[Gar] PNPC Capt. Cassandra Egan Manno: Rescue (no tags)

[Tony]

(( Bridge, USS Garuda ))

REYNOLDS: Reynolds. We'll need a tow back to Deep Space Ten, engineers to help with emergency repairs and the use of your sickbay en route… and we've got people on the second planet who may require assistance.

:: Cassie signaled at once to her science officer to begin scanning the second planet; however, she remembered a moment later that she didn't really know her science officer, and that her strange hand motion meant nothing to anyone outside of her office back at Admin. She cleared her throat quietly. ::

EGAN MANNO: It shall be taken care of, Captain. What do you know about the status of your away teams?

:: She chose consciously to call them 'away teams'; she preferred to think that they had been sent intentionally and not, say, that the Mercury's sensor module had crash-landed on the planet. ::

REYNOLDS: I don't know. (beat) We lost contact with them after the Nok'Tan ambushed us. Captain Kells was attempting to reach them via shuttle, while Gul Madek had his attention on us.

EGAN MANNO: I see. (beat) Be well, Captain. Attend to your crew. We will tractor you and head for the second planet.

:: Though Reynolds gave little away, Cassie definitely saw some gratitude even in the casual wipe of blood from the woman's eye. You began to notice these things, really, when you dealt with strategists and the like, people whose job it was to give away nothing. ::

REYNOLDS: Thank you, Captain. 

EGAN MANNO: Rest easy. Garuda, out.

:: That had been the right thing to say, hadn't it? Surely Reynolds hadn't needed reassuring, but Cassie had offered it anyway, and there it was. Time for action. With the channel closed, she ordered a sequence of quick orders. ::

EGAN MANNO: Tactical, tractor the Mercury. Helm, bring us to the second planet, best speed with the Mercury in tow. Comm, get me Councilor Prianna.

:: They were fine officers, really, if completely unknown to her, and they carried out her orders readily enough. Cassie poked one computer display in the arm of her chair sharply, making the maneuver look intentional while at the same time wondering, for the umpteenth time, who in the hell had let her onto the bridge of a starship. ::

COMMS: The councilor, Captain.

:: Again, Prianna's face appeared on the screen. She looked, if anything, even tenser than she had before, and she spoke without being asked. ::

PRIANNA: The Nok'Tan evidently made one stop on its way out of the system: The gateway on the second planet, if it was there and if it was working, certainly isn't now; it appears that they fired just before they left.

EGAN MANNO: Then I hope the away teams are alright.

PRIANNA: The Mercury had teams down there?

EGAN MANNO: It appears so. 

PRIANNA: Then, by all means, go to them! My ship will tractor the Mercury in the mean time. Go!

:: Cassie hesitated only for a moment before she nodded, just once and swiftly. ::

EGAN MANNO: Acceptable. We'll see you shortly. Garuda, out. (beat) Sever the tractor beam, and then get us to the second planet, best speed.

:: They were there in a matter of minutes, though even before they'd entered orbit Cassie had called for scans and had been reassured when the Garuda's sensors provided her with exactly what she wanted: Multiple lifesigns from races she recognized -- human, Vulcan. ::

EGAN MANNO: Tell the transporter rooms to get a lock, and connect me to Captain Kells.

KELLS: =/\= This is Kells.

EGAN MANNO: =/\= Kells, Captain Egan Manno, Garuda. We are prepared to beam you and your people up and your shuttle directly to our bay.

:: A moment of confused noise and yet no reply. She blanched; what could he possibly be waiting for? ::

KELLS: =/\= Thank you, Captain. Beam up all officer except for me and the two signals closest to me. Also, if you would leave me the shuttle, I'd appreciate it. Stand by, then, to beam up the final two signals.

EGAN MANNO: =/\= Captain, I--

:: It was highly irregular. She wasn't at all comfortable with that arrangement, and in fact she could have forced it: In this situation, her vessel had tactical superiority, and so she should just flatly refuse and beam everyone and everything aboard as she'd said. However, she staid her decision. ::

EGAN MANNO: =/\= Five minutes, Captain. Garuda, out.

:: She whipped her head around to look at the bridge crew. ::

EGAN MANNO: You heard him! Inform transporter room one and sickbay of the arrangements, and be ready to receive the other members of the away team.

:: Oh, and she hoped she was right. :: 

TBC!

Captain Cassandra Egan Manno

CO, USS Garuda