That We Might See (Part 2 of 8)

Posted on 22 Feb 2019 @ 4:50pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Commander Scarlet Blake & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin & Commander Marisa Wyatt & Lieutenant Lake ir-Llantrisant & Lieutenant JG Tris Shizn & Lieutenant JG Matthew Plumeri & Lieutenant Commander Ryan Alexander & Lieutenant JG Sofie Ullswater & Petty Officer 1st Class T'Lin & Cadet Senior Grade Jemima de la Coeur & Petty Officer 2nd Class Amul
Edited on on 22 Feb 2019 @ 4:55pm

3,186 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: USS Galileo-A, Latari System
Timeline: MD 01, 0251 hrs

Previously, on That We Might See (Part 1)...

"Impulse systems are at the ready, Sir," called out Crewman Draia Thero. The inexperienced Engineer's Mate didn't fully understand every meticulous interaction of the impulse engine system, but she had followed the orders that had been given to her. She had followed them meticulously. Eying the LCARS display with satisfaction, she drummed her grey hands along the bottom edge of this interface panel. Reporting out a little too loudly, Draia said, "Two backup reactor elements are running hot!"

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Deck 7 - Astrometrics

Marisa had asked the computer to wake her when the ship approached the Latari system. She'd already made the preparations for the sensor information from the bridge to be routed to Astrometrics so she could look at the data as it came in. She had no intention of depriving Ullswater of the opportunity to be on the bridge to see this first-hand, but felt that being in science would be the next best thing. And, since it was Astrometrics and was already equipped to get passive long-range scans for mapping purposes, it was possible to watch the images of the system in 3D while collecting data.

The doors into Astrometrics opened quickly and closed quickly behind the Andorian. Tris Shizn took a few steps into the room and found it to be mostly dark. Before him he could barely make out a figure already sitting at the controls. He hesitated for a moment, questioning himself if he had made the right decision. Would he be interfering? Would he become a distraction and cause a problem? Tris had no desire to do either.

Marisa looked up. "Hi. Come to have a look?" she asked. "Make yourself comfortable. I'm getting the data now." Her first priority was to get a good look at the three suns, then move out from there.

“Thanks,” Tris replied. “I was hoping for a first look, and help if I can,” he commented as he sat down next to Marisa.

T'Lin was not really an astrometrics person, but more of a physics person in general. None the less, she surmised that her talents might be needed in case something about the system needed a physics input. She looked at the data that had been sent many years back. "Triple star system, all main sequence with two stars A and B approximately three times sol with a half mass sol C. Typical hierarchial arrangement with C orbting A at a distance of 2.8Gm or about the distance sol to Mercury. A/C orbits around common barycenter center with B in an epliptical orbit of between 71 and 138AU."

~One-hundred and five days we could have had a yellow alert. But NNnnoooooo. Today, of all the days, we have a yellow alert! If this is another one of those 'alertness drills' I'll...I'll...then I'm writing a strongly worded letter to the Captain!~ Matt thought as he hauled off to Deck Seven and the Astrometrics lab. He walked into the lab, a full head of steam on, pissed at having to get up in the middle of his sleep cycle and to top it off - he was having a good dream.

"Who the hell calls a yellow alert..." he stopped speaking as he entered the room. Seeing the assembled science crewmates. "Oh. It's for real? Really?" he asked to no one in particular. He looked to his left, all the science stations were taken and manned. He looks to his right and all those stations were occupied too. And there was his department head, Lieutenant Marisa Sandoval standing with the CONN officer LT Shizn at the main control console for the master holographic display. ~Ugh!~ he thought. ~Can this day get any worse?~ Stepping forward but wishing he could go back to bed and hit the 'reset' button on his wakeup call he approached the main console.

"Lieutenant", he greeted the Andorian and then said, "Boss...top o' the morning. Looks like you're all full up here boss? Perhaps I should go to another lab yeah?"

Tris took a step back and to the side, “No, not at all Lieutenent,” as he extended a hand toward the console.

Matt gestured to the Andorian with his hand in an acknowledging wave and said, "Nah, you're fine where you were."

"Good morning, Mr. Plumeri," Marisa said cheerfully. "As Astrometrics is one of your specialties, you may be needed here. We don't expect anything untoward as far as science goes, but it will be nice to have another look at the system."

"Hopefully we'll get a more accurate picture of the lay of the land," Blake agreed as she moved in, just catching the tail end of the conversation. She held a PADD in one hand, and a steaming hot cup of coffee in the other. Anything that could give them a head start on finding out what was going on with their people was good news in her book. "Do we have any new data coming in yet?"

"Good morning, commander," Marisa said. "Visuals are just coming up, as is the data." The trinary system flared into existence in 3D as data began to scroll down one side of the image.

“Wow . . “ Tris spoke softly without thinking. He rarely came into Astrometrics to see this part of their work.

Blake gave a brisk nod to Marisa, but her eyes were already back to her PADD as she skimmed down the information they already had from the briefing. With relatively little to go on, she couldn't help but be keen to get something more solid that could help explain what was going on.

"Commander, good Lord that smells good!" The coffee in Commander Blake's mug smelled so good. Plumeri wanted a mug of it, but there was work to be done. "I can run a luminosity and spectroscopy sweep from terminal three over there", he indicated to one of the stand up terminals that was right now occupied by a science crewman. "Number three was tasked at the end of Alpha shift with anomalous gaseous cataloging. Shouldn't be too hard to share screens on that terminal boss" he suggested to Marisa.

"Yes, please," Marisa said. "I want the full electromagnetic spectrum. Also scan for particle compression and rarefaction of the gravitational waves. This is an excellent opportunity to see how they affect the suns, their gravity, and the planets in the system."

"You got it boss. It'll take me a few minutes. Excuse me,” he said and turned to leave.

"You may have my terminal. Your background is more suited to this work." T'Lin replied standing up.

Matthew said to the Vulcan Science Petty Officer T'Lin, "Please, Petty Officer T'Lin, your specialty is biochemistry and xenobiochemistry. Stay at your post. I think it important that you continue your duties where you are. Your services may be needed should the sensors detect the colonists and you have far greater skill in that area than most. Terminal three is just fine for me. And besides, you've already gotten this station configured for your work." He nodded and the matter was over, "Resume your station please. I'll be right over there." He did appreciate the gesture but he was right. The ship was entering the Latari system and complete and accurate scans must be had now. He nodded with an appreciative look and walked to terminal three. After a moment and a log in, he was running a long-range spectroscopy scan.

"I'm establishing an open duplex sensor team with the Trial. They can see what I can see and...voila!...I can see what their Science II bridge array can see. Link established Commander." Matt said to Blake and Marisa.

"Excellent. Thank you," Marisa said.


Deck 1 - Bridge

This entire trip had had its ups and downs for Amaranai. There were the issues with her sister, that hopefully were being resolved - at least the two were talking more.

As a security officer aboard a smaller ship, there were less things to deal with, but she was never bored and always made sure that her team was in top shape. She followed orders and gave orders just as easily and always supported Luke, or at least offered general criticism when necessary.

Amaranai was in the Security office when she heard Lirha's voice. The captain's voice requesting that she report to the bridge. It was a little confusing because Luke should be on the bridge at this point, but Amaranai was not going to contradict her commanding officer - at least not until they got back to Lirha's quarters for their own debriefing and actually talking about the mission.

Closing her screens, Amaranai headed to the bridge. Once on the bridge, she nodded to the others and allowed the Delta shift officer to move before she took their place.

Exiting the turbolift closely behind Amarani was Lieutenant Lake ir-Llantrisant. The Romulan Chief Counselor had asked for this opportunity -- practically demanded this opportunity -- to hone his diplomatic skills. As one would expect from great hubris, now that Lake had this opportunity dropped in his lap, he hardly knew what to do with it. Hesitating near the turbolift, Lake squinted at the overwhelming sights and sounds of the bridge. Looking from side to side, the yellow alert klaxon irritated him mildly, and he didn't have a bridge station of his own. He didn't know where to go.

Lake pivoted on his heel, snapping towards the aft of the bridge with far more intention than he truly felt. He meandered in the general direction of the Mission Ops console, and Lake began hunting for information about what Galileo was facing now.

Being on the bridge generated some anxiety for Soraya. It was her first time back on a starship bridge she'd been stripped of her own command and demoted from captain to lieutenant. It felt strange to be away from the commanding officer's chair. The shift in perspective felt foreign; it felt peripheral. She felt peripheral. Outside the safety of engineering - her bunker - she felt exposed. Before she could get too deep into an analysis of her feelings and wondering whether everyone was observing her or if it just felt that way, something on the console in front of her beeped insistently. Mercifully, it pulled her away from self-pity and back to the impulse engines.

Ryan took a moment to make sure his uniform was in order before he stepped off the turbolift. At the sound of the Yellow Alert Ryan had made a beeline for the bridge, and with the prompting from Commander Warraquim, he had double-timed it. Ryan cracked his neck as he stepped off the turbolift and onto the bridge. He made his way to the main Operations station, taking over the main station. He spent a few moments looking over the various readings and setting up post before announcing his station was ready and manned.

Jemima was surprised to be called to the bridge. She had a hard time keeping from doing a little dace as she made her way to deck 1. This was the second time she had the opportunity to have a first-hand look at something exciting. She did a little wiggle of excitement before she calmed down, walked onto the bridge, and took up her position at Science II.

The captain heard the bridge's entrance hiss open then turned her head to observe the new arrivals. It was good to see Amaranai back on the bridge again and now manning the Aux station designated for Security and Tactical. Then she saw the counselor, who she thought would be a strong asset in the face of potential Tholian interactions.

"Lake, good. Come," Lirha motioned to him with a come-hither gesture indicating for him to sit on the side rail next to her seat. "We're approaching the Latari system but our long-range sensors are being affected by high levels of solar radiation. We've also detected a distress beacon. Federation," she quickly briefed, then spoke to both he and Warraquim. "It could be the Franconia, the search-and-rescue vessel we were briefed on," she theorized. "Our intelligence did indicate Starfleet had lost all contact with them as well..."

Having stepped forward from where he'd been hiding at the aft of the Bridge, Lake stepped down into the command well with Allyndra. "With the interference from all the solar radiation," Lake wondered aloud, "how close are we going to have to get before we see exactly what's distressing them?" He crouched beside Lirha, perching himself on the bench beside her chair.

Allyndra looked to the captain and shrugged, "Unknown at this time. We are running an interferometry algorithm to see if we can glean any data."

From the forward conn position, Darius interrupted and announced their approaching position. "Captain, ten seconds. Nine...eight...seven," he started the verbal countdown timer and cross-referenced it with the internal navigation system.

"I suppose we will find out soon enough, my friend," Lirha mumbled to Lake while staring at the warp streaks on the main viewscreen. She put a firm green hand on the Romulan's shoulder and privately grit her jaw in preparation for the worst of the unknown.


Latari System, Sector 602

Two bright flashes suddenly appeared in the Latari system when USS Galileo and USS Trial snapped down to impulse velocity near the outer-most planet of the star system. The Nova II-class was about half the size of its Miranda-class big brother, yet they'd managed to maintain a close formation with section integrity throughout the dropout maneuver. The viewscreen in the bridge suddenly illuminated with intense brightness -- enough to cause the captain to shield her eyes for a short moment while the automated visual filters adjusted to the luminosity of the trinary star system.

When she peeked through her fingers again, Lirha now saw the two large main sequence stars along with a slight blotch of the third red dwarf. Bright blue and white hues illuminated the entire vicinity and allowed shadows to reveal the presence of various planets and moons circumnavigating their parent star in a finesse celestial ballet.

The captain took in her bearings and looked down to the command console to determine their current situation.

From the conn, Darius reported their arrival with a quick confirmation while his brown eyes studied his displays and looked to the main viewscreen. "Warp complete. Current position...in proximity to Latari A V. Position confirmed, captain."

The dazzling light of the stars had blinded the poor ship and as much as she wanted to sit a gawp Ensign Ullswater was doing her best to get their eyes open again. Her mind focused in on wrestling the sensors into some working order. "Captain," she called out as her fingers danced across the panels looking to cut through the interference "Short range scans aren't able to pick up anything other than the stars themselves - there's just too much radiation to get a clear idea of anything else here."

Listening to the sensor issues, Amul stated from Operations, “I will increase power to sensor arrays.”

Amaranai heard the Ensign's report from sensors, but the security officer decided that she should check the tactical sensors as well. There was a lot of interference as mentioned, but Amaranai adjusted the LCARS quickly as she scanned for any vessels. After a few moments, Amaranai spotted something and refocused the sensors to find out what she found.

"Captain," she said. "No vessels, Tholian or otherwise, in the area besides us, but I might have found a debris field near Latari B III." She paused as her fingers sped across her console. "It's hard to tell because of the interference, but I think it might have a Federation signature."

Ryan furrowed his brow as he a looked over Amaranai's data. He typed a few commands on his console, running the sensor feed through several computer programs that attempted to limit the effects of the interference from the solar radiation in order to get a reading of any Electro-magnetic signatures from any type of signal. “Captain, I am getting a faint reading near the debris field.” Ryan said as he cleaned up the data.

“I have a positive reading from a Federation distress signal from the debris field.” He said with confidence.

Allyndra just kept to the side observing at the moment. She would offer any advice, observations or technical experience she had if requested. In another way it was a good way to learn from a more experienced officer as well and that is what she concentrated on right now.

Similarly, Lake pivoted his head from side to side, dividing his attention between the vision on the viewscreen and the reports coming in from each of the bridge officers. He folded his hands over his abdomen, trying ever so hard to ignore the anxiety gnawing at his stomach. Unlike Allyndra, Lake couldn't keep quiet in simple observation. He felt a need to fill the space. Because he didn't have anything new to offer, he fell back on an old Starfleet aphorism; perhaps one of the oldest. "We come in peace," Lake said softly.

Allyndra heard the counselor and raided an eyebrow and added the Earth phrase, "Sic vis pacem, para bellum." She looked to Lirha after the reports of warp core signature and debris of Federation origin had come in. "Perhaps we should go to red alert captain? Something happened and while no Tholians detected, very seldom do Federation ships suddenly destroy themselves."

Saalm shook her head at the suggestion. "Tactical reports the system is clear," she replied, also knowing deep down that such preliminary scans were only temporary especially when compounded by sensor interference. "And we do not know for sure this debris field is composed entirely of Federation remains. We will have to get closer to investigate."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

CWO3 Lamar Darius
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Saalm]

PO2 Amul
Operations Officer
USS Galileo-A
[NPC Shizn]

CMDR Allyndra Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer/2XO
USS Galileo-A

ENS Sofie Ullswater
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

LT Marisa Sandoval
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Tris Shizn
Senior Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A

PO2 T'Lin
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Warraquim]

LTJG Matthew Plumeri
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo-A

LT Amaranai Franklin
Deputy Security Officer
USS Galileo-A

LT Lake ir-Llantrisant
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo-A

ENS Ryan Alexander
Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

CDT(SR) Jemima de la Cour
Scientist's Mate
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Sandoval]

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