The Road To Nowhere - Pt. 2
| Star Traks: The Vexed Generation | |
| Episode name | The Road To Nowhere - Pt. 2 |
|---|---|
| Season | Vexed: Season 1 |
| Episode number | 2 |
| Writer(s) | Anthony Butler |
| Year | 2374 |
| Stardate | 51016.0 |
| {{{image}}} | |
| Chronology | |
| Previous in series | The Road To Nowhere - Pt. 1 |
| Next in series | Nantucket Sleighride |
| Previous in timeline | The Road To Nowhere - Pt. 1 |
| Next in timeline | Nantucket Sleighride |
Synopsis
The crew of the USS Aerostar regain conciousness drifting amongst a veritable graveyard of Starfleet and other Alpha quadrant vessels, all wrecked beyond repair and scavanged of most useful equipment. Larkin deduces from the helms that the ship has been transported into the Delat quadrant. Whilst Richards effects hasty repairs to the ship, Baxter and the bridge crew harvest log entries from the least damaged Starfleet vessels, including the USS Holloway, and begin to piece together the fates of some of the ships. (Captain Fred Donnelly's demise at the hands a hostile race known only as the Flarn and his warning of the unfriendliness of the neighbourhood seem lost on the crew of the Aerostar). Baxter orders the ship to continue tracking the unknown freighter they followed into the Bermuda Expanse, tracing it to the third planet of the nearby Maaloxian system, where they learn that the single occupant, Mirk is a member of a once powerful and influential species who had spread across the quadrant. Sadly, after the advent of the Flarn, they have been reduced to the galactic equivelant of message boys and errand runners. Whilst Baxter, Peterman, J'hana and Larkin are on the surface of Maalox, the Flarn appear in the guise of Overmaster Granok's flagship. Granok descends to the surface and takes Baxter and Peterman hostage with the intent of having them cooked "A'la Nerok" Style. (Conway fires Aerostar's phasers at the shuttlecraft, unwilling to take on the might of the flagship unless absolutely necessary. Sadly his actions draw a full on attack from the larger vessel, almost destroying Aerostar in the process). Granok orders Mirk to escort the Jendak through the asteroids to the "Key Portal", the Crebius Cluster, which will enable the Flarn to invade the Alpha quadrant (To his credit, Mirk does inform the Overmaster that attempts to enter the portal can only be made by certain Maaloxians and that the Flarn ship will surely be destroyed, but Granok forces the order through regardless.) Mirk, J'hana and Larkin make for the portal, with the Jendak in close pursuit. On route, Larkin surmises that it is the shielding frequency that allows Mirk's ship to traverse the portal, and that only a shield frequency equal to that of his will protect the Aerostar. She also transmits the Flarn's shield frequency to the Aerostar which is following in close pursuit, allowing the Starfleet ship to set it's weapons to damage the Flarn craft through it's shielding. Aboard the Jendak, Baxter and Peterman are prepared for their servation as dinner to Granok, only to be stuffed in the fridge after being half cooked and slathered in honey basting as the Overmaster and his ship dive into the phenomenon. As the Jendak starts to destroy itself in the energies of the portal (aided by Conway and the Aerostar's weaons), they pile into a garbage shute and get blown into space, coming face to eyeball with a Director, who is just about to explain everything to them, when Conway beams them back to the Aerostar, enraging Baxter, who was seconds away from finding out what was really going on. Sadly, all is not well and the Aerostar is about to be consumed by the cluster itself, unable to return to the Alpha quadrant due to the huge mass of Flarn ship blocking the way. The Aerostar can't go forward and is unable to move back to the Delta quadrant due to lack of power. Diggign through a Technobabble manual, Conway suggests the use of a static warp shell to seal the subspace breach and throw them clear. It works, cutting the Jendak in half and throwing the Aerostar back to the Delta quadrant, only now with the way home permanently closed. In the aftermath, Mirk decides to join the crew, surmising that having committed the most cardinal sin he could against his people, he would be better off away from Maalox for a while and Baxter resigns himself to finding another way to get the ship and her crew home, pointing out to the ersatz Commander Conway that "We're on a road to nowhere."