ALPHA ISLES — En route to its latest mission, the USS Khitomer diverted course to answer a distress signal.
Set to explore a newly detected “void” in space several hundred light-years in diameter, the USS Khitomer was pulled off its original course after it received a faint distress signal. Federation starships are obliged to answer any distress signal, but even if such an obligation did not exist, there was no doubt that the Khitomer and its crew would answer this one.
After the Battle of Deep Space 33, a great number of Starfleet personnel and civilians were listed as missing or killed in action. As the Lattice Alliance forces claimed more of the station during the battle, it had been believed prisoners were taken, but there was little evidence to support it, given the difficulty of diplomatic outreach to the Lattice Alliance. The first true confirmation wouldn’t come until a transmission was sent from the edge of Lattice-controlled space, bearing a Federation signal.
“We knew it was possible it was a trap,” said Ens. Ezra Zerva, Khitomer’s security officer. “But we were ready.”
Ready for combat and casualties, the Khitomer reached the source of the signal and found a Sheliak shuttlecraft, on the brink of core breach. Wasting no time, the crew beamed the only survivor of the small starship aboard shortly before it exploded. And when the passenger materialized in the transporter room, her identity was revealed: Lt. Jacin Ayemet, Khitomer’s very own ship’s counselor, who had been listed as missing in action after serving aboard DS33 during the Lattice Alliance siege.
“There are a lot of unanswered questions,” noted Capt. Randal Shayne as he commanded Khitomer to resume course towards its original mission. Shayne explained that it was clear Jacin had suffered grievously in Lattice custody, but was in curiously good health when rescued. Furthermore, it seemed improbable that a small craft could have gotten that far out into space without interception by Lattice forces.
But those questions, Shayne insisted, would have to wait: “For now, we’re just glad to have her back.”
Written by: Vada
