The Camp Deserted, Where the Grecians Lay

Posted on 03/04/2024 @ 8:10pm by Captain Cara Letsul & Lieutenant Commander K'doc Valadorn & Lieutenant JG Wakeham Paul Alasia PhD
Edited on on 03/31/2024 @ 4:25pm

1,645 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Pages...
Location: Shuttlecraft Amundsen, Gamma Quadrant, En route to Starbase 50
Timeline: MD 006 1300

Paul felt his head shaking involuntarily. Gradually emerging from a dreamless sleep, he didn’t realize it at first, but he was responding to the warble of the cabin computer’s notification. The chime seemed distant at first, but seemingly grew more rapid and more insistent with each iteration. Paul lethargically swatted his hand across the small cubicle which had served as his bunk for the past four days, searching for his commbadge. After several futile attempts, Paul began to pat himself with his other hand before realizing his badge was still attached to his chest.

“Alasia.” His voice croaked, groggy and dense.

“Sir, I’m sorry to wake you.” the voice came across to Paul as hyper-alert and competent in the way that all voices do to the half-asleep. “We may have an issue. Could you join me up front when you’re able?”

Paul cradled his temple between his thumb and forefinger. “Of course.” He pressed his closed eyes into his fingers. “Give me a minute.”

“Computer, 15% illumination on the lights, please.” Paul curled his legs toward his torso and rolled out of his tiny bunk. He stood and looked around for his uniform’s overshirt. Seeing nothing, and unwilling to make the lights brighter, Paul convinced himself he must have left it in the main cabin and ambled toward the door. The harsh, fluorescent light poured in as the door opened and Paul could see the silhouette of Ensign Ilana Hersch, the only other inhabitant of the shuttlecraft and his sole company for what had been the single longest trip on a small craft in Paul’s life. She was young, with a round, friendly face, eyes that transformed into crescents on the frequent occasion when she smiled, and mousy, unassuming brown hair that parted in the middle.

“Could I interest you in a coffee, sir?” She asked as Paul climbed toward the co-pilot’s chair.

Paul shook his head no. “Thank you. And again, we don’t need to keep on with ‘sir’ for another however many days. It’s just the two od us. ‘Paul’s’ fine.”

“Right. Sorry.” Ilana replied quickly.

“There’s no need to— anyway, I’m sorry I slept through your relief.”

“Oh, no actually, you’re not on to relieve for quite some time.”

A flash of irritation washed across Paul’s face. He, nonetheless, tried to stifle his tone “Ok— then what can I do for you?”

“It’s Poseidon. We’ve been en route for several days, and I haven’t had any contact with the station at all. No subspace chatter. No automated messaging. Nothing.”

“I mean, we’re still a ways out, right. Is that really that unusual?”

“Well, sir— Paul, I’ve done this run quite a few times now. It’s not unusual not to have contact while we’re in the Alpha Quadrant. The wormhole tends to swallow up less powerful transmissions. And, it’s also not that uncommon for subspace chatter to be at a minimum. It’s not like Poseidon is a central hub with ships constantly docking and off-loading. But, what has me concerned is that their standard protocol mandates, at the very least, some kind of automated long-range communication to Federation craft with general instructions. ‘Go to such and such coordinates and contact this frequency for further instructions.’ Something like that.I’ve run through every frequency band they’ve ever used before and have the computer analyzing the rest of the spectrum looking for anything that looks like non-random noise. So far, nothing.”

Paul grimaced. “That sounds— not good. That sounds scary.”

“It’s certainly not normal” Ilana attempted to reassure. “But it’s not necessarily what it sounds like. If we were anywhere in Alpha Quadrant, there would be all kinds of communications pinging from basically every direction. Poseidon is very isolated. So, silence doesn’t inherently indicate something as bad as it would at another facility.”

“Alright, well, we have to figure out what the deal is. What happened when you hailed them? They ignored you?”

“No. I haven’t hailed them directly.”

Paul furrowed his brow in confusion. “So, you woke me up because they haven’t sent any communication to you, but you also haven’t communicated with them? Did it just not occur to you?”

“Of course it occurred to me. Again, this isn’t the Alpha Quadrant. The Federation doesn’t have a network of subspace relays out here. For Poseidon to engage in long-range communication with a craft as small as us, they have to boost the signal primarily on their end, and it eats up a ton of their bandwidth. It’s supposed to be limited to high-priority communication and, without trying to be insulting, I don’t think our arrival qualifies.”

“Ok, so what would you propose we do?”

“Well, that’s why I woke you up. I don’t have an approach vector or even general instructions for what I’m supposed to do. We’re still about 12 hours out, but I’ve never gotten this close to any installation without at least a general idea about what I’m supposed to do.”

“Alright, well, I don’t see as though we have a choice. Hail the station.”

“Like I said, Paul, we’re really not supposed to—”

“It really doesn’t seem like we have another choice. If they push back, just blame me and say I insisted.”

“So, you’re ‘Lieutenant’ again? You’re ordering me?”

Paul rolled his eyes. “If that’s what it needs to be, OK, I’m ordering you.”

“Very well, sir.”

Paul smirked and rolled his eyes a second time.

Ilana tapped the key combination to engage the communication system. “Channel’s open, sir.”

“Poseidon Station, this is Lt. Wakeham Alasia aboard the Shuttlecraft Amundsen. I have orders to join the Station’s crew but we have not received approach vectors for our arrival or been able to make contact generally. Are you able to advise?”

An Irritated growl came across the com channel. " Shuttle Amundsen, This is Lieutentant Commander Valadorn, Chief Security at Poseidon Station. Send Starfleet ID numbers for everyone on the shuttle and an Alpha clearance code prior to arrivial. Your vector will be 335.55 by 270.18. You will hold one hundred kilometers and standby to be scanned, Do not attempt to dock before permission is granted or you will be fired upon, Poseidon station out. " With that the com channel went silent.

Cara stepped out of her office and made her way to main operations area. "We've got another ship approaching I see, a shuttlecraft?" Cara gave a nod. "Lets see who is on it." She also walked to where the readings were, they had pinpointed the arrival of the small craft a little bit ago, their subspace communications were up to par and had been checked by their Chief of Operations and Engineering, Commander Jezka. However any hailing had been done, was done in return was when the craft hailed them.

K'doc glanced up at Cara. " I am reading two life signs aboard the shuttle and both appear to be human. I am awaiting conformation on the clearance code and their starfleet identity records. Until then I have a soft weapons lock on the shuttle and or your permission to board them. " Stated the large Klingon as he picked up his tankard of Raktajino and took a healthy swig.

Cara gazed towards the approaching shuttle, "Let them have access and have them come aboard the station. Ths station is cleared for allowing ships to arrive now, with extra security," Cara commented, before she hailed, the shuttle herself.

" Shuttle Amundsen, Clearance codes and scans have been accepted and Command staff has approved your docking at Poseidon Station. Proceed to docking ring Alpha slip seventeen. Check in with security in the docking ring, Be advised that the Station is currently on lock down. Acknowledge transmission. " K'doc announced.

As K'doc awaited the shuttles response he turned to Cara. "Captain Letsul I have some information you need to hear. Khylara and I exchanged the oath the
several days ago and filed the recording through the Klingon embassy."

Cara raised her eyebrows at this surprising news, but waited for him to complete what he had to say

"Earlier today I received a transmission from my father, He informs me that the Lady B'janna Valadorn my esteemed mother shall be arriving within the next twenty four hours. I thought you'd like to know." He then returned his attention to the security console.

Cara's blood turned cold when she heard what K'doc had said. She's heard plenty about K'doc's mother from K'rang. K'doc's mother made K'rang nervous. "Oh dear, looks like we're in for an interesting time. For now though we need that shuttle to arrive and land and see who is on it."

" Interesting isn't the word I'd have used myself, but it is apt in this situation. " He shook his head as if clearing his thoughts. Captain, I'll have the shuttle tractored into the Alpha Docking ring. " Shuttle Amundsen, prepare to be shuttled into Docking Ring Alpha. Proceed to berthing slip seventeen and report to Captain Letsul after checking in. "

Carat turned to K'doc. "Well, looks like duty calls, for both of us." she remarked.

" Indeed it appears that way. " K'doc said softly as he had other things on his mind as well. " I believe there is a quote from an old earth culture that states may you live in interesting times. I believe that we'll have some interesting times over the next several days. "


Lieutenant Junior Grade Paul Alasia
Diplomatic Officer
Poseidon Station

Captain Cara Letsul
Acting Commanding Officer
Poseidon Station

Lieutenant Commander K'doc Valadorn
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
Poseidon Station

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