11.19 Terran Explorations: The Delta Triangle

TERRAN EXPLORATIONS

THE DELTA TRIANGLE

The Delta Triangle of space is located near the far border of Federation space in Quadrant 2 south. It lies between the Romulan and Klingon empires and in front of another region of space known as “the Triangle” (no connection other than the name). Its claim to fame is as a region of space where starships and other spacecraft have mysteriously disappeared for as long as beings have roamed the Sea of Stars in that region.

Records of known disappearances within the Delta Triangle go as far back as the old Kzinti Empire. Its first mention is in one of the few tales that have come out of the legendary Kzinti-Klingon War of ages p ast. Both the Kzinti and Klingons lost ships in the area and so on learned to give it a wide birth, skirting it only at need or whenever they could use it to their tactical advantage.

The Federation’s first encounter with the Delta Triangle came during the Romulan War (2158-2162). The main force of the Romulan flank fleet, under the leadership of Commander Xerius, cut across the Delta Triangle in pursuit of harried Star Fleet forces. Romulan forces were thrown into confusion when the flagship of Commander Xerius suddenly disappeared without a trace. The resulting confusion within the Romulan fleet gave Star Fleet the time it needed to escape and regroup at Rigel, where it was able to finally able to stem the Romulan tide.

The Delta Triangle has claimed i s ts own hare of Federation starships as well, despite it being a known navigat ional hazard. It lies across the most direct route to certain border systems. Daring civilian ship captains have been known to cut across the Delta Triangle in order to shorten their journeys, betting that they will not become its latest victim. Not all of them win this bet with fate. In addition, a number of Starfleet and civilian science research vessels have disappeared while trying to probe the Delta Triangle’s secrets. These include the rebuilt UESPA survey cruiser Bonaventure, the first human starship ever fitted with warp drive, and more recently the survey ship Hopi. Only two starships are known to have ever fallen victim to the Delta Triangle and escaped to tell their tale. Their respective reports unlocked the secret behind one of the great mysteries of recorded space flight.

In 2264 the St arfleet heavy cruiser Enterprise (NCC-1701) was ambushed by a trio of Klingon D-7 battlecruisers. Captain Kor , the Klingon fleet commander, was using the known sensor anomalies of the Delta Triangle to hide his fleet until the Enterprise was within range. Enterprise responded in kind, and the burst of weapons fire within the Delta Triangle apparently triggered a temporary interphasic portal. Both the Enterprise and the lead Klingon ship, Kor’s Klothos, were thrown into an alternate space-time continuum. There they found not only all of the ships that had ever been lost within the Delta Triangle but their crews as well, all alive and healthy. They had named their “pocket universe” Elysia, and quickly brought the Enterprise and Klothos crews up to speed on their situation. The abnormal physics within Elysia gave its inhabitants immortality, but it also had a deteriorating effect on dilithium-based energy-producing systems. Captains Ki and Kor had three days to effect an rk escape before their s hip’s warp engines deteriorated to the point where they could no longer achieve warp factor 8 and thu s re-open the interphasic portal. The two eventually set aside their differences long enough to temporarily combine their ships into one vessel, providing enough with both power to escape the Elysian time trap. All of the inhabitants of Elysia elected to remain behind, content to live within their new home.

There have been two Federation-sponsored expeditions back into the pocket universe of Elysia despite the severe risks involved. Both made it back safely. A third is being planned with the sponsorship of the Star Fleet Association. Its goal is to retrieve the Bonaventure and return it to our universe as a museum ship. Some question the wis dom of such a venture, pointing out that it would be better p reserved within the Elysian time trap than subjected to the whims of fate in normal space and time . The Federation Council has as yet to rule on the matter.

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