The Passage Part 4

Captain’s Log, Stardate 60442.7 – Commander Naheed Tate, reporting. Captain Green-One is still secluded in phase transition so I am temporarily in command for that period. We’re continuing to trace the path of stellar supernovae-like explosions and two more stellar eruptions have been detected in the last ten standard hours. One of these events has yielded our first direct observation of the phenomenon from one of our probes placed in its projected path, but the results are… inconclusive.

We were getting clean, high speed telemetry from the probe when it just cut out. We were soon able to confirm that the star in that system exploded, but in slowing down the telemetry and micro analyzing it, the character of the probe’s breakdown is not at all consistent with the damage we’d expect to see from a supernova shockwave. Instead it appears the probe… flew apart or disintegrated before the shockwave even reached it.

We have launched two more probes into the path of the effect in an attempt to gain more information. Kervan, our Medusan navigator, has come to see me since the science briefing. It explained that its perceptions of adjacent universes is constantly shifting in detail. For a brief moment it saw, with greater clarity, the extrauniversal object that it had previously sensed. It seemed more “vessel” than anything else. Kervan sensed entities travelling within it… but only vaguely. Then the clarity of vision vanished.

I’d like to think that this lent weight to the “ship’s wake” theory, but we don’t have enough information to discount Ssvar Gss’ “weapon” theory. Not yet. Meanwhile I have ordered engineering to do a fly-around shuttlecraft inspection of the Clarke. In our brief flight from the supernovae shockwaves, the radiation overloaded several external cameras and engineering sensors, even through our deflectors. This left us with several blind spots and we need to be sure there was no further damage in those areas.

The direction of the supernovae path is now clear. If it does not alter its vector, it will pass through the outer rim of Federation space. The direct and collateral damage would be staggering, but without much more information we have no idea how to stop this effect or change its course. Our only viable alternative may be to run back to the Federation to provide an early warning. The speed of the effect’s passage is effectively Warp 11.3.

[to be concluded]

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Century class model by DJ Curtis, converted to OBL by Celticarchie. Background by FrostBo. DAZ Studio render.