From: JoGoodman2@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, 13 May 2003 5:56 AM To: up_rpg@freedom-squadron.com Subject: compile Apr 28 - May 4 (part 3) (Starbase Valhalla: Security Office - Lt. Orde - 1411) =/\=Longfellow to Security and Infirmary, Unknown found in Cargo Bay 3, Deck 13. Investigating now, =/\= Pierce slapped his commbadge. "Orde to Longfellow. Wait for Security to arrive! I'm on my way." ~First rule: Never open the box if you are indeed by yourself.~ NRPG: Also known as the 'Red Shirt' rule. RPG: He closed the channel and opened another. "Pierce to transporter room, site to site transport to Cargo bay 13." Pierce said as he stood. "Energize." (Starbase Valhalla: Cargo Bay 13 - Lt. Orde - 1412) Pierce materialized a few feet from Longfellow, who had his hand on a boxlid. "Okay, now open it." Pierce said. He watched as Longfellow completed opening the top of the box, and the two of them looked inside. Pierce immediately stepped back. "Orde to Infirmary. Drop whatever you're doing and get down to Cargo Bay 13, we have wounded." (Reply anyone who is in the infirmary) "Ensign, stand back. I'm going to cut her out of there." Pierce ordered as he levelled his staff at a corner of the box. He fired a thin pencil-width beam out, neatly slicing the corner of the box off. He fired again at the opposing corner; then at a third corner. Two of the sides of the box fell away with a satisfying *whunk* to reveal one unconscious Rain Anderson. "Ensign, good job. I'll see to it that you get a commendation. You'll have her unending gratitude, to be sure." (Reply Longfellow, Anderson, Medical) (Posted by Lenox) -Lenox - Lord of Hyphens ---------------------------------------- (Starbase Valhalla: Security Office - Pierce Orde - 1500) =/\=Of course, Pierce. We can postpone. Though with regret. Is some Starfleet dignitary arriving? I haven't received any such notice.=/\= Pierce hesitated. ~Should I tell her? Some of it.~ "Of a sort; two scientists that I haven't seen in a long time. Actually, why don't you accompany me and then we'll have a late lunch? It shouldn't take long." ~Operative word here: should.~ (Reply Kahlia) (Posted by Lenox) NRPG: Tony, go ahead and post those bios. -Lenox - Lord of Hyphens ---------------------------------------- (Starbase Valhalla, FO/Counseling Office, Kahila Lono, 1500) Kahila was checking her list of the officers who had not yet made counseling appointments, having made the decision to leave another message with them, when she received a call. She tapped her combadge, saying, "Lono here." "Orde to Lono. Sorry to bother you, but it looks like I'll need to postpone our lunch an hour or so. Someone's coming in on a transport that I have to go and greet." ~Oh chaos. I hope the postponing doesn't escalate on and on. I wonder who rates a personal greeting from the Security Chief.~ "Of course, Pierce. We can postpone. Though with regret. Is some Starfleet dignitary arriving? I haven't received any such notice." ~Oh-- maybe I sounded overly curious. It may be a personal matter.~ (reply Orde) (posted by Josephine Goodman) <> (Starbase Valhalla, FO/Counseling office, Kahila Lono, 15:03) Wondering if she had seemed overly curious about who Pierce would be meeting, Kahila listened to his reply. =^=Of a sort; two scientists that I haven't seen in a long time. Actually, why don't you accompany me and then we'll have a late lunch? It shouldn't take long.=^= Despite his seemingly casual tone of voice, Kahila became suddenly aware that he was in an unusual state of stress and uncertainty. ~Oh! So, this empathy thing we have works even over com. Amazing. But why is he so concerned about tomorrow?~ As suddenly as she'd asked herself the question -- she knew. The scientists were his parents. Or another Orde's parents. "I have an intuition here, Pierce. Let me know if I'm wrong. These scientists -- they're your parents -- in one version of reality or another?" (reply Orde) (posted by Josephine Goodman) (Starbase Valhalla: Security Office - Pierce Orde - 1504) =/\=I've an intuition here, Pierce. Let me know if I'm wrong. These scientists -- they're your parents -- in one version of reality or another?=/\= "Intuition, eh? Well, you've hit it on the head - they are the parents of the now-deceased Captain Pierce Horatio Orde. They don't know I exist yet." Something tickled in the back of his mind. ~Empathic connection. Note to self: don't try to lie or otherwise evade the truth with Kahlia.~ "And I would like to have someone else with me - just in case they recognize me. My hope was that while I had lost my parents and they have lost their son, perhaps Fate has allowed us to have found each other again." (Reply Kahlia) "Understood. Orde out." Just then, Crewman Maxwell entered the office. "Sir," he began, "we have searched the entire station. No sign of Ensign Anderson." ~Wonderful. One thing and then another.~ "Begin searching the yard docks and then the processing areas, inch by inch. If any of the officers in charge of those areas complain, refer them to me. We'll find her, John." Lt. Orde ordered. Maxwell nodded, and left the room, conviction in his step. (Reply Kahlia, any) (Posted by Lenox) -Lenox - Lord of Hyphens ---------------------------------------- (Starbase Valhalla, FO/Counselor's office, Kahila Lono, 1505) Kahila listened to Piece's reply, "Intuition, eh? Well, you've hit it on the head - they are the parents of the now-deceased Captain Pierce Horatio Orde. They don't know I exist yet." ~Oh! Shouldn't they be warned before they see their 'dead' son?~ "And I would like to have someone else with me - just in case they recognize me. My hope was that while I had lost my parents and they have lost their son, perhaps Fate has allowed us to have found each other again." Kahila felt somewhat stunned by the situation. After a moment she said, "I'm honored that you ask me to be there. I will, of course. And I'll also slip into the background, if it seems appropriate. Or, on the other hand, I'll be available if the three of you need someone non-involved to help sort things out. I can only begin to imagine what you're feeling now, Pierce, even with an empathic connection. This is such an intense-- not to mention, unique situation. But I won't keep you now. You must have many things to do yet. We'll talk later." After Kahila exited the conversation, she sat, thoughtful, for a few moments. Then she snapped her attention back to more immediate concerns. She needed to get the rest of the evaluations completed, and then her report, before her 19:00 deadline. She left messages--marked urgent-- with Ensign Longfellow, and Rick Blaine. She remembered that the CMO had indicated he'd prefer she interview him at Otono. ~Well, considering the enormity of the tasks he's required to undertake right now, I'll oblige. Besides, he's rather likeable.~ As Kahila went from her office into the waiting room, she was startled for an instant to see two young crewmen standing beside the door, obviously having just entered. Then she said, "Oh, of course, my new assistants. Hello Meera, I'm glad you're here." Then she nodded to the blonde woman, "And you're . . .?" "Rose Riley, Ma'am. Reporting for duty." "Very good. If anyone calls for an appointment, set it for after 16:00. There are two PADDS on my desk," she gestured to her inner office. "Please transcribe the information into a temporary file. I'll fit it in later. And oh -- think party." At their looks of surprise, Kahila explained. "Admiral Jopek wants me to plan something soon, sort of a get acquainted for new people, and a brief bit of relaxation. Though nothing that requires too much holodeck programming. Everyone's so busy." She left them to their chores then, and walked briskly to the nearest lift. Kahila stepped into the somewhat orderly chaos of the medical center. She saw lines of crewmen forming, no doubt for their Physicals. Kahila strode up to the nearest nurse, and stopped her quick movement of walking away, saying, "Do you know where the CMO is right now? I need to have a message given to him. Tell him FO Kahila Lono is here, for his counseling evaluation." (reply medical personnel, Cambridge) (posted by Josephine Goodman) (Starbase Valhalla,corridor outside counseling office, Crewmen Gahudran and Riley, 15:10) Meera Gahudran turned to the young blonde woman who had come from the turbolilft with her, and was now walking in the same direction. "Hi. We seem to be moving along together. Are you heading for the counseling office?" "Yes," the woman replied. "Oh, but not because I'm in any trouble. FO Lono put in a request for an office assistant, and the Communications Officer reommended me. What about you?" Meera laughed. "Same situation. Almost. I'm not in any trouble now, but I was a couple of weeks ago. I was working in Engineering then. And . . . well, I had brought aboard an exotic pet, without reporting it." At the blonde woman's startled look, Meera shrugged. "Yeah, that was a bad idea. I was lucky though. My Lazuli was stolen -- then found -- and was that an adventure! I was reprimanded, and I won't be going on leave for another three months. But thanks to Lieutenant Lono, I won't be thrown out of Star Fleet. She suggested I put in a few extra hours a week working for her. She has a lot going on these days. I'm kind of looking forward to it." "I'm glad to know you had a good experience with her. I haven't met her yet. Oh -- I'm Rose Riley." "Glad to meet you. I'm Meera Gahudran." The two crewmen walked into the small counseling waiting room. Meera tapped the enunciator to the FO's office. (posted by Josephine Goodman) (Starbase Valhalla: Security Office - Lt. Pierce Horatio Orde - 1731) All the lights and normal background noise suddenly cut out. And because the Security Office was deep within the station, the office was pitch black - blacker than space. Pierce did not move; He recalled that while Blaine was off-duty right now, Maxwell should be in the area. He tapped his commbadge. No reply. ~Damn; no power anywhere.~ Reaching into a desk drawer, he pulled out a palm beacon. No use - the thing was dead. ~Okay, let's try something else~ He felt around in his drawer for a small cylinder. Finding two, he cracked one on the side of his desk. Light flared up from the chemical glowrod. NRPG: Ah, the power of chemicals. RPG: Even though the light wasn't much, in this inky blackness it threw light a long way, banishing whatever darkness it could. ~Now, on to business.~ He reached into his drawer and retrieved two more items: a manual door-opener and a small pistol, tucked into a holster. He put the holster on and proceeded back into the holding area. Everything seemed fine; the guard was still there, a bit bewildered. The two people in holding cells were fine for the time being, as far as he could tell with his light - forcefield or forcefield. He was thankful that these weren't dangerous criminals, just some people who had needed to 'cool off.' "Robertson, take these." Pierce said quietly while handing the other glowrod and the pistol to the officer. "The clip that is in there is non-lethal, but here's a clip of the real stuff. Stay here." He turned to the two prisoners. "Looks like we've lost power for some reason. I would very much like not to have to have Robertson here shoot you - the gun he has has no stun setting." Pierce walked out of the holding area and into the adjoining room, aided by the glowrod and the door-opener. Opening up his personal armory, he selected several pistols and sufficent amounts of both lethal and non-lethal ammunition. He loaded his first clip of lethal ammuniton. ~Can't take any chances.~ He retrieved many more glowrods and a grappling hook and placed them into a satchel. Concentrating on Kahlia, he sent a short message, along with an image of where he was. ~Where are you?~ (Reply Kahlia) ~On my way.~ Pierce slowly made his way up to Kahlia's position, handing out glowrods to any officers he came across. (Reply anyone who wants a glowrod and is somewhere between Kahlia and the Security Office) (Starbase Valhalla: Counselor's Office - Lt. Orde - 1840) He arrived at Kahlia's office, and forced the door open. In the dim light of his glowrod, he could make out the outlines of Kahlia - and the admiral. He pulled out two more glowrods and tossed them to his superior officers. "And the Security Chief said: 'Let there be light'" He said lightly. (Reply Jopek/Kahlia iyw) "Security, near as I can tell, is still fine. I've issued firearms out of my personal collection to all security officers whom I've come across, as well as glowrods to all people I've come across." he told the Admiral. "And I've sent two of my men to retrieve door-openers and more glowrods and take them to Engineering, and another to climb up to Ops." (Reply Kahlia,Jopek, any) (Posted by Lenox) -Lenox - Lord of Hyphens ---------------------------------------- (Starbase Valhalla - Somewhere (still) - ACMO Rain Anderson - sometime + a while) Rain had no idea how much time had passed since she had regained consciousness, how long she'd been unconscious, what time of the day or night it was and how much longer she would have to wait for rescue. As each second ticked past, she knew that her chances of getting out of this alive were getting slimmer. She was already having trouble breathing in the carbon dioxide rich air and she knew this would lead to unconsciousness very soon. She had attempted to keep her breathing shallow to conserve oxygen but even that was not going to save her for long. In a moment of desperation she felt a tear trickle down her cheek. She fought to stop herself from crying as she new a good cry would use up oxygen more quickly. She couldn't stop herself though and finally gave in to a really good cry with sobs and gasps. She felt utterly friendless and unloved as she slipped back into unconsciousness. (Reply anyone (please)) (Posted by Wendy Keen) (Starbase Valhalla - Somewhere in a box - ACMO Anderson - Sometime plus a bit) Rain's altered state of consciousness.... unconsciousness.... had led to a vastly different way of thinking and feeling. Her mind continued to work, but work in a way it never had before. In many ways her thoughts were clearer than they ever had been. The images of her life flashed in vivid clarity into her head and were just as quickly gone. She relived her childhood on Risa... her feelings of isolation and loneliness amongst the pleasure palaces run by her parents. She then relived her time at school, university and Starfleet academy. She saw the faces of her classmates and could recall all of their names clearly. The thought that none of them would remember her was a painful one. This time in her life was marked by anxiety and loneliness as she fought to fit in. Her brief time as a serving officer in Starfleet played through her mind quickly and yet again the overwhelming theme was loneliness..... Suddenly the images of her life began to fade and she knew the end had come. In a way she welcomed it.... feeling lonely surrounded by thousands of people was no way to live one's life. She just wished she had one friend who would mourn her passing. (Reply none) (Posted by Wendy Keen) NRPG: Just setting the scene for Rain's reawakening... more later <> From: JoGoodman2@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, 13 May 2003 5:52 AM To: up_rpg@freedom-squadron.com Subject: compile Apr 28-May 4 (part 2) And one of their wishes had been to discuss 'Matters of State' with someone of high standing. Unfortunately, since the Zalachdia had been an ancient monarchy, the only one to discuss 'Matters of State' with would be someone of Royal blood. Enter the fresh bl**dy Prince Percival! Federation Ambassador extra-ordinaire. Of course Percival had tried to do his best, but when he found out that the Great Queen Zalachdia had been nothing more than a copy of his real mother in Lizard skin his torment had only increased. More talk of 'Status' and 'Noblesse Oblige'. For the first time Percival had started wondering whether he had been lucky to escape the fate of his exploding universe. But finally the discussions had ended, he had said goodbye to everyone and had taken the first Runabout out of Starbase 48. Percival looked behind him to the large hump of 'friendship gifts' from Queen Zalachdia. Curious artifacts, the lot. Well, curious would be the most positive way he could describe them. Of course it would not do to just stash them away. They had to be kept in perfect condition on the off-chance that Queen Zalachdia would come and visit him in return and he would have to show them. Maintain good relations by maintaining friendship gifts. So where was he supposed to find Grandalian ant-spit? Or even Hydokian Sandle-leather? Percival shook his head again. Somehow he knew he was going to be in a lot of trouble. ((Starbase Valhalla, Promenade, TSO Lt. Percival Bellephoron, 12.40) Having returned to the starbase, Percival had looked for his commanding officer and finally spotting him, he approached the Admiral and came to attention. "Admiral Jopek? Lt. Bellephoron finally reporting back for service, Sir!" (Reply by Jopek, any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) Adrie Geuken (adrie@geuken.freeserve.co.uk) (Mars - Strategic Operations Conference Room- Capt Richard Ian Lee and XO RADM Kevel - 10.38) "Then I guess we draw up plans for a conflict." Kevel felt his pulse pick up pace. This was the part he could get into. This was his element. The Rear Admiral nodded to both men at the table. "Shall we begin planning Admiral?" LoDona nodded and Lee turned to him. "I'll meet you in the command center shortly. I have a few things to nail down..." Kevel nodded and exited the room. (Mars - Strategic Operations - XO Kevel-Command Center- 10.50) As Kevel entered the command center, the officers turned as they were working and nodded to him. Several of them were his own from the USS Lion and others had been with him before on his adventures, while still others were Lee's and Rulestaad's. Captain, now commander Rulestaad. Kevel felt for the woman and knew there was something troubling her deeply. He wasn't sure what it was, but it something below her calm surface, threatening to create a tsunami of emotions. "Gerry, begin activating communications with all ships in the fleet, advise them to activate yellow alert and go to maximum sensors range. Also, advise them to begin going to general stations, we'll be putting out orders to them. Put Stratops at Yellow Alert. Signal ships in the defensive perimeter to also prepare for orders and activate long range sensors. Operations, I need a report on ships that are viable in combat and current status of the ships. Repairs, refits and future retirements. Tactical, I want anything you have on enemy ship incursions or interactions in the last 6 months and where they are now. Get to it..." The men and women in the room broke to their orders as the Rear Admiral shifted in his uniform. This was just the start. (Mars - Strategic Operations- Conference Room- Captain Richard Ian Lee-10.50) Rich tapped the PADD against the table for several moments. "Let me be frank," he said "You realize that the probing you are wanting could plunge us into war." Robert nodded, "Im well aware of the situation." Lee leaned forward, "You could have anyone probe that sector, hell.. you are more then capable of running such activities yourself." The Vice-Admiral sat, unmoving, for many moments. Rich once again had the feeling he was being appraised. The Admiral took a breath, then said "My turn to be frank. I know exactly what Im asking you to do, I didn't put you two here to probe anything. Even without these activities I've authorized, I think we are one step from conflict, and I don't need to tell you how short handed we are. I fully expect, within the next year, to be engaged in a war that standard Strategy says is unwinable. I didn't put you here to probe, I put you here to prepare for the worst. IF we end up in the fire fight I think we are going to end up in, I need someone directing the fleet that knows how to handle themselves in a so-called hopeless situation. Im good with tactics and strategy in rather tight spots, hence my promotion out of the War College strait into a sector squadron, but I've never...-ever-.. been in a situation remotely like this, and you two have. Not only did you two make as much of a success of yourselves that was possible, you came out alive on top of it all." The Admiral stood, Rich did no more then follow him with his eyes. LoDona frowned and looked off to the side. "I wanted to retire this year, Captain. Instead, I find myself in a Command that has been attacked no less then four times in a years time, by various separate groups. And all indicators point to things getting worse, not better." He looked Rich in the eyes, "I can run the squadron in a tight place, that's why Im here. But *if* we are going to be in a situation in our current condition, well.. Im not going to let my pride hold me back from harnessing all possible expertise. You and Kevel have it, Im going to use it." Rich nodded, "Ill send you the plans, then." LoDona nodded, and Rich stood to follow him out. The Admiral continued on, and proceeded out of Stratops. Rich watched him pass the doors, then looked at the 2nd level control center, the very nerve of Stratops, overlooking the rest of level 1 and the football stadium sized situation screen. He sighed, as he walked up the steps, then passed all the advanced security measures to get into the control center. No one stood from their places when it was announced the Captain was on the deck, so much the better. There was movement behind the Rear Admiral and it didn't take much for Kevel to know it was Lee. Both knew each other well enough. The man approached and elbowed him, pointing to the CO's office, which appeared to be their new office. For the time being. Kevel nodded quickly. "Gerry, you have stations." He quickly followed his compatriot to the office, letting the door slide shut behind them both. Richard Talbot Kevel moved to the desk, some reminders of Rulstaad remained. "I suppose we're not just here to poke and prod those around us, are we..." Rich sighed as the door closed, and he made his way around the desk. "If only..." He turned the chair, and sat hard in it. He rubbed his face for several moments, then said "The Admiral expects a war, and he expects it with limited resources. We poke and prod, yes.. but we have a free hand in rearranging the fleet in order to wage unlimited war in whatever scale we can support." He looked at Kevel, "The fleet is in sad shape, over in that quadrant. We don't even have the resources behind us that we had in the Dominion War, there are still three full fleet shipyards, but each is putting out ships at only 1/5th of total wartime production, and the Academy is still with it's peacetime 4 year program. I can't just put the Federation on a wartime footing, meaning if we do go to war, we will fight the first seven months with only the chess pieces we currently possess. Hence where we come in, master strategists with a habit of succeeding where all sense dictates we should fail. Hmmm... controlled desperation, in other words" Kevel grinned. "Desperation. What fun. So we fight with people who haven't faced war, at least not the type of war we've faced. We have ships that are not readied like ours were. We have a fleet of officers to baptize in fire in a limited amount of time." He paused for a moment. "Then we fight like hell. I suppose poking and prodding is the best option, keep war as far away as we can. Throw the entire Starfleet production and training groups into overdrive and bend them into shape. I don't see how we come out of any of this without something getting broken. The other big question is, who are we going to poke first? And what can we expect from them?" Rich tapped his fingers on the desk, and looked off to the mini situation monitor as he thought. "Aye.. these people haven't had the huge wars or losses we have had, though they are 50 years more advanced in all ways, and have had a number of smaller battles." He chewed on his lip for a moment. "I think we are going to need communication with some of the outlying vessels, read up on what had been going on. I don't know many specifics, we cant judge until we know who has been pushing *us* the hardest. LoDona made it sound like there had been a number of small attacks, probes in themselves." Kevel moved to the window facing the command center. The men and women there were working hard, not knowing even close to what was going to be asked of them in the very near future, not knowing of their lives and what sacrifices they may have to make. Such was the unpredictability of war and the conflict it brought. In only a moments time, everything could change. And for the crew of Utopia, it already had. They didn't need any more. But that didn't mean Fate wouldn't send a curve ball their way either. "Wonderful. If that is truly the case, we may be in bigger trouble than we know. If anything, our enemies have already tested us several times. This is our mode of thinking for however long this goes. Our enemy already knows everything about us, our ships, our crews and our abilities and our tactics up to this point. All of that is now out the window and burned to ashes. Our designs have to change, our tactics have to change and most importantly, everything has to change. It may take some fire to mold it, but we can get there..." Kevel turned back to face Richard Lee and raised an eyebrow. "My logical mind tells me we have time to prepare, but my heart tells me it's only a matter of time before we come under the shadow of becoming prey to the predator. So." He took a deep breath, snagged a chair from across the room and sat on the other side of the table. "How do we begin to prepare for the fight to save us?" Rich clicked his tongue. "By bringing in tactics that the enemy has never before seen, we have books worth, half of which we wrote." He scratched at his forehead. "They may not have had a fight of the scale we've seen, but there are still combat veterans out there. We are still the Federation, our forces tend to learn fast." He looked over, "We take a couple days to learn, then we start issuing new orders, under guise of innocent things. Research missions, resupply, mapping... we keep a rotation of ships, limited communication, never letting the enemy know just how much, or how little, we have in the area." He tugged at his beard in thought, "And we have a talk with SFI, and the CO's of the Line ships, get their thoughts on the matter, their impressions might open new avenues." Rich shook his head, "LoDona knows war well enough, I don't pretend to think that our situation is pretty. But, just maybe, we can find a better way out." Nodding, Kevel leaned back in his chair. "Good enough. Which part of all that do you want?" Rich looked over, "Pull all Starcharts for the area of Freedom, and all surrounding sectors. Get a full list of all encounters for the past 2 years, all the official reports and unofficial rumors. We start there." Kevel nodded quickly and stood. "Then old friend, are we finished here?" Rich stood, "That's all for now, Ill see you in the situation room." Richard Talbot left the room quickly, entering the command area and quickly gave out orders. The time was nigh. (Starbase Valhalla, Otono Medical Centre, MO Edison- 12.15) The good admiral was clear, thank goodness. Edison wasn't sure her stress level could get much higher. She would need her massage tonight. "You're all clear..I mean you're good..erm..you're fit Admiral..." "Thank-you, Petty Officer Edison. One other thing, minor matter, Mr Edison.." Edison panicked, her heart screaming to her throat in a record .434 seconds. "Captain Remae brought me some fish, apparently an aquarium would look pleasing in my outer office. Could you arrange for the EMH to be sent up, all other life forms on the station are going to be medically examined, they need to be too. Thank you." The admiral left on that note as Edison took a deep breath and then promptly fell over, fainting dead away. She did remember to later activate the EMH to send him up, but only after she had managed to laugh off the scene in the sickbay. (Starbase Valhalla, Promenade, Admiral Jopek - 12.40) "Admiral Jopek? Lt. Bellephoron finally reporting back for service, Sir!" ~ Am I ever going to get back to my office? ~ "Lieutenant, welcome back onboard. Please report to my office this afternoon for a quick briefing. In the meantime, please, settle in. I'll see you in one hour." Jopek nodded towards the TSO and carried on back to his office, at a quicker pace than normal! (Starbase Valhalla, Admiral's Ready Room, Admiral Jopek - 13.45) "Thank you for coming over so promptly Mr. Bellephoron, have a seat won't you. I hope your time on Earth wasn't too trying?", said the Admiral, picking up a PADD from the pile on his desk. (Reply from Bellephoron) "Our TEO, Doctor Dervin has been assigned to a small expedition and won't be back for sometime, this means that you are now the ranking officer at the Advanced Design Bureau and we have a pressing task for you." Jopek handed Bellephoron a PADD with the schematics for the new inter-dimensional warp drive on it. "This is the new engine design that Starfleet Engineering just delivered to us; it's sitting in the main Cargo Bay right now. Please begin installation and testing in the first available ship and keep me informed when you think it's ready for a trial run." Jopek shifted in his chair. "Other than that, I want you to report for Medical and Psychological Examinations as soon as possible, an order from Starfleet Command. Any questions Mr. Bellephoron?" (Reply from Bellephoron) "Dismissed then and I hear you are the person to talk to regarding arranging festive gatherings, I believe the First Officer is working on such event, would you mind giving her a hand? Thank you." (Reply from Bellephoron) The TSO left the room and he left the CO with his pile of paperwork. It seemed to be never ending! NRPG: Please note the time jump here, were moving on a little bit RPG: (Starbase Valhalla, Admiral's Ready Room, Admiral Jopek - 17.00) << The time is 17.00 >> "Already?", he said to the computer, the Vulcan had actually lost track of time. << Affirmative >> "Admiral Jopek to Counsellor Lono, is it too late to come down and see you, Counsellor? I am afraid I rather let time get away from me." (Reply from the good Counsellor) "Very well, thank you, Jopek out." It wasn't going to be long before Starfleet would want these results sent back for analysis, he couldn't logically work out why they were in such a rush for them. ~ What's this? ~ A piece of paper fell out from between two PADDs; it was the one he had been given on the Promenade. He took the note and folded it carefully into his pocket without reading it. The contents weren't going to change and he knew that he had a prior appointment he'd better attend to first, the Counsellor. (Starbase Valhalla, Outside the FO/Counsellor's Office, Admiral Jopek - 17.30) Pressing the door-chime, the Admiral entered upon a voice from inside the room, the First Officer was sitting at her desk, and he nodded and took a seat. "Counsellor, thank you for seeing me so late, but I would imagine that you are in a rush to complete this task before the deadline, I apologise for the workload but that is life in Starfleet for you. Where shall we begin?", he said, cocking his head to one side. (Reply from the Counsellor and I'll go back and fill this out later) (Starbase Valhalla, Outside the FO/Counsellor's Office, Admiral Jopek - 18.30) =^= Operations to Admiral Jopek =^= Jopek stopped what he was saying and touched his commbadge. "Go ahead." =^= We're getting some strangeee strrraaggg bpfffrttt =^= The sound echoed around the room for a moment and without warning. the lights went out, the sounds of power disappeared, all the computer screens went blank and for a moment, the surreal nature of space took over with deafening and utter silence. "Jopek to Operations, come in." ~ Silence, not even the beep from the communicator ~ "Counsellor, are you okay? Do you have any palm beacons around?", he said, his acute vision useless in the total darkness. On this side of the station, no light from Mars or the Sun was hitting them, neither was there in light from the docking bays, ships, shuttles or anything else. (Counsellor?) He strapped one of the beacons on and he flipped it on. ~ Nothing, the batteries are dead ~ "Counsellor, I am going to try to open the door. Can you give me a hand?", he said, fumbling his way to the door and grabbing one side of it. It slid open with no effort; nothing was there to stop it, no power, no locks, nothing. "I want you to go start rounding up crew and see what's going on. Counsellor, remember what I said about Starfleet being hard work, that's going to take on new meaning with the sheer size of Valhalla, I would estimate that it's going to take an hour or so just to climb to Operations, so I suggest we setup a temporary command here, in your office." Without heat, light or power, Valhalla was going to get cold real quick; people stuck on the outside were there for good. Shuttlebay force-fields were going to be offline, the doors would be hard sealed just to prevent such an event, and the same went for all external hatches and docking seals. If, as he suspected, Mars, the bays, Valhalla were all deprived of power, they had less than 12 hours of air; within a few hours it was going to get cold as space. (Reply from Counsellor, TSO, Any) (Posted by Anthony Keen) NRPG: So, it's totally dark apart from people on Mars or facing the Sun, does Valhalla orbit? Well, I've leave that to you to figure out! No one is getting off or on, okay? So, no beaming anywhere! No power sources can work and it's not just the hardware that is going to be suffering problems, but more on that later! (Otono Medical Center - Science Officer Horacio Tyrell - 1350) Probably finding the appopriates words and gestures, the CMO succeeded to calm down a little Horacio "Do you get this nervous around Doctors much?" he asked in offering him a cup of water. Horacio took a few sip of it " Yes, Sir, that's it, I'm fearing Doctors, Counsellors, nurses, in one word anything related to medical and when I'm confronted to a medical environment I loose completely my self-control. I'm suffering from vertigo, claustrophobia and I'm also hypocondriac " he explained with difficulties. (Reply Cambridge) " No it has started several years ago on Bolarus IX when I was a child, I was doing climbing with some friends when a mass of fallen rocks had strucken me and I've fallen from thirty meters directly on the ground. I've spend three hours under tons of rocks and theh almost a year in a hospital, first in the intensive care and after in a recoveruy unit." Horacio seemed to be relieved, it was the first time he was telling that story to someone, even when he had applied to enter in Starfleet, he hadn't told a word about it, fearing not to be accepted. (Reply Cambridge) Here in presence of that doctor, he was feeling himself in confidence " I've always succeeded hidding those fears, I've spend all my career in the shadow, avoiding away missions, promotions,.... but here on Valhalla, due to the understaffed situation of the Science Department I couldn't refuse going on the last away mission. After that all the events happened very quickly, I've received a promotion, making me the highest ranked in the Department, obliging me to participate to the senior staff meeting and than send to this medical examination. And I've still to undergo the Counsellor examination. I think our FO will have some work with me." He made a pause and continued " Now that I've told you all that, I think it has put an end to my career, the Admiral won't certainly keep a officer suffering from so much fears." (Reply Cambridge, any) (Posted by Patrick Buidin) <> (Otono Medical Center, CMO Cambridge- 13:30) Cambridge looked up as another young man made his way into the exam area. Maxwell smiled slowly. "Mr. Longfellow! Ensign! Yes, you! Follow me if you could, I've been expecting you." The young man did so and Mac could detect either nervousness or annoyance coming from the lad, but he wasn't sure. He could understand why some people disliked medical exams, but he couldn't understand why people didn't have them done more often. They arrived once more at the staging area and Cambridge pointed him to the table. "Welcome to Otono Central Hank. I'm Doctor Maxwell Alexander Cambridge, but if you prefer, it's Doctor Mac, or Max or Doc or Doctor or something like that. How are you feeling today young sir?" He snapped up a medical tricorder and began to run it over the man, smiling warmly as he did so. --- (Otono Medical Center, Ensign(jg) Hank Longfellow - 13:33) "Mr. Longfellow! Ensign! Yes, you! Follow me if you could, I've been expecting you." Silently Hank followed the man with a frown even as the man seemed disturbingly cheerful. Anyone that was about to poke, prod and interrogate him that seemed rather happy about it tended to make Hank uncomfortable. As the doctor pointed to a table Hank hopped up to sit on it obediently. "Welcome to Otono Central Hank. I'm Doctor Maxwell Alexander Cambridge, but if you prefer, it's Doctor Mac, or Max or Doc or Doctor or something like that. How are you feeling today young sir?" He snapped up a medical tricorder and began to run it over the man, smiling warmly as he did so. "I'm fine, Dr. Cambridge, sir," Hank stated firmly in even 'reporting in' tone as his eyes followed the device in the man's hands as if the Doctor was holding a poisonous viper. It was a partial lie, but only if the statement was taken as a diagnostic tool. There were actually a few things wrong with him that any tricorder would probably find in a few seconds. The damage to the cartilage of his joints here and there from repeated impacts, the calluses on his hands along with the slight burns and cuts to them here and there that were minor and had been covered up with a quick pass of a dermal regenerator. Of course the regenerator didn't seem to work on his muscles, for the aches and strains, as nicely as it did with the skin but then again he'd barely had first aid training. But aside from that and the lung tissue damage from the cigars he snuck in here and there, he was basically fine. <> (Otono Medical Center - Science Officer Horacio Tyrell - 1345) The CMO grinned. "Ready and willing are ya? Well, follow me young sir. We'll get you fixed right up." Horacio and his men followed the doctor till the exam area "Jackson, take this group and get some of the staff in here to run them through. I'll handle Mr. Tyrell." Motioning to the table, he allowed Horacio to sit. "Well, Horacio, I went to find your file in my system and for some reason it fragmented and I can't read it anymore. So, we start from scratch. How are you? Feeling good? Feeling icky? Anything wrong, hurting?" Horacio was a little surprised that the CMO was calling him by his firstname but it was certainly a way for the patient to feel more realx and Horacio was certainly needed that ~ oh no, they have lost my medical file, it's my vein, I hope I won't have to undergo all their tests ~ " Well Sir now that you asking, I'm becoming to feel trembling in my legs and it's like I had a lump in my throat, it's so hot in here." stated Horacio (Reply Cambridge) " I knew it, I'm sure I've catched some kind of alien diseases, I shouldn't have gone on that away mission. What have I Doxtor, is it serious, am I going to be out in quarantine and why is it so hot in here, I can't even breathe." asked Horacio completely at a loss. (Reply Cambridge, any) (Posted by Patrick Buidin) <> (Otono Medical Center - CMO Cambridge- 1347) " Well Sir now that you asking, I'm becoming to feel trembling in my legs and it's like I had a lump in my throat, it's so hot in here." Maxwell looked up to the young man. "Well, that's certainly not normal Horacio..." And before Cambridge could try and explain, the officer quickly shifted into what the CMO called panic prelude. A prelude to a full on panic attack. " I knew it, I'm sure I've catched some kind of alien diseases, I shouldn't have gone on that away mission. What have I Doxtor, is it serious, am I going to be out in quarantine and why is it so hot in here, I can't even breathe." Shaking his head and smiling broadly, the Chief Medical Officer put his hand gently on the man's shoulder and shook his head. "Hold on Horacio...just hooold on." He snagged the medical tricorder again. Mr. Tyrell's pulse was accelerating and his body was reacting to his growing concerns and worries. There was no sign of any type of disease on the man, minus the upcoming panic attack he was instigating. "See, this tricorder shows your heart rate accelerating. It also shows your body's stress level has jumped since you came in here and that's probably why your legs were trembling and a lump was in your throat." Cambridge sighed inwardly and pulled a cup of water up to the man and offered it to him. "Do you get this nervous around Doctors much?" --------------(Otono Medical Center - Science Officer Horacio Tyrell - 1350) Probably finding the appopriates words and gestures, the CMO succeeded to calm down a little Horacio "Do you get this nervous around Doctors much?" he asked in offering him a cup of water. Horacio took a few sip of it " Yes, Sir, that's it, I'm fearing Doctors, Counsellors, nurses, in one word anything related to medical and when I'm confronted to a medical environment I loose completely my self-control. I'm suffering from vertigo, claustrophobia and I'm also hypocondriac " he explained with difficulties. (Reply Cambridge) " No it has started several years ago on Bolarus IX when I was a child, I was doing climbing with some friends when a mass of fallen rocks had strucken me and I've fallen from thirty meters directly on the ground. I've spend three hours under tons of rocks and theh almost a year in a hospital, first in the intensive care and after in a recoveruy unit." Horacio seemed to be relieved, it was the first time he was telling that story to someone, even when he had applied to enter in Starfleet, he hadn't told a word about it, fearing not to be accepted. (Reply Cambridge) Here in presence of that doctor, he was feeling himself in confidence " I've always succeeded hidding those fears, I've spend all my career in the shadow, avoiding away missions, promotions,.... but here on Valhalla, due to the understaffed situation of the Science Department I couldn't refuse going on the last away mission. After that all the events happened very quickly, I've received a promotion, making me the highest ranked in the Department, obliging me to participate to the senior staff meeting and than send to this medical examination. And I've still to undergo the Counsellor examination. I think our FO will have some work with me." He made a pause and continued " Now that I've told you all that, I think it has put an end to my career, the Admiral won't certainly keep a officer suffering from so much fears." (Reply Cambridge, any) (Posted by Patrick Buidin) (Starbase Valhalla, Deck 13: Cargo Bay 3, Ensign(jg) Hank Longfellow - 14:10) Hank had been rather thankful for as quick a getaway as he'd gotten so far from a medical team since the requirement of everyone to be check had worked in his favor and he was told to return later for follow up work. Everyone had been ordered in for Physicals but no one said anything about treatment being mandatory. ~Like the medical staff here will run into me again without me being under direct orders,~ he thought with a slight smirk as he walked through with a normal tricorder out. He hated the non-engineering versions, but there was a report of some sort of vegetation that was attaching itself to power units and such. It had come through the other day from one of the other officers and everything had to be checked out. Silently Hank walked along with the BIO-1 setting on, scanning as he did a routine sweep of the cargo hold. Shaking his head he started to flip the unit closed only to pause with a groan as something on the screen flickered. ~Non-vegetation in origin,~ he mused as he stepped closer to the storage container and kicked the side gently before jumping back quickly as the tricorder's scanning continued and he changed the settings to BIO-2. ~Probably someone's pet gone missing,~ he mused as he waited for some sort of reaction to the sound but almost instantly a solid lifeform pattern immerged on the small display of his tricorder. ~A humaniod lifeform? Down here,~ he thought to himself questioningly before crouching down and knocking on the side of the storage container. "Hello," he said softly, carefully he examined the way the container was closed. It could have been and intruder, but the readings seemed somewhat weakened for that. However he knew that such signs could be misleading and it was best to error on the side of caution. More then likely it was someone that had been placed into the unit, but that didn't make much sense either. If someone was disposing of a body they'd left the person alive. ~Maybe they didn't check or they wanted them to be found,~ he thought silently as he reached for his combadge to tap at it, ~or they wanted the person to suffocate or die slowly.~ =/\=Longfellow to Security and Infirmary, Unknown found in Cargo Bay 3, Deck 13. Investigating now, =/\= he said as he started to open the lid. Whoever this was wasn't wearing a combadge according to the readings he was getting and Starfleet personnel were supposed to almost always wear the badge. If this person was an intruder he wanted to be prepared. (reply ACMO Anderson, any ) (posted by Mark) <> From: JoGoodman2@aol.com Sent: Tuesday, 13 May 2003 5:37 AM To: up_rpg@freedom-squadron.com Subject: compile Apr 28 - May 4 Mission: Medicinal Tonic, Day 1 Stardate 2406.03.06 Compile April 28-May 4, 2003 (Runabout Grendell, Passenger Quarters, TSO Lt. Percival Bellephoron, 10.20 (Mars - Strategic Operations Conference Room- Capt Richard Ian Lee and XO RADM Kevel - 10.38) (Otono Medical Centre – 11:24 Starbase Valhalla, Otono Medical Centre, MO Edison- 12.15 Starbase Valhalla, Promenade, Admiral Jopek - 12.40 Otono Medical Centre - TAC/ASC Richard 'Rick' Blaine - 2406.03.06.1259 Otono Medical Center, Ensign(jg) Hank Longfellow - 13:30 (Otono Medical Center, CMO Cambridge- 13:30) Otono Medical Center, Ensign(jg) Hank Longfellow - 13:33) (Otono Medical Center - Science Officer Horacio Tyrell - 1345) (Otono Medical Center - CMO Cambridge- 1347) (Otono Medical Center - Science Officer Horacio Tyrell - 1350) (Starbase Valhalla, Deck 13: Cargo Bay 3, Ensign(jg) Hank Longfellow - 14:10) (Starbase Valhalla: Security Office - Lt. Orde - 1411) (Starbase Valhalla: Security Office - Lt. Pierce Orde - 1500) Starbase Valhalla, FO/counseling office, Kahila Lono, 1500) Starbase Valhalla: Security Office - Pierce Orde - 1500) Starbase Valhalla, FO/Counseling office, Kahila Lono, 15:03) (Starbase Valhalla: Security Office - Pierce Orde - 1504) (Starbase Valhalla, FO/Counselor's office, Kahila Lono, 1505) (Starbase Valhalla,corridor outside counseling office, Crewmen Gahudran and Riley, 15:10) (Starbase Valhalla: Security Office - Lt. Pierce Horatio Orde - 1731) (Starbase Valhalla - Somewhere (still) - ACMO Rain Anderson - sometime + a while) (Starbase Valhalla - Somewhere in a box - ACMO Anderson - Sometime plus a bit) (Runabout Grendell, Passenger Quarters, TSO Lt. Percival Bellephoron, 10.20) =^= We will be arriving at Valhalla Starbase in 2 hours, Lieutenant.=^= Percival looked up from his papers and nodded. He knew he had been away from his post too long but it had been impossible for him to go earlier. He sighed as he cast his mind back to the day he had left the Starbase. His mother, no, the mother of his alter-ego, he corrected himself like so many times before, had been taking into hospital. Heart failure through cause unknown the doctors had told him. Heart failure through lack of family, he knew. It was strange, in his own timeline, the family had been strong if dispersed, seeking all corners of the universe as far away as possible from Mama. But here, she had had nobody, all relatives had died through natural and unnatural causes. Even his alter-ego had been killed in what appeared to be an accident. Percival shrugged. A rather bizarre accident, he recalled, involving a Ferengi Marauder, a bottle of nerve-gas and two teaspoons. But an investigation had shown it to be an accident, if not a quick investigation. Percival often wondered what his alter-ego had done on the Ferengi battle-cruiser. In certainly wasn't just a holiday as the investigation had shown. Never the less, his 'mother' had been all alone, that is right up until his 'return'. For her it had made no difference, she saw a person who looked like her youngest son, talked like her youngest son, reacted like him. Percival wasn't sure whether the old lady had even grasped the concept of different realities and timelines. She certainly didn't react that way. No, to her he had been her long lost boy as if he had returned from his 'holiday'. Percival of course had done nothing to correct her view of events. It simply wasn't done and certainly not the way he had been raised. So he had spent a lot of time with her, discussing art and flower arrangements with her, just like he had done with his real mother on the other side of the timeline. There had been a difference, though. In his timeline the subjects had arisen because Percival knew no other subjects that would keep his mother from discussing 'Noblesse Oblige' or his 'position' in life. In this timeline, they discussed it because his 'mother' knew nothing else to discuss. Percival sighed as he slowly shook his head. His 'mother' had been kind and generous, putting people before position or rank, so unlike his real mother. It was frightening to see the difference especially when you heard her talk, EXACTLY like his own mother. Again Percival shook his head. And then she had died, just closed her eyes and let the life ebb out of her, with a smile on her face because her 'son' had been beside her as she did so. And Percival has arranged the burial, because she had asked him to do so in a letter she had written on beforehand. And he had organised the reading of the will, like she had asked him. Percival grunted as he remembered how she had conned him. How she had manipulated him as if she had been his real mother. She had played him like a fool because deep down she had the same desires as his real mother had had. 'Noblesse Oblige', the chain must not be broken. So she, the last remnant of a long lost ancient family, had duped him, had tricked him into being adopted as her son, just so that legal affairs would not hamper the proceedings. And Percival had felt honour bound to comply, because if his ancient way of doing, when a lady requests something, you do everything to ensure the request is fulfilled. It would not have upset Percival as much, if he had not been tricked by his real mother with her standards and etiquette. It had been HER etiquette that had trapped Percival and the worst thing was that the trap had been sprung AFTER he had thought he had been released from his mother's eternal demands. In his mind Percival could see his mother looking so glum, finally realising what she so fiercely had sought. Status and a position of importance. "Prince Percival of the ancient Royal House of Orange," he muttered to himself. "Bl**dy Prince bl**dy Percival the bl**dy First." He could have accepted it if it had been an empty title like it at first had seemed to be. Who would care in the 25th Century that he had been designated of 'Royal' blood. Then Percival grunted again, reliving the last two horrible days. The Zalachdians had cared. Those archaic, agricultural lizards on Zalachdia 3, an small, insignificant planet on the outskirts of Federation territory, had requested to become member of the Federation. Who cared, that their moon had a rather large amount of Dilithium? Unlike the old days, Dilithium had been in rather large supply. Well, somebody high up in Starfleet had cared, cared enough to grant all their wishes.