A New Assignment (part 3)

Posted on Thu Jul 9th, 2015 @ 7:11am by Captain T'mpest Michaels & Commander Rylie Cattmor & Lieutenant Commander Morai Keen & Lieutenant Commander Dylan Blake & Lieutenant Eden Zayra & Lieutenant Commander T'kaarch & Lieutenant Jensen Foster & Chief Petty Officer Adriana Keen

1,121 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: A Civil Act

[CONTINUED]

[OLD]

"What kind of a planet are we entering?" Keen asked thinking 'the environment is not the most hospitable' was rather vague.

[NEW]


"It's an M-class planet, and the only planet in this system, but the local star is an A-type white-blue. It is unusual for a planet to sustain life under those conditions," she said. "We do not know if the sun is at all responsible for the abandonment of the planet."

"But it is safe for us to be on the surface? No radiation or unsafe gasses?" Adriana asked, a little alarmed at the idea of an away mission. She was in no condition to be traipsing about an abandoned planet, and she didn't want Morai down there when she was on the ship. Normally they tried to be pragmatic about the requirements of their Starfleet careers, but if she went into labor, he needed to be here with her.

"Not that the survey team reported," T'mpest replied. "But we'll scan the planet before we send anyone down. If it makes you feel better, I plan on leading the away team. Either Commander Cattmor or your husband will be left in charge of the ship."

Adriana flushed a little in embarrassment. She hadn't meant to sound like- like she was trying to get her husband a 'good' assignment or- like she was asking for special treatment. She was in Starfleet after all. They were both in Starfleet. They knew what that entailed and sometimes it wasn't perfectly conducive to family life or schedules. Lapsing into silence was the only thing she could do as she bit her lower lip.

With the lingering thought of the Klingon Stooges still dancing in her head, that last sentence brought Cattmor back to the present and forced a sharp look in T'mpest's direction, to Morai, then back again. All-in-all, she wasn't sure if she should say anything at all; her last forays into leading away teams whilst serving on the Ranger had been somewhat less than successful, and without peeking, she couldn't tell if T'mpest's wants to lead the away team were in some way reflective of her past failures. "With all due respect ma'am," she started to say, "but would that be wise? There's no foreseeable danger on this mission, but I believe what they teach at the Academy--the captain's place is on the bridge."

"Yes, they do," T'mpest acknowledged. "However, I have studied a number of ancient civilizations and have a level of expertise in this area that would be of benefit to this assignment. For that reason I wish to lead the away team." And she didn't want to miss out on a chance to be one of the first to actually walk through some of the ancient structures and see what she could learn about the previous inhabitants.

Rylie went to object further, but stopped short of saying anything more. She felt strongly about her position, and knew that she was morally and legally in the right to both question the captain and lead the away team herself; but that's not what the briefing was for, and was an argument best left for another time. "Yes, captain." she said simply, leaving a pregnant pause in the air before T'kaarch spoke up.

"Is therrre anything I should prrreparrre specifically forrr the Science deparrrtment, captain?" T'kaarch purred, "I'm assuming the usual: seismic activity, spectrrral analysis of gases and materrrial, study and investigation of the civilization in question..." Realizing he was rambling a bit, T'kaarch snapped back to the present, "My question is, anything out of the orrrdinarrry as farrr as you know?"

"Also check the sun and its effects on the planet," T'mpest responded. "Look for radiation, damage from solar flares and temperatures. Basically, I want to know if there was any change in the sun's activities that precipitated a planetary evacuation."

Jensen had listened quietly for the most part so far, trying to keep himself from bolting up from the table and making a fool of himself. He'd felt Adriana's embarrassment as acutely as if it'd been his own and he'd had to clamp down on how much he'd wanted to get up and apologize profusely to the captain. Mentally locking away as much of the empathic noise as was possible, Jensen instead spoke up.

"Is there anything the Medical staff should prepare, Captain?" Getting a quick look from Heather, he allowed his assistant to voice the next question. "Would you like one of the medical staff to accompany the away mission?" While it wasn't normal for a member of medical field to accompany all away missions, in this case it kind of made sense. They were going to be heading down to an unknown planet and neither officer didn't want something bad to happen. Jensen and Heather were of like minds to consider the worst possible scenario first and the best one last.

"Unsure," T'mpest replied. "I would appreciate someone from medical on the team, yes. We may not know why the inhabitants left until we are actually on the planet. I would like someone there just in case."

While the questions flew back and forth across the room Dylan continued to sip his coffee in silence. This sort of frontier explore and mapping wasn't his normal style, it was refreshing to see a steady string of interested parties using their voices this morning, perhaps the previous mission had shaken them all more than they'd care to admit.

Eden had been half-listening to the repertoire going on around her, while the other half of her had felt a sense of excitement with the prospect of visiting an uninhabited planet. Especially one that showed clear signs of once having an advanced civilization. And even while she felt the excitement and thrill of such a mission, she did have to voice one thing. "Captain, may I make a suggestion?"

"Of course," the Captain replied.

"Since we have no overall idea of the condition of the planet, let alone the structures that could be found on the planet's surface," Eden asked. "I think it would be prudent for either myself or a member of Engineering to accompany the away team. In case there is any structural damage or something that may damage the ship's systems in any way."

"That would be logical," T'mpest replied. "I will leave it to you to decide if you or one of your department joins the away team."

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Commander Morai Keen
Chief Counselor

Captain T'mpest Michaels
Commanding Officer

PO1 Adrianna Keen
Operations

Commander Rylie Cattmor
Executive Officer

Lieutenant T'kaarch
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Jensen Foster
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant Commander Dylan Blake
Chief Operations Officer

Lieutenant Eden Zayra
Chief Engineer

 

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