Walking on Eggshells

Posted on Wed Oct 14th, 2026 @ 8:10pm by Captain William Abernathy & Lieutenant Commander K’Var & Lieutenant Commander Elyse White & Lieutenant Commander Sabastian Walker & Lieutenant Malcom Hunt & Lieutenant Lanna Alexander & Lieutenant Sornax & Lieutenant JG Karri & Cadet Senior Year Elena Alberti

3,697 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Echoes in the Triangle
Location: USS Arcadia | Deck 1 | Bridge

Captain’s Log: Stardate 2198.7

"We have been underway for several days now following our departure from the Starbase, and the Arcadia is settling into her new routine under my command.

Lieutenant Sornax, our new Chief Science Officer, has adapted remarkably well. The Denobulan has already proven himself an inquisitive and capable scientist, and I suspect we will have plenty of opportunities to put that curiosity to work.

Lieutenant Commander Walker has also resumed his duties as First Officer. The transition has been quiet, though I remain mindful of what he has endured. Some wounds are not visible on a medical scanner.

That said, as for Lieutenant K’Var, she continues to recover from the physical injuries she sustained during our encounter with the Klingons. The surgeries to repair the damage from the blade wound to her chest were successful. She remains aboard Arcadia, but Doctor Elkhorn has not yet cleared her for duty. Despite my best efforts to convince him otherwise, Doctor Oscar MacDonald has departed the starship.

Our current assignment is less routine. We have been dispatched to assist the USS Sacagawea, a Malachowski-class light cruiser suffering severe technical failures and a loss of power. They are struggling to regain propulsion in a rather precarious region of space.

Unfortunately, their position places us near the Delta Triangle, an area I do not intend to explore, surrounded by enough disappearances and ghost stories to fill a dozen spacers’ tales. I have no intention of making the Arcadia the next. It also happens to be dangerously close to Gorn territory. I have no intention of provoking them, and I’ll be keeping Arcadia well clear of their known planetoids."

End log.

Captain Bill Abernathy stepped off the turbolift shortly after recording his Captain's log with a warm mug in hand, steam rolling off the top as he began his routine of strolling around the bridge looking at each monitor to see what each station was doing. The shift change was recent. Familiar faces had just taken their posts around the bridge.

The Arcadia was still about five days' time at cruising speed from the last transmission on the USS Sacagawea. Bill stood behind the Denobulan science officer and took a glance at the display on the screen. "Anything interesting, Lieutenant?" asked Abernathy. He was curious about what the Denobulan's scientific curiosity was drawn to, but with the Delta Triangle so near, Abernathy could not fault him for being curious.

It was still the first week aboard Arcadia for Lieutenant Sornax, and to say that it had been interesting so far was an understatement. In fact, there had been many unique encounters with officers aboard the ship so far, ones that were going to be the foundation of interesting interactions to come. At the moment, he was busy looking over the sensor displays at his workstation on the bridge, which currently happened to show a lot of, well, empty space. "Oh, Captain, I did not see you, sir. Apologies!"

Shifting in his chair to turn to the Captain, he motioned to the screen in front of them. "As you can see, we're currently in a unique area of space as we travel towards the Sacagawea. While in the immediate vicinity, there is not much of interest around us, we will end up very close to the border of the Hegemony and that ridiculously named Delta Triangle. What has piqued my interest, though, is that there have been reports of Gormagander in the area. I'm curious to see if these creatures actually have a migratory path in the Beta Quadrant. We normally know that these cosmozan lifeforms are hunted by the Klingons and Orion for foodstuff, which has made them an endangered species. If we were to see one along the way, it could be of great interest."

"Space whales," replied Bill. He used simple terms, not a scientific sort. "Not a fan of the term Delta Triangle? What do the Denobulans call it?" Abernathy smiled. "Would you like to launch some probes?"

“It’s more like I’m not a fan of the superstition, sir. Everything has a scientific explanation to it, if you look hard enough. Wormholes, cosmic radiation that causes sensor interference, black holes, cosmic storms, you name it. But it is certainly not just some spooky and cursed area caused by the unknown.” Sornax explained, choosing not to touch on the simplification of the Gormagander. Why was it that humans always had to simplify things in relation to what came from Earth?

“I was in fact going to suggest we launch a probe or two, Captain. I have a concept I’ve been working on for telemetry relay, but it would take a bit of work with engineering to make it happen. A class-a probe should work for now, though.”

Captain Abernathy nodded. "Launch it at your discretion, Lieutenant," Bill said, trusting his Chief Science Officer to execute the maneuver at an appropriate time and trajectory. "Humans have a history of being afraid and also curious about the unknown. When it came to the Bermuda Triangle on Earth, the ghost stories and lore became legendary. We exaggerated stories to the point the region gained an almost mythic reputation. It wasn't until science and technology caught up that we understood more and overcame the mysticism," explained Abernathy.

"A fascinating tale, Captain. I understood from my academy days that Humans have a colorful history, but then again it is not uncommon when science has not answered a question that some will turn to superstition and the like as an explanation. In fact, even my own species did so countless years ago." The science officer replied as he programmed two class-A probes, each with their own mission, and set the coordinates for them. Once the ship had reached the appropriate location, he pressed the launch button on his console and watched. "Probe one has been directed to the Delta Triangle and probe two is heading to a safe distance from the Gorn border to scan for signs of...space whale activity, as you call it, Sir."

"Better safe than pregnant," Bill replied as the turbolift arrived, and doors opened. "By Gorn eggs," clarified Bill. "I do not want to be a surrogate incubating those little monsters."

Lanna stepped out of the turbolift and headed for her seat; to say she looked pale was an understatement. At least her stomach had settled some since her rough start to the morning. She nodded politely to all present before sitting down.

Happy in the fact that Del had things under control, Sab made his way to the bridge with his coffee. He manned the Engineering station and began the standard checks. The new updates Del had installed were working well, and he was happy to say that for the first time in a long time he didn't feel stressed about leaving Engineering. Del had things well under control.

As he waited for a second to update, he looked around, happy at the sight. The crew was functioning and working together, and his eyes settled on science, feeling a momentary pang at not seeing Poe there. He hadn't gotten to know the new Chief well yet, but he looked forward to it.

Lanna had felt the momentary pang from Sabastian giving a brief look in his direction before turning back again.

Karri exited the turbolift and headed for her ops station. She was still getting used to that, as she had been on supply ever since her commissioning. "Right, you're a lieutenant now." She said to herself. "Everyone." She nodded.

Lanna nodded back, offering a warm smile.

"Lieutenant Karri, it goes without saying, but keep Lieutenant Hunt up to speed on any necessary course corrections, but please keep us on the outskirts of this 'delta triangle.' I would rather not get too deep into the brush."

The caitian nodded. "Of course, Captain." She said.

Having nothing to do until the Engineering console update was complete, Sabastian got up and headed over to the Chief Science Officer. He smiled at him. "When things settle, let's grab a coffee. I'm not much on formal meetings."

Sornax looked up from his station to the raven-haired first officer and gave a nod. “Absolutely, Commander. I’ll meet you in the mess hall at lunch?”

"Perfect." He smiled and headed back to his station.

Malcom Hunt had been sitting silently at the helm, observing the interaction among the bridge crew. Being at the helm was simple and to the point. Watching space pass as the Arcadia sped its way through the sector. The Delta Triangle had way too many ghost stories, which rarely went well for the starships passing through it. But still, something was intriguing about the whole thing. The great mystery that needed to be resolved.

Abernathy made his way around the bridge and placed a hand on Lieutenant Malcolm Hunt's shoulder. "Curiosity killed the cat, Lieutenant. I know she's tempting, but keep our course as steady as possible. The USS Sacagawea is awaiting our assistance," said the Captain. Little did he know that avoiding the 'triangle' would be impossible. It had other plans for them.

"Holding course," he responded.

Everything had been steady, just a few course adjustments to avoid geomagnetic storms and some volatile nebulae. Captain Abernathy had settled into the Captain's chair. Time had passed relatively calmly until the USS Arcadia had reached the USS Sacagawea last known coordinates. Abernathy saw nothing on the main view screen. He immediately stood to his feet.

"Lieutenant Hunt," he said firmly. "Where..."

Looking down at his panel, Malcom confirmed that this location was correct. "This is the exact location where the Sacagawea was located. But it appears the USS Sacagawea is not there."

"Elyse?" Bill turned, shooting a look at the Communications Officer. "Confirm the coordinates from their last transmission compared to where we are. Did we go off course, or transpose numbers?"

Elyse looked up. "The coordinates are definitely correct, Captain. I can triple-check." The woman was confused; she'd double-checked and had a buddy check too. This wasn't right. Something made her feel rather uneasy.

Captain Abernathy was left with a perplexing puzzle. Coordinates were correct. What they received from the starship was where they were according to Arcadia's systems. There was no obvious wreckage that could be seen on the main viewer. "Sornax, scan for any signs of debris consistent with a Federation starship, and have Lieutenant Poe run an analysis of our recent scans and navigational feed. Have him pull star charts from stellar cartography. I want to make sure we are where the ship's computer systems say we are."

Sornax gave a quick nod and an " aye, sir to the Captain; he was as confused as Abernathy was. Tapping a button on his console, he opened the comms up to the science labs and paged Aiden Poe. "Lieutenant Poe, we have a bit of a mystery up here on the bridge. Our ship in distress seems to be missing, and I see no debris on the scanners. I want you to check over the recent scans from the lateral sensors and the probe I sent ahead. Also check the navigational feed and make sure we didn't somehow drift off course without the helm realizing it."

After putting his assistant department head to work, Sonax took a once-over on the scanner sub-systems and then activated the lateral array, widening the parameters to look for the things starships were made of. Unfortunately, a frown crept onto his face as the scans came through. "Captain, no signs of duranium or titanium in the area. It's like the ship was never here."

"Well then... that is ominous, Lieutenant," replied Bill.

=/\= Science Department =/\=

Poe got the order about star charts and had been reviewing them. It took a good thirty minutes, but he had an answer and ran towards the bridge.


< b>=/\=Main Bridge=/\=

Bill started to pace, a nervous habit, especially when topped with anxiety. He had been determined not to experience anything out of the ordinary out here near the Delta Triangle. "Helm, hold position, full stop."

As instructed, the helmsman dropped ship down to a full stop.

They were not going anywhere until they had some answers. "Walker, diagnostic on crucial systems. We need to eliminate us as the problem. Lanna... I..." Bill sighed. He made his way over towards the woman and lowered his voice. "I need some of that special intuition your people are known for."

It took Lanna a few moments to look in Abernathy’s direction. She’d been keeping her senses alert, and it had put her on edge from the get-go; a whole jumble of emotions was pushing it way through her barriers: confusion, anger, loss, fear, loneliness…so much loneliness. She snapped herself out of it long enough to turn her attention to the Captain’s question. “Sorry…I was…am…” She paused. “I’ve been keeping my senses alert on a low level since we started off; this whole place just…it’s so full of residual emotions, it’s proving difficult to keep them out. I can’t promise how much help I’ll be, but I’ll try.”

Poe ran onto the bridge. "We have a problem, sir. A big problem."

Walker spun around. "Speak."

"The coordinates are true. Commander, run a level five on the navigation system."

Walker knew the diagnostic but was surprised Poe did. It took a moment of tense silence, and then. "Our instruments are right"

"The stars," Poe said. "The stars are not. They've shifted. Which ...should be impossible."

Captain Bill Abernathy needed something a hell of a lot stronger than what he had been drinking when he arrived on the Bridge. He made his way back towards his chair. "Stars..." he looked at Sornax. "I know they moved, but they don't shift this drastically. Are our star charts updated?"

Lieutenant Sornax had been watching Poe since he came on the bridge, still confused as to what exactly he was getting at until he explained further about the stars shifting. Before the Captain had even asked, the chief science officer was going over the system logs for the star charts. "I show that they were updated the last time the Arcadia was at space dock, Sir." Pausing for a moment, he reverified the spatial location and surrounding location of known stars, frowning once more. "Captain, whatever has happened, we're looking at an impossible drift in our navigation. This shouldn't be possible unless we passed by a singularity or black hole the sensors didn't pick up."

"You had to critique the Delta Triangle, Lieutenant," Bill Abernathy said in jest. He was concerned, but he was not about to panic. "The Triangle isn't disappointing us," added Bill.

"Well, you won't like this next part, Captain," Sornax replied as he motioned the man over. Once Abernathy arrived back at the science station, the Denobulan pulled up the galactic map on his workstation screen. I re-ran the sensors and cross-checked them with the helm. According to this, we're at least three days off course. Lieutenant Karri should be able to confirm my findings."

"Definitely confirmed,sir. We're definitely off." She said.

Lanna had little choice but to let her mental defenses down more in order to help. She took a deep breath before focusing hard, but it didn’t stop the residual emotions flooding her senses. She fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat, the pure strength of what she was getting making her body twitch like a bodily nervous tick.

Sabastian felt a burst of emotions. He shook his head, trying to close off his senses and ground himself. He stood and walked over to Lanna. "Counselor? You good?" He didn't like that she was here, sensing, and pregnant. "If it gets too much, we have a medical inhibitor here."

Lanna closed herself off a little, giving Sabastian a nod. “That won’t be necessary for now, Commander, but I won’t discount it.” She offered a brief smile. “There are so many emotions here; it’s a powerful mix that’s not easy to block out.”

He gave her shoulder a pat and then headed back to his station.

Lanna smiled before taking a deep breath. She hadn’t been entirely truthful; the further the ship went, the higher the level of emotion she was experiencing was going. She couldn’t shut it out completely if she tried, and if she was going to be any good to Abernathy, she couldn’t use an inhibitor either. She would have to cope, no matter how hard it became.

Holding an updated department report close to her chest as if it was the most precious of jewels, Cadet Elena Alberti had hurried out of the turbolift the moment the doors opened. In her haste, she had not considered the possibility of someone standing just a few short feet away, a stranger in science blues. She came up short, avoiding a collision and quickly realising she had walked in on … something.

Stepping around the science officer, she paused, for a moment just appreciating the Bridge for the technological marvel it was. Snapping herself out of her own thoughts, she then looked around for the XO, which would have been easier had she had more than a vague description.

Elyse raised a brow, seeing a rather flustered cadet wander in. She offered a warm and welcoming smile and whispered, "You lost, cadet?"

Bill looked, spotting the cadet. "No more lost than the rest of us," interjected Bill. He gestured toward Sebastian Walker. "You're looking for Commander Walker, Cadet. Delivering reports. Interesting assignment. I'll do you one better. Stay up here a bit and observe the bridge crew. We are currently in a bit of a conundrum."

Elena had been relieved to see a familiar face, and had been about to answer when the Captain interjected! Trying to not look like a first year, she glanced towards the officer sitting at the engineering station before the offer to stay once again had her full attention, “Thank you, Captain,” she enthused with a bright smile. “I will hand this over and find a spot to observe that doesn’t interfere. I promise.”

"Don't worry about interfering with anything, Cadet. You are here to learn. Sometimes, you have to break some eggshells to do that," explained Bill.

With a confident stride she did not entirely feel, the Cadet crossed to Walker. “Revised duty roster and assignments for security and tactical, Commander,” she explained, handing over the revised schedule.

Sabastian glanced up at the young Cadet and smiled. It had been a long time since he was that young. "Thank you, Cadet. I'll review it and make a few amendments, and then you can get my notes to the different departments." He took the data from her and pointed to all the empty seats. "Take whichever seat fits best." He turned to his data, leaving the cadet to find a place. He heard Elyse offer a seat and grinned. She was better at this than she let herself believe.

Elyse gestured to a spot next to where she was sitting. It was enough out of the way, but also high up enough for Elena to see everything.

Bill Abernathy took his seat once again, the Captain's chair. It was where all the deep contemplation happened for him. They were here with no USS Sacagawea in sight. The stars did not align with the navigational systems. All systems were seemingly alright, but they managed to be swept off course... significantly.

Space was not behaving like space. It was doing what the Delta Triangle was known to do: cause confusion.

Elyse saw something flash on her console: "Hang on." She listened in to an incoming message and frowned. She put her hands over her headset so she could try to hear better. Tapping her console a few times, she shook her head. Looking back over to the captain, she was silent for a moment. "Sir, we've got an incoming transmission from the starbase that the Sacagawea departed from. It's scrambled and faint. I can't clear it up any further here. Must be something messing with the transmission, like a solar flare from a nearby star or something-- that's what it sounds like. I'll take it back to my office and get it cleared up."

Abernathy nodded. "See what you can clear up. Sornax, Karri, Poe. You three work together using the stars and our charts. I want a corrected course sent to Lieutenant Hunt within the next hour. We're behind on our rendezvous, and I don't want the Sacagawea's Captain and crew feeling like we've stood them up."

Sornax stood up from his console and nodded to Poe. "Lieutenant Karri, if you wish, we can tackle this from the stellar cartography lab and get answers much quicker."

Poe looked over at Sornax. "What can I do?"

"We're going to do a full reboot of the astrometrics systems and at the same time configure a probe to scout the area and give us a more accurate reading of our location. I want it to scan for spatial anomalies and anything that could force us to veer off course without us noticing. Like I said earlier, black holes, cosmic vortex, the works. Let's get to it!"

"Yeah. We dont want to hit any more anomalies if we can avoid it. Makes sense to send out a probe." Karri agreed.

"Lanna, go see Doctor Elkhorn. Captain's orders."

“Sir?” Lanna looked at Abernathy. “You said you needed my help…” She paused as she saw the look on his face. “Aye, sir.” With that, she stood and headed off to Sickbay.

"Do we know for certain that the Sacagawea was ever out here?" Hunt inquired. "There would be some obvious sign it was here. Unless some portal opened and swallowed it up."

"Well, given what Poe said about the stars not being where they should. I don't know if we are where we ended to be," replied Abernathy. "For now, full stop and hold position."

END

 

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