Season 11: Mission 9: The Hidden Truth

[D'Vid]

[engineering]

The Chief of Engineering came up to D'Vid. "I would like you to go the bridge," the female Gorn ordered the El-Aurian.

"But, I had not finished rerouting the fiber chamber on the auxiliary program," he replied. It was not he was questioning the order, but was it wise for him to finish the project.

"It'sss all right. I'll have Enssssssingn Seeeevensss to take over," she told him.

"Well, I got no argument. Thank you sir," he said to the female Gorn who towered over him when he was standing.

D'Vid left the Engineering, took the turbo lift to the Bridge. He was thrilled he was going to be able to go to the bridge.

[bridge]

The doors swooshed opened. D'Vid's first view was the rock asteroid that had nacelles in it. It was quickly moving toward to a planet. It was going to crash. To far for tractor beam. From the looks, that ship was going to be in major repairs.

He thought that was not good. And how did a ship got stuck in an asteroid. Was it a new technology that had allowed a ship to move through things? Like a cloaking device that allowed a ship to cruise through a huge piece of chunk or rock? Or could it had the asteroid was formed into and around the ship. A new weapon that can change a mass that size as a weapon? Anything, it could really be anything. He was glad he was able to see this event.

He headed to the Engineering station. He placed his hand behind the chair and he sat down. He was running his fingers across the panel board.

He saw Jettis and Garrison at the Science. He gave them a nod and a smile.

"Is the shell mostly metallic?" He finally spoke up, even though he was in the process of double checking that fact himself. "Maybe we could chip away from around it, avoid destroying the ship. From there the pieces should be small enough to drag away with the tractor beam." His eyes skimmed over the readings again, before glancing up at the viewscreen again. A few more ideas bounced around in his head, but he would pitch them on at a time, getting confirmation of whether or not it was workable.

Funny, Jettis had thought of the same thing about the tractor beam. However, the Scientist had a different idea. So he was inspired to improve on Jettis suggestion.

"Like a scalpel...I can assist with that," D'Vid piped up. "Just configure the power outlet to velocity of five.five might do the trick," the 800 year old advised to the crew.

[Klabax Cottle]

[Sickbay]

Two minutes later he walked through the sickbay door.  He immediately saw a small group of people were congregating around a biobed.  Assuming that was Atwood on the bed, because the rest were unoccupied, Ser stepped over and made himself known.

"Excuse me."  He said quietly, as he noticed the Crewman was sleeping.
"Is this Atwood?" He asked.

[Sickbay]

It appeared that Crewman Atwood was possible. Klabax sighed. Soon there'd need to be a waiting list to see the crewman. "Yes, that is Atwood." he said to the man. He sighed and looked to Kintiss again. "Shall we have this fan club wait here or outside?" He asked, eyeing the group.

Unable to do paperwork with all the people here, he resigned himself to making sure they didn't touch anything, or screw up any of the experiments being run.

At this rate soon they'd have half the ship down here.

[Ser Conley]

[Sickbay]

It appeared that Crewman Atwood was possible. Klabax sighed. Soon there'd need to be a waiting list to see the crewman. "Yes, that is Atwood." he said to the man. He sighed and looked to Kintiss again. "Shall we have this fan club wait here or outside?" He asked, eyeing the group.

Unable to do paperwork with all the people here, he resigned himself to making sure they didn't touch anything, or screw up any of the experiments being run.

At this rate soon they'd have half the ship down here.

Ser frowned.  What was wrong with people today, or was it just him.  Did he bring out this strange behavior in people.

"Is there a problem lieutenant?  I don't think two people constitutes a fan club."  Pointing to the Crewman in the yellow uniform.  "I was go to meet with one of my subordinates.  I find out she was in an accident.  So I came to find out her what condition was.  So if you would kindly, fill me in.  So I can get out of your way soon." He said.

[Solluk]

"Is there a problem lieutenant?  I don't think two people constitutes a fan club."  Pointing to the Crewman in the yellow uniform.  "I was go to meet with one of my subordinates.  I find out she was in an accident.  So I came to find out her what condition was.  So if you would kindly, fill me in.  So I can get out of your way soon." He said.

Solluk stepped back, "Pardon me, Sirs.  I did not wish to interfere with an official visit."  He was concerned that some kind of disagreement might develop between these men.   Glancing about, he continued, "Perhaps I should return at some future time.   I mean, I do not even know her.  I just wanted to be sure a fellow crewman was all right."

He took an additional step back, readying himself to make his escape.

[Tekin Nevir]

[Bridge]

The hail icon continued to blink above her while she scanned the ship as Tekin ordered. But it was just too damn curious. She decided to screw protocol and wait for her superior officers by flipping the icon. "This is Chief Reyes of the USS Discovery," she announced. "Your uh... 'ship's' trajectory is on the path of a planet. Do you require any assistance?"

There was silence, so she tried to put it up on the screen. The picture wobbled and distorted, but there was some kind of humanoid shape. She signaled the communications officer to put the translator on standby when garbled audio finally graced her question.

"ÁŒ§WÁŒ¸eÁÅ¸ÁŒ¢.ÁÂ .ÁŒ·. ÁŒ¨Á¢Áâ,¬tÁÂÁâ,¬Á¡rÁÅ¾ÁÅ"aÁŒ¨cÁŒ¸ÁÅ¾kÁÅ"eÁÂÁÂdÁ'"°ÁŒ§ÁŒ"º..ÁŒ"¢ÁŒ´ÁŒ¨.Á¢ÁŒ¢ Áâ,¬ÁŒ¢sÁŒ"ºhÁÂÁŒ¶ÁÅ¸iÁÂ Áâ,¬p'ÁÂ ÁŒ¢sÁŒ§ Á¡sÁÂ Á¢ÁŒ"¢eÁŒµnÁŒ§ÁÂ sÁŒ´orÁŒ¨ÁŒ§sÁÅ¸ÁŒ¨.ÁŒµÁÅ" Á¡Á¡SÁâ,¬eÁÅ"ntÁËœÁÂ dÁÂisÁËœtÁŒ¡ÁŒ¸rÁÂeÁŒ"ºsÁÅ¾sÁÂÁŒ·ÁÅ¸.ÁÅ¾ÁŒ¸.. seÁÂÁŒµn-"

Their communications officer frowned at her findings. "That's... odd. The translator is picking up a dialect that almost patterns certain languages back on Earth."

"Eh... Eastern Tellarite is nearly the same verbiage as Shakespearean English. Can't be that coincidental."

She shook her head. "Except that with most dialect patterns from Federation planets, the parallels to human language is only at 70%. This is nearly ninety."

If Kali had pointed ears, they'd be perking up right now. "You've got my attention, Ensign. Can you pinpoint which dialect?"

"I'll need more examples before I can compile enough for the linguistic database," Ensign Quill replied. "The static's hard enough for the translator to pick up."

"Well..." Kali grinned almost excitedly at her XO and Cap. "This is quite the puzzler, ain't it? No visual, disrupted audio, what sounds like a distress signal... please tell me you're thinking what I'm thinking." Away team, away team, away team-

[Bridge]

Jettis nodded to Kinley, doing just so. Glancing down at the small screen, her curiously glanced over what was already there, getting himself acquainted with the current situation. The readings were odd, to say the least. It as as if an active ship were sitting inside an... asteroid? Evidently that was the case, and it was hurtling straight towards a planet too small to survive the impact.
"Are we sure this real? It's not made of synthesized rock, perhaps an attempt at a stealth attack? Or just an attempt at hiding," he mused aloud, throwing out possible reasons for this phenomena.

Eyeing the scans as they came in, he paused, glancing up as the message played through, the voice distorted and hard to hear. Jettis narrowed his eyes, trying to catch a glimpse at what the 'thing' was, but it proved impossible - the transmission was far too weak.
Moving back to the scanners, he tried to identify life signs - when that inevitably failed through all the interference, he sifted through the information available. Now finding the asteroid

"Is the shell mostly metallic?" He finally spoke up, even though he was in the process of double checking that fact himself. "Maybe we could chip away from around it, avoid destroying the ship. From there the pieces should be small enough to drag away with the tractor beam." His eyes skimmed over the readings again, before glancing up at the viewscreen again. A few more ideas bounced around in his head, but he would pitch them on at a time, getting confirmation of whether or not it was workable.

[Bridge]

Nevir turned to his secondary science officer.  "No, we have no idea how integrated the ship is with the rock, we might end up opening a hull breach.  Hitting it from the outside is not an option." he said, walking up to where Kali was.

"90%?  If Hrafn were here, she could probably figure- wait." he said, tapping the comm button for internal communications.

"Bridge to Ruthie, how good are your linguistic studies.?"=/\=

"Umm... okay I guess?"=/\=

Nevir smirked, turning to Kali.  "We may have an organic translator."

"We have a communication that is registering a 90% similarity to human languages.  It sounds like a distress call.  See if you can tell what it is... you might be on your first mission, young lady.  Bridge out." he said stepping down towards the Captain's chair.  Kyle was silent, letting his first officer handle this one.  Nevir watched the moving rock, calculating the time they had left.

"Okay, we're going over there.  Reyes, Jyur, D'Vid, you're with me.  Garrison, keep an eye on that thing.  Let's see what's out there." he said, turning and walking from the bridge, leaving time for the others to get on the turbolift as he called for the transporter room.

"Ruthie, Conley, report to Transporter Room 1.  We'll pull Security and Medical if it becomes prudent."=/\= he said, walking out and entering the room pad.  He waited for the rest to show up before speaking.  Ruthie was carrying a PADD, and she seemed excited.

"We are going to go over to that asteroid and see what the situation is inside.  We have a lost federation ship buried, but moving, and we have signs that there is life.  We just don't know what is over there."

"I have to check with the site itself, but I'm reasonably sure its an ancient Latin message, from the Americas."

The Bajoran smiled at his daughter, and nodded.  "Alright, everyone good?  Let's get on.  Get us as close to the center as possible."

[Ser Conley]

"Is there a problem lieutenant?  I don't think two people constitutes a fan club."  Pointing to the Crewman in the yellow uniform.  "I was go to meet with one of my subordinates.  I find out she was in an accident.  So I came to find out her what condition was.  So if you would kindly, fill me in.  So I can get out of your way soon." He said.

Solluk stepped back, "Pardon me, Sirs.  I did not wish to interfere with an official visit."  He was concerned that some kind of disagreement might develop between these men.   Glancing about, he continued, "Perhaps I should return at some future time.   I mean, I do not even know her.  I just wanted to be sure a fellow crewman was all right."

He took an additional step back, readying himself to make his escape.

[Sickbay]

Ser turned a little to look at the Crewman.  He was flight control.  Solluk, if his memory served him right.  He only skimmed the personal files this morning.  Not getting more then a name, picture, and rank.  But being the only Vulcan on team does stand out.

"No,  stay bit long.    You can leave with me, I'd like a word with you." He said.

"Ruthie, Conley, report to Transporter Room 1.  We'll pull Security and Medical if it becomes prudent."=/\= he said.

"Aye commander on my way"=/\=

"Sorry, Crewman Solluk.  You can go back to your duty, as you see fit.  I find you when I come back.  And it not a formal meet I just want to get a sense of you."

He turned back to the doctor, that address him early.

"Please send me a report on her condition.  And when we can have her back on duty.  Send it to  Lieutenant Conley.   Gentlemen."  He gave them a bow.  "Lady" and bowed to the  unconscious girl as well. Then turned on his heels and walked out the door.

[Transporter Room One]
By the time he reached transporter room one.  Ser had read through some of the mission reports, and had a basic idea of what was going on.

"Lieutenant Conley, reporting in."

[Klabax Cottle]

Ser frowned.  What was wrong with people today, or was it just him.  Did he bring out this strange behavior in people.

"Is there a problem lieutenant?  I don't think two people constitutes a fan club."  Pointing to the Crewman in the yellow uniform.  "I was go to meet with one of my subordinates.  I find out she was in an accident.  So I came to find out her what condition was.  So if you would kindly, fill me in.  So I can get out of your way soon." He said.

[Sickbay]

"No problem at all, Sir." he said, a huge puffed up Denobulan grin on his face that was 100 percent faked. "The crewman will be on light duty for at least five days after discharge. The chief medical officer is keeping her for examination." he said, explaining a concussion as if to a five year old, while not sounding like it was to a five year old.

Solluk stepped back, "Pardon me, Sirs.  I did not wish to interfere with an official visit."  He was concerned that some kind of disagreement might develop between these men.   Glancing about, he continued, "Perhaps I should return at some future time.   I mean, I do not even know her.  I just wanted to be sure a fellow crewman was all right."

He took an additional step back, readying himself to make his escape.

"Your concern is admirable, Crewman" Klabax said, thinking to himself. During the war, if he had spent ten minutes worrying about who was injured that he knew, or who was killed... he'd be on the planets still, caring for the long dead. It wasn't very rational, but it was... natural. He turned his back on the group and walked off, grabbing a few PADDs and a tricorder and entering some data from the tricorder. His gruff attitude didn't help matters when it came to rank, so he could likely get some flak if the Lieutenant chose to puff up his chest against the Lieutenant JG, despite the years of service difference.

As Conley left, he didn't even move. He'd had enough of Flight Controllers for a while.

[Solluk]

[Sickbay]

The disagreement between the two men dissolved when one of them was called away, but the tension in the air did not.  When the doctor turned his back, Solluk decided it was best to disappear as well.  He nodded once, in unseen acknowledgement of the doctor's words, and then made a full retreat entirely out of the sickbay.

Once in the hallway outside, he sighed.  This was not the first time his emotions had led him into turbulent waters.  It would not be the last.  In his former life, before the accident that had forever changed him, he would not have found himself here.  He would have merely made the logical deduction that the wounded crewman would be treated to the best of the medical staff's ability.  She would either recover or would not recover, and his attention to the matter would not change the outcome.

But now, empathy and worry were more forceful parts of his nature.  He'd once thought that being forced into the same cauldron of emotional upheaval as most humanoids would help him to get along with them better.  But in reality all it did was provide more avenues for conflict or awkwardness.

He made his way to a hall that was adjacent to the exterior of the ship.  A hall with windows, so that he could observe the massive space object that had recently consumed the attention of the officers aboard.   They seemed to be preparing to beam onto that rock.  Too bad.  It was always more fun to travel by shuttle.

What would they find over there?  What challenges would they face?  What adventures would they have?  He spent a moment daydreaming about the possibilities.

Eventually, the moment passed.  He sighed again, turning away from the window.  He should probably get a meal and then get to bed.  Perhaps tomorrow, the ship would require the services of a shuttle pilot.  It had been too long since he'd maneuvered a vessel through the void, with cold vacuum mere inches away from his body as he hurtled forward at significant fractions of lightspeed.  It had a way of making him feel... alive.

Most illogical.

Soup.  Then bed.

Tomorrow would be another day.

[Jettis Jyur]

[engineering]

The Chief of Engineering came up to D'Vid. "I would like you to go the bridge," the female Gorn ordered the El-Aurian.

"But, I had not finished rerouting the fiber chamber on the auxiliary program," he replied. It was not he was questioning the order, but was it wise for him to finish the project.

"It'sss all right. I'll have Enssssssingn Seeeevensss to take over," she told him.

"Well, I got no argument. Thank you sir," he said to the female Gorn who towered over him when he was standing.

D'Vid left the Engineering, took the turbo lift to the Bridge. He was thrilled he was going to be able to go to the bridge.

[bridge]

The doors swooshed opened. D'Vid's first view was the rock asteroid that had nacelles in it. It was quickly moving toward to a planet. It was going to crash. To far for tractor beam. From the looks, that ship was going to be in major repairs.

He thought that was not good. And how did a ship got stuck in an asteroid. Was it a new technology that had allowed a ship to move through things? Like a cloaking device that allowed a ship to cruise through a huge piece of chunk or rock? Or could it had the asteroid was formed into and around the ship. A new weapon that can change a mass that size as a weapon? Anything, it could really be anything. He was glad he was able to see this event.

He headed to the Engineering station. He placed his hand behind the chair and he sat down. He was running his fingers across the panel board.

He saw Jettis and Garrison at the Science. He gave them a nod and a smile.

Funny, Jettis had thought of the same thing about the tractor beam. However, the Scientist had a different idea. So he was inspired to improve on Jettis suggestion.

"Like a scalpel...I can assist with that," D'Vid piped up. "Just configure the power outlet to velocity of five.five might do the trick," the 800 year old advised to the crew.

[Bridge]

Nevir turned to his secondary science officer.  "No, we have no idea how integrated the ship is with the rock, we might end up opening a hull breach.  Hitting it from the outside is not an option." he said, walking up to where Kali was.

"90%?  If Hrafn were here, she could probably figure- wait." he said, tapping the comm button for internal communications.

"Bridge to Ruthie, how good are your linguistic studies.?"=/\=

"Umm... okay I guess?"=/\=

Nevir smirked, turning to Kali.  "We may have an organic translator."

"We have a communication that is registering a 90% similarity to human languages.  It sounds like a distress call.  See if you can tell what it is... you might be on your first mission, young lady.  Bridge out." he said stepping down towards the Captain's chair.  Kyle was silent, letting his first officer handle this one.  Nevir watched the moving rock, calculating the time they had left.

"Okay, we're going over there.  Reyes, Jyur, D'Vid, you're with me.  Garrison, keep an eye on that thing.  Let's see what's out there." he said, turning and walking from the bridge, leaving time for the others to get on the turbolift as he called for the transporter room.

"Ruthie, Conley, report to Transporter Room 1.  We'll pull Security and Medical if it becomes prudent."=/\= he said, walking out and entering the room pad.  He waited for the rest to show up before speaking.  Ruthie was carrying a PADD, and she seemed excited.

"We are going to go over to that asteroid and see what the situation is inside.  We have a lost federation ship buried, but moving, and we have signs that there is life.  We just don't know what is over there."

"I have to check with the site itself, but I'm reasonably sure its an ancient Latin message, from the Americas."

The Bajoran smiled at his daughter, and nodded.  "Alright, everyone good?  Let's get on.  Get us as close to the center as possible."

[Bridge]

Jettis nodded as Tekin brought up a good point. Inhaling slowly, he gave a slight shrug, as he glanced back down at the available information.
"In that case, we need to break it out from inside, or at the very least, secure communication. If nacelles are still functioning perhaps a type of laser beam is as well." He commented, though he sounded dubious at the last part. Regardless, he went back to his work, until he was called upon by the first officer.

Sending what he was already working on over to Kinley's panel, he stood, heading towards the turbolift. Because of this he was the last to board, and barely managed to slip on before the doors closed, and they rocketed down towards the Transporter room.

[Transporter Room]

He'd grabbed a tricorder quickly, and did a quick test to ensure it was in working order. Confirming that it was, he was the first to step onto the Transporter pad. Glancing up, he nodded to the two people unfamiliar to him who walked in. Ruthie and Lieutenant Conley. Good to know.
Clasping his hands in front of him, he waited patiently to be beamed over, mentally preparing himself for anything they were going to see or that was going to happen. The ship could be in shambles, for all they knew.

[D'Vid]

[Bridge]

Nevir turned to his secondary science officer.  "No, we have no idea how integrated the ship is with the rock, we might end up opening a hull breach.  Hitting it from the outside is not an option." he said, walking up to where Kali was.

"90%?  If Hrafn were here, she could probably figure- wait." he said, tapping the comm button for internal communications.

"Bridge to Ruthie, how good are your linguistic studies.?"=/\=

"Umm... okay I guess?"=/\=

Nevir smirked, turning to Kali.  "We may have an organic translator."

"We have a communication that is registering a 90% similarity to human languages.  It sounds like a distress call.  See if you can tell what it is... you might be on your first mission, young lady.  Bridge out." he said stepping down towards the Captain's chair.  Kyle was silent, letting his first officer handle this one.  Nevir watched the moving rock, calculating the time they had left.

"Okay, we're going over there.  Reyes, Jyur, D'Vid, you're with me.  Garrison, keep an eye on that thing.  Let's see what's out there." he said, turning and walking from the bridge, leaving time for the others to get on the turbolift as he called for the transporter room.

"Ruthie, Conley, report to Transporter Room 1.  We'll pull Security and Medical if it becomes prudent."=/\= he said, walking out and entering the room pad.  He waited for the rest to show up before speaking.  Ruthie was carrying a PADD, and she seemed excited.

"We are going to go over to that asteroid and see what the situation is inside.  We have a lost federation ship buried, but moving, and we have signs that there is life.  We just don't know what is over there."

"I have to check with the site itself, but I'm reasonably sure its an ancient Latin message, from the Americas."

The Bajoran smiled at his daughter, and nodded.  "Alright, everyone good?  Let's get on.  Get us as close to the center as possible."

[Bridge]

Jettis nodded as Tekin brought up a good point. Inhaling slowly, he gave a slight shrug, as he glanced back down at the available information.
"In that case, we need to break it out from inside, or at the very least, secure communication. If nacelles are still functioning perhaps a type of laser beam is as well." He commented, though he sounded dubious at the last part. Regardless, he went back to his work, until he was called upon by the first officer.

[bridge]

D'Vid was over excited about going on an away mission. He hopped happily from his station. The full blooded El-Aurian was waiting for the hybrid El-Aurian to go before him. Nodding, he quickly stepped in with Jettis on his heels. D'Vid stepped aside quick enough to let the young Scientist officer on his left.

[Jettis] Sending what he was already working on over to Kinley's panel, he stood, heading towards the turbolift. Because of this he was the last to board, and barely managed to slip on before the doors closed, and they rocketed down towards the Transporter room.

[Ser's Transporter Room One]
By the time he reached transporter room one.  Ser had read through some of the mission reports, and had a basic idea of what was going on.

"Lieutenant Conley, reporting in."

[transporter room]

Entering the room, he walked to the wall, opened the panel to grab a hyperspanner and a tricorder. He ran a test program on both. Both tools gave him a green light.

He waited for everyone patiently. He was waiting for the executed order, so he was going to be mentally ready to have his molecules to be re-done and moved to the spaceship. He was not always the fan of the procedure cause it gave him a little ill effect to his stomach. All the years, he had hoped he would adapt. It was not so.

So here they go.

[Kinley Garrison]

[Bridge]

Nevir turned to his secondary science officer.  "No, we have no idea how integrated the ship is with the rock, we might end up opening a hull breach.  Hitting it from the outside is not an option." he said, walking up to where Kali was.

"90%?  If Hrafn were here, she could probably figure- wait." he said, tapping the comm button for internal communications.

"Bridge to Ruthie, how good are your linguistic studies.?"=/\=

"Umm... okay I guess?"=/\=

Nevir smirked, turning to Kali.  "We may have an organic translator."

"We have a communication that is registering a 90% similarity to human languages.  It sounds like a distress call.  See if you can tell what it is... you might be on your first mission, young lady.  Bridge out." he said stepping down towards the Captain's chair.  Kyle was silent, letting his first officer handle this one.  Nevir watched the moving rock, calculating the time they had left.

"Okay, we're going over there.  Reyes, Jyur, D'Vid, you're with me.  Garrison, keep an eye on that thing.  Let's see what's out there." he said, turning and walking from the bridge, leaving time for the others to get on the turbolift as he called for the transporter room.

"Ruthie, Conley, report to Transporter Room 1.  We'll pull Security and Medical if it becomes prudent."=/\= he said, walking out and entering the room pad.  He waited for the rest to show up before speaking.  Ruthie was carrying a PADD, and she seemed excited.

"We are going to go over to that asteroid and see what the situation is inside.  We have a lost federation ship buried, but moving, and we have signs that there is life.  We just don't know what is over there."

"I have to check with the site itself, but I'm reasonably sure its an ancient Latin message, from the Americas."

The Bajoran smiled at his daughter, and nodded.  "Alright, everyone good?  Let's get on.  Get us as close to the center as possible."

[Bridge]

"Alright. Will do, sir." Piped Kinley as the three officers went to explore the asteroid... thing.  She wasn't even sure what it was now. Taking a look at the scans, she focused her attention on the energy signals of the ship. Whatever that was keeping that ship powered must  have been pretty powerful to get through all that rock, or whatever it was.

[Solluk]

[Cockpit, SS T'Rus of the Vulcan Merchant Fleet, registry NSP-16934]

Solluk reclined comfortably in the cockpit of the T'Rus, occupying its only chair.  The T'Rus was an aging T'Lys class cargo transport vessel, significantly older than Solluk himself.  The T'Lys class transports were mostly automated 100-meter ships whose warp cores had been removed and re-purposed to serve other vessels decades ago.  Those other vessels were themselves probably decommissioned by now.  Meanwhile, the remaining fusion powerplants on board could propel the ship at a tepid Warp 1.2 ...in an emergency.  So far, Solluk had never had cause to exceed Warp 1.  His duties never took him more than a few light-hours away from Vulcan.

Before these ships had been stripped and automated, they had been of the T'Sor class, a type of vessel used to ferry Vulcan colonists and supplies to points several sectors away.  Now, they were glorified cargo trucks, bringing supplies and occasionally passengers to and from the outskirts of the Vulcan system.  Piloting such a craft was not a particularly prestigious duty, but it was one Solluk found gratifying.

Among Vulcans, Solluk had only a middling intellect.  He had scored slightly below average in academic tests during his primary and secondary education.  When it came time for him to apply for admission to an institute of higher learning, he had selected a technical school instead of a university.  By that point in his life, he'd known that he was not meant to be a scientist, doctor, computer specialist, or engineer.  He would not be the sort of son that parents enjoyed talking about with their colleagues.  Rather, his parents would be quietly hoping that he would marry a smarter woman, and thus his children might do better in the genetic lottery than he had.

That plan was well underway, in fact.  He had been courting T'Lora, a low-ranking administrator at the Logistics Bureau.  She did not have a prestigious degree, but she had one nonetheless.  If things proceeded well, there was every reason to think that their children would be superior specimens.  With luck, they would inherit Solluk's physical talents- he was both strong and nimble- and also gain a measure of their mother's intellect.  They might become anything they could aspire to.

In the meantime, piloting a cargo transport was the best life Solluk could imagine for himself.  It was far superior to working in construction, or food services, or any of the many other menial professions suitable to one of his capability.  Here, he was able to enjoy the solitude of being the lone operator of a spacecraft, and also the beatific majesty of space.

Not that he was likely to use the term 'beatific majesty' anywhere outside the confines of his own mind.  In Vulcan society, such observations could be mistaken as being overly... emotional.

"This is the SS Soyan, on approach to docking port seventeen."

The words filled the cockpit, delivered in the calm, even way common to Vulcans.  Solluk enjoyed listening to the local system traffic as he piloted the T'Rus on cargo runs.  It kept his mind occupied.

"Acknowledged, Soyan.  You are clear to proceed with your docking approach."

Solluk was coming up on an orbital ship maintenance facility, now.  Making a slight adjustment to his course, he moved the T'Rus in a high-arcing elliptical path that would keep it clear of the station.  Below him, he could see a Starfleet science ship docked with the facility, receiving some manner of repair or upgrade.  Had he been human, and not a dispassionate Vulcan, he might have looked with longing at the vessel, admiring the exciting lives of exploration and discovery enjoyed by those who crewed her.

A new voice interrupted the tranquility of the subspace chatter:

"You Starfleet Bastards!  You took her from me!  My T'Mora!"

This was not the sort of exclamation one expected to hear in Vulcan space.   He glanced at his console, directing the ship's computer to isolate the source of the transmission.   The sensor display focused on a large shuttle, moving at an unhealthy velocity.  It quickly became apparent to Solluk that the shuttle was on a course to intersect with the nearby orbital docking facility.  In fact, the shuttle was aimed squarely at the Starfleet vessel.  Locked into the docking apparatus as it was, the science ship would have no opportunity to take evasive maneuvers to avoid the shuttle.

Possible responses to this unlikely threat filled Solluk's mind.   He quickly discarded one after another, deeming them insufficient or unlikely to succeed.

Only one solution remained.

He tapped the commands that would release the safety limiters on the T'Rus' impulse drives, and then he redlined them so that he could reach the errant shuttle in time.   The shuttle seemed to grow in size beyond the cockpit window as his ship surged forward.  Proximity alerts began sounding in the cockpit.

"Warning," the Computer announced, "Collision is imminent."

"That is," Solluk declared unnecessarily, "the intention."

A bright flash of light engulfed the cockpit as the T'Rus impacted with the shuttle.  Somewhere in the bulkheads, a power relay was damaged, sending an uncontrolled flood of electrical energy through the cockpit.  A bright lance of electrons shot down through Solluk's body, cooking him in his seat.  Addled as he was by hundreds of joules of electrical energy, he could take no satisfaction from the end result of his collision.  The shuttle had been knocked off-course, narrowly missing its intended target.

********************

[Solluk's quarters, USS Discovery]

Solluk awoke, gasping loudly as if in reaction to the electrical charge seizing his muscles.

But no... that was only a memory.

A nightmare of something that had happened years ago.

He regained control of his breath, listening to see if the loud warble of his roommate's snoring had been interrupted.  Thankfully, the corpulent Tellarite snored on, unaware of Solluk's distress.

Slipping from his top bunk, Solluk landed with easy grace on the carpeted floor.  He entered the restroom, only activating the lights once the door had closed behind him.  A small chronometer display showed that he had only been asleep for a few hours.  Well... he had no desire to return to such memories.  He used the toilet, showered, and shaved.

Throughout the process, he had some thoughts about the current mission.  Exiting the bathroom, he dressed himself silently in the dark and left the room.  Once he was in the hall, he tapped his communicator.

=^=  "Computer," he instructed, "please identify the next-highest ranking individual above myself, within my chain of command, who is still aboard the Discovery."

(tag)

[D'Vid]

[transporter]

D'Vid was feeling time had slowed down on him. He was wishing it would be soon. The seconds seemed to move like a snail.

[flash back]

D'Vid's tired brown eyes opened up as the crew quarters doors opened. He was flat on a bed. He rolled over to his side to see another bed which was empty. He recalled it was a male human another crewman on the USS Discovery.

"Hey, D'Vid!" the other human crewman had greeted him with a huge smile. "Hey, I got a favor to ask. Crewman to crewman."

D'Vid was looking at the young male. He knew the person, but not well enough. He had not recalled interacting with the individual before. A matter of fact he had not felt he had lived here where he was. He knew he was on the Discovery. He could see he was in Starfleet by the uniform.

"Yes, what would you like me to do, Mark," he answered. Mark? He was not sure how he knew Mark, but he felt he knew him. It was like he was written in a novel of a story and he was placed in it. Rather, it was like a script of a show. He was not exact sure how that could be.

Rubbing his right temple with his right hand, he could recall he was 800 year old El-Aurian who was recently in Georgia, United States in 1990s. He remembered he was hiding away in the mountains and the forest in Georgia. It was hard to remember, but he was with someone who was close. It was a relative. The memories were foggy, but they were sitting at the front of his brain.

He had decided to go with whatever had happened around him.

After being on the Discovery for three months, he had recall his own history. His long relative, Eron who was a Temporal Time Agent. Who saved D'Vid from the Borg, then Eron took D'Vid to the future. Where D'Vid had lived in a few years with his relative. The two was forced to leave that time. Eron took D'Vid back to Earth in the 1950s. They stayed there for 50 years until they were discovered.

That was all D'Vid could remembered. He had played it safe. He knew who he was, where he was and what he was supposed to do. So he had decided to go with whatever the Temporal Agency placed him.

[present- transportation]

D'Vid was feeling he was stuck in time, but he was not.

[Tag- Away team in Transporter room]

[Solluk]

[Bridge, USS Discovery]

The turbolift arrived on the bridge, and Solluk stepped out into the command center.   This was actually his first time on the bridge of the Discovery.  Indeed, it was his first time on the bridge of any Akira class ship.  Since coming aboard, he had spent all of his on-duty time in the shuttle bays.  It was those small craft that he was most likely to be commanded to pilot.  Someone of his lowly rank would rarely be asked to take the helm of a large starship like this under normal circumstances.

He took a moment to take in the view.  Both of the bridge itself and its many important stations, and also via the viewscreen, where the enigmatic rock which was the focus of their current mission could be seen.

Then he turned his attention to the person in the command seat, waiting for them to acknowledge his arrival before speaking.

(tag)

[Ser Conley]

[transporter]

D'Vid was feeling time had slowed down on him. He was wishing it would be soon. The seconds seemed to move like a snail.

D'Vid was feeling he was stuck in time, but he was not.

[Tag- Away team in Transporter room]

Ser watch as all the new faces moved on to the transport pad.

"I'm the new face here.  Funny." Ser thought, it was ironic. Back on his old ship, 'he' was the new face.  Well life was a circle they said.

He moved next to a crewman in a gold uniform.  And noticed something strange.  He couldn't describe it accurately, but it was almost as if the crewman was out of sync.

Like his whole body had been move one millimeter and back, in the bink of an eye.  But even that still wasn't right.

"Are you ok crewman?" Ser asked.