Cult of Elder (4.6)

[James Carter]

[Redtail]

James shook his head quickly. "No music thank you. Hopefully the shuttle ride won't take that long and I'd like to focus for that amount of time on my work." His voice was soft as he spoke. His mind drifted to his fiance and their daughter for a moment as he continued to skim over the crew records. At this point no one seemed to know what the route cause of the malfunction was. It looked like the Roberts simply hadn't been in for repairs in far to long. The lack of any outside maintenance seamingly caused a point of failure. However Carter couldn't be so sure. He hoped the records would have some clue, but so far they were filled with dry reporting and nothing that wasn't to be expected.

[Esmeralda Van'Roe]

'Would anyone like some music?'

[Redtail]

James shook his head quickly. "No music thank you. Hopefully the shuttle ride won't take that long and I'd like to focus for that amount of time on my work." His voice was soft as he spoke. His mind drifted to his fiance and their daughter for a moment as he continued to skim over the crew records. At this point no one seemed to know what the route cause of the malfunction was. It looked like the Roberts simply hadn't been in for repairs in far to long. The lack of any outside maintenance seamingly caused a point of failure. However Carter couldn't be so sure. He hoped the records would have some clue, but so far they were filled with dry reporting and nothing that wasn't to be expected.

[Redtail Shuttle]

Esme bounced her leg unconsciously as she sat comfortably in her chair, even mild turbulence didn't pull her from her thoughts; she trusted Alice explicitly to get them to the USS Roberts safely. When she heard a question of music, she zoned back in and looked between those in the shuttle to see if anyone would voice a preference. Her music taste was...acquired. Sarah once threatened to throw her out the car because her travel music was not to her liking. Esme smiles to herself at the ridiculous memory, and then she feels bad realising they won't ever bicker like that again.

"Any updates on the Roberts condition, Captain?" She asked, her voice thick until she cleared it and sat up in her chair. "Or theories on its ailments?"

[stryker aune]

Zeus, travelling along

Sven used the time to sit in quiet reflection. Alex was a competent pilot. Cat was an excellent XO. They had the new science officer with them

"Mr. Datan." he started with, "Formal introduction. I'm Lieutenant Commander Sven Aune. I see from your transferred records that you are a scientist. What fields do specialize in?"

[Datan]

Zeus, travelling along

Sven used the time to sit in quiet reflection. Alex was a competent pilot. Cat was an excellent XO. They had the new science officer with them

"Mr. Datan." he started with, "Formal introduction. I'm Lieutenant Commander Sven Aune. I see from your transferred records that you are a scientist. What fields do specialize in?"

The Vulcan, Datan, had kept himself to himself during the flight down to the surface, he'd kept his eyes closed in an effort to perform mild meditation.  He wanted to be ready for what was to come on his first assignment, their mission sounded to be one of simplicity, but the Ensign had his doubts as to whether that was the case.

His concentration was broken by a voice he'd heard before, but had not had it directed to his sole direction.  The voice belonged to Commander Aune, Datan's eyes flicked open and focused on the Chief of Security/Second Officer.

"Commander,"  Datan said offering the senior officer a nod.  "That is correct Sir, I am indeed a scientist..."  His mouth opened to continue in a form of an analytical observation, but that might have proved insubordinate towards the Commander.  "I specialise in exobiology, with minors in cybernetics and robotics."

[Alice]

[Redtail]

James shook his head quickly. "No music thank you. Hopefully the shuttle ride won't take that long and I'd like to focus for that amount of time on my work."

'Yes, sir.' Alice 312 confirmed and switched to mission mode, restricting her conversation output to only work-related matters and limiting off-topic queries and small talk. The chance to interact with fellow crewmembers was a task that went unfulfilled. Still, just because the captain didn't want to listen to music, it didn't actually mean she couldn't. Searching through her saved audio files, Alice 312 played and processed them virtually, entirely within her own internal computer. Nevertheless, she still swayed a little in her seat, matching the tune in her head and the Orion slave girl figurine on the console.

Meanwhile, she examined planetary scans of their destination, intending to detect some sign of the USS Roberts already. 'What class of ship is the Roberts? What was its research mission?'

[James Carter]

[Redtail]

"The Roberts is a Saber Class. Tiny little thing really." James began softly. "As for what took it down, it looks like the captain hasn't taken it for maintenance in his entire tenure. They were here looking into some radiation spike that's since dispersed. It's also possible that coupled with the ships ill-repair. The captain was knocked unconscious when the ship fell back to the ground which leaves their XO as acting captain." He paused a moment and shook his head. "I was rambling. My apologies. The point is, there's no obvious trail of foul-play, no act of aggression, simply a complete failure of their propulsion system."

[Alexander Graham]

[Zeus ------> Planet]

Once the order had been given, Katheryn watched as Graham took them away from the Athena and started their trajectory towards the planet's surface. Travelling by shuttle was always an enjoyable experience, no matter how long the journey took. Allowing her focus to drift towards the starscape for a moment, giving her clarity and perspective, about the mission ahead.

Then she moved back to the Zeus's occupants, noting that Ensign Datan had indeed joined them and remembered her first ever away mission as she acknowledged him with a polite nod.

The XO then addressed Alex and the others, once more, regarding their destination.

" Mr Graham, set us down at the prearranged coordinates, it should put us within close proximity of the Roberts, everyone else we'll start unloading supplies and equipment, once we've met with the Roberts crew".

[Zeus]

Alex gave the XO a nod of acknowledgment at the order. He was going to land them at the prearranged coordinates in the navigations system. He payed close attention as he got them within the vesinity of the surface of the planet. He had a open mind going into the away mission but he was curious how their newest science officer was feeling about their first away mission. He remembered how he felt going into his first away mission and how nervous he was. As he gained more experience the nervous feelings seemed to go away for him as time went on.

[Caleb Brighton]

[ Zeus ------> Planet ]

Caleb listened quietly. He was ready to get to work. He gave his wife a nod that he was listening. He knew it wouldn't be long before the crew of the Athena to get to work. He had a bad feeling in the back of his mind, but he knew he had nothing to worry about. He began to hum to himself.

[Katheryn Brighton]

[Zeus -----> Planet]

As their journey neared its end, Katheryn remained relatively quiet as Ensign Datan and Sven, spoke to one another, before Alex and her husband acknowledged what she had said. When her husband then began to hum a little, she smiled, knowing that it was done out of habit and subconsciously as a way to prepare himself for the mission ahead.

Everyone had their own way of doing such things and as the Zeus was brought down to the designated landing spot, the XO was ready to move and find the Acting Captain and crew of the Roberts. But first they would wait for the Redtail to join them, so they could receive further orders then begin.

" Mr Graham, power down and then lower the hatch, let's get ready to disembark as the Redtail, should be here momentarily".

[Alice]

[Redtail]

"The Roberts is a Saber Class. Tiny little thing really."

Curious, Alice checked Starfleet records and found this "tiny little" Saber class was 160 meters long. Rather than remark on this like a robot, she simply added this to her list of subjective definitions of "tiny". A mouse was tiny, a Saber-class light cruiser starship was tiny, a dwarf planet was tiny.

"As for what took it down, it looks like the captain hasn't taken it for maintenance in his entire tenure. They were here looking into some radiation spike that's since dispersed. It's also possible that coupled with the ships ill-repair. The captain was knocked unconscious when the ship fell back to the ground which leaves their XO as acting captain." He paused a moment and shook his head. "I was rambling. My apologies. The point is, there's no obvious trail of foul-play, no act of aggression, simply a complete failure of their propulsion system."

The captain's neglect of maintenance was a matter for Starfleet Command and a board of inquiry, so Alice set it aside in her processing, and focused on what remained. 'So, we should operate on the assumption that there was a simple breakdown.' she proposed. However, her learning algorithms, like those of cleaning robot 53, also operated on the assumption that if you encounter something often enough, you should begin to expect it, and to prepare for it. 'However, many of our missions have encountered the tears in space. A radiation spike is a feature of these tears. Therefore, it is possible that one of these anomalies is present here and is a possible cause of the Roberts breakdown.' She was speculating, of course, and the logic was loose, yet she was laying out hypotheses for her to find evidence for later.

[Jael Sherem]

[Zeus -----> Planet]

As their journey neared its end, Katheryn remained relatively quiet as Ensign Datan and Sven, spoke to one another, before Alex and her husband acknowledged what she had said. When her husband then began to hum a little, she smiled, knowing that it was done out of habit and subconsciously as a way to prepare himself for the mission ahead.

Everyone had their own way of doing such things and as the Zeus was brought down to the designated landing spot, the XO was ready to move and find the Acting Captain and crew of the Roberts. But first they would wait for the Redtail to join them, so they could receive further orders then begin.

" Mr Graham, power down and then lower the hatch, let's get ready to disembark as the Redtail, should be here momentarily".

[Ensigns Gid and Jael Sherem | Shuttle Zeus]

Gid and Jael watched as Mister Graham flew towards their apparent destination: A Starfleet Sabre-class wedge into the surface of the incoming planet, after the moment of flying through the atmosphere.

"Tough little ship," said Jael.

"I agree, sis," said Gid. "Almost like Mother's old Hideki, with just the saucer and added nacelles."

"And Mother's Hideki was a lot smaller than that," added Jael.

All too soon, the ship grew closer and they eventually landed. Gid and Jael nodded, almost at the same time, to acknowledge they'll be disembarking when the other shuttlecraft arrives.

"I feel sorry for the lot," said Gid. "Crashing down here."

"Well, we're here to help after all," said Jael.

[Alice]

[Redtail]

'We're approaching the landing coordinates now.' Alice announced shortly after, and brought up an image of the planetary surface ahead, for the interest of the others. She didn't need the viewscreen herself; she was flying entirely by the seat of her mathematics, keeping the shuttle along the preset trajectory across space, through the upper atmosphere, and through the air over the surface. The Zeus was ahead of them, and it landed first.

Sure enough, a short distance away from the landing site, was the small disc, wedge, and nacelles of a Saber-class starship viewed from above. From this height and distance, it was greatly shrunken in apparent size to several centimetres. 'Oh, now it is tiny!' Alice exclaimed excitedly, adding this to her list of subjective definitions.

[James Carter]

[Redtail]

James grinned slightly as Alice mentioned the anomalies that the Athena had been chasing down. "Now you know the route cause of why the Athena is here over most of the other ships. The radiation signature is incredibly similar to what we've been investigating." Carter replied warmly. His eyes moved back to the PADD for a moment until the Roberts came into view. "Saber's are small but effective. The Roberts is a slight refit with some an enhanced shield and scanning suite. Their XO should be coming to meet us at the landing zone."

[Alice]

[Redtail]

Approaching the landing site, Alice reversed thrusters until they were over the designated position, exactly as she could within natural variations, and engaged vertical landing, hovering in place and steadily descending. Meanwhile, she continued speaking with the captain. 'We carried out the normal scans, and we know how to detect the anomalies. As we didn't observe one in space, it could be on or in the planet, if there is one involved.' Alice noted, not without qualifying her speculations.

With a bump, the shuttle touched down and Alice ran through post-flight checks and powering down the engines. 'We have landed.'

[Esmeralda Van'Roe]

"The Roberts is a Saber Class. Tiny little thing really." James began softly. "As for what took it down, it looks like the captain hasn't taken it for maintenance in his entire tenure. They were here looking into some radiation spike that's since dispersed. It's also possible that coupled with the ships ill-repair. The captain was knocked unconscious when the ship fell back to the ground which leaves their XO as acting captain." He paused a moment and shook his head. "I was rambling. My apologies. The point is, there's no obvious trail of foul-play, no act of aggression, simply a complete failure of their propulsion system."

Esme's lips thinned into a firm line as she reflected on the USS Roberts going so long without proper checks and system upgrades. Maintenance sounded boring but on a starship, it wasn't something you fobbed off without repercussions. Failure of propulsion system, Esme mentally noted and began thinking of a repair structure.

'So, we should operate on the assumption that there was a simple breakdown.' she proposed...'However, many of our missions have encountered the tears in space. A radiation spike is a feature of these tears. Therefore, it is possible that one of these anomalies is present here and is a possible cause of the Roberts breakdown.'

Esme was somewhat encouraged when Alice assessed the Roberts problems as a simple breakdown, given what the android could do in such a circumstance; the Roberts would be fixed in no time and they'd be returning to the Athena. But then, naturally, Alice also looked at the bigger picture and Esme's optimism dampened into wariness. Their luck as of late had been awful and the tears in space Alice spoke of were still circulating Esme's attention at odd moments of the day, her anxiety wondering when they were next going to experience an anomaly that threw their stability again. Space was a dangerous place to be playing cat and mouse, especially when one knew not of the other, and she had a sinking feeling they were the mouse in the scenario. She was relieved of her depressing thoughts when Alice brought up an image of the planet's surface, showing the landing site.

James grinned slightly as Alice mentioned the anomalies that the Athena had been chasing down. "Now you know the route cause of why the Athena is here over most of the other ships. The radiation signature is incredibly similar to what we've been investigating."

Only for then the Captain to confirm Alice's suspicious, and Esme was sitting forward in her chair, wishing she'd been awake longer so that she could process faster and without so much tension. We'll be fine. Hopefully.

"You're a stellar pilot, Alice," Esme commended, her tone not reflecting the sincerity of her compliment. She unbuckled, doubled over to fix her trousers so that her odd socks weren't on display, and then stood with an eagerness she didn't quite expect of herself. Everything will be okay... man, you really should have eaten breakfast.