“Engaging phaser drill.”  Lieutenant William Prentice sat atop the hull of the Patra’s Downfall above the bridge.  Three of the Hazard Team officers surrounded him, phaser rifles armed and ready.  They had maybe thirty minutes left before Pandora Crawford destabilized beyond saving.  Between Prentice and ten thick feet of protective hardened deck plating were the creatures they’d taken to calling ‘unknown.’  He checked his watch and the readings from the drill, “Estimated time to reach the bridge – fifteen minutes.  She really secured the hell out of her ship.”

Lieutenant Sadie Fowler watched her science screens on the Dragonfly’s bridge as they all listened to the open channel. She was nervous for her boyfriend and nervous for the rest of them. The reports from the two ships failed to explain how the beings had made it aboard Pandora’s ship.  There was no evidence of a shuttle or vehicle present.  In their limited time, the engineers hadn’t been able to locate a transporter system or otherwise.  The screens continued to update as she watched.

In the center command chair, Captain Leopold Halsey gripped the arms of the chair tightly.  Prentice had been among the few rated with the drilling equipment and even fewer among the fewer willing to volunteer.  An ensign sat at the helm station, her hands resting mere inches above the engage command.  They were taking no chances.  Below decks, each transporter room was in a similar state – each one locked onto one of the team members.  Halsey glanced at his watch. Five minutes had passed.

At communications, Ensign Presley Atega held headphones to her ears.  She’d been working on both the images captured from the ships and errant signals that had started in the last few minutes.  She closed her eyes to focus on the sounds.  It was an archaic language with a limited vocabulary.  The computer recorded each burst, attempting to translate.  She slipped them off one ear, “Captain, there’s some chatter filtering in that’s…unusual.”  Atega recounted what she and the computer suspected

Halsey felt her words send a shiver down his spine.  “You think we have company?”  Ensign Catari turned to listen at tactical, keeping one eye on her threat screens.

The communications chief worked out her hypothesis as she replied, “They’re not warp-capable – the power is comparable to our impulse drives and maybe warp one if they pushed it hard…they’re local – maybe those two ships out there are overdue.

Leopold watched the drill work play out on the view screen. There were three minutes left. “Catari, what are you seeing?”

She adjusted her scans to center in the direction of the readings Atega had noticed.  “Getting some scattered readings now, captain – something big is coming our way.  Bigger than those two ships.  Bigger than us.  Intercept time is five minutes.”  She continued to reorient the sensors and repeat the scans as it grew closer.  Whatever it was, the computer was struggling to understand the width and breadth of it.  “Muddling through the various targets in the system and beyond is pushing the system – their signal was hiding in the middle of a bunch of…other stuff.”  She had not been a fan of the Delta Quadrant, and the Gamma was climbing the list.

Halsey ordered, “Let’s work on what that stuff is..for now, charge phasers and load torpedo bays – we may have to shoot while we fly out of here.  Prentice?”

The voice of their Chief Flight Control Officer crackled on the speakers, “One minute to go, sir.”

Atega had closed her eyes and was listening to what she thought was chatter. It was increasing in volume and diversity, and several ships were in the mix.  “Captain – we’ve got at least three vessels in transit – one large and two medium.  They do not sound happy.”  She felt the pressure on the bridge tighten.

Prentice reported, his voice similarly tight, “Thirty seconds.”

Sadie Fowler sat at science, her console working through the sensor reports from communications, tactical, and everywhere in between.  Something new popped up as the sensors started a new run across the sector, “Captain – I’m reading…something.”  She frowned at the mystery, “The matter of space and time is…fluctuating.”  Her heart was pounding, her head scrambling in a panic as the sensors first hit the yellow lines and then screamed past the red lines.  “It’s the unknown ships, sir – they’re…bending space?”  The deck shuddered as the spatial displacement began to wreak havoc around them.

Prentice shouted through the channel, his voice trembling, “DONE!”

Halsey stood, “Engage transporters on all targets!” A beat.  Then two.  Three.  The deck beneath them continued to shudder.

And four.

Tir at the operations station watched the display, “Team is back onboard…they’ve got a lock on Crawford…locked…she’s secured!”

The deck shaking hadn’t abated and was getting worse. Halsey was back in his chair, “Helm – get us out of here.”

The ensign worked to get them going and shook her head, “Too much interference from the arriving ships, sir!  I can get us out of here on imp…”

“Do it!” The Douglas darted away slowly and then smoothly out and away, circling far behind a large moon on the far end of the system.  Halsey stood, “Report.”  The gravimetric distortions had subsided as they’d made their run.

Fowler shook her head, “Whatever system they have, it’s breaking every rule we know.  It causes significant damage upon arrival – it looks like the three ships were wiped out on arrival – I’m only reading debris.”  Another glance at the screen, “The lead ship is…,” she checked again, aghast at what the computer was reading.  She read it slowly, “Length is 2,000 meters and width is 800 meters.”

The CO motioned to the screen and marveled at the sensor data as it streamed and updated as the scans continued, “She can’t possibly do those kinds of jumps all the time.  The power required…,” he trailed off in wonder.

Catari had run her own scans, “There’s a power module the computer seems to think is a reservoir of some kind…or a battery – the power readings show a near-zero amount, but it is slowly charging.”  She quickly calculated, “It will be filled in two weeks, sir.”

A channel clicked onto the bridge, “Reid to bridge – we’ve secured Pandora Crawford.  She is unhappy by default and threatening to kill everyone on board.  She’s unusually concerned with readings associated with ionic phasing.  I’m not getting any readings here, but…,”

Halsey called out to Fowler, who had started working when it was mentioned.  A second later, she shook her head, “I’m reading an increasing amount of it around the wreckage – some of it is heading towards the larger ship, but some of it…some of it is headed our way, sir.”

Leo snapped, “Red alert – Mr. Prentice, welcome back.  Get me somewhere they can’t follow us for the moment.”  He waited until the young helm officer reported he’d found a location, “Maximum speed – let’s get out of here.”  Nobody on the bridge disagreed with him.

“The probe is still broadcasting – either they don’t know what it is or don’t care.  The larger ship and the two medium ships are station keeping in the sector.  Small scout ships are searching the area and a little beyond to locate us.”  Sadie sat back down as she finished her presentation.  

Lieutenant McKee from engineering was next.  “We’ve looked at the scans and schematics – the system they have for transportation is not for the weak.  We think it’s part of their radiation heritage – their weapons are not the exception but the rule.  The system is similar to a jump system but is rudimentary and flawed.  The computer could approximate the damage this thing could do – it could destroy a ship of our size or carve a significant hole into a planet, never mind the system damage it could do depending on where it landed.  It’s not for long jumps – Lieutenant Atega’s theory was correct – they’re local.  The farthest this thing could go would be someplace a few weeks from here.  It would take them an inordinate amount of time to get to our end of the Gamma Quadrant.”  She tapped another button as the display changed, showing a blurred image of the engine room they’d located on one of the ships, “As for this setup – it’s brutal and effective – whatever chemical compounds they’ve engineered to create the power they require for impulse engines is either a result of genius or madness…or a little of both.  We suspect there is a science class of these creatures who are far more educated or interested in the mysteries of space and what is beyond their little corner of it.”

Halsey turned to his interim XO, “Commander?”

Charlie Hargraves stood, changing the display, “For first contact scenarios, this one is pretty hard.  Our Universal Translator isn’t able to approximate much of anything – it would take an extended conversation over several hours to even get an idea of where to start.  Given their reaction to Pandora and us, I don’t think we will make friends anytime soon.  The ionic phasing results suggest they can operate outside of their ships in zero gravity and no oxygen…this answers the question of how they got onboard Patra’s Downfall.  Given the nature of what we experienced, it is the recommendation of Diplomatic Operations that we avoid them at all costs.”  He sat down.

The CO turned to the table, “Thoughts?”

Lieutenant Commander Milton Ford leaned forward on the table, “How do we keep them away from the aperture?  It’s a few hours from here, and while they won’t be going anywhere for two weeks…they could still stumble onto it.”

Halsey understood.  The Unknowns scared the hell out of him.  They were an impossibly unknown species with a brutalist theme that ran through most of what they’d seen so far.  “We’ll return to the Wormhole through the aperture and report in.  This one’s above our pay grade.”

The meeting was soon dismissed, leaving Hargraves and Halsey alone. Charlie spoke first: ” Are you worried they’re going to tell us to study them more—see if we can find a common point of diplomatic conversation?”

The CO chuckled, “That possibility exists.  Another possibility is they assign us a partner.”

Hargreaves frowned and then realized, “Dragonfly.  You and Wren will have some things to talk about.”

He ignored the jab, “I think your scenario is more realistic.  We’re a strong science vessel; plenty of unresolved science is here.  They’re not going anywhere.”  He held Hargraves’s gaze, “I’m glad you’re here, Commander.  Despite the ‘why,’ I’ll take all the help I can get.”

Charlie cracked, “Command hasn’t been my favorite – as an assignment or as people I have to work with.  I have a habit of not taking crap from my commanding officers.”

Halsey replied, “Well, then, I guess we’ve both been warned.”