[Author's Note: Many of these chapters are only short vignettes, representing one or more scenes that would be different from the canon TNG episodes. Those will often assume familiarity with the original episode that they modify. The changes from canon TNG become more substantial as the series progresses, and so do some of the episode treatments.]
a href= wiki/The_Last_Outpost_(episode)Captain's log, Stardate 41209.2/a. We are running at warp seven to rendezvous with the science vessel SS Tsiolkovsky, which has been routinely monitoring the collapse of a red supergiant star into a white dwarf. What has brought us here is a series of strange messages indicating something has gone wrong aboard the research vessel.
"SS Tsiolkovsky, repeat your message," Data requested.
The response was audio only, a woman's voice. "Well hello, Enterprise. Welcome. I hope you have a lot of pretty boys on board, because i'm willing and waiting. In fact, we're going to have a real blow-out here."
A man's voice could be heard further away from the comm. "Do it! Yeah, go ahead. Do it!" A loud bang followed.
"Captain," Data explained, "that last sound was an emergency hatch being blown."
"There's no automatic control for those hatches," Riker pointed out. "Someone would have had to manually trigger the hatch, and disable multiple safeties."
"Sir, the messages we've been receiving show obvious symptoms of uncontrolled and erratic behavior," Soriana supplied. "Clearly the crew fell under the influence of something."
The science vessel appeared on the viewscreen as they approached. "Sensor scan reveals no life signs, aboard, Captain."
"There were eighty people on that ship," Picard said. "All dead, Mister Worf?"
"Yes, sir. Scans show signs of explosive decompression in two cargo bays and on the bridge. In other locations bodies are frozen solid."
"Are we certain there's no one on board still alive?" Riker asked.
"I've cross-checked the scanned bodies against the crew manifest, sir," Data supplied. "All personnel are accounted for."
Picard nodded. "Then we can take our time figuring out this grisly mystery. Mister Data, Mister La Forge, let's remotely access the ship's logs and all system recordings. Until we know what caused this, maintain full quarantine protocols. No one set foot on that vessel, and contain anything that you beam back in level 1 hazard conditions."
Data added, "Sir, without a crew, the Tsiolkovsky's close orbit of the red supergiant places the ship at risk of considerable damage, depending on the timetable of the star's collapse. I suggest we tractor the ship into a more distant orbit."
"Make it so."
Captain's Log, supplemental. Through reviewing the ship's records and some remote medical examination of the bodies by Dr. Crusher, we have concluded that the Tsiolkovsky's crew succumbed to a variant of a rare water-carbon complex known to cause severe intoxication and suppression of judgment. Samples of the variant will be forwarded to Starfleet Medical in order to identify a cure and to update the transporter pattern filters. While the loss of life to an unknown threat is never easy, we will make every effort to learn from this tragedy and ensure it is not repeated.