Captain’s Log, Supplemental. The Challenger has arrived in orbit of Tarnis III, deep in the Shackleton Expanse. The energy signature that drew us here is no longer detectable from orbit, but we’ve found the ruins of a long-dead civilisation. Radiation levels on the surface are elevated, but Doctor Jorin and her team believe they’re within acceptable levels for an initial survey. Commander Hayes is leading an away team to investigate.

“This is astonishing.”

Percival Montague smiled at Lieutenant Yamada’s enthusiastic outburst. Only an archaeologist could get excited over a dull grey stone pedestal that dominated the remains of the circular room the away team found themselves standing in. There were symbols inscribed on the pedestal. Percy surmised they represented the written language of this planet, but he could no more understand them than Yamada could. The pedestal stood proudly in the centre of the room, only waist height, yet still the dominant fixture.

This room had once been the heart of the building, organised around the pedestal. But now it was little more than rubble. What looked like yellow coloured grass was coming up through the cracks in the stone floor, while overhead, the jade sky was exposed. Percy was sure he could smell faint traces of citrus. 

“How’d you end up workin’ this detail, doc?”

Percy was dragged back to the task at hand by Lieutenant Commander Tanner’s warm baritone. He glanced down at his tricorder’s readings. Just being around Tanner made Percy nervous. His insides turned to jelly, and he stumbled over his words like a teenager with a crush.

Get a grip, Percy chided himself silently. You’re a doctor and a Starfleet officer. Act like it.

“I was part of a medical team that responded to a theta radiation leak a few years ago,” Percy said. “Doctor Jorin felt that experience made me the perfect choice to monitor the team’s exposure to the ambient radiation down here.”

“We’re not in any danger, right?” Tanner asked for the third time.

Percy shook his head. “No. It would take more than an hour’s exposure to this level of radiation before we’re in any real danger.”

“So what’s causin’ this headache?”

The tricorder wasn’t forthcoming. “According to this, there’s no reason for your headache.”

“So you’re sayin’ I’m makin’ it up?” Tanner asked indignantly.

Percy smiled as he snapped the tricorder shut. “No. It’s possibly a side effect of the radiation, but your exposure is not different from anyone else’s. Let me know if it gets any worse, and I’ll recommend to Commander Hayes that we beam up.”

“Thanks,” Tanner smiled gratefully. “You got a pretty good bedside manner. Did you always wanna be a doctor?”

“My family has a long history of medical service,” Percy told him, though it wasn’t really an answer to Tanner’s question. “If you listen to my eldest brother Alistair, one of our ancestors treated Elizabeth the First.”

A smile tugged at Tanner’s lips. Percy tried, and failed, to ignore it. “Did they?”

“Alistair likes to believe so,” Percy replied. “But he’s never been able to provide any evidence.”

He’d always lived in the shadows of his siblings, ever eager to prove himself. Whether that was to Alistair, his family’s heritage or his colleagues. It was the latter that he was most anxious to prove himself to at that moment. Percy had only been on board the Challenger for a few weeks. That left him with a lot to prove.

A squeal of delight from the centre of the room caught their attention. 

“Last time I seen somebody this happy was when my grandaddy’s prize winnin’ pig was rollin’ around in the muck,” Tanner muttered.

Percy looked at his boots as he stifled a laugh.

“I heard that,” Yamada grumbled from behind the pedestal.

Tanner smirked as he rocked on his heels. “I didn’t mean nothin’ by it. It’s jus’ nice to see you in your element.”

Percy watched the easy back and forth between Tanner and Yamada. Despite having only arrived on Challenger a few months ago, Tanner had proven incredibly popular among the crew with his easy manner and relaxed Montana drawl. Percy didn’t know anyone who thought poorly of Tanner.

Get. A. Grip, Percy thought. He gave himself a mental shake and focused on his job.

“Percy,” Yamada called. “You see what I see?”

Walking over to where Yamada stood, Percy looked over her shoulder. “You mean the inscription?”

“Not that,” Yamada told him, pointing at the tricorder in her hand. “There are traces of residual energy inside the pedestal. I think this is the source of the energy signature we detected yesterday.”

“How’s that possible?” Tanner asked. “Ain’t this planet been dead for centuries?”

Yamada shook her head. “I’m not sure. But the signature of this residual energy matches what we detected from Challenger.”

“Could it be triggered by something other than a user input?” Hayes asked. “Like atmospheric conditions or at a predetermined time?”

A thought occurred to Percy, but he was reluctant to share it. He could hear Alistair’s stern, even exasperated, voice in his head telling him to ‘spit it out’.

“Something wrong, doctor?” Hayes prodded gently, having noticed Percy’s hesitance.

“What if our orbital scans missed something?” Percy finally asked. “What if we’re not alone down here?” 

All eyes swung to Tanner, who had been monitoring for signs of life. “I ain’t found any sign of humanoid life. The only traces of life I seen belong to animals.”

“I think Commander Hayes’ ideas are the most likely,” Yamada replied.

Percy could feel the heat rising in his cheeks, and he ducked his head. Even though he didn’t need to, Percy flipped his tricorder open and began scanning. To his surprise, the readings were not what he was expecting.

“Commander,” Percy began. “The ambient radiation levels are beginning to rise.”

The faint buzz of electrical energy could just about be made out. Within seconds, that buzz was filling the air around them 

“What’s that?” Percy asked, trying to keep the panic from his voice.

Yamada looked at her tricorder. Her voice rose an octave as she said, “The pedestal’s powering up.”

“Powerin’ up to do what?” Tanner asked the question that everyone was thinking.

Yamada shook her head. “I don’t know.”

The buzzing continued to grow louder. Percy felt his legs tremble as he took several steps back from the pedestal. He watched as Tanner fell to one knee, his hands on either side of his head. Percy was immediately at Tanner’s side.

“Commander,” Percy began. “We need to-”

“Get out of here,” Hayes finished, tapping his commbadge. “Hayes to Challenger.”

Seconds passed, but there was no answer from Challenger. A pale blue beam of light shot up from the pedestal into the jade coloured sky above them. Everyone’s gaze followed the beam of light into the sky. They watched as a dark cloud began to form directly above them.

“That can’t be good,” Hayes muttered.

On board the Challenger, Sebastian Montague checked the transporter lock on the away team for the sixth time since they beamed down. He drummed his fingers on the console as they waited for another report from Commander Hayes on the surface.

“Do you mind?”

Sebastian turned to the speaker. Sitting to his left, Lieutenant Commander Jyla Valeth manned the communications station on the bridge. The Andorian was looking pointedly at Sebastian’s hand. He immediately ceased drumming.

“Sorry,” Sebastian told her sheepishly.

Valeth reached out and patted his arm. “Percy’s a Starfleet officer. He knows how to take care of himself.”

“I know,” Sebastian replied with a long sigh. “I guess I still think of him as a child, falling off his bicycle and skinning his knee.”

A lopsided smile pulled on Valeth’s lips. “And you were there to kiss it better?”

“No,” Sebastian scrunched his nose. “That was our mother’s job.”

Thankfully, there was no sign of skinned knees. Everything was going smoothly. The away team’s last check-in had suggested nothing out of the ordinary. Unfortunately for Sebastian, that was about to change. It was a report from the chief science officer, Commander Jalor Tem, that caused Sebastian’s trembling hand to hover over the transporter control.

“Commander,” Jalor began, “I’m detecting an energy signature at the away team’s location.”

Commander Mitchell, the senior officer of the watch, pressed a button on the command chair. “Captain to the bridge.”

It took mere seconds for Captain Rix to emerge from his ready room. “Report.”

“Sir, we’re detecting an energy signature at the away team’s location,” Mitchell reported succinctly.

Rix strode past the command chair and moved to stand beside Commander Jalor. “What kind of energy?”

“Unknown, sir,” Jalor said as his fingers skated across his console. “I’m also detecting a storm forming above the away team’s location.

“A storm?”

“Yes, sir,” Jalor replied. “It appears to be electrical in nature, like a thunderstorm.”

Looking across the bridge at communications, Rix barked. “Hail the away team.”

Because he was sitting beside her, Sebastian could see Lieutenant Commander Valeth try several times to open a channel with no luck. His stomach lurched violently at the possible implications of that.

“I can’t reach Commander Hayes’ team, sir. Too much interference,” Valeth finally announced.

“Captain,” Commander Bradshaw called urgently from Ops. “I’ve lost the transporter lock on the away team.”

Sebastian looked at his own console and confirmed Bradshaw’s report. They wouldn’t be able to beam the away team up.

Captain Rix slammed his hand beside Jalor’s console. “Alright, if we can’t beam the away team up, we’ll have to send a shuttle to get them. Commander Drake, if you would be so kind?”

“On my way,” Drake replied, already out of his seat and on his way to the turbolift.

As soon as Drake was off the bridge, Jalor reported, “Sir, the storm is clearing again. The sensor interference is gone.”

“Hail the away team again,” Rix ordered.

Sebastian watched as she tried again. And again. He had to keep cool. There was a logical explanation for this. They just needed to discover what it was.

Valeth finally announced, “Still no response, sir.”

Closing his eyes, Sebastian took several deep breaths. He could feel Valeth’s hand on his arm, a gesture meant to reassure. But it didn’t.

“Sir,” Jalor began. “I can’t find any sign of the away team. No commbadge signals, no lifesigns, nothing.”

Rix looked down at the sensor readout. “That’s not possible.”

“It shouldn’t be, but…” Jalor’s next words caused Sebastian’s blood to run cold.

“They’re gone.”