USS Culver City was underway from Derganix, conducting a survey of both the larger Duwalla system and a pair of adjacent systems.  She began her pattern not in Duwalla itself, but in one of its adjacent systems, the Tisalfa system.  What preliminary data that did exist indicated that Tisalfa was uncolonized, and that is also had no indigenous societies; what it did have, though, was a potential for a relative wealth of resources, if one had the technology to leverage it properly.  The system had four planets, one small terrestrial ‘rock’ without a moon that closely orbited the system’s star, a second small rocky planet with a couple of smaller moons a bit further out, a proper gas giant orbited by a number of moons, and then what amounted to an ‘ice-cube’ planet – in fact just barely large enough and with an orbit just regular enough to avoid a ‘dwarf planet’ designation – that was orbited by a single icy moon.

Culver City had begun her survey on the outer edges of the system, with the ice planet and its icy moon.  Both, it turned out, were mineralogically unremarkable, comprised of basic stones and ores; however, Tisalfa 4 did show markers consistent with subsurface liquid water, which also suggested a degree of geothermal activity.  As the data was coming in, K’lev noticed Lotharys almost bouncing in her seat from excitement.  “Okay there, Ophelia?” he asked.

She looked up excitedly.  “Think we can stay here for a bit?  I’d love to do a deep-dive study here; if we could confirm liquid water within Tisalfa 4, especially if it’s carrying necessary compounds for life – or even micro-organisms – it could be a big discovery!”

K’lev smiled, his XO’s enthusiasm infectious.  “Well, how long do you think you’d need?  I’d love to stay, too, but we do have to survey the rest of Tisalfa, then move on to Vekrun before finishing with Duwalla.   So, while the ship may not be able to stay, what I’m thinking is what if you took a small team in a shuttle?  Think you’ll be able to get the data you need?”

Lotharys nodded eagerly.  “Yeah, that should work!  Hopefully it won’t take too long; maybe a few hours?”

K’lev made a show of thinking about it for a moment, then his smile grew to a full-blown grin as he activated an intercom channel from his chair’s armrest console.  “Bridge to shuttlebay 1.  I need you to prepare a shuttle, outfitted with core-sampling equipment, solid and liquid sample storage containers, EVA suits rated for extreme temperatures, and a portable probe.”

“Will do, sir,” came the reply from the shuttlebay manager.  ”  It’ll be ready shortly.  What shall I note for the flight log?”

“Research trip for the executive officer, plus two,” K’lev answered.

“I’ll note it down.”

“Thank you!  Bridge out.”  With that, K’lev closed the channel, then turned to Lotharys.  “Your chariot awaits!  Take some people with you; I’d suggest at least a pilot plus two research assistants.”

Lotharys jumped to her feet.  “Thanks, Var!” she said as she ran into the turbolift.  As the doors closed, her voice could be heard.  “Lotharys to Valz and…”  The closing of the door muffled her voice.

A short time later, a call came up from shuttlebay 1.  “Sir,” came the bay manager’s voice.  “Shuttlecraft Lovelace is ready for departure.”

“She’s clear to launch,” K’lev replied.  “Tell Lieutenant Lotharys to keep in touch, and to make sure she’s back before we leave the system.”

“Yes, sir.”  With that, the bay manager closed the channel.

Keeping tabs on his armrest console, K’lev watched the Lovelace edge out of shuttlebay 1, then pick up speed as she headed for Tisalfa 4.  Once Lovelace was clear, he looked to Lieutenant Phillips at the helm.  “Let’s keep moving, Ari; time to head for the next one in, I think.”

While Lotharys conducted her own survey – the plan was that she and her team would meet up with the ship later, and stay in regular contact – Culver City proceeded in-system, headed for the gas giant Tisalfa 3.  The gas giant itself proved interesting, as scans showed elevated levels of deuterium and hydrogen deuteride from what would have been expected in a planet of Tisalfa 3’s size.  The deuterium still did not appear in adequate concentrations to allow Tisalfa 3 to serve as a naturally-replenishing fuel source for vessels with deuterium-fueled engines and so this was likely not as a result of outside influence or artificial processes, but that didn’t make the discovery any more curious.

Culver City then moved on to begin studying the 11 moons – 4 major and 7 minor – that orbited Tisalfa 3.  One of the moons, a minor moon labeled as ‘Tisalfa 3.8’ on the ship’s system map, showed evidence of small duranium deposits; the deposits were not large enough to support a major fleet shipyard, but there was enough duranium present to perhaps support some smaller and simpler construction.  The major draw, though, was Tisalfa 3.3, one of the four major moons.  While the surface of Tisalfa 3.3 was utterly inhospitable to any known life, the moon showed evidence of an extensive subterranean cavern system that generally sat deep enough to protect its interior from exposure to solar radiation, and so could potentially be terraformed.  The moon also had a rather notable naturally-occurring resource, in the form of some significant deposits of dilithium crystals.

“Sir?” said the ensign who had taken Lotharys’s place at the Sciences station while she was away.  “I’m looking at the data from 3.3 and comparing it to Blythe‘s biometric data on the Formicans, and they might actually be able to colonize the inside of this moon, with some minimal terraforming mainly to provide an oxygen supply.”

K’lev walked around to join the ensign at Science, looking over his shoulder at the displays.  “Good catch!  Note it in the log; we should probably confer with Blythe first, since they’re handling the bulk of the diplomatic outreach right now, but this could be some good news for the Formicans.”  He then looked over towards Tiza at ops.  “In the meantime, though, let’s prep and launch a buoy to stake a claim on any and all resources present in Tisalfa 3 and all of its moons; Starfleet’s gonna need resource fields in the Expanse as well, to support further operations.”

Tiza nodded, and in short order the probe was launched.  Culver City then moved on to Tisalfa 2; while Tisalfa 2 did have some mineral and natural gas deposits, none were remarkable enough to merit their own claim buoys.  Likewise, Tisalfa 1 – rather close to the system’s star – was generally unremarkable.  With the survey of Tisalfa now completed, Culver City bore around and headed back out-system towards Tisalfa 4, to rendezvous with the Lovelace and her away team before warping to Vekrun.

Lovelace answered quickly when hailed, Lotharys speaking.  “Get some good data?” K’lev asked.

“Yes!” she exclaimed in reply.  “Got some samples to run in the lab, but we can confirm liquid water within Tisalfa 4!  There’s some significant subsurface geothermal activity, too, so I’d be shocked if there isn’t at least microbial life in those seas.  We were also able to get some ice samples, and even do some coring, so we should be well-placed to learn more about the planet, and possibly the system as well!”

“That’s great news, Lia!  Let’s make a note to see if command can spare a full survey team to follow up on your findings; I’d love to stay longer and let you go wild, but we do have a schedule to keep and all that.”

She nodded.  “I know.  And of course I’d love to stay, too, but maybe we can swing back by later?   In the meantime, though, we good to dock?”

K’lev smiled, glad at the prospect of being reunited.  “Come on in, shuttlebay 1.  And feel free to keep going on your analysis.  Honestly, your findings’ll probably be a lot more interesting than ours; we found some resource fields, but that’s about it.”

“Sounds good!  See you back aboard.  Shuttlecraft Lovelace, out.”  With that, Lotharys closed the channel.

Over the next few minutes, the Lovelace returned to shuttlebay 1 and landed without issue.  Once she was safely confirmed aboard, K’lev turned to Phillips.  “All right, time for number two; set course for the Vekrun system, warp 7.”

Culver City went to warp, dropping out a few hours later on the outskirts of the Vekrun system.  Like Tisalfa, Vekrun showed no signs of prior civilization.  A five-planet system, its outer- and innermost planets were both essentially just rocks in space; the innermost planet was rotationally locked to the star, leading one side of the rocky orb to be perpetually in sunlight and the other perpetually in shadow, while the outermost was essentially just a ball of ice around a rocky core.  The fourth planet was a gas giant with a rather visually striking ring system and three moons, while the second and third planets were also terrestrial, like the first and fifth.

As before, Culver City started from the outside and worked inwards.  Vekrun 5 was an utterly unremarkable planet, beyond the presence of surface ice, and so the ship and crew spent little time on it beyond a basic survey orbit.  Vekrun 4, the ringed gas giant, yielded some beautiful imagery; however, its value extended beyond the aesthetic.  A few of the larger bodies in the ring system showed evidence of minor duranium deposits, and the second moon – labeled as Vekrun 4.2 on Culver City‘s charts – bore several veins of dilithium crystals; as she had done at Tisalfa 3, Culver City dropped a buoy, staking a claim on the resources of Vekrun 4 and its associated rings and moons, before moving on.

Vekrun 3 yielded only unremarkable minerals and ores, in some significant quantities but truthfully nothing that could not also be gotten elsewhere.  Vekrun 2 bore more significant fruit, though.  It’s sole moon, rather remarkably, housed deposits that nobody on Culver City had expected to see: significant pools of latinum – in its natural, liquid state – were found, making this moon incredibly valuable.  K’lev immediately ordered a claim buoy dropped here as well, staking out all resources of Vekrun 2 and its moon, to go along with the prior claim on Vekrun 4.  Rounding out the system, Vekrun 1 was devoid of any resources of note, and as a basic terrestrial planet with little to no atmosphere its only major scientific value was in being rotationally locked.

The survey now two-thirds complete, Culver City swung around and headed for the outskirts of the Vekrun system; after clearing Vekrun 5, she went to warp, returning to the Duwalla colony for her survey there.  If truth be told, the Duwalla survey was less resource-interested as it was socio-political; while finding unclaimed resources certainly would have been a plus, its primary goal was to determine who had influence where in the system between the Dergans, the Formicans, and the Ferengi.  There were not really any unclaimed resource fields in the Duwalla system; the Consortium, predictably, had claimed many of the most valuable fields, leaving the Dergans and Formicans to divide what was left amongst themselves.

Many of those valuable fields controlled by the Consortium would, in fact, be used by the Consortium in trade with the Dergans and the Formicans, creating functional monopolies on these resources in the system that meant that the Ferengi could set whatever price they liked and the two indigenous cultures would be required to pay it.  These prices were often exorbitant, leaving the Dergans and Formicans in debt to the Ferengi, which only served to further render them subject to the Consortium’s whims in their lives.  On the bridge of the Culver City, K’lev allowed himself a satisfied smile: if leveraged properly, the resources that his ship had found during its surveys in the Tisalfa and Vekrun systems could go a long way in helping to free the Dergans and the Formicans from their reliance on the Consortium, enabling them to more readily pursue their own futures.