Christopher Adams The Unexpected Odyssey The Sphere

Mission: The Unexpected Odyssey: The Sphere

Day: 1 - Stardate: 2407.01.30

(USS Paladin, Bridge, CO Captain Eva Straton, 1400)

Eva was seated in her chair on the Bridge listening to the sound of the crew going about their duties around her as well as the sounds and feel of the ship beneath her boots.

"All crew are now back on board Captain and we are clear to return to our patrol zone," O'Connor said from Operations.

"Very well bring us about and set course for the Romulan Neutral Zone," Eva said nodding. "Ahead warp 6." She watched as the Aiglos and Sunda moved off the view screen as the Paladin swung around and started accelerating. Suddenly the stars burst into rainbow colors as the Paladin jumped to warp.

Almost immediately alarms sounded across the Bridge and the red alert klaxon started blaring. Eva's grip on the arms of her chair tightened as the ship lurched suddenly.

"Report!" She snapped as the ship shook and shuddered and the view on the view screen showed a kaleidoscope of colors.

"Power surge!" O'Connor yelled, "We're gaining speed, but it's not coming from us!"

"Captain! We are being pulled off course!" Lt. Max said from the CONN.

"Engines are starting to overload!" O'Connor shouted.

"Kill the engines!" Eva ordered as the ship continued to rock violently.

"Structural integrity fields are failing!" Lt. Matrix yelled from the engineering station

"Emergency power to the SIF generators!" Eva snapped, "What's happening!? Lt. Brownlee!?"

"Sensors are blacked out Captain," Brownlee reported. "We can't see a thing!"

~Blind as a bat and out of control!~ Eva thought bitterly her knuckles white on the arms of her chair. "Kill that klaxon!" She snapped angrily.

Sparks flew from an overloaded console behind her and she felt beads of sweat form on her brow as the Bridge suddenly got terribly hot. ~Life support is failing.~ She thought then as suddenly as it started the ship stopped it's rocking and bucking. A star field appeared once more on the view screen and a silence fell over the Bridge.

Eva blinked a few times. ~What the hell?~ "Report!" She snapped, "What the hell happened and where are we!?"

There was silence for several seconds as O'Connor and the others worked their respective consoles. Eva waited with narrowed eyes. She could tell that something was wrong, the emotional reaction from both O'Connor and Max as they traded a glance at each other convinced her of that.

"Captain," Max said looking back at her, "According to sensors we are currently 530 light years away from where we were."

"WHAT!?" Eva cried as she stood and moved over to the CONN station to look at the number herself. She couldn't believe it either, but there is was right in front of her. ~There must be a mistake somewhere. This can't be right.~ She thought. "Six months at our maximum warp in a matter of seconds? How is that possible? I want those coordinates verified and I want a diagnostic run on the sensors too. No telling what damage they might have taken in that..whatever it was. I want to know where the hell we are an how we got here!" She moved back to her seat and sat down. Her mood had just soured. ~Six months from the Federation in the middle of unexplored space and in the middle of a war. Just freaking wonderful!~ "And get me a full damage report," She added, "recall the fighters and make sure they weren't damaged either. We got lucky that they got dragged along with us."

Mission: The Weapon, Day: 6, Stardate: 2417.08.12, (USS Vanguard - Deck 1, Bridge - Captain Christopher Adams - 1437)

Task Force 1 of the 52nd Fleet was in a standard radial pattern in defense of Starbase Geneva, the final starbase that had survived the Starfleet resistance in command of Admiral LoDona. Captain Christopher Adams sat back as his tactical officer gave him an updated on the large fleet which had just appeared on sensors.

"One thousand three hundred and twenty-three starships all in a protective pattern around a large vessel with unusual readings," reported the tactical officer.

"The weapon our spies told us about does exist," confirmed the first officer. "I suppose Task Force 3 was unsuccessful in the sabotage of the weapon at the fleet yards. It's up to us."

"Yes it is," responded Captain Adams boldly looking out across the bridge at the view screen. "Navigator, put us into attack pattern delta. Maximum power to the weapons. We are going in."

Task Force 1 advanced on the Doenitz loyal fleet. Quantum torpedoes launching from every ship in the lead position. Ships in the second wave rose above and fired phasers. Several of the defending ships instantly burst into flames and started drifting out of position. After the first wave, the task force broke apart and started coming about for a second run.

The Vanguard shook from the phaser blasts hitting its shields. Captain Adams held onto the arm rests of his command chair.

"Tactical, damage report," yelled Adams. Smoke from the various explosions on the bridge was starting to get thick.

"Aft shields down to thirty percent," reported the tactical officer on the arch above the captain. "We've expended half of our supply of quantum torpedoes."

"Navigation, come about in pattern Adams Three," commanded Adams. "Fire at will."

The Vanguard turned about and unleashed it's weapons on the nearest enemy starship. However, it got caught out of position and was cornered by three Sovereign class vessels. The three ships hammered the Galaxy class ship with their phasers hitting from all directions.

Several more of the stations on the bridge started to explode, sparks dancing across the carpet.

"Sir," yelled the tactical officer. "Shields are down. Weapons are off line. Warp core breach is imminent."

Captain Adams stood up and looked down at the floor knowing he had been beaten. He then looked up at the view screen at the weapon Admiral Doenitz planned on using on Starbase Geneva. "Plot a collision course for the weapon. Maximum speed."

Suddenly the whole ship started to shake violently and Adams's eyes opened up.

(USS Paladin - Deck 55, Personal Quarters Ensign JG Adams - Ensign JG Christopher Adams - 1401)

Ensign Adams sat up in his bed as the ship shook a second time. It was tough getting used to being in command of Gamma shift. He had to sleep when most of the ship was awake, but the command experience is something he enjoyed. Even if it was the night shift. Adams glanced over at his computer and noticed the red blinking lights.

[General Quarters. All hands: Red Alert,] came the command from the computer.

Adams jumped out of bed and threw on his uniform and ran out the door still trying to get one of his boots on.

(USS Paladin - Deck 51, Engineering - Ensign JG Christopher Adams - 1405)

Adams walked onto the lower deck area of the engineering room, where about half dozen engineering techs were rushing from station to station. All three warp cores were dark, with another group of technicians looking over warp core one and two. Adams glanced over at the nearest engineer. "Chief York, report."

"A power surge sir," said York looking up at the stout engineering officer. "The engines started to overload and the bridge ordered the shutdown. Sensors blacked out and structural integrity started to fail. We are currently running a level two diagnostic on the two main warp cores."

"Understood," responded Adams. "Continue with the diagnostic. I will take command down here and relay messages to Lieutenant Matrix, on the bridge."

Adams walked over to the engineering table and started running his standard internal sensor sweep trying to get a status on all the systems.

Adams heard a beep from over his head. =^=Operations to Engineering, =^= came Ensign O'Connor's voice over the comm system.

"Engineering here," responded the engineering officer. "Ensign Adams reporting."

=^=We need a damage report on the double, =^= explained the operations officer. =^=And a diagnostic run on all sensor systems. We need to figure out where that power surge came from and how in the world we moved so far so fast. =^=

"Understood," said Adams. "We are already in the process of running a level two diagnostic on the engines. Once we've done that, it will take at least twenty minutes to bring the warp engines back online. Since they were shut down, we have to initiate the cold start up sequence. I will have a full report up to Lieutenant Matrix on the bridge in a few minutes."

Adams went back to his sensor sweep and took reports from the other engineering staff on the different decks of the ship. He assembled the data and sent it to Lieutenant Matrix.

"Adams to Matrix," stated Adams with a touch of his comm badge.

(USS Paladin - Main Bridge - CEO LT Steven Matrix - 1405)

"Adams to Matrix," stated Adams with a touch of his comm badge.

"Matrix here. Report Mr. Adams." replied Matrix in a frantic.

"I just sent you the full report," said Adams. "In a nutshell, the engines checked out fine. The power surge didn't come from us. Some sort of outside force pulled us and that's what caused the engines to surge.

"Sensors should be back up and I've dispatched crews to the various stations that overloaded during the incident. We have various structural tears across the ship. I've recalled a few of the crews from Beta Shift and I assigned them to those repairs.

"We've started the warp engine start up sequence and they should be back online in twenty minutes."

"Very good Ensign. Keep me posted with any changes. Matrix Out." replied Matrix.

"Aye, sir. Ensign Adams out."

"Captain, engineering reports engines are fine and a restart sequence is underway." Matrix said as he turned away from his console toward the captain.

"Captain, permission to leave the bridge. I think I might be of more use in engineering." said Matrix respectfully.

Eva looked over at Matrix and nodded once and watched as Matrix wasted no time leaving the Bridge heading for Main Engineering. Eva looked back at the main view screen and settled into her command chair even more. ~It's the waiting I hate the most.~ She thought, but knew that at the moment the best thing for her to do is sit back and let her people do their jobs. Her hovering over their shoulders would only hinder their efforts in figuring out what had just happened.

"Aye, Captain."

=^= Matrix to Ensign Cohen. Report please. =^=

A few moments passed...

=^= Matrix to Ensign Cohen. Report please. =^=

No response came over the Com link.

=^= Peter, report! =^=

"Computer, locate Ensign Cohen."

(USS Paladin - Deck 51, Engineering - Ensign JG Christopher Adams - 1413)

Ensign Adams turned from his station as Chief Engineer Matrix entered walked onto the engineering deck.

Matrix noted the Ensign extending his arm, PADD in hand as he entered engineering. Matrix took glanced at the Ensign as he took the PADD from him. Pausing only briefly to gaze at the digital report Matrix listened to the Ensign's report.

"Sir," said Adams holding out a PADD to the lieutenant. "Here's the follow up report you requested. The engine start up sequence is continuing, we should be clear in twelve minutes. Ensign Cohen pretty much has everything under control here. I'm was planning on going up to join the crews from Beta Shift that I assigned to the repairs of the sensors on Deck 35. Unless you have different orders for me, sir." Reported Adams.

Ensign Christopher Adams stood in front of his commanding officer, Chief Engineer Matrix, on the engineering deck of the USS Paladin. He had just handed him a report of the repairs underway after the ship was hurdled 530 light years off course.

"Very good Ensign. This looks good. I'll review it in detail within the hour," said Matrix looking around the engineering deck. "Yes, you are free to join the crews from Beta Shift. Take charge and please give me a report after your repairs are completed or an update by 0900 tomorrow on the overall status."

"Aye, sir," responded Adams with a nod and started walking towards the turbolift.

"Oh, Ensign," said Matrix making Ensign Adams turn to see what his CO wanted. "I'd like you to report to my office tomorrow afternoon, around 1600 if your duties permit. From time to time I like to talk with my crew...a short of 'check in' if you will. Nothing formal so don't worry, just a time for you to give me some feedback on how things are going."

"Understood, sir," responded Adams and turned back towards the turbolift.

(USS Paladin - Deck 35 - Ensign JG Christopher Adams - 1420)

The doors to junction 35-Alpha opened and the large frame of Ensign Christopher Adams stepped through the narrow doorway. The engineering crew was hard at work. They had several of the side panels out and there were a couple of separated piles of isolinear chips laying about on the floor.

Chief Petty Officer Yule walked up to Adams. "Repairs to the main sensor array are going a little slow, sir," reported the chief pointing to the piles of chips on the floor. "We've had to replace the isolinear sub-processor. That requires us to pull all the chips, sort them, and the put them back in."

Adams nodded in response. "You need any help?"

"Please," said the chief with a smile and a hand wave to one of the walls that still had the chips intact.

(USS Paladin - Deck 35 - Ensign JG Christopher Adams - 1817)

Four hours had passed as the engineering crew along with Ensign Adams worked on the main sensor array. The other sensors were able to compensate with limited sensor range while they took the main array offline to replace the isolinear sub-processor. Ensign Adams had helped them remove all the chips and sort them into the logical groups. Once the new sub-processor was installed came the painstaking task of putting them all back in.

"We're ready to test the new sub-processor, Sir," stated Chief Yule.

"Okay," responded Ensign Adams stepping up to the computer interface sunk into the wall. His fingers typed a few commands into the computer sending the system into a start up sequence. "Bringing the new system online in 5…4…3…2…1."

There was a series of beeps and the computer started listing the start up diagnostics.

"Looks like we are good to go," stated Ensign Adams. He reached up and touched his comm badge. "Ensign Adams to Lieutenant Matrix."

"The sensors should now be fully operational," stated Adams. "It was a faulty isolinear sub-processor. The stress of being sling shot off course must have been the final straw."

Ensign Christopher Adams and the engineering crew from Beta shift had just spent the past four hours replacing a faulty isolinear sub-processor. Ensign Adams brought it back online and then started to check in with his CO, Chief Engineer Matrix, who was still down in engineering.

=^= Nice work Ensign....hold on a second, =^= came Lieutenant Matrix's voice over the comm system. =^= Let me check the boards and run a quick diagnostic.... =^=

"Understood," replied Adams. "Standing by."

Suddenly his computer panel lit up with errors in some secondary systems and Matrix's voice came back on the line. =^= Chris, the sensor board shows a red light...sub-processor fault in core 12B, isolinear memory array offline. =^=

"I see it," responded the ensign. "It looks like we've fixed the external sensors, but now that's revealing something wrong with the internal sensors. I'll round up Chief Yule and the rest of this crew and head up and check it out."

=^= I was thinking the same thing Ensign, =^= stated the chief engineer. =^= Let me know what you find out. Matrix out. =^=

Ensign Adams turned around to face the rest of the engineering crew. "Okay everyone. Listen up. It appears the external sensors are back up and operational, but now we have something wrong with the internal sensors. In order to fix it we are going to have to go up to Deck 12. The system is housed in junction 12-beta. That's all. Let's get a move on."

Everyone headed out of the engineering junction station on deck 35 and headed to the turbo lift.

(USS Paladin - Deck 12 - Ensign JG Christopher Adams - 1828)

Ensign Adams and the engineering crew from Beta shift stuffed themselves into the junction 12-beta engineering station. Ensign Adams had his tricorder scanning the equipment to pick up where the failure was.

"Thompson and S'tok," commanded Adams. "It looks like there's a conduit crack down Jefferies tube Gamma. You two head down that direction and report back. Chief Yule, you pull off the sub-processor hatch and start running a level two diagnostic on the system." Adams couldn't help but yawn.

"Are you okay, sir?" asked Yule.

"Yes. Thanks," responded Adams blinking his eyes a few times. "I'm working on just a couple of hours of sleep. All you Beta Shift guys are lucky. This incident happed right when you were coming on duty. I was fast asleep when red alert was called. Now we are still at Yellow Alert, so I will just have to put up with it.

"Maybe you should take a break," said the chief with an arm on the young ensign's shoulder.

Another yawn appeared on Adam's face. "Maybe you're right. You take over here. I'm going to go up a few decks and get some raktajino to wake up."

Adams walked out of the engineering junction leaving Chief Yule in charge.

(USS Paladin - Deck 9, Promenade - Ensign JG Christopher Adams - 1834)

Ensign Adam's footsteps echoed along the open area of the Promenade. When the ship was at yellow alert, the shops were required to closed and all civilians were ordered to stay in their quarters. So, there we very few people walking along the large open hall. However, there was one place that was always open: the replimat. Ensign Adams walked up to one of the several replicators that lined the back of the café.

"One raktajino," ordered the ensign. "Actually, make it a double."

The replicator hummed to life and a mug with smoking brown liquid appeared. Adams took a sip and with a nod of acceptance, started walking back down the empty Promenade hall.

Day: 2 - Stardate: 2407.01.31

(USS Paladin - Conference Room 1 - Ensign JG Christopher Adams - 0759)

Ensign Christopher Adams walked into the conference room. He was just getting of his shift in Engineering and was famished. He noticed several of the officers eating breakfast and spotted a breakfast table set up. With a nod to the captain, he walked over to retrieve some food. After picking up a pastry and pouring some orange juice, he took his place next to his CO, Lieutenant Matrix.

Eva put down her fork and set her plate aside as the crono read 0800. Standing, she rapped her knuckles against the table top to get everyone's attention.

Ensign Christopher Adams sat in the main conference room along with the rest of senior staff waiting for the meeting to get started. The ensign was shoving the last few pieces of his pastry into his mouth when the captain knocked on the conference room table.

"Good morning everyone," said Captain Straton addressing the whole conference room. "Before we get to departmental and ship status reports there are a few other matters to attend to."

She rose from her seat and approached the replicator and typed in a few commands. A few boxes appeared and she returned to the head of the table.

"Ensign Adams front and center," commanded the captain looking directly at the young ensign.

Ensign Adams took a gulp and rose out of his seat and approached the captain. He stood at attention waiting for the captain to continue. He watched as she opened one of the boxes to reveal a single solid pip.

"Ensign Adams," said Straton. "Due to your continued dedication to this ship, her crew, Star Fleet, and the people of the Federation, you are hereby promoted to Ensign senior grade with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of said rank. Congratulations." The captain reached up and replaced Adams's junior grade pip with the new solid pip.

She reached out her hand and Adams took it with a smile on his face. "Thank you, Captain. I hope to continue to serve with you for years to come. It's a privilege to serve with the finest crew in the fleet."

There was applause as Adams took his seat.

Matrix applauded with delight as did all attending the meeting. Matrix smiled at the new full Ensign Adams as he sat back in his chair after receiving his pip. Matrix leaned over to Adams, "Nice work Ensign, congratulations."

"Thank you, sir," whispered Adams in response.

"Ensign Trei front and center," Eva said next, after Adams had retaken his seat.

"Ensign Trei, due to your continued dedication to this ship, her crew, Star Fleet, and the people of the Federation, you are hereby promoted to Ensign senior grade with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of said rank. Congratulations," Eva said, removing the old black pip from Trei's collar and replacing it with the new golden one. She then held out her hand and gave the Ensign a firm hand shake, while the crew again gave a small round of congratulatory applause.

Once Ensign Trei had retaken his seat, Eva took the last box in hand. "Ensign Whetari front and center," She said, opening the box.

“Yes, Captain.” Nissa said, quietly rising and making her way over to Straton. She stood at full attention.

"Ensign Whetari, due to your continued dedication to this ship, her crew, Star Fleet, and the people of the Federation, you are hereby promoted to Lieutenant junior grade with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of said rank. Congratulations," Captain Straton said, pinning the black pip on Nissa’s collar with a determined exactness.

“Thank you, Captain.” Still slightly shocked, Nissa returned the Captain’s firm shake with a strong one of her own and smiled at Straton and her colleagues. Though she tried not to, her first though was of her family back on Aldea and how proud they would be…if they knew. With the war and everything else happening, she wondered when she would again walk into the healer’s house to see Shirir’a and Yavek smiling at her.

Once Whetari has retaken her seat, Eva looked around at the rest of the senior staff.

"Lt. O'Connor has also recently been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant junior grade and named to the position of Second Officer," Eva said, then turning toward O'Connor, inclined her head slightly and lead the crew in one last round of applause.

Once the applause and all the mutual congratulations were finished, Eva retook her seat. "Now to departmental status reports," She said, looking around to see who would be the first to speak up.

Detron went first with his department.

"There is nothing really to report Captain except increased tension among the crew. My team did a Security Sweep of all departments to find minor damage but no security breaches. I took it upon myself to do the sweep. I just thought it was the right thing to do.. I am a bit shaken from the ordeal but that's all."

Detron returned to his seat .

“The Medical Department treated a myriad of injuries after our wild ride yesterday. Most were minor – general lacerations and contusions, with a few first-degree burns from consoles exploding. Crewman Tiran from Engineering suffered second-degree plasma burns, as he was doing some repair work on a conduit in a Jeffries Tube. He is expected to make a full recovery. We also had a number of patients with fractured or even broken bones, though no compound fractures. Several patients also came into Sickbay with concussions, though only a couple exhibited serious symptoms. Overall, we treated 208 patients yesterday. The medical staff performed admirably and up to my high expectations. Average response time for evaluation and triage was approximately 4 minutes. Average waiting time for Doctor follow-up, excluding personal follow-up by the CMO, was 10 minutes. Average CMO follow-up time was 17 minutes. Medical facilities sustained minor damage, most of which has been repaired or is currently under repairs. Due to our current situation, I recommend that we isolate a small portion of main Sickbay for extended intensive care, as we do not know when we will have access to larger medical facilities again.” Nissa suggested, her mouth a tight, fine line. The situation worried her slightly, though she was fond of exploring new places. The new pip on her collar weighed on her mind, knowing that she was responsible for the care of every single person on the ship. “The medical department will coordinate with Counseling, if they would like, to come up with a comprehensive plan to help all crewpersons cope with our situation.” She added with a firm nod, meeting Captain Straton’s eyes as she moved to take her seat. ~I’ll do my best, Captain,~ Nissa thought, pushing a stray lock of hair back behind her ear.

Matrix spoke up with his report.

"Captain, the engine restart sequence has been completed. Thanks to Ensign Adams and his beta shift, the external sensors are back online after a tough and lengthy repair.

Matrix looked at Adams and smiled, I would like to express my thanks to Ensign Adams and his crew for his and their devotion and diligence over the past 36 hours." he Ensign can address any specifics you might have concerning those repairs.

Ensign Rathyn has made extensive repairs to a number of runabouts and has assisted me in a power conduit issue earlier. We had a faulty sensor in the primary and tertiary warp core computer relay junctions. Ensign Cohen has been working on the main computer core and power conduit upgrades and should be finished within the hour."

Matrix paused briefly as he tapped his PADD for more information.

"Overall repairs are at 95 percent with only minor systems requiring additional time for repairs or upgrades. All primary ship's systems are online, we have full warp, impulse and weapons capabilities at this time."

Matrix smiled and placed his PADD down on the table in front of him.

Once he was done, Adams interjected with an update on the repairs to the sensors. "Myself and Beta crew worked on the external sensors most of the afternoon. An isolinear sub-processor on its last legs gave out under the stress of our sling shot off course. It was replaced and back online around 1850. That revealed another problem with the internal sensors, which we picked up and fixed for most of the night. As of 0300, sensors are now be fully operational. Afterwards, I ordered Beta shift back on duty in Engineering for a double shift. I headed back to my quarters for a nap even though we were still at general quarters. I hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours and had to get some shut eye before this meeting, even if it was just a couple of hours."

"Ops doesn't have much further to report. Power supply has been stabilized, and we are back on primary sensors. I don't think the six month distance has sunk in with most of the crew, but it will probably take it's toll soon. We should be good for supplies, although we may want to stop and power up the industrial replicators once we start heading for home just to get our supplies back up to level before the long trek, we were due at Geneva before our next mission, but we can restock ourselves, just not quite as fast," Michael said, then sent the report to the Captains files so she could review it at her leisure.

"The medical department will coordinate with Counselling, if they would like, to come up with a comprehensive plan to help all crewpersons cope with our situation.”

Aya nodded. It could only be a good thing to co-ordinate their responses. So many medical symptoms could be produced by stress.

Eventually it came and she cleared her throat as she stood up. What she was about to say was perhaps less positive than some of what had been reported, but confirmed other things.

"My department has had an increased number of people wanting appointments, and also an increased number of drop-ins, in the last 24 hours. I can only speculate so far but I expect those numbers to increase gradually as the news of our predicament sinks in."

She looked round the table.

"Many of you have already reported increased stress levels among your staff. That is going to get worse before it gets better. Many of the crew have not yet fully realised the situation we are in and when they do, we need to be ready to help those who need it. So, Doctor, I'm really very grateful for your offer and I will be very pleased to have our two departments work together on this."

She didn't mention that the tension on the ship and even in this room was almost tangible to her. Of them all, perhaps only Captain Straton would understand fully and unless you were an empath or a telepath, it would be hard to explain. She blocked it out as well as she could but it was still there, a sort of dark, underlying tinge on the edge of everything.

"I recommend that we make plans for things that could boost morale - not for now, most people will cope for now - but later, when the journey home seems to be taking forever or things don't go as well as they thought they would or we hit an unexpected problem. Better to be prepared and not need to use the plans than find ourselves having to come up with something at short notice."

She looked round at them all once more before concluding, "I cannot emphasise enough that stress and tension can blow up at any moment. There may be sudden outbursts of temper; accidents may increase, some may even break down. Understand I'm not saying these things *will* happen but they may and you should be on the look out for them. As both my department and the medical department," she nodded at Nissa, "will be. And if any of you have any questions or suggestions I'll gladly talk with you after the meeting."

After Lt. Kotal finished her report, Joran stood up to give his report. "Sciences, on the whole, survived mostly intact. Astrophysics and Stellar Cartography were rattled a bit, and we have a slightly fuzzy map of local space. However, I can report that we will have both up and running again by this afternoon. Sensors are intact, and we have discovered something... unusual along our current course. I don't quite know what it is yet, we'll have to get closer to see what it is."

(USS Paladin, Bridge, CO Captain Eva Straton, 1430)

"Take us out of warp. Ahead three quarters impulse," Eva ordered as the Paladin entered the anomalous system. "Full sensor sweep," She continued her eyes glued to the main view screen as the Paladin dropped out of warp and proceeded deeper into the system.

"Captain, sensors are detecting something massive ahead," O'Connor reported a few seconds latter. Eva frowned.

"On screen," She said, "Magnify." She watched as the small image on the screen shimmered and grew larger and then larger again. In the center of the screen could be seen what looked like a gigantic metallic sphere. Eva blinked in surprise. ~It can't be.~ She thought.

"Is that a-" She began.

"Dyson's Sphere?" Someone else finished for her.

Eva shook her head, shaking off the momentary surprise. "Maintain a 10 million kilometer distance," She ordered sharply, " Extrapolate the position of the local star and establish orbit, but maintain our distance from the outer surface of the Sphere. Scan for life signs."

"Negative life signs," O'Connor replied after a short pause. "But sensors are having difficulty penetrating the Sphere."

Eva pursed her lips and her eyes narrowed in concentration as she considered options. After a few seconds she looked toward Commander Capps. "Take a runabout with a small away team and approach the Sphere. Try to determine if it is inhabited or not. If so, attempt to establish contact. If not, attempt to determine if there is a way to gain access to the interior of the Sphere. We are not going to be able to learn much from out here. However I do not want to risk taking the Paladin closer at this point until we've learned more."

(USS Paladin - Deck 69, Bolian Restaurant - Ensign Christopher Adams - 1441)

Ensign Christopher Adams was enjoying a bowl of Bolian tomato soup in one of the restaurants in the lower deck of Promenade. He was relaxing after getting off Gamma shift by reading a novel and grabbing a bite to eat. The streaks from the warp effect outside the window reflected off the surface of the PADD he was reading. Suddenly the stars stopped zooming across the window and Adams looked up to see a giant metallic sphere outside the window. ~A Dyson Sphere,~ thought Adams. He had read about the Enterprise encountering one in his Federation history class back at the Academy, but he never thought he would ever see one in his lifetime. Only a special division of the Star Fleet Engineering Corps was allowed to study that particular Dyson Sphere. The energy and material in order to construct this type of structure were incalculable. He bookmarked his place in the novel he was reading and switched his PADD over to current information about Dyson Spheres and any historical information about the other one encountered 38 years previous.

Ensign Christopher Adams continued his reading about the original Dyson Sphere encountered by the Enterprise crew.

[Chief Engineer Log. Stardate 2379.02.07. The Dyson Sphere's sun has slowly started to decay over the yen years since its original discovery. The sun flares have started to scorch the inner surface of the sphere. Wild fires are rampant and the radiation has made the surface uninhabitable. We predict within the next twenty to fifty years, that the sun will go nova and will make the inner part of the sphere go dark. It is unknown whether the sphere will be able to sustain the shockwave that will result in the sun going nova.]

~Interesting,~ thought Adams. ~I wonder if there's still inhabitants on the inside of this sphere.~

=^= Away Team 2 report to the Shuttle Bay 2, =^= came Lieutenant Commander Capps's voice over the comm system.

Ensign Adams touched his badge. "Acknowledged," responded Adams. He took a few more sips of his soup, collected his PADD, and headed out to the shuttle bay.

(USS Paladin - Deck 54, Secondary Shuttle Bay - Ensign Christopher Adams - 1447)

Collecting an engineering kit from a nearby storage locker, Ensign Adams then entered the shuttle bay. Shuttlecraft Goddard was in the pre-flight start up mode, jets of cooling hydrogen were coming from underneath the shuttlecraft. The hatch was open and Adams poked his head in. Lieutenant Rath was at the helm working the controls and seated beside him was Commander Capps. Looking to the rear, he could see Ensigns Trei and Jhar settling into their seats. With a nod and a hello to his fellow away team members, Adams entered and took a seat next to Trei.

After awhile the rest of the away team showed up and took their seats. Rath finished the pre-flight sequence and closed the hatch.

"I hope you all realize," announced Commander Capps. "And I do as well, that this is a remarkable opportunity that we have been granted. Lets not let down the people on the Paladin."

"Yes, Commander," responded Ensign Jhar.

"Understood," added Adams with a nod of his head.

With that, the commander turned around and pressed a button on the panel in front of him. With a beep, a comm channel was opened to the bridge.

(USS Paladin, Bridge, CO Captain Eva Straton, 1448)

=^= Captain, we are ready for launch, =^= Commander Capps over the comm. Eva looked at Lt. O'Connor and nodded to open a channel.

"You are clear for launch Commander," Eva said, watching the Dyson's sphere that was dominating the center of the main view screen.

Once the shuttle was launched and the comm channel closed, Eva looked back at Lt. O'Connor. "Keep a transporter lock on the away team members, just in case," She said then looked over at Lt Brownlee. "Maintain a sensor link with the shuttle so that we can examine the data as it comes in."

Eva then leaned back in her chair, turned her attention back to the main view screen and waited.

"Aye, sir." Joran turned back to his station, and watched the sensor data start to pour in. He started scanning the data for an opening, looking for any sign of an entrance point, praying they didn't run into the same snag as the Enterprise did 40 years ago...

(Shuttle craft Goddard, Pilot seat, FSXO 1st Lt. Stephiea Rath, 1450)

Steph piloted the shuttle out of the Paladin's main shuttle bay with practiced ease. She might have been a fighter pilot but she could pilot anything known to the Federation, it was one of the things she took great pride in. She was one of the most skilled pilots on the Paladin, and she looked forward to the challenge of piloting the shuttle near the Dyson's Sphere.

Rath smoothly banked the shuttle and plotted a course toward the sphere. A pair of fighters took up position on either side of the shuttle as escorts. They would accompany the shuttle half way to the sphere then pulled back and take up position there in case the shuttle encountered problems.

"Shuttle Goddard to the Paladin,"Steph said, opening a comm-channel "We are clear and preparing to approach the sphere."

Steph studied the sensor readings on her console as they slowly drew closer to the sphere.

Approaching the giant sized Dyson Sphere nothing ese was visible. Looking out the windows one would only see a large silver ball moving closer. The view had a bit of an eerie feeling to it.

"Sir," She said looking toward Commander Capps. "I am not picking up any communications signals at all. Other than the standard Paladin comm chatter, it's completely silent out there. Think we should try hailing them? If they don't know we are here, and I'm not sure how they could miss something the size of the Paladin just appearing in their system, it would announce our presence, for good or ill."

Calvin looked at the pilot. He then looked at the officers in the back, and once more at the Dyson Sphere. "Yes, a wise first step. Attempt to establish contact," he said with a clear voice.

As requested all the data on the first Dyson Sphere discovery had been placed onto the shuttle craft computers for the away teams viewing. The First Officer was positive of the answer before he asked. "On the first Dyson Sphere that was found, was there anyone found inside?"

"On the first Dyson Sphere that was found, was there anyone found inside?" Commander Capps asked the crew.

“No, Sir.” Cerinne confirmed with a quick look back at the data, though she didn’t think that the last Dyson Sphere being uninhabited had any bearing on the likelihood of this one being inhabited. ~Though it is always good to check and I don’t think that this one is inhabited, either.~

"Then I don't expect an answer from our hails." Coming to a realization that communication would not go far with this specific situation, it was time to move to step two.

Ensign Christopher Adams glanced down at his engineering console as the sensors crawled along the surface of the Dyson Sphere.

"Ensign Adams," stated Lieutenant Commander Capps. "Scan for anything on that sphere that appears to be an opening, entrance, airlock, something."

"Aye, sir," responded Adams. "Scanning right now. I don't see anything."

"I can't stress enough that we must be cautious," warned Capps looking at each member of the away team. "After reading the report from the Enterprise encounter, I do not want to be pulled in. I want to fly in."

A few beeps came from Ensign Adams's console. "Wait a second. There's a communication array 2000 kilometers at bearing 0 mark 45 mark 90. In the original encounter by the Enterprise they hailed a communication array, which opened a large hatch. There were tractor beams then that pull the Enterprise into the interior of the sphere. I don't see a large hatch, however, there's several structures that are part of the communication array."

" I agree with Adams. I see no tactical solution at this point. From what I read of the first encounter, the sphere believes humans are its creator. We can exploit this as we investgate."

Detron turned and gave Adams a nod of approval for some great insight. Detron looked at the giant metal sphere towering over them now and sighed with wonder.

"Laying in a course," Rath said, her eyes on her console. "We don't know if this sphere was made by the same race that made the one encountered by the Enterprise, but I guess it's as good a place to start as any thing else. Right Sir?" She finished looking at Commander Capps for his confirmation of the change in course. The shuttle shook suddenly drawing Rath's attention back to her console.

Detron felt a jolt as they orbited the sphere. A gravitational disturbance generated by the sphere passed throught the shuttle. The orbit was adjusted and exploration continued. Weir and Adams believe that this sphere is made from a different creator that the Enterprise Encounter.

~This is all very interesting~

The shuttlecraft carrying the away team investigating the Dyson Sphere started to shake.

"A gravimetric distortion of some type," Lieutenant Rath reported from the pilot seat as the shuttle shook for a second time. "Not positive, but it looks like it's being artificially created some how. I'm altering our orbit slightly to try and compensate for the distortion."

"Confirmed," stated Ensign Christopher Adams from his engineering console. "A graviton beam is emanating from one of the buildings on the surface. It appears someone in there wants us to land and they aren't going to take 'no' for an answer."

Matrix was monitoring the away team transmission while reviewing the scans from the Paladin. Matrix heard Ensign Adams over the console.

The shuttlecraft shook once again and then the silence was broken with a beep from the comm system. Ensign Adams pressed a button on his control panel so that the message was audible to the entire away team.

The voice of the Paladin's chief engineer, Lieutenant Matrix, came over the comm system. =^= Matrix to away teams. I can confirm Ensign Adams's via the primary sensor array. I'm also picking up power differentials with the beam itself. We could probably break free of this if necessary. =^=

"Acknowledge, sir," replied Adams. "Thanks for the intel." Adams turned to Commander Capps. "It may be the adventurer in me, but I say we land and find out more about the inhabitants of this Dyson Sphere. Someone had to activate the beam. It can't be a coincidence that we are pulled this far off course and then there's a Dyson Sphere in the closest star system. Maybe they have the technology to send us back. They have to have some sort of advanced technology if they can build a Dyson Sphere."

After hearing Adams state "Someone wants us to land and they are not taking no for an answer", Detron was ready with his reponse, "Fine with me Lets join their party."

With the pull of the gravitational distortion and with the information from Matrix, Adams suggested that they land. The idea intrigued Cerinne, though she didn’t immediately agree with the supposition that inhabitants must exist, since proximity sensors could have triggered any number of programs or systems that the technology maintaining the sphere used for defense. Granted, that the ship was pulled so close to the Sphere was coincidental, but that didn’t make it intentional. Either way, Cerinne wanted to suspend judgment on the possibility of inhabitance until they had more hard data.

“I concur with Ensign Adams, Commander, at least in that it would add to my ability to take readings on the Sphere. While I am not as certain as Ensign Adams that the Sphere is currently inhabited, I agree that the circumstantial evidence that we have thus far is compelling and that we may want to land on the surface to explore further.” Cerinne said quietly after Ensign Trei’s comment. ~Maybe I am wrong,~ Cerinne thought, ~and they can send us home to our families and the war.~

A gravitational distortion hit the shuttle craft twice. Calvin was knocked around a little while seating at the ops station. As the rest of the away team analyzed the situation Calvin did as well. It seemed that all reports were telling the First Officer the same thing. Most of his team wanted to land on the sphere. It evened seemed that one or two thought the sphere still of occupants inside and was trying to lure the Goddard to it.

The shuttle craft moved to a safe distance for the moment away from the distortions, Calvin had all the current information that he was going to get from the Goddard. He needed to weight all his options out carefully, and he wanted to make an intelligent one. But before he could do that he thought it would be best to report to the Paladin before continuing.

"Lt, keep it straight for a moment." He then pressed a few communication relay buttons on his console. "Capps to Paladin."

(USS Paladin, Bridge - COPS/2O Lieutenant (jg) Michael Ian O'Connor - 1501)

The Captain had just gone into her Ready Room when the shuttle hailed the Paladin, Michael tapped a button to signal the Captain that they shuttle was on the comm lines, then opened the channel.

=^= Capps to Paladin. =^=

"O'Connor here, sir, go ahead." Michael said.

=^= Lt O'Connor, have you been able to uncover any new developments about the sphere? =^=

"Only that it's almost certain this sphere was constructed by different people than constructed the Enterprise Sphere, we still haven't been able to get our sensors to read anything under the skin."

Michael said, obviously disappointed.

(Shuttlecraft Goddard - Engineering Station - Ensign Christopher Adams - 1502)

Ensign Christopher Adams listened on as the first and second officers exchanged information.

"Mr. O'Connor, we have encountered a gravitational distortion beam that was directly targeted at us," stated Commander Capps. "Lt. Matrix was able to pick it up on his sensors as well. We will be investigating its origin shortly. Keep a close eye on us."

=^= We will, =^= acknowledged Lieutenant O'Connor over the comm system. =^=I'll have Lt. Matrix ready to snap that beam if you get into trouble or want to abort. I'm also alerting transporters to standby for an emergency beam out if anything looks shaky. Keep an open comm line with us for now, better safe than sorry. =^=

Suddenly the shuttlecraft shook and a readout station in the back of the shuttlecraft blew sending sparks bouncing off the carpeted floor. Ensign Adams glance back at the scorch marks and shattered plastic. Looking down at his own station, he started running a diagnostic on what caused the explosion.

"Sir," he said aloud glancing up at Commander Capps. "It appears that the gravitational beam has intensified. We can still break free or beam out, but we are starting to descend. The inertial dampeners are under a lot of stress and I've diverted power from the weapons to compensate."

Calvin's ears perked shortly after he got off the comm line with Lt O'Conner. Ensign Adams called for his attention. Calvin listened with the best he could as a nearby panel exploded. "Continue monitoring the intensity of the beam. We are landing." Calvin made the decision to go a head. The risk seemed minimal. If they needed out they could. Lt Matrix had already given them his assurance.

With a nod of acknowledgement, Ensign Adams stood up with engineering case in hand. He pulled out a tricorder and started to scan the damaged readout station panel.

Ensign Adams stood over the shattered readout station, tiny sparks still dancing from within the broken plastic. A few taps of his tricorder and it was tied into the shuttlecraft's systems giving him control of the internal workings of the power conduits. A few more taps and the sparks stopped and the readout station went dark. He then ran a diagnostic to see what caused the overload. It was what he expected. The gravitational beam was causing spikes in the power systems having to do with the inertial dampeners. Dumping extra power from the weapons was the right call. That was unless the gravitational beam increased.

Ensign Adams returned to his seat and reported in to the first officer. "The immediate problem with the station has been neutralized. We will have to wait until we get back to the Paladin before I can repair it properly. With the power diverted to the inertial dampeners, we can withstand 50 kilopascals of pressure on the hull. If it rises much more than that, we will have more panels exploding. I suggest we either land or get Lieutenant Matrix to cut the beam and we return to the Paladin. If the beam starts to increase we could start to break up."

"Lt Rath, let the beam take us in, but minimize the aggression of the ride down.”

Bowing to the will of the gravitational beam, the Shuttlecraft Goddard slowly descended towards the set of buildings which had been identified as the source of the beam. The stress on the hull returned to normal tolerance levels once the ship started to descend on its own accord.

"Readings from outside the shuttle are pure vacuum with temperatures nearing absolute zero," warned Ensign Adams to the rest of the away team. "We are going to need to put on EVA suits with magnetic boots in order to travel across the surface."

Adams walked to the back of the shuttle and opened up the storage locker which contained just enough EVA suits for the away team. Adams breathed a sign of relief when he noticed that the suits had been equipped just for this away team. He wasn't looking forward to squeezing into a standard issue suit. He started putting on the suit with some help from his crewmates. Finally he dawned the helmet. Once it was locked into place the lights inside the helmet lit up giving the ensign's face a kind of washed out look.

Detron put on the EVA Suit in the back of the suttle. The suit was another first for Detron. Detron understood the scenerio of searching on foot and resolved himself to it

~This search will be like walking on a giant disco ball. A giant disco ball with frocen tiles. Cool.~ Once the entire away team was dressed, the hatch to the shuttlecraft was opened up allowing all the air inside the shuttle to vent off into space. Looking out the hatch, Ensign Adams could see a metal horizon for as far as the eye could see. Looking up, he saw the Paladin a safe distance away monitoring their every move. The young engineer stepped out and his boots locked to the surface of the sphere. A few more steps and he could see the metal buildings which were the source of the gravitational beam. Tricorder in hand, he lifted it up the helmet's face shield so that he could see the readings.

=/=Still no life signs, =\= reported Ensign Adams over the EVA suit's built in comm system. =/=I can confirm the Paladin's scans. The metal alloy of this sphere are completely different than the sphere encountered by the Enterprise. I suggest that we head over to the buildings. I'm getting faint power readings, but it's hard for my scanner to penetrate any part of the sphere. =\=

Having landed on the surface of the Dyson Sphere, Cerinne trod carefully over it in her Environmental suit. Most of the readings she was receiving were interesting, but of little practical use at the moment. The EVA suit was stifling and few things made Cerinne more uncomfortable than being within one. It was such an odd feeling, really.

The construction techniques that she observed as she walked were one of the many variables that Cerinne made note of as she searched for some sort of entrance or exit.

=/=Before sensors went offline the beam originated 100 yards in that direction.=\= Calvin informed the rest of the team as he pointed in front of him. Calvin then began walking slowly. With the graviton boots on it would take longer to walk the usual small distance. The team had spread out, as each of them began their scans.

Detron was the second to step on the Dyson Sphere. Commander Capps was looking at the surface with PADD in hand. The EVA Suit felt constricting and uncomfortable. Detron had the strange urge to break out into a disco medley and dance like John Travolta. He waited for the feeling to pass.

Adams looked in the direction the commander was pointing and started slowly walking towards the building in the distance.

Ensign Christopher Adams started walking towards the source of the gravitation beam with the rest of the away team when a chirp came over the comm system. His CO, Lieutenant Matrix, was attempting to hail him. He touched a button on the back of his forearm to open a private channel to the Paladin.

=^=Matrix to Ensign Adams, =^= came Matrix's voice into his helmet. =^=Chris...I've got your telemetry up in engineering and will be with you if you need anything. =^=

"Acknowledged, sir," responded Adams.

=^=I can upload historical information, metallurgic analysis, anything you need. Just give a shout. =^=

"Thanks. It's good to know I'm not alone out here. Walking along this giant metal landscape with just the sound of your breathing can be pretty intimidating. We are heading towards the gravitation beam now. I will report back when I get there. Adams out."

=^=I'll keep you close to the sensors Ensign. Shout if you need anything. Matrix out. =^=

After 10 minutes of walking slowly to the spot of the gravitational beam the away team now stood around the beam emitter assembly. It was a short cylinder device that was bolted to a rotational coupling that could move in any direction giving it a fair range of mobility. Calvin thought that the entire outer sphere had these placed in certain areas to make the coverage one hundred percent around the sphere.

After walking for ten minutes Ensign Adams reached the source of the gravitational beam along with the rest of the away team. Adams walked around the device several times with tricorder in hand taking scans.

"Adams to Matrix," stated Adams opening a comm channel to the engineering station on the Paladin. "We've reached the source and we are starting to investigate. I will let you know if we run into trouble."

=^=Acknowledged Mr. Adams. Be careful. Use that Star Fleet training of yours. =^= Matrix smiled as he watched the scanner readouts.

=/=This gravitational beam lead us here, it won't let go of the Goddard, and we need to find a way inside the sphere, =\= announced Commander Calvin Capps over the inner-suit comm system. =/=We need to find a way to deactivate this beam to free the Goddard. We will then plot a safe distance away, and we will need another plan on how to investigate. Mr. Adams do you have any ideas on how we could disable this. =\=

"Nothing from the outside looks obvious," reported Adams. "There's a plasma exhaust vent over here on the side that we could possible use to access in the inside. Detron, can you help me remove this panel?"

The Klingon security officer pried the panel off allowing Adams to start scanning the inside. After poking around a bit Ensign Adams discovered a latch system. Reaching his large gloved hands into the panel, he depressed the latch and noticed as a panel on the right side of the device popped open. A few more scans and Ensign Adams had a plan of action.

"Okay. It looks like we are going to have to do this in two phases. Sir, I need you at this open panel to cut the power leads here and here," explained Adams pointing at two tiny cylinders on a small circuit board. "Ensign Trei and myself will be working on backing up the exhaust port. That will hopefully cause an overload and fry the system."

Calvin finished his step before the others to attempt the 2nd unlocking of the beam. Ensign Adams and Ensign Trei were both working on the next phase. As they were doing so Calvin looked in the direction of the Goddard. The shuttle was sitting in the same place as it did when the away team had gotten out of it. But of course it was, why would it not be? A gruesome feeling hit deep into Calvin's gut suddenly. Something was about to go wrong. He could feel it.

It appeared that Commander Capps had finished cutting the power leads and it was now up to Ensigns Adams and Trei to finish the second phase of taking the gravitational beam out of commission. Suddenly, Adams could feel vibrations through his magnetic boots and noticed the panel he was working on was starting to shake.

The scene around him seemed to slow down as his concerned raised. He turned his head to check up on the rest of the team, but they were continuing to work on the beam. A tiny, but distinct movement rumbled underneath the First Officer's feet. His head pivoted toward the shuttle again, and watched the Goddard move underneath the sphere surface.

=/=Lt Rath what is going on! =\= came Commander Capps's voice over the inner-suit comm system.

Adams came around the device to see the Goddard starting to slowly sink into the surface of the sphere. He stood there in awe not sure what to do next.

=/=Beam us aboard! =\= yelled the commander to the navigator still on board the shuttlecraft.

"Adams to Matrix," the young engineer stated after, clicking the button on the back of his forearm and isolating his voice so that all the comm traffic didn't get it he way of the rescue attempt from the Goddard. "We are in trouble. The Goddard is being pulled into the sphere and Capps is ordering us to beam back to the shuttle. Be advised that we may lose contact."

=^=We got you Ensign. =^=

"Understood and thanks. Adams out."

Rath was still sitting in the pilot seat of the Goddard keeping tabs on the rest of the away team with the shuttles sensors.

She could hear the sound of the transporter effect behind her as the rest of the Away Team materialized onboard just as the surface of the Sphere passed over the shuttle windows and the Goddard was enveloped into the Sphere.

The ride was amazingly smooth considering, to Steph it looked like they were passing through solid metal, but the shuttle only shook mildly. After what seemed to Steph like hours but was actually only a matter of seconds, the Goddard emerged from out of the Sphere and sensor came back on line.

They were now inside the Sphere. The graviton beams placed the Goddard several thousands kilometer away from the inner surface of the Sphere and then disengaged. Steph let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.

"We're in!" She said to no one in particular turning her attention back to her console and activating the shuttles thrusters into station keeping. "Wow," She whispered as she looked at the data coming in on the navigational computer. The interior of the Sphere stretched out around them. In the far distance, about half the distance between the Sphere and the local star was another half sphere that appeared to be some type of massive energy collector as well as providing a day\night cycle for anyone living on the interior of the Sphere.

"Good work, whoever it was," Steph said, trying to shake the almost overwhelming sense of awe she was feeling. "I am now picking up A LOT of plant and animal life signs-" She paused as she looked over the sensor data a few more seconds. "But not anything that looks like intelligent life. Ensign Jhar?" She asked hoping the science officer could confirm, or deny, Steph's statement.

“From what I can see, I’m not seeing any biological evidence of intelligent life, though some of the surface scans are showing indications that structures may exist, though they may have been abandoned long ago.” Cerinne answered, excited by all the new data that she was receiving. “There are a number of climates in the sphere – all M-Class – but what we would think of as Artic, Temperate, Tropical, Desert, Rainforest…they are all here. I am also receiving scans that indicate large bodies of water and marine life within said water.” She continued, wondering with a smile if, in the grand tradition of some of the more arrogant European explorers in Earth history, she should name the large lake now being analyzed on her viewscreen as ‘Lake Jhar.’ ~Eh. I think that I’m the first person to have seen it - I think that is all that matters in this game,~ she thought, bringing up other scans and marveling at the diversity of flora and fauna.

"Engines are at full power and we are free to navigate Commander," Rath added, pausing to look over at Commander Capps. "Shall we take a look around the neighborhood?"

Cerinne withstood the impulse to say ‘Yes, yes, may we?’ – though she certainly thought about it.

(USS Paladin - Deck 51, Engineering - Ensign Christopher Adams - 2100)

It seemed like a lifetime, but only five hours ago Ensign Adams and the rest of the away team were the first people from the Alpha Quadrant to ever enter this newly discovered Dyson Sphere. Trapped on the inside, cut off from all communication with the Paladin, it only seemed logical that their first set of objectives would be to get out.

The Goddard set down next to another communication array on the interior of the sphere. Working with the other members of the away team, they figured out what activated the portal which allowed them to pass through the Dyson Sphere. It turned out that communications at a certain frequency were picked up by the communication array and translated into a request to get pulled through. ~It must have been my communication with Lieutenant Matrix that did it,~ thought Ensign Adams. After recreating the set of circumstances that allowed them to enter, the away team was able to pass back to the exterior.

Once back on the Paladin, Ensign Adams worked with Commander Sarouk to narrow down the set of frequencies that activated the portal. They were reading the Paladin to make the plunge and go through the portal, but now, he stood outside of Lieutenant Matrix's office in engineering. Adams reached up and touched the door chime next to the chief engineer's office door.

(reply Matrix)

The doors swung open with a slight swoosh and Adams approach Lieutenant Matrix. "Reporting as ordered."

He thought he saw a perplexed look on the chief engineer's face.

"Don't you remember? Yesterday? You said to report at 1600 if duty permitted. You said it was a 'sort of check in'. Well, I was kind of 'off ship' around 1600," Adams stated with a smile. "I also thought it might be a good idea to report in so that you could fill in the captain when you return to the bridge."

(reply Matrix)

(USS Paladin, Bridge, CO Captain Eva Straton, 2130)

Eva watched the view screen as the Paladin emerged from the phase portal and entered the interior of the Sphere. The Away Team had acidently activated the portal while trying to deactivate the graviton beam resulting in the Goddard being pulled inside the Sphere. After several hours the Away Team had managed to figure out the workings of the phase portal system and exit the Sphere again. With the help of a science and engineering team, Ensign Adams and Commander Sarouk had figured out the working of the phaser portal system and it had been deemed safe for the Paladin herself to enter the interior of the Sphere, several shuttles had already made multiple entries and exits from the Sphere during the testing of the portal system.

She nodded as she leaned back in her chair as the Sphere star shone brightly on the main view screen, the smaller half sphere obscured by the brightness of the star. ~We're in!~ She thought triumphantly. ~Now we can get to exploring this wonder.~

"Report," She said, looking around the Bridge.

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