Anything Out There?
Posted on Tue May 26th, 2015 @ 7:50pm by Captain Aidan Rackham & Ensign Daisy Skie-Cloud
Mission:
The Belle of Bellatrix
Location: Communications Bay [H Deck, USS Farragut]
Timeline: 2278.49: 0610hrs.
Daisy sat the comm station. Her jacket lay draped over her seat backrest. Hair down and loose with the bridge lighting giving it a soft halo of reflected light as she played with the controls. Every once in awhile she would give a delicate nose wrinkle and hasty reset the controls.
"Everything alright, Ensign?" Rackham asked as he stepped onto the bridge. It had only been a couple of days but it was fairly obvious when the Ensign was perplexed by something. He decided to let the jacket go- by the time Alpha Shift came on properly she would be back in uniform or risk the wrath of Commander Kennedy.
"Eep!" Daisy gave a startled jump at the voice of Rackham, "Trying to pick up a faint subspace communications, sir. When I think I get it. I get a burst of static. I'm probably getting teasers as the ship passes through other subspace tight focus beans." Turning to face him. "How can I be of assistance to you? Need a message sent off? Expecting a call from command?"
"No, all's quiet on the Western Front, Ensign." Rackham was intrigued by the message she was trying to decode and suddenly the communication he had heard on Cestus III jumped into the forefront of his mind. "What is the source of the message?"
Daisy quickly typed in some commands and brought up the com's log. Looking it over. "Three came from direction of Cestus. Two from another source that's running parallel with us. Sir. Last one came from Cestus." Letting him look at the log of coms that she was able to catch. "You want to listen to them, Sir?"
"No, I'm sure it's fine Ensign. Have you picked up any more localised communications? I know we have a set destination at the moment but there will come a time where we're going to be scanning around to see what's out there. Communications are going to be a big part of that."
Daisy flicked a few switches, "Just the usual Subspace IFF transponders. Civilian Freighter, Argo, bulk hauler; Greenberg Miranda-Class; Vulcan Star, Science Vessel. All passed through the area within 4 to 5 hours ago. We have clear space unless we run into a Klingon or Romulan ship, Sir." Looking up at Captain Rackham with her ever present smile.
"Well, keep me informed. Pretty soon we'll be out beyond the range of any Federation traffic and everything will be fresh and new." That knowledge was the one thing keeping him going. They would soon be completely alone, without anyone looking over their shoulders, allowing them freedom to explore.
Daisy nodded, "Affirmative, sir!" Giving him a nice smile, looking up at him. "I'll break out the language cypher programs."
"Good stuff." Rackham smiled. He wasn't usually very receptive to officers who held the usually accepted rules in low regard but Skie-Cloud's enthusiasm was infectious. "As you were, Ensign."
Captain Aidan Rackham
Commanding Officer
Ensign Daisy Skie-Cloud
Communications Officer
USS Farragut
