[snip]

“Lt. Malone, can you prreparre a prrobe to sssend out? ” M’Mera asked the CSO as she continued her own scans.

Lance looked over at M’Mera he nodded as he looked up from the probe he was prepping, “I can indeed, you’ll have it in two ticks, I’ve also tried to set it up as an ROV to give us more “sight” I’ve used some of the settings to act as a camera so we can see the otherside of the round thing. Sensors give us data but there are things that can hide from our sensors, but not from our eyes, so I’m hoping we can use our eyes as back up sensors.” he explained as he readied the last of the three probes he’d been working on.

The first scans showed that there are 20 to 40 things moving and they are not artificial or organic right? So my question is can a probe scan in more detail from outside the unidentified object and if so can a probe withstand the pressure or will it implode ? ‘’ Cross asked ‘’Could these movements be an imitative or fake version or copy of something ?’‘.

“Given what sort of things we lob these probes into normally I suspect the pressure won’t be an issue, It can scan more detail but if it hasn’t got anything to feed the data we won’t get much, hence aiming to get it to record visual stuff, our eyes are still the best scanner.” he reassured the CMO

“The life sign scans were indeterminant, the things inside the object didn’t seem to be either artificial or organic to the sensors of the shuttle, but they must be either one or the other, right?” Guy asked. They had to get a closer look at the thing to determine what they were, and he still didn’t fancy a swim today. “Our probes can withstand a pressure of 450 bars found within a gas giant’s atmosphere. I think they can withstand our depth of water!”

“Right” said Lance standing up and dusting himself off, not that there was any dust it was more of a weird habit. “that’s several probes ready to go three with ROV capabilities. If we can see this object a bit closer it might give us an idea of who or what it is”

Three probes that could be operated remotely as vehicles were launched, and each took a slightly different route towards the hollowed spherical object that lay below the shuttlecraft. They sent back telemetry and video as they went, giving an almost three dimensional view of the object that looked like some kind of spacecraft. While Guy thought it did have similarities to the craft he had seen some years earlier, he couldn’t be certain it was the same as he only saw it for a short time, and his memory had faded. The probes couldn’t pick up much more than they already knew. It was 201.33 feet in diameter and silver-green in colour. The very artful weaving designs all over the hull surface were much clearer now, but they seemed to be abstract. The material was certainly some kind of ceramic and not metallic. The things moving inside could still not be seen but their shape was clearer: much like the unmanned aerial vehicles used by Starfleet as probes to monitor environments where conditions were inhospitable to life, or to make infrastructure inspections when buildings were unsafe. There were no life signs detected aboard the craft.

‘’Guess sending the probes did not yield anything of what we already know ‘’ Cross remarked ‘’ We already knew there where no life signs, so what are we picking up...... what is the origin component part of producing movement inside the craft ?’‘.

Suddenly, the three probes lost all their power and the telemetry and video feeds went blank. One probe caried on over the top of the spherical craft; while one began to spiral down into the deep; the third hit the sphere surface and bounced back before also diving down into the ocean. They would register a huge power surge from within the sphere. It appeared that it’s shields had been activated, and it began doing intense scans of the area surrounding it and of the shuttlecraft. It was probably time for them to leave now.

“I would ssuggesst we trriggerred ssomething and we sshould vacate the arrea in case of an explossion.” M’Mera said as her paws swiped back and forth on her console. “Powerr surrgess acrrosss the boarrd!”

As Max was in charge of this away mission and was controlling the shuttlecraft, he knew it would be advised to get out of here. He turned the shuttlecraft around and moved quickly away from the area. He continued to monitor the status of the unknown vessel. He did not want to get in trouble, especially at this depth. He then said, “Everyone, please strap in if you are not already. I’m worried we are going to be attacked at some point with what just went on. I’m trying to get us away from the situation but I cannot guarantee the safety at this point.”

Cross didn’t need to be told twice she was quick to buckle up ‘’Can’t the shuttle move faster ‘’ she called out ,knowing if they sustained any injuries she was the only doctor there.......... excluding the fact that she might be the one injured.

Max looked over at the doctor and said, “This is as fast as I want to push the shuttle. The pressure on the outside is extremely high which is why I am trying to surface.” He did not want to kill everyone not being careful but did not want to stay around too long.

M’Mera paused in her work on the boards and strapped in.

Lance had been looking at the scans and trying to decipher what they meant. “I would guess that the organics escaped leaving only they robots, for all we know it’s housekeeping bots.” He said stowing his data pad and strapping in like everyone else. “This scan might be what we need to get it to open its doors. Surely it’s worth staying around for that?”

‘’Eh?’’ Cross asked ‘’ Are you seriously saying we should stick around ‘’ . The CMO shrugged ‘’Might as well look ‘’ at that point she glued her face against the window with those red eyes of hers wide open.

From within the ceramic sphere an orange hue developed. It began deep inside and spread slowly to the surface and outwards, getting both deeper in colour and brighter.

“Guysss, I would ssuggesst we vacate! We can rrecorrd and watch it frrom the sship!” M’Mera said, her Caitian accent made her words almost unintelligible but her tone made her meaning very clear.

Cross who was looking out saw the orange hue ‘’ Guy I think you were right , this could very well be the same ship ,I agree with Lt M’Mera that its best that we get out of here before they blow the shuttle apart ‘’.

Guy appeared to be hyperventilating and his face had turned quite grey.

Will they ever listen to me? thought Guy. I really don’t like how I’m feeling about this! It should be pedal to the metal, right now, but they are discussing going in even closer! Sheesh! Still, the breathing exercises he had been given by Nurse Nightingale were working and he actually felt much calmer that he would have if this had happened just a few weeks earlier.

• Guy, Sec