"Achilles' Plunge"

[Cptn Elias Moore 0]

"We're arriving at the nebula's edge." The helmsman announced, a hint of tension in his voice.

 

"Drop out of warp." Commander Crane ordered. "Put it on viewer."

 

The Bridge officers felt the tug of inertia as Achilles slipped out of subspace and continued on impulse thrusters. Once the dampeners had adjusted to the change, the viewscreen activated to reveal the cloud ahead. It was an unusually dark shade of violet, easily missed but for the fact that it concealed the starfield behind it. A close examination could reveal the wisps of dust and gas at its edge, but these were only lit by the distant light of neighboring stars.

 

"It's awfully dark." Lieutenant Commander Maynard observed. "Is it concentrated enough that it's blocking the light from inside?"

 

The science officer was about to scan the nebula to determine this, but Commander Crane answered the question for him. "Oh, no. There are no stars inside this nebula. It's completely dead... well, almost."

 

The Bridge officers exchanged furtive glances. Their commanding officer had been acting more mysterious the closer they'd gotten to this nebula, and odd comments like that reminded them that something wasn't completely right. Halfway through their journey, their doubts had been calmed by Maynard's assurances that they were on a very important, but strictly confidential mission that served Starfleet's best interests. But as Maynard began acting in the same secretive fashion as Crane, more of the ship's long-standing crew members began wondering if their trust in *him* wasn't misplaced. They'd certainly been left in the dark on mission parameters before, but it was the behavior of their two commanding officers that seemed to have recently changed--they were somehow colder and more patronizing in their increasingly limited conversation with the rest of the crew. Rumors were spreading behind closed doors that the two Commanders were possessed by demons; the more senior officers were passing such notions off as ridiculous, though not even they could dispute that Crane and Maynard just didn't seem like the same two people anymore...

 

"So..." Maynard looked down at Crane. "We need to go in there, then? Is it safe?"

 

This time, the science officer didn't bother to scan. He only looked at Crane, who, sure enough, had the answer. "The perimeter regions are perfectly safe... but we'll only approach the center with the utmost caution. It wasn't a fuel shortage that destroyed the star in there." She gave Maynard a devilish smile that spoke of shared secrets. It didn't go unnoticed.

 

"We are to proceed to the center then?" The helmsman asked.

 

"No, all stop for now, but lay in that course." Crane answered. She looked back at Maynard. "It seems we'll have to wait for Melina. After her hasty departure from Earth, she had to settle for a cargo freighter... just isn't as fast as one of these Lexington beauties."

 

Maynard nodded. "It's too bad her post was discovered. The whole intelligence agency sham was delightful."

 

Crane shrugged. "The discovery was inevitable... but, at this point, meaningless."

 

The Bridge officers were shuffling nervously in their seats. This discussion was moving in an even more mysterious direction, as if all pretenses were on the verge of being stripped away. None of them were looking forward to this trip into the nebula. Many were dreading what they would find.

 

The tactical station picked up a Starfleet transmitter entering the edge of subspace sensor range...

 

"I hope the ship sent to Kappa Persei didn't cause too much trouble." Maynard said.

 

"Dellatria's ship was sent." Crane replied. "More trustworthy than your average Orion pirate, but just as incompetent. I'm sure she posed little difficulty."

 

The tactical officer had determined that the transmitter belonged to Challenger. She looked up from her station and glanced at the two Commanders, but said nothing. She looked back down and began composing a message. When her station emitted a quick succession of beeps, she wondered if she hadn't been discovered... but it was only a proximity alarm. "There is a ship dropping out of warp, Commander." She reported. "It looks like... a Tellarite freighter?"

 

"Ah, that's Melina." Crane answered and grinned at the tactical officer. "Don't worry, she's expected." She looked at Maynard and added, "Good timing, no?"

 

"Fate is truly on our side." Maynard answered. "I'm glad that we're all going to be together again, at last."

 

"We're being hailed." The comm officer said.

 

"On screen." The dark cloud on the viewscreen vanished entirely, replaced by the porcine face of a Tellarite freighter Captain. Crane smiled and narrows her eyes. "Melina... is that you?"

 

The Tellarite nodded. "Arriving right on schedule, Master. Shall I come aboard?"

 

"Yes. But first, set your ship on a course into the nebula. We don't want it lying around out here."

 

"As you wish, Master." The Tellarite bowed slightly before cutting the transmission.

 

"Well... we'll all here." Crane shared a smile with Maynard. "Ensign Denning, take us toward the center on impulse speed."

 

Achilles lurched forward and approached the outer edge of the nebula. Beside it, the Tellarite freighter turned and also approached the boundary. On the tactical officer's console, a transport beam was detected between the the two vessels... but she was too busy completing her message to report this. Just before Achilles dove into the dark cloud, the message was transmitted.

 

A satisfied smile spread over Commander Crane's face.