By Alan Tripp

–

“Captain! … We’ve got a live one over here!” Jenkins yelled from across the bridge, his tricorder sounding that singular ping of detection.

Shallana picked her way across the shattered remains of this ship’s bridge trying to reach her crewman and the survivor he’d found. 

About halfway across the command well, her commbadge pinged. 

[“Captain, a word with you I must have.”]

“What is it, Commander?” 

Commander Adoy had been with her for many years now to a point she no longer saw him as her first officer, but as family. 

His timing was never the best, however, and his news seldom a positive. 

[“Beamed off survivors from uncaminated decks, we have. Borg circling, they are. Boarding us, begun they have.”] 

His speech patterns were a bit different, but had a sing-song quality to them … once you got use to it. 

“Make sure security teams are suitably armed and initiate Borg-Tango-Tango-Delta defensive countermeasures,” she ordered. “Don’t lose my ship while I’m gone.” 

She glanced in passing at the ship’s dedication plaque which lay scorched on the decking nearby … “U.S.S. Temporal Storm” … “Premonition-class”.

“Have any boarded this ship as yet?” she asked, almost to Jenkins. 

[“Yet … they have not.  Bigger prizes to claim, they have.”] 

“Again … Protect the ship and defend the crew at ALL costs,” she ordered. “And maintain those transporter locks!” 

Jenkins punctuated the sound of the channel closing with the clatter of tossing debris to one side as he worked to dig out the humanoid below. 

Shallana joined his efforts, both working together til the face of a human woman wearing a captain’s pips and a variant of a Starfleet uniform different from their own. 

Flipping out her own tricorder, the readings cleared with proximity to the victim. 

Injuries severe … ranging from cracked ribs, brushed organs, crushed legs, internal bleeding and a head injury. 

As she touched the woman’s face, the woman stirred, opening her eyes and focusing on her for just a moment. 

“Mother,” she whispered. “I knew … you’d … come for … me …” 

Before darkness again claimed her. 

But at her voice, a chill ran down Shallana Ironwolf’s spine. 

Brushing away more debris with a purpose, she found the lady’s commbadge and flipped it over. 

Emblazoned on the back was the name of this injured captain … Brianna Carys Llewellyn. 

Her daughter’s name. … The nine-year-old daughter she’d left back on earth a few weeks ago for her to spend time with their family … the girl’s grandmother specifically. 

Shallana’s heart raced as a mother’s panic and fear for their child took hold. 

This was impossible.  IM…POSSIBLE!!!

With fevered speed, she rushed to clear the debris as the tricorder’s recording of the woman’s heartbeat faltered. 

NO NO NO NO!!!!

Her own breathing caught in her throat. Her own heart beat so fast she would swear later it stopped. 

Shallana clicked her badge before pinning it to Bri. 

“ADOY! … LOCK ONTO MY BADGE …. BEAM ONE TO SICKBAY NOW NOW NOW NOW!” 

OUT OF STORY

This is a short one … One quiet (if you can call it that) moment before the words toss us into the heat of battle and the fight they must wage to save themselves.

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by Alan Tripp (aka. Kanej Hauk)

In a reality far, far away

Vice Admiral Ka’nej Hauk crossed the threshold into the U.S.S. Excalibur’s Strategic Operations Center and kept going.

The Excalibur served as flagship of Starfleet’s Harbour Command.

Hauk paused in his journey as he passed the massive holographic display, stopping his feet treads only long enough to download the latest sensor readings onto his personal padd and then kept going. 

Across the room, two guards snapped to attention as he gave both a nod and crossed the threshold into the conference room. 

Several faces turned in his direction with each threatening to rise to their feet. 

“You know we’re not standing on formalities today,” the Klingon grumbled.

He motioned them to remain seated as he found his own along the circumference of the round table. 

Settling in, his eyes sought out first those of his Romulan wife, Valarys (his Juliet … as the Shakespearan story would have it), and then their daughter, Bahni’qin (or as the humans called her … “Bonnie-kin”) – both captains whose ships were responding to the crisis that seemed destined to re-unite them. 

And then there were his grandchildren … Arthyrra and Ulvyyr Sollace.

The Admiral’s daughter happened to have married another Starfleet officer … one Capt. Alan Sollace.

The pair had done things backwards in that they had their children and then a decade later (after an on again, off again relationship) had chosen to marry.

Sollace was due to arrive soon, but was not yet in the room.

But looking at his family all gathered among the others in the same room was a bright spot in what could be yet another looming disaster. 

He himself had been leading a small detachment of starships scouting out the location for a new starbase when it had been detected. … They’d just happened to be ships scattered at various surrounding points that had been within range to respond. 

 He allowed his eyes to linger but a heartbeat longer on his family before the flicker of their holographic projections via holo-communications reminded him of their still distance from one another and just why they were here. 

So his eyes shifted to scan all gathered. 

“As you know, we were scouting out a location for the proposed Marrakesh Station when the U.S.S. Highlander detected a spatial anomaly in search grid 35787,” he began.  

“As captain of that ship, Capt. Shallana Ironwolf is likely best to fill us in on what they found,” he continued. 

“Shallana, if you please.”

Shallana tapped her padd causing graphics to appear at the center table for all to see. 

What appeared was a massive rift in space that seemed more like a pool of energy had been simply poured into the weightlessness of the void and left to float. 

Rather peaceful if you ignored the random spikes of what could best be explained as “lightning” that would strike out like a thunderstorm building and growing steadily worse. 

Just looking at it conjured images of a massive hurricane threatening to unleash untold fury upon a developed coastline. 

 “From what we have been able to tell, this anomaly is a temporal rift that seems to cut through space, time and realities … all,” she stated. “Sending the specifics to each of you now.” 

“Do we know the point of origin?”

Shallana recognized the voice, it was Alan Sollace of the U.S.S. Beowulf. 

“Sorry, Alan. That is something that was beyond our sensors to detect,” Shallana answered. 

“All we know is that this thing is growing at a steady rate and although relatively isolated at the moment, it likely won’t stay that way.” 

“Which is why we’re gathering all of you,” the Vice Admiral added. 

“Indeed,” Shallana stated. “It was actually Capt. Ahlyya of the Seidr and her team that came up with a possible solution.” 

All eyes turned to the Starfleet Romulan captain, who seemed to be wearing a pair of sunglasses.

Ahlyya leaned forward, setting her padd on the table before her. 

Legally blind, those same glasses allowed her to see properly. 

In fact, they offered the scientist turned starship captain a digital readout and direct interface with computer systems as connected via her padd. 

“It is our belief that with enough starships, we can position ourselves at spaced intervals around the anomaly and generate resonance beams from our deflectors, striking as one with enough umph to force the edges of the tear back together and stitch it closed like a doctor handling a bad cut,” she explained. 

“And what if this thing ends up being to large to force closed and ‘stitch?,’” asked Capt. Draqarys of the U.S.S. Thalesia.  

“That would be why we’re all taxing our warp drives at the moment,” Ahlyya returned. 

“Questions?” the Admiral asked. 

“Wait a minute, isn’t this the location of that recently discovered stargate?” Alan asked. 

“I see someone has been reading their morning briefings,” Hauk said with a slight smile. 

“Yes, it is … and before you ask … We’ve no idea how this will affect the gate network. 

In his mind’s eye, however, Hauk had fears of a ripple effect all along that same network. 

But to what effect? 

—- Out of Story —-

Through this, we see one end of its reach but not the origin.

THAT story is coming.

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