Curiouser and Curiouser

Posted on Thu Jun 8th, 2023 @ 1:44pm by Captain Abigail Laurens & Lieutenant Commander Evelyn Rozia & Linza (Lin) Esni & Commander Ichiko Gail & Lieutenant Commander William Gunnison & Lieutenant Veznia MD PSyD

Mission: In The Face of Adversity

If Commander Gunnison's statement had not piqued her interest, the sight of the space station on the view screen most certainly would have. "Commander Gunnison, What's our distance?" Abigail asked curiously, leaning forward in her seat.

"We're still fairly far out," Will said. "They were just detected on long-range sensors a couple of minutes before I contacted you, but depending on their level of technology they may not have noticed us just yet. Certainly they haven't attempted to contact us yet if they have detected us."

Abigail nodded, her eyes sparkling with interest as she examined the physical outlines of the station on the viewscreen. "The design is fascinating, what do you make of it, Commander Rozia?" she asked, casting a glance toward the Chief Engineering Officer, her gaze almost immediately swinging back to the view screen again.

Evelyn's own eyes had never left the screen, not even to acknowledge the Captain. Her eyes danced from one edge to another of the image as she tried to decipher what the builder had been intending with it, "Some habitation modules for sure, but that's a big station, ma'am, large enough that they could squeeze a small shipyard facility in there, which that extension might be." She pointed at the gangly bit on the left hand side of the screen, "Can't really tell just from the image, though."

"Bring up long range sensors, lets see if our scans can tell us anything about the inside of the facility," Abigail ordered, leaning back in her seat finally and crossing her legs before casting a quick glance to the Science console. "Lieutenant Aenera, see if long range sensors can pick up any chatter on the station, I want to see if we can give the translator a glimpse of their local dialogue, it might help to give it a heads up in case we want to open communications."

"Of course, Cap'n." The immaculately uniformed brunette confirmed, keying in the sensors and snagging a device and tucking it into her ear to monitor anything she would be able to. She cycled through several channels and pursed her lips as she had difficulty finding anything, then came across something and closed her eyes as she began to listen.

Casting a glimpse at Ichiko, Abigail's expression was a pretty straight forward 'Should we?' There was no need to verbalize, the desire to seek out the unknown was written all over her face.

Ichiko stole her glance away to return the Captain's attention. "Oh, like I could talk you out of it." she offered with a soft smile. "It's not one of ours," she affirmed.

Abigail's gaze shifted back to the view screen again. "Those structures off to the sides?" She motioned at the two smaller rings off to each side of the primary structure. "What do you think they're for?" she mused to no one in particular.

"Something you'd want kept a certain amount of distance away from the main part of the station, but still close enough to get to without too much trouble?" Will speculated. "Experimental labs, maybe?"

"Docking structures, perhaps? Perhaps their fuel, or a common cargo, is volatile?" Ichiko offered.

"Not living quarters, that's for sure." Evelyn was confident about that much, "Too inconvenient for the rest of the station." She was looking over the take from the sensors as the first results began to come in, "The one on... The left," She highlighted briefly one of the rings and shrugged, "Is shielded from our sensors, but I can't tell if it's just due to the distance, or if it's intentional."

Linza had been studying the image on the viewscreen for some time. Up until now, she'd been quiet, listening to the other's thoughts on what everything could be. There wasn't a for sure way to know what everything was from speculation, however; just the view was enough to stir the imagination. "That'd be a lot of additional docking stations...but I am extremely curious about this whole place..."

Abigail turned back toward Lieutenant Aenera. "How are we going with that dialect?" she asked curiously before turning back to the view screen. The fascination she felt by the structure seemed to be echoed by her crew. "Helm, lay in a course for the station. When we're within range we'll open a channel if the translator is ready. Anyone fancy a field trip?" she added with a grin.

"I'm certainly up for a trip over there," Will said.

Veznia had stepped onto the Bridge in time to hear Abigail's question. "Where are we going?" She asked with genuine curiosity.

Ichiko motioned to the image on the main screen, "There's a station of some sort." she paused to let Veznia get a good look at it. "We're currently speculating as to the nature and purpose of the outer arrays. My koku is on them being some form of docking structure."

"I've been around enough to know to trust a Ts'Usugi's instinct. " Veznia said with a wink.

"I'm getting at least a partial translation right now." Alexis announced, "We're at about 80 Percent right now, I'm confident that we'll be at about 98 percent by the time we're in range. Mostly it's chatter about the status of a project, it's nearly complete and ready for the testing phase. I have a personal conversation between a couple and... Someone ordering a meal as well."

"Good to know some people have their priorities straight.." Evelyn remarked from her station, narrowing the sensors onto the structure to try to get a better read, "Think with your stomach, right?"

"Better than some alternatives," Abigail smirked. "Helm, lay in a course. Let me know when we're within hailing range." The Commanding Officer stood up and straightened her jacket. "I'll be in my ready room. Commander Gail, you have the bridge."

Ichiko gave a nod, "Hai, I have the Bridge." she mimed.

Linza was glad that they at least had a translation. Flying into something like this not knowing what in the world was being said made it just that much harder. She lingered on the bridge just in case she needed to be assigned somewhere, but more for curiosity about this thing and the people.