Enus Station (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 17 Aug 2025 @ 3:05pm by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant JG Serran & Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle & Lieutenant JG Sofie Ullswater & Lieutenant JG Nusien & Ensign Mimi & Ensign S'Ers-a M'Lyr'Zor

3,200 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Episode 21 - Helix
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 1, Bridge
Timeline: MD 07, 0830 hrs

[ON]

Occasional soft and harmonic chirps of various LCARS consoles running through their complex subroutine programs dotted the bridge's audible landscape in what was otherwise a calm and quiet atmosphere. Galileo's command center remained fully staffed in the wake of the abominable tentacle encounter in the transporter room mere hours prior. Only Commander Tarin was now absent, for her duties preoccupied her below decks. The small Nova-class starship continued to maintain its geostationary orbit above the blue Class O planet in search of its Federation colleagues many leagues below the sea, and with each passing hour and minute the starship's hails went unanswered, the darker the thoughts of the station's peril became.

Allyndra took the main seat with a fresh uniform and footwear on feeling a hundred times better. "Can we boost scans to attempt to locate any personnel within the undersea station?"

"It is harder to see than it is to deceive." The mantra rang through Ullswater's head as she did her best to recall all the training in counteracting electromagnetic countermeasures. But as she cycled through the options she had available still nothing got through. "Remembering that they asked specifically for a Nova class ship for assistance then we can presume they have a significant advantage over us in this field. They know our specifications and our standard operating procedures while we have no idea what sort of technology they are using to hide from us."

"Then we will have to do something they don't expect." Allyndra stared at the screen. "Thoughts and ideas, anyone?"

"Could we not launch a class six probe into the lower atmosphere?" Mimi suggested. "Somewhere near the station, give us a relay and signal boost point between us and them?"

Serran looked up from his ops console and glanced over at Mimi. "That is a sound and logical idea, Ensign."

Then, turning to the woman seated in the center chair, he continued, "And I can boast comms from here. Perhaps that combination will work."

"We could try to use one of the large weather systems on the surface, maybe if we hide the probe from their scans, they won't be able to counter it." Ullswater pulled up a scan of the weather patterns around the hidden base and highlighted a few areas on the map where the weather was at its worst. "One of these spots could work."

Allyndra listened to the suggestions. "Very good, make it so."

With a nod, Lieutenant Ullswater began configurations for the probe launch. "Sir, I'd suggest we complete an orbit of the planet and launch the probe when on the other side. We would want to minimise the possibility that they detect the launch."

"Agreed, if all goes smoothly," Allyndra responded.

At the forward-most conn station, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius rested his hands atop the console then began a series of skillful and audible taps across its control surface. "Adjusting orbit and engaging impulse engines," he called out before pressing the large and red 'execute' command button.

The main viewscreen's star field backdrop began to shift when the vessel's movement commenced, and soon the planet's currently-visible weather systems, oceans, and small continents rotated out of view and were replaced by new ones as the starship traversed the orbital plane. Several minutes transpired before he relayed the next pertinent update to the bridge. "Approaching the far side of the planet... We'll reach the launch point in 22 seconds."

Serran exchanged a glance with Ullswater at the viewscreen, to his console, and back to Ullswater. He paused then began to count down... "15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10..."

Several minutes had been more that enough for Ullswater. The probe was configured. "Probe is ready to launch on your signal, sir."

Allyndra kept watch between the countdown and the main view screen. As the time reached zero, she commanded. "Launch."

"Probe launched." Came Ullswater's affirmation from the front of the bridge.

In space, Galileo's port-forward torpedo launcher flared and ejected a small silver capsule which catapulted into the cosmos. Unlike the vessel's torpedo ordinance, this launch was devoid of streaking crimson flares and a matter/anti-matter warhead. The probe's visual presence was innocuous and consisted of a simple silver blur which quickly sped away then down into the ocean planet's orbital plane, its optical presence decreasing within seconds when its inconspicuous casing merged with planet's bright white cloud cover.

"Commander, we'll keep it close to the surface, within the atmosphere so that it can use the weather patterns to mask its approach. It is going to be striking a balance, the faster we move the probe the more likely they detect it. A longer wait would give us the best chance but would also be all the more time that we don't know what is going on down there." Ullswater presented the situation as plainly as she could. It would be Warraquim's decision on how that balance would be struck but as Science officer she was here to advise so advise she did: "We can't guarantee that they won't see it but I'd suggest keeping it's speeds slow and aiming to get close to the base in around seventy minutes."

"Thank you for the assessment. Mister Darius, think you can maneuver the ship to make sure the probe is on path? We don't have to go as low, but I would like to be closer for a short while."

"Closer?" responded Darius who took a deep breath then slowly turned around in his chair to face the rest of the bridge crew. It'd been a long time since he'd maneuvered a starship into the lower gravity of a planet. "I can take us into the upper atmosphere's thermosphere... Engineering," he didn't want to call Sera by her casual name out loud in light of their recent proclivities and the professional necessities currently present, "want to activate AOM?"

Sera raised a brow at Lamar's choice of words. Did she want to? Irrelevant. Commander Warraquim's order was given...she just had to figure it all out. Of course she had educated herself on the Galileo's unique operational capabilities on the six-month long journey out to Regula One, but executing this particular functional mode seamlessly was going to be a unique challenge.

Quickly bringing up the direct comms to main engineering - Sera informed her team of the directive and brought up ship's status screen. Operations had their tasks to accomplish with this and it was her duty to ensure engineering was imminently ready...

"Warp core at full operational condition - output currently at 20%. All backup reactors are now on hot standby. SIF and IDF generators are currently functioning at 103 percent. Level 4 diagnostics completed at beginning of shift verify systems' readiness. Operations, has deflector systems and sensor arrays been reconfigured for atmospheric mode?"

"Reconfiguring the deflector now," Mimi replied, she sent the request for priority lateral and short range sensors through the system to her boss to approve as it was going to involve wiping most the jobs board, most of the science department weren't going to like Ops for the next few hours but it wasn't every day you got to take the ship into the atmosphere of a planet. As she worked something niggled at her mind, her probe suggestion having nothing to do with following it. "Commander if I may, what are we trying to not have detect our probe?" She asked though she wasn't sure if she'd missed something being discussed. "It would be harder to detect without us following it, especially into orbit."

"Not exactly following the probe. We are going to dip in. If someone is tracking they'll be following the big target. We make a pass and then away while the probe is set off. I am open to suggestions." Allyndra looked across the bridge.

"So we're the distraction? I like the idea, sir." Ullswater gave a nod. Her head was already whirring with ways to make the deception more believable. "I'll keep active sensors probing the base, try to put on a good show for them. And I suppose if this doesn't work we can always just land next to them and look at this thing with our eyes."

Allyndra nodded. "That's the thought. However, no landing. This is a small dip and back out." She turned her attention to Darius. "Perhaps we make it look more like a small problem with the ship. That is like we didn't mean to dip into the atmosphere."

The stated plan forced Darius to narrow his eyes in contemplation. It felt deceptive - devious in nature toward what was supposed to be a fellow Federation facility. The art of subterfuge was finely honed by practice and thoughts of piloting Galileo to and from the cold station on that ill-fated mission quickly resurfaced.

"I can vent some warp plasma from the starboard nacelle during the descent...and take us outside of the entry glide slope. But it's going to get bumpy," he cautioned. "We'll all need to strap up."

"Very good. Sound the alert and let's make a brief dip. In and out, nothing more," Allyndra commanded. "Let's dance."

"Aye, sir. Initiating the dance," replied Darius, who proceeded to tilt his head from side to side and pop away some stiffness in his neck's facet joints. His dark fingers extended then hovered atop the helm's control panel before descending and first tapping the ship's internal comm channel. "All crew, this is the conn: prepare for atmospheric entry and turbulence," his deep voice sounded across all compartments and corridors. "Secure any important objects. And yourselves. And pets and other animals..." Hopefully, that covered all the bases.

Serran looked down at the screen, choosing his actions concisely, but with deliberate speed. "Initiating atmospheric operations mode." It was as much for his benefit as it was for the rest of the bridge crew.

The lights in Sick Bay dimmed and Nusien turned to the nearest computer terminal. He hoped that he would see anything but the color red. He was relieved to be correct, there flashing on the screen was the blue crest that indicated a blue alert. The ship was going atmospheric. He turned to his staff. "Alright lets secure all patients. Just in case it gets a bit bumpy." He led by example and secured a number of the tool carts.

Delainey moved briskly to make sure others were able to brace themselves as much as possible in anticipation of the upcoming turbulence. Times like these, it seemed everywhere she looked, she spotted sharp corners and any number of unsecured tools and other objects that could just as easily be turned into weapons if subjected to the right amount of serendipitous force and movement.

No member of Starfleet was safe from combat or other equilibrium shattering catastrophe, but living with that uncertainty constantly at the forefront of the mind was not sustainable, so it was understandable that most of the time, people might as well be standing still for all the thought they gave to all the perils of traveling by starship.

That was, until times like these. The counselor had a brief flash of Galileo plunging into the waters of the planet below, and shuddered at the mental image. Of course, she understood that an atmospheric alert didn’t mean they were about to plunge into the sea, but her encounters with Tentaclees were still fresh, and the thought of encountering similar creatures loomed.

Throughout the interior of the Nova-class starship, the standard ambient running lights dimmed to give priority to the new alert lighting which started to pulse. Royal blue hues now intermittently illuminated the landscape of each corridor and primary operations centers, shadowing the crew and their surroundings in a tempered visual environment.

"Performing final checks before entry..." reported Darius who diligently tapped at his console to review the ship's new system reports. Fifteen seconds passed before his addendum, "We're ready for descent. Initiating..." His large fingers recalculated a final descent path, then combined to press the large 'engage button' with three of his fingers.

Against the bright blue backdrop of the planet Enus V and its puffy white cloud covering, the Federation starship Galileo departed from its geostationary orbit at low impulse and descended along the world's primary orbital plane in pursuit of the probe's trajectory. The vessel cut its impulse engines as it approached the exosphere then performed a slow, uncorrected roll to port.

"Upper atmosphere entry in 12 seconds..." reported Darius.

Allyndra clasped the sides of the chair, though it wasn't needed. She couldn't help but second guess herself that this was the best course of action. She was sure it would be, but there was always an unknown. She remembered her teacher when her wings had come in saying: "The ground is a harsh mistress."

Sera passively listened to the current remarks on the bridge as she focused most of her attention on the engineering consoles as an ever scrolling series of data informed her of the minutiae of the ship's operational readiness. Running the mental checklist in her mind, she recognized that it would be prudent to inform the XO of the alterations she was making to ensure a safe atmospheric entry.

"Initiating starboard nacelle plasma venting now." Blowing off the excess plasma would aid in reduction of the plasma sheath around the spacecraft, aiding in heat dissipation from atmospheric friction.

Meanwhile, not visible to the occupants within the small science vessel, Galileo began to smoothly cut through the highly ionized upper layers, creating a lingering wake of luminescent St. Elmo's Fire that trailed behind her glowing nacelles. The vibration harmonics shifted as Galileo entered into the upper atmosphere. The inertial dampeners kicked in but the lag was 1.2 seconds longer than Sera considered acceptable. There would be level 4 diagnostics on the entire system in the near future for her team.

Galileo's shields began to sizzle and illuminate from the budding atmospheric friction before intensifying in strength. The cerulean hues of the deflector grids were soon supplanted by yellow and red licks of heat buildup which quickly overtook the vessel's shape and obscured the image on the main viewscreen. In the planet's upper atmosphere, the Nova-class started its burn-through akin to a small meteor entering the foreign world. Turbulence increased within the starship and the deck plating began to shudder under the stress of the maneuver. Several LCARS warning klaxons sounded across the bridge from the operations, helm and engineering stations to indicate impending hull stress and potential structural integrity failure if the current maneuver continued.

One of the LCARS warning klaxons originated from her console. Sera whipped her long long hand across the flat screen and identified the cause of the alert. "Commander, hull stresses are increasing exponentially at this trajectory..." Her voice trailed as she looked over to the conn to Chief Darius for a brief moment before continuing. "Upper atmosphere gravitational fluctuations are far more varied than anticipated - attempting to plot out the variances now, but if we continue on this direct course, structural integrity of the outer hull will not hold."

Serran remained calm. Outwardly. His pulse quickened, if only slightly, but his expression remained impassive. "Boosting power," he muttered as much to himself as the crew around him. "This may give us the time we need," he said. "Mimi, I could use some help here."

"Both generators are at full power, there is not much more I can do to help Sir." Mimi replied.

"If the stress goes much higher, take us out of here. I'm not going to compromise the ship. We might not be able to fulfill another orbit," Allyndra added as she felt the ship shudder and groan. She might second guess herself, but she couldn't show that in front of the rest. "Chief Darius, if need be, guide us back out. I trust your instincts."

"Conn, I am sending over a gravitational variance algorithm that may assist in plotting trajectory - although it is by no means comprehensive...there does appear to be large amounts of high density geological formations that could be the source of these variances." Sera continued almost to herself, "One would think this would have been well documented and passed along in the debriefing packet."

Allyndra sat up straight as the information came in. "We're not going to take the chance. Take us up and back into orbit. We'll figure out what the data means later."

The stream of updated atmospheric data scrolling across Darius' console was almost overwhelming but it contained pertinent information which would take more time to digest than his Human brain could process in the current moment. He didn't want to abandon the maneuver just yet but the threshold for pushing the starship's limits ultimately wasn't his call. He exhaled through his tightened lips then shook his head. "Altering course to Z-plus-27..." his fingers danced across the console to correct Galileo's roll, pitch and yaw then put the vessel on a new escape trajectory. "Nose up...now. Engineering, cut the plasma vent."

Within the planet's upper atmosphere, the Nova-class starship rolled along its axes to stabilize its position and abandon the faux-distress maneuver originally ordered. The internal shimmering began to subside but the flames licking the bow continued to overtake the main viewscreen. "Engaging ascent maneuvers, standby for impulse." The maneuvering thrusters weren't enough to overtake the planet's gravity well and additional thrust was needed to return Galileo into orbit.

Sera's elegant fingers were already at work on the LCARS screen before her when Darius' authoritative tone echoed her own consensus. "Cutting starboard nacelle plasma venting and transferring power to impulse engines now." She replied, all business.

As the ship stabilized, Allyndra relaxed slightly. "As soon as we reach orbit, I want to know the status of the probe. Those anomalies most likely will interfere with its movement. Second, we need to analyze why those didn't show up in the database on this planet."

Galileo's single large impulse engine came to life and its crimson glow audibly punctuated the atmosphere with a crackle of power while shimmering heat dispersal and red-hot deuterium burn highlighted its raw propulsion capabilities. The Nova-class vessel subtly jolted forward due to the new additional thrust, then continued to ascend through the remaining layers of Enus V's thick atmosphere. The flames obscuring the forward image on the main viewscreen began to dissipate and within less than a minute, the blackness of space filled the screen.

"Re-entering orbit," reported Darius who then started a slow deceleration of the starship.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CWO3 Lamar Daruis
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Tarin]

LTJG Sofie Ullswater
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Nusien
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A

Ensign S'Ers-a M'Lyr'Zor
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo-A

Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
First Officer
USS Galileo-A

Ensign Mimi
Deputy Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Serran
Operations Manager
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Delainey Carlisle
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo-A

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