"Security Detail"
by Lt. Thalan - Chief of Security
Location: Cargo Bay 2, USS Sulu
Stardate 57906.21, 06h07
***
Jorell had spent several hours the night before arranging a security detail
for assessing the threat to an away team once the Sulu arrived at Dovali 4.
He had put together at least one experienced man for each team of three. He
knew that much of his staff was green and that about half of them have
never been on an away mission. After his list was complete he contacted
those involved to be in cargo bay 2 by 0600 hours for a briefing. And then
before a few hours of rest the completed list was sent to Commander Lyrr.
Lt. Thalan now stood before thirty-two members of his security staff. He
looked to an older woman, a Senior Chief Petty Officer Lana Bane, who he
knew had many years of experience having served in Starfleet over the last
twenty-one years.
"Chief, everyone accounted for?" he then asked.
She answered in the affirmative, "Aye, Sir."
"Good," Thalan stated as he looked up and down at those present. Many young
Ensigns or crewmen newly assigned to a starship. "You are all here this
morning because I have selected you to be part of a risk assessment team
that will be checking out several sites on Dovali 4 that the scientists
will be surveying. Your job will to literally poke around and make sure the
areas are secure and safe. You will have one hour to complete your
assessment at which time you will report to me. You will also be part of
the first security detail assigned to the scientific teams that will be
going planet side."
The CSO had walked from one end of those assembled to the other, gauging
those he selected making sure they were the ones he wanted. He read a few
worried thoughts but nothing more. With a smile he stopped mid group and
continued.
"You have been assigned into groups of three, and will have one experienced
person as part of your team. For those of you with higher rank than that
experienced person, rely upon their knowledge and skills. Do not be afraid
to ask for help when it is needed." Jorell again looked from one end to the
other.
"You are here at this early hour because you and your fellows will for the
next four hours go through a few drills I have prepared in the holodecks.
You will also familiarize yourselves with this planet and your assigned site.
When you are done, I would suggest you catch up on some sleep or at least
relax until we arrive at the Dovali system sometime this afternoon."
Jorell stopped and looked over his security team and smiled with pride. He
then looked back to SCPO Banes and said, "Chief, give out the assignments."
SCPO Banes nodded and raised a padd and started to call out names. Jorell's
team, Alpha1, he had assigned Ensign Daly and Crewman Kurtz. He knew both
would be nervous around him but hoped it would soon pass once their mission
started.
After everyone had been assigned he called out, "Teams Alpha1, 2 and 3 will
report to holodeck one. Beta1, 2, and 3, holodeck two. The rest of you catch
up on your assigned sites and be ready for your call to the holodeck." With
that done he dismissed the rest and lead the others to the holodeck. He
assured all this was an exercise to familiarize themselves with one another
to be sure everyone worked as a team and worked out any problems that may arise.
For the next four hours the teams rotated through the holodecks and worked
through various scenarios from a simple injured man to invading jem'hadar.
Now that it was over Jorell went to talk with another young and promising
officer As he approached the young man he nodded. "Ensign Corrigan. I am
glad I caught up with you." He pulled the young man aside.
"Ensign, while I am on the planet I want you on the bridge at tactical."
Corrigan looked back at Jorell with a blank stare not sure what to say.
Lt. Thalan smiled and motioned the man to continue on to wherever he was
doing and explained that this was his time to show him what he had and if
he was the capable young officer he knew he was. He then handed the young man a
padd with the security detail listed on it and proceeded to explain how he
would like to handle things.
After the brief conversation with the young Corrigan, Jorell made for the
XO. To be sure the list he sent her earlier that morning was acceptable to
her and to see if she had a chance to talk with the Captain of his suggestion.
"Point of Contention"
by Captain Matthew T. Salinger
and Commander Lyrr Tayla
Location: Bridge, USS Sulu
Stardate 57906.21, 07h48
***
Matt Salinger arrived on the bridge and looked around at his bridge staff
assembled there. He was still amazed at how well things seemed to be
running. Before he'd made it two steps out of the turbolift, Yeoman Daniels
handed him a padd with the morning reports on it. He took a brief look over
them and nodded. The information there confirmed that things were going
just as well as he thought they were.
When he reached the command chairs, he gave a smile to Tayla who was there
sipping from a large mug of coffee and reading over a set of reports of her
own. He sat down into the chair and chuckled softly. "That was some night,
wasn't it?"
Tayla grinned at Matt. "The most fun I've had in a long while. Though, I'm
thinking I shouldn't have had that third hot dog."
Matt grinned. "I was surprised," he said. "I spent half the night trying
to figure out where all that food you ate went. Finally, exhaustion claimed
me. I was thinking about asking Ensign Rax about it. Or maybe the doctor.
I figure they might be able to draw up some sort of schematic."
Tayla raised her head almost proudly and peered sidelong at Matt. "I
believe that's jealousy I detect in your voice, Captain. Being out-eaten by
a woman can't be good for a man's pride."
"Though, it is very good for my waistline," Matt countered. "Though, it
appears it hasn't done any harm to yours. Maybe next time we'll have to go
dog-for-dog and see who drops first."
She grinned again and narrowed her eyes at him. "I accept your challenge,
Captain. Believe me, you will be sorry."
"Oh, we'll see," Matt said. "We shall definitely see. We may need our
stomachs pumped, but we'll see." He laughed softly and set his padd down
between their chairs. "So, anything exciting yet this morning?"
"Nothing much to note," Tayla replied. "Except for Lt. Flummux." She
looked down for a moment to maintain her composure, then cleared her throat
and regarded Matt again, but with a restrained smile on her lips. "Seems
Mr. Flummux lost his way this morning. He wandered onto the bridge and
became utterly disoriented when he realized he hadn't, in fact, walked into
engineering. At first, he looked stunned and froze in the doorway of the
turbolift, simply staring in bewilderment at the entire bridge." She paused
to chew her lip and force back a laugh. "The computer kept prompting him to
clear the doorway, but that seemed to throw him further into confusion. He
did clear the doorway, though, but only to wander the bridge aimlessly,
muttering to himself. It came to the point where I had to physically lead
him to the turbolift and order the computer to the proper deck. Of course,
he thanked me profusely, but he still looked completely lost and confused."
Tayla finally let out a chuckle and shook her head. "He is a rather strange
man, Captain."
Matt chuckled softly. "I think all he needs is a little bit of confidence
and he'll be fine. Of course, getting him the confidence is the tricky
part. He's a wizard when you put him in front of a holomatrix and a
replicator, but any sort of social interaction, anything out of his normal
routine just flummoxes him. No pun intended."
Tayla laughed into her mug of coffee - a beverage introduced to her during
her meeting with Matt, and one she'd instantly taken a liking to. "Oh," she
said abruptly before she could take a sip. "Our meeting. I'd almost
forgotten about that. The encounter with Flummux has just had me
preoccupied all morning."
"Yes," Matt said, remembering the mention of her discussion with the
security chief. "Lt. Thalan's idea. Do you want to present it to me here,
or should we go into my Ready Room?"
"I'm not certain how hard I'll have to sell you on the idea, so perhaps the
Ready Room would be best."
"Very well," Matt said with a nod. "Lt. Sam, you have the bridge." With
that, he led the way into the Ready Room to the side of the bridge. Once
they were inside, he led Tayla toward the couch at the side of the room. He
indicated for her to take a seat, as he moved to one end of the couch.
"By placing Lt. Tagliesh as the away team coordinator," Tayla began as she
settled onto the couch, "you've given her a certain amount of power and
authority, which may not necessarily be wise, especially considering she
thrives on dominating others."
Matt nodded. "I understand," he said. "This is her chance to prove herself
to me. If she can handle this duty, then perhaps she can make it here.
She'll be monitored the entire time she's down there. If she starts to
throw her weight around in a manner unbecoming a Starfleet officer, she'll
have to answer for that."
"But by then, the officers down there with her might already be at risk."
Tayla crossed her legs at the knee and leaned forward, closer to Matt. "She
will take any chance she can get to gain praise and notoriety. She'd
endanger the lives of all those with her if she believes she's discovered
something down there that could boost her reputation. Now, what if there's
an emergency? What if they encounter something dangerous? Do you think she
would actually think of the officers before she thinks of her own goals?"
"Lieutenant Sam will be on the Away Team," Matt said. "I have to give her
this chance, for myself and for her. She's a damn fine scientist, and I
want her skill heading up the department on this ship. I have to put her
into a position to see if she can handle being a leader. There will be
enough capable people on the team to keep it from being a disaster. I can't
throw her off this ship without finding out if she can do this job. I can't
let her past dictate my decisions for me. I need to know how she will
behave and how she will handle this by putting her in a position to make the
decisions and lead the Away Team. I wouldn't put anyone's life in jeopardy
over this, and I'm making sure that everyone who's under Lt. Tagliesh's
command on this mission is perfectly capable of handling themselves if a
crisis develops."
"Well, fine," Tayla said, "let her believe she's in control, but give
someone else the final say when it comes to the matter of the team's safety.
Lt. Thalan, namely. He's competent and has good instincts when it comes to
security. If he senses potential danger, give him the authority to send the
team back to the ship. Lt. Tagliesh wouldn't do so unless half the team's
been slaughtered, and only then when she feels she herself is in danger. I
don't trust her, Captain. I want someone in control down there whom I do."
Matt nodded. "I don't like the idea of a shadow command on the Away Team,"
Matt said. "But, I do understand your concerns. On my authorization, Lt.
Thalan will be able to take command of the Away Team. But, until I give him
the go ahead, Lt. Tagliesh is in full command of the Away Team."
"Very well, but an amendment to this: Give Lt. Thalan authority to have the
Away Team beamed off the planet if he deems their safety threatened...with
or without Lt. Tagliesh's approval, at any time."
"As long as it goes through me first," Matt said. "I won't give Lt. Thalan,
or any other member of the away team, the authority to usurp the mission
leader without my consent first. If he feels the Away Team's safety is
threatened, he should bring that information to Tagliesh's attention. If
she refuses to listen to him, or brushes off his warnings, then he can bring
it to me. But, he has to communicate his intentions first, to Tagliesh...or
to me if she's obstinate."
"And if there is danger," Tayla said calmly, although she was slowly losing
patience, "you think there will be time for that?"
"It all depends on the danger," Matt said. "If you were in charge of an
Away Team, should I give Thalan the same control?"
Tayla cocked an eyebrow at Matt and gazed levelly at him. "Do you trust me?"
"So this is about trust, and not about the timing it takes to relay an order
for evacuation," Matt said.
"This is about trusting someone enough to actually give that order, Captain.
And I don't believe Xayella's judgement is good enough that she would if
necessary."
"How about this," Matt said. "If Lt. Thalan and Lt. Sam concur with the
need to evacuate the Away Team in a situation where Lt. Tagliesh disagrees,
then they have the authority to call for emergency beam out."
Tayla relaxed back against the couch and sighed. "That sounds acceptable to
me. Lt. Sam and a caffeinated Ensign Gainsborough are about the only two
people on this ship that aren't intimidated by Lt. Tagliesh. I believe that
will work, Captain."
Matt grinned. "I think Monica is too wired to take any offense, and Sam
doesn't have any emotions to get bruised by her acidic tongue. I'm hoping
that she'll prove she can handle this. But...we'll see how she manages."
"And for now, shall I inform Lt. Thalan and Lt. Sam of the arrangement or
will you take care of it?"
"I'll talk to them," Matt said. "I'll want Ensign Peder on Ops, monitoring
the Away Team status. And, since we won't have a medical team going down, I
want to have one on stand-by."
"I'll arrange it." Tayla rose, then smiled at Matt. "Thank you for meeting
with me, Captain. I feel a little less anxious about our arrival at the
planet now, especially knowing our people down there will be safe."
"Good," Matt said with a smile. "This will work. I think we've got a good
plan with this. We're going to get through this mission, and our crew will
be even more tightly knit."
"I hope so, Captain." Tayla bowed her head slightly, then turned for the
door. "Captain?" She faced him again wearing an inquisitive expression.
"You never answered before, and I just want to know.... Do you trust me?"
Matt gave an enigmatic smile as he regarded her. "If I didn't trust you
completely," he finally said, "you wouldn't have your job. Yes, Tayla, I do
trust you."
Tayla smiled as if Matt had merely validated what she already knew. "Thank
you, Captain. I'll see you on the bridge."
Matt watched the door to the Ready Room close and smiled. They worked well
together, even when they didn't agree. He couldn't help smiling with
relief. He had fears, but as soon as he'd met Lyrr Tayla, they were quickly
all proved just fears with no basis in reality. It was going to be a good
adventure aboard the USS Sulu. With his smile still in place, Matt Salinger
returned to his bridge.
"Confidence Builders"
by Lt. jg Grixble Flummux [NPC+]
and Chief Petty Officer Patrick Riley [NPC]
Location: Main Engineering, USS Sulu
Stardate 57906.21, 10h13
***
"Oh dear."
The bridge. How had he managed to end up on the bridge. It wasn't where he
was going. He'd meant to go to his quarters, to sleep. But, there he had
been. At least Commander Lyrr was kind in helping him back to the
turbolift. She had a soothing, gentle voice. It was a good quality in an
executive officer, or at least he would have thought it to be. Captain
Salinger hadn't been there.
Ah ha! That was it. His subconscious had drawn him to the bridge to talk
to the captain. Only the captain understood his situation. He'd only known
him for a few days, but Captain Salinger had already become a close friend.
He'd given a boost to Grixble's confidence like no one had before. Of
course, that only lasted until he was in the turbolift heading back down to
engineering.
If only he could be like Jack. Jack Alaska had confidence to spare. He was
dashing, good with the ladies, and always had a witty comeback for every
situation. Nothing could ever phase Jack Alaska, Super Spy of the Final
Frontier.
Grixble sighed. "Oh dear, oh dear."
He really liked the USS Sulu. It was a good ship, and the holomatrix was
one of the most advanced in all the fleet. Never before had Grixble seen
the evil Dr. Tavek in such crisp, holographic clarity, or luscious Gwenelyn
A'Mora in such perfectly rendered, high resolution beauty. Oh, when Grixble
had pulled open the access hatch in holodeck one and gazed upon the simple
beauty of those EPS relays and holocircuitry, it had been love. Even now,
thinking about that moment, his little Andorian, little Bolian heart sped up.
"Oh dear," Grixble muttered again, one antenna quivering.
"Aye, ya keep sayin' that lad," came the voice behind him. "What seems to
be the bother?"
Grixble spun around from his workstation and gaped at the man standing
behind him. "Patrick!"
"Aye, the one and only," the chief petty officer said with a rakish grin.
"I was watchin' ya over here, and ya look to be about to burst. What's
botherin' ya, Grixble m' friend."
"Oh, Patrick," Grixble responded. "It's just...well, it's only...I don't
know!"
"Aye, it's that unexpected trip to the bridge ya made, is it?"
"No. Yes. I don't know."
"Ye should relax, boyo," Patrick said. "No one thinks ill of ya. It's a
new ship. Ye just got turned around is all."
"I know, but then I w-wandered. Just...around. They all t-thought I was
going to c-cry!"
"Were ye?"
"I-I d-don't think so."
"Well, there ya go." Patrick put a hand on Grixble's shoulder. "You're a
good engineer, Grixble. Set ya down in front of a replicator or a holodeck,
and you're a regular wizard."
Grixble managed to smile and glanced up at Patrick Riley, his best friend on
the ship and probably the entire galaxy. "Thank you, Patrick. I feel much
better now."
"Anytime, boyo," Patrick said with a laugh. "Oh, how would ya like to sit
in on my poker game tonight?"
Grixble paled. "Oh dear."
"Planning Process"
By: Commander Lyrr Tayla
Lt. Jorell Thalan
Location: Briefing Room, Main Bridge - USS Sulu
Stardate 57906.21, 10h40
***
Lyrr Tayla was standing by Lt. Sam's Ops station discussing some last minute
points before their arrival at Dorvali 4 when she noticed Lt. Thalan
stepping onto the bridge. "I'll be back in a minute, Sam." After a short
acknowledgement from the android, Tayla dismissed herself and approached
Thalan,
who, in turn, happened to be approaching her. They met halfway, in front of
the Master situation display at the rear of the bridge. "Good morning,
Lieutenant. I was hoping to have a chance to speak to you before our
arrival. Do you have time?"
"Good morning, Commander," Jorell replied, and with a smile and a nod
answered, "Yes, I was actually coming to see you. The security detail is
ready go."
"Yes, I got your list this morning and I've reviewed it. The teams look
good." She glanced over her shoulder at Ensign Corrigan, then leaned
forward and whispered, "He's been there all morning putting in time at
tactical. I think you made a wise choice in appointing him as your
replacement while you're on planet. He's conscientious and
determined. I was right to value your judgement, Lt."
Lt. Thalan was looking over at Corrigan with a smile. He did admire the
young man's determination to prove himself up to his standards. Looking back
at the Bajoran woman before him he nodded once again. "Thank you
Commander, that means a lot." He then asked, "Would you like to speak in
private, or is here fine?"
Tayla looked around the bridge, then back to Thalan and nodded. "Let's go
to the briefing room. We can discuss it there." Tayla informed Matt of her
meeting with Thalan, then moved with the security officer to the briefing
room.
Once inside, she gestured to the chair across from the one she had
just taken. "Have a seat. Now, I've discussed your proposal with the
captain," she began as
she watched him settle himself. "I must say, he wasn't too thrilled about
the
idea."
Jorell looked at Lyrr with a blank look and then saidin
a serious tone, "To be blunt, I was not looking to get anyone thrilled or
not. As Chief of Security it is my job to protect this crew...and again to
be blunt, Commander, I intend to carry out my duty, approval or not." The
man let the comment sink in for a moment before saying, "Please do not
take that the wrong way that I would disobey a direct order, but I just
wanted you to know where I stand." The CSO then looked to the XO and tried
to get a read of what she thought of
what he just said, not trying to pry, more out of habit than anything.
"I admire your dedication to your fellow crew, Lt. Thalan, but a mutiny
won't be necessary," she assured him with a smile. "He accepted your
proposal after some compromising on my part. He doesn't feel it fair to Lt.
Tagliesh to have her leading the away team, yet secretly give someone else
the authority to override her when they deem it necessary. Yet, he's stated
that if you and Lt. Sam agree that the away team is under threat, even if
Lt. Tagliesh adamantly declares it is not, you have permission to beam them
off the planet with or without her approval."
The man seemsedto ponder what Lyrr had just said. Though he would rather
have the authority to see to the away team's security, he saw it as an
acceptable compromise...for now. With a nod he replied, "Understood,
Commander." He then asked, "I assume Lt Tagliesh will be informed of this
decision? Not that I care one way or the other; I like to know what I am
walking into, when I see her."
Lyrr looked down at her hands clasped atop the table for a moment. She
never had asked Matt
that. "The captain will most likely decide that, but he hasn't mentioned to
me that he will. Unless she does broach the subject with you, don't mention
anything to Lt. Tagliesh. It will make your life much easier if you don't.
Trust me."
He nodded in understanding. "Very well." He then asked, "Is she really that
bad - Lt. Tagliesh?"
Tayla sighed. "She has...problems relating to other officers. She's a good
science officer, mind you; she can just be a little impertinent at times.
Nothing to worry about, though," she told him. "You just do your job down
there and if she gives you trouble, report it to me and she will be dealt
with."
"Yes, Ma'am" he said, understanding that she had no love for the Chief
Science officer. He then returned to the matter at hand. "The security
teams will be ready to
go once we reach orbit. They all know and have their assignments and I will
have my assessment about an hour after beaming down. After which, with all
signs on the positive, will report to the locations the science teams will
rendezvous at."
"How big a search radius will your team be using?" Tayla asked. "I'm not
certain yet how large an area the science teams will be exploring, but I
would like to
limit their preliminary search to the areas scouted by the security teams."
"The search area is not so much one area as several." He went to the view
screen along the wall and brought up an overview of the planet. "Lt. Sam
provided me with the best location the science teams will be conducting
their searches. I have eleven teams to go over these areas. Once completed
we will notify you and the Captain and then rendezvous with the science
teams to provide security while they are one the planet. I already have
relief teams scheduled in 8 hours."
"Very good," Tayla commented. "I know this might end up being less eventful
than we're planning for, but this is our first mission. What we do here
will set the precedence for future missions, so it's good to get the kinks
worked out now before we do run into a less than routine mission the next
time. Besides,
it gives us all something to do."
The man laughed. "Indeed, Commander. I am actually hoping to find nothing
down there and being bored to bits. But it does give us a chance to work
together in a relatively safe place. Nothing like practice."
"I only wish I'd get to have some," she said almost wistfully. "Practice
also means fun, you know. And you better not have too much fun down there,
Lt., or you'll have one jealous commander glaring at you when you get back,"
she teased.
"You could always pop down and check things out, Executive Officer's
prerogative," he said with a smile and continued to joke, "Or I might just
hog all the fun to myself. Though," he paused, mockingly, "Lt Tagliesh is
down there in command so I do not know how much fun I will have."
"As much as you want, preferably at her expense." Tayla chuckled dryly.
"She can afford to be laughed at. Who knows? It might do wonders for her
personality."
"That might be good for you, Commander. But I do not feel like being on
report. She is, after all, in command down there," he said, not appearing to
be joking anymore.
"Well, no matter," Tayla said with a sigh. "You just do your job, and
hopefully she'll do hers. And if she does give you trouble, don't hesitate
to contact me. I might just have to make a trip to the planet if she does."
She grinned conspiratorially, hoping Lt. Thalan took her up on the offer.
"Well, then. Is there anything else we need to go over, Lt.? Any longer in
here,
and we might just be missed out there."
Jorell looked to Lyrr with a smile as he came to see just how much that she
did not like the chief science officer at all, nor did it look like she
would be anytime soon. With a shake of his head he answered, "Nope.
Everything is set and I have
given you all the details of the security sweep. All we need now is to
arrive in the Dorvali system." He then stood. "I should catch up on some
rest, I have a feeling it is going to be a long day."
"You go ahead," Tayla said as she rose. "I think Ensign Corrigan has got
everything under control. I'll make sure you're informed shortly before we
arrive."
"Thank you, Commander Lyrr," the man said with a nod. "For your efforts with
the Captain too."
"As this ship's Executive Officer, that's what I'm here to do, Lt." She
gave Jorell a warm smile. "Dismissed, Lt. Thalan."
"Ma'am." With that Jorell left the briefing room and briefly stopped at
Tactical to let Ensign Corrigan know what was happening. He then left the
bridge for his quarters to rest for a few hours.
"Dorvali 449"
by Captain Matthew T. Salinger
Lieutenant Xayella Tagliesh
and Commander Lyrr Tayla
Location: Bridge, USS Sulu
Stardate 57906.21, 17h38
***
Matt Salinger sat in the center of the bridge, in the chair reserved for the
officer in command of the ship. Though, he realized he wasn't sitting in a
chair. He felt more like a jockey atop a horse. He leaned forward in
anticipation of what was to come. He knew that Commander Lyrr was amused as
she leaned back in her chair and watched him.
"Approaching Dorvali 449 now, Captain," Lieutenant McKenzie announced.
"Drop out of warp, Mr. McKenzie and approach at full impulse." Matt was
sitting up straighter now, his heart pounding in his chest. He'd commanded
a starship before, but this was different. He was a captain now, and this
was his ship. The others, they'd always felt like someone else's. But, the
Sulu, this was his own. There had never been another commanding officer,
and they were at the very beginning of their adventures.
"We will reach the fourth planet in ten minutes, forty-five seconds,"
McKenzie said.
"Very good, Lieutenant, proceed at this course and speed." Matt turned back
to the science station where Xayella stood. He had to admire her standing
there. For all the rumours and difficulty, she was an amazing scientist and
it showed in her eyes. She was looking over all the data the ship's sensors
were feeding to her. He knew that she would grasp for whatever power she
could get her hands on, but the scientific discovery that awaited them here
was fuelling her now. They were similar in that respect, the exploration of
the unknown was an adventure and they both approached it with all their
passions and desires. He knew she was cynical, but not about this, not
about science. And, that's why he needed her on this ship. "Lieutenant
Tagliesh, launch a class three probe toward the planet. Let's take a look
at what's changed in the last several years."
"Yes, Captain." Her fingers moved gracefully across the console, while her
eyes flicked up to the display, then back to her hands again as set in the
coordinates. "Probe away, Captain," she announced. She turned her head to
watch it sail towards the planet centred in the viewscreen.
At this distance, the viewscreen had to be magnified several times. The
probe slipped into orbit around the planet, and slowly began working its way
down through the atmosphere. Telemetry data began scrolling at the edge of
the screen. As expected there was a high concentration of flora on the
planet's surface. It appeared to be tropical, with temperatures around
thirty degrees and eighty percent humidity.
The world had a fifty-three percent hydrosphere with polar regions covering
twelve percent. Most of the land masses were gathered around the equatorial
regions with only an eight percent continental mass at the fortieth
parallel. It'd be hot and humid, and he certainly hoped this mission didn't
take too long.
Matt turned to Tayla. "Make sure that there are cooling units made
available to the Away Teams. We might want to authorize the use of the hot
weather uniform alternates."
"I think that would be best, unless we want our officers dropping from heat
exhaustion," Tayla said. "I'll contact Lt. Thalan and pass on the
instructions to his team. They're already assembled in the transporter room
awaiting permission to beam down."
The alternate duty uniforms were made of a lightweight fabric. The trousers
were similar in design to standard duty trousers, and the tunic and duty
jacket were replaced by a black, sleeveless tunic with a diagonal slash
across the front in the departmental colours. A lightweight jacket, similar
to the standard duty jacket, was also available for situations where
covering the arms was necessary or when the temperature dropped to
uncomfortable levels.
Matt nodded. "Very good," he said. He handed her a padd. "For now, have
him start in zones one through three. Once those areas are cleared by his
people, we'll beam science teams down. He can then have his teams move into
the next three zones. We'll hold there while science works on gathering
data. Once we've got what we need from this area, we can move onto the
other continent. Depending on how things go, we may want to send down the
Einstein and the Mallory to assist with scans. The onboard sensor packages
will be able to take in more data doing fly-overs."
She smiled at him, then looked down at the data displayed on her padd.
"Perhaps we can do that after the science teams' preliminary assessment.
They'd be able to better gauge what special sensor modifications the
shuttles will require after they've roamed the planet for a time." Tayla
glanced sidelong at Matt and grinned slowly. "You're excitement's showing
again, Captain."
Matt laughed softly. "This is exciting stuff, Commander. A newly
discovered planet that we get to explore and map. You can't tell me you're
not excited."
"I am.... But I would be more excited if I were actually down there doing
the on-hands exploration. I mean, you should be down there, Captain. You
seem as if you were born for this sort of thing. It makes me wonder why you
chose to be a captain instead of a scientist."
Matt grinned. "Well, maybe during all of this, we'll each get our chances
to be down there. As a starship captain, I get to lead the scientific
exploration. As an operations officer, I got to do a lot of what I loved.
I've always said that Ops is part science, part engineering, and logistics.
I wasn't so wild about the logistics side, but I loved the science and
engineering." He looked up at the screen with the planet looming closer.
"Go ahead and put the shuttles on standby. We'll wait for Lt. Tagliesh's
word when they're ready for them."
Tayla nodded and promptly contacted the Main Shuttle Bay to pass on the
captain's order. She made an addendum, however, and notified them to be
prepared for further orders once the science teams contacted the ship after
their initial sweep. If modifications needed to be made to the shuttles'
systems, she wanted them to be ready for it. "Shuttles on standby," she
informed Matt. "And they're already making some preliminary adjustments to
the shuttles' sensors using the information gathered by the probe."
"Good," Matt said. "We should be entering orbit in a matter of moments."
He turned back to the science station. "Lieutenant Tagliesh, do all
readings match those of the Pascal, and do you see anything that might be a
danger to the Away Team?"
Xayella was reluctant to take her eyes from the scrolling data on the
display, but did so to regard Matt. She found herself almost smiling at the
sight of him. "So far the readings match, within a negligible degree of
variance. I'm still not reading any signs of sentient life on the planet,
nor are there any other sources of possible danger that I can detect from
here."
Matt gave her a smile and a nod. "Thank you, Lieutenant," he said, and
turned back to the helm. The planet was now displayed at normal
magnification. "Standard orbit, Mr. McKenzie. Continue all scans of the
planet and begin orbital mapping." He tapped an illuminated button on the
panel between his and Tayla's chairs. "Lieutenant Thalan, you have
permission to begin transporting your people down." He glanced up at Tayla,
the grin on his face showing the excitement that seemed to burst through his
whole body. "Here we go, Commander."
"Am I going to have to restrain you, Captain?" She leaned over towards him
with a smile. "Don't worry," she whispered. "I'm just as excited as you are."
Matt chuckled softly. "Well, perhaps I'll need a sedative later, but I'm
fine for now. I may be very excited, but I think I can keep myself from
embarrassing us."
Tayla gave him a playfully skeptical nod, then straightened up as Lt. Sam
informed them that the security team had been safely beamed to the planet.
"Looks like things are underway. Now...we wait."
This part could take several hours, and Matt knew by the end of it he would
be a frayed mess. He wanted to get his people down there, to see the data
from the planet. When Sam brought up the Away Team's tricorder information,
he leaned forward to take it all in. Well, it wasn't the scientific data
that Xayella and her teams would be getting, but it was still interesting.
A strange new world, to be certain. This was what joining Starfleet was all
about. The adventure had begun.
"Survey"
by Lieutenant Jorell Thalan - Chief of Security
Location: Surface of Dorvali 449
Stardate 57906.21, 18h03
***
The message came from Captain Salinger: "Lieutenant Thalan, you have
permission to begin transporting your people down."
Jorell tapped his commbadge. "Yes, sir."
The Security Chief nodded to the transporter chief and then commented to
those waiting with him, "Alright, here we go."
With that the transporter was activated and they all soon appeared in a
small clearing, all about them a thick jungle. As Jorell reached for his
tricorder he felt the warmth seep over him and the stickiness of the humid
air. It made him stop for a moment and then he looked to those in his team. "Alright, let's start with a standard sweep out to one hundred meters."
Looking down at the readings of the tricorder Jorell did not notice
anything out of the ordinary. He then reached out with his mind and got
only those within his team. With a confident nod he started off moving
through the jungle.
It was maybe fifteen minutes when Jorell received a communication.
"Lieutenant Thalan, Petty Officer Benzi is not looking so well. He brushed
up against some planet and has had trouble breathing ever since."
"Are you alright to continue without Benzi, Ensign?" Jorell asked.
"Yeah I believe so. We have not seen anything but small rodent-like creatures."
"Very well. Have Benzi beam directly to Sickbay and you continue on, and be
careful what you brush up against."
"Aye, Sir."
Thalan then tapped his commbadge again. "To all team leaders, there appear
to be plants here that are poisonous on contact. Please take appropriate
caution with the native vegetation. Thalan out."
Jorell continued on and soon reached his one hundred meter mark with no
sign of any trouble. He had not even run into any of the large predators.
He continued along and then returned to the clearing. He was the last of his
team to return and all reported the same: no danger.
"Sulu, Alpha1 is ready to proceed to site C-four," Thalan stated and waited
to be transported there.
Arriving, the terrain was less of a jungle and a little cooler than the
previous site.
"Sir, I am picking up a cave system, about three hundred meters to
northeast, but I am only getting the first cavern after which the scans
cannot penetrate," replied Crewman Kurtz as he looked down at his tricorder.
"Looks like we came to explore some caves," Jorell said with a smile. "Lets
go. Ensign you have the lead."
The CSO again reached out with his mind and though he did connect with
several other minds he could tell they had no complex thinking to them. He
called ahead to Ensign Daly, "Watch out, there are four creatures to your
left about twenty meters ahead."
The creatures, whatever they were appeared to have disappeared by the time
the team reached them. As the trio continued on, the jungle thinned out
noticeably and gave them a view of a great valley below. They stopped to
look out for a few minutes but then were back to the cave. The cave had a
vast opening and could be seen narrowing considerably.
Switching on the lights on their arms, they moved in. The dark within was
almost immediate as the team rounded a bend and their lights provided the
only illumination. Looking about they saw several formations found in any
cave system and could see that three tunnels broke off from the main chamber.
With a motion each took a tunnel and searched it out. Jorell was a ways in
when he heard the screams of one of the others. He tried to contact his
team but there was no answer. Drawing his phaser, Jorell quickly retraced
his steps and upon reaching the main chamber ran into Crewman Kurtz. Both
made for the tunnel Ensign Daly took.
A ways in they found traces of blood upon one of the walls and continued onward.
They soon reached another chamber and came upon Daly laying at the feet of
a rather large creature. The beast looked on at the intruders and bared his
large teeth and shook its head from one side to another.
As the beast saw that its intimidation was not working it charged the other
two. Jorell and Kurtz both raised their weapons and fired. The beast
collapsed to the ground not a meter from them. Jorell rushed to Daly's side
and after looking the young woman over he looked to Kurtz. "Go back out to
the main chamber and contact the Sulu. I need a medical team down here
right away."
With that Kurtz turn and ran.
Jorell reached into his small pack and took out several medical supplies.
First he used a hyposray to relieve any pain that the Ensign may have and
then grabbed several bandages and applied them to a large gash in Daly's abdomen.
As Daly groaned in pain Jorell reassured her that she was going to be alright.
Several minutes later a medical team arrived led by Crewman Kurtz. They
tended to the young woman and gently helped her out of the caves. Jorell
and Kurtz followed.
The security teams had been on the planet less than an hour and all started
to report in to Jorell. Every location seemed safe enough for the science
teams to come down. A few scrapes were reported but nothing overly serious.
PO Benzi was reported to be doing fine and Ensign Daly was being treated
and was to be back on duty in a few days.
With the reports in Jorell tapped his commbadge and reported: "Captain
Salinger, it's all clear for the science teams to beam down."
"Planetary Survey, Part 1"
by Lt. Xayella Tagliesh, Chief Science Officer
Ensign Tchalla Mel'Chir, Science Officer [NPC+]
Lt. Sam, Operations Manager
and Lt. Jorell Thalan, Chief of Security
Location: Surface of the planet Dorvali
Stardate 57906.21, 19h54
***
Xayella marched into the transporter room with a field kit hanging off her
shoulder and a rather dour expression marking her features. It didn't
mirror, however, the excitement she was feeling internally. This was why
she chose to pursue a career in Starfleet, and it was the only reason she
was so determined to remain on the Sulu. Science was her life and her love,
and the Sulu, being a primarily scientific vessel, would allow her to put
her abilities to their full use and give her the professional fulfillment
she'd always sought, but had never received on the other ships upon which
she'd served.
She sighed at the team already assembled by the transporter and at what
their inclusion in the mission meant. She preferred to work alone and she
obviously couldn't with eight other officers invading her space. She would
get more areas covered with a team consisting of more than simply one
officer, though; but with all the mistakes they'd no doubt make, she would
accomplish about as much as if she really were the only science officer
exploring the planet. Alas, it wasn't her decision to make, and if she
wished to remain on the Sulu, she had to keep her arguments with the captain
down to a minimum.
"Alright, everyone," she announced once she was standing tall before them.
"Before we go down, I want to remind you to stay within the boundaries set
up by the security team. Don't wander alone either and I would like
everyone to report in every hour to be on the safe side. Now, if anyone
finds anything worth noting, contact me immediately so I can assess whether
it truly is a discovery of import and whether it merits diverting our
efforts towards that particular area." Xayella passed her gaze over each of
them to make certain the team was complete. "Is everyone set, then?"
Tchalla settled the field kit over her shoulder and shook her head that she
had nothing more to add. As she stepped up onto the transporter pad, she
adjusted the clip that held her tricorder out of the way. She hated having
to wear a tricorder and a phaser; it always made her feel so awkward and
unbalanced. However, the phaser was a necessity going into an unknown
territory and she couldn't do her job very well without the tricorder. She
was just happy to be working.
Sam moved to stand next to Xayella. "I have looked over the security team's
findings," he began, "and perhaps it would be best while searching to wear
the duty jackets for the hot weather uniforms. There are some poisonous
plants on the surface that transfer their poison through contact."
"How very thoughtful of you," she replied caustically. "One more note," she
said aloud to her team. "If you're wandering through any forested area,
make certain to wear your duty jackets to keep skin exposure to a minimum.
If any vegetation comes into contact with any unprotected flesh, make note
of which plant it was and inform another team member as a precaution. If
you do begin to feel unwell, at least we'll have some idea of which plant
did it to you." Xayella mounted the transporter pad and chuckled wryly to
herself as an afterthought struck her. "Oh," she added with a crooked
smile, "and I don't have to remind you to seek medical attention either if
that happens, now do I?"
The rest of the team chuckled and nodded their agreement to Xayella.
Tchalla scratched at a bare arm at the thought of poisonous plant life. She
pushed the thought away, and told herself to keep her distance from the
plants down there. Still, the fear of some poison coursing through her
blood wasn't enough to dampen the excitement she felt at her first Away Team
mission.
Lieutenant Sam snapped his tricorder shut after making a few modifications
and moved up to stand on the pad.
"It looks like everyone's set," Xayella noted. "So, Chief Riley, if you
could?"
The hum of the transporter coils activating sounded and soon the team was
enshrouded in eight individual streams of glimmering haze that dissipated as
quickly as they appeared, leaving behind an empty transporter pad.
Once they'd materialized below on Dorvali449, Xayella signalled for her team
to begin their preliminary scans. She immediately felt the heat wash over
her and was grateful for the modified uniforms, though she soon wished
Starfleet would have considered making another variant that combined both a
skirt and the sleeveless tunic. It certainly was damned hot.
"I'll be looking for Lt. Thalan if anyone needs me," Xayella called out to
her team after overcoming her initial temperature induced disorientation.
"Ensign Sam, you're with me."
"Yes, Lieutenant," Sam said as he moved to Xayella's side. His tricorder
was in his hand and scanning the area. He showed no sign that the heat or
humidity was affecting him at all.
As Ensign Mel'Chir moved off with Ensign Carelli, it looked as if the young
Andorian was going to melt. She gave her companion a smile to indicate that
she'd be fine, and trudged on anyway.
Xayella found Lt. Thalan assembled with his team a few meters outside a
cavernous opening. She called out his name and stepped into the center of
the small circle comprised of security officers, with Sam by her side. "Lt.
Thalan," she drawled, with a bland smile curling her lips. "I trust the
area is sufficiently secured? Nothing's going to jump out and suddenly
attack myself or my team?"
Jorell held up a hand indicating he would be with her in a moment and
finished with his commands to the two officers before him. As both proceeded
off he turned to the woman and addressed her, "Lt Tagliesh. Good to finally
meet you." Then with a smile answered, "Yes the area is secure. The only
predator we have run into was in these caves." The man motioned to the
large opening behind him. "And it has been removed, temporarily."
"So I heard," Xayella said dryly. "I take that to mean the caves are
off-limits?"
"For the moment," he said with a nod, "I have a team in there now. I should
know shortly how safe the caves are. I will inform you of my assessment when
I have it." He then looked to the woman as he tried to see why the XO
disliked her so. "Is there anything else, Lieutenant?"
"Yes," Xayella said. "Just make certain your officers don't interfere with
my science officers. They'll be collecting specimens and we don't need your
people trampling on or destroying prospective samples while they roam about
aimlessly."
He nodded. "Very well. I will inform my staff." He flashed the woman a smile.
Xayella cocked an eyebrow at the man and nodded slowly. "Hmm.... Yes,
thank you, Lt. If I have any further orders for you, I won't hesitate to
contact you." She scrutinized the man's face for a moment longer as if to
gauge the strength of his composure. If need be, she wanted to know how
much effort it would take to intimidate the man. From what she could
determine so far, it was going to take quite a bit. "Lt. Sam, we're
returning to where the team is assembled. Good day, Lt. Thalan." Without so
much as a smile in return, Xayella turned on her heel and marched away.
Thalan's smile remained as he read her thoughts and said, "Lieutenant." He
then proceeded to inform his staff of Tagliesh's request so that they would
not incur her wrath.
***
Sam deftly snipped the stem of the leaf from the shrub and deposited it into
the glass vial. He placed it within the field kit and moved on. He could
hear Lieutenant Tagliesh doing the same behind him. He moved to another
plant, this one containing reddish, serrated leaves that contained small
thorns. He wondered if this was the plant that had affected Petty Officer
Benzi. A sample was placed in the field kit as well. He ran a tricorder
over the rest of the reddish leaves, and compared the results with the toxin
removed from Benzi's blood. There was a match.
He turned back to inform Xayella of the finding, but realized that she was
no longer there. "Lieutenant," he called out softly, but received no
answer. "Lieutenant Tagliesh?"
***
Xayella was grateful that she'd managed to slip away before Sam decided to
inform her again of yet another trivial detail that had no bearing on
anything of any importance to her whatsoever. For the first five minutes of
her absence, he'd incessantly attempted to contact her through her combadge,
but stuffing it into her field kit had done well to muffle his voice to a
less obnoxious level.
Wandering through the forested section of the search area, Xayella had been
forced to pull on her uniform jacket, and although the temperature in the
forest was marginally cooler than in the open areas, the heat was still
scorching and the air barely breathable. She'd be pleased to finally exit
the forest so she could once again remove her jacket.
She wended her way through the thick vegetation that provided limited
visibility and hampered her movement, until she came upon a small, isolated
clearing that lead to another darkened cave opening. Lt. Thalan had warned
her to keep away from the caves, but in the interest of scientific
discovery, Xayella took up her tricorder and performed some routine scans,
but soon found that she could get no reading beyond the entrance of the
cave. She frowned quizzically and moved closer, but still nothing. After
some minor adjustments to the scanning frequency and the bandwidth, she
tried again, but it made little difference.
"All this advanced equipment and I can't even scan through rock." Xayella
snorted wryly and continued forward to the mouth of the cave.
A brief spike appeared on her display just as she entered the opening, and
since it was the first interesting thing she'd seen all day, Xayella moved
deeper into the cave to follow the signal. The readings grew in intensity
the farther in she went until she had a stable signal. She smiled at the
prospect of finally discovering something of value and wasn't deterred from
her investigation, not even when a gentle rustling sounded a short distance
away on her right. Instead, she followed the noise to determine its source.
The sunlight from outside penetrated partway into the cave, but it still
provided scant illumination. Xayella groped inside her field kit for the
portable handlight, while still closing in on the cause of the disturbance
in the cave. The rustling began again and was accompanied this time by an
almost imperceptible twittering. She managed to finally close her hand
around the light and activated it. The bright beam pierced through the
pitch black darkness, then travelled on an errant path along the cave wall
as her foot caught on something upon the ground and sent her plummeting
downwards. The tricorder clattered as it fell, and the handlight along with
it. The stream of light still being emitted illuminated the subject of
Xayella's intrigue fully, and once her eyes adjusted to the drastic change
of lighting conditions, and the creature became clearly visible, she screamed.
***
Tchalla Mel'Chir's field kit was filled with biological samples. Her
tricorder's memory was jammed full with data gathered from the area she'd
been assigned on the Away Team. There was still more to do, and she
transferred her data to an isolinear chip for storage while she began
filling the tricorder's memory with even more data. By the time the Sulu
finished, they would have more data than they would know what do to with.
"Tchalla?"
She looked up to Carelli who was looking at his tricorder. "What do you
make of this?"
She approached and looked at his readings. She let her tricorder scan the
area as well. "Biological for certain," she said. "Reptilian for certain.
The passage was too long ago to tell for certain though. I'll take a sample
and we can examine it in the lab."
"It must be pretty large to have left any traces that far up on the
undergrowth."
Tchalla glanced between Carelli and the sample. "Possibly, or it'd been
going through the undergrowth, actually in the bush."
"Possible," he said. "If you can, let me know what you find."
She looked into the glass vial that now held part of the sample. "I will,"
she said. It wasn't much more than part of the epidermal layer, but it was
something. And, one of the creatures they hadn't actually scanned yet.
Perhaps it came out at night, though she didn't know of any reptiles that
were nocturnal.
She pushed her lank hair back out of her face and wished for a towel to wipe
the sweat from her skin. Her arms were slick with the heat of the forest,
and her shirt was nearly completely damp. She wasn't meant for this. She
grew up on a cold world, and this heat was unbearable. She'd survive
though. She was a Starfleet officer. She could handle this, or else she
didn't deserve to wear her uniform. However, when she returned to the ship
at the end of her shift down here, she was pulling out the skirt from her
extra Class A duty uniform. It hadn't been designed to go with this
particular uniform, but it would be much more comfortable.
She was walking back toward where she'd left her field kit and found an
intriguing little plant beneath one of the larger trees extending upwards.
She smiled and squatted down next to it. She set the sample on a rock next
to her and began scanning the plant with her tricorder. It had several
viney growths that wrapped themselves around the base of the tree, and they
climbed upward searching for sunlight. She watched the plant for several
minutes, and realized that the vines were actually moving, and actively
climbing up the tree. She wanted a sample of this one for study.
She could feel something at the edge of her perception. It was a subtle
vibration that tingled the nerve endings in her antennae. She spun around
toward the rock where she'd placed the sample container just as it clattered
off and onto the ground. She sighed and laughed at herself. It was
nothing, just the movements of the vial. She picked up the vial and shook
her head. Don't go getting paranoid now, Tchi, she told herself, using
the nickname her brother had given her. She could almost hear Chodar's
voice in her mind.
With a shake of her head, she returned to her field kit, and then started
back toward the rendezvous point. She needed a long soak in some nice cool
water. The thought brought a smile to her face. She just needed to drop
off her sample containers, get some more, and then back to work again. It
was hot, she was sweating like a Klingon, but it was still the most exciting
time of her life.
***
Sam was moving through the forest searching for Xayella. She wasn't
responding to her communicator. He'd been following her signal with his
tricorder until the signal vanished. He continued in the direction where
she had been. He'd just entered a clearing when heard the scream.
"Lieutenant," he called, and rushed forward.
He dashed through the trees, into another clearing and there found the cave
entrance. Logic processors whirred and Sam knew this was the reason he was
unable to detect her with his tricorder. He moved forward, long strides
carrying him quickly. He entered the cave, as surefooted as a cat. His
tricorder was useless, but his phaser wasn't. He moved effortlessly through
the darkness, his image enhancers easily compensating for the lack of light.
***
The small rodent screeched shrilly as the strong light glared into its large
nocturnal eyes. It appeared to have been gathering old leaves for a nest,
and certainly didn't look as if it appreciated the intrusion. It bared its
teeth and leapt at Xayella. She cried out again as it ran its claws down
her cheek in what could only have been a defensive manoeuvre, considering
the small size of the animal, then it quickly scampered away into the darkness.
"You little mangy... Ugh!" She brought a hand to her cheek and pulled it
away with a spot of blood upon it. Already she could tell this was turning
into a fine mission.
"Planetary Survey, Part 2"
by Lt. Sam, Operations Manager
Lt. Xayella Tagliesh, Chief Science Officer
Ensign Tchalla Mel'Chir, Science Officer [NPC+]
and Captain Matthew T. Salinger
Location: Surface of the planet Dorvali
Stardate 57906.21, 20h57
***
Sam moved through the cavern and finally found the figure seated on the
ground. Her hand was held to her cheek, and she was slightly illuminated by
the hand light resting a meter away. "Lieutenant Tagliesh?"
Xayella looked up at him and frowned. "Yes, Lt., what is it?" she replied
wanly.
"Are you unhurt? I heard your scream and came as quickly as I could."
"I tripped, that's all." She pulled her hand away from her cheek and
extended it to Sam. "Help me up. I think my ankle's twisted."
Sam stepped over and extended a hand to help her to her feet. "You should
not have gone off alone, Lieutenant. Especially into an area where the Sulu
could not keep track of our movements."
"I didn't know that at the time," she snapped. She jerked her hand away
from Sam's and wiped her palm on the fabric of her pants. "I was studying
some of the local fauna and tracked it into this cave. I didn't even
realize the cave was shielded from scans." A lie, but she wasn't going to
admit that to him and get herself into trouble in the process. "Let's go
rejoin the rest of the team. I want a summary of what's been discovered so
far." Xayella took one step forward and gasped in pain. She lurched
against Sam in an attempt to relieve the weight from her tender ankle.
Sam quickly had a supporting arm around her waist while he pulled her arm
over his shoulder to give her the support to move without aggravating her
wound. "Can you move in this fashion?" he said. "Otherwise, I can carry
you if you require, Lieutenant."
"No!" Xayella replied quickly. "No, no, I believe I can walk, Lt." She
hobbled along beside Sam, grumbling and her mood growing more sour by the
moment. "Stupid rat," she muttered. "I should come back here and introduce
it to my phaser."
As they moved away, Sam scooped and picked up Xayella's tricorder and
clipped it to her belt, then her handlight, which she dropped into her field
kit. "Once we are outside, we can beam back to the Sulu for medical
attention. You will also need to have those scratches on your face
thoroughly examined."
"Fine. But I'm coming right back down." She glanced down at the holes in
the knees of her pants and added, "With a change of attire."
"A good idea, Lieutenant," Sam said. "I believe the captain will want to
have a word with you while you are in Sickbay."
Xayella grunted irritably. "Will he, now?" She sighed and made her way
through the forest with Sam. They'd only been on the mission for a matter
of an hour, and already she was going to receive a reprimand from the
captain. And all she did was intrude upon a rodent's nest building
exercise. When and if she returned to the planet, she definitely had to
have a little talk with that undersized pest.
Once they reached the area that had become a temporary base of operations,
Sam let Xayella lean against a tree while he quickly returned the samples
they'd retrieved into the main sample containers. As he was doing that,
Ensign Mel'Chir approached where Xay rested. The young woman was wearing a
short skirt instead of the pants she'd been wearing earlier. She noticed
the chief science officer examining her attire and gave an embarrassed
smile. "I passed out," she said while staring at the toes of her boots.
"I'm used to cold weather, and...here. The skirt does help though." She
looked down at the holes in Xay's pants and then the pained expression that
she was unable to hide as much as she tried to. "What happened, Lieutenant?"
"Tripped, that's all," she explained curtly. "When I return, I might just
adopt your choice of uniform. If Starfleet plans on turning this planet
into a colony, they're going to have to come up with a way to cope with this
heat. I'm surprised anything's managed to thrive here."
"Oh the flora loves it, sir," the andorian scientist said. "The heat and
humidity is perfect for them, and there's plenty of sunshine for them. The
fauna is a different matter entirely. Though, from what I've seen it
appears that they are all adapted to this weather. I imagine Vulcans would
like it here. There are a few other Federation species that also thrive in
this type of environment. And, there are other possibilities for making
this planet useful, I think, even before active terraforming. Do you need
help back to the ship, sir?"
Xayella stared quizzically at the girl and shook her head slowly. "No,
thank you, Ensign. You can...go back to work now."
"Thank you, Lieutenant," Tchalla said with a slight smile. She started back
in the direction she'd been working before, casting a final glance back to
Xayella before she disappeared around the bend.
"All of the samples have been stored," Sam said as he moved back to Xay.
"We can return to the ship and you can have your face and ankle looked at by
a doctor."
Xayella sighed and firmly placed a hand on Sam's shoulder. "It's about
time. I could've been bleeding to death over here waiting for you."
Sam cocked his head to the side. "Your injuries are not sufficient to
indicate a threat of death due to blood loss, Lieutenant. However, our
samples have been stored for examination. While we are on the ship, Ensign
Sanchez may begin cataloguing and examining them."
"Yes, yes," she snapped. "I could care less right now. Just get me to the
ship."
"Of course, Lieutenant," Sam said, and then tapped his communicator. "Sam
to Sulu, two to beam up. Please have a medical team standing by."
"Aye, Lieutenant," came Mr. Riley's voice.
A moment later, the two officers were standing within the transporter room
with Matt Salinger standing near the door. "Dr. Jacobs is ready and waiting
in sickbay," the captain said. "I'll help her there, Sam. Beam back down.
You're in charge until she's fit to return."
"Yes, Captain," Sam said, and then turned back to the transporter pad while
Matt took his place helping Xayella.
"Come on, Lieutenant," Matt said. "Let's get you patched up."
"Since when does the captain escort injured officers to the sickbay?"
Xayella grinned at him as she slung her arm across his shoulders. "Should I
feel honoured?"
"Since they're his chief science officer," Matt said. "And, since they went
off on their own despite regulations and orders to the contrary. Since they
ignored the attempts by the Operations Manager to contact her. And, since
she foolishly got herself injured in a set of caves that she knew were
dangerous."
Xayella sighed as they moved out into the corridor. "I knew this was
coming. Can't you at least wait until this nagging pain in my ankle's gone,
Captain?"
"Are you familiar with baseball, Xay?"
She chuckled softly and she rolled her eyes. "Somewhat. Why do you ask?"
"Consider this strike two then," he said. "I want you here. You're a good
science officer, but I can't have things like this happening all the time.
Commander Lyrr wanted me to give Lieutenant Thalan the authority, as the
chief of security, to order an immediate beam up if there was any danger to
the Away Team because she didn't trust that you would be able to make that
call. She doesn't trust that you won't put yourself above everyone else on
the Away Team and on the ship. She doesn't trust that you'll work within
the team, and will do your own thing because you believe yourself superior
to the rest of us. She doesn't believe that you should be on this ship,
jeopardizing every life here that isn't your own."
"Well frankly put, Captain, she is an idiot." Xayella pulled away from
Matt's hold and limped around to face him. "I deserve to be here. I'm a
good scientist, and although I tend to act before I thoroughly think most of
the time, I would say I'm doing pretty well so far. I don't intentionally
go out of my way to misbehave, Captain. I'm just...a little more
independent and free-spirited than most officers. If you choose to share
your first officer's opinion of me, then have me transferred off your ship.
If you don't, then trust in me to do a good job, Captain."
"Lieutenant," Matt began, "you are one of the best scientists I have ever
met. You have a sharp, intelligent mind and the gifts to use that mind.
However, this is a Starfleet starship and you are a Starfleet officer.
There are regulations and orders that must be obeyed, and from what I have
seen so far you seem only interested in following those that you don't
dislike. You bully anyone you think you can get away with and have
absolutely no respect for any of your peers or subordinates, and I dare not
even think what your opinions of those above you in the chain of command
might be. To you, everyone is an opportunity. You don't see other human
beings, Bajorans, Betazoids or any of the many species you'll find in the
Federation; they're merely opportunities for you to get ahead.
"If you are unable or unwilling to treat every single being on this ship
with respect, to welcome the opinions and ideas of those around you, to work
with them for the betterment of the Federation, Starfleet, and our way of
life then you have no place on this ship or in Starfleet. There are no
other ships after this one, Xayella. No one else will touch you. No one
else wants the trouble you bring. Now, the decision is yours to make,
Lieutenant Tagliesh. Will you remain aboard this ship or will you resign
your commission as a Starfleet officer and seek employment as a civilian?"
Xayella looked away and chewed her lip to keep the first rude profanity that
came to mind from being spoken aloud. Xayella Tagliesh didn't respond well
to ultimatums, and this was as serious one as had ever been given to her
before. She turned back to face Matt, and the gravity of his expression
made it quite clear that her next response would decide her entire future,
and if she wanted one in Starfleet, she had to play nice...for now. "I'm
staying right where I am, Captain Salinger," she replied. "I won't cause
any more problems on this vessel. I will do my duty to Starfleet and this
ship in an exemplary fashion. I will try, Captain."
"You told me that you'd try before," Matt said. "You will need to try
harder, and I will need to see you trying. You will have a progress review
at the completion of this mission. Your actions from here forward will be
taken into consideration, not what happened on the planet. Commander Lyrr
and I will discuss what has happened, and whether keeping you aboard is
something we can afford to do. If I hear a single report of you snapping to
a single crewman on this ship, you will be placed on report. I will verify
any claims to make sure that you don't have an enemy on this ship trying to
get rid of you. I will tolerate no more problems, Xay. I can't afford to.
I will not allow you to destroy this ship or my reputation as a Starship
captain. My judgement will be questioned over this, by my own staff and by
Starfleet Command. Just know that you're not only affecting your own
career, but mine as well."
"I understand," she said tightly. There was nothing more she could say
without using up her last chance. "If there isn't anything more, Captain,
can I please be dismissed?"
Matt moved closer to offer her his arm and help her to sickbay. "Are you
able to continue as mission leader? And, I don't mean physically able
because of your wounds."
She nodded stiffly. "I am." She crossed her arms over her chest in a
blatant rejection of his offered assistance.
Matt looked at her crossed arms and frowned. "Very well," he said, and then
stepped back. "Once the doctors say you're fit, beam back down to the
planet." With that, he walked past her toward the turbolift that would take
him to the bridge.
Xayella waited until she heard the hiss of the doors opening, then closing
again before she started hobbling forward. Each step brought with it a
sharp twinge of pain and it was slow going, but there was no way she would
have accepted help from the man who was set upon destroying her career. She
groped the wall for support, but it only helped alleviate some of the
discomfort involved in walking upon her injured foot. But, she'd make it to
the sickbay on her own, then return to the planet and prove to Matt that he
would be a fool to let such a brilliant scientist go.
It appeared that her charms had ceased to sway him, but that was only
because she hadn't had time to sufficiently unload them onto Matt. Once she
did, she felt certain he would no longer be on her case and that she could
do as she liked on the ship without receiving a warning every week or so.
Until then, she'd hitch her way to the sickbay and leave Matt Salinger with
the false impression that he'd finally put her in her place for good.
"A Confidence Builder"
By Ensign Jenara Redman
and Captain Matt Salinger
Location: Engineering
Stardate 57906.21, 07h49
***
Jenara Redman casually stroked a stray hair from her eyes as she stepped
off the turbolift. Beginning her walk towards Engineering, she passed
several male crewmembers who said hello. Smiling meekly, she just nodded
and kept walking.
Arriving at engineering, she noticed Petty Officer Riley heading her way.
Jen smiled politely as Riley said, "Ensign Redman, the lieutenant wants you
to recalibrate the warp coils. They were causing some problems on the way
in, and are two point three three percent out of alignment."
Nodding to confirm the order, Jenara made her way over towards the warp
core. Before opening the chamber, she remembered the warp engines had to
be taken offline for safety reasons. Not seeing the chief engineer
anywhere, she cleared her throat, and tapped her commbadge. "Ensign Redman
to Captain Salinger."
"Salinger here," the captain's somewhat surprised response came back. "Go
ahead, Ensign Redman."
"Sir," she started, "the chief engineer asked me to recalibrate the warp
coils. He's not here at the moment, so I felt I should ask for your
permission to take the warp engines offline."
There was a slight pause on the other side, but then a soft chuckle. "Go
ahead, Ensign," he said. "We're not going anywhere at the moment anyway."
"Thank you, sir. Redman out," she said as she sighed quickly. Pressing a
few buttons on the warp controls, she saw the status lights change to
reflect that the warp engines were now offline.
Grabbing a dynoscanner, Jen opened up the coil chamber and began to scan
the coils for imperfections. The scanner indicated that the coils were not
quite aligned right. Jenara took a pair of gloves and put them on her
hands so as to avoid touching the hot coils. Reaching in she gently shook
the coils until they loosened a little bit. Taking a short breath, Jenara
began to inch the coils into a straighter line.
Scanning once again she could see that the alignment was now correct, but
that she'd have to recalibrate the values to match. "Computer." She
paused. "Please recalibrate Warp Coil Alignment and power flow to match the
new values I am entering now." With quick fingers she entered the new
numbers into the computer. Jenara then said, "Computer how long till
recalibration is complete?"
The computer's voice replied after a small
moment, "Recalibration will take five minutes."
Satisfied that the computer was programmed correctly, she pressed the
control to start the recalibration. As the minutes passed, she thought
back upon the fun conversation she had with Rax. Smiling, she realized it
was possible she had made her first friend on board.
After the five minutes had passed, the computer informed her recalibration
was complete. Running the dynoscanner one more time, she was confident
that the coils were aligned properly. She instructed the computer to run a
diagnostic to see if the new alignment had improved the efficiency of the
warp engines.
"You must be Ensign Redman," a voice said from behind her. "How are my
warp engines?"
Startled a bit, Jenara turned and came face to face with the Captain.
Composing herself, she replied, "Well sir, I was about to confirm whether
the new alignment had improved engine efficiency." Pressing the controls,
the computer ran another diagnostic, before confirming that the new
alignment had improved engine efficiency back to within tolerable levels.
Smiling at her success she faced the captain once more. "Captain I'd like
to report that I can bring the engines back online now."
Matt smiled and then gave her a nod. "Yes," he said, "go ahead and bring
the engines back on." He glanced at the readings on the console and
approved of the changes she'd made.
After Jenara brought the engines online, she turned towards Salinger once
again. "How did I do sir?"
"You did fine, Ensign," Matt said. "Though, I never had any doubts. If
you couldn't get the warp drive back online, I don't think they would have
let you out of the Academy. So, how much of an increase in performance did
you manage?"
"Well sir, the coils were two point three three microns out of alignment,"
the young ensign replied. "After realigning them, I managed to get a three
percent overall efficiency gain. I know it's not much, but at least they
are within tolerable levels again."
"Every little bit helps," Matt said with a smile. "That two point three
three difference could be the difference between outrunning something
bigger than us and being burned to ash. Every little bit is important."
Jenara nodded, then brushed the stray hair away from her eyes as she looked
away. Looking off to the side, she replied, "I--I should really get back to
doing my maintenance for the day. Thanks for showing a little confidence
in me sir."
"Anytime, Jenara," Matt said with another smile. "You did a good job with
that realignment; the confidence was well placed."
Jenara blushed as she watched the captain turn and walk out of engineering.
After a moment lost in thought, she made her way to the Jeffries tubes to
begin her maintenance duties for the day.