Heading to the Planet

Posted on Sun Jun 25th, 2023 @ 6:38am by Captain Kelly O'Connor & Lieutenant Glenn Radars & Lieutenant Haarris Zim & Lieutenant Vila Lorut & Lieutenant JG Cara Ross

2,557 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Mission 8 - A Blast from the Past
Location: Transporter Room and Shuttlebay
Timeline: 2296/03/13 1115 hours

O'Connor wasted no time heading down to the transporter room. She was pretty sure that Cara was following her. The Captain hoped that their previous discussion did not cause Ross to doubt herself. Being a competent officer was quite different that having horrible taste in choosing men. O'Connor just hope that Cara understood that.

The doors to the transporter room swooshed open as O'Connor approached.

Ross was on the Captain's heels, her tricorder out, fingers furiously tapping as she used the ships internal network to download as much data related to the shuttle disappearance and the atmospheric conditions as she could before she would lose access to the America's more powerful sensor suite. She nearly bumped into the Captain's back as they entered into the transporter room proper, muttering a quick apology and splitting off to the side toward the Transporter control station.

The Captain looked around. "Where's my security officer?" she growled dangerously....

The Transporter Chief, a man who was greying at the temples and had the hint of a receding hair line looked over at O'Connor. "Captain, you are not going to be able to beam down."

"Why not?" O'Connor growled.

"The atmospheric disturbance appears to be getting more concentrated. Our transporters just can't get through."

O'Connor furrowed her eyebrows and touched the comm on the wall, "Radars, we're going to have to fly down. If you sense anything firing at us, you fire back and destroy it. No questions asked. Understood?"

"Fire on anything that ain't you. I think I can handle that..." Glenn replied, even from his voice you could tell he was smirking in some way.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Radars," O'Connor retorted before switching the comm, "Lieutenant Vila Lorut, meet me and the rest of the away team in the shuttlebay."

"Oh Captain, you know that's never going to happen!" Radars responded just before the channel cut off.

Vila was in the Medbay, because where else would she be? She heard the voice before her brain registered it. "Yes, ma'am," she said, standing up. She gathered a medical kit, just in case, and her phaser, also just in case, and made her way to the shuttle bay. Hopefully she'd see some action.

O'Connor looked over at the rest of her team and said, "I have the distinct feeling that we are going to need a doctor down there, especially with Capac and Jericho down there and not responsive." She then marched herself and the away team out of the transporter room towards the shuttlebay.

"I certainly hope you're wrong, Captain," Ross said, turning to head back out of the transporter room. She was absolutely going to get her steps in today at the rate they were going, just with bouncing about the ship.

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Once the old Security Chief had been removed by O'Connor, she had appointed Lieutenant Jericho as the new Chief of Security. That meant a new Assistant Chief was needed and coincidentally, almost instantly after she made the position available, there was a new applicant. O'Connor had reviewed the credentials and was intrigued by the only Capellan in Starfleet and he seemed to have whatever he wanted, but could he get there in time to go on this mission?

O'Connor arrived with her team at the shuttlebay and picked a shuttlecraft. Just as she did, another arrived and out walked the Capellan. The 5'0" tall redhead looked at the Capellan and said, "No time for formal introductions. You're the new Assistant Chief of Security, your boss is somewhere missing, and we're going to meet a new Avian race that may be under the influence of Romulans. Hopefully you can ask questions and fly a ship at the same time. Once our Assistant Chief Medical Officer is here, we're going."

Clearly the Captain was taking everything in stride, though Lt. Ross did take a small moment to stare up - and up - at the tall officer. Who had a higher rank than her.

A Capellan did not have to be told twice where or when duty was involved. He dropped his bags to the deck and requested that someone have them brought to his quarters. He then turned to the Captain just as she finished speaking. "I serve to live, and live to serve Captain. This is the way of my people." Without any further word he boarded the shuttle and took the pilot's chair. He managed to adjust his large frame to sit in the chair. However, his head touched the ceiling of the shuttle. His hands danced on the controls as he began the preflight sequence. Within moments he spoke. "Captain the shuttle is in standby and ready to launch on your command."

O'Connor favored Zim with a crooked smile. My kind of security officer. So good to have some that are finally competent. Let's just hope I did not lose my brand new one on the planet. There will be hell to pay if I did.

Now, with Zim and Vila, they would be four. Any more would probably be too much. They were taking too many down as it was, O'Connor felt, but protocols required a security officer. Mentally, she shrugged and waited for her doctor to join them.

Vila arrived at the Shuttlebay. She was ready to go. "Why aren't we transporting?" She asked, a bit confused. "I am ready," she said, holding up her medical kit. She had turned on a biobed, too, just in case.

"Something in the planet's atmosphere is interfering with being able to transport," O'Connor responded like this was something that happened every single day in space. "Do you have everything that you need?"

Vila simply nodded. "I see." She was ready. "Let's roll," she replied.

Ross clocked Lourt, a senior LT to her Junior status, and gave the doctor a short nod. To the Captain she added, "I'm as good as I can get with the quick turn around, ma'am." A part of her thought she could get those targeting sensors back in the Transporter room to punch through the interference, but she knew she aught to defer to the expert, and that time was essential. Since she couldn't guarantee that breaking through the atmospheric issues would be quick...a shuttle it was.

Vila climbed into the Shuttle, her long, lanky frame folding like a beach chair to fit into the shuttle. What the hell was this thing, a relic from the 21st century?! Sheesh. She secured her kit beneath her feet, and settled in for the trip. Hopefully, it'd be a fast one.

Zim turned to the Captain. "On your orders, Captain" He refused to use the honorific ma'am as he felt that was too low a word for someone who obtained O'Connor's position. Women in the Capellan culture were revered for their fighting capabilities. So it was that Haaris came to view all women.

"Take it towards the planet. We have a date with the Avian species. Here are the coordinates," O'Connor informed Zim, giving him a PADD. "Head down there." She buckled herself into the co-pilot seat, after hopping into it with practiced ease. Her feet did not touch the floor. "I think since two of you were not in the briefing, it might be best to tell you what you are up against. I'll take questions at the end."

Resolving herself to being the junior officer on the mission despite her status as a department head, the scientist quietly followed the others into the shuttle, setting herself up in one of the secondary stations that the newer class of ship offered, unlike older class-f models that had a pilot and co-pilot and then just passenger room. At least this way I can feel like I'm being of some use, Cara privately concluded.

O'Connor waited as Zim programmed the shuttle and it headed out into space before continuing. "We were assigned to patrol this area of the Neutral Zone. Because we're just a Constitution class," O'Connor's voice could be heard growling on the word 'Constitution,' "we were given this assignment in a low priority area where the civilizations all were pre-warp. Nobody expected any Romulan interest here. We started our patrol and found a warp signature. Obviously, there should not have been one. We went to investigate and found a ship. The ship was an oversized metal bird. The warp engines were manufactured as the legs of the spacecraft. Each wing was nearly as long as the whole of the body. The head of the ship even seemed to have a beak. Originally, we could not communicate with them but then they started talking in a more standard language with a Romulan dialect. It became more clear that the Romulans were involved because the Captain of that ship told us that the Romulans gave them warp drive and asked us what we were willing to give them to be friends. They flew away and then their shields started to give out as they were heading into a star. We saved them, talked to them, repaired their ship, and sent them back to their home. When they were here, there were a few notable things: 1) Originally they thought they were our prisoners. 2) They are like Earth birds. They wanted perches and berried. They do not seem to use beds. 3) They thought that I was male because I have more bright colored feathers, as they would say."

O'Connor stopped and looked around, daring anyone to laugh with a cold stare.

Cara was not going to be the one to snicker over that tidbit. After all, her hair was just as red as the Captain's and for all she knew their new 'friends' had made the same mistake about her. Fascinating species that they were, they suffered from misperceptions just like any other species in a first contact situation.

Zim has been trained since birth to look at most things with a stoic eye. When on duty one could say that he was Vulcan like in his stoicism. He simply made sure the shuttle's autopilot operated properly and then turned back to the Captain.

The Captain then picked up where she left off, "The ship that arrived here was barely able to make it into space and it seemed clear to the Chief Engineer that it was not likely it was going to make it back down in one piece. We made sure that it got home in one piece. We were told by the Avian Captain that they would talk to their elders and see if they would invite us down. I heard nothing for some time and sent our Chief Security Officer, Lieutenant Cyrus Jericho down in a shuttle to skim the surface, and hopefully not be detected. The team he picked only contained our XO, Lieutenant Commander Amaya Capac, who also is our Chief Communications Officer. We do not know what happened to their ship., though based on the flash we saw on the bridge, it was shot down by some energy blast. Communications between the ship and the planet appear to be getting more difficult and transporters cannot get through the atmosphere of the planet for unknown reasons. I'll take your thoughts and questions now."

Vila's head spun. What had she just HEARD? Romulan birdmen? Well. THIS had been a mistake. She had no questions other than "what the hell?" but she knew better than to ask it.

Speaking up at that point, Cara noted, "We've been tracking the progressively worsening conditions in the atmosphere. With enough time and data we could probably program the ships sensors to punch through the interference, and realign our confinement beams for transportation. The issue is of course, as the captain noted, time. We don't have enough of it to wait long enough. There is a chance that we will have the option for emergency beam out if my department can do their job, but we can't guarantee it. I'll be taking as many scans as we can on the way in and hopefully, I'll be able to relay that data in real time to the America, but again it is not a sure bet.

"In short, we are the cavalry, so don't expect a quick rescue if things go pear shaped."

"Great," Vila muttered. May the Heirs bless her. She was going to need it.

Without a word for the moment. Zim reached into the center console and pulled out five phasers and communicators. "Captain it is my duty to make sure that everyone is armed as we are going into unknown territory with the Commanding Officer. I would further suggest that we remain in high orbit and scan the planet for life signs. Perhaps we can find our people and zero in on them. Our altitude should be low enough to break through the disturbance, but high enough to avoid their targeting sensors. I believe that if we remain just inside the disturbance we should be hidden. However, Lieutenant Ross would have to make sure our sensors can penetrate." Once he had finished speaking, he handed out the equipment. It seemed that Zim had arrived into a situation that he excelled in.

Vila took the phaser that Sim handed out, and carefully secured it to her waist. It wasn't usual for Medical to be armed, but then again, she wasn't a usual Doctor. Though how much of her natural repellant personality and how much actual weaponry she'd need to do was anyone's guess. She figured she could just toss a few of her famous withering stares at anything that might try to harm her, point to the stupid Red Cross on her shoulder, and they'd leave her alone. Still, she wasn't dumb enough to think that there weren't races who gave zero cares about the rules of combat, and so, she'd fire at anything not in a Starfleet uniform if she had to. Luckily, she was an EXCELLENT shot, as her ex-husband would (and had) testified to, and wasn't afraid of the phaser. It was more or less part of her Type A personality. "Thanks," came her reply, as she settled back in. She was normally very kinetic, but she was saving that for the action. And she'd turned her brain off for the moment-she needed to be fresh. Just in case.

O'Connor favored Zim with a crooked smile. It was so nice to have competent security officers now. "Your recommendation is noted, Lieutenant." There was a distinct tone of approval in her voice. "I don't think we can avoid the invitation, not to mention that I'm not getting the four of us shot down to add to the two others. If Lieutenant Jericho is worth his salt, and I think that he is, then they will manage. So, to the landing coordinates. Phasers will be holstered and on stun. We're here to play nice...right now."

"Very well Captain." Zim spoke as he set his phaser appropriately and then leveled the weapon. He led the team out of the shuttle and into the world as it were. His phaser swept from side to side as he looked for any immediate targets. Having found none, Zim gave the signal for the rest to leave the shuttle and join him.

 

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