Mission Log 23 - Stardate 21711.18 "Lost Vulcans"

Mission Summary

Mission dates: 241711.18 - through to 241807.01

Captain's Logs

Commander Serran Zan recording

Stardate 21711.18

This is my first entry as Commanding Officer of the USS Sheridan. I'll keep it short and to the point.

Having completed my assignment in the position of First Officer of the USS Pegasus, and recently received permanent promotion to the rank of Commander, and completing advanced command training courses at Starfleet facilities on Earth, I was given orders to travel to Starbase Bravo, where I was given a new assignment to assume command of the Sheridan.

With the Sheridan having received repair and upgrades since her last mission, all departments reported that she was ready for duty.

Following the mission details given to me, I ordered the immediate launch of the ship, and set the course for the Bravo Transwarp Gate. Our destination given in our orders; the Gamma Quadrant.

The jump went smoothly, and once we arrived through the Gamma Transwarp Gate I ordered a full stop, and called for a Department Head meeting.

Our orders are to retrieve a missing team of Vulcan anthropologists and First Contact specialists. We have their course details and their last transmissions. This mission should be pretty straight forward. We find them, we take them home. We aim to begin the search by following their route, and by trying to find and contact the two indigenous species that the

Vulcan team made contact with before their reports ceased. Hopefully those people will be able to give some information on the whereabouts of the missing scientists.

My previous experience of the Gamma Quadrant leads me to expect 'straight forward' to be wishful thinking, but as the ancient Terran poet Alexander Pope once wrote;

Hope springs eternal.

End log.

Stardate: 21802.23

Captain's Log. Stardate: 21802.23 Commander Serran Zan recording.

The Sheridan is moving into orbit of a planet unknown to the Star Fleet database, continuing the search for the missing team of Vulcan scientists.

After successfully traded for information from local Shil'lox traders, we reached the coordinates where they had encountered the Vulcans, then followed on along the route the scientists had filed before their departure from the Alpha Quadrant. We reached the end of their trail and found wreckage and seven bodies floating in space. It seems they suffered from decompression when their ship suffered damage. Given that the Shil'lox ship bore old weapons damage it would seem that the Vulcans encountered hostile force or forces as well. The fact that the weapons signatures matched the frequency used by Star Fleet starship weaponry is one more puzzle in this growing mystery.

There was only a small amount of wreckage, and the rest of the Vulcan ship is nowhere in the vacinity. Logic would say that if their ship survived the attack enough to acheive sublight travel then they would head to the nearest planet for help.

So that's where we're at too. The planet looks unpromising so far, with no major advanced technology detected from space, the only life signs concentrated in the barren landscape are focused in scattered habited zones. No Vulcan life signs have been detected from orbit.

I have asked Commander Boislevesque to assemble an Away Team to go to the surface, assess whether the locals are advanced enough to contact, then find out if the Vulcans came this way.

The Sheridan will remain in orbit at Yellow Alert, as we have no information about who may have attacked the Vulcans either. Whoever they may be they could still be around. We will scan the surrounding area in greater detail and determine whether there have been any other vessels travelling nearby in the time frame since the Vulcan ship was attacked.

End log.

Stardate: 21804.18

Captain's Log. Stardate: 21804.18 Commander Serran Zan recording.

The ship is currently in orbit of the unnamed planet from my last log. Our Away Team is still on the surface and I await a progress report. Meanwhile here in orbit we encountered a cloaked Cardassian warship, Galor Class.

This was like some museum piece, easily forty years old and more. No response to hails, it opened fire. Obviously with the Sheridan being somewhat more modern than the Galor, we gained the upper hand in combat fairly quickly. Scans showed no life signs on the enemy ship, so that explained the lack of response to hails. So we were dealing with some kind of automated or pre-programmed opponent. That meant there was nobody to reason with though, nobody I could convince to stop firing, come to some deal with, negotiate.

The enemy ship clearly had no reason to stop shooting, and while we hadn't lost any lives yet I wasn't going to see how long that lasted. I gave the order to take the ship out. Our phasers took out the last of the shields and a couple of quantum torpedoes did the rest.

Now we're taking stock of damage taken, crew injured, and start to try to make some sense of that Cardassian ship while waiting for the report from the Away Team on the planet.

End log.

Stardate: 21806.02

Captain's Log. Stardate: 21806.02 Commander Serran Zan recording.

I'm recording this log entry as text only, as the ship is currently in the middle of combat. Just in case I'm unable to make another log, text from my arm rest console on the Bridge will have to do.

Good thing I grew up on a beat up old freighter, old tech was often the only tech, my typing skills are not that bad actually.

Investigating what we hoped might be the source of the signal that had been remote controlling the Cardassian warship we encountered previously, we found what we were looking for - and then some!

Three cloaked ships appeared right in front of us as we rounded one of the moons that orbit the unidentified planet. These ships looked like well preserved museum pieces from the Dominion War era. Another Cardassian Galor, a Klingon ship, flanked a Jem'Hadar battleship no less!

Our Science Chief, Lieutenant Feta, managed to jam the signal controlling two of the enemy ships, but the Jem'Hadar battleship had a single crew member who was able to keep up the attack.

Still badly outclassed and taking damage, I made the decision to take the Sheridan down to the surface of the moon. I remember that the Jem'Hadar ships never had planet landing capabilities, which the Sheridan thankfully has.

I hope I'll be thanking that once we're down safe and sound at least. Commander Boislevesque and his Away Team are still on the neighbouring planet and from their last comm message, also in some firefight. I hope they get clear of that too, I'll try to hail them once we find somewhere to put down in this forest. I hope.

End log.

Stardate: 21806.29

Captain's Log. Stardate: 21806.29 Commander Serran Zan recording.

I'm recording this log from the post-op ward of Sickbay, having received injury after the ship landed on the moon's surface. Having been briefed by Commander Boislevesque, I can report that his Away Team returned to the ship with only minor injuries.

While the Sheridan landing itself went by-the-book, the remaining enemy vessel in orbit continued to target and fire upon us. Their aim was off, but the polaron beam dislodged the rock and skree that the Sheridan had touched down on. The resulting avalanche took the Sheridan down the mountainside for some distance until striking rock and treeline.

Our engineering department did a sterlng job at reinforcing the structural integrity of the hull and boosting the power to shields. If not for their efforts the damage to ship and injuries to crew would have been much worse. In the damage to the Bridge I was trapped beneath a fallen bulkhead which crushed my right leg.

I was expecting the Jem'Hadar in orbit to finish the job with their next shot, but that shot never came. Instead a group of Shal'lox beamed aboard and came to our aid. It seems that they were able to find us by tracking the rare metal of the earrings that they gave us as gifts in our first meeting with them.

Finding allies so far from home was unexpected, but serves as a reminder of the value in showing goodwill, and fair trade, such as the exchange we made with the Shal'lox. The values of the United Federation of Planets.

The Shal'lox helped free me from the bulkhead, and their ships freed the Sheridan, and by combining their tractor beams lifted the ship into orbit. They then escorted us to the Transwarp Gate and bid us farewell in our return to the Alpha Quadrant.

Returning with a heavily damaged ship and my heart heavy from the loss of crew under my command, I can at least be grateful that Commander Boislevesque and his Away Team managed to locate and free the Vulcan scientists that we were tasked with finding. We also have valuable intelligence to report to Star Fleet Command regarding the legacy of the Dominion.

Whoever the people are that claim the Dominion title now, it is clear they remain hostile and that any future Star Fleet venture in this region will need to factor in sufficient force. It is my hope however, that a greater strength will come from gaining allies such as the Shal'lox rather than in fleets of starships from the Alpha Quadrant.

Rescuing the Vulcan scientists would warrant calling this mission a success, as would gaining intel, but finding new friends must surely be the best reason for calling this mission successful.

The Sheridan is now heading back home, where she will undergo significant repair and refit.

No doubt some of the crew will be reassigned while some will return for the next mission.

For myself, I expect I will miss out on that mission as recovery from my injuries and adapting to using a biosynthetic leg will require months of recuperation. At least this will give me time to reflect on some of the actions and choices I have made on this, my first mission in command.

End log.

Crew Logs

First Officer

Cdr Harrison Boislevesque

StarDate: 21710.20

First Officer’s Log StarDate: 21710.20 First Officer Commander Harrison Boislevesque reporting

Well we docked at StarBase Bravo and things moved quickly in regards to Ensign Black's court martial, we only had a few hours before we had to be in the JAG offices listening to the accusations and testimony from the Sheridan crew.

Things went well even thought I decided that due to the fact that I wasn't on the away team for the mission I wouldn't say anything unless I was called to the stand, the crew which did speak in the defense of Ensign Black well and along with the PADD which was found the Ensign was found not guilty of the murder.

At the end of the trial Harrison leaned that his Commanding Officer Commander Wright was promoted to Captain and transferred off of the USS Sheridan to take up the role as Commanding Officer StarBase Bravo, so this would mean that the ship and crew of the Sheridan would be getting a new Commanding Officer.

With this in mind I knew that I wouldn't be able to really enjoy my shore leave as I would need to be back aboard the ship early in order to get everything ready for when the new CO came aboard, I was signing off some worksheets when the call came in that the new CO had arrived and was waiting for us on the bridge, upon arrival I noticed that she was of Trill decent and held the rank of Commander, not that the rank was an issue as I had been the same rank of Wright for most of our service and this would be no difference. Her name was Serran Zen.

There was also a new Security Officer that came with out new Commanding Officer, a brand new Midshipman called S'hiarra, initially I thought she was a Bajoran as I thought I saw nose ridges, but after another look and getting closer I found out that the young lady was of either Romulan or Vulcan decent, as she had pointy ears.

I will end up looking up the service record of our new colleagues, so that I don't make those school boy errors again.

As for the mission of the Sheridan, it hasn't been assigned yet, but fingers crossed that it won't be long before we move out and do what we are here to do.

End Log.

StarDate: 21803.10

First Officer’s Log StarDate: 21803.10 First Officer: Commander Harrison Boislevesque reporting

We have been given a new Commanding Officer a Commander Serran Zan as Captain Wright was transferred to be base Commander of StarBase Bravo, I have never meet this Serran Zan before but after I was informed that there would be a Commanding Officer change I made sure that I looked up her service jacket and it looks like she had a good career and moved through the rank reasonably quickly, which I hope doesn't mean that she has missed things out while moving so quickly.

There has also been some movement within the Fleets in general, as just before we left we had been joined by additional people, mainly we have two new engineers added to our ranks a Lieutenant Robert Ballantyne who came to us from the Chin'toka which I believe is being mothballed, the other is a Lieutenant Junior Grade Nila Soen, her service record is short however it seems as though she has at least held the position of Chief Engineer which is always a good thing as they know what they are doing and can lead a team effectively, the one thing I would like to find out is why she decided to retire and now come back to the service.

As for this new mission we are on it seemed that a Vulcan Science Team were on a mission in the Gamma Quadrant and they missed a few check in times, so we have been sent to find them and determine if they are safe or not.

We made the successful jump via the Transwarp Jump gate and made initial contact with a ship and a race called the Shal'lox, they seem to the the Gamma Quadrant equivalent to the Ferengi as they are traders and we managed to trade Earth music with where they had see and meet with the Vulcan ship.

We warped to the location given and even though we didn't find the ship we came across pieces of the ship and some of the crew, the Captain ordered them beamed to Sickbay in order for our medical personnel to figure out how they died.

There was also a planet that was nearby and I have lead an away team down consisting of Three Security guards, two Engineers and I also as a late entry I decided that a Science officer was needed as this was an unexplored planet.

End Log

StarDate: 21806.30.

First Officer’s Log: StarDate: 21806.30. Commander Harrison Boislevesque reporting.

Well the away mission was fun, we beamed down and found ourselves inn a desert, which initially seemed decimate, however after scanning the area we found a container which contained duranium ore, which is used in numerous things.

We then started to try and work out how it got there, but before we knew anything we were attacked by some planet inheritance and we did manage to stun them, however we did get some injuries in the away team.

Following a conversation with one of the man who attacked us, obviously after they came around from the phaser stun we learnt that there were miners that were trying to capture the people who they were mining the ore for and the individuals that were collecting them were calling themselves the Dominion, but they weren't the Dominion that had fought the Federation years ago, but they seemed to be StarFleet people or they were dressed as StarFleet officers.

Between myself and Mid S'hiarra we managed to determine that the mine that these individuals were working wasn't far from our current location and that it also seemed that the Vulcan science team were also there.

When we arrived at the cave entrance I ordered the injured people to stay at the entrance to keep themselves from heading in to the mine and I took both S'hiarra and Orano with me, our welcome by the mine leader did leave much to be desired and we were again pushed into another fire fight and again after we had shot them or the ones who didn't want to be shot had run away we got the science team to follow us.

With S'hiarra leading the Vulcan out of the mine, Lt Orano seemed to have a massive claustrophobia attack and started firing off her phaser, luckily she was a bad shot and missed everyone, but she did hit the ceiling which then started to collapse in on us, so I grabbed hold of the Lieutenant and made a run for it in order to save her life.

We then arrived at the entrance of the mine, where we were faced with another issue, it seemed that the officers that I had left at the entrance had faces a fire fight of there own and during the attack someone had collapsed the entrance, it was lucky that Lieutenant Soen had managed to get a hole big enough in the rock fall in order to get inside and help Johnson with his medical issues, after getting outside of the mine I found that Ensign Black had been re-leaved of her duties as there was concern over the death of one of the planet inheritance, I decided when we were rescued that we would take the man who died when Black was talking to him to find out if she had done anything or there was something else. I am glad to report from the medical report the individual was of Romulan heritage and he had dies from digesting a cyanide pill.

Our rescuers were not the Sheridan as I hoped but it was the Shal'lox that had done the rescue and after boarding the Sheridan I learned that they did a hill slid and managed to really damage the ship which will take the Corps of Engineers a long time to fix once we get back to Bravo.

One of the crew injuries on the ship was that of Commander Zan who it seem was on the bridge and manage to get her leg smashed by a piece bulkhead and after getting it looked at Doctor Brooks had to amputate it, which means that I commanded the ship back to Bravo and it looks like Commander Zan will be out of action for a while for recuperation, which means that someone else will be commanding the ship for our next mission.

End Log

Security

Lt Theresa Black

Stardate 21806.24

Lt Theresa Black reporting Begin recording. Stardate... 21806 point... 24?

Well, the powers that be say we have to make these after mission logs for the purpose of debriefing.

Not sure why I'm even still here. Again. Let alone making this damn log.

I hate the Gamma quadrant. Never did like it, and yet there we were again back ut here looking for a ship full of Vulcans who Starfleet lost contact with.

We encountered a new species, the Shal'lox. Some kind of nomadic traders. They're probably the best part of this whole thing.

They gave out some really tacky jewelry for free.

Then we found the remains of the Vulcan ship. We went down to the nearest planet to look for any survivors, and we found some.

Firstly, the locals broke my shoulder in the initial attack. NOTE: Orano is NOT allowed to perform field medicine. EVER.

I ****** up. Again. Eventually some of the locals, I think it was out of fear, took us to their mining post where who we thought were Vulcan survivors weren't.

I may have inadvertently mistreated our prisoners, and as far as I know, they committed suicide.

Just waiting on Doctor Brooks to confirm that. If he doesn't, I'm off to Prison. At best, I'm looking at another court-martial.

If I get three in a row, do I get a set of glasses?

Either way, when we got back to the Sheridan with the aid of the Shal'lox, it looks like they'd had the **** kicked out of them.

Now I have to share my quarters with Anderson from Engineering. It's times like this that I miss the brig.

End recording.

Science

Midshipman Drew Willard

Stardate 21807.18

Personal Log: Drew Willard

Star-Date: 21807.18

Mom, Dad, I hope this message finds you well. I'm sorry this is just a pre-recorded message sent to the both of you. I don't really have a lot of time and I have a great deal of news I want to share with you. Where to begin though....., Well my first posting was the USS Intrepid. I can't share details of the mission with you as it's classified but I can say I was rather heroic through the whole ordeal. However due to certain circumstances I requested a transfer to the USS Sheridan our mission took us to the Gamma Quadrant but Commander Zan my Commanding Officer was injured during the course of the mission and has been placed on medical leave. I liked Commander Zan she was fair and just, she put her trust in me when the Sheridan attempted a planetary landing.

It was my work during that mission that earned me the Star Fleet Achievement Medal and a promotion to Ensign. I've actually just come from my promotion ceremony with Lt. Feta our Ferengi Chief Science Officer. I'm not sure what our new mission will entail. I've heard through the grapevine on the ship that our new CO is Rear Admiral Kinziri Jal and the Sheridan has been assigned as her flagship. There isn't much more to tell you about what has been going on, at least what I'm allowed to tell you. I hope to get some leave in the future and be able to come home for a visit. All my love, Drew

Medical

Chief Medical Officer Lieutenant Commander Daniel Brooks

Stardate 21805.11

Stardate 21805.11 Chief Medical Officer Lieutenant Commander Daniel Brooks recording,

We have a new Captain aboard for this mission, the previous Captain Wright has been re-assigned to a Star Base Bravo.

The mission was a rescue mission. A team of Vulcan xenoanthropologists and First Contact specialists were sent through Transwarp to seek out new contacts with which to start negotiations, trade and the such like. At first reports were coming through then all of a sudden stopped.

The Sheridan was sent to investigate why these people went missing.

During the briefing, it turns out that Mr Powell wouldn’t be joining us as he had caught something back on the Starbase while on shore leave and that to my horror Lieutenant Lunori arrived to take his place in the Observation Lounge.

Lunori managed to raise a few eyebrows and a there was a spat between her and Murphy. I just wanted to sink deeper into my chair. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing or hearing in front of the new CO.

I digress, so it wasn’t long after we had gone through the gate that they found some Vulcans. Seven in fact that were beamed into Sickbay for myself and Hurst to work out if anything strange happened to them. Hurst has shown me that she is very capable and enthusiastic which is good to have working along side you.

Having done the autopsy on the Vulcan’s. Nothing new turned up with regards to how they died. It still comes back as sudden exposure to space. However, a DNA check matched that one of the Vulcan’s is the daughter of Admiral T'Vir who is a high-ranking officer in Star Fleet Command.

I decided to go and let our new Captain know of this situation as I feel this brings a whole new light on why we have been sent out here.

However, the ship then went to red alert when a Cardassin ship arrived rather unexpectantly in this part space. I quickly returned to Sickbay to which after a short battle with the Galor class ship we ended up with a number of casualties to deal with. Ensign Hurst performed very well in being under pressure of the situation.

Performing a number of surgeries under her own steam. I am very impressed with her and how she has come along since being on the Sheridan and I don’t mean that to sound as critical as it sounds. It is hard for all new officers to settle in and find their feet quick enough but Hurst has done so with great skill.

While I record this log the last patient from the situation has just left Sickbay and relative calm has returned for the moment. I for one welcomed the distraction from my own personal turmoil that seems to have been gnawing away at me over the last couple of weeks.

End Log

21807.18

Chief Medical Officer Lieutenant Commander Daniel Brooks recording, Stardate 21807.18

The Sheridan having sustained heavy attack gave Sickbay a number of casualties. While this was all going on with a number of decks having issues we manged in our own way to get the patients patched up and out as quickly as possible.

I was in the middle of checking up on one patient when Captain Zan arrived with her lower leg busted up. Seems like she had a run in with a bulkhead. The only real ideal option for her was to have a biosynthetic replacement. I know there was a lot riding on this as there was the added complication of the symbiont but everything seemed to go very well. Even better than even I expected.

Once Captain Zan came around I gave her strict orders to rest as it would be a very large trauma for the body to deal with and get use to.

Meanwhile, it hadn’t escaped my noticed the work that Ensign Hurst had been putting in. She had been clearly put in the deep end and left to deal with situations that even I would find difficult at times. However, Raven Hurst has done some sterling work and has now since been commended and promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade and I couldn’t be prouder of it.

I had a few interesting experiences this mission to but I think I will leave that to my personal log.

On another note, we arrived back at Star Base for the Sheridan to have a refit of sorts and patch her up from all the damage that had occurred on the last mission. In doing so we have found out that Captain Zan will no longer be our Commanding Officer, it is with sadness that this has happened. I know her leg is taking longer than expected but not only that I do feel I have failed her in some way in aiding her recovery. Instead rumour has it we be having an Admiral come aboard. I hope it will be someone who comes across as genuine and not a stuffy old shirt.

On that note,

I will End Log.

End Log.

Medical Report Dr Raven Hurst

Stardate 21803.11

Medical Report, Dr Raven Hurst. Stardate : 21803.11

This is the Autopsy for Dr Van'la,

Age : 56

The deceased is a white Vulcan male, approximately 6ft 7inc tall and of 56 years of age, who was exposed to the vacum of deep space, His body was cold to the touch and the blood around the usual places consisted of being out in space with out a suit on.

The scars on his left ear (confirmed by his medical records) showed that he had the tendency of scratching his ear when stressed resulting in minor bleeding which he choose not to receive treatment .

The DNA results and dental records also confirmed his identity.

All test results come back negative. Thus being exposed to space is the cause of death.

End of Autopsy report.

Dr Raven Hurst personal log. Stardate : 21803.11 Time 00: 39.

The current mission is under way and trying not to sound cold hearted but I have had the chance to use the skills that I have only used on the holodeck back at the academy.My first Autopsy ..well autopsy's would be a better way of putting it. I felt sad and excited at the same time if that's possible. Dr brooks gave me the choice to assist or have the chance to do my own of course the experience and chance for a solo- autopsy was to good to pass. So solo it was.

The first cadaver was a Male Vulcan, showing signs of being exposed to space. And before I could start I had to calm down, upside of a 'patient' who is deceased is that unless we missed diagnosed they won't be screaming at me if I hesitate with the first cut.

The feeling is not like on the holo-decks a holo-cadaver can be re-set. In real life if you make a mistake it will stay with you.

I hope the family's when informed will find peace in knowing that they have been found... now all we need to do on this mission is find out how and why this happened.

End Log

Stardate 21806.30

Star-Date: 21806.30.

Dr Raven Hurst recording.

Mission two was just as challenging as the previous mission.

Challenge one was the autopsy of the deceased Vulcans, a report has been submitted.

The second challenge was Lt Lunori, well to be precise it was the birth of the twins, both healthy one a boy the other a girl, both black hair, one with ice blue eye's the other with black and this is where it got complicated.

After the new additions to the ship's population, the away team departed and the ship was engaged in battle the injury's were mostly concussions, broken bones and lacerations, most were quick fix's one or two needed to be placed in to the stasis units to await treatment as the ship was on code blue and attempting to land on the planet.

I feel and hope the next mission we're sent on is an easy, calm and interesting.

End recording