“There’s a dust cloud that’s clouding our sensors.”

“I could take a shuttle out to take a closer look.” Tom offered. Captain Ornbluer nodded.

Tom frowned, the dust was interfering with his engines, but he hadn’t detected anything unusual. He commed the Indefatigable to tell them, when the engine puttered out, then came back online, but he doubted it would survive the trip back to the Indefatigable.

“There’s an M class planet in the system, land there and make repairs, we’ll meet you at coordinates 1463. Right outside the Asteroid field.”

“Acknowledged Indefatigable, I’ll see you there.”

Tom frowned, that was odd. He checked his coordinates, he was in the right place. But where was the Indefatigable? “Shuttle B to Indefatigable, Indefatigable come in.”

No Response.

“Shuttle B to nearest Starfleet vessel. Is anyone out there?”

“This is the Starship Enterprise, what’s your problem?”

“Umm.... This is going to sound stupid.... But I can’t find my ship.”

“What’s the name of your missing ship?”

“U.S.S. Indefatigable.”

[pause]

“Enterprise? Enterprise come in.”

“Shuttle B, what’s your name?”

Faintly puzzled Tom responded, “Commander Tom Paris.”

“Commander Paris, I have some disturbing news for you.”

Chapter 7