<<USS Malinche, Zeral's Office, 1125, Day 4>>
Having taken a moment to collect her thoughts, Nora was determined not to waste any more time with the task at hand, daunting though it may be. Tapping her commbadge, she clearly stated, "Zeral to Ensign Rho. Do you have a few moments to meet me in my office?"
<<USS Malinche, Intel Office, 1119, Day 4>>
Lt. Rho and Ensign Derrin (NPC) had been going through PADD’s for quite a while. “Here you go,” said Derrin, as he handed Lt. Rho one PADD. “I’ve compiled a list of all the anomalies and their locations from my stack.”
“Thank you,” said Alexis. She took the PADD and read through its contents. From what she learned on the Bridge, it appeared that maybe two of the anomalies would be close enough to their exit course to cause some minor effects. Maybe it would only be a slight course adjustment and not affect their ETA at Ivor Prime much she thought. That’s something left better left for the Bridge crew. She marked those and began to combine it with her list. Only one stood out and it seemed to fall into the category of spatial disturbance. Again, something for Steele to confirm.
Now, it was time to get with Lt. Grayson and give him the preliminary results of her research and then compare it with Lt. Steele’s. Alexis tapped her combadge, “Lt. Rho to Lt. Grayson.”
Quiet.
“Lt. Rho to Lt. Grayson,” she repeated.
Quiet.
Odd, she thought. “Oh well, things have been odd for quite some time. Maybe he’s pre-occupied. Then her commbadge chirped, "Zeral to Ensign Rho. Do you have a few moments to meet me in my office?"
I hope this isn't a follow-up, Alexis thought. She tapped the communicator, "Rho, here. Yes, I can be there now, if you need."
“Excellent, I’ll see you shortly. Zeral out.”
Alexis put the PADD in a drawer near her. "This will have to wait until later," she muttered as she headed out the door.
With Ensign Rho on her way, Nora decided to see to her mountain of PADDs while she had a free moment. Not only was her cluttered desk growing out of control, but she needed something to do with her hands while she concentrated on the work still ahead. By the time the doorchime rang, she almost had her office looking presentable. “Come in,” she called, turning to welcome Alexis inside.
Alexis walked in and stood in front of Nora’s desk. It was tidier than it had been earlier.
“Thank you for coming on such short notice,” Nora smiled, inviting her with a gesture of her arm to take a seat. “I have good news and bad news. The good news is that this visit has nothing to do with psych evals of any sort. But the bad news is…” she paused, unsure how to explain the situation succinctly. “Do you recall how you told me about the attempted invasion you felt, how it almost felt like a free-floating mind or soul?”
Alexis sat in the chair Nora offered. She was a little skittish as her back was to everything in the office including the door. She allowed a small smile to creep across her lips; no follow-up. However, the smile faded seconds later. “Yes, I remember it very well…the conversation and the attempted invasion. Is there a problem?” She went from casual to concern. If there was a problem, she wasn’t about to let her guard down at all.
"To be perfectly frank, yes. There's not really an easy way to explain all of this, but I'll do the best I can. Your comments as well as some research I did on my own led me to believe that we might be dealing with issues of possession onboard the ship. After sharing my thoughts with the Captain and putting the theory to the test, we are now convinced that we do indeed have ship-wide possessions by unknown entities. There are at least two crewmembers that I've met with personally that I'm sure are possessed, and we have reason to believe there are more."
Alexis sat, taking it all in. Possessions by unknown entities…. Her thoughts trailed off for a second. That would explain a lot. She looked back to Nora.
Tapping her fingers restlessly on the chair's armrests, Nora paused a moment before continuing. "We need to find out what the entities want. Seeing as you're Ullian and a powerful telepath yourself, I was hoping you could help me question a possessed crewmember." She smiled weakly at this, aware of how strange it all sounded. "It seems our telepathy either makes us immune to these possessions or at least gives us more of a fighting chance. Either way, time is of the essence, and if you're willing to help, I'd like to call the crewmember in to question as soon as possible."
Alexis grinned. The sly look on her face may have betrayed her, but it didn’t matter. The opportunity was at her fingertips to delve into her old job…one that she liked very well. “I love fighting chances,” she said, “especially if I’m the one fighting. I would be glad to help. If you didn’t know, my old assignment was a Psionics Specialist. I was basically the chief interrogator for the Intel Department. I say that to ask this…” Alexis leaned forward, hands on Nora’s desk. “…how far do you want to go into his mind?” The sly grin never left her face.
Alexis's enthusiasm was somewhat infectious and Nora found herself smiling wryly in return. "I'm glad you're an expert in these things. I counsel people, not interrogate them if I can help it. All the same, I'm hoping that we won't have to use telepathy to gain answers if at all possible. The Betazoids have a code against intruding upon one's mind uninvited, as I mentioned before. Ideally, I'd like to think that once we confront him with what we know, he'll be willing to talk without any other...measures having to be taken. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens."
“I understand. I will restrain myself as much as possible.” As much as Alexis desired the other, mostly due to one of them trying to get into her mind and body, she would hold back…until ordered. After all, she was the junior officer.
It was time to ‘open her bag of tricks’ mentally and see what she had available. “So, Nora, how do we get him to where we want him?”
"By using the old counselor trick, of course," Nora grinned conspiratorially. "I'm going to call him into my office for a follow-up to an impromptu psych eval I gave him this morning. Once he's comfortable, I intend to simply tell him that I know he isn't who he says he is and we can question him from there."
“Sounds good to me. You want me off in the shadows or in another room until he’s in and seated? Just so he’s not alerted to anything suspicious. I mean, having an Intel officer standing nearby might spook him. No pun intended.” She smiled.
"I hadn't thought of that," Nora admitted. "So long as you're not standing in plain sight, armed and dangerous when he steps in, I think we'll be fine. I doubt he'll be expecting two of us." Or at least she fervently hoped he wouldn't.
“Alright.” Alexis had already decided how she would start off. She changed her countenance, voice, and movements to fit the Femme Fatale title she had earned in Intel Ops School. Suddenly, the rigid Intel officer was gone and a relaxed lounge singer stood in her place. Her intentions were not to charm Caleb into complacency, but the savage beast inhabiting his mind and body. If she sensed any desire, she would act on that and try to get him headed in that direction.
Noting Alexis's change in demeanor, Nora raised a brow bemusedly but said nothing. She was relieved to have her help questioning Caleb, especially since she seemed to have a better grasp of how to proceed should things grow out of hand. Trained psychologist and daughter of peace-loving diplomats that she was, Nora couldn't help but hope that no drastic measures would have to be taken at all, but that wasn't to say she couldn't be practical about the situation.
"If you're ready, Alexis, I'll invite him to my office now."
Alexis nodded and stepped back a little so that he might not see her when he entered. She smiled, “Let’s hit it.”
OFF
This JP brought to you by:
Lieutenant JG Alexis Rho
Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer
and
Mission 12: When In Rome
Moderators: Tournneau, Korath, Kersare
Re: Mission 12: When In Rome
Commander Nora Zeral
Executive Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
-
Peters
- Senior Staff
- Posts: 202
- Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2006 2:17 pm
- Location: Space, the final frontier...
- Contact:
Re: Mission 12: When In Rome
ON: <Fusion Reactor 3, Day 4, 1115 hours>
Peters wiped his sleeve across his forehead to keep the sweat from dripping into his eyes as the alarm klaxon that had been blaring for the last 45 minutes faded into silence. They'd finally locked down the core after figuring out that some of the control circuits had been fried by the brief reaction of matter and anti-matter in the reactor chamber. That was good, because if the reactor hadn't been shut down it could have overloaded the remaining shielding around the chamber and caused a very large boom.
Had the engineering crew not been able to shut the reactor down before the shielding situation became critical they'd have had to eject the unit, which was a very messy proposition involving very quickly moving the reactor out of its usual position and sending it flying down a maintenance shaft and out through a hole in the hull opened by blowing off one of the hull plates. And Peters really didn't want to have to explain to Captain Kersare why he'd put a hole in her ship... at least not while he was this tired.
Wiping his forehead again, Peters started heading for the door while the Impulse System Specialists started the long process of taking the reactor half-way apart so they could replace the damaged components and shielding, and then put it back together. He heard one of the engineers call out as he passed, "Where you headed, chief?"
"Bed," Peters replied, "By way of food." OK, so it didn't stand as one of the better responses grammatically or in terms of wit, but it got the point across. Hopefully once he finally made it to his quarters, if he made it to his quarters awake, no one would bother him for the next three days or so.
OFF:
Peters wiped his sleeve across his forehead to keep the sweat from dripping into his eyes as the alarm klaxon that had been blaring for the last 45 minutes faded into silence. They'd finally locked down the core after figuring out that some of the control circuits had been fried by the brief reaction of matter and anti-matter in the reactor chamber. That was good, because if the reactor hadn't been shut down it could have overloaded the remaining shielding around the chamber and caused a very large boom.
Had the engineering crew not been able to shut the reactor down before the shielding situation became critical they'd have had to eject the unit, which was a very messy proposition involving very quickly moving the reactor out of its usual position and sending it flying down a maintenance shaft and out through a hole in the hull opened by blowing off one of the hull plates. And Peters really didn't want to have to explain to Captain Kersare why he'd put a hole in her ship... at least not while he was this tired.
Wiping his forehead again, Peters started heading for the door while the Impulse System Specialists started the long process of taking the reactor half-way apart so they could replace the damaged components and shielding, and then put it back together. He heard one of the engineers call out as he passed, "Where you headed, chief?"
"Bed," Peters replied, "By way of food." OK, so it didn't stand as one of the better responses grammatically or in terms of wit, but it got the point across. Hopefully once he finally made it to his quarters, if he made it to his quarters awake, no one would bother him for the next three days or so.
OFF:
Tony
AKA
Lieutenant Commander Todd Peters
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
-
Peters
- Senior Staff
- Posts: 202
- Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2006 2:17 pm
- Location: Space, the final frontier...
- Contact:
Re: Mission 12: When In Rome
ON: <Mess Hall, Day 4, 1130>
Peters entered the mess hall and went straight to the replicator to order a large mug of coffee. After taking a large gulp he proceeded to order a ham and cheese sandwich with fries. As soon as it appeared Peters took the tray and found a table near the window.
Davis entered the hall and saw Peters sitting near the window. He went over the replicator and ordered a hazelnut latte along with a bacon ranch salad. When his food and drink appeared, he grabbed his tray and headed in Peters' direction. "Mind if I join you, Chief?"
"Please," Peters replied before taking another swig of his coffee. "How have you been settling in?"
Davis sat down and sighed deeply, but smiled afterward. "It's a lot harder than I thought, but I settling in really good," Davis said as he took a bite of his salad.
"I'd like to tell you that the last couple of days aren't typical for this ship," Peters began, "But I'd be lying. Sometimes I'm surprised that I'm surprised by what happens on this ship."
Davis grinned and took a drink of his latte. "I can honestly say that I was surprised that the past couple days have been hectic. I don't think I've been able to get a decent amount of sleep," Davis said, "That's why I have this latte. Full of espresso to keep me going." Davis smiled widely and took another sip.
Peters raised his over-sized mug of coffee. "This is keeping me awake for another 20 minutes until I can get to my bed and sleep. My stomach demanded satisfaction first, though."
Davis nodded. "I don't blame you, Chief." He took another bite of his salad and washed it down with another gulp of his latte. "So, what is the game plan, so to speak? Is there anything you need me to do while you are resting?"
"Well," Peters said after swallowing a bite of sandwich, "All the excitement has put us behind on some of our routine maintenance. Could you make sure someone checks on the EPS conduits in section 3 on Deck 4?"
"Will do, Chief," Davis replied as he finished his latte. "I'll be heading back to Engineering after my meal. You, on the other hand, look like you've been up for eons." Davis laughed as he took another bite of his salad.
"No... only.... I've lost count," Peters said. He finished off his fries before continuing. "But that will be remedied soon... Barring Murphy having another laugh at my expense."
Davis shook his head, laughing lightly, "Well, all that I can say is that you must have one heck of a stamina level. You remind me of my father, Chief." Davis looked out the window and gave a warm smile. "The man was always up for no less than 36 hours at a time."
Peters shook his head. "A combination of coffee, panic, and catnaps caught in various crew lounges and briefing rooms around the ship. I promise you, most of the time I'm merely human and prefer to sleep at least 8 hours a night."
Davis chuckled at Peters' remark. "Well, if things keep going the way they are, I might wind up like you," Davis said as he finished his salad. "Not that it would be a bad thing, I mean, heck I would love to run Engineering on my own one day."
"You'll get there. Maybe you'll be lucky and get assigned to a ship where things run like they're supposed to." Peters shrugged and finished off his sandwich.
"Well, I don't want to leave this ship anytime soon. I've heard too many good things about the Malinche," Davis said as he wiped his mouth. "Even if things get worse, which I hope doesn't happen anytime soon, I want to be here to help."
"Well," Peters said, saluting Davis with his coffee mug before downing the last of the coffee in it, "welcome to the nuthouse. I'd stay and chat, but I'm getting to the point where the caffeine only works as long as I'm ingesting more of it."
Davis laughed and saluted back to Peters. "Caffeine only works for so long in a day. I've experimented with it," Davis said as he discarded his tray. "I'll head on back to Engineering with your request to check the EPS conduits on Deck 4. Do I ask anyone or is there a person who specializes in checking those?"
"Lieutenant C'Eltor is the expert on those systems. She'll either do it or she'll know who to delegate it to." Peters stood. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Chief." Davis said as he saluted Peters one last time. "Before we parts ways, is there anything in particular you would like for me to do after I find someone to check the conduits?"
"Just make sure everything's going alright with the tear-down on Impulse Reactor Three," Peters answered. "I'll probably be back in Engineering sometime this evening."
"Will do." Davis said with a smile. "Now, I know this may sound like an order," Davis said with a laugh, "but, you go get some sleep before you wind up falling asleep where you stand."
"Yes sir," Peters quipped with a smile. Turning, he headed out the door and turned towards the nearest turbolift. Sleep was definitely the next order of business."
Davis smiled, shook his head, and headed back to Engineering to resume his duties and fulfill Peters' requests.
OFF:
This has been a Joint Post with:
Ensign James Davis
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B
Peters entered the mess hall and went straight to the replicator to order a large mug of coffee. After taking a large gulp he proceeded to order a ham and cheese sandwich with fries. As soon as it appeared Peters took the tray and found a table near the window.
Davis entered the hall and saw Peters sitting near the window. He went over the replicator and ordered a hazelnut latte along with a bacon ranch salad. When his food and drink appeared, he grabbed his tray and headed in Peters' direction. "Mind if I join you, Chief?"
"Please," Peters replied before taking another swig of his coffee. "How have you been settling in?"
Davis sat down and sighed deeply, but smiled afterward. "It's a lot harder than I thought, but I settling in really good," Davis said as he took a bite of his salad.
"I'd like to tell you that the last couple of days aren't typical for this ship," Peters began, "But I'd be lying. Sometimes I'm surprised that I'm surprised by what happens on this ship."
Davis grinned and took a drink of his latte. "I can honestly say that I was surprised that the past couple days have been hectic. I don't think I've been able to get a decent amount of sleep," Davis said, "That's why I have this latte. Full of espresso to keep me going." Davis smiled widely and took another sip.
Peters raised his over-sized mug of coffee. "This is keeping me awake for another 20 minutes until I can get to my bed and sleep. My stomach demanded satisfaction first, though."
Davis nodded. "I don't blame you, Chief." He took another bite of his salad and washed it down with another gulp of his latte. "So, what is the game plan, so to speak? Is there anything you need me to do while you are resting?"
"Well," Peters said after swallowing a bite of sandwich, "All the excitement has put us behind on some of our routine maintenance. Could you make sure someone checks on the EPS conduits in section 3 on Deck 4?"
"Will do, Chief," Davis replied as he finished his latte. "I'll be heading back to Engineering after my meal. You, on the other hand, look like you've been up for eons." Davis laughed as he took another bite of his salad.
"No... only.... I've lost count," Peters said. He finished off his fries before continuing. "But that will be remedied soon... Barring Murphy having another laugh at my expense."
Davis shook his head, laughing lightly, "Well, all that I can say is that you must have one heck of a stamina level. You remind me of my father, Chief." Davis looked out the window and gave a warm smile. "The man was always up for no less than 36 hours at a time."
Peters shook his head. "A combination of coffee, panic, and catnaps caught in various crew lounges and briefing rooms around the ship. I promise you, most of the time I'm merely human and prefer to sleep at least 8 hours a night."
Davis chuckled at Peters' remark. "Well, if things keep going the way they are, I might wind up like you," Davis said as he finished his salad. "Not that it would be a bad thing, I mean, heck I would love to run Engineering on my own one day."
"You'll get there. Maybe you'll be lucky and get assigned to a ship where things run like they're supposed to." Peters shrugged and finished off his sandwich.
"Well, I don't want to leave this ship anytime soon. I've heard too many good things about the Malinche," Davis said as he wiped his mouth. "Even if things get worse, which I hope doesn't happen anytime soon, I want to be here to help."
"Well," Peters said, saluting Davis with his coffee mug before downing the last of the coffee in it, "welcome to the nuthouse. I'd stay and chat, but I'm getting to the point where the caffeine only works as long as I'm ingesting more of it."
Davis laughed and saluted back to Peters. "Caffeine only works for so long in a day. I've experimented with it," Davis said as he discarded his tray. "I'll head on back to Engineering with your request to check the EPS conduits on Deck 4. Do I ask anyone or is there a person who specializes in checking those?"
"Lieutenant C'Eltor is the expert on those systems. She'll either do it or she'll know who to delegate it to." Peters stood. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Chief." Davis said as he saluted Peters one last time. "Before we parts ways, is there anything in particular you would like for me to do after I find someone to check the conduits?"
"Just make sure everything's going alright with the tear-down on Impulse Reactor Three," Peters answered. "I'll probably be back in Engineering sometime this evening."
"Will do." Davis said with a smile. "Now, I know this may sound like an order," Davis said with a laugh, "but, you go get some sleep before you wind up falling asleep where you stand."
"Yes sir," Peters quipped with a smile. Turning, he headed out the door and turned towards the nearest turbolift. Sleep was definitely the next order of business."
Davis smiled, shook his head, and headed back to Engineering to resume his duties and fulfill Peters' requests.
OFF:
This has been a Joint Post with:
Ensign James Davis
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B
Tony
AKA
Lieutenant Commander Todd Peters
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
Re: Mission 12: When In Rome
ON: <<Main Bridge, USS Malinche, MD04, 1130>>
Will looked over at the young woman seated at the helm station next to him. He'd already started a diagnostic of the navigational sensors, but what he was seeing was interesting already. "When was the last time the navigation sensors were calibrated," he asked her out of curiosity.
Kaylee accessed the Flight Control logs. "According to this, 4 days ago, just before we left Starbase, the Nav computers synched with the latest Starfleet data patches for the area: updates to compensate for stellar drift." She looked at Shultz. "I don't know if we'll be able to recalibrate them right now though, sir. The way this rogue algorithm is tangled through the Command Processors, they could be just as out of alignment as navigational bearings."
"Hmm...your probably right," Will said, tapping a few commands in and watching the results on his display, "Whoever did this wanted to make sure we didn't notice. It is very possible that they would have found a way to prevent us from correcting the malfunction so easily."
Kaylee slowly shook her head, looking at the sheer complexity of the algorithm that was elluding them. "Well, we may not know which way we're pointing, but atleast we've got the engines stopped, so we ain't goin' no-where." She looked at the coding once more. "I've never seen coding so complex. What about you? Do you know anyone who would possibly have written this onboard?"
"I have a few people in mind," Will said, mentally going over a possible list. To be honest, it was more than a few. Any of the senior engineers or operations personnel could have had the access and the know-how to do something like this.
Kaylee gave the coding one more thorough read through. "Well, with a bit of trawling through this coding, we may be able to find its point of origin, find out where and when it was deposited into the system. Could take some time."
Will was so busy watching the readouts on his console that he almost didn't hear the young flight controller. "Hmm...sorry," he said, "Take time...right. Yeah, I think we'll want to run a complete diagnostic on the navigational array. In the meantime, we should probably find a way to get us back on course."
Kaylee nodded. "Complete diagnostic," she repeated. "Yeah sure, we could run a Level One diagnostic on the array- could take up to 2 hours though, and Conn would have to be offline during that. We'd better clear it with the XO first before we take it offline."
"Sounds like a plan," Will said, "Which would you rather do? Tell the XO or start the diagnostic?" Technically, as the senior officer, it was Will who should be telling the XO, but he always liked to be polite.
Kaylee took one last glance of the complexity of the coding. She gave a small sigh. "Probably best if you do it," She smiled. "You're the Operations Officer, and you know coding better than I. I can stay here and gett started on trying to retriangulate our bearings; get us back on course."
"Right," Will said, sliding out of his station and allowing a crewman to take his place, "This shouldn't take too long." He hoped the statement would be true, but first, he had a list of people to visit.
OFF
A JP by
Ensign Lauren Kaylee
Flight Control Officer
USS Malinche
and
Will looked over at the young woman seated at the helm station next to him. He'd already started a diagnostic of the navigational sensors, but what he was seeing was interesting already. "When was the last time the navigation sensors were calibrated," he asked her out of curiosity.
Kaylee accessed the Flight Control logs. "According to this, 4 days ago, just before we left Starbase, the Nav computers synched with the latest Starfleet data patches for the area: updates to compensate for stellar drift." She looked at Shultz. "I don't know if we'll be able to recalibrate them right now though, sir. The way this rogue algorithm is tangled through the Command Processors, they could be just as out of alignment as navigational bearings."
"Hmm...your probably right," Will said, tapping a few commands in and watching the results on his display, "Whoever did this wanted to make sure we didn't notice. It is very possible that they would have found a way to prevent us from correcting the malfunction so easily."
Kaylee slowly shook her head, looking at the sheer complexity of the algorithm that was elluding them. "Well, we may not know which way we're pointing, but atleast we've got the engines stopped, so we ain't goin' no-where." She looked at the coding once more. "I've never seen coding so complex. What about you? Do you know anyone who would possibly have written this onboard?"
"I have a few people in mind," Will said, mentally going over a possible list. To be honest, it was more than a few. Any of the senior engineers or operations personnel could have had the access and the know-how to do something like this.
Kaylee gave the coding one more thorough read through. "Well, with a bit of trawling through this coding, we may be able to find its point of origin, find out where and when it was deposited into the system. Could take some time."
Will was so busy watching the readouts on his console that he almost didn't hear the young flight controller. "Hmm...sorry," he said, "Take time...right. Yeah, I think we'll want to run a complete diagnostic on the navigational array. In the meantime, we should probably find a way to get us back on course."
Kaylee nodded. "Complete diagnostic," she repeated. "Yeah sure, we could run a Level One diagnostic on the array- could take up to 2 hours though, and Conn would have to be offline during that. We'd better clear it with the XO first before we take it offline."
"Sounds like a plan," Will said, "Which would you rather do? Tell the XO or start the diagnostic?" Technically, as the senior officer, it was Will who should be telling the XO, but he always liked to be polite.
Kaylee took one last glance of the complexity of the coding. She gave a small sigh. "Probably best if you do it," She smiled. "You're the Operations Officer, and you know coding better than I. I can stay here and gett started on trying to retriangulate our bearings; get us back on course."
"Right," Will said, sliding out of his station and allowing a crewman to take his place, "This shouldn't take too long." He hoped the statement would be true, but first, he had a list of people to visit.
OFF
A JP by
Ensign Lauren Kaylee
Flight Control Officer
USS Malinche
and
Lt. JG Aaron Masterson
Chief Security/Tactical Officer & 2XO
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
Re: Mission 12: When In Rome
<Unknown>
Jack stood there, dumbstruck and trying not to think about the peculiar existential nature of this situation as the old man rose slowly from the chair and walked to the darkened wall, he heard the man flick a switch.
Suddenly two overhead lights turned on with a stereotypical “thunk”, this was followed by another two, then another; the lights came on in sequence heading away from the desk and seemed to keep on going, finally stopping 100 metres away.
Jack snapped out of it and now the room was illuminated he could see it was filled with several rows of filing cabinets, each about 5 feet tall. The old man started walking down one of the aisles without saying a word and Jack followed.
They walked past tired, second hand looking green cabinets, until the old man eventually stopped, checked the label on the front of one of the draws and tugged it open, he then rifled through the papers contained within and eventually pulled out a file.
Jack just watched intently as the man looked through the file, seemingly found the page he was looking for and wrote something on the bit of paper that came down the tube a few minutes before.
“Once we receive a memory request,” The man suddenly said out of the blue, carrying on the explanation from early, “we go and find the relevant file for that memory and send what information we can back via the other pneumatic tube”
The man tidied away the file, closed the cabinet and started walking back, Jack followed.
On the way Jack noticed a something he felt the need to ask about, “How come there are gaps?” He indicated to an area that had a combination of gaps, and a few brand new looking cabinets. “And why are some newer than all the rest?”
“Oh....that....” The man said, becoming somewhat nervous. “Well some time ago some removal men came, said they were under orders to remove some old cabinets and replace them with these new fangled ones...”
“Did they say why?”
“Something about the contents being obsolete, it was must unusual...”
Jack paused, “What was in those cabinets?”
The old man thought for a moment, “All your memories since joining Starfleet through to when you joined the Malinche...”
Jack stood there, dumbstruck and trying not to think about the peculiar existential nature of this situation as the old man rose slowly from the chair and walked to the darkened wall, he heard the man flick a switch.
Suddenly two overhead lights turned on with a stereotypical “thunk”, this was followed by another two, then another; the lights came on in sequence heading away from the desk and seemed to keep on going, finally stopping 100 metres away.
Jack snapped out of it and now the room was illuminated he could see it was filled with several rows of filing cabinets, each about 5 feet tall. The old man started walking down one of the aisles without saying a word and Jack followed.
They walked past tired, second hand looking green cabinets, until the old man eventually stopped, checked the label on the front of one of the draws and tugged it open, he then rifled through the papers contained within and eventually pulled out a file.
Jack just watched intently as the man looked through the file, seemingly found the page he was looking for and wrote something on the bit of paper that came down the tube a few minutes before.
“Once we receive a memory request,” The man suddenly said out of the blue, carrying on the explanation from early, “we go and find the relevant file for that memory and send what information we can back via the other pneumatic tube”
The man tidied away the file, closed the cabinet and started walking back, Jack followed.
On the way Jack noticed a something he felt the need to ask about, “How come there are gaps?” He indicated to an area that had a combination of gaps, and a few brand new looking cabinets. “And why are some newer than all the rest?”
“Oh....that....” The man said, becoming somewhat nervous. “Well some time ago some removal men came, said they were under orders to remove some old cabinets and replace them with these new fangled ones...”
“Did they say why?”
“Something about the contents being obsolete, it was must unusual...”
Jack paused, “What was in those cabinets?”
The old man thought for a moment, “All your memories since joining Starfleet through to when you joined the Malinche...”
Lieutenant Jonathan "Jack" Hawkins
Acting Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B
Re: Mission 12: When In Rome
Bridge, 1131, MD04
ON:
As Will slid out of his seat to go find the XO, Kaylee turned back to the algortihms of the Flight Command Processors. "well," She spoke aloud. "Can't do noth'n bout you until we get that Diagnostic back."
Mentally listing that particuar gruelling task as Priority #2, Kaylee considered what her next job should be:
Priority #1: Finding a way to recaliberate the navigational sensors; retriangulate their position; and get back on the road.
She began to bite her lip. In order to do that, she would have to rely on manually retirangulating Malinche's position through the use of stellar markers, as opposed to letting the computer do the job- since the Command Processors were corrupted. It was a huge task, and she would need some help. Kaylee quickly opened her consoles database, and called up the list of Flight personnel.
"There," she pointed on the screen. The blinking name read "Lt. (JG) Melanie Doram; Astronavigation Specialist."
Kaylee slapped her combadge. "Ens. Kaylee to Lt. Doram."
There was a slight delay, before a voice echoed back from her combadge. "Doram, here."(NPC)
"Lt., I'm going to need your help re-caliberating our position, the old fashioned-way. Are you free to meet me in Stellar Cartography?"
The Specialist(NPC) replied. "No, I'm free. I'll meet you there in about 5 minutes, Ensign."
Kaylee nodded. "Sounds awesome, thanks. Kaylee Out."
Kaylee slid out of her chair, and let a Junior Flight Officer occupy the position before she made for the Turbolift, bound for Stellar Cartography.
OFF:
ON:
As Will slid out of his seat to go find the XO, Kaylee turned back to the algortihms of the Flight Command Processors. "well," She spoke aloud. "Can't do noth'n bout you until we get that Diagnostic back."
Mentally listing that particuar gruelling task as Priority #2, Kaylee considered what her next job should be:
Priority #1: Finding a way to recaliberate the navigational sensors; retriangulate their position; and get back on the road.
She began to bite her lip. In order to do that, she would have to rely on manually retirangulating Malinche's position through the use of stellar markers, as opposed to letting the computer do the job- since the Command Processors were corrupted. It was a huge task, and she would need some help. Kaylee quickly opened her consoles database, and called up the list of Flight personnel.
"There," she pointed on the screen. The blinking name read "Lt. (JG) Melanie Doram; Astronavigation Specialist."
Kaylee slapped her combadge. "Ens. Kaylee to Lt. Doram."
There was a slight delay, before a voice echoed back from her combadge. "Doram, here."(NPC)
"Lt., I'm going to need your help re-caliberating our position, the old fashioned-way. Are you free to meet me in Stellar Cartography?"
The Specialist(NPC) replied. "No, I'm free. I'll meet you there in about 5 minutes, Ensign."
Kaylee nodded. "Sounds awesome, thanks. Kaylee Out."
Kaylee slid out of her chair, and let a Junior Flight Officer occupy the position before she made for the Turbolift, bound for Stellar Cartography.
OFF:
Ensign Lauren Kaylee
Flight Control Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B
-
Davis
- Senior Staff
- Posts: 142
- Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2009 12:20 pm
- Location: Strasburg, Virginia
- Contact:
Re: Mission 12: When In Rome
ON: <Engineering, Day 4, 1215>
The conversation that James had with Chief Engineering Officer Todd Peters, in his mind, would be one he wouldn't forget. It's been a very long time since he had a good conversation with anyone. It's not everyday that James strikes up a conversation with his superiors. The conversation replayed in his mind as he smiled and entered Engineering to complete the chief's requests.
He had met Lieutenant C'Eltor only once during his first assignment on the Malinche as he walked up to her to give out Peters' first order of business.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant C'Eltor?"
"Yes, Ensign Davis?"
Being new to the crew and his new position as Assistant Chief Engineering Officer, he was a little nervous.
"Umm, I was speaking with Lieutenant Peters in the mess hall about some of the things he needed done before his possible return this evening. He needs the EPS conduits checked in Section 3 on Deck 4. He told me that you could do it since you are the expert on those or you would send someone that you knew who could get it done."
C'Eltor replied, "I will send someone to check those. I can't do it at the moment due to my assistance with the tear down of Impulse Reactor 3."
"I understand. I'll lend a hand with the tear down as per requested by Peters."
The lieutenant nodded and then walked away to find the person of her choosing to check the EPS conduits on Deck 4. As this was happening, James made his way to the impulse reactor and started to assist the rest of the engineering crew with the tear down.
OFF
The conversation that James had with Chief Engineering Officer Todd Peters, in his mind, would be one he wouldn't forget. It's been a very long time since he had a good conversation with anyone. It's not everyday that James strikes up a conversation with his superiors. The conversation replayed in his mind as he smiled and entered Engineering to complete the chief's requests.
He had met Lieutenant C'Eltor only once during his first assignment on the Malinche as he walked up to her to give out Peters' first order of business.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant C'Eltor?"
"Yes, Ensign Davis?"
Being new to the crew and his new position as Assistant Chief Engineering Officer, he was a little nervous.
"Umm, I was speaking with Lieutenant Peters in the mess hall about some of the things he needed done before his possible return this evening. He needs the EPS conduits checked in Section 3 on Deck 4. He told me that you could do it since you are the expert on those or you would send someone that you knew who could get it done."
C'Eltor replied, "I will send someone to check those. I can't do it at the moment due to my assistance with the tear down of Impulse Reactor 3."
"I understand. I'll lend a hand with the tear down as per requested by Peters."
The lieutenant nodded and then walked away to find the person of her choosing to check the EPS conduits on Deck 4. As this was happening, James made his way to the impulse reactor and started to assist the rest of the engineering crew with the tear down.
OFF
Lieutenant JG James Walker Davis
Chief Operations Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
Re: Mission 12: When In Rome
<<Bridge, 1150, Day 4>>
After her conversation with Nora, Isabel skipped the rest of her stops and headed straight for the Bridge. She needed to speak with her Executive Officer. Of course, there was no guarantee he wasn't one of them, but she also had no guarantee that one wouldn't take over her body. For now, she had to assume that Jason was Jason.
"Lieutenant, a word?" Isabel gestured off to the side with her head, indicating they should move out of hearing distance.
"Sir?" Jason asked.
Her eyes glanced around the bridge a bit, wondering which of them had potentially been replaced... "Has anything come up since I left the bridge?"
"You're going to think that I am crazy," Jason started. She raised an eyebrow which he took as his cue to continue.
"I think that someone or something has messed with the navigational systems. We appear to be headed back toward the asteriod field, something that we confirmed using our ion trail and stellar markers, except the main computer says we are still oncourse for Ivor Prime."
"I see. I thought I saw Flight Control running a diagnostic," Isabel replied. It certainly wasn't surprising considering what she'd found.
"I also have flight looking into who accessed the navigational systems in the past 24 hours."
Isabel nodded, "I looked at our path in Stellar Cartography - it seems that once we got our engines running again, we started heading back. That subspace rupture is closer to where we came into the Expanse than where we should be now." It was a very slight relief that someone else could verify what she'd found. Still, it was disturbing.
"Something around here is way off."
"Any ideas as to why someone would want us to go back?" Though she didn't think it was yet safe to bring up the possessions, there still had to be a reason someone wanted them to go back. Isabel was hoping Jason could come up with something that she hadn't thought of.
"The only thing that I can think of is not at all scientific," Jason explained. "More like one of those tales that you tell around a campfire."
Watching her Executive Officer closely, she said, "Have you had any headaches or memory loss?"
"No," Jason responded, quirking an eyebrow. "Is there something that I should know captain?"
"Sickbay and Counseling have received reports of it since we entered the Expanse. I'm not entirely sure what it means, but the memory loss is especially troubling with those on the bridge," she replied.
"I'd agree with you on that one. As I recall that asteroid field was never charted very well," Jason started. "Look my only theory is that of Kir'Lya."
Isabel frowned slightly, "Kir'Lya?"
"Its an old ghost story that Marans used to tell their children...something about the souls of the damned waiting their deaths avenged. Truth be told, its not something that I know a lot about. But they say that every story has some sort of basis in truth. I guess it's possible that something, maybe a lifeform of some sort wants us to return."
Thoughtful, Isabel considered Jason's idea. It may not necessarily be Kir'Lya, but it could certainly be something similar. Obviously whoever was doing the possessing had knowledge of StarFleet vessels and their operation. And she hadn't even mentioned the possessing to him. Either he was just very insightful or perhaps he was possessed and was trying to tell her in a safe way. Based on her time with him, Jason was generally insightful, so she couldn't be sure. "That could be, Lieutenant..."
"Don't worry sir I'm not possessed, no headaches or memory loss here. But that would explain why we have been getting reports of people acting funny."
"What if the memory loss and headaches are a result of the lifeforms being aboard?" Isabel watched his reaction. She still wasn't entirely sure if she should bring it up, but perhaps...
"That would make sense. I'd guess these lifeforms are incorporeal maybe they need a corporeal host to interact with actual objects. Gathering by the fact that there hasn't been any outbreaks of violent behavior I am guessing that they really don't mean us any harm."
Isabel shrugged, "Possibly, but no violent behavior doesn't necessarily lead to that conclusion. I would think that if they wanted to harm us they could've done so when we were being pulled into the rupture, which they didn't."
"I have a suggestion though."
"What is it Lieutenant?" Isabel raised an eyebrow.
"The Maran Navy uses low-level tachyon fields to sweep their ships prior to entering and leaving ports, cuts down on stowaways. What if we set up the same field on the Malinche, that way we can scan every crew member and see if anything pops up on the subspace spectrum."
Frowning slightly, Isabel replied, "Actually the Counselor is working on something - I'd like to see how that pans out first. And for now I think we should keep our current course."
"Keep going back toward the asteriod field?"
Isabel nodded, "For the time being. Nora is working on her plan right now and I don't want to tip any of the entities off until I hear back from her."
"Understood sir, I'll keep it business as usual."
OFF: A JP brought to you by
Captain Isabel Kersare
USS Malinche
&
After her conversation with Nora, Isabel skipped the rest of her stops and headed straight for the Bridge. She needed to speak with her Executive Officer. Of course, there was no guarantee he wasn't one of them, but she also had no guarantee that one wouldn't take over her body. For now, she had to assume that Jason was Jason.
"Lieutenant, a word?" Isabel gestured off to the side with her head, indicating they should move out of hearing distance.
"Sir?" Jason asked.
Her eyes glanced around the bridge a bit, wondering which of them had potentially been replaced... "Has anything come up since I left the bridge?"
"You're going to think that I am crazy," Jason started. She raised an eyebrow which he took as his cue to continue.
"I think that someone or something has messed with the navigational systems. We appear to be headed back toward the asteriod field, something that we confirmed using our ion trail and stellar markers, except the main computer says we are still oncourse for Ivor Prime."
"I see. I thought I saw Flight Control running a diagnostic," Isabel replied. It certainly wasn't surprising considering what she'd found.
"I also have flight looking into who accessed the navigational systems in the past 24 hours."
Isabel nodded, "I looked at our path in Stellar Cartography - it seems that once we got our engines running again, we started heading back. That subspace rupture is closer to where we came into the Expanse than where we should be now." It was a very slight relief that someone else could verify what she'd found. Still, it was disturbing.
"Something around here is way off."
"Any ideas as to why someone would want us to go back?" Though she didn't think it was yet safe to bring up the possessions, there still had to be a reason someone wanted them to go back. Isabel was hoping Jason could come up with something that she hadn't thought of.
"The only thing that I can think of is not at all scientific," Jason explained. "More like one of those tales that you tell around a campfire."
Watching her Executive Officer closely, she said, "Have you had any headaches or memory loss?"
"No," Jason responded, quirking an eyebrow. "Is there something that I should know captain?"
"Sickbay and Counseling have received reports of it since we entered the Expanse. I'm not entirely sure what it means, but the memory loss is especially troubling with those on the bridge," she replied.
"I'd agree with you on that one. As I recall that asteroid field was never charted very well," Jason started. "Look my only theory is that of Kir'Lya."
Isabel frowned slightly, "Kir'Lya?"
"Its an old ghost story that Marans used to tell their children...something about the souls of the damned waiting their deaths avenged. Truth be told, its not something that I know a lot about. But they say that every story has some sort of basis in truth. I guess it's possible that something, maybe a lifeform of some sort wants us to return."
Thoughtful, Isabel considered Jason's idea. It may not necessarily be Kir'Lya, but it could certainly be something similar. Obviously whoever was doing the possessing had knowledge of StarFleet vessels and their operation. And she hadn't even mentioned the possessing to him. Either he was just very insightful or perhaps he was possessed and was trying to tell her in a safe way. Based on her time with him, Jason was generally insightful, so she couldn't be sure. "That could be, Lieutenant..."
"Don't worry sir I'm not possessed, no headaches or memory loss here. But that would explain why we have been getting reports of people acting funny."
"What if the memory loss and headaches are a result of the lifeforms being aboard?" Isabel watched his reaction. She still wasn't entirely sure if she should bring it up, but perhaps...
"That would make sense. I'd guess these lifeforms are incorporeal maybe they need a corporeal host to interact with actual objects. Gathering by the fact that there hasn't been any outbreaks of violent behavior I am guessing that they really don't mean us any harm."
Isabel shrugged, "Possibly, but no violent behavior doesn't necessarily lead to that conclusion. I would think that if they wanted to harm us they could've done so when we were being pulled into the rupture, which they didn't."
"I have a suggestion though."
"What is it Lieutenant?" Isabel raised an eyebrow.
"The Maran Navy uses low-level tachyon fields to sweep their ships prior to entering and leaving ports, cuts down on stowaways. What if we set up the same field on the Malinche, that way we can scan every crew member and see if anything pops up on the subspace spectrum."
Frowning slightly, Isabel replied, "Actually the Counselor is working on something - I'd like to see how that pans out first. And for now I think we should keep our current course."
"Keep going back toward the asteriod field?"
Isabel nodded, "For the time being. Nora is working on her plan right now and I don't want to tip any of the entities off until I hear back from her."
"Understood sir, I'll keep it business as usual."
OFF: A JP brought to you by
Captain Isabel Kersare
USS Malinche
&
Lieutenant Commander Jason Barrett
Executive Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
Re: Mission 12: When In Rome
ON:
<USS Malinche, Stellar Cartography, 1150, MD04>
The double doors to Stellar Cartography hissed as they whisked open, permitting Lauren Kaylee into the Science room. The lights were slightly dimmed, duller than Starfleet stardards, the idle holographic display presented a beautiful portrait of the Milky Way Galaxy, which revolved slightly.
As Kaylee approached the work console, the automatic sensors triggered the Holographic display into life. First thing Kaylee did was devote an entire monitor to displaying the Command Processors from Flight Control. Again, she highlighted the rogue coding. There it was, always a step infront of her, just out of reach. If only she could just pluck it out of the system- stop its rampage through the Malince's systems.
"How are you, Ensign?"
Kaylee turned with a bit of a start. "Oh, greetings Lt.Doram."
The Astronavigation Specialist(NPC) walked through the open doors towards her. "Anything I can help with, Ensign?"
Kaylee motioned to the Command Processors. "We've got a rogue algorithm that's playing all christmas lights with our Navigational Array, we can't pin-point our position. At the moment, the XO wants us to get our bearings straight, before we make any other move." Kaylee then turned to Doram(NPC). "That's where I need your expertise: We need to recaliberate the Nav Array the old fashioned way."
Doram(NPC) nodded slowly, processing the information. "You haven't recaliberated them through the command processors?" Kaylee shook her head. "No, that's fair enough- the Algorithm would no doubt be written to tamper with the Array and cancel out any computerised recaliberation efforts."
Kaylee agreed.
"Ok," Doram(NPC) announced. "So, we'll have to recaliberate through stellar identification process, and input that data straight into the Array, not through the datastream or the Flight Command Processors."
Kaylee couldn't help but scoff. "Yeah, sounds easy in theory. Last time I did one of these was back in the Academy, and before that, on my fathers ship, the Zephyr- an old Atinoda-class - I figured I might need your help working the advanced systems on a Prometheus-class."
Doram smiled and shook her head slightly. "The Malinche may advanced, but she has really easy-to-use Command structure. You know that the whole ship can, in effect, be operated by just four people?"
Kaylee looked at her incredulously.
After a few inputs and commands through the console, the Computer set to work. The holographic projectors displayed the whole process. The stellar-scape outside the Malinche was displayed in a 3-d encompassing sphere. Star constellations and markers were highlighted and calculated. Positions and distances were calculated and triangulated.
After a few minutes, involving thousands of computations, the Computer churned out the correct Navigational Bearings.
Doram(NPC) turned to Kaylee. "There's your nav bearings, Ensign. Now, let's hope that that algorithm hasn't been written to reject any bearings corrections."
Kaylee downloaded the data into a PADD, and chuckled. She suddenly stopped. "Wait, that was a joke, right?"
Doram's sombour silence was not comforting at all.
END
<USS Malinche, Stellar Cartography, 1150, MD04>
The double doors to Stellar Cartography hissed as they whisked open, permitting Lauren Kaylee into the Science room. The lights were slightly dimmed, duller than Starfleet stardards, the idle holographic display presented a beautiful portrait of the Milky Way Galaxy, which revolved slightly.
As Kaylee approached the work console, the automatic sensors triggered the Holographic display into life. First thing Kaylee did was devote an entire monitor to displaying the Command Processors from Flight Control. Again, she highlighted the rogue coding. There it was, always a step infront of her, just out of reach. If only she could just pluck it out of the system- stop its rampage through the Malince's systems.
"How are you, Ensign?"
Kaylee turned with a bit of a start. "Oh, greetings Lt.Doram."
The Astronavigation Specialist(NPC) walked through the open doors towards her. "Anything I can help with, Ensign?"
Kaylee motioned to the Command Processors. "We've got a rogue algorithm that's playing all christmas lights with our Navigational Array, we can't pin-point our position. At the moment, the XO wants us to get our bearings straight, before we make any other move." Kaylee then turned to Doram(NPC). "That's where I need your expertise: We need to recaliberate the Nav Array the old fashioned way."
Doram(NPC) nodded slowly, processing the information. "You haven't recaliberated them through the command processors?" Kaylee shook her head. "No, that's fair enough- the Algorithm would no doubt be written to tamper with the Array and cancel out any computerised recaliberation efforts."
Kaylee agreed.
"Ok," Doram(NPC) announced. "So, we'll have to recaliberate through stellar identification process, and input that data straight into the Array, not through the datastream or the Flight Command Processors."
Kaylee couldn't help but scoff. "Yeah, sounds easy in theory. Last time I did one of these was back in the Academy, and before that, on my fathers ship, the Zephyr- an old Atinoda-class - I figured I might need your help working the advanced systems on a Prometheus-class."
Doram smiled and shook her head slightly. "The Malinche may advanced, but she has really easy-to-use Command structure. You know that the whole ship can, in effect, be operated by just four people?"
Kaylee looked at her incredulously.
After a few inputs and commands through the console, the Computer set to work. The holographic projectors displayed the whole process. The stellar-scape outside the Malinche was displayed in a 3-d encompassing sphere. Star constellations and markers were highlighted and calculated. Positions and distances were calculated and triangulated.
After a few minutes, involving thousands of computations, the Computer churned out the correct Navigational Bearings.
Doram(NPC) turned to Kaylee. "There's your nav bearings, Ensign. Now, let's hope that that algorithm hasn't been written to reject any bearings corrections."
Kaylee downloaded the data into a PADD, and chuckled. She suddenly stopped. "Wait, that was a joke, right?"
Doram's sombour silence was not comforting at all.
END
Ensign Lauren Kaylee
Flight Control Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B
Re: Mission 12: When In Rome
On:
Bridge
Day 4, 11:50 hrs
The crews attempt to close the rift was successful, which was a big relief to Aaron. While he knew many aspects were out of his control, the torpedo was his idea so he would feel responsible for its failure. During the launch, Aaron was on the bridge monitoring and recording the results.
During the whole process he had kept careful note on what occurred so that when the mission was completed he could write up a paper to submit to the scientific community. Most onboard the Malinche were simply concerned about closing the rift and continuing on with their mission; while that was also a concern for Aaron, the scientist in him wished they could have further studied the phenomena. It was similar when Atlantis was affected by the "firestorm." He was well aware of the danger involved, but as it was such a rare occurrence he spent most his time either preparing a defense or gathering information. Once the rift was closed, Aaron left the bridge for other pursuits.
First was to stop by the mess-hall and grab yet another cup of coffee. It probably wasn't the best for him, but for the moment it helped keep him awake. Once that was done he headed to Stellar Cartography to take a look at their progress, or lack thereof, their track through the nebula had been so sporadic he wasn't sure of their location in relation to the intended destination.
Arriving in the lab, Aaron was surprised to see the helm officer and another officer he didn't recognize. It took him a few moments to figure out what they were calculating.
"Something tells me you're not doing this for the practice."
Off:
Tag:
Kaylee
Bridge
Day 4, 11:50 hrs
The crews attempt to close the rift was successful, which was a big relief to Aaron. While he knew many aspects were out of his control, the torpedo was his idea so he would feel responsible for its failure. During the launch, Aaron was on the bridge monitoring and recording the results.
During the whole process he had kept careful note on what occurred so that when the mission was completed he could write up a paper to submit to the scientific community. Most onboard the Malinche were simply concerned about closing the rift and continuing on with their mission; while that was also a concern for Aaron, the scientist in him wished they could have further studied the phenomena. It was similar when Atlantis was affected by the "firestorm." He was well aware of the danger involved, but as it was such a rare occurrence he spent most his time either preparing a defense or gathering information. Once the rift was closed, Aaron left the bridge for other pursuits.
First was to stop by the mess-hall and grab yet another cup of coffee. It probably wasn't the best for him, but for the moment it helped keep him awake. Once that was done he headed to Stellar Cartography to take a look at their progress, or lack thereof, their track through the nebula had been so sporadic he wasn't sure of their location in relation to the intended destination.
Arriving in the lab, Aaron was surprised to see the helm officer and another officer he didn't recognize. It took him a few moments to figure out what they were calculating.
"Something tells me you're not doing this for the practice."
Off:
Tag:
Kaylee
Lt. Aaron Steele
Chief Science Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
Re: Mission 12: When In Rome
<<USS Malinche, Zeral's Office, 1148, Day 4>>
Nora nodded at Alexis as she made herself as scarce as possible, once again feeling very much relieved that she was there to lend a helping hand. Pausing only to take a calming breath, she swiftly tapped her comm badge. "Zeral to Corrin. Do you have a free moment to meet me in my office?"
<Corridor>
Frowning, "Caleb"/Alex tapped his commbadge, "I'll be there shortly Counselor." Now what did the woman want? He had business to attend to.
<Zeral's Office>
Exhaling slowly, Nora glanced at Alexis with a semblance of a smile while she leaned casually against her desk. "Half the battle was getting him here, so I suppose we're off to a good start."
Alexis grinned. “Then half the battle’s already won…and in our favor.”
After his detour to Nora's office, Alex didn't bother to ring the chime. He walked right into the Counseling Suite, and, ignoring Jacob (NPC), entered her office. "You wanted to see me Counselor? I thought our conversation earlier took care of my psych eval..."
"It did, actually," Nora confirmed. Wasting no time, she immediately continued, "I asked you here so that you can tell us who you really are, and why you've taken control of Caleb Corrin's body." There. That would certainly do for being straightforward.
Alex froze, shocked. He didn't let it register on his face, but the certainty with which she made the accusation troubled him. Where had he gone wrong? Deciding this likely wouldn't be as quick a visit as he'd hoped, he leaned against the armrest of the couch. "What makes you think that?"
Alexis quietly walked out of her hiding place from behind Caleb. She put a hand on his shoulder attempting to make a personal contact. If her planned approach didn’t work, she had other ideas…. “Now why don’t you just sit down on the couch, relax, and answer the Counselor’s statement.” A happy, calming smile crept across her mouth. She kept an ‘open mind’ and searched the surface to try and find a name other Caleb Corrin.
Nodding her agreement, Nora carefully crossed to take her seat across from the couch, casually and calmly folding her hands in her lap. "It's a little late for you to try and hide your identity," she said reasonably. "The fact of the matter is that we're very much aware that you are not in fact Caleb Corrin, although you are currently inhabiting his body, and that there are more like you aboard the ship."
Alex's frowned slightly as he addressed Alexis, "I'm fine where I am, actually." He watched Nora take a seat and replied, "You still didn't answer my question, Counselor... I've not heard anyone else say they've been interrogated about their supposed true identity and others have had worse symptoms than I."
Smiling grimly, Nora decided that she had little to lose by revealing some of her hand. "You have the distinction of being the first, actually. And this isn't based on symptoms alone. I'm a Betazoid, you see, and therefore I have nearly fully developed telepathy. I can clearly sense now that you are not Caleb Corrin, and I do believe that it is in your best interest to tell us who you are." It was not necessarily a threat, but merely the truth as Nora saw it. The sooner they had some sort of answers about what was going on, they better off they all would be.
Though he wasn't surprised that a Betazoid had figured out what was going on, Alex had been hoping they would arrive back at the asteroid field first. Then he and the others could have all approached the Captain together, explaining their situation. This was not at all how things were supposed to turn out. Plus, he was now being questioned by two people at once and mostly this was just not an ideal situation.
“Not to mention a Ullian,” added Alexis. It appeared the ‘feminine’ approach wasn’t working. Alexis’ countenance and appearance changed suddenly. She appeared more dark and menacing, ready for a full blown interrogation. Fortunately she was working with another telepath. She sent a quick thought to Nora.
If I can find a name, I’ll use it. Maybe it’ll add a little more leverage. Also, he’s a Warrant Officer. I suppose one of us could try to order him to sit down?
Nora responded in kind, All right, Alexis. Maybe if we're lucky, he'll give us his name himself. And so long as he actually talks to us, I'm not particular about whether he sits or stands, but it's up to you.
“The Counselor says you’re not Caleb Corrin. Part of my job is finding out who you are…and I can.” Alexis leaned in closer, “And it won’t be pretty…. You've invaded Caleb's mind and body without his permission and taken control. On my planet, that's bad...very bad for you. Tell us what we want to know, now.”
Alex turned towards Alexis and glared at her. "Didn't your mother ever teach you it's not nice to threaten people? That it wouldn't get you very far? That people are much more likely to give you the information you want if you actually treat them with respect?"
Pausing briefly, he didn't allow her the chance to respond and instead turned to address Nora, who thus far hadn't threatened him - at least not like the Ullian had, "You're right, I'm not Caleb. And though I am currently inhabiting his body, I'm not actually harming him. If I, or the others, wanted to harm someone on this ship, we could have done so at any point or we could've made sure the Malinche didn't escape the subspace rupture, but if you'll notice, we didn't do that. In fact, we assisted in the effort to get the Malinche away from the pull of the rupture."
Nora absorbed his admission with a slight nod, relieved that he was through with his denials and that they were at last getting some answers. He certainly didn't seem hostile to her, and that made a very big difference as far as she was concerned. "Yes, I can see your point there," she agreed with him diplomatically, glancing quickly at Alexis before returning her full attention on the man pretending to be Caleb.
Alexis stepped back and let Nora continue with the counseling. She was the more diplomatic of the two. There was definitely not a diplomatic bone in Alexis’ body. But at least he had started talking.
"We don't mean any harm, but if I wasn't inhabiting Caleb's body you wouldn't be having this conversation with me right now. In order to communicate at a level higher than simply moving some objects around we have to do this," Alex explained further.
"I suppose I can understand your desire to communicate," Nora said slowly. "But while we certainly appreciate that you don't intend to harm Caleb or anyone else, surely you can understand that from our point of view possessing an unwilling crewmember is a disconcerting act, to say the very least. Can you at least tell me more about who you are and what it is that you need from the Malinche? We may be able to help you."
Alex shrugged slightly, "I can understand someone being uncomfortable with a temporary possession... But if you had a goal and after various failed attempts you determined that it was the only way to reach your goal, wouldn't you do it? We don't intend to permanently possess anyone and we haven't caused harm." He wasn't overly inclined to tell them everything just yet, but throwing them some additional information couldn't hurt. "We would rather speak with Captain Kersare about what we need, but I will say that we are more alike than you might realize. It will probably make a good bit of sense; we are...well, were, StarFleet Officers..."
Alexis, taken completely by surprise by that revelation, jerked her head towards Nora. Should we send for the Captain or take him to her?she thought.
Feeling rather surprised herself, Nora swiftly responded, Send for her, I think. I trust what he's said so far, but I don't think it would be very wise to escort him across the ship.
"All right then," she said aloud, rising from her chair and moving towards her desk. "I believe you have a right to speak with the Captain if that is what you wish. I only ask that you have a seat in the meantime. Perhaps you should take a seat too, Alexis." Nora sat in her chair behind her desk, tapping her comm badge as she did so. "Zeral to Kersare."
Alex glanced at Alexis out of the corner of his eye - he still didn't trust her. He waited until he saw that she took a seat, then sat down himself.
Maybe it was part of being an Intelligence officer. Maybe it was just part of who she was. Whatever the case, Alexis still didn’t completely believe what he was saying. Whatever these entities were, they had inhabited and controlled enough of the Malinche crew that they could’ve picked what they needed from their brains and used it to their advantage. Which is what she thought was happening right now. That phrase would elicit a certain response, the calling the Captain. Maybe he was waiting to jump into her. For the time being, Alexis was as compliant as she could be. The chair she sat in was far enough away so that he might feel a little ‘comfortable’ and close enough to not lose sight of him.
<Bridge>
Having finished her conversation with Jason, Isabel was a bit surprised to hear Nora's voice. Tapping her commbadge, she replied, "Kersare here, go ahead."
<Counselor's Office>
"Captain, could you please come to my office?" Nora asked over the comm.
<Bridge>
"On my way," Isabel said quickly. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but she knew she wanted to find out. "Barrett, with me. Schulz has the bridge."
OFF: To be continued.... (Barrett, look for a JP start)
JP brought to you by:
Lieutenant JG Alexis Rho
Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B
and
Lieutenant JG Nora Zeral
Chief Counselor
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B
and
Caleb Corrin/Alex (NPC)
played by:
Nora nodded at Alexis as she made herself as scarce as possible, once again feeling very much relieved that she was there to lend a helping hand. Pausing only to take a calming breath, she swiftly tapped her comm badge. "Zeral to Corrin. Do you have a free moment to meet me in my office?"
<Corridor>
Frowning, "Caleb"/Alex tapped his commbadge, "I'll be there shortly Counselor." Now what did the woman want? He had business to attend to.
<Zeral's Office>
Exhaling slowly, Nora glanced at Alexis with a semblance of a smile while she leaned casually against her desk. "Half the battle was getting him here, so I suppose we're off to a good start."
Alexis grinned. “Then half the battle’s already won…and in our favor.”
After his detour to Nora's office, Alex didn't bother to ring the chime. He walked right into the Counseling Suite, and, ignoring Jacob (NPC), entered her office. "You wanted to see me Counselor? I thought our conversation earlier took care of my psych eval..."
"It did, actually," Nora confirmed. Wasting no time, she immediately continued, "I asked you here so that you can tell us who you really are, and why you've taken control of Caleb Corrin's body." There. That would certainly do for being straightforward.
Alex froze, shocked. He didn't let it register on his face, but the certainty with which she made the accusation troubled him. Where had he gone wrong? Deciding this likely wouldn't be as quick a visit as he'd hoped, he leaned against the armrest of the couch. "What makes you think that?"
Alexis quietly walked out of her hiding place from behind Caleb. She put a hand on his shoulder attempting to make a personal contact. If her planned approach didn’t work, she had other ideas…. “Now why don’t you just sit down on the couch, relax, and answer the Counselor’s statement.” A happy, calming smile crept across her mouth. She kept an ‘open mind’ and searched the surface to try and find a name other Caleb Corrin.
Nodding her agreement, Nora carefully crossed to take her seat across from the couch, casually and calmly folding her hands in her lap. "It's a little late for you to try and hide your identity," she said reasonably. "The fact of the matter is that we're very much aware that you are not in fact Caleb Corrin, although you are currently inhabiting his body, and that there are more like you aboard the ship."
Alex's frowned slightly as he addressed Alexis, "I'm fine where I am, actually." He watched Nora take a seat and replied, "You still didn't answer my question, Counselor... I've not heard anyone else say they've been interrogated about their supposed true identity and others have had worse symptoms than I."
Smiling grimly, Nora decided that she had little to lose by revealing some of her hand. "You have the distinction of being the first, actually. And this isn't based on symptoms alone. I'm a Betazoid, you see, and therefore I have nearly fully developed telepathy. I can clearly sense now that you are not Caleb Corrin, and I do believe that it is in your best interest to tell us who you are." It was not necessarily a threat, but merely the truth as Nora saw it. The sooner they had some sort of answers about what was going on, they better off they all would be.
Though he wasn't surprised that a Betazoid had figured out what was going on, Alex had been hoping they would arrive back at the asteroid field first. Then he and the others could have all approached the Captain together, explaining their situation. This was not at all how things were supposed to turn out. Plus, he was now being questioned by two people at once and mostly this was just not an ideal situation.
“Not to mention a Ullian,” added Alexis. It appeared the ‘feminine’ approach wasn’t working. Alexis’ countenance and appearance changed suddenly. She appeared more dark and menacing, ready for a full blown interrogation. Fortunately she was working with another telepath. She sent a quick thought to Nora.
If I can find a name, I’ll use it. Maybe it’ll add a little more leverage. Also, he’s a Warrant Officer. I suppose one of us could try to order him to sit down?
Nora responded in kind, All right, Alexis. Maybe if we're lucky, he'll give us his name himself. And so long as he actually talks to us, I'm not particular about whether he sits or stands, but it's up to you.
“The Counselor says you’re not Caleb Corrin. Part of my job is finding out who you are…and I can.” Alexis leaned in closer, “And it won’t be pretty…. You've invaded Caleb's mind and body without his permission and taken control. On my planet, that's bad...very bad for you. Tell us what we want to know, now.”
Alex turned towards Alexis and glared at her. "Didn't your mother ever teach you it's not nice to threaten people? That it wouldn't get you very far? That people are much more likely to give you the information you want if you actually treat them with respect?"
Pausing briefly, he didn't allow her the chance to respond and instead turned to address Nora, who thus far hadn't threatened him - at least not like the Ullian had, "You're right, I'm not Caleb. And though I am currently inhabiting his body, I'm not actually harming him. If I, or the others, wanted to harm someone on this ship, we could have done so at any point or we could've made sure the Malinche didn't escape the subspace rupture, but if you'll notice, we didn't do that. In fact, we assisted in the effort to get the Malinche away from the pull of the rupture."
Nora absorbed his admission with a slight nod, relieved that he was through with his denials and that they were at last getting some answers. He certainly didn't seem hostile to her, and that made a very big difference as far as she was concerned. "Yes, I can see your point there," she agreed with him diplomatically, glancing quickly at Alexis before returning her full attention on the man pretending to be Caleb.
Alexis stepped back and let Nora continue with the counseling. She was the more diplomatic of the two. There was definitely not a diplomatic bone in Alexis’ body. But at least he had started talking.
"We don't mean any harm, but if I wasn't inhabiting Caleb's body you wouldn't be having this conversation with me right now. In order to communicate at a level higher than simply moving some objects around we have to do this," Alex explained further.
"I suppose I can understand your desire to communicate," Nora said slowly. "But while we certainly appreciate that you don't intend to harm Caleb or anyone else, surely you can understand that from our point of view possessing an unwilling crewmember is a disconcerting act, to say the very least. Can you at least tell me more about who you are and what it is that you need from the Malinche? We may be able to help you."
Alex shrugged slightly, "I can understand someone being uncomfortable with a temporary possession... But if you had a goal and after various failed attempts you determined that it was the only way to reach your goal, wouldn't you do it? We don't intend to permanently possess anyone and we haven't caused harm." He wasn't overly inclined to tell them everything just yet, but throwing them some additional information couldn't hurt. "We would rather speak with Captain Kersare about what we need, but I will say that we are more alike than you might realize. It will probably make a good bit of sense; we are...well, were, StarFleet Officers..."
Alexis, taken completely by surprise by that revelation, jerked her head towards Nora. Should we send for the Captain or take him to her?she thought.
Feeling rather surprised herself, Nora swiftly responded, Send for her, I think. I trust what he's said so far, but I don't think it would be very wise to escort him across the ship.
"All right then," she said aloud, rising from her chair and moving towards her desk. "I believe you have a right to speak with the Captain if that is what you wish. I only ask that you have a seat in the meantime. Perhaps you should take a seat too, Alexis." Nora sat in her chair behind her desk, tapping her comm badge as she did so. "Zeral to Kersare."
Alex glanced at Alexis out of the corner of his eye - he still didn't trust her. He waited until he saw that she took a seat, then sat down himself.
Maybe it was part of being an Intelligence officer. Maybe it was just part of who she was. Whatever the case, Alexis still didn’t completely believe what he was saying. Whatever these entities were, they had inhabited and controlled enough of the Malinche crew that they could’ve picked what they needed from their brains and used it to their advantage. Which is what she thought was happening right now. That phrase would elicit a certain response, the calling the Captain. Maybe he was waiting to jump into her. For the time being, Alexis was as compliant as she could be. The chair she sat in was far enough away so that he might feel a little ‘comfortable’ and close enough to not lose sight of him.
<Bridge>
Having finished her conversation with Jason, Isabel was a bit surprised to hear Nora's voice. Tapping her commbadge, she replied, "Kersare here, go ahead."
<Counselor's Office>
"Captain, could you please come to my office?" Nora asked over the comm.
<Bridge>
"On my way," Isabel said quickly. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but she knew she wanted to find out. "Barrett, with me. Schulz has the bridge."
OFF: To be continued.... (Barrett, look for a JP start)
JP brought to you by:
Lieutenant JG Alexis Rho
Assistant Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B
and
Lieutenant JG Nora Zeral
Chief Counselor
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B
and
Caleb Corrin/Alex (NPC)
played by:
Captain Isabel Kersare
Commanding Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
Re: Mission 12: When In Rome
ON:
LOCATION: USS Malinche, Stellar Cartography, 1150, MD04>>>>
Kaylee had just uploaded the new Navigational Bearings, curtosity of Lt. Doram(NPC). She was just about to head up to the Bridge, and upload the new navigational data, when Aaron Steele walked into Stellar Cartography.
The Science Officer seemed a little shocked to see officers- let alone from Flight Division- in his lab. He quickly covered this by taking in what they had been working on.
"Something tells me you're not doing this for the practice."
Kaylee also hid her suprise. He was obivously as very talented Science Officer, if he was able to sumise what they had been working on, in such a short glance.
Kaylee nodded, and half rolled her eyes. "I wish...Looks like someone's real keen for us to head back into that Asteroid Field. Dropped a rogue algorithm into the Flight Command Processors, and flipped our Nav-Array topside over. The Lt. and I were just working on recaliberating the Nav-Bearings."
Kaylee realised that this was actually her first meeting with the Science Officer. "Oh, sorry, horrible manners. I'm Kaylee, the new Conn Officer."
<TAG>
LOCATION: USS Malinche, Stellar Cartography, 1150, MD04>>>>
Kaylee had just uploaded the new Navigational Bearings, curtosity of Lt. Doram(NPC). She was just about to head up to the Bridge, and upload the new navigational data, when Aaron Steele walked into Stellar Cartography.
The Science Officer seemed a little shocked to see officers- let alone from Flight Division- in his lab. He quickly covered this by taking in what they had been working on.
"Something tells me you're not doing this for the practice."
Kaylee also hid her suprise. He was obivously as very talented Science Officer, if he was able to sumise what they had been working on, in such a short glance.
Kaylee nodded, and half rolled her eyes. "I wish...Looks like someone's real keen for us to head back into that Asteroid Field. Dropped a rogue algorithm into the Flight Command Processors, and flipped our Nav-Array topside over. The Lt. and I were just working on recaliberating the Nav-Bearings."
Kaylee realised that this was actually her first meeting with the Science Officer. "Oh, sorry, horrible manners. I'm Kaylee, the new Conn Officer."
<TAG>
Ensign Lauren Kaylee
Flight Control Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B
Re: Mission 12: When In Rome
ON: <<Main Bridge, USS Malinche, MD04, 1148>>
"...Schulz has the bridge."
As the turbolift doors echoed closed, Will could still hear the words ringing in his ears. It took him a moment to realize that everyone else was staring at him, waiting for him to move. Suddenly, he felt very awkward as he climbed out of his seat and turned toward the center chair. The only time he'd ever been in command had been in the simulators. Sure, he'd commanded his own teams, but never the bridge of a starship. Now he had been called upon to do just that.
Somebody to one side of the bridge cleared their throat and Will looked around, but he couldn't tell who it was. Still, he remained perched on the edge, not daring to take another step toward the chair. Finally, knowing that he would chicken out if he didn't do something, he turned to the helmsman.
"Status of the navigational updates," he asked, standing just forward of the center chair.
The helmsman checked her boards and replied, "Ensign Kaylee has just finished, sir."
Slowly, ever so slowly, Will eased himself into the chair. He could tell that he was tensed, but he wondered how comfortable the chair would have been if he could only relax. Instead, he remained perched on the edge of the seat, keeping an eye on everything around him and trying not to succumb to his nerves, though they had eased in the slightest degree.
"Shall I plot a corrected course, sir," the helmsman asked, turning to look over her shoulder.
Will thought for a moment. Obviously, someone wanted them to go back to that asteroid field. If so, there must be something very important that they missed. He tried to remember what he'd seen on the sensors, but everything from the past 48 hours was a blur. There was only one way they were going to find out.
"Maintain the current course," Will ordered.
"Aye sir," the woman replied, "Course laid in."
"Carry on," Will said. Slowly, the stars on the viewscreen began to move again as the Malinche's engines pushed the ship forward. The only question was...what were they going forward to?
OFF
"...Schulz has the bridge."
As the turbolift doors echoed closed, Will could still hear the words ringing in his ears. It took him a moment to realize that everyone else was staring at him, waiting for him to move. Suddenly, he felt very awkward as he climbed out of his seat and turned toward the center chair. The only time he'd ever been in command had been in the simulators. Sure, he'd commanded his own teams, but never the bridge of a starship. Now he had been called upon to do just that.
Somebody to one side of the bridge cleared their throat and Will looked around, but he couldn't tell who it was. Still, he remained perched on the edge, not daring to take another step toward the chair. Finally, knowing that he would chicken out if he didn't do something, he turned to the helmsman.
"Status of the navigational updates," he asked, standing just forward of the center chair.
The helmsman checked her boards and replied, "Ensign Kaylee has just finished, sir."
Slowly, ever so slowly, Will eased himself into the chair. He could tell that he was tensed, but he wondered how comfortable the chair would have been if he could only relax. Instead, he remained perched on the edge of the seat, keeping an eye on everything around him and trying not to succumb to his nerves, though they had eased in the slightest degree.
"Shall I plot a corrected course, sir," the helmsman asked, turning to look over her shoulder.
Will thought for a moment. Obviously, someone wanted them to go back to that asteroid field. If so, there must be something very important that they missed. He tried to remember what he'd seen on the sensors, but everything from the past 48 hours was a blur. There was only one way they were going to find out.
"Maintain the current course," Will ordered.
"Aye sir," the woman replied, "Course laid in."
"Carry on," Will said. Slowly, the stars on the viewscreen began to move again as the Malinche's engines pushed the ship forward. The only question was...what were they going forward to?
OFF
Lt. JG Aaron Masterson
Chief Security/Tactical Officer & 2XO
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
-
Peters
- Senior Staff
- Posts: 202
- Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2006 2:17 pm
- Location: Space, the final frontier...
- Contact:
Re: Mission 12: When In Rome
ON: <Unknown place, unknown time>
Peters found himself running through a corridor, phaser in one hand, a tricorder in the other. He didn't know what he was running to, or from, but somehow he knew that the fate of the ship/station/place depended on him making a quick repair to the... something. Gasping for breath, Peters skidded around the next bend and found himself in... the arboretum? That wasn't right. This was supposed to be... it was supposed to be... he couldn't remember.
Shaking his head, Peters looked at the tricorder in his hand... except it wasn't a tricorder, it was suddenly a PADD. Looking at it, Peters tried to decipher the information on the screen. He couldn't put is finger on why he couldn't read it until he realized that the writing was in Cardassian. Why would a Federation PADD have a Cardassian language file on it?
Tapping the controls on the PADD, Peters tried to get back to the menu, but he couldn’t find the right button for it. Scrolling through screen after screen of command buttons, Peters realized that somehow every screen was written in a different language… and he couldn’t read any of them. Suddenly he came to one that he recognized instantly. Borg glyphs stared out at him from the PADD’s screen… and then a Borg assimilation tubule sprouted from the center of the screen. Hurling the PADD away, Peters staggered back. He felt himself bump into something and spun around…
<USS Malinche, Lt Peters Quarters, Day 4, 1324>
…and woke up with a start. Peters sat up quickly and looked around, then started trying to calm himself and slow his rapid breathing. He hated nightmares. He could see a counselor, but he knew what they’d say… the stress of his prior encounters with the Borg and the parasitic hive race was getting to him and he shouldn’t repress the emotions that came with the memories of coming so close to losing his identity. But Peters didn’t want to be lectured by a shrink or by someone digging around in his head.
With a sigh, Peters threw back the covers and stood up. He wasn’t going to get any more sleep in the next few hours, so he should probably go be useful. But first he needed more coffee.
OFF:
Peters found himself running through a corridor, phaser in one hand, a tricorder in the other. He didn't know what he was running to, or from, but somehow he knew that the fate of the ship/station/place depended on him making a quick repair to the... something. Gasping for breath, Peters skidded around the next bend and found himself in... the arboretum? That wasn't right. This was supposed to be... it was supposed to be... he couldn't remember.
Shaking his head, Peters looked at the tricorder in his hand... except it wasn't a tricorder, it was suddenly a PADD. Looking at it, Peters tried to decipher the information on the screen. He couldn't put is finger on why he couldn't read it until he realized that the writing was in Cardassian. Why would a Federation PADD have a Cardassian language file on it?
Tapping the controls on the PADD, Peters tried to get back to the menu, but he couldn’t find the right button for it. Scrolling through screen after screen of command buttons, Peters realized that somehow every screen was written in a different language… and he couldn’t read any of them. Suddenly he came to one that he recognized instantly. Borg glyphs stared out at him from the PADD’s screen… and then a Borg assimilation tubule sprouted from the center of the screen. Hurling the PADD away, Peters staggered back. He felt himself bump into something and spun around…
<USS Malinche, Lt Peters Quarters, Day 4, 1324>
…and woke up with a start. Peters sat up quickly and looked around, then started trying to calm himself and slow his rapid breathing. He hated nightmares. He could see a counselor, but he knew what they’d say… the stress of his prior encounters with the Borg and the parasitic hive race was getting to him and he shouldn’t repress the emotions that came with the memories of coming so close to losing his identity. But Peters didn’t want to be lectured by a shrink or by someone digging around in his head.
With a sigh, Peters threw back the covers and stood up. He wasn’t going to get any more sleep in the next few hours, so he should probably go be useful. But first he needed more coffee.
OFF:
Tony
AKA
Lieutenant Commander Todd Peters
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38997-A
Re: Mission 12: When In Rome
ON:
LOCATION: USS Malinche, Stellar Cartography, 1150, MD04>>>>
Kaylee nodded, and half rolled her eyes. "I wish...Looks like
someone's real keen for us to head back into that Asteroid Field.Dropped a rogue algorithm into the Flight Command Processors, and flipped our Nav-Array topside over. The Lt. and I were just working on recalibrating the Nav-Bearings."
Kaylee realized that this was actually her first meeting with the Science Officer. "Oh, sorry, horrible manners. I'm Kaylee, the new Conn Officer."
Aaron smiled, glad to put a name and position to the face. "Aaron Steele, chief of science. This is only my second mission onboard the Malinche so I guess you could say I'm new as well. If we're headed back towards the asteroids than things just went from bad to worse. While there were some things I wanted to check out there, my curiosity isn't that strong. "
He paused briefly.
"The way things are shaping up; I'd almost prefer our last mission
over this one."
Kaylee scoffed. "The last mission when a little more smoothly, I hope?"
"Not exactly, although the way this mission is shaping up that may be true. It's more the fact that then we knew what we were facing, which I find easier to handle." It was something Aaron was never able to explain, or had taken the time to analyze.
Kaylee looked back over her shoulder at the holographic display. "Well, for what ever reason, the Captain wants us to continue heading towards the Asteroid field, maybe she figures we can set a trap for whoever is so desperate to get back there." She looked at Steele.
"What has Science found out about this area? Is there anything worth going back for?"
Moving over to the control panel, Aaron zoomed in on the asteroid field. "The first time through, I noticed a high concentration of polaric energy but was unable to pinpoint it's exact location. My guess at the time was that it had something to do with what was happening and I still think it's somehow connected. Something else that's of interest to you as a pilot is the Schiller Rating which was was an average of 39 with a rating of 57 at it's densest."
Kaylee moved around to the console aswell. "That high concentration of Polaric Ion energy would definately explain the formation of that subspace rift- and could entirely explain why so many ships go missing here."
While Kaylee was no sciencist by any means, she new the volatile nature of polaric energy, and that its research as a potential energy source was banned in the Federation.
"The Schiller Rating is useful though, thanks for pointing that out," Pressing a few buttons, Kaylee forwarded the data to the Flight Console up on the Bridge. That would alert the Junior Officer on the Conn to the high danger and quantity of asteroids in the area.
Kaylee looked at Steele. "Have the sensors been affected at all by the polaric radiation?"
Aaron was glad someone else agreed that the radiation was worth investigating. It helped even more that Kaylee wasn't from the science dept. His experience was that the more departments bring up a concern the more likely it was to be listened to.
"Everything started acting up about the time we cleared the asteroids as you probably remember. But honestly I never looked for correlation between the two. I'll see what I can do from my end, and if you wouldn't mind mentioning it to whoever is manning the Ops console when you return to the bridge maybe we can shed some more light on this."
Kaylee nodded. "It's definately worth mentioning to the Capt'n," She glanced at the holographic display. "And by the looks of it, we'e just reached the edge of teh asteroid belt, so I need to be on the Bridge."
She looked at Aaron and gave him a smile. "Well, it was good to meet you,sir." Giving him a quick nod, she turned and left the Stellar Cartographyfor the nearest turbolift at a run.
END:
A Jp between
Lt. Aaron Steel
Chief of Science
AND
LOCATION: USS Malinche, Stellar Cartography, 1150, MD04>>>>
Kaylee nodded, and half rolled her eyes. "I wish...Looks like
someone's real keen for us to head back into that Asteroid Field.Dropped a rogue algorithm into the Flight Command Processors, and flipped our Nav-Array topside over. The Lt. and I were just working on recalibrating the Nav-Bearings."
Kaylee realized that this was actually her first meeting with the Science Officer. "Oh, sorry, horrible manners. I'm Kaylee, the new Conn Officer."
Aaron smiled, glad to put a name and position to the face. "Aaron Steele, chief of science. This is only my second mission onboard the Malinche so I guess you could say I'm new as well. If we're headed back towards the asteroids than things just went from bad to worse. While there were some things I wanted to check out there, my curiosity isn't that strong. "
He paused briefly.
"The way things are shaping up; I'd almost prefer our last mission
over this one."
Kaylee scoffed. "The last mission when a little more smoothly, I hope?"
"Not exactly, although the way this mission is shaping up that may be true. It's more the fact that then we knew what we were facing, which I find easier to handle." It was something Aaron was never able to explain, or had taken the time to analyze.
Kaylee looked back over her shoulder at the holographic display. "Well, for what ever reason, the Captain wants us to continue heading towards the Asteroid field, maybe she figures we can set a trap for whoever is so desperate to get back there." She looked at Steele.
"What has Science found out about this area? Is there anything worth going back for?"
Moving over to the control panel, Aaron zoomed in on the asteroid field. "The first time through, I noticed a high concentration of polaric energy but was unable to pinpoint it's exact location. My guess at the time was that it had something to do with what was happening and I still think it's somehow connected. Something else that's of interest to you as a pilot is the Schiller Rating which was was an average of 39 with a rating of 57 at it's densest."
Kaylee moved around to the console aswell. "That high concentration of Polaric Ion energy would definately explain the formation of that subspace rift- and could entirely explain why so many ships go missing here."
While Kaylee was no sciencist by any means, she new the volatile nature of polaric energy, and that its research as a potential energy source was banned in the Federation.
"The Schiller Rating is useful though, thanks for pointing that out," Pressing a few buttons, Kaylee forwarded the data to the Flight Console up on the Bridge. That would alert the Junior Officer on the Conn to the high danger and quantity of asteroids in the area.
Kaylee looked at Steele. "Have the sensors been affected at all by the polaric radiation?"
Aaron was glad someone else agreed that the radiation was worth investigating. It helped even more that Kaylee wasn't from the science dept. His experience was that the more departments bring up a concern the more likely it was to be listened to.
"Everything started acting up about the time we cleared the asteroids as you probably remember. But honestly I never looked for correlation between the two. I'll see what I can do from my end, and if you wouldn't mind mentioning it to whoever is manning the Ops console when you return to the bridge maybe we can shed some more light on this."
Kaylee nodded. "It's definately worth mentioning to the Capt'n," She glanced at the holographic display. "And by the looks of it, we'e just reached the edge of teh asteroid belt, so I need to be on the Bridge."
She looked at Aaron and gave him a smile. "Well, it was good to meet you,sir." Giving him a quick nod, she turned and left the Stellar Cartographyfor the nearest turbolift at a run.
END:
A Jp between
Lt. Aaron Steel
Chief of Science
AND
Ensign Lauren Kaylee
Flight Control Officer
USS Malinche NCC-38897-B