A Puzzlement (part 2)

Posted on Tue Sep 8th, 2015 @ 1:20pm by Commodore Samantha York & Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Tate & Commander Hans Munich & Lieutenant Yui Hirasawa & Lieutenant Arnon Barak MD, PsyD & Lieutenant Illise Hale & 1st Lieutenant Leroy Mangalia

1,154 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Of Gods and Men

[CONTINUED]


Leroy stepped onto the bridge, covered in grease while wiping off his hands on a smeared rag. "Hey Cap? Where are we this time, and can I borrow a couple more engineers to rebuild my craft?"

"We're in the Gekkaro sector," Sam replied. "And yes, talk to Lieutenant Hartley. This should be a routine survey mission with a possible away team. I don't think it will tax engineering very much."

"Thanks Commodore. One other thing," he said pulling out a grease stained padd, then guiltily tried to wipe off the screen a little. Handing it to her, he even seemed to blush. "OCS needs you to sign so I can move on to the next course." Grinning a goofy little smile he backed away from the former Science Officer, before tapping his badge. "Mangalia to Lieutenant Hartley, you mind meeting me in the fighter bats with anyone that could help with rebuilding a fighter? Thanks Lieutenant." Closing the comm he kept backing away from the flag officer. "Always a pleasure Commodore, and I don't remember if I gave you those items you ordered. Why don't I go far far away like to the other side of the ship and look for those."

Sam couldn't help smiling at Leroy. "No, you haven't delivered them yet. I am glad that your courses are doing well and yes, you should clean up." She thumbed the PADD and moved closer to Leroy so she could hand it back to him. "Keep up the good work."

Arnon entered the bridge. He wasn't really essential at this time but it helped to know what the crew was experiencing first hand rather than waiting for someone to tell him what was going on. Learning about what was going on only when a crew member came to him for help hampered his ability to help.

Jennifer observed the entire seem slightly shocked by Sam's acceptance of the man's state of appearance. Tate had never seen such lax rules observed on the bridge of a starship, dress was crucial and always to be observed when not in the heat of battle. It also spoke to her that the pilot was too lazy to even bother to freshen up prior to the interaction or even send a runner in his stead. Was this common occurrence? The thought left her slightly unsettled.

Sam couldn't help picking up on Jennifer's thoughts and they gave her pause. The CO wasn't as by-the-book as the Intelligence Officer was. Although she generally didn't want her crew running around greasing up the ship, she understood Leroy's eagerness. Sam filed the information away for future reference. Then she turned to Illise. "How are the scans?"

Illise had a slightly dismayed expression on her face as she watched the Ensign leave the bridge. Shaking her head a little, she looked back at her screens. "Scans of the sector are complete Captain." she reported. "We are detecting a Class M planet orbiting an F-type star 1.5 light-years from our current position." She paused to consider the data.

"Well this is strange..." Illise continued, "Pollution and radiation levels indicate the presence of a pre-industrial civilization, agrarian mostly. However, we are also picking up an unusual power reading from the planet." She punched several controls in quick succession. "The computer is unable to identify it's signature nor it's exact origin, although, it is definitely emanating from the surface."

Sam focused on Illise. "Let's have a closer look, shall we? Helm, take us in, standard orbit. Illise, keep scanning, I want to know more about this planet."

Jennifer moved closer to the science officer taking her mind from the greasy pilot to whatever the woman had spotted.

Illise took a step to the side to give Jennifer better view, but continued her analysis of the readings.

Sam turned to Hans. "Is communications picking up anything?"

"No emissions outside of normal subspace that we are generating." Munich said as he nod to the Commanding Officer.

Yui handled the console bringing the Calypso into a high orbit. "Orbit established" Yui said with a smile as she sat back. All she had to do was to monitor the orbit and the computer pretty much did the rest.

"Thank you," Sam said to Yui.

Illise frowned down at her console. "We're still picking up the odd reading Captain. At this range we should be able to get a clearer scan, however, the sensors are having trouble getting anything definitive. It has a technological signature, but I can't get anything more than that. Something may be interfering with our sensors." she offered.

Jennifer took a seat the intelligence station as she began to work the database and reports for any information that may be of concern to the crew. If this was indeed a pre-warp civilization then the technological readings would be of concern. However if the civilization had entered an industrial era then Samantha would need to be apprised prior to any further investigation.

"Lieutenant Hale," Sam said. "Continue to scan the planet and system. I want to know if there's any reason for that signature. If not, we may need to send down a team to investigate."

"Scan for satellites," Arnon said. "Excuse me, I mean pre-warp doesn't mean pre-technology. If we scan for satellites and we find none, it would mean less of a chance we'd be detected in orbit. getting close enough for visual images of the surface would be less of a risk if there are no satellites. We could extrapolate from those pictures their level of technology more accurately and look for something that sticks out, a structure or facility that does not match with their apparent level of technology. Just a thought. Sorry to interrupt."

"Although I appreciate the suggestion, from what I've seen so far, the planet is not only pre-warp but ore-industrial. However, to make sure we cover all our bases, Lieutenant Hale, check for satellites."

"Yes Captain." Illise set the sensors to scan for objects in the upper atmosphere or in low-orbit. "No satellites detected." She shot an apologetic glance at Arnon; it was a good idea. "They may have the capability to spot us without them, however. Even primitive observatories would notice a new star moving quickly across the sky if we to enter orbit."

Sam nodded. "They would indeed. We need to stay within transporter range, but we do need to be careful not to get too close to the planet. I'm sure they're familiar with shooting stars. As long as they think we're a comet or other moving object, we'll be fine." As long as nothing untoward happened. "We'll have a briefing tomorrow. See what you can find in the meantime."

____
OFF

Master Chief Leroy Mangalia
Flight Leader

Commodore Samantha York
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Tate
Intel Officer

Lieutenant Yui Hirasawa
Chief Flight Control Officer

Lieutenant JG Illise Hale
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Arnon Barak
Chief Counselor

 

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