[Round 2] Lt. Susan Banks, COO: In-phasic

[Jophry]

((USS Ursa Major))

Calhan: Susan! Susan, you hear me?

::Dim light entered her upper eyelids. She could hear Stephen... no!

it was Jo! Jo's voice... She must be in sickbay, then. But why? The

memory of a searing heat on her chest made Susan's eyes open. She

felt tears well up at the sight of her beloved Dr. Calhan. Jo had

been left behind but he was still not out of her thoughts.::

Banks: What happened, Jo? ::sitting up:: I'm feeling a little dizzy.

::Without a word Jo moved in and embraced her. For a moment it was

like the past, having her in his arms. He held her and mouthed a

silent thank you. Then, feeling she was getting uncomfortable, he

released her.::

Banks: ::holding his shoulder to stand:: Jo, where are we? It looks

like we're inside a cloud.

Calhan: Sorry. ::looking around:: I have no idea. I was in sickbay.

Pain. ::His face grimaced on the recall of rapturing sensation.::

Banks: The pain. I couldn't stand it. ::frowning:: Could this be

deeper inside the Ursa? We must have been beamed out... or in...

Calhan: Another vessel? Subspace fissure?

Banks: A subspace fissure? One of those quirks of space? ::shaking

her head:: No, I can't believe that. I've never been able to get my

mind around that sort of thing.

::Susan automatically tapped her comm badge. There was a small, high-

pitched klunk then nothing. Dr. Calhan repeated Lt. Banks' attempts

with his commbadge with same lack of result.::

Calhan: So much for calling home. ::He looked at the great white

expanse with nothing to set eye on except for Susan and tried not to

show her how bad he felt about the neighborhood.::

Banks: ::smiling half-heartedly:: Not to worry, Jo. We've been in

tough spots before. Remember the virus? Bung-Kho sent you back to me

half dead but we made it through. Remember?

Calhan: ::returning her smile:: Yeah, you're right. We'll make through

this.

Banks: Listen... do you hear that?

**SNIP**

((USS Phoenix C))

VOICE: The energy was electromagnetic, an ordinary background

radiation common to most living things. 'ra Tegg, the Ursa's

physicist, was calculating the sub-Cauchy limit, or threshold of one

of the rings when one outside of our ship activated, inducing the two

we have, which resulted in the collapse of our physics lab. And then

it stopped. The rings were placed in stasis and polarized. I doubt

that they were activated this time, but they could still have been

used as energy boosters. **end snip**

Banks: That was Stephen's voice.

::Jo was taken aback. How could they hear Stephen? He wasn't even

aboard Ursa Major. It could be a trick. Or they were halucinating.::

Calhan: I heard it.

Banks: It means something, Jo. ::Looking around, her eyes scanning

the dead white expanse.

**SNIP**

((USS Independence))

VOICE: It still isn't registering as conventionally biological, but I

believe we've found a way around that. The question is, what do we do

when we find it again? Like the lieutenant said, it didn't appear to

be hostile once contact was established, but.... I'd like to try to

talk to it. **end snip**

Calhan: I heard this woman before.

Banks: I don't recognize her voice.

Calhan: It's safe to assume she's from one of the ships.

::A shimmer to her right faded in then out. The shimmer returned,

growing stronger, brighter. The whiteness of it took on a bluish tint

then expanded to encompass about two feet in width. Flattening out,

the shimmer shrunk. It coalesed into what seemed to be a rope. Susan

reached out and was able to grab it. Two inches in diameter, the rope

was solid. She pulled and more of the rope appeared.::

Calhan: ::He had a bad feeling about this.:: Be careful!

Banks: Pull! It might be the way home!

Calhan: ::Overcoming his fears Jo joined Susan and they both began to

pull the rope.:: It's heavy, like we're towing something.

Banks: Look!!

::The bridge of the Ursa Major came into view. Dim, from a position

high above, Jo and Susan could see Cmdrs. Chen and Reed at the

command center, Lt. Carrington at tactical. Ensign Block sat in the

OPS chair.::

Banks: Do you think they could hear us? What's that? ::pointing as

another room appeared:: A briefing room? But where?

Lt. Susan Banks, MD

COO

USS Ursa major