The Virgo was carefully picking her way through the asteroid belt where Lt. Loran had detected traces of dilithium and tridanium. As they coasted at one-quarter impulse, the Virgo's sensors had been set to make deep, active scans of the nearest asteroids as they slipped by the passing starship, searching to pinpoint the exact location of the mineral deposits.
"Report, Mr. Benton," called the captain to Benton, who was manning the tactical station on the bridge.
Benton consulted the sensor displays on the console before him and replied, "Readings are becoming much stronger, Sir. The strongest are on vector 314 mark 47."
"Commander K'Lara, set course," ordered Maruu.
"Aye, Sir."
Benton puzzled a few more seconds over his sensor readouts. In addition to the scans of dilithium and tridanium, they were also faintly detecting something else. So faint, he wasn't sure what. He hesitated to bother the captain with something that might turn out to be nothing at all, but decided against that course of action. The captain should have all the facts, no matter how seemingly inconsequential.
"Sir," Benton called. "There's more sensor data coming in." He tried to adjust the sensors, to no avail. The mysterious readings remained elusive. "We're reading something else in almost the same location as the dilithium and tridanium deposits. I will be able to tell you more when we get closer."
"Very well, Mr. Benton. Keep me apprised," said Maruu. The captain turned his attention back to his navigator. "K'Lara, what is our ETA to the target asteroid?" he asked.
"This is a pretty dense asteroid belt, Sir," said K'Lara. "We'll have to take it a little slower than usual. I estimate it'll be four and a half hours."
"Well, I'm confident you won't plow us into any giant boulders, Commander." Maruu smiled.
"Yes, Sir," K'Lara smiled back.
Benton had spent the last four and a half hours trying to focus the strange reading he had been receiving from the target asteroid, and he had had some measure of success. As the Virgo closed the last few thousand miles between itself and the target asteroid, Benton's sensor readings had become significantly sharper, however some details still remained hidden and unexplained.
Commander K'Lara was saying to the captain, "We have arrived at the asteroid, Sir."
Captain Maruu was still sitting in his command chair. He looked up from the PADD he was reading and said, "Very well. Standard orbit."
"Aye, Sir," came the reply.
Benton chimed in, "Captain, I have the sensor report."
"Let's have it, Lieutenant," said the captain.
"I've made several very deep sensor sweeps of the asteroid, Sir. There's more here than we first detected," said Benton. "I have detected traces of refined metals. Also, there appear to be several cavities inside the asteroid that appear capable of supporting life...and...faint emanations of generated power," he finished.
Captain Maruu let that last announcement sink in for a second. They had not expected this at all. He asked, "Any signs of life?"
"None that I can detect, Sir."
Maruu thought for only a brief moment, then turned his gaze towards the ceiling intercom system. He announced, "All senior officers, meet me in the main briefing room now."
Maruu stood and moved towards the briefing room door on the port side of the bridge. His officers followed him, their stations being taken over by subordinates.
It only took a few minutes for the senior officers to arrive from engineering and medical. When all were assembled and in their respective seats, the captain started the meeting.
"Mr. Benton, Please repeat you sensor readings for those of us who have not heard them yet."
Benton repeated what he had just told Maruu on the bridge. He finished by saying, "In short, what we have here appears to be an artificial asteroid. The tridanium we have detected has already been refined..."
"Which will make our job a LOT easier," interrupted Loran.
"...the dilithium appears to already to have been mined and stockpiled..."
"Which will make our job a LOT easier," interrupted Loran again.
"...and the interior of the asteroid appears capable of supporting life..."
"Which will make our job a LOT easier," interrupted Loran yet again.
Benton wondered at the uncharacteristic rudeness of Garek's remarks. He was not usually this insensitive. Must be because of the recent deaths of several of his friends, he thought
"That concludes my report," said Benton, resuming his seat.
Maruu turned his chair a little and said, "Mr. Loran, what do you think?"
Garek looked up, but for a few seconds was silent. His eyes had a faraway look, then he seemed to return to reality. He said, "Um... It sounds okay to me, Sir."
Maruu looked at Loran somewhat quizzically, then turned to Commander Lataro. He said, "Commander, what are your recommendations?"
Lataro answered, "We'd be walking into a lot of unknowns over there, Captain. I suggest we take a minimal party at first: heavy security, science and engineering to make scans. If we determine the area to be secure, then we can beam down larger details to begin the dilithium and tridanium extraction."
Maruu pondered the plan a few seconds. Finally, he said, "Very well, Jon. The initial landing party is at your discretion." He addressed the entire assembly. "We need these materials for our general repairs and for our new transwarp drive. Let's get this done people."