By Alan Tripp

–

The bridge of the U.S.S. Thunder Strike was a hive of flurried activity. 

“YES! YES! YES!”

Capt. Urshyra Sollace swiveled her command chair to look towards Lesli Mestre, currently climbing out from the innards of one of the starboard side consoles. 

The chief engineer had a satisfied smirk on her face as she checked readings while confirming momentarily with someone unseen, elsewhere on the ship. 

“Good news?” asked the captain. 

“In that sensors are operational again as is the main viewer.” 

The forward viewscreen flickered to life showing ships … a LOT of ships … out there in the space beyond and surrounding them. 

The anomaly was gone, but those ships out there weren’t just the Starfleet and Romulan fleets that just minutes before had been in the heat of battle. 

Ships out there now included what seemed Starfleet in style but vastly different from any vessel that she knew of currently in the fleet. 

And was that one beyond Klingon? … And what were those damned geometrically shaped things out there? … Ships of some kind? 

[“We are the Borg. … You will be assimilated. … Resistance is futile.”] 

“Who the fuck are the Borg?” Delza sputtered without realizing it. 

“That’s one of the things we are going to have to figure out,” Urshyra said, ignoring the language for the moment. 

As if on cue, the ship rocked as a beam of green light connected them to one of the cube shaped. 

The Andorian’s fingers danced across her console. 

“Tractor beam, Captain,” Delza called out. 

From across the view screen a massive ship in a Starfleet configuration sliced between their ship and the Cube, phasers slicing out the second of Cube where the beam’s emitter had previously originated. 

As the ship rotated, the name U.S.S. Excalibur was clearly visible across the ship’s saucer as was a registry of NCC-172664. 

That caused an eyebrow to raise. 

“THAT is a lot of digits,” helmsman Johnson whispered. “Where the hell are we?” 

“The proper question might be … ‘WHEN the hell are well?’” returned their science officer, Norovek. 

Delivery of the comment was as deadpan as you’d expect from any member of the science chief’s species. 

“I’ve cross checked star positions and determined we have most likely traveled through time, Captain,” she continued. “Although I can’t say exactly how far forward or backwards that might have been.” 

“Most likely forward with all those digits,” Urshyra muttered absently. 

Toss in the fact just minutes previously, she’d watched as the Excalibur … the NCC-1664 … had fallen victim to the Romulans. 

Still … Who the F were these Borg?

“Captain, receiving a hail. … It’s the Romulans,” 

“Main viewer,” she ordered.

She involuntarily straightened her uniform and in her seat just prior to the view changing to that of a female Romulan that seemed to wear the rank of a ship Commander. 

Urshyra bit her tongue and kept her voice as neutral as possible. 

“What can we do for you, Commander …?” 

[“Commander Daenerys of the warbird Elessar, Captain …???”]

“Capt. Urshyra Sollace … commanding the U.S.S. Thunder Strike.” 

[“…Capt. Sollace. … I suggested that we set aside our … differences … for the moment and see if we can work together to survive … Whatever this is.”]

It didn’t take a Vulcan to see the logic in the plan.  Besides, it would give them one less enemy to fight when you had an unknown like these Borg ready to … What did they call it? … “Assimilate” you? 

“I think we can agree to that.”

As a sign of good faith, she swiveled her chair slightly towards communications. 

“Henson, signal our ships not to engage with the Romulans for the moment.” 

Then turned back towards the viewer. 

“What do you suggest?” 

[“That we act jointly … Gather our ships together to face off and stand against these aliens.”]

“And the other ships out there?” 

A smile tugged at the corner of the Romulan’s face. 

[“One threat at a time, Captain. … One threat at a time.”]

—

Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Excelsior II-class U.S.S. Beowulf, another communication’s officer swiveled in her chair. 

“Captain, I just intercepted a transmission between a Romulan ship and one of those older Starfleet ships you might want to hear.”

“Don’t I have enough going on already?” Alan half joked. 

He’d been studying damage reports being fed to him by his first officer while also listening to instructions dispatched to the fleet (at least those ships the Beowulf had been with before coming to this place) by the Admiral aboard the Excalibur who was trying to rally their forces to faceoff against the greater threat … the Borg. 

“Ok, let’s hear it,” he ordered.


The lower right corner of the main viewer shifted to show a pair of Romulan and Starfleet officers, both dressed in the outdated uniforms of ship commanders of a different era – two sides of a singular conversation. 

–
STARFLEET: [“What can we do for you, Commander …?”]

ROMULAN: [“Commander Daenerys of the warbird Elessar, Captain …???”]

STARFLEET: [“Capt. Urshyra Sollace … commanding the U.S.S. Thunder Strike.”]

Alan came out of his command chair at the name. 

ROMULAN: [“…Capt. Sollace. … I suggested that we set aside our … differences … for the moment and see if we can work together to survive … Whatever this is.”]


STARFLEET: [“I think we can agree to that.”]

STARFLEET (to someone at the edge of the view): [“Henson, signal our ships not to engage with the Romulans for the moment.”] 

Then the Starfleet captain turned back towards the viewer. 

STARFLEET: [“What do you suggest?”] 

ROMULAN: [“That we act jointly … Gather our ships together to face off and stand against these aliens.”]

STARFLEET: [“And the other ships out there?”] 

ROMULAN: [“One threat at a time, Captain. … One threat at a time.”]   

And then both faded from the screen.

“So THIS is where they went!” Alan said to myself, although loud enough still to be heard. 

More than a few faces turned his way.

“Where who went, Captain?” asked Sar at tactical, the Romulan’s expression one of curiosity.

“Starfleet’s original 27th Expeditionary Fleet. … aka. ‘The Lost Fleet.’”  

—– OUT OF STORY —–

AT LAST! …. I’ve been trying to reach the point that the Lost Fleet would not just become lost but actually get found. It’s the first step to me getting these captains and ships to their new timelines.