A/N: This is the first in a series of stories I wrote 15 years ago, when fanfic was posted on listserves. The website that hosted them has long since gone to that great server in the sky, and after a request from a reader, I will be gradually reposting them here. However, the formatting of my original files is all as it was to post to a plain text listserve, (so I apologize for stray line breaks) and, I would like to think, I've learned a little something about writing in the last 15 years.

Captain's Log, Stardate 3874.2

The Enterprise is currently in orbit around Ser Etta Six, a winter world close to the boundary of the Neutral Zone, where Starfleet established a research facility some time ago. The base was set up to perform research on new biological matter discovered by exploration missions such as the Enterprise's, and so the location was chosen both for its nearness to the likely sources of new discoveries and its distance from populated space - in case one of the discoveries turned out to be dangerous. Now, however, that decision seems to have backfired. A month ago, a routine query to the base went unanswered,
and when the records were examined it was discovered that no one had actually spoken to the base team for months. We were dispatched to investigate, and on arrival a landing party led by First Officer Spock beamed down and discovered the station base peaceful, orderly - and completely deserted. Commander Spock's sensor sweeps indicated the presence of metallic fragments "consistent with Starfleet manufacture"
around 1500 miles from the station, and the landing party beamed down again. They discovered the wreckage of the station shuttle, and are continuing the search for the missing research team.

Professor Ann Ridley of the Federation Institute was dispatched to accompany us on this mission, Starfleet Command felt her experience in biomedical research might be relevant. Until we can determine the course of events on the plant's surface, however, Professor Ridley will remain on board.

Personal Log, James T Kirk

I'd feel a lot better if there were any indication of what happened down there. It seems as if the entire research team got on the shuttle, flew fifteen hundred miles from the base and crashed it in to the ground. The Romulans might be involved in this: or something could have gone very wrong with the experiments (although Spock found no trace of any contaminants in the base itself).

Spock was the obvious choice to lead this landing party, as he has the expertise and experience to make sense of any scientific evidence. As I might have expected, he selected a team mainly from Science Section:
Ensigns Grenwood and Bai'tin, Yeoman Brand and Lieutenant Larssen.
His sole concession to the usual inclusion of security personnel in landing parties was the lovely Yeoman Shimona, and I suspect he included her more for her experience with metal stress fractures during her time on loan to Engineering than her skill with a phasar (even if she is the quickest draw on the Enterprise). Every time I recommend Spock pay more attention to security considerations, he quotes Vulcan philosophy at me. Today it was "Those who wish to have peace, must live peace." Great, Spock, I said, we'll try that on the Klingons next time!

It would be a fascinating experiment, he told me, and would not be moved on the question of the landing party. I could over-rule him, but there're no life forms on Ser Etta Six (one reason it was selected in the first place) so I let it go, this time.

Grenwood and Bai'tin are relatively unknown to me. Despite my usual efforts to get to know new crew, the months since our last personnel transfer have been particularly busy, and I haven't had as much time as I'd like. Spock reports them to be standard "space cadets", or so I interpret his words.

Yeoman Brand has been with the Enterprise for some time now, and distinguished himself in our encounter with the Klingons at Gernicom IV. His scientific skill is unquestioned, as is his courage under direct fire, but he's never been called on to go in to danger, an important a test as any.

Which brings me to Corrina Larssen. Perhaps she's the one I wonder most about.

We received her as a replacement for Lieutenant Th'assan, killed in action on Thanos II. It's unusual to find a lieutenant, even a junior grade like Larssen, with so little active service experience. Most of her career has been spent on stations, and I suspected assignment to this ship was not of her choosing, but when I asked her why she'd chose an exploration mission when the six years after her graduation followed such a different pattern, her only response was "Too seek out new life, and new civilisations, sir." and I'm damned if I didn't get the feeling she was laughing at me!

Still, her efficiency ratings are well within acceptable range, and her promotion follows a commendation for her efforts during the emergency evacuation of Starbase 31, so I have to suppose she's equal to a simple away mission. There's no way for her to get experience but to get it, and I suppose that's Spock's thinking in naming her as the second officer for this task. Getting a herd of civilians on board an escape shuttle is a very different thing to going into a potential lethal situation, though, and the kind of qualities needed in an officer who can do the first may not match the necessities of the second.

I'd sleep better if this was a problem we could identify, and fight.
Waiting for the other shoe to fall has always been the part of these missions I find hardest.

Meanwhile, Ann Ridley has taken over lab seven and is driving both Spock's staff and Bones to distraction with her endless demands for information and assistance. I've told her that an exploration vessel,
even if it IS a constellation class starship, can't match a research institute in equipment or in staff, but she's determined not to lose time in her own research simply because Starfleet command thinks she's more use here at the moment, and she has a scientist's determination combined with a redhead's temper. I have to say, I don't share Starfleet's opinion. Expert in her field the Professor may be, she's nothing but a nuisance in mine...

"Sir, I've found the bodies."

Corrina Larssen, Lieutenant junior-grade, 23 years old, eight months promoted and currently freezing her fundament, bent over a seemingly innocuous drift of snow, and as Spock strode over to her she began to brush it away with one gloved hand, holding her tricorder in the other.

"Quite near the surface" said Larssen, and to prove her point uncovered a ridge of fabric, Starfleet science blue. "There's a geological fault reading just here that suggests they were pushed up from a deeper level recently." The ridge turned into an arm, and then a shoulder.

"Indeed." Spock checked his tricorder screen as Larssen brushed snow away from an icy face. "That is Commander Riboud."

"Yes." Larssen sighed, and sat back on her heels. "They got out of the wreckage, but they didn't get far."

"Fifty three feet." said Spock, turning to look at the wreckage of the shuttlecraft, other members of the away team moving busily over it.
He opened his communicator. "Yeoman, have you determined the cause of the crash?"

Yeoman Shimona's answer came back crackling with static, although she was so close Spock could see her standing up from her task to answer him. He raised an eyebrow, and regarded the communicator suspiciously.
"Sir, the impact was so severe it's hard to tell, but some of the stress lines on the body seem to predate the impact fractures."

"Inform me when you have a clearer determination."

"Yes sir."

Larssen, a compact, sturdy person whose pleasant but unremarkable face and habitual calm cheerfulness misled most of her acquaintances into thinking of her as small and plump, finished taking exact readings of the location of the bodies. Spock observed with approval that her composure was unshaken, although she was solemn. If there was an event capable of shaking Lieutenant Larssen's composure, the Science Department had not seen it since her transfer four months previously.

At the time, Spock had not expected her to be an outstanding addition to his team. Her service jacket and academy transcripts had indicated a competent, reliable officer with neither distinctions nor blemishes on her record. Notes from her previous commanding officers had been remarkable in their similarity: Larssen was competent, she was reliable, and they would be sorry to see her go. Spock had suspected this last to be merely a human proforma, but after four months of observing the way that tempers calmed, anxiety eased, and a myriad of tiny details settled themselves into order whenever Larssen approached, he was beginning to see their point. Her calm seemed almost infectious, spreading itself to colleagues and equipment alike,
and even when she indulged her regrettable habit of cursing in Romulan when something did go wrong her tone was mild. Spock had yet to ascertain if she was aware he understood Romulan, let alone the idiomatic dialect she employed.

Now Larssen raised her eyebrows in inquiry, and at Spock's slight nod flipped open her communicator. "Larssen here." she said. "I have coordinates for the deceased."

White noise came back, and then a few broken words. Larssen looked at the communicator, more in sorrow than in anger, and shook it gently.
"Say again, Enterprise. Your signal broke up just then."

"Standing -crackle - your -crackle-"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Spock using his tricorder, one eyebrow up. "Enterprise, sending coordinates now." she said, and began the transmission. "Atmospheric interference, sir?"

"I cannot establish a cause with this equipment. The portable scanner may be more precise." As he turned and began to stride towards the shuttle wreckage, Larssen's communicator whistled.

"Larssen here."

"-crackle- interference, we can't -crackle- until the -crackle-"

Larssen looked at the arm protruding from the snow, still resolutely material and untransported, and made an educated guess. "Understood, Enterprise, I'll inform Commander Spock."

When she tried to do so by communicator, however, the noise that had interfered with Shimona's transmission made hers inaudible. As she slogged through the snow to where Spock knelt by the portable scanner, brought to examine the shuttle wreckage in situ, Larssen felt the beginnings of concern. Any stay on this wintry world would be uncomfortable (she was already beginning to fantasize about a hot bath) despite their cold suits, the half masks that protected their faces, and their heavy clothes and it might take some time for the Enterprise to determine the cause of the interference and neutralize it.

"Commander, the interference is preventing transporter lock," she said quietly to Spock as she knelt beside him. "and communication is becoming difficult."

"The ionisation in the upper atmosphere is becoming more extreme,"
Spock said, "although that in itself should not cause a disruption of this extent."

"Could a similar phenomenon have caused the shuttle to crash?" The wind bit at her, and she tried unobtrusively to use her superior officer as a windbreak.

"Unlikely." He made a minute adjustment to the scanner. "The pattern of stress on the shuttle correlates to severe weather damage with a probability of 97.4 percent. It is possible that the ionisation also occurred at the time of the weather event which caused the shuttle crash."

"Why do you say that, sir?"

Spock had long since noted in Larssen the admirable trait of seeking immediate enlightenment on any point she did not understand. Curiosity was considered by most Vulcans to be a virtue rather than a vice. He regretted that the answer was not one which would have expanded Larssen's scientific knowledge. "Because, Lieutenant, we are currently experiencing the ionization, and in approximately 16.3 minutes we will be experiencing the weather. Get a shelter erected and everyone inside."

"Yes sir." she said on one breath and ran, without a moment wasted in shock. Spock continued to work the scanner, looking up occasionally to check on the progress of the survival shelter, until the storm was two minutes away. He lifted the scanner easily and started towards the shelter as Larssen came pelting out of it towards him, only to stop short when she saw he did not need help to carry the heavy equipment. She waited for him to reach her, and said "Secure as we get, sir. How long to the storm - oh." This last as she looked past him, and then with a little gasp she said, "Let's go, sir."

As Spock followed her into the shelter and turned to seal the door he saw what had drawn that odd, uncharacteristic reaction from his cheerful Lieutenant.

Forty feet away a blizzard like a wall of snow shut out the sky. He sealed the door and turned to meet the expectant gazes of the landing party.

"Our return to the Enterprise," he said, "may be delayed."

The storm hit them like the wrath of very angry god.

Captain's Log.

Some form of atmospheric interference, as yet undetermined, has interrupted communications and prevented transporter lock on the landing party members. We have had no contact with the landing party for 10 hours. In addition, although our sensors cannot penetrate the interference to the planet's surface, we can detect (as well as see with the naked eye) a massive storm pattern across that half of the planet where the landing party are stranded.

Captain Kirk closed the log entry and looked up at the planet hanging on the screen before him. He hadn't needed the sensors to tell him that the mass of cloud covering the whole of the visible planet was one doozy of a storm. It had brewed up with frightening speed, while they were still treating the communications problems with the landing party as a nuisance. He trusted Spock to have gotten the landing party into a dismountable survival shelter before the storm hit them,
and Lieutenant Commander Iyen, the beta shift bridge officer for science, said that the severity of the storm was not worse than an earth blizzard, which meant that even if the storm had taken the landing party by surprise they would still have had a good chance of setting up a shelter in time.

That was reassuring, but Kirk felt it would be more reassuring to have Spock back on the bridge, where he belonged.

"Captain", Iyen said, "meteorology has a report on that interference."
His long blue fingers tapped keys. "Apparently it is a combination of the high ionisation in the upper atmosphere at the atmospheric disturbance caused by the size of the storm. There are some unusual trace elements in this planet's water - or rather, in its snow - and the high concentration of snow in the atmosphere is combining with the ionisation to produce a barrier to all subspace waves."

"Can you work around it?"

"Not at the moment, sir. We can punch through it - for communication purposes only - with sufficient power."

Kirk, whose hopes had risen briefly before sinking again, turned back to his contemplation of the blizzard that consumed half a planet.
"How long?"

"It will take 15 minutes to divert sufficient power. However,
captain, the meteorology section reports another disturbing fact. The intensity of the interference increases as the blizzard continues. In less than one hour, we will be unable to punch through it even if we divert all power except life support."

"Then make it fast, Mr Iyen. And as soon as you can, get everyone available working on a way to defeat that interference for communication and transporters." He touched the intercom "Scotty,
Lieutenant Commander Iyen will be sending you some instructions shortly. As soon as you've carried them out, I want you to work with meteorology on a way to get around that interference, since it seems we can't get through it. Mr Iyen and his people will join you as soon as they're free."

"Aye, sir. Now we know what we're up against, we'll have them home in time for dinner."