Pegasus Mission 05: "The Haunting of the Gryphon"

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Mission Summary

On 21504.01 the shore leave of the Pegasus crew was urgently cut short. Upon leaving Star Base Bravo the explained reason was that the new arrival Ambassador Sanor was requested to mediate in talks between the Bralen and the Rondel and the Ambassador needed a vessel which could get him to the Bralen system quickly and securely and one that could act as neutral ground for the two parties. These two systems had been at war for over 100 years and in recent years felt it was time to put the war to an end. The risk for the Pegasus was that the two systems were inside the Romulan Neutral Zone, but the risk was thought fair if the two systems could find lasting peace.


Two days into a three day journey the Pegasus encountered a strange reading two light years off their course. The reading was discovered to be the USS Gryphon, last heard of fifty years ago as having disappeared during a deep space survey. An Away Team was formed and an investigation was carried out. During the investigation it was discovered that the Gryphon had lost its crew to a subspace rift. Ghostly apparitions of the former crew were sighted at different times throughout the vessel. A rift formed and grew a short distance from the Gryphon. This rift presented a risk to the Away Team and the Crew of the Pegasus and attempted to ensnare them in visions of their worst nightmares.


The age of the Gryphon and the years without maintenance made attempts to move the Gryphon away from the rift impossible and endangered the lives of the Away Team. The Away Team made their escape using a shuttle found in the Gryphon's shuttle bay. Due to the high level of chroniton particles found in the Gryphon the vessel was fired upon with antimatter infused torpedoes in order to collapse the rift. The Pegasus made it to the Bralen system and talks went smoothly, though peace is always a tenuous thing.


Due to an unnamed Vulcan illness Captain Tokat had to return to Vulcan with Ambassador Sanor, this left Commander Gregg in command of the Pegasus until they returned to Star Base Bravo.

Crew Logs

First Officer

Commander Edward Gregg

Stardate 21506.18

First Officer’s Log

Stardate 21506.18

Shore leave had been incredibly uneventful and thankfully cut short for a diplomatic mission. After centuries of fighting the Bralen and Rondel appear to be ready to talk peace. Our V.I.P. for the talks is a Vulcan by the name of Sanor. He seems to be very much the traditional Vulcan. Tokat’s response to his presence feels off. Possibly it has something to do with his recent shore leave, just another thing to follow up on if I can remember.

About two days into our journey to Bralen VII, in the Neutral Zone, sensors indicated a large metallic object two light years off our course. With the Pegasus 18 hours ahead of schedule it was decided there was time to take a look. Granted we’d have turned aside out of a sense of duty even if we weren’t ahead of time.

Initial theories that the object was a vessel have turned out to be correct. The vessel in question is an Ambassador Class ship called Gryphon. It appears to be in good condition for its age, but what it is doing drifting out here has yet to be discovered.

End log.

Star Date 21509.09

First Officer’s Log

Stardate 21509.09

An Away Team was assembled from the different departments to go to the Gryphon in an effort to discover why the Gryphon was out here. Upon arrival in the Gryphon’s Mess Hall the scene that greeted the Away Team would not have gone amiss on the Marie Celeste and it certainly did not mesh with what I had been expecting.

There were the typical plates of half eaten food and no signs of struggle or disturbance. As investigations continued the lack of bodies added to the eerie feel of the ship. Initial scans of the Gryphon indicated that the core was still active and this had proved true as life support, lighting, artificial gravity and most of the other systems are in surprisingly good working order.

The Captain was called away to placate Ambassador Sanor whose meditation has been interrupted by ‘some thing’. I have divided the remaining Away Team members into two groups, sending one group to the Bridge while I have led the other group to Main Engineering.

So far I’ve found no evidence to indicate what has happened to the crew of the Gryphon. The state of the Gryphon appears to be preying on the minds of the Away Team as the crew have been unresponsive on occasion. As the investigation continues it currently remains an unpleasant mystery in need of a solution.

End log.

Stardate 21510.06

First Officer’s Log

Stardate 21510.06

The investigation into the Gryphon took a supernatural turn before the Away Team left the Gryphon’s Mess Hall. While waiting for the turbolifts to arrive Ensigns Moriarty and Crystillin had been scanning the Mess Hall and had an encounter. I went to see what the commotion was about and after looking at the scenery for a while I saw ghosts. Not exactly moving, but they were there like a brief after image. It was very much a blink and you miss it moment, until the moment came round again.

With a little encouragement the Away Team divided up and went to their assigned locations to continue the investigation. Lieutenant Powell and I arrived in Main Engineering. It was the same as the Mess Hall. No sign of any remains and from the condition of the vessel this appeared to be her first mission. Ship’s records were either in poor condition or barely enough to be called a log. There was an unpleasant sensation when I went near the Bussard Collectors. Yet another mystery to add to the list.

The Gryphon had encountered a rift and hadn’t been able to escape. Ensign Moriarty had theorised that tetryon particles from the rift had been attracted to the Gryphon’s warp core and prevented their escape. This turned out to be accurate. After analysis of the Bussard Collectors it was discovered that it was filled with chroniton and tachyon particles. Both are native to subspace and indicate that the Gryphon had spent time inside the rift.

The contents of the Bussard Collectors were used in an attempt to flush the tetryon particles out of the warp core. The result was a longer encounter with the ‘ghosts’ on the Bridge and according to Pegasus an anomaly appeared near the Gryphon. The unpleasant sensation is currently filling Main Engineering and it might have gone further. Hopefully all the mysteries can be solved before the situation becomes a serious threat.

End log.

Stardate 21512.15

First Officer’s Log - Private

Stardate 21512.15

After the ‘ghosts’ had disappeared the Away Team began to experience headaches. The worst seemed to be in the Gryphon’s Main Engineering, but I had not been able to get a verbal confirmation from the rest of the Away Team. I encouraged Lieutenant Powell to attempt to get the Warp Core of the Gryphon restarted in an attempt to get away from the anomaly, unfortunately between the age of the Gryphon and the tetryons that had not been removed by flush fires started around Main Engineering.

Those Officers in Main Engineering, including myself suffered minor burns and inside the EV suit felt like cooking baked beans in the tin. The Gryphon’s fire suppression system had gone inert after fifty years of no maintenance and when Ensign Crystillin arrived to acquire bits for his pattern enhancer to boost his comm. device it was discovered that the portable extinguishers had gone the same way.

The fire and smoke made communication next to impossible. I urged the officers I could find towards the entrance to Main Engineering and we were almost out when Lieutenant Powell in some highly misplaced sense of heroism push myself and a couple of Officers through the open door and attempted to put out the fire by throwing an extinguisher into the fire, gesticulating that Ensign Crystillin should throw in as many as he could find and close the door, then he ran off do something equally stupid.

Not my proudest moment but I gave him an earful over my comm. when I had caught my breath. I encouraged Ensign Crystillin and those present to get to the Bridge and to check if the impulse and the self-destruct systems were still working. After a short while Lieutenant Powell arrived ready for a fight. We holstered our respective weapons and before words could be exchanged a weird nightmare vision knocked out the Away Team.

Safe to say I woke up first. Sadly that meant having to move Lieutenant Powell into an open turbolift and get the two of us up to the Bridge. After my arrival on the Bridge the Away Team began to slowly wake up. The anomaly had transformed into a rift. At its current rate of growth getting the Gryphon into the rift will not be a problem. With a bit of creativity Ensign Crystillin has set up a remote trigger for the self-destruct system. Not sure if he’s missed his calling in another department but we may have a renaissance man on our hands.

I am currently sitting in a shuttlecraft with most of the Away Team. Midshipman Zan was able to get one working with the help of an Engineer and Powell is attempting to open the shuttlebay doors, safely. The Pegasus is still ahead of schedule but talks on Bralen VII aren’t going to be much fun and I have to have a few conversations with people before that. Lieutenant Powell is a self-absorbed idiot and despite my preferences I can’t demote an Officer for a character flaw. At best he’s a work in progress, a lot of work.

Encrypt and end log.

Stardate 21601.13

First Officer's Log – Private

Stardate 21601.13

Mission accomplished, after a fashion. The Bralen and Rondel have reached an agreement thanks to the skill of Ambassador Sanor. It feels good to achieve the original goal of getting the Ambassador to the talks at Bralen VII. The events during the intervening period have left an impression on the crew that will take time to recover from.

There is nothing left of the Gryphon apart from many bits and one intact shuttlecraft. The rift was sealed successfully. I’m hoping that if rift returns it won’t have a lure. Ambassador Sanor assures me that his ‘contacts’ on the less visited side of the Romulan Neutral Zone will be warned about the rift.

I had my talk with Lieutenant Powell, but I don’t know how constructive it was. I’ve promoted Ensigns Crystillin and Moriarty to the rank of Lieutenant and Lieutenant Junior Grade respectively. It is probably the least I could do before the Pegasus returns to Star Base Bravo.

Ambassador Sanor has recommended that Captain Tokat return to Vulcan with him. Tokat had been ignoring the symptoms of his illness due to his complete misunderstanding of his biological heritage. The Ambassador said that he had had his suspicions regarding Tokat. The medical officers confirmed his suspicions when it was discovered that Tokat is half-Romulan.

I have reassured Ambassador Sanor that I have served alongside a few half-Romulans and have no hang ups regarding them. I also informed him that I have no intention of informing the crew of the whole reason behind Tokat’s illness, I'm thankful that the medical officers know how to keep patient confidentiality. Some of the crew including Lieutenant Powell have issues regarding Romulans. I have no idea how they might react to the knowledge that their Captain was half-Romulan.

I know I’ll have a lot of questions to answer regarding the Gryphon and then there’s the missing Senior Staff. The return to Star Base Bravo will be interesting.

Encrypt and end log.

Tactical

Cdr Kyle DeWitt

Star Date 21510.06

Personal Log

Star Date 21510.06

Commander Kyle DeWitt recording:

My first assignment for Tactical Command, and I'm almost willing to just let this one slip right past me. Had any other ship been chosen, I doubt I'd have a problem but my career had essentially been derailed on Pegasus. I'm starting to wonder if this is someone's idea of a sick joke. Nevertheless I'll carry out my orders and try to make a record in getting these inspections done.

Arriving on the Bridge, I quickly found out that Captain Tokat wasn't on the Bridge. The most unfortunate part was that he wasn't in any condition to command, either, as I found a Chief Smith in charge. It appears that Commander Gregg, current First Officer of the Pegasus, was leading an Away Team to the Gryphon. The easiest option would've been to tow the old Ambassador-class vessel to the nearest base and observe it in a safer environment.

It would've been a smart move as well, especially considering I was also informed that Pegasus was in the Romulan Neutral Zone. That in itself would've been enough for me to immediately assume command until Commander Gregg return, but seeing as we didn't have any warbirds firing on us I'll stick with lending any assistance. This Bridge crew probably doesn't think I'm capable of commanding since I'm coming from Headquarters, but I know I'd show them a thing or too.

Other than Smith, the only person on the Bridge that seems to be welcoming is Midshipman P'lonnos. She seems like a nice and upcoming officer, almost reminds me of Jordan. Since her death, I have no doubt that I'm an emotional wreck. Somehow I've managed to hold myself together enough to keep a calm and professional appearance. I just hope somehow I don't have that jeopardized this mission.

While I'm sure in different time and circumstances Miss P'lonnos would be a welcome sight, I just don't see that being very possible. I'm a Commander and it's not really appropriate for anything to happen. Then there's that smug Zakdorn, Crewman Melton, that I would have no opposition to dragging him out into the corridor and teaching him some professional manners. Let's hope this mission will be over soon,

End log.

Ens Acenvar Crystillin

Stardate: 21509.09

Personal Log

Stardate: 21509.09

The Pegasus was initially given the task of transporting the Vulcan Ambassador. It was as stated before was the initial mission which started out well. We were making good time and where nearing the half-way mark for the journey when our scanners picked up a ship. The USS Gryphon; a ship fifty-years old. Captain Tokat agreed to investigate the situation of the mysterious ship. Of course we formed the away teams and such.

The situation which puzzled me immensely was that of the amount of worry and fear going through the away teams heads. I have read quite a few historical logs about similar events occurring. The crews and away teams however did not have such a high amount of both emotions. I find myself conjuring up memories of safety, that is what worries me the most. The away team even saw a vision of the ship's crew for a extremely brief time period. I believe it has something to do with the time space continuum. I scanned the mess-hall, where we saw this event for trace Tachyon readings. The scans that came back indicated that Tachyon particles did spike for a brief moment, but dropped back down to almost none readable levels immediately. The rate and speed that this happened seems..... purposeful almost. It could be that the Tachyon particles are degrading, and have degrade so much that events like that are rare now. Or someone might be trying to bring Tachyon particles together to open a whole of some kind? I will have to look through the science logs with Ensign Moriarty. It was such a strange thing. I was able to pull up a video of the Chief Science Officer's son. Some sort of anomaly occurred which seemed to have taken the entire crew along.

I assume I should include some encouraging news yes? I meet a smart-young man on the away team. Ensign Anthony Moriarty. We are currently leading the bridge away team. He is currently looking through the ship's science logs. That is truthfully the only good news I have.

End Log

Stardate 21510.15

Personal Log

Stardate 21510.15

Ensign Acenvar Crytillin, Auidio Only.

The slight hum of machinery could be heard as the recording begins.

"This Scientific mission is not going as well as planned. We have not been able to figure out what this rift is precisely. We have educational guesses, but other then that we have nothing else."

A short pause to let the Vulcan hybrid breath was allowed.

"Mr. Moriarty is working as best he can by using the Gryphon's limited sensors and abilities. However if we continue on this limited path we might end up like the previous crew of the ship. The Commander in Engineering is no doubt trying his best to get the engines back online. Once that happens we have the ability to lure the rift away toward it and hopefully seal it for good. What bothers me is that question that we might have the possibility to save the previous crew of the Gryphon. Would that be plausible? Or that would be agasint the prime directive? Things like this are rarely seen, and the ability to do something for those people"

Then a quick snap of fabric like straightened out someone sleeve was heard.

"This rift… Is another problem. It is causing the crew to have headaches. I seem to be feeling them more then the others. Now I'm heading to Engineer- Wait, what is that smell? Smoke? Oh no."

The turbo lift doors open and fire could be heard.

End Log.

Security

Mid Serran Zan

Stardate 21509.13

Personal log; Serran Zan. Stardate 21509.13

I know I keep saying this but it's so nice to be back in space again. Any longer planetside for me and I'd have grown roots from my feet and gotten stuck in the dirt. I'm much more at home among the stars.

I seem to be getting my bearings around the decks now. The Zeus Class Light Cruiser is a fair bit smaller than my previous post but there aren't many bigger ships in service than the Avengers, except the Pulsar and the Federation Class Carrier of course. The Pegasus is a nice size though to find myself being a pedestrian.

That, I have to say, is one thing I hadn't expected when I started my first shifts on board as a Security officer. I'll get to know the layout of the ship a lot more and a lot quicker than my days in Tactical. You certainly put in a lot of mileage on your feet! It reminds me very much of how it is on my family's freighters. No luxury of turbo lifts or internal transport for the freighter monkeys. At the end of a long duty shift lately I could easily trade for my nice helm chair again! I'm joking.

Still, it's a satisfying and varied enough role and an important one on the ship. Now I'm getting the hang of things I'm getting more interesting jobs with each passing shift. I've seen the VIPs around that the Pegasus is taking to negotiate some treaty, but haven't been assigned to escort them around or watch over them or anything yet. It's interesting for Zan to see the other side of the coin, so to speak, from actually being the Ambassador to being one of the security team trying to keep one step ahead of their movements about the ship.

Time to turn in.

End log.

Stardate 21509.28

Personal Log. Stardate 21509.28. Serran Zan recording.

My first Away Mission as Security Officer on the USS Pegasus. We're on a 'ghost ship'. You heard me right, a ghost ship! Prepping to beam over, I had all the old stories we used to tell each other on the freighters, the tall tales of haunted starships and crews that were lost in space. Now I'm investigating one of those stories for real.

I'm in one half of the team sent over from the Pegasus, sent up to the Main Bridge of the USS Gryphon. She's an old Ambassador Class Star Fleet ship that hasn't been heard of in fifty years. Just plain vanished, no word, no sightings, nothing. Now here she is without much of a mark on her.

Arriving on board it looks like the crew were just zapped away, right in the middle of whatever each of them were doing at the time. We haven't found anyone anywhere on board. Anyone alive that is...

We saw something. I say something because it just sounds like I'm telling one of those ghost stories from my childhood again. We saw... crew. For like, an instant, then they were gone. Freaky as...

End log.

Personal Log additional. Stardate 21509.28. Serran Zan recording.

Up on the Bridge the Science and Tactical Officers have been trying to get some information from the ships computer. Moriarty and Crystilin respectively, they've been talking about tetryon particles, chronitron particles and some sort of rift. Whatever that all means it appears to have happened just before the crew disappeared. What was the rift? Where did the crew go?

Commander Gregg made us worry even further by posing the notion that someone or something could be behind it all, working the rift to entrap starships and abduct their crews. If this were one of those old stories from when I was a kid, we'd be hearing some Siren song or something right about...

End log.

Stardate 21512.20

Personal Log. Stardate 21512.20. Serran Zan recording.

I have just returned to my Quarters at the end of quite a challenging duty shift.

The USS Pegasus had been tasked with escorting some VIP diplomat to a negotiation, somewhere just inside the Romulan territory if I hear correctly. I wasn't given any information on that other than the diplomats were on board and our department would have different security procedures according to their needs.

Anyway that's what we were supposed to be doing.

The way I hear it, the ship picked up some odd signal and Captain Tokat ordered a course change to investigate.

A Star Fleet vessel was caught by some spatial anomaly. A fifty year old Star Fleet vessel, the USS Gryphon. She had been reported missing with no sight or anything since then. But there she was. The decision was made to investigate. Whatever the anomaly was, it started to cause some problems for the Pegasus crew pretty quickly. Everyone it seemed suffered headaches and disorientation, but the telepaths on board took it pretty bad. Some of the most sensitive telepaths were down for the count, including Captain Tokat it seems.

Commander Gregg leading an Away Team, had me go along as part of the team. For the most part it was typical body guard stuff for me. The Gryphon crew were dead, but we all saw, or thought we saw, ghosts. I'm not sure how effective my phaser would have been on ghosts but I was sure going to try and find out.

Making our way to the Bridge and down to Engineering the team tried to figure out what had happened all those years ago. The anomaly had other plans apparently. Now the headaches were worse, and the ghosts appeared more and more lucid. The anomaly was growing and we were worried we might all get sucked into the damn thing.

I didn't really understand the science of it, chronitons and anions and stuff, but I knew it was bad and we needed options to get off the Gryphon if things went sideways.

Interference from the anomaly made comms with the Pegasus patchy and that might mean we couldn't be transported back home. We needed another way off the Gryphon. Then I remembered, or rather Zan remembered, that she had been a pilot on shuttlecraft fifty years ago - the time of the Gryphon - and along with that went the memories of the old Ambassador Class starships and where Zan used to park those shuttles - Deck Three.

Commander Gregg agreed it should be checked out, so Hutton and I went on down to deck three to the auxillary shuttlebay. I knew the way, Hutton knew how to open doors, fix old engines and stuff. I had to manually open the door using the emergency release handle but we got in.

The shuttlebay was in the same state as the rest of the Gryphon; pristine if dusty, like a museum that had been closed for decades.

We found one of the shuttles in working order, a good old Type Six Personnel Shuttle, and a beauty at that. It was weird to see something so familiar to Zan but through my eyes, it's a Trill thing, don't worry about it.

Anyhoo, we got in no problem and were just figuring out if we could get the engines and systems all operational when the anomaly knocked us for a loop. I felt my head pounding and the sensation of losing my balance, then I had ... visions... dreams... nightmares?

By the time I could snap out of it the rest of the Away Team were finding their way to the shuttle bay and were arriving. When I came out of the, well dream, I couldn't see a damn thing. My vision came back slowly, and by the time Commander Gregg joined us I could see well enough to get the old girl powered up and ready to go.

With the age of the ship and lack of maintainance over the decades, the hangar bay doors would not open automatically. We discussed various methods to manually open them, but my suggestion was to just blast our way out with the shuttle's phasers. It seemed that the team had already planned to scuttle the Gryphon, so I figured if we weren't going back, ever, it didn't matter if I made a bit of a mess of the hangar bay doors.

Gregg agreed, gave me the go ahead and I blew a hole big enough to squeeze the shuttle out into space. From there it was just a little manual control piloting and we were back on board the Pegasus.

I gather the team plan to send the Gryphon into the rift of the anomaly. Don't quote me on that though, I'm just a security midshipman and part time getaway driver. I guess I'll find out the full story from one of the Bridge officers sometime. Right now though I need to take these painkillers the nice people in Sickbay gave to me and I need a shower.

That old ship was dusty.

End log.

Science

EnsAnthony Moriarty

Stardate 21506.28

Personal Log Stardate 21506.28

Since being on board the Pegasus for the second time in my life, I feel I've progressed and transformed into a completely different person. I have no worries about this mission which surprises me - I always thought of myself as being pessimistic and synnical. Maybe there's something in the water.

Whilst on course towards Bralen VII, the Pegasus picked up signals from another vessel nearby. Initial scans provided just enough detail to suspect the vessel was of Federation design - the metallic components making up the armour and the faint warp particles known only to exist within Federation warp cores. Unsurprisingly, Captain Tokat made the decision to have a closer look... It's strange but so far, in terms of decision making, Tokat and I appear to be somewhat like-minded which, of course, is incredibly reassuring.

The vessel turned out to be the USS Gryphon, a ship that was supposedly lost nearly five decades ago. No sign of the crew anywhere - the ship is completely abandoned. It may sound completely obscure but, I feel like the Gryphon is a perfect representation of my life so far... Started off with a bright, shiny life ahead of it, friends and family around to help at all times but ultimately ending up feeling lost at sea... Maybe I'm just looking at this too deeply. I mean, I do have friends aboard the Pegasus, I get on well with Ed and Tokat... There's Nate Jackson and there's Trig... Trig.

I haven't seen him for a while now, you get so caught up in life and work that you almost forget about the element of time... Last time I had a proper conversation with him was on shoreleave - the first time I had met him and even then, he made quite the impact. There's something about him that's different... He makes me forget about everything in my past: losing Ben, Jonathan going missing, the Ticonderoga, my parents, everything... Most of the people I'm friendly with make me forget for a while but with Trig... I don't know, there's something more...

But I'm probably just hallucinating.

End Log

Stardate 21510.04

Personal Log for Anthony Moriarty. Stardate 21510.04

Upon closer examination of the USS Gryphon, I suggested to Captain Tokat that an Away Mission aboard would prove advantageous in both the discovery of whatever happened fifty years ago as well as a truly unique opportunity to explore one of Star Fleet's classic vessels. I must say that my naivety clearly got the better of me as I am now slowly starting to regret my decision to accompany the Away Team across - we have ghosts.

For centuries, people have debated the validity of ghosts and spectral lights and poltergeists and for years even I have been a little skeptical here and there but now... I have no choice but to believe in them - I'm seeing them in person. Members of the crew from five decades ago, all appearing in bursts of images throughout the ship as if they're simply going about their daily routine. The atmosphere is eerie to say the least.

Unfortunately, Captain Tokat was called back to the Pegasus under the request of Ambassador Sanor who, under the light of the Gryphon, I have almost completely forgotten about. With Commander Gregg left in charge of the Away Team, we've been split into two groups - Gregg and Powell headed off to investigate the Engineering Deck while I led Mr Crystillin, Miss Zan and Mr Hutton to the Bridge.

With the discovery of a rift in space, and possibly time, we're now starting to be concerned if someone is controlling the phenomenon for the purpose of laying a trap - an idea that nobody is too fond of. We can only hope that a solution can be found before any more lives are taken. These ghosts can see and communicate with us, how long before that too becomes worse?

End Log

Stardate 21512.15

Personal Log - Anthony Moriarty

Stardate 21512.15

Our time aboard the Gryphon has been far from enjoyable or comfortable. During our investigation into what happened to the crew, a spatial rift opened up outside the vessel and began to rapidly grow in size – making its way towards us. With time running short, the Team had no choice but to conclude their scans and start trying to find a way out.

Mr Crystillin started programming a self-destruct sequence – much to my dismay – although abandoned and mostly useless to the Federation, the Gryphon deserves a better fate than annihilation but the matter is not in my hands.

The rift, we found, was having a negative reaction with the crew. Those with telepathic capabilities experienced them first – headaches and hallucinations but eventually they caught up with everyone. Knocked us out one by one and sent us into our own personal nightmares. Mine of course involved Ben. I’ve never really spoken out about what happened to him… I find talking about it… difficult… Reliving it in the manner I was forced to in that nightmare doesn’t exactly help. I don’t know what to do. My mind had become more fragile than ever before – I’m a liability to the crew now, I… I don’t know how much longer I can stay with them.

My main goal for now, primarily to distract myself, is to load a whole bunch of antimatter torpedoes on the Pegasus and fire them at the Gryphon. The amount of particles swarming around the vessel will react with the antimatter and, in theory, create a second rift. Once that’s done, we can all sit back and watch the fireworks as the two separate rifts tear each other apart. The Gryphon will most definitely be lost but we’ll also be getting rid of the dreaded beast that started all of this drama.

First though, we need to actually get off of the Gryphon. We’ve found a shuttle in the Auxiliary Bay but… we’re not going anywhere quickly right now. The clock is still ticking.

End Log.

Engineering

Lt Dick Powell

Stardate 21601.02

Personal Log. Stardate 21601.02 Lieutenant Richard S. Powell

Well, it has been a long, long day. And the end of my second mission ending in the destruction of a salvageable Federation ship. Doesn't make one feel like a successful engineer, does it? As for the Pegasus: the good captain is unconscious in sickbay; the FO already threatened to kill me. It feels like home, right?

The sound of sipping tea is heard

I suppose a complete breakdown of the mission is in order: I inconveniently walked onto the bridge as the FO was selecting his away team. The USS Gryphon had just appeared in our viewscreen and on sensor scans---the ship had been lost for nearly 50 years. As we boarded the ship through "Ten Forward", a series of energy pulses revealed what seemed to be the crew of the Gryphon, as ghosts. This occurred multiple times during our mission. Fifteen of us composed the away team, as I recall, and myself, Gregg (the FO), an engineering mid---Daniels, PO Hutton, and a security officer, all headed to the engineering decks. Our findings: bussard collectors were full of destructive chronitons and anyons, and the warp core was in no condition to be started. So I tried starting the warp core, then flushed it with the contents of the bussard collectors, just to clear out all of the other subspace particles which had accumulated, and tried again. It started an electrical fire. After evacuating Main Engineering, we created a vacuum in the space, just for good measure.

As we left the engineering decks, telepathic capabilities of the rift silently forming outside of the Gryphon were revealed: it inserted itself into everyones' memories, creating nightmares to isolated everyone, while it absorbed the ship. Enough of us were able to fight through those dreams and reawaken, to our fortune, that the rift could not succeed. We evacuated through a shuttle on the vessel, which is now sitting in our shuttlebay for more analysis, and...

A muffled recording is heard in the background

...we just destroyed the rift and the Gryphon using antimatter torpedoes about 40 minutes ago. The only conclusion we reached: the crew of the USS Gryphon was killed by a telepathic, ship-eating, subspace rift, and the ship itself was used as bait, to trap ships passing near the Romulan neutral zone.

Computer: End Log.