“Coordinates locked, we’re ready to transport you now,” said the transporter operator, that is until Zina stepped into the room.

“Wait!” She said as she stepped up onto the transporter pad only to pause for a second when she realized it was just Maya and Koyda. “Where is everyone?”

“If there is going to be an evacuation, they’re going to be needed here. Why are you here?” Maya asked.

“I got permission from the Captain. I’m coming with you so I can determine what exactly is producing breathable air in the cavern on a world made entirely out of gems and crystals. It’s also important to know this information, in case we get stuck down there longer than we plan to,” Zina explained as she stepped onto an empty pad and put on her oxygen mask. She had no time to put an EV suit on, so an oxygen mask was the best she could do.

“Fine by me,” said Koyda.

“Energize,” Maya ordered, as she did not want to waste any more time.

In matter of seconds, Zina watched the transporter room be replaced with a large opening before them and various large, elongated crystals that would be in place of where trees would be. The ground around them was a surprisingly flat surface and was nothing but gems as far as the eye could see. There was no dirt, no grass, barely a noticeable atmosphere. Zina already had her tricorder out with the scanner at work before her arm was grabbed, where she was pulled with the two into the cave. The last thing she saw before they went completely inside, was some Romulan crafts that looked to be almost a hundred feet away.

“I know this is tickling your scientific child inside, but we are on a very important mission here,” said Koyda.

“Sorry, it is just incredible. How is there even atmosphere? And it’s warm! With barely an atmosphere, you would think it be a little colder. But then, there is not a single cloud in the sky! No ocean or lakes or-”

“We get it. Maybe Starfleet can get back here with you on board a science vessel,” said Koyda.

They traveled for what felt like a kilometer, maybe half really, the path sloped downward a bit so they were they would be several hundred feet below the surface. Without the lamps from the Hazard suits, they would be in pure darkness. That is until they traveled a few dozen feet more, where they were met with natural light that started to grow brighter. A few feet more and they came to an entrance to a enormous cavern, so enormous, Zina could barely see an end to it.

“Starfleet!”

Nearly startled, Zina looked to see where the voice came from and saw a Romulan female who approached them, with a big smile on her face.

“I have never been happier to see Starfleet in my entire life! Oh, you don’t need that mask anymore, or your helmets, there’s plenty of air to go around,” said the woman, while Zina watched Koyda and Maya remove their helmets.

Zina quickly pulled her oxygen mask off, “How big is this cavern? What’s producing the oxygen? Where is all this light coming from?”

The woman laughed before she ushered Zina to come with her, but before she had left the ear shot of Koyda and Maya, she heard Maya inform Sovereign that it was safe.

“The hell is going on?” Ruby asked, as he stood there in the corridor just outside of the main shuttle bay and there were lines of crew that led to the bay.

“Where were you when the order was given?” Mizu asked. She had just reached him, after she had to squeeze through several people to reach him.

“Well, I was not as fortunate as you were to be assigned to the bridge. I got stuck in the control complex. I guess it was important for me to learn a bit about operations and flight plans and-” Ruby stopped when her hand went up.

“The Captain made the evacuation order. All nonessential personnel are going to the planet below. So everyone received their orders to either use transporter pads or load up on all the small crafts we got.” Mizu explained to him.

The Chief Operator of the Shuttle Bays Control Complex stepped out to find the two of them standing there in the corridor. “You two! Are you both pilots?”

“Yes, sir.” They said in unison.

“Then I need you two to get into the cargo shuttles on deck seven, run the emergency flight checks to get your crafts ready to go as soon as possible. Once the crafts from deck eight depart, we will lower your crafts down so that they can be boarded. Got it?” The Chief asked.

“Understood,” Said Ruby.

“Loud and clear!” Said Mizu and she followed right behind Ruby but noticed he was heading for the closest transporter pad. “Why are we going this way?”

“I didn’t see catwalks that went to the suspended cargo shuttles, so we will have to get beamed onto them,” Ruby explained.

“Oh fun.”

Not even five minutes later, Ruby was transported to the very front suspended cargo shuttle while Mizu was transported to the third one in the row, as two others were transported to the other two. Ruby sat down in the pilot seat and as he started to go through the emergency flight checks, he could see shuttles leaving through the open door. It was not long until his cargo shuttle began to descend to the hangar deck. He went through the most important systems in the power up sequence before he brought the shuttle online, that by the time the engines were primed, the sudden thud beneath him told him that the craft was on the hangar deck.

In matter of seconds, after the side doors opened, crew started to flood in and take their seats, or stand where they could as the craft was filled to capacity.

“Mom, are we going to die?” A child complained, one that got Ruby’s attention where he took a look over his shoulder and saw a little girl looking up at her mother, someone who looked to be from the science department. Or medical.

“No sweetie, we’re going to be just fine,” she told her child.

“But why is everyone leaving?” The look on her face showed she was scared and Ruby thought about keeping quiet and let the mother handle it but something in him just wanted to help.

“It’s okay little one. We’re leaving because something very important on the ship broke but we got really good people working on it right now,” Ruby smiled as he had turned his seat around to look directly at her. “But you want to see something really cool? Its the planet that we’re going down to and I think you’re going to love it.” Ruby held out his hands. With the approval from her mother, she came over to Ruby where he picked her up and sat her down on one of his legs, turned back around so that they faced the controls.

“Cargo Four, why haven’t you departed yet?” Came from the control complex.

“Departing now,” Ruby replied and took the controls. First he made the board indicated that the doors were shut and sealed before he lifted the craft off the hangar deck and accelerated out and through the forcefield. Once he was clear from the ship, he turned the craft towards the rendezvous point, to which brought the crystal like planet right into view.

“Whoa!” She exclaimed, the fear on her face completely disappeared and replaced with shock and awe.

“Right?” Ruby smiled. “You don’t see these kinds of planets every day.”

“But…how do we breath crystal?” She asked.

Ruby’s smile got even bigger. “There is a little bit of oxygen on the surface, but we will be wearing oxygen masks when we step out of the shuttle. Then we will go to a cave, that we will be landing close to, and deep inside the cave is a massive subterranean cavern that has lots of oxygen, safe for us to breathe.” The rest of the flight was calm but short, and they landed in a large area next to the other crafts where crew had exited and began their short trek towards the cave where they will enter the massive subterranean cavern.