Season 11: Mission 9: The Hidden Truth

[Kyle Briggs]

[Bridge]

Captain's Log.

I enjoyed my time aboard the Columbus. It felt good to be back in charge of an Engineering Department. *sigh* But nothing beats the feel of the center seat. I've missed the Discovery and her crew. We're currently approaching Espianus, a new member to the Federation. Their planet now stands directly in the path of an oncoming asteroid and we've been dispatched to handle the situation. A pretty straight forward mission.    

"Okay folks." Kyle said, addressing his Bridge crew. "We've got seventy two hours before the asteroid enters the planets mesosphere making it too late to do anything. That gives us a little time to see if we can move it off course before deciding if we will have to destroy it. Number One," he added as he turned to his First Officer. "I want Science to work with Engineering to see what we can come up with."  He knew Tekin would enjoy getting back to some Sciencey stuff. "Operations. Begin scans so you'll have the information when it's needed. This seems like an easy one but we've all thought that before. Let's stay focused."

Kyle sat back in his seat and took pride in knowing his crew was the best and would handle the situation with ease.

[Kali Reyes]

[Bridge]

It was almost like the good old days now that Captain Briggs was that. Kali idly sipped at her coffee and preferred to stand when offered a chair at the operations console. She remembered the tall heels of command she dogged after when she started out as a Crewman and it kind of felt the same with the exception of Wu gone.

Mahak shipped out quietly, so maybe Kali was a bit melancholy today. She now had a giant list of recommendations sitting forgotten on her desk for a second she seriously missed.

But there was no time meander the halls weeping for men - she'll have to do that later in her off-shift. Kali shook her head a bit to chase away the tiny diamond patterns in her vision and shirk the melancholy aside when Cap spoke.

"Right." Kali set her mug down and nudged the chair aside with the tip of her boot to play with the console. "Putting in a routine scan and then sending it down to Science when it's completed, yeah? One of the more glorious tasks in the basket."

Scans were boring until they were interesting. She finally sat in her seat and lounged confidently, one leg on top of the other, and resumed her coffee. Asteroid be damned, she needed the caffeine.

[Kinley Garrison]

[Bridge]

Kinley looked at the specs of this asteroid. Preliminary scans showed that the thing was massive, for one, almost 700 miles across and way too large for the Discovery's tractor beam alone to grab ahold. What's more, according to her simulation, the blast this thing would likely make would likely be  a massive event that would make the asteroid blast that wiped out the dinosaurs look puny. It would be highly likely that the whole planet would be destroyed in the aftermath.  It would be absolutely devastating, to say the very least.

 Nodding at the Captain's suggestion,  she made a mental note to analyze the composition of this massive chunk of rock as soon as the scans came in.

[Klabax Cottle]

[Quarters]

Klabax was in his quarters, for once. He was feeding his animals, more carefree of a demeanor than he'd put on in public on the ship. Other than Chief Reyes and whoever she'd told, nobody else knew about the animals. He didn't make a point of hiding it, but it was a thing he was proud of. He adjusted the temperature of the cages by a micron, compensating for the fluctuating conditions of the ship. He fed the animals, and looked at a PADD. In a few weeks or months he'd have to undergo the sleep cycle, but likely not for a while. Until then, he sat in a chair and worked on paperwork- a surprising amount. He flipped through and one request caught his eye. A request from the chief for... Oh dear.

"Medical Release for Inter-Species Relationships"

Klabax sighed, and opened the form, briefly looking through the form before approving it, deciding it'd just be best not to ask any questions. Once she got the Captain's approval he didn't care what- or who- she did. He returned to the rest of the work, the screeching of the animals a welcome background noise to the oppressive silence of Space.

[D'Vid]

[Holodeck]

D'Vid's water waders had traction on a huge, wet rock in a middle of a small, fast flowing river. He was holding a long rod with his right hand. With a quick flick of his wrist he whipped the flying fishing rod to his right, his left hand was feeding the fly fishing line some slack. As the yellow line flew out, he whipped back, and fed more line out. The tip of the line smacked the water right before a small rock. Just a quick as wink, a huge, rainbow trout leaped out to take the bait. It struck nice and hard.

D'vid was bitting his lower lip. The real fun part was to reel it in. He held the rod up, holding the tip high to the air so that the trout would not go under the water to snag his line with other rocks.

He was loving it. His yellow lenses of his sunglasses was allowing him to see through the water. He had a camouflage baseball cap on. The beak of the hat was stopping the sun to land on his eyes. The sun was facing him as it was early evening in his adventure. He had a fly fishing vest on. It had a bunch fly fishing attached with many pockets stuffed with fishing tools. He was wearing a blue teeshirt and dark green jungle shorts.

[Tekin Nevir]

[Bridge]

Captain's Log.

I enjoyed my time aboard the Columbus. It felt good to be back in charge of an Engineering Department. *sigh* But nothing beats the feel of the center seat. I've missed the Discovery and her crew. We're currently approaching Espianus, a new member to the Federation. Their planet now stands directly in the path of an oncoming asteroid and we've been dispatched to handle the situation. A pretty straight forward mission.    

"Okay folks." Kyle said, addressing his Bridge crew. "We've got seventy two hours before the asteroid enters the planets mesosphere making it too late to do anything. That gives us a little time to see if we can move it off course before deciding if we will have to destroy it. Number One," he added as he turned to his First Officer. "I want Science to work with Engineering to see what we can come up with."  He knew Tekin would enjoy getting back to some Sciencey stuff. "Operations. Begin scans so you'll have the information when it's needed. This seems like an easy one but we've all thought that before. Let's stay focused."

Kyle sat back in his seat and took pride in knowing his crew was the best and would handle the situation with ease.

[Bridge]

Nevir smiled, nodding to his Captain.  And thank the Prophets that this time, the Captain WAS a Captain, and not a higher rank.  Admiral Kirok was not bad persay, however it got way too confusion when he spent his career talking to a captain and then had an admiral as the CO.

"Aye sir." he said, standing up and walking over to Kinley, at the science station.  His one complaint about Michaels, his CSO, was that the man preferred the comfort of the Science Lab.  Not that he was required to be on the bridge, but he was vastly different from how Nevir handled his department.

"Lieutenant.  Begin a metallurgical analysis as soon as possible.  I'm not sure if we have the beam strength to move it, but blasting it from the ship might not be the best solution, either." he said, standing almost over Kinley as she worked.

[Kyan Mackenzie]

"Lieutenant.  Begin a metallurgical analysis as soon as possible.  I'm not sure if we have the beam strength to move it, but blasting it from the ship might not be the best solution, either." he said, standing almost over Kinley as she worked.

Kyan peered down at his tactical displays and saved the data before he turned back toward the science station where the XO and Garrison were working.

"Oy sir. Sure and if we can't get through the great rock with the phasers, we might be able to plant explosives on her and guide her away from the planet that way." He looked back at his displays. "I did some simulations with some other types of asteroids, and mostly they worked out, but we can't know for sure til we know what she's made of."

[Lennox Ainsley]

[Bridge]

Lennox was exhausted, maybe late nights were not so good for the system. But, Lennox had woken up and rushed to the bridge, and even though there was some indication, it was still very surprising to see Kyle Briggs back in the captain's chair.

"Welcome back, cap'n!" Lennox replied, a grin on his face. "Ye need me te do anythin' currently, cap'n?"

[Kintiss]

[Sickbay]

Few were the moments that Kintiss had to himself anymore. Most of the time he had when he wasn't working was dedicated to sleeping or eating. For someone who liked to berate others for their poor health choices, he certainly wasn't leading by example. Not that he had many opportunities to change his routine, however. If the mountain of paperwork he and his team had to deal with was any indication, the crew of the Discovery were almost as accident-prone as the Phoenix crew.

The recent change in command had brought a bit of change to the vessel. He hadn't been aboard the Discovery before Kirok had become the Captain, While it was a shame to see Kirok go, at least it brought an end to the Section 31 witch hunt (for him, at least). That alone had probably taken its toll on his sanity. There were some moments when Kintiss wondered how things would have gone if he had chosen to leave the Phoenix with Kejal. Would Kirok have welcomed him back then?

[Lena Atwood]

[Shuttlebay elevator system]

Lena's fingers jabbed the console screen and the platform rose, the magnetic rail along the wall lit up and hummed intensely. Along side the small square platform, another much larger supported the ship's delta flyer which too rose up. Lena leaned on the wall of the platform whilst the shuttle moved between the main shuttlebay and one of the maintenance bays. For a first assignment this was an absolute dream, the Akira class was pretty much a giant shuttlebay, with the shuttles to match. Lena had taken extra classes during training so she had been assigned as the delta flier pilot, she liked the delta flyer. With only one pilot she took sole responsibility for its maintenance, and she liked the ability to work alone.

It took near to five minutes to make it to the maintenance bay, Lena then grabbed what she needed from the tool wall, shuffled under the shuttle and started removing plates from the underside of the shuttle. She diligently removed each plate until several of the circuits were exposed, made sure they were clear and then shuffled out her legs until she was laying on her back facing the exposed circuits. She then lowered the shuttle further so it was comfortably above her and started checking each circuit in turn, one of the wires to the nearby circular magnetic resistor was giving off faulty readings. It took her near twenty minutes to find the connection that was broken, from about a thousand. She carefully replaced the circuit. She wiped a few strands of hair from her face, a light breeze kept permeating the bay. Then she touched the contact leads plugged into her tricorder to the circuit, as she did so she was utterly unprepared for the loud bang that rang in her ear. The ion packet shunt behind the circular magnetic resistor exploded. Spilling the aqueous solution all over the deck and deafening her right ear. Startled she jumped upwards hitting her head on circuit causing the delicate board to snap in half, her head then hit the floor equally as hard.

Blood dribbled lazily down her head as she fell unconscious.

[Kali Reyes]

[Bridge]

Kali was halfway through her coffee when her console beeped. She turned on the comm. "Bridge," she acknowledged.

An excitable voice nearly squawked out the speakers. "This is the Shuttlebay! Crewman Atwood hit her head and she's unconscious! There's a lot of blood! What do we do?!"

It was at that point that Kali paused - not out of cruelty, but out of genuine confusion over the state of the call. She quickly recognized the voice; it belonged to one of the new recruits just a blush out of the Academy. It wasn't even a day and already they were already having trouble recalling simple protocol. "Why don't you call Sickbay?"

"Medical!" Kali could hear the audible slap of the newbie's palm to forehead. "Of course! Thank you, ma'am!"

She flipped channels anyway to Sickbay, completely certain that Ensign Trix would probably forget to call via comm and jog up to Medical instead. "Bridge to Sickbay," Kali tried not to sigh. "Crewman Atwood in incapacitated down in the Shuttlebay. Requesting immediate attention." 

Once she closed the channel, the scans beeped to completion. She puzzled over the findings. "I'm pretty sure a pop rocket can break this asteroid apart, Mackenzie. Readings say it's... hollow. Eighty percent of it is hollow." Now wasn't that the oddest thing. She sent the composite report to both the science and tactical stations and, just for giggles, decided to do a scan of the hollow core. It took much longer than a surface scan, but she was colored intrigued enough to wait.

[Klabax Cottle]

[Quarters]

Klabax was looking through the PADD when a new alert came up- medical alert in the shuttlebay. He called down to sickbay, wanting to liaise with the medical staff on duty. Klabax to Sickbay, do you want me to take this alert or are you already en route? he asked, as he gathered his medical supplies, just in case.

He waited on a response. He would be down there shortly- there being either sickbay or the shuttlebay.

[Kyle Briggs]

[Bridge]

Kyle watched the crew as they hustled to get readings and scans of the asteroid. It made him proud to see them doing their jobs with such ease. This was why he knew he was back where he belonged.

"Welcome back, cap'n! Ye need me te do anythin' currently, cap'n?"

"Hello, Mister Ainsley. And thank you. It's great to be back." Kyle replied. "I think this is more of a Science mission at the moment but feel free to see if Mister Nevir can use an extra set of hands." he offered the Security Officer.

Just as things seemed to be going well, a call came in.

Kali was halfway through her coffee when her console beeped. She turned on the comm. "Bridge," she acknowledged.

An excitable voice nearly squawked out the speakers. "This is the Shuttlebay! Crewman Atwood hit her head and she's unconscious! There's a lot of blood! What do we do?!"

It was at that point that Kali paused - not out of cruelty, but out of genuine confusion over the state of the call. She quickly recognized the voice; it belonged to one of the new recruits just a blush out of the Academy. It wasn't even a day and already they were already having trouble recalling simple protocol. "Why don't you call Sickbay?"

"Medical!" Kali could hear the audible slap of the newbie's palm to forehead. "Of course! Thank you, ma'am!"

She flipped channels anyway to Sickbay, completely certain that Ensign Trix would probably forget to call via comm and jog up to Medical instead. "Bridge to Sickbay," Kali tried not to sigh. "Crewman Atwood in incapacitated down in the Shuttlebay. Requesting immediate attention." 

Once she closed the channel, the scans beeped to completion. She puzzled over the findings. "I'm pretty sure a pop rocket can break this asteroid apart, Mackenzie. Readings say it's... hollow. Eighty percent of it is hollow." Now wasn't that the oddest thing. She sent the composite report to both the science and tactical stations and, just for giggles, decided to do a scan of the hollow core. It took much longer than a surface scan, but she was colored intrigued enough to wait.

Kyle stood at the mention of an injured crewman and was going to head to Sickbay to see what had happened but he was stopped short by Kali's announcement of the asteroid being almost completely hollow.

"That's quite a bit of space inside there. Are we talking a possible ship hiding within?" he inquired.

[D'Vid]

[Sickbay]

Few were the moments that Kintiss had to himself anymore. Most of the time he had when he wasn't working was dedicated to sleeping or eating. For someone who liked to berate others for their poor health choices, he certainly wasn't leading by example. Not that he had many opportunities to change his routine, however. If the mountain of paperwork he and his team had to deal with was any indication, the crew of the Discovery were almost as accident-prone as the Phoenix crew.

The recent change in command had brought a bit of change to the vessel. He hadn't been aboard the Discovery before Kirok had become the Captain, While it was a shame to see Kirok go, at least it brought an end to the Section 31 witch hunt (for him, at least). That alone had probably taken its toll on his sanity. There were some moments when Kintiss wondered how things would have gone if he had chosen to leave the Phoenix with Kejal. Would Kirok have welcomed him back then?

[Kali Reyes]

[Bridge]

Kyle watched the crew as they hustled to get readings and scans of the asteroid. It made him proud to see them doing their jobs with such ease. This was why he knew he was back where he belonged.

"Hello, Mister Ainsley. And thank you. It's great to be back." Kyle replied. "I think this is more of a Science mission at the moment but feel free to see if Mister Nevir can use an extra set of hands." he offered the Security Officer.

Just as things seemed to be going well, a call came in.

Kyle stood at the mention of an injured crewman and was going to head to Sickbay to see what had happened but he was stopped short by Kali's announcement of the asteroid being almost completely hollow.

"That's quite a bit of space inside there. Are we talking a possible ship hiding within?" he inquired.

[Bridge]

"Try primordial ooze." Kali turned in her seat once the secondary readings came through. "Scans tested positive on the bio-sensor. You've got lifeforms living inside that flying metal death trap."