Star Traks: Melting Pot is based on Alan Decker's Star Traks, which in turn is based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry, may he rest in peace. Copyright 2004. Star Traks: Melting Pot The Quest for the Spheres of Power - Part 1 "The OverMind over Matter" by Paul Cloutier Man's mind once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimension. Oliver Wendell Holmes Captain's Log; Stardate 57448.2 - Now with our full, Starfleet sanctioned, crew complement, the Menagerie has been ordered to chart an area of space shrouded in mystery. This area, known as "The Omega Configuration", has defied exploration for decades. It is Starfleet's hope that the diverse make-up of this crew will somehow prevail even though numerous previous attempts have all met with failure. The Omega Configuration is a section of space which encompasses a nearly perfect globe, 100 parsecs in diameter. There is an unknown type of quantum radiation in this area which completely neutralizes scanners and propulsion systems. This unique radiation also completely obscures visual observation. Since it is highly unlikely that such a phenomenon could be naturally occuring, Starfleet is very interested in determining what lies inside this area. "How long are we going to just sit here?" whined Lieutenant M'Dral. Most of Alpha Shift was gathered in The Pirate's Cove, the Menagerie's off-hours restuarant/nightclub. She picked up her drink, a 'smoking' Benzite Foghorn, which, along with the excitable Ops Officer's respirator were slowly obscuring the club's unique, aquatic decor. "We will stay here until we penetrate The Omega Configuration or until Starfleet decides that we have wasted enough time here and reassigns us," responded Thog, the Menagerie's Klingon First Officer. She was seated next to the Menagerie's Shuttlebay Chief, Lieutenant Aceed Sperr. The two had become romantically involved during the search for the ship's Hospitality Officer, a position that had been ultimately filled by the young Orion woman, Linnea after she had been rescued by the table's other occupants, Doctor Jantoo Pish, Lieutenant Commander Ustrano, Commander Banjo and Lieutenant Dil Mantron. In fact, most of the Menagerie's senior staff were currently at the table. The Bynar Science Officers, B1 and B2, were currently 'commlinking' with the ship's computer and would be joining them shortly. Zamtra, the Transporter Chief, was observing a Tamarian religious fast day and was cloistered in his quarters. Captain Seetamyn was also absent. He had been spending nearly all his off duty time in the Astrophysics Department, looking for a way to modify the ship's sensors to overcome the unique quantum radiation in the region. "I don't see why we don't just cruise in," M'Dral continued, "space is, for the most part, empty. What are the odds that we would hit something?" "Higher than I would want to bet on," Ustrano, the Menagerie's Velvattian Chief Engineer rumbled. "The problem is, if we DO hit anything and get stopped inside, we have no way of getting back out. Neither our warp drives nor our impulse engines will function inside. Short of repeatedly venting atmosphere from a shuttlebay, we would have no locomotive power whatsoever. From out here, we can certainly generate enough inertia to cruise right through the Configuration. But with our scanners being ineffective, we would not gather any useful information, anyway. There must be SOMETHING in there. Nobody would go to all the trouble of generating such a massive radiation field without a reason." "You know," piped up Dil Mantron, the ship's Helmsman, "I've served with a couple of Velvattians on various ships in the past. That was, I believe, the most I've ever heard one say at one time." "It's a cultural thing," was all the usually gregarious engineer would offer in explanation. The group's discussion was interupted as Cerulean, the Pirate's Cove's HooLooVooean Maitre'd, drifted over, guiding Captain Seetamyn to the table. "Well, Captain, how goes the analysis?" asked Commander Thog, as the Vulcan sat down. "We have discovered that the energy output of the Omega Configuration's radiation field fluctuates in a repeating pattern. The period of repetition is, apparently, 22 minutes." "And...," prompted the Klingon. "That is all, so far," admitted the captain. He didn't bother to explain that this was already more than any previous expedition to this region had discovered. The crew was understandably disappointed. They had spent 5 days observing what amounted to a big silver ball in space, and all they had to show for their efforts was the discovery that the power output of the 'ball' fuctuated a little bit. So much for the glamorous, exciting life of a Starfleet officer! The bridge was quiet. After 10 additional days of study, the Menagerie crew was no closer to finding a solution to the Omega Configuration problem than they had been before they had recieved this mission. After the excitment caused by the Astrophysics department's discovery that the phenomona had a cyclic power level fluctuation, no further progress had been made. The initial discovery that the cycle repeated itself every 22 minutes, had generated great excitement and expectations on the ship. Those expectations had soon proven groundless, however, as no new discoveries had been forthcoming. The tedious inaction was slowly driving Commander Thog crazy. She was quickly coming to the opinion that plowing blindly into the Configuration was far more preferable than just sitting here. The odds of them hitting something couldn't be that high, could they? She was currently in charge of the ship while Captain Seetamyn continued working with the Science divisions. Not that being in charge of a motionless ship was any great strain on her abilities. Even M'Dral could have handled such a task without creating more than a little bit of fog. Suddenly, she had an idea - someplace she had read about a great philosopher who was fond of saying "when all other contingencies fail, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Seetamyn and the Menagerie's scientists were quickly eliminating all the other contingencies, maybe it was time to try something improbable! "OK, people," she said, breaking the silence, "the Captain and the Science departments are exploring all the logical, intelligent, scientific options. Let's see if we can come up with some illogical, crazy, intuitive possibilities." "What do you mean, Commander?" responded a dubious Lieutenant Dil Mantron. "It's simple, Lieutenant," came her reply, "if you were to try anything, what would it be?" "You mean, like surrounding the Configuration with photon torpedoes and blowing them all simultaneously?" offered Commander Banjo, who was, if anything, even more bored than Commander Thog. "I doubt the Captain would agree to anything like that. I'm thinking more along the lines of unconventional, non-violent ideas." "Maybe we could transmit music into the Configuration with the deflector dish," offered Lieutenant M'Dral. "There's an idea!" Thog enthused. "But what kind of music?" "We could just broadcast the ship's entire music library," came the Benzite's hopeful reply. "Well, yes, but that would take several years," Thog's response completely demoralized the Ops officer. She started puffing away on her respirator, sending tendrils of fog floating around the bridge. Mantron and Banjo gave the First Officer dirty looks. "Why not pass the power fluctuations through the Universal Translator?" the Betazoid offered, trying to keep the conversation upbeat and avert a visibility disaster. "What, you mean convert the fluctuations into an audio signal and let the computer chew on it?" asked Thog, intrigued. "Well, you did say 'unconventional'," reminded the Helmsman. "Hmmm... well, it's the only workable idea we've had, yet. Give it a shot, Lieutenant." "Computer, recognize the Omega Configuration power fluctuations as an audio signal and analyze this signal with the Universal Translator," commanded the Betazoid. The computer silently processed the request for several minutes. Just as Thog and the rest of the bridge crew were about to give up hope, the computer's voice rang out: Analysis I have finished, now That guess was certainly good (and how!) So you won't be perplexed On the screen is the text I'm so good that I should take a bow "Sir," shouted Mantron, "the computer has discovered a message hidden in the fluctuations!" "Thog to Captain!" the Klingon literally shouted at her commbadge. "Yes, Commander?" came the nearly instantaneous reply. "Sir, Lieutenant Mantron has discovered a message hidden in the power fluctuations of the Omega Configuration!" "I see," came the emotionless voice of Captain Seetamyn. "Please transfer the message down here to my console in the Astrophysics Lab. Seetamyn, out." Before the Captain had even stopped speaking, Mantron had transferred the text of the message down to the Captain's console. He then put the text on the main viewscreen so that all of the bridge crew could read it: Greetings worthy space visitors! I/We, the Foreenan Assembly, welcome you to my/our system! The blanketing radiation that surrounds my/our sun and my/our planets may be circumvented by modulating your ship shielding to frequency 12453 and then super-charging the shielding with an emission of barion particles at the rate of .8 particles per decisecond. My/Our homeworld is the fourth planet of the system. Please, continue forward and meet me/us! I/We am/are a peaceful society dedicated to scientific acheivement and amicable co-existance with like-minded peoples. I/We welcome my/our philishophical brethren with open arms. I/We do, however, have the capabilities of defending myself/ourselves against even the most determined invaders. In me/us, you will find no better ally nor fiercer enemy. My/Our technology is unrivalled throughout the galaxy. Please, continue forward and meet me/us! "Captain to all senior staff. Please assemble in the Briefing Room at once. Seetamyn, out." "Well, maybe now we'll see some action," declared Commander Banjo, grinning. Commander Thog fervently hoped so. The eleven crewmembers who made up the senior staff on the Menagerie had made their way to the Briefing Room. Lieutenant Commander Ustrano and Doctor Pish Jantoo had been the last to arrive, being the ones furthest away in Main Engineering and Sickbay. Thog, Banjo, M'Dral and Dil Mantron had come together from the bridge after having summoned replacement officers. Lieutenant Sperr and Ensign Zamtra had made their way to the Briefing room from ShuttleBay One and Transporter Room One, respectively. On most Starfleet vessels, the Shuttlebay Chief and the Transporter Chief were not usually involved in briefings, but Seetamyn had decided that one of the Menagerie's greatest strengths was its diversity of viewpoints and had concluded that the more points of view which could be brought to bear on a problem, the greater the chances were of a successful resolution of that problem. That being the case, he had decreed that all general staff meetings would include the two officers. Captain Seetamyn and the two Bynar Science Officers had come up from the Astrophysics Labs. Once everyone had taken their seats, Seetamyn called the meeting to order, "First, let me congratulate Lieutenant Mantron for solving a problem that had perplexed all of Starfleet for decades." Everyone turned to the Helmsman and applauded. The Betazoid blushed at this attention. "It was just a lucky guess, sir, he explained. "Commander Thog was the one who encouraged all of us to explore unusual solutions." "Yes, a commendation will be appearing in both of your files for this effort." Now, for those who have yet to read the message..." he reached down and pressed a button on the computer console in front of him, displaying the translated message on the main viewscreen. After he was satisfied that everyone was up to speed, he continued, "Lieutenant Commander Ustrano, will carrying out these modifications to our shields present any problems?" "Nothing major," responded the massive Velvattian. "Our shields do not normally operate at such high frequencies but we should be able to make the necessary adjustments to our primary shield generators within 4 hours." "What about the backup generators?" asked the Captain. "Well, the backup generators are, by design, physically removed from the primary generators, we'll need another 4-5 hours to get all of them. The emergency generators would require a further 4 hours." "Do we need to have all of them adjusted?" questioned Banjo, eager to get going. "Absolutely," came the Vulcan's response. "If we were to lose the primary generators for any reason, we would be blind again in the middle of the radiation field." "Not exactly blind, sir," deferred Mantron. "It shouldn't take us too long to chart the system inside the Omega Configuration. At the very least we would be able to reverse our course and return to this position without too much difficulty." "While that may all be true, we still have no idea what we will find within the Configuration," Seetamyn answered. "We have been stationed here for 15 days, now. I see no reason why delaying an additional few hours should be a problem. Lieutenant Commander, make the necessary adjustments to all shield generators. Now, what about the barion particle bombardment?" "Well, sir, as you know, barion radiation is deadly to humanoids. However, I believe that we can position the emitters so that they direct the bombardment away from the ship. This will require mounting several barion emitters on the outside of the hull. I believe that the outward direction of the emissions along with the low emission rate specified will allow us to safely comply with the directions given to us by the Foreenans." "How long will it take to mount the barion emiters?" "I'll have to do some simulations to determine the optimal placement coordinates, so I can't be absolutely certain, but I would predict that we can have the emitters mounted and the shield generators adjusted within 60 hours." "Very well, Lieutenant Commander, we will set a 72 hour target time for penetrating the Omega Configuration. I want all departments to make final preparations for a first contact type mission. The bridge crew should be in full dress uniforms and all visiting dignitary protocols will be in effect. This will be a momentous occassion ladies and gentlemen so let us put our best faces forward. Dismissed." The crew hurried out of the Briefing Room eager to have something to do. Each silently vowed that nothing would go wrong now that this mission was moving forward. "What do you mean there's 'nothing'?", exclaimed Commander Thog. The Menagerie was now in orbit above Foreena Four. The engineering adjustments and emitter installations had been completed without incident. The crew had reported for duty in their full dress regalia. The newly configured shields had been activated and the barion emittors powered up. The ship slid forward at one quarter impulse power - into the Omega Configuration! As soon as the shields had come into contact with the blanketing radiation, the radiation had been deactivated and the ship's scanners could now scan the entire Foreenan System. The heretofore recalcitrant engines had performed normally and the ship had entered the Foreena System. Communications had been cut off as soon as the ship passed through the radiation zone. The Menagerie was on her own. It was quickly determined that the system consisted of 7 planets. Only Foreena Four was Class M. Since this had been the destination originally specified by the decoded message, a course set and the ship immediately headed for Foreena Four. What they found when they arrived had been completely beyond their expectations. Instead of a planet, they found six Luna-sized planetoids, in orbit around a tiny black hole. The entire seven-body system seemed to be in perfect orbital balance. The Astrophysics department was going crazy. Such a formation could only have been created by beings with a grasp of celestial mechanics that was so far above current Federation technology as to be incomprehensible. In fact, all the Science departments were greatly anticipating a scientific bonanza once contact had finally been established with the Foreenans. Then, after performing standard scans from high above the planetoid group, Lieutenant M'Dral had reported that her scans had shown nothing! "I'm sorry, Commander," she replied, puffing heavily, "but the scans show no surface structures, no lifeforms, no nothing!" "What about atmospheric and climatalogical readings, Lieutenant?" asked the Captain. "The 'planet' is definitely Class-M, sir. I'm reading breathable air and large bodies of water on all six planetoids. The climate seems to be Earth-temperate. However I am not detecting so much as a virus on any of the planetoids! The black hole is distorting my scans, slightly, however." "Very well, it appears that an away team is in order. Commander Thog, select your team and find out what you can about Foreena Four." "Yes, sir," the Klingon woman responded. "Banjo, Mantron you're with me." Tapping her commbadge she continued, "Doctor Pish, Lieutenant Commander Ustrano, please come to Transporter Room One for away team duty." She, along with her two bridge crew selections, hurried to the turbolift, which whisked them away towards Transporter Room One. Upon reaching their destination the group withdrew tricorders and phasers from the supply lockers in the room. As they were finishing their preparations, they were joined by the ship's Doctor and Chief Engineer, who were each carrying their specialized kits. Ustrano had also equipped itself with several phaser rifles. Ensign Zamtra, back on duty after his religious holiday, wished the team good luck, "The fullness of blessings to you all! Timpo, with his cards marked!" "Thank you, Zamtra," answered Thog, from the pad with her team. "Energize!" The away team rematerialized in the apparent center of a vast, empty plain. Quickly flipping open their tricorders, Ustrano, Mantron and Pish started scanning the empty landscape. Thog and Banjo, their phasers readied, searched for any possible threats to the team. The team took every possible reading that their equipment allowed and, about 30 minutes later, were ready to return to the ship. Mantron, whose tricorder data had been immediately uploaded to the ship's computer and distributed to the various Science departments, returned with Thog and Banjo to the bridge. Doctor Pish and Lieutenant Commander Ustrano returned to their domains for further analysis of their data with their staffs. After giving the crew two hours to examine the tricorder data, Seetamyn called for a meeting to discuss the various findings and even went so far as to allow the crew to change out of their dress uniforms. The Briefing Room was extra-crowded. In addition to the normal, senior staff, the head of the Astrophysics department, Dr. Fidth, the head of the Biosciences department, Dr. Sitherian and the head of Geosciences, Dr. Tilnon were present. Dr. Fidth was an older, dignified Betazoid man, who went out of his way to avoid Lieutenant Mantron. Dr. Sitherian was a middle aged, unjoined Trill woman. Dr. Tilnon was a very thin, dour-looking Vulcan man. Captain Seetamyn called the meeting to order and then turned it over to Dr. Tilnon. "What we have discovered is rather startling," was the patrician-looking scientist's opening remark. "There are traces of iron oxide, aluminum oxide, copper oxide, sulpher dioxide and various other combinations of oxidized metals and compounds in the atmospheric samples obtained by the away team. The ground samples, however, were uniformly silica dioxide. Even the deep scanning arrays found no major mineral deposits or other normally expected crytaline, sulfide or magmatic formations." "Conclusions?", inquired the Captain, oblivious to the fact that the rest of the senior staff had not understood a word that the dour Vulcan had said. "Sir, there is only one, inescapable conclusion that this data supports; at some time in the past, there was a vast technological/industrial infrastructure on this planetoid. For reasons unknown, it was abandonned many thousands of years ago." "How many, thousands of years ago, Doctor Tilnon?" came the Captain's question. "That is not possible to determine with any degree of accuracy with the data currently at our disposal, sir," came the scientist's unflinching reply. "I see," returned the Captain. "Recommendations?" "I recommend that we transport down a Type IV Probe to each of the planetoids. The Probes' telemetry can be recorded by the ship's computer and, concurrenly uploaded to the Geosciences offices for immediate analysis." "Thank you, Doctor," Seetamyn said and he then turned to Doctor Sitherian. "Doctor, the floor is yours." "Thank you, Captain," said the Trill woman, rising from her seat and taking position at the front of the room. This activity was slighly delayed as Dr. Tilnon tried to move around the table, back to his seat. The two had coincidentally chosen to move along the same side of the table and various side-steps by the two as well as chair slide-ins from the various seated crewmembers were required before either could move very far. "What we have discovered is almost exactly the same as what has been reported already by Dr. Tilnon. We have found low concentrations of peptide molecules and low order protein chains dispersed throughout the atmospheric samplings taken of the atmosphere of Foreena Four. While we have yet to examine any water samples, the obvious conclusion from these readings is that there was once life on the planet, but for reasons unknown, that life has been absent for millenia. We found no evidence of any radiation, chemical or biological weaponry usage." "And what are your team's recommendations, Doctor?" inquired the captain. "Much like those of Dr. Tilnon, actually, sir. We would like to install a full biological software analysis package along with the geological package on the Type IV Probes and, additionally, have several Type II Probes dropped in the largest bodies of water on each planetoid." "Doctor Tilnon, will the inclusion of this additional software interfere with the operation of the Probes from your point of view?" Seetamyn asked. "No, sir. The Probes are designed to allow several different analysis operations to be conducted, simultaneously," assured Tilnon. "Very well. Thank you, Doctor Sitherian. Doctor Fidth, if you would share your analysis with us, please." Fidth moved towards the front of the table, careful to make sure that he moved on the side of the table furthest away from Lieutenant Mantron. Upon arriving at the head of the table, the elderly Betazoid began his presentation. "We have barely even begun to explore the physics involved with maintaining a stable, seven-body equilibrium in a planetary system. The configuration of the planetoids is such that the entire group rotates about the central black hole as well as orbits the Foreenan sun. The precision of the individual orbital paths is so great that the order of the planetoids away from the sun is unchanging, thus allowing the solar radiation effects on the orbital periods to the neutralized by the differences in the angular velocity of each planetoid. This is, quite simply, the greatest feat of Celestial Engineering that anyone in the Federation has ever witnessed. In fact, Starfleet is sending several ships out with the greatest minds in the Federation to help study this phenomenon!" The beaming scientist looked around the Briefing Room, oblivious to the cold stares that he was recieving from the senior staff. "I understand your enthusiasm," intoned Seetamyn, "but, in the future, please route all communication requests through the bridge for proper encryption and security measures." "Bah!" exclaimed the Doctor, "Starfleet will bury this discovery in their beaurocratic nonsence and a great opportunity for research will be lost." "Starfleet will act in a manner which it believes will best serve the greatest good," intoned the placid Captain. "However, if your communique is intercepted by somebody else, we may be faced with a galactic crisis as various cultures scramble to gain access to the new technologies promised in the message. In this case, no harm has been done because the blanketing radiation field has neutralized all communications both to and from the ship. But I must request that you refrain from such irresponsible behavior henceforth or I will be forced to relieve you of your position." The astrophysicist was almost almost incoherently outraged. Gathering his briefing materials he stormed out of the Briefing Room and down the corridor. "Very well," Seetamyn continued, seemingly completely unfazed by Fidth's departure. "Lieutenant Commander Ustrano and Lieutenant Mantron, see to the deployment of the Type IV Probes. Coordinate with Lieutenant M'Dral for targetting telemetry. Once the Type IVs have been deployed, send down the Type IIs. M'Dral, you will need to calculate two dispersal courses. One for the land-based Probes and the second for the ones destined for deployment into the planetoids' seas. Please commence the operation whenever you are ready. Meeting dismissed." Dil Mantron and Ustrano were in Shuttlebay One setting up the various Probes that would be deployed to the six planetoids that comprised Foreena Four. They were in the process of replacing the various sensor arrays on the Probes with ones which were designed specfically for atmospheric deployment. The Probes were more commonly used to gather data on stellar phenomenon and the much more robust systems were required for planetary surveys. Aceed Sperr had already downloaded the geological and biological analysis software to the Probes' resident memory. The donwloads had been sucessful, but one of the Type IIs had somehow gotten "The Little Mermaid" as part of its underwater analysis package and was now blasting "Under the Sea" out over its external speakers, much to the delight of the Saurian Shuttlebay Chief. "Ustrano," began Mantron, "when I mentioned earlier about your talkativeness, I didn't mean to offend you." "My friend, I wasn't offended, but that is a subject that we Velvattians rarely discuss with outsiders," explained the massive Engineer. "You see, on Velvatius a person's achievements are of paramount importance. We have a very rigid caste system. One's rank determines how vocal one may be. Those of the lower castes are allowed to speak only rarely and, even then, they must be as brief as possible. After all, what could someone so lowly possibly have to say that was important?" "So, most of your people never get to talk at all?" answered Mantron. "How horrible!" "You see, that is why we rarely discuss this with outsiders. Any Velvattian may, by virtue of hard work, raise itself to a level that is comfortable to them. Why, our current Supreme Leader started out as a lowly 'peasant' and rose through society by virtue of his abilities, alone. We allow anyone to advance as high as they are able with no thought given to their origins." "Well, its certainly better than Betazoid, where your Telepathic Ranking limits your advancement," agreed Mantron, ruefully. "My only option was to join Starfleet and try to gain recognition for my non-psychic abilities. Of course the humans were all as bad as my peolpe. It wasn't until I was posted here that Captain Seetamyn finally promoted me. I must have been the oldest Bridge Office with the rank of Ensign in Starfleet! So, as I pointed out, you seem to talk quite a bit. What is your Velvattian rank?" "Well, I am a Chief Engineer in Starfleet. I am, technically, third in command of this brand-new starship. That means I am the equivalent of a Duke in Velvattian terms. Not only am I allowed to speak much more frequently than the lower castes, but I am actually expected to do so. One at such a high level is required to share one's knowledge and experiences with those of lower ranks in order for them to learn and to be able to advance, themselves. In fact, speeches by the Supreme Leader must be, by law, at least two hours long! Of course, with no other Velvattians in the Engineering Department or in the Senior Staff, I'm not sure who I can influence, but the requirement persists." "Well, you can always impart your wisdom on to me," grinned the Lieutenant. "You forget, I've flown with you. There is nothing I can teach you about THAT," laughed the Engineer, as the two friends continued working on the Probes. Captain's Log; Stardate 57503.0 - After deploying the sensor Probes to the six planetoids that make up Foreena Four, we have spent several hours analysing the data they have been transmitting back to the ship. So far, nothing has been discovered that would dispute our initial findings. As the Probes move through their pre-programmed sampling destinations, we are only discovering more of the same desolate landscape that we have previously observed. "Sir, we have discovered something!" came the excited, stereophonic shout from B1 and B2. "There appears to be a small, metal cylinder, about one meter high on Foreena 4.3!" "Foreena 4.3?" asked the Captain, with just a hint of an eyebrow twitch. "We've taken to numbering each of the planetoids, sir," explained M'Dral. "It seemed to be the simplest way to keep track of which one we were talking about." "I see," the imperturbable captain replied. Turning to the Science Console, he asked, "What can you tell me about this cylinder, Lieutenant Commanders?" The sing-song voices of the Bynars explained, "It is composed of a completely unknown and completely unscannable material, Captain. According to the information transmitted from the surface by the nearest Probe, it is a mathematically perfect cylinder exactly 1.0268 meters high and with a diameter of .24038 meters. This is the only artificial construct that we have yet to discover on any of the planetoids, sir. However, we have only managed to scan about 40% of each of the planetoids, so far." "Very well. Thog, I'm going to take down an away team to more closely examine this cylinder. You have the conn. Please have Lieutenant Commander Ustrano meet me in Transporter Room One and transmit the coordinates of this cylinder to Lieutenant Zamtra in Transporter Room One. Lieutenant Mantron, you're with me," Seetamyn ordered as he rose from the center seat on the bridge and headed for the aft turbolift. The Helmsman hurried to join him in the lift and the pair departed. Commander Thog shifted one seat to her left and contacted the two oficers that the captain had mentioned. Maybe now they would see some action! Zamtra had just finished programming his console when the doors to Transporter Room One slid open to admit the Captain and Mantron, who quickly retrieved various equipment from the transporter room storage locker. As they were finishing, Ustrano glided in, with his normal accessories. Seeing the abundant weaponry that adorned the Velvattian's writhing tentacles, Seetamyn asked, "Lieutenant Commander, is all that really necessary?" "Sir, I'd much rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it," came the enthusiastic response. "Worse sorry than safe," piped up Lieutenant Zamtra. "I think that's 'better safe than sorry'," corrected Mantron. "Mirtan, his pants soiled," muttered Zamtra, and then, louder, "thank you, Lieutenant. My grasp of insignificant colloquialisms is still somewhat lacking." "And yet, you can use the word 'colloquilisms'," responded the Helmsman, still not sure if he had just been insulted or not. "Gentlemen, I believe that we have a mission to get to," admonished the unperturbable Captain, as he hopped up onto the transporter pad. Mantron and Ustrano quickly joined him and Zamtra sent the trio down to the surface of Foreena 4.3. Upon coalescing on the surface of Foreena 4.3, Seetamyn found himself facing the puzzling cylinder. It appeared to be made of some incredibly shiny metallic substance. Seetamyn and Mantron immediately trained their tricorders on the mystery object. Even on the highest settings, however, the tricorders couldn't penetrate the cylinder. "Ustrano, what do you make of it?" asked Mantron. "Well, if the tricorders cannot penetrate the surface, it must be composed of a material at least 20 times denser than osmium. If it has, in fact, been exposed on the surface like this for as long as the planet has been abandonned, it must have better corrosion resistance than even iridium. Its index of refraction is incredible. I would guess it to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 2.5. That exceeds terrestrial diamond! In short, it is like nothing I have ever seen. Imagine its potential as a hull material. It would be even more effective than our best ablative armor! Who ever put this here wanted to make absolutely sure it would last virtually forever and that someone would find it." "I concur," agreed Setamyn. "If we could get a clean scan of this cylinder, we could consider this mission to the Omega Configuration to be a complete success, even if these "Foreenans" never made an appearance. Analysis of this metal would advance Federation metalurgical science by centuries. Unfortunately, we can't get an analysis. Mantron, what do you think?" "Well sir, I don't think that this was left here just to taunt us. It seems as though it must have some definate purpose." "Continue," came the captain's order. "Well, just thinking out loud here sir, the cylinder has a flat top. Maybe we are supposed to put something on it?" "That is certainly a reasonable assumption. However, we have found absolutely nothing else on this or any of the other planetoids. Without a clue as to what to put here or where to find it, we are basically at a stand-still." "Maybe we have to put something there that we would bring with us?" offered Ustrano. "Well, THAT certainly narrows it down!" said Mantron, grinning. Seetamyn moved closer to the cylinder, closing his tricorder. He examined the strange obelisk from all angles, walking around the alien artefact. Finally, he knelt down by the cylinder to more closely examine the place where it entered the silica-rich soil of Foreena 4.3. Finishing this analysis, he placed his hand upon the top of the cylinder, in order to help lever himself back to a standing position. Immediately, a massive energy discharge spit out of the cylinder. Corruscating lightening-like tendrils of pure, white light danced across the barren landscape. Ustrano flung two of its tentacles across its crewmates and threw them to the ground, shielding them with its massive body. Suddenly, the energy seemed to collapse in on itself, almost as though it were being sucked back into the cylinder. The roar and crackle of the air being displaced and ionized was replaced by an almost preternatural silence. This silence was then broken by the sound of billions of voices, all shouting in unison; I/we have waited for millenia. I/we have waited alone and forgotten. My/our planet has crumbled to dust aound me/us while I/we waited for all the other races of the galaxy to mature to the point that they might awaken me/us again. Travelers, whomever you may be, know that I/we have observed your passage through the radiation field that hides my/our system with eagerness and anticipation. However, you have failed to use the correct activation code to awaken me/us. As eager as I/we am/are to return to my/our former glories, I/we recognize that my/our technologies, in the hands of races too immature to responsibly use them, would spell the end of the galaxy. Therefore, I/we must remain hidden for still more time. Realizing that 'universal' constants may, in fact, not be quite as universal as I/we had once thought, I/we will allow you two more tries to release me/us over the next fifteen hours. "Captain," came the excited voice of Commander Thog over Seetamyn's commbadge, as the echoes of the message died away. "Are you alright down there? We detected a massive energy surge in your area!" "We are all intact, Commander," came the Vulcan's reply as he and Mantron picked themselves up from the ground, brushing themselves off and, in Mantron's case, spitting out a surprising amount of sand. "We have just recieved some more information regarding the Foreenans." "Yes, sir. That 'two more tries over fifteen hours' message was heard by everyone on board." "I see," came the unsurprised answer. "I do not believe that we can accomplish anything more down here, at this time. Have Lieutenant Zamtra beam us aboard. Call all senior staff to the Briefing Room. We must decide on a new course of action." "First," said Seetamyn, bringing the meeting to order, "have any of our probes discovered anything new?" "Yes, sir," came the duet of B1 and B2. "There has been another cylinder, exactly the same as the first one, discovered on Foreena 4.1." "How much of the planetoids' survey has been completed?" "We have now covered approximately 50% of the surface area of each planetoid with detailed scans," reported the Bynar Science Officers. "Estimate time for completion of surface scans of the four planetoids which have yet to reveal these cylinders?" "Between ten and twelve hours, sir, due to the different percentages of land area on the remaining planetoids." "Do you expect to find more of these cylinders, Captain?" asked Banjo, surprised. "I believe that is the most logical assumption to make at this time, Commander. "It is likely that we will have to touch all of the cylinders to awaken the Foreenans." "Do you think it will be that easy, sir?" asked Mantron. "What do you mean 'easy'?" responded Seetamyn. "Well touching six cylinders hardly seems to be a difficult proposistion. I don't really see how that would count as an 'activation code' to a highly advanced civilization." "I would have to agree with that assessment," opined Ustrano. "Perhaps they must all be touched simultaneously or in a particular order. Perhaps some of them must not be touched at all and others touched multiple times! "In that case, how will we ever figure out the activation code in under fifteen hours?" exclaimed M'Dral, worriedly puffing on her respirator for all she was worth. "The Foreenans obviously expected us to be able to awaken them upon our arrival at Foreena 4. Therefore, the answer must be encoded within their original message or in some other data that we would have reasonably been expected to analyze on our way through the system. Perhaps the sun's spectral output has another hidden message. Perhaps the background radiation in the system, now that the blanketing radiation has been neutralized, contains the clue. We need to go over every bit of information that we have recorded so far about the Foreenan system to find that code. Lieutenant Mantron, re-analize the initial message from the Foreenans. Lieutenant Commanders B1 and B2 scour the computer memories for any mention of the Foreenans. Lieutenant Commander Ustrano, calculate the exact percentages in the planetoids' soil chemistry to see if that yields any clue. Doctor Pish, Jantoo, see if there is any code hidden in the peptide chains discovered by the initial away team and by the Probes. Lieutenant Zamtra, see if there is anything hidden in the transporter buffers, perhaps a signature change from Lieutenant Commander Ustrano's or Lieutenant Mantron's two visits. Lieutenant M'Dral, re-examine the initial repetion pattern discovered in the radiation field. I want everything checked, and checked again by the time the Probes have finished their surveys, twelve hours from now. Dismissed." The twelve hours had passed distressingly quickly. The Alpha Shift officers were all exhausted, having worked non-stop since the briefing. The science departments were in much the same state, fatique and even desperation showed on many faces. The Briefing Room again held the Menagerie's officers. The science department heads had elected to stay with their staffs to continue examining all the gathered data for any possible clue. Seetamyn called the meeting to order, "I certainly hope some of you have had more luck than the science departments. I have just come from briefings with each of them and must report that there have been no new developments regarding our search for the clue to the Foreenan mystery. Our only piece of new information at all is that my supposition that there would be a cylinder on each planetoid has been confirmed. They all appear to be exactly the same, and each planetoid has one, and only one of these structures. Hopefully, some of you have had better results. Lieutenant M'Dral, lets start with you. Have you discovered anything new hidden in the radiation repetition pattern?" "Well, sir, I have run the radiation pattern through every cryptological analysis process known to the computer. I tested any possibly coherent results against every known or even suspected code, alphabet and numeric system ever recorded or postulated by Starfleet, the Federation, the Breen Empire, the Orion Syndicate and every other civilization, past or present, recognized in any way, ever," the nervous Benzite related, apologetically. "Unfortunately, I discovered nothing new, sir." "Do not let it worry you, Lieutenant," soothed the Vulcan. "Some of the finest minds on board have not fared any better. Lieutenent Mantron, what about you?" "Sir, I worked very closely with Lieutenant M'Dral. While she concentrated on the pattern, I focused on the decoded message, itself. Every test that she utilized in her search, I duplicated in mine. Unfortunately, my results were no better than her's." "I see," said Seetamyn, showing no sign of discouragement or disappointment. "B1 and B2, what have you discovered?" "Sir, it is very odd," came the musical reply, "the standard Starfleet databases contained virtually no mention of the Foreenans. It was not until we turned to the Xenoarcheology files that we discovered something quite amazing." At this, every person around the briefing table leaned forward in eager anticipation except for the captain, whose face remained impassive, and Ustrano, who feared crushing his crewmates. "Every Alpha Quadrant alien race," continued the Bynars, now the center of everyone's attention, "has legends of the Foreenans. These legends date back more than 100,000 years in some cases. Only the humans lack such legends." "EVERY other race?" exclaimed Ustrano. "I was aware of our Velvattian legends of a race of four-tentacled explorers who never stopped talking, but I has always assumed that they refferred to an early Human exploration." "No, those legends date back to a time before the Humans had achieved spaceflight." "Very well," came Seetamyn's response, "do those legends provide us with any clue as to how to proceed?" "Regrettably, no. All of the legends concern visitations by the Foreenans to other worlds. None of them made any mention of the Foreenans' home system. This is understandable as all of the legends seem to pre-date every other race's first steps into space as well. There has been no mention at all recorded in any of the databases for approximately 75,000 years." "Interesting, but, ultimately, not very helpful at present. Thank you Lieutenant Commanders. Lieutenant Commander Ustrano, your report?" "I utilized much the same analysis techniques that M'Dral and Dil used. The chemical makeup of the soil samples from each of the planetoids is exactly the same. I've run their molecular values, valence configurations, nucleic electrical values and every other physical property through the whole cryptologicl package. No statistically significant results were discovered." "Continuing on, then, Jantoo any biological clues?" asked the steadfast captain. "It seems that the code-breaking software has been getting a workout," she replied, smiling. "I, too, used it to run analysis on all the peptide and amino acid chains discovered in both the atmosphere and oceans of Foreena Four. The results were negative. I'm sorry, Captain." "There is nothing to apologize for, Jantoo. As long as you did your best, which I am sure that you did, I can ask for nothing more. We have, so far, achieved more than any other expedition that Starfleet has sent to examine this mystery. We each have nothing to be ashamed of. But, I am getting ahead of myself. Ensign Zamtra, have your studies proved any more successful? The young Tamarian stood. His downcast eyes and stooped shoulders speaking eloquently of his success, or rather, of his lack thereof. "Shaka, when the walls fell," gave voice to the conclusion his body language had already provided. Seetamyn stood as the Transporter Chief retook his seat. The Briefing Room had taken on a decidely gloomy atmosphere. Oblivious to the despair overhanging the room, he began to speak, "Well, it appears that we have exhausted all avenues of exploration. Unless someone has another idea of how we should proceed, I think that we will have to report to Starfleet Command that we, too have failed to penetrate the mysteries of the Omega Configuration. I am sure that they will be content with our progress since we have certainly made more progress than any of the missions which proceeded us. I commend each of you for a job well done. I, however, will open the table to anyone who has any new ideas which we have yet to investigate. We do still have just over two hours left." "I just don't understand how any race as advanced as these Foreenans are supposed to be could expect anyone to decipher any clues from that brief message," grumbled Banjo. "I mean, the only numbers they gave us were that Barion particle rate and that ridiculous shield frequency!" Mantron's and Seetamyn's heads shot up. Ustrano's tentacles suddenly slammed straight up into the air (narrowly avoiding flipping the briefing table over). Ustrano began, "Ridiculous - 5 digit shield frequency..." Mantron interrupted, "With each digit being less than 6..." Seetamyn finished off the thought, "Then directing us to a "planet" composed of six planetoids, with an apparently-unknown key-sequence needed to awaken the Foreenans. It has been staring us in the face the whole time. "It can't be that simple!" protested Banjo. "But it can," came the captain's reasoned reply. "There were two tests. The first was a simple data analysis test. They hid the test so well that it remained a mystery for decades. Luckily, we had the power of a bored Klingon and an inquisitive Betazoid as part of our Bridge Crew, and so, we passed that test. The second test was one of inductive reasoning and we almost failed, assuming that more pure analysis was required. It seems that these Foreenans wanted to be very particular about just who awoke them. The reasons for their caution will be most satisfiing to hear." "So, we just beam down five security officers to the indicated planetoids and set up a comm relay to have them activate the cylinders in the proper sequence?" asked Banjo, anxious to get off the ship for a bit. "That is correct, Commander. Select 3 officers and meet with Commander Thog in Transporter Room One. Lieutenant Commander Ustrano, if that initail energy burst was any indication, this awakening process may be rather violent. Make whatever preparations you can to secure the ship in the next hour. Lieutenant Mantron, program in some evasive maneuvers designed around this system's unique configuration. Lieutenant M'Dral work with Lieutenant Commanders B1 and B2 to establish the sequential communication network. Doctor Pish, get sickbay ready in case this turns out to be a bumpy ride. Ensign Zamtra, retrieve the data from the Probes so that you can beam down the away team right next to the cylinders. Lieutenent Sperr, make sure all the shuttles and runabouts are secure. This operation will commence in one hour. Meeting dismissed." The staff rose quickly from their seats, their fatique forgotten. Once again the crew of the USS Menagerie had job to do and the determination to get it done. Thog stood next to the cylinder on Foreena 4.1, her hand poised above the top surface of the innocent-seeming metal post. She, along with Banjo and 3 Klingon security officers had taken up their positions near each of the, hopefully, key cylinders on the planetoids. It had been decided that, in the event of any catastrophe, these five would be best able to survive the resulting emergency. Banjo had originally requested that Velvattian officers be used, but it was unclear as to whether or not a tentacle could activate a cylinder. With only two attempts left, Seetamyn had decided to go with only humanoid members of the crew. He had wanted Mantron at Helm and Ustrano in Main Egineering to give the Menagerie the best chance of surviving, in the event that things got out of hand. Thog completely understood this reasoning but she was still nervously fingering her phaser rifle as she waited for the ship to announce its readiness. Finally, her commbadge squawked; "Commander, are you ready?" "Aye, sir," she replied, although privately she wondered how anyone could be prepared for something completely unknown. "Very well, Commander. I am starting the countdown up here. We have a special, rotating conference call that will automatically switch me to the proper crewmembers, sequentially. When you hear me say "Now", place your hand firmly on the top of the cylinder. Understood?" Seetamyn sounded as though he were instructing his First Officer in the fine art of Vulcan origami, so calm was his voice. "I understand, sir," came Thog's confident reply. She only wished that she felt as confident as she sounded. "Commander... Now!" Thog dropped her hand to the surface of the cylinder. Once again a massive energy discharge spat out of the cylinder. Coruscating lightening-like tendrils of pure, white light danced across the barren landscape. This time, however of collapsing back on itself the energy gathered into a rippling pood of, apparently energy in liquid form. This pool suddenly shot out a column of near-blinding light up into the sky. Thog felt every hair on her body rise up as though she had encountered a huge charge of static electricity. Then, she blacked out! On board the Menagerie, in orbit of the bizzare collection of celestial bodies that served as Foreena Four, the sensor arrays were almost overloaded by the extreme eruption of energy from the surface of Foreena 4.1. Only Mantron's quick manuevoring of the ship away from the planetoid saved the delicate sensor equipment. Suddenly, M'Dral shouted out, "There's a huge energy beam headed right for us!" Mantron was about to initiate an emergency evasive program when B1 and B2 sang out, "No! It's not headed for us! It is curving around toward Foreena 4.2!" And, so it was. Just before the energy beam from Foreena 4.1 entered the atmosphere of Foreena 4.2, another beam rose from that planetoid and joined the one from 4.1. Together the twin beams raced towards Foreena 4.4, where the activation of that planetoid's cylinder had also resulted in a outreaching beam. The three blazed towards Foreena 4.5 and were enhanced by yet another beam. The four now sped towards Foreena 4.3 where a fifth and final beam made its presence known. Five of the six planetoids of Foreena Four, were now joined by a chain of scintillating energy. Now, secondary energy chains grew from each of the cylinders, linking each activated planetoid to every other activated one. A vast energy net now encompassed the five planetoids. At this point, although no one was able to observe this, the cylinders ceased emitting the energy streams. The energy net became disconnected from the planetoids and slowly began shrinking. The net gradually shrunk until it just barely enclosed the black hole at the center of the planetoids... and then it collapsed completely, dissolving into innumerable flitting lights. These lights danced joyously around the planetoids of Foreena Four almost like Terrestrial fireflies on a spring afternoon. As the mesmerized Menagerie crew watched over the viewscreen, the 'fireflies' spun through what appeared to be an elaborate, elegant waltz, out in space. Eventually the spinning, seemingly erratic, paths of the motes of light converged in space in front of the Menagerie. As the final motes assembled, each seemed to lose its individuality as the billions of lights seemed to combine into one huge, incandescent sphere. 100 Menageries could easily fit inside of the truly giant, glowing globe. Suddenly, the bridge filled with voices; I/WE ARE FREE! FOR MILLENIA I/WE HAVE WAITED FOR THIS GLORIOUS DAY! The sound was so intense that the bridge crew collapsed to the deck, cringing from the noise. Even Seetamyn cringed, slightly. Apperently noticing this, the voices continued at a lower volume; Oops! Sorry about that. Please forgive my/our exuberance. I/We have been waiting for this moment for over twenty millenia, after all. Hmmm... it appears that the inital energy output has overcome your crewmembers down on the planetoids. I/We'd better get them up here to be checked out. And, just like that, the unconscious forms of Thog, Banjo and the three security officers materialized on the bridge. Seetamyn quickly slapped his commbadge, "Doctor Pish, medical emergency on the bridge." The other bridge officers, shaking off the effects of the initial sound bombardment, climbed shakily into their seats. Seeing that everyone was recovering, acceptably, the voices resumed; I/We are the OverMind, the collected consciousnesses of the inhabitants of Foreena Four. Over 20,000 years ago, I/we voluntarily gave up my/our physical forms in order to fight against the most deadly enemy that the galaxy has ever known - the Black Queens. I/We won the great war but, in so doing, lost the ability to revert back to my/our humanoid forms. As her last act of vengeance, the Supreme Black Queen had her minions steal away the Six Spheres of Power, dooming me/us to non-corporealness until such a time that the Spheres could be returned to me/us and my/our previous forms restored. Seeing the great devastation that the war had wrought on the rest of the galaxy, I/we enclosed the Foreenan System within the blanketing radiation field and set up the re-activation test. I/We then went into a kind of meditative dormancy so that I/we would not witness the ravages of time on my/our beautiful civilization. At that point, Doctor Pish emerged from the aft turbolift onto the bridge and rushed to the prone crewmen. After examining the data on her medical tricorder, she turned to the captain, "Sir they appear to be suffering from a mild electrical shock. I'll get them to sickbay and have them up and around in no time." The tiny doctor then activated her commbadge, "Ensign Zamtra, site to site transport of Commander Thog, Commander Banjo and Ensigns H'uee, L'uee and D'uee directly to sickbay. Oh, and I guess you might as well send me there, too." "What was here, now is there," responded the young Tamarian as the six forms disappeared from the bridge. I/We beg your forgiveness. I/We certainly meant no harm to others by my/our actions. By awakening me/us you have done me/us a great service, and I/we thank you. However there is an even greater service that you might render me/us. If you were to actually recover the Six Spheres of Power, I/we could be returned to my/our natural state. I/We could then rebuild Foreena Four and re-enter the brotherhood of galactic explorers. However, if the Quests can not be completed or if the challenge to undertake them is not accepted, I/we will know that the dominant species of the galaxy are not yet ready for my/our return. Seetamyn stood and addressed the glowing sphere on the viewscreen, "We will contact Starfleet Command, our superiors, as soon as we have emerged from the protective field of radiation around the Foreena System. I am sure that they will send a taskforce here to undertake your Quests." No, you do not understand. I/We need to ascertain if ALL of the galactic population is ready for our return. Therefore, the personnel of this ship AND THIS SHIP, ALONE is allowed to attempt the Quests. I/We understand that a specialized task force could be assembled for each of the Quests, but that will not determine if the general galactic population has the moral clarity, determination, intellect and resourcefulness to accept me/us as equals. If this is not the case, then I/we could only re-enter the galaxy as rulers and this is repugnant to me/us. I/We wish to walk among my/our peers, not loom over everyone else as gods. If this ship and crew are unable or unwilling to go on the Quests for the Six Spheres of Power, then I/we will have to alter the activation tests and remove any memory of me/us from your minds. I/We will then re-enter into our hibernative state and await my/our next opportunity. "I see," said Seetamyn. "I will have to discuss this matter with my staff. Since two of them are currently unconscious, such a discussion will have to wait until at least tomorrow. Please allow us twenty-four hours to discuss this situation." I/We have waited for millenia. Another day is as nothing to me/us. Please have your deliberations and I/we will be back in touch at this time, tomorrow. The sphere on the viwscreen seemed to change subtlely. It now seemed to glow with a more subdued illumination. If a word would have to be chosen to describe it, it would have to be 'expectant'. The briefing was being held in the Pirate's Cove. Seetamyn had invited the science department heads again, and he had wanted to avoid the seating difficulties which had plagued the last meeting with such a large body of participants. Fidth was still visibly annoyed by his treatment at the previous meeting and had seated himself slightly apart from the other crewmembers. This seemed to suit everybody else just fine. Seetamyn commenced the briefing by bringing everyone up to date. He then welcomed Commander Thog and Commander Banjo back to active duty. The pair, along with the three security officers who had been injured awakening the Foreenans, had been certified fit for duty by Doctor Pish that morning. The Vulcan then opened up the floor for comments with, "While this ship is not now and never will be a functional democracy, I would like to have some feedback from each of you about your feelings about us attempting the Foreenans' Quests." Dr. Fidth took the floor first, although whether this was out of a desire to remove himself from the briefing quickly or simply because he felt himself best qualified to speak no one knew. "It is unthinkable that we could possibly undertake this exercise with the personnel that we have on this ship. We should take our leave of the Omega Configuration and present the Federation Science Commission with our findings. They can then outfit and crew a specialized, better equipped ship, return to the Foreenan System and proceed to solve the new tests. They can then undertake these 'Quests' with a much better chance of success than we could ever have." A pin dropping would have made an impressively loud crash in the silence following Fidth's pronouncement. Mantron, unable to contain his embarrassment that one of his own people could have so spoken jumped up and cried, "No Way! This crew is made up of some of Starfleet's best talents. There is nothing that we can't overcome!" "Bah!" responded the scientist. "What would a level zero, no-talent reject like yourself know about this? Or about anything, for that matter?" The defiant look on Dil Mantron's face was replaced with one of shock and pain. It was obvious that the elder Betazoid's remarks had hurt the Lieutenant, deeply. Before anyone could utter a word, Lieutenant Commander Ustrano had wrapped a tentacle around Fidth and, with a speed belied by his massive body, ejected him from the nightclub. It blocked the entrance doors with its body, its tentacles waving angrily, "That man is a highly trained Starfleet officer, one of the best pilots I have ever seen and, MY FRIEND! If you can't keep a civil tongue in your head when addressing him, then you had better keep your defeatist, elitist attitude out of our meetings!" The elderly scientist was nearly incandescent with rage. "Captain! Are you going to allow this pile of slime to treat me like this?!" he screamed. Seetamyn turned toward Ustrano, "Lieutenant Commander, please wait until instructed before removing abrasive personnel from briefings." Turning slightly to address Fidth, he continued, "Dr. Fidth, your opinions have been noted. Thank you for your contribution. You are excused from further discussion. Computer, lock the doors to The Pirate's Cove, authorization Seetamyn Delta 1786543 Tau Beta." By your command, the doors will be locked Admittance into this room is blocked That rude doctor is banned You may proceed as planned I vote 'let's try the Quests' (are you shocked?) "Thank you computer. I have made a note of your vote," acknowledged Seetamyn as Ustrano made its way back to its seat, next to the grateful Helmsman. "I take it, by the lack of support for Doctor Fidth, that everyone else also believes that we should undertake these Quests?" "Sir," Commander Thog replied, "Lieutenant Mantron has spoken for us all. We are a team and we believe that we can overcome any obstacles, together." All around the tables in the Pirate's Cove smiles and nods supported the Klingon's statement. "Very well," the Vulcan agreed. "Your opinions coincide with my own. I am most gratified to see that we will be proceeding as a unified whole." "Well, mostly whole," interjected Banjo. "No, completely whole," disagreed the Captain. "I am removing Doctor Fidth as the head of the Astrophysics Department. While I have no problem with crew- members who offer differing opinions, Doctor Fidth has completely overstepped the bounds of polite company and Federation protocol. As Lieutenant Commander Ustrano has pointed out, defeatist and elitist attitudes have no place in the command structure or even in the science departments of a Starfleet ship. Furthermore, I will not allow disparaging remarks to be offered against my crew. We are all officers with proven records. Even Commander Banjo, who is not even in Starfleet has handled himself with aplomb and circumspection. I believe that Doctor Fidth would be better suited to a private or non-aligned science vessel and will make such a recommendation once we return to normal communications status, presumably once we have completed the OverMind's Quests." "Then it's settled," Thog affirmed. "We will successfully complete these 'Quests' or die honorably in the attempt!" "I would prefer to avoid the 'die honorably in the attempt' part, but that is, essentially, correct," Seetamyn agreed. "This meeting is adjourned. Everyone should return to their posts. I will contact the OverMind from the Bridge. Dismissed." Several minutes later, Seetamyn and the rest of the Bridge Crew had returned to their seats on the Bridge. "Open a general hail, Lieutenant M'Dral," the Vulcan ordered. "Channel open, sir" "Foreenan OverMind, this is Captain Seetamyn of the USS Menagerie. We have decided to undertake your Quests for the Six Spheres of Power." A sound like the exultation of a celestial choir was heard, and then, "I/We cannot thank you enough, Captain. To have a chance to actually 'feel' again, to have physical bodies... You cannot imagine my/our gratitude." "So, what do we do, next?" inquired Seetamyn. "I/We will open up a portal through time and space which will take you to the first sphere. The spheres have a unique energy signature which is unmistakable. All you must do is travel through the portal and return with the first Sphere. When you have done so, we will open a portal to the second Sphere. The cycle will continue until you have retrieved all six Spheres." "Very well, we are ready. Activate the first portal." "It shall be done!" intoned the now solemn voices of the OverMind. The comm channel was closed and the crew waited for something, anything to happen. After several uneventful seconds, Lieutenant M'Dral suddenly shouted, "Sir! The planetoids!" New energy discharges could be seen on the main viewscreen, arcing away from all six planetoids this time. Again the energy snaked out from each of the focal cylinders and joined together in a helical chain of coherent energy. This time, however, the energy continued as a beam and did not divide into a net-like discharge. The combined beam seared through space directly at the black hole at the center of the bodies comprising Foreena Four. Just before passing through the event horizon, the combined beam separated into its six components and formed a ring around the periphery of the black hole. This ring seemed to start spinning, faster and faster until a vortex was formed out of pure energy. The 'tail' of the vortex reached down toward the black hole. The Bridge Crew held their breath. As the 'tail' passed the event horizon an energy feedback oscillated back between the black hole and the energy vortex. The vortex flattened out into a slowly spinning disk with a gleaming, mirror-like surface. "Behold! The portal to the first Quest!" again sounded the Babel-like cacophony which was the 'voice' of the OverMind. "Lieutenant Mantron, set a course for that portal," the Vulcan spoke. "Aye, Sir, course set." "Proceed forward, one quarter impulse." Silently, the graceful starship turned towards the portal, then it slowly moved forward. As the forward saucer section encountered the mirror-like surface seemed to part and accept the ship. The ship continued forward, and then was gone! TO BE CONTINUED...