EPISODE 6: "THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS"

Written By Alex Matthews

Created by Jonathan Crosby-Bromley 
and Alex Matthews

Based on 'Star Trek' 
created by Gene Roddenberry

“Star Trek and all related marks, logos and characters are solely owned by CBS Studios Inc. This fan fiction is not endorsed by, sponsored by, nor affiliated with CBS, Paramount Pictures, or any other Star Trek franchise, and is a non-commercial fan-made film intended for recreational use.  No commercial exhibition or distribution is permitted. No alleged independent rights will be asserted against CBS or Paramount Pictures.”

Copyright (c) 2020

Produced by Sojournerverse Productions

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CAST

Vicky McClure as Lieutenant Daniela Reese
with
Marcia Cross as Captain Helena Tel
Indira Varma as Commander (Dr.) Maggie Campbell
Freddie Fox as Olishnavar ‘Oli’ th'Dane

GUEST CAST

Evan Rachel Wood as Claudia Bright
Mads Mikkelson as Dr. Osman Hillesland
Minae Noji as Kimiko Ormand-Watanabe
Gabrielle Union as Jessica Ormand-Watanabe
Noel Fisher as Spencer Phillips
Alvin Sanders as Dr. Marcus Thatcher
Sendhil Ramamurthy as Major Michael Hassani

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FRIDAY, 9th AUGUST, 2058

As she slowly regained consciousness, the first thing Claudia Bright became aware of was how dark the corridor was.
Banishing away the cobwebs with each blink, Claudia pulled herself up off the deck-plates from where she had been thrown by whatever assault the Starling Orbital Research Annex (affectionately known simply as S.O.R.A.) had just endured. She was overcome with a fit of coughing as she choked on thick smoke in the air, which must have come from an overloaded electrical relay in the bulkhead nearby somewhere. 
What the Hell just happened?!
The back-up generators finally kicked in, bringing up the blue-tinged emergency lights, allowing the blonde North Carolinan to see well enough in front of her to make her way back down the way she'd only just come a few minutes ago without walking into the walls. With every step she took, Claudia became more and more certain that the gravity plating wasn't working at full power. The plating ran under each deck and allowed normal-Earth gravity, meaning that unlike the Starling Habitat which the Annex was tethered to, was not reliant on spin-based centrifugal gravity. 
If that system, one of the Annex's greatest achievements and most redundant, backed-up system was on the fritz, then that meant S.O.R.A. had taken significant damage.
The main entrance to Central Operations was just ahead, but as Claudia approached, she noticed that the door was slightly askew. Looks like it got knocked loose off the runners. With some effort, she managed to push it open, and squeeze into the room that served as the brain of S.O.R.A.'s day-to-day running. Claudia's grip on the door tightened in horror as she took in the devastation around her. 
Several of the on-duty personnel were doing what they could to assist injured crewmates who lay bleeding and broken on the deck. A couple of the consoles were engulfed in flames, the systems having suffered some kind of overload that shorted delicate circuits. Their controls studs and switches melted into slag. Two of the techs were already using fire extinguishers to douse the fires. One of those consoles was the fusion reactor and environmental display readouts, where she'd left Paul Jankowski checking some system glitches only a few moments ago. Where is--?
That was when she saw the charred, blackened body lying a few feet away. The flesh still smoking. The horrid scent of burned meat assaulted her nostrils, and Claudia felt her stomach twist with sudden nausea as she realized that all that was left of their Senior Engineer was the source. Oh dear God...
"Assistant Director..?" The timid, quivering voice of one of the control system operators forced Claudia to focus. Tearing her gaze away from all that was left of Jankowski, she turned to face the young woman now looking at her for guidance. What's her damn name? "What is it? What happened?"
The pale red-head - Alice! That was her damn name - seemed to be unable to find the words. She was one of the new additions sent over from Colony Roykirk to monitor the Starling Habitat's contribution to the warp field generator experiment that they and the other five L-5 O'Neill habitats had all agreed to assist with. "The warp field collapsed sooner then expected. It looks like we've been torn free of the Habitat completely. We're floating freely in space."
That explains the turbulence, Claudia mused as Alice continued, "The fusion generators cut out as a safety measure, but we've still suffered major overloads in most systems. Power is out across the entire station."
"Do we still have access to our stablizing thrusters?" Without them, S.O.R.A. would continue to move through space on their interia, talking them further and further away from their point of origin.
Alice blinked for a couple of seconds before turning back and checking her displays, "It looks like it, y-- yes."
"Okay, bring them on-line and stop our drift, but slowly." Claudia swallowed hard, managing to resist the urge to look back at Jankowski's remains. "Have someone go down to the Generator Room, try and find Spencer." 
Spencer Phillips was Jankowski's second in command, a good kid, if a little unsure of himself still. He's gonna have to step up for now, though. Least until we can get replacement personnel. "Someone give me a structural report, and try and establish communications, get a hold of Dr. Higginson at the Habitat." 
"Ma'am?" The voice of the tech standing at one of the only stations still operating was tinged with fear and nervousness, "The communications room is saying we've lost contact with Earth Station Bozeman."
As Assistant Director of Operations, Claudia made it her business to have a working knowledge of all the experiments that the Annex had under it's purview. But she was no theoretical physicist, so all the science of the so-called 'warp field studies' left her with a headache most of the time. "Probably just some interference from the field effect." She tried to sound as casual and confident as she could muster, "Have them keep trying until they get a response."
"That's just it, Ms. Bright," the tech whined, "They have been. They can't get any response from any of the others L-5's, either. There's not even any return ping to our radio signal."
What the Hell is going on..? "Show me the external camera feed on the main screen."
After a few seconds of working uncooperative instruments, the large plasma screen on the far wall finally flickered on. The image was just static for a few seconds, before finally clearing enough to allow Claudia to make out large chunks of rock, floating out in the void of space, "Did we get thrown out towards the asteroid belt?"
Alice worked her instruments, frowning, "Trying to get a fix on our position, Assistant Director."
Claudia let out an annoyed hiss of breath. It could have been a lot worse. The Annex was one of the most advanced space stations made by man, thanks to the innovative technological developments envisioned and spear-headed by their founder, Henry Starling. Any other installation would have been torn apart by such an abrupt catapulting across the solar system. That said, even with their orbital realignment thrusters, it could take months to get back to Earth orbit. 
As she waited, Claudia stared at the screen. What is that? Beyond the rock, where there should have been the darkness of space, there was instead a strange blue haze, through which there were little pinpricks of light. Stars in the far distance. Maybe some kind of by-product of the warp field? 
"Ms. Bright..?" Something in Alice's voice made Claudia's blood run cold, "I think you need to see this."
Stepping over to the young woman's station, Claudia read what the radar displays were telling her. Her brain simply refused to comprehend. . That-- that's not possible. 
A quick double-check of her own confirmed it. They weren't in the asteroid belt. Nowhere near Mars. In fact, there was no sign of the blue-green world she called home, it's singular barren Moon and the five other L-5 habitats. Of anything she could recognize of their solar system.
All there was to see was the vast emptiness of an area of space. Of stars and constellations that Claudia realized with dread that she did not recognize.
Where the F*** are we?

*             *             *

Personal Journal of Claudia Bright:
The Starling Habitat is gone. Ripped apart by the collapse of the warp field. Who knows what else it destroyed. We may never know.
As hard as it is to wrap my brain around it, somehow the collapse created some kind of rift in space/time that threw us out of the solar system, close to two hundred light-years away from Earth. What we thought was an asteroid field is actually part of the wreckage of the Habitat brought through the rift with us. We were damn lucky it didn't smash us to pieces. 
Our cartographic section is still trying to ascertain just where the Hell we've ended up. We've managed to identify several local stellar bodies within several dozen light-years distance, including Phi Virginis and Epsilon Librae.  We’re currently almost four AU from the closest star, which might as well be four light-years since we can’t exactly get there easily. 
The bad news only gets worse. The death toll continues to grow. We've lost almost our entire senior management team, and the medical wing is close to being overwhelmed with both patients and the bodies of the dead. 
We don't even have time to mourn as we deal with a complete structural assessment to see what kind of state we're in. I've got a lot of scared and worried people to deal with, but I have no freaking clue what to tell any of them!
I don't even know what to tell myself. 

The conference room was far too empty. 
We lost so many people, Claudia bemoaned silently. Over forty people had been declared dead or missing, including the entire senior management team, including Thomas Higginson, their Director of Operations and de facto manager of S.O.R.A.
S.O.R.A. was a one of a kind facility - a sizeable space station attached to the huge  hollowed-out asteroid that the Starling Habitat had been built within. Whereas it and the other L-5 colonies all generated a centrifugal-based gravity effect via continuous thruster-based rotation, S.O.R.A. used an experimental and advanced form of artificial gravity thanks to an prototype form of what was called ‘gravity plating’.
Something of a developmental Holy Grail, research in truly artificial gravity had been going on for decades, since the early days of the 21st century. But it had been something of a well-kept secret, and only used by either the military or the incredibly wealthy. The Starling Foundation, that had been formed by Chronowerx Industries after the death of Henry Starling, had made it a mission to bring this technology to the masses. 
The pinnacle of this was S.O.R.A. A fully functional research facility capable of providing Earth-normal gravity throughout the entire kilometer-long structure, that was kept in a tight orbit of the Starling Habitat. To show off, there had been a small but opulant Observation Gallery included in the architectural schematics, and once it had been opened to the public, it made it an excellent location to impress prospective investors or developer. But sadly there hadn't been much call for it since the beginning of World War Three five years ago, when such opportunities dried up. 
Higginson had decided that the 'Big Event' of the warp field test demanded a bit of a show, so he'd organized and catered a little something for the higher echelons to enjoy the spectacle.  Inviting some of those who were in charge of the other L-5 colonies had made it into a rather grand and ostentatious event. 
Claudia herself had expected to go and enjoy some social networking and idle chatter, but instead had been told her presence was 'unnecessary', much to her ire. Higginson had never really liked her, had always felt she was gunning for his job. Truth be told, yes, at some point, Claudia saw herself taking over from him, years down the line. She was humble enough to know she still had a lot to learn.
That was time she no longer had. 
Now, Thomas, as well as the twenty-two others who made up the senior department heads and section chiefs that had accepted the invite, were all dead. Lost when the Observation Gallery had been sheared off by their accidental journey across the galaxy. Along with most of their externally mounted scanning and communications antennae dishes. 
I'm not the only one being thrown in at the deep-end, she thought morbidly.
Dr. Marcus Thatcher, the Medical Director, had only been weeks away from a well-earned retirement, but that plan had been dashed by the death of his chosen successor. Spencer Phillips had barely said a word since being told of the death of his mentor, Paul Jankowski, while running on coffee and cat-naps in order to deliver a detailed damage assessment. The only other people present were Dr. Osman Hillesland, the Chief of Scientific Development, the Security Liaison and retired US Marine, Kimiko Watanabe, and her wife, Jessica Ormand. 
Jessica wasn't technically on the Foundation payroll, but she acted as a community leader for the civilian residents who lived aboard S.O.R.A. She was someone Claudia recognized she would need to have on the same page, now they had verified just how alone they now were out in the wilderness of deep space. 
No-one had said a word since Claudia had explained the still-difficult-to-comprehend situation they had now found themselves in. What was there to say, really? But she knew she had to say something, to get them thinking about where they went from this point onwards - figuratively and literally. 
"Should we call out for help?" Thatcher's voice was tight with restrained emotion. The physician was still very much in pain, having realized that he was now very much separated from his beloved wife, Lydia, who had been living on the Habitat and where they had both been planning on enjoying his retirement. 
Hillesland, his Danish accent still thick even after years away from home, snorted in disgust, "It would take close to two centuries to be picked up by anyone back on Earth, Doctor." He crossed his arms, eyes narrowed in obvious annoyance, "For all we know, humanity could be long dead by then."
"Our first course of action is our immediate survival," stated Kimiko matter-of-factly, her military poise undiminished by years out of the service.
Claudia nodded in agreement, "We all are aware that the Annex was designed to become completely self-sufficient in case of emergency. Even with the damage we've taken, that should still be possible." She looked to Spencer, but he looked lost in his own thoughts still. Finally, she gave him a figurative nudge, "Mr. Phillips?"
"Huh?" He looked at her, his expression so blank that for a minute, Claudia wondered if he actually remembered who she was. Finally, he blinked, coming back to himself, "Uh, right, yeah." He cleared his throat, consulting a tablet he held tightly, "Our fusion reactor is stable, but I don't want to push it too hard until our people can complete a proper inspection."
Hillesland grunted, "We may not have a choice, unless we shut down all non-essential areas and labs. It is not like we are in close enough proximity to any stars that could provide for our solar arrays."
Spencer wilted a little under the Danish scientist's intense scrutiny, "Uh, that's a good point, and a good idea as well. We don't need all the labs to keep running for now."
"Agreed," Claudia supported, "As Kim said, survival is the priority right now." She looked to Jessica, "How is everyone handling it so far?"
Her lips pursed for a moment before replying, "Everyone's scared, Claudia. As they should be, and they're only going to get worse. There are already rumours flying around about Earth being gone, about being on our own in some godforsaken end of the Milky Way!"
Claudia recoiled from the amount of heat and ire in the woman's words. Kimiko reached out and took one of her wife's hands, squeezing it in an gesture of comfort and support, that seemed to calm her down. Jessica dipped her head, "Sorry. I-- I'm just as scared as everyone else."
"We all are, Jess," Claudia offered, finally allowing herself to sit down in the chair at the head of the conference table. The seat that Thomas Higginson should be sitting in, not her. But there she sat, anyway. 
"Cochrane was a fool," Hillesland muttered,  "A genius, granted. But a fool. Brynner, NicholCorp and all the others took a chance. Now, we are the ones who have to suffer for it. For all we know, they could all be dead."
There was a stifled sob from Thatcher, as tears fell from the older man's eyes, who could not even be bothered to wipe them away. 
"That's enough, Osman!" Claudia glared at Hillesland, but it didn't faze the Danish physicist in the slightest. He merely rolled his eyes, crossing his arms even tighter across his chest. 
She took a moment, as well as a deep breath before carrying on, "None of us could ever have guessed something like this would happen," she said after gathering her thoughts, "We thought we were doing something that could be the beginning of a new start for humanity, to help pick up the pieces after WW3." 
"Now, we only have one thing to worry about. The people around us. Our children, our families. They are all that matters for now."

*             *             *

SUNDAY, 1st SEPTEMBER, 2058

It really was quite beautiful.
At first, it had been extremely disconcerting for Jessica Ormand to spend too long looking out of any of the reinforced transparent aluminum windows that allowed the inhabitants of the Annex to see the outside vista of space. To look into the vastness of space and see only a few of the points of reference she'd learned back in the astronomy class of her freshman year of UC, Berkley. 
But now, in the almost-month since the Incident, the fine blue haze of the massive interstellar dust cloud they found themselves adrift within had become almost hypnotically appealing. 
The past few weeks had been incredibly hard for everyone who survived the journey. They'd laid their dead to rest. Figuratively, anyway. They'd begun rebuilding what they could, repairing and patching where necessary. As suggested, most of the non-essential labs had been shut down or reassigned to other, more critical, functions. Hydroponics, agricultural and food-processing were the main focus now. All those whose projects or departments were no longer in demand had pulled their weight were needed, be it in assisting with repairs, seeing to the children and wounded, or learning a new skill by helping where they could with whatever needed doing. 
Jessica herself had found a new calling, acting as a voice for those who would otherwise be forgotten in all the barely-restrained chaos. After Berkley, she had gone on to get a post-graduate degree in International Political Relations, and been part of the Peace Corps until she'd met and married Kimiko. She'd settled into becoming a mother a few years later, and never regretted the decisions that lead her to that path.
But now, she had felt a fire reignite within her soul that she had not even noticed had burned low. The Starling Foundation was a research organization first and foremost, but now they were on their own, that mentality had to change. The Annex was no longer just a massive laboratory complex, it was their home. For years, civilians had lived aboard, families of the employees, but they had always been in the background.
That wasn't the case anymore. This was their home. It was time they started having a say. While Claudia Bright was more then willing to work with them on that, understanding that, Osman Hillesland was another story. As Chief of Scientific Development, he had been the final say on any project or research effort, and he had a hard time letting go of his absolute authority in that matter. 
But now he was just one voice among the Executive Council, the group that had formed from the five of them who had met in that conference room that fateful day. 
Only Marcus Thatcher hadn't become part of it - declining in order to instead focus on the recovery of his patients, to tend to the medical needs of everyone. The loss of his dear wife still weighed heavily on him - the once avuncular and jovial man was now a shell of his former self. Seeing him go about his tasks on auto-pilot, it made Jessica feel guilty that her family had been lucky to come through the Incident unscathed. Milo and Jenice, her and Kim's children, had come out of it bruised but alive, and Kimiko, she was too much of a force of nature to allow something as trivial as a massive spatial displacement to put her off her stride. 
Still, as Kimmi poured out a glass of the sparkling wine she'd pulled out of storage for their ten-year anniversary, Jessica felt her discomfort flare up again. 
"Stop that," Kimiko whispered, leaning in to offer a soft kiss on her cheek. "We are allowed to enjoy this."
They sat in one of the private Viewing Rooms, a small place one could arrange to rent, that was home to several large television monitors that could display either a pre-planned set of videos and images, or display a live-feed from external cameras. As they ate a hasty-put-together picnic of assorted rationed fruits, vegetables, ration-packed meats and sweetbreads, they curled up in each others arms under the gentle glow of what the head of cartography had apparently started calling, much to Claudia's embarrassment, the 'Bright Blue Cloud'. 
"I'm sorry," Jessica found herself saying, "I know you're right." The two kids were spending the night at a friend's residence, to allow Mom and Mummy a night alone. It was the first time they'd been able to grab since everything had happened. 
"Of course I am." Kimmi's reply was so matter-of-fact that Jessica couldn't help the laugh that escaped her. "We need downtime just like everybody else."
Everyone had been working so hard, that Claudia had decided that Sunday would live up to it's biblical origin and be a 'day of rest'. Only those absolutely needed in certain critical areas, like Central Operations and the reactor control suite, would be on-duty, and only those who volunteered. There was still a lot to do, including Spencer finishing the latest up-date to the repair list, but they were self-sufficient enough for the moment to allow them all this.
"Speaking of..." Kimmi gently put her glass down, before leaning in again, this time her lips pressing against Jessica's own. She felt her wife's fingers stroking through her hair, enjoying the feel of her own fingers caressing Kimmi's slender neck. Loosing herself in the moment of being with the woman she loved--
--only for it to be interrupted as everything around them started to shake violently. 
Oh God, not again! 
An abrupt tremor that shook the decking tossed them both across the room. Jessica felt Kimiko instinctively wrap around her to protect her. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to surrender to the terror that gripped her. Praying that whatever it was, it would be over soon. 
That her children would be safe...

*             *             *

MONDAY, 2nd SEPTEMBER, 2058

Please, God. Don't let me throw up all over the Boss...
Spencer Phillips hated micro-gravity. However, considering his career as a structural engineer living on a giant rock in space, he had learned to deal with it as long as those moments of being free-floating and weightless were few and far between. One of the reasons he had leapt at the opportunity to work at the Starling Annex was that they were the leading researchers on a full-on artificial gravity system.
Unfortunately, those systems were not included on their small two-person inspection craft. 
Which was why, as he sat next to the attractive Claudia Bright, Spencer fought like hell to keep his stomach from doing front-flips. They were both strapped in securely to their jump-seats, with Claudia operating the controls, while Spencer took readings from the scanner array mounted underneath the small spacecraft. Far more sophisticated then anything else any of the other L-5’s had ever deployed, another of the advances that made work for the Starling Group so inviting. 
But the readings he was getting back were making him sick for a whole different reason. 
The losses they had sustained during their trip across the cosmos had hit everyone heard, Spencer included. Paul Jankowski had been more then his chief, he'd been his mentor. He'd taken a green college graduate under his wing, who had all this big ideas but no real clue how to actually make them a physical reality. Helped that same cocky young man come into his own, to deal with the horrible truth of his family being killed in the initial salvos of the May Day Horror, only weeks after boarding the Annex. 
Now, Paul was gone. Just like so many others. Many of whom Spencer had worked with for the last six or seven years. If that had been all the Incident had cost them, they could have dealt with their pain and grief on their own time. Moved on eventually. In the grand scene of things, they'd gotten amazingly lucky, given that the warp field collapse could have thrown them anywhere - a radiation belt, the atmosphere of a gas-giant, the heart of a sun, or the gulf between galaxies. But Fate had instead brought them to this out-of-the-way, relatively safe and somewhat mesmerizing spot of the great void. 
Then Fate had decided to kick them in the balls again. With glee.
The scanner readings taken during the ’Space-Quake’, as it had become known, had led Hillesland to develop the theory that the area of space the Annex was in was suffering from unusual gravimetric disturbances. As an engineer, Spencer preferred practical sciences, not the theoretical, but he understood enough to know that was a dangerous place to be. Unfortunately, they couldn’t do much about it, not to mention the fact that it could happen again at any time. 
The one they’d already ridden out had left enough of a lasting impression on the Annex itself, anyway. 
"Dozens of micro-fractures. All across the exterior reinforcing hull. The inner hull is intact, but if the outer hull goes…" Spencer felt like he was practically announcing S.O.R.A.'s death knell. For all intents and purposes, though, he was. 
"How long?" He knew what Claudia was really asking. How much time did they have before S.O.R.A. became uninhabitable or began to break apart from the stresses of being at the onslaught of gravity gone mad.
He shook his head, fumbling for the right words, the right thing to say, "I-- I can't give you a definite figure from just these scans." He shrugged, trying to find at least something positive, "I don't think it'll be any time soon, though." 
Claudia's face remained impassive. She'd always had a reputation of being known as a bit of an 'Ice Queen', but having been working with her a lot more then before, Spencer had realized she just kept her feelings guarded. Right now, it was like the walls had slammed down to prevent how she was really feeling showing. "But if we keep experiencing those gravity shifts, the chances increase, don’t they?"
Again, he shrugged, feeling helpless. "Maybe, yeah. I mean, we can ride out the shifts by reinforcing the structural integrity field, that should give us some protection, cushion us a little from any more space-tremors.” As he spoke, ideas began to form in his mind, as his brain began working the problem in front of it. Their options were limited, but at least they still had some, given all the fancy new gadgets and gizmos that the Annex had been creating, like the prototype SIF array. “That should give us time to reinforce the interior, pack and seal the fractures before they can progress to full-size ruptures."
A defiant resolve seemed to pass across Claudia's features before she nodded, "I want you to make that your top priority, Spence." It gave him a shiver when she called him that. He normally hated it except when his mother called him it. With Claudia, he didn't mind at all. 
But his buoyed delight abruptly vanished as she continued, "But we're going to have to let everyone on the Council know just how bad it is."
A cold sweat spontaneously erupted from every pore in Spencer’s body at the thought of having to present their findings to the rest of the Executive Council. “Ar-- are you sure we have to? I mean… we don’t really know if and when any more ‘space-quakes’ are gonna happen any time soon, right?”
Claudia shook her head with a firm resoluteness, “They deserve to know the truth. Then we can decide how to proceed with telling everyone else.“ 
She sighed deeply, “Believe me, I want to spare them this.“ A sadness filled Claudia's eyes, "Everyone is finally pulling together. Even Osman is getting on board with things now. We're becoming a community, working to make us as self-sufficient as possible." She cleared her throat, quickly wiping away a tear Spencer pretended not to notice she'd shed, "But I won't destroy that progress by pretending everything is fine and dandy, hiding something as important as this from them."
He might not agree, but Spencer understood her reasons, "Okay, sure. I get it."
His respect for Claudia Bright only grew stronger. Other leaders, like the late Dr. Higginson, would have no issue compartmentalizing sensitive information like this, keeping secrets that they feared might weaken their standing. 
He just hoped Claudia’s desire for honesty was as appreciated by everyone else on the Annex. 
*             *             *
The meeting had gone about as well - or as badly, really, as Claudia had expected. 
There had been a lot of shouting (mostly from Osman) and some harsh words had been bandied about, especially when the Chief Scientist had declared that there was no point in telling the rest of the population. Naturally, both Kimiko and Jessica had vehemently disagreed with his point of view, and so Claudia had been forced to play peacemaker, even though she was personally glad that Osman had been outvoted four to one in the vote. 
She stayed in her seat as everyone else filed out of the conference room that had become the private debating chamber for the Executive Council. Claudia knew she still had a million and one other tasks to get to that day, but this was her first moment alone in... come to think of it, she wasn't sure. Not counting when she was alone at home, there wasn't much leeway in her daily schedule that alllowed her to simply sit down and take a moment. 
She just wanted to have some peace and quiet, let her brain shut off for a few minutes. Closing her eyes, Claudia leaned back and stretched out. These chairs get more comfortable the longer you sit in them...
"Claudia?"
So much for that idea... Opening her eyes, Claudia saw that Kim Watanabe standing in the door way, giving her a curious look, "You okay?"
She offered a polite smile, "Fine, Kim. Just taking a moment to rest my weary bones." She was only half-joking. She'd felt like she'd aged 10 years in the past month, having to corral so many disparate personalities. Turning them from simple co-workers into a community, assisted in large part to both Jessica and Spencer. 
Kim pursed her lips. Claudia sat up. There was something about her manner that set off alarm bells in her head. "I don't want to be the one to add any more to the burden you carry," she finally said, "but it's time we had a talk."
She strode in and sat down next to Claudia, placing a data tablet on the table in front of her. The screen was active, and a file was open. Claudia recognized the logo of the European Space Agency on the title page. The E.S.A. hasn't existed since the beginning of WW3. Why is she showing me one of their old files? "Talk about what?"
Claudia listened as Kim began to explain, as everything she ever knew was changed forever...
*             *             *
This is not good. I think I've broken Claudia...
Before her life with Jessica and both of them accepting moving to the Starling Habitat, Kimiko Watanabe had been a career United States Marine. Rising to the rank of Lt. Colonel and earning postings as a high-level security consultant and liaison with both NASA and the European Space Agency. 
It was just another assignment to her at first. Part of moving up the career ladder before making it to one-star General by the time she was 45. That was the plan. But what she had come to learn in the early days of her work with theose agencies had changed everything. Made her career seem totally unimportant and made her realize life was for living. That was when she'd made having a personal life more of a priority. Leading her to meeting Jess and having two amazing kids.
What was it she had discovered that had flipped her worldview and priorities so much? It was simple. 'We are not alone'. That there was that life from other worlds. That it was not as far-fetched a notion as it appeared in the corny sci-fi shows she'd seen growing up. 
Several examples of that life had visited Earth over the centuries. Most of the documented cases Watanabe had studied made it clear that their intentions were hardly ever benign. It had left her with one inescapable conclusion - that if (or rather, when) the day came that humanity made proper and long-lasting contact with alien life, then they needed to be ready. They needed to be prepared.
When she had been approached by the people in charge of the Starling Foundation, she had found others that felt the same way. But unlike her military peers, they were more interested in what they could one day learn from aliens and their advanced technology. It wasn't fear that drove them, but an insatiable curiosity and desire to understand. It had helped Kimiko move beyond her own provincial prejudices, while her security concerns balanced out their occasional blind optimism. 
One of the first things she'd advised Dr. Thomas Higginson on regarding security for the Annex were procedures and guidelines to pass on to the rest of the community. Disguised as something inocuous as simple safety drills, due to freak space-borne 'weather', or the worst-case scenario of attack and incursion by a hostile foreign government from Earth. 
Now, as she finished explaining their true nature to Claudia Bright, she could see how the young woman's eyes had pretty much glazed over in utter shock. "Are you okay in there?" She felt nothing but sympathy for her - thrust into a position she wasn't ready for, forced to deal with a situation totally out of anyone's furthest expectations. Now being told, "yes, aliens are real and we could run into them at any god-given moment" on top of that.
I really hope I didn't just push her over the edge...
"Why now?" Claudia's voice was barely above a whisper, strained and raw as she finally spoke up. "Why are you telling me all this now?"
At least she's talking. Best to keep it to the point and simple, Watanabe reseasoned. "Because as good as Spencer is," she started, hands clasped in front of her, falling back into projecting military poise and confidence, "everyone in that meeting understands the very real possibility that the Annex won't survive much longer in our current predicament. It was certainly never designed for these kinds of circumstances and we're extremely lucky it made it this far."
"How the Hell does telling me aliens are real help us in any of what is going on?!" The words exploded out of Claudia, as she glared at Watanabe with anger and confusion. The former Marine just kept still and silent. Allowed the Director - her friend - to look her in the eyes and figure out the answer for herself.
Claudia's face paled even further, "Wait... No. Are you telling me..?"
"Since we got the systems back up and running, I've been keeping our ears and eyes open out for anything that could indicate the presence of alien life." She pulled in the tablet, swiping away the documents and loading up a series of scanner array and comm system logs. "The star system we're near to? There are positive indicators of an advanced civilization living there."
Watanabe had to hand it to Claudia. It was clear she was still trying to process all she'd been told in the last few minutes. But she pushed it down and focused on the matters of importance. "So, you're suggesting we ask for help?" She shook her head, "Firstly, we don't know if they're even have ships capable of coming this far out from their own world. Secondly, they could have a completely unknown form of language and communication and neither of us have a frame of reference."
Shaking her head, Watanabe indicated several particular windows of data, "Scanners have picked up unusual energy displacements. The computer's best guess at figuring out what they mean was that they've used ships with a space/time warp drive. Much more sophisticated then anything Cochrane developed." 
Claudia just blinked slowly for a moment. "Okay, fine. Whatever." She let out a frustrated sigh. Taking a moment to collect herself further, before carrying on, "But, not to be xenophobic or alarmist, but how do we even know they'd be willing to help. From all these reports you've shown me, humans haven't had the best track record with alien encounters."
Watanabe nodded, conceeding the point, in all fairness. "True. But are you willing to risk the lives of everybody on board because they 'might' be hostile."
Claudia shot her a dubious look, "Are you willing to risk it by assuming they aren't?"
"Because--" Realizing just how adversial she was being, an old habit from her military life, Wanatabe deliberately relaxed her shoulders, softened her expression. Remember, she's your friend, not a crusty old general or bureaucrat 'old boys club' member. She needs to understand. 
She cleared her throat and started again, "Because they've already tried to communicate with us. To offer us help. In perfect English."
Claudia's expression slackened with stunned amazement, but as her eyes begin to cloud with an indignant anger, Watanabe quickly continued, "Claudia, please." She leaned forward, hoping she was getting her point across, "We need to think outside the box here. Take some chances and a leap of faith if we want to ensure the survival of our community. Because we both know that if we want to start properly thinking about long-term survival, we can't stay on the Annex."
The confusion and doubt Claudia was battling was painfully clear. Taking her friend's hand, she looked her in the eyes, "It's your decision, Claudia. Either way, I'll support you."
Claudia sank back into her chair even further. Watanabe knew she was throwing a hell of a lot on the young woman in a short space of time. But there was no other way. She'd done what she knew she needed to do.
The rest was up to her now.
*             *             *

TUESDAY, 1ST OCTOBER, 2059

Welcome to the first day of the rest of our lives...
The month that followed the biggest decision in Claudia Bright's life flew by. The alien race were called the Liirani... and they were beautiful. 
Only remotely humanoid, they looked more like walking bird-people, even with glorious feathered wings that hung loose from their long arms. Almost angelic, which in some ways was fitting, as they had become the guardian angels of the community aboard S.O.R.A.
But Claudia considered herself a realist, and it had taken several days of tense talks before she had been finally convinced that they could afford to extend a measure of trust to the Liirani. Eventually agreeing to have some of their representatives sent out and meet in person. A decision that, to her surprise, every member of the Executive Council agreed with. Even Osman, who finally seemed to experience some actual happiness at the prospedt of meeting a completely new alien life-form. 
The Liirani had proved all of Claudia's concerns and fears totally unwarranted. They had been nothing but kind and welcoming. Their leader, Governor Rea'ali'in, explained that while the brief flare of the spatial rift that had destroyed the Habitat, had torn S.O.R.A. from their home solar system, was noticed, it had only been deemed a minor scientific curiosity at first. 
Then they had started to pick up strange transmissions in an unknown language. Radio leakage from internal communications that allowed them to focus in on the Annex through interference the rift had generated. Thanks to their own linguistic breakthroughs with other races they had made contact with, they had easily been able to understand English. 
Life had been transformed for all of them. Now, it was time for another major change.
Despite his best efforts to redistribute the load of the SIF through the Annex and shore up the interior and exterior hulls, Spence had come to the conclusion that there was only such much he could do. They just didn't have the resources or equipment on hand that would be needed to make the necessary complicated repairs. Not to mention the fact that, even if they did, they would need to be constantly maintained by any and all future generations that resided within the Annex.
Many onboard, including Claudia, had not wanted to simply give up. Especially with the assistance of the understanding Liirani. But when she then asked the Governor for whatever help her people would be willing to provide, the elderly leader of the colony had stunned her with a completely different offer.
The offer of somewhere new to call home. 
In detail and at length, as Claudia listened, completely fascinated, the Governor went on to explain that their world was just one part of a Great Commonwealth. That it's residents were part of a large collective of worlds within a twenty light-year radius. All working together under the banner of the Commonwealth's High Matriarchs and that if they wished, the humans of the Annex could become a part of that. 
To be able to see a real sky overhead again..? It had made Claudia's heart ache with a longing she hadn't ever realized she had. It had been almost a decade since she had been on solid ground. When WW3 had begun, everyone had realized that there was a very real possibility none of those living on the L-5 colonies would ever set foot on Earth again. 
But Claudia had known almost instantly that this wasn't a decision for her to make on her own. Not even with just the Executive Council. No, this was something everyone aboard had to have a say in. It was only fair.
Which was how it had now come to this. Now it was time to say goodbye the the Starling Orbital Research Annex for good.
Standing in the darkened Central Operatons room with Kim, Jessica and Spencer, Claudia was struck with how empty and quiet the room was without the normal complement of operators and technicians. With only the bare minimum of screens and terminals active needed to commence the final power shutdown. So many memories. Good. Bad. The whole enchilada...
Spencer stood tapping in the last few command sequennces necessary to shut the station's overtaxed reactor down. "Just a few more keystrokes, and this tin bucket will be closed for business for good."
"It still seems so surreal," whisper Jessica, clutching tightly onto Kim's hand, resting her head on her wife's shoulder, "I mean, we all have seen and gone through so much since we came aboard."
Kim nodded, sighling softly, "I don't think anyone of us could have entertained the idea of it all coming to an end like this."
Spencer shrugged, "But this is a good thing, right? I mean, we're the first humans to ever settle down in an extra-solar colony!" He looked to each of them, a big grin lighting up his boyish face, "I mean, talk about a 'giant leap for mankind' and all that buzz!"
Claudia wanted to be caught up in their excitement. In some small way she was. But part of her would always wonder about what they had been forced to leave behind. What they had been pulled away from. Does anyone on Earth even care about what happened to us? Did they think we were just all killed in the Incident. 
Hell, like Osman said, they could all be dead, if the cease-fire was broken because of what happened...
She shook her head, dismissing those morbid thoughts. Today was about new beginnings. Not dwelling on the possibilities. 
"You okay, Boss?" Despite her best efforts, Spence still referred to her as such - in a way, it had kept her grounded, to the point that she'd come to enjoy it. Enjoyed being around him, not in any romantic way, more like the younger brother she never had.
She gave him a nod, although even she realized how half-hearted it was, "I'm good, Spence. Just thinking about everything we've been through in this place. All the people we lost."
"But now is also the time to think of your future, Claudia Bright," a soft voice stage-whispered from behind the group. Governor Rea'ali'in slowly walked up and joined them, her wing-feathers tousled by the occasional reluctant spurt from the air recycling system is it too shut down for good. "Your time in this place should be cherished, yes. But it is just a memory now."
Claudia nodded slowly. "I know, I know," she admitted, turning back to look at Spence, "Are you all done?"
"All systems in final shut-down mode," he replied, stepping away from the terminal as it went into standby. "We've all done here."
It was all a bit of a blur as they exited Central Ops, made their way to where their shuttle was waiting. It still didn't feel real, even as Claudia stroked her hand against the bulkhead nearest to the airlock. Saying a final, silent goodbye to the place she'd called home for the last few years.
As the airlock cycled closed and the shuttle disconnected and moved away, Claudia stood near the small viewscreen on the bulkhead. On it, she and the others watched as several Liirani vessels took position around the the Annex. She knew and understood the plan, that it was too dangerous to leave a construct as large as the Annex to float freely for too many reasons to name, now that it's altitude realignment thrusters would no longer be in operation. 
So, with several carefully aimed pulses of some kind of energy beam that Rea'ali'in had described as 'focused gravitic particles', the Annex was sent on it's way. On a path that would take allow inertia to carry it into the Oort Cloud of the system, where it would be pulverized by massive chunks of interstellar debris. 
Going out with a bang. Claudia considered. What was it Rea'ali'in had said, that their time on board was just a memory?
Now it was time to settle down in their new home and make some new memories...

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"It took a couple of decades, but with the help of the Liirani who stayed with them to learn about humanity, the people of S.O.R.A. made a life for themselves."
Helena Tel leaned forward, enraptured by the background and history being explained to her, Daniela Reese and Maggie Campbell by their guest. The man, Michael Hassani, sure knew how to spin a good yarn, as the saying went. 
Reese's skeptisism was evident in her scornful tone, "You're saying you're descended from survivors of the L-5 Colonies Disaster?"
"It wouldn't be the first time," Tel muttered, thankful that Hassani hadn't seem to hear her. That was a far too long story and involved story. Maybe once everything was over, Hassani might like to know that his ancestors weren't the only humans sent across the galaxy by that failed warp field test...
"You know..." Maggie walked over to the large wall monitor on the bulkhead, calling up the earlier scans she showed them. A few deft taps pulled up several more screens of data and scans, before focusing on an extreme magnification of a double helix strand, "It actually makes sense. That was what was so familiar about it."
She turned to look at three curious faces, "The anomaly in the D.N.A. I mentioned? It's a kind of genetic marker, indicitive of a subtle type of radiation damage. Found in those who worked on the very early warp drive prototypes. Cochrane, Sloane, all of them." She grimaced, "I doubt the shell of a research outpost protected anyone inside from being exposed to it from the test, unlike those inside one of the L-5's."
Turning back to the monitor, Maggie scrutinized it intensely. Tel could practically hear the physician's brain processing it all and rapid-fire speed. "It doesn't present any long-term effects. Think of it as a kind of micro-cellular sun-burn, if you will." She shrugged, "But in most humans today, it's generally screened out during gestation as a standard precaution, just in case it led to any genetic abnormalities later in life."
"That's all very interesting," Reese responded, words dripping with sarcasm and scorn, "But it doesn't explain how and why we were attacked. Why the Winds of Andoria was destroyed."
"We didn't destroy that vessel!" Hassani jumped to his feet. Both the security non-com outside the CMO's office and Reese immediately reached for their phasers, but Tel waved them back down. 
Hassani immediately seemed to regret his outburst, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just..." He sighed, slowly seating himself again, "We would never attack a defenseless civilian ship. Or kill your officers. Not without reason."
Then that means Cinaran and Solan could still be alive. Hope ignited briefly in Tel's heart. She shot Reese a scathing look. She understood where the security chief's anger was coming from, given that the forces this man worked for may have killed or captured two of her crew. But they needed answered.  "Please, continue, Major."
He nodded, leaning back to get comfortable as he continued, "They named the settlement 'New Jamestown', since it had a certain parallel with the first permanent English settlement in the Americas." He smiled with evident pride in his progenitors, "They made a good life for themselves, and worked with the Liirani to become part of the Commonwealth."
His smile abruptly vanished. Replaced with a sneer of disgust and loathing, "Until the green-bloods came and changed everything."
Tel felt a cold shiver as realization hit her like a sledgehammer. Oh, shit. "Green-bloods?" She shot a look to Reese. Saw the same look of dawning understanding in the security officer's eyes.
His stern countenance hardened even more, with a dark hatred, "We never learned their name. The Liirani called them 'Shi'Vaak', but it doesn't really have an English translation that does it justice, so the humans took to calling them 'green-bloods'."
"My ancestors fought against them generations ago, a lot of killing on both sides. They're not a race you forget easily. Every child in school is taught about what those pointy-eared bastards almost did to us."
"As for why we attacked you?" Hassani hesitated, expresson hardening with anger, "We're were on a scout mission and picked up a lot of activity in that system. We found debris of an unknown vessel and tracked an engine wake to the system we encountered you in. Neither you or the other ship matched anything in our records."
"We believed you to be the aggressors, that you destroyed that ship.  My commander believed you might be a new threat, maybe even the Shi'Vaak returning." He looked at Tel directly, his eyes bright with a defiant challenge, "Was she wrong? Because I remember what I saw on the surface. Remember that one of your officers didn't look as human as the rest of you."
"Dr. Campbell?" Tel was honestly thankful for the interruption. It gave her some breathing room to figure things out for a moment. 
She looked around as the bald and pale blue head of Lieutenant Paron, the Bolian chief nurse, popped around the door frame. His cartilaginous facial ridge was creased with concern, "Mr. th'Dane has just awaken and is rather distressed."
Without a word, Maggie quickly headed out of her office. Tel rose from her own seat, "We will continue this discussion in a moment, Mr. Hassani." 
The dark-skinned man nodded, clearly disappointed, but understanding he was pretty much powerless to do anything about it for now. A quick silent exchange of looks confirmed her hunch that Reese would stay with Hassani, before Tel made her own way out of the office and into Sickbay. 
She maintained a discreet distance from the chief medical officer as she stood at the foot of the young Andorian's bedside. Watching as he looked around cautiously, but with a growing air of relief, "I'm on a Starfleet vessel? I didn't know any were operating this far out towards the Expanse..."
"This is the U.S.S. Antares, Mr. th'Dane," Tel answered gently and with genuine warmth. He looks so young. Poor kid. She introduced herself and Maggie, before continuing, "We're on a routine mapping assignment with trainees, operating out of Deep Space 4."
Th'Dane tentatively reached up to his truncated antennae. Maggie offered a comforting smile as he grimaced, carefully touching the bandaged organ, "Don't worry, son. It'll be back to normal in a couple of months. Quicker with regular tissue regeneration treatments."
Tel wished she could leave th'Dane time to recover properly, but she needed answers. Especially given what Hassani had told them, the ugly feeling she had in the pit of her stomach. "Mr. th'Dane," she began as softly but firmly as she could, "I know you still have a long road to getting better, but any help you could give us about what happened would be a huge help. That if you could remember any details about who--"
The young man cut her off before she could carry on any more, his voice urgent and incredulous, "Oh, I remember, Captain! I know exactly who it was that attacked us."
His next word confirmed Tel's worst fears. What on some level she had feared since they'd picked up type-3 disruptors, had known since Hassani had mentioned 'green-bloods'.
"Romulans."