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The ensigns thank the doctor as they rub their shoulders. "You know, we can dematerialize a human body and transport it thousands of kilometers through deep space, but we still can't figure out how to give an injection without irritating the skin," one ensign jokes.

The crew assemble inside the Minerva shuttlecraft and prepare for departure. The manifest is repeated and confirmed over the communications channel:

"All crew equipped with communicator and Phaser I with a Phaser II pistol upgrade." — "Check."
"Backup Phaser I's in shuttle storage compartment." — "Check."
"Two phaser rifles in storage." — "Check."
"One case of four photon grenades in storage." — "Check."
"One medical tricorder, one engineering tricorder, and one science tricorder issued to officers." — "Check."
"One standard purpose force field belt issued to each crew." — "Check."
"One Romulan plasma pistol prototype in storage." — "Check."
"One force field belt modified with Slaver Alloy, in storage." — "Check."

"Good luck, Minerva. Cleared for departure."

Commander Nadix Ar Eth, Science Officer:

The pacifistic Edosian equips himself with one of the backup Phaser I's from storage, leaving the more exotic and deadly weapons for the rest of the landing party.

Then Nadix dutifully runs a systems check of the shuttlecraft sensors, and readies himself for what lies ahead.

Commander Gareb Endilev, XO:

Endilev settles in at the helm of the shuttle I'm assuming and starts a pre-flight check, making sure everyone is strapped in prepared for the ride.

Dr. Ryerson:

The doctor finish the inoculations with himself and makes for his seat in the shuttle. He double checks his medical tricorder, communicator, and phaser I before settling in. He's not fond of shuttle travel but it's much more agreeable to him than having his molecules spilt into billions of little pieces and then place back together again.

NCC-805-1 Minerva shuttlecraft
Stardate 2271.3.24: 0920h


The bay doors open into the deeps of space, and the Minerva One silently slips out into the void. Previous coordinates are brought up onto the dashboard display.



Commander Endilev calculates a heading and brings the vessel around toward the jungle west of the Coxan village. The shuttle glides toward the majestic planet, rocking gently when they break through atmospheric entry. As they travel further into the atmosphere the tiny shuttle begins to buck and tumble in the swift winds that tumble down from its impossibly tall mountain peaks.



The dashboard display zooms into the target region, a valley circled on three sides by ominous mountain peaks (the brown bits). showing that the pirate shuttlecraft remains exactly where it was detected yesterday (red dot), no more than one kilometer from the jungle's east edge (the green bits). Life signs are no longer found aboard, however. The location of the Coxan village lies southeast of the pirate shuttle, four kilometers away from the jungle in the open savanna (the yellow bit).



The shuttle logs reveal that the crew landed yesterday in a small clearing two kilometres due west of the pirate shuttle. From there the crew recall travelling due south for an hour, attempting to follow the radiation signature to its source, before being waylaid by the Coxan posse sent to recapture the runaway girl. From there they travelled more or less due east to the Coxan village.

Endilev hovers high above a streak of stratus cloud as they determine where to land.

I'll have a basic hex map of the area up in a day or two, but until then the general description is accurate enough for making a plan of approach.

Commander Nadix Ar Eth, Science Officer:

The Edosian studies the screen and serenely muses, "The terrain near the pirate shuttle was inhospitable. With no lifeforms nearby, perhaps we touch down near the craft this time?"

Commander Gareb Endilev, XO:

"Sounds like a plan,"Endilev agrees with the Science Officer and makes for such a course.

Hey Sean, could you put an "X" to mark where the village is? If you can't that's okay, I just wanted to get a sense of it.

Dr. Ryerson:

The doctor braces himself in his chair with his hands clutching the shuttle's bowed armrests. He wonders if there might be a better solution to keeping one's self in his own seat. A strap or belt that could hold a person in place when turbulence get rough. He'd write down his idea and present it to the chief of engineering if he had a hand free. Hopefully the idea will still be clear in his mind once they land safely.

Endilev calls up a detailed map of the surrounding area.
EDIT: hexes are 1km across.



He brings the vessel in just over the treetops to keep a low profile. The giant fronds of the trees lash at the engine nacelles as they go.

Soon they arrive at the landing site of the pirate shuttle and gingerly touch down. The shuttle is powered down and looks as though it has been there for a couple of days. No humanoid or Romulan life signs are detected in the area.



The pirate shuttle:

Commander Nadix Ar Eth, Science Officer:

"Gentlemen, let us disembark," the Edosian suggests mildly, checking to see if anyone had volunteered to use the makeshift Slaver technology.

Commander Gareb Endilev, XO:

"Now that is definitely a plan,"Endilev agrees with the Science Officer again. After setting up the shuttle craft to ensure it's ready for a quick getaway, he grabs the biggest weapon he can and heads out with the party.

Gareb feels a rush of adrenaline as he wields the experimental plasma gun and straps a bandolier of photon grenades to his person.

The ensigns look expectantly at the Slaver belt, but say nothing. No one steps forward to claim the item. Nadix takes it and wonders whether to use it himself or to assign it someone.

The landing party disembarks, two of the ensigns with phaser rifles and the others with standard pistols. Exploring the outside of the shuttlecraft, all is quiet. Still no traces of humanoid life signs can be detected, and peeking through the viewports reveals a dark and empty interior. The vehicle appears to be powered down, and the hatch is closed. Tricorders pick up some animal life signs in the surrounding jungle, but fewer than usual.

"Look at these footprints. Somebody was busy here," says an ensign, pointing to the clusters of boot prints that can be seen moving all about the clearing, into and out of the shuttlecraft. Those that leave the area mostly run off southeast down a small natural trail, in the general direction of the village, although some also head south.

Dr. Ryerson:

The doctor exits the shuttle craft. Turning on his tricorder he double checks his it to make sure it's working properly before leaving the area. A quick survey of the surrounding area for signs of life is a good test. He doesn't stroll too far from the others as he tests his tricorder. Staying within ear shot so he won't miss any commands.

Dr. Ryerson's tricorder appears to be in full working order. He spots no life signs of large animals in the direct vicinity, thankfully.

The tricorder does pick up the microscopic residue of dead skin cells along the hatch door of the pirate shuttlecraft. They are Romulan and human in origin, the newest of them probably being only several hours old.

Commander Nadix Ar Eth, Science Officer:

The Edosian's yellow eyes serenely follow the footprints south as he sets his tricorder to scan for the Slaver technology's telltale radiation signature.

The Edosian's tricorder indeed picks up a very faint signature.

Commander Nadix Ar Eth, Science Officer:

Nadix modulates his tricorder in an attempt to determine the direction of the signature's source.

Cmdr. Endilev, Engineering Officer

Endilev clicks on his tricorder, to see if it can add any information to what they've already gathered and takes a peek at the prints.

Of the prints can we tell how many folks there were?

Dr. Ryerson:

"I'm picking up some epidermis on the pirates shuttle, human and Romulan. Fairly recent too. They have been here not more than five or six hours, maybe less. They must be close by but I'm not getting any other life signs. Perhaps that have other devices that make them invisible to our equipment."

Coxa II: Pirate landing site
Stardate 2271.3.24: 0930h


The officers defer to their blinking tricorders as the security crew stand guard.

Nadix alters several switches on his tricorder and pinpoints the direction of the signal, south-southwest, in the direction of the smaller crowd of footprints. As he finds his signature, his Edosian mind recalls the scientific principles that allow him to locate the Slaver alloy's "anti-signal": by using the tricorder to scan carefully for some other, mundane set of signatures or materials, he can locate the direction of the Slaver alloy because it blocks that signal from being read properly…

Endilev studies his engineering tricorder. It whirls at him as he passes its antenna across the pirate shuttle: it is powered by a rather standard cross-modulation phase generator, apparently. The engines have not been powered since it landed, and the temperature of the heat sinks indicates that basic electrics were shut off probably five hours ago, at roughly 4:00am local time. He then stoops to examine the prints more closely. All appear to be made by boots typical of spaceship crews, but they travel back and forth in so many circles it is difficult to make them out. The tracks leading south into the jungle, however, were made by two individuals, their marks definitely more clear than the others.

Dr. Ryerson tells the others about the epidermis particles he discovered on the shuttle, and warns them that the erstwhile occupants may not be far off, even though his tricorder is not picking any of them up. "They may also be out of tricorder range," suggests a rifle-wielding ensign. "I doubt any of our tricorders can scan much farther than a hundred meters in this jungle without losing reliability."

The jungle remains still, with only the eerie winds and swaying trees of this strange new world breaking the silence.