For the fifth time now, The Phantom (as the ship’s crew had euphemistically dubbed their quarry) had eluded the best efforts of the USS Valley Forge to intercept and discover more about the mysterious source of the automated distress signal.

Even with other Task Force assets requisitioned to draw the dragnet close around the fleeting contact, The Phantom still managed to remain just out of reach – it’s course and telemetry confounding all attempts to extrapolate it’s heading and intent.

“We came closer this time Sam.” Captain Kay Fallon, CO of the Niagara – class Fast Cruiser – USS Raleigh, apologized with some chagrin. “We managed to warp to within 1 parsec of the target, before it warped out again. Same as before.”

Captain Samantha Hyland nodded in agreement – their own pursuit of The Phantom had yielded similar results – every time the Excelsior II Heavy Cruiser had managed to close distance with the rogue contact – the mysterious vessel had gone to warp – travelling an inconceivable distance that far outranged the performance of even the swiftest of Starfleet vessels available in the Sector.

“We’ve had much the same run of luck, but thanks’ for trying Kay.” Sam nodded to her Senior Officer’s assembled around the Briefing Room table. “But whilst we’ve been led a merry dance by our errant friend, we have managed to collate a number of interesting facts and data about its nature. That’s why I have called this meeting to share and coordinate what we do know – in an effort to hypothesize what we still don’t know and gain the edge to intercept this thing.”

Captain Fallon nodded from the viewscreen as Samantha turned to the USS Valley Forge’s Chief Science Officer and prompted, “Lieutenant Commander Dai, if you will?”

All attention turned to the irascible Betazoid scientist, who cleared her throat and brought up a hologram of the recent course that The Phantom had woven – as its unpredictable progress had taunted and ensnared the two Starfleet Vessels that pursued it.

“As we know, the target vessel (Lt CDR Dai steadfastly refused to give in to the fantasist – designation consigned to the source of the distress signal – as a scientist has no patience for such indulgences – but “The Phantom” had enlivened an already – bored young crew with its implicit sense of mystery and intrigue) was encountered 31 hours ago and during subsequent pursuit has appeared to warp away a total of 5 times to date – each time when the intercepting vessel has closed to less than 1 parsec / 206264.8062471 astronomical units.”

As Deassomi recapped the sequence of events of the last few hours, correspondingly the integers of the pursuit and attendant data was highlighted on the animation of the holodisplay.

“The uniformity of that distance suggests a pattern correlation – with each encounter the same.

“Does that mean that someone could still be alive aboard the target vessel?” Commander Talland enquired thoughtfully – as eager as anyone assembled to find some pattern of logic or reason to better apply to the situation.

“Possible Commander, “ Deassomi considered briefly, but then dismissed the notation with a small, irritated wave of her hand. “I consider it more likely to the result of an automated response, possibly a subroutine operating either within or without of a specified parameter.”

“What leads you towards this hypothesis Lieutenant Commander?” Captain Fallon asked intently from the viewscreen as she sat forward in the Command – chair of the distant USS Raleigh.

Deassomi Dai’s black eyes glinted in the muted lighting of the Briefing – room as she cycled a control on the holo, with a deft flick of her fingers. A set of Spatial Telemetry metrics were highlighted over each point where either vessel had come close to intercepting and learning more about The Phantom. With a swirl of her hand, Deassomi clutched the holographic data and pulled it into a columned table that hung shimmering in the air – it’s twin hovering in front of Captain Fallon aboard her own vessel.

The USS Valley Forge’s CSO nodded to the first set of figures that flared with light.

“When the Valley Forge first encountered the Target Vessel at 07:43hrs, yesterday, we launched a Class – 7 probe toward the target to verify. When the probe reached 1 Parsec of the Tango – it apparently went to warp – employing some form of propulsion that yielded a jump of 372,340,348 AU in under 6 seconds”.

Lieutenant Commander Dai then highlighted the remaining sequence of numbers in the table. As each metric flashed with a highlighted – glow, she continued.

“With each subsequent encounter – the distance warped has increased, whilst the variable of 1 parsec on approach and initiation has remained stable. That quantum is consistent with a statistical algorithm that can learn from data and generalize to unseen data and thus perform tasks without explicit instructions. This type of heuristic reaction is typical of a neural network engaged in deep – learning.”

“So, are we to assume that whoever may or may not have activated the Automated distress signal is incapacitated and not in physical control of the vessel?” commented Captain Fallon, whose experience in Search & Rescue operations and her swift – ship, had led to Sam requesting the assistance of the USS Raleigh – from Starbase 72.

“I think it is the most likely scenario – based upon what we know at this time, Captain, yes.” Deassomi agreed and dismissed the holo – display and the lighting of the USS Valley Forge’s Briefing room slowly rose to a more normal state.

“If the vessel is running on autopilot without oversight, then it would certainly qualify as a danger to navigation, if left unchecked.” Ensign Ellis Pennington rubbed his chin thoughtfully. The young Helmsman had initially entered into the pursuit of The Phantom with boyish enthusiasm, but as the chase had elongated from minutes to hours then to days – the impetuous young Risan had begun to approach the problem with a more introspective approach.

“Quite so, but we must still approach the situation with the assumption that some member of the crew must have activated the automated distress signal before they were likely incapacitated and treat this as a rescue of survivors and not the recovery of victims.” Interjected the smooth tones of the avuncular Dr Langah from his seat around the table. “Until it proves otherwise.”

Such was the calming influence of the USS Valley Forge’s Chief Medical Officer, that when Jahanshir spoke – it always seemed to have a salving effect on those assembled.

“Quite so Doctor. “Samantha smiled and allowed a nod the effortlessly smoldering (and confoundingly married) Pakistani physician. “We should not lose focus that this is ostensibly a rescue mission, despite the confounding scientific aspects of the situation.”

Dr Langah smiled and nodded to the CO who turned to address the Senior Officers.

“The USS Raleigh has managed to get closer to The Phant…. Target Vessel that any of us and Captain Fallon has managed to secure some visual data on the target that we have managed to collate with our own data. I have asked our Chief Engineer to work with their team to present an overview of what little we do know at this time. Lieutenant Isono – Chief the floor is yours.” Samantha prompted.

The slim Nipponese Chief Engineer, Lieutenant (Sg) Tani Isono brushed an errant lock of blonde hair from her brow and from her seat – she activated the holo – display once again.

“Domo arigatou, Captain. “Tani nodded to her own CO and then to Captain Fallon on the viewer.

Over the table there rezzed a pale shimmering holo – image of a small vessel, possibly comparative to the size and displacement of a corvette – that shared the unmistakable design lineage of a Starfleet vessel.

“This is a composite image that has been constructed with the extrapolation of the data gathered by our initial probe and subsequent data attained by the USS Raleigh”.

Lieutenant Isono used her own hand to zoom in on the schematic that glowed a soft blue.

“As such it is light on detail and should be assumed for reference purposes only. Until we can get a clear visual on The Phantom (this elicited a scowl from the CSO) – this what we can tell about her”.

“As you can see, there is a standard saucer section that seems to represent the primary hull. I would say probably 30 meters in diameter. This dorsal tower section near the stern seems the most likely location to mount a navigational sensor. What does seem incongruous is that there doesn’t appear to be any vectored thrust nozzles to suggest the vessel has impulse drive capability – which is extremely odd. As is the configuration of the Warp Nacelles situated at the root of that tower – they seem to be of a decidedly unorthodox design.”

“Is it possible that the Target vehicle is an experimental vessel of some type, Chief?” Lieutenant Savak, the Valley Forge’s Chief Security Officer enquired – following the logical supposition to it’s likely conclusion.

Tani nodded and changed brought up a grainy image of the target – vessel, taken by the USS Raliegh’s long range imaging array. Whilst the quality was poor, it was sufficient to discern some faint numbers on the image. Tani swept her fingers to drag the 2D image and interpose it onto the wireframe 3D Holo-image – merging the two and effectively giving The Phantom a grainy skin.

“Hai. That was our initial supposition, Lieutenant.” The confident Japanese Engineer agreed and pointed to the fragment of numbers now adorning the fore – section on the Saucer of the mysterious craft. “As you can see – there is a fragment of what appears to be a Registry number here?”

The numbers “381” were highlighted and were angled up from the ghostly hull of The Phantom, as if they had been cut – out of the hull. The Chief Engineer continued.

“Using the Ship’s Computer, we ran a search through the Bravo Fleet Registry, to see if we could identify any “NX – Class” vessels that have been reported missing – from recent times and going back as far as records permitted, in an attempt to identify the target.”

Tani smiled a small, apologetic smile of defeat and spread her hands wide.

“The computer did not identify any NX – class ship with the number “381” in its registry, so we spread the net and widened our search to any NX – class vessel reported as missing – in – action across all the Named & Numbered fleets in Starfleet…. again, our search turned up no match.”

The sense of resignation seemed to permeate the mood amongst the assembled senior officers.

The appearance of The Phantom and the subsequent pursuit had shaken the entire crew out of the malaise brought about by the tedium of their patrol – duties. The morale aboard ship, previous in a downward spiral, had seen to have reversed – the hubbub of conversation in off – duty areas all centered around the identity of their mysterious quarry – a pervading sense of excitement and potential for adventure unifying the crew.

“Another dead end.” Ensign Kirov commented bitterly, the young Ukrainian Ops Chief confounded by The Phantom’s persistence in eluding a neat and orderly quantification.

Lieutenant Isono smiled craftily and lifted a slim finger to arrest Yevgeny’s slide into remorseful despair.

“But then I got to thinking – why the lack of an obvious Impulse drive, what if it wasn’t a registered NX – Vessel, what if it was just a “Test Article”, instead?”

“Excuse-moi de t’embêter.” The Chief Tactical Officer, Danaé Doucet, interjected – obviously confused. “But what is cet article…this “Test Article” of which you speak?”

The Chief Engineer gave a small smile and nodded.

“We are all familiar with the purpose of a NX – Class vessel, which is to namely field – test an emergent technology and evaluate the data gathered to inform and improve that technology for final implementation into a Named and approved class.”

All around the table and aboard the USS Raliegh nodded their assent.

“良い (Yoi)” Tani smiled and expounded, “By the time a technology has reached the stage where it is employed in an NX – Class experimental spaceframe – it was gone through an extensive and rigorous regimen of testing and evaluation – first in virtual modelling in an AI – test environment, subsequent laboratory work to test the engineering tolerances and assumptions around material science and, in some cases, it is necessary to conduct a limited physical trial of the technologies projected performance in a scaled – down version – so that attendant hazard and risks can be identified and mitigated before they are entrusted to a full sized NX – class vessel.”

“A Test – Article!” Realization formed on Danaé’s fine Québecois features.

“Hai!” The Chief Engineer positively beamed. “Which do not hold a NX – class designation in the Starfleet Registry nor are christened with a Ship – name, rather Test – Articles are assigned a “Hull Number.” When we indexed Hull Number “3815” – we found our Phantom!”

The sense of relief around the room was palpable.

“Well Chief – don’t leave us in suspense.” The XO leaned back in his seat.

“Well records are patchy, but it seems like “Hull 3815” was indeed a Test Article constructed by the Antares Fleet yards way back in 2374 and was reported lost during a trial in 2376 – with no trace of her or the crew assigned to conduct the trials ever found…. until now it would seem.”

“But that was over 25 years ago!” Dr Langah exclaimed in dismay, realizing that the chances of conducting a rescue on a live crew was diminishingly small, given the interval of time that had transpired between Hull 3815’s disappearance and now apparent reappearance.

“Well, it obviously wasn’t destroyed.” Captain Fallon interjected, her face a mask of puzzlement, aboard the USS Raleigh.”

“If it disappeared in the process of conducting a field – trial, then it’s a reasonable supposition that something went wrong.” Lieutenant Commander Dai frowned, subconsciously rubbing the stubble on her crown – as she did when in deep thought. “Do we know what technology she was developed as a test – bed for, Chief?”

“Unfortunately, we hit the wall when we tried to look into that.” Chief Isono looked vexed at the memory. “Starfleet has designed the loss of Hull 3815 and her crew as sensitive material and restricted access to the entire file as TOP SECRET: Confidential. Captain Hyland tried to enlist the assistance of the TFCO, Captain Williams – and even he could not sequester the information we required.”

“Goddamned bureaucrats!” Commander Talland swore under his breath. “Don’t they know that, at best, we appear to be dealing with a haywire science experiment of theirs, careening around the Sector with it’s (likely) iddy – biddy cargo of skeletons asleep at the wheel at beyond – relativistic speeds off the scale. And they can’t release the bloody information !!!” Daniel was incandescent with ire.

Captain Hyland reached over and put a reassuring hand over that of her outraged Executive Officer. Talland looked momentarily startled as the CO of the Valley Forge smiled a guarded smile.

“Heave to, Number 1.” Sam nodded to all assembled.

Samantha stood up and stretched her back and wandered the short distance to the rear viewport and took a moment to massage some life into her posterior, as she briefly enjoyed the vista of the starfield at warp – streaming past the wasp – like Nacelles that propelled them.

She turned to address her officers and fellow Starship Captain.

“If I have learned one thing about Starfleet in my time.” Sam smiled, “Is that when they investigate something they are untidy when they pack up their toys and subsequently, normally leave something lying around that is useful in forcing open the door.”

She tapped her commbadge and called, “Bridge/Ops…This is the Captain. Is my message ready?”

“Subspace Link Received and decrypted Captain.” The duty – Ops officer confirmed.

“Thank you, Ops, – patch it through to the Briefing Room and to the USS Raleigh please.”

“Aye Captain. Ops Out.”

Samantha could see that everyone was plainly confused, but she felt a small sense of satisfaction from her sense of showmanship.

“When the Chief and I were relaying what data was publicly available from the Hull 3815 – Incident, I noted that – indeed – the Test – Article lacked a working Impulse drive. It was only intended to test whatever technology was aboard in a linear flight – path; to then be retrieved and have its performance data evaluated in debrief. That means that it needed a “Tug” to get it into position and to retrieve it at the finish – line once the test was concluded.”

Samantha keyed the holo – display once again and the glimmering, spectral image of a venerable California – class Utility Cruiser floated above the conference table.

“My old Ship, the USS Sacramento.” The CO smiled fondly, then added.

“Of course, this was way before my time, thank you very much, but there is still a member of her current crew that was serving aboard the ‘Sac’ – all that time ago.

The viewscreen suddenly shifted Captain Fallon and her feed from the USS Raleigh to a smaller corner view and the main image shifted to reveal a dour – looking, bald – headed Vulcan Officer of advanced years.

“Greetings Captain Hyland.” Lieutenant Sorvak intoned with all the excitement of a mausoleum and nodded his bald head. “My congratulations on your advancement.”

Sam seated herself and swiveled her chair so that she was facing her former crewmate and OPS officer aboard the USS Sacramento.

Sorvak has the distinction of only having ever served aboard one vessel for his entire career and had studiously avoided any opportunity for advancement that would see him promoted away from his post aboard the doughty old Utility – Cruiser.

Samantha Hyland tried to push aside the bitter memory that, the last time she had seen Sorvak, both of them had been riding on the back of the Crystal Entity (with the living remains of her father entombed within & apparently part of its consciousness), choking on the back of a living God as it carried them slowly into space – without the luxury of EVA suits.

“In comparison, chasing a ghost – ship around half – the quadrant seems like a walk in the park!” Sam thought ruefully as she smiled and responded.

“Sorvak – good to see you. My compliments to Commander Allen and thank you for taking the time to assist us.”

Sorvak looked down his long nose and commented without rancour.

“Like yourself, Commander Allen left the USS Sacramento and is now Captain of another vessel. Lieutenant Commander Vodrova was promoted and now is the Commanding Officer.” The Vulcan shrugged – after all – he had seen a cavalcade of Officers rotate through the “Sac” during his long tenure aboard.

“Well, good for Aleksandra.” Sam commented then addressed the elephant in the room. “But this is far from a social call Lieutenant, I take it that you have had time to review the data – packet we sent you? We are all hoping that you can shed a little more light around the nature of the quarry we seek, and time is running short.”

Lieutenant Sorvak looked unconcerned and nodded.

“Indeed Captain Hyland,” Sorvak continued, as implacable as the sea. “If the data is contingent to the situation, you now find yourself in, it would indeed seem that you have discovered the fate of the “USS Artemis.”

“USS Artemis?” It was Sam’s turn to look confused. “You mean the Test – Article, Hull – 3815?”

“Quite so Captain.” The Vulcan nodded from his place aboard the USS Sacramento – somewhere in the faraway Alpha Quadrant. “That was the familiar nomenclature assigned to Hull – 3815. Humans tend to the perplexing tendency towards personifying inanimate objects with undue affection and affectation – giving them “Pet – names.” Her Commander – Lieutenant Commander Simion Micheals – was no different from any other human in that respect.”

“It just…’stuck’, as you humans like to say.” Sorvak remarked acidly.

Unbidden, Yevgeny Kirov was already delving into the Starfleet personnel records archive and presently brought up a file image from the service jacket of Simion Micheals.

“Commander Micheals was a brilliant, if impulsive, member of the Starfleet / ASDB Test – Pilot corps assigned to flight – line evaluation operations at the Antares Fleet Yards. A more than capable pilot and a good officer – but prone to risk taking behavior.” The venerable Vulcan – veteran officer commented without judgement.

“What was the mission of the…. USS Artemis?” Sam persisted, wanting to get to the heart of the matter.

“Hull – 3815 was developed as a test – bed to prove the fundamental technologies behind the theories of Dr Gallian Makon – progenitor of “Stutter – Warp” technology.” Sorvak explained.

“Stutter – warp?”  Chief Isono interrupted. “I’m not familiar with that technology?”

Sorvak turned to regard the impetuous Nipponese Engineer with a sardonic, raised eyebrow.

“Nor should you be Lieutenant.” The Vulcan explained. “The technology was both revolutionary and highly unstable in its intrinsic nature – the return of the USS Voyager from the Delta Quadrant and then advent of Transwarp technology and its implicit applications would have served to render Dr Makon’s Stutter – Warp innovations obsolete: as it was – the loss of the USS Artemis during her final trial certainly underscored the death – nell for the entire project and it was shut down.”

“Lieutenant Sorvak.” Lieutenant Commander Dai politely enquired, “Can you tell us a little more about the science and intent behind the Stutter – Warp project?”

“Of course. “ Sorvak nodded stentorily and the holo – display changed once more to display an informational that the Vulcan had appended to his Subspace communication.

“In the early 2370’s, with the Federation sustaining considerable losses in the opening years of the Dominion War and Starfleet hard pressed to deploy its remaining fleet – assets, whilst rushing to complete and launch a number of replacement and successor classes to frontline operations – the challenges of covering such vast distances with a diminishing pool of vessels became a very real concern.” Sorvak spoke as archive images of the Dominion War were displayed, then replaced with a file picture of a middle-aged woman of Mid – European descent.

“Considerable interest was centered around the work of noted Warp – Theorist, Dr Gallian Makon. Dr Makon supposed a novel new way to work with existing Warp – propulsion systems, cotemporary to the era, creating a “Stutter – Warp” effect to propel ships up to their maximum warp potential – but in such a way to both maximize the energy co – efficiency output between the Warp Core and Warp – Coil assemblies.

The file picture of Dr Gallian Makon was replaced with an icon representing the USS Artemis.

“Contemporary vessels create a stable warp – field by producing highly – energetic electro-plasma, channeled through the plasma conduits of EPS system and funnel that through plasma injectors into a series of warp – field coils in the nacelles – creating a stable warp – field that the vessel then rides within.”

This was Warp – Core theory 101, so basic that everyone present – was present because they had passed this basic engineering requirement at Starfleet Academy, so came as news to no – one.

What Sorvak related next, went decidedly beyond their schooling.

“Dr Makon postulated that, if the energization of the electro-plasma was continually fluctuated from positive to negative whilst being introduced to the plasma injectors – the resultant warp field created by the field – coils would produce a momentarial “bubble” of Warp – Field energy that would exist only briefly before collapsing.”

“Dr Makon went on to asset that, IF a ship could be instantaneously propelled from one side of that bubble to the other and that collapsing bubble could be linked to the next bubble forming in a linear – chain; then that vessel could ride the “Stutter – Warp” effect in a theoretically endless train – slamming from one bubble to the next as it rides the continual birth and decay of each warp – field.”

Everyone in the room was stunned and were only broken from that state by Captain Fallon.

“That’s audacious.” Kay Fallon breathed, “It sounds wildly theoretical and immensely dangerous – did Dr Makon succeed in her goals?”

From his portion of the viewscreen, Sorvak shrugged noncommittally, as the tiny hologram icon of the USS Artemis rode from “Warp – bubble” to “Warp – bubble.”

“Given that Dr Makon was present aboard Hull – 3815 when it disappeared with all hands over 25 years ago, it is impossible to conjecture whether she considered her brainchild successful. “ Sorvak shrugged.

“Certainly, the Stutter – Warp effect was not designed to improve the overall top – warp speed of a vessel, rather to produce an energistic effect that would make the output of the Warp – Core more efficient and ensure that the vessel could operate at an optimum maximum speed for longer duration. Before the loss of the test – article, the telemetry and data being returned from the trials certainly showed promise.”

“But she was lost with all hands.” Samantha interjected soundly.

“Quite so Captain Hyland.” Sorvak nodded somberly, ‘Whilst I was not party to the official findings of the Incident Investigation report prepared by Starfleet, in the wake of the USS Artemis’ disappearance – anecdotal evidence arrived at during the trials did point to potential instabilities in the reverse ionization of the Warp – Plasma through the Plasma Injectors. There were several near – misses as the Injectors gave out under load and Dr Makon was forced to encode an algorithm to regulate the flow.”

“The flow dynamics alone would be extremely challenging to calculate.” Chief Isono nodded, “You’d need at least a Level – 3 semi – sentient AI – Matrix to make the calculations in real – time.”

“Level – 5, to be precise. “ Sorvak corrected Tani.

 “Others conjectured that Lieutenant Commander Micheals, with his reputation for pushing the equipment to the edge, may have unintentionally instigated a catastrophic system – failure that resulted in the loss of the Test – Article. As it was, no wreckage was ever found – now it appears, we finally know why.”

Samantha Allen steepled her hands, lost in contemplation. She wasn’t sure if her odds had improved or diminished, now that they knew more about the nature of their quarry.

“Lieutenant Sorvak, Ensign Pennington – Helm.” Ellis introduced himself.” One thing’s been bothering me, and I was wondering if you could set my mind at ease.”

“I will seek to elucidate if I can, please continue Ensign.”

Ellis adjusted the Holo and brought back the original flightpath of the USS Artemis, that the CSO had started the briefing with.

“Thank you.” Ellis nodded to the display. “Assuming that everyone aboard The Phantom is either long dead or incapacitated and assuming that the ship under some type of autonomous control – possibly by the ship’s computer – then how is it managing to make these course corrections – if it doesn’t have an Impulse Drive? Maneuvering thrusters would be next to useless at these speeds? It doesn’t make sense?”

Before Sorvak could respond the CSO suddenly blurted out “GRAVITY!!!”

All eyes turned to regard Lieutenant Commander Deassomi Dai as she began to grab the hologram and manipulated it as she spoke animatedly.

“I’m such a fool! Gravity is the answer!” The scientist enthused as the holo swam and she feverishly worked calculations.

Sorvak looked on impassively as the Executive Officer demanded mildly.

“For clarities sake, Deassomi, could you let the rest of us non – genius’ in on the action?”

The CSO expanded the original course of the fleeing Test – Article and overlayed a more detailed mapping of the general volume of space surrounding it.

“Ellis is right, in a manner of speaking! “ Deassomi beamed, distracted by her feverish calculus. “The Phantom has been using the relative interactions with the gravity – wells of nearby planetary masses and gas giant’s it was encountered along its course – to incrementally change its heading. It’s so slight and subtle, you’d easily miss it – but when you map it over a larger vector it becomes more apparent. It’s like using your nacelles- output to steer if you have lost helm control!!”

“But if the ship is on autopilot, what is it trying to avoid and why?” Samantha was dumbfounded.

As Deassomi Dai fed more parameters into the holodisplay, a new vector – emblazoned in red – appeared – charting the likely course of the fleeing USS Artemis; if it continued to make similar, gradual course adjustments.

On the Holo – map – the large, unmistakable mass of a Stellar Nebula loomed – straddling the line of the former DMZ between Federation and Cardassian space.

“The Antabari – Nebula.” Deassomi nodded with finality. “Whoever or whatever is steering that ship – it certainly doesn’t seem to want to go there.”

Cold realization swept through the room.

“We know where they are going, even if they don’t want to go and we now know what course they are taking!” Sam confirmed.

“We can get ahead of them and intercept!” Captain Fallon agreed, with vehemence.

“Yes, we CAN! “Sam smiled. “Sorvak thank you for your time – as always your assistance has been invaluable!”

From the screen Sorvak inclined his cadaverous head and murmured “Good luck in your hunt, Captain. Live long and prosper.” Then he killed the link and was gone.

Captain Samantha Hyland rose to her feet, clear purpose shining in her Icelandic – blue eyes and she nodded, commanding stridently.

“Action stations people, we have a Ghost to catch!”