Quiescence: The Ship

 Through the front view-port, D'arko could see the power of the strange ship was at a minimum. Pale amber emergency lighting futilely attempted to conquer the darkness, allowing only the most nominal of detail the benefit of visibility.

The Maelstrom had been tractored into the cavernous hangar bay of the I.S.S. Pendragon, where it was surrounded by... well, mostly unidentified fighter craft. They were similar to the new Kestrels, but had a more aggressive look to them.

That stood to reason. Da'mi'en D'arko recognized the I.S.S. registration. It indicated this ship's origin: the Terran Empire of and alternate "mirror" universe. This was... unnerving.

The universe in question was documented to be the home of a terribly cruel and violent alternate version of the Federation, known as the Terran Empire. In this universe, Earth had expanded and subjugated hundreds of worlds, enslaving their people to suit the whims of a series of capricious and barbarous emperor.

Historical records indicated an occasional incursion of a few individuals. This was, so far as the Captain knew, the first time a full ship had crossed into this universe. And it was The Pendragon.

But, clearly not. the U.S.S. Pendragon, until recently, had been an Akira-class ship. She was fairly small, but fast: a typical carrier-escort. But THIS ship...

 From what D'arko had seen, this was likely the mirror equivalent of one of the new Endeavour-class star cruisers. A sister-class to the Enterprise and other Yorktown classes, the Endeavours were huge cruisers, dwarfing even the older Sovereigns. So large were they, that they all had a dedicated Aquarius-class light escort in a specially built dock within.

"Captain?" Lieutenant Song broke the silence.

"I don't know, Lieutenant," D'arko answered the unasked question, "But first thing first, we need to make sure the doctor and its patients are kept safe."

The two officers proceeded to the small armoury and retrieved the only available weapons: an old compression rifle and a phaser pistol that could best be described as an archaeological relic. When the Maelstrom was recommissioned as D'arko's yacht, outfitting the armoury was not a priority, it seemed.

D'arko ordered Lieutenant Song to guard Dr. Torgas and the wounded, then took his first, tentative step onto the strange ship. He had been certain, given what he'd read about the Terrans, the Maelstrom would have been immediately surrounded by feral, blood-thirsty maniacs trying to claw their way through the hull. 

Yet, the hangar bay was devoid of all life.Row after row of parked fighters, shuttles and even the occasional Delta-class runabout sat with no sign of ever having been in use. Perhaps this alternate version of The Pendragon was some kind of ghost ship.

The thought caused an involuntary shiver in D'arko's antennae. If the thought of a ship this large full of Terran lunatics was frightening, the idea that said lunatics had, somehow, been removed from the ship was almost terrifying.

A faint hum in the air suddenly attracted the Andorian's attention. He spun, raising his ancient phaser to bear on the source of the sound. A dull-grey exocomp swooped in from above, a vicious-looking white-sparking... thing... protruded from its utility port. Rather than attack, however, it simply hovered in front of D'arko.

"I-dent-ent-ent-if-y!" the tiny robot stuttered out.

"Captain Da'mi'en D'arko, United Federation of Planets."

"Low-wer weapon. Fol-low-low-low."

D'arko slowly holstered his phaser as the little exocomp turned away, its previous toold dissolving and replaced by a simple torch. Smoothly, slowly, it glided ahead of the Captain, leading him through seemingly endless dark corridors punctuated only by emergency lighting. 

For the most part, though this ship was at minimal power, it was almost indiscernible from a Starfleet vessel.

Almost.

Mixed among the doors they passed, announcing various crew quarters, the holodecks, the mess, etc., there would be the odd door labelled "Interrogation", "Agonizers", or (and, perhaps most disturbing) "Abattoir".

Through it all, however, they did not pass a single living thing. No one was aboard. In fact, they hadn't even passed another exocomp. Captain D'arko began to wonder if the little robot leading him had been the only thing on board.

No, he thought. There has to be SOMEONE here. Who else would have hailed us on the Maelstrom?

"En-ter-en-en-en-ter." The exocomp led him into a turbolift. As the door slid shut, the tiny robot chittered a high-pitch trill, and the turbolift ascended.

Moments later, the doors slid open to the ship's bridge. 

It was a grandiose chamber unlike anything Da'mi'en had seen on any ship save the promotional holos released for the commissioning of The Enterprise. 

Unlike the rest of the ship, the bridge was fully powered, its control consoles completely holographic and glowing brightly. The main view did not display space in front the ship, however. Instead, it displayed the former U.S.S. Pendragon along with all technical data and logs, scrolling by much to fast for any living eye to read. Standing before the viewer was a very odd man.

D'arko recognized him as human, likely from Earth. He wasn't wearing any uniform, though. Instead, he was in a long, tan coat or cape made of wool. The coat added great bulk to the man's thin frame. On his head, he wore some kind of hat which had never, as far as the Captain could tell,. been a popular fashion and had not been seen out of dramatic costuming in centuries. Though the man faced away from D'arko, the Captain saw wisps of light grey smoke curling and floating away from the strange man's face.

"Here-we're-here-we're-here." D'arko's exocomp guide chattered excitedly. The man slowly turned, showing his thin, sharp face, a pipe hanging from his thin lips. Deep,thoughtful grey eyes studied D'arko a moment.

"Captain D'arko, I presume, "he said, taking his pipe from his mouth. He nodded at the exocomp. 

"Thank you, Watson. I am Sherlock Holmes. We have things to talk about, I think."

GROZIT! D'arko thought

Coming Soon.

 

Star Trek Online: Pendragon - Book 2: Angle of Incidence