The Well of Peace - Part 1
(25 April 2417)
Acting Captain's Log - Stardate 94314.4. The al Haytham, with her repairs now near completion, set off for POI A-7866 in the Aldebaran Sector, an anomaly first discovered by the USS Attar a few weeks earlier. Captain Timoreev said that they had detected an unusual gravitational anomaly between two uninhabited systems in the sector, A-86 and A-102 respectively. Both these systems were discovered in the early 24th Century when they were classed as uninhabited. Captain Timoreev's reports suggested that they still are uninhabited, but we will not know for sure until we arrive and scan ourselves. As to what this gravitational anomaly is...we have taken onboard a Lieutenant Sumida, from the Attar, to aid with our investigation.
"Onscreen," Sulayman leaned forward in Captain V'Lala's chair, on the edge of the seat. His fingers were entwined together and his chin rested on his closed hands as he looked at the picture that was being projected on the viewer.
A mass of broken rocks littered the system like a minefield, planets with large chunks taken off them orbited erratically like half eaten apples thrown into water. Two suns stared each other from opposite ends of the space chessboard, the only two stable planets and the black anomaly being the only pieces in the game.
"This is...new..." Sulayman stood up, breaking the silence that had descended on the bridge. "Where are P A-86 and 102?" he asked.
"This should be 86, Commander. 102 is a few lightyears from here but...it's not showing up on any scans," Iter, the CSO, responded.
Sulayman glanced at the two stars. "Was 86 a binary star system?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"No sir,"
"Which one of these stars is the one for 86?"
There was a pause. "The one on the left sir, the K type star,"
"And the star on the right? An F class white dwarf?"
"Yes...yes sir," Iter was surprised that Sulayman could identify the star without looking it up.
"And the star for 102 was an F class white dwarf?" Sulayman pressed further, not taking his eyes off the viewer, leaning on the railing in front.
"Why...yes sir..." Iter jumped onto Sulayman's train of thought. "Which means..."
"Which means that we have our two systems here," Sulayman wasn't going to let Iter take credit for the conclusion he had come up with. "Looks like the anomaly brought the two systems together. This debris...is what's left when their orbits collided. Scan for lifeforms. I doubt there would be any left. Let's also send a probe over to the anomaly, control it manually to park it outside the event horizon," he ordered.
There was a pause whilst the crew got to work. It gave Sulayman a chance to glance around and watch the officers work.
"Probe ready sir,"
"Launch it," he nodded.
A few seconds later the telemetry returned from the probe.
"Sir, we're getting data from the probe. It seems like the field strength is strong, it's still pulling the two stars towards it. The event horizon is a few kilometres away from where we are,"
Sulayman tapped his combadge. "Dhakku, status report of our engines and power? We're not at risk of being pulled in are we?"
"No sir, power levels and engines are at full capacity. They were designed to hold out when studying gravitational forces up close. We have time,"
"Keep me informed," he nodded, tapping his badge to end communication.
"Sir...we have lifesigns!"
Sulayman turned around, curious. "We do? Where?"
"On...the two planets around the anomaly,"
Sulyaman looked back out to the anomaly. "They're...well within the event horizon...how are they not pulled in yet? What are the gravitational forces around the stars like; they shouldn't be able to hold back the planets when they're that close!"
"I...this is really confusing sir...the life signs...aren't even minor...it's like there are two civilisations on those planets!"
Sulayman was at a loss. Think, al Firawn think! What would Captain V'Lala do? She would ask for his opinion...what would he do? "Commander," he turned to Iter. "I want you to fully map the gravitational areas in the system. I want a full visual map of what's affecting what and how strong each force is. How long would you need?"
"At least eight hours,"
"Eight hours? You have three. That's an hour more than you need," Sulayman rebuked, struggling to stem his frustration at the incompetent old Betazoid. Tapping his combadge once more, he said. "al Firawn to Lieutenant Sumida. Please report to the bridge immediately," Looking at the bridge he finally ordered. "When the Lieutenant arrives, tell her to meet me in my ready room. Maintain scans and..." The ship jarred.
"Sir...our engines...they've...overloaded!"
Sulayman was first on the combadge. "Dhakku, you assured me..."
"I don't know Commander! The engines just shut off!"
"Well get them working again, now!" Sulayman snapped and turned around to see the gravitational anomaly grow closer. "Is the ship moving?"
The helmsman turned back to his console. "Yes sir,"
Sulayman bared down on him and swivelled his chair around. "Then why the hell do I have to tell you? Do your goddamn job or just get out!" he roared into the man's face. "Stop us from moving!" he turned back towards the centre when a crash sent him almost sprawling to the floor. "Please do not tell me that was the probe!" he said, grabbing the rail as he stood up. The bridge, now paralyzed at the anger of the young man, didn't reply. "I asked a bloody question!" Sulayman yelled again.
"Yes sir...we've...gone past the event horizon..." someone squeaked.
Sulayman looked at the crew helplessly. "Al'ama," he sighed. "You all had better brace for impact then," he said defeatedly, slumping into the chair. "Or...you know...do your jobs and get us out?"
The bridge crew jumped into action. Sulayman shook his head. "Oh so now you decide to all work," he muttered. "Red alert, shields up, all decks prepare for impact," he punched his console and ordered. Gripping the armrests, he stared at the black anomaly as it neared and uttered a silent prayer.
Sulayman was the only one who didn't close his eyes as the al Haytham hit the black anomaly. Because of this, he was the only one to see the al Haytham go through the darkness like a curtain. On the other side, the ship gracefully slowed to a stop. On the other side, was what seemed to Sulayman, like a small moon. Only it was no moon. It was mechanical. Like a Borg sphere. Only it wasn't. It was radiating some form of energy, which seemed to coagulate to form the dark shielding around it, the dark curtain that the ship had crashed through seconds before.
"Chop, chop everyone, nap time is over," Sulayman snapped as he stood up. One of the Ensigns opened his eyes.
"Am I in... heaven?"
Sulayman turned on the poor officer. "You're in hell boyo, and guess what, I'm the goddamn devil...now...JUMP TO YOUR BLOODY STATION AND LET'S GET TO WORK!"
The boy was paralyzed in fear, as Sulayman turned away, rescued by the gentle arms of another officer as she pulled him back to his station.
"The... thing... is emitting graviton particles. The thing... we went through seems to a sort of gravity well," came a report. Sulayman stood digesting this information.
"Did anything else get pulled in?" he asked, calmly.
"No sir."
Iter looked up from his console. "Commander, I have analysed the ships' logs from when we were dragged in. It wasn't the gravity that bought us closer. It was some sort of tractor beam,"
"Tractor beam?" Sulayman asked.
"Sir, I recommend we try and hail the ship," came a voice from the helm.
"Negative sir, we don't know who might be out there and their intentions," Lieutenant Priol, the Chief of Security cut in.
Sulayman spent a few seconds in thought. "Well, we're stuck in here with whatever it is that brought us in. I don't see any other choice. Ensign, broadcast standard Starfleet greeting, all frequencies," he ordered as he tapped his combadge. "Dhakku, engine status?"
"Warp drive offline, we still have thrusters and impulse power,"
"I don't suppose I have to tell you what to get fixed,"
"Replicators?
Sulayman ended the call sharply, cursing in Arabic. "I'm starting to think that Captain Se'Lai might have been onto something when gave me that White Pages. "Lieutenant Commander Krako is beginning to look like a very capable candidate," he made a mental note to reach out to her about the Acting First Officer position if they came out of this alive.
"We're being hailed sir!" the Helm's voice brought him out of his thoughts.
"Onscreen," Sulayman said and strode to the middle, fastening his arms behind his back like he had seen Captain V'Lala do countless times before. On the screen flickered a small man, with darting eyes, reddish skin and a smooth nose flickered into view. His brown hair was wild and a pair of rather flimsy hexagonal glasses, that seemed to slide down his non-existent nose every few seconds.
"You... you're not Lorans, or Valons..." he said, rather baffled. "Who are you?"
"I am Lieutenant Commander Sulayman al Firawn of the USS al Haytham. We are representatives of the United Federation of Planets. Who are you?"
"United Federation of Planets?"
Sulayman blinked. "Yes, we're are an organisation dedicated to fostering peace and unity in the universe,"
"Peace? And unity? Oh well, that's wonderful! That's exactly what I'm trying to do here!"
"How so?" Sulayman asked.
"Well, you see. There are these two planetary systems...the Lorans and the Valons. They have been fighting a proxy war for decades over my planet. When they destroyed it, I resolved to end this war, no matter the cost."
"Wait, did you say decades?" Sulayman looked at the Helm. "Mute comms," he ordered before turning to Priol. "What's the conflict report in this sector?"
"There are no planets in the area that have been charted with any form of warfare in the past decade Commander," came to reply.
"Then how could they have been fighting a war?" Sulayman wondered. "Ensign, unmute,"
"Channel open sir,"
"Could you tell us more about this war, and your planet?" Sulayman asked.
"It was devastating. They rained down death from above. Day and night, it was a constant bombardment. Their troops...they did the most terrible things. Murder was not enough for them; they came and stole our families, robbed us of our peace..." the man looked away from the screen.
"How did this atrocity start?" Sulayman asked, leaning forward on the railing.
"It was our fault," the man said through gritted teeth, turning back to the screen, a hatred in his eyes. "We discovered the two systems. Gave them our technology. Out of friendship. And they used it against us,"
Sulayman turned to Iter. "There were no indications of life signs on those planets, yet alone warp drive, right?" Iter replied with a nod.
"They used the Pulse Step."
"The...what?"
"The Pulse Step. We developed this system of travel that allowed for us to teleport from our homeworld to other homeworlds. It was unrefined and used a lot of power. We were lucky to make it to the two planets next to us. With their permission, we built Pulse Step hubs to let us travel between worlds using quicker and safer. We helped the Lorans and Valons grow. Then they turned on us. They both used the Pulse Step to come to our world and fought to gain control of the other Pulse Step hub."
Sulayman looked around the bridge, who were all engrossed in the tale.
"And...what was your plan to foster unity?" Sulayman asked finally.
"I was going to bring the planets together so that they wouldn't have to fight anymore and they could coexist."
Sulayman stared at the screen, awestruck. "You...you're the one who moved two entire systems?"
"Yes,"
Sulayman blinked "Well... you did it..." he finally managed.
The reddish man shook his head. "No, this was the easy bit. Now we have to make sure that this war ends in peace,"
Sulayman swallowed. If moving two systems was the easy part, he dreaded the hard part that was yet to come.
