NRPG:

Compile Index:

Day 185

(USS Dennison – Transporter Room 1 - ACEO Lanista - 2241)
(Maltoria, Transport, Commander Trevan West, 2252)
(Maltoria, Transport, CSO/2O Dale Bracken, 2300)
(Maltoria- Maltorian Transport- ATac Ensign (jg) Ben Soma- 2301)

Day 186

(USS Dennison - Brig - TAC/SC Lt (sg) Joan Shrekt - 0745)
(USS Dennison - Sickbay - CMO Nymes and CO Stakes - 0800)
(USS Dennison – Transporter Room 1 – ACEO tlha’nISta’ – 0802)
(USS Dennison – Sickbay – CMO Dr Nymes – 0803)
(USS Dennison ­ Sickbay ­ CO - Captain Archibald Stakes ­ 0804)
(USS Dennison – Bridge –CONN Ens Night – 0810)
(USS Dennison ­ Bridge ­ CO - Captain Archibald Stakes ­ 0813)
(USS Dennison ­ Bridge ­ OPS - Ensign Cattia Spero ­ 0815)
(USS Dennison - Engineering - TAC/SC Lt (sg) Joan Shrekt - 0815)
(USS Dennison - Bridge - TAC/SC Lt (sg) Joan Shrekt - 0820)
(USS Dennison ­ Bridge ­ CO - Captain Archibald Stakes ­ 1145)
(USS Dennison ­ Bridge ­ OPS - Ensign Cattia Spero ­ 1146)
(USS Dennison - Crew Quarters - Ensign Mia Simmons- 1148)
(USS Dennison - Bridge - TAC/SC Lt (sg) Joan Shrekt - 1149)
(USS Dennison - Lower Engineering Section - Deck 20, Battle Bridge - TAC/SC Lt (sg) Joan Shrek - 1156)
(USS Dennison - Deck 12, Battle Bridge - FlOps - Ensign Mia Simmons - 1157)
(USS Dennison - Secondary Hull (Upper engineering section) - Deck 12, Battle Bridge - OPS - Ensign Cattia Spero - 1200)

Day 187

(Unknown Room, Commander Trevan West, 0900)

Day Unknown

(Unknown Room, CSO/2O Dale Bracken, 0900)

RPG:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Healer in the Tower
Stardate: 2408.01.10
Day: 185
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

(USS Dennison – Transporter Room 1 - ACEO Lanista - 2241)

NRPG: Note, Freeman and Randell are in XPRTR RM 1 also.

RPG:

“Sickbay to Engineering,” Nymes called out over the ship’s comm system.

Lanista was glad the Doctor hadn’t used the personal communicator. Commbadges, when activated, sounded too much like tribbles.  “Lanista here. Go ahead,” she said while she worked on the transporter with Freeman and Randell.

“Dr Nymes here. Could you run a diagnostic of the ships food replicator system, with a bioscan as well, please?”

“Kahless’ beard, what does work on this ship?!” Lanista said, but not in a complaining fashion. She actually sounded rather glad to hear Nymes’ request. ~Just like home,~ she thought, fondly remembering how busy ship had always been on her father’s vessel.

“Just wondering why half the crew seem to want to come to Sickbay today. Nymes Out.”

“Perhaps they simply enjoy your company, Doctor,” Lanista said. Then, abruptly changing tone, she was back to business, adding, “How critical is this? I have the Transporters to deal with at the moment. I can probably hurry your matter along if you’ll send someone from your department down to Deck 23 and offer an opinion on the Accelerated Critical Neural Pathway Formation effort down there with the bio-neural gelpacks.”

(Reply Nymes)

Lanista had set up a new replicator on that deck, to manufacture exocomps, but as far as she knew the system was independent from the ship’s normal networks.

~Unless the exocomps have linked it in,~ Lanista pondered. ~Provided there are any completed by now.~

It occurred to the ACEO then that she had not had the time to check on the progress of that endeavor personally since living the lowest deck save one.

Lanista intended to name the first exocomp “V.I.N.CENT”, after a robot in the Old-Klingon holovid “The Black Hole” by watlh DISnI’ Studios. VINCent stood for “Vital Information Necessary, CENTralized.” But truth be told, the ACEO did not know what had been accomplished by off-duty volunteers in her absence.

(Reply Any/None)
(posted by FT)

(Maltoria, Transport, Commander Trevan West, 2252)

The transport entered the blue vortex, but when the light and noise disappeared Trevan found himself in a room surrounded by three large Maltorian guards.

"Trevan J. West, USS Dennison?" he was asked by the largest of the three.

Trevan nodded in reply.

The largest guard stood his ground as the other two grabbed Trevan by the arms and pressed a hypospray against his neck. The room went fuzzy and then black.

(Maltoria, Transport, CSO/2O Dale Bracken, 2300)

The transport entered the blue vortex, but when the light and noise disappeared Dale found herself in a room surrounded by three large Maltorian guards.

"Dale Anne Bracken, Lieutenant Junior Grade, USS Dennison?" he was asked by the largest of the three.

Dale nodded, “and you are...”

The largest guard stood his ground as the other two grabbed Dale by her arms and pressed a hypospray against her neck. The room went fuzzy and then black.

(Maltoria- Maltorian Transport- ATac Ensign (jg) Ben Soma- 2301)

Ben was looking out the window of the transport craft taking in the view of the city as they approached the gate. Below he could see people walking around and other vehicles moving in the streets. As the transport neared the gate Ben felt more tired than he had in a long time, he fought to keep his eyes open but it appeared to be a losing battle.

~Some Security Officer~ He thought. ~ Can't stay awake to keep watch on the others~

His eye lids felt like they were weighed down with lead weights and his limbs didn't respond as they should, he tried reaching for his tricorder to see if the Maltorians had released some kind of chemical to knock the away team out but his arms would not respond. He tried shouting to the others but no words left his mouth. He tried one more time to yell out but the effort proved futile. He saw the lights of the gate as the transport entered than everything went black.

Ben awoke in a room, instead of the transport. He had no idea where he was or how much time had passed or what had happened to the rest of the team. He sat up on the edge of the gurney he was on and saw a glass of water on a table beside him. Grabbing the glass he tipped it to his mouth and drank until the glass was drained, twin rivlets of water ran down both of his cheeks as he drank. Returning the glass to the table he checked himself over, everything appeared to be as it should. Commbadge was still on his chest, tricorder was still in the holder and he felt a slight lump at his waist indicating he still had his phaser.

Ben reached up and tapped the commbadge, "Soma to anyone, respond."

(reply any)
(posted by Milo Young)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Healer in the Tower
Stardate: 2408.01.11
Day: 186
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

(USS Dennison - Brig - TAC/SC Lt (sg) Joan Shrekt - 0745)

Shrekt had dragged herself up after a long night.  She'd only gotten a few hours of sleep, but she had several alerts waiting for her as she awoke.  Her first stop was the brig, which had managed to become filled overnight with various crew members who had committed various acts ranging from the indecent to the criminal.

Shrekt walked around the brig, reading the summary reports that had been submitted with each of the current occupants.  For the most part they were relatively harmless, but she was quite surprised to see so many of them here.  At the moment, most of them were sleeping in heaps.  A few glared at her warily, undoubtedly wondering what was going to happen next.

It was similar to the unusual number of crew who were currently in the sickbay.  Shrekt couldn't imagine what was going on.  As it was, her imagination wasn't quite necessary given the situation they were in.  Once she had finished here, she planned to get an update from the planet.  At least that problem had resolved itself for the moment.

After her inspection she spoke to the crewman guarding the prisoners.  "Go over their statements and make sure none of their injuries have worsened.  If they aren't violent or acting oddly, release them.  Can't have the brig filled if we really need them." Shrekt ordered, handing back the padd she had been reading from.

The crewman nodded, as he accepted the padd.

Shrekt stalked out and headed to Engineering to check on the ship's status.

(USS Dennison - Sickbay - CMO Nymes and CO Stakes - 0800)

Nymes sipped the replicated trillian tea from the mug as he walked through his morning routine; collecting his thoughts and proceeding to rounds. Since arriving in Maltorian Space, a total of 98 personnel - approximately a quarter of the crew - had gone through Sickbay's doors, mostly with vague symptoms of headache and fatigue. Given the sheer enormity of the problem, Nymes was ready to classify a shipwide medical emergency - and would raise that issue at senior staff.

Before that, Nymes had to complete the inpatient rounds.

"Captain Stakes. How are you feeling today sir?"

Archibald suddenly opened his eyes and nearly cursed as the light hit his aching eyes as the voice took him by surprise. It took him a couple of moments to recognise his surroundings and then a few more to recognise the person who had spoken to him.

"Captain Stakes," the words rolled slowly from the CO's lips as he tasted the words. "Yes, that's me. Feeling?"

Archibald fell silent for a while as he contemplated that concept.

"Feeling. Yes, I'm feeling ........ sick ...... light headed ...... a bit .... uhh .... weird. How the heck did I get here? I can't remember a thing."

"You suffered a moderate head injury on the journey to Maltorian space, sir. What's the last thing you remember?"

Archibald thought for a second. "I can remember my wedding. I feel a bit like that now. After the party, I mean. You know I uhhhhhhh. no, you probably don't. I can also remember the battle against Valhalla...... were you there? Yes of course. We all were. But now? What happened? Oh yes, we went to Maltoria. There was a flash or something, then ..........."

Archibald fell silent then looked up.

"I don't know. I don't even know what time we have now."
.
"Well, the current date is 2408.01.11 sir. 0800 hours." Nymes replied.  "Given that you are now medically stable, if you are prepared to go back to duty, I will permit it, after you listen to my briefing."

Archibald looked at the ceiling for a moment. "Duty, yes, that is a good word. Yes, I must do my duty. Ok, brief me then."

Nymes started, handing the Captain a large PADD which contained the fragmented reports from all ship stations, focusing mainly on the events of the previous day, the lost away team, and the discovery that they were all safe and in Maltorian hands. That is, all but the Commander, who was MIA. On the ship, the report summarised the engineering efforts of the recently transferred ACEO - yet another new Engineer, the 6 such officer in Nymes' time on the ship - and the medical emergency that they were currently under, with 20 of the crew being treated and investigated as in patients, and a further 70-odd as walking wounded. Nymes concluded the report reaffirming the contingency plans the Dennison had for such eventualities; Cargo Bay 1 was on standby, an area with a capacity for 30 patients, enough as an overflow facility for the 2 main sickbays on the vessel.

To conclude, Nymes returned to the Captain's condition. "Sir. Obviously you have had an injury to your head, and as such I would like to monitor your recovery. I want to see you at 1900 hours tonight, then again next week. Is that okay, sir?"

Archibald closed his eyes for a second to let the world according to his eyes come to rest again.

He sighed.

"I'll be here, Doctor. But I don't think you will be. If the Commander is missing we will need someone down there. Someone with experience.  Like you have. Prepare yourself to go down. Who is in charge of the ship again?"

Nymes was taken aback. Given the medical situation, he considered himself to be the least likely leader of an away team at the current time. "The Officer of the Watch is the TAC/SEC, sir. Permission to organise the away team and Sickbay, sir?"

Archibald looked at the man then shook his head.

"Do you need to ask? Of course!"

Nymes nodded, and tapped the console at the side of the biobed, bringing up the Sickbay operations panel. "Computer. Activate EMH, Copy to file "EMH-Charlie-One", and activate both programs, mute."

The EMH appeared, obviously quizzical and shocked to not just see his own image, but both not to be able to speak. Before they could physically protest, Nymes tapped a string of commands, turning one of the holograms blond, thus making it easy to differentiate between the two. "Unmute."

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency." Echoed around the room.

"Situation - Ongoing ship-wide medical alert.  Number of casualties currently at 25% ship strength. Cause unknown. CMO Due to lead shore-party. As such, I am activating a modified Holo-med protocol, using both of you to triage and support the crew. One will remain here, in Primary Sickbay; the other in the other sickbay. Resume programme."

Nymes looked over to the captain, as the holograms started their work. "I'll get into dress rig, then beam down to see the first minister, sir."

Archibald nodded once, but before he could reply the comm system came to life.

=/\= Bridge to Doctor Nymes. Sir, we have the First Minister online. He seems rather annoyed about two of our people disappearing and wants to know what's going on. =/\=

Archibald narrowed his eyes. ~Two?~

He then shook his head. "Better take that one first, Doctor. Find out what he means with two. In the meantime...."

He fell silent as the doctor's badge beeped again.

=/\= Bridge to Doctor Nymes. Wake up the Captain. Engineering just picked something up. Seems like trouble. I'll patch her through to you. Here she comes. =/\=

For a moment there was silence until the voice of Lanista rang out.

(reply by Bridge, Lanista, any)
(Posted by Greg and Adrie)

(USS Dennison – Transporter Room 1 – ACEO tlha’nISta’ – 0802)

Lanista had been studying the transporter problem for several hours now. It occurred to her that it was now SD2408.01.11, and that she had not slept in almost a day. There was, however, a lot to do.

~I’ll sleep when I’m dead,~ she thought.

As she reviewed the transport log, Lanista discovered an unusual aspect. It seemed that the transport beam involved resulted in Dennison personnel being sent somewhere other than the intended destination.

The ACEO accessed the ship’s sensor logs, via commands issued to the computer, and discovered a record of an unusual energy surge at the same time of the transport beaming… An energy surge consistent with FTL travel.

“Lanista to Bridge,” she called out, but she didn’t wait for any response. “I believe there was a ship in our vicinity quite recently, but it went to warp just after the beam-out of our personnel. With a bit of recalibration, I believe we can track their warp signature!”

(Reply Bridge)
(Posted by FT)

(USS Dennison – Sickbay – CMO Dr Nymes – 0803)

=/\= Bridge to Doctor Nymes. Sir, we have the First Minister online. He seems rather annoyed about two of our people disappearing and wants to know what's going on. =/\=

He then shook his head. "Better take that one first, Doctor. Find out what he means with two. In the meantime....” He fell silent as the doctor's badge beeped again.

=/\= Bridge to Doctor Nymes. Wake up the Captain. Engineering just picked something up. Seems like trouble. I'll patch her through to you.

Here she comes. =/\= For a moment there was silence until the voice of Lanista rang out. =/\= I believe there was a ship in our vicinity quite recently, but it went to warp just after the beam-out of our personnel. With a bit of recalibration, I believe we can track their warp signature!=/\=

Nymes took his cue from the Captain, and smoothed his uniform before sitting at his desk and tapping the communication key to transfer the call from the planet.

“My sincere apologies, First minister. I hope you have not been waiting long?”

=/\= Indeed not, Doctor. I have been informed by my head of security that two of your personnel have been spirited away.=/\=

“Thank you for this information, First minister. May I enquire about the other members of the team?”

Aleth motioned to the side of the camera, and the disheveled away team were at least visible. Without interviewing each and every one of them, Nymes could only give a cursory glance, and therefore knew little of their condition.

=/\= Doctor Nymes, I request that we are given a complete explanation as to why two of your personnel have vanished. Perhaps I was wrong to involve Maltoria with the Federation again. =/\=

Nymes held back his agreement to that, and said, “Of course, that is your prerogative, sir. As to our missing crewmembers, I had hoped that you would have more information on that account. As for our diplomatic status, I would implore you to reconsider your isolation from the rest of the Quadrant. I feel that there is much our cultures could learn from one another.”

=/\=That, is true. =/\= Aleth nodded in agreement. =/\= But I think I would rather take that into consideration for another day, Doctor. I am making arrangements to return your remaining crew, minus one communication device that was used to scan the planet for your missing crew to no avail. I trust that you would allow this minor concession. =/\=

“Of course, first minister. If you would like to agree to a cultural exchange, we can organise materials covering the cultures of the Quadrant to be delivered to you.”

=/\= That would be acceptable, doctor. Please prepare to receive your people. I am streaming the correct modifications to make to your shields to allow once-only passage out of Maltorian space. Karanthol, Doctor. Good luck in your endeavours. =/\=

And the communication blinked out.

“Nymes to bridge. Prepare for technical specifications allowing passage out of Maltorian space. Also, please transmit the diplomatic package to First Minister Aleth.”

(reply Bridge)

“The Away team should be beaming back on receipt of the transmission. Standard quarantine, Engineering to meet in quarantine and the away team for immediate debrief with myself please.”

Nymes looked back across to the Captain, waiting for any response in what had just occurred, before standing up, taking his customary medkit to sling over his shoulder, and walking to the transporter room to await the away team.

(reply any)
(posted by GC)

(USS Dennison ­ Sickbay ­ CO - Captain Archibald Stakes ­ 0804)

=/\= I believe there was a ship in our vicinity quite recently, but it went to warp just after the beam-out of our personnel. With a bit of recalibration, I believe we can track their warp signature!=/\=

Archibald stood up and signaled to the Doctor to take the call. He watched the exchange between the two with interest whilst contemplating the situation. If two of their crew were indeed on the ship that was leaving the planet, there was little chance that the abductions had been instigated by the Maltorians. Which meant there was a third party involved. It didn't take long to imagine who that third party could be and Archibald whistled silently as he contemplated an SFI presence already on the planet.

And somehow SFI didn't seem to want them around. ~Or did the two see something down there they were not supposed to see?~

“Of course, first minister. If you would like to agree to a cultural exchange, we can organise materials covering the cultures of the Quadrant to be delivered to you.”

=/\=That would be acceptable, doctor. Please prepare to receive your people. I am streaming the correct modifications to make to your shields to allow once-only passage out of Maltorian space. Karanthol, Doctor. Good luck in your endeavors. =/\=

Archibald nodded as his hand went to his badge but the doctor beat him to it. Slightly flabbergasted Archibald heard the Doctor contact the Bridge and a small smile started playing on his lips.

Of course, the smile went as soon as it had appeared when Nymes turned his head towards Archibald.

"Good show, Ensign. It appears you have averted a disaster... for now. OK, go to the transporter room. I'll go to the bridge and arrange things from there. Doctor." Archibald nodded once and saw the man pick up his gear as the CO walked out of the room, quickly followed by the Doctor on his way to the transporter room..

(USS Dennison – Bridge –CONN Ens Night – 0810)

Ele was standing in the middle of the Bridge, her tenure of command an uneasy one. She’d volunteered to take the officer of the watch shift for the morning, until 9am, to allow the TAC to rest. In that time, there had been nothing of note.  Nothing, until the First Minister had called in, and had taken exception in talking to a woman. The experience had thrown her slightly, and she was unsettled.

=/\=Nymes to bridge. Prepare for technical specifications allowing passage out of Maltorian space. Also, Please transmit the diplomatic package to First Minister Aleth.=/\=

Ele tapped the comm. Button on the CONN system, to return the call. “Understood, Doctor. Transmitting now; And we are receiving shield frequencies.”

=/\=The Away team should be beaming back on receipt of the transmission. Standard quarantine, Engineering to meet in quarantine and the away team for immediate debrief with myself please. =/\=

“Copied. Captain Stakes is requested to join the bridge, we have new information regarding the disappearance of two comm.-signals from this area. Maltorian Command has initiated transport.”

Ele sighed as the channel closed, before opening another. “Bridge to Shrekt, please report to station.”

(reply Shrekt)
(reply any)
(posted by GC)

(USS Dennison ­ Bridge ­ CO - Captain Archibald Stakes ­ 0813)

Slightly out of breath and with a wavy feeling in his head Archibald stepped onto the Bridge just as Night spoke into the comm system.

“Bridge to Shrekt, please report to station.”

He nodded to her once and waited for her to vacate the chair before sitting down himself.

"Position of the vessel?"

"Just clearing the horizon of the gravitational lens, Sir."

Archibald nodded.

"Status of the away team?"

"Transport in progress, two more to beam up..... got them."

"Mister Night!" Archibald stared at the CONN-officer.

"You will fly this ship as you have never flown it before. Hunt that ship. You have my permission to exceed full impulse. As long as you do not lose sight of the vessel. That is now our main objective."

Archibald looked across the Bridge.

"Tactical, what can you tell us about the other vessel?"

"It's a Maltorian scout, Sir. Similar to the one we saw earlier. However, the flying characteristics of this one are way off. I have trouble scanning it though. Most tactical sensor beams seem to disperse."

"Target it as best you can. Aim for propulsion only."

Archibald then looked to the viewscreen as the ship picked up speed.

"Hail the ship!"

"No response, Sir."

Archibald shrugged. He hadn't expected them to want to talk. But sooner or later, they were going to have to.

(Reply by any on the Bridge, all)

(USS Dennison ­ Bridge ­ OPS - Ensign Cattia Spero ­ 0815)

Kit had been relieved to see the Captain return to duty. It wasn't that the other officers weren't capable, it was more that Captain Stakes was the CO and had so much more experience than the rest. Possibly excepting the TAC/SC but Kit got a feeling of reassurance from the Captain that wasn't there with any other officer. It was something she had noticed on other ships too. Somehow the Captain was the one who set the tone and whilst Kit would always follow the chain of command, it was the Captain she instinctively looked to.

Intent on her monitors, she nevertheless listened carefully to what was going on. She raised her eyebrows fractionally at the CO's instructions to Night and her lips twitched in a brief smile. The Captain knew when to give his crew their head and had no hesitation in doing so when needed.

(USS Dennison - Engineering - TAC/SC Lt (sg) Joan Shrekt - 0815)

Shrekt was just finishing her inspection when her commbadge came to life.

=/\=Bridge to Shrekt, please report to station.=/\=

Tapping her commbadge, she replied, "I'm on my way."

Turning swiftly on her heels, she headed for the nearest turbolift.

(USS Dennison - Bridge - TAC/SC Lt (sg) Joan Shrekt - 0820)

Shrekt steeled herself to returning to the center seat.  So far the experience was everything she remembered.  The doors slid open and as she raised her head, she began to say, "Status re..."

But she stopped as she caught sight of the captain.

"Captain, are you alright?" asked Shrekt as she walked toward him, her eyes roaming to see for any sign of weakness.

(Reply Stakes)

After listening to the captain and being assured of his fitness for duty, she headed to her station, displacing the junior officer there.

It was like a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders.  Soon her thoughts were completely focused on the vessel that they were chasing, calling up the weapon systems and targeting systems.  Her eyes scanned the data searching for some weakness in the ship design so that once they caught up with them, they'd be able to disable the ship.

(USS Dennison ­ Bridge ­ CO - Captain Archibald Stakes ­ 1145)

"Status?" Archibald barked at the CONN-officer.

"We are gaining on them, Sir. They have lost momentum, when they came too close to a gravitational eddy. If this stays the same we will intercept in 22 minutes."

"Good" Archibald responded, "It's about time, we are nearly out of the sector. In five minutes we should have no trouble catching it. Oh, Mister Night. I counted seventeen violations against the Starfleet codes and regulations so far. Good show. Now keep at them."

"Sir!" Archibald heard the OPS-officer shout up. He looked over at her.

"The scout, Sir. Look!"

Stakes looked at the viewscreen and he stopped breathing for a second when he saw the scout vessel turn around its axis yet keep its forward momentum the same.

"How the..." he mouthed but then fell silent again as he watched a small antenna at the bottom of the hunted vessel emit a yellow flash.  The yellow 'light' flickered and waned as it sped towards the Dennison until it 'slammed' into the forward shields. The shields glowed briefly but then the glow faded.

"What was that?!"

"Unknown, Sir", it came from the science-officer. "Some kind of gravitational pulse which was absorbed by the shield, Sir. No apparent damage."

Archibald frowned as the scout on the screen turned itself back.

"Whatever it was, it seems it didn't work." Archibald mused but stopped thinking about it when the scout reached normal space.

"Now we got you!" Stakes muttered and turned towards the Tactical console. However there was a shout from Engineering before he could say anything.

"Sir, I am reading a power buildup in the forward shield generators, Sir. Somehow our shields are now collecting energy from the surroundings and they stored it inside the generators. I am unable to flush them. The pulse we witnessed earlier must have turned our shields in energy collectors. If we do not shut the forward shields down the generators will explode. I also detect the generators leaking some of the energy away into the energy distribution systems, Sir."

"Turn off the forward shields and isolate the systems. Are our secondary shields affected?"

"No, Sir. .... I tried, Sir, but the shield system seems to have locked itself. I have closed the power distribution towards them but the power inside the generators must be maintaining the shields. And the power buildup is continuing. If we can't break the flow, I estimate generator failure in 5 minutes. And although I am trying to block the flow of the energy into our distribution systems I seem to be only able to slow it down. But once the energy has reached a node, the controls to it are gone. According to our current energy collection rate and the infestation rate of our systems, I expect a total system failure to happen in 7 minutes, perhaps 8."

"Meaning?"

"Uhh, big boom, Sir. Very big boom."

Archibald balled his fist.

"Counter actions? How far has the infestation spread?"

"So far only the forward section of the saucer, Sir. As for counter actions, I don't know. We could perhaps bleed the energy out through the deflector dish but that would mean opening all systems to the energy-intrusion."

"Sir! The scout has just entered warp!"

Aragorn cursed inwardly.

"Commence immediate Vector Assault mode- separation! Let's see if a physical break will stop it."

Archibald pressed the ship-wide communication button. "Hear this, hear this. This is the Captain speaking. We are engaging Tri-vector assault mode. All crew on the Saucer section are to transport to the other sections immediately! This is not a drill! Abandon saucer section! Abandon saucer section!"

Archibald got up from his chair and looked over at Shrekt. "Mister Shrekt, you are to take command of the Lower Engineering section, I will take charge of the upper engineering section. If we get separated you will make your way to Geneva station at best speed. OPS! Send out a distress signal!"

(Reply by ALL)
(Posted by Adrie Geuken)

(USS Dennison ­ Bridge ­ OPS - Ensign Cattia Spero ­ 1146)

Kit smiled at the comment of the CO to the CONN officer, then frowned as her monitor threw out a warning.

"Sir!" she exclaimed, "The scout, Sir. Look!"

She had never seen a ship do that, nor the strange yellow flash emitted by the odd-looking antenna on the base of their target which slammed into their forward shields making them glow briefly.

~What the heck...~

"What was that?!" demanded the Captain.

"Unknown, Sir", responded the science-officer. "Some kind of gravitational pulse which was absorbed by the shield, Sir. No apparent damage."

The scout ship on the viewscreen resumed its former course, and soon they were in normal space, something which gave Kit a feeling of relief. Now, surely, they would catch the vessel running from them.

But it was not to be. The report from the engineering station changed all that. Warning lights lit up all over Kit's monitor and her fingers flew over the controls, working together with the engineer to try to stop what was happening. Desperately she transferred power from section to section and grid to grid to try to assist but to no avail. The final assessment by the engineer came with grim inevitability.

"... According to our current energy collection rate and the infestation rate of our systems, I expect a total system failure to happen in 7 minutes, perhaps 8."

As the Captain assimilated this and issued his orders, Kit continued to 'firefight' even though she knew it was a losing battle. But every second she could gain them would help, *must* help.

Captain Stakes's orders came soon enough. They were to abandon the primary hull and engage tri-vector mode.

"Mister Shrekt, you are to take command of the Lower Engineering section, I will take charge of the upper engineering section. If we get separated you will make your way to Geneva station at best speed. OPS! Send out a distress signal!"

"Aye Sir!" Kit responded. The signal was already primed and ready to go, and a touch of a button launched the beacon that would continue to transmit it. She remained at her station a few moments longer, allowing the others to leave as she entered a few more commands that would probably only slow the inevitable by seconds but she knew that every second gained could be invaluable. She felt a hand on her shoulder and a voice said firmly, "NOW, Mr Spero," and she rose and headed for the turbolift with the last officers on the Bridge, including the Captain.

(USS Dennison - Crew Quarters - Ensign Mia Simmons- 1148)

The alert had her up on off her bed before she even opened her eyes. "What the hell?"

With the ship in enemy space, she'd not been sleeping in her bathtub. She'd expected to be hauled off somewhere on short notice. Looked like she was right. Listening to the orders of the Captain she suppressed a yawn from getting only three hours of sleep, threw on a uniform and got to where she was needed.

(USS Dennison - Bridge - TAC/SC Lt (sg) Joan Shrekt - 1149)

Shrekt held on to the console, as the ship was rocked.  Her hand steadied, as she tried to bring the Dennison's weapons to bear upon the ship that had just hit them.  Her fingers moved swiftly trying to get a target lock when the engineer gave the bad news.

~Perfect.  Just Perfect.~ she thought, as the Captain began issuing order.

Nodding in his direction, she headed to the other turbolift than the Captain as she headed to the lower engineering section.

"Deck 20, Battle Bridge," she said when the last of the bridge crew entered her turbolift.

(USS Dennison - Lower Engineering Section - Deck 20, Battle Bridge - TAC/SC Lt (sg) Joan Shrek - 1156)

Shrekt stepped out of the turbolift and headed to the center seat.  "Mr. Night, status?"

(Reply Night)

"Notify me when as soon as we can depart." Shrekt said, as she called up the ship's systems, as the computer announced the evacuation.

~Come on.!~ she thought, as she looked at the chronometer.  It looked like the engineers had managed to buy them a little extra time.

(reply Stakes, Night, Any)
(posted by Kaweo Kanoho)

(USS Dennison - Deck 12, Battle Bridge - FlOps - Ensign Mia Simmons - 1157)

Mia still wasn't quite sure what had happened while she'd been off-shift and sleeping. She hoped that Night was having just as much fun on her third of the ship. She slipped into the helm control station and activated it to finish their separation process. They wouldn't actually disconnect until the Captain gave the final order, but all was ready to go now.

As soon as she got that order she pulled them hard off to the starboard, to get away from the part of their ship that had been turned into a bomb. She didn't envy Ops the fun of trying to get readings through the soup - her job was fun enough of having to navigate through the debris field that was about to appear.

The explosion of the Dennison still took her by surprise. How could you be happy and safe in bed one moment, and dodging the debris of that said bed mere minutes later? An impressive explosion, Mia concentrated on dodging as much of the debris as possible while still getting where the Captain wanted them to go.

(Reply any)
(Posted by Lorna)

(USS Dennison - Secondary Hull (Upper engineering section) - Deck 12, Battle Bridge - OPS - Ensign Cattia Spero - 1200)

Kit had settled into her seat and begun to read her monitors. She hadn't watched the moment when the primary hull exploded; the ship hadn't been her home for long but she still didn't want to watch its last moments. Besides, her job was to make sure that the systems on this section were not affected.

"All systems appear to be clear and green to go, Sir," she reported, when she was sure that the cascade effect hadn't followed them.

~B****ds, I wonder if they meant to destroy us or just disable us? Or maybe they didn't really care either way!~

(Reply by Stakes if you wish, any)
(Posted by Liz Geuken)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Healer in the Tower
Stardate: 2408.01.12
Day: 187
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

(Unknown Room, Commander Trevan West, 0900)

Trevan awoke with quite a headache but otherwise was uninjured. The room he was in this time was more of a sickbay then a detention center. A doctor, a human doctor was hovering around him with a tricorder.

"You've been sedated for over a day, try not to move." he explained.

Trevan just managed to ask the doctor a question of where he was, and how he got there.

Before the Doctor replied, Captain Clark appeared from a adjacent room. "Commander, glad to see you in person again. My apologies for the drastic measures to bring you back here but you were in danger and one of our operatives contacted us."

Trevan was puzzled, "What?"

Clark explained that Intel had an operative on Maltoria for over a year before the Dennison showed up and that he took Trevan out of harm’s way by sedating him and sending him out on an automated transport the first moment he could. If Trevan had been discovered, he could have blown the operatives cover and the entire operation, which Clark explained is still classified.

"You will recover but then remain here with us at Intelligence until we decide what to do with you." he said patting Trevan lightly on the arm, "Excellent job Commander," and then excused himself from the room as the doctor ran more tests.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Healer in the Tower
Stardate: Unknown
Day: Unknown
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

(Unknown Room, CSO/2O Dale Bracken, 0900)

Dale had come to some time ago and drank deeply from the glass of water that had been left next to the bed that she had woken on. She had undressed, and spent a long time washing in the shower, she had remembered we she had been last, and remembered all the dust...the horror of the dust. With a shudder, she began to wash her hair again.

Washed, and a clean uniform later, she picked up and affixed the communicator, then picked up the rank pips, fixed them to her right lapel, then, with the flush of pride that she always felt, picked up the legion of honour, and fixed that to her left lapel.

It had been the view, the view that had stunned her.

She was at Fleet Science Headquarters.

The door opened, and Dale turned quickly to see Admiral Stewart enter the room.

“Admiral.” Dale spoke irritably, “a few moments earlier and you’d have had a different sight altogether, or doesn’t anyone’s personal feelings mean anything to Fleet Science, or Intel for that matter.”

“Lieutenant, My apologies for the manner in which you were brought here. We have our reasons for curtailing your presence on Maltoria.”

“Speak, and make it good or you’ll have my resignation, I’m sure that you know i could be a Professor in the same institute as my Father before the hour is out. Alongside Professor Jakeman?”

“I know your reputation, which is why you’re here. You filed a paper about six or seven months ago detailing mechanisms whereby certain...man made wormholes could be detected by verteron – neutrino interactions?”

Dale shrugged, “it wasn’t much, I merely...”

“Solved a problem that had confused more than a few scientists, most of them with a whole lot more facilities than you had on board the Dennison. It is for that reason that you are here, we’ve...borrowed you, we have need of your seeming knack for the...how did one of the new Ensigns put it...Oddball ideas?”

Dale smiled slightly, though she was still more than slightly annoyed, She remembered that Commander West and she had had similar conversations more than once.

The smile widened, “Okay Admiral, show me, where do you want me to start?”

(Reply none)
(Posted by Mark)


-USS Dennison
Star Trek: Freedom - http://www.startrekfreedom.com