Story:Star Trek: Prometheus/Rightful Destiny/Chapter 8

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EIGHT

The next morning the Prometheus dropped from warp eight to full impulse as it neared the third planet, which happened to be class-L, in the Alchemene star system. As the Prometheus entered a standard orbit of the planet’s lone moon, a class-D planetoid similar to Earth’s moon, her sensors probed the site of the tritanium processing facility.

“Sensor readings, Commander T’Wan” Logan said.

After a moment T’Wan looked up from her console and turned to face Logan before she spoke.

“Sensors indicate that the moon is a standard class-D planetoid with no signs of habitation except for the tritanium processing facility and that the planet is a class-L with slightly higher amounts of argon and carbon dioxide as well as ionizing radiation in the upper atmosphere that will prevent a getting a transporter lock an anything or anyone on the surface, although the transporters should function at altitudes that are below the upper atmosphere. Life support is not functioning at the facility and there is a hull breach in the cargo bay’s external bulkhead. There appear to be two Starfleet comm signals, aside from ours, transmitting from within our vicinity.”

“Any signs of who did this?” Logan asked.

“Negative, sir.” T’Wan reported, “I am not detecting a ship or a warp signature of whatever vessel attacked the facility.”

“Commander Solen,” Logan ordered, “locate the sources of the transmissions. Commander T’Wan once commander Solen has located the sources scan those locations for life-signs.”

Moments later Solen transferred the coordinates of the transmissions sources to T’Wan’s station, so she could scan the locations for life-signs, just before he spoke.

“Captain,” Solen said, “I have located the sources of the transmissions. One is the automated distress call from the processing facility and the other is a carrier wave coming from the foot hills of a mountain range on the northern continent of the planetary surface. Judging by the amplitude and strength of the carrier wave it is likely being transmitted from a damaged emergency distress beacon.”

“Captain,” T’Wan said, “I have completed my scans of both locations and I am not detecting any life-signs from the facility and the scan of the planet yielded indeterminate results.”

“Indeterminate, commander?” Logan said as he realized that the distress call from the facility had been the ‘dead man’s distress call’ that the station’s computer was programmed to send when it detected that the last living person assigned there, that was on the station, had died.

“Unfortunately so, sir.” T’Wan explained, “The ionizing radiation and heavy kelbonite deposits in the planet’s crust are interfering with sensor resolution. Sensors are able to detect life in the vicinity of the carrier wave’s source but they are unable to determine whether the life forms are indigenous or not.”

“Understood.” Logan said. Addressing the entire bridge staff he continued on, “Commander Solen I want you to take an away team to the processing facility to investigate and recover any bodies that may be there. Commander Rimosi I want you to lead an away team to the planet to investigate the carrier wave and recover any bodies. Mister Rimosi your away team will need to take the Deucalion to the surface since transporters will nae be able to beam you down or up. Lieutenant Sulu, I want you to pilot the Deucalion to the surface just in case. Oh and Commander, take the good doctor with you in case you find any wounded. That and I imagine that some type of inoculation will make you able stay on the surface for as long as you need.”

“Aye, sir.” Solen said before Garav and Jon replied to the order, “Lieutenant Westgate you are with me.” Solen said before Garav and Jon echoed him and the four of them headed off the bridge through the port exit as the replacement officers, including the Prometheus' exo-hydration suit encased Xindi-Aquatic assistant chief flight control officer lieutenant junior grade Kiaphet Amman'sor, took their stations.

Moments later Solen stood in transporter room one, in full EVA gear, with lieutenant Westgate waiting for the rest of the away team that was beaming to the processing facility. Minutes later the rest of the away team, lieutenant Stocker and ensign Davis, walked into the transporter room clad in the same flawless white Starfleet spacesuits as Solen and Westgate. Between the two of them Stocker and Davis were carrying a two-handled grey case. Setting it down Davis opened it and began passing out the current model of Starfleet EVA phaser rifles that had been deployed fleet wide since 2370, five years before the Borg incursion of 2375 in which they traveled back in time to prevent Human/Vulcan first contact and were prevented from by doing so by Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-E.

“Everyone perform an equipment check.” Solen said once he’d activated his suit’s comm-link. With that said Solen checked his suit’s utility belt and felt the EVA tricorder, half a dozen isolinear transporter targeting patches, the emergency hand actuator, and the emergency repair kit for the EVA suit.

When everyone had finished their check the Chief’s voice sounded through their comm-links. “Scans indicate that you won’t need to use the magnetic plates in your boots, however there is no atmosphere anywhere in the facility so you will need to keep your helmets on unless you can breathe vacuum and feel like not being able to communicate.”

“Understood Chief.” Solen said. Continuing on he addressed the away team, “If you find any evidence of the Kelvan raiders that can be beamed back to the ship affix an isolinear patch to it and signal for transport. If it is unable to beamed aboard take detailed scans of it with your tricorder. Any questions?” When there were none Solen addressed the Chief, through the comm-link, and said “Energize.”

As the Chief was briefing Solen and his away team about the facility Garav stood in the Prometheus’ shuttlebay with Jon and ensign Royce Hunter, from security, waiting for Atana and the Prometheus’ flight crew to prepare the type eleven shuttlecraft Deucalion, which served as the unofficial captain’s yacht, for launch. The Deucalion sat on the deck facing the shuttle bay doors with its gang plank lowered to the deck as Atana walked into the shuttlebay with a med-kit hanging at her side and a medical tricorder on her other hip. When Atana joined the group ensign Hunter signalled to a member of the flight crew who brought a box, only slightly smaller that the EVA phaser rifle case that lieutenant Stocker and ensign Davis had brought into transporter room one, over and set it down. Hunter opened it up and began passing out type two phasers and the tricorders. When she offered a phaser to Atana she was surprised by her refusal to take it.

“I’m a doctor not a security guard,” Atana explained, “I’m sworn to do no harm. I won’t break that oath. I’ve seen what pain a phaser can cause and I won’t do that to someone.”

“Ah, you’re a conchie.” ensign hunter said as she put the phaser back in the case, “I can respect that.”

“Conchie?! Ensign.” Garav said in an annoyed tone emphasising Hunter’s rank, “Calling a superior officer names is not the proper way to address that officer.”

Flushing with embarrassment as she pulled out a type three-bee phaser from the case and rested the barrel against her shoulder and the stock against her hip Hunter explained herself. “I…I meant no offence, sir. There’s no negative connotation, it’s human slang for conscientious objector.”

“I’ll let it slide this time, ensign, but watch the non-Starfleet slang.” Garav said as a flight team member took the case away. Seconds later the voice of the shuttlebay chief sounded over the intercom in the shuttlebay and said that the shuttle was ready for launch.

Patting the side of the shuttle Garav spoke, “Everyone aboard. This sheeznerak is flying the baudivox.”

Jon, Garav, Atana, and ensign Hunter walked up the gang plank and sat down in the available seats as the shuttlebay chief’s voice called for everyone to clear the flight deck as the gang plank rose into place. Jon took the pilot’s seat, Garav took the ops/co-pilot’s seat, while Atana and ensign Hunter sat opposite each other on the two benches that ran along the sides of the shuttle.

The shuttle rose from the deck, using its anti-gravity thrusters, until it was two feet from the deck. Seconds later the atmospheric containment field activated and the shuttlebay doors began to retract into their housing. Mere seconds later they were completely retracted so there was nothing between the Deucalion and the airless void but the containment field. Jon pressed a series of controls on the pilot’s console that caused the Deucalion to fire its aft thrusters sending it forward through the containment field. As the shuttle passed through the field the impulse engines automatically activated sending the Deucalion away from the Prometheus. Jon guided the Deucalion through a descending full impulse U turn to starboard and on a descent course to the chosen landing site on Alchemene III once the small ship cleared the Prometheus’ warp nacelles.

As the Deucalion slid through the carbon dioxide rich atmosphere Atana set her med-kit on the bench beside her, opened it, took out a hypospray and put a cartridge of red fluid in the bottom. She then pressed it to her neck and injected herself before standing up and stepping over to ensign Hunter.

“Tri-ox and cerazine,” Atana said before she injected ensign Hunter, “it will help you breathe the planet’s atmosphere easier and ward of CO2 poisoning.”

After injecting ensign Hunter, Atana walked to the forward section of the compartment and injected Jon and Garav after telling them what the shot was and what it was for.

As the Deucalion was being readied for launch Solen, lieutenant Westgate, lieutenant Stocker, and ensign Davis materialized in the processing facility’s circular command centre with their phaser rifles in the low ready position. In the centre of the command centre was a large, circular, Starfleet computer table on a raised dais. The centre of the table was equipped with a holo-projector ringed by LCARS stations, some of which had chairs at them. Along the walls of the room were more LCARS displays, one of which had been shattered, and a single exit. Across the room from where the away team beamed in was a pile of collapsed beams, broken conduits, and shredded optolithic data cables. The body of a Starfleet officer lay under the pile with only a bloody arm sticking out to reveal that the pile was not just debris.

“Let’s survey this room before we leave.” Solen said, “lieutenant Westgate deactivate the distress signal and then try to download the data from station’s sensor buffers.”

Moments later ensign Davis called Solen and lieutenant Stocker over to where he stood by the debris pile and pointed to the arm. Once they saw it the three of them immediately began moving the debris as rapidly as they could until they had exposed the body of a man in a Starfleet uniform with a piece of duranium reinforcing bar through the right side of his chest and a trail of blood coming from the corner of his mouth. Seeing that he was clearly dead Solen attached an isolinear patch to the body and had the Chief beam the body directly into one of the morgue’s stasis drawers and notify sickbay.

“Lieutenant Stocker,” Solen said once the body dematerialized, “I want you to stay here and try to get life-support operating in the sections that are not exposed to space. Lieutenant Westgate continue with your efforts to download the sensor buffers’ data. If you find that it is impossible without performing extensive repairs then assist lieutenant Stocker. Ensign Davis you are with me, we will be searching the facility.”

With that lieutenants Westgate and Stocker set to their assigned tasks as Solen and ensign Davis set out to search the facility.

The Deucalion burst through a cloud bank in its decent to the surface as Jon’s hands constantly pressed buttons to correct the minor deviations in the course caused by the winds of Alchemene III buffeting the shuttle. Jon’s deft touch kept the Deucalion on a course that was as close to being direct to the landing site, which was half a kilometre from the source of the carrier wave.

“We’ll be coming up on the landing site in a few minutes.” Jon said as he levelled the shuttle’s angle of descent as the shuttle closed in on the ground.

Minutes later the Deucalion landed as gently as a feather at the landing site, a mere half meter off from where he had wanted to land the shuttle. The gang plank lowered until it was touching the ground.

“Damn.” Jon muttered as he looked at his console as the gang plank lowered.

“What’s wrong?” Garav asked.

“We didn’t land where I wanted to.”

“How far off are we?” Garav asked.

“Half a meter to starboard.”

Hearing that Garav chuckled as the away team of them left the shuttle and started out for the source of the carrier wave after the gang plank raising so it closed off the shuttle.

“Westgate to Solen.” lieutenant Westgate’s disembodied voice said over the intercom in Solen’s EVA suit.

“Solen here. Go ahead lieutenant.” came Solen’s response.

“I’ve been able to deactivate the dead man’s distress call,” Westgate’s voice said,

“Unfortunately I’m unable to perform a download from the sensor buffers. I’m helping lieutenant Stocker try to bring life support back online but it doesn’t look promising.”

“Understood, lieutenant. Keep trying. Solen out.”

As the suit closed the channel Solen continued walking down the drab bulkhead grey corridor with his phaser at the low ready position as ensign Davis walked ahead of him with his phaser slung over his shoulder as he scanned with his tricorder. Within moments they reached a closed door at the end of the corridor. “Sir,” Davis said, “I’m detecting a vacuum on the other side of this door. According to the facility schematics this is the tritanium storage bay.”

“Solen to Prometheus,” Solen said hailing the ship over the suit’s intercom, “I am outside the storage bay with mister Davis. Lieutenants Westgate and Stocker are in the control centre. So far they have been unsuccessful in downloading the data from the sensor buffers and reactivating life support.”

“Understood, Commander.” Came Logan’s reply, “Proceed with caution and keep this channel open.”

“Aye sir…mister Davis has forced the door open with his emergency hand actuator and we are proceeding inside. Sir, all of the tritanium is missing. There is also an approximately two meter breach in the outer wall and there is damage throughout the bay consistent with escaping atmosphere blowing debris towards the breach. We are nearing the breach. Please stand by while ensign Davis scans the breach.”

A moment later Davis’ tricorder finished the scan and he passed it to Solen so he could see the results.

“The scan has been completed,” Solen said as he slung the phaser rifle over his shoulder and took the tricorder, “there is a faint but clear tetryon plasma signature. As you know the Kelvans are the only species known to employ tetryon plasma weapons. According to the intensity of the signature and the known decay rate of weapons-grade tetryon plasma these readings indicate that this damage occurred approximately two days ago. This would be consistent with when Starbase two-oh-nine received the automated distress call.”

“Return to the command centre, commander.” Logan ordered, “and beam back when you’re all together. Prometheus out.”

As Solen’s away team materialized on the transporter platform Garav’s away team exited the tree line of a deciduous forest near the foothills of a mountain range. The space between the forest and the foothills was littered with granite boulders with veins of tetra-hedral quartz and kelbonite and a long blackened furrow that ended at a badly damaged two-person escape pod with its hatch blown off and laying ten feet away. At the base of the foothill directly ahead of the away team was a large cave mouth.

“Commander,” Jon said as he looked at his tricorder, “I’d be willing to bet that the source of the carrier wave is in that cave. Although I can’t tell for certain since the kelbonite deposits and ionizing radiation are interfering with the tricorder’s scan resolution.”

“Let’s search the cave,” Garav said, “it makes sense that any survivors would be in there. It’s near the escape pod and it’s a defensible location.”

Garav, Jon, Atana, and ensign Hunter cautiously entered the cave. As they entered the cave Jon put his tricorder away pulled out his phaser as Garav did the same. Taking out her medical tricorder and flipped it open and scanned ahead as Hunter held her phaser rifle at the ready with the spill light turned on.

“Scans indicate that the source of the carrier wave is two meters ahead. No life-signs.” Atana reported.

“Doctor,” Garav asked, “can you see anything?”

“Unfortunately not.” Atana said after looking around. Thanks to her cat-like eyes she had the best vision on the away team.

“Understood.” Garav said. Continuing on he addressed ensign Hunter, “ensign set your rifle for a sustained photo-luminescent pulse and fire when ready.”

“Give me a moment.” Atana said, “If I leave my pupils this dilated I’ll be practically blinded when the pulse detonates.”

As Atana dilated her pupils back to their normal size ensign Hunter adjusted the controls on the phaser rifle and returned it to the firing position. A moment later Atana told her that she could fire. A white sphere of radiant energy emerged from the emitter of the phaser and moved to a distance of a meter and a half from the rifle until it exploded in a dazzling display that spread its energy out to light the cave. The now seemingly source less light shone upon the walls, on the Starfleet communicator wired into a badly damaged emergency transmitter hooked up to the escape pod’s back-up saurium-krellide power cell, and on the body of a Starfleet officer laying near the transmitter.

The body of the man laying near the transmitter had severe burns wherever there was exposed skin and a trail of blood coming from the corner of his mouth. The away team walked over to the body and jury-rigged transmitter. Atana kneeled next to the body and scanned it with her tricorder as Jon deactivated the transmitter. Once Jon finished deactivating the transmitter Garav had Jon go out of the cave and scan the escape pod for a weapons signature.

“The plasma burns aren’t what killed him.” Atana said, “It looks like he died from internal injuries, but I won’t be able to tell for certain until I get the body back to the ship and perform and use the autopsy scanner in the morgue.”

“Attach an is linear patch to the body,” Garav ordered, “we’ll beam the body into the stasis drawer when we get back to the Deucalion. Ensign Hunter attach an is linear patch to the transmitter.”

As Atana and ensign Hunter attached the isolinear patches Jon walked back into the cave and told Garav that the scan of the escape pod yielded the signature of a Kelvan tetryon plasma disruptor impact. Hearing that, Garav ordered the away team to return to the shuttle.

Once back on the Deucalion Jon beamed the body and transmitter onboard before he powered up the shuttle. As Jon powered up the shuttle Garav contacted the Prometheus to informed them of their discoveries.

“Rimosi to the Prometheus.”

“Prometheus here. Go ahead commander.” Logan’s voice said.

“We found the source of the carrier wave and the body of one of the officers from the facility, which we’ve beamed into our stasis drawer. We also detected a Kelvan weapons signature on the escape pod.”

“Understood. Commander Solen’s away team detected the same weapons signature. They also found the body of the other officer assigned to the processing facility. Return to the ship A.S.A.P. Prometheus out.”

Closing the channel Garav ordered Jon to take them back to the ship. Moments later the Deucalion was flying through the atmosphere of Alchemene III and punching through cloud banks as it headed for the Prometheus. Suddenly panels in the Deucalion shorted out and the ship began to spiral down towards the planet. Slamming his palm against the co-pilot/ops console Garav opened a channel to the Prometheus as Jon futilely fought to level the shuttle’s rapid descent.

“Deucalion to Prometheus. Mayday! Mayday! We have lost power to the engines and are in a free fall towards the surface. Requesting emergency beam out! Repeat we have lost power to the engines and are in a free fall towards the surface. Requesting emergency beam out!”

“Garav we hear you,” Logan’s voice suddenly said over the open comm channel, “Stand by and make sure your shields are down. We cannae get a transporter lock on you yet, but we’re not going to let you crash.”

On the bridge of the Prometheus Logan ordered that the ship be put on red alert. As the lights dimmed and the alert lighting came on Logan began issuing further orders. He had four crew members on that shuttle and he’d be damned if he was going to sit by and do nothing while the shuttle plummeted to the surface.

“Lieutenant Ruiz,” Logan ordered Gleicy, who was manning the conn in Jon’s absence, “take us into the atmosphere and get us as close to the shuttle as you can as quickly as you can. When we’re within range give as many of our transporter emitter pads a clear line of sight to the shuttle as possible. I dinnae want to make the Chief’s job any harder that it already is.”

Activating a comm channel to transporter room one Logan gave the Chief his orders, “Chief, boost power to the annular confinement beam and use the emergency procedure to increase the pattern buffer’s capacity so you can beam the shuttle and crew to the shuttlebay as soon as you get a lock.”

Logan then contacted sickbay and the shuttlebay and ordered them to prepare for possible casualties and the shuttle’s arrival, respectively. Within moments the Prometheus’ steep angle of entry and high speed, three quarters impulse - .1875c or 202.5 km/hr, allowed the ship to get within transporter range of the Deucalion, as it spiralled ever nearer to the surface. As soon as they were within range the Chief beamed the shuttle, and occupants, directly to the shuttlebay.

“Shuttlebay to bridge. We have them. The medical teams are helping the crew out of the shuttle. There doesn’t seem to be any major injuries.”

“Understood.” Logan said, “I want a report on what went wrong with the shuttle A.S.A.P.”

“Aye, sir. shuttlebay out.”

“Lieutenant Ruiz, get us back into space. Once we’ve cleared the atmosphere set a course for Nalogen IV and engage at warp nine.”

“Nalogen IV. Warp nine. Aye, sir.” Gleicy said as she guided the ship’s ascent out of the atmosphere.

Once sickbay had examined Garav, Jon, Atana, and ensign Hunter and found them fit for duty Logan called a senior staff meeting to hear the away teams’ reports and the reports of the autopsy scans on the two dead officers as well as to brainstorm on the current situation. Once everyone was gathered in his ready room Logan started the meeting with a simple statement.

“Report, commander Solen.”

“The search of the lunar facility yielded minimum results. We located the body of one of the officers stationed there and found that the tritanium was missing from the storage bay, which had sustained a significant amount of damage from both weapons fire and the resulting explosive decompression. Scans of the breach in the storage bay wall yielded a weapons signature that confirmed that the raiders are, at the very least, using a Kelvan ship. There was also significant and critical damage to the life support and computer systems. As a result we were unable to restore life support or retrieve computer records of the attack.”

“Commander Rimosi, your report.” Logan ordered.

“The search of the planet resulted in the discovery of the escape pod, a scan of which yielded the same results as Commander Solen’s scan of the breach, and the discovery of the other officer’s body and the source of the carrier wave - a jury-rigged emergency transmitter.”

“Autopsy report, Doctor.” Logan said to Atana who sat across from him.

“The autopsy scans identified the officers as lieutenant junior grade William Richards and ensign Ryan Anderson. The scans found that they died of blunt force trauma to the head and spinal column caused by falling debris and poising resulting from the damage to the escape pod, respectively.”

“Lieutenant Sulu, has the shuttlebay crew determined what caused the shuttle to lose power to its engines?”

“Yes, sir. They have.” Jon reported, “apparently a massive electrical discharge was about to emerge from the cloud we were in. Since we were there and since the shuttle’s hull had picked up some stray radiation from the upper atmosphere the lightning was drawn to the shuttle like a magnet drawing iron filing.”

“Understood. We have two confirmed counts of theft of Federation property, two confirmed counts of attack on a Federation facility, and two confirmed counts of attack on a Federation facility causing death and we still have no definite suspects…We’re still on course of Nalogen IV. We’ll see what talking with the colony administrator yields. Stations please.” Logan said.

---

“Bridge to Admiral McCoy.” Captain Durham’s voice said over the intercom in McCoy’s quarters on the Cochrane. McCoy grimaced and wondered how Durham had made it to captain since he couldn’t figure out that he didn’t want to come to the bridge whenever the ship approached a starbase.

“McCoy here.” McCoy grumbled after tapping his communicator.

“We’re approaching Starbase 200 would you care Captain Scott and the rest of us on the bridge?” Durham said.

“No I wouldn’t, captain. Just tell me when its time for my tour of inspection. McCoy out.” McCoy said.

Forward to Chapter 9