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STAR TREK:
THE GOD MACHINE
by Darrin Colbourne
TO: COMMANDER, USS ENTERPRISE
FROM: COMMANDER, CRUISER/DESTROYER GROUP THREE
ESD/T: 6SEP2266/0534HRS
RE: REASSIGNMENT
1. UPON ARRIVAL OF USS SHERMAN (NCC-2347) IN OPAREA KNZ-3, ENTERPRISE IS RELIEVED OF PICKET DUTY AND WILL STAND DOWN.
2. RTB IMMEDIATELY TO JEFFERIES FB FOR REPLENISHMENT AND REFIT.
3. CPT PIKE WILL REPORT TO ADM JELLICO ON 7SEP2266 AT 0900HRS FOR NEW OPAREA ASSIGNMENT.
SIGNED,
COMCRUDESGRU3
He wasn't sure exactly how many times he'd read the written orders from his immediate superior. Four times? Five? He only knew he'd revisited them several times while the Enterprise waited for Sherman in her patrol area along the Neutral Zone, the No-Man's-Land that separated United Earth territory from that of the Klingon Empire. This was certainly the first time he'd looked at them since his ship had warped back into the Solar System and docked in the Walter Jefferies Fleet Base in Earth Orbit. The text hadn't changed any of those times, but it still made no sense to him.
The doorchime sounded through his quarters. "Come in." He called out as he tossed his datapad on his bunk.
The stateroom door slid open to reveal Commander Mary McDonald, his Executive Officer. "You wanted me to let you know: The engines are fully shut down and the ship is now operating on the base's power. Maintenance teams from the base are starting to arrive and Commander Adams is putting them to work. We've got the manifest for rearming and resupply - there are a few interesting things on that list - and the Uniform of the Day on the base is Dress Black."
"So much for my plan to wear my golf togs." Pike muttered. McDonald smiled, then her attention was drawn to the pad.
"How many times have you looked at those orders?" She asked.
Now the Captain smiled. "I was just wondering that myself." He said as he glanced at the pad.
"Well, there's no sense torturing yourself over them. You'll find out what's going on when you see Admiral Jellico tomorrow morning."
"Well, that's what I can't get my head around, Number One. Why Jellico? I thought he retired."
"Actually, he was on inactive reserve. I presume they reactivated him."
"Okay, but why? He was one of the best operational commanders during the War, but that was a decade ago. What's happening now that they need to pull him out of half-retirement? Any threats?"
McDonald checked her own pad. "Um, no. We just got an updated intelligence report. No indications of hostile activity on the part of the Romulans or any of their bloc."
"Including the Klingons?"
"Including the Klingons, though I would wager you already know that. If the Klingons were starting trouble they would have left us in Kinsey Three with Sherman."
"So they would've." Pike muttered, then said: "I guess you're right. I'll just find out what's going on tomorrow. Meanwhile, we should think about giving the crew some leave time. Do we have enough time for that?"
"No indication as yet. I suppose you'll find out when we're shipping out again when you meet with Jellico. Until then I don't want to scatter too many of the crew. Say we'll schedule two-day passes for non-essential crew starting when you return?"
"Very Well. Do that…and find out where Hornet is. She was scheduled to be our relief at Kinsey Three."
"I know exactly where Hornet is. She's docked in the berth to our port."
"Oh, really."
McDonald nodded. "And according to my friend on the base, we were preceded by three other Constitution-class ships…and more are on the way."
Pike looked away and thought out loud. "What kind of assignment would Jellico need a bunch of Connies for?"
When he looked back at McDonald, she was smiling.
He smiled back. "I know, I know…I'll find out tomorrow. Carry on, Number One."
"Aye, Sir." She said as she walked out.
The next morning Pike found out that Admiral Jellico was using temporary quarters on base as an office, so the Captain's first stop was Officer Country. It wasn't hard to find. Jefferies Fleet Base was a massive facility, big enough to service 24 of the largest starships in Starfleet at once, but it was also a major deployment and recovery post, so most people in the service were familiar with the place. The Uniform of the Day was again "Dress Black", so Pike was turned out in his space black uniform slacks and jacket, complete with rank insignia and decorations. His white, black-billed uniform cap was tucked under his right arm as he made his way to the base tram.
Two other captains in Dress Black caught up with him as he boarded the tram. One was a tall, athletic, dark-skinned brunette and the other about an inch shorter than Pike, dark-haired and wiry. He recognized them immediately. "There you are." Pike said to the brunette. "Aren't you supposed to be on the KNZ?"
Captain Soledad Ortiz, commander of the USS Hornet, smiled and said: "I was working up to relieve you when I got my orders to come here. What's going on? Who let Jellico out of his cage? I haven't heard about any threats."
Captain James Crawford, commander of the USS Kitty Hawk, responded as they found seats. "Knowing Starfleet, they probably want him to command Red Team in some exercise and he's using us to simulate the Orions or something."
"God, I hope not." Ortiz said. "Besides the fact that the two of you would look horrid in green, I just finished three weeks training to fight Klingons. It'll take me another three to learn how to be a proper space pirate."
"I don't think this is an exercise." Pike said as the tram got moving. "They wouldn't pull ships off of frontline posts to play Red Team. Something's up, something only Connies can do."
"What might that be?" Crawford said. "Connies can do a lot, but they don't do all that much exclusively."
"Well, maybe it's not about the ships." Ortiz said. "Maybe there's something about us."
"So, we're special," Crawford said, "and we all just happen to run Constitution-class ships? Coincidence much?"
"He's got a point." Pike said. "Jellico wants us and our ships. We just need to find out why."
"Won't be long now." Crawford said as the tram came to their stop.
Base Quarters were divided into special sections. It only took a minute or so for the trio to reach the VIP section from the tram station. Pike donned his cap (his companions were already wearing theirs) as they reached the quarters being used by Jellico. Ortiz pressed the contact for the doorchime, and they were surprised to hear a young woman respond. "Come in!"
The door slid open on a small suite. A young, blonde officer in Dress Black was sitting at the coffee table in the Sitting Room. There were a few datapads arranged neatly on the table and the officer was studying them before the captains walked in. When she saw them she stood immediately and offered a quick salute, which Pike returned. "Good Morning, Sirs." She said. "I'm Ensign Colt, the Admiral's aide."
"Captain Christopher Pike." Pike said.
"Yes, Sir, I know." Colt said. "And you're Captains Ortiz and Crawford. I recognize you from your files."
"We were expecting to meet Admiral Jellico." Ortiz said.
"Yes, Sir. The Admiral had a last-minute appointment, so he'll meet you in the Ready Room."
"Which Ready Room?" Crawford said.
"Ready Room Six. Once you go out the door, cut right, and then left at the second corridor. It'll be a short trip through Officer Country to get to…"
Pike held up a hand. "We'll find it. Thanks for your help, Ensign."
"Yes, Sir." Colt said with a smile. "You're Welcome, Sir." She offered another salute as the captains left.
They talked as they made their way. "Group Ready Room." Pike said, thinking out loud.
"Think we're forming up a new squadron?" Crawford said.
"I'd say that's obvious." Ortiz said. "But forming up to do what?"
"Maybe we're going to play Red Team after all." Pike said.
"All I know is, I'm not playing an animal woman." Ortiz said, making the others chuckle.
A few minutes later they were one level down and making their way through the base Ready Room Section. Ready Rooms were actually small lecture rooms used by Combat Groups and Tactical and Logistics Support Squadrons for mission briefings. There were ten rooms in all. The first four were reserved for units integral to Jefferies Base. The rest were set aside for visiting units to use.
Ready Room Six was already abuzz with conversation. Five other Starfleet captains had preceded Pike's group. One of them was another friend of Pike's friends, Gabriel Kono of the Independence. The two men shook hands, then Kono handled the introductions for the others.
As the captains talked, Pike noticed that there was another gathering at the other side of the room. There were three men and four women, all in civilian clothes. Pike caught the gaze of one of the women. She was tall, dark, strikingly pretty and shapely. He was tempted to offer a smile, but the look in her eyes made him think twice about it. It was a look that only those with a truly special disdain for the military could manage.
It was a little after 9:00 AM by the time everyone had arrived. In all, there were twelve Starfleet captains and twelve civilians of various stripes in the group. Jellico arrived as the last officers showed up, with another civilian in tow, a handsome older woman. Both were in civilian clothes, which surprised the officers. They'd expected "Old Bulldog" Jellico to be in a Dress Black Uniform top-heavy with decorations. His suit was black, but the only evidence of his connection to The Fleet was a Starfleet Insignia lapel pin.
Jellico took the lectern as his companion found a seat in front of the room. "Okay," Jellico said, "it looks like everyone's here, so why don't you all take some seats and we can get started." He paused as the gathering complied. He was mildly amused to see that, when everyone was settled in, the officers and civilians were sitting on opposite sides of the room, without mingling. It was like boys and girls in Kindergarten.
When he had their attention, he began: "Thank you for coming. First, I think some introductions are in order. For those of you who don't know us, I'm Edward Jellico, and I'm an Admiral in the United Earth Starfleet Reserves. The woman to my left" - he inticated the woman he arrived with - "is Dr. Usma Narain, director of the United Earth Space Probe Agency. Now, to some of you , this is a new agency, and it has a very ambitious goal, one that all of you will have a hand in accomplishing. I'll start by letting my friend explain that goal to you. Ladies and Gentlemen, Dr. Usma Narain."
There was a smattering of applause as Dr. Narain stood and approached the lectern. Applause from the civilians, at least. The Starfleet officers looked at them as if they were mutants when they did it, causing the ovation to peter out.
After witnessing this, Jellico and Narain traded a look. "Oh, this is gonna go real well." Jellico whispered to her as he took a seat. She smiled at the comment before turning her attention to the audience.
"Good Morning, Everyone." She said. Her slightly accented English matched her Middle Eastern looks. "Thank you for coming. What we're going to discuss today is a project that, if successful, has the potential to change the face of the galaxy. Dim Lights."
The last was a voice command for the automatic switches that controlled the lighting in the Ready Room. They immediately dimmed to half-strength, then Dr. Narain used controls in the lectern to activate the display.
"Human. Vulcan. Andorian. Klingon. Romulan. Orion." As she spoke each race name a representative image appeared on the screen. "All Aliens, at least to each other. It's how we think of them, and how they think of us. Yet, look at these images. We are all, after a fashion, primates. We are all four-limbed, with ten fingers and ten toes. We all have forward-looking eyes, large brains. We all have the capacity to learn, the ability to speak, to write, to create. We have been poets, philosophers and architects. We have also fought wars, internal ones in the distant past, external ones more recently. There is so much that our peoples have in common with each other, is it not reasonable to wonder whether our perception of each other as 'alien' is nothing more than an assumption based on appearance and distance? Isn't it more likely that, despite our evolution on scattered worlds across space, that we are in fact one people?
"These are questions that I wish to answer, questions that the United Earth Space Probe Agency was created to answer, and the agency's first effort to that end will be the launch of the Common Man Project.
"Here is our hypothesis: The similarities evident in the known races seem to indicate a common ancestry. This raises a number of questions, not the least of which is 'Is our hypothesis correct?' Is there a common ancestor? If so, was it humanoid, or some other form of life? How was it transported across space? Was it simply the result of natural forces, or was there an outside agency involved? The Common Man Project is designed to answer these questions - or, at least, tell us the questions we should be asking.
"The Project will consist of two simultaneous investigations, which we call 'Project: Home' and 'Project: Away'. Project: Home is already underway. We intend for it to be a comprehensive examination of Known Space, of its peoples and their worlds and territories. We will look at the Biology, Sociology, Geophysics and Astrophysics of the region in the hope of uncovering a common thread, a piece of evidence that might point directly to a single origin. We already have the necessary permissions from the governments of Earth, Andoria and Vulcan, and we hope to obtain similar cooperation from the Klingons, Romulans and Orions.
"Of course, even if we comb all of Known Space for answers, they simply may not be here. They may be in uncharted space, far beyond our little corner of the universe. For that reason, Unknown Space must be investigated as well. That is the purpose of Project: Away. It is also why we have brought you here.
"You, Ladies and Gentlemen, will be the core of the 'Away' Project. With the goals of the Common Man Project as your guide and under the supervision of Admiral Jellico, it will fall upon you to investigate uncharted space. It will be up to you, our best researchers and our most able spacefarers, to pool your talents and uncover any clues that the wider universe may hold. It will not be easy, nor will it be done overnight, but I'm confident that, with your efforts, if there are answers to be found out there, we will find them." She was smiling, and she paused to let it sink in. "Thank you for listening. Now I will turn you back over to Admiral Jellico."
This time no one applauded as Jellico returned to the lectern. If that bothered him he didn't show it. "All right, now I'll give all of you an overview of the mission plan." He touched a control on the lectern. The life models were replaced by an image of the galaxy, viewed from "above".
"I need you captains especially to pay attention to this." He said. "We're going to treat this as an extremely long-ranged reconnaissance-in-force." He touched another contact and a small area in the Orion Arm of the galaxy was circled. "We'll use Known Space as an anchor and divide the bulk of the galaxy into twelve patrol sectors." Another contact, then the galaxy was divided into twelve wedge-like slices. "Each starship will be assigned a sector. Your mission is to seek out and survey as many planets with conditions similar to the Known Worlds as possible within your sector, on a course that will take you toward the opposite edge of the galaxy from your start point."
Crawford, who was sitting behind and to the right of Pike, leaned forward and whispered in Pike's ear: "The Old Man has gone senile!"
He wasn't quite discreet enough. "Did you have a question, Captain?"
Pike saved him. "Sir, we were just wondering if we aren't being a little too ambitious here? I mean, you could divide the galaxy into hundreds of pieces and assign every ship in the Fleet to one, and even with Warp a survey like this would take centuries to complete."
"Lights." Jellico said, then as the lights came back up: "You're right, of course, but I only have twelve ships to work with and this survey will only take you five years."
"Excuse me, Sir?" Pike said.
Dr. Narain answered from her seat. "We don't expect you to explore the entire galaxy by yourselves, Captain. Eventually the Space Probe Agency will be able to field its own fleet of dedicated, long-range exploration ships. We have several designs in development, but we do not expect the first production units to be delivered for at least five years. Once we have those ships we'll be able to explore much greater pieces of the galaxy at once. Until then, Starfleet was gracious enough to lend us you and your ships. We can relieve you of the assignment as our own ships come on-line, but for now…think of it as giving us a head start."
"With respect, Ma'am," Crawford said, "That's not much comfort. Even with a time limit, we're still talking about a small number of ships and a whole lot of space."
"Oh, it's not all that bad, Crawford." Jellico said. "You'll have help."
"We will, Sir?"
"Absolutely. You see those nice people you and your colleagues have been treating like they have Cooties?"
He was indicating the civilians, which made all the officers look toward them, and the civilians, naturally, looked back.
"They're all Senior Researchers." Jellico said. "Each one of you will be assigned a researcher of your very own, and each of them will bring along a research team. They will do the heavy lifting in the survey."
Kono raised his hand. When Jellico acknowledged him: "Sir, you mean you want us to ferry the civilians to the subject worlds?"
"Not quite, Captain." The Admiral said. "They won't be civilians."
Now it was the researchers' turn to wonder if Jellico were senile, but they were much more vocal about it. Several shouts of "What?" and a host of double-takes greeted his statement from that part of the room, but Jellico continued to address Kono.
"We want the research teams to be fully integrated with the Starfleet crews, so the researchers will be given temporary Starfleet ranks and the senior researchers will serve as part of the command crews. They will be given the title 'Science Officer' and will replace your Operations Officers."
The captains came close to rebelling then. "Sir," Ortiz said, "All Due Respect, how are we expected to function without our Ops officers?"
"Operations Officers have a mission-planning function." Jellico said. "Since the mission in this case is Scientific Research, it makes sense for the senior researcher to perform that function."
"But I didn't get into this to get drafted into Starfleet!" One of the researchers called out. He was cheered by shouts of "Yeah!" from his colleagues.
"It's not like that!" Narain said. "The ranks are just to help you operate more efficiently aboard the ships."
The woman who'd caught Pike's eye earlier spoke up. "Ranks are nothing more than tools for keeping people in their place! What kind of freedom would we have to work under those circumstances?"
It was too much for some of the captains. "Hey, Miss," Crawford said, "why don't you try not commenting on things you don't understand?"
That started a free-for-all, with officers and researchers arguing loudly with each other and pleading loudly with their superiors. It went on for about a minute before Jellico got tired of it. "Settle Down." He said. "Settle Down…HEY!"
The last was delivered with his "Command Voice". It had just the right effect. It made everyone shut up and look at him.
He continued in a normal tone of voice. "Everything you need to know will be spelled out in your orders, and there'll be time enough to ask questions today, but we're not finished here. I'd like to complete my briefing. Any objections?"
The researchers settled themselves indignantly, and the captains did so reluctantly, but everyone kept quiet and gave their attention to Jellico.
"Very Well." He said, then dimmed the lights again and continued with his overview of the mission plan. As he did, Dr. Narain tried to make herself invisible in the half-darkness, comforted very little by the fact that it had actually gone better than she'd thought it would.
Twenty minutes later, Pike was back in Enterprise's berth and making his way to the Main Access Hatch in the Support Section of the ship. As he crossed the threshold from the gangway onto the deck, the Starfleet Landing Force security troop standing watch just inside greeted him with a salute, then keyed his headset to "Intercraft". "Enterprise Arriving." He announced, letting the entire ship know The Captain was back aboard.
Pike made his way to the nearest turbolift without a word to anyone he passed along the way. He took the lift straight to the Command Deck. He wasn't surprised to see Commander McDonald waiting for him when he stepped out of the lift, and only mildly surprised to see his Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander John Marcus Adams, waiting with her.
"Welcome back, Sir." McDonald said cheerfully. "I trust your meeting with the Admiral went well."
Pike merely grunted and brushed past them on his way to his quarters.
"I'll take that as a 'No'." McDonald muttered as she and Adams fell in step behind him.
Pike addressed them without turning around. "We're being re-assigned all right." He took off his cap so he could scratch his head, then tucked the hat under his arm.
"So we're working for Jellico now?" Adams said. "How big is this?"
"Oh, it's cosmic." Pike said, chuckling mirthlessly.
"Will there be time for the crew to go ashore?" McDonald asked.
"Absolutely. We ship out on the 28th. Start scheduling two-day passes for the crew ASAP. Have them get home if they can and visit their families and their sweethearts, 'cause when we deploy, we're gonna be out a long time."
Adams and McDonald looked at each other as Pike reached his quarters. He opened the door and motioned them to follow as he went inside.
"Well, what exactly are we doing?" Adams asked.
Pike sat down on his bunk and finally looked at them. "You're not gonna believe this." He said. The door closed as he laid the mission out for his officers.