DIRECT COURSE

3 DAYS AFTER THE LAUNCH OF THE MAXIMILLIAN

The object moved through space silently and quickly, at speeds measured at approaching Warp 8, and it had kept that speed for upwards of two weeks now, with no variation in course. It appeared that wherever it was heading, it had locked in the most efficient plan, and was intent on keeping to it. Already it had destroyed the observatory, and soon it would enter an asteroid field. Trailing it closely was a bizarre mix of the Alpha Quadrant's inhabitants. Three Klingon bird-of-prey, a Romulan Warbird, and a Gorn vessel...all had linked up with the invader recently, and they knew they could not keep the constant speed that the object did forever, lest they be destroyed by their own lack of foresight. In a way, the heads of ships felt, it was fortunate that the object would soon reach populated sectors of the quadrant, where reinforcements would be given.

The Commander of the lead Klingon vessel sat waiting in his chair, impatiently. He itched to fire weapons, to do something rather than to just sit and wait. As the Observatory was officially termed a Federation outpost, the ruling was to let the 'feddies' handle it, but Ambassador Worf, briefed on the information, had recommended some form of 'escort' for the object, while the course was plotted out. The reasons for the Gorn and Romulans being present were yet unknown, possibly a result of an itchy trigger finger feeling throughout the quadrant. After the Borg, Dominion, and Borg again and again, everyone was at their wits end, each expecting another threat to their own respective sovereignty in the Alpha Quadrant. And everyone wanted the threat to be eliminated as quick as possible.

He sighed when he thought about the Maximillian coming. His ship, his proud ship, needed no rescue and no protector! It could have been worse, he supposed, it could have been the Enterprise. Last thing they needed was a lot of negotiation and talk.

On the Romulan ship, all was silent, waiting for the next move. The Gorn ship was no different. After hearing how easily the Observatory was destroyed, and with the fact that this ship was a stranger to the Galaxy, possibly to the universe if the mind ran wild enough, no-one was eager to make the first answering shot. The Klingon Commander considered this and let a smile creep across his face. Yes...better to let the Federation take the first losses, and he and the K'pak would swoop in and save their pathetic race. It was a bit easier to be patient now, although the warrior inside him screamed for vengeance for the dozen or so representatives of the Klingon Empire at the Observatory.

They continued to follow the ship by eyesight only, for sensors still could not detect the vessel moving so fast in front of them. It was a stroke of luck that it did not seem to fear them...or could it not detect them as well? It's course made it easier to plot, though so far no-one had been able to figure it out, for their current straight course would take them out of the quadrant, and out of the galaxy, without encountering anything larger than a small moon, and that was of an uninhabited world outside the Alpha Quadrant. Were they a lost ship, or was it a weapon from long ago, destined to wander the cosmos for as long as it's power would hold out?

No-one knew, and for now, it was not for them to know. It didn't make it any easier though.

Elsewhere, the U.S.S. Maximillian sped towards their destination at Maximum warp, and would meet the object and it's 'escorts' in a few days. Captain S'Quid Tai Septaric stood alone in Stellar Cartography, a truly amazing room where the stars and planets themselves came alive all around the viewer, a sort of enhanced holodeck where you could find anything in the Galaxy...or plot it. Captain Septaric, one the only Klingons commanding ships in the Federation, was playing a hunch, using her limited

knowledge of the vessel and it's capabilities. She knew it was flying in a straight path, knew it had been doing so ever since it had entered our universe, but what she was looking for was the small, overlooked details.

She had been doing this for 5 hours now, as she was not on duty, her First Officer and bridge crew were more than capable of running this ship without her, especially with the esteemed Admirals on board, who were in mostly separate corners of the ship. FADM Robert S. Lyon was trying to play an ancient Earth game of finance, "Monopoly", against his Adjutant, LCDR Critch Starblade. And losing. Badly. RADM Turok T'Kill was trying to sleep. RADM Blobbin was not letting him. And so it had gone for the days since the launch.

She closed her eyes and commanded herself to focus, and commanded the program to return to it's beginning, and to zoom in on the object as far as possible. She asked the computer to give her a readout as it moved, and it did so, giving an explanation of every change.

"No Change. No Change. No Change."

Another hour passed. Septaric was about to give it up and get some much needed sleep, when it happened.

"No Change. No Change. Z Axis down. .0006 degrees, No Change…"

"What? Explain the drop."

"No change on part of the vessel, depreciation due to slight gravity well."

That was what they were all missing. The craft wasn't going straight, it was on a course to be steered exactly where it wanted to go...and that was…

"Computer, take all depreciations along the course into effect, what will be the final destination?"

"Plotting…" It took a minute, and she still wasn't prepared for the answer.

"Object will impact with Sun in Sector 001."

That was it.

It was heading for Earth.