To The Rescue

Posted on Tue Jul 21st, 2020 @ 12:16am by Commodore Jane Saulitis & Commander Dominic Aldrich

Mission: Cruel Meridian
Location: Bridge
Timeline: MD 08
1095 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Silence reigned supreme on the bridge of the Majestic as it had done for at least the past twenty minutes. Conversations were limited to those essential for duty, and even those were short lived. Even though most members of the crew were keeping a brave face, the full gravitas of the situation they found themselves in began to prey on their minds. A rising tide of anxiety could be felt; tension was building around the ship as the crew continued to work on putting Captain Saulitis's "broken mirror" discovery to use. It was easy to fall into a sense of helplessness when pitting one's wit and intellect against the current of time, but every department set about the work with the same rugged determination that they always did.

Commander Hanover sat in his assigned seat on the bridge, distracting himself from the tension by reading through as many systems diagnostics as he could bear. Once every half hour, he sent a message across to the department heads - the so called "mango check" that Captain Saulitis had developed to ensure that the officers involved belonged to the proper timeline. In truth, thinking about the fissures in time overwhelmed him. The possible outcomes were quite literally infinite, but as a finite being, infinity was very difficult to grasp.

"Commander, proximity alert."

Hanover's attention snapped immediately to the view screen which had been populated with the image of the intrusion. It was a small vessel, drifting aimlessly through space like a leaf on the wind.

"Mister Aldrich, scan that vessel for life signs and run a scan of its tachyonic signature. Let us hope that it's from the correct timeline," Jared turned from the science station to where the Romulan Chief of Security stood. "Commander Sommers, see if you can find a match in the database for that vessel, I've never seen it before, which is becoming a bit of a rarity at my advanced age."

"Aye, Sir. The scan will take a moment to complete," Dominic replied as recalibrated the sensors to a very tight information search.

Lhaes nodded, slender fingers already dancing across his console. "Search initiated, this may take a few minutes."

"Captain to the bridge!"

Jane heard the call and rose from her ready room chair, tugging down her uniform and smoothing her hair as she went so it wouldn't look like she'd been stealing z's on the job, which of course she had been. No one needed to know that particular fact. It was easier to sleep in her ready room than her large and empty quarters.

"What's going on Commander?" She asked as she stepped out onto the bridge.

"Unsure, captain. A unidentified vessel seems to have moved into our little corner of time and space. Guess there's a deal on real estate going on," Hanover motioned towards the front of the bridge. His eyes glanced back and forth between Captain Saulitis and the view screen, which had been zoomed in on the drifting ship. The lack of illumination from the ship's running lights created a sense of unease in him, but he kept his hopes up for a positive outcome.

"Commander Aldrich is checking to see if that ship belongs to our timeline. Commander Sommers is working on an identification..." Hanover's voice trailed off as he noticed a change in the captain's body language. It was clear she knew something he didn't.

"I know that vessel. Hak," she said and almost couldn't decide if she had spoken out loud. Lhaes voice broke through her thoughts and her knowledge of procedure came flooding back to her. They had to be careful, very careful.

"Registry lists it as belonging to Starfleet intelligence," Lhaes announced suddenly, "sensors appear unable to scan vessel interior. I get one life sign but that's all I'm able to tell."

"Make no further scans!" Jane said firmly. "Bring them in and have a medical team meet me in the shuttle bay. Do not attempt to scan the vessel once it's inside either. That's an order." She'd have to make sure the medical team signed paperwork not to reveal what they saw. Oh this was a mess, a big giant mess. Had he come in after her?

"Initiating tractor beam," the Romulan security chief ordered, casting the Captain a confused look. Something about this didn't feel right, but he couldn't pinpoint what.

Lhaes was far from the only one with a bewildered look, but Commander Hanover simply shrugged it off and placed his trust in his captain. An incalculable number of variables seemed to be in play, so to see their commanding officer so certain about something and issue orders with no room for doubt seemed to be as solid a foothold as any other they had stumbled across in their attempts to escape the temporal anomaly. He was sure that if there was information that he needed to know, she would inform him when the time was right, but until then, he had his orders.

Retaking his seat, Jared keyed in a sequence of commands that sent a message to the medical staff, relaying the captain's request for a medical team to meet and assist one lifesign in unknown condition in the main shuttlebay. Having received the confirmation that the request had been acknowledged, he turned back to the others on the bridge.

"Medical is on the way, captain."

Dominic had stopped short of beginning to give a report when the Captain ordered him to stop. He quickly reviewed what pieces of data he could glance over raising an eyebrow at the seemingly inconsistent results. He archived it and moved on to observing the Bridge and waiting for further instructions.

"I'll be in sickbay," Jane replied as she headed toward the door. "You have the bridge Commander." Suddenly she stopped and turned around. "Actually. Commander Aldrich you're with me." Jane couldn't make it an order, but she could make it a request and ask if he'd be willing to do something that she couldn't tell him completely about. Anything he saw would of course have to be kept to himself.

"I am coming too," Lhaes said resolutely, his expression indicating he wasn't taking no for an answer. "Security is on the way, just in case." He beckoned a lowly security officer to take over his station, then made for the turbolift.

Jane hesitated but finally nodded and the three of them headed for the turbolift. "Gentlemen," She began as the doors closed on the bridge. "Anything you see, or hear on this vessel is classified."

End