round 21 Commander Rode Mitchell - Lack Of Results On The Searching

[Blueheart]

(Bridge - USS Solstice)

::Despite using all the ship's various sensors, the search felt like it was going no where. The only data they had to go on was the planet, and the readings that one of the science team thought was similar to the Bajoran wormhole. The most promising news was that they hadn't found any of the usual debris left by the destruction of a starship the size of the Discovery C. Even a warp core breach left surviving pieces of debris, bits of the various alloys used to construct a starship's hull and warp core.. Complete destruction was a remote possibility.

oO Which means there's a better than average chance something else happened to her and she really is missing again. Or so I have to keep believing. Oo

::He was currently using the ship's tactical sensors for searching since he had the most familiarity with them. His background was in the tactical department, having served at the tactical console on all four of the Discovery's. His career had started as a fighter pilot, then gone to security, then the helm, then to tactical, and then it started looping like a Gordian knot. Between the Discovery's A, B, and C, he had served as chief tactical officer, fighter squadron commander, First Officer/XO, and even Pre-Commissioning Officer, before always returning to the tactical department. During his off duty hours, he had dabbled in ship design, submitting various design ideas and concepts to the office of Shipbuilding. Most of his submissions had gone no where, but it had lead to the stint working for a BuShips as the Pre-Commissioning Officer for what had become the Sovereign class USS Discovery C. That experience combined with a series of personal issues had lead to him leave the Discovery and take the job at Utopia Plantia.::

oO As much as I love what I've been doing on the new ships and "Delta," I actually miss life aboard the Lady. The scream and bass thumping of the Red Alert klaxon, the high pitched whine of the phasers unleashing their fury as raw power, the "chump-whump" of the torpedo launchers spitting their eggs containing deadly yokes of antimatter. Oo

::Combat had become a way of life aboard the Discovery it seemed. The Lady and her predecessors seemed to be either dragged into or just somehow ended up in more combat in their careers, then a dozen other starships might have combined for. Only the Enterprise and her predecessors could give her a real run for her money in regards to who had been in more shooting matches.::

oO Its almost like a drug. Once its in your system, you almost look forward to it, want it, even need it. Oo

::So now plodding along at impulse, searching for a needle in a haystack was like torture to him, since he had lived on that high for so long. Plus, search work had just never been his favorite to do. But his scheduled shift was almost complete, yet he probably would work at least half of another shift. Unless Captain Avedon made him stick to the schedule. In the ten days Mitchell had been aboard, Avedon had seemed like a stickler for such. As if one thing upset the schedule, it would then cause everything to go wrong. ::

oO Just a different type that's all. Guess he reminds me too much of the drag their feet types back at UP, who won't put forth any concept or idea without checking nine or ten times, via various means. Oo

::He was trying to focus his attention back to the sensors when a voice called for his attention instead.::

AVEDON: Commander, a moment of your time please.

MITCHELL: ::looking up and turning to face the center chair.:: Yes sir?

AVEDON: Any results during the last round of sweeps?

oO You would ask that. But you know the answer. One of us would have called out if we had found anything. Oo

MITCHELL: Negative sir. We have not found anything out of what could be considered ordinary for this system. Other than the unknown emissions we found before.

AVEDON: I find it hard to believe there is nothing out there.

MITCHELL: I agree sir. We should have found at least something by now. Its almost like the system has been "cleaned."

AVEDON: How would one clean a star system Commander?

MITCHELL: I don't know sir. But you know as well as I do, if the Discovery had been destroyed, we would have found at least some wreckage, some sort of debris.

AVEDON: Correct.

MITCHELL: So I think it's unnatural that we can't find anything. We should have found at least some random neutrinos and naturally occurring emissions the science team tells me. But we haven't. So I'm thinking someone or something cleaned up the system to erase any trace of the Discovery's disappearance.

AVEDON: Very well. Continue the search. ::He paused and noted something on the PADD in his lap before continuing. :: You may also take another shift Commander, as long as you remain efficient.

MITCHELL: Yes sir. Thank you.

oO Like I'm going to leave unless you make me take a break. Its my friends lost out there, not yours. Oo

tbc

Commander Rode Mitchell
Mission Specialist
Aboard the USS Solstice

Edited September 13, 2013 by Liam Frost
Fixed line spacing issues.