Day -3, 1200, 2328 Mission: Into the Darkness, Go I Day -3 Stardate: 2408.07.30 (Runabout Bentley- Ensign Kimiko Ichijo, 1200 & 2328) Kimiko sat in the copilots seat of runabout, trying very hard not to bug the pilot, After the first two attempts to break the ice came to a screaming crash, Kimiko thought that it was best not try a third. ~No telling what a pissed off pilot will do~ Kimiko thought to herself, while wishing that her reader was not packed away. She pulled up the spectroscope and watched the colorful coronas of the passing stars. (Runabout Bentley- Ensign Kimiko Ichijo, 2328) Even though she gave up decorum about three hours ago, Kimiko stifled a yawn. Kimiko was exhausted, after practically being tossed into the ship right after her test; she had been up for only about nineteen hours. ~It feels like forty-eight. It has only been about two years ago that I was working thirty-six hour shifts. I must be getting old~ Kimiko thought wryly As tired as she was, the Ensign was too excited to sleep. “We are coming up on the Rosenante, Ma’am” The pilot stated, then “It’s the flashing violet panel, Ma’am, just press it and you will be live” Kimiko looked at the pilot from the corner of her eye and bit her tongue “yes….thank you, sir” "Runabout Bentley. This is the USS Rosenante. You are on an intercept course. Please identify yourself and your purpose." Kimiko replied “I am Ensign Kimiko Ichijo with orders to report to Captain Salid of the USS Rosenante and, at his pleasure, to join the crew” ------------------------- Day -3, 2330 NRPG: Here's your intro post Jack... Mission: Into the Darkness, Go I Day -3 Stardate: 2408.07.30 (USS Rosenante, Bridge - Gamma Shift Leader, Lieutenant Xim, Day -3, 2330) Xim sat on the bridge checking the reports and monitoring the ship as she made her way towards the Sentani Expanse. The Betelgeusean Officer was uncertain as to why the Captain had elected to travel so slowly to the expanse when the ship could easily make it there in a much shorter period of time. Of course now they had been traveling for a week and a half, when the ship could very well have arrived at the assigned sector by now. While Xim found it curious, he did indeed trust that the captain had his reasons. Perhaps there was some sort of schedule that he was unaware of, or maybe there was a rendezvous somewhere in between the two locations. He had no sooner had that thought when one of the operations officers spoke up. "Sir, I'm detecting a Danube Class Runabout on an intercept course for us. It's identified as the Bentley" Xim turned to regard the operations officer. "put it on screen and hail them." "Aye sir." A moment later the Danube replaced the streaking stars at warp. "I have them sir." "On screen." The image of the runabout was replaced by that of a human woman of Asian descent. She was wearing the blue duty uniform of either sciences or Medical. "Runabout Bentley. This is the USS Rosenante. You are on an intercept course. Please identify yourself and your purpose." ------------------------- Day -3, 2332 Mission: Into the Darkness, Go I Day -3 Stardate: 2408.07.30 (USS Rosenante, Bridge - Gamma Shift Leader, Lieutenant Xim, Day -3, 2332) Xim listened intently as the Bentley responded. =^=I am Ensign Kimiko Ichijo with orders to report to Captain Salid of theUSS Rosenante and, at his pleasure, to join the crew.=^= ~At his pleasure?~ Xim thought, but did not voice it. Instead he paused fora moment before replying. "We will slow to impulse speed so that you may transport over Ensign. Pleasehave your orders ready when you arrive in the transporter room. I will send someone to meet you." "Rosenante out." Xim concluded and closed the channel. He spoke next to the CONN officer. "drop us out of warp and maintain current course and heading at full impulse. Once the Ensign has transferred aboard ship, resume previous velocity." "Aye, sir." Ensign Midas replied. Xim contemplated who to send down to the transporter room to meet the newly arrived ensign. He couldn't think of anyone better than Rosenbauer. He tapped his commbadge. "Xim to Rosenbauer" =^= Rosenbauer here.=^= the security officer replied. "There is a new transfer arriving in aboard ship soon. Please meet her in transporter room one. Check her orders and then show her to guest quarters until alpha shift tomorrow morning. Advise her that she is to report to the First Officer at 0900 tomorrow morning with her orders for assignment to her department." =^= Understood, Mister Xim. Rosenbauer out.=^= ------------------------- Day -3, 2335, 2343 Mission: Into the Darkness, Go I Day -3 Stardate: 2408.07.30 (Runabout Bentley- Ensign Kimiko Ichijo, Day -3, 2335) =^=We will slow to impulse speed so that you may transport over Ensign. Please have your orders ready when you arrive in the transporter room. I will send someone to meet you.=^= the lieutenant replied. Kimiko paused at the initial sight of the Lieutenant. This was the first time that she had laid eyes on a Betelgeusean. At his reply, Kimiko looked to the pilot and was about to instructed him to pull alongside of the Rosenante. =^=Rosenante out.=^= Her words were cut short by the cool glare of the pilot's share. ~What's his problem?~ she wondered, but smiled at him instead of showing any outward signs of displeasure. Once the runabout had taken up position as indicated, Kimiko grabbed her personal affects and assumed her position on the transporter platform. before she could tap her badge to inform the Rosenante that she was ready for transport, she felt the familiar tingle that indicated that they had already initiated the transfer. (USS Rosenante, Transporter Room , Ensign Kimiko Ichijo, Day -3, 2343) A few moments later Kimiko was standing on the transporter pad aboard the Rosenante, her personal affects were on the pad next to her. There were two others in the compartment. One was a young looking man, an ensign. His eyes were blue and he had short blond hair. He was smiling. It was apparent that he was the transporter chief. The other man was older. His hair was darker and this eyes seemed a little harder. His own rank was that of a senior ensign and Kimiko had the feeling that he had seen his fair share of action during the civil war. It was his eyes, they seemed to convey the strength that surviving such an encounter would entail. "Welcome to the Rosenante." the dark-haired man said stepping forwards. "I'm Mike Rosenbauer and this is Ensign Dawson." "Thank you for your welcome. Kimiko Ichijo requesting permission to come aboard." She replied. "Can I see your transfer orders please?" She smiled and extended the PADD that she was carrying to the man. "By all means." she added as Mike took the proffered PADD and scanned it. "Looks to be in order. " He commented as he returned the PADD to her. "I've been instructed to show you to guest quarters until your regular quarters are assigned to you. Also You will be required to report to the first officer with your orders at 0900 hours tomorrow morning. Commander Caskie will be expecting you and will give you further instructions at that time." Kimiko nodded. "Okay that sounds good. I'm beat. I've just been stuck on a runabout for way too long and could use some time to get settled." "Lead the way." she added with a smile. She followed the security officer through the ship and to her temporary assigned quarters. "Thank you." "You also. Have a nice night." she replied. The doors to her quarters opened and Kimiko was surprised by the opulence of the compartment. Granted it wasn't anything similar to the ones that she had stayed in at the Academy for the last four years of her life, but they were by far superior. She sighed with the knowledge that she wouldn't be staying here for longer than a single night. Come tomorrow, she'd be reassigned to more standardized quarters for an officer of her rank and position. But at least for one night, she was offered the chance to unwind in style. She dropped her bags on the floor near the bed and took a quick self-guided tour of the room. The bathroom was larger than her dorm room at the academy and that alone was enough to impress her. She had her own replicator as well, a luxury that was only permitted to squadron leaders at the academy. She took it all in for a moment, before deciding to do a little research on the ship which would be her home at least for the duration of her first duty tour. "Computer please transfer all deck plans for the USS Rosenante to my personal PADD, access number 224-566A. [Working.] the computer replied. ~now at least I won't get lost trying to find the FO's office in the morning~ she thought. "Shower time!" Kimiko stripped out of her clothes leaving a trail of discarded uniform articles as she made her way to the shower. A few minutes later, refreshed and dressed in a plush bathrobe that seemed to have been left specifically for her, she had grabbed her PADD and plopped down on the bed. She stretched out on the bed happily as she began to review the ship's deck plans. ------------------------- Day -3, 2336 & 2340 Mission: Into the Darkness, Go I Day -3 Stardate: 2408.07.30 (USS Rosenante, Deck eight Corridor, SO-Ensign Mike Rosenbauer, Day -3, 2336 & 2340) ~Usual boring corridor patrol~ Mike thought to himself as he continued his patrol sweep of deck eight. He was just reaching the turbolift to move down to deck nine when his commbadge chirped. =^=Xim to Rosenbauer=^= "Rosenbauer here." the security officer replied. =^=There is a new transfer arriving in aboard ship soon. Please meet her in transporter room one. Check her orders and then show her to guest quarters until alpha shift tomorrow morning. Advise her that she is to report to the First Officer at 0900 tomorrow morning with her orders for assignment to her department.=^= "Understood, Mister Xim. Rosenbauer out." mike replied as he closed the channel. ~About time something broke me out of those repetitive patrol cycles. Mike thought as he stepped into the turbolift to head for the transporter room. (USS Rosenante, Deck eight Corridor, SO-Ensign Mike Rosenbauer, Day -3, 2340) Mike stepped into the transporter room and was not in the least bit surprised to find ensign Dawson on duty. Regardless of the time of day, it always seemed that Dawson was on duty. The transporter chief didn't seem to have a regular set schedule and Mike wondered how the blond haired ensign managed to function coherently. "Evnin' mike." Dawson said as the security officer stepped into the room. "Hello Rich, how goes it?" "Oh, you know, same stuff different shift." he replied with a smile. Mike nodded. "I follow you. I was just having the same thoughts myself. We ready to transport over our new transfer yet?" Dawson nodded. "Yep. The Bentley has matched speed with us. I was just waiting for you to arrive." "Well I'm here so let's get this show on the road." Dawson smiled and activated the transporter. There was a hum of power as the transporter charged up and the transfer of Ichijo's body began to materialize on the transporter platform. A few moments later the transfer was complete and the Rosenante's newest crewmember was aboard her. Her personal affects on the adjacent pad. "Welcome to the Rosenante." Mike said stepping forwards. "I'm Mike Rosenbauer and this is Ensign Dawson." (reply Ichijo) "Can I see your transfer orders please?" (reply Ichijo) Mike took the proffered PADD and scanned them. "Looks to be in order. " Mike said as he returned them to her. "I've been instructed to show you to guest quarters until your regular quarters are assigned to you. Also You will be required to report to the first officer with your orders at 0900 hours tomorrow morning. Commander Caskie will be expecting you and will give you further instructions at that time." ------------------------- Day -2 0600 Mission: Into the Darkness, Go I Day -2 Stardate: 2408.07.31 (ISS Furious - Captains quarters, CO, Captain Saleke (MU) - Day -2, 0600) The Vulcan was sitting nearly naked on the side of the bed with his hands clasped before him in an attitude of contemplation or meditation with his index fingers touching, his eyes closed as he cleared his mind from the previous days events. Five men had been executed for their part in an assassination plot but only after an extended stay in the agonizer booth at its maximum non-destructive setting. Justice in this case had been swift but not gentle, they had been barely clinging to life when they were pulled from it bleeding from their ears, eyes, nose and mouth. After being awakened upon his orders with a stimulant they were then vaporized by an extended phaser blast... slowly and excruciatingly. While even the medical team of the ship had been taken slightly aback at the ruthlessness of the gesture it had been done with the utmost of logical reasoning, any who dared make an attempt on his life would be dealt with similiarly. Assassination attempts were nothing new to this CO, he had just been reactivated from an extended leave due to injuries suffered during the last, the attack in which his personal assassin Cassandra Dema had lost her life. Jason Dema his tactical officer had been driven to near insanity at his sisters death and had blamed the prone Vulcan who was lying on the deck bleeding profusely from the wound to his left side which was alarmingly near to his heart. Laying her head tenderly upon the deck he had then risen to a crouch with murder in his eye and lunged at Saleke who's phaser was still in his hand, he had been disintegrated into nothingness before he had made it near the captain. The scar from the dagger still remained, fortunately his previous ranking medical officer Dr. Trommashere had been loyal and stabilized him until the Hades had reached Geneva where extensive surgeries had saved his life. During his convalescent leave his ship had been given over to his old superior officer Devan Sash who had finally lost the Nimtz due to his lack of foresight. The conspirators had been members of a faction seeking to block Rodrigo Doenitz's rise to power and sympathized with the rebels he had been systematically putting down. Had events not been different Saleke himself might once have sided with them except for the appearance of the alter Devan Sash, the one from the Mirror universe. That Sash had called a meeting of officers loyal to the one in this universe and presented to them a challenge for a new future, one without the old empire that included a more civilized order and indeed it had come about. Those captains had thrown their support behind the now Regent Doenitz and had been paid back many times handsomely for that support. There were many of course who did not share the politics of Saleke and Captain Wolfe though, Tom Wolfe had himself been slain before the near successful attack on the Vulcan. There was a stirring in the bed which his mind noted but discarded, the stillness of the early hours was important to his focus on the days events, it was unlikely another attempt would be made this soon but one had to be prepared, until the officers on this ship learned beyond the shadow of a doubt that resisting him would lead to their deaths other incidences might very well arise. A soft hand upon the small of his back ran lightly up to his shoulders as the woman leaned nearer to him. He considered briefly whether he should break the offending wrist but decided otherwise, the punishment would be far out of proportion to the offense... no he would make her pay in other ways. The hand reached the topknot of dark brown hair tied at the top of his scalp as she leaned her naked body close against him. "So deep in contemplation already captain?" She whispered in his ear. He opened his eyes and was about to make a retort when the monitor on his desk flashed and several tones were heard. She quickly then dropped in order of importance, he pushed her away as he stood to his feet and moved to the desk. "Computer state the nature of the message and display." The screen activated then and the globe of Terra pierced by a dagger came in crisply. [Message from Admiral LaBeau of Command. Captains eyes only.] There was no warmth in his eyes as he turned his head toward her. "Get out now." "I have nothing on captain..." She stopped mid sentance at the dispassionate look in his eyes and cringed away, pulling the sheet from the bed to cover her form as she grabbed up her yoemans uniform and with head down hurried by him to the door, her exposed skin red from the embarassement of knowing everyone would be talking about her untimely exit from the captains quarters and her disheveled state. When the door had whisked shut behind her he spoke again. "Computer lock entry to these quarters except on my order." [Acknowledged, doors locked. Will open only at captains authorization.] "Play message." [Message decryption requires command code level 8.] "Computer," He said as he settled into the chair before the monitor. "Code Alpha, red, epsilon, nine, five, Beta, Indigo." [Authorization recognized] The screen changed then to the form of Admiral Henre Labeau who had received his promotion after the war against the old empire. Notable exploits during the war included driving off a Sovereign class vessel that had been loyal to the old order that had been trying to steal anti-matter fuel for its dying effort. LaBeau's successful gambit? Threatening to use the warhead built into his Defiant class ISS Alamo to destroy the anti-matter trawler and everything else in that sector of space through its detonation. The Admiral was wiry and his face lined by but he exuded a youthful vigor. =^=It's about time captain.=^= Saleke shifted his chin minutely in response. "The purpose of your message admiral?" LaBeau's eyes flashed at the response. =^=Be careful Saleke, your politics may kill you one day=^= Saleke didn't even bother to respond outwardly to the implicit threat. "My politics should not be your concern Admiral, only your own personal safety should the regent learn of your threats to my person which do not alarm me. I have survived numerous assassination attempts and seen to the deaths of those who were behind them, it would behoove you to remember this." His emotionless gaze locked with the enraged one of LaBeau for an instant. "Now admiral I ask you again, what is the purpose of this communication?" Henre knew when you hit a blockage it sometimes was better to go around than to blast your way through, argument here would only waste valuable time. =^=The Regent has issued orders that the Furious is to proceed to the Sunali system to search for the Rosenante, efforts to contact her have been unsuccessful after the testing of a new weapon against a Klingon, Cardassian fleet buildup in that sector. The Regent fears that her captain may plan to turn its use against the empire.=^= "I see." Saleke answered. "What is the nature of the weapon tested?" =^=That information is classified and may not be relayed over this channel.=^= The admiral answered. =^=But it will become apparent once you near Sunali space. Find the Rosenante and bring her in if you can, if not destroy her. She must not be allowed to use that technology against the empire.=^= "Understood." He replied flatly. =^=Admiral LaBeau out.=^= The screen went blank leaving Saleke free to make arrangements, he hit the com. "Helm set course for the Sunali system and engage at warp five. Prepare to increase speed when I get to the bridge." =^= Aye sir.=^= Came the answer crisply, one officer at least appeared to have learned a lesson yesterday. "I will be there in ten minutes, Captain out." ------------------------- Day -2, 1730, 1810, 1818 & 1825 Mission: Into the Darkness, Go I Day -2 Stardate: 2408.07.31 (USS Rosenante, Ready Room- CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid, Day -2, 1730) Finally the Rosenante's repairs were completed and his ship had left space dock. Ahmed had ordered a course set for the Sentani Expanse which bordered the Cardassian border. Ahmed's orders were to patrol a particular section of Federation border space butting against the Cardassian Union. It was a form of punishment for his decisions to have the ship nearly gutted and forcing the dock yards at Geneva Station to spend a solid three months putting the vessel back together. now Salid was sitting at his desk, looking over the encrypted response from the Vulcan Ambassador that Raschen had brought back with him, for the thirty third time. It wasn't a need to refresh his memory that brought him back to the message again and again, it was the tone of the message contained therein. Words and phrases such as, "The continued survival of the Federation as a civilization hangs in the balance," and "therefore logically, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one or few. This would logically dictate that any danger to your ship must be weighed against the danger to the Federation as a whole." These were strong words coming from a well-respected Vulcan Ambassador to the Dominion. And when you took the contents of this PADD and added it to the conversation that he had undertaken with a Dominion Vorta just a few short days ago, it painted a daunting and bleak image for the future of the Federation. Salid's orders were clear, he was to patrol the Cardassian - Federation border along the Sentani Expanse. There wasn't any real worry about Cardassian ship's coming over the border in force, or even that there would be any sort of border dispute. The sector had been quiet for months. the reports from the USS Coleridge had indicated that there was nothing really to do for the entirety of their eight month patrol tour, except scan and map gravitational eddies and cosmic debris fields. This wasn't a job for the Rosenante, she was an explorer and should be out there looking for new life and new civilizations, not mapping stellar dust in the most backwater portion of the frontier. Even as Ahmed sat contemplating the decision that he knew lay ahead of him, he wondered how the crew would react to his orders once it became clear that he was taking the ship off-mission. He had always thought that he knew them, that he could depend on them to follow unquestionably. But one thing that the civil war had taught them all was that unquestioned loyalty wasn't always a good thing, and if at least some of his officers didn't question his orders at some point along the way, he'd be sadly disappointed. Of course, if he was wrong and the data wasn't able to be substantiated, it wouldn't matter. He'd find himself in a Federation prison. But if there was any chance at all that the situation that he was beginning to unravel was even remotely possible, he couldn't see any other way to react. Perhaps there were enemies that had planned it that way. To draw him off mission and capture the Rosenante. That wouldn't be an impossible thing to plan and it had crossed his mind a few times. But if that was true, then there was a highly placed Dominion operative in the Federation Diplomatic Corps. Of course, if he took no action and it turned out to be true, the situation would lead to the very likely destruction of the Federation. It would be a destruction more complete and devastating than the Civil war had been, and in a sense it was a worse threat than the Borg, or any other crisis that the Federation had ever faced, throughout it tumultuous history. Was one man's career or his ship worth the risk of finding out that he was wrong? Or worse yet- finding out that the situation was a real issue after all? He had made up his mind a few days ago, and so there was nothing to do now, except follow through with his decision, regardless of the costs. The Rosenante was now far enough away from Star base Geneva to prevent any other ships from intercepting them, and so now was the time to make his move. (USS Rosenante, Bridge- CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid, Day -2, 1810) Nayati was sitting in the center chair when Salid stepped onto the bridge. Of all the officer's under his command, Salid knew that Nayati would be able to detect the deception in his aura the moment that he began issuing his commands. Still, there was no preventing that and Ahmed had made up his mind. Starship captains had to make the difficult decisions sometimes. And that often meant doing the things that no one else would or even could understand. Salid stepped over to the center chair and regarded his third officer. He was a good man and so Ahmed would do everything he could to protect him along with the rest of his officers and crew. "Mister Nayati, I have the bridge." he stated simply. Jon moved from the center seat to his normal position as ship's counselor. Ahmed assumed the center chair. V'Shera was manning the Tactical Station "Mister V'Shera." Ahmed said clearly. "Activate the HISS, bring all emissions controls on line and secure the ship from all outbound communications. No communications signals are to leave this vessel without my express permission. Is that clear?" Once the HISS was active and the emissions controls were in place, Ahmed issued his next order. "Mister Midas" he called out. "Set course for the Ikev sector, warp eight." Dralar was off-duty at this time, so Ensign Midas was on the CONN. He was a recent transfer to the Rosenante and Ahmed knew very little about him other than what was in his personnel file. Midas hesitated. "Was I unclear with my orders mister Midas?" "No captain." "Then carry them out." "Aye sir, setting course to the Ikev sector, warp eight." Midas replied as his finger's danced across the console. The Rosenante banked majestically as she accelerated away from her previous course. Ahmed stood from the center seat, "Mister V'Shera," he called, "call Mister Xim to the bridge to take command, then contact all department heads and their assistants to report to the observation lounge by 1900 hours for an emergency briefing. You will also be required to attend, as will Maddox and Haverstaadt. Let Commander Caskie and Lieutenant Sullivan know that I wish to speak with them right away in the observation lounge." Ahmed looked at Nayati and said, "Mister Nayati you're with me." Then led the way into the Observation lounge. (USS Rosenante, Observation Lounge- CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid, Day -2, 1818) The two men stepped into the quiet lounge and the computer, detecting their presence, brought the lighting up to normal illumination levels. "I know that you can tell that there is something bothering me and that I'm being secretive, so I'm not going to deny it." He said to the Counselor. "I can not explain this to you, but I need you to trust that I am doing the right thing." "There is something at stake here that is far greater than this ship and all the lives on it, that should be enough of a reason for now." Salid replied honestly. "If I am wrong, I want the crew to have deniability, and I'll tell you now I'd much rather be wrong than right this time." (USS Rosenante, Observation Lounge- CO, Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid, Day -2, 1825) The door to the lounge opened and Salid was pleased to see that Caskie and Sullivan had arrived together. "Yes." Ahmed replied, "I have something very important to convey to you both." He remained standing, now surrounded by three of his most trusted officers. They were his friends as well as his confidants. "I have taken the Rosenante off-mission without orders. I can not tell you why at this time, but I need you to trust that there is a very good reason for it. You both know that I do not place much faith in blind loyalty. It was that sort of thing that caused the civil war. I don't want any of you to obey my orders out of some obligation, but what I need is your trust, even if things seem difficult to understand. The situation is one that I can't explain to you right now, because it may be imperative that you have deniability. As it is, I'll probably be facing a review board for my dismissal if I am wrong about what's happening. But as I was telling the counselor, I'd rather be wrong than right in this one instance, regardless of the consequences." ------------------------- Day: -2, 1811 Mission: Into the Darkness, Go I Day - 2 Stardate: 2408.07.31 (USS Rosenante - Bridge – 30/CCOUNS Lt. (jg) Jon Nayati – 1811) Jon had manned the Center Chair for a boringly uneventful duty shift. The Rose was working well, thanks to the repairs she’d received at Geneva. The Rose’s sensors reported no hostile ships or time-space anomalies to worry about, or investigate. ~Yeah-. The bridge crew was in excellent spirits. From the cross talk that Jon heard from the center seat, most of his ship mates were happy to be back in interstellar space and working again. Sitting there, Jon heard the sounds of the Bridge doors opening. A moment later Jon heard the quiet, but familiar tread of the captain approaching him. Since there wasn’t much of anything going on in either inner or outer space, Jon rotated the leather captain’s chair just enough to be partially facing Captain Salid when he reached the Center Chair. Jon winced inwardly at the emotions he now saw in Captain Salid’s bright aura. Looking at Captain Salid, Jon saw that the visible colors of worry and concern had brighten considerably in the captain’s aura. Salid’s dilated pupils meant the captain‘s main attention was currently focused him, as was his worry and concern. "Mister Nayati, I have the bridge." Captain Salid stated simply. Jon stood up smartly and said, “You do indeed, Sir. So far.. the trip has been uneventful.” Captain Salid sat in center chair and Jon returned to the Rose’s third seat. ------------------------- Day: -2 - 1813 Mission; Into The Darkness, Go I Day: - 2 Stardate: 2408.07.31 (USS Rosenante – Bridge – ATAC Ensign (jg) V’Shera – 1813) Ensign V’Shera was at Tactical checking out various electronics and sub-routines of the duotronic systems she monitored or controlled. Every system that she was monitoring was responding at peek efficiency. While at her post, V’Shera heard the standard dialogue between the captain and the 30 as they exchanged CONN duty. Turning her head slowly from side to side, as though loosening a stiff neck, V’Shera caught a brief surreptitious look at Chief Counselor Nayati. V’Shera had been finding the flamboyant human 30 curious, and then curiouser, since he had begun serving on the bridge with her. Lt. Nayati was a short red human - who would never be able to look her in the eye. ~Unless I knelt down a little to look at him first, of course. Never happening, ever!~ He was considerably heavier than a Terran man – but was also far faster and stronger than any human male she’d ever seen in Star Fleet. After observing him fight the dreaded Hur’q on the Rose and the Bastion, the short 30 was a formidable foe. ~Both with or without weapons.~ He also possessed powers he called Spirit Gifts, which were actually psionic in nature. He was actually able to see the emotions of others, whether they are human or alien. ~Which made him threatening to a private person like me!~ It was also rumored that the wiry, short Chief Counselor was also a ranged telepath. ~Something almost never found in 24th century humans!~ Once she had heard that V’Shera was always sure that her thought sheilds were up in CCOUNS Nayati’s telepathic presence. ~My emotions are another story all together!. How can you hide your emotions from someone who can see them?~ V'Shera wondered. Though 30 Nayati was of both Terran and Native American ancestry he was neither – and more! ~That made CCOUNS Nayati attractive in an odd, atypical IDAC sort of way. It might be interesting to spar with him on the holodeck? Just to see how his – Necron Red – muscle, speed and martial arts skills stacked up against my Vulcan prowess and combat training. After all, I’ve been wanting a new challenge on the holodeck for quite awhile. Maybe he would like a strong, highly skilled sparing pardoner as well?~ V’Shera thought quickly to herself. Both the captain and 30 Nayati had seated themselves in their respective chairs. V’Shera had just returned to her head back to her Tact Station instruments when Captain Salid spoke. "Mister V'Shera." “Aye, Captain.Your orders, Sir?” V’Shera replied reflexively. All curiously disqideting thoughts of sparing with the NCR II 30 were abruptly snuffed out of V'shera's head like a faint, flickering candle. "Activate the HISS, bring all emissions controls on line and secure the ship from all outbound communications,” Captain Salid ordered. “No communications signals are to leave this vessel without my express permission. Is that clear?" There was no mistaking the urgency in her human captain’s strong voice. “Clear as crystal, Captain,” V’Shera replied. Her fingers moving as she spoke. “This Tactical to all ship’s crew, the HISS are to be activated at this time. Bring all emissions controls on line, now.” Various visuals nodes began to light up or change on V’Shera’s Tactical console. ~Everyone understood and everything was proceeding at maximum speed and optimal efficiency.~ Even as the Rose and its crew raced to comply with their captain’s orders, V’Shera continued to speak. “Attention all personnel and crew, no communication signals are to leave the Rose without the Captain’s express permission. This vessel is now on trans- com silence until further notice. All stations acknowledge these orders, now. Tactical, out.” Within brief seconds all the various duty stations acknowledged Captain Salid’s no communications directive. V’Shera’s tactical sensors blinked in to signal the HISS’s activation and all emissions controls having been now brought on line. Without turning to face either the captain or the 30, raised her voice to feed back level. “Captain, the HISS is active, emissions controls are now on line and all ship board personnel have been notified about being on trans-com silence. I've just engaged a preliminary lock-down of all transmission channels that can be used for off ship communication. Once you put in your authorization codes captain, no one will be to communicate off ship without your release codes first, Sir:” “Do you have any further orders, or questions, Captain?” ------------------------- Day -2, 1822 Mission: Into the Darkness, Go I Day -2 Stardate: 2408.07.31 (USS Rosenante, Main Engineering- CEO, Lt. Morrow & ACEO Rixx, Day -2, 1822) Mitena sighed and moved the log entries for a coupling replacement that had misclassified as a sync regulator recalibration. She added the error to her growing error compilation report. The repairs would have been impossible without the aid of the station personnel but having so many different people doing the entry on the maintenance logs did seem to increase the chance of errors occurring in the reporting. She'd been double checking repair log files for errors most of the day. While the task wasn't anything that she would have considered super exciting, it was most assuredly necessary. Three months from now she didn't want to have to question if the osmotic feed regulator in the secondary induction coil had been replaced during the repairs because there wasn't a supporting log entry that matched. Worse yet, she didn't want the Chief to have to question it. Last thing she wanted was to seem like she wasn't capable of pulling her own weight on her new assignment. A long morning had turned into a longer evening. Despite the fact that the ship was now well away from Geneva station, there was a massive backlog of Station Yard Engineering reports to go through. Every repair and component report had to be reconciled with the ship's master repair logs and this task was turning out to be more time consuming then even the CEO had anticipated. Still, Alimi was thankful for the assistance of two very skilled and competent Assistant Engineering Officers. Both T'Kron and Rixx were turning out to be excellent administrators and were running their sections efficiently. This was a good stroke of luck considering that Alimi would rather not micromanage anyone at all. He preferred to let his officers do their jobs without feeling that he was hovering over their shoulders all the time. He trusted them to do their job until such time as it was proven that they were not capable of doing so without his direct intervention. He was pleased to learn that thus far, he did not need to intervene. Mitena checked the time again. 1900 hours was quickly approaching and she didn't want to be late for the meeting that the captain had scheduled. As she tidied up her area in anticipation of leaving, an idea came to mind. ~No reason I should walk to the meeting alone.~ She thought. Mitena crossed to the Chief's office and stood in the doorway just a moment before speaking. As usual, the Chief looked to be deeply involved in reviewing the details of the display on his console. "Excuse me, Sir." She started, "I was just about to head to the meeting in the Observation Lounge and was wondering if you would care to walk with me." With a wide smile on her face she waited for his response. Alimi looked up from the master ship's status display in his office and saw the Bolian Engineer's infectious smile. He found himself liking her already despite the short time that he had known her and returned the smile. "Yeah, I think that's a great idea." he replied with a nod. "I'm starting to suffer from eye strain I've been at this for so long. How have the reconciliation of the repair logs been going?" he asked as he stopped leaning over the table. "There have been some discrepancies." She admitted with a slight frown. "But considering the scope of the repairs, not so bad. I should have a comprehensive report ready for you by the end of shift tomorrow." He groaned slightly as he stood up straight, placing his hands on the small of his back and arching it slightly to stretch the tight, overworked muscles. Alimi nodded. "Have T'Kron bring a copy of the engine diagnostics results to the meeting. I'll grab the ship's general status reports in case the captain asks, and by the time I'm done, we should be ready to go." He replied as he picked up a blank PADD and began the data transfer process. "I should also bring the final structural stability reports as well, I think. Better to be prepared then caught unawares." With a nod mostly to herself, she turned and headed toward T'Kron's station. "Lieutenant, we were preparing to go to the observation lounge for the meeting. Could you bring the engine diagnostics results?" "If you would like and are ready, you are more then welcome to walk with us to the meeting." Mitena said extending the offer. She hadn't had a chance to get to know the officer and hoped that he would take her up on the offer. Alimi completed the data transfer and stepped out into the Main Engineering bay, still smiling despite the long hours he'd put in. The compartment was still buzzing with activity as Engineers went about the continuing diagnostics and preventive maintenance routines that had to be done. The dual warp cores pulsed in rhythm and Alimi was still awestruck to see such perfection in such a complicated machine. No other starship possessed to active warp cores and that meant that he was the chief engineer of a vessel even more unique than just her particular quirks. Being the only vessel of her class aside, there were no real comparative elements between the Rosenante and any other class of starship serving in the fleet. Alimi noted Mitena and T'Kron and joined them as they headed for the meeting. "All set?" he asked as they headed for the turbo lift. ------------------------- Day -2, 1847 Mission: Into the Darkness, Go I Day -2 Stardate: 2408.07.31 (USS Rosenante, Ready Room- CMO, Lt. Aleesa Wyler, Day -2, 1847) ~The words emergency, senior staff and briefing~ should never be used in the same sentence.~ Alee thought as she stepped into the observation lounge. She wasn't the first officer to have arrived obviously, noting that at least the senior most staff on the ship had arrived before her. What disturbed her a little was that they were standing and discussing something in hushed tones rather than sitting at the table talking about something. ~Whatever is going on must be very serious~ she thought as she took a seat. She fought down the urge to question the captain and try to get the scoop on what was going on, since she knew that he would reveal it to her at the same time that he told the rest of the senior staff. She set a PADD down in front of her and reviewed the ship's medical stores one more time. It was a very complete list of all the medical supplies, equipment, drugs and other material that were assigned to the medical stores. Since she didn't know exactly what might be said, she had come as prepared as she could. After a while she stopped reviewing and watched as the other officers began to filter into the lounge. She regarded them each in turn, wondering if the anxiety that she was feeling was in any way reflected in their faces. To her dismay, she very much thought that it was. ~At least I'm not the only one.~ As the doors to the Observation lounge opened again, she noticed a very lost looking ACMO Ichijo enter. Alee waved her over and motioned to a chair next to her. "Hello Kimiko." She said as the woman took a seat at the table. Alee had met the woman just earlier today. She had just transferred aboard ship and already she was heading for an emergency staff meeting. There was something to be said for jumping into the service with both feet on your first official day of duty. "Getting settled into your quarters alright?" she asked. A few moments later, Lopez entered the lounge. He was right on the mark for the start of the briefing so he simply took is seat On Alee's left side. She noted that he was the last officer to arrive. She smiled at him as the captain cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. Those that had been standing took their seats. The briefing was about to begin. ------------------------- Day -2, 1859 Mission: Day: -2 Stardate: 2408.07.31 (USS Rosenante, Observation Lounge- COPS, Lieutenant Tom Jackson, Day -2, 1858) Tom Jackson entered the lounge and took a seat towards the back. Prior to arriving he has messaged Phil Sheridan and Robby Smith to join him early in the lounge. The two arrived and tom waived them over. This meeting,for some reason, set him on edge. For the life of him he could not determine why just that he experienced a feeling of pending danger. ~Thomas, you're being a worrier!~ he chided himself mentally. "Hello Robbie, Chief" Tom said to his two subordinates. ""Hello Sir" Sheridan replied. "Any idea what this is about Sir?" Sheridan asked. "No Chief, no clue" Tom replied honestly. The three sat back and waited for the session to begin. ------------------------- Day-2,1900 Mission: Into the Darkness, Go I Day -2 Stardate: 2408.07.31 (USS Rosenante, Observation Lounge- ACMO Ensign (jg) Sam Lopez, Day -2,1900) Sam got to the meeting on time and took a seat. Sam waited for the meeting to begin and he knew something was wrong.This was going to be a long mission with a lot a bumps along the way. This meeting is the start of long mission and not a happy mission. ------------------------- __________ NOD32 3994 (20090407) Information __________ This message was checked by NOD32 antivirus system. http://www.eset.com