((Shuttlecraft Kepler, Ross-580 system))
V'Len was not liking the odds of his maintaining a level head. He was sure at some point he was going to "Greaves out" and bite someone's head off. At the moment he felt it would likely be the new Chief Surgeon who was proving to be disagreeable at the least. The problem was that, while he had been humbled after his chewing out by the XO, Thessalonia De La Croix was likely to be ready to lay into her superior all the more. V'Len was used to Starfleet personnel who understood command chain and the need to work together to reach a goal. De La Croix represented a unique challenge, an individual used to getting her own way who needed to learn to work with other people rather than bossing them around.
At that moment the Chief Surgeon burst through the door and stood I the midst of the fore section of the Kepler.
Kel: Take a seat Doctor. We're just about ready to depart.
De La Croix: Ah yes of course, all of us roughing it today I see. Won't this be...::Her nose curled reflexively as she took in the crowd::...cozy.
Poagie: Don’t worry, your highness-ness, Cozy can be good.
V'Len was not sure that "highness-ness" was a word, but the thought of the Ferengi attempting to flirt with the very austere Chief Surgeon made him smile slightly. The Ronin gossip chain would surly ship that pair.
O’Connor: Here we go everyone.
Kessler: Initial scans indicate no other vessels other than our own in the immediate area. The interior planets could potentially have something behind them but I cannot see anything until we get closer.
Shortrith: It's pretty comfy, honestly. It's better than nothing.
Wren: ::as genuinely as she can:: Welcome aboard.
The shuttle rose off the deck and began its rapid acceleration toward the exit of the bay. As the bust into the space around the USS Ronin. V'Len's sensors came to life. There were 11 planets in the system. Six were gas giants, five were terrestrial planets at least as big as earth if not slightly bigger.
Kel: Doctors. See what you can see as far as life readings on those interior planets
De La Croix: Well I can hardly see anything from here, these sensors are like cans tied together with string. According to this...::she gestured towards one of the displays at random::...I'm fairly certain the gas giants are devoid of life.
V'Len did not appreciate La Croix's assessment of the shuttles capabilities. Fortunately Poagie jumped in so he didn't have to scold the woman.
Poagie: Perhaps I can assist. I’d be happy to push buttons for you.
O’Connor: Look, Sorry to interrupt you latnum digger woo-fest but could you start pulling up your modified sweeps for similar chroniton patterns.
oO Note to self, discuss away mission dicorum with senior staff. Try not to laugh. Oo
Kessler: Confirmed, no life readings currently coming from the gas giants.
Shortrith: Same readings coming through on my end. Can you see what they're composed, of Doctor?
V'Len continued to look at his readings. Gas giants always reminded V'Len of marbles and these were no exceptions. Deep crimsons met with bright azures and emerald met with magenta. The variety the universe could produce never failed to impress V'Len.
Kel: ::pleased:: The gas giants are very colorful.
De La Croix: Just simple chemistry, Doctor...hydrogen, helium, a splash of ammonia and methane for variety...hardly worth waxing poetic about. Oh and no life to speak of...much like the last medical conference I attended. Tedious doesn't even begin to describe it.
O’Connor: Maybe you need to come to one of the helm officer symposiums someday. Tedious is not something remotely on the agenda. Then again the poetry might night be your style.
Kessler: ::interjecting but not looking away from his console:: I am not sure I have heard Orion poetry before.
Shortrith: Poetry?
O’Connor: Hey, I’m part Irish. Of course I do limericks. I’m actually thinking of one now. :: He smiled at the chief surgeon:: …
oO Note to self, follow up on limerick poetry of Ian O'Connor. Oo
Kessler: ::looking to V'Len:: Tactical scans are still negative.
V'Len realized that he had a bemused smile on his face
Kel: ::smiling:: I'm always like this, all the time.
The shuttle continued on for several minutes with data flowing in. The Chroniton count began to fall as they moved away from whatever hole had been produced in space. It seemed the system was calm, until it wasn't. Every light on V'Len's console suddenly became red.
Kel: What the…I'm picking up a massive burst of ultra-high energy gamma rays coming from the gas giant closest to the Ross-580 star.
Wren: Shielding is at seventy percent, but it’s dropping rapidly.
Renaie frowned, concern growing for the crew.
De La Croix: Well then we should probably....back away from the particles that could tear our cellular membranes to shreds. Surely you already knew that.
What De La Croix failed to realize was that Starfleet officers worked like a well-oiled machine. V'Len knew O'Connor would know what needed to be done before he could even verbalize it.
O'Connor: Already on it boss altering course slightly. We’ll need to adjust sensors a bit as we’ll be farther away from that area than we anticipated. And if someone could reroute some power to shields, please.
Wren: Sir, we seem to be receiving damage to our engine. Scans are unclear on whether it’s from the radiation, our shields are dropping. If we move back, we might be out of range, but we’d be back in the eddy.
Kessler: Adjusting shields to compensate.
Kel: Well done Mr. O'Connor. The gamma burst is highly focused. If we move 20,000 km starboard we should move out of it.
For the most part V'Len had tried to put Dr. La Croix comment out of his head. Renaie it seemed was having less luck doing so.
Shortrith: ::coldly, to De La Croix:: Shut it. ::to the others:: Any way we can just get the hell out of here without compromising our scanning?
De La Croix: Well if you didn't want my opinion then why did you ask me to join you in this dinky little skiff?
Shortrith: I was hoping you'd focus on the facts.
Kel: That's enough bickering. Dr. La Croix monitor the environmental systems make sure the cabin is free of radiation.
O’Connor: Hey, Kepler doesn’t like it when you ‘dis him. Just hold on everyone, we seem to be experiencing some slight turbulence.
V'Len could feel that one of the engines was faltering if not fully stopped. They were still short of the distance needed to move out of the gamma burst. V'Len was still trying to understand where it was coming from. Was it the gas giant itself or perhaps one of its moons? Surely it couldn't be a natural phenomenon.
Wren: ::strained:: We’ve lost partial thrust from our engine, we’re going to start listing to the side. I can try and go fix it ::grabbing her kit::, but it might take a minute, I'll have a better idea of what we're dealing with if I go look at the engine itself.
Kessler: ::looking to Kel:: Gamma rays will play havoc with shields, but not as fast as they are with the modifications I have made. Something else is draining the shields other than the gamma rays.
V'Len tried to make sense of the particle soup he was seeing outside the Kepler. Elementary particles were not his forte, but the strange mix of gluons and bosons were reacting strangely, likely due to the high energy gamma rays they were currently emersed in.
Shortrith: The chronitons wouldn't do this, would they?
Wren: ::slipping out of her seat to kneel onto the floor:: Sorry, move, please, I need to get to that access panel. I’m checking to see if the second engine is damaged, or just offline. ::To De La Croix:: You too.
Kel: ::to Shortrith:: They shouldn't, but we can't rule out the possibility that they are somehow accelerating the deterioration.
De La Croix: Response
V'len glanced behind them to see the ship's newest engineering clambering around beneath the deck plates. He tried to move himself as much as possible.
Wren: We’re sending power to both engines, I think one isn’t receiving. ::climbing onto one of the empty seats:: Sorry, I need room again ::popping open a wall-hatch:: Something must have damaged the engine’s receivers, if I can-
Kel: Do what you need to ensign. The rest of us are happy to help.
Shortrith/De La Croix: Response
O’Connor: Look your highness. We’re almost stopped anyway. I could always let you out if you’d li..
At that moment something appeared before the shuttle's viewport that no one expected. It seemed to be a large disc tumbling through space. Smaller fragments were drifting near it. V'Len threw Jack a questioning look.
O’Connor: Whoah. Where did that come from?
Kessler: Scanning. ::beat:: The hull is composed of a number of different known materials and a handful I cannot identify. ::double beat:: Life signs Commander but they are not stable. Sensors cannot get a definitive lock.
V'Len could not imagine what the life forms inside the wreck could be experiencing, but it couldn't possibly be good.
Shortrit: My sensors can't get anything either.
Wren: It must have come out of the eddy, like the Kurosawa. ::reaching her arm into the hatch as far as it will go:: Poagie, I would love it if you could come here a second and hold this open.
Kel moved aside to let Poagie pass and then took a look at his display.
Kel: I'm not so sure ensign. I think it may have come from deeper in the system.
De La Croix: Response
O’Connor: Ok then I guess, “When” did that come from?
Wren: ::pulling her head back out:: The engine on this side has had its connection to its main power coil severed. It’s corroded completely. ::dropping back into her chair, leaving Poagie standing where she left him:: I can lower the emission of the working engine to stop us from going in a circle at least. We should be evening out now.
V'Len watched the viewport hoping the stars would align right.
Kessler: ::turning to Kel:: Sir, we're moving. Sensors show we are closing on the object at 50 KPH. Shields are still draining, slowly but draining. Down to 68 percent now and phaser power has reduced 9 percent.
V'Len nodded as he tried to figure out what to do next. If there were life forms in whatever that was that needed help, they were obliged to do so. They were not however, in the best position to offer help.
Shortrith: How's everyone faring?
V'Len checked himself. His antennae ached again and he felt slightly nauseous, but given everything that was going on it was hardly surprising.
Wren: oO I don’t know if she wants an honest answer to that Oo
Kel: Good here. Can we get a better read on the life forms in ::pause, nodding toward the wreckage:: that?
De La Croix: Response
Kessler: Shields down another 11 percent Commander.
V'Len was going to need to pull them out. Much as he wanted to help he could not further risk the shuttle crew given the conditions.
Wren: I’m not picking up any specific emitter, I’m sending out a hail with a universal greeting on all frequencies on the off-chance it’s a ship. oO I don’t even know if they can hear me. Oo ::suddenly remembering:: Poagie.
V'Len realized he had not seen or heard from the Ferengi in some time.
Wren: Forgive me, Poagie ::pushing him into the hatch, before yelling:: Stay down there until it stops!!
Kel: Jack, can we rotate shield harmonics. Could that help protect us from the radiation?
De La Croix/O'Connor: Response
It was a long shot and even if it could it would still be impossible for them to leave the shuttle to get to the trapped life forms.
Kessler: ::fingers jumping across the console:: Rotating shield harmonics but it does not seem to be helping Commander.
Kel: Keep trying. Maybe increase the deflector output?
O'Connor/De La Croix: Response
V'Len turned back to his monitor when suddenly there was a loud smack on the deck behind him. V'Len turned to see Jack sprawled out on the floor of the shuttle. His first response was to go to him, but Shortrith was already on it. For a security officer, Jack seemed to get injured a lot. Fortunately he pulled through just as often which meant he was lucky or the Prophets watched him like a hawk. He glanced at Shortrith.
Shortrith: It doesn't look like he's bleeding, thankfully. However, the area is most likely going to bruise at least.
Kel: Dr. La Croix, Hyronalyn all around if you please
O'Connor/De La Croix: Response
Shortrith: Can someone pass me my tricorder? I just want to scan him to ensure everything inside is okay.
Wren: Here ::holding it out to them:: Sir, our shield is down to six percent, but the noise and lightshow seems to have stopped. No answer to the hail, though…
Kel: Thank goodness for small blessings. Ian route power to the transporters.
O'Connor/De La Croix: Response
Shortrith: ::accepting the tricorder:: Cheers.
V'Len began to set up the transporter enhancers around the aft part of the shuttle.
Kel: ::hapily:: Thank you Dr. La Croix. Ensign Wren can we get a lock on those life forms.
O'Connor/De La Croix: Response
Wren: I'm doing preliminary scans on the object. As far as the computer can tell, it is a ship, but like everything else, the information is jumbled up.
Shortrith/O'Connor/De La Croix: Response
Jack would have been a great help in this situation, but V'Len would have to make do. He clambered over to the tactical station and got the transporter ready. If he could have crossed his antennae he would have as he pressed the transporter button. A white light began to shimmer in the cabin.
Wren: Flight controls have been locked to autopilot, but we're not going anywhere yet. Dr. De La Croix, is Poagie okay?
Kel: Come on. Come on.
Shortrith/O'Connor/De La Croix: Response
Slowly two beings emerged from the light of the transporter beam. One a Kzinti and the other appeared to be Suliban.
The Kzinti spoke first.
Kzinti: We did not need help. ::coughing eratically::
Wren: well then why are you here??
Kel: Indeed what are you doing in this system.
The suliban panted heavily.
Suliban: There was ::panting:: an accident.
Shortrith/O'Connor/De La Croix: Response
V'Len pointed out at the wrecked craft that was floating before them.
Kel: What kind of vessel is this?
Wren/Shortrith/O'Connor/De La Croix: Response
Suliban: ::panting:: Not a vessel. ::throwing up:: It's the lid.
Before he could ask anything else the Suliban collapsed to the deck. There would be no more answers from him at the moment, that was clear.
Kel: Dr. Shortirth, see what you can do for him. O'Connor get us back to the Ronin.
Wren/Shortrith/O'Connor/De La Croix: Response
V'Len walked over to stand above the Chief Surgeon.
Kel: Well? How are Kessler and Poagie?
Wren/Shortrith/O'Connor/De La Croix: Response
Tags/TBC
-- Lieutenant Commander V'Len Kel
Acting-Captain
Chief Science Officer/Second Officer
USS Ronin NCC-34523
T239811VK2
He/Him (player/character)