Chapter 4
Trip burst onto the bridge and began barking orders. "Hoshi, contact that cargo ship! T'Pol, scan the area for them! They only have impulse, so they couldn't have gotten too far."
Hoshi and T'Pol gave Jon surprised, questioning looks. Jon shrugged his shoulders before speaking gently. "Trip, there isn't any other ship in the vicinity. I don't know what you think you saw out there, but we're the only ship around for several light years." He laid a gentle hand on Trip's shoulder. "I think you should have Phlox check you out. Maybe you hit your head, dehydrated, oxygen deprived...something, but I can assure you...there isn't any other ship."
Trip swatted Jon's hand away. "You spoke to Sam yourself! I don't know what kind of joke you're pulling, but it's not funny! I've been on that ship most of the day! You talked to the Cap'n...he told you I was on his ship! That's how you knew where to find me! Why are you trying to play a game, make me think I've lost it? He said he was gonna wait with me until you got here, then I could talk to you about helping them get their ship back together. The Sparrow was right behind me!"
Jon shook his head. "Trip. We found you because we widened our scans and picked up your distress signal. You've been missing for over 24 hours, no one personally contacted Enterprise, I didn't talk to anyone named Sam, and there wasn't a cargo ship out here with you."
Travis gulped. "Uh...Commander...this cargo ship? Are you sure it was called the Sparrow?"
"Yeah. That's what Sam said. The Sparrow." Trip said confidently.
The color drained from Travis. "An Earth cargo ship? Captain Greystone?"
Trip's eyes brightened as a wide grin crossed his face. "See! I knew it! You did talk to him! Someone on this ship talked to him anyways. Travis? Did you have the chair when Enterprise was hailed? Maybe Sam just assumed he was talking to you, Cap'n."
Travis shook his head slowly. "Commander...every kid growing up on a cargo ship has heard this tale. The Sparrow, Captain Greystone and his crew went missing over 40 years ago. They were on a run to drop off supplies to Pluto colony, but they never made it. No one knows what happened to them, after searching and not finding a trace of the ship...they were presumed dead. Over the years, there has been stories by people whose ships have gotten stranded, stories of a cargo ship called The Sparrow, who have come to give refuge until help can arrive. Once help has gotten to those stranded, the Sparrow just...disappears."
"A ghost story, Travis! Really?" Trip huffed. "I didn't imagine this! I was on their ship all day! I shook the Cap'n's hand! I walked the decks! I touched their warp core...even tried to boost their comm signal!" Trip had a sudden thought as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the data card he had forgotten to give to Sam. "If I wasn't over there...where did I get this from then? Huh?"
Jon took the card from Trip and thought about it for a moment. "Maybe another cargo ship with the same name? Greystone...it could be a relative, or just coincidence."
Travis shook his head as he started tapping at buttons on his station. "No Earth cargo Captain would name their ship Sparrow...it's bad luck."
Just then a picture of Captain Greystone appeared on the main view screen. "That's him!" Trip exclaimed. "That's Sam! Heh. Same shirt too. Must really like it. Are there pictures of the rest of the crew?"
Travis tapped a few more buttons, then the screen was filled with small pictures of the 23 crew members.
Trip looked at the pictures, then began pointing. "That's Kelly, the manifest officer, and Roger, the...well...closest thing to an engineer they have. I saw these four in the halls, but I didn't get their names. Not sure about the rest, I guess they were in other parts of the ship."
Trip turned towards Jon and saw he was white as a sheet. "What? What is it?" Trip asked confused.
Jon pointed towards the screen. "Trip...look at the statistic dates."
Trip took a closer look at the dates.
Sparrow: Exit Earth orbit: Final destination Pluto: January 22, 2115.
Sparrow: Checkpoint Saturn: January 29, 2115
Sparrow: Checkpoint Neptune: February 15, 2115
Sparrow: Reported by Pluto colony: No Arrival: March 2, 2115
Earth Search and Rescue: Launch March 5, 2115 - Sparrow: Declared Unresponsive
Earth Cargo Council: System Wide Directive: Sparrow - BOLO and report
Earth Search and Rescue: Sparrow - Negative: May 1, 2115
Earth Search and Rescue: Sparrow - Negative - Declared Missing: July 20, 2115
Earth Search and Rescue: Sparrow - Negative: December 12, 2115
Earth Search and Rescue: Sparrow - Search Cease: File Missing Enroute: Cause Unknown - February 22, 2116
Earth Cargo Council: Sparrow - Declared All Hands Lost: Cause Unknown: File Closed: August 19, 2117
Trip thought he was going to become ill. "How? How could this be? I'm telling ya...I was there! It wasn't a figment of my imagination. They told me they were boarded by pirates. By the description, it sounded like those Ferengi guys that boarded us a few years ago. This...this is just...just...crazy!"
Trip had another sudden thought. "Hold on, I can prove it!" He rushed to his bridge station and pulled the time stamp from the shuttle. "I was only gone for a few hours, the time stamp will-" He looked at the time display and scowled. "No...this can't be right. I...I."
Jon gave Trip a light pat on the shoulder. "Ok, Trip, I believe you. Tell us what happened. In your own words. What do you remember?"
Trip shook his head, his eyes wide as he recalled the events. "I left the conference. I was heading to the rendezvous point when a relay overloaded. I tried to contact the ship, but I was losing power, so I opted for a general distress call. A few minutes later, Greystone responded. I docked, spoke with Sam...Cap'n Greystone. I couldn't help them with their core injector since it was missing. Oh damn! I questioned how the hell they got all the way out here with a warp 2 engine! They really didn't answer the question, I guess I was so greatful to be picked up, and thinking about helping them, I didn't give it a second thought!"
Jon nodded. "Ok, but why do you feel it was only a few hours and not over a day?"
Trip thought for a moment. "They gave me a room so I could rest. I took a little nap, but I was only asleep for 2 hours. I looked at the time when I woke up. Maybe...maybe I was asleep longer than 2 hours? Maybe I slept through the night and mixed up my night and day?"
"That's a possibility. On a strange ship in space...it's easy to do. You said that I spoke with this Captain Greystone. Were you there when he spoke to me?"
Trip shook his head. "N-no. I was in the shuttle eating some rations when Sam told me...he said he spoke to you, told you that I was aboard his ship. He said there was an issue with a ship-to-ship dock and that I would have to take the shuttle out and wait for you to pick me up. He waited with me until you got there, but I lost visual with his ship. I assumed he maneuvered away to give Enterprise room so I could dock. But...if I wasn't on his ship...where was I?"