Part One
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The Waverider rejoined the USS Sally Ride just before it arrived at the Hadriepsis research facility. The facility is best known for its state-of-the-art Borg liberation center, but it's also the site of cutting-edge research on all aspects of Borg physiology and psychology. The Ride was being sent to pick up a cadre of newly liberated officers to be stationed on Starbase Diversity, as well as some experimental technology just becoming ready for deployment.
However, when the ship arrived at the starbase facility, it didn't answer their hails. Life scans indicated that the station's personnel were all present and in good health, and there didn't appear to be any technical problems. Suspicious of the situation, Captain Orenn ordered yellow alert.
Some explanation presented itself when a spatial anomaly appeared on the opposite side of the station from the Ride. Attempts to divine the nature of the anomaly were stonewalled by the ship's computer, which claimed to be guarding classified information. At least one trait of the anomaly quickly became clear when it deposited a starship in space that hadn't been there before.
The ship appeared to be of Federation design, but no one could quite identify the class. Its IFF beacon was also unrecognizable to the crew. It immediately fired up its transporters, beaming personnel and cargo out of certain areas of the station. It ignored hails, just as the station had done -- at least until the Ride used a tractor beam to block its transporters.
At that point, the captain of the ship, a weathered human named Captain Derreth, deigned to parley with the Ride. He identified his ship as the "ISS Minotaur," which meant little to most but a lot to Orenn. Derreth insisted that his only interest was in extracting his people from the facility and leaving, but Captain Orenn refused to let him make off with the Federation equipment that he was obviously beaming aboard his ship by the crateful.
The Ride also beamed a team aboard the station, to retake control of the decks that were occupied by Terrans. This put a thick layer of frost over the negotiations with Captain Derreth, however. The team easily regained control of the station's tactical systems, but were immediately set upon when they attempted to retake the command deck. Between the weapons fire aboard the station and the blocked transporters, it became clear that Derreth wasn't going to make a clean getaway, and the furious Terran closed communications.
Deciding that his priority was to prevent the Terrans from escaping with whatever they were after, Orenn immediately ordered the Sciences department to act on their plans to collapse the spatial anomaly the Minotaur had used to arrive. The Terran ship moved to protect its escape route with lethal force, opening fire immediately. The Sally Ride's recent upgrades and a considerable amount of recent battle damage to the Minotaur put the two ships on a fairly even footing... until the Ride's team aboard the station retook the command deck and joined in with the starbase's defensive systems.
Unexpectedly, the Minotaur exploded. Examination of combat logs revealed that as soon as it became clear they had no hope of escape, Derreth scuttled his own ship, detonating its warp core in a suicidal attempt to cause the maximum damage to both Hadriepsis and the Ride.
Orenn's report to Admiral Walker was inconclusive. It's not clear what the Minotaur was after, and clearing up that uncertainty is the top priority the Admiral has handed down. The Terran personnel captured aboard the starbase -- most of whom appear to be mirror duplicates of starbase personnel -- are the obvious first place to go for information. There is also considerable concern about the conduct of one of the Ride's engineers, a Lt.Cmdr Night. He has been scheduled for special counseling sessions with tr'Dar.
