Falling Into Personnel Files, Part 1

Posted on Sat Feb 24th, 2024 @ 11:01pm by Captain Remy Johansen & Lieutenant JG T'lenn & Lieutenant Commander Maxun Spello & Lieutenant JG Thivi & Chief Petty Officer Nevan Kayto & Attaché Phesg Tel'im

1,856 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Artifact or Artifiction
Location: Alien Vessel Archives
Timeline: MD: 2 0900 hours

"Oh good you're here," Remy said noting Nevan, Tel'im, Maxun's and Ghiram's arrival to what appeared to be an archive station. "We came across what looks like crew logs, personal logs. I thought you four would make a good team to sort through these and figure out what happened here."

Ghiram nodded. "Just tell us where you want us, Captain."

Maxun nodded as well, as he continued to look around at the ship surrounding them. There was something vaguely familiar about the technology, however, it was escaping his memory at the moment. One thing was certain, this ship was extremely old. Possibly older than the Federation itself.

Remy touched a couple of buttons and a holographic image of an olive skinned woman who looked very much like a human in appearance appeared on the screen in a beige uniform cut smoothly with crisp lines, and silver edging around the shoulders, cuffs, and neckline. "This is Captain Lethara of the Providence. A territorial new race has entered into our sector of the galaxy and has enslaved and conquered the people on one of the planets near the alpha star. Our people have thus far avoided contact with the aggressive people. We prefer they not know of our existence. We are embarking on a journey to find a new world on which our people can settle."

"Typical." Ghiram snorted.

"Definitely not my folk--we were barely into our industrial age on Vulcan at this point." Tel'Im sipped at her coffee and studied the projection with interest.

Remy shut the holoprojector off. "What do you think? Ready to go digging?" She asked.

Vila listened to the logs that Remy and the Engineering/Ops team had found. "Well. That's not good news," she said. "I'll take this one," she said, picking up a hologram crystal. "What are we looking for, in particular?" She asked. SHE was on the look out for certain information that would help the science team to tell them more about the alien species.

"You know Starfleet. They want to know everything. I'm curious to know where this ship came from," Remy responded. "How long has it been abandoned, if we can figure that out. If they are out there still, where are they?"

"I doubt they want to be found, sir, especially considering their past experiences. The urge to discover a new species is powerful to say the least, but if they want to be left alone, we have to respect that." Ghiram shot a side glance at the Romulan.

"I understand what you are saying, Lieutenant, but we do have their ship," Remy responded. "If it does have that sort of information in it, they may want it back. A lot of space debris that wouldn't normally find its way into this sector has been drifting over here since the supernova. It's all worth finding answers to either way."

"Then we drop it on their doorstep and leave- what's complicated about that?" Ghiram looked down at the crystals, grabbing one at random.

Vila sighed. "Well, that damned Prime Directive, for one," she said. "But also, since the Supernova, you can't be too cautious. It's become a bit destabilized in this quadrant. We'd be derelict in our mission to just leave it without a proper investigation-for OUR safety, and THIERS," Vila said. She put a crystal into the reader. "Data crystals. Boy, have times changed," she said, to no one in particular.

"And where did I say we weren't going to investigate?" His eyebrow quirked upwards. "How do you use these things, anyway?"

Vila, exasperated, placed the data port in front of him, and placed the crystal into the machine. A hologram appeared. "THAT is how. Where did you say your science degree was from?" She said, looking to Remy, incredulous. "They're newer tech, but you're younger than me, you should know this."

"Oh please, the Federation doesn't use crystals like this, either. Don't act like you're a genius because someone else told you ahead of time how a completely different type of computer from an uncontacted alien society works."

Vila took a deep breath inward. "No one told me, Lieutenant. It is common sense," she said. "You are walking a line towards insubordination, so I suggest a little less talking and a little more working," she said, coolly, taking the data port and moving to a different table, where she could read in peace. "Petty Officer Kayto, please join me," she said.

Tel'Im shot the lieutenant a flinty look herself, then sat down across from him. "Well, we should get started... Hmmm..." She looked around the stacks. "Reminds me of Dominion computers, if I'm honest."

"Ugh, these humanoids can't handle even the slightest criticism," Ghiram thought to himself.

Maxun listened to the exchange. He almost said that his people used technology similar to this, but stopped himself, as he remembered that, since the Borg massacred them, his people had become shy when it came to sharing what they know with the younger species of the galaxy.

Nevan wanted to roll his eyes at the comment made by Korin but kept any outward expressions to himself. He could feel the woman's annoyance and it was probably best for the moment for some distance to be between the XO and the Lieutenant, "Of course." He took a look at the crystals, finding a teal one that caught his eye and picked it up. "About as good as any I suppose. I wonder what frequency they respond to." He quickly made his way to the other table and waited for the unit to power up. He was excited to be on the ship, still wearing his hazard suit, the harness with some of his extra comms gear making him more utilitarian should the need arise. That and a few extra power cells never hurt to have either.

Ghiram put his crystal into the slot next to Vila and Nevan's, waiting to see what would happen.

As the crystal was read by the data port, and the hologram appeared, Vila began to read. "Looks like your average personnel reports," she said. "This one is for the Chief Medical Officer. Seems nothing out of the ordinary, so far," she said. She touched the hologram to move the page, and was sucked into it. What the hell? As she went, she grabbed ahold of Nevan, as if to fight away. No avail, they were both sucked into the nether.

- - - - -

It was loading day almost 3,000 years ago. The vessel, Serenity, was planetside, perched on a docking ring that started on land, but stretched out into a large body of water. It might have been an ocean, the opposite shore wasn't visible. In the distance behind them, the silhouette of o the city painted the horizon - beautiful buildings, amber and burgundy colored of different heights and architectural styles. The sky was a deep turquoise. The sun was visible at a 45 degree angle from the horizon. Was it late morning, or headed into early afternoon? There were also two moons visible high in the sky, one rather large, the other quite small, though still distinctly a moon from the view today.

People were being shuffled toward the loading area of the vessel, carrying supplies on board. It was busy.

Vila turned to Nevan. "What the HELL just happened?" she said. She reached for her phaser. "I don't...I don't know this planet," she said. It was vaguely familiar but she couldn't place it. She knew she was supposed to be going forward-something was drawing them there. "Let's go," she said, moving forward, towards what appeared to be an open-air market. Once they were closer, Vila could make out a variety of species-most humanoid, as far as she could tell. Some were dressed casually. Some were in the bland style of uniforms they saw the captain wearing and others were dressed up. Shore leave, perhaps. She tapped her Comms, to no avail. What now? No one seemed to pay them any attention-it was as if they were in a regular hologram...but not quite. It was creepy.

Nevan was confused, he couldn't register feelings from anyone around him but the Commander, so the sudden shock of 'quietness' had caught him off guard. He complied and moved along with her, only giving a nod and pulling out an auxiliary communicator. Unfortunately it wasn't picking up any signal so he opted to go over to a young man and tap him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, could you help us out for a moment by chance?"

The young man looked up. "What are you doing here?"

Vila moved forward, closer to Nevan, her hand brushing her phaser. She remained calm, and spoke. "Peacekeeping," she lied. "We were told that there were...enemy combatants in this area. Do you know anything about that?" She asked. She hoped her tone was more friendly than the worry she felt. "What's your name?"

"Jacar Paima," the young man replied. "I haven't heard anything..." he said.

Vila turned to Nevan. "He doesn't know anything. I think we should move on to someone who knows something," she said, the fake confidence in her voice apparent. Hopefully, Nevan was as smart as he looked, and picked up on what she was doing.

There was no doubt in reading her feelings and he gave a nod in acknowledgement. "Of course, I'm sorry to have bothered you Jacar." He reached up and removed his comm badge and slipped it into his pocket. "I think we should try and stand out as little as possible."

Vila nodded. "That's probably a good idea. Can't hide the uniforms, though," she said, looking down at hers. It was much more modern than the ones the holograms wore. They were more bland, knitted monstrosities. "I wonder how he made the connection?" she pulled her badge off, and put it in her pocket, too. "Maybe the market has a stall or something..." she said. "Let's move on a bit," she said. "Perhaps someone else knows more," she said.

"We might be able to find cloaks of some sort, if nothing else." He walked along just behind in a flanking position to make sure no one was potentially trying to sneak up on them. Up ahead he through he saw a merchant that had a variety of clothing for sale. "How about there? They look pretty busy and people talk. Chances are they've picked up something."

"Good idea," Vila replied. "That will work," she said. "We will stick out too much, I think, if we can't hide quickly, I fear. No explaining my nose ridges, but hopefully they've heard of a Bajoran before. Our people were exploring the BQ while the humans were still fighting about who should rule Europe," she remarked. They made quick time to the market, and found a promising stall.

>>>> to Part TWO

OFF:
Commander Vila Lorut
First Officer
USS Astrea
&
Remy Johansen
Commanding Officer
USS Astrea
&
Attache Phesg Tel'im
Mission Advisor
USS Astrea
&
Lieutenant Ghiram Korin
Chief Science Officer
USS Astrea
&
Lieutenant J.G. Thivi
Head Nurse
USS Astrea

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