Encounter ~ W.I.P.

System

The beginning of a fanfic that I started in 2004 to relax between final exams. This thread is my little scratch pad while I try and convert it into something usable for the foundry. Instead of making it a normal mission I'll be writing it as a holonovel being enjoyed by a cremember. I'll have to change the perspective from 3rd person to 1st person to make it fit the foundry and I have the idea of making the player take the part of a midshipman on a summer cruise prior to graduating from Starfleet Academy. This gives me the excuse of assigning minor tasks to the player that allow them to be a fly on the wall as the holonovel progresses.

I haven't written a thing since 2004 so advice and feedback is certainly welcome

Plot:
Act 1) Prior to the below written mission have a quick scan and scoot mission getting to know some characters and detecting unusual readings in the distance which the ship goes to investigate. This is followed by the script written below. This is also will be where I get a feel for how the foundry works and will likely be a separate mission - each act may be it's own mission.

Act 2) Story jumps back to the Hubble, severely damaged and adrift you wake up in a full sickbay and are released. A passing engineer grabs you and puts you to work monitoring readings as he works. While this happens the Captain walks in and receives a damage report and gives orders. Several of the crew took to lifeboats and there is no word from them. Comms and active sensors are both down and tasks at hand means the crew is too busy surviving to deal with this. The captain assigns you to find what you can from passive sensors. You can't find the lifeboats but discover a strange ship watching you from a distance and doing nothing. You also discover the ship's position, you have been relocated to the Andromeda Galaxy and several hundred thousand years in the past. (a long long time ago in a galaxy far far away - couldn't resist but it won't be a slash fic)

going to bed now, stuff happens and will be filled in later.

Act 3)





-- TEASER --

[STARFIELD]

Panning down: An Oberth class ship, the Hubble, appears, passing close to the camera. The camera follows the ship as it passes. Once the ship has passed, the camera remains pointing in the same direction while the Hubble recedes. In the background you see a large disturbed glowing disk with two bluish white poles of radiation stretching out. Looking carefully, you can see that each pole is actually composed of two high energy radiation jets wrapped into a tight helix pattern.]

[Scene changes to a small busy bridge:]

Captain’s Log, stardate 53223.0645 (2376). The Hubble has been sent to investigate an unusual stellar formation in the beta quadrant, a pair of small black holes orbiting each other at a velocity approaching that of light. Long range sensors have detected what may be a wormhole at the center of mass of the orbital pair. We think that because of how it may have been formed, this may be the second known stable wormhole. Unlike the Bajoran wormhole, there is no easy approach to this one; there are only two possible approach paths, each guarded by dual high energy ejecta from the black holes. To successfully enter, we would have to duck between these bands of radiation at warp, drop to impulse and sharply change course towards the center of orbit. On the approach corridor we will have to endure high levels of radiation and uncharted extreme gravitational distortions. Once we are in this corridor, there is no escape but through the wormhole itself. Normally, the Hubble could not survive such an ordeal, but we received a shielding upgrade in preparation for this mission. With this upgrade, we have a fairly good chance of success, though with a razor thin margin of error. We must remain exactly centered in the corridor, going off course by even as little as half a kilometer would mean our destruction. We will be observing the singularity for a full day while our chief engineer, Commander O’Reilly, completes his preparations. When he is finished, we will, as the cliché goes, boldly go where no one has gone before. In the meantime, a Nova class ship, the Marcus will arrive and stand by to lend assistance and relay messages.

Archived Post

-- CHAPTER 1 --

[Scene changes to a small mess hall]

In the background you see a small group of scientists excitedly discussing the prospects of the approaching mission. In the foreground you see a couple ensigns discussing the mission from another perspective.

Nameless Ensign 1: I heard that the Hubble might not make it.
Nameless Ensign 2: You worry too much, that’s why we got the shield upgrade.
Nameless Ensign 1: But still, this ship is nearly a century old. Why can’t the Marcus go instead?
Nameless Ensign 2: If it were really all that dangerous, the Marcus would be going in. *jokingly* You scared?
Nameless Ensign 1: *short laugh* Nah, this is a good ship, I just...

[Camera moves on to the captain and first officer, also in lounge.]

Captain Tweblek: *quietly furious* Damn Starfleet, what do they think they’re doing, sending an old ship like this into that maelstrom. Yes, we have the new shields and a crew that specializes in singularities, but there’s no margin of error. The smallest problem and we’re dead.
Commander Belcher: I agree, we should be out here monitoring while the Marcus goes in. They’re new; they have all the latest shielding, the latest equipment, and are designed to handle harsh conditions. With those overpowered systems of theirs, they would be able to handle this mission without much trouble.
Tweblek: Keep this quiet for now, but the Hubble is going to be decommissioned shortly after our return, this will be her last mission.
Belcher: So since she’s going to be decommissioned, some admiral decided we were expendable, is that it?
Tweblek: *shaking head* No, it’s not that bad. Sure, it’ll be dangerous, but the admiral probably thought he was doing us a favor by giving us one last big mission. In a way, I agree, but this mission really should be done by a stronger ship. .... On a better note, a little bird told me that the entire crew will be transferred to one of the new Nova class ships soon, with you in command.
Belcher: *surprised* Well, um, thank you sir. *big smile* But, what about you? Where will you be going?
Tweblek: I’ve been offered a position as commander of the Twess research station. It won’t be quite as exciting as commanding the Hubble of course, but my wife has been begging me to settle down for years, and this will be a good opportunity to do just that. Besides, everyone has to do a tour of shore duty some time or another.
Belcher: You’ll be driving a desk? I know that shore duty is an important rung on the promotion ladder, but still...
Tweblek: I’m not a young man anymore, as much as I love this life, *strongly* and I do, *mellows* I’m a scientist at heart. This should be an opportunity to get some real research done, and publish papers in my own name. I’ll be on a ship again one day, but I could use a break.

Anonymous voice over combadge: Captain, the Marcus has arrived.
Tweblek: Thank you *taps combadge off* Let’s get the show on the road.

[Scene changes to the bridge of the Hubble with the full command crew present]

Crew woman: Sir, the Marcus is hailing us.
Tweblek: On screen
Captain Hornbuckle: *broad smile* Mikal! It’s good to see you again. How is that lovely wife of yours? Still trying to get you to settle down?
Tweblek: Just fine thank you, and yes, I’ve been offered a position as commander of Twess station. And how is your daughter, fifteen isn’t she?
Hornbuckle: *laugh* She’s a teenager, what more can I say? She doesn’t even have a flitter license yet and already she’s pressing me to get her a flitter of her of her own. A sports model no less!
Tweblek: She always did love speed. .... On a more serious note, we have completed our preparations for the mission and are ready to enter the wormhole. Our readings indicate that the wormhole is on a one month cycle, with one week per month being safe enough to permit safe transit; the terminus of the wormhole should also be stable. Are you configured to relay the messages we will be beaming through the wormhole?
Hornbuckle: Yes, we are. You may begin the transit at your convenience.
Tweblek: Very well. Helm, lay in a course for waypoint alpha, full impulse... engage.
Hornbuckle: Godspeed Hubble, and good luck. Marcus out.

[Scene changes to an external view of the Hubble and the Marcus proceeding to waypoint one, high above the accretion disk.]

Voice transmission: Beginning our run, Hubble out.

[We watch as the Hubble jumps into warp, shoots towards a giant pillar of energy, rolling upside down, barely slipping through two rapidly rotating bands of energy and makes a sharp turn down the central shaft, and dropping back to impulse power.]

[Scene changes back to the bridge of the Hubble, red alert bands flashing.]

Tweblek: Report!
Crewman 1: Shields at 95%
Crewwoman: Engineering reports the warp engine was overstressed during the last turn and the safeties took it offline; the impulse engine has also taken damage. We have 87% impulse power available.
Tweblek: That’s not enough to make it, tell them they have three minutes to get the warp core online.
Crewwoman: Yes sir!
Crewman 2: Sickbay reports one burn case from impulse engineering, no other casualties.

[Cut to Hubble racing down a tunnel of helical energy bands at impulse power.]

[Cut back to bridge]

Crewwoman: Warp drive back online.
Tweblek: Best speed for the wormhole. Engineering, redirect warp power to shields as needed, reserve power for a short warp two run.
Helmswoman: Distortion wave!
*bridge shakes hard and short*
Helmswoman: We’re off course! Correcting.
Tweblek: Science, can you anticipate these waves?
Science: Sorry sir, our sensors are blinded, I can only give you three second warning.
Ops: Approaching waypoint gamma.

[Cut to Hubble racing down the tunnel, sharply bumping side to side as it hits increasingly severe distortion waves. Through the gaps in the tunnel, you can see the accretiation disk is much closer.]

[Cut back to bridge.]

Tweblek: Prepare to engage warp drive, factor two
*bridge shakes very hard, lights blink off for a second, a low booming sound is heard and so is the sound of overstressed metal shearing apart, smoke curls along the ceiling*
Crewman 1: Shields at 40%
Tweblek: Engineering! We’re going to be crushed, get those shields back up NOW!
Engineering: Aye sir! .... Transferring power.... shields back to 69%, that’s all I can give you sir.
Tweblek: That’s still not enough. Science, can we break off?
Science: No sir, we’d be vaporized if we tried; our only chance is to increase speed.
Tweblek: Warp Two Now!

[Cut to Hubble racing down the tunnel, jumping into warp, vibrating madly and spitting sparks. After a couple seconds you see an explosion on the port nacelle and large amounts of warp plasma gush out. The lower hull starts breaking up and rips off. The command section weaves wildly and a nacelle is seen separating right as it plunges through the wormhole.]

Cut to bridge of the Marcus. The crew is standing and silent in shock. The captain sits down heavily, grief plain on his face.

Hornbuckle: *quietly* Report.
Science: Sir, the Hubble has been largely destroyed. However, the command section is mostly intact; there may be survivors if conditions on the far side of the wormhole are not violent.
Hornbuckle: Send a probe to investigate.
Science: I’m sorry sir, a probe would not survive, and nothing less than a starship would.
Hornbuckle: *heavily* Very well, prepare and send a report to Starfleet Command detailing today’s events, the probable loss of the Hubble, and a request to go in and search for survivors. I’m going below, Mr. Wing, you have the conn.

[Scene cuts to Hornbuckle’s cabin. Captain Hornbuckle is sitting at his desk looking through pictures of his family and Tweblek’s together sharing a vacation in the deep woods of Alpha Centauri. Behind him, a woman in command red walks in.]

Commander Hawkins: Sir... my condolences, I know Captain Tweblek was a good friend
Hornbuckle: He was my best man at our wedding, did you know that? I’m his daughter’s godfather, her mother is ten years gone, and now she has no father. *voice cracks* Rachael, how am I supposed to stand before her and tell her that I stood by, doing nothing, as I watched her father die?
Hawkins: Sir, there was nothing that could have been done. Even had we been in the tunnel with them, there would be nothing that we could have done.
Hornbuckle: DAMN HIM!
Hawkins: Who sir?
Hornbuckle: That admiral who sent a century old ship into that monstrosity! Even with the refitted shields she barely stood a chance. He damn near killed them; just as if he had used phasers on them. That should have been us in that tunnel, making the transit. The Marcus is designed to survive battle conditions; we could have handled the transit. *silent sob* Mikal would still be alive.
Hawkins: David, we don’t know he’s dead. The command section was still mostly intact when it passed through the wormhole. They could well still be alive. Don’t write them off yet sir, we still have a rescue mission ahead of us.
Hornbuckle: *sigh* I pray you’re right. Notify me when Starfleet responds to our message, I’m going to get some rest. I’ll need it for tomorrow.

Archived Post

-- CHAPTER 2 --

[Camera pans over to the bed. The lights dim and time has obviously passed as the captain is asleep askew on his bed. The covers have been scrunched to the side and bottom of the bed. The captain is bare chested and in the dimness you can barely make out the blue boxers with large white polka dots he is wearing.]

*chirp* You hear the night commander, Mehlet, over the comm.: Captain, we’ve received Starfleet’s response.

Hornbuckle groans and rolls over

Mehlet: Sir? Are you there?
*silence*
Mehlet: Computer, what is Captain Hornbuckle’s status?
Computer: Captain Hornbuckle is currently asleep.
Mehlet: Computer, trigger Captain Hornbuckle’s alarm clock.
Computer: Working (we hear an alarm clock sound in the background)

Hornbuckle stirs and wakes up.

Hornbuckle: Computer, what time is it?
Computer: It is oh-three twenty five.
Hornbuckle: What the hell? Computer! Turn that damn thing off!
Computer: Specify - “damn thing”.
Hornbuckle: The alarm clock, turn off the alarm clock.
Compute: Working
Mehlet: Sorry to disturb you sir, you left orders to be notified as soon as we received Starfleet’s response.
Hornbuckle: (waking up more) Yes, yes, what is it?
Mehlet: We have been directed to perform more detailed scans for the next day and wait for the Nahale and the Eckard to arrive.
Hornbuckle: I know the Nahale; it’s an Intrepid class ship, Captain Lee commanding. What about the Eckard?
Mehlet: The Eckard is a Nebula class ship, Captain Lang commanding.
Hornbuckle: Which will arrive first and when will it arrive?
Mehlet: The Eckard sir, at ten hundred, the Nahale will arrive at fourteen hundred.
Hornbuckle: Very well. Wake me at oh-seven hundred, handle all communications until then.
Mehlet: Aye sir, good night.

[Scene changes to the well-lit bridge of the Marcus, Captain Hornbuckle strides from the turbolift.]

Tactical Officer: Captain on the bridge
Hornbuckle: As you were.
Hawkins: Good morning sir.
Hornbuckle: Good morning Commander, any developments?
Hawkins: The Eckard will arrive in about two hours, and our science crews have made some important discoveries about the wormhole.
Hornbuckle: I’ll call a meeting later, but summarize for now.
Hawkins: Yes sir, apparently the wormhole isn’t as stable as we previously thought. The diameter of the wormhole reduced by eight percent when the Hubble passed through the event horizon. It’s diameter naturally changes cyclically with a period of twenty seven days. At its maximum, it can only accommodate ships no wider than four hundred meters. At its minimum, nothing much larger than a probe can safely pass, assuming that a probe could even survive the approach, which it cannot. The natural cyclical diameter changes combined with the passage triggered reduction means that the wormhole will only remain large enough for us to pass through for another seventeen hours.
Hornbuckle: Damn... Well, that’s long enough for our reinforcements to arrive and develop a plan of action, but we won’t have much time for the rescue itself. If we don’t find and rescue the survivors in short order we’ll be stuck there for close to a month. Do we have all the necessary supplies for such a stay?
Hawkins: I’ve already checked, and we have two more months before our scheduled resupply, and have three months of supplies on board, so that’s not an issue. I’d rather not be stuck over there for any period of time though. Remember that supposedly stable wormhole the Enterprise discovered a while back, their shuttle barely returned before it collapsed. I believe that a Sovereign class could make it through the wormhole while it is at maximum diameter, if barely, but they’re all engaged fighting the Klingons. I‘m not sure that Starfleet would risk one of them on this anyway. So we’re limited to small and medium size ships as backup.
Hornbuckle: I’m going to move up the meeting, we’ll hold it shortly after the Eckard arrives, the Nahale will just have to participate via subspace. This will give us a few more hours to get in and back out. Also, will engineering need to make any special preparations for the transit?
Hawkins: No sir, the distortion waves are safely within the safety parameters of our shields. The ride will be bumpy, but we should make it without major problems.
Hornbuckle: Very well, continue scanning the wormhole, I’ll be in my ready room.

[Scene changes to a quite full smallish conference room. The command crews of both the Marcus and the Eckard are crowded in, as are some scientists. Captain Lee and some of his crew are visible on a viewscreen. A loud babble of voices is silenced as captains Hornbuckle and Lang stride in, single file, grim looks on their faces.]

Hornbuckle: Gentlebeings, let this meeting come to order. We all know the unfortunate circumstances that have brought us together. Captain Lee and his command crew will be participating via subspace link. I apologize for rushing some of you to prepare for this early meeting, but some discoveries we have made necessitated it. Lt. Chang (Marcus science officer), please begin.
Chang: Good morning ladies and gentlemen ... Over the past twenty four hours we have made some disturbing discoveries. It appears that this wormhole is not as stable as previously thought and we have a very limited window of opportunity in which to safely effect the rescue of the crew of the Hubble. To begin, we have found that the wormhole operates on a twenty seven day cycle. What is occurring is that the black holes are in elliptical orbits of each other, these same black holes are what created the wormhole and sustain it. The wormhole is the strongest, and wide enough to be passable, only when the black holes are at their closest approaches. When they move apart again the energy sustaining the wormhole lessens marginally, but enough to reduce the diameter to less than fifty meters. This is only large enough for shuttlecraft and probes to pass. The former would definitely not survive the approach through the tunnel, and it is questionable whether the probes would be capable of making such a passage either. When the wormhole is at maximum strength its diameter reaches nearly four hundred meters. This diameter is sustained for a five day period, after which it will rapidly reduce. Today is the last day of safe passage through the wormhole for the next twenty five days, it will remain passable for only another thirteen hours. As a safety margin, I recommend that the Marcus return through the wormhole no more than ten hours from now. That is all.
Hornbuckle: Thank you. Lt. Tesla, you’re next.
Tesla (Eckard science officer): Thank you sir. Something else we noticed is that when the Hubble passed through the event horizon, its diameter decreased by close to eight percent. In addition, it is now closing at an accelerated rate. Please note that it is not collapsing, but simply reducing in diameter earlier than expected. You should still be able to make the passage there and back, but we should refrain from sending other ships through if at all possible. Even in the unlikely event that you are trapped on the far side for the next month for some reason, we should be able to maintain audio communications at all times as long as you are within fifteen degrees of the wormhole’s z-axis during its minimum energy state, and significantly more during other phases. I have given Lt. Chang detailed information on this, so there shouldn’t be any problems there. For my second topic, the sensor module the Eckard is fitted with is specifically designed for scanning high energy phenomena. We will be closely monitoring your transit through the tunnel and passage through the wormhole. We should also be able to monitor your movements to a limited degree while you are on the far side of the wormhole.
Hornbuckle: *interrupting* can you scan for lifeboats then? Or the wreckage of the Hubble?
Tesla: No sir, lifeboats would be too small to detect given our scan resolution through the wormhole. We would be able to detect the Hubble if it were under power, but apparently it is not and we cannot. We will only be able to track you due to the energy signature of your warp core.
Hornbuckle: *grimly* That’s not good news, but it’s more than we knew earlier. What about conditions on the far side of the wormhole?
Tesla: We don’t know exactly where the far terminus lies, but it is at the center of mutual orbit between two red giants. It appears that our side of the wormhole provides the generation energy, the other side being a mere anchor for the far terminus. As such, conditions on the far side are significantly less hazardous. The micro-impulse engines and thrusters on their lifeboats should be enough to maintain position in the Lagrange point, the gravitationally balanced area between the two stars, without excessive hazard. If they survived the passage through the wormhole, there is a good chance that they are still alive.
Hornbuckle: *smiling slightly* That’s excellent news lieutenant, let’s hope that is indeed the situation.
Lang: As said earlier, while we are too large to pass through the wormhole, we will remain on constant watch. We will be relaying all communications and everything else we monitor to both Starfleet Command and to Captain Lee on the Nahale.

Archived Post

[Scene changes as the captain looks out the windows at the maelstrom, the camera follows his view. As he looks back to the conference table we see that many people are looking rather haggard, as he speaks it becomes obvious that several hours have passed.]

Lee: ... wish you the best of luck and pray for success. Captain Hornbuckle?
Hornbuckle: I believe that covers it all. I have decided that if we do not retrieve our missing comrades during our window of transit, we will continue searching for them, and explore the local region on the far side of the wormhole while we are at it. While on the far side we will send daily reports by probe, reporting our status and discoveries. I know this has been a long meeting and time is a-wasting. So, without further delay, meeting adjourned.

[Camera backs off as people start getting up, stretching and mingling, the view shifts to look out the windows. Screen fades and comes back to the Marcus’s bustling bridge. Captain Lang is on the viewscreen mouthing something and terminates the transmission as the camera focuses on Captain Hornbuckle.]

Hornbuckle: Is everyone ready?

Various affirmatives are heard.

Hornbuckle: Very well. Helm, take us to waypoint alpha. Let’s not lose any time, warp one, engage.

Scene changes to watch the Marcus flash into warp, a couple seconds later the Eckard does likewise.

Scene changes again to the Eckard dropping out of warp while the Marcus peels off towards a pillar of energy, evading the twin helical bands, and making a sharp turn towards the wormhole inside the tunnel, just as the Hubble did.

Hornbuckle: Report.
Ensign 1: All systems normal, green all the way.
Hornbuckle: *looks quizzical for a moment* Ah, very well then. Lt. Chang, are there any difficulties that would prevent us from making the run at warp?
Chang: No sir, nothing we can’t handle.
Hornbuckle: Helm, proceed as planned, warp two all the way.

Scene changes to the Marcus streaking down the tunnel at extreme speed, the helical bands of energy blurring into each other as they race past. The ship wavers slightly to each side a couple times and then dives cleanly into the open petals of the wormhole.

-- CHAPTER 3 --


[Scene changes back to bridge, some of the crew have changed.]

Hawkins: *wonderingly* Just how long is this thing? We’ve been traveling through the wormhole for nearly two hours.
Chang: Sir! I’m picking up a lifeboat on the sensors. .... Wait, it just disappeared.
Hornbuckle: What happened, where did it go?
Chang: I’m not sure, one second it was there, then next, it was...

[Scene changes to the Marcus abruptly streaking out of the far side of the wormhole, still at warp.]

Final exams ended here, and so did the writing.

Archived Post

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