Starbase 002 was essentially the heart of Utopia Planitia Yards. The so-called "old" Starbase 2 had been burnt to a crisp almost literally by the latest Borg attack, and had been rebuilt as a kind of monument of Starfleet's efforts to rebuild the Federation fleet for what seemed like the hundredth time. The base had four Class Three (better known as "Large") bays for repair or construction of ships that were the size of an Akira-class or larger, eight Class Two (better known as "Medium") bays for ships between the sizes of Saber and Steamrunner-classes, and twenty Class One (better known as "Small") bays for repairing or constructing shuttlecraft and small scout vessels. The aesthetics of the newer-model starbase consisted of two half-spheres maybe seven kilometers across which constituted the repair and construction bays separated by a large living and command and control section that was perhaps five or six kilometers long. As a response to the Dominion War and a defense against more possible Borg attacks, the station was armed with fifty phaser emitters, twenty photon torpedo launchers and ten quantum torpedo launchers.
Although the Dominion War was over and the Borg attacks had been warded off, Starbase 002 remained a center of high activity. Ships in need of repair, much like the USS O'Donnell, came into the yards each day-some needing complete overhauls, others simply a new coat of paint.
Blair, Aerin, and Conserkk materialized in the center chamber of the center deck of the station, which served as a transportation hub-ten long range transporter pads and five shuttlebays-and was simply referred to by all who knew of it as "the Hub." The three of them stepped off the pad, and were greeted by a cheerful-looking female crewman.
"Welcome to Starbase Two. Can I have your names?"
Blair stepped towards her and looked over her shoulder at her Personal Access Display Device (or PADD) as she keyed in their names. "Lieutenants Blair, Aerin, and Conserkk."
"Well isn't that a coincidence!" The crewman continued to smile warmly as she pulled the PADD away from Blair in mild irritation, contradicting the look on her face. "The three of you are rooming together. Deck one-oh-four, section fifteen-room number five. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask the computer. The turbolifts are behind me. Thank you!"
The crewman proceeded to walk to an adjacent transporter pad and greet the arriving officers there.
"Charming girl." Blair watched her walk off. Conserkk stepped up beside him.
"Darrian, I think you forgot to get her comm address." She nudged him with her elbow, and Blair returned a sour look.
Aerin passed them, making his way to the turbolifts. "I suggest we find our temporary quarters first. Comm address finding later."
Blair and Conserkk fell into step behind Aerin. Conserkk flipped her hair over her shoulder and gave a facetious sigh. "Yes, well, I do have nearly an hour before my date with Commander Fuller, so may as well."
Blair rolled his eyes and Aerin raised an eyebrow. They stepped into the lift.
***
A few minutes, a short turbolift ride, and a mild walk around the base later, the three officers arrived at their very own personal quarters, which were marked with an impersonal "104-15-5" on the door. Sensing their presence and identities, the doors opened, and the three of them stepped inside.
The room very simply consisted of three bunk beds, one window, a standard-issue food replicator, a desk, a computer terminal, and a bathroom.
"I believe that the correct human term would be 'cozy.' Excuse me for a moment." Aerin made a beeline for the bathroom, and the privacy doors shut after him.
Conserkk immediately sprawled out on the nearest bunk. "This one's mine."
Blair shrugged. "Suits me." He unzipped the front of his uniform tunic and loosened the collar underneath while moving to the solitary chair that was at the desk with the computer terminal. "I'm going to check for transports to Earth."
"Yeah whatever, just get me up in twenty minutes, okay?"
"Sure." Blair made a mental note of it as he activated the computer terminal. "Computer, access list of all ships departing from here to Earth in the next... oh... three hours."
The computer made a confirmation noise and proceeded to list about fifteen shuttle ferries. At that moment, the door to the bathroom opened and a slightly disheveled-looking Orion Aerin emerged. Blair looked at him quizzically over the top of the terminal.
"Everything come out alright?"
"Extraordinarily well, thank you, Darrian."
Blair snickered and looked back to the available flights. After a few moments, Blair frowned in minor frustration at his terminal.
"What the hell, damn thing isn't responding."
Conserkk spoke up from the place where she was resting. "Just give it a break, Darrian. You could use a nap, too."
"That's not what I mean..." Blair tapped some buttons on his console, which had no effect. "I think it's force-patching me through to some kind of message..."
This drew the attention of Aerin, who had been about to start meditating on his bunk. He scrutinized the console and attempted to manipulate the controls, again to no avail.
"Fascinating." Typical.
Blair squinted at the screen. "It looks like a text-only message... to Blair, Aerin, and Conserkk... Ember, get your ass up and get over here." He continued reading as text was displayed on the screen. Aerin looked over Blair's shoulder and read the single line of text out loud as Conserkk got up.
" 'You may find these useful.' "
Ember wagged a brow at the two men. "What the hell's that supposed to mean? Who's it from?"
"Doesn't say." Blair punched a few contacts and scrolled over the message. "Its pretty... err... ambiguous."
Then, across the room, the sound of an activated replicator hummed through the room, and the three lieutenants turned to it. In the replication pad there were now what looked like three newly replicated rank pip insignias-two black and one gold.
They eyed each other for a moment, mostly in confusion. Conserkk walked to the replicator and picked up the three shiny pips. She turned back to them with a half-joking smirk. "You know, I think I saw this holonovel."
"Is that so." Blair's gaze traced up from the held pips to Conserkk's eyes. "So what happens next?"
Before Conserkk had a chance to reply, the starbase's internal communications system beeped. Blair sighed audibly at the distraction from the pseudo-mystery and tapped his commbadge. "Yes, what is it?"
"Commander Blair?"
Needless to say, this caused the slacking of Blair's jaw, Aerin's eyebrow to rise, and Conserkk's eyebrows knit together in concern while mouthing 'Commander?'
After a moment, Blair recovered. "Uh yes... what is it?"
The fairly young-sounding male voice sounded again. "Sir, this is Ensign McHenry from Shuttlebay Seven. You and Lieutenant Commanders... uh... Conserkk and Aerin are almost half an hour late for your scheduled shuttle ferry. Should I reschedule it?"
Blair's eyes flashed from Aerin to Conserkk, both of whom returned non-helpful looks.
"Sir?"
"Uh, yes, Ensign." Blair seemed to squirm a bit. "The three of us will..." He looked to his two compatriots. Aerin continued his impassive stare, but Conserkk shrugged in a 'what the heck' kind of manner, which was all Blair needed. "... be joining you in the shuttlebay in a few minutes. Blair out."
Blair tapped his commbadge, cutting off the transmission. He proceeded to look from Aerin to Conserkk.
"Ember, I think you better change back into your uniform. We've all just been promoted."
"Hold on." Conserkk spoke up, reaching behind her back for the zipper to her dress. "Before we get out of here, I've got an idea of something we can check out… Orion, see if you can access our personnel records from this station."
Aerin nodded, swiveling the desktop monitor towards him and imputing Conserkk's name and service number. Conserkk's picture and record popped up on the screen, and Aerin scrolled down to the end of the file.
"Nothing about this supposed 'promotions,' but..." Aerin paused, then slowly looked to Conserkk. "According to this, you're dead."
"What?!"
Examinations of the three other officers' records proved to be of similar condition. Each of them recorded their deaths on April 12th, 2376: the present day. The cause of death was given as "Catastrophic event," not very specific, to say the least. Aerin deactivated the terminal and stood, as did Blair.
"I don't know what any of this is about, but I have a feeling we'll find out if we get down to that shuttle ferry."
Aerin nodded. "I concur. As the human saying goes, 'we have a plane to catch.'"
Although the Dominion War was over and the Borg attacks had been warded off, Starbase 002 remained a center of high activity. Ships in need of repair, much like the USS O'Donnell, came into the yards each day-some needing complete overhauls, others simply a new coat of paint.
Blair, Aerin, and Conserkk materialized in the center chamber of the center deck of the station, which served as a transportation hub-ten long range transporter pads and five shuttlebays-and was simply referred to by all who knew of it as "the Hub." The three of them stepped off the pad, and were greeted by a cheerful-looking female crewman.
"Welcome to Starbase Two. Can I have your names?"
Blair stepped towards her and looked over her shoulder at her Personal Access Display Device (or PADD) as she keyed in their names. "Lieutenants Blair, Aerin, and Conserkk."
"Well isn't that a coincidence!" The crewman continued to smile warmly as she pulled the PADD away from Blair in mild irritation, contradicting the look on her face. "The three of you are rooming together. Deck one-oh-four, section fifteen-room number five. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask the computer. The turbolifts are behind me. Thank you!"
The crewman proceeded to walk to an adjacent transporter pad and greet the arriving officers there.
"Charming girl." Blair watched her walk off. Conserkk stepped up beside him.
"Darrian, I think you forgot to get her comm address." She nudged him with her elbow, and Blair returned a sour look.
Aerin passed them, making his way to the turbolifts. "I suggest we find our temporary quarters first. Comm address finding later."
Blair and Conserkk fell into step behind Aerin. Conserkk flipped her hair over her shoulder and gave a facetious sigh. "Yes, well, I do have nearly an hour before my date with Commander Fuller, so may as well."
Blair rolled his eyes and Aerin raised an eyebrow. They stepped into the lift.
***
A few minutes, a short turbolift ride, and a mild walk around the base later, the three officers arrived at their very own personal quarters, which were marked with an impersonal "104-15-5" on the door. Sensing their presence and identities, the doors opened, and the three of them stepped inside.
The room very simply consisted of three bunk beds, one window, a standard-issue food replicator, a desk, a computer terminal, and a bathroom.
"I believe that the correct human term would be 'cozy.' Excuse me for a moment." Aerin made a beeline for the bathroom, and the privacy doors shut after him.
Conserkk immediately sprawled out on the nearest bunk. "This one's mine."
Blair shrugged. "Suits me." He unzipped the front of his uniform tunic and loosened the collar underneath while moving to the solitary chair that was at the desk with the computer terminal. "I'm going to check for transports to Earth."
"Yeah whatever, just get me up in twenty minutes, okay?"
"Sure." Blair made a mental note of it as he activated the computer terminal. "Computer, access list of all ships departing from here to Earth in the next... oh... three hours."
The computer made a confirmation noise and proceeded to list about fifteen shuttle ferries. At that moment, the door to the bathroom opened and a slightly disheveled-looking Orion Aerin emerged. Blair looked at him quizzically over the top of the terminal.
"Everything come out alright?"
"Extraordinarily well, thank you, Darrian."
Blair snickered and looked back to the available flights. After a few moments, Blair frowned in minor frustration at his terminal.
"What the hell, damn thing isn't responding."
Conserkk spoke up from the place where she was resting. "Just give it a break, Darrian. You could use a nap, too."
"That's not what I mean..." Blair tapped some buttons on his console, which had no effect. "I think it's force-patching me through to some kind of message..."
This drew the attention of Aerin, who had been about to start meditating on his bunk. He scrutinized the console and attempted to manipulate the controls, again to no avail.
"Fascinating." Typical.
Blair squinted at the screen. "It looks like a text-only message... to Blair, Aerin, and Conserkk... Ember, get your ass up and get over here." He continued reading as text was displayed on the screen. Aerin looked over Blair's shoulder and read the single line of text out loud as Conserkk got up.
" 'You may find these useful.' "
Ember wagged a brow at the two men. "What the hell's that supposed to mean? Who's it from?"
"Doesn't say." Blair punched a few contacts and scrolled over the message. "Its pretty... err... ambiguous."
Then, across the room, the sound of an activated replicator hummed through the room, and the three lieutenants turned to it. In the replication pad there were now what looked like three newly replicated rank pip insignias-two black and one gold.
They eyed each other for a moment, mostly in confusion. Conserkk walked to the replicator and picked up the three shiny pips. She turned back to them with a half-joking smirk. "You know, I think I saw this holonovel."
"Is that so." Blair's gaze traced up from the held pips to Conserkk's eyes. "So what happens next?"
Before Conserkk had a chance to reply, the starbase's internal communications system beeped. Blair sighed audibly at the distraction from the pseudo-mystery and tapped his commbadge. "Yes, what is it?"
"Commander Blair?"
Needless to say, this caused the slacking of Blair's jaw, Aerin's eyebrow to rise, and Conserkk's eyebrows knit together in concern while mouthing 'Commander?'
After a moment, Blair recovered. "Uh yes... what is it?"
The fairly young-sounding male voice sounded again. "Sir, this is Ensign McHenry from Shuttlebay Seven. You and Lieutenant Commanders... uh... Conserkk and Aerin are almost half an hour late for your scheduled shuttle ferry. Should I reschedule it?"
Blair's eyes flashed from Aerin to Conserkk, both of whom returned non-helpful looks.
"Sir?"
"Uh, yes, Ensign." Blair seemed to squirm a bit. "The three of us will..." He looked to his two compatriots. Aerin continued his impassive stare, but Conserkk shrugged in a 'what the heck' kind of manner, which was all Blair needed. "... be joining you in the shuttlebay in a few minutes. Blair out."
Blair tapped his commbadge, cutting off the transmission. He proceeded to look from Aerin to Conserkk.
"Ember, I think you better change back into your uniform. We've all just been promoted."
"Hold on." Conserkk spoke up, reaching behind her back for the zipper to her dress. "Before we get out of here, I've got an idea of something we can check out… Orion, see if you can access our personnel records from this station."
Aerin nodded, swiveling the desktop monitor towards him and imputing Conserkk's name and service number. Conserkk's picture and record popped up on the screen, and Aerin scrolled down to the end of the file.
"Nothing about this supposed 'promotions,' but..." Aerin paused, then slowly looked to Conserkk. "According to this, you're dead."
"What?!"
Examinations of the three other officers' records proved to be of similar condition. Each of them recorded their deaths on April 12th, 2376: the present day. The cause of death was given as "Catastrophic event," not very specific, to say the least. Aerin deactivated the terminal and stood, as did Blair.
"I don't know what any of this is about, but I have a feeling we'll find out if we get down to that shuttle ferry."
Aerin nodded. "I concur. As the human saying goes, 'we have a plane to catch.'"
