Star Trek: The voyages of the USS Apollo

Chapter Nineteen: The Diamond

September 4th 2411

"Captain's Log: Star Date 388323.737. Ensign Jodem Tal has officially joined the Apollo Crew and now serves as our Operations Officer. Of course some members of the Crew look at him strangely because of his Borg implants, but they're starting to get over it and get used to it. Although it has only been a couple of days since we left Concordia, Jodem is proving to be an efficient member of the Crew and is hoping for a chance to prove himself. In the meantime we continue our journey back to the Alpha Quadrant via the Gamma Quadrant end of the Bajoran Wormhole and it is hoped that going through the Georgiou Wormhole will help shorten our journey by ten years at least. Hopefully we will be in communications range with Star Base Kira Nerys, the first ever Federation Star Base built in the Gamma Quadrant and we will be able to let Starfleet Command know that we are alive and well. Hopefully they haven't declared us lost with all hands by now."

Ensign Jodem Tal was walking down the hallways with Ensign William Jackson and they were deep in conversation about how much longer they would be trapped in the Gamma Quadrant for. As William mentioned that the journey would last another eighteen years once they crossed the Georgiou Wormhole, Jodem thought back to the memories of one of his Symbiont's previous hosts. That person was Damar Tal, who was a scientist studying wormholes before his death. Damar had developed a theory that some wormholes could have potentially anomalous effects if a ship went through and that probes should be sent through a wormhole first just to make sure. As Jodem thought back to this memory he said "You know, one of Tal's previous hosts was a man named Damar. He feared that some wormholes could cause potentially anomalous effects if a ship went through. Especially if they were unstable and since the Georgiou Wormhole was unstable until the Veskanans stabilised it, it could still be potentially dangerous." William thought about the possibility and said "Well who knows what could happen? For all we know the Apollo and everyone on it could get duplicated and then there would be a second ship and another one of all of us." Jodem laughed at the idea and said "Well I always wondered what it would be like to have a twin brother." William chuckled a bit as well and said "Yeah right. Two of me would probably be "the gruesome twosome" or something."

The two of them then arrived at the turbolift to get to the Bridge and William saw that the arrow on the turbolift was going up. Jodem checked the small terminal and saw that the turbolift was headed for their deck. William saw it too and said "Good luck for us then." Jodem then asked himself "I wonder who is coming down?" The two Starfleet Officers got their answer as the turbolift stopped and the doors opened to reveal two officers inside. But what Jodem and William were stunned by was that they were passionately kissing. But that wasn't the only shocking revelation, the two officers were none other than Captain Ethan Rivers and Lieutenant T'Vrell! As Ethan and T'Vrell realised that Jodem and William were looking at them shocked with their mouths wide open, they realised that they had seen them kissing. With shock in his voice, William said "You? And T'Vrell?" Ethan quickly explained "We were in the Academy together." T'Vrell then added "And we have...affection for each other." Jodem's face went red from the awkwardness as he said "Right then uh....we'll...take the...the other...lift." Jodem and William then quietly and awkwardly went into the second turbolift and set it for the Bridge.

Meanwhile in the turbolift Ethan and T'Vrell were in, the two of them gazed into each other's eyes as Ethan asked "Do you think they'll spread the word about it?" T'Vrell considered the logic and said "It would be illogical for us to hide our relationship. We should admit it." Ethan sighed and said "Alright then. So long as you try to help convince my father to give me his blessing. He never did like interspecies relationships, no idea why by the way." As the turbolift headed further up to the Bridge, T'Vrell said "I will be undergoing the Ponn Farr next year. I am fearful that this will not be a safe place to raise a child if I become pregnant." Although T'Vrell had been taught to control her emotions all her life, Ethan could see the fear in her eyes at the idea of a child growing up onboard a ship that had been marooned in the Gamma Quadrant for an entire year as of yet. They could at least hope that they could return to the Alpha Quadrant soon so that any children born on the Apollo would grow up on welcoming and prosperous planets in the Federation.

As the turbolift doors opened to reveal the Bridge, Ethan said "Time to go back to work, but first." The two of them kissed one more time before exiting the turbolift and headed to their respective stations. They both sat down to get to work and were quick to notice Jodem and William walk into the Bridge to get to their respective stations. Their stations were of course at the front of the Bridge and right next to each other, so the two had been working together a lot since Jodem joined the Crew. As they sat down, Voq noticed that the two of them looked shocked for some reason. So he said "Ensign Jackson, Ensign Tal. Why do you two look like you have witnessed something terrifying?" William turned to face Voq and awkwardly said "Well I wouldn't call it terrifying. More like...shocking." Voq was confused and suspicious as he asked "What do you mean?" Jodem then tried to explain, saying "Well...ahh-" Before he could finish, Ethan decided to explain himself. Ethan stood up and said aloud "Me and T'Vrell are a couple."

The entire Bridge Crew looked at Ethan and T'Vrell with confused faces. Alisha had a tone of shock and confusion in her voice as she asked "Wait you two are dating?" Ethan silently nodded and said "Yes. For a few days now." The Bridge Crew could not believe it. Sure they had expected everyone on the ship to start pairing off, but they had never expected Captain Rivers and Lieutenant T'Vrell to pair off. T'Vrell then explained "We have had affection for each other since the Academy. Since we were assigned together, it was inevitable that we would admit it." The awkward silence in the Bridge was broken as Ada came in and said "Captain. The Astrometric Lab just detected a large construct straight ahead of us. It's more than one hundred times the height of Star Base One and three hundred times wider than Deep Space Nine. I believe we should investigate." Ethan turned to face Ada and said "Alright then." Ethan then looked back at William and said in his Captaining voice "Mister Jackson. Take us from Warp Six to Warp Seven. That should get us there faster." William, glad that the awkwardness regarding Captain Rivers and Lieutenant T'Vrell's pairing off was out of the way, set the ship to Warp Seven and said "Aye Captain."

"Captain's Log: Supplemental. The Astrometric Lab has detected a massive structure ahead of us that is far larger than any old Star Base back in the Federation and we have decided to investigate. The structure is artificial so we are hoping that this means an advanced alien civilisation. Who knows? They might be able to help us get home."

The structure was huge indeed. It was twice the height of Star Base One and three times wider than Deep Space Nine. Far larger than anything the Federation, Klingons, Romulans and just about any other species had ever produced. It was shaped in quite a bizarre form, with the structure being a diamond that was painted blue and glowing brightly. What appeared to be devastated cities were built across it and were covered in broken domes. As the Bridge Crew gazed at this wonder in shock, Ethan said "That must've taken years to build." T'Vrell began scanning the Diamond via her console and said "Captain. Scans show that "The Diamond", as I propose we call it, is well over five thousand years old and that there is one city on each side of it. Numbering eight in total." Ethan saw how each city was much larger than any other city he had seen and said "I grew up in London you know. Biggest city in Great Britain and if I'm not mistaken those cities are at least the size of London." Laren launched a scan of the cities and said upon seeing the results "They are about twice the size of the City of London and appear to be fully self sufficient with farms, factories, houses, work areas and so on."

The Bridge Crew were astonished at what they were seeing. As of this moments, the Apollo had discovered an alien construct that was over two hundred millennia old and had been abandoned for some unknown reason. It was then that Ethan realised what it was and said "Hang on a minute. I think that this is an orbital habitat." The Bridge Crew all looked at Ethan as he said "An orbital habitat is the theory that we can build a kind of space station where people live and work for the duration of their lives. Unlike the Star Bases back in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, orbital habitats are intended to be self sufficient and to not require any form of resupply and assistance from outside parties." Alisha then realised what Ethan meant and said "Oh. So maybe this was some kind of failed attempt at building an orbital habitat. I wonder why it was abandoned?" Ethan then stood up and confidently said "Only one way to find out. T'Vrell, Alisha, Voq, you three are with me on the away mission to the Diamond. We'll have Masie beam us and a science team to the closest city in environmental suits and then we will start to solve the mystery of whatever this place is."

With that, Ethan, T'Vrell , Voq and Alisha left for Transporter Room One in order to prepare for a potentially dangerous mission to the ancient construct known as "The Diamond". While they knew already that they would find who knows whatever kind of technologies on the Diamond, little did they know that they would find a relic that would allow them to find a way home.