When Andrew arrived at the bridge, his first officer, Alicia Truman was
working busily at a console. She seemed to be obsessed with something.
"What is it, Commander?" asked Andrew.
"Sir, this is strange...it's not meant for the Federation. It's...for you," said she.
"What?" said Andrew in surprise. "It is alien, right?"
"It seems so, sir. It's obvious that we have never encountered these people, because I can't find any record of this particular language. The aliens are trying to communicate in English, but the message is in gibberish. We will have to rendezvous with the vessel that is hailing you," said Alicia.
"Agreed. By the way, has Captain Picard been safely beamed to the Spacedock?"
"Done, sir. He left about half an hour ago."
"Hmm...more time has past than I thought," said Andrew, then added, "Commander, hail the Spacedock."
"Hailing frequencies open," she reported.
"Spacedock, this is Captain Andrew Ringer of the USS Odyssey. Am requesting permission to undock," said Andrew.
"This is Spacedock, permission granted," a voice said through the speakers. "We read you, Spacedock," said Andrew in response, then tapped his communicator to call his security chief. "Lt. Dobson, we are about to depart from Spacedock. If the guests would like to stay, they're welcome...but they're going to have to stand on the bridge. There's no chair, as you know."
There was a murmur behind, and Andrew could tell that the children were arguing with the teachers. He could also hear Lt. Dobson chuckling.
"Lieutenant?" Andrew asked impatiently.
"They said that they would like to stay, captain. The children...seemed to have wanted to go to the bridge."
"I want to go to the main engineering," a high voice said from behind.
"Be quiet, Harold!" a teacher scolded.
Andrew couldn't help, but laugh at this remark.
"Alright. Please escort the group to the bridge. We're moving out now. Andrew, out," said Andrew, and turned his combadge off.
"Helm," he said, turning to the helms officer. "Undock."
"Aye, sir, undocking," said the ensign at helm.
The huge Galaxy-class starship slowly began to move across the wide Federation dock. It passed another Galaxy-class, and a Sovereign-class on its way to the space door.
"Opening space doors," a voice boomed inside the dock.
The massive doors opened, revealing the stars and the beautiful, endless space ahead. The stars shined brighter than ever, and they looked like little diamonds engraved on a huge black stone.
The tour group arrived just in time to see the splendor of the space. The teachers were taken by awe at the sight of its beauty. The children, on the other hand, seemed more interested in seeing all the strange computer consoles, and one of them even tried to sit in the second officer's chair, and would have, had it not been for the teacher.
"Full impulse, Ensign," ordered Andrew, once they were clear of the Spacedock.
"Aye, sir," the officer obeyed his captain, and increased the speed.
The Odyssey increased speed to one fourth light speed. The powerful vessel continued on its course, passing Mars first. They could clearly see the Utopia Planitia Shipyard over Mars, where the Odyssey had been built in. They passed the asteroid belts, the gas giants of Jupiter and Saturn, and finally left the solar system.
"Maintain course and engage at Warp 6," said Andrew.
"Yes, sir," the ensign at helm replied.
From the view screen, the stars seemed the stretch as the ship went into warp speed. Andrew sat in his chair, watching the stars pass by the screen. He couldn't understand how the aliens who were sending these messages knew him. He didn't remember any encounter with unknown aliens.
"We have arrived at the designated coordinates, captain," said the helms officer.
"Full stop. Science station, run full scans in all directions. The message did come from somewhere around here," ordered Andrew.
"Aye, sir," said Cmdr. Jefferson. "Commencing scan, now."
Andrew sighed, and started to think again. It was bothering him so much, and he wanted to find an answer.
"Is something wrong, Andrew?" his first officer asked. He didn't mind her calling him by his first name, since she was much older than he was. Alicia was a Trill, and Trills always acted as a host for his or her symbiont. Alicia's was over 500 years old. Also, he knew one of the previous hosts before the symbiont came to her.
"I just don't understand how those aliens could know me by name," Andrew answered.
"Well, either they know you, or they know you," said Alicia.
"What does that mean?"
"I mean, that they could just know you in knowledge. You are, after all, quite famous in this quadrant. The other is that they could know you personally. They could have met you," she explained.
"How could that be? I mean, I never encountered aliens in my last command, or anywhere of my past," said Andrew decidedly. To his surprise, Alicia was chuckling.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"You humans," she said, smiling. "You're always so stubborn about what you believe. You have to think about the impossible to get to the possible, sometimes. Or can only women do that?"
"No, men can do just the same. But, I guess you learned that from experience," said Andrew.
"Of course. How much do you think you can experience in 500 years?"
Andrew looked away, nodding. He looked at the view screen displaying the vast space with glittering stars, as he thought of the possibilities of meeting the aliens. That was until his science officer interrupted his thoughts.
"Captain! There's a ship coming in, heading 730, mark 093!" Jefferson reported.
"On screen, please," said Andrew. The screen blinked for an instant, and then showed a ship, about half the size of the Odyssey approaching. It was smooth on the surface, but it was obvious it had multiple weapons hidden underneath that armor.
"They have five torpedo tubes, and twenty phaser banks," said Jefferson. "They're armor is...so strong, I don't think our phasers will be able to blast through it in one shot. It's like the armor technology that Admiral Janeway brought back from the Delta Quadrant."
Andrew looked at the officer in disbelief, but he seemed be serious about what he was saying. Andrew continued to look at the sleek, yet powerful vessel approaching his own.
"They're hailing us, sir," said Lt. Dobson.
"Put it on screen," ordered Andrew. The entire picture on the view screen changed, and now showed an alien face. It had a really pointed nose, and very little ears. Its eyes were red, and they looked scarier than anything they could possibly imagine. Its skin color was of a rough brown, and it had no hair.
Even Commander Truman seemed shocked to see this image; but, before they could say or do anything, the alien spoke to them.
"Andrew!" it said. "I knew I would find you here! Now you can help us!"
"What is it, Commander?" asked Andrew.
"Sir, this is strange...it's not meant for the Federation. It's...for you," said she.
"What?" said Andrew in surprise. "It is alien, right?"
"It seems so, sir. It's obvious that we have never encountered these people, because I can't find any record of this particular language. The aliens are trying to communicate in English, but the message is in gibberish. We will have to rendezvous with the vessel that is hailing you," said Alicia.
"Agreed. By the way, has Captain Picard been safely beamed to the Spacedock?"
"Done, sir. He left about half an hour ago."
"Hmm...more time has past than I thought," said Andrew, then added, "Commander, hail the Spacedock."
"Hailing frequencies open," she reported.
"Spacedock, this is Captain Andrew Ringer of the USS Odyssey. Am requesting permission to undock," said Andrew.
"This is Spacedock, permission granted," a voice said through the speakers. "We read you, Spacedock," said Andrew in response, then tapped his communicator to call his security chief. "Lt. Dobson, we are about to depart from Spacedock. If the guests would like to stay, they're welcome...but they're going to have to stand on the bridge. There's no chair, as you know."
There was a murmur behind, and Andrew could tell that the children were arguing with the teachers. He could also hear Lt. Dobson chuckling.
"Lieutenant?" Andrew asked impatiently.
"They said that they would like to stay, captain. The children...seemed to have wanted to go to the bridge."
"I want to go to the main engineering," a high voice said from behind.
"Be quiet, Harold!" a teacher scolded.
Andrew couldn't help, but laugh at this remark.
"Alright. Please escort the group to the bridge. We're moving out now. Andrew, out," said Andrew, and turned his combadge off.
"Helm," he said, turning to the helms officer. "Undock."
"Aye, sir, undocking," said the ensign at helm.
The huge Galaxy-class starship slowly began to move across the wide Federation dock. It passed another Galaxy-class, and a Sovereign-class on its way to the space door.
"Opening space doors," a voice boomed inside the dock.
The massive doors opened, revealing the stars and the beautiful, endless space ahead. The stars shined brighter than ever, and they looked like little diamonds engraved on a huge black stone.
The tour group arrived just in time to see the splendor of the space. The teachers were taken by awe at the sight of its beauty. The children, on the other hand, seemed more interested in seeing all the strange computer consoles, and one of them even tried to sit in the second officer's chair, and would have, had it not been for the teacher.
"Full impulse, Ensign," ordered Andrew, once they were clear of the Spacedock.
"Aye, sir," the officer obeyed his captain, and increased the speed.
The Odyssey increased speed to one fourth light speed. The powerful vessel continued on its course, passing Mars first. They could clearly see the Utopia Planitia Shipyard over Mars, where the Odyssey had been built in. They passed the asteroid belts, the gas giants of Jupiter and Saturn, and finally left the solar system.
"Maintain course and engage at Warp 6," said Andrew.
"Yes, sir," the ensign at helm replied.
From the view screen, the stars seemed the stretch as the ship went into warp speed. Andrew sat in his chair, watching the stars pass by the screen. He couldn't understand how the aliens who were sending these messages knew him. He didn't remember any encounter with unknown aliens.
"We have arrived at the designated coordinates, captain," said the helms officer.
"Full stop. Science station, run full scans in all directions. The message did come from somewhere around here," ordered Andrew.
"Aye, sir," said Cmdr. Jefferson. "Commencing scan, now."
Andrew sighed, and started to think again. It was bothering him so much, and he wanted to find an answer.
"Is something wrong, Andrew?" his first officer asked. He didn't mind her calling him by his first name, since she was much older than he was. Alicia was a Trill, and Trills always acted as a host for his or her symbiont. Alicia's was over 500 years old. Also, he knew one of the previous hosts before the symbiont came to her.
"I just don't understand how those aliens could know me by name," Andrew answered.
"Well, either they know you, or they know you," said Alicia.
"What does that mean?"
"I mean, that they could just know you in knowledge. You are, after all, quite famous in this quadrant. The other is that they could know you personally. They could have met you," she explained.
"How could that be? I mean, I never encountered aliens in my last command, or anywhere of my past," said Andrew decidedly. To his surprise, Alicia was chuckling.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"You humans," she said, smiling. "You're always so stubborn about what you believe. You have to think about the impossible to get to the possible, sometimes. Or can only women do that?"
"No, men can do just the same. But, I guess you learned that from experience," said Andrew.
"Of course. How much do you think you can experience in 500 years?"
Andrew looked away, nodding. He looked at the view screen displaying the vast space with glittering stars, as he thought of the possibilities of meeting the aliens. That was until his science officer interrupted his thoughts.
"Captain! There's a ship coming in, heading 730, mark 093!" Jefferson reported.
"On screen, please," said Andrew. The screen blinked for an instant, and then showed a ship, about half the size of the Odyssey approaching. It was smooth on the surface, but it was obvious it had multiple weapons hidden underneath that armor.
"They have five torpedo tubes, and twenty phaser banks," said Jefferson. "They're armor is...so strong, I don't think our phasers will be able to blast through it in one shot. It's like the armor technology that Admiral Janeway brought back from the Delta Quadrant."
Andrew looked at the officer in disbelief, but he seemed be serious about what he was saying. Andrew continued to look at the sleek, yet powerful vessel approaching his own.
"They're hailing us, sir," said Lt. Dobson.
"Put it on screen," ordered Andrew. The entire picture on the view screen changed, and now showed an alien face. It had a really pointed nose, and very little ears. Its eyes were red, and they looked scarier than anything they could possibly imagine. Its skin color was of a rough brown, and it had no hair.
Even Commander Truman seemed shocked to see this image; but, before they could say or do anything, the alien spoke to them.
"Andrew!" it said. "I knew I would find you here! Now you can help us!"