Shuttle Apollo: Casting a Wide Net

Posted on Sunday, 24 May 2020 - 10:38am by Lieutenant Raith Kolani & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley

Mission: Operation: Recall
Location: Shuttlecraft Apollo | Triangle Sector | Morning Garden

Having departed the Fontana in the Shuttlecraft Apollo, Raith had assumed the piloting controls as the Away Team that was sent out to Morning Garden, or as it was generally known, Reason’s Beacon III made their way there.

He was already slightly familiar with Lieutenant Kingsley, having served on the Bridge during duty hours when she had taken the right to name the Nebula that they had discovered and travelled through and also having served with her on the previous Away mission to the Heminal Helix where they had all experienced some sort of dream state whilst there.

He was glad that he felt he was already with familiar company. He couldn't say the same for Ensign Julián De Rivera, however, this just offered another new opportunity to get to know more of the crew. In this case, being backed up by two science officers wasn't such a bad thing, as far as Raith was concerned. As he returned to the piloting controls having gotten a cool drink from the replicator, Raith looked across as Alex.

"So, what's it like being able to name a Nebula during the Fontatan's first mission? Have you ever had to do that before or was this the first time?" he asked. "The Lenora Nebula has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

Alex grinned. Truth was, naming the nebula had been entirely unexpected. Definitely not an everyday occurrence. “Never,” she replied, “but thanks. I wasn’t sure what to pick in the moment. And from reading her work I felt it only fair. Then again, maybe she’d hate it. You don’t think she’d mind? That’d be ... kind of embarrassing.”

Raith shook his head in disagreement before answering. "Oh I don't think so, if you are honouring her work by naming a Nebula after some of her work, then that can only be seen as a good thing surely?" He took a sip of his drink before carrying on. "Beside's its a big honour to get to name a new phenomena that you've discovered and we all learn by doing."

"True," Alex conceded with a grin.

He put his drink down before running another senior sweep on the charted course ahead that was taking them towards Morning Garden. As he waited for the results to come back, he carried on their conversation. "Have you ever been to Morning Garden at all? I've never been there, however, I have read that its basically a human and Vulcan population...however there has been no Federation contact in decades...this could be fun..." he said, trying not to sound sarcastic in any way.

Raith had some genuine concerns about going to a world that had shunned assistance from the Federation and the possibility that they could be in for a rough welcome as outsiders once they arrived.

"I wouldn't be too concerned, Sirs" replied Julian De Rivera to the superior officers he was travelling with. "Unless you are Klingon, this planet is supposed to be very welcoming. Their lack of contact with the Federation may have been their own choice or perhaps just Federation neglect over the years. Nevertheless, the worlds of Baker's Dozen do not seem to harbour ill will towards us, they just have gone their own way. I think if we respect that we should be alright...I think" he said. Though he was more hopeful that the Chief Science Officer could lull any insecurities.

From her seat beside Raith, Alex nodded in agreement, "From what we know of the planet, there is nothing to suggest we would be in any inherent danger. While minimal, they do trade with some Federation traders as needed, so they aren't exactly isolated from the galaxy. Provided we don't start any trouble while we are there, we should be pretty safe."

In fact, she was sure of it. Given that she didn't doubt Soral's hand in shaping the teams. Their Vulcan XO was obsessed with bubbles. "My only concern," she added, "Is that this might be too off the grid for our prospective new CO. Still, maybe somebody knows of him. Maybe he likes to go fishing?"

"Pardon the fishing analogy, but I suspect what we are doing along with the other shuttle teams is called 'casting a wide net' so that we have covered a portion of space" the ensign commented. "This may not be the planet that we find Stillwater, but it may be a planet he's been to or as you said someone here may know where he is" added De Rivera.

“We will be there soon so we will find out one way or another,” Alex nodded. “I hope everyone isn’t expecting us to bring back souvenirs...”

"Eh," replied Julián "I wouldn't want to bring the shuttle back smelling like fish. I think we would want to avoid that, but anything that's not fish or crustacean might be good. We could try to snag some seeds or something. Maybe grow it in the airponics or hydroponics lab depending on what it needs."

Raith tried to hold back a small chuckle and failed, before then going on to explain himself. "I can just see their faces now, instead of bringing back our wayward CO, we brought back fish. Although, it's always good to sample cuisine from planets never visited before...to improve your pallet of course." Raith sat forward as he checked the sensors one more time.

"We'll be arriving at Morning Garden within the next hour, so any suggestions that will help make the trip down to the planet go a little more easily will be helpful," he said. "Whilst I agree with you, Alex, about whether Captain Stillwater has been here or still is here, I'd still like to make sure our trip goes as quietly as possible," Raith explained.

Alex grinned, “so my plan to start a riot in the town square is out the window...?”

She feigned a wounded expression before it became too much and she laughed. “Actually, I’m intending on low profile. There is a Governor who we’ve already made an appointment to see. From intel, he is fairly agreeable if something suits his purpose. I’m sure medicines will do, and provided we let him have most of the credit, I’m sure he will not object to us sticking around. Nothing wins votes like kissing babies, parting water and healing the sick.”

"Yeesh," replied Julian. "Really? We went the political route with this?" he added shaking his head. "Okay, I suppose that is not necessarily a bad thing as most of these people are descended from Human and Vulcan colonist who settled here long ago. They are warp-capable, and at one point were considered Federation colonist. We aren't supplying them with arms or anything. I can sleep at night knowing these people have a fresh amount of medical supplies."

“Wait... you’re meant to sleep at night?” Alex grinned. “Okay, okay... I’m going to start the initial phase for the vaccines, then we go make new friends, sound good?”

"Sounds alright to me" replied Julian.

Raith smiled as he nodded his agreement. "This sounds like a good plan. Let's get some prep started as we close in on our destination," he said as he locked in the final course co-ordinates as they began their approach to Morning Garden.