Rihan Resurgence Part IV

[Cptn_Giovanni 0]

"Rihan Resurgence" Part IV

 

Log entry 38: 20 July, 2157

 

 

Two days ago

 

 

Starbase Omega 3 was Starfleet's answer to the growing Romulan threat. Commissioned just six months ago, Omega 3 orbits a small planet in the Nimbus system, which borders the Neutral Zone. As a temporary precaution, Starfleet assigned the NX Class Pathfinder as the station's primary means of defense against hostile attacks.

 

 

Having just settled into his captain's seat, Captain Joseph St. Laurence ordered Pathfinder out of its port to lead the effort in the search for survivors of the Carnival Grandeur which was destroyed by Romulan warbirds, several days ago. So far, their searches proved unsuccessful. This made St. Laurence more angrier as the days passed.

 

 

"Lousy murderers" he would say. Stewing in his seat. "Destroying of all things, a harmless passenger liner. I'd sure love to get my hands on them!" he said venomously. "An illogical move, sir" replied the voice of Savvis, the Pathfinder's Chief Science Officer. " Engaging in such activities against the Romulans is ill-advised as they are much more powerful than we are" she explained with trademark emotionlessness.

 

 

"That never stopped us before" retorted St. Laurence. "Indeed" said Savvis in response. "It truly perplexes my mind how you humans are able to survive like this" St. Laurence smirked. "Well, that goes to show, that you shouldn't under-estimate us or our abilities for that matter" Savvis said nothing, but raised her brow curiously.

 

 

"We're arriving at the Grandeur's explosion point" interrupted Ensign Sean Fitzpatrick, in a thick Irish accent. "Slow to impulse" replied Jennifer Collins the ship's Executive Officer. "Aye ma'am" Fitzpatrick replied and slowed the Pathfinder to impulse speed. "Now" St. Laurence said, turning to Savvis "begin your long range scans"

 

 

The Vulcan nodded and began her scans in a wide arching motion. But as the days passed, the crew grew less and less discouraged regarding their chances of actually finding any survivors. All they'd found so far was a few pieces of debris. Nevertheless, they continued to scour the area for anything they could find.

 

 

But soon, several hours have passed and the Pathfinder grew were again growing discouraged and were started to feel fatigued. St. Laurence sighed heavily at the lack of results. He slouched at his seat and rubbed his temples. "I don't think we're going to find anything out here. Quite frankly, I don't think anyone survived. We should have been able to find something by now"

 

 

Many of the bridge crew were starting to share in the Captain's opinion. "Sean, lay in a course back to base. We'll continue our scans in the morning" but just then Savvis interjected. "Sir! I found something on long range" she said. "Roughly 500,000km away"

 

 

St. Laurence looked up. "What is it? Any life signs?" he asked. "Yes sir" replied Savvis. "It is a small object, cylindrical in shape, roughly 3 metres by 3 metres in diameter. I am detecting three life signs on board, humanoid. It is traveling at approximately 1000 km/h. Unfortunately..." her voice trailed "It is heading towards that large nebula straight ahead"

 

"It must be one of the Grandeur's escape pods" muttered St. Laurence. "Quickly now, lay in an intercept course at best possible speed" he ordered Fitzpatrick. "Aye, aye sir" responded Fitzpatrick and laid in the course. The Pathfinder rushed to the scene and came within range of the object ten minutes later.

 

 

"The nebula is quite unstable and very dangerous, sir. Severe caution is advised" said Savvis. "Well, it's a risk we're going to have to take" responded St. Laurence. "That pod won't survive a minute in there" The escape pod was now getting dangerous close to the nebula and already it began to shake and fly erratically.

 

 

"We shall have to enter the nebula and cut it off" said St. Laurence. The Pathfinder increased in speed and soon entered the nebula as it braved ion disturbances and spacial radiation in its gallant rescue efforts. They weren't even in the nebula for five minutes, when sensors and some key systems started to feel the effects of the nebula.

 

 

As far as nebulae go, this particular one was fairly large and considered quite dangerous. Vessels tended to avoid it, except for the very brave, or the very stupid. Once the pod was acquired by the Pathfinder's targeting computers, St. Laurence gave the order to extend the grappling arm. "Hurry! I don't want to be here any longer than we have to"

 

 

As the arm extended, the Pathfinder shuddered violently as it was hit by an electrical jolt. "The hell was that?" cried out St. Laurence as he nearly fell off his chair. "I don't know, sir" replied the tactical officer. "It was probably a bolt of lightning from an ion storm" St. Laurence sighed. "How much longer until the arm reaches the pod?"

 

 

"About five minutes, sir" the captain shifted in his chair uncomfortably. "But we might not have five minutes. Can't that arm extend any faster?" he asked. "No sir" the tactical officer replied. "It's extending as fast it can now. It might break off f it extends any faster in this nebula " St. Laurence rubbed his temples. "Alright. Let's just get that pod in and get it over with"

 

 

Slowly the arm continued to extend, but again, the Pathfinder was hit by another jolt. This jolt was more powerful than the last and caused some of the bridge staff to fall from their seats, as they were showered by hot sparks from the ceiling. "We almost have them!" cried out the tactical officer. "Just a few more..."

 

 

Another huge jolt rocked the Pathfinder. More sparks showered down to the bridge from exploding consoles. One of the main bulkheads fell just missing the captain's chair within inches. "Damn" the captain said. "What happened?" before anyone could answer, another jolt hit the ship's bow. The portion of the Pathfinder's hull exploded, severing the grappling arm.

 

 

Small fires began to engulf the bridge. St. Laurence looked around to see the tactical officer slumped at his console, his face covered with blood. He walked over to him, but saw that he could do nothing for the young tactical officer. The smoke cleared just a bit in time to see the Pathfinder's grappling arm drifting aimlessly in space.

 

 

The nebula's gravity caused it to spin end over end. The 20 metre long arm headed straight for the escape pod it was trying to rescue. St. Laurence watched helplessly as the arm struck the escape pod. The sharp hooks in the end of the arm cut through the metal of the escape pod like a hot knife through butter. The pod exploded a fraction of a second later, incinerating the three people inside.

 

St. Laurence didn't have time to mourn their deaths. Another jolt hit the ship hard, engulfing the ship in a large ball of light. The hit caused power to cut out, plunging the Pathfinder into complete darkness. Once the ball of light diminished, there was no sign of the Pathfinder or her crew and continuous hails from Omega 3 went unanswered for hours.

 

 

Back on Omega 3, the commanding officer and bridge staff grew concerned. Not only for the Pathfinder and lives of her crew, but also of the fact that the Pathfinder was the station's primary means of defense against an enemy attack. With the recent events with the Romulan Empire, their increased activity in this area, as well as their close proximity to the Neutral Zone, such a scenario was not at all unlikely.

 

 

STARFLEET COMMAND HEADQUARTERS – SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

 

24 hours ago...

 

 

Around the clock, Starfleet Command and Omega 3 continued to try to hail the Pathfinder. But all they got back was static. Shuttle pods and runabouts were sent from the station to search for them. But, like the hails, the searches proved fruitless. They also searched for debris from the Pathfinder, but also couldn't find any, which was quite unusual since the Pathfinder was a very large ship.

 

 

Michael Patterson, Omega 3's Commanding Officer grew concerned and feared the worst. So did much of the admiralty at Starfleet Command. Admiral Gardner was in his office with his aide, Yeoman Lohan. "Yeoman. Which ship is closest to Omega 3?" he asked. The aide checked her console. "The Challenger, sir. They're still orbiting Lycria"

 

 

"That's right. They're overseeing the transport of power of the Lycrian Government. Get Captain Giovanni on the comm for me please" he said. "Aye sir" Yeoman Lohan said. She tapped her console again, and a few minutes later, Admiral Gardner found himself face to face with the young Captain.

 

 

"Sergio. Congratulations on your quick solution to the Lycrian conflict. I knew we could count on you on that" he said firstly. Giovanni smiled back at him. "Thank you Admiral. But I think most of that credit goes to Commander DeGenza and the rest of the away team" replied Giovanni. "Indeed. Send them my compliments of a job well done" said Gardner.

 

 

"Thank you, sir. I will" was Giovanni's response. Admiral Gardner then got onto business. "Captain, there has been recent events in the Neutral Zone that require your attention. As you may be aware, Romulan activity in the Neutral Zone has increased significantly over the past two weeks. It started with the destruction of the civilian liner Carnival Grandeur, that accidentally strayed into Romulan space not long ago.

 

 

"And to make matters worse, the UES Pathfinder has gone missing in a nebula in the Nimbus system which borders the Neutral Zone" said Gardner. Giovanni frowned. "Do we think the Romulans have something to do with it?" asked Giovanni. "No" replied Admiral Gardner. "Starbase Omega 3 didn't detect any Romulan presence in that area. We think they got caught in an ion storm, but they haven't been able to find any debris to back this up"

 

 

Sergio rubbed his chin. "I want you to proceed to the Nimbus system. Captain Fuller and the Cyclops will take over for you there at Lycria. I'm sending you your new orders now via subspace. You'll find more detailed information in there. It's imperative that you rendezvous at Omega 3 as soon as possible. Gardner out" Sergio nodded at the Admiral as the screen went blank.

 

His console beeped again, informing Giovanni that the orders have arrived. He pressed the read button and opened it up:

 

 

SUBSPACE TRANSMISSION

TO: CAPTAIN GIOVANNI & COMMANDER DEGENZA UES CHALLENGER (NX-05)

FROM: ADMIRAL GARDNER STARFLEET COMMAND SAN FRANCISCO, CALI

SUBJ: NEW ORDERS

*** CLASSIFIED INFORMATION – TOP SECRET ***

20 JULY 2157, 2100

Challenger is to proceed immediately to the Nimbus System and rendezvous with Starbase Omega 3. Upon arrival, Challenger is to assist in the search of UES Pathfinder (NX-03) and the survivors and/or debris from Carnival Grandeur. Also of importance is the formation of a security force for the defense of Omega 3. Challenger is to lead security efforts for the station. Because of recent events, I have ordered nearby ships to the station to assist in searching for Pathfinder and survivors and protecting the station. The first of the ships should arrive within the next couple of days.

END OF MESSAGE

Giovanni got up from his seat and walked back onto the bridge. "Our next destination is Starbase Omega 3 in the Nimbus System" he said to the rest of the crew in the bridge " Helm, lay in a course to Omega 3. Warp 4.5" he ordered. Giovanni took a seat as the Challenger turned around and jumped to warp.