Two's Company...
Posted on Tue Nov 23rd, 2010 @ 1:51pm by Captain Elsie Halliwell & Captain T'mpest Michaels
1,626 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Lost Friends
Location: Halliwell's Ready Room
Timeline: Current
[ON]
It had been a long day. After the Ranger had gotten underway, Zhukov took the next two shifts. He wanted to make sure he had his "finger on the pulse" of the ship for as long as he could.
Ensign Hillsman had relieved Vladimir for the third shift, and Vladimir had used the opportunity to catch some sleep. In four hours, he was up again, and the first thing he did was try to contact the Andorian Freighter, Jelto. It took him an hour to track the ship down, and another half hour convincing the Captain of the freighter to turn over his sensor logs and that he was not under a Federation investigation for shipments of questionable cargo. Finally, at 0440 hours, the senor logs from the Jelto arrived via a subspace transmission.
Vladimir downloaded them directly to a PaDD and sent the transmission he received on to both T'mpest and Captain Halliwell with a note that he would meet them at 0800 hours if they were available at a place the Captain wanted to meet at.
He then spent the next three hours sifting through the mountains of data he had been sent. First off, the Jelto had sent not only their external sensor logs, but all their internal ship readings as well. And the readings hadn't just been for the time period Vladimir asked about either. It was all the records they had for the last three months.
By 0630, after four cups of tea, he finally found what he was looking for. The Archimedes had made its appearance on the readings.
Just as the Captain had told them in the staff briefing, the Nova Class ship was on a direct course with Deep Space Five traveling at Warp 5.8. Almost everything else was normal, at least on the outside. Plotting their course and matching it with the flight plan they filed would take more time then he had at the moment.
He put the PaDD down and decided to take a shower, shave, and get ready for his meeting. He knew it was going to be another long day.
[T'mpest's Quarters]
T'mpest woke early. She'd spent much of the previous day sifting through databases and casual chatter relating to Overton. With the new dig going on, there was a fair amount. Mostly speculation.
When she saw that her computer was flashing a message she quickly sat down in front of her console to check it. The freighter logs. "Salem," she called to her AI. The cat jumped up onto the desk and cocked his head at her. "I want you to look through these logs. Find all records of the Archimedes. Also look for anything that may have been following the ship. Or following its direct path."
While the cat was compiling data, T'mpest got ready for the day.
"Zhukov to Michaels" came a voice in her quarters. It was 0745.
"Michaels here. What can I do for you?"
"Good morning T'mpest. Have you heard if the Captain can meet at 0800?"
"I haven't spoken to her, but I'm sure she'll make it."
"Could I come visit you for a minute. I think I may have something on Archimedes, but I'm not sure." he said.
"Sure."
"Excellent. I'll be there in five. Zhukov out." he said as he tapped his comm badge. He left his quarters and made his way down to the turbolift. He was at her door in less than three minutes. T'mpest met him at the door as he rang the chime to enter.
"Good morning," she said cheerfully. She stepped back to let him into her room. "What have you found?"
Zhukov smiled at her and walked in. He was excited at his discovery. "Well, I think I found something...right here" he pointed at the PaDD he held in his hand. "Look, the Archimedes is nearing the edge of the senor range for the Jelto when she suddenly slows to 1/2 impulse power, and then, four seconds later, disappears from the sensors. Initially, I thought it may have been a sensor error or maybe Archimedes had left their range, but it's not an error...and the ship was still half a light year within Jelto's sensor range." he said to T'mpest.
T'mpest looked over to Salem. "What do you make of it?" she asked the cat.
Salem eyed Zhukov for a moment before replying. "He's right. There is also an unidentifiable blip that enters range just before the Archimedes disappears. It is possible there's a connection."
T'mpest went to her console and pulled up the information. "He's right. The signal is too brief to get a reading, but it's there just before, then it's gone. So someone may have been following them to be sure they fell into whatever caused the Archimedes to disappear."
"Perhaps so, but I would say that the point where she disappears would be the next...logical place to go after visiting Overton." he replied as he winked at her. "Well, at least in my opinion." Vladimir said. "But you're the Intelligence expert here, I'm just a flight jockey. What do you think?"
"I think you're a very smart flight jockey," she teased. "I agree that would be the most logical place to look next."
He nodded and looked at his watch. "It's almost that time. Perhaps we should head up to the bridge." he said to her.
Zhukov preceded T'mpest out the door. He was all business today. She sighed and turned to Salem. "If you find anything else, let me know."
Humans, the cat thought as he curled up on the desk.
When they arrived at the door to the Captain's Ready Room, Zhukov rang the chime.
“Come in,� Elsie replied, half-way through collating the same sensor data herself. She looked up briefly, shot them both a hurrying glance and then returned her attention back to the array of PaDDs strewn over her desk. “Take a seat,� she uttered, not looking up, and then added, “What do you two think about the sensor blip before the Archimedes goes missing? Significant?� She shot them both a knowing look, trusting that both officers (a Flight Control Officer and an Intelligence Officer particularly) would have detected the same anomaly.
Zhukov spoke up first. "Yes, Captain, we think it is, or at least it could be." he said. "I double checked the senor logs and their sensors were operating within acceptable parameters, and the Archimedes was within the Jelto's sensor range." he said to her as he looked at T'mpest.
"I, too, think it's important. It's possible someone was following the Archimedes to ensure they fell into whatever trap was set for them. The fact that they backed off so quickly is, in my opinion, significant."
Elsie looked at both officers, but remained silent. Then she inhaled audibly and hesitantly said, “I’ll advise Mr. Fisher to prepare for such an eventuality. I had hoped that some system power trouble had befell her, and that she’d simply fell off the radar for the past few days.� Coming out of her own train of thought, she narrowed her eyes onto Zhukov. “Work with Mr. Blake – Lieutenant Blake –“ she corrected, “and see if you can’t somehow work out exactly what this anomaly is from the data we have.
Zhukov nodded. "Yes, mam. I'll meet with him when we leave here." Vladimir said to her.
"T’mpest, I’ll need you to assist T’kaarch in training our sensors to pick up anything unusual as we arrive at the disappearance site.� Seeing the Vulcan’s slight facial twitch, something you half human side let slip, no doubt, Elsie interjected herself with an open hand. “Don’t worry, I have received your request to come down to the surface with the away team once we arrive at Overton, and I’m granting it.�
"Thank you, Captain," T'mpest said, not hiding her grin. She was eager to have a look at the archaeological site. "I’ll be happy to help T'kaarch in any way I can."
"Is there anything else, Captain?" Zhukov asked her.
“No,� Elsie replied, “just keep me informed of the progress.�
With that, Zhukov and T'mpest stood up and made their way out of the Ready Room and back to the bridge. From there, they went into the turbolift.
"Deck 2" Vladimir said.
Zhukov turned and smiled at T'mpest. "In a way, I'm sort of jealous that you get to go. Have fun...and be careful down there." he said as he took her hand in his. He pulled her a little closer and leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. "I have to admit, Commander, I am growing quite fond of you, and I like being close to you." he said as the turbolift doors opened on her deck.
"The feeling, Commander, is quite mutual," she replied. She smiled at him for a moment before stepping off the turbolift.
"You know, maybe it is time I moved my quarters up here. After all, I guess I am a senior officer now." he replied as the doors to the turbolift shut.
OFF:
Elise Halliwell
Commanding Officer
USS Ranger
T’mpest Michaels
Chief Intelligence Officer & Second Officer
USS Ranger
AND
Vladimir Zhukov
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Ranger
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