Getting a sense of direction...

Posted on Wed Aug 3rd, 2011 @ 8:48pm by Captain Nathan Cowell MD & Lieutenant Commander Aral Aix

Mission: Tomorrow's Arizona
Location: Astrometrics Lab, Deck 5, USS Arizona
Timeline: Following 'The fun has just begun...'

Commodore Nathan Cowell entered the Astrometrics Lab about an hour after he had tasked his Science and Helm officers with the duty of finding out just where the hell they were in relation to the rest of the systems that were trapped inside the Solaris nebula. The old man had already armed himself with some information that might prove relevant if they hadn't already stumbled across it themselves. Either way, two and two weren't adding up to anything less than twelve... and Nathan had a profound hatred of newfangled paradoxical math.

"Spots, Switch, tell me you've figured out where the hell we are!" Nathan bellowed, drawing both of their attentions away from their work.

"There." Aral, who was finally coming to grips with the Commodore's way of entering rooms, pointed at the screen, it showed a flashing image of the Arizona against a map covering two sectors. The image of the Prometheus class vessel flashed just next to a nebula that looked very much like the nebula they had been exploring an hour earlier. "It is the Solaria nebula, at least scans suggest that nebula has an identical chemical composition to the Solaria nebula, the course we had previously taken has closed off, and the general shape of the nebula is significantly different." He paused, "Based on celestial markers, were I to guess, I'd say we are at the spatial coordinates from which we entered the nebula... even if the nebula has moved a little... it would suggest we have moved in time as well as space."

Commodore Cowell frowned at this information. While Nathan had never encountered the other Guardian that Kirk had discovered in the 2200s, he had read a great deal about it during his deep space days prior to taking a teaching position at Starfleet Academy. He'd always gotten the impression, from everything he'd read about the thing, that it was an intelligence that rivaled the Q. And, it would seem that much like the Q, this Guardian didn't like to be thwarted so quickly by a hasty retreat.

"Looks like we're going to have to stick this one out until we find out whatever this thing wants us to find out... Aix, have you had any luck pinpointing Starbase 900?"

Aral Aix shook his head slowly. "That would be a no. I have found almost identical celestial bodies: we are in the Round Table. That is the Solaria nebula, but we can't detect anything from Starfleet or anything else on the usual frequencies." He paused and regarded the numbers on a small console, "There's nothing beyond background static. No subspace beacons, no relay stations, no starbases... there is no one out there." If the Chief Science Officer had been enthused about the prospect of exploration, the enthusiasm had given way to dread; radio silence suggested an empty universe and the nebula had cut off their retreat. Preempting what he thought would be the Commodore's next question Aix continued. "It's not the sensors; I've had everyone that can hold a hyperspanner running a level one diagnostic."

"So you noticed the silence too... Was hoping it was just a communications issue and not a lack of equipment... So we're no closer to figuring out when we are. Could be either in the past or the future given the silence on the net. Switch, you think you can plot a course back to the Archadian system?" Nathan inquired.

"I believe so, sir," the Lieutenant nodded.

"Then plot your course and take us back at maximum warp. Spots, you keep working on the "when" portion of our little mystery while we schlep on back to the Archadian system. Keep me posted..." Nathan said before departing.