"<Systems ready.>" Kit said in his flat tone, "<Communication from Command.>"<br/><br/>"<On screen.>" The main view screen of a large bridge meant for ten crewmen flickered on for the sole occupant of the Captain's chair, no other crew were present on the bridge, or even in the rest of the ship.<br/><br/>"<Rega Ganor, This is Gax representing the Nekan high council. I give you one last chance to abort. You and I both know this mission is suicide. The technology is not plausible. Your team has not produced any successful simulations. Please reconsider what you are about to do.>" Rega sighed, her slender fingers gripping the arms of the Captain's chair tighter. She did think about calling the mission off, but only for a second. This had to be done. It would mean a brighter future for her people. It would also mean saving the life of Dren Falon. A hero in her eyes. Without his sacrifice, they wouldn't have the data to adjust the Wormhole Generator and finish the calibrations on her secret project, The Mauna Kea.<br/><br/>"<I'm going Councillor.>" she said with determination, "<This is bigger than you or me. I've agreed to go alone with a full compliment of worker drones. I'll be fine. Kit will help with most ship functions.>"<br/><br/>"<This project means alot of taxpayers credits just being tossed away if these attempts are failures. It also costs lives. Falon has only been missing for a few days but I don't see how he will ever see Nekan space again. There are too many unknown variables here to take such a risk!>" he insisted. Rega sighed again.<br/><br/>"<I'm still going. I will not fail. This is why I'm going alone. I'm sure I will succeed but I can't ask others to trust me the way I trust myself.>" The Councilor was silent for a moment and he then sighed, looking off screen to give a nod.<br/><br/>"<Launch clearance received.>" Kit said.<br/><br/>"<Thank you, sir.>" She said, smiling. He nodded.<br/><br/>"<Good luck.>" he said, then vanished from the screen, which now displayed a large metal ring in front of the ship. Points on the edge of the ring began to glow as the Wormhole generator was activated.<br/><br/>"<It's like a gateway to another realm...>" Rega muttered, "<Kit, let's go.>"<br/><br/>"<All systems go. Gate activating.>" he said. All nodes around the edge of the gate finally lit up, then all sent a stream of light to the center of the ring where they collided with each other, then seemed to pool together, as if the light were liquid. It gathered at the center, bulging and bubbling in space until it nearly filled the ring.<br/><br/>"< Stabilizing event horizon.>" Kit stated. Rega watched as the massive ball of liquid light suddenly flattened to a thin film across the inside of the ring. With this, her ship began to inch forward.<br/><br/>"<Coordinates locked on previous test location.>" Kit informed.<br/><br/>"<Ahead slow.>" Rega ordered. With this, her ship began to approach the gate. She found herself holding her breath as the hull hit the event horizon then passed through...<br/><br/>Sensors went haywire and the screen flickered, showing a tunnel of light that twisted and turned. She stumbled to the Navigation terminal as the ship bucked beneath her, seeing only fleeting text of the thousands of micro adjustments Kit was making as the ship careened through the wormhole. Alarms began blaring in her ears and she struggled to make her way back to the Captain's chair, but just as she grabbed the arm rest, the tunnel of light vanished and she was thrown over the back of the chair.<br/><br/>"<Inertial Dampeners offline. Repair Drones activated. Estimated time to repair, 5 micro cycles (Minutes).>" Kit said, then after a pause, and with no emotion, added, "<Rega, are you alright?>"<br/><br/>A gloved hand reached up and slapped the arm rest of the Captain's armrest as she struggled to stand, her long ears pointed in different directions and red hair in a mess about her head.<br/><br/>"<Yes. I suppose. Wow.>" She stammered, then finally sat down in the chair, "<Kit status report.>"<br/><br/>"<Besides a few minor system glitches and the internal dampeners, we seem to be in good condition.>" he said.<br/><br/>"<Where are we?>" she asked.<br/><br/>"<I don't know, Rega.>"<br/><br/>"<What do you mean, 'you don't know'?>"<br/><br/>"<I don't know.>" He repeated, "<Sensors cannot recognize any of the current star patterns or detect any known entities.>"<br/><br/>"<It worked! We're on the other side of the Galaxy!>" she said with a smile, "<Full sensor sweep as far as they can go. Let's see what's out there!>"<br/><br/>"<That's what I've been doing. Nothing so far. It's just empty space for light yea.... Please stand by.>" he suddenly said. Rega straightened up.<br/><br/>"<What? What is it?>" she asked.<br/><br/>"<There is a small object on sensors three parsecs from our current location. It seems to be made of a metal of some kind. Definitely not a natural entity and there is a faint reading of a power source.>"<br/><br/>"<Set an intercept course. Enter Hyperspace and raise shields when we come out.>" she ordered. She ship suddenly jumped into Hyperspace after a light ding from the speakers. She waited for a few moments, the trip not really taking that long in Hyperspace. When they came out, sensors showed the shields going up, and the camera locked on the object in question.<br/><br/>"<Object looks mechanical. Definitely created by a sentient race of somewhat advanced intelligence. Perhaps a probe or dro.... Stand by.>" Again he stopped his sentence. It was a habit that Rega was getting tired of.<br/><br/>"<What now?>"<br/><br/>"<Life sign detected.>" Kit announced, "<Object identified. Characteristics resemble an escape pod or stasis unit.>"<br/><br/>"<There's someone in that thing?>"<br/><br/>"<Yes.>" He responded simply, "<Scan's indicate the pod is damaged and the occupant's life signs are inconsistent. It may be injured.>" At this, Rega was already halfway across the bridge and into the lift.<br/><br/>"<Sickbay.>" she said, "<Teleport the pod directly there. Start filling the Restoration Chamber.>" As the lift sped along it's way, Kit replied over the speakers in the ceiling.<br/><br/>"<Are you sure? This is the first Alien species we've encountered. It could be dangerous or carrying an unknown disease.>"<br/><br/>"<And if it's people are looking for it, it would be better for relations if we rescued it. Plus, there's just the same chance its friendly as well.>"<br/><br/>"<Do you think the Restoration Chamber would be effective for an Alien of unknown physiology?>" he asked.<br/><br/>"<All it does in increase the body's natural healing ability and accelerate cell growth. I'm sure it will do the same for this poor soul.>"<br/><br/>Nearly running to sickbay, she entered just as the pod materialized in the middle of the room, the Restoration Chamber in the wall beside it. She approached it slowly, noting the odd symbols on the side. She ran her hand over the cold metal over the painted letters she did not understand: Nautilous.<br/><br/>She found a lever and pulled on it, the hatch clicked loudly and lifted slightly, sending a cold blast of air on her half exposed feet, spreading a shiver up her spine. The door then slid up into the hull of the pod, and fog billowed out of the opening. Once it cleared, she peered inside and gasped at the sight.<br/><br/>It looked male, with fur only atop his head from what she could see. The clothing it wore was singed and blackened, letters on his uniform not spelling any recognizable word. Rega leaned into the pod to get a better look and smelled blood, the male was breathing now, but seemed to be in pain, it's arm badly damaged, burns covering it's body, probably broken bones from what she could tell, if it even had bones...<br/><br/>Pulling her head out of the pod she glanced at the Chamber, then sighed.<br/><br/>"<Kit, give me a hand with him.>" she said. A section of wall opened up and a small egg shaped metal object was ejected, then spidery arms extended from it. The drone then walked over and more spider like arms extended to reach into the pod. The Drone carefully pulled out the large Alien and with Rega supporting it's head, got it into the chamber. As the Drone began fitting a breathing apparatus around the Alien's face, Rega started digging through the male's pockets, looking for anything that may be ruined by the Restoration enzyme.<br/><br/>She pulled a few odd things from his pockets, then came across a burnt piece of paper. On it, she saw an image of the male's face, next to another of it's kind, possibly a female. Maybe a fiend or comrade. Lover even? There was so much she didn't know about his kind.<br/><br/>"<Start the restoration process.>" She said. The glass cover for the chamber slid closed and a light green liquid began filling it, submerging the Alien inside. Once full she remained quiet to hear it quietly breathe normally through the apparatus over it's nose and mouth. Now all he needed was time to recover.<br/><br/>"<Restoration process engaged. Estimated time to restoration, 120 micro cycles.>" Kit informed. Rega sighed in relief, then turned back to the damaged pod in the middle of the room.<br/><br/>"<Well now we wait.>" She said, "<Kit, keep scanning for any kind of energy patterns that could indicate either engine signatures or remnants of hyperspace windows. If you get any leads, I authorize you to follow them. If you see anything out of the ordinary, investigate and keep me apprised. Enter Explorer mode.>"<br/><br/>"<Entering Explorer mode.>" he stated. Rega glanced out the window to see the stars move as the ship continued on, she turned her attention back to the pod, the first piece of technology her kind has encountered that was not their own. So many questions to be asked. So little time. With an excited smile, she went to work digging inside the pod.