STAR TREK

Black Hole of Doom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: Derek Kestner

Based on Star Trek TM created by Gene Roddenberry

            Captains Log, Stardate 54521.8. The Bozeman is on course One-zero-seven-mark-four. There have been reports of a strange black hole near the Klingon border. Starfleet reports that ships would be dragged into the black hole and was never seen again. There is a reported of three border patrols lost already. Our mission is to see what happened to these ships and bring them back if possible. End of Log Entry.

 

            Captain Morgan Bateson sat in his chair on the bridge of the U.S.S. Bozeman. They were en route to the Klingon border. The report was they would be there in three hours. Bateson sat and watched his crew work. More than once had they proved themselves fit to command any ship that was handed to them.

            He watched over them. He remembered something Captain Kirk said to some Academy student. “Space is filled with thousands of hours…of boredom.” Bateson laughed to himself as he thought about this.

            Wizz Dayton, the Comm officer turned around. “Captain, we’re getting a message from Starfleet Command.”

            “On screen,” Bateson said.

            The screen changed from the star field to the face of Admiral Hays. “Good day Captain Bateson. I trust you and your crew are well?” He said smiling.

            “Yes sir Admiral,” Bateson said returning the smile. “What did you want to talk about?”

            “Your orders have changed,” Hays said. “You are still going to investigate the Black hole, but on your way you will have to stop by Starbase 6.”

            “For what purpose Admiral?” Bateson asked.

            “To pick up your new consular. Lieutenant Ashley Rickman,” Hays said.

            “Why does Starfleet feel we need a consular?” Bateson asked.

            “Now-a-days we feel that every ship should have a consular,” Hays said. “Plus it’s on your way. Those are your orders. Hays out.”

            The view screen changed to the Starfleet symbol. “Regular screen Derek,” Bateson ordered. “How far away is Starbase 6?”

            “With a slight course adjustment… one-point-five hours sir,” Derek said.

            “How slight?” Bush asked.

            “I’ll put it up on tactical,” Derek said. Once again the screen changed. The tactical screen appeared in the place of the star field.

            “Very well. Andy set course for Starbase 6. If anyone needs me I’ll be in my quarters. Gabe you have the conn,” Bateson said.

            Bateson left the bridge. He didn’t understand why Starfleet put a consular on the Bozeman. Ah well I guess we’ll have to get used to her, Bateson thought.

 

            An hour and a half later they were in sight of Starbase 6. Bush pushed a button on the Captains chair. “Bush to Bateson.”

            “Bateson here,” the Captains voice said.

            “Sir we are nearing Starbase 6,” Bush said.

            “Very well. I’ll be up on the bridge in a moment,” Bateson said.

            Minutes later Captain Bateson walked onto the bridge. Bush stood and sat down in his seat next to the captain’s chair. Bateson sat down.

            “Captain, Starbase 6 is contacting us. They want to know if we want to dock,” Dayton reported.

            “Tell them we will orbit around them until they beam up Lieutenant Rickman,” Bateson said.

            “Aye sir,” Dayton said.

            “Andy put us in orbit around Starbase 6.”

            “Aye sir,” Welch said. The Bozeman turned and slowly orbited around the Starbase. “Derek would you come with me to welcome Ms. Rickman aboard?

            “Aye sir,” Derek said. He stood and followed Bateson and Bush to the turbolift. Once inside Bateson said,

            “Transporter Room.” The turbolift started up. Bateson turned. “Scotty and Brad will also be there to help greet her.”

            The lift doors opened. They walked across the hall and into the Transporter Room. They found that Brad and Scotty were already there. There was a beep then Dayton’s voice said, “Captain, I’m picking up a signal from Starbase6.”

            “On speakers,” Bateson ordered.

            The speakers turned on. A voice said, “This is Starbase 6 to Bozeman.”

            “This is the Bozeman,” Bateson said.

            “Are you ready for transport?” the voice asked.

            “Yes, we’re ready. Send ‘er over. Bozeman out.”

            Then the room was filled with a bright light. Seconds later a woman was standing on the transporter platform. Bateson walked up to the platform. “Welcome to the U.S.S. Bozeman. I am Captain Morgan Bateson.”

            “I’m Lieutenant Ashley Rickman,” she said smiling at Bateson.

            Bateson motioned to his officers. “This is my first officer, Commander Gabriel Bush.” Bush nodded. “The Chief Engineer, Captain Montgomery Scott.”

            “Good day lass,” Scotty said.

            “And finally Lieutenant Commander Derek Kestner who mans the Opps station and Lt. Commander Brad Foreman, the engineers mate.”

            Ashley shook hands with each of them. Then Bateson turned to Derek. “Derek would you please take Ms. Rickman to her quarters? She’s in room: 315.”

            “Aye sir,” Derek said. “Follow me.”

            They walked out of the Transporter Room and got on the turbolift. “So where were you born?” Derek asked.

            “I was born on Betazed, but I’m only half Betazoid, my father was a human and my mother was a Betazoid,” she said. The turbolift doors opened at officer territory. Ashley followed Derek out of the turbolift. He led her to her room. Her room was the one next to his.

            He handed her an info-padd. “This is your access code. You enter it once on the pad beside the door then the computer will recognize you bio-signature. Do you have any questions?”

            “No sir,” she said smiling.

            “Very well then. I am needed on the bridge. You should show up for work in about thirty minutes,” Derek said. He walked toward the turbolift doors.

            “Thank you,” Ashley called after him.

            He walked into the turbolift and headed toward the bridge. She’s really pretty, Derek thought.

            Thirty minutes later she walked onto the bridge. “This is your seat,” Bateson said pointing to a chair on his right hand.

            “Thank you sir,” Ashley said.

            “Captain, all decks report ready to leave,” Dayton said.

            “Thank you, Wizz. Andy prepare to leave orbit,” Bateson ordered.

            “Aye sir,” Welch said. He got ready to leave the orbit. “Captain, we are ready to leave orbit at your command.

            “Very well. Set course for Klingon border,” Bateson ordered.

            “Course locked in Captain,” Welch said.

            “Proceed,” Bateson said. “Derek, how long until Klingon border?”

            “What speed will we be going Captain?” Derek asked.

            “Andy, warp 5,” Bateson ordered.

            “One minute Captain,” Derek said. Seconds later he said, “One hour exactly.”

            “Thank you Derek.” One hour until excitement, Bateson thought.

            The hour passed quickly. Nothing happened that was exciting. Bateson walked into his Ready Room. He had to note in the log that he picked up a new crewmember.

 

            Captains Log, Supplemental. After receiving a communiqué from Starfleet we proceeded to Starbase 6 to pick up a new officer, Lieutenant Ashley Rickman. It seems that Starfleet feels that we need a consular. She seems to be a nice young woman. It will be interesting to get to know this young woman. End of Log Entry.

 

            Bateson retook his seat on the bridge. “Mike, have you found the Black hole yet?”  Bateson asked.

            “Not yet Captain,” Dennis said. He kept a close watch on his sensor screen. Derek thought he would help him out. He also kept a close watch on his screen.

            Not long afterward Dennis shouted, “Captain, I think I’m picking up the Black hole.”

            “Where is it?” Bateson asked.

            “Straight ahead but out of range of our viewer,” Dennis replied.

            “Can you pick it up, Derek?”

            “Yes sir,” Derek said. “We should be there in thirty minutes.”

            Twenty minutes passed quickly. The black hole came up on the viewer. Then, suddenly, the bridge switched to red running lights. “What’s goin’ on?” Bateson asked.

            “We’re bein’ pulled into the black hole from a force within it sir,” Dennis said. “We are also increasing speed. The engines are at warp five yet we’re really goin’ warp eight. We’re bein’ sucked into the black hole faster than what the engines are goin’”

            “Andy reverse engines, back full warp,” Bateson ordered.

            “Aye Captain,” Welch said. The engines reversed. They started to pull backward. The engines strained to pull them out of the force that was pulling them into the black hole. “Full warp Captain.”

            No matter how hard the engines pulled they could not break out of the force. Then Scotty’s voice came over the speakers, “Engineering to bridge, Captain?”

            “Go ahead, Scotty,” Bateson said.

            “Captain, ye’ve gotta let me shut down the engines. If ye don’t they’ll over load and explode,” Scotty said.

            “Mr. Scott we don’t want to go into a black hole. No one’s ever been in one, we don’t know what will happen,” Bateson said.

            “But Captain, if we don’t shut down I know what will happen,” Scotty said. “Please let me shut down the engines.”

            Bateson thought a moment. No one had ever been inside a black hole, he did not know what to expect. One the other hand if they do not shut down the engines they will be destroyed.

            “Very well Mr. Scott,” A pause, Bateson began to breath heavily, “shut down the engines. Bridge out.”

            Soon the hum of the engines died away. The black hole kept pulling them in. Dennis suddenly said, “Captain, we’re now goin’ at warp ten.”

            “What? That’s faster than anyone has ever been before,” Bateson said.

            “Well sir, the force is pulling us in at that rate and we’re still increasing speed,” Dennis said.

            By the time they entered the black hole they were going at warp twelve. Just before they went in Dennis reported, “Sir we’re going at warp twelve. It seems that we are not gaining any more speed.”

            Then they entered the black hole…nothing happened. “Captain, this is not a black hole,” Derek said.

            “What?”

            “This is a worm hole,” Derek explained. “I don’t know where it originated, or how it originated.”

            “Where’s the other end?” Bateson asked.

            “I don’t know,” Derek said. “All I know is that its not anywhere close.”

            The remainder of Derek’s watch was boring. Finally his watch was up. “I guess I’ll see you later Andy,” he said. He walked up to the turbolift.

            He got off at officers territory. When the doors open again Ashley Rickman walked out. Derek turned and saw her walking toward him.

            He walked back toward her. “Lieutenant, I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me on the holodeck?”

            “Is that an order sir?” she asked smiling.

            “Not at all. If you have something eles to do then please, don’t let me keep you,” he said.

            “Thank you. I think I would like that,” she said.

            “Good,” Derek said. He turned, took two steps then turned back around. “Bye the way, wear your swimsuit.”

            “Why?” she asked him.

            “You’ll see.” He smiled and disappeared into his quarters.

            He prepared for dinner. First he took a bath. Once this was done he ordered a swimsuit and shorts to wear over top of them. Then he ordered dinner. He picked out picnic foods and champagne.

            Then he walked out of his quarters. He walked over to Ashley’s door, stood and waited. He herd, “Come.” The doors opened before him. He stepped into the room.

            Ashley had decorated it very nicely. “I came to make sure you can get to the holodeck since this is your first time on the ship,” he said.

            “Thank you very much,” Ashley said. “I’ll be ready in a few minutes.” Derek sat on the sofa and waited for her to finish getting ready.

            “Ready,” she said. She walked out from the other room. Derek’s bottom lip fell. He almost fell out of the sofa. She was so beautiful. “Are you alright?”

            “Yeah, yeah, I’m alright,” Derek said. He stood and led her out of her room and into the turbolift.

            “Where are we going in the holodeck?” Ashley asked.

            “It’s a surprise,” Derek said smiling. The lift doors open. Derek led her out and toward the holodecks. He typed the program into the computer. Then the doors opened. Sea air came out of the door.

            “Come on in,” Derek said. He led her into the holodeck. The doors closed behind them.

            “Its really beautiful here,” Ashley said looking around.

            “Thank you. I designed it myself from a beach on Earth,” Derek said smiling. They walked up the beach a little way. They had to find the perfect spot to put their blanket.

            After they had walked for a couple of minuets they found the perfect spot. Derek spread out the blanket. “Let’s go for a quick swim before we eat.”

            “Alright.” They both took off their outer clothing until they were standing in their swimsuits. They started to run to the water then Derek stopped short.

            He looked up into the sky. “Computer, are safety protocols off?”

            “The safety protocols are off,” the computer’s voice said.

            “I new it,” he said to himself. He turned to Ashley. “Some Klingon’s from engineering come down here and fight arena fights. They turn off the safety protocols and forget to turn them back on.”

            They ran on down into the water. After awhile of swimming they came back up onto the beach and laid down on the blanket.

            “Well I don’t know about you but I’m about ready to starve to death,” Derek said.

            “Let’s eat,” Ashley said.

            They began to get everything ready then began to eat.

 

            Where’s Derek and Rickman? Bateson thought pacing the briefing room. Derek’s never been late for a staff meeting. The other officers were sitting around the table waiting for Bateson to start.

 

            Derek and Ashley sat on the beach watching the seagulls, telling jokes and laughing. A warm breeze was blowing in from the ocean. The smell of the salt livened up everything.

            Ashley rolled onto her side and said, “Tell ma a little about yourself.”

            “You can read my mind, why don’t you tell me?” Derek asked smiling.

            “If you want the truth, I don’t like to read peoples minds unless I have to,” she said. “You can sometimes get into trouble for what you find out about a person.”

            “All right, if you say so,” Derek said. “If I could do that I would be looking to see what everyone was thinking.”  

            “I bet you would,” Ashley said smiling. “Tell me about yourself.”

            “Well as you can see, I like the ocean. I’ve always liked the ocean, and everything within it. I also like science and fishing. It’s been along time since I’ve had a chance to fish. I sometimes like to come inhere and fish, but it’s not the same.”

            “I’ve never been fishing, what is it?”

            For the next fifteen minutes Derek tried to explain what fishing was. It was no simple task since she kept asking questions.

 

            Bateson controlled his urge to slam his fist onto the table. They had been waiting for forty-five minutes now. He finally tapped his communicator. “Computer, where is Lieutenant Commander Kestner?”

            After a few minutes when the computer located Derek’s communicator it said, “In his quarters.”

            “I just sent a man there now and he reported that no one was there,” Bateson said aggravated.

            “Sir, perhaps Mr. Kestner is somewhere else in the ship and simply took off his communicator,” Brad said.

            “Bateson again tapped his communicator. “Bateson to bridge.”

            “Bridge here Captain,” a voice said.

            “Have security teams find Derek and Ms. Rickman,” Bateson ordered.

            “Aye sir,” the voice said. It took awhile for the security teams to find them. They then contacted the bridge. The voice then came over the Comm link. “Captain, they have been found in the holodecks, shall I send the team in?”

            “No, I’ll take care of it. Thank you, Bateson out.” Bateson closed the Comm link and quickly opened a new one.

 

            Derek and Ashley ran down to the water and dove in. They decided to go for a quick swim before they returned to their quarters. They water was cool and clear, just as Derek remembered from Earth.

            Suddenly the there was a crackle then Bateson’s voice said, “Derek, Ms Rickman, on the Bozeman we report for staff meetings on time, and I expect all of my command officers to be present.”

            “Captain, I did not know that we had a meeting today,” Derek said.

            “Don’t worry, we’ll skip the court marshal this time. Just get up here.”

            “Captain, you’ll have to give us time to change into our uniforms,” Derek said. 

            “Very well,” Bateson said. “Bateson out.”

            Derek and Ashley ran back up onto the beach and gathered up their things then left the holodeck. Minutes later Derek was walking out of his quarters in full uniform headed for the turbolift.

            The doors opened before him. “Deck nine,” Derek told the computer. The lift took him to his destination. He got out and headed for the briefing room. He walked in, the doors closed behind him. All the other officers, except for Ashley, were already sitting around the table.

            “It’s about time Derek, take a seat,” Bateson said. Derek sat down in his usual chair beside Brad.

            Brad leaned over and whispered, “What were you doing?”

            “We were trying out my new holodeck program,” Derek said. Minutes later Ashley walked in and took a seat.

            “Now that we’re all here we can begin,” Bateson said. “This worm hole is carrying us at warp fourteen, faster than man has ever been. The thing is, we don’t know where we’re going or if we can get out.”

            “Captain what is our heading?” Michael Dennis asked.

            “I don’t know, the navigational systems are out,” Bateson said.

            “Captain, maybe this is not a natural worm hole,” Derek said.

            “What do you mean?”

            “Well sir, I was just thinking: maybe someone made the worm hole so that it could trap other ships then drag them where ever they want them to go,” Derek said. As he got this out of his mouth the ship was flung to starboard, this lights turned red, and all of the command crew went flying.

            Bateson was the first to pull himself back up. “Bridge, what just happened?”

            “We just changed heading Captain,” a voice.

            “Thank you, we’ll be right up. Bateson out.”

            They all walked out of the briefing room and into the nearest turbolift. Bateson said, “Bridge.” Within seconds they lift doors opened on the bridge. The officer of the watch stood from the captain’s chair. Bateson sat as the others rushed to their stations.

            “Derek report, where are we,” Bateson asked.

            “Navigational systems are still inoperative,” Derek said.

            “Andy, can you turn us back around or get us outta here?”

            “Negative Captain, helm also inoperative,” Welch said.

            Bateson slammed his fist onto the armrest of his chair, an action he did quite often. “So there’s no way of telling where we’re at?”

            “Not until the Navigational systems come back online,” Derek said.

            “Then we’re lost,” Bateson said.

 

To Be Continued…

 

 

            Next time on STAR TREK: BOZEMAN: Is Derek right? Is the worm whole really man-made or is it natural? Where is it taking the Bozeman? Will the Bozeman be destroyed like all the other ships? All this and more, next time on STAR TREK: BOZEMAN.