Scoutships, Subspace and Salutations

Alpha Quadrant : Near the Eheort Anomaly

The Scoutship Interphase dropped out of warp near the event horizon of the Eheort Anomaly The sleek, gunmetal gray vessel turned expertly to starboard, avoiding invisible subspace currents and radiation pockets faster than any normal human could have. Lucky, then, that the vessel wasn't piloted by a human.

Inside the Interphase, one of the most advanced holograms in Starfleet history sat, not even touching the controls. The boards responded without his matrix activating them, responding to commands issued with ease. ASHER (Analytical Systems Holographic Energy Representation), the hologram, used the excess energy that he would've normally processed for movement to 'look around'. His eyes took in energy far beyond the normal human spectrum, and he raised a thin brown eyebrow against his pale skin, the closest he came to slack jawed awe. The colours were....stimulating.

The anomaly had popped up on the starbases sensors days ago. A gravity well, with neutrino emissions similar to a wormhole, but graviton readings far more immense. Normally, something for a science vessel to catalogue. But preliminary readings, however....

They were hard to make out. Blurred sensor scans that showed radiation gradients and star readouts that pointed to one conclusion - a hole in space that punched through to a whole other GALAXY.

Or so said the initial reports.

Because, intermittent with the readings that indicated a whole other galaxy on the other end of the tear, existed readings of the exact same universe on the other side. Same stars, same readings, same everything...except a quantum signature that was off. Proof positive to anyone who was looking of the Mirror Universe.

Of course, most people weren't looking. For a few months, ASHER had not even been looking, But Project Sign, Starfleets secret division devoted to combating and studying the Mirror Universe, always was. And since ASHER had once been a part of that project for nearly 3 years, he had been told to START looking...and he did. Unfortunately, that involved 'borrowing' the Interphase from the Starbase and coming out here to investigate the Anomaly

But even then, there was

< Warning. Event horizon shifting. Impact with gravity well eminent >

ASHER was shaken from the reverie as the Scoutship's computer rang through his matrix and the cockpit. Faster than his fingers could have moved, he redirected course, trying to use controlled bursts from his phaser array and precisely tuned quantum torpedoes to free himself....to no avail. The Scoutship went into an uncontrolled spin, slamming faster and faster towards the heart of the anomaly

ASHER reached up and ' took off ' his commbadge, plugging it into a small interface at the helm of the vessel. Immediately, the physical form of ASHER disappeared. But for the hologram, that battle was far from over. All life support, weapons, radiation shields, engines....all of it was re-routed to the shield emitter. Millions of calculations ran through the holograms processing centre and the Scoutships core, faster than possible for any biological being. At the precise moment the Scoutship should have collapsed underneath the pressure of the anomaly, a precisely controlled burst of antimatter and subspace energy slammed out of the sensor dish and created a bubble of interspace around the vessel - for a single millisecond, as it entered the very core of the anomaly, the ship faded from real space.

When it shot back into phase, so did ASHER's physical form. The consoles sparked and fizzed with electricity as the overloaded energy from the sensor dish ran over into the other circuits.

"Analytical Systems Holographic Energy Representation online. Visual Mode active." He spoke as he came back online, fully interfacing with the ship. The few seconds lost in that recitation cost impulse engines. He shook his head slightly "As I said before...." His hands started to fly over the console, trying to get his bearings as his remote link to the vessel overloaded and melted. "That particular part of my program is inefficie..."

<Incoming transmission> The computer interrupted, oblivious to the holograms mutterings.

ASHER looked up, raising a brow in confusion. His eyebrows slightly furrowed as he tapped a few commands.

[Unidentified ship, this is the Federation Starship USS Leviathan-A. Please identify yourself.]

ASHER blinked, craning his neck around to lock his gaze on the Akira class vessel, heading into the anomaly he was sure he just shot out of. He tapped a few buttons on the console and spoke.

"USS Leviathan ?" His calm, almost Vulcan voice called. " This is the Federation Scoutship Interphase , Ensign ASHER at the helm. It looks like we've both got somewhat of a problem....."