Welcome to the frontier

Posted on Wed Feb 17th, 2021 @ 6:45am by Captain Elijah Michaels & Commander Grace Vetur & Lieutenant Commander Anahera Chernova & Lieutenant Commander Ibausil & Lieutenant Amanda Rose & Lieutenant Commander Yivliph Ra-Gruvloveii

1,766 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: The Lonesome Road
Location: Bride, USS Ontario

Ontario had been travelling at her standard cruising speed for several days since departing Deep Space Five. Skirting along the edges of the old Romulan outposts to reach their current location.
For the most part this whole area or at least part of it were off limits due to the way Romulan Space had been structured and following the Tomed Incident in 2311 it had not been seen by Starfleet. Now however as part of the recovery and healing it was open season to explore.

Elijah sipped his tea as he sat in the Captains chair, though he let out a small yawn in between. "We should be coming up to the entry point of the Journeyman's corridor in any moment, put it up on screen."

"Yes, sir." Grace switched the viewscreen to show the Journeyman's corridor as they approached.

Ibausil stood at the operations console, keeping track of all of the new information that was flowing into the ship's sensors.

It was almost close to the end of his shift, but Yiv had opted to slip on to the Bridge once more, working from a PADD as he placed himself at the rear of the Bridge, unobtrusive and quiet as ever when in a space where he was unsure of his place. Being an older model of ship, it had only a single centre chair from the days when the Captain was master of all he surveyed, a time when leadership was less consensual than in the latter half of the century. I wonder if the Captain will prove a throwback too?.

Anahera at the Tactical Console, looked up at the viewscreen. A passage of clear space seemed to be cut though a series of space anomalies. "How beautiful." She said.

"It is," Grace said, watching the viewscreen. It was an incredible sight, and one she wanted to remember.

Amanda was between appointments. Hearing that they were close, she had to come to the bridge to see what was happening. She gave a smile smile at Yiv and then the Captain and asked, "So, this is it?"

From his seat at the science station Arev took his eyes from his readouts and turned to the viewscreen, watching as the corridor of apparently empty space opened up before them. It was gratifying to see the data coalesce into an actual visual representation. There was a strange sense of serenity in seeing the emptiness before them, and an even stranger sense of aversion deep within him at the sight of so much nothing. He was reminded of a quote he'd read once, from an Earth philosopher named Nietzsche, which stated that when you stared into the abyss, the abyss stared back into you.

"Yes Counselor that is it, we are officially beyond the bounds of Federation space into a cosmic unknown." A momentary pause as he sipped his tea. "Beyond the entry point into the corridor is a freeport called Trident Station which sits at the intersecting point of Dreadex Ultima, Major and Minor."

"Well, it certainly is beautiful," Amanda replied enthusiastically. "So, how long before the trouble starts?" she asked.

"Hopefully not soon," Grace replied, a twinkle of humor in her eyes. "I'd like the crew to get used to the ship first."

"Anyone looking for trouble, better hope they don't find me." Anahera said. "Initiating passive scans, let's see what's waiting for us."

The Ontario proceeded through the corridor and initiated its scans. A series of asteroid fields were to starboard for a number of lightyears, to the port side was a vast nebula stretching for a long time. The entryway was clear and seemed tailormade for an entry point.

"Interesting series of asteroids to our starboard side, looks like they are a natural and expansive series of interconnecting stellar debris." Elikah said as he examined the readouts. "But our entry point is natural judging by the stars and formation of the nebula to our port."

It was indeed interesting, and potentially dangerous. Both the nebula and asteroid field could potentially hide ships or other dangers. What was the ancient Greek saying? Caught between Scylla and Charybdis? The random thought made Grace smile, briefly.

Leaning in over the barriers that ringed the central well, Yiv sought to get a better look at the anomaly in front of them. 'It's beautiful in its own way,' he said to no-one in particular. It had been worth the trip to the Bridge at the end of a long shift just to see this. 'How long before we see Trident Station?'

"We should be getting within viewing range........Now." Elijah said as he pulled it up on the viewscreen. It was quite a sight to see. A vast station of familiar yet also totally unfamiliar design with docking arms and a vast habitat zone. "Wow now that is big."

'That is quite something,' cooed Yiv as he looked from the Captain to the viewscreen once more, leaning further forward over the railing to get a better look, 'must be a good few thousand on that station. Imagine what we could learn if we sent a team aboard for a little while. Open up some dialogue, you know?'

"I for one would like to know what they are using to power that thing." Anahera said. "I can't get any readings due to the shielding around the core is too heavy for me penetrate with passive scans." She added.

From his seat at the science station Arev confirmed this. "My scans in almost all areas are being scattered, or bounced back. Perhaps they simply do not enjoy their station's information being known to anyone who approaches. From the little we do know about this area of space I would concur with that being a wise precaution. With that in mind I would recommend caution in regards to sending people over to open a dialogue."

"Fascinating," was all Grace had to say as her gaze went from the viewscreen to the readings on her console.

Elijah nodded. "Well based on these readings I'm seeing a lot of traffic, Klingons, Gorn, Orion, Ferengi." He scrolled through the classifications of Ships. "A complete melting pot of varying powers have flocked to this station it would seem."

"Understandable. I'm sure they all want to know more about this mineral," Grace said. She wondered what sort of law had been set up here.

"We are going to go aboard, are we not?" Amanda asked with a mix of curiosity and trepidation.

"I suggest we wear civies, so we don't draw any unwanted attention." Anahera said.

"I think that would be prudent," Grace said. "We don't need to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves just yet." She glanced at the captain for the official word.

"Who will be on this away team?" Amanda asked.

"XO, you'll take Commander Chernova, Lieutenant Yiv, The Counselor and scout around the station for whatever you can find." Elijah responded to the Bridge Crew.

"Out of uniform?" Grace asked. That would probably be best until they had a better idea of what they might encounter.

Amanda had long gotten over her fear of going on an away mission. If nothing else, Striker forced her to get out of her shell regarding that and showing her that her abilities and purposes extended far beyond just counselling the crew. She smiled over at Yiv, pleased that the Ephrosian and she were going to be together. In the short time that they had been together, she decided that she enjoyed his company.

Catching the Counsellor's eye, Yiv echoed her smile and waggled his eyebrows. He'd enjoyed the time he'd spent with her so far. 'Out of uniform would be most sensible. I'm sure, though, a few people will make the connection between a Starfleet vessel making an appearance and our arrival on the station unless we're careful.'

Ibausil listened and considered before making her suggestion, "We should equip the away team with transport enhancers for an easier lock on that mess and scanner extensions for the tricorders to be better able to penetrate the dense materials. We may also want to consider a civilian looking shell for the tricorders so they don't stand out."

Amanda tried not to and failed to blush lightly at Yiv's waggling. She turned and told Ibausil and the others, "Or we could inject or ingest trackers, which might be stronger security."

"There's jewelery we can use with a tracking chip or a comlink that's also an option. I'd rather not have anything that looks like a tricorder," Grace said. "We may want to break up into pairs while down there to keep from looking too conspicuous. Larger groups will draw more attention."

Anahera had listened to the suggestions. "As Security Chief, I agree with all of these suggestions, but I recommend injected trackers, they're harder to lose, I expect they to be pick pockets, and they could easily take jewelry." She said.

'Well this sounds like the beginning of an excellent insertion plan,' Yiv said, 'do we have any recommendations as to how we get across to the station?'

Shaking her head, Amanda indicated the negative.

"I suggest we go with injected trackers to make it easier, go with whatever civilian attires you deem best for the occasion ahead." Elijah responded to them. "Take a Runabout or the Captains Yacht to get over there." He then smiled. "Make it so."

Grace nodded. "Aye, sir." It would take about twenty minutes to get everything in order. "We'll meet in the shuttle bay in thirty minutes."

Nodding, Yiv brushed past Amanda as he went to get ready, 'a trip in the Captain's Yacht sounds most enticing - where do we collect the keys?' A change out of uniform would be good for a change as well, allow them to breathe freely as they went about their business.

Amanda tried not to blush at Yiv's obvious flirtations. "So, casual, then?" Out loud she wondered, "I wonder how casual or dressy. But if no jewelry...." She considered these matters as she started heading to the turbolift.

Anahera contacted her Bridge replacement and left to get prepared for the mission.

Grace nodded to the captain and left the bridge to get ready.

Elijah had to admit he was a little jealous not to be on the Away Team to explore this melting pot of of possible cultures. but he knew his place was on the Bridge. He sat in his Chair and oversaw the changeover of staff for the mission.

Hopefully they'd find the answers they needed.

 

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