A/N: Hey, guys! I want to thank you for the awesome reviews, y'all. I'd had a bad day and when I read them the positive support just warmed my heart. So thank you, thank you SO much! :) Glad to have you onboard! Sorry that it's been a while posting; the Olympics have had me distracted. I'll be writing, look up at the TV, and see ice skating. That's always hypnotic, and suddenly time disappears. I've been going slow with this, but chapter 2 is now UP. So please enjoy!
They waited until the next 'day' before setting out in the amped-up Galileo. This was because all of the repairs and tweaking didn't finish until the late evening, and it was best if the landing party was rested before venturing out.
"Good Lord," McCoy exclaimed, halting in the shuttle bay. Sulu just about bumped into him. "That thing's a tank!"
"She's no' armored," Scotty called, slightly indignant, from the shuttle. "She's got absolutely no weapons on 'er."
"I doubt there's even in room for them," Sulu mused, eyes tracking the shuttle.
Galileo was now absolutely massive and bulky. The shielding covered every square inch of the vehicle and the thrusters made the original pylons look like toothpicks. It was a dull, grey, metal blob with the occasional screened sensor poking out from behind its multiple lenses.
The inside was also jam-packed. The back storage hold was crammed with all sorts of equipment probably needed to fix the drone, and it spilled out into the main area. Bio-suits were up near the front in to minimize the odds of anything pointy ripping one open. Tools and machinery littered the floor as McCoy and Sulu picked their way to their seats. Sulu took the pilot's chair while the doctor claimed the first available seat that wasn't cluttered.
Spock entered a couple minutes later, taking his seat as copilot. Two lads from engineering entered later, and Scotty brought up the rear after making absolutely certain everything was in place. With the party of six in place (one chair housed a massive drilling machine) Sulu and Spock began the liftoff procedures.
"Shuttle Galileo ready to disembark," Spock said into speaker. Sulu brought the craft to life and they could feel it slowly spinning on the landing pad.
"Acknowledged," came Kirk's voice from the bridge. "Cleared for takeoff. Good luck."
The hangar depressurized, the bay doors opened, and the shuttle took off.
Sulu eased it further into the solar system. He didn't listen to the idle conversations behind him; he was focused on the upcoming turbulence. The Enterprise was a safe distance away, so this was the calm before the storm.
Spock switched on a sensor. "Tesla levels rising. Increasing radiation."
Underscoring his words was a deep vibration. The shuttle shuddered, but didn't waver from its course. Sulu pressed it on.
The light increased, even with the screen. They ended up just closing the Galileo's viewports and sparing their retinas any damage.
The shuttle suddenly lurched to one side. Everyone rocked in their seats and one of the engineers- Mr. Quinn- tipped into the isle.
"Sorry," Sulu said, gritting his teeth. "Solar wind. We're fighting it."
The Galileo bucked and suddenly dipped. The nosedive was steep, and everyone felt the headrush before the artificial gravity stabilized. Sulu leveled them out and flew under the intense particle emission.
The ride grew more harrowing. In a smooth zone, the trip would have taken half an hour. However, PSR's turbulent solar system lengthened it mightily.
Almost an hour of shaking, rattling, spinning, ducking and twisting later, their destination was in sight. "Approaching Lucy," Sulu reported from the readings. He took a deep breath. "Here we go."
Spock switched on every sensor. With the heavy shielding, they were essentially blind, and so needed every ounce of information they could get.
Also, they couldn't orbit Lucy. The planet rotated so fast, and spun around its pulsar so quickly, that it would be near impossible.
As it was now, they weren't actually approaching Lucy.
Lucy was approaching them.
"Contact in 3," Sulu counted, bracing himself. "2… 1…"
The shuttle snapped to the right.
Lucy's gravity essentially reached out and snatched them from the sky. Sulu fought to keep them steady as they raced along the curvature of the brilliant planet, pulling closer to its surface.
"Firing reverse thrusters!" Sulu called out. He hit the button and the Galileo bucked, fighting against the gravitational forces. The thrusters served as a way to keep them from getting launched into space by Lucy. Now they would stick to the planet.
The only drawback was that they could now feel the immense gravity pulling them down.
The shuttle fell sharply down to Lucy and they experienced a brief sense of weightlessness. Their gravity kicked back in but still they fell, zipping closer and closer to the planet.
Sulu knew the drones mined the surface directly. Might as well save their energy and let gravity take them closer to their destination. He waited, counting the long seconds as the altimeter dropped.
Now.
Kicking off with forward thrusts, the Galileo rushed forward, stopping their descent. Sulu grinned as he settled into an acceptable speed as they sailed across the planet. He glanced at Spock.
"So where's that drone?"
"The drone, serial number K-19, should be in this general vector," Spock reported. "While it reportedly went offline, we should be able to pick up static."
"How will we be able to tell the drone from all the other noise?" the other engineer, Mannheim, asked. By 'noise' he meant the EM spectrum and other interference causing their turbulent difficulties.
"We are able to distinguish between natural and artificial signals, Lieutenant," Spock replied smoothly. "Especially since all drones are fitted with a particular coding sequence."
"Aye," Scotty agreed. "It makes 'em identifiable, as well as keeps 'em protected."
"Glad to see everyone's okay," McCoy said dryly. "Though I'm still regretting that I didn't pack heart medication. Are we going to face the same bumpy ride when we leave, Sulu?"
"A little bit," he acknowledged. "But it shouldn't be as bad. We'll have PSR at our backs giving us a push."
"Lovely," he drawled.
"Mr. Sulu," Spock said. "There is a signal at 43 mark 8. Broken, filled with static, but there is a 94% chance that it is the drone we seek."
"Aye, aye," Sulu said. He adjusted the shuttle ever so slightly; even the smallest of course changes would send them shooting off miles in the right, or wrong, direction.
It seemed only mere seconds later that they were pulling up alongside the giant machine. Sensors pieced together a fuzzy picture of the behemoth that showed up on the screen (not the viewport's unfiltered view).
A giant beast of twisted metal loomed before them. It had a huge, swollen belly peeking out from around the pipes and cables, with a massive growth bulging out from its back. An elongated neck broke out of its main torso, extending with joints and coils. There wasn't anything resembling a head. If anything, the head was deliberately missing. The stump caved inward towards the neck to allow for docking. Engines and glowing coils covered the entire drone. Electricity crackled around some of the tightly wound machinery.
Sulu matched the speed of the drone and then surpassed it slightly. The illusion was that the drone was stable and they were approaching it. The reality was that both were zipping around the planet in geosynchronous orbit.
"Docking," Sulu reported. He maneuvered up the neck and swiveled to face the stump. There were three holds. Scotty rose up and crossed to Spock, and the two keyed in the opening sequence for the drone. With any luck, that wasn't broken.
A moment later, one of the double doors opened. They glided into the hold and settled down in the cramped space. The doors automatically sealed behind them.
"Pressurizing," Spock read from the shuttle's readings. "Atmosphere… optimum. The hold is secure."
"Now to worry about the rest of the drone," McCoy said. "Before we go in, how's everyone feeling? Any nausea, dizziness, headaches?"
The crew shook their heads. McCoy nodded curtly. "Good. Report to me, though, immediately if you start feeling any of these. It could be a sign of radiation sickness, or other effects brought on by the strong EM."
"Will do," Quinn promised.
Spock continued to scan around, extending the sensors' range. "The drone beyond appears to be stable. Life support systems are switching on automatically and in acceptable ranges. We may not need the biosuits, Doctor."
"Good," McCoy said. "Though if you're working near the hull at all I'll recommend them. Can't have too much protection when it comes to this."
"Noted. Readings also report that in some areas gravity is either lessened, or gone completely. The central corridor, however, is completely stable."
"Good," Scotty said enthusiastically. "Can we get t'work then, Mr. Spock?"
"I believe that is what we came here for."
Galileo's shuttle door opened, groaning in protest as it lifted the extra metal of shielding. Scotty patted it sympathetically before helping unload some equipment. Sulu also felt for the craft. It had been a tough flight. However, for the next few hours he could relax. His part of the mission was over until it was time to leave. He and McCoy were the only ones who weren't involved in the actual drone repairs themselves.
They did join Spock and the engineers as they opened the door into the corridor. A chance to look around and stretch their legs was always appreciated.
The corridor was the main part of the drone for humans. Computer banks lined the walls. Most of it was self-maintenance; the drones were out on their own for years and had to keep functional. Extensive monitoring systems filled the panels and ceiling. Other systems were responsible for reading extensive programs and replying; in other words, communicating with the starbase, recognizing hazards, reacting to sequences such as shuttle entrances and replying by turning on life-support, and controlling the distribution of the miners.
Scotty wandered all the way to the end of the corridor with Mannheim to check the miners. The miners were dozens of mini drilling machines housed in the drone's belly. Regularly they would be released to fly to Lucy's surface and bring back vast amounts of diamond. Then they would return, process the amounts, and pack the diamond into flyers, housed in the growth of the drone. The flyers later left the planet and turned in the diamond to the mega-processing center next to the starbase. Once released from their payload, they returned to the drone and repeated the process.
For some reason, the flyers from drone K-19 had not reported to the processing center.
A while later they returned to the main corridor. "They're all in place thair," Scotty reported. "The miners, too. It's as if they never deployed. Either somethin's wrong with the mechanism to deploy, or the programming. We'll have t'check out both."
Spock straightened. "Very well. We can divide the tasks into two men for each. I am willing to look into the programming. Mr. Scott?"
Scotty crossed his arms, thinking. "I kin check out the mechanics. I'll take Mannheim with me."
"Acknowledged. Mr. Quinn, you'll be with me. Doctor, Sulu, though your expertise is not required, you may assist if you wish. Otherwise, you may wait in the shuttle."
Sulu sighed, rolling his shoulders. "If it's alright, Mr. Spock, I may try to catch a quick nap and be ready for the next flight." The adrenaline and focus was fading fast, and he felt a little worn out from the intense journey.
McCoy noticed that, and catalogued it. "Scotty, if I could join you and Mannheim briefly to see where you'll be working I can better determine any risks presented," he explained.
"Of course, Doctor," Scotty said amiably as they walked back down the corridor. "It's not too close t'the hull, though there is a light gravity pocket on the way… an' this one crawlspace has zero G…" The trio wandered off to investigate the space while the other half returned to the shuttle, partly to gather equipment.
It was time to get to work.
On the Enterprise, Lt. Gordon stood at the science station. Normally Chekov would take over for Spock, however he was still needed at the navigator's console. PSR presented a vigilant orbit, and all changes and emissions had to be plotted in order to be avoided. Lt. Riley was filling in for Sulu.
And so Gordon remained dutifully at the science station, staring in the scanner and constantly scanning the area. Every now and then he would record the flyers lifting off from the drones at regular intervals, and returning a couple hours later. It followed a brilliantly executed, set pattern. They were the only predictable thing in this solar system.
He looked at the main screen. PSR still gleamed brightly. Occasionally they could glimpse Lucy passing in front of her star. Kirk remained silent in his chair, drumming his fingers. The man seemed fidgety. Likely it was due to the lack of communication from the landing party. They had listened in on Galileo for a bit until the interference became heavier. It had been silent for several hours, which was actually a good thing. The landing party had been instructed to call only if they were in trouble, or had another problem. So the silence indicated all was well.
Shaking his head at the captain's stubborn worry, Gordon looked back into the scanner. He frowned when he glimpsed a tiny blip vanish. Pulling up the memory, he studied it. The configuration wasn't one he recognized. It was extremely faint, either due to distance, or PSR, or both. But if he had a clearer image, he might have been tempted to call it a ship.
The computer told him that the image had shown up for only a second. It was fuzzy and undefined, and likely just a stray emission from PSR. He chewed his lip and glanced back at the screen. The only problem with that thought, though, was that the bulky object didn't resemble a particle emission or solar flare. He frowned and stared at it longer. Was it a ship? There really wasn't a way to tell for sure.
Realization hit him like a slap in the face. Of course. It had to be their reflection. A side-effect from the pulsar. He was probably looking at a ghost Enterprise.
Putting the computer image away, Gordon returned to scanning the system. He thought nothing more of the could-be ship.
Is ignorance really bliss? Or is it better to know as much as you can about a situation? Because sometimes, what you don't know, CAN hurt you...
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