Captain's Away: Part 1 Standard Orbit

Posted on Fri Sep 22nd, 2023 @ 7:22pm by Commander Chalan Kendri & Crewman Yaves Lasa

1,429 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: Campor III - Resupply
Location: Bridge USS Columbia
Timeline: MD, C2 1016

Commander Chalan Kendri sat in the Command seat and looked at her control panel. "The away team is safely on Campor III. This is the first time the Captain has left the ship since we launched three months ago," Kendri pointed out as she stood around and looked at her crew. "Let's try not to break anything while he's away, okay?"

Ensign Sarah bet Ira sat at the Ops console. She giggled a little. "I will try, ma'am," she said. "Any current orders?" She asked. She was nervous; this was the first time she'd been left alone at ops, and she was just hoping she didn't mess it up too badly.

"Yes, Ensign. Monitor the landing party, make sure we maintain a clear lock on their comm signal and their bio signs, if we start having any issues say something right away," Kendri said gently. "Also if you notice anything in their vicinity that could present a danger, speak up."

Sarah simply nodded. "Aye, ma'am," she said, turning back to the console and tapping a button. She made sure that she could see clearly everything that was happening.

"Yeoman, keep us in standard orbit. If you see anyone approaching, or anything in our way that shouldn't be there..." Kendri looked at the Yeoman waiting for her to fill in the blanks. She had logged a lot of Bridge hours since launch.

"Then I'll let you know, ma'am", replied Crewman Yaves Lasa. The Bolian beamed with a bright, nervous smile. This was the first time she'd sat at the helm. She was taught how to keep the ship in orbit and knew some of the basic controls. This was a great opportunity for her to gain experience. "I'll run a scan of the nearby vessels... To let you know what's in the area, Commander." She turned back around in her seat, fingers quickly tapping away at controls linked to the large circular screen between the helm and Ops stations.

Kendri looked back and up toward their Trill Security Chief, someone who had become one of her closer friends on the ship during their journey. "Mr. Tomm, planet wide and long range scans for any potential hostile forces. You know what to do," she said, full confidence in the Security Chief.

“Aye, sir. Sensors at maximum. Maintaining bio-signs lock and keeping comm frequencies open. All quiet for the time being,” said Tomm

Kendri looked to Tomm's left in the back corner where their Andorian science officer sat at once of the science stations. "Ensign zh'Vaoreth, you get one of the fun jobs for the day. The Captain wants us to explore this planet while we are here. Use our scanners to take a look around and see what might be of interest."

Yaves had been quietly running brief scans on several nearby ships. Many ships were in orbit with little activity. She ruled most of those out. Those she did scan only showed remote skeleton crews at first.

A slightly more distant scan, just out of clear visual range brought up a Klingon Vor'cha starship. It seemed to be the most active ship in the area, conducting a flight through an asteroid belt. Another scan showed a Ferengi Marauder slowly changing its course to drift towards the Columbia.

"Ummm Ma'am", Crewman Lasa said anxiously. "It looks like the Ferengi are coming to take a look at us." The cobalt-complexioned lady inhaled a deep breath and exhaled with a huff.

"You're doing great, Yeoman," Kendri said encouragingly.

Sarah leaned over to Yaves. "Hi! I am Sarah bet Ira. I don't think we've met yet. Ops!" She said. Her Standard was slowly becoming clearer and easier to understand. It was still weird how they did for introductions-name, rank, department.

"Great to meet you, ma'am", Yaves said excitedly. "I'm Crewman Lasa... Yeoman to Captain th'Zeles." Her voice carried a high pitch as she spoke quickly. She realized she had been accidentally been speaking too loud when Commander Chalan began to speak.

"Tomm can we get that Ferengi vessel on-screen? Hopefully it's just someone associated with one of the colonies, " she asked Tomm, as she didn't want to overwhelm the young officers who were manning new-to-them positions.

“There we are, Commander. Reading almost 100 aboard. Typical weapons compliment. Torpedo launcher, phased energy weapon capability. No match for Columbia.”

Sarah realized what was being said behind her. Oh, crap, Ferengi? They usually came with backup-the Klingons, or sometimes the Breen. Whomever they could swindle into doing their offense work. She pressed some buttons. "Commanders, sir, ma'am. The science probe is returning to dock. Should I alert the Assistant Science Officer?" She asked.

Yaves peered over at the large navigation screen between Sarah and herself. She could see the speedy little probe heading back towards the Odyssey-class starship.
Kendri suppressed a chuckle at the young ops officer's eagerness. "I appreciate your alertness, Ensign bet Ira, but no need, we have a science officer on the Bridge today. Ensign zh'Vaoreth can coordinate with the Science Department if they aren't already aware."

"Ensign bet Ira, if you are looking for more to do, tell us more about where our away team is. How many other life signs are in the area? Anything of note?" Kendri asked.

Sarah just nodded. The nerves had gotten to her. Dang it!

"Yes, ma'am. My apologies, Ensign," she said, to Ivy. "Ma'am, besides the noted ships, and the two hundred inhabitants, there are five unknown life signs. One is coming from due north, moving at a high rate of speed. Perhaps a shuttle? The other four are...oh. Never mind, that's the Ferengi, as well," she said. "These four are in a shuttlecraft, it seems to be patrolling." She sighed. Great job, Sarah, embarrass yourself on the first day you're given responsibility.

"There are some Ferengi near the village?" Kendri repeated inquisitively. "I didn't think they intermingled that much with the Romulans. Let's keep an eye on things. Nice work, Ensign." Kendri placed a hand on the back of the Ensign's chair. "You can keep making announcements when you notice a status change like that," Kendri reminded her. "It's an especially important job, watching our away team, especially when we aren't in Federation Space and we're dealing with people who haven't always been friendly."

Sarah nodded. "Thank you. Ok. I got it!" She said. Thankfully, she wasn't in too much trouble-she was normally very serious. The nerves must've gotten tho her. "Looks like they are moving away from the village now, all of the officers on the away team are accounted for. Plus, five Romulans." She reported.

Kendri walked back to the command chair and took a seat. "They must be heading to the airfield." Kendri looked at her own control panels and verified what Sarah was seeing. They were in the thick of some vegetation now, but the airfield looked like it was just over a kilometer away.

Kendri looked back up at the screen where Tomm was keeping the Ferengi vessel in view. "They are acting curious. Should we hail them?" she asked to no one in particular.

Yaves peered at the Ferengi vessel as it came to a stop on screen. The Ferengi vessel made a slight course alteration, as if it was just heading past the bow of the Columbia.

Various stations, including Security and Ops would sense a scan originating from the orange Ferengi Marauder. Yaves wondered if this was some negotiation tactic on their behalf, getting the Columbia to message them first.

"Ma'am, Sir??" Sarah said, speaking to Chalan and Tomm. "They are scanning US.-the Ferengi shuttle, I mean." She said. "Here..." She brought up the frequency data on the view screen. "What should I do?" She asked, in a quietly accented voice. "It is quite...what's the word? Alarming."

"It happens all the time, Ensign. In fact, we do it ourselves all the time. Nothing to worry about. The Ferengi have a joint colony here with Federation citizens. We shouldn't assume any hostile intentions on their part," the Commander stated, reminding Bridge crew of the unusual political relationships on Campor III. "Ensign bet Ira, go ahead and open a channel and hail them."

Sarah nodded. "I see," she said. She had operated under the assumption that hails were generally a bad thing...she'd not experienced one on her Cadet cruise. A moment later, she had an open channel.

Commander Chalan Kendri
First Officer, USS Columbia

Lt. Commander Kobi Tomm
Security Chief, USS Columbia

Ensign Sarah bet Ira
Ops Officer, USS Columbia

Crewman Yaves Lasa
Yeoman, USS Columbia

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