Lieutenant Alessca, Intelligence Officer -- Astrostellar Lab with P'Trell and Kroken<br/><br/>"Probe launched," Alessca said as she pushed the appropriate controls on he console.  There was the barest hint of vibration through the ship as the probe's impulse engines fired and sent it out the launch bay.  "Orbit will be achieved in seven standard minutes, and I'll begin analyzing readings immediately, Captain."<br/><br/>She paid attention to the captain's comments and orders as she left the room.  Having a moment to do little but monitor the probe's progress, she looked at P'Trell standing nearby, and Ensign Kroken at her station, also monitoring the flight.  Alessca closed her eyes and concentrated a moment, remembering the security chief's advice on how to deal with their 'problem'.  Her crotch swirled and partially liquified, and the resiliently stout member which had been straining along her leg now was allowed to rest against her belly, and she "re-clad" herself with bands of "cloth" keeping it in place.  The effect was hardly less obvious, however.  Alessca could see not only her own penis, but the other two girls' erections well outlined beneath the trim Starfleet uniforms.<br/><br/>"I'm not sure this is a satisfactory solution," Alessca observed to P'Trell.  Almost unconsciously, her fingers reached over to the green-skinned officer, and touched the bulging outline at its base and ran them lightly along its length to the tip.  "Do you not find this sensation distracting, even demanding of constant attention?  I confess, it is difficult to resist the urge to caress mine..."  Her fingers retraced their path down P'Trell's cock and back up, her eyes seemingly fascinated by the sight and touch.<br/><br/>She started to the sound of a beep from her console.  She quickly turned back to it.  "Probe entering orbit and beginning scans," she said briskly, trying to get her mind strictly back to business.  "Reading a great deal of dust in the upper atmosphere.  It makes me wonder if there may have been a volcanic or meteoric disturbance in the near past.  Sunlight reaching the planet is very dim, inhibiting plant growth and animal life to a minimum."<br/><br/>She continued to read her scans.  "Atmosphere reads as within breathable parameters for humanoid life, but not terribly comfortable.  Constant wind makes for poor visibility as the norm, and there are some very large and brutal sandstorms sweeping the surface at intervals.  I'm reading no life forms in the swath of these storms.  Our away team should avoid them at all costs.  Hmm...  There's another compound bound up in the atmosphere, similar enough to some neurochemisty to possibly induce hallucinatory responses.  I am sending the chemical readings to sick bay to see if the doctor can prepare counter agents to block the effects for the away team."<br/><br/>She punched some icons on her screen.  "Attempting to get more readings from the surface.  The electronic interference in the upper atmosphere is difficult to pierce reliably.  I am seeing traces of ancient ruins consistent with that already observed by astrometrics.  A few hundred sites have now been catalogued.  The sites all appear to be near outcroppings or topological mounds, and the architecture is consistent with burial crypts in other known cultures.  However, I cannot eliminate the possibility they could be entrances to subterranean structures masked by the interference.  The planet is reading as a mineralogical trove, with high density of valuable metals indicated by the probing spectrographs, both underground and on the surface."  She glanced at the security chief.  "We could find some valuable supplies here, with proper precautions against the hazardous climate."<br/><br/>"Attempting to map the electronic interference.  It is not consistent with solar activity or cosmic rays.  It is randomly spread through the upper atmosphere, but a concentration seems to be leading down to a point beneath the surface, most likely the true source of the interference.  Whether it is artificial or some kind of natural phenomenon...  I cannot determine," she ended with a small scowl of frustration.<br/><br/>She snapped a few icons almost tensely and turned to P'Trell and Kroken.  "I've copied my findings to the Bridge and the Captain.  I will continue to monitor and analyze in hopes of providing more intelligence for the away team, until it is time to form up and beam down.  Lt. P'Trell, I suggest the away team take with them a set of pattern enhancers, to make sure they can beam back up through the electromagnetic interference."  She ended her comments with an unconscious glance back down to the front of Tarah's uniform, flicking her tongue over her lips.<br/>