Aboard the USS Defiant, the crew had been on a routine patrol when they
received the Oregano's distress call. Solemnly, they sat as they listened
to it.
"This is Captain Steve Raffield of the federation transport Oregano. We are under attack by a ship of unknown origin," the message stopped, leading to bursts of static. Dax tried her best to clear the transmission, patching through what she was able to, "they have us in a tractor beam, we are unable to break free."
"That's all I was able to get, either their transmission was jammed or they were unable to send anything else," she reported.
"What's the soonest we can be there?" Sisko asked.
"Twelve hours at maximum warp," Dax reported.
"Are there any other ships in the vicinity?"
"There are two other transport ships about three hours away but neither of them are equipped to handle a situation like this. The USS Montana is fourteen hours away at maximum warp," she replied.
With the Defiant being the only ship in range that could handle the situation, Sisko knew what he had to do.
"Mr. Worf, activate the cloaking device and take us to yellow alert then contact Starfleet to inform of them of the situation. Dax, set in a course of the transports last known coordinates, maximum warp."
The bridge went dark as the cloak was activated. Everyone went to his or her tasks and seconds later, the Defiant went to warp.
Twelve hours later, they were approaching the co-ordinates. The tension on the bridge was high, as everyone feared the worst.
"Captain, we are approaching the co-ordinates of the distress call," Worf reported.
Sisko sat forward in his chair, tightly grasping the arm rests.
"Red alert," he ordered, the red alert klaxons sounding. If anything, they only served to increase the tension. "Take us out of warp and drop cloak."
Dax brought the ship of warp, the stars stopping streaking on the view screen as Worf deactivated the cloaking device.
"Sensors are picking up the transport 250,000 kilometers away, they appear to be adrift," Dax reported.
"Are you picking up any life signs or evidence of any other ships in the vicinity?" Sisko asked.
Dax ran the scans, first scanning the transport. Her heart sunk when they reported no life sign readings. Hope of finding the ship responsible for this seemed bleak when no other ships were picked up. The damage to the transport appeared minor, certainly nothing that could have caused fatalities. Reporting her findings, she awaited the captain's orders.
"Captain, it's possible that another ship may be cloaked," Worf reported, his voce as determined as ever. No doubt he was hoping for a chance at whomever was responsible for this.
"Lay in a course for the transport at maximum impulse. Take us to within five kilometers of it, Mr. O'Brien, when we're in range extend the shields around it, I want to board it so we can access it's sensor logs for any clue as to what happened to the crew," Sisko orders.
As Dax set the course, O'Brien began arranging for extending the shields. Doing so would weaken them considerably, which he reported to the captain. However, since they needed to board the transport, he didn't want to risk any attack and wanted to be able to get everyone out of there without having to lower the shields.
When the defiant was over the transport and in range, O'Brien extended the shields.
"Mr. Worf, keep an eye out for any uninvited guests. Dax prepare to take evasive maneuvers if needed. I'm taking an away team over there to see what happened. Keep a constant transporter lock on us," Sisko ordered as he stood up, "Major, Mr. O'Brien, you're with me. Sisko to Doctor Bashier, meet us in the transporter room," he said, with the doctor acknowledging a few seconds later.
The Oregano's bridge was dark, with only the lights from the consoles, many of them flickering providing illumination. The center area of it just ahead of the captains chair was lit up as the away team materialized in a circular form with their backs to each other and all holding phasers.
Once it was confirmed they were alone, Bashier holstered his phaser and pulled out his medical tricorder to scan for life signs.
"I'm not reading any life signs anywhere on the ship," he reported.
"Mr. O'Brien see if you can access their sensors logs. Major, keep guard in case our sensor readings are inaccurate. Doctor, we'll check out cabin, perhaps there will be some evidence as to where the crew and passengers went," Sisko said.
Everyone acknowledged his orders and went to their tasks. O'Brien and Kira walked over to the only working console, one directly behind the three stations. O'Brien going to work on it while Kira stood careful watch to his right.
Bending down, O'Brien opened a panel under the console, pulling out some isolinear chips and rearranging others to enable access to the main computer.
Once he had the right combination, the computer chirped and announced that access was granted. Nodding his head, he stood up and set to work on getting to the logs.
In the cabin, Sisko and Bashier walked through the rows of seats, the doctor scanning each one with his tricorder. The area was messy with luggage strewn all over the place from the jostling the ship had taken.
"Captain, I'm picking up residual energy traces, it appears as through the passengers and crew were beamed out,"
"Does the signature match any known ones?"
"No sir, looks like whoever did this isn't someone we've run into before."
Sisko's communicator suddenly chirped.
"Captain we've found something important," O'Brien said.
"We'll be right there," Sisko replied.
A minute later, he and Bashier walked back onto the bridge.
"What have you got?" he asked.
O'Brien pointed to the console display; it showed the attacking ship and confirmed the beam outs as well as the direction the ship went after.
"They vanished about three AUs from here. They appeared to enter a subspace corridor. The logs show how they accessed it. It may be possible for us to do the same."
"All right, uploads these logs to the Defiant's computers. We can put this ship on autopilot. Once we've returned to the Defiant, we'll lay in a course for that corridor," Sisko responded.
Five minutes later, they were back on the bridge. They watched as the transport made its way back to the port it had departed from under its own power. O'Brien analyzed the logs as Dax set a course for the corridor.
"Mr. Worf, contact Starfleet and update them on the situation. We're going to access that corridor. We have no idea what'll be on the other side so be ready for anything," Sisko ordered.
Lying back in his chair, he folded his arms just under his face and sighed. They had no real way to know if those people were still alive, nor could they tell if it was even possible to rescue them if they were.
As they approached the entrance to the corridor, he called for a full stop just short of the entrance. O'Brien further analyzed the transport logs before programming in the settings the defiant would need to access it. They needed to send a pulse from their deflector at a specific frequency to do so.
Sisko gave the order and the Defiant's defector glowed bright blue before sending out a blue stream of energy for three seconds. Before them, a glowing gray fold appeard. Sisko ordered Dax to take them in. When they met the fold, the Defiant vanished into subspace, the fold closing behind them.
"This is Captain Steve Raffield of the federation transport Oregano. We are under attack by a ship of unknown origin," the message stopped, leading to bursts of static. Dax tried her best to clear the transmission, patching through what she was able to, "they have us in a tractor beam, we are unable to break free."
"That's all I was able to get, either their transmission was jammed or they were unable to send anything else," she reported.
"What's the soonest we can be there?" Sisko asked.
"Twelve hours at maximum warp," Dax reported.
"Are there any other ships in the vicinity?"
"There are two other transport ships about three hours away but neither of them are equipped to handle a situation like this. The USS Montana is fourteen hours away at maximum warp," she replied.
With the Defiant being the only ship in range that could handle the situation, Sisko knew what he had to do.
"Mr. Worf, activate the cloaking device and take us to yellow alert then contact Starfleet to inform of them of the situation. Dax, set in a course of the transports last known coordinates, maximum warp."
The bridge went dark as the cloak was activated. Everyone went to his or her tasks and seconds later, the Defiant went to warp.
Twelve hours later, they were approaching the co-ordinates. The tension on the bridge was high, as everyone feared the worst.
"Captain, we are approaching the co-ordinates of the distress call," Worf reported.
Sisko sat forward in his chair, tightly grasping the arm rests.
"Red alert," he ordered, the red alert klaxons sounding. If anything, they only served to increase the tension. "Take us out of warp and drop cloak."
Dax brought the ship of warp, the stars stopping streaking on the view screen as Worf deactivated the cloaking device.
"Sensors are picking up the transport 250,000 kilometers away, they appear to be adrift," Dax reported.
"Are you picking up any life signs or evidence of any other ships in the vicinity?" Sisko asked.
Dax ran the scans, first scanning the transport. Her heart sunk when they reported no life sign readings. Hope of finding the ship responsible for this seemed bleak when no other ships were picked up. The damage to the transport appeared minor, certainly nothing that could have caused fatalities. Reporting her findings, she awaited the captain's orders.
"Captain, it's possible that another ship may be cloaked," Worf reported, his voce as determined as ever. No doubt he was hoping for a chance at whomever was responsible for this.
"Lay in a course for the transport at maximum impulse. Take us to within five kilometers of it, Mr. O'Brien, when we're in range extend the shields around it, I want to board it so we can access it's sensor logs for any clue as to what happened to the crew," Sisko orders.
As Dax set the course, O'Brien began arranging for extending the shields. Doing so would weaken them considerably, which he reported to the captain. However, since they needed to board the transport, he didn't want to risk any attack and wanted to be able to get everyone out of there without having to lower the shields.
When the defiant was over the transport and in range, O'Brien extended the shields.
"Mr. Worf, keep an eye out for any uninvited guests. Dax prepare to take evasive maneuvers if needed. I'm taking an away team over there to see what happened. Keep a constant transporter lock on us," Sisko ordered as he stood up, "Major, Mr. O'Brien, you're with me. Sisko to Doctor Bashier, meet us in the transporter room," he said, with the doctor acknowledging a few seconds later.
The Oregano's bridge was dark, with only the lights from the consoles, many of them flickering providing illumination. The center area of it just ahead of the captains chair was lit up as the away team materialized in a circular form with their backs to each other and all holding phasers.
Once it was confirmed they were alone, Bashier holstered his phaser and pulled out his medical tricorder to scan for life signs.
"I'm not reading any life signs anywhere on the ship," he reported.
"Mr. O'Brien see if you can access their sensors logs. Major, keep guard in case our sensor readings are inaccurate. Doctor, we'll check out cabin, perhaps there will be some evidence as to where the crew and passengers went," Sisko said.
Everyone acknowledged his orders and went to their tasks. O'Brien and Kira walked over to the only working console, one directly behind the three stations. O'Brien going to work on it while Kira stood careful watch to his right.
Bending down, O'Brien opened a panel under the console, pulling out some isolinear chips and rearranging others to enable access to the main computer.
Once he had the right combination, the computer chirped and announced that access was granted. Nodding his head, he stood up and set to work on getting to the logs.
In the cabin, Sisko and Bashier walked through the rows of seats, the doctor scanning each one with his tricorder. The area was messy with luggage strewn all over the place from the jostling the ship had taken.
"Captain, I'm picking up residual energy traces, it appears as through the passengers and crew were beamed out,"
"Does the signature match any known ones?"
"No sir, looks like whoever did this isn't someone we've run into before."
Sisko's communicator suddenly chirped.
"Captain we've found something important," O'Brien said.
"We'll be right there," Sisko replied.
A minute later, he and Bashier walked back onto the bridge.
"What have you got?" he asked.
O'Brien pointed to the console display; it showed the attacking ship and confirmed the beam outs as well as the direction the ship went after.
"They vanished about three AUs from here. They appeared to enter a subspace corridor. The logs show how they accessed it. It may be possible for us to do the same."
"All right, uploads these logs to the Defiant's computers. We can put this ship on autopilot. Once we've returned to the Defiant, we'll lay in a course for that corridor," Sisko responded.
Five minutes later, they were back on the bridge. They watched as the transport made its way back to the port it had departed from under its own power. O'Brien analyzed the logs as Dax set a course for the corridor.
"Mr. Worf, contact Starfleet and update them on the situation. We're going to access that corridor. We have no idea what'll be on the other side so be ready for anything," Sisko ordered.
Lying back in his chair, he folded his arms just under his face and sighed. They had no real way to know if those people were still alive, nor could they tell if it was even possible to rescue them if they were.
As they approached the entrance to the corridor, he called for a full stop just short of the entrance. O'Brien further analyzed the transport logs before programming in the settings the defiant would need to access it. They needed to send a pulse from their deflector at a specific frequency to do so.
Sisko gave the order and the Defiant's defector glowed bright blue before sending out a blue stream of energy for three seconds. Before them, a glowing gray fold appeard. Sisko ordered Dax to take them in. When they met the fold, the Defiant vanished into subspace, the fold closing behind them.