Prologue
Dr. Andrew Hawke, head of the USS Galileo's science staff, gazed
through the large window of his quarters and relaxed. He had finished
twelve straight hours in Stellar Cartography charting protostars and using
gravimetric readouts to predict the course of the movement of the
Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way through the next million-odd years. He
looked out at the stars he had dedicated his life to studying, the stars he
had been puzzling over for over twenty years, trying to learn everything he
could about them. Dr. Hawke spotted some familiar stars, stars he helped
discover and stars that made his career. He saw the same little points of
light that people had puzzled over for millions of years and were only
recently beginning to really understand their workings.
His lights dimmed and the window went dark. At first Hawke thought
it was part of the computer's timer cycle, but it was only 1930 hours.
Then he heard it. As the shadow crossed his window and darkened his room,
a low whining and rumbling emanated from it. It had to be a spacecraft.
He couldn't quite make it out, but the shape looked familiar...Suddenly, there
was a bright flash of green light-
Discontinuity.
At Starbase 235, Admiral Jeffrey Brand had just called a meeting
with the two visiting starship captains, Captain Murphy of the USS
Righteous, an Excelsior-class ship with a proud history, and Captain
Andropov of the USS Intrepid, one of the newest "Batch II" Galaxy-class
starships.
The captains took their places and the admiral spoke. "We have
lost a starship, the USS Galileo, on a science mission near the Beta
Stromgren system. She was completely destroyed by an as yet unidentified
black vessel. There are a few things we do know about this threat.
We know what it isn't. It's not ours, it's not Romulan or Klingon, and
it's definitely not Borg. In fact, we've never seen anything like it
before. Galileo's log tapes do show us one thing, however, that the ship
seems organic-looking and teardrop-shaped, and there could be more than
one of them."
Andropov was in disbelief. "You mean it's a living ship?"
Before the admiral could answer, a familiar voice that they had
never expected to hear again came on over the loudspeakers. "This is Tam
Elbrun aboard the Gomtuu. I believe we have an explanation for this
situation. It was foretold in the ancient texts of Gomtuu's civilization.
Several of his kind separated themselves from society long ago and
departed. It was prophesied that they would return to pass judgment upon
the rest of their civilization. They have returned. It is these exiled
enemies that we must face."
I
The Battle
"Sir, the alien ship is firing!" The weapons officer on the
Intrepid and everyone else on the bridge could only watch as the green bolt
of energy consumed and destroyed the Gomtuu.
"Where are my quantum torpedoes? Get closer and open up with full
weapons," ordered Captain Murphy aboard the Righteous.
"We have the enemy in range now, sir," came the call of the weapons
officer.
"Fire!," shouted Captain Andropov. As the Intrepid moved into
position, a large robotic arm lowered a high-yield quantum torpedo into the
mouth of the launch tube. But something in the many wires and tubes on the
arm slipped, causing a joint to twitch out of position. The torpedo was
live as it fell from the arm's grasp onto the deck, where it exploded with
such force that all two hundred other torpedoes in the bay also detonated
in a furious explosion. The ship lurched and shook wildly. On the bridge,
officers and crewmen were trying frantically to process the damage and
casualty reports flooding the intercom system from all over the ship.
On board the Righteous nearby, tactical officers were in a similar state of
panic.
"Sir, we have detected a massive explosion from Intrepid! She's
losing power and drifting."
"On screen...My God!" Righteous's commanding officer could not
believe his eyes. Nearly half the ship was missing. Where her forward
stardrive hull should be, there was now a gaping, charred, and twisted
hole. As they were attempting to fathom the situation, the ship rocked
with another explosion.
"Sir, we've been hit hard. Our shields are down to ten percent and
they've taken out our tractor beam."
"Report!" came the cry from the command chair as Captain Andropov
desperately tried to remain in control of Intrepid.
"Sir, we've lost contact with decks 18 through 35 and 37 through
42, we have no shields, and our weapons are gone! However, Engineering
reports main power under control and warp drive is still online."
"We need to get out of here before anything else happens. We're
like sitting ducks out here. Set course for the nearest starbase, maximum
possible warp." Down in Engineering, on deck 36, the warp core, the heart
of the Intrepid, began to beat faster as her engines filled with plasma for
the jump to lightspeed. But something went seriously wrong. Several
weakened ducts tore open, releasing deadly plasma coolant into the room.
Many of the engineering crewmen barely had time to comprehend what was
happening as the gas liquefied them in a matter of seconds.
"Coolant leak! Everybody out of the area! Containment doors are
closing! Move, move," came the frantic shouts of the chief engineer,
Commander Simpson, trying to get everybody out of there as quick as possible
before the huge containment doors closed, sealing off the warp core
completely.
"What now," the captain asked as Intrepid was rocked by another
explosion.
"We've just lost deck 36, sir, and the chief engineer reports a
coolant leak, possible breach of the warp core!"
"We must eject the core!" shouted one of the security personnel on
the bridge.
"Yes, eject! Now!" The captain confirmed the request. "Wait!
I have an idea..." Andropov leaned over to speak to the security officer.
"Aye, sir," came the confused acknowledgement. Outside, the
Intrepid banked and her underside slowly faced the enemy vessel. A hull
plate burst off and a huge silver cylinder shot out of the opening,
engulfed in and followed by clouds of high-energy plasma and coolant gases.
Everything seemed as if in slow motion as the ejected matter/antimatter
reactor came closer to its target. Finally, the core impacted on the hull
of the alien spacecraft and exploded in a flash of light and energy,
engulfing the ship in a huge explosion, vaporizing it, and blowing Intrepid
and Righteous back in a powerful shock wave.
With the battle over, Righteous's crew began to help the crippled
Intrepid. "So what can we do to help them?"
"Just tow her to the nearest starbase,sir. I think it's Starbase 235-"
"Lieutenant, we have no tractor beam."
On Intrepid, the situation was no different. "Transmit distress
signal on all channels," came the order from Captain Andropov, followed by
a barked "Damage report!"
"We have casualty reports from all decks below 10, sir, and hull
breaches on decks 19 through 42. Emergency forcefields and bulkheads are
in place, and we have limited power from the fusion reactors. We're fine
for now, sir, but we may be having some trouble later."
Just then, the main viewscreen filled with the huge, sinister black
form of another enemy ship. Frantically, Andropov ordered, "Get us out of
here! NOW! Impulse, thrusters, anything!"
"Nothing. We're just sitting ducks here."
On board the Righteous, Captain Murphy shouted orders. "Fire
a spread of torpedoes!" Outside, four high-yield quantum torpedoes blazed
blue-white as they streaked in a perfect line towards the black ship.
When they hit, the vessel rocked and exploded into several large chunks which
drifted slowly away spewing gas and debris.
The lights on the Intrepid dimmed for no more than a second. "What
was that," asked Captain Andropov.
"Minor fluctuations in the power grid, sir. We're having some
trouble rerouting power through the main fusion reactors."
"Well, then, it seems, Lieutenant, that you have a new job to do."
"Right away, sir," said the security officer as he dashed into the
turbolift.
The lights dimmed again.
II
Power
"Ops, divert all auxiliary power to life support and see if
Captain Murphy on the Righteous has any help to offer. Get moving, we're
running out of time!"
On the bridge of the Righteous, the command crew was already at
work. "Sir, don't we have some emergency mooring and starbase support
lines? We could hook up with the Intrepid, run our warp core at a higher
pace, and keep both ships up and running. Our reactor never runs above 60%
capacity anyway. There's plenty of spare energy."
"Good plan, Commander. Start work on it immediately. Do whatever
you need to do to get the system up and running." Captain Murphy sat down
and thought about the situation. He had to find a way to get them to a
starbase or any place but here. Just then his train of thought was
interrupted by an intrusive beeping from his desktop viewer.The screen told
him there was an incoming message from Admiral Brand, the commander of
forces in the sector. He went straight to the point.
"Captain Murphy, we have received a distress call from you about
the Intrepid. Here are your orders. You are to evacuate as many personnel
from Intrepid and report to Starbase 235 for repairs. A salvage team will
be sent out later to pick up what is left afterwards."
"Sir, I have an alternative I think is worth considering. Right
now we have extended umbilicals to Intrepid to keep her supplied with
power. We are making repairs to her vital systems so that she can make it
back to base."
"Good. Continue with your work and I'll try to get some ships out
to help you."
"Thank you,sir." Captain Murphy pressed a button on his viewer,
ending the transmission.
Righteous's chief engineer entered Murphy's ready room. "Sir, the
mooring cables and tethers are in place. Intrepid is hooked up to us and
power to both ships has been restored."
"Good work, Commander. Now let's work on a method of getting us to
starbase 235. We can reach it in four days at full impulse."
"Yes sir. I'll put my teams on the job right away."
III
The Journey
Down in Main Engineering, Righteous's chief engineer began to
implement his plan. "Okay, everybody, this is what we have to do. We need
to divert all power being used to keep Intrepid alive to her impulse
engines, combining with her available fusion reactors. We also need to
modify our impulse drive to run only on power from our fusion reactors.
Commander Simpson, this is Commander McCombs aboard the Righteous. We're
ready to make the modifications now."
"Good. Proceed as planned," came the answer from Simpson over the
comm system.
Up on the bridge, Murphy was also preparing to get underway. "Lt.
Commander Thomas, I need you to match speed with Intrepid throughout the
entire journey. Otherwise, the umbilicals will snap and we will fail.
Let's get moving."
A cheer erupted from the crew of the Intrepid as they started to
move towards the starbase, now only a three days away. In a short time,
they would be safely docked.
Just outside Starbase 235's sensor range a few hours later,
Intrepid slowed slightly, straining the umbilicals. The power line between
the ships snapped and Intrepid's power systems completely died, giving them
about ten minutes of oxygen left, now that the scrubbers were off. Murphy
immediately stopped his ship and, knowing the situation, dispatched orders
quickly. "Lieutenant, take one of your men to the airlock. I'll join you
two there in a few minutes. Chief, I want your transporter operators
standing by to beam over Intrepid's crew if anything goes wrong." With
that, Murphy headed down to the airlock closest to the snapped umbilical.
"Lieutenant Miller, I called you and Mr. Kyle down here because we
need to repair that umbilical. We only have six minutes left." The three
men, after putting on their spacesuits, headed outside the ship to repair
the power cable. They immediately pulled out their tools and began to fuse
the ends together. "Be sure not to get too close to Righteous's end of the
cable," Murphy reminded.
Suddenly Kyle spoke up. "Sir, I'm reading a rise in power through
the cable!"
"Stay away," Murphy warned.
"I can't! I'm drifting towards the cable! Help, it's a power
surge! I..." There was a flash of light as the giant spark vaporized Kyle.
As the surge of current passed through Kyle's body, the lights in the
Intrepid went on for an instant, the went dark again as Kyle
disintegrated."Sir, we have less than two minutes to complete these
repairs," Miller warned.
"Do it and get out of here before we both end up like Kyle!" The
two worked faster. Power to Intrepid was restored just in time.
"How many did we lose?"
"Just one. Ensign Kyle."
"Let's go. Keep an eye on that console, Lieutenant."
"Aye, sir."
IV
Planetfall
"Sir, we are approaching the Marnis system," said the conn
officer after several uneventful hours.
"Isn't there a medical research facility on Marnis III," asked Murphy.
"Correct, sir. Maybe we can offload some of the casualties and get
some preliminary repairs done."
"Good idea, Lieutenant. Assume standard orbit around Marnis III
and transmit a signal explaining the situation." The Righteous and
Intrepid entered orbit on the far side of the planet, away from the medical
base. As they approached, however, things became unusual...
"Sir, I am detecting an abnormality on the planet's surface, near
the location of the base. A large crater and huge magnetometer readings
indicating a large metallic mass. The base is gone, almost as if it's
been...scooped off the face of the planet!"
"Oh no. It can't be the..."
The science officer on duty finished the sentence for him. "The Borg."
Muprhy's comm badge beeped. "Sir, incoming message from the Intrepid."
"What is it, Captain?"
"Jeff, are we seeing what I think we're seeing?"
"Yes, Nikolai. I think, however, we should assemble heavily armed
away teams to see if there is anything left and if it's safe to go down
there."
"Agreed. Andropov out."
Murphy assembled his team quickly. "Simpson, Thomas, and Mendez,
you're with me."
When they got down to the planet, they retuned their phaser rifles
to different frequencies to counter the Borg adaptation abilities. They
proceeded towards the readings of a large metallic object.
They had only gone a hundred meters or so when they heard that
distinct metallic breathing and knew that there were still Borg drones
around. Their tricorders went crazy with readings of metallic objects in
this barren wasteland. It was then that they knew why this crater was
unlike any other mark that the Borg leave on a planet. They looked up to
see a stupendous sight. It was a Borg mother ship, in the shape of
a dodecahedron and looming stupendously several thousand feet over them,
even though almost three-quarters of it was buried in a crater in the
ground. They must have come too close, because suddenly they were
surrounded by Borg, bionic appendages raised. Mendez shot one of them
and was instantly cut down by a volley of green energy blasts from the
other Borg, who now closed in on Murphy, Thomas, and Simpson with their
assimilation drills and probes spinning. The three instinctively fought
in self-defense, shooting five and killing the rest in hand-to hand combat.
The three officers accomplished this by using their knowledge of Borg
operation. They simply outmaneuvered the Borg punches and pulled the life
support cables protruding from their necks.
When the fight was over, Murphy slapped his comm badge.
"Righteous, get us out of here, now! Move away from the planet and send an
urgent report about what we found here to Starfleet Command. Ask them what
we should do about this."
"Aye sir," came the reply from the Righteous's bridge.
After the two starships had retreated safely to Marnis V, a point
out of range of the Borg yet still able to monitor them, Murphy received a
reply from Earth. The screen on his desktop viewer read, "URGENT-PRIORITY
1 MESSAGE FROM STARFLEET COMMAND."
"What can I do for you, Admiral?"
"Captain, your report on the crashed Borg ship was of utmost
importance to us. We need some way to counter this threat to the
Federation."
"Sir, from what we found on the surface, the research facility was
completely obliterated. Maybe, if we concentrate fire from many starships
on that Borg ship or another unstable area of the planet's crust, we can
destroy the ship."
"Or...Is there anything else in the Marnis system of use to us? If
we destroy the Marnis star, we will be able to delete the entire system."
"My computer shows that Marnis III was uninhabited before we
established that facility. And the only other planets capable of
supporting life have no life on them."
"Good. Do you have the published works of a Dr. Soran on file?"
"Yes, sir. Wasn't he the fanatical El-Aurian who destroyed star
systems so that he could go to paradise?"
"Correct, Captain. He came up with a design for a torpedo carrying
trilithium. This torpedo can destroy a star, causing a shock wave that
will vaporize the entire star system."
"I see where you are going with this. It seems to be our only
choice at this point. It looks like the Borg were attempting to salvage
their ship. We need to destroy it before they do that. I'll get my people
on it right away."
"Good luck, Captain." The screen went blank.
V
Obliteration
"Ready to fire trilithium torpedo, sir."
"All right, Lieutenant. Load it into the aft launcher and move us
a safe distance away so that we can escape on impulse."
"Aye sir. Ready to fire, sir."
"Fire and engage impulse drive at maximum on a heading for Starbase
235. Resume our previous course."
"Yes, captain." The torpedo streaked away from the escaping ships
at lightspeed and hit the Marnis sun. The sky went dark over the Borg
crash site as th remaining drones attempted to interpret the data that
their visual scanners were showing them, and seconds later the entire star
system was reduced to rubble and cinders by the shock wave.
"Captain, subspace shock wave incoming! ETA to impact fifteen seconds!"
"All hands, brace for impact!" The shock wave, even now dampened
by its travel through space, still hit the ships with more force than that
of the exploding warp core. The power umbilicals ruptured and Intrepid was
sent hurtling off into space. With her sensors offline, damaged by the
force of the shock wave, Righteous had no choice but to continue on to the
starbase.
Captain Andropov aboard the Intrepid was just coming around again.
The last thing he had seen before passing out were crewmen and ensigns
running about the bridge with inertial dampers on the ship offline. He
looked and saw his first officer trying to regain control of the 700-meter
long, battered and crippled Galaxy-class starship they were in, knowing
that if they couldn't get power, even just life support, back online, the
Intrepid would become the final resting place of nearly a thousand people,
himself included. In almost pitch darkness, he groped for the supply
locker, containing emergency and away team gear from phasers to food. Once
he found it, he instructed everyone in range of his comm badge to put on an
oxygen mask and stay put. Moving around expends too much of the precious
gas, and in these kinds of situations, that is not advisable. His first
officer pushed a dead crewman, crushed by being thrown around when the ship
was hit, off of a computer console. To his and Andropov's surprise, it
still flickered with light. Immediately the two set to work trying to
transmit a distress signal and attempting to get life support online. They
got the signal sent, but the console flickered once again and went dark
before they could complete work on systems repair. Discouraged, Andropov
staggered back to his command chair and blacked out again.
Meanwhile, the Righteous had safely docked alongside Enterprise and
Venture at Starbase 235. Captain Murphy immediately went to Admiral
Brand's office, where Captain Picard of the Enterprise and Captain Rogers
of the Venture. "Sir, we lost Intrepid while transiting from Marnis. She
was torn away when the shock wave hit. We believe she-
"Admiral Brand, there is a distress signal from Intrepid, audio only."
"Put it through, Commander." What the four officers heard was a
static-filled, garbled distress call.
"SOS...SO.....This is the Fed......arship Intrepid. We have been
badly dam.......equest assis..........iately. Please hurr..........Our
positZZT"
"The message has been lost, sir. I think I have a fix on their
position, though."
"Get Enterprise,Venture, and Righteous underway. We need to rescue
those survivors right away." Within five minutes, the three starships were
on their way, racing to Intrepid's suspected position.
What they saw was horrific. The entire starship was in an asteroid
field, surrounded by a huge cloud of gases and plasma emanating from its
own hull, and it was slowly drifting. All the lights were dark.
"We've got to get the crew out of there now. The whole ship's
going to blow," Captain Rogers exclaimed.
"How? We can't beam through an asteroid field."
"Sir, sensors show that the Intrepid's main fusion reactors and
power generators will reach critical in less than an hour!"
"Murphy to Enterprise and Venture. Start beaming over as many
people as you can as fast as you can."
The reply came almost instantly. "Aye sir. We're using all
available pads and beaming casualties to sickbay."
About half an hour later, the transporter chiefs reported in again.
"Sir, we have just about finished the evacuation. All that's left is the
captain. We still don't have a lock on him."
"Keep trying, Commander." The captains looked back to the
viewscreen just in time to see a horrific sight. The Intrepid's main
reactors exploded in a flash of light, and what was left of the ship's main
support strut was totally demolished. The two halves of the once-proud
Galaxy-class starship tumbled away from each other, and both sections
crashed into many of the surrounding asteroids, pulverizing the last
remnants of the ship.
"My God. He was still in there," Murphy whispered in disbelief.
Only Picard stayed cool and calm. "Let's get out of here before we
get hit as well." The three ships slowly pulled away from the asteroids
and pieces of glowing wreckage and warped out. Several hours later, so did
a small type-8 probe.
VI
Reunion
Several hours after the three ships returned to the starbase,
Admiral Brand began to write his report on what had happened in the past
days. He was just finishing the first paragraph when he was interrupted by
a call.
"Sir, we have picked up a signal. It's very faint, but it's
definitely Federation. We think it's probe of some sort."
"Well, tow it in and examine it. I'll be right there." Brand laid
down his padd and left for the shuttlebay.
What they found was a work of ingenuity and last-minute planning.
When they opened the probe, they found a rigged distress beacon. The real
joy came when they opened the main compartment. Inside they found Captain
Andropov in stasis. He was rushed to sickbay and revived.
"You didn't think a starship blowing up could snuff me out, did
you, Jeff? Even the Borg tried three times to do that and failed!"
"It's good to have you back, Nikolai."
That evening over dinner, the officers of the starbase and the
starships docked there watched the news reports from Earth. One of the
breaking stories was that of the Intrepid. The reporter, a Vulcan named
T'Palik (Vulcans usually made good reporters because they had no emotions)
began speaking. "Starfleet has just completed a major operation in Alpha
Quadrant today, as a task force consisting of the Galaxy-class starship
Intrepid and the Excelsior-class starship Righteous repelled an attack by
an as-yet unknown alien civilization. The only comments commanding
officer Admiral Jeffrey Brand had were that the civilization encountered
had been recorded by Starfleet earlier, but never deemed hostile until now.
During the battle, the Intrepid was crippled by the aliens' weapons and
reduced to impulse power only. An umbilical was erected between the two
ships to supply enough power for Intrepid to transit back home. However,
the unusual and completely unexplained explosion of the Marnis star just as
they passed broke the bond and sent Intrepid into the asteroid field formed
by the remains of the Marnis system. All planets in the system were
annihilated by the blast. A rescue operation was immediately launched by
the starships Righteous, Venture, and Enterprise, rescuing all hands but
not the ship. It exploded as a massive asteroid ploughed into its side."
As is standard Starfleet procedure, Captain Andropov was
court-martialed for the loss of Intrepid. He was not convicted of any
criminal charges by the Federation Council. Instead the Council voted
unanimously to award him the Federation Medal of Honor with Clusters for
risking his life so that the lives of all 1,018 crew on the Intrepid could
be saved. Andropov was also promoted to Commodore and awarded command of a
new Improved Sovereign-class vessel, the USS Intrepid, originally christened the
Olympic in honor of a great Earth sailing ship.
Andropov was hounded by reporters and officers as he boarded his
shining new command for its maiden voyage to his new home and Intrepid's
permanent base, Starbase 9. A crowd of thousands watched the gallant ship
and her crew ignite the massive tetryon plasma engines and warp off into
the unknown.
The End
Dr. Andrew Hawke, head of the USS Galileo's science staff, gazed
through the large window of his quarters and relaxed. He had finished
twelve straight hours in Stellar Cartography charting protostars and using
gravimetric readouts to predict the course of the movement of the
Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way through the next million-odd years. He
looked out at the stars he had dedicated his life to studying, the stars he
had been puzzling over for over twenty years, trying to learn everything he
could about them. Dr. Hawke spotted some familiar stars, stars he helped
discover and stars that made his career. He saw the same little points of
light that people had puzzled over for millions of years and were only
recently beginning to really understand their workings.
His lights dimmed and the window went dark. At first Hawke thought
it was part of the computer's timer cycle, but it was only 1930 hours.
Then he heard it. As the shadow crossed his window and darkened his room,
a low whining and rumbling emanated from it. It had to be a spacecraft.
He couldn't quite make it out, but the shape looked familiar...Suddenly, there
was a bright flash of green light-
Discontinuity.
At Starbase 235, Admiral Jeffrey Brand had just called a meeting
with the two visiting starship captains, Captain Murphy of the USS
Righteous, an Excelsior-class ship with a proud history, and Captain
Andropov of the USS Intrepid, one of the newest "Batch II" Galaxy-class
starships.
The captains took their places and the admiral spoke. "We have
lost a starship, the USS Galileo, on a science mission near the Beta
Stromgren system. She was completely destroyed by an as yet unidentified
black vessel. There are a few things we do know about this threat.
We know what it isn't. It's not ours, it's not Romulan or Klingon, and
it's definitely not Borg. In fact, we've never seen anything like it
before. Galileo's log tapes do show us one thing, however, that the ship
seems organic-looking and teardrop-shaped, and there could be more than
one of them."
Andropov was in disbelief. "You mean it's a living ship?"
Before the admiral could answer, a familiar voice that they had
never expected to hear again came on over the loudspeakers. "This is Tam
Elbrun aboard the Gomtuu. I believe we have an explanation for this
situation. It was foretold in the ancient texts of Gomtuu's civilization.
Several of his kind separated themselves from society long ago and
departed. It was prophesied that they would return to pass judgment upon
the rest of their civilization. They have returned. It is these exiled
enemies that we must face."
I
The Battle
"Sir, the alien ship is firing!" The weapons officer on the
Intrepid and everyone else on the bridge could only watch as the green bolt
of energy consumed and destroyed the Gomtuu.
"Where are my quantum torpedoes? Get closer and open up with full
weapons," ordered Captain Murphy aboard the Righteous.
"We have the enemy in range now, sir," came the call of the weapons
officer.
"Fire!," shouted Captain Andropov. As the Intrepid moved into
position, a large robotic arm lowered a high-yield quantum torpedo into the
mouth of the launch tube. But something in the many wires and tubes on the
arm slipped, causing a joint to twitch out of position. The torpedo was
live as it fell from the arm's grasp onto the deck, where it exploded with
such force that all two hundred other torpedoes in the bay also detonated
in a furious explosion. The ship lurched and shook wildly. On the bridge,
officers and crewmen were trying frantically to process the damage and
casualty reports flooding the intercom system from all over the ship.
On board the Righteous nearby, tactical officers were in a similar state of
panic.
"Sir, we have detected a massive explosion from Intrepid! She's
losing power and drifting."
"On screen...My God!" Righteous's commanding officer could not
believe his eyes. Nearly half the ship was missing. Where her forward
stardrive hull should be, there was now a gaping, charred, and twisted
hole. As they were attempting to fathom the situation, the ship rocked
with another explosion.
"Sir, we've been hit hard. Our shields are down to ten percent and
they've taken out our tractor beam."
"Report!" came the cry from the command chair as Captain Andropov
desperately tried to remain in control of Intrepid.
"Sir, we've lost contact with decks 18 through 35 and 37 through
42, we have no shields, and our weapons are gone! However, Engineering
reports main power under control and warp drive is still online."
"We need to get out of here before anything else happens. We're
like sitting ducks out here. Set course for the nearest starbase, maximum
possible warp." Down in Engineering, on deck 36, the warp core, the heart
of the Intrepid, began to beat faster as her engines filled with plasma for
the jump to lightspeed. But something went seriously wrong. Several
weakened ducts tore open, releasing deadly plasma coolant into the room.
Many of the engineering crewmen barely had time to comprehend what was
happening as the gas liquefied them in a matter of seconds.
"Coolant leak! Everybody out of the area! Containment doors are
closing! Move, move," came the frantic shouts of the chief engineer,
Commander Simpson, trying to get everybody out of there as quick as possible
before the huge containment doors closed, sealing off the warp core
completely.
"What now," the captain asked as Intrepid was rocked by another
explosion.
"We've just lost deck 36, sir, and the chief engineer reports a
coolant leak, possible breach of the warp core!"
"We must eject the core!" shouted one of the security personnel on
the bridge.
"Yes, eject! Now!" The captain confirmed the request. "Wait!
I have an idea..." Andropov leaned over to speak to the security officer.
"Aye, sir," came the confused acknowledgement. Outside, the
Intrepid banked and her underside slowly faced the enemy vessel. A hull
plate burst off and a huge silver cylinder shot out of the opening,
engulfed in and followed by clouds of high-energy plasma and coolant gases.
Everything seemed as if in slow motion as the ejected matter/antimatter
reactor came closer to its target. Finally, the core impacted on the hull
of the alien spacecraft and exploded in a flash of light and energy,
engulfing the ship in a huge explosion, vaporizing it, and blowing Intrepid
and Righteous back in a powerful shock wave.
With the battle over, Righteous's crew began to help the crippled
Intrepid. "So what can we do to help them?"
"Just tow her to the nearest starbase,sir. I think it's Starbase 235-"
"Lieutenant, we have no tractor beam."
On Intrepid, the situation was no different. "Transmit distress
signal on all channels," came the order from Captain Andropov, followed by
a barked "Damage report!"
"We have casualty reports from all decks below 10, sir, and hull
breaches on decks 19 through 42. Emergency forcefields and bulkheads are
in place, and we have limited power from the fusion reactors. We're fine
for now, sir, but we may be having some trouble later."
Just then, the main viewscreen filled with the huge, sinister black
form of another enemy ship. Frantically, Andropov ordered, "Get us out of
here! NOW! Impulse, thrusters, anything!"
"Nothing. We're just sitting ducks here."
On board the Righteous, Captain Murphy shouted orders. "Fire
a spread of torpedoes!" Outside, four high-yield quantum torpedoes blazed
blue-white as they streaked in a perfect line towards the black ship.
When they hit, the vessel rocked and exploded into several large chunks which
drifted slowly away spewing gas and debris.
The lights on the Intrepid dimmed for no more than a second. "What
was that," asked Captain Andropov.
"Minor fluctuations in the power grid, sir. We're having some
trouble rerouting power through the main fusion reactors."
"Well, then, it seems, Lieutenant, that you have a new job to do."
"Right away, sir," said the security officer as he dashed into the
turbolift.
The lights dimmed again.
II
Power
"Ops, divert all auxiliary power to life support and see if
Captain Murphy on the Righteous has any help to offer. Get moving, we're
running out of time!"
On the bridge of the Righteous, the command crew was already at
work. "Sir, don't we have some emergency mooring and starbase support
lines? We could hook up with the Intrepid, run our warp core at a higher
pace, and keep both ships up and running. Our reactor never runs above 60%
capacity anyway. There's plenty of spare energy."
"Good plan, Commander. Start work on it immediately. Do whatever
you need to do to get the system up and running." Captain Murphy sat down
and thought about the situation. He had to find a way to get them to a
starbase or any place but here. Just then his train of thought was
interrupted by an intrusive beeping from his desktop viewer.The screen told
him there was an incoming message from Admiral Brand, the commander of
forces in the sector. He went straight to the point.
"Captain Murphy, we have received a distress call from you about
the Intrepid. Here are your orders. You are to evacuate as many personnel
from Intrepid and report to Starbase 235 for repairs. A salvage team will
be sent out later to pick up what is left afterwards."
"Sir, I have an alternative I think is worth considering. Right
now we have extended umbilicals to Intrepid to keep her supplied with
power. We are making repairs to her vital systems so that she can make it
back to base."
"Good. Continue with your work and I'll try to get some ships out
to help you."
"Thank you,sir." Captain Murphy pressed a button on his viewer,
ending the transmission.
Righteous's chief engineer entered Murphy's ready room. "Sir, the
mooring cables and tethers are in place. Intrepid is hooked up to us and
power to both ships has been restored."
"Good work, Commander. Now let's work on a method of getting us to
starbase 235. We can reach it in four days at full impulse."
"Yes sir. I'll put my teams on the job right away."
III
The Journey
Down in Main Engineering, Righteous's chief engineer began to
implement his plan. "Okay, everybody, this is what we have to do. We need
to divert all power being used to keep Intrepid alive to her impulse
engines, combining with her available fusion reactors. We also need to
modify our impulse drive to run only on power from our fusion reactors.
Commander Simpson, this is Commander McCombs aboard the Righteous. We're
ready to make the modifications now."
"Good. Proceed as planned," came the answer from Simpson over the
comm system.
Up on the bridge, Murphy was also preparing to get underway. "Lt.
Commander Thomas, I need you to match speed with Intrepid throughout the
entire journey. Otherwise, the umbilicals will snap and we will fail.
Let's get moving."
A cheer erupted from the crew of the Intrepid as they started to
move towards the starbase, now only a three days away. In a short time,
they would be safely docked.
Just outside Starbase 235's sensor range a few hours later,
Intrepid slowed slightly, straining the umbilicals. The power line between
the ships snapped and Intrepid's power systems completely died, giving them
about ten minutes of oxygen left, now that the scrubbers were off. Murphy
immediately stopped his ship and, knowing the situation, dispatched orders
quickly. "Lieutenant, take one of your men to the airlock. I'll join you
two there in a few minutes. Chief, I want your transporter operators
standing by to beam over Intrepid's crew if anything goes wrong." With
that, Murphy headed down to the airlock closest to the snapped umbilical.
"Lieutenant Miller, I called you and Mr. Kyle down here because we
need to repair that umbilical. We only have six minutes left." The three
men, after putting on their spacesuits, headed outside the ship to repair
the power cable. They immediately pulled out their tools and began to fuse
the ends together. "Be sure not to get too close to Righteous's end of the
cable," Murphy reminded.
Suddenly Kyle spoke up. "Sir, I'm reading a rise in power through
the cable!"
"Stay away," Murphy warned.
"I can't! I'm drifting towards the cable! Help, it's a power
surge! I..." There was a flash of light as the giant spark vaporized Kyle.
As the surge of current passed through Kyle's body, the lights in the
Intrepid went on for an instant, the went dark again as Kyle
disintegrated."Sir, we have less than two minutes to complete these
repairs," Miller warned.
"Do it and get out of here before we both end up like Kyle!" The
two worked faster. Power to Intrepid was restored just in time.
"How many did we lose?"
"Just one. Ensign Kyle."
"Let's go. Keep an eye on that console, Lieutenant."
"Aye, sir."
IV
Planetfall
"Sir, we are approaching the Marnis system," said the conn
officer after several uneventful hours.
"Isn't there a medical research facility on Marnis III," asked Murphy.
"Correct, sir. Maybe we can offload some of the casualties and get
some preliminary repairs done."
"Good idea, Lieutenant. Assume standard orbit around Marnis III
and transmit a signal explaining the situation." The Righteous and
Intrepid entered orbit on the far side of the planet, away from the medical
base. As they approached, however, things became unusual...
"Sir, I am detecting an abnormality on the planet's surface, near
the location of the base. A large crater and huge magnetometer readings
indicating a large metallic mass. The base is gone, almost as if it's
been...scooped off the face of the planet!"
"Oh no. It can't be the..."
The science officer on duty finished the sentence for him. "The Borg."
Muprhy's comm badge beeped. "Sir, incoming message from the Intrepid."
"What is it, Captain?"
"Jeff, are we seeing what I think we're seeing?"
"Yes, Nikolai. I think, however, we should assemble heavily armed
away teams to see if there is anything left and if it's safe to go down
there."
"Agreed. Andropov out."
Murphy assembled his team quickly. "Simpson, Thomas, and Mendez,
you're with me."
When they got down to the planet, they retuned their phaser rifles
to different frequencies to counter the Borg adaptation abilities. They
proceeded towards the readings of a large metallic object.
They had only gone a hundred meters or so when they heard that
distinct metallic breathing and knew that there were still Borg drones
around. Their tricorders went crazy with readings of metallic objects in
this barren wasteland. It was then that they knew why this crater was
unlike any other mark that the Borg leave on a planet. They looked up to
see a stupendous sight. It was a Borg mother ship, in the shape of
a dodecahedron and looming stupendously several thousand feet over them,
even though almost three-quarters of it was buried in a crater in the
ground. They must have come too close, because suddenly they were
surrounded by Borg, bionic appendages raised. Mendez shot one of them
and was instantly cut down by a volley of green energy blasts from the
other Borg, who now closed in on Murphy, Thomas, and Simpson with their
assimilation drills and probes spinning. The three instinctively fought
in self-defense, shooting five and killing the rest in hand-to hand combat.
The three officers accomplished this by using their knowledge of Borg
operation. They simply outmaneuvered the Borg punches and pulled the life
support cables protruding from their necks.
When the fight was over, Murphy slapped his comm badge.
"Righteous, get us out of here, now! Move away from the planet and send an
urgent report about what we found here to Starfleet Command. Ask them what
we should do about this."
"Aye sir," came the reply from the Righteous's bridge.
After the two starships had retreated safely to Marnis V, a point
out of range of the Borg yet still able to monitor them, Murphy received a
reply from Earth. The screen on his desktop viewer read, "URGENT-PRIORITY
1 MESSAGE FROM STARFLEET COMMAND."
"What can I do for you, Admiral?"
"Captain, your report on the crashed Borg ship was of utmost
importance to us. We need some way to counter this threat to the
Federation."
"Sir, from what we found on the surface, the research facility was
completely obliterated. Maybe, if we concentrate fire from many starships
on that Borg ship or another unstable area of the planet's crust, we can
destroy the ship."
"Or...Is there anything else in the Marnis system of use to us? If
we destroy the Marnis star, we will be able to delete the entire system."
"My computer shows that Marnis III was uninhabited before we
established that facility. And the only other planets capable of
supporting life have no life on them."
"Good. Do you have the published works of a Dr. Soran on file?"
"Yes, sir. Wasn't he the fanatical El-Aurian who destroyed star
systems so that he could go to paradise?"
"Correct, Captain. He came up with a design for a torpedo carrying
trilithium. This torpedo can destroy a star, causing a shock wave that
will vaporize the entire star system."
"I see where you are going with this. It seems to be our only
choice at this point. It looks like the Borg were attempting to salvage
their ship. We need to destroy it before they do that. I'll get my people
on it right away."
"Good luck, Captain." The screen went blank.
V
Obliteration
"Ready to fire trilithium torpedo, sir."
"All right, Lieutenant. Load it into the aft launcher and move us
a safe distance away so that we can escape on impulse."
"Aye sir. Ready to fire, sir."
"Fire and engage impulse drive at maximum on a heading for Starbase
235. Resume our previous course."
"Yes, captain." The torpedo streaked away from the escaping ships
at lightspeed and hit the Marnis sun. The sky went dark over the Borg
crash site as th remaining drones attempted to interpret the data that
their visual scanners were showing them, and seconds later the entire star
system was reduced to rubble and cinders by the shock wave.
"Captain, subspace shock wave incoming! ETA to impact fifteen seconds!"
"All hands, brace for impact!" The shock wave, even now dampened
by its travel through space, still hit the ships with more force than that
of the exploding warp core. The power umbilicals ruptured and Intrepid was
sent hurtling off into space. With her sensors offline, damaged by the
force of the shock wave, Righteous had no choice but to continue on to the
starbase.
Captain Andropov aboard the Intrepid was just coming around again.
The last thing he had seen before passing out were crewmen and ensigns
running about the bridge with inertial dampers on the ship offline. He
looked and saw his first officer trying to regain control of the 700-meter
long, battered and crippled Galaxy-class starship they were in, knowing
that if they couldn't get power, even just life support, back online, the
Intrepid would become the final resting place of nearly a thousand people,
himself included. In almost pitch darkness, he groped for the supply
locker, containing emergency and away team gear from phasers to food. Once
he found it, he instructed everyone in range of his comm badge to put on an
oxygen mask and stay put. Moving around expends too much of the precious
gas, and in these kinds of situations, that is not advisable. His first
officer pushed a dead crewman, crushed by being thrown around when the ship
was hit, off of a computer console. To his and Andropov's surprise, it
still flickered with light. Immediately the two set to work trying to
transmit a distress signal and attempting to get life support online. They
got the signal sent, but the console flickered once again and went dark
before they could complete work on systems repair. Discouraged, Andropov
staggered back to his command chair and blacked out again.
Meanwhile, the Righteous had safely docked alongside Enterprise and
Venture at Starbase 235. Captain Murphy immediately went to Admiral
Brand's office, where Captain Picard of the Enterprise and Captain Rogers
of the Venture. "Sir, we lost Intrepid while transiting from Marnis. She
was torn away when the shock wave hit. We believe she-
"Admiral Brand, there is a distress signal from Intrepid, audio only."
"Put it through, Commander." What the four officers heard was a
static-filled, garbled distress call.
"SOS...SO.....This is the Fed......arship Intrepid. We have been
badly dam.......equest assis..........iately. Please hurr..........Our
positZZT"
"The message has been lost, sir. I think I have a fix on their
position, though."
"Get Enterprise,Venture, and Righteous underway. We need to rescue
those survivors right away." Within five minutes, the three starships were
on their way, racing to Intrepid's suspected position.
What they saw was horrific. The entire starship was in an asteroid
field, surrounded by a huge cloud of gases and plasma emanating from its
own hull, and it was slowly drifting. All the lights were dark.
"We've got to get the crew out of there now. The whole ship's
going to blow," Captain Rogers exclaimed.
"How? We can't beam through an asteroid field."
"Sir, sensors show that the Intrepid's main fusion reactors and
power generators will reach critical in less than an hour!"
"Murphy to Enterprise and Venture. Start beaming over as many
people as you can as fast as you can."
The reply came almost instantly. "Aye sir. We're using all
available pads and beaming casualties to sickbay."
About half an hour later, the transporter chiefs reported in again.
"Sir, we have just about finished the evacuation. All that's left is the
captain. We still don't have a lock on him."
"Keep trying, Commander." The captains looked back to the
viewscreen just in time to see a horrific sight. The Intrepid's main
reactors exploded in a flash of light, and what was left of the ship's main
support strut was totally demolished. The two halves of the once-proud
Galaxy-class starship tumbled away from each other, and both sections
crashed into many of the surrounding asteroids, pulverizing the last
remnants of the ship.
"My God. He was still in there," Murphy whispered in disbelief.
Only Picard stayed cool and calm. "Let's get out of here before we
get hit as well." The three ships slowly pulled away from the asteroids
and pieces of glowing wreckage and warped out. Several hours later, so did
a small type-8 probe.
VI
Reunion
Several hours after the three ships returned to the starbase,
Admiral Brand began to write his report on what had happened in the past
days. He was just finishing the first paragraph when he was interrupted by
a call.
"Sir, we have picked up a signal. It's very faint, but it's
definitely Federation. We think it's probe of some sort."
"Well, tow it in and examine it. I'll be right there." Brand laid
down his padd and left for the shuttlebay.
What they found was a work of ingenuity and last-minute planning.
When they opened the probe, they found a rigged distress beacon. The real
joy came when they opened the main compartment. Inside they found Captain
Andropov in stasis. He was rushed to sickbay and revived.
"You didn't think a starship blowing up could snuff me out, did
you, Jeff? Even the Borg tried three times to do that and failed!"
"It's good to have you back, Nikolai."
That evening over dinner, the officers of the starbase and the
starships docked there watched the news reports from Earth. One of the
breaking stories was that of the Intrepid. The reporter, a Vulcan named
T'Palik (Vulcans usually made good reporters because they had no emotions)
began speaking. "Starfleet has just completed a major operation in Alpha
Quadrant today, as a task force consisting of the Galaxy-class starship
Intrepid and the Excelsior-class starship Righteous repelled an attack by
an as-yet unknown alien civilization. The only comments commanding
officer Admiral Jeffrey Brand had were that the civilization encountered
had been recorded by Starfleet earlier, but never deemed hostile until now.
During the battle, the Intrepid was crippled by the aliens' weapons and
reduced to impulse power only. An umbilical was erected between the two
ships to supply enough power for Intrepid to transit back home. However,
the unusual and completely unexplained explosion of the Marnis star just as
they passed broke the bond and sent Intrepid into the asteroid field formed
by the remains of the Marnis system. All planets in the system were
annihilated by the blast. A rescue operation was immediately launched by
the starships Righteous, Venture, and Enterprise, rescuing all hands but
not the ship. It exploded as a massive asteroid ploughed into its side."
As is standard Starfleet procedure, Captain Andropov was
court-martialed for the loss of Intrepid. He was not convicted of any
criminal charges by the Federation Council. Instead the Council voted
unanimously to award him the Federation Medal of Honor with Clusters for
risking his life so that the lives of all 1,018 crew on the Intrepid could
be saved. Andropov was also promoted to Commodore and awarded command of a
new Improved Sovereign-class vessel, the USS Intrepid, originally christened the
Olympic in honor of a great Earth sailing ship.
Andropov was hounded by reporters and officers as he boarded his
shining new command for its maiden voyage to his new home and Intrepid's
permanent base, Starbase 9. A crowd of thousands watched the gallant ship
and her crew ignite the massive tetryon plasma engines and warp off into
the unknown.
The End