S6: E1 - The Prime Recommendation

[Jettis Jyur]

[ USS Challenger - Bridge - Main Shuttlebay ]

Jettis nodded in agreement with the Caitian's next suggestion. "I suppose that would be possible. Every satellite system, especially one made by a pre-warp civilization should have some dark zones, so to speak." If they could thread the needle just so, they could escape any potential notice.

Stepping from his station, he joined the Commander in descending to the 19th deck, with a fourth to be join them as well. Watching the turbolift doors slide shut, he raised a bow at Kyan's question. He was truthfully a bit surprised he wasn't confident in piloting the shuttle himself.

"I can fly us down. I'll communicate with my department as well to get a vague map of where we should be going as well." He nodded when prompted by Zhuk. He then tossed them both a more curious, yet amused look. "I'm surprised neither of you have gotten roped into the flying tigers program by Ian, yet."

[Ian Galloway]

[ USS Challenger - Bridge - Main Shuttlebay ]

Jettis nodded in agreement with the Caitian's next suggestion. "I suppose that would be possible. Every satellite system, especially one made by a pre-warp civilization should have some dark zones, so to speak." If they could thread the needle just so, they could escape any potential notice.

Stepping from his station, he joined the Commander in descending to the 19th deck, with a fourth to be join them as well. Watching the turbolift doors slide shut, he raised a bow at Kyan's question. He was truthfully a bit surprised he wasn't confident in piloting the shuttle himself.

"I can fly us down. I'll communicate with my department as well to get a vague map of where we should be going as well." He nodded when prompted by Zhuk. He then tossed them both a more curious, yet amused look. "I'm surprised neither of you have gotten roped into the flying tigers program by Ian, yet."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

When Jettis finished speaking, Lieutenant Adelle Booker at Ops spoke up.

"Actually Lieutenant we can help you with your entry. We've been tapped into their satellite system for several hours now and it will be trivial to loop back images long enough for you to make your decent undetected by their system."

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

[Shuttlebay - USS Challenger --> Shuttle Onizuka]

The Onizuka stood ready as the away team boarded and buckled in. Their departure was uneventful and slipping though their Landser's primitive sensor net was exactly as Lieutenant Booker had implied. However, as the shuttle dropped through the upper atmosphere down from the stratosphere into the troposphere, the shuttles computer spoke.

"Two atmospheric craft approaching on an intercept course. Range three kilometers and closing fast."

While a shielded shuttle was invisible to radar, the shuttle itself was still visible and it seemed, as if, blind random luck had put two Landser aircraft in a position to physically spot the shuttle with the classic Mark I eyeball...

[Neva Cordon]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 12 - Chief Engineers's Office]

Lahr popped the tab on his cola, letting the carbonation out.  The fizz in the thick drink came out sounding like a wet fart - which quite honestly, was a huge part of it's appeal to the comedic Andorian.  He then took a long swallow of his cola draining nearly half the can while the Chief talked and commented that she wasn't going to be like the Tellerite.  Lahr hoped not.

When she stated she was looking for someone to call her to the mat when she screwed up, Lahr finally realized where this was going.  Did he really want to be saddled with yet more responsibilities? No.  But he also tended to give that sort of advice freely anyway - another reason why Tharn hadn't been his biggest fan.  At least this way it would be expected of him, and he'd be less likely to be on the Chief's bad side.

"I can do that, no problem.  But is there any added incentives for me?  Like a hazard pay of extra credits for risking being sent to scrub the hull when you don't like what I have to say?"  It might sound like a joke but Lahr was being serious.  He could use the extra credits to help finance the continued search for Ruth.

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|USS Challenger|Chief Engineer's Office->Shuttlebay->Onizuka]

Neva smiled and nodded her thanks to his reply. When he asked how  HE could benefit from this, her eyes widened a moment as she sat back. She steepled her fingers and was about to ask him about her when her communicator chirped and Commander Kyan beckoned her for an Away Team mission.

Neva sighed and dropped her head, laughing softly. Without raising her head, she answered him. "Acknowledged Commander. On my way." Timing was everything...

Neva got up and grabbed the kit under her desk, slinging it over her shoulder. Smiling apologetically, she sighed as she looked at the Andorian. "Let's pick this up later. I've got some ideas forming on that bit." She gave him a mock puppy-eyed girlish grin from the door. "Would you be a dear and take care of my mug, please?" She wiped her face with one hand as she shook her head, laughing. "Gawds, I hate when that comes out-too girly. In any case, finish your drink & get out of my office. I think you know what work is on your plate, right?" She waved then and walked out and into Main Engineering.
"Ok, kids. We need to replicate FOUR Isolation suits, one of them need to be..." Neva's eyes closed as she pinched her nose as she fought to keep from... "One needs to be Half the normal size. We've got to do it Now!"

[30 hrs later....]

Lahr's sleep had been rather restless - disrupted and filled with nightmares - like it had been ever since he'd heard the news of Ruth being MIA after the Frontier Day massacre.  He was exhausted but couldn't get restful sleep so instead he stayed awake using caffeine or alcohol.    Today was no different. Because he was on shift again today, Lahr chose to start his day with the former rather than the latter.

He brought a large mug with him into Main Engineering.  To stave off the concerns about 'spilled drinks' on sensitive electronics, Lahr had his drink topped with a 'no-spill' sippy cup lid.

"Morning everyone!" Lahr called out cheerily as he took his station, but those observant enough would note that his antennae still drooped.

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|USS-Challenger|Shuttlebay->Onizuka]

Neva hustled in, carrying 2 suits and another Crewman carried the others. Her kit flapped against her hip, eyes full of excitement. Skidding to a halt and pushing an arm backwards to stop the Crewman from butting into her. Seeing the others were boarding, she pointed to the shuttle. The Crewman handed his armful out, and Neva gave Kyan his & put hers on. She waved the kid away, giving him final orders before strapping in.

[Alexander Wu]

[USS Challenger - Deck 3 - Primary School]

The last 48 hours had been quite a period of adjustment, not to mention the weeks and month prior. The USS Challenger was a far cry from his comfortable lakeside dwelling on Earth, and the change had been a rough one for all concerned. Their time on Earth Spacedock had been an adventure all by itself, and they'd left behind some new friends, acquaintances, and possibly in Alex's case, a postponed court hearing. They'd also placed something very important with one of Ardyn's close friends and former shipmate, Ensign Murphy. Alex didn't know how the youngling had stayed an ensign after all this time, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Obviously he was trusted enough to take care of Ardyn's Flyer, after a last minute denial from Farragut's captain to bring her along. Alex wasn't sure who'd taken the news harder, Maddy losing her racing pod bunkie, or Ardyn having to part with the Flyer. In a way, he supposed, both were losing something of equal importance.

Thanks to the usual Starfleet bureaucracy and efficiency in passing on information, Captain Chiva hadn't been notified of their transfer until just before boarding, and there'd been absolutely no room for a private craft in the Farragut's shuttlebay. It'd been so last minute in fact, both Alex and Ardyn were hand carrying their transfer orders for Captain Galloway. Still, with the confusion of three unexpected arrivals showing up on the poor quartermaster's doorstep, they'd gotten an extra day onboard Challenger to sort out their family quarters and register Maddison for school and afterschool care. They had needed it, and Alex knew he owed the man a week's worth of inebriating beverages.

Surprisingly, the person he'd thought would take it the hardest, their young daughter Maddison, seemed to have the easiest time. To be fair, she had gone from gallivanting in the forest, to gallivanting on Earth Spacedock, and now, after some very tight hugs, gone skipping into her first grade class. A strange lump sat in Alex's throat, the same one which had been there on her first days at preschool and kindergarten. And I always thought this was supposed to get easier. As the classroom door closed, he quickly turned to Maddy's mother, blinking away unexpectedly misty eyes. "Let's hope it'll be at least a week before we get a call about her running off." He sighed resignedly, moving close to kiss Ardyn on her forehead before stepping back with a slight smile. "You ready for this?"

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 12 - Chief Engineers's Office]

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|USS Challenger|Chief Engineer's Office->Shuttlebay->Onizuka]

Neva smiled and nodded her thanks to his reply. When he asked how  HE could benefit from this, her eyes widened a moment as she sat back. She steepled her fingers and was about to ask him about her when her communicator chirped and Commander Kyan beckoned her for an Away Team mission.

Neva sighed and dropped her head, laughing softly. Without raising her head, she answered him. "Acknowledged Commander. On my way." Timing was everything...

Neva got up and grabbed the kit under her desk, slinging it over her shoulder. Smiling apologetically, she sighed as she looked at the Andorian. "Let's pick this up later. I've got some ideas forming on that bit." She gave him a mock puppy-eyed girlish grin from the door. "Would you be a dear and take care of my mug, please?" She wiped her face with one hand as she shook her head, laughing. "Gawds, I hate when that comes out-too girly. In any case, finish your drink & get out of my office. I think you know what work is on your plate, right?" She waved then and walked out and into Main Engineering.
"Ok, kids. We need to replicate FOUR Isolation suits, one of them need to be..." Neva's eyes closed as she pinched her nose as she fought to keep from... "One needs to be Half the normal size. We've got to do it Now!"

The call from Commander Mackenzie of course interrupted things.  Lahr nodded to Neva at her suggestion to pick this up later.  The Andorian knew it wouldn't happen, but then he wasn't really concerned.  He was already starting off better than he'd been prior to his 9 month leave.

"Certainly can boss.  I mean Neva.  No need to worry about the ship and her engines.  I got it under control." he said with a wink as she gathered her kit and left the room.  Lahr downed his cola in the next gulp and then grabbed up her mug and put both into the recyclers before returning to his station to ensure power flow levels were maintained.

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[USS Challenger - Deck 3 - Primary School]

The last 48 hours had been quite a period of adjustment, not to mention the weeks and month prior. The USS Challenger was a far cry from his comfortable lakeside dwelling on Earth, and the change had been a rough one for all concerned. Their time on Earth Spacedock had been an adventure all by itself, and they'd left behind some new friends, acquaintances, and possibly in Alex's case, a postponed court hearing. They'd also placed something very important with one of Ardyn's close friends and former shipmate, Ensign Murphy. Alex didn't know how the youngling had stayed an ensign after all this time, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Obviously he was trusted enough to take care of Ardyn's Flyer, after a last minute denial from Farragut's captain to bring her along. Alex wasn't sure who'd taken the news harder, Maddy losing her racing pod bunkie, or Ardyn having to part with the Flyer. In a way, he supposed, both were losing something of equal importance.

Thanks to the usual Starfleet bureaucracy and efficiency in passing on information, Captain Chiva hadn't been notified of their transfer until just before boarding, and there'd been absolutely no room for a private craft in the Farragut's shuttlebay. It'd been so last minute in fact, both Alex and Ardyn were hand carrying their transfer orders for Captain Galloway. Still, with the confusion of three unexpected arrivals showing up on the poor quartermaster's doorstep, they'd gotten an extra day onboard Challenger to sort out their family quarters and register Maddison for school and afterschool care. They had needed it, and Alex knew he owed the man a week's worth of inebriating beverages.

Surprisingly, the person he'd thought would take it the hardest, their young daughter Maddison, seemed to have the easiest time. To be fair, she had gone from gallivanting in the forest, to gallivanting on Earth Spacedock, and now, after some very tight hugs, gone skipping into her first grade class. A strange lump sat in Alex's throat, the same one which had been there on her first days at preschool and kindergarten. And I always thought this was supposed to get easier. As the classroom door closed, he quickly turned to Maddy's mother, blinking away unexpectedly misty eyes. "Let's hope it'll be at least a week before we get a call about her running off." He sighed resignedly, moving close to kiss Ardyn on her forehead before stepping back with a slight smile. "You ready for this?"

[Hallway]

Ardyn nodded to Alex as they sent Maddy off to her first day of school, gladly accepting the little kiss before they finally left for their shifts. "œ  It had been a very late night of getting settled, all things considered, and she was still miffed at having to leave her Flyer behind. At least it was in Murphy's hands. Besides her, Murphy was the only one she really trusted to keep it running and without a scratch. She had trained him herself when he first got assigned after all, and maybe driving around a classic shuttle with serious speed modifications might actually be impressive enough to get the dork a girlfriend. She didn't have too high of hopes on that end, but it was worth a shot and was a pretty good reason to convince him otherwise.

While Alex had been in charge of settling in a very excited and wired Maddy, Ardy had been taking care of some of the logistics side of things. One of which included trying to explain to the persnickety Vulcan in charge of room assignments that they really did need to be assigned the Family quarters together, but given the not-quite-official nature of their relationship, and the last-minute changes they had to make and all, it seemed like only an order from the practically the Captain himself could fix it. "œBack to the grind, I guess.  Let's see where we're off to today," she said, cracking her knuckles.

"œYou did tell the teacher about Maddy's habit of escaping, right? "  she said, bringing that little worry up as they reached the bridge. Sure, it was easier to find a little girl on a ship than a starbase, but still.

[Bridge]

Coming back onto the familiar bustle of the Bridge, Ardyn nodded to Ian. "œHey there, Long time no see, Captain.  Lieutenants Jaeger and Wu reporting in for duty. "œ she smirked. It felt good to be back on the bridge.

[Jettis Jyur]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

When Jettis finished speaking, Lieutenant Adelle Booker at Ops spoke up.

"Actually Lieutenant we can help you with your entry. We've been tapped into their satellite system for several hours now and it will be trivial to loop back images long enough for you to make your decent undetected by their system."

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

[Shuttlebay - USS Challenger --> Shuttle Onizuka]

The Onizuka stood ready as the away team boarded and buckled in. Their departure was uneventful and slipping though their Landser's primitive sensor net was exactly as Lieutenant Booker had implied. However, as the shuttle dropped through the upper atmosphere down from the stratosphere into the troposphere, the shuttles computer spoke.

"Two atmospheric craft approaching on an intercept course. Range three kilometers and closing fast."

While a shielded shuttle was invisible to radar, the shuttle itself was still visible and it seemed, as if, blind random luck had put two Landser aircraft in a position to physically spot the shuttle with the classic Mark I eyeball...

[ USS Challenger -> Onizuka ]

Jettis turned to Booker, nodding. "Very well. I'll start pre flight checks."

He stepped away to ready himself. Once Cordon arrived he was able to change into his suit, and once everyone gave the OK, they were on their way.

Jettis was comfortable 'behind the wheel' so to speak, and thankfully their network was not very encompassing. Easily maneuvering between the web of satellites, it almost seemed as if they would touch down unscathed. He was honestly surprised at how easy it had been, for humanoids who had managed to fold time-space, they didn't seem to have any eyes out for aliens. Such a far cry from Earth, who had dreamt of creatures beyond the stars before they had even figured out how to make automobiles.

However he'd spoken too soon, as the computer piped up as he approached the planet. Cursing lightly,  he checked scans again.

"Buckle down for evasive maneuvers," he warned the other occupants, as he strayed from the path carved out by Brooker. He would still need to be careful of running into any other patrols in the area.

"So, our element of surprise might be blown. Any ideas?"

[Alexander Wu]

"œYou did tell the teacher about Maddy's habit of escaping, right? "  she said, bringing that little worry up as they reached the bridge. Sure, it was easier to find a little girl on a ship than a starbase, but still.

[Bridge]

Coming back onto the familiar bustle of the Bridge, Ardyn nodded to Ian. "œHey there, Long time no see, Captain.  Lieutenants Jaeger and Wu reporting in for duty. "œ she smirked. It felt good to be back on the bridge.

[USS Challenger - Deck 3 Turbolift > Bridge]

Alex hesitated, realizing he hadn't, in fact, spoken to the teacher about that particular point. "Merde. No. I'll mention it to her tomorrow morning." He grimaced leaning against the wall of the turbolift. "Knew I forgot something." As the lift doors slid open again, he followed Ardyn out onto the bridge. His first thought was, well this is a snug fit, a surprise especially when compared to the size of the ship. He'd been on Klingon bird-of-preys with larger command centres. His next observation was of the man sitting at the conn, four pips on his shirt and the slightest greying hair identifying him as who could only be Captain Ian Galloway. Though he'd never met the skipper before, Alex did recognize his name, as fate had had them switching posts before in the past, missing each other only by days. The XO, on the other hand, he did know, well enough to leave him gingerly optimistic about seeing the Only again. "Captain." He handed over their transfer orders on two PADDs as Ardyn reported them in.

[Ian Galloway]

[USS Challenger - Deck 3 Turbolift > Bridge]

Alex hesitated, realizing he hadn't, in fact, spoken to the teacher about that particular point. "Merde. No. I'll mention it to her tomorrow morning." He grimaced leaning against the wall of the turbolift. "Knew I forgot something." As the lift doors slid open again, he followed Ardyn out onto the bridge. His first thought was, well this is a snug fit, a surprise especially when compared to the size of the ship. He'd been on Klingon bird-of-preys with larger command centres. His next observation was of the man sitting at the conn, four pips on his shirt and the slightest greying hair identifying him as who could only be Captain Ian Galloway. Though he'd never met the skipper before, Alex did recognize his name, as fate had had them switching posts before in the past, missing each other only by days. The XO, on the other hand, he did know, well enough to leave him gingerly optimistic about seeing the Only again. "Captain." He handed over their transfer orders on two PADDs as Ardyn reported them in.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian was waiting. It was the worst part of command, by far, in his opinion. Sending crew out into a hazardous situation and then just having to wait for them to report violated every sense of the concept of "leading from the front". He had an instructor at the Academy that said "As a leader you have to be where it sucks the most" and sitting on his arse in the command chair was not even close to following that idiom.

When the turbolift doors opened, Ian noted the arrival of the new Operations lieutenant. He was glad to see Alexander Wu's name on the roster of personnel that came aboard from the Farragut. Given he'd lost his first officer and three department heads, getting a replacement with any sort of experience was a positive development. As the man presented his transfer orders, Ian rose and shook his hand.

"Welcome aboard Challenger you two. You and Lieutenant Jaeger are just what we needed ta help shepherd the flock of bairns we've just received. Mr. Wu you will be workin' closely with Lieutenant Booker who's at the Ops station at the moment. Mr. Jaeger, goin' by your record, maintainin' a orbit may an under utilization of your skills at helm. Your option if'n you'd like ta join Lieutenant Espada. Please, I'd like you both get up ta speed on our mission as we've an away team en route ta the planet via shuttle ta conduct a wee bit of scoutin'. We're waitin' on their report before we decide our next steps."

[Kyan Mackenzie]

"Two atmospheric craft approaching on an intercept course. Range three kilometers and closing fast."

While a shielded shuttle was invisible to radar, the shuttle itself was still visible and it seemed, as if, blind random luck had put two Landser aircraft in a position to physically spot the shuttle with the classic Mark I eyeball...

"Buckle down for evasive maneuvers," he warned the other occupants, as he strayed from the path carved out by Brooker. He would still need to be careful of running into any other patrols in the area.

"So, our element of surprise might be blown. Any ideas?"

Upon hearing the computer's warning, Kyan took the empty seat beside Jettis. "œThe Powers is after having a laugh at us so they are!" he muttered, looking over the sensor readings of the incoming aircraft. "œSure an I figured we might get in trouble but I dinnae think it'd be before we landed so."

The sensors showed a couple of what almost looked like old fighter jets from Earth. Considering the level of technology that the Lansders had, Kyan suspected that they were probably working with projectile weapons. It would be fairly easy to dispatch them with the shuttle's phasers, or the tractor beam. But that would probably be frowned upon by Galloway when they got back. "We're Starfleet lad... we's the gud guys." he'd say... in typical grup fashion.

Kyan sighed. "Well, we cannae just shoot em down so we cannae... the sadness of it. So we need tae escape. But we cannae get too far from the place where they're makin their engine so..."

Several scenarios played out in the Onlie's head as he watched the incoming craft get bigger. They were almost on them now.

Then the coms crackled to life. "Unknown craft. This is restricted air space. You will leave this area immediately. Acknowledge or be fired upon."

Kyan turned to the others. "Well... time tae be inventive the now. What do you guys think?"

[Alexander Wu]

"Welcome aboard Challenger you two. You and Lieutenant Jaeger are just what we needed ta help shepherd the flock of bairns we've just received. Mr. Wu you will be workin' closely with Lieutenant Booker who's at the Ops station at the moment. Mr. Jaeger, goin' by your record, maintainin' a orbit may an under utilization of your skills at helm. Your option if'n you'd like ta join Lieutenant Espada. Please, I'd like you both get up ta speed on our mission as we've an away team en route ta the planet via shuttle ta conduct a wee bit of scoutin'. We're waitin' on their report before we decide our next steps."

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"œThey say it's like riding a horse, what they don't tell you is how much that horse has evolved over the five years." Alex remarked dryly, shaking Galloway's hand. "œGet up to speed, aye Captain." In a way, he was almost envious of Ardyn, having a new ship to break in, push to the limits, and find out how far past the limits she could go. Alex was the one who would be reading operation manuals and the latest schematic updates to Maddy as her bedtime stories for the foreseeable future. Still, it was a small sacrifice to make if it meant they could stay together.

Moving the short distance to the forward stations, Alex introduced himself to the other gold-shirt at Ops. "œGood morning, I'm Alex Wu, this is Ardyn Jaeger, just transferred onboard. The skipper mentioned you're the one to go to for all that's been happening on this current mission." There weren't any extra chairs at the front, so he stood off to the side after shaking hands, leaving room for Ardyn to listen in.

"œWell I'm sure glad they didn't just send us cadets and shinies." The Ops lieutenant seemed somewhat relieved, bringing up the relevant mission information on her workstation display. "œI'm Adelle Booker, and I guess I'm your department chief." Alex would've been surprised at her having made department head so young if he hadn't also recently been pulled out of his comfort zone on the opposite end of his career. He didn't say anything nevertheless, and she moved on. "œSo as you've probably noticed, we're in orbit around the fourth planet of the Landser System. Deep space scans have shown numerous temporal distortions throughout this entire region, artificial in nature. As far as we can determine, the distortions were created potentially as an unintentional byproduct of the indigenous population's experiment with "˜space folding' technology. We've mapped it out so we can navigate relatively safely, but there's too much interference to use the transporters, which is why the away team had to take a shuttle. "

Alex let out a quiet whistle, impressed by the repercussions this could have throughout the known universe. To his understanding, it was still moreso a theory than applicable technology, but from what little he had heard about, "˜space folding' could entirely do away with warp drive. Even more daunting, conventional starships and spaceborne vessels would become obsolete, not to mention traditional lines of defense or obstacles. "œIf they make this work without ripping space-time apart"¦that wouldn't just be massive for the locals, it'd change the course of our entire quadrant's future." Alex glanced over at Ardyn, unable to resist a quick quip. "We might be out of a job again, hun. What does Starfleet want us to do?"

"œAccording to Captain Galloway, we only have so many options. If the experimentation continues to open up these temporal distortions, then it has to be stopped, either with the local's cooperation or without. And to make things even more complicated, they're not actually warp capable yet." Booker seemed a bit uncomfortable with that middle part, something Alex could relate to. As an explorer, there was always a part of him excited about new discoveries. Destroying new technology seemed almost counterintuitive.  Still, these distortions were potentially disastrous, and if the device's creators were unaware they were happening, he reckoned Mackenzie would have a tough time convincing them. If they were aware, then tabernak, they'd all be in a spot of trouble.

Speaking of trouble, Alex frowned when a small indicator light began flashing on Booker's console, pulling her attention from explaining the mission back to her actual job at hand. Her expression grew more alarmed before she turned to face the conn. "œSir, Commander Mackenzie's shuttle has deviated from it's planned flightpath, they're now in danger of being visible to the satellite system."

[Abas Th'vyrrol]

[Enlisted Crew's Mess]

As Abas finished his meal, he sat back and let his mind wander a bit. To be honest, he couldn't tell you how long he'd sat and relaxed there, but it couldn't have been for too long. He tapped his commbadge and queried the computer - it'd only been about 8 minutes it total, but it felt like so much longer. 12 minutes till his shift... which meant at least 5 or 6 more minutes of relaxation before he had to head out. Or at least it would have been, until one smarmy-faced petty officer decided to play a prank on the whole hall. This particular crewman was the three-month running voice impersonation champion on the Challenger, and noted for one particular impression.

That would be the voice and uncanny intonations of one Captain Ian Galloway.

As soon as the man spoke, half the room shot to their feet, their eyes snapping around while the other half quickly scoured the room for anything untoward that might not want to be gracing the eyes of their vaunted CO. Things such as the leaderboard for the aforementioned impressions that everyone would vociferously deny existing on pain of death should anyone with a pip on their collar ever ask. But as soon as the prank was revealed, a collective groan rose from the group before all manner of litter and debris were hurled in the general direction of the little punk. Abas made a note to schedule him for a capsule endoscopy his next time through sickbay. Maybe a little probe would help the man fix his behavior.

Regardless, Abas stood, depositing his own garbage (not thrown at the prankster) before exiting the room, the sliding doors shutting with a hiss drowning out the hubbub of the room and the general disarray within. In only a few short strides, he was at the turbolift doors, pausing only a moment before they opened and he stepped inside. "Sickbay," was all he said, before the whir of the lift zipped off toward his normal duty station.

[Sickbay]

Abas entered the room exactly two minutes and six seconds before his shift was due to start. Checking in with the crew on duty, he began discussing with one of the other attendants what had happened over the last shift, any particular patients of note, or anything else that they might need to consider for the next several hours.

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian was waiting. It was the worst part of command, by far, in his opinion. Sending crew out into a hazardous situation and then just having to wait for them to report violated every sense of the concept of "leading from the front". He had an instructor at the Academy that said "As a leader you have to be where it sucks the most" and sitting on his arse in the command chair was not even close to following that idiom.

When the turbolift doors opened, Ian noted the arrival of the new Operations lieutenant. He was glad to see Alexander Wu's name on the roster of personnel that came aboard from the Farragut. Given he'd lost his first officer and three department heads, getting a replacement with any sort of experience was a positive development. As the man presented his transfer orders, Ian rose and shook his hand.

"Welcome aboard Challenger you two. You and Lieutenant Jaeger are just what we needed ta help shepherd the flock of bairns we've just received. Mr. Wu you will be workin' closely with Lieutenant Booker who's at the Ops station at the moment. Mr. Jaeger, goin' by your record, maintainin' a orbit may an under utilization of your skills at helm. Your option if'n you'd like ta join Lieutenant Espada. Please, I'd like you both get up ta speed on our mission as we've an away team en route ta the planet via shuttle ta conduct a wee bit of scoutin'. We're waitin' on their report before we decide our next steps."

[USS Challenger - Bridge]

"œThey say it's like riding a horse, what they don't tell you is how much that horse has evolved over the five years." Alex remarked dryly, shaking Galloway's hand. "œGet up to speed, aye Captain." In a way, he was almost envious of Ardyn, having a new ship to break in, push to the limits, and find out how far past the limits she could go. Alex was the one who would be reading operation manuals and the latest schematic updates to Maddy as her bedtime stories for the foreseeable future. Still, it was a small sacrifice to make if it meant they could stay together.

Moving the short distance to the forward stations, Alex introduced himself to the other gold-shirt at Ops. "œGood morning, I'm Alex Wu, this is Ardyn Jaeger, just transferred onboard. The skipper mentioned you're the one to go to for all that's been happening on this current mission." There weren't any extra chairs at the front, so he stood off to the side after shaking hands, leaving room for Ardyn to listen in.

"œWell I'm sure glad they didn't just send us cadets and shinies." The Ops lieutenant seemed somewhat relieved, bringing up the relevant mission information on her workstation display. "œI'm Adelle Booker, and I guess I'm your department chief." Alex would've been surprised at her having made department head so young if he hadn't also recently been pulled out of his comfort zone on the opposite end of his career. He didn't say anything nevertheless, and she moved on. "œSo as you've probably noticed, we're in orbit around the fourth planet of the Landser System. Deep space scans have shown numerous temporal distortions throughout this entire region, artificial in nature. As far as we can determine, the distortions were created potentially as an unintentional byproduct of the indigenous population's experiment with "˜space folding' technology. We've mapped it out so we can navigate relatively safely, but there's too much interference to use the transporters, which is why the away team had to take a shuttle. "

Alex let out a quiet whistle, impressed by the repercussions this could have throughout the known universe. To his understanding, it was still moreso a theory than applicable technology, but from what little he had heard about, "˜space folding' could entirely do away with warp drive. Even more daunting, conventional starships and spaceborne vessels would become obsolete, not to mention traditional lines of defense or obstacles. "œIf they make this work without ripping space-time apart"¦that wouldn't just be massive for the locals, it'd change the course of our entire quadrant's future." Alex glanced over at Ardyn, unable to resist a quick quip. "We might be out of a job again, hun. What does Starfleet want us to do?"

"œAccording to Captain Galloway, we only have so many options. If the experimentation continues to open up these temporal distortions, then it has to be stopped, either with the local's cooperation or without. And to make things even more complicated, they're not actually warp capable yet." Booker seemed a bit uncomfortable with that middle part, something Alex could relate to. As an explorer, there was always a part of him excited about new discoveries. Destroying new technology seemed almost counterintuitive.  Still, these distortions were potentially disastrous, and if the device's creators were unaware they were happening, he reckoned Mackenzie would have a tough time convincing them. If they were aware, then tabernak, they'd all be in a spot of trouble.

Speaking of trouble, Alex frowned when a small indicator light began flashing on Booker's console, pulling her attention from explaining the mission back to her actual job at hand. Her expression grew more alarmed before she turned to face the conn. "œSir, Commander Mackenzie's shuttle has deviated from it's planned flightpath, they're now in danger of being visible to the satellite system."

[Bridge]

"œAlright then. I'll brush up on the systems  before heading to the shuttlebay and firing up a shuttle.  Might as well while the ship's in orbit than in the middle of flying her. "œ she said, heading towards the helm controls .

"œIt's been a hot minute since I've been at the helm of a full-sized ship, so I'll get up to speed on the controls while I'm here. "œ  Listening in on Alex's conversation to get up to speed on the matter, she nodded.    So, shuttles only. Will have to fire one up if we really need it.

That didn't seem too far off once they got an alert from the shuttle flying a bit off-course.  "œThat's not good. Maybe I should get to firing up the shuttle after all if we need to recover the away team."

[Jettis Jyur]

Kyan sighed. "Well, we cannae just shoot em down so we cannae... the sadness of it. So we need tae escape. But we cannae get too far from the place where they're makin their engine so..."

Several scenarios played out in the Onlie's head as he watched the incoming craft get bigger. They were almost on them now.

Then the coms crackled to life. "Unknown craft. This is restricted air space. You will leave this area immediately. Acknowledge or be fired upon."

Kyan turned to the others. "Well... time tae be inventive the now. What do you guys think?"

[ Shuttle Onizuka ]

Despite the evasive maneuvers, the Landsers shuttles were rapidly closing in on their intercept path. Any fancy flying to get them out of their range would require flying directly back into the sensor web of the satellite system.

Grimacing, Jettis realized their options were limited. "The only way we're going to go without being caught is to emergency beam down to the planet. I can program the shuttle to fly itself back to the Challenger using the original pathing. Once it's out of the shuttle's range they'll probably give up, or at least give us some more time."

Fingers grazing they screen as he typed, he chewed on his lip nervously. "But we won't be able to contact the ship. Just have to hope they'll be able to make it down to the planet without being seen like we were."

With the shuttle programmed, he checked to ensure everyone was ready. Another glance at the sensors revealed the Landsers were almost surrounding them. "It's now or never." When given the okay from everyone he quickly instructed the shuttle to make its return trip, with the team of four being beamed out in a shimmer of light.

When Jettis came back to his senses, he felt his stomach turn being on the planet now. Shaking his head to try to clear it, he looked around hoping that no issues had arisen with the transportation.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 12 - Main Engineering]

Within the ship's new Chief Engineer gone on an Away Mission, the remaining staff were still tasked to work on coming up with a solution to the folding space problem.  This would have well and fine with Lahr (who normally would sit back with his feet up and toss in unrealistic suggestions) if there had been some leadership left behind, but as it was right now with no engineering position higher than Ensign on shift the engineering staff were looking to Lahr as CPO for that leadership; even the newbie ensigns were coming to him with their ideas since in their eyes he had he experience.

But there was a flaw in that deduction; Lahr being an enlisted had never gone to the Academy for years of theory... he'd done his time in Sec/Tac bootcamp. While he was okay at the mechanical side of engineering, the theories behind why things worked the way they did mostly went over his head.

Yeah, the Chief SO had provided Neva with a ream of data to 'help' the engineers figure out a plan but Lahr needed help deciphering it.  That's where his buddy Hyperion would be helpful.

"Alright folks listen up!" Lahr called out to the other engineers. "I'm gonna take a 15-minute mental health break; step away and ponder these wonderful suggestions.  Petty Officer T'roth, please watch my station.  I'll be back in a bit."

Lahr beat a quick retreat from Engineering and headed down to Stellar Cartography on Deck 15.

[USS Challenger - Deck 15 - Stellar Cartography]

As the doors to the Cartography lab open, Lahr didn't waste any time blurt out his problem to the AI typically working there.

"Hyperion, I need your help 'dumbing-down' the basics of space folding." he called out, only to realize a moment later that Hyperion wasn't alone.

"Um... hello." he gave an embarrassed wave to the Cardassian Science officer.