Something Very Different - Part One

[DrDMatthews 0]

A joint log by Debbie Matthews, Simon Ljungberg, Dom Pneuma and Aidan Ridire......

 

 

 

 

Debbie Matthews and Petty Officer Simon Ljungberg slowly walked deeper into the main engineering deck of the unidentified Starship. Mr. O'Conner and Mr. Pneuma were several yards ahead of them. It was eerily quiet as the away team's lights bounced around the room, momentarily displaying the permanent scars of what had been a terrible fire fight.

 

The comm from Commander Ridire caught Debbie by surprise. She jumped, then slightly embarrassed, managed to stifle a gasp before responding.

 

Simon looked at Doctor Matthews. Under normal circumstances he might have laughed at someone jumping at the sound from their commbadge. But these were not normal circumstances and he had to admit that the sound had startled him, too.

 

Looking around the room he could very well understand that Debbie was on edge. He was, too. This was not what he had expected. There were bodies everywhere. The bulkheads were full of the marks of a fierce battle, consoles had blown up. The worst, however, was the silence. This silence, that was ringing in his ears. This silence, that was so absolute, so final that even the soft footfalls of the away team could hardly penetrate it.

 

When the CMO answered the comm, her voice sounded unusually loud. Simon wondered which long forgotten ghosts’ wrath she might stir up by disturbing their quiet rest. ‘Stop it, stupid,’ Simon chided himself as he listened to Matthews talking to the Commander.

 

Aidan frowns slightly at the Doctor's news. He brushes a hand against the plaque before him, rubbing off some of the dirt while privately hoping what he's reading isn't actually what he's reading. He sighs as he feels a very heavy weight settle over him. Tapping his commbadge he says "Doctor, we've reached the bridge. This ship's Captain, I presume, is sitting dead in his chair. And there's one more thing...I've found out what ship this is. According to the plaque, this ship's motto is ''So that we may repay what we took.' NCC-2704....I.S.S. Odyssey."

 

Debbie remained quiet for a long moment. She drew a deep breath before lowering her voice and asking her next question. "+Ridire+ We are still in our own universe, right?"

 

Aidan shakes his head and replies "I believe so, Doctor. I haven't seen any signs that we ran across any temporal anomalies or some such thing. However, I could be wrong."

 

+Ridire+ Well, that's comforting to know," replied Debbie, hoping the Commander was right. "Next question is .....what is THIS ship doing here?"

 

"Your guess is as good as mine, Doctor. I think it would be in all our best interest to find out the answer to that question as soon as possible. See what you can find out down there. Ridire out."

 

Ljungberg was standing close enough to have heard the comm. Actually, it was so quiet, Debbie wouldn't have been surprised if O'Conner and Pneuma heard it as well. She looked in their direction but they were continuing to move deeper into the room apparently unaware of the Commander's startling revelation.

 

"Mr. O'Conner, Mr. Pneuma," called Debbie, just loud enough to be heard. "Come on back for a minute. There's something you need to know.

 

Simon looked at his chief in disbelief. "Please tell me I've misunderstood. Did he really say ISS Odyssey?" Knowing what the answer would be, he closed his eyes briefly and sighed. This was getting worse by the minute. They were on a ghost ship with hundreds of slaughtered people on it and on top of that the ship wasn't even from this universe. He wondered what would be next.

 

As Mr. Pneuma walked on into the vast darkness. With only his little bit of light and the flashes of light from the others to guide him, he continued into engineering. Not being able to see clearly didn't dampen the intense pain that was emanating from the various corpses but now there was something new. Anger. Where was this coming from?

 

As the silence was pierced by the comms between the Doc and Commander Ridire, Pneuma was startled and jumped a bit. He could hear his heart pounding from the quick spook. Anger. Fear. Pain. An endless cycle that was shattered by the Docs voice.

 

Overcome by the mixed bag of emotions, Dom replied sharply. "Yeah, I’m comin!" Immediately realizing what he just did, he quickly interjected. "Oh Shoot! I’m sorry Doc. I'll be right there sir."

 

Debbie waited until O'Conner and Pneuma were standing in front of her before saying a word. "Commander Ridire's team arrived on the bridge a short time ago," she began, careful to keep her voice calm. "They found more bodies, including the Captain's. Nothing surprising about that, but, as you are aware, a ship's dedication plaque is always on the bridge. So we now know this vessel's name."

 

She looked at all three of the team members. "She's Odyssey," continued Debbie. "this ship is the I S S Odyssey." Ljungberg started shaking his head even before Matthews finished speaking. Pneuma and O'Connor simply stood there, staring at her....which was exactly what she'd expected to happen.

 

Stunned by the mere fact that this ship was not from this universe, Pneuma's jaw dropped. Suddenly things started making sense. This mixed bag of emotions, all from these people whose lives consisted of fear, pain, and anger, now carried on after death. That, at least, brought him a little comfort but sadly, there was still the question that everyone had but there was no answer in sight. "Where did She come from and How did she get here?" Dom asked half wanting an answer, half not.

 

The second time around the information sounded just as incredible as when he had first heard it a minute ago. Simon took a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking. “So, if this is really the ISS Odyssey and if we’re still in our universe, this ship must have gotten here somehow. I’d say the most important question is not how but were there other ships?”

 

Simon paused a second to find the right words. “I mean, a ship with a dead crew does not just turn up in another universe, right? If this,” he made a gesture towards some of the bodies. “happened here, in our universe, those who did this must still be around, somewhere.” This thought sent a shiver down Simon’s spine and he squinted into the darkness. He knew it was pointless. The only ones alive on this ship were the two away teams but he suddenly felt uneasy. The darkness around them seemed to have deepened. He was not very keen to meet whoever was responsible for the massacre on this ship.

 

Debbie shook her head slightly. "This crew was murdered quite some time ago. We won't know exactly how long they've been here until we have a chance to examine some of the bodies. But all that's left are skeletons so this didn't happen recently." Matthews found herself glancing around the darkened room as though someone might sneak up on them.

 

"There may have been other ships," continued Debbie. "But I think it's a safe bet they're long gone. And that leads to yet another question." She paused and looked at each of the team members. "If this carnage took place here, in our universe, and another ship was present, why didn't they just destroy the Odyssey? Why did they bother with hand to hand combat and then leave all this gruesome evidence behind?"

 

"Perhaps their intention was not to destroy her but to capture her. Mutual

destruction?" Pneuma mentioned grasping at straws. He was not exactly thrilled with the idea of being on such a vessel and the echoes of emotion that kept hitting him was no picnic either. Oddly enough he did begin to feel a sense of curiosity. Knowing that it was his own feelings and no one else's scared him even more. Even more than the wanting to get back to the safety of the Reaent, Pneuma wanted to know just what happened to the crew, the ship and to its attackers. Maybe, just maybe, the answer would silence these ghosts of the past.

 

Simon swallowed hard at the possible answer he’d come up with. He continued looking around into the darkness as he spoke. “They wanted to send a message to whoever they thought would find them?” he suggested. “You know, ‘Don’t mess with us…something like that. If that’s the case we should wonder who was supposed to get the message.” He frowned and turned around to look at Debbie. “Surely we were not meant to be the recipient?” he asked anxiously, feeling more uneasy by the minute.

 

Debbie raised a brow and frowned. "Someone certainly sent a message but I don't see how it could have been directed at us." She looked at Mr. Pneuma as she continued. "And you could be right about them wanting to capture the ship. Which leads to another question. Why did they want it so badly they would risk hand to hand combat to gain control? She looked about in the pitch darkness. "Maybe there's something on this ship they wanted?"

 

Matthews shook her head. "Whatever the answer is, we won't find it standing here talking. Let's spread out across the room and conduct as thorough a search as possible. Remember, it should be identical to one of our refitted Constitution class ships. So keep your eyes open for anything that looks....different."

 

With that, Debbie moved several feet to her left. Ljungberg took up a position about 10 feet to her right while O'Conner was at least that far from her on the left. Pneuma assumed a position on Ljungberg's right. All four slowly made their way into the inky darkness, lights sweeping across the floor, consoles and bulkheads. They walked slowly and in silence for several minutes until their lights started bouncing off the back wall.

 

Debbie stopped, somewhat surprised they'd already covered the entire length of the room. There was something very different about this ship's engineering deck.

 

"Anybody notice anything different?" asked Debbie, her voice echoing throughout the room.

 

After a minute, Simon turned around and called out to the others. “Something’s missing,” he said. “Anyone seen the warp core?”