The Wait Is Over

Posted on 18 Apr 2019 @ 6:11pm by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Lieutenant JG Charles Carmichael & Ensign Quinn Mackie & Commander Thiago Teixeira & Commander Terry Walsh & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant JG Jazmin Parks & Senior Chief Petty Officer Alexander Rylan & Petty Officer 1st Class Allen Miller

1,513 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: The Kalisa Conundrum
Location: USS Black Hawk, Bridge
Timeline: MD1 || 2330 hours

Any other day, Harvey might consider his nap on the couch to be comfortable. Since taking command over four months ago, Harvey had utilized his Ready Room more than he ever had aboard his previous command, primarily because it felt like the room was half the size, but also because he had to remain more and more focused on the mission. Any other night, he would retire to his quarters and allow the officer of the watch to keep an eye on things. Joey was likely at home already, tending to their dogs and quietly awaiting her husband to return, whenever that would be. But, Harvey could not return just yet.

Commander Teixeira, Lieutenant Di Pasquale and Lieutenant Parks, three of his key senior officers, had yet to return from their mission, nor had there been any contact. The remainder of the senior staff, and the crew for that matter, had been quite tapped by the day’s events. The ship had forfeited a fair portion of its ablative armor and tritanium hull plating to a cosmozoan, one that had to be forced off the ship using antiprotons. The bacteria by-product it had created was finally starting to be removed by the ship’s biofilters, and life on the ship was beginning to return to normal.

Harvey scoffed.

Normal. The very word had no meaning in this zone. The development of so many cultures had been hindered by an cataclysmic event centuries ago, an event Harvey had to wonder if it had spread beyond the zone initially. The energy field that isolated the zone, Harvey thought, had to be artificially created. But, was it artificially maintained? The crew had seen no evidence of field generators or technology strong enough to create and maintain such a barrier. Of course, the locals seemed to be lacking in a fair amount of technology already, as if someone or something had meant to keep these cultures from learning the truth or recreating history—

”Bridge to Captain Geisler,” sounded a voice over the intercom, interrupting the Captain’s ill-fated attempt at rest. ”You are needed on the bridge.”

Harvey immediately rose from the couch in the darkened room and entered the bridge. It was low on staff, an intentional decision to allow some of the crew to get some rest. “Report,” he called out, moving to the center chair.

In the center seat was none other than a life-long member of the Black Hawk’s crew, Lieutenant Charles Carmichael, who’d only been separated after the Battle of Deep Space 11 and assigned to the science ship USS Vasco da Gama. Fate, it seemed, could not keep the two men apart. “Sensors have detected an abnormality in the minefield. Something is leaving the planet and heading this way.”

“Something?” Harvey asked, looking towards the view screen, demanding a more concrete and specific answer other than something.

“The energy field is unlike anything we’ve ever encountered,” Carmichael explained, rising from the chair to surrender it back to the Captain. “It is a small craft, but the warp signature is obscured. Because of the radiation, we can’t even get a metallurgical fix on the craft.”

Harvey frowned, taking his chair. Let’s play this by the book,” instructed the Captain. “Hail the craft.”

Allen stretched his arms and popped is back. It had been freakishly long day what with regular duty and then rounding up the non-essential nuts. All on top of being the security on night watch for the Bridge station. He was definitely going to crash as soon as he had the opportunity. "Understood, Sir. Hailing the craft now."

=^=This is the Mississippi,=^= came the voice of Lieutenant Di Pasquale when the runabout received the hail. =^=We have cleared the planet and are on the way back, Black Hawk with passengers.=^= She knew that such a message would initiate quarantine protocols established for such a thing and that Security would be present when they landed back on the ship.

"Someone confirm that!" Harvey called out, rising from his chair to take a peek at the scans for himself at the operations station at the fore of the room.

Allen couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had all of the signatures of the runabout, but none of them matched the initial scans. The Chief could be in duress. He immediately notified the Security Department to prepare a couple of teams and to initiate the proper protocols.

At least they're home, Harvey mused, smiling as he looked at the screen. "Let's put them on screen then." The operations officer at the front of the bridge quickly complied, giving the captain a view from one of the runabout's side screens. "You'll have to apologize the formal procedures, Mississippi. It's been a long day, and we didn't quite recognize you."

=^=Confirm that, Black Hawk=^= The Security Chief responded. =^=Formal procedures are just fine. Requesting permission to land in the Flight Bay.=^=

“Granted,” Harvey replied. “While I look forward to your report, does someone mind telling me why you don’t read as a runabout?”

Jazmin, seated next to Camila, spoke up. "We managed to acquire some interesting tech on the planet. Should make life for the Hawk a bit easier while we're in this Sector.

Quinn stood quietly behind the center console, trying not to glance at the aliens to his left. It had been a long day, sure, but he'd never felt so hopeful about the future. He hadn't been briefed on all of the particulars like the ship's senior staff had been, but he personally felt like the end, and a much greater new beginning, were at hand.

"Actual, Rylan," Alex said. "Sorry to interrupt, sir. Could you have a medical team meet us when we land? We've got passengers that are about to become our guests, barring your objections. They're not injured, exactly, just malnourished and they haven't had medical care in awhile. They were a bit dehydrated when we found them. I put them on IV fluids when we got them in the runabout, and I've given them rations a little at a time, and shot them up with vitamin and mineral supplements. They're perking up, but I'd feel more comfortable Sickbay did a full work up on them with more than a handheld medical tricorder and the limited equipment on the runabout. Again, sorry to interrupt. I'll let you and the others get back to it."

"As the Senior Chief said," Thiago began, "we do have some guests who would benefit from a medical evaluation." While he didn't approve of Rylan's interruption as a matter of principle, the corpsman did have a valid concern. "As far as how we're showing on sensors, as Lieutenant Parks alludes, we've acquired some technology that is allowing us to mask our signature to slip past the defenses in the area. We'll have to see how it works on the Black Hawk."

"I'll have a medical team dispatched to the flight deck, but you'll have to bear with us. We've had a hell of a day over here." Harvey fought to contain a sigh as he looked at his crew on the forward viewscreen. "Suffice it to say that we're glad you're back. As soon as you're aboard, we'll be warping out of this system. I'm sure Miss Parks and Mister Griffin will want to give that technology you found a full inspection. Do you think it could be replicated for our fighters?"

Jazmin shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "Commander, we won't know anything for certain until we do. The one thing I do know is that we're still un hostile space. I suggest going the Reg 46A route until we're safe."

Jazmin hoped he recognized the reference to Starfleet Regulation 46A that allowed for no uncoded transmissions to be sent on an unsecured channel. She knew they weren't in combat, but with their "guests" sitting a few meters away, she didn't want to reveal any further information they could use if they proved hostile.

Camila switched over to a secure channel at Parks suggestion and gave her nod. "Good call, Lieutenant," she said.

The Captain failed to contain his sigh this time. Not only did he need sleep, but he also needed to be free of this damned bacteria just like everyone else. Maybe then he could think clearly and not ask good questions over an unsecure channel. "We can discuss more in the morning. For now, let's get the Mississippi back on board and get the hell out of here. Black Hawk out."

Harvey's reaction made Thiago smile. He didn't know what the Black Hawk, and by extension the captain, had been through while the team had been away. Given the curt and a bit exasperated, it must have been something stressful, and that likely wasn't helped with the back and forth about communications protocols. "You heard the Captain," he said. "Let's get home."

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