Episode 3b
"Ghosts of Conscience" (FASA)
STARDATE 2301.15 
Curp and the crew
of the Essex are ordered to rescue the USS Hood, which has turned up missing. The Hood was
conducting a top secret mission for Star Fleet Intelligence, investigating a natural
phenomenon of two rotating neutron stars and how they affected the area of space around
them. Along with these orders came an encapsulated packet meant only for the Captain to be
read en route. Without haste, Curp ordered the Essex to intercept the Hood. The
encapsulated message contained more detailed information on the Hood's mission.
The USS Hood was
sent to investigate an anomaly known as a space time interphase (see TOS episode "The
Tholian Web"), and record its findings so Federation scientists can try to duplicate
the effect under controlled conditions for further study. The effects of the interphase
interfere with normal brain functions and induce a madness condition. A remedy for this
effect had been included with the message for the Doctor to reproduce and dispense amongst
the crew. A greater dose will be required for any landing parties. Curp is ordered to
retrieve all the data files from Engineering, Medical, Life Sciences, Physics, and
Chemistry departments on board the Hood. Command code overrides to open and retrieve the
files were included in the message. Based on the data retrieved from the Hood's message
buoy, it's unlikely that there will be any survivors, but, if there are, the orders goes,
that they are considered expendable. Once the landing parties retrieved all the data, the
Essex is to destroy the Hood for security purposes.
As the Essex
approached, gravitational stresses rock the starship. They soon discover that their very
presence affects the gravimetric distortions immediately around them. Curp orders a more
cautious approach to the Hood to avoid further damage. Sensor scans showed the USS Hood
exists only intermittently in this space. Barlok's analysis projected that the Hood should
remain relatively stable for the next 5 hours, however, the Essex's very presence near the
Hood affects the gravimetric distortion. He concludes that once a landing party beams
over, the Essex should move away to eliminate the chance of the Hood phasing out
unexpectedly while the party is on board. Communication Officer Oneda reports that
communications between the two ships will be cut off due to the gravatic distortion. Curp
organized a six person landing party consisting of himself, Barlok, Dr. Heronomous, and
two security officers. They were to beam down, recover the data and wait for the Essex to
return and retrieve them in 5 hours.
The landing party
materialized onto the bridge of the Hood. A thin layer of smoke filled the room, stemmed
from the broken, and burnt control consoles. Several bodies lie on the floor, the remains
of a ghoulish frenzy that gripped them in the final hours. Dr. Herronomous concluded that
they killed each other with whatever was available, and eventually died of their injuries.
It was noted that not all of the bridge crew were present. A chair protruded from the main
computer console at the science station. Barlok, chair removed, managed to reactivate the
console and retrieve the ship's sensor log into his tricorder. He notes that turbo lifts
are inoperable.
They make their way
through the ship by stairs and gangways. While heading towards the Special Studies Lab,
the group is assaulted by crewmen who've materialized back into this dimension! Stricken
with the madness, the crewmen claw at the landing party members, dragging several of them
down the stairs. The melee continues until the crewmen fade once again.
In the Special
Studies Lab, the landing party learns the truth about the Hood's mission: Star Fleet
Intelligence wanted to use the interphase effect as a potential weapon to make entire
ships -- and crews-- disappear from the space/time continuum!
The party continued
on to the Engineering section, only to find it sealed from the inside. The security detail
used their phasers to burn through the door. Barlok no
ted that the phasers disturb
the delicate spatial balance, and that caution should be exercised when using them.
The door was barricaded from within, apparently by the room's sole occupant: Captain Hugo
Revere, whose body is slumped over the main computer console. On closer inspection, the
Captain held a computer tape in his hand. Removing the tape, Curp played it. On it was the
Captain's final log entry. He explains how he jammed the door after the crew went
mad and kept the impulse engines active in hopes that whoever comes to retrieve the data
would find the ship operational. To make sure that his madness wouldn't undo what he had
done, he took his own life with a batch of poison from the ship's medical stores. His
final words were a cryptic accounting of the cost of lives this mission has had and how
many more to come should the weapon be built.
The landing party
continued to retrieve the remaining data. Acquiring the remaining files, the group set out
for the bridge to await their beam out. While going up the stairs, another set of crewmen
materialize and attack! Time running out, the landing party feverishly try to dispense
with the attackers before their departure window disappears. Phasers ablaze, the phantoms
scatter, however, the fire fight destabilized the area of space around them, and when the
crewmen disappear, so does Barlok! Curp orders the group to continue onto the bridge. At
the appropriate time, the group beams back to the Essex.
Back on the Essex,
the crew watches as the ship fades, and then disappears from sight. Desperately, Curp and
crew try to determine the ship's next reappearance in hopes to beam back Barlok from his
last known location. One hour later, they're ready to attempt to bring him back. The
transporter strains to find anything to beam over. The first attempt failed. Adjustments
set, they try again, with success! Barlok appears onto the pad, none the worse for wear,
and just in time as the bridge reports that the Hood has faded once again, this time
forever.