“They don’t want it?”  Elizabeth McKee was annoyed.  

The operations chief shrugged, “They said something about. ‘not needing a savior’ and something about ‘hand me downs.’  They were at least thankful for the offer before they turned it down.”  Calog understood the frustrations of the former Starfleet officer.  “The good news is that you’ve got a ride home.”

McKee changed the subject as she glanced around the bridge.  The science teams were busy examining sensor logs and data surrounding the earthquake event.  “What do you think?”  She had initially thought it was a coincidental event coming at the worst time and place for the colony.  After the confusing scans gave them more questions than answers, she wondered what was happening.

“I’m an operation’s chief, not a scientist.”  He shared her wonderings, as did anybody on the ship.  “It does beggar belief that an earthquake without verifiable cause could just…happen.”  He handed her a PADD. “Went ahead and changed ownership and permissions for the SS Ambrose.  She’s yours to command.”

“You don’t understand.  We had been researching this technology to prevent them, not create them.”  Jordan stood in a medical tent filled with mobile biobeds, each occupied with varying severe and minor injuries.  There had been no fatalities, and she had been tasked with interviewing the survivors to see what they knew.  Gerald Hoyt was her current interviewee, and he was trying to explain to her what had happened.  “I’m the head of the Jolla Geological Survey Group…we had put in a good ten years of research and prototype building.”

Jordan rubbed her forehead as she tried to get her mind around what Hoyt was saying, “So the Dominion attacked Jolla, found your facility with a scan, and then took the prototype device…and used it?”

He shook his head, “It was a prototype ship, Doctor Reid.  It was built to use a propriety system to dig into fault lines and calculate the chances of an earthquake.  We had established a few far-reaching settlements on the other side of the planet… earlier earthquakes leveled them.  We would figure out the best area without fault interference to place a new settlement or two.”

Reid asked, “But you didn’t think to worry about someone reverse engineering the technology to cause an earthquake?

Hoyt’s shoulders collapsed as he confessed, “They didn’t reverse engineer it, Doctor.  They…it was a built-in part of the system – if you could use the sensors to dig into the fault lines, the system could use other implements to otherwise… affect the fault lines.  We didn’t think to build in protective measures because we….”

Jordan finished it, “You didn’t think anyone would use it for such a thing.”

The man started to cry, “We did this to our own people…we’re the monsters.”

Reid resisted the urge to slap him, “You couldn’t have predicted the Dominion showing up and taking your ship.”  She waved over Helena Dread and explained what she had found out.  

At each turn, the Captain’s eyes widened until she shook her head in disbelief.  “You gotta be shitting me, Director Hoyt.”  He morosely stared at the ground, and Dread turned to Reid, “The colony rejected your ship donation…which is good.  Get the data on the ship from Hoyt, and get the others ready…we’re sending you after this ship.  Hoyt, how fast is it?”

Gerald mumbled, and Dread slapped the back of his head.  He looked up, shocked.  She stared him down as if to say, ‘Yes?’ he responded clearly, “Warp 3 – she doesn’t have much.”

Helena accepted Reid’s medical tricorder and lab coat, “Stop that ship, Doctor Reid…by any means necessary.”  Jordan took off running, requesting transport back to the Olympic.  Dread turned to Hoyt, “Now…let’s talk about whatever else you all have been doing here.”