The Skyrider was on a survey mission in the Jovian moon system. Admiral Underwood had researched on three of the four major moons - Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede - and was proceeding to Io. However, while the ship was approaching Io, the communications officer picked up a distress call......
Skyrider found the hulk of another Skyrider-class heavy cruiser, floating at least 75,000k from Earth. The ship, identified as the Raider, also moved at a slow spin, making transport difficult. Admiral Underwood decided to try an EVA.
Little did Underwood or anyone know, the Raider had been plagued by the Psi 2000 virus! It drove the crew nuts.......and caused them to nearly destroy their own ship. Unfortunately, the warp core did not breach.
Underwood ordered his operations officer to beam the away team aboard, then tractor the Raider back to Earth - which was about 3 minutes away at full impulse. However, the Raider exploded under the pressure. Only one man made it back alive - everyone else died from the explosion. The virus was now aboard the ship, and it started driving Underwood's crew insane! Underwood - who had been immunized from the Psi 2000 virus, along with twenty others - was one of the only people with a sane sense of thinking on the entire ship. He beamed the insane bridge crew into the brig and secured the bridge, allowing no way in or out. Suddenly, Underwood had an idea - destroy the ship and save what was left of his crew. It was risky, but worth it. He turned the Skyrider into the atmosphere of Earth, shields down, and the atmosphere quickly got to the hull, causing breaches all across it. Underwood and the 20 others beamed into the shuttlebay and escaped using one of the armed personnel shuttles, which could hold 40 troops. Skyrider burned up as he escaped.
Underwood and his crew were court-marshalled and Underwood alone was found guilty. He was demoted from Fleet Admiral to Vice Admiral, thus losing some of his administrative power, but was commended for taking actions that saved Earth from the Psi 2000 virus.
