EXTRANORMAL OCCURANCES
Stardate 53000.0
If you were to lay out a flat map of the Alpha Quadrant, formatting a Three-dimensional space into a two-dimensional area, then at the leftmost edge of explored space you would find the Archer Observatory. A smaller version of the standard Federation starbase, Archer housed an eclectic mix of cultures, from standard humans on up to the stranger lifeforms, such as the Gorn and the Anticans. Suprisingly, everything had worked out. There were no large disagreements, and there was peace among the many.
The observatory itself functioned as a makeshift listening post primarily, but at times, especially over the past standard year or so, it held a number of interesting experiments, many overseen by high-ranking officials in the Federation. But lately the rush for technology had slowed, and the new center for research had been established in sector 001, where the Pathfinder project was well underway.
And at this moment, while many of his officers were celebrating the new year, Admiral Richard Clemson was thinking about how much he would rather be on earth, contributing something to the cause, instead of just holding down the fort here.
Once you got past all the regulations and by-the-book nonsense that made his job all the harder, overseeing the Archer experiments was easy. Sure, he'd had his share of close calls, many of which had vaporized large chunks of the station itself, but that was one of the unfortunate side effects to working with untested forms of energy.
The Archer experiments had largely become an offshoot of the Pathfinder project, mainly dealing with energies with potentially dangerous consequences should something go wrong. That was why the Observatory was placed so far away from most populated sectors and known space: less questions to answer if something did go wrong.
Admiral Clemson sighed as he stared out at the stars. You just never knew how much you'd miss sky when you came out this far, he thought to himself. What he wouldn't give for a blue tint to his surroundings, a sun or two, and a cloud going about it's business, flowing by in the endlessness of the atmosphere. He counted the days in his head until his tour at Archer would end, and he could return to his nice office at Starfleet Headquarters, on Earth. He closed his eyes and imagined the sound of the ocean, the feel of the air blowing against his face. Oh sure, he could go to the one functioning holodeck they had, but it just wasn't the same as the real thing.
He cursed Admiral Lyon in his head. He didn't care how many stars he had, Lyon was wrong to send him, or any other Admiral out here when there was no good reason for it, at least that he could see himself. If he wanted this place to be 'overseen' so bad, then let him do it himself. But as for Admiral Richard Carter Clemson, he had more important things to do!
As he thought a voice came over the intercom. "Admiral?"
"Go ahead" He said gruffly.
"Sir, we have a situation down here..."
"I'm on my way. Clemson out." He sighed. A bunch of Commanders and Captains on this dump and they still got nervous when an Admiral was around. Had to have him look over every little thing. Oh well, at least it would make the time pass. He whistled to himself, "I left my heart, in San Francisco" as he walked out of his room.
"The War Room", as it was referred to throughout the Observatory, was in actuality nothing more than a viewscreen and a few stations, the standard ones, such as Sensors, Communications, and so on. It was here that Clemson entered, walked down the steps, and sat in his chair. He sighed heavily, then turned to the Commander at the Sensors station. "What is this about, Commander?"
"Visual." The Commander spoke, and the viewscreen erupted into the sight of space. A dense cloud of gas hovered just to the right of the screen, it's reddish hue extending it's light onto the Observatory. The Commander spoke again. "About fifteen minutes ago we registered some sort of gravimetric swell, but when we took a look at it, nothing was there. I ordered regular checks of the area, and just now, we saw this." He turned to the viewscreen. "Magnify quadrant b-53"
The view suddenly zoomed in, and it became clear that there was something not quite right at work. There was a swirling mass of blue energy, and in the center of this lay...nothing. A black space. Admiral Clemson glanced at the Commander. "What...is that?"
"Unknown. We've scanned it, thrown a probe at it, even hailed the damn thing. All we know is that it's completely flat, with no mass or density...I can't even tell you what kind of energy it is."
Clemson nervously fingered his chin. "Does it pose a threat?"
"The probe will arrive in a few seconds, we should know more then."
The Admiral sat back. "Put it on screen, Commander." He thought for a second, then tapped his Communicator. "Command personnel, report to the War Room."
As the first group began to enter the room, the probe was nearing the energy swirl. It stopped, and began active scans on the form, as everyone sat, waiting. Captain Barker, the Andorian commanding the probe, pressed the controls lightly. He looked over his readings, then turned to the Admiral. "Preliminary scans report...nothing, sir. It's as if there isn't anything there."
Clemson frowned. "But there is something there...push it forward. I want to see if it's some sort of cloud or gas..."
"Aye, Sir." Barker pushed a few buttons, and the probe moved again, silent and swift through the blackness of space. As it neared the black nothingness in the center, which had a diameter enough to swallow a Galaxy Class Starship, small blue electric sparks began to extend from the surrounding swirl of blue energy.
As they watched, Captain Barker tried to slow the movement of the probe, but wasn't having any luck. "Sir," He said nervously, "the Probe is being drawn into the energy!"
"Call it back, Captain."
"No Effect...It's like it's in some form of tractor beam!"
They watched in awe as the probe entered the black hole of the energy...and disappeared into it. Within a second, there was no sign that the probe had ever existed at all.
"Admiral!" The Captain's eyes widened. "I can't find the probe! It's just...gone..."
"Calm down, Captain, it can't be just gone, check your..." He was interrupted by the Commander. "Sir...the energy..."
The swirl had sped up it's endless rotation, and the hole in the center was flashing yellow and white.
Clemson moved towards the edge of his chair. "What...?"
Suddenly, a bright light filled the viewscreen, forcing them all to cover their eyes. After the light had dissipated, they saw the pieces of the probe that had just entered the hole floating around them, destroyed.
Clemson stood up quickly. "No."
As they continued to watch, the swirl began to undulate, twisting and turning in on itself. Then there was another bright light, and as quickly as it had appeared it vanished, leaving only a trace of dust, and an object.
The object was in a crystalized shape, and it moved quickly towards the station. Clemson stuttered as he turned to his Communications officer, who was as white as a sheet. "Comm...send an emergency distress signal to Star-Starfleet...no, to Admiral Robert Lyon specifically...Tell him...Tell him that the Sunburst point has been breached...he'll know what it means."
The Comm officer, herself a Captain, frowned. "I don't understand..."
"Just do it!" He snapped, and turned back towards the screen, watching as the crystal approached. It slowed, and then stopped, facing them, as though running a silent scan. As though anticipating the next question, the Commander shook his head. "I can't make out a scan."
Clemson nodded, and turned back to his Comm officer. As he did so, one shard of the crystal form began to glow eerily. Clemson sighed one last time, as he asked, "Has the message been sent?"
"Yes Sir."
"Good...good." He sat back in his chair.
The light from the shard began to extend out towards the observatory, and as it hit the outer hull, it suddenly began to bubble and melt away. The now superheated Observatory began to break up into space, pieces flying, spinning off into the endless reaches, to float forever. It was an admittedly quick death for all involved, as the crew were disintegrated by the light immediately at the time that it hit the station, as it flooded the inside instantaneously.
As what was left of the once proud Archer Observatory floated off into nothingness, the crystal form began to float off, a little quicker now. But there was no hurry...it would get there when it needed to.
Stardate 53000.0
If you were to lay out a flat map of the Alpha Quadrant, formatting a Three-dimensional space into a two-dimensional area, then at the leftmost edge of explored space you would find the Archer Observatory. A smaller version of the standard Federation starbase, Archer housed an eclectic mix of cultures, from standard humans on up to the stranger lifeforms, such as the Gorn and the Anticans. Suprisingly, everything had worked out. There were no large disagreements, and there was peace among the many.
The observatory itself functioned as a makeshift listening post primarily, but at times, especially over the past standard year or so, it held a number of interesting experiments, many overseen by high-ranking officials in the Federation. But lately the rush for technology had slowed, and the new center for research had been established in sector 001, where the Pathfinder project was well underway.
And at this moment, while many of his officers were celebrating the new year, Admiral Richard Clemson was thinking about how much he would rather be on earth, contributing something to the cause, instead of just holding down the fort here.
Once you got past all the regulations and by-the-book nonsense that made his job all the harder, overseeing the Archer experiments was easy. Sure, he'd had his share of close calls, many of which had vaporized large chunks of the station itself, but that was one of the unfortunate side effects to working with untested forms of energy.
The Archer experiments had largely become an offshoot of the Pathfinder project, mainly dealing with energies with potentially dangerous consequences should something go wrong. That was why the Observatory was placed so far away from most populated sectors and known space: less questions to answer if something did go wrong.
Admiral Clemson sighed as he stared out at the stars. You just never knew how much you'd miss sky when you came out this far, he thought to himself. What he wouldn't give for a blue tint to his surroundings, a sun or two, and a cloud going about it's business, flowing by in the endlessness of the atmosphere. He counted the days in his head until his tour at Archer would end, and he could return to his nice office at Starfleet Headquarters, on Earth. He closed his eyes and imagined the sound of the ocean, the feel of the air blowing against his face. Oh sure, he could go to the one functioning holodeck they had, but it just wasn't the same as the real thing.
He cursed Admiral Lyon in his head. He didn't care how many stars he had, Lyon was wrong to send him, or any other Admiral out here when there was no good reason for it, at least that he could see himself. If he wanted this place to be 'overseen' so bad, then let him do it himself. But as for Admiral Richard Carter Clemson, he had more important things to do!
As he thought a voice came over the intercom. "Admiral?"
"Go ahead" He said gruffly.
"Sir, we have a situation down here..."
"I'm on my way. Clemson out." He sighed. A bunch of Commanders and Captains on this dump and they still got nervous when an Admiral was around. Had to have him look over every little thing. Oh well, at least it would make the time pass. He whistled to himself, "I left my heart, in San Francisco" as he walked out of his room.
"The War Room", as it was referred to throughout the Observatory, was in actuality nothing more than a viewscreen and a few stations, the standard ones, such as Sensors, Communications, and so on. It was here that Clemson entered, walked down the steps, and sat in his chair. He sighed heavily, then turned to the Commander at the Sensors station. "What is this about, Commander?"
"Visual." The Commander spoke, and the viewscreen erupted into the sight of space. A dense cloud of gas hovered just to the right of the screen, it's reddish hue extending it's light onto the Observatory. The Commander spoke again. "About fifteen minutes ago we registered some sort of gravimetric swell, but when we took a look at it, nothing was there. I ordered regular checks of the area, and just now, we saw this." He turned to the viewscreen. "Magnify quadrant b-53"
The view suddenly zoomed in, and it became clear that there was something not quite right at work. There was a swirling mass of blue energy, and in the center of this lay...nothing. A black space. Admiral Clemson glanced at the Commander. "What...is that?"
"Unknown. We've scanned it, thrown a probe at it, even hailed the damn thing. All we know is that it's completely flat, with no mass or density...I can't even tell you what kind of energy it is."
Clemson nervously fingered his chin. "Does it pose a threat?"
"The probe will arrive in a few seconds, we should know more then."
The Admiral sat back. "Put it on screen, Commander." He thought for a second, then tapped his Communicator. "Command personnel, report to the War Room."
As the first group began to enter the room, the probe was nearing the energy swirl. It stopped, and began active scans on the form, as everyone sat, waiting. Captain Barker, the Andorian commanding the probe, pressed the controls lightly. He looked over his readings, then turned to the Admiral. "Preliminary scans report...nothing, sir. It's as if there isn't anything there."
Clemson frowned. "But there is something there...push it forward. I want to see if it's some sort of cloud or gas..."
"Aye, Sir." Barker pushed a few buttons, and the probe moved again, silent and swift through the blackness of space. As it neared the black nothingness in the center, which had a diameter enough to swallow a Galaxy Class Starship, small blue electric sparks began to extend from the surrounding swirl of blue energy.
As they watched, Captain Barker tried to slow the movement of the probe, but wasn't having any luck. "Sir," He said nervously, "the Probe is being drawn into the energy!"
"Call it back, Captain."
"No Effect...It's like it's in some form of tractor beam!"
They watched in awe as the probe entered the black hole of the energy...and disappeared into it. Within a second, there was no sign that the probe had ever existed at all.
"Admiral!" The Captain's eyes widened. "I can't find the probe! It's just...gone..."
"Calm down, Captain, it can't be just gone, check your..." He was interrupted by the Commander. "Sir...the energy..."
The swirl had sped up it's endless rotation, and the hole in the center was flashing yellow and white.
Clemson moved towards the edge of his chair. "What...?"
Suddenly, a bright light filled the viewscreen, forcing them all to cover their eyes. After the light had dissipated, they saw the pieces of the probe that had just entered the hole floating around them, destroyed.
Clemson stood up quickly. "No."
As they continued to watch, the swirl began to undulate, twisting and turning in on itself. Then there was another bright light, and as quickly as it had appeared it vanished, leaving only a trace of dust, and an object.
The object was in a crystalized shape, and it moved quickly towards the station. Clemson stuttered as he turned to his Communications officer, who was as white as a sheet. "Comm...send an emergency distress signal to Star-Starfleet...no, to Admiral Robert Lyon specifically...Tell him...Tell him that the Sunburst point has been breached...he'll know what it means."
The Comm officer, herself a Captain, frowned. "I don't understand..."
"Just do it!" He snapped, and turned back towards the screen, watching as the crystal approached. It slowed, and then stopped, facing them, as though running a silent scan. As though anticipating the next question, the Commander shook his head. "I can't make out a scan."
Clemson nodded, and turned back to his Comm officer. As he did so, one shard of the crystal form began to glow eerily. Clemson sighed one last time, as he asked, "Has the message been sent?"
"Yes Sir."
"Good...good." He sat back in his chair.
The light from the shard began to extend out towards the observatory, and as it hit the outer hull, it suddenly began to bubble and melt away. The now superheated Observatory began to break up into space, pieces flying, spinning off into the endless reaches, to float forever. It was an admittedly quick death for all involved, as the crew were disintegrated by the light immediately at the time that it hit the station, as it flooded the inside instantaneously.
As what was left of the once proud Archer Observatory floated off into nothingness, the crystal form began to float off, a little quicker now. But there was no hurry...it would get there when it needed to.
