Captain’s Log: Supplemental

We’ve managed to extract all of the crew of the afflicted ship only to find they are now succumbing to some kind metamorphosis. It doesn’t appear to be reversible. At this time we’re doing our best to keep them comfortable while whatever is happening runs it’s course. In the meantime we’re going to make best speed to link up with the Hopkins to drop off the afflicted and leave the vessel for them to study. That means a warp tow. Which I’m sure our resident engine troll will just feel warm and fuzzy about. At any rate, I’ve passed on my preliminary report to command and informed them of my decisions. We’re not exactly equipped to handle this kind of situation so we’re going to hand off jurisdiction to a better equipped team. Rain Out. 

Tiberius leaned back from his desk with a heavy sigh as he glanced out the only window in his office to regard the vessel. A quick glance at Dr. Sariel’s report told him that there were 18 pirates aboard that vessel before whatever set this event off went down. He just hoped this would be a lesson to any other similar minded parties within the triangle to change their methods. Tiberius had no solid leads on the cause yet, but his guess was that it stemmed from something they discovered on the test range they discovered on their way in. Maybe there was a malfunction, accident or even a mutiny. Either way, something happened inside that ship, and now it was…changing. Into what? No one knew. All indications pointed to some kind of ship sized cosmological being. It wouldn’t be the first time starfleet documented an organism that functioned in vacuum. Would it be the first time one of this type was documented though? And if so, how it would it react to them? 

All the better to get it to the Hopkins. He tapped the comm button on his desk. “Captain Rain to the bridge. Commander, how close are we to pulling up anchor?”

“Sir?”

“Are we ready to get underway?” He asked deflated. 

“Almost. I just need to check with Engineering. Given the high power demands of the shuttle bay quarantine, we may need to take a few decks off line.”“See to it. Rain out.” On the bridge Lorena Kael’s chromatophores flickered through a variety of colors and patterns making her look something like a cephalopod or chameleon momentarily. Lorena knew of the Chief Engineer’s trademarked prickliness, but she’d never had to deal with anyone patently difficult to work with. She only hoped this interaction would go quickly. 

“Bridge to Engineering.” Lorena paged. 

“Engineering here,” Vix replied, her brow creased as she stood by the central power management console in engineering. Her knee ached something chronic, but she ignored it, transferring her weight to her left leg. She’d have to put the brace back on later, which always made her crabby… as did the bridge wanting ridiculous things, like for the Rubi to pull another ship. Might as well slap a heavy haulage sticker on the damn hull and be done with it.

“The captain has requested we tow the infected D’Ghor ship to a nearby dedicated research vessel. I know we’ve kept the engines primed for a hasty retreat incase of hostiles, but we’re going to need to draw even more power out for a dual warp tow. How long till we’ll be able to set out?”

Vix rubbed between her eyebrows. She had a headache coming so her reply was clipped and no-nonsense. “That depends on whether you want a hasty retreat or a tow. One or the other because we’re not going to do both effectively.” 

“We need the tow. I’ll leave the coordination decisions to you chief. If you have to draw it from other decks then you have the Captains authorization. The scope of the mission is already beginning to creep beyond our measure. We’ll be rendezvousing with the Hopkins to hand off the afflicted crew and the ship for more in-depth study and quarantine. We just need to make it out of the triangle with the infected ship.”

Vix nodded, even though the bridge officer couldn’t see her. “Tow it is,” she replied, already tapping out instructions on the console in front of her. “It’ll be bumpy and we’ll drop power on the lower decks by 30 percent.”

She pursed her lips, still working out power management in her head as well as with her fingertips. “Give me a few minutes to recalibrate and then we’ll be ready to turn and burn.”

Lorena gave the chief a thankful bow of her head. “Thank you chief. Make whatever preparations you feel are necessary. We’ll await your word. Bridge out.” When the connection cut Lorena sighed in relief. “That wasn’t so bad.” Maybe she could handle this whole command thing after all. Losing thirty percent power was a sizeable hit. But the captain was clear. They get the ship and whatever its crew was turning into, and they get out and clear of any potential worlds that could be contaminated. They still no data to indicate it was contagious, but the Captain wasn’t taking risks, and she couldn’t blame him. Once they were ready to move, she’d go get him per his orders.