Sitting around the StratOps suite, Lieutenant Akaria Okan’s willing audience awaited her analysis of their target world with bated breath. She’d used all of the systems at her disposal to gather as much data as possible for the Captain, and she was pleased with what she had gathered.

Taking a deep breath, she modified the large screen at the back of the room to show a diagram of the planet and some of her analysis data. “A lot of what I am about to tell you may be outdated, but we won’t know for certain until we get somewhat closer. The planet is known to us as Aquorat, named after Doctor Symon Aquorat, the scientist who discovered it aboard the USS Darlington, almost one hundred years ago. It’s about 31.4 times bigger than Earth and its gravity is about 5.72 times higher,” the Risian began her analysis, instantly piquing the interest of all around the suite.

A sea of red and yellow-shirted personnel sat, intently listening and hanging on her every word. Just the way she liked it.

“According to the LCARS database, Darlington ran a three-week duck blind to gather data before she was recalled. Her science team discovered that a single day lasts 11.43 hours and a year lasts 102 days. The planet is made up of 12 continents, which make up 73% of the planet’s landmass. 3 moons orbit the planet, while Aquorat itself orbits an orange star in an almost perfectly circular orbit.”

‘That would make the Captain nearly…’ Noli’s train of thought died there, shaking off her mischievousness and returning her attention to the science briefing.

“According to the mission logs, the plant-like organisms on this planet are mostly tall shrubs and trees, and of a variety of different colours. Some have particularly strong scents. The small number of flowers that do exist share these characteristics, but almost all of them are tiny. While there are a good amount of fungi on this planet, most of them have little to no colour, but they have the strongest scent of all organisms, most of which are horrible. If we go down there, we want to be very careful about what we touch,” she advised everyone, but especially the Captain.

Giarvar was transfixed on the woman, and how passionately she spoke about the world on their path. He rarely understood much from a science perspective, but she was a wonder to behold, much like the planet they were travelling to.

“What we’ve been able to determine from our own scans of the planet is that their technology has come on in leaps and bounds since the Darlington survey,” she reached out and touched the LCARS pane behind her. “They achieved warp drive approximately thirty years ago, and their technology level is something akin to Starfleet and Earth of the mid-twenty-second century,” she concluded her report, to nods of approval from around the suite.

“So making contact wouldn’t be prohibited by the prime directive at this point,” the Captain confirmed, hands on knees and laser-focused on the screen behind the scientist.

“But that probably suggests that they are unlikely to be able to protect themselves from whoever these raiders may be,” Noli chimed in, spinning from side to side on her stool, always unable to keep still. Her mother had once taken her to a doctor, a Terran man who labelled her as having ‘fidgetitis’, whatever that meant.

“Captain Gor,” the familiar voice of Lieutenant Bellurr craned her neck and called back towards the meeting behind her, drawing the attention of all present in the StratOps suite to the back of the bridge.

“Yes, Lieutenant?” Gor called out in response, his focus still on the science data they were surveying.

“We’ve made contact with the planet,” the tactical officer informed him, a little chirpier than usual.

“Excellent news,” the Captain clapped, pushing himself off the stool and heading up the steps, leading the mass exodus from StratOps.

As he rose to his feet, the XO placed a gentle hand on the arm of the science chief and stopped her in her tracks. “Nice work, Lieutenant Okan,” he smiled at the Risian woman, letting her know that her efforts had been appreciated.

“Thank you, sir,” she smiled, “and please, it’s Akaria.”

Rounding the tactical rail, the Captain soon stood at the heart of the bridge, with Giarvar and Lieutenant Tuca on either side.

“Open a channel when you’re ready Lieutenant,” the Captain requested, watching as Noli returned to her station and joined Bellurr.

A nod a few seconds later suggested the channel was open.

“This is Captain Vasoch Gor of the Federation Starship Hathaway,” the captain called into the comm, his eyes trained on the viewscreen, awaiting some sort of response. When it failed to come, he added more to his message. “We’re responding to a distress call that originated from this world,” he revealed.

Still, there was nothing.

“I have a theory,” Pamao chimed in from behind Okan at science. “We had trouble deciphering their message because of the language barrier. Given the technological gap, it is wise to suggest that they are probably encountering the same difficulties we had,” the Andorian surmised with a raised eyebrow.

“What if we go about this a different way?” Giarvar suggested, stepping past Gor and towards the science station. “You know, send our message to them in their language.”

Akaria and Pamao shared the same pained expression. “We thought of that,” the linguist nodded, “but we know so little about their language.”

“All we need to do is make contact,” Akaria chimed in, looking between the growing members of their audience. “If we can get them talking, the universal translator will quickly work out what we’re missing,” she told them.

“Keep trying sir,” Giarvar told his superior, turning back to the command area. “We need them to respond,” the Trill looked stern as he returned to his spot at the Captain’s right.

“I repeat; this is Captain Vasoch Gor of the Federation Starship Hathaway,” the captain huffed. “We are here in response to the distress call that originated from this world several hours ag…” he paused as the viewscreen flickered into life, and displayed a distorted image.

“I know, I know. Clearing it up now,” the robotic voice of Lieutenant Or’uil at Ops interjected through his voice synthesiser before anyone could give him the instructions he knew were coming.

True to his word, the distorted picture began to clear up.

Before long a beautiful and fair-skinned female alien came into focus. Her eyes were hard to miss; a deep amber, as vibrant as the richest citrine. Her epidermis was mostly pink in colour, darker in shade as the skin of her face came to three pointed folds which held back her perfectly white hair in the same manner a crown might. Those tentacle-like folds flickered like a flame as she spoke which heightened her animation.

“Hello,” Captain Gor smiled, “I’m here on behalf of the United Federation of Planets…”