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Uneventful Watch

"Incoming communication, Captain!"

T'Pol looked up from the science station. A quick glance at the chron confirmed the induction ceremonies had started one point thirty-eight hours before. Captain Archer had said she could monitor them from the bridge but had not made it an order, allowing her the latitude of setting her own priorities. Her internal clock had let her know the exact time the so-called 'festivities' had started, but in the absence of other priorities her scientific research had taken precedence.

In the meantime, appearances had to be maintained. She smoothly walked over to the Captain's chair, sitting down before she said, "Put it on the screen, Specialist Gordon." One would assume the Eyrlodenes were not checking that Enterprise was tapped into watching the ceremonies. Logically.

Specialist Gordon's hands went over her console in a flurry of taps. The rest of the bridge crew might be relaxed, but it was her first rotation on the bridge and she wasn't about to be found lacking.

The Eyrlodene who appeared on the screen seemed to be female, her skin ebbing and flowing in great undulations of turquoise. "MayYouWaterEverFlow, alien dignitaries," she said, her voice sounding like a gurgling spring, "We are still in awaitance of your captaincy leader, the would be ceremonies cannot start without his immediacy."

One raised eyebrow told Specialist Gordon that perhaps she needed to recalibrate the UT. The other eyebrow conveyed surprise at the alien's statement. T'Pol glanced at the chron again, the tiniest crease marking her brow, "The shuttle left Enterprise on schedule for a timely arrival on A'aerl'ord."

A part of her mind was engaged in lightning-quick calculations and hypothesis. - - Was there a mistake in the computed route that would have extended the length of the journey? - - Did the Eyrlodene give them an accurate time for the start of the ceremonies? Erroneous, the time of arrival triangulated with her internal clock, the statement of elapsed delay, and the announced time. - - Did the Eyrlodene provide the correct coordinates? - - Did something happen to the shuttle carrying Captain Archer, Commander Tucker and Ensign Sato? Erroneous, she would have known if Trip was injured. Or worse. Illogical train of thought. - - The remaining options needed to be explored further.

"The shuttlecraft was scheduled to arrive three hours and seventeen minutes ago at the coordinates that were provided," she added.

The alien on the screen became visibly agitated, her skin ebbing and flowing faster, now green-tinged, "We have not seen or heard any shuttle," the gurgling undernote had become more intense.

T'Pol stared straight back at the alien. - - One option was that the shuttle never arrived to the planet. Erroneous. Ensign Mayweather was monitoring the shuttle course, Enterprise would have been alerted. The external security cameras would confirm that the shuttle reached the planet. - - Another option was that the alien's statement was imprecise, that the reference to not seeing or hearing the shuttle was in relation to a restricted area of surveillance and not the entire planet. Lieutenant Reed would be able to confirm the veracity of that alternative. In such context, the alien pronouncement made sense. - - Assuming the correctness of the premises, it meant something happened to the shuttle between the point where it went through the atmospheric barrier and the point where the Eyrlodenes started monitoring the aerial space around the ceremonial facilities. This required investigation. - - There were several sub-options.

T'Pol spoke up again, "Please allow us to check on our people, we will be back in contact with you shortly. In the meantime, could you resend the coordinates your provided to Ensign Mayweather?"

The alien inclined her head in agreement, her skin smoothing out in more regular patterns, "WaterFull," she said gratefully, "... I will send the salt and soft. But be aware that the ceremonies cannot be decurrented..." The screen turned dark on the enigmatic statement.

"Specialist Gordon, raise Shuttle One," the command was immediate, "Ensign Mayweather, let me know when you receive the coordinates, Lieutenant Reed, confirm all monitoring systems." The orders came on the heels of one another.

Gordon swiftly reached out on the official Enterprise frequency, listening, tried several other frequencies, hunched over her console, wishing that there was a responding signal somewhere. Finally she pushed back slightly, "Negative, Captain, they're not responding."

"Understood, Specialist," T'Pol was already on the next order of business, "Is there an issue with the Universal Translator? We need a precise understanding of what the Eyrlodenes are saying. We are missing one shuttle and three crew members..." She did not betray the slight sense of irritation which a Human might have been tempted to feel upon critical information being withheld due to the misfiring of technology.

"Got the coordinates!" Travis interrupted.

"Feed these to the security console." T'Pol told him. She turned back to Gordon in silent query.

"I... I'm trying to adjust...," Gordon stammered, feeling the heat of a blush creeping up the back of her neck.

"Do more than try," came the curt reply. There was a sharp intake of breath from Travis.

"Yes, sir!" Gordon hurriedly replied. Were it not for Starfleet training, she would have been be in tears. To finally be on the bridge, and have this happen... "I'm working on the UT algorithms," she added, not sure this would help. She was blushing crimson. What was she supposed to do? Explain that she couldn't fix it? T'Pol made clear failure was not an option... More than anything, she wished for her boss to be back. Hoshi would've had this licked in no time, there'd only have been a couple of hiccups. The woman was a genius. Which she was not..

Travis turned to T'Pol, "Waterfull could mean grateful?" he suggested. Gordon mentally sent him a world of thanks for trying to help.

"WaterFull is an expression of gratitude, I believe, similar in spirit to 'thank you'. It is usual that the UT does not translate formulaic expressions of greetings", T'Pol calmly replied. 'Now she tells me,' Gordon thought ruefully. "'Salt and soft' seems to have been referring to the coordinates," T'Pol went on, the picture itself of equanimity, "but that is not a sufficient level of accuracy -"

"All monitoring systems are normal, no signs of any deviation," Reed cut in from his console. He'd been waiting for the right time. T'Pol's approach was exactly right - first, check communication, second check that the shuttle did take the planned route, then check the route itself - but there was always the risk that she could get in the scientifc weeds. "And I confirmed that the Eylordenes monitoring web extends for a three thousand and thirty-five mile radius centered on the seat of government." He added.

T'Pol nodded. This confirmed her going-in hypothesis. Now was not the time to comment on the inadequacy of the Eylordene monitoring cover. She turned to Travis, "Send the shuttle's planned route to the security station, along with the initial coordinates."

Soon Reed and T'Pol were bent over his console, making rapid-fire adjustments to the screen. At last, T'Pol straightened up, "The coordinates are the same. There are no other more efficient routes. Ensign Mayweather, send the route to the main screen." Travis tapped his console and the route soon showed up.

T'Pol looked at the image on the screen. Nothing could be seen except the planned route of the shuttle, dashed in red against the blue greens of the A'aerl'ord. If the shuttle hadn't arrived, something must have happened. - - Whatever happened would have been quick, preventing any of the crew from sending a distress signal or reporting an attack. If there was an attack. - - On the other end, the crew was seasoned, they would not have rushed to call for help, which means they could have overestimated their ability to handle an emergency scenario. - - The only certain conclusion was that Trip was not dead, or she would have been poleaxed herself, incapable of contemplating the current enigma. - - That did not explain why she could not detect any sense of apprehension or anxiety over the bond. One possibility was that Trip was alive and unconcerned, or not much concerned, which meant that other members of the landing party were also alive and that their situation was not dire. - - Another possibility was that something in the planet atmosphere was interfering with the bond. - - Or he could be unconscious or sleeping. Which would confirm the rapidity with which the unknown event transpired.

She turned to Reed, who was also staring at the screen, a scowl on his face, "Lieutenant, you and Travis proceed with a detailed analysis of terrain the shuttle's course would have flown over. Also compute which alternate routes could have been followed and reconnoiter the terrain along those routes. Specialist Gordon and I will focus on communications."

"And the Eylordenes?" Gordon asked from her station. She may be going down in flames, but she was still going to do her job.

T'Pol paused. "Ah, yes, the Eylordenes... We will get back to them in due time."

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