To Smooth Sailing...

Posted on Tue Sep 21st, 2010 @ 10:23pm by Captain Elsie Halliwell & Commander Curtiss Drake & Lieutenant JG Jason Fisher & Lieutenant Commander Dylan Blake & Lieutenant Alessandro Reynaldi

2,361 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Structured Shoreleave - Marchwiel
Location: Deck 1, Bridge
Timeline: Current

ON:

Halliwell sat in her chair on the bridge, her right leg tightly crossed over her left, as she subtly leant in over to Curtiss. She took one further look at the viewscreen as the streaks of light darted past either side of the sleek Intrepid class Ranger. It comforted her, somewhat. After the logistical nightmare of overseeing three separate away missions, the ‘easy’ supply run was a welcome respite for the captain, but more importantly, for the crew. To her mind, they required this three week easy ride and they deserved it.

“To smooth sailing, finally,� she uttered, almost prophetically to the commander.

"Amen." Curtiss replied with a smirk. The emotional toll on him of having thought that his ship and her crew had been destroyed was enough to bring anyone to their knees, not to include the revelation that they hadn't been destroyed after all. He was happy to be back to a normal milk run, even if it meant spending more time with the Science geeks than he would have liked to.

"Any chance there's a warm tropical beach on this run?" he asked, knowing full well that there wasn't.

“Not one that we could stop off at,� Elsie replied, a mirrored smirk fluttering across her lips. “Not that I’m not tempted,� she added, shifting her weight in her chair, and uncharacteristically resting her chin in her hand. Naturally, her number one was the last member of crew she would have order to spend a little couch time with Lucy Carter, but considering what he had endured, she was leaning toward a gentle suggestion.

“How are you, Commander?� she asked quietly, quickly adding, “and the crew?�

"Coming around." Drake replied, nodding, "It's taking some doing to get back to the rhythm of things, but its nothing that can't be remedied with some calm and a few nights sleep." he smirked. "I think the same goes for the crew. No one's looked too shaken to me. I think they're just happy to be back home."

Not that Curtiss had really spent a whole lot of time with the crew, aside from the Bridge staff, since he'd arrived. He simply hadn't had the time or the energy to make his normal rounds. Maybe it was the mission effecting him on some level, but for now he was convinced it was just a tired mind and a tired body.

“That’s at least something,� Elsie replied, smiling a little to herself.

"Captain," interrupted Lieutenant Blake from the operations console. "I'm picking up a unusual anomaly ahead. It's creating some rather erratic energy readouts, that could potentially cause us some difficulties."

Zhukov moved quickly to adjust their course heading rapidly imputing new course corrections into the console in front of him. Less than an hour in the helm, and there was already and emergency.

"Captain, I've changed headings, but I recommend dropping out of warp and reversing thrusters." he said as he held his hand over the controls waiting for the command.

Halliwell trained her eye on Vladimir and heeded his advice. “Do it,� she replied succinctly.

"Aye, sir!" Vladimir shouted back through the alarms of the red alert as he firmly pressed on the deceleration controls. The ship responded almost instantly, but the forward momentum kept them at warp for too long. Even engaging the reverse thrusters hadn't stopped them in time. No matter what Zhukov had done, they couldn't have escaped the subspace fluctuation, it was simply too close and too powerful. As soon as they hit it, the Ranger jumped and began to spin uncontrollably on its axis. It felt as if they were falling, and fast.

"Inertial dampeners offline, Captain!" shouted Zhukov as he struggled to stay in his chair. Other crew members were already on the deck trying to keep themselves from being tossed around the bridge. Zhukov looked up at the view screen for just a moment and saw the stars spinning behind a bluish-green background that was swirling.

He now concentrated on getting control of the ship back. Vladimir tried to input course corrections into the computer, but it was offline. He went to manual control. He tried to engage the impulse engines...they were offline. He went next to the manoeuvring thrusters. They were also...offline. Finally, he tried the auxiliary impulse engine and was able to get a reading. Zhukov reached down to his right to take control of the ship by a yoke. He threw the stick all the way back and engaged the auxiliary impulse engines simultaneously. Within a few seconds, the rotating stopped and the Ranger was flying straight and level.

Vladimir glanced up again at the view screen in front of him. The blue-green swirls were gone, and only the stars in the background remained.

"Captain, flight control computers, warp engines, primary impulse engines, and manoeuvring thrusters are all offline. I was barely able to get control of the ship back manually with the auxiliary impulse engine." he said. It was a triple propulsion systems failure. He had trained on that...once. The odds of it actually happening were unbelievably minuet, yet it had just happened. "Captain, with this lack of manoeuvring power, I might not even be able to get us out of a planets gravitational field!" he stated.

Halliwell shot a glance at Commander Drake with a questioning glare and then turned to Blake at the Operations console. “Are there any M Class planets in this sector, Dylan?�

Staggering back to his post Blake thumbed through the console, pale faced, lined with a green tinge. "Just one Captain," he called unsteadily.

She turned around and directed her continuing dialogue at Curtiss. “I’d rather land and contact Starfleet Command from the surface of a planet than wait here like a sitting duck. We’re not that far from QAR territory and I can’t imagine our name would curry many favours in this sector. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a price on our heads currently. Mr. Fisher,� she added, now turning quickly to face her new Chief of Security and Tactical on the other side of the bridge, “any suspicious activity I should be aware of?�

Fisher glanced down at his console, but only to reaffirm what he already knew. "No, Captain." he replied efficiently, "We are picking up a very faint signal, right on the fringe of the sensor arc." He tapped at the console, attempting to extend the range to get a clearer reading, "It's too far away to give a clear reading," he continued shaking his head, "It doesn't look like anything to worry about, and if it is, we'll have plenty of warning."

Halliwell inhaled at him and then ordered, “Keep an eye out should that change, Lieutenant.� Then, turning to face Drake, she simply nodded her order.

"Allright, helm, let's end this. Take us down and land on the planet. Smooth and steady, make it happen." he said, sitting up a bit more rigidly in his chair and projecting his voice across the Bridge.

"Aye, aye, sir. You realize that, I'm bringing her in on manual, to land on the surface, with no thrusters, right Commander?" said the helmsman. This would be the biggest flight challenge he had ever faced. "It would be a lot easier, and safer if Engineering could get me back manoeuvring thrusters." Vladimir said. "Right now, she's flying like a brick at the speed of sound, and you're asking me to put her through one specific window in a greenhouse." Zhukov stated.

"Less talk, more landing." Drake replied smartly. "Engineering, do what you can for him." he added. He didn't need to hear the excuses, just needed to see the execution. There were lives on the line here and arguing about what Engineering 'could' be doing wasn't going to help them save them.

"Yes, sir, you know I will give it my all. The planet is 1.14 times the size of Earth, and has a slightly stronger gravitational field. I'm going to scan the planet and look for someplace flat to put her down. I'm going to try to land in the northern half of the planet and come in over the pole where the gravitation isn't as strong. ETA until emergency landing at eighteen minutes, fifteen seconds." Vladimir said as he continued to scan the M Class planet for a place to touch down.

Readings and data were now coming in fast. There was a huge list of systems that were currently out of service on the Ranger, but Science scanners wasn't one of them.

"Captain, there are approximately 800,000,000 inhabitants on the planet, mostly in the tropical and subtropical areas of the planet." Zhukov stated. "Atmosphere appears to be breathable for us, although I wouldn't recommend heavy exercise in it. By the pollution levels in the atmosphere, I would say they are somewhere in the Industrial Revolution phase of civilization. Oh, and it appears to be summer time. The area I'm looking at to put us down at is close to a coastline, not heavily populated with natives, and the current temperature is 27 degrees Celsius." Zhukov said. Perhaps Commander Drake would get that beach vacation after all.

"Comforting as that is, I'm more concerned with getting down without damaging the ship any more than she already is." Drake smirked. Not that he was upset about a little down time, having it at the expense of the ship wasn't exactly what he had in mind.

“I needn’t remind you of the Prime Directive, Lieutenant,� Elsie chirped in from her chair. “Keep us hidden and as far away from any signs of native life as you can. “I don’t want Command stringing me up for a lax attitude if we cause ripples here.�

"Yes, mam." replied Zhukov. "I think I have the perfect spot picked out. There is a canyon not far from the landing zone that we could fly in to. There is a nice little storm down there right now, so us breaking the sound barrier coming in would just sound like thunder to the locals." Zhukov replied.

As the ship slowly descended towards the planet, Vladimir kept a tight hold on the yoke in his left hand and another hand on the thruster controls at his station. This was going to be a bumpy ride. About ten minutes had passed when a light began flashing on his panel.

"I have thrusters back, Captain. Should be a much easier landing now." said the Helmsman. "Descending into the atmosphere in five, four, three, thrusters on, one, mark." said Zhukov as the Ranger shook violently as she entered the outer atmosphere of the planet and the heat resistance began to build up on her hull. The heat on the hull, the rocking back and forth, and the quick descent seemed to bother a few of the crew on the bridge. It was rare for a starship to enter an atmosphere, and many had probably never experienced it before. "Just a few bumps, nothing serious." Zhukov said out loud to try and reassure some of the nervous crew.

"Shields are holding." Fisher added from tactical, reinforcing Zhukov's comments.

Three minutes later, the ship was out of re-entry danger and coasting along through the sky. "We will descend into the storm cloud bank in thirty seconds, Captain." stated Zhukov as the viewscreen showed a beautiful blue sky with whispy clouds all around them. "Slowing to 1100 kph, ETA until touchdown...one minute, twenty-seven seconds." Zhukov said as he slowly moved the yoke forward pushing the nose of the ship into the cloud bank. "It's going to be bumpy again for a bit while we get through the air turbulence, but once we get below the cloud bank, we should be OK." stated Vladimir.

“Keep us steady, Mr. Zhukov,� Elsie said, gripping the arm rests tightly.

As they cleared the rain clouds, suddenly the surface came into view. They were flying over a large body of water and heading for a rocky and ridged coastline. Lightning flashes lit up the sky as the Ranger rushed towards her destination. Zhukov eased back on the thrusters. "Slowing to 400 kph as we approach the landing zone, Captain." Zhukov said. "Bringing her in on a nice and easy angle." he finished with a smile. This was easier than he thought it would be. Restoration of the thrusters had made all the difference.

Within a few seconds, the ship was over land and banking to starboard. "I'm taking her down, Captain." said Zhukov as he piloted the Ranger into an orange and yellow colored canyon. "Slowing now to 150 kph and lowering landing struts." he said as the ship began to slow up. "Landing in five, four, slowing to 20kph, two, one, touchdown." Zhukov said as the Ranger thumped a little as she touched down on the canyon floor.

"Securing thrusters, impluse engines going offline." Vladimir stated as he tapped various commands into his panel.

Halliwell stood up and shot a glance to Drake. Then, turning to face Vladimir, she half smiled. “Thank you, Lieutenant,� she said, nodding her gratitude towards him generously. “Expertly done. Now,� she continued, turning to face the bridge crew and smoothing down the sleeves of her jacket with a sharp tug at the cuff, “I’ll be in my ready room, attempting to contact Starfleet Command.� Looking back to Curtiss, she smiled widely. “Secure the ship, Commander. And I’ll leave the upcoming crew roster for the next few days in your capable hands... just make sure that none of the crew wander too far from the ship.� She smiled again to Curtiss, and recruited a subtle, glistening wink directed at him to betray her meaning.

"Aye, aye, Captain." Drake smiled devilishly. He was certain that he could find something diverting to do. "Mr. Blake, let's talk about power distribution and crew rosters." he grinned. "We got a lot of crew and a whole lot of space to play in, let's make sure we keep it to an organized chaos."

OFF:

 

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