The Star in the Strings [Star Trek]

After an uneventful morning, the Starship Enterprise nears an unknown starbase surrounded by strange ships...

Author's notes:
1. I'm certain that someone is going to eventually see the cover for this story and be thought-yelling 'Violins don't have sound holes, person!'. To whoever that ends up being, calm down and read on. That is not a sound hole; I will say no more now, for it is explained in the story.

2. I'm also certain that confusion will arise regarding the surname 'Trebel'. It is not a misspelling of the word 'treble', although it started as one. In the surname, both e's are pronounced as the short 'e' sound.