Searching for answers

Posted on Mon Jun 16th, 2025 @ 6:07am by Captain Michael Murphy & Lieutenant Commander Steve Ryan & Lieutenant Aubrie Fox & Lieutenant Kestra Ral

1,146 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Maintaining the Status Quo
Location: Janus VI

Montana bridge

Lieutenant Mitchell was antsy. He wondered what was taking the away team so long. He kept trying to focus on his breathing while hoping the Klingons weren't on the way.

Lieutenant Mann, on the other hand, was calm. He wondered if they'd let him run the bridge instead of Lieutenant Mitchell one day. Maybe if there was an engineering emergency off ship? He continued to patiently wait.


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Janus VI surface

The away team on the planet's surface entered the command center of the pergium mines. Everything looked operational. Lights were on, control panels were blinking, surveillance monitors were active, the low hum of electronic equipment was heard.

As part of the small security detail scanned the area for possible threats, Lt. Cmdr. Ryan got his hands on the closest console.

“I’m going to try and access this terminal and see if we can retrieve recent logs. I’m not sure what kind of information they are legally required to store, but if we are lucky we may also be able to find some personal log stored in the outpost’s disks” he explained as he started working on the console, trying to gain access to the local data drive.

"Good idea," Murphy said. "They undoubtedly wouldn't have expected us to be invasive, nor would they have expected the deadly confrontation. so they shouldn't have purged or removed any information." He began walking around, looking at the different consoles and compartments. For the moment, he would let the others take the lead.

Kestra walked into the science laboratory. The more she looked around, the more her stomach turned. Along with samples of all the minerals, there was also autopsies of what looked like a few baby Hortas. These were sentient life forms, not animals.

She closed her eyes and pressed her lips together. When she got her temper under control, she started gathering evidence. Horta anatomy was composed of a material similar to fibrous asbestos. Phaser 1 would have no effect on them. Phaser 2 had worked once they adjusted it.
They lived a very long life, but every fifty thousand years, all of the Horta died out except for one. She became the mother Horta and would watch over the eggs until they hatched. The eggs were spherical in shape, and they seemed to mostly consist of silicon. But, from the images, they looked like large black pearls with all different shades of the black pearls. Beautiful, Kestra thought. If they had found eggs, then that could mean the Hortas might be at the end of their lives? Or had that all happened and these were the next generation?

Murphy walked over by Kestra. He saw the autopsies, and hid his reaction of shock. He wondered if the Horta outside knew this had been happening in here. He guessed not. He knew better than to touch anything, especially while Kestra gathered her samples.

"Sir" Steve called out the captain's attention.

Murphy hurried over, "What is it?"

"Logs are mostly standard type. Tonnage of mined material, atmosphere readings and such. But I found a brief note of a scientist" he tapped a few buttons and got it on the main screen.


"Personal Log – Dr. Halver,
“This isn’t what I signed up for. We told ourselves the pulses were a ‘communication tool,’ but everyone here knows what they really are: control.
The Horta used to approach us willingly. Now they hide. The ones we do see are rushed, aggressive, and increasingly erratic. There are markings on the walls—patterns I haven’t seen before. I believe they’re warnings. Maybe threats.
If we keep this up, we won’t be mining pergium. We’ll be digging our own graves.”

Steve read it aloud so that all of the away team in the area could be notified.

"So they found a way to communicate with them and force them to work" he commented.

Murphy was horrified. They knew what they were doing. And when it became glaringly obvious that their evil work could have repercussions, they didn't stop. He looked at Ryan, "Chief Engineer Vanderberg didn't tell you or Fox about any of this."

The XO shook his head.
"He didn't, but I reckon that he might not know the entire story. He told us that Gratingol was the one behind the idea" he pointed to the screen "and I guess behind the method too." he took a deep breath "Vaderberg sounded sincere when we interrogated him. Now we know Security and Science were somehow involved. Who else?" he asked almost rhetorically.

"Medical?" Murphy offered. "Their Chief of Medicine didn't seem very friendly."

"Sounds legit" the XO concurred.

Kestra raised an eyebrow “I have medical reports on the…..subjects! They aided in changing the phasers to harm the Horta. They knew. “ she pinched the bridge of her nose. “There was no reason for this. The Horta eat rock to live. That is how they survive. All they had to do is follow them around and pick up the raw materials they wanted.” She shook her head. Not sure if she wanted to just copy all the science reports or read them now and pick what they needed. In the end she chose to download the reports and scan over them while they were here. Once the download was complete she sent a copy to the science department on the ship then put the PADD in her jacket.

Murphy shook his head. "Unfortunately, this makes sense. The Federation would have a general idea of the amount of time needed to shipments of pergium to be ready. They probably wanted to use pain to force the Horta to move faster, or to force them to mine different places than they already would have been. This is how they had an extra shipment ready for the Klingons without the Federation figuring it out."

"The risks of serving two masters" commented Steve.

"Thankfully, it seems the Horta trust that we're not all the same," Murphy thought out loud.

Fox stood poised and alert, her senses heightened and ready to respond to any challenge that lay ahead. The air around her crackled with anticipation as she scanned his surroundings, fully prepared for whatever unexpected turn the moment might bring.

"We have what we came for," Murphy said. "Let's document as much as we can, and copy any computer files. This will be important for Vanderberg's trial. That way if anything happens between now and our next ship arriving, there is unaltered evidence. Just in case."

Before too much longer, they were beaming back to the Montana.


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Captain Michael Murphy
Commanding Officer, USS Montana

Lieutenant Commander Steve Ryan
Executive Officer, USS Montana

Lieutenant Stuart Mann
Navigation Officer, USS Montana

Lieutenant Aubrie Fox
Chief Security Officer, USS Montana

Lieutenant Kestra Ral
Chief Science Officer, USS Montana

 

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