Chapter 64. Encounter with the NX-class ancient ship
Carol sat in the command chair of the Republic.
Her hip is almost healed. Although she still requires regular physical therapy, she has declared herself able to return to work. Of course Celia objected strongly, but in the end Carol insisted on working. Now, she gritted her teeth and returned to the bridge. She no longer felt severe pain, but she felt strange. It's like it's been reassembled incorrectly. Of course, that wasn't the case, it was just her imagination and her brain was playing tricks on her. Still, she had to constantly change her sitting position to make sure she could still move.
They set out three days ago. News of the discovery on Lagash III spread quickly, sparking all kinds of speculation aboard the ship. Captain Noah is currently in the conference room with Jeffrey. They once again took a closer look at all the data collected since the weapon was discovered. They hope to find some clues. Carol, however, had her doubts. Jeffrey has found no clues so far, and it is unlikely that even a smart Vulcan will find new information.
There's also this weird communication blackout that bothers them. Time and time again they try to get in touch with Earth. But they couldn't get in touch at all. Although Daisy assured that the communication equipment was normal. A terrible thought came to mind. What if that weapon was just a cover? What if the entire Cindy fleet attacked Earth during this time? This can explain many things.
No, she told herself. She couldn't have such thoughts. Moreover, it would be impossible for a large alien fleet to remain undetected by the dense sensor network of Federation territory. This is completely impossible. Such a fleet should be detectable.
"Commander," Ingmar interrupted her thoughts. "We got the call."
"What?" Carol was startled, but then she calmed down. "Who's calling?"
"A spaceship."
Carol breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, contact with the outside world was established again. The universe did not destroy them, it just temporarily forgot them. "Call the Captain to the bridge. Put the call on the screen."
After a few seconds, a spaceship's bridge appeared on the screen. The formation is a strange and familiar sight, but also different. It's very similar to the Starfleet design, but there are some differences. A human figure appears in the center of the screen. A man about fifty years old. There was only a thin ring of hair on the top of his head. A prominent nose adds character to his face, and his eyes appear sharp. "Who are you?" he asked suspiciously.
"I am Carol, the commander of the Federation Starship Republic. Who are you?"
"I am Captain Freet. The first commander of the Columbia. You are now in the territory of the Earth and Andorian Alliance. Please stop the hyperspace voyage and state your purpose."
Carol felt like her mouth was hanging open. Alliance of Earth and Andoria? Was it worse than she thought? Is she still lying in the medical station dreaming?
At this moment, the elevator door opened and Captain Noah walked in. Jeffrey followed him and came to the bridge together. He walked quickly to Carol's side. "I'm Captain Noah," Carol said without any reaction, and the captain quickly turned to the screen.
Captain Fleet repeated his previous words. Noah was also shocked as if he had been struck by lightning. "The Alliance of Earth and Andoria?" he repeated in disbelief. "Can you explain what this means?"
Captain Fleet's eyes narrowed. "Are you kidding me?" he asked angrily.
Noah felt like he was in the wrong movie. Something is obviously wrong here. "Nelf, start hyperspace navigation," he ordered. He had to figure out what was going on.
"Wise decision," Frit muttered. "Hold position, we will intercept them." Then the communication was lost.
Noah continued to stare at the screen for a while, then turned to Carol. "Is everything okay?" he asked softly.
"Yes, Captain," she nodded. "I'm sorry, I just overreacted. Obviously I still need to stay at the medical station."
She already wanted to turn around and walk towards the elevator, but Noah stopped her. "Please go back to your station and keep working. I'm going to need your help." He smiled encouragingly at her, and she returned to her station. Then everyone listened quietly to Jeffrey's explanation.
"That strange ship is chasing us and will arrive in an hour. Plus, it's not completely strange. Apart from some minor differences, it's an NX-class ship."
"NX?" The situation is getting more and more complicated. "Those ships were built over a hundred years ago and are now scrapped."
Jeffrey replied, "Yes, that's correct. These ships are the first Wa that Earth has ever had
p 5 ships, commissioned ten years before Federation. Starfleet operated these ships alone at the time. It was not until the founding of the Federation that other races became involved in the design of ships. There is no longer any ship of this type. However, the ship on the outside is an NX-class ship. Even much of the ship's technology is so ancient. We could have easily dumped that ship. "
Ingmar asked, "How did it get here?"
Jeffrey replied, "I can't answer that."
Ingmar continued to guess, "Is it time travel?"
Jeffrey mused, "It's possible. However, there has never been an alliance between Earth and Andoria."
"Mere speculation won't help us," Noah decided. "I'd love to keep going to Earth, but can we just leave this ship here?" he thought, pinching his lips with his fingers. "We are deep into Federation territory and Cindy is not following us. I think we can risk it staying here. Maybe they will find their way back to where they came from," he told the crowd. .
Jeffrey asked, "Do you think this is wise?"
"But we have no other choice. We can't take it away. If we tow the ship, the most we can reach is Wa
p 3 speed. This would delay our journey a lot. And, this could be a cover to prevent us from returning to Earth. This way Cindy can buy time. An incorrect history may be a clue. Apparently Cindy didn't know as much about our history as we thought. "
"It's possible," Jeffrey admitted. "But I think it's not very logical for Cindy to make such an arrangement. How could they get an NX-class ship in such a short period of time?"
"This could all have been prepared a long time ago. The so-called Plan B," Ingmar interjected.
Jeffrey seemed to disagree, but he said nothing. Apparently, he decided that enough had been said.
The decision still rests with Noah. He and Carol looked at each other, and then said to Nilf, "Restore the original course and speed."
"Yes, Captain."
As they sailed into hyperspace again, Jeffrey studied his data. A few minutes later, he reported, "The strange ship is tracking us, but can't keep up. It will be out of range of our sensors in three minutes."
Noah nodded. The ship shouldn't be a problem, but this encounter is certainly strange.
Ingemar and Shu Ran sat in the bar and stared at her. She talks on and on, making faces, waving her arms in the air, or rocking back and forth in her chair. Occasionally she would laugh cheerfully, her eyes sparkling as if they contained sparkling crystals. Her way was contagious to him. He forgot that there were other people around him, and he forgot where he was. He also joins in conversations from time to time, makes faces, and gets happy when she makes her laugh. In the back of his mind, a voice reminded him that he was acting awkwardly, but he didn't realize it. And that's okay too. He felt good, very good. Only in her company did he feel complete. Only here does everything make sense. It no longer mattered that she didn't have a model's body and that she made exaggerated movements with her hands. She is who she is and she totally fits. And he was smitten with her. Trapped by her eyes, captured by her ways. Suddenly, he realized that he loved her. He loved her more than he ever felt for other women. He doesn't want to leave here again. All he wanted to do was talk to her forever. This moment, in the bar, just chatting, this moment should last forever, never fade away. No more other thoughts, no more thoughts of sex, like when he was with other women. There is no doubt, this must be love. And, oh my God, it feels so good. He finally understood what it felt like to be floating on a cloud or to have butterflies fluttering in your belly. It felt so good, he almost screamed. It was so shocking that he thought he would burst from happiness.
She looked at him suddenly worriedly. "Ingmar, are you okay? You look suddenly confused."
He looked at her with an endless look. He felt himself sinking into her eyes, getting lost in them. Then he leaned down and kissed her. Her lips are sweet and soft. The contact sent shivers down his spine.
He let her go hesitantly. She looked at him in surprise for several seconds.
"Wow," she finally said, sounding disappointed. It's not like she would be happy. "What's this?"
"A kiss?" he answered, a little unsure. Did he do something wrong?
"Yeah, I know. Why..." She paused, looked at him, then raised her hands in a defensive gesture. "Oh. That's a bit surprising. I didn't really mean it." She smiled wryly. "I think I should go now." Then she stood up.
"Wait a minute..." Ingmar began, but she didn't listen and hurriedly left the room.
Ingmar watched her go. The pleasure he had felt before was gone. He no longer felt like he was floating in the clouds, but felt like he was falling into the abyss. There were no more butterflies in his heart. Once again, he felt like screaming, only this time it felt like his heart was being torn apart. Has he gone too far? Does it make her feel overwhelmed? What went wrong? His heart felt like it was being beaten by a blacksmith from hell. Suddenly it dawned on him that this was the first time he had felt not only true love, but also the unspeakable pain that comes when that love doesn't bear fruit.
Finally, they arrived on Earth. A strange silent silence remained throughout the journey. They were unable to contact anyone on standard frequencies. The atmosphere in the cabin became tense. Everyone knew something was wrong. And no one knows exactly what’s going on, which is doubly anxiety-provoking. Now they hope to get answers.
They are outside the solar system Wa
Flying at p warp speed, now flying at pulse speed. In this way, it will take more than two hours to fly to the earth. Because federal regulations prohibit the use of warp flight within the solar system, it is considered too dangerous.
Noah decided to stay in the command module during the approach to Earth. Although he could do nothing but wait, he had to restrain himself from asking like a child how much longer it would be. No one spoke. Everyone works according to their usual routine, but is always waiting for someone to send a message. The tension in the command module was almost palpable. Every minute has the potential to unravel the mystery. But nothing happened. Minute after minute passed without incident. They approach Earth slowly, seemingly never arriving. About an hour later, they crossed Jupiter's orbit.
"Captain, there is a ship approaching," Ingmar broke the silence, sitting in the Ops operation center. The sound was like a thunderbolt, and everyone was shaken to a greater or lesser extent. Except for Jeffrey and Nealfer.
"Star Fleet?" Noah wondered. His heart seemed to stop beating.
Ingmar hesitated. The sensor data confused him. "Two NX-class ships, and five small ships of different models. There are also three unknown ships." He looked at everyone doubtfully. "I've never seen a ship like this."
"Those are the ancient ships of the Andorran people," Murakami explained for him. His antennae extended from his head, showing his surprise.
"I can confirm that," Jeffrey said. "This kind of ship is also a hundred years old. It is consistent with the ship era of the earth. Captain, the deception of the Sindi people is obviously not established."
Noah looked at him a little angrily. Once again the Vulcan was right. Trying not to show it, Noah replied, "You're right. You can come up with suggestions later."
"Sir, those ships have activated their weapons systems. And their hulls are full of static electricity. What does this mean?" Ingmar sounded increasingly confused.
"The ancient ships had no shields. Their protection was by polarizing the hull to neutralize the effects of energy weapons. This is a relatively simple trick and the predecessor of our shields," Noah explained. "Didn't you pay attention in history class?"
"Now that you mention it, I seem to have an impression," Ingmar responded with a grin.
Noah decided to ignore him. They must now proceed with caution. Although they didn't know what was happening yet, he definitely didn't want to open fire on Earth's ships.
"Activate the shield. Mr. Jeffrey, are their weapons a threat to us?"
"These ships are equipped with photon torpedoes with low explosive power. Their phaser cannons are also relatively low powered. They cannot penetrate our shields. But a sustained attack over a long period of time will take its toll on us."
"how much time is required?"
"By my calculations, the shield should protect us for about ten hours."
"Hopefully that's enough," Noah said optimistically. "Mr. Ingmar, speak to them."
"Yes, Captain." He entered the corresponding data on the console, and a few minutes later, a man with gray hair and about sixty years old appeared on the screen. His cheeks were sunken and there were thick dark circles under his eyes, obviously he hadn't gotten much sleep lately.
Noah stood up. "I am Noah, the captain from the Republic ship. Who are you?"
"I am General Kobo, Commander-in-Chief of the Earth Defense Forces. You are in our solar system without permission. Leave immediately or we will destroy you."
Noah raised his hands in a sign of calm. "Admiral, there appears to be a misunderstanding. We would like to speak with you. What happened?"
"You heard what happened. Leave immediately. I don't know where you came from and what tricks you used, but you can't deceive us. Leave immediately or you will be destroyed."
