- THREE -
Distress Signals
- December 6th, 2155 -
Beep.
What?
Beep.
Damn. Ensign Hoshi Sato shook herself out of her day dreaming. It has been an uneventful shift once again. She turned to the blinking light on her communications console. A few more flicks of a couple of buttons and the purpose of the communications alert was revealed to her. A priority transmission from Starfleet Command? Well, at least something was happening Hoshi thought to herself as she paged Captain Jonathan Archer. The reply did not come for almost half a minute.
"Archer here." Hoshi thought she detected a slight presence of annoyance in her captain's voice.
"I'm sorry to bother you captain but we just received a priority one transmission from Starfleet Command." Priority One transmissions were for captains only.
"That's alright Hoshi, I guess I'll just have to cut my shower short." This time, she let herself smile as she picked up some sarcasm.
"I'll patch it through to your quarters." Hoshi replied, Archer acknowledged her and cut off the intercom.
So, I wonder what this is all about... a priority one transmission doesn't happen every day. Maybe things will brighten up for the Enterprise's dull life again.
- December 3rd, 2380 -
The U.S.S. Enterprise-E, NCC-1701-E continued to thunder through space like an overpowered beast. Her twin nacelles glowed brightly while being fed energy by the roaring Warp Core. The ship's velocity mutated the surrounding stars from sprinkles into long streaks as their light tried and failed to keep up. Meanwhile, inside, the crew of the flagship of the United Federation of Planets worked busily. Commander Geordi LaForge occupied himself with the display in front of him, the ship has been running at maximum warp for several days now and her engines are truly being pushed to the limits. Although he wished he could ask his captain to not strain his engines so much, he knew it was imperative that they return to Earth as quickly as possible. Geordi, like most crew members, did not know the full facts behind the current situation in the Federation. Captain Picard has kept his senior staff briefed on a daily basis, but even then they still can't attain a complete picture of what's going on.
Geordi took a step back and conducted a quick scan around the room. His crew is worn; they have been working incredible hours to keep the engines in running condition. He too was feeling the wear and tear of the last few days, but as Chief Engineer, he had no choice but to slug it out. Besides, he knew his captain was probably in worst shape. Although he can't be sure, from his briefings, it looks like Picard hasn't gotten any sleep in the last couple of days. He knew the crisis was bothering the captain, but he also had a feeling that something else was gnawing at him. Too bad Deanna isn't here anymore. Well, he wasn't a Betazoid, so the best thing he can do for his captain is to keep the ship running and get him back to the heart of the Federation as quickly as possible. With that thought, Geordi returned his attention to the display.
Indeed, Jean-Luc Picard has not had any proper rest in the last three days. Anyone on the bridge would have no difficulty telling so. His first officer has tried several times to get him to take some rest, even threatening to bring the ship's doctor into the picture. But each time, he simply brushed the concerned commander off. He wanted sleep, but what Q had told him deeply disturbed him and he could not get it out of his mind. Commander Madden was also present on the bridge, sitting in his seat next to his captain. He has been there for a considerable amount of time as well; ready to take command whenever his captain decided that he wasn't a bionic man, but that would not come anytime soon. The officer occupying the tactical station, Alex Munroe swivelled in his chair to face the two commanding officers.
"Captain, I've received an acknowledgement from Starfleet Command. Admiral Janeway is ready to take your call." It took almost a full second before the words sank in; when it did Picard simply nodded.
"Thank you Lieutenant, I'll take
it in my ready room." Picard responded. He then stood up,
gave his shirt a firm pull and marched directly to his ready room.
- December 6th, 2155 -
The entire command crew of the Enterprise stood around the display table located in the back of the bridge. This was essentially their meeting area. Present were Captain Jonathan Archer, Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker, Sub-Commander T'Pol, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, Ensign Travis Mayweather, and Hoshi herself. Archer stood at the end of the table, quiet and deep in thought. The others continued to wait in silence. Finally, after another minute Doctor Phlox arrived.
"I'm terribly sorry, but I had to feed my slugs before I came up here... they're on a very strict eating cycle. A slight disruption could kill them." Phlox said as he settled in beside Hoshi. The two exchanged smiles while Reed gave away a small smirk in response to Phlox's slugs.
"That's alright doctor." Archer began; he had a rather grim look on his face.
"So, what's this little gathering about captain?" Trip spoke first, Archer nodded in reply.
"I'll get right to the point." Archer looked up and made eye contact with everyone. "Admiral Forrest has just informed me that Starfleet Command has lost all contact with our sister-ship, the Atlantis." Before anyone could cut in, Archer continued. "Two days ago, a Boomer ship picked up a fragmented distress signal and relayed it to Starfleet. They believe that the signal was from the Atlantis."
"Did the Admiral send us a recording?" Trip asked.
"Yes. But you wouldn't want to hear it." Archer replied, still with the grim look attached to his face. "All attempts to contact the Atlantis have failed, and her last known location was System JH-13."
"Uncharted?" This time Mayweather spoke up. Archer nodded once again in confirmation.
"The Atlantis was on a charting mission. That entire area is unknown space." Archer looked around at his crew again. From their faces, he knew they were aware of what was coming. "We have been ordered by Starfleet Command to head to System JH-13 and locate the Atlantis. But since Starfleet believes there may be a hostile force present, they have tasked the Endeavour to accompany us on this mission." T'Pol was already busily punching up calculations.
"From our present location, it will take us four days to rendezvous with the Endeavour, and an additional six days to arrive at System JH-13." T'Pol read out the numbers in a fashion eerily similar to a computer.
"We have ten days than." Archer added up the numbers. He then proceeded to assign each person specific tasks to carry out in preparation for the mission. The entire crew quickly acknowledged their designated jobs. He looked around at his crew one more time, feeling some pride at their professionalism before dismissing them to their duties.
"Alright people, let's go find our lost ship."
- December 3rd, 2380 -
The small view screen responded to Picard's entry into the ready room by rising itself out of its nest inside the desk. When he was comfortably settled in his chair, he pushed a small button located in front of the screen to activate the transmission. He was greeted by a smiling Admiral Kathryn Janeway.
"Jean-Luc, you look awful." Picard gave up a small grin himself, but he could clearly make up the bags under her eyes.
"Admiral, you should be the one to speak." Her smile also briefly broadened. "But to the point, I need to ask you about a certain ship that we passed by two days ago." Janeway's reaction startled him.
"Is it about the Midway?" She quickly replied. Obviously, she had been expecting it. Picard nodded. "Captain, I'm sorry I haven't been able to answer your calls earlier, things have been hell lately. But to be honest, I'm not really answering your call, I was looking for you." This puzzled the captain slightly.
"What I'm telling you, of course, is classified material." She allowed a break for the words to completely sink in. "The U.S.S. Midway was transporting arrested Starfleet officers to a star-base for trial. Tensions are high enough as it is, so we kept it a secret. She was also escorted by the Amazon, Vanquish and the Wolverine. She last reported in yesterday, and has failed to do so since then. We've lost all contact with her."
"You want us to find her?" It was a rhetorical question.
"Yes. The closest vessel to her last known location is the Illustrious captained by Jeff Williams. I've also dispatched him there, he should arrive first. But I want you to go and back him up."
"Of course and what does the Federation Council think of this?"
"They don't know about this... yet." Janeway sighed. "The situation is bad enough as it is. The council's already panicked before and they're even more jumpy with the recent wave of disappearing ships, we can't afford to let that happen again. If they do, it'll destroy whatever ties are left between the Federation and Starfleet. It could lead to a civil war Jean-Luc." He understood. "Hopefully we can clear this mess up before the council knows about it. It's important that you find the Midway quickly." It sounded as if Janeway was almost begging.
"That's a rather large gamble, but I'll do my best Kathryn." Picard promised, he hoped those words meant something.
"I know you will. I'm sending you the coordinates." Before she could finish Picard cut her off.
"I have one more favour to ask of you Admiral." Picard said, Janeway responded by perking an eyebrow.
"You may not believe this but our friend Q paid me a visit a few days back." Janeway's facial expression was reply enough.
"Please tell me you're kidding."
"I only wish. He told me that certain… events are going to happen critical to the survival of the 'galaxy'." Janeway's face sent a signal of disbelief. "I know this is hard to believe but I can't help but take him a little seriously… but before he left he gave me a clue… he simply said 'Apokalypto', and I've scrounged the Enterprise's database without coming up with anything…" Janeway already knew what was coming next.
"And you want me to check out Starfleet's archives to see if I can turn up anything?" Janeway also knew that Picard wanted her to do some searching since her higher rank will allow her access to more restricted materials.
"If you wouldn't mind fitting that into your busy schedule…" Janeway grinned again.
"I'll look into it for you, but I can't promise anything." Picard nodded. "And Jean-Luc, please be careful. No one knows what's going on anymore, and we can't afford to loose you or anyone else now."
"Don't worry I won't let you down, Picard out." Both smiled a last time, and Janeway's face flickered from existence to be replaced by the pitch black screen.