Personal Log: Commander Cody Bettencourt

‘It’s been a few weeks since Captain Vax and Commander Fergouson took shore leave while the ship was being refitted with its carrier module. Since then, I’ve commanded the Heracles and been tasked with patrolling the Klingon-Federation border. We intercepted a few Orion ships that were listed as potentially slave traders; fortunately, only two of them were slave traders. Following a successful investigation of the ship’s manifest and the removal of three illegally obtained Betazoids from their holds. We sent them on their way with a firm warning that if they were caught again with illegal goods or enslaved people, we would impound their ship and revoke their trade licenses.’

Cody paused the log for a moment to take a sip of the Raktajino on the desk. As he placed the drink back on the desk, he wondered if anything else needed to be logged before returning to the log.

‘After the Heracles left the Earth Space Station, a few minor power issues were discovered. The majority of them had a direct connection to the carrier module that the Heracles had attached to its structure. I honestly believe it shouldn’t have been a problem given that the Heracles is designed to handle such a module, but even the best-laid plans have flaws from time to time. I eagerly await the return of Captain Vax and Commander Fergouson in the next…’

A soft beep came from the console on the desk, and Cody paused the log to respond to the hail from the bridge.

“Commander Bettencourt, we have a message from Starfleet command. It’s for you,” said a soft female voice on the other end of the intercom.

“Send it to the ready room computer,” Cody said as he closed the intercom.

Cody sat back in the oversized, plush chair. As he waited for the message to be sent to the computer, he thought to himself, ‘God, now I see why she loves this chair.’ As the message appeared on the screen, I read it and discovered that it had been sent by a member of the Fourth Fleet Admiralty. He read the message and saw that it was an order to change course and head for the Paulson Nebula to assist the fleet in the “Stormbreaker” operation. He also noticed that they would have to take a detour because they needed to pick up Captain Vax and Commander Fergouson on Vulcan.

After reviewing the message and orders, he noted that their primary mission was to close any subspace rifts they came across. He then shook his head as he looked over the attached designs and specs for the device that would allow the rifts to be closed. ‘Thank God I don’t have to design this,’ he thought to himself.

He stepped out of the ready room after closing the file and taking his seat from Trever, who had been in command while he was away.

“Set your course for Vulcan, Mr. Nief.” “Warp 6,” Cody said, leaning back in his command chair.

Trever nodded and took over the ship’s flight controls again, saying, “Aye, Commander,” as he plotted the course to Vulcan. “Vulcan laid in,” he stated.

Cody nodded before saying, “Engage.”

Trever tapped a single holographic icon, which activated the Heracles nacelles and propelled the ship into warp.

From Vulcan, To Paulson Nebula with Love

Stardate: 74986.31

Time: 1241 hours

Location: Beta Quadrant – Earth, Vulcan, Heracles

Vausees was lying on a beach towel when a shadow suddenly enveloped her. “Sweety, you’re blocking my sun,” she said, mistaking Debrah for standing over her. She opened one of her eyes and realized it was someone else, a stranger to her. “Can I assist you?” she inquired of the person standing over her.

“Captain Vausees Vax, I presume,” a male voice from the person standing over her said.

She sat up, alarmed, and observed a middle-aged man standing there.

“That depends on who you are and what you want,” she said as she sat there, turning her head to look for Debrah. She saw her a little further down the beach, talking with someone. Her eyes narrowed as she returned the man’s stare. “Well?”

A PADD was handed to her by the man. “You are immediately ordered to return to the Heracles, no questions asked.”

Vausees had her mouth open and was about to object when Debrah looked over at her. She rose to her feet and stared at the man. “Get out of my sight,” she said simply as she began to walk away.

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to do that, Captain,” the man told her.

Vausees came to a halt, turned, and faced him. “You’ve got two seconds to get out of…” she went to a halt when she felt a familiar hand on her waist.

“Sir, you are not required to follow us to the shuttle that is waiting for us,” Debrah said, looking the man in the eyes.

“With all due respect, I have orders to make certain that you both board that shuttle.”

A voice was heard suddenly coming from the PADD in Debrah’s hand. “Let them go, Ensign Somer.”

“Sir?”

“I’m not fond of repeating myself, Ensign. You’ve got your orders.”

“Sir, yes,” Somer responded as he motioned for the other officer, but he found himself alone. He looked at them for a moment, wondering, ‘Who are you two?’

***Bungalow***

Vausees looked at Debrah, crying as she looked at her fiance. Debrah kissed her, wiped away her tears, smiled, and lipped out, ‘I know.’ Vausees shook her head after wiping her eyes again. “The burden of being a captain can be a little bit annoying at times.”

“I know,” Debrah said as she zip-locked their duffle bags.

A few minutes later, they were both sitting on a shuttle as it jumped from the ground, its thrusters activating. “So much for our vacation,” Vausees sighed as she looked down at their bungalow.

Debrah snatched her hand in hers. “There will be many more in the future. Besides, you and I both know that the Fourth Fleet would not have cut our vacation short unless it was necessary,” she explained.

When Vausees looked at her, she knew she was right. Something was wrong, and no one knew what it was. This bothered her, and she was determined to find out what was happening.

***Vulcan***

As they approached Vulcan, Cody said, “Lieutenant Jonton, notify the Vulcan defense that we are approaching the planet.”

“Aye, Commander,” Jonton replied as he dispatched the message to Vulcan. A moment later, they received a response confirming them. “They recognize us, Commander.”

Cody told Trever, “Take us into orbit, Mister Nief.”

Trever nodded, his hands flying over the console as he entered the commands for the Heracles to enter an orbit with Vulcan. “We’re in orbit now, Commander,” he said.

A shuttle exited warp and headed for the Heracles a split second later.

“We’re being hailed,” Jonton said, bringing the hail to the viewscreen. On the screen was Vausees.

“Nice to see you, Captain,” Cody said, looking at her.

“Commander, we’re on our way to the main hangar. Meet me in my ready room,” Vausees said as the viewscreen returned to the planet’s view.

Cody paused for a moment. His thoughts wandered to what she might have wanted. He moved toward the ready room after realizing he couldn’t figure it out.

***Ready Room***

As Debrah took up the Tactical station, Vausees entered the ready room.

“Report,” she said, looking at Cody, who was waiting for her in the ready room.

“Everything is fine on the ship, Captain,” he said.

She sat down behind the desk and looked at him. “That’s not what I’m talking about, Commander.”

“Captain?” Cody asked after a glance at her.

“Why was I summoned from my vacation, Cody?”

“Captain, it’s on your computer.”

The orders to head for the Paulson Nebula were seen when Vausees tapped on the monitor. She kept reading and saw the designs for the device that would be used to close the rifts. She raised her head to look at Cody. He gave her a nod.

She reached over and tapped the holographic intercom icon. “Lieutenant Nief set Warp 7 for the Paulson Nebula.” She tapped the icon once more and leaned back in her chair. She closed her eyes briefly as the stars outside the room began to move, then stretched out as the ship entered warp.

It had been several days since Vausees and Debrah had been forced to retreat from their much-deserved vacation. The mood was upbeat but inside of both women was a boiling turmoil of checked rage. 

“Commander, what’s the current update on completing the rift closing device?” she asked Cody as she looked up from the PADD that she had in her hands.

Cody swiveled the armrest console and checked on the status of the device. “Charles has the device completed in three hours,” Cody stated as he returned the console to its original position.

Vausees nodded, her eyes narrowed as she peered out the viewscreen at the passing stars as if she was trying to see into the deep inky darkness of space as if she was trying to see the storm they were speeding to.

*Just outside of Barisa Prime*

The Heracles slowed out of its warp bubble and exited to impulse. The entire viewscreen was engulfed by the image of a mass of energy flowing towards the Barisa Prime system that was a few light years behind the Heracles.

A quiet chime occurred from the console in the armrest when she entered a command to raise the polarization of the viewscreen.

“Captain, the device is built and test simulated,” Cody stated as he placed the last of his tools away.

“Perfect timing, Chief,” Vausees replied from her seat as she stared at the beast before them.

Suddenly a rift tore open on the lead edge of the storm. This caused the Heracles to bring up its ‘Red Alert’ as a single Klingon ship appeared. Then seemed to shimmer into another ship that appeared to be of Romulan design; for a moment, before it too shimmered from view. 

Vausees looked at Debrah behind her, shaking her head that she had not been able to identify those two ships. “Sorry, Captain. All I can say is that they were both there and then gone. I can tell you that one of the two was Klingon, and I think the other was Romulan, but I do not recognize the design,” she stated. “I will, however, research it in the archives.”

Before Debrah could take a step from her station, the rift disappeared and reappeared directly in front of the Heracles. Vausees eyes widened as she saw this, “Evasive action!” she yelled out.

Trever tried to guide the ship away from the entrance of the rift but it was of no use. A sudden bone-rattling shake coursed through the ship as the nose of the Heracles penetrated the rift.

Vausees and the entire crew were sent sprawling onto the deck as the ship passed through the rift. The impact caused several crewmen to lose consciousness from being lifted off of the ground and then tossed back down; Vausees was one such person. She landed on the deck behind the operations console that stood behind her.

The bridge was a cascade of sparks that showered from consoles that had exploded from the crossing over into the rift. Now the bridge lay in flashing red hues from the klaxons and was shrouded in darkness.

As the ship entered the rift time seemed to speed up and slow down all at the same time. Sections of the ship seemed to warp and distort as other sections were left alone. These events happened all over the ship; not one section of the ship was unscathed as they rode inside the rift.

On the other side of the rift, a battle ensued as both Romulans and Klingons battle for supremacy and the right to rule that sector of space.