~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Start of Compile, Part 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mission: Dream of the Past, Day 9 Stardates: 2406.10.18 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List of Headers: (USS Boudicca - Security Center - Senior Chief Petty Officer Melody Haverstaad - 14:55) (Boudicca Deck 12 TAC/AST John Fredericks 15:00) (USS Boudicca - Engineering - ACEO Enaj - 15:00) (Boudicca Deck 12 TAC/AST John Fredericks 15:05) (Boudicca- Security office – Security Chief’s office –John Fredericks TAC/AST -15:20) (USS Boudicca, Sickbay, COUNS, Dr. Domini Alizara, 15:15) (USS Boudicca, Sickbay, TAC/SC Ensign Skylynx, 15:15) (USS Boudicca, Sickbay, COUNS Dr. Domini Alizara, 15:17) (USS Boudicca, Sickbay, TAC/SC Ensign Skylynx, 15:17) (USS Boudicca, COUNS Office, COUNS Dr. Domini Alizara, 15:27) (USS Boudicca, COUNS Office, TAC/SC Ensign Ryko Skylynx, 15:27) (USS Boudicca, COUNS Office, COUNS Dr. Domini Alizara, 15:32) (Boudicca Main Engineering TAC/AST John Fredericks 15:40) (Boudicca -John Fredericks quarters- TAC/AST John Fredericks- 16:00 (Boudicca - Science Lab -Cultural Anthropologist- Lt Madison Munroe- 1648) (Boudicca - Captain's Ready Room -Cultural Anthropologist- Lt Madison Munroe- 1655) (Boudicca - Captain's Ready Room - Capt Sevant - 1655) (Boudicca - Captain's Ready Room - Capt Sevant and Lt Munroe - 1655) (USS Boudicca - Crew Quarters - OPS Lt. Schafio & TAC/SC Ensign Skylynx - 1800) (USS Boudicca - Holodeck 3 - 1815) (USS Boudicca - Bridge - Capt Sevant - 21:12) (USS Boudicca - Engineering - Lt jg Trevan West - 21:13) (USS Boudicca - Bridge – OPS Lt. Schafio -2118) (USS Boudicca - Bridge - Lt jg Trevan West- 21:18) (USS Boudicca - Bridge - Capt Sevant- 21:19) (USS Boudicca - Personal Quarters - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad 2150) (Boudicca - Engineering - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 2202) (Boudicca - Engineering - Lt jg Trevan West- 2203) (Boudicca - Engineering - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 2203) (Boudicca - Security Center, IHCC - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 2215) (USS Boudicca - Security Center, IHCC - Lt jg Trevan West- 2216) (USS Boudicca - Security Center, IHCC - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 2216) (USS Boudicca - Security Center, IHCC -Lt jg Trevan West- 2217) (USS Boudicca - Security Center, IHCC - Senior Chief Petty Officer Melody Haverstaad - 2219) (Boudicca - Science - Ensign(jg) Roe McLauren - 2310) (Boudicca - Sickbay - CSO/2O Kyle Morie Rin - 2310) (Boudicca - Science Labs - Ensign Roe McLauren - 2322) (Boudicca - Science Labs - CSO/2O Kyle Morie Rin - 2322) (Boudicca, Bridge, FO, Commander Grailik, 2328) (USS Boudicca - Science Labs - Capt Sevant - 2328) (USS Boudicca, Science Labs, FO, Commander Grailik, 2331) (USS Boudicca - Science Labs - Capt Sevant - 2331) (USS Boudicca, Science Labs, Lt jg Trevan West, 2332) (Boudicca - Ready Room - Capt Sevant - 0002) (USS Boudicca - Lower Decks - The Shadow - 0020) - Day 10 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Security Center - Senior Chief Petty Officer Melody Haverstaad - 14:55) ==================================== Melody cracked her neck as she walked into the security center. With half her squad in Engineering, and the other half here waiting to spell them after their short shift, she was getting a logistical headache. How she had ended up as defacto engineering liaison, she didn't know. It wasn't enough that she almost broke herself during her last little stint in engineering, no no no, now she had to be back there in another possibly dangerous situation. She could think of places she would rather be, namely, anywhere that plasma wasn't running through every bulkhead and console. ~Melody, old girl, you shoulda been a model.~ She paused briefly when she noticed the Assistant Chief in the center. He was... supposed to be on the bridge. She pursed her lips slightly, then shrugged. He certainly didn't have to answer to her, that was why he had the pips, even if she had the years of experience. She walked up to him and came loosely to attention, and in a conversational voice she said, "Engineering is secured, Sir, do you have any further orders?" ==================================== (Boudicca Deck 12 TAC/AST John Fredericks 15:00) ==================================== The turbo lift doors hissed open once again bringing him back to deck 12. John stepped out and started toward the security offices, he still had a few things to check before reporting back to the FO. ~Funny~ John thought ~ there isn’t any more people in the passage way than normal but when you know there is someone you can’t trust somewhere on the ship it really starts to get crowded~. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Engineering - ACEO Enaj - 15:00) ==================================== Saim felt really out of the loop at the moment. It had been good for one thing. After months of frantically rushing around she had time to get some sleep and eat at more civilized time. The ship was ticking along nicely now without needing her attention every second. Of course there was always work to do. Some how though, even though there was a crisis situation, what with being catapulted back in time, things seemed more relaxed. However Saim was now coming out of this reverie and getting a bit panicky. She had no idea what was going on and wanted to find out. Seeing that there was nothing urgent Saim plugged into the computers and did a few sensory sweeps. From engineering she did not have anything long range but the diagnostic sensors gave her something. The planet was still there, or at least a large mass which she presumed to be the planet. Saim wondered what Science had come up with. She battled with herself for a few minutes, wanting to go find out and yet not wanting to intrude. In the end she decided she would go and just perch out of the way. Maybe see if they needed any engineering done down there. ==================================== (Boudicca Deck 12 TAC/AST John Fredericks 15:05) ==================================== John arrived at the Security office and the door obligingly hissed open for him. John walked in and saw Rodriguez still at the first desk apparently in a conversation with someone on the comm... He waved his way through and went back to the SC’s office where he customarily did his paperwork and inventories. He pulled the logs to the Armories and had them added to his PADD and them left again to make the “hands on” inspection that he had started doing lately. The regs called for these to be checked bi weekly under normal conditions, so far John had yet to see normal conditions on the ship and checked things far more often than required. As usual the Marines gave him a hard time about checking their armory but as always he talked his way through the rough spots without any thing more than good natured name calling. They were a rough bunch but John liked them and was glad to have them around. It wasn’t hard to understand his like for them since he almost chose that path himself. There were a couple of phases that had been taken out with out authorization, not something that should have happened but also not unusual with Marines. John reported to their duty officer and asked that he be alerted when the weapons were returned knowing that the DO would handle it without it being made in a report on the Marines and if it turned out that they were missing the DO would report to John immediately. John returned to the Security Office again to check out the ships main weapon storage and noticed a pain starting just behind his eyes. ~Probably just the over use of my Empathic abilities~ he thought. John began his hands on check of the weapons but found nothing out of the ordinary. ~Man this headache is really getting bad~ John mumbled to himself ~feels like my heads about to explode~. ~Explode? ~ He thought again, ~what would I do to a ship if I was trying to take it out of action? =/\= Computer run a complete scan of this ship. List all known explosive elements and or devices and their locations. Also list any changes to power consumption or build up that are new as of the time we entered the time change=/\= =/\= Initiating scan, estimated time for completion is 15 minutes=/\= ==================================== (Boudicca- Security office – Security Chief’s office –John Fredericks TAC/AST -15:20) ==================================== =/\= SCAN COMPLEAT=/\= Came the voice of the ship’s computer. John pulled up the list and scanned through the list of known explosive elements and devices the computer could locate but found nothing that couldn’t be explained. The other list went by just as fast until the end when he caught something that didn’t make sense. In the engineering room there was a new point of power building up but he couldn’t figure out what it was for. =/\= Computer, compare the last item on the list to the scans for the last three days for power consumption in engineering.=/\= =/\= POWER CONSUMPTION HAS INCREASED BY 2% ABOVE NORMAL USE CONSECATIVLY FOR THE PAST THREE DAYS=/\= =/\= Can you determine the reason for the increase of power? =/\= =/\= NEGATIVE. =/\= ~Damn, maybe nothing but I’ll have to report it, need to check on those phasers also~ John was thinking when his comm. badge beeped. It was the Marine Duty Officer. “Hey, Fredericks. I’ve run all the logs and checked with the rest of my people. No one shows to have removed those two Phasers.” “Alright, John sighed, I’ll have to report it then. John signed off and made the report of the two missing hand weapons from the Marine armory. Then tapped his comm. badge. =/\= computer, what is the location of First Officer Grailik? =/\= =/\= THE FIRST OFFICER IS IN ENGINEERING=/\= John headed back out of the Security Office waving at the others on duty “If any one needs me I am heading to Engineering for a few minutes, you’ve got it again Rodriguez” As the doors closed John speeded his pace to the turbo lift and also opened his empathic receptive range a little further, noticing his headache increased as he did so. =/\= Main Engineering=/\= John called out to the lifts pick up and leaned back as the door closed, after a few moments the doors opened and he stepped out. ==================================== (USS Boudicca, Sickbay, COUNS, Dr. Domini Alizara, 15:15) ==================================== Domini woke up as a restorative was pumped into her system. She looked around the sickbay, her eyes not focusing from the pain in her head. It had been a long time since she had been required to mind-heal someone as badly hurt as Rin was. As was usually the case, she hadn't had any time to prepare and the lack of that preparation was taking it's toll on her head at this very instant. She laid her head back against the bio-bed and closed her eyes again taking stock of what had happened. She opened her eyes again, and signaled the Doctor over. "I need something to deaden the pain and reduce the slight inflammation in my telepathic cortex." She said, giving him a look that should have stopped him in his tracks. (reply CMO) Domini looked over and saw Skylynx sitting on one of the biobeds. "Ensign, why are you still here? Did something happen?" Domini asked quickly, not seeing Eva or Sevant any longer. Grailik was gone too. "And would you happen to know how long I was out?" ==================================== (USS Boudicca, Sickbay, TAC/SC Ensign Skylynx, 15:15) ==================================== Ryko lay on the biobed, head propped up on a pillow, looking at the latest security report. The tests McQuade had mentioned were well underway, and Ryko was definitely looking forward to leaving sickbay. The counselor stirred and caught his attention. "Ensign, why are you still here? Did something happen?" Domini asked quickly. Ryko looked to his left and was admittedly a little surprised by Alizara waking up. "You've been out for more than an hour, that's all I know, I only got here myself recently," Ryko said, "the mental blocks in my mind have broken down, I need them replacing," Ryko explained. (Reply Alizara) "If you feel up to it, I know you were completely drained by healing Dr. Rin," Ryko said, nodding at Rin. (Reply Alizara) "Only temporary ones, I want them blocked for now, then once this mission is over, I will concentrate on mastering my empathy," Ryko said. "The good doc is making sure I don't destroy everything in sight," he finished, deliberately exaggerating. ==================================== (USS Boudicca, Sickbay, COUNS Dr. Domini Alizara, 15:17) ==================================== "You've been out for more than an hour, that's all I know, I only got here myself recently," Ryko said, "the mental blocks in my mind have broken down, I need them replacing," Ryko explained. "Mental blocks?" Domini asked, not really comprehending. "If you feel up to it, I know you were completely drained by healing Dr. Rin," Ryko said, nodding at Rin. Domini shook her head, feeling very confused. "Only temporary ones, I want them blocked for now, then once this mission is over, I will concentrate on mastering my empathy," Ryko said. "The good doc is making sure I don't destroy everything in sight," he finished, deliberately exaggerating. Domini frowned at the Doctor, feeling hyper-sensitive to the world around her. She decided to throw all the laws and such away and just read what the problem was, making no secret of it that she was doing so. ::Can you hear me?:: Domini sent to him, very carefully. She looked over at the Doctor and back to the Ensign. ::If you can hear me, nod your head.:: When there was no response, Domini got off the biobed, and walked over to the surgical table, picking up the hypo that had been last used. She looked at the medicine inside it, noting a fairly benign telepathic suppressant. She nodded, going over to the pharmacy stores, carefully avoiding McQuack and picked out a good counter. "Come with me." Domini said, leading him out of sickbay and back to her office, which was still set up from her time with Rin. She turned to Skylynx and frowned. "I don't even know your first name." She said, pressing the hypo to his arm, administering the counter. "Well, introductions first. My name is Domini, I can tell that you are distrustful of me, and I can tell you don't like me very much. All of that aside, I am not the Vulcan at the Academy that put those half-formed blocks in. They failed because you didn't trust her enough to let her deep enough to do it properly. " Domini lit the incense and took a seat on the cushion. She looked up at her new patient. "Have a seat, Ryko." Domini said softly, but firmly. "How do you feel?" She asked, knowing that the counter to the suppressant sometimes made people feel dizzy. ::Ryko, can you hear me?:: Domini sent, sitting in a relaxed posture, ==================================== (USS Boudicca, Sickbay, TAC/SC Ensign Skylynx, 15:17) ==================================== Ryko looked in the same direction as Domini did, towards McQuade. He felt a buzzing in his head and thought he heard something, but it wasn't there long enough for him to be totally sure. Domini got off her biobed, and walked over to the surgical table, then to the pharmacy. Curious, Ryko watched as she came back. "Come with me." Domini said. Ryko got up and left the PADD on the biobed, following the counselor to her office. She frowned. "I don't even know your first name." She said. pressing a hypospray to his arm. Ryko already knew it was an anti-suppressant. "Ryko," he said. "My name's Ryko," he offered, letting his arm fall to its normal position. "My name is Domini, I can tell that you are distrustful of me, and I can tell you don't like me very much. All of that aside, I am not the Vulcan at the Academy that put those half-formed blocks in. They failed because you didn't trust her enough to let her deep enough to do it properly. " Ryko understood. He realized that she would have that image, probably subconsciously picking up on his little "exchange" with Straton earlier. "I apologies if I've given you a bad impression," he said. "I guess I still don't know everyone on this ship as well as I would like to." "Have a seat, Ryko." Domini said softly, but firmly. "How do you feel?" Ryko took a deep breath. "Feels like my head is clearing," he said, "other than that, normal..." he stopped as he heard her in his mind. ::Ryko, can you hear me?:: Ryko looked at Alizara. He couldn't empathically send to her yet, so he settled for laymen speech. "Yes." (reply Alizara) Ryko concentrated and closed his eyes. He started to think. ::I can hear you,:: he said weakly. ==================================== (USS Boudicca, COUNS Office, COUNS Dr. Domini Alizara, 15:27) ==================================== ::Ryko, can you hear me?:: Ryko looked at Alizara. He couldn't empathically send to her yet, so he settled for laymen speech. "Yes." Domini nodded, watching him very closely with her telepathic abilities, mostly. Ryko concentrated and closed his eyes. He started to think. ::I can hear you,:: he said weakly. Domini's smile widened at the very weak attempt at telepathic communication. ::Good, very good!:: She sent to him. ::Ryko, do you trust yourself?:: Domini asked, feeling very sensitive to him. (Reply) ::I don't mean like that, I mean.... What about the Betazoid empathic abilities do you distrust? What event in your life made you want to shun your heritage?:: Domini asked, probing for the cause of the reason for blocking them. (reply) ::You are different than the others I have taught in that you have a fear of your abilities. Fear leads to anger and distrust and that in turn leads to more fear. Until you face what is causing the root of the problem, you will not be able to master your abilities.:: Domini grinned for a moment, remembering something. ::I have a homework assignment for you, when you have some spare time, go look up a series called Star Wars - it's part of the library collection, old Earth cinema. I think you will find some similarities between yourself and some of the characters in the movies.:: Domini took a deep breath. ::Relax, Ryko, take a deep breath and relax.:: Domini's voice began to say softly, almost meditatively, ::Slow, deep breaths, in and out, in and out...:: She felt him beginning to let go. There was something about the security mindset that seemed to make people uptight, and eternally vigilant. Domini vaguely seemed to understand it, well, she understood how it could exist, but it was so at odds to most of the Betazoid's that she was used to working with. Eva, of course, being the major exception. ::Look at me, Ryko. What do you see?:: ==================================== (USS Boudicca, COUNS Office, TAC/SC Ensign Ryko Skylynx, 15:27) ==================================== Ryko concentrated and closed his eyes. He started to think. ::I can hear you,:: he said weakly. Domini's smile widened at the very weak attempt at telepathic communication. ::Good, very good!:: She sent to him. ::Ryko, do you trust yourself?:: Domini asked, feeling very sensitive to him. It was easier now that the connection was established. ::Of course, If I can't trust myself, how could I trust anything or anyone else?:: he sent, wondering why Domini had asked him such a thing. ::I don't mean like that, I mean.... What about the Betazoid empathic abilities do you distrust? What event in your life made you want to shun your heritage?:: Domini asked, probing for the cause of the reason for blocking them. ::I prefer to trust my instincts,::Ryko said. ::I feel that when you probe someone for information instead of asking them or just going with your feelings, you violate their privacy, and betray their trust,:: he said uneasily, hoping this explained it. ::I guess you could say, I'm scared of my abilities.:: ::You are different than the others I have taught in that you have a fear of your abilities. Fear leads to anger and distrust and that in turn leads to more fear. Until you face what is causing the root of the problem, you will not be able to master your abilities.:: Ryko tilted his head a little as the counselor grinned. ::I have a homework assignment for you, when you have some spare time, go look up a series called Star Wars - it's part of the library collection, old Earth cinema. I think you will find some similarities between yourself and some of the characters in the movies.:: Ryko quirked an eyebrow. "Star wars?" he said out loud, before remembering. ::How will looking at old earth movies help me master my potential?:: he sent, almost instantly wishing he hadn't. Domini took a deep breath. ::Relax, Ryko, take a deep breath and relax.:: Domini's voice began to say softly, almost meditatively, ::Slow, deep breaths, in and out, in and out...:: Ryko looked at the floor for a moment, and simply breathed, trying to clear his head. She could doubtless see the apology in his face. ::Look at me, Ryko. What do you see?:: This was an intriguing, yet weird question, Ryko thought. He tried to answer. ::I see...a friend,::he settled, :::a guide, someone who can help me nurture the abilities I have, to help me master my own potential,:: he finished. ==================================== (USS Boudicca, COUNS Office, COUNS Dr. Domini Alizara, 15:32) ==================================== ::Look at me, Ryko. What do you see?:: :I see...a friend,::he settled, :::a guide, someone who can help me nurture the abilities I have, to help me master my own potential,:: he finished. Domini kept her thoughts serene even if part of her wanted to scream. All of what he said was certainly true, but not enough. He wasn't relaxing. She reached out, and took a firm grip on his mind. ::You WILL relax if I have to force you too.:: She said, showing him in that moment how dangerous this assassin could be. ::Now watch what I do, and then I'll let you try on your own.:: She showed him how the body was really interconnected with the mind and that by visualizing the body you could affect it. She showed him how to relax the correct way, how to breathe properly so that the breaths went down to your diaphragm. She opened her eyes and watched as the tension literally drained out of him. ::That's better. Now, you try it.:: She sent, letting the grip up and him try it. (reply) After a couple more attempts, he was closer, probably as close as he was going to get this time. Considering that he was basically unshielded she began to project one of the more intense emotions that she could think of - pure lust. ::What do you feel.:: She said, her face still serene. When he didn't respond, not even his body, she switched to pure fear. Again no response. ::This is going to feel..strange and might hurt.:: Domini said, then began to examine the blocks in his mind. She poked at them and prodded them a bit, eliciting tension and winces of pain. "Interesting." She said, letting the link drop. She stretched her body out, and thought for a moment. "I'm going to block your abilities completely. For now." She held up her hand. "I can't remove the blocks all at once, and when I do you are going to have a horrible headache. I don't think it's wise to incapacitate the head of security right now. And trust me that you will be incapacitated. I also don't want to leave you vulnerable to whatever is hunting right now. So..." And Domini took a deep breath. "Any objections?" ==================================== (Boudicca Main Engineering TAC/AST John Fredericks 15:40) ==================================== John looked around him amazed at first since this was the first time he had been on the Engineering deck of something this big but then quickly remembered why he was there and located the FO. John wondered for a moment how he would attract the FO’s attention since he wasn’t supposed to alert anyone to what ever he had found but Grailik or the Captain but soon noticed The First Officer looking his way. John tapped his PADD and Grailik nodded his head in an affirmative motion and after a few minutes walked over to him. Sir, John started. I have not found anyone in the stunned type state you had mentioned nor have I located any one with any violent emotions. I have how ever noticed two missing hand weapons from the Marines armory. The Duty officer checked and there is no log of them being checked out or assigned to any one and no one admits to have taken them. Also there is a power build up in engineering that I cannot account for that has grown by 2% consecutively for the last three days. I am not an engineer so it may be nothing unusual but under the circumstances I thought I should mention it. (Reply Grailik) Aye sir, If that’s all I need to stop by sickbay and then return to my duties ==================================== (Boudicca -John Fredericks quarters- TAC/AST John Fredericks- 16:00 ==================================== Once at his quarters John headed over to his terminal =/\= Computer locate all off duty security personnel and download to this PADD. Also run a Vitals scan of same personnel flagging the ones whose readings are either too high or too low for a normal reading in each case =/\= =/\= ALL SECURITY PERSONELL ARE WITHIN NORMAL PARAMETERS ACCORDING TO THEIR RACIAL NORMS EXCEPT ENSIGN STEVENS. E AND ENSIGN RODGERS.M=/\= =/\= Please give me the location and variances on both Ensigns=/\= /\= ENSIGN STEVENS AND RODGERS ARE LOCATED IN THE QUARTERS OF ENSIGN STEVENS. VARIENCES INCLUED ELEVATED ADRENALIN FLOW, INCREASED BODY CORE TEMPERATURE=/\= =/\= Cancell !=/\= John interrupted the computer. He had just remembered who the two Security team members were. Ensigns Emily Stevens and Mark Rodgers, the two had been a pair for a while now. John decided to let them be for now and check them when they came on duty, he didn’t think his orders called for him to invade off duty personnel while in the pursuit of non ship business and the reading from the computer didn’t show what he would have expected had he found someone like the FO had described. John left his quarters and headed back to the Security Office. ==================================== (Boudicca - Science Lab -Cultural Anthropologist- Lt Madison Munroe- 1648) ==================================== Maddie had just put the finishing touches on her report to the captain. She was shocked when Dr. Rin had put her in charge of the science team. She had never been put in charge of anything before. She had wondered if Rin just didn't like her. But after lunch it appeared quite the opposite. Too bad. She had rallied the team getting astrometrics on the job first, with long range, and intensive scans of the planet. Then she brought in communications to monitor all of the varied communications that were being used. The use of micro waves to carry "television" pictures was amazing. This seemed to be the primary source of information dispersment for the planet. But what interested her even more was the use of radio waves in order to transmit information and entertainment in the form of music. The diversity of music was fascinating. How one planet could have so many different forms of music was always amazing to her from a cultural point of view. Music also tended to be an indicator of the type of culture that they were looking at. She had found herself drawn to a particular style of music and had been listening to it as she worked. It never ceased to interest Maddie, how music could be so motivating. Almost as motivating as food. Well, almost. What she had learned was that this society was diverse. There appeared to be four main governmental factions. There were, of course, several minor ones, but they didn't seem to have the global influence that the other four did. Thgey also seem to be coming out of the tail end of a cold war. Distrust and paranoia, although no longer rampant in their society, were still quite obviously still prevalent. Maddie had thanked all of her team members as they turned in their reports to her. They all did great work, and it had been her job to boil all of that information down to something useful to the captain. She hoped that what she had done was as useful as it seemed to herself. What she hoped even more so though, was to be part of the away team that she was going to recommend. She typed in the last words of her report and then looked at it appreciatively. Not bad if she didn't say so herself. Pleased with the work she had done she uploaded the report to her PADD. "Computer, what is the location Captain Sevant?" she asked. [Captain Sevant is in his ready room.] Maddie stood up and took a deep breath. She went to the mirror by the office door to make sure that her hair was presentable. She ran her hands across the top to smooth out the fly aways, stuck her tongue out at herself, and headed for the ready room. ==================================== (Boudicca - Captain's Ready Room -Cultural Anthropologist- Lt Madison Munroe- 1655) ==================================== As Maddie approached the door she began to play with her opening phrase that she would use on the captain. "Here's the report you requested." She shook her head. ~Lame.~ "Captain, I hope this didn't take to long but..." ~Oh lord, why don't I just say send me back to the academy.~ "Is this a convenient time?" ~You have got to be kidding.~ She shook her head realizing that she was best to just wait and see what came out of her mouth at the time. She smoothed out her uniform, pulling it at the bottom of the tunic and then rang the door chime. ==================================== (Boudicca - Captain's Ready Room - Capt Sevant - 1655) ==================================== Sevant leaned back in the chair as the chime went off. "Come." ==================================== (Boudicca - Captain's Ready Room - Capt Sevant and Lt Munroe - 1655) ==================================== Maddie heard the "Come," and the door slid open. She stepped into the Captain's ready room for the very first time in her life. She hadn't even been on the bridge level before. She worked hard to fight back the excitement, simply by remembering the reason for her visit. "Captain Sevant," she began, "Dr. Madison Munroe. I'm not sure if you remember, I mean, I know you're busy and I hate to intrude, but..." Damn, this wasn't going well. "Well, I've completed my repot and I wanted to make sure that you got it. So ... here it is." Sevant quirked an eyebrow, ever so slightly, and held out a hand for it. "Have a seat, Doctor; I have a few questions for you." Maddie tread lightly over to the desk and gently placed the PADD on it, tapping it slightly as if it were a pet that she were trying to keep calm. Then she sat in the chair across from him. "Questions Captain?" Maddie asked, "I'll be happy to answer any questions you have." At least then she would know what to say, unless he asked about somehting she didn't know about. Then she'd be sunk. She took a deep breath and prayed it was a "good" question. Caladryll folded his hands together and sat back: "First issue, what is our approximate Richter Scale reading here? Everything I've seen points to a nuclear society, possibly Cold War standoff variety. What have you been bale to confirm?" It was so nice to be able to talk science with someone. Usually, when conversations turned to science people tended to get bored with Maddie quickly. She found that she tended to talk over the heads of others. She just got excited about her field of study and for some strange reason most others found sociology boring. "I would say post nuclear, pre technocracy era, Captain," Maddie said. "They seem to have the idea that there is life in the universe, and have even shown signs of rudimentary space flight. Their current state of technology is probably equivalent to Earth in the early 21st century. They also seem to have discovered microchip technology in the past 40 to 50 years. " She looked to find the captain still listening so she continued. "All the evidence I've gathered have shown that they are a post cold war society. This is a recent development, so there is still an air of distrust and paranoia between the nation states. As you've noticed they have developed nuclear power, but haven't quite seemed to find how to harness it without severely damaging their environment or each other. Fortunately, they have not had a nuclear war, yet. Although it looked like they were heading that way until the last year." Sevant frowned slightly and tapped his fingers against the desk as he turned his head to look out of the port-hole there. Post cold-war, but still in a state of paranoia, they would have to loose that paranoia to move into a planetary or technocracy state of development. "Do you think you can work with engineering and a few select members of the crew and prepare them for an away mission?" he looked back. "We are still investigating all measures, but I would prefer to have a team as ready as possible should we need to beam down." Maddie's heart just about jumped out of her throat. She fought back the excitment to give a very controled answer. "Oh yes sir." A little too much? "I would be happy to help out with that." Maddie chewed on her bottom lip as she begant o make instant considerations for such a mission. It had been what she had wanted, and was even a recomendation on her report. She could feel the mounting excitment well up inside her again. "What would be your ideal team, size, members, etc." "I think we should get a thorough idea of what it's like on the planet, without being conspicuous. Perhaps a team of five or six. I, of course, would love to volunteer to be part of the team. I think that Counselor Alizara should be involved. Of course, you'll want a security contingent, so that's three. I'm not sure who else you'd want, but I'm sure you'd want an engineer along and a command member." Sevant nodded, "Ill let you know other prospective team members as needs come to light. Work out what you need to work out to insert a modest sized team into the field, report to Engineering about converting our needed materials into something local." He folded his hands together again, "Anything else?" Maddie was shocked. She was actually putting together an away team, and being put in charge of something. It was almost too much to handle. "Ummm....ummm...," she stumbled over her thoughts. "No sir, I think that should just about do it." "Dismissed" "Yes sir," Maddie replied. But she didn't move. Her feet seemed stuck to the flooring of the captain's office. Her mouth was a little dry, and she thought that she might be hyperventilating. Munroe shook herself and forced her feet to move. She managed to make it to the door before turning around. She wasn't sure what she wanted to say. She wanted to say thank you for such a great opportunity to show her stuff. But she also wanted to scream, "Are you crazy, I dopn't have the right experience for this." Instead she just went with the silence and headed for engineering. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Crew Quarters - OPS Lt. Schafio & TAC/SC Ensign Skylynx - 1800) ==================================== Yalta's day finally ended. She had in her mind the day before, the metal of the broken sword was of really good quality and pure metal, what it needed was to reforged it and she did. The design, was a work of art that she put in. When she came back yesterday with it, Riko was speechless. She made her way quickly to there quarters and was surprised again. Ryko waited in their quarters, trying to fasten his combat gear. It had been just over 4 years since he had last worn this stuff, and although it was too small for him now, he wore it anyway. He picked up his blade. Silvernus' reforged blade glinted around the room. Ryko smiled. Yalta was an amazing forge worker. His sword felt light and flexible, and moved like an extension of his arm. He unsheathed it in its black scabbard and waited for Yalta to arrive. “Wow!” After a moment, she started to laugh and try not to. “I think that your combat gear is too small for you. But you look really good.” she calmed herself. Ryko couldn't resist a laugh. "You're right, I'll change," Ryko said, and backed into the bedroom. "You all ready for our little.. .engagement?" he asked over changing into something loose. Yalta followed him inside and started to change her clothes. “Give me 2 minutes and I will be.” She turn her head to him. “Anything plan?” "I was thinking the shanghai program, cut our way through about 5 levels to warm up, working together, then if you want we can fight each other with holographic blades," Ryko offered as he finished changing. “That's a good program.” Yalta had finished putting on her training clothes. “I'm ready now!” "Alright, let's go!" ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Holodeck 3 - 1815) ==================================== When they arrived at the holodeck, they activated the program. Yalta took a moment to look around. “It's very beautiful, and a good place to warm up.” Ryko sighed. "Gimme a sec to remember my technique," he said, and unsheathed his blade. Yalta followed and started slowly to make it swirl to warm up her wrists She always love the sound a blade did as it cut the air. “Take your time!” Ryko smiled and brought the blade up in a smooth arc so it was parallel with his body. then he began to spin it until it became a blur. He slowly wound down to a stop and breathed. "Ok, I'm ready." Ryko said, cracking his neck a little “Good... we will take it slow and build up the speed.” Ryko relaxed. "Computer, begin level one," Ryko said, and instantly a wave of sword-wielding warriors charged at them. "First to twenty wins," Ryko said, smiling and readying himself for the charge. “You are on!” Yalta gave him a corner smile, making herself ready. Ryko smiled as the first wave set upon them. "HAUL ASS!" he shouted, and let his blade go to work. It had been a while since he had used a blade so he was admittedly a little rusty, but not so much as to make him cautious. He fluidly slipped from one opponent to the other. "10...11...12..." Ryko said, still smiling as he remembered the contests he had taken part in back on earth. "How you doing?" he said, cutting down a rather silly opponent. “I am up to 14 right now. Make that 16.” Ryko put his katana through another one. "I got two left, better hurry up!" he said, looking for someone still moving. He slid his sword through the final two and looked around triumphantly, only to see Yalta standing quite happily against a wall, blade sheathed, with a big smile on her face. Ryko looked to his right. A big pile of defeated opponents lay huddled a small distance nearby. "That was fast," Ryko said, breathing a little faster than normal. "Okay, I guess you win that round," he said, and bowed a little. "Computer, begin round two," he said, and looked up. This time there was the same amount of enemies but they were being covered by archers up on the battlements. "Up to twenty again?" Ryko offered. “Yes... Be careful now.” "Sure," he said, and readied himself once more. "Computer, begin Level 2," Ryko said, and braced himself as another horde of holographic opponents descended on him. "YE-HAA!" Ryko cried as he charged into the fray, and began barging through every one. "9...10...11..." Ryko said, smiling as he moved like some sort of drunk ballerina. “I'm at 12 right now! Be careful... your right is showing.” Ryko smiled, remained still, and shoved his katana to his right, intercepting a charging victim. He looked over, arm still outstretched. "Boo," Ryko said, and let the opponent drop. "That's 13," Ryko said confidently. "I'm going for the archers!" Yalta took another sword from her opponent. “I'm getting there... number 14 just done.” "15, 16, 17..." Ryko said, and reached the archers. "Hi," he said simply, and Skewered 3 of them on his blade. "Done!" he said, removing his sword and unsheathing it, then leaning against the battlement walls. “I'm done too!” Yalta smiled. “So what is next... do we get inside the structure?” "Nope," Ryko said, jumping casually down over the battlements onto the path below. He wandered down and sidled up to her. "Now, we showdown," Ryko said, and looked at her. “You mean... fight each other.” she had a corner smile on her face. Ryko's hand brushed his katana hilt as it made its way to her shoulder. "Yup," he said, tickling her neck. “Alright!” she chuckled. Ryko backed off, hand on his blade, smiling. "First, a change of scene...." Ryko said, thinking. "Computer, load program, Elas Shirani Tournament." Ryko offered. The holoemitters buzzed as the holodeck changed form, and suddenly they were in a huge arena, surrounded on all sides by crowds. The two stood in a small square mat area. "This..." Ryko began, unsheathing his sword, "Is where I won Silvernus," he finished. “Nice!” Yalta look around keeping her hand on her blade. “I have been here a few times.” "Then it seems that we're familiar with the territory," Ryko said. He held Silvernus in a parry and faced her. "En Garde!" He called, and the battle began. “More then you think... I did battle here you know.” Yalta smoothly unsheathe her katana, and wink at him. "Let see how you do, I'm a little rusty, so I'll probably be a little slow at first.” “It doesn't show Sweetheart, at least not too much.” "Good," Ryko said. "Let's go! I'm itching to get started." he said, almost jumping up and down on the spot.” “Alright! I will try to be gentle.” Yalta started with some classical moves and kata. Sky was handling himself rather well. Ryko easily defended himself against Yalta's movements. He retaliated with some moves of his own, and began to speed up the duel. “Good.... Let's get a bit more exotic now.” "Took the words right out of my mouth," Ryko said, and began to go into more detailed and complex maneuvers. Yalta handled herself in only defense, taking her time to enjoy the fight but also to study her opponent. “I like that.” "I know what you're up to," Ryko said tunefully. "You're trying to figure out my technique, aren't you?" he said, smiling and continuing to heat up the complexity of his advances. “I might... but I'm rather enjoying the way you look when you fight. The posture you take. Really very nice.” Ryko couldn't help a playful laugh. "Here I am trying to beat you in a sword fight, and you're lookin' at my butt?" he joked, stopping for a moment, then quickly guarding. “Hey... you do have a nice one. Let me show you what I mean!” Now it was Yalta's turn to show him what she could do. “Tell me what you think!” She said laughing. Ryko was shook by the aggressiveness Yalta suddenly adopted, but quickly rallied and fought back. "Not bad," Ryko said, "But not good enough," he finished, and started to duel with her. “My dear.... it was just to reel you in.” Ryko smiled as Yalta began to reveal her true ability. "Yeah, girl, that's it, give me all you got!" Ryko said, matching blow after blow and fighting back. "I'll take this over a tourney any day!" he announced over the clash of their blades. “Not all of it... a girl's need mystery. You're going to need to work to make me reveal everything.” Suddenly, she had him pin down on the ground and her on top. “That is more like it.” Her eyes were bright and she bit her bottom lip. Ryko knew what Yalta was thinking. "You gonna have to work for that, sweetheart," he said, and flipped round so he was on top, knees resting lightly against her arms. She was pinned. "One to nothin'," he said, and stood up to ready himself for the second of 3 rounds. “Alright!” Yalta got up, taking a deep breath. "Round 2," Ryko said, and a chime went off. Both moved like the wind, little more than blurs against the background. Ryko was constantly smiling. He was back in his Heyday, the day he had won the Elas tournament for real, but it did strike him as odd that he hadn't encountered Yalta in any of them. Yalta didn't let any blow pass, it felt like a long time that she was in that fighting ring but it was just a few years ago. Has a rule, they wore a mask as much to protect them and, that way no one would know who they are fighting against, she could have thought her own brother and not even know it. Something felt familiar and she didn't know why yet. Yalta decided to show Sky what she was made of, using a few moves that she only used a few times only. The surprise had some effect has she disarm Sky. “I think I have won this round.” Ryko sat up and shook his head. "Wow," he said, standing up. "That was unexpected," he said, before unleashing a few surprises of his own. Yalta didn't let herself be surprise or lower her guard, that was a no that she had learn quickly, actually, it was the first lesson that she had learn from her master a long time ago. “There's more where it comes from.” "I'm counting on it," Ryko said, smiling. He actually felt relaxed, something unheard of in a fight where competitors were so evenly matched. "Come on Yalta, no more holding back. Show me what you got," Ryko said after they broke up another duel. “Now, now, a girl need to pick her time for maximum effect!” She had a corner smile on her face. "Not just the girls," Ryko said. "You think I've been fighting at full strength?" Ryko said. Yalta knew that Sky wanted to test her and also himself. “You better be careful with what you wish Honey... I'm not fighting at full strength either. There's a few moves that I didn't do since competition time you haven't seen yet.” ~Two can play that game Sweetheart.~Yalta thought. "Bring it on, honey, I'm waiting," Ryko said, a little more cocky than he usually was. "Now, what d'you say we drop the trash talkin' and start fighting?" Ryko said, and advanced. “Okay Love!” As the fight increased a knotch, Yalta could see the opportunity to do some accrobatics, one move was to do three steps on a wall, followed by a side flip and a full attack. That was how she had manage to get up the ranks in a few tournaments. She decided to wait for that opportunity and it presented itself rather quickly, but instead of a 3 steps, she made only 2. Ryko realized that Yalta hadn't made the attack properly, he had seen that move before. ~She's gonna hurt herself,~ Ryko thought, and instantly lowered his blade as his suspicion was confirmed. Yalta knew that she made a mistake, but she corrected it by rolling backward forcing her opponent to move toward her, but instead Sky had lowered his blade. “What's going on?” "How did you do that?" Ryko said. "You should have a broken ankle after a mess up like that," he said, raising his blade again. “I know... I controlled the flip, it's not easy... I didn't have enough momentum when I was thinking that I had. I did that move only in competition.” "I can see why you won," Ryko said. "I only ever tried that once, almost got disqualified..." he said. “I thought that guy once, don't know who he was but the fight lasted about an hour... funny part was the judges, they decided that we were equal and stop the fight.” Yalta chuckled as she remembered. “I never knew who I thought against because of those masks.” "Wait a minute..." Ryko said. "You fought someone who tried that maneuver?" Ryko said “He tried many maneuvers... one was against a column like this one. He ran toward it, 2 steps up and turn toward back, plunging against the opponent... but I was running toward him, so by the time he flipped, I was pass him and ready.” “But to answer your question... yes he did.” "Did you punch him in the gut?" “Not totally, off center right, didn't touch nothing but the rib sideways.” Yalta showed the angle with her arm. “But that was the second match, when we thought again.” Ryko couldn't believe it. He walked up to Yalta and took her hand. "It was right here," Ryko said, placing it just over his ribs. “Yes... that's about it.” Yalta took a moment to realize what he was going toward but she wasn't sure. "That guy in the mask you fought...the idiot who took all the risks...that was me." Ryko said, smiling in a surprised way. Yalta look at him with surprised. “You... ” Ryko nodded. "It was me." "I was the one who did that stupid maneuver, I was the one who...." Ryko couldn't finish the sentence. She knew he was going to say "defeated you", but he felt disgraced by the deed. “Your mask... do you still have it?” Part of her was not believing this... that was a such a weird coincidence that they were face to face now. Ryko reached into a small pouch in his belt, and pulled out the protective garment, unfolding it he let it sit on his palms. "I kept it every day since, but as you can see, it's a little worn," he said, there was a big tear down the cheek “We defeated each other that day!” She took it and remembered. Ryko smiled. "We were one all then, I don't think we should change that, hell I don't think we could," Ryko said. He had known since that day that whoever his opponent had been, they had been his equal. " I knew we couldn't beat each other outright," Ryko said. "I just never knew I'd end up falling in love with my opponent," he laughed, moving alongside her. He put an arm on her shoulder as they shared the memory. “I'm sorry for your face, but you still leave your right side sometimes right open. I really thought that the judges would stop us.” She said in a whisper, part of her couldn't believe that the universe was this small after all. "It's okay," Ryko said. "It's a really small scar, plus I guess I was focused more on my fighter training at the time. That being where I got this." “Sky, let's leave the past where it is and focus on that here, on this ship wasn't the first time that we have met. I don't feel like fighting right now.” Ryko replaced his sword in its scabbard and went to comfort Yalta. He held her tightly and stroked her hair. "It's in the past," he said soothingly. "I never was one to dwell on the past," he said, kissing her head. “Let's go back to our quarters. I'm a bit hungry!” She look up at him and smiled. Ryko smiled. "Ok," he said, "but this time, I'm cooking." He threw an arm around her shoulder as they walked towards the holodeck door. "Computer, End program." “Alright tonight you cook!” She pass her arm around Sky waist and smiled. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Bridge - Capt Sevant - 21:12) ==================================== The Captain folded his hands together and looked at the screen for several long moments, the world that was just inside transporter range looked incredibly peaceful. They were under cloak and had arrived at a slow speed, the last several thousand kilometers they had traveled at slow impulse, so that even space-dust wouldn’t be disturbed by their passing. With the cloak in operation, even with it leaking energy, there was no way that a radio or standard telescope could see them. They were staying well to the North of the average land-masses as well, so that the odds of most telescopes even being able to focus on them was negligible. He looked over the data scrolling on his screen about the planet, now that they were truly close enough to get a good look at it. At first glance, apparently, there were several apparent Nations. One in a single large temperate climate, another spread out over a series of large islands, and two others seeming to share a second large continent. If there were other, smaller groupings, they hadn’t discovered it yet. They had only just started to fully listen into broadcasts and the like. The one thing they had discovered in a hurry, however, was generally how far along this civilization was before. Short-range sensors had discovered a lot of things at three light-years, being closer told them even more. There were satellites in orbit, the Boudicca was being very careful about staying out of their orbits. And one other thing, nuclear signatures, in each of the apparent major Nation-States. Sevant found himself looking at Cold War societies. That would make things difficult, at least according to history and the Richter Scale. Nuclear/Cold War type societies tended to have absolutely paranoid security setups, detection networks of various sorts, and very itchy trigger-fingers. Nothing highly dangerous to the Boudicca herself, but more then enough to make getting on and off the planet a real hardship for him and his crew. They would learn fairly quickly the political climate of the world, and how close to war they might be, both by civilian channels and military communiqués. There was no official timeline for Sevant to follow, they had as much time to get back as they really needed and they still had to discover what they needed from this planet to make the transition back into their home space. Sevant was using that time wisely and scanning the planet passively for anything that could be of use. "Ok, standard orbit, but keep an eye on satellite orbits." He told Conn. "Report any significant course changes required, otherwise carry on." (reply: conn) He folded his hands together, "Operations, make sure Science and Anthropology get all the sensor time they require, at least for the next few hours." (reply: Ops) "Sevant to Science, I want a preliminary list of our material requirements from this planet on my desk in an hour." He didn’t say that they would need to work out the best ways to retrieve whatever was needed, they wouldn’t be here otherwise, but first they needed to know exactly *what* they needed. (reply: Science) "Cultural Anthropology, how long do you think it will take to come up with a preliminary reading of this culture, and its Richter Scale mark?" (reply: Cultural Anth.) "Very well." He paused for a moment, "Sevant to West, Meet me in my ready room." ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Engineering - Lt jg Trevan West - 21:13) ==================================== The Comm system came to life as Trevan was reading over status reports, "Sevant to West, Meet me in my ready room." "Aye sir. On my way." Trevan dropped his reports, smoothed out his uniform and headed for the turbolift in the aft section. Within minutes he was whisked away towards the bridge, all the while wondering what the Captain wanted. Hopefully it's something good. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Bridge – OPS Lt. Schafio -2118) ==================================== Yalta had finished her shift for a while now... this was a long day. She got up, once the relief crew came in for the night shift She was about to give the low down about what was going on and needed to be done when orders were given. He folded his hands together, "Operations, make sure Science and Anthropology get all the sensor time they require, at least for the next few hours." “Yes Sir.” Yalta look at the officer now at OPS. “You heard. Write up a report, I will read it in the morning. “Understood Sir!” Yalta gave a last look on the bridge. Sky had left for there quarters a while now, and finding the familiar surrounding of their place would be good and relaxing, just as much has to be with each other. She took the turbolift, leaving the intense day behind. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Bridge - Lt jg Trevan West- 21:18) ==================================== The Bridge was a flurry of activity, on the viewscreen a planet rotated slowly and several science members were using the aft science stations while OPS was busy doing OPS things. Trevan made his was towards the Ready Room and rang the chime. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Bridge - Capt Sevant- 21:19) ==================================== "Come," Sevant said quietly. He turned from his monitor to the open door, and nodded to the Chief Engineer. "Have a seat, Lieutenant." he said as he sat back in his chair. (reply: West) Sevant tapped his fingers on the table for a few moments, then gestured to his security guard to exit. If anyone managed to get into his own ready room, while he was armed, then it was doubtful another man would make any difference. The guard left, the Captain didn't say a word until he was gone. "Lieutenant, you are well aware of our situation. We currently have two major problems, and one of them will require your skills." He tapped his monitor a couple times and uploaded the data already collected onto a PADD, then pushed it over. "I am taking nothing for granted; I want you to look at what we have here and get a few ideas in mind for replicating our technology into the guise of something... innocent, of this culture. We already know this planet is destroyed in our near future, but if we have to go down, I don't want to cause a panic." He paused, "The most useful things, phaser and tricorder. Perhaps work with medical to figure out how to hide a field kit." ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Personal Quarters - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad 2150) ==================================== =^=Trevan to Haverstaad, report to Engineering please.=^= Melody opened her eyes and looked at the dark ceiling of her quarters. She had only just got off duty, and only had six hours to herself before she had to be back -on- duty. That was the problem with being on alert status; security forces got so little rest. "Be right there," she growled as she sat up. "But this had better be good," she said once the channel had closed. "Because if it isn't, I'm going to have your balls for a necklace." She rubbed her eyes as she swung her legs out and looked around. "Why didn't I sign up for the Merchant Marine?" she asked herself vaguely as she went looking for a uniform. ==================================== (Boudicca - Engineering - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 2202) ==================================== "Right, I'm here, Sir. Reporting as ordered." She said as respectfully as she could... which came out to a dull growl. ==================================== (Boudicca - Engineering - Lt jg Trevan West- 2203) ==================================== "Right, I'm here, Sir. Reporting as ordered." She said as respectfully as she could... which came out to a dull growl. 'Argh, I pissed her off, good job Trev.' he thought to himself. "Okay here's the deal, I am currently doing some research on our new friends down on the planet to see what of our technology I can disguise as theirs. I have several ideas but I don't want to spend hours doing this and I had a great idea." he paused looking at her, she didn't seem interested all that much until he spoke again. "I want to try and use the Holographic unit we installed a while ago and input these devices into it to see if things match and and work as well as I hope. I need another person who is experienced enough to help input simulated data into the computer while I test out my theory. You up for the task?" Trevan smiled, knowing she probably would be. He gave her that "can you come out and play" look, and waited for her to respond. (reply Haverstaad) "Look, I know it's late and we could all use a little sleep but I can't sleep until this is done. I'll buy you dinner later to make up for it." replied Trevan. ==================================== (Boudicca - Engineering - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 2203) ==================================== "Right, I'm here, Sir. Reporting as ordered." "Okay here's the deal, I am currently doing some research on our new friends down on the planet to see what of our technology I can disguise as theirs. I have several ideas but I don't want to spend hours doing this and I had a great idea." She quirked an eyebrow as he paused, then continued with; "I want to try and use the Holographic unit we installed a while ago and input these devices into it to see if things match and work as well as I hope. I need another person who is experienced enough to help input simulated data into the computer while I test out my theory. You up for the task?" "Of course, Sir." She said. "Send the specs to the Security holographic control center, Ill begin imputing numbers and scans." ~So much for sleep,~ she thought wearily. "Look, I know it's late and we could all use a little sleep but I can't sleep until this is done. I'll buy you dinner later to make up for it." "Ill hold you to that," she said as she turned. ==================================== (Boudicca - Security Center, Interactive Holographic Control Center - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 2215) ==================================== Michelle whistled tonelessly as she spun in her chair and tapped a panel. "Computer, load up the test ring in holodeck 2, lock off that holodeck until Im done using it." =^=Loaded.=^= "Good." She said as she turned back. The holodeck was where they tested on the holographic system; she was only here to load specs and schematics. She could do fine-tuning down there, later. "Whenever you're ready, Chief." She whispered, waiting for data to flow her way. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Security Center, Interactive Holographic Control Center - Lt jg Trevan West- 2216) ==================================== Michelle whistled tonelessly as she spun in her chair and tapped a panel. "Computer, load up the test ring in holodeck 2, lock off that holodeck until Im done using it." =^=Loaded.=^= "Good." She said as she turned back. The holodeck was where they tested on the holographic system; she was only here to load specs and schematics. She could do fine-tuning down there, later. "Whenever you're ready, Chief." She whispered, waiting for data to flow her way. The holo display appeared in front of him, "Great, ok now load in all of our equipment that we will be using, phasers Type One and Two, Tricorder and Medkits." (reply Melody) "Excellent, now bring up the data that was retrieved from the search and overlay them on top of our equipment." Within seconds, several unfamiliar devices appeared and Trevan began selecting several pieces that didn't belong. "There, what's that one called," he said as he pointed to something the looked like a PADD. "I think we can adapt that one to a tricorder, about the same dimensions. May have to do some tailoring to it, won't be perfect. If we get stopped and searched the gig will be up, however upon first glance it will be legit." He turned and spun around his head, "Melody, what can we use in the way of armaments?" ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Security Center, Interactive Holographic Control Center - Senior Chief Melody Haverstaad - 2216) ==================================== "Great, ok now load in all of our equipment that we will be using, phasers Type One and Two, Tricorder and Medkits." It wasn't what the matrix was designed for, but she did so. She included a type-3 phaser rifle for kicks, and all three major kinds of tricorders. "Excellent, now bring up the data that was retrieved from the search and overlay them on top of our equipment." She looked sideways at another monitor as she began tapping the control panel. "Computer, form holographic recreations of major communications and handheld devices of approximate sizes and or shapes to current Away team gear, from all scans of the planet and all communications channels. And get me a list of what each device appears to be, its uses and any social stigmas that each appears to have, if any." Lots of pieces formed, and the CEO started going through them. "There, what's that one called," Melody looked at her list, which had been compiled on her monitor. "Personal Data Access Device, wireless intranet capabilities." She looked up, "There seems to be a hard-wire information network running through the planet, with various methods of logging on." "I think we can adapt that one to a tricorder, about the same dimensions. May have to do some tailoring to it, won't be perfect. If we get stopped and searched the gig will be up, however upon first glance it will be legit." She nodded briefly, and then blinked when he suddenly changed focus. "Melody, what can we use in the way of armaments?" "Unless you've been given restrictions..." she temporized as she thought, "standard gear in a non-hostile environment is the type 1 and 2 phaser." (reply: Trevan, with room for conversation) NRPG: Remember, she knows next to nothing about this, and at *this* point in time, no one is sure there is going to be an away team at all, it's all theoretical. *chuckles evilly* RPG: She pointed at another piece of... something. Then consulted a list, "This is... a personal containment device, uh... the computer identifies it as a purse." She looked back up, "Typically only carried by women. We wouldn't even need to alter it, just throw some medical gear in it and close it up. It wouldn't have the strength of the actual medical case, but it would be well concealed providing a woman carried it." ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Security Center, Interactive Holographic Control Center -Lt jg Trevan West- 2217) ==================================== She nodded briefly, and then blinked when he suddenly changed focus. "Melody, what can we use in the way of armaments?" "Unless you've been given restrictions..." she temporized as she thought, "standard gear in a non-hostile environment is the type 1 and 2 phaser." Trevan looked at her, he felt worry and hoped it didn't show on his face, "Umm, well lets check out both shall we, always good to be thorough." Trevan watched as more and more data began to pour in front of him, several personal communication devices and what appeared to be some sort of remote were adaptable, in case form only, to fit a type one phaser. "That one looks good, but let's eliminate it, I think it would be suspicious if we were carrying around something like that. People may think we have explosives or something." He grinned at Melody, assuming she thought the same thing about the irony of that statement. "Okay, things are looking good here, and before you ask me, No. I don't know if there is an away mission and I only know slightly more then you do. I am not authorized to tell you anything beyond what you already know. Yes, there is a planet, and yes, we are back in time. Besides that, I am just guessing on what is going on. I will know, hopefully soon, what the hell is going on." That was an obvious lie, and she knew it, according to the look on her face. But what can he do, he can't say anything. She pointed at another piece of... something. Then consulted a list, "This is... a personal containment device, uh... the computer identifies it as a purse." She looked back up, "Typically only carried by women. We wouldn't even need to alter it, just throw some medical gear in it and close it up. It wouldn't have the strength of the actual medical case, but it would be well concealed providing a woman carried it." Trevan looked at it and nodded in agreement, "Yeah but what if there aren't any women on the away, er," he paused and chose his words carefully, "Well, how about that there?" he pointed at the backpack, or what they called a backpack anyway, "That could conceal just as well at the 'purse' but carry much more weight and be less conspicuous when carried by a man." ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Security Center, Interactive Holographic Control Center - Senior Chief Petty Officer Melody Haverstaad - 2219) ==================================== "Umm, well lets check out both shall we, always good to be thorough." Melody nodded in reply and began looking through items that could conceivably fit a small Type-1 personal phaser, or the more durable and larger Type 2. There wasn't much, unlike most other items; a phaser's shape could not be significantly altered. The type 2 was nearly impossible to match; there were a few small things that fit the type one. She paused as the CEO pointed one out, "That one looks good, but let's eliminate it, I think it would be suspicious if we were carrying around something like that. People may think we have explosives or something." She quirked an eyebrow at his grin. Then pointed out something, "This is a.... cell phone. It has several generational models, the earliest of them would fit the general dimensions of a type-1 (reply, if desired) "Okay, things are looking good here, and before you ask me, No. I don't know if there is an away mission and I only know slightly more then you do. I am not authorized to tell you anything beyond what you already know. Yes, there is a planet, and yes, we are back in time. Besides that, I am just guessing on what is going on. I will know, hopefully soon, what the hell is going on." She nodded, whether or not it was true, she accepted that there were details she couldn't know. Senior Chief or not, high on the non-com rank list or not, she wasn't an officer and could only be told that which she was cleared for. She pointed at another piece of... something. Then consulted a list, "This is... a personal containment device, uh... the computer identifies it as a purse." She looked back up, "Typically only carried by women. We wouldn't even need to alter it, just throw some medical gear in it and close it up. It wouldn't have the strength of the actual medical case, but it would be well concealed providing a woman carried it." Trevan looked at it and nodded in agreement, "Yeah but what if there aren't any women on the away, er," he paused and chose his words carefully, "Well, how about that there?" he pointed at the backpack, or what they called a backpack anyway, "That could conceal just as well at the 'purse' but carry much more weight and be less conspicuous when carried by a man." She looked at it, "Depends on where this theoretical away team was going," she said. Melody paused as she consulted the cultural information she had up, and tapped a few options. "Students and camping enthusiasts are the only ones who use backpacks, as far as we can tell. Someone who looked young enough to be a student could conceivably carry it off." ==================================== (Boudicca - Science - Ensign(jg) Roe McLauren - 2310) ==================================== "Oh God," he said as he sat back. He rubbed his eyes for long moments, then picked the PADD back up he had been reading. He now knew the general amounts of metal and mineral they needed, and in what amounts. That hadn't taken a lot of calculation; he had let the CSO and Captain know immediately What was a problem now were WHAT kind of metal they needed, and what kind of minerals. The results in his hand were so far from promising, he almost wanted to cry. He shook his head, "Ensign McLauren to Captain Sevant, Chief Science Officer Rin and Chief Engineer West, please come to the Astrophysics lab as soon as you are available." ==================================== (Boudicca - Sickbay - CSO/2O Kyle Morie Rin - 2310) ==================================== =^= Ensign McLauren to Captain Sevant, Chief Science Officer Rin and Chief Engineer West, please come to the Astrophysics lab as soon as you are available. =^= ~Guess i'd better get on my feet and back to work.~ Kyle sat up on the biobed and turned to his side planting his feet onto the floor and tapping his com badge at the same time. =^= Understood McLauren, i'm on my way Rin out. =^= Before he could take to his feet a nurse rushed over and barked commands that he take it easy and not overwork himself. Kyle nodded in agreement considering his head was pounding like he had the worst migraine in the universe. After taking and administering the hypo-spray the nurse provided for the pain, he took to his feet and made his way out of sickbay into the corridor. Eva was only footsteps away from him giving orders to a few marines which guarded sickbay, had the 'Shadow' tried to physically attack him. Her attention at the moment was turned towards the men who stood guard that is until he sent her a telepathic message. ::You must really like my mind... considering you entered twice.:: Eva spun around and caught the half smile on Kyle's face along with the sarcasm which he had sent. ::I guess I owe you big... meet me later on the holodeck when your shift is over.:: (reply Eva) Kyle's face lit up and a smile broke out ear to ear as he stood at attention and gave her a kiss along with a half-ass salute. He watched as she held back a laugh he then turned and headed towards the nearest turbolift. ==================================== (Boudicca - Science Labs - Ensign Roe McLauren - 2322) ==================================== "Sirs," the Scientist finally said when everyone had assembled. "I know what kind of mixture we need, and I know where to get it." He handed everyone a PADD. "We require a mixture of forty percent of this mineral compound, I've named it Exhibit A for simplicity, it's chemical structure is at least twenty syllables..." He paused, and then said "The rest is this metal. Calling it Exhibit B, its just about as incomprehensible. Both are materials not previously known to us, rather interesting stuff actually. I ran a search on the planet and found both. The mineral itself seems to have little practical value for these civilizations and some careful transporter work could get all four tons needed in an hour. The metal, on the other hand, has multiple uses." The scientist paused and his brown scrunched up. "It has conductive qualities, among other things. There was no source of easily obtainable natural ore to be found, but there is a bright side. Because of its properties, it's heavily used in their electronics. Granted, it would take a lot of transport of Conducti... errr... electrical items to get the necessary ten tons worth of metal. However, there is one other good source, it's also used heavily in their coinage, and most of the continents use it for such, there are many currency dumps where large quantities are kept, a few tons each, we can get it that way." NRPG: Like copper for us. It's used in electronics, and American/Canadian coins. RPG: The Captain quirked an eyebrow, "Alright then, give us the coordinates and we can beam i..." The Scientist was shaking his head, not even waiting for the Captain to finish. Sevant stopped in mid-sentence, "There is an issue with this, beyond the moral implications of robbing them of tons of currency?" "Yes, sir." He said slowly. "There is one other major issue. It has some of the same trans-dimensional properties as Latinum. Specifically, it's nearly impossible to get a lock on and beam, and it is fully impossible to replicate. On top of that, it generates a subspace field around itself which prevents clean transportation." The Captain's eyes narrowed. "Continue." "Well, Sir..." the Scientist licked his lips. "With some clever work from engineering, we could get the necessary supplies by getting ourselves into a few vaults and putting up some pattern enhancers, subspace tagging the piles perhaps. But that would take a minimum of four of the vaults I have mapped, and if even one team failed to gather the materials, we would be in trouble." The scientist took a deep breath, "We can beam directly into those vaults and set up the enhancers, they seem to be in large international-type banking establishments." He tapped his fingers nervously, "There is one other option, there is what appears to be a government run facility within the Apparently Federated island Civilization. It is, however, deep underground and it is so heavily strung with this metal, in the form of electrical security and warning devices, that we couldn't even beam in, much less beam out." Before anyone else could interrupt, he said "However, I scanned the rest of the establishment. If we could get some people in with an anti-grav generator and give them 20 minutes, we could move the necessary tons out of the vault and into an area where Transporter Enhancers would work, and we could get it all in one go." He spread his hands, as if to say that the decision wasn't his. Sevant looked at the other officers, then tapped his badge, "First Officer to the Science Labs." ==================================== (Boudicca - Science Labs - CSO/2O Kyle Morie Rin - 2322) ==================================== Sevant looked at the other officers, then tapped his badge, "First Officer to the Science Labs." =^= On my way.. =^= Grailik's voice echoed over the comm. He turned to the other officers, "Comments?" "This just doesn't sound good..." Kyle gave out a sigh and considered a few things and continued. "If we can't beam this 'metal' using normal transporters how will transporter enhancers do the trick. From the way things sound it seems only small amounts will be able to be beamed out and onboard the ship. I think the major problem here is going to be beaming the correct amount without overloading the enhancers. Should too large an amount be beamed out it will cause an overload in the buffer, and then we might not be able to beam any further until repairs are made. Too small an amount and we will just be wasting transporter energy as well as time." Kyle continued pondering the two facts which he presented and waited for an answer from the other officers. ==================================== (Boudicca, Bridge, FO, Commander Grailik, 2328) ==================================== Grailik sat in the command chair looking over the social data that had been gathered on the natives of the planet. As a sociologist, and a xenopsychologist himself, Grailik was always interested in new races and how they interacted. Things were relatively calm at the moment. Security was still looking for the would-be assassin and no more surprises had popped up. Grailik sipped his coffee as he read. =/\=First Officer to the Science Labs.=/\= Sevant's voice came over the comm. Grailik took another sip of his coffee before rising from the command chair. ~Knew it couldn't last.~ He thought slapping his com-badge. "On my way," He said, looking around the bridge. There were no other senior officers on the bridge as they were all off duty at this time. Grailik pointed to the senior officer on deck. "You have the con." Grailik stepped over and entered the turbo-lift wondering what was up now. ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Science Labs - Capt Sevant - 2328) ==================================== "Comments?" "This just doesn't sound good..." The CSO paused with a sign, then continued with; "If we can't beam this 'metal' using normal transporters how will transporter enhancers do the trick. From the way things sound it seems only small amounts will be able to be beamed out and onboard the ship. I think the major problem here is going to be beaming the correct amount without overloading the enhancers. Should too large an amount be beamed out it will cause an overload in the buffer, and then we might not be able to beam any further until repairs are made. Too small an amount and we will just be wasting transporter energy as well as time." "Work on it, Lieutenant, find out how much we can grab at once. We can get you minute quantities of the substance to test, if necessary." He didn't show the frown that wanted to break the surface. If they couldn't beam large enough quantities, they would have to break down and use a shuttle-craft to ferry the stuff up. That would make their job dangerous; chances of being seen were nearly 100% in that case. (reply: CSO, any) "Reporting as ordered, Sir," Grailik said, looking at Sevant then the others in the room, "So what's the bad news?" The CEO said, "Which one wants to go first?" Sevant decided it was going to be himself, a quick explanation for the First Officer. "The metal we need is like latinum, we can't beam it onboard without serious effort, and it's highly valued in electronics and metal currency by the indigenous peoples." He looked over at the scientist, "Does that about sum it up?" Roe nodded, "In essence." Sevant looked back over, "The only places we can get a significant tonnage is in financial institutions." His expression was eloquent, "In short, a bank robbery." He looked over at the CEO, "What's your status on the conversion project?" West looked, almost happy. "Well sir, I have compiled at list of items that may be concealed into local products and still give us full functionality. I have been working with Melo... er Chief Haverstaad," Sevant quirked an eyebrow and took a pro-offered PADD. "And with your orders sir, we can have the replicator produce the items and then it would take me and a team of three approximately two hours to complete modifications." "Very well," Sevant said. "On another note sir, we are having problems with the Cloak. We are now running ships power around 4% above normal just to keep the bloody thing operational, unfortunately." The Captain did frown at that; they did NOT need a cloak failure at this point, not hovering over the northern magnetic pole of the planet. "In about 3 hours the Cloak will fail. Nothing I can do about it. We will appear briefly for the last hour before it fails. I have made adjustments to the warp drive to keep our profile low, but if someone wants to look for it, they will find us. I am working on alternatives." "Do you have anything on this culture's history of technology that isn't listed on the database? It would be helpful in case of an emergency." (reply: CSO) Sevant looked at the PADD, "How long, after the cloak fails, to make repairs?" (reply: CEO) Sevant tapped the PADD for a moment, and then looked up. "We have to get onto this planet, one way or another, that much is obvious." He tapped his badge, "Sevant to Ensign Monroe, report to the Science Labs within 10 minutes with your best recommendations for an undercover away team. Sevant to Lieutenant Alizara, report to the science labs." (reply: Maddie, Couns) He looked over at the CEO, "Get someone on the replication, talk to the Cultural Specialist coming in, she's been working on an away team and persona for us... also under theoretical circumstances. This is no longer theoretical." The Captain folded his arms behind him, "But You, Mr. West, get that cloak stable again. I don't care what it takes." (reply: CEO, any) The Captain looked at everyone, "You have two hours too work up a first draft plan for an excursion, what we require for it, and how much of these materials we need to transport. Plan to protect the Prime directive as much as possible, but Ill read anything you come up with. Ill be expecting your recommendations. Are there any questions?" (reply: Any) "Alright then, you have your orders." He turned to the First Officer. "You're with me." ==================================== (USS Boudicca, Science Labs, FO, Commander Grailik, 2331) ==================================== Grailik stepped into the lab where he saw the CSO and CEO as well as Sevant and another member of the science department. Grailik could tell they had some bad news. "Reporting as ordered, Sir," Grailik said, looking at Sevant then the others in the room, "So what's the bad news?" ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Science Labs - Capt Sevant - 2331) ==================================== "Reporting as ordered, Sir," He paused to look around. "So what's the bad news?" Sevant still had his arms folded, "The metal we need is like latinum, we can't beam it onboard without serious effort, and its highly valued in electronics and metal currency by the indigenous peoples." He looked over at the scientist, "Does that about sum it up?" Roe nodded, "In essence." Sevant looked back over, "The only places we can get a significant tonnage is in financial institutions." His expression was eloquent, "In short, a bank robbery." ==================================== (USS Boudicca, Science Labs, Lt jg Trevan West, 2332) ==================================== Trevan was just organizing some thoughts and technical information on his padd when Grailik stepped into the lab where the CSO as well as Sevant and another member of the science department. It looked like Grailik could sense the tension in the room. Trevan was hoping it was just a figment of his own worries. "Reporting as ordered, Sir," Grailik said, looking at Sevant then the others in the room, "So what's the bad news?" Trevan looked at the Captain, then at the CSO and back to Grailik, "Which one wants to go first?" (reply any and insert my following comments into place where you see fit) "Well sir, I have compiled at list of items that may be concealed into local products and still give us full functionality. I have been working with Melo... er Chief Haverstaad," he blushed at the error and handed him the PADD, "and with your orders sir, we can have the replicator produce the items and then it would take me and a team of three approximately two hours to complete modifications." "On another note sir, we are having problems with the Cloak. We are now running ships power around 4% above normal just to keep the bloody thing operational, unfortunately." "In about 3 hours the Cloak will fail. Nothing I can do about it. We will appear briefly for the last hour before it fails. I have made adjustments to the warp drive to keep our profile low, but if someone wants to look for it, they will find us. I am working on alternatives." Trevan turned to the CSO, "Do you have anything on this culture's history of technology that isn't listed on the database? It would be helpful in case of an emergency." ==================================== (Boudicca - Ready Room - Capt Sevant - 0002) ==================================== Sevant sat down heavily in the chair and cracked his neck. It had been a long day; it was going to be a far longer night. There was nothing that would make it shorter, nothing short of death, and that wasn't on his list of things to do at this moment in time. "Captains Log, Stardate..." he looked at the monitor, "Stardate 2406 mark ten mark nineteen. I don't even know where to begin..." He stopped at sat back in the chair, concentrating on a couple mental games to order his mind. "Earlier today we were forced into a multi-singularity due to an attack by multiple Starfleet ships. That I have previously recorded, what is new is some of the things we've learned in the last ten hours." Sevant folded his hands together, still leaning back in the chair, and looking out the window to the planet. "The planet that is destroyed in our present, their future, is a pre-warp civilization. Atomic Age, according to the Richter scale. Post Cold War, by all indications. Security is at its most paranoid, which is going to make our job that much harder." He grimaced as he thought about what the Scientist had told him. "The mix of materials we need is well known, the exact mixture according to our records of what was being sucked in by the gravity of the anomaly. That's the easy part. The hard part is the metal we require to seed, it's used heavily in their electronics and their coinage. The problem, of course there is always a problem... the problem is that it has a lot of the same trans-dimensional properties as Latinum. It can't be replicated, and it can only be beamed from place-to-place with major sensor and transporter enhancement." The Captain broke off for a second, and then continued slower. "Meaning, we are probably going to require a staged away team and... bank robbery... to get the multiple tons of the metal we require, the only place it's stored in sufficient quantities is in large scale international banking establishments. How we are going to do this, I don't know yet. We are working on the problem." He looked over at the guard stationed on the far side of his Ready Room, the security shadow he had with him at all times. "And that doesn't even mention the Sniper we have on board." Sevant continued, "A telepathic assassin tried to take out our CSO, Major Straton and Counselor Alizara managed to stop the attack, the hunt for the Assassin continues even now." The Captain shook his head, "This is a mess, one fine d*mn mess. Computer, stop recording..." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mission: Dream of the Past, Day 10 Stardates: 2406.10.19 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ==================================== (USS Boudicca - Lower Decks - The Shadow - 0020) ==================================== The Shadow savored the feel of the people around him. They were it's protection, salvation, a sweet blanket of animosity that would grant the agent time to finish its work. The brief battle with the Major earlier had given the Agent a good headache, but exposure to combat techniques had also given the Operative much-needed insight into attacking people. By design, the agent hadn't had much practical experience, to do so would have meant to break cover. The agent wasn't about to fully break cover yet, there was so much to do. Yet, things had to be slowed down a bit. If they weren't, then this ship would stand a chance at succeeding it her mission, and that just couldn't be. The agent briefly closed his eyes and reached out, past the pain from the last attempt at hurting someone. This time, it was going to be different. The shadow's consciousness floated through the ship, looking for the intended target... And then, there he was! With a sigh that approached ecstasy, the shadow grasped the mind of the scientist in question and gave it a good 'squeeze'. The shock his target felt was delicious, but the shadow couldn't stay. One thing it had learned, it didn't have to kill in order to disrupt activities. It left the scientist passed-out cold with shock and injury, right at the feet of many other scientists. It had taken seconds, and it was enough. The Shadow pulled back amidst the confusion, and into it's own body. From there it took a drink of the glass still held, and smiled large. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ End of Compile ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~