Light in the Dark

Posted on Tue Jun 23rd, 2020 @ 4:38am by Captain Nycolas Temple & Commander Owen Nash
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:27pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Level 2 - XO's Office
Timeline: After "Check Out Any Time You Like"

Returning back from Paradise, Nyx's head was spinning from the experience. He had visited alien worlds and establishments before, but that was something truly out of the ordinary. The way the station operated, the smooth automated systems and the clearly tight management from Katya, had been both impressive and daunting. Although the Away team had managed to impress Katya enough to gain an invite for the rest of the Pandora crew to visit the Outpost, the Captain couldn't help but allow his scepticism to wonder if it hadn't gone a little too easily.

In an effort to hopefully allay his doubts, Nyx headed to Owen's office to share his experience, and to plan their next steps. After walking the short distance from the Transporter Room, he stood at the door and pressed the chime, a befuddled look still obviously on his face.

Owen looked up from reading the latest Operations report that had been filed with him when he heard the door chime. Putting down his mug of raktajino (which had gone cold) he called out "Come in," and saw Nyx stood in the doorway to his office.

"Well, you're a sight for sore eyes," Owen said. "Come in, take a seat...can I get you a drink?" he offered his friend and commanding officer.

Nyx smiled as he prepared to say no; he had gotten in the habit of refusing drinks due to the sheer amount of meetings he had, but today he could not. He let out a sigh and nodded, “Yes, I think I need one.”

Owen nodded as he got up and went over to the replicator and ordered a drink for his friend. Once complete, he walked back over and offered Nyx his drink.

Sitting down and taking the offered glass, Nyx said, “Thank you. Wait till you see that place, Owen. It’s like a futuristic utopia with a strange undertone of control and servitude. The Federation could learn a thing or two about station design and habitation, but I still wonder how that place really operates.”

Owen smiled as he could see the amazement and wonderment in Nyx's eyes as he explained his first impressions from his initial visit to the station.

"It sounds almost idyllic," he began as he sat on the edge of his desk. "I'm due to go and take a look later when I get off shift, but so far, the word about the interior is good."

Reaching for his mug and taking a sip of his drink, Owen continued. "What bothers me is the strange undertone of control and servitude you mention...if its so wonderful then why would you need such....almost draconian controls I wonder?" he asked. "I could understand if its the recent situation with the Alrakis Pact claiming the Expanse but that's very recent..."

"This is definitely something they've had for a while." Nyx nodded as he took another sip, "From local reports, it appears to have started under Katya's management of the station. I can't quite figure her out. She seems personable and accommodating, but also strictly controlling. It was like taking a tour of the Chocolate Factory with Willy Wonka. Plus she had these extra tasks she wanted Lieutenant Kaleri to perform to help them out. I suspect they were just tests to see if we were actually genuine, or perhaps she just wanted the empath removed from the diplomatic negotiations."

Owen nodded as he understood where Nyx's thinking was going. "It's understandable that they would want to remove an empath from the negotiations...that would offer a serious advantage," he offered. "However we can only hope now that we've passed the test."

Owen took another sip of his drink. "Assuming we've passed the test, whats the next step?" He asked.

"I want to hold a meeting with everyone involved in the planning and the Away Team," Nyx said firmly. "I especially want to know what Kaleri, Griffin, Sandoval, and Mindo experienced. They got to see other parts of the station that we did not and interacted more with Katya and her security staff. We can hopefully find a way to progress our mission without discrediting our reputation."

"Ok, that sounds like a good plan," Owen agreed, taking a further sip of his drink. "I have to admit that whilst they made us wait a while in line to assume a docking space, there were quite a few other ships in the area that were trying to find out why we suddenly bumped up the list," Owen explained.

"I had Ensign Vieers monitor the comm channels and try to ward off any potential intrusions as to why we were suddenly moved to a space and that's not made us too popular out there," he continued. "I was going to recommend moving to Yellow Alert. Should we suddenly need to leave in a hurry, its not an easy task for Fick to get us away from the station and try to avoid the number of ships that could suddnely decide we make a tasty target or trophy."

As always he had the ships best interest at heart but he felt it fair to appraise Nyx of another issue they could face.

Nyx raised an eyebrow at that news, "Interesting. I wonder if there was anything we could use." He glanced over at the chronometer on his desk. "I have some time before the meeting, I might have a scroll through the messages and see if there's anything there. Maybe they'll shed a little light on the darkness, too. Now that we're docked at the Outpost and within the exclusion zone, I would hope Yellow Alert is not necessary. But we will do so when we finally depart."

"Duly noted," Owen agreed. "Its always possible that something in the various com traffic that could be useful, should a careful eye come across it," he continued.

"Whilst we're out here, we'll need every advantage we can get otherwise things could get out of hand really fast," he added, knowing that they were on their own and without support.

The Captain took a deep breath, "Well, we still have a challenge ahead of us, I won't lie. And time is quickly running out. We'll need to get that information, if possible, from Paradise very soon if we're going to make it back to the Carnwennan Corridor before the Alrakis Pact's grace period expires." He stood, feeling the sudden need to move, "I'll see you at the meeting, Owen."

Owen nodded back. "You will indeed, let's see what the others have found out about the station so far and then plan our next moves from there."


OFF