Star Trek
Ghosts of the Abyss
Chapter One
Cruising through space at a steady speed of Warp Six, the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 had finally relaunched for the second time under the command of Captain James T. Kirk after a refit to bring the vessel itself up to code with the rest of the fleet. With a larger crew compliment and minor changes to the uniform tunics to the older colours once used by Starfleet, gold for Command, red for Security and Engineering and blue for Sciences and Medical along with a new green wrap around style uniform for the Commanding officer him or herself. Becoming basically a new vessel itself, the Enterprise was fast becoming the pride of the Federation along with the youngest captain in Starfleet History.
It had been a sombre last assignment for the captain himself after the death of his old friend, Garry Mitchell as Kirk was forced to kill the man himself after a dangerous change overcame him.
Finally approaching her assigned patrol routes close too the Romulan Neutral Zone, Kirk sat comfortably in his new command chair as he looked around the bridge at the crew, most he had known for years whilst others had been assigned to his command before the final launch, his young helm officer a brilliant Lieutenant named Hikaru Sulu monitored the new systems as he reported the ship had finally reached its destination.
"Thank you Lieutenant Sulu. Well, here we go again… Mister Burke, lay in a patrol route is directed, Mister Sulu, half impulse power. Mister Spock, full sensor scan of the region ahead… Engine Room, this is the Captain, place the Warp Engines on Stand-by mode and run a full diagnostic on the new systems"
"Aye Sir!" Called out the Scottish Chief Engineer.
"Mister Scott, how long will it take to Complete the diagnostics?"
"Eighteen hours sir, but I'll do it for you in twelve for that bottle of Scotch you have hidden in storage bay two?"
"Twelve hours Mister Scott and I'll join you for a drink" Kirk sad with a large smile.
"Aye Sir! Engineering out"
"Curious" Spock said seemingly too himself as he peered into his scope.
"What is it Mister Spock?"
"Unsure Captain. Sensors report a large object at extreme range. It appears to be a derelict vessel Captain" Spock said as he adjusted his scanners. "It does not appear to be on any Star charts of this region"
"Then… let's take a look. Alter course to intercept the vessel, full impulse power… Communications Officer try and hail the ship, let whoever is onboard that we are approaching, Spock… continue with your scans please"
"No response sir" Called out the Communications officer.
"Thank you Mister Cole" Kirk said as he looked over his shoulder at the man sat behind him.
As they approached the derelict vessel, it slowly grew in size on the screen before them as Kirk leaned forwards in his chair in a vain attempt too identify the derelict vessel before him.
"What is it?" He said slowly.
"It appears to be an old Starfleet Starship Captain. However, I am reading no power emissions from the vessel"
"Captain, if memory serves… that class of ship was launched in the early 22nd Century. Limited warp and weapons capability, underpowered and overworked" Called out the navigation officer.
"I had no idea you held an interest in history Mister Burke" Kirk said with a smile on his face.
"Yes sir, well more a family history. An ancestor of mine was the Commanding officer of a similar class. She was my inspiration for joining the Space-Service" She replied with pride.
"Captain. My scans indicate that the ship is adrift" Spock said, stating the obvious as Kirk forced back his laughter. "The vessel is off-line. However, it may be possible for a power transfer"
"Alright… Sulu, move into position and lock a tractor beam onto that ship, if we can salvage her she could be an excellent edition to the fleet museum. Mission briefing in one hour with all department heads… Mister Burke, come with me"
"Aye sir" Burke said as she stood from the navigation console.
Taking one last look at the ship on the large screen before her, the young female lieutenant turned with a smile on her face as she followed the Captain towards the Turbolift as they spoke about the unusual discovery of the ship itself. One hour later, the command staff had assembled in one of the many briefing rooms scattered around the ship as an image of the ship taken directly from the sensors had been placed on the triangular shaped monitors before them. A small ship dwarfed by the Enterprise herself remained motionless in the tractor beam of the Enterprise. A small half-circle 'saucer-section' leading towards a small engineering section directly to the rear. The warp nacelles themselves seemed to be attached to the saucer section itself which rested either side of the bridge module to create a compact looking starship.
Leaning forwards in her chair, Burke examined the vessel in every detail as she spoke with a large smile on her face.
"I've never seen one of these in person, she's beautiful. Captain, request assignment to the salvage detail?"
"Slow down Mister Burke. Status of the derelict vessel Engineer?"
"From what I can tell Captain, the ship is fully operational, she's simply out of fuel" Replied Lieutenant Commander Scott.
"Can we… refuel her?" Burke said quickly.
"Aye Lassie, we can do that! I'd have too construct an adapter to refuel the plasma injectors… but it's not difficult. The schematics should be in the database"
"Any signs of biological matter onboard the ship Doctor?" Kirk said with a half smile.
"No Jim, the ship is deserted…"
"All lifeboats and shuttlecraft remain in place Captain and I have detected no damage to the vessel" Spock said as stoically as ever.
"So, what happened to the crew?"
"More importantly Captain, how did she get this far out? That class of ship had a limited warp capability… below warp five. They where simply relegated too patrolling the home system and neighbouring colonies as a part of the home fleet defence. Although heavily utilised during the Romulan War they where still relegated to warp three maybe warp four at a push" Burke called out quickly. "One thing is for sure Captain Kirk, the answers are onboard that ship. Let me take a small team over in EVA suits, we'll check the ship out and try too get main power back on-line. Once she's awake, I'll download her database and log entries for transmission to Commander Spock for analysis… once I'm sure the vessel is safe, a salvage team can beam onboard sir"
"Bucking for the Captain seat Miss Burke?" McCoy called out with a laughter in his voice.
"Perhaps Doctor, that ship needs a commanding officer. I know more about those class of ships then most around people here. Sir, let me do this"
"Alright Burke, you have the job. Mister Scott, can you spare anyone from Engineering?"
"Aye Sir… Ensign Carver is a fine engineer"
"Julie Carver? I know her sir. Request permission too assemble an away team Captain?" Burke said with excitement.
"Take a team of four Lieutenant, find out what happened too that Starship. Mister Cole, alert Starfleet of the find and request that they dispatch a tug-boat out here"
"Yes Captain, right away"
"Dismissed"
Smiling almost from ear-to-ear Lieutenant Louise Burke stood from the chair as quickly as she could which sent the chair spinning behind her while she left the room with the Command Staff as Kirk and McCoy remained seated as Kirk watched her leave.
"She's a force of nature that one Jim" McCoy said with a smile.
"I noticed that Bones…"
"Jim, don't even try it. You never change… she's a junior officer, don't even think about it"
"I am going to regret having you as my CMO Bones?" Kirk said with a loud groan. "You know me too damned well, besides… she's married"
"Just stating a fact Jim"
Stood in the transporter room wearing the full EVA suits as Lieutenant Commander Scott stood at the transporter controls with his Engineering assistant while his assistant locked in the transporter controls onto the bridge of the derelict ship.
"We're all set lassie" Scotty said with a large smile.
"Aye sir. Phasers on stun setting only…" Burke said through the helmet.
"Lieutenant, I thought you said the ship was deserted?"
"It is, but it's best to be safe Carver… Worried Julie?" Burke replied with a laughter in her voice. "… I tell you what, if anything scares you, come and get me!"
Laughing almost uncontrollably, Mister Scott activated the transporter system through his own tears as the away team disappeared in a yellow haze of transporter energy. For a brief moment, the away team saw both the brightly lit transporter room of the Enterprise and the bridge of the abandoned ship simultaneously in a strange aura of energy until the transporter room itself dissolved only to be replaced with the dark large room as they activated the torches on their helmets. Almost half the size of the Enterprise bridge, the design was compact for the size of the vessel as all consoles remained dark as the beams of light from their lanterns both on their helmets and in their hands scanned the room slowly.
"Wow!" Called out Carver with a smile.
"Wow, indeed" Replied Crewman Albert Penk, the large engineer at her side.
"Alright, let's see what we can do with this thing. Penk… the engineering console should be at your left. Try and install that power module you're carrying, let's see if we can get some light in here. The rest of you, fan out… there should be an emergency access door somewhere in here which leads to a maintenance shaft"
"Aye sir!" Penk said quickly.
Captain's Log, Stardate 1112.9...
For over three hours the Engineering team has been onboard the derelict Starfleet vessel we now know as the Starship Saratoga, a ship that disappeared with all hands 109 years ago. Although I have yet to step foot on the Saratoga, I have full confidence in the leadership of Lieutenant Louise Burke and her team and I have given her full command of the ancient Starship salvage team. Starfleet Command has been made aware of the situation and has dispatched a Tug-Boat class starship for recovery although Lieutenant Burke and her team are convinced that they can bring the ship back on-line before the Tug-Boat arrives… personally, I think she wants to make a grand entrance to Earth with the vessel under it's own power and I'm looking forwards to beaming over to that ship myself since all datafiles have been transmitted to Mister Spock for Analysis and emergency power has been restored to the ship itself.
Materialising on the bridge alone, Kirk stopped for a moment as he looked around at the design itself before Lieutenant Burke stood from the captain's chair with a large smile on her face as she gave her report.
"Captain Kirk, welcome aboard the Saratoga sir. As you can see sir, we have emergency power and with the assistance of Commander Scott, Carver thinks she can have main power back on-line in two hours. We should be ready to activate the Warp Engines by that time"
"Relax… Captain! I'm just looking around"
"Captain Louise Burke, it has a nice little ring too it, doesn't it?" She said with pride.
"I'm sure that you'll make a fine captain one day. Is it my imagination, or is it a little hot in here?" Kirk said as he stretched his collar slightly.
"Yes, we're having a few problems with the environmental systems, the air is a little thinner and the gravity is slightly less then one Earth normal. But I kinda like the idea of weighing a few pounds less over here"
"You're not alone on that… Captain Burke. Well, it seems that you have everything under control… how about a tour of the ship?"
"Actually Captain Kirk, follow me…"
With a large smile upon her face, she turned and walked towards a door too her left as Kirk followed as she stepped into a small private office which belonged to the commanding officer. Laughing slightly, Kirk looked around at the private office with a second door leading towards a private lavatory, the walls of the office had been decorated by the former commander of the ship with personal photos of the captain's loved ones. Directly too his left was a work station with a computer system tied directly into the ship's main computer core as at his right was a small table with a chair pushed underneath.
"Captain's ready room" Burke smiled.
"Now, why don't I have one of these?" Kirk said with a pout on his face.
"No idea, James. Since we got the systems back on-line, I've had a chance to study the ship's database…"
Activating the computer screen before her, an image of a woman in her mid-thirties appeared on the screen as Burke spoke with a strange smile on her face.
"… Meet Captain Elizabeth Jerome, the Commanding officer of this ship. She was 36 when she took command after the death of her former commanding officer during the Romulan War"
"Attractive" Kirk said slowly. "… Any idea how the ship got this far out?"
"No sir, those log entries are code-locked and I've only gone through a third of her log entries sir…" For a brief moment, her eyes clenched shut as she clenched her jaw before she opened her eyes and continued. "… They where conducting some… experiment on the warp engines when they received a call from Starfleet Command"
"Are you alright Burke?" Kirk said with concern.
"Yes sir, I'm fine. Just another headache. I know what you are going too say sir, report to sickbay. I do not run to Sickbay every time I have an ache or pain, it will pass sir. Something in her private log entries that I noticed, she was… in a relationship with another officer onboard her ship, the Chief Engineer named Jennifer West"
"I see!" Kirk said quickly.
"Apparently… their relationship was a major talking point amongst the crew as Captain Jerome was married to another Starfleet Captain…" She said as she clenched her eyes shut.
"It happens Miss Burke. Another headache. Perhaps you should report to Doctor McCoy" Kirk once again said with concern for his junior officer.
For a brief moment, her entire demeanour seemed too change as she stood tall and pressed back her shoulders as she spoke with an anger in her voice.
"Mind your own damned business James!" She said with anger. "I said I'm fine…"
"Lieutenant?" Kirk said quickly.
"Sorry sir… I guess, that I am just tired" She said as she shook her head slightly.
"I see. Another out burst like that Miss Burke and I will have you relieved of duty, but I'll let it slide, this time" Kirk replied with a slight wink.
"Thank you sir. And once again, I'm sorry. Anyway, the Warp experiment had something too do with a new warp field design but the logs seem to end there, the rest are locked down. Perhaps Commander Bennett can have better chance at decoding them?"
"Bennett?" Kirk said quickly.
"I mean, Commander Spock sir…"
"Report to sickbay Lieutenant, that's an order" Kirk said instantly.
"Aye sir. Once I have finished these reports I shall report directly there…"
Cutting off her sentence, Kirk's communicator chirped into life with the voice of Commander Spock as Kirk reached behind his back and flipped open the device before him.
"Kirk here, go ahead Spock"
"Captain, we are receiving a distress call from a freighter, they have lost all warp power and requesting emergency assistance" Spock replied over the speaker of the small device.
"Very well Commander, set course and stand by I shall beam over shortly. Kirk out"
Flipping the communicator closed, he looked at the Lieutenant at his side as he nodded while he spoke.
"… How many of my crew are on board Lieutenant?"
"Thirty Two sir, including Doctor Wallis. Ensign King sliced his hand on a piece of equipment whilst in Engineering. They are both in sickbay, once I'm finished here, I will report directly there sir. Go and assist that Freighter sir, we'll be fine here Captain" She said quickly.
"Are you sure Lieutenant?"
"We'll be fine sir. A Starfleet ship is on her way…"