USS HORIZON : Receiving a distress call

                              PRIORITIES

                                                                            From an original story by BLZBUB

Captain's log

Stardate :  88664.0

It has been three months now since the implementation of the colony on the third planet of the Eden star system, nearest to the Azimuth Horizon portal. As the sector 001 of the United Federation of Planets in this new universe, it will be the launching point of every mission and operation of this new frontier.

There has been changes aboard the Horizon, most notably Commander Jureth Oseno called away as ship's representative and Starfleet official witness for the trial of former Governor Sufra. I expect Starfleet will try their best to keep him with them, offer him a command of his own. He has already proven himself many times in that capacity. Loosing my Strategic Officer will be a great loss for my ship, but not having Oseno in the big chair would be an even greater loss for Starfleet. In the meantime, Chief of Security and tactical Aron'Son will double as acting Strategic Operations Officer and First Officer Redding will take command of the Polaris.

Along with him, Doctor Elliago Nasaro-Myth has been recalled for some difficult investigation about the disappearance of the USS Diamond Star, sister ship and engineering platform of the Horizon. Commander Snowfire Ke'Leysha has concluded her officer exchange program between Starfleet and her native Illythirii Defense Force and will accompany them back to Starbase Lotus on board the returning USS Phoenix. Captain Syntron's explorer should soon be back to resume their charting mission of this sector.

The ten thousand colonists on the planet have already achieved full autonomy and already expanding towards the rocky and gaseous worlds within this system for raw materials, avoiding scarring their own pristine habitat. A fleet of shuttlecrafts provided from our own complement ensure their spacefaring needs while a series of satellites and subspace relays provides for all their needs of communication and defense. More supplies are expected from Starfleet and other colonists are expected to join them in their bold endeavor. The example of their success here will undoubtebly stimulate quite a new rush to the stars back home.

After all, with the nullified threat of the incorporeal Zetarians, confined by the planetary negative energy field of Eden IV, and the alliance achieved with the spacefaring nomadic civilization of the Draxx by assuming the custodianship of the prison-planet, this space is much more peaceful than our own original Federation Space. 

"Bridge to Captain!"

The urgency in the voice of  Lyrya was unmistakable for her husband. His antennae perked up over his thick white mane, then pointed forward as he heard it.

"Yes, Counselor."

"Sir, we are receiving a distress call."

"Coming."

Closing his desk PADD, he moved from behind his big transluscent desk with a swiftness that bellied his bulk. As an Andorian, he was massively built, even if he only looked athletic to Human eyes. In a few long strides, he was through his office's door and on the vast bridge of his ship, standing beside the Medical Command Chair on the command dais where sat his white-skinned wife manning communications.

He didn't have to ask and the Aenar had no need to probe his mind with her telepathic powers; which she was unable to do anyway since his experience with the Undine transformation serum that had left him subtly altered. She had served long enough with him, and more, to know what he wanted to know.

"Starfleet emergency distress call, Captain; USS Champlain."

"The Champlain?" wondered outloud Meeramanee Blackbird, his yeoman. "That's one of the new Ptolemy II class of Starfleet freighters, Sir. It must be the supply ship we were expecting."

"Like the Jeanne Mance," Aguk Snow reminded them from the helm. 

Kheren simply nodded. He would not soon forget the freighter that had literally thrown him into the captain's chair of the late USS Artemis... and into the them untames Azimuth Horizon anomaly... with a distress call, just like now.

Redding got off the comm and walked over to them. "I've informed Solius in engineering of the situation Captain, they should be ready at your order."

Kheren nodded in appreciation for his Exec's own readiness.

"Location of the distress call's source?"

"A light year from here... on the other side of the Azimuth Horizon's portal," acting chief of science Valencia Irksos answered with a frown.

"Talk about nav error," wondered helmsman Snow outloud.

"Details about their situation?"

"None, Sir," Lyrya answered. "Only the standard distress signal; no subspace communication."

The blue-skinned commanding officer of the Horizon nodded pensively. Then he motionned the ship's counselor behind him to open the shipwide channel.

"All hands, prepare for saucer separation. Main damage control and medical teams report to the saucer section for deep space rescue operation.  Mister Solius; report to the bridge at once. Mister Sisko, take command of the battle bridge wtih bridge crew Delta for planetary defense."

"Should I go secure the Polaris ,Sir?"

while he was sure of the answer, Redding knew all orders came from his commanding officer.

The Andorian stood between his chair and the jointed tactical and helm stations, looking at the vista of space accross the huge viewing screen as he spoke.

"Please do, Commander. I will command the saucer section to those coordinates. But at warp 9, it will take us twelve hours to get there. You will get there faster, so you will assess the situation, apprizing us while we follow you and provide any urgent help if needed."

"Shouldn't we use transwarp, Sir?" the Inuit helmsman offered. "We would be there in mere minutes."

"We must not leave the colony defenseless, Lieutenant. A distress call is the oldest trick in the world... and we still know next to nothing about this new space. We will leave the stardrive here with Commander Sisko in command; and we cannot transwarp when the ship is in seper mode."

"The old fashion way, then, aye, Captain," Snow said with a smirk, his fingers already inputing the coordinates  into helm controls.

"Yellow alert," Kheren then ordered, still standing.

"Aye Sir, sounding Yellow Alert," Aron'Son replied.

Even though the captain had issued orders, the Jem'Hadar continued to analyze the situation. There was a small probability that  the distress call was a trap, he was aware of several species that employed such tactics, but it was more likely a genuine emergency situation as the Champlain had not been reported missing and a trap would have required either an enemy agent among the crew or for the ship to by waylaid in transit. It made more tactical sense from the security chief's prospective to dispatch the Polaris to investigate the distress call and leave the flagship to defend the colony, while he understood Starfleet's chain of command etiquette, he knew that department heads were expected to present solutions to their commander so he continued after acknowledging the Yellow Alert order.

"Captain, from a tactical perspective, the Polaris with a full complement is capable of investigating the distress call, Sir, leaving the Horizon free to protect the colony." 

"That is why we leave the more powerful stardrive behind, Lieutenant," agreed Kheren. "The Polaris can certainly scout ahead ans assess the situation and deal with many problems, but if an evacuation is in order, she will be unable to rescue even the whole one hundred and five crew complement of a Ptolemy class freighter. And in all probability, there might be several thousands colonists aboard that freighter. The saucer section alone can accomodate almost twenty thousand refugees if need be; that is why we have to go there. General Order 6 is cristal clear; an emergency call from Federation citizens nullifies all other tasks or fiield orders and demands immediate attention and response. And so we shall."

"Fortunately for them, this Lotus class saucer section comes with it's own warp drive," Aguk Snow reminded them all. "Course plotted and laid in, Captain."

"All personel at their assignated posts," confirmed Lyrya. "Chief Solius is on his way."

The Andorian tapped his combadge.

"Commander Sisko, I leave the safety of Eden in your hands."

"Acknowledged, Captain," came back the soft voice of the half-Bajoran cyberneticist.. "With your permission, Sir, I will have Ensign Tethys Achilles as yeoman on the battle bridge."

Kheren's antennae shot up and curved in the unique Andorian smile.

"Are you up for it, Ensign?"

A presence then materialized right in front of them, between the helm and tactical console and the main viewer. The girl looked barely out of her teens, with long blond hair and startling blue eyes, slender yet athletic, wearing the grey and black, red collared uniform and pip of a Starfleet yeoman.

"My program is active and functional, Captain," said the young slender woman with a richly modulated voice, " although even the massive computer core of your ship is not powerful enough to support my full capabilities yet. But then again, even a Starbase computer would barely suffice. For the moment, I can function as well and in the same manner as your EMH."

"This is not the artificial neurogel brain of the USS Achilles for sure, but we should gain more available computing power once we complete the nanite enhancement of the Phoenix to our own systems," Sisko chimed in then from the ship's comm channel. "It will at least help me complete my project of giving her a fully autonomous active interface."

Not for the first time, Redding remembered fondly the days before 'holodecks' and 'nanite enhancement' were every day words, although it did make him feel old.

"Glad to hear it," the Andorian said with a nod. "Carry on, Ensign. Commander, stay in touch with us."

"Aye, Sir," they both replied as the sentient program dissolved from the bridge and back to the secondary control center of the flagship.

"With your leave Captain" Redding gave a nod and headed off to the Polaris.

His antennae did not allow him to hear the turbolift doors behind him open to admit his Romulan chief engineer as hix exec left, but they felt the air displacement of his entrance so that he knew they were all ready and at their post without looking away from the vista of space before him on the wide screen.

"Engage separation."

There was a distant, low sound like that of a huge door opening. They barely felt the slightest of tremors as the immense disc-shaped hull of the huge starship detached itself slowly and majestically from the flattened, elongated tubular lower hull keeping the broad inclined neck and the two long warp nacelles. 

"Separation complete," Chief of Ops Cheonghi's shrill Edoan voice confirmed, his three hands moving over his console right between the screen and the double station of Snow and Aron'Son.

"We are free to navigate," added the helmsman.

"Warpspeed."

On the viewer, the pinpoints of lights that were the stars stretched into luminous lines and a brilliant flash followed a swirling dance of shiny fireflies as the Horizon's primary hull went into high warp.

"Warp 9, Sir; confirming ETA eleven hours thirty-two minutes. We will arrive three point seven hours behind the Polaris."

"Lieutenant Commander Solius, you are now acting Exec," Kheren declared. "All senior officers, prepare us for a deep space rescue operation. Then, Beta shift will take over from Alpha shift which will take a rest until we are thirty minutes away from the theatre of operations."

Aron'Son was perturbed that he hadn't taken in to consideration the lack of capacity of the small escort ship, and resolved that he would rectify the situation by spending the "rest" period examining Starfleet ship schematics. Rest was a foreign concept to the genetically engineered soldier and expanding his knowledge was a far more efficient use of any off duty time; though he did not ever consider himself to be off duty. To his frustration, the Andorian woman who served as his second in command would not allow him to remain on the bridge for a full ship's cycle and, given that she was one of the captain's mates, he chose not to press the issue, though he had the authority to do so. It was her he turned to now as he prepared to obey the captain's order to "rest." 

"Lieutenant Tyvya, all security personnel have reported ready. Select the best for a boarding and inspection team should the need arise. Also, ensure that all personnel are prepared to enforce crowd control and quarrantine procedures in the event we have to take on....guests. I will not stand for a repeat of the incident involving Governor Sufra as long as I am aboard this ship."

He left the bridge without waiting for a response, knowing that his orders would be carried out. Aron'Son had learned that Tyvya was professional and followed orders to the letter, so he did not need to check up on her as he did some of the junior officers. 

Tyvya sent an "aye, Sir" his way anyway, with a telling look offered to her captain and husband as she slipped her towering two pont twenty-five meters frame behind the tactical console. Like her, Kheren was well aware of the Jem'Hadar's difficulties in adapting to the peculiarities of humanoids like the need for food and rest or even to sit instead of staying upright to perform one's duties; but just as it has been for him when he had joined Starfleet, it was all part of learning, understanding and adapting to life within the vast community of the stars they were sworn to serve. It might be tedious at times, but it was necessary.

"Captain, the Polaris is signaling readiness to depart."

"Commander Redding," then said the Andorian, "best possible speed to the Champlain. Keep in mind that we will have your back only four hours after you arrive there, so the safety of those people out there is most of all in your hands."

"Acknowledged , Captain, Redding out."

And with that, the Polaris unhooked from its mother ship and sped on its way.

Although the Horizon's primary hull was already on it's way at over even hundred times the speed of light, the computer-generated image of it's wide screen showed the sleek, diminutive form of the Aquarius class escort zoom past them at almost a thousand times lightspeed. Everyone knew that what they saw was but a rendering scaled down digitally to human perceptions of course, but it was still an impressive sight, the long, curved warp nacelles extended each sides of the oblong craft giving it the startling silhouette of a diving hawk as it flew away and disappeared ahead, beyond the point where the stars streaked by.

"I will be on the poopdeck. Chief of the Boat Hollet, you have the bridge."

And so saying, Captain Kheren went back to his office.

Aron'Son made his way from the bridge and down to the Horizon's security office. He gruffly dismissed the young petty officer on duty there and opened the terminal in his office. 

"Computer, disply ship schematics for Ptolemy Class Feighter Champlain to include any modifications from standard design. Correlate with current Starfleet security procedures for securing a hostile vessel and display most efficient beam in points for boarding parties along with potential choke points." 

The computer beeped and displayed the information he requested, and as he began to examine it he also examined his interactions with the species of the Federation thus far. Humans were by far the most complex often making decisions based no empirical data whatsoever. They called it trusting their "gut." This was about as foreign a concept as any the Jem'Hadar had encountered in his time among them. His people had no comparable trait. They followed orders, either from their First, the Vorta, or the Founders themselves. If conditions changed the soldiers were expected to adapt and carry on the mission ultimately either dying or achieving their goal. These Andorians he now served both under and with were by far the closest to his own people. They were efficient, showed no emotion, and were revered in the Federation as warriors. 

Continuing to analyze the Champlain's diagrams Aron'Son made note of the prefix code for the freighter's computer and sent it to his tactical station. This concept of "rest" that he was currently being forced to deal with frustrated him. Why should he have to take himself away from the bridge when it was not necessary? He did not get "tired" as the humans or other humanoid species did. He had no requirement for nourishment and his brain did not require any type break as he'd heard some of his classmates refer to when he was at Starfleet Academy. Aron'Son resolved that if he could not find another way, he may have to approach Captain Kheren directly. For now, he finished with the Champlain's schematic file and moved on to another vessel.

"Computer, display schematics for USS Polaris to include any modification from standard design."

***