Captain Oroku Seifer - Khao Sok Rainforest, Thailand
The joined Trill and Captain stalked through giant wet leaves and passed looping thick vines while he carried a long, sharpened bamboo stick. Somewhere, nearby, was the animal he had been tracking for the last 2 kilometers. In two seconds, a giant Klingon targ leapt out at him, causing him to fall back into a bush.
"Seifer to guy who's in charge around here," he pulled himself off the ground and tapped his commbadge.
A few seconds later, a Denobulan man transported next to him, smiling in a pleasant way. "Anything I can be assistance of?"
"Why is there a targ on Earth? Isn't that illegal and harmful to the Earth's ecosystem? And for that matter, why'd you give me a pointy stick?"
The Denobulan chuckled. "How do you expect to 'make the kill'? Oh, if you're interested, we also have Jackal mastiffs and, just yesterday, we recieved a Bardakian pronghorn moose!"
"I actually would be interested in that, but I think I've been off duty for too long. I'm dying to get back to my starship, the Phoenix-X. Did I mention it?"
Nodding and smiling, the Denobulan replied, "More than once, actually. You spoke of it in so much detail, I believe you missed the program initiation in which we taste tested the blood of a live kohlar beast. In the meantime, please be advised refunds are not allowed."
"Put it on my tab. Thanks!" Walking a few meters away, Seifer tapped his commbadge again. "Seifer to Spacedock. I need a report on a Prometheus-class starship currently in repair; the U.S.S. Phoenix-X?"
Over air, he received a computer response. "Please be advised Spacedock communications are on hold."
"What's going on up there?"
The computer responded. "Please be advised Spacedock communications are on hold."
"Ah. Classic. Well, I guess I could check it out, or finish this Earth targ hunt. Then again, I think they make us eat the targ. Spacedock it is."
---
Captain Aeris - Earth Spacedock, Cargo Bay 7
Aeris stood, looking at everyone, puzzled as to why they were looking at her puzzled. The environment around her faded in and out along with her security team. They disappeared and were replaced with medical officers in varying states of motion. When her transit ended, she found she was being scanned by an aging Human medical officer.
"You were out for quite some time, Captain," Doctor Lox said.
She stepped back, in shock. "Whoa! Aren't you that guy who experiments on kids and animals?"
"I haven't done that in weeks. What I'm saying here is, you were temporarily quantum-phased, likely missing a series of consecutive, relevant events."
Reeve walked up. "He's right. You missed a lot of stuff."
"Is it possible those undetectable devices caused me to quantum-phase?" Aeris asked.
Lox nodded. "Without examining them, I can positively say yes to that."
"Um," Aeris paused in reaction to the not-so-great Doctor. "You know, I'm good now. Thanks."
Doctor Lox put his tricorder on his belt. "Oh, I'm not too busy. I can hang around for a bit."
"Whatever," the Captain ignored his ability to take a hint. "Commander Reeve, what's the status of the Undine vessel we saw through the cargo bay hatch?"
Reeve replied, "Parked in a drydock, offline. Its occupant is unconscious, with fading lifesigns, in the Firestorm's sickbay."
"The Zephyra's Sickbay is more equipped to handle Undine physiology. We encountered and supported one of their vessels before," Aeris recalled.
Lox's expression perked up. "Oh? Do tell?"
"Conversation is not why I made that statement, Doctor," Aeris grumbled. "By the way, I can move from this spot and not be torn apart by the space-time continuum, right?"
The Doctor shrugged, then stopped himself half way. "I mean, yeah, sure."
"Nevermind," she dismissed before turning to Reeve. "Commander, let's save that Undine."
---
Captain Seifer - Earth Spacedock, Cargo Bay 12
Seifer manned a workbee from Earth and secretly approached Spacedock. He aligned his vessel with a cargo port and overrode safety protocols to attach. Sneaking his way inside Cargo Bay 12, he was suddenly confronted with a Starfleet security officer.
"Uh, what are you doing?" Reeve asked.
Seifer snapped back at the other man's sudden appearance. "Whoa! Oh, I'm breaking onto the Spacedock to get to the bottom of whatever is going on here. Communications went down."
"Well, they went back up a while ago, along with normal traffic," Reeve replied. "There was an Undine attack, but an unknown, uncleared, secret and powerful technology threw them all back into Fluidic Space. I'm sure it poses no risk to us." He then looked at the Captain. "Were you going to shoot me with that, sir?"
Captain Seifer quickly put his aimed phaser behind his back. "What? No, I was just, uh, taking this to get repaired somewhere. Carry on, soldier."
"Do you have clearance to be on base?"
Seifer waved it away. "Pfft! Clearance is for the weak. I'll be at Club 47 to investigate various things there."
---
Captain Aeris - Earth Spacedock, Operations
Aeris slammed her palm through the transparent, hovering console to its computer projector, shutting down the hologaphic interface. She had been searching for the Firestorm for hours, using sensor data from available relay stations throughout the sector, but it was nowhere to be found.
"Any luck?" Reeve approached.
The Captain gritted her teeth. "Nothing. How does a Federation starship just disappear with a defecting Undine with no one at Operations knowing anything about why they did that? Clearly, that Undine was trying to get an important message to us, but, now we'll never get that message."
"Not to mention, the last medical report from the Firestorm indicated the defector was near-fatally poisoned by an unknown acid compound. It's unfortunate we couldn't get him to your ship's Sickbay."
Aeris turned from her dead console. "I just hope he doesn't die before divulging that intel." When she looked for Reeve, she suddenly found him standing to her left, as if he just popped there by magic.
"Captain, you disappeared and then reappeared, frozen for several minutes," reported Reeve as he scanned her with his tricorder.
The human did a visual scan of her own body. "What the hell? Is it those devices?"
"They're doing something to you. We'll have to run more tests."
Aeris groaned. "Damn. And I had plans to hit the Synthbar later." She acknowledge him, "I don't want to leave Operations at the moment. Have a medical officer do what they can with me while I'm here."
"According to Spacedock roster, Doctor Lox is avail--"
She interrupted him. "No! Never that guy. Never again. In fact, anything you can do to get him off Spacedock would help me immensely."
---
Captain Oroku Seifer - Earth Spacedock, Shipyard
Seifer approached Commander Barnes, an older Benzite and Starfleet officer.
"A martini?" Barnes said, noticing the drink in the Captain's hands.
The Trill put his drink aside. "Oh. Just came from the Synthbar. It's so strange they put that place on the same deck as all the important stuff. Well, convenience, I guess."
"If you're looking for your Prometheus-class U.S.S. Phoenix-X, I'm sorry to inform you that it's severely damaged and we're at a crossroads at if we can ever repair it."
Seifer dropped his arms. "How could this be? We have the best Engineers in the Federation!"
"Your vessel was hit by a Breen dissapator, twice! By you, no doubt," Barnes explained. "By the way, your Breen ship, the Darkseid is docked as well, though, that ship was already running like a garbage scowl's cargo."
The Captain nodded. "Well, it did traverse a blackhole to an alternate universe and back." He then looked to the side in realization. "This means I don't have a ship?"
"It's better this way. The Phoenix-X was an old vessel, even if it did help usher in transwarp technology. I'm sorry to report, but your crew is being reassigned as well."
Seifer wiped the sweat from his brow. "Oh, finally. They were the literal worst."
"Uh," Barnes just looked at him, in shock.
Recovering, Seifer finished, "The worst at being horrible! I mean, I'm going to miss them. Heh. Heh! Well, I have to go hijack the Phoe-- err, I mean, say goodbye to the Phoenix-X. Turns out the bottle smashing ceremony works both ways."
---
Captain Aeris - Earth Spacedock, Admiral's Office
Meanwhile, a Captain Dennison pulls an odd, blueish metallic Iconian sphere out of his pocket, pressing a few buttons on the metal extensions around the sphere. Suddenly, he vanishes into a puff of purple smoke.
Aeris and Reeve bolted up the stairs to the level where Quinn's windowed office was. They barely caught what was last said and Dennison disappearing in purple smoke. Aeris ran over to check on a Captain Sarah who was also in the room.
"Damn! Where was security?" Aeris complained to mostly herself.
Reeve replied. "Light duty to compensate that Undine invasion. Your orders."
"Ah, that," she recalled. "Reeve, go to Ops, check on the U.S.S. Sally and scan the system for any signs of Iconian ships. Lock Spacedock down and screen everyone for Iconian technology."
As he left, Aeris was suddenly joined by a medic, who began running a dermal regenerator over Sarah. "Lieutenant Cetra. I'm also a science officer. Reeve assigned me to investigate your problem."
"Oh, thanks," Aeris replied in shock and appreciation for the timing. She then looked down to Sarah. "Are you alright?" Then to both Quinn and her, she added, "I'd like to join the hunt for the Firestorm. I don't know what they're up to, but I do know they stole that Undine defector from us. If there's a threat to the Federation, we have to stop it."
Quinn stood up. "Fine. Do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of this. But you'll need a plan to take on Firestorm and whoever they're with. Dismissed."
---
Captain Oroku Seifer - Earth Spacedock, Shipyard Docking Port 25, Corridor
Through the windows peering into the internal shipyard of Spacedock, Seifer could see the damaged U.S.S. Phoenix-X. Workbees and suited engineers were performing repairs all over the outer hull, but the Captain knew its operation was in far less condition.
"If you're wondering whether it'll fly again, the answer is maybe," came the nearby comment of a female Engineer. "Lieutenant Winry," she introduced herself. "I'm on the team assisting with the Phoenix-X's mothballing."
Seifer dropped his shoulders in disappointment. "Damn. Any chance I can take it out for one last spin? Maybe pit it against a few Na'Khul?"
"If we weren't on lockdown, you probably could, and the ship isn't going to be completely decomissioned, but I wouldn't recommend it. The underlying charge from the Breen dissipator is embedded into its systems. Overuse of the ship could destroy it."
The Captain leaned against the window. "She was a good ship, with a good crew. I'll keep her in drydock for as long as Starfleet will let me."
"They'll want to keep it as a test subject for sustaining Breen weaponry. That, and several Academy Engineering courses will want to field trip it as a 'how not to run a ship' lesson. Did I mention, the Corps Engineers were sending pictures of your ship to each other on their lunch break? Anyway, think you'll get another one?"
Seifer sighed. "Plenty of letters left in the alphabet."
"Uh, not really. If the Phoenix is at X, there are only two."
He turned to address her. "Oh, good point. Well, they ran through like twenty four Phoenix-named ships in a short time, in a desperate attempt at perfecting transwarp technology. Anyhow, would you mind smashing this bottle of Chateau Picard on its hull for me?"
"I don't think you do that for mothballing."
Seifer looked at the bottle, before taking it with him. "Yeah, never mind. I'll drink it later."
