[Palace]
"Crewman Phae to Tempest. Med..."
[Bridge]
Ian had heard the partial transmission and frowned when it cut off. He had alerted Doctor Kintiss as 'med' sounded like it could be another medical emergency, and after what had happened with K'lizh, Ian wasn't taking any chances.
"Mister Tyrone, hail the away team."
"Aye Sir" The lieutenant replied.
"
Tempest to Crewman Phae."
The silence was excruciating and Tyrone tried again.
"
Tempest to Crewman Phae."
The tension level across the bridge increased markedly when, again, there was no response.
"
Tempest to any member of the away team."
"Pòg mo thòin!" Ian snarled when there was no response and began issuing orders.
"Yellow Alert! Mister Tyrone, we are past bein' friendly now, full active scans and if you lock onto any of the away team, beam them back immediately. See if you can hail the
Tigris, if you can, have them start lookin' fer the away team."
Ian paused a moment and tapped his commbadge.
"Mister Ghar'vevai, I want a dozen of your best personnel in the transporter room with compression rifles at the ready fer a possible rescue mission."
He said to the on duty security chief as he tried to prep for all contingencies.
"Sickbay, we possibly have an even bigger situation on our hands. We have lost communications with the entire away team, standby for possible multiple casualties. I will update you when I have more information."
Ian seethed inside. However, that anger was leavened with a healthy dose of fear as he realized his next actions could not only cause harm to the captain and the rest of the away team, but cause an interstellar incident.
"And you wanted ta sit in the bloody center seat." He thought glumly before speaking to the Tactical Officer.
"Mister Ogawa, get me King Nyargalep. We need ta chat."
As Ian waited for a response, he took two deep breaths and exhaled slowly as the ship's counselor had taught him when he was struggling with the death of Hannah Kahn.
"Two seconds in through the nose, four seconds out through the mouth... Two seconds in through the nose, four seconds out through the mouth..." He thought as he steeled himself for what was, at this point in his career, the most important conversation of his life.