USS Spectre Compile - April 1st-30th 2012 by Alan Reading ========================================================================= Mission: Slipstream (In transet) Day: -2 Stardate: 2414.03.08 (Earth – Starfleet Command, Departure lounge – CMO, Lieutenant Commander Noah – 09:35) ========================================================================= Mission: Slipstream Day: 1 Stardate: 2414.03.10 (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 11, Sector 6, Lower levels - Marine, Lawrence Bignell - 20:05) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – TAC/ASC, Ensign Alexandria Smithson – 20:07) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 11, Sector 6, Lower levels - Marine, Tom Dillinger - 20:08) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 12, Sector 6, Lower levels - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 20:09) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – COUNS, Ensign, Oggie Marsh – 20:09) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – TAC/ASC, Ensign Alexandria Smithson – 20:10) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – ACMO, Ens(jg), Zia Kirrin - 20:10) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 11, Sector 6, Lower levels - Marine, Lawrence Bignell - 20:10) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 11, Sector 6, Lower levels - Marine, Tom Dillinger - 20:11) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – SciO Ens. John Linskens - 20:12) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – SciO, Ensign(jg), Catriona Macbeth – 20:13) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – ACMO Ens(jg) Zia Kirrin & SciO Ens(jg) Catriona Macbeth - 20:14) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – COUNS, Ensign, Oggie Marsh – 20:15) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – SciO, Ens John Linskens - 20:16) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – ACMO, Ens(jg) Zia Kirrin - 20:17) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – SciO, Ens(jg) Catriona Macbeth - 20:18) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – SciO, Ens(jg) Catriona Macbeth & ACMO, Ens(jg) Zia Kirrin – 20:19) (USS Spectre – Deck 7 – SecO CPO H’Rissan – 20:22) (USS Spectre – Deck 7 – Lt. Rodriguez – 20:23) (USS Spectre – Deck 7 – SecO, CPO Hrissan – 20:24) (USS Spectre – Deck 7 – Lt Rodriguez – 20:25) (USS Spectre – Deck 7 – SecO, CPO Hrissan – 20:26) (USS Spectre - Deck 7 - Engineering Section - EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 20:30) (USS Spectre - Deck 7 - Engineering Section - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 20:31) (USS Spectre - Deck 7 - Engineering Section – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 20:32) (USS Spectre - Deck 7 - Engineering Section - ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 20:33) (USS Spectre - Deck 7 - Engineering Section – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 20:34) (USS Spectre - Deck 6, Security Station Gamma – SecO, CPO Hrissan – 20:36) (USS Spectre - Deck 6, Security Station Gamma – ATAC/SEC Lt. Rodriguez – 20:38) (USS Spectre - Deck 14 - Engineering Section - ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 20:40) (USS Spectre - Deck 14 - Engineering Section - EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 20:41) (USS Spectre - Deck 6, Security Station Gamma – SecO, CPO Hrissan – 20:42) (USS Spectre - Deck 14 - Engineering Section - ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 20:43) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Jefferies Tubes – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 20:47) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Jefferies Tubes – ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 20:48) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Jefferies Tubes – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 20:50) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Jefferies Tubes – ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 21:03) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Jefferies Tubes – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 21:04) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 12, Sector 6, Lower levels - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 20:16) (USS Spectre - Deck 14, Jefferies Tubes – ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 21:18) (USS Spectre - Deck 14, Jefferies Tubes – EO, Petty Officer, Cordelia Evans – 21:19) (USS Spectre - Deck 14, Jefferies Tubes – ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 21:33) (USS Spectre - Deck 14, Jefferies Tubes – EO, Petty Officer, Cordelia Evans – 21:34) (USS Spectre - Deck 14, Jeffries Tubes - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 21:35) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 21:36) (Station Echo One Zero - Level F, Section 5 - Experiment Cargo Bay - SciO, Ens, John Linskens – 21:47) (USS Spectre – Science Department, Chemical Analysis Lab – EO, Petty Officer, Cordelia Evans – 21:55) (USS Spectre – Science Department, Chemical Analysis Lab – ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 21:56) (USS Spectre – Science Department, Chemical Analysis Lab – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans & LabTech, Petty Officer Thaddeus Jones – 21:57) (USS Spectre – Science Department – Chemical Analysis Lab - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 21:58) (USS Spectre – Science Department – Chemical Analysis Lab - EO, Petty Officer, Cordelia Evans & Labtech Thaddeus Jones – 22:01) (USS Spectre – Science Department – Chemical Analysis Lab - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 22:02) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 22:03) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Lt. Rodriguez – 22:05) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 22:06) (USS Spectre – Bridge – ATAC, Lt. Rodriguez - 22:08) (USS Spectre – Science Department – Chemical Analysis Lab - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 22:11) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 22:12) (Station Echo One Zero - Sickbay - SciO, Ens, John Linskens – 22:18) (Station Echo One Zero - Sickbay - COUNS, Ens, Oggie Marsh – 22:28) (Station Echo One Zero – Sickbay – ACMO, Ens(jg) Zia Kirrin – 22:30) (Station Echo One Zero – Sickbay – Acting CMO, MCPO, Carlos de Silvatori – 22:32) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 15, Sector 8, Surveillance hub - COUNS, Ens Oggie Marsh – 22:33) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 22:35) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 22:36) (USS Spectre – Science Department, Chemical Analysis Lab - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 22:37) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CPO, Nurse Douwsy – 22:39) (USS Spectre – Engineering Section, Phased Cloaking Device - CPO, Wai Biign – 22:40) (USS Spectre – Phased Cloaking Device Engineering Section – CPO Wai Biign\Engineer, Ensign Scott Smith – 22:43) (USS Spectre – Bridge – OPS Officer, Ensign Robert Smith – 22:43 (Shuttle Craft Wenton - TAC/SC, Lt Kerge - 22:43) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 22:44) (USS Spectre – Science Department – Chemical Analysis Lab - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 22:44) (Shuttle Craft Wenton – ACSO, Ensign Ilana Grey – 22:45) (Shuttle Craft Wenton - ACSO, Ensign JG Ilana Grey - 22:46) (USS Spectre – Science Department – Chemical Analysis Lab - EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans & Labtech Thaddeus Jones – 22:47) (USS Spectre – Science Department, Chemical Analysis Lab - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 22:48) (USS Spectre – Science Department, Chemical Analysis Lab - EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 22:49) (USS Falcon’s Claw – Bridge – CMO, LT Commander Noah – 22:50) (Shuttle Craft Wenton - TAC/SC, Lt Kerge - 22:51) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi – 22:51) (USS Spectre – Ready Room – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 22:53) (USS Spectre – Engineering Department, Secondary Engineering - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 22:53) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - CO, Captain T'Vhor - 22:54) (USS Spectre – Engineering Department, Secondary Engineering - EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 22:55) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa - 22:57) (USS Spectre – Engineering, Phased Cloaking Device – CPO, Wai Biign – 22:58) (USS Spectre – External docking port 8 - CMO, Lt Commander Noah – 23:00) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 23:01) (USS Spectre – CMO Quarters - CMO, Lt Commander Noah – 23:05) (USS Spectre – Bridge - CMO, Lt Commander Noah – 23:10) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 23:12) (USS Spectre – Bridge – CMO, Lt Commander Noah – 23:13) (USS Spectre – Bridge - ACSO, Ensign JG Ilana Grey - 23:15) (USS Spectre – Ready Room – CMO, Lt Commander Noah – 23:15) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - CO, Captain T'Vhor - 23:16) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 23:16) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - CMO, Noah - 23:17) (USS Spectre – Bridge – ACSO, Ensign JG Ilana Grey – 23:17) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 23:18) (USS Spectre - Bridge - CMO, Lt Commander Noah - 23:20) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 23:23) (USS Spectre – Bridge – ACSO, Ensign Ilana Grey – 23:23) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO, Lt Commander Noah - 23:24) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CPO, Chief Nurse Douwsy - 23:25) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – COUNS, Ensign Oggie Marsh – 23:36) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CMO, Noah – 23:37) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – TAC/ASC, Ensign Alexandria Smithson – 23:40) ========================================================================= Mission: Slipstream (In transet) Day: -2 Stardate: 2414.03.08 (Earth – Starfleet Command, Departure lounge – CMO, Lieutenant Commander Noah – 09:35) Noah looked out through the big widow which showed him the picturesque views of the Starfleet command. He had only arrived on earth with in the last 24 hours and already things in his life had changed considerable. He had spoken to the Captain in Special Operations when he had arrived. It had been the same Captain who had spoken to him when he had returned with the Free Booster after escaping the labyrinth system. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Every thing had changed since then. He had been informed that he was being transferred off the Free Booster as she was needed for another mission and they felt that his talents were needed else where. Loosing the Free Booster had been bad enough he had almost felt that she was his ship especially that he was the one who rescued her from the pirates but also the fact that he would not be working with Coleridge would be hard. The stern faced A.I.’s cold and sarcastic exterior hid a caring inner core which he had grown to like and value as a friend. He took another sign as he stared out ~I have choices to make. I could either resign my commission as a civilian star fleet officer, and do what! Go home and be stuck on Ornara for the rest of my life. Its not like I will get another captaincy post or be a doctor again if I go there. I would be working at one of the clinics dealing with patients in withdrawal which I have done before and did not fancy doing that again~ He felt the snap of electrical energy as it danced between his fingers and across his hand. He gave his hand a quick shake to dissipate it as he pulled his mind back onto the decision at hand. ~Or I can take the position that I am given I will be doctoring again but at least I will be in space and I can see where that takes me~ His fingers absentmindedly brushed against his Lieutenant Commander pips [Shuttle flight number OBF 2357 to Space dock is ready for departure please could all passengers report to shuttle pad 34] Noah shook him self mentally as he made his decision and scooped up his duffle which contained his few meagre possessions. He turned and headed towards the shuttle bay and to a new adventure. ~Off to the Spectre. Here I come~ (reply any) (Posted by Robbie) ======================================================================== Mission: Slipstream Day: 1 Stardate: 2414.03.10 (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 11, Sector 6, Lower levels - Marine, Lawrence Bignell - 20:05) Bignell furrowed his brow as the intertnal comms sprang to life with a warning from Dillinger. Apparently, he was hearing something from one of the vents, Lawrence strained his hearing, but for the moment anyway, he could hear nothing but the constant dripping of water. It was now leaking into his boots, his feet were wet and he just wanted to find the XO and get the hell out of the place. “Did you hear it?” repeated Dillinger “Or am I goin’ bonkers?” It was then that Lawrence heard it. Was that... singing? Bignell nodded, his thoughts a tad awry now. Was it the XO, or was it the ghost he was following? "Where is it coming from?", asked Bignell, "Do you think it could be Kowalski?" (Reply Dillinger) Dillinger shrugged a little and then reached to his injured shoulder once again. “I’m beginning to hate this fraggin’ station,” he said. Bignell nodded again, confirming his agreeance as he looked around the corridor they had just entered. Like the previous ones, it was darkened, the emergency lighting barely maintaining visibility in the upper levels, let alone the lower! Lawrence conmsidered the night vision option, but then decided against it for now. Anything that used power was draining inordinately fast and they needed to conserve as much of it as possible or risk losing their comms. Then another sound from a nearby vent assailed their organics. "That has to be the XO, sounds nuttier than a whole heap a squirral crap", said Bignell with a dsapproving shake of his head. (Reply Dillinger, IYW) "Well, our orders are to locate and retrieve the XO, let's go bag us a fruitcake", said Bignell as he checked his Tacorder readout and then moved on through the corridor towards a heavy iron bulkhead door up ahead. (Reply Dillinger, Any) (Posted by Alan) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – TAC/ASC, Ensign Alexandria Smithson – 20:07) “Sit up slowly,” she said. “Put your back against the wall. You will feel a little woozy but as the meds kick in your head will clear.” Not really knowing what was being said, but somehow understanding Alex did as told “OW my head, feels like the morning after a night drinking too much Bloodwine” She said holding her head, then suddenly looking up “I remember that morning, it was the day after graduation from the Academy” She added with a smile, then went blank facially and held her head in her hands. Alex did not know who was talking, but someone was talking to the Doctor, her head was too bad to concentrate. "Did you say that you travelled through time?” he asked. “Or did I misunderstand that, sub-Centurion? I would like you to tell me all about that, including every single little detail. It may not seem important but this is the first real clue that I got about the mechanics of this place. We know already that there is a phase-field of some sort here and we know there have been temporal distortions but no idea how they can operate together. They can't, you see? Once you have time, of course?" Then the same voice that spoke to Alex spoke again. “If you would ask Oggie to come over here and keep an eye on Ensign Smithson whilst she recovers a bit more, I would be happy to answer your questions. And you may address me as Doctor, or as Ensign. Sub-Centurion is neither accurate nor appropriate.” Someone came and sat next to her after the others had left. ~ What now? ~ she thought to herself. "Well, well, my dear. You gave us quite a bit of a scare. But the doctor took great care of you. Stay calm; you're not out of the woods yet. But uncle Oggie will be here to assist. Now tell me, can you remember anything from before? Did you experience a headache? A pain behind the eyes or something like that?" Looking up and directly at him, exhaustion on her face “Are you a Shrink?” She asked abruptly (Reply Oggie) Suddenly realizing her outburst “Apologies Mr. Marsh, not exactly myself at the moment and a bear with a sore head is more likely to be charitable than myself at present” She responded. “But to answer your question, I have been feeling weird since I arrived here, its only now that it has become unmanageable, I will be glad when we get of this damn station, its driving me barmy and effecting me on a basic DNA level, you have any response to that?” She asked. (Reply Oggie) (Posted by Paul Davies) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 11, Sector 6, Lower levels - Marine, Tom Dillinger - 20:08) The two marines listened to the sounds coming from the vent. "Where is it coming from?" asked Bignell. "Do you think it could be Kowalski?" Tom thought about it. “Don’t see how it could be anyone else.” He shrugged his good shoulder and added that he was beginning to hate the station. Bignell nodded in agreement, and looked around the darkened corridor. The emergency lighting barely pierced the gloom, which didn’t help Dillinger’s mood any. Another creepy sound from the vent drew his attention once more to the task in hand as Bignell voiced the thought that it must be Kowalski, and that he sounded nuttier than a pile of squirrel poop. “Yup, he’s certainly not playing with a full deck of cards,” Tom agreed feelingly. If anyone other than the XO had stuck him in the shoulder like that, they’d now be on Tom’s to-do list as up for termination with extreme prejudice. But this was the XO, who (no matter how hard he pushed them all, and he certainly did that with gusto) had always been there for his marines in a way that not all XOs were, at least in Tom’s experience. "Well, our orders are to locate and retrieve the XO, let's go bag us a fruitcake." Bignell’s voice broke into Tom’s thoughts and he pushed himself away from the wall, ignoring the ache in his shoulder as best he could. He followed Bignell towards a door up ahead, and found himself hoping it wasn’t locked. As they reached the door, the sound of an explosion echoed up through the vent. “Ah, crud,” he muttered. “How many of those fraggin’ things has he got? An’ what’s he tryin’ to blow up?” He fell silent for a moment, the situation playing itself through his mind. “Bigs, me old mate, given that the XO isn’t really himself right now, how long d’you think it’ll be before he decides the only way to win against whatever he thinks it is he’s fightin’ is to set off the auto-destruct?” (reply Bignell) Tom nodded slowly. “Thing is, it’s voice activated, tied to his voice command, silent countdown,” he said. “If he hasn’t set it off already – an’ there’s no way of tellin’ that – the best thing would be to stun him an’ take him down quiet like. But if he has set it off, and we put him out… Not a good scenario, me old mate. Not good at all.” (Reply Bignell, Any) (Posted by Liz Geuken) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 12, Sector 6, Lower levels - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 20:09) Kowalski paused again and then wiped the water from his face as he alternated his attention from the far end of the corridor, to his Tacorder readout. The instrument told him little and despite his urge to throw the damned thing at a nearby wall and be done with it, his Marine sense of respect for essential equipment prevented him from doing so, at least for now anyway! What use were electronics in this place anyway? he mused, nothing worked properly and things were not entirely what they seemed. Madness, utter madness. But what was that!!! Up ahead the light moved again, sweeping the wall eerlily, then the metallic rumbling sound as whatever it was, neared the juncture threatening to make it's appearance known to the XO. Kowalski stopped breathing briefly as he focused on the sound whilst brushing yet more water from his eyes, then he suddenly realized that the 'water' was not what it seemed either. It was thicker, warm, salty to the taste. It was blood! Bruce leapt up from his crouched position upon the floor, his hands deftly checking himself for any injury or cuts. There was no pain though, nothing but blood, and as the XO looked skywards he realized with horror precisely where all the blood was coming from. Above him, laying half within a broken conduit, the body of a young woman was hanging head down, her arms quite still and dripping blood from the fingertips that looked as though it were coming from her neck, which in turn appeared as though it had been sliced from ear to ear! Kowalski had initially recoiled at the sight, his heart pounding in his chest now, the atrial pressure of his cardiovascular system prominant in his ears as he breathed in sharply, and then fixed on the womans face. She looked to be about twenty eight, jet black hair, her skin, probably once tanned judging by her mediteranian appearance, was now tinged blue, dark veins prominant upon the skin of her cheeks as she stared down at him, lifeless. Kowalski braced himself now with his back up against the bulkhead, his legs were beginning to weaken, his eyes closing with tiredness as his body sunk downwards until it finally came to, seated upon the floor. Then a cursory glance upwards once more... ~My god, who did this?~ "What the freakin hell is happening here!!!", cried Bruce, all sense and reason now failing him as he checked the power indicator on his assault rifle, it was at less than a quarter power now and had dropped two bars in the last five minutes. Then suddenly, the source of the rolling sound and the scanning lightbeam came fully into view at the end of the corridor, the ventilated dome atop it swinging about, the one extended optic brightening as the iris opened within it to allow more light to enter. Then the terrible, heart rending, broken robotic voice echoing to the accompaniment of two lights, flashing like beacons upon the dome... "HALT - DO NOT MOVE - OBEY - OR YOU WILL BE - EX-TER-MIN-ATED!" In a heartbeat, Kowalski raised his III-C to his shoulder and then fired indiscriminately at the metallic monster from his childhood nightmares. The Phased bolts hit it directly, and then suddenly began to fall short as the, 'thing' apparently activated a shield around itself and then began to move forwards towards Kowalski's position, firing a pulsed weapon from an extended weapon at it's middle section. Kowalski retreated around the corner behind him, all thoughts of the apparently 'butchered' womans fate having now left him as he pulled a photon grenade from his belt, set it for a one second delay, and then lobbed it before crouching down behind a fallen bulkhead panel. The resultant explosion would have normally torn apart everything in the vicinity of that blast, but after the photon flash, and when Bruce finally checked for himself - There it was, and it was still coming at him! "DO NOT MOVE - OBEY - OBEY - OBEEEEEY!" Kowalski frowned heavilly, and then retreated again. Nothing was going to stop this thing - There was nothing else to do. With a steely resolve and a sudden realization becoming crystal clear in his tormented mind, Kowalski stood up and threw off his armoured jacket. Then, drawing the seven inch death dealer blade from it's scabbard at his calve, he cried out gutterally like a Klingon warrior about to go into battle. If standard weaponary wasn't going to kill this thing, then what else was he to do? The XO tensed up all of his muscles and then he advanced, still roaring as he ran headlong towards the metal beast and whatever fate was now in store for him.... (Reply None, Any) (Posted by Alan) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – COUNS, Ensign, Oggie Marsh – 20:09) “Are you a shrink?” A bit taken aback by the question that had been fired at him as if it were an accusation, Oggie took a second or so before responding. "I believe I am, my dear. In fact, I am pretty sure I am one of 'those'." Oggie grinned. "Why? Is there a problem with that?" he asked with a wink. (Reply by Alexandria, IYW, RFM) Oggie nodded at her and she continued. “Apologies Mr. Marsh, not exactly myself at the moment and a bear with a sore head is more likely to be charitable than myself at present. But to answer your question, I have been feeling weird since I arrived here, it's only now that it has become unmanageable, I will be glad when we get of this damn station, its driving me barmy and effecting me on a basic DNA level, you have any response to that?” Oggie fell silent at the lengthy response, working through things in his head. He wondered whether her 'feeling' that it affected her on a basic DNA level was some idiom that he hadn't come across. He felt it was unlikely that someone could feel one's DNA being affected but it wasn't his expertise so it could be. He made a note to discuss this with Zia once things had quieted down a bit. "I think this station is affecting us all, my dear," he responded after a while. "And not always in a positive way. Whether it is as 'simple' as a change in serotonins as Zia formulated or there is more going on, I am not too sure about." Oggie sniffed for a second. "Oh, and don't worry about upsetting me. Others have tried." Oggie said, looking at John as he was talking to Zia. "Others have tried a lot harder than you and they didn't succeed." Oggie smiled as he turned his head back to Alexandria, examining her physical state. "You do look like you could do with some rest," he finally said with a nod. "Since we still seem to be stuck for the moment, I would suggest you closing your eyes and rest your head against my shoulder and just talk to me. Talk to me about anything that you want. Anything." Oggie smiled. "OK, my dear?" (Reply Alexandria, RFM, any) As he was sitting next to her he noticed how the other ghosts were suddenly de-misting, just like John had previously. One of them, a female in science outfit, stumbled and landed almost on top of one of the marines. She caught herself after being caught and made her way over to the others. From her tone and her mannerisms it was clear that she knew the others, which meant that she was Spectre-crew. And true enough he caught her glance as she looked at Oggie and Zia and turned to Nat to ask about them. Only then did she turn her head fully and nod at them. “Nice to meet you, Ensign Marsh. And you too, Ensign Kirrin.” "Undoubtedly it is nice to see you too, Ensign, even if I do not know your name." Oggie spoke relatively softly so as not to shock the security officer, but smiled. "I take it you are part of the cavalry that John promised?" (reply Cat, RFM, any) (reply Alexandria, Cat any other of the 'Rascals', any present, any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – TAC/ASC, Ensign Alexandria Smithson – 20:10) Looking directly at the new arrival… “Are you a shrink?” The new arrival sat back apparently knocked off balance, but seemed to go with the flow, judging from his response. "I believe I am, my dear. In fact, I am pretty sure I am one of 'those'". "Why? Is there a problem with that?" he asked with a wink. “Oh no reason in particular, out of sorts” Somers said ~ I just want to sleep ~ she thought to herself. (Reply RFM) Ensign Marsh nodded at her and she continued. “Apologies Mr. Marsh, not exactly myself at the moment and a bear with a sore head is more likely to be charitable than myself at present. But to answer your question, I have been feeling weird since I arrived here, it's only now that it has become unmanageable, I will be glad when we get of this damn station, its driving me barmy and effecting me on a basic DNA level, you have any response to that?” Marsh fell silent at the lengthy response. "I think this station is affecting us all, my dear," he responded after a while. "And not always in a positive way. Whether it is as 'simple' as a change in serotonins as Zia formulated or there is more going on, I am not too sure about." A short sniff from Marsh. "Oh, and don't worry about upsetting me. Others have tried." Oggie said, looking at John as he was talking to Zia. "Others have tried a lot harder than you and they didn't succeed." Oggie smiled as he turned his head back to Alexandria, examining her physical state. "You do look like you could do with some rest," he finally said with a nod. "Since we still seem to be stuck for the moment, I would suggest you closing your eyes and rest your head against my shoulder and just talk to me. Talk to me about anything that you want. Anything." Oggie smiled. "OK, my dear?" “Closing eyes and resting sounds good” She said and closed her eyes and fell asleep sitting up straight with the arms on her bent up knees and her head on her arms. (Reply RFM, any) As he was sitting next to her he noticed how the other ghosts were suddenly de-misting, just like John had previously. (Reply Any present, RFM) (Posted by Paul Davies) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – ACMO, Ens(jg), Zia Kirrin - 20:10) “OW my head, feels like the morning after a night drinking too much Bloodwine,” Smithson moaned, then looked at Zia with a smile. “I remember that morning, it was the day after graduation from the Academy.” Suddenly her face lost expression and she put her head in her hands. Zia experienced a flash of intense irritation which so shocked her that she said nothing for a moment. She had never, until now, been even close to losing patience with a patient, and here she was suppressing an urge to smack the woman in front of her and tell her to pull herself together. With an effort she regained a little of her usual demeanour but before she could ask Smithson about the hangover feeling, Linskens appeared and began asking questions. Since Smithson clearly still required someone to keep an eye on her, Zia requested Linskens to ask Oggie if he would sit with Smithson whilst she spoke to Linskens. Indeed, she was quite glad of the interruption and hoped that answering the scientist’s questions would have the added benefit of allowing her to calm down. As soon as Oggie came over to where Zia sat with Smithson, she got up and, with a thankful nod to Oggie, went over to Linskens. “Well, Ensign Linskens, I am now free for a little while to answer your questions. You wanted me to tell you exactly what happened? It was Stardate 2413.02.10…” Zia told Linskens all she could remember about what had happened that afternoon: how Oggie had taken her to view ‘something special’ in the cargo bay that would be very important a year from then; how the sphere in the crate had begun to glow and how she and Oggie had been thrown forward just over a year in time. They had only found that detail out when they had met up with the away team from the Spectre. She also told him everything that had happened since then. “And that is everything, I think,” she finished, “until you appeared here.” A thought struck her. “Oggie said that ‘geeks’ would be very excited by the sphere in the crate. Are you a geek?” (reply Linskens, any) (Posted by Liz Geuken) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 11, Sector 6, Lower levels - Marine, Lawrence Bignell - 20:10) Bignell paused briefly, the thought of the ramifications of Dillingers statement rattling around in his head. It was indeed a quandry, what was it they always said? 'A rock n a hard place'. It seemed that no matter what they did they were screwed, if the XO was dropped then he wouldn't be able to abort the countdown, if indeed he had even initiated it. Lawrence shook his head, he didn't really want to think about it at all right now, best get the guy first and then go from there. "It doesn't bear thinking about buddy, we can only hope that the demon in his head hasn't already pushed him that far", said Bignell. (Reply Dillinger, IYW) A little further on and they had reached a service hatch that had been pried away from it's holdings, the bulk of it now hanging from one hinge and dripping what appeared to be rust. Rust? in space? Weren't stations such as this supposed to be made of more durable materials than iron? Bignell felt certain that they were, and yet the rust seemed to be all over the place. Indeed, it was more like they were venturing through the hulk of an old sailing vessel than a twenty fifth century space station. Bignell put his thoughts aside and then peered through the hatch, a ladder extending upwards within the small, cramped service duct. "Shall we dance?", said Lawrence, to his suffering compatriot, just as the unmistakable sound of Kowalski's voice came bellowing through the lower levels like some demented, pain wracked demon hollering from the depths of hell itself. (Reply Dillinger) "I guess that answers that one", said Bignell, "you sure you're able to climb with that shoulder buddy?" (Reply Dillinger) (Posted by Alan) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 11, Sector 6, Lower levels - Marine, Tom Dillinger - 20:11) "It doesn't bear thinking about buddy, we can only hope that the demon in his head hasn't already pushed him that far,” Bignell answered Tom’s comments about their dilemma. “Yeah, well I ain’t holdin’ my breath either way,” Dillinger muttered, as much to himself as to Bignell. Before long they’d reached a hatchway, probably a service hatch, Dill thought. It was hanging almost completely from one hinge, and something dark and reddish dripped from the edge, pooling on the floor. Dillinger frowned and almost stretched out a hand to touch it before thinking better of it. Gods alone knew what kind of stuff it was, could be blood, could be rust, although a portion of his brain told him that rust wasn’t likely. Oil, perhaps? Some kind of chemical? Either way he wasn’t about to stick his hand in it. Bignell peered through the hatchway at the cramped service duct. "Shall we dance?" he asked. He was answered not by Tom, but by a howl of what might have been rage or pain, it was hard to tell. What was unmistakeable was that it was Kowalski. “Sounds like the masochism tango,” Dill said. “And Kowalski’s leadin’. And where he leads, we must follow if we want to catch up with him.” Bignell agreed, and asked if Dill could climb with his shoulder the way it was. Tom flexed his shoulder and managed not to wince. “Just try and stop me, mate,” he said, slinging his weapon over his shoulder. Stepping through the hatchway he began to climb. “You ever seen Macbeth?” he asked, more to distract himself from the way his shoulder was screaming at him that this wasn’t the way to treat it when it had been shredded by Kowalski’s knife, than to make conversation. “I don’t mean that bird in the science department,” he continued, “I mean the play by that bald geezer, whatsisname. Shakespeare. Though she’s not bad, either. Wouldn’t kick her outta bed if you know what I mean.” He grinned, then sighed. “Chance’d be a fine thing I s’pose.” (Reply Bignell iyw) “Well, in the play Macbeth there’s this bit where he says that nothin’ is but what is not. An’ that’s what this place is like, in fact it’s what this whole fraggin’ thing is like. Nothin’s as it should be. The XO’s gone nuts, the station’s fallin’ to bits an’ drippin’ *stuff* all over the place, for frag’s sake. I mean I ask you. It don’t make sense, mate. None of it.” He drew a hissing breath as his shoulder gave a particularly mean twinge, and then continued. “I mean, I know ours is not to reason why ours is but to do or die, and if it’s all the same to whoever or whatever decides stuff like that, I’ll do the doin’ not the dyin’ thank you very much. But it would be nice to know what’s goin’ on. I’m a simple man, Bigs, an’ I like simple stuff. Point your weapon at the bad guys and BOOM. Works for me every time. You know where you are with that. But this? This isn’t enlisted crap. This is officer crap. An’ as usual it’s us poor beggars who have to pull the –“ He stopped abruptly as they reached the end of the ladder. “Eh up, we’re there, mate.” He pulled his weapon round and looked at the tacorder. There was a blip, a distance away around a corner, but no other signs of life. Cautiously he stuck his head through the hatchway and looked up and down the corridor, but couldn’t see anything. He gave Bignell the sign that all was clear and prepared to climb out of the duct. ~Here goes nuthin’~ (Reply Bignell, any) (Posted by Liz Geuken) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – SciO Ens. John Linskens - 20:12) John frowned as the medical officer spoke on. What she told him didn't really line up with his reasonings so far. What she had described as core was not at all in line with temporal device-structures. He originally had thought that there must have been some kind of phase-temporal experiment but the core didn't fit with that. So, if the experiment wasn't a combined experiment and if the core that was encountered appeared reasonably similar to a interphase generating structure, then were did this temporal effect come from? Because there were definite shows of temporal disturbances. The appearance of the Mithrandir for one. And than there was this temporal 'abduction' of Zia and Oggie. “Are you a geek?” the medical officer broke John's line of thought, John looked at her dumbfounded. "Uhh, what?" he stammered, "Geek? Me? Uhhhhhhh." Luckily for John he was rescued by Cat as she approached him. “We are here at your bidding, O master. How may we serve you?” The problem with John was that he was known not to recognise a rescue as such so he looked at Cat and asked: "Cat, am I a geek?" Before she could respond, he finished his own assessment. "I guess I am, right?" (Reply Cat, any) John sighed then turned to Zia. "If I am a geek, then you can be certain I am the Super-Geek. I don't do anything half-heartedly. Now then, do you mind if we get back to the important bits? So, this core...." John suddenly had a thought. "Did it .... those metal bits on the inside of the glass, can you describe them a bit more? Were they silver-coloured? Or were there some that were grey-greenish in sheen? And what shape did they have?" (Reply by Zia) (Reply by Cat, Zia, any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – SciO, Ensign(jg), Catriona Macbeth – 20:13) "Undoubtedly it is nice to see you too, Ensign, even if I do not know your name." Ensign Marsh said softly with a smile. "I take it you are part of the cavalry that John promised?" “Catriona Macbeth, Cat to my friends,” the linguist said with a smile, approaching the rotund ensign and speaking softly in her turn, wondering what was up with Smithson, who was sitting with her head on her knees, seemingly ignoring everything going on around her. “As for John’s cavalry, more like a bunch of rascals if you ask me, “ she added. “But we are here to help, if we can. Although to be honest, at the moment we seem to be as stuck as the rest of you.” She was longing to ask about Smithson, but even Cat felt she could hardly do so with the woman sitting right there. “Are you a medic from the station then?” she asked, having noticed Marsh’s teal uniform. “Or are you one of the mad scientists like John and me and Tolqu?” Cat indicated the ACSO with a nod for Oggie’s benefit. “The other one’s Remae Ktell,” she nodded in the direction of the Bajoran. “Engineer and shuttle pilot extraordinaire. I’m told he can crash anything anywhere, and he certainly managed to hit the station,” she added with a grin. (reply Oggie, any) (Posted by Liz Geuken) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – ACMO Ens(jg) Zia Kirrin & SciO Ens(jg) Catriona Macbeth - 20:14) Linskens seemed thunderstruck by Zia asking him if he was a geek. For once seemingly lost for words, he passed the question to another Science Officer, also unknown to Zia (naturally, as she knew none of the Spectre crew before today). "Cat, am I a geek?" he demanded, but then answered his own question. "I guess I am, right?" Cat rolled her eyes. Very little could surprise her about John. “John, you are not *A* geek. You are *THE* geek. You’re the Geek of geeks. Is that what you called us here for? Because if so, I think you’re losing it.” She wasn’t surprised when John sighed and turned back to the woman Cat had been told was a doctor, Ensign Kirrin. "If I am a geek, then you can be certain I am the Super-Geek,” John said to Zia. “I don't do anything half-heartedly. Now then, do you mind if we get back to the important bits? So, this core...." he paused, apparently thinking, then continued: "Did it .... those metal bits on the inside of the glass, can you describe them a bit more? Were they silver-coloured? Or were there some that were grey-greenish in sheen? And what shape did they have?" Zia frowned in concentration, then closed her eyes the better to visualise the thing Oggie had shown her. It was only a few hours ago but it seemed like a year or more. Of course she knew that in one sense it *was* more than a year but for her, Zia, and for Oggie, it had been a little less than four hours. So it should not be hard for her to recall the details John asked for. “Oggie opened the case,” she said slowly, playing the image over her mind’s eye as she spoke. “And we looked inside. There was a big glass ball with metal bits in. It didn’t seem very exciting but Oggie said it was important – that I could one day tell my children or grandchildren that I was there, where history was being made. He also said that I could tell it to someone I lifted off their feet in bar and they would be impressed, but that did not seem like a very likely situation to me. But it would have been rude to say so, so I did not mention that. But I looked at it carefully because Oggie was so proud of being able to show it to me, and the bits of metal were…” She concentrated hard, since John seemed to think the colour of the bits of metal were very important indeed. “Some were a silvery blue but some were greyish green. And the greyish-green ones were shaped a bit like lagga – that is a kind of flower on ch’Rihan. It has a ball-like shape, with seven long thin petals radiating out from the centre of the ball. “ She looked at John curiously. “Is that what you wanted to know?” (Reply by John, any) (Posted by Liz) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – COUNS, Ensign, Oggie Marsh – 20:15) “As for John’s cavalry, more like a bunch of rascals if you ask me, “ she added. “But we are here to help, if we can. Although to be honest, at the moment we seem to be as stuck as the rest of you.” Oggie snorted shortly before remembering the security officer trying to rest near him. After a quick glance at her, he faced Macbeth before his eyes wondered around the room. "That is only temporarily, I am sure. But I would say that so far your little band of 'rascals' have been a lot more successful than Zia and me or the Spectre away-teams." Oggie fell silent as his eyes glanced at the nervous looking marines. He studied them for a moment and was about to mention something when Cat continued, ending with: "Engineer and shuttle pilot extraordinaire. I’m told he can crash anything anywhere, and he certainly managed to hit the station.” Oggie's eyes narrowed as he followed her directions and eyed the people she described. His gaze rested longest on Ktell. "I had the good fortune of meeting mister Remae quite some time ago. Although he wasn't an engineer or shuttle pilot then. I met him at a counselling symposium. He was quite good at it too. But that was before ......." Oggie fell silent. "Forgive me," he finally said to Cat. "Old men tend to remember the past a bit too well, even if the past should not be remembered. I am pleased he is looking so well now. Anyway I am, or was, or will be the station's counsellor. It's hard to be precise in these circumstances. Zia was on the station waiting for a transfer to her ship when we ..... when it happened." A small melancholic smile played around his lips as he watched John's solo-recital. He shook his head but stopped when he saw Zia approach and sit next to him. “I think,” she said quietly, “that the grease is now in the furnace.” Oggie smiled. "No, my dear, it's ......" He fell silent and looked at the young ensign for a second. "Yes, my dear." he said with a smile, "the grease is now definitely in the furnace." He was about to continue when Cat's question rang out. He watched John take it on board and mull it over. The science officer then looked at Cat and nodded. "I wouldn't worry about the power packs for now. This field's energy requirements are humongous. I would suggest turning the base power-core completely off for a start. That should stop the experiment getting power from the base. I doubt that that would be enough to reverse the effect but at least it should make it a lot more difficult for the field to grow. It might be an idea to then take out all traces of Krellenium and restart the core. If the theory is correct the power should then be available for the station again without it being sucked away by the Krellenium. Of course, we also need to take away the direct power supply for the experiment. I assume that will have it's own power supply but I would do that only after we have cut the main power to reduce the chance of anything on-towards happening. Kate, can you take care of the main power? I'll head to the experiment area and see what I can do from there. I'm going to need four people to assist me. Any volunteers?" (reply any, all on the station) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – SciO, Ens John Linskens - 20:16) “Some were a silvery blue but some were greyish green. And the greyish-green ones were shaped a bit like lagga – that is a kind of flower on ch’Rihan. It has a ball-like shape, with seven long thin petals radiating out from the centre of the ball. “ “Is that what you wanted to know?” Instead of answering her, John turned to the ACEO. "Kate! We got it! Krellenium! That's what's bugging us!" Shooting the Bajoran a triumphant glance, John turned back to the Medic, grabbed her and planted a wet kiss on her forehead. He then let her go and grinning wildly, he continued: "You sure know how to make a man happy. It all makes sense now! Krellenium! That's the missing link! Krellenium in the experimental phase coil, Krellenium in the battery tops of our power packs, Krellenium in the Krellenium heads in the shuttle and there is Krellenium in the primary power distributors of warp drives. There's ... there's ..... hang on, there is a problem. Krellenium is phase unaffected. So how ... how .... " John fell silent for a second with a deep frown on his forehead before he started mumbling to himself. "it makes sense .... it makes total sense ... Krellenium ... and then Kre ... but what's the link .... there's gotta be a link .... oh boy ... Ohkay ... solution one ... Krellenium links somehow to Krellenium when in a phasefield ... how? ... unknown .... but Krellenium is linked with other Krellenium in that phasefield. And Krellenium does what Krellenium does, it passes on power ... only ... only it passes on power to other bits of Krellenium .... hmmmm ... that would mean that the receiving Krellenium would be at a much lower power level ... power would be swirled around .... until it can seep away from the Krellenium ... but how .... and where? ... Hang on ... phasefields do not affect Krellenium ... but what's to say Krellenium does not affect phasefields? Especially super-charged Krellenium? All this power swirling in front of the phasefield's nose. So it nicks some ... and then? ... Hmmmm ... increase in phase? Probably. ... Sooooooo ... hmmmm ... vicious circle? .... Let's see. Phasefield forms .... allows Krellenium to make contact with other Krellenium in that field ... other Krellenium give power to receiver ... Receiver gives to phasefield ... Phasefield increases ... allows receiver to make contact with more Krellenium sources ... more power sent to receiver ... phasefield nicks more from receiver and grows stronger, gets bigger, more power available to shunt and so forth and so forth. In the end all power that is available is sucked up by the Krellenium and passed on to the field until there is no more energy available to grow any further, the energy received just being sufficient to maintain status quo." John fell silent and drummed his fingers on his cheek. He then looked around without really seeing anything. "Ahhh! he suddenly exclaimed. "Super concentrated phase difference! Stops time! Kills it! No temporal mechanics! So there is a huge temporal potential difference at the edge of the phase field! And bang! Energy suddenly becomes available through time! It nicks energy from different timezones! And grows .. and gets more and more and .... and then? Who cares, by then it will have sucked all power that is anywhere close to Krellenium in the galaxy, nay, in the universe. And multiverses!" John suddenly fell silent again and his eyes searched for the other 'rascals'. "Uhhh, guys? We're in trouble. We are seriously in trouble. We are seriously *deep* in trouble!" (Reply by Cat, Rascals, away team members, any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – ACMO, Ens(jg) Zia Kirrin - 20:17) Zia was astonished at the reaction her answer caused in the Science Officer, Linskens. Turning to the engineer who had appeared with Cat Macbeth and the other scientist, Linskens exclaimed that it was Krellenium that was ‘bugging’ them, a term which puzzled Zia. Before she could ask what he meant, however, Linskens turned back to Zia, grabbed her, and kissed her on the forehead with a loud smacking sound. He appeared to be extremely excited about the Krellenium link and went on about it at length, practically dancing on the spot as he seemed to be thinking aloud. After a while he fell silent for a short while then suddenly he was off again. Zia concentrated hard, trying to understand what he was saying but most of it was too rapid for her to follow since it involved things that were out of her line of expertise. She did get the understanding that the Krellenium was aggravating the power drain and not in a good way. She also thought she understood Linskens to say that it was the cause of the phase field and something to do with temporal mechanics, at which point she gave up trying to understand and just accepted that the scientist seemed to know what he was saying and that he had a reasonable theory of what was happening and the causes of it. There was another silence, and Linskens looked round the room for the others who had come with him. "Uhhh, guys? We're in trouble. We are seriously in trouble. We are seriously *deep* in trouble!" Zia frowned. They – or at least, herself and Oggie – were already deep in trouble having been pulled 13 months or more forward in time. The ship Zia should have been assigned to had crashed nearly a year ago from the present time as stated by the Spectre crew, their families probably thought they were both dead, and yet she got the distinct feeling that when Linskens said they were all seriously in trouble he meant rather more than a displacement in time, a missed assignment and ‘missing presumed dead’ on their files. More even than being phased out of alignment with the Spectre, which would, she supposed, explain why the away team from the Spectre were out of contact with the ship and perhaps even why the station appeared abandoned. Instinctively she moved back over to where Oggie was still sitting next to Smithson. It wasn’t that he could actually *do* anything about their present situation but there was something very comforting about the large Counsellor. She sat down next to him. “I think,” she said quietly, “that the grease is now in the furnace.” (Reply Oggie iyw, any) (Posted by Liz) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – SciO, Ens(jg) Catriona Macbeth - 20:18) Cat’s attention, like most if not all of those present, was irresistibly drawn to John in full Linskens-mode. He spoke nineteen to the dozen, expanding rapidly on his theory and thinking aloud as he talked it through, almost discussing it with himself as he went along. The good thing was that he did seem to have worked out what was going on and (to a certain extent) why. The bad thing was that if John thought they were deep in trouble, then they were really, *really* deep in trouble. As a linguist, Cat’s in-depth grasp of the concepts John was talking about was negligible. But one thing seemed to her to be logical. It probably wasn’t, of course, but she was going to say it anyway. If nothing else, John would enjoy telling her why she was wrong. “Can’t we just, turn it off somehow? As the Spectre and the Mithrandir powered down their warp cores, couldn’t we power down the warp core on the station? And the rest of the Krellenium power packs too?” (reply Linskens, any) (posted by Liz) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 4, Sector 5 – SciO, Ens(jg) Catriona Macbeth & ACMO, Ens(jg) Zia Kirrin – 20:19) John had mulled over Cat’s question and suggested they turn the station’s core completely off. He hoped that would stop whatever experiment was on-going drawing its power from the station itself. He was doubtful that doing so would reverse the effect on its own but thought that it would make it more difficult for the field itself to grow. He further suggested that taking out all traces of Krellenium and restarting the core might restore power to the station without it being devoured by the Krellenium. After that he thought it would be a good idea to remove the experiment’s direct power supply, but absolutely not until the main power had been cut. “Kate, can you take care of the main power?” John asked Ktell. “I'll head to the experiment area and see what I can do from there,” he continued. “I'm going to need four people to assist me. Any volunteers?" Cat, who (like the animal she was nicknamed after) had curiosity as her besetting sin, smiled broadly. “Me, please, but only if you promise to explain *exactly* what you need me to do!” she said. She was very interested to see this mysterious ‘experiment’ and very much hoped that John would be able to explain some of it to her. Zia opened her mouth to volunteer as well. Having been there at what she thought of as the start, she wanted to be there when it was shut down, to see what would happen to her. Would she go back to her own time? She hoped not, as she now knew the ship she had been assigned to was destroyed some two months after she would have boarded it, had she and Oggie not been thrown forward in time. She knew that one was not supposed to reveal what one knew about future events and it would be hard to explain without doing so exactly why she had a compelling reason *not* to go to the USS Keen. For a moment she considered the implications. If she did not reveal what she knew, a lot of people would die. And if she did, then she was responsible for altering the timeline. ~All things considered I very much hope that I am not sent back to that time!~ she thought. “I –“ she began to say that she would like to go along too, then a slight movement caught her eye and she found herself looking at Smithson. The woman was her patient, and she couldn’t leave her, even in Oggie’s care. “I will stay here, with my patient,” she said. A vision of Oggie having to make his way through yet more Jefferies tubes and access ways inserted itself into her mind’s eye and she added, “And I would very much appreciate it if Oggie would stay with me in case I need his help.” She looked the rotund counsellor in the eye, hoping that he would take the opportunity not to lose face in front of Linskens, with whom he appeared to have some not-too-happy history. “I am sure he can tell you anything you need to know about how to reach the experiment,” she said firmly as she turned back to Linskens. (Reply Oggie, John, any other volunteers, Smithson, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Deck 7 – SecO CPO H’Rissan – 20:22) Hrissan swished her tail from side to side as she looked for the TAC/ASC. The new one, that is; the other one, the woman with the red hair (whose name, Smithson, sounded like a hiss when Hrissan said it), was on the away team that Hrissan would have liked to join as well, but she hadn’t been chosen. Possibly this had been a good thing, since all contact had been lost with the away team and also with the secondary team that had taken the shuttle Gonzo The Great to see what they could find out. Hrissan didn’t know whether to be glad or sorry that she hadn’t gone with them. It would, she thought, have been a great adventure and Hrissan liked adventure. It was that which had drawn her away from Cait and into Starfleet, and further, had made her choose Tactical and Security to specialise in, unusual though that choice was for Caitians. Hrissan knew that many on her home planet would be horrified at her choice; most of her people in Starfleet tended to specialise in Medical or Science or Engineering. But Hrissan was different. On Ferasa, as her people called the planet known as Cait to the Federation, she had been called a ‘throwback’ – an insult which implied she had inherited the aggressive tendencies of the Kzinti. So Hrissan had metaphorically shaken the dust of her native world off her pads and had taken passage on a freighter heading towards Earth. And now, five years later, here she was in Starfleet, a security officer on board the USS Spectre. She was looking for Lieutenant Rodriguez with a message from the Quartermaster. She carried a PADD which apparently the Quartermaster had forgotten to get signed off, and she was not happy about it. “I am not a messsengerrr,” she had hissed at him. “Why don’t you asssk him to ssstop by here afterrr he hasss done hisss roundsss??” “Ah, go on, Hrissan, do me a favour. I’m off-duty in five minutes and I’m supposed to be meeting some of the lads for a game of billiards.” Hrissan had smiled, showing her pointed teeth. “What’sss in it forrr me?” she asked. “I’ll buy you a drink next time we’re off duty together?” Hrissan considered the offer. “Make it a meal in the Rrroverrrs Rrreturrrn next time we arrre at Geneva?” she suggested. “Done!” he’d said and hastily thrusting the PADD at her, he had hastened away before she could change her mind. So here she was, tracking down the Lieutenant. According to the duty roster, he should be doing his rounds and she had worked out that he should still be on Deck 7 at this time, so it was here that she was looking for him. ~A fine use of my talents!~ she thought, then she caught sight of Rodriguez just turning the corner of the corridor ahead of her. Picking up her pace, Hrissan ran after him. “Lieutenant Rrrodrrriguez!” she called as she, too, rounded the corner. “I have a messsage frrrom the Quarrrterrrmasssterrr for you!” (Reply Rodriguez, any) (Posted by Liz Geuken) (USS Spectre – Deck 7 – Lt. Rodriguez – 20:23) “Lieutenant Rrrodrrriguez!” she called as she, too, rounded the corner. “I have a messsage frrrom the Quarrrterrrmasssterrr for you!” Guillermo turned to look at the Caitian CPO standing in front of him. Guillermo was intrigued, of course he was always one to let curiosity get the better of him. 'Curiosity killed the cat, and I am the cat' he would always say. Though he knew better than to say that infront of Caitian for fear of being seen as culturally insensitive. He learned that lesson as a young ensign when he, by accident, offended a Bolian science officer on his second day on the job. Needless to say, one should be careful when saying there thoughts on giant blue domes. Sure one could have been referring to garish looking Stadium he played in while in college that was the ugliest shade of blue, but he learned to always look twice before talking about the Sapphire Dome again. "Message huh, alright, Chief, let's hear it." (reply Hrissan) (posted by Will Banowsky) (USS Spectre – Deck 7 – SecO, CPO Hrissan – 20:24) Finally Hrissan had caught up with Lieutenant Rodriguez and told him that she had a message for him from the Quatermaster. "Message huh, alright, Chief, let's hear it." Hrissan proffered the PADD the Quartermaster had given her earlier. “He forrrgot to get you to sssign thisss,” she said. “He didn’t sssay what it wasss but he ssseemed to think it wasss imporrrtant. And sssince he wasss going off duty he asssked me to deliverrr it to you.” ~Which is naturally a good and proper use of my time. Not.~ As Rodriguez took the PADD, Hrissan asked, “Iss therrre anything elssse you need me to do, Sssirrr?” (Reply Rodriguez, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Deck 7 – Lt Rodriguez – 20:25) Hrissan proffered the PADD the Quartermaster had given her earlier. “He forrrgot to get you to sssign thisss,” she said. “He didn’t sssay what it wasss but he ssseemed to think it wasss imporrrtant. And sssince he wasss going off duty he asssked me to deliverrr it to you.” As Rodriguez took the PADD, Hrissan asked, “Iss therrre anything elssse you need me to do, Sssirrr?” "Yes there is," Guillermo said as he skimmed the PADD and keyed in his signature. "Basically, the Phaser Rifles in Security Station Gamma need to be inventoried, as Assistant Security Chief I've been tasked with handling the inventory, this here is confirmation of receipt of inventory request." (reply Hrissan) "What that means for you, Chief is you have now been given the distinct privilege to help me run inventory." (reply Hrissan) "I hope that it wont take too long with two sets of eyes instead of one." (reply Hrissan) (reply Hrissan) (posted by Will Banowsky) (USS Spectre – Deck 7 – SecO, CPO Hrissan – 20:26) The TAC/ASC took the PADD, quickly read through it and keyed in his signature as he told Hrissan that the Phaser Rifles in the Gamma station needed to be inventoried and that Hrissan would now be assisting him in doing that. “Yesss, Sssir,” the Caitian replied with her pointed-teeth smile which, if it wasn’t for the contented expression in her eyes, could have been taken for the beginnings of a snarl. She was glad to have something useful to do that didn’t involve running minor errands, and she knew how important it was that the inventory should be accurate and up to date. "I hope that it won’t take too long with two sets of eyes instead of one," Rodriguez added. “I’m sssure it won’t, Sssir,” she replied as the two of them headed for the turbolift which would take them up a deck. “Two sssetsss of eyesss are alwaysss betterrr than one.” (Reply Rodriguez, IYW) (Posted by Liz Geuken) (USS Spectre - Deck 7 - Engineering Section - EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 20:30) Cordelia liked to work the middle shift. Morning weren’t her thing, and the graveyard shift was a little *too* quiet but the middle shift, comprising as it did the afternoon and the first part of the evening, suited her down to the ground. She’d just finished the job she’d been given, a routine check on the conduits on Deck 3, and the CPO in charge of her team had now sent her to see if the ACEO either required her assistance or had another job for her. Their shifts hadn’t coincided before so this would be the first time she’d worked with him. She knew him by sight, of course; on a ship the size of the Spectre one knew just about everyone by sight, especially the officers. Her blonde plait swinging slightly behind her as she walked briskly into the section where Ensign Rydan was working, Cordelia was looking forward to making his acquaintance. Spotting him working on a console, Cordelia walked towards him. “Excuse me, Sir. I'm Petty Officer Evans. CPO Edwards sent me along to see if you require my assistance, or if there’s something else you need me to do?” (Reply Rydan, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Deck 7 - Engineering Section - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 20:31) Varios hadn’t been on the nightshift long and he had already met someone new, an interesting fellow from security. Despite the peculiar notions he’d had about him, Varios found him to be likable and was looking forward to running into him again, preferably off-duty. The downside was that he was already a little behind despite his careful planning and to top it off he was trying to track-back an oddity on the system. He traced it through the systems, looking for the root cause and checking to see if anyone was working on the systems. Eventually he traced it back to the interphase-cloaking device and began to run a diagnostic on the device to try to determine the exact nature of the problem. Varios heard someone approaching and turned to see who it was. “Excuse me, Sir. I'm Petty Officer Evans. CPO Edwards sent me along to see if you require my assistance, or if there’s something else you need me to do?” Varios didn’t recognise the engineer; he was still getting to know numerous members of his department and the rest of the crew. He figured he would get round them all eventually. He gave her a warm smile and offered his hand. “Good evening, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Ensign Varios Rydan, but I’m sure you’re already aware…” he said brightly. (Reply Evans) “How long have you been with the USS Spectre?” he asked, keen to get to know his colleagues better. (Reply Evans) “Are there any quirks I should know about?” he enquired. (Reply Evans) “I mean the ship.” He said with a quirky smile. (Reply Evans) “Well you’ve come at as good a time as any.” He said, turning to check the progress of the diagnostic. “It seems we have an amber flag on the interphase-cloaking device. Perhaps you can help me run a check through the database for any similar problems experienced with these devices previously.” He said, turning back to her. The promise of a little mystery was always exciting as long as it didn’t turn into a big headache. (Reply Evans) The search through the database didn’t return any positive result so whatever they were looking at, it was a brand new mystery. Given the minor nature of it he didn’t feel it was important enough to bring to the Captain but if the situation were to change he certainly would. There had been problems in the past with the plasma intercoolers being unable to maintain a steady temperature. However, upgrades to the system and careful monitoring by wary engineering staff meant this was no longer an issue. It certainly wasn’t what they were seeing here. “It’s not a problem with the plasma intercoolers. Any ideas?” he asked, curious to see what her take on the situation was. (Reply Evans) (Reply Evans, any) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre - Deck 7 - Engineering Section – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 20:32) Ensign Rydan gave Cordelia a warm smile and offered his hand as he greeted her. “Yes, Sir, I know you by sight,” Cordelia replied as she shook the proffered hand. “It’s easier for us, there aren’t too many new ACEOs but there are a lot of us for you to get to know!” “How long have you been with the USS Spectre?” the ACEO asked. Cordelia thought for a moment. “A year or so now, Sir. She’s a good ship, and most of the crew are a friendly lot. Even some of the rup…“ she broke off and blushed slightly. “Er, that is, the officers are pretty good too, Sir.” “Are there any quirks I should know about?” he enquired. “Oh, well, just the usual little things. Like, Chief G’rissem can be cranky before he’s had his third coffee and you have to watch Crewman Pattison, otherwise sometimes he tries to slope off early at the end of his shift. But you’ll soon get to know them for yourself, Sir.” “I mean the ship,” Rydan said with a smile. Cordelia blushed again. ~Of course he did, idiot!~ “Sorry, Sir. To be honest, she’s like many ships. As long as you treat her like a lady, she’ll run as smoothly as you like. Neglect her and she’ll soon let you know about it!” She smiled shyly. “The other ACEO, Ensign Ktell, now he would be the one to ask.” Her face clouded over a little. “But he’s kind of MIA at the moment, Sir. He flew a shuttle over to the station with some science officers on board to see if they could find any trace of the away team that vanished there, but the shuttle crashed. So, we’re all keeping busy, making sure the ship’s systems haven’t been too damaged by the power drain earlier.” The ACEO checked a diagnostic he had running, then turned back to Cordelia and asked her to help him run a check through the database for similar problems to the amber flag he’d spotted on the interphase-cloaking device “I’d be glad to,” Cordelia said, warming to the new ACEO who unlike some officers she’d encountered in the past, didn’t seem to have any ‘side’ to him. Unfortunately the search didn’t lead to a positive result, and a check on previous problems like the plasma intercoolers not maintaining a steady temperature proved negative. “… Any ideas?” Rydan asked Cordelia. “What about checking the oscillating particle dampener?” she asked. “There could be a problem with the positronic feeders. It does get checked, but if one of the feeds were even partially blocked, that might trigger the warning. There are backups of course so it wouldn’t cause a major problem but it might be enough to raise the warning flag. “ (Reply Rydan, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Deck 7 - Engineering Section - ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 20:33) Petty Officer Evans was helping Ensign Rydan discover the reason for an amber flag showing up on the interphase-cloaking device. He’d asked for her take on the situation… “What about checking the oscillating particle dampener?” she replied. “There could be a problem with the positronic feeders. If it does get checked, but if one of the feeds were even partially blocked, that might trigger the warning. There are backups of course so it wouldn’t cause a major problem but it might be enough to raise the warning flag. “ Varios nodded, it was a thoughtful answer to an interesting question; one that Rydan wanted the answer to too. “Alright, good idea, lets each grab an EPAS mark II and we’ll take a look.” He logged off the console he’d been working at. (Reply Evans) Various unclipped his engineering tricorder from his utility belt and checked the battery on it before putting it back. He headed over to the tool storage lockers, took out two Enhanced Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy devices (EPAS mark II’s). He took a couple of minutes to check their calibration and power level and handed one to Cordelia. Then he attached his EPAS mark II to his utility belt and headed out of main engineering with her. (Reply Evans) They headed to the turbolift and selected deck 14. (Reply Evans) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre - Deck 7 - Engineering Section – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 20:34) Ensign Rydan had agreed to Cordelia’s suggestion and decided they would take a look. Cordelia was followed him over to the tool storage lockers and accepted the EPAS mk II that he handed her. The two of them headed out of main engineering towards the turbolift, and were on their way down to Deck 14. (Reply None) (Posted by Liz Geuken) (USS Spectre - Deck 6, Security Station Gamma – SecO, CPO Hrissan – 20:36) Hrissan copied the inventory on the PADD she had given to Rodriguez onto another PADD and took the copy with her to the weapons lockers on the left side of the room. Having keyed in her access code, she began to systematically check the contents of the lockers against the inventory. As she worked, she was thinking about the events of the day so far. Eventually she spoke. “Excuse me, Sssir, but do you think the away team are alrrright? We haven’t hearrrd frrrom them sssince they went to the ssstation, and now Ensssign Linssskensss and the othersss who followed them are alssso missing.” (Reply Rodriguez iyw) Hrissan keyed in her latest count and then paused in her task, turning to face the Lieutenant. “If therrre isss another away team sssent overrr therrre, I would like to volunteerrr to be parrrt of it, Sssir.” (Reply Rodriguez, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Deck 6, Security Station Gamma – ATAC/SEC Lt. Rodriguez – 20:38) Guillermo began working diligently, and like everytime he has ever done inventory he began to sing songs in his head. However, the song was interrupted by the voice of the Caitian CPO. “Excuse me, Sssir, but do you think the away team are alrrright? We haven’t hearrrd frrrom them sssince they went to the ssstation, and now Ensssign Linssskensss and the othersss who followed them are alssso missing.” "I am certain they are fine Chief, they are a top notch group." ~At least, I hope so. I'm not going to tell anyone otherwise.~ “If therrre isss another away team sssent overrr therrre, I would like to volunteerrr to be parrrt of it, Sssir.” "You and I both chief, you and I both. But hopefully it doesn't come to that. Hopefully it all works out." (reply H'rissan iyw) "How is the inventory coming, is it matching up with the last one?" (reply H'Rissan) (posted by Will Banowsky) (USS Spectre - Deck 14 - Engineering Section - ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 20:40) The journey down to deck 14 was quiet; Varios wasn’t much of a talker. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested in other people; he could just never quite think what to say. They headed down the corridor until they reached the engineering section that housed the phased-cloaking device. The first thing he noticed when he entered the room was that it was warmer than normal. He immediately headed over to a control console and logged in. He checked all relevant parameters and while it was indeed warmer, everything was still within the safety parameters. Now he began to notice something else a little out of the ordinary. The background noise of the room sounded different to him. It was lower than normal and it seemed as though something was vibrating in his ear. It was annoying in the same way tinnitus is to its sufferers, but he couldn’t figure out the source. “Something’s a bit odd here, it doesn’t sound right.” He reflected aloud. He didn’t know if the noise was even in the hearing range for the other species on-board. His hearing was exceptional, he was able to hear as low as 35hertz and as high as 62,000hertz and over great distance. While most people seemed impressed when they heard about it, there was the downside too. (Reply Evans) Various rubbed his ears, trying to dislodge the irritating sensation. He even went as far as to use his tricorder and internal sensor to run tests to see if the room’s vibrations were different to normal. After a few minutes of investigation, all he discovered was that the background vibrations were within the normal range, though at a different frequency than usual. The corners of his mouth turned up into an almost apologetic smile, he was nothing if not methodical… “Right… I guess we better get those positronic feeders checked then.” (Reply Evans) Varios checked the maintenance logs, “Looks like routine maintenance was carried out three days ago. Unless there was a mistake made in the procedure, these should be clean. He ran the diagnostic on the oscillating particle dampener; it took a few minutes but returned only green flags. “We’re still checking out fine here. Think we should open it up for a closer inspection?” He always liked to err on the side of caution and his people were famous for their attention to detail and thoroughness. (Reply Evans) (Reply Evans, any IYW) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre - Deck 14 - Engineering Section - EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 20:41) It would have surprised some of Cordelia’s colleagues how quiet the trip in the turbolift was; most of them would have said she could talk for the Federation and beat all comers. But she respected Ensign Rydan’s silence; some people just didn’t like to just make conversation unless they had something to say. Once they reached Deck 14 they headed towards the section that housed the phase-cloak device. Rydan immediately logged in at a control console and checked the information there. Cordelia did the same, and noticed that the temperature was slightly up, but that everything seemed to be within the normal safety parameters. “Something’s a bit odd here, it doesn’t sound right,” the ACEO said. Cordelia cocked her head to one side, listening. She couldn’t hear anything but that didn’t mean there was nothing to hear. She remembered reading somewhere that Al-Leyans had exceptional hearing and could detect sounds far beyond those of human ears. “I don’t hear anything different myself, Sir, which probably indicates that the sound or resonance you’re detecting is beyond the normal range for human hearing.” Rydan rubbed his ears and then ran some scans with his tricorder before saying that they had better check the positronic feeders. “They were due for a maintenance check recently,” Cordelia said. “So if there is something wrong there either it wasn’t there when they were checked or it somehow got missed.” The ACEO checked the maintenance logs and found that a routine maintenance was done three days previously. "Unless there was a mistake made in the procedure, these should be clean, “ he added. A diagnostic on the oscillating particle dampener came back clean, and Rydan asked Cordelia if she thought they should open it up for a closer inspection. Cordelia nodded. “I was always taught not to take a clean diagnostic at face value if there was a problem that couldn’t be traced,” she said. She grinned. “They don’t call us ‘grease monkeys’ for nothing, Sir. I’d say let’s have at it!” She looked around the room and located the service hatch. “The best way is through here. Means a bit of crawling around but this is the most direct route to the access panel which will allow us to check the feeders. It’ll be a bit mucky but as the chief always says, if you come off your shift clean, you haven’t been doing your job properly!” Lifting the lid off a box near the service hatch she pulled out a portable tool chest. “Everything we need should be in here, or on our tool-belts, Sir. Shall we go?” (reply Rydan iyw) Cordelia opened the service hatch and crawled in. Being only 5’ 2” and of petite build, she had plenty of room in the tube but she estimated Rydan was at least seven or eight inches taller and she hoped he would not be too cramped. (Reply Rydan) (Posted by Liz Geuken) (USS Spectre - Deck 6, Security Station Gamma – SecO, CPO Hrissan – 20:42) "You and I both chief, you and I both,” Rodriguez answered Hrissan when she expressed a desire to volunteer to be on any further away teams sent over to Station Echo One Zero. “But hopefully it doesn't come to that. Hopefully it all works out," he added. Whilst Hrissan couldn’t argue with the hope that it would all work out in a good way, she still felt she would like to go over there. It was not in her nature, and (from what she could tell from his response) not in Rodriguez’ nature either, to enjoy doing nothing whilst their friends and colleagues were facing who knew what dangers. “Time will tell,” she said, and resumed the inventory. She was satisfied that Rodriguez at least would take her into account if he were tasked with putting together an away team. A few minutes later, Rodriguez asked how the inventory was coming along and if it matched with the previous one. “A-1 ssso farrr, Sssirrr. Perrrfect match.” Hrissan said, then stopped and picked out a charge unit. “Thisss one has been put back without being recharged, Sssirr. The count isss corrrect but thisss unit has only 25% charrrge left.” She made a note on her PADD and then took the offending unit over to the charger and placed it inside before returning to the locker she had been working on. (reply Rodriguez, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Deck 14 - Engineering Section - ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 20:43) “I was always taught not to take a clean diagnostic at face value if there was a problem that couldn’t be traced,” Cordelia said. Truer words had never been spoken thought Varios as he nodded. He approved of anyone who showed solid reasoning, and cared to be thorough. Cordelia grinned. “They don’t call us ‘grease monkeys’ for nothing, Sir. I’d say let’s have at it!” He liked her enthusiasm and found the strange saying amusing. In his experience, humans had no shortage of odd quips to describe things. Cordelia looked around while Varios tied up a few loose enquiries on the system. “The best way is through here. Means a bit of crawling around but this is the most direct route to the access panel, which will allow us to check the feeders. It’ll be a bit mucky but as the chief always says, if you come off your shift clean, you haven’t been doing your job properly!” said Cordelia. Varios smiled and was very glad to have her expertise on this. She was proving to be a real asset; it would have taken him much longer to locate the best service hatch to use. He was still quite new here and while he had poured over the deck plans trying to learn the location of everything the best way to learn was through time and exploration. Cordelia led the way, picking up a portable tool chest and heading to one of the service hatches. “Everything we need should be in here, or on our tool-belts, Sir. Shall we go?” Nodding, “Yes, we better.” Varios put a set of overalls on and followed Cordelia into the service hatch; she was a good bit shorter than he was so she had a little more wiggle room. Fortunately, he didn’t mind small spaces; if he did, he probably wouldn’t have become an engineer for Starfleet in the first place. The hatches were small but he wasn’t an enormous man and they weren’t built solely for midgets so it was comfortable enough. There were times he liked the little access tubes and service corridors. They were like little secret areas where few ventured; you could get around the whole ship and lose yourself in its guts. (Reply Evans) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Jefferies Tubes – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 20:47) After crawling along for a few minutes, Cordelia came to a halt by a cover set into the wall of the Jefferies tube. She moved to the far side to allow Rydan room to access the area too and removed the cover. “Well, let’s see what these feeders have to tell us!” she said. (Reply Rydan, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Jefferies Tubes – ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 20:48) Varios and Cordelia crawled through the service hatch for a few minutes until they reached a particular section of the wall. Their movements cause the dust to stir and Varios covered his mouth to cough. By the time they reached the feeders section his chest was feeling a little tight. His lungs were not designed to work efficiently in such comparatively thin atmospheres and it made him susceptible to asthma. The situation was manageable now and it was something he came to expect when moving about in the dusty tubes that the cleaning crews didn’t touch. It reminded him that his medication was running low and that he would need to stop by medical soon to remedy the situation. Cordelia carefully positioned herself so there was room for him to get in and took the cover off so they could see inside. “Well, let’s see what these feeders have to tell us!” she said. “Indeed” he said quietly as he reached for his tricorder. Varios visually inspected the feeders as they worked and everything seemed normal to him. The movements of the feeders appeared smooth and there was no grating. He turned to Cordelia to ask her opinion, although his glasses allowed him to see as well as the rest of the crew in this lighting he preferred to have a second opinion over visual matters at times. “How does this look to you?” he asked as he pushed his glasses up his nose, despite that they didn’t need adjusting. He listened carefully and ran some, trying to see if it picked up any new information. (Reply Evans) Varios looked at Cordelia and stated as calmly as ever, “Alright then. Let’s put this into maintenance mode and we’ll take a closer look. “ (Reply Evans iyw) He set a timer on his chronometer and once the feeders stopped their work, entered maintenance mode, they each took out a feeder for inspection. There were five feeders and it would take time to complete a detailed inspection but the feeders would need to be online again within 45 minutes to resume normal operations. That meant they had 15 minutes per feeder with a few minutes left at the end to refit it and put it back online. Varios got a magnifying lens and looked for minute cracks and imperfections but found everything to be satisfactory. He used his fingers to feel for loose parts and wobbling or bending and again came away happy with the results. He looked to the toolbox for the mini-portable chemical analysis stick (mini-CAS) and found Cordelia was already using it. “If I could have that when you’re done please” he said, moving onto the next step for now. (Reply Evans) “Thank you,” said whilst taking the mini-CAS. He re-checked its calibration more as an act of habit and out of meticulous nature than any intent to imply poor work practice. Varios hadn’t seen whether she’d checked the device and assumed that she had, nevertheless it hadn’t stopped him doing it again – just to be sure. He then made sure the tip was clean and free from any possible contaminants, again doubling work that had doubtless been done already. Finally, he used the device to check the fine, clear lubricating oil that coated the feeders. (Reply Evans) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Jefferies Tubes – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 20:50) “How does this look to you?” Rydan asked Cordelia after they had made a visual inspection, pushing his glasses up his nose as he spoke. “They *look* fine,” she replied. “Which probably means that whatever is causing that amber flag to show up isn’t going to be found easily.” She grinned. “But we already knew that, right?” The ACEO agreed and suggested that they put the feeders into maintenance mode and take a closer look. As soon as the feeders stopped their work, Rydan activated the maintenance mode and they each took out one of the feeders and inspected them closely, sharing the tools necessary, each waiting for the other to finish and swapping so that each feeder received the same inspection. Cordelia noticed approvingly that the ACEO checked the calibration on the mini-CAS as she handed it to him. She’d checked it herself but she liked that he took nothing for granted. Taking things for granted was how mistakes got made and things got missed. Better to do something twice than not at all. (Reply None) (Posted by Liz Geuken) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Jefferies Tubes – ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 21:03) He continued through all the maintenance checks methodically and carefully, coughing once in a while as the dust made his throat dry and irritated his sensitive lungs. Once he’d completed all the checks on his feeder, he turned to see how Cordelia was doing. “Did you turn up anything unusual?” he asked curiously, scratching his ear absently. (Reply Evans) He listened attentively and nodded, “Alright let’s check the others and see what we find out.” He bit his lip to stop himself from adding that they were on the clock on this. After all, he was progressing a little more slowly than she was anyway and he didn’t need to treat her like a child and tell her things she already knew. They were on track for time anyway and had 30 minutes remaining to check 3 feeders. (Reply Evans) (Reply Evans, any iyw) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Deck 14, Jefferies Tubes – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 21:04) They had both thoroughly checked the feeders they had selected, and Rydan asked Cordelia if she had found anything unusual. She shook her head. “No, this one’s clean. All checks indicated A-1 condition.” The ACEO nodded, “Alright let’s check the others and see what we find out.” He seemed about to add something, but bit his lip and remained silent. Cordelia nodded understandingly. “At least there’s two of us,” she said. “Means we have enough time between us to check the others and refit them.” She carefully laid the first feeder she had inspected to one side, and selected another. Visual and finger-checks didn’t turn up anything that shouldn’t be there. She picked up the mini-CAS and, as before, rechecked the calibration before using it. She looked at the results and frowned, checked the instrument yet again and reused it on the feeder she was holding. She looked over at Rydan, waiting until he had finished the check he was working on, and then said, “Could you run the mini-CAS over this feeder, Sir? I’m getting an anomalous reading, it looks as though there’s some contamination present. Microscopic amounts but present nonetheless. But I’d like you to double-check it to make sure.” (Reply Rydan, any) (Posted by Liz) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 12, Sector 6, Lower levels - MXO, Major Bruce Kowalski - 20:16) Kowalski fell back onto the bulkhead, the entire stalk of the mechanized rolling monster in his hand now as the beast rotated around and around in a seemingly out of control fashion. A number of wires trailed from it's severed end, the previous blue glow having faded and then extinguished entirely as Bruces 'death dealer' cut through the connection at the base and then severed the life that had recently passed through it. "Ha!", cried the Marine XO, "think I just done blinded you you cyloptic dustbin", he added as he threw the stalk harshly to one side and then crawled back in under the vertical range of the weapon that was now firing indiscriminately as the thing continued to holler in that 'inane' nondescript verbal diatribe. "HELP! HELP!, LOSS OF VIS-SHON! ... VIS-SHON-IMP-AIIIIIIRED", it cried, the final sylable of the statement falling and then rising maniacally in the robotic voice now searing into Kowalski's brain like a serated knife cutting through metal. Kowalski had managed now to get behind the mini tank in an attempt to do more damage to the ventilated dome, which as anyone would think, might probably be the things brain. Stabbing the blade into it though produced sparks and little else, the creature still spinning out of control as the central array rotated independently towards him. The Marine ducked again as it came to bear, and then he began stabbing at the hemispherical projections on the lower shroud, a green fluid now leaking out of one of them just prior to his being thrown off by some unseen, electromechanical force that the thing had apparently activated. A protection discharge of some kind? Kowalski was duly thrown against the bulkhead with a heavy thud, his muscles contracting tightly due to an obvious electrical charge of some sort that had literally frazzled him. The XO was incensed, there was no other word for it, but in seconds he was back on the advance as the central array continued to contra-rotate against the main body, the pulsed weapon continuing to fire as it did so to make deep gashes in the surrounding bulkhead panels. "NEED ASS-IST-ANCE, HELP! HELP", it cried again as one of the indiscriminate shots pulsing from the gun turret tore through Kowalski's BDU and painfully vapourized a small section of his shoulder! "NEEEEAGH!" cried the Marine, the pain unbearable now, his teeth gritting tightly together as he grabbed the knife firmly once more and then went in again, this time physically trying to lift the thing off of it's base and onto it's side whilst stabbing repeatedly at the dark projections as before. More green fluid began leaking out, Kowalski wondering then if he'd perhaps hit something essential to the creatures lifeforce. All the reason to do it more! "If you can bleed, I can fraggin kill you", he cried as he again reached under the lowermost part of the main section where it glided on the floor and then lifted with every ounce of strength until he had it raised at a forty five degree angle and pivoted on the point of falling. "There ya go", he hollered as the creature suddenly toppled and then fell with a heavy crash onto the steel deckplates of the station corridor, the fluid now leaking copiously from all of the cuts Kowalski had made with his blade in it's outer armour. "Die you fraggin demon, DIE!", cried Bruce, as he fell upon the side of it and then attempted to prevent the central array from turning by jamming the blade into the gap of the rotating plane. Now, finally, it seemed that it was nearing incapacitation, but the voice was still there, broken, robotic as it again tried to fire it's weapon in the only direction it now could, which just happened to be the ceiling, which brought half of it down upon the both of them! "ACT-IV-ATE SELF-DES-TRUUUUUCT!", cried the thing from Kowalski's nightmares, and Bruce pulled himself from the debris and then threw himself clear to scramble away towards a nearby door in an attempt to shield himself from the inevitable. Still though, the infernal voice droned on, becoming weaker now and less coherant, broken and drawn out sounds that no longer formed words as the green fluid continued to leak everywhere. Then everything just went white! Bruce had not even heard the explosion, there had only been a blinding flash and an electrical discharge immediately beforehand. Then all was suddenly silent. Bruce pulled himself along the floor and back into the corridor, his shoulder still hurting but cauterized just the same, so no blood loss. In the corridor itself there was precious little left of the thing but small fragments that identified what it had once been. Off to the left though, something crawled, something bulbous and shapeless, wet and leathery like some sea dwelling squid that had somehow managed to find the means of getting about on the land! "What the....", said Bruce under his voice. The thing though no longer seemed to be a threat, and so he fell back once again onto the bulkhead and closed his eyes just briefly. Then the voices came. Kowalski tensed his muscles up once again, and awaited the inevitable... (Reply Any) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre - Deck 14 - Jefferies Tubes – ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 21:18) The first 2 feeders had passed inspection and around fifteen minutes later Varios had cleared a third one he looked up to see how Cordelia was getting on. “Could you run the mini-CAS over this feeder, Sir? I’m getting an anomalous reading, it looks as though there’s some contamination present. Microscopic amounts but present nonetheless. But I’d like you to double-check it to make sure.” Varios nodded and took the feeder and then the mini-CAS, which he re-calibrated and began to run carefully and methodically over the feeders. The process of repetition was to ensure there were no false positives, which they could otherwise waste time exploring. It confirmed Cordelia’s initial result but the device was unable to pinpoint exactly what the contamination was. They would need to take a sample and analyse it using tools that are more sophisticated. “Do you have a sampling kit there?” he enquired with a slightly raised eyebrow. (Reply Evans) “Thank you” he said with a smile as he took the sampling kit. Varios twisted the top to remove the sampling stick from the tube. He ran the stick up and down the feeder meticulously, taking care at the areas that showed the highest concentration of contaminants. He hoped that he would be able to get a strong enough sample to run through the labs. He took three samples from the feeder to have some certainty of getting a workable sample. He took the contaminated feeder and laid it aside, on its own. There was no way he was putting a contaminated piece of machinery back into the oscillating particle dampener. For all he knew such an action could lead to all the feeders becoming contaminated. Until they found out what the contamination was and how it happened, they couldn’t take anything for granted. Checking his chronometer, “All right we better check this last one.” (Reply Evans) (Posted by Natlaya) (USS Spectre - Deck 14, Jefferies Tubes – EO, Petty Officer, Cordelia Evans – 21:19) Cordelia waited patiently as Ensign Rydan repeated the checks she had made in what she now thought of as his usual thorough manner. When he had done, he asked her for a sampling kit, which she handed to him. He took three samples, then carefully set aside the suspect feeder. They then set about checking the fifth and last feeder together. (Reply None) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Deck 14, Jefferies Tubes – ACEO, Ensign Varios Rydan – 21:33) The two of them checked the last of the 5 positronic-feeders together and found that it too was contaminated. He double checked the feeders as they had done with the first and proceeded to take three samples like last time. They carefully labelled all the sample tubes to correspond to the correct feeders. They could have put the three clean feeders back into the oscillating particle dampener and the interphase cloaking device would have been able to run at reduced efficiency for a shorter time period. Varios wasn’t willing to put the clean feeders back into the device and risk having them become contaminated too. They needed to find out what the contaminant was, how it got there, what detrimental effect it was having and how it could be safely and efficiently removed. There were too many unanswered questions and pushing the cloaking device when it was running off three feeders could cause overheating, Varios didn’t want to be responsible for an explosion in engineering. As far as he was concerned, it was an unacceptable risk and the Captain and bridge crew would just have to do without a cloaking device temporarily. After all, Starfleet had come this far without relying heavily on them. Varios hoped it would be considered nothing more than a minor inconvenience. “We’re not putting this back together yet, we’ll need to put it offline.” He said wearily as he was not looking forward to breaking the news. (Reply Evans) Varios spluttered for a minute or so and took a deep breath, trying not to be too nervous. He hadn’t really had much contact with the bridge crew and you could never be entirely sure who would be floating around up there. In some ways, it felt like two different worlds. “Alright, I better inform them. Hold just a sec.” he said. He was going to need her help to move the two contaminated feeders to a workbench. They would also need to get the samples to a chemistry lab for analysis. (Reply Evans) =/\= Ensign Rydan to the bridge. =/\= (reply bridge) =/\= The interphase cloaking device has been taken offline and will be unavailable for a period whilst we investigate a contaminant in the system. =/\= Varios hoped that would be sufficient detail for them, he had deliberately avoided putting a timer on the investigation. He hated to feel pressured into rushing and honestly, how could someone designate a time estimate for this anyway? It depended on so many variables he didn’t even want to waste any time thinking about it. (reply bridge) (Reply Evans, bridge staff, any iyw) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre - Deck 14, Jefferies Tubes – EO, Petty Officer, Cordelia Evans – 21:34) The last feeder was also contaminated, and again three sample were taken and the feeder carefully set to one side. Each of the sample tubes was labelled to correspond to the feeders the samples were taken from. “We’re not putting this back together yet, we’ll need to put it offline,” the ACEO said, sounding almost reluctant. Cordelia nodded. “We can’t risk it,” she agreed. “We need to let the Bridge know, too,” she added. This would be Rydan’s job, as he was the senior officer present, something Cordelia was glad of. She felt sorry for him though - no one liked to be the bearer of bad tidings, especially when they were relatively new on board. “Alright, I better inform them. Hold just a sec.” As the ACEO contacted the Bridge with the news that the phase cloak had been taken offline, Cordelia began to pack up the tools they had used and get the feeders and samples ready for transporting to the labs. By the time he had finished, Cordelia had everything squared away and was ready to replace the access cover and mark it with tape so that if anyone came along before it was all fixed and working would know it was not to be used. She pulled out a PADD and entered their findings and actions onto the duty log, then handed it to Rydan. “You’ll need to authorise this, Sir, as duty officer,” she said. (reply Rydan iyw) It was now time to crawl back through the Jefferies tubes and get the samples to the chemical analysis lab. She wondered if Gronk would be on duty there, or if he was still pulling Bridge duty. (Reply Rydan) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Deck 14, Jeffries Tubes - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 21:35) Varios contacted the bridge to inform them that the interphase-cloaking device would be offline and thus unavailable for a period. They had investigated the system after it had flagged up a problem and traced it back to the oscillating particle dampener’s positronic feeders. They had found a contamination in the system and although it was present in only microscopic quantities, it may have been enough to trigger the warning flag. They could have re-fitted the three uncontaminated feeders and the interphase-cloaking device would have been able to run in a reduced capacity. However, Varios had deemed it too risky given that they didn’t know what the contamination was or how it came to be there. Now he had the unfortunate duty of informing the bridge crew. “Ensign Rydan to the bridge.” =/\= Go ahead, Mister Rydan. =/\= It was the voice of the Acting First Officer, Commander Tsukawa; he hadn’t had much contact with her. “The interphase cloaking device has been taken offline and will be unavailable for a period whilst we investigate a contaminant in the system.” =/\= Estimated time for repair, Mister Rydan? =/\= Varios had hoped they wouldn’t ask for a time estimate for repairs, although the more sensible side of him had known they would ask. Unfortunately, the more sensible side of him hadn’t prepared the answer, as far as he was concerned it was like picking numbers out of a hat. For all he knew they might easily solve this issue with contamination only to find a bigger problem elsewhere in the system. As soon as they fixed the contamination issue, he planned to scrutinise the rest of the components and inner workings of the interphase-cloaking device. He took a deep breath and sighed inwardly as he crunched some numbers in his head as quickly as possible. “Assuming no further problems are identified… 2 to 3 hours.” He hoped that his educated guess wouldn’t be too far off the mark. Where he came from deadlines were less of an issue, a job would be done when it’s done. What concerned the Al-Leyans the most was the quality of the workmanship. =/\= Keep me updated regularly.” She glanced at the Captain, and added, “Make it a priority, Mister Rydan. Tsukawa out.” =/\= Varios let out a heavy sigh of relief; even he got nervous talking to the high-ranking officers, even if it wasn’t in person. These officer’s had shown their merit and were true professionals; they demanded the best and expected results. He hoped he could deliver it to them. He gave Cordelia a nod and a smile, she might not have such weighty pips but she was a true professional too, he found her to be an efficient, pleasant, and hard-working addition to the team. Cordelia handed his a PADD, which he looked over immediately. “You’ll need to authorise this, Sir, as duty officer,” she informed him. It was a report on their actions and consequent findings and he read it over as though it was the most gripping novel. It wasn’t of course, but it was accurate and detailed which he liked. “Not a problem, give me a minute.” He double-checked that everything was just right and then signed off on the duty log while Cordelia replaced the cover and marked it with the tape. It was unlikely that another engineer would come down to this section any time soon. Even assuming they saw the amber flag, they would now see attached to it the relevant duty log and know work is in progress. In the unlikely event that someone did stumble in that direction the access cover, marked with tape ought to provide a big enough clue to leave it alone. They each picked up one of the contaminated feeders, which would potentially need further inspection and would certainly need cleaning. They took the samples and tools back with them too. Moving back through the Jeffries tubes was a little more awkward and the dust they were displacing continued to tickle his throat making him cough occasionally. As they approached the exit Rydan began to pick up that irritating background noise again. It had sounded a little quieter in the Jeffries Tube and after a while, he’d tuned it out. Now that they were approaching it again, it re-registered and began to set his teeth on edge. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination but somehow the noise seemed louder and more insistent. He looked at Cordelia with a frown but she seemed indifferent. Once they were out of the Jeffries tubes and had put the access hatch back in place he went over to a console and re-checked the background audio. The new results indicated a few differences and it was good to know his ears were still finely tuned to the ship but he didn’t know what the significance was. Maybe there was no significance. Maybe the fluctuations were within the normal range even if the frequency and a few other stats had changed. They made their way up to the science labs; it was exciting for him, as he hadn’t had much reason to be in them up until now. It would be nice to meet some of the scientists too. The journey was as quiet as ever, Varios was running some theories in his head and he assumed Cordelia was doing the same. (Reply Any) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 21:36) Since Commander Williams and his away team were officially ‘missing’ and had been for some hours, Captain T’Vhor had asked Hoshimi as the next ranking officer to stand in as acting FO until such time as Williams and the away team could be found and recovered. Consequently she was not at her accustomed station of OPS, but sitting in the FO’s seat next to the Captain. Captain T’Vhor was engrossed in the Mithrandir’s attempt to leave their current situation and return to their own timeline, so when the call came in from the ACEO, it was Hoshimi who answered it. =/\= Ensign Rydan to the bridge. =/\= “Go ahead, Mister Rydan.” =/\= The interphase cloaking device has been taken offline and will be unavailable for a period whilst we investigate a contaminant in the system. =/\= Hoshimi raised her eyebrows. ~Is nothing going to go right today?~ she wondered. “Estimated time for repair, Mister Rydan?” (reply Rydan) Hoshimi frowned. “Keep me updated regularly.” She glanced at the Captain, and added, “Make it a priority, Mister Rydan. Tsukawa out.” She looked over to the science console where Ensign Gronk was sitting. “Mister Gronk, there is a problem with a contaminant in the system of the phase-cloak. Please go to the Science department and assist Ensign Rydan. We need this sorted out ASAP.” (Reply Gronk) Hoshimi turned her eyes back to the viewscreen. If all went well for them, the Mithrandir would soon be gone, leaving the Spectre alone to deal with whatever was happening on the station. She had every confidence in both T’Vhor and Williams, but she couldn’t help but feel that the assistance of the other ship would have been beneficial. But things were as they were and so the Spectre crew would sort things out themselves. (Reply Gronk) (Posted by Liz) (Station Echo One Zero - Level F, Section 5 - Experiment Cargo Bay - SciO, Ens, John Linskens – 21:47) John sighed as he examined the core which was glowing with pulsating luminescence. "I can't belief they just put in a few bog-standard type Z-links." he said then pointed out a few areas behind the glass case. They had been slightly delayed by the problematic shutting down of the warp-core but once that had been done, the energy field surrounding the core had definitely diminished in brightness and size, allowing for the four to get close enough to the core to inspect the power distributors. John sniffed. "Standard links there and there, which would suggest that the power must come from below the boxes on the right. Probably a portable Zengerson. Which would be good, since you could turn them off with a hairpin." John grinned then looked at Cat after which he clearly inspected her hair. "Don't tell me, you didn't use any today." He grinned again. "Typical." He then straightened his back and walked over to a set of boxes on the right hand side. He peered behind them and nodded. "Just what I thought. A Zengerson. Don't be fooled by its small appearance, those generators can release enough energy to fry you on the spot. It only has one setting, very well done. To the point of being charred, that is, so keep your distance from it at all times. Now then, we need ...." John fell silent as he inspected the area around the diminutive generator. After a while, he gestured the three others to come closer as he pointed to specific locations. "To cut the stream there, there, there, there and there. Since we're only with the four of us, it will mean that someone has to cut simultaneously with an isolator in both hands. Since I've done that before I will do that. I will take the points to the left and middle. I suggest that the rest of you pick your own point, where you can have reasonably good access. Familiarise yourself with the layout and plan for a quick escape path. Once you isolate the links, there is a good chance that sparks will be flying so be ready to duck out of the way. Just stay away from the generator and the energy field around the core." John smiled as he looked at the others. "Take your time finding the right position then let me know when you are ready to cut. To stop the last person to cut from frying we will all have to cut at exactly the same time. I will count down from three then give the command the cut, after which you ... uhhh ... cut, I guess. OK?" (Reply Cat, any other volunteers, any) John assumed his position, keeping the isolators in his hands close to the links he was targeting, then waited for the others to tell him they were ready. He exhaled and inhaled a few times to steady his nerves, trying to create a mental picture in his head of the links and the others, when suddenly he heard someone hiss: "It shouldn't be doing that, should it?" He looked up to find out who spoke, then froze as his eye had caught the glowing energy field. Or better said, the formerly glowing energy field. The energy field had turned opaque and resembled a dome made of shiny onyx. The core inside was hidden from side but the irregular hum that had previously been audible was now silent. "Uhhhm," John started to say, when suddenly the onyx shape expanded at high speed. Before John could do anything, he was enveloped in blackness. And the darkness was hot, very hot. So hot that John felt his skin crackle as if he had been in the sun for too long. John thought he was about to scream when suddenly his thoughts broke off abruptly as the darkness exploded around him and crushed him until only darkness remained. (Reply Any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (USS Spectre – Science Department, Chemical Analysis Lab – EO, Petty Officer, Cordelia Evans – 21:55) As they entered the lab, one of the techs looked up and his eyes widened. “Hey Cordelia, what’s up –“ he began and then saw the ACEO with her. “Uh, sorry, Sir. How can I help you?” (Reply Rydan, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Science Department, Chemical Analysis Lab – ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 21:56) The first thing Varios did upon entering the lab was to sweep his eyes around, looking at all the equipment they had. He knew how a lot of it operated but not all of it. Fortunately, the diagnostic devices and technical manuals available on the ship, not to mention the expertise of the other engineers meant there was no problem they couldn’t solve… given some time. Varios looked curiously at the technician who greeted Cordelia informally, it seemed they were friends, or knew each other well enough. “Hey Cordelia, what’s up –“ he began and then saw the ACEO with her. “Uh, sorry, Sir. How can I help you?” He offered the technician his usual friendly smile and a handshake. He’d learned the greeting from the terrans and ended up using it so frequently that it was now ingrained into him. Al-Leyans had their own gesture for greeting but almost no one understood it when it was given. On the other hand, almost everyone in Starfleet had received the same conditioning as him and recognised the handshake, terran or not. Cheerily, “Hi there, I’m Ensign Varios Rydan, pleased to meet you.” He wanted to take every opportunity to get to know the crew, but as before with that fine fellow from security, he couldn’t afford to be distracted for long. His thoughts were always on the work plan. (Reply technician) “Been with the USS Spectre long?” he asked curiously, sticking to safe topics. He wasn’t the most imaginative conversationalist. (Reply Technician) “It’s a good ship! Didn’t get my first choice of assignment, but I feel I can do a lot here to improve the safety performance of the systems. The interphase-cloaking device is the worst. It’s scandalous to find Starfleet would pass this as fit for use. Unsurprisingly I find it’s the first thing to cause me issues and that is why I am here.” (Reply Cordelia, Technician, Gronk, any) “Well I really wanted on the board for the R&D safety committee… the guys who deem what technology may pass into use… and what needs further improvements. I think they knew I would be too good at it and that’s why they didn’t accept my application. They would be afraid that I would slow the pace of their technological stampede.” He stated, knowing that it was probably true. From what he had seen, Starfleet had a much poorer concept of what was safe for use and what wasn’t. They were fools - they needed him. He was confident that once they saw the good work he’d done here that they would reconsider. Of course, he had to do the work first but that was on going and this little problem with the interphase-cloaking device was a gift in disguise. It was good that the problem had shown itself, now he could fix it and that would contribute to a safer device for the long term. (Reply Cordelia, Technician, Gronk, any) (Reply Cordelia, Technician, Gronk, any iyw) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Science Department, Chemical Analysis Lab – EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans & LabTech, Petty Officer Thaddeus Jones – 21:57) The Ensign with Cordelia offered his hand to Thaddeus with a friendly smile as he introduced himself as Ensign Varios Rydan. “Laboratory Technician Thaddeus Jones, Sir. Likewise,” Thaddeus replied, giving the proffered hand a firm shake. Rydan asked Thaddeus how long he’d been on the Spectre. “Only about six months, Sir. I take it you’re the new ACEO?” Thaddeus glanced at Cordelia, who nodded. “I think you’ll like the Spectre, Sir. She’s not the biggest nor the most poky when it comes to weaponry, but we – “ he included Cordelia in a broad smile, “- think she’s the best!” Varios agreed the Spectre was a good ship, but added that he felt he could do a lot to improve the safety performance of the systems. He also mentioned the phasecloak device as an example of something which badly needed his attentions. Cordelia grinned. “That’s because they had to rush it into service after the treaty with the Romulans was signed in 2394, in case the Romulans changed their minds about agreeing to the Federation developing cloaking technology. The Spectre was launched in 2400, just six years after the treaty was signed, she was designed and built from the ground up right alongside the phasecloak technology in that time so it’s not too surprising that there are glitches. But on the whole it works when we need it to, although obviously it’s not used all the time. “ “What was your preferred assignment, Sir, if you don’t mind the question?” Thaddeus asked curiously. The ACEO replied that he’d really wanted to be assigned to the board for the R&D Safety Committee, but added that he thought they had believed he would be rather too good at the job and might slow them down. Thaddeus wasn’t sure how to take that, he didn’t know the guy well enough to know if he was joking or if he was serious. He glanced at Cordelia, who gave a small shrug. From what she’d seen of Rydan, she thought on balance he was probably serious. He didn’t seem the type to boast of his talents but on the other hand she didn’t think he’d be falsely modest either. “Well, I’m very glad they sent you here instead,” she said warmly. “We need people like you on the starships as much if not more than they need you on the R&D side. So their loss is our gain!” she added. “Now, Thaddeus, if you’ve quite finished interrogating our ACEO perhaps you could do your stuff on these?” She handed over the samples she was carrying and explained the issue. “So we need you to run an analysis to see what the contaminant is, that might help us to work out what went wrong.” Thaddeus nodded. “No problem, but it’ll take a while to run. At least an hour, more likely two if I have to do it alone. I think Gronk might be around somewhere though, one of the other labrats said he was on his way down from the Bridge, I think. He’d be a great help!” He looked at Rydan and Cordelia. “Of course, two more pairs of hands wouldn’t go amiss either…” he added hopefully. (Reply Rydan, Gronk, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Science Department – Chemical Analysis Lab - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 21:58) Varios had been enjoying his brief chat, introducing himself to one of the science technicians. He felt almost as at home in the laboratory as he did the engineering sections. The conversation soon made its way back onto work related topics and the revelation that the analysis could take one to two thirds of his time estimate made his blood pressure rise and his ears tingle uncomfortably. His shoulders slumped in defeat. The technician indicated that someone called Gronk might be on the way and that his assistance could speed things along. Varios nodded as the technician indicated that they could help things along too. Varios was prepared to dance a funky jig in just his underpants if it meant he could have the results in an hour or less. “I’ll be glad to help.” Varios quickly looked at his PADD to see how the shifts tasks were progressing department wide. He’d done the workload management plan and assigned the tasks at the beginning of the shift, so he knew Cordelia had outstanding assignments. He didn’t expect her to be doing science work when she had her own tasks outstanding, but he had set a deadline that was beginning to look woefully inadequate. He could simply order her to stay and help, he was the duty officer after all, but he was inexperienced at command and learning as he went, he had a relaxed ‘ask more than tell’ approach. It wasn’t an emergency and neither the hull or warp core was breaching. There was no tactical alert or reason to think one would be imminent, and as had been stated, the device wasn’t used all the time anyway. It was an inconvenience on a timer. If Cordelia stayed, he would have more chance to getting the inter-phase cloaking device done within his given estimate. He could then help her and make sure her workload was complete too. If she wanted to go and complete her own assignments, he would stay and make the best of it. “Would you be willing to help out here, or do you need to get back to get other things done? ” He was confident she understood the situation without having to be told about it. Varios remembered when he was scolded at the academy for over explaining things, and telling people things they already knew. He had been horrified when the senior instructor had told him that he was always undermining everyone’s intelligence, but it was just the Al-Leyan way to explain one’s thinking in detail. He certainly didn’t consider himself more intelligent or skilful than anyone else and it had taken time to unlearn this habit. He still got paranoid from time to time about whether he was explaining things well enough but would try to counter it by reminding himself that people would start asking questions if needed. (Reply Cordelia) Varios nodded in acknowledgment of her response and turned to Thaddeus again. “So what do you need done?” He said, hoping that Gronk would get here soon. (Reply Thaddeus) He listened carefully to the instructions and followed them precisely. He didn’t want to put too fine a point on it, and hoped that his concern was well masked, when shortly into the analysis he asked, “Best estimate on completion time for this now?” (Reply Thaddeus, Cordelia, Gronk, Any) Varios hoped he wouldn’t make an error and mess things up as he assisted in running the analysis of the contamination. He was slightly out of his comfort zone but it was always fun expanding on one’s skills. (Reply Cordelia, Thaddeus, Gronk, Any iyw) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Science Department – Chemical Analysis Lab - EO, Petty Officer, Cordelia Evans & Labtech Thaddeus Jones – 22:01) Ensign Rydan asked Cordelia if she was OK with helping out with the analysis, or if she had other tasks she needed to get on with. Cordelia checked her PADD. “Well, technically I have some minor checks to run, but there are two other crewmen assigned to that as well, and we’re usually trusted to prioritise. And as Commander Hoshimi indicated that she wanted this completed as soon as possible, I would think this counts as a priority, wouldn’t you say, Sir?” She smiled. “Besides, you’re the Duty Officer. I’m sure CPO Edwards will understand if you need me reassigned. After all, he did send me along to assist you, Sir.” (reply Varios iyw, room for more if desired) When the ACEO nodded and turned back to Thaddeus, asking what needed to be done, Cordelia put her PADD away again in one of the capacious pockets of her overall. “Well now,” Thaddeus said, “Basically we take your samples one at a time, and from each one we carefully take a few drops, add them to the emission spectrochemical analysis unit, which will analyse them by looking at the bands of in their optical spectrum. That will then tell us what they consist of. From that we can deduce what the contaminant is, and hopefully, where it came from. Assuming of course that it is something which has a limited use within the ship’s systems. Otherwise… well let’s just say that if it’s something with a common use that you could find more or less anywhere, it could be a lot harder to determine the point of contamination.” He paused, remembering that these people were engineers not labtechs. “OK, watch how I do it. There are four analysis units in this lab, we can take one each and if Gronk turns up, he can take the fourth. To be thorough, we should analyse each sample twice. Starting with sample one…” he took it carefully and opened it, then used a pipette to extract a drop of the liquid within. He then transferred that to a small tube which he carefully capped before placing it in the spectrochemical analysis unit nearest him, then closed the unit and pressed the touchpad. “Now you two do the same with your samples. We can only run one at a time in each unit to avoid cross-contamination and usually I’d need base samples to compare it to, but this time we know what the base sample would be – the normal lubricant for the feeders, right? Which of course is stored in the computer’s database, so we don’t need actual samples. When it beeps, download the information into a PADD and repeat with the next sample you brought down. Once it’s all done we’ll get the computer to run a comparison analysis and tell us what it is and where it’s used on the ship.” Cordelia and Rydan followed the instructions they had been given, each of them taking slightly longer than Thaddeus as neither wanted to make a mistake. “Best estimate on completion time for this now?” Thaddeus cocked his head to one side. “Probably about 45 minutes, or 30 with Gronk’s help as well. Say 40 minutes to be on the safe side as you and Cordelia are a little less handy with the process than us labrats. Assuming none of us makes a mistake, that is.” He looked up as the doors opened and a tall Selayan officer walked in. “Ah, just the guy I was hoping to see! Ensign Gronk, this is Ensign Rydan, the new ACEO. We need your help, Gronk…” Swiftly and concisely Thaddeus explained what was needed, and the Selayan immediately took up position at the fourth unit and began work with practiced thoroughness and speed. Thaddeus winked at Cordelia and Ensign Rydan. “Now we’re cooking with gas!” ~What??~ Cordelia glanced at the ACEO to see if he knew what Jones meant. (Reply Rydan, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Science Department – Chemical Analysis Lab - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 22:02) Varios had given Cordelia the option of returning to complete her own tasks, or remaining to try her hand at some lab work to get the samples turned around fast. It was a relief when Cordelia agreed to help; she considered it as much a priority as Commander Hoshimi. Perhaps it was because of his previous experience with stealth technology that made him feel more relaxed about the situation. His people had been using cloaking devices in their ships for so long they’d significantly improved the operational efficiency and safety specs of the Klingon devices they were based on. He was actually happy to be working on the device and planned to bring it up to a more acceptable standard of operation during his time with the ship. He wasn’t overly concerned, it was just an amber flag and he’d work it through to the end on his own if he had to. That didn’t mean he didn’t appreciate and enjoy the help. He nodded in acknowledgement of her response and added, “Good, this will be interesting.” Thaddeus went on to explain and then demonstrate how to handle the samples and run the analysis. Cordelia and Varios followed the instructions given; they were slower than the experienced lab tech and went about it with great care to avoid making mistakes. Varios hadn’t long started when he had to ask for an estimated time for completion. “Best estimate on completion time for this now?” After a bit of indecision Thaddeus had settled on an estimate of 40 minutes, but that wasn’t what stuck in his mind and made him nearly drop his sample. He gave a tiny, quiet chuckle as he recovered and continued the analysis. ~Grease monkeys, lab rats... what is it with these people and little furry creatures?~ In his mind both terms seemed a little derogatory, he couldn’t understand why people would use them at all never mind in reference to themselves. He snorted quietly to himself. ~Confidence issues….~ After his feeling of amusement settled down again Varios felt a little more comfortable, if they could manage it, 40 minutes would work well for him. He heard the familiar swoosh of the door and turned to see a scientist come in. Thaddeus greeted the newcomer as Gronk and the introductions were extremely brief. Varios had to settle for giving Gronk a polite nod of acknowledgement as Thaddeus immediately set about explaining what they were all doing. He consoled himself knowing that they needed to get the analysis finished as soon as possible and there would be time to socialise later. Varios continued with what he was doing for a few minutes before glancing at the others to see how they were doing and was impressed with how quickly Gronk worked. His face turned to confusion as he observed the “labrat” had developed a facial tic. Maybe they called him a “labrat” because of the tic… he had no idea. Unfortunately, the decent into the bizarre was not over and the statement that followed it would have had Varios wondering about the man’s mental condition had it not been for the efficiency of his work. “Now we’re cooking with gas!” ~Who cooks with GAS?!~ It was a statement that couldn’t get any more odd or misplaced. They weren’t cooking for a start. Al-Leyans had never gone through a stage of burning fossil fuels or using unclean power sources and had focussed on developing eco-friendly, emission free energies. It never occurred to him that anyone would burn gas as a fuel, especially since this was now archaic even by current Federation Standards. ~By the great life tree! What a broken branch... that one snapped and hit the ground hard.~ Varios couldn’t help but give Thaddeus a brief look that suggested he thought the man was stark raving mad before quickly returning to his work. He couldn’t afford to be distracted right now. (Reply Thaddeus, Cordelia, Gronk, any iyw) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 22:03) A temporal fissure had opened near the Mithrandir but for a short while it appeared that it would be too small for the ship to enter. Then the energy in the surrounding field grew exponentially, rushing into the fissure and expanding it wider and wider. Inexorably, the Mithrandir was drawn in, moving faster and faster until, despite all engines having been stopped, she seemed to suddenly leap into warp and vanished into the fissure. For a moment there was complete silence on the Bridge of the Spectre, and then there seemed to be a collective sigh as tension was released. “I hope they got home in one piece,” someone said. Hoshimi nodded. “Unfortunately we will have to wait six months to find out,” she said a little dryly. “Since they were brought here from six months in our future, there is no way we can find out before that time whether or not they returned, and if so, whether they returned safely. All we can do is hope.” (Reply Rydan, Gronk, any on the Bridge, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Lt. Rodriguez – 22:05) Guillermo sighed as the Mithrandir left through the fissure, hopefully home. “I hope they got home in one piece,” someone said. The FO nodded. “Unfortunately we will have to wait six months to find out,” she said a little dryly. “Since they were brought here from six months in our future, there is no way we can find out before that time whether or not they returned, and if so, whether they returned safely. All we can do is hope.” ~Waiting will be like torture~ Guillermo thought to himself, reflecting on the fact his cousin Lalo was the CONN officer on board. He hoped his cousin made it back in one piece. "They have one of the best CONN officers in the fleet," Guillermo said from the tactical station, "Lalo will get them home. We don't need to worry." (reply any) (posted by Will Banowsky) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 22:06) Rodriguez announced his confidence that the CONN on the Mithrandir was one of the best in the fleet and would get the ship home. Hoshimi was about to comment that it was a little hard to do much about piloting a ship when even the impulse engines were powered down, but fortunately she remembered in time that the Lalo mentioned was the cousin of the man standing at the Tactical Station on the Spectre’s Bridge, so she said nothing. “Sir!” the officer at the science station exclaimed. “I’m reading some kind of event on the station… it’s almost like an event horizon, but very, very localised, sweeping through the station itself...” “Shields!” Hoshimi’s voice rang out as all eyes turned to the viewscreen. “Conn, stand ready to get us out of here if necessary!” As they stared, the station seemed to shimmer, fade, and then returned clearly into focus. “I’m reading… multiple life-forms!” the science officer stated. “Including our people, Sir!” There was a pause, and then, “Some of their lifesigns seem awfully weak, Sir.” “Bridge to Sickbay. Prepare for incoming. Bridge to Transporter Room one. Can you get a lock on our away teams?” =/\=Negative, Sir, there seems to be some kind of interference field. It’s impossible to get a lock on anyone there, or to beam anyone from the ship to the station.=/\= “Open a channel to the station!” Hoshimi’s eyes narrowed. There was something going on over there and she wanted to know just what it was. It was both tantalising and frustrating to finally ‘find’ both their away teams and yet not be able to bring them home. (reply Rodriguez) The Acting FO frowned. “Are they blocking our transmission or just ignoring our hails, Mister Rodriguez?” (reply Rodriguez) “Keep trying,” Hoshimi ordered. She leant closer to the Captain and spoke in an undertone. “Sir, it seems to me that perhaps if you had a word with someone higher up it might be advantageous? If they are ignoring us, perhaps they won’t ignore a direct order from Starfleet Command. Or whoever is in charge of the department that is responsible for Station Echo One Zero.” (Reply Rodriguez, T’Vhor iyw, any on the Bridge, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Bridge – ATAC, Lt. Rodriguez - 22:08) “Sir!” the officer at the science station exclaimed. “I’m reading some kind of event on the station… it’s almost like an event horizon, but very, very localised, sweeping through the station itself...” ~The hell is going on~ Guillermo thought to himself confused, the Mithrandir had just left and now this. “Shields!” Hoshimi’s voice rang out as all eyes turned to the viewscreen. “Conn, stand ready to get us out of here if necessary!” Guillermo turned shields on and waited, rather impatiently, for any indication on what was happening. “I’m reading… multiple life-forms!” the science officer stated. “Including our people, Sir!” There was a pause, and then, “Some of their lifesigns seem awfully weak, Sir.” “Bridge to Sickbay. Prepare for incoming. Bridge to Transporter Room one. Can you get a lock on our away teams?” =/\=Negative, Sir, there seems to be some kind of interference field. It’s impossible to get a lock on anyone there, or to beam anyone from the ship to the station.=/\= “Open a channel to the station!” "Sir, I'm not able to get a comm channel open." Rodriguez replied rather excitedly. The Acting FO frowned. “Are they blocking our transmission or just ignoring our hails, Mister Rodriguez?” "It seems like they are ignoring the hail. The signal is going through but nobody is picking up." “Keep trying,” Hoshimi ordered. She leant closer to the Captain and spoke in an undertone. “Sir, it seems to me that perhaps if you had a word with someone higher up it might be advantageous? If they are ignoring us, perhaps they won’t ignore a direct order from Starfleet Command. Or whoever is in charge of the department that is responsible for Station Echo One Zero.” Rodriguez waited calmly and kept trying to see if they would answer the hailing frequency. If a team had to go over however, he wanted on it. (reply any) (posted by Will Banowsky) (USS Spectre – Science Department – Chemical Analysis Lab - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 22:11) Varios was barely settling into the analysis when his PADD bleeped in his pocket, demanding his attention. His hands were full at the time and it took a couple of minutes before he was able to finish what he was doing and fish the little electronic device out of one of his pockets. He looked down at the screen with a frown, then looked at the others as though he expected they had some inside info he didn’t. The notification that had come through on the PADD indicated the shields had been raised, but no alert had been called. Therefore, they were expecting…something. He started to feel incredibly restless, like something was going on but he was out of the loop. Surely if there was something happening that he should know about, they’d have told him. Maybe they had forgotten he was duty officer… Maybe he should just call up to the bridge and make sure everything was okay. He had to resist the overwhelming urge to scramble the repair crews and get them ready for…something… Varios had spoken to the bridge not that long ago and he hated to bother them over something potentially trivial. He squirmed uncomfortably on the spot until he could stand it no more and slapped his commbadge urgently. “Varios to the bridge” he said, with a nervous edge to his voice. (Reply bridge) “No it’s not, we’re working on it.” He was slightly taken aback; he hadn’t considered that they might think he was calling up to report the repair complete. Then again, they probably weren’t expecting a jumpy officer to be pestering them either. (Reply Bridge) “We’re on schedule for repairs. What’s the situation up there?” (Reply Bridge) “Aye sir” he said before pressing his lips together into a thin line. Well that little conversation hadn’t done a whole lot to steady his nerves. He set up his PADD to display an overview of the systems status so that he could react immediately if he needed to and propped it up so he could keep an eye on it whilst he continued the sample analysis. (Reply Bridge, Any) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 22:12) Worried as she was about the welfare of the away team and the lack of contact from the station, the call from Ensign Rydan came as a surprise to Hoshimi. “Tsukawa. Are you reporting that the phasecloak is already fixed, Mister Rydan?” =/\= No it’s not, we’re working on it. =/\= “I really hope you’re not going to tell me your estimate was too optimistic?” =/\= We’re on schedule for repairs. What’s the situation up there? =/\= ~What the..???~ Hoshimi was torn between amusement and annoyance. Then she remembered that as duty officer for engineering, he probably had received notification that the shields had been activated. But still, no alert had been ordered. ~Young and enthusiastic!~ “Mister Rydan, in the event that you need to be told what the situation is up here, rest assured you will be informed. For now I suggest you concentrate on getting the phasecloak working again.” =/\= Aye sir =/\= Hoshimi sighed and shook her head. She almost asked Rodriguez whether there was any response from the station yet, then smiled thinly at herself. ~You’re as bad as Rydan. Rodriguez will tell you if he gets anything.~ (Reply Any) (Posted by Liz) (Station Echo One Zero - Sickbay - SciO, Ens, John Linskens – 22:18) John suddenly opened his eyes as he awoke, only to close them again to shield his eyes from the bright glare. He groaned. "Someone is waking up, Sir," John heard someone close to him say and he peeked through his eyelids to see who it was. As he did so, he noticed that the lights seemed a lot less brighter so he carefully opened the eyes again, only to groan again as his optic nerves screamed inside his head. But he kept his eyes open and although blurry at first, he finally was able to make out shapes, and a bit later the shapes turned into objects. Like cupboards and people and beds and ...... John closed his eyes for a second, overwhelmed by the lights. He sighed as he re-opened them and looked around him. He saw some people standing around beds with other people lying on them. But the beds weren't real beds, they looked a lot like bio-beds. John wanted to get up but felt him constrained by something, although he couldn't see what. But at least he was allowed to make some movements with his head and he scanned his surroundings, only to find out that he himself was lying on a bio-bed and that next to him Cat seemed to be lying on one of them, and next to her Frank, the Marine that had volunteered. John then turned his head to look at the other side and found more of the others. He heard steps nearing his bed and he looked at the source, only to find a man staring at him silently. John opened his mouth but couldn't bring out a sound. The man saw that and nodded. "My name is Mister .. Gallagher. I am in charge of this station at this moment. And you and your cohorts have been found trespassing. Your livery suggests that you may be Star Fleet but it is too early to be certain. So we had you restricted. But since you could be good guys, we made sure you got the medical attention that you needed. Especially you and the three others we found in our experimental lab. You all have been burned quite extensively. The others, which we found near the outskirts on Deck 6 were just unconscious. Some were worse affected than others. So, what were you doing in our experimental lab? Are you linked to the ship which we is floating near us? They've been trying to hail us but we haven't responded yet. Or did you come from that ship that escaped in a temporal field just before the experimental core was de-activated? How did you do that? And more importantly why? But first ...." "But first I will treat this man, " another person butted in. "You may want answers but this is still Sickbay and *I* am in charge here." John tried to focus on the newcomer but found it difficult to maintain his focus. Something hissed and John felt himself relax. He heard someone grunting near him but he couldn't be bothered to investigate as he was moving swiftly away into dreamland. NRPG: OK, the quick rundown is that when the station power was cut off from the experiment, the time-warping Mithrandir would have used up most of the energy of the experiment, leaving the experiment to shut itself down, creating a debilitating pulse that knocked everyone in the away team out. The original station staff weren't affected as much so they came round, noticed all those interloper bodies lying about, collected them and they are all kept together in a large section of Sickbay. Everyone is there even though all of the equipment has been removed by the base security. And that's where we are, really. What happens now, or what happened on the base before 22:10 is unknown. As yet. But no doubt some things will be cleared up soon. And other things? Hmm, don't know yet. 8-) RPG: (Reply by any, all) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (Station Echo One Zero - Sickbay - COUNS, Ens, Oggie Marsh – 22:28) Oggie sighed and groaned as the memories flooded back into his mind, the sudden scream that rang out when the lights blipped on and off, a sudden and overwhelming feeling of nausea and then darkness. The counsellor grunted then tried to get up, only to find that he was somehow restricted. He grunted again and opened his eyes. It took a while before they functioned reasonably normal blurring everything in sight at first. When his eyes had adjusted themselves Oggie was finally capable of making out what was around him and he realised quite quickly that he was lying on a metal bio. There were a few people walking around, wearing different kinds of tunics, some blue, some red and some gold. Oggie frowned as he could not recognise any of them although one or two looked familiar to him. "You're awake," a sudden statement was uttered behind him head, making Oggie swing his head to look at the person behind him but he stopped and groaned again as needles of pain shot up from his neck to his skull. "Relax, you've been shocked. It will pass." The voice finished but the owner finally stepped into Oggie's line of sight. "Carlos?" Oggie whispered as he recognised the medical officer. "Where's everybody? Where's Dean? And Rutger?" The tired looking medic shot Oggie a glance then shrugged. "Dead. They all are. I'm the only medically trained person left. I had to give a few people some crash-course in medication to assist me. Not that it matters. Even if we still had the proper staff, we wouldn't have been able to save them." The MO used his thumb to point behind him. "That's our new morgue." he said. "Basically a room with a hole in the wall. Blasted wide open with someone with the bends. But we didn't have enough energy to operate our stasis units so the coldness of space is keeping the bodies fresh. All two hundred and fifteen of them." Carlos produced his tricorder and waved it over Oggie, not reading the display. "They won't complain. And even if they did, it wouldn't make any difference." He sharply inhaled and exhaled through his nose. "Nothing makes a difference any more. We just turn up, tend to the wounded that we can save, shrug about the others and wait until we have enough bodies to get into a space suit and drop them off in the morgue. Then we get 10 minutes of sleep and it starts all over again." Carlos looked at a point in space but didn't see anything then shrugged. "But what can you do without power, without medication and without personnel? I guess one of these days I will have to go in there and start recording what they died of." He sighed. "But to be honest, I couldn't be bothered. It's not like I'll be able to record anything significant any way. He died of the bends, she died of him dying of the bends, He ... hmmm, no idea what he died of since the equipment isn't working. Big deal." Carlos fell silent for a second, giving Oggie the change to ask a question. "But what happened, Carlos? What about the others, the Command Team?" For a while it didn't look like Carlos had heard him, still looking at that point in space with unseeing eyes but finally he shrugged. "Sh*t happens. Ohh, it was all too good to be true with this new experiment that would forward our perception of phase by at least a century, they said. It's going to be something that we can tell out grandchildren about, they said. The future being discovered, they said. Well, they're not saying much any more. All dead. Most of them died when they turned that ... that .... thing on and they were fried like a crisp by that thing. Next thing we know,. wham, no power. Everything shut down. No air, no heat, nothing. And as soon as we brought some power unit online, wham , power gone. The engineers managed to get some chemical batteries working so we could at least keep breathing but I wonder why we even bothered." Carlos shook his head. "Not that it matters. It's just like an automotive response, I guess. Anywhere, so there we were, freezing slowly to death and still trying to work out what had gone wrong, when most of the scientists had been the first ones to croak. Then people start behaving weird. And they get weirder by the minute. The bends, we call it and think we can sort it by keeping them locked up in their section of the station. But no ... they get all mental and start killing each other, screaming that they are demons, or monsters or aliens or spies or whatever. I don't think it matter what they thought you were, they were just going to kill you." Carlos de Silvatori fell silent for a second. "Then Rutger got the bends and took a steel pole to Dean's head and kept hitting him and hitting him and hitting him until there was nothing left of the skull. So we try to catch Rutger but he runs straight into a wall. Deliberately. And so hard that his own skull is cracked open and his brain go all over the wall." The medic shivered. "About that time a Security officer decided to blame the Command Team for everything and set off a bomb during a meeting between the Team and the remaining scientists." Carlos fell silent again. "Doesn't matter. We're just waiting to be next." "Carlos," a shocked Oggie tried to say but a shot from the medic silenced him. "You should have stayed away. Now you'll die as well. Everybody will die here," Carlos said as he suddenly remembered to inspect his tricorder. He shrugged. "You've got the start of the bends, you know? If we had any power left we could synthesize a cocktail of peptides to counter that, but no, Mister bl**dy Gallagher says no, says we need to keep security up and erect fields to stop people from beaming in. Like they would if they had a choice." Oggie fell silent as he watched the man then shook his head. The signs of extreme exhaustion were evident. "When did you last sleep, Carlos?" he asked. The medic frowned for a second then shrugged. "Can't remember. Doesn't matter anyway. It's not going to make any blind bit of difference. Nothing does." "But you need to get some rest, man" Oggie responded but the medic just shook his head. "Can't. Won't. As soon as I close my eyes, I see them. And they see me. Their eyes are as dead as they are yet they still see me. Besides, no time. I may not be the best of medics but at the moment I'm the only one they've got. Don't want any more eyes looking at me." "But still," Oggie tried again but was cut short by another voice cutting in, a voice Oggie knew quite well. "Mister de Silvatori. Can they be transported?" Oggie saw the head of the medic jerk back then turn to face the source, which was outside of Oggie's view. "You mean the new ones? Yes, they're ok. A bit weak but they could be transported." "Good," Gallagher said. "I have just spoken with Command. They'll return to their ship as soon as. The Spectre will receive their orders soon. The carrier USS Ark Royal is en route and will be with us in two hours. They will create a total exclusion zone around the station and send over a number of crews to secure the station and help with the wounded. They have been fully briefed. Then once everything is secured and everyone on this station has been debriefed, you and everybody on this station will be transferred. The experiment will be dismantled and the station will then be deactivated until Star Fleet has found another use for it." Gallagher stepped into Oggie's view and looked at him. "Mister Marsh, you will disembark onto the Spectre, their staff will be told to take you and Ensign Kirrin. We want you off this station as soon as. Nothing personal, Mr. Marsh but you are a liability. Star Fleet is expecting a full report on your movements before you reach the next star base and will determine what to do with you then. You may wish to impress upon Spectre's command the necessity to leave here as soon as the Ark arrives, NO ship will be allowed to leave once the Ark releases their patrols." Gallagher stepped back out of Oggie's view and could be heard to leave the area. The steps stopped for a second. "Mister de Silvatori, you may remove the restrictions. Star Fleet has informed me that the Spectre was ordered to assist." The footsteps continued until they faded into the distance. (Reply by any) (posted by Adrie Geuken) (Station Echo One Zero – Sickbay – ACMO, Ens(jg) Zia Kirrin – 22:30) Zia came to gradually, but on attempting to move had found herself restrained on what felt suspiciously like a biobed. Surreptitious glances through her lashes showed her figures on several biobeds, and next to her one that she had recognised unmistakeably as belonging to Oggie. ~It is therefore likely that the other people I can make out are the ones from the Spectre,~ she thought to herself. Her whole body ached and she had the mother and father of all headaches, so she lay still with her eyes closed and tried to work out what was happening. Voices from the next bed intruded into her thoughts as Oggie had a conversation with a man he called ‘Carlos’ who appeared to be some kind of medical person. Zia was not sure whether or not he was a doctor, but he appeared to be the only trained medic of any kind left on the station. ~ Apart from me but I am not in a position to assist him, ~ she thought. Assuming they were still on the station, that was, which she was not at all sure of at first. Then something Carlos said seemed to confirm they were indeed still on Station Echo One Zero. The other things she was hearing made her glad that she had decided to keep her eyes closed. When another voice, which seemed to Zia to be very cold, joined the conversation she listened even harder, trying to make sense of it all. It seemed that Zia and Oggie were to be transferred off the station with the Spectre’s crew once orders from Starfleet Command had reached the Spectre. The cold voice seemed to belong to someone who appeared to be in command of the station, but it was not Commander Probie’s voice. Zia wondered who it was, and based on what Carlos had said, she supposed it must be ‘Mister bl**dy Gallagher’, who she thought Oggie had said previously was in charge of the experiment that had gone so wrong. She would, she decided, very much have liked ten minutes alone with this person once she was feeling better, but it didn’t seem likely that she would get the chance. The voice faded as whoever was talking walked away, but Zia heard his final words. “Mister de Silvatori, you may remove the restrictions. Starfleet has informed me that the Spectre was ordered to assist.” Footsteps faded away, and moments later Zia felt the restriction field lifted. Slowly she opened her eyes and sat up, holding her head in case it decided to explode. Immediately she turned towards the biobed where Oggie had been only to find it empty. She looked round, trying to locate him. “If you’re looking for Oggie, he followed Gallagher out of here,” said a voice she recognised as belonging to the one Oggie had called Carlos. “He’ll be back soon, call-me-Mister-Gallagher isn’t exactly one for long conversations.” “My head hurts,” Zia said, feeling unable to comment on Mister Gallagher’s conversational ability. A hypo hissed on her neck and the pain relief began almost immediately. “Thank you,” Zia said. “Can I help you? I am a doctor.” Carlos snorted. “You can’t help me. Too blooming late for that. If you’re lucky you’ll get out of here before you get really sick. Maybe your ship can do something for you. Maybe not. Either way you stand more chance than us left behind.” Zia tentatively swung her legs over the side of the biobed and stood up cautiously. She felt a bit weak but whatever had been in the hypo seemed to have worked. She looked around and thought that all the other members of the Spectre’s away teams were present, some in worse case than others. She grabbed hold of Carlos’s arm. “Where are your medical supplies?” she demanded. “I need a dermal regenerator for the burns on the faces of some of the Spectre crew, and that man over there –“ she pointed at one in marine’s uniform “- needs his shoulder fixing. And those I assume will be the easy ones to patch up. I will also need a medical tricorder to assess the condition of everyone.” She let go of his arm and sat down on the biobed as her legs suddenly felt very weak. “And get me some kind of stimulant. If I am going to be of use here I will need it!” (reply Carlos iyw, any of the Spectre away teams, any) (Posted by Liz) (Station Echo One Zero – Sickbay – Acting CMO, MCPO, Carlos de Silvatori – 22:32) "If I am going to be of use here I will need it!” Carlos looked at the Ensign silently as she leant back against the bed then shook his head as he turned to his trolley. He picked up a small bottle and took out a purple pill. He handed it to her. "That's the only stuff that is left. We used up all the other stimulants. Take it or leave it." He placed the pill next to her on her bed then turned to walk away to work on the next bed. "As for your other .... 'requests', the last dermal regenerator broke three days ago. Somehow I couldn't get engineering interested in it enough for them to send someone over to repair it. Don't know why but I assume it might have something to do with them being actually busy? Like trying to save the station from going bust? So who cares if the burn victims have to wait a little bit to get their skin peachy again. As for the Marine, the wound was cauterised so he will take some time to die. Next case. Simple as that. So don't you go round telling me what I should and shouldn't do in my bl**dy sickbay! I've been running this show for the last week and I do not need any directives from some lah-di-dah fancy green-gobbed Ensign straight out of the Academy, thank you very much. So head back to where you came from and stay out of my face!" (reply by Zia, any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (Station Echo One Zero - Deck 15, Sector 8, Surveillance hub - COUNS, Ens Oggie Marsh – 22:33) Oggie stepped into the same room he left not that long ago and looked at the forlorn figure sitting in one of the chairs. "Mister .. Gallagher, I understand you wanted to see me?" he said. The man in the chair didn't look up but kept reading some files on the computer, then sighed and turned away from the screen as he grabbed a small bottle and slid two purple pills into his hand. "That I did," he said after which he swallowed the pills and grimaced. "What's that?" Oggie asked even though he thought he had recognised the pills. Mr. Gallagher looked at the bottle then shrugged. "Tricordafin," he admitted. "Lousy stuff but the only thing that kept me functioning these past days. We all took them, every 8 hours. I know, I know," he added quickly stopping Oggie. "We are all going to need to get our organs replaced and we will do so once the Ark Royal has arrived and we get a working medical crew again. Anyway, Mister Marsh, I asked to see you to hear from you what happened to you a year ago. We think we know, or at least the scientists said that they had an inkling of what might have happened but it's better to hear it from you." Oggie started to tell him about him visiting the core with Zia when it suddenly activated itself and transported them to the future. He was interrupted by a call from the internal comm system about a threat that the Spectre was going to fire on their core if they didn't contact them. Gallagher shot Oggie a look then responded: "Maintain radio-silence, Mister Berger. Gallagher out." He then sat back and looked at the ceiling. "It appears that the Spectre hasn't been notified yet. Star Fleet Command is getting slow. But my orders were quite specific. No contact with anyone for any reason until the Ark Royal turns up." Gallagher's mouth started moving as he counted down silently until the time of strike passed and still watching the ceiling he let exhaled. "Good, it looks like SF HQ finally make contact. Would have been interesting to see though, our core being in the state it is and sixty percent of out power-distributors fried. A direct hit would have probably taken out the remaining distributors. No, HQ would not have liked that if we had to evacuate the station onto the Spectre." He shrugged. "Of course, if they had been slightly off target they would probably have hit the fuel cells. In that case there would have been nothing left to evacuate." Gallagher sighed. "Why do I get the feeling that that would have been the preferred outcome for Command? Anyway, Mister Marsh, continue." Oggie frowned but did as he was asked until Gallagher raised his hand. "That will do, Mister Marsh. It is, in general, what the scientists said they reckoned had happened. They just didn't know why. Do you have any idea?" Oggie shrugged. "Personally no, but from what I understood from Linskens, he thinks it might have been that the concentrated phase fields in the core created some kind of temporal distortions." Oggie shrugged again. "No doubt further investigations will reveal if he was correct or not." Gallagher shot him a glance. "No doubt," he said after a second. "Well, Mister Marsh, don't let me keep you. I am quite sure your 'companions' will have started to come round to and they might appreciate a friendly face. Good evening." Oggie shot the man a look then shrugged as he turned round, nodding once in Gallagher's direction. The abruptness of the man had not fazed him as he had had dealings with the mystery man before and it seemed to be his standard mode of operating. Oggie suddenly grinned. It was good to know that at least there were some constants in the universe. He smiled at Gallagher as he made his way out of the control hub. (Reply by any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 22:35) The Captain was in his Ready Room and had been there for some time; he had gone in there to speak with Command, which left Hoshimi in charge of the Bridge. There had still been no answer from Station Echo One Zero, and she was concerned about the welfare of the away team. As far as the scans could show, all of them were in the station’s Sickbay which might be a good thing or it might not. “Let’s see if we can get their attention,” she said aloud. “Lieutenant Rodriguez, power up the weapons and open a channel to the station.” (reply Rodriguez) Hoshimi stood up, clasping her hands behind her back. This was not a usual stance for her but this was also the first time she had done something like this outside of a holodeck simulation and she didn’t want anyone to see her hands shake if she got nervous. “Station Echo One Zero, this is First Officer Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa of the Federation starship USS Spectre. You are holding members of our crew and you refuse to answer our hails. If you do not answer within 30 seconds we will be forced to assume that the station is in hostile hands and we will act accordingly. Mister Rodriguez, target their core,” she added, not taking her eyes from the screen. (reply Rodriguez, any on the station, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 22:36) It seemed that whoever was in charge on the station was prepared to call her bluff, and reluctantly Hoshimi turned to Rodriguez to give the order to fire a short burst at the station’s core. Not enough to destroy it but enough to inflict damage and show she was serious. But before she could give the order, the Captain informed her that there was a message from Starfleet Command and he was forwarding it to the command station on the Bridge. “Hold steady, Lieutenant,” she said to the TAC/ASC as she sat down and accessed the message. She frowned as she read it but deep down inside she was glad that she didn’t have to give the order or back down to whoever was playing chicken on the station. “We have new orders,” she announced to the Bridge. “Our people will be returned and we are to take on two further personnel from the station. We are then to leave the area immediately, with no further communication to the station. The Ark Royal is on her way to deal with the situation.” ~ And good luck to them. ~ “Of course since the Captain has forbidden the use of transporters whilst whatever was happening over there was affecting so much of the area, we will have to do some test transports first before allowing personnel to transport. Lieutenant Rodriguez, please inform Station Echo One Zero of the situation and arrange for some trial transports to and fro between us and them. Only when you’re satisfied that the transporters are working perfectly with no danger to our personnel are they to be brought aboard. Have everyone beamed directly to Sickbay, and arrange for a security detail to be there as well since we don’t know who, exactly, are the extra people being sent over or what condition they are in.” NRPG: I hope ‘Mister Gallagher’ will have no problem with that :-) RPG: (reply Rodriguez, room for more iyw) Hoshimi then tapped her commbadge. “Tsukawa to Sickbay. Prepare for incoming – all our away team members plus two extra personnel, condition unknown. I want everyone given a full check-up on arrival. Lieutenant Rodriguez will be sending a security detail as well.” (reply any in Sickbay, room for more iyw) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Science Department, Chemical Analysis Lab - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 22:37) Varios had set up his PADD and propped it up so he could carry out the analysis and monitor the ships systems at the same time. After some time, a new amber flag popped up in relation to the phased cloaking device. He frowned in annoyance at it as he read over the details. A fuse had blown in a section of the device that was still live and running. A few quick taps on the PADD was all it took to send the job to CPO Biign to investigate and repair. He continued with the analysis until it was complete and discussed the nature of the contamination. The analysis revealed that the contaminant was an element called tngonian. They agreed that it wasn’t a common substance or a bi-product from a reaction in the chamber. Cordelia’s theory was that the tngonian could be from the molecular conversion catalyst, which feeds into the OPC. He gave it some thought and agreed that it was the most logical explanation and that something must be wrong with the filtering system. (Reply Any) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CPO, Nurse Douwsy – 22:39) Sickbay had been reasonably busy all day but not the extent that it was mental. She was looking forward to things calming down as they usually did on night shifts. Usually after midnight people generally did not get sick but with the marines and the away team on the station she had a feeling that it may become very busy very quickly. =^=Tsukawa to Sickbay. Prepare for incoming all our away team members plus two extra personnel, condition unknown. I want everyone given a full check-up on arrival. Lieutenant Rodriguez will be sending a security detail as well=^= “Understood Sir.” ~Just when I think it is going to be quiet~ She looked over at Marshal the other nurse in sickbay, the one who was on call for emergencies and gave a quick smile. “Looks like we are in for a long one. Looks like you may not get your beauty sleep tonight.” Marshal muttered something unintelligible under her breath and Douwsy’s smile widened. “Okay get the late shift back in. Make sure they are not the ones that are on the early shift or they won’t be able to stay awake. Ow and bleep Dr L’Risa… No wait, he is also on the away team why do we have all the Docs off ship at one go?” She paused and looked at Marshal. “Just get the others in I’ll see if Dr Kirien is feeling up to do a bit of doctoring tonight.” “Nurse Douwsy to Dr Kirien.” (Reply Kirien) “Sorry to disturb you so late Dr but the marines and the away team need a full check up when they arrive back shortly and you are our only doctor on board apart from the EMH. I was wondering if you could come and give us a hand, if you would not mind?” (Reply Kirien) (Reply Kirien, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Engineering Section, Phased Cloaking Device - CPO, Wai Biign – 22:40) Not for the thousandth time Wai had wondered why she had picked such a dangerous job especially when her personal health was concerned. Particularly when she was surrounded with water and a lot of power while she was deep in side the phased cloak trying to fix the problem. ~Just like you to go and fiddle with some thing that has a lot of power running through it~ She moved her hand cautiously towards the plasma buffer on phased cloak. ~Right one wring move and there will be a lot of fried fish~ There was a spark and a sizzle of melted gauntlet as she pulled the damaged fuse out. ~Holy sharks teeth this is so not funny~ She put the damaged fuse beside and glanced quickly at her fingers. There was a scorch mark but it had not broken the seal that was the last thing she needed here. She slowly inserted the new fuse in to the plasma buffer and carefully shut the small access hatch. “How is that looking boss?” (Reply Rydan) (Reply Rydan, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Phased Cloaking Device Engineering Section – CPO Wai Biign\Engineer, Ensign Scott Smith – 22:43) Scott was checking up on the repairs to the cloaking device. There were lot of things going on and he wanted to keep on top of ever thing. He paused as he entered as he saw a pair of feet sticking out from behind the cloaking device. There was a sharp snap and fizz of a power spike. Scott smiled to him self as he recognised that curse that followed “How is that looking boss?” Scott glanced at the read out. It looked like the plasma buffer was holding. “It all looks good from here Chief.” There was a slight pause. “Sir what are you doing here and where is Ensign Rydan?” Scott gave a slight smile. “He is over in Chemical Analysis Labs. He has been there for a while.” There was another pause fallowed by a almost silent course. “You mean I have been talking to my self for all this time. Great.” Scott watched as she wriggled out and gave her a hand up. “Don’t worry about it Chief.” He said with a grin. He could see that Wai was not amused he quickly changed the subject. “How are we doing Chief?” Wai turned to look over the console at the readings it was giving her. “There still are a few suspect fluctuations which we need to track down. Want to give me a hand Ensign?” Scott nodded. “Not a problem Chief.” (Reply none) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Bridge – OPS Officer, Ensign Robert Smith – 22:43 “Station Echo One Zero, this is First Officer Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa of the Federation starship USS Spectre. You are holding members of our crew and you refuse to answer our hails. If you do not answer within 30 seconds we will be forced to assume that the station is in hostile hands and we will act accordingly. Mister Rodriguez, target their core" ”Robert glanced over his shoulder at his position at the auxiliary ops console and looked at the Tsukawa. He also saw Jen at the helm tense over her console. He consternated back to his console as Rodrigues acknowledged. ~No messing with that one. That’s for sure. ~ He began to divert power systems to cope with any battle that may happen. Brining power reserves on line making sure any system were not being used would not drain power. Suddenly an icon appeared on his screen. ~What the…~ A shuttle craft had dropped out of warp and saw proceeding towards them. He glanced at Rodriguez who was busy, the FO was waiting to see if her ultimatum would work. ~Not really a time to disturbed them~ The comm. channel opened. =^=USS Spectre this is shuttlecraft Wenton, We have orders to rendezvous with you for transfer of personal and orders, please acknowledge=^= Robert activated the comm channel. “Shuttle craft Wenton. This is the Spectre. Could you please hold your position 50,000 kilometres from the ship. We have a slight development in progress. Please wait one.” (Reply Grey) He turned and walked over to Tsukawa he did not want to call across the bridge espeshaly if the comm chanel to the station was open. “Sorry to bother you ma’am” (Reply Tsukawa) “I have a shuttle craft Wenton which is carrying transfer crew. They are at the moment holding at 50,000 kilometres from us. Do you them to stay until this is over or bring them in now?” (Reply Tsukawa) (Reply Tsukawa, Gray any) (Posted by Robbie) (Shuttle Craft Wenton - TAC/SC, Lt Kerge - 22:43) Kerge had not really enjoyed this trip at all. After having served the last few years on the B'Quaj'ah and having become 'used' to the militaristic protocol associated with a Vor'cha class attack cruiser, going back to a Federation starship, albeit one that he had enjoyed serving upon, positively filled him with dread and he had spared no moral boundary with those accompanying him right now. Indeed, he had positively excelled at being... Klingon! “We are coming up on the Spectre” , said the trim, but slightly annoying Deltan hybrid Grey, with just a hint of relief in her voice no less! Kerge stirred from the bench upon which he had been resting, the titanium plate in his head already causing him some annoyance... or was it the Deltan hybrid again? Either way, he righted himself and then planted his heavy boots upon the decking of the shuttle with a thud before then proceeding to pick out a small piece of Gagh that was still stuck between his teeth... which he prompty ate. Then he looked to the newly assigned Ensign and grunted his assent. "I suppose", he began, "that our arrival makes you... happy?", he snapped, adding emphasis to the word 'happy' as he spoke. (Reply Grey, IYW) Grey frowned whilst clearly attempting to control her anger at the big Klingons arrogant stance, she then returned her attention to the console and began stabbing at the controls, probably another attempt to stop herself from stabbing 'him', thought Kerge as he stood and then approached the Ensign. "Do you have a problem with me, Ensign?", inquired Kerge, wondering now if she would perhaps show a little gumption. Grey ignored him nonetheless and then moved off towards a computer console to begin making a personal entry to her log. Which annoyed Kerge no end! Rather than allow himself to become even more aggrieved by the actions of one, purile woman however, he chose to stomp off to the replicator, scratching at his somewhat wild and unkempt mane as he went. That would have to change soon of course, as would a lot of things once he was back on a Federation vessel again. For now though he was simply enjoying being 'Klingon', and everything that was associated with it, including the lack of hygiene! Grey continued on with her log entry, Kerge hearing his name mentioned as least once during it's recording, it illiciting yet another grunt from him in response. By the time she had finished, he was tucking in yet again to a replicated piece of rokeg blood pie, nothing like the real thing of course, but it appeased him nonetheless. Then 'she' was suddenly there again.... “Sir, we will soon be arriving at the ship, would you like to go and prepare?” she asked. Kerge snapped with a stamp of his feet and then looked to the Ensign. "I am already prepared ! qoH soH!", spat Kerge, "prepare yourself, leave me be!". He then resumed eating the blood pie with unrefined relish. (Reply Grey, IYW) Finally satiated, the Klingon slumped back sullenly on the bench and then glanced down at his boots and uniform with a heavy exhalation. Soon, it would all have to be put into storage again in preference to the thin, un-fetching uniform of a Starfleet officer, which, after all, was precisely what he was. In time, he would apologise to the Deltan hybrid for being such an arrogant toh-pah in the shuttle of course. But for now, that would wait. Kerge HAD enjoyed himself, despite the fact that the journey had been somewhat, lacking. “USS Spectre this is shuttlecraft Wenton, We have orders to rendezvous with you for transfer of personnel and orders, please acknowledge.”, said Grey as she returned to the helm, the Klingon smiling behind her... (Reply Grey, IYW) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 22:44) “Sorry to bother you ma’am.” Hoshimi looked up, she hadn’t been aware of the OPS officer approaching her. “Yes, Mister Smith?” She knew it must be important or Robert wouldn’t interrupt at a time like this. “I have a shuttle craft Wenton which is carrying transfer crew. They are at the moment holding at 50,000 kilometres from us. Do you them to stay until this is over or bring them in now?” “Tell them to come in now, Ensign. Use Shuttlebay One. Tell the transfer crew to come to the Bridge. I’ll inform the Captain, and he will probably see them in his Ready Room. Mister Rodriguez, drop the shields to allow the Wenton on board.” (reply Smith, Rodriguez) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Science Department – Chemical Analysis Lab - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 22:44) Varios and the others had been running the analysis for just over 40 minutes now and machines were beginning to beep. It was exciting and he was eager to find out what the nature of the contamination was. Engineering wise things had gone well enough according to the feedback on his PADD. He’d had to make certain adjustments at certain points but he was able to handle it. “So do we have a hit on the contamination?” he asked the scientists eagerly, watching as they pottered about. (Reply Thaddeus, Gronk) “Interesting.” He mumbled as he pinched his eyes shut and pursed his lips as he thought through the complex processes that occurred in that section of engineering and in that particular system. (Reply Thaddeus, Gronk Cordelia, Any) “I can’t think of a reaction that would produce that as a bi-product, and fortunately it’s not a really common substance, so where did it come from?” (Reply Thaddeus, Gronk Cordelia, Any) (Reply Bridge, Cordelia, Thaddeus, Gronk, Any iyw) (Posted by Natalya) (Shuttle Craft Wenton – ACSO, Ensign Ilana Grey – 22:45) Ilana tapped at the shuttle crafts controls, there hadn’t been much to do for the last two days except listen to her traveling companion the Klingon had done nothing but shout and command the whole Journey. Ilana considered herself to be one of the most tolerant people she knew and even with four older brothers this man was possibly the most annoying she had encountered. She glanced across at him hoping beyond hope that he would be still snoozing. A type nine shuttle craft didn’t have a lot of living space. She remembered at the academy six of them cramped into one of these things for a week on a field exercise but right now she would rather have had four other cadets and the mission commander rather than this one Klingon. “We are coming up on the Spectre” She said quietly hoping that it wouldn’t wake him. (Reply Kerge) Ilana gritted her teeth. They were still about thirty minuets out but to pass the time she opened hailing frequencies to the bridge and sent her signal indicating arrival. It would still take a few minuets for the signal to reach the Starship. She looked across at her bag, she had packed it ready to get off this shuttle first thing this morning. This journey had been too long. Inside she knew there was a padd for the commanding officer of the Spectre regarding some orders or something, it had been sealed, probably to prevent the prying eyes of an Ensign like herself. In all honest she was just glad to be on rout to her first assignment. Ignoring the Klingon she turned her chair to one of the computer consoles. “Computer start recording personal log.” The computer beeped “Personal log, Cadet…. I mean Ensign Ilana Grey, It is odd only one week since my graduation and I’ve spent the time sitting in this shuttle craft with a Klingon Named Kerge, aside from his rampant boasting I’m unsure as to his agenda with this mission. However that isn’t important, I’m being assigned to the starship Spectre, a eponymous named starship for its class. Ncc 8741, I must confess I don’t know much about the Spectre class starships, other than they have a lot of similarities to the Galaxy Class that was used in many of the Academy’s training, I’ve tried reading up on some more of the specifications but a lot of the information is restricted, I’m sure once on board I’ll be able to familiarize myself with it’s systems.” She paused and tapped the console, “On a personal note I’m excited to be given a starship assignment straight out of the Academy, a lot of my fellow Cadets either end up on planetary or space station assignments, with my personal goal of discovering new life forms and plantforms on other worlds it will definitely be an advantage. We should arrive on the starship in approximately twenty minuets from there I will get to see my new life” She closed the log. Ilana turned to Kerge, “Sir, we will soon be arriving at the ship would you like to go and prepare?” Ilana asked the Klingon. (Reply Kerge) The computer beeped, indicating they were now with in communications range of the Spectre, Ilana opened the comns channel, “USS Spectre this is shuttlecraft Wenton, We have orders to rendezvous with you for transfer of personal and orders, please acknowledge.” (Reply Anyone on Spectre bridge) (Posted By Joanna Holt) (Shuttle Craft Wenton - ACSO, Ensign JG Ilana Grey - 22:46) “Sir, we will soon be arriving at the ship, would you like to go and prepare?” she asked. Kerge snapped with a stamp of his feet and then looked to the Ensign. "I am already prepared ! qoH soH!", spat Kerge, "prepare yourself, leave me be!". He then resumed eating the blood pie with unrefined relish. “I was suggesting you might like to gather your gear from around the sleeping quarters rather than having to do it after we dock?” Ilana stated gritting her lower teeth; she had met very few Klingon’s she had really enjoyed the company of. However this man was intolerable! She chose to ignore his earlier statement. Finally satiated, the Klingon slumped back sullenly on the bench and then glanced down at his boots and uniform with a heavy exhalation. Soon, it would all have to be put into storage again in preference to the thin, un-fetching uniform of a Starfleet officer, which, after all, was precisely what he was. In time, he would apologise to the Deltan hybrid for being such an arrogant toh-pah in the shuttle of course. But for now, that would wait. Kerge HAD enjoyed himself, despite the fact that the journey had been somewhat, lacking. “USS Spectre this is shuttlecraft Wenton, We have orders to rendezvous with you for transfer of personal and orders, please acknowledge.”, said Grey as she returned to the helm, the Klingon smiling behind her... Once the acknowledgement came through from the Spectre she piloted the ship toward the main shuttle bay. Another shuttle wasn’t far behind them. Ilana piloted the shuttle craft towards the rear main shuttle bay, about a hundred meters out, control turned automatically over to the Spectre and the shuttle craft moved in. The internal tractor beams grasped hold of the shuttle craft and in an Azure glow slowly set it down on a spare station. Ilana finished the shut down procedures on the shuttle and greatfully got up stretching herself out. She turned to Kerge “Well we’ve arrived” She said simply before moving towards the exit. (Reply Kerge) Quickly getting out of the shuttle she paused at the entrance to the main shuttle bay, it had a very mechanical smell to it but this was far superior to the smell that had been permeating the small shuttle craft cabin. Shifting her bag onto her shoulder she gave her acknowledgments to the deck crew who were already efficiently running diagnostics and refueling deuterium on the shuttlecraft. Ilana walked through the large cavernous shuttlebay towards the turbo lift. She hadn’t looked back to see if Kerge was with her, after so long together in the small craft she was just glad for a little time away. =/\= Deck 1, Bridge =/\= She ordered hearing the sound of the turbo lift allowed her to relax for a brief moment. (Reply Kerge) (Posted by Joe) (USS Spectre – Science Department – Chemical Analysis Lab - EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans & Labtech Thaddeus Jones – 22:47) “So do we have a hit on the contamination?” Rydan asked. Thaddeus rubbed his nose with his forefinger. “Well, we do. Just not sure how it got there,” he said. “But it’s present in all the contaminated samples, so there must be a reason for it. It’s tngonian.” NRPG: I didn’t make it up, check it out on Memory Alpha :-) RPG: “Interesting…” Rydan appeared to be thinking hard before he continued, saying that he couldn’t think of a reaction which would produce tngonian as a bi-product, but added that it wasn’t a common substance. The question was, where did it come from. “You got me there,” Thaddeus admitted. “Because it’s so rare, it doesn’t have many uses on a starship. And I’m struggling a bit to think how it could contaminate the feeders. But you guys are the engineers, I’m just a labrat. Ensign Linskens could probably tell you, but then he’s not here, is he,” he added less than helpfully. Cordelia rolled her eyes. “Well since he’s not here and we can’t ask him, it’s a bit pointless to say he could probably tell us,” she said. “Besides which he’s not an engineer either.” She thought for a moment. “Do you think there could have been cross-contamination in the osmotic particle chamber?” she asked Rydan. “The molecular conversion catalyst uses tngonian and that feeds into the OPC. All contact is supposed to be filtered but that’s the only place I can think of that even remotely connects to the positronic feeders.” (Reply Rydan, Gronk, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Science Department, Chemical Analysis Lab - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 22:48) NRPG: This brings me back up to where I left off with my previous sim. RPG: “That seems like the most reasonable explanation. Let’s get these positronic feeders cleaned, I’ll get CPO Biign to go and investigate the filtering system while we do that.” He liked to finish working on one problem before progressing to the next kink in the chain. Once the positronic feeders were cleaned and ready for reinstallation they could set them aside and work on the filtering system. He wasn’t prepared to reinstall the parts until he was sure the rest of the phased-cloaking device was fault free. (Reply Evans) “We’ll put the feeders in an antigrav containment unit and heat it until the tngonian deposits decrystalize. Then we’ll remove the gaseous bi-products, rinse the feeders and take them back down with us when we go to investigate the filtering system.” He rambled thoughtfully before realising he should probably have just asked her if she was familiar with the process for cleaning this type of contamination, because she probably was. (Reply Evans) “We’ll need to run two units simultaneously as the heat cycle will take twenty five minutes, the rinse cycle will take fifteen minutes and then drying… five minutes. Then we’ll need to verify decontamination and unity integrity afterwards of course.” (Reply Evans ifw) If the positronic feeders were heated too fast or fiercely it could damage the parts, so it was going to require careful management to complete successfully. He was glad he had pulled CPO Biign to help them. It could easily take an hour just to get those positronic feeders ready for reinstallation and they hadn’t even looked at the filtering system yet. They had already used an hour and with the decontamination likely to use another, the estimate was definitely getting near the three-hour mark. He hated to cut things too close. “We can do this down in secondary engineering, we have the equipment and space there that we need.” He turned back to the technician and scientist and smiled, “Thank you for your help on this.” (Reply Evans ifw, Thaddeus, Gronk) Varios and Cordelia picked up their equipment and headed out of the lab, towards the turbolift, which would take them to secondary engineering. (Reply Evans ifw, Thaddeus, Gronk) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre – Science Department, Chemical Analysis Lab - EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 22:49) Rydan agreed with Cordelia and said that they should get the positronic feeders cleaned, whilst Biign investigated the filtering system. He went on to detail the cleaning process that would be necessary, appearing to Cordelia to be thinking aloud as he did so. He reckoned the whole process would take about 45 minutes, running two units simultaneously. Afterwards they would need to verify that the feeders were indeed decontaminated, and check the unit intergrity of each one. “Did you want to do the cleaning here, or in Engineering, Sir?” Cordelia asked. They had the necessary equipment in Engineering but there were also decontamination chambers here in the Science Department, always assuming they were not already in use. Rydan opted to do it down in Engineering, and thanked Thaddeus and Gronk for their help. “No problem-o,” Thaddeus said cheerfully. “Glad to be of service!” he called after them as they left. (Reply None) (Posted by Liz) (USS Falcon’s Claw – Bridge – CMO, LT Commander Noah – 22:50) Noah watched as the stars at warp speed dropped back to normal space through the view port. It had taken some time to catch up with his new ship, three shuttle craft and a mission scout to be exact to get him this far. As he stared out he saw a large space station filling most of the space in front of him. He spotted the Spectre in what looked like an aggressive posture. His suspicions were right when the Falcon’s Claw’s commanding officer spoke. “The Spectre’s got her shields up there is no way we are going to get you onto her.” Noah nodded as he looked at the situation. Then the tactical officer spoke up. “Skipper there is a small runabout Wenton nearby. We could transport the doc to them. From my log they are transporting extra crew anyway.” The Skipper paused for a moment before. “I’m sorry sir but it looks like the only option. We are on a time critical mission and really need to get out of here. So if you don’t mind transporting over in would be appreciated.” Noah nodded again. “Not a problem. I will got and get my belongings.” Just as he was about to step off the bridge a call came from the tactical officer. “Skipper we have just received a message from the Spectre, they are advising not to use the transporters as they are unsafe at this time.” The Skipper nodded slowly as he looked over at the tactical officer. “Okay let’s scrap that plan, let’s open a channel and see what the Spectre suggests” The view screen changed to the inside of the Spectre and Noah saw a petite woman with black hair with commander pips on her collar. ~Must be the FO~ “USS Spectre this is the Mission Scout Vessel Falcon’s Claw. We have an officer transfer that we have been asked to assist in. I am sorry but we are on a time critical mission, we really need to get out of here and back on track. Is it possible to do the transfer as quick as possible?” =^=Captain, please use the external docking bay. I think all things considered that would be the quickest option for you. Our OPS, Ensign Smith, will liaise with you on that. Please inform our new crewmember that he should come to the Bridge on embarking. Spectre out=^= The screen went blank for a few moments before another face appeared, this one with the rank of an Ensign. ~Ensign Smith I guess~ =^=Falcon’s Claw this is the Spectre. Could you please use external docking port 8 on the starboard side on deck 5 and could you also inform the transferring officer to proceed to the bridge as soon as he is on board=^= The Captain nodded. “Understood Spectre. Falcon’s Claw out.” As the screen went blank again he turned to the helmsman. “Okay helm take us to external docking port 8 on the starboard side on deck 5. Nice and steady like, don’t want any mishaps.” “Yes sir nice and steady.” Noah watched as the Captain turned to him. “Sir I think you better got and get your things as we are going to dock in a few moments.” Noah nodded “Not a problem Captain.” With that he left the bridge and headed towards his temporary bunk space. (Reply any) (Posted by Robbie) (Shuttle Craft Wenton - TAC/SC, Lt Kerge - 22:51) Kerge was enjoying a particularly vivid and fond memory of a time playing with his pet Targ, as Grey piloted the shuttle into the hanger deck and then settled back once the Spectre had 'grabbed' them in it's tractor guidance system. The beast itself had already gouged a section of his flesh from his forearm during a bout of 'playful' frenzy, and although there was blood, actually quite a lot of blood, the Klingon had relished in engaging the thing full on and had bitten it's ear in retaliation. Oh how the beast had howled and kicked, but Kerge held it firm in his hands and then turned it's face towards his, the saliva dripping from it's mouth somewhat odiously as he did so before planting a kiss full it's nose! "HIghoS Kagh, yIDoghQo", he had cried, and the beast had responded by snaking out it's black tongue and licking his face lovingly. “Well we’ve arrived”, came a voice to distract him from the brief, but pleasant memory. Kerge opened his eyes and then looked about with an audible growl. "Grrr, indeed we have", he said, "but no matter", he added, slapping his legs and then standing to playfully slap the Ensigns back whilst engaging in a typically 'Klingon' belly laugh. He planted both hands upon the console and then gazed out into the bay through the viewscreen and exhaled, his breath not the most pleasant thing in the universe for the Ensign to have to endure no doubt! "Well, she's no palace, but she's no Dujllj'e either. Her Captain's no Klingon, but his heart is probably a good compromise", he added as he moved off smartly towards the already opening side door before stepping off the loading platform and breathing in the unmistakable aroma of..... fish! Kerge's face screwed up in response. "This is not a smell I remember", he snapped, immediately looking to a young Ensign nearby who visibly stepped back as he spied her and then marched towards her. "Ensign, why does this hanger bay smell of fish?", he asked with a snarl. "I - I don't know sir", said the Ensign sniffing at the air now in an attempt to appease him, "I can't smell anything, it just smells, of... Umm, I don't really know sir. I'll make a report", said the somewhat terrified Ensign. Kerge turned his lip up again in disgust and then threw his hands into the air. "Don't bother, it is not important", he snapped. "Where is my department, so long as they have not moved it to another deck, then all will be fine", he snapped, whilst following the already departing Ensign Grey, already in the process of apparently wanting to place as much distance between them as was possible. It was too late though, Grey had already entered the turbolift and was gone, much to Kerge's annoyance. Disgruntled, he turned back to the Ensign from before, a puzzled look upon his face as he stretched his hands out before him. "Anybody would think that I was NOT good company", he said, confused. "Bah!, some people do not appreciate the finer things in life", he cried, and then stomped out of the hanger bay. (Reply Any, None) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi – 22:51) “Incoming message from the USS Falcon’s Claw.” Hoshimi almost sighed aloud. It was beginning to feel as if half of Starfleet wanted to talk to the Spectre. “Onscreen.” It seemed that the Falcon’s Claw also had a new crewmember for the Spectre, who had been going to transport over to the Wenton. But due to the communication the Spectre had sent out recommending that transporters were not to be used in the system, they wanted to know how to get him aboard. They were on a tight schedule and didn’t want to wait too long. Hoshimi thought for a moment. “Captain, please use the external docking bay. I think all things considered that would be the quickest option for you. Our OPS, Ensign Smith, will liaise with you on that. Please inform our new crewmember that he should come to the Bridge on embarking. Spectre out.” She looked at Robert. “Mister Smith, liaise with the Falcon’s Claw to get them docked at the external docking bay as soon as possible. Once the new crewmember is safely aboard, assist with the undocking so that the Falcon’s Claw can get about her business. Mister Rodriguez, again please drop the shields long enough to allow the Claw to dock, and again when they are ready to leave.” (reply Smith, Rodriguez) “I’m going to speak to the Captain. Mister Rodriguez, you have the Bridge.” (Reply Smith, Rodriguez, Any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Ready Room – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 22:53) On being invited to enter, Hoshimi walked over to where the Captain was sitting at his desk. “Sorry to interrupt you Captain, but I have quite a lot of news. As you’re aware from the communication from Starfleet Command that you forwarded to me, we will be getting our away teams back soon. I have asked Lieutenant Rodriguez to liaise with Station Echo One Zero to run some transporter tests before bringing our people back. I’ve instructed they should be beamed direct to Sickbay for a full check-up and since we’re also being sent two station personnel I’ve arranged for a small security detail to be there as well, as we don’t know who we’re being sent or why. We are also about to receive three new crewmembers; I have instructed that they are to be sent directly to the Bridge, after which I will send them in to you, Sir, to report in, unless you’re too busy at the moment?” Although she had read the communique from Starfleet Command, Hoshimi wasn’t certain whether or not the Captain was still in discussions with them. (reply T’Vhor) (Reply Smith, Rodriguez, Grey, Kerge, Noah, T’Vhor, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Engineering Department, Secondary Engineering - ACEO, Ensign Rydan – 22:53) Once they arrived in secondary engineering, they laid their equipment upon one of the workbenches. “Would you be able to start setting up whilst I check in on the sub-team?” he enquired as he lifted his PADD and started looking for the latest update regarding repairs. (Reply Evans) Varios expected the fuse to be replaced by now and so reviewed the repair log. His eyes narrowed and his mood darkened as he spotted something curious in relation to the repair. Varios felt his heart beating faster and harder in his chest and it took a force of will to stop from marching down there to see what they were playing at. He was going to use a console to look into it in more detail and double check the data on the PADD, in the hope there had been a mistake. However, in the interest of staying on schedule he had to shelve it for now and simply make a note to enquire about it later. It was difficult as it was a matter he felt passionately about and he wasn’t about to drop it but he had other priorities to juggle too. “Ensign Rydan to CPO Biign, have you finished the repairs on the faulty fuse?” he said more aggressively than necessary. It was uncharacteristic of Varios to use that tone, but he was annoyed with CPO Biign right now because of what he’d read about that repair. He tried to put it out of his mind until an investigation could be done, nevertheless it had coloured his mood. It reflected in his body language as he adopted a more aggressive posture, the expression on his face suggested someone had stolen his lollipop. (Reply CPO Biign) “Are there any problems I should be aware of?” (Reply CPO Biign) “Very well. I need you to check the filtration system between the molecular conversion catalyst and the OPC. We think the positronic feeders were contaminated with tngonian due to a fault in the filtering system.” (Reply CPO Biign) Varios checked his chronometer again, “Give it your best work and get assistance if you need it. I will be in secondary engineering cleaning these contaminated feeders with petty officer Evans for the next hour. Once I’m done here I’ll meet you down by the phased cloaking device. Inform me immediately if you find any further problems I should know about.” (Reply CPO Biign iyw) He turned back to Cordelia, unclenching his fists and unfolding his arms, determined to keep his foul mood to himself. He pressed his lips into a thin line and took a deep breath before speaking slightly more calmly. “How are you doing there, do you need any help?” (Reply Evans) Varios helped Cordelia finish setting up the two sets of equipment then checked his chronometer once again. Assuming everything went to plan and the decontamination was successful he expected they would be done and on their way to engineering around 11PM. (Reply Evans, Thaddeus, Gronk, Biign, any ifw) (Posted by Natalya) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - CO, Captain T'Vhor - 22:54) The Captain had still been in conference with Starfleet Admiral Alexander when the acting first officer had initially requested his attention. It seemed that there was much more afoot on this station than had first met the eye, and that the experiments going on had been effectively sanctioned by Section 31 operations itself! That information had not been particularly surprising to the Vulcan hybrid CO in the slightest, and given his earlier discussions regarding the fugitive Obsidian order operative, Sulia Madon, it only compounded matters even further. Indeed, if Madon was in any way involved here, then the plot was about to thicken a great deal more than the frozen layers of Rura Pente itself! The Captain though had put the Admiral on hold now, the man himself not being particularly driven by rank protocol and such, nor one to discuss the ramifications of Madons involvement with any but the highest starship rank. If it had been any other Admiral of course, then perhaps feathers would have been spat at being simply put on hold... and spat vigourously. The fact that T'Vhor had past history though, went someway to making this situation, somewhat unique, and he was happy to oblige. "Commander?", said T'Vhor, giving the acting FO his full attention now. Tsukawa then proceeded to give an operational report on their current situation, beginning with a brief apology for the interruption, and then going on to say that they finally had their away teams coming home again, all of whom would be being beamed directly to sickbay once field tests had confirmed viability of the transporters! The Captain nodded, his face as impassive and unemotional as it invariably was, but secretly gladdened at the news... if ever one of Vulcan blood ever could be 'gladdened' that was. Either way, it was good news at which the Captain relaxed somewhat, and settled back into his chair. Hoshimi then continued with a crew transfer update and a recomendation to station a security detail on the station once that was viable also. "And the Marines Commander, what is their condition?", asked the Captain. (Reply Tsukawa) "I see", said the Captain, thinking back now to the nature of the experimentation that had 'apparently' been going on on the station itself. "It might be prudent to investigate all returning personnel beyond simple evaluations", said the Captain, "I want to be sure that we do not bring any contaminents to the ship" (Reply Tsukawa) "Have the transporter chief scrutinize the pattern buffers for anything untoward 'before' reintegration is initiated", ordered the Captain, noting as he did so the aire of curiosity showing upon the oriental womans face as he spoke. It was not the time, nor the place though to go into any more detail just yet, and with a cursory nod of assent to Tsukawa's report, he quickly dismissed her in order to return to the Admiral, and the matter in hand regarding the Ark Royal's current assignment. "Thank you Commander", said the Captain, "please keep me advised of all further developments. Have Major Kowalski report directly to Lieutenant Colonel Krige upon his arrival, he has been made aware of the Majors... indiscretions already", he added, emphasising the word 'indiscretions', with a raise of an eyebrow. (Reply Tsukawa) The Captain waited for Tsukawa to exit, and then he returned to Alexander on the viewscreen in earnest... (Reply Tsukawa) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre – Engineering Department, Secondary Engineering - EO, Petty Officer Cordelia Evans – 22:55) Having laid out their equipment on one of the workbenches, Rydan asked Cordelia to start setting up while he checked on the progress of the sub-team. “Sure – eh, I mean, yes, Sir!” Cordelia replied and busied herself setting up the equipment ready to decontaminate the feeders. She missed most of Rydan’s conversation with Chief Biign as she was concentrating on getting the settings correct, although she thought she detected from his tone of voice that he wasn’t too happy. However, by the time he finished up talking to Biign, he seemed to have calmed down again. “How are you doing there, do you need any help?” asked the ACEO. “I’ve nearly finished but we should check the settings on both units one last time to make absolutely sure they are correct.” With Rydan’s help the work was soon done and the feeders in the decontamination units, which were then switched on. Cordelia leant against the workbench. “Never a dull day here on the Spectre!” she commented. “Not that things go wrong all the time, but everything has to be in A-1 condition. It’s not often that we get a problem like this though, which is probably just as well. I wouldn’t like to be the one to tell the Captain that he couldn’t use the phase cloak when he needed to!” (Reply Rydan, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa - 22:57) "And the Marines Commander, what is their condition?" asked the Captain. “We haven’t yet had specific reports from the station Sickbay, Sir, but my understanding is that all of our people will require some kind of medical treatment, including the marines,” replied Hoshimi. The Captain seemed to consider this, and then suggested that all returning personnel should be examined beyond a simple evaluation, and that during transport the pattern buffers be scrutinized before reintegration was initiated. He explained that he wanted to be sure no contaminents were brought on board. Hoshimi’s curiosity was piqued by this remark but as the Captain chose not to elaborate, and was clearly busy, she didn’t enquire further. It was enough for her that the Captain thought it necessary. Explanation would follow if and when T’Vhor thought it was right. So she simply acknowledged the order. “I will make sure the chief understands the importance of doing so, Sir.” "Thank you Commander", said the Captain, "please keep me advised of all further developments. Have Major Kowalski report directly to Lieutenant Colonel Krige upon his arrival, he has been made aware of the Majors... indiscretions already." “Aye Sir.” As she left the Ready Room, Hoshimi suppressed the curiosity that was now surging through her. First the pattern buffers, now the MXO’s ‘indiscretions’… what had been going on over there? (Reply None) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Engineering, Phased Cloaking Device – CPO, Wai Biign – 22:58) =^=Ensign Rydan to CPO Biign, have you finished the repairs on the faulty fuse?=^= he said more aggressively than necessary. “CPO Biign here sir what can I do for you.” ~Well don’t you sound happy~ =^=Are there any problems I should be aware of?=^= “No Sir there was not problems, I have repaired the faulty fuse. Sir” ~Stop being a blubbers fish and grow some scales. I am not a small fry any more, I can swim with the big fish~ =^=Very well. I need you to check the filtration system between the molecular conversion catalyst and the OPC. We think the positronic feeders were contaminated with tngonian due to a fault in the filtering system=^= “Yes sir.” ~What did your last nurture fish die of!~ =^=Give it your best work and get assistance if you need it. I will be in secondary engineering cleaning these contaminated feeders with petty officer Evans for the next hour. Once I’m done here I’ll meet you down by the phased cloaking device. Inform me immediately if you find any further problems I should know about=^= “Yes Sir.” ~It’s like having a sucker fish permanently attached to me~ As the connection closed Wai rolled her eyes. She turned down the speakers on her suit so that no one else could hear what she was saying. “He should really need to get to sickbay and get that eel out of where the sea dose not go and learn to relax a little. If he dose not something is going to go pop.” (Reply Rydan, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – External docking port 8 - CMO, Lt Commander Noah – 23:00) Noah stepped through the docking hatch to see an Ensign standing to attention in front of him. He heard the hatch close behind him and the Falcon’s Claw disconnecting. ~They must really be in a hurry~ He focused back on the Ensign. “Permission to come aboard Ensign?” He did have a slight thought that if the Ensign did not give him permission his ride was disappearing fast. “Permission granted Sir.” Noah nodded and stepped forward. “Thank you Ensign.” The Ensign nodded. “Sir, the First Officer would like you to report to the Captain as soon as you have stowed your belongings. If you would follow me I can quickly show you to your quarters.” Noah nodded. “Lead the way.” As he turned and fell into step with the Ensign. (Reply None) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 23:01) On her way back to the command chair, for what she thought must be one of the last times since Commander Williams would soon be back aboard, Hoshimi stopped off by the Tactical station. “Lieutenant, make sure that the transporter chief is to hold each transport from the station to us in the pattern buffers until he has scrutinised them carefully to ensure there are no hidden contaminants or anything else untoward. That applies to the test transports as well, but particularly when we are bringing personnel aboard. We want our people back as soon as possible but we don’t want any nasty surprises along with them.” (reply Rodriguez) Hoshimi nodded. “Thank you, Lieutenant. One more thing. Major Kowalski is to report to Lieutenant Colonel Krige as soon as he’s cleared transport and Sickbay. “ (reply Rodriguez) “Did you get agreement from the station to the transport tests yet?” (reply Rodriguez) “Let me know when you and the transporter chief are satisfied with the tests and you’re ready to start bringing our people home.” (reply Rodriguez, rfm anywhere iyw) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – CMO Quarters - CMO, Lt Commander Noah – 23:05) Noah looked around the quarters quickly as he new that he had to get to the bridge. He dumped his carry all onto the bed and had a quick look around. The room was of standard size with a bed and toilet/ shower facilities, it also had a small dining area which was big enough to hold a few people. ~This is nice. I think that I could get use to this~ He noticed the Ensign fidgeting at the doorway and gave a small smile. He quickly looked into the wall mirror that was hiding in one corner. ~Good enough for government work~ He then turned to the Ensign. “Okay Ensign show me to the bridge.” And he stepped out of his quarters and into the corridor. (Reply None) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Bridge - CMO, Lt Commander Noah – 23:10) Noah stepped on to the bridge and the ensign that had shown him around hurried back to the safety of the science division. He stood there for a moment looking around the busy bridge. There were people moving around doing there work and there in the middle like some conductor of old was the woman he had seen on the view screen earlier. ~That must be the FO~ She was talking to some officers so he waited until she was finished before he stepped over to her and came to attention. “Ma’am. Lieutenant Commander Noah reposting, ma’am.” (Reply Tsukawa) (Reply Tsukawa, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 23:12) Hoshimi read through and signed off another PADD waved under her nose by an ensign from the quartermaster’s office (regarding quarters for the new officers) and reflected that if ever she’d wondered what the First Officer did all day, now she knew. She or he signed PADDs for everything from the issue of “vases, two, green glass” to the inventory of the arms lockers, which had already been signed by the officers who’d done the inventory and the acting TAC/SC. As the ensign went away she was approached by a rather-too-thin man wearing the uniform of a commissioned civilian. “Ma’am. Lieutenant Commander Noah reporting, ma’am.” Hoshimi smiled and held out her hand. “Acting First Officer Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa. I’m very pleased to meet you, Commander Noah. Although probably not as pleased as I suspect our team in Sickbay will be. You join us at a rather a busy moment I’m afraid. But the Captain will see you now, in his Ready Room. After that if you could make your way to Sickbay and pitch in there, I’m sure they’d welcome your help. We’re expecting incoming personnel any minute now, condition unknown as of yet.” (reply Noah, rfm iyw) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Bridge – CMO, Lt Commander Noah – 23:13) “Acting First Officer Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa. I’m very pleased to meet you, Commander Noah. Although probably not as pleased as I suspect our team in Sickbay will be. You join us at rather a busy moment I’m afraid. But the Captain will see you now, in his Ready Room. After that if you could make your way to Sickbay and pitch in there, I’m sure they’d welcome your help. We’re expecting incoming personnel any minute now, condition unknown as of yet.” “Thank you ma’am. I am very pleased to be here. I’ll see the Captain and then head down to Sickbay. Ma’am” With a nod he turned and walked over to the ready room door. He pressed the chime and waited for the door to open. (Reply None) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Bridge - ACSO, Ensign JG Ilana Grey - 23:15) Ilana entered the bridge she saw the FO. talking to another arrival. Pausing and waiting politely to one side she waited for them to finish before she would address the FO and present the CO with the orders she had been carrying. She began to tap her foot gently as she watched them talking. (Reply None) (Posted by Joanna) (USS Spectre – Ready Room – CMO, Lt Commander Noah – 23:15) He entered as the door opened, walked up to the desk with the Captain sitting behind it and came to attention. “Lieutenant Commander Noah reporting as ordered Captain.” He handed out his Padd with his transfer documents. (Reply T’Vhor) (Reply T’Vhor, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - CO, Captain T'Vhor - 23:16) The doors opened, heralding the arrival of an Ornaran in Medical teal and sporting Lt Commander pips upon his collar. The Captain settled back into his chair, the discussion regarding the Ark Royals assignment still at the forefront of his mind as the man approached, and then came to attention opposite the desk. "At ease Lieutenant Commander", said the Captain, and the man relaxed and then introduced himself. "Lieutenant Commander Noah reporting as ordered Captain." Noah, then handed the Captain his transfer orders via the PADD, at which he accessed and then acknowledged the contents with a nod, before replacing it upon the table. "You come to us from a civilian background Lt Commander?", stated the Captain, "I see that you have also tasted command on occasions" (Reply Noah) The Captain nodded. "Life aboard a Starfleet vessel is a little different from that of a freighter", said the Captain, "but you come to us highly recommended nonetheless" (Reply Noah) "Your first test will be immediate. Sickbay has need of you as we speak as we have returning away team members in need of medical assistance.... I trust that you are able to begin right away?", asked the Captain, a raise of an eyebrow accompanying the query in typical Vulcan fashion. (Replay Noah) The Captain then leaned forwards bringing his hands together upon the desk, the matter spoken earlier with Admiral Alexander still fixed in his mind as he prepared to speak. "Lieutenant Commander Noah", he began. "As chief Medical Officer aboard the Spectre, you are aware are you not, that contamination protocol in regards returning away teams from possibly infectious environments, is to be followed at all times?" (Reply Noah) "There may be cause to suspect that some of our crewmembers may be contaminated in some manner, and it is imperitive that any findings thereof are kept within the medical department and relayed only to myself. Is that completely clear?", asked the Captain. (Reply Noah) "Then I await the results of those tests", said the Captain, once again settling back into his seat. "Until then, may I take this opportunity to welcome you aboard the Spectre", he added, standing now and reaching across the desk to shake the mans hand. (Reply Noah) You are dismissed Lieutenant Commander, your department awaits", said the Captain as he retook his seat and then watched as the Ornaran Doctor departed forthwith. (Reply Noah, Any) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 23:16) No sooner had the new CMO vanished in the direction of the Ready Room, than another officer claimed Hoshimi’s attention. The new arrival was standing, tapping her foot as she waited for Hoshimi to acknowledge her. Hoshimi’s eyebrow rose slightly, wondering if this was a sign of impatience or if the Ensign was unaware of what she was doing. “Can I help you, Ensign?” (reply Grey) “Ah, the new ACSO. Welcome aboard!” Hoshimi held her hand out to Ensign Grey with a smile. (reply Grey) “And I believe you travelled with Lieutenant Kerge?” Hoshimi asked. “Is he on his way up here?” (Reply Grey) ~Bet that was a fun trip~ Hoshimi thought. She had heard stories about Lieutenant Kerge from the last time he was stationed on the Spectre. She wasn't sure how much to believe and was quite looking forward to meeting him for herself, to see how much she had heard was true. “Our new CMO is just reporting in to Captain T’Vhor at the moment," Hoshimi continued, "but I know the Captain will want to see you as soon as he’s finished.” She smiled at the new officer. “You can wait here on the Bridge until Commander Noah comes out, or you can wait outside the Ready Room, as you wish. “ (reply Grey) (Reply Rodriguez, Noah, Grey, Any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - CMO, Noah - 23:17) "At ease Lieutenant Commander", said the Captain. "Lieutenant Commander Noah reporting as ordered Captain." Noah, then handed the Captain his transfer orders via the PADD, at which he accessed and then acknowledged the contents with a nod, befor eplacing it upon the table. "You come to us from a civilian background Lt Commander?", "I see that you have also tasted command on occasions" Noah nodded. Yes Captain. I have had the opportunity of be the captain of two freighters before coming here.” The Captain nodded. "Life aboard a Starfleet vessel is a little different from that of a freighter", said the Captain, "but you come to us highly recommended nonetheless" ”Yes Captain, I expected that when I got given the assignment and I feel that I am up to the task” "Your first test will be immediate. Sickbay has need of you as we speak as we have returning away team members in need of medical assistance.... I trust that you are able to begin right away?” ~Right to work no time to settle in~ ”Yes sir. I can start right away.” "Lieutenant Commander Noah", began the CO. "As chief Medical Officer aboard the Spectre, you are aware are you not, that contamination protocol in regards returning away teams from possibly infectious environments, is to be followed at all times?" ”Yes Captain. I am aware and understand the protocol in that regard.” "There may be cause to suspect that some of our crewmembers may be contaminated in some manner, and it is imperative that any findings thereof are kept within the medical department and relayed only to myself. Is that completely clear?" ”Yes Captain I will set up the necessary decontamination areas and keep you apprised of any development and findings.” "Then I await the results of those tests", said the Captain, once again settling back into his seat. "Until then, may I take this opportunity to welcome you aboard the Spectre", Noah shook T’Vhor hand. “Thank you Captain. I am very happy to be here.” ”You are dismissed Lieutenant Commander, your department awaits” “Yes Captain.” Noah came to attention and then turned and left the Ready Room. (Reply Any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Bridge – ACSO, Ensign JG Ilana Grey – 23:17) No sooner had the new CMO vanished in the direction of the Ready Room, than another officer claimed Hoshimi’s attention. The new arrival was standing, tapping her foot as she waited for Hoshimi to acknowledge her. Hoshimi’s eyebrow rose slightly, wondering if this was a sign of impatience or if the Ensign was unaware of what she was doing. “Can I help you, Ensign?” Ilana snapped out of her train of though, “Sorry Commander!” Ilana stammered an apology “I was lost in thought. Ensign Ilana Grey reporting for duty,” She said handing across the PADD with her transfer orders. “Ah, the new ACSO. Welcome aboard!” Hoshimi held her hand out to Ensign Grey with a smile. Ilana shook Hoshimi’s hand “Thank you commander.” She gratefully shook the commanders hand, “Our shuttle just got in.” “And I believe you travelled with Lieutenant Kerge?” Hoshimi asked. “Is he on his way up here?” Ilana paused, “Yes.” She said slowly not wanting to betray her frustrations about the long flight from Starfleet headquarters to the ship. She looked the commander straight in the face “After a week in a type nine shuttle together I must confess I needed some time away so I left him in the shuttle bay I believe he was making his own way up here.” ~ Bet that was a fun trip ~ Hoshimi thought. She had heard stories about Lieutenant Kerge from the last time he was stationed on the Spectre. She wasn't sure how much to believe and was quite looking forward to meeting him for herself, to see how much she had heard was true. “Our new CMO is just reporting in to Captain T’Vhor at the moment," Hoshimi continued, "but I know the Captain will want to see you as soon as he’s finished.” She smiled at the new officer. “You can wait here on the Bridge until Commander Noah comes out, or you can wait outside the Ready Room, as you wish. “ “Thank you” Ilana replied she looked at the second Padd she had in her bag the one with the supposedly secret orders “I’ve got some other orders for the captain’s eyes only” She said pulling the padd out of her bag. “What can you tell me about the Spectre class?” Ilana asked, “I’ve not had much time to familiarise myself with this ship.” She said looking around at the bridge. (Reply Rodriguez, Noah, Grey, Any) (Posted by Joanna) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 23:18) It had been with difficulty that Hoshimi had kept a straight face when Ensign Grey had commented that after spending a week in a shuttle with Lieutenant Kerge she had needed some time away from him! Hoshimi had no problem believing that. She hadn’t yet met Kerge personally but she had, way back in her second year in the Academy, shared quarters with a Klingon cadet for three hideous days, after which time she had managed to swap quarters with a first-year Vulcan cadet who had never met a Klingon before and was eager to expand her knowledge. Hoshimi could only hope that the knowledge gained was worth the experience. As Lieutenant Commander Noah was still in with the CO, Hoshimi had offered the new ACSO the choice between waiting on the Bridge or outside the Ready Room. Ensign Grey replied that she had some other orders for the Captain’s eyes only, at which Hoshimi nodded. ~The way things have gone, and are still going, today, it would hardly even be a shock if Grey’s carrying secret orders from Starfleet Command to turn the Spectre into a circus ship!~ she thought to herself. “What can you tell me about the Spectre class?” the new ACSO asked, breaking into Hoshimi’s thoughts. “I’ve not had much time to familiarise myself with this ship,” she added as her gaze wandered around the Bridge. Hoshimi regarded the new officer for a moment. Before answering she reminded herself that this was Grey’s first assignment and whilst it might be obvious to a more seasoned officer that things were a tad fraught at the moment, the new ACSO was probably unaware. ~ I guess it’s a compliment in a way ~ she thought to herself. ~ At least it doesn’t look like organised chaos even if it is! ~ Aloud, she said: “As I’m sure you will appreciate, Ensign, things are a touch busy at the moment and I don’t really have the time to talk you through the ship.” She cast her eyes around the Bridge and her gaze landed on the recently-vacated secondary science station. “But if you take a seat over there, I will bring up the ship’s specs for you. There is also a deckplan which I’m sure you’ll find helpful. You can download it all onto a PADD; I don’t suppose the Captain will keep you much longer and it would be an excellent idea not to keep him waiting once he *is* ready to see you.” So saying she led Ensign Grey over to the secondary science station, used her own command codes to bring up the specs and the deckplans, and handed Grey a PADD. “Your own codes won’t be activated until you’ve reported in to the Captain,” she explained. “But the codes I’ve entered will allow you to download the necessary information to this PADD, and you can then look through it at your leisure. Your quarters will be marked on it, and important places like Ten Forward,” she added with a smile. “Also the Science Department, but unless the Captain says otherwise, I would take the chance to stow your luggage in your quarters before you go down there!” (reply Grey iyw) Hoshimi left the new ACSO to download and begin reading the information on her PADD and returned to the command chair. Before she sat down, she asked, “Mister Rodriguez, how are those transporter tests going?” (reply Rodriguez) “And when can we start bringing our people back aboard?” (reply Rodriguez) A few minutes later, Hoshimi saw Lt. Commander Noah come out of the Ready Room, and she nodded to Grey to let her know that the Captain would see her now. (Reply Grey, Rodriguez, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre - Bridge - CMO, Lt Commander Noah - 23:20) As Noah walked across the Bridge he noticed that Tsukawa was talking to another crewwmember. He gave her a polite nod as he headed towards the turbolift. ~Okay lets see how I get to sickbay~ The doors of the turbolift shut and began taking him to his new world. (Reply None) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Bridge – Acting FO, Commander Hoshimi Tsukawa – 23:23) Finally Hoshimi had received confirmation that the test transports had all been completed satisfactorily and that therefore the return of the away teams plus the two ‘extras’ from the station was about to begin. Accordingly she tapped her commbadge. “Tsukawa to Captain T’Vhor. The transporter tests have been completed successfully and we are about to bring the away teams and the two extra personnel from Station Echo One Zero on board. Transporter Chief Bo’ong estimates total time to bring them all aboard, including the extra checks in the transporter buffers, will take approximately ten minutes. They are being transported directly to Sickbay. I will alert Dr Noah and inform Colonel Krige.” (reply T’Vhor, rfm) Having finished speaking with the Captain, Hoshimi again activated her commbadge. “Tsukawa to Sickbay. Dr Noah, we are bringing our people back aboard now. They should start arriving any time now. They will need a full medical check and possible treatment for exposure to unknown elements.” (reply Noah, rfm) NRPG: The away team and Kirrin and Marsh will all have raised serotonin levels, as well as anything else you want to find J Kirrin and Marsh will have slightly lower levels of serotonin as they were exposed for a shorter time to the phased station. RPG: Finally Hoshimi contacted Krige. “Tsukawa to Lieutenant Colonel Krige. Your marines and the rest of the away team are being brought back aboard now. They are being transported directly to Sickbay for a full medical check. I believe you wish to speak to Major Kowalski; please contact the new CMO Dr Noah as to when that will be possible.” (reply Krige iyw, rfm) NRPG: The away teams, Kirrin and Marsh will start to arrive back from 23:26 onwards. Everyone being brought back from the station should be in Sickbay by 23:36. Remember that you will need to have a full medical examination, treatment for the raised serotonin and whatever other procedures the CMO deems necessary before you can leave Sickbay ;-) RPG: (Reply T’Vhor, Noah, Krige, all on the away team, any) (Posted by Liz) (USS Spectre – Bridge – ACSO, Ensign Ilana Grey – 23:23) So saying she led Ensign Grey over to the secondary science station, used her own command codes to bring up the specs and the deckplans, and handed Grey a PADD. “Your own codes won’t be activated until you’ve reported in to the Captain,” she explained. “But the codes I’ve entered will allow you to download the necessary information to this PADD, and you can then look through it at your leisure. Your quarters will be marked on it, and important places like Ten Forward,” she added with a smile. “Also the Science Department, but unless the Captain says otherwise, I would take the chance to stow your luggage in your quarters before you go down there!” Ilana gave her a smile, she knew her luggage wasn’t much, most Starfleet officers never seemed to have much in the way of possessions, and she knew better than to carry anything valuable or even really precious with her. Contained in her modest bag were two holo-deck programs, two 20th century books and two sets of spare clothes and a spare uniform. She hadn’t actually received her dress uniform yet but doubted as an ensign she would need one anytime soon. Hoshimi left the new ACSO to download and begin reading the information on her PADD and returned to the command chair. Before she sat down, she asked, “Mister Rodriguez, how are those transporter tests going?” (reply Rodriguez) “And when can we start bringing our people back aboard?” (reply Rodriguez) A few minutes later, Hoshimi saw Lt. Commander Noah come out of the Ready Room, and she nodded to Grey to let her know that the Captain would see her now. Ilana got up having downloaded what she needed from the ships computer she smartly made her way across to the captains office. She chimed the bell politely and waited. She didn’t know what to expect when she saw the captain, however T’Vhor certainly fit the bill. He was what all Starfleet captains in her mind looked like, obviously some were different from others but this man although looking completely different reminded her of her father, he had that same sort of distant professionalism. (Reply T’Vhor) “Ensign Ilana Grey Reporting for duty” She said going to salute but realised she was still holding the Padd Hoshimi had given her, she quickly swapped it into her free hand and corrected the salute. (Reply T’Vhor) (Posted by Joannah) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO, Lt Commander Noah - 23:24) Noah stepped into sickbay with a slight air of in trepidation. He had not worked as a doctor for a while and that was with a staff of five other doctors which he was not the senior. ~It you can’t take a joke~ =^=Tsukawa to Sickbay. Dr Noah, we are bringing our people back aboard now. They should start arriving any time now. They will need a full medical check and possible treatment for exposure to unknown elements=^= “Understood ma’am we will be ready.” ~I really hope we are~ He found that sickbay was busy with people moving with purpose as they were getting things ready. ~Okay lets get started then, they don’t pay me by the hour~ He stopped a passing nurse. “Excuse could you tell me who is in charge.” The nurse looked at him for a moment before answering. “Speak to Douwsy she will know. I have enough things to do.” He looked over to where the nurse had pointed and saw a female Orian calibrating one of the bio-bed sensors. “Thank you.” He turned and walked over the orian. “Excuse me are you Douwsy?” (Reply Douwsy) “Hallo I am Noah. I am your new Chief Medical Officer.” (Reply Douwsy) “Can you bring me up to speed please?” (Reply Douwsy) “We don’t have that long. They will be arriving any minute.Okay so apart from you, the nurse and me are there any other medical staff that I should know about?” (Reply Douwsy) “Where is Ensign L'Risa?” (Reply Douwsy) “Okay where is Lieutenant Kirien.” (Reply Douwsy) “Okay so your saying that it’s just you, me, the nurses and Lieutenant Kirien?” (Reply Douwsy) Noah nodded. “Okay we do have the EMH which we may need to use.” He paused for a moment but before he could say anything there was a whine of multiple transports and suddenly with bay was bombarded with the noise of patient. “Looks like we better get started.” (Reply Douwsy) He nodded moved over to the first patient he could find. (Reply Douwsy, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CPO, Chief Nurse Douwsy - 23:25) Things were controlled chaos in sickbay and they were nearly ready which was good because from the sound of it they were going to get the away team and marines very soon. “Excuse me are you Douwsy?” Douwsy turned around and found herself looking at a man in civilian uniform wit lieutenant commander’s pips on his collar. What caught her eye the most was fact that he looked like he had not eaten for a while. ~You need a good feeding~ “Yes hallo how can I help you?” “Hallo I am Noah. I am your new Chief Medical Officer.” She paused for a moment trying to take it all in. Andrew had been the CMO but now that he was missing and Commander Tsukawa was not FO it seamed to make sence that they would send another CMO. “Hallo Sir. I am CPO Douwsy the chief nurse.” “Can you bring me up to speed please?” Douwsy nodded. “Yes Sir. We are at the moment rearranging sickbay to work as decontamination area for the away team and the marines that are on the station. I have been informed that they have been contaminated and need a full decontamination procedures when they arrive. We are nearly there give a about 10 minutes or so and we should be ready.” “We don’t have that long. They will be arriving any minute.Okay so apart from you, the nurse and me are there any other medical staff that I should know about?” “Yes Sir. We have Ensign L'Risa who is our assistant CMO, Lieutenant Kirien who works in Medical Research and Ensign Caras our counsellor.” “Where is Ensign L'Risa?” “He is on the away mission sir.” “Okay where is Lieutenant Kirien.” “She is on her way sir. She said she would be here as soon as she could.” “Okay so you’re saying that it’s just you, me, the nurses and Lieutenant Kirien?” Douwsy nodded. “We do have the EMH sir!” Noah nodded. “Okay we do have the EMH which we may need to use.” There was a whine of multiple transports and suddenly with bay was bombarded with the noise of patient. “Looks like we better get started.” “Yes Sir.. Ow and well come to sickbay sir.” With that she turned and headed towards the first group of patients.. (Reply any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – COUNS, Ensign Oggie Marsh – 23:36) "Honestly, I am fine, nurse," Oggie tried again just before he was unceremoniously dumped onto a biobed. "Oh well," he sighed as he stopped resisting her. "If I must. But just a short scan, mind you? There are others in a far worse position then me." The nurse looked around then turned back to her 'patient'. "All others have been taken care of, Ensign. Just you. Now lay still please, if you move during the scan we will have to do it all over again." Oggie sighed but nodded, trying to lay as still as he could. As the nurse was going over his whole body and seemed to take forever near his belly, Oggie suddenly heard a clanking sound. "Listen!" he heard someone speak loudly. "I am fine. Ok? Who cares about these burns on my face. That's not going to stop me. I am late for my shift!" There were sounds of a struggle and a 'flop' as if a bag of wet washings fell to the ground. "Ok, so I am a bit week in the knees. So what!? I'll be fine. He! Where are going with that thing? You are so *not* going to put that thing ................." The voice sounded muffled for a second. "You enjoyed that, didn't you! You call yourself a nurse?" Oggie sighed and shook his head. "John!" he barked. "What?!" Linskens barked the question back. "Shut up!" Oggie barked again. There was some muttering then silence. But not for long. "He! I can't see Kate anywhere. What have you done to him?" "Kate?" Oggie heard the nurse ask back. "I didn't think we had a 'Kate' here? There's the Spectre crew, you and these two and I am pretty sure that the woman is called Zia." "Not her! Kate?! you know?! K'Tell! The Bajoran Engineer. Don't tell me you never heard of him? So what have you done to him? No doubt you used him for one of your hedonistic rituals, haven't you?" "John!" the sound of K'Tell's voice rang out. "Oh, Kate! There you are! I just ..." but John was cut short with a short "Shut up!" from the Bajoran engineer. And finally there was silence. Oggie's nurse nodded finally at him. "You seem to be reasonably ok. Your cholesterol levels are a bit high and your serotonin level is raised but in itself not enough to warrant a concern. If you wish we can synthesize a cocktail of peptides to bring your levels down a bit." Oggie shook his head. "No, I think I can work this out of my system myself. You may want to have a word with Zia Kirrin. She's done quite a bit of work on the station about our serotonin levels. Anyway, am I to be released then?" The nurse looked at him for a moment. "No, sorry, we have been ordered by the new CMO to keep you here until he signs you off himself." She looked over to where he was standing then gasped as his patient relieved herself. "Oh my," she breathed almost silently and frowned. "Is she .. pregnant?" she asked. Oggie followed her gaze then sighed. "Not that I am aware of. And I would assume that Zia would have picked that up. But the Ensign has been behaving rather strangely on the station before." "I'd say," the nurse finally responded after a disgusted look at the mess the Ensign had created then nodded to one of the orderlies to leave his patient and clean up the mess. "Oh my," she said again then added some notes to a padd which she handed over to Oggie. "Take this padd to the CMO. he may release you. But give him a bit of space. He has his hands full at the moment." After another look at the mess and the cause of it, she shook her head and walked away. Oggie got off the biobed and looked around. He suddenly smiled as he recognised his protegee. He walked up to her with his padd in hand. "Hello, my dear. Are you ok? Oh, and I was right. You definitely *will* tell your grandchildren about this core that uncle Oggie showed you, am I right?" (Reply: Zia, Any) (Posted by Adrie Geuken) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – CMO, Noah – 23:37) Noah stepped close to the patient. She appeared to be semi-conscious and speaking in her native tongue. He was about to get the bio-bed to translate what she was saying but she stated to try and rise from the bed. “Ble wi? a wi? Paham nei hon ata?” ~Ow not you don’t~ Noah gently placed his hand on her shoulder, laid her down again and spoke to her in a soft calming voice. “It’s okay. You are safe. Be calm you are on the ship you are safe.” ~Take is easy love. You’ll hurt your self if you are not careful~ “Fi must ca oddi 'ma , ddylasem mo bod acha hon gorsaf , dydy mo 'n amsera” She was getting more and more distressed. Noah picked up the hypospray that was beside him on the bio-bed and dialled up a small dose of sedative. “This will help you relax. Just take it easy. You are okay.” He placed the hypospray to her neck and gave her the dose. It was only nock her out for a few minutes but it would calm her down a lot when she surfaced again. He glanced around sickbay taking in the heaving mass of people. ~No one said it would be easy~ “Okay computer activate the EMH.” There was a flicker in the air in front of him and a female EMH activated. “Please state the nature of the medical emergency.” Noah paused for a moment. There was something very familure with the EMH’s voice but he flicked that thought out of his mind. “We are in the process of decontaminating the away team and the marinesI need you to help.” “Not a problems Doctor.” ~That voice it is very familure but from....~ Noah frowned at the EMH but his attention was drawn back to the woman on the bio-bed as she awoke. “Will someone dim the illumination it is hurting my eyes” Noah hit a button on the bio-bed and the lights around them dimmed slightly. “What and when am I doc?” Noah smiled. “You are in sickbay of the USS Spectre. It is star date 2414.03.10 and I am Dr Noah. Take is easy, you are safe can you tell me how you are feeling?” (reply Smithson) (reply Smithson, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Sickbay – TAC/ASC, Ensign Alexandria Smithson – 23:40) Suddenly she woke asked for the lights to be turned down and when they were she asked another question. “What and when am I doc?” Noah smiled. “You are in sickbay of the USS Spectre. It is star date 2414.03.10 and I am Dr Noah. Take is easy, you are safe can you tell me how you are feeling?” Looking up at him “Like I want to” *Throwing up sound* “…sick, oopsy sorry doc” She said then clamped her hand over her mouth and pressed the emergency release then shot up and from the Bio-bed like a Photon torpedo and entered the sickbay refresher and the sound of her throwing up could clearly be heard. (Reply: Noah) Sometime later looking decidedly pale she returned neatly avoiding the vomit patch as she sat back on the Bio-bed. “I think I just lost five years worth of food, you have anything to stop me vomiting again Doc?” She asked. (Reply Noah) (Posted by Paul Davies) =========================================================================