The Unknowns
Posted on 16 May 2023 @ 9:52pm by Commander Calliope Zahn & Captain Corvus DeHavilland & Captain Lachlan Callum & Uanika
Mission:
M3 - Into the Deep
Location: Pathfinder
Timeline: following "Sea & Sky" thread, prior to "Musical Chairs"
3187 words - 6.4 OF Standard Post Measure
Putting the Acamas down in the shuttlebay was simple enough, even if Calliope still felt like her inner ear was in a spin. She took a moment to check on Gunnarsen and was relieved to find his pulse, in spite of him having fainted. Then she turned to look back through the cockpit. The gawky human teenage girl was clutching a flight recorder and a pad, crouched in the back of the transporter pad where she had first arrived and shaking with obvious fear. The Betazoid woman was still on the floor with the human boy, sobbing. Tilmer was taking off his harness. De La Fuente was catching his own breath. The doctor and the delegates were safe in the ops compartment as far as internal sensors were accounting for. …and three of her men were still on the island potentially with hostiles.
Breathing heavily she unfastened the front of the diving suit and peeled it back, trying to breathe evenly again. “Mr. Tilmer. Unload the Korinn computer core and return it to Engineering.”
“Yes Ma’am.” The engineer shot out of his seat to head into the back.
Calliope stepped around the woman on the floor and went to the exit, opening the door and waiting for the gangplank to lower. There were medics waiting on the deck. She hitched her thumb back over her shoulder. “The pilot, he needs attention. He fainted or something.” Calliope told them. “There’s a woman and two children. They’re not injured, but they don’t look well either.”
The medical team flowed around her and into the runabout.
“Where’s the Marshal? Where’s Major Finn?” Captain DeHavilland asked, approaching on the heels of the medical team, clearly eager for answers. They’d heard no more than a sensor blip in response to what the hell was going on down on the planet and she was beyond nervous for the implications. The Admiral’s orders had been to run when she heard anything about Pyrryx but she’d been backed into this situation. They had no choice not but to stay the course, but at the moment, she had no idea what the course even looked like.
“Finn?” Calliope’s cogs tripped on that part of the question, even while she was trying to order the rest of her thoughts. She hadn’t been prepared for Corvus to meet them at the door, but went right up to her. “Finn wasn’t on my team, Captain. The Marshal, Binns, and Johannes are going to need an extraction, first thing.” Calliope skipped ahead to the most pressing item. “There’s a Pyrryx on the planet. We tried to make it back as fast as we could, but Steiner wanted to check for some Starfleet survivors we heard about on the way. After we dropped Stiener and the marines off on the shore, we incidentally recovered three of the four survivors in-air. They had hijacked a Pyrryx craft, but left behind another, somebody named Porter, down on the surface.” It was all out of order as an account went, and left out everything to do with the Korinn, but it was where she had to start. Her head tilted, looking past Corvus to the damaged type 11 shuttle on the deck behind her… Someone else had seen some action while she had been out. “What happened with Finn?”
“Dammit!” Corvus exclaimed, shaking her head and setting her hands on her hips.
Calliope had been assuming she was going to be the one with the report to give, but it seemed like it was her that was actually out of some loop. “What? Did you deploy Finn?”
“We have three teams down there now,” Corvus answered with exasperation. “Steiner, Finn and the runabout Captain Callum sent,” she said, shaking her head, trying to steady her own footing. “You didn’t see anything from Major Finn?”
“No, I had no idea. We didn’t have any comms until we got over the storm. I heard nothing.”
“He dropped with a team to get them,” she said, gesturing to the survivors being tended in the back of the runabout. “A team of five. Now you’re telling me there’s an actual Pyrryx down there?” she shook her head even more, “Dammit!”
“I didn’t get confirmation on the Pyrryx myself. But the Korinn we met with told us there was one on the volcano on the island, and the woman we recovered said there was one chasing the man they left on the surface. I guess he ran a distraction ploy for them to steal the Pyrryx ship. They had to be trying to get out during the revolt the Irix…” Calliope realized that would be a new name for Corvus. “The Free Korinn set off against the Z’ala, the Pyrryx collaborators. We have two delegates from the Irix Korinn aboard. They’re willing to go back to the station with us. They gave us the core too.”
“Who are the Z’ala, what’s a Free Korinn?” Corvus asked. Now more questions than ever were piling up.
“Irix and Z’ala are Korinn factions.” Calliope was still looking past Corvus, trying to make sense of something. “Did you say the Marines ‘dropped’ in?”
“Yes, five of them,” she waved dismissively.
Calliope pointed to the damaged shuttle. “They didn’t take the shuttle?”
“No. They didn’t take the shuttle, and didn’t tell anyone they were going,” Corvus fired off testily. The betrayal for her was still raw; not just because Declan had gone around her and done it but because she could hear that little voice in the back of her head that was telling her she should have sent him herself and saved the issue. That getting them off had been the right call. She tried to regain her composure and her grip on the situation, “You have the other survivors? How many?”
Didn’t tell anyone they were going? It sounded like a sore subject. “Three. A Betazoid woman and two kids. They’re from the USS Sunrise. The woman is anyway.” Calliope was less sure about the history and the kids. “The Korinn said they had kids on the island since they arrived, but everyone died off, save for two adults and two of the kids.”
“What?” DeHavilland asked in confusion. “Everyone died off? What the hell happened down there?!”
Calliope waved her hands in a sort of nevermind gesture. She was losing time. “I have to get everyone unloaded, the delegates and the survivors. I need a fresh team. I have to go back for Steiner. I left him and Binns and Johannes on the shore, by the survivors camp, in the storm. The Theseus team won’t know to look for them.”
“No. No, absolutely not,” Corvus declared emphatically. “The Demophon is going to be lucky to get off that planet in one piece. The storms we were tracking make earth category five hurricanes look like a windy day. I’m not sending another runabout.”
Shaking her head, Calliope didn’t like the answer. Damn Steiner and his bullheaded refusal to follow her order to call off his search. He’d done this to himself. But that didn’t make her stomach turn any less. “No. I can’t leave them.”
“If they don’t come up with the Demophon, and the storm clears, then…” she sighed, “We’ll do what I should have to start with. We’ll take the Pathfinder down and secure them directly. If I have to drop the whole Marine detachment to get them, we’ll do it. We’re in it now, Calli. The Admiral’s orders went stale the minute I sent the first team down. They either get up on their own, or we’ll all go to get them.”
Calliope put a hand on her forehead and kicked the shuttle ramp.
“I need you on the bridge, Calli. Get this sorted, and get up there. Before this whole thing goes to hell in a handbasket,” Corvus added as a final note, before turning and leaving the shuttlebay. Already she was feeling anxious at having been out of the main hub of things this long. Especially now that they had more new issues than they’d resolved. She was starting to feel a burning in her chest like she might have to throw up. This was not the way things were supposed to go.
“Aye, Captain. I’ll be right up with our guests.” Calliope ducked back into the Acamas to address the delegates. She huffed, straightened out her shoulders and prepared her best neutral expression, hoping not to overwhelm them with her own problems as she got them introduced to the view from an alien spaceship.
”I think it might be that time, Corvus,” Captain Callum shook his head slowly, appearing in holo-version on the bridge of the Pathfinder. “We have to make a decision. We either leave everyone behind, or we call it in,” he said. “The Admiral’s going to have both our asses if we keep down this path without a word to anyone else. Best case scenario right now, is we get our people and we get the feck out of here. Worst, we end up like those Sunshiner’s down there,” he growled frustratedly.
He had been the biggest advocate to go down and sort it out directly, but now even he had to admit that their plans had fallen apart almost immediately. They’d lost touch with the Demophon just as they had with the other vessels and it had long since been past a reasonable amount of time for them to do their job and get back to the ship. So either things were far more trouble than they anticipated down on the surface, or they were long since dead.
Corvus took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a moment and then nodded. “I’ll break radio silence and contact the Admiral,” she agreed.
“Aye. That’s the right call,” Lachlan agreed.
Subconsciously worried about appearing as haggard as she felt and giving the situation a bad look as she stood by in the backdrop, Calliope pressed her hair straight and zipped up her collar. There wasn’t enough time for doing her makeup but hell if she was going to ruin this by being sloppy. Everyone on the surface was relying on the Admiral not getting the impression that the whole thing was ready to scrap and dash.
Calliope motioned to Uanika and T’orpeo where they had settled near Cesar’s station, staying near the science officer who had most proven to be a friend. “The Captain will be addressing one of our leaders in Starfleet, an Admiral.” She said quietly. “Standby in case he wants to speak with you.”
Uanika waved her hands in the air - a Korinn nod - and wondered if ‘admiral’ was on par with a crest. “I will be ready.”
Corvus turned back to the Operations station, “Can you see if the Alexander is in subspace range, please,” she ordered. “If not, I’ll record a message and you can send it through the relay,” she explained. It was a bit complicated how that all worked out, probably something Commander Quinn could explain in nauseating detail. But, suffice it to say, as far from the reservation as they were there was a good chance they weren’t getting a live call with the Admiral.
“Aye, Captain.” Louke shot a glance at the newcomers before tamping his curiosity down and focusing on the task at hand as he filtered through the detritus hampering a reliable signal lock.
Corvus looked to the strangers on her bridge and then over at Callum, wondering just how foreign this must have all looked to them. People living and breathing without water with technological tools that they probably hadn’t even dreamed of. Maybe they were close. Maybe that station could have been the jumping off for a technological renaissance. But so far as she knew, that hadn’t happened.
"I’m not able to reach the station,” Louke offered with a frown. “I’ll see if I can piggyback off the nearest vessel… ok… I have something,” he said, “It’s the best I can get, Captain.”
Corvus had expected to see a holographic form of someone but instead was met by the grainy, unintelligible viewscreen feed. It was clear there was someone there, but the feedback was substantial and she couldn’t tell if she was looking at Admiral Sepandiyar or Commander Zayne. For all she knew, she was talking to Mickey Mouse.
“We’re sure this is Obsidian Command?” DeHavilland asked.
“We’re on the Starfleet relay network. I’m not sure if we’re hitting OC or just another ship in the fleet that will relay the information,” he answered. “We’re well off the grid, ma’am,” he added in explanation.
“This is Captain DeHavilland, of the USS Pathfinder. Please relay this message to Admiral Sepandiyar of the USS Alexander,” she began, talking slowly and calmly so that if the message was as garbled on their side that they would have the chance to parse it. She cleared her throat. “We have followed the sensor trail, leading to a derelict space station and further to an inhabited world - Korin,” she explained carefully. “Our orders were to leave at the first sign of any Pyrryx. However, I cannot follow that order as I have new information and complications,” she continued.
“We have discovered the survivors of a downed Starfleet vessel, the USS Sunrise, on this planet. Kept as captives of the Pyrryx. We have positively identified one Pyrryx on the planet and are under the assumption that they have called for help. We are in the process of extracting our remaining personnel from the planet, along with a delegation of Korin who wish to speak with the Federation,” she continued on.
The viewscreen was just as fuzzy as ever, and occasionally a sharp buzz of sound blurred her speech a bit as the interference peaked and Louke quickly compensated.
“Until we receive orders to the contrary, it’s my decision to stay here and finish rescuing the last of our people on the surface and then return to base, regardless if the Pyrryx arrive in force. I won’t leave the last of the crew of the Sunrise, or my own behind,” she declared emphatically, for the first time feeling like she had a firm grasp of something in this mission.
The static didn’t resolve, nor did it improve. It was obvious the person on the other end was trying to talk to them, but not making any progress with it. In the end, there was a sharp, garbled, ‘understood’, and then feed ended. DeHavilland turned immediately back to Louke who was shaking his head.
“The signal was terminated.”
Corvus sighed slowly as she looked to Callum.
The man simply shrugged, “We best keep on with what we’re doing and get the hell out of here,” he said.
“Yeah,” Corvus replied. “And hope the Pyrryx didn’t get a message out.”
“They didn’t,” Uanika spoke up. Everyone on the Bridge turned to look at her and she suddenly felt self-conscious. A few nervous bubbles slipped from her lips, but she pressed on. “They couldn’t have.”
“If I may.” Calliope stopped her. “With everything in play, I’m sorry we haven’t been able to make proper introductions. This is Uanika, she is the leading delegate to the Federation, selected to represent the Free Irix School of the Korinn, and her associate, T’orpeo- he is a leading scientist. This is our ship’s captain, Corvus DeHavilland, and this man who is visiting our bridge by a light projection, called a hologram communication, is aboard that ship—” She pointed to the Prometheus class in the viewer. “His name is Captain Lachlan Callum.” Having named the delegates and the captains, Calliope proceeded with a short explanation. “Uanika and T’orpeo have chosen to leave their homeworld in hopes of representing the case of the Free Irix to the Federation. When we met, the Irix explained that there is a zealot faction of Korinn, the Z’ala, who operate the mining facility on the island using captive slave Irix, and serving the Pyrryx who they venerate. When they detected the Pathfinder in orbit, the slave Irix initiated a revolt they had already had planned. It was in motion before we even spoke.”
Uanika waved her hands in agreement and looked to her companion, “T’orpeo can explain. He had more involvement with the Resistance.”
“It was my understanding,” he smoothly transitioned, “That the communications tower was destroyed first. After many years of watching the Pyrryx, we don’t believe they are close enough for any reinforcements to arrive in less than three tides…er…seven hours. Unless, of course, we’re unlucky.”
Saaba looked concerned. “Captain,” the tactical officer interjected. “Even if there were no Pyrryx subspace calls made that doesn't mean there isn’t an alarm. It’s a common practice in Starfleet to have a check signal for security purposes. If they had next to no regular stationed personnel here, I would imagine the Pyrryx might at least have a standard check-in signal, just as we would. And if they did have one, we would have no way of knowing if it was a cycling every seven minutes, seven hours, seven days, seven weeks since the tower went down. We have no idea. But it’s possible they wouldn’t need to get a message out for an alarm to be raised.”
“Well, that’s gonna bite.” Calliope rubbed her face, still tasting the salt spray on her skin. “Sabba’s right. Even I was using an alls-well signal just a couple of hours ago, trying to stay in contact with the buoys. It’s so standard, and often automated, we hardly think twice about it. They’d be stupid not to have one. In any case, it’s a big fat unknown. The whole planet’s bound to have the Pyrryx response as a problem one way or another. The Free Irix were preparing for that reality.” Calliope knew she hadn’t made any false promises to being able to make an immediate difference to that effect, and that Steiner had highlighted the fact with them. The move to start a revolution had been their own. It still brought them right back to the same conclusion Captain Callum had drawn. “Now it’s just a gamble if we get our people back before the hammer falls...”
