Star Trek: Darkest Days

SS Polo
Stardate 3291.5.23


Curtis Moran woke as his alarm started to blare at him. Grogingly he threw off the synthetic soft cotton sheets and stood. "Ally, deactivate the alarm." The blaring stopped and only the slight humming of the ships systems filled the room. The humming was a white noise that he had grown accustomed to, it was as familiar to him as the back of his hand. If it was off then he would notice and usually knew what the issue was. 

The SS Polo was a former Federation Resupply Vessel that served from the late 23rd Century to the end of the 24th Century. The fact that he found a vessel from the 23rd Century in working condition in the 33rd Century was a sign to him. After spending a fortune on the "Old Lady" in retrofits and upgrades he was the proud owner of the fastest and most powerful cargo ship in the two galaxies. She looked old but underneath the hood she was completely rebuilt beauty with the finest technology available on the market and some that weren't available. 

After taking a sonic shower he dressed into what he considered his work uniform. A dark grey long sleeve shirt with no collar covered by a unbuttoned brown jacket. He wore loose fitting brown cargo pants and a pair of beige work boots. Looking in the mirror he approved of his appearance and walked out of his cabin. Into the hallway he was greeted by several crewmembers, "Good Morning Captain." Nodding at them he walked past and made his way to the Turbolift that would take him to the bridge. 

Once on the bridge a beautiful red head in a tight fitting outfit was waiting with a cup of coffee on a tray. "Oh, Thank you Ally." he said as he grabbed the cup and immediately took a sip. "Were the hell did you find fresh coffee?"

"At our last stop I was able to barter a few item for it." The short but beautiful redhead said as a smirk crossed her face. 

"Then why are you just now bringing it out?" He said. Many people swore up and down that replicated coffee was just the same as the real thing. He didn't care what advancements were made in replicator technology, he could taste the difference. Side by side and fresh coffee grounds are heads and tails over the replicated stuff. 

Ally walked over to the console in-front of the captains chair, "If I brought it out right away it would have been gone in a couple of days. Instead I'm going to bring out a cup every now and then and not tell you when." She turned to Curtis and pointed her finger at him. "And don't you even think about looking for it. I hid it especially well this time and you will never find it."

Curtis smiled at his oldest friend and knew better then to pursue the subject any more. For a woman that was only 5'3" she was a formidable opponent for anyone over twice her size. Seeing as how she wasn't a real woman in the sense of being born. Ally was the physical embodiment of the ships avatar. The advances in science have allowed ships to work with a very minimal crew and the development of the ships Artificial Intelligence has allowed the smooth running and efficiency of the ships systems that no crew could achieve since the beginning of space flight.

Ally turned back to her console as a alarm started to beep. "Captain, I'm picking up a small craft on our starboard side. It appears to be damaged and drifting. No power signatures but I am picking up faint life-signs." 

"Dammit, the transporters are still down for repairs." He got up and moved to the turbolift. "Get the work bees out there and bring that ship into the main hangar. Have the doctor standby to receive a patient." 

"Got it Captain." Ally said as the turbolift door slid shut on Curtis. He headed straight to his quarters and grabbed his phaser belt and slide the weapon on his dresser into it's holster. Making his way out of the quarters he headed to the aft hangar bay.

When he got there several crewman stood waiting with rifles in hand while a couple had a stretcher available for use if need be. The shuttle came into view as the work bees navigated it till the hangar bay tractor beam locked on and finished the journey for them. The shuttle was lowered as fast as it could have been but it minus well have been a eternity for them. From the looks of it the craft was a older model Federation ship designed for personal use. Although not Starfleet use it did share similar characteristics.

Once the ship was set down the hangar bay door started it's path down to seal the room completely. The light turned green and they all entered the room as quickly as possible. The crew with rifles posted to the side and in front of the hatch on the port side of the ship and Curtis was next to them. The crewman to the right of the hatch pulled out a datapadd and accessed the ships external hatch controls. Running a special algorithm he was able to access the controls and the door slid open. When it did the crewmen next to him quickly entered the hatchway with phasers drawn. Almost immediately red beams shot out of the hatchway. The lead crewman fell to the ground and in a shimmer disappeared. All that was left was his communicator and his phaser. 

The two other crewman took out the ships internal defense and cleared the cabin. When they came out one of them hollered "All Clear." 

Curtis stood from his kneeling position and made his way into the shuttle with the medic behind him. When he entered the shuttle the cabin was smoky from the destroyed internal defence system that was now a molten mess in the roof of the cabin. turning to the right he saw the cockpit of the shuttle. It was a three console bridge with one chair forward and two behind it and to the left and right. The first two chairs were empty but the front seat held a body. He walked up to it with his phaser drawn just in case until he could set his own eyes on the person. 

The person was badly burned from the obviously destroyed console in front of him. He looked like a human male but with the burns the species was difficult to be certain until the Doctor took a look at him. The medic came up and pulled out a medical tricorder and started his scans, behind him the two crewman held a stretcher ready to place the body on it. "He's still alive but just barely. We need to get him to sickbay immediately." 

"Do it and tell the doc to let me know when he is close to waking up." Curtis said as the stretcher bearers came up and carefully removed the body from the chair and laid him down onto the stretcher and carry him away. The Medic nodded at the orders and followed the stretcher as it was carried away.

Looking around the now empty shuttle Curtis had a thousand questions going through his head. What happened to the shuttle? Why was it out here in the middle of nowhere? Who was that man that was just taken to sickbay? He tapped on one of the secondary consoles and pulled up the ships database. He fingered through several files until he came upon the ships logs. They were empty. He pulled up the ships travel logs and once again they were empty. Continuing to go through it until he found the backups and they too were empty. Stepping out of the shuttle he was left with even more questions then he had previous.