Tessa Johnson

Star Trek Ithica: The Sirens Song

"Captain's log, stardate 83656.9*: We are nearing the aliens that Circeron, king of the Aeaeans told us of. He warned us of the Sirens, aliens with advanced technology that would hack into our system and broadcast a hypnotizing song that would lure us into their planet's gravitational pull and then to our deaths. True to their word, the Circerons let us go free after disclosing this information. We have been flying through open, uncharted space for four days, now, and are now, surely nearing these creatures we have been told of." Captain Addie Heloise, of the USS Ithica, turned off the recording device in her private quarters with a click, and strode to the door. It opened automatically as she came near, and closed behind her as she walked down the corridor toward the bridge.

It had been years since the Klingon wars had ended, and the crew of the ship was growing weary. The past few years had been filled with loss and difficult trials. Their experience in Hadelor had shaken them badly, seeing the images of their dead friends and the heroes that had conquered the Klingons. Loosing so many on the planet of the Unoculas had been a horrible thing to get through. The last year had been spent on Aeaea, where time passed unnoticed, and now the crew felt that returning to Earth was almost a lost cause. 74886.6*: that had been the stardate so long ago, when they had first been summoned to the battles.

It was a fall day, not too long after the birth of Addie and Percival, her husband, had had their first child. His name was Thomas, and he had barely been alive for a month when his mother was taken from him by the strict command of the United Federation of Planets. Against her will, Captain Heloise had returned to duty and led her large starship's crew into battle, taking many of them away from beloved family as well, some never to return. She then eventually lead them into victory against the Klingons, but the glory of that had long since faded. She was now a changed woman, communications with Earth, her friends and her family a thing of the past, almost forgotten by herself and the crew.

She reached the bridge relatively quickly, and looked upon her crew with a serious look in her eyes.

"Captain?" asked her first mate, Aric. He was a tall man, but not very muscular. In personality, he was a rather unpleasant person , though he had a fair amount of influence with the crew. He had a certain knack for turning the obedient, well-trained crew of the USS Ithica into an unruly mod of mutinous fools at the most inconvenient of times, like, for instance, when they had finally neared earth, and he had somehow figured out how to open up a wormhole that brought them to the galaxy they were currently in. He was first mate because he was clever and had done well at the academy, but really seemed to lack in redeeming qualities other than his cleverness, which could really have been put to better use.

"Circeron told us where to expect these sirens. We are nearing their location. Ready yourselves." The crew, currently in it's obedient mode, immediately started bustling around. The main computer systems were all turned off, and the ship was put on auto-pilot. All crew members placed the alien mechanism on their heads that would completely block out whatever hypnotizing transitions got through, and they placed Heloise, herself, in an unbreakable, force-fielded containment unit that would allow her to hear the 'song' without giving into temptation and veering off course, into what they knew to be their own doom.

It took no longer than ten minutes to prepare the starship, which was all they needed. Not long after they were ready, a soft sound danced into the ship through some unknown method. Once it reached the ears of Captain Heloise, all thoughts of how it had entered the ship, where it came from, and when it would end all vanished into nothingness. As soon as it registered in her mind, the sound filled every inch of her being, and all there was was a song, telling her that everything would be alright if she could just follow the voice, and such a soothing voice it was. So soothing that it could not conceivably be lying to her. It spoke the truth and nothing but the truth.

The words themselves were barely noticed, and were in an alien tongue that was unknown to Addie Heloise. But it was all translated through the music, and Heloise found herself, pressed against the force field, ignoring the pain it caused her. She was pushing against it with all of her might, and crying out to the crew. She yelled and screamed, but never loud enough to block out the music, for, she knew, if that happened, something truly awful would happen. She did not want the music to stop.

For the first time on their whole journey, including her time in the luxury of Aeaea, all thoughts of Earth were lost, and her only desire was to land on whatever planet the sound was coming from, and see these creatures. She needed to find them.

And then it was over. The sound stopped. All the irrational thoughts were drained from her head, as the sane ones returned in one fluid, overwhelming moment of realization. Earth was back. Her crew was back. Their journey, and all the lives that had been lost for the sake of it all came flooding back into the aging captain's mind.

She steadied her motions, and signaled the all-clear to let her crew know they were out of harm's way.

"Captain's log, stardate 83661.2*: We've passed by the sirens we were warned of. I must admit, forgetting home seemed so appealing to me at the time. The last day has been spent brooding foolishly over the lost opportunity. The temptation of taking the easy way out is a weakness for us all, but we must keep our eyes on our goal. Ahead lies more danger, and we can only return safely if we don't allow things like this to stop us. We have some time now to recuperate, and I think we will need all the strength we can muster. Circeron warned us that our next danger we must face will be the Charibdian black hole, and the meteor field of Scylla.

To be continued . . .

* stardates are equivalent to (appearing in the story in this order):

August 28, 2406, Time: 18:26:38

November 20, 2397, Time: 14:36:57

August 30, 2406, Time: 08:06:43