USS Spectre Compile - July 1st-31st 2015 by Alan Reading ================================================================= Mission: Stone Skipping Day: 1 Stardate: 2414.11.01 (USS Spectre – Jeffries Tube – CSO/2O Lt.jg. Kurt Palmer – 16:18) (USS Spectre – Turbolift – CSO/2O Lt.jg. Kurt Palmer – 16:55) ================================================================= Mission: Shore Leave Day: 3 Stardate: 2414.11.03 (Betazed - Tropical Bungalow - Dr. Riven Mias - 23:16) ================================================================= Mission: Stone Skipping Day: 10 Stardate: 2414.11.10 (USS Spectre - Quarters - COUNS, Ensign Elani Caras - 14:20) (USS Spectre - Bridge - FO/CEO, Lt Remae Ktell - 15:39) (USS Spectre - Deck 9, Storage Bay 3 - The Entity - 15:46) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Medical Research Lt. - Dr. Michaella Kirien-Mias - 15:48) (USS Spectre - Deck 3 - Living Quarters - OPS Officer Sestan - 15:53) (USS Spectre - Conference Room - FO/CEO, Lt Remae Ktell - 15:55) (USS Spectre - Conference Room - ACOUNS, Lt. Dr. Riven Mias - 15:56) (USS Spectre - Deck 3 - Sickbay - OPS Officer/Emergency Medic Sestan - 15:58) (USS Spectre - Conference Room - ACOUNS, Lt. Dr. Riven Mias - 16:03) (USS Spectre - Counsellor’s Suite - COUNS, Ensign Elani Caras - 16:05) (USS Spectre - Conference Room - ACouns Lt. Dr. Riven Mias - 16:06) (USS Spectre - Bridge - ACouns Lt. Dr. Riven Mias - 16:07) (USS Spectre - Deck 3 - Sickbay - OPS Officer/Emergency Medic Sestan - 16:08) (USS Spectre - Deck 6, Security Station Gamma - Tac/Sec Security Operations Officer Farrell - 16:08) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Medical Research Lt. - Dr. Michaella Kirien-Mias - 16:09) (USS Spectre - Arboretum - ACSO, Lt. Amari Riya - 16:10) (USS Spectre - Conference Room - FO/CEO, Lt Remae Ktell - 16:10) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Science Officer - Ens. David Yates - 16:13) (USS Spectre - Bridge - FO/CEO, Lt Remae Ktell - 16:15) (USS Spectre - Deck 6 - Security Station Gamma - Security Operations Officer Farrell - 16:15) (USS Spectre - Arboretum - Science Officer - Lt. Amari Riya - 16:17) (USS Spectre - Deck 6, Crew Quarters - TAC/ASC, Ensign (JG) Sorenson - 16:20) (USS Spectre – Deck 4 – CSO/2O Lt.jg. Kurt Palmer – 16:25) (USS Tempest - Captain's Ready Room - Sulia Madon and CO, Mark Adams – 16:25) (USS Spectre – Science Lab 1 – CSO/2O Lt.jg. Kurt Palmer – 16:28) (USS Spectre – Science Lab 1 – CMO, Cmdr Andrew Williams – 16:30) (USS Spectre - Deck 9, Arboretum - The Entity - 16:32) (USS Spectre – Science Lab 1 – CSO/2O Lt.jg. Kurt Palmer – 16:34) (USS Spectre - Deck 3 - Sickbay - TAC/ASC Ensign Sorenson - 16:39) (USS Spectre - Deck 6 - Gamma Security Checkpoint, Sec Operations Office - Security Officer Farrell - 16:46) (USS Spectre - Deck 16 - Armoury - TAC/ASC Ensign Sorenson - 16:47) (USS Spectre - Deck 9, Corridor - The Entity - 16:48) (USS Spectre - Deck 6 - Gamma Security Checkpoint - TAC/ASC Ensign Sorenson - 16:49) (USS Spectre - Deck 9, Corridor - Entity #2 - 16:50) (USS Spectre - Deck 6 - Gamma Security Checkpoint - Security Operations Coordinator Farrell - 16:51) (Nearby space - outside deck 9 - Entity #2 - 16:55) (USS Tempest - Bridge - Sulia Madon, Lt Selenko and Captain Adams - 16:56) (USS Spectre – Turbolift – CMO, Cmdr Andrew Williams – 16:57) (USS Spectre - Transporter Room - FO/CEO, Lt Remae Ktell - 17:00) (USS Spectre - Transporter Room – Commander Jay – 17:03) (USS Spectre - Transporter Room - ACouns Lt. Dr. Riven Mias - 17:03) (USS Spectre - Deck 3, Corridor - ACouns Lt. Dr. Riven Mias - 17:08) (USS Spectre - Counsellor's Suite - FO/CEO, Lt Remae Ktell - 17:10) (USS Spectre - Counsellor's Suite - FO/CEO, Lt Remae Ktell - 17:15) (USS Spectre - Conference Room - CO (USS Wraith) Jana Bell - 17:17) ================================================================= Mission: Stone Skipping Day: 1 Stardate: 2414.11.01 (USS Spectre – Jeffries Tube – CSO/2O Lt.jg. Kurt Palmer – 16:18) The science chief rounded the corner on hands and knees, closely followed by Dr. Williams. He stood as the narrow crawl space opened into a tall upward expanse. As he positioned himself on the metal rungs to climb several decks up, the COMM chimed. =/\= Lt. Palmer, Sir, It’s Lt. Riya in the Arboretum. I’m having an issue with some of the plants. It appears there might be some sort of bio-electric interference going on...=/\= Kurt looked over his shoulder to the doc and sighed as he continued to climb. =/\=someone from Ops will be along to help me as soon as I get back from sickbay for my bioscan.=/\= Riya and the Chief didn't always have the best rapport. However, Palmer didn't have to be an empath to sense the desperation in her voice. He seemed to recall the latest reports said something about her work with a few endangered plants. "Acknowledged Lieutenant." =/\=I just wanted to give you a heads up on what is going on Sir. I should have called you directly, I had assumed you were on the bridge but I got Ensign Yates instead. If you have some free time I could use the help, Sir.=/\= "I'm actually on my way up to Deck 4 now. Make sure you take all precautions necessary. See if you can relocate anything that's a priority to a secure location." As Kurt said this he missed the next rung with his foot. He flinched and promptly decided he needed to pay more attention to his climb. "I'll see if I am able to stop in by while I'm up there. Palmer out." (Reply Riya, any) ((Post by Cody)) (USS Spectre – Turbolift – CSO/2O Lt.jg. Kurt Palmer – 16:55) The lift doors slid shut, they were running short on time. Kurt liked to arrive early when he was ordered to a briefing, but it looked like that wasn't in the cards today. "Deck 1." Kurt said to the lift. A chirp overhead meant the command was acknowledged, he was glad the computers were returning to normal again. However, something came to his mind... "S***." Kurt said without thinking. "Er..apologies..." He looked over to Dr. Williams before tapping his commbadge "Palmer to Riya. I've just been called into a briefing. If you wouldn't mind sending me a quick report on the bio electric interference, I can probably be back to the arboretum within the hour." (Reply, Riya, Williams? any) ((Post by Cody)) =================================================================== Mission: Shore Leave Day: 3 Stardate: 2414.11.03 (Betazed - Tropical Bungalow - Dr. Riven Mias - 23:16) He considered her words as she spoke, it was pretty much what he would have said all in all but everyone at one time or another doubted themselves. It wasn't rational and it certainly wasn't "logical" as a Vulcan might say but it was the way of things. The fact that he had voiced the fears could be therapeutic in itself and he understood that in time that which was put in motion by the Void should subside, as a matter of fact he felt more than a little foolish now that he thought about it. Still getting it off his chest was a good thing and he knew it. He had been a child of the Temple for far too long not to realize the importance of a cathartic conversation. He felt the small hands leave his face and turned his eyes to her. "Are you sure that this is what you desire? That I am what you desire? My Riven, you are my everything." He took her wrists in his hands and turned the palms up to kiss them, afterward he continued holding them gently.. "Yes I am sure my dearest Michaella." His dark eyes bore into her beautiful, bright orbs. "There is no doubt in my mind nor will there ever be that you are exactly what my heart desires and needs. You complete me, you energize me and you bring me joy I could never consider nor hope to replace. I am captivated, enraptured and enthralled by you." "Now." His smile brightened and his eyes twinkled. "Can it be said more clearly than that my love? You will be mine forever and I will tell you every day how much I love you." (Reply: Michaella) (Posted by Charles) ================================================================= Mission: Stone Skipping Day: 10 Stardate: 2414.11.10 (USS Spectre - Quarters - COUNS, Ensign Elani Caras - 14:20) Elani froze when the Admiral’s voice had come over the ship’s intercom. She had been off duty for several hours tending the plants in her quarters as well as listening to her subspace letters and writing replies of her own. She had been mid reply to her good friend Domini Alizara, the COUNS of Starbase Geneva when the Admiral had broken in. Her first thought had been to get to the Bridge. She was command crew, even though she was only an Ensign. Obviously Riven would be of more help to them, she should let him go, and everyone assumed that he was the department head. She was a wet behind the ears, fresh out of the Academy Ensign. Although after close to two years on the Spectre, she wasn’t that wet behind the ears any longer, though she doubted she would ever actually get noticed to be promoted. But the door had beeped angerifully at her and not opened. She had tried again and again it had not opened. She stares in frustration at it, trying her command codes, which did nothing to make the door obey her. Then she tried the intership comms. Again, they were down. So she sat on her bed, closed her eyes and skimmed over the ship lightly, touching each of the empaths and telepaths in turn, except for the Admiral, who was glowing an angry red to her inner sight and the Captain who as usual was his usual unflappable glowing white self. None of the other telepaths, including Riven, knew what was going on. But something was odd when she skimmed the ship. Here and there were ‘dead’ spots that she couldn’t touch. Without permission she couldn’t do more, the telepathic laws were very stringent about what could and could not be done by a telepath or empath in Starfleet. She tucked that information away for a moment, sure that Riven had also found it out. When Riven wasn’t busy she would ask him about that curious abberation. Until then, Elani went back to her letter. “Computer resume…” She took a deep breath, “I know I was talking about missing the Festival of the Five Veils on Betazed, Domini but something very strange is going on here aboard the Spectre…” (reply any, none) (posted by Mel) (USS Spectre - Bridge - FO/CEO, Lt Remae Ktell - 15:39) Remae missed the fact that Haltom was on the Bridge, he reappeared from under a console and then reported that the Spectre would be warp capable within a few minutes... Remae was making preparations for the Commander of the Serenity to come over for their inspection when a familiar Captain came on the channel. A large amount of beeping came from the tactical console and the viewscreen switched, away from Commander Jay and to a decloaking Spectre class ship off the port quarter and before it had even fully materialised, some very familiar came on the channel and asked what was going on between the Spectre and the Serenity. Computer systems, being what they were adapted and before Remae had a chance to process what had just happened, Captain Bell and Commander Jay were on the viewscreen in a split mode, occupying half a veiwscreen each. ... and there she was, alive, in command of the Wraith, as always. Which Jana was it? Was it the one that had been with Remae all those years ago when they were both Ensigns. Was is the same one that knew him...? Commander Jay didn't have the same problem and open mouth experesion that Remae was showing. =^= We were told that the Spectre was infected with some kind of parasite and needed to be contained and quarantined before it could be spread off the ship =^= Remae snapped himself out of it, Jana wasn't playing the long lost love card and he had a ship to run. "Sirs, that doesn't make sense... it was Admiral Jopek that sent us out in the mission but I must admit, I am unfamiliar with this Captain Akess." The Bajoran continued, "We'll transmit all our readings so far, the Spectre is a clean ship. Scan us and find out, then, I invite you both to come to the Spectre at 17.00." (Reply from Bell and Jay) "Very well. Spectre out.", and Jana was gone. "Bridge to Mr Palmer and Mr Williams, please transmit all your findings on the parasite thus far to both the Wraith and the Serenity for their review. I want your both in the conference room at 17.00 for a full briefing. FO out.", said Remae. (Reply from Palmer, Williams) Warp drive came online, it was clear by the sounds, the noise and the increased sounds that the Spectre was back. Remae considered running, warping, cloaking but he would have half of Starfleet chasing across the quadrant. Besides, his meeting with Madon could use a few extra ships. More the merrier? "Sir is there anything I can do?", said Counsellor Mias. He was a sight for sore eyes. It had seemed a long time since the two of them had spoken and it would have even before this new mission had started. "Yes...", said the FO with more than a sound of relief in his voice and nearly dragged him into the empty conference room. Before he left the Bridge, he asked the OPS to open a channel to Jopek, to find out what really happened with the orders of the ships out there. (Reply from Bell, Jay, Palmer, Williams, Any) (Posted by Anthony Keen) (USS Spectre - Deck 9, Storage Bay 3 - The Entity - 15:46) The energy form moved through the tritanium hull, its energetic radiations slipping through the atomic structure between electrons and protons like it was wide open prairie being invaded by the cavalry. Once inside the invisible form paused for a moment, hovering in the storage area between crates of equipment and consumables as well as barrels filled or not with various caustic chemicals. It wasn't confused or overwhelmed though if possible it surely would have been. All around it were electrical, electromagnetic and energetic radioactive isotopes and emissions. Compared to its normal habitation of interstellar space or to be more precise this section of interstellar space it had stepped from the desert into the proverbial oasis. There was enough electrical energy here to meet its basic needs for sustenance for a nearly unlimited period but raw electrical energy wasn't the food it needed or craved, it was like a vegan finding itself in a hamburger joint that didn't stock lettuce or tomatoes and it was the only available eatery. In other words junk food, it will keep you going but isn't healthy. The isolitic energy being run through the EPS conduits was something else again and it had stayed as far as possible from that web of energy woven about the ship. What it was really hungry for was scattered all about, moving around in various places. There was actually one nearby moving a crate about with an anti-grav unit. Having such a close food source was a no-brainer and the entity went for it hungrily, engulfing the bio-neural food source within its circumference which it had to expand just a bit to get a full envelopment. The crewman jerked up in surprise, having suddenly felt woozy. He looked around in quickly but there was nothing there. Why then were his senses tingling? Come to think of it he was feeling tired and his strength was ebbing away. On impulse he leaned against the crate he had been shifting to another part of the storage bay and wiped his forehead with the back of his right arm. Why was he perspiring? It wasn't hot here on the climate controlled ship and he hadn't been exercising or working hard! His chin sagged down to his chest then popped back up. ~I don't get sleepy that fast, something is wrong.~ He wasn't a hypochondriac for sure and not used to running to medical for every little thing but within another few seconds his legs were getting wobbly and that scared him. "Barrows to medical, please reply." (Reply: Any in medical) "I don't know, I had a sudden wave of dizziness and I'm so tired I can barely stand up." As a matter of fact sitting down seemed like a good idea so he lowered himself to the deck. "It's not normal for me that's for sure." His voice had gotten so low it was almost unintelligible. (Reply: Medical) He sagged to his left and lay on his side, talking now was a waste of energy and he was quickly unconscious. Not long after that he wasn't even living anymore. The Entity floated up and hovered over the body, in its hunger it had completely drained the source of all of its bio-neural energy but its hunger hadn't been blunted yet so it took the shortest path to the nearest target which was somewhere on the other side of a bulkhead. (Reply: Medical, any) (Posted by Charles) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Medical Research Lt. - Dr. Michaella Kirien-Mias - 15:48) Michaella had been spending more and more time in Sickbay lately it seemed. Today it was due to an accident in Engineering that had both Dr. Trommashere and Dr. Williams in the surgery suite fighting to save the crewman’s life. That had left sickbay to Michaella, something that she didn’t mind on occassion. Michaella had been briefed by her soul-bonded on what was going on aboard ship currently. Well, briefed wasn’t quite the right word. With their new soul-bond what one knew the other knew almost as fast. They were inside of each other’s souls and at times she could actually see out through Riven’s eyes when his shielding slipped now and then. But then she had gotten a veritable flood of calls. Not just people reporting in for their bio scans but a disaster as well. =^= Barrows to medical, please reply. =^= "This is Dr. Kirien-Mias.” It had been decided that she would keep her name so as not to confuse people too much. “What seems to be the problem?" =^=I don't know, I had a sudden wave of dizziness and I'm so tired I can barely stand up. =^= That didn’t sound like the Crewman that she vaguely knew from Ten-Forward. It also did not sound anything like the symptoms that the ‘blue gills’ that the Admiral had said were infesting her ship supposably did. =^= It's not normal for me that's for sure. =^= The Crewan’s voice faded off and she heard a sound as he hit the deck. Michaella turned around, knowing that contacting the crewman was going to be futile. “Annalise, Dr. T’Lin, take a resucitation kit, and use the emergency transporters to get to..” Before Michaella could finish giving orders to the diminutive quarter-klingon trauma nurse, Annalise DuPruis and the Vulcan neural specialist were gathering their needed tools, they were interupted. T’Lin gave Michaella a quirk of her Vulcan eyebrow. =^= Medical Emergency, Storage Bay 3. Crewman Barrows is not breathing and Ensign Jones has passed out and is clammy and …. =^= Screaming came over the comms as Michaella hit the button out of reflex to mute it. “Nurse Dousey, you go as well with Nurse Yeates. Go guys, go.” (Reply Dousey, or anyone that wants to play one of the NPC medical people) Michaella watched her team vanish in a flash as she hit the button, “Security to Storage Bay 3. We have several crew down and I need my doctor and nurses protected. I sent my crew via the emergency transporters.” (reply Security) Before Michaella could even take a breath, Sestan’s voice came over the comms. Michaella did not get along with the fully Vulcan Sestan and he was really the last person that she wanted to talk to at the moment. =^= Sestan to Medical. =^= She took a deep stabilizing breath, shielding her irritation from her beloved. The answering chuckle in the back of her head that was entirely masculine and Riven told her how successful she was. ::It’s the logic my love. Most Betazoid women have issues with the Vulcans.:: Riven comforted her. ::I get along fine with T’Lin and some of the other Vulcans we have in sickbay. Especially T’Pril.:: ::T’Pril’s a pediatrician.:: Riven commented and Michaella allowed herself a smile. :: I think that’s why I like her so. She’s outside the cultural norms.:: The tension in sickbay was heating up and the exchange with Riven had been rapid fire, maybe two or three seconds at the most. Not enough to ‘annoy’ Sestan. “Dr. Kirien-Mias here, Ensign.” Oh she enjoyed saying that. “We are overwhelmed at the moment, so if you are off duty we could really use you here. I’m not sure why you were not already informed.” Michaella looked over towards the chief duty nurse, Kathleen McGowen. Kate shrugged her shoulder and frowned. =^= I have happened across a highly cogent piece of data that should be of interest to you and it has been verified substantially. =^= “Excellent. Like I said, we are swamped down here and could desperately use you. We have two trauma teams out…” Kate held up a third finger, “Make that our third team out. At this point I’m probably going to have to bother Second Lt. Kindell and get her corpsman up here. We have ..” The insufferable Vulcan broke in over her, speaking what she was just about to say. =^= It has been reported that the crews of ships spending too much time in this sector complained of weakness, fatigue and there is record of 35 deaths, cause unknown. =^= “We have three dead bodies in Storage Bay 3 and I don’t know why. I’m frightened that I just sent two of my very good friends to their death. Get down here and help us. I have to inform the First Officer, who is going to be thrilled that something else mysterious, dark and deadly is happening aboard his ship.” She punched the comm panel hard enough to crack the facing, cutting her hand. Kate tutted, bringing her a cup of tea. “That Vulcan’s enough to irritate any good woman.” Kate picked up the dermal regenerator and began to repair the cut on Michaella’s hand. Michaella winced as Kate fished a piece of glass out of the cut then continued the repair, finally taking a gauze square and cleaning the blood off her. By then Annalisse DuPruis had returned with the body of Crewman Barrows, a sheet over his head. “Michaella, we did everything. He just, T’Lin thinks he had a stroke. She’s still in the Storage Bay with the others. We’re up to six now, but only the first four are dead.” A single tear rolled down Annalisse’s cheek. “I’ll place him in the Morgue and get cleaned up. But Michaella…Dr. Kirien…something bad is aboard this ship. If this is what the Admiral is so worried about, maybe he’s right.” Michaella gave the tiny woman a hug and shook her head, “No, this isn’t like anything that Dr. Mias shared with me on the Blue Gills, and Riven would know.” Riven Mias was well liked by most that he came in contact with, almost everyone in sickbay loved him for stealing the heart of Michaella Kirien and making her his own. “I have to tell the First Officer. And I’m not looking forward to it.” Michaella watched the trolley roll into the deep storage part of the Sickbay that was designated the morgue. Dr. Trommashere and Williams could do the autopsies. She was not, instead she took her cup of now cooling tea into the CMO’s Office, placed it in the replicator and ordered instead some peppermint tea to settle her nerves and her stomach. She was a researcher because she did not desire to deal with death every day. She sipped her tea, and then touched the comm button, “Dr. Kirien-Mias to First Officer Ktell, would you be so kind as to find a private place we might talk. There is an urgent issue happening aboard in the last.” She glanced at her chronometer, amazed that only 20 minutes had passed, “Twenty minutes. We have four dead crew and at last count 2 injured all clustered in Storage Bay 3. I notified security when I sent my team in, so I would assume that they would have begun an evacuation of the Storage Bay. I do not know why they have died. Ensign Sestan found some research in his off duty hours that suggest that it is this area of space. I need him currently in Sickbay performing his emergency medical officer duties, he is quite…competent. This may be an issue that will affect the other ships from what I have gathered through my bond with Dr. Mias, these syptoms of extreme weariness and disorientation and fatigue.” Michaella listened to Ktell. She might be a Lieutenant but he was the current boss. She was curious where the Captain was, perhaps this was a test of Ktell’s command abilities, Michaella had heard of that occurring. It was when Michaella felt another touch on her mind that she just whimpered. ::I need a few minutes. I’ll get back to you Ellie, Riven.:: (reply Ktell, Dousey, Sestan, anyone that wants to play wounded or npc medical, and a partridge in a pear tree) (posted by Mel) (USS Spectre - Deck 3 - Living Quarters - OPS Officer Sestan - 15:53) "Understood, I will be there shortly." Was Sestan's simple reply to Dr. Kirien-Mias. He turned off the monitor and keyed the comm since he was not in uniform. His shift was due to begin shortly anyway and his superior in Operations needed to be notified that he was being activated for emergency medical ops. "Lieutenant Smith this is Sestan, Dr. Kirien Mias has ordered me to report to medical for emergency operations. I will notify you when the commission has been rescinded." (Reply: Robert Smith) The Vulcan rose from the chair, unbending his long frame. While not of gargantuan height like some specimens he had met in the fleet he still stood a respectable six feet, four inches in height and his frame was wiry and hard edged. He moved to the bed where his uniform was neatly folded and put it on along with the single black or "empty" pip which denoted his ensign junior grade. The combadge was added as well of course. A look in the mirror showed mahogany colored hair and chiseled features of which he took no pride since ego was not becoming in a Vulcan. Satisfied that all was in place he made for the door and stepped into the hallway. (Reply Smith) (Posted by Charles) (USS Spectre - Conference Room - FO/CEO, Lt Remae Ktell - 15:55) Counsellor Riven Mias was on the Spectre as the Assistant Counsellor and Remae has been a Counsellor back on his first mission on the Spectre, so long ago but those memories were back with the reappearance of Jana and who else was he going to talk to? Remae had not forgotten about their rogue Admiral onboard. However, since the ship had been stopped heading for the STRAOPS centre and Sevant had made no further moves, the Acting FO was content for the moment. Security would be completing a deck by deck search by now for him and that gave Remae a few moments of quiet. "Have a seat Doctor, your timely presence is much appreciated. I am working on my own and I could use some advice.", he said and the pretence of talking about the mission wasn't going to last long... so he did speak about the parasite, the mission so far, his orders as best he could speak and the two ships outside... and then the Wraith and then, of course, Jana. He stopped talking as the name of the CO of the Wraith left his lips... had the Counsellor spoke? Remae wasn't sure. "So we're going to tear down the Spectre looking for the Admiral and present ourselves for inspection as ordered.", he said summing up but as he did, the comm channel opened. =^= Lt Remae, sir, I can't get through to Geneva, subspace communications are being blocked... we're working on it. =^= ~ Blocked? ~ The line closed and Remae looked back at the Counsellor, wondering what he had to say. (Reply from Mias, Any) (Posted by Anthony Keen) (USS Spectre - Conference Room - ACOUNS, Lt. Dr. Riven Mias - 15:56) ~Not nervous no, worried, conflicted, emotionally upset yes.~ This thought went through Riven's mind as followed the first officer to the table, Remae had just been subjected to something that caught him off guard that much was sure and while still on the bridge the Betazoid had caught a sharp and intense desire to flee for an instant. That was still lingering in the back of the Bajoran's mind for the time being though distant and faint and the counselor wondered what had precipitated the shock. Not that Riven was reading his thoughts, oh no he was merely open empathically to the emotional ripples the man was projecting; it was a passive ability that Riven could modulate or shut off if he wished but was almost always active because it was so intensely helpful to his profession. "Have a seat Doctor, your timely presence is much appreciated. I am working on my own and I could use some advice." Riven nodded with his ever present smile as he took a seat. "Of course sir, I will be happy to help in any way I can." Command could be a heavy burden he knew having once operated under the rank of Lieutenant Commander. That rank had been of an honorary nature while on both the USS Mystique and Hades due to his work at Epsilon Ordidani III which had been both the high and low points of his time in Star Fleet. He had never taken over the bridge though he was aware that the pressure of having responsibility for an entire ship was far more intense than that of commanding a landing party no matter what the circumstances. Then Remae unburdened himself and Riven's face took on a contemplative look as he listened and many of the questions that had been swirling in the back of his own mind were answered. The information also brought up more questions however like why hadn't the counselors who like himself happened to be telepaths had not been checked first. Once having been cleared it would have been a simple matter for Elani, Riven and the rest to spread out through the ship and confirm or deny the presence of these Blue Gills as they were called among the crew. Of course any telepathic contact would have to be voluntary, any who didn't wish to be so scanned could be sent to sickbay for bioscans but still it would have been much faster and more efficient than sending everyone one at a time there. That had been a command decision however, perhaps he would make the suggestion here. More telling than the aspects of the mission that the FO covered were the parts he did not, like just how this Sulia Madon was involved with the parasitic infestation, what her ultimate goals were and why she was behind it all. That was the problem with intelligence though, it often left more questions than it answered. Also Ktell skirted some parts of his orders which was understandable, command gave one the obligation at times to withhold some information which is why the Betazoid would never make a good command line member, he was a communicator and speaking in half truths or sitting on information wasn't something he could stomach. The ships that had decloaked and spoken with Ktell were a minor matter, while on the bridge Riven had given the Captains a brief though thorough scan and they had checked out. There had been no subterfuge or malice that he could detect and they had seemed genuinely concerned The final subject was the most telling on the FO's current mental state. "Captain Jana Bell...." Then Remae went quiet and looked away, staring off into the distance as though the room was too small to contain such horizons of memory. "I see you know her well." Riven stated the obvious in an attempt to elicit more information. The man sitting across from him was churning with emotions, sadness, longing, despair; there was so much there it would have been easy enough for Riven to drown himself in it if he wished. Remae either didn't hear him or decided to change the subject after several long seconds, the Betazoid assumed the former since the emotional torrent was allowed to run its course before he spoke. "So we're going to tear down the Spectre looking for the Admiral and present ourselves for inspection as ordered." Riven nodded, it wasn't like there was a choice in the matter, to do anything else would invite suspicion and almost certainly violence which was something that had to be avoided. ^= Lt Remae, sir, I can't get through to Geneva, subspace communications are being blocked... we're working on it. =^= Riven wasn't a scientist but that pointed to a handful of possibilities, the subspace frequencies were either being jammed by a ship in the area or some other energy source was at work. That wasn't his field though and he could tell that the information surprised the first officer. That would be dealt with, in the meantime though he had more pertinent matters to discuss with him. "You asked me for advice..." Riven spoke gently out of deference for both the man and his position. "And I am happy to give it. First I suggest the ship's counselors take the bioscans so that we can be cleared, the data will then be logged to the satisfaction of the Captains of the other ships though that may be too little too late to stave off boarding parties. If they allow us say two hours we could spread through the ship. We could take padds with the full ships duty roster with us and check off everyone as they are cleared. Have off duty personnel congregate in the lounge areas and one of us could check them telepathically there while the others work through each deck. Anyone who does not wish to be so scanned can be sent to sickbay for a full bioscan." What he was suggesting would be a lot of work but would be substantially faster than taking the crew one by one to medical, if sent en masse they would certainly overwhelm the facilities. (Reply: Remae) "I admit that is the more pertinent possibility," Riven shrugged his shoulders at that. "We could work in tandem with medical and security personnel coming aboard to speed up the process and get the boarding parties off the ship much sooner than otherwise. It is certainly not an option to deny them access and trying to delay them would be met with suspicion. As far as the other two ships are concerned I counsel you not to be concerned with them, I checked the Captains while you were speaking with them and am satisfied they weren't hiding anything, in my estimation they are trustworthy. It's not up to me to tell you your job of course..." He gave Remae a knowing grin "but I wouldn't allow their teams to spread out through the ship unescorted since WE don't know that some of their crew might not be infected though of course we could verify them telepathically as they come aboard if they are willing." (Reply: Remae) "And lastly..." Riven spoke before Ktell could cut off the conversation, his voice still gentle. "...I suggest you make an appointment with either Elani or myself as soon as possible." He held up his hand to forestall the expected denial. "Not that there is any reason to question your ability to command this ship and carry out your duties. I simply sense that there is some unresolved baggage in your past that it would be beneficial to unburden yourself of, that is all." His garments that were so sensitive to his mood were awash in peaceful blue, green and gold glimmers and he gave the Bajoran a fatherly smile. "I will notify her of course that you are expected. Now sir what are your orders?" (Reply: Ktell) (Posted by Charles) (USS Spectre - Deck 3 - Sickbay - OPS Officer/Emergency Medic Sestan - 15:58) Sestan stepped into sickbay expecting to see an emotional outburst from the beings present however in the last five minutes events had apparently calmed down somewhat. Questioning of one of the nurses revealed that no more emergency units were currently being sent out and the deaths had been replaced by a number of instances apparently involving fainting spells and general unconsciousness. His right eyebrow climbed toward his hairline at the news, this was coinciding directly with the news he had reported to Michaella. "And the fatalities?" "In the freezer." The woman said bitterly. "From what cause?" "Someone said Barrows might have had a stroke." "Might have?" He asked with a quirked eyebrow. "What is the evidence?" "I don't know." She said shortly. "I'm up to my eyebrows in bioscans at the moment as is the rest of the staff." With that she turned away from him huffily. Sestan was not one to believe idle gossip or rumors even when they were being circulated by professionals so he moved to a cabinet and pulled out a medical tricorder and his long strides soon had him at the door of the 'freezer' as the nurse had called it which was a fallacious and illogical name. He entered and turned on the tricorder after increasing the lighting in the small room. There were three bodies on gurneys covered by sheets of course. He started with the nearest one beginning at the head and moved slowly until he stood at the foot of the gurney having given the device ample time to make a full scan. After the first one was done he moved to the other two. After the scans were complete he compared them. "Interesting." (Reply Any) (Posted by Charles) (USS Spectre - Conference Room - ACOUNS, Lt. Dr. Riven Mias - 16:03) ::Elani you will need to drop whatever you are doing, one way or another we are about to be very busy.:: (Reply: Elani) Riven was waiting as Remae was contacting the two ships that had been pursuing them and working out what the end result of his suggestions might be, would they hold off to await the data or would they reject the compromise and begin sending over boarding parties? No matter what the Spectre's counseling department would be a valuable tool in the investigation. Riven mentally dismissed the idea that their help might be rejected, especially since there were only a few and could be scanned quickly and their telepathic scans would speed up the process immeasurably. He shared with her the memory of his conversation with Remae. :: As you can see these Blue Gills as they are called completely submerge the personalities and memories of their hosts to the point they can not use them as their own which is excellent for us. To a telepath the entities will stand out like a sore thumb as the humans are wont to say and it won't take us more than a few seconds to verify whether a crewman is either clean or infected. The whole process will be far faster than a medical scan and we shouldn't have to route more than a small percentage to sickbay for a screen.:: (Reply: Elani) ::The Lieutenant is working on that, to save time I suggest you have your medical scan done now since you are near to sickbay and get clearance, while there you could check out the medical staff as well, it will get the investigation off to a quick start and we are going to need it since we have a ship full of people to check.:: (Reply: Elani) ::One last thing, I'm sure you caught it but I have notified him he should be seen by one of us at the earliest opportunity, the CO of one of the ships, Captain Jana Bell and he have a history that is very painful to him which he hasn't shared with me but I believe it is important to his long term mental health that it be evaluated and dealt with.:: (Reply: Elani) (Posted by Charles) (USS Spectre - Counsellor’s Suite - COUNS, Ensign Elani Caras - 16:05) ::Elani you will need to drop whatever you are doing, one way or another we are about to be very busy.:: Elani was hand holding an Ensign named Katie Jones who had been unduly frightened by the Admiral’s antics, having been on a ship during the civil war that had been destroyed, lucking out that Katie had made it to an escape pod in time. The ship’s systems having gone down had frightened her into hysterics, and Elani had known that there were going to be many upset people. or the first time she missed the old ACOUNS, Jerry. He hadn’t been empathic, but he had been good at his job. He had become redundant when Riven had decided to bond with Michaella Kirien and stay on the ship, and had been transferred offship. He understood trauma victims better than she did and he had been helping her with them. Elani made a soothing sound and spoke back to Riven, ::I am with a patient. I can get her calm in a few more minutes. She was a trauma victim from the civil war, and I predict we are going to be seeing more of them as I can ‘feel’ the fear that many are suppressing.:: Elani listened to what Riven was saying, then she shared the sense that she had gotten when she had skimmed the ship earlier in the day. To most telepaths inner sight, everyone had a glow to them, what in the past new age circles had been called an aura. Most people without psychic abillity glowed a dull color to match their moods. Those with some psychic ability glowed brighter, and those with the most the brightest of all. “It’s all right, Katie. Now that you are feeling better, I bet that they can use you back in Ops. Lets make an appointment tomorrow for you to come and talk to me some more.” Elani smiled and saw her patient out, leaning against the door as she hit the mechanism to lock it. ::Riven, the Admiral’s a Vulcan. His presence should not be that angry virulent red color. And I’ve never encountered places on the ship that felt dead to me before. It’s very odd. I don’t really know what to make of it. Did you sense anything similiar when you were scanning the ship and touching us all earlier?:: (reply Riven) Elani listened again and Riven was absolutely right about her going to get her medical scan done, and her recruiting a few of the other telepaths on board. ::Amari Riya’s only an empath, she isn’t going to be much help, and she doesn’t have very good control over her abilities. She finally is wanting to, and I suspect that she is going to have to work with you. I tried with her and our friendship got in the way.:: There were certain things that friends could not do together, and apparently this was one of them. It was that or it was that Elani did not have enough patience. Which might also certainly be true. (reply Riven) ::One last thing, I'm sure you caught it but I have notified him he should be seen by one of us at the earliest opportunity, the CO of one of the ships, Captain Jana Bell and he have a history that is very painful to him which he hasn't shared with me but I believe it is important to his long term mental health that it be evaluated and dealt with.:: Elani groaned, ::That’s going to be lovely. Poor Ktell. I’m not looking forward to it, but I will make room for him. It might be better for me to approach him than for him to be seen coming here. We can always blame it on crew evaluations, Starfleet loves their paperwork.:: Riven was lucky in a way. While he got all the priviledges of being the department head, he got none of the onerous duties. She was the one stuck doing all the damned paperwork. ::Maybe I need to come see you too.:: She spoke pensively for a moment, then shook her head, as if clearing cobwebs from them, ::Enough of that. Who else do you suggest to help us with this task? I was thinking Ensign Kiera Lendir, the transporter tech in room 1. She’s a Betazoid.:: (reply Riven, any) (posted by Mel) (USS Spectre - Conference Room - ACouns Lt. Dr. Riven Mias - 16:06) After speaking with Elani there was a period where Riven and Ktell spoke at length about what was happening after the arrangements had been made with the other ships. Riven agreed with the FO's synopsis. "Okay, lets setup the bioscans, starting with your yourselves. We've completed some scans of the senior officers that were on the Bridge during the initial shutdown arranged by the Admiral so you'll have extra help there. Take whomever you want and you can muster all off duty personnel into any large areas you want to use." Riven nodded his agreement, all help would speed up the process and was appreciated. "We have about an hour before our visitors come over so I will need you and any medical and science officers who are cleared to meet me at the Transporter Room." "Transporter room one at 1700 hours, understood." Riven nodded in assent and arose as well. "Thanks Doctor, I appreciate the help." Remae then turned and left the briefing room with a smile. Riven noted he was projecting a more relaxed mindset and filed that away in his memory. This was exactly the reason he had pushed gently to get the man to the Senior Counselor whether that 'pushing' had been needed or not. Just as talking with Michaella on Betazed about his worries had been cathartic for him and it was a long understood wisdom that the very act of revealing the issues was tantamount to lancing an infected wound. Since he now had his orders it was time to act on them. ::Michaella I am on my way to sickbay to have a bioscan done, how are the exams going?.:: (Reply : Michaella) ::Excellent, I will see you in a moment my love.:: (Reply: Michaella) (Posted by Charles) (USS Spectre - Bridge - ACouns Lt. Dr. Riven Mias - 16:07) ~So we have a number of bridge officers already cleared.~ He mused as he stepped out and stopped at the railing, watching the officers. Since those who were busy obviously had something of import to do he would take the rest. "Would those of you who have already had your bioscans done and are not otherwise occupied please follow me?" he asked with a smile knowing that unless Ktell had already briefed them they would be looking to him for assent first. Riven wasn't in charge and had no ranking weight on the bridge after all. (Reply: Any on the bridge) As he turned and walked to the turbolift he half turned to speak to those who had fallen in line with him. "We will be making a short detour to medical first so that I can have my bioscan taken and I will talk with the senior counselor there about breaking everyone up into teams." His tone dropped as he began thinking while talking. "We will need at least one medical tricorder per team of course and all should be armed just in case." His tone dropped to a mutter as the lift door swooshed open and he entered. (Reply: Any on the bridge) (Posted by Charles) (USS Spectre - Deck 3 - Sickbay - OPS Officer/Emergency Medic Sestan - 16:08) Sestan saw Dr. Kirien Mias and made his way to her. "Doctor I see that you are busy however I have a question. When I entered sickbay it was reported to me that crewman Barrows had suffered a possible stroke. Is this true?" (Reply: Michaella) "Illogical." Was his reply. "There are no torn or ruptured arteries or capillaries in any of the bodies and no signs of an embolism in any case. Nor was there any physical deterioration which might have caused their deaths. All three of those crew members were perfectly healthy at the time of their death. They should not in short be dead." (Reply: Michaella) (Posted by Charles) (USS Spectre - Deck 6, Security Station Gamma - Tac/Sec Security Operations Officer Farrell - 16:08) The small office was cramped though efficient and while security operations control was an important role to fill Farrell had not been happy since his assignment here. He had been cut off, excluded, lost off the grid to his contacts. As far as he knew they assumed him dead or worse AWOL but that had been due to the accident at the starbase. His host had taken a precipitous fall from a catwalk during a sensitive operation, so damaged that there had been no way to repair his systems before he expired. The transfer had been ridiculously easy of course since the body he now inhabited had come by ostensibly to give first aid and was using mouth to mouth resuscitation, unprotected of course when Hingilt decided to vacate and leave the body to its ultimate fate. From one mouth to another which struggled to scream, down the throat just a hair to the base of the brain stem, through a few layers of tissue to attach himself to it then another few seconds to penetrate the outer layer of skin above the hairline to give him a breathing orifice and the transfer was complete. He was now security officer Farrell. But as it turned out Farrell had not come by accidentally, he was on his way to a shuttle that would take him to a new assignment and the attempt at resuscitation had made him late for the rendezvous so no sooner had Hingilt made the transfer than he was being taken into the tender ministration of a search team who had called in the accident then escorted him to the shuttle. There had been no opportunity to slip away and notify his superiors or his contact of what had happened and his change to a new body. Farrell was not a hive alpha progenitor so he could not create more versions of himself to spread through the ship and he dared not use ships frequencies to speak with his contact or superiors due to the danger of exposing them, he was cut off, alone... adrift so to speak. It had been easy to integrate with the new crew since they had never met this new host and he had played dumb since coming aboard and meekly accepted his assignments. Perhaps the time would come when he would see another of his kind, they would be easy for him to spot and he would be known to them as well, in the meantime he would wait and do his duty as expected of his rank and station. His fist slammed down on to the tabletop and crushed the metal mug he had forgot was there. It left a slight sting which quickly faded and he got up and tossed it into the recycler. Even a human host could be satisfactorily modified to have great strength and endurance. (Reply: Any in tactical iyw) (Posted by Charles) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Medical Research Lt. - Dr. Michaella Kirien-Mias - 16:09) Sestan had reported in, then took himself in to the Morgue. It made Michaella shiver to think about crewman who had just died for what was apparently no reason. Instead she concentrated on the living, the ones that were being half supported into sickbay. To top it off, people were reporting in for their bio scans. Michaella moved from patient to patient, her nurses and companion Doctors doing a fabulous job under the circumstances. She stopped at the bedside of two people sitting on the edge of a biobed. “I’m Dr. Kirien-Mias. I’m a Betazoid telepath. Would you prefer I did your bio scan telepathically or using the medical tricorder? The telepathic approach will get you back on duty faster, Ensign…” She looked down at the PADD in her hand, “Ensign Rutherford and Lt. Marks.” “If’n it’s all the same to ya, Doc, I’d prefer yer tricorder. Ye telepaths gimme the cobbly wibblies. No offense.” Michaella grinned at the heavy accent that Lt. Marks had. “No issue at all, Lt. Ensign do you have a preference?” “No, Doctor. I don’t have any secrets to hide.” The Ensign gave a suspicious look to her Lt. “Then please take my hand.” Michaella didn’t need to use touch telepathy like the Vulcans did, but she had an ulterior motive. The touch gave the Ensign something to focus on. Within a few moments of deep scanning, she was ready to certify that the Ensign was clean. Michaella made a note on a PADD and pressed her thumbprint to it. “When you go on duty, take this with you. If you aren’t on duty, Dr. Mias is having people report to ten forward. We don’t want you to get infected while we are scanning the crew.” She tried to put a cheerful lilt into her voice, as Elani Caras entered sickbay. Michaella was required to scan the telepaths that would be assisting with clearing the ship with her tricorders. “Doc, how contagious iz this?” The Lt. asked, having made himself comfortable on the newly vacant biobed. “From what I’m told, not very, but what is more worrisome is that the other two ships are convinced the entire crew is infected.” Michaella nodded as the Ensign left Sickbay, and Michaella continued her bio scan. She repeated the process of initializing her thumb print on the PADD then sent the Lt. back to work. “Ellie, I’m so glad to see you.” Michaella resorted to telepathic communication. ::I’m sure you’ve heard about the deaths of the crew members….:: A sad look in Ellie’s dark eyes said it all. She’d known them. On a ship as small as the Spectre was, she would know them all. Michaella scanned Elani with the medical tricorder as the two continued talking. ::Straights must indeed be dire for you to summon the loathsome Sestan.:: A tinge of humor was attached to her thoughts. ::He is methodical, hard working, and can be very useful holding a medical tricorder. More useful here than in OPS.:: Michaella replied as she again felt the touch of her beloved Riven. ::Riven love, Elani is here.:: Michaella managed to interject before his return thought. ::Michaella I am on my way to sickbay to have a bioscan done, how are the exams going?.:: ::Several down, Elani’s cleared and thankfully people have finally stopped dying on me. There are several people here with some form of exhaustion to them and I’d like for you to…actually, I can have Elani do it while she’s here.:: ::Excellent, I will see you in a moment my love.:: Michaella was going to need a stack of PADDS but she thumb initialed Elani’s and handed it to her. “I suggest you contact the marines and have they and security pair up to escort your teams.” Michaella smiled at the much younger Betazoid then returned to scanning the crew as they entered. A few minutes later Sestan came to see her. They were running short staffed for the assignment that they had been given. “Yes, Ensign?” She asked, using his rank, since she wanted to keep professional distance between them. "Doctor I see that you are busy however I have a question. When I entered sickbay it was reported to me that crewman Barrows had suffered a possible stroke. Is this true?" “At the time that was our best guess, yes. It was, however just a guess." "Illogical." Was his reply. "There are no torn or ruptured arteries or capillaries in any of the bodies and no signs of an embolism in any case. Nor was there any physical deterioration which might have caused their deaths. All three of those crew members were perfectly healthy at the time of their death. They should not in short be dead.” Michaella wanted to lay her aching head against the cool bulkhead but forced herself to listen to what Sestan is saying. “So what you are saying is that we have some sort of mystery, Ensign? What did you discover when you were in the Morgue? Would it help you to scan some of the other crew that are reprting in faint, or exhausted?” (reply Sestan) Once she had Sestan off on his project, she returned to doing bio scans, including quickly doing Rivens. The stolen kiss in her office had been nice as well as his hands on her temples, healing the micro tears from using her telepathy nearly constantly after not using it for so long. And by then another Ensign had reported in and another hour had passed that quickly. "Huh? Oh, yes I'm fine thank you. I have been told to report in for my bioscan before I join active duty." The diminutive quarter klingon nurse nudged him towards a biobed, and went to get Dr. Kirien-Mias. "OK, thank you.” Michael took a seat on one of the beds nearby. “Ensign Michael Sorenson?” The late 40s Betazoid with curiously blue eyes smiled at him. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Dr. Michaella Kirien-Mias. You might have met my soul-bonded, Dr. Riven Mias, one of the ship’s counsellors. I’m a medical researcher here aboard the Spectre but I’m who they put in charge when the CMO and his assistant are busy. Commander Williams and Dr. Trommashere are both in surgery. I see in your file that you haven’t had your arrival checkup as well.” (reply Sorenson) “How are you feeling? Any dizziness, fatigue or fainting?” (reply Sorenson) “If you lie back, we can get your scans taken care of,a nd your physical done for the next year.” (reply Sorenson) It must have seemed like hours to the poor Ensign trapped in Michaella’s web. A few injections, several scans and then she had a PADD ready and handed it to the Enign. “Welcome to the Spectre. If you feel any sudden fatigue, fainting or dizziness, you WILL call for us, Ensign. I’ve lost three people to whatever is loose on this ship, I will not be explaining to the Captain why you did not listen. I know that as a shiny, new Ensign you are convinced you are invincible, but you are not, understand?” Michaella stared into his eyes intently, not looking away. He would listen. (reply Sorenson, any) (posted by Mel) (USS Spectre - Arboretum - ACSO, Lt. Amari Riya - 16:10) Amari had been happily puttering around the arboretum, which she had unofficially been given control over. Her boss hadn’t been around that much recently, busy with department head stuff, but she was fine with that. She just wanted the promotion to stick. She had a lot of ideas for things that they could due aboard the ship to involve more of the crew. She barely saw any of the crew outside of Ops here and there, and some of the Science Staff who were assigned to work here. Most of them prefered their research labs, and Amari had a well equipped lab off the main room, but it wasn’t large enough to share with more than one or two other people. Mostly she worked with the head of medical research on ship, Michaella Kirien. Amari wasn’t sure what was truly going on with the ship, what she was sure of was that some of her favorite plants, rare, endangered and expensive plants were not faring well. She needed to contact her department head and speak with him, relay what was happening in the Arboretum. Was she brave enough to bring it to the attention of the First Officer? No. That’s what the chain of command was for. “Lt. Riya to Science Bridge Operations.” (whoever is manning it) “I have a problem in the Arboretum that I think that needs to be reported. I have four plants that are sensitive to bio-electric energy. All four of them are dying and nothing I seem to be doing has any bearing on their survival. It will be a shame to lose them, they are all endangered and that Krovis Chameleon Shrub has only been on board for a few weeks.” Needless to say, we did not have a very happy Amari. (reply whoever is on Bridge Science Ops, any) (posted by Mel) (USS Spectre - Conference Room - FO/CEO, Lt Remae Ktell - 16:10) Remae was talking to Doctor Riven. They had a few moments of quiet and the FO was going to take advantage of that. Riven's recommendation was to have the entire crew scanned and that the Counsellors would start that process. The FO liked the idea, it would take a significant amount of work and delegating that to a dedicated team appealed to him. "Very good Doctor, I like the idea.", he said and he agreed they could work with the incoming crews from the other ships. Regarding his feelings for Jana and those issues, the Counsellor made the excellent suggestion that he see himself or Elani. They would be busy, very busy in the next few hours so for now, it would have to wait. "I will notify her of course that you are expected. Now sir what are your orders?", asked the Counsellor and Remae thought about that for a moment. "Okay, lets setup the bioscans, starting with your yourselves. We've completed some scans of the senior officers that were on the Bridge during the initial shutdown arranged by the Admiral so you'll have extra help there.", said Remae thinking about the logistics of the scans and then added, "Take whomever you want and you can muster all off duty personnel into any large areas you want to use." "We have about an hour before our visitors come over so I will need you and any medical and science officers who are cleared to meet me at the Transporter Room.", he said before standing up and walking away from the conference table. "Thanks Doctor, I appreciate the help.", he added smiling and feeling a lot better than he had for a while. They had to complete the initial scans and get back onto their mission but that would only happen after they had convinced Starfleet they weren't infected and liable to go on rampage. (Reply from Riven, Any) (Posted by Anthony Keen) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Science Officer - Ens. David Yates - 16:13) Could it get anymore hectic on the bridge than it already was? David had cycled in at first due to the bioscans after ships control had been reestablished and since then several of the bridge crew had also been towed away by Counselor Mias. Two ships had them bracketed and he was attempting to concentrate ships internal sensors to identify any unknown life forms that may have stowed aboard. Compared to many of the Spectre's missions this had to be the most confusing and fastest unfolding he had been involved in to date. For some reason as well sensors on deck 9 were being partially interfered with, had been according to logs for the last half hour approximately. He was still attempting to fine tune them when a comm came through to his station. =^= Lt. Riya to Science Bridge Operations. =^= "Yates here, go ahead." =^= I have a problem in the Arboretum that I think needs to be reported. I have four plants that are sensitive to bio-electric energy. All four of them are dying and nothing I seem to be doing has any bearing on their survival. It will be a shame to lose them, they are all endangered and that Krovis Chameleon Shrub has only been on board for a few weeks. =^= "Hmmm." He wasn't intimately familiar with the species mentioned, an exobotanist would have more data then he on the plants but. " Stand by Lieutenant." (Reply: Amari) He looked through the database quickly and scratched his figurative head at what he found. The plants thrived in a background of bio-electric energy therefore were most at home in zones heavy with life forms. Soil salinity and trace mineral deposits as well as moisture were also necessary of course like any terrestrial plant but take them away from life forms and they tended to wilt and die. On the Spectre they should be thriving. He commed her back. "Lt. Riya are you getting any bio-electric interference on that deck? Internal sensors in that area are glitchy and your plants could be receiving a field feedback." (Reply: Amari) (Posted by Charles) (USS Spectre - Bridge - FO/CEO, Lt Remae Ktell - 16:15) Remae was on the Bridge as he was waiting for the crew transfer and the conference meeting. The commline chirped and Doctor Kirien-Mias was on the line. Remae found a quiet corner of the Bridge as she spoke. =^= ... Twenty minutes. We have four dead crew and at last count 2 injured all clustered in Storage Bay 3. I notified security when I sent my team in, so I would assume that they would have begun an evacuation of the Storage Bay. I do not know why they have died. Ensign Sestan found some research in his off duty hours that suggest that it is this area of space. I need him currently in Sickbay performing his emergency medical officer duties, he is quite. competent. This may be an issue that will affect the other ships from what I have gathered through my bond with Dr. Mias, these symptoms of extreme weariness and disorientation and fatigue. =^= NRPG: I will leave Kirien-Mias' report in its entirety... I usually don't like to copy and paste verbatim but it's very important! RPG: It felt like a slap to the face... dead crew? Remae snapped into full professional mode. "Very well Doctor, thank-you, keep at your research please. Keep Sestan with you but I will need more information on how they died. You don't need my permission for an autopsy but do what you have to.", he said and after a few moments, the channel ended. "Initiate a full scan of this area of space, short range, full intensity, every grain of dust, every event, I want it all documented.", he ordered and even though the Bridge crew had been depleted having many of them sent to Sickbay for scans but it emergency shifts were called into action and more and more of the off duty crew would fill up empty duty stations. (Reply from Any on the Bridge) "Bridge to Security around Storage Bay 3, I need a report on what is happening down there.", he said having no real idea of which Security Officers were in the area. (Reply from Security, Bridge) (Posted by Anthony Keen) (USS Spectre - Deck 6 - Security Station Gamma - Security Operations Officer Farrell - 16:15) This was a sorry situation that Hingilt found himself in and he knew it. Security had been looking for the renegade admiral which was fine, no problem there. The issue had nothing to do with the admiral however ... or did it? Two ships were in close proximity to the Spectre and demanding to be allowed to send boarding parties over to the 'quarantined vessel' to look for an infection according to new orders. As part of the operational exercise Hingilt aka officer Farrell was assigning teams to assist counseling and medical personnel on the Spectre and to accompany those boarding parties while they did bio scans of all personnel aboard. Just what they were looking for had not been circulated through channels yet. Hingilt/Farrell however had no illusions however as to what the result would be should he be subjected to those scans. The alterations he had made in the host structure in order to make it a more receptive and powerful vessel would be quickly spotted. This was an intolerable conundrum. He had a snowballs chance in hell of hijacking a ship or escaping in a shuttle with three ships waiting to snap him up like a mouse in the jaws of a hungry cat. At best he might buy a little time; how would he do that? And then it hit him, play a shell game. He would join himself to an already scanned crewman and if pursuit got too close he could change bodies. He smiled at the thought. Who would be a good possibility then? New enough to the ship he might be able to bluff him into thinking he himself was already scanned and would be safe? Well there was the security officer they had picked up at the last stop.... With a gloating grin he activated the comm. "Security officer LaViolette report." (Reply: LaViolette) "You are needed at gamma checkpoint on deck six, have you had your bioscan yet?" (Reply: LaViolette) Farrell huffed. "Get it done now then and report in, I'm assigning you to my team and we need to be ready for the boarding by 1700 so get on the stick. Report to me immediately after." (Reply: LaViolette) (Posted by Charles) (USS Spectre - Arboretum - Science Officer - Lt. Amari Riya - 16:17) Amari had been speaking with someone that she knew vaguely from the various mixers on board. The science group was good about meeting up for coffee every few weeks to catch each other up on their projects, report in on original research and allocate new projects as they were so ordered by the Science Ops of Starfleet. Research was often that way and it was slightly different than the way a department such as Ops was run. Speaking of Ops that might be a good place to bother next. Yates was quiet for a minute or two and then got promptly back to her, =^= Lt. Riya are you getting any bio-electric interference on that deck? Internal sensors in that area are glitchy and your plants could be receiving a field feedback. =^= Amari tugged on her lower lip with her teeth, tearing a flake of dry skin off with her worrying at it. She hit the reply button on her console, “I shouldn’t be, but I’ll contact Ops and see what they can come up with. Thanks, Yates. If you think the First Officer needs to hear about this when he reports back in, could you tell him? I know that things are kinda hectic up there and it’s likely something just in need of repair. Riya out.” Her cocoa colored slender hands danced over the desk in her office in the Arboretum. She wasn’t really sure what she was looking for. She did know who to call, however. “Lt. Riya to Ensign Alexander.” She hadn’t wanted to get in contact with him. In fact she had been doing her very best to ignore him. She missed him and she had begun to give her heart to Frost. And Frost had been a victim of the void. She should be meeting with Riven to deal with her emotions. Instead she had ignored who Frost had beome, but for now she did not seem to have much of a choice and had to take the good with the bad. Maybe he would be different enough that he wouldn’t remind her so much of Frost. The trick was to keep it on the professional level, not to let her emotions show through. Tough for an empath and a half Betazoid to do. While she waited for him to reply, she leaned her head against the coolness of the bulkhead. Her face felt superheated due to her emotions. (reply Alexander) “Yes, I need you in the Arboretum. I need to scurry down to sickbay and get my bioscan done, but could you meet me in say 30 minutes or so? I’m having an issue with some of my plants and the internal sensors are, well, not acting right and I need to scan for some bio-electric interference. It’s rather important as the plants I am about to lose are endangered and in one case irreplaceable. Please, please help me. “ Now she sounded like she was begging but it was necessary. Maybe if he thought her enough of a loser he would be uninterested in her and the problem would just be solved that easily. Nothing was ever that easy, especially aboard a starship. (Reply Alexander) With a nod she closed down the connection, then opened the comms again, “Lt. Palmer, Sir, It’s Lt. Riya in the Arboretum. I’m having an issue with some of the plants. It appears there might be some sort of bio-electric interference going on, someone from Ops will be along to help me as soon as I get back from sickbay for my bioscan.” (reply Palmer) She nodded as she listened to her boss, feeling the need to apologize for failing him by what she saw was the inevitable loss of the plants and the need to grovel to not lose the arboretum completely. She did neither, her emotions did not dictate her actions. She had worked with Counsellor Elani for several months on her self-esteem issues and well as her people-related anxiety. There was a reason she loved the Arboretum with all of her soul. “I just wanted to give you a heads up on what is going on Sir. I should have called you directly, I had assumed you were on the bridge but I got Ensign Yates instead. If you have some free time I could use the help, Sir.” (Reply Alexander, Palmer, any) (posted by Mel) (USS Spectre - Deck 6, Crew Quarters - TAC/ASC, Ensign (JG) Sorenson - 16:20) Michael Sorenson paced the room for the third time in the past twelve minutes. All the energy the newly graduated ensign had seemed to be focused on creating a new way onto deck 7 through his floor. His arrival on the Spectre had not gone as expected. Upon boarding the ship he had been given a brief tour, shown to his quarters and told to wait. 'Someone will contact you to officially brief you on the situation' the officer had said. That was 10 days ago. However, the crew had most definitely been busy recently, it was only natural that he took a back seat. Although he did hope that he would be getting involved soon. Michael had had just about enough of his small room on deck 6. =^=Security officer Sorenson report=^= Michael scrambled to the comm unit, jabbing the button. "This is ensign Sorenson, what do you need, Sir?" =^=You are needed at Gamma checkpoint on deck six, have you had your bioscan yet?=^= Michael frowned. "No sir, I wasn't a priority member so they had my scan moved back." =^=Get it done now then and report in, I'm assigning you to my team and we need to be ready for the boarding by 1700 so get on the stick. Report to me immediately after.=^= "Understood, Sir. I'll head down to sickbay right now. Sorenson out." Michael stood. It seemed as though he was finally getting involved. Eager to impress, he left his room and headed to the turbolift. (Reply Farrell) (Posted by Brandon) (USS Spectre – Deck 4 – CSO/2O Lt.jg. Kurt Palmer – 16:25) The doctor opened the access panel by the lab door. “They did talk about an emergency manual release though.” Kurt watched as Williams tinkered for a moment in the small recess. There was a soft click from inside the bulkhead when he looked over to Kurt. “Would you like to do the honours as this is your lab?” "Ahh... I must've missed that day..." The door opened easily, and the two teal-clad officers strolled in. (Reply, any) (Post By Cody) (USS Tempest - Captain's Ready Room - Sulia Madon and CO, Mark Adams – 16:25) It had been a good forty five minutes or so since the Tempest had dropped out of warp and slowed to impulse, meandering into a nearby nebula immediately afterwards in order to mask her signature from the Federation vessels that were currently in the vicinity. Madon's right hand, Damok, his skills now honed to perfection via many dubious forays and poking's about into various Federation databases, had broken some more of the transmissions that had been occurring, and as always, Madon had been the first to receive them. Two ships, now formally identified as the Serenity and the Wraith, the latter apparently one of the Spectre's sister ships, had come alongside the seemingly powered down rogue vessel and requested permission to board it. Her FO had seemed to be in command, which Madon thought was odd in itself. Where was the Vulcan hybrid CO? She remembered the erstwhile Captain from her attempt to take Geneva around seven or so years ago. Indeed, he had been instrumental in foiling that attempt, which had created within her a certain respect for the man. Perhaps she might have even turned him to their cause, given time. Back then of course she had still been wrestling with her demons from the past, the Bajoran interrogations and the cruelty that had been doled out to her thereof, still at the forefront of her tortured mind. Now though, all was calm, something that perhaps the Vulcan CO might perhaps appreciate in the greater scheme of things. So why were there no communiques from him being reported in the transmission logs? Putting the thought aside, she stood from the chair and then moved towards the viewing windows that looked out over the warp nacelles of the Tempest, and into the swirling gases of the nebula. She could see the ships out there as small dots set out against the starfield beyond, and as she pondered her next move, she pictured the Vulcan's face, serene, impassive. Typically and so irritatingly Vulcan... Returning to the table, she activated the comms and called for Adams who appeared promptly, her last warning about spacing him no doubt still resonating in his ears from before. "Yes, Madon", he answered, watching her intently as she retook her seat and then reached for the glass of water before her. Adams then moved towards her... "What do you know of First Officer Remae Ktell, Captain?", she asked, "what can you tell me about him?" Adams shifted, uncertain as to just why she would want to know anything about the Spectres chief engineer. As a resolute and informed Starfleet CO, Adams of course knew Remae quite well, everyone did after all. He had once commanded the very ship they were now covertly watching, but after loosing his lower extremities in an accident whilst looking for the previously usurped Rondar Nell, he had handed over command to his FO, the current CO of the aforementioned vessel. "He's a bit of a hero", he answered with a shrug. "Decorated, but too humble in my opinion. The man was offered another command but... it wasn't for him" Madon nodded... "So, he seems to be in command of the Spectre now. Perhaps he had a change of heart?", said Madon, quirking her head slightly to the right as she offered the suggestion. Adams looked puzzled. Remae? In command? "Remae is the CEO", he exclaimed. "T'Vhor is in command of the Spectre, has been since the civil war and the disappearance of the 52nd fleet" Madon nodded once again, and then began drumming her fingers upon the table as though formulating something. Something just wasn't adding up here. Something was going on, and Madon didn't like being 'out of the loop' so to speak when it came to reports of a parasitic infiltration that was not specifically her doing. The Vulcan was perhaps missing, an Admiral was apparently holed up, and an engineer was seemingly now in command of a Federation vessel reportedly undergoing a hostile takeover by lord knows whom. Was there an infiltration here, or not? More importantly, how could they find out? A rogue element perhaps? Someone acting outside of the remit? Her thoughts though were once again distracted via a comms alert from the bridge. The science officer had something pertinent to say, so Madon let it come. =/\=Sir's, I have an unusual reading in the vicinity. Something that I have never seen before=/\= Madon rose to her feet, her interest piqued. Was this perhaps something that they could use? "Explain to me, 'unusual'", she said, abruptly. =/\=I'm not quite sure. An energy reading, very low. Possibly a life-form of some sort=/\= Madon looked to Adams, who just looked even more puzzled than he had been regarding the queries about Remae. "Find out what it is. Locate it, categorise it, bring it aboard if need be. But make sure that you have an answer for me soon. Is that clear?", said Madon, awaiting the response. =/\=Perfectly=/\= Madon sat back down again, her mind drifting to Venom 9 and the ultimate goal of Messiah. The 'unusual' reading? Could it perhaps be the cyborg entity? If it was, then Madon would like to know why it was not where it was supposed to be. Considering that it's next location was supposed to be in another sector of space entirely! (Reply None) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre – Science Lab 1 – CSO/2O Lt.jg. Kurt Palmer – 16:28) The power-saving lights flickered back up when they sensed activity. Kurt made his way to the center of the lab, taking a seat at the main console. "This should only take a moment." He said as his fingers spilled over the controls. (Reply, Williams, any) ((Post By Cody)) (USS Spectre – Science Lab 1 – CMO, Cmdr Andrew Williams – 16:30) "This should only take a moment." Andrew watched as Kurt worked on the console. He took a moment to have a look around the science lab. Although he knew where it was he had not had the opportunity to have visit the labs in a while. He turned back to Kurt who was still working hard at the console. “I hope you are able to find what you need?” (Reply Palmer) (Reply, Palmer, any) (Post by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Deck 9, Arboretum - The Entity - 16:32) Hunting had been good and the creature was pleasantly sated as it moved lithely through the bulkhead and into the Arboretum, there was no prey here but it was content and remained hovering near the wall for several minutes. Eventually it began to dawn on the being that there were other living organisms here as well though they were not on the order of its food sources so it glided among them. Four of them quickly caught its attention and piqued its interest, they appeared to be of an entirely different make-up than the rest. While the Entity was not exactly of a high order of intelligence it had some intelligence nonetheless and it didn't take it long to realize that they absorbed bio electric energy much like itself. Not exactly like it of course but similar anyway. How much innate intelligence does it take anyway to take pity on something or have empathy for it? The Entity felt sorry for them for it sensed that their life functions were beginning to cease. Was there anything that could be done for them? It assumed so. It engulfed the one that Riya had called a Clovis Chameleon shrub and remained there for a few moments and shared energy with it then went to the other three in order and did the same . Since it had expended some necessary life force it felt the urge again to feed so it glided to the near wall and through but only after making some changes in the energy wave patterns it emitted so they would no longer be affected. When it left the Arboretum the four plants were no longer dying, instead they were happy, blossoming, vigorous and healthy. (Reply: any who would like to investigate Amari's claim of dying plants) (Posted by Charles) (USS Spectre – Science Lab 1 – CSO/2O Lt.jg. Kurt Palmer – 16:34) The computer chirped to signal the transfer was complete. Kurt picked up his PADD, and looked up at Doctor Williams. "So now...." Before the CSO could finish his thought the acting Captian's voice blared overhead. =/\=Bridge to Mr Palmer and Mr Williams, please transmit all your findings on the parasite thus far to both the Wraith and the Serenity for their review. I want your both in the conference room at 17.00 for a full briefing.=/\= "Aye sir." Kurt responded clicking the comm off. "So..." Kurt glanced at the chrono on the wall. "Shall we prepare a report?" He chuckled and then added "And I guess we will have to figure out a removal process and actually get some research done later?" (Reply, Williams, any) ((Post by Cody)) (USS Spectre - Deck 3 - Sickbay - TAC/ASC Ensign Sorenson - 16:39) Michael exited the turbolift, striding quickly towards sickbay. He was on his way to have a bioscan to determine if he was or was not infected with whatever was on the ship. The doors to sickbay opened, announcing Michael's presence. He looked around; everyone seemed particularly busy at this point in time. Him standing still in the middle of sickbay drew the attention of one of the medical staff. (Reply medical) "Huh? Oh, yes I'm fine thank you. I have been told to report in for my bioscan before I join active duty." (Reply medical) "OK, thank you." Michael nodded, and took a seat on one of the beds nearby. After what had seemed like hours, the scan was complete. Michael stood, turning to the screen to be told his condition. He hoped beyond hope he was clear. Being so close to action, but so far, was not a good feeling for him. (Reply medical) Michael smiled. "Thank you for your help. If you'll excuse me, I need to head off now, thanks again." The eager ensign left sickbay, tapping his combadge as he did so. "Sorenson to Farrell, sir the results came up negative. I have been cleared for active duty and am on my way to you now." (Reply Farrell) (Posted by Brandon) (USS Spectre - Deck 6 - Gamma Security Checkpoint, Sec Operations Office - Security Officer Farrell - 16:46) Hingilt the Blue Gill as humans were wont to call the species wasn't used to planning and doing a lot of thinking for itself, it was only a drone after all and the Progenitors were the ones who normally called the shots either directly or through contacts but it was no dummy so while it waited for Sorenson to check in it was busy scheming on how it might get out of its current dilemma alive. The odds weren't good as it had concluded previously and it hadn't really gotten very far beyond what it had already set into motion. One thing it knew though was that IF it managed to buffalo its way through it was going to put a call through to its contact and damn the consequences. While the Progenitor might be unhappy about the lapse in security it would still be better than being constantly on guard against accidental discovery by the humans and various other species on board. Farrell drummed his fingers on the desktop in time with the parasite's thoughts. Would it be better to take over the Ensign's body when he waltzed blithely through the door, unaware of the danger? Hingilt considered that for a long moment and decided it was a bad idea, once he left Farrell's body it would die and they would know for sure that he was on board. Better to leave the possibility open for later should he be in danger of discovery when there would be no choice anyway. At this moment he was safe and hoped to keep it that way. The comm he was waiting for interrupted his thoughts. =^= Sorenson to Farrell, sir the results came up negative. I have been cleared for active duty and am on my way to you now.=^= "Good, good. Stop by the armory on your way and requisition a hand phaser, I've already approved it." (Reply: Sorenson) Farrell then leaned back in the chair and cupped his hands behind his head as he day dreamed of an alien world and sandy expanses where he wasn't in fear for his life ... except of course when the Etta Raptors were prowling about. (Reply: Sorenson, any) (Posted by Charles) (USS Spectre - Deck 16 - Armoury - TAC/ASC Ensign Sorenson - 16:47) Michael walked towards the armoury. His check up had taken longer than he had liked, and he hoped this hadn't set him back. His first assignment and he was hoping not to disappoint. While he walked he thought back on his medical visit. The doctor had turned to Michael and informed him that he hadn't had his arrival checkup. "Yes, I haven't scheduled it yet. I'd been hoping I'd have seen action soon." "How are you feeling? Any dizziness, fatigue or fainting?" Michael shook his head. "No, I've been restless but that's only because I don't enjoy sitting around." "If you lie back, we can get your scans taken care of, and your physical done for the next year." The doctor said, gesturing for Michael to lie down. He sighed, reluctantly laying down. He knew this was a necessity, but that didn't mean he had to enjoy it. Once things were completed, Michael's mind began to wonder to what he had to do next. He heard the doctor vaguely saying something about some medical symptoms, then his rank. "...are convinced you are invincible, but you are not, understand?" Michael looked at the eyes staring back at his and nodded. "Understood." Back in the present, Michael entered the armoury. Wasting no time he strode towards the officer on duty. After a short conversation, the ensign left the armoury, his waist once more weighed down by the familiar weight of a phaser. Now he had a mission to do. (Reply none) (Posted by Brandon) (USS Spectre - Deck 9, Corridor - The Entity - 16:48) The Entity was pleasantly sated, it had never in its memory had such a rich feeding ground. Every so often a few tasty specimens wandered within its hunting area to be sure but they were after all only a few. This didn't count for the world it had once inhabited though of which it had only the faintest recollection since it had been so long ago. Where had this world been? It couldn't remember. How had it left that world? Had it wandered off willingly or attached itself to a ship that had left? It couldn't remember that either though surely if it had been fertile it would not have left for the barrens of space. At this moment in time it was entertaining the thought of staying aboard. Why leave such a lush area after all? As a matter of fact it was becoming clear that there was too much sustenance here to sustain just one of its kind which was something that could be remedied should it choose to take that step. The entity was also aware that it had been hunting in only two dimensions in the time it had been aboard though it could sense many, many more succulent morsels both above and below it. As a matter of fact below and not far from this location there was an enormous cluster of food sources milling about. Perhaps it was time, yes it was as good a time as any. Within the energy being there was a churning of energetic emissions which began to coalesce in a magnetic fashion, negative wavelengths separating from positive and polarizing together into dual poles. While its outer region slightly expanded internally it was imploding into halves. After a moment the process was completed and those same two halves expanded, enveloping its outer circumference and not one but two entities floating invisibly in the corridor. (Reply: Any) (Posted by Charles) (USS Spectre - Deck 6 - Gamma Security Checkpoint - TAC/ASC Ensign Sorenson - 16:49) Michael walked towards the security checkpoint. As he did so he absentmindedly kept his hand within a few centimetres of his phaser. It had been a long time since he had last held one, but some habits die hard. Reaching his destination, he pressed the button on the side of the door and was quickly admitted entrance. The man infront of him nodded and stood. "So you're the new guy," he said with a smile. The first impression given off by Farrell was very impressive. This was a man that could be trusted. "I'm Farrell, the security coordinator in charge of this deck." Michael sat, nodding towards his superior. "Thank you, sir. I look forward to serving with you." Farrell went on to tell Michael about how the situation differed from the norm, what with the senior officers currently occupied. Hearing this information reassured Michael that the reason for his late start had been completely unavoidable. "For now, we have our orders." Farrell continued. "Are there any questions you have before we get started?" Michael sat forward. "Yes, I do have one question. What sort of duty would I be currenly performing? I have not been fully briefed on this situation so I was wondering what I could expect." (Reply None) (Posted by Brandon) (USS Spectre - Deck 9, Corridor - Entity #2 - 16:50) The second entity was significantly weaker than the original and it was ravenous. This entity had the same memories as the original, it knew its purpose, it knew its prey and it knew its power. When the first entity jolted it with an anti-proton "shock" it also knew that it was not welcome here. If it remained the two would be in competition for the same food sources which would inevitably lead to conflict. Without hesitation this entity moved to the nearest bulkhead and using the same method the first had used to gain entry to the Spectre it left. (Reply None) (Posted by Charles) (USS Spectre - Deck 6 - Gamma Security Checkpoint - Security Operations Coordinator Farrell - 16:51) At the chime of his door he spoke up. "Come." (Reply: Sorenson) Farrell nodded and stood to his feet. "So you're the new man." He gave him a thorough look followed be a smile."Sit down for a moment and a moment is all we have, I'm Farrell, the security coordinator in charge of this deck." (Reply: Sorenson) He checked the chronometer then sat down and leaned forward with his hands clasped on the desktop. "This is a bit out of the ordinary since one of the command officers usually starts the newbies out but the CO and FO have been mighty busy so I'm taking it on myself to get you started." He gave a chuckle. NRPG: I was tempted to use a term we jokingly called the new guys who came offshore from training and is not flattering however it WAS a joke in fact one of them brought the term to my attention. Fortunately I refrained. It appears getting the salt air out of my system isn't going to be as easy as I thought. ;) RPG: "For now," he continued. "We have our orders, are there any questions you have before we get started?" (Reply: Sorenson) (Posted by Charles) (Nearby space - outside deck 9 - Entity #2 - 16:55) Entity #2 hovered outside the hull and considered its available options though it would not do so for very long as its hunger was becoming all consuming. Two more rich feeding grounds were lurking nearby but were they too close? Its parent would not be happy if it found it had remained so close to its hunting grounds. Since it retained the parents memories it recalled that it had been touched by some sort of energy before coming here, orienting itself until it was 'looking' is such could be said to look toward a nearby nebula. There was a faint after image of that energy still there. Its mind made up the new entity began 'surfing' toward the Tempest. (Reply: None yet) (Posted by Charles) (USS Tempest - Bridge - Sulia Madon, Lt Selenko and Captain Adams - 16:56) Adams had just called Madon onto the bridge, the Science officer Selenko had been tracking the object from earlier and had postulated that it seemed sentient. A lifeform of some sort. Madon had arrived with optimism and a certain degree of interest iin just what this might be, and how it could perhaps be used to her advantage. "What is it doing?", she asked, the science officer passively scanning the object now as though not to startle it. "It appears to be.... trying to decide what to do next", said Selenko. Madon leant forwards towards the screen of the science console, her hands resting now upon the ledge to support herself. It's most prominent reading appeared to be energy, but at a low enough level to avoid detection unless someone was actively looking for it. Indeed, had the Tempest not been passively scanning the local field so intently, they might not have even seen it. Madon stood up, the fingers of her right hand playing against her chin as she contemplated what to do. She was the carrier of an organism herself of course, as was every member of this crew now. The organism exerted a certain opinion all of its own, it wanted to make contact with this 'entity', but Madon's cautious side sensed another path would be more frugal. "Can we bring it aboard?", she asked. "Set up a containment field to study it perhaps?" Selenko nodded, but Adams was uncertain. "I'm not sure I want to just bring it aboard", he said, "we have no idea what it is or what it might do or want" Madon eyed him curiously. Starfleet. No curiosity these days. "Hence the containment field", she said, an aire of sarcasm in her voice now. "I think we should bring it in, observe it. See if we can use it in some way" Was that Madon talking, or the organism? Needless to say, it appeared that perhaps they would have no choice now for with a raised tone, the science officer informed them that the object had 'decided', and that it was now moving towards them. Adams immediately ordered 'Yellow Alert', and the bridge became bathed in the subdued yellow hue associated with a raised operational condition as he moved to the centre chair, his Starfleet training coming to the fore now. Immediately he began giving orders, course heading, speed and relative position of the object, which changed almost instantly he queried them. "Sir the object is reducing speed on our port aspect, it's.... correction, it's moving to our starboard aspect and... Umm, sorry. The object has stopped. There is a phasic interaction with our shields sir. It appears to be...", said the Tactical officer. Adams turned hard to look to the Tactical officer. "Well?", he enquired. "What is it doing?" The tactical officer paused, his fingers probing at his console as he tried to find an answer. It seemed that the object was no longer on their sensors. Could it be.... "Sir, I think it has entered the ship" Madon went into overdrive, her hands flying into the air as she marched to Adams. "I told you we should have brought it aboard and contained it! Now it's lose on the ship", she hollered. Adams did what a Starfleet officer would do. He immediately called for a security detail to report to the deck that the entity had last been reported at, then he closed off that deck in an attempt to prevent it from going anywhere else before sitting back in his chair. He had a feeling though that the act was going to be pointless, the entity, whatever it was had just passed through their shields as though they were butter. What would internal forcefields now achieve? "Is that all you are going to do?", cried Madon angrily. "I would have gone to Red Alert if I had not been worried about giving our position away to our 'other' friends out there", answered Adams. "As it is, I can only do what I can do. Security will find it and contain it. Hopefully, it will not turn out to be hostile" he added. Madon fumed, and then turned to the tactical officer. "Track it, and don't lose sight of it. I want to know where it is at all times and what it is doing", she ordered, to which the tac officer nodded... (Reply Any, IYW) (Posted by Alan) (USS Spectre – Turbolift – CMO, Cmdr Andrew Williams – 16:57) "Deck 1." Kurt said Andrew felt the turbolift move as it headed for deck 1. It gave him some time to gather his thoughts together for the briefing. "S***." His thoughts were pulled by Kurt’s swearing. "Er..apologies..." A grin flashed across his face. "Palmer to Riya. I've just been called into a briefing. If you wouldn't mind sending me a quick report on the bio electric interference, I can probably be back to the arboretum within the hour." He hoped that when they got together he would be able to get a better understanding on what was going on. (Reply Palmer) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Transporter Room - FO/CEO, Lt Remae Ktell - 17:00) Personnel cleared via the scanning process were assembled into the Transporter Room and the system energised as a number of people were beamed over from both the ships. Wraith personnel appeared and on one side and on the other, members of the crew from the Serenity. Remae waited for the system to power down... Captain Bell had a few officers were her and Commander Jay had just the one officer. Noone spoke for a moment but Remae waited to see if anyone was going to speak and more importantly to him, what was Jana going to do? As it turned out, nothing... but both parties were already scanning with their outstretched hands on the tricorders. "I'm the First Officer, Remae Ktell - please, everyone in the rooms has been clear...", he said offering a 2 PADDs, one for each group to examine. "I suggest we relocate to the Conference Room, the corridor has been cleared... if you please?", said Remae and it seemed noone was speaking but they moved out the door and were escorted by Spectre Security Officers. Confusion raced through the mind of the First Officer, Jana hadn't even glanced at him... "What can you tell me?", he said to Riven and he waited for a moment for the reply... Remae felt that Jana wasn't the Jana he knew... but the Bajoran put it down to the fact that his relationship with Jana was confusing to say the least. (Reply from Riven) "Doctor, go up to the conference room and get started... I need to see Elani now, would you tell her I am coming down?", he said knowing that it would take only a moment for Riven. (Reply from Riven, Any) (Posted by Anthony Keen) (USS Spectre - Transporter Room – Commander Jay – 17:03) Jay materialised on the crowded transporter pad. To her right was Officers from the Wraith who seemed to have brought along a lot of offices compared to just her and Senior Chief Petty Officer Arya Snow her Trauma Response Team Chief who dealt with all the external medial situations. Tricorders appeared and the people in the transporter room were scanned until she got the nod from Arya as Ktell began to speak "I'm the First Officer, Remae Ktell - please, everyone in the rooms has been clear...", She took the PADD she had been given and nodded her thanks. "I suggest we relocate to the Conference Room, the corridor has been cleared... if you please?" Jay nodded her thanks again as she and Arya along with the Wraith officer were escorted out into the corridor towards the conference room. (Reply Any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Transporter Room - ACouns Lt. Dr. Riven Mias - 17:03) The transporter room was getting very crowded Riven noted as they waited for the transporter to completely cycle, the hum finally died down and the forms had solidified. Out of the corner of his eye he saw one of the security officers step out of the room after making some apology to the young man he was with which Riven recognized as the new Tactical/Security officer. During his ruminations he forgot about security officer Farrell, the man who had stepped outside. Suspicion was emanating thickly from the people who were standing on the pads and he supposed justifiably so. The Blue Gills as they were generally known were an insidious species who at one time had tried to take control of the Federation by infiltrating the very heart of StarFleet command. Apparently an all out assault by the normally gentle souled Captain Jean Luc Picard had begun the purge that had rooted the creatures out. While medical personnel were at it with tricorders Riven the telepath/empath was using his mind to gauge their emotional responses since the telepathic moral laws prohibited him from prying into their thoughts directly. Remae standing beside him was on edge and a bit giddy and he followed the man's eyes to the object of his attentions, Captain Jana Bell. The Betazoid expected some spark or flicker of emotion perhaps, there was none, not even a tell tale widening or narrowing of the eyes or movement of the lips. The woman not only looked at the FO as though he were a stranger she apparently didn't recognize him at all. Riven was instantly suspicious, something was very wrong here. While it was possible her memories had been wiped by a traumatic event in the past perhaps this was also what they had been told to expect from Blue Gill behavior. He was also aware he was probably frowning and mentally shook himself and forced his eyes to continue about the room. As the seconds passed and the boarding parties seemed mollified the suspicion died down though everyone remained guarded. "I'm the First Officer, Remae Ktell - please, everyone in the rooms has been clear...", To show that he meant business Ktell then passed over PADDS containing the medical scan "I suggest we relocate to the Conference Room, the corridor has been cleared... if you please?", There was a pregnant pause before everyone began filing out of the room and Riven sensed the FO's confusion. He hung back just a bit to allow Ktell an opportunity for questions. "What can you tell me?" Riven kept his voice low. "There is something wrong here and we will not begin sweeps of the ship until I know exactly what it is." Remae seemed satisfied with that statement. "Doctor, go up to the conference room and get started... I need to see Elani now, would you tell her I am coming down?" (Reply: Elani, any) (posted by Charles) (USS Spectre - Deck 3, Corridor - ACouns Lt. Dr. Riven Mias - 17:08) "Of course," He nodded and watched the FO turn down the corridor in the opposite direction from that which he and the rest would be traveling. As he hurried to catch up he saw Farrell again from the corner of his eye, the man was turning a corner and rejoining his partner. Riven's eyes narrowed at that but he had too much on his mind at the moment to dwell on it so he made his way to the front of the group, speaking as he did so. "Once we are in the conference room I have some questions for you to satisfy my curiosity of course, I won't hold you very long but you need to know what we have done in the last hour and where we are currently operating. The database has all the names you need of the crewmembers cleared as well as the scans so that you can be satisfied we have been thorough. While I'm sure the Captain would like to meet with the command members present after this is all over I know you don't want to keep your personnel on the Spectre too long." He said this with an ingratiating and genuine smile though it shrank just a bit when Captain Bell looked at him with a bored expression. (Reply: Any) ::Elani, Remae is enroute to your location, I suggest you set aside some time for him.:: He didn't relay his suspicions to her ...yet, they may at some point be shown to be groundless and he wasn't going to go shouting wolf unless it turned out to be necessary. (Reply: Elani, any) (posted by Charles) (USS Spectre - Counsellor's Suite - FO/CEO, Lt Remae Ktell - 17:10) Remae made his way to see Ensign Elani Caras, the ships primary Counsellor. It felt like he was escaping or ditching the meeting but he had to get some clarity...now, before he started talking to Jana. "Counsellor.", he said entering the office. He was apologetic, after all, during the past hour, the Counsellors had spent their time checking and clearing members of the Spectre and now, he had pulled her from those duties to talk to him. "I'll be brief on this, as I don't have long to indulge my personal problems but in this case, it could directly influence the discussion upstarts so I need to get this clear in the my head before I start.", he said as a way of explanation. "I am not quite sure where to begin.", he said as he waited for Elani to start the session. What was Remae going to say, the entire thing was confusing, even to him and he had worked hard to not think about it. Now, he would have to face it and once and for all, expose this part of his past. (Reply from Caras, Any) (Posted by Anthony Keen) (USS Spectre - Counsellor's Suite - FO/CEO, Lt Remae Ktell - 17:15) Remae was sitting down and speaking to his Counsellor, Ellie. The reasoning was clear but now the FO had his thoughts not on the mission or the fact that they had made no real progress in even getting themselves to where they were ordered to go, but his thoughts once more were centred on the CO of the Wraith. ~ Where to begin ~ Was he going to recount the entire history of this relationship or simply the events that were causing the current crisis... was it a crisis? He decided on the latter, he did have to focus on the crew and the ship and how could he do that when he was focussing on Jana. So he began in the middle of their story... "Jana and I parted ways when we both gained our commissions. She told me that her career was very important to her and she wasn't able to sacrifice it for me just so we could be together. I am afraid that the thought of actually ending my own career to say with her at that time didn't even enter my head.", he started recounting the end of the relationship, in a different time and a different universe. "Things at this point get confusing... to say that I am a man out of place is very apt. I've passed through 2 different parallel universes and at this point, there are 2 of me and 1 other Spectre and 1 other Federation ship that don't belong here... and in this timeline, I've no idea if Jana knows me, met me or has any idea of what has occurred.", it was hard keeping it straight, I mean, who would know who is who in any such events? "She hasn't contacted me and I've been more than a little afraid to look into the records.", he admitted thinking that checking out on the personal status of this Jana was an event he was not looking forward to. "Just now, in the transporter room, she looked directly through me, she didn't know me so I guess that is that!", he said and then added, "It's over and the small hope I was holding on to, is gone.", said Remae as the full reality was now on him and his previously happy mood collapsed. There was no getting away from the fact... any small chance of a happy ending where he and Jana could be together was over and where he went from here was the unknown. (Reply from Caras, Any) (Posted by Anthony Keen) (USS Spectre - Conference Room - CO (USS Wraith) Jana Bell - 17:17) Something was bothering Jana, it was in the back of her mind, it was hidden... what was it? She was in the Spectre's Conference Room... it looked exactly the same but a mirror of the Wraith's. Did she recall the walk up from the transporter room? The conversation with the Doctor on the way hadn't made much of an impact, what did he say? He wanted to talk about questions he had plus he had a database of names for them to examine. The CO of the Wraith did note they weren't alone, there was Commander Jay of the Serenity and her crew and her own team from the Wraith plus Security were in the Conference Room as well. "Doctor, if the FO or your CO isn't going to join us, perhaps we can get started?", she said coldly, without emotion or passion... what was she doing here again? It would become clear, she was sure. (Reply from Any in the Conference Room) (Posted by Anthony Keen) =================================================================