A New Arrival

Posted on Sun Jul 26th, 2015 @ 5:19pm by Captain Tim Williams & Lieutenant Surak & Karil

Episode: Orphans
Location: USS Highlander - Shuttlebay
Timeline: MD30 (Backpost - during search for Entek's lab)

Tim watched as the shutter-like doors at the end of the shuttlebay rose up, revealing the space beyond; the forcefield that kept the air and heat inside the bay invisible to the naked eye. Beyond, he could see the flat surface that extended out from the back of the ship, fitted with lights and patterns designed to help guide pilots in, and beyond that, he could just make out the curve of the planet below; blue-green, much like Earth, but yet recognisably different somehow. Off to his right, he could just make out the stern of the Cardassian ship that they shared their orbit with.

His view was quickly obscured by the incoming shuttlecraft, as it came up behind the larger vessel and aligned itself with the opening at the rear of the ship. Its approach was sure and steady, and the force-field flickered blue around its outline as it passed into the pressurised bay. It was only then that Tim heard the soft whine of the engines. It was only briefly, as the small ship touched the deck and the systems powered down.

Surak offered a reassuring nod to Karil as he rose from his seat and headed to the exit. With a few taps to the console on his right, the door slowly extended out and down providing a ramp on which the pair could exit. While they waited, he collected his bag from which he slung around his shoulder. Soon he stepped out of the shuttle and looked around, in an almost robotic fashion. In the same manner, his eyes were soon fixed upon the internal exit to the shuttlebay where his new Commanding Officer stood. He then stepped aside, allowing Karil to exit.

The other Vulcan aboard the shuttlecraft had stayed silent the whole way, looking down at a portable comm unit and flicking through it periodically while relaxing in his own internal world. He didn't wear any distinguishable uniform, save for a black jacket with "FPS" stamped on the back in white block letters. When the shuttle docked, he stood and bowed his head toward the other occupant, exiting shortly behind him.

"Welcome aboard the Highlander," Tim said as the two exited, smirking as he saw the typically stoic expressions on their faces. They reminded him very much of his old friend Sath, who was still a Commander and serving as an Executive Officer of a starbase closer to the core worlds, but with whom he'd served for most of his time out of the Academy until he took command of the Highlander eight years ago. He'd had word that Starfleet was sending the pair of them already - he was hardly surprised at them sending a helm officer, as he had requested one when he decided to promote Hawke, but why they had assigned him an advisor from the Federation Protective Service was still a mystery to him. The last time he had broken a law that he could recall was when he defied orders to go to the Talos system back in '86, and that had long ago been dealt with and classified at the highest levels. "I hope your trip wasn't too boring?" he expected he knew what their thoughts on the trip would be, but he had learnt over the years that every now and then you found a Vulcan who bucked the usual trend in their species, so he was more than happy to poke around for a bit and see if he got a different reaction to the one he expected out of either of them.

Suraks eyebrow peaked quite considerably as his face quickly assumed a questioningly inquisitive expression. "Thank you. Though, I am not in a position to comment on whether or not you find the same journey boring, Captain."

Karil bowed his head at the introduction, and stepped forward, offering his hand to the human in the courtesy gesture of their species. "Captain Williams, good to meet you. I'd say it was only relatively boring," he added dryly. Down by his feet, a young dark-haired Vulcan popped his head out, silently watching the adults around him with large eyes. "This is Seylan, my son," Karil introduced him, not bothering to coax him into coming out. He would in his own time.

"Welcome aboard," Tim repeated to the smaller Vulcan. He reminded Tim of his own daughter Katherine when she was young - though that was a long time ago now. She was now approaching twenty nine years old, and was out making her own mark on the galaxy. The memory made him wistful of his years living with her aboard Deep Space 6, prior to the Dominion War. "Let me show you to your quarters," he said, pulling himself out of his reverie, and keen to get back to business. The away teams were still down on the planet's surface, and he was eager to get back to the bridge where they were monitoring them.

The Lieutenant nodded in a respective fashion to the Captain before saying in the typical emotionless tone, "You have my thanks, Captain. However I do not deem it necessary. I have familiarized myself with this vessels specifications and deck listing, I believe I am capable of locating my quarters. " He then gestured for Karil is his son to follow on ahead of him.

Karil, on the other hand, was turning his PADD upside-down in an attempt to decipher his map. He knelt down to Seylan and pointed at an area of the ship, and the boy shook his head, suppressing a small giggle. "Ah, rai'rok'nam'uh nash-veh. Kin'rer-tor bolau rai, du pa'se," Karil muttered in Golic. Looking up, he added for Williams' benefit, "I think we could do with the tour."

"Alright then, if you follow me, I'll show you around. Lieutenant, you may as well follow along for now, and I'll brief you on our current situation on the way to the turbolift." Even if his new pilot didn't want a tour, they'd all end up walking the same way to the turbolift anyway - both Surak's and Karil's quarters were high up in the ship's forward section; Surak's on deck 3, and Karil's on deck two. "Come on, this way." As Tim led the three out of the shuttlebay, a number of technicians moved over to the newly landed shuttle and began preparing it to be stored away until it was needed again. "Starfleet probably already told you in your briefing packet, but we're here to help settle new colonists onto Dreyas now that the terraforming is complete. However it seems as if the planet is already home to some rogue Cardassian scientist that has been trying to create some sort of monster super-soldier down there. We've already had a couple of, well... encounters with the creatures." He was deliberately vague on the details since Karil's son was with them. He didn't know the kids age, but he figured he was probably too young to be told all of the gruesome details by the strange man he had just met running the unusual ship he was going to have to call home for who knows how long. "Gul Brenor and his crew are helping us try to locate the lab he's been using; it seems he was a former member of the Obsidian Order, and he has some sort of dampening field up around it."

"Huh." Karil's eyebrows arched thoughtfully. "Do we know if Dr. Frankenstein is still on Dreyas?" he asked, herding Seylan gently down the hall to curb his son's natural curious instincts. That was all he needed, Seylan to get stuck upside down in a warp chamber. Probably wouldn't go over well with Chaele.

"The Cardassians seem to think so, so that's the assumption we're working under as well for the minute." He was surprised at the likening to Dr. Frankenstein coming from a Vulcan, but was pleased at the difference to what he was expecting. Karil might actually be a Vulcan that he could get along with very easily.

"Huh." A mad scientist and his evil creations. Karil had a hard time taking it seriously, but he kept his face appropriately blank. "If you need any more help running through the planet with a fine-toothed comb, I'm at your disposal." He knew how tedious dampening fields could be, searching inch by aggravated-molecule inch for disparities in space.

Surak simply followed the pair while remaining completely silent. Though he listened intently, making a mental note of all the details that may be of future use to him.

"Deck three then deck 2," Tim said as the group stepped into the turbolift. It began traversing the ship rapidly; having to travel horizontally along the ship's frame as well as vertically in order to reach the correct area of the ship. "I'll make sure Mac makes use of you if we need you," Tim said, referring to the security chief in response to Karil's offer. "Right now the Cardassians have a few of their crew on the surface with our teams. They have some special calibration on their tricorders that lets them sniff out the dampening technology the Obsidian Order used. I'm not sure if I want them to succeed to be honest; my life will be a lot easier if they believe this Entek guy isn't here and leave the system."

"Cardassians?" Seylan spoke up timidly from his spot behind Karil, staring up at the adults wide-eyed. He had his hands behind his back, and rocked back on his heels.

"Yeah," Tim said, his voice automatically going into the softer register most - or most humans at least - seemed to unavoidably adopt when speaking to children. "We're not too far from our border with them. Do you know anything about them?"

Seylan nodded twice, looking back at Karil and then again at the captain inquisitively.

"I'm afraid the primary school system on Vulcan doesn't really encapsulate a whole lot about Cardassian history," Karil chimed in with a crinkle to his eyes. "Hard to explain genocide to a six year old."

"Dungi puk-tor au etek?"

“Rai. Nam-tor ek'talsu au-lar, ka'etek. Rai puk-tor,” Karil answered in Golic. "Poor kid's dying for some action. Give 'em the good old one-two, yeah?" he punched the air with both fists, making Seylan smile. He schooled himself into a proper expression upon remembering Surak was there, and adult Vulcans who weren't his dad usually judged his emotional expression harshly.

"It's sorely tempting, but I doubt Starfleet would think it's a good idea," Tim said, as the turbolift reached the third-highest deck and opened to release Surak onto it. "Don't want to go starting any more wars unless they fire first, or at least that's what they tell me."

Surak nodded once as he left the turbolift. He turned back to face the captain, and saluted briefly. "I-.. I will see you soon, sir."

"Come up to the bridge once you've got settled in," Tim said as the helm officer got out, and the lift carried on up one more floor. He stepped out as it opened once again to deposit them. "Since you two aren't members of Starfleet, you're actually in our guest quarters," he said. The corridor they stepped out on was a simple straight one, with the turbolift at one end, and a 'T' junction at the other, where Tim turned left. "That's the mess hall in there. You can get food from your replicator, but if you want to join the crew for some socialising, that's usually a good place to go," he said, indicating the door they passed on their right as he carried on leading them around. They had essentially done a U-turn and walked parallel to the turbolift when he stopped again. "These are your quarters," he said, thumbing the unlock on the door panel.

Karil nodded. "Thank you, Captain. We appreciate it."

Seylan waved, and then disappeared through the doors.

"I ought to go after him," Karil added, jerking a thumb to the open quarters. "Catch you on the other side," he smiled once, and then followed Seylan inside.