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long as she had access to the proper resources. Even with the damage to the ship, which was beyond her immediate means to address, Arens knew that under the chief engineer’s watchful eye, they still were in decent shape.
    “You just know she’s back there, cursing loud and hard enough to strip paint off the bulkheads,” Hebert said, offering a knowing grin as she moved from her station.
    The captain nodded, chuckling at the image her statement evoked. “Oh, I know. Having to ask for a tow back to base is the engineer’s equivalent of a captain being forced to evacuate and abandon his ship, at least so far as damage to the ego is concerned.” He paused, looking around the bridge and taking stock of the situation by glancing at the array of workstation monitors and status indicators within his field of vision. “Advisor Zihl, may I have your permission to land on Gralafi in order to start our repairs?”
    The Dolysian replied, “Of course, Captain. Our central colony settlement, Havreltipa, features several landing ports and a vessel maintenance facility.”
    At the helm console, T’Vrel said, “I have it on sensors, Captain. The facility has two unoccupied berths.”
    “Excellent,” Arens said, liking the way the situation was beginning to show signs of improvement. “T’Vrel, make preparations for landing. Advisor Zihl, if you’ll work with Commander Hebert, we’ll put you in contact with the mining colony in order to secure their authorization.” Looking to his first officer, he added, “Commander, set up a shift rotation and let’s have all available hands sent down to engineering to give Rideout some help. We’re not going to be able to do much else until the cavalry gets here.” Given the size of Archer -class scouts and the small crews serving aboard them, assignment to such a vessel required that each crew member be cross-trained and proficient in at least two other starship occupational specialties. Such was the case aboard the Huang Zhong , with everyone including the captain possessing some form of engineering skill set that could be utilized during situations just like the one Arens and his crew faced.
    Hebert replied, “Aye, aye, sir. We’re on it.”
    From where he still worked at his science station, Boma said, “Captain, you need to see this.”
    Uh-oh , Arens thought. Now what? Stepping around his chair, he moved to stand behind Boma so that he could look down at the console over the other man’s shoulder. “What’s up?”
    “Something odd on the sensors,” the science officer replied, frowning. “Now that we’re on this side of the rift, I’m able to get a better look at the energy field. Though I suspected something like this from the beginning, this is the first real indication that I might be right.”
    “Right about what?” Arens asked.
    Boma gestured to one of his console’s display monitors. “The rift. I’m sure it’s being generated artificially, Captain.”
    “Really?” Arens asked, his eyes widening in surprise. “How?”
    Shaking his head, Boma replied, “I don’t know yet. It was almost an accident that I found it at all.” He pointed again to his station. “Coming through the rift disrupted our sensors, and I had to reset and recalibrate the array. I was going through some diagnostics, checking different wavelengths and frequencies, and the scanners picked up an abnormality. When I took a closer look, I was able to detect a regular pattern within the energy field surrounding the rift. It was reacting to our passage, even without the disruption caused by our warp engines. The entire field was acting like some kind of passive sensor scan. It covered the entire ship in seconds. I have no idea what controlled it, or if any information was transmitted to or from it, but the pattern was unmistakable, Captain. Whatever that thing is, it’s not a naturally occurring phenomenon. Someone or something put it there, deliberately.”
    “You’re sure?” Arens