Everything And The Kitchen Sink
Posted on Sun Sep 11th, 2022 @ 12:53pm by Lieutenant JG Fox Jasper & Captain William Maddox & Lieutenant Commander Javiylah MacArthur & Lieutenant Commander TaijanSuda ch'Thulhu & Ensign Asami Inoue & Chief Warrant Officer Mara O’Sullivan
3,752 words; about a 19 minute read
Mission:
The Song Of Silver Wings
Location: Starbase 14, Alpha Tucanne System
Timeline: Pre-launch
The pane of hyper diamond that made up the confrence room's far wall did a great deal to mute the sounds of titanic industry beyond. Construction drones as large as runabouts scuttled and flitted with delicate ease through the chaos, with supply barges hanging in open space like islands in a storm-whracked sea. And if you looked close enough, in the heart of that technical maelstrom, the impression of an oddly designed Starfleet vessel could be seen.
"She didn't even have her outer hull plates attached a week ago," Maddox said as he turned from the window. "Now she's nearly ready to go. I apologise to everyone for the rapid arrival and in some cases murky circumstances of your invitation. Time is the one resource we have vanishingly small amounts of, so a few corners have been cut in that regard."
He walked to the conference table, and stood behind his chair.
"If anyone has anything they would like to say in regards to that treatment, now is the time." Maddox offered.
Suda just grunted. He knew filler bullshit when he heard it and had no intention of playing along. Small talk had no place in a briefing.
They could have hit him with sedatives, bundled him up in the back of a transport and dragged him across the known universe if they’d wanted, thought Fox as he channelled one half his attention into staring at the shiny new ship and the other at its Captain.
Maddox’s file - that which he’d been able to study - was impressive, but even that didn’t really matter to the young man sitting primed and ready to rock and roll. Fox was calmness personified, he was peaceful readiness wrapped about a contained inner core of focused enthusiasm and utter determination. He was ready, willing and painfully aware that he was a decade or two younger than the rest of this gathering which had to have pissed someone off somewhere. He wasn’t about to blurt something stupid out and make a crappy first impression, so Fox simply looked around the table and tried to gauge everyone else’s mood.
Asami met the Lieutenant's eyes for a moment as he glanced around the table, quickly looking away and back down at her PADD. She really didn't know why she was here with all these much more senior officers. She was just an Ensign on her first assignment. She hadn't even had a chance to report to the Chief of Sciences yet, just ger division lead! Asaminwas definitely stressing a bit. Not that it wasn't exciting and she was DEFINITELY going to gloat to Archer that she got face time with the Captain before he did. But was she supposed to say something, show some initiative, prove that she's supposed to be here!?!?
"I ahh, excited to be here? I mean yes exciting, but confusing? I'm not really sure what's going on..." Asami felt her cheeks heat and eyes go a little wide. Why couldn't she stop rambling!? Get ahold of yourself! "but um yes. Ahem. Eager to be here and to get involved, sir."
"Glowing enthusiasm I will take," Maddox said slowly, studying the young ensign. "But you should know you have all been assembled here due to your training and specialisation in the Starfleet SAR Team. And whilst serving onboard the Daedalus you will have other duties to fill, your role as a specialised search and rescue team is the reason you're here and not somewhere else."
"Right, that makes sense, sir..." Asami bit her lip, debating her words a moment, the internal verbal battle obvious across her face. "Except, are you sure about that sir? You've got the right person? Because there's another Asami Inouye - with a 'Y?' We've been confused for the other before? She's a total badass, goes by the name The Cleaner? Wouldn't be the first time...sir." She trailed off, seeing that the Captain was staring as she rambled. It wasn't that she wasn't qualified either, having graduated with advanced ratings in survival training as well as a fairly high combat score for a Science Officer. Just that the other Asami was a legitimate combat veteran and noteworthy Scientist and it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility they meant to recruit her.
"Biometric scans don't make mistakes," Suda said, finally breaking his silence, "so if you're done playing the cutesy grabass routine with the captain, I'd like to hear more about this SAR mission. Sounds extended."
"Oh ummm yes, sorry, um sir." Asami's cheeks flushed redder than a twenty third century security uniform. "Ididn't... sorry." Clamping her mouth shut she shrink back into her chair a bit. Thankful that she picked the one furthest away from everyone and no one could see the absolute mortification on her face.
He kept a straight face throughout, but Fox did take a moment to press fingertips against frownlines for a second as the Ensign's cringeworthy response just kept on going. He had to assume that if the biometrics hadn't lied, somebody somewhere had messed up something, but mostly he was wondering what 'Inouye with a Y' was doing right now. Fox turned his attention fully to the Captain as Maddox took the verbal stage.
"The USS Icarus was exploring a region of space known as the Reef Stars, a closely packed stellar formation clustered around the galactic core and the Sagittarius-A blackhole. It's a mess of gravity eddies and shoals that make traditional entry into that region hazardous at best. To that end, the Icarus was outfitted with an experimental drive technology code-named Proteus. She launched last year, and we received comm's telemetry that suggested a nominal entry into the zone of exploration shortly thereafter. 4 weeks ago a Starfleet deep space array was pointed in just the wrong direction to pick up a subspace burst transmission from the Icarus's crash beacon. The distress call and telemetry provided were garbled, but analysis suggests that the event that crippled the Icarus was survivable. At least in the midterm," Maddox explained. "More detailed summaries of the crash beacon data can be provided but goes without saying it doesn't paint a rosy picture. We have a ship heavily damaged in a region of space far beyond the reach of any Starfleet vessel save the one you can see through the viewports getting rushed through her dry dock inspection. That's the Daedalus, the sister ship of the Icarus and nearly identical in every way."
Fox raised his hand in permission for his question and waited for the nod before speaking. He'd read everything he could access on the Icarus, but there wasn't much in the 'public' domain and bribery only took a person so far. "If we're near identical, sir," he asked. "What's to stop the same thing happening to us?"
"Because it's us," Suda put in, facing Fox first and then addressing everyone. "I'm not an explorer. I'm a doorkicking infil/exfil specialist. Our mission profile as a rescue op will decrease the odds we fall to the same perils as the trailblazer." Looking back at Maddox, he said, "Is there intel other than telemetry? Known hazards, phenomena, local wildlife or sentient life?"
He hoped Lieutenant Commander Elder God was right, but Fox wasn't harbouring any doubts in that department. He'd just been curious as to the symmetry the vessels shared. He nodded, and shifted his attention from Suda to Captain Maddox in unintentional synchonry with the Andorian.
"The Reef Stars are a maelstrom of ever-shifting gravity waves," Maddox explained. He made a gesture to the air, and a holographic image materialised above the conference table. It showed a rapidly spinning vortex, around which the stellar markers for massive stars could be seen. At a flick of one finger, the image began to move, the stars swinging around the central vortex, some racing in close and then far away, whilst others orbited more cautiously, tugging on the hem of the great devouring maw. "Sagitarrius-A is an Apex-Class supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy. Around it within a four-light-year sphere are at least fourteen stars, the smallest of which are as big as Sol, with the larger ones looking to beat Altair. Gamma and exotic radiation, not to mention the gravitational shoaling effects make subspace signalling next to impossible over interstellar distances. We got lucky even getting Icarus's distress call. The mission profile called for radio silence for up to three years, with contingencies in place in the event of an emergency. Clearly, they weren't able to implement any of the contingencies."
"So we know nothing," Suda summarized. "Nothing but the sector. Great..." So far it was turning into a snipe hunt.
"It's not ideal, but it is the cards we have to play with Commander ch'Thulhu," Maddox said. "This will be a search and rescue operation far beyond any technical scope Starfleet has attempted before. To that end, the resources of Starfleet are at your disposal. This Starbase's industrial replicators can make anything from a Runabout down to the molecular serial numbers engraved on your combadge. Tell them what you need, and you'll get it."
This wasn't the first (or second) time that Fox had regarded this particular stellar geography, but it sure looked beautiful on Maddox's state of the line set-up. It caught his attention for a long moment, awe mixed with apprehension. It was no easy mission, no simple route or challenge. But that was one of the reasons he'd found his way into this crew, onto this ship and to be here in this room.
"We know the Icarus crew won't give up," Jasper stated, the surety in his voice brooking no doubt whatsoever in the young man's mind. "And nothing's impossible." A brief pause. "Unlimited access to gear is a big factor, and luck brought us to this point. Maybe it'll find us again," he added, seriously. A longer pause, and Fox looked to Maddox again. "Captain, would we be allowed to listen to the distress call?"
Maddox nodded, manipulating the data pane above the table until the sound file began to play. It started off with static shrouded message that to the untrained ear sounded like so much interstellar background noise. The hiss of long period pulsar's screaming into the night, the hollow gurgle of blackholes draining the sea of stars. But there was a structure there, repetition and artifice. These became highlighted, and more exhaustive mining programs plundered the sounds of the universe until a voice came through.
"Trouble... strange readings... we got... hit hard... came at... night... whispers in the dark... sitting duck... don't know who... what... force of nature... phenomena... come for us... we found... meant to know... help us... home......."
"Came at night...?" Asami repeated after a few moments of silence from the room, her eyes darting around the others. Distress calls were never easy to listen to, someone desperately shouting in the void because they have no other option to survive. It's the last ditch effort... but hearing one in training and one for real were quite different. Asami wasn't ready for it, her shoulders shrunk in, the awkward enthusiasm of earlier gone, replaced by just apprehension.
"The Three Brothers have been working over the recording for a while, a lot of what you are hearing is best guess from them to within 99% of accurate," Maddox said.
Eyes still closed, Fox listened to the echoes of those words wrapped in the audio soup that surrounded a lone voice. He felt the proverbial sense of ice track down his spine and that cooler hit of distant solitude, even knowing that the speaker wasn't alone (he'd said 'we' and 'us') and he didn't look to anyone else until that goosebump feeling subsided. They wouldn't know if anyone had gotten the message. They couldn't pick up a reply even. "Sitting duck," Fox said then, his gaze seeking Maddox's own. The one person who knew exactly what he had to lose. But what resonated harder than that uncomfortable expression was the request for aid. Help us. Fox frowned darkly.
"So they're alive but under threat," Suda summarized out loud, "from an unknown hazard or adversary they're managing to elude. Are we really going to jump blindly into a cat-and-mouse game?" Shaking his head, processing the internal math from his head and heart behind the stoic look on his face, he finally said, "Damn it all. Let's go crack heads and bring our people home."
"We're not jumping in blind. In fact we're going to have the crew of Icarus instructing us on where to go," Maddox explained. "Mission protocol once entry into the Reef Stars was attained was to seek out the nearest main sequence G class star within 8 light years of the entry point. So we know where they went first. Icarus, upon departing this first system, would have ejected a log beacon into the Oort cloud tethered to a piece of debris detailing their flight plan and mission reports. It won't help us know what they were walking into, but we'll know where to go. A trail of breadcrumbs."
Suda nodded pensively. He wasn't as optimistic as the captain, but it ultimately wasn't up to him. He was just the Search and Rescue Team's doorkicker and waymaker, so all he could do was give it his best shot and hope for the best.
Fox had respectfully kept his mouth shut as those two had traded points of view and simply trusted that Maddox was a man of his word. That he wouldn't have assembled them all with the Icarus' twin for nothing, that he wouldn't go back on his promise. He'd looked up the man speaking on the distress call - Captain Magnus Hawkins - studied the records he'd been allowed access to. The guy didn't strike Fox as the type to ask for help, but, whatever this message was, he could only be grateful for its existence right now. Hawkins had called home, and Home was coming after him, whether they liked it or not. "They're alive," the young man said. "That's all that really matters."
"That's the idea," Maddox nodded. "Regardless, we'll be bringing them home."
Mara just observed the one officer she knew plus the others she didn't, not feeling any need to speak up. She glanced over as the hatch opened to reveal her boss and friend, knowing that Javi had had something come up which would explain her delayed arrival.
Javi noticed several young officers who were unknown to her as she entered and quietly slipped into one of the free chairs facing down the table at the captain. She also noted the distinctive absence of several of her team which was concerning.
Fox studied the new entrant's face, searching for any signs by which to learn more about her mood. He'd studied her career at least a little in the preceding days, but there was no measure like being in the same room.
"Ah, Commander MacArthur. I hope you don't mind but I thought I'd get the preliminaries out of the way for you. Just the highlights, nothing in-depth," Maddox explained, and then looked back to the SAR team. "For those of you who do not know her, this is Lieutenant Commander Javiylah MacArthur, leader of Starfleet's Search And Rescue team, of which you are a part now. And for those of you who know her already, you know she is more than capable. In fact, she was just seeing to the arrival of the SAR mission craft."
Silently, Fox returned a smart salute to MacArthur's introduction.
Maddox looked back to Javi.
"The DSRV arrived correct? Whole? Intact? Not in boxes labeled 'some assembly required' like the back up life support system?" he asked.
“It does appear to be structurally sound, Captain,” Javi replied, choosing to ignore the first part of what he said, she wouldn’t address that in front of others. “Once there is a test run, I shall know more about the craft’s mission readiness.”
He'd heard something about a new craft, but rumours were standard on such missions as this. Fox was itching to see this rescue ship, keen to get a good look and feel for her, and was about to ask the first of w whole bunch of questions, when the Ensign beat him to the punch.
"Um... DSRV sir? Err ma'am?" Asami asked, raising her hand slightly before letting it drop, already feeling awkward enough, her gaze shifting from Captain to Commander, not sure who she should be focusing on first. Her curiosity though was more a focus. She'd never heard of a Starfleet vessel designated DSRV, the Federation Navy on Earth still used the old SeaQuest class for deep sea research. She very much doubted that they were referring to a submersible the size of a runabout being delivered to the Daedalus. "I'm not familiar with that kind of ship?"
Quietly, Fox lowered his gaze to the floor and allowed himself a silent eye-roll at the Ensign's questions.
"Deep Space Rescue Vehicle. It'll be replacing the Chariot classes runabout slot. It's a specially designed vessel that, as the name suggests, is best suited to the needs of our mission. It's robust, heavily armoured, and equipped with state-of-the-art equipment that is more importantly field tested. Not knowing the state we're going to find the Icarus in, best we plan for the worst case possibilities and prepare accordingly," Maddox stated.
Goosebumps prickled his skin, but Fox kept quiet and listened to the others speak. Right now he wasn't about to learn as much as he could when he actually took a physical look at the DSRV.
"I hope it's not the same hunk of junk they paraded out back in '96..." Suda resisted the urge to spit on the floor. "That flying coffin wasn't fit to take a shit in."
"DSRV 201A is the second instar of the DSRV design concept and was designed by members of the two consecutive SAR teams. But," Maddox tapped the conference room table with a single finger. A data pane opened on the surface, and with a few deft keystrokes the SAR team's combadges lit up. "There are the design and tech specs. Any deficiencies you just feel free to highlight them."
"Yessir," said Fox with a big dumb grin flashing across his face. That was what he'd been waiting for, and he planned to study those specs until he knew her inside and out.
Suda shrugged. "One shitbox is the same as another. Hell, I'll do a HELO space jump if that's what the mission calls for."
"0630 in Docking Bay 56, everyone," Javi commented and noted the significant lack of enthusiasm her words produced from those assembled. She already had several drills planned to test the random personnel that was present to see if they would actually be kept for the mission.
"Aye, sir." Drills were life. Suda drank and drilled. Putting off one for the other made little difference to him.
"No problem, Commander," confirmed Fox, enthusiasm wrapped about his words. Hell, he'd be up way before 0630, raring to go.
"Aye, Ma'am." Asami also confirmed, shoring herself up, trying to channel some of her Academy formality into the reply. Something about Commander MacArthur's gaze was far more intimidating than any of the others.
"Excellent, then I think I'll leave you all to it," Maddox looked at Javi. "Commander, the team is yours."
"Sir," Javi nodded her understanding at the captain before she turned her attention to...what was supposedly her team. "Docking Bay 56, 0630, don't be late," She looked at each person around the team. "Dismissed."
Suda hopped to his feet, clicked his heels, and hurried out. If he was to make the early morning drill, then he had an even earlier nightcap to savor.
"Thank you, Commander," Fox noted, then smartly stood and strolled from the room. Once outside in the corridor, he jogged to catch up with Suda. "Drink?" Human queried Andorian.
"Gods, yes." Suda practically stomped his way to the nearest watering hole.
Asami wasn't sure what else to do, Archer was still on shift and her other roommates were all settling in or pulling extra duty to get the ship ready. Seeing Fox jog off after Suda she shrugged figuring it best to stick with her new team rather than wander the ship aimlessly. Breaking out into a jog of her own she had to push a bit to catch up as the pair headed for the lounge.
"They are not the DS Niners," Maddox commented as the door closed. "But they are the ones who stepped forward so that's something. Suda is your typical Andorian, but he's got enough backbone to support the team. Everyone else is pretty raw, but they scored high."
"On whose test?" Javi meant it more as a rhetorical question as she shook her head. The scramble and uncertainty of the mission had decimated her normal roster. Apparently, the captain had enough pull to get personnel, whether they were good enough to actually go. That was the real concern. "Hopefully, you have some more personnel on standby in case some of these don't muster in the drills, Captain."
"We work with what we have, not what we want," Maddox said soothingly. "A mission like this, short notice and high risk, is volunteer only. Fox and Asami, your two newly minted officers, are third string because the first two options for both pilot and science slots chose to not volunteer for the mission. In fact, the pilot took a demotion to a desk to avoid this posting. I have faith in you to hammer out their raw talent into something useful. Failing that, we can up-skill from the existing crew complement unless you have a pair of names I can comm right now to replace them."
Javi frowned, knowing just how badly the usual depth chart had been depleted for the captain to pull so far down. Brand new officers was hardly who she'd want for such a mission. The fact that one took a demotion to avoid...she was glad they weren't coming along, she definitely didn't have time for that nonsense. "I will make a few comms after this, Captain."
"Good, then I'll leave you to your preparations."
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