Season 17: Episode 1: Step Into My Parlor

[Malik Grippen]

[USS Discovery | Sickbay]

Trix leaned forward slightly, picking up the sample auto-dispensation device from the desk. He turned it over in his hands, examining it closely with the intensity of someone hoping to glean more from the object than what was visible. The compact size and streamlined design were impressive, and he found himself appreciating the ingenuity that had gone into crafting something so unobtrusive.

There was a small, wry smile on his lips as he began to speak: "Well, I'll admit, if it works as seamlessly as you describe, it'll be a lot less work for you and the rest of the Sickbay staff. Not to mention, it'd save me from having to constantly check my supply levels." He set the device back down gently and nodded. "Let's go ahead and schedule the installation. Though, if it's not too much trouble, I'd still like to keep a backup hypospray on hand. Just in case... unforeseen events crop up." His tone carried an undercurrent of practicality, an acknowledgment of the unpredictable nature of life and duty aboard a Starfleet vessel—even for someone like himself who spent most of his time reading and contemplating.

As for the mention of the nanoprobes, Trix's expression grew more thoughtful, his antennae angling slightly backward in contemplation. The idea of potentially curing his symptoms was undeniably appealing, yet the specter of losing himself—of his personality being 'cured' along with his physical affliction—remained a heavy weight on his mind. Is who I am really the result of some physical alteration to my brain? Or is it just the natural consequence of my experiences, my choices? He knew it was a question without a clear answer, one that medical science and philosophy had wrestled with for centuries. Still, the thought unsettled him.

"Thank you for sending the information over," he said after a moment, his tone steady but laced with introspection. "I'll definitely take a closer look at the data and weigh my options. If there's a way to program these nanoprobes to leave my personality intact while addressing the symptoms, it could be worth considering. Then again, the prospect of a tool that potentially could freely edit somebody's personality is a troubling one—a true Pandora's Box, if you will. I find the idea of possibly being 'cured' of myself rather unnerving. I suppose it'll come down to balancing the risks and rewards... as these things usually do."

Leaning back in his chair, he offered a faint, but genuine smile. "It's a lot to think about, but I value your transparency. It's not often you find someone in your position willing to lay out all the potential consequences, even the uncomfortable ones."

"Thank you very much, Dr. Grippen. I truly appreciate your considerate approach to the complexities of my... case." With a touch of genuine warmth in his voice, he offered a polite nod and motioned to stand up. "If there is nothing else, doctor, I believe I have taken up enough of your valuable time today. I'll collect my refill from one of the nurses on my way out, and I look forward to seeing you at the procedure."

[USS Discovery, Sickbay]

Taja gave a warm smile, it was always nice to hear her patients appreciated her. Being a Risan she found patient interaction a lot easier than other humanoids. The Risans loved people.

"Excellent, that's what I'm here for. I'll need to clear the procedure with the first officer to ensure you are given the appropriate release from shifts. I'm confident you will be glad the device is installed and it will improve your quality of life. I'll be in touch with the date and time."

Taja stood and offered her hand to shake.

"It's been a pleasure, take care now. You're cleared back to duty."

Taja then returned to her seat and shouted out for the next patient, "Next!"

[James Ramort]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

A dry chuckle came from the Captain at Lorut's response.  "I'm glad I'm not the only one questioning time.  Maybe its a Bajoran thing..." he stated, turning back to the viewscreen just as the doors opened and he saw his newest First Officer take the bridge.  It was going to be big shoes to fill; Rayek was someone the Captain served a long time with. But in truth they knew command changes were nearly inevitable. Especially considering that it was the senior officers that were vastly reduced after Frontier Day.

"Welcome to the Bridge... Number One." he stated, nodding as he looked back at the screen, until his focus was interrupted by a signal coming in.  A quiet one, which was already concerning.

"The Momentary?  That's Captain Reynolds's ship." he added, shaking his head. Luckily he didn't need to give the orders; Ramort was already on top of it.

"Mr Ramort, take the Bridge, I'll be in my ready room." he stated, standing up and walking towards his office.  As part of protocol he had to try to make contact with Starfleet command.

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge]

"Aye Sir."

Watching the Captain leaving his chair, he switched into the bridge's central position himself. It was not the first time he had been sitting here. Past shifts as second officer had prepared him for the feeling apleanty, so a feeling of routine quickly took hold of him. In any way, now that he started working, his minds focus was spreading towards all the various topics he had to work through.

Only a couple of seconds later did his mind realize what the captain just called him. Number One, a title charged by the many historic Officers that bore the honour of being called this before him.

"Engineering, lt. m'nia here. I have been giving her the once over and so far, so good. Everything looks to be in top shape. She'll be fine! We should be able to keep in touch. Oh and congrats on the promotion!"

Finally, he got the call he had waited for. Learning that their communication array was stable was a huge relieve. It mattered not what made the Momentary loose contact, he would not allow them to suffer from the same fault. Discoveries communication array was quite powerful for a ship of its size. Meant to cut through possible interference from enemies, the original plans the engineers had in mind when designing the prometheus class. Original conceived to stay its own against possible borg incursions, their somewhat overpacked gear now did go a long way to put his mind at ease.

  "Received and Acknowledged. Also thank you! We are on a search for the USS Momentary right now. We don't know what happened to it, please keep a damage control team on stand by in case we find them and need to render assistance." 

[USS Discovery|Ops Console|Bridge]

Vila looked up as Ramort spoke.

She pressed some buttons and nodded.

"Aye," she said, a little icily. She didn't yet trust this child in his position, and she didn't like that they were in the dark about the staff changes made. She knew it wasn't exactly her business, but it also WAS. Last week, Ramort was some guy down in Science, and now here he was, trying to tell her what to do?! She was going to need answers, soon.

Vila raised an eyebrow. "Well, Lieutenant, luckily, our shields are on standby, and I am sure you'll let me know what you see before I see it," she said. At least, Malik always did, and it was better for everyone if the person flying the ship saw it first, right?!  "All systems are currently running expertly, and I have Lt. Bosch down in the office, making sure switches are connecting," she said. "The grid is up, scanning. Will report back with my findings, Commander," she said.

"Thank you Lieutenant!"

There was a coldness in her voice he could not go about missing. He could only presume it was because she did not think him capable of the new position. Not yet skilled enough to bear the responsibility he was shouldered with.

He couldn't blame her. Reaching this posting at his age was rare and he was sure some of the more senior officers onboard might need some time to get around to him in this position, if they ever did.

As part of the crew files he had inherited from Commander trLhoell, he had got to have a look at Loruts Service File. She was a great Officer and he hoped to win her over in time too.

[Ensign Kedan]
[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge | Science Station 1]

Kedan looked up from his work at Ramort's instructions, "Aye, sir, I'll notify the department to make sure we have resources available for any potential sensor reconfiguration or analysis work needed to help in the search," the Benzite officer promised, already keying the console to transmit an alert to all on-duty Science personnel.

He was proud to serve as a Scientist on one of the few vessels in the fleet where both Captain and XO had worked their way up the ranks of Science departments and had Scientific training and background. And it wasn't just pride either--there was a special sense of confidence to be gained from reporting to officers who shared much of his skills and knowledge, and he relished it.

"Lt. Kalem, as soon as you have the flight data from the Momentary please forward it here. I can use estimates of their last known coordinates to get an idea of what kind of environment we'll need to search." That information could be crucial for preparing correct sensor setting and filters--the composition of the Expanse varied widely between regions, and any search pattern would have to be adapted accordingly.

Science was stationed by Ensign Kedan today. Although only one of the younger Officers here on board, he saw great promise in the Benzite.

Although, he had to admit he was biased in that regard, of course. Until only very recently, he had been his directly superior Officer, in charge of his performance reviews and evaluations. Still he promised himself to not lose track of the young scientist.

"Great to see you on top of things, Ensign. Please feel free to call up more people to coordinate the sensor sweep if necessary."

Satisfied with the situation on the Bridge, he took up his PADD to check the list of preparations. Star Fleet, all the bureaucrats they were, had a detailed list for many a thing, including which preparations each department had to meet to prepare to assist a potentially endangered ship.

Now only one more department was on his list to finish all preparations.

"Ramort to Dr. Grippen. We started the search for a missing Federation Ship. We are unable to establish communications. At this point in time we can not rule out we will find wounded when we uncover their position. Please prepare sickbay for an influx of wounded and remain on standby. You are authorized to recall personnel not on duty at the moment and keep them on duty until we have a better picture of the situation."

Setting his PADD aside his gaze wandered into the stars ahead of them. An uneasy feeling slowly growing in his stomach.

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge]
[Some Hours later]

Over the last couple of hours, they had followed the course the Momentary had logged with the nearest Star Base. Passing through systems dominated by binary stars, a pulsar, two anomalous planetary constellations and past another half a dozen intriguing astronomical phenomena.

There was no time though to take scans of investigate further, they only could to the most cursory of glances, some general systemwide sensor sweeps to check for any hints at the missing ship. Picking up hints at the Momentarys Warp Trail, they set course for the next system and continued their search.

Now they arrived at a system not even named yet. The computers had it logged as S-TBMT4-23. A name was to be assigned once a full cartographic scan of the regions had commenced.

Falling back into a rhythm that had been established by the previous systems.

"Commence scans for any hits of the hits of our missing ship. Maybe this time we will get lucky."

[Lorut Vila]

{USS Discovery|Ops Console|Bridge}

The sensor array that feeds both my readings and your readings is the same system. We will see it at approximately the same time..

Her brown eyes narrowed.

"I am sorry, Lieutenant. I didn't hear you...would you care to share that with the entirety of the Bridge?" She asked. "Because if not, then I suggest you should keep it yourself." She tapped some buttons and glanced at the Captain's seat.

Thank you Lieutenant!

She nodded once, and then returned to her work. She was steadily working, running her scans while coordinating the switches and such with Bosch down in the office, while the rest of the Ops crew answered tickets and assisted engineering.

{A bit later}

The Captain had returned, and she was getting satsifactory returns from her people. After tr'Lohell's departure, she was the de facto Department Head, though she had little interest in pursuing a command position at this time. Anything that kept her out of the action was, in her mind, boring, and lesser.

Commence scans for any hits of the hits of our missing ship. Maybe this time we will get lucky.

She nodded, and followed it up with a verbal response.

"Yes, sir," she said. She pressed a different button, expecting much of the same data she'd been getting all day. She had never stopped the earlier scans, just ran them peripherally, as they weren't paramount to the current goings-on.

However.

She raised her head.

"Sirs...I am sending this to you. I am picking up faint hints of leaking Deuterium or...something and increased levels of hydrogen...at the far ends of the System." She looked up and met T'Rea's eyes. "Officer T'Rea, I will send this to you, too," she said, telling the system to do such.

[Kalem Michael]

{USS Discovery|Ops Console|Bridge}

Her brown eyes narrowed.

"I am sorry, Lieutenant. I didn't hear you...would you care to share that with the entirety of the Bridge?" She asked. "Because if not, then I suggest you should keep it yourself." She tapped some buttons and glanced at the Captain's seat.

Kalem slowly turned his head to look over at Lorut. His eyes held no emotion his face was dead still. No one of the same rank as him would ever have gotten away with talking to him that way, if not on the bridge and in front of command officers. He expected the XO to come down on the Ops officer. But instead he thanked her and went about his business. Kalem knew Lorut would be a problem. There was nothing he could do about it though in front of higher ranking officers.

After some time

"Commence scans for any hits of the hits of our missing ship. Maybe this time we will get lucky."

Kalem heard the order and started his own scan. His was mainly navigational information, however just to prove a point he had added the environmental data as well. The sensors pinged and just as he was about to start speaking he heard Lorut speak up.

"Sirs...I am sending this to you. I am picking up faint hints of leaking Deuterium or...something and increased levels of hydrogen...at the far ends of the System." She looked up and met T'Rea's eyes. "Lt. T'Rea, I will send this to you, too," she said, telling the system to do such.

Kalem smiled to himself and snickered a little. Lorut had just proven what he was saying earlier. Kalem knew that he had to keep himself in check. If he gave Lorut just enough rope, she would probably look like she was controlling, combative, and argumentative. She seemed to be a photon torpedo ready to go off.

[Tekin Nevir]

{A bit later}

The Captain had returned, and she was getting satsifactory returns from her people. After tr'Lohell's departure, she was the de facto Department Head, though she had little interest in pursuing a command position at this time. Anything that kept her out of the action was, in her mind, boring, and lesser.

She nodded, and followed it up with a verbal response.

"Yes, sir," she said. She pressed a different button, expecting much of the same data she'd been getting all day. She had never stopped the earlier scans, just ran them peripherally, as they weren't paramount to the current goings-on.

However.

She raised her head.

"Sirs...I am sending this to you. I am picking up faint hints of leaking Deuterium or...something and increased levels of hydrogen...at the far ends of the System." She looked up and met T'Rea's eyes. "Lt. T'Rea, I will send this to you, too," she said, telling the system to do such.

Kalem slowly turned his head to look over at Lorut. His eyes held no emotion his face was dead still. No one of the same rank as him would ever have gotten away with talking to him that way, if not on the bridge and in front of command officers. He expected the XO to come down on the Ops officer. But instead he thanked her and went about his business. Kalem knew Lorut would be a problem. There was nothing he could do about it though in front of higher ranking officers.

After some time

Kalem heard the order and started his own scan. His was mainly navigational information, however just to prove a point he had added the environmental data as well. The sensors pinged and just as he was about to start speaking he heard Lorut speak up.
Kalem smiled to himself and snickered a little. Lorut had just proven what he was saying earlier. Kalem knew that he had to keep himself in check. If he gave Lorut just enough rope, she would probably look like she was controlling, combative, and argumentative. She seemed to be a photon torpedo ready to go off.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

In truth, he was dreading what they would find. A missing ship rarely ended with good news. Even though he knew Reynolds was a good Captain, he was relatively inexperienced. The best-case scenario is that the ship's comms were down.  The worst?  They would find debris. If even that. He already had all the information from Starfleet, including last log, but they didn't really hint at anything. So hearing his ops chief speak was a bit of a relief.

"Helm, alter course, full impulse." he ordered, glancing at Ramort.  His look said it all... he was worried.

And he had every right to be, an hour or so later when they reached the trail and followed it.  It didn't take long at all for them to find her.

She was lying on her side, slightly angled upside down. There were no lights; even the nacelles were dark. The only way to know it was the Momentary was the shape of the Ross-class and the glint of the hull from the system's star, which showed the name of the ship.

"Lorut, hail the ship.  Start scans.  She's dark."

[T'Rea]

Science was stationed by Ensign Kedan today. Although only one of the younger Officers here on board, he saw great promise in the Benzite.

Although, he had to admit he was biased in that regard, of course. Until only very recently, he had been his directly superior Officer, in charge of his performance reviews and evaluations. Still he promised himself to not lose track of the young scientist.

"Great to see you on top of things, Ensign. Please feel free to call up more people to coordinate the sensor sweep if necessary."

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge | Science Station]

Even in the wake of Ensign Kedan's department-wide notification about their search-and-rescue mission, T'Rea was relatively surprised when he summoned her to the bridge. In the months since the Erewhon incident the enlisted officer been called up to assist on the bridge time and again, but it was still far from a standard occurrence.

On the other hand, she had noticed a increased air of familiarity from both Ensign Kedan and Ensign Rajagopalan since their teamwork under pressure during that crisis--something that she herself wasn't completely immune to. There was a sense of trust that simply went deeper than it had before or than it did with the rest of the ship's scientists. And both officers had written commendations praising her sensor analysis capabilities, which had contributed to her promotion to Petty Officer 3rd class... So perhaps Kedan's request she join him on the bridge in their current situation wasn't so surprising after all.

She offered Kedan a respectful nod as she entered the bridge and took her place at the console besides his to help coordinate sensor sweeps.

Now they arrived at a system not even named yet. The computers had it logged as S-TBMT4-23. A name was to be assigned once a full cartographic scan of the regions had commenced.

Falling back into a rhythm that had been established by the previous systems.

"Commence scans for any hits of the hits of our missing ship. Maybe this time we will get lucky."

"Sirs...I am sending this to you. I am picking up faint hints of leaking Deuterium or...something and increased levels of hydrogen...at the far ends of the System." She looked up and met T'Rea's eyes. "Officer T'Rea, I will send this to you, too," she said, telling the system to do such.

"Received," she acknowledged respectfully (though she had indeed already been viewing the same readings on her own screen prior to Lorut's statement, trying to verify what she was looking at before announcing it to the bridge at large). "I can confirm elevated levels of deuterium--it appears to be a trail as opposed to to a single, stationary source. There's hydrogen as well, but it will take a minute before I can verify if it's naturally occurring or not.". After all, hydrogen was all but ubiquitous in stellar medium, and there was no shortage of that in the S-TBMT4-23 system, though in this case the Ops officer's instincts seemed to be proven correct.

An hour or so later when they reached the trail and followed it.  It didn't take long at all for them to find her.

She was lying on her side, slightly angled upside down. There were no lights; even the nacelles were dark. The only way to know it was the Momentary was the shape of the Ross-class and the glint of the hull from the system's star, which showed the name of the ship.

"Lorut, hail the ship.  Start scans.  She's dark."

"Scanning for life signs," T'Rea affirmed the captain's orders, even as Kedan spoke simultaneously.

"Checking status of their emergency power grid, sir," the Benzite ensign notified.

Both he and T'Rea leaned forward intently over their consoles, and Kedan also simultaneously tapped the department-notification button with his left hand, sending a prewritten ping to the rest of the Science department to be prepared to drop anything they might be currently working on in case they were called upon to assist. If it really came down to it, all the scientists on the ship had up to date first aid and crisis response training that could help supplement the medical department in a pinch...

[Lorut Vila]

{USS Discovery|Ops Console|Bridge}

Lorut, hail the ship. Start scans. She's dark.

No kidding. Still, she sighed, but nodded.

"Aye, sir," she said. He knew that the likelihood of finding anyone or getting a response was nil, right?! They had a better shot of Vila herself being elected Queen of France. She issued the hail, and waited.

"Nothing, but I'll keep monitoring it," she said. "Anything else?" 

[Dr Taja Grippen]

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge]

"Aye Sir."

"Ramort to Dr. Grippen. We started the search for a missing Federation Ship. We are unable to establish communications. At this point in time we can not rule out we will find wounded when we uncover their position. Please prepare sickbay for an influx of wounded and remain on standby. You are authorized to recall personnel not on duty at the moment and keep them on duty until we have a better picture of the situation."

[USS Discovery, Sickbay]

"Acknowledged. We'll be ready."

Taja hit the intercom system for the department, "Initiate mass casualty protocol. All staff are recalled to duty."

Now any doctors, nurses and other medical staff not on shift would return to work. All but critical scheduled appointments were cancelled. Staff stepped into well rehearsed routines, preparing additional biobeds, preparing equipment and supplies, clearing all non essential people out.

Then they would wait for the call to say casualties were on their way.

[James Ramort]

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge]

Seeing the Momentary simply hang in space, dark and without any indication or life, made his stomach drop. If Deuterium was leaking, whatever damage they had sustained could not have been superficial. At least their inner tanks would have needed to be rupture, hinting at deep structural damage.

If their crew was still active, they should have switched to back up power at least, stabilising the ship's systems enough to at least keep the lights on.

"I don't like the look of this, please also focus the scans for any energy signatures."

"Ramort to Engineering. We found the Momentary handing in Space, traces of Deuterium in the space around the hull. Please assemble a team of Engineers and gather your tools, we might be required to render some hands on assistance." 

[Zuriel Soreka]

"Helm, download the last flightpath we have on record for the Momentary and set a course for where they should have been aproximitly two days ago. Operations and Science, please prepare and coordinate a potential search grid. Tactical we might be looking at a potentially hostile situation, please give me an update on the status of our shields, we wouldn't run into any problems with all the nebulas around us."

"Aye Sir, shields are operating at a steady 98%, that nebula is not doing us any favors but I will stay on it and modulate where needed."

Zuriel kept a close eye on the shielding systems. The last thing he needed was to put the ship in danger on his first day on the bridge. This was undoubtedly the most advanced ship Zuriel had served on so far, it had taken him a while to get used to how responsive the systems of the Discovery were, but the flag and response time set it apart from a ship class designed for diplomacy or research. Zuriel leveraged the ship's point of impact shielding to keep shields pointing toward the nebula at the highest readiness at the same time, this was possible due to the information being disseminated from the other departments.

[Tekin Nevir]

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge | Science Station]

Even in the wake of Ensign Kedan's department-wide notification about their search-and-rescue mission, T'Rea was relatively surprised when he summoned her to the bridge. In the months since the Erewhon incident the enlisted officer been called up to assist on the bridge time and again, but it was still far from a standard occurrence.

On the other hand, she had noticed a increased air of familiarity from both Ensign Kedan and Ensign Rajagopalan since their teamwork under pressure during that crisis--something that she herself wasn't completely immune to. There was a sense of trust that simply went deeper than it had before or than it did with the rest of the ship's scientists. And both officers had written commendations praising her sensor analysis capabilities, which had contributed to her promotion to Petty Officer 3rd class... So perhaps Kedan's request she join him on the bridge in their current situation wasn't so surprising after all.

She offered Kedan a respectful nod as she entered the bridge and took her place at the console besides his to help coordinate sensor sweeps.

"Received," she acknowledged respectfully (though she had indeed already been viewing the same readings on her own screen prior to Lorut's statement, trying to verify what she was looking at before announcing it to the bridge at large). "I can confirm elevated levels of deuterium--it appears to be a trail as opposed to to a single, stationary source. There's hydrogen as well, but it will take a minute before I can verify if it's naturally occurring or not.". After all, hydrogen was all but ubiquitous in stellar medium, and there was no shortage of that in the S-TBMT4-23 system, though in this case the Ops officer's instincts seemed to be proven correct.

"Scanning for life signs," T'Rea affirmed the captain's orders, even as Kedan spoke simultaneously.

"Checking status of their emergency power grid, sir," the Benzite ensign notified.

Both he and T'Rea leaned forward intently over their consoles, and Kedan also simultaneously tapped the department-notification button with his left hand, sending a prewritten ping to the rest of the Science department to be prepared to drop anything they might be currently working on in case they were called upon to assist. If it really came down to it, all the scientists on the ship had up to date first aid and crisis response training that could help supplement the medical department in a pinch...

{USS Discovery|Ops Console|Bridge}

No kidding. Still, she sighed, but nodded.

"Aye, sir," she said. He knew that the likelihood of finding anyone or getting a response was nil, right?! They had a better shot of Vila herself being elected Queen of France. She issued the hail, and waited.

"Nothing, but I'll keep monitoring it," she said. "Anything else?"

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge]

Seeing the Momentary simply hang in space, dark and without any indication or life, made his stomach drop. If Deuterium was leaking, whatever damage they had sustained could not have been superficial. At least their inner tanks would have needed to be rupture, hinting at deep structural damage.

If their crew was still active, they should have switched to back up power at least, stabilising the ship's systems enough to at least keep the lights on.

"I don't like the look of this, please also focus the scans for any energy signatures."

"Ramort to Engineering. We found the Momentary handing in Space, traces of Deuterium in the space around the hull. Please assemble a team of Engineers and gather your tools, we might be required to render some hands on assistance." 

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

"Stand by to try again Miss Lorut." he stated, acknowledging what she was getting.

Tekin had by now stood up, looking at the floating ship that seemed to have aged decades despite it being less than a 3rd of the age of the vessel he stood on. He was trying to understand why while listening around him. The news was not good from any of his officers.  No response to hails, no lifesigns detected, or unable to be detected.  Warp core was cold and power reserves seemed to be drained. Lifesupport was non-existent. A relatively newer vessel looked like a dead relic.

A sensor beep went off before he could speak, and as it gave its message, the ship had listed enough for the Captain and the rest of the bridge to see what it was pointing out. A gash in the ventral hull, it looked like it was large enough for a couple of decks and several sections.

"A possible explosion? But that shouldn't completely kill the ship.  It shouldn't even completely kill the deck. Wait... computer.  Enhance section 16-Kilo and magnify." he ordered, and a section of the saucer was highlighted and zoomed in. There was light glinting off it from the star, and there he could see why it looked aged.

"Ramort, do you see that?  There is some sort of netting material all over the hull." he stated grimly, shaking his head.

"Assume the worst; Number One, get an away team suited up and take a shuttle over.  Investigate the ship and see if you can enter.  We don't know if that material will hamper transporters and I do not want to find out the hard way."

[Lorut Vila]

{USS Discovery|Bridge}

She nodded. "Yes sir, I'll attempt a hail again in a few seconds, on your command," she said.

She sighed. It seemed fruitless but she would try again. There was always the slim chance that SOMEONE was still alive.

"If this is ghosts again, count me out. Can't shoot 'em," she remarked.

[Buck McNair]

[USS Discovery | Deck 3 - aft observation lounge]

Buck had been listening into the developments ever since they had found the Momentary. He was idly scanning through their itinery since they had left the station, ensuring that everything was in stock or a least noted if they were to dip into rationings. Lorut was on the bridge, so it wasn't deemed necessary for the both of them to be occupying the space when he could be busying himself with other taskings. Of course, he had to deal with a crewman's insistence that they were out of coffee already only for it to have been an elaborate prank when his own machine started working fully again.

It had seemed that whatever they'd found with the Momentary had been enough to bring the whole ship onto a state of alert and concern. A vessel dead in space was concerning on its own accord. Buck had decided that he would start heading in the direction of the bridge just in case he was required in some capacity, whether it was to fill the shoes as Ops on the bridge or even accompany the away team should they need him. He hoped that he had managed to skirt the need to visit the mandatory medical checks at least for another few days before they dragged him by the ear to inform him that he was well and truly fine. Buck glanced at his PADD and saw the tickets and engineering requests gearing up, pinging one by one causing the PADD in hand to buzz.

Buck stopped, mid step as he eyed up the lift. He had to trust those on the bridge had it all in hand but he wanted to make sure that he could make himself as useful as possible.

Lorut from McNair, how can I be of assistance here? 

[James Ramort]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

"Stand by to try again Miss Lorut." he stated, acknowledging what she was getting.

Tekin had by now stood up, looking at the floating ship that seemed to have aged decades despite it being less than a 3rd of the age of the vessel he stood on. He was trying to understand why while listening around him. The news was not good from any of his officers.  No response to hails, no lifesigns detected, or unable to be detected.  Warp core was cold and power reserves seemed to be drained. Lifesupport was non-existent. A relatively newer vessel looked like a dead relic.

A sensor beep went off before he could speak, and as it gave its message, the ship had listed enough for the Captain and the rest of the bridge to see what it was pointing out. A gash in the ventral hull, it looked like it was large enough for a couple of decks and several sections.

"A possible explosion? But that shouldn't completely kill the ship.  It shouldn't even completely kill the deck. Wait... computer.  Enhance section 16-Kilo and magnify." he ordered, and a section of the saucer was highlighted and zoomed in. There was light glinting off it from the star, and there he could see why it looked aged.

"Ramort, do you see that?  There is some sort of netting material all over the hull." he stated grimly, shaking his head.

"Assume the worst; Number One, get an away team suited up and take a shuttle over.  Investigate the ship and see if you can enter.  We don't know if that material will hamper transporters and I do not want to find out the hard way."

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge]

"I see it too, not sure what this is."

Webbing, why did that make his spine feel like ice? What was webbing doing in space? How did it relate to the gash in the ship.

There were plenty of crystalline materials that could be formed by the mixture of gases and minerals mixing when the ship were to be impacted by a body moving through interstellar space. Usually these formations would be larger and more chaotic in strucure, form spikes and dislocated nexuses. A web might hint at a simultanous release of energy from the grid. Closer analysis might uncover the structures to match the with the powergrid of the ship underneath.

"Aye Sir!"

"Ensign Dupont, Lieutenant M'Nia, Officer T'Rea, please report to the Shuttle Bay." 

"Lieutenants Soreka, Michael, Lorut, please join me too, " turning around he saw Lieutenant McNair just enter the Bridge, "Perfect timing, Lieutenant McNair, please take over the Ops Station."

Having called for his team, he went for the Turbolift. The Shuttlebay his destination.

[USS Discovery | Deck 10 | Shuttle Bay]

Looking as his team assembling around him, his mind was spinning. The mystery of what happened to the Momentary still everpresent in his thoughts.

"Glad to see you all assembled here so quickly. We are on a mission to find out what has happened to our fellow Star Fleet Colleagues. We don't know what has happened to their ship but we found it in pretty bad shape. Most of you have probably already seen the images by now. Given we don't know what caused this damage and the ship's atmosphere and life support systems are unstable, please all suit up in environmental suits, also keep your phasers ready, in case we find out these damages were more artificial in nature."

"And if any of you have any theories as to what might have caused this, feel free to share them, same if you spot anything suspicious."

[Lorut Vila]

{USS Discovery|Bridge}

She sighed, but nodded. "Aye," she said, and set up the computer to run thirty-second scans on a loop, thirty seconds apart. It would alert her if anything of note was found, but also if anything wasn't. 

She stood up as Ramort sounded off.

Lieutenants Soreka, Michael, Lorut, please join me too...Perfect timing, Lieutenant McNair, please take over the Ops Station.

Vila nodded. "Yes, sir. McNair, call down to the office. Put petty officer Childers on the switches. I want those done TODAY. Before today," she said. They would know by now that Vila meant now-but there shouldn't be MUCH to do, honestly. They ran a check on the switches regularly, and she was on top of it at all times. Anything short of perfect was unacceptable to her.

She hurried behind the others, and waited in the shuttle bay for the others. She wasn't about to go out THERE on some ghost ship. Did this man not remember what happened the last time they'd done that?!