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Lieutenant Vain had been using
the Tactical Console on the Bridge. The area was quiet and nearly empty as it
had been recently since current events, so Vain took it upon himself to use the
ship’s main systems to his advantage. Unfortunately, it wasn’t getting him
anywhere.
As he peered at the data
on-screen, an Ensign Miaca entered the Bridge. She had a fairly attractive
presence and a focused will toward her current mission. Miaca walked over to
see how Vain was holding up.
“Hey,” she said.
Vain glanced over and smiled
slightly, as his scans were turning up with results not matching his theories.
“Hey Miaca, how’s it going?”
“I heard you lost your Diomedian
Scarlet Moss experiment,” she said. “Though it’s been done before, so there
isn’t much to worry about.”
Vain shrugged as he peered at the
Bridge’s view-screen, where data was being displayed, “I had been trying a few
different variations. If it wasn’t for that unpleasant energy spike, it’d still
be in its process.” He panned down a list of numbers and text, “So I’ve been
trying to scan that Warp Tear. It was responsible for Commander Peirce’s death,
and I have no doubt it was responsible for the experiment’s diminishment.”
“Stepping onto my investigation,
Lieutenant?” She half smiled. - Unfortunately, the mention of the Commander
abbreviated that gesture. Ensign Miaca had been assigned to the investigation
on Commander Pierce’s death. Her career needed it, and her desire for some sort
of reparation intended her feelings on the subject.
The Lieutenant glanced at her,
“How did an Ensign get to head the investigation anyway?”
“It’s the investigation that’s
going to be boosting my rank,” she replied. “Hopefully what I’ve recently
discovered will do it.”
“You found something?” Vain said
excitedly.
Miaca nodded, “Possibly. You see,
I contacted the U.S.S. Columbia, and asked them about their first
encounter with the Warp Tear Creatures. But I got nothing! They all gave me the
same line - ‘The Warp-Tear creatures were a fascinating species, which I would love
to see again one day.’ - I received their scans, and compared them to ours on
the Merrimack. But there’s barely a correlation.”
“So it is true... they do exist,”
he looked away in surprise, and some relief. Vain didn’t want to think his
Captain was going crazy - locking herself away for nothing.
Miaca crossed her arms, nodding,
“Then I spoke to my contact, my only contact anywhere by the way, in
Starfleet Intelligence who gave me classified mission files that were deleted
from the main Starfleet database. The mission files were for the Colombia,
which detailed them capturing the Warp Tear Creatures.”
“I knew it.”
“The file ends there, but I’m
certain the Columbia killed them for some reason,” Miaca said.
Vain shook his head, “You don’t
want to be jumping to conclusions.” He thought for a moment, “Whatever these
things are, Bowman had contact with them. That’s why she’s locked herself in
her Quarters.”
“Could she be hiding something?”
Vain shook his head again, “I
suspect it’s more along the lines of guilt. She probably feels that there isn’t
anything she can do to save these creatures.” He looked at her, “Could it be
possible that they’re fated to die by living in the Tears?”
“That’s another conclusion we’re
jumping to. Let’s compare my data from the Colombia to our readings of the Tear
on the Merrimack,” she sat next to him as he began tapping at the consoles.
“What about the readings from the
Reliant... Bowman’s previous ship?” He paused.
Miaca nodded, “I’ve been trying
to get those. The Ensign I spoke to on the Reliant said he’d get back to me.”
“Understood,” they began
comparing the scans, finding subtle differences.
Miaca was sending her eyes left
and right and left and right, processing the information in her mind. The bio
read-outs were very similar to what they had found here. “This may be a
conformation, but we’ll have to get the Doctor to approve it.” As they kept on
going through the comparison, she found something completely off. “What’s
this?”
As Miaca pointed, Vain was forced
to look at a spike in the sensors also. “Oh, those were just anti-proton scans.
“I started throwing everything else we had at that Tear... but with the caution
Lieutenant Commander Portman said to take during the hours after the
Commander’s death. Anything more intense could have caused another spike.”
Miaca began tapping at the
controls quickly, “But these readings aren’t the same as what the Colombia had
during their anti-proton scan. In fact, these readings aren’t concurrent with
normal space.”
Vian shrugged, “Maybe there’s a
cloaked vessel out there?”
“Right next to the Merrimack? But
I’m sure the Tear would have rendered any cloaks ineffective.”
Miaca shook her head, “Not if the
cloak is advanced enough.”
“What are we theorizing here?
That a cloaked ship is the cause of the energy spike that killed my
experiment... and... Commander Peirce?”
Miaca paused for a second,
“You’re right... that would be jumping to conclusions.”
Vain looked at her. “I wonder, if
maybe this time we should jump to a conclusion. If there is a vessel out there,
then they could be ten steps ahead of us on these Warp Tear Creatures.”
Little did they realize how right
they were.
Vain looked at Miaca who was
already looking down in disappointment, “What happened?” Vain asked.
She looked up and shook her head
in emotion, “It’s impossible to get anywhere with these warp-tear space
creatures. You can’t find anything on them. It’s like they don’t even exist!”
“Did you talk to the Columbia?”
Miaca nodded, “They were the
first people I spoke to. Unfortunately, they all gave me the same line - ‘The
Warp-Tear creatures were a fascinating species, who I would love to see again
one day.’ - I received their scans, and compared them to ours on the Merrimack.
But there’s barely a correlation.”
“Ah, those. I was looking at them
earlier,” Vain said.
Miaca crossed her arms in deep
thought and then spoke, “Then I spoke to my contact, my only contact anywhere
by the way, in Starfleet Intelligence who said the files on that species may
have a possible encoding on them; like it was a cover-up for something.”
Vain shook his head, “Don’t tell
me that. The possibility of these space-creatures was everything I was
depending on.”
“I’m not saying it’s not true.
It’s just a good possibility they don’t exist...” she said before her tone
changed into a mock-excitement, “Now to explain the bio-energy-readings!”
Vain out-stretched his palm,
“Look Miaca. You’ve had a rough a day. Why don’t you take it easy for a little
while? I wouldn’t want to see you turn bitter from all of this.”
“Heh,” Miaca smiled, in
appreciation for his caring. “What about you? You haven’t exactly been taking
any breaks for the past five to eight hours. I know, because I have my sources
on this Bridge,” she said in reference to the few Officer’s who frequently came
onto and passed through the Bridge daily.
Lieutenant Vain shook his head in
defeat, “I just can’t. We have two unknowns coming from that general area of
the Warp Tear. Your bio-readings, and my energy spike from earlier.”
Miaca knew what he was talking
about and glanced in the direction of the view-screen in regret of the
situation. While looking there, she began to notice some of the numbers.
“--Wait a second.” Miaca stepped forward, closer to the console and Vain. “If
I’m not mistaken... what you have here are antiproton scans.”
“Yeah, I started throwing
everything else we had at that Tear... but with the caution Lieutenant
Commander Portman said to take during the hours after the Commander’s death. Anything
more intense could have caused another spike.”
Miaca began tapping at the
controls quickly, “But these readings aren’t concurrent with normal space. What
if there was a cloaked vessel out there?”
“Right next to the Merrimack? But
I’m sure the Tear would have rendered any cloaks ineffective.”
Miaca shook her head, “Not if the
cloak is advanced enough.”
“What are we theorizing here?
That a cloaked ship is the cause of the energy spike that killed my
experiment... and... Commander Peirce?”
She shook her head again, “I’m
not jumping to conclusions, I’m just saying...”
“You’ve been talking to that
contact in Starfleet Intelligence too much,” Vain cracked. “Either way... I’m
willing to accept the possibility of two unrelated issues here,” he said in
reference to the Tear and this possible cloaked ship. “Let’s hope this helps
Captain Bowman.”
Vain moved in, to help Miaca with
the scans.
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