Another day, another ship, another rendezvous gone sideways.

Though not without good reason this time. Nathan had been on the bridge of Osiris, getting the unofficial Thomar Expanse update from an old friend, when the distress call had come in. Outpost scientist were once again up to their necks in trouble and needed bailing out. Someone pointed out immediately that Osiris was the closest ship by a day at high warp and before he could even think about it, he’d volunteered to ride shotgun with Captain Torres.

Torres had more sense than he did. She called ahead to the next ship in the line, the Bismarck, arrangements had been made and then Nathan found himself bundled onto a shuttle with some poor ensign whose entire job for the next two days was to fly him to meet a shuttle from Bismarck and then return to Osiris, wherever that might end up being.

What would have been a day more aboard Osiris turned into two and a half days on shuttles. Cramped spaces, only one person to talk to, or ignore. And in both cases people he was likely twice the age, if not more so. Rank added on top of that created dull atmospheres for him and likely oppressive for his pilots.

If his own experiences at that age were anything to go by.

“Commander?” the young woman beside him asked. Ensign Samantha Woods, of the USS Bismarck, as she’d introduced herself.

He shook his head, blinking his eyes and trying to drag himself back into the here and now. He’d been away with the faeries, eyes going from the dull report in front of him to the near-hypnotic swirl of light that modern warp drives created and back again. The last few hours, or was it minutes, he couldn’t recall.

“Sorry, Ensign, was somewhere else,” he said. “Rank might have its privileges, but it comes with reports you have to read.” He waved the padd before tossing it gently to fall between the console and window of the shuttle.

“So my dad tells me,” she answered with a smile. “Was just saying we’re about to drop out of warp and you might want to secure anything loose.”

“What?” he asked, then recalled the briefing she’d given him yesterday after he’d beamed aboard the shuttle Rubber Duck. “Oh, right, yes. You’re certain you can get this shuttle through the atmosphere without any issues?”

“I got her out, didn’t I?” she answered with all the confidence and swaggering he expected of youth, and more so from pilots. “It’ll be fine.”

“Ensign Woods, just remember, there are old pilots and bold pilots – ”

“But no old, bold pilots,” she said, cutting him off. “Captain says it to me a lot as well.”

Just then the shuttle decelerated, the inky depth of space once more taking over from the swirling light of the warp field. And then with a few inputs the shuttle rolled and climbed, the brilliant arc of a planet swinging rapidly into view, dominating the window. Roiling cloud banks covered a large swath of a continent ahead of them. Outside of a gas giant, this was one of the largest storms Nathan had ever seen in his life. Dark blue oceans gave way to patchy green and brown coastlines before clouds obscured everything.

“Welcome to Windswept,” Woods said. “AG6-543-C officially. Cloud covers ninety percent of the northern most continent, with no discernible reason last I heard. Transporters don’t work through the clouds, wind speeds read as nice and sedate until you try flying a shuttle through and then it gets downright vicious. Tapers off the closer you get to the ground, though.”

“And we’re going through that?” he asked.

“Quickest way to the Bismarck is straight down,” Woods answered with a smile, then tapped a few keys on her side of the console. The shuttle’s impulse engines whined into life once more, the planet before them immediately starting to swell in size. “Buckle up, sir.”

The entire ordeal from orbit to below where the wind took on murderous intent was roughly fifteen minutes. Thankfully only the last five of it had proven to be ‘interesting’. And to his own relief, Nathan was glad that Ensign Woods hadn’t started maniacally laughing, even if she did look like she wanted to. The woman was a natural pilot, in tune with the shuttle as much as her own self, expertly weaving through the sudden storm that had surrounded them, riding the eddies and currents and delivering them to relative safety with only a few new bumps and bruises.

“They’re down here somewhere,” Woods said as she finally checked the sensors, throwing the shuttle into a turn and keeping them close to the ground as they raced towards where Bismarck was hiding.

Cresting over a ridge, Rubber Duck came into a large, verdant valley. A winding river worked down from a series of hills, evidence of its meandering time-worn into the valley floor. It looked like an idyllic mountain valley, with gentle rolling fields of grass and the occasional copse of trees increasing as one approached the valley walls. But smack in the middle of all of this stood two signs of civilization that were utterly unmistakable.

The first and easily most noticeable was the grey-white hull of a Starfleet vessel. USS Bismarck was perched on four landing legs; her nacelles were dull and devoid of light. A small collection of tents and tables had sprung up around the grounded craft, leading from the rear of the ship towards the second sign of civilization on this world. An ancient, half-overgrown pyramid that stood twice the height of the landed Bismarck and, evidenced from the dig site against one side, extended some distance underground as well.

“What in the name?” Nathan asked, trailing off as he knew his question to the universe would go mostly unanswered.

“Captain Spencer thinks it might be Tkon, or maybe Iconian.” Woods brought the shuttle around in a long, slow loop over both the structure and ship, banking to let Nathan get a good look from the air at what Bismarck had found. “Stumbled on it while we were sniffing out some Breen raiders that the Fleet Captain is chasing after.”

“And you all just set up camp?” he asked, not taking his eyes away from the pyramid. Plenty of officers could be seen on the ground, a few looking up and waving. A couple even jumping up and down, waving their arms excitedly. “Friends of yours?”

“Jess and Jake,” Woods answered. “Engineering and Science, respectively.”

Nothing more needed to be said as Woods brought the shuttle down in a clearing, Bismarck’s other shuttle there as well. The ship didn’t have a large crew, and it looked like nearly half of it was out on the field, either at the dig site or in the tents working away. A few scurried about, gently loading crates, carrying them away towards the Bismarck, or tagging them for transport, obviously unaffected at this close range.

“The captain is at the dig,” Woods said as the hatch to the rear opened. “Want me to take your bags aboard ship?”

“Please do.”

It took nearly a quarter hour, three queries, and pointed directions before Nathan finally found Captain Malakai Spencer. This wasn’t a stand back and watch captain, but a get in there sort. The man before him had swapped his uniform for kit more suitable for a dig. He was sitting on the ground just outside of an entrance into the pyramid, three others with him and all looking absolutely exhausted as they sipped away at water bottles. Something was quietly said before he pushed himself to his feet, dusted off his hands and then closed the distance with Nathan, offering a smile and handshake.

“You must be Commander Kennedy,” Spencer said, his grip firm, but not crushing. “Welcome to my office.” He waved around with his free hand. “Would you like the tour?”

“Love to,” Nathan answered, looking at the well-lit tunnel into the pyramid. “Tkon or Iconian?”

The captain chuckled, letting Nathan’s hand go as he turned to the tunnel and started walking. “Come inside, meet the boss. Might as well get the answer straight from the font of knowledge.”

“The boss?” Nathan asked.

“Trust me, Commander, you start a dig like this, the blue-shirts will take over. Come, see what we’ve found. Then you can tell Lieutenant Ilves to either pack everything up, or set up a proper camp so I can take Bismarck to your next rendezvous.”