SET 021: 2389 BP3 Asteroid Survey
Posted on 31 Jul 2013 @ 9:35am by Raifi Zaren & Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeroen Adlar & Vincent Kramer Ph.D.
Edited on on 02 Aug 2013 @ 9:32am
1,207 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: 2389 BP3 - Shuttlecraft Virginia
Timeline: MD10 1230 Hours
ON:
Liyar was the first to appear in the shuttlebay this time, and he boarded the Virginia, flight plan in hand. There wasn't much of a plan. There was a single asteroid they were to survey, and it was almost entirely unremarkable, at least according to sensor scans. Maybe they would find some resource deposits, but he doubted it. The asteroid was not large enough. Liyar slid into the pilot's seat and began the customary system's checks, ensuring the shuttle was a go by the time the next teammembers arrived.
Jeroen smiled as he walked into the shuttle bay, his hair tied back from his face, the slight beard neatly trimmed. He got into the shuttle, hearing movements there and nodded to Liyar. "A good day for flying," he said, to start some sort of conversation.
Liyar glanced at Jeroen Adlar, unimpressed by this attempt at small talk. He was not in the mood for small talk, he wanted to stick a hypospray in his neck and sleep for the next ten hours. But instead he was, to his own shock, assigned to lead an away mission. To survey a rock. A rock floating in space. A rock, floating in space, of absolutely no value. Life just got better and better. Liyar's lips made a small moue and he tried to reply, "It is space, Mr. Adlar. Every day is the same. Please take your seat."
Dr. Kramer stepped into the shuttle with a case in one hand and a sandwich in the other. "Hi guys. Sorry if I'm late." Setting the case down he added, "I was thinking this was supposed to happen after lunch." He sat down at one of the rear consoles and checked out its access with only one hand. The good doctor continued to eat with one hand and review the data with the other.
"Don't worry," Jeroen said, glad that someone here would be talking. Fair enough, he supposed Liyar had enough on his plate. "I am half surprised anyone from the science department remembered to show up for something not involving alcohol..." he smiled, shaking his head. "Or maybe that is truly just me."
Vincent turned to face Petty Officer, saying in jest, "Say now. I resemble that remark." Hah!
Jeroen laughed warmly, shaking his head. "I bet you do," he said teasingly back, taking a breath. "Who else is tagging along?"
The scientist shrugged his shoulders and looked toward Liyar. "I'm just here to do my thing, and not take attendance."
"We are waiting on one individual, Raifi Zaren. He is with the Federation News Network. I expect that you will all conduct yourselves accordingly," Liyar was only going to say it once. What they chose to do in spite of his words, he didn't care, really. But he wouldn't be held accountable for it. He tapped into the shuttle's control panel and began their preflight sequence, checking the engines, inertial dampeners and structural integrity fields. All checked out.
Now that everyone was aboard, they were good to go. The shuttle lifted up from the ground and in an instant burst out from the Galileo's shuttlebay and into space.
Jeroen looked out, frowning as his mind drifted. He wasn't too comfortable with this. Maybe it was because he was so tired.
A few minutes later, Liyar parked their shuttle just beside the asteroid they were meant to be taking scans of. He activated the sensor scanners on everyone's terminal and fed in the data to his own, allowing the shuttle to do most of his analyzing and composite scans. He didn't really know much about asteroids, and honestly, he didn't really care.
Vince did his usual thing. Actually, it was almost becoming mundane. With all the planetary, moon, and asteroid surveys taking place, it was becoming such a routine of receiving the data, cross referencing it with other date, determining if there were any flags for items they had been looking for, and then anything . . . ANYTHING interesting or out of the ordinary. Vince sighed hard at the completion. "Okay. Nothing interesting here." He spun around in the chair. "So, who brought refreshments?"
"God, I wish I had," Jeroen said and smiled as he looked over at Vince. He could already tell this was going to be a very boring day if they kept silent.
Sarcastically Vincent replied, "Now, now. Let's not bring in some supreme being into this conversation. Well, that is, unless they can bring in a nice layout of meats and cheeses." He looked about the cabin with a smile, then added, "Where's someone from the Q continuum when you need one?"
"Most likely doing Q stuff..." Jeroen said and smiled weakly, looking around. "Let's take another look and if there's nothing we can head back."
"Good for me." Kramer replied. He reset the sensors and scanned again. After about 10 minutes an indicator light and small chime sounded.
"Hey!" Jeroen smiled as his head jerked up. "That's hopeful..."
Kramer spun around to look at the data coming in. "Well, it appears that we have found an artifact." He did some reanalyzed the object getting coordinates, "It is at bearing 260 mark 12, and it's coming back as refined metal approximately 1 meter in length."
Jeroen moved to his side, frowning slightly. "Judging by the corrosion we are getting off the readings, I am guessing it is of a decent age. Should we beam it over into containment?"
Vincent pursed his lips thinking through the different possible scenarios. He crossed his arms and announced, "Bring the shuttle around for another pass. Let us see if we can get a better determination of what is inside before beaming it inside."
Jeroen chuckled, nodding as the shuttle moved. He looked at the readings, frowning. "Any ideas?"
Kramer spoke up, but did not take his eyes or hands of the display, constantly revising and changing to get new information. "This is very odd. There are no power emissions coming from this object, yet I cannot scan past its surface." He recalled reading in a prior survey about some crystalline form that naturally blocked sensor penetration.
Jeroen nodded, the frown deepening. "It would not be safe to beam it over," he finally said. "But we still need a sample of it. This...could be valuable for the research teams."
Vincent looked over his shoulder at the others with what he thought was a bright idea, "How about, if we just use the tractor beam and tow it back to the Galileo and let them make the determination?" He raised his eyebrows questioning the possibilities and hoping they would see this as a good solution.
"Good idea," Jeroen said and gently hit Vincent's arm, chuckling softly. "Let's get it done. And then go home."
The shuttlecraft Virginia and her crew had completed their expected survey in the asteroid field and returned to the Galileo with a small container in tow via tractor beam. With the ship's sensors and full complement, the artifact's composition and purpose would be quickly determined.
OFF
--
Dr. Vincent Kramer, PhD.
Planetologist
USS Galileo
Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeroen Adlar
Bioengineer
USS Galileo
Raifi Zaren
FNN Journalist
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