Messages

["Okay then, we can't bring Neva ta us, then we'll bloody well go ta her. Lieutenant Jaeger, report ta the shuttlebay and warm up the Mjolnir, I will be right behind you."]

[ACEO Lt.JG Neva Cordon|Land-Ta|Kayala City]

There was no way Neva could speak with the diplomacy the others were capable of. She lifted a leaden arm and hit her communicator. "Cordon to Challenger...I need beamed up to Sickbay...need help...please!" Neva's last words were ragged as blessed darkness enveloped her.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian was surprised by the voice that answered Wu's hail. He expected the ever self assured Kyan, but the halting and clearly distressed voice of Lieutenant Cordon was not what he'd anticipated. However, going by how she sounded, something had gone badly wrong.

"Captain, I cannot recommend transporter use. Between the residual temporal pulse disruption caused by the return of the Landser probe and the polarized chronitons we used to protect ourselves, there is absolutely no way to know when someone would be sent."

Randall called out immediately with regret in his tone.

"Okay then, we can't bring Neva ta us, then we'll bloody well go ta her. Lieutenant Jaeger, report ta the shuttlebay and warm up the Mjolnir, I will be right behind you."

He tapped his combadge.

"Bridge ta sickbay. Medical emergency on the planet. I need a doctor and a medic ta meet me in the shuttlebay. Galloway out."

Ian turned to face Alexander.

"Based off of what I've seen so far, Mister Wu, you have the bridge. Continue repairs. Have the Scobee light on the skids and a security team prepped for an extraction if'n things go bad."

Ian then headed for the turbolift.

["That is an outstandin' idea Lieutenant, go ahead and set it up, but do not execute. I think we have a good read on their communications. If'n we detect them queuin' up for another test, then execute. No need ta go rufflin' feathers as doesna need rufflin'."]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"Aye sir." Alex utilized the Landser's own satellite to 'piggyback' a signal, though it would only have the most basic of encryptions. Still, based on their level of technology, it would take hours for them to crack it even if they were trying, by which point hopefully their onboard subspace transceivers would be repaired. "Challenger to Mckenzie. Away team, how do you copy?"

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Booker finally had a break while waiting for the next communications buoy to be readied for launch, and she brought up an idea to Galloway's attention. "Sir, we may still be able to temporarily disable the fold-space device in a manner of speaking by generating a dampening field around it with our ship's deflector. To the Landsers, it should just appear to be a malfunction in contacting their probe, common enough with new prototypes or technologies that it shouldn't raise any alarms or look like interference from us, and wouldn't leave any lasting damage."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian listened to Booker's idea and nodded as he replied.

"That is an outstandin' idea Lieutenant, go ahead and set it up, but do not execute. I think we have a good read on their communications. If'n we detect them queuin' up for another test, then execute. No need ta go rufflin' feathers as doesna need rufflin'."

Ian then turned his attention to see if Kyan or anyone on the away team would respond.

["By all means, yes, we need ta contact the away team as it seems they've already been detected, but, at least for three of them, they are nae in danger. However, we cannae 'disable' the fold space probe. It would be an act of war. While you contact the commander, I will make that broadcast ta this Land Moot."]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"Well done." Alex relayed quietly to Booker, patting her on the back before returning to his station. With the communications probe knocked out, they no longer had dozens of people trying to speak with them, at least not until they could launch a second probe. For some reason, perhaps because it wasn't quite as advanced, the Landser satellites were once again unaffected by the fold space device, and Alex sent it a signal to reposition again, this time directing it's antenna towards Challenger.

Mckenzie's broadcast was actually a pleasant surprise for Alex, at least up until the point he mentioned that Jyur had been 'picked up' by some of the local populace. From his past experiences with the diminutive onlie, Alex would've expected him to be attempting an ill-concocted rescue, phasers ablazing with some sort of cutting utensil clenched between his teeth. The new diplomatic, responsible and, dare he think it, civilized attitude was refreshing. Still, Mckenzie wouldn't have publicly mentioned the officer's capture, essentially pleading for his safe conveyance, without some discernable concern for his wellbeing. He might've even intended it as a means to notify Challenger that Jyur was now a hostage of the Landsers, hoping that they were listening with their main communications system down. "Sir, requesting permission to hail the Commander now?" He asked Galloway. Troubled by the number of times Mckenzie had found it necessary to specify that they came in peace, Alex added, "I would also suggest we disable the fold-space device directly, to prevent any further temporal pulses if we are to launch Mjolnir or any other shuttlecraft without a guarantee of amicable reception. We won't be able to generate a chroniton field to protect them once they depart Challenger."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

After allowing his initial anger to cool, Ian went back over what Kyan had said carefully in his mind. Kyan had transmitted important information as he had to know we would be monitoring Landser communications. The most important piece of information was that Lieutenant Jyur was in trouble. Ian was still pondering his options when Wu spoke up and interrupted his train of thought.

"By all means, yes, we need ta contact the away team as it seems they've already been detected, but, at least for three of them, they are nae in danger. However, we cannae 'disable' the fold space probe. It would be an act of war. While you contact the commander, I will make that broadcast ta this Land Moot."

Ian returned to the command chair and activated the comm unit.

"People of Land-Ta, this is Captain Galloway of the USS Challenger. By now, you have seen the video of some of our people. As you can see, we are a body of many species and as my first officer stated, we are here in peace. Conquest is not the way of the Federation, in fact, our most sacred law is ta never interfere in another species' natural development.

"I am requestin' a meetin' at your Land Moot ta discuss our arrival, your amazin' accomplishment of creatin' a functionin' fold space drive, and ta ask for the return of the individual captured in Kayala City. His name is Jettis Jyur. He is a scientist and like the rest of the crew of Challenger, we mean you no harm. I look forward ta meetin' with you at any time of your choosin'. This is Captain Galloway signin' off."

["Well, looks like we have the ability ta defend ourselves again. Good work everyone. That bottle of single malt is yours Lieutenant Wu. And one for you as well Evan."]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

Alex wanted to protest, but held his tongue in check, knowing that arguing with a Captain on his own bridge was never a good idea. In his opinion, the mission had already gone sideways, the Landser already knew about Challenger being in orbit, and the away team, if they were alive, would likely have seen local media about the alien spaceship in orbit and would've already tried to contact them while their systems were down. Several hours without hearing from them since should've been more than concerning. Still, Galloway had the same, if not more, information that he did, and it wasn't Alex's call at the end of the day.

"Aye sir, I'll work on getting us patched back into their broadcasts." He said instead, going back to seeing what he could do with their limited available sensors. At Randall's warning, Alex pulled his hands away from the console and pushed himself back, having seen enough cases of electrocutions to know better. "Get those shields up, lieutenant." He warned tactical, watching her still working frantically away at her station.

"I haven't finished reconfiguring them yet!" She called out, and Alex swiftly got up to help her, superseding with a sudden realization. "Doesn't matter, that probe is way out of shield radius, the temporal pulse will knock it out. Just raise shields so Randall can get that chroniton field up!"

[Bridge]

There wasn't much time before the ship  would be hit  by the second wave.  Bolting to the helm, Ardyn took the empty seat and began trying to move the ship into a defensive  position,  far away enough  to keep them in orbit even if the ship did get cooked again.  She tried to focus on Maddy again, to mentally warn her about maybe another scary moment.  Hopefully, the little girl would understand.

"œHolding steady.  What's the estimated time of impact?"

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Booker's fingers flew across her console and mere seconds before the Landser probe returned, the modified shields snapped into place. A burst of kaleidoscopic colors announced the probe's return, but this time when the temporal pulse surged outwards, the part that impacted Challenger encountered polarized chronitons which flared in a brilliant purple display and...completely dissipated. The ship did rock slightly, but no systems failed and none of the crew suffered any ill effects.

"Well, looks like we have the ability ta defend ourselves again. Good work everyone. That bottle of single malt is yours Lieutenant Wu. And one for you as well Evan."

"All sections reporting no damage captain. Repairs continuing." A somewhat shaky Booker said.

"Very good Lieutenant, now, I believe we need ta talk ta this Land Moot."

"Sir, I'm picking up something you need to see on the Landser public communications networks." Lieutenant JG Rachel Davenport at Tactical reported.

"On screen Lieutenant."

"œMe"¦err.. Greetings to the people of Land-Ta. My name is Kyan Mackenzie from Miri's Planet, and this is Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas from Cait." He indicated the Caitian with a nod. "œWe are from the Starship Challenger, which ye've seen probably, orbiting yer planet so. Ye've no reason tae be worried the now or scared. We're explorers like yerselves so we are. We are part of the United Federation o' Planets, the which is a peaceful alliance of worlds. We've come tae yer planet tae speak with yer leaders about the space folding drive that ye've been testin. Sure and right now we're in a vehicle traveling tae the capitol city tae do that."

"œOh.. uh." Neva muttered, repeatedly pressing a button on the device before finally stopping. Kyan looked at her, but it appeared as though she had it under control so he continued.

"œSo please dinnae shoot at us when we get there or try tae take us prisoner or anything. We come in peace. OH. Also, please dinnae shoot at our ship either"¦ and also one of our crew members got picked up by some of yer folk in"¦ what was the name of that town Mikel?"

The Landser teen spoke up from the front seat. "œKayala City."

"œYeah. He got picked up in Kayala City. Please dinnae hurt him and bring him tae the capitol. His name is Jettis Jyur from El-Auria. He's a scientist. So that's it. And dinnae forget, we come in peace so we do."

Ian's mouth hung open as he watched the images Kyan speaking. Several thoughts crossed his mind, with Jettis' well being the first, but the rest involved various means of killing Kyan as he thought.

"I'm goin' ta kill him and bury him in a shallow grave, then dig him up and kill him again, because that's the beauty of a shallow grave."

Out loud, he said.

"Bloody hell."

["I believe the formal definition of 'boffin' is 'a person with knowledge or a skill considered ta be complex, arcane, and difficult.' Sorry, just the Highland Scot in me."]

[Shuttlebay â†' bridge]

The Flyer that the  Challenger had was better off than she had anticipated, considering it too had been put on the fritz by the blast. But at least she was a bit more familiar with those systems than most, so that took less time. She had left  Ensign Schlemann to make final preparations on the Flyer before launch before she had headed back to the Bridge to report her progress.

Coming back, she caught the tail end of the discussion about Chronitons. She was in no way fluent in that, but it did seem plausible enough. "œI've got the  Flyer up and running and just about as flight-ready as we can be so we can pick up the away team before the Landsers can hit us again, Sir. "œ

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

A puzzled expression crossed Alex's face and he glanced quizzically towards Ardyn before replying. "Apologies sir, I'm not sure what a boffing is. I was thinking on the communication issues we've been having with the away team, and I reckon we might be able to try something." He was becoming increasingly concerned about the team below, especially now that the Landsers knew about Challenger, and Galloway had made a, through no fault of his own, fairly taciturn first contact. It had been hours since the abandoned shuttle returned without them, still adrift several thousand kilometres away. Moving to one of the spare stations beside the conn, he nudged some clutter aside before accessing the same system Booker was using. "Since our probe is what the Landser are likely focusing the majority of their ground based stations upon to speak with us, and Lieutenant Booker had previously isolated the control frequencies used by the Landser satellites, I reckon we should be able to override, or hijack, one. We can broadcast a much stronger signal from up here, and don't have the same atmospheric interference to contend with."

Waiting for the still damaged ship's computer to process his inputs reminded him of being a child and playing with the old 21st century analog interfaces in the Discovery Centre at Cape Carnaval, where you could practically watch the machines 'think' and calculate responses. It took several extra minutes, but Alex finally managed to target a communications satellite in low synchronous orbit, right over the region that the away team had been before their shuttle deviated. A few minor orientation corrections and he'd turned one set of the satellite's antenna towards the probe, the other towards the ground. "It won't be a fully secure channel, sir, but you should be reach the away team, and the Flyer during it's retrieval mission." If they're still alive, he didn't find necessary to add.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian chuckled at Wu's response and replied while still chuckling.

"I believe the formal definition of 'boffin' is 'a person with knowledge or a skill considered ta be complex, arcane, and difficult.' Sorry, just the Highland Scot in me."

Ian watched with interest as Wu worked to establish a better communication link with the planet. When the Ops officer was finished, Ian hesitated.

"Another fine bodge job Lieutenant. Given the away team are tryin' ta remain undetected. I'm concerned with hailin' them as I nae want ta be the one that yanks the cat out of the bag. I do believe however, I will use your new connection ta reach back out ta the Landser leadership."

"Captain. The tractor beams are operational again, I can bring the Onizuka aboard now."

"Excellent, by all means, bring the shuttle home."

Ian then turned to face Ardy.

"Very good Lieutenant Jaeger I had hoped ta use the Mjolnir once we'd gotten ta the point I could meet with the Landsers. Now ta ask for an invite. Question is, since they're nae ta havin' a centralized government, who do I ask?"

"I may have an answer for that Sir."

"By all means Lieutenant, what do you have?"

"I've been monitorin' the Landser communications for many hours during our approach and I've figured out a few things. First, there are a total of 27 nation-states on the planet, ranging in size and influence. Regardless of not having a single voice, they do have a planetary body they call the Land Moot. It's sort of like the old pre-Federation United Nations on Earth. I believe that is the organization that can speak on behalf of the Landser's various governing bodies."

"Land Moot you say? Quaint. Well, as good a place as any. Open a channel-"

However, before Booker could hail the planet, Lieutenant Randall called out.

"Sir, the Landser probe is about enter fold space!"

"Bloody hell, well, here's where we find out if'n the chronitons are goin' ta work." Ian hit shipwide on his comm panel. "All hands. Brace for impact!"

["Well, it just so happens, we nae ta be needin' ta generate them, we've an abundance of chronitons in our ablative armor. We've been on extended patrol long enough ta have accumulated plenty as we've nae have dock time ta sweep the bloody things. Question is, how ta access them?"]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

It had been very gratifying to see the turbolifts working again by the time they left Deck 9, Alex having hobbled along primarily with Ardyn's support. While she'd gone to make sure there were people assigned to getting one of the shuttles back work, he'd made a pitstop in Sickbay before going to join her. There were some of those with much more serious injuries, and with most of the biobeds and scanners offline, Doctor Rashar wasn't able to diagnose him with anything more specific than a knee injury using only his tricorder. Still, after being fitted for a supportive brace and a top-up on some very effective pain medication, Alex was able to limp out on his own accord, and only a dull distracting throb reminding him to refrain from performing acrobatics.

Having arrived at the shuttlebay just in time to see Ardyn walking out of the Challenger's Delta Flyer, a carbon copy of Ardy's called the Mjolnir, they made their way back to the bridge, arriving just in time to hear the tail end of Randall's report, and Galloway's plea for a solution. Alex wracked his brain, trying to think of some way to prevent another temporal shift. In all honesty, it had been years since he'd had to come up with any technical ideas, even moreso since their lives depended on it. His last major decision revolved around whether they should invest in more canoes or venture into hoverbike rentals. Pivoting to temporal mechanics was a tall order, even moreso since he had never really been interested in that subject to begin with.

"What about chronitons?" Alex finally brought forward a vague solution, digging it up from the bottom of a dusty mental chest. "Chroniton fields. The Borg used them for protection against temporal stresses from transwarp conduits. There was a theoretical flight research project about how we might be able to utilize the same conduits, but obviously it couldn't be tried because the Borg would never have permitted it." He continued developing the idea outloud, hoping someone with more expertise in the subject would step in to make it plausible. "If we could generate a chroniton field ourselves, even for only a few seconds around Challenger, maybe it would protect us from the temporal pulse until we can destroy that probe."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian listened to Wu's suggestion and from what he knew of temporal mechanics, chronitons had temporal properties, but unless they were polarized, they were mostly passive.

"Well, it just so happens, we nae ta be needin' ta generate them, we've an abundance of chronitons in our ablative armor. We've been on extended patrol long enough ta have accumulated plenty as we've nae have dock time ta sweep the bloody things. Question is, how ta access them?"

"I believe I have an answer for that Sir." Randall said. "We configure the deflector dish to emit tetryons. They will draw out the chronitons and polarize them."

"Won't they just drift away?"

"Not if we raise the shields, the polarized chronitons will remain trapped in a bubble between the hull and the shields."

Ian smiled for the first time since Randall reported on the danger of a second temporal pulse.

"Do it. All bloody hands and the ship's cook are yours Mister Randall. Make this happen. But make sure'n ta tune the shields ta nae block radio frequencies, if'n we disappear ta the Landsers, they may misunderstand our intentions."

Ian then turned to face Wu.

"Lieutenant, if'n this works, it will be a bottle of my personal stash of single malt for ye. Brilliant thinkin', you sure you're nae a boffin in Ops clothin'?"

[[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Secluded Alleyway --> Unknown Small Town Street | Land | L7-425977 System]]

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|Landser Planet]

Neva looked at Dr. Jettis and shrugged. 'Guess its time to go where we haven't before, huh?'

Neva smiled bravely and stepped onto the path, Tricorder in hand and scanning. Pointing, she spoke aloud for once and smirked. "Lifeforms Ho!"

[5km down road, just off town square]

The young Betazoid watched with wide eyes as houses and other buildings became more plentiful as the two Starfleet officers walked along. Neva had been walking ahead of the doctor, her Tricorder still in her hands. Unfortunately, she paid less and less attention to it. She was gawking around so much, she forgot she wasn't supposed to be seen...

Wgmek! n'zrd! A woman screeched as she was walking to a vehicle. She was pointing in their direction and bouncing.

Neva froze in disbelief. She felt the fear and shock buffet her like she'd hit a wall. Before Neva could bring herself to move, others clambered out of the nearby building with weapons of some sort. It didn't take a scientist to know they were screwed, especially when more people came out from nearby brandishing similar implements of destruction.

''Um...so much for stealth?'' Neva uttered apologetically, biting her lower lip as she looked at Jettis.

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Secluded Alleyway --> Unknown Small Town Street | Land | L7-425977 System]

Zhukdra'shar sighed in relief as he properly donned his isolation suit again. Having had to remove it momentarily to apply the bandages and ointment, he was tense at fearing being discovered, either by missing a camera, or by having passersby wander by. Fortunately, none of this had happened, so his orange fur and uniform were still undetected. He wished he could say the same about the Challenger, however. It was not a good situation, overall, and he wondered what to do now. He glanced at his wrist, now covered under the suit, the pang of guilt that bothered him slowly disappearing as his injury felt much better.

He supposed that the correct step was to find the rest of his landing team, as well as further investigate the customs of the planet. Perhaps, attempting to make contact if worst came to worst was not a bad plan, either.

"This is Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas. Away team. Do you read?"

He waited for a few minutes, but he heard no response. Deciding against trying again, he activated the stealth of his suit once more. It took him a moment to will himself back up, but eventually, he wandered out into the street. He almost stumbled into a Landser little girl who was using the equivalent of a skateboard, with only one wheel. She remained oblivious to her presence due to the music she was hearing, however, and his nigh invisibility.

Another sigh escaped his muzzle, as he began to walk around the quaint town.

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Near Town Square of Unknown Small Town | Land | L7-425977 System]

By art of magic, Zhukdra'shar heard a commotion as he approached what he thought was the town center. As he investigated further, he noticed that a group of Landsers were surrounding none other than Jettis and Neva. Bile and anger rose through his body in quick order, both at the situation, and also at his teammate's actions. They had been extremely foolish to allow themselves to be seen like this! The suits were nowhere to be seen, and now they were in an awful situation. And what was worse, they were forcing Zhuk to do something he truly did not want to do.

They would get certainly reprimanded later. By him, at least.

But first, he would have to save them.

He stopped himself as he stealthily walked towards an unaware Landser woman who was trying to open her car, having drawn out his phaser. He knew things could get bad, and real quickly if he did not act now. However, he also knew that if he applied violence like he had been taught to by the Romulans, he would only receive it in return. At least in theory. So perhaps, it was time for a show, instead.

In front of the crowd that was attempting to corner Jettis and Neva, cornering with rifles and blunt instruments, a ghastly figure suddenly appeared, materializing upon them. Everyone took a step back, as a hand was extended forward, and he then proceeded to remove the helmet of his suit. Probably not the best of ideas, but he at least had to show them he was not a faceless invader. That he was, while not a Landser, a living, breathing being.

"Greetings and salutations, esteemed individuals of this town. I am Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas," He offered a big bow forward, placing his helmet against his side, holding it with his right arm. Then, he slowly moved upwards, not wanting to spook the already troubled folk, "While I am certain that you cannot understand me, let it be known that we mean no harm. Either me or my companions,"

He motioned toward Jettis and Neva, offering a smile to the populace as he then placed his hand against his chest. Wincing slightly, he hid it the best he could. The Caitian stood still for a moment, wondering how he could show himself as peaceful. He decided to kneel before them, and lightly bow his head in submission soon afterwards,

"Please, sheath your weapons. We do not intend to harm thee."

[Land - Near Town Square]

The advancing figures closed quickly shouting, but the universal translator was only making every third word understandable.

"Heem the conveyance drakma!"

Jettis pushed Neva behind him and shouted.

RUN!"

However, before Neva could, Zhuk unmasked and challenged the crowd. The appearance of a cat-thing in front of them brought the mob up short. The vehicle skewed to a halt and there was a lull for a moment, until one particularly bright spark in the mob unfroze and shout.

"Gar laktra fee!"

This broke the spell and shots began to break out. Fortunately, the locals weren't skilled and no one was hit. However, while they may have been lacking in skill, they made up for it in volume and the away team had to take whatever cover they could find.

Jettis repeated his order to run and began firing as fast as his phaser would cycle. This drew the local's ire and weapons fire toward him, leaving him cut off from Zhuk and Neva. The Landsers were certainly a brave species and closed in on Jettis despite the efforts of Zhuk and Neva to create an escape route. Jettis looked at the others and shouted again.

RUN!"

Torn by duty and loyalty, the pair hesitated. Then the crowd swarmed Jettis which forced Zhuk's and Neva's hand. The last they saw of him before they ducked around a corner was Jettis in hand to hand combat and surrounded on all sides.

Running for their lives, they heard a vehicle closing in on them and as they made their decision to turn and fight, they spotted Kyan waving wildly for them to get in, which they did. As soon as they were aboard, the vehicle, driven by a Landser adolescent sped away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The ship was still far from recovered from the temporal pulse, but it was slowly coming back to life. Warp and weapons were still out, but life support, shields, communications, along with the impulse engines were fully functional. The main computer had rebooted, but with only about half of the memory storage reset, it was very slow in its response times. Ian's announcement had resulted in several radio signals being beamed at the ship and Lieutenant Booker, now recovered thanks to the medical team's arrival was fielding the messages as fast as the slowed computer could translate them.

It was maddening to Ian that universal translator was so slow in making the Landser language understandable, especially when it was so needed. It was clear that his initial broadcast was not fully understood and it was also abundantly clear he was going to have to make another announcement. However, before he could, Lieutenant Randall spoke up.

"Sir, we have an immanent problem."

"I hadn't noticed Lieutenant." He sighed. "I'm sorry Evan, that was uncalled for. What's gone wrong now?"

"When sensors came back online, I scanned for the Landser fold space probe. As I mentioned it jumped four light years in four seconds. A truly remarkable breakthrough in supraliminal travel. Unfortunately, it looks like the thing, which is fully automated, is getting ready to return to the Landser system."

"Sweet Merciful Maker!" Ian exclaimed. "That mean's another temporal pulse. We're nae ta be survivin' another in the state we're in now. How long do we have?"

"The probe seems to have been given the task of scanning the area of space it jumped to, as they only have simple lightspeed sensors, it will take the probe about an hour to complete that task, then it will fold space back here."

"So we have less than an hour ta figure out a way ta configure our defenses ta resist that bloody temporal pulse. Evan, drop everything else, this is your number one priority."

Ian then addressed the rest of bridge crew.

"If'n any of you have any boffin ideas, now would be the time to bring them up."

["Ah, good. Mister Espada is still out and I'm fair certain Mister Booker thunked her head when she fell. The rest of us are well enough and up ta our armpits trying to reboot the bridge systems."]

[Turboshaft]

As the Lieutenant came hurtling down the shaft, the Ensign who had called out let out a noise that could only be described as a terrified squeak as she tried to "get skinny" on the ladder, even though it would have no bearing if the collision of bodies had occurred. As Alex screeched to a halt, the medical team scrambled and clamored to find purchase somewhere other than the ladder, be it a tiny bit of exposed pipe or a maintenance toehold. However, this momentary terror didn't last long. In a few short moments, the conflict had been cleared and they were no longer at risk of playing the royal game of physics or finding out how many seconds it took to fall to the bottom of the turboshaft. It was currently a small miracle that nobody had tried to get the turbolifts working - and run the risk of turning the medical crew into a pancake to be mopped up by some deckhand. Policies and procedures were very clear on such matters, and to not bring the lifts into service without proper clearance, but since when were regulations ever truly followed?

As the Lieutenant relayed the crew's condition above and the steps needed to bring their technology back online, the team who had been paralyzed for a moment became a flurry of activity, as circuits were opened, removed, inserted, closed, and checked. The echoing nose, chirps, beeps, and whines of technology once again filled the space as the medical crew quickly performed a once-over of their equipment, with noises of celebration joining the din. "Thanks for the update, happy hunting sir!" called out the Ensign from earlier, letting the crew heading down pass by.

Of the four-man crew, a runner was dispatched to Sickbay to pass along the update as to how they could get their technology working again. Now down to three, the crew included a Bolian nurse, Abas, and the Human Ensign leading the party scrambling their way back up to the bridge.

As the crew arrived on the bridge, they paused for a moment to catch their breath before looking up. "Medical here, Captain! Ensign Meshin, reporting. How can we assist?" she asked, as the small three-person team attempted to quickly take stock of the situation and render assistance as needed.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

When the medical team arrived on the bridge, for a moment, it looked as if no one was conscious. As all that could be seen were legs sticking out from consoles, but before the team could rush forward to perform triage, Ian poked his head up from under the helm.

"Ah, good. Mister Espada is still out and I'm fair certain Mister Booker thunked her head when she fell. The rest of us are well enough and up ta our armpits trying to reboot the bridge systems."

Ian then ducked back under the helm to return to the repairs.

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[[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Landser Countryside ---> Pharmacy | Land | L7-425977 System]]

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Landser Countryside ---> Pharmacy | Land | L7-425977 System]

Zhukdra'shar attempted to find his fellow Starfleet officers, doing his best to ignore the pain in his wrist. After walking through hills filled with alien grass, or its equivalent on Earth, at least, he came across a tree that showed signs of damage from above. Indeed, his tricorder confirmed a group of people was here about an hour ago. But unfortunately, he had missed it.

Not good.

Especially as when he examined the area closer, he came across fragments of the material his isolation suit was made of. Which confirmed his suspicions that someone of the ship had ended up here. What worried him was the fact that they were not here now. This mission was getting worse and worse, and really quickly, too. Zhukdra'shar groaned softly as he decided to investigate, fearing that the Landser government could have taken whoever member of his team had landed here.

As he kept walking, he came across farms, carefully avoiding stepping on the rows of crops, and a road, which he began to follow. It seemed that his suit was working appropiately, as he raised no suspicion from the people currently harvesting the fields. Indeed, luck did seem to be on his side, as a boxy, truck-like vehicle which sputtered clouds of soft yellow, and an open cargo bed appeared a few meters behind him.

Zhuk had an idea on how to get to the nearest town, where he was certain he would be able to find his companion. Lowering himself to avoid drawing attention, he grabbed a rock, though kept close to the ground as he allowed the vehicle to go past him, before lifting it and tossing it towards the back. The sound was enough to cause the driver to stop, and get out of the vehicle.

"Dwas jorlappenjin zebe?"

Came the voice of the chubbier Landser as he checked on the back. He had a visible moustache, made from purple hair, which was carefully taken care of. He too wore a suit that resembled a set of human overalls, except that the straps were criss-crossed. A cap was removed from his hea as he passed a hand through his balding top, before he returned to the front of the vehicle. Zhuk had been expecting this, as he sneakily made his way over towards the back, and carefully, climbed inside the cargo bed.

He took a seat and waited, as the truck took him to the expected place.

All the movement, however, made his current injury more unbearable the further they advanced. Finally, though, at a bend, the truck stopped as it waited for another car to go by, and Zhuk used the time to jump out. Slowly, he made his way through the quaint town, filled with peculiar, angular houses painted in pastel colors. A bit too colorful for his taste, he supposed, but not too bad.

While still unseen, he remained close to the shadows, keeping a low profile to avoid any suspicion. That was, until he came across a store which seemingly had many medical supplies. A pharmacy.

He carefully walked inside, the slide-doors opening as they sensed him, even if they could not see him. Zhuk knew that it would probably be a bad idea to take from these people, but if he wanted to better manage his wrist, he would need some bandages. And it did not took too long for him to find them. However, as he was just about to grab them, he overheard something. A noisy, grey box speaking in a tongue his translator did not quite understand.

What he did, however, was the Challenger floating in space.

No...

[ Landser Planet - Forest ]

Jettis was relieved to see it was Cordon who stood. A look of surprise flickered across his features, taking in her suit-less form, but nodded at her explanation. That would make staying undercover a bit difficult, but at this point even getting spotted would probably be game over.

Glancing over in the direction she motioned to,  he made a mental note of the direction to hopefully avoid doubling back again. Especially if being pursued. 'We keep going and try to find the rest of the team. We need to figure out a way to get a message back to the Challenger without being discovered, we have no idea how the landsers will behave in the face of aliens.' He motioned for her to follow, before continuing in the direction he was headed, still occasionally pausing to mark a tree or two. 'Then I suppose we lie low until we get picked up. Our job is recon, so we can try to get some sort of native communications device, or try to watch them without being noticed. Best to avoid groups, though.'

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|Forest on Landers Planet]

Neva nodded. 'Laying low...check. I'm fine with that. I admit though, I'm itching to get my hands on their time-fold instrumentation.' She gave a wan smile. 'Terminal Engineer, I know.'

The forest thinned out to a field of high grass. Neva pulled out her Tricorder a moment then put it away. She crouched down, fingers tracing just above the ground. She looked up at Jettis and pointed. 'Looks like some sort of transport with wheels or something came through here. It looks recent. I suggest following it. We may find something we can use to communicate with the Challenger?' She raised a questioning eyebrow as she stood and wiped her hands on the sides of her uniform.

[Land - Unknown Small Town]

Zhuk found that with the locals glued to their viewscreens, he was able to procure bandages and other items to treat his wrist and walk out the store undetected. He found an alley and started wrapping his wrist which proved to be a far more difficult task than obtaining the supplies.

He was disturbed that the Challenger was so plainly visible to the locals as that was not the plan. He'd only heard a small portion of what the Landsers had said as they watched their viewscreens as he discovered his universal translator was taking a long time to decipher the local language. Most of the words were lost to him, but he did pick up. "Amazing" and "strangers".

As he finished wrapping his wrist, he found himself wondering what to do next. He hadn't tried to use his tricorder or combadge since arriving and was now torn over whether he should try to use either one now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Land - Six kilometers West of Zhuk]

Neva and Jettis stood at the edge of the wooden area they'd landed in and had a choice. They could continue to remain fully hidden, but unable to learn anything of use or they could risk encountering locals by trying to find out information. From where they stood, they could see a paved road only a kilometer away. It was obvious the road would lead to civilization and only by observing the locals would they learn about the Landsers.

["People of Land. My name is Ian Galloway. I am the captain of the USS Challenger, the ship you have seen on your news. I must apologize for our abrupt appearance over your world. I and my ship are representatives of the United Federation of Planets. A large interstellar government of over 200 worlds.]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

It had been two hours since the temporal pulse had crippled Challenger. However, once it was figured out how to reactivate the disabled systems the entire ship's complement went to work on restoring the ship's functions and were making very good progress.

The warp drive was still offline as it was a low priority compared to other systems, but the fusion reactors and the impulse engines were working again, so the ship had plenty of power. Weapons were still down as they were not needed given the Landsers had no means to reach, let alone attack the Challenger. However, shields were functional, although Ian chose to leave them down as the ship had already been spotted and disappearing suddenly might send the wrong signal to the governments of Land.

The ship had full sensors and Lieutenant Randall had detected the Landser fold space probe had jumped four light years in just four seconds. An amazing technological accomplishment that Federation science still only considered theoretical.

However, now that the ship had full communications, Ian could no longer put off talking to the people of Land. He originally had hoped to speak just to the various government leaders, but with images of Challenger flooding the news feeds around the planet, the quiet approach no longer felt practical. Thus, once Lieutenant Booker at Ops gave him the signal, Ian took his place in the command chair and nodded to Booker to open the channel. Using in his absolute best Standard he began to speak

"People of Land. My name is Ian Galloway. I am the captain of the USS Challenger, the ship you have seen on your news. I must apologize for our abrupt appearance over your world. I and my ship are representatives of the United Federation of Planets. A large interstellar government of over 200 worlds.

"We came to your world when our sensors detected unusual temporal fluctuations that turned out to be a byproduct of your magnificent fold space technology. So far, the use of fold space has not caused any damage, but we discovered during your last test, that up close, these temporal pulses have a devastating effect on our technology.

"This is what caused us to be revealed to you before we had the chance to speak to your leaders. We again apologize for any upset we might have caused. With your permission, we would like to speak to whatever delegates you choose so that we may meet each other properly and hopefully begin a long and friendly relationship. Thank you for your time, we await your response. Captain Ian Galloway, out."

[[USS Challenger - Deck 15 - Stellar Cartography]]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 15 - Stellar Cartography]

Lahr woke to with the all too familiar feeling of his face against the deck.   Had he drank too much again and passed out?  He opened his eyes and blurrily looked about.  He wasn't in his quarters - the temperature wasn't cold enough; nor was he in the brig - it was too dark here, and by sec/tac protocol the brig guards had to keep the brig well lit at all times.  Where was he?!   He blinked trying to focus... there seemed to be a reddish glow along the walls.  Emergency lighting?  Roohz!

It was then that he recalled having gone up to Stellar Cartography to enlist Hyperion's aid in understanding the concepts behind space-time folding.

"Hyperion? Ensign? Sound off if you survived whatever the hell just happened."
With every muscle in his body protesting the moment, Lahr got his hands under him and pushed himself up into a sitting position.

He looked about using the dim reddish glow.  "Computer, increase illumination 50%." There was no change. Nor even an acknowledgement of his order.  "Yep, power is definitely out."  How long he couldn't be entirely certain but without power life-support wasn't operational, and air wasn't being refreshed. That could be a huge problem. "I need to help get power up and going again."

[Stellar Cartography - Deck 15 - USS Challenger]

As Lahr called out, he could see others groaning on the deck or attempting to regain their feet. Hyperion was motionless and completely powered down. Ensign Alexandria Winsdor was the only long term crew member assigned to Stellar Cartography at the moment that was attempting to move. Tora was still crumpled on the deck. In addition, there were twelve cadets right on the ragged edge of panic and on seeing Lahr, the rushed over to him.

"What happened-"

"What do we do-"

"Are we going to die-"

He was bombarded with questions for which he didn't have any answers.

["Captain's Log, supplemental. Challenger is still several disabled, but the entire crew is focused on restorin' full capabilities. Our internal communications are mostly restored from Deck One to Deck Fifteen, we hope to have full communications within two hours.]

[USS Challenger - Landser System]

Slowly, very slowly, the Challenger began to stir as the crew frantically went through the tedious process of rebooting the ship's vast number of isolinear chips. Concentrating on only the most critical of systems, first, the thrusters came online allowing Espada to stabilize the ship's orbit. Then second, to restore life support.

Other systems began to come online, such as sensors, shields, the fusion generators, and the main computer, but each at only greatly reduced capabilities. The ship was no longer dead, but it was still only a shadow of it's normal self. It was however, enough to begin to work on the fundamental task of how to protect the ship from another temporal pulse.

As the crew struggled with restoring the ship's systems, Ian was listening to the Landser communications systems thanks to the work of Lieutenant Wu. What he heard was not good. As he feared, when the Challenger lost power and her shields dropped, she became visible to the scores of ground based telescopes that were observing the test of the fold space probe.

Ian could only wince as the local airwaves lit up with conversations of the 'unidentified object' just 80,000 kilometers from their world. Normally, the discovery of extra solar life would have been a closely guarded secret. Unfortunately, because the fold space test was such a public project, the sheer number of governmental, public, and private telescopes observing the test, discovery of the unknown vessel was detected by too many sources to contain.

One thing listening to the Landser communications revealed was that while the fold space project was a planetary level project, the Landsers had not advanced to the point where they had a single planetary government. There were some three dozen major nation-states that were conducting emergency meetings on how to deal with the alien incursion in their space.

Ian had remained on the bridge as the repairs began and with little to do personally, he began to open his Captain's Log, only to remember the ship's computer wasn't restored enough to respond to voice commands. He pulled out a tricorder with the goal of transferring the updates to the main computer once it was operational again.

"Captain's Log, supplemental. Challenger is still several disabled, but the entire crew is focused on restorin' full capabilities. Our internal communications are mostly restored from Deck One to Deck Fifteen, we hope to have full communications within two hours.

"We do not have external communications, so we've had no word from the away team since the pulse. I am extremely concerned about them as the shuttle Onizuka was found derelict near Challenger. Tractor beams are not operational yet, but the limited sensors we do have detected no life signs aboard. I can only count on the skills of those selected for the away team ta keep them safe.

"As all possible pretense of maintainin' the Prime Directive have been shattered, as soon as we have transmission capabilities, I plan ta contact the nation-states of Land ta begin First Contact procedures. As I am takin' this action without authorization from Starfleet Command, I state hereby ta take full responsibility should my actions be judged unjustified. End log."

["I was afraid of this, our drift has got us at the very edge of the planet's gravity well. We've got to get summat workin' ta stabilize our course."]

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

Ardyn's second wince was enough for Alex to know that she was hiding her discomfort, as usual. "Can you sense if Maddy's okay?" He asked while changing out the vial in the hypospray, following up her dose of tri-ox with a mild analgesic. He was concerned, frustrated, irritated. Angry, that Starfleet sent them to investigate a phenomenon which they knew was dangerous, had enough foresight to give it a name, but hadn't taken the precaution to develop any defenses against. An overconfidence in their technological edge, the Admiralty's Achilles heel, time and time again. He was also just the slightest bit scared of being in the dark, both literally and figuratively. Alex wanted nothing more at that moment than to get his family to safety. But there was no safety to be found here, not while they were all stuck on a drifting, powerless, starship.

Throughout his career, he had nearly died several times while trying to save his crewmates, came very close on Discovery. Back then, he was willing to die for his friends, his crew, the only family he had left. Maybe have a minor municipal building or ship's lounge named after him, for posterity. But something had changed over the past years, that willingness to sacrifice himself for others gradually shifting to a much stronger sense of self-preservation. Now that Alex had Ardyn and Maddison to live for, he wasn't so eager to dive blindly into unknown danger for, in this case, absolute strangers. He didn't know this crew, or this Captain Galloway. They weren't even friends, barely acquaintances over the past 24 hours. He didn't owe them anything, much less his life or the lives of his actual family.

But still. The uniform still meant something, along with the delta they all wore. Alex handed Ardyn a small toolkit and palm beacon from the survival kit he'd found in the lockers, and then set to work carrying out Galloway's orders. The slightest edge of vexation tinged his tone when he tried to scan Booker with a medical tricorder only to discover it broken. "Useless." Alex muttered, next pulling out a regular tricorder and finding it defective as well. "It's not just the ship." He reported, toggling on a hand beacon with mild relief to find at least that worked. "Unless someone forgot to change the powerpacks in these tricorders, it doesn't look like anything more advanced than flashlights work. At this rate, we'll have to communicate with tin cans and string."

Alex pried the back off the Ops workstation, doing a 'sniff' test for any acrid smells which could indicate a fire or short circuit, as was usually the case when everything went kaput. To his surprise, asides from no power running through the circuits, it all appeared immaculate. Visually, there wasn't any damage at all, nothing to explain what had happened, and without a working tricorder, he had no diagnostic tool to use. "This doesn't make any sense." Alex postulated, glancing at Galloway. "Even if main and secondary power went offline, the batteries should've automatically kicked in. If this is a supply issue, then we might really well be 'humped'."

"Unplug it and plug it back in again. Brilliant." Alex was astounded by the simplicity of it, but as in 80% of all cases, the simplest fix was the easiest one which worked. More importantly, this meant it wasn't a supply issue, and they should have enough emergency power to get their essential systems back running, including the warp core. Quickly popping the tricorder's cover, he pulled out the isolinear chip and plugged it back in, relieved by the steady chirping sound as it began working again. "Mr. Tal, your reward. First working tricorder on the bridge." Alex tossed it over to the engineer, and then handed the medical one over to a blueshirt who had taken over care of the officers still laying unconscious. Resetting the Ops console took a bit longer than the helm, since he was working alone, but he did finally manage to get the workstation back operational.

With the rest of the ship only learning about the repair solution at Grelek's climbing speed, everything still read offline on his display. He did manage to activate the viewscreen though, and it flickered back into existence after a few seconds. After several moments of staring at the screen, Alex frowned. "Sir, is it just me, or does that planet seem alot closer now than before?"

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

When the viewscreen flickered back to life and Wu commented on the planet's size, Ian looked up with an even more pained expression.

"I was afraid of this, our drift has got us at the very edge of the planet's gravity well. We've got to get summat workin' ta stabilize our course."

Thinking furiously Ian added.

"Thrusters, they draw the least power of any propulsion on the ship, we've got ta focus our attention on gettin' thrusters online."

"Sir, I hate to complicate things, but we have an additional problem."

Randall said from the Science One station.

"Go ahead Lieutenant." Ian sighed.

"I started scanning the local area for traces of the fold space temporal pulse to work on some sort of defense. As I was scanning, I detected an strong increase in radio frequency activity emanating from the planet. It looks like when our shields dropped, the Landsers have detected us. I don't know what they can do about it, but I am certain they know we are here."

"Well, there goes any hope of avoidin' a court martial."

Ian replied sourly as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I would say it's a given we've gone a buggered the hell out of the Prime Directive at this point. Mister Wu, as soon as you're done with treatin' Lieutenant Booker, see if'n you can tap into the Landser's communication network. No possibility of puttin' off talkin' with their government now."