Away team 3- Arrival

Posted on Fri Nov 29th, 2019 @ 3:08am by Ensign Cameron Kore & Lieutenant Commander Radak

4,172 words; about a 21 minute read

Mission: The science of stars
Location: Q class planet
Timeline: 10th March 2395

ON:

Radak stood in the main office of the science lab, his eyes on Lieutenant Touma. They would need to ready their team in preparation to go to the surface of the coldest planet. "I believe we should include security and medical on our team as well as whatever team you will need to collect whatever information you will need," he suggested. "I think it is going to be too cold on the surface to spend too much time exposed. Environmental suits will be useful. We might even consider some sort of surface vehicle... if we have one..." He was trying to remember. "It would serve two purposes if we do... shelter and it would allow us to cover more ground in a shorter period of time. Yes?"

Touma nodded. "I think maybe taking the Argo shuttle down. The buggy can be used to transport equipment," he suggested simply. "As for the team, I have a lineup prepared," he explained, handing him a PADD.

Radak took the offered PADD and looked it over. "Ensign Kore is medical? Correct?" he asked. "You will have a science team that will go down with us, right?"

Touma nodded. "It's all in the line up I've prepared," he stated.

"Excellent..." Radak offered the PADD back to its owner. "How long is it safe to be on the surface? I will work on getting the suits and supplies we need. I believe that we are mostly ready to depart. How long will you need to assemble the team?"

"As soon as they arrive, after sending out their orders," Touma replied. "Give it twenty minutes."

Radak stopped himself from saying something smart, but he couldn't help the twitch of the corner of one eye in irritation. He would just have to ask again. "And how long will it be safe for us to spend on the surface? I know we will have environmental suits, but even they can become strained in the right circumstances and these temperatures are extreme."

"We should be good for a couple of hours if the EVA suits don't get damaged. If you find yourself exposed, then depending on where you are you'll only have... half an hour at most, maybe less," Touma replied, his face showing that he was roughly calculating the variables in his head. "Best to keep your gear in good check."

-Armory Office-

Gabe had heard of the cold planet that an away team was likely going down to. He grunted to himself and began to prepare the necessary weapons that the team would be needing. He had the phasers laid out on the desk before him, the cold weather modifications recently finished which would insulate the power cells as well as the focusing crystals and emitters. He thought a moment and pulled a pack out from under the his desk and filled it with two extra power cells for each weapon. He thought a moment to his cold weather survival training and added a flint, striker and cotton which had been coated in a petroleum jelly. He would issue that pack to the security officer that was going down with the away team. He didn't want them to freeze if the situation went sideways.

"Chief?" Radak called out, walking into the armory. He looked around as he did and had to admit to himself that he didn't spend a lot of time in this section of the ship, but as the away mission he was on was going to a very cold environment, he had some concerns about the function of weapons, communication and tricorders in such extreme temperatures.

Gabe saw the flashing light on his workbench that let him know someone had walked into the armory lobby. As he stood and headed to the door of the office of the amroy, he heard a man speak his rank. He finished coming around the corner and appeared in the window. "Hello." Gabe's eyes flicked over the neck insignia of the man before him. "Commander, what can I do for you today?"

"I am heading the away team that is going to be visiting subzero temperatures. I was hoping that you could tell me about weapons' capacity at those temperatures. Do I have anything to worry about as far as defending ourselves?"

"No sir, when I was made aware of the away team's needs and the climate you would be visiting, I took the liberty of setting up a go-bag for your security officer. In it, I've included cold weather power cells that are rated for EV temperatures which are far colder than you'll experience ground side. As well as some items that were useful when I went through the advanced cold weather survival training. Though, given the parameters of the mission, should nothing go wrong, the temperatures you'll see ground side can be combated by a few extra pairs of thermal socks and some thermal long johns."

Radek resisted the urge to laugh. Instead, he bit the inside of his lower lip and maintained his dour appearance. "Excellent. That sounds acceptable. Is there anything I need to know about operating the weapons in such extremes?" he asked. He had to admit that he hadn't spent a lot of time getting to know the Senior Chief, but Gabriel made a good impression. "And one more question... long? Johns?" The Vulcan's right eyebrow lifted slowly.

"Negative, Sir. I've included ev rated phasers and 4 power cells for each. The phasers have been tested and should operate normally even in the extreme conditions." Gabe paused. "Long Johns... they are thermal under clothes, most often used by hunters and outdoors men on Earth and other human settled lands. They help to keep the body warm in cold climates. Lord knows, they served me well in cold weather training."

"I will look for these things. I think I understand what you are talking about, but I have never heard them called that." He nodded curtly. "I do not know how many animals are potentially in this frozen tundra, but I do want to be prepared. What would you recommend as far as weapons go?" Radek sort of had ideas in mind, but he wanted the Chief's opinion.

Gabe snorted. "Commander, I don't think you understand, I just need your security officer to come by. I've got your gear already sorted with EV and cold weather weapons hand picked by me." To illustrate Gabe reached under the counter and pulled the bag out and plopped it on the counter. "All I need is your security officer's signature and your team is GTG."

Radak nodded. "I know. I am... killing time." The barest corner of one side of his mouth turned up, just a tiny bit. "I am already prepared for the mission, but others are not. So we must wait."

Gabe's face went stony. "With all due respect Commander, who's this we? Do you have a mouse in your pocket?"

One Vulcan eyebrow lifted slowly, as Radak looked at Gabe. "Well, I assume that you are also ready for the mission."

Gabe choughed "Frankly sir, I was unaware that I had been assigned to the team. My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail." He sighed "Gimme five minutes to get my go bag."

Radak nodded curtly. "Of course."

-Planetside-

Lieutenant Commander Radak materialized on the surface of the Q Class planet, with the rest of the away team, in a full environmental suit and ready to deal with the currently frozen surface. He immedately opened his tricorder and began to look around them with it up and reading. There wasn't much to look at. The landscape around them was a frozen wasteland, covered in snow and ice. Everything was white, almost blinding, even though there was very little light. The closest thing that broke the horizon was so far away that the commander wasn't even sure what it was. "Everyone alright?" he asked.

As they appeared on the planet Gabe grunted to himself as the gravity grabbed him. "Go to cold weather training, they said. It'll be fun they said. No one mentioned freezin' your whoahs off," Gabe grumbled to himself not realizing his comms had been activated and he was transmitting across the team.

Radak turned a little to look at the Chief. It was all he could do to keep from laughing. "I'm sure our "whoahs" will be fine, Chief. Although, your notation is... duly noted."

Gabe heard the Commander aaaaaand his eyes snapped down to the communications section of his HUD. Sure enough the inter team transmit light was green. "Copy that Commander," he said before clicking off the transmit button and launching into a cussing storm in every language he knew, inside the security of his suit. As he cussed the helmet of his suit jerked slightly, the only sign of his verbal abuses.

Radak suppressed the chuckle and pulled his own tricorder out. It was hard to do anything in the environmental suit, but he had spent some time training in them, so it wasn't impossible for him. "I am not reading any lifesigns close by. Where would you like to start to take samples, Lieutenant?" he asked of Touma.

"We should look for somewhere we can use as a base camp first," Cameron called out after scanning the area for herself. "The suits will keep the cold out for now but if we're staying here for a while we could do with somewhere out of this wind."

Radak pointed off in the distance to a just barely visible mountain range to the west. "Maybe there would provide shelter? We could also set up our own. There is a shelter in the kit," he suggested.

"A cave or similar up there would work better," Cameron replied. The shelter they'd bought would fit all four of them, but they'd not have much room for their equipment or to carry out any experiments they wanted, it was more for emergency survival than anything.

Radak nodded in agreement. "Alright, then we go that way." He pointed to the west. "Once we have established a base camp we can separate and gather samples. Just to give us a central location to work from and to escape the elements."

As the team made their way toward the mountain Cameron's tricorder beeped. "Hey, I got something here, a life sign."

"What sort of lifesign, Ensign Kore? Animal? Humanoid? Although, I doubt that humanoids can survive this cold without some serious species adaptations." Radak tried to turn his own tricorder toward where the ensign was getting the reading. He wasn't currently picking up anything. "Is it moving this way?"

"About 25 meters away, near that clump of rocks over there," Cameron motioned to some nearby rocks. "Closing very slowly, it looks like an animal, stalking some food I reckon."

As if hearing them talking about it, a small furry animal scurried out from behind the rocks, looked in the away teams direction before scurrying off into some undergrowth.

Radak watched the animal, his eyebrows raised. "Fascinating. It must have very warm fur. Or very different blood. I did not expect to see any living things here."

"Me neither," Cameron added. "I wonder how it survives the hot period of the planet."

"Probably blows his coat when it gets hot. That or the fur insulates it so well that it keeps his body temp regulated no matter what the temperature is in the environment... or a combination of the two with subterranean dens where it stays during the hottest part of the hot days." Gabe stopped as he realized he was rambling.

"A subterranean den makes sense, somewhere to get out of the sun." Cameron said, animals weren't her speciality. "Just like we could do with getting away from this wind."

The "mountains" they were headed for were sheer and craggy. They jutted up out of the landscape as if someone had pushed the up from below in a very controlled way. The team, however, was in luck because the cliff side was riddled with caves. "I guess we can take our pick... I suggest continued caution. If mammals can survive here then they may be doing it in these caves. It is possible that we may run into something much larger," the Vulcan suggested.

Gabe nodded. "As such, please allow me to take point. Wouldn't want an officer to get eaten on this tropical paradise," he said as he unslung his phaser rifle and brought it to a low ready. "Which one you want to check first Commander?"

Logically, you started from the right. Radak pointed to the opening to the furthest right. He snorted at the chief's comment. "Let's start to the right until we find one deep enough and not already occupied to shelter us and use as a base camp."

Gabe grunted, pivoted on his heels and brought the rifle up to low ready as he moved to the mouth of the cave. As he came into its shadow he snapped the light and began the clear. The cave forked about 5 meters in side the cave and he clicked the comms.

"Commander, right again or spice it up and zig left?" Gabe asked as he paused.

"Stay right, Chief. Then if you get lost we can find you. Like you would solve a maze. Right hand rule," Radak replied. "Don't get too far ahead. If the cave isn't wide enough to accommodate us then let's move to the next one." He continued to scan around them as they waited for the Chief. No sense in not staying aware.

Gabe grunted and turned right heading down the cave as quitely as the EVA suite would allow. His eyes flicked down to his wrist where his tricorder had been mounted and watched the readout. His foot came down on a far to squishy substance that let him know something was wrong. The soft grumble from the left side of the large room the cave opened up into made Gabe freeze. His eyes flicked back to the tricorder which flashed at him that there were life signs ahead, large life signs. He eased back into the cave away from the dark interior of the open room and clicked the comms system three times without transmitting anything as a warning to not follow.

Radak frowned. "Chief?" He also stopped in his tracks and told the team to,"Wait..."

Gabe made it several more meters back before he felt comfortable speaking, his rifle trained on the black expanse at the other end of the cave.

"Commander, the cave is occupied. I'm retracing my steps but I suggest you get everyone out. I'll be there shortly." Gabe picked up his pace as he retraced his steps "The bloody animals could have put a sign out letting us know there's no more room in the Inn."

"How did we not pick that up sooner?" Cameron asked checking her own tricorder.

Radak was also holding his tricorder out and backing away from the mouth of the cave. "We are out, Chief. I think there might be some sort of mineral deposit in these mountains that could be acting as a dampening field?"

Gabe dropped the barrel of his phaser rifle as he spun on his heel and double timed it out of the cave. Moving as quickly as he could in the EVA suit. He didn't rightly care why they didn't pickup the rather large animal that crapped big enough to make him wonder as to its digestive health. He just cared that they hadn't picked it up. As the light from the mouth of the cave got brighter Gabe picked up the pace.

"Commander it's this humble security officer's opinion, but we might place some stationary sensors at the mouth of the cave. Aside from tracking the animal we might get extra data that the science guys can geek out over in biology." As he came out of the cave his left hand came up and pointed down the range of hills. "Shall we go that way, away from the large unknown animal that might find Vulcans a delicacy?"

Radak raised an eyebrow, not that anyone could tell in the EVA suit. "I agree. We will set up sensors at the mouth of this cave." He paused as the science team set up two sensors, one on either side of the door. "This will gather good information, but we still don't have a place for our base camp."

"Hey, take a look at this," Cameron said, from just inside the cave's entrance. She shone a light from her eva suit at the rock. "Is it me or does this look like it's been chiseled into the rock?"

Radak stepped closer to get a better look.

Cameron's light shone on a series of badly eroded marks in the cave wall. The first looked like it could resemble a humanoid standing upright, another showed another humanoid laying on its side and at its head was a strange large round creature with what looked like a very large mouth whose jaws were ready to snap. "The creature inside might not have put a sign out, but the... locals might have," she suggested.

Radak held up his tricorder and scanned the images with it. "Interesting. Let's not linger though. Would you please also record the images?" he requested. "It might be good to return here and try for some samples from the creature, although we should try and stay off the menu." He backed away from the cave entrance again. "Chief," Radak said to Gabe. "I think I've changed my mind. You should pick the next one.

Gabe snorted in his helmet and he lifted his boot. "I probably still got a sample in the tread of my boots. Just saying Commander." He paused as he lifted a boot and looked then turned left. "When in doubt go over yonder. Can never be wrong when you go yonder."

"Yonder?" Radak asked. "That is a very nonspecific term, Chief."

Gabe paused, turned to look at the Commander and keyed his mic. "Indeed." He then turned again and headed away from the cave down the range.

"We humans have a liking for nonspecific terms Commander," Cameron remarked as she followed on behind Gabe.

Radak followed behind Cameron. "We need to find a place for base camp soon, Chief," he said into the comms. "It will only get colder as we near nighttime." It was already mostly dark on the planet all the time anyway, but it did seem to have a temperature change to indicate day and night.

Gabe grunted. "You're never wrong when you go over yonder. As for base camp, I assure you Commander it is my highest priority. I have no intention of freezing my bal... testicles off on this inhospitable world." Gabe twisted his wrist and looked at the tricorder affixed there. "Hmph, there is a heat source a few hundred meters ahead. Possibly a good place for a base camp if there aren't any inhabitants already."

"A heat source makes me nervous, Chief... we shouldn't be reading any heat sources here," Radak pointed out. "Unless somehow there are inhabitants. I will assume that nothing is impossible."

Gabe grunted "I'm no scientist, Commander, but it might be a natural formation. Geothermal maybe or a hot spring? Either way I agree well go cautiously but it would be a boon if we could find heat without having to expend resources ourselves."

"I agree," Touma said. "Humanoid life is extremely unlikely in any permanent capacity given the drastic climate changes, we should check it out."

"Please, Chief. Take point and we will be right behind you," Radak replied. "Geothermal is preferred. If you should happen to see any form of life, let's try and remain off the radar. We were sent here to collect samples, not initiate first contact."

"Copy that Commander." Gabe proceeded to the caves that were showing signs of heat and disappeared in them. After a few minutes he came back out. "I think this will be an acceptable location Commander. The cave goes back for several dozen meters and opens into a large complex of caverns. I saw no other entry points nor evidence of cave dwellers."

"Seems like a good choice to me," Touma remarked, glad they'd found somewhere useful and somewhere he could finally drop the case of scientific gear he carried. "Lead on, Chief."

Gabe made his way inside and began dropping lights along the perimeter of the cave to give the team illumination. "We can set the shelters up in here and we can get out of these damned suits." He said as he marked out a good perimeter that he could keep an eye on.

"This should do nicely, I think. It's certainly a much more comfortable temperature in here compared to outside," Cameron said, glad they had found somewhere away from the wind and the cold.

"Think the ventilation in the cave would be good enough to have a fire going chief?" Touma asked. "It'd help with light, heat and our spirits."

Gabe looked at the tricorder which gave him limited information due to the deposits in the rocks that were interfering with it. "Best way to find out is to start a fire with smoke and see how the smoke reacts. We might not be able to get a reading of the cave but we can set the tricorders to monitor the levels of carbon-monoxide and warn us should they reach elevated levels."

Radak followed the group into the cave and started his scans of the area. "This is excellent, Chief. Thank you." He started the process of setting up the shelters that they had brought along with them. They weren't hard to set up, but it was a little bit time consuming. The sooner they had them up the better.

Gabe started working on another set of shelters, he really wanted to get out of his EV suit. When the shelter was completed he helped move the equipment the team would need into the shelters and set up a few sensor nets at the entrance to the cave and further inside to give them a warning should something come towards them.

Once everything was set up and the equipment had been checked and was running, Radak looked to the science team. "What all do we need samples of?" He asked, not because he didn't know what the usual list of samples was, but because he wasn't sure if the science team needed anything specific, above and beyond what was normal. He imagined they would take a core sample and collect any samples of flora or fauna they happened across.

"What ever we can get in the time we have." Touma replied. "Flora and fauna, rocks, scans of the local wildlife, that kind of stuff. See if the planet can be useful to the federation"

"We saw signs of a civilisation here at some point in that cave art," Cameron added. "It'd be good if we could find anything more about them."

Radak nodded. "I am interested to see if anyone has managed to inhabit this planet for long. We should split into teams?" He looked around at the group. "We could accomplish more that way, I believe."

"One group should check out the rest of this cave first, don't want any surprises coming into camp from down there," Touma suggested. "The other head back out there."

"I'll take the cave securement mission," Gabe said. "Any of you find officers good with a phaser that could help me clear?"

"I'll go with you chief," Cameron offered. "If we're going to be spending some time in this cave I want to get a good scan of the whole place to see if everything is safe."

"Sounds good Ensign. After we get everything squared away and the second party departs we'll head further inside. Hopefully, all we'll need is your scans and not my trigger finger," Gabe commented as he moved another box into the popup command tent.

"With any luck we shouldn't need to wear these EVA suits down there," Cameron added. "Speaking of the suits, it's warm enough in here we can take them off, but I wouldn't recommend taking off any other layers."

Radak lifted the helmet off of his EVA suit with a sigh of relief. "I am not very good at combat. I think I would be more useful collecting samples or something of that nature. I am willing to put the helmet back on." It seemed like his comment might be a little bit of a joke.

"Then we'll head out together Commander," Touma offered as he also took off his helmet and breathed in the air of this new unexplored world. "After we've finished setting things up here that is."

Radak nodded in confirmation.



OFF:

Lieutenant Commander Radak
Executive Officer

Ltjg Touma Kamijou [npc command]
Science Officer

Scpo Gabriel D'Anconia
Armoury Officer

Ensign Cameron Kore [npc Taliserra]
Medical Officer

 

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