The Mission Briefing Part 3

Posted on 21 May 2018 @ 4:17pm by Captain Jasmine Somers FCapt & 1st Lieutenant Joseph Tabor & Lieutenant Commander Remington Dodd

1,983 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: S02 Episode 4: The Avian Flew the Cukoo's Nest (Main Story)
Location: SB51 Briefing Room/Various
Timeline: Mission 5 Day 0.1

[ON]

With that, the old Doctor in a condescending manner spoke directly at Dodd.

“Now, Mr Dodd, please continue with your briefing,” commented Dr Carnarvian…

“Okay, Thank you for the history lesson,” Dodd replied as he tried to collect his train of thought that was now derailed. oO I was going to cover the history but in much less detail. Oo

“As I was about to say, the belief that the Avian had an oasis and cultural centre on this planet comes from a through scan done of the ruins. Sensors have detected Xindi DNA and narrowed it down the Avians. So, some speculations have surfaced that maybe there were some technical aspects to the Avians since this planet was not the planet of their origins.”

“The small scout team will do archaeological work in the ruins of the city, while the geological/engineering team will go to the mining location to investigate the source of the signal. There are no signs of fauna on the surface, but there is a large assortment of flora. The away team will be equipped with the standard armaments. However, Starfleet wants to limit the number of people on the planet. So, I will arrange an emergency beam out program in the shuttle’s transporter system that will be linked to the Tomcat so if necessary we can beam off the surface, but Starfleet prefers that we use a shuttle to get to and from the surface due to the unusual amounts of Chroniton and Tachyon particles in the region.”

“I am looking for volunteers who are able to traverse rugged terrain and can survive on the basis for about four days,” Dodd added before his briefing got hijacked once again… Fortunately, Dr Carnarvan did not say anything but sat back as he just watched what was going on.

Raising her hand …

“If you’re looking for volunteers to go, you can count me in; I guess it’s time I did some work around here to earn my pay” replied Eleonorrhea

Dr Cahill smiled, “Dr Carnarvan it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Dr Cahill and the 2XO on the Tomcat. I loved reading your book on the Vulcans and the research you did there. I actually do some amateur archaeological. I do some research myself when on missions.

Why thank you Dr. it’s a pleasure to meet you. Would you like to have tea with me at some point after this mission, maybe you can help me with my approach during a briefing, I may have committed a faux pax in speaking my mind of such an importance.

Dr Cahill smiled, “Perhaps 10 Forward Dr Carnarvan, and we can do it in a way it is not so formal and I will give you the advice you will need for future reference. And I do not blame you for being excited.”

She then returned her attention to the of the briefing.

“Lt Delfin, I would be happy to have you on the away team if the captain approves,” Dodd replied.

“Mr Dodd”, replied Dr Carnarvan, “I’m terribly sorry I may have spoken out of turn back there. Please allow me to apologize for my rudeness and insensitivity to you. I imagine that you spent many a night in preparations for this briefing and in comes a perfect stranger who rips your briefing apart. I’d like to apologize my actions” replied Dr Carnarvan

“Lt Dodd, is there anything medical that may need to prepare for other than the usual injuries from combat or general fall injuries?” Dr Cahill asked of Lt Dodd.

“Thank you for asking Doctor,” Dodd replied. “I will provide you with the list of vaccinations that Starfleet medical sent me. There are a couple that has not been used for a while so hopefully, the station has some in their stock. Also, each member of the team is to have a sub-dermal transceiver implanted for monitoring activity from the ship as the ship’s sensors may not work while the anomaly is making the tachyons in the area.”

As Dr Cahill sent special orders for the required extra supplies to SB 31 and they needed to be transferred immediately. She then returned her attention to the briefing.

Dr Cahill then smiled, “I can be part of the volunteers on the planet and also act as the archaeologist on the surface along with my medical duties if needed. I can arrange to have items returned to the ship for Dr Carnavan to study and continue your research from the Tomcat.”

“I would be happy to have you on the team, but of course the captain will make the final cut from all the volunteers,” Dodd replied.

Ensign Matt Thompson stood up. “Sir, I’d like to volunteer for this mission as well. I am a geologist/planetologist and from the sounds of it you will need my skills”. Matt said.

“I will put you on the list of volunteers and turn it over to the captain for consideration. Thank you for volunteering.” Dodd replied.

“What exactly are our orders”? Maia asked.

“Okay what I can share, is that we are to look for traces of technology that could be of Avian origin and to find the source of the signal that caused us to get assigned here. What can be shared to all is the signal is Federation in origin. The Chronitons and tachyons in the area are not naturally occurring but were introduced into the region by either the ancient Avians or another source. While there is an Orion Pirate presence in the area, it is believed that they are not interested in this planet and have no desire to investigate it. We are to keep the team small and to spend no more than six days, but I am planning on doing as much as we can in four. Then have a day to wrap things up on the ship and then do our reports and turn in our finding to the captain to review and submit.” Dodd responded.

“Lt. Dodd,” replied Eleonorrhea, “since we don’t know what we’re facing, and I believe the Prime Directive says we shouldn’t use weapons that could indicate to whatever is out there that they’re dealing with a significantly advanced Alien life form, then may I suggest that myself and another Marine will arm ourselves with a phaser pistol, and also a small flexible riot baton.”

*short pause*

“That way, if we’re dealing with a major life form that uses energy weapons we can still protect the landing party using our Phasers; but if we run an Alien race who are so technologically backwards up to the stone age and don’t know what a Phaser is, the small baton in the hands of an exprt can do a bit more damage, but won’t give that race an idea on what we’re using; they’ll just think we were using tree branches or sticks which everyone uses every day.”

“I guess we can put the team to eight people. Then we can have a marine on each smaller team.” Dodd replied.

“That would work out just fine” replied Eleonorrhea as she ambled her way to the back of the briefing room to refill her now empty cup of coffee.

Iria sat back quietly listening and feeling sorry for Remington, getting grilled by the old Scientist. She had a feeling that getting that old goat to a counselling session was not going to be easy either. Regretfully Iria really had nothing to add to the meeting and was only quietly offing smiles of support or wry amusement as Remington dealt with the whole briefing rather well in her personal opinion. Her professional one was very impressed with his patience and how he kept things going in the direction he wanted.

In the Lull “Okay are there any more questions for Lieutenant Dodd?” Somers asked those assembled.

Paul entered the room knowing that he had been waiting for clearance to leave sickbay after getting his better-equipped arm and learning to get used to it, He said,” Sorry everyone for my tardiness, I just got this new arm and I’m road testing it” as he looked up at the rostrum and noticed that Lieutenant Dodd was up there.

Sheela sat quietly in back in an unobtrusive place where she could be easily overlooked. Ears perked to show she was listening, but she was busy compiling her notes from what she had learned in the seedier side of the big starbase they were docked at. What information she had gleaned, she would keep it to herself. It may amount to nothing or be vital. But for now, she would keep it to herself.

“Does the planet have a name, Mr Dodd,” Maia asked.

"Commander, the name we have been given for the planet is Xindaria," Dodd replied. "That was the best translation we could get from the database the Xindi provided."

Aldana had been sitting quietly – no thanks to a convenient place plot-hole – in the hir assigned seat this whole time with Sombra snoozing lightly within reach. Conveniently every time s/he had been about to raise a hir hand to ask a question someone beat hir too it and had more-or-less asked the same question s/he had usually been about to. There was one thing foremost on hir mind that no one else had seemed to cover. Just then Sombra nuzzled his chin into the hir lap, ~Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered.~

Amiri raised hir hand finally.

Throughout all this Jasmine sat silently, it was educational watching someone else do what she normally did, her crew had to learn and this was the best way to teach them.

“So, thank you for those that have volunteered for this mission. The captain will take that into consideration for the mission. Once the team has been determined, I will talk to you about more specific details that area needs to know about this mission.” Dodd addressed the room. “So, if there are no further questions, I will turn things over the captain.”

Standing up Somers looked around "Thank you, Lieutenant Dodd, okay as there are no more questions you are all dismissed, grab your gear and report to the Tomcat within two-hours," Somers said and watched them file out of the briefing room. She looked to Dodd "When we are underway come see me in my Ready Room, and we will go over this Away Team of yours" she said with a smile.

"Thank you, captain. I hope I can prove to the rest of the crew and to Starfleet, I am more than just an engineer." Dodd replied. "But I really want to prove to you and myself that I can lead a team that is not made up of just engineers. I want to be more of a leader than just in engineering. I hope to do you proud, captain."

*smiling* "Go and get your stuff and report to the Tomcat, you have two hours," Somers said and watched Dodd leave the briefing room, she too gathered up her Padds and proceeded to listen to her own orders.

[OFF]

Captain Jasmine Somers
Commander Officer
USS Tomcat

Commander Maia Sterling
First Officer/Chief Science Officer
USS Tomcat

Lieutenant Commander Alexanderia Cahill MD
Chief Medical Officer/2XO
USS Tomcat

Lieutenant Commander Sheela Swiftpaws
Intelligence Officer
USS Tomcat

Lieutenant Remington Dodd
Chief Engineer
USS Tomcat

Lt. Jg Iria Walon
Chief Counsellor
USS Tomcat

Lt. Jg Nicole Taggert
Assistant Chief Engineer
USS Tomcat

Lt. Jg Amiri Aldana 365 D.V.M., M.D
Assistant Chief Medical Officer/Counsellor
USS Tomcat

Lieutenant JG Paul Winchester
Intelligence/HCO
USS Tomcat

1st Lieutenant Eleonorrhea (Butch) Delfin
MCO/CoS
USS Tomcat

Lieutenant Jg Rhamses Carnarvan [PNPC: Delfin]
Science Officer/Alien Archaeologist/Anthropologist
Starbase 51

 

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