Dark Veil

PROLOGUE - SHORELEAVE ON MERID

The USS Swiftsure and USS Poseidon go back to the Perseus Wormhole, where construction of Translfift Station Beta is well underway. Its match in the Alpha Quadrant is already completed and as Christmas and the New Year loom close, the crew is able to enjoy some time off on Starbase Dalan, in Federation territory.

Both ships then take a short journey to planet >> Merid, home to an advanced and pacific civilization. During the journey, Conn officer Martin Johnson arranges a much appreciated Sinterklaas interlude at O'Malley.

Upon arrival, Commodore Travis Christopher officiates over the wedding ceremony for Captain Paula Chapman and Major Aloysius Stark. On the next day, the Caitian Yeoman V'Zara and the Human Chief of Operations Geoff Ashton get married on the planet, the Swiftsure CO leading the ceremony.

Christmas concludes with a Promotion and Awards ceremony held on the Merid space station called Carousel. In the meantime, a space trader by the name of JopJop is allowed to dock with the USS Poseidon. Both the Swiftsure and Poseidon crew take aboard cute little creatures called Stompers.

PART 1 - THE STOMPERS AND THE TWO-DAY BUG

The USS Poseidon CO has returned from a trip to Terra. During the journey, a chance encounter with a Delusian ship has led to a diplomatic opening with planet Delusia. The USS Swiftsure and Poseidon get underway. Captain Chapman-Stark appoints newly promoted Lt Geoff Ashton as Second Officer.

It is soon apparent that a minor illness is spreading among both crew. The Stompers are incriminated and cleared in short order. They have however started reproducing and spreading aboard both ships at an increased pace. The Medical and Science departments on both ships are kept busy trying to find a solution to the problem and a cause for what is now called the Two Day Bug.

PART 2 - JOPJOP

The USS Swiftsure breaks away from the Poseidon in hopes to catch up with Trader JopJop's spaceship and gain some information on the Stompers' homeworld. As they close in on the ship, a suddenly paranoid JopJop broadcasts a distress signal reporting he is under attack by the Federation vessel and attempts a hostile maneuvre, to catastrophic results. The Trader's ship is destroyed and the distress signal reaches the USS Poseidon. A high strung Senior Staff recommends the utmost caution and Captain Chapman-Stark is summoned to report back in person.

The USS Swiftsure is on her way to the rendez vous point with the Poseidon when both CO's receive separate Intelligence messages from Starfleet, each to the effect that the USS Tethys and USS Shran have been destroyed or taken over and - each reporting the 'other' CO to be a traitor who must be stopped at all costs.

PART 3 - BATTLE PLANS

On both remaining ships, tensions run high as battle plans are readied to secure the other vessel and stop her commanding officer. Among both crew, rampant paranoia leads to a series of incidents. Captain Chapman-Stark and two Senior Officers beam aboard the USS Poseidon to report as ordered but really ready to put Commodore Christopher under arrest and take over command. As Poseidon Security attempts to put them under arrest, they beam back and disable one of the ship's nacelles. The net of comm buoys serving as relay with the Translift station is disabled.

While the Poseidon undergoes necessary repairs, the Swiftsure gets a headway start to the Orphans, an asteroid field where they hope to trap the Poseidon.

PART 4 - DARK VEIL

On the USS Poseidon, paranoid behaviours lead to several arrests. A group of unaffected people determine that the crew is affected by a condition similar to the Betazoid 'Dark Veil' through a parasite, susceptible to the curing effect of Merid fountain water. One daring rescue plan later, a cure for the Dark Veil is spread throughout the ship and sanity is restored.

On the Swiftsure, now nested among the Orphans, preparations for battle are complete. But one small group of unaffected people has gone undercover.They determine that the whole crew is affected by the Stompers' telepathic emissions. In a last ditch attempt to stop the impending confrontation with the Poseidon, they take over a Transporter Room and beam out all Stompers.

The cure proves to be less immediate and when a game of hide and seek leads both starships to a final face off, only Captain Chapman-Stark's memories will allow her to make an opening for peace. The USS Poseidon surrenders in order to alleviate remaining doubts. The Merid cure is distributed aboard the Swiftsure. Once reviewed, the Intel messages received by both commanding officers prove to be nothing more than customary reports. The Perseus wormhole is still under control of the Federaton. The USS Tethys is underway to track down the missing ships.

Both crew prove to have been right by half regarding the Dark Veil. The Stompers, gone on survival mode following the treatment to curb their reproduction rate, were emitting a telepathic subfield to which average sentients are normally impervious. The Stompers being carrion-eaters with a knack to lose themselves in the background find nourishment by pushing other animals to become aggressive and fight.

The parasite deposited by the 'innocuous' Two Day Bug made the crew susceptible to the telepathic subfield. Instead of outright aggression, they developed highly paranoid tendencies. Merid fountain water turned into a remedy thanks to the Merid's sense of hospitable cautions. Host to many different visitors, they have developed an all-in-one, low impact remedy delivered through macro molecules present in the waters of the Carousel's fountains.

The mystery solved, the USS Swiftsure and USS Poseidon leave the Orphas and arrive at Delusia. The USS Tethys joins them, bringing new crew aboard and taking away some others whose duties call away.

The USS Swiftsure is granted the Sixth Fleet Meritous Unit Service citation and all crewmembers receive the Jont Service Achievement Medal.

After a much needed recoup time on the lovely Delusia planet, the USS Swiftsure finally receives updated general mission orders and bids farewell to Carrier Group One to sail out on their own among the unknown territories of Outer Perseus.