From: Jerome McKee (parakeety_at_hotmail.com)
Date: Thu Jun 28 2007 - 09:07:30 PDT
"DESOLATION, PART TWO" (Continued from "Desolation, Part One") -------------------------------------------------------- Location: GS-2 Stardate: [2.7]0628.1705 Scene: FSC's quarters Nick Cannon awoke from a dreamless sleep into the silent gloom of his quarters. He knew not how or why, but it felt like a great pressing weight had been removed from his very soul. He felt clean, new, and full of energy, like he had passed through a cauterising fire and come out unscathed, a newly-forged blade primed for purpose. He got up, activated the lights, and materialised a drink of water from the replicator. For some reason, he was really in the mood to fly - to jump into the cockpit and blaze a trail around the system at full impulse. He could scream down into the vast blue skies of ANDARA, pushing his heatshield to the edge, then the stick back, gun the engine, and blast right back through the soupy atmosphere until the stars were around him again, pitching and rolling through the axes uintil he had drunk his fill of speed and sky. It had all started with that Orb that had fallen out of the wormhole. He could remember it well enough - an hourglass-shaped energy field that had filled up his system, had blinded him for a moment. He had felt like he was falling through space, dreaming crazy dreams that now in the cold light of day (such as it was on a space station) seemed so far behind him that it all seemed unreal. He lifted his head and spoke into the air. "Cannon to flight deck." [[Flight deck. Go ahead, Lieutenant.]] "I'll be reporting for duty later today, as soon as Doctor Gorman clears me. Have Burnout be ready with a departmental report." [[Wilco, Lieutenant. Welcome back. Flight deck out.]] He really did feel a lot better. --------------------------------------------------- Scene: Ops Kane strode off the turbolift and into the command centre, to where Yao was watching a display - joining the science officer, he saw that it was security camera footage of the Promenade situated just outside the Temple of the Prophets. It was a live feed, and Kane frowned as he saw the blue glow from within spilling out onto the Promenade. Curious civilians were thronging to it like moths to a flame, jostling for position, Bajoran and non-Bajoran alike all come to see what was going on. Kane glanced at Yao. "Report." The J'naii indicating the data stream next to the camera feed. "Eyewitnesses say that the Orb is levitating and emitting pulses of light, rather like the wormhole did before the Orb appeared. The prylars are at a loss to explain what's going on. Several dozen people are within the temple, but appear to be suffering no ill effects from being exposed to it." "Have we got anyone down there?" "Commander McInnis made the initial report, sir. He is still inside the temple." Kane nodded. "Ops to McInnis. What's going on down there, Commander?" [[It's amazing, Captain! I've never seen anything like it!]] Gene's voice was tinged with excitement, and over the comnet the awestruck chatter of the pilgrims was to be clearly heard in the background. [[I don't have a tricorder with me, but it looks like the Orb has taken on a life of its own! No ill effects to report!]] Kane watched worriedly as, on the camera, the crowd grew larger. "Notify us if the situation changes, Commander." He cut the connection, jabbing a finger at the display. "Get a science team down there, full analysis. Contact security and have them begin crowd control. I'll take the Kai's communique in my office." Yao nodded. "Understood." What, the J'naii wondered, was going on? ---------------------------------------------------------------- Scene: Un Lugar Para Todo Restaurant Jeff Gorman twiddled his thumbs as he waited for his late lunch to arrive. It had been a slow day at sickbay - the only thing worth his attention had been a plasma burn to an Andorian technician in the Engineering module. He wasn't as familiar with Andorian physiology as he might have been, and treatment of the burn had necessitated an element-specific salve to be replicated, as standard saline salves were neutralised by the low pH factor of Andorian skin. Still, he mused idly, you learn something new every day. [[Infirmary to Doctor Gorman.]] Jeff sighed. Another emergency, no doubt. Why couldn't they handle this one on their own? Did every sickie who showed up at the infirmary really need his own personal input? He begrudgingly tapped his communicator. "Gorman here." [[Doctor, your wife has just been admitted to the infirmary. She's haemorrhaging badly. We suspect a placental abruption.]] Panic flooded Jeff's heart. "I'm on my way." He got up, hurrying for the door. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Scene: CO's ready room [[[... to warn you that the same thing might occur with the Orb stationed on GATEWAY. This is a most serious occurrence, Captain, and I urge you to treat it as such.]] Kane watched his desktop monitor as the wizened features of Kai Odano peered intently out at him. The old man's brow, normally crinkled with a smile for everyone, was now deep-furrowed with worry. Behind him, several Vedeks stood in a row; although silent, their faces, too, were ashen. "Kai Odano, rest assured that the Orb of Judgement is under complete protection here in the temple," Kane said with more confidence than he felt. The Kai had reported that every Orb on BAJOR was behaving exactly like *their* Orb - all eleven orbs were nor emitting regular pulses, whether they were on GATEWAY, in the High Temple of BAJOR, or any other holy shrine of the Prophets. Panic was flaring up like a wildfire all across BAJOR as people wondered what could be happening. "Is there anything more you can tell me?" The Kai mopped his brow with the sleeve of his burgundy robe. [[Nothing like this has ever been recorded before, Captain Kane. This morning alone I have been in contact with the Federation President, the Commander of Starfleet, *and* made two planet-wide holocasts to my people appealing for calm. People think that the End Times are upon them.]] "You are the Kai," stated Kane. "You might try to contact the Prophets directly, and seek their counsel." The Kai looked anguished. [[I have tried, but the Orbs are not responding to me. Silence echoes in my mind. It is as if - ]] He paused to swallow hard. [[It is as if the Prophets are no longer there.]] Kane's mind whirled. He wasn't sure what to make of the Prophets or Bajoran mysticism - were they benevolent aliens with a collective god-complex, or were they really spiritual beings with some sort of cosmic connection to BAJOR? He didn't know, doubted if anyone really could know. Religion was a touchy subject with most people in the galaxy - nobody likes to hear another person question their beliefs because it makes them feel *less*, that perhaps the critic has a point; and so words like 'blasphemy' and 'heresy' are invented, and hideous punishments are meted out to those who are not satisfied to have blind faith, and seek to ask 'but why?' How uniquely arrogant it was, Kane mused, for a mortal to be offended on behalf of their *God*. he looked back at the screen. "Your representatives will be here to receive the Orb of Judgement in less than half an hour. Perhaps something can be done when all eleven orbs are reunited on BAJOR?" The screen flickered with interference. Kane remembered the sheer distance from BAJOR to GATEWAY, shortened drastically as it was by the wormhole. The Kai's face melted and ran, his voice fizzing as the connection started sputtering. [[zzzz - haps so, Cap - zzzz - ep you inf - zzzt - ]] The screen winked out, going blank. Kane thumped the desk in frustration as a series of alarms went off in Ops. He looked out the door to see Yao frantically beckoning him. he hurried out. "I've just lost the connection with the Kai. What the hell's going on?" The J'naii pointed at the main viewer in horror. "Captain - the wormhole is closing." --------------------------------------------------------- Location: Space, nearby For seven years, two months, and three weeks it has hung continously open, a tunnel connecting two star systems seventy light years apart. Wormhole theory, such as it is, theorises that they are folds in the continuum of space-time, that somehow alter relative space-time within them, making enormous distances possible to travel in a much shorter period of time. In the two-and-a-half centuries since the founding of the United Federation of Planets, only one single stable wormhole has been discovered out of the several hundreds documented. Normally, the outside pressures of realspace eventually break down a wormhole's quantum residue, shattering its ability to exist within space-time. They can last for days, hours, or even a mere moment, but their ultimate fate is sealed. Like the tunnels formed by terrestrial worms pushing through the grainy earth, they eventually collapse inward, winking out of existence forever. Not so with the Bajoran wormhole. This particular space-time tunnel, linking the Bajoran system in the Alpha Quadrant with the Andaran system in the Gamma Quadrant, has endured for almost a millennium, defying the normal behaviours of its other, temporary siblings. The Bajorans themselves believe it to be the Celestial Temple, domain of their living gods, the Prophets, held open by their divine will. If the Prophets maintain the wormhole for a reason, they have never divulged it. Why they chose to link BAJOR with ANDARA is also a mystery - there are no concrete links between the two species' social or spiritual habits. But if the Prophets do everything for a reason (no matter how convoluted it appears to mere mortals), then there *must* be a purpose in opening the wormhole, maintaining it, and furthermore opening in a specific alien star system. Perhaps, as some suggest, the Prophets wish Bajorans to expand in two different parts of the galaxy? But now, though, something is happening. It is visibly shrinking; its hanging maw is closing up steadily, the beacon of its nascent inherent illumination beginning to fade like a dying man's vision, growing dimmer and dimmer as it peters out meekly. It won't take long to be gone, and is doing so quietly and without any preamble - like a spent ember, it is simply *fading away*. All the people nearby can do nothing, of course. They cry out in terror, naturally, their eyes confirming what their sensor equipment is blaring at them. They scream in alarm and point, but it is no use. Nothing they possess can force the wormhole to remain open - they may as well try to push back a tidal surge with their bare hands. They surge forward like that tide towards the wormhole's event horizon, seeking to enter the tunnel before it seals itself up forever, not realising that the tunnel within is impassable, that those travelling within it have already had their souls separated from their bodies as it collapses inward on itself, following both entrances into oblivion. And what is to become of them? The thousands on both sides who will be isolated seventy light years from home? It really doesn't bear thinking about. ------------------------------------------------------------- Location: GS-2 Scene: Ops Kane and Yao watched with growing horror as the wormhole's event horizon continued to shrink inward. "Captain!" the J'naii called. "Space-traffic control reports multiple ships disobeying orders and heading directly for the wormhole!" "Estimated time until wormhole closure!"snapped Kane. "Seven minutes, Captain!" Kane turned to face the J'naii. "Can we force it to stay open?" Yao looked pained. "Wormhole theory is at all points theoretical, Captain - " "So *theorise*, damn it!" Kane pointed at the rapidly dwindling entrance to the wormhole, fading away as it was in the main viewer. Several dozen starships of various shapes and sizes had broken away from their holding patterns and were hurtling toward the event horizon, impulse engines ablaze with shrieking desperation. "Because if that thing closes up we'll be stranded in a foreign quadrant a billion miles from home! Think, Lieutenant, and quickly!" [[McInnis to Ops!]] Gene's voice crackled over the comnet - behind him, it sounded as if thousands of people were screaming in fear and panic. [[We can see the wormhole closing through the viewports! People are going crazy!]] "We're not doing too well here either, Commander," said Kane hoarsely. He felt real fear as he stared in mute horror at the main viewer. The thought of what was happening sent a wave of nausea over him - if the wormhole closed, then the quarter-million people on GATEWAY would be completely and irrevocably isolated seventy light years away from the nearest Federation outpost. They would be cut off, alone in a quadrant they did not belong in, with their only lifeline severed. [[That's not all, Captain! The Orb in the temple - it's disappearing! It just started to... fade away a few minutes ago!" Kane's bile rose up in his throat. All that bunkum about the End Times, the Prophets leaving their children - he'd not belived it, not even countenanced that it would affect anyone or anything other than a Bajoran. But here it was, closing inexorably down in front of him - the Prophets were shutting the wormhole, withdrawing into another plane of existence so distant that not even their own Kai could hear them. ------------------------------------------------------------ The wormhole closed down, down, shrinking away into oblivion, dissipating away into nothingness. Nobody made it to the event horizon - two starships collided, splashing fire in the void of space in their desperation to escape the oncoming cataclysm, causing others to veer away to save themselves. All across a thousand viewports on GATEWAY station, tens of thousands of people watched in mute fear as the wormhole died, not with a bang or a great explosion of light, but with a quiet exhalation. It faded out, and when it was gone, only the eternal starfield remained, glinting in a distance so far out that not even a familiar constellation was visible. All had changed, changed utterly, in the space of several short minutes. All those who witnessed the death of the wormhole would remember it for as long as they lived. For some on the space station - a gateway no longer - it would only be a short period of time. ------------------------------------------------------------ The Federation Role Playing Game Presents A Mind's Eye Production of a Collective Film STAR TREK: CITADEL Starring Jerome McKee as Michael Turlogh Kane Joy Phillips as Katlina Potter Rahul Chandra as Jeff Gorman Ken Fields as Gene McInnis Sarah Albertini-Bond as Xana Bonviva Jasmina Grosic as Yao Steve Petersen as Nick Cannon Chance Devereaux as Hannibal O'Patterson ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ NRPG: The Prophets have abandoned our plane of existence, the wormhole is gone, and our space station is alone in the Gamma Quadrant - a place none of us come from and where none of us belong. It was not GATEWAY that protected ANDARA, it was the wormhole that protected GATEWAY. With it gone, the eyes of every interstellar power in this alien quadrant are turning on us - an isolated, seemingly defenceless outpost of a group of aliens who are so far from home that even their screams will not reach their home across the stars for a hundred years. The very nature of our corner of the FRPG universe has been altered now - we cannot expect any help from Starfleet or indeed any part of the Alpha Quadrant. There is no quick route home, no homeworld we can draw strength from, no support we can draw save that from each other. There is only the cold promise of impending conflict and a struggle to simply to survive in a quadrant that may quickly start to view us as unwelcome strangers, and with the military might of the Federation two generations away, we are weak and worst of all, we are *vulnerable*. We are no longer a gateway between quadrants. We are now not defending anything except our right to draw breath and *exist*, no matter where we are, no matter the black reasons that have driven us here. The stories we write now will emphasise the triumphs and failings of the human spirit amongst alien stars, of defiance against the odds, of loss, of loneliness... and perhaps, one day, of returning home. For your next post, answer a question that will be doing the rounds on the station in the next few days - where were you when the wormhole died? What were you doing, and how did you feel? Jerome McKee the Soul of Captain Michael Turlogh Kane Commanding Officer GATEWAY station the Soul of Lieutenant Solomon Arn Senior ACT Instructor Starfleet Academy Did you really think that the story was going to end with the serial killer's capture? Aren't you glad you all agreed to a new CO? >:) -------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- _________________________________________________________________ Live Earth on the 7th July 2007, get concert updates and more on MSN! http://liveearthsos.msn.com/Hub.aspx?mkt=en-ie From HyperNews_at_youth.net
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