The TSS Melinma captained by none other than Chief Science Officer (C.S.O.) Hema tal Kuw was on a routine expedition in deep space to the north of Tundralli space. No Tundralli vessel ever visited this region of space and there was much left to uncover before the Hyperlanes would no longer allow passage through this part of the galaxy.
A seasoned scientist with many years of service under her commission C.S.O. Hema tal Kuw was in her quarters preparing for her morning shift onboard the Bridge of her ship, Melinma. Hema exited her shower and grabbed a couple of hot towels out of her adjacent cubbard and covered herself before making her way back into her bedroom to change into her uniform. The standard Tundralli Science Division uniform was a thick and insulated suit to protect the officer from star radiation should onboard shields fail to repel such radiation from entering the vessel. The helmet was not required unless on away missions or spacewalks to maintain the ship but Hema kept her helmet in pristine condition always next to her uniform should an event require needing it.
As Chief Science Officer Hema tal Kuw exited her quarters and made her way down the narrow corridor to the ship’s elevator were she waited to board. The elevator made an abrupt hissing noise as it halted on Level Three where Hema’s quarters were located. The elevator door then opened and expelled compressed air through the entrance floor which allowed the door to open and close with minimal maintenance. There was a man waiting onboard the elevator, of whom she greeted before pressing the “B” button on the right hand console of the elevator which indicated Bridge. The elevator once again hissed and proceeded upwards to the Bridge where both occupants were waiting to enter. As the elevator continued the man to Hema’s left onboard the elevator said “So. How did you sleep, Captain?”
Hema gazed from the elevator console to her comrade in a moment before replying “Slept well. Am looking forward to another day surveying our beloved sector of space.”
“Indeed! I hope everything on the bridge is in order this time around. I hate surprises.”
Hema chuckled softly under her breath before rebutting “You’re onboard a science vessel, Yuri. What did you expect?”
“I suppose you’re right, Captain. Just not quite used to my new posting onboard the Bridge.”
“It takes time. And time is something we have plenty of so stay sharp as you’ll never know what we may encounter.”
“Aye, Ma’am!” exclaimed Yuri.
A harmonic bell made a noise through the console of the elevator followed by a male voice saying “Now approaching... Bridge.” The elevator shortly after came to a stop and once again exhaled a loud hiss as compressed air bellowed out from the underside of the retracting door. Both C.S.O. Hema tal Kuw and Ensign Yuri exited the elevator and manned their posts, relieving the night watch from their said postings to retire.
“Anything relevant happen in our absence, Commander?” proudly said by Hema.
“We are just about to enter, what our starcharts claim, the ‘Sanctuary’ system.”
“Very good, Commander. Make standard entry and prepare scanners to come online.”
“Aye, Captain!” exclaimed Commander Oth. “Ensign Yuri, drop us out of warp speed and triangulate the best route for our scanners to deploy.”
“Aye, Commander!” Ensign Yuri carefully inputted commands on his computer console telling the vessel’s onboard navigation to drop out of warp and begin scanning a one hundred forty-four degree radius front of the vessel. A few moments passed and the science ship’s onboard computer announced “Now suspending warp drive.” followed by a three second countdown which slowed the ship to a passive speed that was predetermined by Ensign Yuri during his input commands to the computer.
“We are now in the Sanctuary System, Captain.” Yuri felt pleased with himself as this time he did not make any miscalculations that embarrassed him a few days prior.
“Excellent, Ensign. Begin sensor sweep.” Commanded Hema.
Shortly after CSO Hema’s orders were dispatched an alert from the TSS Melinma’s communication’s sub-processor rang a harmonic chime indicating that they were being hailed by a foreign entity. “Should I bring comms online, Captain?” said Yuri.
“Yes, Ensign. Patch us through.” rebutted Hema. The Melinma’s bridge display screen began to operate. First a silent black and white noise static display followed by an an image of Sanctuary’s star where the hailing originated from. Momentarily after that was the following audio message…
“Welcome to the Sanctuary, sapient. This fully automated facility was established 74,605,338 cycles ago to serve as a nature reserve. Our self-sustaining biome segments feature a selection of non-intelligent flora and fauna originating from four distinct biospheres.
To protect these fragile biospheres, access to our facilities is currently restricted.
Do not approach this facility under any circumstances.”
Hema looked to Commander Oth in confusion before replying “Who created this facility?”
The foreign transmission continued with “This facility was constructed by the Ximio over a period of 412 cycles. It was completed and fully functional 74,605,338 cycles ago. The last recorded visit by a Ximio vessel occurred 67,103,853 cycles ago. There are no recorded visits by Ximio or Ximio-affiliated vessels since that date.
There are 38,201 failed attempts by unauthorized vessels to access this facility on record.
Do not approach this facility under any circumstances.”
Ensign Yuri quickly looked at his computer console and began to fumble about. He quickly got his wits together before exclaiming “Captain! We have weapon radiation increasing from the solar center of this system.” Yuri paused for a moment before continuing “Yes. It seems the Sanctuary has an automated defensive system surrounding some sort of massive object.” Yuri paused once again before finishing with “Bringing an image on the display...now.”
The Bridge crew looked in awe on the Melinma display screen. A massive ring surrounded the star of Sanctuary and was protected by hundreds of starships. From first glance it seemed that this ring was constructed of some sort of hyperdense alloy that could withstand the star’s radiation and that these vessels guarding the ring were also constructed of the same material.
“By the Gods! What have we stumbled upon Captain!” said Commander Oth
“It seems we have found one of the many secrets of our galaxy, Commander. Let us heed the warning and reverse course. No need to cause a situation here. Especially one we can not victor from. Ensign! Bring us about. I will inform Science Division Command of what we found here today.”
And so, Chief Science Officer Hema tal Kuw and the TSS Melinma reversed course and entered a neighboring star system to continue surveying systems for the Science Division. What the TSS Melinma had found was something extraordinary and could not be further investigated at this time. Perhaps in the future these so called Ximios could be discovered and communicated with in the hopes to reenter Sanctuary and try to further understand what has transpired over the past eons of its construction. But that will remain for another day and the TSS Melinma continued onward in search of further discovery.