All is Not What it Seems

Posted on Wed May 12th, 2010 @ 12:42pm by Vice Admiral Iluvar & Commander Earlond & Commander Christopher McNeil & Commander Fala Awen & Lieutenant JG Hannah Andeti

Mission: Episode 1.2 - "A House Divided"
Location: Main Bridge, USS Pandora
Timeline: MD 15, 0740

ON: [[Main Bridge, USS Pandora, MD 15, 0740]]

High in orbit over the Romulan colony, the Pandora continued to circle the planet in tandem with their Romulan escort. As of yet, there had been no further contact with the away team since they had beamed down to the surface, though that fact did not yet concern Iluvar. He knew that his crew were competent officers and that they could handle themselves on such a mission. The only thing that did bother him was the distance his rank seemed to put between himself and away missions such as this. Part of him wanted very much to be down on the surface with his team, but he knew that his time would come, once the team completed its initial assessment.

The lift slowed as it approached the bridge and Andeti clasped her hands behind her back as the doors opened onto it. She hadn't been there since the ship's initial launch and she was excited by the sudden call to the bridge. As she entered the bridge she smiled around, before turning it on the Admiral.

Iluvar turned toward the sound of the turbolift doors opening and smiled when he saw the counselor emerge onto the bridge. "Counselor," he said, motioning to the empty seat on his left, "thank you for joining us."

Hannah approached her station and took a seat, but turned to the Admiral without bringing anything up on the console. "Afternoon, sir. Anything I can do to help?"

"As you can see, we are now orbiting the fifth planet of the Nerus System," Iluvar explained, motioning to the image of the planet rotating slowly on the main viewscreen. The green hull of the Romulan Valdore-type warbird was also visible a short distance away, no doubt monitoring their movements. "This is the first location we have been brought to by our Romulan escort," Iluvar added as he continued the short briefing, "We've dispatched an away team to the Romulan colony on the surface, but we're still waiting for them to report back."

"Sounds exciting." The counselor smiled before turning to her console to wait with the rest of them.

McNeil stepped off the turbolift and onto the bridge, quickly side-stepping an Ensign heading the other way in a hurry. Noting that the Counselor was on the bridge, he made for the console behind Iluvar's chair.

"Mr. Keloas, what is the status of our escort," Iluvar asked of the Trill at the helm.

"They haven't done anything sir." he said checking his scans, "Literally nothing at all."

"They're probably as nervous about all of this as we are," McNeil commented. "It's only been recently that the Federation and Romulans have worked together nicely... and even that had more than its share of bumps."

Iluvar nodded in acknowledgment of McNeil's observation. While perhaps rather blunt, it accurately described the recent relationship between the two former enemies. In all likeliness, there was a very similar discussion going on aboard the Romulan vessel as to what the motivations of the Pandora might be in this case.

"Message from the surface, sir," Gran (NPC) announced from Operations, interrupting the small discussion taking place in the middle of the bridge, "Doctor Winchester is requesting emergency transport for herself and two Romulan colonists." Although he hated to interrupt the senior officers, the situation was urgent enough that it warranted immediate attention.

The mood on the bridge immediately shifted from one of tense expectation to nervous curiosity. Whatever the crew had been expecting it was clear even without her natural telepathy that this wasn't it. The counselor turned to watch the Captain as everyone quickly tried to sort out the possible causes and repercussions of having two injured Romulans on board.

Without a word, Iluvar nodded once in Gran's direction to signal his approval. The young operations officer immediately input several commands into his console and within moments, the transporter cycle had been engaged. The transport cycle had proceeded without a hitch and Gran was able to confirm that Doctor Winchester and the two Romulans had rematerialized in the main sickbay. "Transport complete," he announced.

"Any reaction from our escort," Iluvar asked of the tactical officer.

Korina (NPC) glanced over at Iluvar before running a quick scan from her console. "No reaction, sir." She wondered what was happening on the planet that would end with the surgeon and two Romulans being transported to the Pandora. The reaction of their escort was also concerning - the Trill wasn't sure they'd be overly happy that the Federation ship had taken on two Romulan colonists. Or perhaps they would be...if some kind of virus was sweeping through the colony, maybe it was their intention to spread it to the Pandora crew. Korina dismissed the thought though; the Romulans weren't in the best position to be causing deliberate trouble with the Federation.

"Any transmissions between our escort and the surface?" McNeil wondered aloud. He had to believe that the Romulans would be keeping in contact, with one of Starfleet's newest and most advanced vessels orbiting one of their worlds. Romulans could be friendly when it suited their purposes, but they rarely allowed themselves to be taken by surprise.

At Christopher's request, Korina checked the communications log. With Operations monitoring the away team, she had taken on the responsibility of monitoring communications from the Romulan vessel. She ran a fingertip down the log, then looked up, "No, sir, no transmissions."

It was strange that the colony was not communicating with the vessel in orbit and just as strange that the Romulans had made no protest at all when the Pandora had beamed up two of their colonists. Iluvar continued to watch the warbird on the main viewscreen. True, it was the Romulans who had invited them into their space and the Romulans who had brought them to this planet, but to remain silent at a time like this was very peculiar, even for a Romulan.

"Counselor," Iluvar asked, turning toward the woman.

Andeti was frowning slightly and shook her head. "It's unusual but might be reasonably explained. I don't think we have any reason to question their good faith quite yet."

Nodding, Iluvar turned so that he could address the man behind him. "Any thoughts on the matter, commander," he asked of McNeil.

"I don't like it, but I have no reason to believe that the Romulans would use anything of this nature as a trap," McNeil answered. "Still, I would advise caution. Romulans are known to be very violent when angry."

"Message from the surface, sir," Gran announced, "It's the away team." He looked up from his console at the image on the main viewscreen. What was going on down there, he wondered to himself.

OFF

Rear Admiral Iluvar
Commanding Officer
USS Pandora

Commander Christopher McNeil
Mission Advisor/Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Pandora

Lieutenant JG Hannah Andeti
Chief Counselor
USS Pandora

Lieutenant JG Korina Vek
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Pandora
Played by: LtCmdr Fala

Ensign Tyreel Keloas
Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Pandora

and

Petty Officer Gran (NPC)
Operations Officer
USS Pandora
Played by: RAdm Iluvar