Chapter 3 The Rescue
This was possibly one of the most disconcerting things to which the Captain had been privy in his tenure as an officer..and he wasn't sure why! In the drive section conference room, Captain Morgan, Seven of Nine, Lieutenant Singh, Lieutenant Wayne, Doctor Pollard, and Chief Engineer Kent had assembled with their other 'guest'- a holographic Janeway, who was actually sitting in a chair staring at them all. He was not a fan of holographic Janeway.
Holo-Janeway held up her hand. "Let me get this straight. The Alpha saucer has somehow been immobilized just like the station?
"Yes, Admiral. They began their descent to the base. Suddenly, without warning, their relative speed slowed and they came to an abrupt stop immediately after entering this area of high concentration of radiation. We are working on several theories and are waiting on computer analysis to see in which direction to proceed." The Captain finished his report and looked to the Admiral to gauge her reaction. Perhaps it was a bit childish of him but he didn't want to let her down. She had put a lot of faith in him and he wanted to prove that he, his crew, and their new ship was up to the task of getting to the bottom of their first odd subspace anomaly and not having their collective asses handed to them by it..because sitting here in all of her holographic glory and radiance was the all-time crowned queen of space anomalies. He was not the scientist that Janeway was and he was, quite honestly, a little intimidated by her in that regard.
Seven moved to the display and a hologram of the base, the ships, and the radiation field snapped into view. "This Leichner radiation field appears to be a byproduct of whatever is generating it." Kent motioned as if he were about to interject but Seven proceeded. "To clarify, I do not believe that the radiation is there for a purpose other than being the byproduct of whatever this dampening field is. I have theorized that everyone is caught in, what is essentially, a massive stasis field. This would account for all of the encountered variables and parameters as we know them. The field appears to be emanating from a ship or a structure in this large hangar. My initial sensor sweeps led me to believe that this was a life form but those could have been in error due to a large Bentonite consignment nearby. The stasis field must affect inorganic material as well. Bentonite must be maintained in a very carefully controlled environment so whatever is maintaining the stasis field up is keeping the Bentonite from becoming active and unstable. The Captain does not believe that this is a weapon. It stands to reason that this is probably a defense mechanism of some type but for what purpose, we do not know as of yet. The level of sophisticated technology utilized here to generate and maintain a subspace stasis field of this size and magnitude is impressive. To possess a defensive meaure of this nature rather than a weapon suggests a non-belligerent intent. "
"Can we do anything to disrupt this field?" the Captain asked.
"Singh spoke up, "I'm not sure about the stasis field, but a highly enough concentrated Thermian sweep could disrupt the radiation. If we disrupt the radiation, perhaps this stasis field would be disrupted as well."
"That's a good idea, a big 'if,' but a good idea Lieutenant." Holo-Janeway admitted.
Captain Morgan reacted quickly to this suggestion. "Kent, can the main deflector be modified to emit a Thermian sweep?"
"It could, but it would take about 3 hours to set up. We will have to re-route power from some secondary systems. Even then, it won't be a very strong or a large field. It could disrupt a small area. Not enough to free the base."
"Seven, could we generate a sweep strong enough to at least free the Alpha saucer?" The Captain asked.
"Possibly. Thermian sweeps can be damaging to human tissue as well as circuitry so the stronger it is, the more damage it could do to our systems, as well as the systems on the saucer, the bio-neural gelpacks, and the crew. However, the plan is sound and does have merit."
"Admiral, we have a plan. We will proceed with the implementation of the Thermian sweep. I'll keep you appraised of our progress. Kent, I'll give you an hour and a half for those deflector mods. Pull what resources you need. Unless you have anything else, Admiral, I have to rescue my crew and put my ship back together."
Holo-Janeway smiled and shook her head. "No, but good luck and keep me informed. Captain, could you stay a moment?"
The crew got up and left the room, hurrying to their assignments. When the doors closed, Admiral Janeway addressed her newest Captain. "Joshua..you have a good crew and one of, if not the best, ship in the fleet. You couldn't have known this radiation field was a byproduct of some type of a previously unheard-of sub space stasis field, so don't blame yourself for the situation. However, you do have to deal with it. In fact, I commend you on utilizing your resources the way that you did. Rather than sending in the entire ship and crew, you send in a recon team and you hung back as backup. That shows good instinct..a Captain's instinct. I used to do that in the delta quadrant. We would hang back in Voyager and I'd send in a shuttle..which invariably would be attacked, hijacked, damaged, probed, phased, or partially digested by some space-faring creature. Your crew will be grateful for the rescue and your insight. Utilize your team. You are the Captain. You don't have to make every decision but you have to make the final decisions. That's what people will look to you to do." Holo-Janeway stopped her motivational speech and stared at the Captain. "What are you doing?"
Captain Morgan was slowly moving left and right, closer to the holo-image and retreating while waving his hands between him and Holo-Janeway. "Oh.. I was just testing. I didn't know if you could actually see me. So, were there holo-images of us sitting around a table in empty chairs in your office or is there just something like a little holo-me on your desktop dancing around right now" He raised his voice to a squeak, "Help me Admiral Janeway, you're my only hope!"
The Admiral exhaled, shook her head and a slight smile came across her face. "I can bust you down to ensign..Captain! Get to work, that's an order!"
"Affirmative..and thanks, Admiral."
Holo-Janeway evaporated from the conference room. He felt relieved. But now, its time to formulate a rescue plan.
The intercom whistled. "Commander Kent to Captain Morgan. We are about 10 minutes from being done with those modifications to the deflector. We should be able to go live in 15. I want to run some tests before we do this. Permission to launch a class 4 probe with astro-tech package and a bio-pod. "
"Coordinate that with tactical." Let me know when you are ready to proceed." He addressed the computer. "Computer, send the following message to the Bridge crew and Dr. Pollard.. tactical briefing on the bridge in 20." The Captain had taken refuge in some unused guest quarters. He took the time to grab a 10 minute power-nap, a quick shower, replicate a fresh uniform and an unusually large cup of coffee. Others had chided him about the size of his coffee, which was approximately 32 ounces, sweet with lots of sweet cream. His defense was that he was following "doctor's orders." During Tarses' trials on the Enterprise, neither of them could sleep well. When he consulted Dr. Crusher about it, she had suggested limiting his coffee intake to one cup a day. He simply interpreted that a different way than she did. He left the quarters and headed toward the bridge. He greeted a crewman, who came around the corner, as they were both headed to the turbolift.
"Crewman.." The Captain nodded.
"Uh.. Crewman first class Andrews, Sir. I know that you have trouble remembering names."
The Captain looked sideways at the crewman and smirked. "Is that already making its way around the ship?"
"Its a small ship, sir." Crewman Andrews smiled. He stood to the side to allow the Captain to enter the turbolift. "Bridge."
"Deflector Control." The crewman eyeballed the Captain's cup of coffee. "That's an unusual smell with the coffee. May I ask what that is?"
"That, my dear Crewman Andrews, is called 'chicory!' I highly recommend it. Friend of mine, Ben Sisko, recommended it. His father owns a restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Just ask the replicator to give you a 'Captain's cup.' It's already pre-programmed." The turbolift fell quiet again. He noticed the Crewman regarding the coffee with even more intense scrutiny.
"Isn't it kind of a big.." the Crewman started to say.
The Captain interrupted him. "Doctor's orders!" The turbolift doors opened and the Crewman nodded to the Captain and departed. The Captain ducked his head out into the hallway and noted an abundance of personnel working in the area, undoubtedly getting the Thermian sweep ready to go online. The doors shut silently and the turbolift proceeded to the bridge. The Captain emerged from the turbolift and the Doctor was already seated at one of the aft science stations. Mr. Wayne was at the helm and Lt. Singh was monitoring tactical. He took his seat and placed his coffee in the cup holder that the holo-emitters sensed that he would need. The fact that he had programmed the computer to do that whenever he had a beverage was insignificant. The fact that the computer did it for him automatically amused him greatly to no end.
"Nice touch! Not your standard accessory for the Captain's chair but it works!" Singh quipped from the tactical station. From her vantage point, she could see everything from a slightly elevated position on the dais.
"You like that? I had to pay extra for these kinds of amenities. The dealer drove a hard bargain. Buy the most advanced Borg-inspired Starship on the lot, get a free command chair cup holder. How could I refuse? I could get you one"
"Ooooo, beverages on the bridge? That's Captain's prerogative. Us lowly Lieutenants have to wait until our break for our leg-irons to be unshackled from the command console.
"Yes..privileges of command. The radiation field.. still stable? No movement?"
"None whatsoever. Here's hoping that it can't extend any farther."
"I want you to set up a subroutine that will access the helm and navigation of the saucer section. When we get her free, I want to be able to stop her at a moment's notice and keep her from going any deeper into the stasis field. You'll also need to instruct the computer to erect a level 10 force field around the warp core and shut down the matter/antimatter reaction, just to be on the safe side. Once they are out of the stasis field, It'll take them about two hours to reinitialize the matter/antimatter reaction, but that's unavoidable. T'Pai is at the helm on the Alpha and she will notice what is going on and realize we have overridden her helm control. She won't fight our control, but most likely, from their perspective, no time has passed. They will seem like they just entered the field and suddenly we took remote control of their ship. Let me be clear..I want the saucer to stop and back out. Don't waste time turning or banking out. Just stop and back out! "
"Understood sir." Her console beeped. "Engineering is requesting release of the class 4 probe." The Captain nodded and Singh worked her controls and launched the probe. There were a series of low hums as the probe was bathed in the Thermian sweep. He waited for a few minutes listening to the sweep intensify and back down..intensify and back down. After a few tests, the computer whistled.
"Engineering to Bridge, all of the tests look good. I think we have this thing calibrated to an acceptable level of efficiency. The Captain heard a little of Seven of Nine in Kent's report. "The Saucer crew may need a little TLC from the Doctor, but I think this will work." Kent's enthusiasm was inspiring, if nothing else.
"Doc, do you have appropriate radiation therapy ready?"
"We are ready to go." Doctor Pollard said from the back of the bridge.
"Affirmative. All crews, report to your Epsilon stations."
The Captain swiveled in his chair. Everyone had made it to the bridge and it was time to let everyone in on the plan. "OK, we will be separating the Beta/Gamma. I'll command the Beta with the main deflector mods. We will initialize the Thermian sweep as close to the edge as we can get without getting stuck in the stasis field. Hopefully, we can modulate the sweep precisely and narrowly enough to create a stasis-free pathway to the saucer. The Gamma will be on our six with a tractor beam as a lifeline. The moment we are able to nullify the stasis field enough, the Alpha will try to move forward.. which is what she was doing when she got stuck. We will be casting our tractor onto the saucer. At the same time, Singh has a command subroutine in place to transmit which will override helm control on the Alpha and back her out. Any questions?"
Everyone looked around but there were no questions. Everyone seemed to understand the plan. Everyone took their places and the Captain turned his chair forward. "Computer..prepare for MVA, separation of Beta/Gamma on my mark. Assigned personnel to duty stations. Set condition 3 throughout the ship."
Singh's hands moved in a flurry across her tactical console. "Assigned crew are moving into position. I have a green board for separation."
"Computer, initiate MVA, authorization, Morgan 33-Theta."
Again, the sound of the mag-locks echoed throughout the ship as the two sections of the drive section of the ship separated and moved apart on the Z-axis.
"Separation complete." Singh said.
"Z-minus 300 meters. Thrusters at station-keeping." Wayne said from the helm.
"Warp fields have separated and are stable." Kent added.
"Captain to Gamma, move to 2000 meters off our stern. When your sensors read our tractor snap on, you need to anchor us with your tractor. Keep an eye on the saucer. When it hopefully emerges, we may need to get out of the way in a hurry."
A male voice responded "Aye sir."
"That's Lieutenant Lewis." Kent added, with a smile, from the engineering station.
"Yes..I know Lieutenant Lewis. You introduced us! I know..I'm aware..I have a problem with names." He turned his attention back to the helm.
"Helm, take us to the boundary of the radiation field, one-quarter impulse. Be careful. I'm counting on you not to get us stuck. Gods only knows what would happen if part of the ship were stuck in that field and another part not."
"Will do my best, sir." Kent said with just a hint of nervousness in his voice.
There were a couple of seconds of silence . The Captain decided to break the tension. "I've remembered Wayne's and Singh's names." The Captain muttered to nobody in particular.
Lieutenant Wayne turned his head and said, "Thank you, sir."
"Hey, whoever you are, pay attention to your console, Mr. Whatsyername!" Wayne smiled and went back to his helm. He turned to Singh and she was wearing a smirk. Good. These kids needed to relax just a little. He looked past tactical and focused on Seven.
"Seven.. keep a very close eye on that boundary. If something looks off, if it moves or it intensifies, we'll need to back off quickly. Kent, get ready with that sweep."
Seven was adjusting her sensors and scanning the perimeter of the field. She tapped a few buttons. "One minute to minimum safe distance."
"The Gamma has moved into position and they have a green board." Singh said.
"Good. Morgan to Lewis..if WE get stuck, your orders are to wait for the McCoy and the Tubman at a safe distance. Gather sensor readings and wait for backup. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to pull our tribbles from the transporter buffers!"
" Aye, Captain." Came the response from the Gamma.
"Approaching edge of the field. I'm nosing up to it...helm is reading all stop." Wayne said. The Captain watched his helmsman's shoulders visibly relax.
"Good job. OK, Kent, Seven. It's your show now."
Chief Engineer Kent worked his console. "Bringing main deflector online. Bringing deflector modifications online. Standby. Kent to Morrison, add a booster and a heat sync on that duodine converter.. its reading close to red-line."
A disembodied voice echoed an affirmative. Kent continued, "That looks better. Computer, energize the EPS relays. Bringing the Thermian emitters online. Seven, we are ready. Mods are online and you have the button."
Seven of Nine manipulated several controls and the low hum heard earlier permeated the bridge. "It appears to be having some minor appreciable effect. I'm modulating the carrier and narrowing the bandwidth. Thermian sweep is expanding. Boosting power output to 90 percent. The radiation is dissipating. Helm, move us 1000 meters into the field.
"Captain?" A nervous Wayne asked.
"Lieutenant, do as she says!" the Captain's tone was more stern than he intended. He turned to Singh. "Are we making any headway?"
"I do believe.." There was a significant pause. "Yes! The Thermian sweep has encapsulated the saucer. The computer has initiated the saucer shutdown subroutine. Captain..We are receiving a transmission on an odd amplitude carrier from the saucer."
"Lets hear it." What came over the speakers sounded like someone in slow motion trying to talk through a mouth full of molasses.
"Computer, match carrier wave, band-width, and amplitude and transmit the following, 'We have to assume control of the Alpha and are pulling you out. No time for explanations. Just enjoy the ride." The Captain waited. Singh indicated that the message was transmitted and received.
"Captain..." Singh was studying her console. "The Alpha is backing out slowly but sensors are reading increased shear and stresses on the hull. If this keeps up, they may experience hull breaches.
"Computer, send following to Alpha, same transmission parameters: boost your structural integrity to maximum. Seven.. see what power you can put to the tractor beam. Kent, increase our structural integrity field to max. Captain to Gamma section.. full power to your tractor emitters and reverse thrust."
A series of "ayes" came around the bridge. On the screen, the digital representation of all the ships that made up the USS Birkana were displayed.
Seven looked to the Captain. "The saucer will be clearing the field in 30 seconds.
I'm giving the deflector one final burst and then I'm discontinuing the sweep."
"Sensors indicate that the Alpha has bumped up her SIF. Looks like they heard you, Captain." Singh said.
The Captain reached for his coffee, not once taking his eyes off the display.
"Approaching field threshold. Cutting power to the deflector and tractor in 3...2...1." Seven finished some adjusting and went to stand at tactical. The Gamma cut her tractor and banked upward and out of the way. Wayne moved around the helm and the Beta did the same. The Alpha continued to back out past the field edge.
"Release the Alpha from Beta command and return all systems to their bridge." The Captain ordered.
Singh again, worked the tactical controls. "Alpha control is returned to Alpha Bridge. Captain, incoming message.
Captain Morgan smiled. This should be interesting. "On screen." Moreno and Tarses were standing on the bridge.
"I suppose you are going to tell me what all that was about?" Moreno inquired.
"And you interrupted a grand speech. It was very Inspirational! What happened?" Tarses continued to inquire.
"We'll set a briefing for 20 minutes after we dock in the Alpha conference room. Drop by Sick Bay and get some anti-radiation meds. Also, get repair crews on the systems on the Alpha and start your warp core re-initialization. See you in 20."
"So, how long were we in this 'stasis' field? Tarses asked."
Seven was only happy to respond. "Approximately 2.3 hours."
"Do any of you remember anything? Were you conscious?" The Captain asked.
Commander Moreno looked around. "No, we had just laid in our course and speed to take us down at one-quarter impulse and then suddenly T'Pai can't access controls and the engine shuts down. We were suddenly being dragged backward and you order us to beef up the SIF and 'enjoy the ride."
"Seven, would you fill them in with what we know." The Captain was procrastinating and didn't want to have another unsettling experience with Holo-Janeway. Seven of Nine and Chief Engineer Kent brought them up to speed. Wayne and Singh had been reassigned to other duties and the Alpha bridge crew was once again reunited. "I can see how a Captain can come to depend on his Alpha crew." The Captain thought.
Tarses folded his arms and was shaking his head. "That is just extraordinary that we were alive and conscious for over two hours but the transition from entering the field to leaving it was seamless. When we finally get this field dismantled, everyone on Frontier is going to wonder what we are doing here."
"That's the least of our worries. I'm concerned about the arrival of the Romulans. I'm not trying to be ethnocentric but I have a difficult time believing that they will arrive and happily listen to a lot of conjecture and supposition." Kent offered.
The Captain noted that Simon stiffened a bit at the 'Romulan' generalization but was more surprised by his reaction to it.
"You are probably more correct than you know. We will just have to rely on Josh's diplomatic skills."
"ETA of the McCoy and the Tubman?" The Captain asked to anyone in general. Commander Moreno responded.
"A little over 5 hours."
"Alright... continue sensor sweeps. Maintain distance from the field. Have all Science sections look at this from their particular fields. Reports in two hours. See if anyone has any ideas on how to break down this field without giving half the sector Thermian burns or poisoning. Morgan to Doctor Pollard, have you started prophylactic radiation treatment?
Doctor Pollard replied over the speaker. "Yep. Its done. Already finished. No adverse reactions noted."
"Thanks Doc. OK, all. Welcome back and dismissed."
"...and we just finished our briefing. Science sections are working on perspective analysis and Seven is continuing to run scans but, so far, we are still unable to get definitive readings." The Captain finished his report to Admiral Janeway..this time just via face-to-face. No holograms involved.
"Good. Keep me posted. Janeway out."
Well, that was quick. She must be late for a meeting or something. The Captain sat in his quarters at his desk compiling his log entries when his door chimed. "Come in."
Simon walked in and gave his eyes to adjust to the darkened room. He went over and made himself at home on the sofa. The Captain smiled at him and relaxed just a little. "Were you worried about me?" He asked his Captain?
Josh stifled an automatic response to say "of course I was" but settled on the more diplomatic, "I was concerned for everyone over there." They both smiled, seeing the comment for what it was. Josh got up, walked over, and sat down beside Simon. He put his hand on Simon's shoulder an said, "Honestly, I was worried about you. I'm glad you're ok.
Simon, emboldened by the Captain's somewhat friendly mood, decided to press his luck. He turned around and reclined back and laid his head down in Josh's lap. They used to sit like this often, for hours at a time, just looking at the stars. Looking up at him, Simon smiled and in a weird voice said, "you're my hero!" They both broke out into laughter. The Captain put one hand on Simon's chest. They sat there, well into the night rotation, in silence, enjoying the stars like they used to.
Down in the recreation deck, the crew was enjoying their usual games and drinks. The socialization was good to blow off steam. He went to the bar and ordered a "Purple Parrot." This was a particularly fruity drink which was very fizzy and very tasty. He'd have to remember this one. He looked for Guinan but she was nowhere to be found. Well, he figured that she would show up eventually. He stood at the bar and made idle conversation with various crew members. He finished his drink and was about to leave when Guinan walked in. She was wearing Parrises Squares uniform and padding. He walked over to her. She smiled.
"Hello Captain. Care for a game of Parrises Squares sometime. I'm just learning."
"Guinan, its hard for me to image you playing Parrises Squares but clearly you do. Do you enjoy it?"
"Lets just say that I am getting used to it. My program was borrowed from a Klingon outpost and it is...vigorous to say the least."
The Captain's eyes widened. He then realized that she was joking. Guinan realized that the Captain caught on and chuckled.
"I'm telling you, Captain, you have a gift. So, what can I do for you?"
"It's my understanding that you are a good listener. I was wondering if I could bend your ear."
Sure but only if you have another Purple Parrot." The Captain looked a little stunned.
"How did you..?"
"Because I'm good at my job like you are good at yours." She turned to walk to the bar and then she stopped and turned back. "..and you have purple staining on your tongue and teeth." The Captain shook his head and laughed. She went to her quarters to tidy up and he took a seat to wait on her.
The Captain and Guinan had been speaking for about 30 minutes. He had checked in on the bridge and everything was running smoothly. Seven was coordinating all of the sensor data and they were awaiting the arrival the USS McCoy. The USS Tubman had been diverted to a small colony on Felderkar..an outbreak of some variant of Plasma plague. Guinan had been very patient with his back and forth discussion regarding Simon. He could tell that Simon was wanting something more. To be honest, he wouldn't mind it either. They had been very close and had even discussed marriage. This is not really something he could discuss with another member of the crew. He had not really known Guinan on the Enterprise. He met her a couple of times and found her to be a very affable and pleasant hostess but he felt like he was getting to know her well. They had spoken over subspace a few times prior to her coming on board. Now, he felt like he could pour his soul out to her.
"I'm just have a hard time believing that Jean Luc would carry on about this kind of thing." The Captain said.
"You are correct. Picard was one to hold his feelings very close-to-the-chest and I never knew him to openly engage in fraternization with 'the ranks.' But he has a different style from you or from Riker or from Janeway. You and Riker have a lot in common. Both of you have a well-developed lighthearted sense of humor and aren't afraid to let that out in tense times. It helps people feel at ease, especially with a crew that is new to one-another like this one. The crew members who have met you and worked with you like you."
Well, its important to me for the crew to be happy. Simon is an altogether different story. We just left my quarters."
"Well.. seems like you have things under control quite nicely."
"Noooo, it wasn't like that. We just sat there and watched the stars. It... was nice. Reminded me of how things used to be.
"One thing I can tell you is that I have lived a long time. Never pass up an opportunity to have a little happiness. There's a lot of the opposite in the universe. As my 8th son used to say..and you remind me a lot of him..I'd let this particular matter/antimatter reaction go for a while but make sure you have your warp chamber calibrated, reinforced, and ejection systems online."
"I know..I know" he paused. "You have 8 sons! Are you planning a Baseball team to take on Sisco on DS9?
"I may if my glorious Parisses Squares career doesn't take off and this Bar Hostess thing doesn't work out."
"I guess what I'm more or less worried about is.." He trailed off when he noticed Guinan staring past him into space. He turned and it took a moment for his eyes to settle on it. There was an odd "disturbance" in the star field. He got up and walked to the window. Everything that was on the other side of the disturbance looked distorted, like looking through a crystal. It was subtle but now seemed more pronounced. He was about to tap his combadge when the bridge called him.
"Captain to the bridge." Moreno's voice came over the speaker.
"On my way. Guinan..thank you for your advice."
"No problem. Come again sometime..the drinks are on me."
The Captain arrived on the bridge. "I saw it from the Rec Deck. Analysis?"
Seven was working between the tactical station and one of the science stations, adjusting sensors and bringing other, enhanced sensors online. "It appears to be a localized disturbance in subspace. It appeared quite suddenly . I am reading a slight elevation in neutrino emissions along with some delta radiation."
"Captain, it also appears that the ships in orbit around Frontier.. they have moved. Approximately 1.3 meters!" Moreno's hands were flashing across the console. She ran the scan again to make sure.
"Confirmed" Seven said as she readjusted some of her controls. The phenomenon appeared and began to contract, but now it is static."
"On screen." The Captain ordered. On the viewscreen, the image came into focus. "Magnify." The disturbance looked like a crystal-clear marble that was refracting whatever was behind it. Except for one spot. He got up and walked over to the viewscreen. "Magnify...right here..this area. What is that single whitish-red spot in the middle?"
He walked to the back of the bridge. He turned to Seven. "Any ideas?"
"There was a slight intensification of the Leichner radiation field which stabilized right after the phenomenon appeared but it did not expand any farther. Our distance from the field does not appear to need to be augmented. The neutrino emissions have ceased. So has the delta radiation."
"So, this phenomenon appeared within the field. Then the stasis field did it's thing and this disturbance is now caught up in it. Perhaps the field lost its 'hold' on the other ships when this thing suddenly appeared and when it readjusted, the other ships 'slipped' a bit? Its on the outer edge of the field. Any speculation?"
"I think you may be correct. Sensors are indicating that the phenomenon is not static. It is slowly collapsing but at a rate that is only detectable with modified sensors. I believe what we are witnessing is the implosion of a forced singularity. I am fairly certain that what we are seeing is a cloaked Romulan Warbird, which has, at some point, been caught in the field either before or after we arrived. We are watching the slow death of a starship and everyone on board."
The Captain was taken aback at how unemotional and nonplussed that Seven seemed. These were lives that we were talking about. But, she was reporting the facts as she saw them.
The entire bridge was silent, slowly taking in the meaning of Seven's revelations; Understanding settling in that they are all now helpless witnesses to the deaths of hundred of Romulans.