Nuclear-Fridge

7 USS ENCELADUS, SHACKLETON EXPANSE JUNE 22, 2380 The salvage operation on the Romulan warbird proved to be a fairly straightforward if labour-intensive operation. Cera commanded the away team which included Lieutenant T’Nara and Crewmen Vorok and Sovar from sciences; Ensign Sarov and Crewman Stovel from operations; Crewmen Suran and T’Val from engineering; Crewmen Salis and T’Pel from command; and Crewmen T’Laris, Kolang and Dara from security. Priority was of course the recovery of the Romulan cloaking device. They found it damaged and non-functioning but fully intact – which was more than Cera had hoped for. For her this meant a much easier job of figuring out how it worked. She was the only person on the entire ship who had a hands-on working knowledge of cloaking devices, having built Calypso’s cloaking device using raw parts and a technical guide. This bit of information came as a surprise to Captain Harada, who was openly thrilled. His belief that he had the best damn

3 USS ENCELADUS, STARBASE 123 ORBIT JUNE 15, 2380 Garadun was standing in front of his food replicator, going through the menu and trying to decide what to have for lunch, when his door buzzer went off. Magik had already had her lunch (cat-sized portion of roast chicken with mash and gravy) and was now lying on the couch and watching TV. One of Garadun’s eccentricities was that he had a replica widescreen television in his living room to watch old shows and movies. At least for the twenty-fourth century it was an eccentricity. Making for the door, he caught a glimpse of what his kitty was watching: The Day the Earth Stood Still, the original 1951 black and white film. Although he knew the classic bit of sci-fi he’d never actually seen it. Magik seemed completely engrossed. When the door split open, he was surprised to see T’Laris there. She looked as calm as any Vulcan might be, in an at-ease position with her hands behind her back. “Am I disturbing you, Ensign?” she asked.

4 STARBASE 123, FEDERATION SPACE JUNE 15, 2380 The excursion party returned to the Starbase from the dayside of the planet after a four-hour trip, leaving everyone tremendously impressed with the desert landscape. Neither of the ATVs had broken down, leaving people stranded. Nor had there been any abrupt collapses of the ground beneath them, dropping and trapping them in some dangerous cave. The red sun hadn’t unexpectantly flared, there hadn’t been a sudden and deadly ion storm, and gigantic desert lifeforms hadn’t attacked them for no reason. The comms didn’t inexplicitly go down and there was no unforeseen asteroid strike. Almost a miracle, really, for a routine expedition with Starfleet personnel involved. They were in the Starbase’s main garage, many of them talking animatedly about their experience and wondering if they should try a trip into the night side next, when Cera’s combadge went off. “Harada to Lieutenant Rigel.” Cera tapped her combadge. “Rigel