Subject: The next installment of "Portal: What really happened" Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2002 19:43:49 -0400 From: "Doomriser" To: "Rob Dalton" "Captain's log, Stardate 51102.4. The Enterprise is proceeding with her second shakedown cruise after leaving Spacedock last month. So far we have had few problems, and it appears that we were successful in removing the Borg technology from the ship. Our visitor continues to offer valuable help on tweaking the tactical systems." Picard smiled at that; Worf was rarely happier than when he was practising firing weapons systems. He tried to think of something else to add to the log. The last few weeks had exhausted just about every variant of 'all's well' in his repertoire. Worse yet, and unbeknownst to Picard and other Starfleet Captains, Starfleet had discontinued the recording of Captain's logs since they were totally useless and took up exabytes of storage. The six months it had taken to remove the Borg hardware from his ship had at least been challenging, difficult work. But now, cruising around the heart of the Federation, there was little to do. That the rest of Starfleet was out struggling - and losing - against the Dominion while the most powerful ship in the fleet calibrated its sensor systems and tested its phasers on asteroids was an insult added to the injury. The intercom sounded. "LaForge to Bridge. LaForge to Bridge. We've finished aligning the Dilithium matrix down here. Full warp power at your discretion." "Excellent work, Mister LaForge." Picard replied. "Well ahead of schedule." "Just call me the miracle worker." Picard heard the laughter in Geordi's voice, and wondered why Geordi would be emulating Scotty after the tragic suicide of the venerable engineer just last year. Data stiffened suddenly as a beeping noise came from his console. "Short range sensors are detecting a spatial anomaly at bearing zero six one mark five, range four million kilometres," the android reported with a grin. "The energy patterns do not match up precisely to anything in the database, although they are similar to the anomaly we encountered near Archer IV eight years ago." "That turned out to be nothing," Riker said quietly. Picard nodded, but he had already made up his mind - any kind of puzzle was better than this aimless cruising. "Lay in a course to the anomaly and take us to it at half impulse," he ordered. Less than a minute later the anomaly was on the main viewscreen - a swirling mass of energy over two kilometres across. "Sensor readings are indeterminate." Data announced, "we are reading no discernible event horizon, but there is evidence of a time distortion of some kind." "Is it stable?" Picard asked. "No sir. The anomaly's size and energy density are fluctuating. The process is somewhat chaotic, but there is a definite growth trend." "Is it dangerous?" Riker asked. "Certainly no immediate threat sir. At its present rate of growth the anomaly would need several decades before it was large enough to be a serious hazard to navigation." "Let's get a closer look," Picard said. "Bring us in to within ten kilometres." "Thrusters ahead, two hundred kph," Lieutenant Mayers reported. "Excuse me, Lieutenant? At those speeds our thrusters will quickly burn out!" counselled Picard. The young Lieutenant cleared his throat. Picard shook his head. Clearly, the Dominion war had caused Starfleet Academy to lower its standards somewhat. "Correction," began Mayers, "now travelling at one-quarter impulse." The anomaly grew steadily on the viewscreen. Picard, however, was more intent on studying Mayers. "Mayers," wondered Picard, "Isn't that a Jewish name? I thought that there were no Jews in Starfleet, not since the Vulcans had 'civilized' humanity." Another alarm sounded on Data's console. His hands sped across the board. "Sir, the anomaly is fluctuating rapidly. I am reading a massive buildup in energy." "Back us off," Picard said instantly to Mayers. "Data, is it responding to us in some way?" "I do not think so, sir," Data replied. "There is some form of resonance effect within the-" On the viewscreen the anomaly suddenly seemed to burst like an exploding sun, filling the bridge with a dazzling light. It lasted barely a quarter of a second before vanishing completely, leaving the screen with a perfectly normal starscape. Not entirely normal, Picard thought to himself in confusion. Barely a light-year from Earth the constellations should be virtually identical to those Picard had grown up with. But this sky was vastly more crowded than anything he was used to. "Data, where are we?" he asked in a whisper. "We are in space, Captain." "I mean, what is our relative position to Sector 001?" "According to the inertial navigation system we have not moved sir," Data replied instantly. "Get a star fix to confirm that." "Aye sir..." There was a pause. "Unable to establish a position on any known star. Checking for extra-galactic objects... no matches to known objects found." "I see," Picard said heavily. "Meaning we are a long way from home." "A very long way sir." Data said. "The lack of a fix on known extra-galactic objects indicates that we have travelled at least hundreds of millions of light years. Possibly a great deal more." "Conduct an intensive sensor scan of this area. Concentrate on finding some trace of that anomaly, but I want to know everything we can find out about this region of space." A hundred million light-years, he though to himself. At least. Merde! "Captain's log, Stardate 51104.3. After sixteen hours since the event which catapulted us to this region, we have begun to piece together a few answers..." Data activated the conference room viewscreen and brought up the visual records of the anomaly they had encountered. "After detailed analysis of our sensor logs, I believe that what we encountered was a form of wormhole," he announced. "That's not like any wormhole I've ever seen," Riker commented. "Indeed, the anomaly does display many characteristics that are... anomalous," Data finished with an apologetic look. "Wormholes are only visible when they are approached, while this one seems to be more readily apparent. In addition, there is the temporal element. Classic wormholes are connections between one point of space and another - there has never been any record of a wormhole which allowed travel through time." "Until now," LaForge added miserably. "Indeed. Our analysis of the chronaton fields which enveloped the ship indicate that we suffered a time displacement at least equal in magnitude to our spatial displacement." "Long ago and far away." Picard murmured. "How did this happen, exactly?" "Our initial sensor analysis indicated that the anomaly was following a general pattern of linear growth. Subsequent events indicate that this effect is only partially linear - in fact the anomaly seems to come into resonance periodically. At this time it briefly increases in size and energy by a vast degree, before reversing the growth and collapsing back on itself." Riker spoke up next. "I guess the question on all our minds is, will it begin to grow again? Is the cycle repetitive?" Data nodded. "I believe so." "And the second question is, is the anomaly symmetrical along its spacetime axis?" Geordi asked. "That I am unsure of," Data said. "There is no way to tell." "Can we predict the cycle?" Picard asked. Data nodded. "If the pattern holds true, the next resonance will occur in another forty seven hours." Suddenly, the proximity alarms began blaring throughout the ship. The intercom sounded. "Bridge to Captain Picard. Sir, we're picking up something on the sensors. A starship. It came out of nowhere!" "Stations, everybody." The impossibly crowded starfield appeared on the viewscreen. Something appeared in the centre of the image - a pinprick at first, it expanded impossibly fast. Suddenly there was a spacecraft hovering before them. Picard narrowed his eyes. It went against his nature to judge by appearance, but that thing did not look pleasant. Triangular and pointed in shape, it looked menacing - as if the designer had wanted the shape alone to be a threat. Picard was about to start giving orders when the lights dimmed. "Geordi, what's going on?" "The starship is using some kind of beam weapon. It is interfering with our systems!" "Negative," disagreed Data, "The pattern of the beam is consistent with that of an active EM scanner, though one that is several orders of magnitude more powerful than the Enterprise." "You mean their scans are disrupting the operations of our vessel?" "Yes," replied Geordi, "but they've stopped now anyway." "Do not return scans," Picard said instantly. He was aware of Riker's questioning look. "It is their neighbourhood, Number One. Don't want to appear too inquisitive." "We are being hailed," Data said. A fuzzy splattering of white noise appeared on the viewscreen. Picard exchanged glances with Riker. "The alien vessel is not using stan-" began Data. "Unidentified vessel! This is the Imperial Customs Corvette _Battlecry._ Why have you failed to activate your holographic projector?" came the audio transmission. "Ah!" started Data, "they must be using a three-dimensional visual transmission matrix. They were popular in the late-" "Never mind, Mister Data, can you compensate for the disparity in visual transmission?" "Ay, Captain." In seconds, the static was replaced by the stark images of naval crewmen. The very human-looking creatures were clearly outfitted for war. Picard hesitated. "Battlecry, this is the Federation Starship Enterprise. We intend no trespass on your space - our vessel is a ship of exploration." That's a half truth, he thought - the Sovereign class was officially an Enhanced Deterrence Explorer, in reality a battlecruiser. But there was no need to go into that right now. "We encountered a spatial anomaly of some kind which catapulted our ship to this region of space. We are investigating possible methods of returning home now." The reply was almost instant. "Enterprise, you are charged with violation of the Coruscant Restricted Zone, usage of non-standard communications protocols in an attempt to evade justice, and subspace pollution. Your stardrive mechanism is of an unknown make but is clearly malfunctioning. De-activate your power core at once and prepare to be boarded! Your senior officers will be taken into custody and your ship impounded until appropriate action can be taken. We are preparing to dock now. Be warned, Enterprise; our turbolaser batteries are locked onto your ship and we will fire at any provocation. Battlecry out." The man disappeared from the viewscreen. "Well, that sounded final," Riker said quietly. "Indeed," Picard nodded, watching the transport draw closer. "This may be their territory, but I'm not about to let them board this ship. Red alert. Mister Data, scan that vessel. Let's learn what we can." "Aye, sir. Scan initiated." "Mister Worf," Picard said. Worf had been shooting covert looks at the tactical station for the last five minutes. "Please take the tactical station. I'm afraid you've been drafted." "Thank you, sir," The Klingon said with obvious glee. "Tactical analysis please." Worf studied the console. "The vessel matches no known types. It's method of FTL propulsion, if any, is unknown. Even though its shields are down, the incredibly dense armour and unknown magnetic and quantum readings prevent any form of scanning. All I can tell you is that the hull does contain quantities of neutronium. There are several emplacements on the hull that may be weapons, but we have no similar types for comparison. The only readings I can get are energy readings from the power plant." "How high?" "Off the scale, sir." "Captain Picard, this is your last warning," The intercom sounded. "Drop your shields and prepare to be boarded. In fifteen seconds we will fire a warning shot across the bow." "Battlecry, I say again: we were thrown to this location by a natural anomaly. Our intentions are peaceful, but we are equipped to defend ourselves and will if we must." He made a slashing motion to Worf, who cut the channel. At this point, Picard's memory of the event became increasingly sketchy. He felt another jolt of pain through his temples as Major Kalgan increased the power of the neural transmitter on the torture droid. Picard's memories became increasingly vivid. "The enemy vessel is using targeting scanners on us," Worf announced. I'm using auxilliary power to compensate! As he spoke a single bolt of brilliant green flashed out from the Customs Corvette. While it did not impact on the Enterprises shields, Picard felt the ship rock slightly. The console in front of Lt. Mayer exploded, sending him writhing to the floor in agony. "Hit to the forward shields," Worf announced. "They are holding...barely. The weapon was not like any ever encountered in the Milky Way. While the weapon did not impact directly, the energy radiated from it brought our shields down to 14%. " "Mr. Data - plot retroactive course towards the wormhole! Warp 9.9. Engage now!" The Enterprise spun around in space and dissapeared into warp, leaving behind an angry spattering of turbolaser bolts. "Captain, do you really think it is wise to lead the Imperials back towards our own galaxy?" asked Riker, "Besides, the wormhole will not open again for several hours." "You're right, Number One. We should 'lead them away from the nest' so to speak." For several minutes now, the Enterprise had been travelling at warp 9.9. Data had calculated the best route to avoid any potential pursuers. "Captain," came the voice from engineering, "we can't keep straining the engines like this. They weren't made for extended travel at warp 9.9. They cannot travel sustained like this." "You're right, Mr. LaForge. Prepare to take us out of warp on my mark." "Surely we've evaded any possible pursuit by now," agreed Riker. "Captain!" reported Data, "Detecting new object, approximately six-hundred meters in diameter." "That's more than 4 times the size of the ship that attacked us before." commented Riker. "Maintain warp," ordered Picard, "I'm not going to let them get us now." "Captain, I'm reading a massive gravitational distortion. It-" Suddenly, Data's console exploded. The ship began to rock heavily. Geordi's voice piped in amid screams from the engineering section. "Captain! The alien vessel is emmiting incredibly strong gravitational distoritions. They are affecting the warp drive. We're overheating and the coolant has blown. We have to drop out of warp now!" "Negative Mr. LaForge. You're going to have to keep her together - I don't want to have to engage two ships at once." "Captain, there's-" Geordi stopped speaking as he watched the assistant chief engineer's flesh melt off from the onrushing plasma coolant. "Captain, she's gonna blow. I'm going to eject the warp core manually from the auxilliary panel." Geordi ran towards the closing bulkhead that was sealing off the warp core, but a plasma relay exploded and sent him to the deck. He tried crawling through, and his last sight was the bulkhead door cutting his own body in half. "Geordi...Geordi, what's going on down there?" Silence. Data chimed in, "The warp core ejection mechanism is off-line. Geordi's attempt to manually eject it has clearly failed." "How long before it goes critical?" "The warp core will explode in 13.4324 seconds." Picard cued the intercom. "Engineering section to escape pods now! Prepare for saucer separation." The saucer clamps unhitched and the Enterprise-E's saucer raced away from imminent destruction. Even travelling away at warp speeds, the detonation rocked the saucer. But the gravitational distortions soon wrenched the saucer, without a warp core of its own, out of warp. "Captain," reported Data from an auxilliary science station, "the new vessel is 600 metres long. It is opening fire." The Enterprise saucer rocked under the impacts from hundreds of bolts. "Captain! Hull breach on deck 3! We've lost sensors, weapons, communications, shields, propulsion, and life support." Picard took a deep breath. "Transmit the following in all languages and in all frequencies; 'We surrender'". "Captain?" "You heard me. We are defeated and drifting in space. We'll have a better chance of survival with these 'Imperials' than the vaccum of space." "But-" A faint thud sounded on the hull. "Well," started Picard, "it sounds as if my decision has been made for me." Picard's view of the battered bridge was replaced by a bright white light. Three human figures were once again framed in the doorway. "Now Picard, now you see. Come. You will be at my side when we discuss terms with the Federation." "You're going to negotiate with them?" "No. I am going to conquer them. After a short demonstration of my firepower, of course. And you will be there to witness the defeat of all you have lived and worked for. Come to the bridge, we are already underway." As they rocketed up from the bowels of the ship in the incredibly fast turbolift, Picard asked, "How is it that you were able to prepare an invasion force so quickly? Surely you will need time to mass an invasion fleet." "Ah, Picard, but as you might have discerned by now, I am an ambitious man. I plan to take the Federation myself. It will be a dramatic boost for my career. Perhaps I'll be assigned to a Vengeance-class, or maybe even an Executor." "You'll be going alone against the Federation? The Borg tried that twice before. They failed." "I don't know who these 'Borg' are, but you are aboard the Imperator- class Star Destroyer, /Conqueror/. It will be more than enough to overwhelm your pathetic technology." The turbolift doors had opened, revealing the busy bridge and front profile of the majestic warship. Already, Picard could recognize the hazy blue form of Earth in the distance." "We're being hailed!" stated a communications technician, "We've been ignoring them so far." "Continue to do so. Acclerate to 3/4 lightspeed." Moments passed. "The Federation fleet numbers 40 ships, the largest being of frigate mass. There are also several dozen fighters. Shall we launch fighters?" "Negative. Activate all turbolaser, ion cannon, and missile batteries. Staggered broadside on my mark." While all this action on the bridge was occuring, Picard strained his blurred vision to try and spot familiar ships in the Federation fleet. The Galaxy, Ticonderoga, Bozeman, all of Starfleet's newest and finest starships were there. And moving fast. "The Federation fleet is moving into a battle line," reported a tactical officer." "Excellent," concluded Kalgan, "it will be like hunting nerf with a scattergun. Fire!" Starting with the heavy turbolasers, bright green energy rippled from the aft dorsal section of the /Conqueror/. Angry green bolts ripped through multiple Starfleet vessels. Flak bursts shattered entire wings as gigatons of energy surged through inadequate Starfleet defenses. By the time the light turbolaser cannons had a chance to fire, all that was left for them were scattered debris and fighters for target practise. The Sector 001 fleet had been destroyed in a single broadside. The /Conqueror/ moved towards Earth like a tiger coming in for the kill. The lone Imperial vessel had expended more energy than had ever been used by Starfleet in 200 years of space exploration. The only guarantee coming from this encounter was a promotion for Captain Kalgan. The End