As Dale Collins powers up the Minerva, the other members of the crew double-check their small type-1 hand phasers and communicators. Needles Ryerson and Nadix both press a test button or two on their medical and sciences tricorders. The captain gives the order and everyone boards into the tiny craft.
Some jargon is exchanged between Dale and Ms. Chau on the bridge, and the away team hears the grinding of the bay doors open behind the Minerva. As Dale waits for the all-clear signal, he continues powering up the shuttle's systems. The lights within the shuttle dim to a mysterious glow and the various little consoles scattered across the dashboard come to life.
Finally, a set of red lights begin flickering on the wall in front of them, indicating that the rear deflector screen has been lowered, and Dale backs the shuttle out of the cramped bay. Soon, the Minerva is free of its confines. The mass of the Janus fills the away team's view, then slowly begins shrinking away before them. 'Shuttle cleared. Deflector screens back online,' chimes the voice of Ms. Chau, and then Dale fully powers the impulse drives and begins the descent to Coxa II.
As the little vessel descends to an orbit of the northern hemisphere of the planet, Nadix begins taking sensor readings along the strip of land. Within half an hour he catches something! He brings the results up onto a small dashboard screen.
Note: brown areas are lightly forested mountains, yellowish areas are plains, and green areas are jungles.
It seems that the impulse contrail that went down to the planet surface was a ship after all, as expected. The size and power train of the ship indicates a large shuttle craft, possibly able to seat between 7-20 passengers, depending on configuration. All Federation ships are legally required to have UFP registration codes, but none show up for this vessel. It could be a pirate ship, or perhaps a ship from a non-aligned world or rival empire.
