Season 14, Episode 8: Lush Lifelessness

[Tekin Nevir]

Captain's Log, Stardate 76812.4

After the formal signing of relations between the Romulan Free State and the Federation, the Discovery has been dispatched to a region of space near both the Federation border and the galactic boundary between the Beta and Delta Quadrants.  This region is quite near to the Galactic Core, giving the planets in this region a rather bright nightime with an almost second sun in the sky.  Life is apparent even in these regions, proving just how hardy some life can be.

Discovery will be investigating a planet in the Liega system.  Liega II is a Bajor-sized Class M planet with a lot of plantlife, and we will be doing a survey of the planet for the Federation database.  While there has been some evidence of an indigeous population, so far we haven't been able to see the type of activity typically found on these types of planets....

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

Discovery had just dropped out of warp in the system, and with full impulse the Captain had ordered to set course for the second planet.  Here their long range sensors should have been able to start scans of the planet, but there was a magnetic disruption that was coming in randomly, and effecting readings.  For some reason, the readings they were getting showed... no lifesigns at all.  After science reported those facts, the Captain sat in his chair and frowned.

"On screen" he ordered, and a small blue and green ball appeared on the viewscreen, slowly getting bigger.  It was clear from the amount of green on the planet that there was a lot of vegetation... but where was the population that should have developed by now?

"Helm, get us into geosynchronus orbit.  Let's see if science is able to get anything on the scanners." he stated, crossing one leg over the other as he watched.

[Don Damien Addams]

Captain's Log, Stardate 76812.4

After the formal signing of relations between the Romulan Free State and the Federation, the Discovery has been dispatched to a region of space near both the Federation border and the galactic boundary between the Beta and Delta Quadrants.  This region is quite near to the Galactic Core, giving the planets in this region a rather bright nightime with an almost second sun in the sky.  Life is apparent even in these regions, proving just how hardy some life can be.

Discovery will be investigating a planet in the Liega system.  Liega II is a Bajor-sized Class M planet with a lot of plantlife, and we will be doing a survey of the planet for the Federation database.  While there has been some evidence of an indigeous population, so far we haven't been able to see the type of activity typically found on these types of planets....

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

Discovery had just dropped out of warp in the system, and with full impulse the Captain had ordered to set course for the second planet.  Here their long range sensors should have been able to start scans of the planet, but there was a magnetic disruption that was coming in randomly, and effecting readings.  For some reason, the readings they were getting showed... no lifesigns at all.  After science reported those facts, the Captain sat in his chair and frowned.

"On screen" he ordered, and a small blue and green ball appeared on the viewscreen, slowly getting bigger.  It was clear from the amount of green on the planet that there was a lot of vegetation... but where was the population that should have developed by now?

"Helm, get us into geosynchronus orbit.  Let's see if science is able to get anything on the scanners." he stated, crossing one leg over the other as he watched.

[USS Discovery - Bridge]

Discovery had dropped out of warp and went straight to full impulse toward the Leiga ii  planet they are heading. There was indeed a magnetic field in space.

With the sensors claiming there was no life signs on the planet. The helmsman eyes can see there was water and forest on the planet. Then he started to imagine Lek going bonkers that the sensors are not working. The engineer Lt Commander will want to pulls every wire out of the consoles in the science and operations station.

"œLooks there is life, unless that is an illusion," Don commented. That could be a possible. A planet looks like it has life. Which makes a ship to get close to investigate and suck it up like a fly trap plant.

On the Captain's order Don had placed the ship on a  geosynchronus Orbit above the unknown planet. They were orbiting like a satellite on a 23 hour, 59 minutes, and 4 second gravity rotation. Don had the Discovery on the 1300 which was 1pm.

"œSir, I got a question. It's a science question," he said to the Captain. He knew that the Captain liked science questions then there was a good chance the Captain answer it. "œYou said in the log the planet is vegetarian. How did we know? Long magnification lens or did Starfleet had a nearby ship which reported it?" Yes. It was a question that sounded slightly dumb or a kid would ask. "œAll this time exploring I always wondered about that," he added.

[Nira Said]

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

Discovery had just dropped out of warp in the system, and with full impulse the Captain had ordered to set course for the second planet.  Here their long range sensors should have been able to start scans of the planet, but there was a magnetic disruption that was coming in randomly, and effecting readings.  For some reason, the readings they were getting showed... no lifesigns at all.  After science reported those facts, the Captain sat in his chair and frowned.

"On screen" he ordered, and a small blue and green ball appeared on the viewscreen, slowly getting bigger.  It was clear from the amount of green on the planet that there was a lot of vegetation... but where was the population that should have developed by now?

"Helm, get us into geosynchronus orbit.  Let's see if science is able to get anything on the scanners." he stated, crossing one leg over the other as he watched.

[USS Discovery - Bridge]

Discovery had dropped out of warp and went straight to full impulse toward the Leiga ii  planet they are heading. There was indeed a magnetic field in space.

With the sensors claiming there was no life signs on the planet. The helmsman eyes can see there was water and forest on the planet. Then he started to imagine Lek going bonkers that the sensors are not working. The engineer Lt Commander will want to pulls every wire out of the consoles in the science and operations station.

"œLooks there is life, unless that is an illusion," Don commented. That could be a possible. A planet looks like it has life. Which makes a ship to get close to investigate and suck it up like a fly trap plant.

On the Captain's order Don had placed the ship on a  geosynchronus Orbit above the unknown planet. They were orbiting like a satellite on a 23 hour, 59 minutes, and 4 second gravity rotation. Don had the Discovery on the 1300 which was 1pm.

"œSir, I got a question. It's a science question," he said to the Captain. He knew that the Captain liked science questions then there was a good chance the Captain answer it. "œYou said in the log the planet is vegetarian. How did we know? Long magnification lens or did Starfleet had a nearby ship which reported it?" Yes. It was a question that sounded slightly dumb or a kid would ask. "œAll this time exploring I always wondered about that," he added.

[Lieutenant Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Once the Discovery had arrived at the Leiga System, Nira looked up from her paperwork and then looked back. Because she had so much paperwork, she had to take some of it to the bridge with her so she could work on it. Sometimes, however, she paused to think of her call with Malik.

Her adventures on Risa on assignment and her last leave there was quite eventful, the most notable being reunited with Malik, who had been recovering from being stuck in a transporter buffer on his homeworld, and spending a romantic time on his own estate. However, because of his duties on the Challenger, Nira had to call him whenever she could. Then there was Savar. He had sensed the rekindled relationship, but he didn't mind, which surprised Nira; this was one casual Vulcan when it came to relationships, even if it meant breaking off the engagement, let alone the wedding. However, Nira sensed it was on hiatus just in case Malik disappeared again.

The location of their destination certainly interested Nira. She hadn't been this far away in a long time, not since First Contact with the T'Sari and the T'Kori on the Athena under then-Captain Carter.

As she worked, she looked over at Savar assisting at the Science Station. Her work was interrupted when Savar detected something. Her brow furrowed. The feeling of being able to explore for once was replaced by befuddlement and inquisitiveness. If this was going to turn into a mystery, at least it's more on the scientific side for once.

"That's odd," he said when he worked on the long range sensors, looking at his superior before turning around. "Captain, there's some kind of interference with the sensors. Some kind of magnetic disruption, it's affecting the readings. It's showing no lifesigns, but given the magnetic interference, we here at the science station beg to differ."

Nira looked up at the planet before them. Leiga II definitely looked like it could have life. It was a Class M, with the right kind of vegetation. It should bear life.

"Interesting," said Nira, when she heard Don speak up. "I don't think there's a thing wrong with our systems, it's more likely the planet itself. How often have we seen our own systems working properly?"

[T'Lara]

[Bridge - USS Discovery]

T'Lara was pleased to be back on duty after a brief absence when she had to renew her status as active student at the Vulcan Science Academy. It was a tedious but necessary requirement to complete so she could have full remote access to the library there, and it was certainly good to maintain a presence there even from afar. Since she certainly still had the "smarts" to remain there, it made no sense to leave.

The tests and classes took a full month, by which time the Discovery's mission had ended and there was a little downtime before the next one began. T'Lara begrudgingly took even more time off, but chose to spend it working on some personal projects she developed in her studies.

Now, they had returned to the duty of exploration. The XO sat at her usual chair, though she was piped in to what Savar and the other science officer on duty were seeing. She kept her own speculations to herself for now, and remained silent while Tekin answered Addams.

Perhaps there had been an enormously catastrophic event here that wiped out the population. Perhaps something similar to Earth's "Big Bang" had occurred, and this planet was just now beginning to shows signs of life after being dessimated. Perhaps...a neighboring planet had devised a bioweapon to destroy intelligent life here.

As they pulled into orbit so sensors could get a better look, Discovery anticipated some answers to this pressing question.

[Lek]

[Main Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek was reasonably satisfied. Fresh from Starbase, Discovery was fully operational and running smoothly. Finally over his paranoia regarding the T'hunga he'd been spending much more time with Helga and life was good. He sat in his office humming absently as he puttered his way through his datawork and looked forward to the end of his shift.

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

Lt jg Danjar-Torra Addams
[USS Discovery - Deck 1  - Bridge]

Torra was rather quiet of late.  She'd been so for quite some time in fact - since Don's return from the past, when he'd returned with a whole other lifetime of memories.  Things had gotten better between Don and Torra as a couple after that.  Torra found that he could hold her at night now without it feeling awkward for them - but there were still moments when he would slip up and refer to Petty Officer Graham as his son.  That always made her slightly sad.  But what had been on her mind most in recent weeks was the fate of her other selves on those other Discoverys'.   Torra had a hard time putting it behind her.

The Grazerite came to the realization that they'd come out of warp only after science had begun there report on the findings of the planet.  It took a moment for Torra to realize the oddity - a fully vegetated planet with no lifesigns.  That deserved investigation - and sure enough the Captain called Science to the task.

While Don moved the ship into geosynchronous orbit, Torra did her part by assuring the scanners had access to primary power.  She also had the scan data filter past her console - not that she anticipated interpreting the displays any better than their current science personnel... but did so more out of interest sake and a desire to learn more.   

[Everett Wynters]

[Main Engineering - USS Discovery]

Fresh out of the Starbase, everything all clean and fit, but there was always work to do. Subsystems to be scanned and watched, general maintenance on the ship itself. Wynters had recently finished up with several tasks, and was currently overlooking the few that remained on his current data pad. The data pad he had from the displaced and crashed Discovery was still in his bunk area, but he didn't mind really, it was a nice little memento to a rather life affirming moment. The few tasks that remained were on low priority, but he didn't mind hitting them now before they became a problem.

He grabbed up the tool bag once more, walking towards the panel that needed the chips checked over. It was a simple job that didn't need him to shut anything else, and he rolled under the panel itself, taking off the access covering and starting to work slowly, scanning each chip and logging it before replacing it.

[Ariste Stark]

[ USS Discovery - Auxiliary Science Labs ]

Ariste sat cross legged in one of the labs, PADD sitting in her lap as she tinkered with her latest project. With the permission of the CSO, she had essentially bogarted one of the labs for her various projects, and though she tried to take up the least amount of space she possibly could, occasionally her mess would expand and start eating the rest of the space. When this happened, she tried the only work when nobody else was present, lest she anger her superiors. Now though, with the ban on synthetics repealed, she immediately restarted Stark's efforts into developing AI and cybernetics. "SERIF, what's the status?"

A pause.  A chirp. "Eight-five percent." he responded. Ariste grinned, glancing at her PADD. "Perfect. I'll be in and out of here before Halverstrom decides to airlock me." Redoubling her efforts, she finished up with her work, before tidying the labs again and quickly skirting out. Surely the next shift would be coming in at any moment, so she made herself scarce and headed to the lounge.

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

NPC Crewman Helga Tragnar
[USS Discovery - Deck Two - Armory]

Lieutenant Said had assigned Helga the role of Mistress of Arms - a position, that while it wasn't Helga's preferred, she took quite seriously.  One of weekly tasks was an inventory of not just the arms located in the armory, but those located in discreet caches throughout the ship that all senior officers and all security officers regardless of rank had access to.   Due to her position, Helga now possessed authorization to access these security caches as well.

While she reviewed her list of caches, Helga noted that there was one located in Main Engineering where Lek would likely be working in or around his office.  She told herself that she wasn't doing the check on Main Engineering first because of Lek but rather cause she could see from the log that the previous Master-at-Arms liked to stick to a strict routine doing the checks in an specific order - and Helga wanted to change things up... make the position fully hers.

Calling on one of the floater security personnel, Helga left the care of the Armory to them and headed out with a bit of a lightness to her step as she made her way down to Main Engineering.

[Main Engineering]

Arriving via turbolift, Helga stepped out and around the corner to approach the entrance to Main Engineering itself.  Her presence was noticed by the two security personnel stationed there, who came more fully alert.  Helga stopped in front of the two and showed the pair her authorization to be in this restricted area.   With her authorization confirmed, Helga was allowed to pass.

The Klingon hybrid looked over the engine core with a bit of jealousy.  Despite Lek's improved attention towards her the past while, Helga knew all it would take was for this damned piece of machinery to need a little extra tending or repair, and she'd be relegated to the back of his mind, clearly forgotten until all was well running smoothly once more.

She kind of wished that Lek had just a tad less need for absolute oversight over his department but knew that it was all just part of the package.  You get the good with the bad when it came to relationships.  Her glance about the main level didn't bring him into her line of sight so Helga figured he was likely in his office (or rooting around in the Jeffries tubes checking yet more obscure systems for anything that might have been left behind by the T'hunga).  As a security personnel she admired his dedication, yet as his girlfriend there had been times she had wanted to box his sensitive ears for basically abandoning her immediately after she had accepted a transfer to this ship JUST to be closer to him.

The Mistress-at-Arms pulled up the cache location on her PADD and began the process of trying to find its discreet position without looking like she was lost.  It seemed to be marked as located on the back wall behind the warp core.  Helga headed around the backside of the core. 

[Lek]

NPC Crewman Helga Tragnar
[USS Discovery - Deck Two - Armory]

Lieutenant Said had assigned Helga the role of Mistress of Arms - a position, that while it wasn't Helga's preferred, she took quite seriously.  One of weekly tasks was an inventory of not just the arms located in the armory, but those located in discreet caches throughout the ship that all senior officers and all security officers regardless of rank had access to.   Due to her position, Helga now possessed authorization to access these security caches as well.

While she reviewed her list of caches, Helga noted that there was one located in Main Engineering where Lek would likely be working in or around his office.  She told herself that she wasn't doing the check on Main Engineering first because of Lek but rather cause she could see from the log that the previous Master-at-Arms liked to stick to a strict routine doing the checks in an specific order - and Helga wanted to change things up... make the position fully hers.

Calling on one of the floater security personnel, Helga left the care of the Armory to them and headed out with a bit of a lightness to her step as she made her way down to Main Engineering.

[Main Engineering]

Arriving via turbolift, Helga stepped out and around the corner to approach the entrance to Main Engineering itself.  Her presence was noticed by the two security personnel stationed there, who came more fully alert.  Helga stopped in front of the two and showed the pair her authorization to be in this restricted area.   With her authorization confirmed, Helga was allowed to pass.

The Klingon hybrid looked over the engine core with a bit of jealousy.  Despite Lek's improved attention towards her the past while, Helga knew all it would take was for this damned piece of machinery to need a little extra tending or repair, and she'd be relegated to the back of his mind, clearly forgotten until all was well running smoothly once more.

She kind of wished that Lek had just a tad less need for absolute oversight over his department but knew that it was all just part of the package.  You get the good with the bad when it came to relationships.  Her glance about the main level didn't bring him into her line of sight so Helga figured he was likely in his office (or rooting around in the Jeffries tubes checking yet more obscure systems for anything that might have been left behind by the T'hunga).  As a security personnel she admired his dedication, yet as his girlfriend there had been times she had wanted to box his sensitive ears for basically abandoning her immediately after she had accepted a transfer to this ship JUST to be closer to him.

The Mistress-at-Arms pulled up the cache location on her PADD and began the process of trying to find its discreet position without looking like she was lost.  It seemed to be marked as located on the back wall behind the warp core.  Helga headed around the backside of the core.

[Main Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek spotted Helga almost immediately as she entered security. He used his small size and familiarity with engineering to stay out of sight and circle behind her before he spoke. He knew intimately not to sneak up on her while within striking distance, but he did wait until she was at the back of the compartment so he could speak in a tone only she could hear.

"To paraphrase an old Hyoomon saying. 'a security officer in a starship's engine room is like a mule with a spinning wheel. Dang if you know how they got it, and dang if they know what to do with it."

He said as he leaned against the warp core, his arms across his chest and a beaming toothy smile on his face.

[Tekin Nevir]

[USS Discovery - Bridge]

Discovery had dropped out of warp and went straight to full impulse toward the Leiga ii  planet they are heading. There was indeed a magnetic field in space.

With the sensors claiming there was no life signs on the planet. The helmsman eyes can see there was water and forest on the planet. Then he started to imagine Lek going bonkers that the sensors are not working. The engineer Lt Commander will want to pulls every wire out of the consoles in the science and operations station.

"œLooks there is life, unless that is an illusion," Don commented. That could be a possible. A planet looks like it has life. Which makes a ship to get close to investigate and suck it up like a fly trap plant.

On the Captain's order Don had placed the ship on a  geosynchronus Orbit above the unknown planet. They were orbiting like a satellite on a 23 hour, 59 minutes, and 4 second gravity rotation. Don had the Discovery on the 1300 which was 1pm.

"œSir, I got a question. It's a science question," he said to the Captain. He knew that the Captain liked science questions then there was a good chance the Captain answer it. "œYou said in the log the planet is vegetarian. How did we know? Long magnification lens or did Starfleet had a nearby ship which reported it?" Yes. It was a question that sounded slightly dumb or a kid would ask. "œAll this time exploring I always wondered about that," he added.

[Lieutenant Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Once the Discovery had arrived at the Leiga System, Nira looked up from her paperwork and then looked back. Because she had so much paperwork, she had to take some of it to the bridge with her so she could work on it. Sometimes, however, she paused to think of her call with Malik.

Her adventures on Risa on assignment and her last leave there was quite eventful, the most notable being reunited with Malik, who had been recovering from being stuck in a transporter buffer on his homeworld, and spending a romantic time on his own estate. However, because of his duties on the Challenger, Nira had to call him whenever she could. Then there was Savar. He had sensed the rekindled relationship, but he didn't mind, which surprised Nira; this was one casual Vulcan when it came to relationships, even if it meant breaking off the engagement, let alone the wedding. However, Nira sensed it was on hiatus just in case Malik disappeared again.

The location of their destination certainly interested Nira. She hadn't been this far away in a long time, not since First Contact with the T'Sari and the T'Kori on the Athena under then-Captain Carter.

As she worked, she looked over at Savar assisting at the Science Station. Her work was interrupted when Savar detected something. Her brow furrowed. The feeling of being able to explore for once was replaced by befuddlement and inquisitiveness. If this was going to turn into a mystery, at least it's more on the scientific side for once.

"That's odd," he said when he worked on the long range sensors, looking at his superior before turning around. "Captain, there's some kind of interference with the sensors. Some kind of magnetic disruption, it's affecting the readings. It's showing no lifesigns, but given the magnetic interference, we here at the science station beg to differ."

Nira looked up at the planet before them. Leiga II definitely looked like it could have life. It was a Class M, with the right kind of vegetation. It should bear life.

"Interesting," said Nira, when she heard Don speak up. "I don't think there's a thing wrong with our systems, it's more likely the planet itself. How often have we seen our own systems working properly?"

[Deck One - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

The Captain looked over at the helm officer with a bit of a raise expression. "Actually, its a combination of both." he stated, putting his work down for the moment.  "Before any of our worlds were able to take off, we would use long-range radio telescopes. First we had to see if the planet existed, and then see if it had an atmosphere.  Best way to do that was to look at both the amount of starlight that dimmed, and then see the coloring of the atmosphere.  Different gasses emit different colors.  With subspace magnification, we were able to see in more detail what the planet looked like before we went out there, and then it would be subspace probes before a ship was dispatched." he stated, crossing a leg over the other.

"Of course, you could also have a ship in uncharted space coming across a planetary system like a ship finding land.  Though those are more rarities these days." he added.

Savar spoke up about the readings, and Nira assured them that the sensors were working.  "Despite how advanced this ship is, we had to sacrifice some science to tactical.  But I agree... I don't think its the sensors.  Otherwise the whole planet would be disrupted and not random patterns." the Captain added, standing up.  He took a few steps forwards towards the helm and ops station, his eyes on the viewscreen.

"Hold our position here.  Magnify and enhance sector zero five alpha." he ordered, watching the screen flicker as a section of the planet was zoomed in on.  While it still looked like earth and vegetation, there was something unusual about the growth pattern.  It was in lines and shapes.

"What does that look like to you?"

[Nira Said]

[Deck One - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

The Captain looked over at the helm officer with a bit of a raise expression. "Actually, its a combination of both." he stated, putting his work down for the moment.  "Before any of our worlds were able to take off, we would use long-range radio telescopes. First we had to see if the planet existed, and then see if it had an atmosphere.  Best way to do that was to look at both the amount of starlight that dimmed, and then see the coloring of the atmosphere.  Different gasses emit different colors.  With subspace magnification, we were able to see in more detail what the planet looked like before we went out there, and then it would be subspace probes before a ship was dispatched." he stated, crossing a leg over the other.

"Of course, you could also have a ship in uncharted space coming across a planetary system like a ship finding land.  Though those are more rarities these days." he added.

Savar spoke up about the readings, and Nira assured them that the sensors were working.  "Despite how advanced this ship is, we had to sacrifice some science to tactical.  But I agree... I don't think its the sensors.  Otherwise the whole planet would be disrupted and not random patterns." the Captain added, standing up.  He took a few steps forwards towards the helm and ops station, his eyes on the viewscreen.

"Hold our position here.  Magnify and enhance sector zero five alpha." he ordered, watching the screen flicker as a section of the planet was zoomed in on.  While it still looked like earth and vegetation, there was something unusual about the growth pattern.  It was in lines and shapes.

"What does that look like to you?"

[Lieutenant Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Nira looked up and smiled as Don and the Captain conversed, and talked about the old days. Then again, Nira wasn't surprised. This was the priority of exploration in Starfleet, as Zefram Cochran summed up: Explore strange new worlds, seek out new lifeforms and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Nira had to smile further when she studied up on Betazed, to get to know her world of origin. She was certainly surprised to find that Betazed was exactly like Risa, albeit without the artificial weather controls; the difference was, in a nutshell, Betazed actually had real weather, real storms. No wonder Nira was partial to living near beaches back on Abu Dhabi. No wonder she loved Risa. No wonder she fell in love with a Risian so easily on her first ship. But in terms of history, Betazed had lagged behind in scientific development; odds were, Betazed were still emphasizing telepathic mysticism, combating non-coporeal beings of the caliber one would expect in mythological stories with their telepathy while Earth and Bajor were still discovering worlds through radio telescopes.

Nira was jolted back to reality, from her thinking of what Betazed was like in getting to know it from reading, when the Captain ordered Helm to stop the ship. The viewscreen pulled up something interesting. Perfect geometric patterns. That meant one thing:

"Farmland," said Nira at once. "Either that or geometric geo-physical artwork like Nazca lines or the Great Wall of China, but most likely farmland. And where there's farmland, that means farmers...therefore the planet has to be inhabited after all."

She furrowed her brow, the detective in her spinning gears. A new mystery seemed to present itself. Out here, this was the sort of mystery to discover something about a newly discovered planet, and other scientific mysteries, rather than a mystery of what was stolen or who was murdered. In this case, she wondered how the naked eye could see on a planet what the sensors could not.

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

Lt jg Danjar-Torra Addams
[USS Discovery - Deck 1  - Bridge]

[Deck One - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

The Captain looked over at the helm officer with a bit of a raise expression. "Actually, its a combination of both." he stated, putting his work down for the moment.  "Before any of our worlds were able to take off, we would use long-range radio telescopes. First we had to see if the planet existed, and then see if it had an atmosphere.  Best way to do that was to look at both the amount of starlight that dimmed, and then see the coloring of the atmosphere.  Different gasses emit different colors.  With subspace magnification, we were able to see in more detail what the planet looked like before we went out there, and then it would be subspace probes before a ship was dispatched." he stated, crossing a leg over the other.

"Of course, you could also have a ship in uncharted space coming across a planetary system like a ship finding land.  Though those are more rarities these days." he added.

Savar spoke up about the readings, and Nira assured them that the sensors were working.  "Despite how advanced this ship is, we had to sacrifice some science to tactical.  But I agree... I don't think its the sensors.  Otherwise the whole planet would be disrupted and not random patterns." the Captain added, standing up.  He took a few steps forwards towards the helm and ops station, his eyes on the viewscreen.

"Hold our position here.  Magnify and enhance sector zero five alpha." he ordered, watching the screen flicker as a section of the planet was zoomed in on.  While it still looked like earth and vegetation, there was something unusual about the growth pattern.  It was in lines and shapes.

"What does that look like to you?"

[Lieutenant Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Nira looked up and smiled as Don and the Captain conversed, and talked about the old days. Then again, Nira wasn't surprised. This was the priority of exploration in Starfleet, as Zefram Cochran summed up: Explore strange new worlds, seek out new lifeforms and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Nira had to smile further when she studied up on Betazed, to get to know her world of origin. She was certainly surprised to find that Betazed was exactly like Risa, albeit without the artificial weather controls; the difference was, in a nutshell, Betazed actually had real weather, real storms. No wonder Nira was partial to living near beaches back on Abu Dhabi. No wonder she loved Risa. No wonder she fell in love with a Risian so easily on her first ship. But in terms of history, Betazed had lagged behind in scientific development; odds were, Betazed were still emphasizing telepathic mysticism, combating non-coporeal beings of the caliber one would expect in mythological stories with their telepathy while Earth and Bajor were still discovering worlds through radio telescopes.

Nira was jolted back to reality, from her thinking of what Betazed was like in getting to know it from reading, when the Captain ordered Helm to stop the ship. The viewscreen pulled up something interesting. Perfect geometric patterns. That meant one thing:

"Farmland," said Nira at once. "Either that or geometric geo-physical artwork like Nazca lines or the Great Wall of China, but most likely farmland. And where there's farmland, that means farmers...therefore the planet has to be inhabited after all."

She furrowed her brow, the detective in her spinning gears. A new mystery seemed to present itself. Out here, this was the sort of mystery to discover something about a newly discovered planet, and other scientific mysteries, rather than a mystery of what was stolen or who was murdered. In this case, she wondered how the naked eye could see on a planet what the sensors could not.

Torra quietly ruminated on the Captain's answer to Don question.  But historical scans of the planet didn't explain why they were looking at a vegetated planet with no lifeform readings.

When the Captain called for magnification of a specific sector, Torra glanced up from her console to take in the site.  She was stunned but the patterned growth.  Nira was the first to speak up.  Torra nodded her head in agreement.  It certainly looked like an agriculturally developed area.

NPC Crewman Helga Tragnar
[USS Discovery - Main Engineering]

[Main Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek spotted Helga almost immediately as she entered security. He used his small size and familiarity with engineering to stay out of sight and circle behind her before he spoke. He knew intimately not to sneak up on her while within striking distance, but he did wait until she was at the back of the compartment so he could speak in a tone only she could hear.

"To paraphrase an old Hyoomon saying. 'a security officer in a starship's engine room is like a mule with a spinning wheel. Dang if you know how they got it, and dang if they know what to do with it."

He said as he leaned against the warp core, his arms across his chest and a beaming toothy smile on his face.

Helga wasn't one for surprises, which Lek knew well; otherwise he wouldn't know what her effective range was with her reach.  But as it was, his sudden yet quiet remark, didn't have her jumping out of her skin though she would admit to some tenseness initially.

She turned to see him leaning against the warp core, acting all smooth and smiling like a shark.  Helga knew his comment was meant as merely light-hearted teasing, everyone had their version of Starfleet security jokes.

"What makes you think I don't know what to do with it?  How difficult can it be?" she shot back, her task of checking the inventory momentarily forgotten. 

[T'Lara]

[Lieutenant Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Nira looked up and smiled as Don and the Captain conversed, and talked about the old days. Then again, Nira wasn't surprised. This was the priority of exploration in Starfleet, as Zefram Cochran summed up: Explore strange new worlds, seek out new lifeforms and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Nira had to smile further when she studied up on Betazed, to get to know her world of origin. She was certainly surprised to find that Betazed was exactly like Risa, albeit without the artificial weather controls; the difference was, in a nutshell, Betazed actually had real weather, real storms. No wonder Nira was partial to living near beaches back on Abu Dhabi. No wonder she loved Risa. No wonder she fell in love with a Risian so easily on her first ship. But in terms of history, Betazed had lagged behind in scientific development; odds were, Betazed were still emphasizing telepathic mysticism, combating non-coporeal beings of the caliber one would expect in mythological stories with their telepathy while Earth and Bajor were still discovering worlds through radio telescopes.

Nira was jolted back to reality, from her thinking of what Betazed was like in getting to know it from reading, when the Captain ordered Helm to stop the ship. The viewscreen pulled up something interesting. Perfect geometric patterns. That meant one thing:

"Farmland," said Nira at once. "Either that or geometric geo-physical artwork like Nazca lines or the Great Wall of China, but most likely farmland. And where there's farmland, that means farmers...therefore the planet has to be inhabited after all."

She furrowed her brow, the detective in her spinning gears. A new mystery seemed to present itself. Out here, this was the sort of mystery to discover something about a newly discovered planet, and other scientific mysteries, rather than a mystery of what was stolen or who was murdered. In this case, she wondered how the naked eye could see on a planet what the sensors could not.

[Bridge - USS Discovery]

They were now close enough to the planet to observe it, and they wasted no time in doing so. Tekin ordered a specific sector to be brought up for closer inspection, a section T'Lara realized from what she was seeing on her PADD was what the science officers on duty were currently interested in. And for good reason. T'Lara recognized the tell-tale sign of civilization, the presence of order. Nature had its own sense of order, but only sentient life could organize the land itself in this manner. At least, that was the common knowledge. They were exploring, after all. Technically, anything was possible. Nira voiced what probably most of them were thinking, a straightforward "if, then" hypothesis. Now all that was left was to test it out. She waited to see what the next orders would be.

[Lek]

NPC Crewman Helga Tragnar
[USS Discovery - Main Engineering]

Helga wasn't one for surprises, which Lek knew well; otherwise he wouldn't know what her effective range was with her reach.  But as it was, his sudden yet quiet remark, didn't have her jumping out of her skin though she would admit to some tenseness initially.

She turned to see him leaning against the warp core, acting all smooth and smiling like a shark.  Helga knew his comment was meant as merely light-hearted teasing, everyone had their version of Starfleet security jokes.

"What makes you think I don't know what to do with it?  How difficult can it be?" she shot back, her task of checking the inventory momentarily forgotten.

[Main Engineering - USS Discovery]

When Lek saw that Helga took his comment as the simple interdepartmental rivalry that it was, his smile became more lascivious as he replied.

"I sincerely doubt there is anything in the quadrant that my Par'Mach'kai does not know what to do with. It is good to see you here my Warrior Princess. I trust our holodeck reservation in Paris 1925 at the Moulin Rouge is still on?"