============================== Mission: Where Fools Fear to Tread Day 5 Stardate: 2408.11.25 ============================== ============================== (USS Boudicca - Sick Bay - CEO Lt. Lorimar - 0937) He knew he needed to get his hand fixed, but it was still with hesi- tation that Bob followed Doctor Jahlen over to the treatment area. Fortunately, sickbay seemed fairly quiet... so much the better, as he didn't wish to explain himself to anyone. ~And a great deal drier as well... as compared tae the last time ah was here. Well, perhaps not *the* last time, but one of the last.~ He smiled slightly, almost starting to feel better. Then the throbbing of his hand started in again, and he was quickly reminded of his stupidity. The good Doctor returned, and set an instrument tray down next to the chair where he was sitting. "Nasty break, sir." She gazed into his eyes. "How did this happen?" He debated briefly whether he would tell her precisely what had happened, but he was sure it would be painfully (no pun intended) clear to a medical professional. He decided to tell the truth, at least partially. "Hmm. Sudden deceleration, following high speed and forceful impact with a sheet of duranium." He looked straight into her eyes, and before she could respond he finished it. "Ah punched the bulkhead in mah cabin Doctor... fairly hard it would seem. Bloody fool ah would say." (Reply Jahlen, Room for more) He stayed as still as he could while the Doctor began the repair on his injured hand. He half smiled at her, then spoke softly. "Nae medals for morons... ah wouldnae blame ye if ye refused tae treat me and told me tae suffer with it. But ah sincerely thank ye for your kindness... for this and the other times ah've had ye work on me. At least the other times were not really do tae mah stupidity, eh?" (Reply Jahlen, Any) (Posted by Russ) ********* (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - aCMO Ensign Dr. Jahlen - 0938) "Nasty break, sir." Dr. Jahlen gazed into his eyes. "How did this happen?" Jahlen had to ask him, it was department policy to find out how injuries occurred for record purposes as well as finding ways to lessen job related injuries. "Hmm. Sudden deceleration, following high speed and forceful impact with a sheet of duranium." He looked straight into her eyes, and before she could respond he finished it. "Ah punched the bulkhead in mah cabin Doctor... fairly hard it would seem. Bloody fool ah would say." "Most assuredly, sir." Jahlen agreed with the CEO's assessment of himself - as far as the broken hand was concerned he was a bloody fool. ~ For a remarkably brilliant engineer, it IS remarkably silly of him to punch a bulkhead! I wonder why he did that? ~ "May I ask WHY you punched a bulkhead, sir? It is a rather unusual thing to do." (Reply Lorimar, Room for more) He stayed still while the she began to repair on his injured hand. Starting with the bone knitter she ran it over it and half smiled at her, then spoke softly. "Nae medals for morons... ah wouldnae blame ye if ye refused tae treat me and told me tae suffer with it. But ah sincerely thank ye for your kindness... for this and the other times ah've had ye work on me. At least the other times were not really do tae mah stupidity, eh?" Jahlen softly chuckled, "I would hardly refuse to treat you, sir." She replied as she placed the bone knitter aside and manipulated his hand gently to make sure the machine had done it's job properly. Satified that all the broken bones in his hand were knitted she picked up the dermal regenerator and made several passes over his hand with it until she could see that the nasty bruising and swelling had subsided and his hand looked normal once more. She patted it gently. "There... All done! Please refrain from any further bulkhead punching!" (Reply Lorimar, Any) (Posted by Sal) ******* (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - CEO Lorimar - 0940) "May I ask WHY you punched a bulkhead, sir? It is a rather unusual thing to do." Bob looked up at Jahlen while she worked on his hand. He considered his response for a moment, then deadpanned, "Aye... you may ask." (Reply Jahlen iyw) He made a conscious effort to remain still while she worked the bone knitter and various other instruments over his hand. He had been treated often enough to recognize some of it, had seen some other items from equipment manuals and repair jobs. He knew the quieter and more still he remained, the better the results would be. After a moment, however, he did consider that the J'Nai physician might not get his sense of humor. Despite his self recrimination, he didn't wish to be rude to so nice a person. "Ah'd call it a regrettable loss of temper, Doctor. Sheer stupidity plus a rush of adrenaline... recipe for idiocy, aye?" (Reply Jahlen iyw) Sooner than he expected, the work on his hand was done. The dis- traction of conversation was partly responsible for that, he was sure. Jahlen patted his hand lightly. "There... All done! Please refrain from any further bulkhead punching!" He smiled sheepishly at her. "Aye... ah'll dae mah best tae use a bit of brain from now on. Ah thank ye for yer kindness Doctor." With that, he rose from the chair and touched her lightly on the shoulder with his undamaged hand. (Reply Jahlen, Any) (Posted by Russ) ******* (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - aCMO Jahlen - 0941) Jahlen smiled wryly when Lt. Lorimar responded to her asking him if she could ask him why he'd punched the bulkhead, with permission to ask. She should have expected it, but she knew he wasn't being sarcastic, more facetious than anything, still it was obvious she'd get no reason for his self-inflicted injury. ~ It had to be something pretty traumatic to bring out such anger in him. ~ She was still very curious but she continued diligently working on his hand without further talking until he spoke again. "Ah'd call it a regrettable loss of temper, Doctor. Sheer stupidity plus a rush of adrenaline... recipe for idiocy, aye?" "Yes sir," Jahlen agreed, "two ingredients that when combined, often do have negative outcomes." (Reply Lorimar iyw) Soon his hand was mended with minimum yellowish skin discoloration as if the bruising was several days old. Jahlen patted his hand lightly. "There... All done! Please refrain from any further bulkhead punching!" He smiled sheepishly at her. "Aye... ah'll dae mah best tae use a bit of brain from now on. Ah thank ye for yer kindness Doctor." With that, he rose from the chair and touched her lightly on the shoulder with his undamaged hand. The J'Naii doctor smiled gently at him. "I am always happy to see you sir, but preferably in social situations." Her soft smile turned into a beaming one and a hint of mischief twinkled in her eyes. "Does the bulkhead require any repairs?" (Reply Lorimar, Any) (Posted Sal) ******** (USS Boudicca- Sickbay- Ensign(jg) Hawkeye Dolphine- 1000) Once on board before checking in with Cmdr. ManyHorses, Hawkeye thought it a good idea to check in with Dr. Fickett, The CMO on board. He made his way from the transporter room to Sickbay to meet with Dr. Fickett and let him know that Hawkeye had arrived and was anxious to begin his work. As he entered Sickbay, he found Dr. Fickett at his work station. Hawkeye politely knocked on the glass window in front of the office next to the opening. "Excuse me, Dr? My name is Hawkeye Dolphine, I am your newest ACMO. I thought I should teport to you before heading to meet with Cmdr. ManyHorses." He extended his hand to the Dr. in order to greet his new boss appropriatley. From the bio he downloaded on the Dr. Hawkeye felt that he was going to enjoy his new posting. This would be a chance for him to show what type of physican and flight surgeon he could be. He was nervous as he had no idea what the Dr. had in store for Hawkeye. ~No matter what happens here Hawkeye, remember you are an advocate for your patients and for the health and safety of your new home. Never let fear get in the way of your clinical judgement and always provide the best care you know how to for your patients.~ Hawkeye thought to himself. (Reply Fickett) (Posted by Ben C.) ******** (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - CMO Lt. Louis Fickett - Day 5 - 1005) Louis leaned back in his chair and stretched mightily. He felt as though he had become glued to the chair, but it had been quite quiet in sickbay the last few days, and Louis had taken advantage of the lull to read through as much of the information on the Mithgiln as possible. Between the bioscans taken of the Mithgiln who beamed aboard, the scans taken of the living vessel by the away team, and the information the Mithgiln had forwarded about the budding epidemic on the planet to which they were now headed, he could easily spend the next month doing nothing but reading and analyzing data. A tap at the window startled him, and Louis turned to see an un- familiar face peeking in the doorway. "Excuse me, Dr? My name is Hawkeye Dolphine, I am your newest ACMO. I thought I should report to you before heading to meet with Cmdr. ManyHorses." The new officer extended his hand, and Louis took it and shook it warmly. "Welcome to the Boudicca, Doctor. I'm Dr. Fickett, the CMO, though I hope you'll call me Louis." He pushed some things around on his desk until he found the PADD that he had forgotten about until just now -- the one containing his new ACMO's records. "So, you're a thorasic surgeon by trade, but strong emergency skills too I see... very good! I could use a point person on emergency trauma, maybe you'll be it." Louis continued to scan through the bio. "Ah, from Philadelphia. You a Phillies fan?" he asked with a grin. (reply Dolphine) "Well, it's good to meet you. You might want to drop your stuff off in your quarters and then report in with Commander ManyHorses, unless you have any questions for me?" (reply Dolphine, any) (posted by Aaron) ******* (USS Boudicca- Sickbay- ACMO Ensign (jg) Hawkeye Dolphine- 1006) "I'll call you Loius if you call me Hawkeye." Hawkeye said, less nervous now that the ice had been broken. From his first impression, Hawkeye could tell that this would be a posting that he could get used to. "And yes I am a phillies fan, despite being from pittsburgh." He said with a smile. "Louis if you don't mind there is something i need to discuss with you. I hate to jump right inot business but this is something i think should be explored.I've been reading over the mission logs and offical recordings and I think I have a solution that both helps the societies below and absolves us of any breach of the Prime Directive. If you have no major objections I would like to disuccs this with all parties involved in todays noon staff meeting." Hawkeye handed the CMO a PADD with an outline of using 21st century medicine on a 24th century epidemic. "Theroretically, using P.O antibiotics circa Earth 2008 would allow treatment and control of the outbreak without giving either society advancements they could not handle. I would need to examine a few of the away team members that came in contact with both societies to scan for the virus. If I can subject it to 21st centurey antibiotics, we should be able to provide the chemical formula for the antibiotics without giving them any major advancement in their fields. We're talking medications and chemicals that already exisit on these surfaces. The administraion routes are no different then what they already have in place." Hawkeye sat back and observet Louis for any signs of consideration or rejection. He didn't want to come off overzealous or overstep his boundries, but he thought this would give his superiors an available way to stick to protocol and assist in preventing an epidemic at the same time. He hoped he would be allowed to present this theory at the staff meeting. (Reply Fickett) (Posted by Ben C) ******** (USS Boudicca- Sickbay- ACMO Ensign(jg) Hawkeye Dolphine- 1010) Hawkeye looked back at the man behind the desk. He thought for a moment before replining to the question about the phillies. "I'll make you a deal, I'll call you Louis if you'll call me Hawkeye." He said witha grin. "And yes I am a Phillies fan, despite being from Pittsburgh." He hoped that the sarcasim would be well met instead of taken as being hostile. "I was a paramedic on Earth before attending Medical School. If you need someothing or a point man on emergency trauma surgery or medicine under fire, I'll be more than happy to do what I can. Here's hoping however, we dont have to rely on those skills too often." From his first impression of Dr. Fickett, Hawkeye looked forward to working on board the Boudicca. "Louis I.m gonna head off towards my quarters and then report in to Cmdr. ManyHorses on the bridge. I was informed prior to my arrival that there is to be a noon staff meeting. I want to be somewhat coherent for this meeting after the two week space flight from Earth here. I need a coffee and a quick shower. I look forward to working with you in the future." With that Hawkeye headed out the door of the CMO's office and headed towards the bridge. (Reply Fickett) (Reply Any) ( Posted by Ben C.) ******** (USS Boudicca - Bridge - ACSO Carlyle Deston - 1048.5) The detailed scans of the system were well underway, when a curious report from Yalix caught Deston's attention. He absently modified his sensor feed to allow such data as was pertinent to enhance the astrogation feeds as he listened to the lieutenant. A few deft flicks of his fingers and he had a sidebar or Yalix's data; things certainly were unusual in the communications band- widths. Mention of the Prime Directive brought Deston's full attention on Lt. Yalix. "...Perhaps Mister Deston could confirm my readings with a more detailed analysis?" Ah. Time to put the detailed solar system analysis on hold; the data would wait for a more opportune time. Deston was on it; he diverted his sensors into a far more focused and detailed scan of the regions of interest. "Sensors confirm, sir; I find no evidence of power generation more advanced than a slightly modified nuclear fission process; virtually all power sources planetside are forms of turbine-electrical generation, some thermal- differential. No evidence whatsoever of fusion, ion or warp technology, aside from the Ellian, of course. All monitorable commu- nications involve radio-frequency E-M wavelengths, largely using ionospheric reflection techniques or direct-satellite relay. While it is possible that they may be employing secured transmission methods, such as fiber-optical transmission, the quantity of E-M leakage argues against those methods being primary ones." Wellllll..... this was going to be a puzzler. A puzzler, indeed. (reply any) (posted by John O'Neill) ******** (USS Boudicca - Bridge - M-CO Jerome ManyHorses - 1051) ManyHorses informed Marshal Wersh that the Boudicca would have to hide from the planet's inhabitants, which was the reason for the ship heading to remain behind the largest moon. "......We also may not be able to accompany you to the planet's surface unless we can find a way to do so without allowing the people there to know about us.=/\= Jerome was fervently hoping that Stolev would find a loophole in the directive that would enable them to still observe the Mithgiln and Dentarians, though at heart he doubted the FO would. Torias looked confused and asked why as he stood up and smoothed down his uniform coat. "The Federation has a prime directive that emphatically states that no starship may interfere with the normal development of any alien life or society, so unless we can find a loophole in the regulations etc. we must remain hidden from them." Torias still looked confused. =/\= I can't say I understand your directive, but I can't force you to help. We weren't expecting you to be here in the first place and our plans can go forward as if you weren't here. May I ask why you were allowed to initiate contact with us but you can't with the Dentarians? =/\= The Marshal asked calmly. With a nod of assent, Jerome told Torias about only being able to contact a new species if they had show they had warp travel technology. Wersh's demeanor and body language changed as he replied. =/\= I'm sorry, but that seems like a rather arbitrary set point. I know you didn't come up with it, but I still can't say I understand. I'm sorry, but I need to sign off, I need to prepare to contact planetary leaders, they're going to want to know what just flew into their orbit and why we're here. If you change your mind, please don't hesitate to contact us, I'm sure the Dentarians would be glad to know there are more than one friendly race willing to help them through this crisis, roaming the galaxy. =/\= Jerome signaled for the communication link to be severed. The Marshal's tone of voice and facial expression had distinctly denoted anger. The M-CO turned away from the view screen and shrugged. "Well...That didn't go well." He stated to nobody in particular as he returned to the command chair and sat down. "Frankly I am surprised by his reaction, anger was not a response I was expecting. Confusion yes, curiosity yes, surprise...yes, acceptance yes, but definitely not anger, it isn't as if we were going to be helping them with their work." It was Jerome's turn to be slightly confused. He turned to Stolev. "What do you make of that, number one?" (reply Stolev, any) "I think it's time to call a meeting. Have the senior officers convene in the Observation Lounge at...." He glanced at his wristwatch. "Make it 1200 hours and we'll have a lunch meeting." (Reply Stolev, all) (Posted by Sal) ******* (USS Boudicca - Bridge - Con/Ops Ensign Micheal Orion - 1053) Orion did has he was ordered quickly, proving that swift action was better than words. But just because his mouth what shut did not mean his ears where. Has the Boudicca moved behind the largest of the three moons, Orion's mind worked quickly on how they could side-step the prime directive. He knew it was a delicate matter and one that had to be approached with care. He wanted to be on the surface, wanted to continue his data collections that he had gathered while on the Mithgiln ship. True he kept to himself while the away team was away. But he was thought to learn by observing the worlds around him and to listen to the small comments and details that can give away the most profound insight. Indeed the first analysis from his tricorders seemed to prove most hopeful. ~ Maybe, just maybe...~ He allowed himself to think. ~ The prime directive said no federation starship, So what they needed was a group outside the federation, but still within federation space that would allow the crew of the Bouddica to act in protection and support of...~ His mind wondered at the possiblity, ever slim it was. The young ensign had many thoughts on his mind to occupy his time. For the first time since the death of his parents he pondered the ideal of sharing their reaserch with the rest of the command staff. If only they knew what laid with in the many locked and sealed PADD's in his quarters contained. ****** (USS Boudicca - Bridge - FO Cmdr Aleksander Stolev - Day 5 - 1054) Stolev was half-listening to the conversation between ManyHorses and the Mithgiln as he continued to look through the page after page of cases and rulings involving the application of the Prime Directive. =/\= I'm sorry, but that seems like a rather arbitrary set point. I know you didn't come up with it, but I still can't say I under- stand. I'm sorry, but I need to sign off, I need to prepare to contact planetary leaders, they're going to want to know what just flew into their orbit and why we're here. If you change your mind, please don't hesitate to contact us, I'm sure the Dentarians would be glad to know there are more than one friendly race willing to help them through this crisis, roaming the galaxy. =/\= At this, ManyHorses signaled for the communication link to be severed. He then turned away from the view screen and shrugged. "Well...That didn't go well." He stated to nobody in particular as he returned to the command chair and sat down. "Frankly I am surprised by his reaction, anger was not a response I was expecting. Confusion yes, curiosity yes, surprise...yes, acceptance yes, but definitely not anger, it isn't as if we were going to be helping them with their work." He turned to Stolev. "What do you make of that, number one?" Stolev looked up from the console and regarded the M-CO, weighing the issue in his mind. "Well, I can certainly understand their intentions. But I can't say that I agree with their methods. I get the feeling this isn't the first time they've intervened like this, and can only assume they haven't yet realized any of the potential disastrous consequences of doing so." He turned to look back at the view of the Shonora as it approached orbital position. "If what we've been able to observe about this planet's inhabitants is any indication of their overall planetary evolution, they are not ready for this yet. They probably still have people who would believe that the Mithgiln are deities of some sort." With a small sigh, he looked back at the M-CO. "Even if we can find some justification for assisting them, I'm not convinced that we should." "I think it's time to call a meeting. Have the senior officers convene in the Observation Lounge at...." ManyHorses glanced at his wristwatch. "Make it 1200 hours and we'll have a lunch meeting." Stolev nodded. "Agreed." He then tapped a quick message to all senior officers, informing them of the meeting, and sent it off. After a moment of thought, he surreptitiously tapped up another quick message, this one a private message to Captain Rivers. In it, he informed her of the change in nature of the mission, and told her about the meeting at 1200, intimating his slowly growing belief that the M-CO was in over his head. He quickly pressed send before turning the display back to the prime directive information. (reply All) (posted by Aaron) ******** (Shonora Ellian - Bridge - Chief of Security, Sangel Freya Fenrisúlfr - Day 5 - 1055) Freya heard and watched the exchange of words between the Marshal and Manyhorses, in speechless surprise. Not surprised by the news that Manyhorses brought but rather the harsh nature of the Marshal Torias. It was clear he was angry but he above all should of know the delicies of the dipolmatic situation they were in both with the newly dicovered federation and the aid mission they were about to partake. She averted her eyes from the Marshal before going to her console, shaking her head at the Marshal's action. But it could of also been a number logical problems that such a mass aid mission could involve. It seemed ever since they returned from the Boudicca, Freya was faced with one security nightmare after another. The main problem that burned in her mind now was. ~ How can we distribute our supplies to such a large populas and still keep a firm hand on security and keep the medical teams safe?~ But her mind kept comming back to what Manyhorses told them. That they had a prime directive that prevented them from intervining. She did not think this Federation of planets dumb or inept. If such a directive exsisted maybe it would help there own efforts to learn more about it. She felt sorry for Manyhorses how lost might he feel right now and how much damage was done to there own diplomatic efforts. (reply any and all) (posted by Matthew Locke) ********* (USS Boudicca - Bridge - aCEO Ensign (Jg) Anton Gesar - 1057) Anton walked onto the bridge. He had to admit to himself it was quite overwhelming. This was no simulation, this was not the holodeck. This was the real deal. Remembering where he was Anton looked around. It would not do for him to be seen gawking on the bridge of the ship he is now stationed on. He asked one of the bridge crew on duty to point out Commander ManyHorses. Anton approached, "Commander ManyHorses, Ensign Junior Grade Anton Gesar reporting for duty. I am your new Assistant Chief Engineering Officer." (Reply Commander ManyHorses) (Posted by Oleg Kislyuk) ******** (USS Boudicca - Bridge - M-CO Jerome ManyHorses - 1058) ManyHorses tried to take his mind off his disappointment by also searching the records for anything related to first contacts that had occurred before his time, for a way to complete the mission how he wanted it completed - by learning more about the Mithgiln and their ways. He was engrossed in reading when a voice distracted his attention. "Commander ManyHorses, Ensign Junior Grade Anton Gesar reporting for duty. I am your new Assistant Chief Engineering Officer." Looking up he saw a young, red-haired, stocky man standing before him. Jerome stood up and taking Anton's right hand, shook it in a firm, friendly manner. "Welcome aboard the Boudicca, Ensign Gesar. Be advised that I am only acting as Captain on a temporary basis for this specific mission. Nothing much is happening at the moment but we are going to have a working lunch meeting in the Observation Lounge at 1200 hours. You are welcome to attend but don't feel obliged. Meanwhile I suggest you get settled into your quarters and then report to your department head, Lieutenant Lorimar." (reply Gesar) Jerome smiled to the young man and gave him a nod, then sat down again to finish his reading. (reply Gesar, Dolphine, any) (posted by Sal) ******* (USS Boudicca - Bridge - ACEO Ens(Jg) Anton Gesar - 1058.5) "Welcome aboard the Boudicca, Ensign Gesar. Be advised that I am only acting as Captain on a temporary basis for this specific mission. Nothing much is happening at the moment but we are going to have a working lunch meeting in the Observation Lounge at 1200 hours. You are welcome to attend but don't feel obliged. Meanwhile I suggest you get settled into your quarters and then report to your department head, Lieutenant Lorimar." "Thank you sir, I will report to Lieutenant Lorimar as soon as possible." Anton nodded to Commander, turned and headed for the turbolift. ********* (USS Boudicca - Personal Quarters - Captain Susan Rivers - Day 5 - 1100) Susan had not been happy to be replaced as commanding officer for the mission. It had happened to her once before, but the circumstances had been rather different. Admiral Aragorn had been her first CO and the first CO of her then command, the Nimitz. The mission they had undertaken then had been what Susan had always privately considered the starting point of the civil war, at least for her and her crew. For others, including Aragorn, the fight had started earlier, but Susan counted her personal involvement as dating from that mission. And it had been a personal involvement, for her at least. 'Forgive and forget' was not a credo she had been brought up to subscribe to, nor was it one she chose to embrace in adult life. So when Captain ManyHorses was placed in command over her head, she had been reminded of many things she had much rather forget. Nevertheless she had accepted the situation with as much outward grace as she could manage in the circumstances, although she had no doubt Stolev and anyone else who knew her well wouldn't be fooled. She had opted to keep out of the way as much as possible; there could only be one captain and for the good of the ship and the mission she had no intention of dividing the loyalties of her officers and crew. She had spent the last few days in her quarters catching up on the latest archaeological reports from various interesting sites, not least that being investigated by Aragorn and his team, and playing with Luisa - something she got all too little time to do, she told herself firmly when she felt herself getting bored with the umpteenth retelling of the Billy-Goats Gruff, Luisa's favourite mini-holostory at the moment. And when you're 16 months old, a favourite story needs to be told over and over and over and over and ... [… so Middle Billy-Goat Gruff went clickety-clack over the rickety bridge to the lush green meadow on the other side of the river,] the unseen holo-narrator said, alongside the image of a rather tubby but allegedly middle-sized goat trotting over a bridge which indeed did look so rickety that one was surprised that even Little Billy-Goat Gruff (who was a cute little kid that reminded Susan of Arania's pet) got across safely. [And then -] And then, perhaps fortunately for Susan's sanity, the computer's message alert sounded. [You have] micropause [one] micropause [new message] Leaving Luisa to listen enthralled to the rest of the story that she had already watched at least five times that morning, Susan went quietly over to the terminal in the corner of the room and accessed her message from Sasha. ********** (USS Boudicca - Personal Quarters - Lieutenant jg Denise Lebranski - 1107) *SNEEZE!* "Wook Shadow," Denise said again, "I don't wightly carwe how sick da doctors fink I am. I ams no wonger contagious. I ams no wonger gonna gets anybody elses sick so I cans go back to-- " Another rapid fire sneeze, followed by three of its friends, " -- work! So sends me da damn sit reports!" She sneezed twice more while she waited for Shadow to reply. "No." the Siaovan finally said with a hint of steel to her usually meek voice. "That is the Captain's discretion." Denise managed to limit her scream of frustration to *after* signing off with the stubborn felinoid. She flumped back on the bed and pulled her pillow over her face. She was sick of her quarters. No matter how plush officers had it, it was still the same four bloody walls when not even the doctors had been enthusiastic to take their chances with a mutated virus that acted like the flu in all its glory but happily ignored all anti-viral medications. She decided she'd had enough. She wasn't going to be bossed around by some enlisted person, no matter how wonderfully important said enlisted person was to the ship. Denise should know, *she'd* had the job elsewhere until Captain Sash had gotten all creative. She flung off the pillow and tossed her covers away. Her room smelled funky. She smelled funky. For the first time in days she actually had an appetite and belief that dinner wouldn't come back for an encore. She wished she could claim a quick march to the bathtub, but it was more of a slink and sneeze. But she'd get clean, she'd get a uniform, and she'd go back to work before she went nutty. A pause. A sneeze. Well, okay, nuttier. ********* (USS Boudicca - Personal Quarters - ACEO Ens(Jg) Anton Gesar - 1110) Finding his quarters was easy. Anton dropped his bags and wasted no time heading for the sonic shower, he would have plenty of time familiarizing himself with his quarters. Changed into a fresh uniform after the quick shower, he was ready to go. Lunch would have to wait. Anton sat at the computer station at the desk in the office part of his quarters. "Computer, display current mission logs and status." The information appeared on the display. "Download to this PADD." Anton set a PADD next to the station. =/\= Transfer complete =/\= Anton picked up the PADD and headed out the door as he began familiarizing himself with the current mission. ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - Con/Ops Ensign Micheal Orion - 1140) Orion skipped out of Lunch only partaking a replicated plate of sucici and some green tea, he made his way into the Observation Lounge. This time he was the first to arrive, which he only found fitting since he was almost late to the last away mission. He found his chosen chair near the center of the table and preceded to eat his meal in the peace and silence of the lounge, with a most lovely view of the alien moon out side the lounge's large windows. (posted by Matthew Locke) (reply any) ******** ( USS Boudicca- Main Bridge- Ensgin (jg) Hawkeye Dolphine-1141) It had taken Hawkeye weeks to arrive from the academy to the Boudicca. In the time he traveled from Earth to his present location, he tried to make himself familiar with ship specifications. He knew it was going to take him a while to figure out where everything was. He had spent weeks on the runabout coming from earth to his new posting as an ACMO on board the Boudicca. He was looking forward to serving on board. He felt anxious to get back into the office. He spent four years at the academy and felt out of touch with the art of practicing medicine. Before he left Earth, he spent time with family and friends before taking this long journey. He knew there was a possibility that it would be a long time before he was back on Earth. Sure he was going to keep contact through letters and subspace messages, but it wont be the same for him. His attention focused back on to where he was going. The turbolift opened in front of him and he stepped inside."Main Bridge" he ordered to the computer. He spent time on the runabout bringing himself up to speed on the current course of events on board the Boudicca. Before he left Admrial Jopek had given him a PADD containing current mission information of the Boudicca. The turbolift came to a halt, and the doors opened in front of him. He was nervous stepping off the turbolift onto the main bridge. He headed towards the observation lounge. The last thing he was told was to report to Cmdr. ManyHorses before entering the observation lounge to attend a staff meeting. ~So much for coming on board and checking out my new place of employment before getting thrown to the wolves as it were.~ Hawkeye thought to himself. He saw Cmdr ManyHorses near a computer console reviewing a PADD before going into the staff meeting. ~It's now or never~ Hawkeye thought to himself. He straightened out his tunic, took a deep breath and walked over to Cmdr. ManyHorses. "Excuse me, Cmdr? I'm Ensign jg Dolphine, your newest ACMO. I was told to report to you upon my arrival on board the Boudicca." He said to Cmdr ManyHorses, extending a hand towards the man to greet him. (Reply ManyHorses) (Posted by Ben C) ****** (USS Boudicca - Bridge - M-CO Jerome ManyHorses - 1142) Around 1142 hours Jerome decided it was time he went to the Obser- vation Lounge, so he got out his PADD to review who was supposed to be attending the meeting as he stood up to leave, and informed the FO where he was going. As he turned to walk away another young officer approached him. "Excuse me, Cmdr? I'm Ensign jg Dolphine, your newest ACMO. I was told to report to you upon my arrival on board the Boudicca." He said as he extended his hand towards ManyHorses. Jerome grasped his hand firmly and shook it. "Glad you are aboard, Doctor. Your immediate superior, our CMO is Doctor Fickett to whom you should also report and I am only a temporary CO for this current mission, the ship's regular Captain is Captain Susan Rivers. However we will be having a meeting for all senior staff at 1200 hours in the Observation Lounge but as you are newly aboard I will give you the choice of whether you will attend or not. You may want to settle in to your quarters first and have a tour around the ship." (reply Dolphine, any) (posted by Sal) ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ATT- Lt. Cmdr. Matthew McLaren - Day 5 - 1144) Matthew stepped into the Observation Lounge without a single idea about what was going on. It was rare these days that anyone on the bridge bothered to invite him to the senior staff meetings. He was normally simply allowed to continue on with his research unimpeded. If there was a need for his expertise he was usually approached by Bob. And then it was usually to help solve a specific engineering problem that had cropped up. As he stepped into the Lounge, it struck Matthew exactly how much he actually missed being the ship's chief Engineer. he could remember the innumerable meetings and briefings he had attended in this room. He took a seat after replicating himself a roast beef sandwich and a glass of sweet tea. He had been told that it was a working lunch, although he still had no idea exactly what it was they were working on. He imagined that he'd find out soon enough. He took note of the man that assumed the command position at the head of the table. Manyhorses, he had been told was the Mission CO for the first contact with the Mithgiln. He'd met him briefly at the mixer where they had hosted the Marshal and some of his people. An interesting people, but Matthew inwardly had reservations about Manyhorses' ability to follow through with the mission. Something import had come up and the fact that they were having a briefing could indicate that the Commander could be in over his head, although it could just as likely prove otherwise. Matthew had brought a PADD along that contained all the notes on the Mithgiln technology that he had been able to glean from the visiting delegation. He had also added some notes about society, and anything else that he could remember in case it should suddenly become important. After a quick review of the scant notes he had collected, he placed the PADD on the table and took a bit of his sandwich as he waited for the briefing to begin. (reply Any) Daniel Greene ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - 2O/CCOUNS/Lt.Cdr. Dorga 'cha Nooras - 1145) With a nod to Ensign Orion who was eating his lunch, Dorga strode over to the replicator and ordered a cosmic sized iced cappuccino and a ham and swiss on rye bread with a side of potato chips, then took her seat near the head of the table. She sat down and pulled out a PADD, sipped her drink and took a big bite of her sandwich then settled down to text into her the PADD. Typing in the stardate she began her log entry. ==== Two days ago we made first contact with a race that call themselves the Mithgiln. They are remarkable beings with a caste based society similar to what the Bajorans had, each caste having specific tasks such as Warrior, Scholar, Worker etc. with a specific colors that denote their caste. They are fascinating!! The Boudicca hosted seven of their people for a buffet dinner and tour of our ship and the Mithgiln reciprocated by accepting seven of our people. The parties were a great hit and new friends were made. I even got to communicate with their living ship Shanora Ellian briefly. That was something I will never forget, he's a gentle creature who loves the people to whom he is symbiotically connected. The Shanora and Mithgiln have grown to depend on each other over the centuries. Marshal Wersh, the leader of the Mithgiln crew, invited us to accompany them on their mission to Denantis Five to observe them while they give medical aid to the inhabitants of the planet. Believing that the inhabitants were a warp capable people, the M-CO agreed to do so, much to everyones' delight. However as we drew close to the planet, long range scans showed that the inhabitants are only technically advanced to the equivalent of Earth circa 21st. century. Upon being advised of this by Lt. Yalix, Captain ManyHorses imme- diately ordered the ship be hidden behind the largest of the planet's three moons, and informed Marshal Wersh who displayed annoyance at this change. I am now seated in the Observation Lounge at 1148 awaiting the start of a meeting he called for 1200, in which I am certain he will be brain storming in hopes of finding a way for us to participate with the Mithgiln after coming all this way to do so. Naturally I am sure that everyone else is just as disappointed as I am at this moment, and as eager as I am to find a solution to this dilemma. ==== Dorga saved her entry and put the PADD away, exchanging it for another which she would use for the meetings notes and then began to eat her lunch in earnest trying not to crunch the chips to much and pausing now and then to give a smile and nod to each of the o fficers who entered after her. (reply any) (posted by Sal) ********* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ACEO Ensign (Jg) Anton Gesar - 1145.5) Anton waited outside the door of the Observation Lounge, figuring that it was probably best to catch Lieutenant Lorimar on the way into the meeting. Anton saw him and approached. "Lieutenant Lorimar, I'm Anton Gesar. I've been assigned to the Boudicca as your ACEO, here are my orders," Anton handed the Lieutenant the PADD. (Reply from Lt.Lorimar) Anton followed the Lieutenant into the Observation Lounge. He elected to pick a more non-conspicuous seat. One where he was visible enough had he the urge to speak up about something and at the same time invisible enough to where he could simply observe. This was the time to observe. He was new, did not know the hierarchy of the ship. Granted he knew the chain of command but that didn't always tell the full story. Each captain is different. One might lead by example, another by delegating, one by micromanaging, you can't know unless you observe. How easily such lessons come to bare. Things that have been drilled into his mind since he was a small boy. Anton never hated the lessons his father forced him to participate in. Which is not to say he enjoyed them. But Boris had given him a life and a home and out of respect Anton never complained. It is perhaps why he choose engineering rather than being a tactical officer. As a tactical officer he would for- ever be trying to live up to the standards left by his father. The meeting began and it drew Anton out of his personal musings. (Reply Lorimar, Any) (Posted by Oleg Kislyuk) ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - AOPS- Lieutenant Tollian Yalix - Day 5 - 1147) Tollian stepped into the observation lounge prepared to answer some difficult questions concerning the Prime Directive and how it applied to the current situation. One thing about being a first contact specialist, you were extensively trained in the interpretation, law and regulations associated with the Prime Directive. You studied every aspect of the rules. Tried to define ambiguities and were constantly taught to question every aspect of a first contact situation in it's context to that singular directive. The sad and sorry fact of the matter was that they may have already broken the prime Directive when they interacted with the Mithgiln. The defining factor was a single choice of words found in the directive itself. Tollian could recite the directive from memory. ~As the right of each sentient being to live in accordance with its normal cultural evolution is considered sacred, no Starfleet per- sonnel may interfere with the normal and healthy development of alien life and culture. Such interference includes introducing superior knowledge, strength, or technology to a world whose society is in- capable of handling such advantages wisely. Starfleet personnel may not violate this Prime Directive, even to save their lives and/or their ships, unless they are acting to right an earlier violation or an accidental contamination of said culture. This directive takes prece- dence over any and all other considerations, and carries with it the highest moral obligation. ~ The real question wasn't simply a matter of the development of warp drive, that was only one generally accepted marker used as an indicator. In fact, Tollian knew of several studies in which the prime Directive was applied to technologically advanced cultures, those that had already developed warp drive, where interaction was deter- mined to have the potential to destroy the fabric of a specific culture or to alter or even stunt the natural cultural evolution of the species in question. The real problem lie in the sense of ambiguity layered in the wording of the Directive. Who determined if the information, strength or tech- nology would interfere with the natural development of a specific culture? Two people could very well have different opinions about the very same culture, even when presented with the same data. The problem was subjective as was the answer. So the answer was based on Opinion and not fact, therein lay the real problem. Tollian knew that they would not be able to truly answer the problem that lay before them, not when the best minds in the federation were still arguing over this very directive since it's inception. As for the Mithgiln, they had obviously not developed warp drive on their own, indeed they stumbled upon it through their quasi-symbiotic relationship with the Shonora. This singular event had altered their cultural development, which was then leading them to do the same for other cultures that surrounded their immediate vicinity of space. Certainly they had the best of intentions. No one wanted to watch a species suffer from a potentially debilitating disease when they could prevent such suffering. Yet, the history of the Federation proved that the best of intentions had a terrible way of proving more damaging than the initial problem that had caused them. Tollian took a seat, too absorbed in his thoughts to even consider replicating something to eat. He had a distant look in his eyes as he contemplated the various scenarios, weighed them against the possible outcomes for intervening, and also considered the historical precedents that had been seen that were similar in nature. He sat gripping the PADD in his hand, thinking and waiting for the meeting to begin. (reply any) Daniel Greene) ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - TAC/SC Lieutenant(SG) Detron Trei - 1148) Detron left his seat and went over to where Dorga was sitting. He stood at her seat and asked her a question. "I am curious about the contact you had with Ellian. How would you describe your experience?" Detron waited for Dorga to respond. (Reply Dorga) (Posted by Edward) ********* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - 2O/CCOUNS/Lt.Cdr. Dorga 'cha Nooras - 1148.5) Detron left his seat and came over to Dorga where he stood at her seat and asked her a question. "I am curious about the contact you had with Ellian. How would you describe your experience?" Dorga looked way...way up at him. "Why don't you sit down and I'll tell you what I can before the meeting starts, otherwise you'll give me a crick in my neck looking all the way up there!" She said, giving him a dimpled grin. "Okay! As you know the Guardian took me to Ellian's command deck. When we got there the Guardian stood on a special raised platform and contacted Ellian to ask him if he was willing to link with me telepathically and he gracefully agreed... Anyway, I was asked to stand on the platform and told it would make contact quicker and shown where I could touch Ellian, so I did so and I didn't even have to open my mind to him, instantly we connected, telepathically and empathically. It was as if I was a part of him. I could feel how he was feeling and I could see things as he saw them and it was both beautiful and very different, he doesn't see space as we do, the things in space are like gems of multi hues and he sees things that we cannot see yet they are there! Quite fascinating and amazing! He's like a lone buffalo on the prairies when the native indians were still hunters and gatherers, before they were influenced by the Europeans. He is at one with space a part of it yet apart from it and his love for his crew is so pure, so strong it was almost overpowering! There really are no words to describe the experience of linking with Ellian. I guess the closest I can get is that it was profound and I am so glad that I had the chance." (reply Trei iyw) (posted by Sal) ******* (USS Boudicca- Observation Lounge- ACMO Ensign(jg) Hawkeye Dolphine - 1149) Hawkeye decided it would be a good idea for him to attend the staff meeting in the observation lounge. This would be a good way to be brought up to speed on the events onboard. He still had concerns about what he noted in current mission logs and available records detailing the first contact, but would wait to talk with the CMO about his concerns. In the mean time he would sit back and listen. This was also a good way for him to meet some of the other officers he would be serving with on board. He walked over to the replicator and ordered his lunch. " One roast beef on an onion bagel, lettuce tomato and sundried tomato mayo and a coffee, black" he ordered to the computer. Within moments he took his lunch from the replicator and found an open chair near the rear of the obs lounge. He sat down reviewing his notes on his PADD and found himself lost in thought. ~Why do I get the feeling this is going to be a long day?~ Hawkeye thought to himself. He started his carrer in Starfleet by hitting the ground running. ~Not a bad way to start~ he thought. He was used to being busy. When he was a Paramedic on Earth, most of his shifts started with bad calls at the very beginning. He wasn't exactly sure what to expect from today's staff meeting. To say he was nervous would be an understatement. But he didn't let that show. Better to appear confident then let fear run his every decision. As he looked around he saw a conglomeration of Science officers, Engineers, Operations officers and Command line officers. He took a deep breath and resumed his train of thought. As he was reading he heard the lounge doors open and noticed a woman wearing the rank of Captain walk in the room. ~I guess its time to pay attention now~ (Reply any) (Posted by Ben C.) ******* (USS Boudicca -Outside the Observation Lounge - CEO Lorimar - 1150) Bob was headed into the meeting a few minutes early. As he rounded the turn of the corridor he saw an eager looking young officer in OPS/Engineering gold. He was about Lorimar's height, and had the look of someone with a purpose in mind. As he approached, Bob was about to inquire but the other officer beat him to the punch. "Lieutenant Lorimar, I'm Anton Gesar. I've been assigned to the Boudicca as your ACEO, here are my orders," he said as he handed Bob a PADD. Lorimar scanned the orders quickly. He was annoyed that he hadn't gotten any heads up in the daily housekeeping communications about having a new officer assigned aboard, but didn't let his irritation show. He shifted his own PADD to his left hand and extended his right to shake with Gesar. "Welcome aboard the Boudicca lad. Ah've nae had a chance tae read your service jacket as yet, but we can have a chat after the meeting alright? Any questions before we enter the Lion's Den?" He finished with a grin as he look the new arrival in the eye. (Reply Gesar, Room for more) After they finished their exchange, Bob led the way into the OL. ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - CEO Lt. Lorimar - 1152) Bob made the meeting his customary few minutes early, and was slightly surprised to see the majority of the officers already present. He politely nodded at any who glanced in his direction, then placed his PADD down in front of his customary seat. He walked to the replicator and debated what to order. He settled on hot coffee, looking forward to wrapping his no longer injured hand around the mug to absorb its warmth. That and the delightful taste of the coffee itself, of course. He glanced out the viewports and briefly studied the large moon they were orbiting. He couldn't be certain, but it seemed they were in a geosynchronous orbit, which he found odd. Either they were studying something or hiding from something. He had no idea which, but he presumed that the briefing/meeting would soon clear that up. He pulled his gaze back inside the room, and saw Dorga and Detron in conversation, so he opted not to bother them. Yalix appeared pre- occupied; as did Orion with his meal. The only one that wasn't obviously engaged was Matt, so Bob walked over to him. He gave his friend a closer look, and thought he could detect the faintest hint of irritation. He knew his former boss to be the consum- mate professional and as such he would never let anything personal interfere with his duty. Still, it was odd. Perhaps he would open up if he had a chance? Lorimar placed his hand lightly on McLaren's shoulder and greeted him with a grin. "Hello Commander. How are ye this fine day? And did ye get the test results on the runabout engines that ah sent ye sir?" (Reply McLaren, Any) (Posted by Russ) ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ATT- Lt. Cmdr. Matthew McLaren - Day 5 - 1152.5) "Hello Commander. How are ye this fine day? And did ye get the test results on the runabout engines that ah sent ye sir?" Bob's voice sounded nearby as the junior man placed his hand on Matthew's shoulder. Matt turned his head and looked at his friend. he frowned then gestured to the empty chair next to him. "Well enough I suppose. I'm just feeling a bit under whelmed I imagine." He replied, pausing for a moment to take a sip of his tea before continuing. "I got the test results. They look good for simu- lations, but they're only simulations." He shrugged. "We won't really know how the Lorimar will perform until we put it to the test in the field as you know. I did notice a slight alpha band spike at the warp three point five to three point six threshold." Another shrug. "I'm not sure if it's an imperfection in the model or if there is actually a spike there. I haven't been able to track down it's cause yet, but I'm guessing it's going to lead me back to the electro-plasma relay switches in the attenuation chamber housing." (reply Bob iyw) "So I'm curious, what's the meeting about? I hate to say it, but the bridge doesn't seem to take much time to let me know what's going on anymore. I mean I wouldn't even have made it to the mixer if Arania had called me to ask for help setting things up." Matt shook his head. (reply Bob) Daniel Greene ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - CEO Lt. Lorimar - 1153) "I'm not sure if it's an imperfection in the model or if there is actually a spike there. I haven't been able to track down it's cause yet, but I'm guessing it's going to lead me back to the electro-plasma relay switches in the attenuation chamber housing." Bob shrugged in return, then replied. "Ah noted that myself sir," he began quietly. "As ye say, much of oor empirical data willnae come until we take her for a test flight. Ah was thinking we might wring her oot a bit as soon as we can get permission. Ah thought we might take a remotely operated instrumented probe along on the flight. We can get it outside the runabout's warp field that way, and it would be a nice supple- ment tae the ship's sensors as well." He paused a moment, as Matt seemed to mull that over. "Another thing sir... and ah cannae stress this point enough. Yer not naming that bloody thing after me, ranking officer or no. If ye want tae name it McLaren, or Glamourous Arania, or Spawn of Boudicca, or whatever ye have my full support. But I will not assent tae naming it after me... sir." "So with due respect, ah suggest ye change that thought right quickly." (Reply McLaren iyw) "So I'm curious, what's the meeting about? I hate to say it, but the bridge doesn't seem to take much time to let me know what's going on anymore. I mean I wouldn't even have made it to the mixer if Arania had called me to ask for help setting things up." Matt shook his head. Again, Bob shrugged, all thoughts of the naming controversy forgotten. "Frankly, ah've nae clue. Engineering it seems is the last tae know... so dinnae feel left oot sir. Ah suspect we'll all find out soon enough eh?" (Reply McLaren iyw, Any) (Posted by Russ) ********* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ATT- Lt. Cmdr. Matthew McLaren - Day 5 - 1153.5) He paused a moment, as Matt seemed to mull that over. "Another thing sir... and ah cannae stress this point enough. Yer not naming that bloody thing after me, ranking officer or no. If ye want tae name it McLaren, or Glamourous Arania, or Spawn of Boudicca, or whatever ye have my full support. But I will not assent tae naming it after me... sir." "So with due respect, ah suggest ye change that thought right quickly." Matt smiled. "I'm afraid you don't get any say in the matter Chief. Starfleet Engineering Starship design Corps has already decided that the name is suitable and it is official. Every ship of it's type that is built will be a member of the Lorimar Class Runabout. And in keeping with the naming conventions set out in the regulations, the Prototype is officially named the Lorimar." His smile broadened. "No power in the Universe can change it now, Bob, so you're going to have to get over it. I don't want to hear anything else about it, and that Chief is an order." Matthew topped off his comments with a wink before changing the subject. "So I'm curious, what's the meeting about? I hate to say it, but the bridge doesn't seem to take much time to let me know what's going on anymore. I mean I wouldn't even have made it to the mixer if Arania had called me to ask for help setting things up." Matt shook his head. Again, Bob shrugged, all thoughts of the naming controversy forgotten. "Frankly, ah've nae clue. Engineering it seems is the last tae know... so dinnae feel left oot sir. Ah suspect we'll all find out soon enough eh?" "I certainly hope so." Matthew replied. They sat in silence for a while, waiting for the briefing to begin. After a short time Captain Rivers unexpectedly stepped into the Lounge. That was something that Matthew hadn't seen coming. But then again, he hadn't been completely briefed on every aspect of the mission either. What followed next was almost confusing. "Good afternoon Captain Rivers and welcome," Jerome began. "I am glad you are here." He looked around the table at the expectant faces. "I believe most of you know why you are here, there has been an unexpected diversion to our original goal of observing the Mithgiln as they work with the planet's inhabitants. At the time I agreed to come along, I was mistakenly believing that they were a warp travel capable race, that makes an ass of me for assuming the Mithgiln have the same protocols as the Federation and Starfleet. However, thanks to our long range scans it has been determined that their technology is at best similar to that of Earth in the 21st. Century... I called this meeting to do some brain storming, to see if we could find a way to fulfill our goal, but now that I see Captain Rivers is here, I know what I must do... It is apparent to me that my mission is over." Jerome stepped away from the CO's chair at the table. "Captain Rivers, if you would be so kind as to take your proper place at this table." Manyhorses gestured towards the now vacant place. "Computer, transfer ship's command codes to Captain Susan Rivers effective immediately. Authorization Manyhorses Alpha 5-3 Bravo 0-6 Charlie." [Command codes transferred.] "Matthew's head was still trying to wrap itself around the problem that he almost missed the speed at which Manyhorses had transferred back command of the Boudicca. The man seemed almost anxious to pass of the mantle of command for the mission, and that made Matthew wonder if the commander felt that he was in way over his head. His thoughts seemed confirmed, at least in his own mind when Susan replied. "Thank you, Captain," she said smoothly, "I'm happy to take the day to day running of the ship off your hands so that you can concentrate on such a tricky diplomatic situation, as we discussed." Now Matthew was born on a day, but that day was not yesterday. He had been serving with Captain Rivers for a very long time and he immediately recognized that she was trying very hard to help commander Manyhorses to save what little bit of pride that he still had. She was never one to publicly humiliate another officer. In fact, she had always been careful to be discreet with such matters. ~So he had not called her in.~ Matthew also realized and wondered which of the senior officers had told Susan that Manyhorses was having a problem. Could it have been Yalix or Stolev? Maybe it had been the counselor. Any of them would have done so if they believed that Jerome was unfit for the command or if there could be potential issues going forward. Matthew tried to gauge the reactions of the other officers assembled in the room as they all awaited the commander's reply. (reply Any) Daniel Greene ****** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - TAC/SC Lieutenant(SG) Detron Trei - 1155) Detron entered the lounge and placed his PADD at a seat near the front. He went over to the replicator and ordered Earl Grey and a small sandwich. He took the items over to his seat and sat down. Detron picked up his PADD and prepared for the meeting. (Reply Any at Meeting) (Posted by Edward) ********* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - M-CO Jerome ManyHorses - 1156) Jerome had entered and sat quietly at the head of the table for a few minutes, waiting as other senior officers filed in one at a time, taking the extra time to think things over. ~ If I had any sense I would just turn this ship around and hand the command back to Captain Rivers. Why do I want so badly to be able to go to that planet and see what the Mithgiln are doing? Okay, I really want to meet another new race besides learning all I can about the Mithgiln and Shanora. I guess I want it all, Great Manito! ~ He glanced at his wristwatch. It was almost time to start the meeting and then the lounge doors parted and his eyebrows raised slightly in surprise as he saw Captain Rivers unobtrusively walk in and take a seat in a far corner after pausing at the replicator for a snack. Jerome frowned slightly, puzzled as to why she'd come, after all she'd kept out of the way for several days.... ~ Why has she decided to show her face now? ~ ... and then he had an instance of revelation. Somebody had obviously informed her about the meeting and the reasons behind it. He glanced to his left at the Counselor who looked almost as surprised as he was at seeing Rivers. ~ Wasn't Dorga! ~ He glanced to his right at Stolev, noting that the Commander was not displaying any signs of surprise. ManyHorses smiled softly and almost imperceptibly nodded refusing to acknowledge and feed the growing feeling that he'd been betrayed. ~ I see....not quite the show of confidence in my abilities that I had hoped for! ~ Jerome sighed softly and shrugged inwardly, ~ Well I guess I should have expected something like this, doubtless she has been receiving frequent reports and after all his deepest loyalty *is* to her. He does not truly know me and I must admit I'm not completely sure what to do anyway, so perhaps it is for the best that she is here now. ~ The M-CO stood up and smiling warmly he locked eyes with Rivers for a second or two before giving her a nod and placing a hand on Stolev's shoulder to give it a brief, gentle squeeze, letting him know that he understood the FO's reasons for summoning the Captain. "Good afternoon Captain Rivers and welcome, I am glad you are here." He looked around the table at the expectant faces. "I believe most of you know why you are here, there has been an unexpected diversion to our original goal of observing the Mithgiln as they work with the planet's inhabitants. At the time I agreed to come along, I was mistakenly believing that they were a warp travel capable race, that makes an ass of me for assuming the Mithgiln have the same protocols as the Federation and Startrek. However, thanks to our long range scans it has been determined that their technology is at best similar to that of Earth in the 21st. Century... I called this meeting to do some brain storming, to see if we could find a way to fulfill our goal, but now that I see Captain Rivers is here, I know what I must do... It is apparent to me that my mission is over." Jerome stepped away from the CO's chair at the table. "Captain Rivers, if you would be so kind as to take your proper place at this table." ManyHorses gestured towards the now vacant place. "Computer, transfer ship's command codes to Captain Susan Rivers effective immediately. Authorization ManyHorses Alpha 5-3 Bravo 0-6 Charlie." [Command codes transfered.] (Reply Rivers, ALL) (Posted by Sal) ********** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ACSO Ensign Ayslin Rel - 1157) Ayslin walked into the lounge PADD in hand with relative cultural markers for the Dentaris system on it. She'd finally made up the sleep that she'd lost talking to the Mithgiln engineering officer two days prior, and was glad to be fully rested. Sipping coffee she had brought with her, she sat down at an empty seat and started to review her data. If the Dentaris culture followed an arc similar to Earth and Trill they were probably less than one hundred years from developing a functioning warp engine. From the information that was leaking into space that the Boudicca was picking up, they weren't prone to religious hystaria, nor were they abnormally aggressive. Their planetary culture had stabilized in the past two decades and was unlikely to alter itself in any fundemental ways prior to their development of interplanetary travel. Their medical science was on par for turn of the 21st century Earth, and was definitely going to be unable to handle a sudden and significant outbreak of the virus that the Mithgiln had found in their studies of the planet. The disease was a recurring one in their population, mutating from year to year. The Dentarians had been able to stay a head of it most years, but recently the strains hadn't been bad enough that even if their vaccines were off they'd be fine. However the virus had mutated and had become more dangerous. It had also developed a slightly long latency period, where the victim was contagious but not showing symptoms. Once the wet season started, the insect that served as an off season reservoir, would come out of dormancy and infect the first round of people, after that it would spread person to person via contact. If the Mithgiln figures were correct, and Ayslin had no reason to doubt them, the virus would spread quickly. At it's peak the death toll would be close to unbearable, with no replicator technology, their food was still farmed and distributed to population centers. Those systems would break down, education systems would shatter with both children and teachers dying and afraid to go to school. Competition for food, medicine and other resources would probably break the peace that currently existed. The Mithgiln predicted a greater than 70% chance of a multiple country government collapse, leading to all out war, possibly nuclear. There would be a massive cultural wipe out, due to outright death from the disease, or low population numbers preventing continuation. Without the Mithgiln's help, the virus could decimate the population to the point that it would take them centuries to recover if they didn't kill each other first. ~~...And the Prime directive says we have to sit back and watch, because we might damage their culture.~~ Ayslin thought frowning and running her fingers through her hair in an act of frustration. (Reply Any) (Posted by Patrick D.) ******** (USS Boudicca - Corridor, Deck 1 - Crewman/Yeoman Shadow to-Sretralles - 1157) Her whiskers bounced as she hid in the alcove. It had probably been put in for a potted plant – at one point Federation non-military counselors had insisted that there needed to be more greenery on space ships. While Starfleet Security had eventually won that battle, some of the newer ships still had alcoves in strange places. She could smell her prey coming down the corridor. Her tail twitched back and forth in glee, looping tightly with every swish. Her prey came into range and the wiry Sioavan pounced. “CAPTAIN!” she greeted with glee as the two clattered to the deck and she gave her favourite Mom-Captain-Susan a big swipe of tongue and grooming. “You’re BACK! You’re BETTER! You’re HERE!” Realizing that the human probably couldn’t breath with fur in her air- ways, Shadow bounced back up onto her feet to do a pirouette with her usual grace if a double dose of silliness. She danced down the hallway, singing in her best bardic voice. “The Bajoran came back, the very next year. The Bajoran came back..” (reply Rivers, any) (posted by Lorna) ********* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ACSO Ensign Carl Deston - Day 5 - 1158) Carl entered the OL, managing to snag his favorite seat by the Loobee touch-sculpture (earning him a momentary disapproving stare from someone who'd been angling for it themselves). He allowed himself a moment to appreciate it's tactile nuances before actually sitting. ~This will be a very interesting meeting... I hope that this First Contact doesn't turn bad; it started out so well...~ He was there only to observe and dispense data; what was about to be hashed out was pretty much outside his jurisdiction. ~We now know heaps about this solar system, the Mithgiln, the Dentarians... but Sciences doesn't set or alter policy. But our data may well.~ (reply any) (posted by John) ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - FO Stolev - Day 5 - 1159) Stolev walked slowly into the lounge, still studying the PADD onto which he had downloaded the few cases that seemed remotely applicable to their present situation. He had spent the past hour reviewing all the available data, and very little of it pertained to the involvement of a third party. As he made his way to his seat, his stomach growled, reminding him to head first for the replicator, where he ordered a sandwich and a cup of coffee. Armed with his lunch and his PADD, Stolev nodded to the officers already present, took his seat, and waited for the meeting to start. (reply ALL) (posted by Aaron) ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - Captain Susan Rivers - Day 5 - 1159.5) Susan had entered quietly shortly before, behind several other officers. She took a seat in an unobtrusive corner, having first helped herself to a snack from the replicator. Luisa was now in the care of the ship's nursery, no doubt watching The Three Billy Goats Gruff yet again. Susan glanced around the room, noting the expressions and body-language of the others present, and wondered how Captain ManyHorses would address the situation. It was, to say the least, a ticklish situation. (Reply any) (Posted by Liz) ******** (USS Boudicca - Outer Hull - Holo Marine Jose Rameriz - Day 5 - 1202) At some point in his career Commander ManyHorses had said "A holographic marine? Not on my ship!" or something similar. That phrase had meant, the computer in its limited wisdom had scanned all files associated with the acting Captain when he took commander and promptly assigned one Holo- Marine to the outer hull where he'd been sitting since. At first he hadn't been sure why there were holo-emitters on the outside of the ship. Seemed like a waste of time, energy and resources to give a simple hologram a pretty view of warp. He could write a paper on what warp fields looked like, if he could explain in terms beyond 'Purdy' and 'If I had a bladder, it'd be empty.' But then he'd decided it made sense, why send a human in a suit when you could possibly send a hologram? Of course, that the only holograms on the entire ship outside of holo-programs were a EMO and EMS (Emergency Marine Shmuck) was neither here nor there. Starfleet's brilliant ideas tended to dead end when the originator got distracted by something shiny. He was on his 10,032nd chorus of "I'm Henry the VIII, I am I am" when suddenly he felt his freedom returned. One Captain Susan ("Hot buns!") Rivers was back in command and he was allowed back on the ship! With a blip he appeared in ten forward. "I IS HOME!" (Reply none :) (Posted by Lorna) ********* (USS Boudicca - Obs Lounge - Lieutenant jg Denise Lebranski - 1202) "My apologies forw my inderuption." Denise said, coming through the doors, "And my tawdiness. But, Pwotocol Denise Lebwanski reporting for duty. I pwomise, I'm a lot less contagious dan I sound." She did feel a bit woogy though and hoped she could sit down before she fell on someone. (Reply any/all) (Posted by Lorna) ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - Captain Susan Rivers - Day 5 - 1203) Susan listened with mounting dismay as ManyHorses did what she had never intended him to do. Mentally she kicked herself for not contacting him first to offer her input behind the scenes as it were. But the damage was done now and in front of the senior staff too. If she had known the man better she might have told him not to be so foolish but she really knew very little about him. All she could do was to try to limit the potential damage to his career. His diplomatic skills were far above hers, she knew, and therein she hoped lay the solution. "Thank you, Captain," she said smoothly (smoothly enough to fool the others? She hoped so!) "I'm happy to take the day to day running of the ship off your hands so that you can concentrate on such a tricky diplomatic situation, as we discussed." ~As we *ought* to have discussed, if I'd thought things through!~ (Reply ManyHorses, any) (Posted by Liz Geuken) ********* (USS Boudicca - Ten Forward - Holo Marine Jose Rameriz - Day 5 - 1203) Jose bounced up to the bar, "I will haves something tall, colourful and holographic! Oh, and heavy on the holographic alcohol!" He could actually drink something real, and the computer would do who knows what with it, but Ops had bitched about energy spikes when he did that. To his simulated brain it was all the same, so holographic drinks were fine when he wasn't sharing. After spending five days on the outer hull, he was NOT sharing. Everyone could get their own! (Reply Ten Forward/any :) (Posted by Lorna) ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - Commander Jerome ManyHorses - 1203.5) "Thank you, Captain," Captain Rivers said. "I'm happy to take the day to day running of the ship off your hands so that you can concentrate on such a tricky diplomatic situation, as we discussed." ~ As we discussed? Very smooth Captain. ~ Jerome thought, and al- though he was certain that his actions had surprised Captain Rivers, he admired her aplomb when she answered him as if she and he had come to some agreement with him prior to the meeting, but he was certain anyone who had been on the Bridge since Alpha shift started, knew darn well that he hadn't met with her that morning. Still it was possible they had met before that. He managed to keep his face inscrutable although he wanted to chuckle, and went along with her ploy, acknowledging it with a simple nod. Now that she was reinstated where she should have been all along, perhaps they could do some bridge building together. ~ Stolev has shown me by his actions that he has no confidence in me. ~ The M-CO thought as he looked around at the officers at the table picking up out some of the body language displayed. ~ I see he isn't the only one here! So it is best to give them back the leader whom they do have utmost confidence in. It really does not matter if my superiors decide I am disobeying orders, what matters is the wellbeing of the crew mentally as well as physically, and if they lack confidence in their leader...in ME, then they won't perform their duties to the best of their abilities and the mission will fail miserably. ~ Quietly he exchanged places with Captain Rivers and cleared his throat as he remained standing. "As I said previously, we have a glitch that requires some problem solving, the inhabitants are not warp travel capable - you are all now aware of the situation, and I am open to any suggestions or advice that will enable us to observe what transpires on the planet." (Reply Rivers, all) (Posted by Sal) ****** (USS Boudicca - Obs Lounge - Lieutenant (jg) Denise Lebranski - 1204) With the drama between commanding officers Denise was more than happy to be completely ignored and took a seat beside the chief engineer. She was wriggling her nose trying to suppress yet another sneeze when she was handed a handkerchief. Where the hell did someone hide a hanky in a Starfleet uniform? Better than to question the magic of officers, engineers and command meetings, Denise settled for sneezing into the gifted cloth and snagging herself a cup of coffee. Shadow, without doubt, made the worst coffee in the alpha quadrant and she'd been waiter and servitor during Denise's illness. The Siovoan was one of the few with natural immunity. THIS coffee, however, was obviously made by the mistress of the kitchen, queen of the spatula, and goddess of the good food; Arania. She'd have to remember to send the lovely lady a dozen roses or something. Feeling a bit like a school student tapping out notes in class, Denise beamed to Bob's PADD, 'What's with those two?' with an eye flick towards Captain and Captain turned back into Diplomat. Bob wasn't much for gossiping, but he generally knew more than he thought he did when it came to the interpersonal stuff aboard. (Reply Lorimar, any) (Posted by Lorna) ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - CEO Lorimar - 1204) Lorimar had taken his seat and was reviewing the notes on his PADD, sipping coffee and thinking of a multitude of different things. He noted with interest the unorthodox 'change in command' ceremony. Briefly he considered what some of the behind the scenes actions might or must have been; then he quickly refocused on the task at hand. Engineering was his first love for a reason: He despised politics, and all things Machia- vellian in fact. He smiled to himself and was quite content to mind the machines as he always did. He listened with keen interest as Commander ManyHorses laid out the situation, and solicited input. His train of thought was interrupted by the unexpected, but pleasing arrival of Lieutenant Lebranski in the vacant seat next to him. As someone else was talking, he noted the Denise was sniffling and snuffling in evident discomfort. He thought a moment, then slowly reached into one of his jumpsuit pockets and removed a newly replicated dusting cloth. He had intended to use it later during a scheduled inspection, but he judged she might need it *now* rather than later. It wasn't a handkerchief, granted... but it was perfectly clean and unused. He palmed it and pressed it as unobtrusively as he could into her empty hand, with just enough pressure so she would realize it was there. With that, he retreated to his own personal space and focused on the conver- sation going on. A flashing icon on his PADD drew his peripheral attention, and he dropped his eyes to read the note. Tapping a response as nonchalantly as he could, he sent this back: 'I've no idea, really. Last I knew the cmdr. was brought in as a first contact specialist, and they made him MCO. Suddenly the CO shows up and he relieves himself. Odd to say the least... must be more here than meets the eye?' He sent the reply with not so much as a sideways glance, listening to the other officers debate the Prime Directive issue. (Reply Lebranski, Any) (Posted by Russ) ********* (USS Boudicca - Ten Forward - Bar Manager - Arania - 1204) A surprised Arania surfaced from cleaning the shelves beneath the bar counter to find the oft times annoying but always exuberant, Holographic Marine bellying up to the bar, one she hadn't seen around for a few days and really hadn't missed much. In fact it was only upon seeing him again that she'd realized he hadn't been around. "I will haves something tall, colourful and holographic! Oh, and heavy on the holographic alcohol!" He declared with his usual loudness. Arania quirked an eyebrow at him, smiled sweetly and promptly ordered... "Computer one Orion slave girl hologram, 6 feet 7 inches tall and a yard glass of holographic Andorian ale please!" [ Processing ] There was a swirl of energy and a very tall, green female wearing next to nothing except a thong, itsy bitsy breast covering and carrying a three feet high glass of ale, materialized sitting on the bar counter. Arania tutted with disgust. "No bums on the counter!" She growled, giving the holographic Orion a poke in the back and wiping down the top with a cloth after spraying it with an all purpose disinfectant cleaner. The Orion giggled and slithered off the counter to sit on the barstool beside Ramirez, placing the very long glass in front of him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her curves against him, her lips brushed against his ear as she whispered huskily into it. "Hello handsome, anything else you want that I can give you?" "Is a family place remember Ramirez, behave." Arania stated then added, "well behave to the best of your ability!" (Reply Ramirez, any :) (Posted by Sal) ******** (USS Boudicca - Ten Forward - Holomarine Jose Rameriz - 1204.5) An Orion would probably have sent Rameriz skittling over backwards from his stool and crabwalking backwards; a six foot seven tall Orion woman with holographic phermones in tact managed to cause it faster. He was reaching for a non-existant phasor rifle when the bar manager shooed her creation off the bar. He froze on spot when the Orion wrapped her arms around him, "Hello handsome, anything else you want that I can give you?" "Yeah! You cans stop touching me!" He broke away from the creatures embrace and managed not to shudder. Flashbacks of Orion prison camps were crowding his brain. "Is a family place remember Ramirez, behave." Arania stated then added, "well behave to the best of your ability!" "You gots it!" He said, "You're mads, lady!" He managed to struggle to his feet and skittered out of Ten Forward backward, not letting his eyes off the hologram for an instance. Remembering that 'behaving' probably included not throwing disruption grenades, he decided that he would just get the hell out of the area and find a nice safe place to be. He was halfway to the turbolift before he remembered he was a hologram and could just wish himself where he wanted to be. Sitting once more out on the hull, he decided that it may be cold, it may be lonely, but at least it didn't have murderous bar owners and evil supposed-slave girls. He should have grabbed the ale. (Reply Arania, misjudged slave girl, any) (Posted by Lorna) ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - TAC/SC Lieutenant(SG) Detron Trei - 1205) Detron heard the transfer of power back to Captain Rivers and made no reaction either way. Captain Rivers made a reference to things she and Mayhorses discussed before the meeting and would defer to him for his diplomatic experience. Captain Rivers asked for any ideas on how to handle the situation and always ready to give an opinion as he was Detron gave his take. "I believe the situation can still be resolved with some quick action. As in the past we have altered our appearance to mimic the beings on the planet. That may not be possible but we can view the proceedings by way of connecting to Ellian or watch the proceedings from Shonora Ellian and beam the supplies over to the planet that way. That way we will not be violating the Prime Directive because we will not be interfering as they won't see us there." Detron waited for others to give their ideas. (Reply Rivers, Any at Meeting) (Posted by Edward) ********* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ACSO Ensign Carlyle Deston - 1206) The reappearance of Captain Rivers and the subtle politics that sub- sequently played out were momentarily confusing to Carl; collecting, interpreting and dispensing data was never much enabled by such turmoil. However, he quickly realized that, regardless of how the mission's overall setting changed, the mission remained the mission. Sure enough, when all was said and done, ManyHorses was still the one to ask the mission-specific questions. "As I said previously, we have a glitch that requires some problem solving, the inhabitants are not warp travel capable - you are all now aware of the situation, and I am open to any suggestions or advice that will enable us to observe what transpires on the planet." Lt. Trei was the first to speak up with a cogent and direct observation about past-practice monitoring. Nodding in agreement, Deston spoke up. "Speaking solely in terms of observation, our technological capacity would make it child's play for us to observe the situation here from virtually any level we so desire, from orbital automatic sensor clusters to so-called 'duck-blind' observation posts. The Dentarians are sufficiently typical of humanoid life in this region of the galaxy that the only real hurdles to actually placing observers into the general population would be those of sufficient cultural indoc- trination. Engineering and Medical can supply you with the ways and means; Sciences can supply you with the necessary information. "However, I was given to understand that the real issue here centered more on our involvement with our primary First Contact, the Mithgiln, their interaction with the Dentarians, and any potential Prime Directive conflicts this involvement may garner us. Would this be correct?" (Reply any) (Posted by John) ********* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - XO - Captain Susan Rivers - 1207) Susan almost (but not quite) heaved a sigh of relief as Captain ManyHorses went along with her. She knew that his diplomatic credentials far outstripped hers - she had had one of the lowest passs marks in diplomacy in the history of the Academy and had scraped through by the skin of her teeth. She determined to meet with him afterwards and create a working relationship for the duration of his time aboard the ship. For now, though, she listened first to what he had to say, and then to the comments of the officers present. Detron and Carl as always began with some constructive comments and as she listened to them, and to the others who spoke up, Susan mulled over her own ideas. The Prime Directive was such an imper- ative, it behoved them to be very careful but she wondered whether merely observing the Mithgiln's interaction with the planet's popul- ation would allow them to remain within the letter of the law, so to speak. There was something else that occurred to her too, but she decided to listen to what her officers had to say first. (Reply any, all) (Posted by Liz) ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ACSO Ensign Ayslin Rel - 1208) "Captain's," Ayslin said, looking from River's to Commander ManyHorses, "As much as the Prime Directive is a founding tenure of Star Fleet, I can not honestly say that, in my opinion, it should be applied the same in all cases. I will agree that it is a slippery slope sirs, but in this case, I have to strongly disagree with the Prime Directive. Ignoring the upcoming plague, the Dentarians are between 50 and 100 years away from discovering warp technology, they are fully capable of accepting us as Aliens and not gods, nor are they generally prone to religious hysteria. The plague itself raises significant ethical and moral concerns as well. Ignoring the Mithgiln for the moment, this plague, has the capability to drastically alter the population and political landscape, it will devastate all major population centers, destroy the food production and transportation network, cripple the planetary transportation network, and at the upwards kill 70% of the population. After that there is the likely hood of planetary competition for resources likely resulting in war with a 20% chance of at least one nuclear weapon detonation. There is a 10% chance that if this plague happens and is allowed to progress naturally the Dentarians will never make it into space and quite possible go extinct." Ayslin said with a nod, transferring all of her data and simulations to the rest of the people in the room. "If we aren't prepared to help them, are we morally prepared to tell them in X number of years, if they do make Warp flight, that we were willing to stand by and watch them die, simply because they hadn't reached an arbitrarily set level of maturity." Ayslin said with a frown. "And we aren't even talking about helping, just letting them see us. We have no standing to prevent the Mithgiln from helping, and once they contact the planet, which they could be doing at any moment, the cat is going to be out of the bag, so to speak. In General, sir, I have to advise that we help the Mithgiln or at the very least allow our people to observe as originally planned." Ayslin said. (Reply Rivers, ManyHorses, Any) (Posted by Patrick D.) ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - Con/Ops Ensign (sg) Micheal Orion - 1210) Orion knew he was about to bring up some unpleasant thoughts to fill the minds of his colleges, for what he felt was the right choice was also the hard one, and the though of what he would soon ask his shipmates to consider made him lose his taste for food. He looked up from the table and long forgotten plate before him, he looked around the Lounge. He gave a nod to Captain Rivers and Commander Manyhorses on a hand well played for Orion nearly lived on the bridge and had a good speculation that no such con- versation had taken place. He then turned and gave a nod of greeting to the two newest members of the crew. Next he stood as was customary of Orion before he spoke and looked over the rest of his colleges. "Many of us feel that helping is the right and moral choice. That in acting we will save lives and protect a race of a devastating plague, and this all may be true..." He paused to collect his thoughts. When next he spoke his voice was calm. cold, and sorrowful " And that is why, I believe, we must not act. We must not allow ourselves to get wrapped up in race and mission we have no business in helping. Has anyone thought about the evolutionary damage we could cause by inter- fering. Look at our own races we all have periods in our collective past were the forces of nature killed vast numbers of people, by plague or some other form of disaster." He paused a moment to let what he said sink in. (room for reply) "On earth, in a period known has the dark ages a great plague known as the Black Death ravaged the world, the hardest effected place was in Europe if my memory of the events is accurate. Hundred of thousands died. One out of every three were effected." (room for reply.) " I tell you this because on Earth in the 21 century it was dis- covered that the descendants of those who survived that calamity had a high level tolerance to another even more vicious illness, aids. I ask you those of different races look into your own past and I'm sure you will find similar events. Nature has always found a way to make sure a race will find the means to survive it's darkest hour. And to the possiblity of war I say this War is inevitable as long as sentient life exists the possiblity will also exist. How many of us here, hands are covered in the blood of our own civil war?" Orion knew that last question would hit his point home, maybe if he crossed the line. He would know soon enough but this was a time for hard choices not subtlety. Orion knew that he had either angered most of the command staff with recalling painful memories, or gave them a good deal to think about. He sat down he had more to his agument but he felt not to push his luck at that moment. (posted by Matthew Locke) (reply any who wish) ******** (USS Boudicca- Observation Lounge- ACMO Ensign(jg) Hawkeye Dolphine - 1210.5) He sat back in thought after listening to what Captain Rivers had to say. He had downloaded current mission logs and briefing to his PADD before coming into the Obs Lounge. He had a little bit of time to bring himself up to speed before the meeting. From everything he read, this appeared to be a virus raging through the planet. ~If I could analyze the virus, or get a sample of infected blood, I may be able to develop an antiviral agent to counteract the virus and its affects.~ Hawkeye thought to himself. "Forgive me , I realize I am a new junior officer on board, but do they have a sample of the virus or its systemic effects on file? If I could review these findings, we may be able to devise an antiviral agent and administer this in a fashion that would not directly violate the prime directive, Based on what I see here they other society in question is circa Earth 21st century. In theroy, an antiviral agent could be created in a pill form that would resemble medications they have on the surface. While this wont completly resolve the issue, it could potentially prevent the size of the impact the virus has on the surface. Add to that we should be able to have the Marshall and his staff administer this without any evidence that we created the antivirual. Credit could be given to their Medical Staff and thus alleviating the on paper violation of the Prime Directive." (Reply Any) (Posted by Ben C.) ******************* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - M-CO Jerome ManyHorses & 2O/CCOUNS/Lt.Cdr. Dorga 'cha Nooras - 1211) Once he'd asked for suggestions from the officers gathered in the Obs Lounge, Jerome had sat down on seat vacated by Captain Rivers. He listened to the thoughts of several of them. One suggestion from Lieutenant Trei was surgical alteration of their physical appearances to look like the Dentarians and it was one he'd expected to hear as it had occurred to him, having been used many times by Starfleet, but if the away team comprised of even just one person per department and it would involve hours of surgery. Ensign Deston replied. "Speaking solely in terms of observation, our technological capacity would make it child's play for us to observe the situation here from virtually any level we so desire, from orbital automatic sensor clusters to so-called 'duck-blind' observation posts. The Dentarians are sufficiently typical of humanoid life in this region of the galaxy that the only real hurdles to actually placing observers into the general population would be those of sufficient cultural indoc- trination. Engineering and Medical can supply you with the ways and means; Sciences can supply you with the necessary information.... However, I was given to understand that the real issue here centered more on our involvement with our primary First Contact, the Mithgiln, their interaction with the Dentarians, and any potential Prime Directive conflicts this involvement may garner us. Would this be correct?" Jerome replied by telling him that he was correct and listened to more input from those gathered there. The next to speak was Ensign Ayslin Rel who came across as quite indignant as she addressed both Rivers and ManyHorses, stating she strongly disagreed with the Prime Directive. She said that the Dentarians would discover warp technology in the next 50 to 100 years and were fully capable of accepting them as Aliens and not gods. She went on to say that the plague itself raised significant ethical and moral concerns as well as it had the capability to drastically alter the population and political landscape. It would devastate all major population centers, destroy the food production and trans- portation network and kill 70% of the population, which could result in planetary competition for resources, resulting in war, with a 20% chance of at least one nuclear weapon detonation and that there was a 10% chance that if the plague was allowed to progress naturally the Dentarians would never make it into space and possibly become extinct. She then transferred all of her data and simulations to the rest of the people in the room. "If we aren't prepared to help them, are we morally prepared to tell them in X number of years, if they do make Warp flight, that we were willing to stand by and watch them die, simply because they hadn't reached an arbitrarily set level of maturity." Ayslin said with a frown. "And we aren't even talking about helping, just letting them see us. We have no standing to prevent the Mithgiln from helping, and once they contact the planet, which they could be doing at any moment, the cat is going to be out of the bag, so to speak. In General, sir, I have to advise that we help the Mithgiln or at the very least allow our people to observe as originally planned." Ayslin said. Naturally Jerome empathized with her as many times he'd also felt that the Prime Directive was too restrictive and should be more flexible and of course nobody there wanted to feel responsible for the deaths of so many beings when they could have helped them, but they had rules and regulations for good reason and some would argue that if all those dire things happened then it was meant to be, however before ManyHorses could respond the Protocol Officer spoke up, her words muffled by congestion. He hoped she had nothing contagious, the last thing they needed was an outbreak of illness on the ship. ~ The doctors wouldn't clear her for duty if she were. ~ "Id is my understanding in the strictest interpretation of da Prime Directive dat we're expected to sit ub here and do nuffing, So at da minimum, dat means we whistle Dixie while our new fwiends help the planet." "That about sums it up, yes!" Jerome responded, "and that is why we are here, to try to work around that restriction." Lebranski continued talking, suggesting that they try persuade the Mithgiln to be mysterious benefactors, and create a herbal based treatment for the disease and introduce it in such a way that their presence would be unknown and therefore would not interfere with the Dentarians natural evolving. Her suggestion had merit and Jerome thanked her for her input. "I think finding a 'natural' treatment for the disease is a sound idea and I recommend that the Science and Medical Departments work together to find that solution. That would require knowledge and samples of the natural resources of the planet which, I believe could be gained without coming into contact with the inhabitants. the hard part would be finding the way to introduce it to the population." He looked around the table, waiting for any further input. He was glad now he'd called the meeting and was sure collectively they'd find a solution. Young Ensign Orion stood up and addressed them. "Many of us feel that helping is the right and moral choice.' He said. "That in acting we will save lives and protect a race of a devastating plague, and this all may be true... " He paused. "And that is why, I believe, we must not act. We must not allow ourselves to get wrapped up in race and mission we have no business in helping. Has anyone thought about the evolutionary damage we could cause by interfering. Look at our own races we all have periods in our collective past were the forces of nature killed vast numbers of people, by plague or some other form of disaster." He paused again before using the Black Death where one out of every three people died and how it was discovered in the 21st. century that the descendants of those who survived that had a high level tolerance to aids. He prompted the none human races to search their past for similar events and concluded that nature always found a way to ensure survival, he then stated that war was inevitable as long as sentient life existed and brought up civil war as an example, bringing the still fresh memories of their own bloody war so recently won. Orion sat down abruptly and Ayslin Rel responded, arguing that one in three was different to 70% and that the Dentarians would lose over 4 billion. As she spoke it became apparent that her temper was rising. "....We're not just talking about death, we're talking about war, famine, secondary diseases from the accumulation of dead bodies. Might a mistake be made, yes, but quite frankly, I'd rather make a mistake and try and help, than claim superiority and watch someone die because I was afraid of acting," Ayslin said, visibly getting angry. "I can not in good conscious support an action, or inaction which allows billions of people, if not the entire planet, to die. In the end it doesn't even matter, the Mithgiln are going down, any issues arising from alien contact are going to occur the minute the Mithgiln set foot on the planet, we aren't going to exacerbate it by our being there, and we might actually do some good. And advocating the deaths of Billions because they 'Might' help future generations is down right disgusting." Ayslin said, her voice hard. She immediately started typing angrily on her PADD. "It's my understanding we have two issues on the table," Lebranski said, filling the tense silence following the science officer's input. "The first being what *we* will do, and the second being do we inter- fere with what the Mithgiln want to do and to what degree....I've already stated my piece, but I think we have to decide what *we* want before we try to convince an alien people of it. If we decide to high tail it out of here and leave all as is, then it's a bit moot arguing over the actions of the Mithgiln....The Prime Directive isn't anyone's favourite rule, but its there for a reason and any breaking, bending or adherence in a situation like this does require careful thought and debate.." She grinned. "Which I suppose is why we're here and now I shall shut up." Dorga had been listening attentively to what had been said, had been quite surprised by Ensign Rel's outburst of anger, and now she sat forward and spoke up. "I don't think this meeting was called to put it to a vote whether or not we actually interfere with this new race, it was called for ideas on how to observe them and the Mithgiln without them knowing we are doing so. We weren't asked if we wanted to help cure this disease! It is all very well to bring up a history of similar catastrophes, you are correct, Mister Orion, we can all relate something similar on all of our home worlds, however would we not have wanted some outside help at the time to save the lives that were lost, if that help was available? Of course we would have, and I can understand how the thought of billions dying can make one emotional, but displays of anger are inappropriate and not constructive to this discussion." The 2O shrugged. "However if I am mistaken and this is a vote, then personally I would want to help these people and I prefer the idea of making a temporary observation lodge on the planet and with that in place take samples of the vegetation etc. Once aquired they could be grown in hydroponics and, I am sure that Arania would be very happy to accommodate some in her own nursery room, especially with the edible and medicinal plants. She has green fingers and seems to be able to make everything she touches thrive, and we have a nice new, state of the art research lab available." (reply any/all) (posted by Sal) ****** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ACSO Ensign Ayslin Rel - 1212) Ayslin listened to Ensign Orion speak on why they shouldn't save people's lives. She quickly looked up the numbers of the event that Orion spoke of, then spoke up when he was done. "One in three is a lot different from 70%. Reasonable estimates, put the death toll for the Dentarians at over 4 billion. We're not just talking about death, we're talking about war, famine, secondary diseases from the accumulation of dead bodies. Might a mistake be made, yes, but quite frankly, I'd rather make a mistake and try and help, than claim superiority and watch someone die because I was afraid of acting," Ayslin said, visibly getting angry. "I can not in good conscious support an action, or inaction which allows billions of people, if not the entire planet, to die. In the end it doesn't even matter, the Mithgiln are going down, any issues arising from alien contact are going to occur the minute the Mithgiln set foot on the planet, we aren't going to exacerbate it by our being there, and we might actually do some good. And advocating the deaths of Billions because they 'Might' help future generations is down right disgusting." Ayslin said, her voice hard. She immediately started typing out letters on her PADD, hoping they never needed to be sent. (Reply Any) (Posted by Patrick D.) ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - Lieutenant (jg) Denise Lebranski - 1213) "..In the end it doesn't even matter, the Mithgiln are going down, any issues arising from alien contact are going to occur the minute the Mithgiln set foot on the planet, we aren't going to exacerbate it by our being there, and we might actually do some good. And advocating the deaths of Billions because they 'Might' help future generations is down right disgusting." *What am I? A ghost?* Denise was wondering if she should just give up and go back to bed. So far her arrival and her input had made as much impact as a dry sponge against a brick wall. "It's my understanding we have two issues on the table," Denise said into the tense silence following the science officer's input. "The first being what *we* will do, and the second being do we interfere with what the Mithgiln want to do and to what degree." Oh hell, that sounded almost command like, hopefully no one was paying anymore attention that they had been previously. She hadn't even noticed she'd sat up straighter and stopped trying to talk through her blocked nose. "I've already stated my piece, but I think we have to decide what *we* want before we try to convince an alien people of it. If we decide to high tail it out of here and leave all as is, then it's a bit moot arguing over the actions of the Mithgiln." She looked between the two sides of the disagreement, "The Prime Directive isn't anyone's favourite rule, but it's there for a reason and any breaking, bending or adherence in a situation like this does require careful thought and debate.." She grinned her wicked evil smile for the first time since she'd gotten sick, "Which I suppose is why we're here and now I shall shut up." (Replies Rel, Orion) (Posted by Lorna) ******* (USS Boudicca – Observation Lounge – CEO Lorimar – 1215) Bob had listened attentively and taken notes during all the previous discussion. He likely looked as though he weren’t paying attention, but nothing could be further from the truth. He found his intellect engaged, and his emotions stirred by the passion with which some of the points had been argued. ~Time tae speak up lad…~ He waited until Lt. Commander ‘cha Nooras had her say, after which there seemed to be a brief lull in the conversation. “Ladies and gentlemen… if ah may interject?” He looked up and down the length of the table at his fellow officers before starting in earnest. “Respectfully, ah feel we are wandering off point just a wee bit… allow me tae elaborate if ah may.” Almost without thinking about it, he rose from his chair and took a half step behind it, placing both hands atop the chair back, fingers splayed and resting lightly upon it. He wasn’t the least nervous, though he would normally be. He felt as though the words were coming from somewhere deep inside his being without the awkwardness of his normal thought processes. He paused during his move and then looked at each of his shipmates in turn as he began speaking softly and clearly. “Without any doubt, some of the finest minds… finest officers ah’ve ever had the pleasure tae know are present in this room. We are at once Scientists, Diplomats, Warriors, Explorers, Engineers, Leaders, Doctors, Klingons, Vulcans, Betazoids, Humans, Trill… surely we *are* greater than the sum of our parts. The folks here make the difficult routine… the impossible merely difficult. Ah’ve nae doubt what- soever that whatever course is set for us by our commanders – “ this with a nod toward the Captain’s end of the table “ – we will find a way tae make it work. Of all these things ah hae nae doubt whatsoever. Having said all that though… ah feel we are drifting off course a bit. There are reasons that the Prime Directive is General Order Number One, and they reach far beyond any numerical happenstance. The founders of the Federation, and Starfleet deemed it tae be the *most* important, most fundamental of tenets by which we govern oor conduct. Ah wilnae insult anyone by quoting it. We all of us swore an oath to uphold it, and we were all required tae commit it tae memory at the Academy. It is indeed a mutable, living document… last time ah checked there were something on the order of forty-seven codicils attached tae it… but the basic elements remain unchanged.” He looked around once more, taking the measure of each officer in turn. He took a brief look at the starfield hanging outside the viewports, with all it represented. “We are supposed to be able to see further, as we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. The corollary to that is that we are bound by our duty to our- selves, our ship, the fleet, the Federation, and both those who have come before us, and those yet to come. Ah’ve heard some excellent oratory today, and my heart and mind is moved by all of it. Just because ah’m an engineer doesn’t diminish mah passion for life and the desire tae preserve it.” He drummed his fingers on the chair and raised his voice just a touch for emphasis. “Here’s the crux of it, as ah see it. The fact o’ the matter is, we really have only one decision tae make here… a single question tae answer: Does the Prime Directive apply in this case? All other points aside, that’s really it. If it *does*, then oor hands are really tied; as officers sworn to uphold it, we cannae lawfully or rightfully violate it. If it doesnae apply in this case, then clearly we can act tae overtly assist with the problem.” He stopped and took a deep breath, amazed that he had held forth on the topic for so long. He spread his hands toward the table, palms up and shrugged his shoulders before concluding. “That’s all ah have tae say… just in mah estimation we need tae answer the basic yes or no of it before we seriously consider any course of action.” With that, he took his seat again, wondering how the assembled officers might take his statements. (Reply Any) (Posted by Russ) ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - TAC/SC Lieutenant(SG) Detron Trei - 1219) After much discussion on the Prime Directive, the plague on the planet below was mentioned. The plague as was discussed would kill off the entire population on the planet. Several objected to just sitting here and watching the people die in front of us. Detron was inclined to feel the same way. Detron could not understand why a decision was not made to satisfy all parties. Detron had a suggestion. "Even though I am Half Klingon and Half Betazoid., it is my understanding that Klingons posses extraordinary immune systems. A sample of my blood exposed to the plague accelerated fully to produce a cure for the plague. I am willing to do this anonymously for the sake of the Prime Directive." Detron waited for discussion on the suggestion. (Reply Rivers, Any at Meeting) (Posted by Edward) ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - FO Cmdr. Aleksander Stolev - Day 5 - 1220) Stolev had listened as various officers provided their thoughts on the conundrum. There were several suggestions about helping the Dentarians covertly, and at least one suggestion to outright disregard the Prime Directive and help them directly. Thankfully, at least a couple of people had the sense to mention that the Prime Directive forbade their involvement. As a lull in the discussion approached, he cleared his throat. "If I may," Stolev began as he stood up. "I have spent the past hour or so studying not only the Directive, but also its codicils and associated legal rulings, and how they apply to the current situation. Mr. Lorimar is quite correct in stating that, as Starfleet officers, we are all sworn to uphold the Prime Directive, whatever the cost. I emphasize that last part. No matter the cost. The Directive specifically prohibits Starfleet officers from intervening even if non-intervention would result in the extinction of an entire species or the end of all life on a planet or star system. "In this case, the cost could be millions or billions of lives. But that cost is the natural course of the evolution of this society. Sometimes the cost of development is high... absurdly so, even. But as we all know, nothing worthwhile is attained without sacrifice. There are plenty of examples in Earth's history -- I won't bore you with them -- but the impetus behind some of our greatest achievements was derived from our greatest sufferings. "So, let's say we give the Dentarians the medical treatment needed to ward off this epidemic. Then we go on our merry way. But what happens next time? Eventually, this will happen and no one will be around to help. We must let the Dentarians learn to help themselves, develop the ability cure themselves. If they are never faced with the prospect of massive consequences, or actually suffer the consequences, where is the impetus for them to develop these things on their own? What will happen when they eventually do develop space travel, and do explore other worlds, and encounter other diseases, the likes of which they've never seen? The strength of living through this experience will see them through and increase their odds." He paused to take a breath and look around at the rest of the assembled officers. "That is why, in my opinion, we must not provide help of any sort. No matter how morally wrong it may feel. Believe me, I don't want to see millions die. But the cost to this society down the road could be far greater. As a famous captain once said, 'The Prime Directive is not just a set of rules; it is a philosophy... and a very correct one. History has proven again and again that whenever mankind interferes with a less developed civilization, no matter how well intentioned that interference may be, the results are invariably disastrous.' "Therefore, my recommendation is that we not only not provide any assistance whatsoever to the Dentarians, but that we attempt to persuade the Mithgiln not to assist either. And, if they persist, I suggest we at least consider actively preventing them from interfering." Stolev then set his PADD down on the table and retook his seat, bracing himself for what he was sure would be more than a few heated objections to his proposed course of action. (reply all at meeting) (posted by Aaron) ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ACSO Carl Deston - Day 5 - 1221) After the First Officer spoke, Deston stood to speak. "I have only one objection to what Commander Stolev has said. While it is our sworn duty to uphold the Directive, I do not see it as our duty to interfere with representatives of another political power of roughly equivalent peerage, in the matter of what is an essentially benign first contact scenario - /for them/. Except for an accident of timing, we would never have known about this first contact mission between the Mithgiln and the Dentarians, and it would have been a part of the (if I may abuse a phrase almost beyond meaning) 'natural evolution' of both cultures; nothing more than history to us in our eventual, later contact with the species. "While it would be excellent diplomacy for us to explain ourselves to the Mithgiln, who are almost certainly rather confused and upset at our sudden apparent turnabout in demeanor, it would be, from a scientific standpoint at least, a serious error to actively attempt to interfere with them - aid or hinder. I'm reasonably sure it would also be an error from a political stand- point as well, but I digress." Deston was, as he was certain was the case with most if not all of his fellow officers, not happy with the idea of planetary plague and the probably resultant loss of life, especially in a young culture almost on the cusp of interstellar contact. But he had taken oaths when he'd joined Starfleet, and he vividly recalled the thousands of examples from across the Federation that so aptly demonstrated how necessary the Prime Directive was. Had he not wanted to uphold it, he would not have taken the oaths, not even to pursue his dream of pursuing science at the very forefront of investigation. Better to have remained at University, than break and belittle the promises he'd made. (reply any) (posted by John) ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ACSO Ensign Ayslin Rel - Day 5 - 1222) Ayslin listened with growing disgust as her First Officer not only advocated allowing billions to die, genocide by disinterest, but actively stopping the Mithgiln from helping. ~Ah yes, lets commit violence on one, no sorry, two sentient species, so that billions of a third can die. The tough love argument is a load of...~ Ayslin though angrily as she continued to type up a letter of resignation. ~If your child breaks her leg, do you refuse to take her to the doctor or make her learn to set the bone, and build the knitter, and fix it herself, because how can she learn otherwise. Just because they don't know how to do it now doesn't mean you don't help them and teach them in the process. Everyone needs to be taught, that doesn't mean that we can't be the teachers.~ Ayslin said, her eyes flashing with anger, refusing to look at anyone who was advocating death over life. (Reply None needed/any) (Posted by Patrick D.) ******* (USS Boudicca- Observation Lounge- ACMO Ensign(jg) Hawkeye Dolphine - 1225) If I may," Stolev began as he stood up. "I have spent the past hour or so studying not only the Directive, but also its codicils and associated legal rulings, and how they apply to the current situation. Mr. Lorimar is quite correct in stating that, as Starfleet officers, we are all sworn to uphold the Prime Directive, whatever the cost. I emphasize that last part. No matter the cost. The Directive specifically prohibits Starfleet officers from intervening even if non-intervention would result in the extinction of an entire species or the end of all life on a planet or star system. "In this case, the cost could be millions or billions of lives. But that cost is the natural course of the evolution of this society. Sometimes the cost of development is high... absurdly so, even. But as we all know, nothing worthwhile is attained without sacrifice. There are plenty of examples in Earth's history -- I won't bore you with them -- but the impetus behind some of our greatest achievements was derived from our greatest sufferings. "So, let's say we give the Dentarians the medical treatment needed to ward off this epidemic. Then we go on our merry way. But what happens next time? Eventually, this will happen and no one will be around to help. We must let the Dentarians learn to help themselves, develop the ability cure themselves. If they are never faced with the prospect of massive consequences, or actually suffer the consequences, where is the impetus for them to develop these things on their own? What will happen when they eventually do develop space travel, and do explore other worlds, and encounter other diseases, the likes of which they've never seen? The strength of living through this experience will see them through and increase their odds." He paused to take a breath and look around at the rest of the assembled officers. "That is why, in my opinion, we must not provide help of any sort. No matter how morally wrong it may feel. Believe me, I don't want to see millions die. But the cost to this society down the road could be far greater. As a famous captain once said, 'The Prime Directive is not just a set of rules; it is a philosophy...and a very correct one. History has proven again and again that whenever mankind interferes with a less developed civilization, no matter how well intentioned that interference may be, the results are invariably disastrous.' "Therefore, my recommendation is that we not only not provide any assistance whatsoever to the Dentarians, but that we attempt to persuade the Mithgiln not to assist either. And, if they persist, I suggest we at least consider actively preventing them from inter- fering." Hawkeye stood up and introduced himself to the staff. " I should have done this before i said anything, My name is Ensign JG Hawkeye Dolphine, You're new ACMO. Now that that is out of the way there is something to consider here. Cmdr with alll due respect sir I still maintain the arguement that there is a way to prevent any violation of the Prime Directive. I am not suggesting giving the Dentarians the medication directly. There is nothing however, in my understanding of the Prime Directive, that prevents us from discussing with the Mithglin any sort of medicinal treatment for diseases they currently run into correct? Therfore, If we held a conference with the Mithglin medical staff and in the name of medicine discussed treatments for illnesses we have not yet run into, that may be a possibility for this region of space, We would be able to show them treatments for diseases they have not encountered yet, as they are a new warp civilization. Furthermore, If I understand what Cmdr. Stolev is implying, It would be a direct violation of the Prime Directive to prevent the Mithglin from delivering medical treatment to the Dentarians. Any interference by us can, and in most circumstances is, be defined as a violation of the above mentioned Prime Directive. Nor can we control or attempt to control what the Mithglin do with the knowledge from a cultural exchange." With that said he sat back down and awaited the response of Cmdr. Stolev. He could only hope that his prompt response would not be taken as insubordination. (Reply Stolev, Any at meeting) (Posted by Ben C.) ********* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - XO Captain Susan Rivers - Day 5 - 1227) "If I may, Captain?" Glancing at ManyHorses for tacit permission to answer, Susan stood up. "First let me say that I have listened to the discussion here and on whichever side people have spoken, I have to say that you have all shown yourselves to be officers that I am proud to serve with." She took a breath, this was hard work and she had no wish to lose any of them whichever way this all panned out. "When we graduated the Academy and joined Starfleet, we all took an oath to uphold the Prime Directive. I don't suppose many - if any - of us understood at the time what that really meant. Naturally we have all studied the history of Starfleet and the Federation and been taught the dire results of contamin- ating another species' nautral development. And of course none of us would want to interfere in an adverse way in a pre-warp culture." She paused, to let the weight of what she was saying sink in. "Equally, I'm sure none of us want to stand by and watch billions die when we could help, or ever really thought that we might be obliged to do so." She looked around the room. "From my knowledge of the Prime Directive, however, we have no justification for interfering when a non-Federation race chooses to intervene in the affairs of a pre-warp civilisation outside of Federation space. We could, and indeed I would suggest that we should, explain our reasons fully for not assisting. We might also attempt to persuade the Mithgiln to minimise the potential cultural contamination that a full-blown first contact would cause - for example, to come in under cloak and add something to the water supplies on the planet that would help them allleviate the effects of the plague. What we cannot do is directly aid them in doing so." She paused. What she had to say next would be skating on very thin ice indeed and she knew it. "However, our mission as I understand it has nothing to do with this planet. As this is our first contact with the Mithgiln, I believe a certain amount of cultural exchange would be the norm, is that correct Captain?" she asked ManyHorses. "If so, then Ensign Dolphine's suggestion might be a way forward perhaps?" But before ManyHorses could reply, there was an interruption. =/\=Bridge to Commander ManyHorses. We are being hailed by the Shonora Elian, Marshal Wersh wishes to speak with you immeidately on a matter of urgency.=/\= (Reply ManyHorses, any) (Posted by Liz) **************** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - M-CO Jerome ManyHorses - 1227.5) The M-CO listened quietly to all the debate that was going on between the officers in the meeting, and had been observing their facial expressions and body language unobtrusively throughout. He'd listened to arguments about the pros and cons of allowing nature to take its course on the planet and various ways that the officers thought they could help the planet's inhabitants. He had also seen that Ensign Rel was deeply disturbed, even outraged that anyone would think that the Dentarians should be left to their fate, and had noted the pounding that her PADD was taking as she'd texted into it' it really wasn't hard to guess what it might be. ~ She knew all along about the Prime Directive going through the academy, it's one of the first classes they teach and it's reinforced continuously, if she detests it so, why did she complete her training? ~ Inwardly he shook his head, every passing moment, every person that spoke seemed to be making her more and more angry and he was half expecting her to explode. He was about to ask her to leave the meeting when Captain Rivers asked if she could speak. Jerome nodded affirmation to her and she stood to address the group and she put into words what he had been thinking of saying. It made him smile as he listened to her praise her officers and then she reminded them of the oath they all took to uphold the Prime Directive and the studying of the history of Starfleet and the Federation, and been taught the dire consequences of contaminating another species' nautral development, stating that none of them would want to interfere in an adverse way in a pre-warp culture. ManyHorses nodded his agreement and saw a few others doing so. She paused briefly before continuing to state the obvious, that none of them wanted to stand by and watch billions die when they could help, or ever really thought that they might be obliged to do so. Looking around the room she stated that they had no justification for interfering when a non-Federation race chooses to intervene in the affairs of a pre-warp civilization outside of Federation space, and suggested that they should fully explain to the Mithgiln their reasons for not assisting, and try to persuade the Mithgiln to minimize the possible cultural contamination that a full-blown first contact would cause. Rivers gave an example of a possible ay to do that. She paused again as if weighing up whether to say what she was considering. "....However, our mission as I understand it has nothing to do with this planet. As this is our first contact with the Mithgiln, I believe a certain amount of cultural exchange would be the norm, is that correct Captain?" she asked ManyHorses. "If so, then Ensign Dolphine's suggestion might be a way forward perhaps?" Before ManyHorses could reply, there was an interruption. =/\=Bridge to Commander ManyHorses. We are being hailed by the Shonora Elian, Marshal Wersh wishes to speak with you immeidately on a matter of urgency.=/\= Jerome quickly replied. "Transfer communication to the Captain's Ready Room immediately!" He ordered as he rose from the chair and looked at Rivers. "Care to join me, Captain?" (reply Rivers) "We shouldn't be long, please enjoy your meals and talk things over between yourselves while we're gone." Jerome stated and strode out of the lounge with Rivers. (reply Rivers, all) (posted by Sal) ******* (USS Boudicca- Observation Lounge- ACMO Ensign(jg) Hawkeye Dolphine - 1228) As Captian Rivers and Cmdr. ManyHorses left the room, Hawkey begain to think to himself.~ I should try to start creating a list of antiviral agents on the off chance that we have the ability to make this work. If nothing else it would be good to give the oncoming dignitaries from the medical staff a list of antiviral agents we can synthesize for diseaeses they may not have run into yet.~ He had ordered the computer to transfer mission logs from the First contact to his PADD. He began to review what was known about the upcoming epidemic on the surface. After pouring through the lists of reported symptoms and mutations, He started to review the lists of medicines used in the late 20th-early 21st century. Just then, Hawkeye heard CEO Lorimar begin to speak. He placed his PADD down and payed attention to what the man had to say. (Reply all, any) (Posted by Ben C. ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - Con/Ops Micheal Orion - Day 5 - 1230) Tension in the observation lounge was high, and Orion for one was glad to see that he did not stand alone in his view of the situation, Then to FO spoke, and the gathered erupted again into more debate. But has they debated the issue more precious time passed away. Orion nodded in agreement with the FO. Next the voice of the captain Rivers broke the crowd, Her words made Orion glad that he had the backing of the command staff, even if there argument were slightly different. But that was to be expected. But then why did Orion feel so awful, he did not want to see so many die. ~I know this is hard, the important decision always are. But we can't let this break our resolve has a crew, a unit, a family... We must keep in mind that we our not the galaxies parents or keepers. We can not force our ways, our ideals, or our technology on a race that is not ready for it. Oh how I wish that this was different, and not the case. The Nature of the planet must be maintained. If not nature will find a way and that might be even more disastrous. ~ "Nature will find a way... " He told himself softly. Has thoughts continue to flood his mind has the meeting was interrupted by a message from the bridge, on a matter of urgency. "Maybe it already has." (posted by Matthew Locke) (reply any and all) ******** (Shonora Ellian, Command Deck - Marshal Torias Wersh - 1230) Torias was sitting in his command chair, looking at the final organizational reports. They had held off on contacting the Dentarians briefly, but were set to do so within the half hour. He still didn't understand why the Boudicca couldn't assist or just watch on. Yes, damage could be done, but taking no action and watching millions if not billions of people die was just as damaging to a culture and a people, and in Torias's opinion, far worse on a moral standpoint. "Sir, we may have a developing issue," His sensor officer said, turning around. "What?" Torias asked, suddenly concerned. "Developing weather patterns indicate that the wet season is going to start in less than a week, we don't have nearly enough time to accomplish what we need to do." The officer said. "What would need to happen for us to get enough of a ground work of vaccinations done for the population to survive until the medical crews get here?" Torias asked. "We'd need to at least double our work force, and we're still going to have to alter our survival predictions." Torias sighed, "There's only one thing to do. Comms, hail the Bouddica, tell Commander ManyHorses, that it's an emergency and I need to talk to him now. Everyone else, we move double time now, I want all the information I need to make first contact in my hands by the time I'm done talking to the Boudicca. (Reply ManyHorses/Rivers) (Posted by Patrick D.) ******** (USS Boudicca - Lebranski's Quarters - Crewman Shadow to Sretalles - 1230) Shadow navigated into the human's quarters trying not to wrinkle her nose. It smelled awfully stuffy in here. She knew the recyclers had been on closed circuit, or whatever the nice engineers called it, but still, you'd think they could manage a bit better. She put the tray down on the desk, happy to get the stench of coffee away from her face. She didn't understand the furless fascination with the stuff. She also didn't understand why they wanted to drench the water in the beans for so long it became mud when they wouldn't just liquefy the beans and drink them that way. She didn't really understand their fascination of making water taste like anything but water. Well, she liked tea once in a while, especially that white tea with blueberry that Captain Susan had given her once, but.. She sighed, an expression picked up from her Captain. Really, you'd think after a few years in Starfleet she'd have learnt the furless were just very strange, no matter how nice they were. Of course, she'd also been hoping for some sort of promotion to indicate her worth to her camp, but that hadn't happened either. She made a forceful effort not to wry tail in paws. They kept insisting she was an adult and important and belonged, but the air in the words remained just air, there was never any back-up to it. Not that she *minded* being a Crewman, she was happy to have a place to live and eat and sing. She was happy to have friends and family. She was happy to have stars to dance to and always a new place to explore each and every day. But she just wondered if she was so supposedly adult, why didn't they use their own conventions to reinforce that? Tilting her head to one side, she realized Captain Susan was probably thinking like a Siovoan. The Captain was VERY smart, and she realized that Shadow's people wouldn't want a reward they hadn't felt they had earned, and really, what DID Shadow do around here that deserved anything? She already had her very own quarters with trees and a hammock! She shook her head, she was being mopey and silly. She shouldn't be so selfish. She shouldn't feel sorry for herself. She should eat lunch. She wondered if she missed any of the other mantras the people in blue kept chanting at her. She then looked around, where WAS the Lieutenant? She sniffed the air and couldn't detect fresh scent. "Computer - where is Lieutenant Lebranski?" Shadow asked. "Lieutenant junior grade Denise Lebranski is on Deck 1 in the Observation Lounge." Came the prompt reply. "Thank you, Computer." Shadow replied, tail twitching. That fink had skipped quarters and gone to the meeting even after being told not to. Oh, sure, she PROBABLY wouldn't give half the ship her flu, but she wasn't well enough to be on duty yet! "After I got Arania to make your coffee, too!" Shadow grumbled to herself. She debated taking the tray with her, but let the AWOL officer do it, she decided. She had paperwork that needed doing and her office might let her back in if she appeared with sandwiches and pretended to eat them. (Reply none necessary) (Posted by Lorna) ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ACSO Ayslin Rel - Day 5 - 1231) Ayslin was ready to spit. ~Nature will find a way, let nature take it's course. Aren't we a part of nature, would he leave me on the side of the road if I was dying and tell me that nature would find a way? It's one thing for people to say that our hands our bound and no matter what we want to do, we just can't, but to try and justify it as Nature taking it's course is an outrage.~ Ayslin thought, verging on quitting right then and there, and beaming over to the Mithgiln ship and helping them herself. ~We are as much a part of nature as anyone else, and we have a moral obligation to try and prevent avoidable deaths. If not then why even have a medical bay on the ship. If he's willing to let them die, he's willing to let me or the Captain. And if he isn't then he's not as consistent in his morals as he thinks.~~ (Reply None needed) (Posted by Patrick D.) ****** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - Lt (jg) Denise Lebranski - Day 5 - 1233) Denise had been firing text messages back and forth with the chief engineer in betweenst their various speeches and debates. She didn't really agree with his view, but she had to be impressed by the way he'd stood up for it and delivered it. *If the whole universe agreed and thought the same way, there'd be one hell of a line up for the same bathroom.* she thought to herself with amusement. She was starting to feel a little woogie and wondering if she should call it quits and retreat back to her quarters. At least the medical staff had been too involved in the argument to give her a scan with eyes or equipment. It would probably hinder her recovery if she fell over but she really didn't want to miss this meeting either. And a doctor would probably notice her doing a face plant on the desk. 'Damn brave of the XO' Denise texted to Bob, 'Let's hope people remember that his job is to give the view opposite the captain's' Even if he did, heart and soul, agree with the words he was saying, it wasn't a comfortable position to be sitting in. And she certainly didn't envy him his rank and position right at the moment. After saying what had to be said, no matter how unpopular, she got the feeling he'd be sitting alone for a while in ten forward. She eyed Orion, or maybe not, maybe they'd draw up lines. Or maybe the Captain would smack all their heads together and tell them to be adults. The thing was, if they followed the letter and the spirit of the Prime Directive, the Mithgiln would save the people. If they followed the spirit and went for least damage possible, they'd hopefully help the people without stunting their growth and evolution. She listened with one ear as the debate grew grumpy. *Nature? Mother nature is bi-polar.. just like the Christian God and every other power above and below.* Into the silence of the room as the Captain dealt with matters, Denise gave her direct boss; Stolev a wry grin. She thought about texting him, but she didn't think he'd appreciate her brand of smart assery. She instead decided to refill her coffee mug and snuffle into the handkerchief and try to not gross anyone out. (Replies Lorimar, any) (Posted by Lorna) ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge – CEO Lorimar – 1235) Bob was surprised and pleased when some verbal support for his ‘position’ (such as it was) had been spoken. He briefly regretted speaking out; but if he had learned anything during his time in Starfleet and specifically aboard this ship, it was that officer’s opinions were encouraged and respected. He had been both witness and occasional participant in some rather lively debates both in this room and elsewhere. If one thing was certain, it was that cooler heads would eventually prevail and the best decision would be made by the command staff. ~Sometimes… the right decision is a bitter bloody pill tae swallow, is it nae? What if the ‘right’ decision in this case results in the death of millions on the planet? Or ruined relations with the Mithgiln? Yet another reason ah’m quite pleased that it’s nae mah decision. Ah much prefer bein’ in the cheap seats…~ He half smiled at the thought as he read the latest text from Lt. Lebranski. He had yet to get to know her all that well since her arrival aboard. The most interaction they had was during her ‘class trips’ where she had taken school children on tours of the ship, which had of course included engineering. One thing he was fairly certain about – she had an interesting and quirky sense of humor. He made a mental note to try and get to know her better. He watched as she refilled her coffee and then tried to discreetly clear her blocked nose. Any thoughts he might have entertained about reusing the ersatz handkerchief he had given her rapidly faded. The room had lapsed into a sort of silence with the rapid departure of Captain Rivers and Commander ManyHorses. Bob cast a glance in Denise’s direction, then he voiced his question. “Lieutenant… does getting tae know newly arrived officers fall intae the purview of the ship’s Protocol Officer?” (Reply Lebranski, Any) “Ah. Perhaps we might take a few moments away from the subject at hand, and find out a wee bit aboot our two new arrivals, aye?” He looked around at the remaining officers. “Mister Gesar, Mister Dolphine… care tae introduce yourselves in a bit mair detail while we wait?” (Reply Gesar, Dolphine, Any) (Posted by Russ) ******* (Shonora Ellian, Command Deck - Marshal Torias Wersh - 1235) Torias was relieved when the Boudicca's Captain responded promptly. Another woman in uniform was in the room with Captain ManyHorses, but Torias just figured it for procedure. =/\=What can we do for you, Marshal Wersh.=/\= He asked politely, his voice calm and neutral, and formal. Torias figured he had it coming, he'd gotten a little upset with the Boudicca's policy on non interference, and he let it show, something he shouldn't have done. "Captain ManyHorses, I need your help. The situation on the planet has changed. The wet season is beginning early. We need your help, the people on that planet need your help. I have no right to ask you to break your laws or moral standards, but I must beg you to lend whatever aid you can. We've signaled our Govenment to send more ships as fast as they can, but they simply won't be there in time. To accomplish our goal of preventing this plague from becoming something that may wipe out the civilization on the planet in less time, we would need to double our people on the ground. We have the vaccine, but we still have to administer it prior to infection," Torias said seriously. "Captain, I beg you, help me save these people's lives, they don't deserve to die." Torias pleaded, his wings drooping, his eyes conveying his seriousness. (Reply ManyHorses, Rivers) (Posted by Patrick D.) ****** (USS Boudicca - Ready Room - M-CO Jerome ManyHorses - 1236) Upon entering the Ready Room, ManyHorses ordered the communication link with Marshal Wersh to be transferred through. The Mithgiln leader's face appeared on screen and Jerome could see that he was concerned about something. "What can we do for you, Marshal Wersh." He asked politely. Given the Marshal's terse response to Jerome telling him of the Federation's Prime Directive that necessitated the Boudicca remaining unseen by the Dentarian, the M-CO felt it best to keep things formal, so he refrained from using the Mithgiln's given name and kept his tone of voice neutral and calm. (reply Wersh, any) (posted by Sal) ******* (USS Boudicca- Observation Lounge- ACMO Ensign(jg) Hawkeye Dolphine - 1237) “Ah. Perhaps we might take a few moments away from the subject at hand, and find out a wee bit aboot our two new arrivals, aye?” He looked around at the remaining officers. “Mister Gesar, Mister Dolphine… care tae introduce yourselves in a bit mair detail while we wait?” Hawkeye looked over at Ensign Gesar, then stood and begain to introduce himself. " My name is Hawkeye Dolphine. I was a paramedic on Earth before attending Medical School. I was board certified in General, Thorasic, and Trauma Surgery as well as an Emeregency Physician. I was raised under a Starfleet Captian, and spent most of my childhood bouncing from duty station to duty station. And while I realize that there are certain protocols on board, Please, call me Hawkeye. I never had much use, or for that matter like, of people calling Mr. or Dr. Dolphine. To me it seems cold and impersonal, not the sort of feelings I wish to portray of myself." " My off time is spent doing a few different hobbies. I like to play football, baseball and I go horseback riding. This gives me a chance to escape the day to day stress of medicine and just relax. I try to be laid back, but when you see me panic, it might be a good time to worry." Hawkeye said with a smile. With that, he sat back down and waited to hear the introduction of Ensign Gesar. (Reply Gesar, Any) ( Posted by Ben C.) ******* (USS Boudicca - Ready Room - XO - Captain Susan Rivers - Day 5 - 1238) Susan hadn't needed to be asked twice by the M-CO to accompany him to the Ready Room. She remained silent, however, not knowing what the Mithgiln leader might have to say that would be so urgent. She had an unpleasant feeling that it would concern the mission of mercy that the Mithgiln were engaged on, and wished that she and ManyHorses had had the chance to speak together before being possibly put on the spot by Marshal Wersh. As the M-CO ordered the Marshal's transmission to be patched through to them, Susan quietly took a seat not out of sight of the viewscreen but unobtrusively placed and waited to hear what the Marshal had to say. (Reply Marshal Wersh, Jerome, Any) (Posted by Liz) ******* (USS Boudicca - Ready Room - M-CO Jerome ManyHorses - 1239) Jerome listened as Marshal Wersh told him why he'd contacted him. Apparently the wet season on the planet was beginning early and he wanted ManyHorses' help. He explained that he'd contacted the Mithgiln government to send more ships but they wouldn't arrive in time, and in order to accomplish their goal of preventing the plague from possibly obliterating the civilization on the planet sooner, then they would have to double our people on the ground. =/\=....We have the vaccine, but we still have to administer it prior to infection. Captain, I beg you, help me save these people's lives, they don't deserve to die.=/\= The Marshal looked very solemn, and if Jerome was reading his 'wing' language correctly he was feeling dejected, but then the M-CO could be mistaken not having had time to interact with the Mithgiln long enough to learn their body language. ManyHorses inwardly hefted a huge sigh. ~ Great Manito why couldn't we at least have come to a decision at the meeting before getting this message? ~ Then he knew he'd already made his decision long ago. He wanted to help the Dentarians, and they would find a way to do it even if he did break the Prime Directive, but for now he wasn't willing to divulge this to the Mithgiln commander, first it was best to exhaust all possible ways of helping without interfering. "Marshal Wersh, I fully understand your consternation at these new adverse circum- stances that have arisen. Be assured that if there is a way to help you and the Dentarians inconspicuously that we will do so. I cannot promise anything more and will have to discuss this problem further with my officers. I will let you know my decision as soon as possible." (reply Wersh) Jerome nodded and severed the link. He turned to look at Rivers. "Captain." He said solemnly as he lowered into a chair, expecting a long and possibly heated discussion with Rivers over what he was about to say. "I appreciate that you made it look as if we had conversed about my handing command back to you and instead of taking it fully, we are now partners so to speak. However, I must in all honesty inform you that I am intent on helping the Dentarians and I am fully prepared to take full responsibility for my actions, should the Prime Directive be broken by my decisions." (reply Rivers, room for more) Their brief discussion concluded, Jerome headed for the Ready Room door to return to the Observation Lounge. "Time to get back to business, the sooner it's concluded the sooner those people can be helped." (Reply Wersh, Rivers) (Posted by Sal) ******* (USS Boudicca- Observation Lounge- ACMO Ensign(jg) Hawkeye Doplhine-1240) “Ah. Perhaps we might take a few moments away from the subject at hand, and find out a wee bit aboot our two new arrivals, aye?” He looked around at the remaining officers. “Mister Gesar, Mister Dolphine… care tae introduce yourselves in a bit mair detail while we wait?” Hawkeye looked over at Ensign Gesar, then stood and begain to introduce himself. " My name is Hawkeye Dolphine. I was a paramedic on Earth before attending Medical School. I was board certified in General, Thorasic, and Trauma Surgery as well as an Emeregency Physician. I was raised under a Starfleet Captian, and spent most of my childhood bouncing from duty station to duty station. And while I realize that there are certain protocols on board, Please, call me Hawkeye. I never had much use, or for that matter like, of people calling Mr. or Dr. Dolphine. To me it seems cold and impersonal, not the sort of feelings I wish to portray of myself." " My off time is spent doing a few different hobbies. I like to play football, baseball and I go horseback riding. This gives me a chance to escape the day to day stress of medicine and just relax. I try to be laid back, but when you see me panic, it might be a good time to worry." Hawkeye said with a smile. With that, he sat back down and waited to hear the introduction of Ensign Gesar. (Reply Gesar, Any) ( Posted by Ben C.) ******* (USS Boudicca - Ready Room - XO Captain Susan Rivers - Day 5 - 1241) Susan had sat in silence, listening first to the Marshall's plea and then to the M-CO's reply. She had the feeling that this honourable man didn't want to stand idly by and let so many people die, but she wasn't sure how far he would go to assist the Mithgiln - whether he was, in fact, prepared to dis- regard the Prime Directive to do so. She considered what Aragorn, or Remae Ktell, or Sevant would have done if the decision had been theirs and knew that whatever it might or might not have been, she had her own to make. As ManyHorses severed the link, having promised to let Marshall Wersh know his decision as soon as possible, he turned to look at Susan and settled the matter by stating that he was prepared to break the Prime Directive if neces- sary and to take full responsibility for doing so. Susan smiled wryly. "Captain, my Starfleet record is not so stellar that it needs protection. Be assured that you have my personal co-operation in what- ever you decide to do. I will not, however, allow any of my officers to be drawn into breaking their oath against their will. As your XO I am obliged to remind you of the Prime Directive and what we are expected to do to uphold it, but you know all that as well as I do. Neither of us walks this path with our eyes closed; I merely recommend that we first exhaust all means of assisting the Mithgiln without actively breaking the the Prime Directive." (Reply Jerome, room for more) Their brief discussion concluded, the two returned to the Observation Lounge. ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ACEO Ensign(Jg) Anton Gesar -1242) “Ah. Perhaps we might take a few moments away from the subject at hand, and find out a wee bit aboot our two new arrivals, aye?” He looked around at the remaining officers. “Mister Gesar, Mister Dolphine… care tae introduce yourselves in a bit mair detail while we wait?” Anton looked over at the ACMO who also looked his way to see who would speak first. Hawkeye then stood and begain to introduce himself. " My name is Hawkeye Dolphine. I was a paramedic on Earth before attending Medical School. I was board certified in General, Thorasic, and Trauma Surgery as well as an Emeregency Physician. I was raised under a Starfleet Captian, and spent most of my childhood bouncing from duty station to duty station. And while I realize that there are certain protocols on board, Please, call me Hawkeye. I never had much use, or for that matter like, of people calling Mr. or Dr. Dolphine. To me it seems cold and impersonal, not the sort of feelings I wish to portray of myself." "My off time is spent doing a few different hobbies. I like to play football, baseball and I go horseback riding. This gives me a chance to escape the day to day stress of medicine and just relax. I try to be laid back, but when you see me panic, it might be a good time to worry." Hawkeye said with a smile. With that, he sat back down. Anton listened to the ACMO and when he was done and sitting back down all eyes turned to Anton. Not the most comfortable of feelings. He breathed a mental sigh and stood up. "My name is Anton Gesar and I have been assigned to be the ACEO here on the Boudicca. I was born on Earth in Moscow, where I started my studies of engineering. Prior to his retirement, my father was an Admiral in Starfleet and was posted at SFHQ and taught at the Academy in San Francisco, which is where I finished my Engineering studies before entering Starfleet Academy. Because Boris Gesar was no longer a Captain, I did not have to bounce around like... Dr. Dolphine." Anton tried to say Hawkeye but could not break past his upbringing. "Thank you." Anton sat back down. (Reply Any) (Posted by Oleg Kislyuk ****** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - 2O/CCOUNS/Lt.Cdr. Dorga 'cha Nooras - 1243) Dorga listened as Bob Lorimar put the two rookies on the line by asking them to introduce themselves. Her deep brown eyes roamed from one to the other with interest. The new assistant CMO stood up and did so, and an eyebrow raised slightly as he voiced his dislike for titles such as Mister and Doctor and asked to be called Hawkeye. She thought it was inappropriate to be that informal, particularly when on duty; when off duty it was an entirely different matter all together and she had no problem with using given names then. Using titles wasn't so much cold and impersonal as far as she was concerned, to her it was showing respect for her fellow officers and was a professional way to act. "....My off time is spent doing a few different hobbies. I like to play football, baseball and I go horseback riding. This gives me a chance to escape the day to day stress of medicine and just relax. I try to be laid back, but when you see me panic, it might be a good time to worry." Ensign Dolphine said with a smile and sat down again. With that, he sat back down. Dorga's penetrating gaze moved to the other young officer. He looked nervous as he breathed in deeply and stood up, and she listened intently to him as he told every- one there about himself. She couldn't help but smile when he addressed his fellow rookie with the title of Doctor and nodded her approval. As he sat back down, Dorga spoke up, smiling to each of them in turn. "I am Lieutenant Commander Dorga 'cha Nooras, Second officer and chief counselor. When on duty we address each other using titles out of respect and because it is the professional thing to do. Let me be one of the first to welcome you aboard this fine vessel, Mister Gesar and Doctor Dolphine." She pointedly emphasized the titles she used. "I may be biased but as far as I am concerned this is the best ship and crew in the fleet, and I am positive you will come to love her as much as the rest of us do in no time at all." Looking at Ensign Gesar she asked, "and what do you like to do in your free time, Mister Gesar?" (reply Gesar) "Thank you Mister Gesar. Do either of you have any questions for us?" (Reply Any) (Posted by Sal) **************** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - 2O/CCOUNS/Lt.Cdr. Dorga 'cha Nooras - 1244.5) Dorga looked at Anton and then she asked, "and what do you like to do in your free time, Mister Gesar?" Anton stood up again which amused Dorga no end, he could have remained sitting down. "When off duty I spend my time staying up to date with the latest bulletins from Stafleet on engineering advancements and system upgrades. Then I spend time practicing martial arts." Anton was about to sit down when he added, "I also tinker with building or repairing random things.... umm... for fun." ~ That's it? Well I suppose tinkering can be fun but super novas Mister, you really need to get a life outside of work. ~ "Thank you Mister Gesar. Do either of you have any questions for us?" The 2O asked. It didn't look like they did have any questions....yet, but Dorga was sure that once they were feeling more settled in, they'd have some. The germ ridden protocol officer spoke to Ensign Dolphine. "If you're nob on duty tomorrow at 1100, I'mb giving da introductory tour of the ship for the seven to nine year olds if you'd like to join," Her eyes had a mischievious glint in them, "I'm sure they would love having real officers along with to answer questions." The Doctor thought for a moment before replying that he would be able to attend if his schedule permitted and would give her a better idea tomorrow, and then he looked at his PADD, his mind already off somewhere else. ~ No doubt thinking of work. ~ Dorga was rather surprised that he'd taken Lt. Lebranski's offer seriously, perhaps he was a serious kind of guy with an unusual sense of humor or no sense of humor at all. They would all learn more about him over time. She slurped up the last of her iced cappuccino as quietly as she could, knowing that the sound of the liquid going up the straw could be annoying to some, but wanting to get the last drop. When she could get no more out of the large container she walked over to the replicator and ordered another one, she just couldn't get enough of the ice cold beverage. It had been a nice diversion from the intense discussion while the two Captains had been away, but as she sat down she was wishing they'd return and let them know what was going on. Almost as if they'd read her mind, Captain Rivers and ManyHorses stepped back into the Observation Lounge and resumed their seats. (Reply Any) (Posted by Sal) ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ACEO Ens(Jg.) Anton Gesar - 1245) As Anton sat back down, Dorga spoke up, smiling to each in turn. "I am Lieutenant Commander Dorga 'cha Nooras, Second officer and chief counselor. When on duty we address each other using titles out of respect and because it is the professional thing to do. Let me be one of the first to welcome you aboard this fine vessel, Mister Gesar and Doctor Dolphine." She pointedly emphasized the titles she used. "I may be biased but as far as I am concerned this is the best ship and crew in the fleet, and I am positive you will come to love her as much as the rest of us do in no time at all." Dorga looked at Anton and then she asked, "and what do you like to do in your free time, Mister Gesar?" Anton stoop up again, "When off duty I spend my time staying up to date with the latest bulletins from Stafleet on engineering advancements and system upgrades. Then I spend time practicing martial arts." Anton was about to sit down, "I also tinker with building or repairing random things.... umm... for fun." Anton sat back down. How does one explain that his life never revolved around what he was interested in. Being the son, even if adopted, of Boris Gesar was quite different from most other childhoods. While other children played outside, Anton was studying historical battle tactics, both from earth and other alien races. While other kids were playing with toys, Anton was learning how to disassemble and reassemble phasers, and how to assemble a working weapon from disabled weapons of various other worlds. That by the time he was thirteen he had already memorized all Starfleet regulations and could quote them at any given moment. By the time he was sixteen he had already completed the academy entrance exam. So ingrained in him was his father's sense of duty, diligence and hard work, that he never took the time to smell the roses. Not when there was more to be learned, skills to hone and improve. His one act of rebellion was not following in the footsteps of the great strategist Boris Gesar and choosing to study engineering instead. "Thank you Mister Gesar. Do either of you have any questions for us?" (Reply Any) (Posted by Oleg) ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - Lieutenant (jg) Denise Lebranski - 1247) "Lieutenant. does getting tae know newly arrived officers fall intae the purview of the ship's Protocol Officer?" "Think that'd be da counsellor's job," Denise teased Dorga. "But I don't fink she'd be adverse to you's borrowing her hat." "Ah. Perhaps we might take a few moments away from the subject at hand, and find out a wee bit aboot our two new arrivals, aye?" He looked around at the remaining officers. "Mister Gesar, Mister Dolphine. care tae introduce yourselves in a bit mair detail while we wait?" Denise listened to the introductions, the new ACMO sounding like every surgeon she'd ever had the pleasure or not so much pleasure of meeting. She was glad that she rarely had dealings with the boys in blue, they were all just a tad cerebral for her. The new engineer sounded like he was more interested in tools than people. The thought amused her. ~Sounds like he likes tools more than people, should fit in with you lot perfectly~ She teased Bob over text. (Reply Bob) ~Well, you never took me up on my offer of lunch, so I can only assume you prefer tools to people.~ she added. (Reply Bob) "Well, I'mb sure you've hurd it frob lots in wed wecently," Denise said to the new officers, "But welcome to the Boudicca. Wots of work, wots of friends, wots of laughs and eben more paperwork. I'mb trying to prove a thfeory that it ib actually medically possible to dwown sapients in paperwork and am seeing what racial tendencies bakes one da most subsceptible. Unfortunabely, da only one who wooks to take da bait is da Captain's Yeoman," Think of Shadow, where WAS the cat? Didn't she normally make these meetings to take notes for the Captain and to sniff out liars? (Replies any present,) "If you're nob on duty tomorrow at 1100, I'mb giving da introductory tour of the ship for the seven to nine year olds if you'd like to join," Her eyes danced, "I'm sure they would love having real officers along with to answer questions." At least, she was if Shadow hadn't cancelled everything on her schedule again. Well, damnit, she was bored of the same four walls, surely she could handle one little tour. She hadn't keeled over due to this meeting yet had she? (Replies Gesar, Dolphine, any) (Posted by Lorna) ******* (USS Boudicca- Observation Lounge- ACMO Ensign(jg) Hawkeye Dolphine - 1250) Maybe it was the comfort factor he had as a Paramedic on Earth or how he tried to set his patients at ease as a practicing physician, either way he never saw himself as Dr. Dolphine. Still, he left that behind him to begin his carrer in Starfleet. There were bound to be some things he would have to get used to on board and in this new setting. As he was waiting for Capt. Rivers and Cmdr. he contemplated responding to the counselor's comment about questions on board. ~Now isnt the time Hawkeye~ he thought to himself. ~When the debreifing is over, Try to pull the counselor aside and try to clairify the request. It could be a simple misunderstanding. EIther way it is imperitive that she understands you will NEVER break protocol and address a senior officer outside of thier rank.~ He listened as the Lt began to speak. "If you're nob on duty tomorrow at 1100, I'mb giving da introductory tour of the ship for the seven to nine year olds if you'd like to join," Her eyes danced, "I'm sure they would love having real officers along with to answer questions." Hawkeye thought for a moment and then replied to the Lt. "Maam If my schedule permits I should be able to attend. I will give you a better idea tomorrow if I can attend or not maam." He continued to glance at his PADD and debate with himself what would work best if the Captain gave him permission to continue with his studies and treatment plans. If the Capt did decide to allow the crew to assist, he would need to vaccinate the crew against this. The other thought he had was to see if he could devise a way to eliminate the virus as a whole and a way to distribute it. (Reply any) (Posted By Ben) ******* (USS Boudicca- Observation Lounge- ACMO Ensign(jg) Hawkey Dolphine - 1252) Hawkeye noticed that Cmdr. ManyHorses and Capt. Rivers had taken thier seats. From the looks on their faces, Hawkeye could tell that they were upset. ~Probablly had to due with the message from Marshall Welsh~ He thougt to himself. As he glanced at his PADD, He made sure that the calculations were correct for the exchange with the Mithglin. If he was correct, he may have discovered a way to rid the Dentarians of the plauge all together. He would keep this knowledge untill given the green light to assist or destroy his information. ~The Capt and Cmdr ManyHorses dont seem to look to comfortable with the issue at hand~Hawkeye thought. He couldn't blame them. The Prime Directive put them in an awkward state. He listened intently as Cmdr Many horses began to speak. ( Reply ManyHorses) ~Hmm, so were to go from here~ He thought to himself. (reply any) (Posted by Ben) ********* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - M-CO Jerome ManyHorses - 1252.5) The soft murmur of voices died away to silence when Rivers and ManyHorses returned to their seats. Jerome sat down briefly, placing his PADD on the table and then stood again, crossing his arms over his chest and looking grave. What was just a nuisance before had become a nightmare. The Mithgiln Marshal had pleaded with him to help the Dentarians. His deep brown eyes swept over the faces expectantly turned his way, and a grim smile crept over his lips. "As you know, I have been speaking with Marshal Wersh. Unfortunately his mission has taken on a deeper measure of urgency due to the wet season on the planet starting earlier than usual. He fears that the vaccination of the population will not be completed before the plague takes hold and has requested more ships and personel be sent but they won't arrive in time, so he asked me and ultimately us, to help them. They have the vaccine but it must be administered prior to infection. It is not effective as a counter measure to the disease." Lowering his arms, ManyHorses placed his palms on the table and leaned forward slightly as he again looked around at all the faces. "Naturally, I assured the Marshal that if there is a way to help inconspicuously that we will do so, but I made no promises that we could. I told him I would apprise him of my decision asap after discussing it further with all of you, but I am determined to help in any way I can." His dark eyes fixed on Doctor Dolphine. "Doctor, how long would it take to alter an away team of say eight to ten individuals should it be necessary for them to go planet -side, also... if a sample of the vaccine is made available to you would it be possible to make it effective to treat those already infected with the disease?" (reply Dolphine) "I see, then I suggest you proceed immediately!" He looked over to where Captain Rivers was seated and smiled. "Captain would you care to lead the away team should one be required or would you prefer to leave that task to Commander Stolev? I know that normally Captains don't get to do some of the more 'interesting' and fun things." (Reply Dolphine, Rivers, All) (posted by Sal) ********* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - XO Captain Susan Rivers - Day 5 - 1254) As ManyHorses informed the senior staff of what the Marshal had told him and announced his determination to help in any way he could, Susan watched the faces around the table and tried to gauge the response. The M-CO asked Dr Dolphine how long it would take to alter an away team to go to the planet if necessary, and if he could perhaps assist in altering the vaccine prepared by the Mithgiln to make it effective to treat those already infected. (reply Dolphine) Once the new doctor had replied, ManyHorses turned to Susan and smiled as he asked her if she would care to lead the away team. Susan nodded. "Indeed I will lead the away team, Captain." She looked at Stolev, half apologetically, and then back to Jerome. "You are right, it's not often I get the chance to be in the thick of things. However, in the circumstances, I will be asking for volunteers. I will not order any of you to participate should you have reservations in so doing." (Reply Dolphine, All) (posted by Liz) ********** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - Lt (jg) Denise Lebranski - 1254) The Captain nodded. "Indeed I will lead the away team, Captain." She looked at Stolev, half apologetically, and then back to Jerome. "You are right, it's not often I get the chance to be in the thick of things. However, in the circumstances, I will be asking for volunteers. I will not order any of you to participate should you have reservations in so doing." As the Captain scanned the officers, Denise shook her head. "Sorry Captains, but while I'm all for teaching a man to fish, or even fixing his boat so he can go fish for himself, I'll not do his fishing for him. I think that's against the spirit of the Prime Directive. Whether the Mithgiln will go fish for them or not is irrelevant to me," She had a brief moment to marvel at the clear sinuses and lack of congestion before she sneezed twice. She sighed, "Besides, knowing my luck, sneezes show possession by a great an evil deity." She was pretty sure she'd just made an enemy of the fiery and passionate science officer. (Reply any/all) (Posted by Lorna) ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - 2O/CCOUNS/Lt.Cdr. Dorga 'cha Nooras - 1255) In ManyHorses demeanor as he stood, arms crossed while telling them of what had happened in the Ready Room, Dorga could tell he was filled with a grim determination, why was made clear when he announced his determination to assist the Mithgiln in any way he could. Did that mean he would go against the Prime Directive? Only time would tell. She was certain that they would first exhaust every conceivable possibility for helping without doing so. Surprisingly, Commander ManyHorses asked Susan if she would like to head up the away team and Dorga couldn't help but grin as Susan nodded and replied that she would lead the team. Susan looked at Stolev, half apologetically, and then back to Jerome. "You are right, it's not often I get the chance to be in the thick of things. However, in the circumstances, I will be asking for volunteers. I will not order any of you to participate should you have reservations in so doing." Jerome simply nodded in acquiescence as he sat down in the chair behind him and waited to see who would volunteer to go with Captain Rivers. The first officer to reply was Lieutenant Lebranski but contrary to what Dorga thought...that she was going to volunteer! The Lieutenant stated she thought it went against the spirit of the Prime Directive so she would not be volunteering. Dorga couldn't see how this was, after all there'd been a few times that disguised away teams had been sent to planets to mingle with the inhabitants, as long as they didn't reveal themselves as aliens she could see no harm in it. The 2O leaned forward. "I'll go." She stated emphatically. (Reply All) (posted by Sal) ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - TAC/SC Lieutenant(SG) Detron Trei 1256) After hearing the request for volunteers for the away mission and not forcing any to do so in terms of beliefs, Lt. Lebranski was the first to say she will go. Detron was ready to help these people in any way he could so he went next. "I will go. I wish to help these people any way I can." (Reply Rivers) (Posted by Edward) ***** (USS Boudicca – Observation Lounge – CEO Lorimar – 1258) Bob had listened intently to the ships’ two newest officers as they gave brief introductions of themselves. He had smiled when he heard his new junior engineer express his interest in ‘tinkering’, a habit that he also occasionally indulged. He hoped, however, that the young man didn’t interact exclusively with machines; Lorimar had learned that particular lesson the hard way. Dolphine, for his part, sounded very much similar to many doctors he had met, with perhaps a bit more forward and friendly ‘bedside manner’. He looked forward to getting to know both of them better. His train of thought was interrupted by the return of Captain Rivers and Commander ManyHorses to the room. They both seemed very serious, possibly even tense. As he listened to the exchange from the command officers, he grew more confused. ~Has the question been settled? Are we going tae help them despite any conse- quences? No one has said that… but it seems so~ He waited until ‘cha Nooras, Lebranski and Trei had responded before he interjected. “Captains, with all respect ah must ask the pointed question: Hae we… or rather, you folks made up yer minds? Hae ye determined that the Prime Directive is nae applicable in this case? Or are ye determined tae act whether or not it does? Ah must know yer decision before ah can respond tae yer request for volunteers.” (Reply Any) (Posted by Russ) ******* (USS Boudicca – Observation Lounge – M-CO Jerome ManyHorses – 1258.5) Jerome's dark eyes fixed on Doctor Dolphine and he asked him how long it would take to alter an away team of say eight to ten individuals, and if he could make the available vaccine effective to treat those already infected with the disease. "If I could review the pathophysiology of the virus, systemic effects and resistance factors, maybe an hour or two atbest. To keep this crew completely protected I need about four hours. With that said, I need to have the biofilters in the transporters adjusted to screen out this virus." Dolphine then asked the CEO if he would help him with that. "....I can have modification suggestions to you within an hour or two at most?" Lieutenant Lorimar then asked the inevitable question - had they made their minds whether or not the Prime Directive applied to the situation, and stated he couldn't respond to the call for volunteers until he knew. "Lieutenant, I believe that the Prime Directive would prevent our assisting these people in any way. However as the Mission CO, I personally am fully prepared to help them in any way possible and I will take full responsibility for my actions and for any others who assist me in doing so. I am fully aware of the consequences of my actions." Jerome gave the CEO a soft smile. "Nobody is required to assist that is why volunteers have been called for." (reply Lorimar, any) Ensign Dolphine stood, adjusted his tunic and began to speak. "Captain Rivers, Cmdr. ManyHorses, I realize I am but a junior officer on board. With that being said it is my professional opinion, as well as my personal, To Hell with the Prime Directive in this case. Captain, you can count me in on this away team." Jerome nodded, he was certain that more would step forward to aid the Dentarians. (Reply Lorimar, Any) (Posted by Sal) ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ACMO Ensign(jg) Hawkeye Dolphine -1300) Hawkeye's gaze turned from his PADD to Cmdr ManyHorses as the Cmdr made his request. His dark eyes fixed on Doctor Dolphine. "Doctor, how long would it take to alter an away team of say eight to ten individuals should it be necessary for them to go planet-side, also... if a sample of the vaccine is made available to you would it be possible to make it effective to treat those already infected with the disease?" "If I could review the pathophysiology of the virus, systemic effects and resistance factors, maybe an hour or two at best. To keep this crew completely protected I need about four hours. With that said, I need to have the biofiliters in the transportes adjusted to screen out this virus." He turned to CEO Lorimar." Sir could you help me with this aspect? I can have modification suggestions to you within an hour or two at most?" (Reply Lorimar) Hawkeye thought for a moment as to the Captians request for volunteers for the away team. On the one hand, he was alrways interested in oppurtuniteis to retun to his roots as a Paramedic, not inside a comfortable sickbay but rather in an enviroment where he had to think on his feet and react with nothing more than a medkit. On the other hand, Starfleet frowned heavily on the breaking of the Prime Directive. ~Not exactly a good way to start a carrer, but then neither is sitting back when you can help. Besides, fortune favors the bold~ Hawkeye thought to himself. Hawkeye stood, adjusted his tunic and began to speak. "Captain Rivers, Cmdr ManyHorses, I realize I am but a junior officer on board. With that being said it is my professional opinion, as well as my personal, To Hell with the Prime Directive in this case. Captain, you can count me in on this away team." With that he sat back down and awaited the response of the senior officers around him. Let fate and Starfleet judge him later. Right now he has a jpb to do. ~First do no harm. In this case I would be doing harm, not to mention genocide, if I turned a blind eye to the suffering of a species when I can do something about it.~ (Reply Rivers, ManyHorses, Any) (Posted by Ben) ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - Lieutenant (jg) Denise Lebranski - 1300.5) Denise wasn't surprised by any of those in blue standing up to jump in. It was their duty and their reason of being to help and heal. The morals and ethics were often left up to the other departments. Help the patient infront of you and worry about if he'll pick up a rifle and shoot you after he's better. Counsellors, she'd found, could often be self-deluding to the point of stupidity. Many of them believed there was good in everyone, that everyone could be fixed with talking and a bunch of other hogwash. Heck, even scientists tended to focus on the minute rather than the grand picture. She supposed she shouldn't be surprised by how many baited their rods and got ready to fish. The whole point of Starfleet was to make life better for everyone around them; but there was the long view to be taken and it didn't seem anyone here was taking it. The defense seemed to be 'people would die without us.' and 'The Mithgiln would have done it anyway.' She wanted to sigh. People died every day across the universe. Great atrocities happened. Yes, it was their job, their duty, their need to prevent as much of it as they could, but hadn't time and time again it been shown that the kind of interference they were planning did way more harm than good? It was possible to help, to heal, without wading into the middle. Why weren't any of those options being explored? They were supposed to be the great diplomats, why weren't they diplomating with their new found friends on the best way to save the people below? She also wanted to crawl back to bed and forget she'd ever had the brilliant idea to come to this meeting. She wanted to smack Sash for ever thinking she'd be good at this sort of thing. She missed being a lowly grunt making things run but not having to make any of the tough decisions. She'd sat in the command chair, she couldn't say she much liked it.. but this all seemed terribly hurried to her. Her head was swimming and she just wanted to lie down for a while. Shadow was going to yell at her for a while, too; probably in that whispering voice with lashing tail. Oh well, in for being the bad guy, may as well go both feet in, "Its probably my job to point out 'Just following orders' isn't a defense, especially when you're asking for volunteers," she gave ManyHorses a wry smile, "Everyone here is making an informed decision and responsible for that decision. Unless you've been lying through your teeth to all of us, which somehow I think we all doubt." Honour screamed out of every pore of their guest commanding officer. The Captain, whichever one it was, couldn't protect them from Prime Directive violations. On the one hand, Denise could appreciate he was trying to protect those in his command, on the other, it was a bit belittle that he didn't feel that his officers were perfectly capable of weighing the future of their careers in their hands. She doubted anyone here knew her well enough to know she didn't say 'no' to protect her career. Little would make her happier than losing her commission and being tossed back into the ranks. She said no because she believed that this was a short term solution to make a ship full of people feel better about themselves that was going to create nightmares in the future. She didn't care how good physical make-up made the visiting angels, the people were of a technology and time of paranoia and fears. There was just too much the away teams wouldn't know of the people they were visiting and slip ups could have disastrous results and would either commander sacrifice a planet's future for one of their team's lives? An hour ago she would have said yes, now she wasn't so sure. (Replies any/all) (Posted by Lorna) ****** (USS Boudicca – Observation Lounge – ACSO Ensign Ayslin Rel – 1301) Ayslin felt the tension run out of her when the Captains came back and said they would be helping, and that now the Mithgiln needed their help or people were going to die in droves. Ayslin watched some around the table volunteer and she smiled slightly. The Protocol officer warned that the captain wouldn't be able to protect them if Star Fleet wanted to prosecute them, and Ayslin couldn't care less. "Captain, I'll gladly volunteer," Ayslin said with a firm tone. People were so scared about trying to help, about the damage they might do. The Mithgiln didn't seem to have any worries, and she doubted this was their first time down this particular road. Maybe all the troubles the Federation ran into was caused more by trying to clean up breaches of the Prime Directive instead of the breach itself. There was no evidence that these people would react badly if they were approached as equals and the situation was simply explained. ~~I simply can't imagine not helping,~~Ayslin thought. ~~I am most definitely not going to saddle some future host, a hundred years from now with a load of guilt about standing by while people died.~~ (Reply Any/None) (Posted by Patrick D.) ****** (USS Boudicca- Observation Lounge- ACMO Ensign(jg) Hawkeye Dolphine - 1304) As he sat back down, he listened intently to the other officers around him. One point brought up during the conversation got Hawkeye to thinking. Lt. Lebranski, the Protocol officer made the statement regarding the direct violation of the Prime Directive and how each officer volunteering to help could potentially get into significant trouble. "Its probably my job to point out 'Just following orders' isn't a defense, especially when you're asking for volunteers," she gave ManyHorses a wry smile, "Everyone here is making an informed decision and responsible for that decision. Unless you've been lying through your teeth to all of us, which somehow I think we all doubt." At that moment, Hawkeye began to speak. " Lt., Cmdr., Capt., If I understand this correctly, we cannot directly interfere.Nothing, however, prohibits us from participating in a cultural exchange with the Mithglin staff. According to everything I've heard, the Mithglin have the vaccienne for this virus they just need help to administer. IF I could devise a way to spread the vaccienne in a condensed form, could the Mithglin, with the knowledge they gain from an exchange in technological advances, as we are able to preform in First Contact, Inject the vaccienne into the atmosphere in the shape of a clear, ordorless, tasteless, vapor? By doing this, we in no way, shape, fashion or form as I understand, are absolved from the legal restricitons of the Prime Directive. We did not interfere with the Dentarians natural evolution. Furthermore, we did not interfere with any course of action that the Mithglin decide to do. A mass spread of this medication in gaseous form would do the same preventitive measure as if we or the Mithglin, gave the vacieene in any other fashion. When the gas hits the respiratory system, it would be spread throughout the blood stream the same way Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide are transported at the cellular level. I do not believe that any adverse effects will occur. I would have to run simulations, maybe a three hour window to finalize everything. I would require assistance from the Mithglin staff as well as Enginerring, If they feel comfotrable with sharing information with the Mithglin. By doing this there is no violation of the Prime Directive and allows us to serve our ethical and moral dilemmas about watching the Dentarians suffer needlessly." (Reply Rivers, ManyHorses, Lebranski, Lorimar, Any) With that Hawkeye sat and awaited responses from the Dept Heads and from the M-CO and Capt. (Reply Rivers, ManyHorses, Lebranski, Lorimar, Any) (Posted By Ben) ************************* (USS Boudica - Observation Lounge - ACEO Anton Gesar - 1305) For the rest of the conversation in the Observation Lounge Anton reviewed the engineering status reports on his PADD. His attention was diverted when he heard the conversation die out. He looked up and saw that Rivers and ManyHorses returned. ManyHorses explained that the weather conditions had changed and that we now have no choice but to either help or let the people on the planet die. ManyHorses was determined to help and Captain Rivers agreed to lead an away team to the surface asking for volunteers. As it was Anton's nature to observe first, he sat back and waited for the rest of the crew. The first to volunteer was the 2O followed by the TAC/SC. The Protocol Officer made an interesting speech regarding why she would not volunteer. Anton was still waiting, he was waiting to see who would ask the question, he was glad to see it was none other than his department head. “Captains, with all respect ah must ask the pointed question: Hae we… or rather, you folks made up yer minds? Hae ye determined that the Prime Directive is nae applicable in this case? Or are ye determined tae act whether or not it does? Ah must know yer decision before ah can respond tae yer request for volunteers.” ManyHorses replied, "Lieutenant, I believe that the Prime Directive would prevent our assisting these people in any way. However as the Mission CO, I personally am fully prepared to help them in any way possible and I will take full responsibility for my actions and for any others who assist me in doing so. I am fully aware of the consequences of my actions." Jerome gave the CEO a soft smile. "Nobody is required to assist that is why volunteers have been called for." It was at this point that the ACMO made a pationed call to damn the prime directive and volunteered as did the ACSO. The Protocol Officer chimed in once again and the ACMO suggested that we let the Mithglin administer the vaccine one we devise a method of vaccination that does not involve us helping directly. Anton had observed enough and it was time to speak up. "If I may offer an opinion. It seems to me that we are arguing semantics. The decision to help the population of this plannet has already been made. Any method that will not show that we are directly involved is simply deniability and for what it's worth Starfleet will be able to see right through it. In addition to that, we must weigh the importance of our First Contact with the Mithglin. Should we choose not to assist, it may damage any possible future relations with that species. So, taking into account that Captain Rivers and ManyHorses have decided to assist and the strategical importance of a succesful first contact with the Mithglin, I think we have no choice but to help. It should also be noted that Starfleet may see the violation of the Prime Directive as a non-issue once we report an over- whelmingly succesful First Contact with a new species. With that said I volunteer myself for the mission. Thank you." (Reply All, Any) (Posted by Oleg Kislyuk) ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - CEO Lorimar - 1307) Bob listened as replies to the M-CO's answer began filtering in. The more he heard, the more he was amazed at the disregard being shown for the Prime Directive. Worst of all, the tone had been set by Commander ManyHorses. Lorimar was both shocked and dis- mayed at the attitude coming from such an experienced officer. He had yet to reply to the question posed by Dr. Dolphine. ~Of course... when ah get done sayin' mah piece ah'll be relieved of duty so ah won't be makin' any adjustments tae the biofilters anyway...~ Once he found a break in the conversation he *had* to speak. "Ladies and gentlemen, please!" he looked up and down the table with scarcely concealed disdain. "Ah'm far from a stickler for followin' the rules, but frankly ah'm a bit shocked tae hear what ah'm hearin'. Ah'll not be repeating mah previous argument; evidently it carried nae water. As Lieutenant Lebranski intimated, breaking the Prime Directive is a court martial offense." He looked ManyHorses squarely in the eye, as he was the one most directly responsible for the current turn of events. "Commander ManyHorses, with all due respect... ah formally protest your disregard, nae matter how ye may justify it, for General Order Number One. Ah wish tae make it part of the official record of this staff meeting that withoot sufficient evidence indicating that the Prime Directive is inapplicable in this case, that ye are clearly inciting violation of said regulation. Calling for us tae assist, on a voluntary basis or nae, is a method of contravening our most important and sacred duty which we have sworn tae uphold." He took a breath then pressed on. "Captain Rivers, Commander Stolev... surely ye are nae going tae allow your crew to commit such an act? We are not allowed emotional indulgence. Ah feel for that species as much as anyone. Ah'll certainly dae mah duty, and follow any lawful order given by my superiors... ah WILL follow the oath ah took. But ah will not knowingly violate the Prime Directive, nor will ah assist any member of Starfleet whose intention is tae do so." He sat back in his chair and folded his hands lightly on the table in front of him. Patiently, he awaited being relieved of duty or arrested, whatever the command staff decided. (Reply Any) (Posted by Russ) ******* (USS Boudicca - Botanical Garden - Crewman Shadow to Sretalles - 1307) She wiggled further under the bush, able to scent her prey but yet unable to get her claws into him. Her tail caught on one of the prickly bushes and she pulled it free with a grunt. She was starting to think the short furred tail the Caitans possessed was enviable after all. "Do you see him?" asked the anxious voice above and behind her. "Not yet," Shadow replied, trying to keep the hiss out of her voice. How had she agreed to this? She should have just asked a nice engineer to locate and beam the silly creature to safety. But no, here she was, climbing under the roses to rescue a spider monkey that seemed to have no interest in being rescued by a large meat eating carnivore predator. A dash of movement and Shadow struck, grabbing the nearest part of the monkey. She sympathized with him when he let out a howl of pain and anger; she felt the exact same way when her tail was pulled. She was less sympathetic when the potential dinner turned and sunk his mostly dull fangs into her hand. She let out a yowl of her own and hurled herself out of the bushes with monkey attached to her hand. She thought it great stoicism when she held out her hand to the girl to extract her pet. She thought it was great bravery that didn't have her yowling and hopping around from all the thorns now stuck in her skin and fur. The girl, one Cynthia, thanked her very solemnly and started scolding 'Scottie' for being so silly as to getting lost. "I would recommend you get him a leash and harness." Shadow told the girl after accepted the thanks. "Right!" The girl agreed in a manner that made Shadow doubt the little morsel would ever be harnessed in the near future. ~Come into my den and you're LUNCH!~ she thought at it, tail lashing. Since he was looking over the little girl's shoulder as she walked away, he got a good look at angry carnivore plotting his demise. He squeaked and hid his face in the girl's hair. ~And I should think so!~ Shadow grumbled. If she had any nuts to throw, she'd be tossing them at the little fuzzbrain. Time to to her least favourite place on the ship. (Posted by Lorna) ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - Lieutenant (jg) Denise Lebranski - 1308) Denise wanted to kiss Bob for saying what she'd been trying to say with much more impact and finesse. Since when had following orders been optional? When did you get to pick and choose which duties you would or would not do? What was preventing them from contacting their superiors and asking for further information? Saying that 'them those other guys are gonna do it' hadn't floated it with her mother, she doubted it would float with Starfleet command. Just because someone else was going to rob a bank, didn't mean you hopped on the bus and joined along. If you couldn't stop them, you certainly didn't help them! Did these senior officers of Starfleet truly believe the first and founding rule of their organization, their military leadership, was something so casual to toss aside? Did they think their moral outrage weighed more than the experience of hundreds of years? No, there was no cookie cutter answer; there never was. But it seemed this was all being rushed passed in hopes no one would notice the Emporer was wearing no clothes or something. Her head was spinning and she could no longer breathe through her nose. She wondered if it would be dereliction of duty if she crawled back to bed. Or sickbay. Or anywhere where she could go get horizontal and pass out for a while. And why wasn't Stolev saying anything? Did he, like Denise, not particularly want to call a couple of commanding officers idiots? Okay, okay, so they weren't *idiots* but really.. But Bob had saved them both the effort. Good ole Bob. She'd have to buy him a sonic screwdriver or something. Right after her stomach remembered which way was up and which way was down. (reply any/all) (Posted by Lorna) ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ACSO Deston - 1308.5) Deston was at first confused as events progressed, then accelerated. The time that was so desperately needed to work out the situation had, apparently, abruptly run out. And then the unexpected confessions-! It was almost as though he had walked into the OL of the mirror-universe Boudicca; his crewmates took on an alien aura for a few moments. However, two appeals to sanity roused him from his stupor, and he rose to speak. "Frankly, I am shocked and appalled at the disregard... no, I won't bother repeating what has already been said. I cannot in good conscience volunteer for what is in essence and in fact a criminal action. Furthermore, I shall caution the entire Science division concerning the very real jeopardy they face if any of them decide to involve themselves. I'm somewhat familiar with the 'It's easier to steal and ask for forgiveness later' attitude that has been displayed in a large handful of prominent Prime Directive breaches over the past several decades, but I honestly never expected it here. It is disappointing to see so many willing to risk so much because they do not want the responsibility that accompanies the job. This is like encountering a squadron of Space Marines who only signed up for the travel and don't expect to enter combat... and then complain and attempt to resign their commissions when combat looms. "That said, the Science division will work very hard in attempting to locate a loop- hole with which to */legally/*-" Deston stressed the word almost overmuch- "circumvent the Prime Directive. If we could, for example, prove that the Mithgiln somehow introduced the plague to this planet... but I digress. We are paid the big bucks, as they say, because we need to make the difficult choices and find the tough answers. We will strive to find those answers. But I will not partake in the actions proposed here at this time." Deston sat, his mind churning over the situation. The new medical officer's suggestion had some merit... but it was still too close to the violation, both in letter and in spirit. Or was it? Perhaps the minds present at the table would turn to a rational discussion of the possibilities, rather than wallow in juvenile emotionalism. Then, perhaps, things could get done. (Reply Any) (Posted by John O'Neill) ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - FO Cmdr Aleksander Stolev - Day 5 - 1309) Stolev had to admit to himself that he was not really surprised by the Captain's choice to go along with the MCO's decision to assist the Mithgiln, and was actually relieved when she announced that she would lead whatever away team was formed, because if it came down to it, he would refuse to participate. He listened impassively as several volunteers for the mission voiced their opinions, and was please to hear the voices of reason in the form of Lebranski and Lorimar. He had already said his piece, and he felt there was little more to be said from his perspective, although the new engineer had a few thoughts about whether the chance of damaging their initial relations with the Mithgiln outweighed the violation of the Prime Directive. Stolev leaned forward in his chair and sighed. "Unfortunately, Lieutenant Lebranski and Lieutenant Lorimar are correct. We are each responsible for our own actions, and any violations of General Order One could be prosecuted. I'm afraid you have no such shield to offer, Commander," he said to ManyHorses. "And I will not be a party to violating the Prime Directive, so you can count me out of any such effort. In fact, it is my duty to remind you all of your oaths, and order those of you whose rank entitles me to do so not to violate the Directive. So weigh your options carefully," he added with a look around the room, pausing particularly on those who had already volunteered to assist. "There is, however, a gray area, which could be an avenue of assistance without violating the Directive. Absent a JAG officer aboard, we'll just have to take our guess about the legality of it all." Stolev paused to take a sip of coffee. "We could possibly assist the Mithgiln directly, so long as we did not provide direct assistance to the Dentarians, and still remain true to our oaths and our general orders." He looked at ManyHorses and Rivers. "Did the Mithgiln say what exactly they needed from us, and is it something we could provide without directly helping the Dentarians?" (reply ManyHorses, Rivers, any) (posted by Aaron) ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ACEO Gesar - 1310) "That said, the Science division will work very hard in attempting to locate a loophole with which to */legally/*-" Deston stressed the word almost overmuch- "circumvent the Prime Directive. If we could, for example, prove that the Mithgiln somehow introduced the plague to this planet... but I digress. We are paid the big bucks, as they say, because we need to make the difficult choices and find the tough answers. We will strive to find those answers. But I will not partake in the actions proposed here at this time." Anton listened to the last statement and felt he had to chime in again. It took a moment as he was deciding whether he had already made his point however it seemed that it may need clarification. "I would like to clarify the point I was trying to make earlier. I do not mean to insult any one's intelligence but I must make the following statement to make my point. The Prime Directive as states is, 'No identification of self or mission. No interference with the social development of said planet. No references to space or the fact that there are other worlds or civilizations.' I agree with the fact that even if we do not reveal our- selves or that we are from another world, assisting the Dentarians could possibly be construed as interference with the social development of said planet. However, and equal argument can be made that if we do not assist, there will be no society left in order to develop. Which leaves us with enough what ifs to debate for the next century with the "Who are we to decide." argument leading the way." "There are only two General Orders that supersede the Prime Directive. One of them being General Order 24, in which a captain for whatever reason has to destroy an entire inhabited planet's surface. Would it not be then true to say that saving an entire inhabited planet is in accordance with the Prime Directive. Again, another point that can be debated for quite sometime." Anton paused, collecting his thoughts. "I have posed several argument and counter-arguments to point to the fact that these are all opinions, and before we can even argue those we must agree on whether the Prime Directive has a grey area or must be followed to the letter or be in the spirit of the law. What we need to discuss are facts." Anton lifted his PADD and punched a few buttons. "It is a historical fact that the Prime Directive is inconsistently applied. I have downloaded all the instances where the Prime Directive should have been, if followed to the letter, applied and wasn't. I have studied most of these before," Anton paused, "It was something my father felt I should study in order to understand one of our most important laws." Something compeled him to offer an explanation. "In majority of the cases, the application of the Prime Directive was not dictated by the spirit or the definition of the law, but the strategic importance of the planet in question and the mission. Therefore we must again determine what our orders are. If our orders are to make first contact with the Mithglin then we have done that and can be on our way. However, if our orders are to make first contact with the Mithglin and establish a dialogue that would lead to future collaboration, then we have not yet done so. It is clear that the Mithglin wish desperately to assist the Dentarians and are asking for assistance. If we do not assist they will most likely hold it against us. And I don't mean this ship, I mean the Federation in general. So what is the strategic importance of the Mithglin, a subject easily debated. And if, as I believe, they are strategically important, then it is clear that we must assist." Anton was about to sit down and rose up again. "Oh, and one last piece of food for thought. The prime directive states that there must be no interference with the social development of said planet. Could it not be argued that allowing the Mithglin to attempt to cure the population is in fact a violation of the Prime Directive. The fact that they are likely to reveal them selves and the existence of other planets and civilizations, would also be a violation of the Prime Directive. This would mean that standing by and doing nothing would be a violation in itself. That in order to uphold the true spirit of the law would mean that not only are we not allowed to help the Dentatians but also must prevent the Mithglin from doing so as well." With that, Anton sat back in his seat. (Reply Any, All) (Posted by Oleg Kislyuk) ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - TAC/SC Lieutenant(SG) Detron Trei 1315) After hearing discussion on what would be the best course of action in terms of the Prime Directive, some of the arguments prompted Detron to add his take. "If it is true that doing nothing is a violation of the Prime Directive, then we should help these people. If revealing ourselves is a clear violation of the Prime Directive, then the Mitigen are about to do that same thing. Even though I am half Klingon and half Betazoid, I feel the sense of honor that Klingons live by and can not sit back to watch a whole planet die. Honor compels me to help these people even if I have to face a court marshal. " Detron listened for further discussion. (Reply Any at meeting) (Posted by Edward) ******** (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - Crewman Shadow to Sretalles - 1315) Nurse Abrahams had told her if she tried to self-medicate again that her tail would be tied in a knot. And since Nurse Abrahams scared even the *doctors* Shadow had decided to take the threat seriously. So here she was, walking into sickbay with a thousand and one scratches, an abused collar, a monkey bitten hand and thorns stuck to her. She'd discarded a few petals that had fallen off and picked out some leaves between the gardens and here. She'd gotten some very strange looks in the hallways and turbolift, but no one seemed to want to know. Unfortunately, she knew the healers WOULD want to know. In detail. Over and over and over again. They ALWAYS had questions. Ten thousand questions. Why, what, how, when, it was enough to make a bard forget how to sing! She took a deep breath, imagined herself on a stage, squared her shoulders and looked the first person in blue who came to investigate their latest patient in the eyes. "I had a fight with a rose bush." She said with unusual strength to her voice, her usual whisper lost while she tried to be the big and strong person that Parrr'Z kept insisting she was. (Reply Person in Blue, any :) (Posted by Lorna) ******* (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - aCMO Ensign Jahlen - 1316) It was quiet and peaceful in Sickbay, no major illness or injuries to take care of, therefore it was time to take inventory of supplies, re-stock what- ever needed it and if her luck held out, she'd get some research done in the wonderful research labs that had been installed during the Boudicca's last revamp. Jahlen had just put the last vial of pain suppressant in the cabinet and was looking forward to disappearing into the labs when the sickbay doors swooshed open. She closed the cabinet door, keyed in her code to lock it and turned to see who had entered. She smiled when she saw it was one of the 'cat people' as she fondly referred to both Shadow and Parrr'Z. Shadow was an elusive creature, Jahlen had discovered, they had rarely seen her in Sickbay until a time when she absolutely had to come, the time that Nurse Abrahams had threatened Shadow with dire consequences if she ever self-medicated again, for which the Nurse got Jahlen's hearty approval. Abrahams was a hard-nosed individual who displayed no patience for those patients who displayed stupidity. Jahlen looked around and saw the Dr. Fickett was busy with administration work in his office and the Nurse who was on duty during this quiet time, was off in the operation room re-stocking and organizing, so Jahlen went over to welcome Shadow and ask what the problem was, but as she drew nearer she could see the cat person had, what looked like thorns sticking into her. She opened her mouth to ask what Shadow had beenup too, but before she could get a word out the young felinoid blurted.... "I had a fight with a rose bush." Jahlen stared at her, her mouth still slightly open but this time in astonishment. Why would anyone want to fight a rosebush? First the CEO fighting a bulkhead and now Shadow fighting a rosebush! This was a most peculiar day indeed. "That explains the thorns sticking in you!" Jahlen declared leaning closer to peer at the Yeoman, eyes moving over her body. "And I see you also have many scratches... It would appear to me that the rosebush won the fight!" She declared seriously as she walked around the young felinoid. There had to be scores of thorns and more scratches than she could count. This was going to take a while. "There are thorns all over your body Shadow, so I won't suggest that you get on one of the biobeds until I have at least removed those embedded in your behind and thighs, and healed the scratches there." Jahlen nodded towards the closest bed. "Stand over there please while I prepare the tools I will need to treat you. While I am doing that you can explain to me what possessed you to pick a fight with a rosebush, and whether I should announce a general warning to the crew to beware of attack rosebushes should they dare to venture into the Botanical Gardens..." She glanced at Shadow, "I am assuming this fight occurred in the Botanical Gardens or do you keep dangerous plants in your quarters?" (Reply Shadow, any) (Posted by Sal) ******** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - Lieutenant (jg) Denise Lebranski - 1316) "If it is true that doing nothing is a violation of the Prime Directive, then we should help these people. If revealing ourselves is a clear violation of the Prime Directive, then the Mitigen are about to do that same thing. Even though I am half Klingon and half Betazoid, I feel the sense of honor that Klingons live by and can not sit back to watch a whole planet die. Honor compels me to help these people even if I have to face a court marshal. " Maybe it was illness that made her be a smart ass to a self-processed Klingon warrior, or maybe it was just a tiredness of the round and round arguments. Or maybe it was that everyone seemed to think they were serving in a democracy. "So your honour, your sworn word to Starfleet command is irrelevant? You swore to uphold the tenants, rules and laws of Starfleet and the Federation. One of those is the Prime Directive." She looked to the new engineer, "And while you can backseat lawyer all you like - the bottom line is thus; What the Mithgiln do or do not do is not our business. What is our business is our actions. We are responsible for ourselves and the greater good. If the greater good is to help these people through direct or indirect action, surely there is enough time available for a communication to Command?" She stood up, trying not to waver as her head spun, "And if you'll please excuse this dereliction in duty, but I'm going to go throw up for a while. I think my doctor may have been right.." Damn, she was never going to hear the end of that. (Reply any) (Posted by Lorna) ********* (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - Crewman Shadow to Sretalles - 1317) "That explains the thorns sticking in you!" Jahlen declared leaning closer to peer at the Yeoman, eyes moving over her body. "And I see you also have many scratches... It would appear to me that the rosebush won the fight!" She declared. Shadow couldn't help it, her tail looped in amusement at the doctors scolding. This only served to drive a few thorns home, causing her to wince and Jahlen to examine her all over again. "There are thorns all over your body Shadow, so I won't suggest that you get on one of the biobeds until I have at least removed those embedded in your behind and thighs, and healed the scratches there." Jahlen nodded towards the closest bed. "Stand over there please while I prepare the tools I will need to treat you. While I am doing that you can explain to me what possessed you to pick a fight with a rosebush, and whether I should announce a general warning to the crew to beware of attack rosebushes should they dare to venture into the Botanical Gardens..." She glanced at Shadow, "I am assuming this fight occurred in the Botanical Gardens or do you keep dangerous plants in your quarters?" "Owww.. Doctor!" Shadow protested as her tail looped tighter and tighter in amusement. "No plants in my quarters but what Chief Bob made for me. He is working on adding scents to the holo-matrix." She was very proud of knowing that term, she'd been researching the presents the engineer had been making her in his spare time. Chief Bob was one of her three favouritest people. (Reply Jahlen) "A human kit named Cynthia lost her spider monkey pet in the gardens, I agreed to fish him out," She watched over her shoulder as the doctor very gently removed thorns and debris from her precious tail. "The ungrateful dinner dish then bit me." She held up the hand to show the weepy and mucky wound amongst the flattened by monkey spit fur. (Reply Jahlen) Shadow's ears were flat, "I haven't decided if I'm going to eat the monkey or bribe an engineer to relocate it to a very small cage if it ever gets loose again." (Reply Jahlen, any) (Posted by Lorna) ****** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - TAC/SC Lieutenant(SG) Detron Trei - 1317) Detron was quite angered by Lebranski's comment about honor. General knowledge warned to call out a Klingon's honor is to ask for death. Detron interjected "Mention quv again 'ej I'll lan wIj qam Dung lIj ass. Mention honor again and I will stick my foot up your ass." Detron opened his mind to send waves of emotion to Lebraski ~ Your cold is preferable to the hell I will bring on you now Lebraski. Never question the honor of a Klingon or wish for death.~ (Reply Lebranski) (Posted by Edward) ******** (USS Boudicca - Obsevation Lounge - 2O/CCOUNS/Lt.Cdr. Dorga 'cha Nooras - 1317.5) During Lieutenant Lebranski speech Dorga bristled at their collective honor being questioned by her however she tried to pass it off, now was not the time or place to call her on it, besideseveryone was allowed to have their opinions and verbalize them during meetings such as this, however it became apparent that Lieutenant Trei was not as level headed as he interjected angrily. "Mention quv again 'ej I'll lan wIj qam Dung lIj ass. Mention honor again and I will stick my foot up your ass." The 2O stood up and glared at him as he spoke. Perhaps she was acting out of place and should have waited for her superiors to comment but she was still his superior and his words warranted her immediate retort. "Silence!" She commanded, "language like that is NOT acceptable here. You are dismissed Mister Trei until you cool down and act like a Starfleet officer, this is not a Klingon Warbird!" (Reply Trei, any, all) (Posted by Sal) ******** (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - aCMO Ensign Jahlen - 1318) "Stand over there please while I prepare the tools I will need to treat you. While I am doing that you can explain to me what possessed you to pick a fight with a rosebush, and whether I should announce a general warning to the crewto beware of attack rosebushes should they dare to venture into the Botanical Gardens..." Jahlen glanced at Shadow, "Iam assuming this fight occurred in the Botanical Gardens or do you keep dangerous plants in your quarters?" Jahlen was exceptionally good at dry humor and could pull it off without showing any emotion on her face. "Owww.. Doctor!" Shadow protested, her tail looping tightly. "No plants in my quarters but what Chief Bob made for me. He is working on adding scents to the holo-matrix." Shadow seemed pleased with herself. Finishing gathering together a fine pair of tweezers, a hypospray of something to ward off any infection that the thorns could cause, and a device for her eyes that would magnify 100x whatever she was looking at, Jahlen asked what Shadow had been doing to get all scraped up and poked as she moved back towards the furry yeoman. As Jahlen began to extricate the thorns in her tail, Shadow explained she'd been finding a lost spider monkey for a little girl called Cynthia in the gardens. "....The ungrateful dinner dish then bit me." She held up one hand to show a weepy and mucky wound. "Oh that's a nasty bite, Shadow I'm going to give you a shot of antibiotics too. Bites can lead to all kinds of unpleasant diseases." Now Jahlen was more concerned about the bite than the thorns and quickly added a dose of antibiotic to the hypospray, gave Shadow the shot and began to work on the bite. Shadow's ears went flat and she looked like she was about hiss, "I haven't decided if I'm going to eat the monkey or bribe an engineer to relocate it to a very small cage if it ever gets loose again." "Actually I read somewhere that monkey is quite tasty and the brains are supposed to be good eating as well," Jahlen's nose wrinkled up at the thought, "now I will try just about anything once, but monkey brains do not appeal to me in any way, I think I'd pass on trying those." It didn't take long to sort out the bite and pretty soon Jahlen was busy again with the long, tedious chore of pulling thorns out of Shadow. She wished there was some kind of thorn magnet that would pull them all out in one go. It was going to be a long time before she got to potter around the research lab. ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - Ensign (Jg) Anton Gesar - 1318) Lebranski stood up, "And if you'll please excuse this dereliction in duty, but I'm going to go throw up for a while. I think my doctor may have been right.." And with that she ran out of the room. Anton frowned a little. He id not like the implication of what she said. "I appreciate that what makes us human is emotion," Anton said. "However, in this case it is that precise thing that we are supposed to avoid. The Prime Directiveis specific in that. I was not attempting to... backseat lawyer a reason for us to break the law. I was simply stating afact that the application of the Prime Directive, in most cases, is left up to the ship's captain based on each situation. WhatI keep trying to say, and it seems that I have so far failed to put across, is that I also agree that the Prime Directive,if applicable must be upheld. However, compared with historical data, this situation is similar to those where thecaptain chose not to apply the Prime Directive and it was deemed acceptable by Starfleet Command after the fact. With the new developments on the planet we must consider that if we wait for a response from command, it is likely to be too late." Anton sat back down, (Reply Any) (Posted by Oleg Kislyuk) ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - TAC/SC Lieutenant(SG) Detron Trei - 1318.5) Dorga stood up and sternly reprimanded Detron for his language. She said the it was not a Klingon Warbird and he acted unlike a starfleet officer. Detron unfortunately agreed with her on that point. "Understood." Detron left the lounge and took his post at the security station on the Bridge. (Reply Any) (Posted by Edward) ********************** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - XO - Captain Susan Rivers - 1320) Susan had listened to the discussion with varying emotions which she was careful to hide with a completely impassive expression. Behind it, she was beginning to wonder whether the events today were going to tear her crew apart. Feelings clearly ran deep on both 'sides' of the divide, something which perhaps she ought to have anticipated but hadn't. Resisting the urge to sink her head in her hands, she spoke up as soon as Ensign Gesar had answered Lieutenant Lebranski, who had hurried out, presumably in search of the nearest head. First Susan addressed the CEO. "Bob, I'm sorry if neither Commander ManyHorses or myself made ourselves clear. There is no question of anyone being asked to act against their conscience here, neither will it be held against anyone whether they choose to help or not. We all, without exception, took an oath to uphold the Prime Directive. What I want to do - what I want us all to devote our energies and the considerable talent in this room to doing - is to find a way for us to assist the Mithgiln as they have requested us to do *without* breaking the Prime Directive. IF we send an away team to the planet it will not be to administer any medicines, or to contact any Dentarians nor to assist the Mithgiln in doing so. It will be to observe and report." Her gaze swept the room and lingered for a moment on the new ACMO before passing on around the table as she continued. "I do not expect to hear again the words 'to hell with the Prime Directive' or anything approaching that. I appreciate that certain departments and personnel on this ship might have understandable feelings of frustration with a directive that appears to forbid us to help those in need but you are all Starfleet officers and I expect you to behave as such. I accept that some present have reservations about the semantics surrounding the Prime Directive but as I understand it, the case is this. We cannot directly interfere in the affairs of the Dentarians. Equally, the Mithgiln are not a part of the Federation, and we have no right to prevent them from doing so if they so wish, which clearly they do. Our job, therefore, must be to prevent as much contamination of the Dentarians development as possible. That is a given, in my opinion. So if we can find a way for the Mithgiln to administer the remedy (which they are intent on doing) without directly contacting the governments of the Dentarians, that would surely be better than standing by and doing nothing and allowing the Mithgiln to interfere directly. That said, Dr Dolphine, can you find a way to do what you suggested? Mr. Lorimar, Mr. Deston, would you be prepared to assist on that basis?" (Reply Lorimar, Deston, Any) (Posted by Liz) ****** (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - ACSO Ensign Carl Deston - 1321) "...So if we can find a way for the Mithgiln to administer the remedy (which they are intent on doing) without directly contacting the governments of the Dentarians, that would surely be better than standing by and doing nothing and allowing the Mithgiln to interfere directly. That said, Dr Dolphine, can you find a way to do what you suggested? Mr Lorimar, Mr Deston, would you be prepared to assist on that basis?" asked Captain Rivers. Deston glanced at the other two officers, then spoke. "Captain, I stated earlier that, so far as we're concerned, the Mithgiln contact should be considered part of the normal progress of Dentarian culture; barring our direct intervention, or assisting the Mithgiln in some fashion that far exceeds their own technology, I see no significant objection." (Reply any) (Posted by John O'Neill) ******* (USS Boudicca- Observation Lounge- ACMO Ensign(jg) Hawkeye Dolphine - 1323) Shortly after Hawkeye made his bold statement about the Prime Directive, and the location it could be placed, He realized that what he meant to convey vs. what he said were two different things. After the response from Capt Rivers, a portion of him wished he had never attended the staff meeting in the first place. After all, he was new to this post and should have kept his big mouth shut. ~What's done is done Hawkeye. No point in beating yourself up about it now~. He could only hope that his embarrassment was not publicly displayed all over his face or following actions. As he began to respond to the Capt. he couldn't control the waiver in his voice. It cracked as he began to speak. "Captain Rivers..." He began. He then cleared his throat and began to speak again, sounding more like the physician he was supposed to be and not the jackass he came across as in his previous, passionate response to this situation. "Ahem, Excuse me please, Capt Rivers It is possible for me to begin preparing a solution that can be injected into the atmosphere. That being said, I will need the specifics from Marshall Welsh's medical staff on the vacienne and on the virus itself. I will also require at least 4 to 5 hours to run simulations and prepare the final calculations. It may take some time but I believe this to be a realistic goal to have up and running by say 2000 hours today. I will also require some assistance from the Mithglin enginerring teams aswell as our own to integrate this solution into their systems for delivery. Assuming that we will be able to monitor biosigns in the atmosphere, and there is no large systemic effect on the population, and assuming that off the record of course, that i can keep in contact with the Mithglin Medical Staff, This entire virus/plague should be erradicated inside a day. Furthermore if we do this correctly, this solution has the potential to completly absolve the planet of the virus all together." The next part of what Hawkeye had to say took everything he had. He had never been very good at admitting mistakes, or apologies for that matter. He could only hope that the sincerity in his voice would come across as intended. " Capt Rivers, Cmdr ManyHorses, Members of the senior staff. I wish to apologize for my outlandish outburst from earlier. I was out of line and not becoming of a StarFleet Officer. If I have offended anyone with my behavior, I am truly sorry. I have no excuse for my reaction, nor will I attempt to make one up. The only thing I have to say is this: As a Doctor on Earth as well as my history in Emergency Medical Services, I am used to having to throw the rule book out the nearest airlock to fit the situation. That being said, that was then and things i have done in my past to treat my patients should not have bearing on what I do now as a member of this crew. I ask for your forgiveness and assure you that something like this will never happen again." (Reply Any iyw) "Capt, with your permission I would like to head towards sickbay and begin working on this compound. It will take some time to prepare." (Reply Rivers) Hawkeye turned and exited the observation lounge, tail tucked between his legs, as it were. (reply Rivers, Any) ( Posted by Ben) ******* (USS Boudicca – Observation Lounge – M-CO Jerome ManyHorses – 1323.5) ManyHorses was impressed by Captain Rivers crew, their opinions concerning the Prime Directive were varied and passionate, they had the courage of their convictions. Even Lt. Lebranski had the guts to speak her heart, there was no passiveness in that woman Jerome realized, and she would always be honest and sincere even if it was at the cost of alienating her fellow officers, which she did with the CTAC Lt. Trei. However his verbal attack on Lebranski, Jerome felt was stepping over the line and he was about to reprimand him when the second officer saved him the trouble, dismissing him from the meeting. Stolev had brought up a gray area for assisting the Dentarians indirectly without violating the Directive. It was what ManyHorses had in mind when he'd first called the meeting. To aid the Mithgiln directly without directly assisting the Dentarians. He had then asked of Rivers and ManyHorses, what exactly the Mithgiln needed from them and whether it was something they could provide without directly helping the Dentarians. Jerome had quickly replied that all the Marshal had said was that they required help due to not having enough personnel to administer the vaccine in time, which was the reason for Jerome considering using an away team. The M-CO continued to listen to the arguments for and against the proposed mission and was opening his mouth to answer Lt. Lorimar when Captain Rivers did so, speaking the words that he would have. He had advocated at the start of the meeting that they were to exhaust all means to aid the Dentarians without breaking the Prime Directives' rules if it was possible to do so. Now, Lebranski was gone, she was ill. Doctor Dolphine had just left to begin the tasks that had been set for him. If he was successful there would be no need for the volunteers, who were willing to go planet-side and help the Mithgiln, to jeopardize their careers. ManyHorses prayed fervently to the Great Manito that Dolphine would be successful. He felt the meeting was done so he stood, thanked all the officers for attending and for their valued input, requested that those who had volunteered begin preparing for the unlikelihood of having to go to the planet and then dismissed them. As the officers began to file out of the Observation Lounge he addressed Rivers, the FO and 2O of the Boudicca, asking them to remain behind and then he ordered a comm link with Marshal Wersh to be patched through to the Lounge where a large screen activated soon after. When the Mithgiln leader's face appeared on screen, ManyHorses spoke to him. "Marshal Wersh! A decision has been made to aid you indirectly in helping the Dentarians. If you will send your vaccine's composition to us, our medical team will convert it to an airborne carrier and will be able to replicate it in the massive quantities that would be necessary to cover all populated areas of the planet. As you already know our assistance in person on the planet would be a direct violation of the Prime Directive rules." Jerome did not intend to let the Marshal know that if it was necessary, several of their crew were willing to violate that Directive. (reply Wersh, all) (posted by Sal) ******* (USS Boudicca - Observation Lounge - Con/Ops Ensign(sg) Micheal Orion - 1325) Orion listened intently as the Captain and Manyhorses returned into the Observation Lounge, and the look in their eyes told him things have taken a turn for the worst. It was then that the Captain explained that a away team might very well be going to the surface, and what she felt was the correct coarse of action. Then the room exploded, Orion was already feeling torn. He wanted to help in every way he could. He wanted to aid his shipmates; but He took an oath, to the Federation. Yes, but to also his Coven. How could he remain loyal to both. He sat in silent contemplation of how crazed the universe seemed before him. He wanted to scream, to end the madness, to find a way to heal the wound that this mission was causing with in the crew. He stood, his stance rigid and firm, he knew only one coarse, as the meeting came to a close. Looking around the room, his eyes landing on the certain key people who gave so many a heart filled arguments. Before his eyes landed on the Captain and nodded. He exits the observation lounge and awaits the Captain. "Captain if I may, I would like to go help the Dentarians. I understand that and believe in Dr. Dolphine ability to create an air borne vaccination to this disease. But I wonder how can we cover the planet with the vaccination in the amount of time we have to work with. I would like promission to take the fighter, modified to carry the vaccine and cover as much sky as possible. I understand that this can cost me my federation career, but do not want to sit idly by and watch everything I believe in fall apart. I will await you decision." (reply Captain Rivers) Orion knew his request made him look like a hipacrite but niether did he care, in the meeting he was asked hasa federation officer if he thought that this mission would lead to a violation of the prime directive and he still felt thatway. But he was willing to give up the federation to save the lives of the less fourtinate. He was sure many would not see the method behind his madness, but then again maybe some might. All he had was a hope, a prayer, and a PADD where he plotted out the need changes to the fighter to allow it to carry the vaccine. (posted by Mattherw Locke) (reply any and all) ****** (USS Boudicca - Deck One Faucilities - Lieutenant (jg) Denise Lebranksi - 1335) "Some protocol officer you are," Denise told herself again as she leaned against the nice cool bulkhead. Her stomach had finally stopped trying to claim a divorce, but her head didn't think she was quite ready to stand up yet. She was perfectly happy to sit on the nice cool tile and read up on Klingons. Or more accurately, how to apologize to a Klingon warrior without getting her head bitten off and shoved in an uncomfortable place. "Diplomatic like brick," she muttered to herself as she scrolled through pages upon pages of protocol in the Klingon universe. A search for 'apology' had come up with one hundred and twenty seven methods. She thought the Betazoid method might be easier.. but she'd insulted his Klingon half so saying 'I open my mind and you can feel my regret' wouldn't accomplish much but probably get her recipe for shortbread surprise stolen. ~Why would a Klingon husband need to apologize to his wife for not properly cleaning his weaponry?~ Perhaps some things were best not thought about and she continued to dig through the data files while her body slowly started to improve back to feeling like three days past dead. ******* (USS Boudicca - Bridge - Lieutenant (jg) Denise Lebranksi - 1350) She didn't exactly own any weapons, so she'd had to get the replicator to make her the only melee weapon she had any proficiency with; a shelling knife. Sharp and curved it was excellent for getting into the shells of crustaceans, but she didn't think it would impress a Klingon in many ways. But, the apology she thought was closest to her transgression and their official positions and social standings required a personal weapon of meaning. ~Well, the original back home meant dinner more than once, and that's important in New Orleans!~ Denise put the shelling knife in the black cloth and came out onto the bridge to approach the Chief of Security, making sure to come up in his peripheral vision so her approach wouldn't be misconstrued as some sort of sneak attack. ~Here's hoping he's enough of a Starfleet officer not to gut me on principal.~ She held out the knife when she was pretty sure she had his attention, "I am sick, I am stupid, and I am sorry. I didn't mean to say, or even insinuate, you are honourless." (Reply Trei, any) (Posted by Lorna) ***** (USS Boudicca - Bridge - TAC/SC Lieutenant(SG) Detron Trei - 1351) Detron saw Lebranski approach with a knife like weapon. He thought she was most likely trying to apologize the way a Klingon would accept it, Detron turned from the console and faced Lebraski. "Your apology is accepted with one understood condition. It is generally known that insulting a Klingon's honor is to ask for death most painful. You will be hunted down like a dog along with your family and pounded flat as pizza then fed to ravenous animals for their dinner. I will take your offering and place it in my office." Detron waited for her to comprehend what he said and respond. ~Think next time #%$##%$ fool.~ (Reply Lebranski) (Posted by Edward) ******** (USS Boudicca - Bridge - Lieutenant (jg) Denise Lebranksi - 1352) "Your apology is accepted with one understood condition. It is generally known that insulting a Klingon's honor is to ask for death most painful. You will be hunted down like a dog along with your family and pounded flat as pizza then fed to ravenous animals for their dinner. I will take your offering and place it in my office." She suppressed a sigh. She shouldn't be surprised that he'd rather pick fights than let things go, she'd let a counsellor try and explain to him that you weren't accepting an apology if you then go straight into the attack. All she was here to do was try and play nice, no matter how thick headed the Security Officer wanted to be. She was just tired. He seemed to be waiting for a response. She gave a shallow bow, "My family is Starfleet." was all she said before turning away and deciding now would be a good time to go get horizontal. It was a response that had the benefit being the truth in a few ways. Her family had been a part of Starfleet since founding; Lebranski's and their cousins could be found all over the Federation serving in one way or another. Many were officers, some were enlisted. Many had married their fellow officers and lead to further generations born into uniform. It was also true for those who weren't related to her by blood or marriage were also family. Her home was amongst the stars serving peace and prosperity, to serve for the best good for the majority of all time. Too bad the self-professed Klingon warrior seemed to narrow to understand that. Maybe she could spend some of her downtime trying to understand how to explain tossing off your sworn word didn't seem too honourable, when in fact you were just prioritizing the greatest honour. On the other hand, she didn't think she could take a trained warrior of the same strength and size as herself, she highly doubted she'd win a tussle with Lieutenant Trei. Maybe if she had surprise and a phasor rifle.. maybe. It was definitely a job for someone tougher, bigger and stronger than herself. (Reply Trei, Any) (Posted by Lorna) ******* (USS Boudicca- Sickbay- ACMO Ensign(jg) Hawkeye Dolphine-1400) As Hawkeye left the Observation Lounge, He felt ashemed of how bold he responded to the request for volunteers.~Great way to make a first impression genius.~ He thought to himself. The walk down the corridor in which sickbay was located felt like a three mile hike. Hawkeye knew he had to put this behind him and focus on the task at hand. Not an easy task for him and his thoughts, but he was determined to make this work. Outside Sickbay, he paused, Took a deep breath, and adjusted his tunic. He then entered the room as if nothing had happened before. He had to focus. An entire planet's fate was riding on whether or not he could pull this off. As he entered sickbay, he noticed everyone's position. He noted Dr. Fickett in his office, head buried at the computer screen. He then looked and saw a feline appearing crewman and a physician pulling what looked like thorns from the crewman. ~There's a story here I'm sure, but I'm not entirely sure I wanna know.~ He thought to himself. He decided to walk over and introduce himself to the other physician before attempting to recruit her help in this task. Better to start out simple than jump right in over his head. "Excuse me Dr? I'm Ensign Dolphine, the new ACMO onboard. I'd offer a hand with youre treatment being preformed, but I was never very good at botany." He said with a smile. "No offense Crewman, I'm sure that the other party looks worse." He waited for the Dr. to introduce herself. (Reply Jahlen) After he had concluded the introuductions with the Dr. and the wounded crewman, He asked that when the ACMO was finished she would join him in Dr. Fickett's office. He had a project that was going to require everyone in sicbays' assistance. His next step was to breif Dr. Fickett on the events up untill now and the task set before him. His hope was that the good Dr. was able to put aside his admin duties and assist. " Louis, you got a sec?" Hawkeye peered into Dr. Fickett's office. (Reply Fickett) He then began to brief the CMO on the project. As he was about to begin the other ACMO entered the office. Now that everyone was here he began to spell out the task infront of them. "During the staff meeting, a plan was devised to assist the species known as the Dentarians fight a plague that would cause planetwide devistation. The estimated death toll would be in the millions. AS I am sure you are aware, we have made First contact with a species that has requested our assitance. The aforementioned Dentarians are a pre-warp civilization, and as such our direct help would be a violation of the Prime Directive. However while at the staff meeting, I suggested and was then assigned, a project to create an ordorless and colorless gas containing a anti-viral agent to innocluate the Dentarians. We would not inject this gas into the atmosphere, this would be done by the Mithglin, the species we made first contact with. Cmdr ManyHorses and Capt Rivers assigned me this task. We are waiting on the specifics from the Mithglin as to what componets are combined to form this anti-viral agent. I beleive the new ACEO on board was going to assist in the creation of the delivery method. As soon as I have the specifics from Marshall Welsh of the Mithglin, we can begin." "That being said, we still need to determine what percentage of medication to atmosphere would be needed to adequately deliver this as an airborne remedy. It will be faster than a water based or even oral medication. This is what I am tasked to discover. And while I realize I am asking for a lot of you. espically since I am new on board, but it would be helpful if you two could assist me in this. I will not hold any ill will however if either or both of you do not wish to assist in this undertaking." (Reply Fickett, Jahlen) (Posted by Ben) ******** (USS Boudicca – Deck 4, Shuttle Maintenance – CEO Lorimar 1402) Bob was irritated and conflicted, or at least he had been both when he arrived several minutes before. He had left the meeting in the Observation Lounge when dismissed by Commander ManyHorses, which was after the little… discussion between Lts. Trei and Lebranski. He was actually grateful for that; it had prevented him from answering the Captain’s question about helping on the planet. ~That’s all fine and good… but ye cannae hide from yourself lad, can ye? Ye dinnae answer her, but sometime and soon ye must answer that question for your own piece of mind eh?~ He was running a cursory scan of the new runabout which had yet to take its maiden flight. Full power testing had been done in the maintenance cradle, but so much remained unknown until she actually took to space. Sometime soon it would have to be done, but the complexities of the mission scarcely would allow it. Truth be told, he *was* hiding, more or less. The out of the way corner of the large maintenance bay was almost as private (at least at the moment) as crawling into a Jeffries tube. His engineering tricorder hummed quietly, in counterpoint to the cacophony inside his head. ~What tae do?~ The passionate oratory and more logical debate from the meeting played itself over and over in his mind as he removed an inspection plate for the bow mounted sensor module. He wondered absently if anyone else was as confused as he felt… (Reply Any, None) (Posted by Russ) ****** (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - aCMO Ensign Jahlen - 1408) Removing thorns from fur covered flesh was a tedious and time consuming chore, one that Doctor Jahlen had been meticulously involved in for close to an hour. Now Shadow was able to sit or lie on the biobed while the J'Naii doctor worked on her chest and stomach which was half completed. Jahlen couldn't help thinking that it would have been a lot faster and easier if Shadow had been a hairless felinoid, picking out dark thorns on dark fur was not an easy task, but somehow she thought Shadow wouldn't have liked the idea of being de-haired. She stopped and straightened her back to get a kink out of it and was interrupted by some- body addressing her, she only had a few more thorns to remove and she'd be done. "Excuse me Dr? I'm Ensign Dolphine, the new ACMO onboard. I'd offer a hand with your treatment being performed, but I was never very good at botany." He said with a smile. "No offense Crewman, I'm sure that the other party looks worse." Thrusting her right hand forward, Jahlen shook his right hand firmly. "How do you do Ensign Dolphine, I am Ensign Jahlen. Jahlen is my one and only name so far and you may call me by it if you wish. This young crewman is Yeoman Shadow, out Captain's personal Yeoman, and as for the other party involved in the battle, fortunately I do not have to tend to its wounds, if it does in fact have any." He asked that when the ACMO was finished she would join him in Dr. Fickett's office. Apparently he had a project that was going to require everyone in sickbays' assistance. Jahlen watched him enter Fickett's office before turning back to her task. Six more deft tugs with the tweezers and a quick pass with the dermal regenerator and Shadow was as good as new. "All done." The Doctor told Shadow, "and if you get an impulse to go monkey hunting among rose bushes again, please make sure I am not on duty!" (Reply Shadow) As Shadow left looking very glad to be going, Jahlen followed Dolphine in to Fickett's office where the young man began to explain what they were facing in terms of delivery of medication to the Dentarians. "That being said, we still need to determine what percentage of medication to atmosphere would be needed to adequately deliver this as an airborne remedy. It will be faster than a water based or even oral medication. This is what I am tasked to discover. And while I realize I am asking for a lot of you. especially since I am new on board, but it would be helpful if you two could assist me in this. I will not hold any ill will however if either or both of you do not wish to assist in this undertaking." Louis rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I'll leave it up to both of you to determine for yourselves -- sounds like you've already done so, Hawkeye -- but in my opinion our Hippo- cratic oaths as doctors overrides any oaths we have taken as Starfleet officers. We are doctors first, officers second. We are only officers until we leave the fleet -- we are doctors until we die." (reply Dolphine iyw) "Agreed, I will help in any way I can." Jahlen offered, "but we must also take in to consideration that the population is of adults and young, so the medicine must be formulated in such a way so it won't overdose the younger Dentarians." After the group had studied the data and come up with a workable plan, Dolphine and Jahlen turned to leave. "Hawkeye, could you hang back for a sec?" (reply Dolphine) With a respectful nod, Jahlen headed to the research labs to begin formulating the required medication. (Reply Shadow, Dolphine, Fickett, any) (Posted by Sal) ********* (USS Boudicca - Sickbay - CMO Dr. Louis Fickett - Day 5 - 1410) Louis Fickett looked up from his terminal to see his ACMO sticking his head in. "Louis, you got a sec?" "Sure, come on in," replied Louis. Hawkeye then began to brief the CMO on the project. As he was about to begin the other ACMO entered the office. Now that everyone was here he began to spell out the task in front of them. He gave a rundown of what had happened in the meeting, as well as what obstacles were facing them in terms of delivery of the medication to the inhabitants. "That being said, we still need to determine what percentage of medication to atmosphere would be needed to adequately deliver this as an airborne remedy. It will be faster than a water based or even oral medication. This is what I am tasked to discover. And while I realize I am asking for a lot of you. especially since I am new on board, but it would be helpful if you two could assist me in this. I will not hold any ill will however if either or both of you do not wish to assist in this undertaking." Louis rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I'll leave it up to both of you to determine for yourselves -- sounds like you've already done so, Hawkeye -- but in my opinion our Hippocratic oaths as doctors overrides any oaths we have taken as Starfleet officers. We are doctors first, officers second. We are only officers until we leave the fleet -- we are doctors until we die." (reply Dolphine/Jahlen iyw) After the group had studied the data and come up with a workable plan, Dolphine and Jahlen turned to leave. "Hawkeye, could you hang back for a sec?" (reply Dolphine) Once the door had shut and they were alone, Louis regarded his younger counterpart. "I feel I should inform you that I have taken a new assignment, and will no longer be serving as Chief Medical Officer. I'll be remaining on board but doing independent research projects, and the powers that be don't want me spending my time on administrative tasks. I intend to recommend you to the Captain as acting CMO, until more permanent arrangements can be made. Do you feel up to the task?" (reply Dolphine, any) (posted by Aaron) ******* (USS Boudicca- Sickbay- ACMO Ensign(jg) Hawkeye Dolphine- 1415) Hawkeye had finished briefing the medical staff and turned to walk out the door. Louis had given him the go ahead to do whatever he needed to do, and it sounded like, with whatever means necessary to do so. He wasn't sure as to what, if any, response he was going to get from Dr. Jahlen and this mission. He could only hope that she would be willing to assist him in this venture. ~This is going to be a huge undertaking. It will require most of my time in the lab in order to get this ready in the time required. If Dr. Jahlen assists it may only take two of us half the time. Only time will tell if the Dr. will be willing to assist. In the mean time I better get started.~ Hawkeye thought to himself. (Reply Jahlen) After the meeting, Hawkeye turned to leave when Louis grabbed his attention. "Hawkeye, could you hang back for a sec?" Asked Louis. ~Uh-oh. I overstepped my bounds in my first day. Well this looked like a good post to have.~ Hawkeye thought. "Whats on your mind Louis?" Hawkeye asked. He could see that the CMO had something of a more serious nature he wanted to discuss with Hawkeye. By the look on Louis's face, he had been thinking about this for some time now. He then asked Hawkeye to close the door to his office and sit down. Hawkeye sat down and listned to what Louis had to say next. Once the door had shut and they were alone, Louis regarded his younger counterpart. "I feel I should inform you that I have taken a new assignment, and will no longer be serving as Chief Medical Officer. I'll be remaining on board but doing independent research projects, and the powers that be don't want me spending my time on administrative tasks. I intend to recommend you to the Captain as acting CMO, until more permanent arrangements can be made. Do you feel up to the task?" Hawkeye was stunned. This was an unexpected twist of fate in his carrer. He wasn't sure how he was going to respond. He took a deep sigh and was, for the first time in his life, speechless. While he didnt want to sound like an idiot, he didnt want to keep Louis waiting for an answer to his question. He sad the first thing that popped into his head. "Is that a trick question? Serioulsy are you ever really prepared for the job and requirements? I appreciate the confidence you have in me Louis, and will attempt to make it founded. I feel I am as up to the task as I can be, though I will admit I think I have some pretty big shoes to fill." With that Hawkeye extended his hand towards Louis and thanked him for the oppurtunity in front of him. (reply Fickett) (Posted by Ben) ******* (USS Boudicca – Deck 3 Corridor, Officer’s Quarters area – CEO Lorimar – 1658) Taking care to catch up on his regular daily routine after leaving shuttle maintenance, Lorimar had returned to his quarters and attended to a few personal matters; chief among those was sorting through his archived memory modules until he found what he had been looking for. With reverence, he had downloaded the replicator codes he had brought from home. He lamented the lack of an actual kitchen (asking Arania to use her cooking facilities never occurred to him) but did the very best he could with the replicator in his quarters. The task completed, he carried the results of his efforts on a serving tray covered loosely with a thermal cloth. Fine linen would have been better, but less practical. He had never been to this particular destination before, but that was no problem. A simple matter of checking berthing assignments coupled with his familiarity with the ship made finding these particular quarters very simple indeed. He stopped and took a breath, catching a faint and very pleasing wisp of aroma coming from the contents of the tray in his hands. He shifted it fully to his left and tapped the door chime with his right. “Lieutenant Lebranski? ‘tis Bob Lorimar. If ye are well enough tae answer the door, ah’d like a moment of yer time…” (Reply Lebranski) (Posted by Russ) ******* (USS Boudicca – Officer's Quarters - Denise Lebranski - 1700) "Lieutenant Lebranski? ‘tis Bob Lorimar. If ye are well enough tae answer the door, ah’d like a moment of yer time…" At first when she'd heard the door chime she'd thought it a Klingon warrior coming to kill her off in a fit of 'I've decided you don't respect me enough' or something. She was very pleased to hear the lilting tones of Bob on the other side. Certainly a nice surprise! A quick glance around showed that her place was a clutter of paints, easels and notepads and pencils, but not actually dirty. Contrary to the scent of the place anyway; Shadow had been right it *did* smell musty. She opened the door with a happy face, "Hello Chief Engineer Lorimar," she said for the pure amusement of the face he'd make, "To what do I owe this pleasure?" (Reply Lorimar) "Come on in!" She said, stepping back and making a gesture. She proceeded to the couch to toss the sketch pad and pencils onto the table before flomping at one end. "Make your- self at home, and please, ignore the stuffiness. My environs have been on closed-circuit- whatever since I got sick and I think they've been processing Ode-de-Marine into the mix." Actually, it just smelt like a house that desperately needed its windows opened and the mustiness let out, but she didn't think the Captain would appreciate a gaping hole in the side of her ship. (Reply Lorimar) "Okay, I'm done being polite," Denise declared in full mischievious, spoilt, minx mode, "Whatcha bring me??" (Reply Lorimar) (Posted by Lorna) =================================================== =================================================== END OF TRANSMISSION =================================================== ===================================================