Captain's Personal Log, Stardate 57917.6.
The Melbourne is in the middle of a survey of the unexplored edge of the Cygnus Sector, which has been keeping the Science teams busy while allowing other sections to catch up on routine work. Aedon has things well in hand, which has allowed me the time to maintain some of the relationships we have established in this region of space, perhaps one relationship more than the others.
Capt. Mitchell is in his ready room on a subspace call with Talani Vartok, the Orion trader who had been part of the recent Pax Alpha conference aboard the USS Melbourne. Talani fills Mitchell in on her activities in the weeks since the conference, noting that the Karishi Diaspora have been eager to trade, especially in technical information to help them upgrade their limited space travel ability. She notes how they have already started repurposing the primitive warp rings from their colony vessels to build a prototype warp vessel based on old Vulcan designs. She has also been making frequent visits to the Drake's Folly colony, leveraging her existing relationship with them to provide the Karishi with some of the rare minerals they need for their space program. For his part, Mitchell is encouraging and emphasizes how he wants to maintain the new relationships formed in this remote region, and Talani reciprocates the desire, at least in terms of their burgeoning relationship.
On the bridge, Lt. Cmdr. Ahn'Kress notes that the Stellar Cartography division has been running an unusual number of diagnostics on the ship's sensor systems. She contacts Astrometrics and speaks with Lt. Carson, who informs her that they have found some glitches in the sensor data from the survey and want to confirm it is not the result of an internal error. Ahn'Kress reviews the diagnostics results and is not able to see any issues. His long-distance call finished, Capt. Mitchell returns to the bridge in time to overhear the tail end of Ahn'Kress' report and, hoping for a little change from the monotony, asks if there is anything happening.
With the diagnostics seeming to show no internal issues to explain the strange data, Lt. Stuart and Ahn'Kress take a deep dive into the sensor results. They confirm what Lt. Carson was initially theorizing it could be; that the data appears to show a small, intermittent, irregular low-band subspace signal. Based on the handful of occurrences, the pattern and strength of the signal cannot be matched to any known natural or artificial phenomenon. They are able to narrow the source of the signal to somewhere in Section 72 in Block 514 of the survey region, so Capt. Mitchell orders Lt. JG Reydon to set a course for there to, in the Captain's words, "find the White Rabbit".
As the ship gets closer to the source new scans detect more occurrences of the signal, narrowing the location down further. A flare star is eliminated as a possible cause, leaving a star system with a single Class M world. Long-range scans show that the planet does have life, both flora and fauna, but no indications of advanced technology. Scans also show no subspace anomalies in the area that might explain the signals. When the Melbourne enters the system, short-range sensors give a clearer picture of the planet. It is fairly Earth-like, and they can now detect the presence of humanoid life spread across six of the planet's eight continents, with the two polar continents being the only exceptions. Different regions show different levels of technological development, but none have yet reached an Industrial level. After detecting a few more of the brief signals, it is confirmed that they are coming from the planet, specifically a forested area in one of the northern continents, one devoid of any signs of habitation, though there is a major port city less than 100 km from the southern edge of the forest.
Capt. Mitchell orders an away team to beam down as soon as the Cultural Anthropology division has gathered enough information from scans to determine the level of disguise needed to protect the team as well as to program the universal translator. The inhabitants are near-humans, with a tan skin tone and prominent brow ridges. Cmdr. Partav selects Lt. Cmdr. Tir, Lt. Stuart, Lt. J.G. Tradis, and Ens. Thelles to join him on the away team. Tir and Stuart only require cosmetic alterations to pass for the locals, while Partav, Tradis and Thelles require temporary genetic modification to disguise their more alien natures. To help stick to the Prime Directive, Cmdr. Partav also requires that the away team be equipped with subcutaneous communicators and be limited to Type-1 phasers for the mission.
Once they are ready, the away team is beamed down to a small clearing deep in the forest; sensors having confirmed that none of the locals appear to be anywhere nearby. While Lt. Stuart and Ens. Thelles try and narrow down the location of the subspace signal's source, Lt. JG Tradis starts scanning the life signs in the forest. Cmdr. Partav soon notices that Tradis has gone pale and her breathing is shallow. When he asks her what is wrong, Tradis can only whisper the words "webs, spiders". This is enough for Partav, who realizes she is referring to the silicon spider creatures a Melbourne away team had encountered on a derelict Ferengi vessel at the beginning of the ship's mission in the region, an away team that both he and Tradis had been part of, as had Tir and Stuart.
Thus alerted, Partav pulls the team into a defensive formation and lets Lt. Cmdr. Tir take charge as tricorder scans show a half-dozen of the spiders approaching their position. Remembering the previous encounter, Tradis pulls up all the information they have on the creatures and is able to recommend a phaser modulation that will be more effective against the spiders' hard carapace. The team modifies their weapons just in time, allowing Tir and Partav to take out two of the spiders almost immediately. Mera is also able to warn Loto in time for him to avoid an attack by another spider, and he is then able to take it out with a phaser shot. One of the remaining spiders latches onto Cmd. Partav and he struggles to keep it from clamping its sharp teeth into him. Two more spiders arrive, forcing the rest of the team to deal with them while Partav continues to fight with the one on him. The other spiders are dealt with just as Tradis overcomes her traumatic fear of the creatures in time to blast the one on Partav. The exhausted Commander orders Tir to secure the perimeter before he collapses.