Arrival - Part Two

Posted on Sat Jan 13th, 2024 @ 4:36am by Captain James Phoenix & Lieutenant Rolek'klaz & Master Chief Petty Officer Evelyn Bailey & Commander Oscar Vladinchi & Lieutenant Commander Richell Sorenson & Lieutenant Commander Devin Hadenbeer & Lieutenant Jin-soo Tae & Lieutenant Inara Ziro

1,386 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Untested
Location: USS Horizon and I.G.S Stras - In orbit of the Zyte Colony
Timeline: Current

== USS Horizon ==

*SNIP*

Not for the first time Devin wished she liked the taste of coffee, because she felt as if she could use a liter of the stuff. She and the staff had been working long hours to insure every transporter was ready, and they had drilled endlessly to insure they would be able to move victims as quickly and safely as possible. But she supposed what truly made her nervous was if during a crisis she did or said something monumentally stupid. She was used to being at the top of the command structure, not middle management. And in a critical moment what if...

She grimaced, then thankfully something took her mind off her ruminations, "Vessel on long range sensors, Captain. Transponder identifies it as the Stras."

*SNIP*

James leaned back in his chair. "Very well, are we in communications range?"

"Yes, sir," Devin replied. She almost hailed the ship, then paused: that would have been presumptuous. "Glancing over her shoulder to see the Captain she inquired, "Should I hail them, sir?"

James nodded. "Please do."

Devin nodded and opened hailing frequencies to the Andorian vessel. (Assuming the hail goes through), "We have contact, Captain," and Devin brought the signal to appear on the main view screen, wincing inwardly as she realized she forgot to ask the captain if he wanted visual.

"Thank you" he stood up and moved forward to stand on top of the Federation Flag that was incorporated to the deck.

Commander Vladinchi was standing behind the Andorian Captain, with Lieutenant Ziro close to him. They both had just arrived to the bridge to ask the Captain what they could do when the viewscreen turned on. Oscar looked, seeing the face of Captain Phoenix he recognized from his briefs. He didn't want to speak out of order, so he merely gave a nod toward the screen and allowed the Andorian Captain to speak first.

Captain Tys ch’Kihlak remained in his seat on the Andorian bridge. He looked directly at the face of Captain Phoenix. "Ah, Captain Phoenix I presume? I'm Captain Tys ch’Kihlak of the I.G.S Shras. I believe we have quite the situation on our hands."

"We certainly do Captain. What is your status?" Phoenix asked.

"We arrived just a few hours ago Captain. I have already sent teams to the surface for aid and damage control. It is my understanding that you are sending a few teams yourself?" Ch'Kihlak asked.

"That is correct Captain. Commander Vladinchi will be rendezvousing with a team at the city to speak with the Governor, or whoever is currently in charge. My Chief Operations Officer will be leading a team to Outpost Six. I don't know about you Captain, but I'd like to get to the bottom of this disaster."

Tys ch’Kihlak would have liked to be the one to do it, but the Horizon was the senior vessel even if they were both in different chains of command within the Federation. "Very well" he turned to Commander Vladinchi and Lieutenant Ziro. "Do you to have anything to add?"

Inara frantically turned knobs on the Andorian datapad her bunknmate had lent her. Despite its dated design, it had synchronized perfectly with the deployment orders streaming through her communicator, but even after a day and a half of pouring over schematics on it, she was still unused to the analogue interface.

She almost failed to register the floor being opened to her as she realized just how low on staff her new ship still was. There were holes in the proposed deployment grid that wouldn't be filled until the Georgetown arrives, by which time lives may be lost. The most vital window was right then and there. The job of getting people out of rubble and to safe locations while they wait for rescue teams would fall on the Andorians.

"If the Commander doesn't mind..." Inari spoke up. "I'd like to beam down with him to the capital as well. The sooner we can start coordinating with the colony's own response teams, the better. I can also have a forward operating base ready for when you arrive."

"I do not mind having Lieutenant Ziro with me," Oscar said, his accent and fluency not particularly hiding his Russian dialect well, though that was perhaps because of nervousness. "I had some experience with managing crisis procedures on Betazed during the war, so I will try to utilize that experience here to assist in their efforts. As they say, there's no better introduction than hitting the ground running."

"Very well. Thank you Lieutenant, Commander" Captain Phoenix nodded to his new officers through the viewscreen. " I'll notify Commander Sorenson and Master Chief Bailey to rendezvous at the forward operating base."

He focused in on Vladinchi. "In addition Commander, I'd like you to find and speak with the Governor, or whoever is in charge of the colony at the moment. I'd like to get to the bottom of this. I'd rather this be natural rather than foul play. Provided that is all alright with Captain Ch’Kihlak?"

The Andorian Captain sighed. He felt like the Shras was being sidelined but the Horizon was the senior vessel. But any Century class had better facilities than the old Andorian Guard vessels. He respected the Captain for allowing the Andorians doing most of the relief on the planet. "It will do Captain" he nodded before turning to Commander Vladinchi and Lieutenant Inara. "Are you two ready to transport down to the city?"

"Yes, Captain, I believe we are," Oscar said. "I'd like to request additional medical and humanitarian supplies for this trip, also. We will likely encounter those in need, if the situation is to be understood."

Inara glanced back at her datapad intently for a moment and chimed in. "If you have an engineering field kit you can spare, I could make use of that as well, Captain."

Oscar gave a short smile as he looked down to Inara, then a nod to the Andorian Captain for allowing him to speak. The smile faded quickly. His expression was serious, understanding the gravity of the situation. There was nothing more to be said, only action was required.

Richelle was walking through engineering with various PADD's handing them out to her team leaders. These PADD's had each departments orders and tasks to follow. She spent long hours working on them and finally finished them. She had also coordinated with the pilots their tasks and that ended her hustle to get it done. Giving the last PADD to the final person, she went back to her office and sat heavily in her chair. She was tired and it showed. She needed a power nap and she was going to take it now before anything arose.

"I'll send the field kit with Commander Sorenson and Master Chief Bailey" he smiled. "As for the humanitarian supplies, we will send those down. Once the Georgetown arrives we should have a sufficient amount to start. Our Chief Medical Officer will be arriving on the Georgetown as well. It'll be good to finally have a senior medical officer on board."

James looked to the helm. "Lieutenant Tae, what's our ETA to dropping out of warp?"

"ETA five minutes, we should be dropping out of warp momentarily." Jin-soo spoke up from behind the helm.

"Understood" James nodded, looking back to the viewscreen. "Once we arrive in system I'll send our teams down to the surface Captain."

The Andorian nodded. "Very well Captain. We'll be talking. Ch’Kihlak out" he said before motioning to his communications officer to cut the channel.

Soon after the Horizon dropped out of warp near the edge of the system in a bright flash. The Horizon began approaching Zyte at full impulse.

Captain Phoenix tapped the comm button on his control panel and spoke to his people. "Alright folks, you know your orders. Our priority is to provide relief to the planet and to find out what the hell caused this catastrophe" he looked to those of his officers on the bridge who were going to the surface. "Those of you on away missions, please get ready and report to transporter room three if you are going to the city, and shuttle bay two if you are Doctor Haddenbeer's team."

 

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