Joe entered her quarters to change out of her sweaty clothes and right into workout clothes. That should be exactly what she needed right now. The gym was fuller than normal but Joe managed to secure her usual dumbbells and started her workout. After that Joe was able to get on a treadmill to put in some kilometers. It took almost one hour to power herself out, the hot shower afterwards never felt better.
Joe sat down at her desk and grabbed a pad, ready to start the report. Halfway through she could no longer ignore her hunger. So she took off for the galley, taking her pad with her. She picked a sandwich from the leftovers and set down to finish her report while eating. She was done with dinner and almost done with her report when Joe noticed that she was no longer alone. Looking up she was surprised to find Pet'l standing in front of her table carrying a pad.
"Can I help you?" Joe asked him.
"May I have a seat?" He asked politely.
"Be my guest."
He sat down, putting his pad in front of him.
"You're already done with your report?" She asked indicating his pad.
"Yes, I does pose more questions than it answers to be honest."
"I know. I'm almost done with mine. Some things don't really add up. I can't make head or tails out of this base we found."
"Assuming it was just a small part of a larger, now destroyed, installation, that is not really surprising." He replied.
"What do you mean?"
"Assume some non-humanoid alien would find a piece of the hull of the Hermes, for example half of this compartment. Would they be able to figure out what kind of ship it belonged to? Or that it even did belong to a ship?"
"Probably not, good point."
He just nodded in reply.
"I can't imagine you coming here to shed some light on my confusion, did you?"
"Not exactly. I felt a bit restless. My colleagues are very eager to solve this mystery but there simply is not enough data to do so. I do not revel in mindless speculation."
"Too bad, we humans tend to do that when we are confronted with not enough data. We tend to use our imagination to fill in the gaps."
"I have noticed that, yes."
"What do you think we found down there?"
"From what I have seen my theory is that is a maintenance and repair hangar. The ship and the removed components do seem to point in that direction."
"Agreed, that much is pretty obvious. What of the ship itself? You did scan the technology quite thoroughly."
"Indeed. It is an interesting design. I'm fascinated by the power core that was removed. It does seem to run on nuclear power."
"Nuclear? You sure about that?"
"Yes, me scans where quite thorough. The power core includes a very sophisticated fission reactor. There was no nuclear material present however."
"Must have been removed for maintenance."
"That is a possibility, yes."
"What of the crew?"
"Again, not enough data for speculation."
"Fair enough. I think tomorrows briefing will be quit interesting."
"I believe so, yes. Dr. Halas has several theories he is very eager to discuss."
"Dr. Halas? Have I met him, her?" Joe was confused.
"Of course, he was with us down on the moon."
"Rick. You're referring to Rick?"
"Of course."
"I was not aware he has a doctorate, only that he was behaving like a jerk."
He did not answer but did this eyebrow-thing that is so annoying.
"What does that mean?"
"Human mating rituals are quite confusing I must confess."
"Mating rituals? What are you talking about? Me and Rick?"
"Yes, I thought it was pretty obvious. Confusing indeed." Joe laughed out at that remark.
"Confusing is right. I gave him a shot and he missed, simple enough." For a split second he looked confused. He was composed fast enough that it must have been a fidget of my imagination.
"I do not understand."
"You don't have mating rituals?"
"No, our marriages are arranged when we're very young. Once bonded we stay bonded for the rest of our lives. That is the traditional way of my people."
"And if you happen to not like your chosen mate?"
"That happens very rarely. A fresh bond can be dissolved within the first year of marriage. Both are then free to pursue their own venues."
"I guess the parents don't take very good to this?"
"No. On Vulcan the wishes of ones elders must be respected."
"Sounds not like a happy place."
"We have a society that has been stable for 2000 years. Personal happiness is a small sacrifice for that."
"Maybe. I'm just glad my parents respected my wishes when I wanted to leave."
"They did not agree with you joining Earth-fleet?"
"They knew that I would never be happy on the Bethany. My families' ship. They supported me every way they can."
"Interesting."
"Yeah, sorry to bore you. You came here to get away from the chatty humans and here I sit chatting with you."
"Thank you for the company. I'll leave you to your report. It is getting late." He nodded and got up.
"Thanks. Good night."
He simply left. Joe was quite confused by this conversation and some pretty atypical behavior. She finished my report and send it. Then she headed straight for bed.
The next day started a bit strange. Everything was very much as it had been the day before but there was a certain tension in the air. After getting ready for the day Joe reported to the bridge. As there was nothing to do she called for a replacement and went to meet Sunblast.
Joe was very keen to see the warp core as she had not managed to do so before now. Joe entered the engineering department for the first time, it was very warm and cramped. The whole space was dominated by a large structure that was lowly humming with power. It took up the full height of the two decks that made up engineering, Sunblast was on an upper level working on a console. Joe climbed up to him as she was keen to see the core closely.
"Impressive, isn't it?"
"Kind of, yeah. Very different from the old version we have on the Y-classes."
"Oh, they are still a thing of beauty. Simple and very robust. A very solid design."
"But way too slow, although it always got us where we needed to be."
"This one will too. And a lot faster."
"Let's hope it does. Have you read my report?"
"I skimmed it, yes."
"Fair enough. I have a proposal that I wanted to discuss with you before taking it to the captain."
"Ok, what do you have in mind?"
"I want to salvage the ship. Bring it on board for examination."
He laughed at that.
"I think pretty much everyone has the same idea. It is very tempting. An alien ship using technology we don't understand just sitting there waiting for the taking. I'd very much like to have a look. I can imagine the science guys can't wait to get their hands on it."
"Exactly. Want to hear my idea?"
"Shoot."
"We use one of the mules. Bring it up just like a cargo container. According to my scans it should fit. A bit tight but it should work nonetheless."
"That could actually work, yes. I was thinking along the same lines." He got up from the console and started to climb down the access-ladder.
"Please step into my office."
Joe followed him down. He entered something that could only be described a a very small shed. Measuring about 1,5m by 2m it was mostly occupied by a desk filled with pads and a workstation. There was room for a chair and some equipment.
"Cozy."
He did not comment on that but took the chair and switched on the workstation. After some input it displayed a diagram of the small ship with the dismantled engine core. Joe waved her pad.
"Very much the same that I have here. I superimposed a mule, can you do that."
"Sure."
After a moment the ship was embedded in the translucent diagram of a mule. Slowly rotating the image they identified two spaces where there was just not enough room for the ship to fit.
"Ok, that is the problem I came up to last night. I think we can solve this but it means that we have to do some work on the mule."
"Will it be structurally sound with these modifications?"
"It should be. Another problem is the weight. According to the scans the ship weights about 22 tons. That is above the weight restriction of the mule. I don't think it would be able to take off."
"Normally I'd say it should not be a problem. But there is an atmosphere here that could cause some trouble. So we have to strip the mule of 2 tons of weight to make this work?"
"Pretty much, yes. And we have to be very careful to not compromise it's integrity or make it unflyable."
"Could we tweak the engines instead? Give it more power than it already has?"
"That might be possible. I did not yet had a chance to look them over. I'd have done that at some point anyway." They both grinned at that.
"Ok, how about that: Let me check the engine-schematics, you check the schematics for what we can get rid of without compromising its ability to fly. Deal?"
"Deal."
After several hours of frustration Joe had to admit defeat.
"I can't strip of enough equipment, I'm at 1.2 tons, not really enough. And I already took out the live-support, so I'll already have to wear a spacesuit."
"Alright. That should be enough. I think I can boost the engines to about 115% of their rated output. They wont last forever and they might need an overhaul afterwards. But in the end it should work fine."
"Nice. Now all we have to do is sell it to the Captain."
Which turned out to be surprisingly easy. Sunblast had been right all along. Everyone wanted to get their hands on the ship and now we had a way of getting it.
"Get to it then. Safety is of utmost concern, I don't want to loose anyone for a ship that might turn out to be nothing special."
Great, now Joe felt a lot better.
While the engineers got to preparing the Mule Joe was tasked with another part of the expedition. Good thing they had two Mules. When exploring a strange new world safety is always a concern. In that case – no breathable atmosphere – it was even more paramount. The first container to shuttle down was specifically built for that purpose. It contained a small power supply, a life support system and not much more. There was a small space where one could strip out of the spacesuit and use a toilet, which was in itself enough reason to take it to the surface. It would also serve as a emergency shelter for the ground crew.
The Mules are quite different than a shuttlepod, for starters they don't use a launch bay. They have a dedicated berth in the hull of a cargo pod. The design is really simple. A large box where the top and the bottom can be opened, four strong engines roughly on the corners. A small cockpit on the front. When berthed the top is opened and the cargo – usually a shipping container can be moved with a rail-mounted-crane. Currently the life-support container was being loaded in the Mule. Joe did a quick inspection of the ship and entered the small cockpit. Unlike the pod there was only room for a pilot and it helped not being to big. Joe settled in and went through the preflight checklist. Upon completion Joe left the cockpit and checked the cargo. With the top locked and secured she returned to the cockpit and requested clearance for takeoff while strapping in.
Departure from the Hermes was actually not that different. After a strong jolt the ship started to descend through the lower hull using the integrated lift / airlock. I did not take a minute and the stars became visible again, sandwiched between the cargo pods hull and the planet below.
"Mule 1 to Hermes, departing now."
"Confirmed, safe journey."
Another barely felt jolt and the Mule was free from the Hermes and Joe ignited the main engines. The acceleration was only a fraction of what it was with the pod as the mass was considerably bigger. So it took quite a bit of time till Joe broke orbit and entered the atmosphere. She spent the time admiring the planet, what little there was to admire. After almost one hour of an uneventful flight the Hangar once again came into view.
"Mule 1 to Hermes, I have the landing area in sight. Commencing deployment of cargo."
"Confirmed, we have you on Sensors."
After a lengthy discussion, which seems to be absolutely essential to the science people, it was decided to deploy the Containers with the equipment where the pod had landed on the first visit. This way it was close enough to be reachable on a short term notice but out of the way. Aligning the ship with the designated spot Joe instructed it to hold position and slowly descended to 5 meters above ground.
"Ready to deploy the first Container."
"Affirmative, proceed."
Small cameras showed the bottom opening and the container descending. It was held by four cables, each at one corner. The cables where attached to strong winches integrated into the Mule. Joe felt a small jolt and even heard a small crunching sound, probably transmitted through the cables or the wind outside when the container settled on the ground.
Joe sunk the Mule half a meter to get some slack in the cables.
"Container has touched down, retracting cables."
"Copy."
Small strong clamps released the anchor points and the cables retracted a bit faster than they had deployed. Once they where secured Joe closed the bottom up and fed power to the engines. Without the extra weight the acceleration was noticeably stronger than before. Nothing really thrilling about it, just busywork.
"First Container deployed, returning for the second one."
"Confirmed. We'll have it ready for when you dock."
Yay! Just doing this two more times! At least.
The other two deployments went exactly the same, Joe managed to put the other containers down next to the first one. Almost in parallel. One containing equipment and the last one with a small workshop. For longer term operations a number of housing modules could also be deployed. Reducing trips to the Hermes to a minimum. For now, that would not be done.
"Mule 1 to Hermes. Final Container deployed. Returning back to the ship."
"Confirmed Mule 1. Good job. Be advised, Pod 1 is launching with the first ground crew."
"Understood. Out."
As Joe returned to the Hermes the other pod was on its way down. The crew would connect the Containers and prepare the excavation / salvage operation. By the next time she'd be down on the planet the Hangar would look very different.
There would be at least two more Containers to be be deployed. Simply to store whatever was found in the base and deemed interesting enough to bring back for further study. But that would be done by a second pilot. Always helps to be familiar with your surroundings.
After freshing up, a quick meal and some rest Joe went to inspect the prepared Mule. The engineers had worked for two full shifts on preparing it and it showed. Where the berth of Mule 1 was neat and spotless the one of Mule 2 could not be described with this words.
The access panels that protected the engines of the Mule where removed, one engines was opened and partially dismantled. A small pile of removed equipment was sitting a bit to the side of the Mule. Among it was the pilot seat. Sunblast and some of his rating where working on one of the engine.
"You expect me to fly without a seat?"
Clearly startled he turned around.
"Of course not, there simply is not enough room for you in a suit in there with the normal seat. We built in another one. Check it out."
Joe walked to the cockpit, looking inside she found a small stool bolted to the bulkhead. She turned back to Sunblast who looked way to pleased with himself.
"Better than crouching the whole flight. We're almost done here, you can give it a test run in about two hours. They should be done by then preparing your test-cargo."
"Alright, see you then."
Joe spent some of the leisure time in the gym and worked out a bit. As she was about to spent quite some time as a sardine it seemed like a good idea. Also trying to get her mind off this actually quite dangerous endeavor seemed prudent.
After Joe felt ready and the all-clear came from Sunblast she went and put on her suit. Taking extra care to check all the seals as there would be no help available. Tucking the helmet under her arm she went to the cargo bay. The berth looked better now. All panels where closed up and the equipment put aside to be reinstalled later. Sunblast greeted her at the cockpit.
"Alright. The engines have been boosted, you should have more than enough power. We also checked the winches, they'll take the weight easily. Always keep in mind that it will be sluggish. The extra power should about cancel out the extra weight, but no fancy flying, ok?"
Joe nodded and entered the cockpit. It was cramped, even more than normal but she could move all my limbs around. Sunblast attached a hose to a port on her suit.
"Extra Oxygen. There is an extra supply on both sides of your seat, just to be on the safe side."
Joe nodded back. The suit had enough oxygen for eight hours, so this might be overkill. Better safe than sorry. Sunblast backed off and closed the cockpit.
Joe went through the preflight checklist like she already had a couple times today. Once everything was fine and she got clearance Joe started the launch cycle. The Mule was moved into starting position. It felt quite a bit more rough than usual but that was to be expected. Pretty much all insulation had been removed to reduce weight.
Once it was in Position to launch Joe started the ship. The course for orbit was already programmed so she ignited the engines. The kick was now noticeably stronger than before. Orbital insertion went without incident so she started on her landing trajectory. The heat shield, like everything flight-essential was untouched so entering the atmosphere felt little different. After barely half an hour of flight she had the landing area in sight. It looked a little different now. There where additional containers deployed and one shuttle pod was down on the surface, Joe could make out some movement but not much.
"Mule 2 to Hermes, approaching landing site."
"Confirmed, trajectory looks good."
Joe slowed the Mule down and brought it in low. Right in the middle of the landing platform sat a container. It was by now filled with rock and ice equaling the weight of the ship for the practice run. Carefully Joe maneuvered the Mule on top of it.
"Mule 2, looking good. Hold position."
"Confirmed, opening up and deploying cables."
Slowly the bottom of the Mule opened, once it was fully open the four cables began to deploy. The cameras showed two figures approaching from the back and the front. They climbed the container and attached the cables to the anchor points.
Once they where clear Joe started the loading process. Retracting the cables and feeding power to the engines to maintain height. It took longer than normal to fully secure the container due to the extra weight but finally it was secured and the bottom closed and secured.
"Mule 2 to Hermes. Cargo secured, ready to go."
"Confirmed. Godspeed."
Joe slowly added power to the engine until the throttle was at full. The acceleration was sluggish as always but not more than that. Climbing back into orbit took the better part of three hours, quite a bit longer than in an empty Mule. Docking to the Hermes took extra time as the Mule was slow to react to thrusters.
Finally it was done and Joe was back out of the cockpit with Sunblast and some of his engineers awaiting her.
"Any trouble?"
"Worked like a charm. Still flies like a brick."
"Fair enough. Rest up. We won't retrieve the ship until tomorrow."