Away Mission

Posted on Sat Jul 21st, 2018 @ 9:16am by Ka'see 'Cassie' Anderson (*) & Jasper Offermans & Chief Operations Kendra McIntyre & Johnathen Anderson Jr

Mission: Ishimura
Location: Shuttle - Orion Arm
Timeline: June 2243
1390 words - 2.8 OF Standard Post Measure

The shuttle was silent as the four occupants said nothing to each other. Cassie knew why she was saying nothing but she didn’t know why anyone else wasn’t saying anything. She knew that anything she needed to say to Johnathen wasn’t something that could be said in front of the other two without just making it awkward.

“How long until we get there?” She wondered, breaking the silence as she didn't have much to do apart from setting the scanner every once in a while.

"At current speed, about two hours," Johnathen replied from the pilot's seat. His tone had a slight edge to it, as he was still coming to terms with the fact that Fate had put Cassie back in his life, after nearly two years of separation.

They had spoken a couple weeks back, when she came aboard. He told her that it would take him some time to get over the hurt that she caused him the last time they had been together, on Vulcan. Some days, it was easy to forget the pain and just be happy that she was here. Other days, like today, the pain flowed freely, as if she had just hurt him now.

"Thank you, Ensign," Cassie replied politely. Two hours would be a perfect amount of time for her to run the last few diagnostics on her equipment.

Jasper put his PaDD down as he glanced over at Johnathan, "What exactly is the Captain expecting us to find?" He drew in a deep breath and smiled, "it's a new planet I guess, class M and there's quite a demand for them."

The young pilot shrugged as he looked over to Jasper, in the copilot seat. "Who knows? As far as I know, we're the first Federation presence in this sector. Maybe we will find a friendly species to join up."

"Just remember the prime directive," Jasper teased, "If we run into any sentient life we're out of there."

Cassie looked at the man and rolled her eyes in a very unusual reaction from her. She turned in her chair back to her console as she started the process of checking over the scanners. It was boring work but she liked the routine.

"Wait a minute," Jasper said squinting his eyes at his console, "I'm getting readings of aragonite gas." He tilted his head and looked over at Cassie, "do we have a leak?"

“Checking sensors,” Kenda quickly responded. She shifted her gaze to the console in front of her and tapped a few commands to bring up a diagnostic screen. While not normally something a Communications Officer would be responsible for, the Andorian was more than happy for the moment's distraction from the awkward silence and small talk she had been ignoring.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion outside the shuttle. The small craft was shaken violently and the four junior officers were thrown out of their seats. Alarms started to blare in the small cabin and smoke started to fill it as well.

As the shuttle continued to shake, Johnathen managed to crawl back into his seat. He tried to use his controls, but to no avail. "REPORT! ANYONE KNOW WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!"

Cassie found herself flung to the floor and looked up as the smoke started to fill the cabin and the air handlers not come into action. She crawled to her seat using it to bring herself into a standing position. “We seem to be caught in a gravitational field?” She said slightly clueless as to how that had happened.

"Grav..," Jasper said hanging on as good as he could and coughing a bit from the smoke, "artificial gravitational field.... is .... at forty-seven percent." He glanced around finding himself a bit confused, "life support at sixty-eight percent and falling."

Cassie easily moved through the cabin and grabbed out a box and tossed a rebreather at the two humans. "You need Ensign?" She asked holding it out to the Ensign who as of yet had been quiet.

Lyras nodded. So far he had kept to himself on this mission, quietly reading his medical journals and keeping tabs on the vitals of his crewmates. "yes ma'am," he replied softly, "thank you. Is everyone unhurt?"

The Operations officer caught the rebreather but not as easily as he might have normally. He got the device to work properly breathing through it and breathed a little easier. Glancing again at the console Jasper squinted a little and then looked back up at Johnathen, "I'm showing a class M planet just 12 light years away, "It wasn't there a minute ago."

Johnathen caught the mask and donned it easily. After ensuring the seal was good, he activated the small rebreather device. Suddenly, he was able to breath deep breaths of clean air. He then checked his instruments. "Either it's got a hell of a gravitational pull," he commented, indicating the long distance effect the planet was having on the shuttle. "Or there's someone or something on that planet that has us in a tractor beam!" He tried to alter their course away from the newly appeared planet. Immediately, the small shuttle began to shake violently and the engines began to redline.

Reacting immediately, Johnathen shut down the engines and allowed whatever force that had them to pull them in. "We aren't breaking free. Everyone, scan as much as you can. Perhaps we will find a way to escape later. For now, we're heading there," he pointed at the orange and green colored world that was rapidly filling thrir forward viewports.

Cassie sat back at her console and pulled up all the readings she could quickly looking through it all. "It is showing a lot of readings I have never seen." She admitted easily breathing through the smoke. Yes she was a geneticist but she had scientific knowledge beyond everyone in the shuttle combined and it was stumping her.

"Can we land this thing there?" Jasper's voice was altered slightly by the rebreather but he could still communicate. Something needed to be done, repairs primarily and it seemed as good an idea as any.

Johnathen shrugged. "Only if I'm given control of the helm again. Otherwise, we are heading wherever they are pulling us."

"There is something that is pulling us," Jasper said as he glanced up from his console, "we're too far away for it to be gravitation aren't we?" He tapped a few things on the computer interface and shook his head, "we don't hve enough power to override it?"

Looking back at everyone, Johnathen asked, "Can you reach the Ishimura? They should know about this planet and avoid it."

As everyone was struggling with rebreathers Cassie pulled up the communicator console and shook her head quickly. "I can't get a signal. We need to leave something behind so they know where we are when we don't make rendezvous." She said going through the small shuttle to Johnathen.

"What about a beacon?" Jasper tapped away at his console looking more concerned by the minute, "we have one affixed to the shuttle that can be released."

"Then I suggest we release it," Lyras suggested softly, still struggling to affix the rebreather so finally he just resorted to holding it pressed to his face. "I would suggest letting whatever pulls us, pull us so we spare our shuttle and the engines. Struggling may only damage them, might it not?"

"Beacon released." Brandon glanced up from his controls and over at their pilot, "the pull is from that planet." He been performing scans on the sphere and shook his head, "there are life forms but can't tell exactly how many."

"I see it," Johnathen grunted as he continued to attempt to regain control of the helm. Suddenly, the shuttle rocked hard to starboard. It's nose pitched down sharply towards the planet, and the craft accelerated. The increased gee-forces forced everyone back into their seats. As the force increased, Johnathen's vision started to funnel down. After a few more seconds, he passed out.

OFF::

Ensign Jasper Offerman
Operations Officer
USS Ishimura

Lyras
Medical Officer
USS Ishimura
(PNPC Lhaes)

Ensign Cassie McAvoy
Science Officer - Biology
USS Ishimura
(PNPC Gregnol)

Ensign Johnathen Anderson Jr
Helmsman
USS Ishimura
(PNPC Roberston)

Ensign Kenda
Communication Officer
USS Ishimura