The Crossing

Posted on Wed Dec 24th, 2025 @ 4:11pm by Commodore Elias McEntyre & Emery Tyris-McEntyre & Commander Cressida Vale MD & Commander Gil’an Tyris & Lieutenant Colonel Jesse Moriarty & Lieutenant Commander Drevas & Lieutenant Commander Declan Malcom & Major Blez Dralis & Commander Rylen Lyo & Lieutenant JG Zahra el-Saad & Ensign Vesper Wells

2,276 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Pilot - "The Gate"
Location: U.S.S. Guinevere
Timeline: 2 days after "New Information"

Ship’s Log: U.S.S. Guinevere Stardate 61204.6, Commodore Elias McEntyre, Recording: With the departure of the New Hope and the last of personnel and equipment transferred over, we are now ready to get underway and cross into a new frontier.

Elias enters the bridge from the stairs leading to the ready room and takes a moment to observe the activity on the bridge for a moment. Various crew scurrying about, getting last minute details completed before they made the crossing through the gate. His Yeoman was also gathering up paperwork and finalizing last details herself.

Elias spotted Gil at his station furiously typing into the computer and compiling last minutes scans from Iliad.

Elias strode over to the Science station, looking over the pre-approach scans for the course through the gate. It loomed large, dwarfing Guin with it’s size, the viewscreen forward of the bridge did it no justice nor did the scans on the science stations various screens.

“One small step for man” Elias quipped to his husband. He had also thought of bringing Emery up to see the crossing with his dads.

“That’s actually incorrect. I have listened to the digitally remastered version of the moon landings from four centuries ago…the astronaut actually said ‘That's one small step for a man, and one giant leap for mankind’,” said Gil, gently correcting his husband. “But I appreciate the spirit of your comment, Sir. I could sit here and talk all day about how the verteron nodes and tachyon particles puncture and reorder the fabric of localized de Sitter space and invert the spatial gradient to make transit through the Gate possible. But nobody really wants to hear that.”

"And yet I know you too well that you'll tell me at dinner and Emery will get that glazed look in his eyes before he asks to watch Flotter and Friends." Elias smiles before he put a kiss on the top of Gil's head. Elias normally kept that kind of affection confined to the ready room or their quarters but being a historic moment meant bending the rules.

"I'm hopeful for new things for you to study."

"Flotter & Friends is garbage entertainment," quipped the Ba'ku. "And yes, plenty of toys for my department to play with."

Back behind and to the side of the science station, the tall, lanky form of Commander Drevas hunched over the Tactical console, looking rather...dower considering the history about to be made. Elias walked over, tilting his head in that feline like curious way, common to Caitians.

“Penny for your thoughts, Mr. Drevas?”

"I worry, sir. For my own department. Preparations are complete and I am confident that we will function at full or near full capacity as far as possible, but I am also concerned for a certain few personnel whom I feel might not adapt terribly well to the distance from home as it were." The Kelpien paused to fish out his PADD, swipe through a few screens and place it on his console for the Commodore to read.

"I have taken time to speak to my department, one by one. I am not finished and I forsee that I may need several more days, given the need to maintain operational readiness and other necessary tasks. However. Of the five I have managed to speak with I have identified two whom I believe may need further attention. I have promised not to share information in detail to anyone else but counsellors, yourself and the First Officer unless necessary." He tapped on the screen, bringing up a neatly typed note, currently little more than organised bullet points.

"Lieutenant Macgillan, of Earth. Her mother is currently gravely ill and may not live beyond a year if even that. The thought of leaving her only remaining family behind when she is most vulnerable for a period multiple times the amount of time she supposedly has left brings her great discomfort - and this time she may not have the means to return home if she must. I have arranged her for counselling, but I do not know if it will be enough."

"Also. Chief petty officer N'yen. He is an excellent technical and tactical expert, but trigger happy as humans call it, having evaded danger for several years while growing up on the streets of Orion. He buries himself in his work and that is obvious to all. A mitigating influence has been his partner of four years serving on Starbase 777 - an influence he will no longer have easy access to once we transit. Again I have recommended him for counselling to work on possible solutions."

"All report general mild anxiety over the massive distance from home, if mixed with great excitement over being able to truly explore, as they put it. I do not know if I will uncover further issues in other crew along the journey, and I am unsure if our resources will be sufficient to address them."

"If there not, let me know. I can have resources allocated to you. I can also have Ms. Montoya speak with them as well, Mr. Drevas." Elias nods in reply.

"How about you, Mr. Drevas? Are you ready for this new adventure for which we are about to embark?"

"I believe I am, sir. I share the sentiment with the rest, of course. I have taken time to contact my remaining family on Kaminar." After a short pause he added, "My nephews and nieces are sad that I will not be home soon to give them presents. They'll simply have to deal with it. Such is the nature of my job."

"I promise you, Mr. Drevas, we will return from this expedition." Elias nods to Drevas.

Satisfied of what he heard, Elias made his way to the center chair, taking his place with a stoic gaze and heroic posture before he tapped the communication circuit on his chair.

“Bridge to Sickbay, status update?”

Sickbay

The biobeds were clear, all patients having been discharged. Only a small handful had serious enough injuries that they couldn't work; everyone else was back on duty.

The medical department's alpha-shift were on duty, prepared to accept injuries in case the ship took damage, but not anticipating the mass casualties that came from a battle. The rest of the medical staff could be pulled in at a moment's notice if things went truly awry.

And in the middle of the sickbay stood Cressida Vale, monitoring it all. She tapped her commbadge. "Vale here. Sickbay is ready for whatever might come our way, sir."

Back to Bridge

"Understood, Thank you Doctor" Elias nods softly before switching channels over to the engineering circuit.

“Engineers, make ready for transit. Final reports, Mr. Malcolm?”

"Systems are ready as they can be. All personnel accounted for. We'll be ready to bring whatever systems go down, back up ASAP. We adapt the shields, so those shouldn't go down." Declan responded, as he looked over the waiting damage control teams and the pool table.

"Thank you, Mr. Malcolm." Elias closes the comm.

“Lt. Colonel, are the troops ready?” Elias turns his head slightly, seeing the newly gazetted Lieutenant Colonel entering the bridge with his new XO Major Dralis behind him.

Moriarty gave a brisk, efficient nod as he made his way from the lift, his body held with the conviction and discipline of a military man. "Ready and standing by," he assured, before arching an eyebrow. "Let's hope we don't need them..." he added with a note of dark humour.

"Commodore, you didn't say some boldly going phrase, did you?" Blez had trouble keeping a straight face but continued to keep his mouth shut as he waited for a reply.

Elias looked at him over the top of his glasses with a smirk. "Now what makes you think that, Major?" He said with a sly attitude and a small wink of the eye before he turned his attention back to the task at hand.

In a shaky tone, Blez replied, "it seemed like that kind of..." A chuckle escaped, but he covered his mouth for a second to compose himself. "Of moment to say one considering we are boldly going where no one has gone before." He laughed a few chuckles before he stopped.

"For All Mankind sort of thing?" Elias quipped back. "in that case, I would say...Hi Bob"

"Bob? Anyway, most of us aren't humans, including yourself, sir, For The Federation." Blez paused, he smiled. "That has a better punch to it."

"'Good luck, Mister Gorski'," Zahra quoted from the helm station with a smirk. "RCS and impulse at the ready, sir," she volunteered.

Blez spoke up again. "May I suggest Yellow Alert?"

Elias looked up at the Major over his glasses with a deadpan stare before he turned to face the viewscreen.

“Ms. Zahra, plot a course through the gate, full impulse if you please” Elias ordered the helm as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs.

"Full impulse, aye, sir," Zahra said. At her inputs, the ship began moving forward at sublight speed toward the gate.

“Dr. Tyris, send the activation signal to the gate, Mr. Drevas sensors full scan once we’re clear on the other side.” Elias gave further orders as he felt the impulse engines fire and the ship beginning to move.

Gil nodded once, turning back toward his station to access and transmit the file that contained the gate activation signal. Deriving the signal had been a huge effort on the part of the ship's Computer Sciences division; because of the complexity of Borg technology in comparison to that of the Federation, Starfleet computers took more time to derive the activation codes. This particular signal contained approximately 4.35 x 10^28 characters, both alphabetical and numerical; Guinevere's computer had worked round the clock for over 100 hours to derive the code.

A billionth of a nanosecond after the sequence left the subspace transmitter, the gate herself whirled to life. The menacing omnipresent green glow in its aperture had been replaced by a vision of a tunnel through the fabric of local spacetime that seemed to stretch into infinity.

"Activation sequence has been accepted," said Gil triumphantly. "The Gate is ready for transit."

Guinevere moved through space like a dancer moves across the stage, with grace and elegance. Elias had always admired Guin’s clean lines in her design, which is what drew her to him when he selected Guin as his flagship. Her sensors and hardiness had also played a factor but it was not her main draw.

Elias focused on the ever growing gate, appearing larger and larger before it spun to life, ejecting energy before stabilizing

"All hands, stand by, we're crossing the gate"

Blez stood at the back of the bridge and leaned back against the wall as he watched the crossover.

It took nearly a moment before the Guin crossed the aperture and was rushed across the miasma of the Transwarp Network in what felt like no time at all, reappearing into normal space on the other side of the network, right into M33, the Triangulum Galaxy.

Elias felt the ship lurch as the internia bled off, the Guin slowly listing from the gate.

"Mr. Drevas, full sweep, any contacts on sensors?"

"Sensors remain clear, Commodore. For now." Drevas reported from his station.

Blez approached Jesse, "Should we go and wait down below, sir?" He whispered.

Jesse shook his head lightly to him, his arms folded across his chest as he watched on. He wanted to see how this unfolded, for a little while longer at least. There was plenty of time to get to work, but for now, he wanted to witness history being made.

Elias tapped the communication circuit on his chair, the squeal of the boatswain whistle sounded through the bridge and through out the ship.

"All hands, this is the Commodore. We have now crossed the gate and are the first Federation Starship to be in the Triangulum Galaxy. We have much work ahead of us, but I want you to take a moment to think on the brave explorers who sat out long ago into our own galaxy to boldly go where none have gone before. Bravo Zulu to you all. Commodore Out."

Elias turned to Zahra once more, "Ms. Zahra, course 060, all ahead 2/3rd impulse, let's clear the gate range and let's start looking for something to explore." Elias said with enthusiasm.

Vesper watched the viewscreen from the side of the bridge, her lips parted as she took in a soft, shaking breath of awe. She had joined Starfleet in the hopes of seeing the universe and testing her limits. But she had never dreamt that she would be involved in a mission of this magnitude. She was one of the first few to come this far, and the thought was humbling and exciting all at the same time.

As Guinevere glides through the miasma of space, close by, a beacon was screaming to parts unknown, a warning, danger, not from outside but Guinevere herself. To who it was transmitting would soon be revealed in time.

-----
Commodore Elias McEntyre
Commanding Officer
USS Guinevere

Commander Rylen Lyo
Executive Officer
USS Guinevere

Commander Cressida Vale, MD
Chief Medical Officer and Second Officer
USS Guinevere

Commander Gil Tyris
Chief Science Officer
USS Guinevere

Major Blez Dralis
Provost Marshal, Ground Forces Military Police
USS Guinevere

Lt. Cmdr Drevas
Chief Tactical Officer
USS Guinevere

Lt. Colonel Jesse Moriarty
CO Ground Forces Detachment
USS Guinevere

Lieutenant JG Zahra el-Saad
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Guinevere

Ensign Vesper Wells
Yeoman
USS Guinevere

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