The Mystery of Dakon VII

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction' started by Bry_Sinclair, Feb 23, 2021.

  1. Bry_Sinclair

    Bry_Sinclair Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2009
    Location:
    Scotland
    Aylani Uraz’s heart was pounding in her chest, her barely contained excitement threatened to emerge from every pore as she sat forward and watched as the shuttle lifted off the deck, passed through the forcefield at the bays entrance and was swallowed up by the blackness of space. Her own emotions were so intense that she couldn’t feel anything from her teammates in shuttle two, even Bilix Vors, a friend since the Academy who sat next to her. She glanced at the Bolian, who was watching her and grinning a lopsided grin.

    He leaned in close and whispered so only she could hear. “Remember to breath, passing out from hypoxia wouldn’t be a great thing for your first away mission.”

    “How are you not more excited?” she asked, struggling to keep the volume of her voice low.

    Vors nodded to the cockpit, where Lieutenant T’Vena, the Magellan’s chief engineer sat beside Tyler McKellar, another former classmate of theirs who she’d only really gotten to know now they were both posted to the same ship (especially since McKellar and Vors were roommates).

    “When your boss is a Vulcan, you quickly learn to keep the emotional displays to a minimum when on duty.”

    Almost as though she knew they were speaking about her, T’Vena looked over her shoulder and locked eyes with both ensigns, causing them both to sit upright and zip their lips. Uraz took a page from Vors’ book and tried to reign in her excitement, enthusiasm and curiosity for the mission that lay before them. She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breathes.

    The moment of focus was broken by chatter from the cockpit.

    “Shuttle one to Magellan. All systems are green, we’re two minutes out from the atmosphere,” Commander Shimizu announced over the open comm channel from the lead shuttlecraft.

    Magellan, this is shuttle two. Confirm stable operations. Course for the outpost locked in,” stated T’Vena.

    “Understood away team,” Captain Conklin replied from onboard the Magellan. “Good luck down there, we’ll see you two weeks.”

    “Thank you, Captain. Good luck with the Gersh’da.”

    “Stay safe. Magellan out.”

    With that, the channel to the ship closed, followed by a moment of silence. Uraz’s first away mission definitely wasn’t a normal one, given they would be on their own for two weeks whilst the ship carried out a diplomatic mission light-years away. The shuttles were being sent to a small planet called Dakon VII where, almost six decades ago, a Starfleet research outpost had been abandoned, literally. In 2295, the staff of eighteen operational crew and sixty researchers had disappeared, with no evidence of where they had gone or what had happened to them. A full search and months spent investigating never revealed any answers, so the outpost had been decommissioned and sat empty ever since. However, with Starfleet having made contact with the likes of the Gresh’da and a couple of other races in the region, all of which would make good allies or prospective future members of the Federation, the away team was being sent in to determine if the laboratory complex was sound enough to act as a relay station and monitoring outpost.

    “The Magellan has broken orbit and manoeuvring clear of the gravity well, sir,” McKellar informed T’Vena.

    Uraz looked back out the viewport, but all she could see was the planet. She’d only ever seen the exterior of the Constellation-Class ship once, when the new batch of ensigns had come aboard four months ago. She knew a few of her peers were disappointed to get such an old ship but, being something of a history buff, Uraz was thrilled to be posted to a ship with a long history of service, it gave her first posting some character.

    “We are about to enter the atmosphere,” announced T’Vena. “Ensure harnesses are secure and all equipment is securely stowed, severe turbulence is to be expected.”

    She sat back in her seat once more and checked the straps of the seatbelt. Ever since the search teams had arrived at the planet looking or the outposts missing crew, there had been reports of a considerable shift in the planet’s atmospherics, with a lot of ionic interference—something that had always been present but had only gotten worse after the 2295 event. The outpost had been equipped with a substantial communications array in order to counteract any interference, a few upgrades and it was believed that it would still be useable.

    “Here we go,” McKellar called out just seconds before the shuttle rocked and shuddered.

    For a split second the lights flickered, in which time a whole host of scenarios ran through her head, from the reasonable (like a circuit being overloaded) to the unlikely (such as the shuttle losing all power and plummeting to the surface. When normal illumination resumed, she let out a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. Vors gave her a supportive pat on the shoulder, he knew how imaginative she could be.

    She gave him a thankful smile, before looking at the others in the aft section of shuttle two. There were two benches on either side, with a pile of containers, boxes and bags in between them, containing a sizeable proportion of their equipment and belongings. Her shuttle also held the majority of the away team, all those who would be more involved in running diagnostics, patching in upgrades and analysing telemetry.

    The only other officer was Lieutenant (j.g.) Vega, the senior computer science officer (and her immediate superior for the mission), who sat opposite her and whose eyes hadn’t looked up from his PADD once. This would be her first time working directly with Vega, though she’d heard from colleagues that he wasn’t the easiest person to get along with. There was also Chief Prr’uddez from communications, Petty Officers Fisher and Tohj, structural and power specialists respectively, and then engineers Turei, sh’Thannek, Yeegol and Allendale.

    The other shuttle was comprised of Commander Shimizu, a six-man security detail and the teams’ corpsman. Given the history of the base, they weren’t taking any chances, so in addition to the security escort every member of the team had been armed with type-one phasers. Uraz had never liked the military aspect of Starfleet, seeing it more as an institution for scientific discovery and exploration, but she understood the need to be practical and had certified for both types of hand phaser she wasn’t by any stretch of the imagination a sharpshooter—unlike Renée Dubois, her roommate, who also happened to be on the other shuttle.

    As the shuttle descended to the surface, the shaking and rattling, they’d been subjected to constantly started to ease as they passed below the cloud cover. From the cockpit she head T’Vena and McKellar recording the appropriate entries into the flight log, from having a visual on the other shuttle to confirming their landing destination and ETA.

    Once more, Uraz craned her neck to peer out the viewports and was surprised at just how beautiful the surface was. In her head she’d pictured a barren and inhospitable place, given what had happened here, but there was no deserts or withered vegetation. The outpost a collection of eight one- and two-storey buildings, in the late twenty-third century design aesthetic, and a landing pad suitable for a quartet of shuttles but currently stood empty. It was nestled in a small valley, with imposing mountains and thick forests of purple evergreens surrounding it, all of which was covered in a dusting of pure white snow.

    She heard Vors shuffle in his seat beside her before he muttered, “Snow? Frell, did I pack my thermals?”

    “Shuttle one to shuttle two. We’re going in. Wait for confirmation then begin your landing sequence.”

    “Acknowledged Commander,” replied T’Vena, before looking at McKellar. “Hold our position, Ensign.”

    “Aye sir.”

    In a matter of minutes, the first shuttle would touch down and run preliminary scans and security checks before signalling the second to join them. Once they landed, her first away mission would begin. Once again, Uraz felt the excitement and anticipation slowly start to build and she nervously waited to hear the chirp of the communications panel once more.

    * * * * *
     
  2. admiralelm11

    admiralelm11 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

    Joined:
    Jan 17, 2009
    Location:
    Vancouver, WA
    I like it. I hope we can see more, please.
     
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  3. CeJay

    CeJay Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Feb 5, 2006
    Okay, I can already see about a dozen things that could go horribly wrong here. The first thing may be the fact that there's an entire shuttle full of redshirts. I defineltey wouldn't want to be on that one!
     
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