Post 545: Message In A Bottle

Stardate:71104:21:00
Author: Lt. Simon Biggs
Title: Message in a Bottle
Scene: Simon's quarters
Time: Hours After The Party Ends
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Simon had just changed back out of his costume and was now relaxing in his favorite chair.

He held in his hands a PADD containing technical specs for the flight control systems of the Independence. If he was going to have private flying lessons with Lt. Grace, he intended to show up properly prepared and well versed in the layout of the navigational station.

He was about to put down the text and turn in for the night when his badge chirped. He reached over onto the coffee table and activated it.

[Bridge to Lieutenant Biggs, you have a subspace call coming in from a Sheila Biggs. It sounds urgent.]

"Put it through here, please."

Simon moved toward his computer screen and pressed a button, and his mother appeared in front of him.

[Hello, Simon long time no see. How are you, son?]

"I'm good, Mum. What's up? Lt. Delgotta said your call was urgent?"

[Remember that black box recordings we showed you when you were back on Earth? From when the station was destroyed? Well I've just discovered that there is a very good chance that they were falsified. According to one of you brothers customers, a Yridian trader captain, anyway. He claimed to have information proving that your father and sister were not killed on the station, but captured by a race called the Trikz. The Trikz are known for there aggressiveness, and piracy.]

"Yeah," Simon began, afraid to get his hopes up now that he had just begun to accept that his father and sister were lost. "But there was a grave on Earth, so how could this be possible?"

[After hearing about this information, I asked Starfleet for assistance and they concluded that the remains in those graves are inconclusive, they cannot be certain that they are. . .] she paused. [A Starfleet ship made some intensive scans of the area just after the station were destroyed but since so little was left, it turns out that conclusively identifiable remains were never found.]

"What about the Klingon ship that fended off the Trikzans? What about their sensor scans?"

[It took a little work but after doing them a favor, they gave us the complete sensor records. When we reviewed them, we found a faint transporter signal coming from the Trikzan ship.]

"If all of this is true. . . and the evidence of their deaths is so circumstantial. . ." he paused. There it was, that hope again.

[And there's more.] Sheila Biggs continued.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar face filled the screen. [I am called Vely; and I am an Ikiian. My homeworld is currently occupied by the Trikzans. The Ikiian government is currently under siege, and has developed a resistance know only as Cea.]

[Vely is an Ikiian government operative, Simon, with recent holo-camera footage of you father and sister working as slaves at a weapons production facility. They must have found out about your father's unique and inventive abilities.] As she spoke, she held up the plasma bow Simon and his father had built together, years before.

"How did you get out this far from home, Mum? Whose ship are you flying? Where are you at present?"

[Don't be surprised when you see this ship, but James and your Uncle Pete have put there heads together and designed and built a new one. It's taken all our resources and calling in every favor ever owed to myself, James, or your father. But we ended up with this.]

Suddenly the specs of the new ship came into view. It looked almost diamond shaped, winged but with two bladed type warp nacelles, a powerful arsenal of weapons and some nifty equipment. including what looked like some sort of cloaking capability.

Simon turned back to the screen. "Very impressive but the cloak. . .where did you get it, Mother?"

[The less said on that matter, the better, Son.]

"You never told me where you are now, Mum."

[We did a little checking and found out the Independence is sitting in the vicinity of the Yensul system, so we set course to find you. We're only a day away if we went through Breen space, two days if we went around. We decided it was best to go around.]

"Wise decision."

[Can you speak to your Captain, Simon? Explain our situation, and ask her for help from Starfleet in investigating the authenticity of this holo footage? If there's a chance your father and sister are alive,] she paused and looked away.

"Of course, Mother. I'll speak to the Captain right away. I'm sure if there is anything that can be done, Zanh Liis will be willing to do it."

[We will hail the Independence once we reach transporter range. Perhaps I can beam aboard and show our findings to your Captain.]

"I'll ask her permission to bring you aboard. What's the name of this new ship?"

[The Blizzard.]

Simon shook his head, and she wondered what his expression meant. [Something wrong Simon?]

"No, just that after my last mission. . .that name is kind of ironic. Keep me posted on your progress as you get closer to us. Independence out."

Simon got out of his chair, all earlier revelry forgotten. He hurried to change back into uniform, and as he pulled on his boots, he addressed the computer.

"Computer, locate Captain Zanh."
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Lieutenant JG Simon Biggs
Security Officer