At the suggestion of TTK, I made the gravitational sinkhole the product of an extinct advanced alien race. The "hole" is actually maintained by a large, automated, ring-shaped space station, but the station itself is cloaked and therefore invisible to sensors and to normal vision.
The Romulans - with their expertise in cloaking technologies - managed to adjust Poseidon's sensors to detect cloaked objects, and the station was located in fairly short order. Unfortunately, the stations automated defense systems repelled attempts of both the Poseidon and a pair of shuttlepods to gain access, and Crewman Kelly was lost when an attempt was made to transport directly to the ring (thanks to a disruption field that was previously undetected). Moreover, the gravitational eddies made navigation (and maintaining a static position) very difficult, so the crew gave up accessing the ring station for the time being.
Further investigation of the finite space contained within the sinkhole revealed three star systems, each of which contained several planets. Even more unusual, each system contained at least one M-class planet capable of supporting human life.
After reaching the first star system - a blue dwarf star orbited by seven planets - the crew discovered that the second planet hosted intelligent life. Scans from orbit detect over twenty settlements with between 250 and 5,000 inhabitants on the northern continent. While the settlements themselves were relatively small, the crew detected fusion reactors in the three largest cities, and they also determined that the reactors were providing power to all of the settlements. Moreover - with the help of their Romulan "guests" - they learned that the reactors were identical to those used on Romulan vessels in the first decade of the 22nd century.
Further investigation revealed a series of orbital satellites used for communications as well as a small manned space station. Communications were quickly established and the Poseidon crew was surprised to discover a diverse crew manning that station, including Romulans, Remans, Orions, and at least a dozen other species, several of which were not in the Starfleet database.
The station crew was thrilled to make contact with an operational warp vessel, they explained, since every ship they'd detected passing through the aperture was severely damaged or destroyed. They invited the captain to visit the station, so he and the PCs departed the ship in a shuttlepod and made their way to the station while Poseidon stood close by.
Much to their surprise, the Romulans aboard the station were far friendlier than those they'd saved several days earlier. Even more unusual was the fact that so many different races seemed to work quite well together despite their differences.
As it turned out, vessels had been pulled into the sinkhole since the early 21st century because the automated station had begun malfunctioning. In fact, their scans revealed that the power core aboard the station was becoming dangerously unstable and was likely to shut down within a few months. Should the station lose power, they postulated, the aperture would collapse and the station would be crushed. As for what would happen to the contents of their realm, they could not guess.
The crew was invited to visit the capital city on the surface, and again they graciously agreed, sending down the PCs while the captain returned to Poseidon. They discovered a society based on that of the Romulan Empire, but far more republican in nature. The Proconsul and his Centurions maintained law and order, and the Senate met regularly to produce new legislation, but their world lacked the paranoia of modern Romulan society (according to comments made by the Romulans and Remans who'd arrived with Poseidon).
The Episode ended with the PCs meeting with local scientists to study the nature of their space and hopefully discover a way to stabilize the station or to find some way out of the anomaly altogether.
More to come.
mactavish out.
Last edited by mactavish; 04-10-2008 at 12:12 PM.
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Originally Posted by mactavish
