Title: You Can't Be Sirius, Unstoffe Log, Stardate 200207.22
Location: Somewhere on Sirius South
Setting: A dungeon-like room, complete with dank walls and manacles.
Assuming he left it in one piece, Sirius South would not make his top ten list of favorite planets.
Considering he had only been to nine since graduating the Academy and joining the Eagle, that was
saying something. Unfortunately, his current set of circumstances gave Unstoffe more time than he
would have liked to consider such things. With his arms manacled to the walls, he couldn't even
scratch his nose.
Somehow the entire Away Team had been captured despite his careful preparations. Following up
on a lead they discovered while riding the local mass transit, the Away Team intended to monitor
an arms shipment to the Galadonese faction. Unlike the Tureth supporters who staged their
shipment in the middle of a busy port, the Galadons were sequestered far out in the countryside
and using a remote landing zone typically employed to ship agricultural products. In keeping with the bucolic theme, Unstoffe had chosen a nearby barn from which to observe the transaction. The
Away Team had beamed down in the shadow of the barn and transited unobserved, or so they
thought, to their observation point.
Realizing that those involved in the transaction would likely set up a security perimeter, Unstoffe
carefully scanned the area to ensure the barn was empty and their evacuation route secure. He did
not like taking chances. Everything had checked out. From their vantage point the Away Team
observed two aliens meeting on the landing pad, about 50 meters from their position. The
conversation appeared strained at first and Unstoffe was having difficulty picking up any of the
conversation on his tricorder at this range. One of the pair was a obviously a Galadon, but the
other was obscured by the shadows and hard to make out. Finally, he got a clear view. It was an
Orion!
The two beings apparently resolved their disagreement for the Orion motioned and several
assistants emerged from his ship carrying crates. The deal seemed to be moving forward smoothly
and the Away Team would soon have more of the evidence it needed to try and quell the
hostilities concerning this planet. Unstoffe was just starting to let himself relax and let the shipment
be completed before the Away Team took its next move when he noticed movement in the
shadows. He adjusted his tricorder to determine if anything had changed from his earlier scans. He
breathed a sigh of relief when the scan came up empty. "Only the wind, I guess. I must be getting
jumpy," he thought.
At that moment, armed aliens popped up out of every conceivable hiding spot. The were all well
armed and had the area surrounded. Moving quickly they seized the Orion and his compatriots as
well as those from the Galadonese faction. Unstoffe was alarmed by the speed of the attackers
and taken aback by the change of events. For a brief moment he hoped that the Away Team, still
concealed in the barn might escape notice. Then he heard one of the new arrivals bark, "Everybody
freeze where you are and drop your weapons! My men will shoot anyone who doesn't comply!"
As if to emphasize the attackers knew where the Away Team was, one stuck his weapon into the
haystack hiding the XO. "You too in the hay," he ordered. Soon they were herded into the center
of the landing pad along with the Orions and their customers. The new group did not seem to
make any differentiation amongst its captives. Once everyone was rounded up, three shuttles
appeared from a behind a hill and hugged the ground as they approached the landing zone. Unstoffe
was impressed at how well the pilots handled the lumbering craft.
With everyone now clearly at his mercy, the leader of the group took a more civil tone with his
captives. "You will all kindly get aboard the shuttles," he directed. If any of the captives thought he
was giving them any options, those hopes were immediately dashed by his men who motioned
deliberately with their weapons. Once on board, they are followed by several guards and the hatch
sealed behind them. They were trapped.
The CO turned to Unstoffe and inquired, "Where did they come from?"
"I don't know, sir. They didn't show up on my scans. . ." Unstoffe stammered in reply. He was
embarrassed and professionally stung. He couldn't understand how so large a group escaped his
scans. The Orions and Galadons had shown up alright, but no one else. He was sure.
The Captain didn't give him any time for self-recrimination. "We need to get out of here before
we reach the base. We may never come out of there once we go in," he whispered.
As if to punctuate the seriousness of their dilemma, the shuttle rocked violently as it returned to
the sky. The Away Team started to discuss options disguising their talk with comments about the
smell of the shuttle. It obviously had been used for its principle job of hauling cattle not so long
ago. No one had any great ideas.
Again the Captain jumped in, cutting off the discussion, "We need to do try anything now. Once we
are in. It will be probably too late. If this is the militant indigenous faction, they'll kill us after we
are interrogated. It's imperative that . . ." he declared and they all started to rush the guards.
Before they had even left their seats a loud hissing sound erupted and the shuttle filled with gas.
Within seconds they were all unconscious. That was all Unstoffe could recall. His thoughts quickly
returned to the present as their captors seemed to be taking an interest in them once more.