The Voyage Home

Barely ten minutes later, at Terix' left hand, the holographic counselor in the medical-diplomatic command chair  tilted her head then turned it rowards him.

''Sir; there is a sudden heavy interference on all channels.''

On the tactical board of Gunner Holland, a few indicators started to call for his attention. it was not the first time this particular set of signals and data had appeared in the very recent past. And so he instantly recognized it;

An energy surge, directly astern.

Gunner quickly raised shields and activated the tactical alarm.

"Incoming weapons fire, stern" Gunner yelled as the alarms rang through the bridge.

Careful what you wish for, Sabrina suddenly thought to herself as she tried to identify the origin of the inbound weapons fire. Whatever this was, it swooped in undetected.

Lep threw the ship into a sharp port turn, amazed that Gunner at tactical had beaten the PEL early warning. Perhaps the interference detected had masked the surge of energy aft long enough to circumvent its algorithms. Regardless, the Alsea was under attack and they needed to move fast.

Red Alert klaxons blared activated by the computer as the Alsea buffeted under fire from the attacker and Terix gripped the arms of the command chair as Hansen maneuvered the ship.

"Gunner target the source of the attack and return fire! Shadowhunt tell me what is out there!" Terix ordered as he tapped his combadge "Bridge to Engineering, Commander Sangliar we are under attack, source unknown. We are responding in kind." 

The gruff voice of the chief engineer came back with much huffing and puffing.

''I'm on my way, Bridge! Shields up and evasive! get out of weapons range, assess situation and identify them! Most of all...''

The ship shook from another volley and a deafening surge of static cut the Tellarite off. The android facsimile at ops reported from his station in a madeningly calm tone.

''Captain, turbolifts are offline. Main cabin is jammed and disconnected from it's tube which is registering severe damage.''

''I have the Commander's life signs on my intraship sensors, '' the holographic counselor added, her voice showing alarm. '' Life signs weak and erratic. He is not responding to hails and EHM emitters are not functionning in the left cabin.''

''It's power source has been cut off, '' explained the EHO ops officer. ''I estimate fifteen point fifty-three minutes of breathable atmosphere and appropriate temperature for one Tellarite left.''

With the reflexes found only in a Klingon, Gunner heard the command to fire and had weapons ready before the breath finished leaving Terix's lips. Not getting a lock right away Gunner fired phasers behind the incoming object in the direction of where a target firing it would be.

The orange beam grazed off some energy bubble and, for an instant, the light silhouetted some elongated, ovoid hull almost fishlike in appearance. Then it veered off the phaser fire. It lasted only an instant, but it was enough to leave some faint radiation glow on Gunner's targeting scanner.

Then fire lanced across the evading Alsea's bow; from two other directions.

Hansen didn't wait for commands from Terix and threw the Alsea into an attack pattern Delta at his own initiative. Although he was certain that orders would come from behind him he also knew the ship needed a more evasive vector, what with new weapons fire detected.

Gunner returned fire at the new targets and readied the sensors for the ship to separate.

As the ship veered away from the new threat under the nav computers Delta program, Lep activated the precursor commands to start the multi vector assault mode. The problem with the ventral hull nacelle was mute as they were at sub-light maneuvers and he surmised that the assault mode might be ordered now that there was more than one antagonist attacking them. It would be fortuitous that if MVAM was ordered, that the separation was already enabled to proceed without delay.

The Alsea pivoted up and around the rear target reticle on the screen as it rotated on its zee axis under the Delta pattern commands, weaving a new path. Although standard in pattern, Delta was only a pattern and not a formation command, like Delta Two attack formation or tactical pattern Theta.

Terix was beginning to believe this damn ship was cursed. First a spatial anomaly and now an unprovoked attack, all on a training cruise. The Romulan thought perhaps he should have stayed on Earth, but he quickly shook off such thoughts as he processed the information coming in. Sangliar was in trouble...again and their unknown attackers were not letting up. 

"Ops," Terix ordered "lock on to Commander Sangliar perform a site to site transport directly to Sickbay" That would get the commander out of immediate danger. Now they needed to deal with this attacker

"Aye Captain," the golden eyed hologram replied

"Mister Hansen, Gunner, let's show them our teeth. Engage the multi-vector assault mode and coordinate to engage the enemy as you see fit. I don't know who they are, but let's make them regret ambushing this ship".

Despite the danger Gunner could only smile.

“Finally” He thought to himself.

Gunner activated one of the hotkeys he had previously programmed during his simulations and preparation work.

“Multi Vector mode enabled Captain. Ready to separate at your command” Gunner reported.

Sabrina felt her metabolism kick into high gear once again as the activity swiftly flourished around her. This was adrenaline she realized, not fear. She felt ready for whatever challenge was emerging. She began reconfiguring the deflector into a battle-ready status, then turned to face the center seat.

“Limited as the options may be, you may need to send personnel to command, navigate and run tactical on the other two vectors,” Sabrina reminded her overwhelmed acting captain.

“Act in tactical yes, but I have programmed all sections of the multi vector assault mode to work through the primary tactical console.”

Readying the controls Gunner continued.

“I can run almost everything from here.”

Terix nodded grateful that the Klingon, half or otherwise, knew more about the ship's tactical capabilities than he did. After leaving Romulan space he was hoping to spend his time in scientific pursuits, but at the moment it seemed the galaxy had other plans.

"Separate the ship Gunner," Terix ordered "Coordinate with Mister Hansen to take advantage of our maneuverability. Miss Shadowhunt, any luck identifying the predators who are about to become prey?" 

Sabrina's console shot a flurry of data at her, all gathered from the weapon's fire, their sensor locks piggybacking their own phaser fire and the brief moment the elusive agressor had been visible; three moving microsingularities, exceedingly complex quantum fluctuations, a peculiar holographic signal literally bouncing off their own sensors, plasma-based weaponry, small outer shells of unknown alloy about the size of an old runabout, no detectable shield output, undecipherable transponder code, no lifesigns detected.

And each time they hit the invisible foe, there was an energy surge and it's next volley was amplified by fifty percent of the delivered fire from the Alsea.

On Gunner's tactical scans, the pattern of attack started to emerge. Each opponent had a specific target but they were switching targets between them in a random manner to avoid pinpointing their location and intent. But it was clear they were aiming at their nacelles, their weapon system and their hangar decks. Only Hansen's skillful piloting and Gunner's efficient retaliatory fire had prevented them from obliterating all three targets already. 

Or rather, and this is what would puzzle Sabrina the most, when they missed their mark... but it was clear by their firing and flying pattern that they were adapting; and fast.

Lep readjusted himself in the conn seat while still throwing the ship through tight loops and turns trying to evade the trio of invisible enemies. He hoped that his unpredictable human randomization of the Alseas' trajectory was a bit more than pure luck.

As all stations reported ready, Gunner activated multi vector assault mode. The lights in the bridge blinked a blue and white and the separation alarm began to ring throughout then ship.

“Activating multi vector assault mode” Gunner reported.

Throwing the ship into an old earth world war one Emmelman turn that pressed everyone into their seat backs, Lep spared a half second and activated the multi-vector helm controls. His LCARS panel reconfigured into three distinct screens, Alpha module front and center, with Beta and Gamma modules to left and right. They were merely smaller versions of the main conn control panel. As that appeared the alert lighting around the bridge switched to an alternating red and blue configuration with sky blue flashing on every second panel around the bridge, signifying condition blue; separation mode. He then glanced over toward the Klingon at tactical.

"Conn is ready Mr. Gunner," Lep yelled with a more than slightly raised voice. "Attack pattern Alpha enabled as per standard configuration!"

Gunner nodded. The display screen at tactical now appeared to show three smaller targeting screens similar to the helm controls. Each screen was the targeting system of a module and as such each contained a different array of phaser banks and torpedoes. Through his fast reflexes, and the earlier attack patterns he programmed, Gunner could coordinate the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma sections and control the weapons on all three.

“Attack pattern Alpha engaged.” Gunner yelled, almost giving away his excitement at using this mode.

With speed and efficiency all three sections began to fire sweeping the area and concentrating fire on sections which appeared to render impacts.

“I cannot be certain, but particular readings appear reminiscent of an AQS, or perhaps in this case, Romulan artificial quantum singularity reactors,” Sabrina offered as she analyzed the limited data gathered.”

“Could these be cloaked Romulan scout ships attacking us?” she questioned. 

"If they are cloaked our sensors should be able to pick them out," Terix replied "Romulan cloaks have distinct neutrino signatures...and even if they are modified a cloaked ship still has to breathe. Look for an exhaust trail."

“She has to have a tailpipe” Gunner thought.

All three viewscreens on their respective bridges and the screens at conn showed a space being filled with phaser fire in a web of orange. If there was a cloaked ship out there Gunner was going to hit it.

Lep continued to watch over the three section's as they weaved about. He reconfigured his conn panel to better reflect the three-dimensional aspect of the real counterparts, where-in the Beta and Gamma section screens moved about on his panel in a match to their relative positions outside of the Alpha section. This eased his perception of where the three sections were in relation to each other and to Hansen's perception of the real time positioning of the group.

He had never got fully into the chess tournaments at the academy. While he was in the top twenty of players in his year for normal chess competition's, he was woefully far down in the three-dimensional chess rankings. His grasp of three dimensions hadn't seemed that important to him at the time.

Lep was fast learning now that three-dimensional chess mastery would have been a real asset to him now in this fast changing action swirling in the coordinate space around him now.

On Sabrina's sensor readouts, the data was unequivocal; there were no neutrinos where the elusive alien objects seemed to be and no form of residue or energy showing any known detectable trail; nothing on the EM band or the atomic or subatomic spectrum. But gravimetric sensors were going crazy, especially each time their attackers manifested themselves.

Gunner's tactical console also flashed him something peculiar; the data pouring out from them, estimations of trajectory, targeting, weapons lock, firing patterns... everything started to show a very methodical, systematical configuration... and something even more peculiar; nothing changed until they actually acted or reacted to their assailants. When change occurred however, it was swift, precise and methodical, textbook perfect. Gunner was methodical yet frantic in his attempts to stay ahead of the targets. Nothing worked, and they matched Gunner's equally swift and precise actions... but strangely, had quite a hard time following Hansen's erratic, sometimes clumsy maneuvering; as if it expected the Alsea to do one thing, and Hansen went completely off.

Gunner continued to fire and coordinate the three sections through his question.

And so far, this is what had kept them alive.

"Gunner, Sabrina," Terix said using her first name breaking some of the more rigid Romulan decorum he usually displayed "What about some type of tachyon sweep? Tachyon nets have successfully ferreted out cloaked vessels with a large degree of success. We cannot form a net but could we sweep the area around using the deflectors we have available?"

Gunner was busy with tactical, but Sabrina’s quick response gave him no time to answer anyway.

“I used both the sensor array and the deflector dish to run a series of tachyon sweeps throughout the region but have yet to find any emission trails”, Sabrina responded somewhat dismayed, continuing to ponder their dire situation.

“With no neutrinos detected, even using the high-resolution gravimetric sensor array to scan for a neutrino flux associated with wormholes also yielded no results, yet the gravimetric readings themselves fluctuate the moment during each attack. It’s perplexing,” she admitted.

She reconfigured the sensors and ran through another series of sweeps but came up empty handed again. A recollection emerged soon after the last attempt.  

“I remember while in the Academy, reading how the Remans countered tachyon scans by developing and implementing a highly advanced cloaking device that produced no tachyon emissions, rendering their vessels undetectable to existing scanning methods. Could these adversaries possibly be utilizing such technology?” she inquired, almost rhetorically.

''Is this... vertical thinking?''

The question came from the holographic android ops officer. As everyone look at him, it jerked its head around in a good approximation of surprise, then went on to explain to Sabrina.

''I am sorry, but your question activated my impersonation programming. What I mean to say is; all current speculations assume we are facing Romulans, or someone using the same type of technology like the Klingons...''

He looked at her with wide yellow eyes.

''That might be why we fail to address the situation efficiently. ''

Gunner thought to himself for a second about thinking outside the box.

“I have an idea” he shouted.

While normal situations would require certain permissions Gunner used his autonomy and control at tactical to change things up a bit.

“They are matching our fire. Switching to attack pattern beta two.”

“Hansen, don’t change a thing. Just keep us alive.”

Gunner coordinated attack pattern beta two through the other control stations, but at tactical, where the fire control really mattered, he began to fire and sweep phasers in attack pattern omega four. Combined with Hansen’s erratic steering this would fill the space around the three pieces with as much phaser fire as possible. If the ships out there tried to match any semblance of logic or tactical consistency from what they were fighting they would find none.

In a spectacular display, several shots found their mark and three ovoid objects appeared in a conical formation around the Alsea. Their multi-faceted hulls were now visible for several long seconds even after they had been hit, before the energy glow of the impacts resorbed, seemingly with the damaged hull itself. Then they disappeared again but not without leaving a short after glow of heat and small debris. One of them continued to flash like an antique dying light bulb, while another  cloaked itself again but still leaving a heat trail behind it.

On both Gunner's and Sabrina's boards, new and much more precise data poured in at a fast pace. They spoke of a fluctuating gravitational field for each object correlating to it's position relative to both distant stellar objects and the Alsea itself; trajectory perfectly aligned with planned attack pattern that never occured; microsecond response time; holographic emissions surrounding each object; plasma effect of weapons as but an aftereffect of the actual weaponry; a peculiar form of tractor-repulsor beam acting on a very fast alternating pattern to litterally shake the target apart; energy surge from each object directly correlated in time and intensity as the impacted energy.

Seeing the results of his hits Gunner continued to fire, but kept the targets guessing. Phasers fired from each of the ship's sections in rapid succession with each blast varying in frequency and intensity. The hits created fluctuations that, while brief, gave Gunner the window he needed to fire several volleys of torpedoes from the beta section. As the energy created by phaser fire created small gravitational fields Gunner watched as the first torpedo erupted into a spread with three of the smaller projectiles hitting one of the objects in rapid succession.

The first one simply dissipated, outlying for a oment the unusual ovoid shape of the target. The second one however produced an energy surge that relayed all the signals of an overload to Gunner's tactical sensors. And when the third one hit while lightning bolts ran all accross the strange rounded shape, it caused flaming debris and plasma ejections to blossom for a moment, before a micro singularity, brutally released from it's containement field, dragged all matter and energy back to it in an implosion similar to the complete destruction of a Romulan vessel.

But what they saw and scanned was definitely not Romulan. The energy signature, the metallurgical alloys, the frequency of emissions, nothing matched what was on the computer banks. It was as alien as it was unknown.

And there were absolutely no organic residue to be found.

The sensor readings confused Gunner. He had spent more time in tactical simulations and study than any cadet in nearly a century and even with all that knowledge running through his brain he had nothing. Gunner continued to fire hoping for something else. The sensors continued to show the same readings of energy surges and small singularities. Brute force, even from the ship in mutl vector attack mode, was not going to defeat these enemies.

A second object fell victim to Gunner's haphazard firing pattern and Hansen's erratic flying. This time, Sabrina's scanner registered and confirmed an unusual energy signature; at first, it looked like what was expected of a ship's shields and deflector output, albeit on a abnormally high and inexplicably fluctuating scale. But now, with time going by to register patterns and a second implosion with detectable debris, it was clear; the energy output of the adversary, from propulsion to defense to weaponry was essentially made of one specific type.

Gravitons.

Immediately recognizing the energy reading, Sabrina swiftly ran her fingers across the science console’s controls before she turned to the acting captain postured nervously in the center seat.

“I’ve recalibrated the main deflector to generate an inverse graviton burst. A substantial surge may disrupt their energy fields.”

Gunner coordinated the three ship segments into a specific pattern. While only the tertiary hull contained the main deflector dish the primary and secondary hull systems contained their own mini arrays. The configurations were easy enough with the science upgrades. With a nod from Sabrina Gunner fired.

"Burst activated". Gunner reported

In the vacuum of space the graviton burst glowed a faint green. As the burst filled the space around the ship's segments the enemy ships crackled under what looked like green lightening. As the ships came into view their energy readings began to fluctuate and tactical sensors showed that if they had shields, they were down. Gunner grinned as he quickly coordinated the segments into a varied attack pattern. The primary hull began a spread of phaser fire as the secondary and tertiary hulls rotated phaser fire and full spread photon torpedoes. The space around the closest ovoid object began to fill with glowing orange fire and the explosions of torpedoes on its hull.

The last one of the three elusive assailants exploded in a brilliant flash of light before all energies and matter resorbed into it's collapsing microsingularity. But the whole spread of inverse gravitons and widespread volleys revealed then another presence. It was another ovoid shaped object, doted with reflective panels like these ancient crystal eggs of ancient Earth.

And it registered five times the size of the Alsea and forty times it's mass.

Tactical sensors were all over the place trying to target this new massive object. Gunner brought the ship's segments into an attack pattern and continued tactical scans.

From the command chair Terix had been content to let his fellow cadets do their work, and watched as they efficiently and lethally combined their talents to take on the Alsea's attackers. Now as the huge ovoid revealed itself the Romulan looked at it with both curiosity and a mild bit of fear. 

"What in the name of the Ajoi is that?" he asked the bridge in general invoking the Romulan name for the Four Elements. "Shadowhunt, can the sensors identify it? Is there anything in the database?"

  During the firefight with the three vessels, Hansen had mostly flew in co-ordination with Gunner's attack patterns, with intermittent flight changes to throw off the enemies' amazing accuracy. With the destruction of the last smaller ship Lep took a slight breath to ease the tension in his back and shoulder's but was brought up mid take with the revelation of the gigantic disco ball shown on the screen.

He could only call it that. As a child once he had visited Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The cuisine museum had a old picture of the Raising Cane's franchise restaurant which featured the signature Disco Ball. The actual ball still hung above the photo, restored and slowly spinning in a small spotlight. He recalled being mesmerized by the light display.

This enormous ship reminded him of that long ago display, and a somewhat similar design from star fleet history class. He swiveled slightly to voice his recollection.

"Could that be a First Federation ship?"

"The First Federation?" Terix mused aloud "Starfleet hasn't had any hostile contact with the First Federation since James T. Kirk..." He turned to the holographic Betazoid "Counselor, open a channel."

The dark haired woman nodded and Terix continued "Unknown vessel, this is Terix of the United Federation of Planets Starship USS Alsea. Identify yourself and state your intentions."

Nothing appeared on screen except a weird swirl of images looking like oil churning in brackish water. On Sabrina's board, the computer suddenly went to full diagnostic mode for a few seconds then returned to normal. There was then a screeching noise followed by some bass rasping that sounded much like the records of the V'Ger entity of almost two centuries past. The screen went blank and the image went back to external view, just in time to see the enormous object recede at an astonishing speed until it winked even off sensor range. There was no warp flash, no quantum opening, no subspace aperture; it simply flew away from view and from scanning range; beyond twenty light years in mere seconds. But it's departure shook the ship and detectors registered the effects of a deep gravity well before it went away.

Then it all became eerily quiet.

“What the hell was that thing?” Sabrina inquired as she tried to procure information from her console.

"I have no idea," Terix replied "If it was a First Federation ship they should have replied to our hail. Starfleet records don't paint them as particularly social but they are capable of communication. It doesn't match any vessel they taught us about in any of my academy classes that I can remember."

"Perhaps they are upset at us because we fired on them" Gunner noted.

"I did manage to destroy three of those smaller ovoid ships".

"They can be upset if they like," Terix replied "but they did ambush us without so much as a warning." He paused for a moment as a thought formed in his mind and then continued "but what if...what if they were testing us? Probing our capabilities much like the Borg did at one time?"

"That would imply plans for a further confrontation." Gunner responded.

"I hope you are wrong."

Gunner paused for a moment.

"No offense."

“Successful campaigns against an opponent may initiate through a path of deception.” Sabrina added as she considered their circumstances even deeper.

“If Terix is correct in his assumption, they may have already begun this preliminary stage of their confrontation. They struck at us from the shadows and tested our reactions. We may be a skeletal crew of cadets and holograms, but we managed to keep them at bay, at least for the time being. Perhaps the rift we sealed was also another test of sorts… if these incidents are somehow connected."

Sabrina quickly scanned the region for any other anomalies, yet nothing registered on her sensors.

“I recommend that we return back to the starbase without delay to share what we have encountered during our training mission,” she added emphatically.

Terix nodded in agreement with Shadowhunt "I agree. Gunner, Mister Hansen, let's put ourselves back together again and once we are reassembled set course for Starbase Lotus at whatever warp speed we have available."

Gunner worked the tactical controls to return systems to normal. He always wanted to use multi vector assault mode and he truly felt his warrior spirit smiling after this mission.

"Tactical controls restored and all sections ready for reassembly." Gunner reported

Lep considered his earlier observation while listening to the crew debate the recent actions. The large ship was reminiscent of the report he had learned in history. The Fesarius had been immensely powerful, as had this craft. His recollection was consistent with Terix's statement. The First Federation we're friendly, and advanced. And one other ponderable was also obvious. The First Federation was on the other side of the quadrant! The commanders order brought Lep back to the task at hand and he set to re-joining the vessel.

"Aye sir! Initiating A/B/G amalgamation sequence."

With a touch of a icon on his panel the three parts of the Alsea, alpha, beta and gamma oriented themselves into a vertically tiered position, top to bottom, and came to a full stop. Slowly, under computer assist, the beta and gamma sections re-joined to form a four nacelled stubbier ship. Without the Alpha section she looked like a Norway class with two more warp nacelle's.

Once the pair had completed their internal umbilical connections the alpha section was felt by all as she withdrew her smaller warp nacelles back into their dorsal and ventral bays. Subtle hissing sounds accompanied this maneuver and then, with a slight motion felt on the bridge, the alpha section fired thrusters briefly and lowered itself onto her ventral perch atop the beta section and began connecting the various umbilical's as the docking clamps clunked home audibly, the muted clunks also felt by Hansen through his chair. The condition blue lighting spaced about the bridge dimmed out and Lep turned to the bridge crew.

"Humpty is back together again. Course laid in at warp five Captain."

Terix nodded "Then please let's go before something else jumps out from space at us." 

As the Alsea went to warp Terix began adding paragraphs to the report he'd already started for both Commander Sangliar and Fleet Captain Samji. After several minutes the holographic counselor interrupted his thoughts.

"Captain, we are receiving a hail from Starbase Lotus." 

"On Screen." 

The warp field was replaced by the concerned yet stern face of Lotus Fleet's commanding officer. 

"Alsea, this is Fleet Captain Samji, what is going on out there?  I ordered you to report your status every thirty minutes did I not Cadet?" 

Terix nodded "Yes Sir you did, but we had an...incident." 

"Well, don't just stop there...report " 

"To be brief Sir, before we could go to warp we were ambushed, and forced to defend ourselves against several ovoid shaped vessels using graviton based propulsion none of us could identify. Cadets Gunner and Hansen successfully used the MVAM to defeat three smaller vessels before a very large one appeared. I hailed them, and they left." 

"What do you mean they left?" 

"They left Sir. They didn't fire, they didn't responded to my hail they simply left the area as fast as one of our new trans-warp capable vessels." 

Samji stroked his chin for a moment before replying "Our sensors show you moving at warp 5 now."

"Yes Sir." 

He nodded "get back here Cadet, and don't spare the horses. Oh and tell your grumpy commanding officer to stop sleeping on the job. Samji out." 

Terix smiled slightly at the senior officer's mention of Sangliar as the view screen returned to stars streaking around the Alsea and then tapped his combage.

"Bridge to Sickbay, how is Commander Sangliar?"

"Stable and recovering, but not conscious yet. I trust that you are asking means you are done bouncing us around for the time being?" 

"Correct, let me know if anything changes, Bridge out." 

"Holograms..." Terix muttered under his breath as he returned to his after action report.