Mission 02: Countdown to Destruction

[vanderhalthor]

[green]=/\=Alrighty then, let's get this sorted. Major Wong to Commander Halthor, we've arrived at the storage facility and are in the process of getting ready for the beam up. See to it that the security and storage area are prepped, and that Commander Tan and Lieutenant Rose are aware of its arrival. Use all the support that you need, Wong out=/\=[/green]

=Understood, Sir, We are making all the preparations needed for the arrival of Dr Hartti, and the storage equipment. I'll make sure that both Commander Tan and Lt. Rose know of the situation at hand.=/\= Halthor closed communications with Major Wong, and touched his badge again.

=Lt. Commander Halthor to Commander Tan, Major Wong has requested that you be aware of the arrival of the last Tauri Burst that is supposed to be decommissioned in the storage area. I will see you there when you arrive.=/\= Halthor hoped that the information he had relayed to Commander Tan was to ease certain relations between officers on the ship but he would find out when Commander Tan would make his way to the storage facility in the ship.

Looking over at Lt. Rose, "Looks like we got some work to do in the storage area, I'll continue to have my officers train in battle simulations, and have the two officers that I assigned to escort Dr Hartti train with there simulations and then have them meet us in the storage facility to escort Dr Hartti. I'll get some things together and we can head off. Sound good"

<tag Rose>

"Okidoke, were off on our way then, make sure you have everything you need with you." Halthor mentioned and grabbed his gear, along with a smile on his face. The two officers were getting along just fine.

[newestmember]

Arya returned to sickbay wishing she could help out with the mission, but she was also grateful that no one was sick or injured at that moment. She went into the doctor's empty office and fed her little girl who had started crying the moment she stepped back into sickbay.

Once her little girl was asleep, she went back out to see if anything was going on. She found one nurse going through supplies.

"There are two nurses down checking out our extra supplies in the cargo bay. Someone needed to do something. I hate this, its way too quiet for my liking. Like the calm before the storm type of thing," the nurse said as she continued to do inventory. She noticed the baby.

"Aw, what a cutie. We'll try to be quiet for her," she said and Arya thanked the woman before going back out into the main area. She sat down behind the doctor's desk and decided to see if any reports needed her touch. She found the desk was a mess and set about arranging the padds as needed.

[Crystal Rose]

The day the Olympia left starbase Crystal had made sure she was on bridge duty as the great ship glided out, she was sure she would never tire of the sight. When the Olympia was safely out of dock she let V'Sel take over on the bridge and went to see what was going on in the labs.

A space had been cleared ready to set up whatever Professor Hartti wanted to do and most of the rest of the staff were still fiddling with the interior of a phaser rifle. K'Ther had concluded that by installing an alterable foccussing mechanism they should be able to create an ultra wide beam. Due to power requirements it would most likely not be any stronger than heavy stun but Crystal had thought it useful and the rest of the team (including Tonja) had set to work working out how this modification could be made.

Crystal joined her staff for a while but then decided to get on with her ever mounting stack of documents. Not to mention the reward for her volunteer team (who were now of course back on duty) and she was still trying to decide what to give the Captain's daughter.

The computer beeped then to inform her that they were half an hour away from the storage facility. Crystal headed for the security office. She had arranged to meet with the Commander again before the Professor beamed aboard. She had also assigned herself as the first science translator/gofer for the professor.

A short time later the Commander's comm badge bleeped with a message from the XO. Crystal listened silently as the CTSO spoke to Commander.

"Looks like we got some work to do in the storage area, I'll continue to have my officers train in battle simulations, and have the two officers that I assigned to escort Dr Hartti train with there simulations and then have them meet us in the storage facility to escort Dr Hartti. I'll get some things together and we can head off. Sound good"

Crystal nodded "sounds good to me."


"Okidoke, were off on our way then, make sure you have everything you need with you." Halthor mentioned and grabbed his gear He smiled. Crystal smiled in return and collected her ever present PADD full of notes which was pretty much it in terms of kit.

She turned to follow Commander Halthor to the storage facility.

[Deleted]

Daniel answered the XO question with a shrug “This professor dislikes any medical personnel coming near him, so his file is empty but they are worried about him though”. Daniel left the bridge after a little while to return to his office, on the way he sent a message to Ensign Erikson to report for duty to Lieutenant Rose. Arriving at his office he was surprised by what he saw. His desk was completely empty of Padds, quickly moving to see if he was not seeing things he found that he was not, looking around a note on paper lying where the pile had been. Daniel did not need to look at the note to know it was from Evan ‘he must be one of the few people that still prefers to write on paper than Padds’. Sitting down he looked over the list of document that he could dig up about the professor in the hopes that something might jump out at him.

Finding very little to go on in the documents he had been given, Daniel pulled out his spare Padd from the desk and started to write up the reprimand for Ensign Erikson. Not one for going against orders he made it general and not specific as to why she was being given the reprimand, as he finished and sent it to be added to her permanent file, Daniel started a fresh entry onto her medical records detailing his findings and why he had performed the evaluation ahead of time. ‘well he said no specifics in the reprimand he said nothing about any medical reports I add to her file’ laughing at the idea that the XO might not have liked the idea, Daniel continued to compile information for future reference, then sending it to be added he put the Padd down.

Daniel had started to feel strange when they had arrived at the collection point, unsure why he put it down to exhaustion and made his way back to his quarters to rest. As he entered he felt a extreme convulsion in his mind and a great pain. The next thing he knew he was on the floor of his quarters, unsure what had happened he moved to his bed to rest ‘maybe I was more tired than I thought’.

[Deleted]

With the Olympia en route to the storage facility, Steve had retired to his Ready Room and began working on reporting the day's events. First of all, he had to have a talk with David. If he seriously did want to leave the Oly, then Steve was going to do whatever he could to get him to change his mind. If there was one thing Steve was good at, it was his diplomatic efforts in situations like that.

Secondly, which actually was mainly to do with the first notion, Steve had a brief talk with Tiberian once the briefing had finished. Tiberian had implied that his previous position on the USS Victory was still open and he could go back there if needed. But Steve had told him that in no uncertain terms was anyone transferring off the Olympia, and that included Commander Tan...now he just had to speak with him.

Just as Steve was about to tap his combadge, he received a call over the comms himself:

=/\= Wong to Captain Smith. I'm sorry to bother you sir, but we're at the storage facility, and Doctor Hartti is about to beam up. Would you mind meeting me in transporter room one to greet him =/\=

Steve still had his hand covering his combadge, ready to tap it. "So much for that." He said to himself, referring to the fact that he was able to call David to the Ready Room. Instead, he had to change plans. He then proceeded to tap his combadge to reply.

=/\= Understood, Major. For the record, you wasn't bothering me. I will be there momentarily. Smith out. =/\=

Steve moved the padds to one side, and made a mental note to finish them off as soon as possible, and he then headed out towards the transporter. Each time he went to a different department on board the Olympia, he found new shortcuts to get there quicker, and this time was no different....so in only a couple of minutes, Steve had arrived and Transporter Room 1.

He walked in and met Major Wong. "Major." He said, by way of acknowledgment. "Let's get this show on the road."

[Crystal Rose]

OOC: Just attempting to move things on a little.

Transporter room was a little crowded when Crystal, Commander Halthor and the security team arrived. The Captain and XO had beaten them to it.

"Major. Let's get this show on the road. The Captain said. The XO signaled the transporter chief and after a short delay the Professor materialised on the Olympia.

Crystal knew from the records that the Comari was in his eighties but age it not seem to have affected the Professor too much, his hair was grey and his orangy skin had darkened. Crystal guessed he was about her height but a lot wider. As soon as he solidified Professor Hartti started looking around taking in the people in the room. His eyes locked on the Captain and he waited expectantly.

Captain Smith formally introduced himself and his senior officers.

The Professor did not look happy he stared back at the Captain for a long moment before turning to the others in the group.

"Major Wong, as the first officer, if the Captain is here shouldn't you be running this ship. That's how the chain of command worked in my day, but maybe things are a little different in starfleet."

<Tag: Major Wong>

Crystal watched as the Major fought down his first response. Once the XO had managed a diplomatic response the Professor turned to the next in line. He looked the CTSO up and down
"Commander Halthor, there is absolutely no need to have a security team follow me around. I've been looking after my self since before you were born."

<Tag: Commander Halthor>

Apparently at least somewhat appeased by the Commander's reply Professor Hartti rounded on the next person.
Well, Lieutenant Rose, I really don't know what you are here for I am a perfectly capable scientist." Crystal swallowed and tried to work out what to say.

"I'm here merely to introduce you to the research facilities on the Olympia" Professor Hartti looked at her for another too long moment before turning back to the Captain.

"Now if you will excuse me, Captain Smith, I think I will review the area set aside for my Tauri Burst."

The Professor swept out of the transporter room Crystal followed behind attempting to keep up with the long striding CTSO and surprisingly quick moving Comari. She knew now that the Professor was in the top three eccentric scientists she had met. This trip was going to be interesting and not in an easy way.


OOC: the below is from the Professor's POV

So the Federation ship had finally arrived, Sagan was less than impressed. It didn't seem right that these outsiders should be involved in the end of the war. It also didn't seem right that his masterwork should be reduced to scrap, but that was the way of all things.

He beamed aboard the ship and looked at the gathered officers, all far too young of course, he had been noticing that more and more recently. Why did Starfleet Command persist in giving such responsibility to children...

He couldn't understand why the Security Officer had taken such an interest in him. He could look after himself, always had been able to. He didn't need protection. It made no sense.

After a short conversation with each of the Olympia's officers Sagan decided to go see the area that had been set aside for the Tauri Burst. He was sure there would be things they had neglected to take into account, that was inevitable with you mixed Science and the military, they simply did grasp the key points.

[Deleted]

"Major Wong, as the first officer, if the Captain is here shouldn't you be running this ship. That's how the chain of command worked in my day, but maybe things are a little different in starfleet."

Tiberian bit back his initial response whilst it was only half formulated in his mind, it having entailed a suggestion as to something which the professor could go and do. Instead he forced a smile and a civil response.

"Forgive me Professor, but we deemed that a guest of your esteem and prowess was worthy of a larger and more auspiscious welcome party" He inclined his head slightly, tempted to mutter under his breath. This was going to be fun.

As the professor moved down the row, Tiberian found himself idly gazing around the room, almost giggling to himself as the professor individually grilled each member of the senior staff present. Finally he turned.

"Now if you will excuse me, Captain Smith, I think I will review the area set aside for my Tauri Burst."

As the professor left, followed by Halthor and Rose, who appeared to lag comically behind the other two, Tiberian turned to the Captain with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, he is a piece of work isn't he sir" He smiled "I'll take care of him and leave the ship up to you sir" He came to attention and saluted and was on his way. Jogging for about ten seconds he easily caught up with the group, and began walking level with the professor.

"We've set aside an entire cargobay for your weapon sir" Tiberian began, trying to use the word "entire" to emphasise the greatness of their gesture "And Commander Halthor here, our resident tactical whiz, along with Miss Rose, the brains of the operation" he referred to both in endearing terms, hoping to elicit some manner of warm response towards them "Have set up a wide variety of security systems to ensure the safety of the Tauri Burst, as you are about to see"

They entered cargobay one, the entirely revamped area making it look startlingly different from what the crew had become accustomed to. All the storage racks and cargo had been removed, leaving a vast expanse of space that was eerily foreboding. The light setting had been increased in intensity, illuminating every square micrometre of cargobay in a brilliant white light. Around the room, decives had been fitted to the walls and corners of the floor, comprising of transporter inhibitors, mobile shield emmiters, and tractor beams which would be used to stabilise the Tauri Burst. The upper gantry had been sealed off to allow for the decompression of the cargobay once the Tauri Burst arrived, and a crewman manning the post gave Tiberian a thumbs up, one which he returned.

"So what do you think professor? Shields, transporter inhibitors, tractor beams and continuous sensor monitoring in a sealed decompressed area without gravity. Practically impervious, wouldn't you say?"

<TAG Lieutenant Rose (I think you're simming the voice of the professor?)>

Tiberian's smile became fixed an rigid, but never faltered once. This must be the only man this side of the Betreka Nebula who could find fault in an otherwise foolproof plan. But then, it was his baby. It was a near genocidal, high yield and unbearably intimidating baby, but his none the less.

"As you say professor" TIberian had to get out of their before he said something that would wind him up in front of a military tribunal "In that case I will leave you in Lieutenant Rose's and Commander Halthor's capable hands to talk you through the defenses in more detail. You may have to vacate soon though, so that they can decompress and disable the AG for the Burst's arrival"

He turned on heel and departed, walking headlong into Martinez the second he stepped outside the door.

"Hey boss, long time no see" the Sergeant Major greeted him with a salute which Tiberian returned.

"Work, trouble, etc" Tiberian mumbled jokingly "Are you here for the guard?"

"I figured we needed the best" Martinez responded in his typical lighthearted manner.

"We do. Make sure that there is a running guard on this door at all times, and no less than three men. Anything suspicious, report it in, don't get creative. I trust that you read the report" Martinez nodded "Good, then I don't have to remind you what deep cacka we're in if something happens"

"I'll sort it, I've been doing this a little over thirty years longer than you you know" He gave Tiberian his eye of experience, to which he could do nothing but hold up his hands.

"I'l see you around. We'll have a drink and catch up once this is all over" Tiberian called over his shoulder as he departed to the bridge.

On the bridge, Tiberian was immediately addressed by an officer at Ops.

"Major, the storage facility confirm that they have completed all their final tests, and can safely say that the Tauri Burst is ready for transfer into our care"

"Thank you" Tiberian replied as he tapped his comm badge.

=/\=Wong to Lieutenant Rose. The facility are a go, so it's all down to you now. In your own good time, Lieutenant=/\=

<TAG Lieutenant Rose and Commander Halthor>

[vanderhalthor]

As the professor arrived the security team made its way to escort him.

[green]"Commander Halthor, there is absolutely no need to have a security team follow me around. I've been looking after my self since before you were born."[/green]

"Professor, I'm looking out for your interests, and the interests of Star Fleet in this manner. My duty is as CTSO, and my primary role as a star fleet officer is to follow the orders of those appointed over me, I do understand that you have looked over yourself since you were born, but it is of the highest interest of Star Fleet to conduct this matter fully with an escort team to follow you to where you need to go, so I have take the liberty of having two of my best security officers escort you." Halthor said with a steady look of contention on his face.

[white]"Well then see to it that you do so with no apprehension or disregard of your duty Lt. Commander Halthor, since you seem to be more than capable of handling me with your escort service." the professor snickered a little.[/white]

"Lt. Rose I'll see to it that you'll be assisted by the tactical team with the decommissioning of the tauri burst and helping you with any matter of importance as well as I will be here to assist you in safety of it. Since Major Wong wants you to go ahead with the transporting I will be right here to help you with that." Halthor mentioned while watching the professor idly watching lt. rose and Halthor start.

<tag Rose>

[Crystal Rose]

OCC: I'm using the regular color (blue/green) for Crystal and white for the Professor.

"We've set aside an entire cargo bay for your weapon sir" The Major said "And Commander Halthor here, our resident tactical whiz, along with Miss Rose, the brains of the operation Have set up a wide variety of security systems to ensure the safety of the Tauri Burst, as you are about to see" Sagan was pleased to hear a Marine being so enthusiastic about a scientific mission. It made a pleasant change. He was distressed to hear that the Chief Science Officer had apparently not completed her studies, he made a mental note to bring that up with her later.

They entered the cargo bay, hardly the most fitting place to store the Tauri burst but that was the way things were, you simply couldn't expect others to be properly respectful of your work these days

"So what do you think professor? Shields, transporter inhibitors, tractor beams and continuous sensor monitoring in a sealed decompressed area without gravity. Practically impervious, wouldn't you say?"

Sagan sighed audibly. They had of course missed the obvious, all this work had been done on the assumption that the Tauri Burst would get here safely. It was his duty to point this out to the Major.
"It does seem pretty secure, however you seem to have completely neglected the possibility of the Tauri Burst being intercepted in transit to this ship."

"As you say professor" The Major said "In that case I will leave you in Lieutenant Rose's and Commander Halthor's capable hands to talk you through the defenses in more detail. You may have to vacate soon though, so that they can decompress and disable the AG for the Burst's arrival"

Crystal watched the Major go with a degree of disappointment and discontent. She had so far managed to stay in the background while Professor Hartti picked holes in their security measures, now she had to deal with him. Considering what she had seen of the XO's temper she thought he had dealt with the Professor very well but she was sorry she couldn't follow the XO out the doors.

"You make a very valid point Professor Hartti", Crystal said and then swallowed hard as the Comari's green eyes fixed on her. "and we did think of it, so we are using a tight focussed and short range beam on a frequency set with the storage facility over an encrypted channel." she showed him the information and he read it slowly and then stared at her once more. There was silence, for half a second something flashed across the Professor's face, it might had been surprise but Crystal couldn't be sure.

Before he could say anything, Crystal's comm badge chirped, she tapped it.
=/\=Wong to Lieutenant Rose. The facility are a go, so it's all down to you now. In your own good time, Lieutenant=/\=
=/\=Thank-you Major we were just on the way up to the gantry now.=/\=

They left the cargo bay floor and headed for the upper gantry.

As they left the designated cargo bay Sagan noted that one of the Marines at the door actually seemed to be a reasonable age for the position he held.

A though occurred to him and he turned to the Security Commander
"I assume you have done thorough background checks on all the personel assigned to guard this room. Military people can have such shady backgrounds." He eyed the marine again.

<tag: Commder Halthor, Sergent Major Martinez(Major Wong)>

The Commander's response seemed to make sense and they proceeded to the gantry. Sagan looked around the security officers who were still following him. Whatever their faults he had to admit that the star fleet crew were certainly putting a lot of effort into looking after him (not that that was needed of course) and the Tauri Burst. He wondered what they were getting out of this.

[Crystal Rose]

OOC: sorry about the double post, I had more yesterday but it seems to have disappeared...

Commander Halthor, Crystal, the Professor and the two security officers walked into the control room on the upper gantry. Crystal glanced out of the viewing window and then wished she hadn't she took several steps backwards and then turned away. Trying to catch her breath and hoping she wasn't turning green.

She looked at the control console in front of her as she thought back to the Commander's earlier words
"Lt. Rose I'll see to it that you'll be assisted by the tactical team with the transporting of the Tauri Burst and helping you with any matter of importance as well as I will be here to assist you in safety of it. Since Major Wong wants you to go ahead with the transporting I will be right here to help you with that."
She was greatly reassured and took another deep breath. The Professor seemed to be discussing something with Commander Halthor in great detail and at length.

<Tag: Commander Halthor>

Crystal signaled the storage facility that they were read to receive the Tauri Burst. She caught the flicker of a transporter beam out of the corner of her eye. She imagined that the weapon must look rather majestic, a 5 metre long cylinder suspended over 3 metres in the air, or rather in the vacuum, but she wasn't going to be looking out the window at it. She checked the console again and then tapped her comm badge.

=/\=Lieutenant Rose to Bridge, the Tauri Burst is on board and the security measures are functioning at 100%. We can get underway safely now.=/\=

<Tag: XO / CO/ whoever has the bridge at the minute>

The Professor glanced out the viewing window and then turned back to Crystal. There was something in his vivid green gaze that unnerved her. It would be nice if she could engineer a meeting between Professor Hartti and Lt. Biers, Dr Mallen, Dr Smith or maybe all three.

"Assuming you've managed to organise it. I would like to go to my quarters now." Crystal swallowed her annoyance and started to lead the way.

******************************

The gantry control room was small. Sagan looked around briefly. The Andorian commander seemed at a bit of a loss so Sagan took it upon himself to talk to him. Sagan regaled him with a a fascinating tale from his more active research days. The commander seemed entranced by the story.

A slight flicker caught Sagan's eye and her turned to stare out of the viewing window, the Tauri Burst hung impotent in space. That wasn't at all what he had thought would happen to it when he designed them. They were important, ground breaking, secret and meant to save his people. No one have ever made anything like them, even now people would have difficulty replicating his work without his input.

He looked back at the Lieutenant and wondered again what this crew were getting out of this mission. This was a big ship and it had a lot of people on board. He knew his work deserved that respect and protection, but doubted that was the sole reason these people were here.

"Assuming you've managed to organise it. I would like to go to my quarters now," he said. Didn't these people realise that you didn't get to his age with having a proper appreciation of rest.

With a slight sigh he followed the girl into the corridor, he wished there were a more efficient way to get about in this place.

[David Tan]

David was happy to let the crew handle their part in the mission .. They were all excellent Officers, who knew their jobs, in his opinion, they didn't need mothering every five minutes ..

He stood to one side as the weapon, a Tauri Burst, along with it's designer, Professor Hartti were dealt with by the XO .. Abruptly, in David's view, but it no longer mattered. He'd get this mission over to the best of his ability, then go from there ...

Tan was still puzzled with the actions of the Captain since his 'walk-out' ... They had spoken briefly, but nothing was settled. All he knew was that Steven Smith concidered his leaving as a non-starter .. He didn't want Tan to transfer, and was willing to fight to keep his COO on the Olympia .. It was this, and only this, that prevented David from sumitting the request.

Wong nodded as he passed Tan, almost indifferent to the Chief's attendance. He'd almost been by-passed in all this, as the XO got them to the rendezvous point and arranged for the weapon to be brought aboard ..

Tan went to the Cargo-bay .. He needed to ensure everything was in place for the transportation of the weapon. If anything was to go wrong, the consequences were too dire to contemplate. He double checked the storage, making sure that Commander Halthor had posted adequate security .. This was a Federation Vessel .. But with such a cargo, you could never be too careful.

Once satisfied, he left the Cargo-bay and headed for the turbo-lift .. He'd finish his duty shift then go for a bite to eat, maybe a little company ..........

[newestmember]

Arya had had a hard day and wanted to eat. She got a message from her husband that he would be out late and not be home for dinner. ~Great, well I don't want to eat by myself. I have her bottle ready, maybe I should go chat with the locals now.~ She thought and made her way to the Mess Hall.

She got her food and sat down at an empty table near the window just starting to eat when the baby decided to cry. She took out the bottle and held it with one hand while using the other to eat her own food. ~And they said parenting was hard.~ She thought wondering if maybe she was just getting her feet wet on this topic.

She noticed someone standing nearby and looked up. "Well hello, come sit and take a load off. We could use the company," she said indicating herself and her daughter.

[Deleted]

=/\=Lieutenant Rose to Bridge, the Tauri Burst is on board and the security measures are functioning at 100%. We can get underway safely now.=/\=

=/\= Thank you Lieutenant. Smith out. =/\= replied Steve, curtly, whilst tapping in a few details on his padd.

"Helm, lay in a course to Sigma Leonis V and engage at warp 7." Steve ordered.

"Aye sir, plotting course now." Came the reply.

Moments later, the ship changed direction and jumped to warp. Steve remained seated in his chair, but was becoming to become a bit unsettled. He still needed to have a talk with David, and he felt that now was as good a time as any.

He stood up and pulled his uniform jacket down. He turned to see that Major Wong was now seated in the XO chair. 'He must have sneaked in when I wasn't looking!' Steve thought, with a smile forming.

"Mr Wong, you have the Bridge, I'll be in my Ready Room." Steve said to Tiberian before making his way off the Bridge.

Steve entered the ready room and sat down behind his desk. He picked up a few padd's, looked over them, then tossed them aside. Taking a deep breath to prepare himself for what would come next, Steve pressed the comms button on his desk.

=/\= Captain Smith to Commander Tan. Please come to my Ready Room at your earliest inconvenience. Smith out. =/\=

[Deleted]

Daniel woke quite suddenly to find Evan in a seat next to him, Daniel tried to think why he would be there but found no reason. “What are you doing here, has something happened that I should be aware of?” Daniel did not like the fact that Evan had most likely been sitting there a while before he woke. “Oh not much, you missed an appointment so I came down to see if you were ok” Daniel saw the worry in Evan’s eyes that told him he was generally concerned. “Well I am quite alright, I must have forgotten to set an alarm. Where are we mission wise, have we arrived at the rendezvous site yet?” Daniel got up to find he was still fully dressed, he walked to his cabinet to change into a new set of uniforms while listening to the response. “Well we have both the professor and the bomb thing onboard safe and sound so nothing to worry abo…” Daniel snapped at him “why didn’t you tell me he was here. Well there went a perfect opportunity to get a look at this professor while he did not notice me.” Daniel quickly drank a coffee before moving to the door, “from now on you tell me when things happen of this level or I will make sure you will not have a moments peace while you serve under me, is that understood?” Daniel asked it but did not expect an answer. “Well I will try but it might not be possible if you snore any louder”

Daniel was mildly amused that Evan had gone to just plain children’s insults. Daniel pointed Evan back to his office “I got to meet this professor and see if those reports were accurate”. Evan smiled and walked off as Daniel made his way to the science labs ‘even if he is not there Crystal will be and she will know where he is’. Daniel walked into the science labs and spotted Crystal showing an elderly man around with a security escort ‘well if he is not the professor I will eat my shoe’ Daniel walked over to crystal and introduced himself. “Hello, I am Lieutenant Junior Grade Biers, I am the chief counsellor on this ship. I am sorry I was not present when you arrived but I have been way laid for a while. If you can could you pop by my office at some point soon, as we don’t seem to have a evaluation on file for you and I am required to know everyone on the ship I work on, so you will understand my need to ask for this” Daniel hoped he would play along he might be able to twist most of the crew to see him but guest did not if they did not want to.

<Tag CJ/Sagan>

[Deleted]

"Mr Wong, you have the Bridge, I'll be in my Ready Room."

Tiberian responded with a nod as the Captain left the bridge, turning back to his console to continue monitoring the Tauri Burst personally. Suspended in a near impenetrable field of defenses, the long slender object hung in an empty vacuum. Tiberian looked on the device with awe, a five metre long cylinder, slighlty larger than two torpedos put together, but with nearly five hundred times the destructive capability. Tiberian shook his head and rubbed his eyes as he thought of the ability of every species in the galaxy to kill en masse, yet how few of them could recreate what had been destroyed. He didn't particularly enjoy killing, but recognised it as a necessary evil. Even so, he always remembered the lesson his grandfather had instilled most firmly in him from childhood; Always respect nature. As such this mission held a particular poignance for him, as it emphasised the conflict within himself over whether such an effective killing device should be respected for its ability, or despised for its genocidal capability.

Lost in thought, Tiberian looked up just to see Tan emerge onto the bridge. He offered him a polite nod as he crossed the bridge and entered the Captain's ready room. Just then, his commbadge chirped.

=/\=Lieutenant Kirby to the bridge=/\=

=/\=Major Wong here Lieutenant, what's the problem?=/\=

=/\=Er..., we have a little problem down on deck seven sir=/\=

The security officer sounded nervous as he spoke, and quick as a flash, Tiberian drew a connection between deck seven and the VIP quarters where Professor Harrti was staying.

=/\=What's the problem with the professor?=/\= Tiberian asked, his gut instinct usually being right.

=/\=Well sir, we were just standing outside his quarters when he came barging outside. He was ranting about us being overprotective and how he couldn't work when he felt that people were looking over his shoulder=/\=

=/\=Stand fast Lieutenant, I'll be right down=/\= Tiberian rubbed his eyes and stood, pointing to the next most senior officer on the bridge.

"You have the bridge, I'll be back as quick as I can"

<TAG any senior officer who wants to be on the bridge>

Arriving on deck seven, Tiberian straightened his tunic as he walked around the bending corridors, anxious with anticipation as to what he was expecting around the next bend. Arriving at the correct VIP quarters, he found the professor, irate, and two very nervous security officers.

"Alright professor, what can I do to help" He asked, smiling, and doing his best show of amiability.

<TAG Professor Harrti>

"OK professor, I understand where you're coming from, but I really do need you to understa..."

<TAG Professor Harrti>

Tiberian was out of options. He had to keep the professor on side, and he seemingly wouldn't take colse security protection on any level.

"Fair enough professor, I respect you're need to work, so the security wil be removed from you. If you need anything, don't hesitate to contact either myself or Lieutenant Rose" He smiled and turned on heel, departing, and gesturing to the two security officers to follow him. Walking round to near the mess hall, well out of the professor's sight or hearing, he quietly addressed the two officers.

"One of you stay on this deck doing a roaming patrol, but stay away from his quarters. The other I want to get to a console and keep constant tabs on his movements. Keep in contact in case anything happens. Dismissed" Tiberian scratched his head as the two officers left. He knew thst he should get back to the bridge, but it was covered ofr the time being, and he could really do with a strong cup of coffee.

He turned into the mess and walked to a replicator, ordering a cup of raktajino, double strength, and with plenty of sugar. He turned to see the Captain's wife attempting to feed both herself and her crying baby.

"Well hello, come sit and take a load off. We could use the company," Tiberian smiled at the invitation and placed his cup on the table, putting forwards his hands to help the Commander.

"Allow me" He said, taking up the baby girl and bottle and sitting opposite the Commander. he began singing a lullaby in mandarin that he had sung to his younger siblings, and rocked slowly back and forth on his seat, using his little finger on his left hand to tickle the baby's chin. The crying diminished, and the little girl looked up at him with a half dozy smile. Tiberian couldn't help but smile back and make funny faces at the baby, slowly inserting the bottle into the baby's mouth as he crooned.

"Oh you're such a cute wee thing, yes you are, yes you are" He made more funny faces, eliciting a giggle from the small child. He suddenly looked up to see her mother staring at him with a sense of astonishment, his present actions obviously not in keeping with what she had been told about him.

"You never saw me like this" He made a firm statement, before putting his attention back to feeding the baby.

"So, how long have you been married to the skipper?" He asked, making polite conversation.

<TAG Commander Smith>

[newestmember]

Arya was surprised to see the First Officer, but she hid it as he sat down and surprised her again with the way he treated her daughter. She smiled at his statement.

"Don't worry, sir, I'm sure we can come to some arrangement about me not seeing this when it comes time for your next physical," she said still smiling knowing she might get in trouble for such a statement. She then heard his statement as she finished eating happy to have a little brake even though she loved her daughter very much.

"We have been married a couple of months over a year now. It feels like its been a lot longer with our daughter being born and all," she said finishing her drink and watching more of how the FO rocked her daughter, who went to sleep in his arms.

"You are really good with children, sir, if you don't mind me asking how did that come to pass?" she said trying to make some conversation wondering if she should take her sleeping child back from him, but made no move to do so.

(Wong)

[David Tan]

He managed to get a bite to eat. The mess never actually shut, it just got much quieter during the 'night' shifts ..

After eating, David went to the observation lounge. He could sit watching the stars stream past as the Olympia traveled at warp. He'd seen the view hundreds of times to be honest, but it never failed to help him think .. 'There must have been a shift change' he thought to himself, as he noticed for the first time that the lighting had dimmed. He needed to be on duty early in the morning, there was a lot for him to catch up with .. He rose from the chair and began to make his way to the door, as he did so, the ship-wide Comm beeped ...

=^= Captain Smith to Commander Tan .. Please come to my Ready Room at your earliest inconvenience .. Smith out =^=

David frowned, it was late and he hadn't expected a call from the Captain until at least the next day ..

"Computer .. Current time."

"The current time is twenty three forty seven." the ship answered. David tapped his Comms badge ...

=^= Acknowledged Captain .. On my way =^=

~~~~~~~~~~

Minutes later, he activated the door chime ..

"Enter." Tan heard from inside the room. He stepped forward, the door accommodatingly moving aside.

"Ahh David .. Come in .. Take a seat will you." the Captain said, getting up from his chair and moving toward the replicator, Cappuccino isn't it ?"

"Yes .. Captain .. Thank you." Tan replied, seating himself opposite the Captains desk.

Placing the steaming cup down in front of Tan, the Captain sat down. He took a long drink from his mug before placing it on the desk and looking at Tan ...

"OK .. This issue with Commander Wong and your transfer request .. Oh .. Thats not going to happen if I can help it by the way !" Smith finished smiling.

"Captain .. I just don't thi ......"

"David ..." the Captain interrupted, "We're good friends .. I'd expect you to be able to call me Steven .. This isn't an official inquiry .. I just need to 'persuade' you that leaving wouldn't be my desired outcome to this situation ..."

"OK .. Steven .." Tan began, relaxing somewhat, "This 'issue' as you put it ..." yes Steven and he were good friends, and he deserved an explanation of Tan's actions, both concerning the transfer, and the incident earlier, rather than a cold transfer request .. David began to say what he had to say ....

~~~~~~~~~~

It was almost zero one thirty hours when both men emerged from the Ready Room .. They had gone through every aspect of the problem, and yes, Steven was right about one thing .. David wasn't leaving the Olympia. At least, not without a Command of his own to go to they'd laughed ..

Walking through the semi-darkness of the Bridge, the two friends enterer the turbo-lift and stated their destination .. Both needed some sleep ..........



( Captain .. Feel free to expand on our meeting .. I deem it personal and private .. While 'un-official', simply a private conversation between friends / CO & COO )

[Deleted]

"You are really good with children, sir, if you don't mind me asking how did that come to pass?"

Tiberian looked up at Commander Smith as he rocked the sleeping baby gently in his arms.

"Not at all, and please don't call me sir. You're married to the Captain and technically you outrank me. My name is Tiberian, but I did have some academy friends who call me Mr T for a laugh, so it's up to you. I'm the second eldest of four kids. My parents were always super busy, so me and my older sister Helena tended to have to do stuff. It was quite a good experience really, and it'll come in handy when I have my own I guess" Tiberian shrugged, and placed the baby, now soundly sleeping back in her carrier. As he reached for his coffee, his comm badge bleeped.

=/\=Lieutenant Kirby to Major Wong=/\=

=/\=Wong here, go ahead Lieutenant=/\= Tiberian answered in a worried voice, remembering that he had assigned the Lieutenant to watch over the professor.

=/\=Could you meet me outside cargobay one sir, it's urgent=/\=

=/\=On my way=/\= Tiberian replied, turning to the COmmander and closing the comm channel.

"Well it's been fun Commander, we should spend more time together. I'll see you later" He turned and left.

A minute or two later he arrived outside of the cargobay where the two security officers were standing, having sprinted the whole way.

"What is it?" He asked with a sense of urgency.

"We recorded the professor as going in here earlier sir" Kirby told him "We thoguht he was probably just checking up on the weapon, which he had permission to do. But sensors say he hasn't come out in nearly thirty minutes, and we can't get in contact with the gantry technician"

"Get a marine and security team down here, now!" Tiberian barked his orders, his blood having run cold "Stay here, and don't let anyone in or out"

He opened the hatch door leading into the back of the gantry, thus circumventing the cargobay, and proceeded to climb the ladder. He arrived at the top and entered, his hand automatically reaching for his phaser. The gantry room was a mess, the wall and viewing window splattered with the blood of the young crewman who had been manning his post. It appeared that some sort of energy weapon had drilled a two inch hole through his body, leaving him cold and lifeless on the floor, his final look of terror still evident on his face. Tiberian walked over to the window and looked down in shock into the cargobay. It appeared that all of his and Commander Halthor's carefully planned measures had been overridden, as the professor now worked feverishly around the Tauri Burst, the atmosphere and gravity fully functional. Tiberian exited the booth and dropped down the ladder.

"Professor" Tiberin called out as he approached him "Is anything the matter, do you need some help?"

<TAG Professor Harrti>

"Alright then, I'll stop in a minute" Tiberian answered back, the professor's rambling answer making it obvious that he had flipped. He was tempted to stun him now, but he had no idea whether the Burst was sensitive to phaser fire.
"This is dangerous professor" Tiberian said as he came closer to him "I tell you what, if you stop fiddling with the Burst, then I promise that we'll make sure that no-one else will get near it until we reach Sigma Leonis V. Then you can personally oversee the decommissioning. I swear, nobody is going to steal your ideas, ok"

<TAG Professor Harrti>

The man was obviously insane, and Tiberian couldn't risk waiting a second longer, lest the Burst detonate there and then. He drew his phaser, quick as a flash, but before it was even half drawn, the professor turned his already drawn particle weapon on him. The beam of yellow light hit Tiberian like a freight train, sending him falling to the ground five feet away, his phaser arcing out of his hand and clattering to the floor some way away from his body. This sort of weapon was different though. Tiberian had been shot before, but not by something like this. He lay there, feeling as though all of his body was on fire, whilst his limbs flailed around in some sort of uncontrollable seizure. All this time, the professor continued to work on the Tauri Burst, the mad glint in his eye dancing like a demented fire. Eventually the seizing stopped, and Tiberian's training fought through the pain. With a scream of rage, he propelled himself to his feet and tackled the professor into the Burst with a crash, sending the weapon out of his hand and away from the wrestling pair. Tiberian kneed the professor hard, and then sent a crushing left hook into the side of his face, knocking him into the open side of the Tauri Burst.

The professor, though, was not through. He re-emerged from the Burst brandishing a severed power coupling that he rammed into the left side of Tiberian's face, then shoving him away to the floor. Tiberian screamed in anguish at the gaping bloodied and burned hole where his left eye had once been, and at the energy burns that now streaked most of the left hand side of his face. Rolling on the floor, cradling the left hand side of hiis face, he saw the professor hit one final sequence of keys, and then step back from the now humming Tauri Burst, cackling in unhinged glee. He sought out his weapon, and, after a final speech and flourish, pressed it to his temple and pulled the trigger. His lifeless corpse fell to the floor.

Tiberian could not stand, the pain in his face being too much, and having overpowered his will to move. But still he used his hands, and dragged himself, one awful inch at a time back to the Tauri Burst. There, he pulled himself level with the open control hatch and looked inside with his one good eye. The view was different, in that he had no depth perception, and had to grope around more to reach objects. He finally found the timer, which was counting down from two minutes. Tiberian began clawing through the circuitry, terrified, and trying to find the override. No such thing existed. He didn't have the technical expertise to disarm this sort of weapon, and was fairly sure that no one onboard else did either. He looked around, and as the time quickly ticked away he formulated the only plan he knew could possibly work. He grabbed the loose power cable that had blinded him, and shoved it directly into the timing mechanism. The timer exploded with extreme force, and a beam of charged particles and radiation surged through it, striking Tiberian square in the chest, and propelling him nearly thirty feet across the cargobay. He struck a wall, and fell to the ground. Unable to stop the countdown, he had done the only thing possible and prolonged it by destroying the immediate countdown. Whilst the Tauri Burst would still explode, the crew at least now had it's full five hour countdown time to do somethign about it.

Tiberian rolled over in unbearable agony that was now beyond the point of screaming. Most of his clothes and exposed body was burned, and he couldn't move, let alone talk to call for help. Just then, the cargobay doors opened, and the crash of the feet of the marines and security officers, led by some senior officers filled the cargobay.

Tiberian's one remaining eye went closed into darkness. His heart stopped.

[Deleted]

Daniel had become bored trying to get Evan to do what he wanted, so declaring defeat Daniel made his way towards the VIP quarters in the hope of being able to convince the professor into allowing him to talk to him and work out if he was ok in the head. As he approached he saw the security guard normally posted to follow the professor walking by, “Lieutenant, where is the professor now, I need to have a word with him” the security guard told him that he was heading to check on the burst, Daniel became worried when the lieutenant had mentioned that the professor had been mumbling beneath his breath when he walked towards the turbo lift. “thank you Lieutenant” Daniel quickly went to cargo bay one, hoping that he was just jumping to conclusion. ‘Mumbling plus the unwillingness to allow any medical staff near him, looks like he might be paranoid. Add one big bomb and we have a problem’.

As Daniel arrived at the cargo bay he found a large group of marines and security officers crowding round the entrance to the cargo bay ‘I think Vander may have gone a bit over board on the number of guards’ Daniel walked over to who he thought was the highest ranking marine present “would you mind explaining why there are so many of you here, and also is the professor here I need a word with him urgently” Daniel looked at the marine as if he was about to burst out laughing. “I think your too late lad, he went in their about 30 minutes ago and hasn’t come out since, we are here because the XO ordered us to storm in if he did not come out after 5 mins” Daniel looked at the marine. “when was that then, last I checked Major Wong had no experience of dealing with possible deranged or insane professors with a bomb large enough to tear the entire ship apart” Before the marine could reply there was a the sounds of a blast form the other side of the bulkhead. Before Daniel could think the marines were already trying to override the door’s to let them in.

Daniel watched as the marines rushed into the cargo bay, he knew they were in their element and if he went in now he would only put them at risk. After what seemed like a eternity he heard the words all clear shout form the cargo bay, at this Daniel rushed in and he was shocked by what he saw, the XO was crumpled in a heap next to the burst, receiving emergency treatment from one of the marines and the professor was slumped on the platform dead. Hitting his comm. badge he said what came natural “Sickbay we have a medical emergency in cargo bay one, we can not beam him to you because of the protection for the burst we need you done here fast”
<Tag Sickbay>

Daniel kept back as he did not know enough about medicine to help and the marine looked like he knew what he was doing. Daniel started to look around when he saw a few images float into his mind, nothing that could help but made him look at the burst more closely. Hitting his comm. Badge again he began to wonder if he was going to wish he had stayed in his office,"Lieutenant Rose, please come immediately to cargo bay 1. The professor lost it and their seems to be some damage to the burst as well as a dull hum coming from it”

<Tag Rose>

Daniel then thought as the senior most person here and with Tiberian down he should inform the captain of this, quickly opening a secure comm. to the captain only Daniel hoped he would not get asked why he was here as he was wishing he was not. “Captain Smith, this is Lieutenant Biers in Cargo Bay 1, it seems our worst fears have happened, the professor has lost it and I assume has done something to the burst. Lieutenant Rose is on her way down to look at it but it may already be too late. Major Wong has been extremely injured and is being taken to sickbay, it is pretty bad. What are your orders Captain?”

<Tag Captain>

Daniel did not like this one bit, ‘I am so going to request to go to that conference next month, I might actually have a normal day’

[David Tan]

David was sat in his quarters. He'd had a night-cap and was finishing up the days' reports .. Satisfied, he placed the PADDs on his desk and stood. Stifling a yawn, he headed for the bedroom. But before he reached the doorway, the computer spoke ..

"Security to Cargo-bay One .. Unauthorized weapons fire .. Security to Cargo-bay One"

Tan spun round, grabbing his phaser from his desk as he passed, he left his quarters and sprinted to the nearest turbo-lift ..

"Computer .. Location of Captain Smith and Major Wong ?" he said as the lift doors opened .. "Cargo-bay One." he finished.

"The Captain is in his quarters .. Exiting now .. Major Wong is in Cargo-bay One .. Caution .. Major Wong's life-signs have ceased."

"What the ..... " David said, frustrated at the slowness of the lift., he hit his Comms badge ...

=^= Tan to Sick-bay .. Get a medical team over to Cargo-bay One .. Now =^=

=^= They're already on their way Commander .. The Captain alerted us a few seconds' ago =^=

=^= OK Thank you .. Tan out =^=

As the doors opened, Tan leapt into the corridor .. He wasn't the first to arrive it seemed .. Several Security Officers and Marines were already there .. The Marines had forced their way in and were sweeping the room as Tan entered ...

Doctor Mallen was close behind him, with two medics and a stretcher ..

"Over here !" a Marine shouted suddenly.

Tan headed that way. It was the professor, judging by the burn on his temple, he'd taken his own life.

"Sir ..." On of the Security Staff yelled. Tan when to him and saw Wong. He looked lifeless, but Tan didn't have time for a diagnosis as he was pushed aside by the Medical team ...

"Commander Tan ..." said a Marine with a puzzled look on his face, he was pointing at one of the panels, Should this be counting down ?"

David looked at the counter ..

"No Sergeant .. No it shouldn't !" ..........

[Crystal Rose]

OOC: I think this is going to be a bit of an essay but then you've all given me so much to do.

Crystal had left the Professor in his assigned VIP quarters but he had only stayed there a couple of minutes before storming out again and pronouncing them stifling. He turned on Crystal, and demanded to be shown the research facilities on the ship. She led the way to the main science lab enduring a long monologue about how she really should finish her doctorate on route.

The lab was quite quiet, Andrew and K'Ther were present (V'Sel had bridge duty). Crystal was showing Professor Sagan round, just relieved to reach a moment of relative peace, he actually seemed relatively happy although he was still passing judgement on everything in the lab, Crystal's staff included.

Then Daniel arrived, Crystal internally winced as he spoke. Daniel walked over to crystal and introduced himself. “Hello, I am Lieutenant Junior Grade Biers, I am the chief counsellor on this ship. I am sorry I was not present when you arrived but I have been way laid for a while. If you can could you pop by my office at some point soon, as we don’t seem to have a evaluation on file for you and I am required to know everyone on the ship I work on, so you will understand my need to ask for this” The professor visibly flushed and turned on the counsellor.

Of course I don't understand. My mind is my own and I will not have any arrogant junior psychologists attempting to analyse me. In light of your attitude Lieutenant Junior Grade Biers, I am quite grateful that you were not part of my welcoming committee. I hope not to see you again during my stay on this ship. Good Day. With that the professor turned his back on Daniel, leaving Crystal to mutter a few apologies and suggest that he leave.

The professor then decided to head back to his quarters. He had made it quite clear that having a scientist following him around was pointless so Crystal finished her shepherding duty after noting, with a large degree of silent regret, that he was free to contact her if he wanted anything else.

Sagan had managed to find a moment to impress on the young science officer how important it was for her to finish her studies. She was able to give him a fairly competent tour of the somewhat limited facilities available on the ship. Sagan was annoyed to have the tour interrupted by the incredibly young counsellor. Such people were just an excuse to ask awkward and private questions. Didn't they understand that there were things that had to remain personal?

Suddenly tired by the continual chatter Sagan decided to retire to his room. The quarters were small but he supposed that was to be expected on a ship. Still it seemed like one more way to force him in to close contact with people who had to be after something. Sagan sat at his desk and pondered that space in the lab. It would be nice to set something personal in motion just because he could.

He went to door and stepped out. The two security officers fell into step on his right and left shoulders. Apparently that Chief of Security couldn't take a simple suggestion to heart. Sagan stopped dead and made his opinion known to the nearest (very young) security officer. The officer seemed thrown by someone questioning him and muttered something about talking to a superior officer. Sagan sighed, the military mind was so incapable of dealing with questions, and waited.

Sagan was rather disappointed when Major Wong appeared.
"Alright professor, what can I do to help"
"What can you do to help? You can call off your dogs and give me the peace and quiet I need to work for a start. Then you can keep that counsellor of yours away from me. He had no business attempting to mess with my mind. I need my peace and space to work.

"OK professor, I understand where you're coming from, but I really do need you to understa..."

No, young man, you do not understand. I am a guest of this ship and not a prisoner, you would do well to remember that as cease treating me like this. I am going to have a rest now. I expect these guards to be gone when I return."

Sagan then returned to his quarters and allowed the door to close in the Major's face. He tried to sleep for a while but soon realised that he wasn't going to be able to rest. He had finally figured out what these starfleet people were after. They wanted the Tauri Burst and his knowledge of it. There was no way he could let his work fall in to enemy hands, that was the first thing he had been taught and he had worked his whole life to ensure that only those he trusted had access to the key points of his research.

There was quite obviously no way he was going to be able to get off this ship with his research so he had to fall back on the other option. He knew that there was no way they would let him replicate a whole weapon but....
"Computer, could I have a type 4 phase capacitor." The requested item appeared in the replicator. Sagan smiled, for once their oversight worked in his favour.

A while later, his newly created weapon in hand Sagan left his quarters. He was pleased that the guards had gone. It would make this so much more efficient. Making a mental note to thank the officers for their efficient direction Sagan set off toward the cargo bay.

He entered the gantry control room, the lone member of the crew on duty looked up he entered. "Hello, Professor. Did you want to check the security around the Tauri Burst?"

Sagan gave a small benign smile as he raised the gun into the man's view. The crewman blanched and his hand snaked towards a button on his console. Sagan fired. The man slumped to the floor; leaving a rather artistic splatter of blood across the viewport and wall which Sagan ignored as he set to work on overriding the security measures around his creation.

It did not take too long. Sagan then descended to the cargo bay floor and set to work opening an access panel. A while later the Major appeared again, what was it with the man, he just didn't seem to know when to leave things alone.

"Professor" the Major called out as he approached him "Is anything the matter, do you need some help?"

"Not really Major." Sagan gave him a smile. "Things seem to being going pretty well for once, this activator is a bit suck, comes from being in mothballs for so long I suppose. Still, I can't let it fall into enemy hand so I am afraid it'll have to be destroyed." Sagan smiled once more as a particularly stiff fastening gave way "Anyway. It was kind of you to drop by but I really must get on." He wiped a bit of blood off his arm as he spoke. "Anyway you're interrupting me rather."

"Alright then, I'll stop in a minute" The major answered back. "This is dangerous professor" Tiberian said as he came closer to him "I tell you what, if you stop fiddling with the Burst, then I promise that we'll make sure that no-one else will get near it until we reach Sigma Leonis V. Then you can personally oversee the decommissioning. I swear, nobody is going to steal your ideas, ok"

Sagan sighed, it was still obvious that the Major didn't understand. "Don't worry about me Major, I know exactly what I am doing. The Tauri Burst will be safe from my enemies I will see to that. Please don't worry."

The major made a move to draw his phaser then, highly predictable of course. Sagan was all ready sitting with his gun his hand. He fired and the yellow beam of his resonant particle gun caught the man full in the chest. Sagan watched for a moment as he slumped to the floor twitching. His weapon was not built for distance work. He knew he had to get this done before the Major recovered Sagan carried on working.

It seemed no time at all later that he was ready to press the final commands the Major tackled him and knocked his gun away and Sagan reeled into the open access panel. Sagan was barely thinking. He had to get this done, he pulled a power coupling loose and jabbed its sparking end into the Major's face as he closed in again. Sagan had to give the man points for persistence. He entered the final set commands and watched the countdown started.

Sagan stepped away from where the Major was laying and picked up his gun again. "As I said Major. Don't worry. Neither the Tauri Burst nor my knowledge of it will fall into enemy hands." He raised the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

*****************************************

Crystal was in her quarters sprawled in a chair and just about to head for bed when her comm badge bleeped.
=/\=Lieutenant Rose, please come immediately to cargo bay 1. The professor lost it and there seems to be some damage to the burst as well as a dull hum coming from it=/\=

Her tiredness fell away for the moment, she acknowledged the order and left her quarters at a run.

It did not take long to reach the cargo bay. It was heaving with Marines and medical personnel. Commander Tan was there as well, he seemed to be looking at the Tauri Burst, Crystal picked her way towards him.

"Commander Tan ..." said a Marine with a puzzled look on his face, he was pointing at one of the panels, Should this be counting down ?"

David looked at the counter ..

"No Sergeant .. No it shouldn't !" ..........

Crystal didn't need to hear anymore and pushed her way to the Weapon. She looked at the countdown, it seemed they had a bit less than five hours left.

"It definitely shouldn't." she added as she leaned into the open access panel. She knew that rationally she should be terrified or something about now but somehow she couldn't muster the emotion. There had to be some way to stop the countdown or disconnect the detonation device. She muttered under her breath as she picked through the wires inside the device. Dratted subetherics, there had to be something she could do…

[Deleted]

Steve had finished with his meeting with David about an hour ago. David has expressed his concerns about the conduct of certain members of the crew, and Steve had resolved to sort everything out. Also, in doing so, he had managed to persuade David to retract his transfer request. He had been a good friend to Steve since he has come aboard the Olympia, and Steve did not want to lose such a valued member of his crew.

Taking a sip of his tea as he went through various reports, the com sounded:

=/\= Captain Smith, this is Lieutenant Biers in Cargo Bay 1, it seems our worst fears have happened, the professor has lost it and I assume has done something to the burst. Lieutenant Rose is on her way down to look at it but it may already be too late. Major Wong has been extremely injured and is being taken to sickbay, it is pretty bad. What are your orders Captain? =/\=

Steve dropped the padd he was holding. =/\= What?? Hold on...I am on my way =/\=

Steve shot up out of his chair and ran out of his Ready Room. He shot along the corridors of the Olympia and down the the cargo bay in record time. The speed he was running, he could easily have been a professional sprinter. Upon reaching the cargo-bay, he almost ran straight into the doors before they opened.

As he entered, all eyes fell on him. "Report....what on Earth is going on?" He asked, prepared for the worst.

[kiralmallen]

((OOC—I’m back, with a nice, long post for y’all to read.))

Doctor Mallen had just finished her duty shift, and was sitting alone in the nearly empty mess hall. With one hand she held a Goombay Punch (the extreme amount of caffeine kept her awake at the late hour), and with the other she held a PADD, which she was reading intently.

Things had been busy in sickbay recently. It seemed that crewmembers were having all kinds of accidents and getting into all sorts of trouble. She hadn’t had a real chance recently to socialize or even just talk to many of her friends. But that was a doctor’s job, and she had known the long hours she would face when she accepted it.

The PADD contained Professor Sagan Hartti’s medical record, or what passed for one. The Comari’s record was practically nonexistent. Apparently, the man didn’t like doctors. Mallen sighed, annoyed. This was no excuse. She didn’t like counselors, salespeople, or physicists, (there were, of course, exceptions to this general rule) but she recognized their usefulness and would deal with them when necessary. She entered a message on the PADD reminding her to make sure Hartti received a full physical examination, whether he liked it or not.

Feeling her eyes closing, she took a long drink from her can of soda. It had been a long day, and she was ready for bed. Unfortunately, her combadge beeped, she was informed of the situation in the Cargo Bay. She suddenly knew that it would be a long night as well, and was abruptly wide-awake.

=/\= Mallen to sickbay, I need an emergency team and a stretcher in Cargo Bay One. Immediately. I will meet you there. =/\=

She sprinted for the nearest turbolift, drawing some curious looks, and shoved aside a bewildered ensign who had been waiting for the lift before her. On the way down, she rummaged through the shoulder bag she kept with her at all times. It contained an emergency first aid kit, but she knew that she would need much more than first aid to deal with the immediate situation.

Rushing into the cargo bay, she was relieved to find that the team she had requested was already there, loading Major Wong onto a stretcher. She noticed the limp form of Professor Hartti, and her immediate thought was that she wouldn’t need to schedule a physical for him anymore. There was nothing she could do for him—much of his face was gone, and it must have been a direct shot to the brain. The first officer was her priority.

=/\= Sickbay, I’m going to need a few more of you down here with a stretcher. Get the Professor into stasis for a future autopsy. =/\= The cause of death was obvious, but an official report was procedure, and would need to be done eventually.

Wong was rushed to sickbay as Kiral assessed his situation. Roughly half of Wong’s face was burnt off, including his left eye. Worse, he had been hit squarely in the chest by a particle weapon, and his heart had stopped beating. Technically, Major Wong was dead, and had been dead for several minutes, but the doctor wasn’t ready to accept that, not while there was anything that could be done for him.

“I need three ccs of Cordrazine, now,” she barked urgently as they arrived in sickbay. It was handed to her as the marine was loaded onto the biobed. The biofunction monitor jumped into action and confirmed what Kiral already knew—all cardio functions had stopped, and brain activity was quickly failing. She injected the Cordrazine and watched the monitor for any sign of improvement.

“No effect, doctor,” a nurse informed her.

“I can see that,” Mallen snapped, with such ferocity that the nurse jumped backwards and turned bright red. Kiral refilled the hypospray and injected Wong again, and again. The biofunction monitor still showed a flatline.

“Tricordrazine,” she ordered, realizing the need for a more powerful stimulant. “Eight ccs.”

“That’s a powerful dose, Doctor,” someone said nervously.

“Doesn’t it look like we need a powerful dose? Get me the drug!” Mallen thought this would be her last chance. If this dose of stimulant didn’t work, another dose would be too much for the Major’s body to handle. She injected the Tricordrazine.

The next ten seconds seemed to go by extremely slowly. Finally, to the relief of everyone in the room, the monitor began beeping with a pulse. Major Wong was breathing again. Mallen released a breath that she didn’t even realize she had been holding. “Alright, everyone, the hard part is over. Now that the Major is breathing again, we need to close up his chest wound and repair his face. He’s comatose right now, which isn’t a surprise; his heart was stopped for several minutes, and that’s a long time for his brain to go without oxygen. Someone get to work on repairing his brain functions. I don’t know when he’ll wake up, but my guess is that it could be a while. I want him to be healthy when it finally happens.”

As the doctors started their work, Mallen went into her office to file an official report. She had just started writing when a different thought occurred to her.

=/\= Mallen to Rose. I wasn’t told what the Professor was doing with the Tauri Burst. I didn’t have the time to stop and ask. Should there be any concern about radiation? Did anything leak out? =/\=

[Crystal Rose]

Crystal was still poring over the Tauri Burst when the Captain arrived. She let someone else explain the situation reasoning that a) there were people around who knew more about the whole situation that her and b) her report was likely to be 'excuse me I have to get on or in 4hours48mins the Olympia will cease to exist'.

She had called out most of the science and engineering departments so there was a contingent of blue and gold clad staff beginning to arrive.

=/\= Mallen to Rose. I wasn’t told what the Professor was doing with the Tauri Burst. I didn’t have the time to stop and ask. Should there be any concern about radiation? Did anything leak out? =/\=

Crystal gritted her teeth and swallowed the first and second things she wanted to say to the Doctor. They wouldn't help now.

=/\=The Tauri Burst isn't leaking so no radiation to worry about.=/\= That was all the Doctor had asked but Crystal paused forcing herself to slow down. Kiral had a right to know, besides news would filter through anyway. =/\=Sorry, Doctor. I'm not the best person to talk to right now. The Professor manually activated the Tauri Burst and I'm currently up to my elbows in it.=/\= Crystal knew that this may not have been the most sensible thing to say but it was such an effort to think and slow the words down...

<tag: Kiral>

Crystal was only half listening to what the Doctor was saying, a plan was starting to come together.

Crystal pulled her hands out of the wiring and turned to the Captain.
"I think I've got a way to buy us some more time." She barely paused for breath before continuing "We can slow down the timer by separating the timing elements." That was the gist of it but she expected that some further explanantion would be wanted.

<tag: Captain Smith / anyone else in cargo bay>

[vanderhalthor]

Vander looked at Commander Rose and had some thoughts about how she would approach the scenario of the tauri burst seeing as she was dealing with a current time frame and Vander wanted to see what he could do to help. Knowing that the ship was either going to be in the fate of the crews hands alone she had to think quickly and on her feet. The captain had arrived and the situation was getting rather worse by the minute.

Vander approached her then tried to lend her a hand, "Commander, seeing as your up to your eye balls in work, I can try to ease the pain and suffering of this situation and probably see if we both can figure this out together. With my expertise in tactical and security measures you'll need me in a situation like this. So give me the word and I'll do exactly that" Commander Halthor responded.

<Tag Rose>

They both worked relentlessly at the work together not knowing if the timing would slow down, Vander made sure crystal had most of the work separated so she didn't have to be overloaded, and go into a medical psycho breakdown. The tauri burst was the main focus of the crews of the olympia and the timing was crucial.

"Lets hope we can decrease the time on this, I wouldn't want the ship to go kaput's" Vander replied with the hope the Olympia would be safe in the procedure.

<Tag rose>