Two - Sector 001
The Alpha Sinlari streaked out of warp and into an empty star system. Captain Contreras frowned as he stared at the main viewer… he had hoped there had been some sort of misunderstanding. Turns out the truths he had been fed were correct.
"Verify our position." He muttered over to his second officer.
"Sensors show we should be staring at earth." Commander Parcell replied in a deadpan tone.
"That's what I was afraid of. Are sensors picking up anything at all?"
"Empty space." Parcell said slowly as he stared at his panel.
"Okay I guess we are going to have to do this the hard way. I want sensor resolution increased as much as possible; we are going to start a standard alpha-grid search pattern, doing full sensor sweeps as we go of the entire sector. If so much as one electron looks suspicions – I want to know about it."
"Understood sir." Commander Rebecca Bensing nodded as she stood and approached the science station.
Anton watched her walk and shook his head. It felt wrong, the entire scenario. Planets just don't disappear. Not without leaving some sort of sensor evidence. Not just planets but even stars? I suppose if the sun was forced to go nova it could destroy the entire sector? No but that would leave a trail. A plasma wake, increased gravimetric readings, for Christ sakes… something! Anton jerked slightly when his helm officer coughed. It made him look around the room and really study his surroundings. He knew his ship inside and out – even though he was a new captain he was among the most experienced he knew. His brain was on fire telling him something just wasn't adding up. He stood up suddenly – even surprising himself. "Commander Bensing – a word?"
Rebecca looked down at him and nodded. She followed him towards the ready room doors when he stopped. She stopped too and raised her eyebrows. "Commander," He paused for a moment as he stared at the bridge crew all doing their jobs. "you're a smart person." Anton stopped in thought. Rebecca suddenly had an interesting expression on her face.
"Well sir, I'd certainly like to think so from time to time." She replied. "What's up?" She narrowed her eyes as she studied him.
"Something's off."Anton Contreras said quietly.
"So you see it too?" She whispered the soft reply. He shot his eyes over to her making contact.
"What does this remind you of?" He said slowly. The moment she spoke he finished her sentence.
"The Kobayashi Maru." They said in unison. Anton nodded. "The terms are different but the premise is basically the same. It's like a psyc test… we have been presented with a scenario designed to test how we handle the situation. I'd be inclined to believe the reality of the situation if we actually had sensor readings…" He trailed off.
Rebecca nodded and continued his thoughts. "The Galacon is what tipped me. We were on the other side of the galaxy minding our own business when they hailed us? I mean why the Alpha Sinlari? We are a long-range science vessel… It makes no sense for them to contact us specifically."
"Schwer mentioned our sensor cluster… but now that I think of it most of the ships in the fleet are equipped with the same sensors. The Enterprise, Utopia, Intrepid, Chesterfield, and the New York just to name a few off the top of my head. All of them should have been closer anyhow."
"So what do you think is going on?" Rebecca asked quietly as she looked into his eyes.
"I'm not sure but whatever it is… whatever this is…" Anton gestured towards the empty viewscreen, "… it isn't the whole truth. We're missing a big piece of the puzzle." Anton nodded at her and started towards the science station. "Lieutenant – anything on sensors?"
"No sir not yet." Came the reply. Anton shook his head and sat down. "Okay we aren't doing this anymore." He glanced around at the confused looks of his command crew. He caught a quick glimpse from Rebecca who nodded.
"Sir?" Commander Parcell raised his eyebrows as he looked over at him.
"You heard me. Helm, all stop."
"All stop." His helmsman replied.
"Discontinue sensor scan."
"Yes sir." The science officer replied. Anton nodded as he looked around his bridge. Everyone except Rebecca had a very bewildered look on their faces. His eyes finally rested upon Lieutenant Rich Valdez – the Alpha Sinlari tactical officer.
"Rich, tell me something, when was the last time you got to shoot at something?"
"Been a while, Captain." Lieutenant Valdez replied with his eyebrows raised.
"How long do you suspect?" Anton asked him in an almost playful tone.
Rich glanced down at his panel for a half a second as he recalled the weapon discharge logs. "One year two months nine days. We fired on a Ferrangi trading ship that just wouldn't disengage their warp dampening field."
"I remember that." Anton thought for a moment. He suddenly sat up straight with fire in his eyes. "Red alert, shields up." He stopped breathing for a few seconds to listen to his crew. Even as confused as they were they followed his bizarre orders. "Arm all phaser banks, fifty-percent yield. Full spread, zero elevation and scan for any impacts. Fire when ready."
"Conditions set… firing phasers."Valdez replied. Anton closed his eyes and listened to the muffled energy discharges. He smiled when he heard the tactical panel start a wild chirp. "Captain, sensors register impact at four-two-four m/ark six-one. What the hell?" Anton opened his eyes when Lieutenant Valdez raised his voice at the end of his sentence. "Eight Sovereign-class ships de-cloaking!"
Anton raised his eyerbrows as he saw it happen on the viewscreen.
"That was unexpected." He heard Commander Rebecca Bensing mutter behind him.
"Captain, they are charging weapons!" Valdez yelled quickly.
Eight cloaked Sovereign-class ships? That's too irregular. "Lower shields." He heard himself whisper aloud.
"What?!" Bensing and Valdez yelled at the same time.
"Trust me on this." He replied. "All cards on the table. Shields down… now." He stood up as he heard the snap of the shields falling. Anton squinted his eyes as he stared at the viewscreen and the armada of identical ships. "Your move."