Chapter Text
“Stardate 41239.7- Enterprise has been brought into orbit around planet 4546B at a distance of 330 kilometers. We’ve locked onto the coordinates of the wreckage of the Aurora.” Kirk ended the brief recording, glancing over at his First Officer. “Mr. Spock, have your scans indicated any reason for the ship’s crash?”
“Negative, Captain.”
“Lieutenant Uhura, any messages from the planet surface?”
She shook her head, rechecking the most common communications frequencies one more time before responding. “No, sir. Not a single sign of anyone trying to make contact.” Once they'd entered the planet's orbit, the Enterprise had sent several repeated messages looking for response. The Aurora had a crew similarly sized to the Enterprise’s own, and well developed emergency escape pods. And yet, at least implied by the the radio silence, not a single person had replied.
Kirk frowned. The Enterprise had been sent to the area to investigate the Aurora’s crash- to figure out why and what had happened. Had there been communicating survivors, it would’ve simplified the task greatly. With Spock’s readings finding no clues either, one option was left- sending a crew down to the planet’s surface to investigate up close.
“We’ll organize a landing party.” Kirk pressed a button, opening a call line to his Engineer, Montgomery Scott. “Scotty, I don’t suppose you could beam us down with a boat, could you?” It was mostly a joking question- something that large wouldn’t fit in the transporter. Not to mention the fact that the Enterprise was sorely lacking in small sea vessels.
“Not a chance. But we do have a landing craft that can handle a splash, Captain,” replied the Scotsman.
“How well would it stand up to a heavy dose of radiation? Aurora’s drive core is damaged- she’s practically a nuclear bomb waiting to go off.”
There was a pause over the line as Scott considered the question. “Not very well, I’m afraid. The Enterprise may have radiation shields for space travel, but the craft is only made t’ travel atmospheres. She could land near it, but any longer than an hour or so would damage her equipment.”
Kirk nodded, thinking, then realized his Engineer couldn’t see the gesture. “I see. Thank you, Mr. Scott, that’ll be all for now.” Ending the call, Kirk turned to Spock once more.
“How large is the radiation field around the ship? We’ll need to find somewhere outside of it to land.”
“Approximately one kilometer, Captain.”
“Excellent. Perform a few terrain scans in the surrounding area- find us the best place for a safe landing.”
Spock nodded and began scanning. Satisfied, the Captain turned back to the viewing window, gazing down at the waterlogged planet below. The Aurora’s wreckage was just a small dot below, covered by wispy clouds. From so far away it was hard to believe it was a ship at all among the vast oceanic expanse.
“Captain, the scans are complete. Terrain models and depth scales indicate that the Aurora landed on the outer edge of a raised crater, portside. The surrounding waters are too deep to gauge. However, the crater itself is shallow in comparison.”
“No land at all, Mr. Spock?”
“Two small islands are located within landing range, but they are too rugged for landing safely.”
“Alright, excellent work, Spock. Choose a landing place in the water at your discretion and send the coordinates to Mr. Scott so he can program them into the landing craft’s navigation equipment. In the meantime, we’ll need to gather a landing party."
-
The docking bay for the landing craft- the Pisces- provided a space for the assembled landing party to gather. The investigation could take upwards of a week, based on the distance between the proposed landing site and the wreck they were meant to inspect (not to mention the wreck and debris field’s sheer size), meaning they would need a fair amount of supplies. Cases of nonperishable rations were stacked alongside toiletries and safety equipment, ready to be loaded into the Pisces’ cargo bay.
Captain Kirk entered the room, glancing over the landing team. “Mr. Spock, has everything been gathered up? I don’t want you discovering you’ve misplaced something or forgotten a crew member once you’ve landed. You’ve got enough fuel to land and then come back up to redock- no extra trips.”
Spock sat his tricorder down atop the cargo crates. “Yes, Captain. Everything needed for the mission has been gathered. However, I would like to request a modification to the team.”
“Oh? What’s that, Mr. Spock?” the captain asked curiously. Though he’d been thorough in choosing a good team, Kirk knew that Spock wasn’t one to make frivolous changes to carefully laid plans.
“Though scans indicate life, we know very little about Planet 4546B’s flora and fauna. I believe it would be beneficial to include the Enterprise’s resident xenobiologist on the mission.”
“I’m sure you have your reasoning, Mr. Spock, but as Science Officer don’t you have enough knowledge of the subject to get by? The mission is to examine the Aurora’s wreckage, not to study the ecosystem,” Kirk stated fairly.
“I am aware of that, captain. However, oceanic planets such as this one are an evolutionary cradle unlike many others. It is almost certain that we will encounter multitudes of strange, possibly hostile creatures. In the likely event that we do, having a crew member dedicated to their study- and their behaviors- would be quite necessary.”
Kirk nodded. As always, the First Officer’s logic was sound. “Alright, I’ll have them notified.”
-
(Y/N) (L/N) was never one to pass up an opportunity to join a planetside mission, and this was no different. A planet made almost entirely of ocean- surely there would be hosts of creatures to discover. Even if their time on the planet was short, they intended to make the most of it and spend every spare second outside of their assigned mission studying the flora and fauna nearby. As soon as they got the call to join in they grabbed their tricorder and hurried towards the docking bay.
Captain Kirk greeted them as they entered the bay. “Lieutenant (L/N), you seem quite chipper.” They nodded, a grin flitting over their face.
“Of course. It’s not every day I get a chance to take a look at an oceanic ecosystem.” Most of the regions they frequented on ground missions were, well, on the ground. While those ecosystems certainly held appeal, there was a special sort of biodiversity in aquatic life that couldn’t be matched by terrestrial life.
A short debriefing later and the landing party began taking their places inside the cockpit of the Pisces. While the ship was piloted autonomously by computer, Spock took a seat at the front in case the computer failed and the Pisces needed to be controlled manually. Several other people were present, ranging from a nurse to a few ensigns. (Y/N) was only vaguely familiar with any of them, though they greeted them with a smile as they boarded and made their way to the final open seat in the back.
“System check,” rang out Spock’s voice from the front. The computer responded with a sound that (Y/N) assumed meant ‘all clear’. The First Officer moved on to other standard procedures.
Checking one last time that they were properly secured into their seat, (Y/N) held their breath as the docking bay doors began to open. “Initiate launch.” Artificial gravity switched off, making their stomach flip. A mechanical whirring sounded out as the Pisces began to move forwards, docking gear lifting up and disengaging so the ship could float freely in the open bay. The computer beeped a few times, its systems ensuring there was ample room for launch, and then the ship began its descent.
The Pisces’ back thrusters pushed the small craft out into open space, floating a kilometer above 4546B’s atmosphere. (Y/N)’s view of the front window was slightly obstructed by their crewmates in front of them, but they managed to catch a glimpse of the planet below, eyes wide with awe. It was breathtakingly beautiful, vast swaths of white clouds covering blue waters that seemed endless. And yet it was also the grave of the Aurora’s crew- a sobering thought indeed.
Quite suddenly- to (Y/N) at least- the ship began plunging towards the planet below in a programmed descent pattern. It felt as though their stomach had jumped into their throat. A red glow formed at the head of the vessel as it penetrated the outer atmosphere layers, growing brighter even as protective coatings on the ship’s reinforced glass windshield kept the light intensity at a harmless level. There was mild turbulence, but every crew member aboard trusted that they would be safe. Spock seemed to show no concern, monitoring the computer readouts with a neutral expression. Everything was going as planned.
Until it wasn’t.