Lost and Found

A Federation science team discovers the home planet of a highly advanced civilisation, long-abandoned for unknown reasons. This is the first episode of the series Star Trek: Abandoned.

Part I
Teaser/Prologue

Twenty five thousand years ago, a lone craft returns to its homeworld, pursued by a relentless enemy. The craft's pilot, Major Enriss Temaga, lands to discover that the city - the whole planet, in fact - is deserted.

Act One

In the present, a Federation science team deep in the Beta Quadrant is excavating ancient ruins, attempting to find some clue as to the location of the "Motherworld" as described in local myth and legend. After saving his life from a pair of indigenous creatures, Lieutenant Will Gates forms an unsteady friendship with Doctor Nathan Carson, the lead archaeologist. The officer solves the riddle of an ancient stone tablet - five circles of increasing size meeting at a single tangent - by compensating for stellar drift and then matching local stars against the map depicted. The Motherworld, presumed to be at the common edge of the circles, is many weeks away, but not out of reach. Captain Enriss Temaga of the USS Beltane transports the teams back aboard and sets a course.

Act Two

Temaga, Gates, Carson and Ensign Hanar D'Jan discuss their findings in the briefing room. After a brief confrontation with the lieutenant, Carson explains their discovery, and D'Jan informs them of impact craters, thousands of them, beneath the planet's surface. She has dated the magnetic resonance signatures in the soil; the age of the craters ranges from five thousand years - the last time the planet was inhabited - and twenty five thousand years old. Carson and Temaga wonder what the people could have done that was so terrible that they were not only defeated, but totally destroyed.

“Captain’s Personal Log, Stardate 62193.2. We have been travelling at warp eight for almost forty days, but for myself the time has passed in a second. I have awaited this day for so long... but now, I must confess that returning to this world is a little daunting, even to me.”

The Beltane drops out of warp on the edge of a large solar system. Three M-class planets and fourteen gas giants and smaller planetoids are detected. Temaga orders the ship to approach the planet with the heaviest signs of technological development, around which they find a system of rings that appears to be half-natural, half-artificial.

Many ruined cities are seen from orbit, but the largest, amazingly, is intact. Temaga, Gates, Carson and a security team beam down. The captain is silent as her mind is filled with a single thought: "Home".

Act Three

More teams beam down and begin attempting to reactivate the ancient systems, among them Professor T'Sora and Crewman Kira Rhiohr, who are attempting to interface Federation microfusion generators with the power grid, without success. Carson and Temaga begin dismantling the main computer interface to map out the command conduits.

In orbit, first officer Cad'en is troubled - sensors have detected a faint EM reading within the rings and seeks the captain's permission to investigate. On the way, the bridge crew determine the rings are made up of debris both from a moon and hundreds of artificial satellites. Shortly after tractoring in several samples, the EM reading suddenly comes to life and begins firing on the Beltane.

After a chase across the area during which she is severely damaged, Beltane is able to avoid the aggressor long enough to beam up Gates and Temaga. The captain orders a course to skim the sun - when Cad'en objects, she threatens him with relief of duty - but before it can be executed the small ship locks on with a tractor beam and begins dragging it backwards.

Watching the battle from the control room, Carson and Kira notice a subspace anomaly forming behind the ships. Without warning, the systems of the city reactivate and launches some kind of weapon to the unknown ship, destroying it. However, the Beltane is already caught in the gravity well and is pulled in.

Temaga, Cad'en, who has been badly wounded, and Gates awaken in a cell, and several Borg drones enter.

Part II
Act Four

The drones - who speak and appear to act independantly - escort the prisoners to another, larger chamber. On the way they catch a glimpse of their surroundings; they are inside a massive, hollow Borg ship, filled with dozens of Cubes and thousands of the fighter craft.

In the city, the civilians determine the anomaly was a transwarp conduit, though because the ship generating it was destroyed before completion, it was highly unstable. Kira suggests "calling" the aperture back by bombarding local space with verteron particles. Carson agrees and T'Sora suggests using a small ship found in the city, deemed to be far superior to the shuttles they have available. The attempt is successful and the aperture reappears. The arrowhead emerges from a stable conduit contained within a gate-like structure on the other side, hundreds of light years away.

Temaga, Cad'en and Gates are taken before the Queen, who identifies Temaga as a member of the otherwise extinct race that built the city and its empire.

Act Five

The Queen casually interrogates the prisoners, but they reveal nothing. She tells them she knows exactly where they have come from, and delights in the fact that she will be the one to finally defeat the "Dead Ones". Eventually she gets bored, and attempts to assimilate the captain. Cad'en tries to stop her, and is killed. Temaga is taken for cybernetic enhancement and Gates is returned to the cell.

The fighter approaches the ship, known as a Hive in the ship's database, and finds the Beltane inside. Carson decides to bring the fighter into the hangar bay. After taking control of the ship, several explosive devices are beamed to various points within the Hive.

Act Six

Gates - the only non-Borg lifesign - is beamed out, and argues they should try and find Temaga, but Carson, as the ranking member of the expedition, overrules him. Gates, Kira and T'Sora board the ancient ship again and evacuate, but Carson stays behind, with the intent of activating the self-destruct. The explosives are detonated, causing internal damage, but the now assimilated Temaga and a group of drones beam aboard to stop him.

Temaga's true nature wins out, and she kills the other drones. She tells Carson to leave; she will control the ship. The doctor beams out, and the Beltane fires phasers and torpedoes into the Hive's internal structure. Temaga sets a collision course, and the resulting chain reaction destroys the entire ship. In the alien craft, the team heads back through the conduit, collapsing it on the way.

As the expedition settles in and starts to call the city "home", Doctor Carson admits to Lientuenant Gates that he is not ready for leadership; they agree to share responsibility. Gates says there is a chance Temaga got out alive, but that there will no doubt be more Hives on their way right now. Sensing his true preoccupation, Gates tells him that they will find Temaga, one day...

Memorable Quotes

 * “Nathan, sit down. Please,” she smiled diplomatically, but the two ridged crests on her forehead leading down to her eyes flushed red, promising vengeance if he left the room before he had her approval.She directed her gaze to the lieutenant, who was still smirking opposite. “Lieutenant, you are not to say another word for as long as you remain in this room, do you understand me?”Will opened his mouth to reply, “Yes, ma’am!”, but thought better of it as his captain raised her eyebrows, as if daring him to do so, and simply nodded his understanding.
 * “T’Sora! How long are you going to be in there?” Nathan called impatiently.“I am coming,” a muffled voice replied, and she stepped out. Nathan could not help but laugh, for she was laden with every single weapon he had packed, minus the ones he and Rhiohr had taken. Three heavy-duty phaser rifles, one in each hand and the third under her arm; two hand phasers were stuck in her belt and two more strings of fifteen photon grenades and an isomagnetic disintegrator were slung over her shoulder. She raised an eyebrow condescendingly as Rhiohr started to laugh too, as if to say “So what?”.
 * “It’s nothing,” Nathan said, straightening and kneading his shoulder. “It’s just...” he turned to face Will directly, “I don’t think I’m ready for this. Leadership, I mean. I know I’m the ranking member of the expedition and all now, but... I don’t think I can cope with that kind of responsibility. Not yet, anyway.”Will smiled. “I haven’t exactly received command training either. But maybe it’s something we can grow into... together?” he extended his hand, which Nathan took after a moment.“Together,” he agreed, and smiled back.