[Galaxy] [New-Darwin] 17 Sep, Joint log, Knight/Kurisawa, "Watch Your Step"

[Kate Nicholson]

[ ESS Constitution, approaching orbit of GSII ]

"We're at maximum range for transport, Captain," announced Marx at the
comms station.

Kurisawa nodded, replying a calm and steady, "Havoc."

"Aye, Captain," Marx acknowledged.  He turned back to his station and
pressed the earbud in place.  "All stations: Havoc. Havoc. Havoc.
A-Team, you are clear to transport.  Mission Ops, you are online to
coordinate ground forces.  B-Team shuttles One and Two are on
operational standby.  ETA to orbit, fifteen minutes."

As his comms officer was now decidedly busy, Kurisawa took the liberty
of utilizing some of the command overrides available on the arm of his
captain's chair.  "Constitution to Aurora.  We are a 'Go'."

= Acknowledged Captain = Knight turned to his science officer
off-screen; who paused for a moment before nodding to confirm that they
were within transporter range. = We can deploy our team immediately. =


[ Bridge, ESS Aurora, approaching orbit of GSII ]

As the screen switched back to an image of the planet Knight moved his
attention to his communications officer. ³Put me through to the
transporter room.²

³You¹re on.² Richardson confirmed.

³This is Commander Knight. We¹ve had confirmation from the Constitution,
you¹re free to transport when ready...good hunting.² He regretted the
final comment after saying it; hearing the words aloud he realised that
it wasn¹t wholly appropriate to the situation. They were defending their
home...taking it back from invaders. ³Good luck.²


[ Constitution, Bridge ]

"I'm getting a fluxuation, Captain," called the science officer.  She
hadn't moved from the scope at her station since they'd begun
operations.  "Unidentified distortion in the sensor pickup."

Honestly, it could be anything.  If it were any other time it might be
ignored, or at worst tagged for diagnostics and recalibration.  But
Hubbard was anal about her equipment, and she was looking for a cloaked
vessel.  So for her to make note of a sensor anomaly was something
Kurisawa gave his full attention.

"Launch B-Team, Captain?" asked Richmond at the weapons station.  "That
would free us up to deal with it."

Kurisawa squinted suspiciously at the viewscreen.  "No.  We're still
more than ten minutes out, the shuttles would be exposed for too long."

"They could ride shotgun," offered the helmsman.  "We release them, but
they stay on our underbelly until they can make their run.  That way we
can still protect them, and if necessary they can make a dash for it
while we intercept the threat."

Kurisawa nodded.  "Do it.  Marx, update the Aurora."


[ Bridge, ESS Aurora, approaching orbit of GSII ]

³Message from Constitution Sir.² Informed Richardson, he hesitated
briefly then continued, ³They¹ve picked up an unidentified distortion
nearbyŠthey can¹t be more specific than that.²

³RomulansŠ² Knight whispered, ³I take it that we can¹t confirm the reading.²

³Negative Sir, our sensors are significantly inferior.² Explained the
voice behind the science station. ³Constitution have sent us their log
pertaining to the situation. I can try recalibrating our sensors to
focus on those bandwidthsŠit may help?²

Formally a science officer himself Knight understood the trade off;
better resolution in a particular region to the detriment of all others.
Still, in a situation where they weren¹t alone it was a palatable risk.
³Do it.² Then addressing the bridge. ³They¹re out thereŠ they¹re closeŠ
take us to tactical alert, I¹m not willing to risk thisŠ²


[ Constitution, Bridge ]

"Aurora has acknowledged, Captain," called Marx.  "Both pods are deploying."

"Very good," Kurisawa called.

"Sir, I've got something on sensors," called his tactical officer.

Kurisawa looked at Hubbard, who looked up momentarily from her scope,
then to the man who would be called an "Armory Officer" on other ships.
  "What do /you/ have?"

"Best I can figure, Sir, it's a bit of debris," the other officer said,
still squinting at his monitors.  "Perhaps drifted from the battlefield,
but if I hadn't watched it just... /appear/, then I wouldn't have
thought anything of it."

Kurisawa stepped to look over the helmsman's shoulder again, examining
the sensor screen at his station.  "/Where/ did it appear?"

"Right in our path."

"All stop," Kurisawa called.  "Target that debris and fire."

If the armory/tactical officer thought his captain was over-reacting, he
didn't give any indication -- and under the circumstances, better safe
than sorry.  A phase cannon blast struck true, almost like basic target
practice, but the result was unexpected.  If the mine had been just a
few hundred kilometers closer it would have detected the screen from the
Constitution's deflector dish and detonated within "kill distance", but
just outside the screen was still dangerous.  The ship shuddered under
the shockwave, but systems integrity held.

Kurisawa was staggered back into his chair.  "That was /not/ debris."

The tactical officer shook his head.  "Photonic mine, Captain.  And now
that I know what I'm looking for, I've picked up several more.  In front
/and/ behind.  Scanning to port and starboard."

"Constitution to Aurora," Kurisawa called.  "The Romulans have laid a
minefield around us."  He didn't need confirmation to know they were now
the proverbial 'fish in a barrel'.  "I think we preempted their ambush,
but we need to get where we can maneuver and not just choose between
torpedoes or mines.  Break formation and steer clear of any and all debris."

= Acknowledged. = Knight replied; audio only. The view screen was an
image of the /debris/ with all relevant sensor data overlaying it. As
time passed the frequency of new sensor data reduced until it stopped
all together, revealing an interesting, if worrying pattern. =It looks
like there are no mines above or below the central disk. I think that we
should split up...it¹ll give them a great chance to pick as off but if
we¹ve caught them unaware this might give us the best chance...=

"You go high," Kurisawa said as he steadied himself in his chair.
"We'll go low."

<to be continued...>

-----
Cmdr. Anthony Knight
Captain, ESS Aurora
Assigned to the New Darwin Colony

Capt Togusa Kurisawa
Commanding Officer
ESS Constitution