Captain's Log: Episode One, Scene One

 -The bridge of the ASCLEPIUS-

The exec staff file into the bridge from the Captain’s ready room, taking their positions: Dee takes an Ops station at the back of the bridge, next to T’Lara’s science station. It isn’t officially hers, but out of tradition on a medical ship the ship’s chief medical officer has a place on the bridge. Being next to the Vulcan’s science station was also a convenience of proximity. Meredith S’Roke takes her position: An ops station behind the central command seats. Next to her is the ship’s Bajoran Comms officer, Byla Hyrys. Kerric and Dylan have stations on the far left and right sides of the bridge. Je’Ghettorii and Gav Neroon take the central seats. 

“I have the bridge,” Je’Ghettorii announces as he takes the central command chair, “Miss Elison, report.”

“Captain,” the lieutenant at the left hand Ops station says, turning to face the ships CO and XO. Tiana Elison has olive skin and neatly pinned back ebon hair. “We’re at relative rest to the system’s edge. Initial scans show no anomalies or contacts in-system so far. Abel?” 

“Captain,” the human male seated in the right hand Ops station speaks next. His name is Geo Abel. “I have a half-impulse course laid in for Outpost 9712’s known orbit and location that will get us there in under forty five minutes”

Je’Ghettorii nods. “Very good, Helm. Stand by for orders.”

The captain then turns his command chair to look behind him at the communications officer. “Lieutenant Hyrys? Hail outpost 9712. Tightbeam if you please.”

“Transmitting now, Captain,” The Bajoran says. After a few minutes she speaks up again: “No response, Captain.”

Je’Ghettorii shares a meaningful look with his Exec officer. Gav speaks first: “Captain, with no reply and this close to a combat zone, I recommend we go to yellow alert before proceeding.”

Je’Ghettorii nods, turns again to his communications officer:

“Byla, send to the Appelwaithe the following:” He waits for her to nod her readiness before continuing: “ ‘Captain Tonner: Asclepius has arrived in-system. No initial contact with the outpost. Proceeding with caution.’”

“I have it, sir,” Byla confirms.

“Sign it. Seal it. Send it. Commander Neroon: take us to yellow alert.” 

Gav Neroon punches a command into his command chair’s sideboard, speaks in his executives’ voice to the entire ship: “All hands: go to yellow alert.” The yellow alert klaxon sounds and Gav then speaks to the helmsman: “Mister Abel, execute your plot and take us in.”

Dee Lipton decides it’s a good time to check in with her staff. She turns to the ops station screens and hails her executive assistant. T’Pern answers her coms and behind him Dee can see the staff of ‘main medical’ moving and preparing in the wake of the invocation of yellow alert.

“Commander?” he says.

“Hello T’Pern,” she says to him; her fondness for the aged Vulcan showing itself in the way she talks to him. “As you can see, we’re going in with our guard raised. There’s no response from the outpost, so we should be prepared for a high-risk contact situation. Let’s prep a contact team with maximum hazard protections, alright?”

The gray-haired Vulcan nods sagely; “That would be the most appropriate approach. I shall assemble the team and their equipment.”

“Thank you, T’Pern. I’ll keep you informed from the bridge of any developments.”

-Thirty some minutes later-

Outpost 9712 is a spindly structure with a ring-like habitat structure halfway down its length. The Asclepius is pulling up alongside the station. 

On the bridge, the Captain turns to face his science officer. “Scan report, T’Lara?”

The Vulcan replies: “Inconclusive and inconsistent, Captain. There are life signs for approximately one hundred individuals, but I cannot identify or even localize a single one. It is … perplexing. The station is otherwise intact and fully operational.”

Dee leans over from her seat to look over T’Lara’s displays. Instead of well defined knots of biological activity, the station’s living and working spaces are filled with a haze of radiations equivalent to biological metabolic processes. She doesn’t realize Gav has arrived to stand behind her until he speaks, making her jump slightly.

“How is that possible?” he grunts.

Dee gestures at the ‘heat map’ image of the station's layout: “We should see well defined, if slightly fuzzy, spots where individuals are. And even in groups, we should be able to pick out individuals within a cloud of biological activity. Instead we’re seeing a general fog of life form readings. It’s pretty evenly distributed throughout the station. Right, T’Lara?”

“The good doctor is correct in her explanation,” T’Lara says, “Something could be jamming or blocking accurate scanning.” She adjusts her controls, attempting different filters and algorithms. 

“What are your recommendations for the next step?” Gav asks them, his arms folded across his barrel chest.

T’Lara answers first: “I cannot ascertain any more information from here. Direct observation is required before a hypothesis can be formulated.”

“We need boots on the ground” Dee translates, “I have a team ready with hazardous environment gear. We could send them over in a Runabout with a bio-containment module.”

“Why not use transporters?” Gav challenges.

Dee shakes her head. “With an unknown bio-contaminant? We can’t trust the transporters’ biofilters to catch it. Even with the special receiving decks here on the Asclepius, I’d rather have a runabout serving as the foot in the door. The bio-contaminant modules are designed to handle situations like this. They can even be detached and continue to work as a forward base if need be.”

Gav grunts, turns to the captain, who has been listening but not involved in the conversation. Je’Ghettorii meets his exec’s gaze, nods in agreement. Gav turns back to T’Lara and Lipton.

“Very well, doctor. Proceed.”

“Yes sir,” Dee says, standing from her station,”Then we’ll be on our way immediately.”

“Just a moment,” Je’Ghettorii interjects, “Are you intending to go with the contact team, Doctor? Tell me why I should risk my senior medical officer going on this away mission?”

“I don’t have to go into the hot zone, Captain. The runabout’s command deck is separate from the bio-containment module and I can coordinate with the contact team from there. In this situation, communication is essential and the closer to the hot zone I can get, the faster I can react.”

Je’Ghettorii frowns, clearly not happy with the risks at hand. He takes a moment before responding:

“Very well doctor, but you will respect all protocols and keep yourself safe. I cannot afford to lose you.”