Better Safe Than Sorry

Posted on Sat Jun 10th, 2023 @ 4:43pm by Commander Michael Murphy & Captain Jackson Adams & Lieutenant Steve Ryan

Mission: The World We Never Knew
Location: Babel, planetside

ON:

The landing party materialized on Babel. Looking around, Commander Murphy observed that they were in a large structure. Large might not have been the right word, because the hallway they were in seemed to go on forever with different doors spaced out down both directions of the hall. The only thing different about where they were standing, was that there appeared to be a reception area nearby.

Murphy turned to the two Security personnel they had with them. "Make sure you check the immediate area. Let me know if you find anything out of the ordinary."

"Yes, sir," one of them answered, and then they each went down the hallway in separate directions.

Lt. Ryan materialized close by the commander and the rest of the away team. The place was indeed huge.

"Wow" he let out while reaching for his tricorder to get a read of the surrounding and trying to make up a map of the place. "What are we looking for, sir?" he asked while processing the data.

"We're just doing a security sweep, and making contact with the administration here to see if they need any assistance," Murphy said. He motioned for Lt. Ryan to follow him to the reception area.

As they approached the counter, the native of Babel at the counter greeted them warmly. "Hello, and welcome to Babel! How could we help you today?"

Murphy allowed a slight smile in return. "Thank you. I appreciate the welcome. We're actually here to see if you might need any help. I know Babel is not a member world, but the Federation is grateful for the efforts made here in the name of peace."

"I'm afraid not. You'll find things are calm here. There has never been a significant security incident here. You're welcome to stay if that brings you peace of mind, as long as you cause no trouble."

That sounded acceptable to Murphy. "Well then, as long as we find nothing troubling, we'll be on our way."

He stepped back from the counter, and flipped open his communicator. "Commander Murphy to Montana. Babel claims no assistance needed. Still conducting security sweep."

The Captain's voice came from the communicator, "Very, well Commander, keep one eye open. All is well on the ship" Montana out.

Steve, tailing Murphy, tried to study the place they were in while the Babel's native spoke. Such a huge place would take quite some time to sweep and search for dangers. Security in such an enormous building would have been a major pain to handle.

"That man made quite a bold statement" he said to the commander. "Never is a pretty strong statement." he looked around "Even if Babel natives are a peaceful lot, handling a security incident of any sort in here might prove to be a nightmare....especially if they're not used to it." he concluded still studying the map of the place in his tricorder.

"I agree," Murphy said. "But I don't think our luck is so bad that we'll be the ones here for their first one."

About fifteen minutes later, a man that looked like he did not belong on Babel walked up to the landing party. "Excuse me, are you part of the Federation? If so, we need help before the authorities find us here and kill us solely because we want a different type of government."

Steve turned and met the eyes of the man. He raised an eyebrow and smirked, waiting for the senior officer to take the lead.

"I'd be happy to help if I can. Who are you?" Murphy asked.

The man smiled at Murphy and responded, "My name is Plex, and I lead a group of others that were part of a ship that crash-landed here about 20 years ago. At first, the citizens embraced us, that is, until we decided that their laws were repressive. We had no way to leave, and the government would not give us a voice, even though their constitution required it. In short, we are repressed because we are different."

"Commander, two of our citizens are scheduled to be executed in two days time. We need your help and now, please."

"We'll be happy to grant you asylum and transport you elsewhere. Bring us to the rest of your people." Murphy instructed.

Steve silently watched the man requesting for help and waited for him and the commander to finish their talk before getting the attention of the commander.

“Sir, Babel is not under the Federation’s wing. Not that I don’t want to help these people, but we might be in breach of the Prime Directive if we intervene. This world has its own rules, who are we to consider them right or wrong?” He concluded scratching his chin trying to find a way out.

"If they're telling the truth about crashing here, then this isn't their world even if the crash was 20 years ago." Murphy answered.

Steve nodded, that made sense. He turned towards the man and asked "Mr. Plex, what is your home planet? Is your ship still in the crash area and repairable?" Considering the possibility of having the Montana's engineers to work on it.

Plex was moving quickly, but didn't immediately answer the questions.


OFF:

Captain Jackson Adams
Commanding Officer

Commander Michael Murphy
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Steve Ryan
Chief Communications and Operations Officer