A Change of Pace

Posted on Sat Jun 8th, 2024 @ 3:14am by Commander Zera Tirado & Captain Ryhl th'Zeles & Lieutenant Commander Jason Elliot & Lieutenant Commander Jorel Torin II & Lieutenant Commander Bellona Juventus & Lieutenant Commander Johanna Lyngstad & Lieutenant Commander Sakura Minamoto & Lieutenant Xander Oroyo

1,291 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Upon Stranger Stars
Location: Bridge

The Columbia was well en route to Vulcan, cruising at a steady warp eight. Zera was on watch, sitting in the center chair. There wasn't much happening on the bridge, in fact it was fairly boring. The ship's Exec was using this time to read through reports from the ship's many department heads. It all stopped however when a warning light began to flash on the ship's security console.

"Captain? We have an object about nine hundred kilometres ahead of us." Bellona glanced up from her console. "It appears to be quite large..."

"Hopefully, it's nothing too crazy. We wouldn't want a run-in with the Jem'Hadar or the Hirogen Hunters or something," Jorel replied, making a joke in the moment.

"In this neck of the woods? I highly doubt it," Sakura piped up from the far side of the bridge.

Zera raised an eyebrow as she placed her PADD down. "Can we identify what the object is?"

Johanna scanned the object 900 km away to try to identify what it is.

"It is a freighter. Antares class." Bellona reported. "Should I attempt to contact them, captain?"

"Antares class. Those haven't been in service for over a hundred years," Zera said in response. She tapped on the controls of her chair. "Captain to the bridge."

"Confirmed." answered Johanna. "Antares class freighter."

Ryhl was stunned momentarily at the sight of the old vessel. His antennae froze, as he pondered the sudden appearance. "Try hailing them. Also run a full scan. Life signs.. Cargo. Let's see what they're carrying. I've been seeing less and less of these ships around. They're getting old." The ship seemed to be adrift, almost causing a bit of concern within the Captain.

"When we're closer, slow to impulse speeds and bring us alongside. We should investigate what its doing out here." Zera ordered.

"Aye, Commander", replied Ensign Sar. The stoic Vulcan had been moved from working on the Propulsion systems to helm control. Sar's steady hand and machine-like inputs made him a reliable pilot. The Ensign often found himself alone, with many of the people he had begun to open up to recently transferring. The Vulcan wondered why thoughts of his former partner, a woman named Sarah, always drifted into his mind. "Bringing us out of warp and closing the distance at one-quarter impulse speed.

As a Vulcan, he had trained himself to be so in control of his emotions that outsiders might think he had none. Yet Sar knew differently. Luckily, his work kept his mind occupied.

The Columbia leapt out of warp with only a hint of interstellar turbulence. Its massive figure crept alongside the old, grey freighter.

"Any luck with those hails? How are the scans looking?" Ryhl looked to Zera curiously, before turning his glance to the answering crew.

"Not as of yet, Captain. I'm not even sure they're receiving our hails," said Xander Oroyo from the Ops console. He was looking as nervous as a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs. He still wasn't sure what he was doing on the bridge currently. He was only a beta shift Ops relief but he was determined to make sure whoever made this mistake rue the day they did (and not in the way anyone was thinking, either)

"Thank you, Mister Oroyo", Ryhl said as he looked from his seat towards the large circular center console between Ops and Helm. He wanted to make sure the vessel was actually there. Something about its appearance seemed eerie. "Can you tell me about the ship's power levels as well?"

"The ship appears to be running on emergency power...but that can't be right?! After nearly a century of not being in use. Captain, something does not feel right about this situation," Oroyo said with more confidence in his voice. It was as though he could feel a wrongness about the freighter and this whole set-up as well. But he couldn't tell what was wrong and that was killing him not knowing.

"Emergency power, eh? That sounds about right. Old ships like that were built to last. The question is, how did it get here?" Ryhl also felt suspicious about the vessel.

Ryhl turned in his chair to face the Chief Science Officer. "Miss Lyngstad, can you analyze the ship's environment? Scan for signs of any disaster that may have affected the crew.. Radiation leak or any fouled systems." Ryhl turned to the Tactical station next. "Miss Juventus, can you scan the ship for any signs of booby traps or anything we should be worried about?"

Johanna began analyzing the freighter's environment. "Environment exists but too thin to breathe. Ship is fairly cold, reading -40 Celsius, that is, 233 Kelvin. Radiation levels around three times normal space background. A damaged but still functioning life support system would account for that. A radiation leak that has been leveling off for 100 years would account for the radiation."

"No booby traps that I can see. However." Bellona's finger deftly swiped over her display, magnifying the freighter's cargo hold. "Speaking of radiation. There appears to be something quite angry in this freighter's cargo hold, so to speak. Every single container in this freighter's cargo hold seems to be lined with extremely radiation resistant metal. Their contents are spherical in shape and they constantly output small levels of some form of radiation, but that is all I can determine." She announced. "If we investigate, I believe we should proceed with no less than the highest levels of caution."

"Thank you Commander. I think we owe it to the former crew to at least figure out what happened." Ryhl thought of this as a casualty situation that he didn't want to ignore. "Tell me if you can gather any more information about the identity of this vessel."

TAG Bellona

Commander Minamoto got up from where she was sitting and moved over to get a better look. Her expression was pensive, as if she were attempting to rationalize what exactly a derelict Antares that well before even her time was doing, just sitting here, in the middle of nowhere.

Ryhl turned to Zera first before also meeting Sakura's glance, standing in the distance behind the XO from Ryhl's point of view. "I'd like your input, Commanders", Ryhl said warmly. He was excited at the chance to consult his advisors for the first time. "I had wanted to send a team to investigate. It certainly seems more dangerous with the information presented. What are your thoughts on this?" Environmental suits could easily withstand the ship's climate, radiation included. The question might be on the ship's durability. Ryhl would be hesitant to send people on a ship that might implode. Then again, the ship seems to have survived for quite some time.

"I can take a small team over. We'll restore partial power and rig the ship for towing," Zera said simply. "It's likely it was attacked a long time ago and left to drift."

Jason had been following events, "The registration is burned off from something, we'll need to proceed with caution in case there's boobytraps."

"Who would set traps on a freighter kept to drift?" Zera asked back a little sarcastically. She looked over at the Captain before back to the officers on the bridge. "However, since you're so concerned about it. You can come with us. You too Commander Juventus. Suit up and made your way to Transporter Room Three."

"It's an old tactic," Jason paused, he already was thinking "See you down in the transporter room."

Johanna cocked an eyebrow. ~ Booby traps? ~ she thought. She shook her head. She called for the next person on the Science Duty roster and headed to get her environment suit.

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