- FOUR -
Unexpected Encounters
- December 16th, 2155 -
"Sir, we're entering System JH-13." Travis reported without peeling his eyes off his console.
"Let's drop out of warp." Archer ordered. A few seconds later, Enterprise along with the Endeavour, NX-03, in tow returned to normal space. Archer immediately felt something in the air that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. I have a very bad feeling about this. He turned to his science officer.
"Anything on sensors?" Archer inquired; T'Pol simply shook her head in response.
"What about the Endeavour?" Archer turned to Hoshi next who also shook her head.
"They report nothing on sensors." Archer's instincts told him otherwise.
"It's too quiet here…" Archer sort of mumbled to himself, although it was audible to the rest of the bridge crew.
"Hoshi, get Captain Pek on the line." Hoshi responded by pressing several buttons on her console and replying several seconds later.
"Captain Pek on view screen sir." Instantly, the face of a middle-aged Korean Starfleet officer flickered into existence on the bridge's main screen.
"I know what you're thinking Jon, it's too quiet." Captain Pek spoke up immediately, briefly catching Archer off guard at Pek's ability to read his mind. The two have only met once at a Starfleet gala a year ago, but both have great respect for each other as commanding officers.
"My sentiments exactly. We're conducting long-range scans, nothing so far." Pek nodded.
"We're doing the same, my officer informs me it may be a few minutes before the scans can be completed. In the meantime, I recommend we polarize our hulls and ready the weapons… something about this place is making my skin crawl." Pek made no effort at hiding his discomfort.
"Agreed." Archer turned to Malcolm who was already busying himself.
"Already done Captain."
"Captain." T'Pol interrupted, "Our sensors have detected a faint radiation signature… possibly from a damaged warp core." Archer turned back to the view screen, Pek was also looking back at his science officer before turning back to face the Enterprise's captain.
"My officer is also getting the same readings, but he's not sure whether is from the Atlantis or not."
"We will have to get in closer to conduct a more thorough scan to determine the identity and source of the radiation." T'Pol agreed.
"Well then, I think it's pretty obvious what we have to do next." Archer said, "Travis, plot a course for those coordinates and approach at best speed."
"Yes sir, coordinates set." Travis replied quickly.
"You can take the lead Jon, we'll cover your back."
"Acknowledged." Archer replied before Pek's face disappeared from the view screen. The two identical Starfleet vessels shrugged lazily from their positions, travelling cautiously and hesitantly towards their next destination.
- December 5th, 2380 -
"Bridge to Captain Picard." A voice rang out in the dark room.
"What?" Picard startled awake.
"Captain Picard, we're about to arrive at the Titov System." Picard took a second to shake himself completely out of his slumber.
"Thank you Commander, I'm on my way." Picard said as he rose from his chair and headed straight out the door to the dimly-lit bridge. The low lighting indicates a night shift, although Commander Madden has been manning the con because of the sensitivity of this mission.
"Report." Picard ordered before he was even in his chair.
"We're arriving at Titov now… dropping out of warp." Madden replied. The convoy's last known location was in the Titov System.
"The Illustrious?" Picard asked, referring to the other vessel that was supposed to meet and accompany the Enterprise on this mission. This time, it was Alex Munroe, the tactical and chief security officer who replied.
"Scanning… she's orbiting Titov V… and she's hailing us."
"On screen." A second later, Captain William's face flickered on the screen. He was an experienced officer, having worked with Picard on several previous missions. Captain Williams was younger and less experienced then Picard, he also had less patience and tended to be less diplomatic, preferring action over words. However Picard was glad to have him on hand for this mission as Williams is also a talented tactician and is very handy in a combat situation.
"Captain Picard, am I glad you're here. We were all getting a little anxious waiting for your arrival." Williams did not look happy.
"Nice to see you too. What's the situation?"
"Not good. As soon as we arrived in the system, our warp drive failed." Picard was now concerned.
"What happened? Do you want me to send my Chief Engineer over?" Williams deflected the gesture; he was always a lone ranger, preferring to avoid help whenever he could.
"No need, I don't know what happened but my engineer tells me we'll have it back online in a few hours. In the mean time, our subspace communications are being jammed too." Picard looked at Munroe again who nodded in confirmation.
"We didn't notice it until we tried to get word out to Starfleet about our situation." Williams continued, "My officer's never seen it before, thinks its some kind of fancy new jamming technology, pretty effective too… he's had no luck in breaking it."
"Have you located the source?" Williams nodded.
"That we have. Best guess is in the vicinity of Titov II, that's about it. I was going to investigate but I decided to wait for you… two starships is always better then one. I'm sending you the coordinates now."
"Course plotted sir." The helms officer said before Picard could even give the order.
"Let's get to it Captain." Williams spoke, then his face was replaced again by that of a star-field. Picard gave it one more look before issuing the order.
"Engage."
- December 16th, 2155 -
"Captain, we're within visual range." Travis spoke, breaking the long silence held on the bridge. Archer nodded in approval. The view screen flickered to life, although the crew had braced for it, the scene still stunned them. Before them was the wreckage of the Atlantis. The shards of twisted and blackened metal that once formed the vessel were too numerous to count, Archer could even make out the corpses of those who must have been blown out into space from hull breaches. He didn't have to ask the question; T'Pol read his mind and informed the crew that there were no survivors.
"Sir, Captain Pek on the line." Hoshi spoke. Archer snapped out of his trance, the scene was simply depressing. However relief came when the view changed from that of a graveyard to a more friendly sight.
"We detect no survivors... she went down with all hands." Archer said.
"Damn... I'm really starting to hate this place." Pek emphasised by shaking his head.
"Captain, I have found something you may consider important." Archer turned around to face his science officer, indicating for her to continue. "I have scanned the wreckage of the Atlantis; the weapons signature left on her hull matches those of Romulan disruptors."
"What?" Archer let out a surprised response. From behind him, he could also tell that Pek was shocked as well.
"We're nowhere near their territory." By now, his mind was jogging, thinking back of the time when they had a near-fatal first encounter with the Romulans. But that had happened far away from where they are now.
"Captain, this is uncharted space. We also know very little about the Romulans, their territory could stretch a considerable distance." T'Pol reasoned with him.
"We shouldn't stay long. They may still be in the area." Captain Pek suggested. Archer nodded in agreement, and in a case of perfect-timing, six Romulan cruisers de-cloaked in a circle around the two Starfleet vessels.
"Sir! Six Romulan vessels decloaking... we're surrounded!" Malcolm yelled out from his station. He was followed by Hoshi.
"They're hailing us... audio only sir." She said as the image of Captain Pek on the view screen was replaced by a view of two Romulan ships in front of Enterprise. Archer signalled for Hoshi to open up communications. It was deja vu for the crew as a commanding voice blasted from the bridge's speakers.
"Human vessel, your constant intrusions will no longer be tolerated. You have violated the sovereign space of the Romulan Star Empire for the last time. Your people shall suffer the consequences. Prepare to be destroyed." Archer knew what was coming next; he's had some experience against the Romulans before and made no hesitation in giving out his next command.
"All hands… battle-stations!"
- December 5th, 2380 -
The U.S.S. Enterprise, accompanied by the Excelsior-class U.S.S. Illustrious slowly approached the planet Titov II. Picard stood up from his chair, preparing to order a deep scan when to his shock; four Federation starships emerged from the shadows of the planetoid. What on earth?
"Mr. Munroe, are there supposed to be other Starfleet vessels out here other then us?" Picard asked. Munroe replied pretty quickly.
"Err… no sir. However, two of those ships are the missing vessels we're looking for." Munroe reported, busily working his console. "Captain, they're hailing us." Picard was greeted by a young and very attractive blonde dressed in Starfleet attire. She spoke first.
"Captain Picard, I'm Captain Lauren Dougherty of the Armia Krajowa starship Concordia." Picard was caught off guard, but he hid his surprise well. But nothing could have prepared him for what was to come. "You will surrender your vessel and prepare to be boarded… failure to comply will result in your destruction…"