Part 8
The next morning Vin dropped in to check on the boys before starting his shift on the bridge. He found them just waking up and assisted Nathan in getting them ready for the day. All throughout the maneuver, though he kept catching Ezranok sending confused looks at Nathan. When Nathan stepped out of the room, he asked him, "Ezranok, what's wrong?"
Ezranok looked up at him with uncertainty in his eyes, "I am merely confused about something, but it shall pass."
Vin decided to take him at his word, but reminded him that if he needed something, all he needed do was ask. After he was sure the boys were settled in for the day with plenty to read, which Blair had informed him was what they planned to do today, Vin headed for the bridge and his duty station.
Vin entered the bridge and caught Chris's eye. He gave the man a semi-embarrassed shrug in response to the knowing smile and raised eyebrow. Yes, he had stopped by Sick Bay to see the boys, on his way up. He couldn't explain the connection he felt, but he wasn't going to argue about it.
It was only couple hours later when Vin noticed a strange reading on one of his sensors. Fine tuning it, he tried to isolate the strange signal he was picking up. It was badly warped, but he finally narrowed it down.
"Capt'n, I'm picking up a signal on a Starfleet distress channel. It's badly garbled and there is no visual, but I've managed to clear up the audio some," Vin announced.
Chris cast a concerned glance at his first officer. "Put it on speaker, Mr. Tanner."
Vin quickly complied, and a scratchy voice that cut in and out filtered in.
"Mayd…this is…Ca…James Elli…our ship…sabotage…location un…only… survive…Mayday, Mayd…"
"Keeps repeating, Capt'n," Vin said, his voice having dropped into a angry growl as the message became clearer.
"Can you triangulate the point of origin?" Chris demanded.
"Yes, sir. The signal originates from the fourth planet in the Penirunas system. According to the Starfleet database, it is a primitive class M planet that was suspected of being the base of operations for a drug, slavery, and pirating operation," Vin practically growled the last, but Chris could understand. They all were developing a newly profound disgust for slavers. "A Ground Operations Rangers unit was dispatched to investigate about a year and a half ago. The ship, the USS Cascade, disappeared enroute and all hands were believed lost," Vin reported reading off the display above his head.
"Didn't anyone look for them?" JD asked, appalled at the idea that someone had survived, just to be left out here on a primitive planet to rot.
"Yes, however, the Commodore Oliver that ordered the mission and over saw the rescue efforts was later investigated for and convicted of conspiring with the pirates in question. No reinvestigation was ever initiated," Vin continued, bringing up more data.
"Well, we're going to," Chris stated flatly. "JD, contact Star Base 4 and tell them what we found. Buck, get us to that planet as quickly as possible. Vin pin point where on the planet that signal is coming from."
Buck, JD, and Vin each bent to their tasks with alacrity. They hated the idea of what had happened to these men, and were going to make sure that any survivors were not there any longer that they absolutely had to be.
It only took another hour and a half to reach the planet, and Vin realized that the only reason they had heard the call at all was because they were taking a different route back to Star Base than their usual, because of the ship they were towing. The signal was so weak that unless you were this close to the planet, it would never register at all..
"Entering orbit, captain," Buck reported.
"Have you pin pointed the source of the signal, Mr. Tanner?" Chris requested.
"Yes, sir, Capt'n. Its coordinates are 10.6 mark 62.9. There seems to also be the remnants of a destroyed vessel of some sort nearby," Tanner informed them. "Probably the remains of their vessel. It seems to be in the middle of a dense tropical rainforest."
"Any life signs?"
"Several, Capt'n." Vin said as he tried to pin down where and what kind. "Most don't seem quite human, I'm trying to see if any…" Vin trailed off in the middle of his explanation as he spotted what he wanted. "There's one that seems to fit the spectrum for human norms, sir!" Vin announced triumphantly, "I can't be absolutely sure, but he's close to the origin of the distress signal, sir."
"Good, at least we've got a chance," Chris muttered as he got up and walked over behind Vin to inspect the data he had pulled up, including a list of the team member's names. "Get the coordinates to the transporter room. We'll see about recovering any bodies while we're there. At least we'll be able to give a few families some closure, if nothing else." Opening the com, he said, "Lt. Sanchez and a security team to the transport room for possible rescue mission. Tanner, you have the con."
Chris strode quickly from the bridge and headed for the transport room. Arriving there less than five minutes later, Chris immediately started to talk, "We've received a Starfleet distress signal from the planet below. The origin of the signal appears to be a Ranger group that disappeared enroute to this area over eighteen months ago."
"So we have survivors, sir?" Josiah clarified.
"Possibly one, Vin couldn't be sure," Chris informed him. Josiah nodded his understand, before leading his men onto the platform.
Chris took his place on the from of the platform, then ordered, "Energize."
A few seconds later the eight member landing party was materializing on the planet's surface. The first thing they noticed was the seven graves neatly lined up, each marked with a fragment of the destroyed transport vessel, names etched into their surfaces.
"How many were in the original team, Captain?" Josiah asked swiftly.
"Eight," Chris said as he walked over to the first grave to read the inscription. Going to each one in turn he read off the names matching them to the ones he had seen on Vin's list. "They're all here, except the team leader, Lt. Commander James Ellison. We'll recover the bodies after we figure out where he is.
Chris pulled his communicator, and was about to call Vin in order to get some idea which direction to head, when a primitive, but no less deadly, stone tipped arrow flew passed him to lodge in the side of a nearby tree.
Quickly all of the landing party took cover, but they didn't return fire, conscious of regulations. After only a few more arrows landed, the onslaught ended. Looking around, none of them could see where they had come from at first, then with minimal movements, the natives revealed themselves. Each was small by human standards, standing maybe five foot with dark hair and eyes, reddish skin and bright paints applied to their faces and chests. All dressed in primitive tribal dress, some more ornate than others, but definitely all similar. When Chris looked around, he realized that there had been exactly eight arrows fired, and each of them was placed to prove a point.
"Easy," Chris murmured to his men. "All or any of those shots could have been kills, starting with the first." The first had whizzed by less than six inches from his ear. "They don't want us dead."
Chris was about to start trying to talk to them when the leader of the little band called out something, and someone else moved forward to meet them. Chris was surprised to see a man, though dressed similarly to the natives, equally tall as himself with crystal blue eyes.
"Lt. Commander James Ellison, O.D.A. 731, sir. I take it someone finally received my message," Ellison said as he stuck his hand out to Chris.
Chris slowly took the offered hand and shook it, keeping a close eye on the men standing behind Ellison. He saw the release of tension from their postures when Ellison greeted him.
"Captain Christopher Larabee of the USS Wild Card. Yes, Commander, we did, though it was so garbled we really couldn't understand most of it," Chris replied.
"I can understand, Captain," Ellison said with a weary grin. "I know you'll probably want me in Sick Bay as soon as possible, but I'd like to stay to observe the retrieval of my men, if you would allow it, Captain Larabee."
Chris thought that sounded like something he would have wanted if he had been in the same situation, so he agreed. When Ellison moved over to the graves, Chris pulled his out communicator, activated it, "Larabee, to Wild Card, come in."
"Tanner here, sir."
"Tanner, we're going to need seven body bags down here, but we do have one survivor, Lt. Commander Ellison."
"Yes, sir. Should I notify Nathan to expect a patient soon?"
"No, not until after the retrieval of the bodies. Ellison seems to be in good shape, so we'll all come up together."
"Yes, sir" Vin acknowledged. "Umm, sir, will Doc be doin' the autopsies?"
"Probably, Vin, what's up?" Chris asked when he heard the worry in his first officer's voice.
"Well, I was just think… the boys probably shouldn't be there for that," Vin pointed out.
"Shit!" Chris swore. Even if they were kept out of the room, they would still feel it when Nathan performed the necessary, but grisly job. "We'll have to find some way of getting them out of Sick Bay for an hour or so."
"I could send Buck and JD down to take them to the rec room for lunch," Vin suggested.
"Sounds good, Vin. Send them down in about half an hour, and we'll transport up to the ship just after that, it shouldn't take any longer to exhume the bodies."
"Understood, Captain."
"Good, Larabee out," Chris signed off. He looked over to where Ellison was standing with his men to find the man staring at him in confusion. Walking over to the man while the security men started recovering the bodies, he asked brusquely, "Problem, Ellison?"
"No, sir, I was just surprised, sir. Scout ships don't usually have children aboard, from what I remember," Ellison said.
Chris winced, before explaining the situation. "We rescued these boys from slavers yesterday. Due to the condition they were in, they have been staying in Sick Bay. We were enroute to Star Base 4 with them, when my first officer started receiving your distress call and managed to decode it enough to understand it." A cold anger filled Ellison's eyes when Chris mentioned their rescue of the boys from slavers, but it dissipated quickly with understanding. He nodded then turned his attention to the bodies of the men that he had come here with.
Chris considered Ellison for a few moments, looking from where he had been standing when he was talking to Vin to where Ellison had been standing at the same time. There was no way Ellison should have been able to hear what had been said.
Some thing was telling him this was going to be getting weird again soon!