The Secret Inside The Neck - Star Trek Fanfiction (The Reality Paradox #9)

 

I stepped up to the turbolift with Aura directly behind me. The typical command panel was mounted to the right of the door, and I tapped a few controls to open it.

The usual hiss of a turbolift door sliding open was nonexistent.

Almost completely silent.

I stepped inside and Aura followed. The turbolift felt much smaller than those aboard most starships I had served on.

I suppose for a ship that doesn't require a crew to operate, that would make sense.

The doors slid shut, and Aura announced our destination.

"Mission Core."

The turbolift began its descent.

Rather slowly, I might add.

We both watched the holographic schematics of the Paradox displayed across one wall of the turbolift as deck numbers illuminated during our descent.

Deck 4.

Deck 3.

Deck 2.

Deck 1.

Suddenly, the deck numbers disappeared as we continued downward.

"That's odd."

We watched the schematics, but no additional deck indicators illuminated to identify our location. We exchanged confused glances before the turbolift abruptly stopped.

Both of us looked back to the display.

MISSION CORE ACCESS

No deck designation.

The doors slid open.

Aura stepped into the darkness beyond without hesitation.

I had never served aboard a starship with a Mission Core. I wasn't entirely sure what we were about to walk into.

Darkness didn't seem like a good sign.

I finally stepped out after her.

The instant my second foot touched the deck, the entire Mission Core illuminated around us and the turbolift doors closed behind me.

I raised an arm to shield my eyes from the sudden brightness.

When my vision adjusted, my jaw dropped.

The Mission Core was apparently the entire neck section of the ship.

I had only caught a brief glimpse of the schematics on the bridge and inside the turbolift, but this was certainly not a conventional starship design. I had never encountered a vessel with a neck structure like this before.

I had wondered what purpose it served.

Now I knew.

Aura stood several meters ahead of me, already scanning the room.

I conducted a visual inspection of my own.

There were only two large consoles, one on each side of the chamber.

Directly opposite us stood another turbolift.

Its doors were made entirely of transparent glass.

That was a first.

I glanced upward and noticed a second level within the Mission Core that appeared accessible only from inside the compartment itself. It must have been the level we passed during our descent from the bridge.

The upper chamber occupied nearly the entire interior volume of the neck.

The specialized turbolift traveled directly into that room.

Whatever was up there had clearly been deemed important enough to restrict access through the Mission Core.

Aura finally moved toward one of the consoles.

I started toward the other, then stopped.

The specialized turbolift had captured my attention.

I approached it and immediately noticed bright holographic red lettering displayed across the glass doors.

RESTRICTED AREA

Now I was even more intrigued.

I entered the Federation access sequence we had been using throughout the ship into the nearby control panel.

Nothing happened.

I frowned.

I wasn't surprised.

The doors did clearly say Restricted Area.

Frankly, we were fortunate that any of the access sequences had worked at all.

The thought sent a slight chill through me.

The USS Paradox was obviously Federation.

But it wasn't from our era.

Starfleet regularly updates security protocols and authorization sequences. It made no sense that ours still functioned aboard this vessel.

I pushed the thought aside and walked over to Aura.

"Report."

"The Mission Core occupies a substantial portion of the vessel's neck structure. It is not assigned a conventional deck designation."

"No kidding."

I chuckled.

The observation was painfully obvious.

Aura turned toward me and paused.

Then she frowned.

Still such an unusual sight.

"I am still learning which observations should remain unspoken."

I smiled and patted her shoulder.

"It's okay, Aura. You'll figure it out faster than you think."

For just a moment, I thought I saw the hint of a smile.

She looked back to the console.

"Captain, I have gained access to the Mission Core architecture."

"And?"

"The Reality Stabilization Systems, Temporal Shielding Generators, Quantum Probability Sensors, and Temporal Operations Center are present."

I detected a slight hesitation in her voice.

"But?"

"Their operating interfaces remain encrypted."

I nodded, hoping she would recognize that this was another observation that probably could have remained unspoken.

Her expression shifted from confusion to understanding.

"Correction. I intended to say that while I cannot directly access those systems, I believe I can attempt to decrypt their interfaces."

"Now that's an answer I'm looking for."

This time she genuinely smiled.

"The subsystems continue to exchange information with one another. By analyzing those exchanges, I may be able to reconstruct portions of their functionality."

"Make it so."

She returned her attention to the console.

My gaze drifted back toward the specialized turbolift.

"Aura, can you determine what's located in the room that turbolift leads to?"

I pointed toward the glass doors.

She glanced up from the console.

"Are you unable to access it, Captain?"

"The Federation sequence didn't work, and the doors are marked Restricted Area."

"I will suspend analysis of the subsystem exchanges and retrieve the vessel schematics."

I thought I detected the faintest trace of sarcasm.

Still difficult to tell.

The schematics of the Paradox appeared across her display.

She zoomed in on the neck section and expanded the layout.

Every room in the rest of the ship was clearly identified.

Except one.

The chamber above us was completely obscured.

The sight only deepened my curiosity.

Aura appeared equally intrigued.

"Interesting..."

"What did you find?"

Her eyes brightened slightly as she scanned the data.

"The USS Paradox was designed using a Controlled Tri-Sectional Separation Architecture."

Tri-sectional?

I raised an eyebrow.

"Translate."

"The vessel separates into two fully independent operational starships."

I folded my arms.

"Starfleet has employed separation-capable designs before, though not on this scale. Even Galaxy-class starships couldn't fully operate both sections after emergency separation."

She looked up.

"The capability is not unprecedented, Captain. As you stated, several historical Starfleet vessels incorporated emergency separation systems. The distinction lies in the purpose of the design."

She paused.

Almost as though she was evaluating her own conclusion.

"The Paradox could not be classified as a conventional separation-capable starship. Critical operational functions remain intentionally distributed between its primary sections."

That theory was beginning to make sense.

"And I'm assuming tri-sectional means three parts."

"Yes, Captain."

I looked around the Mission Core.

It seemed highly unlikely that this section could function as an independent vessel.

"If only two sections are fully operational after separation, why is the design classified as tri-sectional? What happens to the third section? Which I'm assuming is the Mission Core."

I gestured around the chamber.

"There's no way this part of the ship could function independently."

"That is an accurate assessment, Captain."

She gestured toward the specialized turbolift.

"As I stated previously, the vessel was designed around compartmentalized operational functions. It is logical to assume the Mission Core contains highly classified information."

She looked back to the schematics and illuminated another data block.

Her eyes scanned the text.

"Fascinating."

I stepped closer.

"Elaborate."

"The Mission Core becomes compartmentalized and inaccessible during emergency separation."

She paused.

Then continued.

"Failure to recover the Mission Core within seventy-two hours results in automatic archive destruction and core self-termination."

I straightened immediately.

"Self-termination?"

"Affirmative."

I moved around the console until I was directly in front of her.

"Why would anyone build something like that?"

Aura remained silent for a moment.

Then she answered.

"Redundancy."

"For what?"

Her gaze finally met mine.

"Reality."