From: JoGoodman2@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, 9 December 2003 10:38 AM
To: spectre-nrpg@freedom-squadron.com
Cc: compiles@freedom-squadron.com
Subject: Spectre compile Nov 24-30 (pt 2)
(planet's surface, camp, Kahila Lono, 00.50) 

Kahila had gone into her quarters -- one of the tent modules, to rest. Her combadge beeped, and she tapped it. 

=^= Rak'han to Lono, can you send one or two of your infected crewmembers to 
our current location. Make sure they're sturdy, it's a few ours over the 
hills. Or you could fly out here, but I don't think there's anyone other 
than you at the camp who's qualified to pilot a shuttle manually. =^= 

Kahila thought for a moment. ~I don't think it's a good idea if I leave the camp right now.~ "Ensign Rak'han, Lono here. Understood. As there are several Marines infected, and none of them showing symptoms of debilitation, I doubt there will be any problem with having two of them join you. Please give me the coordinates of your location verbally." ~It's fortunate I have a good memory, now that I can't rely on technology.~ 

Kahila committed the location to memory, then went out of the tent, and walked to the area reserved for the Marine crewmembers who were infected. She spoke to the highest ranking Marine officer, ordering him to send two of his men to the designated place. 

(reply any) 
posted by Josephine Goodman 

<> 
(The Lower Cradle, ACEO, Ensign(jg) Hank Longfellow - 01.00)

The area on the north side of the ship was covered in white lights as power generators hummed with the steady flow of energy that the systems needed. More and more equipment was transferred from the ship to just outside of it in the cradle that had been made to protectively hold the vessel. Burn marks would forever scar the area perhaps but the changes here weren't done yet as a small group set up. 

Having borrowed one of the geology specialists from the science department Hank had been working with a pair of engineers outside after the partial repair of the ship's computer. Two teams were working on the rest of that system, running diagnostics, pulling the damaged isolinear chips and replacing them even as they worked to restore the system back to fully operational status. 

"I want those systems restored as quickly as possible," Hank stated over his combadge as he worked with another engineering to finish setting up the laser grid outside. Tapping his badge once more he checked over the information on the PADD. "Right I want these systems countersunk into the rock and we need access tunnels as well," Hank said as the phase-cutters were put online and started to burn through the stone along the laser straight lines. 

"Why aren't we just destroying the stone," one of the engineers asked as Hank and the others moved behind a small transparent aluminum barricade that'd been put in place to shield them. 

"Because we can feed this back into the replicators for recycling and maintain the stores," Hank stated with a yawn. 

"Haven't you gone for sleep yet," the Vulcan woman next to him asked and the engineer shook his head. 

"Once the ship is repaired I plan on taking a full eight hours," he muttered grimly as he glanced to the PADD once more then tapped his combadge. "Ens. Longfellow to Main Engineering, Why is the team on the south side not there yet," he asked with a frown.

=/\= "Slight hold up at the replicators due to the long line… from what I hear they'll be down in fifteen minutes to a half hour," =/\= the crewman reported.

"Have they been to sleep yet," Hank asked as he glanced over the plans for the tractor/repulsor beam units.

=/\= "Two of them have but the rest haven't," =/\= was the reply.

"Keep those two there and send the rest to their quarters for four, out," Hank stated as he glanced around to those behind the shield with him as he tapped his badge. "Who here hasn't slept yet," he asked.

"You have yet to do so," stated the Vulcan even as three of the others raise their hands.

"You three go to your quarters and take four," Hank ordered as he narrowed his eyes and looked over to the Vulcan for a moment. She quirked an eyebrow in his direction.

"With all due respect sir I'll sleep later," said a Bolian engineer as he looked up from his work with the phase-cutter once more to respond. "After all you aren't tired so…," he said in an almost challenge.

Hank smirked slightly and looked back to the PADD in his hand. "I want these systems in place before morning and work crews working on the hull as soon as possible," Hank stated.

(The Lower Cradle, ACEO, Ensign(jg) Hank Longfellow - 03.00)

The gentle nudge of a foot against one of Hank's brought him back around as he lay on his back partly under the housing for one of the tractor/repulsor beam units. Trying to sit up in the dim light he banged his head on something very close before a panic set in for a moment. His hands pushed at the metallic surface above him and the stone walls close by.

"Longfellow… Longfellow," said someone and Hank calmed down as he remembered where he was once more. 

"I just hit my head on something," he muttered softly.

=/\= "That would be the ship," =/\= reported someone over his combadge. They'd been working to cut tunnels under and around the ship to place the units and lines to them that would hold the vessel up in a secondary support cradle along with creating a slight gravitational alteration field. A reversal of the systems used to create a gravity environment aboard the ship. Out in the cradle they could be used with the repulsor/tractor beams to hold the vessel up and in place as the damaged hull would be repaired. It would work almost like a makeshift spacedock.

"If you're going to sleep I would suggest your quarters," grumbled the person in the coffin-like tunnel with him and Hank felt as if the walls were simply falling in around to bury him alive. Closing his eyes tightly against it seemed to make it worse for a moment.

"I'm fine," he reported through gritted teeth before snapping his eyes open and feeling around in the tunnel for a moment to find the wrench he was using to put the unit together. "Are all the base platforms in place and ready for the units," Hank asked over his combadge.

=/\= "Yes, and the replicators are at full operation with the computer at close to that," =/\= reported the crewman over the communications channel. =/\= "The least damaged nacelle is functional and we have both teams working now on the remaining one along with those that had been on the replicators," =/\= they continued as Hank found the tool and focused himself on the task at hand.

"You know… maybe we should let it take something over," Hank said as he blinked his eyes. 

"What," the crewman close by asked. 

"Those… nano… the alien virus stuff…," Hank said with a yawn and a shudder. It felt as if the heat had been pulled from his body and the chill of night on the cold lifeless stone around him wasn't helping. "They kept sending messages over the systems… maybe if we let it take over a small computer it would… I don't know," he said as he stretched his legs out in the tunnel for a moment then shook them. 

"I'm sure it's been tested," reported one of the other engineers. "Why don't you let us finish this up Hank," said the man and Longfellow nodded then jerked his head to the side as he thought he saw something move past.

"What was that," Hank asked then frowned. "Okay, I'm getting out of the tunnels," he reported as he slowly turned himself over in the enclosure and started to wiggle/crawl backwards out of the tunnel he was in.

He frowned at the scent of burnt stone in the air as he moved backwards slowly out and into the night air once more. 

"Did you have the computer run a simulation on this," he asked aloud.

=/\= "Yes… simulation shows that it has a excellent chance of working as predicted unless outside forces interfere," =/\= the crewman reported.

"Are the lighting strips in place and are the posts going up," he asked with a frown as he moved over to one of the side walls in the cradle and sat down with his back against it.

=/\= "The strips are still being replicated but the posts are for the most part in place around the cradle area," =/\= the crewman reported on the beacon-like lights that would allow the engineers to see in the night and serve as runway lights if the vessel had to take off at night. The system they were putting in place would work twofold. One it would allow them to lift the ship to work on the underside of the hull and two it could assist in the takeoff of the ship once it was ready.

(The Lower Cradle, ACEO, Ensign(jg) Hank Longfellow - 05.00)

A hand gently shook Hank's shoulder as someone crouched down beside him. "Hi… um… would you like some coffee," asked the young woman and Hank looked to her for a long moment with a frown before shaking his head tiredly. He didn't remember falling asleep again.

"No thank you… do you have any jumja tea," he asked softly as he used the rock wall behind him to push himself to stand. 

"No but I'll get some," the young engineer reported as she moved off with the cargo platform she was moving. Swallowing for a moment Hank glanced over the array of pastries and such that were on the unit along with a number of cups and a large coffee thermos unit.

"Ens Longfellow to Main Engineering, who's got engineer's serving coffee and rolls," Hank muttered over his combadge.

=/\= "That would be Ens Longfellow… you gave the order about an hour ago," =/\= reported the crewperson with amusement in her voice.

"Um… where is who was there before," Hank asked as he glanced around at the engineering teams working on the lower panels were they could be accessed from the sides of the ship. 

=/\= "Wells is working to get the power grid for the support system fully online along with the backups that you ordered," =/\= she reported as Hank had glanced around on the ground for a moment and picked up the PADD that he'd dropped there.

"Right," Hank said as he looked over the long line of reports coming in on the PADD.

(The Upper Cradle, ACEO, Ensign(jg) Hank Longfellow - 05.40)

Hank sipped at the jumja tea carefully. Whomever the ensign was who was serving the tea was obviously trying to get on his good side. They'd stuck a jumja stick into the tea and added a bit of kava to the mix. Shaking his head Hank slowly moved along the ridge area that they'd flattened out a strip along. The phaser widened pathway was neatly straight and only broken by an impromptu safety fence along the edge and the squat beacon light posts. 

=/\= "The hull appears to be a lot better then we'd hoped but we're still replacing a number of the panels and the overloaded systems," =/\= reported the woman over the combadge. 

"How are the repairs to the outer nacelle coming," Hank asked as he looked out over the edge of the ship towards the damaged area.

=/\= "Repairs are going well enough that it should be operable within two or three days," =/\= she reported.

Hank frowned and shook his head before taking a quick sip from the steaming mug in his hand. "I want it in less," Hank stated simply before the combadge went off again.

=/\="Ensign Longfellow, can I get a systems status report, please?" =/\=, said Remae into the communications system. 

Longfellow caught himself before he groaned then quickly tapped his combadge to open the channel on his end. "Longfellow here," he reported in quickly. "Computer is operational, replicator systems are operational, hull repairs should be completed before the end of two days at the most along with the nacelle however I'll be working on doing it in less. Major modifications have been made to the cradle-like area which was carved out for the ship and the systems for it are being enhanced and made operational as we speak and the warp core is back online along with impulse power," Hank said with a frown. "The fact that the nacelle was off before we came in was one of the factors in making this go so quickly but the burn on entry was somewhat hard on areas where the fields weren't up to normal power. If it was an absolute emergency we could take off on an hour's notice with impulse systems but it could compromise the integrity of the hull or the nacelle," Longfellow stated.

<< reply Remae >> 

"Anything else I can do sir," Longfellow asked before stifling a yawn. 

<< reply Remae >> 

(reply any ) 
(Posted by Mark) 
<> 
(USS Spectre, Personal Quarters, CO, Captain Remae - 02.45) 

The computer sounded the alarm and Remae resisted the urge to bring his 
fist hard down on the control panel next to his bed, at the last moment, 
he simply pressed the control to turn off the alarm. 

"Computer, coffee.", he said half moaning and half groaning as he rolled 
out of bed. His feet found the remains of his strewn uniform from the 
night before as he stumbled his way to the replicator where a hot coffee 
was waiting for him. 

He took the cup and drank from it slowly as he sat back down again in 
one of his chairs, sipping somemore he began to wake up. 

The shower felt good as he used real water instead of the usual sonic 
setting; he soaked his head for a good 5 minutes before getting himself 
ready, into a clean uniform and with his hair in some sort of order and 
with a fresh coffee in his Starfleet issue mug, he was out the door and 
heading for the Bridge. 

(USS Spectre, Bridge, CO, Captain Remae - 03.00) 

"Lt Gort, anything interesting happen in the past few hours?", he said, 
appearing on the Bridge, still drinking coffee. 

(Reply from Gort) 

"Very well. dismissed and try to get some sleep.", he said, sitting down 
at the command chair. He spoke briefly with the night shift officers 
that were around him and he began catching up on his workload, the hours 
actually went quite quickly and he managed to get up to date. 

(USS Spectre, Bridge, CO, Captain Remae - 05.30) 

"Computer, how long until sunrise?", asked Remae, standing up after 
working the past few hours on reports and even on some of the repairs to 
the Bridge stations. 

<< 30 minutes >> 

"Bridge to Ensign Maber, report to the Shuttlebay in 30 minutes, Ensign, 
we're heading down to the Medical Centre.", said Remae, heading for his 
Ready Room. 

(Reply from the CSO) 

(USS Spectre, Ready Room, CO, Captain Remae - 05.45) 

"Ensign Longfellow, can I get a systems status report, please?", said 
Remae into the communications system. Before he left the Spectre, the 
Bajoran wanted an update on the condition of his ship. 

(Reply from Longfellow) 

Before long, Remae gathered the things he needed to take with him and 
was heading out the room and the Bridge. Passing command to the most 
senior officer on the Bridge, he headed for the Shuttlebay. 

(USS Spectre, Main Shuttlebay, CO, Captain Remae - 06.00) 

Ensign Maber was waiting for him in the Shuttlebay, the main door to the 
outside world already opened and the first daylight was steaming 
through. 

"Let's go Ensign, you have the controls.", he said as he walked upto the 
shuttle, "Take us on an overhead path above the Spectre, lets see how 
bad the damage is." 

(Shuttle 4, CO, Captain Remae - 06.05) 

The shuttle launched out of the Spectre and began a rapid rise and 
circuit over the Spectre. Remae could see repair teams on the hull 
making repairs but no real damage to the hull, the groove the ship was 
sat in seemed to provide cover on both sides. 

"Very well Ensign, lets head for the camp.", said Remae seeing enough of 
the ship to be satisfied. 

(Base Camp, CO, Captain Remae - 06.15) 

The shuttle was down and Remae and the CSO were greeted by the occupants 
of the medical camp. 

"Commander Lono, sleep well?", said Remae on spotting the First Officer. 
"This is our new CSO, Ensign Maber who arrived with us last night." 

(Reply from Lono, Maber) 

"Mr Maber, could you have a look at our sick crew? Perhaps the 
technological part of this illness is something you can tell us more 
about?", asked Remae, looking around at the rest of his crew who had 
been forced off the Spectre and reduced to roughing it outside and away 
from any technology that may have made their life more bearable in the 
night. 

Remae had replicated drinks and breakfast before they left and motioned 
for the crew to help themselves to whatever they wanted from the 
shuttle, it was the least he could do. 

(Reply from Lono, Gort, Maber, Any in Camp, Any) 
(Posted by Anthony Keen) 

(USS Spectre, CSO's office, CSO Ensign Octan Maber - 04:20) 
Cambridge simply handed the man a PADD. "It's all there...I'm too tired 
to think about any of it anymore...all due respect." 
Octan took the PADD and started to study it. Suddenly he looked up at the 
Ferengi that entered with Cambridge, who, up to now had not said a word. 
"Anything to add to this?" he asked Gort, wondering why the OPS officer 
was keeping so quiet. 
"No," Gort replied, "it's all there." 
From his tone of voice and short answer, Octan could tell that he must be tired. 
From all accounts, no one on the ship had slept much in the past few days. 
Octan realised his own arrival and current enthusiasm and excitement about 
being on the Spectre, might be very irritating to other, exhausted, crewmembers. 
He looked down at the PADD again. It didn't reveal much he didn't know, except 
for one thing: Gort's observation that the infection might have a sentience behind 
it. That certainly confirmed his own suspicions, but maybe not in the way Gort, 
or anyone else, might have envisioned. 
Deciding not to push the subject any further, he handed the PADD back to 
Cambridge. "Thank you both for coming," he said. "I think I may have been 
premature in my assessment - I shouldn't have bothered you." 
Both the other men turned to leave, the irritation in their eyes showing brief 
flashes of anger at being called down for "nothing", but also disappointment. 
Octan knew they were hoping for good news. 
"Your information was valuable, though," he called after them as they exited 
the room. 
(USS Spectre, CSO's quarters, CSO Ensign Octan Maber - 05:30) 
"Bridge to Ensign Maber, report to the Shuttlebay in 30 minutes, Ensign, 
we're heading down to the Medical Centre." 
Octan awoke. He had found his quarters earlier after a brief search, realised 
he left his bag in the Captain's Ready Room, decided it didn't matter and gone 
straight to sleep. 
Apparently he was tired too. 
He glanced at the chronometer on the wall. 05:30. He had been sleeping for 
about an hour. 
~Better get up,~ he thought, swinging his legs off the bunk. He realised he 
was still dressed in his Academy uniform. 
"Computer, replicate one CSO's uniform, please," he requested and walked 
across to the replicator as the mustard uniform appeared. He quickly removed 
the pip from his collar and fastened it to the new uniform collar. 
A few seconds later, he was dressed and ready to go. 
(Base Camp, CSO, Ensign Octan Maber - 06.15) 

The shuttle was down and Remae and the CSO were greeted by the occupants 
of the medical camp. 

"Commander Lono, sleep well?", said Remae on spotting the First Officer. 
"This is our new CSO, Ensign Maber who arrived with us last night." 

Octan wished he would stop doing that. Surely Remae, being a Bajoran, 
would know that the correct form of address is Ensign Octan? Maybe it was 
some sort of test, seeing how he would react. For now, Octan would let it pass. 

"Mr Maber, could you have a look at our sick crew? Perhaps the 
technological part of this illness is something you can tell us more 
about?", asked Remae, again using the CSO's first name. 
"Hello Ensign Maber, welcome." Kahila smiled, and gestured to the 
surrounding area. "Though we don't have a great deal to be welcomed to, 
at the moment." 

"Thank you, Sir," Octan replied, forgiving Kahila for the wrong use of his name, 
since it was prompted by the Captain. "I might be able to help you feel more 
welcoming." 

Kahila led Octan into the tent where Felicity was still tending Claire. She 
introduced them, saying, Ensign Felicity Wells is our new Assistant 
Counselor. Ensign Wells, this is Ensign Maber, our new Chief Science 
Officer. Captain Remae has asked that he examine some of our infected 
members." 

Then she excused herself, and went back out to the shuttle. Crewmembers 
had begun to congregate gladly around the breakfast items Captain Remae 
had thoughtfully provided. 
Octan knelt down next to Ensign Wells, and smiled at her in greeting. He took 
out his tricorder and carefully scanned Claire. She seemed to have more nano- 
probes in her than any other patient, but what Octan saw only confirmed his 
suspicions. 
(Base Camp, CSO, Ensign Octan Maber - 07.00) 
Octan spent some time examining Claire, not wanting to miss anything. It 
was hard going - his tricorder kept cutting out due to the EM emmissions. He 
was grateful for Ensign Wells' silence, and impressed by her caring attitude. 
She certainly made it easier on Claire, being scanned. 
Satisfied that he hadn't missed anything, he abruptly stood up and walked 
from the tent. Captain Remae was outside, leaning against the shuttle, 
surrounded by some of the senior officers. 
Good, they would need to hear this. 
"Captain," Octan said as he approached. "I have a theory." 
Remae looked up and indicated that the CSO should continue. Hopeful eyes 
turned to Octan and he hoped they would not feel disappointed at what he 
had to say. 
"Captain, I have been studying these probes and I think I know what their 
function might be. They seem to be mutating the cells of their hosts to 
something unknown to us. This is, however, deliberate. I can't be sure of 
this, but I think the Xenolithes might use them so that they can communicate 
with, and therefore use, the Nageri. 
"This process is not fatal to the Xenolithes, but to most other species, it seems 
to be. It's somewhat akin to Borg technology, except that it doesn't transform 
complete bodyparts, only certain cells in the brain, to facilitate communication. 
"However, the above is only speculation. Our problem is that our crewmembers 
will eventually die if the probes aren't removed. Luckily for us, we have time - the 
probes are multiplying themselves slower than they normally would, due to their 
hosts fighting the 'infection'. We can see this from the raised T-Cell count in the 
patients. 
"The T-Cells are effective in fighting the probes, but can only slow them down. 
The EM emmissions the victims are displaying are a result of the probes' work. 
"I realised this when Lt Gort found that there may be sentience behind the 
emmissions - they are testing the transformation, trying to communicate with 
the Nageri. However, their attempted communication is showing up on our 
systems!" 
Octan scanned the faces around him, realising they weren't all that interested 
in the how or why, but in what could be done. So, he moved on: "I may have 
found a way to slow the probes down and even kill them!" 
He paused a few moments, waiting for what he just said to sink in. 
"I tried various methods on the probes - nothing worked, but something stood 
out: Exposure to cold actually speeds them up, much like superconductors, 
causing them to work an multiply much faster! Seeing that, I tried exposing 
them to heat, which definitely slows them down! 
"Excessive heat even kills them! The interesting factor is that it isn't the heat 
itself that kills them, but when they slow down they try and compensate for it 
by 'working' faster, eventually 'shorting' themselves out. 
"There is just one problem - the heat required is at the upper end of humans' 
heat tolerance - the infected crewmembers will be at severe risk if we choose 
to use this treatment." 
He glanced around. "But I don't see any other way." 
Octan looked down, waiting for a response. 
(Reply from Remae, Any) 
(Posted by Arnaud Malherbe) 
<> 
(planet's surface, camp, Kahila Lono, 6:10) 

Kahila had wakened before daylight, and used up a bit of time doing breathing and concentration exercises. Though she tried using her empathic sensing to feel the presence of the nano substance in her body, she had little success. The only awareness she had was of something that was definitely not herself, grasping onto her -- she had a personal image of a monkey-like creature with long taloned fingers gripping her around the neck, but she knew this was only her own subconscious rendering of the nano. When she tried psychically pushing it away, it only seemed to cling tighter, giving her a claustrophobic feeling. This uged her to get up and dressed and leave the tent. 

~Well, I'm not quite ready to see what rations are available this morning!~ She noticed a chemical lantern was lit in the tent reserved for Claire and the other crewmember who was too serioiusly ill to care for herself. 

Kahila pulled back the tent flap, and peered in. She saw that Felicity Wells was there, talking softly to Claire, as she ran her hands above the patient's body. Kahila was touched by Felicity's concern for the patients; the ACOUNS had spent quite a bit of time here since camp was made. 

"Good morning, Ensign Wells. Your attentiveness is an inspiration to me. I hope you managed to get some sleep though. Are you able to tell anything about Claire's condition, or the nature of the nano itself? It seems I'm too close to the situation -- or rather it's too close to me! -- and I receive very little awareness of the substance." 

(reply Felicity) 

When Kahila heard the arrival of the shuttle, she went out of the tent and walked to where Captain Remae was disembarking, accompanied by an officer she had not seen before. This amazed her. ~How can there suddenly be a new Starfleet officer here? Well, I'll probably know more about him in a few moments.~ 

"Commander Lono, sleep well?", said Remae. 

She nodded her assent, having no desire to go into the tedious details of sleeping in such a non-technical environment. Then the Captain continued: 
"This is our new CSO, Ensign Maber who arrived with us last night." 

"Hello Ensign Maber, welcome." Kahila smiled, and gestured to the surrounding area. "Though we don't have a great deal to be welcomed to, at the moment." 
She put aside, for now, all the questions she had concerning the how and why of his arrival. 

(reply Maber) 

The Captain turned to the CSO,"Mr Maber, could you have a look at our sick crew? Perhaps the technological part of this illness is something you can tell us more about?" 

Kahila led Maber into the tent where Felicity was still tending Claire. She introduced them, saying, Ensign Felicity Wells is our new Assistant Counselor. Ensign Wells, this is Ensign Maber, our new Chief Science Officer. Captain Remae has asked that he examine some of our infected members." 

(reply Wells, Maber) 

Then she excused herself, and went back out to the shuttle. Crewmembers had begun to congregate gladly around the breakfast items Captain Remae had thoughtfully provided. She joined them, glad for a few minutes respite. 

(reply any) 
posted by Josephine Goodman 
<> 

(Base Camp, CO, Captain Remae - 07.00) 

The sun was now rising and it made the Spectre glow a variety of colours 
as Remae looked out over the horizon. Although they had already met the 
local community of humanoids, they weren't concerning themselves with 
the crew of the Spectre. 

Now it was daylight, the Medical and Science Teams could get to work on 
finally getting on top of this infection whatever it was. Until they 
did, the infected crew would not be able to rejoin the ship and their 
mission to investigate the Xenolithe threat would come to an end, even 
though, Remae had more then enough evidence to prove what they had 
suspected, they were here in force. Finding their base of operations was 
the last step. 

Remae was sitting against the nose of the shuttle when he was approached 
by a few of the Senior Officers. 

"Report?", he said expectantly to the first person his eyes landed on. 

(Reply from any at the base with news!) 
(Posted by Anthony Keen) 

<>