USS MILLENNIUM: A Call To Duty

Deck 265 was almost at the very bottom of a Capitol class mushroom shaped three hundred decks installation as starbase Lotus.Three entire decks, each larger than the whole saucer section of a capital ship, were dedicated to the base's parking, storage, maintenance, repair and resupply of the hundreds of shuttlecrafts it owned, with ample space and ressources for as much incoming small visiting vehicles, from one man pods to small twenty people courier vessels. Even a small escort class starship like a Defiant or Aquarius class vessel could find docking space there.

Thus, with everything cleared out but for the thirteen type 11 shuttles neatly parked there in pre-flight formation, the area appeared frighteningly immense even to the near two-hundred people that met there. The complete lack of traffic except for the minimal maintenance crew allowed after the most severe security clearance to work for the launch needs made the silence and the stillness almost oppressive, even to them who had but for a small handful of senior officers one thing in common; they were all former crewmembers of the flagship USS Horizon... and also all former crewmembers of the USS Artemis, the stalwart guardian of the Federation, destroyed during the dramatic events of Operation Horizon.

And now, they were all assembled in groups of fourteen before these neatly parked shuttles already prepped for immediate departure.

Before the first one stood Captain kheren, former commanding officer of the flagship Horizon and of the Artemis he had himself ordered the destruction of during those trying times. With him were assembled his most senior officers:  

Jem'Hadar Tactical and Security Commander Aron'Son, his powerful grey-scaled frame seemingly made out of living rock as he waited.

Half-Romulan Engineering Commander David Rogers, the mustached man with lightly pointed ears and sublty green-tinted skin one of he very few here who had never served with Kheren before.

Andorian tactical and security lieutenant junior grade Tyvya, dwarfing everyone with her well over two meters frame, her blue skin typical of her Thalassan subspecies almost as dark as that of  her captain husband.

Aenar counsellor lieutenant junior grade Lyrya, her white skin, hair and antennae making her look so small and fragile beside her towering wife and athletic husband.

Helmsman lieutenant junior grade Aguk Snow, his copper-hued Inuit face intent upon the mysterious shuttles and empty flight deck.

Edoan Operations lieutenant junior grade Cheonghi, his three armed, three legged chitinous red frame slightly trembling with excitement.

Science lieutenant junior grade Norbert Baoule, the dark-skinned man seemingly lost without his twin brother Robert, also off to a classified assignment for the last two years.

Ops lieutenant Luke Abraxius, a human of greek descent that has joined Starfleet as much out of conviction as out of friendship with the Andorian captain who had saved his life once.

Andorian doctor lieutenant commander Darum Bains, his light blue skin marking him as one of the Bishee subspecies, estranged and self-exiled like Kheren from his homeworld. he too was now serving with him for the first time.

And Nathan Cross, former civilian bartender and now acting Ensign and mission advisor... thus the only one with Kheren that would have even an inkling of what this was all about... and the only one without a Starfleet uniform despite the pip on his collar and the combadge on his left breast.

They were not much concerned by the crafts themselves; the sleek, aerodynamic bullt-shaped shuttlecraft was the new standard for all ships and installations of Lotus Fleet. As a multipurpose warp capable class 1 small craft, it had now entirely replaced almost all other more specialized crafts, especially  the obsolete runabouts on space installations and allowed starships to return to the efficient, simpler management of auxilliary crafts thst hsd been lost to overspecialization in the twenty-fourth century.

Sixteen meters long, almost ten meters wide and five meters high for a mass of twenty-eight metric tons, it's four hundred cochrane warp engine could carry up to four crew and six passengers at warp 6 for months in basic configuration, efficient interplanetary travel even with a star's corona or dense nebula with it's eight hundred millicochrane Sangliar impulse drive system and cruise and maneuver within a planetary atmosphere as easily as in space at mach twenty-five with it's four RCS thrusters. And in case of trouble, it had full regenerative modulating shielding with Laforge 1metaphasic cover , four type V phaser emitters, a micro torpedo launcher fore and aft and at it's stern a variable prupose emitter. The impressive new standard for auxilliary craft further enhanced it's versatility with a two man transporter pad, ten EVA suits, a small locked arsenal for four, internal holographic and forcefield emitters, a large aft living compartment with full replicator facilities and a sonic shower and on the dorsal and ventral hull a magnaclamp docking port and hatch for easier link up with other crafts.

Everyone present on the now heavily guarded, controled and monitored launch deck was indeed quite familiar with them. They were not however shuttles belonging to the starbase. None of them bore any registration or marking and their pilot had exited on arrival and reported to the Wisconsin to be sent back to Starfleet Headquarters on Earth with no contact allowed with anyone except for what was required for immediate needs and duty. They all carried orders that prevented any senior officer to question them.

If this mysterious set up was enough to raise eyebrows among all of the Starfleet personnel ordered to report here, it was but only the beginning.

As it where, they were all looking and listening to the tall, athletic dark-hued Andorian wearing four pips on the red collar of his grey and black standard Starfleet uniform.

 "People, I do not know much more than you do... and what more I do know, I can not discuss with you at this time. but keep in mind that we are all volunteers. We were, each one of us individually, offered by the highest instances of Starfleet Command directly and on an encrypted message the opportunity to serve the Federation in a manner that was stated as 'suitable to our unique skills and experience, in a duty of upmost importance'. And beleive me when I tell you that it is."

He started to walk towards them as he continued, wanting to reach out to each one of them.

"This duty is highly classified and will be clarified only once you answer the call and transfer here and now to a secret location under most secured conditions... as you can already gather from these unmarked, pilotless shuttles. Nothing more will be said and no question will be answered until then... even to me. "

He paused, taking time to look at them all as he walked from one group to the other as he spoke.

"Remember that you were told that you were free to decline this assignment upon receiving this offer with no prejudice to you or your record and career and no pressure or further request afterwards. You are still free to do so before boarding one of these shuttles.  But once committed, you will not be able to resign without a complete telepathic and medical memory wipe out."

He stopped and looked again at them all for several seconds before finishing.

"That is how serious to the Federation this assignment is. So think hard about it people. And for those who will answer the call... thank you."

These last two word were enough for all of them, if they had not been already firmly commited to this before stepping onto this launch deck.They had all served under him for years; their confidence, trust and even in a few cases friendship and love for him were enough to follow him on what seemed to be his most important decision innhis life, judging by the seriousness of his tone, his face and his words; and coming from from an Andorian, it was significant indeed.

"This is Flight control; shuttle thirteen, your are cleared for departure."

Nodding to Captain Kheren and his senior officers, the first group of crew members boarded the shuttle farthest from them. As soon as the hatch was closed, it rose on it's antigrav plates and thrusters brought her through the level 2 forcefield isolating them from the coldness of the stars beyond. barely out of the bay it moved out of view at a quarter of the speed of light on full impulse, disappearing literaly before their eyes. A second later, there was the distant flash of an activated warp engine.

During the next hour, one shuttle after the other was launched, at irregular intervals and what appeared to be different trajectories. By the end of it, their last shuttle alone remained in the huge, silent, deserted, empty hangar.

"Automated flight program," Aguk Snow voiced as if to break the gloomy spell that spread over them. 

"Most certainly classified and heavily encrypted," Tyvya added.

"Starbase Lotus and all installations and vessels within the Hromi sector have been ordered not to monitor the shuttles, flight path," Kheren confirmed. "Just like the last time."

Lyrya glanced at him despite being naturally blind.

"When they recruited you for the... plan B of the Kelvin disaster emergency mission."

Kheren nodded, not looking at anyone.

"Yes... and I failed."

The heavy, uncomfortable silence stretched for a few minutes.

"Captain, Commander Rogers, would you look at this?" said Lieutenant Abraxius, since several minutes having been looking closely at the warp nacelles of the sleek craft before them. "Correct me if I'm wrong but these nacelles appear to have been modified to significantly reduce their warp signature."

"I can tell you even more than that," now said the shrill raspy voice of the Edoan Cheonghi, raising higher his tricorder. "This shuttle has no transponder."

 Norbert Baoule activated his own tricorder to get another reading and flashed a raised eyebrow from his dark-skinned face.

“Sir, the hull materials of this shuttle are rather unusual. No duranium or other modern alloy; high levels of iron and nickel with a dense calcium ceramic composite... Long range sensors would not be able to distinguish it from a mundane asteroid.”

Tyvya lowered her head to come level with her husband's antennae.

"This is becoming more interesting by the minute."

Kheren just sighed, not looking at her.

"All in good time."

Cross mused at the phrase "All in good time.." and gave an agreeable nod.

"Yes, indeed." but offered nothing more.

"Shuttle 1; prepare for departure."

The call on the deck's speakers was answered by the Andorian captain on his combadge.

"Acknowledged, Flight Control."

Then he turned to the others.

"Let's go people. Mister Snow, you take the helm. Mister Aron'Son will handle tactical and Mister Cross communications. Mister Baoule at sensor station and Commander Rogers will check on our systems while in flight. The others will sit in the passenger compartment. If a next shift is required, it will be Mister Abraxius, Lieutenant Tyvya and Lyrya, Mister Cheonghi and Lieutenant Blakely."

"I feel so useful here," grumbled Darum Bains; but his antennae were curved inward in the unique Andorian smile.

"Doctors are like Captains; always on duty," Kheren shot back with the same antennae movement.

"Working good on your humor," his giant wife commented with her own curving head appendages.

"I am not joking," Kheren now was the one to grumble.

They all took their places within the large shuttlecraft and the hatch closed behind them. Barely were they seated that an alarm resounded once again and the sleek craft rose from the shiny deck and shot through the warding forcefield like a bullet on full thrusters. barely one second passed before there was five kilometers between them and the hangar deck and impulse engine flared to bring them at full impulse. Again, one second brought them seventy thousand kilometers away from the starbase before warp engines kicked in. The stars streaked by them as they quickly reached a hair short of four hundred times the speed of light.

"Well that was quick," the Andorian doctor stated flatly.

"Don't look at me," helmsman Snow retorted, raising both hands upward. "this thing is pre-programmed and controls are locked unless red alert is called."

"Heading?" asked Kheren.

"The flight plan is the most erratic one I have ever seen logged on any vessel," the Inuit man reported. "If I had ever made such a plan back in the old Academy days, with so many irregular course and speed corrections, I would have been kicked out of school."

"They're really going out of their way to make sure no one knows where we are going... not even us," Abraxius said wrily.

"Ah, but we do," Baoule corrected him. "I have computed those different vectors with sensor readout and our starcharts; Sir, we are heading for the Paulson Nebula."

"Estimating ETA  twenty-four hours," Snow then calculated from his astrogation console.

"Com station is available Captain , no traffic detected." Cross worked over the controls with no hesitation, as if he had worked with them before.

"Keep monitoring, Mister Cross," the Andorian simply said.

For the next twenty or so hours, they just enjoyed the trip with nothing of consequence to do. Although they were all alert and practiced their basic ship routines and duties as they had always done since the days of the legendary USS Artemis, nothing disturbed their travel through space, their seemingly erratic flight path design to avoid space traffic, distant surveillance and inhabited systems or installations locations or routine sensor sweeps Whoever had designed this had extensive and up to date knowledge of both Starfleet operations and civilian operations within the Hromi sector. This only heightened the importance of their assignment and it's mystery. Going to such lengths to make them this inconspicuous was unheard of, even with classified missions.

But they were all experienced professionals; comes what may, they would be ready.

Or so they beleived.