July 2298

"Captain's Log, Stardate 11126.5. Six weeks after leaving dock, the Repulse has arrived at the boarder of Sector 227 to begin our mission of cataloging planets for mining or colonization and to locate any inhabitants of the area. The crew has been kept alert by not only the efforts of my Exec and Tactical Officer through drills but also the relaxed atmosphere engendered through the casual interaction I encouraged from the beginning. Crew efficiencies are maintaining a constant four point five across the board and all department heads are satisfied that we're ready to face whatever the universe might toss our way."

"On a personal note, in the four weeks since being taken under Vaire's wing, Dr Travis has shown major improvement in his relations with the non-Terran members of the crew. He's more relaxed and seems actually willing to interact, going so far as to be seen with various crew members at tables in the Irish Star Pub. I'm confident that given time, the remains of the humano-centric tendencies that he grew up with will fade."

I end the morning's log entry and glance at the navigation chart on my command-chair's primary screen. We'll encounter the first system in about an hour and I look at the ship's status on my secondary screen. Tactical is at condition two, not quite a Yellow-Alert, but at a slightly higher state of readiness than cruise mode. Science is fully manned, with additional power being allocated to scanner and sensor systems.

I look at my navigator, here's where his training will really come into play, as he will be responsible for plotting orbital paths of the planets, placement and vectors of stray items like comets and asteroids, and guiding us in on a spiral path that will give the sensor systems maximum contact with planets and other objects for detailed analysis.

He appears calm and relaxed, but I've spent enough time around Caitians to know that he's about as wound up as an old fashioned clock, as the tip of his tail is twitching erratically. His fingers are deft and sure, though, as he configures his panel into system survey mode and prepares to record and calculate orbital elements.

Over at the science station, M'Rael is in about the same shape, her tail swishing as she prepares to collate the information that will be coming in from the various departments under her purview. Prior to this mission, she'd been number two in science, but when I tapped Vaire for my exec we'd both agreed that M'Rael was ready to become department head. So far she'd been doing fine, but now is when she'll prove if we were right.

Zan is still running through various frequencies, both modern and old fashioned as she searches for any intelligent communications from the system ahead. Meanwhile, Lt Ker'shall, the first-shift tactical officer is preparing for the worst, making sure the defense systems are ready to activate at a moment's notice if any hostile action is noticed.

I review what data we have from Ticonderoga, and it's surprisingly little. K-5 star, about 2 billion years older than Sol. Six planets of which one is in the habitable zone, and a fairly sparse Oort Cloud beyond a Neptune sized gas-giant.

'Well', I think to myself, 'that's why we're here, to see if there's anything worthwhile.'

As we approach, both M'Rael and T'Chral become very busy. He's taking data from the scanners and firming up orbital vectors while she's observing the different information come in from the various departments and turning it into a cohesive whole. I watch on my personal screen as things start filling in. The gas-giant is in an eccentric orbit, T'Chral has already noted that in less than five-thousand years it'll approach the fifth planet close enough for tidal effects to knock that one out of orbit into a death spiral to it's star.

Planetology has already shown that the giant itself is mostly methane hovering around minus 30c and the other planet is a rock, low density means little in the way of recoverable minerals.

Over the next couple hours, we spiral in, passing the fourth planet which is another rock. Seems this system might have formed out of a gas cloud low in heavier elements.

Planet three, however, is where things get interesting.

Seems that at one time there might have been liquid water there. Calcium-carbonate formations dot the surface, showing a possible sea-based ecosystem that formed limestone deposits much like Earth corals have done for eons. The atmosphere is very thin now, more so than even out-gassing can account for and M'Rael and her people are working to try and figure it out.

By this time, six hours after we entered the system, Vaire comes up to relieve me and I head back to our quarters for an evening of reading with Kia.

I wake to alarms blaring. Vaire and Kia also wake up and I roll over and hit the com-switch. "Bridge, O'Connor here, what's going on."

Sord answers, "Coronal Mass Ejection, Captain. Initial trajectory put it heading towards us. Auto-defense system activated upon scanner register. However, Ensign Macht has calculated its course at fifteen degrees above the ecliptic. Closest approach will be twenty-eight million kilometers. No danger to the ship at this time."

I had been about to jump into my uniform and head to the bridge, but Sord's words put me at ease again. My ship is safe for now, "Very well, Sord, maintain orbit then." I glance at the chrono, "I'll be there in three hours."

"Aye sir."

I tap off the com and half roll back, the gals had also partially sat up and Vaire looks at me, "I would like to look at the data on that. If a CME of large enough proportions impacted the planet, it could explain the unusually thin atmosphere on what should still be a Class-M world."

Kia, her head resting on her wife's shoulder adds, "It could also have sterilized the planet. There might have been a thriving ecosystem down there. If possible, we should collect samples as they could tell us how extensive life was before what ever happened killed the planet, if that is what happened."

"And give us an approximate time of death as well," Vaire says.

I look at my wives, both still true to their training, wanting to know more. "Alright, in the morning I'll authorize a landing party to collect samples." They both smile at me, "But only one of you goes, so decide between you which one it is." They both start pouting, Kia showing it in her face, Vaire by the set of her antenna and the look in her eyes. "I'm not having more than two of the Command Crew off the ship for just a walk-about, and M'Rael as Science Officer should go, so that means only one of you get's to go as well."

Vaire turns her head slightly so that they're looking at each other, Kia really wants to go down there, but, "You should go, grá, M'Rael can handle the bio-scans, your knowledge of physics is what's needed to put a time on it."

She gets a kiss for that and, "I'll make sure you get all the recordings soon as possible and what samples we can dig up. Perhaps there's enough genetic material left to do a profile and you can give us an idea of what the life there looked like."

A return kiss, "Searching for that and sequencing it up would keep me busy enough that I wouldn't mind not going down." Then they both look back at me.

"So it's settled then," I say, "and since we all need some more sleep if we're going to be at our best…" They both nod, settling back in, Kia snuggled up to Vaire's back and me nose-to-nose with my blue-skinned wife as we drift back off.

1100 hours, Vaire, M'Rael, two science techs, an engineer and one security person have been on the surface for two hours. Kia com'ed me an hour ago with excitement. There was some genetic material in the samples they'd sent up, seems there had indeed been an oceanic ecosystem at some point, and she was busy teasing strands of the DNA analog out for sequencing.

I turn con over to Frazier and wander down to the Med-lab for a bit. Kia is still involved in trying to find a semi-intact strand to work with so I grab lunch and head back to the bridge. A couple hours later there's a signal from the surface.

"Keiran, we've come across a cave that is not natural. The entrance has a support structure that is definitely artificial in construction." I can tell from her voice that Vaire is getting excited; a possible intelligent species.

"Does it appear safe to go in?"

"The surrounding rock is very old, but as far as we can see with our suit-lights, there are other supports further in. At present I believe that the hazard is low. There is one issue, however."

"That would be….."

"The rock is laced with manentite, which will prevent communications and transporter lock-on." She knows procedure on this, so I don't have to remind her, "Therefore, only M'Rael and Technician Zarkon along with Shraz will enter. I've already had com-relays sent down and they'll place them at intervals as they proceed."

I nod to myself, the relays still won't let us transport them out if they get in trouble, but will allow communications not only with the rest of the landing party, but the ship itself. "Very well, Vaire, have them go in but with caution. No telling how old that tunnel system is and it could be unstable."

"Understood, we'll keep you apprised of anything unusual." She signs off and I sit back to look over the report that planetology has just updated. Background radiation in the mineral samples indicates that the planet had indeed been hit with a CME sometime in the .9 to 1.2 million year range. So if there had been any life, it was a million years ago that it got wiped out. I notice that Vaire has already accessed it so she knows that the tunnels that the other three are going into are at least that old. She'll be sure they take precautions.

Its 1500 now, normally I'd be turning command over to Shran, but with her on the surface, Sord and I will be working a split shift. I'm still reviewing reports. Cosmology has indicated that the star is a variable, even more so than Sol. CME's would be a fairly regular occurrence, though given the number of possible trajectories there could have been enough time for not only life, but intelligent life to arise on the planet.

Luck of the draw really, life arises, gets a foothold, maybe a civilization develops, but not in time to find the technology that could have saved them either through shielding or having off-planet colonies.

Then there's a hand on my shoulder and I turn to see Kia there, a look of resignation in her eyes. "There wasn't enough intact material to get a decent strand, so unless they find something in those tunnels, the makeup of the former inhabitants will remain a mystery."

I nod and pat her hand with mine, "Given that it's been around a million years since anything lived there, the odds are slim."

She nods and lifts my hand to give it a kiss, "I'm going to back to the lab. A new paper came in from the Vulcan Science Academy and I want to see if there's anything in it that will help with my little project." She gives me a kiss then heads back to deck six.

For twenty years she's worked in her spare time on the Human-Andorian problem, the reason Vaire and I broke up the first time. While Human/Vulcan hybrids were now becoming less rare, the differences between Humans and Andorians were still proving to be a problem. Kia and I had a daughter, she was now in the Academy going through Engineering school, but my first wife wanted Vaire and I to have a child as much as we did, and devoted quite a bit of her spare time to helping crack the code that would let us do that.

I smiled at the thought. Brenna called them both 'mother', and she loved Vaire as much as she loved Kia. My second wife returned that affection with fierce devotion, Brenna was her kistarm, her 'heart-daughter' and our daughter was as much Andorian as she was Human. I still remember the day five years ago when she came of age, and stood before the Clan-Mother, face calm and not a flinch as her arm was decorated with the iridescent green band that proclaimed her as Shran.

I tuck that line of thought lovingly into its nest and return to the reports filtering in from the various science labs. At 1800 Vaire reports that M'Rael and Zarkon have found that the tunnel system dives deeper and becomes fairly extensive, I order them to beam back up and my Exec and Science officer begin to put together a plan to explore it. Fifteen crew-members in teams of three; a science officer or tech, an engineer and a security person in each team will beam down tomorrow to begin mapping and exploring it. There will also be a shelter with a base team of four at the entrance as well as a couple other teams spiraling out from there to see if there are any surface remains.

I make a change to the duty schedule; Zan will take center seat for second shift and I let her know that; she almost sounds happy at the thought, well at least as happy as an Efrosian ever sounds. With M'Rael on the surface coordinating the teams from outside the caverns, Vaire will man the Science Station during first shift. At 1900, Vaire and I collect Kia from the lab and head back to our quarters for a late dinner and some snuggling before sleep.

The next few days are busy for Sciences, not so much for the rest of the ship, though I notice that Stron is doing some maintenance work on the Warp Drive, trying to eek out a few more percentage points of speed I guess. The tunnel system on the planet is even more extensive than first thought, but I nix the idea of sending more teams down. We've already got almost ten percent of the crew on the surface, and for an unexplored planet, that's my personal limit.

On the fourth day after beginning their spelunking, Team Four finds what appears to be a small town. Nooks in the cavern walls have been hand hewn, some smaller and some fairly spacious. They return to the surface with plates cast from manentite that have what appear to be some form of writing on them. The mineral's structure prevents transport, so I send a shuttle down to retrieve them and I leave a note for Zan about the find. She'll probably spend her off-duty hours trying to tease a translation out of them.

A couple hours later we find life, Team Two comes across a small pool of water that still has living bacteria or the equivalent in it. They do extensive scans then transmit the data collected to the Med-Lab. Kia calls up a little later with the news that the base DNA structure is similar to that back in the core, close to bacteria found on humanoid worlds such as Earth, Vulcan and Andoria.

The following morning, there's a message from Zan in my IRRD. There's no reference, either in pictograph or any other method that could give her a start in translating the apparent writing. The plates could be anything from a history text to a shopping list, no way to know currently. She's got them scanned into a secure database and is running algorithms on the whole collection now, but unknown whether the attempt will be successful.

The surface teams continue to comb through the tunnels, another small town is found and more plates sent up in a shuttle. More samples of bacteria, these living on the walls of a different cavern are scanned and Kia starts building a map of the remaining ecosystem.