Chapter Nine: Harbinger of an Unknown Origin (Part II)

After Syntron departed the conference room, he walked the few steps back into his Ready Room. He called up the specs on the Firebird on his terminal as he sat down. He then selected an overview display of the Captain's Yacht and studied it for a moment.

FIREBIRD: USS Phoenix

Accommodation:  4 flight crew, 20 passengers

Power Plant:  One 5,220-millicochrane warp engine, two 750-millicochrane impulse engines, four RCS thrusters

Dimensions:  Length: 50m; Width: 22.5m; Height:12m

Performance:  Cruise: Warp 4.5; Max Cruise: Warp 5; Max Warp: Warp 5.5/12hrs

Armament:  5 Type-V Phaser Strips, Pulse Emitter, Micro-Torpedo Launcher

This vessel alone could easily accomplish their objective the captain realized, but given the unknown circumstances of its disappearance, it was logical to send accompanying shuttles with it. They would have trained security crews aboard and could assist if any danger arose; regardless of its origin.

Syntron then engaged communications down to his chief flight control officer Lieutenant JG Grexx Aulder who was overseeing all of the preparations of the shuttles.

"Lieutenant Aulder, what is the current status of our shuttles and their crew?"

Syntron could hear the Bolian swiftly barking out orders as he efficiently coordinated this process before he addressed his inquiry.

"I have been informed that the medical team, the science officer, engineer, the head security officer and the flight crew are all already aboard the Firebird. They are just running through their pre-flight sequences. Since this vessel was already tested in flight recently, they will be the first ready to launch."

Grexx Aulder then excused himself for a moment as he clarified several issues with two other accompanying shuttles and their flight crew.

"Sorry for the interruption Captain, but these other vessels have not yet been tested by our crew, and therefore require additional preliminary inspections and tests prior to launch. We are trying to expedite this process without compromising safety protocols."

"Acknowledged Lieutenant. Carry on with these procedures" Syntron replied.

Before the captain disengaged communications, the Bolian flight chief then informed him "Sir, the security teams for the shuttles Torch and Inferno have just arrived and are now preparing to board their respective ships."

"Confirmed Lieutenant. Coordinate any other preparation requirements for these shuttles with Ops officer Lieutenant P'Trell. He will see to expediting this process as well."

"Understood Captain."

"Syntron out."

On board the captain's Yacht, Doctor Elliago Nasaro-Myth seated himself in his seat then looked around him as his whole team completed their own boarding with the stasis unit secured in the passenger area and all needed emergency medical supplies and material in the hold. He looked around once more, then addressed the pilot.

"What's the hold up?"

"Pre-flight inspections and testing, Doctor."

The Deltan almost jumped out of his chair.

"What the... I thought this had been done already!"

"For this craft, yes, Doctor. Not on the shuttles."

This time, he truly jumped out of his seat and went to the forward console.

"Do you really think shuttles are not fully tested and certified ready for use before they are brought aboard a starship? Who's the... stuffy bureaucrat... who started this?"

"Err... they have confirmation from the Captain..."

Elliago  grumbled some expletive the universal translator could not pick up from between his teeth and he opened the comm system.

"Firebird to Captain Syntron, priority message; Captain Sir, we have people out there possibly taking their last gulp of breathable air and already starting to freeze up from a failing life support system... if not worse. I urgently... request... immediate departure; our... escort... can catch up with us later once they have checked how nice is the paint on their hull..."

The CMO was gripping the console as if he could push all by himself the entire craft out of its hangar.

Recognizing that the doctor's dramatization was intended to emphasize his point for expeditiousness, the captain concurred.

"Lieutenant Aulder, proceed with the launch of the Firebird the moment it is ready and secured. As our good doctor pointed out, the other shuttles can rendezvous with them afterward. Since the crew of the Firebird will initially be the lone ones out there, ensure that Lieutenant Hunter has sensor scans operating at maximum range to detect any signs or signals possibly emanating from the shuttle Sagan. Syntron out." 

Elliago sat back once the pilot confirmed the captain's orders and proceeded with the launch sequence. There was a loud banging outside the craft as the locking clamps were released and the flight board signaled a moment later that the docking tractor beam was off.

"Warp speed!" ordered the Deltan in a fair immitation of his former captain's speech.

Aulder nevertheless took the time to move out of the shadow of the Phoenix before activating the warp drive. The Firebird jumped out among the stars towards it's objective.

"ETA with the Sagan, Lieutenant?" asked the doctor.

"At warp 5, four  hours, Doctor."

Elliago's absent brow shut up, stretching his eye upward in a very surprised expression before coming down with a definite frown.

"Warp 5? Can't this... bird go any faster?"

"Maximum  speed, Doctor. We did overshoot the rendez-vous point at QSD speed if you recall and the rendez-vous was sixteen hours overdue. We could push the engine to warp 5.5 but then we would have to shut it down and do a full maintenance work after twelve hours and we would only gain about half an hour on our current..."

The Deltan almost threw up his hands in despair.

"At this rate, the only thing we will do over there are autopsies! The captain should have dispatched the whole ship, not this... lazy bird!"

He calmed down and looked around.

"Don't we have any miracle worker aboard that could somehow infuse some kind of... cordrazine into this little warp engine of yours?"

"If you want a miracle, Doctor, you might yourself apply the appropriate protocol to bring one up."

"Which is?"

"Pray."

Sitting at her station the Andorian science officer had to employ all of her self-discipline in order to restrain from laughing out loud at the conclusion of the interaction occurring between the CMO and the pilot. She understood the doctor's frustration but stayed focused on her task at getting the sensors up to speed as they began their search for the Sagan.

Not knowing the actual location of this missing shuttle, it could in fact be closer or farther than anticipated; or worse be missing altogether from this region. She realized that this could be even more remote and difficult than looking for a proverbial needle in a gigantic haystack, but she had tools that she could employ to improve their odds of detecting something at least. After completing all of her calibrations, Kalynda Hunter turned to the first officer of the Phoenix.

"Commander Riker, sensors are fully operational and I am beginning wide area scans as we travel." 

 *             *             *

Rogers contemplated the data scrolling upon his office computer display. The obvious conclusion at the results before him was practically undeniable. However, David wanted to double check the findings of the three enhanced probes’ findings.

The first probe’s discovery as reported by the chief of science was confirmed. Further enhanced by the arrival of the second and third probes in a triangulated setup had given a three dimensional reading on the undefined planetary body. Proprietary analysis gave the mysterious body a radius of nearly 489 kilometers; approximately the size of Ceres positioned in the asteroid belt of the Sol system. The trio of probes orbited discreetly in geostationary position’s at thirty point two astronomical units distance; roughly the distance of Neptune from Sol. Their communications pallets had also confirmed the unusual energy signal detected earlier.

The energy signal was shrouded within the inherent background radiation within the sector. More precisely put, the signal was hidden within the tetryon radiation. The signal appeared to be similar in reading to something that was tetryon based, and yet was not exactly matching the familiar signiture.

“Computer! Locate Captain Syntron.”

An immediate response returned from the ships computer.

‘Captain Syntron is in his ready room.’

“Rogers to Syntron. Sir, I have some, uhm … bad news.”

"Syntron here Commander Roger. What is this... dire information that you intend to disclose?"

Before responding to the captain, David forwarded his telemetry data from his desk to the captain's ready room so that the Vulcan could follow along.

“The conclusions I have with this data sir is as noted. A planetary body of roughly 489 kilometers radius. But the disturbing thing about this is the energy signal captain. It appears to be tetryon-based, and yet is not exactly tetryon-based.  That is why it is so hard to distinguish from the background.”

Pausing a second to let that sink in, David continued.

“Sir, we carry tetryon pulse launchers in the armory for range and vector verification but I do not recall any technology where this radiation has been used for communications purposes. If this is, in fact, a communications device, we could be dealing with an advanced technology here.”

With a slightly elevated eyebrow, the captain slowly leaned back and noted "I was not aware that this object was attempting any form of communication Commander. Are our probes able to scan and detect any empirical data from this celestial object?"

Rogers thought about Syntron’s question a bit while also studying the data before him. It was a logical question, to be sure. But David could not find definitive evidence of communication within the energy signature.

“I find no evidence of any form of communication captain. At the current distance the probes are scanning from, and the background tetryon radiation interfering with accurate results, the signature could be communication … or it could very well be just energy transfer. Similar to perhaps microwave power distribution technology. Our pulse launchers are similar to old earth forward looking infrared radar sir. Range and distance and direction finding. This could be a similar application.”

David thought for another second or two before confronting the captain's second question.

“Current data returned from the probes is insufficient for detailed analysis with the background interference. The body can be categorized as a dwarf planet, albeit small. I can say that sensors detect no atmosphere, but are not penetrating the surface. Reason? Unknown. Without the Phoenix’s more powerful sensor suite at closer proximity, this is the best we’ll get from the probes at their current distance.”

Leaning forward again, the captain noted "As I suspected Commander... these probes have served their purpose in detecting this object, but in this instance, are limited in providing definitive data."

Sensing an even deeper resolve in getting underway, the captain shifted his priority with his chief engineer.

"Since we must resolve our navigation issues before we literally move in any direction, you will need to add your expertise into first resolving these issues with the team already working on this. Bring other available team members along to get navigation functioning at nominal levels as rapidly as possible. Afterward, set your team to address remaining issues with the Quantum Slipstream Drive. The added velocity may prove vital at some point during this mission."

“On it sir,” David responded before logging off.

Once he had taken the necessary minutes to go over the navigational data collected from the first QSD run, Rogers stood up, left his office and entered main engineering. Taking a stance at the port side of the main engineering table he tapped a series of instructions into the consoles, bringing up the slipstream course they had travelled and the resultant sector maps that were crossed in that inaugural flight of the Phoenix. Cross referencing the main and secondary computer logs with the flight data, and the inbedded nanite augmentation within those systems, David studied the myriad information looking for inequalities or misplaced instructions within the systems. One thing soon began to become apparent.

“Rogers to Andrews. Sean? Are the lieutenant’s finished?”

Promptly, as usual, Lieutenant Sean Andrews replied.

“Aye commander. I was just getting the results sent off to you.”

“Understood Sean. Send it to main engineering please.”

Tapping his badge again to close the communication link with his assistant, David awaited the arrival of the diagnostics and wondered if either of the Lieutenant’s Decatur would arrive to brief him along with the results.

A few minutes passed while David was still going over the flight data, again. Then, new screens lit up along the periphery of his console denoting the arrival of Sean’s reports. Enabling these new reports, David began cross referencing the new information and compiling a synopsis integrating all the relevant information from the flight logs, the navigational logs and the diagnostics reports. It confirmed his first apparent revelation of before.

Passing the new data into his PADD, David returned to his office to cross reference some star fleet data from the computer before he proceeded. This new information needed a remedy, and David wasn’t about to report to the captain that although he now knew the ‘why’, he didn’t have the remedial ‘how’ to get around the problem. Sitting down with a freshly replicated coffee, David began his study in nanite technology anew. It was a fast, labored process, because neither he nor the Phoenix, nor the Firebird, had the time.

His third coffee later, David snapped out of his concentration to find Andrews talking to him.

“Sorry Sean. What was that?”

‘I said sir, the shift changed. Can I get you anything before I leave? A couple more cups of stimulant perhaps?’ he added with a grin.

 It took a second to sink in. Then David jumped up and almost jumped over his desk to get at Lieutenant Andrews.

“Right! Exactly,” David grabbed Sean excitedly. “Sean, you’re a genius!”

 Releasing the startled young man, David ran out of his office and raced to the nearest turbo lift.

“Deck four”

*             *             *

The hours passed aboard the USS Phoenix as repair teams worked frenetically yet systematically to resolve the ship's recently revealed navigational issues. Captain Syntron working quietly in his Ready Room leaned back in his chair as thoughts of the missing shuttle interfered with his concentration on his task at hand. Moments later he engaged his communicator.

"Commander Rogers, can you provide an update on the current status of the glitches occurring within the flight control aspects of our computer systems? Has your team discovered what has caused this... anomaly and worked out a solution? "

Arriving at the top of the main computer core on deck four, Rogers quickly linked his PADD with the mainframe and downloaded his notes into the core, ignoring the three crew members he had startled when bursting into the main control room of the Phoenix’s massive computer. As the few minutes passed for the circuitry to acclimate his new date, David enabled the interface and addressed the computer directly.

“Computer. What is the desired effect of quantum slipstream drive?”

‘Quantum slipstream technology currently enables faster than warp speed’s by projecting a continuous quantum energy field ahead of the ship and into slipstream space, and maintaining the projected one-dimensional field with corrections from the main deflector during movement.’

‘Correct,’ David thought as he followed along.

“Question! What purpose does the matter/anti-matter reaction assembly serve during quantum slipstream travel?”

‘The matter-anti-matter assembly re-configures to allow benamite crystals to replace standard warp drive dilithium crystals.’

‘Correct,’ David followed silently.

“Computer. Correlate standard warp drive cooling procedures during flight, but allow for benamite replacement of dilithium crystals in the reaction assembly chamber.”

The main core seemed to pulse slightly brighter for a second or two, and Rogers thought amusedly that perhaps he had posed an impossible question for the machine. He was quickly proved wrong of course.

‘Primary warp drive coolant systems consist of the pre-stage and main stage flux chillers and the plasma intercooler. Plasma intercooler operating under Benamite configuration does not follow designed operational parameters.’

“Gotcha!’ David thought triumphantly.

Checking the parameters, Rogers found the anomaly between the dilithium and benamite operating fluctuations and correlated this new data with his existing PADD information. The arrived at discrepancy showed a thirty-two percent temperature deviation. He quickly sent the corrections needed for the nanite programming to Decatur, listing the discrepancy and corrections needed to allow for normal benamite operating temperatures within the drive systems.

Congruously, or perhaps coincidentally, Captain Syntron’s message chose at that moment to arrive through Commander Rogers’ comm badge. With this newfound information, David responded with the problems answer.

“Aye Captain, I believe we have it sir.”

Scrolling through his PADD information, David summarized the contents succinctly as he continued the conversation.

“Basically, the intercoolers on the matter/anti-matter assembly were overcompensating for the heat buildup during flight, but because benamite has a higher operating temperature, the nanites were not allowing for that. They are programmed for dilithium temperatures. Consequently, they took the only logical step open to them. Cool the plasma to dilithium operating guidelines. They naturally stimulated their neighbors, and themselves, to keep running the programmed operational temperature within the system. Suffice to say that, at their current population of a few billion, the result was as we experienced. Too hot to handle.”

Still perusing his notes, David went ahead with his solution.

“I have sent corrections to Lieutenant Decatur for re-calculating the programmed response in her nanite’s, allowing for benamite temperatures captain. She should have them integrated and functional within the hour.”

"Acknowledged Commander" the Vulcan commanding officer replied. "Keep me posted on their progress. Syntron out."

*             *             *

Aboard the Phoenix, the science and engineering teams worked in tandem to recalibrate the equipment according to Commander Roger's specifications. As this final leg of all of their work and repairs were finally believed to be complete, each team ran every aspect of ship functions through a comprehensive series of simulations; testing all of their individual and collective systems in a variety of possible circumstances. Everything in the simulations indicated that all of these previously detected problems were now resolved; including the navigational issues.

The diminutive science officer then engaged her combadge.

"Captain Syntron, this is Lieutenant Stephanie Decatur."

"Acknowledged Lieutenant" the Vulcan commanding officer replied, as he continued working at his computer in his Ready Room. 

"Sir, we've completed all required ship repairs, software adjustments, and nanite recalibrations. Our teams have just completed a series of intensive simulations, and they indicate that everything is now operating above specs... including navigation."

Syntron stopped working. He then immediately saved his files and disengaged the terminal.

As he stood up from the chair, he responded "Superlative Lieutenant. After you conclude your obligations down there, report back to the bridge."

With a bit of nervous excitement, the minute trill acknowledged "Understood Sir, I will report there promptly."

Syntron then whisked out of the Ready Room and headed back onto the main bridge. Approaching the center seat, he addressed the helm officer.

"Lieutenant Traynor, set coordinates to rendezvous with our shuttles. Initiate thrusters and then impulse to verify the precise responsiveness of helm and navigation control. Once we are underway and everything is confirmed accordingly, prepare to engage warp."

As if just awoken from a trance, the human helms officer affixed himself upright and began implementing the codes in response to the orders just presented to him.

"Coordinates set Captain... engaging thrusters... now."

The large vessel began slowly moving and repositioning in response.

As the ship switched to impulse engines, a soft and almost indistinguishable hum enveloped the ship. The sounds however were quite evident to the Captain's attuned Vulcan hearing.

After a few moments, Syntron sat down in the center seat as he affixed his gaze to the main viewscreen.

"Lieutenant Traynor, go to manual control and run your console through its paces. I want you to test the helm in a series of adjustments and course corrections to confirm that the ship is responding precisely and accurately before we engage the warp drive."

With a slight smirk the human helmsman inquired "Even if this takes this off course, Sir?"

Still looking at the viewscreen, Syntron stated stoically "You may indulge yourself Lieutenant... as long as you accomplish what was just presented to you."

The grin grew as Traynor stated enthusiastically "Understood "Captain."

Before anything occurred, Syntron engaged ship-wide communication through his center seat control.

"Crew of the Phoenix, testing of our navigational systems will be commencing momentarily. Do not be alarmed by any sudden shifts in our movement. Captain Syntron out."  

Within seconds the starship went through a series of helm changes that eventually rivaled that of early carnival rides. It appeared that the helm officer was indeed indulging his wishes to test the controls as if he were a cosmic daredevil. No one on the bridge said a word, but smiles began to subtly emerge as they tried to continue with their duties as they were being whipped around as the impulse engines continued to also accelerate toward their maximum potential.

Moments later, as if this were ordinary method of travel, the Captain turned to the helmsman.

"What is you analysis of navigational control Mister Traynor?"

As if being shaken awake from a thrilling dream, the navigator eventually composed himself as he noted "All controls are now functioning flawlessly Captain!"

Without hesitation, the captain coolly remarked "In that case helmsman, you may desist from manual testing and put us back on course toward the shuttles."

Somewhat deflated now,  Traynor responded "Yes Sir" as he complied with the order of his commanding officer.

The USS Phoenix then settled into a smooth velocity toward the distant shuttles just as the somewhat frazzled trill science officer exited out of the turbolift and somewhat awkwardly walked toward her science console.  Her equilibrium was slightly eschew after being tossed about as she travel up through the small confining space of the lift.

She grasped hold of the chair and signaled a nod to the officer sitting there; notifying her with a gesture that she was relied of her bridge duty. The taller officer quietly surrender the chair to the diminutive Trill who plopped into it with obvious relief.

The captain the announced "Engage the warp drive and incrementally increase our velocity to warp nine-point-four"

"Engaging warp drive now, Sir" Traynor replied as he initialed the controls to warp one.

The ship responded without hesitation as it continued to accelerate through the increments of warp speed.

Captain Syntron then addressed the human officer manning the Operations console.

"Ensign Valerous, send a message to the Firebird. Inform them that we are on the way to rendezvous with them and the other two shuttles."

"Immediately Sir" she responded as she turned back to prepare to initiate contact.

Moments later,  the Ops officer opened a secure channel to the lead shuttle.

"Firebird. This is Ensign Valerous from the Phoenix. We are now en route to your last recorded coordinates.  Acknowledge and confirm your current position." 

 

((continue beyond this point in the "Shuttles Converge" thread))