It was a lovely day at the Oval. The occasion was a very special match between an England eleven and a Rest of the World eleven. The England eleven were currently batting. Standing at the slips were Don Bradman, Viv Richards and Allan Border. Behind the stumps was the great West Indian Jeff Dujon, and about to start his run-up was the great Pakistani leg spinner Abdul Qadir, who was about to bowl from the pavilion end.
The England opening batsmen were still at the crease, having made a stand of nearly one hundred and thirty. The non-striker was none other than Geoff Boycott himself, one of the most outspoken cricketers ever. About to take the strike was a relative newcomer to World cricket - Captain James Watt, commanding officer of the U.S.S. Valkyrie.
Qadir started his run-up. He bowled. It was his famous googly. Watt made his stroke, a glorious effort that sent the ball through the covers. The crowd began to go wild as the ball went for four, brining Watt’s score to one hundred. Taking off his helmet Watt began to acknowledge the appreciation of the crowd. Boycott then came up to him. He had been stuck on forty for the past thirty minutes.
“You did well there. Not as good as me though.”
The drinks interval came straight after. Watt was surprised when he saw that the drinks tray was being carried by his first officer, Commander Pendragon.
“What’s up number one?” asked Watt, taking a sip of orange squash.
“The sensors have picked up a drifting vessel nearby. I thought you’d want to take a look.”
“Vessel?” said Boycott. “What the bloody hell are you talking about?”
Watt smiled.
“Computer, save program at this time index.”
The image began to change. Suddenly the holodeck looked empty as the program was saved in the computer’s memory.
“Personally I would have picked Graham Gooch as my opening partner.” said Pendragon.
“I’m beginning to agree with you Commander.”
The two of them soon left the holodeck.
“I wouldn’t mind trying that program myself.” said Pendragon. “It looks quite enjoyable.”
“Personally I think test cricket lost it’s flavour when the Sudan were awarded test status in 2009. It was soon afterwards that records were easily broken. Men of limited ability were hailed as the new Bradman or Botham. Now about this craft.”
“Yes sir. We picked it up ten minutes ago. There appear to be faint life signs but nothing more.”
“Very well, I’ll take a quick shower and I’ll join you on the bridge in about fifteen minutes.”
Exactly fifteen minutes later Watt, now dressed in his uniform, arrived on the bridge.
“Sensor report number one.”
“The same as before sir.” Pendragon reported. “We are still showing faint signs of life, and there are signs of a power source.”
“On screen.”
The image of the strange vessel appeared on the screen. Watt seemed fascinated by it.
“I can find no match of it in the files.” said Sutek.
“To me it looks like one of the old sleeper ships from the Eugenics War.” said Pendragon.
“Or perhaps one of the old cryogenic ships.” said Watt. “If it is one of those we may be able to revive whoever it is over there.”
He turned to Pendragon.
“Assemble your away team Commander.”
“Aye sir.”
Pendragon arose from his seat.
“Mr. Sutek, Mr. Amarus, you’re with me.”
A few minutes later the three of them arrived aboard the old vessel via the transporter. Immediately Sutek began to scan the area with his tricorder.
“Luckily the air is breathable.” said Pendragon.
Sutek walked over to the computer. He began to study it.
“From this I can surmise that this ship is nearly four hundred years old. “He said. “It use the old disc system.”
Sutek began to operate the old-style keyboard. A display came up on the screen.
“Life support is at minimum.” he reported. “But the power is failing.”
Amarus held his tricorder near what appeared to be the door.
“The life signs are coming from in here.” he said.
Amarus walked towards the door and straight into it. He was surprised when it did not open.
“It appears to be malfunctioning.”
Pendragon walked over to the door and saw a hatch to one side of it. He then pulled the lever. The door opened.
“After you.”
Amarus entered first and began scanning with his tricorder. Pendragon and Sutek were not far behind him.
“There appears to be only one hibernation pod here.” said Sutek.
Sutek walked over to the pod and wiped away the dust from the glass.
“Commander, there is a human male in here. And he is alive.”
The vessel was taken in tow by the tractor beam. The hibernating man was taken to Sickbay where he was treated by Singh. As Pendragon watched the treatment Watt and Magus entered.
“How is he?” asked Watt.
“He is in perfect health for someone his age.” replied Singh.
Magus walked over the examination table and looked down at the stranger. He appeared concerned.
“What disease did he die of?” he asked.
“He wasn’t dead.” Singh replied. “I could find no trace of disease whatsoever. He was in perfect health. A normal, human male.”
“Then perhaps he was in hibernation for some long-range space voyage.” said Pendragon.
“Such as the Jupiter mission in the year 2001?” said Watt. “Commander Sutek is trying to access the files to see if this is correct.”
Watt then noticed the look on Magus’ face.
“Is there anything wrong?” he asked.
“I just have this strange feeling about our friend here.” Magus replied. “As if I’ve encountered his like before.”
“What do you mean ‘like’?” asked Pendragon.
“it’s just a strange feeling I have. It’s probably just nothing.”
“How long until he comes around?” asked Watt.
“It’s hard to say.” replied Singh.
“Alert me when he does.”
Meanwhile Sutek and Lom returned to the ship. Sutek again began to operate the keyboard while Lom checked out the engineering systems.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before.” said Lom. “As you know I’ve been studying old space ships for years, and I’ve never encountered a ship from Earth like this before.”
Suddenly an alarm sounded through the vessel. Sutek looked at the monitor.
“Life support systems are failing.”
He activated his communicator.
“Sutek to transporter room three. Get us out of here now.”
They only just beamed out in time as the life support systems failed as soon as they left. They were greeted in the transporter room by Watt.
“Looks like you had a lucky escape Commander.” he said. “Were you able to retrieve any information?”
“Negative.” Sutek replied.
“Captain, it maybe possible to obtain the information with the aid of space suits.” suggest Lom. “We may have trouble moving about but we could then finish our task.”
“Is there no way we can access the vessel’s computer from here?” asked Watt.
“I’m afraid not.” Sutek replied. “Our power may overload the vessel’s systems, which would erase the memory.”
“Very well Commander. Make it so.”
A call then came through on Watt’s communicator. It was from Singh.
“Our patient is beginning to come to, Captain.”
“Good. Contact Counsellor Trospheo and ask her to join me in Sickbay. Watt out.”
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