“Unknown vessel, this is the Federation starship Brontes. You have entered Federation space. Please identify yourself.”

Silence followed his request as the unidentified ship’s darkened silhouette remained front and centre on the Brontes’ viewscreen. Preliminary sensor readings confirmed minimal energy output and a questionable but deliberate attempt to prevent any scans of the interior; curious then that the unexpected arrival of the Brontes didn’t encourage the powering up of weapons, warp drive or even shields.

A lone ship without a corresponding Starfleet record wasn’t an immediate security threat, but the inexperienced commander vowed to err on the side of caution – sparking a diplomatic disaster during the first mission of his first command wasn’t the legacy he hoped to leave behind.

“Computer, transmit sensor readings and coordinates of the vessel to Starbase 86 and reroute power reserves to the sensor array.”

Brontes’ computer beeped an affirmative and with a few finger strokes, the Ops panel updated to show the sensor array reconfigured and ready to emit a magneton pulse at enhanced output. “Let’s see what you’re hiding.”

The scan cycle repeated twice before sending the data back to Leukar’s console; further details of the ship’s layout and systems revealed themselves, but still no signs of life. Abandoned perhaps, but the vessel’s structural integrity remained intact, sensors revealed no residual weapons fire and the interior was free of contaminants.

A final review of the data presented few options; at slower speeds, the Brontes may be powerful enough to tractor the larger vessel onwards to the fleet yards, but even at reduced power he’d need some way to disable her engines. Alternatively, he could defer the matter back to command and simply await the arrival of a more capable ship which would only delay his current mission further.

“Computer, attempt access to the vessel’s main computer. I need to know if we can remotely shut down her engines.”

 With a negative response, the situation became much more complex; beam over and shut down the engines manually, or admit defeat and contact command.