USS HORIZON: final report

The captain's ready room, like everything else aboard the flagship, was larger than what could be found on any other vessel. Affectionally called the "poopdeck" by the commanding officer fond of old Earth naval terms, it was the size of a standard bridge officer conference room. And with only Kheren, Redding and Aron'son seated at the wide transluscent desk, it looked even larger.The huge transparencies on one wall extended over their heads the awesome vista of stars outside and partly the view of the dark, lone planet below. On the other wall facing the windows, the enormous screen displayed the face of Commander Sisko in the center seat of the main bridge.

"Salvage of the Polaris is on schedule and proceeding without incident, Captain," the half-Bajoran reported. " Two Klingon survivors were found at their base camp, left there because apparently they were still unconscious when the rest followed their commander in chasing the Polaris crew back to the Guardian."

Kheren thought for a moment than sighed.

"Have them confined in guest quarters under heavy guard with no technological devices except those we can replicate from their 23rd century. The guards and anyone interacting with them will be clothed and equiped as per 23rd Starfleet standard issue as well. Interaction will be restricted and authorized only by either myself or Commander Redding. No members of a species unknown in Starfleet during their time period, like Bolians or Ferengis, are authorized in that area. Same restriction with equipement and data."

"We could keep them sedated," Sisko suggested.

"That would be in violation of general order 25 regarding the treatment of prisoners. And they're not criminals or enemies; they are just the wrong people in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, general order 1a compels us to make sure nothing of the future should be revealed to them until we can correct the temporal anomaly they represent, either by integrating them in modern times or... somehow... returning them to their own time."

"Do I instruct Doctor Osaro-Lyth to prepare for short-term memory wipe?" asked Sisko.

"Affirmative. But we will wait for our report to come back from Temporal Investigations and their decisions regarding that problem."

"Understood; we could use holoprojections as well to keep them fooled."

"A most excellent recommendation, Commander. Please see to it."

"Aye, Captain."

The huge screen reverted to it's real-time projection of Federation Space, except that it was currently a recording of what had last been known before the Horizon went into the pocket universe. The Andorian's silvery eyes followed his antennae towards his two senior officers.

"Alright, gentlemen; now what do you make out of all that occured in this adventure of yours?"

For a good solid hour, Kheren listened in turn to Redding and Aron'Son's report about all that had transpired since the saucer section had left the Polaris, not even interrupting once. When silence finally stretched afterwards between them, he took a good minute to process all the information in his mind before speaking again.

"Another space-time gateway... and one large enough to accomodate a whole starship... this is extremely vital news that has the potential to affect the very fabric of reality. It is fortunate that the Klingons did not fully understand what they had stumbled accross. I regret that you were forced to eliminate them, Commander, but you had not that much of a choice in the circumstances you described and which the ship's logs and sensor logs will vindicate. However, forced I am to say that this tragic turn of event might have prevented unforeseable problems... at least for the moment. If klingons were allowed to spread their aggressiveness not only accross space but time as well..."

He stood up and went to the large window behind him, callused hands clasped behind him.

"I just received a preliminary report from the science and engineering teams going over your... Coyote. According to preliminary data of residual radiation and molecular readings of the outer hull, this Bird of Prey had gone through the Azimtuh Horizon anomaly. it is safe to assume that these twenty-third century Klingons had been time-displaced by travelling through it somewhere in the past, when it was still undetected and untamed, just like the Vor'Cha from the time of the Dominion War the Artemis had encountered in there on her first voyage. "

He looked down at the dark sphere of the lone planet below. he could see the shuttles and workpods swarming arounfd the wreckage of the Polaris as it was stabilized in orbit, getting ready to make it fit into it's hangar.

"The astrophysics people hypothesize the rogue planet might just have undergone the same displacement, hence why it exists as an M class planet outside a planetary system," the Andorian added after a moment. "We know the Azimuth Horizon has swallowed and destroyed several star systems, like the one which once harbored the planet Neural that the Lotus evacuated before Operation Horizon. This planet may have come from this side or our side of the anomaly, the sole survivor of the catastrophe because of it's spacetime shielding provided by the presence of this huge alien construct. Planetologists say that it maintains it's M class status without the help of a star because, somehow, the Guardian is drawing in the light, heat and radiation of it's former star through some temporal effect we have yet to understand."

The entire ship suddenly trembled. They were now all familiar with the effect that could even shake the immense starship. Kheren lifted his head, his antennae wobbling in apparent indecision.

"No one as of yet can explain those ripples in time emanating from the planet. They are quite different from those recorded by the Enterprise when it discovered the first Guardian in mid twenty-third century. They have no regularity and they are growing in intensity. It looks like time itself is being disrupted more and more as it goes by."

He turned to face them both, his antennae now pointing forward.

"Once we will have gathered sufficient data, we will proceed back to starbase Lotus. Starfleet and the Federation Science Council must be alerted to what is going on here."

He went back to sit behind his large transparent desk, crossing his hands on top of it as he darted both four oculars at them in turn.

"Number One, prepare the ship for departure back to Starbase Lotus. With the Champlain now assigned to Eden and our Draxx friends prowling around this sector, the colony is now secure enough for the time being. This information is too sensitive to delay any further.. and to be honest, it makes me... uneasy. I am getting a red alert, right here,"

He tapped the back of his skull with a finger as he said so.

"Lieutenant Aron'Son, as you are due for a promotion to higher command responsibilities, I am assigning you the task of making sure this planet and especially the Guardian on it are secured from any further tampering. You have until the Polaris is back into her hangar and us ready to warp out to make it so. Not much time, I agree; consider it a command fitness test. All departments, facilities, personnel and ressources not affected to salvaging the Polaris or for readying our departure are available to you."

Both officers stood up, nodded and left to implement their commanding officer's orders.

Left alone in the immense ready room, Kheren rose again from his chair to return to the wide window overlooking the immense vista of another universe, the closest star where a first colony was barely brugeonning, the closer fiery briliiance of a cosmic anomaly and finally down to the darkened mystery planet lost in the void around which floated the wreckage of a starship. His thoughts fixated on the immense alien construct he couldn't see but knew was down there, on the lost planetoid.

"Whatever this all means, let us hope we still have time," he whispered to himself.

As if to answer him, an ominious vibration shook his entire universe around him like a shudder... or a spasm of agony.

THE END