Starbase 152 (Part 1 of 3)

Posted on 29 May 2012 @ 10:55am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Lieutenant JG Kestra Orexil & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Lieutenant Commander Chauncey Remington III (KIA) & Lieutenant Commander Evelyn Coleman & Lieutenant Kiri Cho & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Lieutenant Commander Pola Ni Dhuinn M.D.

2,573 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Bridge, Conference Room
Timeline: MD 07 - 1400 hrs

[ON]

With a flash of white light and a silver blur, Galileo exited warp in Sector 032 and snapped back to sub-light speeds. The primary deuterium reactors came online and exhaust plasma glowed red hot as her large impulse engine engaged and propelled the tiny starship on her way through the vastness of space. Unlike the emptiness of Sector 009 where SB-234 was located, this particular area of space was colorfully populated with three nearby nebulae and a several bright pulsars in the neighbouring sectors. Ambient red, yellow and green hues illuminated Galileo's hull in one of the most beautiful celestial displays known to the Quadrant. Ahead, was Starbase 152.

Sitting in her chair on the bridge, the captain stroked her chin thoughtfully as she stared through the viewscreen. At first glance, the station appeared tiny from a distance. It was one of the newer Ithaca Class starbases, first constructed in the late 2370s to replace the aging Regula Class research labs, with the primary difference between the two being the improved military and resupply capabilities of the former. Unknown to almost all personnel in Starfleet, Starbase 152 was a top-secret research and development facility equipped with extensive electronic countermeasures and bristling with the latest experimental technology, including Project Sienna. The Orion captain tapped her combadge. "Commander Holliday to the bridge." she said, summoning him to his station despite it still being Alpha shift.

With his shift not due for a few ours yet, John had been busying himself with a little private session on the guitar that he had started learning to play after it had been replicated a few days ago. So far he had managed to master half a dozen chords, and was a little surprised that he had not picked an instrument up before. The call from the Bridge snapped him out of his musical musings after a few seconds, and without a second thought, he left the guitar behind on the docs, and bolted for the door, heading to the turbolift which quickly brought him to the Bridge.
As the doors opened, John dutifully stepped out, straightening his uniform tunic as he made his way towards his usual chair.

"You called Ma'am? Everything proceeding as scheduled?"

"We just arrived at Starbase one-five-two." she said with a nod as she took in his red-collared figure while he took his station. "Are our preparations complete?" she asked, wondering if the various department heads and senior officers had finished their assigned modifications.

"All departments are reporting in as fully operational ma'am...we're good to go as far as I'm aware" He acknowledged, taking a moment before replying to pull up a datascreen on the terminal beside him, mainly to jog his own memory to avoid giving any incorrect information.

The small Nova Class starship cruised gracefully at three-quarters impulse on her way to her destination. Through the viewscreen, the surrounding space looked relatively calm, but Lirha knew that many secrets lurked in the cosmos which weren't visible to the naked eye. She turned back towards the science alcove. "Run a full sensor sweep of the surrounding area." she ordered, a precaution to ensure there were no cloaked visitors around them.

Kiri had started running the scan the moment they dropped out of warp. Taking in the long range scans first, building complete picture of the space around them. There were three large nebulas, each tens of thousands of kilometres across. The first, on the port side was the Z'Tarnis Nebula a Radioactive Sirillium gas nebula, a dull blue, safe but explosive to weapons fire. Ahead on the other side of the Starbase was a purple Vodrey Dichromatic Nebula which had formed around a gravimetric distortion, while quite safe the strong gravity currents would affect sensors. Of the three, it was the only one that wouldn't have a substantial effect on sensors. Finally, on the boarders of Klingon space to Starboard was the Krai'Jih'Na Nebula, a Mutara class. It glowed a greenish blue, completely blinding sensors and disabling shields. To her, it seemed like the best possible place to hide.

As well as the nebulas there were two pulsars, one dying star and several minor gravity distortions. While she already planned to run a complete Multiphasic scan of the area for more details, it would take some time to complete. Trying to dig up some courage for speaking up loud enough she reported quietly, "Sir, there are three large nebulas, one Radioactive Sirillium, one Dichromatic Gravity Well and one Mutara Class. There are also two pulsars that are affecting sensors, that is everything hazardous in the surrounding space. No indication of cloaked vessels yet. The Starbase is emitting massive levels of holographic trace Photons and has high levels of thoron radiation, our sensors cannot penetrate it." She might be able to improve on that later but it would take time.

Interesting, Lirha thought to herself as she silently analysed the young ensign's sensor analysis. A very convenient area of space to be operating in, she mused. With the high level of magnetic interference in the region, there was no way any ship would be able to find their way to the research facility without knowing its precise coordinates.

Placing this information ready for the rest of the crew to use she turned to look over at the Chief Science Officer, "Sir, could I launch four class two probes to act as sensor buoys? By setting up a grid I can establish a perimeter and detect any cloaked ships inside it." If she could set one up it would also allow better scans inside the base, even if it was meant to be friendly.

Lirha liked the young ensign's idea and quickly turned her head left towards the science alcove. Seeing that Tarishiana was currently preoccupied with the sensor readouts on her screen, the captain answered in her place. "Very good." she said simply in approval. "Send your configurations to Lieutenant Orexil and deploy the probes when ready. Let's not forget to retrieve them when we depart." she added.

Kiri worked quickly with her idea approved. Setting up a flight plan for the probes as well as their general orders and scanning method. They would be in constant contact and able to share their sensor information. Based on that she hoped that they would be able to pick up on any changes in the area. Those tiny changes should allow for the plotting of cloaked vessels, that was was the plan. With her layout and plan done Kiri turned to check if the Lieutenant was going to come to her or if she should send the information over.

Kestra watched her console, waiting for the information, then glanced up to find the Trill looking at her. Kestra had a wealth of patience for a number of things, but people not being able to remember simple orders was not one of those. Send them. How difficult was that? she thought as she crossed the bridge silently thinking that the time it took was twice that of the data network. She scanned the plotting on Kiri's console, moved one of the course plots a millimeter to the left to allow for a little wider range around the opposite side of the star base, and tapped twice on the console to send the route to the security and operations consoles on the ships. They'd be needed for the pilots of the shuttles. "Good?" she asked the ensign.

Kiri had found herself taking orders from the captain, excitement, pride and fear had shot through her. Once she had completed her work which wasn't simple she had miss filed the orders in her head. Not that she noticed though, the more worrying thing was the black haired security chief that had come right over to her. The girl picked up on the slight infliction, one of annoyance as she nodded and replied, "Yes sir." First her CO, then the doctor and now the security chief, after last night she was starting to think that none of the department heads liked her at all.

Kestra's attention jerked from the console to the girl, drawn by the all-too audible thought. Did she know she was projecting? Regardless, there wasn't time to coddle the girl. "Ready, Captain," Kestra reported from where she was. The girl had to learn to think fast, do what she was told, and keep up if she was going to make it on a Starfleet vessel. Just because this was a research ship didn't mean they could take those protocols less seriously. They had to be even more careful, in Kestra's mind. They had fewer defensive measures, which meant that everyone, especially this ensign whose job it was to keep an eye on their surroundings in addition to the work of her own department, needed to be at their best. Didn't like her? Kestra wondered. She didn't even know her, but she wasn't impressed by the concern over personal impressions getting in the way of the girl's performance. How could Rishi upset anyone? The woman was a marshmallow of sweetness and light. Kestra rested one hand on Kiri's shoulder, squeezed lightly, and returned to her console to finish checking the ship's defenses and read through the reports coming in from her department as they did their last walkthrough.

The delay was just the probes being loaded onto the launch bay. The hand that rested on Kiri's shoulder for a second confused the life out of her. Trying to keep her mind on her job after a sleepless night that was more painful than most. Then there was a complete stranger who she thought was hostile had showed physical affection. It didn't matter right now, she had a job to do. When they were ready, without further delay she launched the probes, one after another. Without anything else from her they flew off to their designated points, already the sensors seemed a little sharper.

As Galileo came within ten million kilometres, Lirha took a deep breath. The time had finally come to complete the intricate task of loading up the research, personnel and hardware. "Take us in on straight approach, Lieutenant. Establish a standard orbit of the station." she said to the conn, then waited several moments as she prepared to transmit her classified security codes on her keypad. "Open a secure data link with the station, no comms." she instructed. Subspace communications silence with the station had to be maintained, therefore the only way to communicate with SB-152's personnel was through the secure Starfleet uplink.

Dea nodded inputting the proper data into the main flight control console on Galileo's bridge. "Aye Ma'am straight approach has been established. We're entering a standard orbit of SB-152." Quickly double checking the data on her console to ensure nothing had been missed.

Lirha glanced through the viewscreen as she watched the Trill helmsman slowly manoeuvre her small ship alongside the large superstructure. Once she established the proper distance, they matched the station's axis rotation and established a soft dock.

Remington contacted the starbase using the secure uplink and when he received confirmation, he announced it to the bridge. "Captain, we have a secure channel with the Starbase, putting it onscreen."

The viewscreen blinked and a young-looking Vulcan Starfleet admiral appeared on the monitor. With pale skin and dark hair and eyes, she stared emotionless into the screen, her eyes locked onto the Orion captain. "Commander Saalm, you are late." she said simply.

Lirha nodded as she stood from her chair, pulling on her uniform jacket to straighten the wrinkles. She cleared her throat before answering, looking back into the Vulcan's eyes. "Yes, Admiral, we suffered a malfunction in one of our nacelles and had to take the warp drive offline to conduct repairs. I apologize for the delay." she said in a respectful manner. The captain hoped their tardy arrival hadn't impacted their mission, as she had done her best to finish repairs and get Galileo back on schedule to the best of her abilities.

"We have been waiting over a week for our resupply ship to arrive, but my records show it was to be USS Petersham." the starbase commander stated, slightly confused as to the situation. "Are you her replacement?" she inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"No, Admiral," Lirha began as she glanced nervously at her XO, unsure of how much the admiral had been informed of the situation. She had been briefed at Starbase 234 about the on-going communications silence with Starbase 152, but she was unsure how much she needed to explain. With the rest of the bridge crew currently privy to the content of their current conversation, she decided that it would perhaps be best to speak in private, perhaps in person. "I'm here under classified orders from Starfleet Command." she answered. "I'm transmitting the details now." she added, then leaned over and tapped a button sequence into her chair's arm console. As the data was transmitted through the secure uplink to the admiral's terminal, Lirha watched as the Vulcan woman reviewed the contents of her secret assignment.

Several long moments passed and Lirha paced back and forth in a tight circle, waiting for confirmation to begin the next phase of her mission. Finally, the station commander straightened herself in her chair and nodded to the captain. "You may proceed, Captain." she said in a monotone voice with betrayed no sign of emotion. "I will need time to inform the station's personnel of your arrival. You will find that your transporters are unable to operate in the vicinity of the starbase, nor are we authorized to allow you to hard dock." she informed her, citing the classified protocols of the top-secret research facility. "I hope you have made alternate preparations."

Lirha nodded in reply. "Yes, our shuttlebay is standing by to transfer all required personnel and equipment." she answered. "We will wait for your signal to launch."

"Understood." came the curt reply, followed by a final glimpse of the red-collared admiral before the screen blinked and reverted back to an orbiting view of the starbase.

Letting out a mental sigh, the captain tapped her combadge as she looked around the bridge. "All senior officers report to the conference room." she said, summoning her department heads from various parts of the ship in order to brief them on the upcoming evacuation. Grabbing a PADD from a sleeve in the side of her chair, she walked around the side ramp of the bridge and stepped into the mid-sized briefing room where she walked next to the wall monitor and stood, patiently waiting for the rest of her crew to join her.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CMDR Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lt Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Kestra Orexil
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Evelyn Coleman
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Pola Ni Dhuinn
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Chief Warrant Officer Markum Quinn
Chief Engineer
USS Galileo

ENS Kiri Cho
Science Officer/Sensor Specialist
USS Galileo

Lt. Cmdr. Chauncey William Remington III
Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Dea Mialin
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

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