stardate 84486.25

Personal log.
Captain, USS Exploration.


Another new ship. This is number five in six years – I thought we were supposed to serve on these things for a while. Though I did see the Hippocrates the other day. Her CO is very competent. Young and eager, but competent. It’s good to know that even with all the light years we put on her, she’s still fit for service.

The Mercy isn’t so lucky.

Sadly, while on patrol in the Archanis Sector we were caught in a confrontation with a Klingon battle group and she was lost. There wasn’t much we could do but hold on for our lives – five Birds of Prey and a Vor’cha battle cruiser had more firepower than we could handle, even with our newly upgraded shields and weapons systems. The battle lasted about ten minutes before our hull suffered catastrophic damage and I was forced to order the crew to abandon the ship. We managed to take four of the birds with us, but there was no way we could have survived the onslaught.

Thankfully, the USS Exeter was in the area and managed to swoop in and scare the Klingons off before they could capture any of us or destroy our escape pods. All hands escaped with only a few serious injuries among the bunch.

At least that went right.

Arthur was shaken up but alright. I suppose one of the advantages of being seven years old is that nothing really bothers you too much. To be honest, I think he kind of enjoyed seeing the battle up close. Carol and I had a serious talk afterwards about the possibility of putting him back on Earth. We both agreed that there was danger everywhere and neither of us really wanted to think about sending him away. It’s hard to believe he’s spent more than half of his life on starships now. He doesn’t seem any worse for the wear though.

It seems Starfleet isn’t overly disappointed in me. Although we had to go through all the official paperwork associated with the destruction of a starship, Command recognized the impossible situation we had faced and actually commended me on getting my crew out alive.

I’ve been assigned as commanding officer of the USS Exploration, a deep space science vessel. While we’ll still be involved in some strategic actions, we’re one of the few vessels that are charged with a scientific mandate right now. We’ll actually have the opportunity to go out and do some system surveys and the like. The crew is excited about the new ship and the possibility that we may not have to fire our phasers every day.

I’m excited to be exploring again. I’m tired of the endless fighting, and I’ve gotten a little too good at killing for my tastes. A break from the action will do me, and the crew, some good.

stardate 84483.74

Report to Starfleet (File 241-1231-131A-44X-313)

Security Clearance 10 only

heuristic search tags: subspace entity, subspace mind, subspace alien, telepathy, USS Mercy, Daniel Carver, alternate universe, subspace dimensional rift, amoeboid alien, fluidic space

encryption sequence:

65464984231ASmCs2***CC23F

Filed by: Draymen of Vulcan (Chief Medical Officer, USS Mercy)

Personal logs (Captain Daniel Carver) dated stardate 2613.23, 2612.22, 2495.01 cross-referenced
Lab Report (MADHAV-912A-1231C1) cross-referenced

**Begin report**

At the request of Captain Carver (due to his personal involvement in the events described), this report to Starfleet is being filed by Draymen of Vulcan, Chief Medical Officer.

As referenced in personal logs, Captain Carver had recently had a number of unexplained experiences involving his perceptions of an alien life form attempting to interact with him. After the last incident (stardate 2613.23), in which the Captain was rendered unconscious and badly burned by contact with a highly alkaline substance (pH 12.4 according to medical scans collected immediately after the incident), the crew of the Mercy began conducting extensive sensor sweeps of the ship, both internal and external. Initial scans indicated no anomalous readings. At the suggestion of Commander Sorbek (Senior Science Officer) we extended scans beyond normal parameters to include searches for tachyon radiation and sub-space distortions. Scans involving these broadened search parameters yielded surprising results, indicating a sub-space field radiating from Captain Carver. The field was emitting trace amounts of tachyon radiation. This field was entirely localized to the Captain (see USS Mercy Internal Sensor Log, file 41233.12331.123121.131A).

Upon closer examination, it was found that Captain Carver was existing in a state of dimensional flux. The sub-space field emanating from him was somehow allowing him to exist simultaneously in “normal” space-time and a sub-space pocket dimension. Commander Sorbek postulated that the ship and the aliens that Captain Carver had been encountering may be native to this pocket dimension and that Captain Carver was somehow interacting with them. After postulating a number of possible solutions, Commander Laroche (Chief Engineer) suggested that encapsulating the Captain within a tachyon field may break him free of his entanglement with the pocket universe and jar him completely back into normal space. The Captain agreed and preparations were immediately undertaken.

Due to the danger to Captain Carver, he was held in sickbay during the preparations (which were estimated to take 2 – 3 hours to complete). During this time, Captain Carver was under my observation. At approximately 12:43 hours (ship’s time), Captain Carver fell unconscious. Medical scans indicated that he high levels of tachyon radiation were emanating from him and a visible “warping” of space around the Captain’s form was observed (see USS Mercy Medical Scans, file 1231.131222.31485.133A). This continued for several minutes, after which the Captain awoke. He sustained several chemical burns on his hands, face and chest. These burns were from an alkaline source (pH 12.4 according to medical scans).

 

The Captain reported that he had again been drawn into the pocket universe where he was able to communicate with the sub-space aliens (which he described as amoeboid aliens). According to the Captain, the aliens were able to communicate with him using a limited form of telepathy. His report (Captain’s Log, file 4413.313.1312) is transcribed here:

The aliens were able to communicate with me telepathically. Due to the differences in our physiology and brain structure, the information we were able to share was limited, but I did glean a few key items. First, they exist in a part of fluidic space and are familiar with the Undine (who they call the Keepers). They indicated that fluidic space, unlike our space, is not physically uniform and has a number of “pockets” in which the laws of physics vary. They also told me that I had become entangled in their universe during my experiments with sub-space fields and their effect on neurological decay. I sensed no malevolent intention during my contact with the alien and they indicated that they wished me no harm.

Based on Captain Carver’s report, the burns he sustained were likely due to contact with the atmosphere of the alien dimension (which is likely alkaline-based).

Shortly after the incident, Mr. Laroche completed his preparations and Captain Carver underwent the tachyon bombardment procedure. All scans since then indicate that Captain Carver’s entanglement with the pocket universe has been corrected. As per instructions from Starfleet Command, we will continue to monitor Captain Carver for further encounters with the pocket universe of sub-space aliens and report any such incidents immediately.

**End report**