Captain’s Log Stardate 86176.2.
The Tethys and her companion the USS James Cook have entered a largely unexplored sector of the Alpha Quadrant known as the Quori Sector. The sector lies just outside of the last Federation colonies and outposts, and the feeling of truly being out here alone is starting to sink in. This is the crew’s first voyage so far from home aboard the Tethys, but so far crew morale is high. I only expect the best from them.
At 03:17 this morning, the Tethy’s long range scanners picked up several warp signatures from an early warp civilization that other Federation explorers had catalogued 52 years ago. The civilization was evaluated as being a potential ally and possible Federation member when first contact is able to be made, and Captain Amosia and I have both agreed to divert course to greet this species as they embark amongst the stars.
Several things weight on my mind however, and the most being how quick this race has achieved warp technology. The reports about the Yuppai indicate that they were in an early technological development, and reports guessed another 100 to 200 years of natural development before early warp technology would be developed. The Yuppai as a species average around 3 meters tall, skinny with long arms, legs and necks that have been developed upon a class M planet. The Tethy’s early readings of the warp signatures seem to indicate the ship being capable of at least warp 5. It could be likely we have picked up a ship passing by, or we might have underestimated the Yuppai, but we shall see.
End log.
Jayce sat down this data pad after entering in his log, stretching slowly. He scanned around the bridge quickly, noting the hustle and bustle of the different crewmen as they carried about doing their duties.
“Something wrong, Captain?” a familiar voice cut across the bridge, Jayce looking to his right to see Lissah standing over him, eyebrow quirked in a uniquely Vulcan expression than the zhen Andorian managed to pull off. Jayce cocked a smile up at her.
“Not really, it will be my first contact as a captain though. Suppose I’m getting a bit of butterflies…” Jayce responded, grasping his short coffee cup and taking a quick sip.
“And what our sensors have picked,” Lissah blurted out, seeming to fill in the blanks to Jayce’s dialogue. The two had had such a close friendship for many years, it was not uncommon for her to do such a thing.
“Perhaps. Maybe our evaluations were off…but that seems like a very large difference,” Jayce said more quietly now, pondering the facts in his head. “The faster we get there the better in my book, wouldn’t you say Lissah? Helm, what is our ETA to the Yuppai system?” Jayce called, looking to the Tethy’s helm chair. An aquatic young lady by the name of Siirioui turned around in their chair, smiling brightly towards Jayce.
”Captain, the USS Cook had a small influx in their port warp nacelle and we had to slow down to Warp 7.2 roughly 10 minutes ago, but we should arrive in the system in 30 minutes,” Siirioui explained, soft feather like gills waving slowly around her neck.
“Very well, keep me informed,” Jayce explained, Siirioui nodding her head and turning back to her console. Jayce looked back up to Lissah, scoffing slightly. “Well, guess it’s time to wear a hole in the deck plate as we wait…”
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The USS Tethys and USS James Cook came out of warp near the Yuppai sector, the relatively tiny system closing upon them as they moved closer. Jayce quietly watched the monitor as they moved forward, taking in the details of it.
“Jorur, status report. Give us a run down of the system here…” Jayce barked, leaning head against his arm, scanning over the image.
“Of course, Captain. The star of this system is an aging K0 star. Scanners pick up 2 class K planets, 1 class M, 1 class T, and 3 class J planets. There appears to be a gas cloud surrounding one of the class J planets, sensors indicate it was struck by a rather large object many hundreds of years ago, knocking much of the gas giant into space. Other than that, a fairly unremarkable system,” Jorur ended, nodding her head a bit.
“Unremarkable is not necessarily a bad thing, what about the Yuppai planet?” Jayce responded.
“The planet is surrounded by 17 smaller moons, much of them very tiny. Would appear at one point the planet was struck by a large mass, knocking a good deal of the planet up into space. Average temperature is around 17 C. I’m also picking up several rudimentary space stations circling around the planet, 3 to be exact. They do not appear to have artificial gravity.” Jayce cocked and eyebrow and looked to Lissah, who was milling over the information being provided on a separate screen.
“We are picking up the warp ship though docked to one of the space stations. It matches in similar materials used to construct the space stations,” Lissah reported, looking over to Jayce. Jayce sat for a second, thinking on the information.
“Lissah, hail the Cook, get them on screen,” Jayce ordered, the image of Captain Amosia appearing on the screen.
“You see the same things we do Jayce?” Amosia responded immediately, knowing just what Jayce was hailing for.
“We do, something is not right… What do your sensors tell you?” Jayce asked. Amosia looked to something off screen for a second and began to recite some information.
“The culture appears to be where it should be from our last reports, no major technological changes that would be apparent of warp 5 technology. There has clearly been some tampering by another civilization here.” Amosia said, looking back up to Jayce. Jayce rubbed his chin a bit.
“Well, regardless of the tampering, we should make contact with them. We do not suspect them to have conventional communication devices. Do you believe you have something aboard the Cook to establish communications with them with?” Jayce questioned. Amosia nodded her head.
“Already ahead of you Captain, we’ll begin to try to establish communications. Should we move closer to the planet? We could establish orbit along side the space station that houses the warp ship.”
”Good idea,” responded Jayce, “We’ll follow you in. Jayce out.” Jayce sat back in his chair a bit, still rolling the facts around in his head. “Siirioui, follow the Cook and establish orbit around the planet.”
”Aye Captain,” Siirioui responded, punching in the necessary course corrections to keep with the Cook.
“Let’s see what questions we can find out from you, you little albatross…” Jayce whispered.
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