Seeing Yellow and Red

Posted on Mon May 16th, 2022 @ 1:29am by Lieutenant JG Alia Fitzgerald & Captain Devin Hadenbeer & Lieutenant Commander Dorian Sheppard & Lieutenant Commander Ull Arkyn & Lieutenant Commander R'elle & Lieutenant Commander Klarth
Edited on on Mon May 16th, 2022 @ 2:18am

4,311 words; about a 22 minute read

Mission: Into The Void
Location: Bridge and Engineering

Devin had asked the engineers at the station to do something about her bridge chair. It was supposed to be designed for maximum comfort but no matter how many times it was tweaked Hadenbeer simply could find any way to be comfortable in it.

She was beginning to think it was something psychological.

They were one day away from the station at warp six. Once there they would take possession of the probe and book and see if they could learn anything more than the scientists on hand had. Devin was greatly curious about both artifacts. She wanted to actually touch both, to feel the texture of the probe's skin, to pour through the book.

She had a feeling others felt much the same.

"Ull," she said, "Contact the station and provide them with a situation report, if you please.

Ull nodded to Captain Hadenbeer. "Yes, sir. Contacting them now." Ull turned back to his console on the bridge. He opened a comms channel to the station. "This is Commander Arkyn of USS Lionheart. We are approaching at warp six, currently one day out from arrival."

Klarth came onboard the bridge and sat near the Captain.

“Captain, I hope you have time for a story because my research about the Klingon’s missions to the Void has made me very contemplative about Klingon history because I believe it may be relevant to our current mission. Or maybe I’m just a silly old Klingon who loves to tell stories about the Klingon Empires of old."

Devin adjusted in her seat once more; perhaps it needed a taller back? She gave the doctor a nod and settled in for what might be a long story.

Klarth began, “There can be no doubt that Klingons love to tell stories in as animated a fashion as possible, but I don’t know if you’re aware that this fondness for oral history has been at a cost. There has always been less of an emphasis on written history. Add to that the often-tumultuous nature of our governments and empires and it results in there being an ebb and flow to our understanding of our history causing gaps in our history. Sure, there are many an epic story and opera that purports to be the true history, but it is not always known to Klingon historians how much is true and how much is embellishments, boasting, or simply legend.""

There was a pause and then the screen on Ull's console opened with a bright, eager faced ensign. He said, "Thank, you, Lionheart. We look forward to seeing you."

As Klarth continued his story the captain seemed...distracted by something.

Ull smiled back at the Ensign. "Thank you, Lionheart out."

Ull then turned towards Captain Hadenbeer. "Situation report has been sent, sir. They are awaiting our arrival."

Devin nodded absently, her eyes focusing on nothing.

Klarth continued, “You are also very familiar with the fact that Klingons value our warriors much higher than other vocations and so it can be difficult to get Klingon child to focus for the years it takes to become doctors, mechanics, engineers, scientists, etc. Therefore, like our Empires, and our history, our technology has ebbed and flowed over the centuries. For example, it is well know that after Kahless united all Klingons, he left Qo'noS. He said he was going to Sto-vo-kor, he pointed to a star and said, 'Look for me there, on that point of light.'

"The Followers of Kahless and many Klingons, including myself, believe he pointed to Boreth and waited for his return there. But how did they get to Boreth from Qo’noS? Did Klingons have warp drive one thousand and five hundred years ago?

“I read a starfleet report some years ago just before the Dominion War about Captain Sisko on Deep Space Nine who build a pre-warp solar sail vessel from a thousand-year-old Bajoran design and proved that by riding tachyons the ship could move at light speed. This is knowledge that I believe Klingons had at the time of Kahless and I believe it is knowledge that the civilization in this Void have as well.

“And I took the long way around here to say that after finding out about the Klingon missions to the Void, I believe that if we attempt to take a shuttle into the Void it will never be heard from again. I believe using the probe itself or building a solar sail vessel are our only option. Any modern tech that has gone in there has never been heard from again. And I believe that if the civilization in there is sincere about wanting to contact us, they must have told us how to come find them. Is it possible we are missing something in that book they found on the probe?

“I could tell you about the second time Klingons gained and lost warp technology, but perhaps that is a story for another t-?”

"Pardon me, Doctor," the captain replied as she stood and quickly walked over to the helmsman, Toelau. She bent over and murmured something to her and Klarth saw the young woman stiffen. Devin then tapped her comm badge.

"Engineering, Sheppard," she murmured, "Do not respond verbally. I am going to ask for maximum warp in thirty seconds and I want everything you can give me."

In Engineering, Sheppard opens his mouth to reply, then scowls. don’t respond verbally???. Without tapping his commbadge, he calls to his local team, “Thirty seconds to maximum warp,” drawing more than one look of apprehension. He taps his PADD to generate a blinking yellow countdown timer on Toelau’s console as confirmation. 29, 28 . . .

[ Alia and her team ]
Alia was managing with slightly increased difficulty due to her encounter suit but the professionalism of her team pulled through and they were soon back to full efficiency. She did put a few longer-term projects on hold such as a holodeck upgrade and more efficient replicators, but essential tasks were on track.

She saw commands start going through the system. "Hmmm... these are usually precursors to a large power draw. " Her eyes widened. "A really big one!"

"What was that lieutenant?"

"Shut down anything that would be disrupted if it lost power, stat!"

Not wasting time, the ensign and she closed off a few of the more delicate systems that would react badly to a power fluctuation. Only when that was done did he ask, "What's going on, ma'am?"

"I don't know but we'll know soon!"

[Back on the bridge]

Devin turned to Klarth and smiled brightly, "Doctor, that is an interesting observation. I had never heard that story before, but I did hear one about someone borrowing his desk. Was that you? Are you a Sisko fan?"

Klarth seemed flustered by the questions. "Borrow his desk? I don't know that story...Am I a fan?...Well, if reading his reports with great interest makes me a fan, then yes I certainly am. Especially when Lt. Commander Worf transfers to Deep Space Nine....I'm sure you'll agree that one of the secrets to every great Starfleet Captain is the help of a great Klingon officer," Klarth said with a large wink.

"Indeed," Devin replied with a slight smile. She glanced at Toelau as a grin spread across the young woman's face. Her hand flashed across the console the millisecond she received notification of the warp engines putting out maximum power. The ship leaped from warp six to warp seven almost instantly, then warp eight...warp nine...warp nine point two...

It could be sensed throughout the ship, a new vibration through the deck plating as Lionheart tore through subpace at the limits of her robust warp engines.

On the bridge Devin glanced about the crew, she seemed to be weighing something.

"Commander Arkyn," she said without looking at anyone in particular, "Go to yellow alert."

Ull responded quickly and sharply. "Yes, sir." He then set the ship to yellow alert. A shift in the lights and klaxons went off as Ull also brought shields to full power.

Meanwhile, in Engineering…

“Deltoid stresses in the port nacelle at 2.2 nanogremes,” LaBrea states, scanning structural tolerance data.

“Reroute subdural plasma flow through lines six and seven to compensate,” Dupree replies. “Let me know of it hits two point four,” Sheppard adds, tapping his PADD to isolate the thrust variance gyros. “Bolasre, dampening is at nineteen kilopascals per unit mercapt. Disengage your central line and vent the pressure through starboard tertiaries,” Sheppard orders. “Collins, how’s that intermix reaction looking?”

“Reaction an ninety six point two efficiency, but falling,” Collins answers.

“Get it back up above ninety eight,” Sheppard snaps. “The Captain is watching!”

“Sir, I’m trying,” Collins explains. “But there’s an asynchronous field. I can’t get it to balance.”

Sheppard moves to the center console and calls out, “Computer. Engineering override. Sheppard one four sigma.” Taking control of the matter/antimatter intermix valve algorithm, he does some quick qubit calculations in his head and recalibrates the mag-ion shielding. Satisfied with his work, he returns the console position to Collins. “Try to take it up to ninety nine point three,” he says as he moves on to LaBrea.

“If he gets it to ninety eight point three, I’ll be impressed,” she whispers to the Chief Engineer. “Have faith,” Sheppard whispers back. “But yeah. So will I,” he says with a wink.

[bridge]

"Has there been a change to the situation or new orders? Klarth asked the Captain as he walked towards her. When he was close enough to her, he whispered to her "Or do you just want to get there and get some answers?"

"I simply thought ensign Toelau looked bored-"

Toelau spared the captain the briefest of incredulous looks before she returned her attention to her console.

"-and might appreciate being able to see what Lionheart can do. Computer! Play Barber, symphony number two, ship wide."

Soon the symphonic music could be heard playing as Hadenbeer closed her eyes and sighed...

[Alia]

Alia, already alerted to expect something, felt the subtle change when they crossed from warp 8 to warp 9. "There it is, Ensign." Even though she had anticipated something was going to occur, she was still surprised. "We're still accelerating!"

The alert claxon resounded through the ship including their work area.

The ensign's eyes grew wide. "Orders, ma'am?" He raised his voice unconsciously.

"Hold the course until we know more."

The music began to play and a crewman glanced pensively up at the ceiling.

"Sir," he said quietly, "That's pretty much an unofficial red alert right there..."

"Keep things together down here, I'm going to the bridge in case I'm needed there. Have squad three stow those engines under repair if they haven't already... I know they have five projects ongoing and we don't need anything bouncing around."

(BRIDGE)

Despite the Captain trying to laugh it off. Klarth had no doubt that something had made her believe that they needed to get there immediately. And Klarth was not familiar with the music, but it evoked a feeling of impending battle. Klarth was very happy that he had decided to come to the bridge. If there was going to be a battle or excitement of any kind he didn't want to miss it! He sat down near the Captain again and felt as if rather than just stopping by he was settling in until whatever was to come had been resolved.

Klarth said the following as casually as he could, He wasn't worried, but he was concerned enough about the Captain's sudden impulsiveness to think it worth mentioning. "I didn't think I needed to mention it until after we arrived, but seeing as how we are traveling towards the Void at warp 9 it seems prudent to mention that according to Klingon research hitting the Void's barrier at anything above quarter of standard impulse results in the barrier being solid and the impact destroying the vessel."

"That...is good to know," Devin replied with an absent nod as she glanced about the bridge with a frown. There were people missing and she was expecting a yellow alert to-

The turbolift doors opened to admit R'elle and Junix to the floor. Junix crossed over to the Captain's side, concern clearly expressed, "What's going on?"

Devin turned to the XO and counselor, her expression was momentarily troubled but before she could speak-

Alia hurried without running to a turbolift and onto the bridge. She relieved the crewman on the Ops Panel and sent him to help squad three. "Any orders, Captain?" She was dryly amused that she had echoed her own subordinate but that was the way things worked in a hierarchy.

Devin turned from the pair to regard the Operations officer, who was still wearing that space suit. Considering how difficult to run in those things her response time was impressive.

"I expect Commander Sheppard is hard pressed to maintaining our energy needs," Devin replied, "Take power from any and all non-essential systems. Only," she held up a finger, her face dead serious, "Whatever you do, no matter what..."

She pointed the finger at the ceiling.

"...do not stop that music."

Alia blinked. Then again. "Aye aye, ma'am."

R'elle took note of the captains priorities. It did concern her that she was a little too attached to her music but by itself, at the moment at least , it was of no consequence

Devin turned back to the pair, "Why would there be anything wrong? I simply thought ensign Toelau seemed ready to nod off and I was giving her something exciting to do."

Neither human heard it, but R'elle could hear the young helmsman take in a deep breath and hold it

R'elle made note of this as well. Not sure what it meant right now, but she suspected the Captain was lying. Ens. Toelou seemed very uncomfortable with the captain.

Alia's hands flew across the buttons of her station, only slightly impeded by her gloves. Across the ship, light levels dimmed, holodecks shut down, life support dropped to a minimum, and even replicator meals were left half finished. An announcement went through certain parts of the ship, "Inertial dampers reduced 50%, prepare for turbulence."

The lieutenant hesitated and then she turned up the volume of the music by 5dB and doubled the noise filters. "Completed Captain." She scanned her station's computer to see what caused such a scramble in the ship.

Devin smiled as the lieutenant compensate for the ambient noise by raising the volume of the music. She said to Klarth, R'elle and Junix, "The author of the work you are hearing all but disowned this composition later in life. He had been contracted to create the work as part of what I suppose you could call 'war propaganda'. I am rather fond of the piece myself."

"As long as the music was pleasing Klingons have never cared which side of a war the Opera was written on," said Klarth.

"That is a sentiment I believe I can agree with," Devin replied to the doctor.

"It's ok. Not to my taste much but enjoyable." R'elle said. She wondered how the captain would react. Since the turbo lift incident as she called it, she definitely was very suspicious of the Captain and planned to keep a very close eye on her. She had told Cmdr Junix about it. The captain's behavior was odd to be sure.

The captain turned her head to regard the counselor, her eyes narrowing as a slight frown formed on her face. She turned away and tapped her badge, "Mister Sheppard, do you think it possible we might be able to break Lionheart's previous record and get her up to warp nine point seven nine five five? Oh, and you can speak now."

ENGINEERING

Sheppard’s eyes twinkle at the request. Normally a subdued and reserved individual, the Chief Engineer has two weaknesses; he likes to impress people in authority, and he loves breaking records- especially his own. He just needs to set one first. Tapping his comm, he replies calmly (at least in his mind), “Aye, Captain. If we’ve got free rein we can push to nine point eight (pause) oh (pause) oh (pause) sssseven without any permanent damage,” he says, confident in his mental maths. “But my team will be picking the baryons out of dilithium with tweezers if we try to maintain it longer than twelve hours,” he explains, drawing an eyes closed head shake from Lt. Nguyen on his left.

Turning to his team he claps his hands once and rubs the palms together quickly. “You heard the Captain,” he says joyously. “Take the primary to Warp nine point eight and watch those calibrations closely. Dupree, if anything falls below one point oh six standard, you need to correct it Asap!”

Tapping his comm again, he addresses Alia. “Lieutenant Fitzgerald. Bleed power from the phaser reserves,” he requests. “At least fifteen percent. And bring internal dampers down to- * nevermind. You’re a step ahead of me,” he compliments, noting the readout on the MSD. “I need to reconfigure the Brussards to vent the excess trifluorothane. Clear all personal from the aft cargo hold. It’s gonna get warm in there,” he requests.

Alia tapped the communication control on her panel, "All crew exit aft cargo hold immediately, no exceptions. Chief, do a headcount and seal the area."

“LaBrea, on Fitzgerald’s mark, bypass the laterals and shunt all exhaust through aft,” he orders.

Lt Fitzgerald tracked the evacuation through the computer until she got a message back. "All clear!"

“Subspace fluctuations at negative point oh three and climbing,” Cadet T’Spall states.

“Alia. Can you synchronize deflector generator wavelength with posterior inertial dampers?” Sheppard comms the Chief Operations Officer again. “My subprocessors can’t keep up with the variances at this Warp. Point oh one seven harmonic resonance freq,” he explains.

Alia started the synchronization with the dampers but the standard settings couldn't handle the frequency fluctuations. "Standard not sufficient, re-running through inversion matrix." She was used to improvising and going outside of official specs... it all came down to knowing your equipment. As she expected, the modifications worked. "Synchronized now."

“And Everyone,” he calls over his shoulder. “Remind me to remind Lieutenant Fitzgerald to prioritize recharging phaser reserves when this is over.”

BRIDGE

Klarth seemed to notice Alia in the spacesuit for the first time. He went over to her and said as privately as he could manage. "Lt. didn't anyone tell you you aren't contagious anymore?"

"No doctor... but it seems inconvenient to undress right now. Are you sure you don't need any last tests?" She had been about to remove the encounter suit when she remembered that her 'uniform' was the absolute minimum regs would allow.

"Quite right, we can settle it later when you're not needed on the bridge," said Klarth.

Mell'a examined her controls and double checked the findings, it was difficult with the music blaring overhead, "Captain," she paused and then raised, her voice, "Captain! I am registering two warp signatures. One bears a Federation transponder beacon, the other has a high probability of being Klingon. I will need lieutenant Arkyn to confirm the telemetry but...it might very well be the Klingon vessel is in pursuit of the Federation craft."

Hadenbeer turned from the trio and regarded the science officer.

"Kill the music!" she called out as she turned to Ull to see what he made of the data.

Alia stopped the music immediately and the ship seemed strangely quiet despite normal sounds continuing.

"You called for a yellow alert," Junix stepped around to address Hadenbeer with more directness. "So I deserve to know what is going on," she repeated her earlier question, annoyed that it had been waved off before.

"What is going on, Commander," Hadenbeer replied as she took a step to the side so she had a clear line of sight to the Chief Tactical Officer, "is my impromptu training exercise has been interrupted by a potential need to render aid to a ship in distress."

She turned her head and regarded Junix and a very slight smile slipped across her face, "By the way, were you aware both you and the counselor were beaten to the bridge by a woman wearing a space suit?" her eyes glanced at R'elle, "Whatever you two were involved with must have been quite engrossing."

R'elle did not comment. What they were up to was none of the captain's business at the moment. The truth is she didn't trust the captain at the moment.

"That hardly took a second to explain, did it?" It was more of a statement from the first officer rather than a question. She ignored the stop watch contest observation. Junix would speak to Engineering later about priority overrides to turbolift controls during emergency situations.

Ull quickly checked the telemetry data from Mell'a. "Klingon vessel is in pursuit. Recommending new course to bring us into a CPA with the Federation vessel." He sent his recommendation over to Captain Hadenbeer for her approval. He started checking over his controls, triple checking that the shields were at full power and holding, and getting ready to bring weapons to full power.

If they were about to engage a Klingon ship in battle Klarth was glad he was on the bridge and could offer the Captain his expertise if needed. He almost said "Perhaps today is a good day to die," but reading the room he decided to say instead, "Reality is the best training anyway."

"Just so," Devin replied to the doctor with a nod. She turned and marched to the front of the bridge. As she did so Junix saw something out of the corner of her eye; ensign Jaxur seemed to want her attention, then he glanced at the captain and turned back to environmental controls where he had headed when Alia had stepped onto the bridge.

The first officer linked her hands behind her back, relocating to Ensign Jaxur's side as Hadenbeer focused her attention elsewhere. She looked at his displays over his shoulder, while she silently questioned him.

The ensign did not look up from his displays, to Junix it appeared he was simply insuring proper power flows and running the standard diagnostics necessary to insuring the proper handling of life support. Quietly he murmured, "I...it might be nothing, sir, but if I could see you at privately a later time to discuss something..."

He stole a quick glance towards the captain.

"Like I said, it might be nothing."

To Junix's ears it was obvious the ensign did not believe that for a moment.

R'elle also noted something regarding the Captain's features when she had turned from the executive officer. It seemed Hadenbeer was almost...satisfied with getting the commander's back up.

R'elle was a becoming more and more concerned about the captain's behaviour. She seemed well not erratic exactly but she was getting the feeling the captain was a little off. Hard to say for sure but she was concerned.

Hadenbeer turned and took in the crew. After a moment she waved her hand at Alia and said, "Mister Fitzgerald, put me on shipwide."

"Aye aye, ma'am!" She turn on all internal comm channels.

Devin awaited the acknowledgement and then began to address the ship:

"This is the captain. It seems our drill just became a reality. We are going to red alert and are on our way to render possible aid to a ship in distress. I realize many of you are new to the ship but you are Starfleet and you have been well trained for such a task, and this ship has a seasoned crew."

She pointed at tactical, "Mister Arkyn, forward the location of the ships to ensign Toelau. Ensign," Hadenbeer seemed ready to make a joke and the young woman braced herself for it, but the Captain instead smiled, "Once you receive the coordinates don't wait on ceremony; change course, best possible speed." she glanced at the ceiling, "Mister Sheppard, keep giving us best possible speed, if you please."

"Yes, sir. Forwarded." Ull sent the coordinates and his recommended course to Toelau.

Hadenbeer paused, and then with an almost impish grin held up her hands, balled them into fists, "Oh, I almost forgot..."

She drew her fists sharply down, "Red Alert!"

If anyone was familiar with a musical concert, it was almost as if the captain were conducting...

Ull brought the ship up to Red Alert and bright weapons systems to full power. He seemed to tense up a little and flex as though preparing for hand to hand combat instead of ship to ship.

Alia prepared to reroute energy from warp drives to emergency use of shields and weapons systems, but waiting for the situation to justify it. *It looks like she wants legs more than arms right now.* She set up several alternate configurations just in case.

Engineering:

“Coming out of Warp,” Nguyen states.

“Argh”, Sheppard groans, having to pull out of near Maximum Warp nanoseconds before breaking the record; 9.7952 blinks repeatedly on his display then suddenly blanks. “So close,” he whispers.

“Full impulse,” LaBrea orders. “New coordinates confirmed. Cadet, take us to Warp seven on my mark... Mark.” The Warp field generates and as Helm engages Sheppard gives LaBrea a nod.

As the klaxons signal Red Alert, Sheppard glances around to see how his team is reacting. Much to his satisfaction they seem to be taking it in stride.

Devin returned to her seat and lowered herself into it. As she watched the stars shift as Toelau brought the ship around on a new heading she could only speculate what was going on and what awaited Lionheart....

 

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