Prologue
USS Aegis, Beta Quadrant, Stardate 59582.3
"The phase variance is rising." Lieutenant Carver said.
"I see it." Master Chief Warrant Officer Bloss replied.
The head of ship Operations and the Chief Engineer of the Aegis were hunched over their consoles, calling out instructions and notifications without lifting their heads.
"Then do you plan on doing something about it?" Theus asked.
He didn't answer. In the modest size department that was Main Engineering, Bloss and Carver were too engrossed in their work. Theus didn't mind, as there was no danger to the ship as of yet. He was also prone to being so focused on a task that he would complete a sequence or start a scan before answering technical questions asked of him.
Bloss snorted. "You might want to refresh your screen, sir."
Theus did. Even with the accelerated pulsing sound of the warp core, he was able to concentrate and focus in on the new sub-routine his Chief had written and applied to regulating the variance.
"We're approaching the quantum threshold." Carver reported. "Power output is stable, and structural integrity is holding."
"That's more like it!" Bloss whooped.
"We're not there yet." Theus said. "We're not reaching critical velocity to break the barrier fast enough."
As if hearing him from several decks above, the bridge signaled them.
"zhNon to Engineering; Chief, we're seeing an exponential spike in external hull temperature. What's going on down there?"
"Standby, Commander." He said quickly.
"Not good enough, Chief." Carver said. "Metaphasic shielding is weakening, we're already at one-point-five million kelvin and rising."
"Just give me a moment, damn it!"
Theus was about to answer, but the lights in the section dimmed and were replaced by pulsing red ones. The deep groan of the red alert klaxon blaring loudly.
"Chief?!" Theus said.
Again he didn't answer. Bloss looked as if he had gone mad, frantically punching commands into his console. He barked out several orders to his engineering staff that were carried out immediately.
"Sir," Carver snapped, "external temperature is starting to degrade the external hull. Multiple breaches detected!"
A conduit ruptured somewhere out of sight. It sprayed coolant violently as a technician ran to seal the leak.
"Bridge to Captain Eridos; sir all indicators are in the red. If we don't stop now, we could destroy the ship!"
"Shut it down!" Theus said to Bloss.
He tapped some controls.
"I-I can't sir. The deflector is drawing power directly from the EPS and plasma grid. It has the mains locked open and we need to impede the transfer rate before we shut it down or it could blow out the entire distribution network."
"Hull temperature still rising! Sir, we're going to-"
She never finished the sentence. Theus looked up and saw the ceiling of the deck warp, and then crumple like tin foil before bursting completely. The concussion blast only knocking him back slightly before the hologram froze.
Attention. Program cannot continue within specified safety protocols programmed. To continue, remove protocols or redefine parameters. Warning. Removal of safety protocols can result in serious bodily harm or death. Bridge Operations will be notified if-
"Alright! We get it you windstorm!" Bloss shouted angrily.
Theus placed a hand on his shoulder and Carver did the same on his opposite side.
"We'll get it, Chief." Theus said.
"I know we will! Sir!" He said. "But I really thought we had it this time."
"Arch." Carver called and they all headed toward the exit. "You shouldn't beat yourself up over this, Chief. Slipstream is still a very new technology and integrating it into our fleet will take time."
"Tell that to the Vesta!" He growled.
Theus said, "She was designed from her blueprints to incorporate slipstream technology. And while the class of ship is a handsome configuration, we've known for some time that the hard angles are necessary for proper corridor geometry."
The trio rounded a corner and entered the turbolift.
"Bridge." Theus called.
They rode in silence until reaching deck one. As soon as the lift opened, they went to their stations and relieved the current officers holding them.
Standing from the command chair, the recently promoted full Commander zhNon rose.
"Were you able to learn anything new?" She asked by way of greeting.
"Not this time." He said. "We still have a lot of data to compile from the simulations, but my gut tells me that the Vesta is the way to go. Aside from her, I can think of only two other designs that could possibly sustain a slipstream flight."
"Well that's the beauty of long-term projects." She said while walking behind him to her post. "You have plenty of time and no deadlines to meet for producing results."
Carver said, "Small miracles and all."
Theus let out a light laugh. It had been over a month since their last mission outside of normal parameters with M'Belit and he was slowly, but surely getting over the major mental traumas he had endured. While the majority of the crew saw it as a victory, Theus couldn't help but think they would have all been better off never visiting in the first place.
Aegis had immediately returned to helping the Romulans, while she made her way to Outpost-93. They had resupplied, and gotten a quick once over from the engineering staff, as was standard whenever a ship docked. It also took three additional days for Cicada and Europa to reach them, which allowed for the crew to take an extended liberty period. Morale was high, the crew working together seamlessly, and the Romulans being helped. Things were good.
"Captain," Flight controller Lieutenant Mok said. She too had been promoted recently not just to full Lieutenant, but also to Second Officer with the departure of Lieutenant Goritan. "I'm detecting and unrecognized ship approaching us at high warp."
"Confirmed." Carver said.
Theus looked to zhNon who moved to tactical.
"Is something wrong with your sensors, Cadet?!" She bellowed.
"No. No m-ma'am!" V'Riss stammered. "I've been tracking them for over an hour and nothing noteworthy has occurred for me to report."
Theus smiled lightly as he stood and went to the operations console. Lieutenant Colonel Tiffany Bullock had recommended the young Caitian for the post without much objection from him. The MACO had excelled in all aptitude and physical fitness tests. His record glowing with accolades and recommendations. All he needed was formal leadership courses which he could develop onboard Aegis before an official commission could be offered.
zhNon looked as if she were about to yell again when her antennae folded back against her snow white, hair. Instead, she looked to the flight controller. "Yeo-jin?"
"Ma'am, navigational sensors don't recognize this vessel as either the Cicada or the Europa."
"She's right." Carver said. "Cadet, reconfigure your sensors with the packet I'm sending you."
V'Riss did as ordered, and after a few moments, gulped. "Apologies sir. The ship is registering as Federation, but it's not any taskforce vessel."
That was what zhNon needed. "Cadet?! What exactly are you doing-"
"Hang on." Theus said. "Somethings not right. There are too many checks and verification steps to ensure a ship can't put out a false Federation starship signal. Cadet, what identification did you use to classify the ship as one of ours?"
"The transponder at first." He said. "Once we got a friendly handshake, I also verified the warp signature. Our passive scans picked it up once it accelerated."
"Passive? Not active?" Theus asked.
This time, zhNon took a step back. "Sir, he wouldn't have had reason to. We are scheduled to rendezvous with both ships in about three hours and this one was on a steady course until just now."
"Okay." He said. "So we have a ship charging at us that's putting out at Federation signature, but isn't either of our assigned taskforce ships." Theus looked to V'Riss and asked, "Suggestions?"
"Red alert, sir!"
Theus chuckled loudly and looked to zhNon. She smiled back and said to the Cadet, "Let's try talking first. Hail them."
V'Riss nodded quickly and then opened the channel. After a few moments he said, "No response ma'am. The channel is open and there's absolutely no interference."
"Try to raise either ship." Theus said.
V'Riss worked and said after almost a minute, "No response. Sir, I also tried hailing the other ships in our taskforce. I'm not getting anything."
Theus gave zhNon a look as they both took their stations.
"Yellow alert." Theus said to no one.
Immediately zhNon repeated his order. "Aye sir, shields up and securing all stations. Sections reporting yellow alert status."
"Drop us out of warp and come about, Lieutenant. Cadet, send hostile challenge to the perusing vessel." Theus said.
"Aye sir." They both confirmed.
After a few more moments, V'Riss reported. "Sir, no response from unidentified vessel. It was approaching at warp eight and just increased to nine-point-nine-eight. Time to intercept, less than five minutes."
"Red alert." zhNon said.
The klaxon blared, this time for real. And Theus' gaze became hooded.
"Can we outrun them? Regroup with Envoy? zhNon asked.
Mok answered, "It's a possibility. We can sustain that speed for about twelve hours and if Envoy headed toward us at the same speed there's a chance."
"But?" She asked.
Theus said. "But if they're going that fast, there's a good chance they can match or overtake us. And the warp field is dangerously sensitive at those velocities. I'd rather not get into a shooting match on the run. Helm, coordinate with tactical. Arm quantum tracking mines and lay down a perimeter. If this goes how I think it will, I want more targets distracting them."
The bridge set to work. Three minutes before intercept, Lieutenant junior grade Sergio Contreras stepped onto the deck.
"Sorry I'm late to the party." He said while taking his station. "I had to secure a pretty volatile project down in the lab."
"Just catch up and help us out." Theus said.
He was proud to be the one to promote his former student. And even prouder that the young man had earned it. The new rank seemed to mature him as he was extremely confident addressing higher ranking officers and voicing his opinion as of late.
The clock was ticking down. And at two minutes out, Contreras spoke up.
"Sir, I'm detecting a highly focused sensor beam. Very narrow, and extremely powerful. If I didn't know better, I would say it's being generated by a space station."
zhNon asked, "They're scanning us?"
"They're not." Carver answered. "A beam that powerful would've been detected hours ago if it was truly focused on us."
"Can we tell what type of sensor beams they're using?" Theus asked.
"I-I can't tell." Carver said. "Sir, this makes no sense. We can detect the energy and narrow bandwidth signatures of a sensor beam. But when we try to scan them, it's like some sort of dead zone surrounding them."
Theus sighed. "People, we're generating more questions than answers in what is quickly becoming a hostile situation. Any idea of what we're dealing with?"
No one answered.
"Eridos to Bloss; Chief, we're sending you data on a possible enemy contact. I need to know ASAP what could cause our sensors to-"
"Could you get any younger?" He said more than asked.
"Chief!" zhNon snapped.
"I don't need to study it sir. It's elementary wave propagation theory. You cancel out one wave with another that's stronger."
"But that's barrage jamming." Carver said. "Again, we would've detected it long before now. And the amount of power required over this distance to cover all those frequencies, especially through subspace; is more advanced than any technology known to us."
"A new species then?" zhNon suggested.
Theus shook his head. "No. If they were that advanced, then cloaking would be a much more practical and less power consuming option. But for the Chief's theory to be correct, they would have to target us with spot jamming our individual frequencies. And even that's impractical; unless…oh no!"
zhNon must have realized it as well. With a tight voice she said, "Lock us down! Full electronic counter measures. I don't want any device capable of being networked active!"
Theus said, "Chief, our command codes, shield and sensor frequencies may have been compromised. Be on the lookout for any form of intrusion, no matter how small."
"On it!"
"Vessel dropping out of warp." V'Riss reported. "On screen."
Theus was ready to strike. He wasn't sure who was stalking his ship, but didn't plan on giving them a chance to harm his crew. A bright flash, followed by an elongated vessel transitioning back to normal space-time appeared. And then another. They both approached Aegis head on for several thousand kilometers before one broke off.
"S-ship, is uh, flanking us sir." zhNon reported, sounding just as confused as Theus must have looked.
"Sir," V'Riss said, "their shields are up and weapons armed. They're targeting us."
"What is going on?" Theus asked.
The main viewer was split to show both the Vajra and Europa taking up firing positions on them. Vajra, another São Paulo class and tactical equal to Aegis. And Europa, a first generation Luna class that had undergone multiple refits. Its massive sensor dish brightly lit to show it was active.
"We're being hailed." zhNon said.
"On screen." Theus ordered.
The two ships vanished and were replaced by the images of two Starfleet Captains. One, Theus had met while at Outpost-93. The other he knew only through subspace messages.
"Hello again, Commander." A dark-skinned joined Trill woman said. She commanded the reconnaissance science vessel. "I apologize for the deception, but we were under orders."
"Captain Igmoha? What is the meaning of this? Whose orders? And why have you been stalking and are now targeting my ship?!"
"That would be Captain Fenton's by way of Admiral N'Pau." The other captain said. "We could ask you why you're targeting us, could we not?"
"Captain Dravot," Theus said slowly, "you were stalking us and not responding to hails. How could I take that as anything but hostile? Again I ask, what is this about?"
The Edosian steepled two of his hands and cupped his chin with his third just in front of the fin attached to it. He had a serious look about his face, which was enhanced more by his burnt copper skin.
"Commander. Under Starfleet regulations and under the official signed orders of Admiral N'Pau, you are hereby ordered and required to relinquish command of your ship and submit to confinement pending formal charges."
Theus looked around at his crew. He saw the same confused and bewildered expressions on their faces.
"Can I ask what I have done to warrant being relieved of my duties sir?" Theus finally asked.
Igmoha answered, "Your attack on the Romulan Vault Commander. They have a full and extremely detailed account of what you and your ship did in addition to verified authentic sensor data."