S4:E5 - Die letzte Grenze

[Vasilisa Belmont]

[Mess Hall - Challenger]

Ruth returned Kyle's hug being the long-term friends they'd been it warranted it.  "Oh I sure will, Kyle, and plenty more where that came from!"

"I promise not to try half killing myself, Lisa... so it's probably better for you to come to Sciences than me to come to Sickbay...however, I do promise to come for my medicals on time.  I'm not one of those officers that likes to hide from them.  Get them over and done with.  Having had a brain tumour... removed by Dr. Caleb Brighton a while back and no more crazy than normal since..." she gave a wink to Kyle, half expecting him to protest in jest about the craziness!

"... I don't take chances.  That said if I end up hurt, on an away mission I would rather see the team seen to before myself.  But 'shop' aside, the goodies are in my quarters rather than my office, but you're still welcome to visit me in either location since then you can take your pick but get there before Kyle does or there'll be slim pickings!  But, I'm pretty sure that since I now own Waring Manor outright, and the staff that goes with it... Mrs. B. will insist on looking after me and send me 'care packages' quite often.  So, I'll happily share them out, you'll get some 'real food' as often I do.  If there's any special requests, I'll pass them along.  Has to be preserved stuff or confectionery - fudge, toffees that sort of thing tho, sadly cakes wouldn't make it here without becoming 'science projects'!! But yeah, I'm happy to take a break from looking over report PADDs and have a cuppa with a friend if you want to visit me in Sciences!!" the CSO smiled at the doctor and was very happy that Challenger and indeed the Fleet in general wasn't afraid to put women in important positions.

"And Kyle we deffo have to catch up, such a lot to tell you!  I'll be on the Bridge soon as I've chucked this ratkajino down my throat."

She looked around for Lahr, and wondered how he was fairing with Burke and his friends.  Hopefully they weren't raking him over the coals too much.

"That's all I need to hear." Jem nodded along, quite content with what he was hearing. The rest will, no doubt, hit us in the face like a photon torpedo.

People were starting to move out - it seemed like the ship was approaching this Expanse they were supposed to be... charting? Rescuing ships? The salient details had dripped out of his head.

"I should get to sickbay, I'm on duty soon." Jem finished his sushi and stood to leave. "Remind me to have a word with somebody about the replicators, there's something... I dunno, funny about the rice it makes. Not 'ha ha'-funny, more 'I'm sorry, how many lawsuits?'-funny. It was good to get to know people, finally." He smiled, making a point to nod politely to the XO in particular. He'd been the first to sit with Jem, which was definitely appreciated.

[Mess Hall - USS Challenger]

Lisa smiled, the commander's enthusiasm rubbing off on her. "Good for you! About the going to your physical on time, not the brain tumor. I'm glad doctor Brighton got that taken care of," she gave her a sympathetic look, remembering a time long ago when she was still an ensign on the Arizona, where she assisted with a head surgery on an away mission. Not a brain tumor, but something equally risky. They had the tech to take care of such conditions, but there was still an amount of skill involved on the part of the surgeon.
"I'm sure we'll see each other in either place, or here, or even on the Bridge. Some of those times will certainly include tea and those tasty treats you so generously offered," she beamed warmly and glanced at Briggs as he was also included in the conversation. She was happy that her crew had begun to become her friends.

The next voice to distract her was Jem's, who surprised her by mentioning duty shift. Looking at the chronometer, she realized he was correct. She still had a couple minutes though, so she finished up her coffee and muffin. Then she swiveled to face the medical ensign as he made for the exit.

"I've never had the sushi here, but sushi rice is very complicated to make by hand so it doesn't surprise me that the replicator recipe is not up to snuff. I usually go for simple stuff myself unless I have time to experiment with recipes. In the case of sushi, maybe doing it by hand would work out better. There are just some things replicators can't do justice to," she laughed."It was good to get to know you too, Jem. See you around."

[CMO's Office]

Lisa left the mess shortly after Jem and sat down to some inventory reports and Ruth's transfer file. The day usually began with paperwork, but God only knew what was in store for the rest of the day.

[Kyle Briggs]

[Sargasso Expanse - USS Challenger]

As the Breen vessel turned and made course for the Challenger with shields and weapons armed, Kyle didn't waste any time.

"Red Alert!" he called.

The klaxon blared loudly and the crew jumped into action. Litt was still handing the ship with ease but he was about to get a real test inside this expanse.

Kyle called out to the other stations.

"Report. How are the weapons and shields being effected by this area of space?" he asked.

[Ian Galloway]

[Sargasso Expanse - USS Challenger]

As the Breen vessel turned and made course for the Challenger with shields and weapons armed, Kyle didn't waste any time.

"Red Alert!" he called.

The klaxon blared loudly and the crew jumped into action. Litt was still handing the ship with ease but he was about to get a real test inside this expanse.

Kyle called out to the other stations.

"Report. How are the weapons and shields being effected by this area of space?" he asked.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian sat up as Kyle called for a red alert as it was the right decision. Breen were an enigma and usually whatever they were up to did not bode well for the Federation.

"Bring photons to ready. Bring phasers to ready. Tactical, weapons free as soon as they are ready to fire!"

Ian stared hard at the viewscreeen and his eyes narrowed as he thought back to the sneak attack by the Breen on Earth during the Dominion War. He figured he shouldn't be thinking this particular thought, but he really wanted to see this ship burn. It was revenge, pure and simple, which was not something a Starfleet officer should want or ever consider, but the attack on Earth killed nearly 2150 people at the Academy and this was a chance for a measure of payback. He obviously didn't voice any of these thoughts, he instead continued to project an air of serenity and waited for T'Kel to unleash hell.

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[Sargasso Expanse - USS Challenger]

As the Breen vessel turned and made course for the Challenger with shields and weapons armed, Kyle didn't waste any time.

"Red Alert!" he called.

The klaxon blared loudly and the crew jumped into action. Litt was still handing the ship with ease but he was about to get a real test inside this expanse.

Kyle called out to the other stations.

"Report. How are the weapons and shields being effected by this area of space?" he asked.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"Breen... oh lort!!  I've only ever known one Breen, and well he was one of ours so to speak... " Ruth said worried but not panicked.

Privately, she opened a personal file on her console and sent a file across to the Ops console.  She didn't care if it was Lahr or one of the others that opened it... it wasn't private.  She entitled it 'Open if Captain wants "Battle Music"!!'

In it was another note and a file.  'So Lahr doesn't play hip hop version or whatever LOL' and a music file

"There are other scrambled warp signatures in the area, but fragmented, Captain.  Could it be that this Breen ship attacked the ships we are looking for?" the CSO queried.

[Ian Galloway]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"Breen... oh lort!!  I've only ever known one Breen, and well he was one of ours so to speak... " Ruth said worried but not panicked.

Privately, she opened a personal file on her console and sent a file across to the Ops console.  She didn't care if it was Lahr or one of the others that opened it... it wasn't private.  She entitled it 'Open if Captain wants "Battle Music"!!'

In it was another note and a file.  'So Lahr doesn't play hip hop version or whatever LOL' and a music file

"There are other scrambled warp signatures in the area, but fragmented, Captain.  Could it be that this Breen ship attacked the ships we are looking for?" the CSO queried.

[Sargasso Expanse]

One of the reasons the Challenger was moving at impulse speed was the very nature of the space within the Expanse. It was unstable and warp power, let alone warp speed, disrupted the interphasic qualities of the area. The while the Breen Gor Taan-Class cruiser was making an aggressive approach, it was doing so at sublight speed only and given the Breen ship's impulse engine was much smaller than that of the Challenger's, that gave the Federation ship a huge advantage in firepower.

Unable to use the majority of it's power the Breen ship opened fire with photons as soon as it was in range, two of the three globes on energy hammered into the Challenger's forward shield, but did no more than giving the ship a hard shake. T'Kel's return fire battered down the Breen's forward shield and did significant superstructure damage. This was followed up by Litt slewing the ship hard to port and clearing the aft weapons for T'Kel to fire, scoring two more hits, which left the Breen ship in decidedly worse shape than when she began her attack.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian didn't know what the Breen was doing here or whether they were responsible for the disappearances or not. He could see they had picked a fight they probably shouldn't have, but now that they had, it was pretty obvious they were trying to figure out how to get away. Before Litt could line the Challenger up for a second pass, the Breen sheered off and launched a single object. It didn't move or act like a photon as it traveled in roughly a straight line towards the Challenger.

"Scan that thing!"

Ian ordered, because, it seemed the Breen were relying on whatever it was to escape and that implied it couldn't be good news for the Challenger.

[Mondo'li Nari]

USS Challenger - Mess Hall - Earlier

Mondo shuffled his meal tray to one side as the call came in.  He smiled, tapping his own badge in response.  He had missed sharing meals with his compatriots during his convalescence.  It was nice to be invited back again.  The only boon of trials and tragedy was that it brought people together.

This is Mondo.  I'll be right there.

Hesitating for a moment, he decided not to recycle his tray and replicate a new one in the other mess.  It was easy enough to carry it over.

Sargasso Expanse - USS Challenger - Bridge - Later

The Breen ship loomed large on the auxiliary tactical display as it unloaded weapons and then turned away.

To Mondo, it was an oddity that he often found himself reporting for a tactical rotation at the exact moment that something went awry.  It sometimes seemed to him that the universe preferred him to sit a console than to carry a phaser into battle.  Perhaps chewing at his body was destiny's way of making its plan for him clear.

If so, Mondo would have preferred a kindlier messenger than a spread of hostile torpedoes.

At least he wasn't primary on tactical, today.  He was sitting an auxiliary station, shadowing Lieutenant T'Kel and providing assistance rather than taking action himself.  The goal was to sharpen his tactical prowess for those cases when he would be called upon to fill in on the bridge or man the tactical systems of a shuttle.

"Our shields remain at 97% effectiveness," Mondo reported.  "I suspect the nature of the expanse may be attenuating weapon effectiveness.  Likely ours as well as theirs."

Then the Breen deposited an oblong object that approached the Challenger's position.  Mondo checked the tactical readout, which filtered sensor results for tactically relevant information.

"Tactical scans show the presence of cobalt and trilithium.  It's difficult to tell if this is a power source or a warhead.  If it is a warhead, we may be dealing with a subspace weapon."   Such a weapon could be catastrophic in the current environment.  "Science can probably make a firmer analysis."

[Ian Galloway]

Sargasso Expanse - USS Challenger - Bridge - Later

The Breen ship loomed large on the auxiliary tactical display as it unloaded weapons and then turned away.

To Mondo, it was an oddity that he often found himself reporting for a tactical rotation at the exact moment that something went awry.  It sometimes seemed to him that the universe preferred him to sit a console than to carry a phaser into battle.  Perhaps chewing at his body was destiny's way of making its plan for him clear.

If so, Mondo would have preferred a kindlier messenger than a spread of hostile torpedoes.

At least he wasn't primary on tactical, today.  He was sitting an auxiliary station, shadowing Lieutenant T'Kel and providing assistance rather than taking action himself.  The goal was to sharpen his tactical prowess for those cases when he would be called upon to fill in on the bridge or man the tactical systems of a shuttle.

"Our shields remain at 97% effectiveness," Mondo reported.  "I suspect the nature of the expanse may be attenuating weapon effectiveness.  Likely ours as well as theirs."

Then the Breen deposited an oblong object that approached the Challenger's position.  Mondo checked the tactical readout, which filtered sensor results for tactically relevant information.

"Tactical scans show the presence of cobalt and trilithium.  It's difficult to tell if this is a power source or a warhead.  If it is a warhead, we may be dealing with a subspace weapon."   Such a weapon could be catastrophic in the current environment.  "Science can probably make a firmer analysis."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

When Mondo made his report, Ian snapped his head so quickly toward the tactical station that he felt his neck pop. Ignoring the stabbing pain, he ran through what he'd read about the Expanse in the mission briefing and his blood ran cold.

"Mister Litt, best speed away from that object."

He said calmly, though he was anything but calm.

"Commander Sigurdsdottir. Run whatever scans you need to confirm tactical's scan. If'n that thing is a subspace weapon, there is no tellin' what it will do ta the interphasic matrix of the Expanse. Furthermore, with just impulse power, neither our shields or the structural integrity field have enough strength ta resist a tri-cobalt explosion. I need options people, otherwise, we'll have ta activate warp power and risk destabilizin' the Expanse anyway."

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

When Mondo made his report, Ian snapped his head so quickly toward the tactical station that he felt his neck pop. Ignoring the stabbing pain, he ran through what he'd read about the Expanse in the mission briefing and his blood ran cold.

"Mister Litt, best speed away from that object."

He said calmly, though he was anything but calm.

"Commander Sigurdsdottir. Run whatever scans you need to confirm tactical's scan. If'n that thing is a subspace weapon, there is no tellin' what it will do ta the interphasic matrix of the Expanse. Furthermore, with just impulse power, neither our shields or the structural integrity field have enough strength ta resist a tri-cobalt explosion. I need options people, otherwise, we'll have ta activate warp power and risk destabilizin' the Expanse anyway."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"Affirmative on the composition, I read it as a tri-cobalt bomb, but nothing like I've seen before, a nova bomb.  It will produce a thermokinetic explosion in the region of 20-25 cochranes... subspace distortion.  We don't really have time to get away from the blast, the ripple effect of it, so be ready for that Mr. Litt... the only suggestion I have would be to beam it aboard and immediately beam it to as far away as we possibly can, but I don't know when it's set to blow, I can't read that." the CSO said in a worried voice, and glad that she was in a sitting position.

"I'd employ our seatbelts too as I've only once felt this before in a simulation but we were thrown about like ragdolls..."

She almost automatically said to 'brace for impact' but that wasn't her call to make, but some habits died hard.  She wanted a hug from Lahr so badly because if this was to be their last moments potentially... with him is where she'd want to be.

[Ian Galloway]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"Affirmative on the composition, I read it as a tri-cobalt bomb, but nothing like I've seen before, a nova bomb.  It will produce a thermokinetic explosion in the region of 20-25 cochranes... subspace distortion.  We don't really have time to get away from the blast, the ripple effect of it, so be ready for that Mr. Litt... the only suggestion I have would be to beam it aboard and immediately beam it to as far away as we possibly can, but I don't know when it's set to blow, I can't read that." the CSO said in a worried voice, and glad that she was in a sitting position.

"I'd employ our seatbelts too as I've only once felt this before in a simulation but we were thrown about like ragdolls..."

She almost automatically said to 'brace for impact' but that wasn't her call to make, but some habits died hard.  She wanted a hug from Lahr so badly because if this was to be their last moments potentially... with him is where she'd want to be.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian frowned deeply at the report and thought furiously on how to save the ship. Ultimately, with no ability to escape the blast radius, that left him only one option, survive the blast and figure out what to do next if they did. He slammed his hand down on his comm panel.

"Engineerin', we need full warp power, both warp cores, put everything we have into shields and structural integrity immediately."

He didn't wait for an answer as he switched to shipwide.

"All hands, brace for impact!"

The shields surged with power beyond their design limits, but thanks to all the work done to ensure the ship could handle such an influx of so much raw energy, the shields increased to 234% of normal just as the nova bomb detonated. The shock wave lashed the ship and threw her sidelong. As the Challenger rode the blast, the very nature of space shifted and pulled the ship into an encapsulated spatial anomaly created the bomb within the heart of interphasic space.

Ian held on fiercely to his command chair and shouted.

"Richard! Turn us into the wave! Into the wave!"

The ship lurched and lumbered, sluggishly responding to Litt's efforts to exit the anomaly. The viewscreen displayed a riot of colors as the ship was assaulted by powerful energy discharges caused by the change in covalent capacitance generated by the large mass of the Challenger's hull. The discharges grew in strength beyond what the shields would have been able to take with power from the impulse engine alone, but the use of warp power generated a powerful vortex. With all her power going to resisting the corruption of space as Federation science understood it, there wasn't enough power going to the engines and that left the ship unable to pull free of the vortex and the Challenger was dragged into the event horizon.

The vewscreen overloaded and shut down closing off any information from outside the ship. The entire crew felt an unknown piercing shriek deep within their skull as the universe unraveled around them. Up was down, right was left, every frame of reference became different until the psyche rebelled at the contradictory sensory input and collectively, the each and every member of the crew screamed back at the unknown source of what was assaulting before everything went black for everyone...

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian frowned deeply at the report and thought furiously on how to save the ship. Ultimately, with no ability to escape the blast radius, that left him only one option, survive the blast and figure out what to do next if they did. He slammed his hand down on his comm panel.

"Engineerin', we need full warp power, both warp cores, put everything we have into shields and structural integrity immediately."

He didn't wait for an answer as he switched to shipwide.

"All hands, brace for impact!"

The shields surged with power beyond their design limits, but thanks to all the work done to ensure the ship could handle such an influx of so much raw energy, the shields increased to 234% of normal just as the nova bomb detonated. The shock wave lashed the ship and threw her sidelong. As the Challenger rode the blast, the very nature of space shifted and pulled the ship into an encapsulated spatial anomaly created the bomb within the heart of interphasic space.

Ian held on fiercely to his command chair and shouted.

"Richard! Turn us into the wave! Into the wave!"

The ship lurched and lumbered, sluggishly responding to Litt's efforts to exit the anomaly. The viewscreen displayed a riot of colors as the ship was assaulted by powerful energy discharges caused by the change in covalent capacitance generated by the large mass of the Challenger's hull. The discharges grew in strength beyond what the shields would have been able to take with power from the impulse engine alone, but the use of warp power generated a powerful vortex. With all her power going to resisting the corruption of space as Federation science understood it, there wasn't enough power going to the engines and that left the ship unable to pull free of the vortex and the Challenger was dragged into the event horizon.

The vewscreen overloaded and shut down closing off any information from outside the ship. The entire crew felt an unknown piercing shriek deep within their skull as the universe unraveled around them. Up was down, right was left, every frame of reference became different until the psyche rebelled at the contradictory sensory input and collectively, the each and every member of the crew screamed back at the unknown source of what was assaulting before everything went black for everyone...

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ruth didn't have time to fasten her belt as her hands were shaking knowing what was coming when Ian ordered Richard into the wave and Engineering to give them whatever power they could muster.   It was all she could do to hold onto the console in front of her, give a look around and a quick prayer for those she cared about.

"By Odin, I-..." she managed to get out before the sensation hit her fully like an iron spike which was hitting the high registers of an operatic soprano in her skull.

A small echoing scream escaped her lips as she could fight the feeling no more and the edges of her vision closed around her fading to black, two words escaping her lips for anyone to hear "Lahr, love...." as her head fell forward with a loud THUNK! onto the console, and a small trickle of blood snaked it's way down her cheek from her temple.

[Ian Galloway]

[Interphasic Reality]

After all the chaos, wherever he was had the redeeming quality of being quiet. The void was like standing not only in, but on, a thick bank of fog. This phenomenon was interesting in it's own right, but what really made it interesting was when he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

"Looks like you've really buggered things up this time haven't you Lad."

"Gaffer?"

"I see nothing gets past you. So now that you've gotten yourself into this mess, how do you plan ta fix it?"

"Okay, whatever this is, is not real. You're not real!"

"I'm as real as you've made me. Not like I'd ever be in a place like this."

"If'n it were up ta you, I'd have never left Inverness!"

"At least you'd still be alive."

That brought Ian up short as he wondered if the voice of his father could be right.

"Last thing I remember was that bloody unholy scream."

He thought.

"And now you're here."

"Since when can you read minds?"

"Since you brought me here. Not like it was ever difficult ta ken what you were thinkin'. You always thought and did the opposite of what was good for ye."

"You mean opposite of what you dictated for my life!"

"Again, at least you'd have a life if'n you'd listened ta me."

At this point Ian set his jaw and shouted into the fog.

"Okay, whatever this is, I've had enough. Either show yourself or end this farce!"

In an instant, the scene changed and Ian was in the cockpit of a P-40 and in a swirling dogfight over Kunming, China. He blinked at the sudden shift and began to maneuver to avoid the Japanese Nate fighter trying to shoot him down. His plane staggered as it was hit and he snap rolled and took his damaged plane into a steep dive to get away, muttering

"At least this makes sense."

"You sure about that Lad?"

The voice of his father taunted him over his headphones, causing Ian to grown and wonder if there would ever be an end to whatever this was.

[RomanChase]

[Bridge - NX-04 Challenger]

"œOrders, Captain??"

Roman blinked and glanced around the"¦ bridge of an old starship. Engle Class? No"¦ NX class.

"œCaptain?" The voice came from the tactical station.

"œWhat?" Roman said, confused. "œWhat is"¦" He glanced down at himself in an unfamiliar blue jumpsuit.

"œTwo Suliban ships are in transporter range." The tactical officer said.

"œWhat is the stardate?" Roman asked.

"œThe"¦ date"¦ is January 11, 2154."  A woman at the science station replied. "œTactical, polarize the hull plating."

"œWe're being boarded." The tactical officer said. "œMultiple transporter signatures throughout the ship." Tactical reported.

"œWait, how could they have multiple transports in this century?" Roman glanced around.

A large group of suliban materialized on the bridge, weapons drawn. Each suliban held a bridge crew member at gunpoint. The lead suliban approached Roman"¦ "œAah, Captain Winter of the infamous Challenger. What a prize!"

The suliban leader pointed her weapon at Roman's face"¦ "œI order you"¦ to DANCE!"

The sound on the bridge flooded with fast-paced spanish salsa music. Everyone broke into an energetic dance. The lead suliban swayed her hips and moved her feet in perfect rhythm to the music. She wrapped her arms around Roman and began to melt into his body. Looking around, everyone else melted. The walls, viewscreen and consoles began to melt.

The floor melted from under him.

He was floating in space with no suit. It wasn't cold, and he could breath.

"œHey." He heard a voice say.

He tried to look around. There was only the emptiness of space.

"œThere is no sound in space." Roman said.

"œHey." He heard the voice again...it was a woman.

He was standing at the edge of a pond. A woman he didn't recognize was lying in the water relaxed and serene. She threw an object at his feet.

Roman picked up the sword and examined it.

"œHey." She said again"¦ and she glitched. "œHEEEEY. WAAAARP POWEEEERRRR" Her voice deteriorated into a digital screech, as she disintegrated into millions of pixels.

[Jemason Seo]

[Sickbay, Med Lab 02]

"So let me see if I've got this one straight." Jem really didn't want to sound like the crazy one here, but he had an awful feeling that it was approaching anyway. "Dottir means 'daughter'?"

Ensign Rashar nodded with an amused smile. "That's right."

"And she would've inherited that name from her father's family?"

Rashar's smile grew alongside Jem's annoyance. "Mhm."

Confirmation of the facts did little to assuage Jem's confusion. "And her father's not...?"

"Huh? Oh, no. Not as far as I know, at least." Rashar could barely hold back to laughter.

All Jem could do was grab the bridge of his nose. "How that species ever got as far as they h----"

The entire crew felt an unknown piercing shriek deep within their skull as the universe unraveled around them. Up was down, right was left, every frame of reference became different until the psyche rebelled at the contradictory sensory input and collectively, the each and every member of the crew screamed back at the unknown source of what was assaulting before everything went black for everyone...

[Zhian'tara]

"...where...?" was about all Jemason Miro could muster right about now. Something warm was trickling down his face, down his throat through his nose and mouth.

Tasted like metal. Must've hit his head.

Stomach ached... but he was conscious. Couldn't have injested that much blood and still be awake. Focus was returning, but slowly. Distant sounds, burning perhaps, definitely a siren of some kind.

Panic bells. Red alert. Something here from somewhere else. It was coming back. Shields had been raised - even as far into the ship as he was, the telltale hum was there. A call to brace for impact, then...?

"Your sickbay."

The response was clear. A clarion trumpet call that cut right across the thrum of battle.

"At least, I think that's where I am."

The voice was feminine, and moving. Towards, then over him. She was helping Jem up. Oh, yeah, he had to have fallen over in all of that. The lights were out, Jem couldn't see anything, except the woman, outlined in golden daylight.

"No, no, not sickbay." She sighed. Once Jem was in a sitting position (calling it a comfortable one would definitely be a stretch), she stepped back to take stock. "I think I think that because it was where we were last. If you'd have asked me, I'd be... aboard the USS Aventine. Yes, yes, it's starting to come back now. We're unwinding."

Jem looked up. Not at the woman, past her. Wherever they were it wasn't anywhere he knew. It was... nowhere. A vast black void, yet the ground still felt like that Starfleet issue carpet. Was that just a remnant of his last memories, too? "Unwinding..." The word made his head spin. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but wh-"

The woman cleared her throat, and sighed. "Oh, silly boy, this ought'nt to have happened to you here and now." Her voice was calming and soothing, like listening to honey. "I'm Aera S- ahem, Aera Kolin right now, I suppose. The Commission told you about this, I take it? I ask, because I can't-"

"Zhian'tara." Jem nodded. A Trill rite of passage. Separation of previous hosts into separate entities. A chance to communicate properly. A chance to unwind. "Yeah... yeah, I knew I'd have to do it some day but what with the timing and such-"

Aera rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, you know the Commission told you everyone tries to get out of it. Shame, really. I'd have loved to have gotten to know Seo's previous hosts... if the stupid thing had thought to have any before me." She chuckled, and despite everything, Jem wanted to laugh along. Shame his body simply wouldn't let him. "Normally my... I think the Vulcans call it katra. My katra would be transferred into somebody you know. A friend, or a family member. Don't ask me why I'm here now, though... who was the man with you before? The Betazoid?"

"Ensign Rashar?"

Aera scoffed. "Oh, nevermind, I'm not in his head. Though the Gods know you could use that experience, that little hint of empathy." Her voice took on a slightly sour tone. "I swear, these symbionts have a sense of humour. Seo went from the Federation Councillor for Trill to a man who desparately needs a councellor."

Jem's head was more than clear enough to bite back. "Hey! I do have a councellor, thank you very much!"

"The woman... Riley?" Aera smiled. "Yeah, she's a sharp one when she's not a total wet blanket, but you need to listen to her, dumbass. It's all well and good you going out of your way to get to know your crewmates once, but I was in your head for long enough and we're not completely unwound just yet." Her gaze was as sharp as her smile. "You won't keep it up."

"...will too." If Jem were in a better frame of mind, he might've been able to stop himself from pouting. Aera just laughed, only making the young man sulk further.

"You don't want to make another connection like you had with Emily." Aera giggled. "You Starfleet types do amuse me. Always joining for some higher purpose, well aware of the ramifications of a military life, and you all get burned the same way. The Aventine's captain was like you, y'know. The Dominion War cost her some weekend romance and suddenly it's all work and no play."

Jem scratched his head, half looking for his wound, half trying to do anything but respond to her. Somehow, the silence was worse. "You had heartbreak, too."

Aera beamed, as though some divine revelation had befallen them. "And I'm not Miss Dourpants, am I? The heart's a muscle, soldier boy, and it needs exercise to get stronger. When was the last time you spoke to your sister?"

"I-" The question caught Jem off guard. Alright, more off guard than the rest of this bizarre experience had. "-she's busy serving aboard Lillehammer, we're both in the service, we don't have-"

"-time?" Aera raised an eyebrow. "Time enough to contact Earth and chat to that councellor you've got a crush on, though. And not even listen to what she's telling you, too." Finally, her gaze seemed to soften. "Your sister hurts too, y'know."

Now it was Jem's turn to scoff. "No she doesn't."

"And she's probably sorry, too."

"...No she's not."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Officer's Mess]

[Ruth's Quarters > Mess Hall, Earlier]

Seeing that he'd got his commbadge back, Ruth was satisfied that for now at least there wasn't going to be any further recourse from their latest escapade.  Finishing her coffee in a large gulp she smiled at all of them on her way to the turbolift and stopped briefly to say "By the way... if no one has gotten around to saying, I'll have a word with Captain Galloway that this may continue for you... I suspect it's one of the things he won't care a jot about so long as everyone behaves themselves, but still better to have it 'officially' approved.  Carry on!"

Let them put that in their proverbial pipes and smoke it.  She'd caught the snigger from Helga, but she knew the Klingon woman wasn't easily fooled.  If she needed to she would have words.  She hoped that they had the sense to let it go, knowing that this privilege might be curtailed if they caused a ruckus!

Lahr nodded at Ruth's statement.  He appreciated that she understood what this meant for them.  "Thank you, ma'am."

USS Challenger - Mess Hall - Earlier

Mondo shuffled his meal tray to one side as the call came in.  He smiled, tapping his own badge in response.  He had missed sharing meals with his compatriots during his convalescence.  It was nice to be invited back again.  The only boon of trials and tragedy was that it brought people together.

This is Mondo.  I'll be right there.

Hesitating for a moment, he decided not to recycle his tray and replicate a new one in the other mess.  It was easy enough to carry it over.

While they waited for Mondo to arrive, Burke spoke up mentioning that he'd received a letter from one of M'lenda's seven kits - they were young adults currently.   They had been in the last year of boarding school when their mother passed.  M'manda was the only female of the litter and had actually followed in her mother's path choosing to enlist just shortly after graduation.  Burke read the letter aloud to the group.

Lahr greeted Mondo with a smile when the Hupyrian joined the table. "Thanks for joining us Nari.  Glad to have you back with us and not on our prayer list.  Okay...  Sorry to hurry this but I don't want to be late for my shift on the bridge.  Can we get a moment of reflection for all those that we have lost?"

Lahr pulled his portable PADD from his duty belt and opened a file which played a little memorial video of all past Challenger crew, while he bent his head in a moment silence.

When the team first started doing this memorial breakfast, the video had just been of their close teammate M'lenda... then someone - Tim - had questioned what about the others who'd lost their lives in the Innominatum battle?... those from other security teams?... Did they not deserve to be remembered as well?   So Lahr began to compiling all the names of the dead and created a longer version of the memorial video.  Currently, it's total length was 33 minutes.  Usually the video played in the background while the group ate breakfast and reminsced.

Today, knowing he would have to leave in just a few minutes, Lahr after the first minute of silence, sent a copy of the video to Burke who was on a day off.  Burke synced his PADD to Lahr's and took over the playing of the video.  Lahr then hurried to the replicator to order himself an protein energy shake.  A meal in a cup!

He slurped away at this while the group discussed who to assign replying back to M'manda.   Helga, of course to annoy him, put forward Lahr's name.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PO2 Grelek
[Sargasso Expanse - USS Challenger - Deck One - Bridge - Ops]

"Mister Litt, let's see if she'll handle one half impulse. Commander Sigursdottir, full range scans on all spectrums. Let's see if'n we can find any of these poor buggers."

[Sargasso Expanse - USS Challenger, Bridge - present]

"Aye, Captain, scans active.  I'll check for ion trace and warp signatures.  Not holding out much hope however... we might get lucky."

The CSO set away the short and long range scans, and debated, then added a Scanning Pulse and a Polaron scan to look for any ships in the area.

"Captain, I'm getting a very faint warp signature, I have identified it as Vulcan but running through the databanks to see if they can find it.  This was bearing  240.7 about 165-170 million kilometers away, it's extremely faint. Once we get closer we can scan for lifeforms but at this range not possible, I don't think."

She'd have to wait for Ops to confirm that but she wasn't about to take over someone else's job.

As Lahr hadn't yet showed up for his shift, it was Petty Officer Grelek that was at the Ops station.  The Commander's announcement prompted a secondary scan by the Vulcan to double-check her results.  "Ops confirms the Commander's findings.  However, high-resolution life-form scans are possible at such a distance - they just take longer to consolidate the results.  Initiating now.  Results will be available in 4.35 minutes."

[Sargasso Expanse - USS Challenger]

The Challenger initially shuddered as she accelerated to one half impulse, but smoothed out as Litt got a feel for the currents and eddies of the Expanse. Maintaining sensor contact with the warp trail was very difficult, but Ruth being an old hand at the task, she kept them roughly on course during their slow approach. However, once within 250,000 kilometers of the contact, the ship, because what it was became instantly clear when it powered up and started to move! Things were happening quickly, but two things were obvious. One, the ship was not Vulcan, it was Breen, and two, it was turning toward the Challenger with shields and weapons powered!

[Sargasso Expanse - USS Challenger]

As the Breen vessel turned and made course for the Challenger with shields and weapons armed, Kyle didn't waste any time.

"Red Alert!" he called.

The klaxon blared loudly and the crew jumped into action. Litt was still handing the ship with ease but he was about to get a real test inside this expanse.

Kyle called out to the other stations.

"Report. How are the weapons and shields being effected by this area of space?" he asked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Sargasso Expanse - USS Challenger - Officer's Mess >>>>>> Deck One - Bridge - Ops]

Lahr's late morning meant that he wasn't able to stay long for the breakfast.  Those not on shift would sit and reminisce.   But the Andorian was already cutting it close with his departure for the Bridge; he couldn't afford to be late.  Ever since the mix up with the 'Scotland the Brave' song that Lahr had piped throughout the ship during the last battle, Captain Galloway had been less tolerant of Lahr playing music on the Bridge and insisted on a higher degree of professionalism from the Ops officer.  Arriving even a minute late would likely earn him time on the hull.  He'd felt the shudder of the ship increasing speed as he was waving goodbye to his friends.

Lahr was in the turbolift headed for the Bridge when the Red Alert sounded.  Oh Roohz!

A second later the lift doors opened and the Andorian hurried to his station, relieving Grelek who quietly updated him on the current situation before moving to the back of the Bridge to be on standby.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian sat up as Kyle called for a red alert as it was the right decision. Breen were an enigma and usually whatever they were up to did not bode well for the Federation.

"Bring photons to ready. Bring phasers to ready. Tactical, weapons free as soon as they are ready to fire!"

Ian stared hard at the viewscreeen and his eyes narrowed as he thought back to the sneak attack by the Breen on Earth during the Dominion War. He figured he shouldn't be thinking this particular thought, but he really wanted to see this ship burn. It was revenge, pure and simple, which was not something a Starfleet officer should want or ever consider, but the attack on Earth killed nearly 2150 people at the Academy and this was a chance for a measure of payback. He obviously didn't voice any of these thoughts, he instead continued to project an air of serenity and waited for T'Kel to unleash hell.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"Breen... oh lort!!  I've only ever known one Breen, and well he was one of ours so to speak... " Ruth said worried but not panicked.

Privately, she opened a personal file on her console and sent a file across to the Ops console.  She didn't care if it was Lahr or one of the others that opened it... it wasn't private.  She entitled it 'Open if Captain wants "Battle Music"!!'

In it was another note and a file.  'So Lahr doesn't play hip hop version or whatever LOL' and a music file

As Lahr signed into the Ops console he noted a file that mocked him.   Really?!  Misunderstanding who it was from (Lahr thought it was left there by Grelek - a poor attempt at humor by the Vulcan), Lahr trashed the file.   His antenna were stiff, showing his poor mood at that.  Or maybe it was the presence of the Breen headed towards them aggressively that had him in a bad mood?

"There are other scrambled warp signatures in the area, but fragmented, Captain.  Could it be that this Breen ship attacked the ships we are looking for?" the CSO queried.

Ruth's question about the Breen and if they were the ones that were responsible for the disappearance of the other ships was something that Lahr thought was highly possible.

[Sargasso Expanse]

One of the reasons the Challenger was moving at impulse speed was the very nature of the space within the Expanse. It was unstable and warp power, let alone warp speed, disrupted the interphasic qualities of the area. The while the Breen Gor Taan-Class cruiser was making an aggressive approach, it was doing so at sublight speed only and given the Breen ship's impulse engine was much smaller than that of the Challenger's, that gave the Federation ship a huge advantage in firepower.

Unable to use the majority of it's power the Breen ship opened fire with photons as soon as it was in range, two of the three globes on energy hammered into the Challenger's forward shield, but did no more than giving the ship a hard shake. T'Kel's return fire battered down the Breen's forward shield and did significant superstructure damage. This was followed up by Litt slewing the ship hard to port and clearing the aft weapons for T'Kel to fire, scoring two more hits, which left the Breen ship in decidedly worse shape than when she began her attack.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian didn't know what the Breen was doing here or whether they were responsible for the disappearances or not. He could see they had picked a fight they probably shouldn't have, but now that they had, it was pretty obvious they were trying to figure out how to get away. Before Litt could line the Challenger up for a second pass, the Breen sheered off and launched a single object. It didn't move or act like a photon as it traveled in roughly a straight line towards the Challenger.

"Scan that thing!"

Ian ordered, because, it seemed the Breen were relying on whatever it was to escape and that implied it couldn't be good news for the Challenger.

Lahr worked Ops ensuring the Point of Impact shields were given priority for the power distribution.  T'Kel's shots were taking its toll on the Breen ship and it seemed like Challenger's victory was assured when the Breen fired off something that was not like any torpedo he'd ever seen before.

Sargasso Expanse - USS Challenger - Bridge - Later

"Our shields remain at 97% effectiveness," Mondo reported.  "I suspect the nature of the expanse may be attenuating weapon effectiveness.  Likely ours as well as theirs."

Then the Breen deposited an oblong object that approached the Challenger's position.  Mondo checked the tactical readout, which filtered sensor results for tactically relevant information.

"Tactical scans show the presence of cobalt and trilithium.  It's difficult to tell if this is a power source or a warhead.  If it is a warhead, we may be dealing with a subspace weapon."   Such a weapon could be catastrophic in the current environment.  "Science can probably make a firmer analysis."[/size]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

When Mondo made his report, Ian snapped his head so quickly toward the tactical station that he felt his neck pop. Ignoring the stabbing pain, he ran through what he'd read about the Expanse in the mission briefing and his blood ran cold.

"Mister Litt, best speed away from that object."

He said calmly, though he was anything but calm.

"Commander Sigurdsdottir. Run whatever scans you need to confirm tactical's scan. If'n that thing is a subspace weapon, there is no tellin' what it will do ta the interphasic matrix of the Expanse. Furthermore, with just impulse power, neither our shields or the structural integrity field have enough strength ta resist a tri-cobalt explosion. I need options people, otherwise, we'll have ta activate warp power and risk destabilizin' the Expanse anyway."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"Affirmative on the composition, I read it as a tri-cobalt bomb, but nothing like I've seen before, a nova bomb.  It will produce a thermokinetic explosion in the region of 20-25 cochranes... subspace distortion.  We don't really have time to get away from the blast, the ripple effect of it, so be ready for that Mr. Litt... the only suggestion I have would be to beam it aboard and immediately beam it to as far away as we possibly can, but I don't know when it's set to blow, I can't read that." the CSO said in a worried voice, and glad that she was in a sitting position.

"I'd employ our seatbelts too as I've only once felt this before in a simulation but we were thrown about like ragdolls..."

She almost automatically said to 'brace for impact' but that wasn't her call to make, but some habits died hard.  She wanted a hug from Lahr so badly because if this was to be their last moments potentially... with him is where she'd want to be.

Listening to the officer's discuss what the weapon made Lahr's poor head ache.  There was a reason he wasn't an officer or in Sciences.  It still surprised him sometimes that he did as well as he did at Ops; because honestly sometimes the techno jargon that went on around the Bridge baffled him.  He didn't understand what the implications of a tri-cobalt explosion in subspace would be... other than the others seems to think that would be bad.  His antennae lowered somewhat.

The Captain had asked for options... but it was hard to give options when you didn't understand the concepts behind the problem... but Lahr was glad that Ruth was here.  If anyone could solve this problem it would be her.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian frowned deeply at the report and thought furiously on how to save the ship. Ultimately, with no ability to escape the blast radius, that left him only one option, survive the blast and figure out what to do next if they did. He slammed his hand down on his comm panel.

"Engineerin', we need full warp power, both warp cores, put everything we have into shields and structural integrity immediately."

He didn't wait for an answer as he switched to shipwide.

"All hands, brace for impact!"

The shields surged with power beyond their design limits, but thanks to all the work done to ensure the ship could handle such an influx of so much raw energy, the shields increased to 234% of normal just as the nova bomb detonated. The shock wave lashed the ship and threw her sidelong. As the Challenger rode the blast, the very nature of space shifted and pulled the ship into an encapsulated spatial anomaly created the bomb within the heart of interphasic space.

Ian held on fiercely to his command chair and shouted.

"Richard! Turn us into the wave! Into the wave!"

The ship lurched and lumbered, sluggishly responding to Litt's efforts to exit the anomaly. The viewscreen displayed a riot of colors as the ship was assaulted by powerful energy discharges caused by the change in covalent capacitance generated by the large mass of the Challenger's hull. The discharges grew in strength beyond what the shields would have been able to take with power from the impulse engine alone, but the use of warp power generated a powerful vortex. With all her power going to resisting the corruption of space as Federation science understood it, there wasn't enough power going to the engines and that left the ship unable to pull free of the vortex and the Challenger was dragged into the event horizon.

The viewscreen overloaded and shut down closing off any information from outside the ship. The entire crew felt an unknown piercing shriek deep within their skull as the universe unraveled around them. Up was down, right was left, every frame of reference became different until the psyche rebelled at the contradictory sensory input and collectively, the each and every member of the crew screamed back at the unknown source of what was assaulting before everything went black for everyone...

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ruth didn't have time to fasten her belt as her hands were shaking knowing what was coming when Ian ordered Richard into the wave and Engineering to give them whatever power they could muster.   It was all she could do to hold onto the console in front of her, give a look around and a quick prayer for those she cared about.

"By Odin, I-..." she managed to get out before the sensation hit her fully like an iron spike which was hitting the high registers of an operatic soprano in her skull.

A small echoing scream escaped her lips as she could fight the feeling no more and the edges of her vision closed around her fading to black, two words escaping her lips for anyone to hear "Lahr, love...." as her head fell forward with a loud THUNK! onto the console, and a small trickle of blood snaked it's way down her cheek from her temple.

But Ruth wasn't given the time needed to solve the problem before the device exploded and despite the efforts of the Helm, the ship though it survived the energies of the explosion, was drawn into it's vortex.

A scream sounded so piercing that his antenna twitched and writhed.  The Andorian gripped at his ears to try and block the sound but it came from everywhere - even within.

He must have blackout and been injured because when he became aware of his surroundings he was in laid out on a medical cot out in a hallway that was definately not Challenger.  There was something eeriely familiar about look of the corridor he was in... something that pinged a sense of panic in the Andorian.

He tried to sit up but his legs, hidden under a medical linen, wouldn't move and he became increasingly aware of their excruciating pain.

"Ughh... Medic!" Lahr called out, figuring that whatever meds he'd been under moments before had worn off waking him.  Well, he wanted more.  Now.

But no medic came in answer to his call.  And he seemed to be alone in the hallway.

The Andorian felt for his commbadge but it was missing from his uniform.  'Oh Roohz..  What now?'

"Got yourrrself into a pickle now haven't you, Lahrrrr."

The unexpected voice startled the Andorian.  The voice was so close.  They must be standing just at the head of his medical cot.   Lahr tipped his head back to check that spot and sure enough there was a figure there - a feline figure.   Even upside down it was impossible not to recognize the distinctive markings that identifying the Caitain as being M'lenda.   Lahr's eyes widened.  'How could this be?'

[Mondo'li Nari]

USS Challenger - Bridge

Mondo seized his console in an iron grip as the universe exploded in light, and then pain, and finally... darkness.

USS Challenger - Officer's Mess

"Thanks for joining us Nari.  Glad to have you back with us and not on our prayer list.  Okay...  Sorry to hurry this but I don't want to be late for my shift on the bridge.  Can we get a moment of reflection for all those that we have lost?"

Mondo set down his tray and nodded solemnly, bowing his head.

Then he lifted his head again, a look of confusion on his face.

This was familiar.  Too familiar.  What did the humans call it?  Deejay view?

USS Fiji - Enroute to the Garfeni homeworld

Normally, a Miranda class ship variant, like the Soyuz class USS Fiji, would not feature the luxury of water-filled bathtubs within mere enlisted quarters.  Fortunately, the Fiji had been outfitted for diplomatic duty, and the amenities were at a higher standard than was usual.  Mondo knelt in the tub, pouring water over his close-shaven scalp, letting it run down his body.  It was a ritual cleansing.

Mondo had graduated from the Academy.  He had taken his Starfleet oath in the Starfleet way.  But now he was performing the Hupyrian ritual in the Hupyrian fashion.  His grandfather had sent him the traditional robes.  The custom was to cleanse the body, to swear the oath, and then to don the servant's garment.  The traditional cleansing and vestments represented the shedding of one life, and the adoption of a new one.

Finishing his bath, Mondo dried his body and exited the head, kneeling in the central space of his quarters.  He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

The specifics of the oath varied, being negotiated between master and servant.  Often, a vow of silence was included.  That would not work in Starfleet, of course.  But Starfleet had its own Oath, which he'd recited once already at the Mars orbital training facility.  Now, as he knelt nude in front of his neatly folded robes, he spoke that oath again.

"I, Mondo'li Nari, hereby swear that I shall abide by the laws of the United Federation of Planets.  As a member of Starfleet, I shall defend its security.  I shall obey all lawful orders, and fulfill all responsibilities given to me.  I shall uphold its principles, including the principle of non-interference, securing those principles with my very life if necessary.  I vow to seek out life-"

His solemn oathtaking was interrupted as Tracy McTaggert, a young female human crewman, bounded into the room.  She immediately went wide-eyed and exclaimed, "Jaysus, Mondo!  Warn a girl, why don'tcha?!"

Mondo, who had been kneeling in the buff while facing the opposite direction, now rose up and turned towards her.  "My apologies, Miss McTaggert, I did not mean to monopolize the floor.  I was swearing a solemn-"

Tracy covered her eyes with one hand, "Whoa!  I'm abou' te make some solemn swears mi own self.  I'm goin' outside.  Let me know when yer done."

Mondo hesitated, and lifted a hand.  "Wait.  This... this has happened before... this is a memory."

Tracy removed her hand from her face.  "Is it, now?"

Mondo began to turn, looking around the room.  "Yes... I remember, the USS Fiji.  My first assignment out of the Academy.  A special diplomatic assignment.  This is just a memory."

"Just a memory?  Mondo, a memory is a whole different world."

Nari Family Compound - Hupyria

"It's a whole different world!"  Mondo nearly shouted the words, his gaze fixed upon the Shellbug cooking in the fire.  He could not bring himself to look at his aunt.

Dagas'ti, nodded.  "It is, isn't it?  Well, that's what life is, Mondo'li:  Moving from one world to another.  One experience to another.  One life to another."

Mondo looked up at her, his eyes brimming with tears.  "Have you ever been to Ferenginar?"

She shook her head, "No.  But it is a wet world, like ours.  And your grandfather will be able to teach you things that I cannot.  He has been in the galaxy.  He knows what Service is, outside of this small sphere."

Mondo looked down at himself, noticing for the first time that he was fully grown.

"Wait... this isn't real."  He held up his biosynthetic arm, "Look.  This happened much later, after I grew up.  I am not a child."

Dagas'ti laughed.  "Oh, Mondo... you are very much a child."

An explosion sounded in the distance.  Followed by the sound of phaser fire.

Mondo looked towards the trees at the perimeter of the compound.

"I don't want to go there."

Dagas'ti folded her arms, "Yes.  Yes, you do.  You are the one piloting this shuttle, Mondo.  Nothing can be here, if you do not bring it here."

Mondo gazed at the treeline.  He could hear shouting.

"No.  I don't want to go there," he protested.

But he knew it was already too late.