Another Flight

[Brian Graham 0]

Chief of Security’s Duty Log

Lt. Cmdr. Brian Graham Recording

USS Morningstar

Stardate 200511.02

 

Brian walked along the corridor of Deck 10. He had just gotten approval for an awayteam mission to retrieve any of the wreckage left over from the shuttle that had exploded during the Morningstar’s entry of the atmosphere of Al-Ucard and was heading toward the shuttlebay to take yet another shuttle ride. He had already summoned the other members of the awayteam and they should already be on their way to the shuttlebay as well. Rounding a corner, Brian was on final approach to the shuttlebay and when he got within range, the shuttlebay doors opened and he walked in. Several officers were attending to the shuttlecraft that were there, mostly to the ones that had just returned from helping the Morningstar make its landing. They were performing post-flight analyses of the shuttle’s systems, checking for any damage, performing some preventative maintenance, and going over the system and performance records of the shuttle and their respective systems during their flights. Brian figured once these men and women were done they would be cleared for shoreleave. Flagging down the officer in charge of the bay, Brian asked if the ship’s Runabout was ready for flight. The officer in the standard engineering uniform pointed off to the right and farther down the bay. Thanking him for his assistance, Brian headed over and started up the preflight checks. He was doing a walk-around of the shuttle when he noticed three figures approaching, obviously his other awayteam members.

 

Turning to give them his full attention, Brian ushered them into the shuttle and took a seat in the pilot’s position. Swiveling his chair around so he could see everyone, he briefed them on what needed to be accomplished. Directly to his right was Lt. Baily, human female, science division. She had been on the bridge during the time of Morningstar’s landing so she had compiled the data of the shuttlecraft that was lost. She knew the position and the distribution pattern of the wreckage. Off to his far left was Lt. Jovan, Benzite male, engineering division. He had extensive experience with shuttlecraft. Finally, there was Ens. Mirwood, human male, also engineering division. He, basically, was one of the few engineers Brian could negotiate away from Chief Engineer Xavier, so he got to come along as well. Getting the coordinates of the shuttle from Lt. Baily, Brian contacted the Al-Ucard flight control center and (grudgingly) got clearance to use the air ways. Receiving the flight plan he was allowed to use, and with strict instructions not to deviate from it, Brian contacted OPS, got clearance to leave the ship, and the team was on their way in a few short minutes.

 

Rain (apparently a constant feature of this particular world) pelted the viewports. It didn’t bother Brian that much, since he was mostly using the instrumentation to fly the shuttle. Besides, the programmed waypoints he had to follow looked pretty safe, although Brian kept an eye on the short range visual and topographical scanners just to be safe. Baily was looking over the logs Morningstar had gathered when the shuttle went down and Jovan was estimating what they expected to find. Mirwood was going over the equipment list of the downed shuttle to make sure everything that survived was reclaimed.

 

About halfway through the journey, Brian got the assessment from everybody. According to Baily, the shuttle went down in a relatively unpopulated area of the planet, so having to deal with others wouldn’t be too much of an issue. Jovan’s analysis of the shuttle’s cause of demise, it’s speed, trajectory, and other factors, allowed him to estimate that 85% of the shuttle was gone, either vaporized in the explosion or had burned up in the atmosphere. He had also come up with a probable distribution area of the wreckage. They were set and as they neared the area, Brian turned on the landing lights and set the shuttle down. Everyone rose and collected their tricorders with Mirwood grabbing a PADD to document everything they found. Opening the shuttle’s hatch revealed the falling rain and already some pieces of wreckage were visible. Palm lights were quickly equipped when they noticed how gray the weather had become, making finding any small pieces easier.

 

The team left the shuttle and dispersed. Brian and Mirwood headed left and Baily and Jovan moving right. They first set to work on the larger pieces that needed two people to carry and loaded them up on the shuttle. Mirwood catalogued everything that was retrieved and Jovan had found the shuttle’s recorder, much to Brian’s relief. This would provide invaluable information on what had occurred that caused the malfunction and explosion. Brian was busy collecting hull fragments when he noticed two figures approaching. Each was covered in a heavy cloak giving them protection from the rain. Standing there in a soaking uniform with water running down his face, Brian envied their preparedness.

 

“What’s this?,” one of the figures asked.

 

“Retreival,” Brian replied. “This is what was left of some of our equipment.”

 

“Destroyed?,” the other figure asked.

 

Brian nodded, hoping to make the shuttle sound as uninteresting as possible. By this time, Jovan had come over to see what was going on. Brian continued, “Yes, destroyed. We’re just picking up the pieces. We should be out of here momentarily.”

 

It hadn’t worked, as both figures starting looking over some fragments. Brian was glad the biggest pieces were stowed in the shuttlecraft already, everything else left was pretty much uninteresting, but these fellas seemed quite interested. One more so, as one of the aliens bent down and retrieved a fragment.

 

“What’s this?”

 

Ours, Brian thought, though he knew he had to be diplomatic about it. He didn’t want any Federation material or technology becoming the property of anyone here without going through the required channels.

 

“Probably junk, now. It’s had quite a trip. Here’ I’ll take it,” Brian said, extending his hand to retrieve it

 

The alien wasn’t buying it though, and instinctively clutched it defensively when Brian had reached for it.

 

“If it’s junk, why do you want it?”

 

“The truth? Because it is clearly our property and has no value for you. I’m sure your people respect property rights.”

 

“We know of them, however I think we will be keeping this.”

 

Brian was not in the mood for this, but he also wasn’t in the mood for making a scene on an alien world. Besides, he had no idea if these guys were packing or not.

 

“Fine, you can have it,” Brian replied. “Mr. Jovan…”

 

Jovan turned to him, somewhat surprised this equipment was becoming the property of aliens. “Yes, sir?”

 

“Please instruct these gentlemen on the proper radiation treatments needed.”

 

The second figure whirled around, “Radiation treatments? We do not require those.”

 

“You will soon, considering the rads that equipment is throwing out. After another ten minutes, you may receive a lethal dosage.”

 

Jovan caught on and opened his tricorder, pointing it at the fragment. He manually imputed a command and the tricorder began going nuts.

 

“What is that!?” One of the aliens demanded.

 

Jovan replied matter-of –factly. “A radiation meter. You’ve picked up quite a volatile sample.”

 

“Gah!” the one holding the fragment yelped, flinging the fragment away. Both of the aliens turned and sprinted away, obviously attempting to get as far away from the wreckage that reportedly was spouting radioactive isotopes everywhere.

 

Brian and Jovan watched them run away, attempting to keep a straight face so the ruse would work.

 

“Nice work, Jovan. The tricorder really convinced them.”

 

“Of course, Lieutenant Commander,” Jovan said, as he picked up the fragment that had landed near his feet.

 

The team continued to gather the final fragments with extra haste, before any other scavengers showed up. Locking everything down and a final tricorder sweep showing the area clear, all four boarded the shuttle and headed back to Morningstar, beginning their shoreleave a little late.