Welcome Aboard (Part 3)

Posted on Sat Jun 27th, 2026 @ 7:46pm by I-402 & Commander Katrina Chance & Lieutenant Commander Andrew Star & Lieutenant Commander Lahki Bakshi Dr & Lieutenant Akira Kogami & Captain Jacob Rye

1,799 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Ghost Starship
Location: USS Hindenburg
Timeline: After 'Welcome Aboard (Part 2)'

Previously, on Star Trek: Missouri:

Lahki helped Toran sit up. She looked at the other Betazoid. "If you're not sensing anyone, and no one else saw her....are you certain it wasn't just a shadow or something?" Lahki quickly scanned him with her tricorder-and her telepathy. Nothing was broken, only a few minor scrapes. And he was telling the truth, as far as she could tell. Some Betazoids could block each other, but she could read Toran pretty well.

And now, the continuation:

Making her way back over to the hole, Akira pulled out a palm beacon and shined it into the opening.

"Whatever was there, it's not there now," she remarked. "And you're sure you saw someone?"

"Yes," Toran said firmly, his training helping to keep his frustration in check. Besides, he knew how it had to sound. Even he couldn't put his finger on why he hadn't been able to sense the girl. Or why her lifesigns hadn't triggered their tricorders. "She was looking...right back at me. Blue eyes and all."

The situation had changed too quickly. While everyone else had been reacting, Katrina had been observing. How had the weakness in the floor not been detected sooner? Was this ghost ship inspiring delusions, or was something really going on here? She approached Toran carefully, her helmet light shining on him like a headlight illuminating a frantic deer as she looked him over. His face showed a genuine reaction and it was clear to her that he had been spooked.

Yet something prodded at the XO. Many somethings, which had her at full alertness. The probability of finding a child on a ghost ship, especially a human child on a ship that had been as old as this one, was nearly null. Especially if life support had failed. But if somehow, some thing was here, then they could all be in danger. So, Chance asked, to try and confirm if another avenue of investigation was open or closed. "You saw her, but didn't sense her? Is that correct?"

Assuming someone was here somehow, it was incredibly rare that a Betazoid wouldn't sense a human. Telepathically speaking, humans were generally very easy to read. They had no empathic or telepathic sense, which meant that they didn't tend to know how to shield their thoughts. Katrina knew she was the exception, as her vocalizer implant relied explicitly on her thoughts and not controlling them meant that whatever she was thinking would rush out in a continuous flood.

"Correct," Toran replied with as much of a nod as he could give in the suit. His jaw was set stubbornly with the assertion and his eyes were sincere, if also intense. "There are races we can't sense though. She *looked* human, but that doesn't mean she is."

Lahki nodded in agreement. "I don't sense anything, either, but I can tell that Toran is being truthful," she said. She didn't like to "read" her crewmates but sometimes it was necessary. "He also doesn't have any indications of a concussion or serious brain injury that would cause hallucinations," she noted.

"Commander," Andrew said directly to Katrina, waving his hand, gesturing for how to come close for a private word. "I think we should redirect to the secondary main engineering. If I can power up the saucer section, then we'd have access to everything in this sector... even the computer."

The XO paused for a moment, then nodded slightly. "Alright," she voiced. "We'll all head to secondary engineering and try to get some power going there. I-402 up front, please. Keep an eye out for any other structurally dangerous areas like this one. Everyone else? Stay close, but stay sharp. If anything looks wrong, sound out immediately."

"What about the kid?" Toran asked with concern as he pushed himself to stand, catching his breath. "This place could be a deathtrap, we need to try and find her."

Katrina frowned in consideration, her helmeted gaze sweeping through the corridor. Her eyes settled on Torren's dim figure. "I share your concern," she started. "But we have a mission to accomplish and a deadline in which to do so."

Even as she spoke these words, Katrina suspected there would be protests. To be honest, the thought of this mystery child on what so far appeared to be a dead ship was troubling for multiple reasons. Not the least of which was that this ship had been lost four decades ago and by that logic there should be no children aboard. So, she held up a hand and quickly continued. "But that does not mean we'll pay what you saw no mind, either. Once we're in a better position to do so, we'll try and find her. But for right now, our priority is to make sure this ship isn't a danger, either to ourselves or others. The first step is finding out what happened here. If we can do that, we may be able to learn the story of this mystery child as well. You are of course encouraged to keep your eyes pealed."

Toran's jaw tightened, but he nodded in acknowledgement of the orders. And truth was, securing the ship would make things safer for anyone that might be onboard. "Commander," he straightened, shifting his grip on his phaser.

Lahki sighed quietly, but nodded. "Yes, ma'am," she said, indicating that Katrina should lead the way.

With I-402 in front, the group proceeded to secondary engineering. The lights of their helmets seemed to play tricks as they went, at least to the Missouri's XO. She mentally noted each one. Some of them almost looked like figures, or at least the outlines, but she dismissed them as just being reflections of the away team.

---

The trip was quiet and proceeded without incident, and about fifteen minutes later the group arrived safely in the secondary engineering section. Katrina gestured vaguely. "Alright," she directed. "Let's see if we can get the lights on."

Andrew took his cue. The secondary engineering housed the impulsive engine; the room was the same as the one in the secondary hull, except the warp core had been replaced by the impulsive engine, which lay vertically.

The smallest officer walked his way over towards the command console. With a few taps of his fingers, the backup power came to life and lit up the orange and yellow LCARS of her decade.. "I hope we all remember our emergency engineering courses," Andrew called out as he tapped at a button under the section labelled 'PWR OPS CON'.

The console was a glorified Christmas tree with bright multi-coloured lights. "We are green! Okay, I need someone at the engine purge station, dilithium injector control, dynamic tachyon transference bypass, starboard replication injector, duotronic master control matrix, and the environmental master control." When he turned around and saw everyone's blank faces, he remembered he was the only engineer among them and began to point out the various consoles.

Lahki moved. She DID understand some engineering speak; thankfully, her ex husband had been an engineer and she'd paid attention. At first, anyway. She moved towards the environmental control.

"Alright, tell me what to do," she said.

While the others gathered around the engineering stations, Rye remained near the compartment entrance, watching the corridor beyond.

The glow of emergency power slowly spread through secondary engineering as dormant systems began to wake. One by one, displays illuminated. Status indicators flickered. Somewhere deep within the ship, machinery that had sat silent for decades stirred back to life.

He should have found it reassuring.

Instead, it felt like listening to something breathing again after being pronounced dead.

Rye glanced back toward Andrew's console, then returned his attention to the corridor.

The shadows there seemed different now.

Not moving.

Just... different.

A faint chirp drew his attention.

He looked down.

Mounted beside the engineering hatch was a small status panel he could have sworn had been dark when they'd entered.

Now a single amber light blinked steadily.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then stopped.

Rye frowned.

He stepped closer, sweeping his helmet light across the panel.

The display remained blank.

No warning message.

No active diagnostic.

Nothing.

Just the lingering feeling that some part of the Hindenburg had noticed they were here.

He keyed his comm.

"Commander."

His voice remained calm.

"Not a problem yet. But we're starting to get system activity outside engineering."

Andrew titled his as eat that information up. "That's good. Once environment control says the oxygen is green, we should be able to take these EV suits off, and I can get to work much faster. I want to read the Chief Engineer's logs first, though."

His eyes remained fixed on the panel.

"Looks like the ship is waking up."

Lahki hated this kind of thing. She didn't believe in ghosts or spirits but she DID believe in tradition, and tradition held that dead ships held dead people, and as a doctor, that bothered her. She once read a story from old Earth about people who had found a derelict sailing vessel, and claimed it was haunted. The military had come, investigated, and sent it off with Taps. The seeming "hauntings" stopped.

"You shouldn't have done that." A small voice suddenly warned the Away Team.

It was the girl from earlier. Her expression was now one of terror. Though all I-402 had to go off was tonal infections, for when she looked in the direction the voice had come, they were still technically the only ones in the room.

Katrina had been quietly observing. She watched the away team work. She watched them communicate. She watched her surroundings. It seemed like a perfectly normal dead starship, until it wasn't so dead. The voice drew her attention and she looked towards the source of the sound. Then she looked to everyone else. She couldn't see their faces. But she decided to play a hunch.

She moved a few paces in the direction of the voice and said, "My name is Katrina. What is yours?"

"You shouldn't be here:" The girl warned. "Your souls have been marked. Leave while you still can!"

The girl looked up and saw something creeping along the bulkheads.

"No... No, please, I'm not one of them!" The girl pleaded with an unseen adversary.

To be continued...

Posting by

Commander Katrina Chance
Executive Officer
USS Missouri

Lieutenant Commander Andrew Star
Chief Engineer
USS Missouri

Lieutenant Commander Lahki Bakshi
Chief Medical Officer
USS Missouri

Lieutenant Akira Kogami
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
Second Officer
USS Missouri

Captain Jacob Rye
Marine Commander
USS Missouri

I-402
Computer AI Interface
USS Missouri

 

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