Star Trek: BWTECS Episode 2 Extended Furlough
By: Trekker
Author's note: I'm sorry this chapter is so short; I was pressed for time, and I will have longer chapters up and running VERY SOON!
CHAPTER 5: The Big Plan =======================
1 Hour and 30 minutes Later... USS COLUMBIA (Saucer hull): Forward Torpedo Room 1
The probe was launched three hours later, at exactly 0400. The trickiest part was plotting a safe takeoff route through the forest, since the probe was launched from the bottom of (what was left of) the ship. The on-shift ensign had fired the torpedo out of Tube 4, since this tube points toward the back of the saucer (which was slightly tipped forward at the end of chapter 3), after Cmdr. Cooper and another computer-specialist had programmed a course that the probe could take without bumping into any trees. Once it cleared the top of the tree tunnel, it would continue on a vertical path into orbit, and from there it would proceed at warp-speed to the nearest Federation subspace relay, which would then relay the message to Starfleet Intelligence on a secured channel. It would be a long time before that probe would get there, though. Maybe a few weeks, but definitely not right away. The probe would wait at the relay for the return message, and then return to Columbia with Admiral Nolotai's response. Until then, they would just have to wait.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .