The turbolift doors at the bridge slid open and Michael was just stepping through as the shuttle Huntington was making its approach to the civilian cargo hauler.  Lieutenants Dren Lor and Lenara Rix, as well as Ensign Revek, would soon be handling the Fresno’s obligation to respond to the Ardent Dawn’s distress call.  The rest of them were freed up to continue on to the colony at Pieris IV.  As he made his way around the perimeter of the bridge and approached his chair at the center, Commander Thalissa Zheen inclined her head in greeting.

“Captain.  I was just about to order us to warp.” the Andorian informed him in her typically terse manner.  “Unless you would prefer the honors?”

Ensign Corey Riley spoke up.  The young human male was sitting in for Lenara Rix at the helm while she was away on the shuttle.  “Decide on your catchphrase, sir?”

Michael rolled his eyes.  He’d been waiting for someone to ask, and this had only been a matter of time.  The younger officers these days had this obsession with their Captains saying some catchy little phrase every time they ordered the ship to warp.  Other captains were only too willing to indulge in this fad of saying some unique thing, as if it would give them some kind of kinship to all the more legendary past and present figures of the fleet.  Michael found it rather silly and self-serving.  “No, Ensign.  No little catchphrases, buzzwords, or whatever else from me.  Just take us back to warp six, and fly the damned ship!”  He said it with a wink, to show he wasn’t being harsh on the kid.  But he was going to stamp out that catchphrase nonsense now.

“Aye, sir.” the young Ensign said sheepishly.  He nervously ran a hand over the stubbly dark buzzcut of his hair and turned back to his console.  “Going to warp six… now.”  The stars on the viewscreen seemed to stretch out for a moment, and they were off.  The shuttle Huntington and the Ardent Dawn were instantaneously far behind them.  Pieris IV would only be getting closer, now.

Behind him at the tactical station, Lieutenant Commander Vorak was chuckling.  Michael leveled a questioning gaze at the Tellarite security chief.  “Fly the damned ship,” he chortled in the odd Scottish brogue that definitely wasn’t a typical characteristic of members of his race.  “I rather like that, sir.”

“Fly the damned ship!” several other crew at the stations echoed cheerfully.

“Alright, that’s quite enough!” Commander Zheen said sharply.  She leveled an icy gaze around the room, and then glanced back at Michael with an apologetic look.

Michael simply sighed in defeat, and offered her a rueful smirk.  “Apparently if you don’t choose one, the crew chooses for you.”  He turned back to the Ensign at the helm whom had instigated the entire thing.  “How much longer until we reach Pieris IV?”

“Just under fifteen hours out, still.” Ensign Riley simply said.  He seemed to have the temerity to be self-conscious of the pot he had inadvertently stirred.

“Great,” Michael said, nodding.  He suddenly found himself feeling rather peckish.  “Well, I for one haven’t eaten a damn thing since this morning.  I’m going to see what they’re serving up in the mess hall.  Call me if anything comes up.”

The fifteen hour wait had dragged on for many of them, and Michael especially.  Kiran Nivar and Dren Lor had turned all the data they had upside down regarding the type of radiation emitted from the sun of the Pieris system.  And after Dren Lor had departed with the others to deal with that distress call, Kiran Nivar and his team down in Engineering had still kept at it, going over the scan records and looking at the design schematics of the various types and make of soil sensors to see if they missed any kind of connections.  For lack of much else to do while they waited, Michael found himself showing up in Engineering to add to the efforts of Lieutenant Commander Kiran and his team.  All he could do on the bridge was sit there and wait.  While he had every confidence in his chief engineer and the crew, he just needed the busy work to stave off the restlessness that came with waiting for the results of everyone carrying out their tasks.  He and Kiran Nivar shared a look as the final hour of their course to the colony drew near.

“It’s been a dead end.” Michael was saying.  “We’ve spent every minute either going over this, or else laying in our bunks trying to sleep but still seeing the damned thing.  We’ve given it more than its due.”

Nivar nodded.  “I’m not seeing anything that Pieris IV’s own folks would have missed.  At this point, I’m putting my latinum on something with their power supply not being calibrated properly.  I don’t know, maybe the route of power as it leads from their source to the sensors needs to be better regulated so as not to overload them.  But that’d be a pretty rookie mistake.  A colony like that has to have a pretty competent chief engineer running things, too.  They depend on these sensors, I’d know those specs of just what they’re rated to handle inside and out if I were them.”

“Well, I for one have always been a fan of Occam’s razor.  It’s tried and true, and it is the most simple explanation at this point.” the captain shrugged.

“It’s a shame we don’t have anything on what kind of power reactor they set up.  The other thing that occurs to me is that the radiation might not be affecting the sensors at all, but if it’s interacting with what supplies their power?  Could also explain the surging.” Kiran Nivar pointed out.

“The files in their proposal to Starfleet had all kinds of data on the soil sensors they intended to use, what they knew of those worms and their enzymes.” Michael explained.  “We have all kinds of scans from vessels that had passed through the system and conducted studies of the Pieris sun and its radiation.  But beyond that, I think the particulars of the rest of their setup were ironed out once they arrived and set it all up.  I couldn’t tell you what they ended up installing, but I know the ships that pass through the system have had no issues with their reactors and warp cores.”

“Ships like ours would also be more shielded.” the Bajoran chief pointed out.

Michael’s combadge let off a chirp, interrupting his acknowledgement of a point well made.  “This is Dart.  Go ahead.”

“Captain.” Thalissa greeted.  “We’ve arrived and have taken up orbit around Pieris IV.  Director Nigels has conveyed that he is eager for our team to beam down and get started when they can.”

“Right, I’m sure he is.” Michael replied.  The Fresno had been dispatched fairly quickly once the call had been put in to Starbase 72.  But it had still taken them 36 hours to arrive.  Michael would be pretty antsy at what basically amounted to a two-day setback too, if he were in the Director’s shoes.  “Tell him to expect to receive us shortly.  Have Vorak gather up his security detail and meet me in Transporter Room Two in fifteen minutes.  Why don’t you come along, too?  The more discerning eyes, the better.”  He didn’t need his First Officer to babysit the bridge while they simply orbited.  Someone else could do that.  He’d rather have all his senior crew down there with him.  This was their first mission and it was a great opportunity to work with everyone directly and get a better grasp of their capabilities.

“Understood, Zheen out.”  the Andorian said promptly, and the transmission was cut with another chirp.

Michael turned to his Chief Engineer.  “Well, we’ll find out what they’re using to power the place soon enough.  It’s as good a spot as any to start with.  Have your team gather what you need, and meet us all in Transporter Room Two as well.”

“Aye, will do Captain.” the Bajoran nodded as Michael was turning and heading towards the exit.  He watched the captain disappear down the corridors, the door softly hissing shut behind him.

One of the ensigns nearby looked to the engineering chief, once Michael had cleared the room.  “You think Captain Dart will always be looking over our shoulder to judge us while we work like this?  I heard he transferred up to command from Engineering.”

The chief leveled a stern gaze at the young man.  “Enough of that kind of thinking and just worry about gathering up our gear.  I don’t want to hear it.”

The younger officer cringed and nodded, going to a recessed panel in a nearby wall to pull down the cases of equipment their team would be bringing with them.  “Sorry, sir.  I mean no disrespect to the Captain, I just…”  He seemed to struggle with exactly how to describe his unease.  “With the kinds of assignments coming our way, and his background, I just feel like we’re the ones he’s going to be watching the most, you know sir?”

Chief Kiran’s expression relaxed, just a little.  “Don’t worry too much about it, Ensign.”  He sighed, and made his way over to the panel in the wall to help gather their gear.  They set it all down on top of a large, table-like console in the middle of the room that he and Captain Dart had just recently been using for the past several hours as they’d gone over their work.  “The Captain trusts us.  But this is his first command.” the grizzled Bajoran explained.  “When you’re the Captain, all you can do is choose the right people for the job and put em’ to work.  Then you wait and see the results.  That’s what being the Captain is all about.  But Captain Dart?  He was one of us.  He’s used to getting elbow deep into the problem and getting his hands dirty.  I know his type, he’d have done well back on Bajor after the occupation.  He can’t just sit back and let everyone else do all the work.”

“So you’re saying, the Captain was simply bored?” the Ensign asked dubiously.  “He was the XO on his last ship, you think he’d have gotten used to sitting back and letting the crew handle things.”

Kiran Nivar smirked.  “I suppose ‘bored’ is one way to put it.  But even the role of our First Officer is still pretty hands on compared to the Captain.  Our Captains hang back, and look at the bigger picture.  The XO handles a lot of the execution of his orders, and deals directly with all the matters of the crew.  They still have plenty enough on their plate.”  The chief shrugged.  “I’ll bet this is the first time Captain Dart has had the final say on calling all the shots, and it’s going to be hard to sit back and just wait for it all to play out.  That’s one of the reasons I’ll be happy to stay right here, in Engineering with the rest of you lugheads.”

“I guess I hadn’t thought of it that way.” the youthful man admitted.

“Well, get used to it.” Kiran Nivar warned.  “Like I said, Captain Dart used to be one of us.  I think even if he isn’t going to come out and say it, he relates the most to everyone in this room.  So, guess where he’s going to want to go to blow off some steam while he waits for all of the ship to carry out his will?”

“Engineering.” the Ensign said.

“Engineering.” confirmed the chief.

The colony of Pieris IV seemed to materialize around Michael, although in truth it was the other way around as he was shimmering into existence.  His command crew flanked him, Thalissa and Kiran Nivar to either side.  Behind him, the forms of Vorak and T’Lan had also coalesced.  It was sometime just past the middle of the day on this part of the world.  He stood in a courtyard under the open, blue sky.  Circular in shape, it featured a large, somewhat pyramid-like stone obelisk at its center.  It served as a fountain, with water flowing from an unseen recessed source at its point to run down all of its sides and cover its entirety in a sheen.  A shallow pool of water encircled it, and a wide concrete walkway circled that.  This was what Michael found himself standing on.  Surrounding them was a lush park, full of grass, trees, and shrubbery.  It contrasted sharply with the barren, desolate dirt that enshrouded the rest of the world.  Cobblestone looking trenches ran from the center of the obelisk fountain and its pool, somewhat like spokes from a wheel as they radiated outward to provide a supply of water to all the greenery.  All was quiet, save for the sound of the trickling water.  It painted a serene and calm sight.

Ahead, a solitary smiling man stood waiting.  He was an older gentleman, with short hair that had once all been black but now was peppered with white.  He wore a suit of earthen brown colors.  His hands rested on a cane in front of him.  He noticed Michael taking in the sight he’d materialized into.  “Grand, isn’t it?” he asked with a prideful look.  “This was our first phase, before we decided to bring in crops to grow.  Gave our researchers something to work on while the rest of the colony was still being built around us.  The enzyme fertilized all of this first, and let us see if we could even transplant what isn’t native to this world.  There really isn’t all that wide a variety of original flora to work with on Pieris IV, after all.”

Michael nodded.  “Sure is something.” he complimented diplomatically. “Director Nigels?” he inquired, holding out his hand.

The man shifted the cane over to his left, pressing his weight onto it as he leaned forward to shake his hand with a surprisingly firm grip for his age.  “Bradley Nigels!” he confirmed.  “Well met, Captain Dart.”

Michael introduced his Andorian first officer, the Bajoran chief engineer, the Tellarite security chief, and finally his Vulcan chief medical officer.  “We’ll have some support staff beaming down in a few minutes as well.” he explained.  “Kiran Nivar’s engineers, of course.  And Vorak has some security personnel, he’d like to ask some questions and get a look at your terminals to see if foul play isn’t the cause of your troubles.”

Director Nigels seemed to pale at the implication of sabotage.  “You wouldn’t think one of us would intentionally derail this project.” he said defensively.

“I’m not leveling any accusations against anyone.” Michael clarified.  “But we’re close to the border with the Cardassians, and you never know.  I’m actually more interested in seeing what you use to power the whole operation.  Our leading theories are geared more towards technical issues with your reactor.  Maybe there’s some unforeseen effects from the sun’s radiation, or some sort of calibration issues your folks missed.  I don’t know.  It’s all shots in the dark until we have a look, and the files didn’t mention anything about the specifications of your reactor at all.”

“Ah, of course.” Nigels said, although he didn’t seem particularly placated by the reassurance.  Michael glanced over to his security chief, who was watching the Director with a suspicious gaze that told him the irascible Tellarite had also picked up on this.  He was interested to hear Vorak’s first impressions of this greeting, once the opportunity presented its self.  “I’ll have my staff provide the specifications, of course.”

Kiran Nivar spoke up, touching Michael on the arm.  “Sir?  Actually if I could, I’d like to go directly to this reactor and see it for myself.”

Michael nodded.  “The sooner, the better.”  He gave Director Nigels a glance.  “Would it be alright if my engineering team could be shown the way?”

“Absolutely.” the elderly director agreed emphatically.  He pointed to a large building, to the south of them.  “When your team beams down, take them that way.  Ask for Mr. Colburn.  He’ll assist with whatever is needed.”

Michael gave his chief engineer a look, and the other man nodded his acknowledgement.  Kiran knew what to do.  He turned back to the Director.  “Well, Mr. Nigels, I believe the intention was to take the rest of us to your operations center?  I wouldn’t mind hearing about your operation while we’re on our way.  What can you tell me about this enzyme?  Doctor T’Lan expressed some interest in accompanying us in the hopes of looking over your studies regarding this worm of yours and how you’ve come along with the synthetization of the enzyme.”

“Yes, her insights would be most welcome.”  The Director’s eyes lit up at the prospect of a Federation doctor throwing her observations into the mix.  “She’s welcome to all the data we’ve compiled so far.  The way the enzyme affects the dead soil of this world is simply astounding.  We’ve named these worms Terraphius Solivorus.”

T’Lan raised a brow in interest. “Indeed?  I assume Terra refers to the ground rather than the human planet, accurately reflecting its subterranean behavior.  Phius would of course denote creature.  Solivorus pertains to its reliance on solar radiation for nourishment.  A logical and precise classification.”

“Your grasp of Latin naming conventions is impeccable.” the Director complimented.  Michael noted that his guarded demeanor dropped considerably now that he found himself conversing with a fellow biologist.  There was no doubt that the man had passion for the studies they were conducting, and he had to admit that went a long way to reassure him after the way the man had gotten so defensive when Michael had suggested sabotage earlier.  He kept his observations and any comments to himself, and instead let T’Lan continue to make her inquiries regarding the nature of the worm’s enzymes and the hurdles they needed to overcome in order to successfully synthesize a batch without havesting from the worms themselves.  Michael turned to look back at Kiran Nivar.  The engineering teams from the Fresno were already beaming down where Michael and the others had stood just moments ago.  Soon enough, his team would be looking at the reactors of Pieris IV and hopefully making some sort of headway into the colony’s problems.