Croatan

Posted on Mon Mar 11th, 2019 @ 5:42pm by Fleet Admiral Donatella Figueroa & Commander K'Niras Sh'howul & Lieutenant Kate Jackson

Mission: S01E04 The Outpost Has Eyes
Location: USS Musashi | Deck 6 | Briefing Room

With the room calm once more, Captain Figueroa cut straight the matter at hand. "Croatan," said the Commanding Officer of the USS Musashi aloud as she let the word slice through the silence like a well maintained blade slicing through flesh. Her pronunciation was crisp and clear, but the ship's internal universal translator would not be able to help their ears. It had a meaning at one point to one of Earth's ancient indigenous languages, but the meaning was centuries lost. "Anyone?" she asked to room of officers.

Kate raised her hand. "I had this in history class when I was younger. Croatan or croatoan was in connection with the missing colony in colonial history of America. No one ever found the missing colonists, but they did find croatan written. Well, something like that. It's been a while."

"Six hundred and sixty six years give or take some months," replied Fig. "And if that number isn't foreboding enough for those of you who know Earth History. If Commander Samuels were here, he would undoubtedly be splashing us to high heavens with holy water," she said almost teasingly. She would have laughed if not for the seriousness of this mission.

The Captain pressed onward, standing up from her seat and picking up a rectangular yellow data card from the table, and proceeded to walk behind several of the seated crew towards a console on the wall. It had a slot in which she inserted the data card. "Ladies and gentlemen, what you are about to hear may be disturbing," she warned them before playing the noise.

At first it was just static like a terrible interference on a communications channel, but then screams. Several voices could be heard just screaming and sobbing. Blood curdling screaming from what sounded like children before everything came to an abrupt stop... dead silence. End of the transmission. Fig ejected the data card. "What you heard were the last sounds of human life on Boradis III, one of our colonies on the frontier."

"It doesn't sound like anything good happened," K'Niras said, stating the obvious.

Captain Figueroa grabbed for her seat and pulled the chair back, planting herself comfortably back into it and sat the audio data card on the table. "Each of you has been given a tablet of data regarding the planet of Boradis III. As you can see the colony placed there has not bee there for very long. We were only just starting to have families start there... children," she took a deep breath and shook her head.

"The planet still exists, a Federation probe confirmed as much, but there were no life signs that we detected," she said grimly. "We're the closest Federation starship that can be spared at the moment. I want to know what could cause a Federation colony to disappear like this."

K'Niras laid his ears back and scratched idly at his chin and throat in thought. "Attack? The Federation isn't short on enemies as of late. It's even possible that they were destroyed from space. Several species are capable of that. Right?" He looked around the table.

EJ sat listening to the briefing. The hangover had finally kicked in and he was feeling awful. Grief did this to him. The bottle of Jack still lay on his quarters' floor, the trashed jeans from the bar fight also still in a tatter on his floor. His eyes peaked and he was now fully at attention. "That does not sound good," he said in a rough and croaky voice. His heart sank at the mention of the families. "Poor little mites," he said in a heart dropping tone of voice full of remorse, sadness and regret. The corner of the young ensign's eye produced a tear and he turned away from the group, so as to not make a spectacle his own grief and loss still very fresh in the wound.

Fig nodded at EJ's response. She too was feeling emotional inside, but as a starship Captain and an officer in Starfleet she had to keep her emotions in check right now. She could not let herself be compromised. "You're right, Ensign," she said directly at Ensign O'Donoghue. "Those poor mites were crying and screaming. Something frightened them... and whatever that boogeyman was, we need to find out."

"Number One, you're correct. The Federation has plenty of enemies as of late, and any number of them could be responsible. I don't know what we will find when we reach the Boradis system, but we need to be on high alert in doing so. There's no life signs on the planet... that can mean several things, but we may very well need to be prepared for the worst which means bodies."

K'Niras nodded. "Or a giant crater..." He sighed. "We should be on high alert, Captain. Whatever did this might still be lurking in the area. How long ago was the transmission sent?" he asked.

'Approximately twelve hours ago," replied Captain Figueroa. She then looked at her helmsmen. "And if we push the engines to their limits... ignore the half a dozen red lights we set off, we can probably make it to Boradis III in what... six hours, EJ?" she asked with a small wink at her helmsman.

EJ looked to the captain. "If I can have a look at the engines and the systems, I may be able to shift some energy so we can get maximum speed without stripping her down too much," he said, looking around the room. "Should I get the tweeks right, we should be able make it there in about 4.5 to 5 hours. Should be able to shave an hour off our time providing my tweeks go to plan. I may need the help of an engineer, but otherwise I can get straight on it, Captain," he said, smiling with all due course. He just wanted to be working hard to get himself out of his feelings.

"EJ, you have two hours and thirty minutes to do whatever you need to do," Fig said directly to the ensign. The Captain looked at K'Niras, giving him a nod to let EJ have a wide berth. "I want this ship ready to go to warp then. Not a second later," she said firmly. "In the meantime, I suggest we all prepare what we need to. Sickbay needs to be ready, security personnel prepared, weapons and equipment charged and ready to go."

EJ stood and looked at the captain. "Understood, I'll get right to these upgrades," he said, waiting for the go ahead to leave the meeting. "I'll have us in the air in no time, Captain," he said, smiling at her.

"Excellent," replied the Captain. "Lieutenant K'Niras and I will be deciding on the landing party for this mission. We will keep you each informed. I have some ideas but that may change as we near the planet. For the time being, everyone should prepare. Lieutenant Jackson, I want you to access everything we have on Boradis III."

"Yes, Captain," Kate acknowledged the orders.

Captain Figueroa then looked at the blue haired nurse. "Aeryn, see if you can get access to Federation personnel files and psychological records. Skim through them. I want to have a fair understanding of the men and women who lived on that colony," instructed the Captain.

Fig stood up from her seat. "Briefing adjourned" she said sharply.