ENTERPRISE
"Entity"
by J. B. Tilton
Ratingl: K
Disclaimer: "Star Trek", "Enterprise", and all related characters and events are the sole property of Paramount Pictures, Inc., except for those specifically created by me for this story. This is fan fiction and no infringement of copyright is intended.
After experiencing a plasma storm, the systems aboard the Enterprise begin to mysteriously malfunction, with no apparent cause. During the investigation, T'Pol begins to suspect that someone, or something, is attempting to gain control of the Enterprise. And the crew is helpless to do anything about it.
ONE
Jonathon Archer was doing everything he could to keep from being thrown out of his command chair. The rest of the bridge crew were also doing their best to keep upright at their stations.
They had been exploring a small nebula when a plasma storm had suddenly engulfed the Enterprise. Warp drive was offline and Archer had ordered the ship away from the nebula at maximum impulse drive. Only the ship's polarized hull had kept it from being ripped apart.
"How much longer, Mr. Mayweather?" asked Archer.
"Eight seconds, sir," said Travis. "We're approaching the event horizon of the storm now."
"Polarized hull plating is beginning to buckle in various sections," reported T'Pol. "The ship cannot withstand much more of this, sir."
"Understood," responded Archer.
He didn't know what else to do. The Enterprise was moving away as fast as possible. All he could do is hope that they left the plasma storm before the ship buckled.
"Sir," said Travis, "we've cleared the storm. Warp drive is coming online."
"Warp one, Mr. Mayweather," said Archer. "Get us away from that storm."
"Aye, sir," said Travis.
The Enterprise jumped to warp speed and the nebula, and plasma storm, was left far behind. When they had put enough distance between themselves and the storm so that the storm presented no more danger, Archer ordered the Enterprise to full stop. The crew immediately began to assess the damage to the ship.
"Overall, we're in pretty good shape," reported Trip to Archer. "The impulse drive was damaged, but it will be easy to repair. The warp drive is essentially undamage. But several other systems were badly damaged.
"The protein resequenzer is offline. It should take about two days to repair it. Until then, we'll have to rely on emergency rations. The transporter is down. Most of the relays were fused and the imaging chamber is badly out of alignment. I'll have to replace the relays and do a manual realignment of the chamber before we can even attempt to use it. I'll have it repaired in about six hours. About half the secondary backup systems were fused. I've got repair crews on them right now and, hopefully, they'll be back up within twenty four hours or so.
"The main deflector is down, but I can compensate with the lateral deflectors until it's back up. But I wouldn't suggest going anywhere until I do. It could be dangerous. I think it's best if we just sit here until I can get some of the main systems back up."
"Thanks, Trip," said Archer. "We'll hold position until you let me know it's safe to move. Hold off on the transporter right now. We shouldn't be needing it any time soon."
Trip left the bridge and returned to engineering to supervise the repairs. Most of the repairs on the bridge had already been made. They had been minor, mostly burned out curcuits and consoles that were easily replaced. Sensors were functioning normally, so they'd have plenty of warning if anyone approached.
"T'Pol," said Archer, walking over to the science station, "how much information did we get on that nebula before the plasma storm hit?"
"Quite a bit, Captain," replied his Vulcan Science Officer. "Although, as I informed you earlier, this nebula was already examined by a Vulcan science vessel some five years ago. I do not believe we will gain any new information from our scans of it."
"All the same," said Archer, "prepare a report for Star Fleet Command. There might be something about it the Vulcan science vessel didn't include in their report. Something they might not have considered relavent or important enough to report."
"As you wish," said T'Pol. "I will have my report ready in approximately two hours."
"Good," said Archer. "Hoshi, how are communications?"
"Working on it, sir," said Hoshi. "I should have them back online in about ten minutes."
"Great," said Archer. "Malcolm, weapons systems?"
"Undamaged," responded the tactical officer. "Phase cannon and torpedo launchers are ready, in case we need them."
"That probably won't be necessary, Lieutenant," said Archer. "Well, I guess there's not much we can do until the repair crews are finished. I'll be in my ready room."
As Archer left the bridge, T'Pol took position in the command chair. As she sat in the chair, she held a PADD she was using to prepare her report to Star Fleet Command. A waste of time, in her opinion. The Vulcan science vessel would have reported anything that was even remotely necessary. Still, the captain wanted to file his own report with Star Fleet. Methodically, she began to organize the information from the scans so they would be easier to cataloge for the human scientists on Earth.
