Compile #5 - The Third Law - February 28st to March 6th ========================= Mission: The Third Law Day: 2 Stardate: 2414.3.16 ========================= (USS Rosenante - Holodeck 2 - ACEO Lt Eian O'Neil - Day 2 - 1749) ========================= (USS Rosenante - Holodeck 2 - ACEO Lt Eian O'Neil - Day 2 - 1749) They had finished their training for now, and Eian had started to think about how he would schedule the required number of hours, or perhaps more if he was to train himself to stay still enough for long periods of time. The counselor left, and Eian was about to follow and head back to his quarters to feed Murphy and get some dinner himself. But Ben stopped him. "Lieutenant O'Neill, a moment please." Eian turned. "Eian," he said. "I'd like to apologize for what I said to you during the Borg attack when you were assimilated. I don't know if you remember it or not." Eian's mind did that now-familiar action of directing his memory toward the correct "video," and playing it in his mind in a split second. ~He was damaged. Severely damaged. Metal was warped and embedded in his skin, which was burnt with grafted armor melted into it. He laid on the ground, helpless and unable to move. With one working eye, he saw Ben Soma, his friend, approach. "Lance, Cole, get that thing to it's feet." He ordered. He was talking about Eian. He was dragged up to his feet, and Ben glanced at him as if he was appraising an antique watch. There were no sympathetic words. No human contact, not that Eian would have been able to feel it with his irrevocably damaged nerve endings. "Bind him." Ben ordered simply. "Yes Sir." someone said as he looked around for something to use as a binding. Optronic cable was wrapped around Eian's mangled hand and implant, and both were tied across his chest, the cable wrapping around his chest, back, and arms several times, tight enough that it dug into the blackened, charred skin and cracked it open. Ben nodded his approval at the way the PO decided to bind the drone. Then Ben stepped in front of the drone and looked it in the eye. "Eian, if there's any of you left in there listen up and listen good." Ben said with an authoritative voice. "We're going to get you some help, undo what the Borg have done to you." Ben took another step ahead punctuating what he was about to say. "But let me be clear." He continued. "If you attempt to break free and harm anyone on this team, if I so much as see those assimilation tubules twitch I will kill you. The Borg have caused enough damage to this ship and killed enough of this crew, I won't allow you do add to that list of damages or casualties. Do I make myself clear?" Eian would have spoken. He tried to speak. But his vocal cords had been removed by the Borg, and the explosion had taken out the voice box that had replaced them. He was mute. "Let's get moving." Ben said, and they began dragging Eian to the isolation lab where he would later be used as a test subject.~ Eian snapped back to the present, aware by now that these flashbacks seemed to last longer than they did in reality. The memory had probably buzzed through his head in a matter of a few seconds. He looked Ben in the eye, the same man who had treated him like an object...and he smiled. It wasn't a warm smile, but instead a sympathetic, sad smile. "I won't pretend I don't mind what happened back there, Ben," he said earnestly. "But you did what you had to do at the time. You acted as you had to considering the threat I posed. It may not be right, but it was justified. I forgive you." (reply Soma) (posted by Morgan G) ========================= Mission: The Third Law Day: 7 Stardate: 2414.03.21 ========================= (USS Rosenante– Bridge– CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid– Day 7- 1223) (Rogue Planet – Landing Site Alpha – SciO – Ensign David Spenser – Day 7- 1405) (Rogue Planet – Landing Site Alpha – ATAC/SC Ensign(sg) Jessica Signos – 1410) (Rogue Planet – Landing Site Alpha – ACEO Lt Eian O'Neill - Day 7 - 1415) (USS Rosenante - Transporter Room 1 - CTAC Lt. sg Ben Soma - 1426, 1433) (Rogue Planet - Beta Site One - SciO – Ensign Emma Leep – Day 7- 1435) (Rogue Planet - Beta Site One - CTAC Lt. sg Ben Soma- 1445) (Rogue Planet - Landing Site Delta – Chief Field Medic – MCPO Nathan Fuller -1510) (Rogue Planet - Landing Site Delta - SciO Ensign Pembrook Carter - Day 7 - 1511, 1615) (Rogue Planet - Landing Site Delta - CSec Lieutenant sg Sanok - Day 7 - 1605) (Rogue Planet - Landing Site Delta - CSec Lieutenant sg Sanok - Day 7 - 1610) (Rogue Planet - Landing Site Delta - CEO Lieutenant Commander Steven Matrix - Day 7 - 1619) (Rogue Planet - Landing Site Delta – Chief Field Medic – MCPO Nathan Fuller – 1621) ========================= (USS Rosenante– Bridge– CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid– Day 7- 1223) "Captain, I appreciate the amount of trust you have shown in me thus far. Unfortunately, I need you to trust me a little more. The computer does not recognize my codes for almost anything that doesn't involve Tradewinds, my quarters, or recreation spaces." T'Lela explained. "Lieutenants Raschen and Tamblyn had been as helpful as they can be sir. However sir, I cannot continuously rely on their assistance to accomplish my mission specific additional duties." "I see." the captain replied with a nod. "then we'll need to rectify that issue." "Computer, assign Civilian T'Lela the security codes and positional authorization of the rank of Brevet Lieutenant Junior grade, effective for the USS Rosenante, befitting limited access to all code Three data and ship's systems. Note this stardate and time index in the log under my authority, authorization Salid- Iota-Epsilon-Six-Three-India." [[Authorization updated, logged and indexed.]] The computer replied. He turned to her. "It's a Brevet rank, an honorary rank, it's purpose is to allow you more access and to grant you authority in specialized circumstances. The authorizations are not as widespread as those held by a starfleet officer of the same rank, but they will be sufficient to get you what you need. I can't give you the full authorization unless you went through and earned your commission by way of the academy. If you need additional authorization then, let me know and we'll review." (reply T'Lela) Daniel Greene ------------------------- (Rogue Planet – Landing Site Alpha – SciO – Ensign David Spenser – Day 7- 1405) Maddox gave a report on the ambient temperature which didn't really surprise David as much as the cluster of life forms surrounding the thermal vents did. He looked down at his ten or twelve biological specimen containers and gave out a long sigh. It seemed that there were move life forms present that even he had anticipated. "Get everything you can with your tricorders Ensign Spenser and Mister Maddox. Call out if there is any equipment that you need to retrieve to deal with a situation or anything you want to take a closer look at." "Aye sir," Spenser replied, "I certainly want to get a sample of some of those life forms at the vents if at all possible. The tricorder indicates that there isn't anything acidic in the plumes that's harmful, and the heat shouldn't be deadly either if these scans are correct." "But I'll start with some of the biofilms in these pools and gather some of the insect analogs and algae analogs before we head that way." With the permission given, David stripped off his pack and placed it with the others, He then added an additional pair of tricorders and set them both to autonomous scanning modes, so that they would collect data without requiring his attention. He clipped these to the outer tactical frame that he was wearing to allow him to remain hands-free. Then, with his petrie dishes and smaller specimen containers, he headed for one of the "slime" pools. The pool was filled with a brackish pungent smelling watery goo that was more algae and slime than water. The thickness of the material was due to the proliferation of biofilms, Lower order algae and carbon-filled sludge in the form of wet ash from the nearby plumes. The bio-luminescence was almost invisible under the harsher glare of the wrist torches, but David could tell that it was a wide range of colors. Golds shifted to blues and through the red spectrum. And they seemed to take place in no real pattern that he could discern, although it seemed that the colors seemed to alternately attract or repel the insect analogs as they shimmered. David crouched down, and placed one of the open petrie dishes on a small outcrop of rock, where he would allow it to collect any airborne particles until just before they were ready to leave. The idea was to collect any plant spores, and other airborne particles that could give them a clue as to the development of the life on this rogue world. He took a second dish out and using a dropper collected some of the sludge and transferred it to the dish. This dish was in turn sealed and cataloged, so that the material would remain unblemished. He repeated this process for three other sites and then collected two distinctly different plant life specimens that seemed to be dependent upon the sludge for nutrition. The insects proved a bit tougher, but after some time, he managed to collect at least four different species, and these he sealed in their own containers complete with their own micro-environment. It was an amazing day and to David's knowledge no one had ever actually cataloged any specimens from a rogue planet. That meant that once these were thoroughly cataloged, he'd be able to name them. With these basic specimens gathered, David turned his sights towards the larger more complex specimens that lived in a much closer proximity to the plumes. There were at least three that he wanted to collect. The nematodes, jellyfish-like creatures and the crustaceans were all within his area of interest. Two he could probably manage, but the jellies seemed to be a bit more problematic, since they were drifting up to several meters into the air. "Commander. I've collected all the outlying samples I want. I'd like permission to collect some samples near the plumes, specifically the mid-order life forms. I'll need a hand with the jellies, since I can't think of a good way to collect them at present." David called when he had reached the team leader. (reply Any on Alpha Team, Sullivan) Daniel Greene ------------------------- (Rogue Planet – Landing Site Alpha – ATAC/SC Ensign(sg) Jessica Signos – 1410) Jessica nodded her conformation of the orders given and grabbed the transport pattern enhancers and headed over to place the enhancer in the desired location. Once there she begun her work it wouldn't take long to get the machine up and operational and the location still offered her a good view of the entire team and the area for which they worked. She noticed Eian has he removed his outer layers of clothing then resumed his patrol that lead him over to her. She was thankful to the fates that he was on her team. True he was the engineer, but he also had a sound tactical mind if anything did break out this team had the knowledge and ability to dig in and fight it out if needed. Jessica had heard rumor that Commander Sullivan was just has tactically able Eian was maybe more so. She hoped the rumor was true. It seemed that she had a level head and was not afraid of a little manual labor. Jessica took notice to the lack of crawlers for her team. Jessica understood why, this weather played havoc with machines like that draining power cells before quicker and heaven forbid one o get stuck in the snowy mush that sometimes covered the landscape. The pattern enhancer came to life has Eian came to stand beside her. "How are you doing?" he asked her. Jessica nodded, stood then smiled at Eian. "Good thank you for asking." Jessica kept to the edge of the vented area so there was no need for her to downgrade from her cold weather has of yet she just found that rare place where she could be comfortable and still do her job. "And you how do you fare?" He nodded. "I don't like the heat...my favorite weather is low humidity and about 4 Celsius." he answered Jessica chuckled lightly. "Then you should feel right at home, Don't get me wrong I don't mind the cold I just don't think I'll get used to it. Where I'm from the temperature is normally around 26 Celsius, and close to 80 to 100 percent humidity, lets just say the odds are not great of Florida to see any snow." "Have you ever seen snow? There's not much of it in Ireland on Earth but if you go to a place like Canada or Vermont, or anywhere in the northern part of North America, there's a ton of it and the landscape is pretty hilly, so people snowboard and ski. It's a lot of fun." "I've seen snow before but I've never had the time to..." She thought on how to continue. "to play in the snow. I wouldn't mind it though. But that's not what I like best about the cold." It was a good conversation lighthearted and good humored. It reminded Jessica on how her and Eian first meet, the memory made her smile. (reply Eian) "The cold always makes me think of bundling up under a host of warm fuzzy blankets, in front of a roaring fire, with a nice hot cup of hot chocolate." She stopped a moment to ponder the forming mental image. "and smores cant forget those." She added, glancing across the valley getting an accountability of the team and keeping a look out for any dangers. ~Remember Jessica, time heals all wounds.~ A from Jessica's past sounded in her head. It was her mother's voice. Jessica remembered little about her mother's past before she was born. Her parents kept that from her, whatever it was it had made her mother wise in the ways of the world. Jessica could remember that people would often come to her mother looking for advise and a kind heart. Her mother was always there to lend a ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on, or if needed a good slap in the face. It was an odd turn of events, the more she learned how to control Lily and recover for the false life of Section 31 the more she heard the voices of her parents has if they were guiding her from beyond. Jessica knew that they were more likely memories that were triggered by the right circumstances but the comfort they added were beyond measure. Standing next to Eian, Jessica knew her mother was right. "Time heals all wounds," She spoke softly to herself. She looked up to Eian, and smiled they had gone though so much together. In the short amount of time Eian was apart of Jessica's life they had fought, died, and were reborn, the only thing that remained constant for either of them was the fact that they had done so together. It was a fact that only recently was making an impact on Jessica's why of thinking. They were so similar yet different, that sometimes it scared Jessica. She wondered if Eian had felt the same way. But that was a conversation for another time, right now Jessica was enjoying just standing by his side. She knew their relationship has changed, now she could feel the strings of a deeper connection starting to form, She could only hope that Eian could feel it to. (reply Eian) (posted by Matthew Locke) ------------------------- ((Rogue Planet – Landing Site Alpha – ACEO Lt Eian O'Neill - Day 7 - 1415) "I've seen snow before but I've never had the time to..." She thought on how to continue. "to play in the snow. I wouldn't mind it though. But that's not what I like best about the cold." He grinned. "What do you like best about the cold?" he asked, and edged closer to her. "The cold always makes me think of bundling up under a host of warm fuzzy blankets, in front of a roaring fire, with a nice hot cup of hot chocolate." She paused for a moment. "And s'mores--can't forget those." She added, glancing across the valley. He did the same, but edged a little closer to her again. "Time heals all wounds," she said suddenly very softly. She looked up to Eian, and smiled. He smiled back, and rubbed her shoulder affectionately. It was a friendly touch--they were not quite lovers yet. They would get there, Eian hoped, but they couldn't afford to rush. Not when they had so much to lose. "I'm going to keep walking around, make sure we don't get attacked by any giant bacteria or something," he joked, and patted her shoulder one last time as he walked off. He didn't get three feet before he nearly tripped over something on the ground. He stumbled momentarily and quickly recovered, glancing behind him to see what it was. "Whoa..." he exclaimed, and squatted low to examine it. Pulling out his tricorder, he scanned the object that looked to him like a hip bone. It was embedded in the ground. "This confirms it. Jessica...this is humanoid." He looked up, a smile of wonder growing on his face. (reply Jessica) "Everyone, over here!" Eian called, and waved them over. If they had found the remains of humanoid life on this rock, it was either a visitor or indigenous, but either way, it was a remarkable find. (reply any) (posted by Morgan G) ------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Transporter Room 1 - CTAC Lt. sg Ben Soma - 1426) Ben entered the transporter with his supplies for the mission, two hand phasers, a phaser rifle, tricorder and extra power cells for all. He had a pack over his shoulder containing enough emergency rations for three days, better safe then sorry. He had a set of night vision goggles, extra gloves and boots and at Marah's insistence a change of clothing as well as a portable heat source. He even tossed in a couple extra hydration packs for good measure. Anything he thought might come in handy he had packed. He stepped on the transporter platform and waited for beam down. (Rogue Planet - Beta Site One - CTAC Lt. sg Ben Soma - 1433) As soon as Ben was released from the transporter the first thing he noticed was the temperature, it was cold. He pulled his tricorder and began scanning the immediate area. After he was satisfied that the area was safe he gave the all clear and the group began their hike to the main site. He continued scanning as they went, one hand holding the tricorder the other not far from a phaser. When they arrived Doctor Caskie turned to them. "Mr Soma please set up a permiter. Mr Raschen, I know you are here as Ops, but to be honest I would rather you help Mr Soma set up a perimeter at present . I will have Tamblyn and Leep set up their gear and I will see to setting up the transport enhanchers." Ben turned to Chance and nodded. "We'll have a perimeter set up and ready in no time." Ben said. "Lieutenant Raschen if you'll take the northern end of the valley I'll take the southern end." He pulled his pack off and opened it removing several devices and handed them to chance. "Place these along your path." He said. "They are portable sensors that I have linked to my tricorder, they have a range of a couple hundred feet and will monitor motion, heat signatures, seismic activity and life signs. Anything gets close we'll have a heads up." (reply Raschen) Ben turned and began heading to the south, he placed one of the sensors a couple hundred feet from the site and checked to see if it was functioning properly before moving on. He continued moving and was thankful there was no wind, his tricorder indicated the air temp was currently minus eleven degrees celcius. He was comfortable enough in his thermal gear, he would have been more comfortable if he didn't have to wear it but he had a job to do and was prepared to do whatever he had to see it through. He couldn't help but wonder how Sanok was coping with the cold. After he had placed all his sensors and made sure they were functioning he turned back, by now the others should have everything set up and ready to start working. The rogue presented a few questions, where was it heading?, what had happened to throw it out of it's orbit?, and why wasn't it devoid of life? He was certain they would discover the answers in time. (reply any) (posted by Milo Young) -------------------------- (Rogue Planet - Beta Site One - SciO – Ensign Emma Leep – Day 7- 1435) Emma all but wanted to bubble over with excitement when they finally materialized on the surface of the rogue planet. As a geologist, she had been on a few away missions, although not recently, since their missions had been less about exploration and more about military action. Still, here she was, one of the first geologists to step foot on a rogue planet in over a hundred years, and that meant that she was going to get an opportunity to further scientific knowledge about the formation of Rogue worlds. The air was bitter cold, although with the cold-weather equipment, it was hardly noticeable. A thin sprinkling of snow was falling and the valley was stretched out in front of them as if it were a microcosm of the entire planet's geology waiting to be discovered. Emma gave a look at the three equipment containers at her feet, knowing that there would hardly be enough time to take all the samples and run all the tests that she'd like. Instead she'd have to prioritize and see how many of them she could get through. Caskie didn't waste a moment, giving orders for the perimeter to be established so that Emma could get to work. Then once Soma and Raschen were under way, she turned to the small science team. "OK boys and girls time to set up your equipment and get going. If you want to check out both sites before I call it a day you had better get started." "Yes ma'am" Emma replied and grabbed her gear. Viskhard would be conducting his own experiments and they'd be able to compare notes later. Leep made her way past the small stunted plants lining the area and moved into the valley, so that she could crack open a few of the larger boulders that were strewn across the bed of the valley. Signs of sedimentary rock were present and that meant that there was a chance of some fossilization that could potentially be found. She stopped and set up the transporter jig, so that she could cut out a 1-meter cube of sedimentary rock for future study. She then headed for the largest boulder she could find and set up the phased core drill, so that she could pull a long narrow core of solid rock from the boulder. While the two machines went to work Emma took the opportunity to actually take a look around. The valley, a box shape had been formed by erosion, specifically a softer rock had eroded away leaving a more resistant stone to act as the natural barrier. The type of stone indicated a deep pressure formation, most likely granite, which meant that at one time this area was one massive pool of magma trapped underground where it eventually cooled. over the years the surface wore down or the rock formation was pushed upwards until it crested and was eventually revealed. Signs of glaciation were also present, mostly indicated by the striations on some of the sedimentary rock. There was a very strong indication that this world had at one time been much more hospitable to life than it was now. Although only rock chemistry would really tell them what the atmosphere had once been like. Scan of the planet's magnetosphere indicated a heavy iron core, still molten, although how that could be the case without tidal action caused by the gravitational pull of a satellite or a solar parent was unclear. Volcanism alone wouldn't have kept the core molten, since the small diameter of the world should have cooled exceptionally rapidly. In additional, surface scans of the crust, showed it to be thin and iron poor. That was a contradiction in geological terms for a world that possessed an iron rich core. Just then, she felt a slight tremor, something that was just barely noticeable but was present nonetheless. There had been a sudden spike in the planet's core, that had been caused by some sort of focused gravimetric wave. That just didn't happen naturally. "Commander Caskie!" Emma called to the team commander several hundred feet away. "I think I've discovered something important!" (reply Caskie, any) Daniel Greene ------------------------- (Rogue Planet - Beta Site One - CTAC Lt. sg Ben Soma- 1445) Ben was on his way back to the others when his tricorder began beeping, it was then that he felt a slight tremor. He pulled out and flipped open his tricorder and checked the readings, the tremor barely registered but at least he knew his detection grid was working as it should. He wondered how stable the planet was, how often did these tremors occur and did they vary in intensity. He hadn't noticed any signs of an avalanche as he was walking so he surmised that this area only had the occasional tremor and hadn't yet experienced a full blown earth quake. He quickened his pace eager to get back to the main site and see what the scientists made of this discovery, no doubt by now several theories were being discussed. He had to admit it was nice to get back to exploration for a change, he liked a good fight as well as the next guy but it was nice not being shot at or fighting for his life for a change. After the Borg and Axtis he was glad for a change of pace. Although he was no scientist he did appreciate the opportunity this rogue presented them. Once they had concluded their survey they would be a step closer to understanding the formation of rogue planets. As he drew nearer the main site he could see equipment all over the place and the scientists looked very busy and excited, either they were really happy to get off the ship or they found something of interest. He moved towards the group and headed to Doctor Caskie to report he had his end of the valley buttoned up, he was about to say Doctor but somehow it didn't seem right. She was the ranking officer and the team leader so he decided to use her rank instead of her title. "Commander I have the perimeter set up to the south." He stated. "Have we found anything interesting?" (reply Caskie, any on Beta team) (posted by Milo Young) ------------------------- (Rogue Planet - Landing Site Delta – Chief Field Medic – MCPO Nathan Fuller -1510) "Okay everyone...lets get moving. The sooner we get these samples the sooner we can get back to the warmth of the ship." said Matrix as he climbed up into the crawler and took the front passenger seat. Nate climbed in the back and situated his gear. He had previously secured all his gear in the trailer, minus his medical tricorder and one med-kit which he brought into the cab with him. He was sitting on one of the seats that was right next to a door but in the back. The Chief Engineer was in-charge of the away team, he was directing people into how he wanted tasks done. He got to Nate. "Mister Fuller, see if we can't get some increased area scans from these tricorders. I know the cold will play havoc with these batteries, but see what you can do. I'd like to see if we can't get deeper scans at each core site. If there is or was a civilization here the detailed scans could prove invaluable." said Matrix. ~What does he want me to do, I’m a medic, not an engineer!~ “Well there isn’t much I can do out-side of keeping the tricorder in my pocket when not in use.” He said off handedly. He looked at his medical tricorder. “What we need to do is adapt the science tricorders to run like the medical tricorders. We just need something to focus the scan for a deeper scan. Any idea for that?” he asked. (Reply Matrix, any) (Posted by Todd) ------------------------- (Rogue Planet - Landing Site Delta - SciO Ensign Pembrook Carter - Day 7 - 1511) "Okay folks...looks like we need to head out about 3 kilometers nearly due east from our current position. If I can trust these magnetic readings. Mister Carter, I trust you'll keep an eye on the weather and the team to ensure we're not going to freeze to death. From these atmospheric scans it looks like we can expect even colder temperatures." said Matrix. "Aye sir, I'm on it. I'll be monitoring it as closely as possible, although I don't have a solid model built for the atmospherics yet." Pem replied, glad to be of some use on the mission. Matrix then went on to speak with Sanok and then extoll the virtues of keeping a hand phaser nearby. The commanders reasoning was well thought out and Pem acknowledged the order happily. (Rogue Planet - Landing Site Delta - SciO Ensign Pembrook Carter - Day 7 - 1615) They had reached the second drill site and Sanok had stepped away from the main crux of the work to walk the perimeter. Pembrook understood how excited he was to be on the mission, but suspected that a security officer would be less so. The area was barren, not only of life, but of general features. With the exception of a few small peaks of ice caused by pressure ridges, there wasn't really much in the way of variation. It was the area below the sheet of ice that was interesting however. inclusions in the ice would hold small microscopic samples of atmosphere from the planets past. Perhaps pollens, volcanic ash or even bits of soil, all of which could shine a spotlight upon this worlds history. And that was just within the ice itself. Beneath it, was another world of data and information waiting to be discovered. water or liquid samples, sediment, and sea floor samples could give them an indication of climate change, marine proliferation, and even atmospheric and chemical compositions. Pressure readings could indicate depth. Salinity, flow and any number of other factors were all useful bits of data to collect. But it was the imager that really excited Pembrook. A high resolution scanner that had the capability to reproduce an object using the resolution scrubbers found on very high quality medical devices. He'd be using it on this site because of the detection of some unusual bulges on the floor of the sea which did not conform to the rest of the geology. He'd be interested to see what was present. It took several minutes for the SCIM to reach the depth of the protrusions through the ice sheet. Pembrook used his tricorder scans to help orient the SCIM until he could see the rough outline of the bulge beneath him. It was nearly a kilometer down, deep enough that the pressure would crush him like an egg, but the SCIM was designed for extremes. The bulge appeared to him finally as an out of focus blob, and Pembrook quickly adjusted his resolution until he could see that it was a pile of sediment piled upon something. ~Probably a rock of some sort~ he thought, as he switched the imager to a deep penetrating scan. That's when he caught his breath and his eyes grew massive. He had to release the monitor for a moment. Take a deep breath, blink a couple times to make certain that he wasn't imagining things before he took another look. "Commander!" He shouted excitedly, "Sir, I've found something!" (reply Matrix) When the commander had reached him, he pointed excitedly to the resolved deep scan image on the monitor. It was clearly an industrial pipe. It was nothing natural such as a lava tube that had filled and then the exterior had eroded. It was obviously made of Tritanium, an ally that did not exist naturally. "I think we've found signs of a civilization or ate least some sort of machinery here." he said. (reply Matrix any on Delta Team) Daniel Greene ------------------------- (Rogue Planet - Landing Site Delta - CSec Lieutenant sg Sanok - Day 7 - 1605) The drilling equipment was set up and the science people were gathering their samples. Things were still quiet, and Sanok was beginning to feel more at ease being on the rogue planet. Still keeping watch, he thought about his time on Vulcan, the time before he was accepted into Starfleet Academy. As a young child, Sanok's emotions were more intense than what was normal for most Vulcan youth. Because of this, he had been given much more training in suppressing and controlling them, which he resented. Sanok wanted to play and to have adventures. He wanted to enjoy his childhood being just what he was. As he grew older, he felt it was wrong to work so hard to eliminate what was a natural part of what Vulcans were. He knew Vulcan history, of course, and he realized the passionate and strong emotions of his ancestors almost destroyed their civilization. However, that was thousands of years ago, and Vulcans were now an advanced race, and no longer primitive. To Sanok, it seemed his people were living in fear, rather than embracing the fullness of what they could become. Because Sanok chose to live with his emotions and not suppress them, he became a pariah in Vulcan civilization. He wasn't persecuted, at least not openly, but it was soon clear to him that opportunities for him were not there, and that doors had been closed. With few choices, Sanok left his home world and went to Earth. Once he got settled, Sanok found work in construction, which he liked. He was considering going to college to learn engineering, but while working late one day, he met the construction site security guard and struck up a friendship. After many conversations, Sanok had decided law enforcement was something he wanted to do instead. He had taken the entrance exam for the Police Academy, but before he received the results, he saw a Starfleet recruiting office. On a whim, he walked in and spent an hour talking with the recruiter. He was about to enlist, but a thought occurred to him. Since he was willing to attend an academy to learn police work, why not take a shot at Starfleet Academy? Granted, one was four years and the other was less than a year, but why not? Four months later, Sanok was a Starfleet cadet. In Sanok's first year, he was an object of attention. No one had ever met a Vulcan that was living with his emotions. In fact, most were surprised that there was even such a thing. Because of this, he was the most popular first-year cadet. There wasn't a party to which he wasn't invited, or an outing or event that didn't include him. Sanok was having the time of his life. Until the day he beat the crap out of another cadet. It was a Saturday night and a large group of freshmen gathered on a local beach. There was a bonfire, plenty of food, and real alcohol smuggled in. Late into the night, with inhibitions gone, a young Human girl took a serious liking to Sanok, wanting to go off alone with him. Vulcans don't do well at all with alcohol, so despite serious peer pressure, Sanok had drank very little. He was about to leave with the girl, when her boyfriend, who was quite drunk, confronted them. Eyewitness accounts varied, but Sanok testified that he had no choice but to defend himself. Without reliable evidence, neither Sanok nor the other cadet were expelled, but both were heavily disciplined. The seriousness of this was a wake up call to Sanok. He disassociated himself with the party crowd and concentrated fully on his studies, becoming an exemplary student the rest of his time in the Academy. After four years he graduated, he took his post-graduate training, and was assigned to the USS Dennison. There was the civil war, followed by his six-month medical leave to return to Vulcan to learn to suppress his emotions. There was his assignment to the USS Mithrandir. There was the five-year time jump. Now, there was his time serving on the Rosenante. In all of that, there was one constant: his friendship with Ben Soma. Sanok had experienced a lot already in his short time with Starfleet. He had seen and done more than most ever would. Perched atop an ice dune on a rogue planet, standing guard while a science team took ice core samples, almost seemed anticlimactic when compared to everything else, but except for being warm on the ship, where else should he be and what else should he be doing? For now, at this point in his life, Sanok was doing exactly what he was meant to be doing, even with the cold. (reply Delta) (posted by Bob B.) ------------------------- (Rogue Planet - Landing Site Delta - CSec Lieutenant sg Sanok - Day 7 - 1610) Sanok had been standing on an ice dune for a while, and he needed to stretch his legs, so he decided to look around a little further ahead. The team was on an ice sea, but it wasn't smooth, resulting in the dunes he'd been standing on at both drill sites. There were also undulations, and areas that appeared to be frozen rocks. Doing a quick tricorder scan, he carefully climbed down from the dune and moved out. There wasn't any wind, and there didn't appear to be any wildlife, so except for the sounds of the team behind him, the place was eerily quiet. In the distance, he could see plumes ascending from underground geothermal activity. He wondered how much nicer the temperatures were there. Moving even further out, his tricorder still scanning, Sanok found a portion of ice that formed a cave. His scan didn't reveal anything, and flipping on the night vision capability of his goggles, he peered inside the darkness. Nothing. When he hoped for a quiet mission, he didn't realize just how quiet it would be. Switching off the night vision, Sanok moved off in another direction. He was no longer able to see his team, but he could still detect them on his tricorder. Moving now in a circular pattern, he eventually made it back to the drill site, though he approached them from behind, from the direction from which they had driven from the initial site. There was still nothing. Sanok switched off his tricorder and made his way back to the ice dune on which he was standing before going on his little trek. The team was still busy about their work, so he wondered if any of them had even noticed he had been gone. (reply Delta) (posted by Bob B.) ------------------------- (Rogue Planet - Landing Site Delta - CEO Lieutenant Commander Steven Matrix - Day 7 - 1619) As Delta team disembarked and started to setup at the second drill site Matrix scanned the area visually, then with his tricorder. The temperature had dropped a bit and was down to about -19 Celsius. The wind was picking up and Matrix adjusted his parka. He noted Pembrook concentrating on a scan in progress and didn't think much of it. There was likely nothing out here, just ice, snow and the wind. "Commander!" shouted Pembrook, "Sir, I've found something!" Matrix smirked slightly and made his way over to where Pembrook was working. "What do you have Ensign?" asked Matrix. "I think we've found signs of a civilization or ate least some sort of machinery here." replied Pembrook. "Really?" said Matrix as he took off his gloves and pressed his tricorder into action. "Hmmm...the batteries on this damn thing are limiting the scan depth." "Lieutenant Viskhard, bring over your scanner and take a look at what Ensign Pembrook has discovered." ordered Matrix. (Reply Viskhard) "Mister Fuller, you and Mister Sanok erect a weather tent over this area and setup the depth gear. Lets see what we have here. " said Matrix. (Reply Fuller, Sanok, any) "Ensign Pembrook, detail the scan and use the portable energy modules to augment your work. I want to verify that this isn't simply space junk or some part that fell off some sort of probe." said Matrix. (Reply Pembrook) =^= Matrix to Rosenante. Delta Team at drill site two. We have a possible contact about 7 meters below the surface. We're conducting detailed scans at this time. =^= called Matrix. (Reply any on the bridge) =^= I'm getting a bit concerned about the weather down here. There appears to be a storm moving in our direction and the temperature continues to drop. Please advise. =^= requested Matrix. (Reply any on bridge, delta team) (Posted by Steve) ------------------------- (Rogue Planet - Landing Site Delta – Chief Field Medic – MCPO Nathan Fuller – 1621) "Mister Fuller, you and Mister Sanok erect a weather tent over this area and setup the depth gear. Let’s see what we have here. " said Matrix. Nate met Sanok at the Crawler Trailer. He began pulling out the tent bag and poles. “Lieutenant, have you ever put up one of these before?” (Reply Sanok) “Well that is quite a while ago, but you are correct they are largely self-erecting, once they are set up correctly. They however will not do so while still in the trailer. It is a two-personnel lift, so if you would assist me?” Nate said. (Reply Sanok) The pair removed the tent assembly from the trailer and in a few minutes the structure’s canopy was already rising in elevation. “I think that will do it, sir. Now how about that depth gear?” Nate asked with a grin. (Reply Sanok) (Posted by Todd) -------------------------- ========================= Compiled by Marilyn =========================