The Eyes of The Night

Posted on Wed Jul 31st, 2019 @ 4:32pm by Fleet Admiral Donatella Figueroa & Commander K'Niras Sh'howul

Mission: S01E04 The Outpost Has Eyes

There she was, the USS Musashi once again in orbit of the planet where Ensign Ethan O'Donoghue had been last seen, where a Federation colony had once stood, struck down by some unknown force and left with few survivors, pockets of radiation, and scorched soil. The Federation Ares class starship remained at alert condition yellow... weapons on standby and shields raised with suspicion and anxiety among the Captain and crew. It had been nearly thirty long minutes that Captain Figueroa signaled for the change in alert condition and readiness, elevated due to the presence of another starship, one not bearing a Federation warp signature, and yet not bearing any signature the Federation was aware of; This starship was of unknown origin.

"Try them again," said Captain Figueroa. She looked at the young Trill for any indication that he was receiving anything from her attempt at hailing. Donatella had surrendered the helmsman's chair to a relief officer as she settled back into her primary duties as Commanding Officer; However, sitting in the Captain's chair was not going to happen. She was on edge and standing near her chair studying the main viewer. The other starship was impressive. It looked as though it was designed for combat or at the very least was designed with defense in mind.

Cornet Jakku shook his head when his gaze was met with the Captain's own. "Sorry Captain, but either they cannot understand us or they have no interest in talking to us right now," he reported to her. "It is just silence... dead silence. They have made no attempts to answer our hails nor send any of their own," he added.

She crossed her arms as she studied the starship on the main viewer. "That hull looks like it has a tint of green to whatever alloys they've used for construction. Could it be Romulan?" she pondered aloud. It had been so long since a Federation starship had encountered a vessel of the Romulan Star Empire. They once had a war with them before the Federation was founded, but even then nobody lived to see what a Romulan looked like and the Federation had very little in the way of reliable intelligence about current Romulan designs and technology.

The young Trill shook his head "If they are Romulan, they haven't responded to us and I've just tried every Romulan greeting we confidently have in our language databanks. I wouldn't want to try anything further than that... it's not like the UT is all that accurate in their language," he added. "I don't think they are Romulan, Captain," noted Jakku. "Just doesn't have the angles and design of anything the Federation has on record," noted the Trill.

Fig had to admit that he had made several valid points. "Why haven't they done anything... they are just sitting there, undamaged, and scanned us at least once," she said as the doors to the bridge slid open and two individuals soon joined her on the Bridge; Admiral Essex had come to man the Science Officer's bridge station, and Lieutenant K'Niras Sh'howul had been summoned at Fig's request.

She acknowledged them both simultaneously. "Gentlemen," she said with a nod. "Meet unknown starship. They have scanned us once, appear to be at what I'd consider a yellow alert condition with shields raised, but they have not responded to our hails nor made any attempts at contacting us."

K'Niras stared at the viewscreen. He'd never seen anything quite like the ship sitting there. "It sort of looks like a tick..." he said, observantly. The Caitian stepped towards the nearest available console. His fingers tapped across the surface of the console and he frowned, his ears laying back slightly. "That is a very strange ship, Captain. I'm getting readings off the hull... I can't explain..." His tail swished back and forth behind him as he focused.

"Very strange, Number One," replied Fig. "As alien as I've seen in a very long time," she added.

Essex had taken the science station. His hands flew over the console and then he leaned into the viewer glasses. "To quote a Vulcan," he said straightening, "Fascinating. The scan they used for us is akin to a level two sensory sweep. I note that we haven't done the same. Perhaps, if they are unknown by language if we initiate the same scan it would show that we too have the same interest in them. They do outgun us just a tad though." He looked at the captain. "I have masked a level three scan as a level two, might give us some more info and their shield harmonics as a just in case."

Fig contemplated the action. It was true that this alien vessel had scanned them already, to do so in return should have been anticipated and not ill-received; However, she did not want to do anything to cause an immediate confrontation of the aggressive nature. She looked at Essex. "Scan them, and see what you can do about life signs. I want to know how many are aboard... and more importantly, scan for a human life sign," she directed with the thought that perhaps her missing helmsman was aboard the alien starship, and if he was, they may have just come across who was responsible for the destruction of the colony.

Essex turned the little lever that would send his viewer glasses into another level of scanning. There he would be able to see the scan results. He tapped a few buttons. "Initiating scan." He pressed his eyes to the long tube like glasses relishing their cool feel on this skin. It had been ages since he'd taken this post and this heart hammered with excitement. He loved command, loved his rank, but he missed being an officer just like anyone else. It wasn't long before the preliminary scans came in. "Shield harmonics are much like our own but... a bit stronger. I'm reading seventy eight life signs that are alien and... one human life sign!" He straightened. "I'm narrowing the band to confirm one hundred percent that it is him from his medical scans but my educated guess is that it's him."

Captain Donatella Figueroa arose from her seat and nodded in agreement. All indicators lead me to believe it, she thought to herself. "I would bet my left nut on it, Admiral, if rumors were true and I actually had any to bet," commented the Captain. Of course, she would want firm confirmation that it was EJ, but the odds were good. "EJ went missing from the planet's surface, a planet that was home to Federation colonists. I may not have the evidence to support my theory yet, but I do suspect we are face to face with the attackers of the planet and the abductors of Ensign O'Donoghue."

Essex agreed with her. This had to be the missing crew member. "Fascinating. The computer has digested the scans. It seems... this ship has organic components." He sighed. "I've managed to get a deep scan so the computer will confirm your missing crew member's bio signs are a match... in a few moments."

"Confirmation or not, Michael," she said to Essex, not dealing with addressing him as Admiral given the situation. "They have not responded to any of our hails. They just continue to sit there examining us... or seizing us up," she added with a discomfort towards the later slowly sinking in. "They showed no regard for the lives of the Federation colonists down there on the planet's surface. They laid waste to it and tainted the air, ruined the soil, and practically annihilated the colonists. It was an act of extermination."

"I now have full confirmation. It is Ensign O'Donoghue. We do, however, have a problem. They outgun us... or have the possibility to. Their weapons... they have a phase sequencing that if fired could interfere with our dilithium crystals. I'm still getting readings on that. I should have the results in a few moments, Captain."

No sooner had the words left the Admiral's lips did the USS Musashi start to feel the power of those weapons. The starship's shield held for the time being, but one well placed shot by the alien vessel had sent Captain Donatella Figueroa, who had been standing at the time, staggering towards a station. She braced herself and kept herself upright. "That stalemate did not last nearly long enough," she said aloud.

"Captain!" shouted Cornet Jakku from the Communications station. "They are finally responding to us," he reported.

"Yes, I know. I just felt it, Mister Jakku," replied Fig, debating internally as to whether or not she should fire back. Our weapons can damage them, but not before we are demolished by theirs, she thought. "Helm, reverse course full impulse," she ordered the helmsperson. Captain Figueroa was not going to tuck tail and run, but she was going to yield to the alien vessel's power and strength.

Jakku cleared his throat. "Captain, I didn't mean like that. They responded with a transmission... text-only," he reported. "I'm doing my best to decipher it, but it's not anything I've ever seen," he added.

The alien vessel didn't fire another shot. Apparently, giving them some space was the correct decision, at least for the moment. Captain Figueroa joined Jakku at his station. The symbols... letters... whatever they were that had been sent in the transmission were as alien-looking as the vessel. "Keep working at finding a translation algorithm," she ordered.

"Well, this is an exciting ship," Michael muttered. "I assume their phasers were set to friendly, cause if they hit us with what's reading out there, we'd be dead in the water."

Fig nodded in agreement. "A little cage-rattling, but no worse for wear," she replied to Michael Essex. "Minor injuries reported, nothing serious. I would be inclined to say we shoulder consider that a shot across the bow with their punch being pulled," she added shaking her head. I just want my damn crew member back and some answers, she thought to herself.

"Corporate," said Jakku breaking into the chatter. "This word here," he said to Fig, pointing to the screen. "I translated it to a Trill word that is about unity, but it's not a loose word. There's depth to it and conditions, the UT says the Federation Standard equivalent is 'corporate' and this one here 'pest' and here 'control'," reported Jakku.

"Corporate. Pest. Control," repeated Captain Figueroa, word after word. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? They are exterminators?" She looked at K'Niras and then at Admiral Michael Essex.

Michael shrugged. His guess was as good as hers. "Maybe we're the pests to them and they are trying to control us?" He thought a moment. "Or maybe they are here to help us with a bed bug problem?" He saw the look on the captain's face and laughed. "Sorry... had to go there. Seriously though... this space is uncharted. Maybe, they are the guardians, the patrol and we've encroached on their space? I can work with coms to see if we can get a clearer translation."

She dismissed his unnecessary apology. "No, you have a point. We might be 'the pests' they are referring to. If they are responsible for what happened to the colony, then perhaps the colonists were viewed as pests. It was extermination, to put it mildly. They almost killed everyone on that planet, and the few that did survive will have medical complications for years to come."

The Captain shook her head. "I just need a basic language with these people. They need to know we are NOT PESTS, and they will be held accountable for the death of those colonists, but let's start with release my damn crewmember or I'll bring your vessel down," she said in a low growl. She looked at her Chief Engineer. "Find me their weakness. I need something to exploit."

"I'm sure working on it, Captain," the Caitian replied. "Essex isn't kidding, those weapons are serious. I'm not sure we can take them down. Not yet anyway. Their shields seems rather immune to most things..." He was shaking his head, his ears laid back in his displeasure, but he did not stop looking.

Options were limited. Fig looked to her Chief Engineer "How well would their shields hold up against a Federation Ares class starship firing everything it has at them on a collision course right into their vessel?" asked Fig, not missing a beat. "What's your Engineering assessment of that, Lieutenant?"

"I think that would be suicide," he said calmly, his ears raising again and his tail lashing back and forth. "Captain, I want the ensign back as well, but not at the cost of the rest of the crew. I'm not even sure, that if they hit us with the weapon that Essex was talking about that we would still be able to fire on them at all. Caution... and patience is needed and warranted," K'Niras said calmly. He didn't want to make Fig mad at him, but he felt that these things needed to be said and he was the Executive Officer. It was his job to say them.

"No, Lieutenant," replied Captain Donatella Figueroa swiftly as she dismissed the Caitian's concern. She could hear it in his tone and read it on his facial expressions, underneath that fur; the twitching of his whiskers and the wide-eyed expression of alarm was a telltale sign that he was preparing for one of those crazy maneuvers, the gutsy calls that men like Captain Kelvar Leonard Garth or Christopher Richard Pike would make. The insanity that she herself would have made once upon a time.

Fig shook her head and placed a gentle reassuring hand upon her Chief Engineer's shoulder. He was her Executive Officer and he was doing both jobs well. Fig gestured towards the communications console. "Not too long ago, before you... before many of you came aboard, there sat Lieutenant T'Shar. She was a communications officer and in times of great need, my moral compass. Something T'Shar used to remind me of was, 'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one', to which I thought I understood. I convinced myself that I did, until some of my crew were taken by the Klingons and I mounted a half-cocked scheme to get them back. It failed. I failed, and instead of rescuing my crew, I became a hostage and added to my captor's body count."

The Captain took a brief pause and a deep inhale. Her exhale was shaky as she tried to calm herself. "My crew wasn't about to let me die. More lives were lost trying to save me and the others. Lieutenant T'Shar was one of the many fatalities. Her death serves as a reminder that I cannot place the lives of my entire crew at risk for Ensin O'Donoghue, no matter how much that hurts me to make that decision," noted Fig. "Do not worry about counting how many lives you have left, Lieutenant," she said to her Chief Engineer. "I do not intend to plow us into that vessel with all of us aboard. I will not commit a suicide mission for one missing crew member, but I sure the hell will not leave him there."

A smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. "I'd order a mass evacuation of all crew and place the Musashi on autopilot with a programmed collision course, and have her self-destruct activated, for reassurance. If that doesn't take down their damn shields, I don't know what will," she continued. "And don't worry about me. I have no intention of being aboard this starship. I'm a mother now, and no child deserves to be raised by their mother's tormentor and rapist. I will not allow that nor any other Klingon raise my son."

K'Niras was still frowning. "You... blow up the ship?" It was almost beyond what he could even consider. "Captain, we... sort of need the ship. We live here..."

"Yes, we do," she said to K'Niras. "But we may need to evacuate our home. Use your engineering prowess and give me your assessment of that vessel. I need to know where it is most vulnerable structurally, Lieutenant."

"I'm working on that. They are using modulating shields. I don't know how they're doing that, but that's beside the point. There is about a one second time delay between modulations... if the timing was precise... maybe?"

Fig looked at Jakku. "Mister Jakku, stand by for shipwide evacuations." I had better make a Captain's log for official records she thought as she headed down to her Captain's chair.