Later that afternoon, as the USS Nexus stocked up on supplies for the large deep space mission, Captain Praxas, Acting First Officer Alia, and the bridge crew of the Nexus gathered for a mission briefing in the conference room next to the bridge
Anzyl sat at the head of the large conference table, his bridge crew gathered around him. "The Fek'ihri. At long last, the leadership of the Alliance wants us to get to the bottom of the mystery and, hopefully, find a way to lessen them as a threat." He gestured to Alia and Neil. "For the duration of this mission, Alia will be serving as my First Officer here aboard the Nexus, while Neil will be Captaining the Alliant and her crew."
Neil, ever the pragmatist, spoke up. "Anyone typically stationed at the USS Alliant will be temporarily removed from Nexus duties and transferred full-time to the Alliant." He motioned to Nolan. "Rivas, I will be needing you aboard the Alliant as Chief Science Officer. Mainly because your number two, Kayuli, cannot live aboard the Alliant. So he will remain on the Nexus while you transfer to the Alliant."
Nolan Rivas nodded solemnly, understanding his assignment. He and Kayuli were a unique pair, and their partnership was a testament to the new spirit of the Alliance.
"Our mission," Anzyl continued, his voice firm and clear, "is to discover all we can about the Fek'ihri. The only thing the Alliance has about them is the ship scans we and Admiral Kuumaarke's crew have provided. Our job is to find Fek'ihri flotillas and station ourselves far enough out of their assumed scanning range." He turned to the monitor, bringing up a holographic image of the USS Alliant. "Using the Alliant's cloaking device and upgraded scan systems, the crew of the Alliant will go deep into Fek'ihri space for closer scans of the ships and study them while they are inactive."
"The Alliance wants us to find out," Anzyl continued, a serious tone in his voice, "What drives them? Do they have any religious or cultural reasons for their actions? What region of space do they come from? Where is their home world?"
Alia spoke next, her Aenar mind already processing the complexities of the mission. "We have also updated the Alliant with the best hacking programs and remote technology the Alliance could offer. The Alliant will also remotely scan as much of their computer databanks as possible and hopefully learn as much as they can about them from their computers." Her antennae twitched slightly, a tell-tale sign of her focus.
Tey'un, the Na'vi engineer, spoke up, his tall frame perched on the edge of a chair, his long tail sweeping the floor. "That's going to require a lot of processing and storage data. The Alliant's main computer core won't be able to process and hold enough." He pointed out the obvious logistical problem.
Anzyl nodded. "Which is where the Nexus comes in. The Alliant will return periodically to the Nexus to upload the data to our much larger computer core. As well as recharge the cloaking device and resupply. On the Nexus, our crew will sift through and research the information… 'stolen'… by the Alliant." He emphasized the word with a wry smile, acknowledging the morally ambiguous nature of their mission.
Alia elaborated, "So the Nexus is to remain at the lowest power settings possible while the Alliant is out. We don't have a cloaking field, so we will need to power down or keep all power readings to a minimum." The tactical challenge of a non-cloaked vessel operating in enemy territory was clear in her voice.
Tey'un's eyes lit up with an idea, his whole body shifting with excitement. "Or, if we could keep our power and energy from… escaping in the first place, we could… technically, be invisible to scans. Unless they looked out a window." He presented the concept, a brilliant and slightly wild-sounding engineering solution.
Eroga, the Klingon Operations Officer, leaned forward, her cranial ridges furrowing in thought. "Keep all the energy from leaking out that scanners use to identify ships? Won't the heat and energy… build up, and eventually… fry us from the inside?" The practical Klingon mind immediately saw the potential flaw in the plan.
Tey'un nodded, considering her point. "We would need to direct the heat and energy from systems to a safe location to store it temporarily in the Nexus, then vent the energy when safe to do so. It would take… major internal renovations, but it's possible. In theory." He seemed to be running the calculations in his head as he spoke.
Anzyl raised a hand, cutting off the burgeoning engineering discussion. "I am… indeed intrigued by a scanner-cloaking system, but we don't have time to implement such a system right now. If we find that it does indeed become necessary, we can return to the Dyson base for these renovations. For now, let's keep our distance from any flotillas we come across and let the Alliant do its thing." The plan was sound, and he knew they couldn't afford to get sidetracked by a massive engineering project.
"So it seems we have a plan," Neil spoke up, a confident glint in his eye. "But the question is… where do we start?"
Anzyl's gaze fell on Veirik, who was deep in thought, his brow furrowed in concentration. Anzyl took notice and asked, "What's going on in that genetically-augmented tactical brain, Akiel?"
Veirik Akiel sighed and spoke his partial thoughts, a rare moment of him verbalizing his internal process. "The Alliance gave us… all… the incident reports, correct?"
Anzyl, Alia, and Neil all nodded in confirmation.
Veirik thought for a moment, his eyes darting from face to face. "Then I would have the computer place a dot on the galactic map of where every incident took place and see if a pattern emerges when we order them by date."
Anzyl's face lit up, a wide smile spreading across his face. "To see if there is a point of origin, an area of space, or if they are truly random events? I'm impressed, Mr. Akiel." Anzyl clapped his hand in finalization. "Let's start with that. Alliant Crew, you are dismissed to get the Alliant ready for long-duration stays. The Nexus crew, continue with supplies and stocking the Nexus with as much as the cargo bays can hold." He turned to Veirik and tapped his badge. "Praxas to Kayuli, come in."
Dr. Kayuli's holographic voice came over the comm badge. "Kayuli here, sir."
"Congratulations, Doctor. You are Acting Chief of Science aboard the Nexus for the remainder of this mission," Anzyl explained. "Please meet me and Veirik in Astrometrics. We have some initial research to perform."
"Aye aye, Captain. Transferring holographic program there now. Meet you there."
The bridge crew dismissed and went about their duties, the conference room clearing out with a quiet sense of purpose.
—
The doors to the Astrometrics lab opened, and Anzyl and Veirik walked in as Kayuli, in his holographic Na'Vi form, was already turning the systems on.
"Greetings and salutations, gentlemen," Kayuli greeted as he flicked switches and buttons with his giant fingers.
The gargantuan star map of the galaxy came to life, a swirling nebula of constellations and systems.
"Greetings, Doctor," Anzyl nodded as he stood next to him. "Veirik, go ahead with your plan."
He nodded and spoke up, "Computer, please analyze all Fek'ihri incident reports and display a marker on the Astrometrics map."
The computer beeped, and soon, the Astrometrics holographic map of the galaxy began to have a few, then dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of little red dots appear on the map, a grim constellation of death.
Anzyl spoke softly, the gravity of the situation settling over him. "Now to track these monsters down." Then he spoke up louder, his voice commanding, "Computer, can you organize these by color? Say, use the rainbow ROYGBIV system, with Red being the earliest report and Violet being the most recent?"
The computer blipped the Astrometrics map, and the thousands of red markers turned to different colors, with a definite pattern emerging, a horrifying, expanding stain across the galaxy.
Kayuli spoke up, his soothing, deep voice a stark contrast to the grim map. "The reports seem to have begun and emerged from within the Gamma Quadrant, then spread out from there, as far as the Delta Quadrant."
Veirik pointed a finger at the areas where the incidents seemed to emerge from, a concentrated cluster of red and orange dots. "That's Dominion Territory." Veirik's voice was soft, laced with a new kind of dread. "Old Founder-ruled Dominion territory."
Anzyl shook his head, the pieces clicking into place, but the picture they formed was deeply unsettling. "So some place deep in old Dominion territory is their home world." He squinted, confused. "But why didn't the Dominion stop them, or why did the Founders even allow them to exist? They go against all things we know about the Founder-run Dominion." The question hung in the air, unanswered and unnerving.
Kayuli shrugged his massive, holographic shoulders, "Whatever it is, the answer lies in the Gamma Quadrant. DEEP in the Gamma Quadrant."
Anzyl nodded and tapped his badge. "Praxas to helm. We have our first heading. When we are cleared for departure, use the Dyson gateways to plot us a course into the Gamma Quadrant."