Nathan Hawkthone’s Captain’s Log: We have taken up orbit around Arcturus IV and opened communications with the planet. The medical team is preparing to beam down to our injection centers and the support staff is hard at work ensuring that they have the proper support while on the mission. Operations and security have their hands full as we deal with thousands of civilians in a calm and orderly manner over the next two weeks.

[USS Anaheim – Shuttle Bay 1]

The Vulcan flight control officer examined the shuttle.  It was not a starship, that was obvious, but it would do. While her talents were wasted acting as a gloried driver down to the surface there was too many things to beam down and she had nothing to do while the Anaheim was in orbit. Inside the shuttle an Andorian Lieutenant Commander was checking armaments.

”Should we be armed?” a human security officer named Ensign William Hume asked.

”No, the population is peaceful. However we should have a supply just in case. Keep them locked up and out of sight, it’s a last resort,” said Kan Th’kaotross the Andorian Chief of Security. He was likely next in line for the role of Second Officer, a move that Pr’Nor had heard the Captain speculate would show someone called ‘the brass’ that he took this position seriously and was prepared for more than just medical missions.

Another Lieutenant Commander in the mustard yellow and black uniform of Starfleet, this time indicating Operations, and a human Lieutenant were moving medical supplies onboard a second shuttle. Pr’Nor watched them work, their Operations team. The human was strong and efficient, the other it was hard to tell. Etheral was a more poetic term than she would normally have used but it seemed to fit. The woman looked at her and nodded shooting the Vulcan a smile.

Pr’Nor approached, “I am Pr’Nor, the Chief Flight Control Officer.”

”Tashai, I do things,” the woman said.

”Things Is not a specific term,“ Pr’Nor said.

”After a few hundred years you learn to be vague,” the other woman said, “To leave open the pathways of possibility.”

”Definition helps reveal possibilities,” the Vulcan said.

“You’re Vulcan, you would,” Tashai said and smiled wider.

”You are, vexing,” Pr’Nor said.

”I know, it’s my fifth best quality,” Tashai said heading back to the boxes of medical supplies to be loaded. 

For her part the Vulcan boarded one of the shuttles and examined its controls. Nothing stood out as being unusual and she was sure a complement of semi-competent pilots would be able to handle these duties without any problem. Powering up the shuttle she ran through a simple systems check then powered it back down. There was no surprises and everything was up to standards. Courses would be plotted once they had exact locations of the sites, and those negotiations were ongoing and based on the needs of the Chief Medical Officer and her teams.

“A pilot heh,“ the Operations human said from behind as he set a crate in place, “You know I always wanted to be one.”

”Is that relevant? When I was two I wished to be a type of insect similar to an Earth butterfly that’s native to Vulcan, I do not go around announcing it,” Pr’Nor pointed out.

The man nodded, “You’d have made a great alien butterfly. See that’s how you make friends. You say ’Yi I bet you’d have been a great pilot’, and let me feel good about it.”

”Yi you would have been a great pilot,” Pr’Nor said, not knowing if any of that was true, but familiar enough with human nonsense to sense that it was the right response to what he had said.

”Thank you,” Yi said, ”and you would have made a beautiful butterfly.”

”You are not going to call me that as a moninker or nickname are you?” Pr’Nor said sensing more human nonsense on its way.

”Why not?”

”I will break both your arms off,” she said feeling it best to stop that right now.

”Yes ma’am,” the human said not quite apologizing but at least not calling her a butterfly. To Pr’Nor this seemed like a reasonable resolution to the issue so without pomp or circumstance she got up from the shuttle’s flight controls and headed out into the fuller bay.

”Hey, don’t break my officers’ arms,” Tashai said as the Vulcan passed her.

”He was being illogical,” Pr’Nor said, “I would not actually break his arms off. Yet I find humans respond to strong imagery.”

“Well they do, but I need those arms,” Tashai said, “Remember Tashai’s arms are off limits. The rest of my though, we can talk about.”

Pr’Nor frowned she did not even understand what this woman was talking about, but rather than inquire she simply nodded and said, “I will keep that in mind.“

[USS Anaheim – Briefing Room]

The full, as it was, Senior Staff was assembled in the Briefing Room. This had been the first time they had assembled and for the more junior members it was a big deal. Save for Captain Hawthorne everyone was new, to both the ship and the responsibilities that they were taking on. Fleet Day had created a lot of openings all across the fleet and the ambitious had jumped at them.

Hawthorne hoped that this would be his crew now for awhile, and his year for promotion and great successes. This mission however was not what was going to do it. At best it was the sort of easy to handle assignment that could have been given to any ship in the fleet. At worst it was a chance to some how screw up and bring shame down on all involved.

Not that this was going to happen. He had to admit, as much as he had grown to dislike working with doctors primarily it seemed that Doctor Michelle Mueller knew what she was doing. He first week as a ship’s Chief Medical Officer and she was capably leading a team of two hundred and deploying them planetwide. Trust a German to be able to handle logistics, they were like less annoying Vulcans.

”… and Lieutenant Junior Grade Pr’Nor has the coordinates and has distributed them to our pilots. Three sites, it’ll take six hours to set up our facilities then we can run the sites in shifts with fifty nurses and doctors a shift. Operations, security, and flight control have people allocated too,” she explained and then sat down.

”Okay make sure you use Doctor McCleod as well. He’ll join one of the teams as my eyes and ears on the surface. I may have to go down for a state dinner of boiled potatoes, but ideally I’ll remain on the ship,” Hawthorne said, not wanting to mix with the local politicians or enjoy their potatoes.

”What’s the tactical situation Commander?” he asked his Andorian Chief of Security.

The Andorian seemed a bit surprised, “They have a local militia for peacekeeping and minor law enforcement. Each shuttle has a locked supply of firearms. If there was conflict we would prevail rather handily.“

The Captain nodded thoughtfully, “And do you sense anything Miss Kolem?”

”Sense, anything,” the half-Betazoid councilor said carefully, balancing making the Captain happy and pointing out that she could not just sense anything from orbit about a people she’d never met. She was empathic, not a wizard, “Ummm no, everyone seems honest. I would need to be closer to read anything more specific sir.”

”Good, go on the first transport, get a lay of the land and report back,” Hawthorne said.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Kolem nodded thinking this was a dumb and pointless idea and that she had a lot of other work to do, but one did not have to be an empath to tell that the Captain seemed pleased by this idea so she simply nodded.

“Operations, we good to go?” he asked.

”Good to go go go,” Tashai said giving the Captain a thumbs up which was a gesture she had been taught before anyone else on the ship was born. Her smile was meant to be reassuring but had the opposite effect.

”Okay,” Captain Hawthorne said uncertainly, “Anything to report?”

“We have new panel hatches on the fiber optics doors in engineering. They’re pretty spiffy,” she said.

”That’s not what, okay we’ll come back to that. Thank you, speaking of Engineering, how are we Mister Young?” the Captain asked.

”Since we just left space dock there’s almost nothing for us to do, but we’ll be running basic tests while in orbit making sure the team there didn’t miss anything. I can currently give us warp seven without issues, warp eight for a limited time if we need to press things. We’ll also supplement our Operations teams with some engineers in the field,” James Young said massaging his beard.

”Perfect. Okay crew on another note, you’re my senior staff. After this mission I’ll be picking one of you to be my Second Officer. Rank doesn’t really factor into this it’ll be based on instinct and your performance on this mission. You’re all new, and have been given a great opportunity to serve on one of the best ships in Starfleet. So let me officially welcome you to the Anaheim,” the Commanding Officer said and smiled at his senior staff.

[USS Anaheim – Shuttle Bay 1]

Ensign Hume was trying to flirt but there were a lot of people around. It made things awkward. The Betazoid (half) likely knew this but did not really do anything to make it easier for him. 

“So we’re together again, on a mission,” he said.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Kolem nodded, “Yup, us and thirty others.”

”Well it’s nice to spend time with you,” he said.

”I have actual work to do not magically look at the locals and be reveal a secret plot,” she said, “You know I bet the Enterprise went on thousands of missions where not one thing was decided by their councilor being an empath. People just write books about the exciting things.”

Hume nodded, “I guess, but it’s those books that we learn the most from. Maybe this is some kind of trap, and you’ll save us all.”

”More likely I waste six hours,” Kolem said.

”Stop flirting and buckle up,” Pr’Nor entered.

”How did you know that’s what I was doing?”

”I am intelligent,” Pr’Nor said.

”Ignore her she threatened to rip a guy’s arms off earlier,” Kolem said.

“I did, and I stand by that Councilor,” Pr’Nor said sitting in her chair, “Now let us go.”

The shuttle’s doors slid shut as everyone sat down and its engines started. Soon it was descending and the task had begun in earnest.