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current_story:return_from_innocence [2021/08/01 00:34] site_admincurrent_story:return_from_innocence [2023/08/24 04:16] (current) cromwell
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 As Theo and Saal arrived on the bridge, over half the members of Task Force Trident were present.  Deuce was at his usual spot at the tactical arch overlooking the command pit, while Commander St. John took his roost in the captain's chair.  Ensign Carson Jensen was at the Ops station, while Lieutenant Sheila Anderson was manning the helm.  With the all the vital stations properly tended to, Theo "Doug Forrest" Carter took the first officer's seat to the right of St. John, while Doctor Yezbeck pulled out the below-console stool to sit at the Sciences II station at the rear of the bridge. As Theo and Saal arrived on the bridge, over half the members of Task Force Trident were present.  Deuce was at his usual spot at the tactical arch overlooking the command pit, while Commander St. John took his roost in the captain's chair.  Ensign Carson Jensen was at the Ops station, while Lieutenant Sheila Anderson was manning the helm.  With the all the vital stations properly tended to, Theo "Doug Forrest" Carter took the first officer's seat to the right of St. John, while Doctor Yezbeck pulled out the below-console stool to sit at the Sciences II station at the rear of the bridge.
  
-Minutes passed silently as the ship closed in on the star system that the HMS Republic universe Victor Virtus had first triangulated as the source of the "H-O-L-A-C-O-M-P-R-A-D-E-S" message that went out to the refugees from the USS Republic universe just a few weeks ago.  As they approached what the charts said should have been a standard single main sequence star, the sensors were better able to resolve the star's spectrum due to the much closer proximity, revealing the system to actually be composed of not just a yellow Class-G main sequence star, but also a closely-orbiting and very rare blue dwarf star.  Burning so hot that it's spectral range surpassed the Class-range on the Hertzsprung–Russell scale, this unexpected second star was less than a quarter solar mass in size. According to the astrometrics database, it must have formed as a result of a small red dwarf running out of hydrogen fuel and not having enough mass to expand in size like a normal red dwarf, which could only have had the alternative result of increasing its radiative state by elevating it's surface temperature instead.  Had the ship been fully staffed by a scientific crew, this discovery of a second dwarf star would have been a phenomenal finding, causing waves of excitement and intrigue since the existence of blue dwarfs were only hypothetical due to the galaxy's relatively young age.  Sadly, no astronomers or astrophysical specialists were present, leaving the buzzing celebration of such a unique discovery to be held at a later date by future explorers, or perhaps by an astute intelligence operative at Starfleet Headquarters who would be lucky enough to review the logs of this most uncustomary trip to the Delta Quadrant.+Minutes passed silently as the ship closed in on the star system that the HMS Republic universe Victor Virtus had first triangulated as the source of the "H-O-L-A-C-O-M-P-R-A-D-E-S" message that went out to the refugees from the USS Republic universe just a few weeks ago.  As they approached what the charts said should have been a standard single main sequence star, the sensors were better able to resolve the star's spectrum due to the much closer proximity, revealing the system to actually be composed of not just a yellow Class-G main sequence star, but also a closely-orbiting and very rare blue dwarf star.  Burning so hot that it's spectral range reached the Class-range on the Hertzsprung–Russell scale, this unexpected second star was less than a quarter solar mass in size. According to the astrometrics database, it must have formed as a result of a small red dwarf running out of hydrogen fuel and not having enough mass to expand in size like a normal red dwarf, which could only have had the alternative result of increasing its radiative state by elevating it's surface temperature instead.  Had the ship been fully staffed by a scientific crew, this discovery of a second dwarf star would have been a phenomenal finding, causing waves of excitement and intrigue since the existence of blue dwarfs were only hypothetical due to the galaxy's relatively young age.  Sadly, no astronomers or astrophysical specialists were present, leaving the buzzing celebration of such a unique discovery to be held at a later date by future explorers, or perhaps by an astute intelligence operative at Starfleet Headquarters who would be lucky enough to review the logs of this most uncustomary trip to the Delta Quadrant.
  
 As Republic nee Asgard smoothly flew into the inner planets of the system at a few hundredths of units below the lightspeed barrier, it took only minutes to zero in on the single barely-habitable planet in the star system.  Registering as class H rather than class M, this world was firmly a desert planet due to the additional thermal energy invoked by the blue dwarf.  While calculations indicated that the dwarf star would eventually burn out, allowing the planet to drop back into the M-class category someday in the far future, it's current surface temperature exceeded that of even Vulcan, suggesting that any inhabitants would have had to evolve remarkable adaptations to thrive in such an environment.  For indeed, the desert world orbited close enough to the binary stars that the blue dwarf must have appeared in the sky even larger than the yellow main-sequence star it circled, acting like a fiery cobalt blowtorch as it rose each day.  Only after it set would the transition to night allow the searing heat to finally radiate away back into space.  During such evenings, lunar orbital calculations showed that the planet's multiple moons would shine brightly at all hours of darkness, as their highly elliptical orbits often brought them close to the planet, with one moon even kissing the upper regions of the planet's atmosphere at regular intervals.  Yet despite these dynamic and turbulent orbital conditions, lifeform readings were prominent if not discrete in the austere and uninviting wilderness of the planet's rusty-colored canyon-strewn surface. As Republic nee Asgard smoothly flew into the inner planets of the system at a few hundredths of units below the lightspeed barrier, it took only minutes to zero in on the single barely-habitable planet in the star system.  Registering as class H rather than class M, this world was firmly a desert planet due to the additional thermal energy invoked by the blue dwarf.  While calculations indicated that the dwarf star would eventually burn out, allowing the planet to drop back into the M-class category someday in the far future, it's current surface temperature exceeded that of even Vulcan, suggesting that any inhabitants would have had to evolve remarkable adaptations to thrive in such an environment.  For indeed, the desert world orbited close enough to the binary stars that the blue dwarf must have appeared in the sky even larger than the yellow main-sequence star it circled, acting like a fiery cobalt blowtorch as it rose each day.  Only after it set would the transition to night allow the searing heat to finally radiate away back into space.  During such evenings, lunar orbital calculations showed that the planet's multiple moons would shine brightly at all hours of darkness, as their highly elliptical orbits often brought them close to the planet, with one moon even kissing the upper regions of the planet's atmosphere at regular intervals.  Yet despite these dynamic and turbulent orbital conditions, lifeform readings were prominent if not discrete in the austere and uninviting wilderness of the planet's rusty-colored canyon-strewn surface.
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 "Any response to our hails?" Blake St. John asked Deuce at the tactical station. "Any response to our hails?" Blake St. John asked Deuce at the tactical station.
  
-"Nothing," he replied.  "No handshake signal, no nothing.  If there's any communications system down there, they're not currently active."+"Nothing," he replied.  "No handshake signal, no anything.  If there's any communications system down there, they're not currently active."
  
 "Bio-scans?" asked St. John as the ship took up position in standard orbit.  "Can you pick up any human lifesigns?" "Bio-scans?" asked St. John as the ship took up position in standard orbit.  "Can you pick up any human lifesigns?"
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 Theo "Doug Forrest" Carter and Blake St. John studied at each other in silence.  From his point of view, St. John had already stuck his neck out for Forrest and Yezbeck by sacrificing his life and the lives of his team to come to the Delta Quadrant.  He had kept his side of the promise, getting them to the distant world where their colleague John Carter appeared to have crash landed.  Now, they were asking him to go even further by possibly violating Starfleet's most cherished directive, charging in head-on, and all but shouting "here we are!" to the natives.  On the other hand, they hadn't the resources of a fully-staffed starship to perform a clandestine first contact mission, and if Yezbeck's suspicion is correct in that cultural contamination had already taken place, it would be a waste of time and resources to even try.  He needed to find middle ground. Theo "Doug Forrest" Carter and Blake St. John studied at each other in silence.  From his point of view, St. John had already stuck his neck out for Forrest and Yezbeck by sacrificing his life and the lives of his team to come to the Delta Quadrant.  He had kept his side of the promise, getting them to the distant world where their colleague John Carter appeared to have crash landed.  Now, they were asking him to go even further by possibly violating Starfleet's most cherished directive, charging in head-on, and all but shouting "here we are!" to the natives.  On the other hand, they hadn't the resources of a fully-staffed starship to perform a clandestine first contact mission, and if Yezbeck's suspicion is correct in that cultural contamination had already taken place, it would be a waste of time and resources to even try.  He needed to find middle ground.
  
-"Sheila," he began.  "It's my understanding that Starfleet regulations leave it to a commander's discretion when a member of their crew is being held hostage and/or is threatened by a pre-warp population in non-Federation space.  Am I correct?"+"Sheila," he began.  "It's my understanding that Starfleet regulations leave it to a commander's discretion on how to interpret the Prime Directive when a member of their crew is being held hostage and/or is threatened by a pre-warp population in non-Federation space.  Am I correct?"
  
 "Yes sir," Sheila Anderson replied.  "If there is evidence to that effect.  It's allowed under General Order Thirty." "Yes sir," Sheila Anderson replied.  "If there is evidence to that effect.  It's allowed under General Order Thirty."
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 "What do we do now?" Bah-Ki asked Dadjinn after a moment.  "You know the Warlord's mind as well as his heart.  What happens next?" "What do we do now?" Bah-Ki asked Dadjinn after a moment.  "You know the Warlord's mind as well as his heart.  What happens next?"
  
-"We wait," she explained.  "If his stories tell true, his companions will arrive on the heels of a flickering light... Like dust falling through a solitary sunbeam."+"We wait," she explained.  "If his stories tell true, his companions will arrive on the heels of a flickering light... Like dust falling through a sunbeam."
  
  
current_story/return_from_innocence.1627778063.txt.gz · Last modified: 2021/08/01 00:34 by site_admin