Bread Crumbs

Posted on Thu Jan 21st, 2021 @ 5:37pm by Captain Rueben Gregnol & Micheal Robertson

Mission: Mission 12 - Railway
Location: Shuttle Alexandria II
Timeline: MD04 10:00
2385 words - 4.8 OF Standard Post Measure

Gregnol looked around the shuttle bay and shook his head, he was going to do this as he suddenly had a thought about the senior crew and their current predicaments. No one would think it was strange with Eden wandering around apart from the fact she should be on the ship. He quickly ran to the shuttle he had been looking for and climbed inside. “Rebecca we are on the shuttle. I am afraid it isn’t much more repaired than when you were last here. Saa has… has not done much.” Yeah, that was the best way to describe Dixoho and how she had approached the last year or so. It would be easy to see the other problems once she was whole again along with the fact Gregnol was currently looking like Eden Bowers. He took out the requested card and inserted it into the slot waiting for something to happen.

A few second passed with nothing happening. Suddenly, several different screens popped on, visual text flashing by faster than the human eye could read it. Then, the speakers that were hidden throughout the cabin started to emit a mix of static and squelches.

Gregnol sighed. Maybe Dixoho had taken this area apart and nothing was connected properly. He was impatient to have some answers to some of the questions he had.

As quickly as the cacophony had started, it just as abruptly, stopped, dropping the cockpit into a near deafening silence. Slowly, a holographic image began to take shape in front of Reuben. It was Becca! Her physical form was slowly coming together, as if someone were trying to tune in a weak signal. Finally, after about six seconds, her holographic form was complete. She stood in front of Reuben, her eyes closed.

One of the screens to Reuben’s right flashed briefly, then went dark. Suddenly, Becca’s eyes snapped open. “Captain Reuben...” she paused, looking a bit confused. She tilted her head to the left slightly, blinked twice, and then recovered. “Ah, I see.” She looked over Eden’s form. “Rosie just told me everything that has happened since Micheal and Johnathan departed a year ago. I see that you have found yourselves in a, shall we say, unique situation, Sir?”

"Something like that." He finally answered quietly. Eden was not exactly built for being loud even if she was a ball of energy and unique. "This is the most unique one since we returned to this universe but I need to know what is going on here? Where is Johnathan? Why is Micheal being operated on? I cannot tell Saa or Cassie so you need to make sure your accessing of my ships systems has gone unnoticed by the bridge." He hated hiding stuff from them but he needed them both on the ship they were searching for.

Becca stood there, unmoving as she listened to Captain Gregnol-who-looked-like-Eden. Finally, after he-she finished his-her questions, she replied. “For your first question, it is difficult to answer. The files in Alexandria II have been severely damaged. It seems that the energies that filled the wormhole overloaded every system and nearly all of the software has been corrupted. I believe, without visiting a facility with major repair abilities, it will take myself, and the Rosie’s engineers approximately three months to fully repair my systems.”

“As for you second question, Micheal has undergone severe trauma over the past year. It began when we finally caught and disabled the ship that was carrying the bounty, an individual by the name of Kras Torval, an Andorian fugitive that slipped through Micheal’s fingers once before. While this would be normally just frustrating, the night we left your ship, Micheal received information from an extremely reliable source. This information gave great detail as to the whereabouts of Mister Torval and the specifications of his current ship. The file also included a file stating that Mister Torval was connected to the rape and murder of Micheal’s wife and the murder of his infant children.” Becca’s image changed to one of sadness. She took a deep ragged breath and continued.

“I must say, Sir, that in all my time, as Micheal’s friend, I have never seen the side of him that came forth, after he read that message. I’m sure you found the damage he caused to his office. Which, I’m sure, he will apologize for. Once he is able to, that is.” She shook her head, as if to get herself back on point. Looking back into Eden’s eyes, the A.I. continued.

“I’m sorry, Captain. As I was saying, we caught up to, and disabled, Mister Torval’s ship. At that time, Micheal retracted my portable chip and inserted it into the gauntlet that you are now holding. With Johnathan remains aboard the Alexandria II, Micheal and I beamed over to Mister Torval’s ship. Upon entering the fight cabin, Micheal and Torval began to struggle. During the fight, Micheal lifted and tossed the smaller Andorian towards the port side bulkhead. Unfortunately, as Torval hit said bulkhead, his right hand hit a control surface, and a weapon of some kind, was launched from the ship. Micheal immediately tried to warn Johnathan, however, the weapon discharged and, somehow, opened an extremely powerful wormhole. The ship we were on was instantly pulled into the opening maw.”

“The crossing was an extremely violent one. Micheal was thrown aft, fracturing both the ulna and tibia of his right arm and leg, respectively. Mister Torval fared far worse, his neck was crushed as he was tossed aft as well.” A look of vengeful righteousness crossed her features. “Serves him right. While I never met the family that Micheal lost, I feel their loss, as much as I can.”

Gregnol nodded listening he knew a lot of the past but this was all very surreal. The damage had been easily fixed or replaced but it was good to finally have some understanding of it all. He was understanding, he just did not know if Saa would be by the state of this ship. “Continue please Rebecca. I need to know everything.” He said wanting to refocus the system.

Becca nodded. “Yes, Captain, again, my apologies. This past year has forced me to grow my programming in ways that I never foresaw needing.” She took another simulated breath and continued. “Once we emerged from the other end of the wormhole, it took me a few moments to realize our location. We had emerged in the tip of one of the arms of the spiral Galaxy, known by humans as, Andromeda.” Becca paused a few beats to allow that to sink in, then continued. “After further investigation, it was discovered that Mister Torval was not whom he claimed to be. He wasn’t an Andorian, he wasn’t even from this galaxy. His home was somewhere in the Andromeda Galaxy. For the first few days, Micheal attempted to make repairs, as best he could with his injuries. Finally, he was able to tie me into the ship’s systems and I was able to take control. I immediately wrote two failsafe protocols into the shuttle’s hardware. One, Micheal would be taken care of, and two, no matter how long it took, he would be returned home.”

“We then began the job of trying to return home. Unfortunately, the shuttle had neither another weapon to open a wormhole, nor the files on how to create one. The best we could do was set a course for home. The next year saw a mixture of quiet and pain. We were hunted nearly nonstop, once it was determined that we not only possessed the craft belonging to Mister Torval, but were instrumental in his death.” Her image flickered softly as she shivered. “It was a very dark time, Captain. We were always running, just barely keeping one step ahead of our pursuers. Finally, last week, we heard about a nearby nebula that was rumored to have an unstable wormhole, somewhere deep inside. It was also rumored that the exit for that wormhole was to various locations in our Galaxy. We immediately set out for it. Our thinking was, anywhere in our galaxy is better than still being stranded there.

On our way to the nebula, we were caught in a fierce solar storm, which not only knocked out several systems, but blew us off coarse. Once the storm subsided, we started to pick up the pieces. What I have only just realized, Captain, is that though the storm disabled us, it still pushed us towards the location of the wormhole. After we settled down, Micheal and I began repairs. As he was finishing a partial repair on the communications system, my sensors began picking up the neutrino emissions usually seen during the buildup of a wormhole opening event. Micheal returned to his seat and secured himself, just as the wormhole opened. He increase in neutrino radiation suddenly caused my system to start to crash, I warned Micheal as best I could, then went into standby mode. I didn’t come back online until we left the wormhole, here, in the minefield. As soon as I reactivated, I picked up on Rosie’s cpu signature. That is when I attempted to contact you and get help for Micheal, who.. well... you know the rest, Captain.” Finished with her report, Becca stood silent, waiting for Captain Gregnol-who-looked-like-Eden speak.

Gregnol nodded. It made sense but it was interesting how they had lucked out in finding each other again. Whatever was out there seemed to like Robinson enough to send him back. “None of this explains where Anderson is?” He finally said.

Becca tilted her head to the left slightly. After a few seconds, she straightened up and responded, a sad look in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Captain. I’ve searched every bit of uncorrupted information in my main memory banks. The best answer that I can give you, is that, at some point, I overcharged the transporter and beamed Johnathan to a M Class planet that on the extreme range of my ability. Regrettably, I cannot tell you what his current state of being is. I cannot even tell you if the transporter cycle was successful. I am sorry, Sir.”

Before Gregnol could reply, she spoke up again. “Oh! Begging your pardon, Sir, I failed to reply to you last statement. Regarding Miss Saa and Mrs Anderson, I have made sure that my communications with Rosie are hidden quite deep. Either woman would have to both, know that I was here and know exactly where to look to find the communication logs. Unfortunately, I cannot erase them. Only yourself and your executive officer have that access, as you know, Sir.”

Gregnol shrugged. Cassie had told him the man was alive but who knows where really. Alive meant there was hope. “You did what you thought best.” He finally mused rubbing his face trying to think.

Becca gave a sad nod. She then looked back into Gregnol's eyes. "Is there anything I can do to help the Rosie in your current ordeal, or should I keep myself contained her in my own circuitry, Captain?"

"How can people swap bodies? How is that possible?" Rosie's computer had come up with so little information about potential causes for how things had occurred.

Frown slightly, Becca replied. "I'm not sure, Captain. Though my memory banks are damaged, please give me a few seconds to see what I can find." She then cocked her head slightly to the left and closed her eyes.

True to her word, a few seconds later, Becca opened her eyes and straightened her head. "While I was able to find an old notation of something like what you are describing taking place on and Starfleet vessel, the exact details, due to the damage, are eluding me, Captain." Her features turned regretful. "I am sorry, Captain."

The Captain just bowed his head in frustration. Normally he would have hit something but he did not want to do that in Eden's body. He would just have to wait. This was never going to go back to normal at this rate but he had to keep on hoping. "Thank you, Rebecca." He muttered slowly standing up to pace. "Can you see if you can find anything in the systems for the last week or so please?"

The AI seemed to jump at the chance to help. "Yes, Captain!" Cocking her head again, she began after a few beats, she opened her eyes and furrowed her brown in confusion. "While I cannot pinpoint the exact source, I am detecting several odd power surges coming from different sections of the ship, Captain."

“Are they all the same time or different?” He wondered watching as the data came up on the screen. “Different times that interesting.” He mused softly trying to think on what that would mean.

Becca looked over the information on her screens as well, even though she didn't need to, as she could access the information in the blink of an eye. However, it was one of the behaviors that Micheal had taught her, shortly after she came on line during his first trip in the Andromeda Galaxy. "Is there anything I can do to help, Captain? However, before you answer, you should know that, with my current diminished state, it would be difficult to continuously keep both Mrs Anderson and Miss Saa in the dark about my presence."

“There is not much you can do Rebecca. Just keep checking in on the ship.” Gregnol said as he felt the ship shake for a moment. That was his cue to get back to the Bridge and check in with everyone. He trusted everyone on the Bridge but he needed to get back to check in and know what was happening to cause his ship to shake.

Becca nodded eagerly. “Of course, Captain! If you need me, I can be accessed here, Sir.” Suddenly the ship shook. Becca looked toward the ceiling. “Captain, they need you on the bridge. A situation is forming.” With that, her image vanished and various screens in the runabout switched over to show that system diagnostics were being run.