The San Clemente’s bridge was lit in the all too familiar red light as the alert sounded throughout the ship. On the viewscreen, Relay Charlie flared again, the hull shifting from the overload.

“Contact emerging from the far side of the relay!” Sh’rol called while tracking the contact on the screen in front of him. “Vector zero one nine, relative to the relay. Object is small, maybe two meters across. Speed minimal, it’s heading toward the away teams.”

Traven turned to Saell, “anything?”

“scanners have it captain, but it’s not registered in the database, I’m not reading anything familiar”

T’Lenar, moved purposefully toward the science station to assist as Traven turned toward the ops station, “Magnify.”

The main screen shifted and sharpened, centring itself on the shape moving into view.

The hull plate was twisted. At an initial glace Sh’rol thought it looked like a fragment of the wreckage from the damaged relay in front of them. It rotated toward the away teams still on the surface, part of it gleamed like metal but the rest looked like something biological. Fins extended from it, twitching irregularly.

Kree’s hands froze above helm station, staring at the screen in front of him. “That’s not a ship.”

“No,” Saell whispered as the sensors were lit with unfamiliar readings, T’Lenar continued “Readings indicate it’s something between a machine and an organism. The sensor readings are erratic, energy traces and bio electric fields. But Captain, it does not seem powerful enough to have scarred the relay like that.”

Sh’rol’s voice was calm and direct, “then the damage came from elsewhere. This is what they’ve left behind?”

Traven responded, “maybe, but we’ve still got people out there, get them back”

On the relay, the away teams braced themselves against the relay’s hull. Their magnetic boots barely holding them in place. Zoral clutched his tricorder, he didn’t want to lose one already! His heads up display was flashing warnings all around him.

“Commander, whatever that is, it’s moving toward us. I can’t get a clear reading,”

Korren moved across the hull, placing herself between the whatever was heading their way and her team behind her. “Then stop trying scanning it and keep your hands steady. Dr. Paldor, what’s your status?”

The Doctor’s voice was steady, a clear veteran of difficult situations in the med bay, Her eyes tracked the object heading toward them. “No radiation spikes, if whatever that thing is gets any closer, I want everyone’s dampeners to maximum.”

A glowing orb on the object swivelled toward them, glowing read. It’s hull pulsing, as it moved just above the hull of the relay.

Back on the bridge, Saell began to understand the readings in front of her. “Captain, the probe is emitting low frequency bursts. Similar to an echo sir. I think it’s scanning. Looking for a response, maybe it doesn’t yet see the away team?”

“Sh’rol, weapons status.” Traven asked toward the tactical station to his rear, already guessing the answer.

“weapon’s locked,” the Andorian barked, “one shot and it’s gone, sir.”

Traven hesitated, the away team were in danger, whatever the object is was likely left behind by whatever was damaging their relays. Even with their limited weapons, he know the Mente and his crew could end this threat in seconds. But he felt the weight of it, their first mission, their first true unknown. “Hold fire, we don’t fire unless it engages, make sure we’re ready if they do.”

At ops, T’Lenar inclined raised an eyebrow, a typical expression from the Vulcan. “A cautious decision, Captain. Destruction would be premature.”

“Or fatal,” Korren’s voice crackled through the now open communications channel with the Away Team. “If it’s tied to the relay, if we attack then we could lose the rest of this hunk of metal.”

As it closed on the away team’s position, the object slowed to a stop. For a moment it hung motionless. An arc of energy leapt from the metallic components on its side, they moved across the relay’s hull creating sparks that leapt into the surrounding space. The hull panels of the relay buckling under the discharge.

“Sir, I’m detecting a rise in power discharges, the core is climbing past containment thresholds.” Saell warned.

Korren’s voice barked through comms: “All teams, disengage magnetic boots from the hull now! Secure yourselves to exterior struts!”

Zoral didn’t need to be told twice and obeyed instantly, pushing himself of the hull and flinging toward the closest strut. He barely grabbed it before engaging his magnetic boots again. Breathing hard he read the readout on his tricorder, “Captain, it’s feeding on the relay!”

“Confirmed,” Saell said grimly, seeing the same on the bridge’s science console. “It’s siphoning off the energy of the relay, like it’s feeding off it.”

“Options?” Traven demanded of his bridge crew around him.

“Destroy it,” Sh’rol pressed, “one shot sir, precision, once the away teams are clear.”

“Capture,” Saell countered the Andorian, surprising herself with the confidence in her voice. “this is new sir, it’s unlike anything on record. We need to understand more about whatever it is out there. Destroying it would mean the loss of the data.”

T’Lenar folded her hands behind her back while reading the display on the ops console. “Both options have merit Captain. However, securing data may outweigh the immediate elimination of the…. object.”

Kree glanced back over his left shoulder from the helm “what if it doesn’t want to be captured?”

Silence held across the bridge.

Back on the relay, the object moved again, the dorsal fin fluttered once more, shifting particles into the void. The screen on Paldor’s tricorder flashed red. “Bio hazard readings, unknown composition!”

“Smith, Khol, status!” Korren snapped

“We’re clear Commander, over your left shoulder.” She looked to confirm they’d managed to get further from the object than she had.

Some of the particles moved toward the hull but dissipated harmlessly, it was enough that the entire away team held their breath for a moment.

“Captain,” Saell turned toward the centre of the bridge, “if it was left behind, it may have been on purpose. It may not even know what we are. But it seems to know we’re here now.”

“Phasers are ready Sir, transporters locked,” Sh’rol growled. “Just give the word.”

Traven’s hands tightened against the arms of his command chair, it was starting to feel like his now, the new leather taking a beating from its first few days. He glanced around the bridge at the crew, and flicked his attention back to the strange hybrid lifeform on the viewscreen. “Can we disable it without destroying it?”

Brunak called over the comms from Engineering. “Captain, I’ve took a look at the scans, if we hit the metallic sections short burst from the phasers we might be able to shock its circuits without frying whatever counts as its innards.”

That’s the best I’ll get Traven thought to himself. He drew a breath “Sh’rol, do it”

The shot from the dorsal forward phaser away moved toward the object, a thin gold beam striking squarely in its centre. A bright light flared from the object and it jerked violently. The reading on the science console showed the power levels of the relay’s core plummet to normal.

“Power surge dissipating,” Saell confirmed “It’s worked”

Suddenly a shriek of static came across the comms, the away teams clutched at the sides of the helmets as it seemed to deafen them. The orbs across the objects body flashed brightly and then dimmed.

“That’s got it” Sh’rol said flatly. “I’m not detecting any readings.”

Saell swallowed, “Confirmed, sensors aren’t reading anything. But it wasn’t dead before either, Lieutenant. It may not be dead now.”

Traven looked toward T’Lenar at ops, “the away team?”

“vitals are stable, transporters locked”

Back on the relay, Korren signalled both teams to regroup on her position “Status?”

“One bruised pride for the Ensign, nothing else.” Paldor confirmed

“Good enough,” Korren said. She looked toward the object, now floating aimlessly, tumbling away from the hull of the relay. She called over the comm to the bridge, “Captain, I recommend we secure it for analysis. If whatever this is isn’t dead I’d rather it have it in containment than out here.”

Traven considered for a moment, do we really need it on the ship. He looked toward T’Lenar, “can you lock transporters and secure it in an isolation field?

T’Lenar, tipped her head and nodded, “we can adapt Cargo bay 3, Double field strength”

“Do it,” Traven responded. “Then finish stabilising Relay Charlie.”

Hours past, the aways teams working to get the replay back online. The extensive damage meant multiple teams had to be called. The repairs took 27 hours but afterwards the relay pulsed steady green. The away teams were back aboard the Mente, suits sealed and stowed.

In the ready room, Traven stood before the viewport, watching the stars slide past as the Mente cruised. The doors slid open and T’Lenar entered. “Relay Charlie is fully restored, Captain. The network in the region is operational again.”

He continued to watch out of the viewport “And the… specimen?”

“Contained in the cargo bay sir” T’Lenar replied. “Saell has begun analysing it. The preliminary scans suggest integration of a mechanical lattice with organic substrates. There are no records in any of our databases. It is unlike any known technology.”

Traven let out a slow breath, “So much for a simple repair mission.” He turned toward his first officer.

T’Lenar raised an eyebrow, “You knew it would not remain…… simple.”

Traven smiled faintly, “I hoped it might, but someone wanted those relays down, now they know we’re putting them back up.”

The San Clemente had begun her journey not as an explorer, but as a repair ship. Yet already, she had found herself in the path of something far larger.