Clev, the short, stout, Bolian engineer piloted the shutlecraft through the starship graveyard that surrounded the Nacene array. So much of the debris was emitting so many types of radiation that he didn't trust the shuttle's transporters at longer range. Parked adjacent to the array, however, he felt more at ease about letting Pax'ia and the rest of the team beam over.

"Keep a lock on us, Lieutenant. We don't know what to expect," Pax'ia ordered.

"Yes, Commander," he replied.

Pax'ia joined Baast, B'Eq, and her broodbrother, Lux'io, in the rear of the shuttlecraft, turned back toward Clev, and said, "Energize!" Within seconds, they materialized inside the enormous structure.

They barely had time to get their bearings when they all were triggered into instinctive action at the sound of another transporter hum. They drew their weapons and suddenly found themselves face-to-face with another quartet whose weapons were also drawn.

The team's eyes were all first drawn to a huge simianoid and the tiny, furry, blue alien at his side. None of the Federation crew recognized their species, but all four recognized the female in the group as an Orion. Then, all of B'Eq's shipmates looked at her, as they realized she was staring, eyes livid and mouth scowling, into the face of another Klingon.

"War'Mog, you miserable, thieving petaQ!!! Where is she? WHERE IS OUR DAUGHTER???"

"Lieutenant Clev."

"Yes, Commander?"

"Are you ready to depart?"

"Yes, ma'am. As soon as Baast and Nurse B'Eq arrive."

"Excellent," replied Pax'ia. 

Captain Kinravip asked Pax'ia to lead the away team. Her orders were to attempt contact with the alien being who had brought their ship across the galaxy. She ordinarily wouldn't have a problem with this, but she hated shuttle missions for the simple reason that she was constantly bumping her cranium on the bulkhead. Most humanoids' small craft were not built for the comfort of Julosians, who averaged 2.25 meters tall. She kept her complaints to herself, of course. She was far too professional to do otherwise. 

"Sister."

"Yes, Lux'io?"

"Here is your phaser."

Pax'ia took the weapon from her broodbrother. "I certainly hope we won't need these."

"I agree," he replied, "but I hope you won't argue with me about carrying one."

"No. Of course not."

The door to the shuttlebay entrance whooshed open and the last two members of the team arrived: Lt. Baast, a Caitian member of Lux'io's security department, and Lt. B'Eq, a formidable Klingon who served as head nurse aboard the U.S.S. Rod of Asclepius. Captain Kinravip selected this team to represent a wide spectrum of talents and specialties, hoping that one or more of them could successfully negotiate their release and return to the Alpha Quadrant.

"What's ourrr ETA, Commanderrr?" Baast purred.

Pax'ia turned to the Bolian at the helm. "Clev?"

"Not long. Maybe half an hour, forty-five minutes. Zigzagging through all this debris will slow us down. Plus, there's a Klingon ship out there that really looks more unfriendly than your run-of-the-mill Bird of Prey. I'd rather avoid them, if possible."

"Agreed," nodded Pax'ia. She addressed the team. "All aboard, people. I haven't even seen much of the Alpha Quadrant yet. I'd rather the Delta Quadrant wait its turn."

The five team members entered the shuttlecraft Panacea, and were soon flying toward the Nacene array.

Hi, all.

Even if you don't play Star Trek Online, you can access a LOT of their graphics at their official wiki:

https://sto.gamepedia.com/Main_Page

We're a small group, so if my modest Photoshop skills can help create something that will improve your SotDQ experience, just speak up!

Peace and long life,

Rob

I was even able to buy an Olympic-class ship, so I have access to those graphics with no work.

I adapted some characters from my Star Trek Online crews, tweaked/added some bios, and boom. I have a crew.

Captain's Personal Log, Stardate 2379.12.28

Many systems have been restored in the past six days. What's left of my crew is doing a damn fine job, I must say. They know I have no real command experience and have all gone above and beyond to put the Rod back together.

Pax'ia is a terrific first officer. She and her broodbrothers have been acting as department heads and coordinating repairs, and we've learned a lot. Our newly-fixed viewscreen is pointed directly at a familiar-looking structure: a Nacene array. We've been Caretaker'ed to the Delta Quadrant. Hashtag: FML.

Voyager's only been home for about a year, and now another Federation ship has been zapped 70,000 light years from home. It took them seven years to get home. If we don't find similar help and shortcuts, it'll take us seventy.

And not just us. The array is still sending out pulses, and several other ships have appeared in the past few days. Federation, Klingon, others we don't recognize—some even appear to be from different time periods. 

We have an advantage over some of these ships. We have access to Captain Janeway's records. We know about the Caretaker and his mate. What we don't know is why this particular Nacene has brought us here.

Ship's comm systems and transporters are still offline. I'm sending a shuttlecraft to the array, in an attempt to contact the Nacene. If I can negotiate with it or them, maybe I won't grow old and die on this ship.

Dedication plaque
Make your own!     The PSD for this image is available upon request (approx. 3MB)


A replica of this Greek statue of Asclepius, the god of medicine, stands in the captain's quarters.

A replica of this Bulgarian mosaic hangs in the captain's quarters.

U.S.S. Rod of Asclepius (Olympic-class hospital ship, registry NCC-82760)

Captain's Personal Log

This is my first entry in a week.

I never wanted to be a starship captain. I signed on as chief medical officer, for ONE mission, purely as a favor to my friend, Captain Azik O'Shea, but she and the rest of the bridge crew died when the Rod of Asclepius was yanked from our erand of mercy near Betazed, and deposited here, wherever here is. (Astrometrics is just one of the many systems still undergoing repairs.)

It's been a week since we appeared here, in what seems to be some cosmic junkyard. There are husks and pieces of ships all around us. Some seem to show signs of life, but sensors and comms are also still down. All we know, we know from looking out the damned windows.

We've got life support and environmental controls back on line, but not much else. The hospital decks, mercifully, were spared some of the damage. Having their own independent power systems helped a lot, but it's manpower that will be the ongoing problem. As CMO, I know my med staff is among the best Starfleet has to offer, but several of them were also lost a week ago, and urgency of repairs has left the rest of us little time to grieve. As ranking officer, command has now fallen to me. I've still got 227 crewmen to worry about, five of whom are still listed as 'critical.' I can't just stop being a doctor, now that I am captain.

I'll do what I must do, but the minute I can get Starfleet to fill the Big Chair, I'm catching the first shuttle to Risa.