Star Trek: Emergency Deep
S01 E06 “On the Trail of the Unseen”
- Stardate: 58550.35; 21st July 2381 1020 hrs
- Location: Trychnos, near Cor Caroli
S01E06 On the Trail of the Unseen title card
The Return to Trychnos
On yellow alert, the Norway-class USS Östergötland NCC-72227 returns to Trychnos from Gondolin Station around Cor Caroli III without Commander Morpheus Drake who is infected with an Andorian Death Fever (harmless to humans), deadly to Andorians. Chief Medical Officer Dr. Saladin Chau remains with him on Gondolin Station. In the meantime, river dolphin Cetacean Ensign Kremzeek from Delta shift has been ordered to take his place in Alfa Shift. He gladly takes the Conn station on his grav walker.
They debriefed Andorian First Mate T’lath of the SS Takoyaki who confirmed that something invisible collided with them in orbit. Sensor records from the ship itself reveal debris fragment of material manufactured in the Gamma Quadrant. A detailed orbital scan reveals where the collision occurred & where the other object crashed into the ocean. Was this a Dominion War leftover?
Captain Greg Ellison orders two shuttles down to investigate, the Vänern and the Mälaren, both type-9s.
T’lath
Aboard the Vänern are the pilot Lieutenant JG Chanthira Chaiyasit & Trill Science Officer Ensign Kusahr Les. From low orbit in overwatch position, Lieutenant Commander Tosk the Studious detects some sort of oil slick at the splashdown site and suggests the Vänern descend lower to analyse better. As Chaiyasit hovers over the calm seawater, Kusahr takes a water sample. She notices a moving bump in the otherwise flat horizon: something colossal was approaching underwater.
Whale of a Time
She warns Chaiyasit, who closes the aft hatch and pulls up. Suddenly, an alien whale – the size of the Östergötland – jumps into the air in an attempt to swallow them. The skilled pilot Lt. Chaiyasit evades the maw then drops under the alien cetacean. Then, the Vänern soars back up into the sky, away from biting alien whales.
Ensign Kusahr runs an analysis of the seawater sample and discovers life support coolant fluid & cryogenic suspension fluid used by the Drai species in the Gamma Quadrant first encountered by Starfleet in 2369.
Type-9 shuttle (pretend 74656 is 72227)
The Cetacean Ops science team confirms they are presently unable to communicate with the Trychnos whales. However they might be able to build a translation matrix for the universal translator if they could observe them. Ellison orders the Östergötland to dive into the sea. As they submerge, Ellison suggests that Drake name the creatures, but he declined – deferring to the science department.
In the air above, the Vänern scans for approaching whales at low altitude, while the Mälaren flies higher in the troposphere as CAP.
Suddenly they receive an SOS from Mälaren‘s Vulcan pilot Lieutenant JG Velek & Security Officer Specialist Randall Loomis. Then nothing. The Vänern reports that the Mälaren has been destroyed by three Orion Lightning-Class blockade runners. Orion vessels have appeared from above, out of nowhere! What is the Orion Syndicate doing here?
Captain Ellison calls for battle stations.
Executive Producer Gene Roddenberry
