The Hyperion Expanse

Posted on May 20, 2015 @ 6:34pm by Captain Michael Turlogh Kane & Commander Jacob Crichton
Edited on on May 20, 2015 @ 6:36pm

Mission: The Lights of Hyperion

"THE HYPERION EXPANSE"

(Continued from " Wing And A Prayer")


"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."
- H.P. Lovecraft "Supernatural Horror In Literature"

*************************************
*************************************

Captain's Log, Supplemental - as the refugees from Limbo continue to settle in aboard the ship, we are continuing to live with the ructions their presence is causing. Being outnumbered seventy-to-one by these people is fearful odds. In the meantime, the senior officers have assembled in the conference room to be briefed on the next stage of our voyage to Elandipole...

***********************************
***********************************

Location: USS Phoenix
Stardate: [2.15]0520.2225
Scene: Conference Room, Deck 1 (saucer section)


Michael Turlogh Kane waited until all his senior officers were sitting down before taking his own seat. 'All' was a strange way of putting it, because the Phoenix was so desperately understaffed that some seat remained unfilled. Aerdan Jos, Russ BaShen, Byte, Jake Crichton, Eve Dalziel and Cade Foster were all in attendance, as was Kassandra Thytos in her role as the closest thing the Phoenix had to a Security Chief.

When he had their attention, Kane spoke. "We're here to discuss our route to Elandipole." He touched a control on the conference table's panel, and a holographic image appeared in the air. There were two icons - one was a miniaturised replica of the Phoenix, and the other was the small burning orange orb of Elandipole's sun. "The distance to Elandipole is some ten parsecs, so it will take us a couple of weeks at standard warp. This part of space is quite isolated, so we're unlikely to meet any other ships along our route. However, we will be passing through an interstellar phenomenon that you all need to be made aware of."

He touched the control panel again, and a white cloud appeared between the Phoenix and Elandipole. It encompassed a full quarter of the route, splayed out as it was over several sectors of space. Inside the holographic cloud, lightning crackled.

"This is the Hyperion Expanse," said Kane, giving them all a moment to look at it. "It lies directly between us and Elandipole. We could go around it, but we'd be adding several more weeks to our journey. So we're going to go through it." He looked at Byte. "Mister Byte, if you please."

The android took over the holographic control, zooming the view down to show the projected path of the Phoenix through the hazy white cloud. {{The Hyperion Expanse was first observed by Federation astronomers one-hundred-and-sixty-seven years ago. It is a region of space that lies far off normal shipping lanes. There are no star systems within it, there are no rogue planetary bodies, and no spatial phenomena have ever been observed.}}

"So why's it all cloudy?" asked Eve.

{{Because of this.}} Byte touched the holographic controls, zooming the view down inside the Expanse, closing in on the jagged crackles of lightning. Magnified many times, the lightning arcs seemed alive, leaping and crackling with joyous abandon.

"Looks like a lightning storm," said Jake.

{{Lightning is a planetary atmospheric phenomenon,}} said Byte, stating the obvious. {{This is a magnascopic storm. To be exact, it is the same magnascopic storm that the astronomers observed one-hundred-and-sixty-seven years ago. It has never shown any signs of dissipating.}}

"What's a magnascopic storm?" asked Kass.

Kane sat forward. "In layman's terms, it's a storm of light," he explained. "There is some kind of background cosmic effect that is affecting the entire spectrum of light in that area of space. Most magnascopic storms dissipate quickly back into darkness, but this one has been raging for thousands of years. Nobody knows what causes them."

"The humanoid eye is trichromatic, only capable of seeing a limited section of the light spectrum," said Cade gruffly. "There are three different kinds of rod cells in your eye, each with a different absorption spectrum, but there's so much more we can't see. I imagine that there's a lot more to the storm than we can perceive with our limited biological means."

{{You are correct, Doctor,}} said Byte. {{It is theorised that magnascopic storms exist across all spectra of light - visual, ultra-violet, infra-red. It may even affect local subspace. Since the time of the initial observations of the Hyperion Expanse, no Federation starship has ever visited it.}}

"We'll be the first," said Kane.

"Is there any danger to the ship?" asked Jake. "Engineers don't like the word 'storm', it makes us nervous."

"Captains too," deadpanned Kane. "But that's the good news. The Hyperion Expanse will be nothing more than an utterly spectacular light show. It will be like passing through a silent fireworks display. It should keep the ship's children very much entertained," he added as an afterthought.

"That's a relief," muttered Jake, settling back down.

"We'll be entering the Expanse within the hour, and will emerge from it a few days before our arrival at Elandipole," continued Kane. "There are no viewports in the cargo bay, so nobody should get scared by the bursts of light, but we might have to do some explaining to any nervous civilians that live in the drive section. In any case, we're entering the last leg of our journey. You can all expect a rest at Elandipole. Until then, let's put in one final effort." He looked around. "Dismissed."

****************************************

The Federation Role-Playing Game Presents
A Mind's Eye Production of a Collective Film


STAR TREK PHOENIX: THE LIGHTS OF HYPERION


Starring
Alix Fowler as Kassandra Thytos / Selyara
Susan Ledbetter as Eve Dalziel
Justin Owens as Thomas Varn
Shawn Putnam as Jake Crichton
Jamie LeBlanc as Aerdan Jos
Jerome McKee as Michael Turlogh Kane

Introducting
Dale Rasmussen as Jacen Barnes


FEATURING A CAST OF THOUSANDS
WRITTEN BY THE CREW OF THE USS PHOENIX

********************************************

Scene: Cargobay Three ("Shanty Town")


All day and all night, the replicators hummed. Refugees lined up by the dozens, waiting for their turn at the miracle machines that made food and water materialise out of nothing. Food from across the galaxy was conjured up from the very air - kanar, rolk stew, uttaberries, feragoit goulash, groatcake, and much more. Sometimes, the refugees would come with bags, or bits of clothing turned inside out and fashioned into crude slings, and they would fill these with as much food as they were authorized to order at one time. Other refugees would simply walk away from the machines with their arms loaded down with food, leaving a trail of Regova eggs or Yalasat behind them as they made their way back to their cots. Even these lost morsels were quickly gathered up by small bands of children, when they weren't already busy poking through the refuse containers, digging through the scraps left behind by older refugees.

It didn't matter that, thanks to the replicators, there was more than enough food to go around. The needs of seven thousand people was insatiable. They wouldn't even eat it all. People squirreled away bits of food wherever they could, as if planning for some future calamity, and would jump back in line as soon as they were able, looking for more. With so many mouths to feed, it seemed that there was no satisfaction in actually having food, but only in gathering more of it, as if their status increased along with their stockpile.

Until, eventually, the replicators could simply take no more. When they stopped working, the news spread quickly through Shanty Town. First it rippled down the lines of people waiting their turn, then it spilled out into the wider community, until finally it had reached the ears of every refugee of the ship. The unrest began immediately.

Arthur Embry materialized at the head of a crowd, arms outstretched, palms wide, gesturing for everyone to quiet down so he could assess the problem. Not everyone listened, but most of them did. People had come to respect Embry, to rely on him. He was the only one who seemed interested in organizing the refugees, in uniting them as one body out of many.

Embry acted quickly. He gave the people jobs - little things, but enough for them to feel useful. His initiative to gather food for those refugees to weak or infirm to wait in line themselves had won over quick support from almost everyone in Shanty Town. With the help of the hulking Jacen Barnes, he also organised an internal security force for Shanty Town, helping to ease the burden on the Starfleet staff by investigating and resolving internal disputes themselves. In cases where an arbiter was needed, they would come to Embry. Even when he ruled against them, most would abide by his decision. No gangs formed. There was no crime.

And now that Embry stood at the front of the line, supported by his closest lieutenants, the refugees of Shanty Town trusted that he would resolve this replicator crisis too.

Satisfied that the crowd had quieted down enough to let him work, Arthur Embry turned to the young Human refugee who was standing at the replicator. The young man was standing shin-deep in a grey sludge that had poured out of the replicator, spilling all down the front of the machine, pooling together at his feet. It smelled sour.

Embry put on his understanding smile. "What seems to be the trouble, young man?"

"It's broken," the man said. He had his arms held out stiffly at his sides, not wanting to spread the gunk across any more of his clothing. He looked rather pitiable, standing there with grey, foul-smelling goo staining the front of his clothes.

"So it seems," Embry nodded. He gestured to his Vulcan lieutenant standing next to him. "Go with Savaar, young man, he'll see that you get cleaned up."

The young man stepped gingerly out of the pile of goo and went with Savaar, while Embry returned his attention back to the replicator. He wasn't an engineer by any means, but the machine appeared to be powered down. None of the indicator lights or buttons on its control panel were lit up. Embry guessed it had shorted itself out, but not before spraying out what looked like several gallons of the foul-smelling sludge.

"What is the status of the other replicators?" Embry asked to nobody in particular, speaking loudly enough that everyone could hear.

"Same problem," someone called out. Embry turned to see the large, muscled form of Jacen Barnes stepping his way through the crowd. Barnes had obviously been tinkering with another malfunctioning replicator - grey goo stained the hulk's shoes and pants up to the knees. "There's one repliactor still working in Beta section, but the rest are all like this one here. Either shut down completely or intermittently squirting out this gray crap."

"Anyone have any idea what the problem is?" Embry asked.

"If I had a tricorder or some other diagnostic tool, I might be able to find the problem," Barnes shrugged. "Off the top of my head, I'd guess something went wrong with the installation. The replicators are all jury-rigged into the ship's power system. Maybe there's been some sort of fault in the distribution network."

Embry leaned in, speaking quietly so that only Barnes could hear him. "We need to stay in front of this, Mister Barnes. People are going to start panicking if they realise the buffet has closed."

"There's got to be more than enough food to last us a few days, right?" Barnes said quizzically. "You've seen how people have been stockpiling it."

Embry shook his head. "Food isn't a necessity, Mister Barnes. It's a commodity. People will steal it, fight for it, hurt each other over it."

"We have my deputies," Barnes shrugged. "And we'll have support from the Phoenix's crew."

"A handful of marines, or enlisted dressed up like marines," Embry said, waving him off. "We can't rely on them to contain a food riot if one breaks out."

"My deputies, then."

"Their service so far has been conditional," Embry said. "We've been feeding them so they don't have to wait in line, so they'd be free for your patrols. Now that may not be an option anymore. We don't want someone else offering to feed them instead."

Barnes nodded his shaggy head. "Okay. So what do we do?"

"I'll get a message to Captain Kane," Embry said. "Hopefully, they can sort this problem out quickly and we can get back to normal around here."

"And if they can't?"

Embry seemed to consider this for a moment. Then, his face brightened into a smile. "Let's not twist ourselves in knots worrying about problems we don't yet have," he said. "Mister Barnes, I wonder if you'd be good enough to organize a clean-up crew for all this muck? The smell is starting to become a little oppressive."

"We'll get it taken care of," Barnes nodded.

"Thank you," Embry said. "I'll arrange a meeting with Captain Kane. Hopefully, we can get this resolved quickly, and with a minimum of fuss."

***********************************************

Scene: Bridge


"Now approaching the Hyperion Expanse," reported Russ at the conn. "Passing the boundary in sixty seconds."

The main viewer showed the colourful kaleidoscope that Kane had been expecting. It was like looking into a white-grey nebula, within which sudden bursts of colour appeared and then dissipated. Reds, yellows and blues, and all combinations in between - they sparked and swirled around inside the Expanse, fizzing like silent firecrackers, then winking out to be replaced with a new colour. Sometimes, Kane's eye was pulled to a place where there had been a sudden burst of colour, but was now gone - the result was like seeing a sunburst then looking away from it, the after-image of the colour caught up in the mind's eye for several seconds. "Steady as she goes, Mister BaShen," he said.

From the Tactical station, Aerdan spoke up. "Captain, the bridge is being hailed by Arthur Embry in cargo bay three. He is reporting several replicator malfunctions and is anxious to speak to you."

Kane nodded."Put it through to my ready room. I'll be there momentarily." He stayed seated as the ship passed through the outer edge of the great cloud.

******************************************************

Scene: Outside


The space between suns is not quite pitch-black, but follows the same laws of physics that govern the rest of the known universe. In the darkness between stars, the brightness of a travelling starship follows the inverse-square law, which converts a unit of distance to a unit of brightness, meaning that twice the distance from any nominated star, the brightness of that star will be a quarter of the distance to it.

Ploughing the furrows of interstellar space is normally like sailing through a universe of black velvet. The distant stars are black pin-pricks against its great backdrop, and through it all runs the enormous speckled band of the Milky Way. Starships occult against this light - that is to say, they appear more moonlit than sunlit - and if they were not internally illuminated, might appear to be a black shadow passing through a great yawning gulf of night.

The gunmetal grey exterior of the starship Phoenix, flamed by the menacing violet of her nacelles, passed across the outer boundary of the Hyperion Expanse. She slipped quietly through the gossamer interstellar cloud, wafting its tendrils away in its wake, silhouetted by a kaleidoscope of such beauty that everyone aboard who saw it would never forget the sight.

***************************************************

Scene: Captain's Ready Room


Kane slide into his seat and activated his desktop viewer. The screen winked, and Arthur Embry's face filled it. The older man had obviously been waiting, and relief seemed to shadow his features when Kane activated the connection. "Mister Embry, this is Kane. What can I do for you?"

{{Captain!}} came the reply. {{Thank goodness.}} Behind Embry, several people were milling around trying to eavesdrop on the conversation. They were being kept back by the hulking form of Jacen Barnes. {{We have a situation down here.}}

Kane frowned. "The replicators are malfunctioning, yes?"

{{That is correct, Captain.}}

Kane waited for further elaboration, but none was forthcoming. "Mister Embry," he said testily, "if the replicators are malfunctioning, then contact Engineering."

{{I would like you to do that, Captain Kane,}} said Embry, smiling patiently. {{In my opinion, it needs to be a priority.}}

"I don't understand," said Kane. "The replicators have been running non-stop for several days now. All of your people should have a veritable mountain of food down there. You're not going to run out any time soon, correct?"

{{Correct. But, Captain Kane, the replicators are symbolic of your assistance to us.While they were running, people were content and easy to keep in line. Now, worry has set in, and worry leads to fear. You know what fear leads to.}}

Kane nodded slowly. "Granted, but your people must be patient. I have barely enough hands to run the ship. I realise you are uncomfortable, but you are safe and you have enough to eat.That is more than your friends and families back on Limbo have." He paused a moment to let his words sink in. "I'll contact Commander Crichton and send him to you immediately."

{{Thank you, Captain,}} smiled Embry. {{There, I knew it. I knew you were a reasonable man.}}

Kane's finger hovered over the control that cut the connection. Embry was smiling, but there was something about the man that Kane didn't like. Part of him now regretted bringing all thsoe people aboard. He felt a flash of guilt - if they had stayed behind, they would have been subject to Tella Yavin's untender mercies. "I don't expect to hear from you directly again, Mister Embry," said Kane. "Commander Jos is the Executive Officer of the ship and can handle any further contact on my behalf." Embry opened his mouth to say something, but Kane jabbed the control, and the screen winked in blackness.

He sat back in his seat. Elandipole had never seemed so far away. He waited a moment, regretting the work he was forcing on the crew, hoping that Jake was not too busy, but knowing that the engineer was probably much too busy to deal with this. "Kane to Commander Crichton."

[[Crichton here.]]

"Commander, Mister Embry from cargo bay three has contacted the bridge. Several of the portable replicators have malfunctioned and he is requesting assistance.Please report to cargo bay three at your earliest convenience."

{{Understood, Captain.}} There was no hesitation, no hint of annoyance. There was just the solid, dependable professionalism that all of the senior officers were exhibiting.

Kane got up from his seat and went over to the viewport to look at the Hyperion Expanse's light show. In the fifty-six decks beneath him, seven thousand lives were being played out, shored up by the overworked crew of the Phoenix, all homeless fugitives themselves. They had all given so much, but were being asked to give more.

****************************************

Scene: Cargo bay three


Jake Crichton, still tired, still stretched too thin and with too much still left to do, waved his engineering tricorder over the burned-out replicator and frowned at the results.

A large crowd had gathered behind him, watching intently. Arthur Embry stood at his shoulder, while Jacen Barnes stood between them and the crowd.

"Well, Doctor Crichton?" smiled Embry as Jake stood up. "What's the prognosis?"

"It's broken," Jake said, without looking up from the tricorder's data stream. He wasn't in a very good mood. Problems kept popping up all over the ship, and Jake was running out of engineers to fix them. His own list of work orders was already more than he could complete in a week, and now it seemed he would have another problem to add to that list.

"Accurate, but not wholly informative," sighed Arthur Embry. He gave Jake a thin smile, but Jake could tell that it was a sarcastic one.

"The circuits are fried," Jake said, examining the tricorder readout again. "Internal hardware is shot and the matter realignment field has broken down That's why all you're getting is that gray slop. See,when you place an order, the machine's ME conversion matrix is what resequences the raw material into the food you wanted, but too much strain on the internal components can cause - "

Embry held up a hand to stop Jake. "I'm sorry, Commander Crichton, I'm afraid I'm just a layman. This technical talk is over my head. Will it be easy to fix?"

"Easy to fix?" Jake asked, almost laughing aloud. He reached out and opened a maintenance panel at the base of the replicator unit. Internal components smoked and sparked as more of the gray gunk seeped out of the front of the machine. "That answer your question? We're going to have to pull the damn things out and install new ones."

"And how long will that take?"

Jake sighed. "Getting the broken units removed will take maybe a day. We'll probably need to pull some replicators out of the unoccupied crew quarters to replace these, and that will take another day. Then getting them up and running again? Another day, maybe two. All things counted, you folks are probably going to have to do without replicators forthe guts of a week, maybe two."

"Two weeks?" Embry asked, raising an eyebrow in alarm. "You just said three or four days, did you not?"

"To do the actual work, sure," Jake said. "But it's not like these replicators are the only problem on the ship that needs my attention."

"Surely you have lieutenants, support staff?"

"And they're all as busy as I am," Jake said. "I'm sorry, Mister Ember."

"Embry," the older man corrected him testily.

"Embry," Jake said, rubbing his forehead tiredly. "You have my assurance that we will get this corrected as soon as possible. In the meantime, I'll notify the captain and we will resume distribution of rations. You still have the one working portable replicator, and - "

"Commander Crichton," interrupted Embry with a smile. "Jake. May I call you Jake?"

"Yeah," Jake said. "Fine."

"The situation here in Shanty Town is rather more delicate than it might appear," Embry said, leaning in and speaking conspiratorially. "The people look at me as a leader, they trust me to speak for them, but that's because they're not too busy worrying about where their next meal will come from. If I tell them they may have to go two weeks without access to food, I'm not sure how they'll take it."

"With all due respect, Arthur, that isn't my problem," Jake said, emphasising Embry's name for effect. "I fix machines, not societies." He glanced at the hulking form of Barnes, looming menacingly behind Embry.

"And that's all I ask of you," Embry said. "Fix our machines, Jake, and you'll fix our little society. Let us get back to normal."

Jake had to fight hard to keep his composure. He was already worn out, he had a full day of other work ahead of him, he was worried for his wife, his kids were still upset that she had left, they were fugitives from the very Federation that Jake had sworn an oath to serve, and they were flying into the unknown in a desperate bid to clear their names. And now, Arthur Embry was pushing him to give even more.

"Maybe you haven't noticed," Jake said, speaking slowly so that he wouldn't lose control of his temper, "but this whole problem came about because you were overtaxing these machines. You want me to show you some of the power distribution readings we've been taking? They've been going almost non-stop for the past several days. They're portables. They weren't designed for that."

"We have a lot of people to feed down here," Embry said. He didn't sound apologetic at all.

"And based on the numbers I've seen, they've replicated enough food in the last few days to feed themselves quite comfortably until we can get them back online," Jake countered. "Now look, I'm sorry if nobody taught them how to budget, but they're going to have to learn just that if they want access to these machines, otherwise they'll just burn out the next batch we install too."

"With all due respect, Jake, but that's also not your problem," Embry said. "I'll take care of the society, but we need you to fix the machines."

"It's on my list."

"So bump it to the top," Embry said. He was no longer smiling, but his tone was still light, almost conversational. The way he had, of always sounding so reasonable, was starting to grate on Jake's nerves.

"It's just not a priority, Mr. Embry," Jake said, trying to sound firm.

"Make it a priority."

"This isn't a democracy," Jake said. "We don't all vote on what problem is the most pressing. I've added this to our work orders, but you're just going to have to wait. I'm sorry."

Embry stared at Jake for a long moment, his expression neutral. Jake couldn't help but notice how he was surrounded by refugees, that how even though they were being kept back at a respectful distance by Jacen Barnes and several of his deputies, Jake would have no hope of making it to the cargo bay door in one piece if they decided not to let him leave. For a moment, Jake Crichton appreciated exactly how thoroughly outnumbered the Starfleet crew was.

Finally, Embry smiled, nonplussed. His friendly expression looked genuine, but it wasn't quite enough to make Jake feel better. "Very well, Commander Crichton," Embry said. "We will simply have to find another solution."

"Good," Jake said. "Now if that's all..."

"Oh yes," Embry nodded. "It's clear we've gotten all we can from you. Thank you for taking the time to come all the way down here. You may go now."

Jake didn't like that, didn't like the way Embry seemed to be dismissing him, but he took the opportunity to leave. He gave a last look back into the crowd as he approached the cargo bay door, and saw that Embry was whispering with Barnes. He wanted to linger, to overhear what Embry might be saying, but of course, he was far too busy for that.

***************************************************

Scene: Cargo bay three, moments later


Jacen Barnes and Arthu Embry made their way through the ramshackle barrier of cots and bits of salvaged scrap into Embry's ersatz command center at the heart of Shanty Town. Embry was seated near the portable comm station that the Starfleet crew had provided as a way for Shanty Town to remain in contact with the ship's crew. The device was powered down, and Embry stared off into the middle distance, his chin in his hand.

"How did your conversation with the Captain go?" Barnes asked.

"Captain Kane is a difficult man to persuade," Embry said.

"He told you no?"

"On the contrary," Embry said, finally turning to smile at Barnes. "He was the one who sent Commander Crichton here. He assured me he has our best interests at heart, and that his crew are working diligently around the clock to ensure our protection. Then he emphasized the difference between 'protection' and 'comfort'."

"So they're not coming to fix the replicators," Barnes said. "It'll be like Crichton said. They'll come when they come, and we have to wait."

"We're on the list," Embry said. "But it seems our Federation friends will be of no immediate assistance to us, no." He stood, walked over to a nearby table, upon which sat a metal teapot resting on a small heating coil. He picked up the teapot and poured himself a mug of tea. He turned to look over his shoulder at Barnes. "Can I interest you in some tea, Mister Barnes? I'm afraid it's a rather weak blend, but you know how we're all tightening our belts around here."

"We need to talk about the remaining replicator, not the tea," Barnes said. "The crowding is getting worse. People are already on edge, getting in each other's faces. Sooner or later someone's going to pull out a weapon."

"And all the while, the last portable replicator machine is working overtime, just like the others were," Embry nodded. He still had his back to Barnes as he busied himself preparing his mug of tea. Finally he lifted the mug to his lips and blew gently into it.

"So what do we do?" Barnes asked.

Embry came back across the floor and sat down next to Barnes. He thought for a moment, then smiled that damnable smile of his. "We shut the replicator down."

"Excuse me?"

"You said it yourself," said Embry. "People are getting aggressive It's causing fights. Right now it's only dividing us, setting us against each other in a bid to access it. Before long someone will try to control it, or control access to it, and people will end up getting hurt. And of course, there's every chance the damn thing will just give out like the rest of them, and then we'll have nothing at all." He lifted his mug of tea and took a slow, calm sip, nodding in appreciation at the taste. "This is actually quite good. Are you sure you wouldn't like any?"

"Right now, that replicator might be the only thing holding back a food riot," Barnes said, ignoring the offer

"The riot is coming either way, Mr. Barnes," said Embry. "It's like I said before. We need to get out in front of it. Direct it."

Barnes frowned. "At who?"

Embry turned his head and looked Barnes in the eye. "Who do you think?"

Barnes stood up, took a few steps away from Embry. He could feel the older man's cool, level gaze on his back, could imagine Embry's calm half-smile. Embry sounded totally serene, totally confident that Barnes would come around. It was maddening.

"They're just trying to help us," Barnes said.

"They are," Embry agreed. "But they don't understand the situation down here like we do. They couldn't if they tried, not unless they were locked up down here with us. I know they think they're helping, but you and I know exactly how precarious this situation is."

"Exactly," Barnes said. "That's why I don't want to risk setting it off."

"Don't be dense, Mister Barnes," Embry said. "You saw how the rationing was going before those replicators got installed. There were fights, food hoarding. The young, the sick, if they didn't have someone looking out for them, they wouldn't eat. The Starfleet crew is doing the best they can, but it's not good enough, and you know it."

Barnes couldn't think of anything to say to this. Embry wasn't wrong. He might not be right, not about everything, but he wasn't wrong, either. Shanty Town was one errant phaser blast from tearing itself apart. The food had at least given the population something else to focus on, somewhere to direct all their nervous energy, but that wasn't going to work anymore. And sooner or later, someone would push someone else, and that someone would pull out a knife, and then the bloodbath would finally come, and the Phoenix's paltry complement of soldiers and scientists and civilians wouldn't be able to stop it.

"We outnumber them seventy to one," Embry said conversationally, like he was talking in a quiet kitchen. "When the riot comes - and it is coming, Jacen, you know it is - what chance do you think the Starfleet crew will have? The Starfleet crew needs us at the head of this thing, Jacen, because it's their best chance to live through this."

Barnes didn't reply for a long time. That was okay. Embry was content to sip his tea, and to stare calmly at him, knowing that sooner or later, Jacen Barnes would come around. And eventually, Jacen did.

"No one gets hurt," Barnes said. "No one."

"You know I can't absolutely guarantee that," Embry said. "But you have my word, I will do everything in my power to protect everyone aboard this ship, including our Starfleet hosts."

"Keep your word," Barnes said slowly. He returned and sat down at Embry's side. "Okay," he said. "How do we do this?"

************************************************

Scene: Main Engineering

Jake had hardly stepped out of the turbolift into Main Engineering before one of his aCEOs, Ensign John Maynell, flagged him down.

"Oh good, you're back," Maynell said. "Boss, we've been tracking some weird energy readings around the warp core. I think you ought to take a look at them."

Jake steeled himself for more bad news and made his way over to the terminal that Maynell had prepared. Maynell activated the console, and Jake watched as a series of readings began to creep along the display.

"This is a time-lapse of warp field auto-diagnostics for the last hour," Maynell explained, pointing at the numbers on the screen. "All levels are in the green for the first two automated checks, see? Now, this here's number three."

As Jake watched, the ambient radiation levels suddenly spiked. The numbers were high, not off the chart but more than high enough to have been dangerous to anyone standing next to the warp core. Then, as quickly as the excess radiation had appeared, it was gone, and the levels had all once more fallen back into the green.

Jake blinked. "What the hell was that?"

"Not sure, sir," Maynell shrugged. "But here it is again at timestamp oh-six-twenty, and again at oh-six-forty-three. The radiation pulse has been getting longer each time, but then it all just seems to dissipate."

"Background radiation levels shouldn't be spiking like that on their own," Jake said, turning and walking towards the warp core. "And they sure as hell shouldn't be escaping the warp core. Computer, give me a diagnostic on the containment field."

[[Diagnostic complete,]] the computer reported. [[The warp core containment field is functioning normally.]]

Jake picked up a tricorder, waved it in the direction of the warp chamber, and examined the readout. "Radiation levels currently at expected levels," he said. "No danger to the ship or crew."

"The incident at oh-six-forty-three had radiation levels creeping into hazardous," Maynell said from his station. "Anyone who'd been in there at the time would've had to get to sickbay for a shot."

"And then it all just disappeared?" Jake said. "That's impossible. Computer, how long will it take to run a level four - "

"Commander!" Maynell interrupted suddenly. "Radiation levels are spiking! It's happening again!"

"Get a forcefield up around the core!" Jake said quickly. He slapped his comm badge. "Crichton to bridge! Captain, there's something going on down here, I recommend an immediate full stop."

[[Understood, Commander. All stop,]] came Kane's voice.

Jake anxiously watched his tricorder's readout. "We're out of warp, but the radiation levels around the warp core are spiking. That shouldn't be happening."

"Sir!" Maynell called again. "Something's happening!"

Jake turned to look. The warp core, the ship's beating heart, pulsed blue light at a steady rhythm, but that wasn't what caught Jake's eye. There was something coalescing inside the intermix chamber, some kind of shimmering golden thing...

"Radiation levels rising," Maynell said. "Estimated exposure levels at three hundred rems and climbing."

Jake nodded dumbly as the scen played out in front of him. His eyes were wide saucers, fixed on the warp core. The shimmering golden thing inside it had no discernible form, resembling a brightly shining cloud that stretched out gossamer tendrils of light. These light tendrils seemed to shift, twisting gently in all directions from the central cloud. The blue light of the warp core kept on pulsing through the golden light, and as Jake watched, the golden light suddenly changed, shifting along the colour spectrum to become pink, purple, and finally blue like the warp core itself. The light tendrils stretched out like incandescent fingers, tracing lightly along the warp core itself, along the walls of the intermix chamber, and finally against the shimmery sky-blue of the internal forcefield Jake had ordered.

The ship was at all stop now. Jake could feel the subtle shift of vibrations in the deck beneath his feet, could see the way the warp core pulses slightly shifted their rhythm. The shimmering light, sometimes gold, sometimes pink or purple or blue, pulsed several times, so bright that Jake had to close his eyes against it.

"Exposure level at 600 rems," Maynell said, worry threading its way through his voice. "Sir, that force field isn't going to hold!"

"Look," Jake whispered in amazement. The lights around the warp core pulsed again and again in time with the warp core, but the pulses were dimmer now. Another few weak flashes, and then the formless, shimmering thing itself began to fade away. A moment later, it was gone, and there was only the steady blue pulse of the warp core.

Jake turned to Maynell. "Ensign?"

"Radiation levels are dropping," Maynell said. "Quickly. Too quickly. It's like the radiation is being absorbed somehow."

"By what, the core?" Jake asked. He took a few steps towards the forcefield, closer to where the shimmering thing had been only a moment ago.

"Unlikely. Be careful, Commander, don't get too close," Maynell said quickly. "Levels are still too dangerous."

"What about the warp core?" Jake asked. "Is it damaged?"

Maynell turned to inspect his console, then shook his head at Jake. "Readings all in the green now."

[[Commander Crichton,]] came the voice of Aerdan Jos. [[What is the situation?]]

Jake thought for a moment, then decides to be honest. "I don't know."

**************************************
**************************************

NRPG: This is the beginning of our new stoyrline, "The Lights of Hyperion". The answers to the question of "what did Jake see?" will be answered by you all in the next couple of weeks, as well as fending off potential trouble from the seven thousand Limbo refugees aboard the ship.

In order to advance the main plot, everyone will have a specific job to do in their opening post, and event that occurs in the presence of your character. You'll need to write this event (and your character's reaction to it) as you see fit, integrating it into whatever character subplots you've currently got going on. I'll tell you about your own character's event via Facebook PM.

Half of this post (the good half) was written by Shawn. The premise of this storyline is his. Please don't destroy his dream ;)


Jerome McKee
the Soul of Captain Michael Turlogh Kane
Commanding Officer
USS PHOENIX


"He speaks an infinite deal of nothing!"
- Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice", Act 1, Scene 1.117

"Futile is resistance. Assmiliated you will be."
- Yoda of Borg

****************************************
****************************************