First Officer's Log

[Cptn Elias Moore 0]

"On bridge of stone 'tween peaks of fire,

good thing ye find of old empire.

Ball of thread your quest will yield,

but mind ye must no-power field!"

-Caitian Trial of Wisdom, Excerpt

 

"I had a bad feeling about this mission right from the beginning. As my away team members laid out possibilities for a quick and risk-free extraction of the 'ball' from the volcano bridge, I actually did allow myself a bit of optimism. But as soon as the shuttle pod landed and all the lights and panels in the interior went dark, I realized this was going to be one rough foray.

 

"... something knocked out the pod's power. My initial hopes of a mechanical problem that could easily be repaired were quashed when all of our portable equipment also went dark. Luckily the EVA suits stashed in the pod's equipment locker are not power-dependent, but without our tricorders we're blind, without our communicators we're out of contact with the ship, and without the pod's engines we're quite stranded. Stranded on a rock ledge jutting out from the side of an active volcano, that is.

 

"Challenger will no doubt be aware of our situation and will start formulating a plan for our retrieval. Hopefully they'll realize the futility of bringing another shuttle pod down. All signs point to some sort of energy dampening field down here, so our rescue will have to be achieved with an extra bit of creativity.

 

"The team can't sit idle until rescue arrives. We have to discuss our next move, whether it be staying here and finding a way to restore the shuttle pod's functionality or pinpointing the source of the dampening field and taking it out of the equation. I have quite a panel of experts assembled, with two scientists, two bridge officers, and an armory officer whose concerns will no doubt be focused on the trembling volcano that towers above us. Now to see how we all fare without the crutch of modern technology supporting us..."