The Unanticipated

Chapter 2

It was surprising how slowly two days could go by and the worst part was they had a long mission ahead. He couldn't really complain there was lots to do, but at the same time he was a bit bored. Every helm shift was dull; all there was to do was make minute adjustments and most were unnecessary. Engineering shifts were spent reconfiguring systems to utilize certain features a little more efficiently. And then there was his studies, he mentally sighed. Well what to say about those, those always seemed dull compared to the excitement of ship duty. It was blatantly obvious to Wesley, who didn't even have much experience with Starfleet politics, that this new mission was an attempt to keep them out of public. Also he knew it was in a way a punishment. He couldn't help but feel guilty for it. He was relieved that the captain would never blame him and would explain he did what he thought best. Captain Picard had however reached his decision in part because of Wesley. Wesley chided himself for falling so foolishly. His naivety had gotten the best of him.

"Well now that we are finally here we better get started." The captain said as he took his seat in the command chair. "Number one are all the preparations made?" of course the captain knew they were but it was always reassuring to here it out loud.

"Yes sir, the first science teams to use the sensors and equipment are standing by."

"Then by all means, lay in the course ensign Crusher and engage at half impulse."

"Aye sir, laying in heading and engaging at half impulse."

"Inform the science teams to begin their scans. Now then number one I believe I have the first watch."

"Yes sir." Riker took that as his queue to leave and did just that.

This looked to be a rather monotonous and boring assignment. The captain could always take refuge in his ready room and let Data inform him if anything came up. Perhaps later but for now he wanted to give the sense that he was not looking at this as dull. The first hour went by with no problems. The captain had done pretty well to not fidget.

"Strange." Data said, which usually meant there was something interesting going on.

"What is it?" the captain asked.

"Sir, I have noticed an odd reading. It seems almost like a sensor beam but was so brief that I could not place it."

"A sensor beam, Are we picking up any vessels in the area?"

"No sir long and short range sensors show no vessels, but if the ship had cloaking capability we could not read them." Worf piped in

"Could it be an echo from our ship?"

"It is possible, however I do not have sufficient data to conclusively prove or disprove either theory."

"Well then Mr. Data keep an eye on it."

Another hour passed in good order. Wesley was liking this shift a little more than the last couple. This was due in part because he had made the original course and every once in awhile he would get a relayed message from data to make minor course changes to better accommodate the various sensors and equipment. Overall it proved to be his best shift in the last week. Sitting there making the minor adjustments he got a sudden pang in his head. It was so brief he didn't know what to make of it. He decided it couldn't be important and continued working.

Geordi had been put in charge of monitoring the various needs. Which basically boiled down to him running around and arguing with science officers. He knew that at times he could be a bit overbearing when it came to engineering, but the science officers were completely obsessed and supremely arrogant for the most part. This led to a few heated arguments about who should use what when and why they should be of higher priority. There was so much time allotted for this mission he didn't see how it mattered most of the squabbles where over things they were yet to pass by again and perhaps a third time, but the science officers had their various reasons. He rubbed his temples as he took a brief seat. Geordi was starting to build up a headache but at least he was only temporarily in charge. The rest of the time would be Data's and commander Riker's, who had roped him into doing this in the first place. Usually on these missions he was working on fixing, repairing, and improving the various devices, which he much preferred.

Another hour gone, it was getting that much closer to the end of his shift which now he started to welcome a little more. The monotony had set in a bit and the excitement began to wear off. Not that he was in any hurry to be done with it the only other prospect he had for the day was homework, he might be able to slip some down time in ten forward in their but probably not. In the midst of this the pang came back, only this time it felt familiar somehow kind of like what had happened before. This frightened him a bit he didn't know if he was ready to explore that side again. Then as suddenly as it had come it was gone again, but the feeling of dread it had invoked was still present.

"Captain, I just had another unusual reading. It was not exactly the same as the first, in fact I am unsure how to describe it."

"Are there any further indications of something out there?"

"No sir, it remains as before except the two unusual readings there have been no indications of any ships or settlements."

"Sir I recommend we go to red alert." Worf piped in always one for hasty defense.

"I don't see any indications of threat as of yet Mr. Worf. For now we will continue as if there is nothing going on."

The rest of the shift was normal, but Wesley still hadn't completely shaken off the feeling of dread and he couldn't explain why he would dread such an experience. Perhaps it was paranoia or a trepidation for something unfamiliar. He returned to his quarters. There he began to lay out his projects and homework he needed to work on. He was doing some calculations when it came back, only this time it was worse. It struck almost like a bolt of lightning. Danger, there's something dangerous. The ship is in trouble! As if to confirm it the red alert klaxons began to blare.

AN: Oh yeah I still got it, cliffhangers are fun. A little more story told but perhaps not as much as you would like. Well deal with it I did deliver it in a more reasonable time so relax it will become clearer soon.