PLOT LOG: Off the Leash

Posted on 01 Jun 2020 @ 12:43pm by Captain Mallory Thorne

1,002 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Ab Intra
Timeline: MD 01 - 0700 & 1130 Hours

=/\= Begin Log =/\=

Mallory walked into her ready room, reading off a PADD on the latest ship's readiness reports. As usual, she walked straight to the replicator and ordered herself a coffee, black. She took the mug and sipped from it, all while still reading. Once she'd sat down behind her desk and put the mug down as well, she finally stopped reading and looked up...

...and saw a woman sitting in the chair in front of her desk.

"What the--" Mal began in her less-than-captain-like way as she jumped back to her feet. "Who are you? ANd how did you get in here?" She was just about to call for security when she saw the woman's uniform. She recognized the red and the black of a Terran Union military uniform, since she had seen enough of them in the weeks since they arrived in this space and this timeline, and now she figured this had something to do with that wretched Stanton woman.

"I'm Lieutenant Colonel Natalia Reyes," the woman introduced herself coolly. "I'm your new observer."

Mallory arched a brow as she crossed her arms across her chest. "What happened to Colonel Gillis?"

The woman smiled, although it was a rather chill expression. "He requested a new assignment, which General Stanton agreed to. I arrived by shuttle this morning, and that ship took Gillis back to Solaris. All of my credentials and clearances are in order, which was why I was permitted access to your ship and ready room to await your arrival."

"Don't ever let yourself into this room again, clearances or not," Mal said coldly as she sat back down. Now she saw the data-tablet on her desk that was clearly of Union design, so she picked it up and read it. So far, all was above board and yes, this sounded just like something General Stanton would do. She tossed the thing back on her desk and fought to not roll her eyes. "Okay, fine, you're here. The quartermaster will set you up in Gillis's former quarters."

"Thank you, Captain," Reyes said with a slight incline of her head. Too smooth. Too political. Too...nothing at all in her eyes. "I'm sure we'll get along fine."

=/\= 1130 Hours...

It was just about lunchtime and Mallory was sitting in the captain's chair, nursing a terrible headache... She knew she should just go to sickbay and get a painkiller, but she also knew it was stress. Colonel Reyes had been on the bridge "observing" since she arrived and frankly, the woman's mere presence was enough to get on her nerves. So far, the ready room incident aside, she hadn't done anything wrong or particularly irritating. She just...existed, which was enough for Mal just then.

"Captain," Sabine's voice drifted from the front of the bridge, drawing Mallory's attention. "There's an M-class planet ahead."

At least there had been one good thing from Reyes's arrival and that was Stanton's message that the Odin was being "let off the leash," as it were, to explore and be less beholden to the Union. There had, of course, been the expected "don't screw this up" caveat, but as Mallory had no intention of doing so, it was fine. She was just glad to be able to break away from the Union's hold and do a little exploring. Return to their own roots while they were still unable to, well, return to their own roots.

"Put it on screen," Mal said and watched as a planet appeared on the view. It looked like most any other M-class world, really. Even like Earth, although they obviously knew it wasn't. She figured now was the time for the observer to make herself useful. "Are you familiar with this planet?"

"I believe it to be Alym Colony," Reyes replied impassively. "It was a scientific colony for a time."

Mallory arched her brow. "For a time."

At this, Reyes shrugged. "They went dark about five years ago. We sent a ship to do a scan and found no life signs, so the colony obviously failed."

The blase nature of the statement irked Mal, but she wasn't going to say anything about it. Why was she even surprised? "Did you send a team down to investigate?" she asked instead.

"No," the colonel said. And left it at that.

"Was this a Union colony?"

"No," Reyes repeated, although this time adding, "It was a race called the Alym Consortium, hence the name of the colony. Their primary space is some distance from here, but we've historically had a neutral relationship, trade only, with them. We sent a message regarding the colony but never received a reply. That was not uncommon for their people. They could be very...insular, but they were unaligned and independent of any alliances."

With friends like this, who needed enemies, right?

Mallory nodded and didn't ask anything more. "It sounds like something we should look into," Mal said. "Lieutenant Sabine, scan the surface. Is there anything hazardous that would prevent us from sending a team down?"

After several moments, the woman replied, "No, sir. Although there is a lot of electrical storms in the atmosphere that could interfere with communications at times."

The captain took a moment to consider this and then nodded. "Thorne to Commander Petrova," she said. "I would like you to assemble a team to investigate a colony on the surface of this planet that apparently just went dark. Let's find out what happened." A moment later, "Lieutenant Sabine, you and engineering should work on a way to keep our communications stable and bolstered why they are on the surface."

She turned to Reyes. "I assume the Union has no problem with us taking a look?" It wasn't really a question.

"None at all," the woman replied in that same impassive way.

Mallory nodded. Good. After all, what trouble could they get into on a dead colony?

=/\= End Log =/\=

OOC: Plot notes incoming! Check your email!

Captain Mallory Thorne
Commanding Officer
USS Odin

 

RSS Feed