Lt Riel: Splitting up the party

[Lan Riel]

((Shuttle USS Heraclius))

:: The shuttle was approaching the planet's atmosphere when Lan caught a pang of concerned surprise coming from Williams. ::

Williams: That’s odd. Danara, McKnight are you picking up a Federation ship on long range scanners as well?

Danara: Yes I’m picking something up. So far its ghosting in and out as if its just on the edge of our range. But its not just a random blip, it’s a recognizable IFF transponder. There shouldn't be any other Federation signatures out this way.

McKnight: Our fighters are reporting back the same thing. I'll have them run scans.

:: Lan frowned. He was tempted to get up and go have a look, but he knew his crewmates knew their job well. All he would do was distract them. Unless... did zh'Tolia say that you could tap into someone's senses? ::

Riel: .oO Don't go there, Lan... you know what lies down that road, don't you? Oo.

:: Still. Tempting. ::

Williams: That’s right, there shouldn’t be any ship out here unless it’s a supply ship but its to small for that.

Danara: No it doesn't fit the signal of any supply ships that they could have diverted our direction.

McKnight: Shall I divert a fighter to intercept it?

Williams: Well keep an eye on it…. We don’t know who is on that planet and the last thing we need is a broken sensor system. Do we have any data on the planet already Miss Cattan?

Cattan: ?

Williams: oO Great… so we are truly heading for the unknown Oo

:: Danara nodded in agreement with Williams. With a smile, Lan realized what she had just nodded to. ::

Riel: ~ You're nodding to his *thoughts*, Aidoann. Don't blow your cover. ~

:: With the mental equivalent of a wink, he let her resume her work. ::

Danara: Roger that. Its definitely as small vehicle of some sort. The IFF is registering as a Federation shuttle. However given what we’ve encountered out here so far I think its wise to confirm that. We don’t need any unwelcome surprises.

:: McKnight stepped up to link his computer to the shuttle's to display his read out.::

McKnight: Readings from our fighters, commander. It's a Runabout, specifically a Medical type. Why's a runabout doing all the way out there, let alone how it got here.

Williams: oO A shuttle? Must be a fresh bunch of officers then, but we didn’t request any. Nor did we get a message of their arrival. Oo

:: Lan rolled his eyes. Protectors help them if the subspace relays they had painstakingly installed all the way from the wormhole to here started acting up. ::

Williams: Lieutenant ::He looked at Femi now:: Can you confirm they are our people with long-range scans?

Cattan: ?

Williams: Well... I truly don’t know. Open a channel.

:: Sometimes, the simplest solution are the best... ::

Williams: =/\= This is Lieutenant Commander Williams of the USS Athena. Please identify yourself and explain your reasons for being here. =/\=

:: The viewscreen lit up to show a rather heavyset Bolian sporting a red collar with three solid pips. ::

Brell: =/\= Commander Williams, This is Commander Brell, aboard the Medical runabout Aceso. =/\=

McKnight: oO You don't see a lot of Bolians in Starfleet...Oo

Williams: oO Brell?! What is he doing here? Oo

:: Lan raised an eyebrow. So, these two knew each other... ::

Williams: Commander Brell. What a surprise. What brings you all the way to the gamma quadrant? Don’t tell me you took a wrong turn at DS9…

Brell: ::Chuckling at William's joke.:: =/\= My apologies for dropping in on you like this but Starfleet had this vessel marked for transfer to the Athena. We were under the impression word of our going through the wormhole would have reached you, before we did. =/\=

Williams: No, your presence here caught us by surprise. We did have a few problems with our systems when we left though.

:: Lan groaned. This seemed to comfort his most pessimistic hypotheses. Great Fire, if simple HR notifications couldn't get through, he shuddered to think how many encrypted Intel transmissions he could have missed... ::

Brell: =/\= Communications this trip from both Starfleet and Athena seemed only seem to come in bursts. It’s possible the runabouts transceiver can't quite compensate for the slipstream the way larger starships can. Some orders we just to Commander Tel-ar on Athena should be arriving to you shortly. I’m afraid you and some of your away team may need to return as soon as you are able. =/\=

Williams: I see…. Well, I guess that means we will abort our descent for now and see what those orders are…. Mr Merlin.. come about, time to head back to the Athena and see what this is all about…

Brell: =/\= I shall see you shortly then. =/\=

Danara: oO Brell? What is going on here? Oo

Danara: Any clue what this is all about Sir?

Williams: ?

McKnight: So what's the plan, commander? Shall we proceed with the mission or head back?

Cattan: ?

:: Lan turned towards the cockpit, a frown on his brow. ::

Riel: Have we already reached the limits of the transporter inhibition field?

Williams/Anyone: Response

Riel: Well, :: he pointed a thumb towards the now inactive viewscreen :: Commander Brell requested for "you and some of the away team". If we could ask him to specify, we could just beam the people he wants to see to the Athena, and let the others carry on the mission. We are on a time limit after all.

Williams/Anyone: Response

Riel: :: Acknowledging the decision with a nod and the traditional Betazoid response :: In good faith, Sir.

TBC

--

Lieutenant Lan Riel

Intelligence Officer
USS Athena

Writer ID: G239107LR0I