Fic: Observations, Ch 212
“Beam up, transporter room beam us up!” Ensign Thranduil screams.
“We’re trying to a get a lock on your signal-”
“Beam up beam up fucking holy shit-!”
“Oh god, Enterprise, please beam up-”
I am standing next to the command chair. Sulu, Christine, and Pavel are with the away teams.
The bridge immediately snaps to attention, officers take readings, Nyota is already notifying Sickbay, Engineer Kyle notifying that transporter room is ready and standing by. They are all waiting for my orders.
--
“This is a scientific mission of some import, unique in its objectives.”
“If by unique, you mean disastrous, then yeah Spock, I can agree with you there,” Leonard grumbled.
“Lt. Chekov, a summary.”
“Horosho. This is a science mission, but all departments are being inwolwed, technically. It is a bit of everything except diplomacy-you can relax, Hikaru. If it turns into a diplomatic mission, that is a wery bad. Scientists haf been doing scans of every possible kind to make sure there are no proto civilizations deweloping on the planet.”
“The last time they did that, I ended up violating the Prime Directive,” Nyota said, voice wry.
“This time, we should be good.”
“Hopefully Kirk-force won’t interfere with anything,” Sulu laughed.
“Ah, but that’s not the nature of Kirk-force, is it, lad?”
“I will ask that you refrain from commenting until the end of the lieutenant’s presentation.”
“Thank you, sir. The planet we are going to, Ialla’akhlla, is a biological reserve. Scientists have been tracking its dewelopment for almost a century using a series of robot probes and satellites. They haf been tracing the planet’s ewolutionary path-we were actually able to witness the dewelopment of multicellular organisms. Eweryone in the Science Department is thrilled that we are receiwing this mission. The study of this planet has been rewolutionary to our understanding of many things in biology.
“They recently decided, and it was a wery controwersial decision, to open the planet up to humanoid scientific exploration. We are going to be the first group of people who will be able to take samples, tricorder readings, et cetera. There are many interesting questions that can be answered and many unknown things to explore down there.”
Sulu bounced on the balls of his feet.
“This is going to be awesome.”
“Your enthusiasm for this mission has been evident since we received the transmission from the Admiral.”
“You know this is a once in a lifetime kind of opportunity for a scientist, Commander.”
“It’s a once in a lifetime pain in the ass. Have you seen the decontam rulebook they want me to go by? We’re working round the clock here to set everything up.”
“Those protocols are necessary, doctor. It is imperative that no extraterrestrial materials be introduced into the environment of the planet.”
“That’s goddamn impossible and you know that as well as I do. You’re going into a biological garden of Eden and there’s no way our presence isn’t going to change the system. Just by being there, you change the whole thing.”
“I am aware of this. However, the decision of the board stands. I am not willing to repeat the debate they carried out.”
“It’s a damn fool decision.”
“We have orders.”
“Scotty, how are the probes coming along?” Nyota asked.
“Slowly. Like we’ve been saying, decontamination procedures are long and arduous, more than usual. The designs are fine, we’ve had a few hiccups along the way. But the lads and ladies should be done in time for the deadline. I’m almost done cleaning up the transporters to make sure they don’t accidentally beam down alien matter.”
“What of shuttle modifications?”
“Best ask Sulu about that. He’s taken over coordinating the efforts for that one.”
I turned my attention to Sulu.
“We’ve prepped three of the four shuttles that’ll be used. Everything’s been cleaned as per Starfleet’s orders-I made sure of that personally. The two larger shuttles are being outfitted with a small lab and storage spaces so that the scientists can immediately preserve and process their samples without having to beam aboard, decontaminate, unload, decontaminate, beam back, and so forth. That’s just inefficient. The smaller two science shuttles’ll be piloted and used for close range observation.”
“I thought the whole planet was open,” Nyota frowned.
“Certain areas of the planet have been opened and the teams will be collecting samples from those sites. Most of the planet, however, remains closed. Remote aerial observation is permitted. Lieutenant, have you resolved the difficulties you were having with communications?”
“No,” Nyota shook her head. “We’re just going to have to monitor the weather really closely and hope that the sun of this system doesn’t flare.”
“I find that solution unsatisfactory.”
“But we’re making sure that the ships will be outfitted with everything they need,” Sulu replied.
“And we’ve actually put a signal booster on one of the ships to aid communication between individuals and the Enterprise. It should help prevent any disasters from happening.”
“No matter how much we plan, something always goes wrong,” Leonard said.
“Doctor, your comments are counterproductive to our discussion. Perhaps you should join Nurse Chapel in Sickbay. She is sterilizing suits for the scientists, is she not?”
“I got your point.”
“Lt. Chekov, is there anything else you would like to report?”
“I modified a wery little bit the weather tracking programs so that we can be warned early, if a storm hits. But all papers discussing Ialla’akhlla’s weather can only give general models, not specifics. As Lt. Uhura said, the only choice we are hafing is to monitor the situation closely.”
“Lt. Sulu, have you made your decision regarding your role in the away teams? Are you piloting a shuttle or going as a scientist?”
“There are way more qualified scientists who’re fighting to get a spot on the away teams, sir. I’m piloting.”
“Understood. We arrive at Ialla’akhlla in 109 hours. Will everything be in place by that time?”
“Aye. It’ll all get done.”
I nodded.
“Dismissed.”
--
They are all waiting for my orders.
“Mr. Scott, tractor beam.”
“Already doing it, sir, but that storm-it’s like nothing I’ve seen before-”
“Lt. Giotto, prep a rescue shuttle to be launched on my command.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Lt. Enbogatu to Spock I could go in and-”
“Lieutenant, proceed with your current orders.”
“But Commander-”
“Your vessel is not capable of taking all those on board. The risk of failure is too high. Follow your orders and return to the ship. Spock to transporter room.”
“We’ve got four of the eighteen shuttle passengers-”
The frequency monitors of those in the shuttle remain steady. Sulu’s heart rate is elevated, but that is to be expected.
“Spock goddamn you I thought you said you were monitoring everything!”
“And the other twelve?”
“Engineer Kyle is struggling sir-”
“Spock, I’ve got the tractor beam holding the ship steady, but if it starts disintegrating that’s anyone’s guess-”
“If the ship begins disintegrating, they are dead, Mr. Scott.”
“I don’t give it good odds, Spock.”
“Engineer Kyle’s managed to retrieve three more passengers, leaving eleven on board.”
“Move move I am taking the transporter. Chekov to Spock, I am safe, I am beaming them up. Sulu is breaking his arm, Christine is okay. Others are okay, when I saw them.”
“Spock when we’re done with this mission I’m gonna kill y’all dead-”
“Lt. Giotto, launch the shuttle rescue squad.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Lt. Condor to Spock. Permission to join the rescue team, sir.”
“Granted.”
“Lt. Chekov’s beamed two more passengers, nine on board.”
“Commander Spock, the other two shuttles are waiting for orders, sir.”
“Dr. Torgyuen, what is the probability that this storm will remain limited to this region?”
“High, sir. This kind of blitz storm will ride itself out as it works its way up the continent. The only chance that it’ll spread is if it hits a pocket of methane, which, by current readings, there are none in its trajectory.”
“Lt. Uhura, inform the other shuttles to continue their investigations, but to be alert for any unusual developments.”
“Understood.”
“We’ve got two more passengers, seven on board.”
Then, the readouts of Sulu’s shuttle began failing.
“Sir, we’re losing the shuttle-”
“-critical structural damage-”
“Ozone levels skyrocketing-”
“Mr. Scott, the tractor beams-”
“They’re not going to catch all the pieces, Spock, I’m doing the best I can-”
Sulu’s frequency monitor flatlines.
“Lt. Condor, the Cairo is severely damaged and possibly in the middle of disintegration-”
“I can see it, Commander,” he replies, voice calm, focused. “We’re going in.”
“Lt. Chekov’s got two more passengers, five on board. The debris and motion is making it nearly impossible to get a clear lock-”
The bridge remains active. Personnel look at the frequency monitors and steel themselves.
“Mr. Scott, report to the transporter room and assist. Lt. Chekov. You have done all you can there.”
“Aye, sir.”
“Dr. Vtorgyuen, status of the storm.”
“Unchanged.”
“Condor to Spock, I need you to forward the readouts for shuttle conditions. The teams’re almost ready to go in.”
“Done. Lt. Uhura.”
“Sending the information.”
“Spock? Scott here, I’ve managed to get Chris. There’s still four on board.”
“Lt. Condor and the security squad are in the middle of rescue efforts.”
“Do you want us to keep trying? We might accidentally beam one of the rescuers if we’re not careful”
“Spock to Lt. Condor.”
“Condor here.”
“The transporter room is standing by. Do you wish that they continue their attempts?”
“Negative, sir. We’ve got it from here. We’ll report to you as soon as we get everyone out. Condor out.”
“Mr. Scott, discontinue your efforts. Stand by, be prepared to beam up any on the order of the rescue squad.”
“Got it. Scott out.”
Sulu’s frequency monitor remains dark.