Arrival

Posted on Tue Mar 6th, 2018 @ 5:03pm by Captain Michelle Bartlett & Commander Rostra Tang & Lieutenant Valeria Mordin & Lieutenant JG Sandra Garcia & Ensign Laro Adel

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/4
Location: Bridge

Garcia was at Ops, carrying out sensor sweeps. "I've uploaded the last of the programming to the probe, Lieutenant. It should be ready once the order's given to launch."

"Excellent." Valeria gave Garcia a nod from her science station, before checking the timing and the location and giving another nod, "Launch probe in three, two, one, launch."

"Commander, we should be at our coordinates in approximately 10 minutes."

"I have to admit, I'm as curious to see what this disturbance is as anyone else." Rostra admitted with no hidden enthusiasm. Mission adviser, dessert diplomat, Rostra was many things. At her hearts, though, she was a Dalacari, and they embodied curiosity.

"Probe is launched, ma'am." Garcia said as the display came up. So far the readings confirm what the other ship found... We may need to get closer though."

Michelle arrived on the bridge at that point, heading towards her seat. "Not to sound like a toddler, but... Are we there yet?" she asked.

Rostra gave Michelle a glance, "Dia as my witness, I will pull this starship over." she chided, but in the tone that only old friends could get away with. A pair of smiles later, Rostra stood, "The center chair is your's. It's awkward to just have one seat." she motioned to the central chair.

"We'll be..."

"... arriving shortly. The scanner probe was just recently launched. ETA in about eight minutes." a pause, "Eight of your minutes."

Michelle chuckled as she took her seat. "Well I guess then we can wait." she added. "The ship that reported the distortion was on another world nearby surveying some ruins of a settlement that appears to have been there at least 400 years ago. They simply vanished and nobody knows why. Given that the area was in the Koldaran sphere of influence, it seems rather strange they never pursued any further research or study of it."

"Koldaran curiosity never lasted very long. They were conquerors before they were warmonger merchants. They took what they needed from other civilizations and let the rest burn." Valeria commented. "Deep investigation was never their strong point. If the number three was involved in any way, the Cho'Tegra would never leave it alone. THEY had more curiosity than the Koldaran."

"That's a terrifying thought." Michelle said. "I certainly wouldn't mind stopping off at one of those worlds if the study permits us. I've always been fascinated by ancient ruins. Especially ones that are mostly intact. How did an entire group just vanish?" she asked. "Do we really want to know, even?"

To say that Rostra's mood changed was an understatement. Her entire posture changed. "Of course we want to know." she said, like it was the silliest thing in the world to even consider. Not indulging curiosity? Pshaw...

"The Dalacari tendency towards curiosity is rightly deserved." Valeria said, which put Rostra a little at ease. Rostra picked up the thought, "Sorry, just got a little carried away. I for one am looking very much forward to this."

"I've never been to this part of the sector before, so all this is new." and with that, Rostra took her seats, and was glued to the screen before them.

"Data from the probes is coming back now." Valeria commented as the probes reported back. "Well, it's not a gravity trap. That much I can confirm."

"Does the data give any hint as to what it might be?" Michelle asked. Now she was entirely perplexed by this. What on earth was tricking everyone's sensors so badly that they were unable to offer any kind of explanation?

It was easy to tell when something got Valeria's attention. She had two big ole' ears that loved to say what she was thinking half the time. In this case, they slowly rose up to their full length, "This is interesting. These readings indicate a curvature. An area of space that's being obscured, or simply just an area that's been removed or moved elsewhere. I'm not saying that it's some form of gate or a wormhole in and of itself. It's more..." she paused to think of the proper terms.

"When a wormhole opens, it pushes normal space aside to make room for the actual hole. This space here is acting like that, like space has been moved or curved. If there's anything IN that eclipse, we can't detect it yet." another pause, another read, "Though I can say with certainty, it's safe to at least approach."

"Slow to impulse, set course for the larger of the distortions. Take it nice and slow"

"Aye, aye." Calypso slid a finger down the speed dial to slow the ship from light speed, the starts reverting to pinpricks rather than streaks of light, then the viewscreen on her console adjusted as she realigned the ship towards the largest sensor distortion, angling just outside the edge of it to avoid a collision... Just in case. "Estimated zero-range intercept, twenty-five minutes, Cap'n."

"Proceed." Michelle called out before turning back to Rostra "Don't get me wrong, by the way... Of course the answer is I want to know. Once we get this all sorted out and get some readings, I wouldn't mind taking a science team down to that other planet to see what happened. There's something about old ruins that actually sort of excites me, as I was mentioning. I remember one of my first assignments we were on this abandoned colony that had been simply just up and vacated years ago. Nobody quite knew how or why or what happened at that point but I walked into one of the houses and their clothing was still laid out for them ready to be worn... Bottles of some sort of beverage on the table. They intended to come back. And yet they never did."

"I'd be careful about that, ma'am." Cally said quietly, then glanced back, "Gravitational distortions can make that sort of thing a bit funny, especially shuttle flights, though I suppose the transporters are working again, right?"

"They should be." Michelle replied. "I don't plan on beaming down just yet though until I know what these distortions are."

Rostra heard more of Michelle's history than the current exchange. "That actually sounds fascinating. Going on those sorts of projects is a dream. As a college project my entire class had the chance to actually study ancient..."

"... relics and locations of our primitive ancestors. Back when we were brutal and savage folk, hunted with claws and spears and teeth."

Valeria gave a nod, "Our ancestors are usually far more brutish and cruel then we ever are today."

"Oh so were ours." Michelle replied. "It wasn't even 500 years ago, we fought over land and divided a continent of people amongst ourselves without any regard for borders or tribes that were in place. We were doing this to our own people."

Rostra gave a pair of nods, "You know, it's when we look back at our own history that we really start asking 'How did we make it as a people' and 'Why would we do that'." she paused for a moment. Probably to collect her thoughts. Or just remembering her history lessons.

"As pleasant a stroll down memory lane as this sounds..." Valeria broke the ice, "Scanner results still inconclusive. I still have confidence in my theory, a spacial fold of some form. Though for it to be sustained this long, I have to voice the concern that it didn't occur naturally."

"Ma'ams, I recommend we make an orbit even further out than originally planned, spatial folds make me a bit concerned for the ship, especially if they may be a bit unpredictable... And I'm the crazy pilot, mind you." Cally stated from the helm, already keying in her proposed course correction, anticipating approval and being ready to hit the 'execute' command.

"I believe I speak for us all when I commend your dedication to our safety." Rostra said with a giggle. Though technically it was now officially Michelle's bridge. "And I'd hardly call you crazy."

"Light to moderate recklessness, easy." her twin piped in.

"Agreed. Orbit as far as you deem necessary." Michelle replied before turning to Valeria. "I tend to agree with your assessment on the unnatural occurrence bit. We're going to have to take a bit more of a peek. Just as long as we do it safely. Launch the next probe when ready."

"Prepping a three-probe orbital around the target. They'll be set to scan and transmit, so no blind spots. In about four hours, one of the probes will dive into the anomaly and transmit up until the very end." Valeria detailed as she set each probe. Tap, tap, and tap went the console launching the three probes in series. "They'll achieve full equilateral orbit in ten minutes."

"Keep an eye on it. Ms. Garcia Transmit all sensor data to Ms. Mordin's station." she added, sitting down.

END