Entry#4.1
Earth, Sol System
Sammy's Self-Sealing Stem Bolts?
One Lieutenant Nahuel Ventura is on an important mission to find the one Lieutenant Commander Kyla VanZyl. He needed to report the energy surge detected in the Vestige system. Officially it was TF-2011, but Vinu's nickname rolled off the tongue better and no one had thought of a better name. It is feared that this surge had jeopardized Starfleet Intelligence's investigation into Vinu's associates. Their assets had not made contact since the event occurred.
Nahuel was about to leave when he finally spotted the Lt. Commander, who was apparently talking to someone over subspace. He took the opportunity to get things straight in his mind. When the commander had finished, he approached her to deliver his report.
"Business is good I see. They say stem bolts are an Evergreen business after all."
"Some say they are Seasonal."
The tone of the Lt. Commander's reply told Nahuel that he needed to be quick,
"We have a situation on Vestige."
"Make it quick."
In a lower voice the Lieutenant began,
"We've detected a massive energy surge emanating from the Vestige planet. We've tried contacting our asset in the system but she has yet to respond."
"How long ago was this?"
"About nine hours."
VanZyl took the Lieutenant's offered PADD, and read it quicker than he thought possible. Maybe this could have waited, thought Nahuel as he started to wonder if he was interrupting something important.
"Interesting, what ships are available in the Celes Sector? Anything we can deploy within twenty-four hours?"
If there was any moment that Nahuel was glad that he did his homework, it was now. He wasted no time in answering.
"The Palatine, Imbasa, Foundry, and Strider are currently available."
"Which ship is closest to Vestige?"
"Strider. They are currently resupplying at Starbase 114."
"Okay, inform the Strider that they will be investigating Vestige. Tell them everything you know about the energy pulse."
No Starfleet Captain worth their pips would pass up the opportunity to study an anomaly without a very good reason. The fact this came from a world Starfleet had an interest in would only sweeten the deal.
"Understood."
"And Lieutenant, you'll be responsible for the Vestige operation for the next few days."
The Lieutenant blinked in surprise as he took the offered isolinear chip.
"I won't let you down Lieutenant Commander."
"Good. Now if you don't mind, I really have something important to attend to." With that, VanZyl moved like the wind leaving behind a curious, yet very busy Lieutenant.
Entry#4.2
Surface of Vestige, System TF-2011, Celes Sector
Two walking figures lead by a floating figure were slowly but surely making their way up the mountainside. Syn and Blathma had only a good guess as to where their base could be since the presence of trees, brooks, and shrubbery had changed the look of the landscape dramatically. That was why they had Tax leaving them as the exocomp still had the base's precise coordinates stored within its memory banks.
As the troop went on, the trees starting to get smaller and more sparse as they continued their ascent. The sky was slowly changing to oranges and reds, the signs of a quickly approaching night. A night of a world they now know nothing of. The figures seemed to be taking little notice of their surroundings, however.
"I said I was sorry."
Syn's apology was genuine, but it seemed that Blathma liked to hold a grudge. Syn persisted,
"Tell him tax."
Tax turned around - now flying backwards- before responding.
".. .----. ...- . / - .-. .. . -.. .-.-.-"
"When?"
".--- ..- ... - / -. --- .--"
"For someone who wanted a way to speak, I would've thought you would have more to say."
".. / -.. --- / -. --- - / - .- .-.. -.- / -- --- .-. . / - .... .- -. / -. . -.-. . ... ... .- .-. -.-- .-.-.- / -... . ... .. -.. . ... --..-- / - .... . ... . / .- .-. . / .- / .-.. --- - / --- ..-. / -... . . .--. ... / .- -. -.. / -... --- --- .--. ... -.-.-- / -.. --- / -.-- --- ..- / .-. . .- .-.. .-.. -.-- / .-- .- -. - / -- . / - --- / -....-"
"I get the picture! Andor's frost help me..."
It was then that Blathma felt compelled to break silence,
"Really? That was your solution? Was there really no other way to give him even a rudimentary vocal processor?"
"Blathma speaks!"
Blathma wasn't amused. After a moment of silence Syn continued,
"I'm still working on it, the dot-dash signals was Tax's idea of a stop-gap measure."
".. / -- .- -.-- / -- .- -.- . / .. - / .--. . .-. -- .- -. . -. - .-.-.- / - .... .. ... / .. ... / ..-. ..- -. -.-.-- / -. --- - / ... ..- .-. . / .. ..-. / - .... . / .- ..- -.. .. . -. -.-. . / .-.. .. -.- . ... / .. - / - .... --- ..- --. ...."
"As I said, it's a stop-gap measure."
".- .--" Tax turned around to face forward relative to the group's direction of travel. Syn continued,
"If I had a working tricorder then maybe I could've had a vocal processor ready to go however crude it would've been."
"There should be a working tricorder left at the base. Whatever is left of it. And by the way, on Earth it's called 'Morse code.' I've never liked the sound of it."
Syn's antenna indicated amusement at this admission. His response attempted to conceal that.
"I think it has its uses, but maybe conversation was stretching it a bit."
"If only stretching was all you did to my hammock! It was perfect until a bunch of rocks dragged it across the ground and over the cliff!"
"I said I was sorry! How is this level of grumpiness possible?"
In a huff, the Tellarite continued to travel up the mountain-side.
It was ironic, in the cave Syn had traveled down the mountain not knowing that this was the same mountain they were building the elevator on and that their base of operations was nearby. He might have been better off traveling up-stream where he may already have had access to a food replicator. Not to mention he would never have ruined Blathma's precious hammock.
Speaking of, a hammock would've been a wonderful thing right about now. Dusk was now giving way to night and they had no encampment prepared. Travel through the night was looking like a necessity if Syn, Blathma, and Tax wanted to reach the base sooner rather than later.
". -. -.. / ... -.-. . -. . / ---... -.--.-"
Entry#4.3
Space Elevator Orbital Anchor, System TF-2011, Celes Sector
*thunk*
Delia and Zoe had reached the space elevator anchor.
"We have arrived at our destination."
"Yeah... thanks Zoe." Delia was slightly winded from impacting the hull of the 200 meter diameter structure with relatively high speed. She took a moment to activate her gravity boots to ensure she wouldn't float away, not that Zoe couldn't catch her if it happened but better to be safe. The EV suit didn't think anything was wrong, but the Lieutenant checked anyway for any damage. Nothing was amiss as far as she could tell. Still, Delia would have preferred a softer landing.
She also took the opportunity to detach the tether to Zoe and to survey her surroundings.
The anchor was disk-shaped with six retractable arms around its edge. These arms allowed for the transportation of raw materials that may be too unstable for transporters to handle. They can also be repurposed remotely, or manually if needed, to allow for transport of personnel between the anchor and station. Delia had landed on the edge of the anchor in order to find and access one of these arms.
"Zoe, think you can find the airlock?"
"One moment please."
The exocomp began a detailed scan of the anchor. She completed an orbit of the structure when she was ready to report.
"The interference is affecting my scanner. Despite this, I have detected a hatch 5 meters in front of you."
And there it was, and not entirely well hidden either.
"So I see" said Delia.
She began walking towards to hatch when Zoe continued,
"I am also detecting power readings emanating from the anchor."
Delia stopped mid stride.
"What do you mean?"
"Several of the anchor's sub systems have activated. Perhaps the energy pulse was the cause."
"Well, that's not the strangest thing an energy wave has done today." Delia continued walking towards the hatch.
"I am also detecting another object nearby. Dimensions indicate a shuttle."
"A shuttle?"
A shuttle slowly floated past them at a distance of about 500 meters. It looked like it was derelict.
"Oscar 19's?"
"Affirmative. the shuttle's registry matches that of two deployed to Oscar 19."
"Who was piloting it?"
The airlock hatch suddenly opened, and an unusually happy, rust colored exocomp flew out of it.
Entry#4.4
Odin Base
It was a simple office. No windows to be found and the only lights in the room were those that were strictly necessary. In the center was a modest sized desk. Three monitors were attached to it. A simple chair completed the set. There were no plants to be found. The occupant of the room held a utilitarian perspective with regard to creature comforts.
Adrar was looking over the report from Sond on his left-most terminal when Neva suddenly entered his office. He quickly turned off his right-most terminal. There were things which is subordinates were not permitted to know. At least not until he could be sure of their understanding.
As Neva stopped in front of his desk she said, "Sir, we have a problem."
Adrar was expressionless as he asked, "You should knock first."
"Sorry sir, but this is important." Social etiquette wasn't one of Neva's strong skills.
"Oh? What is it?"
"We lost Vinu."
This actually surprised Adrar. "Lost? Explain."
Neva took a moment to organize her thoughts before speaking. "Silencing Facility 0444 proved difficult. The Warden and her guards had a contingency plan we were not expecting. In the ensuing mayhem, Vinu made his way to a runabout and left the facility."
"Did you think to have him followed?"
"Yes sir, but he lost us in the nearby gravimetric cluster."
"I see. What are you going to do now?"
"Considering what we know, we think he will make his way to Vestige. How or when we do not know, but we will have Hugin in the area ready to acquire him."
"I'm glad you have a plan to salvage this unfortunate situation, such that it is. You may return to your duties."
With that Neva left Adrar's office.
Later, Adrar returned to the operations center after finishing his conversation a higher intelligence. He beheld Sond and Jeff leaning over a table and checking some numbers. There were also a few plates that once held rich meals, with one exception.
"Can I have that last donut?"
"No."
Jeff frowned at that response, and looked longingly at the one plate that was not yet empty. He returned to his work after a moment. Sond, meanwhile, was unusually involved in his analysis. He had already reported to Adrar about strange patterns in the data, but at the time he couldn't be sure if they were just anomalies in the data. It seemed that such anomalies were not going away. What could that mean?
"Uh oh." The sound was uttered from Neva's station.
"I thought we were more professional than that. What is it?"
"The U.S.S. Strider has left Starbase 114 and is on course for the Vestige system. Munin picked up the movement just now."
Adrar let out a sigh of disappointment. They needed more time to gather more data.
"It seems that we're running out of time. Let's hope Hugin's Flintlock is up to the task."
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