Gettysburg Mission 07: "Through the Looking Glass"

USS Gettysburg is sent into Romulan space to retrieve an intelligence drone which has gone missing. When she arrives, she encounters a black nebula with odd readings. Near this nebula she is attacked by two Romulan heavy cruisers and one warbird. While successful in destroying the Romulan flotilla (moslty by sheer luck and suicidal tactics), the Gettysburg herself was badly damaged.

The result of the detonating quantum singularities aggravated a black star within the nebula and caused a space-time rift to open. This rift had an enormous subspace distortion and gravity well which pulled in most of the debris, plus the Gettysburg; and the Apparition and her team who were aboard the warbird salvaging the cloaking device.

The trip through the rift caused enormous damage to the ship, which will require significant repairs. Also 2/3 of the crew were lost between the battle and the rift passage.

The Gettysburg has now found herself in a strange place, apparently within the Milky Way galaxy, but in a different time—the 51st century, and possibly a different reality from before.

Rear Admiral Grant, during a meeting at the end of the mission, announced that there was an Intelligence team aboard the Gettysburg and introduced some of the members of the team.

Captain's Logs

Rear Admiral Derrick Grant, Commanding Officer

Star Date 20903.20

Captain’s Log, Star Date 20903.20, Rear Admiral Derrick Grant recording:

Begin log.

After a few issues back on Earth I have been returned to command of the USS Gettysburg; arguably the best ship in Star Fleet, with the best crew—at least in my opinion. We departed Star Base Alpha on a mission to rescue some refugees that were recovered from a Satarran prison via the USS Quirk ^See footnote 1^, a modified scout ship. We are to rendezvous with this ship, retrieve the prisoners, and then head to Star Base Bravo where they will be dropped, debriefed, and presumably sent on to another facility to be hopefully reintegrated into society.

Following that we are ordered to proceed at maximum warp to the Arrianne system, which is very close to Romulus, to pursue a possible Romulan agent ^See footnote 2^, who was captured along with the USS Bedford and taken there. The possible agent is a Mintakan (who shouldn’t even be admitted into Star Fleet) named Lieutenant R'Thranka ^See footnote 3^. We are to capture or eliminate this person before she can be brought to Romulus and be debriefed by the tal shiar.

I have ordered all departments to start drilling for this mission immediately. I only wish I could tell them more.

End log.

Supplemental Intelligence Log

Supplemental, Star Fleet Intelligence Level 5 and above only:

Begin log.

Footnotes:

1-The USS Quirk is actually the USS Apparition. They do have the prisoners, and the crew on the Apparition is working to ‘sanitize’ their memories prior to them arriving at the Gettysburg. The Apparition will return to the Gettysburg when the refugees are transferred aboard the ship. At Star Base Bravo they will be turned over to Star Fleet Security.

2-We have very little on this believed agent, but my directive is clear. The target must not fall into tal shiar hands. If the crew cannot complete this task, then we have those aboard who can.

3-R'Thranka is likely a cover name. It is our belief that she is actually a Romulan planted as a Mintakan. The only file we have on her is her official file, which indicates that shortly after first contact with the Mintakans she was one of a few who, due to the prime directive contamination, was offered a path off her homeworld, and that she was the only to choose it. Star Fleet historical records are sketchy, but do not fully support this.

I’d like to note that this mission will present unique challenges to the standard crew, in that they are not trained for covert operations like the team is. My preference would have been, by far, to send the team in; however Star Fleet (and I unfortunately concur) want a battle cruiser to go in as we have superior defenses should we be detected. I have pondered this order, and have yet to validate whether or not I will take Gettysburg all the way to the Arrianne system. The risk is very high of detection, whereas the Apparition could get in and out with relative ease. And if we tried, they could possibly retrieve the USS Bedford as well, which would be a prize to bring home intact. Our orders are to destroy the ship and the facility at which it is docked—and yet we have almost no information on this location.

New has been officially granted command of the Apparition.

End log.

Supplemental Personal Log

Supplemental, Personal Log:

Begin log.

While I must admit to something akin to joy in being back aboard Gettysburg I still worry about my place in the fleet. My reputation as well as those of many of my closest colleagues and friends, has been tarnished, and it is my entire fault. Sevala and the others seem to feel that this is not so. I wish I agreed.

It is wonderful to have Commander New back on board the Gettysburg. His unique abilities and personality is a great asset to the ship. I only wish we could keep him aboard the ship more than he will be.

Sevala brought aboard a teenage girl, Dhiov, and it appears this will present several challenges for us both personally and professionally. Just before Sevala arrived in my Ready Room I witnessed the girl ransacking our quarters, and stealing some of our personal belongings. I’m really not sure where she thinks she’s going. If she’d look out the damned viewports she’d see that we’ve left dock. Sevala has assured me that she’ll get the situation under control. I didn’t plan on being a parent at this juncture, but if it is what is needed, I’ll do it gladly for Sevala. I’m just afraid that human and Romulan methods might conflict. Time will tell.

End log, and save.

Star Date 20904.21

Captain’s Log, Star Date 20904.21, Rear Admiral Derrick Grant recording:

Begin log.

Personal

Personal log entry.

My beloved Sevala brought a stowaway aboard my ship! The daughter of a Romulan Senator, Dhiov seems to be handling her ‘captivity’ as she seems to view it, if not in words, then in small bits of body language that I pick up on, fairly well. I believe that in a dark corner of her mind that she chooses to keep locked away behind her culturally-driven distaste for others and indoctrination of self-superiority, she actually appreciates some of the experience of being here, on the Gettysburg. I believe that deep down she will do fine until such time as we can bring her back to Romulus—whenever that is.

End personal log entry, continue official log.

Official

While en route to the border we picked up refugees from the ‘USS Quirk’ and confined them to a secure area of the Gettysburg on Deck 6. During that journey, however, two incidents occurred which have complicated things.

First there was the death of an old friend, First Lieutenant Kurok. It appears that he suffered some sort of rare Klingon cardiac disorder which resulted in a shutdown of his heart. We were unable to revive him, and transferred his remains to Bravo when we stopped there.

Secondly, one of the prisoners turned out to be problematic. His name is Nicholas James Ristone, and he apparently was a Commander and First Officer of the Gettysburg at some point not too far into the future, following the death of Commander Yvette. His story seems wild and unbelievable, but I have verified his genetic identity and his eyes tell me that he believes what he says. My instincts told me to trust him. Unfortunately I have had to keep him locked up because his meeting any member of the crew could cause complications.

We are now about 29 days from Star Base Bravo, deep in Romulan space. Strangely we made most of the journey completely without incident or interception, right up until we reached our target subsector.

We began our search for the drone craft we were to retrieve, but only found what I can only describe as a ‘black nebula’. It is like a dark ink stain in space. Sensor signals are absorbed by it, and any energy sent into it is also absorbed. There is no way to know what lies inside, except that we can detect large gravitational and subspace distortions in the vicinity.

We soon forgot about that, however, when three Romulan ships de-cloaked nearby: one was a battleship and the other two heavy cruisers.

We are, at present, in a sort of stand-off with them. They claim to have the drone craft, and although they could easily dispatch us they have not. They also seem to be able to monitor our internal—at least bridge—activity, which is alarming.

I suspect a Romulan agent may be among us, and I need to find a way to get a message to my team to tell them to start searching, covertly. But I can’t do that without raising suspicion. At least not yet…

End log, and save.

Star Date 20905.15

Captain’s Log, Star Date 20905.15, Rear Admiral Derrick Grant recording.

Begin log.

The USS Gettysburg engaged the Romulan ships, and got our asses kicked. But we gave better than we got and when we were done, despite serious damage and what I suspect are casualties in the several-hundred, there were three disabled and partially destroyed Romulan ships—one of which went through a full quantum singularity overload. Most of our damage actually came from that.

I ordered the team to board the engineering section of the warbird to retrieve their cloaking device. I felt that the intelligence we might gain from it would be valuable. Unfortunately I may never know if they succeeded.

Shortly after this we were pulled into the black nebula, massive energy forces tearing at the ship. The saucer was separated and went through first; and then several smaller craft and then we were pulled through. Following this debris from the Romulan ships came through.

We didn’t fare well. We have lost all warp power, gravity, and lighting and other systems are minimal. We have no effective way to defend ourselves and propulsion is sublight only. The saucer fared even worse, and I fear we might have to scuttle it. If we do, then I have no idea how we’ll fit the remaining crew in the drive section. Of course we don’t even know how many survivors we have yet. Most of our sensors are barely operable, and our internal communications are bunk.

It seems the senior staff has all pulled through to one degree or another, but we are receiving numerous reports of dead crew on all decks and in all sections. I shudder at the thought of how many we may have lost. We may not know for days.

Shuttles are being used at sub-light as taxis to move those in need of care to the drive section from the saucer, and repair and S&R teams are moving back and forth between the sections.

We will stabilize the drive section first, and then work on the saucer.

We appear to be in some distant sector; although from what I’ve been told we’re not sure where or when we are. The anomaly had elements of tachyons, chronitons, and gravitons in it. Any one of those is troubling. A combination is disturbing.

Yvette is handling most of the coordination, while I work with tactical and science to try to figure out where in hell we are—or aren’t—and what our options are. Lieutenant Schwicker has done a very good job of using probes to help in this effort, and I must remember to recommend him for a medal if we ever make it home.

My implant went offline when we passed through, and then began to burn. I forcibly removed it, expecting it to be the end of me due to the anti-removal mechanism in the thing; but amazingly I survived. The device then self-destructed on the floor.

I have not had any contact from the team since they were deployed on the other side. I can only hope that they accomplish their mission and can continue without us if we don’t get back through.

During the battle I launched the Intel emergency probe; and as we went through the anomaly the ship launched the black box. Star Fleet should be aware within days of our predicament and hopefully will react. I know that due to the nature of our mission they may not be able to.

At least Sevala, Jenny, and Dhiov made it through relatively intact. I can only hope that we are able to reunite soon.

End log.

Star Date 20906.05

Captain’s Log, Star Date 20906.05, Rear Admiral Derrick Grant recording:

Begin Log.

The past three days have seen us make much progress in clean up and repair operations, which is a testament to the great people that we have aboard Gettysburg. In a time like this, when our losses have been so huge, the remaining crew have, without exception, performed at 120% of expectations, and if we make it home I intent to ensure that every one of them is recognized for their achievement. Many lost family, more lost close friends, and we have all faced the loss of 2/3 of our great family here on the ship.

We haven’t had time to properly mourn yet, but I did order a 24-hour suspension of all except duties critical to our continued survival and I intend to enforce it. This crew needs rest, and needs time to reflect on what has happened and where we are, and that includes the senior staff. We only need a skeleton staff on duty provided we suspend repair operations and don’t move the ship; and that means 2 people on the bridge, a small staff in sickbay, and a small staff in engineering to maintain status quo. The ship is stabilized and that was the most important thing.

We will have a proper memorial for our lost brothers and sisters in the coming days, but for now we need rest. And I need to spend some time with Sevala, Jenny, and Dhiov; so that I remember why we’re trying to make it home and survive this mess. Without those close to me to remind me it will become increasingly difficult.

I have led an away team to the remains of one of the Romulan ships that was torn apart by the anomaly; and we have rescued several survivors. I have sustained some minor injury as a result of being exposed to the vacuum of space—I am certain that neither Commander Yvette, Sevala, or Trella are terribly happy with me for leading this mission; and I know that Dawson and Ristone are pissed off at me for doing the unprotected EVA—but I needed to do this to feel like I was making a positive contribution, and to show the crew that I won’t ask them to do anything that I wouldn’t do myself; besides, the Romulans may be an intelligence asset, and for that reason I couldn’t trust anyone else to it.

We were rescued by the Shenandoah, who promptly beamed me, Mihar, and Todd to sickbay, at my request. As much as I hate going to sickbay before returning to the bridge, I must admit that I do require medical attention—besides I need to see Sevala, to make sure that she’s really okay. The Shenandoah is also rescuing the Romulans and the rest of our away team.

The Apparition suddenly appeared, and this gave me mixed feelings. While I’d decided that I was going to declassify certain aspects of the SF:SIS operation to the senior staff, I wasn’t prepared to completely expose the team and the ship to the entire crew. Now I have little choice; for when the ship appeared it was obvious that it was a vessel designed for asymmetrical operations. And the team was beamed to sickbay due to their malfunctioning implants. I’ll address it in a meeting which I intend to hold shortly, which will be followed by a shipwide announcement.

As I sit here being treated I wonder… did I make the right choices in our confrontation with the Romulans? Am I ultimately responsible for a death toll which appears to be nearing 1,600 of my own crew? If so, what consequence must I pay? I cannot in good conscience allow myself the luxury of doing something like that again if I am found to be responsible. Duty and proper prudence dictate that I should insist that security have an investigation into the entire affair and that Yvette hold hearings to determine the validity of decisions made and determine my competency to command.

But in our present situation is that what’s best for Gettysburg? Can we afford such a distraction and disruption during this time?

If what I’ve been told is true, and there is a vessel of alien origin on an intercept course, its intentions unknown, then we cannot. We have less than 68 hours to figure out how to respond.

End log.

Crew Logs

Commander New, Strategic Operations Officer & USS Apparition Commanding Officer

Star Date 20904.10, USS Apparition Command Log

Captain's Log, Stardate 20904.06:

Commander New recording.

I have taken command of the Apparition, relieving Lieutenant Kurok. Upon taking a tour of the ship, I think I will be quite satisfied in my new position.

I will soon be taking the time to meet the other members of the SF:SIS team, and I am unsure how I will be regarded by them. A few of them have extreme personalities that will make it difficult for me to relate to them, but I trust any differences can be worked out.

I will also soon begin working on the upgraded interface that will link to my positronic matrix and allow me to control the Apparition directly from the command chair. Once done, I expect to be able to reach maximum efficiency for the team's next mission.

End Log.

Star Date 20905.17, USS Apparition Command Log

Captain's Log, Stardate 20905.17:

Admiral Grant has sent the ship out on a mission to recover a cloaking device from the wreckage of one of the Romulan vessels that attacked us (See Gettysburg log recordings, if recovered). We have made dock with the section of the ship that should contain the cloaking device and Lieutenant Commander T'Kir, Lieutenants Briggs, Steele, and Yenn have gone aboard.

While I await their return I have recorded the final seconds of both sections of the Gettysburg as they fell into the anomaly, which has very specific similarities to a quantum singularity. The remaining debris from the ship and the Romulan vessels is also being pulled in by the gravity of the anomaly. There are only seven minutes and fifty-seven seconds remaining before this part of the Romulan ship to which we are attached follows.

Once the team returns, I will attempt to reengage the phase-cloak which will negate the gravitational effects. The probability percentage that it will function properly are currently at forty-five percent and falling five point six-three percent every sixty seconds.

I cannot contact T'Kir's team, but their life-signs are still strong. I must give them as much time as possible before I am forced to abandon them in order to attempt escape.

End Log.

Lieutenant Commander William Hudson, Chief Tactical Officer

Star Date 20907.01

Crew Personal Log Chief Tactical Officer LCdr William Hudson Stardate 20907.01

“Had an interesting encounter today—As the log will duly note. This will be my first post in two new respects. First and foremost, I have been appointed as the new chief tactical officer on the Gettysburg—a job for which I am both excited and scared to take. Excited because of the faith that the rest of the crew has in my abilities, and scared for the same reason. It will be an interesting experience, one to which I look forward to grow and develop.

This is also my first post as a Lieutenant Commander—funny, it doesn’t really feel any different yet, but I suppose it shouldn’t. What is rank anyway? That is another contemplation for another time, and place. Not now… and probably not for a long time.

Recently, I have also started taking care of a friend’s dog. My old crew quarters neighbor, an engineer, was killed in the attack on our ship, and when I found myself back in my quarters before my last shift, I heard the dog, Spyke’s, barking. Given that I had already known the dog before, and that I knew that his companion had passed, I have taken Spyke in with me. The last reminder of a good friend. Spyke seems to be adjusting, he is forlorn when we are in my quarters, but I hope that it will pass after time—I know the sadness will not go away for many of us.

Which brings me to the memorial service I am about to go attend, but first let me iterate the meeting in which I was promoted, at least giving a very brief synopsis. Most of the crew it seems was at the meeting, which also included another section of our crew that had been previously unaware to me—the intelligence sector. Apparently there has been an intelligence contingent aboard the Gettysburg longer than I have been serving here. I also met the chief engineering officer, for whom I felt extremely sorry for the behavior of one of her crew. It is something I hope never to have to deal with, and something that I really hope is dealt with in a quick and efficient manner. Otherwise, I also gave a speech about the current state of tactical.

Given that the last we heard that the ‘Drellstar’ is approaching and that we know that we are, at least, at present, in dark waters. Although we know that approaching ship has extremely advanced technology, we still are unsure of how we will be received as part of this time. I hope it will be well, the Gettysburg cannot take much more—and her crew cannot either. We need a break in some respect…

Off to a memorial service now—god rest their souls, let’s hope they didn’t die in vain.

End Log”

Lieutenant Junior Grade Gav

Star Date 20906.25, partial log

The Gettysburg finds itself in an alternate time line and it seems I potentially will never see my wife or children again. Odd, I feel that we will discover a way to return to our real timeline.

Lieutenant Commander Terra Arking, Chief Engineering Officer

Star Date 20906.12

Chief Engineers Personal log LCdr Arking Stardate 2090612

Having been awake now for god only knows how long I have come to the conclusion that I am indeed exhausted and can no longer function. However despite my bodily protests my brain, now snug against a pillow seems to disagree. Maybe if I got up and started some more of the many repairs that need to be done, I would fall asleep in a Jeffries tube somewhere?

Well I am just going to sum up everything here as I don’t want my Diary to overload the computer core. First we got into a confrontation with Romulan’s, in Romulan space I must add. I would love to say it would have been great having them on the defensive for a change however, as the Gettysburg was the only ship out here it was us on the receiving end of the attack.

The ship got completely battered and to top it off Grant ordered us to head towards some sort of anomaly. I haven’t had a chance to see any reports yet but I do know it literally tore the ship in half, well the Admiral ordered that. But suffice to say we entered the anomaly, at warp, at half power and blew out the warp core ad nearly everything else on the ship. The Admiral seems to have no restraint when it comes to destroying the ship so I fear my stint on the Gettysburg may be a busy one.

The ship is now, thankfully, in one piece now and has main power. There are still many more repairs to be done and Engineering has lost so many staff the turnaround on the repairs are going to be extensive and the nacelle repairs are going to be a ••••• to implement with a stardock and full engineering crew.

On a lighter note Kiron survived so I can be assured of fresh blood wine and cauliflower in the morning. I seriously need sleep so I am heading off now. If someone ever finds this log let it be known I died looking good!

Lieutenant Commander Kiron Hunter, Assistant Chief Engineering Officer

Star Date 20904.15

Crew Personal Log LCdr Kiron Hunter Stardate 20904.15

Begin Personal Log

Shoreleave turned out to be an interesting and almost illuminating experience. I can’t say too much of the details in this venue, but it is safe to say that I was contacted by one of my old acquaintances, someone I probably would have been happy to never see again . He wanted me to do a job for him, like painting a house, only much deadlier and not quite as boring. As a result, I found myself thrust back into a world in which I had little interest of being put into. Luckily, it appeared not to matter, as he appeared to have been compromised in some respect, never leaving his little “painting” routine get off of the ground.

Really, the only thing I got out of the entire mission was that my ship, the one I built, is now back in my possession and has been sent to my home on Earth. I wanted to bring it aboard, but apparently we have less room for such shenanigans that I thought.

Speaking of shenanigans, when I got back to the ship I met an unpleasant surprise. Apparently Eaglestone had been replaced with another seemingly capable, yet under tested Commander by the name of Arking. She seems to have a sense of humor though, and she seems to be competent enough. I’m sure after we both figure out our styles, we will be able to get along swimmingly, even if she was assigned under less than idea circumstances.

Not much seems to be happening on the ship right now, perhaps it’s a lul, but I’ve been on here way to long to become complacent. There is a reason this is a battleship, and there has to be a reason Star Fleet has decided to keep two Lieutenant Commanders on board. I’ll just count my lucky stars that nothing is happening right now.

End Log

Star Date 20906.10

Crew Personal Log LCdr Kiron Hunter Stardate 20906.10

Unsure…. Unsure where we are, and more over, unsure what day it is really. I’ve been working for the past forty-five hours, without a break, and really the only thing I can look forward to is at least the same amount in the future.

Terra and I are taking the brunt of the force here, working away, trying as hard as possible to get this massive bucket of bolts back in working order… it’s not easy. I think we’ve done a pretty good bang up job on most of the critical systems at this point, but who could really tell. I won’t go into the details in this venue, but it’s safe to say that I haven’t had the most restful last hours.

Speaking of not restful. I would like to go once more, and give my thoughts for all of those who lost their lives. A lot of good people… a lot of good engineers… If I have the opportunity to get those damn fools back, I will. I still can’t believe how many we lost; it’s completely surreal. I’m thankful every minute, and I feel responsible in a way. I don’t know why, I just do.

On perhaps a little lighter subject, my program, the experimental emergency engineering program kicked on during the tumult. I had told Terra about him, but I’m not sure I relayed to her whom it looked like or in what capacity. From what I heard, he wandered around main engineering for about an hour looking for Eaglestone, then when he couldn’t find him, proceeded to wander outside of his zone…

I have put him on hold, suspended his program until we are able to fix the holo-emitters and install a few more on engineering… not to mention I still have to update his programming not to mention install a few more interesting subroutines.

Now.. Enough talk. Back to work for me, even though Terra has told me to go to my quarters the last five shifts… oh well, what’s one more.

Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Ristone, Chief of Security

Star Date 20904.18

Chief of Security's log Stardate 20904.18 LCdr Nicholas Ristone recording:

The past month has been, to say the least, hectic. As soon as the Gettysburg was free from the refuges the vessel began heading toward Romulan space. Meanwhile, I began putting the security officers under a strict training rotation. Each day various react teams went through training scenarios on the security holodecks.

I did this to help teach all of the new officers our patrol patterns and emergency react procedures. It also helped to refresh those who have been on the ship for quite some time to be refamailiarized with the procedures.

It seems that the training was a good idea. Since entering Romulan space, and despite our special shielding, we have gone to red alert multiple times. Considering we are alone in hostile space, where we are obviously ridiculously outnumbered, I have asked that each time we go to red alert that we prepare to repel boarding parties.

While this does likely increase fear throughout the ship during the red alerts I feel it has been a necessary and good thing.

Necessary because I feel it is important for us to be prepared, and good because our reaction time has increased with each real deployment. And while I do not feel that our speeds and actions are exactly where I want them to be I do feel confident that the security teams, are prepared and ready to defend the Gettysburg from any hostile boarding parties.

Star Date 20905.18

Chief of Security's Log Stardate 20905.18 LCdr Nicholas Ristone Recording:

What was feared the most since entering Romulan Space has finally come to pass. The USS Gettysburg's luck finally ran out and the Battle Cruiser was discovered by several Romulan vessels, and this time there was no fooling them or losing them.

As expected the security teams deployed and set up in record time. I am truly proud of how well the security team performed the past month.

However as is always the case, the security team was forced to figuratively sit on their hands as the command and tactical staff worked their magic.

I can proudly say that the command and tactical crew managed to not only avoid shipwide destruction but also managed to disable/destroy all of the enemy vessels.

The "victory" however has come with a toll. The USS Gettysburg has been damaged beyond belief. I was injured in the attack and was rendered unconscious for quite some time.

When I awoke I was still in security but quickly learned that the USS Gettysburg had been forced to undergo emergency separation. I quickly learned that I was the only senior officer on the saucer section.

We have recently been able to make contact with drive section. We know little of exactly what happened, but what we do know goes like this:

The Romulan vessels were disabled but so was the Gettysburg. Due to internal structural stress the vessel was separated. The saucer section, which was out of control, went through the black nebula we were near.

The saucer section is currently crippled. As of now our only operational systems are: minimal life support, minimal emergency lighting, emergency forcefields. From what we have learned the drive section is not much better.

Until we are able to meet up with the drive section we are doing our best treat the injured. Lieutenant Natilique Tess is heading up the medical team on the drive section, Lieutenant Mihar and Ensign Todd are heading up the Search and Rescue, and I am overseeing everything from the temporary command center in the security offices.

I don't dare venture a guess as to how many fine crewmembers we have lost but I know the number will be higher than we will want to accept.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Johan Schwicker, Science Officer

Star Date 20903.29

“Personal log; Stardate: 20903.29; Johannes Schwicker:

“Scientific research aboard sis battle cruiser is progressing surprisingly well. Se facilities, sough limited compared to se earsbound resources at se Academy, are sufficient. Fursermore, Chief Science Officer Lieutenant Judits Tucker has made nearly all of sem available to me for use in my work.

“For se time being, I have been afforded se opportunity to furser develop multitronic technology, sough on a limited scale. Doctor Richard Daystrom’s duotronic processors have always held my fascination and, even more so, have his first five attempts at multitronic processors. Sough many commonly regard his multitronic experiments to be a failure, I cannot agree wis sat.

“I have chosen Science Ensign Stephen Green to assist me wis se multitronic prototype. Sus far I have recorded a highly accurate Brain Circuitry Pattern of his neural network wis se help of Doctor Blood and Cadet Gore’s hyperencephalogram, and obtained his personality test from Security Ensign Jolla Hang who is skilled in se art of lie detection and assures me sat se test results, sough incomplete, are as accurate as need be.

“Of note is se interesting discovery sat Ensign Green has a unique personality; in fact, a Mastermind! Who would have sought sat he was such a gifted individual? Not me!—trus is, sough, everyone on sis ship often surprises me. I wonder how I would rank if I were to take Ensign Hang’s personality tests. Oh, well—if I am a Mastermind or an Idiot, I do not want to know about it.

“Next I will attempt to construct a prototype multitronic processor wis sophistication se level of which mimics an intelligent creature’s neural network.

“It is fascinating to me to integrate modern computer technology wis sat available only a hundred years ago.”

Star Date 20905.26

“Personal log; Stardate—

Stardate—?”

Sat is a very good question.

“Johannes Schwick—”

[Splurp.]

“—er, recording.”

[Splurp, shink.]

What in se world is going on wis sis contraption?

Tap, tap, tap. “In mere seconds, we have arrived sousands of years in se future. How exciting! I have always wanted to see what it was sat se future holds. I am so very excited sat I can barely control my urges to investigate my own family tree to see what I have become. I wish I could leave se ship in a warp shuttle and go! I could see myself spending se rest of my days here in se future!

“But se Admiral wishes for us to return home. I suppose many osers would also like to go home. I, however, wish to remain and explore future possibilities, presently!

“Sough se Admiral promises to return us home, I am not worried, for se probability of successfully repeating what got us here in se first place, and living to talk about it, is virtually impossible! No, indeed, I sink we are here to stay!”

[Splurp, shink. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh—]

“Log off!”

[—Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh—]

“LOG OFF!”

[ ]

Ah! Finally.

So much interference in se future!

Lieutenant Junior Grade Caimus Yenn, SF:SIS, Medic

Star Date 20902.06

Personal Log Lieutenant Junior Grade Caimus Yenn recording, stardate 20902.06

Our journey to the Nelgan system has been rather less eventful than the briefing which preceded it, during which Stell had... an episode and threw water at T'Kir, which she didn't respond well to. Needless to say, Stell walked away from their confrontation with a broken rib and a mild concussion. I suspect she'll approach T'Kir with more respect in future.

So yes, the trip has been quiet. I've had plenty of time on my hands to read up on the Satarrans, not that there's much TO read. The only source of drama has been Stell, which I suspect will be a recurring theme in our future misadventures together. She's taken to training with Kurok which, in essence, I think is a good idea. She has no combat experience so tutelage from a Klingon can only benefit her. However, their first session resulted in her lying on one of my biobeds with a stab wound.

Quite why Kurok thought it necessary to injure her so badly before a mission just to teach her a lesson, I have no idea. I assume it's a Klingon thing. I have to wonder which of the group will be next to wound the girl. I'll randomly put my bets on Allie. Perhaps she'll accidentally blow her up with one of her impressive magnet bomb... things.

Oh, I shouldn't joke about this. In truth, I'm worried about Stell, very much so. She seems entirely out of her element and out of her depth. She doesn't want to be here and it seems wrong that she's been forced into it. She's so young. I gather that combat driven missions aren't the norm for SFSIS so maybe the next mission will be more suited to her. First, though, she needs to survive this one. T'Kir seems to be toying with the idea of leaving Stell on the Apparition while the rest of us are on the surface, and I find myself hoping that's exactly what happens, for Stell's sake.

I'd like to say that I'll look out for her once the mission begins but I think looking after myself and any prisoners we manage to rescue will take up all my concentration. We'll see. We have no true idea of just how much resistance we're likely to meet once we arrive, perhaps it won't be as difficult as we believe. But I doubt it. We need to rescue any prisoners who can potentially survive and aren't infected with the toxin which killed Commander May, we need to obtain as much of their data as possible, distribute explosives throughout their base, and find a way back to the Apparition. And not die. It's a tall order.

Despite all that, I realise that I'm happier than I have been in a while. Since Trill, I suppose. Sometimes I can feel shadows creeping back in. Depression. I won't give in to it though. This team has given me direction and purpose and surrounded me with fascinating individuals. I intend to embrace it. I mustn't allow myself to become defeated by the mistakes of the past again. I've already robbed the symbiont of so much, I can't deprive it of happiness for it's final lifetime. Yenn deserves better, even if Caimus deserves to rot.

Anyway. Stell is sleeping and I'm tired of staring at the same four walls. I think I'll visit the Bridge. We must be arriving at the Nelgan system soon.

End log.

Gunnery Sergeant Alec Daher, SF:SIS, Asset Protection Specialist

Star Date 20906.28

Personal Log Stardate 20906.28

After we dropped the refugees off at Starbase Bravo, the Gettysburg continued with our mission. We were ambushed by Romulan vessels - I don't even know how many. I was in the barracks at the time. The next thing I remember was waking up, floating in the above the deck - we had lost the grav plating.

We lost 2/3 of the crew in the attack, and the Getty was badly damaged. We somehow got thrown in some kind of temporal or spatial anomaly... I'm really not sure. Are we in a different time? Or in a different universe? Who knows, temporal mechanics are not exactly my thing.

I've only gotten a few hours sleep in the past 4 days. Everyone... left... has been working double and triple duty. We just had a meeting in the Observation Lounge and now Commander Yvette is making us attend a memorial service for the fallen crew. Time to get ready for that.

End Log.