Best Tricorder Forward

Posted on Fri Jul 25th, 2014 @ 7:44pm by Captain Tim Williams & Lieutenant Commander Horatio Hawke & Lieutenant Commander Ciaran McIntyre & Lieutenant Ethan Kessel & Doctor Devoni Jala & Ensign Leon Kingson & Ensign Gregory Mason

Episode: Orphans
Location: Dreyas Four
Timeline: MD28 1400hrs

As the transporter's blue beam released the away team, Tim took a look around their surroundings. They had beamed down into the middle of a clearing, by the looks of it either a dry riverbed or glacial trench left over from the planet's early formation near the beginning of the terraforming process. It was plenty wide enough for a colony to grow into, and the ancient banks curved up towards a forest that ran on either side.

"Away team to Highlander," he said, tapping his combadge. "Communications check."

"Away team, this is Highlander," replied the calm voice of Lieutenant Hawke. "Coming through loud and clear, sir."

"OK," the captain said, turning to the away team. "We'll split into three groups. Leon, you stay here and assess this site; see how suitable it is for a colony. Greg, you'll come with me, and we'll head into the forest to the west. Mac; you and Devoni will head east. Keep your comms open."

"Aye sir!"

McIntyre motioned to his security team who fanned out into the area around where Ensign Kingson would be assessing the site. He received a quick shout. "It's clear!"

"Hold position here." McIntyre ordered. "Looks like you're with me, Doctor."

Devoni nodded. "After you Lieutenant." The Doctor took out his tricorder from his halter on his belt and began to do some scans.

"Come on, let's go for a hike," Tim said to Mason, before leading the science officer off toward the tree line west of their position. It was about a ten minute walk before they were out of the clearing and starting to move through some loose woods. The environment reminded the captain of some of the national parks he had gone walking in in the northern hemisphere back on earth; plenty of soft soil underfoot, with a few bushes here and there in between the trees, which sheltered the area from most of the sunlight. By dint of his long-past but often refreshed Stafleet survival training, he couldn't help but automatically pick out the specific plants and features around them that could be used to construct shelters, or the fruits that could possibly be edible in the bushes. A quick scan of his tricorder confirmed that berries were indeed safe to eat. "Perhaps we should take a few of these back to the ship. See if anyone can make a decent dessert out of them."

Gregory followed along only a few paces behind the Highlander's Commanding Officer as they made their way through the trees. Even though he'd only been aboard the Highlander a short time, the young science officer was not at all surprised to find being out in the open environment more preferable than the relatively uniform environment aboard ship. There were no rigid bulkheads or artificial lighting sources here...at least not yet. They were surrounded by an organic environment that flowed smoothly from one region to the next. In fact, Gregory realized he was spending about as much time simply taking in their surroundings as he was studying the readouts scrolling across his tricorder display.

As they walked, Gregory also thought about being part of his first away mission with the Highlander. The captain's reason for having him accompany the away team made sense on several different levels. This was, after all, supposed to be a survey of the environment. They needed to be certain things were stabilized before the colonists could start coming down and setting up. Who better to make that initial assessment than the Chief Science Officer? Gregory was also pretty sure the captain was hoping to see how he would react to being on the ground. Working in the controlled environment of a science lab aboard ship was one thing, dealing with the unexpected variables of an away mission was another thing entirely.

"Wouldn't be a bad idea," Gregory replied, looking at the berries Williams had pointed out, "The colonists are going to have to get used to working with what's available in this environment."

Tim's attention was drawn by a sudden rustling of leaves over to his left, and he stopped to look, and expression of puzzlement on his face. "Did you hear that? I thought there weren't supposed to be any animals on this planet." Terraforming could do wonderful things with plant life, but animals still needed to be transplanted to new planets. He raised his tricorder towards the area, but read no life signs.

Ordinarily, Gregory might not have been so concerned about random noises in the forest. He'd spent plenty of time growing up exploring the wilderness around his family's homestead. Hearing noises like the rustling of leaves was something one came to expect when away from all the hustle and bustle of civilization. Sometimes, Gregory would even have lay awake at night listening to all the different noises. In this case, however, the captain was absolutely correct. There should not have been any animals anywhere on the planet to be making such noises. "I'm not getting anything except for local vegetation," Gregory said as he checked his own tricorder readings, "could have been the wind...or maybe a tree branch or something."

--

McIntyre's tricorder led him to the edge of a small cliff which looked out over a vast plain through which a glittering river ran. He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and threw his arms out wide as the Doctor caught up to him. "This would be a hell of a place to build a house!"

Devoni looked out at the view. "Wow."

"I know, right?" McIntyre replied. The glimmer of the water was blinding in the afternoon sun and the long grass swayed gently in the breeze. "Wait- did you see that?"

Something had moved by the river. McIntyre had almost missed it as he watched the grass but it was distinct. He instinctively tapped his commbadge. "McIntyre to Away team," the comm system activated in the badge of each of the away team, "is anyone down on a plain by a river? I just detected movement but my tricorder isn't reading anything."

"Tim here," came the captain's voice over the comm. channel. "I was just about to ask you if you'd followed us into the forest. We have what sounds like animals moving about in the brush, but our tricorders detect nothing."

Mac grunted as the movement on the plain ceased. Had he been imagining it? No- surely not- there was someone, or something, down there. "What's your order, Cap'n?"

"Keep moving out for now, but be careful," Tim ordered. The others on the line could hear the distinctive sound of his phaser being removed from its holster. "It's probably just our imaginations, but I'd hate to have to have to share a transporter pad with any of you if you get sprayed by some kind of native skunk."

"Okay, Doc." Mac said confidently, removing his phaser from his hip. "Let's set 'em to stun, shall we? I'd hate to have you doing harm."

"Leon here. I'm not getting anything animal sighting. You sure the tricorder's been configured correctly? Wait-...no...nothing. Highlander are we near any E.M radiation sources, or any form of natural scramblers we've not noticed? Bit of nasty surprise for the colonists if there is. The last thing they'll want is their tech to blink out after a day."

A moment later, Hawke's voice came over the comm. "Negative, Away Team. Nothing unusual on sensors."

"Keep your eyes and sensors peeled anyway," Tim said. "For all we know it's just our imagination, but let's just back that up with some good old-fashioned eyeballs.

--

The away team returned to the beam-down site almost two hours later, with no further reports of strange noises or movements in the brush. Tim had already decided to chalk it up to his imagination amplifying the effects of the breeze on what he knew to be a deserted planet, and was satisfied with the rest of their survey that the area was safe. "How's this place look for a colony site then, Leon?" he asked the operations officer as they came treading back along the clearing. "Are we good, or do we need to check out another site?"

"Well, the ground is fertile and rich with minerals. Also close by there is a large underground river. Drill for a bit, and they should have a clean source of water for all their needs for at least fifty people. The river seams to split up further up, so maybe even more. I think it runs parallel to that river. Likely from the same source. Looks like they can use the other river for animals and agriculture, without fear of polluting a drinking source. Should a nice place to grow up here. River to swim in. Natural beauty. Do you think the'll need a permanent Operations Officer?"

"I'm sure they could, but I'm nowhere near ready to let you go from the Highlander yet," Tim responded to the joke, before tapping his combadge, satisfied with their survey. "Williams to Highlander; colony site alpha looks good to go. Eight to beam up when you're ready, and you can tell Ethan to get his guys ready to help the colonists get started."

--

Up on the bridge, Hawke was sitting straight backed in the command chair when the call from the captain came in. Seemingly without moving he replied, “Copy that, Captain. Bridge to Transporter Room One, away team is ready to transport home.

“Aye, sir,” replied the transporter chief.

Hawke nodded, though he knew the transporter chief couldn't see him, and moved on, “Hawke to Kessel. Away team reports colony site alpha is good to go; you can get your team ready now.”

"Yes Sir!" Ethan said, eager to begin work as quickly as possible. "Okay guys! Lets get things running round here. You know what colonists are like, they'll get it all wrong without us." He said, as they set about their tasks.