~ Discoveries ~
Always checking the readings on his sensor pad, Pine had discovered a hidden energy source about 4 kilometers away from the crash site and soon, they were on their way. The energy source was intriguing, the tracing signature strange but yet familiar and the captain seemed eager to find out what it was. Murdock led them over a hill and the sight that presented itself was more than astonishing.
It was a space ship - a Defiant Class from the looks of it, unbelievably similar to the recently crashed USS Endeavor, lying peacefully in the clearing in front of them. She was intact – obviously this ship had not crashed but had been landed carefully. But there was something strange about it. His fingertips started to itch by the thought of the possibility of being able to get his hands on the machinery in there. What struck him ever so odd was the fact that even though the ship was down like a sitting duck, it had definitely not crashed like the USS Endeavor but it seemed to be without power and deserted. The desolate surroundings only made this odd impression more intense and eerie.
Murdock made a call to Hunter to come with Lt. Williams and join them.
"Aye Captain, we're on the way..." Summer heard Hunter say and within seconds the whole group was moving. She had helped Daniels to fix up the injured, putting band-aids and gel-pads on cuts and bruises. There had not been enough time to salvage Sickbay in order to get all the important equipment, they only had been able to get the emergency packs that were on dispense on every deck. But for the moment being, this was enough. There were anti-inflammatories and anti-biotics, a bit of hypo-spray, a handful of medical tricorders with Ultra Sound capability for deep tissue or internal injuries and a protoplaser among the more general things like bandages and first aid kits.
Her body ached from the crash, and her knees were still wobbly. But then the call of Hunter came to accompany her to the position of the away team, strength returned. Maybe there was a way out? Maybe they found other people who might help them?
The camp group was moving forth quite quickly but they had to watch their every step. There was debris from their crash and many stones but soon, they found the others. Summer saw Murdock, Hunter, Costa and Pine standing and looking up at a huge ... object ... ship ... an updated version of the Endeavor, or so it seemed. Summer raised an eyebrow and moved closer towards the group. She could read the tension of each of their faces, only the captain and Christopher Pine were - despite the horrible tragedy - somewhat thrilled to have made this discovery.
It had not been a long hike to where the away team was but Summer still had to catch her breath at the site of the unfamiliar ship lying in the sun, obviously abandoned. She shared a quick glance with Christopher Pine but then stood next to the captain.
Major Costa stated that there were no life signs apart from their own and the other crewmembers back at the camp, so the Captain decided to move closer. Pine looked at him, it was obvious that something was bothering him. The structure of the ship was familiar but there was something stunningly strange about the layering and overall design, advanced technology and all, but at the same time so well-known.
Impatient as he was, he had to wait until the rest of the team arrived, which fortunately for him didn't take too much time. He eyed the hull plating suspiciously, there were heaps of ivy-like plants lying around the shape of the ship, it almost seemed as if those plants had tried to climb up but couldn't find anything to hold on to grow. This added to his impression of this ship being something strange. The hull plating was not opaque as was usual, it seemed to reflect the peculiar sunlight. Filled with sheer desire to understand the technology, he stepped closer.
Pine looked back and forth in between the team members and the ship and motioned to his engineering officers to step closer. Myers' headwound had been dressed, but he seemed to be in quite a good shape. Briefly, he met Summer's questioning glance but could not muster a smile or a longer exchange and right now, there were more urgent tasks at hand.
Yet, he was eager to figure out the mystery of this ship. "Captain, with your permission, I would like to take a look at her..."
"Of course, as do I!" The captain turned towards them all. "Team, I don't know what to make of this so I want to make sure that we use caution. We'll go in as teams of two - 30 seconds apart. Hunter and Costa, take a look around, Kuros and Pine, you two investigate Engineering. Summers, you're with me. And Daniels, you stay behind and monitor the progress out here just in case we need support."
Everybody nodded and they took off. Kuros approached the hatch of the alien ship and scanned it with his tricorder.
"It is encypted, of course." He said absently.
He reached into an inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small crystal rod and inserted into the tricorder. "This shouldn't take too long." Scanning the frequencies, he began going about discovering the encryption language and sequence. It was very similar to Federation protocols, but just different enough to make it a little more difficult than normal. With a few more commands the hatch hissed open. He replaced tricorder on his hip and drew his phaser, setting it to heavy stun.
"Shall we?" Murdock gave a slight smile.
"After you, Sir." replied the Chief Engineer. "Can't wait to find out about this beauty." He smiled lopsided.
Summer fell in behind Murdock, hand on phaser, just in case. Chris disappeared with Kuros into the dark belly of the ship, but not without looking back at Summer.
