Chapter Four
"Most legends have their basis in facts." Captain James T. Kirk, USS Enterprise.
Captain Picard awoke to the bright red light, and red alert siren blaring in his quarters. He glanced quickly at the chronograph on the table next to his bed, and it read 0012 hours.
What the devil could be wrong, that merits red alert in drydock? He thought to himself.
"Picard to bridge, report." He said as he straightened himself up.
"Picard to bridge, report. Picard to bridge, report. Picard to bridge, report." The communications system echoed through his room. "What the hell…" He muttered as he slipped out of bed and donned his uniform. A few moments later, he walked outside his quarters and into a corridor littered with drydock personnel, who all seemed to be running about in no particular order. The corridor was a complete mess, for many bulkhead covers had been removed to reveal bare circuits and conduits. He took two lefts and entered a turbolift. "Bridge." He commanded, and yawned.
-Unable to comply, turbolift command protocols are offline.
"What?" He mumbled. This ship seems to be falling apart at the seams. He thought. With all the retrofits taking place, nothing seemed to be working properly. He reached up and tapped his comm badge. "Picard to drydock command."
"Dickson here." Came the reply.
"Lock on to my signal and beam me to my bridge." Picard replied, as he crossed his arms. He heard the man on the other side of the comm line chuckle.
"Right away, Sir. I know what your going through… retrofits seem to make everything break down for a while. Trust me, it'll get better. Energizing."
It sure as hell better. Picard thought as the matter stream swept over him. A moment later, he rematerialized on the command deck of the Enterprise. About twelve drydock personnel were all busy working on the panels, and completely ignored him.
"Can someone tell me why we are at red alert?" Jean-Luc asked, and cleared his throat. An ensign slid out from under a console, and stood up.
"Sorry Captain. We are having problems with those circuits, everything is going haywire right now."
"Ah." Picard muttered.
"Sorry if it woke you, Sir." The man replied.
"No problem, who needs sleep anyway?" Picard replied, sarcastically. "Any idea when the turbolifts are going to be back in operation?" The man frowned.
"The turbolifts are down?" He asked.
"Nevermind. As you were." Picard said. He left the man to his work, and slipped off into his ready room. He breathed a sigh of relief as he walked in, for it seemed to be the only room left untouched by the retrofit crews. After seating himself in his chair, he grabbed a padd and started reading about the Stargate. The Titan was currently en route to the planet Cait, to pick up a Caitian representative to bring back to earth. Deanna seemed so concerned for his well-being, he promised to stay on the Enterprise until the Titan returned to Sector 001.
"LaForge to Picard, sorry to disturb you so early…" Geordi hesitated over the comm. Picard tossed the padd down on his desk and signed.
"No, no. I was up anyway. What can I do for you?"
"Starfleet Engineering just beamed me up a package… and you aren't going to believe what's in it! Can you come down to engineering?"
"Sure, I will beam down in a moment." Picard replied as he stood.
"Beam? What's wrong with the turbolifts?"
"You tell me… Picard out."
--
-System start up initiated. The computer announced in the large room. Annika Hansen looked up at the four massive rods that made up the engine core of the USS Vitesse. She looked over her shoulder at the master engineering monitor, and watched the displays switch from red to green.
She allowed herself to crack a smile, happy that the very first systems power up was successful. A moment later, she heard a familiar voice speak from behind her.
"Congratulations, Seven... Annika. Sorry, old habits die hard." Annika turned around to see her former captain, Kathryn Janeway.
"Admiral… I did not know you were on the Vitesse."
"Just arrived. I wanted to see how things were going here… and by the looks of it, pretty well."
"That is correct." Annika replied, as she walked over to the engineering monitor. She tapped a few keys, and started a systems diagnostic.
"Stardate 51781.2." Janeway said as she looked up at the core.
"Pardon?" Annika said. Suddenly, she remembered. It was the day Voyager encountered Omega in the Delta Quadrant.
"Who would have thought that years later upon our return to the Alpha Quadrant, that you would develop the very first stable Omega containment field. Then a few months later, managed to come up with the newest and fastest method of propulsion… the Omega core." Janeway gestured to the four large rods in the back of the room. They were pulsing blue, one after another. "Starfleet owes you one." Janeway finished, as she looked over at Annika.
"You are correct, this engine core will change the way we explore space." Seven started. "It even puts the Borg transwarp speed to shame." That remark made Admiral Janeway cross her arms.
"Just how fast can this ship go?" She asked as she leaned up against the core casing.
"The distance from Risa is approximately ninety light-years from earth. A vessel traveling at a velocity of warp nine point six would reach Risa in approximately twenty-two days." Janeway glanced up, thinking.
"That sounds about right." She replied.
"This ship, the Vitesse, traveling at maximum velocity, can reach Risa in a matter of minutes. Once out of its experimental stages, this ship will be able to roam our galaxy, and beyond."