Disclaimer: Enterprise, Star Trek and all related characters are the property of Paramount Pictures, Inc. No copyright infringement is intended. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has changed hands. The original characters and events are the sole property of the author and may not be used without permission.



Author's Note: The new series premiere impressed the hell out of me, so I wanted to be one of the first authors in with a fic. If I'm the first, all the better.



"Wanderers"



by Darrin A. Colbourne



Riyu Cho stared at the message board in his hand in disbelief. He knew his spies were trustworthy and had yet to file an erroneous report, but he hadn't expected to read this particular report for decades yet.

He looked up at Seebok Choi, his viiratu'chann ("organizer", roughly translated), who simply stared back at him, waiting dutifully for his response. There was a look of exasperation on his face as he spoke:

"I can't believe the Vulcans let them out!"

Seebok raised her brow, the first indication that she was just as surprised, but her tone was even as she spoke. "Very few civilizations in the galaxy are even aware of their existence, and those that are find them...harmless. A stumbling, bumbling race, new to the complexities of interstellar life."

"It's not so much that I consider them an immediate threat," Riyu said, "I'm just surprised that the Vulcans didn't try to tie them down one way or the other. They usually like to keep a tight rein on their 'pets'. It's as if they expect all their novitiates to become 'Vulcanesque' before venturing out into the universe."

Seebok smiled at that. "Perhaps these novitiates got bored with their training, or snuck out on their teachers. In any event, the Vulcans would not try to force them to stay on their world, unless interstellar pressure made it necessary. So...we should not consider them a threat?"

"I never said that. They are not an immediate threat, but you've seen the same reports I have. From first controlled atmospheric flight to first Warp flight in little over a century and a half? A species so ambitious is definitely a potential threat to us."

Riyu stood and walked over to the view port of his office. The transportable complex they were in had been set up on a large, barren planetoid traveling on a random course through space. Mountains on the object's rocky surface stretched high into space, blocking large clusters of stars that shone through the endless night.

He looked down at the message board again, then manipulated a control. A ship appeared on part of the screen. It was shown pulling out of an orbital shipyard, sailing out of orbit and flashing into Warp. Riyu ran the clip again, pausing on one frame where he could see the whole ship clearly. The vessel was ungainly-looking, but an accompanying engineer's report remarked that the odd saucer shape might help to stabilize the warp field generated by the simple nacelles.

He zoomed in on the saucer so that he could read the strange insignia at the top. "What does this name mean?" He said. Seebok came over to look at it closely.

"According to what we know of their language,"she said, "it can have many meanings, but generally, it is any advantageous undertaking, like a profitable business, or a fruitful adventure."

"Ah..." Riyu said. Recalling what he knew of the strange tongue, he said the name aloud:

"Enterprise."

Riyu Cho looked out the window again, thinking. Seebok Choi waited patiently, anticipating the will of the zoraan ("elder").

"Set up a watch on the Enterprise, and prepare contingencies in case they start to threaten our interests. We may have to turn them back ourselves."





To Be Continued...