Conference call

Posted on Thu Sep 12th, 2024 @ 3:24pm by Lieutenant Commander Alex Flynn & Lieutenant Rune 'Row' Thul & Doctor Intharia T'Zor & Lieutenant Atna & Lieutenant Alph & Lieutenant JG Grace Douglas & Ensign Abra Akzhouri & Warrant Officer Bart Cage & SubLieutenant Attania Viren
Edited on on Fri Sep 13th, 2024 @ 3:13pm

1,274 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: DownTime [1]
Location: Runabouts Gascoyne, Hou Yi and Cupid, in orbit of Dreizhen V
Timeline: 1300 Hours - MD02

"Hou Yi to survey teams." Atna's even voice transmitted to the other two shuttles, as well as the support shuttles further away from orbit. "We have encountered a telepathic distress signal, only apparent to those of us with natural telepathic abilities. Have you experienced the same?"

"This is the Gascoyne, Thul speaking, both I and Seth experienced it, though it was stronger for me. I was about to call and ask what we should do." Rune's voice came through the comm.

"Cupid here, we didn't get anything. Did we?" Alex asked, turning to all the crew in the room with her.

"I thought I felt something, but then I assumed it was the sneeze." Sublieutenant Viren admitted.

"So maybe we did." Flynn turned back towards the screen and told her colleagues.

"We have narrowed down the potential source to a handful of planets. If you can transmit any information you have from those who have experienced it, Lieutenant Alph will attempt to triangulate the source. My intention is to provide assistance to whomever it may be before we continue the survey mission any further." Atna explained.

"Give them everything you can remember, Viren." Alex instructed the Sublieutenant aboard the Cupid. Immediately the Romulan began to document everything she'd felt and experienced.

"Receiving your data, Cupid. The list of candidates has been further narrowed down." Alph confirmed.

Aboard the Gascoyne, Rune glanced over at Douglas. "There is a psychic energy scan you can sweep the system with right?" He asked her.

"If there is it's not part of the standard loadout, even with the sensor module we've got. Can you remember anything about it? Even which direction it seemed to come from?" Douglas asked Thul.

Rune was silent for a moment, he had his eyes closed and reached out with his mind. He briefly tapped those in orbit before focusing on the planet surface. There did seem to be psionic 'residue' in the atmosphere.

That meant the telepathic call for help was sent through this moon. It seemed there was only a portion that was exposed, Rune directed his focus in the direction that the concentration was facing.

He found himself saying into the comm as he withdrew back to himself. "I think we have to go to that moon." He said, as he brought up a scan of the planet's collection of moons. "This one." Rune found himself pointing at the 22nd moon, though the 22nd from what is anyone's guess since there were so many.

"Lieutenant Thul is looking pretty confident about the 22nd moon. That was our next stop. Does that match what you've got?" Lieutenant Douglas asked the open channel to the other shuttles.

"The 22nd moon - Dreizhen Vv - Is confirmed as meeting the criteria established by the others. There is a 99% chance that it is the source of the signal, or at least the location it was intended to appear to originate from." Alph explained, his analysis complete.

"Set a course, we will approach in formation and split off to scan the surface." Atna brought up the preliminary scans, and quickly browsed them. "Engage."

The Hou Yi remained where it was, at the current orbital position it was the closest to their destination, the Gascoyne and the Cupid were in formation within three minutes, and soon all three proceeded towards the frozen twenty-second moon. Cage and Akzhouri made gestures of greeting to one another through their windows as they reached visual distance.

"Dreizhen Five-twenty-two, or Five-Vee, is a frozen water covered planet with a geologically active core and a thin nitrogen atmosphere. The oceans are estimated to be on-average approximately five kilometers deep. If necessary, the Delta-class runabouts can function in a subaquatic capacity, and we will conduct a further survey of the seafloor with the Gascoyne providing support from the surface. I am confident we can work with the utmost efficiency to find the source of the telepathic message while also collecting data that will assist the completion of this moon's survey." Atna explained to all three shuttles through the comm, her mind firmly on the mission. "Any questions?"

"Is there likely to be anything swimming in there with us?" The pilot Akzhouri asked Atna from the Cupid's navigation seat.

"I cannot confirm from this distance, Ms Akzhouri. I trust if there is it will not be an issue for you?" Atna responded with a raised eyebrow.

"No ma'am, just looking forward to seeing some fish." Abra said with a smile. "We don't get them where I come from."

"With your permission Commander Flynn, I will continue in command until such time as any discovery of the source is made." Atna asked the XO, though she didn't really frame it like a question, something she judged would result in a favorable outcome from her.

"Fine by me." Alex said nonchalantly in response.

"This is starting to feel a little more like search and rescue than scientific survey. Respectfully sir, as the senior officer I'd like to turn command of the runabout over to you at this point." Douglas told Thul, hoping he'd accept.

Rune smiled. "It's both," he said. "I may be needed on the surface to further pinpoint the source of the telepathic call, and I believe you should continue in command so you can gain experience," he winked at Douglas. "But if you insist, very well," Rune turned back to the console. He tapped at it to display the sensor logs as they approached the source.

The 22nd moon was strangely beautiful, a snowy dark blue globe ejecting great plumes of water vapour into space where they froze. Not unlike Enceladus in the Sol system.

Only two minutes out, the Gascoyne's modular sensors detected something the Delta-class runabouts could not. Lieutenant Douglas noticed it first. "Sirs, I'm detecting a significant amount of nadion particle generation at the following coordinates." She shared the data with the team, and the location of interest appeared visually on sensors on through their cockpit holographic heads-up displays. "More data coming in." She explained as it happened.

As she reviewed the new data, she read it aloud, with the wonder of a child opening presents. "Looks like it's coming from around three kilometers under the ice. Looks like one of the shallower areas of the planetary sea, and one of the least geologically active."

"Hou Yi's readings confirm." Atna announced after waiting a moment for the same signals to be interpreted by the Delta Flyer. She did not expect the older Danube runabout to have better sensor resolution, even with it's modular sensor package.

"Cupid also reports identical readings." Intharia confirmed, impressed by how user-friendly even the in-depth scientific systems were.

"Nadion particles," Rune echoed. "That's Phaser or Disruptor weapons signatures, Commander," he announced through the comm.

"Hot dog, we have a winner. Telepathic mayday calls and active phaser signatures, colour me excited." Alex deadpanned, leaning suddenly forward to review the data as it appeared. "What do we think Atna?" Alex asked the science chief.

"I think we have found our quarry, commander. With our survey paused, I defer to your command." Atna said, surrendering her temporary authority to the XO.

"Consider yourself deferred." Alex said, tapping a panel to open another channel to the Bellerophon. "Bellerophon this is Flynn, please relay to DS13 that I'm taking command as of 1318 hours. We've discovered the source of a distress call and are descending to investigate." She tapped the channel off as soon as her message was done. "Alright, take us to 50 meters above the ice at the source of the readings." Flynn ordered, and the three navigators set about getting them there.

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