Ad Astra :: Star Trek Fanfiction Archive ^{Beam me up, Scotty.}

Chapter Text

“He said what?”

         Louise Hopkins was off duty and sat at a table in Eagle’s foremost area to relax, The Nest, the ship’s main lounge, located at the most forward part of deck ten. For the last few minutes, she had been chatting to her longtime friend, security chief Nora Laas, about the latest ship events and other trivial matters until the conversation had shifted toward Commander Edison.

         Louise and Laas had been at the Academy together. Even though Louise was two years younger, the two had quickly become fast friends despite their many differences.

In fact, one could argue that the two women were polar opposites. Louise was a shy and reserved engineer who rarely spoke her mind, and only ever seemed truly comfortable when she was in the familiar environs of her engine room, solving technical challenges. An engineering wunderkind, Louise had started to learn warp field theory before graduating from high school.

         Nora Laas on the other hand was a fighter to the last bone in her body. Raised on a war-torn world and losing both her parents before she was ten years old, she was outgoing, emotional, and stubborn. Her idea of solving a problem usually involved picking up a weapon. Not because she enjoyed it but because she had long since been convinced of its effectiveness.

         The Bajoran nodded and took another sip from her drink after she had told Louise about Edison’s comments that had caught her so much off guard. The truth was that she had been unable to stop thinking about them. She had been burning to tell somebody she trusted but she had found it difficult to open up, even to her best friend.

         “It was obvious.”

         She gave her a quizzical look in response.

         “That he likes you.”

         Laas coughed, choking on her drink. “You’re kidding, right?”

         She shook her head. “Not at all. I could tell that there was something in the air between the two of you ever since you first met him. And don’t even try to deny it. I’ve seen how you look at him when you think nobody else is watching. You like him, too,” she said, pointing an accusing finger at her.

         Laas looked down, trying to avoid her insisting glance.

         “You really should act on it. I don’t know much about these things but I know that once you like somebody and that somebody likes you back, it would be stupid to just ignore it.”

         “That’s easy to say,” she said still not looking at her.

         “And easy to do as well,” she said quickly. “He’s not a bad-looking man, not at all bad-looking,” Louise said. Her eyes had drifted toward the large windows behind her. Staring at the stars racing past the ship, letting her mind wander.

         Laas shot her a dark look, not appreciating the thoughts she seemed to be contemplating.

         Louise didn’t notice the evil eyes resting on her. She had spotted somebody else that had captured her attention. “Talking about a handsome man.”

         Laas turned her head to see Barrington Spooner approaching. He was accompanied by Lif Culsten. She instinctively rolled her eyes.

         “Those were some impressive maneuvers you pulled off in that planetary ring. You evaded those pirates for over an hour.”

         Culsten and Spooner were deeply involved in their conversation when they stepped up to the table. But it was Culsten who appeared to do most of the talking. The other man was patiently answering all of the young lieutenant's questions and it seemed obvious that he not only enjoyed being in the spotlight, he was quite used to it.

         “Perhaps if we have some time I can show you a few tricks later,” he said and stopped at the table, noticing the two women who occupied it. “Lieutenant Nora, it’s always a pleasure meeting you,” he said with a smile.

         Laas did her best to ignore him.

         “Who is your lovely friend, if I may be so bold to ask?” he continued, making eye contact with Louise.

         She blushed slightly.

         “Oh yes, Lou meet Mister Barrington Spooner. Spooner this is our chief engineer Louise Hopkins,” she said quickly without looking at either one of them.

         “Charmed,” he said, gently taking her hand off the table and giving it a soft kiss.

         Louise didn’t find words right away. Another thing Spooner was apparently used to. His overly polite and old-fashioned manners especially toward women had an undeniable effect.

         “It’s nice meeting you, Mister Spooner,” she finally managed to say.

         “Would you mind if we joined you? I couldn’t think of any better company,” he said with a wide smile on his face.

         Culsten sat down in one of the empty chairs. “Of course, they don’t, why would they?”

         Spooner took the only other empty seat, right between the two women.

         Laas’ icy stare was now directed at the helmsman.

         Culsten noticed it. “What?”

         The chief engineer turned to Spooner. “I heard your encounter with those pirates cost you your ship. I’m sorry about that.”

         Spooner shrugged. “They come they go. I’m just glad you showed up in time otherwise I would’ve lost much more than that old rust bucket.”

         “Yes, we almost squashed that little pirate ship, didn’t we?” said Culsten and laughed.

         “Their firepower was no laughing matter,” said the chief engineer. “Did you know these people?”

         He shook his head. “Never seen’em before,” he said, while at the same time, his attention wandered to the entrance of the Nest.

         DeMara Deen had just entered and was walking across the room, heading for a table where some friends of hers were sitting.

         Spooner wasn’t even subtle about looking at the blonde-haired beauty.

         “That’s Lieutenant Deen,” said Culsten with a smile, quite aware of the effect she had on people, especially those who had never met her before. “She’s Tenarian.”

         “You don’t say,” he said, his eyes still fixed on Deen as she strode toward the other table.

         “I’ve heard of Tenarians but I’ve never actually encountered one. I didn’t realize they ever left their home world. They say they are amongst the most beautiful humanoid creatures in the known galaxy. I can see why. The sirens of old Odysseus don’t seem to have anything on her.”

         “Yeah, if you look at her for too long, you’ll go mad,” said Lif Culsten with a chuckle.

“Senior officers report to your stations.”

         The three officers at the table stood up.

         “It was nice to meet you, Mister Spooner,” said Louise. She didn’t feel slighted by Spooner being distracted by Deen. If anything, she was amused by it.

         He stood up as well and faced the chief engineer. “It was my pleasure, Lieutenant. I can only hope our paths will cross again.”

         “We can only hope,” she said with a smile.

         Spooner turned to Laas. “And something tells me that we will meet again with certainty.”

         “I can hardly wait,” she said under her breath and then left with the other officers.

         Once they had left, Spooner sat back down in his chair. He noticed that the ship had dropped out of warp and was now approaching a planet. He turned around and then sighed when he realized that DeMara Deen had left as well.

         After a moment, he stood again and promptly left the Nest.

*        *        *

Michael was heading toward the bridge when Spooner intercepted him at a corridor junction.

         “Captain, I was wondering if I could ask for a favor?”

         “Mister Spooner, I presume?” he said without breaking stride.

         He nodded and fell into step beside him. “That’s me, sir.”

         “Very well,” he said. “What is it I can help you with?”

         “This planet you’re heading for, am I right in assuming that you intend to go down there?”

         Michael nodded but kept his pace. “Most likely.”

         “Perhaps it would be possible for me to join the team you’re going to send to the surface.”

         “We don’t normally take civilians on away missions. This isn’t a cruise ship, Mister Spooner.”

         “I’m very well aware of that, sir.”

         They reached the turbolift and stopped for the closed doors.

         Spooner turned to look at the captain. “Your first officer has informed me that it might take weeks until we reach another spaceport. I’m just asking to get a little bit of fresh air. Staying on a starship for too long makes me feel queasy. Especially if it’s not my own.”

         Michael sighed. He understood the frustration of being an involuntary passenger but he could also sense that Spooner was not entirely honest. There had to be more to his intentions than he led on. It wasn’t that he was worried so much as he was curious to find out what exactly this enigmatic man’s game really was.

         “I’ll discuss it with my senior officers,” he said after a few seconds.

         Spooner's face lit up. “Thank you, Captain. I very much appreciate this.”

         “But let me make something very clear to you. While you’re on an away team, you will follow every order that is given to you and you will not deviate from them in any way. There might be dangers down there we cannot anticipate and we’ll be responsible for your safety.”

         “I guess that means no weapon then, huh?”

         The doors to the lift opened, Michael stepped inside and then turned to face Spooner once more. “Correct.”

         Spooner nodded. “That’s fine with me. And I will follow every rule there is. They won’t even know I’m there.”

         “Good.”

         The doors closed shut.

Moments later Michael exited the lift and entered the bridge. He noticed that all his officers were already present. He walked up to the science station where Edison and the security chief were assembled around Xylion.

         “What do we have?”

         Edison turned to the captain. “We entered orbit around Dentura I. We’re now pretty certain that the Romulans were here.”

         Michael approached the science station to take a closer look at the screen. “What’s down there?”

         Xylion replied. “It is a class-M world with a predominantly tropical climate. It has never been visited by a Federation starship but long-range scans indicate a pre-industrialized civilization of mostly hunters and gatherers on the surface.” The Vulcan operated a few panels on the console. “Our sensors confirm a population of about five hundred thousand humanoids scattered throughout the southern hemisphere.”

         “Did you find anything that could explain why the Romulans were interested in this world?” said Michael.

         “There appear to be structures of unknown origin on the surface.”

         “Any chance they’ve been built by the inhabitants?” said Edison.

         “Unlikely,” Xylion said. “The native population exhibits a stage of development similar to that of humans during Earth’s Stone Age while the structures appear to feature advanced architectural features that are presumably beyond the native population’s means at this stage of their development.” The Vulcan looked up at the captain. “There is not much more I can determine from here, Captain. I suggest we transport to the surface for a more comprehensive investigation.”

         Michael nodded and turned to his first officer. “Commander, assemble an away team and take a closer look. Don’t have to tell you to make sure you avoid the locals.”

         Edison gave him a firm nod and then glanced at Nora and then Xylion who stood up from his chair. Edison turned and headed for the lift with the security officer and the Vulcan closely behind him, Deen followed as well.

         “Edison to Lieutenant Armstrong, report to transporter room two for an away mission.”

         “Commander, one more thing,” said Michael just before he had reached the exit.

         He stopped and turned.

         “Mister Spooner has requested to join you for this mission.”

         Nora quickly stepped forward. “Captain, you must be joking.”

         “I’m not entirely sure why he wants to go but I think we should grant his request–“

         The Bajoran interrupted. “Sir, I strongly object to having a civilian–“

         Michael raised his hand and Nora stopped herself. “Something tells me that this man knows much more than he’s letting on. And the only way to find out what he knows might be to allow him to join you. Just make sure you keep an eye on him.”

         “How about a leash?”

         Edison smirked “This is going to be interesting,” he said, exchanged one last look with Michael, and then stepped into the lift car followed by Nora, Xylion, and Deen.

*        *        *

“If he doesn’t show up within the next minute, we’re leaving without him,” said Nora and gave Gene Edison a determined look. “I don’t care what you say.”

         Gene, Nora, Xylion, Armstrong, and Deen had been waiting in the transporter room for the last five minutes for Barrington Spooner to arrive. Nora had been the first to grow impatient and had already suggested leaving him behind twice.

         “He’s just going to be a problem down there anyway,” she said.

         “He can’t be all that bad,” said Deen while she was checking her equipment.

         The Bajoran looked at her as if she had lost her mind. A sinister grin formed on her lips when she remembered the way Spooner had looked at her in the ship’s lounge earlier. “Oh, you’ll see.”

         “I take it you don’t like him very much?” she said.

         “I wouldn’t say I don’t like him. He’s just the most outrageous, the most unbelievable, the most shameless–“

         As if he had been waiting for his cue, Spooner entered the room. “Why thank you, Lieutenant, I take that as a compliment.”

         “You’re late,” she said quickly and stepped on the transporter platform.

         Armstrong and Xylion followed her lead.

         Gene’s amused little smile quickly disappeared once he turned to Spooner. “Usually when I say ‘report to the transporter room’ that means right away and not ‘at your earliest convenience’. You might not be a Starfleet officer but you better start following orders if you want to be part of my away team,” he said in a tone that left little doubt of his authority.

         “I’m truly sorry for the delay, Commander. I was held up by your most charming doctor. She insisted that I be subjected to some medical scans. Not the most unpleasant experience, I might add,” he said with a boyish smirk.

         “I’m sure you had a great time,” said Nora trying hard not to picture him flirting with Wenera.

         Gene opened his palm and presented Spooner with a Starfleet combadge. “Wear this.”

         Spooner took it and quickly attached it to his aqua-colored shirt. It was then that he noticed that Deen was in the transporter room as well. She had not yet walked over to the platform. For a few seconds, he simply stared at her as though he was reconsidering what he was about to do.

         “You don’t have the slightest idea what immense pleasure it gives me to meet you, Lieutenant Deen,” he said as he stepped closer to her and held out his hand, his voice cracking ever so slightly.

         Deen mirrored his smile and shook his hand.

         “I’m Captain Barrington Spooner, but please call me Spoon,” he said.

         “It’s nice to meet you too, Spoon. I’ve heard quite a bit about you.”

         “Exaggerations mostly, I’m sure.”

         Gene, who by now had also stepped on the platform, suggestively cleared his throat. “Any time now, folks.”

         Deen quickly joined the others and so did Spooner.

         Gene gave the always exultant transporter chief Chow the all-clear and within moments their molecules were taken apart and fired at incredible speeds toward the surface of the planet below.

The away team rematerialized at the center of a small clearing, surrounded by a lush rainforest. Even though the woods appeared to be quite thick here, there seemed to be several paths that led deeper into it, likely used by the indigenous population. Scans from orbit had shown that over forty percent of the planet was covered by large natural forests. The average temperature and humidity were high and there were a great number of animal species that called this massive ecosystem home.

         Xylion opened his tricorder and began a rudimentary investigation of the area. “The closest settlement is about twelve kilometers to the east.”

         Gene took a couple of steps toward the dense vegetation. “Still, we need to be careful. We mustn’t be seen by the inhabitants of this world,” he said and then turned to face the others. “Mister Armstrong, what about those structures?”

         The lieutenant activated his scanning device. “The largest one I can detect is located about three and a half kilometers southwest.”

         The first officer pointed in that direction. There was a narrow path leading into the forest. “Lead the way.”

         Armstrong entered the forest and the others followed closely.

         The path quickly widened and it became obvious that it had existed for a long time. At certain points, it was wide enough for vehicles to make use of it, and from markings on the ground, it looked as if they once had.

         Their lush surroundings were a sight to behold. Vegetation and animal life were extremely rich, equal to or perhaps even surpassing Earth’s tropical rain forests. The most immense trees, many of which were a good ten meters wide and hundreds of meters tall, were scattered at some distance from each other but their massive treetops created an almost seamless green canopy high above. The bright sun that shined through the leaves drowned the forest into emerald colors, interwoven with white rays of light.

         Below the mammoth trees, the jungle was packed with smaller ones of varied sizes, creating a dense woodland that would have been near impossible to navigate had it not been for the path the away team found itself on.

         High grasses, mosses, the occasional boulder, as well as other vegetation twice as high as a grown man further filled out the thick jungle. Small streams of water intersected the away team’s path more than once and there a sound of what had to be a large waterfall was coming from somewhere in the vicinity.

         Numerous seen and unseen birds added their varied voices to the sound of the environment. Reindeer-sized mammals watched the six trespassers with curiosity from the distance but quickly hopped away when they threatened to come too close. It was impossible to even count or distinguish the sheer number of insects and bugs inhabiting the forest. Many of which were anything but shy to approach and surround the away team. Mostly to their discomfort.

         Nora futilely tried to wave away a small swarm of blue-colored flies that had been following her for the last few minutes. “And the doctor is sure that these things don’t bite?”

         “It is impossible to determine the exact habits of indigenous creatures without closer study,” said the Vulcan who was walking behind the security chief. “A thorough decontamination will be necessary once we return to Eagle.”

         Gene stepped over a large stone just to find himself walking right into a puddle of water. “I think what the doctor meant to say was that there are no immediate biological threats from the ecosystem,” he said and quickly stepped on the drier path again.

         “Great,” said Nora who had finally managed to escape the blue flies. They were quickly replaced by a smaller sort of mosquitoes that seemed to be attracted to the sweat on her face.

         Deen had been using her tricorder to record as much about the local flora and fauna as possible. Just like with archeology, she was fascinated by exobiology. She had been well-educated in many sciences from an early age.

         Spooner walked up beside her. “I couldn’t help but notice that you seem very young. Is that another Tenarian characteristic? I mean besides your beauty.”

         She looked up and smiled at him. “I’m twenty-one.”

         “Amazing,” he said with honest surprise. “So it’s true what they say. Your people mature a lot faster than average humanoids.”

         She nodded.

         He seemed so distracted by her smile, he almost tripped over a large root that stuck out from the ground.

         “You must excuse me, I’ve never seen a Tenarian before. The beauty of your people is like a myth and I find now that it was wildly understated.”

         She didn’t blush at his complementary words but never the less seemed flattered and acknowledge him with a short nod. She was used to the way people reacted to her. It hadn’t always been easy, especially when she had left her home world and lived among other humanoids for the first time.

         “Most of my people do not travel away from our world. At least not for long.”

         “Why would you want to leave paradise?” he said.

         She nodded again. “But that has never stopped us to welcome visitors.”

         “I’ll make a note to drop by at the earliest possible opportunity.”

         “You’d love it.”

         “Oh, there isn’t a doubt in my mind.”

         Nora wasn’t happy about the friendly conversation taking place a few meters behind her. She didn’t know what they were talking about but she didn’t appreciate the idea that Spooner could actually charm Deen off her feet. The Bajoran adored Deen but she knew that her greatest flaw was that everyone adored her and that for some reason, she could not bring herself to dislike anybody. A quality she found most unsettling.

         She walked up next to Edison. “Aren’t you going to do something about that?”

         He gave her a quizzical look. Then he noticed her gesturing at  Spooner and Deen behind them

         He took a quick look and then smiled. He didn’t like Spooner that much either but if nothing else, his old-fashioned ways and his attempts to get by on mostly his charms tended to amuse him. “What do you want me to do, Laas? Separate them like children?” he said. “Relax, he’s harmless,” he added when he realized that Nora was not satisfied.

         She sighed and increased her pace, deciding it was best to put as much distance as possible to the man she found so offending. She quickly passed Armstrong and replaced him as the spearhead of the away team.

         “Sir, I am picking up humanoid life signs three hundred meters ahead,” said the Vulcan after several uneventful minutes had passed.

         “Let’s approach with caution,” Gene told his officers.

         Soon after the away team discovered the source of the life sign readings. They had climbed up a small ridge that overlooked a lake below. A river streamed into it from one side and a waterfall dropped down on the other.

         By the lake were three humanoid aliens. They were dressed in simple animal hides. They had dark skin and were remarkably tall. The smallest of them stood at least two meters in height. They had colorful markings that covered their bare arms and legs. It was difficult to determine if those markings had been painted on or if they were part of their skin. The two men and one woman sat by the lake and seemed to be involved in a conversation. Only a few meters away lay two dead deer.

         “Most interesting,” said Xylion who was lying on the ridge next to the others. “It would appear that they are resting after a successful hunt.”

         “Yes, and look at how only the female is talking while the males are listening. She might be the leader,” said Deen observing them closely. “It could hint at a matriarchal society.”

         “The female is positioned centrally while the males are seemingly in competition to win her favor,” said the science officer.

         “A mating ritual?” said Deen.

         Xylion nodded shortly. “It is not unusual in primitive societies for hunting and mating to be interconnected.”

         Both men stood and each of them picked up one of the animal carcasses and presented them to the woman who seemed to inspect both offerings with great care.

         “I wonder if she’s going to mate with both of them,” said Spooner.

         Xylion turned to the civilian. “Entirely possible. Many cultures, even advanced ones, prefer more than one sexual partner.”

         A smile formed on Spooner’s lips. “I just hope they leave the dead deer out of it.”

         Nora shook her head and began climbing down the ridge. “You’re a sick man, Mister Spooner.”

         “As much as I would love to stay here and observe the natives, it’s not what we came here to do,” said Gene and started to crawl back down as well. “Besides, if they’re really going to mate, I do not believe they would like us to watch.”

         Deen and Xylion who both seemed extremely interested in the proceedings, for scientific reasons, managed to tear themselves away from the scene below and followed the first officer, so did Armstrong.

         “Mister Spooner, are you coming?” said Gene with a hint of impatience. He was the only person still on the ridge.

         “Certainly,” he said after a few seconds and then hesitantly turned away to join the others. “Too bad, it was just about to get interesting.”

         Gene addressed Armstrong. “Lieutenant, please find us a route to avoid the natives. I don’t mind if that means that we have to take a little detour.”

         The archeologist nodded and soon after led the way again.

         The next half hour passed with few words being exchanged.

Spooner’s main interest remained Deen while hers was still to catalog as many new species as she could. Their casual conversation was mostly one-sided with Spooner doing most of the talking. But Deen listened and never showed the slightest sign of impatience or annoyance. She answered all of his questions to the best of her abilities but never revealed much more than he was inquiring about.

         “They say that there are more Tenarian females than there are males. Is that right?”

         She nodded while at the same time adjusting her scanning device. “Yes, that is correct.”

         “Interesting,” said Spooner. He seemed to be contemplating her answer. “How many more?”

         “The ratio is roughly three to one.”

         Again Spooner was lost in his thoughts. It took a whole minute before he spoke again. “So I imagine it is rather difficult for a man to—“ he interrupted himself, trying to think of a way to phrase his thoughts.

         A wide smile came onto Deen’s lips when she realized where he was going.

         “With so many women and so few men how exactly do you choose–“

         This time Spooner didn’t stop voluntarily. Something up front caught his attention.

         “Commander,” called Armstrong from ahead. There was obvious excitement in his voice.

         The away team quickly caught up to his position and found what he was so exhilarated about. The forest had given way to an impressive stone structure in surprisingly good condition. It was surrounded by monuments of animals and humanoid beings, some of which were still fairly intact. The similarities to the buildings on Hyteria were obvious even to the untrained eye.

         “Fascinating,” said the Vulcan once he had caught a glimpse of the structure before them.

         It appeared to have a cylindrical shape and was almost as high as the giant trees surrounding it. The structure was wide enough that the away team could not see what lay on the other side and the vegetation had grown so close to it that it seemed impossible to pass it. It was covered with inscriptions and markings similar to the ones they had seen on the other planet.

         Armstrong stepped closer to the building. “These symbols are Hyterian, I’m certain of it.”

         “Could this world have been a colony?” said Deen now directing her tricorder at the structure as well.

         The archeologist touched the stone surface. “You’re not going to believe this,” he said.

         Xylion stepped up next to him and touched the structure as well. One of his eyebrows rose in surprise. “The wall appears to radiate heat,” he said.

         “How do you explain that?”

          “Must be a power source inside of the building with conduits running behind the walls,” said Deen and couldn’t help herself but join her two colleagues.

         “A power source that has been active for such a long time? My God, imagine the implications of such technology. We must get a look inside,” said Armstrong and began looking for an entrance. His disappointment over the loss of the Hyterian city fading away quickly in light of this new discovery.

         Nora stepped closer to Gene and considered the structure in front of her with suspicion.

         “Something wrong?” he said.

         “If the Romulans were here, why did they leave this building intact while they razed Hyteria to the ground?”

         He had no answer.

         “We need to find a way inside,” said Spooner

         Armstrong threw him a glance. “Yes, but where is the entrance?”

         He shrugged. “You tell me. I hear you’re the archeologist.”

         A warning sound coming from Xylion’s tricorder captured his attention. “Two humanoids are approaching our position from the northeast,” he said after checking the device. 

         Gene looked around. “Let’s give them some room.”

         They quickly retreated into the dense vegetation of the surrounding jungle but stayed close enough to be within visual range of the structure.

         Soon after they had taken cover within the outer periphery of the forest, two male natives stepped onto the clearing. They were both tall, like the ones they had seen before, and they carried the successful result of their hunt on their shoulders. They passed the huge structure barely even acknowledging it, obviously quite familiar with the building already. One of them slowed down as he pointed at the structure. He said something to his partner but the away team could not make out what it was. They broke out in laughter. Whatever it was they were talking about, it was amusing them greatly.

         “Come on, move along already,” said Armstrong quietly, impatiently watching the natives.

         But they didn’t seem to be interested in leaving. On the contrary, they sat down on the rocks and began inspecting their bounty.

         “I can’t believe this,” Armstrong said, “They’re going to stay.”

         Gene turned to him. “For an archeologist, you’re rather impatient, Lieutenant,” he said in a voice quiet enough as not to attract unwanted attention.

         “We’re patient people, Commander,” he said. “Have to be when studying mysteries that are centuries old and often refuse to give away their secrets. But it’s hard to be patient when your greatest discovery is right in front of our nose.”

         The two natives by the structure were in no hurry whatsoever. They started a heated conversation that nobody in the away team could understand, even with their universal translators.

         “This could take a while,” said Nora, leaning against a small tree trunk.

         She remained right. While the away team was burning for the chance to investigate the ancient building, the natives didn’t seem concerned about the passing of time. The sun was still shining brightly in the sky and according to Xylion it, wouldn’t get dark for at least another six to seven hours.

*        *        *

Gene and Nora had walked a bit deeper into the forest to find a more comfortable spot to wait out the hunters, while the three scientists and Spooner kept their position to await their departure.

         Gene had made himself comfortable on a large stone covered by thick moss. Nora stood just a few meters away, keeping her eyes peeled on the others. She tried to sit down but seemed too restless to stay in one place for long.

         “Something bothering you?”

         “Huh?” she said with a puzzled expression on her face.

         “You’re pacing. I can understand why the others are anxious but what’s got you so rattled?”

         “Nothing,” she said quickly and stopped moving.

         “Laas, you’ve been edgy all day, and I don’t think it’s merely because of Mister Charm over there.”

         The Bajoran woman tensed up slightly.

         “What is it?”

         “Well,” she started and sat down on a fallen tree trunk. “I … I don’t really know how to … the thing is…” she struggled to find the right words. Somewhere in her head, she knew exactly what she wanted to say but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. It wasn’t mere timidity that left her short for words. It was the fact that she had no experience in this field. When she had been younger, she had been too busy fighting for survival or planning and executing attacks on the Cardassians, leaving her with very little time for romance. The few times she had tried, she had come to regret it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft chuckle coming from the first officer. She shot him an irritated look.

“I’m sorry. It’s just in the time I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you at a loss for words. It’s not like you at all.”

She jumped back on her feet. Embarrassed.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt you,” he said.

“Forget it,” she said coolly as she quickly recovered from her moment of weakness.

         “I’m serious. If you have something you want to get off your chest—“

         This time it was Spooner who interrupted the conversation. “This is becoming ridiculous,” he said from his hiding place, stood, and headed straight toward the building.

         Gene and Nora quickly returned to the others.

         “Mister Spooner, don’t,” Gene said with as much urgency as a hushed voice allowed.

         But it was too late.

         “Yes, real harmless, isn’t he?” said Nora and glared at Spooner who had just stepped out of the forest.

         The two natives jumped to their feet as soon as they noticed him approaching.

         “Don’t get up on my account,” he said to them with a smile. He raised both his hands with his palms facing outward. “No need for alarm, we come in peace.”

         The two men simply stared at him as he stepped closer. They wore long and sharpened wooden spears on their back, undoubtedly weapons they had used to kill their prey, but they showed no intentions of using them.

         “What the hell is he doing?” said Gene, unable to quite hide his annoyance.

         “It would appear he is attempting to communicate with the natives,” said Xylion.

         Gene shot him a glare. “I can see that.”

         Indeed, Spooner seemed to speak to them as if he was talking to close friends. And judging from their laughter, he greatly amused them. Gene and the others could not make out what he was saying, however. Then Spooner turned around and looked directly at the away team hidden in the forest.

         “Don’t you dare,” Gene whispered with a bad feeling about what he was up to.

         Spooner pointed at their position and then waved them over. “It’s all right, Commander, you can come out now.”

         The two natives looked around Spooner and spotted the officers in the jungle. This only served to heighten their amusement.

         Gene didn’t see the point of trying to stay concealed any longer now they had been exposed. He stood, dusted off his uniform, and then walked onto the clearing. The others followed suit.

         “Mister Spooner, you had clear orders to stay away from the local population. What part of that order did you not understand?” he said while approaching him and the two natives.

         “Yes, I’m well aware of your precious non-interference directive,” he said with little apparent regard for it. “But surely it doesn’t apply here. These people have met many aliens before.”

         “Interesting,” said Xylion. “If that is the case it might be almost impossible to determine to which degree the development of their culture has been damaged by exposure to advanced alien visitors.”

         “Damaged? Have you ever considered that this exposure might have been helpful to their society? Leave it to a Vulcan to point out the negative aspects of every situation.”

         “The natural development of these people has been greatly disturbed. At this stage knowledge of the universe will cause more damage than good.”

         Spooner was about to retort when Gene cut him off. “We’re not going to discuss the wider implications of the Prime Directive with you, Mister Spooner.”

         The two indigenous men were watching the off-worlders with great interest now. It was apparent that they had seen other visitors before and their curiosity was almost child-like. Their greatest interest seemed to be with Nora and Deen as they studied them very closely. Deen noticed their interest and decided to use it to her advantage. She carefully stepped closer to one of them. The man, easily two heads taller than she, didn’t seem to mind in the least. He smiled down at her and she returned the gesture and began scanning him with her tricorder.

         Nora on the other hand paid little attention to the insinuating looks of the other native. She was too concerned with Spooner and kept her glare focused on him. She didn’t notice when he approached her and started poking her right shoulder. The second time he did so she just turned her head to give him a forced smile. But the insisting man kept poking her until she whipped around to face him. “What?”

         The man just smiled and pointed to the animal he had hunted.

         It took Nora a few seconds to understand the implications. She slowly stepped away from him, trying her best to keep a smile on her face. She didn’t wish to offend the native. “That’s really flattering but—“ she looked at Gene for help before regarding the smiling native again. “I think I’ll pass,” she said and took a step closer to the first officer.

         The man looked at Gene. His smile vanished and he nodded understandingly.

         Nora opened her mouth when she suddenly realized what the native had wrongfully concluded but she couldn’t quite find the right words.

         When she became aware of how close she had stepped to Edison, she quickly took two steps back.

         In the meantime, Armstrong had walked right up to the building again to continue his examination. After a few minutes of unsuccessfully trying to find a way inside, he considered Spooner. “Did they happen to tell you where the entrance is?”

         As if knowing exactly what Armstrong had asked, one of the two natives walked up to a spot at the wall of the structure. To the away team’s surprise, he started to touch some of the symbols in a certain sequence.

         “Looks like they’ve done this before,” said Nora.

         “I told you, they’ve had other visitors.”

         After a few seconds, a rectangle of pure light, about three meters high and four meters wide began glowing on the stone wall.

         “Interesting,” said the Vulcan.

         Armstrong couldn’t even find words. But he managed to direct his scanning device to the portal.

         When the away team approached, they noticed that the rectangle was in fact a passageway that led inside the structure. The walls as well as the floor and ceiling were so brightly lit, the whole thing appeared seamless. There were no lamps or other forms of illuminating devices. The light seemed to emanate directly from the plain stone surfaces.

         Armstrong set foot into the structure and touched the surface of the wall. It was not any warmer than before and it still felt like solid stone. “This is unbelievable. This technology has survived thousands of years.” He turned to the others who were still standing outside the passageway. “The buildings on Hyteria must have had similar devices as this one.”

         Gene turned to face Spooner. “They said that other aliens have visited the structure. Could you ascertain who came here before us?”

         Spooner shook his head and he didn’t get a chance to ask the natives either.

         Shortly after they had opened up the building, they quickly gathered their prey and pranced away back into the jungle. Their laughter could still be heard even after they had disappeared into the dense forest.

         “I guess they got bored with us,” said Deen and followed Armstrong into the building.

         So did the others.

         The hallway they entered seemed to be a perfectly symmetrical construction. It had no obvious features unless they were hidden by the immense bright light that surrounded the away team. Only after about fifty meters did the artificial illumination slowly give way to more natural light.

The long corridor ended and they stepped into a circular room that seemed almost identical to the one they had discovered on Hyteria. Sunlight entered the chamber from the roofless ceiling far above. Three more passages, lit as brightly as the one they had used, led in three more directions. The room had a few differences from the ones they had visited before. It was larger and it had six wide columns positioned around the room and close to the walls. All but one had collapsed, and large pieces of the broken column were spread out across the chamber.

         “This is unbelievable,” said Armstrong who quickly walked through the room, studying the symbols and inscriptions on the walls. He didn’t even know where to begin.

         “Looks like we’re getting a second chance,” said Deen and began a rudimentary scan of the new surroundings.

         Gene was similarly surprised to not only find an ancient building in such good condition but also it being so analogous to the one they had found on a planet several light years away. “Are you sure that the same people built this place?”

         “We need to investigate this building closer to determine that with absolute certainty,” said the Vulcan science officer. He had walked over to another side of the room to record some symbols that had caught his attention. 

         “There is, of course, the possibility that later cultures have imitated styles and designs of an older and more advanced one,” said Armstrong, without taking his eyes off the wall he was standing at. “But so far I have seen several clear parallels that strongly suggest that we’re standing in a structure erected by the Hyterians.”

         “I know that we speculated that the Hyterians built colonies, but that they created one this far away from their homeworld is impressive,” said the Gene.

         “We knew that they traveled the stars but this…“ Armstrong interrupted himself. He turned around and a small sigh escaped his lips.

         Gene gave him a quizzical look, “What’s wrong?”

         “Everything around here is in such good condition. As an archeologist used to dig up old ruins, I almost feel superfluous,” he said.

         Deen stepped up next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Trust me, Toby, this mystery will need the mind of an archeologist to be revealed,” she said and smiled at him.

         Xylion turned and gave her a short nod. “I concur,” he said and then faced Gene. “I suggest we consider the transfer of additional equipment and personnel to this site.”

         Gene sighed. He didn’t like the idea of a scientific enterprise the size of the one they had deployed on Hyteria. Not only because the structure seemed to be right in the middle of the native population’s hunting grounds but also because Hyteria had proven that they were not the only ones with an interest in the ancient race. He looked around to find Spooner standing close to the wall on the opposite side of the room. He seemed to have a great interest in whatever it was he was looking at.

         “Did you find something, Mister Spooner?” he said while taking a few steps toward him.

         The man quickly spun around. “No, not at all. Just more of these indecipherable inscriptions,” he said without stepping away from the wall. His broad back covered the part of the wall he had been directing his attention at.

         Nora stepped closer. “Why do I have such a hard time believing anything that comes out of your mouth?”

         “Must be because you’re such a suspicious person,” he said and took a step back as she approached. “I could suggest a good counselor to address your underlying trust issues.”

         “Or, and stay with me on this one, the reason I’m so suspicious of you is because everything you say is a lie,” she said, stepped up to him, and shoved him aside.

         Behind him, she discovered a large circle carved into the stone wall. It contained a few star-shaped symbols in the lower left quadrant that were connected by straight lines. The rest of the roughly one-meter-wide circle was empty.

         “I’m telling you, it’s nothing,” said Spooner while she considered the carvings.

         “Why don’t we let the scientists determine that?” she said and pinned him with a scowl.

         Armstrong, Deen, and Xylion quickly joined the two and focused their attention on the wall section.

         “It’s definitely something,” said Armstrong right away.

         “The precision with which this pattern is carved is remarkable. It appears to have mathematical properties,” said the Vulcan. He pointed his tricorder at the wall and began recording the engraving.

         “It almost looks like a map,” said Deen and touched one of the star symbols. The small star lightened up when her finger made contact and she stepped back with surprise, bumping into the equally astonished Toby Armstrong.

         “Interesting,” said the Vulcan while he observed the light spreading from the star symbol across the lines. “It is drawing a course.”

         Once the light had reached its destination, a beam shot out from the wall, hitting Deen square in the chest and creating a small but bright pattern across her dark uniform.

         “It’s projecting something,” said Armstrong as he tried to determine what exactly he was looking at. The swell of her chest made it difficult to decipher the projection.

         “Do you like what you see?” said Spooner with a boyish grin.

         “It’s amazing,” said the young archeologist who hadn’t caught the insinuating tone in his voice. Instead, he moved slightly closer to Deen with his eyes glued to the light patterns. “But the uneven surface is not ideal.”

         DeMara Deen cleared her throat.

         That’s when Armstrong realized that he was staring right at her breasts.

         “Not ideal?” she said.

         He very slowly looked up into her purple eyes. His blush was noticeable even on his dark skin. “No ... I mean, yes … I’m sorry I didn’t ... I mean, they’re just … uh…”

         Spooner laughed out loud.

         She smiled sweetly at him. “Maybe I just try and move aside.”

         He nodded but his words were now stuck in his throat.

         The Tenarian stepped out of the beam’s way. Now, unhindered, the ray of light traveled to the dead center of the room where it projected a three-dimensional image of a large sphere with eight smaller globes surrounding it. Near the fourth globe, several particles were glowing brighter than the rest of the shimmering projection.

         Gene found himself right in the middle of the central globe. He too stepped aside to look at the entire image from the outside.

         “It is a holographic orrery,” said Xylion.

         Nora shot Spooner another quick glare. “It’s nothing, huh?”

         Spooner simply shrugged and stepped closer to join the others observing their amazing discovery.

         “Is this the Dentura system?” said Gene without taking his eyes off the projection in front of him.

         “Unlikely,” said Xylion. “It does not match the characteristics of this system.” He looked back at the circular carving on the wall and then turned to face the projection again. “It appears to be a representation of a solar system about eight light years from our current position. If indeed this is a map, then it is clearly pointing to the asteroid belt contained within that system.”

         “Perhaps it’s the location of another colony,” said Nora now stepping closer to the projection herself.

         “It could be. But it wouldn’t surprise me if it was something more than that. After all, these are not just your ordinary directions,” said Deen.

         “Whatever it is, we should go and see for ourselves. For all we know it could be a treasure map,” said Armstrong who had by now consciously put a bit more distance between him and the Tenarian.

         “With all we have seen so far that wouldn’t surprise me in the least,” said Gene and eyed Spooner who stood at the opposite side of the holographic construct.

         “This all feels like a wild goose chase to me,” he said and stepped into the projection. “There’s plenty to see right here. Why run off again just because of a few twinkling lights coming out of a wall?”

         “It almost sounds like you don’t want us to find whatever it is this is pointing us to. Maybe it’s because you want the treasure for yourself,” Nora said without even trying to hide the accusatory tone in her voice.

          “Do as you wish. I just want to spare you the trouble of chasing phantoms.”

         “Of course, you are.”

         “Ultimately, it’s up to the captain. We’ll return to the ship and make a decision there.” Gene continued before Armstrong could protest. “And no, this time we leave nobody behind,” he added before the archeologist had a chance to make his point.

         The other man looked around and uttered a little sigh of disappointment.

*        *        *

It was sunny and it was hot.

         But that was as much as he knew about the place he found himself in. And yet, he walked with purpose toward his destination. He couldn’t deny that there was a certain familiarity with his surroundings. And there were others, like him, yet different. They all went about their business, as he was. The situation was bizarre and yet, at the same time, he felt neither worries nor concerns. As a matter of fact, he felt thoroughly relaxed. The world seemed upside down. Everything that should have been unusual seemed as regular as breathing. Everything out of place felt like it fitted just right, and everyone unknown looked like a familiar acquaintance.

         And then everything changed.

         The sun disappeared, replaced by sudden darkness that crept across the land. The creatures that only moments ago had seemed as carefree as he was, now froze in terror. They turned and stared at the horizon where a menacing shade now approached.

          Everything it touched, it destroyed. Trees and plants simply died as soon as the darkness was upon them. Animals and birds turned and ran as fast as they could but there seemed to be no escape.

         The creatures surrounding him began to scream in horror. Many gathered their children and loved ones in a futile hope to escape while others simply stood there and cried.

         He could feel the threat of the darkness as well. He didn’t know what was going to happen but he knew that it was going to be painful. Very painful. Only seconds before the uncompromising gloom reached him, he closed his eyes. From one moment to the next, all that had been good and pleasant and comforting was gone and replaced by a feeling of sheer terror and agony.

         When Michael opened his eyes, he saw the ceiling of his ready room.

         He had lain down on his couch for a short nap. He had felt more tired than he had thought, probably because of the restless night before. But the easy rest he had hoped for had not come.

         He felt agitated, his heart was pumping faster than usual and his hands were sweaty. Once again, the feelings he had experienced in the dream had somehow crossed the path into consciousness.

         He sat up and slightly shook his head when he realized that he could not explain what it was he had been dreaming about. It worried him now that there seemed to be a continuous theme, almost a structure to his dreams. It was different from anything he had ever experienced before. That alone made this unsettling.

         He stood and went over to sit by his desk. There wasn’t much he could do about the dreams, he decided. There was always the option of seeing a counselor and talking about it openly. A notion he had never been entirely comfortable with. He didn’t trust psychologists and people whose business it was to analyze the inner workings of somebody’s mind. As far he was concerned, the mind was the last true fortress of privacy and an area that should remain untouched by outsiders.

         The fact that he had collapsed on the bridge hours earlier still troubled him and he couldn’t deny any longer that his dreams and the incident on Hyteria were connected somehow. But for now, he could not justify seeking out outside help. And who knew if there was anyone who could even lessen his worries? Perhaps all he had to do was to ride it out like an old-fashioned cold.

*        *        *

Gene had given his eager science officers a couple of minutes to collect as much data as possible before returning to the ship.

         It was clearer than ever now that there was more going on than he had previously believed. Not only had they stumbled across an ancient civilization, they had also left behind secrets just waiting to be uncovered. And all evidence seemed to suggest that they were late to this party.

          “I think I’ve exhausted the memory banks of my tricorder. There is nothing more I can record here,” said Deen and put her scanning device back into the holster at her hip. “It’s a shame that we can’t stay longer,” she added and looked at Gene to see if perhaps he had changed his mind.

         “We might be able to return but for now we have to get back to the ship and find out what we have.”

         She nodded as a small sigh escaped her lips.

         Gene looked across the room to find Armstrong and Xylion going over some inscriptions on the wall. They seemed to be brainstorming theories on the constructors of the building.

         Opposite them were Spooner and Nora, the latter now keeping an even closer eye on him.

         “Okay people let’s—“

         Loud voices coming from one of the passageways stopped him in mid-sentence. The voices grew louder quickly.

         He looked at Deen and then at the others. Out of instinct, he signaled them to find cover. Something in the pitch and tone of those unknown voices was giving him a bad feeling about this.

         The two science officers as well as Nora and Spooner slipped into two opposite hallways. But Gene and Deen were too far away and settled for a large piece of rubble instead. They were not fast enough not to be seen by the four large Klingon warriors who entered the hall.

          All four of them were huge men and wore traditional Klingon uniforms made out of black fur and covered with metallic chest and shoulder plates. There was about a second of hesitation as the Klingons were startled by finding the Starfleet officers.

         Their noisy conversation quickly died down and they stared at the two Starfleet officers trying to hide behind the fallen stone column. Their confusion was replaced by determination as they drew their pistol-shaped disruptors and opened fire.

         Deen and Gene crouched down just in time to avoid an emerald energy blast that would have taken off both their heads. Instead, it hit the wall behind them, leaving a large black scorch mark.

         “Klingons? I thought we had a cease-fire,” said Deen trying to make herself heard above the thunderous blasts of disruptor fire.

         Gene peeked over the cover he was crouched behind and was able to squeeze off one shot with his phaser before he was forced to retract again. “I’ll make sure to remind them once they stop shooting at us.”

         The firing Klingons stepped into the room, self-assured of an easy victory. But their progress came to a sudden halt once Xylion and Nora opened fire from their positions as well. Realizing they were up against more targets, they started to backtrack for cover, but not letting up on firing on anything and anyone who wasn’t Klingon.

         Gene quickly realized that they had reached a stalemate. While his team was in a better tactical position, the Klingons had the advantage of superior firepower. For now, either side was going to make headway, and the longer this continued, the higher the chances one of his people was going to get seriously hurt.

         He momentarily stopped firing when he could hear the Klingons loudly arguing with each other. But the universal translator seemed to have trouble interpreting their conversation over the noise of battle.

         He looked at Deen for help.“What are they saying?”

         She listened for a few seconds and then tilted her head slightly. “I‘m not entirely sure,” she said. “Something about returning to their base?”

         The exchange of weapons fire slowed as the Klingons began to retract back into the hallway they had come from. After a few seconds, Gene could hear their retreating footsteps with just a few final and unaimed blasts striking the room, blowing up stone and dust.

         He slowly stood from his cover to get a better look. The passageway in front of him was still remarkably well-lit and it was easy to notice the absence of their enemies.

         Nora came running up to her. “Are you all right?” she said with a little more worry in her voice than was called for.

         He turned to her and gave her a nod.

         Quickly realizing that she had let her concern for him become a bit too obvious, she turned to the others who were reassembling in the room. “How about you?”

         “We are uninjured,” said the Vulcan.

          But Armstrong seemed less interested in their physical state as he was in the condition of the chamber.

         As the dust of the shootout began to clear, the full extent of the damage became more obvious. Many of the inscriptions and engravings had been destroyed and the walls were crumbling at many places. Most notably, the star map and the source of the projection were scorched beyond recognition. The projection itself had long since ceased.

         The archeologist was noticeably shocked by the destruction the encounter with the Klingons had caused. But this time, he seemed to manage the loss better than he had done on Hyteria. Perhaps the previous experience had hardened him.

         “Good thing we finished recording most of this,” said Deen as she inspected the damaged walls.

         Gene turned to Nora. “Where did these Klingons come from?”

         The security chief shrugged. She didn’t say it but she clearly blamed herself for not noticing their approach. She had been too concerned with watching Spooner that she had paid little attention to anything else.

         Gene took a few determined steps toward the passageway the Klingons had disappeared in. “Commander, what do you read?”

         The Vulcan activated his tricorder. “Sensors seem to be less effective within this structure. I do register four bio signs heading rapidly southeast.”

         “I bet whatever questions we have about all this, those Klingons have some of the answers,” he said and drew his phaser again. He turned to face the others. “I want those answers. We’ll follow them to their base.” Without waiting for the other’s opinion, he stepped into the bright corridor and began following the Klingons.

         Nora was the next through, staying as close as possible to the first officer. The other officers and Spooner followed suit.

         The hallway wasn’t much longer than the one they had used to walk into the structure. There were no other rooms or intersecting corridors and it seemed that the only reason for the entire building was that one oval chamber at its center.

         Gene and his officers quickly found themselves under the open sky again. They were standing on an elevated plateau with the rainforest spreading out beneath them. A treacherous cliff directly ahead allowed no way to safely descend into the forest except for a very narrow path to the left. The fresh foot marks in the dirt were clear signs that the Klingons had taken the downward winding trail very recently.

         Gene was about to head for the path when a loud noise caught his attention. It was coming from somewhere below in the jungle but was clearly not natural. The roaring sound increased quickly even though the origin of it remained hidden.

         “I have a very bad feeling about this,” said Spooner and then began covering his ears as the sound was becoming deafening.

Only seconds later, a large green object peeked up from under the cliff and fully revealed itself as it moved upward. An imposing Klingon space vessel now hovered only a few meters in front of the away team. Its two massive and upward-tilted wings spanning about seventy meters. At the end of each wing, a massive disruptor canon pointed at where the away team stood.

         “This is not good,” said Spooner and slowly slid toward the path, trying to get out of the way.

         “Come to think of it,” said DeMara Deen, speaking just loudly enough for the others to hear her. “I think they said ship, not base.”

         Gene turned his head to pin her with a less-than-appreciative glare.

         She shrugged innocently. “Honest mistake.”  

         A high pitch sound signaled that the mounted weapons on the Bird-of-Prey were powering up.

         “Take cover!” yelled Nora and jumped at Edison, pulling him and herself to the ground.

         The disruptors began firing and the powerful blasts hit the façade of the ancient building. Within seconds the entrance collapsed and rocks began raining down unto the plateau. A huge cloud of dust and smoke engulfed the entire front of the building.

         The ship seemed to be in too much of a hurry to inspect the results of its attack. It promptly turned away from the structure and accelerated until it disappeared into the clouds.

         Deen coughed hard when she finally got up again. She had felt the Vulcan’s immense strength when he had pushed her and Armstrong to the right of the structure’s entrance. She still coughed when she helped the unharmed archeologist to his feet. She was relieved to find Xylion in good health as well. They had each received a few scratches and bruises and their uniforms and faces were completely covered with dust but they had come away from the attack without serious injury.

         Spooner had sprung headfirst down the trail once the shooting had begun. He had avoided most of the dust and rocks but his clothes were dirty from the muddy ground. He stepped up to the structure but couldn’t see much as the smoke was still dissipating. He stumbled over something soft. He looked down and a wide smile came over his face. At his feet lay the first officer and on top of him was Nora Laas, looking right into Edison’s eyes.

         Even after what he had gone through, Gene smiled at the Bajoran right on top of him.

         She blushed but her face was so much covered up by dust that nobody could tell. She realized that Edison didn’t seem to be bothered by her weight pressing down on him and she froze for a few seconds. It wasn’t until she heard Spooner’s insinuating cough that she quickly regained her composure and pushed herself off the first officer.

         “Lieutenant, if I had known about this before, I would have never dreamed of coming between you and the commander,” said Spooner still wearing his smile.

         Nora stood and turned to Spooner. “You need to shut your mouth,” she said and turned her back to him to dust off her uniform.

         Gene got onto his feet as well. He ignored Spooner and stared at Nora’s back for a moment. Then he quickly checked on the other members of his away team, noticing that nobody was seriously injured. He tapped his combadge. “Away team to Eagle, we’re about ready to get out of here.”

*        *        *

Science lab three was the biggest of its kind on Eagle and yet it wasn’t much to look at. Despite the great work that was achieved within these walls by the ship’s expansive science department, their workplace didn’t do much to reflect the many discoveries that took place in this room filled with computer stations and display screens.

Located at the center of the large lab stood a table covered with control panels. A large semi-transparent view screen rose from the table, dividing it into two halves.

Currently, the archeology department was occupying the extensive facilities, taking full advantage of the high-speed optical data network connection to the ship’s super-powered main computing core. All the workstations were in use by the eager members of Tobias Armstrong’s half-a-dozen-strong archeology team, with at least another dozen science officers with other specialties borrowed to help with the investigation of the Hyterian civilization.

There was a lot of chatter and discussion of theories and hypotheses, as the computer was churning through all the data the teams had been able to collect, running constant simulations and extrapolating the latest interpretations and simulations of the secrets the Hyterians may have left behind when they vanished.

Toby Armstrong sat at the center of it all, entering new data and altering variables into the main console and then observing the results on the large screen.

         His superior, Commander Xylion was in the chair next to him and by simply watching the two scientists, it wasn’t immediately obvious if he was assisting Armstrong or if it was the other way around.

         The two men had company. Michael Owens, Gene Edison, and DeMara Deen all stood behind them, following along with the results displayed on the screen. Xylion had called them to the lab to present them with their findings.

         “This is amazing,” said Armstrong without taking his eyes off the screen, even as his fingers continued to manipulate the controls of the console.

Michael noted that it had been the third time within the last few minutes that he had uttered those exact same words. “Do you think it might be possible for you to actually show us what it is you find so interesting?”

         Armstrong looked at the captain as if he had forgotten his audience altogether. He nodded quickly and then returned to enter a few commands into the console.

         On the screen, a computer simulation of two buildings appeared next to each other. They slowly rotated to show them from every perspective. The one on the left was the temple-like structure on Hyteria and the one on the right was the one the away team had found on Dentura I.

         DeMara stepped closer to the screen. “That is amazing.”

         “What is?” said Michael a bit harsher than he had meant it to sound, beginning to feel his patience reaching its limits.

         She pointed at the center of each structure displayed on the screen. “Both rooms are nearly identical. Symmetrically there’s almost no difference whatsoever.”

         “Do you have any idea what these buildings were for? Have you had any luck translating the inscriptions we found?” said Edison.

         Armstrong pressed more controls and the left side of the screen now displayed a replica of some of the engravings they had collected.

         “We’ve found over five thousand different characters so far and have very few references to go with,” said the chief archeologist. “Deciphering this language is going to be a challenge for even the most skilled linguists in the Federation.”

         “However,” said the Vulcan and turned with his chair to face his superior officers. “We were able to identify a limited number of similar characters in our cultural database. Most likely from civilizations that may have been directly or indirectly influenced by the Hyterians.”

         “We could determine a few facts,” said Armstrong while his face lightened up with excitement about their accomplishments. “We’re pretty sure that these buildings were some sort of shrines to worship a god-like entity most likely referred to as Fen’dera.”

         “Fen’dera? Sounds familiar,” said DeMara.

         Xylion nodded. “A cross-reference of our cultural database revealed twenty-two entries of the same name. In fifteen cases it is the name of the highest deity of their respective culture. It is also frequently associated with the stars, enlightenment, or the sun.”

         “And we’re talking about civilizations as old as thirty thousand years and as far away as the Delphic Expanse,” said Armstrong.

         “That is impressive,” said Michael. “Go on.”

         Armstrong continued. “We’re fairly certain that the Hyterians were a highly spiritual society. The divine good is often symbolized by light, virtue, and honor while evil is darkness, treachery, and malintent.”

         “We believe we have found an ongoing motif of not only a scorn of evil but actual and palpable fear of it,” said Xylion while several similar-looking characters appeared on the screen.

         “With their advanced technology, I wonder what they had to fear,” said Edison and looked at the captain.

         “What about the map you discovered? Have you made any progress on that?” said Michael.

         Armstrong entered more commands and the screen changed to show the projection they had discovered on the surface. He shook his head slightly when he turned to face Michael. “That’s one of the many mysteries we haven’t quite figured out yet. The computer had no luck in translating the inscriptions that we think are commentaries on the projection.”

         “In other words, it could be the location of their greatest treasure or a warning to avoid a certain death trap,” said Edison.

         DeMara turned to the first officer. “Or both.”

         “I understand that this solar system,” Michael pointed to the screen, “was projected out of a star map.”

         The Vulcan nodded. “Correct. And the map features navigational points that can be translated to our current star maps.”

         “So we can set a course to that location?” said Michael.

         “That would be possible.”

         Michael turned to his operations manager. “Dee, return to the bridge and have Culsten set a direct course and get us underway.”

         “Right away,” she said and turned to leave the science lab.

         “Captain,” said Armstrong and stood from his chair. “Perhaps it would be more prudent to stay here for now and continue to fully investigate this site so we can learn more about these people before we continue to yet another location. There might be plenty more that we could learn here. There are bound to be other Hyterian remains on the surface.”

         But Michael shook his head. “There is more than archeology in play here, Mister Armstrong. I still have no explanation for why both the Klingons and the Romulans are showing such a great interest in a five-hundred-thousand-year-old civilization. I refuse to believe it’s scientific curiosity.”

         “I’m willing to bet that there is one person on board who knows far more about this than he lets on,” said Edison.

         Michael nodded. “I think it’s time that we have a proper chat with our guest.”

*        *        *

“I don’t know what else I can tell you, Captain,” said Spooner sitting at the end of the long conference table in Eagle’s briefing room. He had been summoned there by Michael who was sitting opposite him at the other end of the table. Commander Edison sat to his right.

         “Why were you so interested in joining the away team?” said the first officer.

         “I already told you. I felt confined on the ship.”

         Edison’s expression was doubtful. “And your interest in the ruins?”

         The blonde-haired merchant smiled. “A hobby.”

         “Of course,” said Edison and leaned back in his chair exchanging a glance with his captain.

         “I do not think there is anyone on this ship who believes a single word you are saying, Mister Spooner,” said Owens.

         “Actually, there’s this cute ensign on deck twelve who seemed very receptive to what I had to tell her,” Spooner said with a growing smile, making himself more comfortable in his chair. “But then again it’s no secret that Starfleet officers have trust issues.”

         “Yes, we do,” said Edison. “Whenever we meet the sorts of you.”

         Spooner gave the first officer an almost wounded expression. It was obviously an act.

         “You’re telling us that you know nothing about the Hyterians and why the Romulans, as well as the Klingons, seem to be interested in them?”

         Barrington Spooner leaned forward and looked directly in the eye. “Nothing at all.”

         “Very well,” Michael said and stood. “I don’t feel comfortable having you wander freely around my ship anymore, I’m afraid. I would place you in the brig but you have given me no reason to do so.”

         Spooner stood as well, his smile widening. “I completely understand. If I may be so bold as to make a suggestion?” he said but continued without waiting for an answer. “You could lend me a shuttle craft I could take to get me to the nearest port. I promise to take good care of it and leave it there for you so that you may reclaim it once your mission is over. This way I’d be out of your hair for good.”

          “I’m afraid your collateral isn’t good enough to make such an arrangement realistic, Mister Spooner,” said the first officer while leaving his seat.

         “Well then what do you have in mind?” he said, now slightly confused.

         Michael turned to Edison. “Dentura is a lovely planet, is it not?”

         The first officer nodded. “Beautiful. Especially this time of year.”

         “Many remote and uninhabited islands, I presume?”

         “More than you can count.”

         Spooner took a few quick steps toward the two officers on the other side of the observation lounge. “Now, wait just a minute.”

         Michael and Edison looked at the approaching Spooner whose smile had disappeared from his face.

         “You can’t be serious.”

         “You’re not giving me a lot of options here. I don’t trust you enough to take you with us.”

         Edison walked up to Spooner. “Don’t worry, we won’t forget to pick you up once we’re done. Say in two or three months.”

         Michael turned to head for the exit and Eugene quickly followed him.

         Spooner sighed. “Hold on,” he said. “You win.”

         Michael stopped and turned to face Spooner once more. “What was that?”

         “They’re looking for an artifact,” he said quietly.

         “What kind of artifact?” said Edison and stepped closer.

         Spooner sat back down. “Nobody really knows. But it’s supposed to be immensely powerful. It might be a weapon more devastating than anything in the known galaxy. Something akin to a doomsday device.”

         “And the Hyterians built it?” said Edison.

         Spooner nodded. “They hid it somewhere.”

         Edison turned to Michael. “Most likely so it would not be found by someone who would use it irresponsibly.”

         Their glances fell back on Spooner.

         “What exactly is your involvement in all this?” said Michael as he took his chair again.

         Spooner, his glanced downcast, looked back up. “A few months ago, I overheard a group of mostly drunk mercenaries on a bar on Deep Space Nine babbling about an ancient weapon that would make them rich beyond their dreams.”

         “Any chance that those were the same mercenaries that chased you through those planetary rings?” said Edison.

         “I was on my way to Hyteria when I bumped into them. They recognized me and let’s just say they weren’t too happy to see me again.”

         “Who can blame them?” said Edison.

         “What else do you know?” said Michael.

         Spooner shook his head. “Not a whole lot. The mercenaries were convinced that the Hyterians left clues to the whereabouts of their weapon in their colonies. I swear that’s all I know.”

         Michael studied Spooner carefully to evaluate the trustworthiness of his story. His instincts told him that trusting this man would be at his own peril but at least on the surface his story seemed to make sense. He pressed a control embedded on the shiny black surface of the conference table.

         The door to the room opened and a security guard entered the room.

         “Please escort Mister Spooner back to his quarters. He is allowed to move freely on the ship but I want him under guard at all times.”

         The guard acknowledged with a nod.

         Barrington Spooner stood and headed for the exit where the security officer was waiting for him.

         “And Mister Spooner,” said Michael before he had reached the doors.

         The man turned around.

         “Stay away from my female crewmembers, please.”

         The man smirked but didn’t say anything. He turned and left the briefing room closely followed by the security guard.

         Once the doors had closed behind them, Edison turned to the captain. “Nora will be disappointed that we’re not leaving him stranded on a remote island in the middle of nowhere.”

         “For now, he’s the only person on board who knows anything about this artifact he claims everyone is after. He might turn out to be useful.”

         “You intend to look for it then?”

         Michael stood. “We cannot afford not to. If there is any chance it turns out to be as powerful as Spooner thinks it is, we cannot allow it to fall into the wrong hands.”

         Edison nodded.

         “From what we’ve seen of the Hyterians so far there is no telling how powerful this artifact could be. It might very well drastically shift the balance of power in this sector maybe even in the quadrant. Gene, we can’t let that happen.”

         “I know. But it looks as if our competitors already have a significant head start on us.”

         Michael started for doors with a determined stride. “We’ll have to make up for that. Increase our speed to maximum warp.”