[REPOST] Commander Serala: S'Rala of Vulcan
Serala
(( Bridge, Deck 3 Primary Hull, USS Chin’toka ))
After addressing as many questions as she could, which wasn’t many since they now knew everything she knew, she sat in her seat and prepared to give the order.
Serala: Helm, hnahn! (Engage!)
T’Khio’ri: Ie, Ssuaj-ha, Riov. (Yes, understood, Captain)
Serala smiled in surprise at the nearly perfect Romulan from her helm officer. She’d only been trying for a unique way of telling the helm to engage, and using Romulan had seemed like the best way to do that. She hadn’t expected to get the same in response. She was fluent in Vulcan, in part due to her studies at the Academy, but in large part due to her marriage with Stevok which had included a telepathic bond. If T’Khio’ri had responded in Vulcan, she’d not have been as surprised, but she would have at least understood it. Romulan, however, was a pleasant surprise.
The ship began moving forward and in mere seconds the starfield blurred and became a tunnel of light around the ship. She sat back in her chair and waited for their arrival, already beginning to formulate a plan for how to deal with the situation.
Xiron::Whisper singing to herself:: Where am I goin’? I don’t know!, Where am I headin’? I’m ain’t certain! All I know is I am on my way.
Serala said nothing about the song. Everyone had their own way to pass the time or to deal with stress. Elements knew she had enough habits of her own. But she’d never heard the song before. She’d also barely overheard, and only owing to her own keen Romulan hearing, the rather terse comments from her Chief Ops officer to her science officers. She made a mental note to speak with T’Ama about her tact, albeit her reasons were sound. She probably just could have handled it better.
Everyone was busy at their stations and she heard the name James Kirk bandied about. Apparently, as Captain Delano had suggested, the ship appeared to be from that era.
Serala: Have we been able to get a read on the ship yet?
Neshala: It appears to be an old Starfleet vessel, Captain. I am still working on the transponder signal, but from what I can make out, it says it’s the USS Qin, an old Ares class starship that was in operation in the 2260s. Official records say the Qin was lost without a trace. It’s possible we might have actually found it, Captain.
T’Ama: Response
Sherlock: Response
Serala: Lieutenant T’Ama, I thought I overheard the two of you talking about the fact that the signal seemed a bit off. Have you been able to determine the cause?
T’Ama: Response
Serala: Ensign T’Khio’ri, what is our ETA?
T’Khio’ri: Response
Serala: Let’s see if we can improve on that, shall we?
She turned to Xiron.
Serala: Lieutenant, if we increase speed to warp 12, can we reduce that ETA to eight hours?
Xiron: Response
Serala: Very good. Let’s do it, then. Ensign T’Khio’ri, increase to emergency warp 12. There’s a ship in distress and has been for way too long.
T’Khio’ri: Response
((timeskip))
(( Bridge, Deck 3 Primary Hull, USS Chin’toka ))
// Captain’s Log, Stardate 240202.11. Commander Serala reporting.
We have been traveling for the better part of ten hours now. I fear for whomever is on the ship that we will not arrive in time. Of course, time seems to be relative here since I have been told that the storm is displaying indications of a temporal disturbance. If this is a ship-out-of-time, what will we find when we arrive. According to our preliminary scans and analyses, we may have solved the mystery of what happened to the USS Qin, which reportedly disappeared on Stardate 226402.11. I can’t help but note that the month and date match almost exactly to our own and I doubt that’s a coincidence. Still, we should be arriving at the coordinates in the next few minutes. Our astrometrics lab has some very good data on the anomaly and the science department has confirmed the temporal aspect of the storm. But how does it all tie together?
End Log entry
//
Serala pressed the button to end the log entry and looked up as her helm officer made her report.
T’Khio’ri: Response
Serala: Very good, Ensign. Take us out of warp, full impulse. Let’s see what we’re dealing with.
The streaking of bluish-white light that appeared to be a sort of tunnel suddenly resolved itself into a starfield as the ship exited warp. Ahead of them, Serala could see what appeared to be a massive blue-white cloud with the frequent ripple of white lightning running through it. Nearby, the starship that she presumed was the Qin sat motionless, the only sign of life the still active running lights. It’s proximity to the storm was so close there was no longer any doubt in her mind that the two events were connected. Not that there had been much doubt to begin with.
Serala: Lieutenant T’Ama, hail them. Use Starfleet hailing frequencies from their era and try to be vague about our own identity. We don’t want to spook them just yet.
T’Ama: Response
She heard the channel open, but just as she did the ship suddenly lurched and began moving rapidly toward the storm.
Serala: Helm, report!
T’Khio’ri: Respond
Serala stood at that and moved forward. How in the blazes could they have been caught in the gravity of a storm when they’d been so far back? It made no logical sense.
Serala: Explain. How can we be getting pulled in?
T’Khio’ri: Response
Serala listened to her reply, about to ask another question, this time to the entire bridge, especially the Science and Engineering officers, but something strange happened at just that moment….
((Bridge, Deck 1, USS Qin))
S’Rala of Vulcan looked at the storm. How long had they been caught there? There had been no way of knowing. Logic dictated that with a temporal anomaly such as this, time was meaningless. The chronometer at the helm station indicated only a few hours had passed, but she knew well enough to know that it could have been years, or even centuries. Or, time could be running in reverse.
She smoothed out the gold skirt and resumed her seat in the command chair. Hoping Starfleet would send help before it was too late. If there was even a Starfleet anymore.
S’Rala: First Officer, what is our status?
As if it had changed. But logic had dictated that she get the update anyway.
First Officer: Response