93806.1 Federation News Service
Mystery Surrounds Long-Lost Federation Starbase Discovered Orbiting Dead World
During a survey of the 20-Draconis Star System, a Lukari exploration group discovered a derelict station in orbit of the third planet, which appeared to be Starfleet in design. The U.S.S. Mercury was dispatched to investigate and identified the derelict as Deep Space K-13, which was thought destroyed by a Klingon attack nearly a hundred and fifty years ago. Even more shocking, was the discovery that much of the station's crew was still alive, preserved in stasis.
In 2270 K-13 was located in the Deneva System, Orion Sector, when Starfleet lost contact. Given the political climate of the time and the station's location, it was assumed that it was lost to a Klingon raid. According to recovered log entries and firsthand accounts from the crew, the Klingon raid was repelled but some sort of anomaly formed during the battle and the station was pulled through. After emerging from the anomaly, the crew discovered that they had been somehow relocated in time and space to Draconis III in the 14th Century (Earth Calendar). Realizing that they were stranded, alone and with no way to call for help, they placed themselves - and several Klingons captured during the raid - into stasis pods in the hopes of one day being rescued. Efforts to repair K-13 to working order and to revive and re-integrate her inhabitants are currently underway, supervised by the U.S.S. Aventine.
In addition to those who perished in the preceding battle, the limited number of stasis pods available meant that three K-13 crewmembers did not enter stasis with the rest. At a ceremony scheduled for early next month, President Okeg is expected to posthumously award the UFP Medal of Honor to Chief Meredith Nichols, Nurse Dennis Sheridan, and Crewman T'Von. The families of the surviving Starfleet and Klingon crewmembers have been contacted by Starfleet Command and the Klingon Defense Force, respectively.
In 2270 K-13 was located in the Deneva System, Orion Sector, when Starfleet lost contact. Given the political climate of the time and the station's location, it was assumed that it was lost to a Klingon raid. According to recovered log entries and firsthand accounts from the crew, the Klingon raid was repelled but some sort of anomaly formed during the battle and the station was pulled through. After emerging from the anomaly, the crew discovered that they had been somehow relocated in time and space to Draconis III in the 14th Century (Earth Calendar). Realizing that they were stranded, alone and with no way to call for help, they placed themselves - and several Klingons captured during the raid - into stasis pods in the hopes of one day being rescued. Efforts to repair K-13 to working order and to revive and re-integrate her inhabitants are currently underway, supervised by the U.S.S. Aventine.
In addition to those who perished in the preceding battle, the limited number of stasis pods available meant that three K-13 crewmembers did not enter stasis with the rest. At a ceremony scheduled for early next month, President Okeg is expected to posthumously award the UFP Medal of Honor to Chief Meredith Nichols, Nurse Dennis Sheridan, and Crewman T'Von. The families of the surviving Starfleet and Klingon crewmembers have been contacted by Starfleet Command and the Klingon Defense Force, respectively.
An investigation is also underway into the planet Draconis III, itself. According to Starfleet's preliminary reports, some sort of protomatter detonation occurred relatively recently, resulting in the destruction of all life on the planet's surface. At present, it is unclear if the devastation was caused by some natural disaster, an experiment, a weapon, or even some sort of terraforming effort. Starfleet Public Affairs has not released a statement on this aspect yet, but did confirm that forensic and anthropological evidence has revealed that a bronze-age civilization was present on Draconis prior to the detonation and that there is no link between the detonation and the presence of K-13 in orbit.
In addition to continuing their exploration of the local area, the Lukari will be assisting Aventine with the mystery of the Draconis III protomatter event.
In addition to continuing their exploration of the local area, the Lukari will be assisting Aventine with the mystery of the Draconis III protomatter event.
--
Spoiler: Starfleet Intelligence Memo, Stardate 93800.4:Show
|
Security Level 3 - Restricted
TO FADM Quinn CC ADM Chakotay FROM CMDR Burgess SUBJ Draconis III Protomatter Event |
|
Admiral,
The Aventine away team to Draconis III has made a number of startling new discoveries. I've attached the full report and provided an excerpt of the significant portion.
| ... based on the iconography inside the temple, it is clear that the K-13 crew must have had some contact, intentional or otherwise, with the locals, some time in the distant past. In the next chamber, we came to the source of the detonation. It was cavernous and filled with strange crystals. We took a sample for analysis and began our scans. When we examined matrix decay, we were shocked to discover that the protomatter detonation occurred only weeks prior to our arrival. Furthermore, based on the directed nature of the blast, we are now able to state with a reasonable degree of certainty that not only was this a deliberate detonation, but it was a purposefully constructed explosive device; the people of Draconis III were killed by a protomatter bomb. Detailed scans of the source also revealed a number of elements consistent with weapon casings and technology known to be used by the Tzenkethi Coalition. |
The Lukari have reported detecting several other systems with possible protomatter detonations. I recommend we dispatch a vessel to investigate. We should also consider contacting the KDF. Our information on Tzenkethi technology is several decades old. It's possible they have something more recent.
//SIGNED//
Commander Ethan Burgess
Starfleet Intelligence
//ATTACHMENT// 82602\20-DraconisAAR.tcr
--
((Events of Echoes of Light are now fleet canon.))