The Federation Tribune - September 2005
Rob Versteegt
chiefeditor at frontierfleet.com
Tue Sep 20 16:46:10 CEST 2005
==== The Federation Tribune ====
==== September 2005 ====
Got a question? Visit the Newspaper FAQ!
(http://www.frontierfleet.net/lcars/newspaper/newspaper_faq)
Want to laugh at some IRC Quotes? Look at the quotes section:
(http://www.frontierfleet.net/lcars/newspaper/irc_quotes)
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Chief Editor's notes
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My apologies for the lateness of this newspaper, but at least you'll get one
which is filled with interesting, funny and exciting articles. Next to all
the status reports, posting stats and promotions, there is the final chapter
of Ben's Alpha Centauri Mystery. Don't forget to see how this story ends!
Also, Rob Verlinden has submitted an article: something you just have to
read. The trivia is also in this newspaper, as is my second part of the
'back to the Calhoun' story.
I hope you'll enjoy the newspaper, and please... please, send in articles of
your own! I can't wait to publish those!
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USS Calhoun Status Report August 2005, by Adrian Rodd.
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STARDATE: 2391.07.10
The crew are on shore leave, and have spread out to various destinations in
the vicinity of Delta One for some well-earned rest. For some, however,
shore leave has been cut short by the discovery of a mysterious ship adrift,
which an away team is now investigating. For a ship without a crew, it is
proving far more dangerous than they could ever have imagined. . .
(Disclaimer: No, this wasn't ripped off from the Atly. I had nothing to do
with it; I just came back from LOA and found this was going on. It's an idea
of Kelley's, and I doubt she knew what the Atly was doing. ;-) )
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USS Odyssey Status Report, August 2005, by Dennis Church.
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Location: Dinwor V
Stardate: 2391.06.20
There seemed to be no way out for the Odyssey team on the surface - the Dah
Ebom had hostages, weapons, and control of the situation. But they didn't
have a ship in orbit - as Lieutenant Helfrump, in command of the Odyssey,
fired a pulse at the planet below to temporarily disable the power - which
was precisely timed with a pincer attack led by Ensign Harmondale and the
elusive Ensign Greystone, who had escaped captivity. During the firefight,
all five of the Dah Ebom present were either caught or killed, with an old
friend of the Odyssey helping to capture the leader - Travian Enar, now
working for Bajoran Intelligence.
Location: In orbit of Dinwor V
Stardate: 2391.06.21
The good mood spreading the ship upon the successful completion of their
mission was quickly
dampered when Jerul Revar, while thanking Captain Bennek for succesfully
stopping the assasination attempt, collapsed and died. She was injected with
a delayed acting poison by the Dah Ebom while she was a hostage - and while
the Dah Ebom had been crippled for some time to come, the Odyssey had failed
in their mission to protect Revar....
Stardate: 2391.08.27 (as indicated in Rob's NRPG, to correctly work with the
timing of Barclay's message on the 26th).
Upon recieving new orders, Captain Bennek called a staff meeting to inform
the crew of the
changes to come.
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USS Valkyrie Status Report August 2005, by John Hardy.
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Stardate: 2391.09.12
Location: Sol System, en route to Earth Station McKinley
Second Officer's Log: The Valkyrie is en route to Earth Station McKinley,
where the crew will be able to enjoy shore leave whilst the Valkyrie
undergoes a refit, and a retrofit of her engines. We are to form part of the
newly created, transwarp capable, Frontier Fleet. It is expected that we wil
l reach our intended destination within the next couple of days. I expect
some of the crew, particularly the engineers, will wish to stay aboard and
"co-operate" with the engineers who have been tasked with the
refit/retrofit. I, however, intend to make full use of my shore leave, as I
do not know when the opportunity will next come about. End of log.
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Pandora Station Status Report August 2005, by Rob Versteegt.
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Stardates:
2391.06.07
2391.07.29
2391.08.01
2391.08.26
Locations:
- On board Pandora Station, which is in orbit of Pandora II, as usual.
- In the three separate Delta Flyers under water, beneath the surface of
aforementioned planet.
Summary:
Episode 10: 20 Leagues under the Sea
2391.06.07
In the oceans of Pandora II, three teams of Pandora Station's senior crew
were flying around in their runabouts, to find a good place to put Dr.
Bati's planned underwater outpost. However, there were other interesting
things beneath the surface of this planet: Commander Jalando and Counsellor
Aslam for example, found what seemed to be tablets with ancient writings on
them. This was quite an archaeological find, and it would be something which
the Station's Science Department would be happy to study.
The second team, lead by 2O/CMO Lt.Cmdr Truesdale, had some minor problems:
not only did ASTC Edan have to return to Pandora Station -though they did
get ACONN Foultish back there, to pilot the Flyer- but they also managed to
have a run-in with some sort of electrical fish, which, in multiple numbers,
could damage the Flyer on contact. It was decided that they had to find
shelter in an underwater cave nearby, and just wait until these electrical
fish were gone.
After being dragged along by very large plant-like creatures, the third away
team found themselves flying away from the sandbank which was these
creatures' home. After all, they knew that they could not just scan
everything which interested them. . . they also had to find a suitable
location for Dr. Bati's outpost.
In the meantime on Pandora Station, AOPS Arquette, ACEO Denton and
Transporter Operator Dran found out that the pool which they had to repair,
was home to a number of rodent/lizards, (for the lack of a better name)
which did not seem to be too keen about the three officers cleaning up the
pool.
2391.07.29:
It's Captain Kane's 43rd birthday, and that means: presents! From his
stepdaughter, he received a d'k tahg. About half an hour later, Commanders
Jalando and Truesdale gave him presents in his office: a sabre coming from
Jalando, and a beautiful glass vase coming from Truesdale. Happy Birthday,
Captain Kane!
Also on this date, AOPS Arquette finally got used to hectic life on the
Station, especially with the AOPS being the acting Chief of Operations. . .
2391.08.01:
ACEO Denton tells the story of the 'war' his house had with another Klingon
house, to Darnena, who -together with other listeners- is intrigued by this
man's storytelling. Plus of course the fact that it's true, made it 'front
page news', according to the Reporter. This 'story' got an unexpected
follow-up though, since Denton got attacked by the son of the Klingon he had
killed.
2391.08.26:
When Fleet Admiral Barclay's message came in that there would be a transwarp
fleet, and that Pandora Station would not only refit two ships, but also act
as Fleet HQ, Captain Kane told Commander Jalando to let the crew know about
this as well. After all, this was a great honour to Pandora Station itself,
and of course to its crew.
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USS Atlantis Status Report, August 2005, by Ben Versteegt.
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Stardates:
- 2391.05.28
- 2391.08.26
- 2391.08.27
- 2391.09.08
- 2391.09.09
- 2391.12.29
- 2392.04.10
Location of the (crew of the) USS Atlantis:
- (Holding position near) derelict ship, Gamma Quadrant.
- Deep Space Nine, Alpha Quadrant.
- Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards orbiting Mars, Alpha Quadrant.
- Starfleet Academy, Earth, Alpha Quadrant
Summary:
2391.05.28:
Using a transporter device, two members of the first away team were beamed
to the Borhyas, just when the zombies entered the room. With help from the
crewmembers on the Borhyas and a ghost from a previous crewmember, the third
member of the away team, Commander Velden, managed to flee the room. He ran
into Lieutenant Montgomery and nurse Waldau, and all three were subsequently
beamed to the Borhyas as well. After recovering three more crewmembers from
the derelict ship, the Borhyas left the ghost ship for good.
The third away team was already out of the ship, but one of the zombies had
followed them to their shuttle. After a struggle, the ex-crewmember was
beamed into space, and the away team returned to the Atlantis.
On the Atlantis, a meeting was held and a plan had been discussed, but the
away teams managed to return on their own. While the Atlantis warped away
from the ghost ship, the emotional healing process of the away team members
could begin.
2391.08.26:
Late in the afternoon, Admiral Barclay sent his memo about the transwarp
refit to various ships, including the Atlantis .
2391.08.27:
Due to the distance from Earth, the Atlantis did not receive the subspace
message until 1313 hours on 2391.08.27; the following day. Captain Torn
immediately informed the crew via shipwide message, and the Atlantis
reversed its course, heading back to the wormhole.
2391.08.29:
The Atlantis exited the wormhole and arrived in the Alpha Quadrant for the
first time since the start of her mission to the Gamma Quadrant. At Deep
Space Nine, the Atlantis picked up Dorothy Torn (the Captain's wife) and a
Romulan ASTC by the name of Rofellian.
2391.09.08:
With only five minutes to go before their deadline had passed, the Atlantis
docked at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards orbiting Mars, which would be her
home for the next six months.
2391.09.09:
In a staff meeting, the senior crew of the Atlantis was informed that
Admiral Barclay would arrive that day and that their shore leave would have
to wait for just a few more hours. Arrangements were made to ensure that the
Atlantis would be manned by a skeleton crew at all times.
2391.12.29:
At Starfleet Academy, future Atlantis crewman Norman ran into Admiral Baine.
2392.04.10
Crewman Norman watched the Atlantis, the ship he was about to board.
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Public Relations Status Report August 2005, by Rob Versteegt.
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Not a lot of signups this month. One would think, that with the summer
holidays, people would rush towards us, because they'd have a lot of time.
Well... apparently not. There were only 9 signups, and here is where they
found us:
1: An ex-member coming back.
2: via a friend / family.
3: voting site / advertisement site.
3: Google, or another search engine.
As you can see, most people find us either by a search engine, or by a
voting site. So once again, please go and vote!
(http://www.frontierfleet.net/comm/vote) Thanks already.
And this was the PR Status Report for August 2005. It will probably go into
the history of Frontier Fleet for being the shortest status report ever...
which isn't very good, since if we have more signups, we'd have a longer
status report. Ah well... let's make next month's status report a whole lot
longer, okay?
Oh, one last thing: if any of you has ideas, suggestions, etc. on how we can
get more signups, feel free to mail me at pr at frontierfleet.com. I look
forward to your suggestions!
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SF Academy Status Report August 2005, by Rob Versteegt.
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==================
Active Instructors: (5)
Instructor Vivienne Creenan, played by Rob Versteegt
Instructor Miranda Winter, played by Ben Versteegt
Instructor Argl, played by John Hardy
Instructor Liz Bronson, played by Laura Elliot
Instructor Sophie Jaune, played by Rob Verlinden
==================
Instructors on LOA: (3)
Chief Instructor Sedaq, played by Adrien Rodd
Instructor Joran Moore, played by David Susman.
Instructor Abena Kwanu, played by Jeremy Beeler
==================
Cadets lost: (1)
Cadet Jordan Artison, played by Laura Veduci.
==================
New Signups: There were only 9 signups last month... that's not that much,
actually. From those 9 signups though, there were at least 4 who got sent a
mail back that their signups were good enough.
==================
Individual Cadets: (10)
Cadet Brooke-lyn O'Neil, played by Kaitlyn Nelson (Rob007)
Cadet Claude Carredeau, played by Donald Johnston (Ben)
Cadet Damon Kaper, played by Matt Burton (John)
Cadet Devon Nekkar, played by Dan Koger (Bobby)
Cadet Killian Malachi, played by Robert Bolton (Jeremy)
Cadet Rabel Droge, played by Michael Calgano (Bobby)
Cadet Ramon Vos, played by Ramon Vos (Bobby)
Cadet Megan Richards, played by Stephen Clark (Laura)
Cadet Tvork, played by Carlisle (Laura)
Cadet Thorne, played by Spencer Beacock (Bobby)
==================
Graduates: (1)
Cadet Keash Foultish, played by Christ van Silfhout => ACONN Ensign
Foultish, Pandora Station.
==================
And that's the end of another status report... not much has happened in
August, as you can see...
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Trivia Quiz #10, by Clare Bradley.
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Trivia Quiz #10: The Captains
This month's Trivia quiz focuses on the Captains in all 5 television series.
As usual, do not research your answers. If anyone has any suggestions for
future themed quizzes, or wants to submit questions for future quizzes,
please email me at grozit at frontierfleet.com
1. How many times did Captain Kirk face a court martial?
A. One
B. Two
C. Three
D. Four
2. How many siblings did Captain Kirk have?
A. One
B. Two
C. Three
D. Four
3. Who was Captain Archer's father?
A. Henry Archer
B. Peter Archer
C. Kyle Archer
D. Charles Archer
4. Who did Captain Archer propose marriage to?
A. Erika Hernandez
B. Margaret Mullin
C. T'Pol
D. Porthos
5. What musical instrument did Captain Picard play?
A. Vulcan lute
B. French horn
C. Violin
D. Ressikan flute
6. As an Ensign, Captain Picard was stabbed by a Nausicaan during a brawl
over what game?
A. Fizzbin
B. Dabo
C. Tongo
D. Dom-jot
7. What is Captain Sisko's middle name?
A. Joseph
B. Christopher
C. Lafayette
D. Zefram
8. Captain Sisko's father owns a restaurant in what city?
A. New York
B. San Francisco
C. New Orleans
D. Miami
9. What is Captain Janeway's birthday?
A. February 14th
B. March 22nd
C. May 20th
D. December 11th
10. Captain Janeway met Tuvok when they both served on what vessel?
A. U.S.S. Enterprise
B. U.S.S. Voyager
C. U.S.S. Al-Batani
D. U.S.S. Billings
11. Which Captain was on the Starfleet Academy wrestling team?
A. Captain Archer
B. Captain Kirk
C. Captain Picard
D. Captain Sisko
E. Captain Janeway
12. Which Captain studied ballet?
A. Captain Archer
B. Captain Kirk
C. Captain Picard
D. Captain Sisko
E. Captain Janeway
13. Which Captain was a Boy Scout?
A. Captain Archer
B. Captain Kirk
C. Captain Picard
D. Captain Sisko
E. Captain Janeway
14. Which Captain won the Starfleet Academy Marathon?
A. Captain Archer
B. Captain Kirk
C. Captain Picard
D. Captain Sisko
E. Captain Janeway
15. Which Captain nearly died from Vegan choreomeningitis as a child?
A. Captain Archer
B. Captain Kirk
C. Captain Picard
D. Captain Sisko
E. Captain Janeway
Email your answers to grozit at gmail.com no later than 2005.10.10 with 'Trivia
10' in the subject line. Remember to check the newspaper forum for bonus
questions throughout the month!
Answers to Trivia Quiz #9:
1. Michael Sullivan is a character in what holodeck program?
A. Ancient West
B. Dixon Hill
C. Chez Sandrine
D. Fair Haven
Answer: D. Michael Sullivan owned Sullivan's Pub in Fair Haven. (difficulty:
0%)
2. What was the name of Khan's ship?
A. S.S. Botany Bay
B. S.S. Conestoga
C. S.S. Fortunate
D. S.S. Tsiolkovsky
Answer: A. Khan's ship was the S.S. Botany Bay. (difficulty: 0%)
3. What is the name of Quark's father?
A. Kolopak
B. Keldar
C. Kolos
D. Kryton
Answer: B. Keldar was the father of Quark and Rom. Kolopak was Chakotay's
father, Kolos was a participant at Quark & Vash's auction of Gamma Quadrant
artifacts, and Kryton was a servant Elaan of Troyius. (difficulty: 0%)
4. Q's son rearranged the tectonic plates on what planet?
A. Bozel Prime
B. Golos Prime
C. Cardassia Prime
D. Vendikar
Answer: A. Q's son rearranged the tectonic plates on Bozel Prime. Q made him
apologize to all 16 billion Bozellians. (difficulty: 50%)
5. William Riker was NOT offered the command of what vessel?
A. U.S.S. Drake
B. U.S.S. Ares
C. U.S.S. Sao Paulo
D. U.S.S. Melbourne
Answer: C. Riker was offered command of the U.S.S. Drake, U.S.S. Ares, and
the U.S.S. Melbourne. The Sao Paulo was sent to Deep Space Nine to replace
the U.S.S. Defiant after it was destroyed. (difficulty: 25%)
6. How often do Changelings need to regenerate in a liquid state?
A. Every 24 hours
B. Every 20 hours
C. Every 18 hours
D. Every 16 hours
Answer: C. Changelings have to return to their natural state every 18 hours
to regenerate. (difficulty: 100%)
7. Where did Neelix grow up?
A. Rinax
B. Talax
C. Ocampa
D. In Space
Answer: A. Neelix grew up on Rinax, one of Talax's moons. (difficulty: 25%)
8. Who did the Cardassians use as intermediaries when they covertly supplied
weapons to the Alliance for Global Unity, also known as the Circle?
A. The Kressari
B. The Ferengi
C. The Tzenkethi
D. The Kobliad
Answer: A. Unbeknownst to the Circle, the weapons they got from the Kressari
were supplied by the Cardassians. The discovery of the true source of the
weapons made support for the Circle disappear. (difficulty: 50%)
9. Who defended Kirk was he was court martialed for the death of Benjamin
Finney?
A. Commodore Stone
B. Samuel T. Cogley
C. Areel Shaw
D. Spock
Answer: B. Areel Shaw, an old 'friend' of Kirk's who worked for the
prosecution, recommended that he have Samuel Cogley defend him. (difficulty:
25%)
10. What was making the Akaali sick?
A. A disease contracted from aliens on their world.
B. An industrial lubricant that seeped into the water supply.
C. Neutrino emissions.
D. Evolutionary processes.
Answer: B. The Malurians were secretly conducting a mining operation on
Akaali, but it was an industrial lubricant they used that made the Akaali
sick. (difficulty: 50%)
11. How often is the Admiral's Banquet held?
A. Every six months
B. Every year
C. Every two years
D. Once a decade
Answer: B. The Admiral's Banquet is an annual event. (difficulty: 25%)
12. What is the Vulcan ritual where the memory of an event is suppressed
along with the emotions associated with it?
A. Fullara
B. Kal-if-fee
C. Plak-tow
D. Kahswan
Answer: A. The Fullara is an obsolete Vulcan ritual where the memory of an
event is suppressed along with the emotions associated with it. The ritual
was still performed at P'Jem in the mid 22nd century. (difficulty: 50%)
13. The Apnex Sea is located on what planet?
A. Bajor
B. Romulus
C. Betazed
D. Talax
Answer: B. Romulan Admiral Alidar Jarok's home was located near the Apnex
Sea. (difficulty: 50%)
14. What did Phlox request Hoshi bring him from Madame Chang's restaurant?
A. Egg Rolls
B. Lemon Chicken
C. Egg Drop Soup
D. Chicken Fried Rice
Answer: C. After a scare from a xenophobic human in a bar, Phlox declined an
invitation to Madame Chang's, but he asked Hoshi to bring him some of their
egg drop soup. (difficulty: 75%)
15. Who was the only person not effected by the pod plants on Omicron Ceti
III?
A. McCoy
B. Uhura
C. Spock
D. Kirk
Answer: D. Kirk was the only person not affected by the pod plants on
Omicron Ceti III. The effects of the plants were negated by violent
emotions. (difficulty: 50%)
B1: The aphasia virus that infected Deep Space Nine was created by a member
of what race?
A. Bajoran
B. Cardassian
C. Founder
D. Romulan
Answer: A. The aphasia virus was created by resistance member Dekon Elig to
be used against the Cardassians during the occupation. It was accidentally
triggered by Miles O'Brien soon after Starfleet moved into the station.
(difficulty: 0%)
B2: The Treaty of Algeron was between the UFP and whom?
A. Klingons
B. Gorn
C. Cardassians
D. Romulans
Answer: D. The Treaty of Algeron was signed in 2311, and redefined the
Romulan Neutral Zone. This treaty also prohibited the use of cloaking
devices by the Federation. (difficulty: 0%)
B3: What region of Earth did Khan rule before he was deposed?
A. Southeast Asia and Australia
B. Europe and North Africa
C. Asia to the Middle East
D. South and Central America
Answer: C. From 1993 through 1996, Khan was absolute ruler of more than a
quarter of Earth, from Asia through the Middle East. (difficulty: 50%)
B4: Who said: "The best diplomat I know is a fully activated phaser bank."?
A. Scotty
B. Reed
C. Worf
D. O'Brien
Answer: A. Scotty made this remark. (difficulty: 0%)
B5: Among Talaxians, it is considered a sign of good fortune if you have
what on your ship?
A. A strip of latinum
B. A model of the Guiding Tree
C. A fur fly
D. Taga cakes
Answer: C. In an old space faring tradition among Talaxians, if a fur fly
stows away on your ship, it is a sign of good fortune. (difficulty: 0%)
Scores:
Bram Peeters: 12 + 5 = 17 points
Rob Verlinden: 10+ 5= 15 points
Ben Versteegt: 8 + 4 = 12 points
Rob Versteegt: 7 + 4 = 11 points
Answers for 5th Anniversary Edition Quiz:
1. Who was the first Captain of the USS Calhoun?
A: Captain Sera Vaun
B. Captain Rovan Bren
C. Captain Fox Main
D. Captain Kevin Lewald
Answer: A.
2. At what date did the USS Calhoun leave spacedock?
A: 2390.05.06
B. 2390.06.05
C. 2391.05.06
D. 2391.06.05
Answer: A.
3. What is the class of the Fleet's transwarp shuttles?
A. Danube-Class
B. Mustang-Class
C. Delta Flyer-Class
D. Arrow-Class
Answer: D
4. What planet does Pandora Station orbit?
A. Pandora I
B. Pandora II
C. Pandora III
D. Bajor
Answer: B
5. Who was the only Captain to command three different ships?
A. Captain Rylie Tir
B. Captain Jennifer Sarin
C. Captain Fox Main
D. Captain Alfred Torn
Answer: C
6. In what quadrant is Delta One located?
A. Alpha
B. Beta
C. Gamma
D. Delta
Answer: D
Match the vessel with its Class:
7. U.S.S. Arakov -- B
8. U.S.S Calhoun -- F
9. U.S.S. Odyssey -- C
10. U.S.S. Valkryie -- H
11. U.S.S Atlantis -- A
12. U.S.S. Tempest -- G
13. Pandora Station -- E
14. U.S.S. Solstice -- D
A. Akira Class
B. Steamrunner Class
C. Intrepid Class
D. Nova Class
E. Ceylon Class
F. Sovereign Class
G. Defiant Class
H. Prometheus Class
Match the quote with its vessel:
15. U.S.S. Calhoun --D
16. U.S.S. Odyssey -- C
17. U.S.S. Valkyrie -- B
18. Pandora Station -- E
19. U.S.S. Atlantis -- F
20. U.S.S. Solstice --A
A. Imagination is more important than knowledge
B. Every absurdity has a champion to defend it.
C. It's origin and purpose, still a total mystery.
D. It's not the destination that counts, it's the journey.
E. Through work, the victory.
F. From this day to the ending of the world...etc.
Scores:
Sussie Andersson: 20 points
Rob Versteegt: 20 points
Bram Peeters: 20 points
Ben Versteegt: 20 points
Rob Verlinden: 19 points
Cumulative Rankings:
1. Rob Versteegt: 136 points (10 quizzes)
2. Bram Peeters: 132 points (9 quizzes)
3. Rob Verlinden: 131 points (9 quizzes)
4. Ben Versteegt: 119 points (8 quizzes)
5. Sussie Anderson: 63 points (5 quizzes)
6. Merijn Donders: 62 points (4 quizzes)
7. Adrian Rodd: 45 points (4 quizzes)
8. Pat Buidin: 32 points (2 quizzes)
9. David Susman: 23 points (2 quizzes)
10. Rickardh Karlsson: 12 points (1 quiz)
11. Martin Miller: 10 points (1 quiz)
12. Brandon Allard: 8 points (1 quiz)
Rankings based on average:
(only includes people who answered more than one quiz)
1. Pat Buidin: 16 point average
2. Merijn Donders: 15.5 point average
3. Ben Versteegt: 14.875 point average
4. Bram Peeters: 14.66 point average
5. Rob Verlinden: 14.5 point average
6. Rob Versteegt: 13.6 point average
7. Sussie Anderson: 12.6 point average
8. David Susman: 11.5 point average
9. Adrian Rodd: 11.25 point average
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Posting Stats August 2005, by Rob Versteegt.
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Calhoun players:
Adrian Rodd 1: (Panda 1) (LOA)
Kelley MacKinnon: 29 (Cal 29)
Laura Elliot: 20 (Cal 20)
Mark O'Bannon: 8 (Cal 8)
Aaron DeLay: 10 (Cal 10)
Jake Hanlon: 6 (Cal 6)
Angelic Noble: 6 (Cal 6)
Jeremy Beeler: 0 (LOA)
Neil Langston: 0 (New player)
USS Odyssey players:
Rob Verlinden: 3 (Ody 3)
Dennis Church: 13 (Ody 13)
Martin Miller: 1 (Ody 1)
Dawn Johnson: 0 (LOA)
Abby Leib: 3 (Ody 3)
Matthew Cobble: 1 (Ody 1)
Daniel Balding: 6 (Ody 6)
Yugoslav Zingovski: 0 (LOA)
Jovan Gegov: 8 (Ody 8)
Jonathan Healey: 1 (Ody 1)
David Church: 4 (Ody 4)
USS Valkyrie players:
Guido Dorssers: 1 Fleetwide Post
Brandon Allard: 2 (Valk 2)
Jonathan Hardy: 11 (Valk 8, Panda 2, Atly 1)
Richard Clogston: 5 (Ody 3, Valk 2)
Ann Montague: 2 (Valk 2)
Clare Bradley: 0
Chris J.: 0
Ruben Hilbers: 19 (Valk 17, Atly 2)
Petter Solhaug: 0
Pandora Station players:
Bram Peeters: 20 (Panda 16, Atly 4)
Rob Versteegt: 64 (Cal 10, Ody 10, Valk 7, Panda 28, Atly 9)
Sussie Andersson: 10 (Panda 9, Atly 1)
Sandra Karlsson: 0 (New arrival)
Gael Imaddedine: 7 (Valk 3, Panda 4)
Christ van Silfhout: 3 (Panda 3)
Scott Rick: 18 (Panda 18)
Matt Brown: 12 (Panda 12)
USS Atlantis players:
David Susman: 21 (Ody 4, Panda 2, Atly 15)
Ben Versteegt: 23 (Ody 4, Panda 2, Atly 17)
Alonzo Soban: 5 (Atly 5)
Mike Sheinin: 1 (Atly 1)
Hanna Brunefeldt: 4 (Atly 4)
Patrick Buidin: 6 (Atly 6)
Andre Thomas: 1 (Atly 1)
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Promotions in August 2005, by Rob Versteegt:
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>From Cadet to Ensign:
Cadet Keash Foultish, played by Christ van Silfhout => ACONN Ensign
Foultish, Pandora Station.
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Legendary posts, by Rob Verlinden.
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In five years time we posted a terrible load of messages. But there are only
few special posts that stay in one's memory. I personally remember writing
this post with Merijn and Marvin on a Friday afternoon. We had lost of fun
that afternoon and I think you understand why when you read the post:
Subject: STC / 2O Logix, OPS Sarin, CSO Candy
(USS Odyssey, Bridge - 2390.6.21, 22:40)
The USS Odyssey was on a course to Starbase 27. Logix had the next
night-shift. Behind Helm and Tactical were crewmen, Sarin had OPS and Ensign
Candy was manning the Science-station. Logix sat in the Command-chair and
looked over Security reports from his assistants.
"Sir, there is something on long-range sensors," Sarin said.
"There are three Borg cubes coming our way!!" one of the crewmen said, "ETA
2 minutes."
"Red Alert, Captain to the bridge, all hands to battlestations," Logix
shouted.
Captain Main came out of his ready room and Logix updated him on the
situation. Also FO Janssens and CONN Botrell appeared.
Logix took the Tactical station and prepared phasers and photon torpedoes.
"I want the armour standby, Mr. Logix," the Captain said when the Borg
opened fire on them. And a fierce fire it was.
Sarin tapped on his console putting all damage control team on standby. Then
it started beeping.
"Sir, life support is failing on decks 5 to 8. Evacuating them at once."
"Shields are failing, deploying armour!" Logix reported.
"Sir, these torpedoes are of a completely new kind! They are out alignment
with this universe!" Candy said to the captain. "They are ripping through
our armour like a knife through a packet of warm butter!"
All of a sudden a new barrage came from the Borg. The armour just completely
vaporized. Consoles exploded everywhere. Main was killed instantly by an
energy surge.
Borg drones appeared all over the bridge. FO Janssens was attacked,
whereafter he fell on the ground, he was knockout. Logix held off the drone
who tried to assimilate Janssens by breaking its neck.
Botrell ran for the phaser locker on the right side of the bridge but didn't
make it. A drone grabbed him from behind on the shoulder and injected the
nanoprobes into his neck. Botrell's face turned from blue to a faint grey in
a matter of seconds and his will was no longer his own. He was now part of
the collective. Botrell grabbed a phaser and started to fire at the armed
Odyssey crew. Sarin jumped out of the way of the phase blast which the drone
Botrell had released. T'afek rolled over the floor firing his phaser at
Botrell, penetrating his skin, vaporising his chest.
As Botrell died, and Borg were still pouring in. FO Janssens was still
unconscious on the floor. Logix thought it was time to abandon ship, so he
ordered a site to site transport. Logix, Sarin and Candy were justly
transported to the cargo bay were Candy was working on a personal project.
"What kind of thing is this?? Logix asked when he faced Candy's shuttle.
"This is my special project. I think that we will be able to match the
borg's firepower with this." Candy said, while the borg were still pounding
on the Odyssey's hull, with a big smile on his face.
Candy knew that it was going to work, because this small vessel was armed to
it's teeth. "This is a new kind of class, sir, I call it Machinegun-class
shuttle." Candy said.
Logix ordered everyone to go in, and all went in.
"Whooh, what a mess!" Logix said, "Couldn't you clean up a little?"
"I am still building" Candy responded, while the doors of the shuttle
closed.
"I can't make head or tail of these console's" Sarin said, as he was
scouting around the OPS console.
"Yes, they are a little different, aren't they, but you will see that they
are better and more effective." Candy responded to Sarin.
Candy sat down at the torpedo-console, and Logix at the helm.
The ship was shaking and small holes were appearing in the Odysseys hull.
Through these holes they could see the extreme size of the cubes, just
meters away from them.
"Let's get out of here!" Logix ordered.
Candy fired a couple of torpedoes at the shuttlebay doors. The ship flew out
of the shuttlebay and an extreme explosion followed. "Oops, that was the
Odyssey!" Candy remarked. The Machinegun got thrown through space by the
shockwave from the explosion and Logix tried to stabilise it.
"Wow, what is the fire-power of this shuttle, Mr. Candy?" Sarin asked.
"Well, ... , it has a hull of torpedo-tubes. There are 84 enhanced,
experimental tubes currently available. I wanted to make more, but I ran out
of space. I also enhanced our armour-shields, which will probably give us
god-like capabilities."
Logix made some excellent movements with the Machinegun. He evaded one of
the cubes, but could not get out of the way of another. It came straight
towards them. The Machinegun flew right through the cube.
"We aren't even damaged," Sarin said.
Logix got some distance between them and the cubes.
"OK, Mr. Candy, fire at will," Logix said.
All of a sudden, Sarin and even Logix were stunned for a small moment, as
the Machinegun started shaking like a tree in a storm.
"Don't worry about it, just firing a couple of torpedoes!" Candy shouted
through the room.
The second Borg cube exploded after being hit by 128 torpedoes. The last one
almost escaped as he went in a transwarp conduit, and momentarily
disappeared.
"Shit, we lost them!" Logix said as he was getting a little nervous.
"Don't worry, sir" Candy said, and he continued; "Just hit that little blue
button on the side. That will engage the Machinegun's slipstream drive.
Logix manoeuvred the Machinegun next to the Borg cube and Candy just wanted
to start firing, when Logix' commbadge beeped.
"Computer freeze program," Logix said.
(USS Odyssey, Holodeck 2 - 2390.6.21, 00:36)
=^=Main to all senior officers. We have arrived at Starbase 27. Please come
to the bridge.=^=
"Understood," Logix said and turned to Candy and Sarin. "It was fun,
shooting up all these Borg. But now we have to be on the real bridge."
Logix exited the holodeck, followed by Sarin. The last to leave was Candy.
"Computer end program", Candy said and the Machinegun disappeared and the
doors closed behind him.
(Reply any)
(posted by Marvin Sijbinga, Merijn Donders and Rob Verlinden)
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The Alpha Centauri Mystery - Part 26 - End of the Line, by Ben Versteegt.
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Summary: With the discovery of a powerful energy source in the form of
crystal samples, the fate of the universe hangs in the balance as every
major power lays claim to this remarkable discovery. Captain Ayer finds
himself in the middle of this mess when he is captured by Captain Donovan,
an agent for Section 31, and is beamed to Donovan's ship with the samples.
Donovan upgrades the weapon systems on his ship with the samples and is
eager to use them to take out any opposing vessel. A Romulan Warbird which
is hunting for the samples, and the USS Sophocles, a Federation starship
searching for Captain Ayer, turn out to be such opposing vessels.
As the fight rages on in space, Ayer tries to escape, but fails when Donovan
confronts him in the transporter room. Determined to seek vengeance for the
death of his friend and security officer, Donovan lunges himself at Ayer,
who, despite his weakened condition, fights back. Despite Ayer's courage,
his efforts seem to be in vain, for both in space and on his ship, Donovan
appears to be on the winning hand.
And now the conclusion:
"We've lost life support on decks five through seven!" shouted the tactical
officer on the Bridge of the battered USS Sophocles. Or what was left of it.
It seemed to Captain Kellin that his Bridge was in shambles, and he was
right. A couple of support beams had given in and had crashed to the ground,
almost crushing the Captain himself under them. Fires were raging at the
back of the Bridge and with the automatic fire suppression system off
line -- one of the many systems on this ship shot to pieces -- the crew had
to extinguish the fires manually.
The Bridge was practically filled with smoke. There seemed no end to it
either, for hot gas poured out of a couple of breached conduits
continuously. Kellin waved some of the gas away with his hand in an almost
futile gesture that told the crew he was not giving up. "Evacuate those
decks," he ordered. "Helm, continue evasive manoeuvres. Stand by on warp
drive -- we'll leave the second we have Ayer on board." His hand flew to his
communicator on his chest. "Kellin to Zjavick; Commander, we are running out
of time here. We need at least one transporter operational. Now."
In transporter room one, Zjavick was aligning the transporter buffers in a
hurry, while Sandra and Zaag struggled to replace one of the burnt-out
molecular imaging scanners. "All of the transporters are knocked out,
Captain," Zjavick said through the comm system. "A power surge overloaded
the entire system. Repairing all of them is out of the question, but," he
paused as he activated an engineering tool which emitted a soft glow, "we're
trying to isolate a single transporter unit. We *should* be able to get it
on line in a couple of minutes."
Those on the Bridge who were close enough to see the Captain's expression
witnessed him frown. He looked displeased, to say the least. "We don't have
time, Commander." He steadied himself against a fallen support beam as the
ship lunged unexpectedly to starboard, courtesy of the ship's helmsman.
Engineering had reported that the power feed to the inertial dampers was
hampering at times. On a ship filled with damage, a disrupted power flow was
way on the bottom of the repair list, right down there with such unimportant
systems as holodecks, replicators and transporters.
The transporters, although not usually required in a combat situation, were
needed now to beam Ayer and the samples off the Iapetus, so Zjavick had
endeavoured to fix them himself, together with Sandra and Zaag. Now,
however, he wished he had more personnel at his disposal. "I am aware of
that, Captain," he said testily and yanked a cable out of a damaged
condensator. He sighed deeply. "Have you blasted a hole in their shields
yet?"
"Well... No, not yet," Kellin was forced to admit. He took a deep breath,
but ended up coughing as his lungs protested against the intake of this much
smoke.
In the transporter room, another charge capacitor overloaded and Zjavick
cursed softly to himself. "You just worry about creating that hole, sir.
We'll have a transporter ready when you do." He activated another
engineering tool and aimed it at the overloaded circuits. "Somehow," he
muttered through his clenched teeth.
Kellin decided that it wasn't good enough. He gestured to the Operations
officer and ordered, "Get me a channel to the Romulans."
On the badly damaged viewscreen, the even more badly damaged bridge of the
Romulan warbird became visible. If possible, its bridge was in an even worse
condition than the Sophocles'. Vraal was clinging to his console for dear
life as his ship shook violently. The sight of dead Romulans all over the
bridge sickened Kellin, and he fought back the first instinct to gag at the
sight of a heavily burnt Romulan who laid dead besides the console Vraal was
at. Flames continued to eat their way through the dead officer's clothing
and skin.
"Whatever you want, Captain, I suggest you make it brief." Vraal was in no
mood for lengthy conversations anymore. He had lost all taste for rhetoric,
for glory or even for the samples. This was a fight for survival, nothing
more.
Kellin spoke with great difficulty, "Are any of your transporters still
operational?"
Vraal looked at him as if he had lost his mind. "My ship is wrecked,
Captain," he said forcefully. "My shields are gone, my crew is dead. I have
done my duty here, Captain Kellin. If this ship still had any engines left,
we would not have this conversation, for I would have fled the battle."
Kellin twitched his jaw. The warbird was as good as destroyed and wasn't
going to be of any more assistance, and the Sophocles, in her battered
state, could not handle the Iapetus on her own. He realised grimly that
there never had been much chance of winning the battle in the first place
and they had been fools to defy the odds like this. The decision to stay and
fight in the hope that Ayer could still be rescued had been the wrong one to
make. Kellin's course of action had been clear from the beginning, and it
was even more clear now.
"Commander Vraal," he began, "if you have any means of propulsion left, try
to get yourself a safe distance away from the Iapetus. We'll give you cover
fire, and then we'll try to tractor you out of the area."
"*Now* you're retreating?" Vraal demanded incredulously.
"Seems as good a time as any."
"Your abandoning Ayer! You're abandoning the crystals!"
"Yes. I am. Helm, plot an escape trajectory. Tactical, begin laying down
cover fire." Kellin eyed Vraal. "This has gone far enough. I won't continue
to risk my ship and crew for one man and some samples -- I know an
impossible battle when I see one."
"You fool!" Vraal yelled and slammed his fist down on his console. He
immediately grimaced in pain; apparently his hand had been severely burned
by plasma fires earlier in the battle. "You can't leave now. You know what
that Captain will do with the crystals if he is allowed to take them home
with him? Do you think he'll share the technology with the rest of the
Federation? No! If he shares the crystals, he'll do so with his own,
unpredictable secret organisation." Kellin eyed him with disbelief, but
Vraal foresaw his question. "There's no time to explain, just take my word
for it; the Iapetus is part of an organisation that operates above the law
of the Federa-"
A powerful phaser blast impacted the warbird, and Vraal had to practically
embrace the console in order to remain upright. Green blood dripped out a
wound on his forehead and plasma burns covered the side of his face. It was
no pleasant sight. "There goes my life support," Vraal said sullenly.
"All right." Kellin was not prepared to sit here and do nothing while
Donovan was tearing the warbird apart piece by piece. "If you have a plan,
let's hear it. Otherwise, we'll stand by our tractor beams to pull your ship
out of there."
Vraal smiled every so slightly and broke out in a fit of coughing. "You
simply stand by and don't get killed. I'll provide the hole in their
shielding, you do the rest, understand?" He manipulated a few controls on
his barely working console.
"Captain," came the surprised voice of the Operations officer, and Kellin
looked at her. "He's activating his emergency thrusters. He's setting a
collision course with the Iapetus!"
Kellin's head jerked back to the viewscreen where Vraal was smiling despite
his precarious situation. "It's in all our best interests that the crystals
do not fall in the hands of people as unpredictable as Donovan," said Vraal
through the ever increasing static. "I'd much rather see the samples in the
possession of an enemy I know I can trust."
With that, the channel closed and the screen once again showed the darkness
of space as a background to the starship Iapetus as it launched another
phaser blast at the warbird. The large, green, vessel flew on, heavily
damaged but straight on course. It exploded in a bright ball of erupting
fire the moment it hit the Iapetus' shields.
****
It all happened so fast. And yet...
Ayer felt the struggle with Donovan would never end. Locked in eternal
combat, the two Captains fought in the transporter room for possession of
the crystals, and neither of them was going to give up if they could help
it. The fight would go on until either one of them would drop dead, either
from their wounds or from exhaustion.
Captain Ayer thought he would do both soon. He was on the losing side and
had to endure a lot more punches than he could hand out. His opponent was a
capable warrior, and was not going to stop until he had paid Ayer back for
what he had done to the Iapetus -- whatever it was that he had done.
Memories, feelings, they all became a blur for Ayer. Only one thing remained
focused in his mind as the struggle continued: the samples must not fall
into the hands of Donovan. Sure, the Iapetus had already been equipped with
several of these samples, Donovan had told him so. But, so Ayer knew in some
portion or other of his subconscious, the majority of the crystals was what
counted here. The crystals currently used to power the Iapetus' phaser banks
and engines were of little consequence, for the continuous pounding they had
to endure at the hands of whatever ships were attacking her had to cause
imperfections in the crystals, making them unsuitable objects for study. The
rest of the crystals what was Donovan was now after, and Ayer knew he had to
make sure that Donovan would fail.
That wasn't easy, however, when your face was so covered with bruises you
could barely speak and pain was rushing through your entire body. Before he
knew it, Ayer was on the floor again. But one punch in the face of the
Iapetus' Captain allowed him a brief moment of reprieve. He used it to
quickly get up and take the phaser that was still on the transporter
console.
Swiftly, he backed up out of reach of Donovan. He was stepping backward --
staggering was more like it -- onto the transporter pads, where the
container with the crystals was still located. All the while, he kept his
type one phaser trained at Donovan, who slowly got up and found himself on
the losing side for a change. "It's set to kill," Ayer said with difficulty
and reached for the container with the samples.
That was when the Romulan warbird impacted the Iapetus' shields.
The ship shook violently and Ayer's already weak legs could no longer hold
his weight. He lost his balance and went down. As he did, he saw Donovan
steady himself against the transporter control console. Clearly the Captain
of the Iapetus managed to regain his balance, despite the severe shaking
that plagued his vessel.
"Bridge to Captain!" Enwabi cried through the comm channel. "We've lost
ventral shielding! Heavy damage to secondary-" But Donovan cut her off by
ending the channel before she was finished. He glared in the direction of
his fallen adversary. This was a chance for both of them. A chance for Ayer
to shoot Donovan and escape with the samples. A chance for Donovan to knock
out Ayer now that he was down. It all came down to who was the quickest.
But Ayer was still holding the phaser tightly in his hand; surely he seemed
to have the advantage. He was, however, a broken man. The brutal torture had
broken several bones, and the following struggle with Donovan had left him
aching with pain all over his body. Now that he was flat on his back, he
felt he no longer had the strength to get up anymore. He barely had any
strength left to raise his arm and aim the phaser at Donovan, but it was his
only defence against the madman, so he willed his arm up.
Donovan, a trained operative of his organisation, was still on his feet.
Although he had received some punches from Ayer, he was in a far better
shape than his nemesis who was laying in a state of near-unconsciousness on
the transporter platform. He, however, had no weapon, and if he tried to get
near Ayer and the samples, he would be shot. It was the ultimate stale-mate.
But one look at the transporter console made Donovan smile. His smile
widened and turned into a grin, and soon a thundering laugh filled the
transporter room. It was the laugh of a madman, Ayer decided, the laugh of
someone who had lost his mind in an obsession to get his hands on the
crystals. Or, he thought, perhaps Donovan had always been crazy. Yes, he
decided. That must be it.
Still, the loud laughing annoyed Ayer, and he pondered shooting Donovan here
and now, just to stop the incessant laughter. But he realised that the
moment he fired that phaser at an unarmed person for any reason other than
self defence, he would become exactly like Donovan. It was a line he was not
prepared to cross.
"What's so funny?" Ayer demanded, but his voice barely had any strength left
in it. It sounded like a hoarse whisper.
"Don't you see?" Donovan replied, still laughing. "I've won."
"What are you talking about?"
Donovan didn't answer the question. Instead, he opened the channel to the
Bridge again. "Donovan to Bridge. How fares the battle, Lieutenant?"
"The warbird just crashed into our shields, sir," reported Enwabi, her voice
a lot more calm than before. "Our ventral shield emitters are smashed, and
the Sophocles keeps firing at that exposed section of our hull." As if to
prove her point, the ship lurched violently around them.
Donovan did not seem concerned. "What is the status of their transporters?"
"Down, sir. They seem to be trying to isolate a single transporter to get
that one working again, though."
"Don't let them succeed, Lieutenant," ordered Donovan. "And hang in there
for a few more seconds. This will be over soon."
"I'll say. The Sophocles is practically breaking apart. It won't take long
before they're..." An unexpected sob forced Enwabi to leave her sentence
unfinished. Tears were in her voice as she spoke up next. "Their shields are
gone," she said and swallowed. "Their weapons will go soon, too."
"Pull yourself together, Enwabi," Donovan snapped. "If they die, it's their
own bloody fault." And with that, he closed the channel. "It's so hard to
get competent staff these days," he said to Ayer. His tone was almost a
friendly one.
"How terrible for you," Ayer wanted to retort, but he could only mouth them.
It seemed as if his ability to speak had left him, too. He blinked to keep
his focus on Donovan, who was still standing at the transporter console. The
image was getting fuzzier, but Ayer told himself he had to hold on for just
a little longer. He actually began hoping that Donovan would make his move
soon, so he could shoot him and get it over with.
Donovan grinned. "Look at you. You're just laying there with a phaser
pointed at me. Pathetic. But," he said as he leaned on the transporter
console, "I do need to get past you to get the samples. You have a phaser
with which you will shoot me if I get too close. Oh dear, what to do, what
to do." He seemed to make a show out of thinking about his next course of
action. Ayer had the strange, eerie feeling that Donovan had already made
his decision. "I suppose I could contact security and have them do the dirty
work for me," he continued, "but that would be cheating, wouldn't it?"
Ayer looked at him with suspicion, but didn't answer. He wasn't in the mood
for games.
"Oh, yes," Donovan said. "We came here to fight one another. Just the two of
us. The final battle, that sort of thing. What kind of an example would I
set to my crew if I brought security officers to help me out? Having
security remove a crippled man with a phaser? Oh please." He looked at the
other Captain with a condescending glance, as if Ayer had been the one to
suggest calling the security people in the first place. "No, Captain, I will
have to fight this battle on my own." He paused as his eyes narrowed and a
grin formed on his face once again. "Fortunately, I have already won."
Captain Ayer shook his head slightly, and even that hurt. "You've lost me,"
he managed to whisper.
Donovan let out another thunderous laugh, and this time Ayer was really
close to pressing the trigger of his phaser. "No, Captain," he said out loud
as he continued laughing. Suddenly he stopped and looked Ayer straight in
the eyes. "But I'm about to."
****
"Damnit, Zjavick, where is that transporter?"
The ship trembled around them as Zjavick and Sandra replaced several burnt
out isolinear chips. On the transporter platform, Zaag was busy
extinguishing a fire. Smoke was pouring out of a nearby conduit and debris
had found its way from the ceiling to the clearing between the platform and
the transporter console. Zaag wondered why the bulkheads hadn't come down
yet. If this pounding continued for just a little while longer, though, he
would be surprised if there was anything left of this entire deck at all.
"We keep receiving damage down here," Zjavick shouted back into the
communicator, trying to make his voice heard over the falling rubble and the
sound of the fire extinguisher. Just then, the ship shook beneath their feet
again and the transporter console short-circuited. Sparks flew in every
direction as the console went up in flames. Sandra buried her head in her
arms to prevent the sparks from burning her, and Zjavick cursed through his
clenched teeth.
To make matters worse, the transporter unit they had been working on made a
faint sizzling noise that grew louder by the second, until somewhere on its
inside a few circuits burnt through, followed by a dull sound that very much
resembled a champagne cork popping. Dark smoke slowly rose from the bottom
disk of the transporter unit.
Zjavick recognised it for what it was and banged his fist on the wall.
"That's it," he said, twitching the muscles of his jaw in frustration.
"Transporters are down. There's no way we'll be able to fix it; all the
circuitry has been reduced to ashes by now."
But Sandra didn't want to give up. "There must be something we can do.
Re-route power from the phasers?" She gestured wildly with her hands. "Link
several transporters together to initiate a cascade beam-out? You know, use
every transporter we have to energise simultaneously? Even if they're all at
ten percent of their normal capacity, we'll still be able to beam him up!"
Zjavick shook his head and put his hands on Sandra's shoulders. "Listen to
me, Ensign. There *are* no transporters anymore. At least none that are even
remotely functional. We did our best."
"Are there any transporter systems still on line at all?" asked Zaag. He
didn't want to give up either.
Zjavick shrugged. "Nothing that will do us any good." At Zaag's questioning
look, he explained, "The pattern buffers are still there, as are the
secondary energising coils, but the targeting scanners are fried." He shook
his head. "No one will be transported from this ship for a while. The only
way this transporter will activate is if someone sends us a pattern, and
even then it's highly unli-" He stopped mid-sentence, for something was
happening in the transporter room that he hadn't expected.
The transporter energised.
****
Donovan relished the look in Ayer's eyes as he energised the transporter.
Only now did Ayer realise that he had lost and Donovan had won. It was so
simple, Donovan thought. The Iapetus' shields were down, as were those of
the Sophocles. Ayer had already set the transporter to beam him aboard the
other ship even before Donovan had entered the room -- all Donovan had to do
was activate the transporter, which was easily done. It had been his only
option, really. Sooner or later, Ayer would pass out, but before he did so,
he would have shot Donovan. The latter, not wanting to die just yet, also
couldn't go towards Ayer to take the samples off of the transporter
platform, for Ayer would shoot him then as well.
Time had been running out for him, and Donovan had wondered what to do up
until the moment he had glanced at the transporter control console. It
displayed the exact co-ordinates to which the transporter was set; all
Donovan had to do was activate the device and Ayer would be beamed away.
And the best part was, for Donovan, that the samples would remain on the
transporter platform. Ayer hadn't been able to grab them before he had
fallen down, and he couldn't reach them when he was on the ground either.
All the broken man had been able to do was pointing the phaser at Donovan
and watch helplessly as the other Captain declared his victory. Victory,
indeed, was Donovan's: Ayer had been too late in realising what the Captain
of the Iapetus was doing with the transporter controls. Too late did he
realise that he was being beamed away. If only he had more time, he would
have shot Donovan, but because Donovan merely activated the transporter
without changing the co-ordinates, Ayer didn't have enough time to stop him.
As he was dematerialising, Ayer knew that he had lost. The condescending
glare that Donovan gave him the moment he activated the transporter would
haunt him for the rest of his life, he knew. But that was nothing compared
to the agony he was feeling about losing the samples, and, most importantly,
his friends. Watters had perished at the hands of Donovan while saving the
lives of his crewmates... he could still see the look in Watters' eyes when
he died. It was the same look of shock he had seen also on the dead face of
his Vulcan First Officer, who had died when the Aquinas was attacked -- also
by Donovan. Zjavick, Zaag, Sandra... They had died, too, when Donovan
destroyed the shuttle they were on. So much death. So many good people had
found their deaths, all to make sure that Ayer would be able to retrieve the
crystals.
But he had failed. His thoughts went out to all those who had died...
Sandra. He would never see Sandra again, never see her eyes sparkle in
wonder after a discovery she had made, never hear her call him 'Uncle Pete'
again. Her career in Starfleet would not flourish, nor would he ever see her
married, have children, raise a family. Cut down before she could even
become all that she could be, Sandra would never be able to reach her full
potential. All because of Donovan... All because of Ayer. He felt he had to
cry, but he was unable to as his molecules separated from each other and
were sent through space as nothing but energy.
****
His molecules reassembled as Ayer rematerialised in the damaged transporter
room of the Sophocles. He found himself being stared at by three people he
knew very well, and he stared back at them in astonishment. They were gaping
at him, as if not expecting to see him, and he was definitely not expecting
to see them. Weren't they dead?
"Uncle Pete!" Sandra cried out and ran onto the platform to hug him tightly.
The pain he felt was surpassed by the happiness he was feeling at the sight
of Sandra still alive.
"I thought you were dead," he managed to say with difficulty. "I saw the
shuttle explode."
Zjavick gave his Captain half a smile. "We escaped." There was a sombre look
in his eyes, and Ayer instantly knew why. "The samples?" he asked softly.
Ayer closed his eyes and Zjavick understood what had happened. The crystals
hadn't been recovered. He tapped his communicator as he kept his eyes locked
on his Captain. "Medical personnel to transporter room one," he called, and
then opened a channel to the Bridge. "Zjavick to Kellin. Sir, we have Ayer."
"Well done, Commander," came the voice of Kellin. "Now we can get out of
here. Helm, enga-"
"We've lost the samples."
The silence on the other end of the channel made it clear how Kellin felt
about that. The news sank in for a few awkward moments, as the loss became
clear to Kellin and his crew. While they had managed to rescue Ayer, the
samples were gone.
****
Captain Donovan arrived triumphantly on his Bridge and sat down in his chair
as he asked for a report on the battle. Enwabi told him that the Sophocles
still had warp power and one phaser bank left, plus a single torpedo
launcher. Everything else on the ship was practically destroyed. The
Iapetus, however, was in quite a bad way, too, although her damage was not
quite so severe. Their ventral shields had collapsed, and enemy fire had
caused massive damage to the ventral section of the hull. The improved
systems were holding, Enwabi informed Donovan, but the crystals had taken
quite a beating. Some of them had even displayed cracks in their structures.
The high-intensity radiation that was emitted by the crystals and was
converted into energy had diminished in power. Still, the crystals were a
formidable power source, and, if more were found, they could eventually be
the key to Federation domination of the galaxy.
"Did you get anything out of the prisoner, sir?" asked Enwabi.
Donovan shook his head. "No. We got all the information we could get out of
him." He paused and added softly, "I let him go."
Enwabi looked at her Captain in surprise. Ever so often, he could still
surprise her. She had always thought of him as a strong, fearless leader who
would never show mercy to anyone. Someone who was willing to destroy a
fellow Federation ship in the name of secrecy didn't strike her as a man
capable of mercy. "You let him go, sir?"
"What's it to you?"
She hesitated. "You did tell me to leave no witnesses, sir."
"We have what we came for," Donovan said to her. "We've stayed in one place
for too long already." He turned to tactical. "Hold your fire. Let them limp
home." He sighed and shifted in his chair. "I'm tired of battle. We
shouldn't waste any more time on it." He nodded his head, as if he had just
decided something. "Helm, mask our warp signature and head for home." He
looked carefully at the container of samples he was holding. The crystals
were simply too important a cargo for them to stay here and risk detection
by any other ship. "Engage."
Enwabi cast one last glance at the Sophocles again -- the ship she nearly
destroyed. Why Captain Donovan had just ordered them to leave the Sophocles
alone was a mystery to her, but whatever the reason, she was sure he hadn't
given that order out of compassion or guilt. Perhaps he had wanted to give
the crew of the Sophocles a message. Perhaps he had allowed them to live to
remind them of... what? Of Donovan's greatness? She wouldn't put it past
him. Of the fact that the crystals were now where they belonged? Maybe. Or
had Donovan possibly left the Sophocles' crew alone because Ayer was now on
that ship?
It was a very real possibility. Donovan had seemed obsessed with torturing
Ayer, with getting back at him for what his crew had done to Hall. And now
Ayer was on the other ship, wounded, broken, battered. His own ship was
gone, half of his crew dead. The ship he was on now had almost undergone the
same fate as that which befell the Aquinas. Utterly defeated, Ayer had
escaped -- had been *allowed* to escape -- with only his life. His ship, the
crystals, all was taken from him. *That* was why Donovan had let him live,
Enwabi realised. What greater pain could there be than the knowledge that
you were alive only because your enemy allowed you to live, while everything
you cared about had come crumbling down? She couldn't help but feel sorry
for Ayer: even though he and Donovan were no longer in the same room, or
soon even in the same sector, the torture continued. It would always
continue.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The Alpha Centauri Mystery - Epilogue, by Ben Versteegt
--------------------------------------------------------------------
TWO WEEKS LATER
Shuttles were flying to and fro in the blue sky above Sandra and Zaag. Her
head was resting on his shoulder and she was enjoying the rays of light of
the Alpha Centauri sun. She had her eyes closed and a smile on her face.
Even though the events of two weeks ago were still fresh in her memory and
would probably never leave her mind, she felt she could live with them, as
long as Zaag stayed by her side. There was something about the Ferengi that
made her comfortable. Zaag wasn't complaining and ran a hand through her
hair. He was just happy to sit here with her in the park in front of the
Starfleet research base, which was in the process of being rebuilt.
Business had been going well since he returned, for many customers flocked
to his bar, interested to hear the stories he had to tell. While they
listened, they drank. Still, even though business was going better than ever
before, Zaag longed to be with Sandra all the time. It was strange, he
thought, that love was so distracting, and he had often told himself to pay
more attention to the bar. But of course, whenever he saw her enter his
establishment again, he went weak inside. It was crazy, but it was worth it,
he had decided.
Footsteps became louder as they neared the resting couple. Zaag looked at
the two men who now stood in front of them and nodded at them in greeting.
He gently nudged Sandra, who quickly opened her eyes and smiled when she saw
who had arrived. "Hello, Uncle Pete."
Ayer returned the smile. "I really must come up with a nickname for you, as
well."
"I'll come up with something," Zjavick added. The engineer stood next to his
Captain and was wearing a smile on his face as well. "After all, I'll have
plenty of time to get to know you a little better, Ensign Burke."
Sandra and Zaag both eyed the engineer in surprise. "What do you mean?"
Zjavick simply smiled ear to ear and looked at Ayer. "We just got our new
orders," the Captain told them. "I am to take command of the USS Ockham,
Nebula class. My mission is the same as it was when on the Aquinas: to
patrol this region of space. Zjavick will be my chief engineer." He looked
at Sandra. "I'd like you to be my science officer. Everything has been
arranged already, paperwork has been done; all you have to do is say yes."
Sandra gaped at him, dumbfounded. Finally she managed to get a word out.
"Uh... yes," she said and started to laugh. "Yes, that'd be great!"
"Hold on just one minute!" Zaag exclaimed as he stood up. "Where does that
leave me? We'd be light-years apart!"
Ayer chuckled. "I just happen to know that they do need a new bartender on
the Ockham, mister Zaag. You wouldn't happen to be interested, would you?"
"And give up my bar here on Alpha Centauri III?" he asked. He seemed
offended by the very thought. Until, of course, he looked at Sandra. She
smiled at him and he smiled back. "When do we leave?"
They all had a good laugh, but it wasn't long before someone spoke up again.
It was Sandra. "So... We won't be searching for any more crystals, then?"
she asked.
Ayer's face darkened. "No. In fact, Starfleet seems intent on denying the
very existence of the crystals. My reports on the matter have been closed
off for everyone but the top brass of Starfleet, and I have been sworn to
secrecy -- well, you know that. We all have."
"Except me," Zaag put in with a sly smile. "I am not a member of Starfleet.
They couldn't order me to keep it all a secret."
"No," replied Sandra, "but they did threaten to put you out of business,
remember?" She sighed, not pleased with this at all. "I can't believe
Starfleet's just going to cover up this whole thing. We've seen what
happened, and so have a few dozen other crewmembers."
"Crewmembers who will have their career blown to bits if they ever spill the
beans on the situation, I'm afraid," Zjavick stated. "Starfleet Intelligence
seemed very adamant about keeping this whole thing a secret."
Ayer nodded in agreement. "It would appear so, yes. I can understand that
Starfleet wants to keep the existence of a rogue Starfleet organisation a
secret, but they don't even seem to take steps in order to dismantle it. I
got the distinct impression that the brass is concerned only with shutting
us up, and not with recovering the samples." His brow furrowed in thought.
"In fact, I get the feeling that the Admirals I talked to know a lot more
than they cared to admit."
Sandra shuddered at the implication. "Are you saying that Donovan's
organisation is endorsed by Starfleet?"
The Captain shrugged. "Not officially, I'm sure. But where else would a man
like Donovan get his hands on a Prometheus class starship? He had to have
had inside help. Someone in the top brass of Starfleet, to erase any
evidence pertaining to the existence of such an organisation. They've wiped
all information about the crystals, as well. It's as if they never existed."
"So someone high up in Starfleet is part of this... Section 31?" Zaag asked.
It was hard to believe. "I can't imagine anyone in Starfleet covering up for
the likes of Donovan. I just can't."
"Believe it," Zjavick said. "Someone's erasing information and forcing us to
not tell anyone what we've seen. It's clear that Starfleet, or at least part
of it, is involved with Donovan and his organisation -- unofficially, of
course." He clenched his fists in frustration. "And to think that the
crystals are now in the hands of an organisation that wouldn't hesitate to
shoot a Starfleet vessel... It gives me the creeps."
Despite everything they had been through two weeks ago, Ayer didn't seem too
worried. Sandra, however, knew that his relaxed pose was deliberate and
forced. "There were only a small number of crystals in the container," he
recalled, "enough to power five, maybe six ships at most. The thought of
there being six hideously powerful ships is still frightening, I grant you
that, but six ships is not enough to start another interstellar war. If they
want to equip an entire fleet with those crystals, they will have to find
more of them, and they don't know the location. They don't even know where
they came from, or why they were found near Alpha Centauri all of a sudden.
They don't know, we don't know, and I doubt anybody will know for a long
time to come." He paused, and his doubts were now more clearly visible in
his eyes. "As long as Donovan and his organisation do not know where the
crystals came from, I suspect the consequences of their possession of the
crystals will be minimal."
Zaag nodded, deep in thought. "Eventually they'll find the answers they are
looking for, you know. It may take years, but they will unlock the crystals'
secrets. It's only a matter of time."
"We'll be ready when they do," Sandra replied. "After all, we will be
patrolling this sector, and the answer to this mystery lies here, at Alpha
Centauri. We're bound to run into them again some day."
"And here I was thinking I had seen the last of Donovan," Ayer mused and
looked up at the clear blue sky. After all they had been through, after all
the punches he had taken, after finally having escaped, been recaptured,
escaped again, he still wasn't rid of Donovan. He would meet him again, he
was sure of that. What plans Donovan and his organisation had in store for
the crystals, he shuddered to think. He had meant what he said: there were
too few crystals to upgrade an entire fleet of starships. Donovan's crazy
plan to take on the Romulans needed at least twice as many crystals, he
guessed. But he knew that Donovan wouldn't give up. He would never give up.
One day, they would meet again; of that he was sure. By that time, however,
Donovan might have solved the Alpha Centauri Mystery.
Donovan had said that what he did, he did for the good of the Federation.
Ayer still didn't know whether this was true. He only knew that Donovan was
a madman capable of the most horrible of crimes, all allegedly necessary for
the survival of the Federation. The cause, Donovan would argue, justifies
the means.
Ayer didn't agree.
He would be damned if he ever did.
THE END
By Ben Versteegt
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Back to the Calhoun, part 2, by Rob Versteegt.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary: Jeff Jalando, First Officer of Pandora Station, has been arrested
by the Temporal department of the future Starfleet, and was charged and
found guilty of crimes he was going to commit, which would lead to the
destruction of the USS Calhoun, and thus the abandoning of Starfleet's
transwarpproject. Even though Jalando did not accept this verdict, he was
locked up, and went to sleep in a holding cell. . . only to wake up a few
years earlier, on the Spacedock of the USS Calhoun. Someone on board the
timeship must have sent him there, for Jeff to prove his innocence.
And now the continuation:
After the launching-ceremony, Jalando had walked around the spacedock for a
little longer, trying to stay out of sight. He was also trying to find out
if there were any temporal anomalies present, which could be from the person
who would destroy the Calhoun. . . if it wasn't him who was responsible for
that, of course.
Jalando shook his head. How *could* he be responsible for the Calhoun's
destruction? He did not even *want* that to happen! He was a loyal Starfleet
officer, who wanted the Transwarp project to succeed as much as anyone. In
fact, in his timeline, the Calhoun had not been destroyed, and there were
now multiple Transwarp capable ships. With the destruction of the Calhoun
though, all of that would not happen. . .
But if it wasn't him who would destroy the Calhoun, then who would? And who
was to say that the Calhoun would indeed be destroyed? All he got was the
accusation of some people from the future, who said that he was responsible
for the destruction of Starfleet's first transwarp-capable ship, on its
maiden voyage. But that whole idea was ridiculous, because in Jalando's
timeline, the Calhoun was still there. . . If he would do that, then
everything Jalando had experienced would vanish out of existence. . . he
would change the timeline, letting things happen in a different way. In
fact, in that timeline, Jalando would be unable to go back and destroy the
Calhoun, because it already was destroyed. . .
He sighed. Things were getting too complicated. Maybe it was just best not
to think about it, and to just enjoy this while it lasted. He would see to
it though, that the Calhoun would not be destroyed. . . he would have to do
this in order to preserve the timeline, and to prove his innocence. Once the
temporal people realised that the Calhoun wasn't destroyed, they'd get him
out of here, apologise, and would let Jalando get back to what he had been
doing before these temporal officers interrupted him: relaxing.
Now though, it might be better to start moving around the ship. The PADD
that had been sent back in time with him did give him general information
about who was who, what was where, and stuff like that, but in order to
really pretend to be a part of the Calhoun crew, he would have to know the
ship from stem to stern. So until the Calhoun was scheduled to be launched,
Jalando figured he'd do some exploring.
It didn't take Jalando long to find his way onto the USS Calhoun. She was an
impressive ship, that much was certain. With its state of the art weapons,
propulsion systems, sensors. . . everything in and on this ship was new. The
Bridge, the quarters, Engineering. . . yes, he had looked at all those
locations. Well, on his PADD, at least. He had been to the Science lab
though, because officially, according to the crew compliment, that was where
he worked. It had indeed been pretty impressive: even on Pandora Station in
2392, there were Science Labs which weren't as sophisticated as this one.
Now though, he was standing outside of 10-Forward: the crew lounge on deck
10. It was a busy lounge, with a lot of the senior crew taking their refuge
after the -probably tiresome- reception, where they'd talked with who knew
how many reporters and other interested people.
To Jalando's surprise, he saw both Captain Janssens and Lieutenant
Janssens -or actually Lt.jg Janssens, CSO, and Ensign Janssens, EO,-
standing there by the window. It was at that very same moment that Captain
Main entered. This, Jalando knew, was probably not a good time to be here.
Yet, he was standing in the opening, and Commander Main, plus what seemed to
be a Soong-type Android, entered as well, so Jalando had to step aside to
let them through.
"Hello," Jalando heard the Commander say, while the two made their way
towards the two who were standing by the window, "are we allowed to sit down
with the Janssens brothers?"
Jalando smiled slightly, realising that in 2391, Captain Janssens and
Captain Main had also met on Pandora Station. It seemed as if this was one
of the first times the two met each other. . . only to stay in touch for at
least another year. However, Jalando wasn't about to find out what the four
people would talk about. It was probably best if he wouldn't interact with
these people that much. . . so, he left 10 Forward. After all, he might
cause Janssens to remember him, which in turn would let the to-be CO know
that his to-be 2O had served on the Calhoun, which in turn Jalando would
deny, because when he was 2O, he did not have any recollection of serving on
that ship. . . this could indeed have some serious repercussions. Maybe it
was better to avoid any contact with any of the senior staff, altogether.
*****
The next day though, Jalando found himself on the Bridge, to observe the
launch. He was standing close to the turbolift, so that he could slip away,
if necessary. However, this also meant that he would notice anyone who
entered the Bridge, and that those persons would probably notice him. But
then again, what was there to worry about? He was just another Starfleet
Officer. . . an Ensign even. Not uncommon on a Starfleet Bridge.
When another set of doors opened though -not the turboliftdoors this time,
but the doors of the Ready Room- Jalando was startled to see Captain Vaun
enter the Bridge. As the closest Starfleet person to the Captain's location,
it was his duty to announce the Captain's arrival. He would have liked to
let someone else do it, but that would be suspicious, wouldn't it? So,
hoping that nobody would notice him too much, he took a deep breath, and
said in a rather loud voice: "Captain on the bridge!"
It wasn't long before Captain Vaun finally gave the order everyone on the
Bridge -including Jalando- had been waiting for. "Lt. K'Rhynne," The Captain
started, talking to the Chief of CONN, "Take us out of spacedock, and out of
Earth orbit, one quarter impulse."
The Chief of CONN followed orders, and pretty soon, the ship had left
spacedock. . . It had only taken a couple of minutes for Captain Vaun to
order the CONN to start using Transwarpspeed. This was it. Transwarp. They
were actually going faster than anyone had gone before. Well, okay, Jeff had
gone -or would go, depending on one's point of view- as fast, on the
testflight in the Epimetheus, but that would only be happening in about a
year or so. . .
When the official part of all of this was over, Jalando had decided to
vacate the Bridge. This was not his place or the time to be here. And since
he was supposed to be a normal Science Officer, he had better get back to
the Science Labs. . .
*****
It had been a couple of days. . . and nothing had happened. Nothing out of
the extra-ordinary, anyway. The crew was getting used to travelling at
Transwarp, and people were starting to get used to doing their duties on a
new dutystation under a new Captain with new colleagues. In that aspect,
Jalando considered himself lucky: he too knew no-one personally. . . in
essence, he was like most of the crew here. This helped him fit in, without
attracting too much attention to himself.
For some reason, the past couple of days had been relaxing to Jalando.
Admitted, he did have to watch out so that he wouldn't look odd amongst
others, while trying to once again scan for a temporal anomaly, but all of
that soon became daily routine. . . just part of his job. It was refreshing
to once again just be a scientist, working alongside other scientists. He
was not commanding anyone. . . he was working together, sometimes even
making fun of the people in charge. There were even a couple of people
who thought that Mr. Janssens had brought his brother on board to confuse
everyone, and that because of this, Janssens' superiors would also be
confused, and not promote him. All in the Science Lab had laughed, including
Jalando. The Prophets of course knew that in 2392, the now-CSO Janssens was
Captain of the USS Epimetheus, and that his brother was still an Engineer. .
. although with a rank or two higher than he had now.
Jalando's attention was quickly diverted from reminiscing to the beeping of
his console. It was time: Time for the USS Calhoun to end her first
transwarpflight. They had been travelling quite some days, and now they were
near Talax! Nothing had gone wrong, and Jalando was of course glad for that.
After all, this proved his innocence. The Calhoun now only had to drop out
of transwarp, and Jalando would be a free man again.
But. . . nothing happened. The consoles still indicated that the Calhoun was
still in the Transwarp domain. Shortly thereafter, the ship went to Yellow
Alert. Silently, Jalando sighed. It seemed like the Prophets weren't with
him on this.
Well, something was going on. That much was sure. And he couldn't just stay
here, could he? In order to prove his innocence, he had to find out if
whatever was holding them in this Transwarp domain was an effect of
sabotage. . .
Quickly, Jalando looked at the console in front of him, and tapped in some
commands. He had to know what was going on. A moment later, he did. Of
course, it wasn't often that a lowly science officer would be able to access
this kind of information, but. . . well, the PADD that had travelled back in
time with him contained some very interesting security codes: codes which he
used to find out what was going on.
What he saw made him gasp in surprise. Alien lifeforms, the size of ships,
were following the Calhoun. They were the source of the inability that the
Calhoun people couldn't shut down the Transwarp engine. . . or so the
preliminary readings said. But when Jalando looked deeper. . . studied
these readings for a little while, he discovered what Lieutenant Janssens,
at the same moment, on the Bridge, discovered. These beings had nothing to
do with the malfunctions in the Transwarp engine. Then. . . something was
wrong with the engine itself. Badly wrong. But that wasn't all. Far from
it. Jalando's eyes grew wide, when he looked at these readings, and the
future PADD. Could this be it? The reason why the Calhoun exploded? He
didn't know. How could he? Even the PADD from the future was vague about
that. All he knew was that in some timeline, the Calhoun would explode. . .
unless Jalando could stop it.
He couldn't stop anything from here though. Engineering. That was where he
had to go. If there was any chance of stopping the Calhoun from blowing up,
it would be there. If only Jalando wasn't too late. . .
Running out of the Science Lab, Jalando couldn't help but feel worried. Not
only about the fact that the Calhoun might blow up soon, but also because of
a feeling he had. . . there was something. Something elusive. Something
dangerous. Something powerful. Something. . .
While Jalando was running through the corridors, he had no idea what kind of
dangers he would face.
Next time: Will the Calhoun blow up? And what is this 'something' which
Jalando is feeling? Stay tuned for the next part of: "Back to the Calhoun."
=====
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