>> Star Trek fan fiction >> Voyager >> Ghost Ship

BEGIN TEASER
OPEN: Voyager flyby

JANEWAY:
Captains Log: Stardate 51487.6
We are now entering an area of space known to local traders as "The Mutara Triangle," a mysterious
area famous for the number of ships lost in the area.

:bridge

KIM:
Sensor readings are rather sketchy at best, but I am getting clear readings out to two light-years.

JANEWAY:
Any idea whatís causing that?

KIM:
I donít know, Iíve never seen anything like it.

JANEWAY:
Very well. Lieutenant Paris, take us in, warp six.

PARIS:
Aye, captain. Iíll let you know if we suddenly cease to exist.

JANEWAY:
Thank you, Mr. Paris. Lieutenant Tuvok, Iíve been meaning to talk to you about shuttlecraft efficiency lately, and Iíve been thinking that...

KIM:
Captain, Iím picking up intense background radiation approximately eighty kilometers off the port bow. It could be the remains of a ship.

JANEWAY:
On screen.

SCREEN: Changes to show a ship badly damaged and unpowered.
:bridge

KIM:
There are no lifeforms on board. From the radiation spread, I would guess that the warp core was ejected, and then detonated approximately four hours ago.

JANEWAY:
Was the ship attacked?

KIM:
Iím not detecting any signs of weapons fire. (pauses) Wait a minute. Iím picking up a faint distress call.

CHAKOTAY:
From the ship?

KIM:
Yes and no. According to these readings, the signal is being boosted off of the ships hull. From the trajectory I could give you a heading, but the origin is out of sensor range.

JANEWAY:
Is there any way of knowing what sort of ship is transmitting it?

KIM:
Thereís no way to tell at this range.

JANEWAY:
Janeway to Neelix. Report to the bridge immediately. Mr. Paris, set a course along ensign Kimís coordinates.

SCENE: Ext. view of Voyager in warp, change back to bridge.

NEELIX:
I do recognize some of these variations, theyíre similar to a standard Telaxian communications frequency. I would say that at least the transmission device is Telaxian. But these other frequency curves are totally foreign to me. (points to screen) Can you isolate this curve?

KIM:
It almost looks like an old Federation signal. About 80 years old I would say.

JANEWAY:
Is it possible there could be some sort of temporal energies at work here? Maybe the signal is coming through some kind of temporal wormhole.

KIM:
Thatís possible, some of these variations match verteron signal interference. But then why would it be transmitting through a Telaxian communications device?

TUVOK:
Captain, Iím detecting a vessel within sensor range.

KIM:
It looks like thatís the source of the signal.

JANEWAY:
On screen.

SCENE: View screen changes to show a Constitution class starship adrift in space. Return to bridge.
Crew simultaneously stand, staring at the screen.

END TEASER

BEGIN ACT I
JANEWAY:
Is that what I think it is?

KIM:
Itís a Constitution class starship. Itís not broadcasting a registry number, so I canít tell you the name yet. But sensors are detecting massive subspace activity around the ship. It looks like some kind of spacial interphase.

JANEWAY:
The Defiant.

CHAKOTAY:
Captain?

JANEWAY:
In 2268, the USS Defiant was lost near Tholian space in some kind of spacial interphase. The crew were affected by the severe subspace imbalances, causing them to go insane and kill each other. I wouldnít have remembered if it also hadnít been the start of the first Tholian incursion into Federation space. Captain Paris loved to talk about it on the Albatoni.

PARIS:
He always was one for ghost stories.

JANEWAY:
Ensign, are we anywhere near the event horizon?

KIM:
It looks like we are about eight- to nine-hundred thousand kilometers away from the edge, but thereís no way to be certain with these readings.

JANEWAY:
All the same. Computer, activate the Emergency Medical Holographic Program.

DOCTOR: (filtered)
Please state the nature of the medical emergency.

JANEWAY:
Doctor, weíve entered an area of severe spacial interphase. We need you to begin inoculating the crew immediately.

DOCTOR: (filtered)
Iím sorry captain, but the inoculate requires a certain amount of Theragin, and with the replicator problems we have been facing lately, it will be impossible to create. And Iím afraid we simply donít keep fatal Klingon nerve gasses on hand.

JANEWAY:
Is there anything else you can do?

DOCTOR: (filtered)
I will begin researching the possibilities as soon as possible. Doctor out.

JANEWAY:
In the meantime, letís keep our distance. Mr. Paris, take us well out to one-million kilometers.

TORRES:
Captain, if we can get that ship out of interphase, I think I could convert some of the older systems to repair many of the critical systems of Voyager.

JANEWAY:
That ship has been stuck in interphase for over 100 years, how do you plan on getting it out?

TORRES:
If we can match the frequency of the interphase with our tractor beam, I think we might have a good chance of getting it out. The only problem is, we would have to actually fly the ship through the interphase.

JANEWAY:
How long would it take to set up?

TORRES:
About an hour.

JANEWAY:
Do it. In the mean time, letís see if we can find out how this ship got all the way out here. Chakotay, as soon as the Doctor finds a new cure for the interphase madness, I want you and Mr. Paris to take a shuttle into the Interphase rift and see if you can find out how that ship got here. I donít see how just transporting to a parallel dimension could take it 75 thousand light-years away from where it disappeared.

CHAKOTAY:
Youíre hoping to find some kind of wormhole leading to the Alpha Quadrant?

JANEWAY:
Wormhole, spacial rift, anything. This may finally be our ticket home.

SCENE: View of shuttle leaving Voyager

:bridge

DOCTOR: (filtered)
Iíve finished inoculating the crew, however itís not as powerful as the original. The crew will only be protected for a few hours at most.

JANEWAY:
What about Chakotay and Tom?

DOCTOR: (filtered)
I have equipped them with enough inoculate to last about 48 hours and instructed them to re-administer it every three hours as a precautionary measure.

JANEWAY:
Good work doctor. BeLanna, howís the tractor beam coming?

TORRES:
Ready when you are, captain.

JANEWAY:
Good work. How long will we have to be in the rift?

TORRES:
If we go in at full impulse, and engage the tractor beam as we enter the rift, by the time we exit it we can let the tractor beam go and the ship will just coast its way out. I would say not much more than a few seconds at most.

JANEWAY:
Very well. Engage.

SCENE: Voyager enters rift, fires tractor beam at Defiant, and flies out of the rift. The Defiant slowly follows.

:bridge

JANEWAY:
Good work, BeLanna. You and ensign Kim assemble an away team and begin your salvage operation. Lieutenant, you have the bridge.

TUVOK:
Aye, captain.

EXIT: Janeway, Torres and Kim

SCENE: Shuttle craft flyby

:Cockpit of shuttle

PARIS:
Iím not detecting any traces of interstellar objects. No star systems, no spacial anomalies, nothing.

CHAKOTAY:
Thatís consistent with the Enterpriseís account of traveling through the interphase demension. They couldnít detect any traces of interstellar phenomena while they traveled through the rift to escape the Tholians.

PARIS:
Natural physics must not apply in this dimension. Iíve had to configure helm controls for almost atmospheric conditions.

CHAKOTAY:
Iíve set the scanners to detect any verteron particle traces, that should hopefully tell us if there are any wormholes in the second demension.

:The shuttle jolts from some kind of directed energy impact on the hull.

CHAKOTAY:
What was that?

PARIS:
Sensors are down, Iím not getting any readings...

CHAKOTAY:
The interphase is causing massive sensor ghosts...

:Another hit.

CHAKOTAY:
Damage!

PARIS:
It looks like minor hull damage, but I canít tell with these distortions...

:Another hit.

CHAKOTAY:
I have an idea. Bring the ship about twenty degrees to starboard. Set phasers for wide beam dispersal.

:The shuttle rotates.

CHAKOTAY:
Fire!

:Shuttle fires phasers, illuminating an alien spaceship directly ahead of them.

PARIS:
What the...?

CHAKOTAY:
Old Maquis trick. Turn us about, get us out of here.

:Shuttle turns about, moves forward then jolts to a stop.

PARIS:
Weíre not moving, they must have us in some kind of tractor beam...

CHAKOTAY:
Is there any way we can break out of it?

PARIS:
I canít even detect it!

:Beaming effect, and six JemíHadar beam on board, knocking out Paris and Chakotay.

End Act I

BEGIN ACT II

SCENE: Defiant drifting along near Voyager.

:Bridge of Defiant. Transporter effect, Torres, Kim, and five other crew members appear. They all take out tricorders and begin scanning.

KIM:
This is strange.Iím not picking up any lifeforms on board, but inertial dampeners and life support systems are still online.

TORRES:
I would imagine that would be a good thing. It just makes it all that easier to take what we need.

KIM:
Why do you say that?

TORRES:
Would you rather have to fight over the ship with some other alien that claimed it as salvage? Donít worry about it. I donít think anyone would be left alive on this ship after being exposed to interphase for 100 years. Set your tricorders to scan for any power generators that might still be operational.

:Crew are startled by a metal groaning noise.

TORRES:
Sounds like the structural integrity field is down. Weíre going to have to be cautious about how we proceed. Lets get our equipment and get out of here as soon as we can.

SCENE: Voyager parked across from the Defiant.
:Sickbay

DOCTOR:
Forty milligrams cordrazine.

CAMERA: Moves to encompass an ensign lying on the biobed in convulsions.
:Kes hands Doctor the hypospray and he administers it. The patient settles into sleep.

JANEWAY:
What happened?

TUVOK:
The ensign was re-configuring the starboard sensor coils to help penetrate the interphase rift, when he suddenly fell away from the console and began this.

DOCTOR:
It appears he was exposed to an extremely intense pocket of spacial interphase, far too intense to be handled even by the original inoculate made by Dr. McCoy. Iím afraid the ensign has been lobotomized.

TUVOK:
Captain, I have been looking at the readings for several hours. Many such similar pockets have opened up out to two light-years. And it appears that the rift is growing to encompass them.

JANEWAY:
Can we move the Defiant out of range of the rift?

TUVOK:
Unfortunately, that would take several hours, as it has slowly been losing itís structural integrity since we pulled it out. And at the rate the rift is growing, we could never hope to get the Defiant away in time.

JANEWAY:
Start working on ways to close it. In the mean time, send a message buoy into the rift, telling Chakotay and Tom to get out of there as soon as possible. (taps comm badge) Voyager to away team.

:Defiant

KIM:
Go ahead.

JANEWAY: (filtered)
Ensign, we are detecting extremely intense pockets of spacial interphase opening up all around the rift. Set your tricorders to warn you ahead of time if one should form near you.

KIM:
Iíll get right to it. Away team out.

:enter Torres

TORRES:
Harry, I think that if we place pattern enhancers in key areas of the ship, we can use Voyagerís sensors to lock onto the materials we need and just beam them right off the ship.

KIM:
Good idea. I just got word from the captain, theyíre detecting intense pockets of spacial interphase opening up all around the rift, we need to re-configure our tricorders to warn us ahead of time if any should open up on the Defiant.

:The are startled by one of the other away team members calling for them. They both rush out of the room, and into a nearby corridor where a man is lying dead on the floor.

KIM:
Heís a Talaxian!

End Act II

[ Continue to Act III - V ]

Read more from Voyager and Michael Wright.

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