USS Lexington, S. P. Heller Commanding – Chapter 3
Two problems had presented themselves since arriving in Phased Space. The first was the more obvious: the deadly Bats, or whatever they were. Second was how the portal that sent them into Phased Space appeared in the first place. Since it had vanished once the Lexington traveled through, Steven had to assume that it was created as a single-use portal. That meant someone in his own quantum reality was traveling to and from Phased Space, and purposefully left them a door to follow.
Steven kept the Door Problem, as he referred to it, to only his top command staff: Rob Walsh, T'lan, Michael Ford, and Jessica McKenna. The First Officer, Operations Officer, Chief Engineering Officer, and Tactical Officer, respectively. His Chief Medical Officer and the Ship's Counselor, the rest of Lexington's high-ranking officers, simply did not need to know.
The Door Problem was not something that the scientists could help with; it could only be solved with a chance encounter with whoever created the anyon/chroniton gateway in the first place. Of course, there was a chance that the Bats had annihilated the civilization that had left the gateway for the Federation to find, but Steven preferred to be more optimistic in finding a solution.
A third problem had presented itself before Lexington's arrival at the gateway, the one Rikka Berti presented. The crew as a whole did not yet respect him. His officers were talented enough that they were accepted readily enough. Captain Steven Heller, on the other hand, was going to have to earn his place.
Steven hoped that with the success of the last battle, the crew's confidence in him would be improved. Unfortunately, there was no way for him to know without speaking to Rikka.
He remembered his days as commander of the Huntress during the Dominion War. As Tactical Officer, he was supposed to be number four in the line of command. The bridge had taken a direct hit from a phaser blast, and Steven had been the only survivor. A field promotion to full commander followed.
Before the War was over, the promotion to commander stayed, along with his command of USS Huntress. Robert Walsh was assigned as his First Officer. Steven had no trouble asserting himself as Captain, since all the crew respected him for his battle prowess. Huntress's crew remained the same once the war was over.
Then, in 2379, Steven was promoted to Captain and assigned USS Lexington. It was a completely different experience from commanding the small, Steamrunner-class Huntress.
Steven shook his head. It was time to stop worrying, and start concentrating on the task at hand. High resolution scans had come through while Lexington was still several hours out of system Phase Zero Four Two. No planets were hospitable to carbon-based life.
Lady Lex's mission was to explore Phased Space, not to simply make contact with its inhabitants. The Ticonderoga-class explorer spent another week in the system before moving on. Three months of uneventful exploration followed, including systems Phase Zero Five Seven, Zero Six Two, and Zero Seven Zero. After each sector, Lexington had used its anyon emitter to send a full report to Starfleet Command.
Lexington entered the outskirts of system P-032. "Sir, we're arriving at our destination," Steven's communicator announced, with Rob's voice. Steven sighed, setting his PADD down with the ready reports it contained. He was grateful to be able to put them away. Paperwork had the strange ability to fill up all available free time. "Captain on the Bridge," announced Rob when Steven left his Ready Room. Once the Captain and First Officer were reseated, Rob gave a brief rundown of what was happening.
"There are seven planets in the star system. Planets Two, Four, and Seven are inhabitable. There are signs of civilization on all of them, including several ships in orbit. They haven't detected us yet."
"Yellow Alert," Steven ordered. "Let's move towards the seventh planet at warp one." Beech affirmed from his station as he made it so. Lexington dropped out of warp when it was within proximity of the target planet. "Set speed one-half impulse. I don't want them knowing how fast we are. Set viewscreen to tactical." The viewscreen showed a two-dimensional view of the planet, along with the alien ships in orbit.
The ships were three-sided pyramids, each with a trio warp nacelles. Though different sizes and colors, they were all obviously created by the same species. "Sir, we're being hailed," reported McKenna.
"On-screen." An alien with the neck of a Cardassian and the head of a Klingon appeared on the viewscreen, a bridge in the background. The Cardio, or so Steven immediately dubbed him, looked frightened by Steven's physical appearance. The alien spoke, but the words did not immediately translate. "I'm sorry, but the Universal Translator needs to hear more of your language for us to understand what you're saying."
"I am Captain P'kah of the Stellar Republic. Why have you invaded Stellar territory?"
Steven rose and approached the screen, as was his usual habit. "My name is Steven Heller, Captain of the USS Lexington. I represent the United Federation of Planets. I come on a mission of exploration and peace."
"This is a trick." P'kah looked uncertain for a moment, but the confusion was soon masked. "Your ship design does not conform to any known design. Where did you say you come from?"
It was a difficult question, one that Captain Heller was not yet prepared to answer. "A planet called Earth."
P'kah recognized the name. Anger immediately overtook the alien captain's countenance. "You toy with us!" The communication ended, and the viewscreen again showed a tactical view of the area.
"That went well," Rob could not resist saying. Steven glared at his friend. "Lieutenant, hail them." After a moment, P'kah finally appeared back on the viewscreen.
"What do you want, Captain Heller?" P'kah's tone was impatient, but he did not sound ready for a fight.
"We are here on a mission of peace and exploration." The alien captain did not appear to believe Steven, so he tried giving the truth. "We come from a different quantum reality from your own."
P'kah's eyes went wide as he took in the repercussions of the statement. Some aspects of quantum physics would only be theory for the Cardio, and here was definitive proof. If Heller was telling the truth, which he was. "You can use your own sensors to confirm this; check the quantum signature of the Lexington." P'kah cut the transmission.
"Sir, we're being scanned," McKenna reported.
"Do you think they believed me?" He turned back towards his First Officer, but Rob only shrugged. Steven swallowed his pride and tapped his communicator. "Counselor Berti to the Bridge." A few minutes later, the counselor arrived.
"Captain?" she asked. Steven offered her the third command chair, the one reserved for specialists and VIPs. Berti took the seat. "We have a situation, and I thought you might be able to offer some insight." He related the conversations with P'kah to Berti. She asked a couple of clarification questions, but otherwise waited for Steven to finish before commenting.
"I don't know whether his ship's sensors are precise enough to detect quantum signatures or not. If they are, then he is confirming what you just said. Either way, he is waiting for further orders from his commanding officer." Steven nodded, grateful for the insight.
"Captain, P'kah's ship is hailing us." Steven signaled McKenna to put the message on-screen and turned back to the viewscreen.
"Captain P'kah," he said.
"Captain Heller. It seems what you said is true; you really are from another quantum reality. Please excuse my disbelief."
Steven nodded. "Of course."
"In this ... quantum reality, there is a species that looks very similar to yours. They have never told us their name; we call them the Deathbringers." Berti glanced at Rob behind Steven's back. "They fly black ships that are shaped like some kind of monster." Everyone on the bridge adjusted themselves in some way on hearing P'kah's description. There was anger in P'kah's voice, as if it was personal.
"I'm sorry," said Captain Heller. "We arrived at a colony soon after it was destroyed, just a few months ago. Several ships appeared while we there. They were black, with long wings and two pointed weapon arrays at the head. Their construction was organic in nature."
"You describe Deathbringer ships." P'kah shivered visibly. "How many did you encounter?"
"We saw four, but only battled two of them."
P'kah looked genuinely surprised. "You survived against two? Your ship must be very powerful." The praise was well-deserved, Steven thought. As much as he liked USS Huntress, the smaller ship would not have survived against such an adversary.
"Federation starships are designed primarily for exploration, but unfortunately we have known the need to defend ourselves." He did not mention the Federation also had ships like the Steamrunner and Defiant that were specifically designed for combat. Nor did he mention that one of the Bats fled, when it could have easily destroyed Lady Lex.
P'kah nodded, understanding the wisdom of what Heller said. Someone talked to Captain P'kah on his bridge, and the Cardio turned away for a moment. "Captain, I would like to continue our conversation, but I have just received new orders. We are to escort you to Earth, to open official diplomatic ties."
"Earth?" asked Heller, surprised.
"Our homeworld. Now you understand my surprise. My communications officer will send you the coordinates. Until next time, Captain Heller." The screen switched to a tactical view.
T'lan reported: "Captain, we've received the coordinates, and I've transferred them to helm."
"Warp one," Heller ordered.