Standing tall on the secondary hull of the Constitution, Lieutenant T’Penni worked diligently in her EVA suit, overseeing the construction of the interplexing beacon. The beacon was installed atop the ship’s deflector dish, a crucial task requiring the utmost care and precision. As she worked, T’Penni could feel the hum of the ship’s engines reverberating through her suit, a constant reminder of the vastness of space and the dangers it brought.

If she hadn’t been a Vulcan, then T’Penni would have admired the work they were undertaking. In less than a month, using alien technology retrieved from the scrapyards the Sikarians had on Fabula and accessing data on Borg communication, T’Penni had designed a brand new form of communication. One she hoped would ensure their message to the Odyssey reached them instantly. Based on what the Borg attempted to build on top of the USS Enterprise-E by the Borg when they tried to assimilate humanity in the past, the interplexing beacon used hyper-subspace technology to link the Constitution to the Odyssey. However, being a Vulcan woman trained in the art of logic and reason, she would not boast or take too much pride in her work. Every projection and simulation they ran on the project showed it would work. 

Now, it was time to test the real thing.

As she finished the final connections she was installing, T’Penni had called out to the others to ensure they were extra careful. If anything broke, they could not replace it. Hearing acknowledgements from Ethav, Lonar and Oron over the intercom gave her a sense of calmness. Similar to what she would experience while meditating. 

She appreciated her colleagues’ support. Though the captain had given her full permission to use whoever in this project, the consistent enthusiasm from both Lieutenants Ethav and Lonar ensured the project’s success to this point in time. T’Penni was grateful that Counsellor Naef-Oron had agreed to help them carry their gear out. Being a Brikar certainly had its advantages for the counsellor, and most recently, T’Penni had witnessed Oron becoming interested in engineering matters. When they had shared a meal in the ship’s crew lounge, he had asked many questions and had gone out of his way to read research notes or papers about whatever topic had been discussed. T’Penni found it unusual for someone of Oron’s calibre to be interested in such matters. Still, it was impressive that he was intrigued with such subjects. 

Stepping back to evaluate her work, T’Penni took a breath in. The beacon glowed soft blue light, casting a peaceful aura over the deflector dish. Not wanting to disturb the high amount of anti-protons that the deflector was full of, she knew that being delicate here was vital. 

T’Penni may have been a Vulcan, but as she stood there among the vast expanse of space, she felt a sense of awe and wonder that transcended all logical thought.

“All done here, lieutenant,” Lonar announced over the EVA intercom.

“Same here,” Oron added.

“Make that three!” Ethav said. T’Penni didn’t need to look at him to know his expression was planted with a huge grin. The young Andorian man’s demeanour was constantly a positive one. 

“Very good,” T’Penni praised them. Her voice echoed in their suits’ intercom. “Beacon team to the bridge, our work is complete.”

“Well done, everyone,” replied Commander Kazlaf. 

Kazlaf was on the bridge, monitoring their work from her station at science, and was running the last set of scans to ensure that once they activated the beacon, it would be directed at the right point on the pulsar they were now near. T’Penni had gone through the calculations with her superior many times. Every part of this project had to be planned to the precise point. Nothing could be wrong. 

“Are we on track to be able to use the pulsar as we had calculated, commander?” T’Penni asked. 

“Keep calm,” Kazlaf stated cooly. “We’re on track, lieutenant.”

“That is most excellent,” T’Penni said. She was pleased to know that everything she had been working on since they had left Fabula had not been unproductive. “Once we return to the ship, I will oversee the final diagnostics before we send the first test signal.”

An hour later, returning to engineering, T’Penni was with Ethav as they completed their last lot of work on the beacon. 

“I know I’ve said it before, T’Penni, but I will say it again. What you’ve created is ingenious,” Ethav said, remaining giddy in his tone as he worked on the console beside T’Penni. “Can you imagine what Starfleet is going to say?”

Raising her eyebrow at her Andorian colleague, T’Penni wasn’t sure what he was implying. “I do not imagine they would complain that we have further advanced communication technology.”

“They’ll probably nominate you for the Cochrane Medal of Honour!” Ethav stated, looking at her. He was certainly proud of her work. “Just make sure you remember us little people in your acceptance speech.”

“As well as the Sikarians and other Delta Quadrant races we took from?” T’Penni inquired.

Chuckling at her, Ethav nodded. “Just don’t start your speech with, ‘I’d like to thank the Borg Collective’. I’m not sure there will be many who will be happy to hear them mentioned.”

“I will remember your advice, lieutenant,” T’Penni said with a bow of her head. “However, to prevent the Collective from protesting, I may need to refer to them in a footnote.”

Ethav laughed even harder at her. “T’Penni, I think your humour is getting back the more and more we spend time together!”

“Perhaps we should go to red alert now and declare a medical emergency,” T’Penni responded, remaining calm in her tone.

Not expecting Ethav to laugh more at her remark, T’Penni raised her eyebrow again at him. 

“T’Penni, you crack me up!” Ethav wiped a tear from his face before returning to his work. “The final diagnostic has returned with no issues. The power levels for the beacon are within the expected parameters. It is now fully integrated into the ship’s computer systems.”

T’Penni diligently worked on the last few components of her task, ensuring that everything was in order before turning her attention to Ethav, who was patiently waiting for her. “We should head to the bridge and begin the first test.”

Every senior staff member was present on the bridge to witness the first test. T’Penni remained calm and cool as she transferred her controls from engineering to the bridge engineering stations. 

“T’Penni, we must activate the beacon in the next forty-seven seconds before the cycle runs out for today,” Kazlaf stated from the science station.

“With the captain’s permission,” T’Penni said, turning around on her chair and looking at McCallister. He gave her a nod, and she turned back and pressed the button to activate the beacon, “Beacon online.”

“How do we know if we have been successful?” Doctor Uknare asked aloud from where she stood just behind the captain’s chair at one of the aft mission ops consoles. Her arms were crossed against her chest. 

“We are directing our first signal towards the probe we sent back through the spatial trajector a month ago,” T’Penni answered. “If the signal reaches it, then it will-” T’Penni’s train of thought stopped as a reading appeared on her console. The same one appeared on Kazlaf’s station.

“I’m picking up interference within the tachyon pulse. The pulsar is blocking the amplification!” Kazlaf announced.

“I am trying to compensate,” T’Penni said as she attempted to find a way around the issue in a hurried state. She could not determine what was causing the pulsar to almost absorb their beam from the beacon. Nothing should be letting it do that, but it was. Everything she was reading from her sensors was illogical.

“I’m detecting an overload in the beacon,” Ethav declared. 

T’Penni could feel the eyes of Captain McCallister and Commander Thaustin fall behind her. She could sense their concern automatically. 

“T’Penni, can you bypass the problem?” McCallister asked. 

Trying one more attempt, T’Penni felt she was close, but the beam didn’t comply with her instructions and new calculations. She shook her head. “I am unable to determine what is happening.”

Without warning, the ship violently rocked back and forth, throwing crew members off balance. A burst of sparks erupted from the console, illuminating the bridge in a shower of light. The blaring of the red alert klaxon filled the air, warning all on board of imminent danger. As the bridge lights dimmed, the crew braced themselves for whatever may happen.

“Report!” Thaustin asked above the commotion.

“A photonic feedback from the pulsar has hit the ship,” Kazlaf announced. “I’m not sure how, but it used our beam to travel back to us. I suggest we shut down the beacon.”

“Do it!” McCallister ordered in a loud tone. 

With a quick and decisive movement, T’Penni pressed the button to initiate the shutdown sequence. As she watched the power levels of the beacon drop significantly, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of apprehension. Her shoulders were tense and raised as if bracing for impact. Once the beacon was finally offline, T’Penni sighed deeply and felt her shoulders dropping back to their normal position. She couldn’t quite figure out why they tensed up in the first place, but the failure of her project was weighing heavily on her mind.

“What happened, T’Penni?” McCallister asked.

“I cannot give you a clear answer right now, sir,” T’Penni said as she spun her chair around to face him. “I will need to run further diagnostics and review our data before repairs occur.”

As the red alert was called off, T’Penni received McCallister’s nod of approval, indicating that she could proceed with her work. She quickly got to work, analysing the data from the pulsar scans. Still, the information was not making any sense to her. The data seemed to lack any logical pattern, and T’Penni struggled to find clues.

McCallister’s voice sounded distant to her, and she could hardly hear his orders to Kazlaf to run further scans to ensure they hadn’t missed anything. T’Penni knew that she needed to focus on the problem in solitude, away from the distractions on the bridge. She got up and left the bridge, heading back to her office.

As she walked towards the turbolift, she overheard Doctor Uknare discussing her plans to take some of the bridge crew to the holodeck to review a performance of an Earth play. T’Penni was too preoccupied with the problem at hand to pay much attention to the conversation. The lift doors closed suddenly, cutting off the conversation, and T’Penni was left alone with her thoughts.

Maybe she wouldn’t be thanking the Borg anytime soon, she thought as the cart took her to engineering. 

Without noticing it, T’Penni was oblivious to the small pure white electric charges behind her on the turbo-lift’s main console. They sparkled, then danced across the surface before submersing themselves within the computer controls, making the display flicker a few times. They were alive.