Arrival

Posted on Mon Jul 25th, 2011 @ 1:13pm by Captain Elsie Halliwell & Captain T'mpest Michaels & Commander Cailean Fox, M.D. & Lieutenant Commander Dylan Blake & Lieutenant Cedric Shepherd & Captain Elsie Halliwell & Lieutenant Jimmy Cooper & Lieutenant JG Lucy Carter & Anaia Viel (Halliwell) & Captain Alexsa Kendrick

2,298 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Taylforth
Location: Bridge, USS Ranger
Timeline: Arrival In-System

ON:

Anaia’s arrival on board had distracted Elsie to the Nth degree. So much so that the six days at high warp to the Taylforth System had flown by without much of her presence either on the Bridge or in the Mess. She had retired to her quarters where she had locked the door and emerged only to accept the arrival of the child two days previous. Commander Michaels had been thrust into the deep end, organising the Science teams to prepare the equipment necessary for the completion of the mission, and had, as far as the captain could gleam in her hazy, confused state, executed her orders to an exemplary standard.

Elsie was, by now, aware of the whisperings churning from the lower ranks concerning the brief detour to rendezvous with a civilian ship, and the unusual appearance of a strikingly familiar teenager now seen exclusively in the company of the ship’s Chief Security Officer. She spared a glance at Shepherd standing tactical, all business now. Once the Ranger had stationed itself at the edge of the system, Halliwell knew that she had to take T’mpest aside and apprise her of her personal situation. But not now. And not here.

She now sat, still and silent, next to the Vulcan in the centre chairs, awaiting the notification that their journey’s end was in sight.

Jimmy turned from one of the science stations on the bridge, where he had the best overview on both ship status and Scientific things. "Captain, we are nearing Taylforth," he reported somewhat unnecessary, "Long range scans have not picked up anything out of the ordinary. I would advise to drop out of warp behind Taylforth III, so that we can survey their advance in technology first." His hair had settled neatly to the right this time.

"Confirmed, Captain. I would also recommend coming in cautiously. It's been a while since Starfleet has been in this sector." the Chief Helmsman said.

Kendrick had been on the bridge for a while observing, just observing the work and interactions of the crew. She had watched as each of the senior staff had come on duty and entered the command centre of the ship to begin their work and approach to Taylforth. She hadn't said a word, and as she leaned casually on the railing behind the central command chairs she was beginning to look a part of the furniture. Not being able to be involved any, she was beginning to feel like a piece of furniture as well--her own work would begin soon enough though. Her observations were almost complete between this mission and the last.

Elsie snapped out of her dreamlike ponderings and attempted to regain her usual, authoritative demeanour. She cleared her throat, shot a look at T’mpest and nodded her agreement. “Understood, Commander,†she said, now looking towards the viewscreen with Zhukov sitting beneath it. “Pull us up just out of the system.†She shot a look to the eager Mr. Cooper and smiled. “I don’t want to land in so close to Taylforth IV until we have solid data that their own sensor capabilities haven’t exceeded our previous projections.â€

Jimmy nodded. "You're the captain. Readying sensors for a sweep as soon as we drop out of warp."

"Dropping out of warp in three, two, one, now." said Zhukov as he slid his fingers across the warp controls.

Kendrick stood back from the rail where she was, and commenced her look of a pillar. Something was bound to happen now they had arrived.

As the Ranger exploded through the sound barrier on the outskirts of the system, the shooting stripes of light in the viewscreen seemed to pull back and rest quietly on the blanket of space behind it. The nacelles, still V-shaped, began to slowly extend out until they formed the more relaxed horizontal shape at the back of the ship.

Looking over to Lieutenant Cooper, Halliwell rose and began to slowly walk towards his station. “How close do we need to be before we can conduct detail scans of the planet, Lieutenant?â€

Before Halliwell got to the Science station, Kendrick was present first looking over the readings for herself, but mainly to get a clearer view of Halliwell's demeanour as she made her own approach.

T'mpest watched Kendrick carefully. The woman was far to casual in her nosiness. She was up to something and it made T'mpest's Spidey Senses tingle.

"The closer we get, the finer we can scan, Captain." Jimmy was working on the science station, not looking back. "Well, all the planets still seem to be there: Moons, still picking up rich Dilithium pockets. The fourth planet has rich amounts of space debris from all kinds of materials. But that's about as much as I can get from here."

Halliwell turned back to Zhukov. "Take us in further, Commander."

Zhukov nodded. "Aye, Captain. Engaging impulse engines. Full power to impulse engines. Time to arrival, approximately fourteen minutes." the Helm officer said as he engaged the secondary propulsion systems.

As the Ranger crept forward, Halliwell turned towards the back of bridge and nodded in the direction of Blake. "Lieutenant, keep our power out-put to a minimum and assist with scans. We want to get in as much information as we can without blipping on their radar."

We probably aren't the only one's that are interested in scanning out here, Kendrick thought without saying a word. Non-interference was her mandate out here, for now, and one that she was going to stick to... for now. If Halliwell were to screw things up, she was to do so alone, as if Alex wasn't even here.

"Aye ma'am." Blake responded gently manipulating the console with a delicate touch.

T'mpest notified the appropriate departments that they were out of warp and heading for the planet. "Begin scanning, Lieutenant Cooper. Let us know the minute you spot any technology that can detect us or anything out of the ordinary."

"Of course, Commander." Jimmy acknowledged without looking back.

"Slowing to one half impulse now." Zhukov said gently dialing down the output power of the engines."

"Captain," Jimmy interrupted, "I'm picking up a signal. It's coming from the fourth planet, but not directed at us - I think it's some kind of broadcast, not unlike Earth's radio signals."

“Mr. Blake?†Elsie questioned, now walking back towards the Ops terminal. “Can you pinpoint where the signals are coming from and what they’re relaying?â€

The lieutenant's brow creased with concentration as he attempted to comply. "Its rather distorted, more like white noise. Like comm. traffic." Blake could sense the captain and most of the bridge watching him, something he'd still never felt comfortable. "I've set up a file to capture the signal so we can break down the layers, filter out the interference. Whatever the details the wavelengths are recurring as if this message is on continuous play, a pre-programmed message."

"Or perhaps a very monotonous TV broadcast." Jimmy couldn't help jesting under his breath as he kept working the sensors.

Blake shot Cooper a heated look.

T'mpest glanced over at Jimmy, one side of her mouth quirked up in a half smile. "Perhaps." She knew the comment was meant to be unheard, but her Vulcan hearing picked it up clearly. "Time will tell."

Truer words were never spoken, Kendrick smiled inwardly to herself as she returned to her spot by the MSD.

Elsie remained motionless, her arm precariously resting on the surrounding edge of Blake’s station. She thought for a moment, unsure of how to proceed for the best, and looked about the bridge for any clear indication of what to do. She slowed her breathing, turned now to face the viewscreen and stared into the middle distance. Making a decision, she nodded to Zhukov and altered her expression to a decidedly authoritative stance.

“Commander. All stop here. Use the magnetic generation of one of the moons to mask us. We need to find out what those signals are and how technologically advanced they are.â€

"Aye, aye. Full stop." Vladimir replied as he moved his fingers down the acceleration controls.

Turning to Blake, she locked eyes with him, ready to deliver another set of orders. “I want the telemetry analysed, Lieutenant. I’m not moving this ship any closer until we’re decided on what they can see and where they’re looking. We know that the inhabitants of Taylforth IV have visited their own moon, and presumably, they would need some sort of communication to achieve that. But I don’t want to rush into this and make a mess of an all too early First Contact situation.â€

Reining back in his composure Blake nodded respectfully. "Aye Captain."

“Mr. Cooper,†she then added finally, twisting her body to view him fully. “Make the preparations to launch the probe. I’m still undecided whether to use it but we should be ready for it, either way.â€

"Probe is," Jimmy double checked his screen, "ready for your orders."

“Any suggestions, Commander?†Elsie then said to T’mpest with the confirmation of her orders now heard.

"Suggest we monitor communications. It stands to reason that a planet advanced enough to land on their moon will be broadcasting some means of information dissemination." T'mpest said, considering the various options.

"Scan for forms of transportation on the ground and in the upper atmosphere. I also suggest we look for computer activity. Once found it will be easy enough to use their computers to gain more information on the technological level and political structure of the planet." She looked at the captain, still considering various options. "Can we cloak a shuttle for a closer look before we send in a probe that might be detected?"

Did Kendrick just hear the first officer correctly? They didn't want a first contact situation, the captain had made that clear, as was proper policy, but cloaking a shuttle to gallivant through the system and the planet while hacking into their own computer network to obtain information... that was just begging for trouble. She opened her mouth to say something, but caught her vocals in time, and instead remained silent.

"Captain," T'mpest continued. "As you said, we should be prepared for anything, but the more information we can gather at this juncture the better. I believe a cloaked shuttle stands a greater chance of remaining unseen than a probe."

"I must agree, Captain," Jimmy turned from his station, "While our stealth technology may not be as advanced as, say, the Romulans', it should keep a pre-warp civilization from detecting it." Or else what was it good for, he thought.

Elsie flicked her attention from one point of information to the other. And then her gaze uncomfortably settled on Kendrick. It was difficult to keep such focus on a decision that would undoubtedly alter the entire mission path for the better or worse. But to clear her mind of all the extraneous influences she was battling whilst under constant scrutiny and observation as she was was almost unbearable. Almost. She bit her lip and stayed the desire to whip her tongue to her contemporary and looked to her First Officer, ready to relay the next set of orders.

Zhukov interjected. "The shuttle will need a pilot. Someone who can fly in close contact if need be. I have...some experience with that," he said as he smiled a little at the corner of his mouth.

Suddenly, Jimmy's console blipped, making him turn around again. "Captain, more scans are coming in of the planet... wait a minute..." Jimmy's eyes grew as the scan came in. "... Commander, which percentage of this planet is supposed to be water?"

"76.32 percent, on average," T'mpest replied.

"99.47%.. This must be an error. Can we get a visual of the planet, Captain?" Jimmy was again focused fully on the science station.

"99.47 percent?" T'mpest stood and walked over to Jimmy's station. "What's the salinity level of the water?" What would cause the planet to flood like this? she wondered. "Are there any human lifeforms?"

"Salinity seems to have dropped 15% since the earlier scans." Jimmy had now added the results of the older scans to his screen. "About 3 billion humanoids, most on the surface of the water, but the scan does indicate life under water as well."

That caught T'mpest's interest. "Humanoid lifeforms under water?"

"Scan is inconclusive." Jimmy turned to T'mpest again."But there may be submarines - or at least, variations on the idea."

Halliwell stepped in. “Continue the scans, Lieutenant,†she asked, looking to Cooper and then she turned to face T’mpest. “We’ll need to sift through all of the information we’ve gathered and look into how to unobtrusively gain more. Concentrate on the communication Lieutenant Blake has garnered. We’ll hold up here and once we have a clear handle on what has happened here, and where we can assist, we’ll decide our next course of action.

Previously concert rating on the information being collected by the transmission Blake stole a upward glance at his name and gave the watery planet of look of displeasure, a ripple spasmed down his spine at the sight and a bread of sweat slipped between his shoulder blades.
Naturally it was understandable for the Captain to be interested in the water world, Blake just hoped it would be short lived.

"Yes, ma'am," T'mpest responded. The Captain was right. They had to sift through this new data, compare it with what they had before and then decide where to go next. All things in due order.

OFF

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Hand-crafted by the exceptional cast and crew of the USS Ranger.

 

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