Back to to the grindstone

Posted on 25 Nov 2020 @ 12:39pm by Captain Jonathan Reynolds & Commander Amelia Fox & Lieutenant Commander Aidan Datari & Lieutenant Commander True Keading & Lieutenant Xu Chang Lau & Lieutenant JG Rosaline Belikov & Lieutenant C'Tora Kuroka & Ensign Adam Morgan & Ensign Gwen Leighton

Mission: Mission 5 - Season of the Witch?
Location: Observation room, USS Andromeda
Timeline: MD1
3101 words - 6.2 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Jon had called a meeting together to go through their new orders from Starfleet. He hoped that his senior staff were fully rested now after the planet killer ordeal.

He poured himself some tea and sat back waiting for everyone to arrive.

The doors parted allowing Xu to enter, she had decided to just bring herself to the meeting, not fully knowing what would be expected from her as these meetings had never until this moment been in her life. In truth she had not wanted to get out of bed this morning, not when Oliver had been holding her while he slept. She had managed to wiggle from of his grasp however and left him to sleep in her quarters, a hand written note left by the bed simply saying 'I love you, see you tonight'.

She placed herself at the middle of the table, smiling at the Captain as she took her seat.
"Good morning Captain!"

"Good morning captain, lieutenant," Aidan greeted cheerfully as he walked in. He slid into his chair, wrapping his hands around the mug of tea he'd been carrying.

Amelia was the next to enter. "Morning all" she greeted cheerily as she cam and sat down next to the Captain.

"Good Morning." Michael said, carrying a padd in his hand. He had been checking the readings of Andromeda's warp engine.

He took a seat next to Xu giving her a smile, then looked at those who have arrived thus far. "nice to see you all." placing his PADD on the table in front of him.

True sighed slightly as she stepped in. Another day, another mission briefing. IT had been rather lovely to have that break but breaks didn't last forever. She took a seat on Jon's left and sank down into comfort, crossing her legs until the meeting had been called.

C'Tora walked into the ready room and past the table to the replicator. " Large mug klingon raktajino." He took a swig and shuddered as the bitter liquid coursed down his throat. " By the goddess that is vile." he sat at the table and lifted his cup. " Good Morning everyone. This is some nasty stuff, but it will certainly wake you up."

Gwen almost dropped her PADD as she burst through the doors, "Well... At least I'm not late..." She looked about the table while taking her seat, "Security bringing up the rear as always."

Adam Morgan looked at his uniform one last time and got over the synthale from yesterdays reception and walked into the briefing room on the Andromeda. He looked around at the staff that were assembled and noted that most the senior officers were already seated looking over padd's or talking amongst each other. Not about him, Adam hoped. He took the nearest seat to him and sat down hoping none would notice his lateness in getting to the meeting.

"Good morning everyone. I hope we have all had time to rest and enjoyed some R&R. Its back to the grindstone I'm afraid," Jon said. "Starfleet have issued new orders. We are to ferry some supplies to one of the newer established colonies. Except worryingly, we have lost contact with them."

Amelia picked up where Jon had left off. "The colony is located on Epsilon Sigma 4, Know locally as Meladoste. The colony was established just under a year ago. Before Starfleet lost contact, everything was normal. As well as investigating we are delivering 2 industrial replicators and a number of new colonists and personnel. There is an indigenous tribe of humanoids that reside not far from the colony but they have welcomed our presence. Is there anything you'd like to add Captain?"

"I assume this 'Indigenous tribe' is somehow warp capable? Or has Starfleet forgotten the Prime Directive?" Rose asked, a little curious why they would establish a colony on an already inhabited planet.

"What we know is they were nomads and settled a few years before the federation did but we were not aware. When the colony ship got there it was pretty much too late in the day to turn back so they have been trying co exist," Jon stated. "Both claims to settle on the planet are as valid as each other in someones book. The information on them is limited. They are rather isolated."

“Perhaps we should try and form a stronger bond with them, perhaps form a collective colony?”

"From an Anthropological point of view we shouldn't go running in with any preconceived idea's..." Xu spoke up before she could sensor what she was about to say. She had started so she had to finish, her cheeks reddening rapidly as all eyes fell to her. "We need to assess, evaluate and consider their culture, religious beliefs... This list goes on. Sufficed to say their could be elements of their culture that would make it difficult to forge as strong a bond as you are suggesting. This could take years... Thankfully as they have been warp capable there would be no need for a duck blind mission but still, tentative steps must be taken..."

Her cheeks had reddened so much she could feel the burn of her skin and was sure she must look like some form of tiny sun radiating a soft red light. "I was a forensic Anthropologist!" she threw in quickly and almost too quiet for anyone to hear by way of explanation before sinking down in her chair wanting the floor to open up and swallow her entirely.

"Maybe we need to give them better communications equipment," Aidan suggested, "have we tried scanning for them? Has anyone been by before us, to even check on them?"

"Is there a way we could go down and interact with them out of uniform?" Gwen asked.

Morgan spoke up as if he needed to say something on the matter at hand, "We could do that, pose as traders or something along those lines." He continued, "We had to do that a number of times when the Olympia was exploring the unknown stars in the Beta Quadrant."

Being an Anthropologist meant Xu was more than equipped to deal with this kind of situation, even if her field had been forensic in nature, and in the broad stroke they had the right of it but other elements would still need to be considered.

"As long as the scientific data in the reports gives us an indication of language, attire and customs we should be able to approach in that manner!" This time Xu didn't redden, so focused on the task had she been that she had just reacted.

"If its required," Jon said. "I think we should speak with the colonists first about any prior dealings before deciding if we need to and how we approach the other settlers. What we do need to do is be ready.

We cannot beam down. There's an ionization effect in the atmosphere so we will be relying on shuttles. Lieutenants Morgan and LAU you will need to coordinate and plan getting all the supplies transported down."

"I'm sure between us we can arrange the supply drops", the slight Asian women offered without any preamble.

"Understood sir." Morgan continued as if he were haunted by his past again. He didn't like the fact that another planet was choosing to ramble a ship he was on but he needed to cope with it. He continued his train of thought on the situation, "I will get the shuttles ready for the flight and see what i can do to enhance their shields with the chief engineer's assistance."

Lieutenant Kuroka ensure sickbay is ready for any eventualities. As we said contact has been lost. We do not know what we will be facing once we get there,"

" Aye Sir! All Sickbay personel will be ready and standing by." When missions like this happened C'Tora always worried about the away teams until they're return to the ship. It was always a feeling of excitement mixed with dread and the ever present feeling of what if.

"Lieutenant Hawkins and Ensign Leighton get a good look over the schematics of what we know of the colony. Entrances and exits. Layout just in case we again once we are planet side cannot communication. We are going to need to get in and may need engineering and security teams on standby," Jon said.

Michael gave a nod, then looked over towards Gwen, "we can do this. and definitely there will be a need for security going down on the away mission."

"Don't even think I'm missing out on this. It sounds like quite the adventure," Gwen nodded, "We can get together after the meeting and go over everything."

"Yes, let's get together and make necessary plans for what may or may not happen." giving her a smile.

"I like the way you think," Gwen responded with a smile.

"Lieutenant Datari, any further background information on the planet would be beneficial," Jon added.

"I'll start digging," Aidan promised, "and I'll make sure sensors are set for deep scans if possible so we get more information as we approach."

He turned to True, "It might be worth all of us getting acquainted with the files for who we know are the leadership down there counsellor and you having an idea as to personalities?" he suggested.

"Yes Captain, I'll see what I can dig up. " it seemed pretty strange to find oneself on a planet with such a tribe. She hoped both parties were okay.

Jon turned to Amelia, "I know your going to fight me on this but my mind is made up. I'm leading the away team on this one number one."

Amelia stopped herself from rolling her eyes at Jon in a staff meeting. She had been expecting something like this. “Very well Captain but I’ll be coming with you.”

"We will have a separate chat about that number one after we finish here," Jon said firmly. He was not convinced on letting a pregnant woman on the away team with so many current unknowns. Especially once so headstrong.

“How deep into the atmosphere does the ionization effect reach? I don’t like the idea of an away team going down without an emergency beam out ready” Rose asked

"I too wonder how deep the effect is," replied Morgan and he waited for the answer.

“The first colonists reported it extended pretty deep.” Amelia replied “we could have engineering look into strengthening the annual confinement beam and enhancing the targeting scanners. We might be able to transport one person at a time but the transport cycle could be longer than normal to cut through the ionization.

"Work on that but the away team goes down all in one on a shuttle first until we have the lay of the land. If you can get the beaming working ready for the supplies then that will speed things up when we are ready to commence," Jon said.

"Question," Gwen cut in, "If we set up an array on the surface would that help cut through the atmosphere?"

"That sounds like a good plan, and going along with my thinking as well." Michael stated.

"Fox, you and I will hammer out the away team," he stated. At present Jon wanted to bring everybody but part of him felt a smaller group should go down initially and then bring the others in once they knew more information.

"Ok so we have a couple of days to reach the colony. We will reconvene again once we get there," he said. "Any other questions?"

"Which shuttle would you like to use sir? I think the type 2 shuttles are a little small for an away team these days..." Morgan stated as a statement and question.

"They certainly are. Lets take one of our proper runabouts in bay 2," Jon smiled. "She's not had a spin yet. She can fit us all in. In fact that reminds me. We haven't officially named her yet. Any ideas?"

True suspected that she and Jon were going to have a separate discussion about him joining the away team as well, whether it was before or after his discussion with Amelia was undecided yet.

"How about Cepheus?" Aidan suggested, "according to Earth history, he is Andromeda's father."

Jon nodded. He liked it. He waited to see if anyone else had any suggestions. There were 2 runabouts after all.

"I'm sure we can do better than that," Morgan stated as he was passionate about naming ships. He spoke again as he looked at Aiden, "Besides, fathers and mothers are all so common. Didn't Andromeda have a spouse or children or something?"

"How about Cassiopeia?" Michael suggested, " She's the mother of Andromeda in Greek mythology."

"Andromeda and Perseus had seven sons. I would kind of feel bad only having a couple of ships to name after them. Perses, Alcaeus, Heleus, Mestor, Sthenelus, Electryon, and Cynurus." he reeled off wondering how he had actually remembered all them having only read the book his brother had bought him once.

"As well as two daughters, Autochthe and Gorgophone. Now we could very well call them after the 2 daughters but Gorgophone?" Jon's nose wrinkled. "Im not feeling that."

" This isn't along the same lines as your talking about." C'Tora Chimed in. " But how about something like Discovery or Explorer? As that is starfleet's primary objective for us being out in the galaxy. Sorry I couldn't offer any better suggestions, but my knowledge on earth mythology is kind of weak."

Xu had been listening and noticed a few eyes shooting her way for not offering anything thus far. She really couldn't help unless they wanted names of ancient Japanese mythical creatures or explorers.

"I'm not versed with ancient greek myths so I will leave this to everyone else!"

"I had forgotten that Cepheus was Andromeda's father, so.. make it a pair and name the runabout after her mother." Michael commented.

He looked over toward Adam. "It might be over-rated with having things named after the parents of said individuals, but the Captain does like the name Cepheus and why not make it a balanced pair?"

C'Tora glanced about the table. " I have a couple of questions that I haven't heard addressed yet. Do we have any reports from the colonist on the progression of the colony? How has it been going? Has there been any problems? Ailments? If so do we have access to them?"

C'Tora held up his hand displaying two fingers. " Second question. Have the colonist reported anything about the nomads? And what do we know about them other then they are nomads? Do we have reports on if they are friendly? Hostile? Culture? Religion? " C'Tora sighed.

"Are we going into a situation where the colonist are peaceably co existing with the nomads and have just had a communications failure? Or has every man, woman and child been slaughtered? I know my mind won't rest easy until we have these questions answered." He stated solemnly.

Jon leaned back and addressed the shuttles first. "I agree. Balanced and parents are easy to remember so Cepheus and Cassiopeia please. Hawkins if you could make that official please?"

"I will be on that, right after the meeting." Michael stated, smiling.

"Your queries Doctor," He carried on. "What we know is they seemed to be doing quite well and were wanting more materials to expand. There's been some population growth. That's why we are ferrying supplies and additional personnel.

There's some reports been sent on some of the surrounding vegetation. A few species in the colony have had some minor allergies I understand. The seasons are longer on that planet and its been winter now coming into spring. So I believe there was the usual colds, easily treatable. You can access all the logs Doctor," he said.

"The Nomads, all we know are they are or were open to some rudimentary trade but not much has happened. There's a couple come to the hub in the colony occasionally but for the most part the tribe if that's the right word and their leader keep to themselves. I believe its a female leader and they like to live more on the land. Although they have the warp ability they have abandoned that for a more simple life I guess," he said.

"But yes I think that once we have established contact again with the colony and we know what's happening, its only been the last few weeks they have gone quiet then if there's time to visit and find out more about these people they share the planet with, it would be very beneficial for Federation relations or at the very least to try help improve or formalize better relations between them and the colony for future. I think I will bring in our new diplomat if we get to that point," he said. It was a perfect opportunity for Natasha to flex her diplomatic muscles.

" Thank you for the information Captain. " C'Tora nodded his head in gratitude. " I will have two medical teams standing by in the shuttle bay with supplies in case they are needed to begin treatment or set up triage in the event of an emergency. I will have them begin the preparations as soon as this briefing is over."

A new member of the crew, Michael hadn't heard of any diplomat, but then again. He hadn't talked to Han in awhile since being moved to Engineering. "Out of curiosity, Captain. Who is our new diplomat?"

"Oh well I'm not one to hide things. With the Europa meeting that tragic end and many of its crew now stuck waiting for reassignment, I may have pinched a few for here. There's good people and we could provide a place for some of them."

"Ron as you know, Hawkins and also the XO. Natasha is now working onboard the Andromeda as a diplomat. She didn't want the XO role any more which worked out good for me as I couldn't offer her that one," he smiled at Fox.

Michael was surprised, pleasantly surprised. "That is great news." he replied.

" I agree." C'Tora added in. " She is a excellent choice for a diplomat and I believe she will do the ship proud in her new role."

"Good. Well, unless anyone has anything further to add." Amelia stated "The supplies should be loaded within the hour. Captain could I have a word with you in private?" She asked, turning to Jon.

Jon was expecting this. The lecture on deciding to lead the away team. "Of course. Dismissed everyone."

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