Stardate: 60727:2224
Title: Building Bridges, Part 1
Author: Lieutenant Maxine Jenna
Time: during "New Ground"
Scene: Parsus - Progenitor Complex


As the hidden screen popped open, displaying the words "Only together will you be able to build a bridge to infinity and beyond", Maxine reached down to her hip and removed the tricorder from its pouch, scanning the terminal in front of them. Her three companions all turned to her, both wondering why the quick intent to scan the terminal and wondering what the results would be.

Maxine looked up to the three expectant faces, back to her tricorder, and then back up.

"The words are in English," she said, "Not a translation, not a mental projection. English."

"But how can that be? The Progenitors were around 4 billion years ago" Alex asked.

"I don't know. We know the Progenitors were a galactic power and that they disappeared. Maybe the question shouldn't be 'where' did they go, but rather 'when'," Maxine mulled a few thoughts over in her head, pausing for a moment.

"If they came into our time, it may explain how they knew the team that would be needed to find this complex and enter this chamber; how they knew the language we would all understand."

Kal reached across, touching the screen displaying the cool blue shimmering words. As he touched it, the words faded out, complex equations and diagrams appearing in their place, scrolling from one item to another. After a minute the images and equations ceased changing, and the words reappeared. It was only then that Maxine noticed that the background hum had increased in volume a little, and was continuing to do so.

As she opened her mouth to say something, she felt herself dematerializing, only to rematerialize back onboard the Relentless. It took her a moment to gather her senses and realize that she now stood in the Engineering section of the ship, along with the Captain, Abigail, Kal, and an as-yet unidentified piece of equipment that had been displayed on the screen only a few moments ago.

~

The equipment before them had a screen on the top, open and displaying the words "Only together will you be able to build a bridge to infinity and beyond", and Maxine suspected that the equipment had been contained within the 'table' they had surrounded earlier. Measuring a little over two metres square and one metre high, the device appeared to have no major internal power source and no control surfaces, other than the interface/display.

Kal and Maxine both moved around the device, mumbling quietly to themselves, pointing out possible interconnection points for controls and power.

"What do you think?" Commander Winters asked the pair of them.

"The equations we saw earlier" Maxine started "were from advanced wormhole physics. Although I don't completely understand them all, it would appear this device generates a spatial field, folding space-time and creating a stable wormhole around the vessel."


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Lieutenant Maxine Jenna
Chief Science Officer
USS Relentless
NCC-11966
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