorenz, my sensors indicate that we will reach the Liebarran corridor in three hours. We should prepare probes for the survey."
"Agreed, Captain Haber. We should also be on the lookout for potential Orion pirate threats."
"You know how my scientists feel about the military aspect of Starfleet, captain. They're barely tolerating your presence as it is. As commander of this mission, I will not allow you to power up your weapons."
Lorenz opened his mouth to say something then stopped. Clearly politics was going to take a backseat to practicality on this mission. "Captain Haber, I find your decision most unwise, considering our proximity to Orion space…"
"You have your orders." Snapped Haber, and cut the channel.
"Well, he was polite." Observed Commander Donaldson. "Even by Neues Leipzigian standards."
"Does he come from Neues Leipzig?" Asked Lorenz.
"It's what he told me. Captain, what he said was that you couldn't arm weapons. He didn't say anything about Red Alert."
Mark Lorenz stood up. "Red Alert's a bit strong, but thank you, number one. Ensign Ylla, sound general quarters. Helmsman Bennett, bring us about and put us between Orion space and the Pinafore. Meanwhile, I believe the Science Department has some probes to prepare."
USS Trafalgar, NCC 7339, Year 2374, Federation Sector 322-epsilon, Liebarran Corridor
"Receiving telemetry from the probes, Captain" Ensign Ylla at communications said, antennae bobbing slightly. "I'm patching it through to you now"
As the data appeared on the Captain's screen, some of the officers looked at the data and gasped.
"Wow!" Breathed Fiona Donaldson, uncustomarily lost for words.
"Amazing…" Said Captain Lorenz. "Just amazing."
The data showed that the eddies were caused by thousands of millimetre-wide stable wormholes, but the next discovery was to be even more astounding.
"Captain," Said Sinak, the Vulcan Science Officer. "I have found one wormhole with chroniton distortions that appears to lead to the Delta Quadrant, two thousnad years ago."
"Try and get a scanning beam inside it, Sinak."
The Vulcan nodded and busied himself with his console.
"This data will keep our scientists in pay for years, Captain" said Donaldson.
"In pay?"
"It's a twentieth-century phrase."
"Oh. Ensign Ylla, make sure the Pinafore is getting all this data."
"Captain!" Half-shouted Sinak, just a twinge of excitement in his supposedly emotionless Vulcan voice. "I have managed to get a visual through the wormhole, and, I believe it is the Borg homeworld before they became cyborgs."
Gasps came from around the bridge. "On screen, Lieutenant."
On the viewscreen appeared a slightly grainy shot of an Earth-like planet, blue oceans, white clouds, tan-green continents, and two icecaps. The image zoomed in on a section of the coast, which appeared to be one of their main cities.
"Captain, I am reading a power surge at those co-ordinates…"
On the screen, a warehouse or laboratory of some sort exploded, almost immediately, some of the buildings nearby were assimilated, growing conduits, mechanical appendages and other devices in a blink of an eye. "Ops, zoom in on that plaza, at e3 on the screen."
The screen showed an open, concreted area, where humanoid lifeforms were running from the advancing tide of nanoprobes. Over the next thirty minutes, they viewed and recorded the assimilation of the whole planet, nearly two thousand years in the past from their perspective.
Enterprise Café, Starfleet Command Complex, San Francisco, Earth, Year 2374
"…And it was the Borg homeworld, being assimilated before our eyes!"
"No!" Said Commander Donaldson's companions in unison.
"Come on Fiona, you've got to be kidding!" Said Roger Donaldson, her husband.
"View the tapes if you don't believe me, in thirty years when they're declassified. And the amazing thing was, if we had been just ten minutes later, we would have missed the whole thing. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?"