Another Player Enters

Posted on Sun Apr 26th, 2026 @ 10:41pm by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Commander Jonathan Grayson & Commander Samantha Howard & Lieutenant Commander Callie Raven-Grayson & Lieutenant Imik S'Niohun & Chief Petty Officer Aaron Geiger

1,356 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: The Shuttle Incident
Location: USS Washington
Timeline: TBD

"Deanna, I think I may be onto something" she tapped her communicator. "Requesting permission to use our team backup medication on a patient trial..."

USS Washington

Jon sat on the Washington's bridge, listening to Sam's report about the plague ravishing the world below. Callie seated next to him also monitoring the away team for any signs of distress.

"Commander!" Ayana spoke up from tactical.

When suddenly the viewscreen filled with an unknown ship was entering the space before them. It was squatty and ugly looking. A bruiser.

"Imik, scan that ship. See what you can determine." Jon ordered crisply.

Redirecting and resetting her sensors, Imik now targeted the strange arrival. "Weapons are similar to our own and they appear to have shield technology, but as to the effectiveness of their shields I can not at this time confirm." Her console now began to hum, "It would also appear they do not like to be scanned, they are sending my sensors a feed back carrier wave. Sorry Commander but I must shut down or risk damage." Imik now ceased her scans of the alien vessel but started to use her psychic abilities perhaps she could gain some other information that way.

"Commander, that ship's engines are tetryon based. They produced a powerful subspace wake which masked their approach. It is also causing problems with our systems. They seem to be able to send out a lot tetryon subspace radiation" Kuzma noted from Ops.

Back at the science station next to Inara, Lt Ibarra chimed in, "It is causing massive interference. We are losing the ability to speak with the away team and transporter lock is down."

=^= We will get on the transporter problem immediately =^= Aidan chimed in down in Engineering. He looked over to Aaron, "Chief, take Kapowski and Lawrence and figure out the transporter issue. You've worked with both of them before."

The two female engineers looked up from their duty stations when they heard their names and quickly grabbed gear to work with the Chief.

"Aye sir." Aaron yelled over his shoulder running after the other two, his tool belt jangling as he bounded down the corridor. They clamored into the turbolift in a near heap. "Deck 9!" The Chief barked to the control amid heavy breathing.

Within minutes the group of engineers skidded into transporter room 1. "Chief we just can't isolate the frequency, the buffer is overloaded." Stammered the transporter crewman as Aaron flipped open a panel to the rear of the pad itself with a stiff creeeeak . "Remind me to replace that if you please." He mentioned to Kapowski.

The Chief began working with a whirring hyperspanner; filling the compartment with the smell of ozone.

=^= Geiger to Engineering. We'll have some re-routing to do later to fix it sir but i've bypassed the automated switch gear to direct more power to transporter 1. Bridge should be clear to yank the away team back whenever necessary. =^=

Bridge, USS Washington

"Hail that ship." Jon ordered, "Let's see if we can get some answers."

Imik now attempted to use her psychic ability to get some information, comms would hail the alien ship which might also give her a chance to gain an opening since their attention would be elsewhere. At first, she found an alien who was open, but just as suddenly they closed their mind like a clamp. It was now obvious that the aliens might be psychic themselves.

"Opening hailing frequencies" Kuzma stated.

********

Planet

Sam paused, her eyes fixated on the tricorder in her hand. The disease progression was slowing, not quite halted but definitely significantly slowed. If nothing else she had bought them time. Problem was she had exhausted the team's medical supplies.

"Washington, I need more radiation medication. I think I may have significant progress in treating this disease. I'm sending the labs my notes"

"Understood Sam. We're sending more radiation medication to your location now." Jon replied as he watched the alien ship on the viewscreen.

Deanna looked at the pathogen in the microscope after making alterations to it. "Sam, look at this. I have isolated the pathogen. That has to be synthetic."

"I'm not surprised" Sam replied as the crate of medication appeared a meter away from her. She picked a potent radiation antidote designed to treat high intensity biological degradation. Used incorrectly, it could cause more problems than it fixed. She approached the doctor.

"I think this will work as a treatment, but it's a risk. The side effects can be unpleasant, and worst case may cause death." She explained.

The doc nodded his understanding. "I'm a dead man anyway."



********

Washington

"Chief, the imaging sensors are in flux. If we try to transport anyone or anything like this, we'll trigger a signal loss and lose their pattern" Lawrence noted.

Kapowski came over to take a look. "She's right Chief. And I think the Heisenberg compensator is decoupling as well."

Aaron moved to the rear of the transporter pad, tapping the access release for the jeffries tube that traversed the between deck space under the transporter pad. He shuffled down on his hands and knees, not completely avoiding hitting his head a few times.

"You know, most of my career has been spent on Miranda class ships." Aaron said amidst the sounds of clanging metal and the stretching of what could not possibly be duct tape. "To use the jeffries tubes you kind of had to scoot on your back up to where you needed to go." A high-pitched whine began to emanate from the deck of the transporter room. "Ah shit. Hold on."

A grunt and odd sizzle, followed by a wet squelch caused the engineering officers to look at each other with concern before the mechanical whine ceased. "Anyway, I think that may have been easier on my back believe it or not." A final series of clicks, first rapid, then slowing to a single click at a time, Aaron yelled through the deck plates. "How about now?"

"Better, but still off by four microns" Kapowski replied.

The viewscreen came to life, a strange looking alien appearing, or at least its silhouette as it was shrouded in shadow. "Who are you, and why are you here? What is it you want?"

Looking at Jon, Imik now flashed him a mental message. Beware Commander, I believe they have psychic abilities. They may use them against you or us.

"Thank you Imik." Jon replied, his eyes on the main viewscreen.

Callie had sensed the same, her own mental defenses raising to protect her mind. She kept a cautious watchful sense on Jon and on the new arrivals.

Jon turned his head and looked at Callie, then gave her a wink to let her know he was still okay. "You or Imik sense anything potentially dangerous to the ship and crew, let me know instantly." He said calmly.

Still probing the aliens, Imik simply nodded in response. Her hands rested on the security console as her mind sought a weak point, but she could at this time find nothing. She now looked to Callie, "Commander, perhaps you may succeed where I have failed. But be aware, I do believe these aliens to be dangerous almost similar to Ferengi in many ways."

Back on the planet the doctor now sat slumped in his chair, breathing ragged but steady. Sam injected him with a potent combination of drugs and waited nervously with her tricorder in hand. Slowly, his condition began to improve. Sam waited a few more minutes, making sure that the progression continued before reporting in. "Howard to Washington, I think I've found a treatment protocol for these people. I believe we can save them. I'm sending the data to sickbay so they can replicate large quantities of what we need down here."


USS Washington

"Great work Sam." Jon acknowledged. Then he contacted Sickbay. "Dr. Howard is sending data on a potential treatment for this biological agent the population of Loras is suffering from. Get busy replicating large quantities of the medicines she requires." His eyes still on the viewscreen and the alien ship in the center of it.


TBC

 

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