Something Big

Posted on Mon Nov 18th, 2019 @ 8:14pm by Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Ensign Michael Sloan & Lieutenant Commander Lukas Carter & Lieutenant Aurelius Davis & Lieutenant Min Seong & Lieutenant JG Mattias Constantine & Ensign Victoria Jemison

Mission: Mission 2 - Fallout
Location: Bridge, Deck A
Timeline: Day 5, Month 1, Year 0 10:15
1561 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

After the initial shock from the revelation of their location in the galaxy, Michael had been hoping for some good news. He had summoned the Bridge crew once he had received word that Engineering had set up the sensors to be able to better scan for their much needed food and water. He rubbed his right eyebrow as he stood at his station. His almost daze was brought to a halt as the hiss of the turbolift doors revealed a young Engineer.

Ensign Jemison tucked a wisp of her light brown hair behind her ear as she took her first step onto the Bridge. She eyed those around her, clearly not used to being out of Engineering. With a breath to calm herself, Victoria's eyes fell to Beth. "Cap...," she cleared her throat, "Commander Leroux, we have completed the sensor adjustments and we can begin scanning on your orders. Commander Carter will stay in Engineering to make sure we don't burn out anything while I monitor things from the Engineering station." Not knowing if she should ask permission or just sit, she added, "May I take the station?"

Beth looked over at the Engineer who was requesting permission to take her seat. The Office in Charge was sat on the edge of the Captain's chair looking a little strained that she was sat there when she did not want to be. "Permission granted Ensign." Beth indicated that she could take the seat even if she was not sure whether the woman was meant to ask permission or not.

Aurelius had been seated. Forced into his seat by a fussy medical officer was more like it. He wasn't at the helm, just some out of the way console so he could observe and keep an eye on the helm he supposed. Wasn't much he could do to help but offer advice and he was so grumpy at the moment his advice might not be that pleasant. At least he was only mildly in pain now. It was tolerable and only a tad distracting.

Ensign Livingston was stilled stunned by the news of how far they were away from home. He hadn't had anything to eat in hours, but he ignored his stomach, and concentrated on his console, awaiting orders.

"Thank you for joining us, Lieutenant Davis," Beth said gently to the man who looked just like her, wishing he was anywhere but sat there. "I know you would rather be rest so me and the Executive Officer appreciate it." She assured glancing to where the Executive Officer should be stood.

His eyes rose at the acknowledgement. "You're welcome," he mumbled softly.

Having took her seat a few moments ago, the young Ensign had completed the slaving of her console to sensor control. "Beginning scan," Victoria announced as she pressed the button. She sighed nervously before adding, "The results should be ready momentarily." The engineer kept her eyes glued to the screen as the progress bar inched ever closer to being complete.

Not hoping for much on the first scan, Michael still could not help but to sit on the edge of the seat. Any beep was an acknowledgement that they would live. He could not help but hope that he would soon be leading an away team to gather as much water and protein material as they could.

Livingston sat at the helm, starring at the view screen or his nav computer. He started calculating courses in his mind to any of the various objects that were in the area.

Beth decided to people watch as the silence on the Bridge was starting to get to her. It was beyond what she could handle even as a Communication operator, listening through the silence was her thing but this silence was a life or death situation. She looked at one officer than another until she was back looking at the HELM Chief come new Morale Officer. The headache she had been carrying for days was showing on her face as she winced glancing at Aurelius before turning to look at Michael offering a small reassuring smile. This had to work.

Blow after blow had been struck against the crew's morale; it was beginning to seem more of a fool's errand than a worthwhile endeavor to maintain some semblance of optimism. From his position at the comms station, it was easy for Constantine to see the fatigue, both mental and physical, etched into the visage of each and every one of the assembled crew. The omnipresent smile had faded a bit off of Mattias' face, but whether out of youthful stubbornness or outright defiance, the young ensign refused to give in to despair.

The sensors were hard at work. A flurry of electro-magnetic activity forced Constantine to lower the volume of his earpiece. He broke the tense silence with a small quip.

"And just to think, the person who engineered this whole system is sitting down to dinner, completely unaware that we're using his or her design to try and find our own dinner."

It was at the moment of greatest tension when the engineering console chirped that the scan had been completed. Before looking at the results herself, Victoria pressed a few commands that mirrored her station's screen to the main viewer. "We have positively identified both protein matter and water in a large quantity," Victoria read out, relief coming out in her voice. She tried to get a better picture of the system, but the purple haze around them had obscured it from their navigational scans until the new sensor sweep.

Shaking her head slightly, Victoria added, "I can't clean it up any more. It is only half of a light-year away. It's a binary system, sensors can't distinguish much with the nebula and radiation from the stars." She looked to the Beth, it was not her place to decide what their next step was but she wanted to go investigate.

"Looks like we'll have to get a little closer to take a peek," Michael stated. They would be there in two days if they left at Warp 4, quicker if they pushed it to Warp 5. "I don't see that we have much of a choice," he looked over to Beth. "Your orders?"

Ben, sitting at the helm station, spoke up. "To reach the target coordinates, it would take us 2.8 days at warp 4, 2 days at warp 4.5 and 1.46 days at warp 5, commander."

"At least there's not a whole lot of supernova activity involved," came the voice from the blonde at the science station. The young Samantha Bray looked up and squinted at the viewscreen, squinting without her glasses on. "Science sweeps indicate there isn't much in our way either."

Beth looked at everyone waiting for her and smiled a little. It was the best and only hit they had, had. They had no choice but to take it and make a choice from there. "Hit it at warp 4 HELM." They had needs but they also could not waste the fuel they had otherwise that would be the next thing they were searching for.

"Warp 4, aye." Ben pressed the controls and the ship jumped to warp 1, then continued until they the ship hit warp 4. "On course, at warp 4."

"We're off to see the wizard," Aurelius whispered in a sing-song voice, pretty sure that most people hadn't heard him, only those who were very close. But what did he care if people thought he was nuts? They hadn't just gone through what he had.

Glancing at Aurelius, Michael shook his head silently. He quickly turned his attention to Beth and said, "I recommend bringing us to Tactical Alert. We don't know what's out there." His hand hovered over the command, waiting for confirmation.

"Recommendation agreed with." The Officer in Charge agreed with quietly as she looked at the screen as the purple finally gave way to a screen filled with black with white spots again. It was the most beautiful thing she had seen in a long time and the woman had seen things that most people could only dream of. "I would hate for anyone to interrupt our search for coffee now that we are out of the nebula Commander."

"We can't have that, ma'am," Michael added in a lame attempt at humor. He pressed a few buttons that brought the ship to Tactical alert. While visually nothing changed, a slight warning klaxon sounded as the crew was ordered to stations and the ship's defensive systems were beginning to charge so the weapons and polarized hull would be ready when called upon.

"Coffee . . ." Aurelius said longingly. How he missed that. And bacon. Honestly, if it hadn't been for his conversation with the Commander he'd probably have already given up. But she'd suggested a job, and he couldn't exactly let her down.

"With any luck, maybe we'll find a coffee substitute for everyone." Ben looked around to see what the others reactions were.

OFF::

Commander Bethsabee Leroux
Officer In Charge/Chief Communications Officer
NX Atlantis

Lt. Commander Michael Sloan
Acting First Officer
NX Atlantis

Lt. Commander Lukas Carter
Chief Engineer
NX Atlantis

Lieutenant Aurelius Davis
Guy in Limbo
NX Atlantis

Ensign Mattias Constantine
Communications Officer
NX Atlantis

Ensign Samantha Bray
Science Officer
NX Atlantis

Ensign Benedict Livingston
Helmsman
NX Atlantis