...And Into the Fire

Posted on Mon Dec 31st, 2018 @ 10:47pm by Captain Liarra Von & Commander Titus Livius Drusus PhD & Commander Walter Prescott

Mission: Starbase 332, Where Are You?
Location: Station Operations
Timeline: Immediately following "Out of the Frying Pan..."

Previously…

At Science, Drusus had shifted a junior officer out of her seat and was frantically tapping away at the console. It had to be a mistake. He tried everything; double checked the initial data, reset each node in the sensor suite in case they had overloaded during the storm, realigned the targeting servos, and even had the telescopes run a quick three-sixty scan of the surrounding space. It all confirmed the report from sensor control.

A chill passed down his spine as Drusus looked over towards Von. "Ah, Captain," he said, his voice uncharacteristically shaky. "I have an explanation. Archa IV is ... it's no longer there. Or, more precisely, we are ... we're no longer there."

“What do you mean, ‘we’re no longer there’?” Von asked incredulously as she hurried over to the science station. “Last time I checked, the station wasn’t capable of warp travel.”

“I’m not sure about the how just yet,” Drusus said as he gestured to the telemetry on the screen, showing the captain for herself, “but we are no longer in orbit of Archa IV. That’s all I know for sure right now. We’ll go back over the sensor readings and come up with an explanation.”

Liarra shook her head and sighed. It was bad enough that they had to lock down everything for the storm. Now the station had somehow transported itself away from its orbit around Archa IV. “Keep investigating. If it was possible for us to get here, then maybe it’s possible for us to get back. Speaking of getting back, just where the hell are we?”

“I can tell you that we’re definitely not in Federation space anymore,” the Magna Roman said, his demeanor calming from the earlier agitation at their situation. “Our exact position will take a little time to figure out. Astrometrics will be able to pin it down once everything’s back up and running properly down there.”

“Alright, people. Let’s stay calm,” Von stated to herself almost as much as she said it to the crew in Ops. “We need to work the problem. Commander Drusus, let’s figure out where we are, then figure out how we got here and if we can get home.”

"Aye aye, Captain."

“Commander Prescott,” Von called out, turning to her chief of operations. “Get me a full status report. I need to know how bad we’re hurt, and how long it will take to get us back to full operational status.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Walter’s hands moved steadily across the surface of his workstation. Although he had been doing his best to monitor their situation throughout the storm, new reports were still coming in. It was going to take a little while for them to get a complete picture of what they were dealing with as far as repairs were concerned.

One thing at a time, he told himself. Solving the mystery of what could have relocated an entire Stardock-class station would just have to wait.

Finally, Von turned to her strategic operations chief. “Lieutenant Darach, we need to get a complete manifest of the ships we have docked, both Starfleet and otherwise. Until we know where we are, we need to keep the space doors closed. No one comes in or out until we have a better grasp on the situation.”

Captain Von took another look around the room. Staring back at her were several faces looking to her for guidance, expecting her to have the answers. The truth was, she had none of the answers. Nor was she even sure if any of them would be able to find them. All she could do was put her trust in her crew as they put their trust in her. Hopefully, they would find a way out of this newest predicament. “You have your orders. Keep me posted on any updates. If anyone needs me, I’ll be trying to find a way to explain this situation to Admiral S’iraa.”

---

Captain Liarra Von
Commanding Officer
Starbase 332

Commander Titus Drusus [P: Whitlam]
Chief Science Officer
Starbase 332

Lt. Commander Walter Prescott [P: Rutilius]
Chief of Operations
Starbase 332