Season 1, Mission 02: Trapped

[Kale Bridges]

Octavius sighed as he rode the turbolife back for the last time, he was late in finishing his sweep of the ships personal decks as the ship had already taken off. He was writing the last of the report  on his PADD as the door shished open and he stepped out onto the bridge.

Octavius took out his PADD and promptly began sending his report to Reeces console, looking up at his proposal he considered it a moment. After that he crossed his arms holding his PADD in one hand under his arm.

"Would you rather hours waiting for the probe or an hour waiting to see if the shuttle team gets blown to atoms by a heretofor unnoticed Bird of Prey? However I still agree for the neccesity." Octavius commented then stated. "We don't want another event like our last outing."

Reece stopped for a moment. "Good point. We could put the shuttle on autopilot. Not risk anyone."

Reece leant over to Octavius. "Crewman. Would you mind running tactical for a while. I've got to get used to be acting XO... all new duties and stuff. Would that be alright. It's just that Julien is feeling ill, so chances are the doc will keep him off his feet and I need someone I can trust to run tactical."

[cortez]

Hajek was concerned about the lack of a science officer on the bridge but decided to take the XO's request for sensor updates from tactical as Mister Cortez thinking from a security perspective as opposed to dismissing any assistance Petr may or may not be able to offer.

Petr knew what needed doing and set about getting the information the bridge officers would require.  He directed the lateral sensor arrays to conduct a full sweep in the hopes of identifying other vessels, whilst focussing the forward array to scan for much smaller objects that might be involved with the apparent redirection of the signal Cortez was currently suspicious of.

Within seconds his console was replete with data that he began to correlate and prioritise in order of importance.  The spectrographic analysis had provided no evidence of a significant physical presence to explain the signal characteristics, but the lateral sensors had received many bounces that the computer was still analysing.

"Sir, I took the liberty of conducting the scans to assist Lieutenant Thompson." Petr called out to all concerned.  "Long range three-sixty indicates various targets, none of immediate cause for concern...but I got the primary sensors to hit the apparent signal source, and it seems you're correct Sir."  With his thumb on the transfer node Petr touched two other controls to put the signals he was talking of into the temporary buffer, and with an easy double-tap of his thumb the data was received at both Tactical and the XO's display screens.  "If you look to your displays Sirs you'll see what appears to be the source of the signal...but if I bring the modified multiphase buffers online..."  Again Petr's fingers danced almost effortlessly over his console to achieve the desired result. With a final deliberate tap of one control he span his chair around to look at Mike Cortez. "You'll see that instead of a vessel...we have a much smaller object; my guess is a signal booster and relay, relaying the signal along with other readings designed to make us think there is a vessel there."

He knew the next piece of information was pure speculation on his part but if it was right or wrong was irrelevant, it was upto the officers to take it under advisement and act accordingly.

"Sir, I think we are being fed a dummy, as you too suggested, but it seems too easy a trick to identify.  The first logical thought would be to look to one or more of the various targets the long range sweep brought up...but don't fall into the same trap as I did before we made it back to spacedock.  Maybe they just want us to look there, when in fact they could be hiding in plain sight under our noses.  I'll scan for evidence of cloaked vessels too."

By this point, Cortez had made his way to Hajek's science console to better understand his plan.

"Are you saying you think the station may be cloaked, Lieutenant?"  he asked

[Petr Hajek]

By this point, Cortez had made his way to Hajek's science console to better understand his plan.

"Are you saying you think the station may be cloaked, Lieutenant?"  he asked

Once again Petr had failed to consider all the options.

"No Sir, I assumed the station to possibly be still out of our sensor range, and if anything were cloaked it would be vessels such as we encountered before."  He hated admitting he was still making the same type of mistake he made before.  So much to learn yet, he thought as he turned to mister Cortez.  "The whole station could be cloaked...of course.  Either way I'll get on the sensor sweep immediately Sir."  He turned his back to the acting captain and began the brief modifications to the sensors so they were calibrated to identify neutron radiation concentrations; the tell-tale signs of cloaking devices.

[cortez]

Once again Petr had failed to consider all the options.

"No Sir, I assumed the station to possibly be still out of our sensor range, and if anything were cloaked it would be vessels such as we encountered before."  He hated admitting he was still making the same type of mistake he made before.  So much to learn yet, he thought as he turned to mister Cortez.  "The whole station could be cloaked...of course.  Either way I'll get on the sensor sweep immediately Sir."  He turned his back to the acting captain and began the brief modifications to the sensors so they were calibrated to identify neutron radiation concentrations; the tell-tale signs of cloaking devices.

"Very well" Cortez replied

He left Hajek, again turning to Thompson.

"Lieutenant, prepare two Class 2 probes and launch them in opposite directions."

As he spoke the words, Cortez passed the tactical console and returned to his chair.

"Lieutenant Christopher, lay in a course for sector 12, full impulse power and engage once the probes are away."

[OctalLord]

Reece stopped for a moment. "Good point. We could put the shuttle on autopilot. Not risk anyone."

Reece leant over to Octavius. "Crewman. Would you mind running tactical for a while. I've got to get used to be acting XO... all new duties and stuff. Would that be alright. It's just that Julien is feeling ill, so chances are the doc will keep him off his feet and I need someone I can trust to run tactical."

"I would be glad to do so, Thanks for taking my opinion so seriously too." Octavius said, now finishing up his report would be several times easier as well. Albeit now he'd have to do it.

He took control over Reeces' station "Would it be wise to activate the shields yet? It may draw unneeded attention to us but if the station is close and cloaked we don't know what else might be." He asked the others on the bridge.

[Kale Bridges]

"I would be glad to do so, Thanks for taking my opinion so seriously too." Octavius said, now finishing up his report would be several times easier as well. Albeit now he'd have to do it.

He took control over Reeces' station "Would it be wise to activate the shields yet? It may draw unneeded attention to us but if the station is close and cloaked we don't know what else might be." He asked the others on the bridge.

"Negative. Have them ready, but don't raise them. Keep an eye out for neutron emissions though. First sign of a cloaked ship, bunk us up to yellow alert."

Reece moved away from the console and stood in front of the XO's chair, facing the viewscreen.

He stared out for a few seconds, before moving over to Cortez, "Sir, I know about pirates. I used to have connections in various organisations which I have since lost... but I know how these people operate. The odds are against the Captain I'm afraid."

He paused for a little longer, "Are you sure it's right to risk the ship. I understand that we don't leave a man behind... but I just don't know if it'll be worth it."

[cortez]

"Negative. Have them ready, but don't raise them. Keep an eye out for neutron emissions though. First sign of a cloaked ship, bunk us up to yellow alert."

Reece moved away from the console and stood in front of the XO's chair, facing the viewscreen.

He stared out for a few seconds, before moving over to Cortez, "Sir, I know about pirates. I used to have connections in various organisations which I have since lost... but I know how these people operate. The odds are against the Captain I'm afraid."

He paused for a little longer, "Are you sure it's right to risk the ship. I understand that we don't leave a man behind... but I just don't know if it'll be worth it."

Cortez frowned at Thompson.

"Worth it?"  he replied, strongly

Realizing he had practically shouted his response at Thompson, he took a seat and gestured for him to do the same. He leaned in, in more of a discreet manner this time.

"We will find the Captain, Lieutenant. If this ship ends up in ruins by the end of it, we will find him. I would do the same for any member of this crew. If you don't agree with that I can find myself another first officer."

[Kale Bridges]

Cortez frowned at Thompson.

"Worth it?"  he replied, strongly

Realizing he had practically shouted his response at Thompson, he took a seat and gestured for him to do the same. He leaned in, in more of a discreet manner this time.

"We will find the Captain, Lieutenant. If this ship ends up in ruins by the end of it, we will find him. I would do the same for any member of this crew. If you don't agree with that I can find myself another first officer."

Reece took a step back.

"With all due respect sir. That's not what I meant. I want to find the captain as much as anyone... what I'm saying is... we might not like what we find..."

[cortez]

Reece took a step back.

"With all due respect sir. That's not what I meant. I want to find the captain as much as anyone... what I'm saying is... we might not like what we find..."

"Just do your job, Lieutenant"  was Cortez' only response before standing and heading to his makeshift ready room.

[Kale Bridges]

"Just do your job, Lieutenant"  was Cortez' only response before standing and heading to his makeshift ready room.

Reece sighed before heading and slumping down in the XO's chair.

What he said was right, but saying it was probably wrong. He had to be ready though. Who know's, maybe the Captain is fine. But pirates aren't known for being nice hosts...

Reece activated the console and launched two class 2 probes. He had the sensor relay send the results to both tactical and his console.

[Alan Christopher]

Alan heard the exchange between the two officers. He knew Mike was getting irritated, they had served together for a long time, and his friend was cracking. He would have to make a note to try and talk to him, to at least attempt to get him to calm down.

[Petr Hajek]

Alan heard the exchange between the two officers. He knew Mike was getting irritated, they had served together for a long time, and his friend was cracking. He would have to make a note to try and talk to him, to at least attempt to get him to calm down.

With the probes away Cortez had asked for full impulse at Reece's suggested heading whilst awaiting the probes' responses.  A couple of slight tweaks from Petr had the probes' data routed to science one as well, and when the information came through he was momentarily confused by what he assumed to be faulty analyses.  A few seconds spent conducting a simple computational analysis satisfied him, but didn't ease his confusion. He looked over to Lieutenant Thompson.

"Sir,  I have the data feed from the probes...and would like your opinion on it too."  He knew the same data was already being routed to the acting XO's chair.  "The faint energy signature you identified in the adjacent sector is confirmed by the probes but there's something else.  I assumed the various vessels barely within our sensor range would be confirmed as just that, and that is exactly what the probes have detailed, but if you look to the energy signature you'll see what I assumed was a fault but a second check has confirmed it.  The energy signature appears to be quite large at first viewing but the decision to launch the probes in opposite directions has provided us with two lines-of-sight effectively, and if you look at the area after enhancement you'll see the signature isn't coming from one point but two in fact.  Each probe, due to the parallax characteristics of their angles of incidence, has locked onto what it assumes to be the source of the energy...but both probes have identified different positions;  only slightly different but I double checked the stream and it's confirmed.  The signal is false, Sir."  He stared at Mister Thompson to gauge his response before adding what he knew was an educated guess.  "There is something else, Sir.  I wasn't going to make the same mistake I made last mission, and by that I mean assume my suspicions to be correct and ignore any other possibilities, so I asked the forward array to scan for increased tachyon emissions but there were none within the range of our sensors, however, the probes have highlighted a considerable build up of tachyons at these coordinates..." and he lit the information on the XO's screen.  "It's still a little out of our main sensors' range, but an intense long-range scan of that area would confirm what I believe is the cloaked station Mister Cortez referred to.  I think we've found the pirate's base, Sir"

Petr knew the station would be monitoring all energy signatures from the Churchill, and they would know their cover had been blown once the sweep hit them, but what option was there for them?  Were they to sit there, idling along at impulse in the hopes the station wouldn't know the Churchill had made their position, and if so...for how long?

[Kale Bridges]

Petr knew the station would be monitoring all energy signatures from the Churchill, and they would know their cover had been blown once the sweep hit them, but what option was there for them?  Were they to sit there, idling along at impulse in the hopes the station wouldn't know the Churchill had made their position, and if so...for how long?

Reece leant over to the console and double checked Petr's findings. What he was saying made sense. The large energy signiture was being emitted from two sources.

"Begin a routine search, pattern epsilon. Don't make it obvious we've found them. Hajek, keep an eye on that energy signiture. Any fluctuations of any sort, alert us immediately." He said.

He stood up and headed towards Cortez's ready room. Bracing himself before he entered. The door opened and he walked in, ready to dive to one side, incase of flying projectiles.

"Sir. Mr Hajek believes he's found the pirate base." Reece announced while the doors were still closing. "I've had the crew begin a routine search of the sector. Epsilon pattern, so it won't alert the pirates."

He walked forward a bit more, till he was at the desk. "And I'm sorry about earlier sir. I know it wasn't the right way of putting it... but I know these types... and I cant help but say what I think."

[cortez]

Reece leant over to the console and double checked Petr's findings. What he was saying made sense. The large energy signiture was being emitted from two sources.

"Begin a routine search, pattern epsilon. Don't make it obvious we've found them. Hajek, keep an eye on that energy signiture. Any fluctuations of any sort, alert us immediately." He said.

He stood up and headed towards Cortez's ready room. Bracing himself before he entered. The door opened and he walked in, ready to dive to one side, incase of flying projectiles.

"Sir. Mr Hajek believes he's found the pirate base." Reece announced while the doors were still closing. "I've had the crew begin a routine search of the sector. Epsilon pattern, so it won't alert the pirates."

He walked forward a bit more, till he was at the desk. "And I'm sorry about earlier sir. I know it wasn't the right way of putting it... but I know these types... and I cant help but say what I think."

Placing a PADD down on the desk, Cortez rose to his feet to meet eye to eye with Thompson.

"I respect a man who speaks his mind, Lieutenant. I just don't appreciate the way you did it in front of the bridge crew. If you have an issue, you speak to me in private"

Cortez began to head for the door.

"Now, let's go find that station"

[Kale Bridges]

Placing a PADD down on the desk, Cortez rose to his feet to meet eye to eye with Thompson.

"I respect a man who speaks his mind, Lieutenant. I just don't appreciate the way you did it in front of the bridge crew. If you have an issue, you speak to me in private"

Cortez began to head for the door.

"Now, let's go find that station"

Reece followed him, standing behind him. "Aye sir. Sorry sir. I left the sensor readings on my console for you to look over."

He followed him out.