Stardate: 60731:0000
Title: Building Bridges, Part 2
Author: Lieutenant Jenna
Time: After "Building Bridges, Part 1"
Scene: USS Relentless - On Surface of Parsus


Captain Khavok had ordered the Progenitor device hooked up to the Relentless's systems in preparation for tests to be run whilst in orbit. As Kal and Maxine had moved into action, Abby and Alex had moved off to the bridge, readying the ship for take-off.

As the turbolift doors swooshed open and they entered the bridge, Thomas turned to look who had entered. Standing to attention he apologised, not aware that they had returned, and then wondering how they HAD returned. As Alex sat in the Command Chair and Abigail sat next to him, the Captain promised to explain when the time was right.

~

With the device moved into place in a small section of Engineering and interfaced with the Relentless's power and control systems, Maxine informed the Captain of their readiness to test when a stable orbit was achieved.

~

As Ensign Levi moved around the surface of the planet, he didn't notice the multitude of eyes watching him in much the same manner that they had observed the Away Team before him. The complex had been hidden from them for a long time, unable to access it through the ruins exposed on the surface. They had waited a long time for the right people to come along and open it for them. And now the time was right.

~

"Ensign Levi is currently on the planet's surface" the Yeoman reported to the Captain.

"Who the devil let him roam around on his own." The Captain tapped a few buttons on the chair. "Transporter Room 1 - get a lock on Ensign Levi and beam him aboard immediately."

Khavok turned to the Helmsman currently on-duty.

"Helm - prep for take-off. Once Ensign Levi is back onboard, commence deployment into a high altitude geosynchronous orbit."

The Helmsman started readying the ship, whilst Alex turned to Abby.

~

The unknown entity had moved swiftly and silently from the small rocky outcrop and debris of a larger spacecraft, approaching Ensign Levi from the rear.

Caught unawares the one from the 'promised crew' might make a more interesting host and unknowingly give them access to the Progenitors' technology.

~

"I'm detecting multiple lifesigns, Captain" the Transporter chief reported.

"I have an approximate fix on Ensign Levi, but the debris field is causing some interference."

"Get a lock-on and beam him onboard. Increase the radius of the transporter beam if need be" the Captain ordered, anxious to be underway as something did not feel right.

~

Ensign Levi felt the familiar dematerialisation taking hold of him, a little surprised at the abruptness as he had not seen the Away Team return. And as his body was disrupted into its component atoms, he could have sworn he felt... something... in the energy beam with him.

Rematerialising onboard the Relentless, although the trip had felt instantaneous, he knew by the large Security presence that something had indeed beamed in with him. As the creature screamed and lunged itself toward him a hail of phaser fire erupted from the Security personnel, knocking his would-be assailant to the floor, unconscious, stunned, but alive.

=/\= A Short While Later =/\=

With a stable geosynchronous orbit achieved, the Captain was drawn between testing the device and interrogating the prisoner. Of course, both could be carried out simultaneously and he felt that he should test the device NOW, but the unknown assailant caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up on end, and he wondered if he was one of the 'adversary' the Progenitors had warned him about.

Maxine stood at the Science Station. With the device now fully integrated into the Relentless it could be monitored and controlled best from the bridge.

"Incoming vessels. Two craft of unknown configuration and warp signature" Lieutenant Mock called out.

"Onscreen" the Captain ordered.

As the viewscreen changed from a view of the planet to one showing the vessels closing in on their position, Maxine readied the sensor arrays to scan them.

Although size was difficult to gauge in space, it could already be seen at this distance that the ships were significantly larger than the Intrepid-class vessel, and appeared to be brimming with weaponry. The design of the ship appeared to be 'fluidic', almost biological, as the curves of the ship all blended together to form the large vessel. Three 'nacelles', for lack of a better term, were located to the rear of the vessel, arrange at 120 degrees to each other.

"Weapons are hot. Targeting system appears to be offline" Lieutenant Mock informed the Captain and bridge crew. "We are receiving a hail."

The Captain nodded, and the viewscreen changed to show what Alex assumed was the Captain of the lead vessel, a being of species similar to that now held in the Relentless's brig a few decks below.

The universal translators stumbled for a second before translation began.

"We are the Trokarn. You have violated our space, removed technology that belongs to us, and hold prisoner one of our kind. Prepare to be boarded."

The signal ended abruptly, and the viewscreen displayed the incoming vessels once more.

"Tactical. Can we outrun them?" Abigail asked.

"Unknown, but I suspect not - their power output is phenomenal, almost off the scale!" Clayton replied.

"Captain" Maxine interjected "we could use the device to form a wormhole and escape. It's fully charged and ready to test."

Captain Khavok mulled the decision over for a split-second before giving her the go-ahead. As Maxine finished keying in the commands to the alien device, a bubble immediately formed around the Relentless, isolating them from the space-time continuum for a split second before collapsing.

Although it only lasted a little over 1.2 seconds, the viewscreen had shown a winding tunnel swirling with a range of blues, stretching out to infinity, with countless other tunnels diverging off it, all leading to other infinities. Maxine recognised the beauty in the infinite pattern, but also realised that the wormhole was not like any other she had ever experienced.

The viewscreen had changed back to show them the surface of a planet, and for a second everyone thought the device had failed to work when they realised that the alien vessels had disappeared.

"Captain," Lieutenant Mock called out "I'm picking up another vessel in the vicinity."

He paused for a moment.

"Sir, it's the Relentless..."


===================
Lieutenant Maxine Jenna
Chief Science Officer
USS Relentless
NCC-11966
===================