Best Laid Plans

Posted on Fri Nov 1st, 2024 @ 5:53pm by Captain Rylan Gray & Lieutenant Daegan Baas

1,628 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: A Silence of Friends
Location: VIP Quarters, Deck 2, USS Thunderbird
Timeline: MD001 - 1900 Hrs

It had been another in a series of long days and for once, Nicholas Rush had no immediate demands on his time. Dressed in casual clothes and slippers, he'd found a comfortable spot on the sofa and stretched out length-wise, sighing with pleasure. Archeological digs were not known for their comforts though, considering the length of time they would be spending on the planet, he had managed to cajole the Federation into some small luxuries. An actual bed. Comfortable chairs. That sort of thing.

Now that they were en route and the business was taken care of, at least for the moment, Nicholas was back to doing research. Little was known about the Gurani, the one-time inhabitants of Guran III, but there were some linguistic similarities to ancient Talarian. And so, a pot of hot tea on the coffee table, Nicholas settled in to read and relax.

His duties for the day complete. Daegan had had a good meal with several of his Department. One thing he had initiated were several team building practices to build cohesion, a sense of family, and even a little friendly competition. Some of his efforts were going to require to pull a long day from time to time to interact with those on each of the three shifts, but doing so would show his department that he was serious about things. Or at least he hoped it would. He still needed to speak with the head of the archeological team and he decided to pop by before things got too late in the evening. Arriving at Dr. Rush's assigned quarters he pressed the chime and waited.

Nicholas frowned at the door, as though it were sentient enough to glean his displeasure, and murmured 'bother' to no one in particular as he set the material aside and sat up. It took a moment or two for him to find his slippers but once he had them on, somewhere between rising from the sofa and arriving at the door, he had regained his equilibrium; after all, he was leading a team, and there were bound to be problems that needed resolving. Oh not among the senior members, they were too well-seasoned for that, but among the younger, first-timers certainly. Nerves and the like. And so, he opened the door expecting one thing and saw something else entirely. "Starfleet," he said, his voice rising to indicate the interrogatory, "is there some problem? Nothing with the equipment, I hope. That manifest was checked by every member of the team, I swear. Probably twice." He shook his head. "No, no. Can't be that. The students. I was afraid they wouldn't be able to maintain a sense of decorum."

Grinning as Dr.Rush ran through the possible issues he might be bring him. Deadan simple shook his head. "No sir, nothing like that at all. Even if there was an issue with one of you students I'm sure it won't be anything that we all have done ourselves at that age."

Extending his hand. "Please forgive the interruption, Lieutenant Deagan Baas, Chief of Security. I didn't want to impede your teams work when we arrive, so I wanted to discuss setting up a security plan for the site before we arrive and start setting things up. Finds like this have a tendency to attract, less than reputable, individuals. I had a few ideas to protect the site, your people, and any artifacts."

"Oh well," Nicholas said as he gestured for the Lieutenant to enter. "Please, come in. I just brewed a pot of tea, would you like some? It's a special blend I get from a shop on Alpha Centauri."

"Thank you. Tea would be great thank you. The Captain mentioned the we needed to keep ships personnel out of the dig site. No problem there. Did you want any assistance setting up the residential pods and and temporary facilities", adding with a bit of humor, "or did you plan to punish you students with that task?"

Nicholas requested a china tea cup and saucer from the replicator and then poured the Lieutenant a cup. Once they were settled, this time, Nicholas chose the matching chair and left the sofa for the security officer, he answered. "As I understand it, the Captain has promised your crew will be doing all of the setting up while we help in getting the labs ready. As for security," he reached forward to retrieve his own cup, "I hadn't thought of that. Guran is a world that has been left undisturbed for literally thousands of years. I doubt we'll be disturbed but, if you think it necessary, what do you suggest?"

Sitting up with his tea in hand he took a sip as the head of the expedition admitted to the lapse in security planning. "The discovery of an ancient, unknown culture on a planet where nothing was supposed to be there, is no doubt something every archeologist dreams of in some way. The word of such a discovery must of spread like wildfire through your circles. Even more so through those who collect or deal in rare or artifacts. I'm sure there are Ferengi who are already figuring out how much profit they could make from getting their hands on the first items from this discovery."

Pausing as he took another sim of his tea, Daegan wasn't normally one for hot tea but it was quite good. He took another sip before returning the cup to its saucer. "I would recommend, at a minimum, perimeter detection around the site, transport inhibitors for the labs and any active dig sites, as well as limiting access to relic storage areas. Some additional measures I would recommend would be sub-dermal trackers for each member of your team; just in case someone goes missing, for whatever reason. We could even put something in orbit so you don't get any surprise visitors."

"That all said, this is your show and I'm just here to help. I can recommend all day, but I will do as little or as much as you want and we are capable of doing."

"Sub-dermal trackers, you say," Nicholas said. "Quite useful especially in a dig of this size and I do like the idea of transport inhibitors as well. Prevent someone from popping in, taking valuable relics, and popping out again. Not that any of us are equipped to do much about it if they decided to hang around. Could the storage area be fortified? Turned into a sort of 'bunker' where we could hide? Call for help?"

Nodding. "That is definitely a possibility. I will check with engineering about establishing a more permanent storage area. Perhaps, bunker type area for both storage and emergency use should you need. We could program any perimeter sensors to alert you to any unauthorized personnel."

"That's good then," Nicholas said. "How do you like the tea? It's good, isn't it?"

He had to admit this whole thing had gone easier than expected. With a previous host having been an academic he knew how stubborn, even arrogant, some could be. Fortunately that wasn't the case here. Looking down at his now empty cup he glanced back up to his host. "Yes it's very good. And I'm usually not one for hot tea, one no two of my symbionts previous hosts were avid tea drinkers."

"Well, I'd give you some but my supply is going with me to Guran," Nicholas said as he raised his cup to his lips. "And I do think better over a cup."

"Oh I wouldn't want to dip into your private stock, maybe I could get a scan to load into the replicator. Won't be the real thing but as the say, 'beggars can't be choosers'." Daegan paused smirking slightly. "If memory serves the University of Alpha Centauri has a renowned school of archeology, yes?"

"Of course and I'll send you the details about the shop, if you're ever out that way," Nicholas said. "It's quite good, the university I mean. Have you been? I've lectured there more than once over the years."

"I've never been but a previous host was had. "I was just thinking," he cast a shrugging glance to the side, "an archeological big like this is going to need things, and could also provide educational opportunities. If a group of doctoral candidates or other students happened to come from a particular University I'm sure it would be quite easy for them to resupply your expedition as well."

"It's a good thought," Nicholas said, a twinkle in his eyes, "which is why there will be a group coming our way. Joint expedition between Oxford and the University of Edinburgh. A few doctoral candidates and a few undergraduates who are eager to participate in their first 'dig'." He took a sip of tea and returned the cup to its saucer. "Because of the scope of the ruins, we'll have more than a few archeologists and anthropologists involved. I've got quite the schedule set up but there's always room for another set of hands if you have a week or two off sometime in the next year."

"I'd honored. Participating in an archeological dig would be a first for both me and my symbiote. If I can, I will definitely take you up on that. In the mean time," standing, "I will let you get back to your evening and speak to engineering, as well as bring the Captain up to speed tomorrow."

"Excellent," Nicholas said. "Good evening." He waited for the security chief to leave before returning to the sofa, his tea, and his reading.

A Post By:

Lieutenant Daegan Baas
Chief of Security
USS Thunderbird

and

Nicholas Rush, Ph.D.
Team Lead and Head Archeologist
Guran III Dig

 

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