"Security to Bridge, we have received a prisoner—she's a young Human woman, about 16 years standard." Khendron receives the call as he watches the last glimmers of the Nautiloid vanish. The bridge crew watch attentively, awaiting orders.

Brad and Thelev exchange a glance evaluating this latest development.

They are even more startled when Dhark chuckles coldly, "They'll be absolutely livid when they find out that he who shall not be named killed the Emperor's Vizier. Oh, most furious, and I shall be oh, so sympathetic. Hah hah hah hah..." He looks at McCurrvey. "Don't look so shocked, surely you did not acquire your flag without being initiated into the grand game that is politics!"
This message was last edited by the player at 02:02, Tue 08 Dec 2020.

In reply to Odyssey GM (msg # 1):

Khendron acknowledges the message from security. "Stand by," he says. "I am coming down to see the prisoner. In the meantime see if you can identify her."

"Mr. Smith!" continues Khendron. "Prepare the silver ball to follow the Nautiloid. Though hold off on initiating any jump until you get the word."


"Hail the Klingon and Romulan ships, and find out their status," Khendron instructs Thoma.

Khendron opens a channel to Thelev and McCurrvey to update them. "The Nautiloid has vanished, but Smith thinks he's been able to track their destination. We can be ready to follow in about 20 minutes. We managed to transport 1 person from the Nautiloid before it vanished. A human female, about 16 years of age. I am heading down to the brig to see who we've caught."


Khendron finishes up by asking "Would you like to return to the Odyssey and pursue?"

Khendron takes the turbolift to the Brig, where Chief Nursing Officer Andrea Parducci and Security PO3c Marian Cobretti are waiting for him. Nurse Parducci looks up and says, "Sir, she identifies herself as Bellandra ferch Jaime. She claims to have been a prisoner on the Armida IV for Three years, ever since she was thirteen. Nominally, she was the ship's cabin girl, but that basically amounted to being Calista's personal servant—well, slave, actually."

Bellandra is a female Human teenager with medium brown hair, fair skin and hazel eyes. She wears a grey knit sweater and looks frightened. Upon gentle questioning by Parducci, she has revealed that Calista raided the ship she'd been on in 2287 and killed all the crew and passengers, including her mother, a Human entertainer on board. "She claims that her father was a Starfleet captain named Jim or Jaime whom she'd only actually met a couple of times when she was a small child. She was born in 2274 on Hastings, a Federation world in the Fomalhaut system."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:59, Thu 10 Dec 2020.

Cobretti, an intense-looking woman with Mediterranean features, looks up from the Security computer. "We have a birth record for Bellandra ferch Jaime, born March 10 2274 on Hastings, Fomalhaut IV to Melisandre ferch Gwyddion, occupation - dancer; father not listed. Maricel confirmed among the dead on the starliner Singing Star in the Triangle on or about August 5 2287. All hands and passengers listed as lost in pirate attack. Bellandra's body not found but declared dead by statute."
She taps an icon on her control pad and an image appears on the wall screen. "Confirm facial recognition and medical match," she says.

"Facial recognition match confirmed. Subject is approximately five years older than image. Medical records also a match."

Bellandra speaks up, "Maricel! That's my Mom's name."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:44, Tue 22 Dec 2020.

In reply to Petty Officer 3c Marian Cobretti (msg # 5):

"I suppose Jaime, or Jim, references the the father's first name," Khendron says, frowning slightly. "There must be no shortage of Starfleet captains with those first names. See if you can cross reference that name with any Starfleet visits to the Fomalhaut system in the 2270s."

"Bellandra, let me assure you that you are safe from Calista," Khendron says to the girl. "But you may be able to help us catch her. We beamed you over from a Nautiloid ship just before it disappeared. Do you remember how you got there, and who else was on board?"

Cobretti enters a query into the computer. "There were a lot of ships visiting the Fomalhaut system. It has three heavily-populated Federation member planets, including Grammen Park and Hasting, as well as the uninhabited desert planet Fomalhaut V, which supported a hidden base for the rebel Armies of Fomalhaut. In 2267, the Federation starship USS Enterprise visited the system. That's one - Captain James T. Kirk, known by the short form of 'Jim'. That particular visit was seven years earlier, but Captain Kirk was known as being a bit of a ladies man. He could have been a regular as it's on the Enterprise's patrol route. On the other hand by 2274 he'd been promoted to Rear Admiral and was the Chief of Operations at Star Fleet HQ. Hmmm... the Odyssey's computer doesn't have enough data to narrow things down much. Normally we'd put a subspace data request to BuOps on Earth. Besides, a dancer has an illegitimate child—are we really certain the father actually was a Starfleet captain? That's one of the oldest pick-up lines in the book, sir."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:24, Sat 12 Dec 2020.

In reply to Petty Officer 3c Marian Cobretti (msg # 7):

"Thelev to the Odyssey, what is the status of the Nautiloid, when will the Odyssey be ready."  Thelev then turns to McCurrvey, "sir if Lord Dhark has no issues with it, I would suggest we return to the Odyssey. I am sure he will be able to contact us when he wishes."

"Odyssey, Commander Thoma: the Nautiloid has jumped away. We managed to beam out one possible crew member before they got away. Dr. Smith estimates ten minutes before full charge. We've advised the IKS K'Tanko and RSN Star Empire to take up stations 500 metres off our flank and are ready for Condition Blue. Ready for you to beam aboard."

Dhark replies, "By all means, you and your friends may return to your ships. May the gods see you safely to your destination."

Kang steps up and states, "La' Charvanek and I have conferred and we formally request that we accompany you to your ship. Our ships will accede to your request to take up station in order to accompany you. We have declared our support for the Federation in this matter, but both the Klingon Empire and the Star Empire have issues with this Captain Calista. Charvanek has informed me that her Centurion Tevan has inside knowledge of the inner workings of these petaQs."

Charvanek agrees, "So say we all, on the Praetor's honour."

Bilgebottom speaks up, "Landing party reports ready for transport."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:50, Sun 13 Dec 2020.

In reply to Commander Thoma (msg # 9):

Once we are beamed aboard.

"HoD Kang, Commander Liviana, we can either transport you back to your ships or you can stay aboard the Odyssey and we can set you up with full comms to your ships and full visuals of the situation in my Ready Room. Either way in less than 10 minutes we will try to pursue the the Nautiloid including taking your ships back to our space." Thelev says.

"And obviously we have some advanced technology on this ship so we will have to limit where you can go, even escorted. At least while it is in use." he adds.

"Thelev to Dr. Smith, Commander Bowman, do we know where the Nautiloid is and be sure when plotting our course back you do not but us in arms way of the ships you left behind when you came here." he asks on an open channel so HoD Kang and Commander Liviana can be appraised of the situation with the Nautiloid.

Charvanek and Kang exchange glances and Kang replies, "Quarters will be fine. La' Mara and I prefer to share, while the Commander and her Centurion will no doubt prefer separate quarters."

Tevan ask, "If I may, your comms officer mentioned that you have a prisoner from the Armida IV. I... served... on the Armida in a covert fashion and am familiar with the crew as it was two Terran years ago. I may be able to help with the interrogation of this prisoner." He touches the scar on the left side of his face.

Smith enters the transporter room. "We have been able to localise the Nautiloid's destination. It has apparently returned to our universe. We are ready for Condition Blue."

Kang raises an eyebrow, "Condition Blue? I am unfamiliar with this protocol."

In reply to HoD Kang, Son of K'naiah (msg # 11):

Thelev taps the comms badge, "Capt. Mercer, Centurion Tevan, may have some knowledge of our prisoner so after Blue Alert is executed I will have him escorted down to you to perhaps help talk to the prisoner."

"As you will notice in a second it is our signal to engage the means that brought you here and will return us to our universe, that is about all I will relay to you. I am sure that your ships will be scanning us as we use it. Once done we can escort you to quarters." Thelev says with a nod to HoD Kang and Commander Charvanek

"Doctor Smith, please notify the other ships to stay in formation and engage Blue Alert, the sooner we get back to our universe the better." he relays to the bridge.

Smith speaks over the intership, "Attention all personnel, Blue Alert!"

Kang and Charvanek relay the orders to their ships, both of which decrease their distances to 300m and reply that they are ready.

Bowman reports, "We are being scanned as arranged."

Smith counts down, "Jump in five seconds—four, three, two, one..."  Discontinuity.

Charvanek notes, "Fascinating. That... seemed to take forever and yet... no time at all."

Thoma states, "We're being hailed by the Orion Frontier Mercantile Association. We're in the Triangle—specifically the Turnstile. The Orions are asking what our intentions are—seems they're not used to a joint Starfleet/Klingon/Romulan task force decloaking on their borders."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:09, Tue 15 Dec 2020.

In reply to Dr. John Smith (msg # 13):

Thoma put me through "This is Captain Thelev off the USS Odyssey along with Commander Charvanek and HoD Kang, Son of K'naiah, we are jointly pursuing the Nautiloid for crimes against the Romulans, Klingons and Federation."

He also smiles at McCurrvey, boy he is going to be in trouble with his superiors for having a cloaking device. How is he going to explain this to the Commodore.

"This is Prefect Ozakin of the Orion Frontier Mercantile Association. You are encroaching on sovereign Orion territory. If you have legitimate business with the OFMA, have your diplomatic representatives contact the Mercantile Council on Freeloader," says the Orion prefect. He is a large green male Orion without the traditional facial piercings, wearing the leather doublet of an Orion naval officer. The reddish operating lights on his bridge make his skin take on a sickly orange hue.

"If, on the other hand, you are harassing innocent Orion traders on the pretext of anti-piracy patrols, begone! Ozakin out." He breaks the connection.

Thoma looks at her board and mutters sotto voce, "Well, that went well..." She turns to Thelev. "Captain, shall I hail them again?"

Kang looks bemused and Charvanek smothers what sounds like a giggle.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:58, Wed 16 Dec 2020.

In reply to Prefect Ozakin (msg # 15):

OOC: believe by this point in the timeline the Orion’s are consider organized pirates and standing with Federation is yes we are in their space and will deal with them on according to our need and situation.

“Thoma please open a channel with the OFMA”

Once opened. “Prefect Ozakin, we have no business with the OFMA and will pass through this area in pursuit of the Nautiloid, we have been given leave by Lord Dhark, to pursue and deal with his son.” Closing the channel before allowing the Prefect to reply.

Turning to HoD Kang and Commander Charvanek “Let’s see if he is foolish enough to engage us.”

[OOC: The actual situation is somewhat more convoluted. That was true back in the 2270's and into the 2280's, but there has been a recent movement within the Orion territories to quell piracy, though the Orions have not officially changed their public line.]

Ozakin sputters, "This is sovereign territory and well outside Federation jurisdiction. We have no idea who your Lord Dhark is or his son. We regard this as an act of aggression!" He is interrupted ay a subordinate and the tramsmission cuts off for two minutes.

He returns, seemingly in the middle of a sentence, "What!?! Engage warp drive now—flank speed. Captain Thelev, we've been informed of a raid by a single powerful ship at the Lifaqport shipyards on Workday. We believe it to be the ship you're following. You and your task force are granted emergency permission to assist OFMA forces in repelling this attack. Ozakin out!" The Orion Wanderer disappears into Warp.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:16, Fri 18 Dec 2020.

The Odyssey leaps into warp, the K'Tanko and Star Empire flanking her. Kang asks that he and Mara be returned to the K'Tanko, as does Charvanek to the Star Empire, though she allows Tevan to remain on the Odyssey.

The Odyssey's task force arrives at Workday to find a raging plasma fire enveloping an orbital drydock orbiting the planet. Several Orion ships are engaged in battle with the Nautiloid, which immediately heads toward the task force. The Wanderer class Blockade Runner commanded by Prefect Ozakin is closest and as it manœvres, the Nautiloid speeds toward it, unfurling its forward tentacles revealing a spike.

Bowman calls out, "The tentacles are generating a nadion field. The spike on the bow of the Nautiloid is composed of the same nacre-like material as the main shell. My God, it's going to—" The spike passes through the saucer of the Wanderer and the tentacles wrap around the Wanderer's forward hull. A sickly blue-green flash crawls over the Orion ship. "—ram it! They've fired a heavy stun pulse into the ship. The Orions are losing atmosphere, sir!"

The Nautiloid begins to reverse course, pulling the ram out of the Wanderer's hull. Turning, it begins to move in the direction of the Star Empire, which begins firing with its forward disruptors. On three levels, apparently open to space, unsuited figures man a number of what appear to be mediæval ballistae, firing energy bolts which are deflected by the Romulan ships' shields.

Ramirez at Tactical notes, "Romulans powering up Plasma Torpedoes—hell, they've got two of the suckers!"

The K'Tanko begins manœvring, firing its forward disruptors in support of the Star Empire as the Wanderer class ship careens out of control.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:57, Fri 18 Dec 2020.

In reply to Odyssey GM (msg # 18):

"Position ourselves so we can extend our shields around the Wanderer, they will likely not survive the Romulan plasma torpedoes unprotected." Thelev orders.

"Once our shields are extend, join firing on the Nautiloid with everything we have.  Target those tentacles." he adds.

Turning to science, "What is the state of the Wanderer's warp core, I don't want them blowing up while we are trying to protect her."

Turning to Smith "How long until we are ready for the next jump?"

Tactical reports, "Nautiloid withdrawing it's ram. Extensive outgassing from the Wanderer! Extending shields now. Sensors report that all the Orions in the Wanderer's saucer have been stunned, but many lifesigns still present! Transporters are beaming in several living survivors who've been ejected into space."

Smith reports, "Jump possible in ten minutes."

Tactical fires forward phasers, striking the tentacles. "Sensors reveal one tentacle destroyed, the rest of our hits simply had no effect at all. Plasma weapons striking the Nautiloid—what the hell?" The screen reveals that the plasma torpedoes impact whatever the Nautiloid is using as shields and simply vanish!

Smith notes, "We have a reading on the Nautiloid's destination."

Bowman says, "Massive wave of chronitons from the Nautiloid as it jumped."

The door to the Brig swishes open and Khendron seen a scar-faced Romulan in RSN uniform waltz in as if he owned the place. He gives the formal Imperial salute and reports, "Captain Mercer, I am Centurion Tevan of the Tal Dian [Romulan Military Intelligence] Commander Charvanek has ordered me to assist in the interrogation of—" He stops, his eyes wide. "—Bellandra!?"

Bellandra seems to be just as shocked as, "Tevan? But Morgh said he'd killed you!"

[OOC: Continuity note: At this moment the Red Alert sounds and the ship starts manœuvring.]
This message was last edited by the player at 13:55, Mon 12 July 2021.

[OOC: Continuity note: This event happens when McCurrvey returns to his ready room.]

A small off-white card sits in the precise centre of McCurrvey's desk. It is a piece of crisp cardstock 89mm x 51mm. It is mostly featureless, with the embossed name Dworkin Black Esq. and the title Investigator at Large. Scrawled on the card in purple ink is the message "Call me! -D." There is no other evidence of anyone having entered the room and the door is locked. Nobody could have entered without setting off an alarm, except for a select few. These include Thelev, Mercer, Brad's personal yeoman (Lt. Xanthe), Collette and Kyra. The computer indicates that none of these individuals have entered in the past twelve hours.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:41, Sun 20 Dec 2020.

The minutes crawl by. The Odyssey beams the survivors of the Orion Wanderer aboard. There are twenty in all, several badly injured. Since the Wanderer was at battle stations, most of them are in environment suits. Some are suffering varying degrees of plasma burns, some from blunt trauma, some slashes to punctures to their suits with attendant depressurisation trauma.

One of the survivors with only minor injuries in Prefect Ozakin. He directs those among his crew who have medical training to assist Driveon's medical staff with triage and treatment.

By the time Smith is ready to enable the Blue Alert, several Orion ships of varying sizes are in close proximity, offering to take the survivors off Driveon's hands. Smith asks Thelev, "Captain, what are your orders? Silver Ball capacitors at full charge and holding."

Ramirez notes, "Chief Wolff reports all survivors have been beamed aboard. Shall I lower the shields for transport?"

Thelev has everything under control, notes Brad, who is starting to feel a bit like a fifth wheel.

[OOC: Merry Christmas to All and a Happier New Year!]

In reply to Odyssey GM (msg # 22):

When the red alert sounds, Khendron turns to Bellandra.

"My apologies," he says. "I am needed on the bridge. I am going to leave you here under guard until we can verify your background, of which" Khendron raises on eyebrow to the Romulan, "Centurion Tevan will be telling me all about while he accompanies me."

Cobretti says to Tevan, "Centurion, I'll show you to a monitored interview room. If you or Bellandra need anything, just notify the computer."

Tevan replies, "Thank you, Petty Officer. Nothing for me. Bellandra, do you still drink that fizzy stuff you used to ask for?"

Bellandra answers, "Root Beer? Calista never had any of board, but if they have it here, yes please!"

As the Bridge doors swoosh open, Thoma announces, "XO on the Bridge!"



[OOC: Continuity note: We're all synced up now.]
This message was last edited by the player at 21:41, Sat 26 Dec 2020.

Thoma reports, "Orions report ready to receive survivors." She taps a control and continues, "IKS K'Tanko hailing us."

Kang appears on the viewscreen, "Captain Thelev, Commodore McCurrvey, are you pursuing the Nautiloid? On behalf of the Klingon Empire, I demand the honour of accompanying the Odyssey."

Ramirez confirms, "IKS K'Tanko taking up station-keeping 100 metres off our starboard flank."

Commander Charvanek hails, "Centurion Tevan will remain aboard the Odyssey to provide tactical intelligence regarding the pirate Calista. The RSN Star Empire will render assistance to the OFMA."

Smith notes, "I am prepared for Condition Blue on your command, Captain."

The Bridge door swooshes open to admit Prefect Ozakin. The Orion is limping heavily. "Requesting permission to remain aboard as official observer from the OFMA."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:30, Sun 27 Dec 2020.

In reply to Odyssey GM (msg # 24):

[OOC: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all]

In reply to HoD Kang, Son of K'naiah (msg # 28):

"Thoma open a channel to the IKS K'Tanko' once the channel is open he say "HoD Kang, once we have finished beaming the Orions off prepare to jump after the Nautiloid, please maintain your position off our starboard."

"Dr. Smith, once the Orions have been beamed of and the IKS K'Tanko is in position execute Blue Alert bringing them with us." Thelev says.

Thelev thanks to himeslf, so far Klingon and Romulan relationships good, Star Fleet will be happy, keeping our secret technology secret terrible, Star Fleet will be upset. All in all 50% better than normal for us.

Five minutes later, Narda reports, "All the injured have been beamed off."

Security Chief Trask confirms, "Ship secured."


Doctor Smith announces "Engaging jump," and <discontinuity>—the ship's lights go out, leaving the Bridge in darkness. immediately, red emergency lighting flickers on.

Niles Rutherford at the Engineering station snaps, "Main power out, we're on battery power!"

Thoma says, "We're being hailed by the K'Tanko—they've lost main power."

The Bridge lighting comes back on in a series of bleeps and tones indicating various systems initiating diagnostic scans. LCdr. Mitchell announces from Engineering, "Backup power restored, the Mains will be back up as soon as we get everything sorted out down here!"

Mercer takes the Sciences console and brings the main screen on-line.

What appears to be a massive starship graveyard stretches into the distance, lit by a nebula.

Thoma says, "Captain, we're being hailed!"

In reply to Commander Thoma (msg # 31):

"Mercer, where the hail are we? Dr. Smith did we complete the jump?" he calls across the bridge.

Tapping the comms "Mitchell, how long before we have power, we need our shields."

"Yes Thoma, put the hail through." he completes in rapid succession not allowing any one to answer before giving the four commands.

Mitchell responds, "Full power in ten minutes, sir. You should have shields and torpedoes now, phasers coming up. Tactical systems are highest priority."

Ramirez reports, "Shields up now, sir. Power to phasers confirmed. Arming torpedoes."

Smith says, we appear to have mis-jumped. We are not at the target location. Once Engineering has power to spare, we'll begin charging the Ball."

Mercer is unable to determine current coordinates.

Thoma puts the hail through. A humanoid male, middle-aged with bushy grey hair and flowing sideburns, and wearing heavy horn-rimmed spectacles appears on the viewer. "Welcome! Welcome to the Museum at the End of Time. I am your Curator, as a color, shade of purple-grey or Purple for short; and this is my bodyguard Hilliard," he says, gesturing to an animal which looks like a blue sheepdog the size of an Alaskan Kodiak bear. Hilliard has a wide grin on its face. The Curator and Hilliard are standing in front of what looks like a brilliantly coloured nebula. "You are from the twenty-third century, the United Federation of Planets, no?"

This message was last edited by the player at 07:55, Tue 19 Jan 2021.

In reply to Commander Thoma (msg # 33):

"Hello Curator, I am Captain Thelev of the USS Odyssey, and yes we are both from the 23rd century and the United Federation of Planets. Both the IKS K'Tanko and ourselfs were in pursuit of a common foe and we ended up here unexpectedly." Thelev replies.

Thelev goes on and asks "May I ask since you know where and when we are from, as to where and when we are?"

"Captain, please call me Purple. There's no need to be formal. You've arrived at the Museum at the End of Time. I'm afraid I can't give you a date, or even a stardate—it's simply the end of time! If it helps you to conceive it better, regard this as non-space/time, between the Big Crunch and the Big Bounce. I am the curator of this place. Of course you arrived here unexpectedly! That's the only way to get here! I know that sounds needlessly metaphysical, but it's merely... well, metaphysical—needless or not! It's a quantum improbability!" He gives a wry grin. "As for your next question, 'How do we get home?' the answer is 'You don't.' It's a one way trip! I imagine you've noticed the collection of starships around you. There are ships from all times in all possible realities. We even have some of your compatriots! Here's Captain Alistair MacCay, late of the USS Genser NCC-4404."

A grey-haired Starfleet captain steps into view. He's wearing a current-issue uniform. "Captain Alistair MacCay, Captain Thelev. We met in '79, but you were only a Lieutenant Commander then. What year is it now? Time doesn't seem to pass here. And is that Brad McCurrvey I see there? The beard and the grey hair are new as is the rank, Commodore—Sir!" he adds as the reality hits him. "I'm afraid I don't recognise your Bridge setup, either. And where's that Efrosian chap you guys hang around with."

MacCay (pronounced McKye) doesn't look a day older than when the characters knew him eleven years ago at a conference on Starbase 11 for Vice Admiral Jose Mendez's retirement party. The new uniforms had only recently been issued and were more popular than the older grey and beige form-fitted style known for some obscure reason as onesies. Thoma looks at the screen and says, "Greetings, Captain!"

MacCay looks past Thelev and greets her, "Hello, gorgeous! Oh, there's Mercer! How you doin'?"
This message was last edited by the player at 07:50, Thu 31 Dec 2020.

In reply to Captain Alistair MacCay (msg # 36):

"Purple you can call me Thelev.  We have a means of travelling both in time and space so as long as we can identify where we are we can jump to an intermediate safe location to establish a firm destination to our where and when, so I am confident we can make it back. We may be short one of the experts on this technology, but we have the rest of them here aboard this ship." he relies to the Curator.

Turning slightly looking at the screen he says "Captain MacCay, firstly nice to see you again. It is now 90, yes that is Commodore McCurrvey behind me, he is the Flag Officer stationed aboard the USS Odyssey. As for the brdige, yes those Starfleet Engineers love to change things." hoping Capt MacCay remembered him as an engineer. "Captain Mercer that Efrosian chap is my first officer and is busy at science right now already starting to figure where we are so we can chart a path home.  Also the IKS K'Tanko is here with us as an ally."

Once done the greeting Thelev continues, "I am hoping my team is pulling up information on your ships disappearance as it will likely help explain where our jump went awry. And I hope you are willing to share your ships logs of the event and any information I am sure you have gathered from the other ships here in your own attempts to get home."

"And Captain MacCay, finally I would like to offer to take you and your crew back to 90, I know it is not your time but there would be temporal issues with returning you to 79. Much has changed but much is still the same." Thelev finishes with a smile

"Call me Al," says MacCay, "We're pretty much all on a first name basis here. Makes things go much more smoothly if we don't try to get into a dick-waving contest about rank."

The Curator speaks up, "I'm afraid it's better that way; more harmonious. After all we're all in this together. No matter when you arrive, you can never leave this place." He shakes his head sadly. "However, as the newest members of our group of castaways, you must meet our Council of Captains. Captain Thelev, we would be most pleased to have you as the Council's newest member. Have your command team meet us here in the central Atrium." A second, identical Curator walks into view and merges with Purple. "HoD Kang will be joining us in the Atrium."

MacCay clears his throat, "Uh, yeah, he does that. Time doesn't flow the same here as it does in the outside. We're not even sure it flows at all." Al rattles off transporter coordinates for the Atrium and the transmission is broken

Thoma announces, "HoD Kang on hailing frequency. Putting him on the viewer."

Kang snarls, "It is my understanding that this... Curator... Purple has already spoken to you. He claims we are prevented from leaving here. He expects us to join the HoDrIp [Council of Captains]!" He looks belligerently at Thelev and McCurrvey. "What do you say? Shall we meet these captains?"

Prefect Ozakin asks, "I too am a Captain, of the OMS Botchok's Fortune! Even though I was ejected into space when the ship was rammed by the Nautiloid, the ship was still operational and the crew in the aft section was still on duty! Am I to have a seat on this Council of Captains?"

Kang says, "Even though you are an orayangan Ha'DIbaH, if HoD Thelev is amenable, I will support your claim."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:55, Sat 02 Jan 2021.

Purple peers into his video pickup, studying Ozakin intently, then looks at Hilliard. Something seems to pass between them, perhaps telepathically, perhaps not. "Of course, my green friend, if you are a captain, please attend the Council to press your claim!" He waves a hand almost distractedly and Brad, Thelev and Ozakin disappear in a flash of light, only to reappear on the screen with Purple and MacCay. Kang appears with them. The screen returns to an exterior view of the so-called Museum.

Mercer stands up from the sciences console and strides to the centre seat.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:56, Sat 02 Jan 2021.

The Brad, Thelev, Ozakin and Kang momentarily find themselves in a room with made of space. A nebula seems to surround them, then the Curator snaps his fingers and they find themselves in a non-euclidian room, with girders stretching in all directions like a Vulcan game of Kal-toh.

Curator Purple and Capt MacCay stand with Hilliard, the giant blue sheepdog behind them; in front of a huge round table, the surface of which seems to contain the nebula that surrounds the starship graveyard. The Odyssey and the K'Tanko can clearly be seen in the jumble of ships. Seated around the table are dozens of starship captains, most in unfamiliar uniforms and many of them non-humanoid.

Purple turns to Brad and says, "Since a commodore is, in a fashion, a captain of captains, We've decided to extend a seat to you by way of courtesy. This is a council of equals. True, you all are the commanders of your respective ships, but by tradition in most sentient species this means you have gained this position by dint of training and experience; having gained the respect and fealty of your crews."

He turns and gestures at the table. "As with your King Arthur of legend; none of us, when seated at this Round Table, may claim precedence over the others. And now, take your places and identify yourselves."

Ozakin says, "I am Ozakin, a Prefect of the Orion Frontier Mercantile Association, a native of Freeloader and captain of the Orion Merchant Ship Botchok's Fortune, known to the Federation as a Wanderer class Blockade Runner."

Kang snorts and proclaims, "I am HoD Kang, Son of K'naiah of the House of Kang, captain of the Imperial Klingon Starship K'Tanko, K'T'Inga class Battlecruiser."

They both take their seats and all eyes turn to McCurrvey and Thelev.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:26, Mon 19 Apr 2021.

In reply to Captain Alistair MacCay (msg # 40):

Being sure he is not the first to try this and if Purple is correct will not be the last Thelev taps his comm badge and say "Captain Mercer, continue to figure out where we are so we can jump home, the plan will be to take the IKS K'Tanko, Prefect Ozakin and his crew, and at a minimum Captain MacCay and his crew and if possible the USS Genser back with us."

Turning he whispers to Brad "I think for now we go along, and see what the situation is here and the conditions they want to impose on us.  If it takes a few days or a week to figure this out we will be able to return to our now. But I do believe you will need to pull rank on MacCay."

With that he turns and takes his seat.

In reply to Captain Thelev (msg # 41):

"Yes sir!", Khendron replies to Thelev, a little sarcasm leaking into his tone. "I, Captain Mercer, will continue working with Mr. Smith." Khendron is a little miffed that he's been excluded from the Council of Captains.

"Mr. Smith," Khendron continues, "my initial analysis shows that we are in a small bubble universe. Either that or a universe that is in the final stages of collapsing in on itself—it's only a few hundred light years across. See if you can figure out silver ball coordinates to get us out of here.

"Thoma, hail the other ships in the area. I am sure their various science teams have not been idle while stuck here, and we should talk to them.

"And Collette, ask the computer some background information about the USS Genser and the circumstances of their disappearance."

Khendron also sends a request to Dr. Marcus, asking her to come to the bridge. "We are going to need as many science heads as possible to figure our way out of this," he says to her.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:42, Sun 10 Jan 2021.

Dr. Smith replies with information on the Genser, "XO, if I may, I have relevant information: The USS Genser NCC-4404 was the prototype of the Genser-class escorts in service to Starfleet in the late 23rd century. In 2283, the Genser and five other vessels were escorting a convoy of neutronic fuel carriers to the rimward frontier when the ship's sensors detected a small object traveling on a parallel course to the convoy. Communications couldn't be established with the object so the Genser broke off from the convoy and headed off to investigate the object. As the Genser approached the object it disappeared and then reappeared shortly after. When the rest of the convoy couldn't establish contact with the Genser they investigated and found that the object had disappeared along with the Genser's crew.

"Upon recovery, the Genser was subjected to a complete diagnostic. It was determined that the hull and superstructure had sustained extreme stresses and the hull plating had been subjected to severe microscoring. Materials analysis revealed that the ship appeared to have aged over a year in the six hours before recovery. The Genser had been subjected to radiation similar to traces found on the debris from the USS Blackheart and was included in the experiments which led to the Quantum Para-Dimensional Transport Device.

"The Genser was returned to active duty but the whereabouts of her missing crew or the mysterious object was never determined, although it is believed to be connected to the disappearance of the Chandley class USS Blackheart NCC-2327 several months later."

He turns to Khendron. "Sir, I have additional highly classified information which I may reveal only to you, the commodore or the captain in a SCIF. Dr. Marcus, although she was not involved in Project: Silver Ball, also has the clearance for this data." SCIF is an acronym for Secured Compartmentalised Intelligence Facility. Such facilities are offices which are hardened against monitoring, and include such areas as the Captain's and Flag Ready Rooms, the Security Office and Smith's private office.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:59, Sun 03 Jan 2021.

"Captain Thelev, Commodore McCurrvey, it is our custom for everyone on the Council to so identify themselves," says Curator Purple, a quizzical expression on his face.

A large spider-like being with glowing red eyes shifts upon his "seat", a rocky outcrop resembling a termite mound and chitters. Although it sounds nothing like any language the characters have heard, the meaning is clear, <Perhaps we should meet them halfway. This one has the honour to be the Archon Ichiywab, of the stellar cruiser Wuj from what you would call the Greater Magellanic Cloud. I am one of the eldest here, or at least I gather this to be true since I can remember a... time—if you will—when there were but a few of us here.>

A humanoid woman with short dark hair joins in, "I am known as Q'maire, Majestrix of the cruiser Solar Haven. In the name of the Goddess, I greet you. Peace be unto you."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 05:52, Sun 10 Jan 2021.

In reply to Curator Purple (msg # 44):

Thelev waits until it comes around to him and replies "I am Captain Thelev, commanding officer of the USS Odyssey, from the United Federation of Planets. And you may call me Thelev.  And I am sure I am only saying now what all of you have said before me.  My crew and I will investigate all avenues available to try and find a way home before accepting what you indicate is our fate. I only ask that to help you provide us what information you can on here and how you got here. I hope that is not too much to ask."

He then turns his head towards HoD Kang and Prefect Ozakin, "And I ensure both of you that since it was my ship that brought you here, that when we find a way back we will take you back with us if you want to return."

Purple says, "Thank you friend Thelev. And now, we have Commodore McCurrvey, also of the ship Odyssey. But first, I must inform you that in all the time in which the Museum has existed here at the End of Time, no one has ever discovered a way to leave this place—if place it truely is... Of course We all recognise that it is the first duty of any captain to seek a safe voyage to their home port for their ship. All of us have struggled to do so, but just as surely we have all resigned ourselves to the impossibility of leaving."

A tall stern man, dressed in black robes with shoulder-length white hair, stands and announces, "I am Captain Yehonahan Ahab of the Spelljammer Pequod." He steps back from his chair, his prosthetic right leg thumping on the floor. "My ship was savaged by the great white Leviathan of the Stellar Deeps. I have pledged my very soul and those of my crew to return to the Arcane Flow and send the Leviathan to hell!"

MacCay stands, "I am Alistair MacCay, late of the starship Genser. My crew alone, save for Prefect Ozakin who has just joined us, have no ship. We were pursued by a sphere of silver light and wound up here sans our ship. We will also join in the effort to return to our reality." He looks expectantly at Brad. "I have served with Thelev and Brad as well as Captain Mercer, Thelev's executive officer, and trust them implicitly."

Purple looks up, startled. He makes eye contact with Hilliard, and something once again passes between them. Purple asks, "Yet another captain?"

MacCay nods, "By rank, yes, if not by position."

Purple says, "Very well, then!" and waves his hand. Mercer suddenly appears beside him without getting to hear Smith's additional information. "Captain Mercer, how thoughtless of me to have neglected you. Had I but known, I would have invited you to the Council of Captains! Come now, join us."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:55, Sun 10 Jan 2021.

In reply to Curator Purple (msg # 46):

Tapping his comm badge "Commander DesMarais I am sure Commander Manyard is busy so the bridge in yours.  Capt. Mercer has joined us down here.  Can you and Dr. Smith keep us up to date, Mercer and I will be back to help when we can."

Turning to Captain Ahab, he says "If we find a way out we will share what we can to help you and the others here to return to your galactic coordinates and your timelines."

Looking around the whole room and using his bold trait he adds "I am sure many of you have family members you want to return to.  My Chan and Zhen have already once went without knowing my fate and I do not want them to have to go through that yet again." he ends by turning and looking at MacCay and hopes for now he does not ask about Thoma.

In reply to Captain Thelev (msg # 47):

Khendron has conflicting emotions about being snatched away to the Council of Captains. He's pleased to be included, but at the same time he is annoyed that his conversation with Smith was interrupted. Through his communicator, he instructs Smith to work with Dr Marcus and give her any information he feels she needs.

"Just before I arrived," says Khendron quietly to Thelev and Brad, "Smith requested to speak with us privately." He does not elaborate, nor mention anything about classified information, hoping that they can infer that detail from the request itself.

DesMarais responds, "Commander Manyard is still in sickbay. Lt Rutherford is holding things together down in Engineering. I have the Conn. Copy that the XO is with you. Will continue as ordered, sir. Odyssey out."

Curator Purple continues, "Captain Mercer, we were all getting to know one another. Captain Thelev and Commodore McCurrvey were about to introduce themselves and several members of the Council were also doing so. Pray continue."

A tall Asian-appearing woman stands up. She wears a golden breastplate over a navy blue coverall. "I am Dame Flavia Domitia, Trierarch of the Imperial Quinquereme Hesperus. We were thirty-eight weeks out of the Imperial port Thasia on anti-piracy patrol when we were struck by a class Σ nebular storm."

An even taller dark-haired woman in a yellow tunic rises, "If it please you all, I am the Captain Raven Syrene, commanding officer of Her Imperial Majesty's Battlecruiser Indomitable of the 33^rd Battle Squadron, Fifth Terran Fleet of the Holy Galactic Empire. Long live Her Imperial Majesty!" She snaps to attention, her right fist clenched over her heart.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:06, Mon 04 Jan 2021.

In reply to Commander Collette DesMarais (msg # 49):

OOC: Can not remember back to when we played these characters originally.  I believe we did go to an alternate time line with the Terran Empire, but I do not believe it was in a time line with the Holy Galactic Empire.  But the question is, would Thelev know the appropriate response to Captain Syrene, if he does he will use it below. And at very least I would think he would be at least aware of the USS Enterprise dealing with the Terran Empire

Thelev nods to both and replies "Dame, Captain pleasure to meet both of you.  Captain may I ask from what time you are from.  I know their are may parallels between your timeline and ours."

[OOC: Nope, there was no Holy Galactic Empire. The Terran Empire is a relatively generic term, used by many writers from Gene Roddenberry (in the Mirror Universe) to Poul Anderson, World of Warcraft, Isaac Asimov, etc. etc. etc. You did have contact with the Mirror Universe's Terran Empire when you fought the ISS Odyssey NCC-2001, but you might be thinking of the HIMS Sophista which crossed over to the Federation from Dave Slater's MegaTraveller campaign where it was with the Havenic Imperial Federation.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:58, Sun 10 Jan 2021.

Syrene raises a haughty eyebrow, "I don't believe your friends have introduced themselves, Captain Thelev? Protocol, yes?" She returns to her seat, leaning to one side with her legs crossed and drumming her long, scarlet fingernails on the table top, a slight smile on her face. "And what do you know of our Holy Empire? From Captain Alistair, I know something of your Federation of Planets—a δημοκρατία—a democracy yes? How... quaint." She speaks with a faintly musical Greek accent [not unlike Troi in the first season of ST TNG].
This message was last edited by the player at 06:03, Sun 10 Jan 2021.

A medium-height, rail-thin gentleman in florid naval dress complete with bicorne hat and a chest full of medals stands up and waves a fist, "Faugh!" he snorts, "Enough of these preliminaries!" Several of the captains around the table face-palm and make various noises of frustration with him.

"I am the honourable Kapitan Sir Karl-Friedrich Hieronymus, commander of His Majesty's Ship Gloriana; hero of Saldana, conqueror of Khanadu, discoverer of El Dorado, Knight of..."

"Oh, please," interrupts Dame Flavia Domitia, rolling her eyes, "Do we have to listen to the whole list, you pompous windbag?"

Hieronymus snorts and sputters, turning red in the face. Dame Flavia smiles sweetly, "I would much rather hear something new from our newest initiates. She waves languidly toward Brad and Khendron and asks, "Commodore, Captain, prithee continue lest we die of boredom..."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:39, Sun 10 Jan 2021.

In reply to Kapitan Karl-Friedrich Hieronymus (msg # 53):

Thelev looks around the table and tries to determine technology levels of the different captains by any technology they have on them and looks at Mercer and McCurrvey and awaits their introductions to the table.  Really wanting to start talking with everyone trying to find out where they are so they can jump back to a known place.

And wants to talk to Dr. Smith and find out where the jump went awry.

In reply to Captain Thelev (msg # 54):

Khendron stands up. "Captains," he says with a charming smile. "You honour me with your presence! Forgive my temporary bemusement, for although I have, along with Captain Thelev and Commodore McCurvy, seen a lot of adventure, this round table is unique to us.

"I am Captain Khendron Mercer, of the USS Odyssey. Just Khendron for short, if you so choose. It seems that we may be the only ship present to arrive here of its own accord, albeit by accident. I am confident that since we got ourselves here, working with you and your crews, we can get ourselves home again.

"In the meantime," Khendron says in conclusion, "I look forward to getting to know you all."

Khendron gives a few friendly bows to the other Captains around the table. He bows a little lower and longer towards Dame Flavia Domitia and Captain Raven Syrene, because like any healthy Efrosian male, he finds strong-minded women especially attractive.

In reply to Captain Khendron Mercer (msg # 55):

Commodore Bradron McCurrvey, United Federation of Planets.  Formerly of the USS Excalibur and now assigned to the USS Odyssey.  It is a pleasure to meet you all

McCurrvey also scans the gathered assemblage.  He looks for signs of technology sharing as well as the general mood.  Are they all resigned to their fate or are some still hungry to leave?  He has his diplomacy on at full strength as he knows Odyssey will need partners to get home.
.
So if we cannot leave, what does this council do?  How do we occupy our time?

In reply to Commodore Bradron McCurrvey (msg # 56):

My diplomacy goes to 11. ;-)

The curator beams widely and announces, "On behalf of all of us in this bubble universe, welcome, and a very good question it is, Commodore. We function very much like the government in any interstellar port. We mediate disputes between members of our various crews, coordinate between the social lives of the multitude of cultures, organise intership events, sports, entertainment and the like, provide intership technological coordination for those attempting to discover a way to leave this space, et cetera, et cetera, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. We also provide for trade between the differing ships, and share medical facilities when needed."

MacCay asks, "Say, Thelev, I know it's been a few years, what's the current Stardate? And I'm not familiar with the Odyssey—what class is it? And with you and the K'Tanko arriving together, does that mean that peace with the Klingon Empire has been realised? I've got so many questions for you!"

Dame Flavia adds, "So do we all. Alistair has given us what he calls the First Contact Package, introducing us to this Federation of yours. I'm from the Imperial Terran Empire; Raven is as you know from the Holy Galactic Empire and hails from Tellus, which seems to be an analogue of Terra. Al MacCay is also from Terra, but he insists on calling it Earth—what a boring name—and Karl-Friedrich, pompous windbag that he is, comes from yet another analogue of Terra which he calls Airth."

MacCay breaks in, "The first question I have is 'Do you have berthing space for 82 additional crew?' That's a mighty big ship you've got there—my men would be happier than pigs in shit (pardon my French, ladies) to catch up un the news from home!"

Flavia snorts, "Je parle Français, Monsieur Le Capitaine, an' tha' ain't it!" she says with a guffaw. The English addendum is spoken in a affected Cockney accent.

Captain Syrene looks offended. "Indeed," she mutters.

Hieronymus stands and bellows, red-faced, "M'Cay, if the damned curator hadn't forbidden dueling, I'd demand you meet me on the field of honour!" He pauses for effect then bows to Syrene, doffing his bicorne flamboyantly. "Madame!" he says obsequiously.

Flavia laughs and retorts, "You pretentious fop, if Curator as a color, shade of purple-grey hadn't banned dueling, you'd be the first to laugh at Alistair's wit!" She pronounces Purple's formal name as easily as she'd spouted French seconds earlier.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:54, Tue 19 Jan 2021.

In reply to Curator Purple (msg # 58):

OOC: Thinking we are roughly a month in I will assume it is around April 17 since we started March 17. And I couldn't find how to convert to TOS dates which is where I assume we are.

Turning towards MacKay around the table Thelev replies, "Captain, sorry Alistair, it is April 17, 2290 so it is about 11 years since we met. We are an Excelsior class. I would think the Excelsior it self was in early construction when your ship disappeared."

Taking a breath he adds "The relationship with the Klingons is still strained due to recent events involving Captain Kirk, oh was he an Admiral when you disappeared, time blends together.  Negotiations are basically stalled."

"As for room, we can accommodate you and your crew.  We are designed for a crew of 810, 40 passengers and can handle 1500 in an emergency.  We are already accommodating some of Prefect Ozakin crew, the ones we recovered. But with some shuffling we can make you crew feel at home." Thelev adds.

Turning to Dame Flavia "Dame, or is it Flavia, we have encountered other parallel universes to our own where what we call earth has had several different names including Terra, but we have encountered neither the Imperial Terran Empire or the Holy Galactic Empire in our travels. I would be interested in learning of both your civilizations."

"What? Did Jim Kirk resign his flag? I knew he wanted to get back in the field—or did he piss off Nogura that badly? So your Odyssey has Transwarp? It works? Damn, I owe Harrison Dodge fifty credits," gripes Al MacCay. "So what's the deal with you and Kang? And on behalf of my crew, thanks for the berths."

In return to Thelev's question, Flavia chuckles, "Ah, I guess being a democracy, you're not used to aristocratic titles. Dame Flavia is my title—the feminine address for a knight of the realm. My given name is of course, just Flavia.  Karl-Friedrich's Airth styles itself a Star Kingdom. I take it you're familiar with Henry Piper's multiverse theory, then. I myself am most attracted to Adam Weishaupt's Helsinki interpretation of the theory."

In reply to Captain Alistair MacCay (msg # 60):

Thelev chuckles "I think Harrison Dodge should owe you ten fold, it was a complete failure, so no we do not have Transwarp."

"As for Kang and us, we along with the Romulan's were in pursuit of a common threat.  After the Prefect's ship was destroyed by it, the Romulan's stayed to assist and the Klingons and ourselves continued to pursue.  And that is when we ended up here." as he gestures around. Trying to stay as vague as possible in the current surrondings.

Turning back to Flavia "Most ladies I have met with the title Dame has always insisted on being called Dame, so it is a habit I will need to break.  As for your interest in multiverse theory, both myself and Captain Me, um Khendron both have a keen interest and understanding in the theories and I would love to discuss them with you."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:19, Thu 21 Jan 2021.

In reply to Captain Thelev (msg # 61):

"Thelev, Brad," says Khendron, "speaking of science, we are wanted back on the Odyssey. Perhaps Alistair can accompany us, to help organize the quarters for his crew."

Khendron bows again to Flavia and Raven. "I would be delighted to meet up with you later, after we have ... settled in. We have much we can talk about, in the realms of politics and science."

In reply to Captain Khendron Mercer (msg # 62):

McCurrvey’s mind is racing.  Firstly what will Odyssey and the Klingons need for an extended stay?  Klingons aren’t known for sharing and what they need, they’ll probably try to take.  They will also want to carve out a space in the hierarchy and going after what they need may kill two birds with one stone. 

Do you have rules drawn up for this community?  We’d like to understand the lay of the land before we transgress some bylaw by mistake.

How big a security risk are the new personnel?  Security will be stretched keeping tabs on everyone.  How are the extra people going to stretch our stores?

Finally, what is the tactical situation?  What are the capabilities of all these other ships?

Yes, we should be getting back to Odyssey.  We will take our leave then

On return, Brad intends to retire to his ready room and analyze the other ships.

In reply to Captain Thelev (msg # 61):

"Well hell," replies MacCay, "Now I have to get home, just to collect from Harry. My men are spread out over a dozen ships, but they are still in touch."

Flavia smiles and notes, "Well yes, the common address is Dame, followed by the given name. If you want to be painfully correct by protocol, it would be Dame Flavia, but I've grown to prefer the custom we follow here; so it's just Flavia.

In reply to Captain Khendron Mercer (msg # 62):

"That'd be great," says Al. "I'd love to get a Starfleet deck under my feet."

In reply to Commodore Bradron McCurrvey (msg # 63):

Purple smiles, "Oh, we're pretty loose here. Each captain is sovereign among his or her people. Captains are responsible for the conduct of their crews. Captains are expected to cooperate with each other for the greater good. I can transmit a copy of the Council Charter to your ship for your perusal."

The deck underfoot shudders abruptly, and what looks like lightning flashes in the void outside. Suddenly, various communications devices begin chirping, beeping or whistling. Hilliard woofs and growls while captains begin receiving reports from their vessels. Brad, Thelev and Khendron all get a hail from the Odyssey.

"Odyssey command team, Cdr DesMarais here. We've detected a subspace anomaly which seems to have affected the entire bubble universe. Recommend you return to the ship along with HoD Kang and Prefect Ozakin ASAP!"

"MacCay to all Genser crew members! This is the Captain speaking. Please assemble in groups and have senior personnel hail the USS Odyssey to arrange evacuation. This is not a drill!" shouts MacCay into his communicator.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:51, Tue 26 Jan 2021.

“Cdr, this is the Commodore, we met with other Starfleet personnel, prepare to receive approximately 80 additional personnel.  Engage cargo transporters if required and have segregated berths/quarters prepared.  Go to Yellow Alert and transport us when ready.  Prepare tactical and science briefings when we arrive on the bridge.”

McCurrvey gestures to the Klingon and the Orion as well as MacCay.  “Prepare for transport.”
This message was lightly edited by the player at 14:25, Tue 26 Jan 2021.

"Yessir. Communications reports several hails on Starfleet frequencies identifying themselves as the crew of the USS Genser NCC-4404. Preparing to receive them. Security and medical will conduct their in-routines. Prepare for priority transport, sir," replies Collette.

The four Starfleet officers, along with Kang and Ozakin, disappear in a swirling pattern of Transporter energy and arrive in Transporter room #1. CPO Wolff says, "Welcome back, sirs."

Moments later, the doors slide open and Smith enters, followed by Cdr Bowman. Smith looks as impassive as ever, while Bowman looks flustered. "Sir," he reports to Thelev, "The phenomenon was identical to that observed on stardate 3087.6. Back then, it was galaxy-wide and caused by an interdimensional rift. It's been dubbed the Lazarus Effect, after a dimensional traveller and his döppelganger from an antimatter universe!"

Smith, on the other hand, approaches Capt MacCay, "Captain Alistair MacCay, serial number QR-192-457, commanding officer USS Genser, I presume?"

MacCay eyes the civilian curiously. "You have me at a disadvantage, mister...?"

"Smith," says the android, "Dr. John Smith, Daystrom Labs. I've been reviewing your record, sir."

"John... Smith. Of course you are. And why would you be looking me up?"

"I'm afraid that's a very long story. If you, the Captain and the XO would accompany the Commodore and myself to the flag ready room, I'll explain," says Smith.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:06, Tue 26 Jan 2021.

In reply to Commander Collette DesMarais (msg # 67):

Turning to Collette, "Commander, please find accommodations for our newest guest and insure they are proceeded, they are all likely MIA. So it would be convenient for everyone that the ship can treat them as visiting Star Fleet personnel."

"Bowman, where is the subspace anomaly, is it still open, has anything exited from the anomaly, if so where is it headed." Thelev asks "I will be in the flag ready room, keep me posted."

"Captain MacCay, this way to the flag ready room." Thelev says.

Narda nods to Kang and asks, "Captain Kang, I can beam you over to the K'Tanko if you wish."

Kang thanks her and remains on the pad while the rest step off. He disappears in a swirl of energy.

"Prefect Ozakin, would you like to check on the remaining members of your crew in sickbay?" asks a crewman. Ozakin nods, taking the suggestion and leaving with him.

The group takes the turbolift to Deck One. Exiting the Bridge turbolift, they turn right and take the adjacent door, marked Flag Ready Room. A door to the left is marked Captain's Ready Room. inside is an an entryway curving around the aft portion of the Bridge to a smallish room containing a desk, a sofa and a pair of comfortable chairs.

A small off-white card sits in the precise centre of McCurrvey's desk. It is a piece of crisp cardstock 89mm x 51mm. It is mostly featureless, with the embossed name Dworkin Black Esq. and the title Investigator at Large. Scrawled on the card in purple ink is the message "Call me! -D." There is no other evidence of anyone having entered the room and the door is locked. Nobody could have entered without setting off an alarm, except for a select few. These include Thelev, Mercer, Brad's personal yeoman (Lt. Xanthe), Collette and Kyra. The computer indicates that none of these individuals have entered in the past twelve hours.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:15, Wed 27 Jan 2021.

McCurrvey strides around to his chair.  He ignores the card and reaches for the intercom.  “Science officer and tactical officer to my Ready Room”. He gestures to the chairs.  “Gentlemen, have a seat”.  McCurrvey calls up the ship’s tactical display and displays it on the large screen.  OCC I’m assuming there’s some way of displaying information in the room (unlike Picard’s Ready Room).

[OOC: Bowman and Khendron are already with you, so I think you're covered as far as science officers go...]

Moments after being summoned (he was, after all, on the Bridge) Rodriguez enters. That makes for six people in the ready room, so it's cozy. Since this is McCurrvey's Flag Ready Room, it was outfitted to his specifications, so there is a 2-metre wide holographic wall screen. The tactical display appears and Ramirez steps up.

He begins, "We are in a small bubble universe with a radius of only three hundred fifty light years. Most of the stars are dwarf stars within a stellar nebula which seems to fill the entire space. As the XO deduced, the bubble universe appears to be in a state of collapse, and the recent ripples in the subspace continuum seem to have triggered an abrupt acceleration of that collapse. The dwarf stars at the periphery have begun imploding—simply folding in upon themselves and winking out. The current rate of collapse is approximately one light year per hour. We are currently holding station at 1000km from the... museum. There are approximately 60 ships scattered around, all within transporter range. [Standard transporter range is 40,000km.] All are at about our level of technology, give or take a century, but a few appear to spelljammers like we observed in Lord Dhark's realm."

The intercom chirps. "Driveon to the Flag Ready Room. Cdr Manyard's concussion suddenly healed while I was monitoring it. If I was a religious man, I'd swear it was a miracle. So did the remaining three Orions in sickbay that we didn't dare beam out, they were so badly injured. They're up and about, and Manyard stormed out of sickbay against my orders. He's on his way up there."

At that moment the door chime sounds. "Commodore, it's the Engineer," says the intercom as the door swishes open.

Manyard strides in, with a security crewman protesting, "Sir, I told him you were in a meeting!"

“That’s okay, crewman.”  McCurrvey stands “Commander, what can we do for you?”  McCurrvey surveys the engineer.  [OOC: Not sure how well I know the engineer but I’m surveying him to see if he’s mad but normal or just plain nuts]

Manyard seems stable but slightly agitated. "Sorry for bargin' in Sir, but something's wrong. Just an engineer's intuition—the Cap'n will know what I mean—but the ship just doesn't feel right! The SIF [Structural Integrity Field] feels... off is the best way I can describe it."

Now that Manyard brings it up, Thelev can feel it too...

Meanwhile, Smith and MacCay have been exchanging information. MacCay perks up, "That's what LCdr Regis said when the orb hit the Genser, too!"

Smith clarifies, "It would seem that it's somehow related to the Silver Ball..." He motions Manyard to take a seat. "As you know, the Quantum Para-Dimensional Transport Device is based on reverse-engineering from radiation traces derived from the hull of the Genser after it reappeared and the plating from the Blackheart in the wake of its disappearance. What I'm about to reveal is classified Seclar 9 - Ultra Secret. That why I requested that we hold this briefing in a SCIF, [Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility] of which the Flag Ready Room is one of four on board. I remind you all of the legal penalties pertaining to misuse of this information. But first, I believe we should include Dr. Marcus in this briefing." He pauses and taps the intercom, "Doctor Marcus, please report to the Flag Ready Room on Deck One."

When Carol Marcus arrives, Smith continues. "Capt MacCay, when the USS Genser was struck by the orb, it was transported to the Lesser Magellanic Cloud where it remained until the year 2384. It was discovered by the crew of the USS Blackheart which carried with it not only its own crew, commanded by Capt James Olivier; but also Starfleet officers from 2384 working in conjunction with the Department of Temporal Investigations. Apparently I was also—or will be—there. Encrypted in the Genser's main computer was a file entitled Cdr Tal's Personal Log." He pauses to allow the implications sink in.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:48, Sat 30 Jan 2021.

In reply to Commander Wendell Manyard (msg # 73):

"Commander I sense it as well.  It's quite possible that whatever is causing the micro universe we are in to collapse, is also affecting the the Silver Ball. Be sure to monitor the SIF and see if it is getting worse.  Need to know if we are going to shake apart before the micro universe collapses." Thelev replies.

"Dr. Smith can you send me the file of this Cdr. Tal, what was he, a member of temporal department, a scientist, an engineer?" Thelev asks.

OOC: when had the Blackheart disappeared again.  I think they were less than a hundred years in their future when our alter egos encountered them. Really just want to know if it has already disappeared at our time.

[OOC: The Genser disappeared in 2279 and was discovered 2 days later dead in space, without its crew. The hull showed evidence of heavy scoring as if it had sat unpowered in space for a century. It was refitted and restored to service. The escort task force it had been leading reported it being chased and merged with a silver sphere in deep space. In 2283, the Blackheart was also pursued by a glowing silver sphere. Only a slab of hull plating and the log buoy were found, with a radiation signature matching that from the Genser. This radiation signature was backwards-engineered by the Daystrom Institute in a project headed up by Dr. John Smith and led to the development of the Quantum Para-Dimensional Transport Device. The Excalibur-A was the first test-bed for the Silver Ball in 2285. The current date is of course 2290.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:18, Sun 31 Jan 2021.

Smith replies, "The metadata from the message notes that Cdr Tal Gesl was—is—will be a Tellarite Starfleet Engineer, Chief Engineer of the DTI H.Beam Piper NCV-1075; born 2350 and aged 34 in 2384. He, along with Capt M'Rel Snefls and Cdr Seth Bern, MD; CO and Science Officer of the Piper were part of a rescue party which went aboard the Blackheart along with our old companion Wesson when it reappeared in Federation space in 2384 after being missing for 101 years." He passes over a data solid and continues, "This is a record of their adventures in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud when the Blackheart suddenly jumped back to the Lesser Magellanic Cloud due to residual Silver Ball radiation in the Blackheart's hull. Wesson (referred to as a lieutenant commander) managed to cobble together a Silver Ball unit before being taken back to the Federation by an Ensign Windsor. The surviving crew of the Blackheart were revived from stasis and..." from this point on Smith gives an abridged account of Tal's logs from the Iconian adventures, including his own future involvement.


"Of course I have no personal memories of any of this as it is nearly a century in my future as well. It seems that some time in the near future I myself will be experimenting with Silver Ball technology which by the way appears to be somehow connected to the legendary Iconians; and will also be transported to the Lesser Magellanic Cloud where my body will be discovered and revived by this Tal and his companions."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:26, Sun 31 Jan 2021.

“Dr Smith, I’m assuming you’ve reviewed the files.  I think I’m correct in saying that there’s a time sensitive component to this situation.  Do we each need to review this file or can you play the pertinent excerpts here or provide us an overview?”


This message was last edited by the GM at 02:30, Sun 31 Jan 2021.

Smith's summary of the Piper command crew's adventures terminates at the point when they leave the Genser. As they were aware from history, the Genser returned to 2279, Tal's log was encrypted and marked Seclar 9, Attn DTI. The file has been redacted by DTI, mostly details about the Iconians but the basics are all there. Of course it doesn't include anything about the confrontation at the black hole and subsequent events, since none of that had happened yet. There are many references that do not make sense, like references to M'Rel's gender and Tal's relationship with KeH'loS, while everything regarding Seth's Borg implants are completely deleted. references to the Iconians have been severely redacted. All the details about the Genser gibe with MacCay's memories of the ship.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:02, Sun 31 Jan 2021.

"What is important is if any of the modifications they did to the silver ball will help us.  Did they come up with a way on targeting where they wanted to go without know where they were." as Thelev reviews the files using his engineering and knowledge of the Silver Ball.

"Bowman, Mercer, also see if the future Dr. Smith and Wesson or this Cdr Tal were here and got back." he says.

"We have Star Fleets brightest minds on the Silver Ball here, lets find a way to use it." Thelev closes with.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:28, Sun 31 Jan 2021.

[OOC: As noted in message #77, "Everything regarding Seth's Borg implants are completely deleted". While Starfleet and DTI are aware that the Borg exist from Cochrane's and Lily Sloane's notes as well as the episode ENT:Regeneration, that information is strictly restricted and does not become common knowledge until after 2266 when the Borg attack Wolf 359. There are confusing references to M'Rel's gender and to Tal's relationship to KeH'loS, but nothing to Seth's implants or how he works his way with computers.

"No sir, there are no answers to be had here," interjects Smith. "It seems that they knew the Genser would return to 2279, based on the fact that it was recovered, repaired and returned to service, but we have no knowledge of the fate of Capt M'Rel, her crew, or the Blackheart itself. There is no indication if they, or indeed I survive the conflict with the Iconians in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud or return to the Federation."

"And," says Dr. Marcus, "The Temporal Prime Directive prevents any Federation nationals and most specifically Starfleet from bringing knowledge of the future back in time to interfere with the natural passage of time. Jim Kirk and Mr. Spock were advisors to the Federation Council when that Directive was written in 2270 and the DTI was founded."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:05, Sun 31 Jan 2021.

In reply to Dr. John Smith (msg # 80):

"Well," says Khendron wryly. "Kudos to this Cdr Tal for leaving us a log that is both informative and unhelpful at the same time.

"However," he continues. "We do have a working silver ball. It got us here. Can it get us back again? And, can we—should we—share this technology to help the other crews that are stranded here?

"If the rate of collapse remains unchanged, we have about 6 days until this universe is gone completely."

“Given our current power output, how many ships could we jump with?  Could we make multiple jumps?”

Smith replies, "The main factor is time. Remember, we require thirty-three minutes to recharge and recalibrate our trajectory through hyperspace. The Quantum Para-Dimensional Transport Field transports everything within a spherical energy field with a radius of 662.5 metres centred on the ship's centre of mass. Ships within that radius can be very tightly packed and held in place with regard to each other by a web of tractor beams."

“So opinions:  60 ships, 4 to 5 ships per jump, 2 jumps per trip (there and back), call it 2 hours per trip.  The math says we can do it in plenty of time.”

Manyard says glumly, "Assuming the dilithium crystals stand up. Even with the new recrystallisation procedures, we do know from the original Enterprise experience with the Lazarus Effect, it tended to delaminate the crystals. We do have redundant crystals in supply, but we'll have to keep a real close eye on them. I can rig up a secondary crystal articulation frame and have it ready to swap it out, but if they delaminate while we're jumping—" he looks at Smith, "—what then?"

Thelev doesn't need to wait for Smith's answer. The jump is irrelevant to the question. If a M/AM reaction is ongoing when delamination occurs—bye-bye Odyssey!

Smith says, "If, when we go to Blue Alert, we immediately scram the reaction, that does preclude that problem. We could immediately swap articulation frames and reenergise the system. If the old crystals are still OK, we could use them—if not we'd have to recrystallise them. How many spare crystal sets do we have?"

Manyard's face gets even more gloomy. "Three at most. Can we cram more ships into the bubble?"

Carol Marcus asks, "I'm no Warp specialist, but could we use dilithium from other ships? Do the other ships even use dilithium? I know the Klingons do, but—"
This message was last edited by the player at 21:11, Tue 02 Feb 2021.

In reply to Commodore Bradron McCurrvey (msg # 84):

"Before we should worry about how many trips, we need to make sure we can do one trip." Thelev says to everyone in the room.

Calling up the info on the jump that got them here, the micro universe they are in, the information he knows and is available on the silver ball Thelev starts trying to come up with a solution.  Using is computer simulation/modeling, propulsion engineering both 4(6) skills and anything else he has.

"Dr. Smith, my thought is our best option is likely trying to reverse the jump that got us here since we really don't know where here is in relationship to our time and space. Thoughts? " he asks, "Since the other option is a blind jump and who knows where or when we will end up."

Turning to everyone "Unless someone knows another way to establish the two points, I can try to model every possibility but with out know where we are it will be tough."

“We have a couple of options: evacuate people to a small number of ships or crowd in more ships.  We have to consider if we try to jump and people are being left behind, they may make their displeasure known...forcibly.”  McCurrvey stands.  “My suggestion is to establish a single point to jump to.  That way we’re not trying to get people back to 60 different homes.  We find a nice out of the way system and bring the 60 over in multiple jumps.”  “We do this as safely as possible, but the goal is to get every single soul out of this universe before it collapses”.  He turns to Mercer “XO, I’d like someone to peruse the laws of the land that Purple was going to send over.  We don’t have time to get into a snit over something stupid.”

In reply to Commodore Bradron McCurrvey (msg # 87):

"Are we going to attempt to take everybody back to the universes they came from?" asks Khendron. "Or just get them back to our universe and sort out their final destinations later?

"Also, how classified are we treating the technology of the silver ball? The other captains are going to have a lot of questions."

Smith clears his throat (clearly an affected behaviour for an android), "Ahem, I would suggest that our best bet would be to use the Bridgetown Anomaly as a target. We have a full day's worth of intensive scans to refine our targeting. I remind you all that we have the de facto Powers-That-Be here on the Odyssey so there would be no question of legality. I suggest we read Cdr Harris and Sam Lowry in on this, if you choose to go that route."

Manyard chips in, "If we're prepared to abandon some of the actual ships, I have a suggestion. We have two Executive Shuttles aboard in the lower hangar bay. Each of them has seating for a hundred persons."

"Further, we have an evacuation limit of 1500 persons on the ship, including the shuttles. The IKS K'Tanko has a similar evac limit, albeit in somewhat less, ah, luxurious accommodations. That means we can, all together, accommodate 3,000 persons on just the two ships. We'll be cheek-by-jowl, but it'd only be for a few hours. If we only take a few of the largest ships, it seems to me we can crowd a lot of people in the smallest number of ships and decrease the number of jumps. It'll mean stretching our life support to its limits, but the ship's only a month out of refit and we have a full load-out of supplies."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:10, Thu 04 Feb 2021.

In reply to Dr. John Smith (msg # 89):

"The other captains," says Khendron, "are not going to like any plan that leaves their ships behind. Flavia and Raven, especially, are going to be incensed by a plan that was made behind closed doors without their input. We should reconvene the Council of Captains as soon as possible, or invite them all here."

Before we bring this to the council, I’d like to make sure we’ve considered all aspects.  We need to have a solid plan with the risks worked out.  I agree that abandoning ships will not sit well with people.  We will also have to consider who we might have to leave behind on the first jump and how that will sit with them.  We may need to jump initially with the biggest and most powerful to minimize resistance.  I agree with Capt Mercer that we should use a staging area to bring everyone to initially.  From there we can take them home.  The staging area should have a habitable world and resources that might be required for an extended stay. 

Smith cocks his head, something they've noticed he does when consulting the computer, and says, "I've just determined that the average number of inhabitants of this area is approximately 100 per ship. At 60 ships, that gives us 6000 persons. So far, we've allocated space for about half of them. The Imperial Quinquereme Hesperus and Her Imperial Majesty's Battlecruiser Indomitable are each capable of carrying 1000 persons, which leaves 1000 requiring berths. Not only does that mitigate Khendron's concerns regarding Captains Domitia and Syrene, but it appears that we may well be able to do this in one trip—" The deck suddenly shudders and the lights fade. Emergency lights briefly flicker on, then the main lighting resumes at 50% illumination. "—which appears to be imperative."

The intercom blares, "Cdr Manyard and Dr. Smith to Main Engineering immediately! Capt Mercer and LCdr Bowman to the Bridge! Captain, there's been another Lazarus Effect! The rate of collapse has doubled and is increasing!"

Thoma comes on line, "I have Curator Purple on hailing frequency!"

“Commander, pipe it in here.”  McCurrvey straightens his uniform and ramps up his diplomacy.  He glances at the others to see their composure.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:01, Mon 08 Feb 2021.

Purple looks frightened. He gets right to the point, "Commodore, these aberrations are most alarming! Some of the captains are panicking. As our most recent arrivals, have you any indications of what is happening? Is this some form of incident which is known in the greater universe?" On the viewscreen, several captains are arguing. Dame Flavia and Raven Syrene seem to be acting as a calming influence on them, but their ability to reconcile differing factions is being tested severely.

“Curator Purple, we are monitoring a collapse of this pocket universe and determining a strategy.  We believe we can transport everyone out before the collapse and are working on several options at this time.  To do this as quickly as possible, it may mean people abandoning their ships.  We would like to meet with you and the Captains in two hours to discuss options.”  McCurrvey looks to Thelev for a reaction.  “I suggest that the Hesperus and the Indomitable begin preparations to take on a significant number of passengers”

OOC: Using my Diplomacy skill

In reply to Commodore Bradron McCurrvey (msg # 95):

OOC: Maybe I have misunderstood or missed something.  We are talking taking people out, but have we actually determined if we know how to jump out.  I was really waiting on a reply to that since my last post was I was trying to work on getting the ability to accurately jump first.  Did I miss something. Did we already know how to do that.  I was under the opinion we did not. Please clarify so I can jump back in. I know Smith suggested a target but my understanding to be able to jump to a location we need to know the relationship between the two locations. And I don't think we know that and that is where my skill really is here. See msg #86 from me. Captain Confused. 

[OOC: No, you don't need to know the relationship between your current location and your destination. You just have to know the destination coordinates in a 26-axis matrix, consistent with Closed Unoriented Bosonic String Theory. https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/...ics...2042S/abstract (Yes, I'm cherry-picking scientific papers I don't really understand just 'cause they look complicated—it is 23^rd century quantum subspace astrophysics, after all.)]

In reply to Odyssey GM (msg # 97):

"Commodore, several items to consider.  Number of ships we can jump with us.  My gut is at least 8, 4 above and 4 below our center axis at our 4 corners. They must be within the bubble the silver ball can generate.  We should exclude any ship that we think is structural damaged and may not survive the jump. We should exclude any ship that we think that their propulsion system may interfere with the silver ball.  And we should select ships based on capacity of people they can carry and ability to survive the jump.  The decisions will quite likely be unpopular." Thelev suggests.

"We should offer them the plan to try and take them home after taking them to our space but tell them there is no guarantee if we can not plot a course to the final destination." he adds.

"Another option but I would take all the people first trip is if we can plot a jump back here we could try and recover additional ships, which means we should do the first jump sooner rather than later. But this is a pocket universe which is collapsing."

Pointing to the card on the table "There is one final option that will buy time for everyone, especially Purple whose home this is.  Determine who or what is causing the collapse and stop and possibly reverse. But there is a risk, we are not spending our time and resources getting people to safety." as he gestures to the ship
This message was last edited by the player at 00:02, Thu 11 Feb 2021.

OCC Not sure when this statement from Thelev is coming in, but we’re still on with Purple.  I’m assuming he made the statement before Purple comes on.  In that case, I’m waiting for Purple to respond.

In reply to Commodore Bradron McCurrvey (msg # 99):

OOC: No this would have been current.  Purple both said captains are arguing and he is panicking.  And I am sure he would be happy if we could save this place. And if people need to abandon their ships they will be unhappy. And to my point about offering them the plan to take them home I was agreeing with the the Commodore. May not have come across that way in typing.

In reply to Captain Thelev (msg # 100):

"Screw this!" Khendron mutters to himself, deciding they all (himself included) are doing too much planning and not enough doing.

"Actions speak louder than words," he says louder, to the general audience. "Let's do a jump, and prove to everybody what we can do! I'm sure as the reality of the situation sets in, we will get more cooperation. Anybody who want to come with the first group, well, you're welcome to come along."

In reply to Captain Khendron Mercer (msg # 101):

"Hold that order." Thelev commands.  "Dr. Smith will we be able to return to get more ships?"

In reply to Captain Thelev (msg # 102):

"I'd say that the probability approaches unity. Whether or not the bubble universe lasts that long, I cannot say with any certainty. However, the 26-axis probability matrix does have a temporal component. I can take particular care to fix our return coordinates to one second later and 5 kilometres off to prevent us returning to the inhabit the same Minkowski coordinates, which occurance Jerry Robinson would term a major bummer. In that case, I would suggest we return to Sector 0-0-1. All the major research done by the Institute took place in Neptunian orbit in the Sol system, so we have rock-solid coordinates for it.. The only place in the Federation with better scientific resources would be the Vulcan Science Academy."
"Indeed, we should be able to commandeer Starfleet vessels to aid in the evacuation. Two of the Sydney class Starliners should be able to accommodate 6000 people. Their standard load is 800 passengers with a 3200 person evacuation capacity."

In reply to Captain Thelev (msg # 102):

"Then I agree with Mercer, lets take who is ready to go now and come back and get the rest.  The more trips we take the more people and ships we can savage." Thelev says.

Smith replies, "Very well, Captain. Shall we go to the Council chamber and give Curator Purple our decision? How many ships have matter transporters? We have 72 individual pads and 10 cargo pads. If we boost safety measures to their rated maximums, each cargo pad can handle 20 persons safely, meaning we can handle 272 safely. 236 will be beaming straight into cargo holds. The executive shuttles can carry a total of 204, but it is a logistic bottleneck moving people from the shuttles to the ship itself. Best case scenario, engaging all transporter pads, we can embark a full 1500 persons in 60 minutes, including time to beam 204 passengers to the shuttles rather than disembarking, loading and reembarking the shuttles.

"As for the Klingons, they have only twelve individual pads, two cargo and two combat. Their cargo transporters are less reliable than ours, so I'd rate them at ten persons each as a maximum, while their combat transporters are good for twenty persons each, for a total of ninety six persons per cycle. That means that in the same hour, the K'Tanko can only take 529 persons in addition to its crew of 350. This means that it will take them two point four hours to take on a full load, which is unacceptable.

"It is my proposal that we take our full load and the K'Tanko with its 529 evacuees while the Hesperus and Indomitable take on as many as they can in one hour, and make the first jump with that number. We should jump to the Institute's testing grounds, narrowcast an emergency signal to Starfleet Command and the Federation Council, and take it from there. We can request the emergency recall of the Excalibur, which still retains its Silver Ball equipment, as well as however many passenger ships as we can for the second trip. Depending on how many are available, that may be enough. We can also activate the System Defense Force for security measures with so many unknown alien refugees coming in-system." He pauses. "Does that meet your approval, Commodore? Time is of the essence!"
This message was last edited by the player at 00:17, Mon 15 Feb 2021.

McCurrvey kills the audio. “Gentlemen, does everyone understand that we have just let the Captains of 59 capital ships know that we have the only way out of this and that we may not be able to take everyone at once?  What would a Klingon crew do?  How about Romulans?  AND THOSE ARE PEOPLE WE KNOW!”  McCurrvey stabs the audio back on “Curator Purple, we will beam over presently.  Please have the entire council present and we will go over options.”  McCurrvey kills the transmission before he can respond.

"On the contrary, sir!" objects Thoma, "When I put Purple's hail through, I only transmitted your direct reply." She sounds offended. "Sir, I've worked with you for long enough that I would hope you know I observe security protocols. Only your comments went through, though you yourself did make vague allusions to these facts." Brad has never heard Thoma admonish him for a command decision. "However, we are going to have to give them these details sooner or later. We may as well begin shaping what we tell them in this emergency situation." Thelev has, over the years, heard this tone from Thoma, and usually she proves right.

Smith breaks in, "Cdr Thoma is correct. We're going to have to be up front with them. Otherwise, when we make out initial jump, they will in all honesty be;ieve we're abandoning them."

MacCay notes, "Perhaps we should return my crew to the Museum on the understanding that we won't abandon our own. With your permission, I'd like to have Thoma contact all my crew so I can issue the order. Indeed, we can do it over intership to keep everything above board... That way, your crew will also be kept informed."

Thoma replies to Purple, "Curator, please stand by. We are discussing the minutiae of transporting 6000 people in an orderly and secure manner."

Purple answers, "By all means. I'll try to keep a handle on it down here!"

“My apologies Commander.” McCurrvey looks slightly admonished.  “My suggestion is we jump with the largest ships and provide the other Captains with the option of abandoning their ships or waiting for the second trip”.  “MacCay.  Before you leave, I’d like your opinions on who you feel are going to have problems with this arrangement.  Please coordinate with the XO.”  McCurrvey turns to Thelev.  “Let’s see how many ships we can squeeze into our bubble”

"I've been doing some calculations," answers the android. "The Quantum Para-Dimensional Transport Field has a radius of 662.5 metres. That gives us a total volume of 1,217,996,079.24 cubic metres. With sixty ships, that gives us a cubage of 20,299,934.65 cubic metres per ship. That's approximately the volume of our shield envelope. We're nearly the largest ship in the bubble universe. Many are much smaller. I conclude that if necessary, and it is fast becoming so, we can fit the entire fleet into the field bubble... It is risky, but I estimate a 79% chance of success, +/-5%. Personally, I am not in favour of this level of risk, but I am not human. It has been my experience that humanoids have a quality Jerry Robinson would call dumb luck. Humanoid decision is therefore required."

He gives a credible simulation of a sigh. "Captain Mercer is a trained astrogator as is Commodore McCurrvey, with Captain Thelev having some training in the field. I would suggest you consult with the Navigator and arrive at a decision."

[OOC: The following are the comparative skill levels:
McCurrvey - Space Sciences (Astrogation) 2 (3)
Mercer - Space Sciences (Astrogation) 2 (3)
Thelev - Space Sciences (Astrogation) 1 (2)
DesMarais - Space Sciences (Astrogation) 3 (4)

Specialisation 2 is qualified, 3 is professional training, and 4 is expert level training.]
This message was last edited by the player at 00:29, Thu 18 Feb 2021.

In reply to Dr. John Smith (msg # 109):

"Roughly 1 chance in 5 of failure, then" says Khendron. "Not bad but not great. What are the consequences of failure? Does the jump simply not work? Do we lose some ships? Do we lose everybody?"

"Consequences? Unknown," states Smith. "We could simply fail to jump and be destroyed with this pocket universe—" There is another discontinuity— The deck shudders once and the lights fade. Emergency lights briefly flicker on.

"Engineering to Captain Thelev! We've just lost the dilithium—we'd just got the replacement crystal into the standby articulation frame and—"The lights come back on at full illumination"—There! Power restored, for now anyway. We're running low on dilthium crystals. We can't recrystallise the old ones either! The lattice didn't just delaminate—it completely disintegrated! It also caused microfractures in the articulation frame."

"Astrometrics to Science officer! The rate of contraction in the bubble universe has just increased! we now have less than forty-eight hours before annihilation!"

"Other consequences include," continues Smith, "A mis-jump to unknown coordinates. As evidenced by our experiences on the Excalibur, this need not be a disaster, but having sixty ships in the convoy does complicate things beyond contemplation."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:22, Mon 01 Mar 2021.

"Given the new time constraints it seems we may only get one attempt," he concludes, "Assuming we issue the directive to begin boarding all ships immediately. I will now suggest that we use the Bridgetown coordinates since we can use the anomaly known as the Hole to amplify the Quantum Para-Dimensional Transport Field. Further, it will obviate the problem of transporting sixty ships of uncertain loyalties into the heart of the Federation. I now feel certain of this decision, since the alternative is a certainty—complete destruction."

In reply to Dr. John Smith (msg # 112):

"A Starfleet initiative that that drops sixty ships of uncertain loyalties into the heart of a non-Federation collective of uncertain allegiance may produce even worse diplomatic issues," says Khedron, frowning at Smith. "But I definitely agree that we must start the preparing for the jump now! It is going to take some time to get all the ships organized.

"Will the Odyssey be ready to jump as soon as the sixty ships are in place, or will additional calibration time be necessary once everybody is in position?"

Smith is impassive. "Ah, but it just so happens that we have both the Federation and civilian administrators of the area aboard, as well as the Captains' Council of the Rag Tag Fleet, if I may borrow a designation from an old television show. Finally, we have the Curator, who has considerable influence. I propose that we get Cdr Harris, Sam, Purple and representatives from the Council to convene as soon as possible. We should meet in a briefing room here on the Odyssey ASAP!"

He continues, "The jump capacitors remain fully charged, so we can engage the Ball even on emergency power. Both sets of coordinates are in memory and can be engaged on a moment's notice."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:05, Tue 23 Feb 2021.

Thoma announces, "The last of the USS Genser crew has beamed aboard. Many of them are volunteering to assist the crews of the alien ships in readying themselves for the jump to normal space. The Hesperus and Indomitable both report ready, and Trierarch Dame Flavia Domitia of the Imperial Quinquereme Hesperus wishes to come aboard to help in coordinating the return to Federation space... And I still have the Curator holding on the line."

"Navigator to Flag Ready Room: Sirs, we have multiple ships manœuvring independently. In the last minute we've had a minor collision and three near-misses. They're panicking. Request instructions, Sirs!" Collette's voice is strained and alarms can be heard over hailing frequencies in the background.

Thoma comes back on the line, "Sir, Curator Purple is getting desperate. Several ships are on the verge of mutiny. It seems a Kapitan Sir Karl-Friedrich Hieronymus has rammed a smaller ship that was 'in his way'! Minor casualties only but the other ship is threatening to open fire."

Purple comes on the line, put through by Thoma, "Commodore, things are getting out of hand. Hieronymus has always been a loose cannon and he's rammed Captain Ahab's Spelljammer Pequod. Ahab's threatening to use the Crucio—The Cruciatus Curse—on him. It's not a weapon as such. It's more what you'd call magic—a psionic attack."

In reply to Commander Collette DesMarais (msg # 116):

Thelev takes a deep breath and starts by "Dr. Smith, we need jump coordinates ideally in Federation space with two criteria, the IKS K'Tanko will feel safe and will have no issue departing if they wish based on my or the Commodore's leave.  They have been more than helpful in this situation and I don't want to lose any good well we have built with them.  And second we must be able to contain everybody else. At a minimum none of the other ships seem to be from our part of this galaxy and some are not even from our temporal space so we can't let them wander off and there is far too many for us to control by ourselves."

"Commodore may I suggest we draft an agreement that everyone needs to sign, I don't think at the very end we will force them to sign but we should request they still put in our galaxy and must abide by the Federation rules until we can safely return them home. In turn we will need to say we will try to return them home or identify a new home for them if we are unable to return them to their space and time." Thelev sighs "Not looking forward to being a taxi service for the next month or so."

"Captain MacCay, I would like to ask you to be the go between any of the ship Captains who either wish to come aboard or wish to stay on their on ships and my bridge crew and myself. I suggest you enlist Dame Flavia Domitia any other captain you feel can help to aid you." he requests. As he taps a few buttons "You can use my Ready Room."

Commander Thoma "Please inform Dame Flavia Domitia that she can beam aboard, I will greet her in my Ready Room and have her work with Captain MacCay."

Leaving Curator Purple to the Commodore to deal with he then says "Commander Thoma, please open up a channel to all ships. Both audio and visual." once he receives confirmation back he will say "Attention all fellow captains and ships, this is Captain Thelev of the USS Odyssey, as it appears may of you have heard we will be attempting to leave this mini-universe prior to its collapse and we are planning on taking everyone with us.  But I must ask you to allow us to coordinate with everyone to take the maximum number of ships with us and to take everyone with us.  Our intent is to leave no one who wishes to come with us behind.  We will be meeting shortly with all the captains to finalize the details.  But I ask you to allow us to identify the parking orbits around our ship.  There is an old earth training course which identified you need to put the big rocks which is in this case are the bigger ships in place first and then you progressively fill the gaps with the smaller ships. We still have time so lets work together to be successful."

As Thelev and the others leave, Thoma puts Purple through to Brad. He wastes no time, "I, Curator as a color, shade of purple-grey, on behalf of the Council of Captains, under the emergency measures clause of the Charter of Captains, do so stipulate all the conditions Captain Thelev has just announced. In addition, Hilliard and I would like to visit your ship to finalise everything."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:57, Mon 01 Mar 2021.

MacCay and Thelev move to the Captain's Ready Room. It is a mirror image of Brad's Flag Ready Room, as personalised to Thelev's tastes.

Dame Flavia and Captain Syrene are waiting for them, seated together on the sofa. They appear to be good friends and are talking as the two Starfleet captains enter.

"We work well as a team," says Raven Syrene, "And have a fair amount of influence on the Council, so we thought we'd coordinate from here. Both our ships are manœuvring under the supervision of your Navigator. Alistair had assured us that women are taken seriously in your and we're impressed that so many of your senior officers are female. We just listened to your list of conditions. The Curator is even now talking to your commodore, but—"

"—to say it briefly, we accept. Raven does like to listen to her own voice sometimes. Not as bad as Herr Kapitan Karl-Freidrich, but still. Anyway, how can we help?" asks Flavia, bluntly.

Smith turns to Khendron, "Well, now that the high brass is safely occupied, shall we head down to Engineering to talk to the people who really run the ship?" He looks at Cdr Manyard, "After you, Commander."

The deck 001 turbolift is only two steps starboard of the ready room door and swiftly drops them off at Main Engineering.

Niles Rutherford is busy realigning the crystal articulation frame. Sweat beads on his forehead, but his hands are steady. He looks at Manyard and quips, "Hey, Chief. How's the noggin?" He's at least 25 years younger than his superior, but they have an easy friendship.

Smith steps forward, "How's the Ball holding?"

Niles says, "Purring like a kitten. I've got a pair of techs babysitting it."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:36, Tue 02 Mar 2021.

In reply to Captain Alistair MacCay (msg # 119):

Once in his ready room Thelev standing sits on the corner of his desk.  And checks if HoD Kang wants to be patched in. Once Kang accepts or declines Thelev starts.

“ Captains if it is okay with all of you I will dispense with titles or ranks. This ship is equipped with an experimental drive which allows us to jump to a specific locations in the 26 dimensions.   Dr. Smith is one of the leading expert in the field and several of my crew including my self are well versed in the field.   We have never tried to move this much mass before, which in theory should make no difference.  The bigger unknown is if this micro universe follows the traditional theories of space and time.  If it does not we may all be stuck here.”

He waits a moment for that statement to sink in, “Where I need Raven, Flavia and Alistair to help is several fold.  I do not know how long all of you have been here, but it is longer than us. First are there any captains out here that will be a problem, and if so what is the best way to deal with them.  Are there any we need to keep an eye on when we getting back to my time and space until we can get them home. And finally Raven and Flavia, I am sure you have scanned all the ships here.  This jump will put some stress on the super structure of everyone’s ship.  Are there any ships you would have a concern about. That we need to confirm they will survive the jump and if necessary have the difficult discussion with them. “

In reply to Captain Thelev (msg # 121):

Confident that the silver ball is in good hands, Khendron turns his attention to the engineer who reported the dilithium disintegration. "How is our dilithium supply? Any theories on what happened to the last crystal" he asks.

Rutherford sighs, "It's like nothing I've ever seen before, sir. Usually the crystals either crack, shatter or spall. These ones, well, simply powdered. It took several minutes to clear all the micro-crystalline powder out of the M/ARA. Actually had to requisition a life support vacuum filter from supply and do double scans with a tricorder to decontaminate the chamber—pretty sure I got it all out, though. Now that we have the new crystals in situ, I guess we'll find out, eh?"

He straightens up and puffs out his cheeks. "'Join Starfleet,' they said. 'Explore strange new worlds,' they said. Seek out new life and new civilisations,' they said. 'Risk your ass when the shit hits the fan,' they forgot to mention."

Kang agrees to sit in on the meeting with Thelev and beams over. "It would be good to have my friend Curzon Dax here. He could talk an Orion banker out of his mother's dowry," he mutters when brought up to speed on the plans. "How certain are you that this QujmeH moQ SIrlIy [silver ball] can transport all javmaH [sixty] ships at one time? Two or three, I've observed, but sixty? It beggars the mind!"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:07, Mon 26 Apr 2021.

Just as the door closes behind Smith and Mercer, the chime sounds, "Commodore, it's Dr. Marcus. May Sam and I come in?"

Before Brad has a chance to answer, there is a change in air pressure as Purple and Hilliard teleport into the Ready Room. Hilliard gives out a surprisingly gentle "Wuff!"

Purple turns to the big dog-like alien and replies, "Yes, Hilliard, I know that most humanoids don't like people just 'porting into their private spaces, but this is an emergency. In compliance to your conditions, I present to you, Commodore, your first decision. What shall we do with... these?"
He snaps his fingers and Kapitan Hieronymous appears on the couch moaning, "Oh, the pain, the agony!" [Picture Zachary Smith from the original Lost in Space emoting over-dramatically.]

Captain Yehonanan Ahab stands beside the couch. He raises an eyebrow and glares at Purple, "This is not my doing. The Crucio does not exist—it's a made-up story told to recalcitrant children by their elders to chastise them. I certainly didn't expect it to have this effect on the fool, though I'm not surprised."

Hieronymous opens one eye in mid moan and gasps, "Made up? Not real? The pain is real! I'm in sheer agony!" He sits up belying his claims of being in pain.

The door swooshes open. Carol cries out, "I heard someone in pain! is everyone al—" she cuts off in mid-question upon seeing the gigantic purple sheepdog. Sam, still appearing to be a sexagenarian, crowds in behind her.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:01, Tue 09 Mar 2021.

In reply to HoD Kang, Son of K'naiah (msg # 124):

"To be honest, we do not know for sure how many ships we can jump, but the theory behind the shiny sphere as you call it, is that we are jumping everything within the area that the device can generate. Which should not be affected by the number of ships within the sphere. In Theory" Thelev replies to Kang.

"Before we work on how to fit all these ships into the envelop of the device I am more concerned if all these ships can survive the jump. There is some stress put on all the ships that I am sure Kang can comment on having been through the process several times already. And that is where my true concern is, yes all of these ships are spacefaring but I do not know what condition they are in or if they will survive the jump.  That I am counting on Raven, Flavia and Alistair to help identify."

"Thoughts?"

"As much as it pains me to admit it, I've discussed this with my cha'DIch la' Mara and she understands this far better than I. She's looked over the data you've shared and she confirms your conclusions. Therefore I must reluctantly accede to your theory and support your proposition," stated Kang.

Dame Flavia nods and agrees, "As must I. To answer your question, the ship I have most worries about is the Gloriana. Although her fop of a captain prides himself on discipline, it's mostly centred upon correct methods of toadying to superiors and observance of minutiae rather than competence. I recommend a complete sensor scan and inspection."

Raven says, "Agreed. Hieronymous would never pass a board of review in Her Imperial Majesty's Fleets. His ship would be sent to the breakers."

In reply to HoD Kang, Son of K'naiah (msg # 127):

"Okay then if that is the only ship I will talk to Kapitan Hieronymus and suggest that he has all his crew transfer to other ship.  Do any of you know if his ship has a complete structural failure and it cascades into its propulsion system how the propulsion system will fail.  Really want to know what the risk would be in taking the ship with us and at least attempt to bring it along." Thelev replies.

"The second thing I would like you to manage the other ships we will break it into 3 groups of ships.  You can break each of your groups into sub groups as you feel appropriate and you can manage.  I will then communicate directly with your ships and work with Hieronymus to remotely control his ship. Then I can take it upon myself to see if I have to abandon or if it is at risk of blowing up destroy it before it can damage any of the other ships." Thelev adds.

In reply to Carol Marcus, PhD (msg # 125):

“Curator Purple, please explain the situation more thoroughly.  I’m notmsure I understand”.  McCurrvey tries to decide if medical intervention is warranted.

In reply to Commodore Bradron McCurrvey (msg # 129):

Khendron assigns a junior engineer to continuously monitor the dilithium in service. "Your only job," he says to the engineer, "is to keep your eyes on that crystal, and if it so much as hiccups we want to know about it!"

Khendron then sends a message up to the Captain's Ready Room, "We are ready to go and on stand-by down here. I am a little worried about the stability of our dilithium, having recently had an unexplained ... disintegration. How are the logistics negotiations going up there?"

In reply to Commodore Bradron McCurrvey (msg # 129):

"In manœuvring, Kapitan Hieronymous's HMS Gloriana glancingly impacted Captain Ahab's Spelljammer Pequod, causing only minor damage to one of the Pequod's sails. Ahab threatened to cast the Cruciatus Curse on Sir Karl-Friedrich, whereupon he collapsed crying out in pain. Ahab maintains that there is no such curse in actuality and that Hieronymous simply fell prey to a psychosomatic attack." explains Purple.

"Indeed, as I told ye, the Crucio is but a fiction used against misbehaving children or by priests to put the fear of the gods into the impious!" thunders Ahab.

"You used black magic upon me, you foul sorcerer—may you burn in hell!" Hieronymous screeches, shaking his fist at the other captain.

Carol peers at Hieronymous. "You don't seem to have suffered any injury, sir."

His face burning red, he mutters, "I assure you, my good lady, the pain was most excruciating." He seems on the verge of sulking.

Brad has dealt with many Starfleet officers before and has never dealt with a starship captain so ineffectual. He has his doubts that the pompous git before him is qualified to run anything more than a moon-shuttle. Ahab seems an overly stern taskmaster but head and shoulders above Hieronymous in competence.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:48, Sun 07 Mar 2021.

In reply to Captain Khendron Mercer (msg # 130):

Rutherford snaps to attention. "Yessir!" he replies.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:27, Sun 07 Mar 2021.

In reply to Captain Thelev (msg # 128):

"In a place without time, most of the captains have kept their crews busy tending to maintenance, so even the Gloriana is as ship-shape as it is likely to ever be, at least under its current command. Her Exec, First Leftenant Bryce Fitzgerald, is in his soul an able seaman, so Dame Flavia's estimation of her spaceworthiness is perhaps overly harsh. The morale of her crew, however, is below standards." Syrene's speech has a dryly humorous edge to it.

Flavia says, "Overly harsh? I'll admit that Fitzgerald has saved the Gloriana from sheer decrepitude, but I wouldn't trust that ship with any important mission."

The intership sounds, and Mercer reports on the situation in Engineering.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:34, Sun 07 Mar 2021.

Chief Engineer Manyard oversees the inspection of the Gloriana. It actually passes inspection, though barely. Manyard okays its inclusion in the fleet, though only if it is commanded by its XO, First Leftenant Bryce Fitzgerald and to that end suggests Dr. Driveon restrict Hieronymous to sickbay for observation.

Dr. Driveon arrives at the Flag Ready Room and examines Heironymous. Brad has been getting nowhere and heaves a sigh of relief when the doctor takes Ahab aside and speaks to him out of the Kapitan's hearing. Returning, he says to Hieronymous, "I'm not a believer in magic, but sometimes psionics are used to simulate it. I've seen Vulcans do some amazing things. In my opinion, you may very well have been the victim of a psionic attack and I'd like to have Nurse Parducci run a full exam."

Hieronymous goes white and responds, "Attack! Yes, that's it he attacked me psionically, or magically! Ahh, the pain, the agony! Is there any chance it's fatal? Commodore, I want this wizard charged with attempted murder! I claim sanctuary!" He grabs Brad's sleeve and cowers behind him, trembling. Parducci and Goldberg arrive to take him down to sickbay.

Purple applauds, "Bravo, Commodore! I see I judged you and your able crew well." He turns to Ahab. "And you, Yehonathon, I'm mightily disappointed with you. Fortunately, your bluff worked."

Ahab says, "'Strewth, I was mightily tempted to actually cast the Crucio, but when I perceived the varlet behaving as though I had done so, I saw there was no need."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:35, Fri 12 Mar 2021.

It has been a non-stop eighteen hours when Thoma finally announces, "Commodore, Captain and XO to the bridge. All ships report ready and the tractor web has been engaged. Engineer reports we've switched to battery power and dilithium articulation frame retracted from the M/ARA.

"Engineering reports ready.

"Tactical reports ready.

"Helm reports ready.

"Navigation reports ready.

"Medical reports ready.

"Dr. Smith reports jump capacitors at full charge and is ready to input coordinates on command.

"All ships are at Red Alert. All hands secure for Blue Alert!"

The tension is palpable as Brad, Thelev and Khendron meet in the turbolift en route to the bridge. The doors open to admit them. Sam, Cdr Harris, Dr. Marcus and Curator Purple await them. Thelev takes the centre seat.

Cdr Harris steps forward. "Commodore, have you made a final decision? DS-6A or Neptune?"

Smith looks over from the Silver Ball console. "I recommend DS-6A, sir. Simulations continue to predict a 17.5% edge going through the Hole."

Carol notes from her position beside the Navigation console, "I concur."

Collette turns in her chair to face Brad and says, "Concur."

Ramirez at Tactical says, "Shields up, all weapons on standby. Tactical net engaged with K'Tanko, Hesperus and Indomitable."

Smith asks, "Give the command, sir."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:09, Sun 14 Mar 2021.

In reply to Commander Thoma (msg # 135):

Once McCurrvey confirms final destination Thelev says "Thoma, open a channel to all ships."

Once open "All ship prepare to jump in T-minus 20 seconds."

"Dr. Smith jump on the mark."

In reply to Captain Thelev (msg # 136):

Smith responds, "Aye aye Captain, jump in twenty seconds," and begins the countdown.

As he reaches ten, the deck heaves violently. The lights do not even flicker as Manyard maintains fusion battery power, and the artificial gravity barely hiccups. "Ball capacitors holding charge," snaps Smith. Khendron, at the Science console, notes that another Lazarus Event has occurred and the entire microverse will collapse in sixty seconds..

Thoma triggers the IFoF [Identify: Friend or Foe] transponder and puts out a fleetwide message, "All ships maintain your stations. Jump in five... four... three... two... one... MA—discontinuity—RK!"...

... and the "rag tag fleet" is suddenly elsewhere!

Thoma calls out, "Receiving Starfleet hail!"

Collette notes, "Logging stellar coordinates! Federation Beacon located!"

Manyard reports, "Engineering: articulation Frame in place! Energisers in five seconds..."
This message was last edited by the player at 05:41, Mon 15 Mar 2021.

DS-6

In reply to Commodore Bradron McCurrvey (msg # 138):

"USS Odyssey, this is LCdr Grissom, XO of Bridgetown Station. Welcome back. Status report, please. Is Cdr Harris with you?"  Grissom is an auburn-haired Human in his late thirties, and there is an underlying nervous edge to his voice. "Please identify the ships with you, aside from the IKS K'Tanko. And is Sam with you? Things are going to hell downside!"

A second voice, this one familiar, is added to the conversation, "This is Capt David Bowman of the USS Excalibur. Well, Thelev, it looks like we've traded ships. I'm still coming up to speed on the new drive system. We have your new Intelligence Officer aboard, ready to transfer. He's a LCdr Boren." Brad's ears prick up at the mention of Boren's name.

Matt Bowman, standing behing Khendron at the Science station, looks up at his father's voice.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:53, Tue 16 Mar 2021.

In reply to Lieutenant Commander Virgil Grissom (msg # 139):

"Commander Thoma," Khendron says, "Please hail our rag-tag fleet and confirm their status. Remind them that all ships are to stand by and await our instructions. No winging off in all directions!"

"Tactical," he continues. "Scan for the fleet. Did we all make it, and do any appear to be in distress?"

Thoma replies, "Aye aye sir!" Switching to the agreed fleet channel, she relays, "All ships, this is Odyssey! report your status! Maintain stations and do not power up weapons. This area is a protectorate of the United Federation of Planets and the starships approaching are Federation Starfleet. You are ordered to stand by and await instructions."

She listens intently as status reports flood in. Several minutes later she reports, "We have several  dozen minor injuries due to loss of artificial gravity and a few plasma burns from exploding consoles. One hull breech, atmospheric leak contained. A number of power outages. We are dispatching emergency relief teams."

Smith pipes in with "Silver Ball has sustained overload damage and will be out of order until rebuilt. Luckily, Excalibur is equipped with the latest model since its post operational refit. Seems we've been gone for six months due to discrepancies in the temporal flow."

Manyard reports, "New crystals in place and energisers at full efficiency! Tactical, you have full phaser power..."

Dame Flavia nods to Brad and remarks, "Your claims about Starfleet seem to have been proven."

Raven agree, "Most impressive."

Story continues in the thread Homecoming.