ACTC Mission 7.2 – The Living Storm

[Matthew Reynolds]

It had been one of the most stressful time in the life of Commander Matthew Reynolds. His shoulders were bearing the weight of an entire starship, his responsibilities as a commanding officer, and his role as a father. Matt had not brought his son during his command training course because he thought that he wouldn't be able to take proper care of his son. Yet in the last few weeks, that strain was really getting to him.

"Commander Reynolds can you please follow me into my officer?" Commander Tintagel asked.

"Of course Captain," Matt said as he got up from his chair and followed his friend into her office.

"Commander Matthew Reynolds, my mission is over and according to regulations command of the USS Hope is being transferred to you," Commander Tintagel said to Matt," Computer give full command of the USS Hope to Commander Matthew Reynolds, Tintagel One Zeta."

"The ship is all yours Captain," Illito said smiling at Matt. He couldn't help but return the smile and Matt was so grateful that it was going to be Illito as his first officer.

"Illito thanks, I still can't really believe that I'm here," Matt said letting his fears come through.

"Well you are and you will do great," Illito said as she pointed to the computer in the office." Your mission has already arrived."

Matt turned to face the computer and opened the file that Admiral Lin had sent him. He read the first few lines which were congratulating him and hoping him good luck. As Matt kept on reading his eyes widened, his breath became short and ragged. It couldn't be happening, but then again it was.

=^=Crew this is Captain Reynolds, I have taken command of the Hope and we have received our orders, their will be a senior staff meeting in twenty minutes=^=

"Commander Tintagel, please inform helm to head towards the Breen border maximum speed," Matt said as he sat down and began working on what he would say to his officers.

Twenty minutes later

As the senior officers of the USS Hope filed into the briefing room, Matt got up and activated the display board in front of him. The screen showed a strange and unusual space cloud. Well it was unusual to everyone but Matt who had encountered the cloud a couple of months ago.

"This is the Jefferson Qualinost Cloud," Matt began as everyone sat down," its an usual cloud that lives in subspace."

<Tag Illito>

"Yes, this type of cloud has never been seen before," Matt said," but their is something else....thier is a planet inside the cloud that is home to over 25 million people."

<Tag everyone>

"Our mission is to head towards this cloud and study it," Matt said," we are to try and tag the cloud somehow so that the Federation can keep track on the cloud."

Matt stopped talking for a second and let out a sigh of breath air come out. Matt then picked up the PADD's that he had been working on and passed one to all of his officers.

"Ensign Williams, the cloud has been known to hostile and I'm expecting injured," Matt said.

<Tag Jonathon>

"Lieutenant Kuragh, we need to get to the cloud as soon as possible, the cloud goes back into subspace in a matter of days," Matt said.

<Tag Kuragh>

"Commander Zaksh'ris'zhen, I don't expect any confrontation, but we can never be to careful," Matt said," and can you also find a way to strengthen our shields."

<Tag Shris>

"Commander Merit, the cloud has disastrous affects on ships systems and can pull the ship into its cloud," Matt said," we cannot allow this to happen."

<Tag Joanne>

"Well everyone those are your responsibilities, usually you would have time to prepare, but we only have ten days to do this," Matt said standing up. Matt took this time to look at his senior staff. He knew they would work their tails off to make this mission a success and he couldn't be luckier to have them.

Dismissed"

<Tag everyone>

[Deleted]

"Lieutenant Kuragh, we need to get to the cloud as soon as possible, the cloud goes back into subspace in a matter of days," Matt said.

"Sir. Yes sir."

The klingon listened to the rest of the order been given out, but was paying more attention to the map on the main viewscreen trying to think if there was some route he could take that would cut some time out.

"Dismissed"

Kuragh immediately spun out of seat and made straight towards his helm console, where his understudy was currently sat. Rather than taking the seat, Kuragh stood over her. He spent a couple of minutes working the console slightly to the right of the flight controls, checking information about the route.

"Take us to maximum cruise until we are clear of standard lanes, and then increase to maximum warp. I will be back soon." He placed his hand on the pilots shoulder and squeezed gently before turning back towards Joanne, who was coming out of the briefing room.

"Commander Merit. Could you provide some more power to the engines. We can probably cut down our ETA by a good couple of hours with only 10% more energy."

"I'll see what I can do for you Kuragh. You still haven't given me the energy back from last time." Her tongue firmly in her cheek.

[Deleted]

Jonahon made sure his sickbay was all ship shape and bristol fashion before ensuring he attended the meeting in good time.
He sat quietly as the briefing was made. CMO's were rarely needed in such breifings, although it did give him and his staff forewarning of what they could expect casualty wise.

"Ensign Williams, the cloud has been known to hostile and I'm expecting injured," Matt said.

Williams lokked up and nodded to acknowledge he heard,

"Understood. I ll review the logs of the Jeffersons CMO. I would also appreciate you coming down and filling in any blanks or ansering any questions."

The briefing rumbled to a close and slowly they dispersed.
Jonathon jogged from the room to catch Cmdr Merit,
"hey there" he said with a boyish grin,
"Hello" she replied
"You know you ve forgotten something?"
"I have?" She asked checking to see she still had all her PaDDS.
"Oh not them. Your physical. You need a full work up. I d be glad to fit you in sometime perhaps more than once" he said with a wink.
Merit paused and met Jonathons eyes,
"I think I can parcel away some time for it. I ll come down to sickbay as soon as I m free."
Jons eyes twinkled,
"Excellent, I ll warm the equipment."

Jon nearly skipped to the turbolift and found himself smirking terribly as it ferried him back to deck 16.
"

[Deleted]

Jo waited for Jon to go out of view and scowled.
"What a jerk" she said. "Theres no way in hell I d go anywhere near that sleezebag. MPhysical or no physical she'd rather excise her own eyes or rip out her own finger nails than ever have to talk to that nauseating little worm again. If he wriggled up in front of her again she would put him out of his miserable existence with the heel of her boot.

Feeling much better Joanne returned to her Ops station. She was tasked with getting more power to weapons. This would take some team work and so she called for Shris to join her. Together they should be able to come up with something.

TAG Shris

[tintagel]

Illito was more than a little relieved that she was now handing the ship off, and she knew that Matt would do a great job as Captain. She looked forward to being his first officer.

After the meeting, Illito went up to Matt.

“Did I hear you right, sir?” Illito asked. “There really are twenty-five million people inside that cloud?”

<Tag Matt>[/b]

“That’s amazing,” Illito said, the mere scientific discovery overwhelming her for a little bit, before she got a hold of herself. She nodded. “But you say the Jefferson has encountered this cloud before?” she asked Matt.

<Tag Matt>[/b]

“And do you know what exactly the urgency in studying this cloud is?” Illito asked.

<Tag Matt>[/b]

“I see,” Illito replied. “I’ll get to work now,” she smiled, and walked out of the briefing room to the bridge. She sat down in the first officer’s chair, and consciously controlled herself to keep from jumping out of the chair, and pacing, as she had a tendency to do. Being a Chief Medical Officer meant she was used to doing things to solve problems. At least now no lives were in danger. She hoped none would be, but…

Illito pulled out her PADD and downloaded a copy of the official report from the Jefferson so she could have some degree of knowledge about the cloud.

[Matthew Reynolds]

After the meeting

“Did I hear you right, sir?” Illito asked. “There really are twenty-five million people inside that cloud?”

"That probably is wrong," Matt said," we only went off the information that the Oceanus settlement gave us."

“That’s amazing,” Illito said, the mere scientific discovery overwhelming her for a little bit, before she got a hold of herself. She nodded. “But you say the Jefferson has encountered this cloud before?” she asked Matt.

"Yes a few months ago, we were sent to find out more about the cloud, but things didn't turn out as planned," Matt said exactly remembering what happened that mission," the cloud is dangerous, but the scientific rewards are limitless."

“And do you know what exactly the urgency in studying this cloud is?” Illito asked.

"The cloud goes back into subspace very quickly and no one knows where it will come out next," Matt said glad that he had the opportunity to help these people again.

“I see,” Illito replied. “I’ll get to work now."

Bridge

As of that moment everything was going to plan, the Hope was on its way towards the the cloud. Commander Merit was working on getting more power to weapons and engines.

"Commander Merit, could you give me a report in thirty minutes please?" Matt asked as he got closer to her console.

<Tag Merit>

"Commander Shris, could you please do the same with your work?" Matt asked.

<Tag Shris>

"Lt. Kuragh, how are we doing on our speed?" Matt asked.

<Tag Kuragh>

Knowing that he would have to wait for the reports, Matt decided that this would be the perfect time to go visit his Chief Medical Officer.

"Commander could you please follow me," Matt said smiling at his long time friend," Commander Merit you have the bridge."

<Tag Illito/Merit>

"We are going to sickbay, Commander," Matt said," Ensign Williams asked me to come down and fill any blanks that are not in the reports."

<Tag Illito>

The lift ride to sickbay was a quick one and like a gentlemen Matt let Illito pass first. She hesitated for a moment, not understanding why he was doing this, but she finally got the picture and led the way.

"Ensign Williams, what do you need to know?" Matt said as he and Illito entered sickbay.

<Tag Williams>

[Deleted]

“Aye sir, I will try my best to have everything going by then anyway. A report will be on your desk.”

“Yes sir.” The operations officer moved over to the centre seat and stretched herself out in it. It felt like home. Unfortunately it was a home she wouldn’t be moving into for a long time yet. Instead she had got herself stuck on this vessel with a vast collection of prospective COs and XOs passing her. Maybe she could enrol on the course. Yes, that’s what she’d do, just the next time they got back. She smiled, a plan made.

Joanne’s smile turned to a frown as she thought of that fool who called himself a medical officer. She was sure that the only reason he had become a doctor was to give himself a valid reason to stare at women’s bodies. Urghh… it sickened her. She shook her head. Must get to work and remove the thought of him from the mind.

[tintagel]

"Commander could you please follow me," Matt said. " Commander Merit you have the bridge."

Illito started to leap up from the seat, but managed a dignified and slower rise instead. After all, she wasn’t exactly eager to leave the bridge, but her fingers had started to fidget, and she hadn’t been sure she would be able to sit still all that longer, and she somehow doubted the bridge staff would appreciate having her look over their shoulders. “Where to, sir?” she asked Matt, smiling, she would be happy to have something concrete to do. But she did want to be leaving the bridge for a reason, otherwise she would do her duty.

"We are going to sickbay, Commander," Matt said," Ensign Williams asked me to come down and fill any blanks that are not in the reports."

“Understood,” Illito said. As they left the bridge, she smiled. “It’ll be a little odd being in a sickbay that isn’t in my control. Brings me back to my Academy days.”

When the turbolift arrived at sickbay, Matt stood aside, letting Illito pass him. Illito glanced at him, more than a little confused. She had thought that Matt had said she would follow him, and she didn’t see how that would be possible if she was in front. It just didn’t seem to make sense. Still, she suppressed the confusion, and went first. She could tell what he meant her to do, and she was used to following orders, and Matt was now her superior order.

"Ensign Williams, what do you need to know?" Matt said

Illito glanced around sickbay, critically evaluating it, determining what the equipment and its capabilities were. She then glanced at Ensign Williams, still with the evaluating look in her eyes, waiting to see what he would say.

<Tag Matt and Williams>[/b]

[Deleted]

"Lt. Kuragh, how are we doing on our speed?" Matt asked.

"We are running engines at max sir. We will be able to accelerate once we are clear of the shipping lanes. Unless you can get special permission sir?”

“Can we make it without?”

“Sir.” He looked over to his console and inputted a few calculations. “Yes sir, we will be cutting it fine, but we will.”

“In that case we will have to take that risk. By the time we got authorisation we’d be clear anyway, and I will not take the risk of doing it and then having the request turned down.”

“Sir.” The klingon rolled his shoulders as he turned to sit down. He felt a pang of anger at his commanding officer but managed to suppress it quickly. His commander was surely acting in the honourable fashion, not risking making his superiors embarrassed. But, was this a risk it was worth taking? It was a moral dilemma for the helmsman. He was sure if he was a romulan (he swore lightly and prayed to remove the bad karma from using the word) he would have already overrode the order, and would be travelling quicker to save his own skin. But he was a klingon, he wouldn’t lower himself so much.

But…
But surely it was more honourable to take the risk if it could save hundreds of lives.

He growled, startling Commander Merit who was sat at the operations console next to his.

OOC: I am thinking that I want to become a captain. How can I do that?

[Deleted]

“Need to know sir? I’m not sure that there is really that much more. Surely everything is in the report? Sir?”

<Tag Matt>

OOC: Sorry it’s so short, I don’t want to overuse other people’s characters, but my reply depends entirely on yours.

[tintagel]

“Well, I’m not sure about-” Illito almost said Matt, but caught herself- “Captain Reynolds, but it’s been a while since my last physical, not quite a year, but a lot has changed.” Illito didn’t think once a year was really often enough for a physical, she thought that Starfleet used to have it more right, when they were quarterly. Unfortunately, Starfleet seemed to value efficiency over safety, even though efficiency was lost when someone couldn’t be treated as accurately as they would be otherwise.

“Plus, this is likely to be a stressful situation, and Captain Reynolds-” Illito had almost said Matt again, Illito mentally chastised herself, she was usually quite professional, and she shouldn’t really be heard to be calling the captain by his first name when they were both on duty and in front of other officers. It wasn’t proper military discipline. “-And I,” she continued, with the pause being barely noticeable; “Feel that this mission is important enough that we want to make as many precautions as possible that we’ll be healthy during the mission.”

<Tag Williams>[/b]

“Plus,” Illito said. “If, future forbid, that either of us are seriously hurt, it would probably help treatment to have your own records of our health.”

<Tag Williams>[/b]

[Matthew Reynolds]

“Need to know sir? I’m not sure that there is really that much more. Surely everything is in the report? Sir?”

"Well, Ensign...." Matt started to say before he was interrupted by Illito.

“Well, I’m not sure about-” Illito almost said Matt, but caught herself- “Captain Reynolds, but it’s been a while since my last physical, not quite a year, but a lot has changed.”

Was Illito actually asking the Ensign to give her a physical? Matt couldn't think of anything worse. He of course had many experiences in sickbay, in fact it was a wonder that he was even here. On his last mission Matt almost died from a disruptor blast.

“Plus,” Illito said. “If, future forbid, that either of us are seriously hurt, it would probably help treatment to have your own records of our health.”

"Well Ensign its your choice, do you want to give us physicals?" Matt asked smiling at the ship's doctor

<Tag Williams/Illito>

[Deleted]

“Plus,” Illito said. “If, future forbid, that either of us are seriously hurt, it would probably help treatment to have your own records of our health.”

"Well Ensign its your choice, do you want to give us physicals?" Matt asked smiling at the ship's doctor.

Williams smiled back, wondering what had happened that had made crew members suddenly so willing to have physicals, although he guessed that it could just be that they were indeed scared of what could happen to them. In which case – maybe it would be prudent to inoculate them for a few of the rarer possibilities of infection as part of the physical. Strictly speaking of course they were experimental procedures that weren’t to be given as standard. But Williams had been working with them, improving them and making them safer. He was confident that he would be able to keep his command team on their feet.

“Sure. If you’ll just both take the beds, I’ll get one of my nurses to come and run your tests Captain, and I’ll tend to yours myself Commander Tintagel.”

He ran through most of the standard physical quickly and efficiently without any hiccups. When he got near the end he walked over to the captains bed and whispered to the nurse.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take the rest of it my dear, go get yourself a cup of tea or something.” He flashed her his best smile, and then once she had gone, removed the inoculation from the drawer. He walked over to Illito first and moved the needle towards her when her hand suddenly shot out and grabbed his arm.

“WHAT IS THAT DOCTOR?”

[tintagel]

Illito knew enough to know what was supposed to be in a physical, she had, after all, given about two hundred of them herself. And she knew injections weren’t supposed to be a part of them. “WHAT IS THAT DOCTOR!!?” she demanded.

She used her other hand to grab the needle that he had been about to inject her with from his hand, but she still didn’t release his hand from the grasp of her other hand. She let it go only as she brought the needle closer to her eyes. She stared at it grimly. “You haven’t answered my question yet,” she said. “What is it? And why were you trying to inject me with it?”

<Tag Williams>

Illito fought briefly against the nausea that threatened when she thought of people randomly sticking biochemicals in her. She suppressed it, but her eyes still glanced from side to side rather like a trapped creature. No doubt Williams didn’t mean to do anything dangerous, and no doubt she wasn’t in any danger her, but she couldn’t help feeling…

Illito’s eyes locked onto Matt, and her thoughts froze in their dangerous spiral downward.

“Matt,” she called, her voice completely outwardly calm, revealing no emotions, but she had forgotten to call him Captain. She had forgotten military rules that had been indoctrinated in her, because she had been taught even more to be careful, and she didn’t think that letting others inject unknown ‘formulas‘ into her was included in that. “Can you come here for a minute?” Illito realized that because she didn’t sound anxious, because she did in fact feel worried, but now Matt might not be in a hurry to come over. Still, Illito was also sure that if she thought calmly about this enough she could stop panicking. She tried to breathe slower, but that just made it obvious that she was breathing quickly.

<Tag Matt and Williams>

[Deleted]

“What is it? And why were you trying to inject me with it?”

"It's an innoculation. It helps your body create the anti-bodies needed to fight off a number of diseases that were previously believed to be impossible to prevent. The TR-5 series."

“Matt, can you come here for a minute?” Illito called out calmly.

Jon frowned. This wasn't meant to happen. This was a good injection, not one that he should get in trouble for. He started to speak, but Matt silenced him with a quick arm motion.

"What is it Commander?"

[tintagel]

“Ensign Williams just tried to inject me with something that is not part of any standard medical physical I have heard of, sir, and I have heard of them all,” Illito said, frowning. She still hadn’t fully controlled her emotional reaction to this, but she didn’t think it was showing

Illito turned to Williams. “I would like to see a sample of this, and analyze it, and you will not inject anyone else with it without their permission and knowledge of the risks. Is that understood?”

<Tag Williams>

“Good,” Illito replied. “Now, since I believe you’re done with the physical, give me the sample, and the Captain and I will be on our way.”

<Tag Williams>

Illito took the sample into her hands, and dropped by a science lab that was currently listed as available to set up the sample to be scanned and have preliminary analysis done. Matt had gone up to the bridge.

Illito set up a check of the chemical composition of the sample, one of quite a few tests she planned to run on the inoculation. It could be that she was being paranoid, it probably was that, but…Illito still wasn’t comfortable with the situation and the injection. Then she left to return to the bridge.

“Operations, report,” she said, after glancing at Matt to be sure he hadn’t already done this.

<Tag Merit>

“Navigation, how much longer will it be until we’re there?”

<Tag Kuragh>

“Commander Shris, please report on the preparations you have made regarding the possibilities of what it is we might encounter.”

<Tag Shris>

[Matthew Reynolds]

Matt for some reason was worried when he heard Illito call out his name over the comm. She was probably the most diciplined person he had ever met and she never broke regulations. This fact made him practically run back towards sickbay.

"What is it Commander?" Matt asked looking at Illito and Ensign Williams.

“Ensign Williams just tried to inject me with something that is not part of any standard medical physical I have heard of, sir, and I have heard of them all,” Illito said, frowning.

"Ensign is this true?" Matt asked worried as he saw the injection filled device in Illito's hand. Matt had always hated medical devices, having had bad experiences with them before.

<Tag Williams>

Matt had a feeling that Illito didn't really need Matt's authority here, but his presence and support which he would of course give. She slowly took control of this situation and got things settled.

"Ensign, I applaude you for taking initative, but please do not perform and medical procedures unless they are absolutely necessary," Matt said

<Tag Williams>

After talking to Ensign Williams and Illito again, Matt made his way back to the bridge and asked for reports.

"All departments report," Matt said as he sat down on the command chair.

<Tag everyone>

[Matthew Reynolds]

OOC: Okay gentlemen and ladies. I have noticed that there has been a trickle of activity as of late and I don't like that . That being said I will move the story along where there will be more action and more for you guys to do.

IC:

Things were going a lot better than expected, the Hope was streaming through space towards there destination. Lt. Kuragh and his invaluable piloting skills had cut down the trip by two days. Matt could already see the cloud on his sensors.

The scans were not of great quality, but that was to be expected because of the interference of the cloud.

"Commander Merit, how much father until we reach the cloud?" Matt asked looking at his operations chief and second officer.

<Tag Merit>

The ship suddenly shook violently and everyone on the ship awaited Matt to call for a red alert.

"Okay everyone this is to be expected, the cloud is messing with our systems," Matt said standing up, but falling a second later as the ship continued to rock violently.

"Lt. Kuragh, can you please run this system?" Matt asked as he pointed out an open file.

<Tag Kuragh, OOC: the file can be what ever you want, lets just say it fixes the problem>

The Hope's helmsman did as he was asked and almost immediately the ship stopped shaking.

"Good job Lt.," Matt said.

=^=Ensign Williams are there any injured? If there are I can send more help=^= Matt said as he looked at his XO.

<Tag Illito/Williams>

Matt sat back down on the center chair. The viewsreeen was on max magnification. The cloud seemed so small, but Matt knew better than to think less of the cloud. Matt had a personal reason to want to be at the cloud, but he wouldn't let that stop him doing his mission.

"Captain we have a problem," Commander Shirs reported. Matt stopped breathing for a second before he turned around to face his tactical officer.

"I'm reading another ship," Commander Shris said.

"What type of ship, Commander, what type of ship is it?" Matt asked almost frantically. He knew that it wasn't a Federation ship and this couldn't be good.

"Sir its a warship," Shris said.

"What type of warship?" Matt asked again now standing up.

"Breena sir, it's a Breena warship and they are hailing," Shirs reported.

Matt almost fell from the shock. The Federation was practically in a Cold War with the Breena Confederacy and tensions were high. He also knew that a Breena warship would be a fair match with the Hope.

"Open channel"

<Tag everyone>

OOC: Okay guys, Commander Tintable will be playing the part of the Breena commander, so I would like to thank her right now. You can do anything except attack the Breena ship or make us retreat.

[tintagel]

“The Federation ship is responding to our hail,” one of the officers told his superior officer.

“On screen,” Csilla replied, annoyed, since there shouldn’t be any doubt as to what should be done now, since she had ordered her communications officer to initiate the contact in the first place.

“Captain,” Csilla said, with a nod at the Federation human. “I don’t want to waste your time, or mine, and if we get into a battle we’re likely to both be destroyed. Our ships are more or less equal in power, but as soon as the ships get damaged the cloud is going to suck us in. So threats are pretty useless here, I’m sure you agree.”

<Tag Matt>

“Good,” Csilla said, and smiled. Not that her smile was particularly visible to Matt, since although she wore a suit on the Breen ship, since there were non-Breen onboard sometimes.

“So, then, I need access to this cloud, but I guess we can both study it, right?” Csilla asked, trying to be calm and rational and in control of the situation, despite the fact that she, and her ship, were in Federation space.

<Tag Matt>

[Matthew Reynolds]

“Captain,” Csilla said, with a nod at the Federation human. “I don’t want to waste your time, or mine, and if we get into a battle we’re likely to both be destroyed. Our ships are more or less equal in power, but as soon as the ships get damaged the cloud is going to suck us in. So threats are pretty useless here, I’m sure you agree.”

Matt hated to agree, but she was right. Weapons fire right now would not be a good idea. The cloud seemed to sense danger around it and attacked everything in sight. Matt had stationed the Hope outside its pull so he knew that they were safe.

"Yes you are right Captain," Matt said as he sat back down in his seat.

“Good,” Csilla said, and smiled.

“So, then, I need access to this cloud, but I guess we can both study it, right?” Csilla asked, trying to be calm and rational and in control of the situation, despite the fact that she, and her ship, were in Federation space.

"No, Captain you are not allowed to access the cloud," Matt said in a tone of defiance, even though he was in the right. "The Breen Confederacy is not allowed in Federation space, and from what I'm reading your limited access to the cloud is making it act unrationally."

<Tag Captain Csilla>

The link was cut off, by the Breen side. Hopefully they were just going to talk it over, but Matt couldn't take that risk.

"Go to Red alert, I want to be prepared for anything," Matt said as he sighed and looked straight forwards. Things were taking a turn for the worse and he knew that the storm was just to come.

<Tag All>

[Deleted]

“I would like to see a sample of this, and analyze it, and you will not inject anyone else with it without their permission and knowledge of the risks. Is that understood?”

”Yes Ma’am.” Jon replied dejectedly. It was safe, it was fine. If only she could see the sheer brilliance of it. But then, maybe she would when she analysed it, and maybe she would come to see that he was right. He lifted his shoulders and started smiling once more.

“Good,” Illito replied. “Now, since I believe you’re done with the physical, give me the sample, and the Captain and I will be on our way.”

Jon passed her the sample vial. As he was about to turn to enter his office, the captain spoke from behind him.

"Ensign is this true?" Matt asked worried as he saw the injection filled device in Illito's hand. Matt had always hated medical devices, having had bad experiences with them before.

“Sir.”

Matt had a feeling that Illito didn't really need Matt's authority here, but his presence and support which he would of course give. She slowly took control of this situation and got things settled.

"Ensign, I applaud you for taking initiative, but please do not perform and medical procedures unless they are absolutely necessary," Matt said

Jon was about to reply with something snide about no vaccinations being absolutely necessary, but thought better of it and simply replied with a ‘No sir’ and continued to his office.

He had been sitting at his desk running through a large number of forms and general paperwork that he had fallen behind on when the ship shuddered. A number of expensive instruments slid and fell to the floor, and Jonathan could be heard swearing in any language he could think of. This only being English, it didn’t get very imaginative. A few seconds later his commbadge chirped and he responded to it slightly violently, no doubt causing a bruise to form under his uniform.

=^=Ensign Williams are there any injured? If there are I can send more help=^=

=^= We’ve got nothing yet. And as things stand I think my medical staff will be able to cover anything we get. =^=

[tintagel]

"No, Captain you are not allowed to access the cloud . The Breen Confederacy is not allowed in Federation space, and from what I'm reading your limited access to the cloud is making it act unrationally."

Csilla frowned internally. “Let me think about what I'm going to do for a few seconds, I'll get back to you soon,” she said, and gestured at her communications officer to cut the channel.

“You aren't really going to think about it, are you sir?” asked one of her officers, probably new to the ship, since most of those who had been here longer didn't interrupt when she was thinking, even if they thought she shouldn't be thinking about the issue.

“Yes I am. Our first option, we play nice and leave, and the Federation is happy with the Confederacy. Also, this cloud goes unstudied by us, and who knows what further scientific advances the Federation makes, until perhaps the Confederacy has no choice but to pledge to give up our entire future, simply because the Federation could crush us like a bug any time they want to. But this ship on its own gets out.” Csilla looked around at her crew, she could see that they didn't agree with this. But then, she had already known this, and she wasn't really looking to brainstorm with the crew, just to let them know what she was thinking.

“Option two, we refuse to leave, the Federation makes some threats. Perhaps we learn something from this cloud, and perhaps we find a way to harness the energy. We get this information to the Confederacy and they can use it. Meanwhile, the Federation gets pretty upset. The Confederacy denies that they have ever sent us and volunteers to help catch us 'rogue mercenaries.' We get crushed like bugs, but the Confederacy has another chance at life.” Csilla gazed again at her crew, examining them more closely now.

“Re-open a channel with the Federation ship,” Csilla ordered.

“Captain,” Csilla said, nodding, and exaggerated motion, but one that could be seen through her suit. “I've thought about what you've said, and I've decided...no.”

<Tag Matt>

“See, you're wrong about quite a few things, the first one being that I would be afraid of the Federation. I'm sorry about your cloud acting strangely, I really am, but I think that there is too much I could gain from this.”

<Tag Matt>

“Complain to the Breen Confederacy all you want. No doubt they'll agree with you that I'm doing something terribly wrong. It's the kind of thing they would agree with you about. And they can try ordering me back, but I think I would then have to ignore that order.” Csilla contemplated closing the channel, but she decided it was only fair to give the Federation captain a chance to reply. And she was all about fairness.

<Tag Matt>