S4:E12 - Trapped in Amber

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck One  - Bridge]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian beamed as Lahr agreed to participate. As he was unaware what he'd done to offend the Andorian, Ian wouldn't press him to explain. If he wanted to talk, he would, if not, Ian was just glad whatever there was between them was no more.

"Brilliant. We'll go back over the basics ta knock the rust off, then we'll try our first run at the Japanese. Summat simple, just unescorted bombers. Should that go well, we'll experiment.

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

[Deep Space - One Half Light Year Ahead of Challenger and Heidi Schwebach]

The path the two starships were traveling was a well established trade route and thus contained a fair bit of traffic going about their business as on any other day. Long range sensors were aware of the ships closest to them, which consisted of two ships. The the Federation registered transport Natalie Chatham and slightly ahead of her, the deuterium collier Planitia Deriedi. Long range sensors also detected a Class 3 ion storm was moving into the flight path of the two civilian ships.

Lahr was at his station, finishing up a standard mid-shift check of the ship's power distribution.  When he closed down that application, he noted something of interest on long range sensors.  But as had become the norm, someone else beat him to reporting it.   It was no wonder the Captain thought he couldn't do his job....

Lieutenant jg Lagar
[Bridge - USS Challenger]

As the Medical Officer focused on his work at his science station, his eyes caught the readout in the top-left-tendril corner of his station. He brought the readout to his forefront with a swipe, ordering the system to give him greater details about what it was detecting. He knew he had a responsibility to report this information immediately.

"Captain, pardon the interruption. Sensors are detecting an ion storm ahead along our path, approximately one-half light year away. The storm is a Class 3 by our current sensor readings, and it will intercept our current course, but we will not reach that point of interruption at our current speed for another 11 hours, 9 minutes and 35 seconds. The storm may be past our course entirely by that time, however"¦" The Phylosian paused, reading the identity information of two vessels further ahead of them. "Sir, the storm appears likely to directly affect two ships ahead of us, a deuterium collier and a Federation transport."

Left unknown was whether the two ships had detected the storm in question, and whether the storm would indeed be long-past by the time the Challenger reached that point in space.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian swiveled the command chair toward Lagar at the science station with a small frown. Ion storms were never good news, but the Phylosian was correct about the storm passing out of their path by the time they reached its location. Before he could comment, Jettis arrived and Ian shifted his reply to the science officer.

"Mister Jyur, seems the Doctor has detected an ion storm in our path. Please keep an eye on it in case it decides ta become a problem."

Just as Ian was swiveling back to face the viewscreen. Lieutenant T'Kel spoke up.

"Captain. I am receiving a distress call from the freighter Natalie Chatham. They report that the deuterium collier Planitia Deriedi, has suddenly disappeared from their sensors shortly after entering the storm. They have halted at the edge of the ion storm and are requesting immediate assistance."

With his attention on the storms and his own sullenness at not having been able to report it before the visiting Doctor, his usefulness was put more into question when T'Kel spoke up reporting an upcoming call.  What the...?!  Lahr checked his station cause his console hadn't pinged with the comm... dammit, the Vulcan before him had turned down the notification volume to minimum.  Dammit Grelek!  Lahr's antenna writhed in annoyance.

Ian's frown deepened as he ran some calculations on his console.

"Bloody hell. Even though our course is similar ta those two ships, they diverge enough that if'n we divert course ta assist them, the Heidi Schwebach will miss her deadline. Our orders were emphatic, we cannae leave the Schwebach under any circumstances. However, general orders are also emphatic regardin' assistin' a ship in distress."

Ian stood and paced as he ran through his options which were limited. He stopped pacing at the science one station next to Jettis.

"Lieutenant. I have a task for you. As we cannae be in two places at once, we're goin' ta have split ourselves in two. The Challenger will remain on course ta Beta Lankal and you will take the Mjolnir ta assist the Chatham I suggest you take at least two engineers with you. I believe a doctor might be in order as well. It is your choice if'n you wish ta round out your party with anyone from security. You will have ta depart within the hour. Any questions?"

The Andorian spent the next several minutes checking over all his station's settings making sure that he wouldn't miss the next 'big' thing.  While he did this Jyur was assigned to the away team.  For a cautious moment, Lahr paused concerned that maybe the day would get even worse and he or Ruth would be selected but thankfully no.

With that hurdle passed, Lahr continued to pour over his console... ready.

[Jettis Jyur]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian brightened at Jettis' reponse and patted him on the shoulder.

"Tis a braw attitude Lad. This whole thing is probably a snipe hunt, but you never know with an ion storm in the mix. Make best speed, but don't go burnin' out your warp coils in the process. Good luck."

[Shuttlebay - USS Challenger]

T'roth was already in the shuttlebay when Jettis arrived and was in the middle of performing the pre-flight check of the Mjolnir. It was a testament to the Delta Flyer's designer Tom Paris that the robust shuttle has been adopted by Starfleet after the USS Voyager returned from her epic journey across the Delta Quadrant. The Mjolnir was fast for a shuttle along with being well armed and shielded for a ship it's size. Normally an ion storm would pose a serious risk to any shuttle sized vessel, but if any shuttle could handle the conditions associated with an ion storm, the Delta Flyer was the best ship for the job.

Looking up from her work, T'roth nodded to Jettis as he arrived.

"Lieutenant. The Mjolnir is fully fueled and all systems read as nominal. Estimated time to reach the Natalie Chatham is eleven point zero two hours."

Lieutenant jg Lagar
[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Lagar was unsurprised to see the higher-ranking officer assuming his duties on the Bridge, but he wondered whether Jettis was truly readyo to resume away-team work. Now that he was looking at Jettis, there were no obvious signs of pain or distress, and he must be cleared for duty if he was here. Still, Jettis had demonstrated a willingness to sacrifice his body for the mission  not so long ago, when Lagar himself had wheeled the tall man into Lieutenant Belmont's office to continue his science work while laying a hovergurney!

At the lieutenant's invitation, Lagar nodded his ovoid head in respectful agreement. "I am at your service, Sir." came the digitized response. Privately, the Phylosian decided that one of his reasons for attending would be to keep an eye on the humanoid.

As the Phylosian's medikit was already on his back, as was his typical practice when on-duty, Lagar had no need to pick up new equipment. What he did was create a message to send to his supervisor, Lieutenant Belmont.

-----Begin Message-----
Lieutenant Belmont,

I'm writing to inform you that I have been assigned to join an away-mission, under the temporary command of Lieutenant Jyur. I will be placed on the-

Lagar halted there. He had heard the word said aloud, and his voder had given him the word phonetically. Me Ole Near? He used a second window to view the Challenger's complement of shuttles and extra vessels, which he knew from context this Me Ole Near was a part. It took him a moment to make the connection that Mjolnir was the vessel, just with some sort of unique spelling. He was glad he didn't try to use his own creative spelling in his letter to his supervisor, and make himself look incompetent in the process.

-Mjolnir. Our mission is to assist a Federation-registered freighter, the Natalie Chatham. I will not be on the Bridge where you expect me to be, as a result. I will ensure I provide you with a proper report upon my return.

-----End Message-----

Lagar transmitted the message, and rose to make his way to the shuttlebay where this"¦ Me Ole Near"¦ was docked.

NPC Petty Officer Koroz
[Shuttlebay - USS Challenger]

The Klingon Petty Officer Koroz stormed into the shuttlebay well ahead of departure time, his entry seeming to suggest that he expected some kind of armed resistance while still aboard the Challenger. Or, perhaps, this was just how he walked into rooms. His phaser rifle was slung comfortably around his back, and at his belt was a standard tricorder, a small emergency medkit, a communicator, and a few other basic tools. For those familiar with Klingon culture, it might be notable that he carried no daqtagh, the three-pointed knife that most Klingons carried no matter what.

Koroz drew his dark eyes to Lieutenant Jyur. The human, for Koroz only knew of Jettis as a human, was a good couple inches taller than Koroz, who was uncharacteristically short for a Klingon at a mere five foot ten. This height difference, though minuscule to some, was a vast chasm to Koroz; yet another male taller than he was. He found himself running his tongue along the bottom of his upper teeth, the jagged things making marks in the fleshy muscle inside his mouth. He felt a desire to find an opportunity to challenge the Lieutenant to a physical challenge, such as a Gham Yuvtlhe' leg wrestling bout, or a B'hat Qul challenge. Yes"¦ Winning or losing such a challenge would settle these feelings"¦

"Lieutenant." he said, sounding as though he needed to put together each syllable of the word very carefully. "Petty Officer Koroz, by your orders."

He seemed to only now notice the higher-ranking enlisted person present. A Vulcan. he thought to himself. He did not recognize this female, but she wore gold and she was enlisted like was, and he nodded to her in respectful greeting. Given the opportunity, he observed how she carried her weaponry as she stood and moved about, wondering how capable she was in tactical situations.

Lieutenant jg Lagar
[Shuttlebay - USS Challenger]

Lagar arrived just behind Koroz, the Phylosian's medkit ready on his back, a phaser pistol set to stun in a holster attached to the front of his uniform. Koroz turned as the plant-thing entered, seeing the same creature that he had first encountered in Sickbay. The Klingon took a moment to openly marvel at the officer, for an officer it was by the pips on its neck. This was the thing had saved lives in Sickbay, preventing warriors from dying a needless death so that they may fight again, and protect their Starfleet colleagues in further battles. It was also"¦ about six feet tall. Koroz blinked. Then he blinked again.

Even this Sor is taller than I. he thought to himself glumly, thinking the Klingon word for "˜tree' as he observed the Phylosian. At least it wasn't a male, whatever it was. There was no need to feel threatened by the height of a cactus.

Lagar had no outward reaction to the Klingon's look, but did greet him, recognizing the Klingon from Sickbay as well. He included the Vulcan, T'Roth, in his greeting as well, by saying "Petty Officers." He then looked to Lieutenant Jyur, seeing no need to further announce that he was present and ready for duty.

[USS Challenger - Shuttlebay]

Jettis wheeled around at the unexpected feminine voice. His eyes settled in on the Vulcan, who had beat the Lieutenant to the punch - a remarkable diplay of punctuation. Giving her a respectful nod, he glanced at the Shuttle. "Thank you, Petty Officer. At what warp speed is your estimation?"

He engaged her in some small chat about the capabilities of this particular shuttle - speed, hull durability. It wasn't long before the other members of the away team joined them though, and he turned to greet them. Shooting a perfunctory glance at his watch, a small smile graced his face at the punctuality. Perhaps he would beat even what he'd promised the Captain - after a short debriefing they might depart in only thirty minutes.

He turned to Koroz, his assigned Security officer as he entered. He felt the... jealous? Distasteful? eyes that bore into him, masked behind a thin veil of respectfulness due a superior officer. He brushed it off swiftly, meeting his gaze and uttering a 'Thank you,' as he reported in.

Doing a once over to make sure everyone arrive, Jettis began speaking.
"As some of you already know, we've received a distress call from the Natalie Chatham. It was travelling with a deuterium collier, and as they entered an ion storm, they lost all contact, and could not find it on scanners. We're going to rendezvous with the Chatham, and assist them in finding their lost Collier. I predict it will be a simple case of the ion storm messing with their scanners," he gave a pointed glance towards the engineers, "But as always we need to be ready for anything. The faster we depart, the less likely we'll get caught up in this ion storm as well. Any questions?"

He fell silent, leaving the floor open for anyone who might have some concerns about their mission. He didn't really expect any - it was rather straightforward, but he would always choose to ask, in case someone surprised him.

[Hanir Seph]

[USS Challenger-A | Counsellor Offices]

"Ridi Pagliaccio!"

Hanir sat in her small Counselling Office, awaiting instructions, visitors, anything, as Leoncavallo's classic flowed from her sound system. Having checked the ship logs, she saw that there had been a callip for security. Could have been me if I was further along in training. She grumped, but couldn't change that fact. On her console was a psychology text. As Enlisted, she wasn't expected to have the same level of training as an Officer, but Starfleet actively encouraged all personnel to continue their education and certifications. In fact, it was one of the criteria for high Petty Officer grades to have higher skillsets.

But most of all, she couldn't concentrate. Shazam's parting thoughts (parting shot?) was bouncing around in her head constantly. With a frown, she tapped open a comms message.

From: Hanir Seph
To: Shazam Esam
Subject: Peace offering

Ensign, I do want to... Extend an apology. I think we both have very different styles and we both have our baggage. I think our personalities and our styles may never be fully compatible with each other. Nevertheless, I do recognize your abilities and your style in your own way. While I can't promise that we may end up friends or otherwise, let's focus our efforts on helping the crew in our own ways. End.

Satisfied, she sent it off, then booked an appointment at the phaser range. She was already designated Marksman level, able to regularly hit 70% of targets, but she was still unable to reach 80% for Sharpshooter. That was her next goal as her attention went back to her psychology text until she could go off duty.

[Ruth Sigurdsdottir]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck One  - Bridge]

Lahr smiled back to Ruth and gave a nod.  "Yeah, she should be fine now until we're off shift."

Lahr chuckled and shook his head at his own assumption that the Phylosian would know that Skye was Ruth's pet.  "Yeah sorry about that. Guess I should have been clearer."

His antenna swiveled toward Ruth when she inquired to the Captain about taking time to see a counselor.   The Andorian couldn't help but wonder what it was that she felt she needed to talk to the counselor about.

It was just afterwards that Shazham, the Betazoid counselor turned flyboy, arrived and Lahr gave the man a wary nod.

Usually Betazoids didn't bother Lahr - he generally didn't have much to hide, and even if he was projecting, he figured most Betazoids wouldn't comment on anything they did sense due to privacy etiquette and all that... but the new helmsman was also a medical counselor.  It was part of his job to assess the crew to see if they were stable enough to be on shift.   While Lahr knew he could fake it in sessions, now he would have to be constantly watching his thoughts and reactions while the counselor was playing at being a flight officer.   This sucked.  It took effort not to let his antenna droop and to refocus his thoughts on this work and not on how the Betazoid made him feel like he was under a microscope being watched and judged.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ruth worried at the 'antennae semaphore' and mouthed 'I'm fine!' at him then wondered if he was worried that, with the influx of counselling staff they'd acquired lately that somehow Judy Eastman was still keeping tabs on him despite the fact she'd retired!

Lieutenant jg Lagar

"Not a problem ma'am, I won't be seeking out these animals personally."

Rather oddly, Lagar turned his head back to his station first, then his torso much later. The delay between the turning of his body after his head might make him appear robotic, or at the very least be yet another reminder of how different he was. Within a few moments, he was scanning the First Officer's quarters of the ship, seeking biosignatures and checking the scanners as they parsed through the available information. He configured the technology to seek out signatures that were smaller in size, and that greatly narrowed down the information coming back.

"Doggie detected." he reported as he identified the canine, remembering a "˜pet name' that a colleague had used for her own canine pet back in Starfleet Medical. He broadened the scan now, seeking a creature about half the size of Skye, and it proved to be fine practice for him. "And I have found a cat"¦ in Jefferies Tube number 87, Deck 5, near the"¦ Pizzeria." The Phylosian turned back to the Bridge officers. "Diagnostic tests on the biosign scanners complete." he reported.

"Sounds like Huxley... go to where there is the most potential for maximum treats!  Smart cat... Smart Alec cat too as I recall!"  she said with a chuckle. "I seem to remember that before he was chipped and we restricted his movements he thought that the Captain's chair was the perfect place to sit down and have a 3 hour nap!  I got royally glared at for telling him otherwise!"

At the very heart of the vast machine that was the Challenger began with utter annihilation. Atoms of matter met atoms of anti-matter and completely destroyed each other. The resultant release of energy created as a byproduct of that destruction provided power to the warp coils. These devices harnessed that energy and allowed the ship to create the otherworldly bubble that existed outside of Einsteinian space which gave her the ability to defy Einstein and move faster than light.

And defying Einstein was what the Challenger was doing at the moment, as she and her companion, the freighter known as the Heidi Schwebach cruised along blithely unaware that they were defying anyone; they were simply doing what they were designed to do and that was the end of the matter.

Aboard the two ships, life went on as it regularly did for the crews that inhabited them. People worked, slept, played, created, loved, and argued as sentient beings were wont to do. It had been three days since departing Starbase 84 and all was as it should be aboard both vessels. As this was the intent of the powers that sent the Challenger and the Schwebach on their journey, everything was going to plan.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

One of the beings aboard one of the vessels that had the burden of command, sat in the center of the bridge and felt, rather redundant. The ship could virtually fly itself and the crew of the Challenger knew their jobs well enough that the being called Ian Galloway actually had nothing to do except exude confidence and provide what the Starfleet Command School called a 'non-anxious presence'. When another being on the Challenger addressed him, Ian welcomed the break in the monotony.

"By all means Commander. The first part of takin' care of others is ta make certain you are takin' care of yourself. Our girl here knows where she has ta go, I'm certain she'll get there if'n you take an hour of personal time."

As he was keenly interested in doing some self care himself, since the topic had been broached, Ian figured he'd also see if he could mend the fence between him and Lahr in the process.

"Mister ch'Verret, I have two hours of holodeck time booked between 1800 and 2000 today. Would a trip ta Kunming interest you? Atmospheric flyin' skills wither if'n nae practiced."

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck One  - Bridge]

Given his wariness at the counselor's presence right beside him at the helm controls, Lahr had completely missed Ruth's silent chuckling at the mental imagery of Skye 'greeting' the Phylosian with a 'leg up'.   He did however nod his antenna towards Lagar in acknowledgement of the successful detections.   Speaking of which, Lahr looked over his console and ran his station's standard checks.  It was turning out to be a rather quiet day.

At hearing his name, Lahr swiveled his chair about to look to the Captain.  Expecting a work task and not an invite to return to the Flying Tigers, Lahr's expression was one of surprise before he managed stifle it.  Lahr had overreacted months back to an imagined slight when he had been reprimanded by the Captain at the time for not doing his job.  It was something that should have been easily moved past but Lahr had stubbornly held to the grudge, feeling like his work was not appreciated even though Lahr had been putting his all into it at the time.  So to show his discontent, Lahr had stopped going to the Flying Tigers program where he'd been learning from the Captain how to fly a P-40 in combat.  (He'd also stopped DJing on shift during the quiet times when Galloway was on the Bridge - but that tactic backfired on Lahr as no one other than himself seemed to miss the music).

So having the Captain invite him personally once more after months of silence, Lahr was surprised.  If he was honest with himself...he'd missed the camaraderie the program evoked.  The Andorian figured the offer to return was something he shouldn't snub.  After so long, the Captain likely had no clue why Lahr had been upset in the first place so the only person he was punishing was himself.

Lahr bobbed his antenna'd head.  "Sure Captain.  I'd like that."

He swiveled back towards his console and jotted the time down on his calendar.   "18:00hrs.  I'll be there."

"Why do you have all the fun?!" Ruth said with a pet lip pout that a 5 year old would be proud of, before breaking off into ta delighted chuckle.  "At some point I'll have to drag you to the farm in Trondheim, Captain.  You can play with my baby... don't worry, this particular baby is a DeHavilland DC-2 Beaver, currently fitted with 'Dunlops dangling' undercarriage, but I have the waterski undercarriage too, which, when 'home' is a land full of Fjords whether you're referring to Norway or Iceland, is kinda useful!  As for seeing the counsellor... yeah, I'll be back being the mad, in the right ways, Viking you know and love sooner rather than later, but don't worry, axes firmly back on the wall!"

She said the know looking at Ian, and the love at Lahr.  But beaming between the two of them then mouthed 'Told you the Captain didn't hate you!' at the surprised Andorian.

Lieutenant jg Lagar
[Bridge - USS Challenger]

As the Medical Officer focused on his work at his science station, his eyes caught the readout in the top-left-tendril corner of his station. He brought the readout to his forefront with a swipe, ordering the system to give him greater details about what it was detecting. He knew he had a responsibility to report this information immediately.

"Captain, pardon the interruption. Sensors are detecting an ion storm ahead along our path, approximately one-half light year away. The storm is a Class 3 by our current sensor readings, and it will intercept our current course, but we will not reach that point of interruption at our current speed for another 11 hours, 9 minutes and 35 seconds. The storm may be past our course entirely by that time, however"¦" The Phylosian paused, reading the identity information of two vessels further ahead of them. "Sir, the storm appears likely to directly affect two ships ahead of us, a deuterium collier and a Federation transport."

Left unknown was whether the two ships had detected the storm in question, and whether the storm would indeed be long-past by the time the Challenger reached that point in space.

Mildly surprised that the Phylosian medic was even at the Science station, Ruth stopped mid way to the Turbolift and started to double back.  Ion storms were not to be messed with, however, so she was glad that someone had seen it.

"Captain I can stay..."

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

Striding onto the bridge, Jettis nodded to his science counterpart, as he relieved her from her station. The switch went over smoothly, as Jettis started to update himself on the situation. He knew a very limited amount about their mission - but from what he'd heard it would be a boring shift. Hopefully, he wouldn't have any extra paperwork to do afterwards, and he could get home to Theresa on time as he'd promised.

His head turned though, as Lagar, reported an ion storm, quirking a brow. An ion storm in this sector of space? Not unheard of certainly, although it would pose an interruption for their current course. Pulling up the scans, he double checked for any noted debris, or other possible hazards.

"It's fine... you're covered!" she said giving a smile to Jettis as she stepped into the Turbolift he'd just vacated and went down to the Sickbay.

[Sickbay]

The doors opened and he walked inside. Looking around, there were a few people bustling about. He walked over to an empty chair and took a seat and waited.

[Sickbay - USS Challenger]

Shortly after she was done working on Derek, Lisa looked at her PADD which had sounded with the notification of Lagar's message.

Why didn't they choose me?" was her automatic thought before logic set in and she knew her colleague had been chosen because he was up on the Bridge and was more up-to-date on the mission than she was. It still hurt. A little. The doctor started a reply message.

Lieutenant JG Lagar,

Understood. See you when you get back.

- Dr. Lisa Belmont

Message sent, she started preparations for monitoring the away team.

[Sickbay - USS Challenger

"Ah Mr. Rodwell... I trust you are well... I believe I heard you're called for the away team, good luck."  she smiled at the Engineer who had been helping her with some extra engineering practice, a weak area in her knowledge of the ship.

"Lisa,.." she said once Derek departed.  "Is Counsellor Seph, or Hanir ... I'm not sure how she likes to be addressed yet, in office??  Actually, I need to see you too if you're not busy, maybe two birds, one stone or I can come back to see you.  Ian's given me an hour... and if we're heading for an ion storm I think given that our current XO is going to be out on the Mjolnir, I think he'd welcome having a senior 'boffin' on the Bridge but... he gave me an hour, I'm taking it!"

She smiled at her friend, she hadn't seen her for conversational periods since the Julbukking on Katra at Yuletide.  Remembering that she asked about Kyle.

"Have you heard from Kyle?  Least he has Hrafn over there as an established friend, and her brood to keep him on his toes.  'Uncle Kyle' will be busy!!  So.. .anyhow... counsellor...you want to sit in with us if she's available Lisa, or should I come back to see you?"

[Lagar]

[USS Challenger - Shuttlebay]

He turned to Koroz, his assigned Security officer as he entered. He felt the... jealous? Distasteful? eyes that bore into him, masked behind a thin veil of respectfulness due a superior officer. He brushed it off swiftly, meeting his gaze and uttering a 'Thank you,' as he reported in.

Doing a once over to make sure everyone arrive, Jettis began speaking.
"As some of you already know, we've received a distress call from the Natalie Chatham. It was travelling with a deuterium collier, and as they entered an ion storm, they lost all contact, and could not find it on scanners. We're going to rendezvous with the Chatham, and assist them in finding their lost Collier. I predict it will be a simple case of the ion storm messing with their scanners," he gave a pointed glance towards the engineers, "But as always we need to be ready for anything. The faster we depart, the less likely we'll get caught up in this ion storm as well. Any questions?"

He fell silent, leaving the floor open for anyone who might have some concerns about their mission. He didn't really expect any - it was rather straightforward, but he would always choose to ask, in case someone surprised him.

Lieutenant jg Lagar
[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"The Natalie Chatham is a properly registered Federation transport." the Phylosian declared to his colleagues. "I've downloaded the deck layout and specifications to my tricorder and PADD, and can make it available to any who need the data at a moment's notice. Aside from that, I have no questions, Sir."

Koroz shook his head, his lion's mane of dark hair shaking about as he did so. "No questions, Lieu-ten-ant." the Klingon clarified.

[Ian Galloway]

[USS Challenger - Shuttlebay]

Jettis wheeled around at the unexpected feminine voice. His eyes settled in on the Vulcan, who had beat the Lieutenant to the punch - a remarkable diplay of punctuation. Giving her a respectful nod, he glanced at the Shuttle. "Thank you, Petty Officer. At what warp speed is your estimation?"

He engaged her in some small chat about the capabilities of this particular shuttle - speed, hull durability. It wasn't long before the other members of the away team joined them though, and he turned to greet them. Shooting a perfunctory glance at his watch, a small smile graced his face at the punctuality. Perhaps he would beat even what he'd promised the Captain - after a short debriefing they might depart in only thirty minutes.

He turned to Koroz, his assigned Security officer as he entered. He felt the... jealous? Distasteful? eyes that bore into him, masked behind a thin veil of respectfulness due a superior officer. He brushed it off swiftly, meeting his gaze and uttering a 'Thank you,' as he reported in.

Doing a once over to make sure everyone arrive, Jettis began speaking.
"As some of you already know, we've received a distress call from the Natalie Chatham. It was travelling with a deuterium collier, and as they entered an ion storm, they lost all contact, and could not find it on scanners. We're going to rendezvous with the Chatham, and assist them in finding their lost Collier. I predict it will be a simple case of the ion storm messing with their scanners," he gave a pointed glance towards the engineers, "But as always we need to be ready for anything. The faster we depart, the less likely we'll get caught up in this ion storm as well. Any questions?"

He fell silent, leaving the floor open for anyone who might have some concerns about their mission. He didn't really expect any - it was rather straightforward, but he would always choose to ask, in case someone surprised him.

[Shuttlebay - USS Challenger]

T'Roth looked up from her PADD and replied in a typically Vulcan tone.

"Warp six Sir, the Delta Flyer's maximum cruising speed. Should you intend to employ emergency speed of warp seven point two, our flight time is six point five one hours, but that runs the risk of engine failure. By your leave Sir, I will pilot unless you have someone else in mind to do so."

Once everyone was aboard the Mjolnir, T'Roth asked for and received clearance to depart. It was always a tricky maneuver to depart from a ship at warp, but the Vulcan exited the Challenger's warp bubble skillfully and took the Mjolnir to warp.

"What are your orders concerning top speed Sir?"

She asked as soon as they reached warp six.

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

[Cargo Bay Six - SS Heidi Schwebach]

A lone figure moved quietly through the stacks of palletized crates keeping to the shadows. Once in the most secluded part of the cargo bay, the figure pulled out what looked like a PADD until they twisted the cover in a particular fashion and extended a very non-standard antenna. The shadowy figure tapped a few keys and sent an encoded burst transmission. The message was short and directional, thus neither the Chatham or the Challenger detected anything other than random background noise. Once the message was sent, the figure returned the PADD to its normal configuration and carefully exited the cargo bay.

[Jettis Jyur]

Lieutenant jg Lagar
[Bridge - USS Challenger]

"The Natalie Chatham is a properly registered Federation transport." the Phylosian declared to his colleagues. "I've downloaded the deck layout and specifications to my tricorder and PADD, and can make it available to any who need the data at a moment's notice. Aside from that, I have no questions, Sir."

Koroz shook his head, his lion's mane of dark hair shaking about as he did so. "No questions, Lieu-ten-ant." the Klingon clarified.

[USS Challenger - Shuttlebay]

Jettis nodded to Lagar as he piped up about the type of vessel. "Thank you Lieutenant, I'm sure that will be very useful for the Engineers to study." He glanced at the others, as Koroz shook his head, declining to ask anything. He waited another beat, to see if anyone would bring up any other questions, before striding towards the door of the shuttle.

"Well then, lets make haste." He stood near the door, seeing everyone else in before finally boarding himself. Leaning over towards Lagar, he queried "Could you send the deck layout to my PADD so I can look over it?" Giving an obligatory smile of thanks,  he pulled out his PADD to receive the information.

[Shuttlebay - USS Challenger]

T'Roth looked up from her PADD and replied in a typically Vulcan tone.

"Warp six Sir, the Delta Flyer's maximum cruising speed. Should you intend to employ emergency speed of warp seven point two, our flight time is six point five one hours, but that runs the risk of engine failure. By your leave Sir, I will pilot unless you have someone else in mind to do so."

Once everyone was aboard the Mjolnir, T'Roth asked for and received clearance to depart. It was always a tricky maneuver to depart from a ship at warp, but the Vulcan exited the Challenger's warp bubble skillfully and took the i]Mjolnir[/i] to warp.

"What are your orders concerning top speed Sir?"

She asked as soon as they reached warp six.

[NCC Mjolnir]

Before long, the quintet were off. Jettis couldn't help but give a smug smirk at the good time they'd made. His commendations were definitely going in his report, and he felt he couldn't have chosen a better team. Glancing over at T'Roth, he paused for a moment. Sucking his teeth, he mulled over the possible ramifications, before slightly shrugging his shoulders.

"Hold at warp 6, unless we receive further communique that the Chatham's situation has worsened. It's not worth the risk of burning out the warp coils."

[Derek Rodwell]

[Shuttlebay]

Derek came running in with his tool kit in hand. He had just left Sickbay from getting his treatment and entered Engineering when he got the call. He wasn't sure what the issue with the distressed vessel was so he went straight to grabbing things he might need. He had worked with Jyur before on a previous away mission and hoped the man knew he would be there on time. He stepped into the Delta Flyer just as the team leader made a request for the layout of the vessel they were going to assist. He hadn't heard any more of the previous conversations.

"May I get that layout as well please, Doctor." he asked the Medical Officer before turning to Jettis. "So what's the mission, Sir?" he asked as he hefted up the tool kit. "I hope I have what we need."

[Lagar]

[USS Challenger - Shuttlebay]

Jettis nodded to Lagar as he piped up about the type of vessel. "Thank you Lieutenant, I'm sure that will be very useful for the Engineers to study." He glanced at the others, as Koroz shook his head, declining to ask anything. He waited another beat, to see if anyone would bring up any other questions, before striding towards the door of the shuttle.

"Well then, lets make haste." He stood near the door, seeing everyone else in before finally boarding himself. Leaning over towards Lagar, he queried "Could you send the deck layout to my PADD so I can look over it?" Giving an obligatory smile of thanks,  he pulled out his PADD to receive the information.

Lieutenant jg Lagar
[Shuttlebay - USS Challenger]

Lagar did not recoil in the slightest as the humanoid Lieutenant leaned over towards him to make his request. Phylosians were quite comfortable with physical closeness, and communicated with eachother natively using body-to-body contact. Jettis could've touched his forehead to Lagar's, and the Phylosian would not have reacted negatively, though he would have recognized the act unusual for most biologicals. "Aye Sir." his voder said, the voice coming from the device at his neck rather than from any nonexistent mouth-structure on his head. A few deft taps at his own PADD shared the data with all of the members of the away team. The data was as follows:

Planitia Diriedi
The Planitia Diriedi is a Minas Gerias-Class deuterium collier, Captain H. Collinsworth Master, Nathan Peterson, First Mate. The Planitia Diriedi is homeported out of Japori, but frequently makes runs between Achmar and Veytan. The Planitia Diriedi is currently carrying a cargo of 50,000 tons of refined slush deuterium, bound for Outpost 23. The Minas Gerias-Class transport is a Federation licensed and subsidized design intended to be nationalized in time of war.

Weight: 11,9950 mt
Crew: 16
Maximum Safe Cruising Speed -   Warp 6
Emergency Speed Warp  -   Warp 8

Natalie Chatham
Nearly one hundred and twenty years old, the Natalie Chatham is a one of the survivors of the nearly legendary Liberty-Class of freighters famous for their endurance and perseverance.

Chatham herself has been plying the space lanes for generations, and both she and Captain Rybeck have become a familiar sight along the Federation border with the Romulans.

Weight: 99,960 mt
Crew:72
Maximum Safe Cruising Speed -
unloaded      Warp 7
loaded      Warp 4
Emergency Speed Warp  -
unloaded      Warp 9
loaded      Warp 5

NPC Petty Officer Koroz
[NCC Mjolnir]

As the vessel sped along at Warp 6, at least two competing scents began to emerge. The first, and more robust of the two, was the smell of a Klingon. It was athletic, a little oily, and it carried an odd hint of"¦ lilac? Surrounding it grew the smell of plant-life, certainly radiating from the actual Plant Life present in the cabin. Amusingly, neither of the causes of the smells seemed to be aware of their own olfactory effect, and neither seemed to detect the smell of the other either.

Koroz himself had more important and interesting details to observe. He had new information about the two vessels related to the mission on his PADD, and the aggressive thwap thwaps of his fingers on the device were audible in the cabin. He endeavored to absorb what information he could, considering the size of the crew complements first and foremost. Sixteen, lost in an ion storm. he thought to himself, considering the crew of the Planitia Diriedi. Their disappearance had only just occurred; he expected that their passengers were surely experienced crewmembers who had encountered stellar phenomena before. Still, he may be called upon to quell fear, or bring order to a chaotic crew. Sitting up straight in his seat, he thought to himself that he would answer that call with the competence and professionalism that a Klingon soldier mustered every day that he served.

The next detail he chose to observe was, again, the Lieutenant Jyur. Dark eyes ringed by bushy Klingon eyebrows observed the man's skull, looking at the shape of his jawline, following it to his chin, imagining the amount of force that might be needed to dislocate the jaw or dislodge the blunt and ivory-colored teeth. Koroz let his eyes shifted upward to the other male's ears, hairless as human ears were, when he noticed what appeared to be a piece of jewerly.

"Lieu-ten-ant." Koroz said in his unusual manner, addressing Jettis. He had surprised himself; he hadn't meant to blurt this out and ask so immediately, but he had begun, and it would be cowardly to stop now. The Klingon brought a hairy hand up to his own head, a black-taloned finger pointing to his hairy Klingon ear, seeming to indicating Jettis' ear-piercing with a gesture. "What is"¦ the purpose of this?" he asked, and after a moment added "If I may ask." The furrows of his heavy brow suggested genuine curiosity, though the ever-present haze of bloodlust beneath that curiosity might also be spotted by those familiar with Klingon aggressive tendencies. Was he asking about the earring because he wanted to know more about Jettis' background or way of life, or because he was seeking weakness or pressure points? Did Koroz even know himself?

Lagar, seated at one of the seats just slightly to the rear of Koroz, twisted his botanical skull-structure at a remarkable near-270 degrees, twin golden eyes wanting to watch this interaction play out. The Phylosian would not pass up the chance to learn a little more about Lieutenant Jyur, or how his new crew interacted with each other.

[Hanir Seph]

[Sickbay - USS Challenger

"Ah Mr. Rodwell... I trust you are well... I believe I heard you're called for the away team, good luck."  she smiled at the Engineer who had been helping her with some extra engineering practice, a weak area in her knowledge of the ship.

"Lisa,.." she said once Derek departed.  "Is Counsellor Seph, or Hanir ... I'm not sure how she likes to be addressed yet, in office??  Actually, I need to see you too if you're not busy, maybe two birds, one stone or I can come back to see you.  Ian's given me an hour... and if we're heading for an ion storm I think given that our current XO is going to be out on the Mjolnir, I think he'd welcome having a senior 'boffin' on the Bridge but... he gave me an hour, I'm taking it!"

She smiled at her friend, she hadn't seen her for conversational periods since the Julbukking on Katra at Yuletide.  Remembering that she asked about Kyle.

"Have you heard from Kyle?  Least he has Hrafn over there as an established friend, and her brood to keep him on his toes.  'Uncle Kyle' will be busy!!  So.. .anyhow... counsellor...you want to sit in with us if she's available Lisa, or should I come back to see you?"

[USS Challenger-A | Sickbay]

"Uh, sure?"

Hanir had exited her little office, somehow as always managing to gravitate into Sickbay unintentionally. Her lips twitched slightly at the coincidence, having spent a fair bit of the last mission in Sickbay. She smiled a little shyly at Lisa (though the tips of her ears burned slightly). The redheaded XO was looking straight at her, causing Hanir to gape. "Um... XO, I'm sorry, I- You caught me by surprise a little. Is there something they teach you in Command School, how you can just sling your problems over your shoulder and get back to work?" She blurted before she could stop herself.

"You can address me any way you wish. I answer to all of the above, plus Honey Sip." She blinked slightly, still awkwardly standing there at a distance, her body language telegraphing discomfort. She realized that they were treating her as an equal, but she was also very painfully aware that both were much higher in rank and the food chain than she was.

[Jettis Jyur]

[Shuttlebay]

Derek came running in with his tool kit in hand. He had just left Sickbay from getting his treatment and entered Engineering when he got the call. He wasn't sure what the issue with the distressed vessel was so he went straight to grabbing things he might need. He had worked with Jyur before on a previous away mission and hoped the man knew he would be there on time. He stepped into the Delta Flyer just as the team leader made a request for the layout of the vessel they were going to assist. He hadn't heard any more of the previous conversations.

"May I get that layout as well please, Doctor." he asked the Medical Officer before turning to Jettis. "So what's the mission, Sir?" he asked as he hefted up the tool kit. "I hope I have what we need."

[NCC Mjolnir]

"Thank you, Lagar. The Chatham, a Federation freighter reported that as soon as their collier, the Planitia Deriedi entered the storm, it vanished from their sensors entirely. I predict it's little more than malfunctioning sensors, freighters don't do particularly well in ion storms for scanning. And our scanners detected this as a class three ion storm."

"For all intents and purposes, it should be a simple mission - assess their scanners, retrieve the Planitia, and make sure nobody is injured from the ion storm." And hopefully the worst hasn't happened, and the Planitia was destroyed by the turbulence. He licked his lips, not voicing the second part of his sentence, but no doubt the thought had crossed all of their minds.

Ion storms were no small fry to deal with, and though Federation spacecrafts were well known for their hardiness, even some large ships had been battered and destroyed by ion storms. The grim reality could be far worse than they had prepared for, but as long as nothing went belly up with the transport ship Chatham, they would be alright. He silently crossed his fingers, an old Earth habit he picked up.

The next detail he chose to observe was, again, the Lieutenant Jyur. Dark eyes ringed by bushy Klingon eyebrows observed the man's skull, looking at the shape of his jawline, following it to his chin, imagining the amount of force that might be needed to dislocate the jaw or dislodge the blunt and ivory-colored teeth. Koroz let his eyes shifted upward to the other male's ears, hairless as human ears were, when he noticed what appeared to be a piece of jewerly.

"Lieu-ten-ant." Koroz said in his unusual manner, addressing Jettis. He had surprised himself; he hadn't meant to blurt this out and ask so immediately, but he had begun, and it would be cowardly to stop now. The Klingon brought a hairy hand up to his own head, a black-taloned finger pointing to his hairy Klingon ear, seeming to indicating Jettis' ear-piercing with a gesture. "What is"¦ the purpose of this?" he asked, and after a moment added "If I may ask." The furrows of his heavy brow suggested genuine curiosity, though the ever-present haze of bloodlust beneath that curiosity might also be spotted by those familiar with Klingon aggressive tendencies. Was he asking about the earring because he wanted to know more about Jettis' background or way of life, or because he was seeking weakness or pressure points? Did Koroz even know himself?

Jettis had sat down, going back to skimming the details of the ships, brow furrowed in thought. The ship was definitely a tough one, it seemed odd for  their scanners to be so utterly obliterated by a simple ion storm. No, that didn't seem right at all. Tugging on his bottom lip with his teeth, Jettis felt the sinking pit in his stomach that they were going to have to encounter something a lot more complicated. It seemed to be a given for the Challenger.

Turning his head, his eye focused on Koroz with a hint of confusion. He hadn't expected much crew interaction in the early parts of the trip - to be honest he didn't expect much at all. On an eleven hour journey, surely at some point he would have reached out with small talk - tried to engage some of them and learn more about his fellow officers. But the blatant question startled him, though he wasn't opposed to the Klingon asking.

Bringing his fingers to his own ear, feeling the simple circle stud earrings. "This? he queried, rather rhetorically to be honest. I already knew the answer was yes, but he still sought a response.
"It's apart of my culture. El-Aurian culture, that is." A smile played at his lips for a moment, and vanished as quickly as it came. "I suppose you can liken it to a human wedding band. It just signified that you are betrothed to someone."

"Although I am not, I wear it out of..." he paused, scanning the ground as if the word he sought could be found on the floor, "..Sentiment, I suppose." He finished with a small laugh, attempted to brush off how bitter his words are. Not wanting to end on a sour not, he continued - hopefully with more uplifting information.
"El-Aurians are an empathic species, not unlike Betazoids. You may have even heard them called 'the listeners'. You wear an earring rather than a ring, to signify they will always have your ear available to them."

Setting his PADD on his lap, he turned to assess Koroz more fully. The look in his eyes that had gone previously missed due to his shock at the question, he could now see more fully, and heartily returned. "And you? ParmaqqangwI' DaMuSHa''a'?" Roughly translatable to do you have a romantic partner? Jettis hoped his Klingon was as good as it had been when he was merely a traveller. It had been years since he had settled into Starfleet life, he rarely reflected on when he was just a freelancer and a smuggler, flying from galaxy to galaxy in whatever ship he could buy - or steal. But travelling for over 200 years came with the addition of knowing more languages than most in Starfleet could flaunt, and with a xenolinguistic degree on top, he was fairly certain the Klingon words were correct.

The pronunciation however might leave something to be desired, as he struggled to stretch out his language muscles. Leaning back in his chair, he absently picked his PADD up again but didn't engage with it, as he awaited an answer from the Klingon.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck One  - Bridge]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ruth worried at the 'antennae semaphore' and mouthed 'I'm fine!' at him then wondered if he was worried that, with the influx of counselling staff they'd acquired lately that somehow Judy Eastman was still keeping tabs on him despite the fact she'd retired!

"Sounds like Huxley... go to where there is the most potential for maximum treats!  Smart cat... Smart Alec cat too as I recall!"  she said with a chuckle. "I seem to remember that before he was chipped and we restricted his movements he thought that the Captain's chair was the perfect place to sit down and have a 3 hour nap!  I got royally glared at for telling him otherwise!"

"Why do you have all the fun?!" Ruth said with a pet lip pout that a 5 year old would be proud of, before breaking off into ta delighted chuckle.  "At some point I'll have to drag you to the farm in Trondheim, Captain.  You can play with my baby... don't worry, this particular baby is a DeHavilland DC-2 Beaver, currently fitted with 'Dunlops dangling' undercarriage, but I have the waterski undercarriage too, which, when 'home' is a land full of Fjords whether you're referring to Norway or Iceland, is kinda useful!  As for seeing the counsellor... yeah, I'll be back being the mad, in the right ways, Viking you know and love sooner rather than later, but don't worry, axes firmly back on the wall!"

She said the know looking at Ian, and the love at Lahr.  But beaming between the two of them then mouthed 'Told you the Captain didn't hate you!' at the surprised Andorian.

Mildly surprised that the Phylosian medic was even at the Science station, Ruth stopped mid way to the Turbolift and started to double back.  Ion storms were not to be messed with, however, so she was glad that someone had seen it.

"Captain I can stay..."

"It's fine... you're covered!" she said giving a smile to Jettis as she stepped into the Turbolift he'd just vacated and went down to the Sickbay.

Lahr sighed when he noted Ruth mouthing something to him.  Hadn't she figured out yet that he wasn't good at reading lips?  The Andorian played along and nodded back.  He listened then as she talked about Huxley.  Then about Trondheim and planes after Lahr accepted the Captain's offer to return to the Flying Tigers program.   She mouthed something again - he couldn't figure it out.   But she'd sounded a bit wistful earlier...

"Ain't my program, but maybe it's something you'd like to try yourself... Commander?"  Lahr had to remember to tack on her rank and not 'babe' at the end of his question.

Later, as the away team prepped to depart, Lahr sent them the most recent scans of the incoming ion storm and wished them well.

[Lagar]

[NCC Mjolnir]

Turning his head, his eye focused on Koroz with a hint of confusion. He hadn't expected much crew interaction in the early parts of the trip - to be honest he didn't expect much at all. On an eleven hour journey, surely at some point he would have reached out with small talk - tried to engage some of them and learn more about his fellow officers. But the blatant question startled him, though he wasn't opposed to the Klingon asking.

Bringing his fingers to his own ear, feeling the simple circle stud earrings. "This? he queried, rather rhetorically to be honest. I already knew the answer was yes, but he still sought a response.
"It's apart of my culture. El-Aurian culture, that is." A smile played at his lips for a moment, and vanished as quickly as it came. "I suppose you can liken it to a human wedding band. It just signified that you are betrothed to someone."

"Although I am not, I wear it out of..." he paused, scanning the ground as if the word he sought could be found on the floor, "..Sentiment, I suppose." He finished with a small laugh, attempted to brush off how bitter his words are. Not wanting to end on a sour not, he continued - hopefully with more uplifting information.
"El-Aurians are an empathic species, not unlike Betazoids. You may have even heard them called 'the listeners'. You wear an earring rather than a ring, to signify they will always have your ear available to them."

Setting his PADD on his lap, he turned to assess Koroz more fully. The look in his eyes that had gone previously missed due to his shock at the question, he could now see more fully, and heartily returned. "And you? ParmaqqangwI' DaMuSHa''a'?" Roughly translatable to do you have a romantic partner? Jettis hoped his Klingon was as good as it had been when he was merely a traveller. It had been years since he had settled into Starfleet life, he rarely reflected on when he was just a freelancer and a smuggler, flying from galaxy to galaxy in whatever ship he could buy - or steal. But travelling for over 200 years came with the addition of knowing more languages than most in Starfleet could flaunt, and with a xenolinguistic degree on top, he was fairly certain the Klingon words were correct.

The pronunciation however might leave something to be desired, as he struggled to stretch out his language muscles. Leaning back in his chair, he absently picked his PADD up again but didn't engage with it, as he awaited an answer from the Klingon.

NPC Petty Officer Koroz
[NCC Mjolnir]

Koroz listened, the size of his teeth making his resting facial expression an open-mouthed, angularly-fanged affair. The Klingon was familiar with the use of worn items to signify betrothal. He made a note to reply on this later, and was quickly thrown into a state of surprise as the Lieutenant spoke to him in Koroz' native tongue, tlhIngan Hol. Koroz hadn't spoken to another in his language in some time, and hearing it now brought strange emotions to the forefront of his heart. He spoke anyway in response to the Lieutenant, recognizing his own feelings and bearing them without fear.

"I was betrothed when I was eight." he revealed. "Another noble house sought alliance with my own, and their second daughter was only two years older than I at the time." He looked away for a moment, realizing that in this second in time, he could not remember the name of her House. How strange, the passage of time, that something that was once so crucial could escape his memory in this new life he led. "We were to be married upon my passage of the Age of Ascension." Koroz shook his head. He did not say whether the marriage took place, and instead abruptly moved on to another topic.

"For my people, as you may know, a binding of betrothal is often declared with a bite mark." He looked to T'Roth, the Vulcan, first. "I approve of what I have heard of Vulcan binding rituals. The males battle, do they not?"

Nearby, Lagar silently internalized the revelation that Jettis Jyur had an El-Aurian background. In his brief treatment of Jettis, he had not needed to review the man's full medical background, as he was primarily Lieutenant Belmont's patient. Lagar had scant knowledge of the El-Aurian people, and decided to research them further at a later date. As the conversation turned to mating rituals, the Phylosian watched, a silent member of the discussion group up to this point. He would see whether the topic of his own culture's relationships would be questioned, or whether the humanoids would assume that such a concept was nonexistent among his botanical species. 

[Ian Galloway]

[NCC Mjolnir]

"Thank you, Lagar. The Chatham, a Federation freighter reported that as soon as their collier, the Planitia Deriedi entered the storm, it vanished from their sensors entirely. I predict it's little more than malfunctioning sensors, freighters don't do particularly well in ion storms for scanning. And our scanners detected this as a class three ion storm."

"For all intents and purposes, it should be a simple mission - assess their scanners, retrieve the Planitia, and make sure nobody is injured from the ion storm." And hopefully the worst hasn't happened, and the Planitia was destroyed by the turbulence. He licked his lips, not voicing the second part of his sentence, but no doubt the thought had crossed all of their minds.

Ion storms were no small fry to deal with, and though Federation spacecrafts were well known for their hardiness, even some large ships had been battered and destroyed by ion storms. The grim reality could be far worse than they had prepared for, but as long as nothing went belly up with the transport ship Chatham, they would be alright. He silently crossed his fingers, an old Earth habit he picked up.

Jettis had sat down, going back to skimming the details of the ships, brow furrowed in thought. The ship was definitely a tough one, it seemed odd for  their scanners to be so utterly obliterated by a simple ion storm. No, that didn't seem right at all. Tugging on his bottom lip with his teeth, Jettis felt the sinking pit in his stomach that they were going to have to encounter something a lot more complicated. It seemed to be a given for the Challenger.

Turning his head, his eye focused on Koroz with a hint of confusion. He hadn't expected much crew interaction in the early parts of the trip - to be honest he didn't expect much at all. On an eleven hour journey, surely at some point he would have reached out with small talk - tried to engage some of them and learn more about his fellow officers. But the blatant question startled him, though he wasn't opposed to the Klingon asking.

Bringing his fingers to his own ear, feeling the simple circle stud earrings. "This? he queried, rather rhetorically to be honest. I already knew the answer was yes, but he still sought a response.
"It's apart of my culture. El-Aurian culture, that is." A smile played at his lips for a moment, and vanished as quickly as it came. "I suppose you can liken it to a human wedding band. It just signified that you are betrothed to someone."

"Although I am not, I wear it out of..." he paused, scanning the ground as if the word he sought could be found on the floor, "..Sentiment, I suppose." He finished with a small laugh, attempted to brush off how bitter his words are. Not wanting to end on a sour not, he continued - hopefully with more uplifting information.
"El-Aurians are an empathic species, not unlike Betazoids. You may have even heard them called 'the listeners'. You wear an earring rather than a ring, to signify they will always have your ear available to them."

Setting his PADD on his lap, he turned to assess Koroz more fully. The look in his eyes that had gone previously missed due to his shock at the question, he could now see more fully, and heartily returned. "And you? ParmaqqangwI' DaMuSHa''a'?" Roughly translatable to do you have a romantic partner? Jettis hoped his Klingon was as good as it had been when he was merely a traveller. It had been years since he had settled into Starfleet life, he rarely reflected on when he was just a freelancer and a smuggler, flying from galaxy to galaxy in whatever ship he could buy - or steal. But travelling for over 200 years came with the addition of knowing more languages than most in Starfleet could flaunt, and with a xenolinguistic degree on top, he was fairly certain the Klingon words were correct.

The pronunciation however might leave something to be desired, as he struggled to stretch out his language muscles. Leaning back in his chair, he absently picked his PADD up again but didn't engage with it, as he awaited an answer from the Klingon.

NPC Petty Officer Koroz
[NCC Mjolnir]

Koroz listened, the size of his teeth making his resting facial expression an open-mouthed, angularly-fanged affair. The Klingon was familiar with the use of worn items to signify betrothal. He made a note to reply on this later, and was quickly thrown into a state of surprise as the Lieutenant spoke to him in Koroz' native tongue, tlhIngan Hol. Koroz hadn't spoken to another in his language in some time, and hearing it now brought strange emotions to the forefront of his heart. He spoke anyway in response to the Lieutenant, recognizing his own feelings and bearing them without fear.

"I was betrothed when I was eight." he revealed. "Another noble house sought alliance with my own, and their second daughter was only two years older than I at the time." He looked away for a moment, realizing that in this second in time, he could not remember the name of her House. How strange, the passage of time, that something that was once so crucial could escape his memory in this new life he led. "We were to be married upon my passage of the Age of Ascension." Koroz shook his head. He did not say whether the marriage took place, and instead abruptly moved on to another topic.

"For my people, as you may know, a binding of betrothal is often declared with a bite mark." He looked to T'Roth, the Vulcan, first. "I approve of what I have heard of Vulcan binding rituals. The males battle, do they not?"

Nearby, Lagar silently internalized the revelation that Jettis Jyur had an El-Aurian background. In his brief treatment of Jettis, he had not needed to review the man's full medical background, as he was primarily Lieutenant Belmont's patient. Lagar had scant knowledge of the El-Aurian people, and decided to research them further at a later date. As the conversation turned to mating rituals, the Phylosian watched, a silent member of the discussion group up to this point. He would see whether the topic of his own culture's relationships would be questioned, or whether the humanoids would assume that such a concept was nonexistent among his botanical species.

[Mjolnir]

T'Roth turned in the pilot's seat at Koroz's question with a classically arched Vulcan eyebrow and replied in a carefully schooled neutral tone.

"We do not speak of such things with outsiders."

She then turned back to look forward without another word.

As the hours passed, one thing became abundantly clear, the Chatham was a well run ship. Based on how well the freighter kept the Mjolnir informed of updates on the storm, simple sensor malfunction seemed highly unlikely. By the time they reached the freighter, the away team knew the storm was roughly a half lightyear in diameter and had increased to Category Four. The increase in storm intensity meant that piloting, transporter operation, and communications would be impaired, not critically, but enough to complicate any of those tasks.

Nearing the Chatham, there was a definite "haze" in the area, like a light fog with tendrils of blue energy playing about the Mjolnir's shields and hull. An intensive scan revealed no visible sign of the Planitia Diriedi, but did detect a massive subspace anomaly some 120 thousand kilometers in diameter inside the storm. In addition, with the sensor gain boosted to maximum, Jettis could just barely detect the collier, her engines seemingly still running full at throttle although she wasn't moving, some 48,000 km inside the edge of the storm.

Although reading anything precisely within the hash of the ion storm was difficult, it appeared as if the anomaly was some sort of subspace pocket extending into our universe. The anomaly appeared to be shrinking, and was likely to disappear withing the next three to five hours. It was likely that the collapse of the anomaly would release a great deal of energy and would undoubtedly result in a pronounced effect on the severity of the surrounding ion storm.

This last bit of information made for two complications. First, the away team now had an indeterminate time limit. Second, it appeared the anomaly's boundaries were not static and any vessel approaching too close risked being caught up in the event.

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

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

As the journey to Beta Lankal was routine, T'Kel was in the command chair. Ruth was still in her session with Counselor Seph. While Ian was in his ready room catching up on the relentless stream of datawork that was the bane of any ship captain's existence, scribbling furiously with a stylus and muttering in Gaelic.

"Does this ever end? I'm nae certain which I hate more, bein' unable ta go on away teams or this bloody datawork!"

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

[Auxiliary Control - SS Heidi Schwebach]

Aux Con, as it usually known was essentially, the backup to the emergency bridge. On a Starfleet ship, it was always manned, but on a civilian ship, the demands for Aux Con were so minimal, that they usually went unmanned and it was no different on the Schwebach.

Taking advantage of being unmanned, the shadowy figure managed to bypass the security lockout with a very sophisticated tool illegal within Federation space. Moving quickly and precisely, the figure was able to access the ship's computers and reroute certain critical command functions to their modified PADD. Once finished with their alterations, the figure slipped back out of Aux Con, reinstated the security lock out and moved quietly back to their assigned duty station.

[Don Damien Addams]

[USS Challenger-A | Counsellor Offices]

"Ridi Pagliaccio!"

Hanir sat in her small Counselling Office, awaiting instructions, visitors, anything, as Leoncavallo's classic flowed from her sound system. Having checked the ship logs, she saw that there had been a callip for security. Could have been me if I was further along in training. She grumped, but couldn't change that fact. On her console was a psychology text. As Enlisted, she wasn't expected to have the same level of training as an Officer, but Starfleet actively encouraged all personnel to continue their education and certifications. In fact, it was one of the criteria for high Petty Officer grades to have higher skillsets.

But most of all, she couldn't concentrate. Shazam's parting thoughts (parting shot?) was bouncing around in her head constantly. With a frown, she tapped open a comms message.

From: Hanir Seph
To: Shazam Esam
Subject: Peace offering

Ensign, I do want to... Extend an apology. I think we both have very different styles and we both have our baggage. I think our personalities and our styles may never be fully compatible with each other. Nevertheless, I do recognize your abilities and your style in your own way. While I can't promise that we may end up friends or otherwise, let's focus our efforts on helping the crew in our own ways. End.

Satisfied, she sent it off, then booked an appointment at the phaser range. She was already designated Marksman level, able to regularly hit 70% of targets, but she was still unable to reach 80% for Sharpshooter. That was her next goal as her attention went back to her psychology text until she could go off duty.

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

Shazham had seen he had a message. He had opened it and read the context. He was not sure why she was sending an apology. This letter would be written a million times on every honest thought on Betza. That would be really odd.

Then he replied:

From: Ensign Shazham Esam
Replied to : Counselor/Crewman Hanir Seph

Dear Counselor Seph,

Thank you for your apology as I am to you. Each individual works differently. That is what makes life interesting and a challenge for everyone. Which helps ideas and inventions to make progress for us to improve.

Sincerely yours and friend,

Shazam

Do you see the glass half empty or half full?

Then Shazham had sent it.

Now he had waited for Active Captain of the bridge to give more orders as he had checked the Challenger's flight system.