SD 241512.05 Joint Log: Commanding Officer, Executive Officer, Chief Helm, Chief Security/Tactical, Science Cadet

Posted on Wed Jan 6th, 2016 @ 6:57am by Captain Alistar McKeon & Commander Isabella dei`Silvisi & Lieutenant Commander Akira-Ri Sato & Ensign Elanawen Valenar

989 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: The Rules of Acquisition

"Commander, we're approaching our target sector," Lieutenant Holland's voice broke across the quiet hum of the bridge. Isabella, as the ranking officer on duty, was sitting in the commanding officer's seat and reading through a report that had been compiled on the sector. There was very little information, but she liked to be as prepared as she could. Looking up, Isabella set the Padd down and nodded. From the information within the report, she knew that there were a few uncharted systems in the sector and that the Ferengi had been known to send ships to the region from time to time. There wasn't anything that made her feel that the ship would be in imminent danger, so there was no cause to proceed at action stations.

"Helm, drop us out of warp and maintain our present course at impulse speed. Operations activate primary sensors and stand by to begin long range scans," Isabella said before she tapped her commbadge. "Bridge to Commander McKeon, we've arrived at our destination and are preparing to begin our first survey sweep of the sector."

Elanawen stood at the Operations station and tried to hide the fact that she was extremely nervous. As far as she could tell, the sensors were calibrated and ready for the survey scans to begin, but there was always the nagging feeling that she had forgotten something. By habit, she was a perfectionist, and she simply didn’t want to mess up.

“Operations and science are standing by to begin the initial survey scans, Commander,” she reported with a nod towards the Executive Officer.

Alistar had been prowling the corridors, doing the most entertaining thing a bored ship captain could do. It was often fun to simply walk through the ship and randomly walk into the various departments, just to see how high the crew would jump when they looked up and saw the CO glaring at them. The fun had started to wear off since word was getting around that the Endeavour's CO was out and about, so Silvisi's call was a good interruption. Heading to the bridge, he arrived and quietly made his way to the command chair.

"Report," he said as he pointed a finger at his XO. "Outta my chair, commander."

“Well, if you’re going to be that way, I will,” Isabella said as she stood and moved to her own seat beside the commanding officer’s chair. In a way, she liked her seat better, since no one else ever sat in it. As she settled into her seat, she half turned towards McKeon as she spoke. “We’ve arrived at the target sector and are ready to begin a full sensor sweep in order to start our assigned survey,” she said.

Alistar nodded as he sat down and leaned back in his seat. Activating the command console, he brought up a readout that displayed all the critical ship data. After a moment, he turned to ops. "Very well, Miss Valenar. It's your show. Whenever you're ready, give the word," he said, ignoring the few glances of concern that the bridge staff were exchanging. Some probably thought he was nuts, because he had just given a cadet operational control of the ship.

Elanawen gulped silently as she realized that the captain had just given her, a cadet, full authority over the operations of the Endeavour. It took her nearly a minute before she could speak. Fortunately, the operations specialist beside her gave her a nod of encouragement.

"Helm, set speed to one third. Beginning full spectrum scan," Elanawen said. It took the computer several moments to process the data and place the report on the screen in front of her. Something drew her attention, and she frowned.

"Commander, I'm detecting a very weak transmission. We're barely able to detect it from our current location," she said.

Alistar frowned. "Can you identify anything about the signal?" he asked, not wanting to order the ship and her crew into a possible dangerous situation.

"The computer is still processing the signal marker," Elanawen said as she watched the readouts carefully. Like everything the sensors detected, the signal had been broken down and the sub channel markers that were usually placed in frequency signals scanned for identifying markers. Those were usually difficult if not impossible to alter or falsify. The computer beeped and displayed a report, to which Elanawen blinked.

"Sir, it's a Starfleet signal," she said.

"Confirmed, Commander," Akira reported from tactical. Starfleet and other Federation military signals required a second officer to run a check before the computer would confirm it as a positive, which was why she had had to confirm the identifying markers.

"Helm, plot a course to the point or origin for that signal," Alistar ordered.

“Commander, do you think we should dispatch a probe or conduct a thorough scan of the area before committing the entire ship to a possible hazardous situation?” Isabella asked with a frown forming. She understood the fact that as a Starfleet ship, the Endeavour was required to respond to any distress signal that the ship detected or received, but they were literally in unknown territory. With the recent situation with the Klingons fresh on her mind and the way that the Endeavour had basically set a trap for her attackers in Lambda Hydrae, she was wary of the Endeavour falling for the same thing. Caution was always something to be used in any rescue situation.

"We'll do a detailed scan when we get closer and take full precautions, but regulations state that we have to respond to any distress signal ASAP," Alistar said, offering a nod towards his XO. He could understand her concerns, but there were times that caution and danger often conflicted. "Helmsman, intercept course at warp 9, engage when ready." The Endeavour banked sharply away from her slow lazy course suddenly and jumped to high warp, the peaceful and quiet survey mission forgotten.

 

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