Reporting In

Posted on Tue Jun 15th, 2010 @ 10:58am by Vice Admiral Iluvar & Commander Earlond & Commander Fala Awen

Mission: Episode 1.2 - "A House Divided"
Location: Nerus V Colony
Timeline: MD 15, 0803

ON: [[Nerus V Colony, MD15, 0803]]

==Aboard the USS Pandora==

"Message from the surface, sir," Gran (NPC) 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.

"Put it on speakers," Iluvar ordered, lowering his arm so that it rested parallel on the arm of his chair. There was a slight hiss of static as the connection was established. Based on the trouble they had experienced in initial scans and establishing transporter locks, he figured it was probably interference from the turbulence in the atmosphere. "Pandora to away team," Iluvar said, testing the connection, "What's your status, commander?"

==On the Surface==

"We haven't yet begun a complete inspection, sir," Earlond said. "However, it would appear from what we've seen that the colony itself is not in the best of shape."

=^= Is that your initial assessment, commander =^= the voice of Iluvar asked. It was a strange question, given that he had essentially just asked for the away team's status report. When he did not say anything further, however, it was clear that he was actually looking for an answer.

"Affirmative, sir," Earlond replied. Hopefully, he'd be able to make a more detailed report later.

Governor Dhivael looked up from the small table he and the two guards were standing around. His gaze fixed on the commander for a moment before turning back toward the muted conversation he had been having with one of his aides. One of the guards continued to watch the away team from a nearby doorway. As one of the colony's main structure, the building was probably the most secure locations, but that wasn't saying much.

Awen, while paying attention to the conversation between Iluvar and Earlond, was also keeping an eye on the Romulans. To her, some things seemed a bit...off, which made her more uneasy and tense. Seeing a few of the colonists beamed directly to sickbay on the ship didn't exactly help give the Bajoran a good feeling.

=^= Understood =^= Iluvar replied =^= Continue your assessment for now. Once we find out more, we'll be sure to let you know. =^=

"Acknowledged," Earlond said. "Earlond out." Turning back towards where the governor and his guards were conversing, Earlond frowned slightly. He didn't like giving incomplete reports, but there wasn't much he could do with the Romulans in the room. Earlond glanced at Awen, who was also watching the Romulans. She seemed to share Earlond's dislike of the unexplained happenings with the colonists.

Seeming to notice the officers' looks for the first time, Dhivael raised his head and returned their gaze. "All is well, I trust," he asked of them, his face betraying no indication of whether it was a sincere question or simply a distraction. In fact, he still seemed rather apathetic toward the whole situation, which was quite unusual for a Romulan leader being "inspected" by a Starfleet vessel. One would have thought there would have been a bit more patriotism in the man's face.

Awen nodded, "Yes, Governor." She wasn't really one to smile, so she didn't offer him one - though in his current attitude, she doubted he would notice. The Bajoran asked, "Could we get more of a tour of your colony, Governor Dhivael?"

For a moment, the Romulan seemed to process the question. He licked his dry lips once while surveying the two officers. "If we have finished here," he began, motioning toward a nearby doorway.

Moving towards Telyn (NPC) and Nol (NPC), Awen said quietly, "Stay here and keep your eyes open. If we need you, we'll let you know. Otherwise, wait for us here."

Nol frowned, "Shouldn't we stay with you, Fala? This place doesn't give me a good feeling; for all we know they could have tons of guards in there waiting for you."

"I'm fairly sure that the Chief Security/Tactical Officer and Executive Officer who was the Chief Security/Tactical Officer can take care of themselves. And we'll be just outside," Telyn told him.

Awen nodded, confirming what Telyn had said. Normally Nol wasn't quite so nervous; it was probably just being here...it was unsettling.

Reluctantly, Earlond went first, finding it hard to turn his back to a Romulan even given the circumstances. Or perhaps, it was especially given the circumstances. He considered attempting small talk as they headed into another room, but decided against it when he considered that neither he nor the governor would enjoy it.

Doubting that the Executive Officer was happy about leading the way, Awen hung back and offered the Governor a polite smile, "Go ahead, Governor. I imagine you'll need to lead the way anyway, since this is your colony."

If there was any hesitation in his step, Dhivael didn't show it. He entered the room just behind Earlond. No sooner had he opened his mouth to speak than another door to his right opened, allowing some of the hot, dry air from outside into the room. The doorway closed a moment later and a tall Romulan wearing a white labcoat was standing just inside. Dhivael and the new arrival exchanged a look, but neither of them said anything.

Earlond glanced between Dhivael and the new arrival, noting their exchanged glance. Immediately, his suspicions heightened, though none of it showed on his face.

"Excuse me for interrupting," the white-coated Romulan said, lowering his head. Dhivael's eyes followed the arrival as he turned and headed back outside, leaving the little tour group alone in the room again.

After a glance over to Earlond, Awen addressed Dhivael, "How many scientists do you have here, Governor?"

"A few," Dhivael replied somewhat shortly, "We are not Klingons. The value of science is not lost on our people, especially out here."

Awen nodded, slightly surprised that she had apparently touched a nerve. Surely, Earlond had noticed as well. Wondering what might have inspired it, she asked, "I realize that you value science, Governor, and didn't mean to imply otherwise. What are they working on?"

Taking a deep breath, the Romulan let it out slowly before turning to the Bajoran's question. "We have several fields of interest on this planet," he explained, "agricultural science, geology, meteorology."

The Bajoran wasn't really surprised - agricultural science would be expected on a colony...and considering the reports of geological and meteorological activity, those fields would be of interest as well. Awen decided not to comment, instead giving Earlond the opportunity to do so if he wished.

"Is there anything unusual or out of the ordinary they are focusing on?" Earlond asked. Clearly, the Romulan's answers were vague and would have sufficed for any such colony. Based on the interactions between Dhivael and the other Romulan, though, Earlond wondered if there might be something more that the scientists were doing.

"Take a look around you, commander," Dhivael said dryly, "We have plenty of work available to our scientists."

Most likely the scientists were busy either trying to cure whatever it was that was affecting the colonists that had been beamed to the Pandora, or perhaps they were experimenting with things and were actually the cause. Awen certainly hoped it was the former, but she couldn't entirely rule out the latter. For all she knew, the Romulan scientists could have been sent by the Romulan government to keep an eye on the colonists. Too many possibilities. She waited for Earlond to respond to the governor, as he had addressed the Executive Officer.

"What do you know about the colonists' condition, then?" Earlond asked bluntly; he could feel his patience with diplomacy waning. It would be nice to have a specific answer, rather than vague hints that led to any number of possibilities.

"If that will be all," Dhivael said in a dismissive tone, "It has been a...pleasure." He motioned to the guards before turning on his heel and disappearing through the doorway they had just entered the room from. The guards did not move from their posts, but continued to watch the two Starfleet officers.

Awen raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Earlond, "Apparently it's time to go." Her eyes moved to the guards; she didn't want to say anything in front of them that they could report back to Dhivael. Instead, she started for the door.

Earlond nodded, barely affording the guards a glance. If he had been in Dhivael's place, the last thing he would have done was to abruptly end the conversation; Dhivael's sudden departure made it quite clear he had something to hide. Now, all that remained was to find out what it was.

Once they were outside and out of earshot of any of the Romulans, Awen turned to Earlond, "That was...odd, yet probably more telling than the governor intended."

As soon as the two officers came back outside, Telyn and Nol walked over to rejoin the rest of their team. The two, not knowing what had happened inside, simply listened to the conversation.

"Unless it was what he intended," Earlond said. "Would someone - even a Romulan - really be so obvious about changing the subject if he truly wanted to avoid it?"

"True," Awen replied slowly. "I think there's a lot more going on here than what meets the eye...and there's already quite a few interesting things apparently going on." She turned to Nol and Telyn, "Anything?"

Nol shook his head, "No, ma'am. Everything was quiet out here the whole time you were inside. Almost a little too quiet, if you ask me."

"Let's get back up to the ship," Earlond said. "We can make our observations more freely there. Also, we can see if they found anything out about the colonists' condition that might give us some answers." Besides, Earlond didn't like staying in the colony any more than he had to.

Awen nodded, "Good idea. It doesn't seem like we'll get many more answers from down here at this point anyway." Plus, as Earlond had noted, she was rather curious as to the condition of the colonists that had beamed up with Margaret. She moved slightly away from the building and waited for Earlond to give the transporter request.

They had accomplished what they could for now. It was time to let Iluvar know what had been said and done. Earlond tapped his combadge. "Earlond to the Pandora," he said. "Four to beam up."

OFF:

JP brought to you by:

Lieutenant JG Telyn Scora (NPC)
Security Officer
USS Pandora
Played by: Lt Cmdr Fala

and

Ensign Revan Nol (NPC)
Security Officer
USS Pandora
Played by: Lt Cmdr Fala

and

Lieutenant Commander Fala Awen
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Pandora

and

Commander Earlond
Executive Officer
USS Pandora

and

Governor Dhivael (NPC)
Romulan Governor
Nerus V Colony
Played by: RAdm Iluvar