The first thing Dee Lipton does once the runabout is secure is to get the contact team transferred to the isolation ward. Even though there had been no containment breaches or notable exposures it was a good practice to isolate and observe the contact team for any potential long-term effects. The team members grumble with good nature about their impending confinement, but it was a known consequence of working on the front line. Besides, the isolation and containment wards onboard the ASCLEPIUS were downright luxurious. There the team would have time to relax and also finish their post-mission observations for the records.
Next she heads to what she calls ‘Med One’. If the bridge of the ASCLEPIUS was the command center of the ship, Med One was the command center for the various departments, labs, and wards of the medical facilities of the ASCLEPIUS. T’Pern has the senior staff ready, and hands her a lab coat as she walks into the central staff meeting room of Med One. She favors the aged Vulcan with a warm smile of gratitude, which he stoically ignores in typical Vulcan manner.
“Alright gang,” she says as she takes her seat at the long oval table, “First let me say: Good Job. We took on an unknown threat and handled it with skill and talent. This is why I chose each of you for this team and you’ve made me proud. Gold stars all around.”
There’s a murmur of chuckles among the senior staff that have worked with her before. She notes a few of the newer team members' looks of confusion at the ‘Gold Star’ reference for a moment, but they all would get used to her idiosyncrasies. Eventually.
“But our work isn’t done yet,” She continues. “The ASCLEPIUS is on the hunt for a mystery ship that may or may not either be the source of the infection or potentially a carrier of it.”
She pauses a moment to let that sink in, then continues: “That means by the time we find that ship, I want us to be prepared. We need a method of detection, a defense against infection or at the least, a countermeasure for this bug. It’s brainstorming time, gang. Let’s hear some ideas.”
—
Merriith S’Roke is in her element and she is relishing it. As Chief of Security onboard a medical ship, she doesn’t get to engage with her predatory instincts very often. Caitians had evolved from stalking hunters who tracked and pounced upon their prey with consummate skill. Right now her prey is a starship, not a plain striding herbivore, but many of the skills translate with the right training.
S’Roke faces a real challenge: Without knowing the class of ship they are in pursuit of, she has only a vague performance envelope with which to predict plots. The outpost’s records gave a general direction of the ships’ departing vector, and T’Lara and her assistant had calculated how the stars visible in the sensor logs had moved in the time between the recording and when ASCLEPIUS started her chase. This gave them an initial vector to start with, for which S’Roke is tremendously grateful. Without that, they would not have known even which way to start looking. The time difference still presents a monumental hurdle. With Lt. Abel driving the ship, S’Roke is studying local maps of the sector and cross-referencing with updating data being supplied by Lt. Elison’s scans. T’Lara is attempting to glean more information about the ship from the limited information from the outpost’s records, but hasn’t been able to tell them much other than a general size and an estimate of its energy output.
The Pelia sector is a moderately populated volume of space. There are a dozen populated and colonized systems in the sector. While the coreward edge of the sector is recognized as Federation space, the majority of it is unclaimed by any one polity. The next sector rimward is one of the frontline sectors in the Federation- Dominion/Cardasian war. The Federation patrolled Pelia, and Starfleet Command had evidence that the Cardassians were patrolling the neighboring one.
She sees Commander Gav Neroon’s reflection in her panel, watching her. She sighs, stretches languidly and rolls her shoulders, then turns to face him.
“Sorrry Commander,” she says, “This is going to be a really tough hunt.”
Neroon grunts and reaches towards the panel next to hers to punch in some commands. An image of the Pelia sector appears, and a blinking icon labeled “APPELWAITHE” catches her attention.
”Coordinate with the APPELWAITHE,” Neroon instructs her. “More hunters to beat the brush, right?”
She ponders this for a moment, then voices her idea:
”If it’s a numbers game, what about deploying the Runabouts?” She asks. The two Danube-class Runabouts are more than modular shuttlecraft: They’re small starships in their own right. They could perform their own search grids, and the ASCLEPIOUS carried sensor modules for each that would extend their sensor range considerably.
Neroon gifts S’Roke a rare grin, holds up a finger that means ‘wait one,’ and walks around the bridge to confer with the Captain a moment. Soon after, Captain Je’Ghettorii returns with Neroon to S’Roke’s station.
”Lieutenant,” the Captain begins and she gives him all her attention, “I approve deploying the ARATUS and ACESO with sensor modules to extend the search grid. Their orders will be to detect the mystery ship, or signs of infection among the neutral polities in their search grids, but not to engage in any way. Find that ship and report.”
”Eye sir,” she replies as the Captain turns to return to his chair.
He turns again before taking more than a step, says to both Neroon and S’Roke:
”Good idea, both of you. Carry on.”
An hour or so later, Merrith S’Roke once again has the Captain and Exec standing by her station, and T’Lara has joined them. Her display shows a trinary star system; The center star is a large and hot F class, labeled ‘Alpha Masalgu.’ Circling it at over a light year distance is a warm G class labeled ‘Beta Masalgu,’ and orbiting the G class is a cool red M class labeled ‘Proxima Masalgu.’
Merrith clears her throat and recites her prepared notes:
”Alpha Masalgu Six has the oldest culture and elements from that culture colonized Beta and Proxima’s planets in the last two centuries. This cluster of stars is the only one in the flight path of our mystery ship. It’s a convenient stop to cool off your warp drive and re-orient towards your next destination. Beyond it is the Görnhead nebula, and beyond that is the border to the next sector. Cardassian space.
Sirs, I recommend we split out forces: ASCLEPIUS can check out Alpha, while ACESO and ARATUS check out Beta and Proxima, respectively. We’ll be close enough that any two elements can respond quickly if the third finds anything. The next closest star systems will take days for the runabouts to reach.”
Captain Je’Ghettorii turns to his science officer; “T,Lara, What do we know about the Masalgu Trinary and it’s cultures?”
T’Lara doesn’t even look at the datapad in her hands, her eyes are on the display but it’s like she’s looking through it.
”Alpha Masalgu’s major government is a constitutional monarchy. The ruling family has made it clear that it is their policy to stay neutral in the Federation-Cardassian/Dominion conflict. While they retain close cultural ties to their daughter colonies, they do not have political control over them.
Beta Masalgu has a functioning democratic government, and the last Federation diplomatic enjoy’s report described their attitudes towards the current conflict as … Blasé. Their current social media is highly divided on the topic and without a supermajority consensus, the Beta government cannot proceed on any policy.”
”My kind of people,” Neroon chuckles, then waves the science officer to continue.
“Proxima Masalgu,” T’Lara continues unaffected by the Tellarite’s color commentary, “is a very recent offshoot of the Beta culture and currently has a fledgling democratic government. There is a movement to request entry into the Federation, but they have yet met some of the requirements to be accepted, chiefly that they have yet to overcome several crucial economic and cultural dependencies from Beta to qualify.”
Finishing her diatribe, T’Lara looks to her Captain and nods.
”Thank you, T’Lara,” Je’Ghettorii tells her, then looks to Merrith S’Roke. “So. ASCLEPIUS to Alpha, ACESO to Beta, and ARATUS to Proxima. That is your recommendation?”
Merrith nods, “Yes sir, it is.”
Je'Ghettorii nods, satisfied with her confidence. He turns to the communications officer. “Lieutenant Hyrys, please contact APPELWAITHE and update her on our plans, and with my compliments, kindly ask Captain Tonner to check out the Görnhead nebula. Her superior sensors should make scanning for anybody hiding there that much easier.”
The Bajoran officer nods, turns to her station to craft the message.
Je’Ghettorii then speaks to the two Ops stations at the front of the bridge: “Lieutenant Abel, best time to the Masalgu trinary?”
The young Lieutenant, who has been listening in to the conversation behind him and already done the calculations, turns to his Captain and says: “Captain, best time to ideal separation point for the Runabouts is twelve hours. ASCLEPIUS can reach Alpha an hour after that, and ARATUS and ACESO can reach their destinations two and three hours after that.”
Je’Ghettori smiles as Neroon’s good-natured grumbling voice carries across the bridge: “What are you, Abel? A mind reader?”
Abel, unsure how to respond, meekly replies: “No… sir?”
Je’Ghettorii strokes his beard, “Set your course Lieutenant, and get us underway.”
He then looks at S’Roke with an appreciative gaze, “Lieutenant, go enjoy a shift off. I want you ready for what may happen in twelve hours.”
—
The discussion and debate around the table of Med One is lively and highly technical, and Dee Lipton is enjoying watching it swirl before her. This is her team and she’s damn proud of them. A message from the bridge pulls her attention away and she reads the Exec’s update on the mission plans.
“Alright gang,” she says loudly while rapping her knuckles on the tabletop to get everyone’s attention. It takes a moment for the various sub-conversations to die down and she stands to deliver her dictates.
”Update from the Captain: In twelve hours we’ll be approaching the Masalgu Trinary. There we’re sending Runabouts to two daughter systems, while the ASCLEPIUS proceeds towards the primary. Wrap up your discussions, get some rest. Nobody on this ship is going to make a mistake because of exhaustion. We’ll reconvene in eight hours for final preparations. Dismissed.”
—-
Costes Vandalore is enjoying a sonic shower, and misses the first chime on his coms because sonic showers are loud. The pulsating waves are beating out the tension in his shoulders and back nicely, so he is taking his time. Post-flight checks on the ARATUS had taken hours, which he had overseen personally along with the chief flight engineer and her technicians. The ARATUS had taken a hit while escaping the exploding outpost, and Costes wanted to make sure nothing had actually gotten past the Runabout’s shields. Then he had filed his ships’ logs with the Flight Ops, as well as dictated his own personal reports. Then he had time for a shower. He was hoping to get a bite to eat next and was considering what he was going to order from the ship’s galley when the second chime on his coms got his attention.
It was another mission from Flight Ops. He scans the orders, mentally noting the change in module and crew he’d have along this time. Executing a system search would be far more engaging than babysitting a bunch of doctors but paradoxically less stressful. He was no medic, but watching the vids of the crew of the outpost turn into clouds of mist had chilled him to the core. It was something he had no idea how to deal with, and standing by had worn his nerves raw. Having something to do, now, was just what he needed. He mentally does the calculus for the prep time for the new mission, and realizes he has no time for a proper sit-down meal in the ship’s galley. As he dresses with a fresh uniform he reflects to himself at least he would be able to use the replicators on the ARATUS, and he had updated the recipes on the Runabout with some of his favorites.
End Scene one.
