Chapter 2 - Near The Precipice
The Chamberlain dropped out of warp into a swirling thick sea of glowing blue and green gases. Flashes of electrical energy occasionally jumped between clouds of dust and gas. The vessel's shields illuminated now and then as an arc of lightning jumped toward the slowly moving ship.
On the bridge of the Chamberlain Jack McCall stood with Commander Negev staring at the viewscreen.
"Where is it?" Jack asked.
Blackwell turned from one display to another trying to answer his captain's question, but so far he had none except, "I don't know, sir, but these are the right coordinates. The Hel'yra system should be here."
"But it isn't, Mr. Blackwell," Jack replied.
Others on the bridge had turned their gaze toward the viewscreen as well looking for what wasn't there. Ahead of them should have been the edge of a vast nebula. Instead there were only clouds of dust and gas, but not nearly as dense as the nebula they had encountered six months ago.
"What about the star and planets?" Negev inquired of Blackwell. "Can you find them in that mess?"
Blackwell knew neither Captain McCall nor Negev would like the next thing he said. "They're gone too."
Jack turned from the viewscreen to Blackwell. "Solar systems don't just disappear."
"There are no gravimetric fields that correspond to those of the Hel'yra system," the science officer replied. "I'm still looking, but the largest mass I have been able to find has a diameter of less than fifteen kilometers."
Jack turned to Hank Evans. His tactical officer had far more experience with the Kel-j'na Region than anyone else in Starfleet. If he didn't know what was going on they were in for a long search for answers.
Hank simply shrugged his shoulders. "I'm afraid I don't have any ideas, Jack. The only people crazy enough to destroy an entire solar system are the Levalum, but they don't have that kind of firepower."
"What about this Fashod Empire you've spoken of before?"
"They tend to keep a very low profile. This just isn't their style," Hank said. "This kind of destruction was caused either by a terrible accident or the work of someone who's really pissed off about something. Though I can't think of why anyone would have a major gripe with a world that's been dead for five billion years."
Jack turned about to once again look out at the view before them. Why indeed, he thought. He was beginning to think it might have been better to have obeyed Gann's order to remain in the Cajma system afterall. Jack didn't like the look of this situation one bit.
He turned and walked slowly to his command chair. "Begin a thorough scan of the area and make a detailed analysis of whatever is out there." Jack looked at Hank again. "And see if you can find the Ravenscroft. They must have been here when this happened."
Hank gave a nod and went to work as did the rest of the bridge crew.
***
Ensign Natalie Fowler ran into the Archaeology Lab on Deck Eighteen nearly out of breath. Mei-Wan turned from a comm panel to see who had entered her lab.
"What's up, Natalie?"
The red-headed young ensign took a deep breath. "Activate your display and take a look at the Hel'yra system."
After touching various controls the gaseous blue-green scene outside the ship filled the display.
"Are we off course?" Mei-Wan asked.
Fowler shook her head. "This is the Hel'yra system--- at least what's left of it."
"My god," Mei-Wan whispered as she looked intently at the view before her. "Where did it all go?"
"I haven't heard anything yet, but Blackwell's got most of the sensor analysis teams taking detailed readings of the system."
Mei-Wan thought for several moments about what happened at Cajma, but the being that caused the destruction there only brought death to living things. It didn't harm the planet.
"Natalie," Mei-Wan started. "Before we get asked for the information, let's pull up everything we have on that subspace field that was beneath the surface of Hel'yra."
"You think something went wrong with that thing?" Fowler asked.
"I don't know, but my guess is that someone on the bridge is going to ask us about it."
Fowler went to another station in the lab and began retrieving the information her supervisor asked for. After a moment she turned back to Mei-Wan.
"Lieutenant, I heard they haven't found any sign of the Ravenscroft yet," Fowler said.
Thoughts of her friends filled Mei-Wan's mind. She hoped it was merely a communication problem that kept them from responding.
***
"Where the star should be we're reading a negative gravity field," Timothy Blackwell said eleven hours later seated in the main conference room on Deck One.
Lak Negev turned to him. "You certain you aren't just reading the wormhole that siphoned energy from the star to the subspace field within the planet?"
Blackwell shook his head as Mei-Wan, who sat in the next chair, handed a PADD to him. "We thought of that," Blackwell said. "But a wormhole would be radiating a far different and more localized effect than this does."
Jack looked over at his wife as Blackwell continued with a technical description of the oddity he mentioned. This was the first time in five days he had seen Mei-Wan and he hated that he couldn't even talk to her as a husband, but only as her captain.
"As of yet, I have no explanation for what we've found here," Blackwell finished.
Melissa Vargas who sat on the other side of Mei-Wan leaned forward. "So, an entire solar system just gets shattered into dust and there's nothing to indicate how or why?"
Blackwell turned to her. "I'm sure there's something here that will eventually give us some answers, but it may take us a while to find it."
Jack leaned back in his chair. "Is it possible the subspace field on Hel'yra malfunctioned?"
"I doubt it, Captain," Mei-Wan said. "That system functioned perfectly for five billion years. The machines that controlled it certainly would have foreseen any problem and corrected it."
Hank turned to Mei-Wan. "What about the crew of the Ravenscroft? Could they have tinkered around with something and caused the system to fail?"
"No, Hank, I seriously doubt that," she replied. "Kyle Hoffman, LeAnn Goodwin, and Susan Tanega are some of the best archaeologists in Starfleet. They know how to deal with alien technology. They aren't fools like Duncan Zachary."
Chuckles came from many around the table. However, Akala Wilmarza only watched their captain.
"I just can't believe they'd do something that would endanger everyone aboard the Ravenscroft or the site," Mei-Wan said.
"I'm just thinking through the possibilities, Mei," Hank replied.
Jack turned to Negev. "I think we've discounted most of the other possibilities leaving us with whatever was sealed up in that subspace field, the entity that escaped Cajma, or a combination of the two."
"The question is, what do we do with that assumption?" Melissa asked.
Jack was about to speak when P'rada K'jal's voice came over the intercom. "Captain, we've detected a signal. The computer confirms it's the Ravenscroft's transponder code."
"We're on our way," Jack replied as everyone in the conference room moved toward the door.
Jack glanced up and saw Mei-Wan looking at him. He could tell she was worried. He did his best to smile, but could tell it did little to reassure her. She left with the others.
As Jack headed for the door Akala blocked his path.
"What is it, Ms. Wilmarza?"
Her eyes narrowed. "You've skipped our last two sessions, Captain."
"We've been a little busy."
She watched him closely. "I might declare you unfit for command because of your psychological condition, but disobeying Captain Gann's orders isn't exactly my department, sir."
Jack smiled. "I thought it might be a clear example of my lack of mental health."
Akala grinned. "Disobeying a superior's orders could be, but in this case since most of your senior officers have followed your example I'd be stuck running the ship by myself."
"Okay, as soon as we get a couple of free hours I'll come by. Is that acceptable?"
Akala thought a moment. "Yes, sir, but do try to be reasonable about it."
***
Twenty minutes later the Chamberlain moved through clouds of churning gas and dust toward the saucer section of an Intrepid class starship, turning slowly end over end every three minutes. The larger Oceana class vessel slowed to a stop only ten kilometers away.
"Magnify," Jack ordered.
A moment later the main viewscreen displayed a close-up view of the rotating remnant of the Ravenscroft.
"There's considerable damage, but it appears many of the emergency bulkheads had a chance to seal off the ship," Hank said from behind the Tactical Station.
"Any sign of the secondary hull?"
Hank expanded his scans. "No, sir, none."
"Call up the command code on the Ravenscroft and try to access its systems," Jack said to Melissa at the Operations Station.
Blackwell worked at his Science Station while Mei-Wan stood behind him watching the data on the various displays. She hadn't been invited onto the bridge, but she felt she had to find out what was going on.
Blackwell shook his head as a set of data came in. "We may have trouble accessing its systems."
He turned in his seat and looked at Jack. "I'm detecting no energy sources, sir."
Jack stood to his feet and approached the Science Station, but was careful not to crowd Mei-Wan. "What about life support?" their captain asked.
"Not operational," Blackwell said. "The internal temperature of the ship matches that outside the hull. It's down around one hundred and ninety below."
Mei-Wan forced her eyes closed. She knew there wasn't a chance of anyone surviving in that environment.
Jack turned to her and whispered. "I'm sorry, Mei."
She looked up at her husband and tried to keep the tears from her eyes. She quickly looked back at the science displays for even a shred of hope to give her fears pause, but could find none.
Blackwell finally gave the report they had been expecting. "No life signs, Captain."
Jack walked slowly back to his command chair.
A stern looking Lee McGuire entered the bridge and walked up to Jack. "You asked me to come up here, Captain?"
"We have the primary hull of an Intrepid class starship, Mr. McGuire," Jack said pointing to the viewscreen. "Its power systems appear to be offline. Since the Abdiel is still at Cajma, I was considering bringing it aboard to assess what's happened and to gain access to its systems."
McGuire watched the Ravenscroft on the viewscreen for nearly a minute before responding. "I assume its structural integrity field is offline?"
"None of its systems are operational," Blackwell said.
McGuire thought a moment. "Then we better not use the tractor beam. No telling what shape her hull is in."
Jack turned to him. "I agree."
"We should maneuver to match its rotation and then carefully move ourselves to bring it into the main bay," McGuire stated.
"How long should that take?" Jack asked.
"Since there's obviously no one aboard who's alive, I suggest we take our time. Whatever's over there will certainly keep," McGuire said.
"As soon as she's secure get your teams aboard and see if you can get the computer systems operational," Jack said. "I want some answers."
"Aye, sir," McGuire replied as he walked to s'Felis' conn station.
Mei-Wan came up to Jack. "Captain, I'd like to take a small team aboard as well."
"Lieutenant, I think Mr. McGuire can handle this."
"Jack, I have to go aboard," Mei-Wan insisted. "If we hope to know what happened on Hel'yra I need to have immediate access to the data from the expedition. The sooner the Archaeology Section gets to work on it, the sooner you'll have your answers."
Jack thought a moment and knew she was right. He suspected she wanted to find out if her friends were truly dead, but she and her section were the ones who were most likely to figure out what had happened in this system.
He turned to Melissa. "Ms. Vargas, you will accompany Lieutenant McCall and one other person from her section aboard the Ravenscroft. She is to go aboard only after Mr. McGuire has declared it safe to do so."
Melissa rose to her feet and walked up to them. "Aye, Captain."
***
"What's taking so long?" Mei-Wan asked as she, Melissa Vargas, and Natalie Fowler stood outside the airlock to the gangway that extended from one side of the Chamberlain's main bay to the starboard side of the Ravenscroft.
"You know Evans," Melissa said. "He's always looking for something to jump out of the woodwork and attack someone."
Mei-Wan smiled, her frustration of the last four hours fading a bit. "He's always been that way according to Jack."
"I'm surprised it doesn't drive Loftus completely insane."
"The two of them seemed to get along fine when I saw them together on Yed Post Four," Fowler stated.
"Where did you see them there?" Melissa asked.
"This really loud nightclub."
Mei-Wan and Melissa looked at each other and grinned.
"He appeared to be enjoying himself when I saw him," Fowler said.
The airlock door opened and Hank walked up to the three women who did their best not to smile too much at him.
However, his face was anything but happy. He turned to Mei-Wan and Natalie. "Look, it's not very pretty over there."
"Any survivors?" Natalie asked.
Hank shook his head. "Everyone is dead. So far we count one hundred and twelve, but we expect to find a few more."
Mei-Wan took a breath--- her last hope now gone. In a few moments she would walk on remains of the ship she had expected to spend more than a year of her life on. Instead she would take what information her now dead friends had collected to help solve the mystery surrounding their deaths.
Hank led the three women slowly through the gangway toward the starboard access hatch on the side of the Ravenscroft.
The minute walk onto the deck of the lifeless Intrepid class starship seemed to take an eternity to Mei-Wan. She turned to look at Natalie Fowler and realized that she and her young subordinate would have been among those who perished on this vessel if Mei-Wan had accepted the transfer back at Yed Post.
Mei-Wan saw a dead body only a few feet from the access hatch. She couldn't help but stare at the horribly contorted form on the deck, now frozen in an eternal soundless scream.
Mei-Wan didn't recognize the woman who appeared not much older than Natalie Fowler. Her face seemed filled with such agony that Mei-Wan couldn't stand to look at her any longer, so she turned to stare down the corridor only to see it littered with more bodies twisted in the same pose of pain and suffering.
"They're all like that," Hank said. "Same as on the Venture."
Mei-Wan thought back to Nelith and Duarte who had transferred over to the Venture ahead of herself and Fowler. Their enthusiasm had condemned them to a death like those now haunting the corridors of the Ravenscroft.
Too many deaths, Mei-Wan thought. Too much pain.
Hank stopped as Doctor Preston approached.
"Try not to disturb any of the bodies until we get a chance to examine them," Preston said.
"So do they match those who died on the Venture?" Hank asked.
"As far as I can tell it's the same cause of death," Preston replied. "Total failure of all chemical process within the body. That kind of effect would be about ten times more painful than heart failure."
Fowler closed her eyes as she pulled her backpack full of equipment higher onto her shoulder.
Mei-Wan turned to Preston. "Have you found any of the people I asked you about?"
The doctor looked down a moment then faced her. "We found LeAnn Goodwin in one of the central archaeology labs. Nothing yet on the other two."
Mei-Wan forced away her emotions. She'd have time enough to mourn her friends after her work was done.
A few minutes later, Hank led the three women through a corridor on deck eight toward a series of labs. Twisted bodies were scattered across their path.
They entered a lab area and Mei-Wan stopped as she noticed a woman's body near a display panel. She walked slowly up to the still form and kneeled down looking into the wide open eyes of her friend, LeAnn. Mei-Wan couldn't stop her tears.
She had known LeAnn Goodwin from the Academy. She and Susan Tanega would join Mei-Wan and Robin Nelson for lunch most every day. They shared everything with each other--- their dreams, their hopes, their fears. Those three were like sisters to Mei-Wan who had been an only child. Now two of them were dead and she feared confirmation of Susan Tanega's death soon.
Mei-Wan took her uniform jacket off and removed her comm badge from it. She placed the badge on her green shirt and after looking one more time at the agony in her friend's face, covered the dead woman with her jacket.
She turned to Natalie and Melissa who had watched her the entire time.
"Let's try to access their computer system," Mei-Wan said.
