Day Two: "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear"

Posted on Wed Jan 20th, 2010 @ 8:55pm by Commander Lucas Jackson

732 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: The Jackson Survey
Location: Bridge, USS Valhalla
Timeline: Thirteen Hours Post-"Star of Wonder, Star of Might..."

"SECURED"
"Captain's Log, Stardate 64638.9"

After the discovery of the star, we stayed a couple more hours to conduct various scans. The Class-O star was magnificent; it was in perfect shape. We ran the calculations through our Constellation database to see if it could be seen from Earth, but we had no luck. It either can't be seen from Earth, or it just isn't properly cataloged...We'll find out one day, but that day isn't today.

We're on route to the closest planet. It's rather far away from the star, and we're only going at one quarter impulse. I gave that order, so we could study the space between the star and its first planet. There aren't many references to study, so we want to collect as much data as we can on how the star affects its surrounding space.

For the mean time, shifts have changed. I have ordered all the senior officers to go straight to their quarters and rest. I have also been told by my senior officers to do the same. We have all been working for over a day, straight, since we started trudging through the interstellar medium. Now, we all just need to be well rested. There has been a lot of information to collect from the star alone, so I can't even imagine what we will find on the planet...

"END LOG"

Lucas lay sound asleep in his bed. He nearly passed out at just the site of it when he walked into the quarters. The bed was almost as soft as his one on the station, but not quite. That one was special-ordered, so Jackson was surprised at how soft a StarFleet bed was. His dreams drifted to a beach scene. Luke was laying on a hammock after returning from the surf, with ladies tending to him.

-^- Sir, I'm sorry to inform you, but we've reached the planet. Would you like me to put the Valhalla in orbit until morning? -^-

The officer groaned as he drifted back to the real-world. It truly was unfortunate news. He wanted to go to bed, but the explorer in him made him say, -^- That's okay...I'll be up in a few minutes. Please wake-up the senior officers to report to their duty stations. -^-

Luke got up as he heard the message sound throughout the ship. As he stripped out of his pajama bottoms and grabbed his uniform, he could almost here the aches and groans of the senior officers. He sympathized with them, but exploration seemed to always keep an officer up.

[BRIDGE]

"Report!" Lucas Jackson shouted as he entered the Bridge. He looked around and was surprised to see all of the senior officers were already at their stations. Not one of them was out of place.

Jake Rios began reading off his console, "It is a Class-B planet, approximately 13,264 kilometers in diameter."

The operations officer chimed in, "It appears to be geologically and geothermally active. Most of the surface appears to be molten due to its proximity to its sun."

Jackson took a moment to take it all in. Then, he perked up and queried, "Would the probe aimed from Tiberius I be able to withstand the atmosphere of the planet?"

Jordan spoke up again, "Yes, but only for a few hours. Eventually it would melt due to the strenuous temperatures. I also would like to take the time and point out that the next planets in the sequence are Class-N and then Class-H. It is presumed that the next one could be a Class-M world."

"Alright," Luke began, "launch the probe and stay in orbit for the duration of the scans. We aren't equipped to stay in this system much longer, as we were stocked with equipment adequate for the Tiberius System. Obviously, this system will take much more. Thus, we will return to Starbase Typhon once the scans are finished. In the mean time, I am going back to bed. You may all do the same if you can recruit some junior officers to replace you. Good night..."

OFF


Lieutenant Commander Lucas Jackson
Chief Science Officer / Captain
USB Typhon / USS Valhalla


Lieutenant (JG) Jordan Sellis
Operations Officer / Chief Operations Officer
USB Typhon / USS Valhalla


Lieutenant (JG) Jake Rios
Science Officer
USB Typhon / USS Valhalla


Ensign Jessabella Byxbe
Science Officer
USB Typhon / USS Valhalla

RSS Feed