Up and Away

Posted on Tue Jan 24th, 2017 @ 2:57am by Captain Daniel Westphalen & Lieutenant Commander Amber Quinn & Lieutenant Azusa Nakano & Lieutenant Trei Jansum

1,447 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Taking Wing
Location: Briefing Room, USS Aurora
Timeline: Mission Start

Daniel summoned the senior staff shortly after clearing drydock. The ceremony of leaving the starbase seemed trite, after three years in space before it. Things were different now with Westphalen, and his spark for the dramatic had seemed to soften somewhat in the almost three months the ship had been undergoing refit.

He sat at the head of the relatively short table in the briefing room. With a ship of only eighty, the senior staff could all fit comfortably into the room, but space being the premium it was, the refit left the briefing room in largely the same cramped conditions it had been prior. And strangely, that was one comfort Daniel clung to as he waited for the rest of the staff to arrive.

Amber walked into the room. "Hi," she said, taking a seat opposite Daniel.

Trei walked in, feeling out of place as he usually did when posted someplace new. He got himself a cup of raktajino and sat down next to the woman with an awkward smile.

"Hello, ma'am."

Amber glanced at the new arrival, taking a moment to place his face among those of the new crew. "Lieutenant Jansum. Welcome."

Trei nodded. "Thank you, ma'am. I'm sorry, I can't quite remember your name."

"No worries," she said cheerfully. "I'm Amber Quinn."

The doors swished open and Azusa walked through. She breifly looked around and nodded at everyone before taking a seat.

Trei nodded to the small woman and turned his attention to the captain.

Once the staff was settled, Daniel stood and activated the monitor behind his seat at the table. On the display they could see a blue-green orb, a planet, surrounded by a series of brightly shining planetary rings.

"We'll be travelling to the Naldaya system, specifically the fourth planet," he gestured to the orb. "The Federation has a small research facility with approximately forty-nine scientists and staff on-planet, studying a pre-warp society utilizing duck-blind technology. Under normal circumstances, a visit would simply be a resupply mission - drop off more replicator material and research equipment. But we aren't a cargo ship, so clearly these are unique circumstances."

He pressed a few panels on the display and a new image appeared, of a mottled orange nebula lit brightly within. In the foreground was a strangely shaped, undulating creature, floating in the gaseous trails of the nebula.

"Two years ago, the Aurora made first contact with a species of space-faring life. During a survey of a stellar nursery two sectors away from Naldaya, we happened upon what could only be termed as their spawning ground."

He looked to Amber as he spoke. The captain and executive officer were at this point the only senior officers who had been present for that original meeting. "We ended first contact peacefully," he said, returning his gaze to the room et al. "But it appears as though either a baby, or the mother herself has wound up in the Naldaya system, and has taken an interest in the Naldaya star. Starfleet is concerned that our interruption of their spawning process may have prompted this migration, which is why we're heading there to investigate."

Amber nodded as she considered the ramifications. "Do we have specific guidelines, or just go in, find out what's going on, and make everybody happy without violating the Prime Directive?" she asked.

"That second one. As we were the ship that originally contacted the lifeforms, we're in a unique position of being more familiar with them than any other ship in range. So we were ordered to Naldaya to investigate." Daniel stepped back to his chair, sitting back down. "Commander Quinn and our former Ops chief used a rather unique method of communication in order to speak with the lifeforms, using our shield harmonics. The first task I'd like us to focus on is recreating that technique, as well as refining it in order to have a more nuanced conversation. Diplomacy isn't very functional when we're only capable of shouting single words."

He glanced at Amber. "Commander, I'd like you to work with Lieutenant Nakano on that. Additionally, I would like to set up an away team to visit the duck blind on the surface in order to work with the science team in order to facilitate an evacuation of personnel, in case the lifeform's interaction with the Naldaya star puts them at risk."

Amber nodded. "Do we evacuate the inhabitants as well?" she asked.

Daniel let out a breath before answering. "They're pre-warp, so we aren't to interact with them unless strictly necessary... even if it means we evacuate our personnel and leave them to their fate. The truth is, the civilization on Naldaya numbers approximately a million. Even if we were authorized to interact with them freely, the Aurora's evacuation capacity is far outstripped by the need."

"I know it's not possible, but I'm not comfortable leaving people to their fate," Amber said.

"Would these creatures possibly have an effect on the Duckblind?" Azusa asked.

"It's a concern," Daniel answered, turning to Azusa and seizing the opportunity to avoid directly answering Amber's concern for the moment. "They feed off of energy - the last time we met one of the creatures, they nursed off of the Aurora's power systems. Given that the Duckblinds are largely holographic in nature, any significant power drain puts the entire operation at risk, hence the need for evacuating the team."

Trei'd eyebrows came together in an uncharacteristic frown. "I'm sorry, sir, but are you saying we might have to abandon these people to be killed by a creature destroying their sun? And Starfleet has no problem with that? Saving our own people and leaving the natives to die?"

Daniel's eyes narrowed, but his gaze moved to the planet on the screen. "I'm surprised that two senior officers aboard this ship have so readily forgotten what is considered the primary doctrine of our exploration of space. We. Do. Not. Interfere. If that lifeform is here for artificial reasons, such as being disturbed or herded, then we will do anything in our power to stop this from happening. If it is here naturally, then we cannot interfere. If this were to have happened as part of the circle of life here in this sector, we are honor-bound by our oaths to the Federation to remove our people from the planet and let nature take its course.

"I am not about to pretend that this is a duty I take lightly or frivolously. So I would appreciate decorum amongst my senior officers when it comes to something we all know we have very little say in."

Trei still didn't look happy, but agreed, "Aye, sir."

"Because we have made contact before, and had a positive outcome, I'm not ready to simply walk away and let a planet full of people die," Amber said. "So we can't interfere with the inhabitants of the planet, but we can definitely talk to the life form and help it find a new home." She looked at Daniel for a long moment. "I do not believe that doing so will violate the Prime Directive. Nor do I believe that letting a space-faring creature who can go anywhere destroy an inhabited system just because Starfleet doesn't want us to interfere. There's a lot of gray area in this, and I think we should work there."

Daniel nodded, though he didn't look away from the screen. "We have made contact before, and it's my hope that we can convince it to move on. I'm hoping this lifeform is one of the handful we met initially. I'm hoping that the lifeform is amenable to compromise, and we are up to the task of determining a fair one. This mission troubles me on multiple levels, so your instinct to operate within the grey here is also my desire. Thus, work with Lieutenant Nakano on refining our communications. Lieutenant Jansum will lead the away team to speak with the researchers."

"Yes, sir," Amber said quietly. She'd said her piece, now she needed to do some research to make sure she hadn't forgotten any details about their last encounter with the entity. She was glad Daniel was amenable to her idea. Fortunately, it would go well.

Daniel turned back to the room. "I want it clear - regardless of our orders, I want nothing more than everyone involved in this situation happy, healthy, and out of danger when this mission is complete. Let's make that happen. Dismissed."



Captain Daniel Westphalen
Commanding Officer
USS Aurora

Lieutenant Commander Amber Quinn
Executive Officer
USS Aurora

Lieutenant Azusa Nakano
Chief Engineer
USS Aurora

Lieutenant Trei Jansum
Chief of Security
USS Aurora

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