Ensigns 101 & 000 - Ghost Ship
Mason G
((Operations Center, Deck 5, USS Astraeus))
101 and 000 had committed to memory the faces of most of the officers that frequented the operations center, but they hadn’t actually gotten to know very many. Lieutenant Tevon was one of the many people they’d briefly seen in passing but never actually spoken to.
When Esa arrived, they perked up slightly— she was probably their favorite companion aboard the Astraeus. 101 and 000 moved to join Tevon in the center of the room where she’d pulled up a hologram of a starship.
101: Hello,
000: Commander!
Kiax: Hey there. Is everyone here?
101: Yes,
000: we believe so.
Kiax: Great, then lets begin.
Time to get down to business.
Kiax: We’ve received orders from Starfleet to proceed to Research Outpost 99, deep within the Jenatris Cloud. For the last three years, the Aldrin and Tolkien – a pair of Nova class vessels – have been assisting with the study of a quartet of Chon stations that were discovered by the Atlantis in 2396. Despite the challenging conditions, we’re told that the research outpost has made a number of successful discoveries in regard to how the Chon stations have managed to survive in the region for all this time. However, four days ago, the outpost lost contact with the Aldrin. Our mission, to find the Aldrin, ascertain the state of the ship and her crew, and bring them home.
The Bynars listened quietly and gave a pair of solemn nods to indicate that they understood. This quick summary of all of the core information was extremely helpful, and provided a concrete foundation for their understanding of the mission.
Kiax: Admittedly, long range communications are difficult to maintain in the Cloud. Very rarely are we able to get a clear signal beyond a few hundred thousand kilometres, though some improvements have been made over the years. The communications systems on the Chon stations have fewer issues and are able to achieve a significantly longer range, but aren’t easily compatible with Federation technology. The Captain has asked for you two to work with Commander Levinson to come up with an elegant solution to this problem while we’re en route.
This reminded 101 and 000 of their recent conversation with Esa— Bynars needed to be connected to their mother computer on Bynaus at all times, and did so through a complex communications network with beacons littered throughout Federation space. Out of necessity, the inhabitants of Bynaus had developed a very sophisticated understanding of long-range communications.
101: Bynaus has made remarkable strides,
000: in long-range signal transmission,
101: due to its medical necessity,
000: to our people.
101: We’re personally familiar with that technology,
000: so maybe we could lend a hand in maximizing,
101: our chances of reestablishing communications,
000: with the lost ship.
Kiax: Response
Vego: Say we find the Aldrin, how effective are transporters?
Kiax: I don’t recall having much success with them in the past, but that’s not to say the team from Ninety-Nine haven’t found a solution.
Fields: Shuttlecraft then?
Kiax: Probably. The outpost is reported to have two Argonaut-Class runabouts, one of which has a reskari coating… It could be possible that they’re researching some interaction between the Cloud and reskari. Might not hurt to have the Alliance dragged up from the depths and used for the trip over. If I recall correctly, Doctor Alentonis is still on board… Lieutenant Tevon, is it?
Tevon: Y–yes, ma’am.
Kiax: Pleasure to meet you.
Tevon floundered a moment, but truthfully, the Bynars didn’t notice.
Kiax: Doctor Alentonis is a metallurgist, quite knowledgeable about reskari, I believe. I’d love it if you could find out if he’s heard anything about their maybe-research, and if you could give Lieutenant Fields a hand prepping that decrepit Type-Eight for us to use, I’d be immensely grateful.
Tevon: ::nods:: Of course, ma’am.
Kiax: Excellent. Well, unless there are any other questions, that about sums it up… Once we get there we’ll have a better idea of what we’re up against.
Tevon: ::shakes her head:: None here.
101: How large is,
000: the crew of the Aldrin?
101: How many people,
000: are we looking for?
Kiax: Response
Truthfully, any answer higher than “zero” put some pressure on them. It was hard to imagine what that crew might be going through… if they were even still alive. The Bynars nodded grimly.
With all questions answered, the group broke up into smaller teams that quickly got to work. They’d been asked to find Noa and work with her… but they needed to speak with Esa— just for a moment. Somewhat sheepishly, they waited for the others to stop paying attention, then approached her.
101: Excuse us,
000: Lieutenant Commander?
101: We’ll get to work soon,
000: we promise, but…
101: What do you think we’re going to find,
000: when we track down the Aldrin?
Kiax: Response
101: Well…
000: We mean…
101: Do you think the crew,
000: will be okay?
The ship could just be having some communications problems, sure… or it could be a ghost ship. Currently, it was impossible to tell. The thought of finding the Aldrin and being too late to help anyone was haunting.
Kiax: Response
HCO Officers
USS Astraeus NCC-70652