Chapter 20. Go to the source of the distress signal
Captain Noah's attention suddenly increased. They cannot simply ignore the distress call. After all, they have the mission of safeguarding interstellar peace, and a prerequisite for becoming a member of Starfleet is to help those who are vulnerable and in distress when necessary and reasonable. "Is there an image signal?" Noah asked.
"No," Carol shook her head. This is a pity, because visual signals would make it easier for them to judge the situation.
"It was an automated distress call without further description," Jeffrey said. "In a distress call it's simply a request for help."
"That's a very crude message," muttered Captain Noah. He sighed. It was a risk to start with such limited information, but ultimately they had no choice. "Okay, let's go take a look."
"Captain, what should the scientists do?" Carol asked softly. "We're here to support them. We can't just leave."
"I'm aware of that." Noah smiled. He had to balance both responsibilities, but he already had an idea. "The source of the distress signal is within about a day's distance, which means, including the round trip, we'll be gone for about three days. I think we can leave the scientists here alone during this time."
Carol frowned at him. She didn't entirely agree with the captain.
"Of course, we're not leaving them completely alone," Noah continued, trying to reassure Carol. "We will send a shuttle and a few engineers to stay at Kuafu IV's base. If the scientists need anything, Daisy can help them solve the problem."
"Neither the scientists nor Mrs. Daisy will be particularly happy about this idea," Carol said dryly, but her words were certainly not entirely unreasonable.
"Participants will gradually adapt," Noah replied seriously. Then he laughed, "And you're going to help them with that."
Carol's eyes widened. "How should I understand that?" she asked, even though she knew exactly what he meant.
"You'll be on the planet responsible for this mission. That's a given," he explained. "Over the past few months, you have taken care of scientists and their research. And very successfully. Scientists trust you."
Carol raised her hands, trying to stop. But she had to admit defeat "Okay, you convinced me, you go explore for the rescue signal and I will play the role of babysitter."
"That's what I planned." Noah just smiled and then turned to Vader, the communications officer of the Republic. "Notify Commander Daisy. Have her immediately assemble a team to stay on the planet for the next three days. She is to pack everything needed to care for the scientists and further study the ship. And to do so in the best possible way. Fast speed, we must leave within an hour." He knew it was a very tight schedule, but if they were really serious about the distress call, they had to leave as soon as possible.
"Yes, sir." Vader nodded solemnly and then conveyed the order.
"Captain, I want to stay here and continue investigating the alien spacecraft," Jeffrey said. As a Martian, he rarely asked for anything. But once he asks, there must be a legitimate reason, not personal motives.
"I'm sorry," Noah rejected his request. "I need you to stay here." No one knew what the source of the distress signal would be. Moreover, he has assigned tasks to Carol and Daisy, and he can no longer keep Jeffrey from getting away.
"I understand." Jeffrey nodded. He accepted the captain's decision without resentment. Obeying the Captain's decision is consistent with the fleet's hierarchy.
"Okay, I'm going to start cleaning up too." Carol said, turning to the elevator.
"Commander," Noah stopped her. "You can bring two shuttles and the Ingmar. One for the scientists and one for the engineers to investigate the ship."
She nodded and left the bridge. She didn't have much time, so she had to make the most of it. In addition to the equipment for the job, there are also some personal items to pack, especially a few days' worth of clothing.
Noah watched Carol until the elevator doors closed behind her. She was an excellent first officer and commander. She will make an excellent captain in the near future. But hopefully she won't be on this ship, he thought with a smile to himself. She also lacks some necessary experience. She must accumulate in the position of first official.
The captain turned and slowly walked to the command chair. "Mr. Hogan, set a course for the distress signal. Once the shuttle leaves the ship, you will proceed as W
ap 8 speed forward. "
"Yes, sir," Hogan muttered, his long fingers sliding gracefully over his console.
Sitting on the command chair, Noah stared at the screen expectantly. The inner tension came clearly to mind. After these few months of almost nothing, he couldn't wait to get going again. He felt like a puppy finally freed after days of captivity.
But he still had to wait. Time passes very slowly. Every minute seemed endless. Noah barely resisted the urge to get up and walk around. As time goes by, this becomes increasingly difficult. He looked at his watch every few minutes and noticed that hardly any time had passed.
"Captain, the shuttle is requesting permission to take off," Communications Officer Vader finally came to his rescue, her words making him sigh in relief.
A full hour passed, and the speed of the two officers was impressive. "Then please give me your permission." Carol's voice came.
The captain nodded in acquiescence.
"Yes, Captain," Vader nodded. After a few seconds, the rear end of the Republic appeared on the screen. The hatch of the boathouse has been opened, and the two shuttles flew out one after the other, flying towards the planet in a wide arc.
"Captain, Commander Carol wishes you success. I wish you have fun." Carol frowned in confusion. To her, the word "have fun" seemed inappropriate for an investigation into an SOS.
Noah smiled and responded implicitly, "Copy that." Then turned to the front again. "Mr. Hogan, has the course been set?"
"Yes, Captain," his deep voice confirmed.
"With Wa
p 8 forward," Noah ordered. As the spacecraft accelerated, he leaned back in the command chair, resting his elbows on the armrests and bringing his fingertips together. Now, all he could do was wait. Wait until they reached the launch of the distress signal source. And that would take about a day.
Tiny hurriedly combed her long hair again, and then looked in the mirror. Her hair had a slight wave to her liking. But she couldn't straighten them. So she just had to accept the fact and try not to think about it tonight.
Tiny has a date with Parker tonight. She couldn't wait to hold him in her arms. Since they worked together in the teleportation room, she had to admit that he wasn't as stupid as she thought when they first met at the bar. At that time, which seems like a long time ago, Pike was still with his strange friend. Tiny had forgotten his name. She didn't like him, and was glad they saw each other less since Pike met her. Without that guy, Pike was the sweetest, nicest person she could imagine. Once she's close to him, she can forget all her worries. His sense of humor was one of a kind and he could make her laugh no matter the time or place. She was so confident that he could make her laugh even when the whole universe fell apart. She was 100% convinced that he was her lifelong partner. He was so gentle and loved her so much. She could lose herself in his deep blue eyes and his voice made her feel like she was melting.
The buzzing of the doorbell brought her out of her thoughts. She took one last look in the mirror, then turned and walked toward the door. As the door slid open, she immediately hugged Pike and gave him a brief kiss. "I'm ready," she said, her eyes sparkling.
"I saw it," he said slowly, his eyes trailing over her body. She wore a pair of skinny jeans that accentuated her tight ass. Plus a beautiful blue shirt, cleverly tied in a knot, revealing the part above the belly button, with many buttons left open. This way, people can see both her toned stomach and the outline of her breasts. Her bronzed skin made the sight even more alluring.
"You look stunning," he said, stunned. He had to try this sentence twice before he could say it.
She smiled and winked at him. "Thank you. But now shut your mouth," she said, touching his chin with her index finger.
"I didn't open my mouth," he retorted, hoarsely and humorously. Her presence dazzled him.
Her eyes sparkled with mischief. "Then I'll take it as a warning."
Pike's smile grew wider and wider. Tiny's presence plunged him into a state of ecstasy from which he never wanted to wake up again. "Come on, before I change my mind and invite Dr. Celia to dinner."
"Don't you dare," Tiny threatened with a smile. Then she took his arm. "Okay, now you can't escape."
Pike looked at her lovingly. "I didn't want to escape either," he said seriously, touching her cheek tenderly. Tiny felt as if there were thousands of butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She stared into his blue eyes, forgetting that they were standing in the hallway with the occasional official passing them by.
He gave her a long, passionate kiss and the world disappeared around her. As he pulled away from her, he said, "We have to go or our table will be taken."
Tiny woke up as if from a dream, although she would rather not wake up. "Okay," she nodded slowly. She has no interest in eating anymore. She'd rather do something else with Pike. But she can still have such an opportunity after eating.
In fact, there is no place for romantic dining on Republic Starships. There is only a small bar on the deck and the canteen on the ship. However, since the ship's mess hall has been completely renovated, with imitation parquet on the floor and terracotta tones on the walls, it looks less like a place where the crew dines every day and more like a pleasant dining room. . The paintings on the walls add to the feeling. Therefore, the crew affectionately calls it "the dining room".
Tiny had no idea about the mess halls of other ships, but she thought the Republic dining room was a very beautiful place. Even for private dining. Usually, when they enter, the room is very crowded. It's a colorful place because not only are there military uniforms, but there are also some crew members in civilian clothes. The room was filled with a buzzing sound. No one spoke particularly loudly. When you sit at a table, you often can't hear the conversation at the table next to you. So the sound throughout the room is kept at a pleasant level, even if it sounds a little surprising at first. There was a brief silence as Tiny and Pike walked in. Most people turned around to greet them. Tiny is a center of attraction, not only because of her appearance, but also because she is the captain's daughter. There were many rumors about her first few weeks on board. Of course, everyone knew how disgusted she was with her father's attitude. But people have different opinions as to the reasons for this antipathy. Because everyone who knew about it at the time kept silent about the matter.
After glancing at each other, everyone turned their attention back to their own conversations and resumed their normal buzz. Pike and Tiny went straight to the table he reserved. When she sat down, he politely pulled out the chair for her and sat down himself. Because they were focused on each other, they didn't notice Celia and Ingmar sitting at a table in the corner. The doctor's back was to the entrance. When Pike and Tiny entered the room, Ingmar was briefly surprised, then showed an expression of displeasure, causing Celia to turn around to see what had caused this reaction. She smiled as she recognized the two men.
"Who would have thought that this angry young woman would adapt here so quickly?" she said with a smile.
"Yeah, that's crazy," Ingmar muttered, taking a sip of wine.
"The two men seemed to get along very well," the doctor continued.
This time Ingemar just grunted and said nothing more.
Celia tilted her head and looked at him. "Are you jealous?"
He waved his hand in a relaxed gesture. "How could something so ridiculous happen?" He raised a slanted smile. "I just think Tiny made a mistake. She was attracted to someone like Pike right after she got on the ship."
"But Pike makes a pretty good impression." Celia was a little surprised by his statement. Ingmar certainly didn't know Pike, he himself had just arrived on the ship.
"He's an idiot," Ingmar said coldly, as if that was explanation enough.
Then Celia realized something and looked at him with a false serious expression. "Maybe it would be better if she was interested in you," she scoffed flatly.
"He will disappoint her and break her heart," Ingmar continued, not reacting to Celia's words. "He can't be compared to a woman like Tiny."
"Can you?" Celia said sharply, not caring at the moment whether it hurt him. His arrogance was again intolerable, but she instinctively wanted to contradict him.
"For me, Tini will at least know what's going on from the beginning, so such a disappointment will never happen." He seemed to mean it.
Celia laughed sarcastically. "I guess you didn't accept that she rejected you," she pointed out bluntly. "I want to know who the idiot is. No, I don't actually want to know," she corrected herself. "It's obvious." She paused and looked at him.
His expression was unreadable, making her wonder if he was just teasing her. So she decided to cut the topic short. "The two of them will take care of it," she said simply.
"We'll see," Ingmar smiled meaningfully and took another sip from the cup.
Celia looked at him seriously. "If I catch you meddling and trying to tear them apart, I'll try out the new laser scalpel next time you're in the infirmary," she threatened, gesturing along her neck.
"I'll try to remember it," he smiled. For his part, he was sure he wouldn't take any action like that. He had hit a wall once before and knew that if he thoughtlessly tried again, he would fail again. And he also knew there were easier targets. "Tell me, what do you think of that emergency call signal?" He changed the subject slowly.
