FNN ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE

SUBSPACE FREQUENCY 932.86 (FBC 1) - Urgent Broadcast

STARDATE 51464.7 - 2374 • 6 min read • PROJECT PATHFINDER

We interrupt tonight's re-run of Ferran’s Army1 to go live to an urgent announcement from Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco. T’Leia Maron, FNN correspondent is on the scene. Over to you T’Leia.

The footage cuts from a temporary emergency broadcast notification static image to a human reporter. The main entrance to Starfleet Headquarters is behind her, where Starfleet officers can be seen hurriedly setting up a podium a short distance from the main doors.

Maron: Good evening, half an hour ago the press was informed to gather on the grounds of Starfleet headquarters for an urgent announcement. We're expecting an official to emerge from the building in the next few minutes. At this time, the nature of the announcement is unclear. But the atmosphere here is grim.

She puts a finger to her ear, blocking out the ambient sound to receive an update through her earpiece. One which looks like it wouldn't have been out of place on the bridge of a starship in the 2260s.

Maron: We're hearing that the press conference is about to begin

Admiral Jeremiah Hayes can be seen emerging from the building behind her. The camera feed cuts to one positioned with the recently set up lecture in the center of the frame.

Hayes: Fourteen months ago, Starfleet was reluctantly forced to make the difficult decision to call off the search and rescue attempts and declare the USS Voyager lost with all hands.

He pauses, and a smile tugs at his lips

Hayes: Today, I am proud to announce that decision was premature. In the last 24 hours Starfleet command has received proof of life, and contact with the wayward vessel.

The crowd of reporters erupts into noise, those near Hayes begin to shout questions.

"Where is Voyager now?"

"Is every member of the original crew compliment alive?"

"How can you be sure this isn't a Dominion Deception? A changeling impersonation?"

He holds his hands up to gesture for quiet.

Hayes: I will take questions shortly.

Another pause

Hayes: Voyager has been located 60,000 light years from Earth, in the Delta Quadrant.

The noise level begins to rise again, Hayes keeps talking.

Hayes: The exact circumstances of Voyager's galactic transit are still being verified, but the crew is confirmed to be alive and well. Captain Kathryn Janeway is one of our finest, and has been leading the crew home for three years, upholding Starfleet and Federation ideals through insurmountable adversity, both external and internal to the ship.

Captain Janeway has successfully integrated the Maquis crew from the ship Voyager was pursuing into her own crew. The two crews have been working together, under the Starfleet banner, to get home.

Their journey has been long and perilous, exploring ten-thousand light years of uncharted space. They have been a shining beacon of the Federation and Starfleet's core mission: To explore strange new worlds, and make peaceful contact with new civilizations.

The Federation council, with the President's backing, has approved increased resource allocations to invest heavily in propulsion and hyper subspace technologies. Additionally, we will be scouring Federation space for any undiscovered wormholes, or other anomalies that might help us bring them home sooner.

I shall now take a few questions.

There is a short moment of silence, as the words settle on his captive audience. Before the crowd explodes once more into reporters shouting over each other. Hayes begins gesturing to reporters one by one, singling their questions out for a response

Maron: Admiral Hayes, how did you manage to contact Voyager?

Hayes: The communications method was actually discovered by the Voyager crew, who used it to send a hologram across quadrants, to a Starfleet vessel patrolling the Romulan border. The method used, a seemingly extensive communication relay network of unknown origin, does not allow for real time conversations at this time. Starfleet Communications is currently working on making this a possibility. Next.

T'hukaa: Admiral, what can you tell us about the circumstances of Voyager's disappearance? Is there a risk that their distance from known space could cause cultural contamination?

Hayes: For the first question. As I said, we're still verifying the exact circumstances. What we can say right now is that it seems to have been some sort of displacement phenomenon. Anomalies of this type have been observed by Starships in the past with a varying range of root causes. Voyager was unable to use the source of the phenomenon to replicate the conditions of their initial disappearance to return home.

For the second, Captain Janeway is a trained Starfleet officer. From all information currently available her crew is committed to following Starfleet's Prime Directive and all Federation laws, even under their extraordinary circumstances. Next.

Vono: Is Starfleet planning a rescue mission?

Hayes: At present a rescue is beyond our capability and current resources. It would mean dragging Starships away from the frontlines that we simply cannot spare at this time. Those starships would then need to travel at maximum warp for decades to rendezvous.

With that said, Starfleet is exploring every possible option to shorten that gap. While we cannot promise a swift return, we are committed to finding solutions to help them get home a little faster. Next.

Renik: Has Starfleet confirmed the condition of the crew? Have there been any casualties?

Hayes: The information we've received indicates that Voyager suffered significant losses in the early stages of their journey. While Starfleet is in possession of Voyager's current crew manifest, we will not be releasing that information at this time for respect of the surviving families here in the Alpha Quadrant. Who we will be contacting individually.

We are also inviting family and friends of the crew to send any personal messages they wish for the crew to hear to Starfleet Communications. As I mentioned, we're hoping to use this newly discovered communications network to maintain contact with Voyager.

Based on our current understanding of the technology. Due to the distances involved, smaller transmissions degrade before they reach the ships current position. To ensure Voyager hears from us, we will be packaging these messages with the intelligence, scientific data and technology advancements we wish for Voyager to receive.

That is all for now, please direct further questions to Starfleet's press office.

Hayes turns around and heads back into the building

↑01Ferran's Army was a short running situational comedy show that ran during the 2370s, depicting the antics of a much unprepared MACO 'Home Squadron' based at Lunar One during the 2250s Klingon War.

PROJECT PATHFINDER