Signal Call

Posted on Thu Sep 2nd, 2021 @ 12:44am by Executive Officer Jake Ford & Micheal Robertson & Captain Rueben Gregnol & Jinx Jorasco & Liha t'Ehhelih & Nollel Livaam (*) & Angel Ramirez

Mission: Mission 14: Holoworld
Location: Deck 1 - Bridge
Timeline: MD 01 20:00
1597 words - 3.2 OF Standard Post Measure

The distress call was on repeat, and he had listened to it so many times that everyone on the bridge was bound to be bored of listening to it, but it was so important to get all the information from it. They had picked up the call ten hours ago. and just like any maritime law of old, it was their duty to investigate it. They were not Starfleet, but it would be wrong of them to not look into it. “One last time,” he said, making Nollel roll her eyes and press the button to make it sound out. When did she become a communication officer?

“This is the SS Holoworld. We have crashed and I think I am the only survivor. I woke up alone and I need to get out of here. I only came here for a vacation, and like everything else it went wrong… just like 621.” The female voice did not sound scared at all. She sounded bored of the situation. “Food is not an issue, booze not an issue, but being the only person among holograms is surreal. I am transmitting the location… If you hear this, I could use a lift out of here.” The connection cut, and Gregnol sat back in his chair.

"The signal seems legitimate," Liha pronounced, having run the message through several filters looking for the typical signs of a false distress signal meant to lure unwary would-be rescuers. "And there is an SS Holoworld on record as a pleasure cruise. But it's strange that the speaker does not identify herself," she noted with natural Romulan caution (that some people mistook for paranoia). "Since she doesn't sound to be in immediate danger, I'd suggest reporting the distress call to the nearest authorities and letting them handle it."

“What is 621?” Gregnol wondered innocently, ignoring her suggestion to report to someone else and not go and have a look. They had not had an adventure in a couple of months.

“Six-twenty-one is not a code I am familiar with,” Angel noted from tactical.

"The way she said it, could be a Starbase?" Jake wondered thoughtfully. "Sounds like she might be Starfleet. Or at least ex-Starfleet."

"I believe she is talking about Starbase 621 and the bombing," Leiddem piped up from where he was tinkering with a medical kit on his quest to check everyone across the ship. He looked nonplussed or involved, as he had his back to everyone.

"The bombing?" Gregnol wondered as everyone turned to look at the man.

"Yeah, last August," he said, glancing up to see everyone looking at him.

Johnathan stayed quiet at his helm station, as he had no idea what explosion everyone else was referring to. It apparently took place while he was still lost on Freecloud.

"No one keeps up to date with news then," Leiddem said with a roll of his eyes, moving to the console where Nollel was. "May I?" he asked the blonde. She looked at him blankly for a moment before nodding moving to one side. The security crewman pulled up Federation News Network footage of the explosion and aftermath.

“Oh, I remember that,” Angel said. “Maybe our caller was on the station?” he wondered.

Gregnol listened to his brother-in-law and Angel discussing it and nodded. It would make perfect sense if the woman was from the base or at least had been on board when the bombing had happened. The captain had never heard of the bombing, but he tried to ignore news from Starfleet facilities. It was just like adding salt to the wound he still felt from being let down by the people who the universe was meant to rely on. "Could be how she survived if she is used to... interesting situations," he surmised, looking at Jake, wondering if he had come to that same conclusion as him.

"Most Starfleeters are resilient and well-trained. Seems to make sense," Jake agreed.

"Well, they've not run out of booze, so it can't be an emergency." Eden smirked. "Maybe we should go get her? It could be fun, and we could kick up our heels and play with the holograms too."

“What happened to everyone else?” Jinx asked. “She doesn’t say she’s injured, just...bored? Weirded out?” The tiny science officer shook her head. “She managed to get the comms working. Why are the holograms still working?”

"Or she killed all the other survivors." Liha lifted an eyebrow at the looks she was getting from others. Why not acknowledge the obvious? "Hey, if she's the only one left..." She shrugged. "Just saying we should be careful about this."

Gregnol nodded. She did have a point, even if it was not a point everyone wanted to hear.

Sitting at the helm, Johnathan looked back at Reuben. While he was still recovering from his ordeal, he had been cleared to work, though at a more light-duty level. "O-o-orders, sir?" he stuttered as he turned in his seat to face the Russian.

"We should go help," Jake said softly to Reuben. "If it were us we'd want someone passing to pay attention."

Gregnol nodded, already having come to that conclusion himself, even if the distress call was a bit odd. He would want someone -- anyone -- to rescue him if he was in trouble or trapped somewhere. In his opinion, it was a universal law that you at least attempted a rescue attempt on someone before passing it on to someone else. "I had already come to that conclusion," the captain admitted, bringing up the specs for the ship on his PADD thoughtfully. The ship was huge; they might not be able to help, but they could at least secure them. "Helm, take us to the location the distress call is coming from."

Johnathan nodded as he turned back to his controls. With deft hands and fingers, he entered the course. "S-speed, Captain?"

“Warp seven,” Gregnol said with a shrug. No point in saving power when they could not respond as fast as other ships got most of the time anyway.

"Aye, sir." Johnathan nodded as he activated the warp drive, causing the ship to jump into warp. "ETA, th-three hours, twelve m-m-minutes, sir."

The journey was quiet, apart from the questions and theories about the ship from the bridge crew that Gregnol filtered out, as he had lots of other things to think on, like Fenris Rangers and the continuing checks on the crew around it all. He nearly missed the announcement that they had arrived in the correct sector until he saw the screen shift out the corner of his eyes. "Well, that is certainly something, " Gregnol said, looking at the ship as it finally came into view crashed on the moon. Its front end was destroyed, but the rest of the ship was beautiful if you were into ship design, especially for the growing civilian market.

Angel gave a low whistle. “At least they didn’t make it look like the Titanic,” he commented. He started to scan for any defensive weaponry, just in case.

Johnathan had never seen a ship as big as the holoship. It made the pilot in him shudder, thinking of just how unresponsive a whale like that had to be. "We are in a st-st-stable geosync o-o-o-orbit, over the ship, C-c-c-captain."

"Sensors, full scans - we could easily be wandering into a trap," Jake said.

Thank the Elements someone gets it, Liha thought. Clearly being in her body had done Jake some good.

Gregnol turned when no one stepped up to run the sensor sweep and saw a young woman stood at the operations console. She jumped as she realised the captain was looking at her. "Sorry, sir." She blushed. Gregnol looked at Jake and smiled. The girl reminded him of Reessem, and he tried not to think about that young woman often, as it was a painful memory.

"Lateral sensors have nothing else in range other than the ship. Nothing on the moon itself other than the ship," she revealed as the captain and executive officer came over to look at it properly. The young woman stepped back out of the space. There was going to be no room with her there squashed.

“No strange anomalies in the area,” Jinx added, as she did a science scan of the system. “Nearby planet is barely M class. Survivable. It will be cold and the air thin, like alpine, though there is little evidence of geologic activity to form mountains. Welcome to tundra world. I’m reading stable life support on the ship, however. Should be nice and comfortable.”

"I guess we're going down there then?" Jake asked. Knowing that Gregnol would be sticking aboard for now, it was his job to lead the search and rescue. "Let's gather up some tools and medical supplies and head down then. Assemble in the transporter room in five."

"Can I come?" Eden asked, hopefully. They didn't exactly need a pilot unless the automated system was down; lots of these big space cruise ships had them. "You know...for moral support. I won't bring Stan."

"All right. But stay close," Jake nodded, touching her arm supportively.

“Comms stay open for the whole time you are over there, as well as transport locks.” Gregnol was not taking any chances with his crew after the last months. They had proven how unpredictable the universe was at the moment. Mars burning and Hobus exploding had started a chain of events the man was not sure how were going to play out.