Mission 1: Unfamiliar Ground

It was another rainy day in Portland. Arron sat at his breakfast table watching the rain beat down on the glass windows, idly stirring his coffee. Today was just like every other morning he had experienced the past 3 years; lonely and wet.

His eyes drifted over to the Holopicture of his wife Bethany and his daughter Emily. A month from tomorrow would be the 3 year anniversary of their passing in that terrible accident that took place on the civilian transport ship en route from Bajor. Arron had been serving as First Officer on the USS Samaritan, and was deployed in the Valorum sector when he had received word that his family had been killed in the accident on their journey home from vacationing on Bajor.

The news crushed Arron. Within 24 hours he had submitted his resignation to his Captain and left Star Fleet. He has since spent every day alone and secluded. He felt as if his life had no purpose with his family gone. No one bothered him these days. Which was why he was very surprised to hear a knock on his door. Startled, Arron set down his mug, and got up. He glanced at his reflection as he passed by the mirror in the hall. His appearance was scraggly; his face hadn’t seen a razor in some time. His hair was unkempt, and his eyes hollowed. This was a man who was truly defeated.

There was another knock on his door just as Arron reached for the handle. Arron opened the door to see a young man, couldn’t be older than 20, standing on his porch, with rain water dripping from his clothes.

"Commander Drexel?" asked the young man

"Not anymore" Arron replied, and began closing the door.

"Sir, uh- Mister Drexel, wait, I have something for you"

Arron ignored the man's comment and shut the door, rather forcefully. He turned to head back to his coffee, when his wife's picture caught his eye again.

"The poor man came through the rain to deliver you something, and you just shut the door on him?" he heard her gentle voice, though the lips on her picture never moved.

"I'm not interested in what he has to say" Arron growled at the picture.

"You don't even know what that is!" exclaimed Bethany.

"Which is why I know I am not interested" Arron said, again to the picture.

"Arron, please, you need to speak with him. Trust me" his wife's voice pleaded.

Arron closed his eyes and frowned. "Even when you’re dead, I can't win an argument with you!" Arron turned back towards the door and opened it. The man was still standing there, soaking in the rain.

"Well what is it!" Arron said, irritated.

"This was delivered to the Star Fleet Veterans Office with your name on it Sir." said the man holding up a small parcel. He offered it to Drexel, who took it and looked at it quizzically. There was some writing scribbled on the corner of the packaging, ' To my old friend, I have tried for weeks to reach you, you have fallen completely off the grid. I found something you need to see, I have included an isolinear chip with my comm frequency, so you can contact me when you see it. I miss you Arron, Your Friend Admiral Nichols.'

"Thank you" Arron muttered to the young man still standing in the rain, and then closed the door again.

"You old bastard, they made you an Admiral?" Arron said to the package. He took it over to his breakfast table and sat the box down next to his coffee. He took a seat, sipped from his mug, and then opened the box. He immediately pushed away form the table and stood up. He slowly backed away from his chair, eyes unmoving from the open box. "It can't be..." he said, his voice raspy and dry. Gathering the courage to inspect the item more closely, he inched forward, and slowly reached for it. His fingers grasped a small locket, his thumb brushed over the familiar letters he had hand carved into it 6 years ago. ECD. He mouthed the letters, unable to believe what he was holding. ECD, Emily Charlotte Drexel. His daughter. As tears filled his eyes, and memories of presenting the locked to his daughter six years previous played through his mind, he removed the isolinear chip Admiral Nichols had mentioned. Clutching the locket like his life depended on it; he walked over to his desk, and pushed aside various PADDS and books that had cluttered over his computer. He inserted the chip into the slot and his old Captain of the USS Samaritan, and now apparently an Admiral, Nichols appeared. "My God! Arron is that you?" his old Captain said

"It is" Arron said looking at his old friend.

"You don't look well" Nichols said grimly.

"I imagine I feel better than I look" Arron said forcing a smile. "Thank you" Arron said holding up the locket.

"There is more to that locket, I just needed a way to contact you." said Admiral Nichols

"More?" Said Drexel. "I don't understand..."

"Arron, I assume you are aware of current events in the galaxy. The whole destruction of Romulus and the new territory that the Federation has been given"

"More or less" said Arron, not understanding the relevance to the locket.

"I just got back from a new outpost we are building on the edge of the known space in that area. That locket was being sold by a Tellarite Trader amongst a bunch of other items he claimed came from that area of space.”

Arron was even more puzzled. “How-how is that possible, Bajor is on the other side of the quadrant, this necklace should have been destroyed in the explosion on that transport ship”

“I know” Nichols said, clearly not comfortable talking about the subject. “Look, I know that necklace is Emi…Emily’s, I was there when you gave it to her. Hell I remember helping you find some gold pressed Latinum that would be suitable enough to engrave those initials on…So I asked the Tellarite where he got it. He said he came across an abandoned ship about a month ago, deep in the vicinity of space we now control. Said it looked like an old pirate slave ship. I told him what I knew about the locket, and he explained to me that it was common practice for pirates to stage accidents and then kidnap the people on board for slaves, and sell them in remote parts of the galaxy.”

Arron felt a lump in his throat grow by the second. “What are you saying?” Arron asked.

“I'm saying there is a chance your family, or at the least your daughter is out there somewhere waiting for you to find her.”

Arron realized he wasn’t breathing. <Could this be true? After all these years his family could still be alive?>

“Look buddy” said Nichols noticing the look on Arron’s face. “I’m not promising you anything, what I am doing is offering you a way to find out. We have a new ship, the USS Discovery. It has a crew, it needs a Captain. We are sending it out to that area to explore and map out our new territory. I’m offering to reinstate you in Star Fleet and hand you the keys to this ship. Take her out there, and see what you can find”

Arron tried to speak, but his mouth was so dry, his lips couldn’t form the words. Instead he just nodded. Nichols smiled. “Just promise me something, Captain Drexel. Promise me, you will shave and get a hair cut before reporting for duty.”

Arron laughed. It was liberating. It was the first time he had laughed in years. He suddenly found his voice again. “If I find them…I don’t know how I could ever repay you”

“Seeing you again old buddy, is payment enough.”

“You said the ship has a crew?” Arron said.

“Yeah, the ships crew has already been assigned and they should be assembling on the vessel throughout the rest of the week. Get your ass up there so you can find your family.” Nichols said

“I am on my way” Drexel said, feeling a purpose he hadn’t had since his family was presumed lost. “Now…what the hell did I do with that razor…”

Captain Arron Drexel
Commanding Officer
USS Discovery

David's thumb hovered above the 'send' button on his PADD. One push, thats all he needed to do, and he would be getting out of here. His request for reassignment had been granted, his new post given, and now all he had to do was accept the position. <But why is this so hard...I know what will happen if I stay.> The consequences of him stay were indeed something David was not ready to face. Perhaps some day it would be easier...but not now. Taking a deep breath he punched his thumb onto the PADD and watched the screen as his acceptance letter was transmitted to Star Fleet Command.

David sighed and looked out of the 2nd floor office he had worked out of for the last 4 years. He had requested this job right out of the Academy. He had spend the majority of the time working for the Academy designing new training regiments for future recruits. It wasnt a glamourous job, but it was a safe job. Life on the frontier was sure to be much more exciting. A brand new starship, exploring an area of space Star Fleet had never been to. Who knew what they would find so far. So FAR away...Just what he needed right now.

David got up from his desk and took a final look around his office. Knowing his new ship was waiting in space dock miles above his head, he tapped his communicator. =/\=Lt. Mayne to Discovery, One to beam up =/\= And with that David dematerialized, leaving everyone of his possessions behind, beginning a new life, far away.

Lieutenant David Mayne
Operations Officer
USS Discovery

The seats on the transport vessel were quite small, not very comfortable for a fairly large Vulcan like Xander but very typical for a vessel this size. Xander lowered his head down and looked out the window. He could see his future home in the distance. It wasn't the biggest ship he had ever seen but it had to be the most impressive. Brilliant white ceramic tiles lined the outside of the ship as small speckles of lights from the cabin windows brightened up the outside of the ship like a Christmas tree. As they got closer he could see the name of this modern marvel... USS DISCOVERY.

Xander reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. He slowly unraveled the paper already knowing what it said. He straightened out the paper and read the caption at the top which read: "OFFICIAL STAR FLEET TRANSFER REQUEST"

It was very uncommon for a Helmsman to request transfer from his post after only serving on it for 2 years, especially a Helmsman as skilled and accomplished as Xander. Life on the USS Mayflower was simple enough. The crew was experienced and friendly and the Captain was easy to get along with. For reasons unknown to everyone but himself, Xander was drawn to the mission in which the USS Discovery was about to embark on. It was a new ship, a fresh start, and an opportunity for Xander to right some wrongs he had done in the past.

For over a year Xander had dedicated his life to investigating the circumstances of his mentor's disappearance. He had concluded that certain people within the hierarchy of the Federation were concealing Spock's whereabouts and the true nature of his mission with the Romulans. Xander's presence on the USS Discovery might give him the opportunity to continue his investigation into Spock's disappearance.

As the cargo bay doors slowly opened Xander began pondering the mission ahead of him. He didn't feel concern or fear, in fact he had no feeling about the matter at all. He was here for a fresh start with the Federation, and for an opportunity to reach further into the galaxy than any other Vulcan had ever traveled before.

As Xander walked off the transport he could smell the newness of the ship, and the newness of the crew. There were several crew members standing in different formations based on the positions and responsibilities they had on the ship. Xander grabbed his bag and headed over to a ship coordinator.

"I'm looking for the officer check in area" Xander asked the young female standing at a podium with a PADDS in her hand.

"Name and crew position please" the woman asked.

"Lt. Commander Xander, well Helmsman Xander" replied Xander with a faceless expression.

"Yes, Helmsman Xander it's a pleasure to have you on board sir" replied the woman now smiling. "Your living quarters are located on Level 13 in room 21A. Captain Drexel has asked all officers to get settled in and then report to the Bridge at 0800 hours".

"Well there's no time like the present right?" replied Xander as he quickly made his way through the cabin door toward the first turbolift he could find.

Aedan grabbed his duffel as the shuttle doors opened and crew members began filing out. That "new" smell began drifing in, and he grinned, eager to try every new thing that the ship offered.
When he was asked his name and position, he carelessly spouted, "Lt. Aedan Aschenbrenner, Chief Science Officer."
"Welcome Lieutenant to the USS Discovery. Your quarters are located on level 13 in room 13B. The captain will see all officers at 0800 hours, so you have some time to settle in."
"Lucky number 13, hmm?" he hummed quietly to himself and pressed on to the nearest lift. He entered it with two other officers, a female engineer probably and a male medical officer probably. He had an eye for guessing these sorts of things. "Is this both your first time serving on a ship?" he asked.
"Yes," they both replied at once, introducing a moment of awkwardness. The engineer took lead. "My brother and I are fresh out of the academy, you could say."
"Siblings, hm? Well, I'll be damned. Grow up together, go to school together, and even in the career you can't escape one another." Seeing that they did not know how to respond right away to that, he introduced himself. "Lt. Aschenbrenner," he stuck out his hand, "but you may call me Aedan."
"Samantha,...I mean, Ensign Jameson."
"And I'm Mark Jameson. Also...Ensign Jameson."
Aedan chuckled. "Well, it would be kind of awkward to have your sister on board, and everyone think that she was your spouse." If that didn't make things awkward...
"I think word will get around that we are just brother and sister," the medic insisted, eying his sister.
Before Aedan could comment on it, the turbolift doors opened and he announced, "Well, here's our floor. Let's go see what goodies they left us in the quarters. Perhaps we could play a game of cards later."
"Sure," Mark dismissed, not caring about the offer right then.
The room was really not all that impressive, he told himself, but it will do. It would have been nice if they left a chocolate or something on the bed as a welcome gift, but just this will do.
They sure give us a lot of time to waste before we're settled in, he thought, looking at the time on the computer terminal. I might as well go check out the science lab, see what we have to work with and pick up chicks.

He located the labs and went there directly. Not the best lab I've been in, but definitely the smallest. Of course, this was not meant to be a research vessel, but still the astrometric/stellar dynamics lab was by far the most impressive. He thought he read somewhere that there was a holographic research lab, which would be great for computational work, but he didn't have time to scout for it as he was most rudely interrupted...
"Aedan," a female voice greeted from the doorway. Aedan turned to see who it was; obviously it was very familiar yet puzzling to him. "Long time, no see, huh?"
Aedan stood there in shock. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Nice way to greet your sister," Arwen frowned. "I am one of the security officers on this ship, didn't you know?"
"You hardly call or write...no, make that never. I didn't see your name on the crew roster..."
"Were you looking for Arwen Llewellyn?" she replied. "It has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
"Wait...you got married and told no one about it?"
"And separated currently."
"How long was this?"
"A few months ago."
"So...it sounds like you married this guy just for the name. How many times do you have to do this?" fumed Aedan. "It's just like you. Go off and do want you want, leave your family in the wake wondering if you'll get killed or mugged or...married again..."
"Don't play innocent with me. You were always with your friends when Mother needed you most. You squandered your inheritance before it was even yours."
"I seriously doubt that."
"Just..." Arwen took a moment to swallowed pride and continued. "Just forget it right now. Now is now and it really has been some time since we last talked. We need to catch up sometime." Aedan nodded, holding back the whirlwind of anger inside him. "If you want, you can familiarize yourself with the ship with me."
"I'd love to, but I have some things to attend to before meeting with the captain," Aedan insisted.
Arwen acknowledged and left.

The face in the mirror was almost unrecognizable. Arron had trimmed his beard, cut his hair, and was wearing a Star Fleet uniform for the first time in 3 years. Arron had actually lost a bit of weight over the years, and had to replicate a new uniform to fit his slightly smaller frame. He made one last trip around the house grabbing some things he thought he would either want or need for his journey. Truth be told, Arron didn’t give a damn about exploring this new expanse of territory the Federation had been given. He was in this only to find his family.

Satisfied that he had packed everything he would need, he slipped his daughters locket into his breast pocket. He stopped by the family portrait that had hung in their living room. "See you soon my dears" he spoke softly to the beautiful brunette in the summer dress, and to the shorter black haired girl with ribbons in her hair. Their holographic images just stood their smiling back at him.

Arron headed out of the house, locked the door with his thumb print, and made his way through the garden to the street. With a bag in each hand Arron strolled down the street towards the civilian transporter hub located a few short blocks away. The sun was out now, the ground drying up. Arron was unsure of when he would see his home again, but he was confident that next time he did, he would not be alone.

Ten minutes had passed, and Arron was now standing in line to use the Civilian Transporter Hub, or CTH as it was commonly known. The CTH seemed fairly busy today, so Arron dropped his bags to his feet, and pulled a PADD out from one of the side pockets of a bag. He had received the network code for the USS Discovery a few hours previous, and figured now was as good a time as any to review the personnel file for his crew. Looking them over he was shocked at how young they seemed. The majority of his Senior Staff were in their mid 20's. <Good God, we don’t have a chance> he thought. It was alarming that Star Fleet had chosen to man this crew with so many young and inexperienced officers. However the more Arron thought about it, he realized that most exploration missions were carried out by a young crew. There was no need to use Starfleet’s finest for what was ultimately a glorified cartography mission. <They will have to do> Arron thought.

The ship however was a different story. While the hull design was the tried and true Excelsior class that had been running for close to 100 years, its components were cutting edge. It featured the very best sensor package Starfleet offered, long range communication including the new holocommunications array that would allow communication between 2 vessels with the installed equipment to make it appear as if the Captain of each vessel was standing on the others bridge. The ship also boasted a healthy compliment of Photon and Quantum torpedoes, not to mention the best Phasor Emitters available. One thing Star Fleet had learned from its long war with the Dominion was how to best equip its vessels for battle. Star Fleet had come a long way in the last 15 years, and the USS Discovery was a prime example.

Arron’s thoughts were interrupted by a tab on his shoulder. "Excuse me sir" said a voice. Arron turned to find a civilian clothed gentleman, close to Arron’s age standing before him.

"Can I help you?" Arron asked.

"Just thought you might want to know, they have an entrance for military personnel over there. You needn't stand in line waiting for everyone else" The man said gesturing to a doorway that a couple of uniformed females just entered.

"Ah, well that is most welcome" said Arron. "Thank you" Drexel smiled in appreciation. He tucked the PADD under his arm, and hoisted his two bags, and headed for the door. It opened as he approached. A young smiling enlisted woman stood behind a booth. "Welcome to the CTH, Captain" she said in a pleasant voice. "Please set your bags on the scanner, for screening" she said waving her arm to round white surface next to her booth. Arron did as instructed, "You guys still keeping the security standards from the Dominion War all these years later?" Arron asked referring to the fear that swept through Earth after shape shifters caused havoc on the planet during the early stages of the war with the Gamma Quadrant’s Dominion.

"Its not the first time in our history that an attack changed policy for longer than expected" said the Ensign.

"So they are still teaching History at the academy then?" Arron said with a smile. "All is not lost then" He watched as the woman entered a sequence of commands on her console.

"Ok Captain, your all clear, where is your destination?"

"Star Fleet Headquarters, San Francisco"

The woman entered the coordinates into her computer. "Please step to the transporter pad on the other side of the room"

Arron grabbed his bags off the scanning device, and then made his way to the transporter pad. He nodded at the Ensign to let her know he was ready.


******

Arron dematerialized in a warm but slightly windy sunny day in San Francisco. Directly in front of him was Star Fleet Headquarters, with the iconic Golden Gate Bridge just off to the left of it. Arron set his bags down for a moment; he could smell the ocean in the air. "The Bay Area" as it was commonly referred, was a very busy hub of Starfleet and civilian personnel. The Academy was here, as were the administrative offices of Starfleet. Arron took out his PADD again, and checked the floor and room number of his new first officer. Felix Mena. Arron had asked to meet the Commander here so they could talk in private before they left for the ship. Noting the correct floor and office number, Arron tucked the PADD away, grabbed his luggage and made his way into the main building. He slipped into a turbolift just as it was closing; nodded to a Bolian who looked most distressed, and spoke to the computer. “Level 32, Section B” The computer chirped in acknowledgement, and Arron stood still has the lift rose. It stopped twice en route, picking up a few more passengers each time. When it came to Arron’s destination, the doors opened as the computer voice informed him, “Level 32, Section B”

Arron exited the lift, and strode down the hallway until he found Commander Mena’s Office. He pushed a button and a chime sounded inside.

“Please come in” spoke a voice. The doors opened and Arron stepped into the small office, where a tall slender Bajoran sat behind a desk. The Bajoran smiled, and stood up offering his hand. “You must be Captain Drexel, I’m Commander Mena, please have a seat” They shook hands after Arron set his bags down, and Arron dropped into the chair.

“Well Commander, thank you for seeing me. I thought it would be important to meet privately before we board seeing as how we will be working in such close proximity.”

“A sound suggestion” said Mena. “I must confess Captain, I know little about you. I looked up your service records and found it has been inactive for some time.”

Arron shifted uncomfortably, not appreciating being under the gun by his new first officer so soon. “I was uh, on an extended leave of absence. Personal matter” Arron said.

Felix apparently took the hint, and changed the subject. “Well, I look forward to being up in space again myself. I’ve spent 5 years working for Star Fleet Intelligence. Now that the Romulans have become less of a ‘threat’ and more of a ‘situation’ I have found my services aren’t really required in the ways they used to be” The Bajoran stated.

“That’s certainly understandable. A man must have a purpose” Arron said, thinking of his own reasons for coming on this mission.

“Exactly, I assume you have gotten a chance to see the crew roster?” Commander Mena inquired.

“Indeed I have. A young, but confident group.”

“Yes, I am most intrigued by our Chief Engineer, Lindsey Davis. Professor O’Brien calls her one of the brightest engineers to come out of the Academy in the last decade. But I am concerned that two close calls with the Borg will have left her mind damaged.”

“Her psych eval came back clean both times” Arron said recalling her file from memory.

“That is what concerns me Captain. Losing 1 ship with friends and colleagues is a terrible loss…but to have it happen twice in less than a year? Anyone who walks away from that unscathed has some deep unresolved issues.”

“You say you spent the last few years in Intelligence? You sound like a Psychiatrist.” Arron said with a grin.

“I make it a habit to understand everyone I will be working with. It keeps my ass from meeting the Prophets before it’s ready.”

“Very well, I will ask our ships counselor to meet with Lieutenant Davis when we depart, to see what all is going on there. Please inform the senior staff that I would like to meet with them in the Discovery conference room at 0800 hours tomorrow. It was a pleasure talking with you Commander, I have a feeling we will work well together”

“I agree Captain; I will see you onboard, 0800 hours.”

With that Arron got up with his bags, and left the office, wondering where he should eat before heading up to the ship.



Captain Arron Drexel
Commanding Officer
USS Discovery
Currently located at Star Fleet Headquarters, San Francisco, Earth.

Xander suddenly sat up from his bed. He was breathing heavily.

<Another nightmare> Xander thought to himself.

For as long as Xander could remember he’s always had nightmares. Recently they had become increasingly more real to him. Most of his nightmares were triggered by the sudden death of Xander’s parents nearly 20 years ago.

*****************

Xander was already enrolled in the Vulcan Academy of Science when his parents left the planet to set out on an excavation mission in the Tiburon system. They were stationed on planet Zion where Xander’s father Jonak was leading a crew of miners that were excavating one of the largest Unubtanium deposits ever found. Nearly 3 weeks into the mission a group of rogue Orions invaded the post and took Jonak hostage for ransom. The Federation does not negotiate with terrorists so the ransom was never paid. Xander’s father Jonak was executed and his mother Niah was raped and beaten to death.

Xander had just finished a class about sub-quantum transporting when he was approached by one his father’s best friends. Xander had only met Spock once before, and he sensed Spock’s reason for meeting him that day was only to bring bad news. He can still recall the conversation that took place between them just as if it had happened yesterday;

“Do you know who I am Xander?” asked Spock.

“Yes sir, I believe you are a friend of my father’s. Your name is Spock.” Xander replied.

“I have been a friend of your father’s for many years, and yes my name is Spock. I’m afraid I have some bad news for you Xander, it’s about your parents.” explained Spock.

“They’re dead aren’t they?” asked Xander.

“Yes, there was an accident while they were stationed on Zion” responded Spock.

Xander sat quietly down on a bench located outside of his classroom. He was trying to come up with the words to express his thoughts.

“Xander, your father asked me many years ago if I would take care of you in the event that something happened to him. I told him that would. I’m here to inform you that time has now come Xander. You will be going home with me today” explained Spock in a soft but certain voice.

“I will do no such thing sir, I can take care of myself without your help” responded Xander.

“Xander, these are the wishes of your father. You will comply. Is that understood?” explained Spock.

Xander was in no state to argue with his elder Vulcan, he grabbed his bag and left the Academy with Spock.

Over the years Xander and Spock’s relationship grew closer and closer. Spock was an excellent example and influence over Xander. Spock also had a big influence on Xander’s decision to join Star Fleet. Spock was like a father to Xander, and in time Xander became like a son to Spock.

*****************

Xander got up from his bed and walked over to the sink located in the bathroom of his cabin. He washed his face with cold water several times. He looked at himself in the mirror. He kept a blank expression on his face. He ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head back and forth a few times.

<Shake this off Xander> he thought to himself.

Xander walked over to his desk and pulled out his PADDS. He navigated his way through the PADDS interface to access his photo albums. Xander slowly made his way through photos of him and his parents together. He eventually made it to some images of him and Spock. He found a picture of him and Spock that was taken the day Xander graduated from the Vulcan Science Academy. He remembered thinking how proud Spock was of him that day. Xander’s conviction to find out what happened to Spock was stronger than ever.

Just then the PADDS message beacon lit up and started flashing. He accessed the message system and heard a woman’s voice;

“Your presence is requested for a meeting on the Bridge with Captain Drexel at 0800 hours”

Xander set his PADDS down and started getting dressed for the pre-flight meeting with the Captain.

Her feet pounded into the pavement below, adding to the rhythm of her hammering heart. The muscles in her legs screamed for rest with every step, while her mind ignored them; she couldn't stop, their lives depended on it. EVERYTHING depended on them to keep running. "Hurry Ixy, just around the corner, over the wall, and into the river!" he called over his shoulder. His hand extended to grab hers as they rounded the corner in a blur. She squeezed his hand just before dropping it, as both looked for handholds in the solid wall before them. The yells of their pursuers chilled Ixarys to the bone, the barks of the mongrels echoing fiercely in her head. "Roan, I can't find anything!" she gasped, half for air, half panicked. "I'll give you a boost and follow you over," he nodded towards the wall, already reaching for her small waist. "But," she faltered, looking back the way they had run.

"NOW IXY!" he yelled, grabbing her and heaving her high enough where she could grab the top of the concrete wall, and throw one leg over. Gripping the wall with her knees, trying to keep her balance she reached for Roan, her everything. On the third attempt, he was able to finally grab the top of the barrier and throw himself onto the edge. "GO!" he called, giving her a gentle but solid push, and she jumped down to the small dirt bank of the river. She turned quickly as she heard Roan grunt, scrambling to stay atop the wall. "ROAN!" she screamed. The snarling and barking had drawn much closer, but a quick whimper soon meant Roan had landed a solid kick on the mutt. He threw himself over the barrier, landed beside Ixarys, planted a quick kiss on her forehead and jumped into the river. Ixarys followed suit, though her entrance was a bit more graceful with her smaller frame.

----------

Later, they were curled up against one another in a small cavern they had found behind a waterfall, warmed by a small fire Roan had made. She smiled as she traced a line down his side, feeling the heat of his body, more so than the fire. Her smile slowly turned upside down as she reached up to touch his face, a face she had grown to love. "Today was a bit close." He scrunched her hair up in his hand and pulled her close for a kiss. "Too close," he agreed.

"I thought I was going to lose you," she sighed, turning to hide the moisture forming around her eyes. Roan pulled her face back to his, his bright blue eyes penetrating into the very depths of her soul, "I shall never leave your side, my love." He followed his oath with a passionate kiss.


Ixarys woke slowly, almost feeling his lips still pressed against hers. She swore right before she opened her eyes, she could still smell him. Knowing she was alone in her quarters upon the USS Discovery did nothing more than tear at her heart more. Grabbing the second pillow that lay beside her, she sobbed silently into it, squeezing it tightly to her chest. But you did leave.... you did leave, Roan. The tears still fell, as the emptiness made way for the anger within her heart. A little more than four years apart had done nothing to mend what he had done. How pathetic. Those four years had seemed to stretch on longer than the ten they had spent together. Grumbling to herself, Ixarys rolled over and went back to sleep, pillow still clutched to her body.

Lindsey's eyes sparkled and her skin was covered in goosebumps the moment she stepped into Engineering. This was the Lieutenants first time aboard a brand new ship, and the knowledge that this thing was in pristine condition made her forget the days of tuning older plasma manifolds, regulating impulse power flow, and replacing ruptured ODN cables. This baby would have none of those problems. She toured the facility, as it was still quiet. A few technicians were scattered about performing last minute checks before the ship was cleared to leave space dock.

"Beautiful isn't it?" said a voice. Lindsey snapped out of her thoughts and saw a female Ensign beside her.

"Yes, yes it is"

"I'm Samantha Jameson, just boarded not long ago" said the Ensign, shaking her hand.

"Well Jameson, that would make me your boss. Lindsey Davis, Chief Engineer."

"Nice to meet you Ma'am"

"Is this your first assignment Samantha?"

"It is. My brother and I just got out of the Academy, and this was our first assignment." replied the Ensign.

"Well, just do as your told, don't try and surprise me, and you will get out of here just fine"

Samantha looked as if she wasn't sure what to say next. "Okay" she managed to spit out.

"I have a senior staff meeting in about an hour, why don't you double check the station technicians...just to be safe" Davis ordered.

"Yes Ma'am" and she headed over to a computer terminal.

<I'm gonna like this ship> said Lindsey smiling to herself.

David had finished his personal tour of the ship. It was a fine vessel, and looked very capable in deep space. He checked the time and saw the senior staff briefing was to begin in 15 minutes. He made his way into the nearest turbolift.

"Bridge" He said, and the lift took off, moving toward the Bridge.

The doors opened and David stepped onto the bridge. It was very clean, and quiet. He walked over to his console in front of the captains chair and took a quick seat. The chair was quite comfy, and the fact that he was in the front, meant he might be able to sneak a nap in from time to time with no one noticing.

Satisfied that his station was perfect, he headed through the conference room door off to the side and took a seat. He was the first to arrive, and waited patiently for the next person to come through the door

Lt. David Mayne
Operations Officer
USS Discovery.

With nearly 30 minutes to spare before the meeting with the Captain, Xander decided to find his way to the mess hall for a quick bite to eat. The design of the ship felt very familiar to Xander after having spent the last 15 years on star ships. Xander made his way through the halls of the ship giving the occasional nod to the crew members passing by. The holographic displays on the walls of the hallways projected the image of young female ensigns, greeting the crew members to the ship and detailing some of the amenities of the ship. At the end of the hall Xander spotted a ship directory. Using his fingers to navigate through the directory, Xander was able to find the location of the mess hall.

<Level 4, room MH-1> Xander said quietly to himself.

As Xander made his way through the doors of the mess hall he was surprised to see it so empty. There were a few crew members sitting at the tables and an older gentleman sitting on one of the couches in the corner of the hall. Xander made his way over to the counter and was greeted by a younger Orion female.

“What can I help you with?” she asked.

“I’m looking for a quick snack before a meeting, do you have any hirat or kasa?” Xander asked.

“I think we have some hirat, how many would you like?” she asked.

“Just one is fine” said Xander.

“Ok, I’ll go grab you one” said the young Orion as she made her way to the back of the kitchen.

Xander took a seat at the bar and pulled out his PADDS. The screen indicated he had another message. He accessed the message which said;

THE OFFICER MEETING HAS BEEN MOVED TO THE MAIN CONFERENCE ROOM WHICH IS LOCATED NEXT TO THE BRIDGE. THE MEETING WILL BEGIN PROMPTLY AT 0800 HOURS.

Xander grabbed the fresh piece of Hirat that was left sitting on the counter. He checked the time;

<15 minutes before the meeting starts> he thought to himself.

He grabbed his PADDS and headed toward the door, hirat in hand. Approaching the doors Xander bumped into a human male that was coming in the mess hall as he was leaving.

“Excuse me.” Xander said quietly.

“X, is that you?” replied the male.

Xander turned around, he was surprised to see who was standing in front of him.

“Jacen Phoenix is that you? How are you old friend? What are you doing here?” Xander asked.

“What’s with all the questions X, you look surprised to see me.” Phoenix replied.

“Yes, I am very surprised to see you. What are doing here?” asked Xander again.

“I found out there was a shortage of security officers on this ship. I applied and they immediately granted me a request for transfer.” responded Phoenix.

"Thats great news. I look forward to working with you again old friend." replied Xander.

"Yeah I'm excited to be here. I heard the Chief Tactical Officer was a Miri, and that she's smokin hot!" Phoenix said with a smile on his face.

“Now don't go and get yourself in trouble on your first day aboard this ship Phoenix." scolded Xander.

"Oh don't you worry buddy, I can take care of myself." responded Phoenix.

"Right, like the time we got stopped at that checkpoint on Aurora. That was the first time I had to use my telepathic powers to get us out a jam". said Xander, trying to keep a seroous look on his face.

"Keep that power fresh old fried, you never know when your going to need it." Phoenix said laughing.

"Look Phoenix, I have a meeting I have to get to right now. It was great to see you. Let’s catch up with each other a little later today.” Xander said with an urgent tone.

“Sounds good buddy, it was great to see you X.” replied Phoenix.

<Now I am going to be late for the meeting> Xander quietly thought to himself as he quickly made his way to a turbolift.

Drexel was sitting in the copilot’s seat of a Type IX shuttle. As was tradition, the Captain was leaving the planet via shuttle to conduct a visual inspection of the outside of the ship prior to launch. He had spent the previous few hours filling out paper work and getting other administrative pre-launch tasks done.

He looked out the starboard viewport to see Earth gradually getting smaller the closer the shuttle got to the space dock. The shuttle banked slightly, and Arron looked out the front window as the USS Discovery loomed in front of him. The ship was immense compared to the small shuttle he currently occupied. Running lights were flickering above and below the saucer sections, with more along the nacelles and the aft of the ship.

“I will take it from here" Arron informed the shuttle pilot.

Arron's hands danced over the control panel in front of him as he took over flight controls of the vessel. Arron had made a career out of piloting. As he maneuvered the shuttle closer the Discovery, he realized how much he missed being in control of a ships movement. He put the shuttle into a slow and tight barrel roll, feeling the effects of the movement through his body. It was invigorating. All that time at home doing nothing...how did he ever leave this?

Arron brought the ship up to about 50 meters from the hull. He passed by the forward torpedo tubes, the main deflector dish, and the impulse engines. Everything looked beautiful.

<I can’t believe this ship is mine> Arron thought to himself. Arron flew the ship over the saucer section and over the bridge of the ship, then along the nacelles. "Everything checks out" Arron said aloud.

"Shall I land the shuttle in the shuttle bay sir?"

"No...No I think I would like to do that" Arron said with a grin.


***********

10 minutes later Arron had stepped onto the USS Discovery after landing the shuttle in its aft shuttle bay. "Captain on Deck" Called the shuttle bay technician, and several enlisted crewman snapped to attention. "As you were" Arron responded, and watched as they returned to their tasks. Arron left the large shuttle bay and found himself in the familiar Starfleet corridors of a Federation Starship. There was a turbolift just down the hall, so Arron headed towards it and stepped in.

"Deck 1, Bridge" he commanded, and the turbolift immediately hummed as it sped upwards to the ships top level.

When the doors opened and Arron saw his Bridge for the first time, that’s when it hit him, he was a Captain now. This was his bridge; this is where he would make decisions that would affect the 750 man crew that would serve under him. Slowly, Arron took a step forward. "Captain on the Bridge!" Said Commander Felix Mena, who was positioned at a terminal to his right. The room went dead silent, and all eyes were on him.

Drexel suddenly found himself at a loss for words as he stared at all of the new faces before him. Mena, being the only one he had met earlier.

"I'm not one for speeches" Arron said, "But I look forward to the time we will be spending together. We will learn to trust one another, and if we put in the effort that each of us, as Star Fleet Officers are capable of, we can accomplish great things. Now, please prep for departure, I want to be on the move as soon as my staff meeting concludes." And with that people returned to what they were previously doing. Commander Mena approached him.

"Captain, the senior staff has all assembled in the conference room per your request"

"Excellent" Arron said smiling at his first officer, "Looks like my first order hasn't resulted in someone being thrown in the brig"

"Let's see how the meeting goes first" said Mena "before declaring your first victory as Captain"

Arron laughed and nodded, "Lets get this started then"

Both officers stepped through the doors to the conference room seeing several faces sitting around a table. They all stood once they saw Drexel and Mena.

Arron took the seat in front of him, while Mena took the vacant seat to his right. "Please take your seats" Arron directed.

There was a rustling sound as the various officers all returned to their chairs. "I believe introductions are in order, lets officially acquaint ourselves. I am Arron Drexel, I have just come out of retirement, and this is my first command....So if we even make it out of space dock in one piece, you will all be as surprised as me."

The officers laughed and from that point on the tension seemed to be gone.

Commander Mena then introduced himself, followed by a Vulcan named Xander, then the Chief Engineer Lindsey Davis, Tactical Officer Ixarys, Operations Officer David Mayne, Chief of Security Arwen Llewellyn, Aedan Aschenbrenner Chief Science Officer, and a Trill, Commander Thaius Bixby, the Doctor.

Arron looked at Arwen and Aedan, "are you guys...related?" Drexel asked. "Brother and Sister" said Arwen, who seemed more eager about the revelation than did her brother.

"Interestingly there are 3 sets of brother and sister serving on this ship" Mena offered.

"Oh?" Drexel said curiously

"The Jameson’s, an engineer and medic, and also me and my little sister, fresh out of the academy, she is an Engineer technician, Ferrin Mena."

"Well lets try and keep the family drama out of the work place" Arron said, half joking. "Alright, as you are aware we have been ordered on a 5 year mission of exploration of the ‘Sataran Expanse’ as the Federation have officially named it."

"We changed the name?" asked Mena

"Yeah, apparently Sataran is a lot easier to pronounce than Slet'katesh Vylln" Arron said doing his best to say the Romulan word correctly.

"Curious" said Lieutenant Commander Xander, "But are you sure you said that correctly Captain?"

Arron looked slightly annoyed, but answered none the less. "I’m afraid Romulan isn’t a language I claim to speak very well” Arron admitted, “however I do believe that is how you say it."

"Forgive the intrusion Captain, I only ask because that is an old phrase from Vulcan."

"That’s hardly surprising, seeing as your two people are related" Mena said.

Arron noticed the look on Xander's face. "What does it mean Xander?"

"The Forbidden Zone" Xander said, voice absent of any emotion.

"How interesting..." Arron said pondering the name. "I wonder what we’re about to walk into...Alright, Lt. Commander Aschenbrenner, I want you to work with Xander and pour over any old information we have on the fringe of this sector. We have never been inside it before, but there may be some old reports or data you guys can dig up. See what you can find, and perhaps we can investigate any anomalies upon our arrival. Lieutenant Ixarys, this is old Romulan Space, and there may be some disgruntled Romulan ships out there looking to prey on new Federation vessels in the vicinity, also...rumors of Pirates" Arron added, thinking of his family. "Assess any tactical threats you feel we may come across, I'd like a report in 3 hours. The rest of you, prepare for launch, we will depart immediately. As soon as we enter warp, please proceed with your tasks. Dismissed"

The meeting adjourned and the officers all got up from the table, filing out the door onto the Bridge. Arron was the last to leave, feeling his first meeting went well. He had planted the seeds of building a relationship with his crew, they had learned some information regarding the true name of the Sataran Expanse, and now they seemed to have something to research on their journey.

Arron entered the bridge to see everyone in their proper place. Arron sat down in his Captains chair for the first time. <Good Lord, this is comfy....too comfy> Adjusting his posture slightly Arron looked over his shoulder to Lieutenant Ixarys. "Lieutenant, please open a channel to Space Dock Command"

"Channel established" she replied.

"This is Captain Arron Drexel of the USS Discovery, requesting clearance to depart."

"Discovery, please standby for docking moors to be unlocked." came a voice over the comm.

An audible pang echoed across the hull indicated the magnetic seal had been broken from the moors.

"Discovery, you are now cleared for departure. Good luck out there, see you in 5 years"

"Acknowledged, keep the light on for us. Discovery out" Arron said, as a ripple of excitement fell over him.

"Helm, take us out, ahead at 1/2 thrusters"

"1/2 thrusters, aye" Said Xander from in front of him at the Helm.

Arron watched the view screen as they inched forward, passing through the space dock.

"Increase speed, full thrusters"

"Full thrusters, Aye sir" Said the Vulcan. “We are clear of the facility, Captain”

“Alright, set course for three five zero, mark nine nine two eight, warp factor 7 please Mr. Xander.”

“Setting course, Captain.”

“Engage”

The Vulcan punched a key on his consoles, and the ship jerked to warp speed, leaving Earth behind, and hurtling the Discovery towards their first mission.

Captain Arron Drexel
Commanding Officer
USS Discovery
Bridge

Ixarys felt a small tickle within her stomach as the ship began to enter warp speed. This was it, no more Earth, no more daily reminders of Roan and his desertion of her. As the ship jumped to warp, she began to pull up any past reports of the past 6 months of Federation ships that had been near the Sataran Expanse. Chills briefly ran through her body as she recalled the name the Vulcan had translated it into, 'The Forbidden Zone'. Romulans usually kept true to their word, by way of descriptions and threats that is.

After setting parameters of her search for the documents that had pulled up, Ixarys' mind began to drift back to thoughts of Roan, as the computer sorted through relevant and irrelevant information. He had deserted her, after ten years of....everything. And truly, she couldn't come up with a resounding reason of why. At least one that truly warranted his actions. If making it into the Academy had been so damn important to him, if she had known what the results would be of her entrance, she would take it all back in a heart beat. Even the feel of the silky new console beneath her fingers, eager to do her bidding. But Roan had been the one so eager to be at the Academy, not her! She was just willing to do whatever would keep him at her side, and this was his dream. Ixarys bit her lip, And here I am living it for you, you idiot!

The console emitted a soft beep upon completion and brought Ixarys back to the present. While glancing at the view screen, something clicked in Ixarys' brain. Xander was Vulcan, and she needed to keep her thoughts more in check until she found out how in-depth his telepathic powers went, if they even began to rival her own. Her mind probed slightly in his direction, and she sighed with relief that he seemed to not be aware of any of her current or previous thoughts presently. This could be bad, or at least... very interesting. ... Oh God, I'm thinking again, OH SHUT UP WILL YOU! she berated herself, now worried the Vulcan would "over hear" her internal battle. Shaking her mind clear, she focused again on the console below her with several different reports marked on the left hand side. Sliding the first and most recent open with a touch of her finger, she scanned for any useful information. Her brow furrowed as she reached the end. She pulled the second open, scanned it as well, then hurriedly read the third and so on.

Intrigued and perplexed, Ixarys began another search upon her console. 'USS Haven'. The ship had many reports from just outside the Sataran Expanse, and had been very frequent and regular with them. Most of her original search results were posted from the Haven and their crew. Until a two days ago.

"Captain, sir?" she called.

"Yes Lieutenant?" Drexel turned slightly in his chair, acknowledging a sense of urgency in her voice.

"I don't mean to spoil things so soon, but, while researching recent reports on the Sataran Expanse, I seem to have hit a dead end, so to speak. My main source, the USS Haven, has been posted on the border for the past few weeks, making daily reports. They've just ....stopped. Not a word in forty-eight hours. The last report I can find mentions an unidentified ship on long-range scanners, then nothing."

"The forbidden zone, eh?" Aedan glanced towards Xander. "Any chance that it'd be a similar word? Like...moor ridden?"

The Vulcan didn't sense the tone of humor in Aedan's voice. "The translation is definite. The word is forbidden." Aedan sat waiting for Xander to add on something more...something more... "Besides, similar words in English do not correspond to similar words in Romulan, Vulcan, or any other language."

"A-ha! I knew you'd respond like that. You just couldn't resist."

"Are you saying that you are intentionally trying to irritate me? I would have to advise that to be unwise."

"No, no," Aedan insisted. "It's just something...innate..." A moment of silence. "I used to be the same way. I still do now and again, but I've adopted the Taoist view--a way of life found on earth. Just let it slide on by." He made a swooping gesture with his right hand.

"Seems very irresponsible."

"Hardly. It's not shrugging off responsibility, it's just not worrying about the inevitable. Not stressing about something just because it has to be done. It actually clears your mind and...well, I'd imagine you don't believe in luck, but I believe it's the way to cultivate luck. Like right there," Aedan pointed at the screen.

Surprised, Xander gave Aedan a dirty look and glanced at the screen. "That's from the 20th century. Earth didn't have interstellar transportation then."

"Doesn't mean we didn't find something. August 24, 1978. National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array located in Socorro County, New Mexico. It looks like the array was not fully operational at the time, and this was a preliminary test scan, which swept through the part of the sector in question."

"It could be equipment malfunction."

"Which is what they thought, given the large RF pulse they got about 10 seconds in."

"I think you are stretching."

Aedan grinned as the next match showed up on the screen. "Not so. I found another report, from the Australia Telescope Compact Array about 20 years later. Same area, another large RF pulse."

"How large?" posed Xander.

"Larger than a supernova or black hole, for one."

"But radio frequency? What could give off that much radiation in the RF range?"

"I don't know," Aedan shrugged, glancing back at Lt. Ixarys' as she made her report, "but we'll find out." He turned to address Captain Drexel and add to Ixarys' report. "Captain, sir, I think we found something, I'm going through the data now." Drexel nodded. Aedan turned to Xander again. "If you find any more, forward the data to me, and keep your eyes open for anything new or unusual. This is already going to be hell to work through, though."

David was intrigued by the mystery that was suddenly surrounding them. They had only been at warp for a couple hours and the team was already hard at work at several different tasks. After listening to Aedan and Ixarys talking to Drexel, Mayne thought of an idea.

"Captain?" David asked turning in his seat to face Drexel.

"Yes Lieutenant?"

"Starbase 185, its the closest outpost we have to that area, being that it is a starbase, its sensor array would far exceed that of any vessels in that area, perhaps we can link into their system and use our new computer system to find out any more information."

Lieutenant David Mayne
Operations Officer
USS Discovery
Bridge

Arron thought for a moment as he worked through what Mayne had suggested. "To be honest Lieutenant, this goes outside my area of expertise."

Drexel tapped his comm badge =/\=Bridge to Engineering=/\=

=/\=Davis here, what can I do for you Captain=/\=

=/\=Lindsey, Lieutenant Mayne is curious to know if we can tap into the the sensor array on Starbase 185, and use our computers to search off of their network=/\=

=/\=Hmm, it should be possible, I will just need to get in contact with the Starbase, so we can link into their network, though i must caution that being so far away from the base still, the connection will be spotty, and reaction times delayed.Also i will need to make some modifications to our computers, and sensor array, seeing as the ship is new, we will need to disable some safe guards=/\=

=/\=Make it happen, inform Lieutenant Ixarys when you are ready for her to begin a sensor sweep with their instruments. Bridge out=/\=

"Great Idea David, lets hope it pans out" Arron said approvingly.

Lindsey was grateful for something meaningful to do. The ship was so new there wasn't anything that truly needed the attention of a Chief Engineer. She took a deep breath than turned to her team, "Jameson, get me Starbase 185 on subspace, I need to speak to their Chief Engineer, Crewman Mena, take a tool kit down to deck 19, get ready to make some modifications to the Main Deflector. I will meet you down there shortly."

"Yes Ma'am" they said in unison. Lindsey hurried to her office and grabbed a PADD from her desk. She activated the display, and pulled up the schematics on the ships sensor array, and the main deflector dish. She began reading through the factory default calibrations that they would already be set to. She noted that they could reroute power from long range sensors to the main deflector, in order to boost the link strength they would be making with the starbase. She stepped back out of her office, and headed to the terminal labeled, 'Main Deflector Control'. She released some safeguards preventing power overflow, then was able to lower the power output of the long range sensors to 50%, transferring the additional power to the Main Deflector. A warning pop up appeared advising such a task was inadvisable, and could cause ODN overloads that would interrupt computer power throughout the ship. <I know what I'm doing> sighed Lindsey as she entered her command code to override the warning.

"Lieutenant Davis" called James from behind her. "I have Lieutenant Commander Dar'hil of Starbase 158 on subspace for you."

"Thank you Ensign, I will take it in my office" Lindsey said, logging off the main deflection control terminal. She strode back into her office and took the seat behind her desk. She activated her computer and accepted the communications transfer. A pale blue Benzite appeared before her. Benzite's were widely known for their technical prowess, so it was no surprise to see one leading a starbase's engineering crew.

"Lieutenant Commander Dar'hil, thank you for taking a moment to speak with me" Lindsey began

"Please keep it brief Lieutenant; I am a very busy man"

<And I'm not, ass hole!> she thought to herself.

"Certainly. I will get right to the point. We need to relay into your network, so that we can tap into your sensor array. We have a priority mission that requires your more extensive sensor package"

"I must say, 18 years in the service, and that is the first time I've had a woman from another ship ask to use my package" replied the Benzite

Lindsey raised an eyebrow; "Wow" was all she could manage to say.

"Forgive me Lieutenant; we are on the rim of Federation space...its hard to pass up a chance like that. Certainly we can help you out. I will forward your our access code, though it looks like because of the distance between us, I would suggest boosting power to your main deflector to prevent data packet loss."

Lindsey smiled, "Already took care of it Dar'hil"

"Excellent, I will make sure no one interrupts the transmission on my end, give the link about an hour to stabilize, and then you should be able to use the sensors. Don't forget to compensate your readings for the time delay. As your ship moves closer, the delay will shorten."

"Understood, thanks for your help. Davis out" <Dirty old bastard> she thought as she ended the communication link.

=/\=Davis to Ixarys, you should have access to starbase 185's long range sensor capabilities within the next hour. You should be able to learn so more information at that time, just be sure to compensate for the lag, as the feed will be delayed because of distance.=/\=

Xander made his way back over to his seat, pondering the information Aedan had just given him.

<What could possibly be big enough to send a RF signal that far across the Galaxy?> Xander thought to himself.

Xander turned his attention over to Lieutenant Ixarys. He sensed that she had already come to a conclusion. Someone or something came into contact with the USS Haven, and the result of that contact was met with a terrible result. That is the only logical explanation for a loss of contact with the USS Haven. Xander turned his attention back to his own console.

“Cruising comfortably at warp factor 7 Captain” Xander said.

“Excellent Commander. Increase to warp factor 8.5” the Captain commanded.

“Aye sir, increasing warp factor to 8.5”

Xander slowly increased the warp factor of the ship until he reached the requested speed.

“Warp factor is at 8.5 sir” said Xander turning around to look at the Captain.

“Excellent work Helmsman. Maintain current speed and course for the next 6 hours.”

“Aye Captain” replied Xander.

Now that the ship was cruising at a comfortable speed, Xander walked over to one of the empty stations to ponder the information Ixarys and Aedan has just brought to light. There was so much commotion with the bridge; Xander decided that he needed somewhere quiet to focus his thoughts.

“Permission to leave the bridge for a couple hours Captain” Xander asked.

“Permission granted. The Helms assistant will relieve you” said Captain Drexel.

Xander walked over to the navigation console located on the bridge.

“Are you the Helms assistant?” Xander asked.

A younger female Betazoid turned around and stood at attention.

“Yes sir, Lieutenant Junior Grade Kasia Novak at your service sir”

“I’ll be brief. I need you to monitor the ship’s helms console while I take a short recess” commanded Xander.

“Aye sir” replied Novak.

“We are currently cruising at warp factor 8.5 so I need you to continue to monitor the speed and attitude of the ship. This is a new ship, so if you feel like something isn’t quite right you need to contact me immediately.”

“Aye sir” said the Betazoid as she quickly took her place in the Helms chair.


*******************************

Xander sat down in a lounge chair located in his cabin. There were a million thoughts racing through his mind. Lieutenant Mayne talked about Starbase 185, which sounded eerily familiar to him.

<Starbase 185…… Starbase 185, where do I know that from?> Xander thought to himself. Just then it came to him.

“Phoenix!” Xander said out loud.

=/\= Xander to Jacen Phoenix =/\=

=/\= This is Phoenix, what can I do I for X? =/\=

=/\= Didn’t you once tell me that you spent a couple years as an intern on Starbase 185? =/\=

=/\= Affirmative. I spent 18 months out there doing intern work as a security guard at the docking bay =/\=

Xander made his way back over to his seat, pondering the information Aedan had just given him.

<What could possibly be big enough to send a RF signal that far across the Galaxy?> Xander thought to himself.

Xander turned his attention over to Lieutenant Ixarys. He sensed that she had already come to a conclusion. Someone or something came into contact with the USS Haven, and the result of that contact was met with a terrible result. That is the only logical explanation to loss of contact with the USS Haven. Xander turned his attention back to his own console.

“Cruising comfortably at warp factor 7 Captain” Xander said.

“Excellent Commander. Increase to warp factor 8.5” the Captain commanded.

“Aye sir, increasing warp factor to 8.5”

Xander slowly increased the warp factor of the ship until he reached the requested speed.

“Warp factor is at 8.5 sir” said Xander turning around to look at the Captain.

“Excellent work Helmsman. Maintain current speed and course for the next 6 hours.”

“Aye Captain” replied Xander.

Now that the ship was cruising at a comfortable speed, Xander went over to one of the Navigation stations to ponder the information Ixarys and Aedan has just brought to light. There was so much commotion with the bridge; Xander needed somewhere quiet to focus his thoughts.

“Permission to leave the bridge for a couple hours Captain” Xander asked.

“Permission granted. The Helms assistant will relieve you” said Captain Drexel.

Xander walked over to the navigation console located on the bridge.

“Are you the Helms assistant?” Xander asked.

A younger female Betazoid turned around and stood at attention.

“Yes sir, Lieutenant Junior Grade Kasia Novak at your service sir”

“I’ll be brief. I need you to monitor the ship’s helms console while I take a short recess” commanded Xander.

“Aye sir” replied Novak.

“We are currently cruising at warp factor 8.5 Novak, I need you to continue to monitor the speed and attitude of the ship. This is a new ship, so if you feel like something isn’t quite right you need to contact me immediately. I will be in my cabin”

“Aye sir” said the Betazoid as she quickly took her place in the Helms chair.


*******************************

Xander sat down in a lounge chair located in his cabin. There were a million thoughts racing through his mind. Lieutenant Mayne talked about Starbase 185, which sounded eerily familiar to him.

<Starbase 185…… Starbase 185, where do I know that from?> Xander thought to himself.

“Phoenix!” Xander said out loud.

=/\= Xander to Jacen Phoenix =/\=

=/\= This is Phoenix, what can I do I for X =/\=

=/\= Didn’t you tell me while serving on the USS Mayflower that you spent a couple years as an intern on Starbase 185? =/\=

=/\= Affirmative. I spent 18 months out there doing intern work as a security guard at the docking bay =/\=

=/\= How familiar are you with the territory out there? =/\=

=/\= Very. I studied several star maps of that territory, including several planets on the outer rim of the newly annexed Sataran Expanse =/\=

Xander and Phoenix's love and wonder of the Galaxy is one of the things that made them such good friends while serving on the USS Mayflower together.

=/\= What's up X? Why do you want to know about Starbase 185? =/\=

=/\= Old friend, what can you tell me about Slet’katesh Vylln? =/\=

The com went silent for several seconds

=/\= Your response is required Phoenix =/\=

=/\= Permission to meet with you privately sir =/\=

=/\= Meet me in the officer’s lounge in 20 minutes =/\=

=/\= Aye sir, Phoenix out =/\=

Aedan sat looking at the data he's been working on for over an hour, not making any progress. "Captain, I would like to report."

"Go ahead, Lieutenant."

"There have been periodic bursts lasting the last two or three centuries, ever since we monitored space. The strange thing is, all instances observed a high-intensity, radio frequency pulse out of the area, something not very suspicious, if a little mysterious."

Drexel looked at him somewhat incredulously, as if thinking, That's it?!

"Of course, there are all sorts of phenomena out there that send our RF signals--pulsars, black holes, new stars. This of course exceeds anything I or anyone has ever seen in intensity in the RF range. Either there's a real badass pulsar out there--and yes, that is an official term--or that we are looking at something man-made."

Drexel sat there, taking it all in. "Good. Perhaps Starbase 185's sensor array will get more data that you can work with. Once Lieutenant Davis has sufficient data, have her forward it to you."

"Yes sir."

Xander made his way into the officer’s lounge and sat down on one of the couch’s located near a window. He stared blankly out the window, everything was a blur. Since the ship was still cruising near max warp speed, there was nothing to see. The lounge doors opened;

“Phoenix, thank you for meeting with me” Xander said turning to look at the Human.

“Look X, I know what your going to do so just do it” Phoenix said with a stern look on his face.

“What are you talking about Jacen?”

“You’ve brought me here so you can us your telepathic powers to read my mind. You want to know about the Slet’katesh Vylln right? Well, have at it friend!”

<His heart rate is elevated, he is sweating profusely. What is he so afraid of> Xander thought to himself.

“I have no plans to read your mind. Tell me why the term Slet’katesh Vylln breeds so much fear in you?” asked Xander.

“Because I’ve seen it Xander” Phoenix replied in a shaky voice.

“What do you mean you’ve seen it?”

“The Slet’katesh Vylln is real; I’ve seen it, and I've felt it”

“It’s simply an ancient Vulcan term that means “The Forbidden Zone”. How have you felt it before?

“I can’t talk to you about it X, my life depends on it” replied Phoenix whose hands and feet were now shaking uncontrollably.

< His tone, heart rate, and response indicate he is being truthful> Xander thought to himself.

“Phoenix, surely you understand there are ways in which I could obtain this information from you. It would be simpler for you to tell me what you mean by all of this” Xander said.

“You’ve got it all wrong Xander, everyone has it all wrong. Soon you will all know exactly what I mean if you pursue this mission. You need to inform Captain Drexel that the Discovery must not enter the Sataran Expanse. That is the reason I asked to be transferred to this vessel, to warn you Xander. If you enter the expanse you will never return.” said Phoenix staring directly into the Vulcan’s eyes.

“Does this have anything to do with the RF pulses that have been coming from that area?” asked Xander.

“When you reach Starbase 185, you need to find an Andorian named Nesbit. He can tell you more about Slet’katesh Vylln. That is all the information I can give you Commander. Requesting permission to return to my post sir” Phoenix said standing up.

“Of course, go Phoenix”

After Phoenix left the officer’s lounge Xander reached for his com.

=/\= Xander to Captain Drexel =/\=

=/\= This is Drexel, go ahead Xander =/\=

=/\= Captain, I have come across some information regarding Slet’katesh Vylln. and I need to meet with you privately to discuss this new information =/\=

=/\= I’m very busy at the moment Xander, can’t this wait? =/\=

=/\= I’m afraid it can’t sir. It’s urgent =/\=

=/\= Report to the bridge Xander, we can discuss your findings with the other officers here. If you have something important to say, I want all the other officers to hear it. Drexel out =/\=

<Nowhere am I so desperately needed as among a shipload of illogical humans> Xander thought to himself as he quickly made his way to the bridge.

Arron was listening to the low chatter around the bridge. The crew was busy with various projects, but nothing more than speculation had surfaced at this point.

"Lieutenant Ixarys, how much longer until we can get into that sensor array?" Arron asked, anxious to get some answers.

"About ten or fifteen more minutes Captain" she replied.

The turbolift doors opened and the Helmsman, Lieutenant Commander Xander stepped onto the bridge. As usual, his face was void of any emotion, betraying none of the information he wished to share with Arron.

Arron stood as the Vulcan approached.

"Captain, I have some plausibly relevant information to share with you."

Xander proceeded to inform Drexel of his conversation with Lieutenant Phoenix. Arron was immediately concerned, he had a crew member who felt his life depended on keeping vital information secret, and his whole reason for coming was to try and keep the Discovery from entering the Sataran Expanse.

"Xander, you were right to bring this to my attention."

=/\=Bridge to Security=/\=

=/\=This is Lieutenant Stone, what can I do for you=/\=

=/\=I need you to detain Lieutenant Jacen Phoenix for questioning immediately.=/\=

There was a brief pause. =/\=Jacen works in my department sir...is something wrong=/\=

=/\=Don’t worry about the details at the moment Stone, just apprehend him, we have some questions we need to ask him, Bridge out=/\=

Drexel looked back at Xander, "Thank you for bringing this to my attention; I will handle the matter from here"

"With respect Captain, I have known Phoenix for a long time; I believe I could assist you in the matter"

"I will take that under consideration Xander, but for now, I think you have played your part in this" Drexel stated. Dismissed" Xander nodded then walked over to his station where Lieutenant Novak was working, to check how she was doing. Arron sat back in his chair, pressed a few commands onto the small screen on the arm of his chair, and the opposite arm slid back, and a screen rose up, giving him a terminal to work from. He brought up Jacen Phoenix's personnel file, and began reading through it.

Captain Arron Drexel
Commanding Officer
USS Discovery
Bridge

David was just finishing his diagnostics on all ships system. He had a habit of running scans and sweeps whenever he had down time. An alert tone beeped from his console, and David quickly checked it out. There was something wrong with the navigational computer. Certainly that had to be a mistake...this was a new ship.

The more he looked at the error messages that were scrolling across his screen, the harder it was to believe. He turned in his chair, as a frightening scenario occurred to him...

"Lt. Ixarys, would it be accurate to suggest your uplink to Starbase 158 is taking longer than expected?"

"Uh, actually yes" she said. "I just got off the comm line with Davis...they cant figure out what the hang up is down in Engineering."

The chatter around the bridge had slowed, and most everyone was now looking at Mayne.

"I think I know the problem...We have been moving away from Starbase 158, not towards it."

"What are you saying?" Captain Drexel asked.

"I just got done running a ship wide diagnostic, and its telling me that our navigational computer has been tampered with." Maybe said gravely. This whole time, we thought we were flying towards the Sataran Expanse, when in reality we have been going in the opposite direction."

"Helm Full Stop!" Arron ordered. Xander had tapped Novak on the shoulder, she got up, and he replaced her. He entered a command onto his console, and the ship shuddered slightly as it decelerated suddenly. Arron felt his stomach lurch. Inertial Dampeners were life savers onboard star ships, however they weren’t perfect.

"Aschenbrenner, use the location of the stars to coordinate our position."

The science officer took a moment to make the calculations. "He's right sir, we are WAY off course. We are close to the Beta Aurigae system"

"Dammit" Arron cursed, and pounded his fist furiously on the arm of his chair. "How could this happen! Xander, head to Astrometrics, get an Engineering team with you and see if you can get this glitch in the navigational computer worked out. Ixary's inform Star Fleet Command we are having a navigational malfunction and to stand by to assist us if needed. We are going to be way behind schedule."

"Do you think this really was a matter of someone tampering with the ship?" Commander Mena asked.

"I sincerely hope not Commander; I'm hoping this was some unfortunate screw up from spacedock."

"Still" replied Mena "We have to prepare for the possibility that someone on this ship sabotaged our navigational computer, and that given the circumstances, Lieutenant Phoenix is a prime suspect."

"God, I hope you’re not right, that this is just a bad coincidence" Arron said shaking his head.

Arron Drexel
Commanding Officer
USS Discovery
Bridge

Ixarys' fingers flew over the controls, trying to establish a communication link with Star Fleet Command. Nothing. She tried again. Slightly frustrated with herself, she tried a third time, slowing her pace. she may be fresh out of the Academy but a comm link wasn't exactly rocket science. "You've got to be kidding me," she grumbled as it failed yet again. Sliding over to another section of the console, she pulled up the uplink that was in progress with Starbase 185. Well, it had been in progress.

"Captain we may have more problems.."

"More? God, we just left, what is it Lieutenant?"

While he spoke Ixarys had hurried over to Mayne's console to confirm what was showing on hers.

"The uplink has been disconnected, most likely due to the distance, but I cannot make any connections with Star Fleet Command. Or send out any communications whatsoever."

The phone rang a third time and Aedan rolled over on his cot. They'll give up sooner or later, he reasoned. Fourth time. Fifth time. Sixth. He got to the phone before it rang for the ninth time. "Hullo?" he answered groggily.

"Aedan," a familiar voice called, "I need your help. Just for tonight. I need a place to stay."

"Arwen," Aedan muttered, rubbing his eyes and glancing at the clock. "It's one-thirty. And what are you doing in Oxford? Or England for that matter?"

"I don't have much change, I'll explain later. I need a place to stay..."

"Hold on..."

"I don't have much change, and only enough money for a bus ride into town. I'm currently at Botley, so I'll meet you at that museum in the middle of town."

"The Ashmolean?"

"Yes, I think that's the one. Please, come get..." The line cut her off there and remained empty.

Grumbling, Aedan pulled on some trousers and last day's shirt and sweat jacket and set off on foot--the museum wasn't all that far away from the dorms. He arrived in fifteen minutes, and Arwen hadn't arrived yet. Ten minutes later, the bus arrived at stop not too far from the museum. He watched as the she unboarded and walked toward him. She looked ghastly in the moonlight, he realized. She looked like she hadn't a meal in days--perhaps not even slept in days.

"Brother..." she said in a quiet voice, something she would never have addressed him as before. Something was wrong.

"You don't look so good," Aedan stated the obvious. "How did...or what...happened to you?"

"Nathan--you remember Nath-...no, you wouldn't. I was living in Bristol with this fellow...well, never mind how I met him. Things went awry. I had to leave...now...I'm afraid he's trying to follow me."

Aedan sighed. Why wasn't he surprised. "You've been into drugs, haven't you?" He brushed her forearm, observing the various bruises that covered both arms. Arwen silently nodded. "Come with me, then. I'm in a men's only dormitory, but I'm sure that the landlord will understand having a sister stay a night in the light of an emergency."

"Thank you," Arwen relaxed, obviously distracted by something in the background as an orange glow filled her eyes. Aedan turned to see what she was looking at. Flames arose above the rooftops of houses in the neighborhood. Someplace was burning--an unfortunate accident. Aedan showed the way as airships with retardant and firebots made their way to the scene. The nearer they got to the dorms, the more the hairs on the back of Aedan's neck stood up. It was too darned close....

"No...no way..." They both stood and looked at the flames that engulfed what used to be Aedan's apartment building. My work...my belongings...

An hour later, they found themselves on a park bench, Arwen resting her sleepy head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry about your place."

Aedan didn't reply. Thoughts and emotions circled around in him like currents of the sea. He was annoyed, hurt, puzzled, and feeling much, much lost. Something like this always happened when Arwen was around.

---

Aedan broke out of his reverie as Ixarys gave the news. Communications down? That didn't sound good. Definitely not. Having a sense of dread, he began running a quick diagnostic on various sensors and devices he had control of. They appeared to be functional...but something was off. He did a more depth diagnostic. "No...that can't be right..." That old feeling of dread filled him again. Several eyes darted his direction. "Captain..." he began, but began to second guess himself.

"Get on with it," Drexel commanded.

"Well, sir...I don't think any of our sensors are reading right. For all I know, we could be anywhere in the galaxy. I think any of the sensory data we may have encountered in the past hour...two hours...I don't know...it may have been all falsified, sir." Once again, something like this always happened when Arwen was around.

“What the Hell is going on here!” exclaimed Arron. He stood up from his chair, looking through the viewport, his mind racing with possibilities. He was not prepared for something like this. The Discovery was a brand new ship; this was supposed to be an easy trip, with no hitches. Arron felt his throat tighten, along with his fists. He tried to take a deep breath. He was the Captain! He was supposed to know what to do in every situation. Commander Mena, perhaps sensing the distress in his Commander offered a suggestion. “We should power down the vessel completely, and do a cold reboot of all ships systems. Run a boot diagnostic and find out exactly what problems are going on with the ship”

Arron nodded. <Sounds better than doing nothing> he thought to himself.

Arron tapped his comm badge. =/\=Engineering, we are powering down the vessel and preparing to do a cold system reboot, prepare to reignite the Dilithium Crystals once we regain power so we can go back to warp ASAP=/\=

=/\=Acknowledged Captain=/\= Came Lindsey’s voice.

“Lieutenant Mayne…shut off main power”

“Shutting off main power sir” said David.

The lights on the bridge faded, they were replaced by red emergency lights. There was a whine heard as the ships engines shut down, and the computer terminals went blank across the bridge.

“How long do we need to stay offline?” Arron asked.

“For a ship this size, it will take about 5 minutes for the power to completely leave all systems. Life support and emergency lighting will be on backup generators. I’d give it another 10 minutes after that before I suggest powering back up” Mayne advised.

“Alright then, everyone sit down, and enjoy the moment’s peace and quiet…hopefully we can get some answers in a few moments.” Arron followed his own advice and sat back in his chair, and starred up at the window that was centered on the roof of the bridge. The view screen was just that…a screen. The window above him was the only true view outside the ship. It was so dark out there…<Wait a second…it is REALLY dark out there> Arron realized, squinting his eyes.

“Mena, can you shut off the emergency lighting in here?” Arron asked.

“I believe so” the Bajoran said, with a hint of uncertainty. Felix found a lever towards the back of the bridge under a box underneath one of the lights and pulled it down. Immediately all the lights went out, leaving the Bridge in total darkness.

“Curious. Should there not be starlight providing some form of illumination?” came the distinctly Vulcan voice of Xander.

“Exactly” Arron said. “I don’t see any stars, it would seem you were correct Aedan, we were unable to rely on the readings we were getting from the computer…we could be anywhere right now”

“There are areas of space where the conditions make it impossible for star light to penetrate, however I am unfamiliar with any between Earth and the Sataran Expanse” Xander informed.

“Alright Mayne, power up the ship, but boot the computers on factory settings, then run an immediate level 5 diagnostic on everything”

“Aye Captain” he said, and almost immediately afterwards the lights flickered on. The ship seemed to hum to life; they could feel the deck vibrating as engines came back online.

“Alright, I have reports coming in now…” Mayne said studying his console. “Oh man, wow!” he exclaimed. “Xander are you reading this?” Mayne said looking over to the Vulcan.

“Indeed” he replied. Xander turned in his seat to face Drexel. “Captain, it appears at some point we entered a trans-warp conduit and then were deposited at our current position. The computer is estimating our position at the edge of the Sataran Expanse”

“A trans-warp conduit?” The Borg?” Arron said apprehensively

“Negative, there is no evidence that the conduit was of Borg design. It doesn’t appear to match any other known configuration either.”

“That would explain why we couldn’t link properly with Starbase 185. It must have happened sometime after we began the link up, which is why it never finished” Ixarys said from the Tactical console.

“But it doesn’t explain how a trans-warp conduit found its way into Federation space, especially one of unknown origin. But what is even more puzzling is why does the other end put us right into the Sataran expanse?” Arron wondered aloud.

“Is it possible the Romulans were developing trans-warp technology, and were building the conduit to launch an invasion into the heart of the Federation, then after the destruction of Romulus, abandoned the plan?”

“It’s a theory” Arron said, “However I doubt the Romulans would give away a section of territory that had such a valuable piece of technology.” Arron looked back at his Helm Officer. “Has the computer triangulated our exact position yet?”

Xander looked back down at his console. “The lack of visible star light in the area is making it difficult to precisely map our current position; however there is an 84% chance we are on the rim of the Sataran expanse in unknown, and presently understood to be unclaimed space.”

“Captain, I believe I have the answer to all of our faulty sensor readings and our inability to open long range communications after our last contact with Starbase 185.” Mayne said gravely. “When we boosted power to the main deflector, the computer shows that our own network was immediately hacked. A 3rd party had access to most of the ships functions”

“What the hell…can you trace the signal?”

“So far, I am unable to lock it down. Again this is from a source unknown to us; it matches nothing in the database.”

“Are you suggesting we are dealing with a new entity?” Arron asked.

“Very possible sir”

“There is no telling what lies beyond this territory Captain” Xander offered. “The Romulans had no data beyond this sector, at least, none that they shared with the Federation.”

“How vulnerable is our network?” Arron asked, concerned that they would fall victim to a second network assault.

“When we reset the ship to factory settings, it over rode the modifications that Engineering did to the deflector, I do not believe we are vulnerable at this time.” Said Lieutenant Mayne.

“Captain!” Aedan called from his post, “There is a HUGE RF buildup 3000 meters off the starboard bow! Sensors are unable to identify the cause.”

“Shields up! Red Alert!” Arron called. Alarm klaxons blared, and everyone turned their attention to their consoles.

“Shields powered up, weapons on standby” Ixarys called.

“Aedan, what is it!” Arron asked hoping for new information. “I-I don’t know Captain, the readings are unlike anything I have ever seen.”

The bridge was suddenly filled with an ear piece ring screech. It sounded like metal on metal. Several crew dropped to their knees, hands over their ears. Arron looked around, trying to pinpoint the origin of the horrible noise. As suddenly as it began, the noise faded.

“Dear God!” Mena called out. Arron spun around, and followed Mena’s gaze. Lieutenant Novak stammered forward, her eyes were red, blood trickled down her ear. “Slet’katesh Vylln” She said in a horrifying voice. She screamed, and her mouth filled with green almost foamy liquid.

=/\=Bridge to Sickbay, Medical Emergency!=/\= Arron said tapping his comm badge.

Ixarys hurried over to Kasia’s side. The assistant helm officer lashed out at her, her fingers scratching across her face ““Slet’katesh Vylln!” she screamed again, then suddenly, the woman’s head exploded, her headless body convulsed and collapsed, with more green ooze spurting out of the body.

Arron back peddled from the horrifying scene.

Aedan was next to speak, his voice shaky, “Captain the RF readings are dropping dramatically…now it’s gone”

“Reports coming in from multiple decks Captain” Mayne said, his fingers flying over his console. “There are similar incidents all over the ship. Estimate 21 dead”

“Helm, bring us about, get us the hell out of here! Set course for Starbase 158, let’s get some answers!” Arron ordered. The turbolift doors opened and Doctor Bixby came through with a team of medics.

“What happened?” Bixby asked, as he pulled out a medical tricorder and scanned the body of Lieutenant Novak.

“You better tell me” Arron said, “but if I had to guess, I would say we were just attacked”

Captain Arron Drexel
Commanding Officer
USS Discovery
Bridge