The USS Pegasus

[Sjet]

After nearly two months of searching, Starfleet Command has officially called off the rescue efforts for the SS Belgrade and the USS Pegasus.

“It is no longer an endeavour we can put our wills to,” said Admiral Paris today at Starfleet Headquarters, San Fransisco. “The Shoal…space in general is dangerous. It is an environment that sentient beings were never designed to inhabit. But it is what we bring into that abyss, our courage and determination, that allows us to stride across the breadth of our great Federation with confidence. The crew of the USS Pegasus knew the risks, and willingly placed their lives on the line to save a ship in distress. The fact their mission was in vain only highlights their courage as an example to us all. But there must come a time when the risks of further searching in a area of space hazardous to shipping must be taken into account: we have lost two ships to the Shoal, and we nearly a third in the search attempt. To that end the crews of the SS Belgrade, and the USS Pegasus are declared Missing In Action. Starfleet will not, and cannot, afford a proactive search for lost causes.”

This announcement has caused uproar among the families that have survived both ships companies, calling on Starfleet to continue the search.

The SS Belgrade was a Tellar class Ultra Large Cargo vessel, with a displacement of nearly 500’000 tons fully ladened. Its course took it through a small piece of The Shoal, and given the nature of the area of space it is assumed the cargo vessel ran afoul of one of the many spatial anomalies. The USS Pegasus, a Ares class heavy cruiser attached to the 6th Fleet out of Andoria, answered the distress call. It has not been proven yet if the Pegasus’s captain contacted Starfleet for authorisation to exceed safe Warp speed limits within The Shoal before attempting rescue manoeuvres. This lack of proof has been the corner stone of the campaign to reopen the search for the Pegasus, with accusations of a coverup over allowing the Pegasus to exceed warp factor 3 within The Shoal.

All that is known is that shortly after entering The Shoal all telemetry and signals from the Belgrade and the Pegasus were lost. A two month long search was conducted by the 6th Fleet, and resulted in the near loss of the USS Zealous following an encounter with a dark matter tether. At this time there are no plans to reopen the search, and Starfleet still advises all shipping to void The Shoal where ever possible. But given the sketchy reports about Starfleet reactivating one of its Warden Starbase’s within The Shoal, it cannot be said they are not proactively attempting to stabilise an already troubled area of space.

We will report more on this issue as information arises.

+++

Denab Free Press,
Written by Samantha Waller
United Federation of Planets Free Data Net