Chapter 2
"Alright, Mr. Spock, what have we learned about the mystery ship?" All eyes in the briefing room turned to Spock in anticipation of his response to Kirk's query.
"Our sensors are detecting six life signs in the vessel," the science officer reported. "The ship has two sections; an upper and lower deck. The upper deck is where the low-level life signs are being detected. The lower deck is an unknown at this point, Captain, as there is no power being consumed and no active equipment at this time. Our sensors can detect equipment, computers, and other electronic devices, but I cannot determine the functions of the equipment. I sent a remote probe to the mystery vessel but was unable to obtain more detailed information. Views through the only open view port were unsuccessful at determining the origin of the ship, nor could the occupants be seen. It would appear there is some type of gravity system still functioning in the ship as the probe's visual systems showed pieces of debris laying on the deck plating."
The viewscreens in the briefing room displayed images captured by the probe. Debris could clearly be seen laying on the flooring of the unknown vessel. The type of flooring could not be seen due to thick deposits of dust. Trails in the dust indicated where debris from the Orion attack had slid through the dust before coming to rest. In the center of the upper deck was a large, round console with a dome on top. Any possible function of this console was hidden beneath the obscuring layers of dust. Furthermore, while the members of the Enterprise had an impression of a clear dome, they really couldn't see if it was clear or not thanks to the dust.
"Power levels on the ship are miniscule. Readings indicate their power generation equipment is non-functional. There are, however six systems drawing low levels of power; perhaps from photo-electric supply systems. Those readings are consistent with the amount of power which would be generated from the starlight in this area of space. The power levels are not sufficient to provide any form of life support as we know it. Therefore, I am unable to determine what types of life forms are present." Spock finished his initial report and awaited follow-up questions.
"Very well, Mr. Spock, thank you," responded the captain. "Doctor McCoy, have you anything to add to Spock's report?"
"No, Jim, I don't. The scale of the equipment we can see through the window indicates a humanoid crew approximately one to two meters tall. They may have two hands, or they may have more, but they definitely have at least two hands and arms. I base that opinion on the arrangement of the few control panels that we can see with the probe." Doctor McCoy's normally brash manner was not evident in his tone. When reporting on new life forms and new ecological systems, he was all business.
Kirk digested this information while watching the images on the viewscreen. "Thanks, Bones. Something about that ship just 'feels' human, to me. Can you tell if the life signs we're seeing are human? Or can you tell what type of life form they are?"
"No, Jim, I can't. They're just too low for me to tell what they are."
"Alright. Scotty? What can you tell us about the ship itself?"
The chief engineer took a moment before answering. "Not much, Captain. As stated earlier, the mystery ship appears to be powered by a deutronium reactor located in the bottom of the ship. If you look to the screen, you can see that the generator is off-line. Sensors indicate fuel storage areas in the lower level of the ship, but those areas are empty. It looks to me like they ran out of gas, Captain."
Kirk looked at the images of the saucer-shaped craft's reactor assembly on the bottom of the ship. He could see a segmented ring protruding from the center of the ship's bottom plating. From its darkened appearance he could see it was clearly not working.
"Very well, Scotty. Is there anything else?" Kirk looked to Scotty as he asked.
"Just one more thing, Cap'n," the chief engineer began. His Scottish brogue crept into his voice as he said, "If we don't do sumthin' to help them puir folks, they will be completely out of power in less than a month. Their tumblin' path is taking them into an area whur the levels o' starlight'll be too low to support wha'ever is pullin' power ri' now. If we don' help 'em, they'll be dead in a month."
"Alright, Scotty. We'll see what we can do for them. Whoever they are," Kirk responded.
Looking to the Enterprise's tactical officer, he continued, "Mr. Chekov? What of our Orion 'friends' out there?"
"They appear to have set the destroyer and the blockade runner to an automated heading for their home port. Then they all beamed over to the freighter and warped out of the system. When we could last see them on our sensors they were traveling at Warp 6. The two empty, damaged ships will be out of our sensor range in approximately five weeks at their current speed. They are both already 150,000 kilometers away from the Enterprise and the mystery ship." Chekov concluded his report.
"Well, hopefully, that's the last we'll see of them for a good, long while. Uhura? Did they make any transmissions before they left?"
"Yes, sir, they did. It was a 15-second, coded microburst. I'm unable to break the code and none of the code systems in our computer can break it, either. It is undoubtedly a code that's specific to their own cartel," Uhura replied succinctly.
"Alright, I'll assume they hollered for help and we're going to have more Orion company in… Spock? How long do you think it'll take them to get reinforcements here?"
"Extrapolating their course and referring to star charts of nearby systems, the soonest I would expect them to be here is in approximately 4.9724 days at Warp 6. That estimate assumes their reinforcements are coming from Beta WindiMar located 5.31473 light years from us."
"Alright, let's get this show on the road. Mr. Sulu, I want you to prepare to take the mystery ship in tow. Before you lock on to it for traveling, I want you to kill that tumble with the tractor beam. Orient her to the Enterprise's 'up and down'; assume the segmented ring is the 'bottom' of the saucer. Once you have it stabilized, lock onto it with the tractor beam and set course for Starbase 36. We'll have a repair crew on the exterior of the saucer so make your speed three quarters impulse. No warp speed until everybody's inside. I want to be out of this area within the hour. Will that give you enough time to 'snag' our new friends?" Kirk already knew how Sulu would respond, but he asked the question anyway.
"Yes, sir, an hour is more than enough time for me to 'snag' that ship. I'll have her hooked up snug as a bug in less than 15 minutes," the Enterprise's chief helm officer spoke without boasting. His helm skills were without question the best in Federation, Klingon, or Romulan space. If he said he could do it, then you could bet your next paycheck on it.
"Very well, Mr. Sulu," Kirk responded with a smile. "Get our 'bug' all 'snugged' up. As soon as you have that ship 'on the hook', notify me in Transporter Room 6 and we'll beam over to that ship and see what we can learn from it."
Kirk paused for a moment as he mentally reviewed the list of people he wanted with him on the landing party. "Landing party members will be as follows: Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, Mr. Scott, Lt Kerasus plus one other security guard, and a damage control team. Mr. Scott, will you please select your best damage control team? Have them assemble in Cargo Transporter Room 1 with the supplies and equipment they'll need to get that ship patched up. I want her to be able to hold an atmosphere as soon as possible. I also want you to bring one of our emergency rescue generators with us in case we need power for any of their equipment." As Kirk spoke, the officers around the briefing room table nodded their heads and began making their own lists of equipment to bring. "Commander Uhura will be in command of the Enterprise while we're over there."
"Jim," McCoy began, "I'd like to bring Christine Chapel along with me to assist with whatever, or whoever, is generating those life sign readings."
"That's fine, Bones. She's checked out in the new deflector-equipped EVA suits, isn't she?"
"Yes, she took the training during our last stop at Starbase 14 six months ago," the doctor explained.
"Good. Everyone get the equipment you feel will be needed over there and assemble in Transporter Room 6. We'll depart in one hour." Kirk looked at each of his officers in the briefing room. "Any questions? No? Alright, then… dismissed."
Thank you for reading my first story. I hope you've enjoyed what you've read and I hope you will continue to enjoy the coming chapters. I write in my spare time—What? Spare time? What the heck is that?—so be patient and trust that I'm getting this story out there as fast as I can. Please let me know what you think about it.