Looking for the Inventor

Posted on Wed Mar 20th, 2024 @ 8:31am by Commodore Samantha York & Lieutenant JG Ronnie Wolfe & Lieutenant Penelope Bardot-Jannetty Ph.D & Lieutenant Aenar Torek & Lieutenant Bela Swain & Ensign Tallas Shirol & Ensign Kela Sirel
Edited on on Fri Apr 5th, 2024 @ 1:41am

1,149 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Broken Mirror
Timeline: After "Second Star to the Right?"

ON

It took them a day to get to the last known location of the man whose double invented the drive that allowed the Prowler to cross between universes. "All stations, we'll be entering the Dartini system. Away team, report to the transporter room." After Sam made the announcement, she turned to science. "I want a full sensor sweep of the planet to see if you can locate our missing scientist."

'Full standard science sweep, aye,' Aenar responded. 'Keying in for the bio-signs of the scientist.' Fingers moving economically and efficiently across the console interface, Aenar arranged for the Main Computer to prioritise a sweep of the planet as they entered orbit. 'Won't be long 'til we have our data.'

Bela listened patiently from her chair on the bridge. There was not a thing she could do right now, except be moral support. She listened carefully for any signs of stress or duress that might not be detected by the Captain or other crew.

Tallas stood at the tactical station. Damion had been teaching her how to man it and this was her first time doing it solo. Well, not exactly solo. Sirel was close by in case she needed help, but Tallas was determined to do it on her own. Still, she was disappointed she wasn't going with Damion on the away mission.

Sirel walked over to Tallas, checking on her work, before noticing the look on her face. "You okay, Blue?"

"Yeah..." Tallas replied softly. "I just wish I was going. You know. As back up."

Sirel let out a soft chuckle before tapping her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Girl. He'll be fine. You're the Boss while he's gone, so enjoy it while you can."

Tallas smiled, nodding her head in agreement. Damion would be all right. He had plenty of back up going so she was probably worrying over nothing. "Yeah.. you're right. He's the Chief for a reason." She looked over to Sirel before adding. "So... Girls' night?"

"Girls' night." Sirel replied, patting Tallas on the shoulder, before walking away and back to her station.

'I think we have something,' Aenar reported sharply. 'At the Western edge of the Northern continent. Near where the taiga begins.' He sighed, 'not really much of a hiding place, those signals stand out like a sore thumb. Bit obvious really.'

"Girls' night?" Bela asked interested. "That could be fun."

"On screen," Sam said. "We need to know what we're getting into."

Punching a combination into his workstation, Aenar brought up what the sensors had shown him.

The screen winked into life, showing an idyllic scene. Much in keeping with similar biomes on other class M planets, this one's taiga consisted of coniferous-analogue forests. At this point in the year, the location around the Inventor's location was snow-free, and the forest was just bursting into the verdant greens of springs.

In an isolated clearing within a forest was a small domed structure with a plume of smoke rising from it.

'That's where the signals are coming from,' Aenar said.

Sam studied it for a long moment. "It looks like somebody's home, but it looks too perfect for my comfort."

'Agreed,' Aenar said from his console. 'Too easy to pick up on the sensors, no signs of attempted concealment.' He shrugged, 'we could just be paranoid, though.'

"We could, but I'd rather be paranoid for now," Sam knew better than to assume. "Head to the shuttle bay and make sure they know to keep their eyes open."

'Yes ma'am!' Aenar replied enthusiastically and got to his feet. Seemed like he'd not be spending too much time at his desk aboard the Calypso, and that was the way he'd like it. 'A breath of fresh air is just what I need.'

"Tactical, search the area for any signs of weapons or explosives."

"Ma'am," called out Lieutenant Penelope Jannetty looking at the Commodore's chair from the lieutenant’s position at one of the Calypso's bridge stations allotted to engineering purposes. Penny preferred to be down on Engineering rather than on the bridge, but presently she had thoughts elsewhere.

The crew did not know her that well. In fact, she barely saw these people in her months aboard the Calypso. She was night shift they were alpha and beta shifters. While they were snuggled in for the night with duvets up to their shoulders, she would be up to her neck in replacing power converters and keeping the aging Isolinear circuitry from fritzing out on them.

"I may be of some service," she said before the Chief Science Officer completely departed. "Nobody's going to have eyes more open than mine. No offense to our tricorders, but my ocular implants could be advantageous."

Sam considered that for a moment. She had a point, but would Penny be of more use on the ship or with the team? She nodded. "Very well. Go join the team in the transporter room."

Penny looked at the Bajoran. "Looks like the prophets have blessed you today, my child," said Penny with a teasing tone. "I'm a good luck charm, haven't you heard?"

Turning before he reached the turbolift, Aenar flashed a smile at the shorter woman, 'the Prophets believe we make our own luck, er,' he caught her rank insignia, 'Lieutenant. If you've managed to bottle it, you'll make some bars for sure.'

He hadn't seen the Lieutenant before. Aenar was sure he had met the Alpha and Beta shift leads for the Engineering department, but couldn't quite place her. He made a note to check out the manifest before getting to the transporter.

Bela looked over at Aenar, with a playful but warning glance. There was a time and place to be suspicious, but this was not it.

Ronnie walked onto the bridge and nodded at Sam before she took her place at the science station and began another scan of the planet and system, just in case there were any changes now that the Calypso settled into orbit. She also wanted to be sure there were no anomalous readings. She trusted Aenar, but she didn't want to miss anything--especially as Damion was part of the away team.

Once the away team had gone to the transporter room, Sam took a closer look at the dome structure and the surrounding woods. "This should be a simple check on the scientist, but I want everyone to keep alert in case there's any trouble."

With this crew, that was always a possibility.

____
OFF


Commodore Samantha York
Commanding Officer
USS Calypso

Lieutenant Aenar Torek
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Bela Swain
Chief Counselor
USS Calypso

Ensign Tallas Shirol
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Calypso

Ensign Kela Sirel
Tactical Officer

Lieutenant Penelope Jannetty
Chief Engineer
USS Calypso

Lieutenant JG Ronnie Wolfe
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Calypso

 

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