Hello, I’ve been advised that my original compile was too big, so you should be getting this one in four chunks. Hold onto your hats! -=/\=- Compile #14 (compiled by acting Compile Imp) Covering 23 posts from 17 to 31 July 2005 -=/\=- Mission: Whom do you trust? Day: 3 Stardate: 2406.11.12 (USS Spectre, Personal Quarters – StratOps, Commander Tahlmari – 1405) (USS Spectre, Bridge – StratOps, Commander Tahlmari – 1805) (USS Spectre, Bridge – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 1813) (Dreamscape – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 1818) (USS Spectre, Bridge – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 1824) (USS Spectre, Bridge – COUNS, Ensign (SG) Alternative Lronen – 1825) (USS Spectre, Bridge – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 1827) (USS Spectre, Ready Room – CO, Captain Remae Ktell – 1835) -=/\=- (USS Spectre, Personal Quarters – StratOps, Commander Tahlmari – 1405) After meeting with the counsellor in the morning, Tahl spent his day getting to know the crew and the ship. He had spent the morning on the bridge with the captain. After lunch he had received a message that he had to take in his quarters. He had hoped it would be information on Alexandra. It was, but the news was... not good. Still no sign of the missing ship. Tahl sat on the edge of his bed rubbing his face in his hands, working at maintaining his composure. ~Not so good, eh bud?~ Tahl tried to ignore his imaginary friend, Bob, who tended to show up at the least opportune times. But he knew that Bob was in his head so there was no escape from him. ~Where is Alex and what happened to her ship? How can a whole ship just disappear like that?~ ~There are far stranger things in this universe.~ The door chime rang and Tahl shook his head. Bob disappeared from his mind. "Come in." The door opened and a young officer stepped in. "Sorry to disturb you Commander. My name is Andrew I'm the CMO." "You're not disturbing me," Tahl lied. "What can I do for you?" "I'm sure you realise this but I'm inoculating the crew against the possible of radiation from the star." "Oh goody," Tahl's voice dripped with sarcasm. "All of this and a shot too. Do your worst doc." He gave the doctor an evil look then added, "Well, maybe not your worst." "This stuff is potent but should not give you any side effects," Williams said. "But if you do feel unwell at all please do not hesitate to come to sickbay." "I'm sure I'll be fine," Tahl said, uncharacteristically humourlessly, and offered his arm. Then his old humour came back. "I hope I'm offering the right part of my body." The doctor didn't reply but applied the hypospray to Tahl's arm. There was a hiss and a moment of discomfort. Tahl looked at the inoculation sight and rubbed his arm a little. "Oh, by the way," Williams continued, "I have not done a medical check on you since you arrived. If it is possible could you come down to sickbay for when you have a minute?" Tahl almost laughed when he heard the doctor's words. With a big smile he replied, "Absolutely." Of course, in his position he is continually receiving medical check ups, and eager beavers such as Williams are always trying to catch something that the others have missed. Perhaps one day they’ll even find a microbe that you can get, while travelling alone, through space. "I'll be down when I have a minute." ~Which will probably be about two minutes after this mission is complete.~ The doctor, amazingly, seemed satisfied with the reply and took his leave. ~The innocence of the youth. He'll figure it out sooner or later.~ Alone again, Tahl wanted to avoid Bob and decided to head back to the bridge. (Reply none) (Posted by Al Muir) (USS Spectre, Bridge – StratOps, Commander Tahlmari – 1805) The past few hours had reminded Tahl how much he missed being part of a set crew; the closeness that they shared and the ability to do their jobs around each other, without having to say anything. It was comforting to know that these things still occurred. It also gave him an opportunity to observe Captain Remmae. He seemed calm and collected, with an almost Vulcan like tranquillity. He wondered what the good captain would be like when he was on leave. It's always the quiet ones that you have to worry about. "Distance?" the captain called out. Tahl had been spending his time at the secondary tactical station. "Ten minutes from the star at warp," he called out. Remmae nodded and called out, "Senior Officers to the Bridge. Mr Orde, Yellow Alert. Take us out of warp. On screen." The sight that Tahl saw was amazing. It was too bright to look at without the filters. It was awe inspiring. Tahl just looked at, with wonder at its beauty and activity. Solar flares burst from its corona, and looped back towards the star, pulled back in by its gravity well. "Take us in, half impulse," Remmae ordered, startling Tahl from his thoughts. He began to monitor the ships shields and sensor readings. The counsellor reported in. Tahl nodded to him and smiled. The smile faded as he noticed the hint of blood trickling from Lronen's nose. He wiped off and turned to the captain. "Sir, I should tell you... briefly I had a feeling that we weren't entirely alone. It quickly passed... but... something seems... wrong." In return, Remae looked at the Counsellor for a moment, "Another piece to the puzzle?" he said for a moment as he thought. "Keep at it, Counsellor." Tahl turned his attention back the sensor readings to see if he could get anything, or any life-sign readings in the sector. Nothing. "Magnify quadrant 14-Beta.", Remae ordered. "Mr H'Chir, do you recognise that?" he asked, looking at the numbers going across the screen. "It looks like a warp core signature, a Federation warp core signature." Tahl confirmed that it did, indeed appear to be a Federation warp signature, which appeared to be connected to a ghost of a Federation ship. It was there but then again it wasn't, as if it were in a continual state of flux. Remae had the computer work on identifying the ship. A picture of the ship showed up in a split screen. "The Phantom.” said Remae. "The USS Phantom was lost on a deep cover mission in the Gamma Quadrant quite a few years ago, at least, that's what we were told." Remae tossed a glance at Tahl, and he knew what that meant. Time to start digging. He entered his access code into the ships computer and began to dig. As he plunged through the depths of the ships data base, and drawing from hidden security files as the captain ordered them closer. The next thing Tahl new he was thrown into the panel in front of him. But it was impossible for them to be touched while the phase cloak was in operation. A quick check saw it to functioning properly. Another jolt, and Tahl was able to keep his see by holding onto the edge of his panel, but he thought he hurt his shoulder. "REPORT!" the captain yelled. "Get us away from the star, full impulse." =^= Williams to Bridge. Is there any one injured up there? =^= "We seem to be okay, casualty report?" said Remae the waves hitting the ship seemed to be lessening. Before the Doctor could reply, Lronen jumped up, "Captain, we have to get out of here right now! Leave that ship alone! We have to leave! We're all in danger!" "What? Why?” said the Bajoran, looking bewildered. "You don't understand Sir, we're being invaded! There are entities on board, and more coming. We have to leave now!" Suddenly it went dark and it took a moment before the lights came back up and before Remae could reply to the CONN's request, the comm chattered into life. =^= Engineering to Bridge, we just lost the warp engines. =^= "It seems over now, soon, all shall be correct." Tahl had no idea waht that was supposed to mean, and he looked between the counselor and the captain. He knew it wsas a bad idea to come on this mission. What else could go wrong. "Sir, perhaps maybe running away isn't the best option. Maybe send over an away team sir?” said Banowsky at the CONN, "In case you didn't notice." In the world of bad ideas, that one just seemed like a really bad one. But what surprised him more was the captain's reply. "That's sounds like the correct course of action, Ensign.” said Remae standing up, "bring us about and take us into transporter range, drop the phase cloak, raise the shields, we'll need to be normal space to transport." "Mr Lronen, Mr Banowsky, please report to my Ready Room.", he said, leaving the Bridge and heading into the Ready Room despite no one on the Bridge questioning his order to return to the star, with just their shields to protect them. Tahl couldn't believe what he was hearing, but he couldn't force his vocal chords to work. Not only was sending an away team the absolute worst idea he'd heard in a long time, followed by dropping their shields and phase cloak, but then for the captain to leave the bridge when they were so obviously under attack. There was something more at work here. He realized that while the captain was in his ready room, and no sign of the FO, he was in charge. He began to key in his access codes and lock out command systems. Whatever was going on, he wasn't going to let anything further happen until he had a better explanation. He had just completed his lockout codes when the three men returned to the bridge. "Captain Remae," Tahl said, "just what in the hell is going on?" (Reply Remae, any) (Posted by Al Muir) (USS Spectre, Bridge – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 1813) "Mr H'Chir, do you recognise that?" H’Chir had taken up position at the engineering station on the bridge and played the role of the silent observer as the crew swept the mighty starship’s sensors through the radiation soup in close proximity to the class-Y star. Without pausing for a response, the captain continued his train of thought aloud: "It looks like a warp core signature, a Federation warp core signature. Computer, run the sequence through the starship database, try and match it to a warp core signature.” Within seconds the computer had found the match, and on request the image of another Spectre-class vessel. “The Phantom.” The captain’s voice was distant, a combination of shock and the effort of recalling details of their unexpected neighbour. “The USS Phantom was lost on a deep cover mission in the Gamma Quadrant quite a few years ago; at least that’s what we were told.” H’Chir doubted he was the only one who’d picked up on the subtle message hidden in the captain’s words. ~I wonder who that was intended for…~ The Spectre drew closer to her silent sister ship, and eerie calm descended upon her officers amazed as the same radiation that battered against their own shields left the Phantom apparently untouched. *SLAM* The deck pitched and, caught unawares, the crew were each hurled to the floor. H’Chir’s last thought before impact was ~Damned phase cloak… Must have dropped…” (Reply none) (Posted by Michael Drake) (Dreamscape – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 1818) The bridge ceiling disappeared from view and H’Chir felt something hard jolt his back. He was lying on a branch, in a tree, at least eight feet above ground. The sun beat down on his face and he was vaguely aware of a soft breeze coming from somewhere. He might have questioned this set-up, but all thoughts of starships and radiation fields disappeared from his mind. He quite simply was, and always had been, on this branch. In the sun. Something sparked in the back on his mind, and without thinking H’Chir rolled off the branch and landed in a crouch, just in time to feel the forked hand jar into the back of his neck. Twisting as the force pinned him to the ground he saw a pair of roots pierce the ground, one either side of his neck. A third crumbled against the skin just beneath his Adam’s apple. The tree grinned at him maliciously, and H’Chir saw the tension in its “arm” as it prepared to drive its stake through his neck and end his life. (USS Spectre, Bridge – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 1824) Blinking in the disordered lights of a starship in peril, H’Chir reached up to rub his head where he’d fallen. A jumble of voices came crashing through to him and made him wince, until one came through as clear as a bell and snapped him into focus: =/\=Engineering to Bridge, we just lost the warp engines.=/\= Turning back to his console, he tapped his commbadge and opened a direct line with the engine-room. (Reply any, none) (Posted by Michael Drake) (USS Spectre, Bridge – Alternative COUNS, Ensign (SG) Lronen – 1825) "Now, let's see what we can do about getting the rest onboard," said the one in the Captain's uniform. "Wait, how much do we know about... these people besides the basic intelligence we already have?" he asked, gesturing at each one of them, "Perhaps if we know enough we can ensure that they don't suspect until its too late." The 'counsellor' gave a faint chuckle. He was, after all, skilled in the arts of deception and in getting the information that he needed. (Reply Alternate Ktell, Alternate Banowsky) "Deal with the heads first and the body will fall..." he replied smiling wickedly, "This one, if memory serves me, makes it his business to know the personal matters of the crew. There must be something we can use. Weaknesses are weaknesses, be they physical or psychological." (Reply Alternative Ktell, Alternative Banowsky) The 'Counsellor' smiled and nodded and exited to the bridge with the other two men. (Reply Alternative Ktell, Alternative Banowsky) (Posted by Jeff Bergeron) (USS Spectre, Bridge – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 1827) The readings had taken mere seconds to appear on his console, but understanding them was proving a somewhat lengthier process. Oblivious to the goings on around him H’Chir raised his voice above the under-breath muttering he’d been using to make sense of the figures and reported, “As best I can tell, the warp-core’s still functioning, but the power to the nacelles is being shunted somewhere else. Although where it’s going is anybody’s guess. Given how we were hit through our phase cloak, I’d say the raw energy is being phased somewhere else entirely. “Either way, we can’t produce a stable warp field.” (Reply, any) (Posted by Michael Drake) (USS Spectre, Ready Room – CO, Captain Remae Ktell – 1835) "This one, if memory serves me, makes it his business to know the personal matters of the crew. There must be something we can use. Weaknesses are weaknesses, be they physical or psychological." Remae that wasn't Remae nodded, "We can use any number of techniques against them to make them ours." After that, the three intruders left the Ready Room and they returned to the Bridge.