[snip]

Joe sighed not liking the idea of even trying a small reenactment of something that he saw as just plain odd. It did seem to be though one way of adding some data to that which they had. “Very well then. ” Joe began as he looked across the bridge. Set up your science probe then and see what we can learn from it. Hopefully we’ll get something a bit more than speculation.”

Cara didn’t understand why the Commander had given a sigh. Thinking that it must be because of the slow progress being made she replied, “It’s quite a distance to the system, Sir! As Gork said, at Warp One it’ll take about an hour or so. The Merrimack could be there in a matter of seconds, but I assume we won’t be leaving the Landing Party alone? Anyhow, a probe is unlikely to be detected, while the arrival of a ship this large would certainly be noticed by anyone watching.... ....a probe has been prepared and is ready in the torpedo tube to launch. You just need to give the go ahead!”

’’ Well Cmdr what are you waiting for ,just give the order ‘’ she was already exhibiting the tell tail signs for the familiar urge of some kind of stimulant, a sensation, buildup that Cross knew all too well and it showed in her fidgeting demeanor.

Joe smiled as he said, “Thank you very much Cara.” Turning then in Cross’s direction he looked at her and with a twinkle in his eyes said to her, “Well Miri when you’re right you’re right. Why don’t you go ahead and give the order? Something with some flare to it. Perhaps a good old-fashioned countdown. I haven’t heard anything like that for a while. ” Pausing then he sat in what might pass with someone to be deep thought before nodding his head and saying ,”Yes give us a countdown Doctor Cross. Make ready to launch the torpedo on at the doctor’s command Ms. Meow!”.

Cross was about to give the Cmdr a piece of her mind but stopped dead listening to Cara.

“Okay, preparing to launch on a count of ‘Five’! I’m ready when you are, Doctor!” Cara replied, adding, “Sir! If we find out that it was the Bolay Military District, I never met them myself, but I have read that the Merrimack made first contact with them, long before I arrived here. They are very aggressive, I believe. Hawkish and pugnacious. Antagonistic and belligerent! Shouldn’t we inform the Captain that this is a possibility?”

Now there was terror in her eyes ,what if its true what Cara suspected? What if they made contact and would be on the screen and saw her ? Do they abduct persons?.

Cross was hyperventilating ‘’Sorry Cmdr must rush to sickbay …we don’t know what’s going to happen ‘’ and with that she was off the bridge in a flash. Once in the lift the doctor spoke to herself ‘’Calm down ,just calm down.. they don’t even know you exist ‘’.

“Sir? Did i say something wrong?” Cara asked, bewildered and confused.

Cross’s quick exit into the turbo-lift surprised even Joe who in all the years he had known her had seen some pretty strange behavior from her. He sat there a moment completely nonplussed. Finally, then he turned toward Cara and said , Lieutenant the only way you can tell water is hot sometimes is to stick your toe in. Fire the probe at will if you please.”

“Right away!” she said, pushing the launch button. Doctor Cross certainly made this ship interesting, but it was becoming clearer to Cara why there was still a professor of psychiatry aboard the Merrimack.

“Sirs,” Dariusz, the Navigator, spoke up. “I’m tracking the science probe’s transponder signal. I should be able to get a visual up soon… Sir, I was around when we first met the Bolay. They were a humanoid dolphinesque species that was antagonistic towards land based mammalian species. We were warned not to mention that their species had ties to Earth in the long past, but the chief science officer, Lt Serok, ignored that, and it was considered an insult to the Bolay crew, and to their culture. As a result of the soured meeting the Bolay Military District now view the Federation as insulting and untrustworthy.”

“That’s also what I’ve heard,” Cara added. “Some people even think that war is coming!”

“I don’t remember what part Doctor Cross played in the events though,” Dariusz continued. “So, I can’t explain why she acted in that way. Shouldn’t some check she is okay?”

• Dariusz, Navigator

Once in sickbay Cross felt safer and more at ease but the female doctor thought the crew on the bridge should at least get some explanation about her quick departure from Bridge.

=/\= Cmdr its Cross ,I left when I heard Care describing the Bolay Military District and how aggressive they are ,it reminded me of what had happened to me in the past with another type of species.......Cmdr you understand =/\= it was not a question but the believe in Joe knowing her past .

Cross CMO.

As the probe left and over the next hour nothing much else happened other then the comet to come closer to the planet’s orbit in the next few hours more, the launched probe soon dropped from warp and began its survey as programmed of the nearby system. The system was quite small all things considered. Two planets were in evidence, one a small planetoid without any atmosphere not much more then a tiny 700 meter round hunk of rock mostly made up of low quality nickel, copper, and iron. The second further out planet was not much different coming in about 900 meters or so around. Again an airless dead planetoid consisting of mid-quality iron, nickel, copper and traces of uranium.

So it seemed at first glance nothing was amiss in the system, until rounding the far side of the G type star opposite in orbit from where both planetoids were they got their next surprise! A large dark grey toned alien structure held position about 10.8 km just barely outside the stars corona. It seemed like it was somehow siphoning off hydrogen, helium, and similar gases from the star using it as some kind of giant power source. The structure from base to its highest point was about 8km high and about 6 or so km wide. It was like a giant funnel with the pointed most end facing the G type star where swirls of gases entered, then rounded up to the top in a half dome. Which glowed a massive orange-red-blue colored patterned swirl. In a way it was like looking at the universe largest known ice cream cone made out of metal. The entire surface was almost entirely smooth, only a few small colored points like a the top indicating energy traversing up and down the structure. The energy levels were more or less off the charts for the probe to analyze. However, one thing its gravity sensors and subspace arrays could tell was the top of the massive structure seemed to form a small tunnel into subspace, and residual eddies in the system showed fading levels of gravitational effects like those they picked up just before the comet arrived. Looking at the age on the structure the probe’s analysis of the metals indicated somewhere around the 2-4 thousand years mark. Said metal was mostly made up of heavy titanium, duranium and high mixes of both and tritanium alloys. The last of which was only now slowly being worked into usable forms with Federation construction due to the difficulty of manufacture. Given the levels of radiation present near the star the probe was unable to tell if there was life on board the station.

GM CockRoach