Medical Shuttle One
Moon She'illa
Alpha Centauri System

She'illa, the smallest of the two moons of Alpha Centauri IV, was nevertheless the denser of the two. This allows for both a thin atmosphere composed mostly of nitrogen and powdery cosmic dust dunes that have formed many beautiful hills and valleys. Besides this, the moon contained many times more iron ore deposits than Alpha Centauri IV. Hundreds of mining compounds littered the surface allowing Centauri to not only fulfill its own needs for iron but also to export the ore at a low cost.

It was here that the shuttle approached, its exhaust billowing up the dust in and around the area. The shuttle's flat and rectangular dimensions marked it as a MACO shuttle. The caduceus emblazoned on the side specified a medical transport.

Trip stepped off first, leaving a clear footprint in the dust. The others soon followed, each in their copper colored EVA suit, until all had exited the shuttle and it left them on their own. On each officer's hip was a phase pistol, secured in place by duct tape. Asha Feral had insisted on this, arguing that they would each most likely need to cut their own piece of rock for the second waypoint..

Trip suspected she was just being paranoid and didn't like going anywhere or doing anything without everyone being armed.

"Okay, T'pol," Trip said, over the EVA suit's radio. "You said you had this all figured out. So tell us how you're going to navigate us to the first waypoint."

T'Pol unclipped her science scanner from the waist and tapped at the keys for a moment before replying.

"I took the liberty of downloading a map of the moon and marked the waypoints in accordance with the directions we were given." She said at last. "By following this route we should end the journey with approximately thirty minutes of oxygen left to spare."

"Well, that's good thinking,"Trip said. "But I already see our first obstacle. All the dust kicked up isn't clearing very fast. It's formed an outgoing doughnut shape that we'll have to walk through, in darkness, for quite some time. We're going to be very careful not to get off-trek. We can't afford to make up the time to correct our mistakes.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. I know it sounds silly but we're going to go single file, holding hands so no one wanders off. You don't want to get lost out here. T'Pol takes the lead with her scanner."

They filed in line, preparing to depart. T'Pol in the lead, followed by Trip, then the Orion Asha Feral. Next came Savok, the Andorian Rex P'Trell, Lou Chang and Jack Olson, the engineer.

Once they entered the dust ring, the blackness and claustrophobia were worse than Trip expected. He could only pray no one panicked and let go of others in the line. He was almost certain that would result in that person being lost beyond their ability to burn the oxygen finding them.

It was a harrowing few minutes, but they made out the other side, bounding along in low gravity in the dark, without losing anyone. Still, the going was tough, as each of the group was forced to hold hands with someone bouncing before and behind them, save T'Pol and Olsen.

"Well that was terrifying." Olson gasped, as they emerged. "I hope the shuttle won't be idling in place when we get there."

"That is doubtful," T'Pol said. "They will likely wish to conserve fuel in waiting for us."

Chang interjected, "That's good."This is my first EVA and I don't want to do that again."

"You had EVA training, didn't you?" Trip inquired.

"Yeah but I was tethered to a line." Chang responded. "There's nothing steady to hold onto out here. With everyone bouncing along in the dark, even that point of contact isn't exactly reliable."

"Well, that's the worst of it." Trip said. "It'll be smooth sailing from here."

They bounded along in silence for a few moments before P'Trell spoke up.

"The silence is going to drive me crazy." He said. "Why don't we talk about something?"

"LIke what?" Trip asked.

"Well, we all know each from our service jackets, Captain. How about something that isn't in our jacket?"

"Sounds good. How about you start, since it's your idea?"

"Okay, well…I owned my own business before joining Starfleet." P'Trell said "We mostly ran shuttles to the Andorian space station. I had a lot of contact with Andorian Guard recruits and that's what led me to apply when my business went bankrupt. As my jacket says, it was only a few months before I applied to the Starfleet officer exchange. I liked where Starfleet was going. Peaceful exploration and first contact sounds good to me."

'"How about you, Feral?" Trip asked.

"Okay, then." She said.. "But first, is anyone devoutly religious?"

No one spoke up, so Trip chimed in.

"I consider myself a Methodist, but I'm not exactly devout. I don't even go to church."

"What are your views on bisexuality?"

"I don't have a problem with it. I assume that's what you are, since you asked."

"Yes." She responded. "But being a devout Baptist myself it presents an unusual dichotomy."

"How do you deal with that?"

"I simply remain celibate. Since sex outside of marrage is forbiden anyway, it's an easy choice."

"And what if you want to marry someday?"

"It would be with a male. Human, most likely, since that's what I grew up with. That aside, Starfleet tactical was a good fit for me, coming from a culture that embraced firearms.""

"Okay, "Trip said. "Who's next? Savok?"

"My choice is simple." Savok said. "I worked with Doctors Without Borders for many years in Africa. When we came under attack by the ARI terrorist group, Starfleet services on the ground, conducting training missions, came to our rescue."

"I can see how Starfleet would be a logical choice after something like that." Trip said.

"Not at first. Doctors Without Borders takes an oath to do no harm. As it happens, I armed myself with the Starfleet officers and drove off the terrorists. I killed two of them in the process. For this reason I was asked to tender my resignation from the organization. That is when Starfleet became the logical choice."

"Why doesn't your service appear in your jacket?"

"The organization refused to validate my service to Starfleet inception."

"That strikes me as pretty unforgiving."

"They take their oath very seriously."

"Still seems like a hard pill to swallow." Trip said. "I'll consider it their loss, though. Who's left? How about you, Chang?"

"Okay," Chang said. "It's probably a bit stereotypical, but I'm a brown belt in kung fu. It's a family tradition that goes back hundreds of years."

"Does a brown belt mean you can teach?" Asked Trip.

"I'm not a master but I can teach a few tricks. That's why I left it off my resume though. I didn't want to get shunted into a teaching position. Got stuck behind a desk anyway, as it happens."

"That's a shame. Our crew could have benefited from some kung fu training."

"Oh, I don't mind teaching a bit, as long as I get to explore space."

"We've got a five year mission, so you can expect plenty of that."

"In that case when we get back to the ship I'll coordinate with T'Pol and see if we can work something out."

"I'd sure appreciate it. And that leaves us with Olson."

"I tried but I can't think of anything." Olson said. "I was involved with some classified projects with Starfleet but I can't talk about that. So how about…I once won a pie eating contest at a county fair."

Trip could only laugh.

"You won?" He grinned. "You're skinny as a rail!"

"It's not about girth, it's about gastrointestinal fortitude." Olson argued. "If it helps,I threw up afterward."

"I can say as captain that I already know about those classified projects. Unfortunately, pie eating isn't a skill that Starfieet values overmuch."

"I'll stick to engineering then," Olson chuckled.

Trip nodded inside his helmet.

"Alright T'Pol, that leaves you and me, I'll go first. And Chang you'll find this interesting.

"I'm the reason EVA training is done in space, tethered to starships. During my own EVA training on Titan, my suit malfunctioned and I panicked. Tried to take my helmet off. Archer had to stop me before I killed myself. After that, no more training on Titan and I had to retake my EVA at Jupiter station. In my opinion, tethering is worse. All that open space to contend with.

"Okay, that leaves you, T'Pol."

"Trip," She said. "Our crew does not know the true nature of our relationship. I believe it is logical to inform them."

"Well, that's kinda letting the cat out of the proverbial bag isn't it." Trip frowned.

"It is likely the crew will be able to intuit it over time, so it is best settled now. Surely Sovak already knows."

"You are bonded." Sovak said, simply.

"Wait…bonded?" Asha inquired. "That's the Vulcan equivalent of marriage. I took xenobiology 101, just like everyone else."

"Wow, really?" Chang said. "I should have guessed. I caught you guys doing the Vulcan finger thing one time. That's practically kissing."

"And we can assume Starfleet isn't stupid." Trip said. "So they already know and won't do anything about it until it becomes a problem. The less people who know the better. If someone reports us, we're screwed.."

"I consider the matter privileged information." Sovak said.

"Right." Said Olsen, "Our lips are sealed. Loose lips and all that."

"So might as well change the subject." Feral said. "How about movie recommendations? I've got the perfect one for you two guys. Vulcan sunset. It's an indy film so you might not have heard of it. It features a romantic relationship between a Vulan female and an Andorian male."

"I've seen that," P'Trell said. ""Highly recommend it for anyone interested in interspecies pairing. Has a sad ending though."

And so matters turned as the hike went they reached the downed probe and the first waypoint of their hike.

The probe lay on its side, untouched since it crashed many years hull registry marked it as UESAPA probe number fifteen. Crashed here on purpose when it detected life on Centauri IV. Better that a full diplomatic team, trained in first contact, be the first encounter.

Everyone lined up to touch the probe reverently. Until Trip noticed something.

"Guys." He said, pointing upward.

Above them dull flashes were occurring, all in a rough, zigzagging line in space. And directly above them a rapidly descending ball of fire dominated the view.

"The atmosphere is too thin for this to be an atmospheric burn." T'Pol noted.

"That's a small ship or a shuttle." Trip said, "Already on fire. Which makes those other flashes rather ominous."

"You think there's a battle going on up there?" Feral asked.

"Looks like it. A big one." Trip responded.

"Against who? We're not at war with anyone."

"T'Pol, keep track of them. There may be survivors we can help."

"According to my projections," T'Pol said. "They should crash only a kilometer and a half from our current location. By forgoing the second waypoint we can reach them and render aid without endangering our air supply."

"Then that's what we'll do. Lead on, T'Pol."

"I recommend we stay on alert." Feral said."They could be the enemy."

"Let's hope not." Trip said.