Lt Zenno - Silhouettes in the Dark
Cobalt Penumbra
((OOC, Setting up something for… later. ))
((Bridge, USS Zhan’Sha, NCC-8344, near Theta Eridani, Beta Quadrant))
Captain Ra’har Th’quallis was not his usual relaxed self. His antennae were close to the head and rigid, a sure sign of a watchful stress. He looked over at the science station for the latest update. The Boslic was deeply aware of the Captain’s gaze, but she had nothing new to report.
Science Officer Ardell: ::Still looking at her scanner:: No news Captain. Just an echo. If the helm can confirm, we should at least get a silhouette in a few minutes.
Helm Officer G’Drek: Confirmed. Two minutes at the most. The long range sensor data was not precise.
Ardell smiled to herself. G’Drek was exacting and pedantic to the extreme and she knew how it must annoy him to not know the exact moment of expected contact.
Captain Th’quallis: Tactical plot on viewer. Bring us in at an oblique angle, with that solar system off our starboard. I want to be free to navigate as we wish when we find whatever we find.
G’Drek: Tactical up and your approach is plotted.
Captain Th’quallis: Good, good. This is all so peculiar. We should have dropped off these supplies three days ago on Vallust IX but here we are. ::beat:: Show me the info on our quarry again.
G’Drek operated his panel and the computer spoke, while overlaying the data on the tactical plot.
Computer: USS White Pine, NCC-8723. Oberth Class. Crew complement classified. Orvala Gelod, Commanding. Mission classified. Current location unknown. Last recorded contact unknown.
Ardell: ::Still looking at scanner:: So many unknowns and classifieds! You’d think Starfleet would give us all the information if we are supposed to find her.
Captain Th’quallis: Secure the complaining for now. All they gave us were these coordinates.
Ardell liked to goad him a little bit. But the Captain was right. A missing starship is a serious business. And if the location they had was correct, who knows what they’d find. A trap? A dead ship? A mass of particles left over from a disintegration? None of the possibilities were appealing. But it looked like she was about to find out.
Ardell: Captain… I’ve got the silhouette. It matches. Full data incoming momentarily.
Captain Th’quallis: Keep sensors on at the maximum. Helm, if anything happens, be ready to warp us out of here.
G’Drek had his warp systems up and primed, which pleased the Captain. The Zhan’Sha was armed with a single torpedo launcher and two phaser cannons that were nothing more than glorified pop guns. If there was trouble, they’d have to run. G’Drek had them at the ready nonetheless and indicated so to the Captain.
Captain Th’quallis: Report, science officer.
Ardell: Preliminary scans confirm an Oberth class vessel. No warp core signatures, impulse activity or thrusters. Based on the course projection, she appears to be dead in space. Aaannnnd… confirmed. It’s the White Pine.
Captain Th’quallis: And there’s nothing else? No other ships?
He leaned forward in his chair.
Ardell: Negative on scans. Unless someone is cloaked we are alone. ::pause:: I do have life signs, sir. Consistent with the complement of an Oberth.
G’Drek looked over his shoulder.
G’Drek: Orders?
Th’quallis considered his orders and his options. He wanted out of this scenario as soon as possible.
Captain Th’quallis: Hails?
Ardell: Negative sir. It looks like little other than life support is running over there. Assuming the crew is alive and well, unless they were looking out the window directly at us, they wouldn’t even know we are here.
Beaming over unannounced seemed like a horrible idea but the only one that could work. If the ship was hard down, they wouldn’t even be able to open an airlock. The Captain breathed out and his antennae softened.
Captain Th’quallis: OK, I guess we beam over. Two Security Officers, Engineer Fleck, you can come Ardell, and bring that new paramedic we just picked up.
((Bridge, USS White Pine, NCC-8723))
The Captain was prepared for an assault. But there was nothing, just the slow hum of the emergency systems, keeping the air, temperature, and gravity going. The Bridge was deserted. With a gesture he indicated to Ardell who began her scan and found what she was looking for.
Ardell: ::Whispering:: Deck 3, all life signs are there.
The Captain, realizing he couldn’t get back to his medical supply mission fast enough, ordered them to go directly there.
((Deck 3, USS White Pine, NCC-8723))
Upon entering the shuttle bay, they found the most unexpected thing. The crew, laid out on cots, unconscious, and hooked up to medical stasis field generators.
Paramedic Ninivek: They appear to be unharmed, Captain. But someone wanted to put them all on a deep freeze. Should I wake them up?
The biggest decision Captain Th’quallis had expected to make this week was what to put on the menu for Wardroom supper. He sighed and his antennae bent low.
Captain Th’quallis: I guess so. Let’s see what they can tell us.
((Time skip))
Captain Gelod: That’s all we know, they came out of nowhere, hit us and we all passed out. They used a torpedo of some kind, armed with a paralytic gas and then we all passed out.
Ardell: Well, it looks like you are all here. Eighty-one crew and everyone is healthy.
The Centauran Captain coughed, her throat dry from the stasis.
Gelod: No, no. ::coughs:: it was 82, Check again.
Ardell bent her head, she was sure she had it right. She checked the roster she had made when waking everyone up.
Ardell: Confirmed sir. There are 81 White Pine crew here.
Gelod: Let me see that. ::cough::
She looked at Ardell’s roster.
Gelod: Someone is missing. Give me a second.
She was able to bring up the actual ship’s roster with her clearance and compared it to Ardell’s list.
Gelod: Huh. We seem to be missing a Nurse. ::beat, then shouting:: Selenka! Where are you? Get over here.
On the PADD, Ardell could see the ship’s roster that Gelod had brought up. A nursing officer named Saava. ::beat:: Who goes through all this just to take a random Nurse? Was she actually taken? Disintegrated? Stuck in a transporter buffer somewhere? There were no answers at the ready.
NT/END
LT Zenno
Security Chief
USS Khitomer
A240006Z13