Mission 12: When In Rome

Posts for the USS Malinche's missions

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Anderson
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Re: Mission 12: When In Rome

Post: # 2595Post Anderson
Thu Jul 09, 2009 12:06 am

[Sickbay – 9.50 - Day 4]

Emily walked back into sickbay and looked around for the nurse she left in charge. She saw the woman was by some kid. Em walked over to take a look and see what she could do.

“Glad you are here doc, this kid fell while mountain climbing. He’s not doing well,” she said. Em scanned the boy and wasn’t happy with what she saw.

“Surgery is his only option,” she said and got what she needed for the procedure.


[An hour later]

Emily sat down on the couch in the CMO’s office. She sighed feeling somewhat good. She had managed to save the kid’s life. She wrote up the report and put it on the chief’s desk. ~Where is this guy? What is going on here?~ She thought hoping to get to the bottom of all this. She felt like she was losing it.

[Corridor – 11.03]

Em looked around her and wondering how in the world she got wherever she was. She sighed and knew this was not a good sign. She hit her commbadge.

“Sickbay this is Emily Anderson. When did I leave sickbay?” She said hating this.

“About ten minutes ago. You were going to talk to the captain, remember?” The nurse said. Emily turned around and found where she was heading back to sickbay.

[Sickbay]

“Okay the captain can wait. I need you to scan me nurse and compare the results with those from the amnesia cases,” she said and sat on a biobed. The nurse did what she was told without any questions. Emily tried hard to be patient for the results.

“This isn’t good doc. You have been hit as well with amnesia. It’s mild at best,” the nurse said. She sighed and took out a padd. She knew the captain needed to hear this. Em transferred the information to her padd and handed the tricorder back to the nurse.

“Put this in a report and put it on the CMO’s desk just in case he shows. If he does show up call me,” she said and walked out of sickbay to go and see the captain.
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Re: Mission 12: When In Rome

Post: # 2596Post Kersare
Thu Jul 09, 2009 9:41 am

OFF: This is a backpost

ON:
<<Engineering, 0822, Day 4>>

Alex (NPC) hoped it would be over soon. Of course, the anomaly wasn't helping to speed things up, but hopefully everything would go smoothly once they got away from it. If Yana (NPC) were there, he would probably tell him that they couldn't rush things and to be patient. After all, they had tried it before, rushed, and well...the results were...not satisfactory, to put it mildly.

Still, it was difficult. Sure, he'd been an Engineer, but each ship was slightly different and a Prometheus - with its three sections - was definitely different than many ship classes he'd worked on. Luckily he still was able to tap into Caleb's knowledge, but it was still him controlling how tasks were accomplished.

Then there was the personal side - trying to say the right things to colleagues and friends. One good thing about Engineering was that they were so busy there was barely time to notice any oddities in behavior. The trouble mostly came from the young woman Caleb was interested in...

Alex did feel bad about not showing up for the dinner Caleb had arranged for them, but he wasn't as confident he could fool Britney. Granted, she and Caleb were still getting to know each other as well and he should be trying to keep up appearances. But being with someone other than his fiance just didn't feel right. Even if he could never be with Janet again, he couldn't bring himself to even pretend to be with another woman. No wonder he'd done so poorly in theater and Intel classes....

Sighing, he started tapping at the console he was in front of, bringing up the latest information. Still, he would miss being alive, having a body. If only he could see her one more time...more than that really, but at least once, so he could tell her all the things he wanted to say.

The best thing he could do though would be to get this over with as quickly as possible. Help get them away from the anomaly, back to the asteroid field, and explain to the Captain what they'd done. The sooner the better.

OFF:

Alex/Caleb Corrin (NPC)

played by:
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Captain Isabel Kersare
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USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

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Re: Mission 12: When In Rome

Post: # 2597Post Rho
Thu Jul 09, 2009 2:19 pm

ON:

<USS Malinche, Day 4, 1024, Corridor>

Alexis’ meeting with Nora had gone better than she expected. She had gotten some questions answered and didn’t have to reveal that much about her past. Of course, there were things that medical professionals had access to in her files, but none of that came up either. At least not this time. She was heading back to the Intel Office to be brought up to speed on what had been happening recently. There was a sense of uneasiness mixed with fear and hurriedness that she picked up from passing crewmen and officers, especially the engineers. Something was amiss and she needed to get back.

Suddenly the ship reeled again and Alexis hit the floor on her hands and knees. Nothing was hurt, except her pride. She stood and moved at a faster pace. Yes, she definitely needed to get back to the Office.

<Intel Office>

The doors swished close behind Alexis as she entered. “Derrin, what’s been going on?”

Ensign Derrin (NPC) answered. “It has to do with a subspace rupture. We’re being pulled towards it and the rest of the crew is working on a way to get us free.”

So that was the reason for the uneasiness and fear, she thought. “Well I’m no Engineer, never have been. I wouldn’t be much use down there. Have you seen Lt. Grayson?”

“No ma’am, not recently anyway,” Derrin replied.

“Guess I’ll have to introduce myself later then. I’ll be on the Bridge. I can at least help run the sensors.” Alexis left the office and headed for the nearest turbolift. Manning one of the science stations with internal/external sensors was something she had done on the USS Infinity several times. It would just be a matter of getting used to the layout on the Malinche.

While waiting for the lift to stop, she felt that intrusion again and the onset of another headache. She almost started grappling with it when she remembered Nora’s advice of leaving it alone. So instead, she barricaded it out and thought of the most menacing and fear-mongering thing she could and thrust it toward the invader in the hopes of driving it away. It worked. Whatever had tried to invade her brain was gone. The turbolift slowed to a stop and Alexis stepped out, keeping up her mental barricades.

<Bridge>
She immediately noticed one of the science stations opened and stepped up to it. “Lt. Alexis Rho reporting, Commander. I’ll man the sensors and help monitor this thing and the ship for now,” she said as she brought up the data stream from the arrays and the internal sensors. “Engineering and all that mechanical stuff never was my forte,” she added.
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Lieutenant JG Alexis Rho
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
"My mind is the only sanctuary that has not been stolen from me. People have tried to breach it before, but I've learned to defend it vigorously, for I am only safe with my innermost thoughts."

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Re: Mission 12: When In Rome

Post: # 2598Post Peters
Thu Jul 09, 2009 11:01 pm

ON: <USS Malinche, Forward Torpedo Bay, Day 4, 0940>

"Alright, connect the Antimatter Inducer to the flow regulator," Peters said as he tried for the third time to make the Theta Matrix compositor fit into the space left in the forward end of the torpedo casing. "How are we doing on time?"

Will picked up the inducer and carefully slid it into position where the engineer had indicated. Slowly, he reached over with his right hand and connected the device to the flow regulator. "Inducer set," Will said.

"Time is okay. We've got twenty minutes before we cut into our safety margin," Corrin replied from where he was working on some calculations at at the room's main console. "We'll want to tune this thing to a resonance frequency of 257.4 for best effect."

"257.4," Will repeated breathlessly. He rubbed his forehead with his sleeve and reached over for the next tool to hand to Peters. With deliberate motion, he passed the tool from one hand to the other, then to Lt. Peters.

"Aha! Got the little monster... finally," Peters said as he tack-welded the compositor into place. "Ah, thanks," Peters took the spanner that Schulz was holding out for him. "2... 5... 7... Point... 4...."

Will couldn't tell if he was shaking or if it was just the constant shuddering from the anomaly outside. To be perfectly honest, he was nervous about this whole thing. They were about to attempt something that had only ever been done once and resulted in total destruction of the entire system it was used in. Then again, dying in a subspace rift wasn't much better.

"Take it easy, Lieutenant," Peters said with a small smile, noticing Schulz's apparent nerves. "It's only a matter of life of death... completely run of the mill on this ship."

"Tell me about it," Will shot back, but he gave a short laugh anyway, "What's next?"

"Now... we need to load the antimatter... and that's what's going to take most of our time... let's go get suited up," Peters said as he set the spanner down and stood up. They would need to wear anti-static suits and handle the antimatter module very carefully to avoid blowing a chunk out of the ship during the next step. Usually the unit could just be loaded whole into the torpedo, but the modifications to this torpedo made that impossible, so they'd actually have to transfer it into the warp sustainer engine in the torpedo prior to launching it.

As he got to his feet, the Malinche shuddered heavily, forcing will to grab a support strut or risk falling across the open torpedo tube. "That is starting to get real annoying," he said, falling into step behind Peters.

<15 minutes later>

"OK," Peters said as he carefully lowered the canister containing the antimatter into the torpedo casing. He carefully lined it up with the loading port on the torpedo's engine and pushed it down until it clicked into place. "Could you spare a hand to lock that seal?"

Again, Will reached over with one hand and made the connection, taking care not to disturb the canister, but making sure he used as much haste as he could spare. "Okay," he said as the seal locked down, "Ready."

"Injecting antimatter. This is where you cross any parts of your anatomy you can cross," Peters said as he pressed one small button on one side of the canister, then another on the top of the unit.

With baited breath, Will waited for what seemed like an eternity. There was the anomaly outside and the anti-matter inside. Neither was a fate he wanted to suffer. Then, after what seemed like a hundred lifetimes, the light on the canister turned green. Letting out his breath, Will smiled. "Well, that wasn't so bad," he said.

Peters exhaled slowly as he detached the canister and removed it from the torpedo casing. "Run a systems test to make sure everything's hooked up right, would you? I don't want to have to build another one of these things today."

Taking his tricorder, Will started to run through each system on the torpedo, taking great care to ensure all was in proper working order. He was well aware that time was running out and he desperately hoped that everything was in the right spot.

Peters stood up and pulled off the gloves from his static suit. This was it, the moment of truth was just about on them and they'd find out if they had worked a minor miracle or if they'd have to try a desperation tactic next. Peters found himself oddly calm.

"You look like you could walk through a fiery furnace and not have a single qualm about it," Will commented as he, too, removed his gloves.

"Looks good to me," Will reported, flipping his tricorder closed, "I say let's shoot her and hope for the best."

Nodding, Peters tapped his commbadge. "Peters to bridge. Our little project is finished and we're ready to see if it works whenever you folks are." He tapped his commbadge again and waited for a response, muttering, "The sooner the better."

OFF: This has been a Joint Post with:

Lieutenant, JG Will Schulz
Chief Operations Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B
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Tony
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Lieutenant Commander Todd Peters
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USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

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Re: Mission 12: When In Rome

Post: # 2599Post Kersare
Sat Jul 11, 2009 4:14 pm

<<Bridge, 0932, Day 4>>

Nora made it to the Bridge in record time, all but running from her office to the lift and startling a hapless crewman in her haste. She was filled with a nervous sort of energy, no doubt brought on by the sense of urgency her research and findings had inspired. Now she needed only to talk to the Captain, for if she was even close to being right, they had some very big trouble on their hands.

She spared no friendly greetings for anyone she knew once she reached the Bridge, cutting a path straight to Kersare’s Ready Room. Ringing the door chime, she stepped neatly inside after being given the go ahead to enter, moving directly towards the Captain as the doors hissed shut behind her.

“Captain, I think I finally have some possible answers for you,” she announced without delay, once again and rather uncharacteristically foregoing pleasantries for the simple fact that now didn't seem to be the time for them. “Actually, they’re really more like theories, and rather strange theories at that...” Taking a calming breath, she laced her fingers tightly together as she sat in the chair across from Kersare. “Either way, I wouldn’t advise you to get your hopes up, I’m afraid. What I have to tell you isn’t very good news.”

Isabel raised an eyebrow at Nora's words. "You actually have some good timing. I just spoke with my yeoman and she informed of some things that may also be helpful... In any event, what are your theories?"

"I spoke with Lieutenant Rho earlier today," Nora began, searching for the right words to present her theories. "She had an experience similar to mine where she actually made some sort of contact with something, though she described it more as an attempted intrusion into her mind. A 'free-floating soul or mind,' I believe she called it, and it seemed to fit perfectly with whatever it was I sensed before on the Bridge."

She paused, not for effect but rather in an effort to choose her next words wisely. "If there are indeed those sorts of entities in the expanse--which, I might add, could account for some of the ghost stories and rumors we've heard before--and if they actually have the capability to intrude upon our minds, the possibilities are frightening. I've done some research, and cases like these are not entirely unheard of. These intrusions, if they exist, could be the cause of the symptoms crewmembers have been experiencing, which is worrisome enough. But what really has me worried is the thought that some of these entities might have actually succeeded." Taking another deep breath before continuing, Nora looked Isabel straight in the eye and said, "If that's the case, we may be talking in terms of possession."

Isabel nodded solemnly, Nora's theories were exactly what she had been concerned about after speaking with Britney. "From what I learned not long ago, I'm inclined to agree with you. Britney came to me just before you arrived. She's concerned about Caleb (NPC); saying he's been acting differently lately - eating foods he didn't normally eat, missing the dinner he'd arranged with her... He also mentioned a headache and, in my non-medical opinion, a case of amnesia."

The counselor was relieved that Kersare didn't meet her theories with open skepticism or censure. Not that she had expected it from her, but she had served under other commanding officers who likely would have responded badly to her claims. "Her description of Caleb's behavior does fit the bill," she agreed somewhat reluctantly. Hypothesizing about possession and hearing of an actual possible case were two very different things, after all.

"She didn't notice anyone else acting differently, and I can't say that I have either. Have you?" Isabel asked Nora.

"No," Nora said, frowning slightly. "But I have noticed that something just feels...off. Like I told you earlier, my senses haven't been acting as they should, and I'm beginning to believe that that could have something to do with the presence of these entities onboard the ship. Some sort of sensory overload, perhaps."

Isabel nodded, it was a disturbing thought - entities on board her ship, possessing her crew.

Nora sat back in her chair, drumming her fingers on the armrests. "What I can't figure out is whether those who are experiencing symptoms are simply reacting to to the entities as well, or if they're side effects of an attempted intrusion. For all we know, crewmembers experiencing amnesia and the like could either be unknowingly resisting an intrusion, or they could be well on their way to...well, being possessed." She didn't like having to put it that way, but there really was no delicate way to speak of possession. It was an ugly, frightening thing from her perspective no matter how delicately it was spoken of.

"I'm not sure how well versed in possessions you are," Isabel began, "but I'm guessing that an entity can leave or enter someone at their own will... If that is the case, it's difficult to know how many entities we're dealing with since they would be able to "jump" from one person to another... I'm also guessing that the real person is still there, just suppressed by the entity. If so, would you be able to sense the that there is more than just the actual person?"

"As far as coming and going, it all depends on how much power the entity holds," Nora sighed. "An individual does have mental and emotional barriers against these sort of attacks, but they vary from person to person and even species to species. But yes, now that I have a better understanding of what we're facing, I think I could sense if there is more than just the actual person, as you say. It would take a bit more than a cursory reading, seeing as how elusive they've proven themselves to be so far, but it can be done. To be honest, I'm more concerned about finding a way to expel the entity from its host after we uncover it. Since we don't know who or what they are, we don't know what they want or what it will take to fight them if necessary. We could attempt to communicate with one, but that's not without its risks. Nothing about this situation is without risks now."

Isabel sat quietly for a moment, digesting the information. "Whatever we do, I think it needs to wait until after we get away from the pull of this anomaly. Right now that's the more immediate danger. I'm not sure if this is being too optimistic, but I don't think the entities mean us harm...if they wanted to hurt us, they could've already sent us into the anomaly. Small as it may be, we have been making progress with that problem. So, there must be something else they want."

"Which could be anything," Nora said, mostly to herself. She could only speculate on what it is free-floating spirits could possibly want, trying to stay away from the more somber possibilities for the moment.

"As far as communicating with them... We first have to verify a possession. Can you think of any reason for you to speak with Caleb, or to run into him?" So far, from what Isabel knew, Caleb was their best bet at someone who was possessed.

Nora smiled slowly. "Being a counselor, there are some odd quirks that are almost expected from me. Unexpected visits to crewmembers who have yet to have their psych eval happens to be one of them. Nothing too abrupt, just a friendly hello and a gentle reminder that he needs to see me at some point. A short conversation should be long enough for me to gauge whether or not he's...completely himself."

Isabel nodded, "Good. Once we get loose from the subspace rupture, see what you can find out. I'm afraid we're going to have to keep this information very limited. If people really are possessed and the entities suspect anything, they'll be even more careful and we may lose our chance to resolve this."

"I think that's very wise," Nora agreed. "I'll of course leave it to your discretion. In the meantime, I'll continue my research and see if there's anything else I can find, and I'll certainly be keeping my ears and eyes open."

"As will I," Isabel agreed. "Let me know if you find anything. Good luck."

OFF: JP brought to you by:

Lieutenant JG Nora Zeral
Chief Counselor
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B

and
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Captain Isabel Kersare
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USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

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Re: Mission 12: When In Rome

Post: # 2601Post Anderson
Wed Jul 15, 2009 10:40 pm

[Corridor, 0930, Day 4]

Em was walking toward the turbolift. She sighed and rubbed her head feeling a headache coming on. She hoped it would pass and not bring on anything more than she wanted. She wondered why anyone would want her memories. ~Did I figure something out I wasn’t suppose to?~ She thought wondering what she was missing.

[Turbolift]

Em leaned against the side of the turbolift rubbing her temples with her eyes closed. The headache was intensifying. ~What is it about this being that they would want me? Why a doctor? Is it to heal someone? All they have to do is ask in that case. I took an oath to help. No it’s not that, but what? Why me?~ She thought then it dawned on her. She opened her eyes and was very much surprised at how light it was in the turbolift.


[Bridge]

Ventru walked onto the bridge looking around with her new eyes. She was glad she could finally overthrow this pitiful creature. ~To think this creature almost figured out what I wanted. Too bad she can’t warn the others. Now why was she coming here? I better think quick.~ She thought then noticed the padd on her belt. She looked it over quickly realizing the doctor was going to report her own memory loss. ~Good enough for me. Makes it easier.~ She thought trying to keep a straight face.

[Ready Room]

Ventru sighed and walked into the room holding the padd as if it were the most important thing.

“I bear bad news. It appears for some reason whatever is going on with this crew has effected me. I was on my way here when I lost my memory. I was lucky enough to be able to retrace my steps when I didn’t realize where I was. I went back to sickbay and had scans run. I find it weird. If it wasn’t for this padd I would have suffered from loss again. I had no idea why I was coming to the bridge,” she reported. She hated this and wondered how long she would have to pretend to be this Emily.
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Re: Mission 12: When In Rome

Post: # 2604Post Kersare
Sat Jul 18, 2009 11:13 pm

ON: <<Bridge, 1008, Day 4>>

Isabel had just taken her seat on the bridge, anxiously awaiting word from Todd, Will, and Aaron regarding their solution for the subspace rupture. For the first few minutes, she'd had it on the Main Viewer, but watching the very thing threatening her crew and ship wasn't all that pleasant, so she'd switched it off. Besides that, there was the potential possession issue plaguing her. One thing at a time though, they had to survive the subspace rupture first.

Lauren Kaylee twisted her head, hearing the Captain sit down. She realized then that this was her first meeting with Kersare, or any of the Senior Officers for that matter, that she could remember. 'Darn't Amnesia," she thought to herself. Kaylee nodded at the Captain, keeping her hands on the controls of the Malinche, as the ship shuddered again violently. "Greetings, ma'am, I'm your new Fight Officer, Ensign Kaylee."

Looking over at the young woman at the Flight Control station, Isabel replied, "Hello, Ms. Kaylee, glad to have you aboard. I did have a chance to briefly glance at your file, but apologize for not introducing myself before....things have been a bit hectic, as I'm sure you've noticed."

Kaylee managed to bark out a quick laugh as she steadied the Conn. "Oooh, don't I know it ma'am. In between my little case of amnesia and this subspace rupture, I'd say it's been quite an exciting few days." The latest bunch of tremors subsided. Kaylee allowed herself a small exhale. "Conn stands ready for your order, Capt'n."

Jason took another look at this display, the way that things were going he was expecting something else to pop up. As if to illustrate his point the ship shuddered again under his feet.

Suddenly Isabel's comm badge came to life and she sat up a little straighter.

"Peters to bridge. Our little project is finished and we're ready to see if it works whenever you folks are." He tapped his commbadge again and waited for a response, muttering, "The sooner the better."

"About time," Jason sighed. "SIF is near 50%, if we don't break free soon we aren't going to be able to."

Isabel tapped her comm badge, "Good to hear, Mr. Peters. Is the torpedo loaded?"

<Torpedo Bay>

Peters looked over at Schulz and saw that he was in the process of moving the torpedo from the Support frame that they had used for making the modifications to the loading track. “It’s going into the launcher as we speak, Captain. Lieutenant Schulz is quite adept with a crane.”

"Let's just hope this works," Will muttered under his breath as he took a seat at a workstation and pulled up the displays for reference. They were going to cut it very close and he wanted to make sure that they'd have the best chance of success. "The torpedo is loading now," Will announced aloud, "Should be ready in twenty seconds."

“You heard the man, Captain,” Peters said with a small smile. “We’re ready when you are.”

<Bridge>

"Alright, I'll get us ready up here and we'll see what happens," Isabel replied, leaving the comm link open. She turned towards her new Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer, who was currently manning a Science station. "Ms. Rho, anything relevant from the scans we should know about?"

Alexis had been watching this thing intently. “Nothing out of the ordinary, Ma’am. The closer we get, the more often the tremors happen. But anybody on this ship can figure that out. I’ll continue monitoring the rupture for changes after the torpedo is launched.”

Isabel nodded, "Thank you, let me know if anything relevant comes up." Turning to the Security/Tactical station, she addressed Anthony (NPC), "Mr. Stone, be ready to launch the torpedo at my command. Ms. Rho can provide you with coordinates."

"Aye, Captain," Anthony replied, looking over at Alexis.

Alexis tapped at the console, “278 Mark 4.”

Looking over at her newest Flight Control Officer, Isabel said, "Ms. Kaylee, keep the ship steady. If Ms. Rho declares that we are free from the anomaly, I want a gradual increase into full impulse power; head for 117 Mark 12 Mark 401."

Kaylee immediately committed her first official orders to memory. This was what she had been born to do. What she had been doing since she was 6-years old, sitting on her father's lap just to reach the controls: Fly.

Just to be safe, she inputted the coordinates into the navcom under a standby command. She gave a curt nod over her shoulder. "Righto, ma'am." Despite the serious nature of the situation, and the complete irrelevance of this particular thought- she mentally chided herself over using such colloquial language on the Bridge, least of all, to her Captain. "You're not on the Zephyr anymore Kaylee," she thought. "Time to act like an officer."

She quickly added. "...I mean, yes ma'am."

Isabel looked over at her Executive Officer. Everything had been so crazy she hadn't had a chance to speak with him other than regarding the anomaly. She wanted to tell him about what she'd spoken to Nora about earlier, but thus far had no way of knowing if he was...well, himself. For now though, he did look concerned - as they all did.

<Torpedo Bay>

Peters hands flew over the buttons on his panel. He wanted to be prepared to give the engines all the power they could spare and some they couldn’t as soon as that torpedo hit the anomaly. He quickly tied override commands to every non-essential system into a single key. As soon as the torpedo was fired they’d be at maximum engine output. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something else they could do to get a bit more engine power.

That was it… power. In an extreme emergency one of the fusion generators could be used as an antimatter reactor very briefly… a matter of seconds, but it would generate enough energy to power the ship for hours… or, if all of that energy was put to propulsion, would give a big kick… almost the equivalent of an acceleration to warp. The reactor would have to be immediately taken off-line for a complete overhaul, but if they used one that wasn’t generally in heavy use, the rest of the system could take up the slack once they got away.

“Hey Schulz, you wanna do me a favor and start preparing for Emergency Procedure IR-4-7-A?” Peters tapped a few more commands into his console before looking over so see Schulz’s reaction.

"Emergency Procedure..." Will trailed off when he saw the look on the engineer's face. If Peters wanted the extra power that badly, then Will wasn't going to stand in the way. Besides, he didn't want to stick around long after they fired the torpedo anyway. "Aye, making the preparations now," Will replied. He set to work, making sure they wouldn't overload anything else in the process, as well as setting up the adaptations needed to convert the reactor's power into one giant boost of energy.

“I want that power given completely to the engines… if the transfer circuits can’t handle it all going to the Warp drive, then send it to the Impulse engines.” Peters continued tapping commands into his panel as a feverish pace. There were more systems to prepare for sudden power starvation than he was going to be able to put into low power mode… They’d have systems failures, he’d just have to make sure the systems that failed were nonessential ones. “Anything that gives us a little bit more of a push at this point…”

Will wholeheartedly agreed. "Got it," he said, making a few adjustments to his plans as he continued to work.

Peters tapped his commbadge. “Captain, just a warning, I wouldn’t be surprised if the lights go out if we have to fight the pull of that thing too much. I’m working on routing every bit of power we can muster to the engines.”

<Bridge>

"Fire the torpedo!" Isabel said through gritted teeth. Her fingers clutched at the armrests of her chair, her muscles tensing. Hopefully this would work...if not, it seemed the main other option would be to send their warp core into the anomaly - something she really wanted to avoid. At the same time, she'd rather the torpedo did nothing rather than have it pull them in faster. Time would tell.

Nervous, Anthony's hand trembled slightly as he tapped at the console, "Torpedo away."

As Anthony's finger made contact with the controls, Kaylee narrowed her eyes and kept her sights on her Nav readings, hoping- praying- that all their hard work would pay off. The time dilation of the rupture was having its full effect, as the Malinche approached it quicker. This would work, or it wouldn't.

Kaylee kept her hands steady on her own controls, with baited breath.

Alexis never turned her attention away from the console. She wanted to keep a constant eye on it in case something terrible happened. She could feel the tension in the room.

<Torpedo Bay>

Peters heard the distinctive whooping howl of the torpedo launching from somewhere forward of the torpedo bay and knew that he was out of time. Whatever preparations he’d made would have to be enough. Taking a deep breath, he braced himself against the console with one hand and kept the other free to work the control panel. “If we’re lucky, there will only be a few bumps… If we’re REALLY lucky it’ll collapse all nice and neat and we won’t feel a thing.”

"Whatever you say," Will muttered, gripping the edge of the console tightly.

<Bridge>

Isabel looked over at her Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer, waiting for the news. It seemed the torpedo was having an effect, but she wanted to have it confirmed before getting too hopeful.

Alexis watched as the blip representing the torpedo sped away from the Malinche and toward the rupture.

“Torpedo should make contact in…five…four…three…two…one….” She announced to the Bridge. The explosion was bright and the rift swallowed it up like a whirlpool sucking in white light. “Sensors indicate wave intensity from the rift is dropping. Also, wave emissions are stable...we're getting a controlled collapse, Captain. The rift is closing.”

OFF: JP brought to you by:

Ensign Lauren Kaylee
Flight Control Officer

and

Lieutenant JG Alexis Rho
Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer

and

Lieutenant JG Will Schulz
Chief Operations Officer

and

Lieutenant Todd Peters
Chief Engineering Officer

and

Lieutenant Jason Barrett
Executive Officer

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Captain Isabel Kersare
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USS Malinche NCC-38997-A

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Re: Mission 12: When In Rome

Post: # 2605Post Hawkins
Sun Jul 19, 2009 8:18 am

<Communications Array Control, 1020, MD04>

The shuddering and shaking from the rift had stopped several minutes ago and Yana had felt his stomach settle, but at the same time he was anxious to escape his current situation and check in with the others, but as it stood fate had other things in mind.

He had received the call from one of the search teams about 5 minutes ago and had then made his way over; by the time he arrived the medical teams had placed the Doctor on a gurney and seemed to be preparing to move him.

“Report...” he said to team who found Cullen.

“From what we can gather he was in here when we first encountered the rift, it would appear the turbulence caused him to collide with the bulkhead...” The ensign giving the report pointed to a spot on the wall that had a small splatter of blood and then to the small pool on the floor where the Doctor had fallen.

“Is he going to be ok?” Yana asked the Medic.

They spoke without looking up from the tricorder, “Too early to say, he had a nasty bang, we’re now taking him to sick bay”

“Ok, I’ll inform the Captain” Yana replied then gestured for the medics to leave with the gurney.

He was confused, why would Cullen be in the communications array control room, even if someone else was controlling him it made no sense, the communications array wasn’t part of their plan, there was no need for any of them to be in here....

“Any idea what he was doing in here?” Yana asked the Ensign again.

“No sir, it appears he was knocked down before he did anything.” Came the reply.

“Hmmm” Yana mused quietly, he didn’t like this. “Ensign, re-secure this area then return to your duties, I’ll head to inform the Captain. The rest of you are dismissed.”

Everyone acknowledged the order and Yana started towards the nearest turbolift, they may have found the good Doctor, but he still seemed to be left with more questions than answers, he needed to talk to Alex and Eldon...
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Re: Mission 12: When In Rome

Post: # 2606Post Kaylee
Sun Jul 19, 2009 9:36 pm

<BRIDGE, 1020, MD04>

The torpedo arched away from the stern of the Malinche. The viewscreen depicted the flare of the torpedo rocketing towards the subspace rupture. With an incandescent explosion, the munition detnotated within the rift.

Kaylee's eyes squinted momentarily, the viewscreen quickly adapted and filtered out the harsh light. As she checked her monitors, Kaylee heard Rho's assessment, which mirrored the readings Kaylee was too, now reading on her own monitor:

“Sensors indicate wave intensity from the rift is dropping. Also, wave emissions are stable...we're getting a controlled collapse, Captain. The rift is closing."

Kaylee heard this, and the readings backed up, that now was the time to get the ship to safety. "Navconn confirms, bearing to heading 117 mark 12 mark 401." Kaylee executed the command that she had prior inputted into her console.

The Malinche responded, veering away from the closing rift, now flying free from the gravitational pull. She flew straight and true.

Kaylee's fingers flew across the board. She brought the ship up to half impluse drive. "Impulse stable," she announced, concentrating on her drive readings. "Pressure steady...Distance increasing...We're pull'n away from rift, Captain!"
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Re: Mission 12: When In Rome

Post: # 2608Post Kersare
Mon Jul 20, 2009 8:16 pm

<<Bridge, 1028, Day 4>>

Once Lauren confirmed that they were safely free from the pull of the now-closed subspace rupture, Isabel leaned back in her chair, relieved. Well, maybe not totally relieved, she mused, frowning. There was still the fact that her Chief Medical Officer was missing, not to mention the disturbing possibility that some members of her crew - perhaps even her Senior Staff - could be possessed.

Isabel tapped at the console buttons next to her, bringing up critical stats on the shields and various other systems. The shields were down to 64%, they'd lost a reactor, and system efficiencies were no longer at their peak. Operations and Engineering would have their hands full...not that that was any different from the rest of the mission.

Addressing the Flight Control Officer, she said, “Ensign Kaylee, resume our course to Ivor Prime, Warp 5. Engage when ready.”

Hearing the young woman’s confirmation, Isabel then turned her attention to Aaron and Alexis, “I want Science and Intel to watch out for any more anomalies. I don’t want to be caught off guard and sucked into another one if we can avoid it. Ms. Rho, I believe Mr. Grayson had begun investigating reports from other ships that have gone through this area; see if any of them mention other anomalies that could affect us.”

She turned to Jason, “Mr. Barrett, you have the bridge. I need to check on a few things.”

After seeing her Executive Officer nod, Isabel headed for the turbolift. Stepping inside, she turned around and, once the doors closed, announced, “Deck 8.”

Perhaps a trip to Stellar Cartography would give her a chance to clear her mind. Then she had a few stops to make.

OFF: Tag Kaylee, Rho, Barrett, etc
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Re: Mission 12: When In Rome

Post: # 2610Post Anderson
Mon Jul 20, 2009 11:35 pm

OFF: This is a backpost
ON:
<<Ready Room, 0947, Day 4>>

Ventru sighed and walked into the room holding the padd as if it were the most important thing.

“I bear bad news. It appears for some reason whatever is going on with this crew has affected me. I was on my way here when I lost my memory. I was lucky enough to be able to retrace my steps when I didn’t realize where I was. I went back to sickbay and had scans run. I find it weird. If it wasn’t for this padd I would have suffered from loss again. I had no idea why I was coming to the bridge,” she reported. She hated this and wondered how long she would have to pretend to be this Emily.

Isabel had been surprised to see her new Medical Officer, Emily, come into her Ready Room. As she listened to what the young woman had to say, she frowned. Someone else with memory loss, not a good sign. "Is this the first time you've exhibited the symptoms?"

"Yes this is the first time. I can't believe this is happening."

"What about the other symptoms we've seen from the crew?" Isabel was liking this less and less. They couldn't find the Chief Medical Officer and now someone else from Medical was likely being affected by...whatever was going on.

"I had a headache earlier. That's it though nothing else," she said doing her best to be this Anderson woman. She thought she was doing a bang up job.

Nodding, Isabel said, "What's the last thing you remember? Where there new cases to report?"

"I'm the most recent that I know of. If there are any more the nurse will inform me," she said wondering how long she could get information from this woman's memory before it changed on her.

Isabel sat back in her chair slightly. This was certainly unsettling. "Any word from Doctor Cullen?"

"I've heard nothing about him yet. Hopefully he will be found soon," she said showing some worry over the lost doctor.

"Well, I have Lieutenant JG Hawkins and some of the others from Security looking for him. He's definitely somewhere on the ship, so I'm sure they'll find him at some point," Isabel replied.

"Good. I hope he is alright. The sooner we find him the faster we can treat any injuries if he has any," she said wondering which one had taken him and to where.

Isabel's eyes focused on the PADD Emily was carrying, and motioned towards it, "Is there something you needed to tell me?" If there was, she sincerely hoped it wouldn't be further bad news. Isabel had had enough of that to last her a long while. Hopefully they'd at least be out of the pull of the rupture soon. That would be one less thing on her mind.

"Only thing on this padd is my latest scans of memory loss. The nurse scanned me when I first had problems," she said feeling nervous. She did her best to hide it. ~Curse this human body. Is it going to give me away?~ Ventru thought hoping this woman couldn't read thoughts.

Nodding, Isabel asked, "Did you notice anything odd in the scans?"

"They mirror the others with symptoms who have been scanned. I'm not one hundred percent sure why they are the same, but this doesn't look good," she said trying to sound professional then.

She wasn't overly surprised at Emily's response. "Well, I believe Ms. Zeral is compiling a list of those with symptoms. I'd appreciate it if you would stop down and see her sometime this morning. She can also clear you for duty."

"Clear me for duty? Is that really necessary captain? I'm not insane. I will see her though for that list," she said wondering what was going on. ~Drats I get the one who can't read people's minds. I have to choose better.~ She thought.

"Yes, I'm afraid it is. Everyone with the symptoms is getting cleared for duty. I'll let her know to expect you," Isabel replied, offering a smile. "Try not to worry, I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of all this."

"Yes, I'm sure we will and soon," she said at a loss for words.

Isabel smiled, "Anything else I can do for you Ensign?"

"No captain," she said and took that to mean she could be dismissed. She left to go see what this Zeral could give her.


JP With

Captain Isabel Kersare
Commanding Officer

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Re: Mission 12: When In Rome

Post: # 2612Post Kaylee
Tue Jul 21, 2009 7:33 pm

ON

<<Location: Bridge, 1028, MD04>>


The tremors had significantly subsided now that the subspace fissure was closing, knitting itself shut again.

Kaylee kept her fingers on the controls, steering the Malinche towards clear space. Seeing that the EPS conduits were relatively unharmed by the anomoly, she pushed the Prometheus-class up to Full Impulse. She was glad to hear the steady thrum of the engines reverberating through the hull. It was a sound that she had grown up with on the Zephyr; so constant, so soothing- and so vital.

Her thoughts were broken by the voice of Kersare behind in the Captain's chair:
Addressing the Flight Control Officer, she said, “Ensign Kaylee, resume our course to Ivor Prime, Warp 5. Engage when ready.

Kaylee nodded.
She brought up the Conn's navcomputer. Accessed stellar charts and astrogation. Plotted their course for Ivor Prime. Kaylee double checked the equations and formulas for their speed and trajectory. On a ship so advanced as the Malinche it was a task that was unnecessary, but it was rountine computation that she performed on the older Zephyr- and it never paid to be careful.
"Aye Captain, engaging Warp engines."


While she was doing this, Kaylee heard Kersare mention to Aaron and Alexis: “I want Science and Intel to watch out for any more anomalies. I don’t want to be caught off guard and sucked into another one if we can avoid it..."


Once the Captain had left the Bridge, Kaylee turned in her seat and gave the Science and Intel officers a meek smile. "You'll be sure to forward any of your scans to the conn, right?"

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Re: Mission 12: When In Rome

Post: # 2613Post Peters
Fri Jul 24, 2009 5:02 pm

ON: <USS Malinche, Outside forward torpedo bay, Day 4, 1030>

Peters had been very relieved at how anti-climactic that actual escape from the subspace fissure had been. While he'd had all systems prepared for heavy power drains in case the pull from the fissure had fluctuated as it collapsed, Peters had really had no idea what to expect. As far as he knew, no Federation ship had ever successfully used a pulse torpedo to disrupt a fissure of that type. He might need to make a recommendation to the Corps of Engineers and the ASDB that they start stocking 1 or 2 warheads with the modifications already made on every Federation ship operating in this region. That would likely raise the survivability of these types of encounters, since the next ship wouldn't have to build the warhead from scratch, only tune it to best disrupt whatever anomaly they came across.

The anomaly itself had collapsed more smoothly than Peters had thought possible, with barely a tremor felt aboard the Malinche. The extra power from Fusion Reactor 3 had certainly helped pull them out of the danger zone quickly, but Peters had still expected at least a couple of bumps. But, he wasn't one to go around looking gift horses in the mouth without reason. Now if they could just avoid any more systems failures, he could probably get some rest today.

Peters nearly jumped as the chirp of his commbadge knocked him out of his reflections and back into the real world. "C'Eltor to Peters, we've got a problem."

Peters tapped his commbadge and responded. "I didn't authorize any problems."

"Neither did I," came the quick response. "But we're trying to shut down reactor 3 so we can start tearing it open for overhaul. It's isolated from the EPS grid, but it won't acknowledge shut down."

Shit! Peters thought. "Readings?"

"Stable for the moment, but I don't expect that to hold for long," C'Eltor replied. Peters could hear the urgency in her tone now that he was listening for it. "And I don't want to have to explain a giant hole in the ship to the Captain if it goes critical."

"Keep trying, I'm on my way," Peters answered as he broke into yet another sprint through the corridors. For once, no one was slow getting out of his way. He was making far too much of a habit of these high-speed trips through the ship.

OFF:
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Re: Mission 12: When In Rome

Post: # 2614Post Rho
Fri Jul 24, 2009 5:13 pm

Things seemed to go off without a hitch. The rupture was closing and the Malinche was moving away. Alexis tapped a few controls just to make sure nothing unexpected was happening.

When she turned back around to the viewscreen, she heard the Captain say, “I want Science and Intel to watch out for any more anomalies. I don’t want to be caught off guard and sucked into another one if we can avoid it. Ms. Rho, I believe Mr. Grayson had begun investigating reports from other ships that have gone through this area; see if any of them mention other anomalies that could affect us.”

“Aye, Ma’am,” replied Alexis. Alexis turned back around to check the scan results as Captain Kersare headed for the turbolift. As far as she could tell, it looked fine.

Once the Captain had left the Bridge, Kaylee turned in her seat and gave the Science and Intel officers a meek smile. "You'll be sure to forward any of your scans to the conn, right?"

“Yes,” she answered Kaylee. Alexis then proceeded to an empty turbolift. “Deck 2,” she said as the doors closed.

Seconds later, the doors opened. It was a short ride to the Intel office from where she was…just down one deck. As she walked through the corridor, she noticed someone coming up behind her. Without missing a beat, or a step, Alexis asked, “Ensign Derrin (NPC) what can I do for you?”

“You know you freak me out when you do that, Ma’am,” answered Derrin. He jogged a little bit to catch up with her.

“That’s the whole point, Ensign,” said Alexis. “It keeps you on your toes.” Alexis kept walking and said nothing else.

“I take it we’re free of the subspace rupture?” Derrin asked.

“Yes.”

“Then on to Ivor Prime.”

“Yes, and to the Office to assist Lt. Grayson. The Captain doesn’t want to be caught off guard again. We’re to help investigate reports from other ships that have passed through this area.” Alexis never mentioned anything to Ensign Derrin about helping. She just, in her own way, told him he would.

There wasn’t much more conversation between them until they entered the Intel office. “Sickbay stitch up that cut from the last shake down pretty good?” Alexis asked.

“I never said…,” started Derrin.

“I know…toes, Ensign, toes. Looks like there’s a stack of PADD’s over there. Get started on those and I’ll take these,” said Alexis.

“What are we looking for?” asked Ensign Derrin.

“Anything relevant to any kind of anomaly in the Expanse. Then, note the location and what happened to the ship and crew. If it seems important enough tell me and I’ll notify Lt. Grayson. Otherwise, just make a list.”
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Re: Mission 12: When In Rome

Post: # 2615Post Hawkins
Sun Jul 26, 2009 7:56 am

<Turbolift, 1050, MD04>

The turbolift hummed as it set off, Yana had just been on the bridge informing the Captain about the discovery of Cullen, as he stood in the turbolift his mind was still occupied with trying to work out that had happened, why would the doctor be in the comm array. He knew he was trying to avoid thinking the obvious, he didn’t want to believe someone he knew would jeopardise the mission like that.

As the turbolift slowed Yana wondered where he might be able to find Alex, he knew that while he was on the bridge it was clear the ship was once again underway and with the rupture successfully sealed it was time for them to get back to work on what they were sent here to do.

Yana racked his mind trying to think of the man’s name, he then racked Jacks mind and came across it.

“Computer, where is Caleb Corrin?”

A second later the computers voice replied and directed him towards main engineering a second before the doors opened Yana issued new orders to the lift and it once again set off towards main engineering. He knew that engineering would still be a hive of activity, it always was, hopefully he could slip in and get the attention of Alex without being noticed...


<Meanwhile>

Jack blinked, it was bright, he squinted as he struggled to his feet and stumbled slightly as he final got up. His eyes started to adjust and he looked around, not that there was much to see, everything was white for as far as the eye could see, just an endless, still, featureless white expanse.

He turned, looking behind him and to the sides, there was nothing, just a void.

Jack stood there, alone and unsure where he was, a single spec in space.

“Oh shit...”
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Lieutenant Jonathan "Jack" Hawkins
Acting Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B

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