A New Adventure

Posted on Thu Oct 17th, 2024 @ 2:34am by Commander Marisa Sandoval
Edited on on Thu Oct 17th, 2024 @ 3:37am

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Like Sands Through The Hourglass
Location: Various
Timeline: One Week Prior to MD001

Marisa walked into the captain's ready room. "You wanted to see me?" She assumed it had something to do with the ruins they found on Altiumus IV. She and her team spent three days doing the initial survey and the reports had been filed the day before.

"Have a seat, Sandoval." Captain Holladay indicated the seat across from his desk. As soon as she was seated he said, "I've just received orders on your behalf."

Marisa raised an eyebrow. This was unusual, to say the least. Shouldn't transfer orders come to both her and the captain? "On my behalf?"

"Yes. And they're encrypted. Is there something you haven't told me?"

Marisa shook her head. "No, sir. I haven't applied for anything."

He nodded once. "Good. I hoped you hadn't chosen to leave without talking with me first." He handed over the PADD. "The instructions I received are to give you this in private. You are to read it in your quarters, then pack. A shuttle will be ready for you in twenty minutes."

The science officer had been looking at the PADD in her hand. She looked up at the captain. "Twenty minutes? I don't know if I can get everything packed by then."

Captain Halladay smiled. "We do have transporters. Perhaps it would be better if you read this in your office, then pack up everything you need there. I'll assign someone in operations to use the transporter to take care of your quarters." He raised an eyebrow. "I assume you don't have too many possessions there?"

Marisa waved the comment away with a hand. "No more than most." She paused, then looked at the captain. It was still sinking in that she was being transferred NOW. "I've enjoyed serving with you, sir."

"And I with you. Good luck, Marisa." His comm beeped. "Sorry, I'm expecting a call from Admiral Fairfield."

"It's fine. Thank you, sir. Goodbye." She turned and walked out. It was an abrupt departure and she had no idea why the rush. But there was only one way to find out.

Five minutes later she was in her office. A retina scan and a thumbprint opened the PADD. She quickly scanned the message. It said she was to meet someone on Earth. The exact address would be sent to her when her shuttle entered Sol's system. More puzzles. She took a minute to mentally process the situation, then began to pack everything that belonged to her in a box. As she did so, she kept track of the time.

With two minutes to spare, she entered the shuttle bay and walked over to the only shuttle ready to depart.

"Name?" the pilot asked when she boarded.

"Marisa Sandoval."

The pilot looked at a PADD and nodded. "Good. Take a seat. We'll leave in a minute."

The shuttle took her to a starbase where she had just enough time to walk quickly to a transport that was preparing to leave. That time she made it with ten minutes to spare.

The transport was almost full. Marisa and her office box were sent to a seat in the back. She put the box under her seat and closed her eyes. The seat next to her was empty, so she would be left to her own devices for the trip. Fortunately, she had several books and articles on recent archaeological discoveries on her PADD. Her printed books were hopefully stored somewhere on the transporter. And if nothing else, she had a paper she meant to write but never had the time.

She had two more transfers before arriving at Earth. Each one gave her less than fifteen minutes to get from one ship to another. She could only assume someone didn't want her to have any time for looking around, or even getting a meal that wasn't replicated.

After her first transfer, she arranged for her box to be stored with her other possessions. then, she changed from her uniform into a Vulcan tunic and pants. They were more comfortable and nondescript. It was logical to assume that the short time between transfers was to help her not be noticed. So, traveling as a Vulcan civilian would be unremarkable.

As she approached the Federation homeworld, she received a message on her PADD with instructions to board a shuttle for Greenwich, England. Then to go to the DTI headquarters where she would be expected. She blinked and read the message again. DTI? What did they want with her?

When the ship reached Earth, she once again had fifteen minutes to store her gear, then find and board the shuttle to Greenwich. Finally, she stood outside the building. "Well, here we go," she said to herself. If nothing else, she hoped whatever they had to say would be interesting.

A post By

Commander Marisa Sandoval
Executive Officer
USS Herodotus DTI-30656

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