"Can I ask what kind of science experiment?"
"That, we'll just have to wait and see, Lieutenant."
"Understood. Well, Admiral, I'm sure we're all wanting to get underway as soon as possible."
"Yes."
"Right now the Station's in training mode. We'll want to activate the Main Computer Core and reset the Station's computer terminals so the entire Station will start working."
"Understood. Division, open a channel to the lower decks."
The order was carried out by an Officer sitting three computer screens to the right of the Executive Officer. He looked up at the Admiral and nodded.
"All decks: this is the Admiral. We are preparing to activate the Main Computer Core. Computer Core activation protocol Alpha-one-seven-five is in effect until further notice. All hands: standby." she gestured to disconnect the line, and then looked at the Captain. "Captain, care do to the honors?"
The lights gradually dimmed, the deck plating started to subtly vibrate; the main viewscreen displayed numerous visual graphics detailing computer diagnostics in progress throughout the rest of the Station, and the bridge computer terminal screens flashed for several seconds as rolling, reverberating bass filled the bridge. Aaen got goose bumps on his head, face, arms, and the back of his neck and down his spine. The Captain's order had been carried out. All of the various effects on the bridge reminded Aaen of a song he once heard. He started getting sharp goose bumps on his arms, and sharply on the back of his neck and back. The beast was awake. An apt simile, he thought. He felt a sense of pride about the fact that he was piloting a heavily armed Space Station. He sat upright in his chair, enthusiastically checking each of his screens intermittently every few minutes.
"Hey, uh, Admiral, that worked! The Main Computer Core is online and working at optimal efficiency."
"Good."
"Uh, yeah, but there are still some steps that we will need to follow to get the hyper translight drive online, and then we'll be able to get to wherever we're goin'. I'm sending those up to the bridge right now." Watson said. "While that's printing up there, I thought I'd introduce some of the rest of the crew on the bridge." Watson introduced the rest of the bridge crew starting with the Captain, who the Admiral already knew from prior space mission experience, so Watson continued with the Executive Officer, the rest of the right-wing of the bridge, and then the left wing, ending with the Chief of Operations. The narrow majority of the bridge was manned by male ensigns, a few female lieutenants; the Admiral (by job assignment), Captain (also by rank), Executive Officer, and Aaen were the highest in rank, in that order. Aaen anticipated that everyone would be referred to either by their rank, or job assignment.
A Yeoman with a long bright blue collared uniform picked up three pages of printed materials from a small machine sitting next to a row of computer terminals on the left side, the bottom row of the bridge. The Yeoman brought the three pages of printed materials to the Executive Officer. The Executive Officer followed a few of the steps, they wrote their initials on a few lines, and then the materials changed hands to four other bridge Officers who followed suit in turn. An alarm went off on the bridge.
"Warning: power levels unbalanced." the Main Computer droned.
"Hey, uh, bridge engineer—Bryce—make sure to get the power levels balance as quick as you can. We've got a really big bomb down here that'll go off in about two minutes if the power levels on the bridge aren't balanced!"
"Roger that!"
Thirty seconds later the alarm ceased.
"Exec! Anything on sensors?" the Admiral asked. Aaen started the calculations for a course to the rendezvous point on his left-most computer terminal.
"Checking . . . multiple ships on long-range sensors. All Federation. Looks like routine patrols near a few of our more distant colonies, and several ships along sector 317 of the Federation neutral zone border."
"Communications chatter sounds normal." said Ensign Larsen at Counterintelligence.
"Commander Aaen, how soon can we engage translight drive?"
"I'm calculating the course as we speak, Admiral." his far left computer screen flashed thrice. "Entering coordinates." the process took one minute. Entering the 'X', 'Y', and 'Z' coordinates entailing clicking the digits on a digital number pad resembling a telephone's dial pad. "Coordinates entered, Admiral." The deck vibrations built up to a noticeable level as the stars on the main viewscreen began to gradually shift position. About ten seconds later, Aaen guessed, a nebula cluster and a number of distant but bright stars replaced what was mostly a black abyss. The printed materials finally reached Aaen, to his surprise. He followed the instructions, which entailed him modifying the translight field generator power levels until they were synced, and the power levels locked in. He noticed the Admiral was walking toward him. Halfway, Aaen loudly announced, "Translight drive online, and standing by for activation!" Aaen eagerly thought, let's see what this thing can do!
Aaen took a deep breath. . . Here we go, he thought as he inched his central computer control across his screen and then clicked the command. The computer subtly chimed acknowledgment of the command. Three seconds later, a sharp burst of bass flooded the bridge as the deck plating shuddered, and then a stern vibration gradually built as live images of the Magellan appeared on the main viewscreen with a slightly translucent bubble gradually forming around the Station. What's happening? Aaen silently wondered, wide-eyed, looking around as the lights dimmed slightly as the Station started moving slowly, and then gradually faster in the calculated direction. She's gradually accelerating, and then more sharply. He started laughing as the stars became mere blurs, Aaen admired, grinning.
"Aaen?" the Captain asked alarmingly, holding on to her desk as the vibrations continued to build. The main viewscreen filled with images of an elaborate black and green tunnel shifting in multiple forward directions; the vibrations were now rattling the computer terminal control interfaces nearly off the desks as Magellan continued to accelerate into the rumored translight conduit. Right, sharp left, up, down—
Wide-eyed, Aaen thought, this is UNREAL! "Everyone, HOLD ON! TRANSLIGHT DRIVE REACHING CRITICAL MASS!" he roared.
—Up again, right, up, down and right, straight . . . she is STILL accelerating! Aaen watched in a near-panic as the Executive Officer's sensor contacts practically vanished from his screen as Aaen shifted his attention to the round speed gauges on his translight controls; the readings were racing until the three-digit readouts all read flashing 999's. A mechanical reverberating scream flooded the bridge as another jolt of bass rattled the crew, and the main viewscreen flashed bright white and green as a dim, forbidding dense green mist with a bright, gloomy white-green center shined on the bridge. The vibrations gradually calmed until the sound of the translight drive became a dull roar. In tandem with the effect of the Station's main reactor, the Station felt like it was soaring along a rugged dirt road.
"Woah!" Aaen said.
"How fast are we traveling?" the Admiral asked.
"Admiral, we're making warp nine look almost like a snail crawl," Aaen said, glaring at the enhanced translight conduit ahead. The image reminded Aaen of another tune he recalled from a previous mission in the Voyager before graduating from Highlight. (3)
The song was a favorite of his, and it made sense as multiple Officers were rushing printed materials to and from different people on the bridge amid the flurry of bridge activity as the crew was preparing for arrival. Aaen watched as Lieutenant Bryce brought one document to him. Aaen quickly accepted the document and put it on his desk as he sharply scanned it. The document included instructions for how to keep the translight drive power balanced in the event of a power imbalance, or outright failure. Basically, there were two possible outcomes: if the main power isn't balanced, the bridge engineer will modify the power levels, which, after being updated will affect the power to the rest of the Station. The power levels for the translight drive would also fluctuate as a result of the adjustment in power levels. If he didn't act quickly enough, the translight drive would destabilize and Magellan would either fall out of the conduit—Aaen's gut sank as he continued to read . . . or the Station would be torn apart by the ultra-high intensity of the gravimetric sheers created by the conduit. Great. No pressure. Aaen thought as he initialed the document and then handed it back. How exactly did the aliens manage to keep something like the translight drive stable for any amount of time, much less long enough to travel halfway across the galaxy to attack the Alpha Quadrant? He wondered, and then almost immediately recalled that those aliens function as a uniquely coherent consciousness, countless minds continually functioning as one using who knows how many ships which are manned by hundreds of thousands, or even millions of individuals at a time, all continuously monitoring their ships and their technology; whereas Magellan was manned only in the thousands, and there was only one crew member to make sure the Station—literally—didn't turn into burning debris at the scene. He started to feel the weight of the Station, but still enthusiastically accepted the challenge as he coupled his hands in front of his face and rested his chin on his hands. The Yeoman brought two large particle rifles onto the bridge, giving one to both bridge security officers. The two security officers activated their weapons and placed them on standard stun setting.
Another alarm filled the bridge as the machine generated another document full of scrambled gibberish. The Deputy of Security rushed to the machine with his particle rifle in hand and then took the document directly to the Intelligence Officer, who started working on decoding the document.
Another alarm. This time at one of the security stations. The Deputy of Security snapped to read apparently new information on one of their four monitors on the bottom-right row of the bridge. "Security? What's wrong?" the Captain asked as she walked to the Deputy Security Officer.
"A crewman has just been reported as missing by the deck chief on deck twelve. A crewman on that deck didn't report for duty."
"Who's missing?" Aaen asked.
"We're working on finding out!" the Chief of Security replied.
"Send a security team to the crewman's quarters to investigate. I want a full report before the end of the hour." the Admiral said.
"Aye!"
"Aaen," the Captain asked. "How long until we reach the coordinates?"
"An hour if we maintain translight," Aaen replied directly.
"Admiral! A new message is coming in from Command! It's coded!"
"Coded?"
"Affirmative! I'll need a few minutes to translate the message."
"As quickly as you can, Ensign."
"Roger that! I'm on it!"
The Captain gestured for the Executive Officer to follow her. She quickly walked to the Admiral. "This doesn't make sense," the Captain said to the Admiral. "How does a crewman just go 'missing?'" she asked.
The deck plating vibrations increased sporadically. The power levels had fluctuated. Aaen quickly made needed power adjustments to the translight drive and updated the settings. The vibrations calmed.
"You got it?" the Engineer asked.
Aaen nodded. "I got it!"
The conversation between the three command Officers continued for four minutes and then watched the Captain turn around and walk back to her computer. "Alright! Alert condition four. Security, begin security patrols—" the Executive Officer carried out the order quickly; the bridge lights changed color and a brief alarm filled the bridge.
"—All hands, this is the Admiral. The Station is on security level Delta. All security Officers report for immediate duty. I want room-by-room, deck-by-deck searches for the missing crewman. All security Officers report to the Chief of Security before the end of the hour."
A security guard that doesn't show up for duty? Aaen contemplated the happening . . . Something wasn't right about that announcement.
A sensor alarm briefly filled the bridge.
"Exec?" the Admiral asked.
"New sensor contact at our four o'clock!"
"At this speed?" Aaen asked.
"Is it one of theirs?" the Chief of Operations asked. The air suddenly became chilly at the mention, Aaen noted. The Chief of Ops—as the Officer's job was commonly referred to—asked a good question. According to the mission briefing, translight is an alien technology—and the aliens that helped build that stardrive system would never hesitate to intercept anyone they detected utilizing a translight drive and stop them. Despite how thoroughly the Magellan was equipped to defend itself, Aaen wondered if even the Space Station is equipped to take on one of their ships. . . ?
"I can't tell. Looks there's some interference from the translight conduit, but my station does read something out there."
The Captain gasped as the Admiral looked at the Executive Officer. "Okay, keep doing regular short and long-range scans. Keep your eye on it and let me know if anything changes."
"Okay."
Aaen glanced over his station at the Exec's sensor screen. There was definitely some light interference from the translight conduit, so he reasoned the integration of the translight technology wasn't completely streamlined—but there is inarguably some kind of solid mass near the Station, and somehow keeping up with us. Could it be an asteroid that got caught up in the conduit when the Station entered translight? No, he decided, a giant space rock wouldn't have survived the gravimetric sheers. So what else could it be? He wondered. The hull started to shudder again. He scrambled to check his instrumentation. It must be a ship, and it would have to have an incredibly powerful power source to be able to generate a stable translight bubble—or maybe something even more powerful than a translight core? What could possibly be more powerful than translight ?
"Commander?" the Admiral called to him.
"Just more minor destabilizations in the translight field, Admiral! Nothing to worry about. I've already got it stabilized."
"Why does that keep happening?"
"This is a new propulsion system! We're learning as we go!" Aaen detected his answer was received with a hint of skepticism. "That, and we've got the Ranger docked with us, which means the shape of the translight field is different than what might be on an alien ship." Another sensor alert chimed.
"What if we undocked the Ranger?" asked the Strategic Operations Officer, the Station's equivalent of Odyssey's tactical Officer. Aaen nearly started laughing at the notion.
"I doubt even a Stronghold-class ship could survive in the conduit."
"Exec?" the Captain asked.
"Approaching destination! Recommend full stop!"
"Executive Officer put the Station on def con three! Long-range Comms, signal Command of our mission progress! Include details of sensor contacts, and our arrival at the designated coordinates!" the Admiral looked at Aaen, "Commander, deactivate translight drive!"
"Aye! Deactivating translight drive! Everyone might want to hold on to something!" He noticed the bridge holding on to their workstations as he clicked the applicable command, and then multiple electronic grumbling sounds filled the bridge—followed by intermittent rolling thunder like a herd of horses stampeding on a full gallop that rattled the deck. Aaen watched the three translight field generator meters as the 999's began rapidly counting down in near-perfect sync. Images appeared on the main viewscreen similar to when Magellan entered translight ; this time in reverse. An alarm filled the bridge and the lights changed color to neon yellow as the alert readiness increased.
"New sensor contacts at eleven, twelve, and one o'clock!" the Executive Officer announced. A flash of bright white light filled the main viewscreen. (4) The stars went from blurs to streaks of light, and then nearly still, as the sensor contacts became gradually larger in the main viewscreen.
"We're gonna hit!"
"Standby, Exec! Admiral, firing reverse thrusters!" Aaen declared. The hull subtly began vibrating. Aaen felt as though he were being pulled forward; he pushed himself into his seat and observed the rest of the bridge following suit. Five seconds later, the three sensor contacts became still on the main viewscreen; the forward sensation stopped as Aaen was able to relax into his chair. "—Full stop!" Artificial gravity was probably still calibrating after the Station dropped out of translight, he guessed. translight, he thought . . . What a rush!
A familiar intermittent buzzing sound filled the bridge. Aaen immediately recognized the sound.
"Captain! We're being scanned!" said the Executive Officer.
"By who?" the Admiral asked.
"I dunno. I can't even tell you what direction the scans are coming from, Admiral. I'm doing scans to try to find out."
"Keep trying." she said calmly.
"Otherwise, I'm detecting the Yorktown, straight ahead."
"Admiral!" Aaen leaned back and looked to his left.
"What?"
"I recommend the Chief of Operations and Strategic Ops start sending out reconnaissance, surveillance, and tactical probes to set up a perimeter. We could deploy Runabouts to patrol—"
"Good idea. I get what you're saying, Commander." she turned to each Officer and said, "Code three."
The Officers quickly responded.
"Admiral!" the Chief of Operations gestured for her to come to his workstation. Aaen observed their thirty-second conversation, and then the Admiral nodded and walked wide-eyed to the Captain.
"After launching probes and dispatching runabouts, I've asked the Chief of Operations to work with the Science Officer and Chief Engineer to start working on building the THX-1138." she turned to Communications. A ripple of shock and awe rolled through the bridge. Why in the world would you want to build that?
"Okay." she took a deep breath, combing her fingers through her hair. "Open a channel to the Yorktown." she walked up the middle of the bridge and stood behind her computer. She's hesitating, Aaen judged. He looked at the Intelligence Officer, who was making steady progress on decoding the printed message. The print was too distorted for him to read from eight feet away, not to mention only portions of lines from over her shoulder, and then there was her small handwriting. . . Judging by her pace, Aaen reasoned it must have been important. Maybe even Classified?
"Long and short range sensors show all clear, Cap'n!" said the Executive Officer. For now, maybe. Aaen silently questioned whether or not those sensor readings could be trusted. He had a hunch.
A series of loud chirps briefly filled the bridge.
"Line connected!" said Ensign Henderson at Short-Range Communications. The Main Computer chimed confirmation.
*****
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