Episode 8.2 - Observation and Obfuscation

[Gheskori]

Gheskori reacted to Commander Matthew's hand on his shoulder, it seemed that the Ops Officer did not know about Denobulan's dislike of physical contact. For once though, Ghes was not compelled to say something. Commander Matthew made him feel uncomfortable, and Ghes was not sure how to treat with the Victory's second officer.

“And Lieutenant speaking of Over Polishing you may wont to put a little Dirt on those new Lt pips The glair is a little Blinding they would make a great target in the Dark"

Ghes did laugh at that, "I shall make sure of it Commander. Now, I need entry to the shuttle so I can see if the EM scrambler is functional. We would not want it to fail." Ghes moved past Matthew and made one of the engineers open the rear hatch of the Specter, the shuttle that was to be used. Commander Matthew's report on "old Beatrice" had included information on its upgraded specifications, Ghes quietly laughed as the rear hatch opened.Only the best would suffice for this kind of operation, he guessed. He didn't think, or at least he hoped, that the Specter would be needing the torpedo launcher though.

A moment later, Ghes was sitting in the pilot's seat, running simulations of the launch, orbital insertion and subsequent entry into Jolmar Prime's atmosphere. The EM scrambler worked well in each simulation he ran, but what its true behaviour would be was unpredictable. The particular device was not orthodoxly compatible with the shuttle, Ghes assumed it would work but of course just an assumption was not good enough.

Ghes asked the engineers to take another look at the scramblers connections and programming, with Commander Matthew's permission, and sat down to run the simulations again.

It worked. Ghes sat back, satisfied with the device at last. He took a glance through at the simulation's data readout, it appeared fine, everything appeared to have been completed and run successfully... "I think.." Ghes muttered absent-mindedly. Suddenly he was sat up, studying the data read out intensely. Something was wrong, he thought that -

The Denobulan ran the simulation again. He watched the screen printing out its data and supplying its graphical image-feed of the shuttle's trajectory and path through the atmosphere. He studied the data, there was something not quite right. Then suddenly the pinpoint representing the Specter blinked out. Ghes blinked, there was 'definitely' something wrong. The simulation finished, displaying the same result as before, with the words: 'ERROR - FATAL ATMOSPHERIC TRAJECTORY'. After the initial panic and frustration, Ghes figured out that there was something wrong, not with the program, but rather the planet. Any ship attempting entry would have to be ultra-careful with its calculations. The scientist in Ghes was let loose, what property of the planet caused this atmospheric entry difficulty?

[Deleted]

"Have we got any new information?" Tiana asked, Tiberian simply pointed at the display of the class Y planet and the apparent habdome on it. Tiana stared in silence for a second.

"Do we know if it's Jolmaran or is it someone else?" she asked

"It can't be Jolmaran" Tiberian stated simply "They're technology is nowhere near sophisticated enough to allow for Y Class colonisation. Hell, some Federation worlds could only do it at a push"

"Maybe it's a sensor glitch" Mattheson said "Maybe its not a colony, just a crashed vessel. At this range we can't be sure. For all we know if they attempted other intrasystem flights, one of them may have crashed"

"And still be transmitting steady heat and radiation signals" Tiberian shot him down "No...This doesn't make any sense"

"Well the sensors are fully functional" Mattheson insisted "We ran a load of diagnostics in and around the repair schedule, and we can scan with perfect clarity to the Betreka Nebula and ba..."

"What did you say?" Tiberian suddenly interjected, cutting him off.

"I said we can scan out as far as the Betreka Nebula with long range sensors and still get perfect clarity responses"

"How far away from the Betreka Nebula are we?" Tiberian asked, pulling up a splitscreen star chart.

"A little over twenty lightyears, give or take" Mattheson computed the distance "Why?"

"Have you been keeping appraised of the Klingon-Tholian Colonial War in the Betreka Nebula. It was started when the Tholians began secretly colonising Class Y planets in the Klingon's territory"

"Why would they do that, there's nothing valuable on Demon Classes?" Mattheson asked.

"Except heat and minerals, both valuable to Tholians. And with this system so close to the Nebula, and now that the Klingons are continuing to purge all the colonies..." He turned to Tiana.
"I'm going to need you to modify the sensor grid. Use whatever resources you need, but I need maximum resolution scans of that planet, paying specific attention to any crystalline signatures. Then do the same for Jolmar"

<TAG Tiana>

"You think that the Tholians might have influenced the Jolmar development?" Mattheson asked as he and Tiana got to work.

"They colonised the Klingon planets for several years before they were first discovered last year. Who knows what might have gone on in that time" Tiberian strode out of engineering and made his way to the turbolift, calling for the bridge. He arrived and sat in the Captain's seat, leaning forward to speak to the helm officer.

"Helm, course correction. When we arrive in the Jolmar system, do not move towards the moon of Jolmar. I want you to take us into a geosynchronous orbit around the furthest planet, and put us into a low power mode. Once we're orbiting, cut all drive systems, and let her drift"

=/\=Wong to Commodore Cir'Kem and all senior staff, will you please meet me in the conference lounge in thirty minutes, there has been an important mission development. Wong out=/\=

<TAG All>

[Tiana Galwyn Cet]

"It can't be Jolmaran" Tiberian stated simply "They're technology is nowhere near sophisticated enough to allow for Y Class colonisation. Hell, some Federation worlds could only do it at a push"
"Maybe it's a sensor glitch" Mattheson said "Maybe its not a colony, just a crashed vessel. At this range we can't be sure. For all we know if they attempted other intrasystem flights, one of them may have crashed"

"And still be transmitting steady heat and radiation signals" Tiberian shot him down "No...This doesn't make any sense"


"Well the sensors are fully functional" Mattheson insisted "We ran a load of diagnostics in and around the repair schedule, and we can scan with perfect clarity to the Betreka Nebula and ba..."

"What did you say?" Tiberian suddenly interjected, cutting him off.

"I said we can scan out as far as the Betreka Nebula with long range sensors and still get perfect clarity responses"

"How far away from the Betreka Nebula are we?" Tiberian asked, pulling up a splitscreen star chart.

"A little over twenty lightyears, give or take" Mattheson computed the distance "Why?"

"Have you been keeping appraised of the Klingon-Tholian Colonial War in the Betreka Nebula. It was started when the Tholians began secretly colonising Class Y planets in the Klingon's territory"

"Why would they do that, there's nothing valuable on Demon Classes?" Mattheson asked.

"Except heat and minerals, both valuable to Tholians. And with this system so close to the Nebula, and now that the Klingons are continuing to purge all the colonies..." He turned to Tiana.
"I'm going to need you to modify the sensor grid. Use whatever resources you need, but I need maximum resolution scans of that planet, paying specific attention to any crystalline signatures. Then do the same for Jolmar"

Tiana nodded, "Of course, sir." She walked over to the senor controls and started working on the problem. It was actually a very interesting one, Y-Class planets were fairly unusual and their complex and highly charged atmospheres meant that they were hard to study. It also meant they could cause a problem for a starship, even one in orbit.
As for the Tholians they were a mystery in their own right. She new about the Klingon-Tholian war, it was impossible to serve in this area of space and not know but she had pushed it from her mind hoping never to encounter it.

You think that the Tholians might have influenced the Jolmar development?" Mattheson asked as he and Tiana got to work.

"They colonised the Klingon planets for several years before they were first discovered last year. Who knows what might have gone on in that time" Tiberian said. He left engineering leaving Tiana and Mattheson to it. Tiana pondered the question.

"It's possible but if so, what direction would they have tried to take them in." She shrugged, "at the moment we just don't have enough information."

It was going to be a struggle to get a scan of a Y-class planet she was concentrating on using low variable pulses to minimise the disturbance from the atmosphere. It seemed hopeful. Mattheson had a couple of ideas of his own and was busy on the other side of the console table. With any luck approaching the problem from both sides would let them meet in the middle with a workable solution.

=/\=Wong to Commodore Cir'Kem and all senior staff, will you please meet me in the conference lounge in thirty minutes, there has been an important mission development. Wong out=/\=

Tiana sighed, thirty minutes was barely long enough to go over the data they had and set constraints on the problem. Still she'd have something to add to the conversation. The half hour flew past and Tiana barely had time to set her first round to simulations running before heading for the conference lounge, PADD as usual in hand for when the next idea struck.

[jamesmatthew]

Scene: Deck 4 - USS VICTORY -Main Shuttle Bay


“Cmdr Matthew paced Around as Lt ,Gheskori was Making his Adjustments to the EM scrambler Thigie as Cmdr Matthew continually looked up at the ship chronometer When the voice of Col. Wong came over the ship PA.

=/\=Wong to Commodore Cir'Kem and all senior staff, will you please meet me in the conference lounge in thirty minutes, there has been an important mission development. Wong

“ Cmdr Matthew Here Col. On my way and quickly walked towards the entrance of the Main Shuttle bay Doors ‘
.
( Conference Room 30 seconds Later )

“ Cmdr Matthew walk in the room to see he was one of the first to Arrived walking over the to poor him self a cup of Coffee before taking his seat he decided to take this time to pull out his Computer PaDD And make some Ship Stores Updates

[Deleted]

Half an hour later, Tiberian was stood in the conference room adjoining the bridge, his hands behind his back and staring out of the window as the stars rushed by in the speed of warp. He was waiting for the remainder of the staff to arrive, and hopefully for some of them to shed some light on the revelations of the last few hours. He was particularly worried about what this might mean for the people of Jolmar and for the Federation if it did turn out that they had been influenced by an outside power, and if that influence had then led to the development of technology that by rights should not have been developed for decades. What worried him even more was the implications for the Federation, particularly in their present balancing act in the Colonial War if it did turn out that the Tholians were now unbalancing the power in this sector, and if they were doing so by attacking the principles of the Federation.

The staff began to file into the room, Tiana first followed closely by Matthews and then the others. The final person entered and sat down, the doors closing behind them. Tiberian cued the lights to dim, and activated the screen, showing a bright rotating image of the Y Class planet in the Jolmar system. Varying bits of data scrolled down the screen beside it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Jolmar IV. Class Y, not much bigger than Venus, and two planets out from Jolmar Prime. Not much to look at under any other circumstances, save for this..."
He punched in a series of commands, and a brightly lit and magnified area was displayed.
"Evidence of a habdome, well beyond the technological capabilities of the Paderau, and presenting the possibility of advanced contact" He raised the lights and deactivated the screen.
"My fear is that this discovery runs concurrent with the Colonial War going on in and around the Betreka Nebula, and that this habdome is evidence of Tholian colonisation. Needless to say, if they've helped the people of Jolmar in the development of warp technology, or worse, then we are in for a real rough ride"

He stopped, letting the information sink in.

"At this point I'd like to ask Commander Galwyn if she has anything that she would care to add"

<TAG Tiana>

Tiberian nodded, taking in the data for a moment before continuing to speak.

"Commander Matthew, Mr Gheskori, how are the shuttle modifications coming along?"

<TAG Matthews and Gheskori>

"In that case Captain, I'd like to propose a change to the mission schedule. If the shuttle team goes to make close orbital scans of Jolmar, rather than just wait in cover for their return, I'd like to take the Victory and go and explore the Class Y, maybe take a surface team down and scout around. It would probably be best if we were aware of all the factors before we proceed with first contact"

<TAG Commodore Cir'Kem>

[jamesmatthew]

well Col. speaking for My Part of the Assignment Most of all the shuttle Modifications have been Done we are currently just Running some Systems Checks but all of that should Done by the Time we Arrive on Station

[Tiana Galwyn Cet]

Tiana sat quietly in the staff meeting letting her thoughts wander and occasionally adding some of those ideas to the expanding list on the PADD in her lap.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Jolmar IV. Class Y, not much bigger than Venus, and two planets out from Jolmar Prime. Not much to look at under any other circumstances, save for this..."
He punched in a series of commands, and a brightly lit and magnified area was displayed.

"Evidence of a habdome, well beyond the technological capabilities of the Paderau, and presenting the possibility of advanced contact" He raised the lights and deactivated the screen.

"My fear is that this discovery runs concurrent with the Colonial War going on in and around the Betreka Nebula, and that this habdome is evidence of Tholian colonisation. Needless to say, if they've helped the people of Jolmar in the development of warp technology, or worse, then we are in for a real rough ride"

He stopped, letting the information sink in.

"At this point I'd like to ask Commander Galwyn if she has anything that she would care to add"

Tiana looked up from her notes suddenly aware that every eye in the room was focussed on her. She swallowed and then spoke.

"I don't have a lot to go on yet but so far the scans show that the habitat dome is consistent with Tholian buildings. I haven't been able to get a 100% correlation yet but I should be able to with more data."

The rest of the meeting passed relatively quietly for Tiana although she was intrigued by the modifications needed to a shuttle to allow it to get that close to a class Y planet. She made her way back to engineering planning to get on with her data gathering and knowing that if anyone wanted her she wasn't going to be hard to find.

[Gheskori]

Ghes was the last to enter the Victory's briefing room. The rest of the senior staff in front of him settled into their seats and Ghes sat in the chair closest to the door.

The First officer dimmed the lighting and displayed an image of the Jolmar system, the light of the display played off the faces of the senior staff as the image rotated. Colonel Wong's voice acted like an unseen narrative for the image, Ghes listened as he delivered his briefing. The Denobulan's eyes grew wider and wider as it went along, it soon became apparent what the significance of Colonel Wong's revelation was. This could 'potentially' become a very difficult situation for the Victory, Starfleet, the Federation as a whole.

Questions started going around the table. Wong nodded in response to Commander Galwyn's answer and then turned Gheskori's way. "Commander Matthew, Mr Gheskori, how are the shuttle modifications coming along?"

Ghes opened his mouth to speak but Commander Matthew beat him to it. Ghes slumped back in his seat almost disappointedly, having to be content to wait for the Operations officer.

"Commander Matthew is correct," Ghes said after the COO finished, "The modifications are all but complete and are at the best standard possible. However I have discovered something that may prove a challenge." Ghes paused and looked around, eventually his eyes fell on the Colonel. Judging people's reactions and behaviour was something Gheskori took enthusiastic interest in, and was one of his favourite 'hobbies'. "During my simulations, it has emerged that a particular property of Jolmar Prime itself - I am not sure what exactly - makes atmospheric reentry exceedingly difficult, if not at times impossible. Entering that planet's atmosphere would be somewhat of a risk however, I think I can handle it."

Wong explained that he wished to take the Victory to the Class Y planet while Ghes took the modified shuttle to Jolmar Prime. "... It would probably be best if were aware of all the factors before we proceed with first contact" he finished.

After Cir'Kem responded, Ghes spoke again, "Indeed. If the Tholians are interfering Commodore, Colonel," he nodded to both of them, "Then this could prove to a problem. What do we do about first contact if the Tholians have been an influence? What is the procedure here, must we put them back on the natural course of development rather than interfere ourselves and make things worse?" Ghes looked around at everybody, thereby inadvertantly posing his cluster of questions to the entire briefing room.

<Tag All>

[jamesmatthew]

Scene Main Confrence room

"Cmdr Matthew “ Comm. Badge start to chirp cmdr Matthew Tap his comm. Badge Matthew hear “

“Bridge officer voice ‘Comdr I have a encoded subspace Message for you “

“Cmdr Matthew Send it to my Computer padd Excuse me Commodore I been waiting for this all Day Matthew Taps a couple Buttons and read the Padd Commodore at this point of the meeting “

“I would like to bring up some new info I just received I have a old Academy classmate over at Starfleet Intelligence, send me the Latest Intel report they have on this sector “

“Cmdr Matthew ‘Let me bring it up on the console as you can see on the Screen this sector boarders three other races Territory ‘The Gorn /Tholians /Romulains also any one of theses Could Try to make a play and take control over Jolmar Prime itself It may not be just the Tholians we will have to Deal with “.

“Cmdr Matthew My friend had to admit that Starfleet Intelligence is Spread Thin right now and has no operatives in this sector they Depend heavily on spy sensor Probes and Automated Commutations Relay stations for there info this could mean any Intel could be outdated by months or more and also we need to keep in mind that the Romulans may try to Make a play as well .

<Tag All >

[Tiana Galwyn Cet]

Back in the Conference Room

"Indeed. If the Tholians are interfering Commodore, Colonel," Gheskori nodded to both of them, "Then this could prove to a problem. What do we do about first contact if the Tholians have been an influence? What is the procedure here, must we put them back on the natural course of development rather than interfere ourselves and make things worse?" He looked around at everybody,

Tiana looked up from her thoughts hearing the CNO speak. It was true that she often got caught up in her part of a problem and did not always think of the larger issues. The situation was a lot more complicated than she had let herself think.

[Deleted]

Nika was content to let Colonel Wong run the meeting, and accepted his recommendations, mostly because she was busy trying to follow the diplomatic ramifications of the evidence they had found. Which was part of why she was prepared for Lieutenant Gheskori's question, it was very similar to the ones she'd been asking herself.

"Then this could prove to a problem. What do we do about first contact if the Tholians have been an influence? What is the procedure here, must we put them back on the natural course of development rather than interfere ourselves and make things worse?" he said.

“If the Tholians have been a minor influence, I believe our duty does indeed require we return them to their proper path by removing all the technology that they could not have achieved without help.” Nika didn't like this solution, because what about all the work the Paderau had put into understanding and integrating the new technology, work that they hadn't spent on developing their own new technology, but she understood the policy, and couldn't think of a better way to do this. “Which is going to be quite difficult to do without letting our presence be known or providing long-term damage to the Paderau civilization.”

Nika paused. “If, on the other hand, the Tholians have significantly influenced the path of events on Joldar prime, then I imagine our role would have to be similar to that of the Federation with Bajor after the Cardassians: we need to free the Paderau of the influence of the Tholians and help them to develop independently.” And, of course, it all depended on whether or not they could eliminate the threat of foreign influence on the colony, because if they couldn't, well, better that any influence be Federation than Romulan, Gorn or Tholian.

[jamesmatthew]

Scene: Below Decks

Deck 15, MCO's Quarters

“ 1st Lieutenant Robert Daniels got out of bed and stretched. He stretched,
after one of his first good night's sleep since he arrived on the VICTORY. He had pretty much all his stuff unpacked.

“A modest rack of glass eyes hung near the window, but little else.

“After taking a quick sonic shower, Robert put on some loose jogging pants,
grabbed a towel and headed to the Gym.

“While walking through the halls, Robert noticed several marines milling
around, most of which were also off duty. A few 'good morning's were
exchanged, but nothing out of the ordinary.

“Upon arriving to the Gym, Robert began several laps around, noticing
several other off-duty marines who had come for a morning jog. A bunch
of new Privates were racing one side of the track. He took note of the
Marines around, the more of them who showed up here, the less he had to
work them to keep them in shape.

“Robert decided to run some multi-deck training after breakfast. He had
only had that privilege once before, while in the Academy, but all Nebula class vessel
had a three deck training facility, taking about 1/4 of each deck, along with the standard training facilities on other vessel I been Assigned too”
.
“He could train for any possibility much better then you could on a lesser vessel
Robert decided he liked Nebula class vessel better then the Heavy Cruiser he had been on for the past year Before his re-assigned to the VICTORY.


Lt 1st class Robert Daniels-NPC
2nd squad leader
USS VICTORY-C

[Deleted]

"I'm in agreement with the Commodore on that one Lieutenant" Tiberian said after some concerted thought. He could appreciate the gravity of the situation, but still wasn't sat easily with the idea of simply waltzing in and ripping the proverbial Tholian carpet from under the Paderau. Nonetheless, he also had to be concerned with the tactical threat that was posed if Tholian weapons were this far into Federation space.
"My recommendations considering this would be to have Commander Galwyn proceed undercover on the surface to discover the depth, if any, of technological penetration. Once we have information on the situation, we can then determine the best course of action to proceed with. Anything prior to that would be presumptuous, and potentially downright dangerous. If no-one disagrees?"

<TAG All>

"Alright then. Commander Galwyn, please furnish your department with whatever ideas you can come up with for the habdome in the next...hour, and then go to sickbay for cosmetic surgery. Doctor Kapoor should already be prepping. Lieutenant, finish as much of the shuttle remod as possible, and then do the same. You have an hour. Dismissed"

<TAG Tiana and Gheskori>

"Commander Matthew, can you finish the shuttle preparations that the Lieutenant can't manage, and then take your place on the bridge. We'll need as many intensive scans of both planets at the range we're moving to, plus any information that our more covert probes can give. Do your best"

<TAG Commander Matthew>

Matthew nodded and left, leaving Tiberian and Cir'Kem alone in the room. She had been the CO he had served with the longest, and he had a great admiration and fierce loyalty to her. She was also one of the only people who actually let him get away with some of his more stupid stunts. Which was advantageous, considering what he was about to ask.

"Commodore..." He began slowly "When we leave the shuttle and head for Jolmar IV, I'd like permission to take another shuttle..." He paused.
"And take a covert team down to the planet surface. I know it's risky, but with the atmosphere there's only so much orbital scans can tell us. Plus, a close quarters team is far more likely to get more information, whilst it's less likely to be detected"

<TAG Commodore Cir'Kem>

Tiberian saluted and left the room, moving off to the turbolift. He knew the bridge was in safe hands, and he had one or two things to attend to before he left.

=/\=Wong to marine team alpha. I want a briefing in the main armoury in five minutes. We have some things to go over=/\=

[Deleted]

Wong wanted something from her that she wasn't going to like; Nika could tell. "I'd like permission to take another shuttle and take a covert team down to the planet surface. I know it's risky, but with the atmosphere there's only so much orbital scans can tell us. Plus, a close quarters team is far more likely to get more information, whilst it's less likely to be detected"

"I don't know," Nika said. "I understand the need for more information. But I'm not sure you should be on that team. I'm reluctant to send too many people to the surface, if only because it leaves the Victory itself much more vulnerable. That's in addition to the risks which will arise should the Tholians catch wind of this information."

Wong described why he thought he should be on the team. Nika nodded and listened to him. She considered the proposal, and then she considered Wong. "Alright. Permission granted."

Wong saluted and left the room. Nika moved from the conference room to her office, before calling on the senior staff member who hadn't been able to make the meeting. "Nika to Commander Rylka. Come by my office when you get a chance?"

<Tag Commander Rylka>

[jamesmatthew]

(Below Decks )

Scene: Deck 4 Silo's Quarters


“Lt Silos woke up at the words of the computer. "The time is 07.00. Your
designated wake up time." He slowly raised himself up from the bed, and
sighed. His sleep wasn't as restful as it had been when he first arrived to
the station.
“He stood, thinking of his daily plan, suddenly reminded of the fact that
today he would start in his new OPS position.

That immediately led to the knowledge of the reassignment of Lt, Mark Gray from Ops to the Science Department .

“He shook his head and entered his bathroom to freshen up. He took a sonic shower to
clear the cobwebs in his head. And made extra sure his uniform fitted him to
perfection. He looked at his reflection in the mirror, and nearly the
thought "What is the point" floated through his head.

“Not having the patience, nor the will to go through his own morning ritual,
he left his quarters to see if he couldn't find something, some sort of
breakfast, before Reporting to the bridge to star his shift .

Scene: Victory Main Bridge

“Deco, the science officer on duty turned to face the new arrival on the
bridge. "I heard they shifted you to a new station...again. Sir." he added.
Silos walked towards OPS, and gave the bajoran a small smile. "Yes. They
don't know what to do with me I figure."
He nodded to Taylor, who was supervising the position of CIC.

(A few hours later )

“Silos sighed and relieved the Ensign at the bridge OPS station. He
needed to get acquainted with every aspect of this job. His mind was already
trying to come up with several things to smoothen his job, and lighten his
own workload. He was not about to get buried underneath the paperwork as
Steven had.

“Silos then noticed the arrival. of a Lt (jg) arrived, dressed in an Engineering uniform.

“Silos"I think that's one of those new Engineering officer that came on board The Star base"

“The science officer made a sound. "Well now...well now." She a looker
"Silos just keep your eyes on the Console Mister Before you find your self before a Captain mast .


Lt, Silos -NPC
Ops Officer
USS VICTORY-C

[Gheskori]

After Commander Matthew had voiced his warnings about other races' potential power moves and Commodore Cir'Kem had answered Ghes's questions, Colonel Wong distributed the senior staff's new orders.

"Yes sir," Ghes said at once in response to Wong telling him to continue with the shuttle modification, and then head to sickbay for his Paderau cosmetics. The first part would be easy, Ghes thought. Well, easy as in it would not take him long to finish the unavoidably flawed modifications. Jolmar Prime's physical properties owed to that; at least, Ghes thought it was the physical properties...

The Denobulan made his way to the shuttlebay, finding a moderately-sized group of engineers and operations staff still gathered around the Specter, helping to prepare her for the atmospheric descent and making sure she was kept hidden from any sensory equipment the Paderau happened to have. Ghes checked over their progress and once satisfied that he could do no more to assist, left for sickbay. "Make sure you tell Commander Matthew to look over it just in case!" he told the engineers/operations crew before he left.

Doctor Kapoor was already at work on Commander Galwyn when Ghes entered sickbay. Ah-ha!! Ghes thought with glee. This gave him plenty of time to look around the place before submitting himself to Kapoor's undoubted cosmetic talent, which were probably excellent despite the Federation's unfamiliarity with the Paderau.

Ghes remembered his time on the unnamed Nova class ship, he had enjoyed touring that ship's sickbay, the CMO Doctor Tintagel had been most receptive to Ghes's interests in the department. Being the science officer, the humble Denobulan had often delved into the biological side of the subject, and as such had a great interest into that side of the sickbay. Gheskori paid little attention to the Victory's bemused medical staff as he wandered around the sickbay, taking in its many delights.

Doctor Kapoor had a few biological specimens out on show, whether they were for some sort of treatment or just because Kapoor was studying them was not Ghes's concern, rather the Denobulan just liked to look. Perhaps he would ask the Doctor about them later, maybe he could find something for him to participate in in the sickbay. Whether it was Commander Galwyn or Doctor Kapoor, Ghes would find some way into one of the two departments, in an informal way of course, just to explore some of his interests.

"Lieutenant Gheskori? I'm ready for you now." Doctor Kapoor called to Ghes. The CNO made his way over. He did not wish to lose his Denobulan features for a while, but out of necessity for the mission he would have to bear it. Galwyn, her cosmetic modification complete, went past Ghes as she headed for the sickbay's exit.

"Very impressive." Ghes said, peering at the facial modifications performed on the Victory's science officer.

<Tag Tiana>

"Right, have a seat Lieutenant, this shall not take long.." Kapoor said as Ghes approached.

The Denobulan gave a quirky laugh, "Oh, take all the time you need Doctor, take all the time you need..." He sat down.

[Tiana Galwyn Cet]

"Alright then. Commander Galwyn, please furnish your department with whatever ideas you can come up with for the habdome in the next...hour, and then go to sickbay for cosmetic surgery. Doctor Kapoor should already be prepping. Lieutenant, finish as much of the shuttle remod as possible, and then do the same. You have an hour. Dismissed"

Colonel Wong's words at the staff meeting echoed in Tiana's head as she worked in engineering. How did they expect her to get everything necessary done in an hour.... And that was the first she had heard of having to have cosmetic surgery to go on this shuttle mission.

She grumbled to herself as she worked. She did get everything done and stopped by the main science labs on the way to sickbay there she found her assistant Lt Commader Liam Palmer who was busy with some condensed photonics work. He was up to date on her ideas but she pulled him aside anyway and made sure that he knew what the priorities were.

Then with some trepidation she went to sickbay. Surgery of any sort unnerved her. Her brother had died on the operating table after all. Still that had been emergency surgery nothing like this... still Tiana couldn't quite relax. That and she liked her spots.

Doctor Kapoor bustled up to Tiana as soon as she entered sickbay. It seemed she'd beaten Gheskori here. Still that meant that she she didn't have to sit around nervously twitching while his surgery was carried out.

The doctor her best to get Tiana to relax and carried out the procedure with the minimum of fuss. Tiana in return managed not to twitch or run off the operating table screaming.

As she left the operating area feeling distinctly uneasy in her new face. She met Gheskori waiting for his operation."Very impressive." Ghes said, peering at the facial modifications performed on the Victory's science officer.

Tiana gave a half smile that felt wrong, "I guess you should tell Doctor Kapoor that. I haven't looked yet. I'm not sure I want to see myself without the spots."

[Deleted]

Tiberian strode into the armoury to see a dozen assembled marines stand up and come to attention. Martinez was amongst them and greeted Tiberian with a starched salute, one which the XO returned immediately. He called them to ease, and then gestured at them to gather around the holodisplay table that had been fitted in the room during their most recent overhaul. It had taken a lot of persuading to get it here, but after a dozen request forms and a variety of favours owed, he now had a high quality tactical preparation tool. He activated the display, and a wavy, fuzzy image spluttered into life, before the display collapsed into darkness. Much to Tiberian's chargrin, and to the amusement of his men, the table refused to re-initialise. Refusing to give up even then, he cracked open the side panel and began tinkering with the circuitry. A few fried circuits and small electric shocks later, he gave up, and sent a begrudging maintenance request to engineering. As such help would apparently not be forthcoming for some hours, he abandoned the prospect of using his new toy, and instead relegated himself to doing things the old fashioned way. He sat the men down in a circle, and began a detailed discussion of the mission.

"I will not lie to you lads" He began, illiciting a few groans that indicated they knew something unpleasant was coming. They were not disappointed.
"This is not going to be pleasant. The entire mission will have to be done in EV suits, due to the corrosive nature of the atmosphere. Also, due to heavy atmospheric ionisation, transporters will not be our primary method of insertion. We're going in with a shuttle, so Marcovitch, Stanley"
The male and femal marine nodded in assent at the mention of their names.
"You're on pilot and nav, and then guarding the shuttle whilst the rest of us insert. I will not say this twice. This mission is strictly recon. No heroics, no old grudges. I know some of us had friends on the Galaxy during the Betreka Nebula incident, but I do not want to see that coming out now. We'll be in full combat gear, and I've requested tricorder modifications from engineering which will increase both range and resolution. We get in, we get done, we get out. No strings, no mess. Fire only if fired upon, but if you are fired upon, I expect nothing less than gratuitous violence from everyone. Clear"
A ripple of laughter went around the circle.
"We insert two clicks north east of the potential habdome, in a crater bordering on an incline. We'll tab south west until we reach a cliff face, and we'll make our assessment from there. I want a full gear check in thirty minutes, and for everyone to be familiar with the topography within the hour. Five minute readiness men, let's get to it"

The group broke and began to gather up kit and other items in preparedness for the mission. Martinez approached Tiberian and tapped his arm as the XO was about to leave.

"Just as a point sir, but I'm going to paint the EV suits red, camouflage and all that"

Tiberian couldn't help but smile at the old marine's ingenuity, particularly over such a relatively small detail.

"Fine with me old man. Mind you if their tricorders are going to be as good as ours, I doubt we'll be around long enough for our camouflage to work"

He departed and returned to the bridge, the turbolift doors opening just in time for him to see the sudden slowing of stars as the Victory dropped out of warp in the Jolmar system. He relieved Yontz and took his seat on the bridge.

"Helm, hold position at the edge of the system, and plot a course towards Jolmar IV at one quarter impulse, to hold position in geosynch orbit around their second moon"

He tapped his commbadge.

=/\=Wong to Commander Matthew. How much longer do you need to finish the shuttle modifications=/\=

<TAG Commander Matthew>

=/\=Wong to sickbay. Commander Galwyn and Lieutenant Gheskori, once surgery is completed could you assist Commander Matthew in the completion of the shuttle amendments. I want the bird off the ground within the hour=/\=

<TAG Tiana and Ghes>

~Roughly an hour later~

"Message from shuttlebay one sir" The ops officer on duty reported "The high resolution scanner has been aligned, and the bio dampener and EM scrambler are at peak efficiency. Request go for launch"

"Signal shuttlebay one, green for go. Good luck"

"Message sent sir, bird is in the air and heading for Jolmar"

<TAG Tiana and Ghes>

"Well then ladies and gentlemen" Tiberian said standing "Now we've delivered our package, I think it's time we looked in on the neighbours. Helm, bring up the pre-plotted course, and take us to Jolmar IV, nice and slow"

<TAG Anyone left on the Victory>

[Tiana Galwyn Cet]

Tiana sat in sickbay alone for a while then finally she braved looking at herself in a mirror. She had lost so much recently, she didn't know if she could cope with the (temporary) loss of her face on top of everything else...

The face that looked back at Tiana clearly wasn't Trill, her eyes were pretty much their usual dark brown colour although they looked larger than usual accentuated by the delicate ridge running above them. Her eyebrows had gone along with her spots and her skin now had purple undertones. Her lips were dark purple in colour and while not exactly bulbous were certainly larger than she was used to.

Despite her worries about the loss of her spots the thing that worried Tiana most was the loss of her hair. Under normal circumstances she had dark brown hair that when loose hung past her waist (although she very rarely wore it down), in her Jolmaran guise her hair was properly black and barely touched her shoulders. She wondered how she hadn't noticed that change before looking in the mirror.

OCC: Ghes, I'll leave it to you to decide exactly what male Jolmarans look like

Tiana swallowed hard and stared at her reflection. It was still her, she was still Tiana. She was going to get through this.

=/\=Wong to sickbay. Commander Galwyn and Lieutenant Gheskori, once surgery is completed could you assist Commander Matthew in the completion of the shuttle amendments. I want the bird off the ground within the hour=/\=

Tiana tapped her comm badge. =/\=Commander Galwyn here, I'm on my way, sir the Lieutenant is still in surgery.=/\= With that she left sickbay and headed towards the shuttlebay, she was uncomfortably aware of the looks that some of the crew were giving her. She was recognisable as herself if you squinted in the right light although her uniform colour and rank insignia should have been a clue.

There wasn't that much more left to do on the shuttle but Tiana and Gheskori and Commander Matthew carried out repeated checks. Tiana changed into a dark grey tunic and loose fitting beige trousers she also gathered up the discretely sized scanner she would be using later. She and Gheskori boarded the shuttle. Tiana sat in the copilot's seat feeling twitchy and nervous.

"Signal shuttlebay one, green for go. Good luck" The First Officer's voice came over the comm system and the shuttle slipped out into the stars.

[Gheskori]

"There we go, Lieutenant," Doctor Kapoor was saying, finishing things up. "You're just about done."

"Thank you, Doctor," Ghes said brightly. He sat up and swung his legs off the biobed. It soon dawned on him that something wasn't right about the feel of his face, neck, arms, his whole body in fact. He smiled at Doctor Kapoor who nodded graciously, and left the 'operating theatre'.

Tiana was looking at herself in the mirror outside of the theatre. Ghes walked up to her, hoping to get a glimpse of himself in the same mirror. He suspected he would look similar to Tiana. "May I?" he asked her, and looked in the mirror. His appearance was similar to the Victory's science officer, but not the same. Rather than the slight tint of purple in the skin, Male Paderau were apparently tinged red. The other features prevalent in Galwyn were there in Gheskori's appearance though.

"Wow. Definitely, not Denobulan," he muttered, watching how his face moved in the mirror as he said the words. Tiana told him that they had been ordered to the shuttle, to run the pre-launch prep for the shuttle.

The Victory had dropped out of warp while Gheskori had been in surgery, and the vessel was preparing to drop the shuttle Specter close to the orbit of Jolmar Prime, and then head further out into the system to Jolmar IV, where another shuttle was to be launched. Basically, the Victory was combing the entire system with its personnel and equipment. That was evident as Ghes and Tiana made their way to the shuttlebay. More personnel were roaming the corridors than usual, attending to their varying duties, the ship was in a full state of readiness for the mission ahead.

The two of them entered the shuttlebay and headed for the Specter. There was very little left to do to the shuttle. Gheskori and Commander Matthew, together with numerous brownshirts, had extensively prepped the craft for its descent to the orbit of Jolmar. Tiana sat in the co-pilots seat. Ghes stood by the rear hatch of the shuttle, assisting in supervising the final loading of supplies, and extra equipment through the rear entrance. Cooling pipes were one by one removed from the shuttle, their coolant no longer needed to keep the fusion engines powering the impulse drive under control as they were powered up.

Once Gheskori was satisfied that the prep was running smoothly, he turned away from the hatch and made his way towards the pilot's seat. Before he did so, Commander Matthew happened to walk past the hatch. "Farewell, Commander Matthew!" Ghes said to him, trusting that his appearance as a Paderau would not put the COO off too much. "If you could monitor the shuttle's passage to Jolmar that would be appreciated. I will be returning soon, sir."

<Tag Matthew>

Not long after, Ghes was sitting in the pilot's seat starting up the Specter's power systems. Tiana, sitting next to him shifted in her seat. Ghes was not observant enough to realise she was at ill ease. "This ought to be fun," he said lightly.

The sound of the Specter's power-drive starting up filled the two officers' ears. Out of the window, Ghes saw operations officers and engineers scampering away from the shuttle to the safety of the launch control panel. Smiling, Ghes requested permission to launch. The response came back green, and the CNO kicked in the thrust.

Seconds later, Specter was powering its way through space. Ghes immediately guided the shuttle into high orbit around Jolmar Prime, and after entering the shuttle into grey mode (running on virtually no power, as to avoid detection), put the shuttle into a much lower orbit, slipping past the orbital stations 'hopefully' undetected.

"I've decided I'm going to beam you down when we reach periapsis," Ghes said to Tiana confidently. He explained to avoid the possibility of Galwyn pulling rank on him, "In addition to the odd make-up of the planet itself, the atmosphere seems to have a less than typical composition. Its properties could make transportation dangerous from greater distances." The Denobulan trusted that Tiana would appreciate his fore-knowledge of this phenomenon. They were both scientists, Ghes had researched this beforehand extensively, during the shuttle prep.

Specter made its way around Jolmar Prime, nearing the lowest point in its eccentric orbit. Galwyn got ready to move to the transporter pad. Ghes initiated his scans of the planet, hoping that, in addition to executing the scans requested by the Captain and first officer, he could find out a bit more about this planet's properties. Something about it made him think of outside interference, perhaps the possible involvement of the Tholians had something to do with it...

<Tag Tiana>

[jamesmatthew]

Scene :USS Victory Main Bridge

(Cmdr Matthew Back on the Bridge )

“After a few minutes of waiting for the Turbo lift to free up, he arrived on the main Bridge

“Cmdr Matthew walk on to the main Bridge and stood behind Commodore Cir’kem 's sitting in her chair watching . Jolmar IV on the View Screen Before heading over to the ops station “

“Cmdr Matthew Commodore we are picking up some Communications signal’s from the planet some of the signal have static Attempting to clear the Transmission up a bit “

“Cmdr Mathew’ Commodore the Signal is being transmitted in a Very old similar Low Noram Z64A Band’ Commodore the Noram Z64A signal are only in Audio only no Video we have not used this Band for at less 200 Years or more ‘

“ Cmdr Matthew Commodore The Signal are not coded they seam to be Civilian Commutations nothing military so far”

“The shuttle systems are running in the Green ‘The Specter is entered the outer layers of the planet's atmosphere. Every thing is looking good Commodore


“Cmdr Matthew “ and Commodore with our Chief science officer off the ship some of her section heads from Anthropology, Galactic Economics, Xenosociology, Xenopsychology and Astropolitics. are requesting permission to look over any sensors and commutations from the planet

‘Cmdr Matthew “Commodore I don’t have any ideal what any of theses department do on Board this ship But I guest they have there usefulness this Normally fall on the Xo Desk what can I tell them .

<Tag Cir’Kem >

[Tiana Galwyn Cet]

"I've decided I'm going to beam you down when we reach periapsis," Ghes said to Tiana confidently. "In addition to the odd make-up of the planet itself, the atmosphere seems to have a less than typical composition. Its properties could make transportation dangerous from greater distances."

Tiana sighed. As if this mission wasn't tricky enough. She rubbed her arm where the emergency transponder had been implanted. It didn't hurt but she could feel the device below her skin. She wondered yet again why she had been chosen to undertake this mission. It wasn't as if she were the most diplomatic person on the ship or had the best record on away missions. Last time she'd been on an away mission she'd been kidnapped an nearly experimented on after all.

Specter made its way around Jolmar Prime, nearing the lowest point in its eccentric orbit. Galwyn got ready to move to the transporter pad. Ghes initiated his scans of the planet, hoping that, in addition to executing the scans requested by the Captain and first officer.

Tiana quickly patted down her equipment as she stood by the transporter pad. There wasn't a lot so her check did not take long, communicator tucked inside her tunic, scanner buried in the mundane bits-and-pieces in her shoulder bag and the transponder in her arm. That was it.

Ghekori started to count down to closest approach. Tiana stepped on to the transporter pad. The CNO triggered the beam down. Tiana arrived in a shadowy area behind some buildings. She walked slowly away from the beam down site doing her best to look nonchalant although she was desperately hoping that no one had seen her arrival. She tapped her communicator twice sending a signal to Specter that she had arrived okay. Now she was under comms silence unless something happened. Tiana had never felt so alone or so scared.

[Deleted]

The marine insertion team was loaded up into the shuttle, all of them in the bulky EVA suits that were designed to allow them to breathe despite the planets hostile atmosphere. Marcovitch and Stanley were at the conn, doing last minute pre-flight preparations, and ensuring that everything was set for the mission ahead. Tiberian was the last person to step aboard the shuttle, also in his EVA suit. He had his phaser rifle slung over his shoulder and a kit bag being carried in his other hand. He nodded to the others and moved around to try and find space to stand; the ordinarily small shuttle area was made even smaller by the additional bulk everyone was wearing. Tiberian stood on his toes, further pushing people out of joint, and did a quick head count. All people were present and correct, and there seemed to be enough kit to go around, so he wasn't going to get more technical than that.

"Sound off" He spoke into the suit's in-built communicator "And check all gear. We burn in five"

He moved over to lean across Stanley. As with the rest of them she and Marcovitch were in EVA suits, prepared for the cabin decompression and contamination. They were good marines with whom Tiberian had worked before. He knew that both were also exceptionally capable in a shuttle, and he had no doubts that if anything happened that they could get them off the ground again.

"All systems go?" he asked.

"Yes sir" the swift reply came from Marcovitch "All ship shape. We're going to coast in on thrusters and then do a combat drop until we hit about two kilometres off the surface. Then we'll bank off steeply and coem in. Bit rough"

"But it's better than leaving an ion trail. And doing a nice slow controlled landing for the benefit of anti-aircraft fire" Stanley added succinctly. Tiberian nodded.

"Ok then, let's do it. Seal all hatches, take us to internal life support"

"Hatches sealed, we are fully autonomous. Fusion systems powering up. Thrusters on and ahead one fifth"

The small shuttle, its power low to avoid detection, coasted serenely out of the Victory and headed towards Jolmar IV. It approached the red mass slowly, Tiberian's eyes barely blinking away from the sensor readout as they moved in. No fire came up at them, no sensor sweeps were detected. They moved towards the ionosphere within ten minutes, and then angled to begin a gravity defined descent. Everyone on the shuttle braced themselves as the sporadic and vigorous rocking began, the shuttle bounding theough the layers of the atmosphere, moving towards the ever increasingly looming earth. Tiberian still stared at the sensor readout, looking at how increasingly close the shuttle was getting to the surface.

"Guys?" He asked his pilots expectantly, but receiving not even a muscle contracture of acknowledgement. The planet was getting scarily close now.
"Guys!" This time he was more urgent, and the planet was even closer. Still no response.
"Guys!!!!!!!!!!" He screamed. He was so close now he could make out individual sand molecules through the windshield. A sudden flurry of activity sent the shuttle rocketing back on itself, coming to a sudden, if somewhat bumpy landing. All was still. And all was safe. Tiberian and Martinez crossed themselves, whilst others simply collapsed on the floor. Marcovitch and Stanley were doing a systems check, and seemed to be rather pleased with themselves.

"All systems are go boss, you can leave whenever you like" she smiled cheekily at him.

"Out of abject curiousity" Tiberian began, fighting hard against his urge to vomit "Where the hell did you learn that?"

"Something I used to avoid a Starfleet runabout once when I was being pursued for grand theft starship. I crippled two ships with that move"

"I think you might have crippled my nerves" Martinez interjected, moving over to join them. He looked a little worse for wear.
"We're all set to move"

"Ok then, let's depressurise and get the door open. One hour radio checks, but otherwise keep comms silent. And no offworld contact. If you're engaged with heavy resistance, or if we're not back in three hours, evac to the Victory and bring reinforcements or start orbital fire depending"

He nodded and made his way to the back hatch where his men had assembled. A forcefield went up behind them and the hatch opened, letting a bold hust of wind and red sand into the cramped shuttle. The air cleared, and a sight of red sun and red rock greeted the intrepid marines.

"Scouts" Tiberian gestured forwards and to the left "Fire teams, let's move"

[Gheskori]

Gheskori twisted in his seat to watch Tiana beam off the shuttle and down to the surface. After the beam had faded, Ghes watched the empty space where she had been standing for a while, and then turned back to the console, before something catastrophic happened. "Well that's that then," he mumbled to himself happily, intently studying the helm console, observing the Specter's orbital path and making sure there were no unwanted (but not necessarily unexpected) fluctuations. This planet was a lot more bizarre than anyone could give it credit for.

The Specter swept around the planet in a low orbit, its pilot relaxed and started running the scans of the ground. At first there was nothing abnormal. It seemed like a completely typical civilisation for where it was in its development, just before gaining warp ability. There were a few orbital satellites low in orbit, a bit closer to the surface than Ghes's shuttle was, but that was nothing to cause concern as they were in a completely different orbital plane to the shuttle. So unless they could shift orbital plane faster than the Specter (doubtful), then there was nothing to worry about.

Whether they could actually detect Ghes or not was another matter. The Denobulan had no idea as to the Paderau's technology when it came to sensory capability. They could be monitoring him right now, even with the Specter in grey mode. Ghes just hoped that Colonel Wong's fears about the Tholians involved were not quite as well founded as might be thought. The Tholians' technological advancement was, probably, on par with the Federation's, although that was impossible to tell for sure because they were so secretive. Indeed, even the Klingons' war with the elusive race had not revealed a great deal about their technology as was initially thought, or hoped.

The scans that Ghes was running continued without incident, and the Denobulan almost felt like he could fully relax. The surface scans would be a while before they returned with their data... He sat back in the pilot's seat, stretched out his legs under the helm console and seriously considered shutting his eyes. In fact, he had not slept in a week, and while that was not unusual for a Denobulan, he wouldn't mind having a quick nap, just to refresh the senses.. make sure that he was fully 'on the ball', as humans would say..... ahh, sleep-time..

A sharp, piercing beeping sound. Gheskori jumped up in the seat, part of him felt disappointed, but the vast majority of him considered the warning seriously. This was a mission. He looked over his console, trying to find out what had caused the alarm. Abnormal power spikes on the planet's surface... Something not quite right was occurring down there.

Ghes ran an analysis on the power spike's form and distribution, and he cross-referenced it with the only thing that he could think of, and that was the thing that made the most sense. The cross-referencing returned a positive match. The power spike was Tholian in origin.

Gheskori moved to the co-pilot's seat and brought up the sensor output reading that would display the location of Tiana Galwyn's transponder on the surface of Jolmar Prime. The transponder she was using was smart, it not only gave its own position, but it also had sensory circuits that would scan the surroundings and return data on the exact location of other heat sources in close proximity - likely nearby lifesigns effectively. From the readout, Ghes ascertained that Galwyn was alone, if the smart-transponder was to be trusted.

He opened a comm-channel to her, trusting that she would hear it beneath her local-garb. "Commander Tiana, this is Gheskori. I think I am reading a build up of energy within a two kilometre radius of your location, I believe it is Tholian in origin. Hold on.." Ghes studied his console again and tapped a few controls, "I want to see if I can get a better reading of what it actually is.. wait a second, Tiana I will contact you again..."

<Tag Tiana>

Ghes stopped there because now the sensors were reading something else, something that soon became more immediate to Ghes's concerns. According to the sensors, sensors that Ghes could scarcely believe, one of the orbital stations was changing its orbital plane at a rate that far surpassed any of his expectations. And it was heading towards the Specter, according to the navigational sensors, it would pass within ten kilometres of the shuttle in three minutes time.

Time to change that then, Ghes powered up the engines. Or rather, he tried to. They would not work! Quickly looking at the console again, the source of the trouble revealed itself. There was some kind of energy-dampening field enveloping the Specter. Engines, shields, weapons and communications had been rendered useless. The only thing Ghes could do was to ponder whether it was originating from the surface, or one of the orbital stations.

The Specter floated helplessly in space, propelled forward by sheer inertia.. As the orbital station came into visual range, Ghes was imagining what Commander Matthew's face would look like if he could see the Specter now. Unfortunately though, he was on the other side of the system, on the Victory orbiting Jolmar IV. "Sorry Commander, the beloved 'Old Beatrice' is about to be in big trouble..." Ghes said, tension thick in his voice as he watched the orbital station grow out the window.

[jamesmatthew]

USS VICTORY ‘BELOW DECKS
Scene: Counseling Suite,

“Ensign Kate Hill strode into the counseling offices, feeling a little
weary and slightly aggravated. She had just come off watch, and had barely
enough time to eat dinner. Standing on Alpha and Charlie watches was
wearing, but Kate was a morning person.

“Normally, she would be relaxing and settling down before she went to sleep,
but Counselor Palatine had insisted upon a meeting before the ship reached
Jolmar IV . Kate had nothing against counselors, but nether had she sought out
their services.

“She supposed her guarded response to new counselors came from spending too much time around Cmdr Karen Taylor a instructor Back at the Academy.

“Who had a long-standing grudge against the profession for some reason he never went
into, and Kate would have to be nearly superhuman not to be swayed a bit by
the arguments of one of her best friends.

“Kate sighed as she stepped through the door to the main counseling
office. She'd had a long day. She was tired, she wasn't in the mood for
this, and she had her mental guard up. Unfortunately, there was no-one in
the lobby for her to take out some of her pent-up frustrations on. "Hello,
is anyone here?"

“Counselor Voice In here ‘
"Come in and have a seat Ensign “
“Counselor “ so how have you been ensign "
“Kate’ Great Doc it been a long Day and I’m looking forward to getting some sleep “
“ Counselor Well ensign I wont keep you to long but your Duty officer fill your Attention has not been on your job and he would like for you to get some Help if you need it Otherwise he will have to re-leave you of Duty ’

“ Kate “ wow Doc I did not know that I will do what ever I have to yes I have a lot on my mind right now we are on a very Dangerous Mission my Personal life is a Mass I have a sick Father back on Star base 209 I have not talk to for at less six weeks now because the ship in a Communication black out “ ok Doc’ I see I do need some help can you help me please ’

“Counselor” Yes I can Ensign ‘ just sit back in the chair so we Can Talk out your problems ‘ and come up with some solution .

Ensign Kate Hill -NPC
Acting NAV, USS VICTORY