Episode 81. The AspiroTube Network
Context
- Coordinated Universal Time
- Saturday, August 10, 2024 - 15:01
- Location
-
- Earth
- U.S. Airspace
- Colorado
- Shuttle Herbie 53
- Timeline
- Schak'Irra Timeline
- Previously
-
After the special operation ordered by Admiral Michaux, Agnes's team successfully completed its mission in Russia before returning to the Enterprise. Gravely wounded, Captain Rodriguez was placed in a coma, leaving command to Acting Captain Angie Chen. With help from the Vulcan T'Met, Agnes survived, but her last thoughts - Angie, Koala, Area 51 - deeply intrigue the team. Convinced that a link exists between those words and the key to countering the Tholians, Angie decides to travel to the mythical Area 51 complex.
Characters
| Name | Affiliation / Branch | Title / Rank | Species | Original Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angie Chen | NATO / Special Fleet | Commander Acting Captain |
Human | Schak'Irra Timeline |
| Tarsi | Starfleet / Temporal Division | Commander | Andorian | Prime Timeline |
| T'Met | Starfleet / Temporal Division | Captain | Vulcan | Prime Timeline |
| Robert Gomard | NATO / Army | Colonel | Human | Schak'Irra Timeline |
| Eros Vitos | NATO / Special Fleet | Ensign | Human | Schak'Irra Timeline |
| NORAD Operator | NATO / NORAD | N/A | Human | Schak'Irra Timeline |
| NORAD Officer | NATO / NORAD | N/A | Human | Schak'Irra Timeline |
Manifest
| USS Enterprise | |
|---|---|
| Affiliation | NATO |
| Location | Earth Orbit |
| Captain | Angie Chen (Acting) |
| First Officer | N/A |
| Pilot | Eric Corda |
| Communications | Emilie Flores |
| Operations | Charlene Savea |
| Tactical | Eric Corda Charlene Savea |
| Science | Manu |
| Advanced Weapons | Eros Vitos |
| Sickbay | Victor S. Calpel |
| Counselor/Consultant | Manu |
| Custodian | Manu |
| Passengers |
Tarsi (Confidential) Robert Gomard and his squad T'Met and 4 Vulcan survivors from Schak'Irra Emmanuel Macron |
| Detainees | Vladimir Joseph Putin and his bodyguards |
| Ground Team |
Angie Chen Robert Gomard Eros Vitos Tarsi T'Met Several crew members |
TL;DR
Angie Chen leads an expedition to Area 51 through the ultra-secure AspiroTube network, accessible only from NORAD beneath Cheyenne Mountain. Aboard the shuttles, she is accompanied by Gomard, Eros, Tarsi and T'Met. During the trip by SonicShuttle, T'Met and Tarsi argue over the Temporal Prime Directive and the truth surrounding the crash of Schak'Irra in 1954, exposing an old complicity. As the convoy already reaches Nevada, Angie senses that the answers she is looking for now lie behind Area 51's sealed doors.
Story
After a night of rest, the Enterprise left Russia and set course for the United States.
Captain Chen assembled an exploration team: Colonel Gomard, Tarsi, Eros, T'Met and several officers.
Aboard four class-F shuttles, they are now flying over Colorado toward the Cheyenne Mountain military base.
That is where NORAD is located... along with secure access to the AspiroTube network.
From there, they will be able to reach the Area 51 complex.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
Cheyenne Mountain Base, this is Captain Chen of the USS Enterprise.
We request authorization to land.
NORAD (Communications)
This is Cheyenne Mountain Base.
Please transmit your credentials and state the purpose of your presence.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
Credentials sent.
We are heading to Area 51 and request access to the AspiroTube network.
NORAD (Communications)
Please stand by...
Cmdr. Tarsi
I still do not understand why we are taking a detour through Colorado.
Is there no direct surface access?
Ens. Eros Vitos (Weapons Engineer)
The protocol is clear. In the event of an attack, the only authorized passage is through NORAD.
Across the entire Area 51 sector, they shoot at anything that moves. Without warning.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
And how do you know that, Ensign?
Ens. Eros Vitos (Weapons Engineer)
Simple, Commander...
Oops. Captain.
I helped install the defense systems and run the simulations.
NORAD (Communications)
Captain Chen, this is Cheyenne Mountain.
Your access request has been approved.
Please use shaft B-3.
At the bottom, dock your shuttles with the SonicShuttle at platform 7.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
Copy, Cheyenne Mountain.
Chen, out.
Col. Robert Gomard (Army)
Tarsi, T'Met, to the back of the shuttle.
Hide under a blanket.
Better avoid being seen before we arrive.
Cmdr. Tarsi
Oh dear... these humans, always the same!
I would have liked to see Stargate, too.
Col. Robert Gomard (Army)
The what?!
Cmdr. Tarsi
Never mind.
Your reality is too backward to understand.
Ens. Eros Vitos (Weapons Engineer)
Captain, NORAD is transmitting the coordinates.
Shaft B-3 is on the northeastern summit.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
Thank you, Eros.
The four shuttles take position above Cheyenne Mountain, directly over the gaping shaft opening in the rock.
They begin a vertical descent of several hundred meters.
At the bottom, a vast underground station appears: the heart of the AspiroTube network.
A SonicShuttle is already waiting at the platform.
Angie docks Herbie 53 with the train.
The three other shuttles attach themselves to it, forming an improvised convoy.
As soon as the systems stabilize, a NORAD officer approaches and signals Angie to get out.
Officer (NORAD)
Hello. Welcome to Cheyenne Mountain Station.
Are you Captain Chen?
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
No. I am Rihanna.
Officer (NORAD)
Excuse me?
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
No sense of humor...
Obviously I am Captain Chen.
Officer (NORAD)
Hold out your arm.
I need to scan your chip for the access formalities.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
There.
Tell me... have any Nauvoo ships from the starbase contacted you yet?
Officer (NORAD)
No.
You are the first since the July 15 attack.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
Do you still have communications with the other bunkers?
Officer (NORAD)
Yes.
Exchanges are continuing with the complexes on the continent.
But we have lost the link with Europe.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
Lost the link?
What do you mean?
Officer (NORAD)
A section of the AspiroTube, along the Atlantic portion, was destroyed.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
Destroyed?
By whom?
Officer (NORAD)
No idea.
Engineers from the New York bunker left to inspect the damage.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
Was the structure sabotaged from the inside, or hit from the outside?
Officer (NORAD)
No idea.
There. You are cleared.
The SonicShuttle will depart in fifteen minutes.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
Thank you.
Angie returns to the shuttle and waits for the convoy to depart.
At the scheduled time, the track lights up.
The SonicShuttle and the four shuttles rise on magnetic levitation.
A signal sounds.
Then the convoy is sucked into the tube.
In a few seconds, they reach a speed close to Mach 1.
Cmdr. Tarsi
Woohooooo!
We are going to fly! Yeaaaah!
Capt. T'Met
Maintain your composure, Commander.
It is merely a high-speed train from the pre-warp era. Nothing more.
Cmdr. Tarsi
For your information, these humans did not wait for the Vulcans to develop a warp engine...
Capt. T'Met
Illogical.
There was never any dilithium near Earth that humans could have exploited.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
You are mistaken, Captain T'Met.
Since the 1950s, NATO has been exploiting a deposit at the lunar South Pole.
Capt. T'Met
Fascinating.
Vexoriana-Lyss'ra, I offer you my apologies.
Cmdr. Tarsi
Apology accepted, my dear T'Met.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
What did you call her?
Capt. T'Met
Vexoriana-Lyss'ra.
Cmdr. Vexoriana-Lyss'ra Tarsi
It is my first name, Angie.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
Oh...
I thought your name was Tarsi.
Cmdr. Vexoriana-Lyss'ra Tarsi
That is my clan name.
Everyone calls me Tarsi because no one remembers my first name.
Except T'Met.
Col. Robert Gomard (Army)
Vexoriana-Lyss'ra...
That is a strange first name.
Cmdr. Vexoriana-Lyss'ra Tarsi
Yes. I do not like it very much.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
Why?
Cmdr. Vexoriana-Lyss'ra Tarsi
In ancient Andorian, it means: She Who Charms the Condemned Before Uprooting Their Antennae.
Col. Robert Gomard (Army)
You cannot survive without your antennae?
Cmdr. Vexoriana-Lyss'ra Tarsi
Without the antenna roots, an Andorian dies within a few days.
If they are merely cut... they grow back.
Col. Robert Gomard (Army)
Aaarf...
That is awful.
The SonicShuttle races through the bowels of the Earth.
The tube walls stream past with a deep, almost organic hiss.
The white light of the beacons reflects off the shuttles' hulls, creating a steady flicker inside the cabin.
Inside, Tarsi's euphoria slowly fades.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
We still have a little time before reaching Nevada.
Captain T'Met... can you tell us what happened in 1954?
Capt. T'Met
I am sorry, Captain Chen.
I am not authorized to disclose that type of information.
Cmdr. Vexoriana-Lyss'ra Tarsi
For crying out loud, T'Met!
These people are our allies!
We need to know why Schak'Irra crashed!
Capt. T'Met
Unlike you, I respect the Temporal Prime Directive.
And besides... you are not supposed to be in the twenty-first century.
Cmdr. Vexoriana-Lyss'ra Tarsi
Oh, excuse me for coming to rescue you!
You have no idea what I had to do to find you!
Capt. T'Met
Knowing you... I assume Admiral Quihoui is not aware.
Cmdr. Vexoriana-Lyss'ra Tarsi
For a Vulcan, you deduce quickly.
That bitch Quihoui sealed the file on your disappearance!
I had to steal Tal'Kyr to come here.
Capt. T'Met
It is illogical to steal a vessel that is not operational.
As I recall, Tal'Kyr was in dry dock for modernization.
Cmdr. Vexoriana-Lyss'ra Tarsi
Yes, in dry dock.
Disarmed.
But not completely inoperable when it comes to opening a vortex.
Capt. T'Met
Vexoriana-Lyss'ra... you are brilliant.
But profoundly irresponsible.
Cmdr. Vexoriana-Lyss'ra Tarsi
I know.
You tell me constantly.
If I had been disciplined... I would be an admiral by now.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
So, if I understand correctly... in the name of Starfleet regulations, you refuse to tell us your story?
Capt. T'Met
I will not have time.
The convoy is slowing down.
A faint shiver runs through the hull.
The tube's light shifts in tone.
Ens. Eros Vitos (Weapons Engineer)
Ladies and gentlemen... we are arriving.
Nevada.
Area 51.
Welcome home.
Cmdr. Angie Chen (Acting Capt.)
Already?
We only just left Colorado...