Cdr Zareh

Huff is missing!

071211.txt

Huff was gone. Zareh sat, contemplatively, in what had been her office only a few hours before; his thoughts a jumbled mess of questions, regrets and anger. The good news was that there was a good chance she was still alive somewhere. The bad news was that they weren’t any closer to finding where that somewhere was exactly.

 

Frowning he leaned back into the chair hands forming a neat temple over his mouth and nose when Frank entered. Zareh could tell that the events had shaken him up, and that was to be expected. Afterall, Frank spent more time with Huff on a daily basis than almost anyone on the ship save himself. He was so loyal, and so amazingly efficient.

 

“Something I can do for you Frank?”

 

Frank smiled, putting on the best face he could muster. “I was actually going to ask you that, Commander.”

 

Zareh nodded. Frank was a consummate professional. “I’ve been going through her duty logs...”

 

“No,” Frank said, “We’ve received a response to your inquiry from Command.”

 

“Oh,” the Risan said with a lift of his brow -- he hadn’t been particularly expecting a response so soon. “What’d they say.”

 

Handing him the clipboard, Frank feigned ignorance. Though it was common knowledge that yeoman such as himself often knew as much or more about ship happenings than the command staff because they read everything that passed through their hands, it wasn’t considered proper etiquette to admit to it.

 

Inwardly smirking, Zareh read over the orders. After a few moments he put the clipboard down.

 

“Acting Commanding Officer,” he said aloud. “Gods I never wanted it this way.”

 

“Don’t worry, Commander,” Frank said, “We’ll find her.”

 

Zareh glanced up. He knew it wasn’t supposed to sound that way, but he couldn’t help but smirk at Frank, who instantly blushed. “Don’t worry Frank, I know what you mean.”

 

Relieved, Frank nodded, sobering a bit. “So,” he said, “you said you were looking through her logs?”

 

“Yes,” Zareh said with a heavy sigh. “Nothing particularly useful yet. She did mention something about the Orions, but just in passing about Root.”

 

Frank blanched. The entire James Root affair still gave him a stomach ache. The paperwork explaining the entire ordeal had been maddening to say nothing of the fallout that had resulted.

 

“I’ll keep going through them,” he said, “I guess this does give me the authority to go through her personal logs but...”

 

“I can do it if you like,” Frank said. “I can understand why you might find it awkward....”

 

Now it was Zareh’s turn to be relieved as he glanced towards Frank. “You wouldn’t mind. I mean, she was your boss too?”

 

“Of course not, sir.”

 

“Good,” he said. “I’ll have the acc...”

 

“I already have them.”

 

“Of course,” Zareh said with a grin. “I should have known.”

 

Pleased with himself, Frank nodded. “I’ll start going through them and let you know if I find anything. Do you plan to make an announcement to the crew about all of this. I know that some of the juniors are starting to wonder. I mean the gossip mill is already spinning...”

 

“I suppose I should,” Zareh said. “I was kind of holding off, but with orders in hand I don’t have much a choice. And you’re right, we should go ahead and head off the rumor mill before it gets out of hand.”

 

“Very good,sir. If you need anything, let me know. I’ll be next door.”

 

Zareh nodded. “Of course... and Frank?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Thanks.”

Lakido sat on a small island in the southernly ocean of a green and forested planet far from other worlds. Life on the island was simple and largely pastoral. There was talk of far away cities with great wonders and many people, but no one from Lakido or the other small town on the island, Tajen, had ever ventured into the deep water that surrounded their homeland. Occasionally a visitor would make port on the island, bringing goods for trade and stories to fill the minds of young children.

 

In all life changed very little as time wore on. The sun rose every morning and set every evening, with little having transpired on the peaceful island. In the small tavern in the southmost corner of Lakido, Janna Tukk smirked to herself as she poured another round of burbleberry beer in pints; young Sammin Shoalin was dancing, and he had every right, after all it was his seventeenth birthday. It was, for all intents and purposes, a festive but normal night at the Jolly Pint. At least it was.

 

Just as Thirta Haggin started his fifth refrain of an old drinking song passed down to him by his father and his father’s father and his father’s father’s father – there came a great rumbling from the land. The earth beneath the bar shook violently. When the shaking stopped, an eerie silence over took the entire town. In the distance a great roar rippled across the land, and then a brilliant light flashed on the horizon.

 

Janna Tukk felt a great pit form in her stomach. Few now had memory of it, and she had only heard it from her grandmother. In the far distant north of the island, the great mountain Ilinan had slumbered for many years. In her heart she knew it had awakened and in all likelihood claimed the people of Tajen who lived on its slopes.

 

--

 

Elsewhere on the island, in a small secluded cave on the slopes of Niannn, the sister to the great mountain of Ilinan, four men in blue velour uniforms sat looking at cards and each other, each intent on not giving away what he held in his hand. Commander Ellias Sands smiled widely at last.

 

“All in,” he said brimming with confidence as he pushed his chips to the center of the table.

 

To his right, Lieutenant Marcus James frowned and placed his cards on the table. “To rich for my blood…”

 

Sands looked expectantly to the next man at the table, Lieutenant Commander A.J. Kyle. Kyle’s mop of white hair was frazzled by the summer heat, even in the caves, and he pulled it back out of his face as he leaned back into his chair. “You fink Eli…”

 

“You’re more than welcome to see my wager, A.J.”

 

“And lose two weeks’ worth of rations? Oh I don’t think so.”

 

Sands grinned even wider and looked over to the young Ensign to his left. “Well Carter,” he said, “what will you do?”

 

Carter Davidson had barely been out of the academy three months before he was assigned to this mission, and despite being a model officer who followed protocol to the letter and never said three words out of line, had only now eight months in, been invited to poker night with the senior staff. To be honest, he was thrilled and terrified at the same time. He glanced at his cards and then back to the commander.

 

He knew he had him beat. He had to, but on the other hand it wasn’t exactly good form to call the bluff of the commanding officer the first night they let you in. Still, it was an awful lot of rations at stake and maybe, just maybe if he showed some back bone, the Commander would put him in for a promotion.

 

“All in.”

 

Sands blinked and Kyle laughed, while James lifted a brow. Davidson kept his face as straight as he could; though he felt his legs go to rubber.

 

“I think we’ve got a brave one.”

 

But before they could reveal their hands, the earth beneath them began to shake violently. For nearly a full minute the jarring continued, knocking everything over, including the table. When it finally came a rest, they all four breathed a sigh of relief.

 

“Everyone okay?”

 

“I think so.”

 

“What on Earth was that?”

 

Kyle was already looking at through a scope on the wall scanner. His silence said volumes.

 

“What is it?” Sands questioned, making his way over with both Davidson and James in tow.

 

“Earth quake, pretty strong one. Determining the epicenter now, but if I had my guess it’s going to be somewhere near Ilinan.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Isn’t Johannes and Thomas out near Tajen?” James said.

 

“No,” Sands corrected. “They were both going into Lakido. Charlotte went to Tajen by herself.”

 

“Then we should go look for her,” Kyle said gravely. “There’s an unusual amount of continued seismic activity.”

 

“Aftershocks?”

 

“No, more like a swarm.”

 

“Oh dear.”

 

“Davidson, James… you’re with me, and grab an extra medical kit. A.J., see if you can get a hold of Johannes and Thomas and tell them to get their asses back here.”

 

--

 

None of the three men were prepared for what they saw when they exited the safety of their cave; having shed their blue science uniforms in favor of native attire, they’d trekked down the sides of the mountain and across the river, as they came into clearing the smell of sulfur hung thick in the air, and on the horizon – plumes of smoke and ash rose in eerie twilight.

 

Gasping, they hurried down the mountainside until they reached Tajen. Luckily it appears that only ash had reached the village, falling like a thick snow. Still there was something that none of them could place.

 

Worried Sands looked to his team.

 

“You think she’d be at the pub then?”

 

“Likely. I mean if they didn’t leave seeking shelter. She might have evacuated with them.”

 

“Hell.”

 

“At least she’d be safe.”

 

Sands nodded. “Let’s have a look around, but not too long. Don’t want to breath more of this stuff than we need too.”

 

The others nodded and began looking around for anyone that might have stayed behind. After fanning out and looking around for several minutes, the trio found themselves reunited at the edge of town.

 

“Nothing.”

 

“Yeah, me too Commander.”

 

“Looks like the whole town high-tailed it out.”

 

“Well,” James said. “Maybe that means she’s safe.”

 

“I hope so…”

 

It was at that moment that three of them heard a loud howling noise ripple across the darkening landscape. That was when they noticed the five terrible looking creatures starring at them with glowing red eyes. In all the time they’d spent on the planet, none of them had ever seen a creature like the ones looking at them.

 

“No sudden movements.”

 

“Aye.”

 

All three of the Starfleet officers were slowly taking out their phasers and slowly stepping backwards; the five jet black creatures were also slowly approaching the trio with wide eyes and wagging tongues.

“Wide band stun,” Sands said, steadying his hand. “Let’s hope it works.”

 

Just then the creatures leapt.

 

--

 

Commander Sands woke in a strange bed in a strange place with a warm cloth on his head. Flickering his eyes open, he wasn’t sure where he was or what had happened. In the distance he could hear the crackle of wood in a fireplace, and the sound of water boiling,

 

“You’re awake,” came the soft voice of a woman.

 

“What… what happened…”

Mission Brief: Hood departs from Skrubats, for a second time, only to find themselves back at Skrubats a third time.

072710.txt

Because there's just so much free time in the day?

 

 

if you have that much free time...

Last week: Hunt things, encounter flying giant iguanas. Bethany orders no caffeine on ship.

020910.txt

Hood continues the search for "my little pony"

020210.txt

We're arriving in orbit of the planet, Hamatti, where we will find out more about these... unicorns we're supposed to hunt down.

012610.txt

last week: Morning after the party. Bethany leaves bridge for messhall breakfast. Hhuff takes shift and reads mission brief. Sickbay attends to all the hangvovers, and the videos and rumors from the party circulate

011210.txt

last week: Bethany joins us on mission as we leave station. Mission not yet revealed. Coffee banned from bridge.

121509.txt

Mission Briefing 091208 Admiral Bethany, having grown a bit tired while performing her inspection, has decided to stay onboard for awhile, until she has had a chance to finish reviewing all departments, and over seeing daily matters until she is satisfied that discipline has been restored on this ship.

120809.txt

Mission Brief: The Admiral has offered to not further press charges against us in return, the doctor is being reduced in rank while t'Mirr has been promoted and made CMO. She will be making a decision if she is going to supervise our next mission or not.

120109.txt

Admiral Bethany's stay continues. :D

112409.txt

With thanks to Admiral Bethany for standing in for myself and Captain Huff. See, she's not so evil. ;)

110309.txt

Last week: Arrive at starbase. Injectors are in cargobay for inspection by kresh and random. Huff leaves for leave. Zareh finishes shift and heads to quarters. Kresh informs bridge of prototype tan-system plans.

102009.txt

Last Week: In flight toward starbase. Medical plans a girl's night. T takes a break from Androids. Frank makes tea, Eng discusses projects and goose sleeps

101309.txt

Last week: The crew works through some Kreeetassan shop insults before they can get the injectors. The bridge staff proposes modifying the arboretum slightly to include safe tanning for leisure.

092909.txt

MISSION BRIEF: The Vulcan crewmembers beamed down to the surface of the planet, as Zareh felt they were less likely to start an intergalactc war. So far everything has gone well, and the Vulcans are wrapping up their fifth hour of ritual greeting.

091509.txt

June 23- August 11

 

Hood finishes setting up the new colony for the Navali on Theta Cloud Nine and leaves orbit. Without any standing orders to speak of, Hood makes preparations for a long overdue shoreleave. After sorting through several possible destinations for the leave, Captain Huff and Commander Zareh settle on Omletta V, a nearby resort planet famous for it's triple sunrises. After several days of luxury, leave ends and the crew slogs back onto Hood. Shortly after breaking orbit, new orders arrive and Hood is off on a new adventure, albeit a bit of a milk run; Hood is to head to Kreetassa and pick up an order of plasma injectors and then deliver them to the construction site of Starbase 49 near the Typhon Expanse.

Mission Brief: Hood is leaving orbit from Omletta.

081109.txt

The bridge of the Hood hummed with activity. The subtle vibrations of the warp core working at peak efficiency carried through the deck plating and reminded the crew they were speeding off towards their next adventure. In the center seat, the well-tanned figure of Commander Allesandro Zareh sat cross legged with a data-pad in hand, reading over information on the Kreetassans.

 

While it wasn’t unusual for a ship like the Hood to be given what amounted to a milk-run to deliver plasma injectors, it certainly wasn’t a standard mission profile for one of the hulking Constitution-class starships that normally carried the Federation’s flag into the unknowns. Still, he reasoned, it was a welcome respite from the usual, and as a bonus they’d get to meet a race the Risan had yet to encounter.

 

Granted, from what he’d read, the Kreetassans were anything but the normal. They had a dusky, olive skin with purple hues on their elaborately ridged faces, and wore their hair long with beads strung throughout. Additionally, to call their customs complex would be an understatement worthy of a Vulcan. Sticklers for etiquette, their labyrinthine social code required any alien visiting to be extraordinarily careful, least they offend their hosts and be forced to perform an even more elaborate and elongated ceremony to atone for the faux paux, which could be as simple as eating in front of a Kreetassan.

 

Glancing at the half-eaten crueler on a plate brought to him by Yeoman Ferrin, Zareh mentally groaned. While he had little doubts about the competence of the Hood personnel, the simple fact was that the crew of the Hood was notorious for eating. The ship’s chef was renowned throughout the fleet as one of the finest serving in Starfleet, and the crew usually made it a point of being able to tell any of their friends where the best dining locales were on any strange and unusual planet they visited.

 

Making a mental note to stress in departmental briefings the importance of following proper etiquette when dealing with the Kreetassans, who apparently put the same taboo on public eating as most species did with public mating – the word for both was apparently almost the same. Which brought another mental groan – the Kreetassan language was even more complex than their social code, and while the universal translator had advanced by light-years in the years since first contact with the Kreetassans, it still struggled at times when the difference between “I hate you” and “We come in Peace” was as subtle as holding a vowel three microseconds as opposed to 3.2 microseconds.

 

Of course, he reminded himself, that in addition to being mindful of the diplomatic hazards of dealing with the Kreetassans, the crew needed to stay mindful of their actual mission – delivering a supply of plasma injectors to a new starbase near the Typhon Expanse, on the edges on known space. Starbase 49, as it was to eventually be known, was to be a G-Type or Crannóg-class station situated in open space near the edges of the Expanse. Not as large as the monolithic Watchtower-class but larger than the K-type or Venice-class trading stations that littered the core worlds of the Federation, the Crannóg-class stations gave Starfleet the ability to launch a myriad of explorative efforts into the area around the Expanse without committing the resources required for the Watchtower-class but could still easily defend herself against most threats, unlike the sparsely armed Venice-class.

 

Starbase 49 was scheduled to be online sometime in the coming year and Zareh wondered if Hood would be visiting her again once she was operational. Musing on the future, he finished his donut and glanced towards the viewer as the stars streamed by as Hood hurdled at Warp 6 towards yet another mission on the great unknown.

Last week: We enter orbit around Omletta V and the crew is granted full shoreleave. Omletta is beautiful and accommodating. The sickbay wedding and Root s farewell party are scheduled for tomorrow late afternoon.

071409.txt

Last week: Our shuttle returned, we set course for Omletta V before we can be told to do otherwise. Huff is asked to perform a wedding for sickbay nurses and is secretly scanned. Random joins the bugs and Ensign Taral in waste reclaim. Sickbay makes good coffee. Frank goes over Root’s resignation.

070709.txt

Last week: We Reach Theta Cigna Cloud Nine and Zareh takes the officials and our departmental heads down to survey the colonization site and evaluate quickly the moving details. Departments are to access and supply as many of their resources as can be spared. Meanwhile, Sarvek is in charge of making sure the ship-occupation is run smoothly. Llew is & very happy with his medicinal pills. Kresh is very annoyed with his new assistant. Science has to return the gosling again.

062309.txt

June 16

 

Hood enters orbit of the the new Navali homeworld, Theta Cigni Cloud Nine. Zareh leads an away team down to begin scouting out the colony site, while Kresh has an encounter with his new subordinate.