Medical Rescue

Posted on Wed Oct 15th, 2025 @ 12:07pm by Lieutenant Aidan O'Connor & Commander Samantha Howard & Lieutenant JG James Phoenix

1,984 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Wild Wild West
Location: Planet

Aidan opened the hatch, a rush of the internal atmosphere hitting him in the face. It appeared that emergency lighting was active, providing a dimly lit area that he was now responsible for assessing. He pulled open his tricorder and began to take readings. "Looks safe to enter. This material seems to be the primary building material for this vessel. We aren't going to have reliable readings for more than a few meters. We are going to have to do this the old-fashioned way. At least until we can locate the internal sensors on this beast" he said to Ashlynn before cautiously making his way inside.

Meanwhile outside the ship, Sam and James were making their way around the perimeter of the crash site, taking note of the condition of the hull, the debris spread and the way the ship had finally come to rest. She looked at the long gouge marks in the landscape and made the assumption that it had been skidding at a low trajectory before coming to its final resting place. "Looks like they tried to put her down gently, that would indicate someone was alive when they hit the atmosphere" Sam mused aloud as they surveyed the damage. Scorch marks could be seen on the hull although their origin was impossible to determine. "Looks like weapons damage as well."

Aidan looked around the airlock before pressing forward into the ship proper. Based on a cursory evaluation, whoever these people were, they were likely humanoid, bipedal, possibly tall based in the floor-to-ceiling distance. The walls we smooth and shiny, a well polish shine that you could find with several metals and alloys. Whatever this sensor-limiting material was, they seemed to use it for everything. Likely a species that preferred privacy. They may even have cloaking technology, which would mean he would have to use his skills and knowledge of Romulan style technology. He heard the footfalls behind him, "Bit eerie in here lass" he said to Ashlynn. "Reminds me of a derelict I had to help salvage once. Same feeling as here, as if we have come aboard some sort of ghost ship, and everywhere we walk is like walking on someone's grave."

Ashlynn had her tricorder out, in search of literally anything of interest. Aidan's words made her think back to Alpha Three and what the people dealing with the wreckage must've gone through, seeing all of the casualties that didn't drift away. As much as that accident affected her, it wasn't even a comparison to what they must have seen. She wiped the thoughts away. "Eerie is my jam" she quipped.

Back with Sam, Phoenix examined the weapons damage. "They seem recent, but not new" he said as he ran his tricorder over them" he turned to look at Sam. "Is it possible that whoever set her down is still alive?"

Aidan made his way down a corridor slowly, the sound of Ashlynn behind him echoing, as were his own footsteps. This felt like a tomb. Nothing thus far said that anyone had been aboard this ship. Not a single body, not even an indication that anyone had been aboard this ship in quite some time. He reached a door and it had writing on it. He used the tricorder to attempt to decipher it. "Looks like this is the access to the bridge." He looked over the controls and then found the right one and the door slid open.

Aidan slowly walked in, being cautious. It looked just as deserted as everything else had looked to this point. Looking around, it didn't seem like much had power. He saw one station with power though and he went to take a closer look at it. The console had dust all over it, dulling the lights and readouts. He scanned it. "Looks like this is the helm, and the ship crashed on autopilot. We need to find Engineering. It doesn't look like anyone has been on this bridge in some time. Reminds me of the old sleeper ships you can see at the museums back home."

Sam and Pheonix came around to the airlock, having completed their external survey of the ship which raised more questions than provided answers. "Aiden, Ash, you guys got a copy?" She tried their communicators, unsure if they would be working or if there would be too much interference as with the tricorders. She stepped inside, looking at the ultra-fine layer of dust that seemed to coat everything. She wiped a finger along one of the consoles near the airlock, sniffing the substance curiously. "Well, that blows the theory that someone was alive and landed this thing. Looks like it hasn't been used in forever, at least in this area of the ship"

Aidan looked to Ashlynn, "Did you say something?"

Ash shook her head. "No sir."

"Bloody hell. Even our communicator signals are being limited by this bloody ship." He looked around and checked another console after dusting it off. "This looks like the engineering and science console cluster. Let's see if we can get things functioning, maybe we can get some answers, possibly find a way to get in contact with the others."

Ashlynn nodded before moving to the science side of the cluster. She scanned it, only to find that it was damaged as expected. She removed a panel on her side and slid into the compartment to see what the issue could be. Once she clocked what the issue appeared to be, she removed a few wires, before reconnecting them. Nothing yet. She began to attempt a different combination.

Aidan continued to work on the controls. "Well, look here, I think we found the problem." He fiddled with a few wires and components and moved things around. Suddenly, the console came to life. "See, everything is just grand now." He scanned the console with his tricorder, "Looks like this ship has some sort of stealth technology that remained active even after it crashed. And it does have a cloaking device from the looks of it." He looked around the bridge, "It looks like that console over there is the tactical console. Give a quick look, see if it is banjaxed, and if not, see if you can access the internal sensors."

There was no response from Aidan or Ash. Phoenix continued scanning for literally anything. "I don't have anything yet doc."

"Soooo, where are the people? The crew?" Sam mused as they headed down one of the corridors. Without comms with the rest of her team she felt uneasy and strategically vulnerable. "They would have headed to the bridge, let's see if we can get there and find the rest of our team." Out of the corner of her eyes she thought she saw movement, almost like a ghost, but dismissed it as her eyes playing tricks on her. There was nothing on the tricorder, or comms, or anything really.

"Perhaps the crew abandoned ship somewhere?" James mused.

"Possible, or they were captured, or dead somewhere, or they're still in here somewhere, trapped" The possibilities were endless, but Sam was determined to solve this little mystery.

Back on the bridge Ash started taking a look at the tactical console. "The stealth technology could be what's affecting our comms" she mused as she tapped the screen once. It was brought to life immediately. "Nice" she quipped as she began checking the internal sensors.

"I hope that is the case, otherwise this is going to be a real difficult rescue. More like a salvage mission, and I know the doc doesn't want that" Aidan replied. He continued working on things from the engineering console. "They have a dynamic way of routing power. It is like the ship has a power generator in Engineering, but they also draw in materials to create additional power through this material that is causing us so much trouble. Deanna or Inara would be helpful looking at this technology. They's probably go head over heels with the scientific aspects" he quipped, offering a soft chuckle.

Sam and Pheonix joined them on the bridge a few minutes later, climbing out of one of the access tubes and breathing heavily. "Well, that was a workout" she quipped, wiping the dust onto her uniform pants. "Has anyone analyzed all this dust? What if it's not... dust... but... something else?" She had a bad feeling that if something atomized the crew... they could literally be wiping their hands of what was left of them. There was that odd sensation she felt earlier, like they were being watched.

Aidan looked over at the dusty Sam and Phoenix. "Why exactly did you go crawling through the tubes? You could've just walked here." He chuckled a bit. "To be honest doc, we've been working on getting things functional, trying to use the internal sensors and trying to deactivate this crazy stealth technology so that we can hopefully use our own technology effectively."

"We didn't exactly have a map and the tricorders weren't working" Sam muttered as she took in the rest of the team. They seemed in good spirits and unperturbed by the absence of crew of the specter she thought she had seen earlier.

"Can you decipher the language on these consoles?" She asked as she moved to stand beside Aiden. The strange print alien to her eyes. She had no training in languages though without the aid of a tricorder or computer system. There was a center chair in the middle of the room, and she headed for it, noting the fine coating of dust here also. There was a small control panel to one side with several colored controls.

"Your tricorder can translate the writing doc" Aidan noted. "Tricorders aren't much use here, but they can at least do that. Hopefully we can get this stealth tech turned off, maybe be able to use our tools properly then." He looked over to Phoenix, "If you don't mind, take a look at that tactical console, see if you can turn off this stealth stuff, or anything else for that matter."

Phoenix nodded before he stood beside Ash and started looking for the stealth controls on his side of the console. "Find anything?" he asked quietly.

"Not yet" she said. "Nothing on internal sensors so far."

"Hmm" he said as he found the stealth controls. "I guess it's a good thing there is a tactical officer here now" he teased.

Ash gave a deadpan look. "Rude" she said playfully.

James smirked at her before deactivating the stealth controls after he found the correct setting. "The stealth mode should be deactivated sir" he called out to Aidan.

Aidan checked his tricorder. "That was the ticket. Doc, you'll be happy to know that tricorders are working without issue now. Ought to make my work here a lot easier." He looked over at Phoenix and Ashlynn, "Now if you can find the internal sensors, we can determine if anyone is on this tub besides us."

"Good work team" Sam smiled as she flipped open her tricorder to ensure it was working. It appeared to be so. She scanned the dust, wondering if it were biological in nature or just standard particulate matter.

"Now all I need to do is get down to Engineering and take a look at the engine up close" Aidan quipped as he walked over to the tactical console where James and Ash stood. He looked at the internal sensor readout, "Looks like we are alone here. Anybody want to take a trip down to the engine room with me, or should we just call up to the ship and have a few of my team join us?"

"I can tag along" Ash said. "I'd like to take a look at the engine and navigational data to see if I can get an accurate reading as to the intended course of the ship."

TBC

 

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