USS Spectre Compile - May 1st-31st 2012 by Alan Reading ========================================================================= Mission: Slipstream Day: 1 Stardate: 2414.03.10 (USS Spectre – Engineering Department, Secondary Engineering - ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 22:56) (USS Spectre – Engineering Department, Secondary Engineering - EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 22:59) (USS Spectre – Engineering Department, Secondary Engineering - ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 23:21) (USS Spectre – Engineering Department, Secondary Engineering - EO, Petty Officer, Cordelia Evans – 23:22) (USS Spectre – Captain's Ready Room – CO, Captain T'Vhor - 23:22) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa - 23:26) (USS Spectre – Captain's Ready Room – CO, Captain T'Vhor - 23:28) (USS Spectre – Bridge – CONN, Helm-2nd Lieutenant, Jennifer Smith - 23:28) (USS Spectre – Captain's Ready Room – ASCO, Ensign Ilana Grey - 23:30) (USS Spectre – Engineering Department, Secondary Engineering - ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 23:38) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa - 23:39) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – ACMO, Ens(jg) Zia Kirrin – 23:41) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CPO, Chief Nurse Douwsy – 23:41) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CMO, Noah – 23:42) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – TAC/ASC, Ensign Alexandria Smithson – 23:43) (USS Spectre – Engineering Department, Secondary Engineering - EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 23:45) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – TAC/ASC, Ensign Alexandria Smithson – 23:45) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CMO, Noah – 23:46) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CMO, Noah – 23:47) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – TAC/ASC, Ensign Alexandria Smithson – 23:48) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – COUNS, Ens, Oggie Marsh – 23:48) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – ACMO, Ensign(jg) Zia Kirrin – 23:49) (USS Spectre – Private Quarters – TAC/ASC, Ensign Alexandria Smithson – 23:50) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – SciO, Ens, John Linskens – 23:50) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CMO, Noah – 23:53) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CPO Nurse Douwsy/CMO Noah – 23:55) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Commander Williams – 23:55) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 23:56) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – COUNS, Ens, Oggie Marsh – 23:58) (USS Spectre – Captain's Ready Room – Commander Williams – 23:59) ========================================================================= Mission: Slipstream Day: 2 Stardate: 2414.03.11 (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section - ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 00:00) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CMO Noah – 00:01) (USS Spectre – Captain's Ready Room – CO, Captain T'Vhor – 00:01) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – ACMO, Ens(jg) Zia Kirrin – 00:02) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – Engineer - CPO, Wai Biign – 00:02) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section - EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 00:03) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 00:04) (USS Spectre – Captain's Ready Room – Commander, Andrew Williams – 00:04) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – Engineer, CPO Wai Biign – 00:06) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 00:07) (USS Spectre - Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 00:08) (USS Spectre – Turbolift – ACMO, Ensign(jg) Zia Kirrin – 00:09) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – ACEO, Ensign JG Rydan – 00:10) (USS Spectre – Turbolift – COUNS, Ens, Oggie Marsh – 00:11) (USS Spectre – Bridge – ACMO, Ensign(jg) Zia Kirrin – 00:12) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 00:13) (USS Spectre – Bridge – FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 00:14) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 00:17) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – ACEO, Ensign JG Rydan – 00:18) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – EO, Petty Officer, Cordelia Evans – 00:20) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 00:23) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – ACEO, Ensign JG Rydan – 00:24) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 00:25) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section, Jeffries Tubes – ACEO, Ensign JG Rydan – 00:26) (USS Spectre – Bridge, Helm – Pilot Officer, Jennifer Smith – 00:27) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section, Jeffries Tubes – Engineer, CPO Wai Biign – 00:29) (USS Spectre – Science Department – EO, Petty Officer, Cordelia Evans & Labtech Jones – 00:40) (USS Spectre – Science Department – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 00:51) (USS Spectre – Science Offices – ACSO, Ensign JG Ilana Grey – 01:14) (USS Spectre – Personal Quarters – FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 02:03) (USS Spectre – Personal Quarters – COUNS, Ens, Oggie Marsh – 02:12) (USS Spectre - MCO's Office - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 02:45) (USS Spectre – CMO's Quarters – CMO Noah – 06:00) (USS Spectre – Science Lab 1 – SciO, Ens, John Linskens – 06:24) (USS Spectre – Science Lab 1 – SciO, Ensign(jg) Catriona Macbeth – 06:25) (USS Spectre – Kirien Family Quarters - Lt. Michaella Kirien – 06:30) (USS Spectre – Quarters – SciO, Ens, John Linskens – 06:43) (USS Spectre – Quarters – ASCO, Ensign JG, Ilana Grey – 06:43) (USS Spectre – Quarters – SciO, Ensign(jg) Catriona Macbeth – 06:44) (USS Spectre – Sickbay – CMO Noah – 06:45) (USS Spectre – quarters – SciO, Ens, John Linskens – 06:45) (USS Spectre – Outside Grey’s Quarters – SciO, Ens(jg), Catriona Macbeth – 06:46) (USS Spectre – Sickbay – Lt. Michaella Kirien – 06:47) (USS Spectre – Science Offices – ASCO, Ensign JG, Ilana Grey – 06:58) (USS Spectre – Science Offices – SciO, Ens, John Linskens – 06:59) (USS Spectre - Science Offices - ACSciO, Ens, Ilana Grey - 07:00) (USS Spectre – Temporary Quarters – ACMO Ensign(jg) Zia Kirrin – 07:00) (USS Spectre – Science Offices – SciO, Ens(jg), Catriona Macbeth – 07:01) (USS Spectre - Science Lab - SciO, Ens, John Linskens - 07:04) (USS Spectre - Science Lab - ACSciO, Ens, Ilana Grey - 07:06) (USS Spectre - Science Lab - SciO, Ensign(jg) Catriona Macbeth - 07:07) (USS Spectre - Science Lab - ACSciO, Ensign Ilana Grey - 07:09) (USS Spectre – Deck 13, Chief Engineers Office – ACEO, Ensign JG Varios Rydan – 07:15) (USS Spectre – Sickbay – CMO Noah - 07:25) (USS Spectre – Sickbay – ACSciO, Ensign JG Ilana Grey - 07:27) (USS Spectre – Sickbay – CMO Noah - 07:30) (Starbase Geneva – Ambassador’s suite – Rihannsu Llairhi (Ambassador) Perdan e-Khellian Cha'Mirok – 07:30) (Starbase Geneva – Corridor outside Linden’s Office - Llairhi (Ambassador) Perdan e-Khellian Cha'Mirok – 07:47) (Starbase Geneva – Ambassador’s Suite - Llairhi (Ambassador) Perdan e-Khellian Cha'Mirok – 07:52) (USS Spectre – Deck 1, Bridge – ACEO, Ensign JG Varios Rydan – 07:55) (USS Spectre – Turbolift – ACMO, Ensign Zia Kirrin – 07:56) (USS Spectre - Deck 3, Turbolift One - CO, Captain T'Vhor - 07:59) (USS Spectre – Deck 1, Bridge – FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 07:59) (USS Spectre – Private Quarters – TAC/ASC, Ensign Alexandria Smithson – 08:00) (USS Spectre - Bridge - CO, Captain T'Vhor - 08:01) (USS Spectre – Deck 1, Observation Lounge – FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 08:01) (USS Spectre – Bridge – ACMO, Ensign(jg) Zia Kirrin – 08:02) (USS Spectre - Bridge - COUNS, Ensign Oggie Marsh - 08:02) (USS Spectre - Bridge - FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa - 08:03) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - CO, Captain T'Vhor - 08:05) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - ACMO, Ensign(jg) Zia Kirrin - 08:06) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room – COUNS, Ensign Oggie Marsh - 08:06) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room – CO, Captain T'Vhor - 08:08) (USS Spectre – Personal Quarters - SciO, Ens. John Linskens – 08:09) (USS Spectre – En Rout to Science Offices - ACSciO, Ens.(Jg) Ilana Grey – 08:11) ========================================================================= Mission: Slipstream Day: 4 Stardate: 2414.03.13 (USS Spectre - Bridge - CO, Captain T'Vhor - 11:52) ========================================================================= Mission: Slipstream Day: 1 Stardate: 2414.03.10 (USS Spectre – Engineering Department, Secondary Engineering - ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 22:56) Varios had talked to CPO Biign and then asked Cordelia if she needed any help finishing the set-up of the decontamination chambers. She’d managed to put everything together and just wanted help to double check the settings on the units and make sure everything was correct. Varios was happy to help and was glad to be able to see to it personally that everything was in order. Varios watched the readout on the console as the temperature began to raise inside the decontamination chambers. He peered inside the units but there wasn’t much to see. He turned his eyes back to the temperature, pressure and other stat readouts from the units. He could adjust them manually as needed and watched for any potential issues. Cordelia seemed to feel relaxed as she leant against the workbench and when Varios finally noticed, he looked at her with interest. “Never a dull day here on the Spectre!” she commented. “Not that things go wrong all the time, but everything has to be in A-1 condition. It’s not often that we get a problem like this though, which is probably just as well. I wouldn’t like to be the one to tell the Captain that he couldn’t use the phase cloak when he needed to!” Varios didn’t want to be the one to do that either but if it came to it he would have to. That was the burden of the responsibility. He didn’t say anything for a while as he considered her words. On Al-Leyan ships, they had less than half the number of engineering staff present than on Starfleet ships. In his mind, he hadn’t been here very long and plenty was going wrong. Varios had observed that Federation technology was never perfected. They got something working, sometimes only just barely and then strived towards creating the next new thing. Al-Leyan technology conformed to much higher operational and safety parameters and that’s why they didn’t need so many engineers on the ships. They would see to general monitoring and maintenance tasks and for the most part things only broke under combat conditions. The engineers formed fast and reliable repair crews. Actually, Varios hadn’t wanted to serve upon one of this own ships and felt it would have been boring. He was excited by the challenge and opportunity to get his hands on all this Federation technology, and improve it! He wasn’t sure what A-1 was, but it sounded good and he chose his words carefully, delivering them with the usual friendly smile he wore. “Let’s just concentrate on keeping everything in pristine, working order and we won’t have to worry about delivering unsavoury news. Happy days all round.” (Reply Evans iyw) Rydan continued to focus on the readouts, which were starting to show some unwanted pressure on the positronic feeders. He made the necessary adjustments to the machines to avoid any damage to the equipment. The values on the readouts slowly went back within the normal parameters. The heating cycle was the longest and most tricky part of the process. If there were going to be any damages to the positronic feeders it would be at this point. A few more minutes passed and Varios continued to monitor and adjust the heating program. He went back to look in the window at the device. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to see, it was completely dull and there was absolutely nothing interesting to see. The contamination was on microscopic levels and could not been seen by the naked eye, not even his. However, the console was displaying an interesting digital representation of the processes taking place within the decontamination chambers. ~Are you expecting them to melt or something? It’s not remotely hot enough for that…~ He let out a long sigh and was about to move away from the chamber porthole but stopped. The corner of his mouth turned up slightly for a brief moment before it vanished again. He squinted through the porthole again and then in a flash pressed his face and palms against it, leaving the second porthole free. “Oh NO! It’s not melting is it?” He said, using a slightly dramatic voice to convey the urgency of the situation. (Reply Evans) He stood back, took his glasses off, and peered through the lenses with a curious expression. He was completely calm. “You’re right, absolutely normal. There must be something wrong with my lenses,” he said with a chuckle, hoping that he had done the joke right. At the academy, he had often been told he was too serious and needed to “lighten up.” He wasn’t any more serious than any other Al-Leyan he knew but apparently, it could be difficult for other people to relate to him. Varios knew that many of the other humanoid species used jokes and humour as a way of forming bonds. Many of his attempts had fallen flat but every now and then, he tried again. He wasn’t a clown but he wasn’t so serious that he couldn’t have a little fun from time to time either- as long as it was harmless fun. He hated practical jokes, clowns, and mean jokes. He felt they were socially obnoxious and a step too far in the name of fun and entertainment. (Reply Evans) Varios adjusted his uniform as he returned to the console to recheck the readings and found everything was still going as planned. They continued to manage the heating cycle until eventually the machine did a series of beeps and the lights indicated completion of the cycle. (Reply Evans) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Engineering Department, Secondary Engineering - EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 22:59) “Let’s just concentrate on keeping everything in pristine, working order and we won’t have to worry about delivering unsavoury news. Happy days all round,” Rydan answered Cordelia’s comment. The ACEO kept a close eye on the readouts, making small but necessary adjustments as they became necessary. After a little while, not nearly long enough for the process to have finished, he peered into the observation window. He went to move away, then stopped and returned, looking through the window again. Suddenly he pressed his face and palms against it, and exclaimed aloud: “Oh NO! It’s not melting is it?” His tone was so dramatic that even though she knew there was not nearly enough heat to melt the positronic feeders, and even though all the readouts were within normal parameters, Cordelia rushed over to the second window, peering through it anxiously. “It looks fine to me!” she said, taking a second look in case the first had been mistaken. “No, all normal,” she added with relief. Rydan stepped back from the window, removed his glasses and seemed to examine the lenses. “You’re right, absolutely normal. There must be something wrong with my lenses,” he chuckled. Cordelia gaped at him for a moment, then grinned. “You!” she said, trying to sound stern and failing miserably as the laughter bubbled up. “You really had me going there! Nice one!” As they monitored the rest of the cycle, Cordelia felt the silence between them to be a companiable one. (Reply None) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Engineering Department, Secondary Engineering - ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 23:21) There was a slight delay in beginning the rinsing cycle, as they had to bring the temperature down inside the decontamination chambers before the next cycle could begin. Varios wasn’t a fan of this part of the process as it used sonic cleaning techniques. Much of the sound generated was beyond the normal hearing range for most humanoids but not beyond his. They only got upset if the acoustic inverter broke causing a terrible noise. For him it sounded that bad on a good day and a LOT worse when the acoustic inverter did break. Whenever someone complained that their sonic shower needed repairing Varios avoided it, preferring to send someone who wouldn’t be disturbed by the noise it emitted. Al-Leyans used sonic cleaning techniques, but they had developed it to minimise the sounds problems. They considered sonic showers to be a lot safer to use than baths and showers, which a person could drown or slip in. For such an upgrade, he would require additional time and hardware. Realistically he only needed to modify his own shower and the ones in the vicinity of his room. The noise of these devices caused him to have headaches and it was uncomfortable to the point that he refused to use his own shower, favouring the more unsafe water based showering system. Upgrading his shower was going to be a priority but it didn’t do much to help his situation here. There wasn’t a lot he could do to change the way the decontamination chamber did its wash cycle right now, so he had to put up with the headache, which was already developing. He rubbed his forehead between the eyes for a few minutes and then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small tube. He twisted off the cap and ran the little roller-ball at the top of the tube over his forehead. A mixture of essential oils cooled his forehead and within minutes would ease the building headache. He wished he could have said it was an Al-Leyan remedy but it wasn’t. This one was courtesy of the terrans and he’d been shown it by another engineering cadet at the academy. They called it a migrastick and it contained cypress, juniper, lavender, parsley, tea, thyme and violet. Apparently, it had a strong but pleasant smell. He didn’t know about that, he couldn’t smell anything but he knew it worked and never went anywhere without one in his pockets. He put the little tube back in his pocket and turned to see how Cordelia was getting on. “How are you getting on there?” It was a pointless question, as he knew she was doing fine but he was trying to distract himself from the awful noise. He hoped she was more comfortable than he felt. (Reply Evans) He nodded a little and gave a weak smile, trying to think of something else to say to keep his mind off the cleaning. He prodded a few controls on the console to adjust the programming and the squeal from the machine made him instantly regret it. He scratched the side of the head and stealthily used a finger to check his ears for blood as he lowered his hand again. ~Cool the engines; we’re about half way there so not long to go. A little discomfort won’t kill you, so toughen up a little.~ “So do you have a special interest or specialisation in the field?” as always his mind was on work. (Reply Evans) “What do you like best about it?” (Reply Evans) He listened with great interest then when it was his turn to pipe up he announced, “I’m a performance specialist.” He told her with undisguised pride, wondering if she would laugh like so many he had told before. He couldn’t understand what was so funny about it; none of the amused parties had ever wanted to elaborate. Some of these humanoids had strange warped minds. He had a special interest and talent for improving technology. He wasn’t as concerned about new ideas as perfecting the things already in circulation. He could make a machine produce less waste, eliminate or reduce toxic by-products, increase durability- basically, improve performance across the board. (Reply Evans) The whine of the sonic cleaner finally started to die down and his shoulders slumped in relief. He hadn’t even realised they were so tense until they fell back down again like small, heavy rocks. (Reply Evans, Any iyw) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Engineering Department, Secondary Engineering - EO, Petty Officer, Cordelia Evans – 23:22) Cordelia guessed that Varios was finding the sound from the sonic rinse cycle uncomfortable. After rubbing his forehead for a while he pulled out a small tube and ran it over his forehead, releasing a pleasant bouquet of aromatic essential oils. “How are you getting on there?” he asked Cordelia. “Better than you are,” she said, a little bluntly, but she softened it with a sympathetic smile. “Human ears don’t pick up the sounds the sonic cycle produces. The same way we don’t detect any sound in the sonic showers. So I’m quite comfortable, thanks.” Rydan nodded and turned to try and adjust some of the controls on the console, only producing a loud squeal from the machine which even Cordelia could hear. ~Must have been ten times worse for him!~ she thought, but the ACEO seemed unharmed. “So do you have a special interest or specialisation in the field?” he asked after a moment. “Well, mostly on board the ship I’m a generalist. But my interest really lies in micro-engineering.” “What do you like best about it?” Cordelia smiled. “I remember reading in one of my history books how in the 20th and 21st century people made computers smaller and smaller and how that led to all kinds of advances, not all linked directly to computers. I think if we could do the same for some of the engineering functions of a starship in this century, just imagine the benefits that could have! A fully functioning warp drive one tenth, maybe even one hundredth of our present warp drive! Less power consumption for the same output, meaning we could go further and perhaps faster. Maybe even create temporary wormholes to get from A to B faster and with less impact on subspace. We could explore fully the four quadrants of our own galaxy, and perhaps even one day build colony ships to explore other galaxies!” She smiled. “I won’t live to see it, and very likely my children won’t but my grandchildren or great-grandchildren might. To be a part of that, now that would be something! But it’s not just about the future, you know. It’s also about making better use of what we have already. How about you? What’s your specialisation?” Rydan replied with pride, “I’m a performance specialist.” “You mean you specialise in making things work better?” Cordelia asked, impressed. “To be able to take what someone else has made, and make it work better – now that really is something special. Most people just concentrate on keeping it working and repairing it when it breaks down, not on improving *how* it works.” She smiled again. “In a way we have something in common – we both want to improve on what is in the here and now!” (Reply Rydan iyw, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Captain's Ready Room – CO, Captain T'Vhor - 23:22) The announcment from the acting FO was indeed, good news. With most of their away teams back on board the Spectre, and tests now underway to attempt to work out just what had gone wrong on the station itself, at least now they could probably get underway again. =/\=....They are being transported directly to Sickbay. I will alert Dr Noah and inform Colonel Krige.=/\= Tsukawa had finalized, and the Captain took his seat and a sip of the replicated fruit juice he had just requested from the replicator immediately beforehand. "Very good Commander", said the Captain, wondering then as to what precisely had occured to Commander Williams whilst on the station. It was then though that the door to his ready room chimed and he bade the person enter whilst continueing briefly to discuss matters with the Acting FO regarding their immediate orders. "Has the Ark Royal been in contact at all yet Commander?", he asked. (Reply Tsukawa) The Captain then motioned the newly arrived, and unusually youthful Ensign to his table, who came to attention brusquely and immediately reported in. "Ensign Ilana Grey Reporting for duty", she said in a bright, cheerful voice, but almost hitting herself in the head with the PADD that she carried as she did so. "At ease Ensign, please. Take a seat. I will be with you shortly", said the Captain, motioning to the seat opposite him as he spoke. He then spoke again to Tsukawa once again. "Our orders now are to leave the Ark Royal to her business once they arrive, and then report to Starbase forty nine for debrief and evaluation. Please set a course and await further instruction.", he ordered, as he picked up the offered PADD and began perusing through the orders upon it, his attention suddenly grabbed by the announcement regarding Williams himself and adding to that final order accordingly. "Have Commander Williams report to my office at his immediate convenience Commander", said the Captain. (Reply Tsukawa) The Captain then layed the PADD upon the table, looking through Greys own orders and then turning his attention to the young Ensign opposite, who looked slightly embarrassed now at the earlier episode with the PADD. "Ensign Grey", he began, deliberately not drawing attention to the PADD incident in an attempt to help the young woman relax a little, "It would seem that you have arrived at a most opportune moment, what with the current scientific puzzle now under our attention", he offered. (Reply Grey) The Captain picked up the PADD, noting as he did so, the high level of expertise this crewman had showed in her field already. Xenobiology and Psionics? These could prove useful if the earlier fears of Madon and her cronies were to turn out to be true! The Captain however, changed tact, not wishing to dwell too much on those subjects just yet. "I trust that you journey to us was pleasant and uneventful", he began, whilst continueing to peruse the contents of the PADD itself. NRPG: I'm going to assume here that Grey will more than likely mention Kerge, but if not then that is fine. RPG: The Captain quirked his head slightly, his eyebrow rising in response. "Ah, yes", he said, knowingly... (Reply Tsukawa, Grey) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa - 23:26) Hoshimi had informed the Captain that the away team members plus two others were finally being brought aboard and beamed directly to Sickbay. =/\= Has the Ark Royal been in contact at all yet, Commander?=/\= the Captain asked. “Not with us, Sir. They may have been in contact with Station Echo One Zero. Do you wish me to contact the Ark Royal?” =/\=Our orders now are to leave the Ark Royal to her business once they arrive, and then report to Starbase forty nine for debrief and evaluation. Please set a course and await further instruction.=/\= ordered Captain T’Vhor. There was a short pause and then he added, =/\=Have Commander Williams report to my office at his immediate convenience Commander.=/\= “Aye, Sir.” Nothing in Hoshimi’s voice or demeanour betrayed the intense curiosity she was now feeling about the events on the station. She supposed that whatever could be explained later, would be. But for now her job was to carry out her Captain’s orders. “Helm, lay in a course for Starbase 49 but await further orders before departing.” (reply helm officer) “Tsukawa to Sickbay. When Commander Williams has come aboard and been passed as fit, please inform him that he is to report to Captain T’Vhor at his immediate convenience.” (reply any in Sickbay) Hoshimi decided to wait for the new ACSO to exit the Ready Room, so that she could speak to the Captain alone. The information that had been provided to the Spectre about the two strangers who were to accompany the away teams back from Station Echo One Zero was so sparse as to be practically non-existent. ~This is one question I can answer for myself at least!~ she thought, and sitting herself down in the command chair she used the arm-panel to access Starfleet Personnel files and entered the name of the first of the officers being sent to them by the station. ~Marsh, Augustus. Age: 54. Height: 6’ 1”. Weight – HOW MUCH? Sheesh! Rank: Ensign. Department: Counselling. Starfleet Career: Classified. MIA since 2413.02.10, circumstances: Classified. Further information : Classified… so much for Ensign Marsh….~ She entered the name of the second person. ~Kirrin, Athanasia. Age: 30. Height: 5’ 8”. Weight: 127lbs. Rank: Ensign(jg). Department: Medical. Starfleet Career: Exchange officer from RSE. Details: Classified. MIA since 2413.02.10, circumstances: Classified. Further information: guess what, classified…~ With a sigh Hoshimi closed down the link. It seemed that the records had not been updated yet, but she supposed that was not unexpected given that the decision to ship Marsh and Kirrin off the station seemed to have been taken both recently and quickly. ~Perhaps the Captain’s clearance will be high enough to grant him more information.~ (Reply Helm officer, Sickbay, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Captain's Ready Room – CO, Captain T'Vhor - 23:28) “Lets just say it’s nice to be out of that shuttle but no events.”, answered the diminutive Ensign, the Captain raising an eyebrow and quirking his head in response to that. "Ah, yes", he said, knowing just where this was headed now. "Mr Kerge" The returning TAC/SC was not the type to mince words at all, he called a spade a spade, or a Targ... well, a Targ, a typical Klingon then one would imagine? The Captain though had never penned him as a particularly odious officer whilst on duty, indeed he had often perceived him as a paragon of virtue, Klingon or otherwise. But then, Kerge had not been on duty during the trip out here, and Klingons like Kerge, liked to let their hair down when not on duty! "I sincerely hope that the Lieutenant did not give you 'too' much trouble", said the Captain, genuinely concerned now. (Reply Grey) The Captain nodded and then took a deep breath inwards, the thought of having to share close quarters with a Klingon at his worst, not the most pleasurable of experiences in the slightest. "Klingons value honour above all else", continued the Captain, "I am sure that he will apologize soon enough if he feels that he has offended yours" (Reply Grey, IYW) Grey then went on to inquire as to the nature of the scientific anomolies he had earlier touched upon. “Sir you mentioned something about a current scientific puzzle, what would that be sir?”, she asked. "The details are currently within our databases Ensign, the core of the experimentation that occured on board Echo One Zero having been uploaded for assessment already", answered the Captain. "I would advise that you liase with Mr Linskens when he is able to return to duty, as it appears that he is our foremost 'expert' right now on what has occured here" “Is there a place I can begin to study this sir, I probably won’t require any assistance but a working terminal and all the information I have.” "You may begin in the Science department on Deck four", said the Captain. "The recovered data is.... sensitive. I would therefore still recommend that you first bring yourself up to speed on the situation before directly accessing any of the samples returned", he added. (Reply Grey) The Captain nodded again, and then he closed down the PADD beside him. "Very well. If you have not been assigned quarters already, the quartermaster will assign them shortly. Until then Ensign, please feel free to familiarize yourself with the ship and science deck", said T'Vhor, standing now to reach over towards the newly arrived officer with an extended hand. "Welcome aboard the Spectre Ensign Grey. I trust that your tour of duty with us will be both rewarding, and interesting", said the Captain as he shook her hand warmly and then resumed his seat. (Reply Grey) "You are dismissed", he said, the Ensign saluting once again, this time without the PADD, and then turning about to head for the door. Before she left though, the Captain stopped her mid stride in order to give her one last piece of advice, which he hoped that she would heed. "Ensign Grey", he began. "Please, do not judge Lieutenant Kerge too harshly. Give him the chance to prove that he is not the... animal, that you perceive him as thus far", he offered. (Reply Grey) T'Vhor then watched as Grey exited the ready room before he himself returned to the pressing matter of Commander Williams' familial problems... (Reply Grey) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre – Bridge – CONN, Helm-2nd Lieutenant, Jennifer Smith - 23:28) Jen had been sitting at her station for a while. She had been keeping the Spectre at the position that she had been ordered. “Helm, lay in a course for Starbase 49 but await further orders before departing.” She turned and nodded to Tsukawa. “Yes ma’am. Laying in course for starbase 49.” Jen’s fingers danced across the console. She entered the course and heading into the computer. She also brought the impulse engines up to stand by as well as the warp drive. All she needed was the order and the ship would turn on to its new course and jump to warp. “Course laid in Ma’am.” ~Just say the word and we will go~ (Reply Tsukawa IUW) (Reply Tsukawa any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Captain's Ready Room – ASCO, Ensign Ilana Grey - 23:30) "I sincerely hope that the Lieutenant did not give you 'too' much trouble", said the Captain, genuinely concerned now. Ilana tried to hide a smile “Ah, well I’m rather glad we won’t be working too closely together for a while, but he is my superior officer and It would be wrong to speak Ill of a superior I just found him to be rather… curt and rough around the edges.” Ilana answered diplomatically as she could. The Captain nodded and then took a deep breath inwards, the thought of having to share close quarters with a Klingon at his worst, not the most pleasurable of experiences in the slightest. "Klingons value honour above all else", continued the Captain, "I am sure that he will apologize soon enough if he feels that he has offended yours" “It’s not for him to apologise sir, my maternal great grandmothers customs were vastly different from human customers, yet apparently my great grandfather not only enjoyed them but loved them, I’m sure I will learn to better respect other customs in the future, however I may start with some thing a bit easier… maybe Ferengi…” She almost stopped herself from making the joke but found she couldn’t help herself. Grey then went on to inquire as to the nature of the scientific anomalies he had earlier touched upon. “Sir you mentioned something about a current scientific puzzle, what would that be sir?”, she asked. "The details are currently within our databases Ensign, the core of the experimentation that occurred on board Echo One Zero having been uploaded for assessment already", answered the Captain. "I would advise that you liaise with Mr Linskens when he is able to return to duty, as it appears that he is our foremost 'expert' right now on what has occurred here" “Is there a place I can begin to study this sir, I probably won’t require any assistance but a working terminal and all the information I have.” "You may begin in the Science department on Deck four", said the Captain. "The recovered data is.... sensitive. I would therefore still recommend that you first bring yourself up to speed on the situation before directly accessing any of the samples returned", he added. “Thank you sir. I believe that would be prudent.” Ilana replied looking up at the captain. The Captain nodded again, and then he closed down the PADD beside him. "Very well. If you have not been assigned quarters already, the quartermaster will assign them shortly. Until then Ensign, please feel free to familiarize yourself with the ship and science deck", said T'Vhor, standing now to reach over towards the newly arrived officer with an extended hand. "Welcome aboard the Spectre Ensign Grey. I trust that your tour of duty with us will be both rewarding, and interesting", said the Captain as he shook her hand warmly and then resumed his seat. She pulled the private PADD out of her bag and handed it across to the captain. “Sir these are instructions from Starfleet command I was ordered to deliver these to you personally.” She finished holding the PADD out and placed it on his desk. Smiling “Thank you sir, I will work hard to ensure that you will be proud of me.” She said and then suddenly felt a little foolish for saying it. She thought to herself ‘Who am I thinking this person is? My father.’ She berated herself and shook her head then looked up, “Thank you again captain.” She stood to attention. "You are dismissed", he said, the Ensign saluting once again, this time without the PADD, and then turning about to head for the door. Before she left though, the Captain stopped her mid stride in order to give her one last piece of advice, which he hoped that she would heed. "Ensign Grey", he began. "Please, do not judge Lieutenant Kerge too harshly. Give him the chance to prove that he is not the... animal, that you perceive him as thus far", he offered. “As I said sir, I believe the fault is mine, as a Starfleet officer I should be more tolerant of the… stranger customs of other people.” She paused and nodded “But thank you for the advice captain.” T'Vhor then watched as Grey exited the ready room before he returned to the pressing matter of Commander Williams' familial problems... Ilana exited the captain’s ready room and pulled out the map, while the ship was similar to a Galaxy class Starship there were significant differences. Sighing to herself she walked to the turbo lift and exited the bridge. (Reply Any) (Posted by Joanna) (USS Spectre – Engineering Department, Secondary Engineering - ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 23:38) Now that his headache was vanishing and the cleaning cycle had completed Varios felt the smile return to his face, small though it was. The lights did their merry dance and a more pleasant chirp from the console indicated they could now set the decontamination chambers to the next stage. With a few key presses, the drying stage began. It was the quickest and simplest of the cycles and it was the last one. Once the machine finished in 5 minutes, they could remove the positronic feeders and inspect them to ensure the contamination had been fully removed. He looked at the chronometer and found that the 2-hour mark had not long passed. He really hoped that CPO Biign was making good progress down in the engineering section that housed the phased-cloaking device. Varios did not find the idea of having to bother the bridge for the third time that shift, especially if it was to deliver news that they wouldn’t be ready. Nevertheless, he would see the repair done properly, and if that meant they would be late then so be it. Varios used the last few minutes while the positronic feeders were dried to calibrate and get his tools ready to do the inspection. He laid them out on an empty workstation; each tool had its place and was laid down neatly and exactly. The machine sang it’s victory and Varios flashed a grin. “Are you ready to see if we have a couple of winners’ right here?” (Reply Evans) They each took a feeder from its decontamination unit and took it over to the workstation where they began their analysis. As before, the inspection would take about 15 minutes, which would take them until about midnight to confirm decontamination success or failure. Using their tricorder, mini-CAS, and other tools they completed their inspection. Rydan took particular care, as he wanted to have no doubt about their success. He confirmed decontamination in his positronic feeder and looked round to Cordelia. “What is the status of your positronic feeder- was decontamination successful?” (Reply Evans) “Great.” The relief was apparent in his expression as he looked around the room. He spotted a technician and waved him over. “Could you clear away this decontamination equipment please?” “Yes Sir” replied the technician who immediately got to work. “Come on let’s get these back down to their rightful place.” He headed towards the corridor and on to the turbolift. (Reply Evans) Now that the feeders had been decontaminated and cleared re-inspection, Varios could begin to think about the next step, which was the filtering system. That brought CPO Biign and the problem with the repair back into his mind. He stepped into the turbolift with it playing on his mind a little; he selected deck 12 and quietly took a deep breath. “Have you worked with CPO Biign much?” He asked, trying to sound light and casual about it, like there was no particular reason for asking. (Reply Evans) “How is she to work with?” He was trying to see if she would give him anything revealing that might be relevant to this case, like a history of cutting corners… anything. (Reply Evans) “Well I hope she is getting on well with the filtering system,” he said sincerely hoping that was the case. Given what happened earlier, he had a strong urge to double and triple check everything she said had been done. He hadn’t worked with her much yet and given what he had discovered on his first shift with her, it didn’t inspire confidence. (Reply Evans) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa - 23:39) About ten minutes ago, Lieutenant Smith at the helm had reported that the course to Starbase 49 had been laid in. Hoshimi had been waiting for confirmation from the transporter chief that everyone was safely back aboard, and she had just received that. “Bridge to Captain T’Vhor. All personnel are now safely aboard. Course has been laid in for Starbase 49, and we are awaiting your orders, Sir.” (reply T’Vhor) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – ACMO, Ens(jg) Zia Kirrin – 23:41) Zia had been scanned, assessed, treated, and finally given a PADD by one of the nurses. At her own insistence she had been one of the last to be seen to, pointing out with undeniable truth that there were others in a worse case than herself. Whilst waiting she had watched with interest the efficiency with which the Spectre’s Sickbay staff, orderlies, nurses and doctors alike. She was impressed with their professionalism, and hoped that when Starfleet finally reassigned her that she would be part of a Sickbay like this one. She was not so impressed with the behaviour of certain members of the away team, but she was also aware that not everyone gave the medical staff the respect they deserved. ~That Linskens, he has no thought for anything but his work, he has no concern about others trying to do their work. Oggie and the Bajoran are right to tell him to shut up. Ah, finally he listens. Or perhaps the nurse has given him something to make him quiet. As for that one over there…. she has no manners…~ Zia was feeling a bit lost, now that she’d been seen and told to hand the PADD she’d been given to the CMO who would have to pronounce her fit to leave Sickbay. She was also wondering how soon she would be able to contact her family now that she was ‘back’ – if indeed she could ever have been said to be ‘away’. But how lucky she had been, in so many ways! ~If Oggie had not befriended me… if he had not chosen to show me that device… if we had not been sent forwards in time… then I would have left the station 13 months or more ago, gone to my assignment on the USS Keen, and been killed with the rest of the Keen’s crew two months after that…~ Her thoughts were interrupted by the very person she had just been thinking about. "Hello, my dear. Are you ok? Oh, and I was right. You definitely *will* tell your grandchildren about this core that uncle Oggie showed you, am I right?" Zia looked up, then with a beaming smile she suddenly leapt up from where she had been sitting on the biobed, threw her arms as far around Oggie as they would reach, and hugged him tightly as she planted a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you!” she exclaimed. “Thank you, Oggie! Because you showed me that core, I will have the chance to have children and grandchildren! And my parents and my brothers can stop mourning my loss. And I will have a life and a career and….” She planted another kiss on his cheek. “Thank you!” (reply Oggie, any) (posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CPO, Chief Nurse Douwsy – 23:41) "Listen!" Douwsy stepped forward. “It’s okay Ensign Linskens just take is easy. Try not to move.” "I am fine. Ok? Who cares about these burns on my face. That's not going to stop me. I am late for my shift!" She watched as Linskens swung his legs off the bio-bed and stood up. She was on the wrong side of the bio-bed to stop him and swiftly came round to him as he dropped on to the floor. She grabbed a hyposrpay from the trolley as she passed. ~If he is going to become a problem~ "Ok, so I am a bit week in the knees. So what!? I'll be fine. He! Where are going with that thing? You are so *not* going to put that thing ................." Douwsy motioned for a teck to come over and help her as she put the hypospray on the trolley. “Okay Ensign we will get you back onto the bed?” With a nod to the teck they both lifted him back onto the bio-bed and when he was safely on she activated the side restraints so that he would not slide off the bed. "You enjoyed that, didn't you! You call yourself a nurse?" She looked down at him. “Its is just so you don’t hurt your self. When you are a bit calmer I will take them down.” "John!" The call came from another patient near by. "What?!" "Shut up!" Douwsy watched as the Linskens muttered something and then tried to sit up again as he pulled against the console of the bio-bed. "He! I can't see Kate anywhere. What have you done to him?" “I have not done anything to Kate "Kate?" "I didn't think we had a 'Kate' here? There's the Spectre crew, you and these two and I am pretty sure that the woman is called Zia." ~Here they go again~ "Not her! Kate?! you know?! K'Tell! The Bajoran Engineer. Don't tell me you never heard of him? So what have you done to him? No doubt you used him for one of your hedonistic rituals, haven't you?" ~I really need to get these two to stop calling across sickbay people need their rest~ "John!" "Oh, Kate! There you are! I just ..” ~Okay that’s it~ "Shut up!" Linskens was about to sit up again and say something more but Douwsy gave him a mild sedative that quickly sent him off to sleep. ~Good lets hope he will wake up in a few moments feeling a bit more with it~ (Reply any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CMO, Noah – 23:42) “Like I want to” *Throwing up sound* “…sick, oopsy sorry doc” Before he could stop Smithson she had leaped off the bio-bed and pelted to the sickbay refresher where she emptied the contents of her stomach. “Maybe and anti sickness will help.” He picked up a hyposrpay and filled the vile with medicine as he waited for Smithson to return. “I think I just lost five years worth of food, you have anything to stop me vomiting again Doc?” “Here this should help.” He injected the hypospray with ant sickness into her neck. He then handed her a PADD. “Okay it will take a few moments to work. Then I need you to fill out this PADD. It is just some questions that every one is getting. I will pop back shortly to release you. Okay?” (Reply Smithson) (Reply Smithson, any) (Reply Smithson) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – TAC/ASC, Ensign Alexandria Smithson – 23:43) …..“Like I want to” *Throwing up sound* “…sick, oopsy sorry doc” After she returned to the Bio-bed where she bolted from to rush to the sickbay refresher where she emptied the contents of her stomach. “Maybe and anti sickness will help.” “I think I just lost five years worth of food, you have anything to stop me vomiting again Doc?” “Here this should help.” He injected the hypospray with ant sickness into her neck. He then handed her a PADD. “Thanks I hope it does help” She said. “Okay it will take a few moments to work. Then I need you to fill out this PADD. It is just some questions that every one is getting. I will pop back shortly to release you. Okay?” ~ Oh! I don’t feel so good ~ she thought and looked up “Thanks Doc” She said nodding as she finally took the pad and began to fill out the questions. (Reply Noah,any) (Posted by Paul Davies) (USS Spectre – Engineering Department, Secondary Engineering - EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 23:45) The full cycle had finally completed and they were ready to inspect the positronic feeders. Rydan asked Cordelia if she was ready, and she nodded. Each of them took one of the positronic feeders and carried it carefully over to the workstation. As previously, the inspection took about quarter of an hour, but eventually it was done. “What is the status of your positronic feeder- was decontamination successful?” asked Rydan as he completed his inspection. Cordelia gave a thumbs-up. “Yes, Sir!” she said cheerfully. Rydan seemed to share her relief and summoned a technician to clear the decontamination equipment away whilst he and Cordelia returned the positronic feeders to their position. As they stepped into the turbolift, Rydan (seemingly deep in thought) ordered it to deck 12. “Not deck 12, Deck 14,” Cordelia tactfully inserted. As they travelled, the ACEO asked Cordelia if she’d worked much with CPO Biign. “A little, yes,” she replied. “We’re usually on different teams but we do work together sometimes. The former CEO liked us to work with different teams from time to time so that we could work with anyone on any shift, as necessary.” Rydan then asked how Biign was to work with. “She’s an aquatic engineering specialist, and as that’s not really one of my strong points it’s hard to say. But she seems to know what she’s doing and I’ve never heard anyone complain about working with her. In fact her team seem to respect her quite highly, from what I can gather. She’s a selkie, so working under water comes naturally to her I suppose.” “Well I hope she is getting on well with the filtering system,” was all that Rydan replied. “I’m sure she will be, and I’m also sure that if she hits any problems she’ll let you know.” Cordelia was a little curious as to why Rydan was asking all these questions about Wai, but she supposed that he was just anxious to meet the time estimate he had given Tsukawa. (Reply Any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – TAC/ASC, Ensign Alexandria Smithson – 23:45) For sometime Alex was looking over the questionnaire that Doctor Noah gave her, answering all the questions she could. ~Questionnaires are so twentieth century ~ she thought to herself. Sitting up on the bio-bed feeling better now the medication was kicking in, with the room spinning a little. “Doctor Noah!” She said calling him. (Reply Noah) Looking at him as he approached, she handed him the Padd “can I go now doc?” She asked referring to wanting to get out of sickbay. (Reply Noah) ~Urgh doctors always like to be thorough ~ she thought again as the doctor gave her one final examination. (Reply Noah) (Posted by Paul Davies) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CMO, Noah – 23:46) Noah walked over to two crewmembers that were talking excitedly together and as he got near one planted a kiss on the other’s cheek. He suppressed a grin as he thought. ~Well it’s nice to see that some one is having a good time in sickbay~ “Thank you!” Noah stepped up to them and quickly glanced at their PADDs before looking at them both. “Well you both appear to be in good spirits.” He said with a slight smile. “I’m Noah the CMO on board. How are you both feeling?” (Reply Kirrin, Marsh) (Reply Kirrin, Marsh) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CMO, Noah – 23:47) “Doctor Noah!” Noah turned to the person calling out his name and saw that it was Smithson “Yes Ensign.” He steeped over to her. “can I go now doc?” Noah picked up the PADD scanned it for a moment to make sure that things were roughly where they were supposed to be. “Yep not a problem but I need to run one more check before you fet out of here.” He activated the bio-bed’s sensor unit and performed a deep level scan. ~Hmm its still there but should not be a problem~ He tapped the Padd and cleared Smithson for release. “Ensign there is a strange reading on your DNA sequencing strands. It dose not appear to the be a problem but I would like you to come back in a few day for another scan just to make sure. If you have any problems before then, then just pop back.” He paused and gave her a smile. “You can go not Ensign.” (reply Smithson) (Reply Smithson, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – TAC/ASC, Ensign Alexandria Smithson – 23:48) “Doctor Noah!” Noah turned to the person calling out his name and saw that it was Smithson “Yes Ensign.” He stepped over to her. “Can I go now doc? Noah picked up the PADD scanned it for a moment to make sure that things were roughly where they were supposed to be. “Yep not a problem but I need to run one more check before you get out of here.” He activated the bio-bed’s sensor unit and performed a deep level scan, then he tapped the Padd and cleared her for release. “Ensign there is a strange reading on your DNA sequencing strands. It does not appear to be a problem but I would like you to come back in a few days for another scan just to make sure, if you have any problems before then, then just pop back.” He paused and gave her a smile. “You can go now Ensign.” Looking up at him and giving him a charming smile “Thanks doc” she said spryly jumping off the bio-bed and standing without any problem and walked out of Sickbay. Walking through the medical deck she enters the Turbolift, as the doors close “Junior Officers Quarters” she said and the lift whisked her to her destination. (Reply Any) (Posted by Paul) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – COUNS, Ens, Oggie Marsh – 23:48) For all of his professional life, Oggie had been steady as a rock. There were only a few occasions that could have had the potential to shake him yet they never had. Whether he was facing demons (irate partners that were sooo upset about their partners behaviour), dragons (parents who were very upset at Oggie not seeing the potential in their children and maintaining that some sort of correctional therapy would be too upsetting for their proteges) right up to the ice queens (ladies that Oggie wanted to get close to but somehow always ended up bringing him heartache), Oggie had managed to keep his composure and dignity. That was, until now. For he had not foreseen or even contemplated the possibility of Zia's reaction and as his head turned an overly crimson pink, he opened his mouth a few times to say something yet was unable to say it. That may have been because he had no idea what to say, his mind having turned to mush. His hand went up absent-mindedly to his cheek, where she had 'impacted' him. Still struggling for words when someone else broke in, allowing Oggie to concentrate on what the man was saying rather than on the ... uhhh... uhhhhh ... what had happened. “I’m Noah, the CMO on board. How are you both feeling?” Oggie blinked a few times as his head turned from Zia to the CMO, back to Zia and finally ending up looking at Noah. "Uhh," he started then coughed a few times. "Embarrassed, if you must know," he said then finally finding some resolve, he turned to Zia. "We will talk about later, Ensign," he said sternly before turning back to Noah. "You are the CMO, you said? Good, can we be cleared? I understand your's is the decision? Not that we are eager to go anywhere, mind you, because we don't really seem to have anywhere left to go." Oggie sighed. "I take it that you wouldn't have any employ for a slightly derailed counsellor?" (Reply by Zia, Noah, any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – ACMO, Ensign(jg) Zia Kirrin – 23:49) The doctor who had been pointed out to Zia earlier came over to Zia and Oggie and glanced through their PADDs before saying that they both appeared to be in good spirits. He then introduced himself as Noah, the CMO of the Spectre, and asked how they were both feeling. Zia, still on a metaphorical high, simply smiled and said, “I am feeling very glad indeed to be alive and here on this ship!” Oggie, whose face had turned an interesting shade of red, seemed lost for words. After a moment he coughed a few times and then muttered that he felt embarrassed, if the doctor had to know. Finally he turned back to Zia, saying, "We will talk about later, Ensign.” ~Ensign?? Did I do something wrong? Is Oggie angry with me?~ Meanwhile, Oggie was asking Doctor Noah if he and Zia could be cleared to leave Sickbay, even if they didn’t really have anywhere to go. "I take it that you wouldn't have any employ for a slightly derailed counsellor?" he added. “I would be happy to help as well. I am a qualified doctor,” Zia spoke up. “And I have been studying the effects that your away team underwent on the station, whilst we have been with them. If you think that would be useful? But perhaps it is your Captain who we should ask?” She was not too sure whether she should offer to help, since Carlos on the station had been so angry when she had offered to help him. But since Oggie had offered his assistance too she felt slightly more hopeful that Doctor Noah would not be angry. She stole a look at Oggie, to see if he did indeed seem to be angry with her, although if he was she could not think why that would be. (Reply Noah, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Private Quarters – TAC/ASC, Ensign Alexandria Smithson – 23:50) Alex stepped out of the Turbolift and walked a few yards to where she was staying. Arriving back in her quarters she strips off and grabs a quick shower and then a bite to eat and a mug of tea, before retiring for the night, her dreams were weird something that was not to be told outside of her dreams. (Reply None) (Posted by Paul) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – SciO, Ens, John Linskens – 23:50) John opened his eyes and noticed that he was lying down. He frowned and tried to remember how he got there. He wasn't too sure but he thought he remembered a station and ... and ... and .... Krellenium! He sat up abruptly. "That's right," he said to himself. "Krellenium. Wonderful, if I could just ...." John lost himself in thought again for a few seconds and was about to scratch his nose when he noticed a nurse standing nearby. "Oh, hiya, 'Dowser'. I've got a bit of an itch on my face. Do you have ...." By that time his hand had reached his face and felt smooth fresh skin. "Oh, you already did. Great!" He let himself slip off the bed, grasping it until his legs stopped wobbling. He looked at Douwsy. "You know what?" he asked but didn't wait for a response. "I think I found a perfect energy conductor for future use. Ever heard of Krellenium? Wonderful stuff, that is. Transfers energy through phase-potential. Isn't that marvellous?" John fell silent then pulled a face like he had bitten in a lemon. "Means of course that we would have to erect phase fields for it to work. And pretty strong ones too. Hmmmmm, but we can't make them too strong. They distort time, you see?" John sighed and let go of the bed to test his legs. "That's not too bad, I guess. Hmmm, not sure if I can make it to the lab, though. Hey, listen, 'Dowser'. Any chance of me using one of your sickbay consoles? I've got some calculating to do. Oh, and can you get me something for this headache?" (Reply by Douwsy, any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CMO, Noah – 23:53) "You are the CMO, you said? Good, can we be cleared? I understand your's is the decision? Not that we are eager to go anywhere, mind you, because we don't really seem to have anywhere left to go." Oggie sighed as Noah entered a few commands into the PADD to release them from sickbay "I take it that you wouldn't have any employ for a slightly derailed counsellor? He was about to reply when Kirrin spoke up. “I would be happy to help as well. I am a qualified doctor,” “And I have been studying the effects that your away team underwent on he station, whilst we have been with them. If you think that would be useful? But perhaps it is your Captain who we should ask?” Noah smiled as he looked back to Marsh. “Ensign Marsh if you think you are derailed you need to work in the civilian sector especially some on the counsellors I have met.” He looked at both of them. “Why don’t you go and get our self some quarters and see the Captain. If he okay’s it then I would be glad to have you both here and you can start when you both feel up to it.” He finished entering the commands into the PADD and sent a message to T’Vhor that he would like Marsh and Kirrin to join the counselling and medical department respectively. “Okay you are both discharged from sickbay. Hopefully I will only see you both in here in a professional capacity." He said with a smile. (Reply Marsh, Kirrin) (Reply Marsh, Kirrin, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CPO Nurse Douwsy/CMO Noah – 23:55) Douwsy listened to Linskens as he prattled on about some thing or other and really wished that she could put him to sleep for the rest of her shift so that some one else could deal with him. She watched him as he swung his legs over the bed and stand up. ~Well at lest he did not fall flat on his face~ "Means of course that we would have to erect phase fields for it to work. And pretty strong ones too. Hmmmmm, but we can't make them too strong. They distort time, you see?" ~Well he is standing well that is an improvement~ "That's not too bad, I guess. Hmmm, not sure if I can make it to the lab, though. Hey, listen, 'Dowser'. Any chance of me using one of your sickbay consoles? I've got some calculating to do. Oh, and can you get me something for this headache?" She paused for a moment before answering. “I can get you something for your head and you can go to your quarters if you want to do any work. You wait here and I will get you what you need.” She grabbed the hypospray and injected him with pain killer. “Now sit back on the bed or you will fall over and hurt your self. I will be back in a moment.” (Reply Linskens) She found Noah who had just discharged a patient. “Doctor.” Noah turned, looked at Douwys and gave her a tired smile. “How can I help you Nurse Douwys?” “I have a patient Ensign Linskens who is ready for discharge as he wants to use one of our consoles to do work.” Noah nodded for a moment as he looked at the PADD which contained Linskens’s information. Every thing seamed normal as he compared it to his previous medical check up. He looked over at the Linskens and realised he was the person who had been yelling earlier. “Well if he is ready to do work then he is ready to go out of here. I would recommend that he goes to his quarters rather then his work station but I am happy that he can go.” Douwsy nodded. “Thanks Doctor I will make sure that he gets to where he is going?” She turned back to and headed back to Linskens “Okay Ensign how is your head feeling now after the pain killers?” (Reply Linskens) “I am sorry you can not use one of our consoles here in sickbay but the Doctor has cleared you to go so we can give you hand back to your quarters and you can use it their if you want?” (Reply Linskens) (Reply by Linskens any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Commander Williams – 23:55) Andrew stepped onto the bridge with a very bad feeling about what had happened. Things had gone really strange when he was on the station and he did not totally understand everything but he had survived and so had most of the away team which was important. ~Why does this feel like I am going to my funeral~ By the time he had gotten back to the Spectre things had definitely changed. He was not the chief medical officer. That was now a new officer called Noah who looked far to thin and could do with a good feeding. Also he was not first officer which was now commander Tsukawa. He could not fault her for stepping into his position especially when things went weird. He took another step onto the bridge and saw that Tsukawa was in command. He walked over to her and gave a smile. “Evening Tsukawa how are things?” (Reply Tsukawa) Andrew nodded again. “I’m feeling better and just getting my bearings. I have just been released from sickbay and I was informed that the Captain wanted to talk to me?” (Reply Tsukawa) “Great thank you.” He gave her a nod and then turned and headed towards the ready room door. (Reply Tsukawa) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 23:56) “Evening Tsukawa how are things?” said Commander Williams, with a smile. “All the better for having you back safely, Commander,” replied Hoshimi, smiling back at him. She was genuinely glad to have Williams back aboard, and was happy enough to give up the acting FO position as soon as he had seen the Captain. She looked at Andrew closely. “How are you? From what I can gather you all had a pretty traumatic time of it over there.” He nodded. “I’m feeling better and just getting my bearings. I have just been released from sickbay and I was informed that the Captain wanted to talk to me?” “Yes, the Old Man’s in his Ready Room. I guess he’s waiting for your report.” Williams nodded and thanked her, then headed for the Ready Room and his meeting with the Captain. Hoshimi watched him go, still smiling, then sat in the command chair again. She figured she might as well make the most of it, as she supposed that Williams would step back into his FO position as soon as he’d seen the Captain. Then either he or T’Vhor would be back on the Bridge and Hoshimi would be back in her usual department again. She was looking forward to it. (Reply T’Vhor, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – COUNS, Ens, Oggie Marsh – 23:58) “Ensign Marsh if you think you are derailed you need to work in the civilian sector especially some on the counsellors I have met.” As the CMO looked from him to Zia, Oggie nearly grunted. He *had* been one of those civvies in a time long, long ago, as it seemed to him now. Then he inwardly shrugged. It *had* been a different world. But he couldn't agree with Noah's assessment of some of his fellow 'colleagues'. They weren't derailed, they were practically deranged. " ... You can start when you both feel up to it.” Oggie nodded, wondering if Star Fleet wouldn't have their own plans with the two of them, but he inwardly shrugged again. They were, after all, quite far away from Star Fleet Command. He watched the CMO handle their padds, then look at them and said with a smile: “Okay you are both discharged from sickbay. Hopefully I will only see you both in here in a professional capacity." Oggie nodded, but couldn't help himself saying: "In all my years of service I haven't lost one day through illness, Sir. Not tell a lie, one day I was off duty due to a severe muscle spasm in my right leg. The CMO on the Boudicca had me do all these exercises and as a result my muscles were all cramped up. But I can assure you, Commander, that that will never happen again." (reply by Zia, Noah, any) Oggie signalled Zia to follow him as they finally left sickbay. "I think we better see the Captain first. Who knows, they might not even have contemplated preparing quarters for us and once we have his say-so, we should be in a much better position. This way, I think. I've been on one of these vessels before." They walked along one corridor, then followed another, then a third to end up near a turbo lift. Oggie nodded as he let the doors swish open and allowed Zia to enter first. He then entered himself and instructed the computer to get to the bridge. There was a deep silence until Oggie cleared his throat. "My dear. You are .... most welcome." (reply Zia) (reply Zia, Noah, any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (USS Spectre – Captain's Ready Room – Commander Williams – 23:59) Andrew entered as the doors opened. He saw T’Vhor sitting behind his desk reading something as walked up to the desk. ~Probably some status report~ “Captain you wanted to see me.” (Reply T’Vhor) (Reply Tsukawa, T’Vhor) (Posted by Robbie) ========================================================================= Mission: Slipstream Day: 2 Stardate: 2414.03.11 (USS Spectre – Deck 14 – Engineering Section - ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 00:00) The lifted stopped, and the doors parted with a familiar soft swooshing sound. Varios stepped into the engineering section with a frown; it was as though he was expecting the place to look like a bombsite. “Hello Chief, how are you getting on down here?” he enquired, trying to be friendly and keep focussed on the problem at hand. (Reply Biign) “What can you tell me about the filtering system?” he was hoping for a good report with more progress than problems. As long as it was accurate and all work was done to a high standard and properly documented he’d be satisfied. (Reply Biign) (Reply Evans, Reply Biign, Reply Any iyw) (Posted by Natalia) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CMO Noah – 00:01) "In all my years of service I haven't lost one day through illness, Sir. Not tell a lie, one day I was off duty due to a severe muscle spasm in my right leg. The CMO on the Boudicca had me do all these exercises and as a result my muscles were all cramped up. But I can assure you, Commander, that that will never happen again." Noah saw Zia give him a glance and a quick smile, Noah made sure that the smile did not reach his lips as he nodded. “I am sure that it will not Ensign. Now both of you free to go.” He said with a smile and handed Marsh back the PADD. His smile dropped and changed to a serious expression as they both left sickbay. ~Right then who is next~ (Reply any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Captain's Ready Room – CO, Captain T'Vhor – 00:01) The Arrival of Commander Williams had broken the Captains attention from the matter of the Ark Royals deployment. It certainly seemed odd that they themselves had been specifically ordered 'not' to remain on station when the Ark arrived, and more so that the teams assigned to take over the situation here were no ordinary 'clean up' team! The entire debacle stank of a cover up of some kind, Alexander had hinted at certain matters, but had always refrained from categorically confirming any of the Captain worst fears. “Captain you wanted to see me?”, said Williams, walking up directly to the Captain desk. "I did Andrew", said the Captain, resorting to the use of the man's first name now as was often the case when they spoke alone. "Please, take a seat" The Captain then picked up the PADD on the table, reviewing the notes of earlier once again as he did so and then placing it back upon the table again. "First and foremost", began the Captain. "You may be wondering why Commander Tsukawa is our Acting FO right now?" (Reply Williams) "It is through no fault of your own Andrew, the truth is that all personnel sent to Echo One Zero are effectively deemed to be, possibly compromised. As a senior command officer of this ship, you must understand that the situation demands extraordinary protocols" (Reply Williams) The Captain nodded. Williams clearly understood the ramifications of having an un-clarified command officer on the bridge right now. However, there was more to this meeting that met the eye. "I have received a communique from Starfleet Command in regards your family Andrew", said the Captain, his hands coming together now upon the desk in front of him. "It would appear that there has been a crisis of some sort regarding your sister Audrey, and your parents" (Reply Williams) "You have been ordered to return to Earth immediately my friend", said the Captain, his Betazoid heritage momentarily, and somewhat uncharacteristically showing through now in the form of a slightly concerned and worried look upon his face. (Reply Williams) "I am not sure", said the Captain. "The details are incomplete but the matter is described as being of some urgency" (Reply Williams) The Captain nodded accordingly and then stood to offer the Commander a drink in order to perhaps calm him somewhat. (Reply Williams) NRPG: Assuming a no here, but can change if need be... RPG: T'Vhor then moved to Williams, a hand placed upon his back in a gesture of comfort. Clearly, this was no minor fracas borne from Audreys connections with the previous Doenitz factions, for Starfleet Command itself to have requested his return, spelt something far more sinister. The Captain could only wonder. "Transport had been arranged forthwith", he said concerned now for the man he had come to know as a good friend, and not just a fine First Officer. "Rest assured that the Spectre's medical department is in safe hands, as is the right hand chair on the bridge should you find yourself able to return again soon", said the Captain. (Reply Williams) The two men then shook hands, the Captain wishing the Commander a safe, and speedy journey and a suitable solution to whatever problems had fallen upon his family. T'Vhor then stood back and gave the familiar Vulcan salute to his friend and comrade. "Live long, and prosper Andrew" (Reply Williams) Commander Williams then exited the ready room, and headed for his quarters to gather his things... (Reply Williams) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – ACMO, Ens(jg) Zia Kirrin – 00:02) Zia was very pleased that Doctor Noah seemed willing to allow both herself and Oggie to help out on the ship, as long as the Captain agreed, and even sent the Captain a message requesting his approval. As the CMO formally discharged them from Sickbay, he added with a smile that he hoped to only see them there in a professional capacity, something that Zia heartily agreed with. Oggie commented that he hadn’t lost a day through illness, and then added, “Not tell a lie, one day I was off duty due to a severe muscle spasm in my right leg. The CMO on the Boudicca had me do all these exercises and as a result my muscles were all cramped up. But I can assure you, Commander, that that will never happen again." Zia exchanged a glance with Noah but said nothing, only smiled. She had her own ideas of what would be good for Oggie but clearly she would have her work cut out! Finally they left Sickbay, Oggie suggesting that they went to see the Captain first. He led the way along several corridors, until they arrived at a turbolift. On entering, Oggie instructed it to take them to the Bridge. (Reply Any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – Engineer - CPO, Wai Biign – 00:02) ~Right the filterr fits into the unit so I can fit the unit back into primary filter system. One down more to go~ “Hello Chief, how are you getting on down here?” She looked up from the mass of filter parts pilled around her and saw Rydan looking at her. ~He’s being friendly I should at least act the grown up~ “Hi Sir, I am doing okay should be finished shortly.” “What can you tell me about the filtering system?” “Well the filtering system is clogged with some sort of substance I can only describe it as dust. I have a sample of it over there.” She picked up a sealed container which held some fluffy drown mass and passed it to him. (Reply Rydan) “I have just finished cleaning this system but I am not totally sure where it came from. When I’m finished here I was going to search the other main filter system junctions to see if they were getting blocked.” She paused for a moment as she slotted the units into the primary filter system before she turned back to the next unit she put it into a diagnostic test. “I was wanting to power down the other filters in this section and try to find out the sauce of the problem sir” (Reply Rydan) (Reply Rydan, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section - EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 00:03) As they entered the engineering section, Rydan asked Biign how she was getting on. As the two of them discussed the job in hand, Cordelia selected a couple of toolkits and waited for Rydan to be ready to refit the now cleaned and decontaminated positronic filters. As usual she was impressed by how easily Wai wore her immersion suit – almost as if it was a second skin, which in a sense it was. “I was wanting to power down the other filters in this section and try to find out the source of the problem sir,” Wai finished. That seemed like a good idea to Cordelia. If they could track the source then they could prevent the same thing happening again. Balanced against that was getting the phase cloak ready to use if needed. It seemed to Cordelia that both options had their plus and minus points, and she waited to hear what Rydan would say. (Reply Rydan, Biign, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 00:04) “Hello Chief, how are you getting on down here?” asked Rydan as he looked around the engineering section. He spotted CPO Biign surrounded by a pile of filter parts and was none too impressed. He didn’t expect to see parts handled in this way. In his mind, it showed a lack of respect for the equipment. On a more practical level the parts could be damaged and in some cases, pick up contaminations - an issue they had just been dealing with. His jaw tightened in annoyance but he decided to bide his time. “Hi Sir, I am doing okay should be finished shortly,” said the chief. “What can you tell me about the filtering system?” he pressed on, determined to get to the bottom of this repair. He would keep a watch on her work methods and discuss any problems at the end of shift before she was dismissed. “Well the filtering system is clogged with some sort of substance I can only describe it as dust. I have a sample of it over there.” The CPO passed him a container, which contained a sample of the "dust" that had been clogging the filters. “Have you tried to identify the “dust”? “ asked Varios, who would have made it his priority to find that out before taking any further action. “I have just finished cleaning this system but I am not totally sure where it came from. When I’m finished here I was going to search the other main filter system junctions to see if they were getting blocked.” Varios thought that CPO Biign needed to take a step back and think things through a little more logically. He couldn't understand why she was washing away the "dust" without having first come to understand what it was, how and why it had got there in the first place. It's just as well she had collected a very adequate sample. There were easier way of managing this task than crawling through tube after tube to check all the junctions manually. If she had identified the dust first she would have been able to narrow down which filters had contact with the "dust" and which didn't. CPO Biign put the cleaned unit back into the primary filtering system and put the next one into the diagnostic device. He waited until she was done with that and was about to take charge of the situation when she spoke again. “I was wanting to power down the other filters in this section and try to find out the sauce of the problem sir” “The first thing I would have done, chief, is to check what this “dust” is that’s clogging the filtering system. This approach led Ensign Evans and I to the filtering system in the first place. You must approach problem solving logically and take one-step at a time. In doing this you might be able to determine which other filters would be affected and target them. I think I know what this is, so let’s do that now. “ Varios was trying to be firm without being hostile with it, it felt like trying to teach a child how to play the strategy game Kol’tah. He turned to look at his trusty assistant Cordelia. “Ensign, could you please use the mini-CAS on this sample and tell us what we have here.” He laid the sample container down on a clear workstation and allowed Cordelia to probe the substance with the device, he was confident the large sample was more than adequate to give an accurate reading. (Reply Evans) “That’s what I thought. It is darker in colour and softer due to slight decomposition, which tells me it’s been here a long time. Any thoughts?” Varios was annoyed because the filter meshes were supposed to be cleaned fortnightly and replaced any time the ship stopped for resupply. By the look of the build-up on the ones they had here, it looked like the filters hadn’t been replaced or cleaned since before the last stop. (Reply Evans, Reply Biign) "Okay. Is the diagnostic complete yet chief, whats the result?" (Reply Biign) He scratched his ear absently as he considered it and two things came to mind immediately. If it was a maintenance issue and the maintenance has been missed or completed poorly then they would have to check all of the filters that connected to the phased-cloaking device and there were quite a few. Then there was the personnel aspect that he would have to investigate and rectify too, and if one of more people had made mistakes here… well he hated to imagine how much more could be botched elsewhere. If it was a mechanical problem then hopefully it would stop at the filtering system. There would be one more filter to clean and turn around. They would have to find out why so much of the chemical was being produced, because if maintenance had been done correctly then there shouldn’t be such large deposits on the meshes. It might be something they could fix with a simple re-calibration, or perhaps a part needed repaired or replaced. There were still a lot of unanswered questions and Varios wouldn’t reinstall a single part until he had the answers, he wouldn’t risk having to re-do all this work until he knew the source of it all had been dealt with. “Chief, can you check the logs and tell me whether the routine maintenance on these filters has been completed correctly?” (Reply Biign) While CPO Biign began to check the logs Varios went to the nearest console and used it to bring up the schematics for the system they were working on. He used a filter to display and highlight on the screen which of the system’s filters filtered the chemical that had been clogging the meshes. There were three filters, two close together, which CPO Biign had already removed and one other further away. He ushered Cordelia over to him and pointed to the highlighted filter. “If this is a mechanical rather than maintenance issue then we only have one more filter to get back here and turned around. If it’s maintenance, we’ll need to check all the other filters to see if they are clogged with other substances. Either way we need to get filter…FSd14-pcj6… back here and turned around. Can you go get it for us please?” (Reply Evans) “Thank you” he said as she turned and headed off with her tools. As he turned back to the chief, it looked as though she had something for him, he could only hope it was good news. (Reply Biign) (Reply Evans, Reply Biign) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Captain's Ready Room – Commander, Andrew Williams – 00:04) "First and foremost" "You may be wondering why Commander Tsukawa is our Acting FO right now?" Andrew paused for a moment before answering. “It had crossed my mind sir?” "It is through no fault of your own Andrew, the truth is that all personnel sent to Echo One Zero are effectively deemed to be, possibly compromised. As a senior command officer of this ship, you must understand that the situation demands extraordinary protocols" Andrew nodded and then gave a slight sigh. “Yes sir I understand.” "I have received a communique from Starfleet Command in regards your family Andrew" "It would appear that there has been a crisis of some sort regarding your sister Audrey, and your parents" ~Ow hell what’s happened~ Andrew paused for a moment not knowing what to say. A whole range of emotions flashed across his face before he was able to get control of him self. “Some sort of crisis. This can’t be good.” "You have been ordered to return to Earth immediately my friend” “Immediately sir! Do you know anything about ir?” "I am not sure", said the Captain. "The details are incomplete but the matter is described as being of some urgency" “Yes Sir I understand.” TVhor offered him a drink but he shook his head. “No thank you Sir.” "Transport had been arranged forthwith", "Rest assured that the Spectre's medical department is in safe hands, as is the right hand chair on the bridge should you find yourself able to return again soon" Andrew gave a small smile. “I have met you new Chief Medical Officer and of course I know commander Tsukawa you are in good hands in both accounts sir but thank you any way.” With that Andrew stood up and shook hands with T’Vhor as he wished him a safe and speedy journey back to earth. "Live long, and prosper Andrew" Andrew came to attention. “Peace and long life to you to Captain.” With that Andrew exited the ready room and headed to his quarters to gather his personal possessions. (Reply any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – Engineer, CPO Wai Biign – 00:06) “Ensign, could you please use the mini-CAS on this sample and tell us what we have here.” He laid the sample container down on a clear workstation and allowed Cordelia to probe the substance with the device, he was confident the large sample was more than adequate to give an accurate reading. “It’s the same contaminant we saw on the positronic feeders, Sir. Tngonian.” “That’s what I thought. It is darker in colour and softer due to slight decomposition, which tells me it’s been here a long time. Any thoughts?” Varios was annoyed because the filter meshes were supposed to be cleaned fortnightly and replaced any time the ship stopped for resupply. By the look of the build-up on the ones they had here, it looked like the filters hadn’t been replaced or cleaned since before the last stop. “First thoughts would be to check the maintenance logs, but generally we’d be on to that pretty quickly if someone was skimping on their duties, wouldn’t you say, Chief?” Wai nodded “Yes P.O. the we would have caught that quickly and changed what needed changing.” “We’re very strict on checking that maintenance has been done correctly, Sir. The Old Man has a way of raising his eyebrow at you when things go wrong which can be very disconcerting. Of course if there isn’t a maintenance problem then it must be a systemic one, which would be easier to put right but of course we would have to find out why it happened and why it failed to show up on the routine checks.” She looked at Wai. “Chief, you’ve been here longer than I have – would there be something in the process that would cause an accelerated rate of decay in the tngonian?” Wai paused for a moment as she thought through the possibilities “There are things that would accelerate the decay such as an Arebasic compound but there is not way it could get into the system and it dose not work this quick.” "Okay. Is the diagnostic complete yet chief, whats the result?" Wai looked at the results for a moment before handing the PADD to Rydan “Well sir there are the usually elements from tngonian decay and other filtered compounds but as you can see there are a two unknown compounds that the computer could not identify.” “Chief, can you check the logs and tell me whether the routine maintenance on these filters has been completed correctly?” “Yes sir.” Wai turned to the console and began to search for the information. “If this is a mechanical rather than maintenance issue then we only have one more filter to get back here and turned around. If it’s maintenance, we’ll need to check all the other filters to see if they are clogged with other substances. Either way we need to get filter…FSd14-pcj6… back here and turned around. Can you go get it for us please?” “Yes, Sir!” Wai heard Cordelia reply as she picked up her toolcase and headed off to get filter FSd14-pcj6 as requested. “Thank you” Wai looked up from the console. “Well Sir every thing is in order the report is correct and the serial numbers for the swapped unites are correct. I can not see a fault from a maintenance point of view Sir.” (Reply Rydan) (Reply Evans, Rydan, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 00:07) Rydan had asked Cordelia to check the sample that Chief Biign had given him. He’d called her ‘Ensign’ which was way above her rank and she shook her head with a chuckle. “Thank you for the promotion Sir, but that would be Petty Officer, not Ensign. Ensign is way above my pay-grade as they used to say in the old days on Earth,” she added with a smile intended to take the sting out of her correction as she took out the mini-CAS and began the checking. The sample was large enough to give a good reading; she would have expected nothing less of Wai. ~Besides, that would make me a rupert!~ As she waited for the results, she wondered how Wai would react to Rydan’s meticulous approach. Although Cordelia had seen enough of him first hand to respect him, Wai had not yet. Wai had been CPO for a long time, and (from what Cordelia had heard from the other non-coms) knew a lot about the Spectre’s peculiarities. She was also, by all accounts, a very good engineer. A beep from the CAS brought Cordelia’s mind back to the job in hand, and she checked the readout. “It’s the same contaminant we saw on the positronic feeders, Sir. Tngonian.” Rydan commented that it would seem to have been there a long time, being darker in colour and softer, and asked Wai and Cordelia if they had any thoughts. Cordelia glanced at Wai, and shrugged. “First thoughts would be to check the maintenance logs, but generally we’d be on to that pretty quickly if someone was skimping on their duties, wouldn’t you say, Chief?” (reply Biign iyw) Evans turned to Rydan. “We’re very strict on checking that maintenance has been done correctly, Sir. The Old Man has a way of raising his eyebrow at you when things go wrong which can be very disconcerting. Of course if there isn’t a maintenance problem then it must be a systemic one, which would be easier to put right but of course we would have to find out why it happened and why it failed to show up on the routine checks.” She looked at Wai. “Chief, you’ve been here longer than I have – would there be something in the process that would cause an accelerated rate of decay in the tngonian?” (reply Biign) Rydan asked Wai for the result of her diagnostic, and appeared to be deep in thought. He asked Wai to check the maintenance logs to ensure that maintenance on the filters had been carried out correctly. (Reply Biign) As she was doing so, Rydan used one of the nearby consoles and checked the schematics. He then summoned Cordelia over and pointed out a filter than he had highlighted on the display. He asked her to bring it back so it could be checked, cleaned and replaced. “Yes, Sir!” Cordelia picked up her toolcase and headed off to get filter FSd14-pcj6 as requested. (Reply Biign, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 00:08) Commander Williams had been in the Ready Room a little under ten minutes when he came out. Hoshimi stood up, ready to hand back command of the Bridge, but he didn’t seem to notice. The look on his face forestalled any comments or questions anyone might have had. In silence he rapidly crossed the Bridge and entered the turbolift. Hoshimi watched him go and wondered what had happened. ~He looks like he’s had bad news…~ she thought to herself. Resignedly she sat down in the command chair again. ~Looks like I’m here for a bit longer!~ (Reply Any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Turbolift – ACMO, Ensign(jg) Zia Kirrin – 00:09) Zia stole a look at Oggie, wondering if she should break the silence between them. It somehow felt like an awkward silence, rather than a comfortable one, and once again she wondered if Oggie were angry with her for some reason. Before she could make up her mind whether to ask him about it or not, Oggie cleared his throat. "My dear. You are .... most welcome." Zia stared at him for a moment, nonplussed. ~Most welcome? Welcome to what?~ she wondered. ~Welcome to the ship? But it is not his ship.~ She puzzled over it and then suddenly she smiled. ~Ohhhh! ~ Suddenly the silence seemed much more comfortable. “Oggie, do you think the Captain will allow me to send a message to my family?” she asked hopefully, then her face fell. “But I do not know where they are now. I suppose I could send a message to ch’Rihan, if that is permitted.” (reply Oggie iyw) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – ACEO, Ensign JG Rydan – 00:10) Varios was discussing the latest turn of events regarding the problems with the phased-cloaking device. They were exploring two lines of reasoning – was the fault due to mechanical or maintenance issues? He sincerely hoped it was the former because he didn’t like to think his people weren’t up to the job. Cordelia believed a maintenance issue would have been very quickly discovered and rectified. She stated that they were strict about making sure everything was done properly. Varios approved but he wasn’t completely convinced and had a few minor concerns, though he kept that to himself. Time would tell and overall he was happy with his staff and had faith in them. Cordelia mentioned an old man with disconcerting eyebrows, it wasn’t clear to him who she meant as it could have referred to a number of people. Maybe he needed to cultivate some disconcerting eyebrows too. He briefly imagined himself looking in the mirror and pulling faces, trying to find the perfect brow formation. He smiled a little at his own silliness and continued to listen to the discussion. They were now going on to discuss what kind of systemic fault could cause an accelerated rate of decay in the tngonian. CPO Biign mentioned that an Arebasic compound could have that effect but it shouldn’t have been able to get into the system and even if it had – it wouldn’t have worked so quickly. Varios agreed but couldn't rule out accidental cross-contamination at this point. Perhaps some additional factor had caused such a compound to work at an accelerated rate. It could something else altogether too. They went on to look at the diagnostic, which was now complete, he hoped it would answer some of these questions. Rydan nearly flipped out when he heard there were two more unidentified compounds. Apart from the fact he was now left with more questions, he couldn’t understand why this Federation tech was so bad at recognising chemicals, compounds, and even common elements. The details of all the reactions and chemicals involved and produced was logged in the databases. This mini-CAS had identified the usual elements associated with tngonian decay, which is what he had expected to hear. He was sure Cordelia would have mentioned if there were two unidentified compounds in there. Therefore, either the sensors on the mini-CAS were inadequate or it simply hadn’t been exposed to enough of the compound to detect it. The diagnostic had at least identified a presence and Varios wondered if the presence of these two compounds could be related to the tngonian decay. It looked like another trip to science was called for… Rydan sighed inwardly – if the last trip was anything to go by his deadline was blown. He glanced at his chronometer like a time junkie needing his fix. This time there were two compounds to identify, what if the scientists couldn’t do it? Varios felt like his brain was turning to slush. ~Thorns and Chokeweed, this won’t do.~ He gave himself a mental shake and decided upon the best course of action and sent Cordelia to fetch the last of the filters that needed turned around. Rydan smiled when the CPO finished checking through records on the PADD and reported that the maintenance logs all checked out, and that the serial numbers etc. matched up correctly. “Well Chief, I’m delighted to hear that,” he said, relieved to have one line of reasoning closed. Varios continued to look at the chamber’s reactions, wondering what other by-products the filters would have caught. He was hoping he might be able to make an educated guess as to what the mystery compounds were. Right now he was seeing a chain of events but couldn’t see the source of how this all came to be. During his research, it quickly became apparent that he was now going to have to check the reaction chambers that the filters connected to, as well as get the compounds identified. He also had to get the rest of the systems related to the phased-cloaking device isolated and tested, in case there were any additional faults in the system. (Reply Any) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Turbolift – COUNS, Ens, Oggie Marsh – 00:11) “Oggie, do you think the Captain will allow me to send a message to my family?” Zia asked him before her face grew darker. “But I do not know where they are now. I suppose I could send a message to ch’Rihan, if that is permitted.” Oggie looked at her for a moment. "If we had still been on the station, my dear, then I fear that we would not have been allowed to even send out a squeak let alone a message. But now that we are away ..... I don't see why not. But you would have to ask a high ranking officer first, just in case there is a missive from Command that certain parts of our storyline should not be told. And do not worry, if we are allowed to send it, then Star Fleet will make sure it gets where it is supposed to be going." Oggie wanted to say a bit more but the lift had arrived and the door swished open. Zia seemed to be taken aback a bit by the view of the bridge but from what Oggie could see mainly by the woman in the centre of the bridge who was regarding them. Oggie felt her grasp his hand then letting it go as she stepped forward and addressed the female. “Excuse me, Sir, Ensign Marsh and myself would like to speak to the Captain, if that is convenient.” “You must be Ensign Kirrin,” responded the Commander. “Welcome aboard, both of you. I’m afraid the Captain is in communication with Starfleet Headquarters at the moment and has left instructions not to be disturbed. I will let him know that you are here but if he’s still busy I think your best bet would be to get some sleep and return at 08:00 hours to see the Captain.” Oggie nodded and wanted to respond but halted when he noticed that the Commander's attention was elsewhere. When she finally looked up again she informed them of her actions and Oggie was grateful that they had at least a place to sleep now. He looked sideways at Zia then at the Commander. "Thank you, Sir. I think we might have a little bite to eat in Ten forward. I have the taste of emergency rations to wash away." Oggie smiled then looked at Zia again. "Commander, I do not know how much I am able to tell you at this point in time but my colleague here has not had a chance to talk to her relatives for over a year and I believe they were last informed that she herself was missing in action. It would be a great comfort to her if she could at least inform them that she was .... back amongst the living, so to speak?" (Reply Hoshimi, Zia, any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (USS Spectre – Bridge – ACMO, Ensign(jg) Zia Kirrin – 00:12) As Oggie and Zia exited the turbolift, Zia stared around her with interest. She had not been on the Bridge of any of the ships which had brought her to Station Echo One Zero on her way to the USS Keen, and she was very curious. The person sitting in the chair in the centre, obviously in control, turned to look at them. Zia swallowed slightly and without really meaning to slid her hand into Oggie’s and gave it a small squeeze before letting go. The action seemed to reassure her and she stepped forward. She remembered her training. ~When in doubt all senior officers can be correctly addressed as ‘Sir’.~ “Excuse me, Sir, Ensign Marsh and myself would like to speak to the Captain, if that is convenient.” (Reply Oggie, any on the Bridge, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 00:13) The door to the turbolift opened and two ensigns stepped onto the Bridge. As they were both unknown to Hoshimi, and one of them certainly fitted the description of Ensign Marsh’s record, she surmised that they must be the newcomers. “Excuse me, Sir,” the female said, “Ensign Marsh and myself would like to speak to the Captain, if that is convenient.” “You must be Ensign Kirrin,” commented Hoshimi. “Welcome aboard, both of you. I’m afraid the Captain is in communication with Starfleet Headquarters at the moment and has left instructions not to be disturbed. I will let him know that you are here but if he’s still busy I think your best bet would be to get some sleep and return at 08:00 hours to see the Captain.” She tapped some commands into the armrest console, sending a message to the Captain to say that Marsh and Kirrin requested to speak with him. She knew he would read it when he could. She also sent instructions to the quartermaster. Looking up again, she said to the newcomers, “I have had temporary quarters allocated to you both, on deck 7, 74a and 75a. If you’re hungry there is hot and cold food available in Ten Forward at all times. Your replicators will replicate new clothes and any other necessities you need, including of course drinks and food if you prefer to eat in your quarters.” (Reply T’Vhor iyw, Marsh) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Bridge – FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 00:14) Hoshimi wasn’t too surprised when Ensign Marsh announced that he thought he and his companion would have something to eat. She wouldn't be surprised either if some of the away team members did the same thing. Marsh smiled at Kirrin and then added, "Commander, I do not know how much I am able to tell you at this point in time but my colleague here has not had a chance to talk to her relatives for over a year and I believe they were last informed that she herself was missing in action. It would be a great comfort to her if she could at least inform them that she was .... back amongst the living, so to speak?" Hoshimi sat immobile for a moment, then she took a breath and smiled. “Of course. There is a communication console in your quarters, Ensign Kirrin. You can either contact your family directly, or record a message and send it.” She nodded at Marsh. “You too, Ensign Marsh. I’m sure your friends and family will be just as anxious to hear from you.” (reply Marsh iyw) Hoshimi picked up a PADD and handed it to Marsh. “There are directions to your quarters and to Ten Forward. If you want to go anywhere else, any of the interactive consoles in the corridors will give you directions. Is there anything else you would like to know?” (Reply Marsh rfm iyw) The conversation having concluded, Hoshimi nodded at the two ensigns. “I will see you both back here at 0800 then. I hope you both have a comfortable night.” (Reply Marsh, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 00:17) Returning with the filter, Cordelia hoped that Wai and Rydan had reached some kind of working understanding of one another. Life would certainly be interesting if they hadn’t! “This one definitely needs a clean, looks like the same contaminant,” she commented. Without needing to be asked, she took a sample of the contaminant and set it aside for testing, and then began to clean the filter ready for replacing. “What did the maintenance logs throw up?” she asked as she worked, hoping that it would not be something that would put the Spectre’s Engineering Department in a bad light. (Reply Biign, Rydan, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – ACEO, Ensign JG Rydan – 00:18) Cordelia returned quicker than he had expected, or perhaps time was falling away from him like autumnal leaves. “This one definitely needs a clean, looks like the same contaminant,” she commented. Varios was about to ask her to take a sample and set it aside of testing but before he could utter a word he could see she was already doing it. He shut his mouth again quickly, hoping no one had seen it hanging open. He was not trying to catch insects, unlike the versuvial-snapjaw, a vicious carnivorous plant with a nasty bite. In fact his jaw was barely done shutting when Cordelia began to clean the filter, she was super-efficient and hardworking. Varios felt very impressed by her, not for the first time. While she worked, she enquired about what the logs had shown. Varios shuffled about trying not to look like a buffoon standing there. “Good news, maintenance is cleared, so we ~probably~ have a mechanical fault. Not-so-good news, all the data we have indicates we shouldn't have two unknown compounds in the filters, so something isn't right in those reaction chambers." (Reply Evans iyw) "Once you have finished cleaning the filter, can you take the samples up to science and get them identified for us please?" (Reply Evans) “Alright great, I need to go get a look at the reaction chambers and... I will inform the… bridge… that the repair will not be ready on schedule.” If he looked at all worried, it’s because he was, but he had to be thorough. The day he started cutting corners was the day his branches needed clipped back into shape. Varios went and started to pull on some overalls again and gathered up his tools to conduct the inspection, indicating that Biign should come with him. As CPO Biign pulled on her overalls Varios began to rehearse in his head what he would say. Again, he planned to keep it simple and omit the details. He figured all they really needed to hear was that it would be fixed…not on time… but at some, preferably unspecified point. He pressed his commbadge. “Ensign Varios to the bridge.” he said cautiously, as though the badge might jump off his shirt and stab him in the face. He sincerely hoped it wasn’t the First Officer again. ~Please be ops, please be ops….~ (Reply Bridge) His heart sank and his carefully planned speech disappeared in a puff of nerves, “Juh Juuh Juuust.” He cleared his throat and tried to look dignified in front of the Chief. “The repair isn’t ready. More time. Needed.” It wasn’t remotely how he wanted to get the message over, but it was all blurted out now. Maybe they would give him a break and leave it at that. (Reply Bridge) Or perhaps not… Making his best effort to pretend that never happened he gathered up all his self-control and carried on in a more professional manner. “There were unexpected complications, which will be in my report.” That was engineer speak for ‘not now’. He continued on, “I believe we are close to finding the cause of the problems and will have the device fully operational as soon as possible. I have my best staff on it.” That sounded good and reassuring, at least to his ears anyway. He hoped she wouldn’t even realise he hadn’t put another awful timer on it. (Reply Bridge) (Reply Bridge, Evans, Any iyw) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – EO, Petty Officer, Cordelia Evans – 00:20) Rydan gave Cordelia the good news that Wai had found the maintenance to have been up to scratch, and that therefore it was a mechanical fault somewhere. He went on to say that there shouldn’t be two unknown compounds in the filters, and asked if Cordelia could take the samples from her filter up to science and get them analysed. “Aye, Sir,” Cordelia said simply, thinking that Rydan looked a little apprehensive and wondering why. However, when he went on to say that he would be informing the Bridge of the extended repair time, she thought she understood. ~I’m very glad it’s not me that has to be the bearer of bad tidings!~ she thought. (Reply Any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 00:23) =/\=Ensign Varios to the bridge.=/\= ~Finally – I hope he’s not calling to say it will take longer than expected!~ Hoshimi thought. “Go ahead, Ensign,” she said aloud. =/\=Juh Juuh Juuust,=/\= the ACEO began. There was a sound as if he cleared his throat and then he continued, seemingly all in a rush, =/\=The repair isn’t ready. More time. Needed.=/\= Hoshimi closed her eyes briefly and sighed to herself. Opening her eyes again, she asked, “And why is that, Ensign?” The ACEO gave her a non-committal reply which Hoshimi took to be engineer-speak for ‘it’ll take too long to explain now’. He went on to say that he thought they were close to finding the cause of the problems and would have the phase cloak operational as soon as possible. He added that he had his best staff on the job. “I would expect nothing less, Ensign. Do you have a revised estimate for completion of your repairs?” (reply Rydan) “Make it so, Ensign. We need that phase cloak operational as soon as possible.” (Reply Rydan, Any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section – ACEO, Ensign JG Rydan – 00:24) =/\= I would expect nothing less, Ensign. Do you have a revised estimate for completion of your repairs? =/\= ~Yes, of course, how silly of me…~ He thought with a twinge of resentment as he thought hard on what reasonable estimate he could give. He didn’t think she’d like the answer and he was concerned about getting it wrong again. You could just never tell what unforeseen problems might be out there. “Another 2 hours”, he said meekly, feeling guilty that is wasn’t far from doubling the original guesstimate. He hadn’t dared guesstimate a higher number for that reason. In his mind, you may as well roll a dice and hope for the best… “Make it so, Ensign. We need that phase-cloak operational as soon as possible.” “Of course you do. Sir” He wasn’t really meaning to be disrespectful, but the hissing, resentful tone didn’t paint a good picture. All it really boiled down to was pressure, and being under lots of it. ~Why can’t they just understand that it’ll be done when it’s done? I’m not an imbecile, I’m not keeping machinery offline for fun. Of course I’m going to get it operational as soon as I can… what’s the use of rushing us? That’s what causes the main evil… corner cutting.~ (Reply Hoshimi) He was so busy with his internal rant that he completely forgot that the line was still open and the First Officer was still speaking to him. He had no idea what she just said. “Pardon?” Perhaps he had also forgotten whom he was speaking to. (Reply Hoshimi) “Aye, Aye Sir! Understood.” He was aware that time was pressing on. He hated to feel rushed due to working under deadlines. Unfortunately, this was on him as his estimate had proven to be quite inadequate. How could they expect anyone, never mind a newly graduated, inexperienced engineer to give accurate guesstimates? He would know better for the future but it didn’t help him with his present problems and right now, he was really feeling under pressure. He always got a bit flustered when feeling the pinch and he was already tripping up and making silly mistakes. He was horribly embarrassed by his ineptitude and worried about how his staff would perceive him because of it. ~I’ll never live this down. I’ll never get their respect now~ He thought glumly. (Reply Hoshimi, Any) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 00:25) Ensign Rydan had given an estimate of another two hours for completion of the work on the phasecloak, and Hoshimi, although not pleased by this, had instructed him to go ahead. She had reminded him that they needed the phasecloak to be operational as soon as possible. His reply had sounded a little resentful and Hoshimi’s eyebrows raised in surprise. No doubt Rydan was feeling the pressure, but still… “Ensign, you will report to me at 0800 with a full report of the contamination, what caused it and what measures may be needed to prevent it happening again.” She waited for his response, but heard nothing. “Ensign Rydan, did you hear what I said?” =/\=Pardon?=/\= “You are to report to me at 0800 today with a full report on the contamination, what caused it and what measures may be needed to prevent its recurrence. We will also have a short discussion about protocol.” =/\=Aye, Aye Sir! Understood.=/\= Hoshimi terminated the link and looked at the helm officer. “Lieutenant Smith, it’s time to leave. You have the course to Starbase 49 laid in. Warp 5, engage!” (Reply T’Vhor iyw, Marsh, Smith, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Deck 14 – Engineering Section, Jeffries Tubes – ACEO, Ensign JG Rydan – 00:26) Varios and the chief made their way through the Jeffries Tubes with their equipment until they reached the first reaction chamber. Like before, the dusty environment was an irritant and made his throat dry. It was a big piece of equipment and couldn’t be moved. The usual method of access was through an access hatch, which Varios immediately began opening. He felt warm air as he moved the access hatch to the side and carefully eased his torso into the machine. He had not expected it to be so warm after having been inactive for some time now. The metallic surface inside was hot to touch though not enough to burn the skin fortunately. The other thing that was immediately clear was that it wasn’t just the filter meshes that had been clogged up. It was usual to expect a little deposit inside the chamber – that’s why they had the filters after all, but there was a fine blanket coating the surface of the chambers. After seeing how badly the filters had been clogged, Varios had expected to see more deposit than usual, but what he found surpassed his expectations. The little dust-like particles tickled his nose and made him sneeze, kicking up a lot of stoor into the chamber. Varios couldn’t help inhaling a big lungful and it started him coughing and spluttering. He eased himself back out of the chamber, covered from the waist up in the deposit, attempting to catch his breath. “Chokeweed! That’s bad in there,” wheezed Varios, wiping a hand over his face and inadvertently smearing the dust over his head. (Reply Biign) “Agreed” he stated as he reached into his toolkit and pulled out the facemask that would cover his nose and mouth, it would stop him choking on any more of the dust-like deposit. He took off his glasses and slipped them back into their case, then pulled out and put on the protective goggles. He quickly picked out a brush and eased back inside to begin clearing the deposit so he could see the chamber properly. “Container please”, he called out. (Reply Biign) “Thank you,” he said as he started to sweep the deposit into the sample container. Once the container was filled and the deposit removed from the machine Varios stuck a hand out and ushered for CPO Biign to squeeze in. “Bring the Mini-CAS and... watch it’s hot in here and… oh hello… thanks,” he said with a hint of surprise as the chief popped up in front of him and the tools he needed appeared as if by magic in his hands. (Reply Biign) “You look for cracks and faults in the chamber lining. I will look at the internal sensor.” He said as he reached out towards the sensor and started to remove it for inspection. He could feel the sweat forming on his face and neck from the heat in the chamber. Varios removed the sensor and turned it over in his hands, as he inspected it he soon discovered it had burned out. ~That explains the heat.~ If the sensor had burned out then the temperature inside the chamber would not have been correctly picked up and managed. He knew temperature maintenance in this process was important because when it got too high a particular reaction would occur resulting in unwanted products. Unchecked the temperature could climb high enough to melt the seals and cause some serious damage. Varios slid his hand into his overalls to pluck out his PADD. He started checking to see if the bi-products of this particular reaction could accelerate the rate of decay in tngonian. He was unsurprised but very pleased to see that it did, all he needed was for Cordelia to get back to him with the analysis from science. If she confirmed the names of the two chemicals, it would add strength to his theory. He shifted around in the cramped chamber to better talk to the chief. “Have you found anything of note?” (Reply Biign) “Have a look at this and tell me what you think,” he said as he handed her the PADD and burnt out sensor. Varios always liked to have the second opinion and viewpoint on a problem in case the other individual could bring new information or approaches to the problem. (Reply Biign) "Any thoughts on how this sensor burned out? Were there any power surges, anything you can think of that would have led to this?" asked Rydan as he thought through the problem. As far as he could tell so far, it had to be something simple, but which would have affected all three of the chambers, since the problems were the same in each case. He still needed to get Cordelia's input and check the other two chambers to see if the same thing had happened there too, but he was starting to get a feel for what might have happened. (Reply Biign) (Reply Hoshimi, Reply Biign, Reply any iyw) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Bridge, Helm – Pilot Officer, Jennifer Smith – 00:27) “Lieutenant Smith, it’s time to leave. You have the course to Starbase 49 laid in. Warp 5, engage!” “Yes Ma’am.” She tapped in a few commands and activated the manoeuvring thrusters to swing them round to the proper vector as she double checked the course to starbase 49. When she was happy she spoke up. “Course to starbase 49 laid in and ready. Engaging warp engines warp 5 ma’am” She watched as the speed increase as the warp engines came up from stand by. Her fingers hovered over the warp control. When they had reached safe distance from the station she power down the impulse engines and engaged the warp engines as the Spectre leaped into warp. (Reply any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Engineering Section, Jeffries Tubes – Engineer, CPO Wai Biign – 00:29) “Chokeweed! That’s bad in there,” Wai looked at Rydan and for once she was glad to be in a totally sealed environmental suit but it did not mean that she wanted to be here for long. “I think we should be here for as little time as possible sir” “Agreed” She watched as Rydan got his protective equipment on. “Container please” She grabbed one from the equipment bag that she was carrying and handed it to him. “Here you go Sir.” “Thank you,” Wai watched as Rydan motioned for her to move beside him. She moved the equipment bag to one side so that it would not get in the way and moved up be side him carefully not to knock into him. “Bring the Mini-CAS and... watch it’s hot in here and… oh hello… thanks,” Wai grabbed the Mini-CAS from the bag and handed it to him as he asked for it “Here you go sir.” “You look for cracks and faults in the chamber lining. I will look at the internal sensor.” Wai nodded as slid slightly forward to get closer to the chamber lining. It was in a complicated position and she had to contort her self around until she was lying in her back looking up at most of the seal ~Any hotter and the water will boil. Poached me is not on the menu~ She tapped a quick command into her suits interface and felt the swirl of cold water beginning to flow through the suit. ~Well that’s better~ She began to make a close inspection of the seals. ~Hmm this could have been nasty if the whole thing had gone up~ She ran her fingers along the rest of the seals. ~We were very lucky~ “Have you found anything of note?” She looked over at him as she spoke. “The seals directly beside the burnt out sensor have melted but the ones that were on the other side are still intact. It must have been very hot to breach those seals.” “Have a look at this and tell me what you think,” She took the sensor that Rydan had passed to her and took a long look at it. “Well it looks like the sensor burnt out which was why we did not get an alarm and from the looks of it, it looks like unit its self caused the burn out sir.” She ran a figure across on of the sensor’s scorched sides. "Any thoughts on how this sensor burned out? Were there any power surges, anything you can think of that would have led to this?" She paused for a moment to think about the question. “Well sir from the looks of it a simple power surge dose looks like the culprit.” She pointed to the bulkhead that held the connection of the sensor. They were darkened from the heat but nothing else. “If it had been power surge then the connections would be a lot more blackened and chard which they are not.” (Reply Rydan) “It could be that there is something faulty with the senor its self and here were a component that melted and caused the bun out.” (Reply Rydan) “We could speak to Ops and see if we can compare their reading with ours of the sensor units and see if there was a power surge through these sensors?” (Reply Rydan) (Reply Rydan, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Science Department – EO, Petty Officer, Cordelia Evans & Labtech Jones – 00:40) Having finished cleaning the filter, Cordelia had taken the samples she had collected to the Science Department for analysing. Thaddeus had been almost cock-a-hoop to get more samples to analyse. As they waited for the results, he relayed some ship’s gossip to Cordelia. “Not a lot goes on during the graveyard shift,” he said. “Although having said that, we’ve got a new ACSO,” he added proudly. “Her name’s Ensign Grey and she’s through there –“ he indicated one of the labs with his head. “Straight in with both feet by the look of it.” ~From his tone, anyone would have thought he was personally responsible for Ensign Grey’s work ethic,~ thought Cordelia with amusement. “Well someone at SFHQ appears to have noticed us,” she said aloud. “New ACEO, new ACSO… “ Thaddeus nodded. “I just hope that Linskens chap is nice to her – you heard the away teams are back now?” Cordelia shook her head. “Nope, been too busy to listen to scuttlebutt.” The science officer looked pleased to be the bearer of fresh news. “Yeah, *and* we got a new CMO. And old Kerge is back too. *He* came with Ensign Grey.” “Lucky Ensign Grey,” commented Cordelia drily. “But – a new CMO? What about Commander Williams, is he going to just be the FO now then?” Thaddeus practically beamed. It wasn’t often he got the drop on Cordelia with ship’s gossip. “One of the orderlies told me. New CMO’s a skinny guy, name of Noah. Another Ornaran like Tolqu. Shocking, I call it. Geddit? Ornaran – shocking…?” “Yeah I get it.” “Well I thought it was funny. *Anyway* the orderly, Boomer, told me that Williams is offski. He doesn’t know why but apparently he’s leaving. “ The statement confused Cordelia for a moment until she worked out that Thaddeus was saying that Boomer didn’t know the reason Williams was leaving. “Too many he’s there, Thaddeus. Confusing to the midnight brain,” she joked. “Any more news?” “The away team’s all in sickbay and…” he paused dramatically before continuing in an impressive tone with his major scuttlebutt coup, “… there’s two new people there too, sent over from the station when the away team came back. A fat bloke and a woman. Both got teal uniforms so could be science or medical. Boomer didn’t know which.” “You amaze me,” Cordelia said ironically. “I would have thought by now that Boomer would know their life stories.” Thaddeus chuckled. “Give him a few more hours and he’ll probably know their parents life stories!” “And what he doesn't know he’ll make up,” Cordelia added tartly. Thaddeus grinned. “Of course, isn’t that all part of good scuttlebutt? Now, do you want to hear the rest of the scuttlebutt whilst we’re waiting or don’t you?” Cordelia grinned back. “Does a targ smell? Of course I want to hear the rest!” (Reply Any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Science Department – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 00:51) Cordelia took the PADD Thaddeus handed her with the results of the analysis on it, and tapped her commbadge. “Petty Officer Evans to Ensign Rydan. Sir, we have the results. The contaminants are Grouchoian and Jamesian. The presence of either of those alone wouldn’t do much but together, Thaddeus says it is possible they could accelerate Tngonian decay – especially if there was too much heat present as well.” (reply Rydan, Biign, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Science Offices – ACSO, Ensign JG Ilana Grey – 01:14) Ilana pinched the bridge of her nose. She hadn’t slept for the last twenty four hours and she was starting to feel it, she was still carrying around her luggage her shoulder was going numb. The turbo lift opened up at the science offices. She clicked her neck and shifted the bag to her other shoulder. She could do with some rack time but clearly she would need to research whatever this supposed situation was. She entered the science office and pulled up the screen, and logged in. Her password and login seemed to be up and running. She began by going through a brief of the Spectre’s mission’s so far. It would be best to familiarize herself with the back ground of this ship. The LCARS display showed line after line of mission logs. After what seemed like two hours of sitting in front of a screen Ilana woke with a start she didn’t realize how long she had been staring at the screen with out consciously seeing the words. Finally she stood up stretching her arms out. She checked the computer to see if her quarters had been assigned yet. She was quietly elated that someone had found the time to sort out her quarters. She looked at her bag and then at the rout to her newly assigned quarters. She sighed “Ok got to say this isn’t what I expected my first assignment would be like.” She said to herself walking over she hefted the bag back onto her shoulder for some reason it felt twelve times heavier than before. “You know sometimes transporters would be extremely helpful around a ship.” She said to herself brushing a strand of rogue hair that had escaped it’s knot at the back. She would get some rack time then tomorrow she would be bright and breezy to contact the Chief Science Officer, she would probably also have to report to med bay, however from what she had heard they were a little busy at the moment she could probably get away with out being poked and prodded by the doc for a day or two. The door shhhed open to reveal a Spartan ensigns quarters, no pictures or any real paraphenalia, “At least I won’t have to share,” Ilana though to herself. A class mate of hers had apparently been assigned to a Defiant class ship, those quarters were basic even high ranking officers had to share on long voyages. She placed the bag down on the bed and looked around the room, basic but would suit her needs. As she unpacked her meager possessions she wondered what the Captain had meant when he had said her history in Psionics would be helpful. She pushed it out of her mind for the moment. Looking down at the bed she suppressed a smile she didn’t even move the bag of the bed she just fell face first on to it and before she could think anything else her mind drifted off. (Reply Any) (Posted By Joanna) (USS Spectre – Personal Quarters – FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 02:03) As she entered her quarters the lights came on automatically, as she had programmed them to. Hoshimi was tired but she still followed the small ritual she had established for herself years ago. First she lit the holocandle beside the picture of her dead husband, Ito. Then she picked up one of the pictures of her daughter, Minori and moved over to her computer terminal, setting the picture down beside it. “Computer, record message for Minori Tsukawa. Stardate 2414.03.11. Message begins. “Hello sweetheart. I know it’s a little early for my regular message to you but I have some news to share" “Today I was made First Officer of the USS Spectre. It is a great honour and Captain T’Vhor is showing great trust in me by promoting me. I hope that I will be worthy of his trust. It will be hard to fill the place held by Commander Williams but I will do my best. Commander Williams has been recalled due to family problems and he will be much missed on board this ship by all of us. Since I last talked to you, we have some new crew members too. Ensign Rydan, who is our new ACEO, Ensign Grey, a new ACSO and Commander Noah, who replaces Commander Williams as CMO. We also have an Ensign Marsh, who is a Counsellor, and Ensign Kirrin, who is a doctor. She has been missing for over a year now and I can well imagine how happy her parents will be to find out she is alive and well. Computer, pause message.” Hoshimi blinked away a couple of tears then continued. “Resume message. So as you can see there are a lot of changes here. You must be very excited too, it’s almost your 8th birthday! Just two more days!” Hoshimi smiled sadly. “I wish you could be with me here so that we could spend the day together. But I’m sure you will have a lovely day, darling. And I am looking forward to a new picture of you. “It is very late now, and I have to be on duty again in a few hours, so I’m going to sign off now. Goodnight, my dear one. I’ll make another message for you soon. “Always remember that I love you very much, Minori.” She blew a kiss at the screen. “End message. Save to file Minori Tsukawa.” [Message saved.] Hoshimi reached out and gently followed the outline of her daughter’s face. ~I miss you so much!~ Standing up, she carried the picture over to her bedside table and set it down where it would be the first thing she saw when she woke up. Then she undressed, had a quick shower, put on her night things and slid into bed. “Lights off.” Within moments she was asleep. (Reply any, none needed) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Personal Quarters – COUNS, Ens, Oggie Marsh – 02:12) Oggie let the door close behind him and lent against it with closed eyes. He sighed twice then pushed himself away from the door as he stepped into his quarters. He took in the rather spartan layout and shrugged. It wasn't the worst room nor the best room he had even been in. But it had a bed, a sofa, a replicator and a bathroom. Not much more else was needed. Oggie surveyed the room, then looked into the little bathroom cubicle and nodded. Pretty much as expected. He sat down gingerly on the bed and tested out the strength of it. It passed the test quite comfortably. "Computer! Are there any personal messages or Star Fleet messages for me?" [[There are no messages for Ensign Augustus Marsh.]] Oggie wasn't too surprised. "Computer, check all records from a year and a half ago till now and repeat search." [[There are no messages for Ensign Augustus Marsh.]] Oggie sighed. He had hoped that somehow, somewhere, someone would have noticed that Oggie had gone missing but it seemed not. "Yours is going to be a lonely funeral, my dear Oggie," he muttered then sighed again before shrugging. No change there then. Oggie got up from the bed and had a shower. He hadn't had one for over a year, after all, he thought to himself with a slight grin. He came back feeling a bit better and in his mind went over the diary for the next day. "Computer, set alarm for six thirty sharp." [[Alarm has been set.]] Oggie nodded and slipped under the covers not bothering with replicating himself a new set of pyjama's. "Computer, lights." The lights faded. There were a few minutes of silence. Then: "Computer, say Goodnight, Oggie to me." [[Goodnight, Oggie, Ensign Augustus Marsh.]] Oggie groaned. (Reply any, none needed) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (USS Spectre - MCO's Office - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 02:45) Bruce stood, impassive, introspect, at attention before his commanding officer and wrestling now with demons that he knew not the validity of their realism, or their fakery. His time on the station had indeed been one of great difficulty, and a test of his own mettle in it's own right, but no Marine in command of a team ever wanted to lose control of a situation, indeed this was the very worst case scenario for any Marine.... But Bruce had done precisely that! It mattered not the circumstances that had caused such a catastrophic loss of control, it mattered not that his mind had been under some form of influence from whatever had occured on the station itself before their arrival, the only thing that mattered right now was that he had done so, and that in itself was reprehensible. Throughout the entire time that he had been standing there, Krige, the Chameloid Marine CO now tasked with dealing with this monumental 'Frak up', remained inordinately silent as he read through the MXO's own report on the situation, and also those of the squad members serving immediately under him. It did not look good, and Bruce was fully prepared now for whatever was to come from that. Semper Fidelis? Semper Fidelis indeed, only now, Kowalski's loyalty was being brought to bear against him, and he was far from comfortable with that. The man himself had not only armed the stations self destruct with clear intent to blow the entire thing into atoms, he had also personally injured one of the men of his team by resorting to plunging his 'Death Dealer' blade entirely through the mans shoulder, and out the other side! There was a mention of course of the rolling mechanical 'tank' that had appeared maniacal in it's intent to destroy whatever came into it's path, Bruce himself though had actually managed to turn the thing over and then plunge the very same death dealer blade that he'd used on his own man, into it's very core as it cackled it's dying sentences like some demented demon from the other side of wherever. Then he had blown the thing to bits with a photon grenade and witnessed a 'slug' like body inch away someplace else, never to be found. What in god's name was that thing anyway? Where had it come from? Was it purely a constructed demon from Kowalski's own mind? The question hung in the void unanswered as Krige placed the PADD upon the table before him, his head then rising until he looked the MXO directly in the face. Kowalski closed his eyes briefly, then he stiffened his shoulders and took a deep breath.... and waited. (Reply Krige) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre – CMO's Quarters – CMO Noah – 06:00) Noah gowned loudly as the alarm rudely awoke him. He turned it off and rolled out of bed. He staggered bleary eye into the shower, he quickly washed and got dressed. As he passed the replicator he ordered him self a fried breakfast and dropped him self in front of his console with plate in hand. “Computer activate recording for a message to Ornara when we reach a starbase.” [[Message recording, Speek when ready]] Noah paused for a moment collecting his thoughts. “Hi mum, dad and sis. I hope that this gets to you and that you are well. Well also has happened since I last had the opertunity to speek to you. I am nolonger working on that old freighter that I was when I talked to you last. I am now on a star fleet vessels can you beleave and I am the chief medical officer. There you go mum you said that my medical carrier would get me far.” He gave a small smile to him self be fore carrying on. “It’s a good size ship, the crew appear professional and compitent. I only arrived late last night so this will be my first chance to actually get a good look around. The sickbay is a bit smaller then the clinich that we had at home but the equipment here is amazing you would not beleave. It puts the central medical to shame. The staff in sickbay are all up to your exacting standards so I will be put in my place I am sure.I am doing well and as you can see I am trying to eat more.” He held up the large plate of fried sousages, backon, eggs, hash browns, roashted tomatos, backed beans. “See I can happly give my self a coranary with that lot and if I am lucky will but some fat on my bones.” He glanced at the small chronomiter on the corner of his consle. “I better go. I need to get a few things sorted before I start work. Well give every one my best and give sis a kiss from me when you visit her next. Speek to you soon. Noah.” He tapped a command into the consile to finish the message and save it to the computer system. He then leant back in the chair as he finished his breakfast. (Reply any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Science Lab 1 – SciO, Ens, John Linskens – 06:24) "I tell you, Cat," John spoke with emphasis as they both entered the main lab. "The guy who designed that medical computer system should be shot! I have never seen a pile of junk set up like that! And totally inflexible! I really wonder about the standards of Star Fleet some times!" John dropped himself in a chair and logged himself in, then sighed. "If it wasn't such a great idea, I might have taken them time to set their systems up myself. Create structure out of chaos so to speak. But I can't, fame and fortune await me." John stared into empty space for a while. "This is so going to revolutionise energy distribution. Hmmm, I might even get the energy quantity named after me. Transferred: One Lin. One KiloLin. One MegaLin.One TeraLin? Ooooh, I like the sound of that." John smiled when he suddenly turned his head. "He Cat," he drew her attention. "You think I'll get a price out of it? Like the John Linskens' Price for Outstanding Contribution to Science? That would be cool." John grinned then it faded as he turned back to face the computer. "But first things first. The report. Now, let's see. Start with an opening, I think. Describe the issues with high energy transfer rates and the loss versus power function. Yeah, that would do well. Then set up a theory that would describe how the loss could be reduced......." John mumbled to himself then turned his head to Cat again. "Cat, could you get me some coffee? A litre and a half would do for now. I have some serious writing to do." He turned back and installed himself in front of the computer, keying in a few commands. "Ok, here goes. Open log ...... what? What do you mean, unable to comply? Just open the bleeden log, ok!?" John keyed in a number of commands and got more and more frustrated after every command." "Still won't play ball. But why ....? Open? Who ... for crying out loud! Who could be soooo stupid! Soooo self-centred! Does he think he's the only living being around? So who is this ..... this .... ? Grey? Never heard of him. We got a Grey here? Oh, a her, apparently. Ilana Grey? Still doesn't ring a bell. And where can I find ......." John finished keying a last set of commands and stood up. "OK, Miss Grey. It's time you learned that the universe doesn't revolve around you alone. Cat, I'll be back in a few minutes!" (Reply Any) (Posted by Adrie) (USS Spectre – Science Lab 1 – SciO, Ensign(jg) Catriona Macbeth – 06:25) John had been talking non-stop all the way to the Science Lab. ~At least yesterday’s events don’t seem to have affected him in any way,~ Cat reflected. ~He can still talk for the Federation – or for the galaxy!~ Finally he seemed to run out of steam and Cat began logging into her own workstation. Then Linskens began talking again. Cat wasn’t really listening, her normal mode when John had a bee in his bonnet about something or other. In her experience if you let it all wash over you until he’d said what he wanted to say, life was much easier. Plus you could get on with your own work at the same time. Unfortunately it seemed that John required input today, calling her name to get her attention. She looked up. "You think I'll get a price out of it? Like the John Linskens' Price for Outstanding Contribution to Science? That would be cool." “Prize. Not price.” ~And I agree, they ought to name a prize after you. The John Linskens Prize for Annoying Workmates. You’d probably win it every year.~ Before she could say this out loud, however, John began talking again. Again, Cat switched off until she heard her own name. Again. This time John wanted coffee. With a sigh, Cat got up and went over to the replicator. Not because she always did what John asked her to do, but because she recognised that getting the coffee now was the line of least resistance which would allow her to get back to her own work sooner. ~One day, he will get a bump on the head or something and realise that the rest of us have things to do too!~ John gave her a running commentary of what he was doing. Or more accurately at this moment, what he was unable to do, namely open the log. With her back turned to John, as she faced the replicator, Cat couldn’t help grinning as John apostrophised some unlucky person as ‘soooo self-centred’. ~Pot. Kettle. Black.~ thought Cat with amusement. “… We got a Grey here?" John continued. "Oh, a her, apparently. Ilana Grey? Still doesn't ring a bell. And where can I find….. OK, Miss Grey. It's time you learned that the universe doesn't revolve around you alone. Cat, I'll be back in a few minutes!" Cat span around. “John! Wait! You can’t just -” But apparently John thought he could, and he’d gone. Muttering a few choice phrases under her breath, Cat looked at the screen John had accessed and then chased after him, leaving the coffee on the desk. (Reply Any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Kirien Family Quarters - Lt. Michaella Kirien – 06:30) Michaella had spent the evening tossing and turning. She couldn't get to sleep, then she was up pacing the length of the Quarters. She'd tried heading to the gym to work out, then found that she had no energy for it. She'd stopped in 10-forward but found herself intolerant of the people around her, whose minds pressed against her own and gave her no rest. She was having trouble shielding out the voices of the others, even now, after she had 'rested'. She did not feel rested in the slightest. Had she slept any? The last thing she remembered was glancing at the chronometer, and it was 0530. She tried to get out of bed but found herself struggling to do so. Her skin was clammy under the sheet, but she was too cold without it. She gave it a good shake as she crawled out from under it. Stepping into the sonic shower to clean up before she headed down to the lab. After the shower, which was usually refreshing, she dressed in her uniform. Her skin seemed to itch today, and she scratched at the uniform in irritation. Her long black curls, short compared to the ankle length hair she had worn before the war, were gathered up atop her head in glittering pins. Pins that she stabbed into her scalp at least half a dozen times. She snarled, out of temper as she banged on her daughter's door. "Elizabeth you'll be late for school!" Michaella stalked out of her quarters, ignoring her daughter's rude response. Really, she couldn't believe how much her other daughter had civilized the twin. Elizabeth took after John Wilson, that was absolutely for certain. And with Gabriella back on Earth doing a pre-academy prep program, it was up to the irritated Dr. Kirien to get her irresponsible daughter to take her studies seriously. The only thing Beth did well was piloting. And mentally Michaella snarled at the man she had slept with almost two decades ago that ended up with such a flaky daughter. Michaella didn't tend to be so hard on the girls, but today she was just all out of sorts. The press of people around her snarled as she stomped her way towards sickbay, covering her ears. The Doctor in her knew something was wrong but not what. When she stepped into the sickbay, her eagle eyes search out the CMO, her boss. They hadn't had much of a chance to talk, so she hoped that he would take her seriously. "Sir?" (reply cmo, any) (posted by mel :-) (USS Spectre – Quarters – SciO, Ens, John Linskens – 06:43) John pressed the enunciator, waited a few seconds then pressed it again. "Oi! You! Grey woman! Open this door!" After a second of no reaction, John then started hammering on the door with his fist. "Don't think you can keep hiding from me! I'll get you! How do you *dare* to stand between me and my destiny!! OI! OPEN! NOW!" (reply by Cat, Ilana, any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (USS Spectre – Quarters – ASCO, Ensign JG, Ilana Grey – 06:43) Ilana woke to the sound of hammering on her quarter’s door. It took her a few moments to realize there was someone out there, she through initially either it was a drill or a red alert but she hadn’t heard the claxon. She managed to pull herself out of her bunk dislodging her bag and spilling the rest of the contents on the floor. She checked the time, it wasn’t even seven. She had had less than six hours sleep. She pinched the bridge of her nose and walked to the door, she was grateful that Starfleet uniforms had been designed not to wrinkle; she wished her hair had the same policy. She caught a glance at herself in a mirror; her hair had come undone and was now falling past her shoulders in what could only be described as a birds nest. She reached the door and hammered the control panel to open it, “Yes, what’s the emergency?” She asked looked up at the blue uniformed ensign then she turned her head to the woman standing just behind him. (Reply Linskens, Cat if any) It took a moment for Ilana to realize what he was talking about. She decided to be calm, after spending a week with Lt. Kerge this man was a pussy cat. Although he seemed to bluster a lot and her small stature never made for an imposing presence. “Mr…” She paused hoping he would give his name, “That particular terminal was running a process on anomalous wave readings around the ship, nothing particularly concerning but I figured it prudent to get to grips with what is going on in this ships science offices as soon as possible.” She looked across at the woman standing slightly nervously behind the man and purposefully ignored any protest that Linskens made, “Ilana Grey, nice to meet you your name is?” (Reply Cat, Linskens) Ilana smiled at the woman, then turned to Linsken’s “If you would be so kind as to go back to the science office and use any of the other twelve machines in the room and give me twenty minuets to make myself look slightly more presentable I’ll be there shortly and I would appreciate a report from your perspective about the current happenings in the department and then I will be more than happy to listen to your theories on what ever…” She clicked her neck she could feel herself already disliking two members of crew. She had always felt this affect with men, either they wanted to act like a big brother to her or they tried to intimidate her because of her size. (Reply Cat, Linskens,) Not waiting for Linskens response Ilana moved back into her room and closed the door. She turned looking back at the mirror she could see her eyes flashing with barely contained anger for that man. This was certainly going to be an interesting assignment. She looked at the mess of her room, she should have given herself half an hour or more but she had wanted to put Linskens under pressure. She had learned a long time ago that words like, ‘I’d appreciate’ and ‘If you would be so kind’ said in the right tone of voice sent a signal straight to male psyche that often sent the same neurons firing as when they thought ‘teacher’. Often it worked in quelling the more rebellious or insubordinate people some times it didn’t. (Reply Cat, Linskens) (Posted by Joanna) (USS Spectre – Quarters – SciO, Ensign(jg) Catriona Macbeth – 06:44) Slightly out of breath, Cat caught up with John as he hammered on the door to (presumably) Grey’s quarters and yelled for her to open the door NOW. “John…. You can’t just hammer on someone’s door at this time of day! Or at any time of day come to that! You press the enunciator and wait to be admitted like a reasonable human being. *Especially* when it’s your new boss!” Ca leant against the wall and crossed her arms. “Besides, who says she’s in her quarters? She could be anywhere. Ten Forward, the Gym… Did it ever occur to you that she might not be in?" A nasty thought struck her. "I take it you *are* sure these are her quarters and you’re not waking up someone random like, oh I don’t know, Lieutenant Kerge?” she asked. As Cat spoke, the door opened… (Reply Ilana, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Sickbay – CMO Noah – 06:45) "Sir?" Noah looked up from the PADD he saw reading. He had been going through the medical information of the crew as he needed to get on top of things as soon as possible. He smiled as he saw it was it was Kirien. “Good morning Michaella.” He saw that she was looking a bit tired with the beginning of dark rings under her eyes. He also noticed that her body language was all wrong as she teamed very tense and agitated. “Michaella are you okay?” (Reply Kirien) (Reply Kirien, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – quarters – SciO, Ens, John Linskens – 06:45) “John…. You can’t just hammer on someone’s door at this time of day! Or at any time of day come to that! You press the enunciator and wait to be admitted like a reasonable human being. *Especially* when it’s your new boss!” John shot her a quick stare then mumbled under his breath: "Did press the bleeden enunciator. Not my fault she doesn't react." before slamming on the door again with his fist. “Besides, who says she’s in her quarters? She could be anywhere. Ten Forward, the Gym… Did it ever occur to you that she might not be in?" She went quiet for a moment, giving time enough for John to hammer on the door once more. "I take it you *are* sure these are her quarters and you’re not waking up someone random like, oh I don’t know, Lieutenant Kerge?” she asked. John snorted and glared at her when finally the door opened and a rather petite woman peered out at them. “Yes, what’s the emergency?” John sighed audibly. "*Some* people have work to do. Work they cannot do because *someone* forgot to close down a ship's log on station 25. Now I have never been an unreasonable man but when I get back from a mission where *we* had to save a station, an away-team and the universe, something *we* do on a regular basis, I might add, then how much would it be to ask to allow them to do their reporting as soon as, without hindering them in any undue way?" “Mr…” the Grey woman started. ~Well, she got at least that part right,~ John thought. “That particular terminal was running a process on anomalous wave readings around the ship, nothing particularly concerning but I figured it prudent to get to grips with what is going on in this ships science offices as soon as possible.” "Prudent?" John started. "*Prudent*??? It's okay to mess about with people's tasks because it was *prudent* for you??" But by that time she had looked away to Cat. “Ilana Grey, nice to meet you your name is?” (Reply Cat, Ilana (iyw), any) Ilana smiled at the woman, then turned to John. “If you would be so kind as to go back to the science office and use any of the other twelve machines in the room and give me twenty minuets to make myself look slightly more presentable I’ll be there shortly and I would appreciate a report from your perspective about the current happenings in the department and then I will be more than happy to listen to your theories on what ever…” ~Kind? I'll give you kind,~ John thought but by that time the Grey-woman had returned to her hidey-hole and the door swished shut. John stared at the door for a second then shook his head. "See, I told you, totally irresponsible." he said to Cat then raised his hand with balled fist as if to hammer on the door again. Midway he stopped though as two neurons finally made the connection that they should have made a while ago and he turned to Cat. "What do you mean, our new boss?" (Reply Cat, any) (Posted by Adrie) (USS Spectre – Outside Grey’s Quarters – SciO, Ens(jg), Catriona Macbeth – 06:46) Cat was rapidly regretting following John. When he was on a mission, as he was now, it was hard to get him to see reason. ~No, not hard,~ she thought to herself. ~Impossible!~ The new ACSO seemed set on a collision course as well. Cat had a mental image of two knights in full armour, on heavily barded warhorses, thundering towards one another at full tilt. Suddenly she became aware she was being addressed. “Ilana Grey, nice to meet you - your name is?” “Catriona Macbeth. Science Officer, Ensign junior grade.” She was granted a smile and then Ensign Grey returned her attention to John, issuing instructions in a tone which reminded Cat of her kindergarten teacher. ~Uh oh, this isn’t going to go down well…~ Perhaps it was fortunate that Ensign Grey didn’t wait around for a response from John, who stared at the closed door for a second or two before raising his fist as if to hammer on it once again. Then he stopped, fist still raised half way, and turned to Cat. "What do you mean, our new boss?" Cat rolled her eyes. “Now you ask. If you’d taken a few more seconds to actually look at the information on the screen, you’d have seen that Ensign Grey is our new ACSO. And therefore our boss. Now you’ve said your piece, let’s go back to the lab. Please?” (reply John iyw) (Posted by Adrie) (USS Spectre – Sickbay – Lt. Michaella Kirien – 06:47) “Michaella are you okay?” She shook her head, leaning against one of the bio beds. "It's silly." She found herself saying, almost complaining. "I found myself restless last night and couldn't sleep. Nothing was comfortable, and ..." She almost hesitated to say this, "I am having a hard time with sensitivity. Normally the ship is a collection of background noises to me, and rarely does any one voice stand out if I'm not specifically concentrating on it. But tonight into today, in fact this morning it's worse, all of the voices are sharp, and overlapping and I can't seem to shut them out. I know that this sometimes happens to older Betazoid women, but I should be at least ten years away from that being a problem." She then took a deep breath, "I don't trust me to treat me. I'm too close, well, Starfleet regulations prohibit that anyway." Michaella who had been a civilian, and had never gone through the Academy was doing her best to earn the rank she'd been given. In fact that reminded her that she would need to talk to the first officer about that. Another chore to tackle later. "But I'm distracted and with how painful the voices are today, I don't think that I should be working in the lab until I sort this through." Michaella often handled dangerous items. (reply Noah) (posted by mel :-) (USS Spectre – Science Offices – ASCO, Ensign JG, Ilana Grey – 06:58) Ilana walked into the science room feeling a lot better, a sonic shower and a cup of Kenyan coffee had sorted out her exhaustion and foul mood. She looked around the science room for Linskens and the Junior Ensign. She paused to study the faces of the two, it often helped in establishing what, if any, relationship was between the two of them, or if this was just a very hyperactive, rather callous man. She had encountered a professor or two like him at the university who seemed to think the best way to teach everyone was to talk about how brilliant you were. They should have spent less time studying themselves and start studying cognitive progression. She smiled briefly, both Linskens and Kerge in a shuttle for a week that would be a holo recording she would love to watch, she briefly wondered if she might be able to arrange it some how but dismissed the idea, now was time to assert herself, she wished briefly that the CSO was here to introduce her. “Report!” She snapped. (Reply, Cat, Linskens, Any) (Posted by Joanna) (USS Spectre – Science Offices – SciO, Ens, John Linskens – 06:59) “Report!” John looked up at the intrusion then sniffed. "Cat, the Grey-woman is here and wants you to report to her. Well, I hope she does, because she ain't gonna get one from me." John leaned back. "I'm night-shifter, I am. Don't do regular morning work. Special requests I do, but making a report is not special so you'll have to bear with Catriona. But before she does that, can you just go to that station and log yourself out? I've got a lot of writing to do. And then *I* can go to bed. Unlike *some * people we don't turn in until our work is done." John fell silent then, remembering something, added: "Sir." (Reply, Cat, Ilana, Any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (USS Spectre - Science Offices - ACSciO, Ens, Ilana Grey - 07:00) Ilana looked across at John, she gave a sly smile, "Ah I see you must be the ships parrot then. Makes a lot of noise but has no real function." She stated at his last comment. The sarcastic sir had really got her in conflict mood. She also looked around the room at the other computer terminals, "I also see that you have problems understanding recommendations, such as use one of the other machines in this room, I'm pretty sure if your 'writing was that vital' in keeping you up you would have found a way." She reached across and tapped at the computer, "Computer diagnostic on wave length variations?" =/\= Diagnostic complete =/\= the computer reported "Computer end diagnostic and close log, please open up the terminal to Science officer Linskens," She tapped a key and closed the analysis. She then turned to Linskens, "Ok Polly, since you don't do reports, you only work on special assignments and you appear to either have a universal translator malfunction or struggle to grasp simple suggestions would you mind telling me what it is your working on that warrants waking me after less than five hours sleep and a week shuttle ride with a Klingon?" (Reply Linskens) After listening she turned to Cat who seemed some what saner than this Squawking bird. "And Ensign what about yourself anything to report?" Ilana asked Cat. (Reply Cat, Linskens, Any) (Posted by Joanna Holt) (USS Spectre – Temporary Quarters – ACMO Ensign(jg) Zia Kirrin – 07:00) Having thoroughly enjoyed a sonic shower and dressed in a fresh uniform, Zia sat at the table sipping, with some distaste, a Terran beverage that the replicator had suggested as a replacement for carallun. According to the computer this beverage was called something that sounded like ‘saynclemmans’, and Zia was rapidly coming to the conclusion that she would not be drinking it again if she had any choice. She sighed and pushed the glass away, still half full. With a greater degree of pleasurable anticipation she pulled towards her the plate containing the osol twist. Experience had shown that this, at least, was one Rihannsu food that Federation replicators could reproduce with some accuracy. She bit into it, enjoying the sour taste. Not even all Rihanna liked osol twists, finding them too sour, but Zia enjoyed them. Last night after having eaten something (she couldn’t remember what, she had been so tired) in the lounge called Ten Forward, she had come to her quarters but had been unable to bring herself to sleep until she had recorded a message for her parents and had despatched it. She wondered how soon she would hear from them, and hoped it would be soon. Not because she had actually been missing for more than 13 months but because she suspected that only seeing her face to face would really reassure Perdan and Arghylla ~I wonder if Oggie is awake yet.~ she thought. Her quarters were next to his but they were so well insulated and soundproofed that she couldn’t hear anything from next door at all. As she didn’t have a commbadge for this ship yet, she finished her osol twist before standing up and leaving her quarters. Stepping the few feet to the next door she sounded the chime and hoped Oggie would be awake. (reply Oggie iyw) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Science Offices – SciO, Ens(jg), Catriona Macbeth – 07:01) Cat had used the short time she’d been back in the lab to check the night log, not strictly part of her duties but since there was no more senior officer present at the moment (aside from John, who she concluded wasn’t in the mood to do mundane tasks like that) she wanted to make sure there were no outstanding issues that needed to be dealt with as a matter of urgency. As Ensign Grey entered, Cat entertained the faint hope that Linskens and Grey might behave like adults and start afresh with no ill will carried forward. It was always a faint hope and one which soon expired altogether, first with John’s Mr Awkward act and then with Ensign Grey’s descending to calling him names. Cat huddled over her terminal and tried not to listen to the clash of egos going on seemingly right over her head. "And Ensign what about yourself anything to report?" asked the ACSO when she and John had finished sparring. “No outstanding issues from the night watch, Sir. Labtech Jones and Ensign Gronk, one of the other ACSOs, did some analysis work for Ensign Rydan, the ACEO. It’s all in the log, Sir. They will be off-shift now.” ~Lucky so-and-sos! Not stuck in the middle of a kindergarten playground argument like me!~ “Aside from that,” she continued aloud, “Nothing out of the ordinary as far as I can tell. Actually, I’m not really a scientist in the true sense of the word - I’m a linguist and only technically fall under the Science department, but I help out in whatever way I can.” The usually happy-go-lucky Cat was experiencing a strong desire to bang two heads together, rather hard. John was certainly being more than usually obnoxious and Ilana Grey wasn’t helping matters either with her attitude, which Cat suspected arose from a combination of a naturally assertive character and (as a new graduate from the academy) a lack of experience in dealing with equally assertive characters without the whole thing escalating beyond control and coming to the attention of senior officers. Cat suppressed a sigh. ~I suppose I will have to try and mediate an armed truce or something. I just hope I can find a way for neither of them to lose face and still leave my sanity intact!~ She did not, at the moment, hold out much expectation that her wish would be granted in the immediate future. She wondered how receptive Ilana would be to a little friendly advice, and also whether she’d have the chance to give it without John knowing about it. She would most certainly take the first available opportunity of telling John that he was behaving like a jerk! (Reply Grey, Linskens, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Science Lab - SciO, Ens, John Linskens - 07:04) "Makes a lot of noise but has no real function." John couldn't believe his ears. Name calling? Didn't she realise how weak that made her? And she was supposed to be the new boss? Show leadership? Inspire her staff? John sniffed as he saw her look around the lab before turning back to him, no doubt to weaken her own position even more. Which she did and John nearly laughed out loud. He didn't though. He just sent a knowing glance at Cat then stared at her as he saw her crouching over her terminal, almost trying to hide inside it. John inwardly sighed as he turned back to his screen. He had done it again. There were only a few defences that John couldn't cope with and the one that he had most problems with was the withdrawn reaction. Very much like Inez did. She didn't shout or cry when John had upset her. She just sat there, looking at nothing really, wallowing in her own sorrow and mentally hiding from the big bad world. And as such, Cat was very similar to Inez. John knew she didn't like awkward situations. His brain picked up a question posed at him as he was analysing the situation and as per usual his brain analysed it, came up with a reasonable answer that would require least further effort and John answered: "Doesn't really matter anymore." without realising that he had done so, all the while his brain milling over the true problem at hand. After a few moments, John realised that Cat was talking and he looked over her way. "Actually, I’m not really a scientist in the true sense of the word - I’m a linguist and only technically fall under the Science department, but I help out in whatever way I can.” "It's not true," John heard himself say. "You are a proper scientist. If not through knowledge then through having and using the proper scientific mindset." John got up from his chair and walked over to her. "I'm not going to say that you are the best scientist I have ever come across, because you are not. Did I ever tell you about Percival? But you are a lot better at it then you seem to think you are." He placed a hand on her shoulder waiting for her to catch his gaze. As soon as she did, John said softly.:"I'm sorry, kiddo. I know you don't like to get involved in my battles and I know that I am a jerk. And now, believe it or not, I am also a parrot." John shot her a weak smile. "But I am also tired, having been up for a day and a half with a strenuous mission to boot. So I think I should get some shut-eyes and I would suggest you do the same." John straightened himself and found himself looking at the new boss. "This is your slot where you say that it is funny to have a parrot go to roost or something like that so I can counter that with a hearty: How droll, Sir. But let's not and think that we did." John walked over to the door and turned to face the others. "Night, night, Cat. Be seeing you, Sir." John nodded before he stepped out of the lab and went to his quarters, al the while shaking his head. (Reply Ilana, Cat, any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (USS Spectre - Science Lab - ACSciO, Ens, Ilana Grey - 07:06) As John left, Ilana's shoulders visibly slumped. This isn't what she had hoped for on her first day and her first job, however she was glad the man had left. Despite hundreds of years of equal woman's rights, in order to maintain your position and integrity you had to assert yourself early on. 'Damn.' She said to herself, she looked over the log, sure enough it was all mostly routine, she could have done with a few days to go through the back log as well as understand the whole structure of this ship, she wasn't a person who did well in authority, in fact it was one of the things she disliked the most. At both university and then at the academy she had had to work twice as hard to be considered half as good. She looked at the other ensign, "Study of Linguistics is very important and I would say it is a Science, Did you know Psychology wasn't considered a science until 1900's Xeno-psychology wasn't considered a science until as late as 2200's" She gave a smile, "Thanks for the report, you better get some rack time as well." (Reply Cat, if any) Turning to the computer she looked at the night logs, nothing much had happened, she didn't quite know why she had got so angry with Linskens but it certainly had infuriated her. She made a note on her computer to contact the CSO and try to sort things out. After going through the crew rota and mission logs she turned to the computer, now she would be able to get to work, her preferred study had always been Xeno Botany, but she had become more and more intrigued in the physical and psychological differences that had allowed certain beings to develop psychic, empathic or even telekinetic abilities. She brought up the details of a Betazoid. She remarked that it was odd that a Betazoid couldn't read the though of Ferengi and almost any creature with a over developed frontal cortex. She was always confused as to how any being could read the thoughts and feelings of another; she knew that her own head was so full of turmoil half the time she didn't know what she was feeling. She looked at the computer screen and started to make some notes. She really regretted what she had said to Linskens but knew she couldn't apologise at least not yet, however he should have known better than to wake her so early. (Reply Cat, any) (Posted by Joanna Holt) (USS Spectre - Science Lab - SciO, Ensign(jg) Catriona Macbeth - 07:07) Grey’s shoulders slumped as John left. Cat felt sorry for the other woman; a run-in with John wouldn’t be a good start for anyone. Of course ‘anyone’ was precisely the point; anyone at all who had prevented John from doing something he felt he needed to do would have got the same reaction. John had no automatic respect for authority in whatever shape or form it came in and he didn’t care who knew it. For some reason unknown to Cat he had apparently ‘adopted’ her. She got on well with him, perhaps because like John she was not particularly career-minded. Her ambition was not to run a department and even less a ship; she was happy as a researcher. So she found John amusing most of the time, and was even sometimes able to mitigate his reaction to others, although Cat had no illusions that she could in any way control him. John was a law unto himself and not only did he not suffer fools gladly, Cat rather thought he suffered very few people altogether. She was still slightly stunned at his praise of her, because for John that comment about her ‘being a lot better at it than she thought ’ was praise indeed. "Study of Linguistics is very important and I would say it is a Science,” Grey remarked suddenly to Cat. “Did you know Psychology wasn't considered a science until 1900's? Xeno-psychology wasn't considered a science until as late as 2200's" She smiled. "Thanks for the report, you better get some rack time as well." “Thanks,” Cat smiled back, genuinely grateful. “I will but…” she paused, unsure exactly how to continue. “It’s not personal, you know?” she said after a moment. “It’s not because you’re the ACSO, and it’s certainly not because you’re a woman. John is just, well, John. He believes respect is earned not given because of rank or position or gender. So the fact that you’re ACSO won’t mean a thing to him. In fact, he didn’t even know you were ACSO when he went storming off to beard you about the terminal. At first he didn’t even realise you were female. All he saw was that his work-station had been locked down at a time he badly wanted to use it.” She looked down at the now-cold mugs of coffee on the desk. “As intelligent as he is – and John is possibly one of *the* most intelligent people I’ve worked with – he has absolutely no social skills whatsoever. In some ways he’s like a big kid.” She paused, considering what she’d just said, then continued. “Actually, in most ways outside of his work he’s like a big kid. And a toddler at that. He’s also a bit of a butterfly – one mood will succeed another in rapid succession. He’ll have bursts of enthusiasm and work 72 hours straight on something to get an answer that’s eluding him. Once he has it, he wants to write it all down. Straight away. No messing around. So when he couldn’t it threw him off. You see, he has everything where he needs it at his work station. It’s not that he can’t work anywhere else, it’s that he wouldn’t be comfortable enough anywhere else to work on something that really mattered to him.” She smiled and shook her head. “He’s egotistic, but not because he knows he’s better than everyone else. More because he rarely considers the effect what he says and does has on other people. If someone or something brings him up short then - well, then you get the change of mood we just saw. And as he said, he knows when he’s behaved like a jerk and one thing about John, he’ll admit it up front. Just like a kid admitting to cleaning out the biscuit tin. Unlike a kid though he probably won’t care whether or not you forgive him.” Cat sighed. “I’m sorry, this wasn’t meant to be the ‘Cat Macbeth guide to dealing with Linskens’ session. But if you understand him a bit better, perhaps he won’t get to you so much. Don’t expect an apology because it’s likely you won’t get one. He genuinely doesn’t care about being pleasant or any of the day-to-day things we all do to get along. There’s only one thing that really does touch him deeply on a level I can only guess at, and that’s his daughter.” She considered for a moment. “Perhaps his partner too. And one or two others. But if I may offer a piece of advice? Actually, I think I’m going to anyway,” she continued without pausing. “Don’t attempt to pull rank on John, it won’t work. Nor will treating him like a child (most especially when he’s behaving like one), or descending to his level. Believe me, I’ve seen many people try one or all of those things and they get nowhere fast. If he decides you’ve earned his respect he’ll give it, but until then… Well, until then he’ll treat you like he treats everyone else. Which is to say most of the time he’ll ignore you until something brings you to his attention. What that something is, will decide how he behaves.” She stood up. “And now I’m going to sleep off this headache since you so kindly offered me the opportunity to do so.” She smiled and put out her hand. “Welcome to the madhouse known as the Spectre Science Department, Ensign Grey. I’m very glad you’re here and I hope that we will get to know one another better when we’re both less tired.” (reply Grey if you wish) Cat smothered a yawn. “Sorry!” she apologised. “I’ll be back on duty later. John isn’t on duty til tonight but he might come back earlier if he gets the urge to do something. Don’t let him get to you. Most of the time it’s better to just let it wash over you.” With a last, decidedly sleepy, smile she left to catch up on her rest. (Reply Grey, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Science Lab - ACSciO, Ensign Ilana Grey - 07:09) Cat stood up stood up. “And now I’m going to sleep off this headache since you so kindly offered me the opportunity to do so.” She smiled and put out her hand. “Welcome to the madhouse known as the Spectre Science Department, Ensign Grey. I’m very glad you’re here and I hope that we will get to know one another better when we’re both less tired.” Grey Smiled back across at Macbeth, “Thanks for the advice Ensign, I’ll probably try to avoid dealing with him the future at least directly, it may surprise you to know that I didn’t want to be the ASCO, my preference is studying psionics and botany, but rarely get the opportunity especially on a star ship assignment, would have preferred to have been assigned to an survey team or something like that, however we gamble on the hands life deals us.” She gave a smile and nodded for Cat to leave when she saw the young woman yawning. Ilana turned to her consol she was tempted just for a moment to use John’s favorite console but that would have been just spiteful, as she had pointed out herself there were half a dozen stations in the office, she would make do with one of the other machines. She had a sudden urge to do some research. She sat down at one of the consoles and started to work away on the machine, she was referring to a documentation that took place years ago, A civilization that had developed mechanical telepathy. Landru, a gifted engineer and philosopher, had constructed a computer able to telepathically control most of the population of the planet Beta III. It was amazing considering the science, a mechanical device that could influence the human mind. Another example had taken place on the Enterprise when a Ferengi had caused the captain to suffer hallucinations and attack his own ship. Unfortunatly neither of these computers had ever managed to survive intact both having been destroyed. She started running a cross-reference between psionic mind control or alteration and artificial or mechanical means. She was just getting into her studies when she realised that it would probably be a good idea to check in with the CSciO. She turned back to the scene and started to dictate a small note to herself. “Psionics seem to work works via the ‘Psionic Field.’ A psionic field is the "medium" through which unspoken thoughts and feelings are communicated through space. Some humanoids and other life forms can tap into this field through a kind of sense organ located in the brain (e.g. the paracortex). In the same manner that Human eyes can sense portions of the electromagnetic field, telepaths can sense portions of the psionic field. Using this theory it is both possible to transmit and receive these signals artificially, just as it is perfectly possible to dampen or block these same signals, one of the best ways to generate this would be to use ‘white noise’ generator this would interfere with psionic energy, the unfortunate side effect of this would be that anyone with psionic receptors would feel as if their senses had been cut off. This could also have the side effect of giving a massive migraine.” Ilana paused and looked at what she had written on the screen. “Computer delete last sentence.” She said as an after thought, it didn’t sound professional. She finally got up from her desk moved across towards the main computer screen. “Computer, show all known artificial devices that could broadcast on a Psionic wave length. The computer displayed a large list of various devices, most of which were illegal in the Federation. She paused as they came to a Romulan Neural scanner, while technically not a broadcaster it was a receiver of the same energy. She wondered briefly. “Computer, pause at image Alpha Two Beta Ten.” She looked at the device, it was small easily carried, it could broadcast a very small bandwidth, just enough so that anyone wearing one would be either immune or at the very least resistant to any psionic interference, the device would have to be altered to work properly. Unfortunately the device would only block telepathy over distance, direct contact, such as a Vulcan mind meld wouldn’t be effected nor would a Lethian’s bio-mimetic attack. Strumming her fingers against the screen for a few moments she finally turned away. “Computer save file under PsiGreyOne and attached image Alpha Two Beta Ten.” Ilana looked over at the Science schedule. She really should be reporting to medical, she had heard that some doctors could get rather tetchy if you didn’t see them on your first day, but from what she had heard they had been overwhelmed over the last few days, still she ought to pop her head around. “Computer close terminal.” Ilana said simply and exited the lab, it was still probably a few hours before most other staff members started to come in, and without her early morning wake up call she knew she would probably have still been asleep right now as probably would the medical staff. Mind you that probably made it one of the best times to visit. Ilana, still using the pad she had received from Hoshimi managed to finally make her way through to the medical bay on deck three. She walked into the office. (Reply, Anyone in medical.) (Posted by Joanna Holt) (USS Spectre – Deck 13, Chief Engineers Office – ACEO, Ensign JG Varios Rydan – 07:15) Varios had finally fixed and got the phased-cloaking device back online. He had then spent the rest of his shift helping to make sure the evening’s tasks were done; this included some diagnostics, repairs, and upgrades. Being an engineer wasn’t all standing in front of a console or clicking circuit boards in and out. Often it was smelly, dusty and physically demanding work. Varios was glad to be finished climbing around inside those unpleasant chambers. In the absence of the chief engineer, the office was his to use. He sat at the desk doing the shift reports and preparing for the nightshift handover. Varios had been so committed to getting all of his shift’s work done, and paranoid about failing to do so that he’d opted out of taking his rest break. As a result, he was now starting to feel very hungry indeed. He had simmered down and was now feeling relaxed again, now that the work was all complete to a satisfactory standard. In his mind there was only one standard to achieve and that was perfection. When his replacement chimed the door, Varios was pleased to note that they were early. He prided himself in his timekeeping and always preferred to be early rather than late so he always appreciated when other people behaved similarly. A few token pleasantries were exchanged but they quickly got stuck in to the handover. There was a lot to go over and Varios was especially keen to go over the nights work involving the phased-cloaking device, as that was a big job and an important system. Once the replacement was brought up to speed and happy with the handover, Varios was relieved. (Reply Any, None) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Sickbay – CMO Noah - 07:25) Noah had just gone into his office and grabbed a drink from the replicator when he heard the sickbay doors open. It was the woman he had saw last night on the bridge after he had spoken to the Captain. ~Umm Ilana Grey Yes that was it~ He remembered reading her medical file earlier. ~I guess I will find out what she wants~ He replaced his drink onto his desk and turned to face Grey. He smiled at her as she entered his office. “Good morning Ilana. How can I help you this morning?” (Reply Grey) (Reply Grey, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Sickbay – ACSciO, Ensign JG Ilana Grey - 07:27) “Good morning Ilana. How can I help you this morning?” Said the doctor Ilana was startled that the doctor knew her first name, mind you she guessed her medical files had been transered so quickly, she was more impressed at his time into the office, not even half seven and the doctor was up and ready for a full day. "Sir" She smiled "I was given to understand that I should report in for my medical check up upon arrival onto to the Spectre I regret to say I was too busy last night so I figure I should do it first thing this morning." She gave a sly smile, "Also to get it out of the way, last thing I want is having hundreds of messages from you requesting I come in only to eventually be escorted here by security." She joked (Reply Noah) Ilana looked at the Chief medical officer, like many doctors she had met he seemed to have a pleasant demenior, although Ilana though he looked a bit skinny and couldn't place his race, the small indent on his forhead was curious, but she realised with so many diffrent members of the Federation it was unlikely she would see them all, let alone get to know them all. "Do you have time to see me right now? Or should I disapear and avoid my medical for a couple of months?" Ilana asked with a gregorious smile, She had always hated medical tests, when she was a child her and her brothers had been tested rigerously, their Deltan ancestory had often caused small amounts of worry when joining starfleet, Traditionally it had been required for all Deltan and Half Deltan to take a vow of celebacy she was only one eighth deltan, and her previous tests and shown she emitted almost no pheremones that could cause those problems so prevalant in the past. (Reply Noah) (Posted by Joanna Holt) (USS Spectre – Sickbay – CMO Noah - 07:30) "Also to get it out of the way, last thing I want is having hundreds of messages from you requesting I come in only to eventually be escorted here by security." Noah smiled “That is true, us here in medical can be a bit persistent when we put our mind to it.” "Do you have time to see me right now? Or should I disappear and avoid my medical for a couple of months?" Noah smiled again “I have the feeling that if it’s not going to be now then it’s not going to happen.” He paused for a moment. “This may be a big ship but its not that big that I would not find you eventually where ever you hid.” (Reply Grey) “So I have had a quick look at your medical file. Have you had any problems since your last medical?” (Reply Grey) (Reply Grey) (Posted by Robbie) (Starbase Geneva – Ambassador’s suite – Rihannsu Llairhi (Ambassador) Perdan e-Khellian Cha'Mirok – 07:30) Perdan sighed as his wife pushed aside the half-eaten food in front of her. “You should eat more, my dear,” he said. “I know,” Arghylla replied. “ But I am not really hungry. Last night’s dinner at the Efrosian Ambassador’s suite was a bit too rich.” Perdan reflected that Arghylla had not eaten that much last night either, but said nothing. Since their daughter had been declared officially missing, Arghylla had seemed to lose part of herself as well. Perdan was aware that he, too, had lost a certain something. Their sons, too, had felt the loss. The worst thing, he thought, was the not knowing. He could not fault Starfleet, who had not only seemed to investigate very thoroughly but whose representatives bore with every sign of patience the frequent requests for information from Perdan himself. At that moment, the doorchime sounded and Perdan answered it with permission to enter. A smartly-dressed Starfleet Lieutenant entered and came to attention. “Ambassador Cha’Mirok, I’m sorry to disturb you so early but Commodore Linden requests that you attend her office at your earliest convenience, Sir. She apologises for the short notice but she did say that the matter is quite urgent, Sir.” Perdan looked at Arghylla, who had gone pale, and then back to the Lieutenant. “Of course, Lieutenant. If you will be so kind as to wait outside, I will accompany you in a few minutes.” As the door closed behind the Starfleet officer, Perdan took his wife’s hands in his. “It may not be –“ he began. “She said it was urgent. You were asking her only last night if there had been any news and she said she would enquire again. It would seem that she is as good as her word.” Perdan nodded. “Do you want to come with me?” he asked. Arghylla shook her head. “I will remain here. If – if it is bad news I would rather hear from you alone than among strangers.” Perdan looked at her for a moment then held her close. “Do not lose hope, Arghylla.” He kissed her forehead and left with a brisk step. But once the door had closed between him and his wife, his shoulders slumped a little. Despite his words to Arghylla, he suspected that the Commodore had summoned him to tell him that his daughter (he would never think of her as his adopted daughter, she was as much his child as either Perron or Farlin) was confirmed dead. With a heavy heart, he accompanied the Lieutenant to Commodore Linden’s office. (Reply None, Any) (Posted by Liz) (Starbase Geneva – Corridor outside Linden’s Office - Llairhi (Ambassador) Perdan e-Khellian Cha'Mirok – 07:47) The door to Linden’s office opened and Perdan literally ran out, his hand clutching a padd. He didn’t stop all the way back to his own quarters, swerving around surprised Starfleet personnel and civilians alike. He almost collided with the Vulcan attaché as he reached his own quarters, barely slowing down long enough to allow the doors to open (Reply Any, None) (Posted by Liz) (Starbase Geneva – Ambassador’s Suite - Llairhi (Ambassador) Perdan e-Khellian Cha'Mirok – 07:52) Arghylla stood up as the doors opened and Perdan ran in. He threw a padd onto the sofa and grabbed her, swinging her round and round in his arms. “She’s alive! She’s alive! She’s on a ship called the Spectre and she sent us a message! She’s alive!!!” (Reply any, none needed) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Deck 1, Bridge – ACEO, Ensign JG Varios Rydan – 07:55) He headed to the bridge as he had one last duty to fulfil before his time was his own again, and that was assuming he wasn’t given any additional tasks. He felt quite uncomfortable as he stood in the turbolift. He’d had to have a conversation with CPO Biign about safety protocols and now it was his turn to have a conversation about protocols. It didn’t sit right with him at all and he looked forward to putting the whole shift behind him. Despite the triumphs he’d had, it was the silly mistakes and the things he’d not done so well that really stuck in his mind. There was someone else in the turbolift also destined for the bridge but he left them alone. His muscles were aching from the physical work and he was tired, hungry and absorbed in his thoughts. Perhaps if he hadn’t been so busy fretting he might have noticed that his face was still grimy when he rubbed one side of his head, accidently transferring grime to his otherwise clean uniform. He was also a little smelly from the sweaty work inside that hot chamber. His personal presentation wasn’t on his mind as he took a big gulp and stepped out onto the bridge and approached Hoshimi. “Reporting as requested, Commander,” he stated, feeling his chest tighten in anxiousness. (Reply Hoshimi) (Reply Hoshimi, Reply any iyw) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Turbolift – ACMO, Ensign Zia Kirrin – 07:56) The door opened and an ensign with a gold coloured uniform got in and also requested to be taken to the Bridge. Zia wrinkled her nose slightly; the person seemed to be in need of a shower. She wondered if it was common in Starfleet to neglect one’s personal hygiene, and then took herself to task. No doubt this ensign had just completed some vital task and was on his way to… but here her imagination let her down. She hoped he was not on his way to the Bridge to report to the Captain at the same time as herself and Oggie. She noticed with interest that this person seemed to be wearing some kind of eye protection, and wondered if that was to do with the job he had just come from or a job he was going to do. His ears were slightly pointed too, although he didn’t look to be either Vulcan or Rihannsu. The ensign (who didn’t seem inclined to be chatty) rubbed the side of his face, which was rather dirty, transferring some of the dirt to his uniform. The presence of the stranger effectively silenced any speculations Zia would have liked to make about what Captain T’Vhor would say to herself and Oggie, and they completed the journey in silence. (Reply Any, None) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Deck 3, Turbolift One - CO, Captain T'Vhor - 07:59) Stepping into the turbolift after having just paid a visit to the sickbay, the Captain pondered the findings of the recent 'tests' carried out upon the returning away team members of the prior day. Despite all of the indicators to the contrary, Noah had assured him that not one crewman, marine, or arriving officer had any indication of a parasitic infestation within their bodies. Despite everything that Alexander had relayed to him, it would seem that in the case of the oddities that had been occuring on Echo One Zero, Sulia Madon was not involved here. A red herring perhaps? A ghost designed to obfuscate and confuse? A simple mistake? The Captain shook his head and then rubbed at his temple with the fingertips of his right hand. It had been a long night and he had had little sleep, the drawn out conversations with the Admiral back at fleet command having taken their toll on both of them. Alexander had seemed positively adamant that Madon was involved, his own source had assured him of that and yet.... nothing. It was a puzzle indeed..... (Reply None) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre – Deck 1, Bridge – FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 07:59) The turbolift opened and three people came out. Ensigns Marsh and Kirrin, presumably for their appointment with the Captain, and Ensign Rydan. Rydan approached Hoshimi directly. “Reporting as requested, Commander,” he said. Hoshimi rose from the FO’s seat, her glance taking in the dishevelled appearance of the ACEO. “Ah, Ensign Rydan. Follow me, please,” she said, leading the way to the Observation Lounge. As she walked away she could hear Marsh and Kirrin presenting themselves to the Captain. (Reply Any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Private Quarters – TAC/ASC, Ensign Alexandria Smithson – 08:00) Waking at a latish time Alex goes through all the mundane morning tasks and is sitting at the table eating a hearty breakfast. (Reply None Finishing up) (Posted by Paul Davies) (USS Spectre - Bridge - CO, Captain T'Vhor - 08:01) With a defined slowing prior to the doors opening up onto the bridge, the turbolift came to a halt, the Captain then took a deep breath and stepped out to the announcement of 'Captain on the bridge' from a nearby lieutenant working the tactical console. The First Officer, seemingly discussing something with Ensign Rydan and a further Two Ensigns in medical teal, immediately stood and then acknowledged the Captain as he made his way forwards, calling for an immediate operational report as he did so. (Reply Tsukawa) The Captain took the centre chair as he listened intently to the FO's report, his fingers accessing, and then gliding over the armrest console buttons with a practised ease as he did so. So far, so good. There had been no discrepencies since they had left Echo One Zero, the Ark had reported as 'on station', and they were seemingly making good time to Starbase Forty Nine.The Captain then glanced to the viewscreen, the warp stars streaking towards them with a certain peaceful calm now, which instilled reassurance in the fact that everything was 'just so' with the ship once again. The FO then returned her attention to the matter of the two new arrivals that she had been dealing with upon the Captain's arrival on the bridge, Rydan himself following her to the Obs lounge, whilst the Two Ensigns remained behind on the bridge. "I can only assume that you must be Ensigns Kirrin and Marsh?", inquired the Captain with a raising of an eyebrow in typical Vulcan fashion. (Reply Kirrin, Marsh, Either) The Captain quirked his head slightly as their story began to unfold. To begin with, neither officer had known that they were to inevitably end up on board the Spectre, indeed, even the Captain himself had not known that until just recently. It seemed though that Fleet Command felt that it was a necessary requirement, and who was T'Vhor to disagree with Fleet Command? Nothing here though seemed straightforwards and the entire matter certainly warranted more discussion than that which could be entertained on the bridge. The Captain raised his hand as one of the Ensigns continued on, and then he stood brusquely from his chair. "I think that we need to continue this in my ready room", he said curtly, and then gestured with his hand towards the relevant door as the most senior bridge officer remaining, assumed bridge protocol regarding command as all three then entered the ready room. (Reply Tsukawa, Kirrin, Marsh, Any) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre – Deck 1, Observation Lounge – FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 08:01) “Sit down,” Hoshimi said. Her lips twitched slightly. “If it makes you feel any better, consider it an order,” she added. “Do you drink coffee or is there something else you would prefer?” She looked at him, not unkindly. “I won’t take no for an answer,” she said. (reply Rydan) Hoshimi ordered herself a green tea and Rydan’s choice, then came over to the table and sat down. She pushed Rydan’s drink towards him. “You’ve come straight from your shift,” she stated. “You haven’t had time to freshen up, and you look exhausted. Can you assure me that the problem with the phasecloak is now resolved?” (reply Rydan) Hoshimi nodded. “Well done, Mister Rydan. Please pass on my thanks to the rest of your team. A difficult job well done.” She took a sip of her tea, enjoying the subtle flavour. “My job as First Officer is to present the Captain with a functioning ship and crew,” she said. “I need people I can rely on in place to do that. Can I rely on you, Mister Rydan?” (reply Rydan) Again Hoshimi nodded. “What I want when there is a problem is to know about it straight away. You informed me promptly and I have no complaints about that. I need a good estimate of repair time when there is a problem, and I need to be updated if that estimate changes. Again, you fulfilled your duty there.” She paused and took another sip. “You did an excellent job. Your initial estimate proved to be incorrect and you corrected it. You fixed the problem. It looks to me as if you spent the rest of the shift helping everyone else complete their allotted tasks since they had assisted you, is that correct?” (reply Rydan) “In that case, Mister Rydan, you are to return to your quarters and get some rest. When you have rested, and not before, you will log a full report for me, including anything you think necessary to prevent this happening again. I also expect from you in the next two days an estimate of all the work you consider necessary to bring this ship up to scratch, prioritised. We will arrive at Starbase 49 in 48 hours and we will spend some time there. Any work the Starbase can assist with should be clearly marked, as should any work requiring down time of the systems. Work that can be done later should be marked as such, and I don’t expect to have to close down any more essential systems once we are underway. Clear?” (reply Rydan) “Then you are dismissed, Mister Rydan.” She rose and turned towards the door then paused and turned back. “One more thing. Next time you are talking to a senior officer whether face to face or over the commlink, pay attention. I do not expect to have to repeat myself because you are not paying attention. I trust that is also clear.” (reply Rydan) “And Mister Rydan – there is nothing wrong with my eyesight or my sense of smell. Next time take five minutes to clean up.” (Reply Rydan, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Bridge – ACMO, Ensign(jg) Zia Kirrin – 08:02) As the doors to the turbolift had opened, the ensign had immediately stepped out and approached Commander Tsukawa, who had spoken to Zia and Oggie a few hours previously. The Commander had left with the Ensign, and Zia swallowed a little nervously as she and Oggie approached the Vulcan sitting in the central chair. “Captain T’Vhor?” Zia began. “Ensign Kirrin and Ensign Marsh reporting, Sir, as instructed by Commander Tsukawa.” (Reply T’Vhor, Oggie, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Bridge - COUNS, Ensign Oggie Marsh - 08:02) When the tactical officer announced: "Captain on the Bridge", Oggie nudged Zia and nodded in the CO's direction. He watched as T'Vhor made his way over to them and demanded a report from commander Tsukawa. He then sat down in his chair and shot them a glance when the FO took Rydan with her. "I can only assume that you must be Ensigns Kirrin and Marsh?",he asked raising an eyebrow. "It would seem a logical deduction, Sir. May I present Ensign Zia Kirrin, Medical officer? And I am indeed Ensign Oggie Marsh, counsellor, at your service, Sir." (Reply T'Vhor (iyw), any) Oggie then carried on with assistance from Zia detailing how Zia and him had travelled forward in time ending up on the station to make contact with the Spectre awayteam. Oggie fell silent as the Captain stopped them by raising a hand then stood up abruptly . "I think that we need to continue this in my ready room", he said before leading them towards the Ready Room. Oggie allowed Zia to pass first, sending her what he hoped was an comforting smile. He himself felt not so at ease, wondering why a relatively routine meeting was to be conducted in the privacy of the Ready Room. He inwardly shrugged, then followed the others into the room. But as soon as the door closed, Oggie couldn't help himself. "Sir, with all due respect, I can only assume that our presence on this vessel is a matter of concern?" (Reply T'Vhor, Zia, Any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (USS Spectre - Bridge - FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa - 08:03) As the Captain took his seat, he requested an immediate operational report. “Ensign Rydan and the Engineering department have repaired the problem with the phasecloak and I understand it is now fully operational again, Sir,” Hoshimi began. “We are underway to Starbase 49, ETA in two days. All the crew who returned from Station Echo One Zero have now been released from Sickbay and are passed as fit to resume their duties with apparently no lasting ill-effects, and the Ark Royal has reported that she has arrived and is ready to assist the station. Commander Noah and Ensign Grey have assumed their duties. All stations report that systems are operating within normal parameters.” She glanced at Marsh and Kirrin. “Ensigns Marsh and Kirrin came aboard from the station with the return of the away team last night, and are here to officially report in to you, Sir. If you will excuse me, I have a meeting scheduled with Ensign Rydan here regarding the repairs undertaken last night.” On receiving the Captain’s tacit consent, Hoshimi led the way the Observation Lounge to conduct her meeting with Rydan. (Reply any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - CO, Captain T'Vhor - 08:05) "Sir, with all due respect, I can only assume that our presence on this vessel is a matter of concern?", said the hairy, rotund Councellor. The remark had certainly piqued the Captain's attention. He wanted to say, 'you could say that', but thought better of it as he took his seat and then motioned the two Ensigns to do likewise on the adjacent side of the table as he pulled up the files on both of them. "It would seem that fleet command feel that it is a concern", he began whilst scanning the files accordingly, "why that might be, I am not privy to at this point in time but....", he added, pausing now just briefly before continuing on with a statement of the obvious, "here you are..." (Reply Marsh, Kirrin) NRPG: Room for more here... RPG: The Captain listened intently to what was being said as he made note of Marsh's file with interest. The man himself had 'not' requested to join Starfleet in the first place, Starfleet had actually requested him! ~How odd~ thought the Vulcan hybrid. This was not a common occurence by any standards, what was it that this unlikely man had that Starfleet felt so in need of? And more importantly, was it anything to do with why he was here right now on board the Spectre? The man was certainly an interesting character that much was clear, a non-conforming character perhaps, if his appearence was anything to go by, but still the answers eluded the Captain right now.. Kirrin though seemed an almost diametrically opposed character to that of Marsh. It was clear that there was a certain connectedness between them here but beyond that, the Captain could not quite place how two such unlikely people might have been brought together. Kirrin's connection to the Romulan Star Empire though piqued the Captain's interest once more, and more so her links to the Tal Shiar itself. The renegade Sulia Madon had had links with them, and then further somewhat obsequious associations with the Obsidian order to boot. Was this perhaps the reason for Starfleet's request that their presense be made on the ship that was probably more capable than any other of infiltrating unseen into such odious organizations as these? Time would tell no doubt, but for now, the Captain could only ponder what their next mission might be, and whether these two newcomers might be instrumental in that. All that he could really do at this moment in time was prepare them for a thorough debrief at Starbase Forty Nine and welcome them aboard prior to assigning each of them quarters and appropriating them to Noah for assignment. (Reply Marsh, Kirrin, Any) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - ACMO, Ensign(jg) Zia Kirrin - 08:06) Zia sat when the Captain indicated they should, and waited as T’Vhor scanned their files. As he did so he commented that Fleet Command felt that the presence of Oggie and Zia was a matter of concern, adding that he didn’t know why at the moment. “…but…. here you are..." “I am very happy to be here, Sir,” Zia ventured. “Particularly when I consider the alternative. You see, the ship I was to have been assigned to was destroyed a little more than two months after I should have joined her.” She glanced at Oggie with a warm smile, then returned her gaze to the Vulcan/Betazoid hybrid across the desk. She found the concept of a meeting of fire and ice interesting, and before meeting the Captain had wondered if his mixed blood would mean he would seem more like a Rihan than a Vulcan. She saw now that he favoured his Vulcan heritage. “If it had not been for Og… that is, Counsellor Marsh,” she corrected herself, “showing me the strange device, I would not be here now.” (Reply Oggie iyw) “I am sure my father will also be very grateful to both Counsellor Marsh for saving my life, and to you, Captain, for taking me, a Rihannha, onto your crew. I will endeavour to serve you and the crew well,” she added in an earnest tone. “Mnhei'sahe demands no less.” She stopped there, allowing Oggie a chance to speak if he wished, and wondered if either of them understood the concept of mnhei’sahe, so dear to the hearts of all Rihannsu and instilled in them from birth. She knew that few who were not Rihan fully understood it, but would endeavour to explain it if asked. (Reply Marsh, T’Vhor, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room – COUNS, Ensign Oggie Marsh - 08:06) “…but…. here you are..." A simple phrase, but very loaded with unspoken meaning. It confirmed what Oggie had feared. The ‘escape’ off the station would not be an escape. Merely a delay in execution. He shot Zia a quick glance as she babbled along in response to the Captain’s statement. He sighed inwardly, wishing that things could have been different, quite different. He did not particularly look forward to the end of the journey, when no doubt both of them would be ‘required’ to attend a debriefing session on the starbase. And they would probably stay there until they were able to give the answers that the investigators would be looking for. Unfortunately those answers didn’t exist. How could you explain the concept of luck, or in their case, bad luck? It was all a coincidence? Yeah, that would be immediately believed. Oggie sniffed. Well, they would be welcome to try their wily ways on him. He’d been there, seen it, participated in it when times were dark, experienced it first hand when times were even darker. He was not a novice and would give as good as he got. It was impossible to determine what would happen afterwards but since that would be completely out of his hands, that did not phase him. Oggie looked at the Captain for a moment as he realised that for all his stiff upper lip behaviour Gallagher might have had a heart after all. Or rather allowed his heart to be shown. There was no sense for Gallagher to kick them off the station before the Ark Royal arrived because it was clear that the Ark would be filled with investigators, hiders, everything you needed to make bad things stink a lot less. And to be fair, the stench of that experiment was immense. So why get two people leave the station unless you wanted them out of the way *before* all that human nastiness arrived? Oggie nearly grinned as he considered that Oggie’s fate would probably the last thing that Gallagher might have been concerned about. He would land on his feet again. Oggie peered at Zia for a second. ~Who would have thought that Gallagher melted because of one young female Star Fleet officer.~ Oggie could see Gallagher’s face before him as he said: “There are many prices to be paid, Ensign. But some prices are too high to be paid by those that have had no part in it all.” “Mnhei'sahe demands no less.” Zia said, breaking Oggie’s thoughts. What a strange concept. Kill with love. Hate with kindness. Honour for all above all. Oggie allowed himself an audible sigh. “Indeed it does, my dear.” he said before turning to T’Vhor. “Sir, I am under no illusion what will await me when we arrive at the Starbase. And they are welcome to me. I can take care of myself. I have dealt with them before. Who knows, perhaps this time I might win again.” Oggie smiled a rather unconvincing smile but then looked at Zia again for a second before turning back to the hybrid. “Not everybody will be so lucky, Captain. Protect her, as best as you can. I implore you, for her sake, for your’s, for Star Fleet, for Mnhei’sahe’s.” (Reply T’Vhor, Zia, any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room – CO, Captain T'Vhor - 08:08) Kirriin was indeed, a puzzle. A Human living amongst Romulans for so long, adept in their ways, even considering herself to 'belong', if one could use such a word. Mnhei'sahe however was a concept that the Captain was familiar with, regardless of the fact that it was entirely illogical. It seemed to him to be a mix of Klingon honour driven ethics, and the ways of Humans driven by self serving goals. And yet, it was OK for one party to kill themselves if the situation demanded that it gave honour. T'Vhor found it strange, but he was not the kind of person to dismiss a persons core values so easilly. Marsh interjected immediately that Kirrin had spoken of course, giving the Captain the impression that he seemed to like talking for her. Indeed, his layed back candor seemed entirely suited to one that liked getting what he wanted, even if he didn't always get it! "Not everybody will be so lucky, Captain.", he began, "Protect her, as best as you can. I implore you, for her sake, for your’s, for Star Fleet, for Mnhei’sahe’s.", he added, complicating the situation even further with a seemingly selfless concern. The Captain quirked his head slightly and then raised an eyebrow as those of Vulcan descent often did. For his sake and Starfleets? There it was again, an implied notion that there was far more to their presense here than was visible to the eye. "I can assure you Councellor that, so long as Ensign Kirrin is under my care, either aboard this ship, or otherwise, no harm will come to her", said the Captain. "And the same courtesy is extended to yourself also of course", he added. (Reply Marsh, Kirrin, Any) The Captain then returned to the question of the 'device' mentioned earlier... "Please, you spoke of a device that you showed to Ensign Kirrin?", asked the Captain, "Can you elaborate on the function of this device? There seems to be little descriptive on it in the reports that have come back to us from the stations logs" (Reply Marsh) (Reply Marsh, Kirrin) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre – Personal Quarters - SciO, Ens. John Linskens – 08:09) John turned off the holo-vid and sighed. He rubbed his eyes then sighed once more. He flipped open his computer console and read the newfeeds, as he usually did right before going to bed. His left eyebrow raised when he read about the next destination of the ship, then frowned as he tried to remember something. He grunted. He clearly remembered there was something about Starbase 49 that he was supposed to remember but he couldn't work out what it .......... John suddenly grinned. Gotcha! He quickly assessed his logs on the computer and nodded feverishly. His hand went up to his commbadge, but then lowered again. 'Sourpuss' wouldn't want to hear from him and Tevvie had so far not made it out of the Sickbay. He shrugged then raised his hand again and tapped his badge. "Linskens to .... Ensign Grey," he remembered. "Sir, I remembered that Starbase 49 has a surplus Triton ZX Spectral Transmogrifying Data-Analyser, the 3K core one. Linking up the ZX to our sensor network would allow us to compute the data 37% faster that with our current Commodoria 127. Now the problem is that i know those gimp-boys on SB49. They won't do anything without proper authorisation and the right padd-work. And officially new replacement machinery is to be requisitioned by personnel of Assistant Chief position or higher. Since you are the new Assistant Chief, could you fill out a requisition form? They'll also need the thumbprint of both FO and CO. Oh, and if you do meet up with bachelor-boy Brigham on SB 49, whatever you do, don't tell him that he has a crooked nose. He doesn't like that. Even though I have seen straighter beaks on a parakeet.Anyway, got that? Triton ZX Spectral Transmogrifying Data-Analyser, the 3K core one. Thank you. Linskens out." John smiled, touched the little photograph of Inez on his bedside table and turned in for the 'night'. (Reply Ilana, any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (USS Spectre – En Rout to Science Offices - ACSciO, Ens.(Jg) Ilana Grey – 08:11) =/\=Linskens to .... Ensign Grey,=/\= Came over the comn. Before she had time to respond there was a sudden florish of words, clearly this was a man whos mind operated at a capacity beyond his mouth to interpret. She listened as best she could. =/\=Sir, I remembered that Starbase 49 has a surplus Triton ZX Spectral Transmogrifying Data-Analyser, the 3K core one. Linking up the ZX to our sensor network would allow us to compute the data 37% faster that with our current Commodoria 127. Now the problem is that i know those gimp-boys on SB49. They won't do anything without proper authorisation and the right padd-work. And officially new replacement machinery is to be requisitioned by personnel of Assistant Chief position or higher. Since you are the new Assistant Chief, could you fill out a requisition form? They'll also need the thumbprint of both FO and CO. Oh, and if you do meet up with bachelor-boy Brigham on SB 49, whatever you do, don't tell him that he has a crooked nose. He doesn't like that. Even though I have seen straighter beaks on a parakeet.Anyway, got that? Triton ZX Spectral Transmogrifying Data-Analyser, the 3K core one. Thank you. Linskens out.=/\= Ilana listened and pulld her padd out, this was starting to become a very useful crutch to her, she tapped in Triton ZX Spectral Transmogrifying Data-Analyser, the one with the 3K core. FO and Co permission. She tucked the padd away saving the data, she would have to look up what the heck one of those were before she filled in the requisition form, she had known scientists who would request all the latest equipment because it was just that the latest equipment, alot of the time an older model or doing it hands on worked just as well if not better. While scientists are by nature futureists it was often better to go back to basics, how many scientists these days had looked at a plant cell under and non electronic microscope? How many had studdied the variance in the chloroplast on a single mapel leaf... She sighed. As she walked down the corridor. (Reply, Any, None Required) Posted By Joanna Holt ========================================================================= Mission: Slipstream Day: 4 Stardate: 2414.03.13 (USS Spectre - Bridge - CO, Captain T'Vhor - 11:52) The Captain settled back into the command chair and then accessed his armrest console in order to prepare for navigational override. The First Officer, seated next to him looked pensive right now, no less confident of course although no doubt a little uncertain as to why the Captain was apparently handed off the automatic protocols prior to dropping out of warp. He then gave the appropriate order, leaving her in no doubt as to his intentions. "Helm, slow to one third impulse, prepare for manual docking on Commander Tsukawa's mark" (Reply Smith, IYW) The Captain then watched as the warp stars slowed to their normal pinpoint orientations once again, Starbase Forty Nine now visible in the distance as a slightly larger dot almost dead centre in the viewscreen, and growing larger all the time. The Tactical officer then reported in. "Sir, Starbase Forty Nine is signalling", he began, "we are instructed to proceed to docking pylon four... Message addition - Welcome home Spectre" The Captain nodded accordingly and then instructed Tactical to send his acknowledgments, along with an encrypted message to a certain Admiral that was already on board SB Forty Nine. It simply read:- "The Apples have not ripened, and Zeus still sleeps" The TAC officer then acknowledged that the message had been received and the Captain duly turned to Tsukawa beside him. "The ship is yours Commander", he said curtly, "take us in..." (Reply Tsukawa) (Reply Smith IYW, Tsukawa, Any) (Posted by Alan) ==========================================================================