Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Feb 11, 2013 23:55:56 GMT
~ Mission 24: Absolution ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Original mission devised by Commander Alex Watson
Synopsis:Following the deaths on Zennai, it is obvious that El-Kamat needs to be stopped Commodore Torek has decided that his children, Bethan and Vanessa Are the most important things in his life
He decides he must act outside Federation regulations. He still feels the security of the Federation is utmost in his mind and hopes to conclude the mission without further loss Carl will face the final decision if he wants his Children, and Mankind to survive
ooo000ooo
As this new outing begins, Will Torek be vindicated ? More importantly, will the Raven be able to prevent El-Kamat fulfilling his goal Failure could mean certain death, not only for the Raven and her crew but for all Mankind
Hope you enjoy
Regards Cmdr. Alex Watson R Adm. Carl Torek
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Feb 12, 2013 5:13:04 GMT
It had taken the now fully repaired and regenerated Raven twenty two hours to reach the Proxima Oralix System. They dropped out of warp while a meeting was held to run through any suitable course of action they could employ:
"Well from what we have read up on Proxima Oralis, I'm less than eager to go in there heavy-handed." Wedlerson said.
"For all their security and defensive systems, they seem almost like a twentieth century society. So maybe the best way to go down there would be as visitors, rather than turning up on this Anhk's doorstep, so to speak ?" Carl offered, "We can make discreet inquiries about the Doctor and go from there."
"The planet doesn't seem to be one promoting tourism." Harry said, reading through the information the computer had supplied.
"Calli ..." Alex said, noticing the woman frowning at the screen.
"OK ... We know, or we can be pretty certain, that El-Kamat has either been and gone, in which case I have the feeling he will have taken the Doctor with him somehow." she said, quickly scanning the information before her, "Or, he is still on the surface ... I have the distinct feeling we would not find his ship in orbit, so it could be holding station somewhere away from the planet awaiting Kamat's signal ... If this is the case, we may have a chance to stop the psychopath before he even get's this 'weapon' of his up and running."
"Looking at this." Carl said, pointing to one section of the information, "It says Proxima uses Bio-metric filter DNA marking for anyone coming to the surface. Apparently you are not allowed to simply beam in at will. You are required to transport to one of their Customs Centers dotted around the planet, and only then once they have given permission. The 'marker' is added via their molecular imaging enhancers when you materialize ... It's their way of ensuring whoever they give 'sanctuary' to, can not be taken without all hell breaking loose in orbit. You make an unauthorized transport from anywhere on the surface and the 'marker' activates the relevant defense systems. According to this, their orbital security has never been breached ... Oh, and before you ask, the 'marker' can't be removed or de-activated by our systems, the result of trying is less than, healthy for anyone concerned !" Torek finished, dropping the PADD on the table in frustration ..........
<tag : Alex / All >
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Feb 12, 2013 5:15:18 GMT
Kissing his children, Carl left his quarters ... He had fully intended on going down to the gym to work off some of the frustration and anger he'd built up over the last week, but Bethan had taken that out of him in her usual 'Kiss it Better' way of working. So he decided to head up to the Bridge. It was a damn-sight easier since his Exec' and Acting Captain of the Raven had reinstated his Command authorization. At least now he wasn't being shadowed by one of T'Brel's people every minute ....
Entering the Bridge he looked round, given it was the night shift, it was manned by mainly junior personnel. Commander Wedlerson was sat in the Command seat:
"How're we doing Commander ?" Carl asked. Harry stood, then self-consciously sat back down.
"Three hours to the Proxima Oralix System Commodore. The ship is one hu ......."
"Calm down Harry. I'm just here to see whats going on, not to do your promotion evaluation." Carl said, grinning, "Do we have a way in yet ?"
"Well, getting in seems the easy part Sir. We can pretty much request visitation permits, or visa's and beam down. It's the getting 'out' bit that's causing issues." Wedlerson said, still finding it hard to forget ranks during one to one conversation, "Commander Peers is working on something, but to be honest Sir, It's a little over my head."
"Mine too." Carl whispered, then smiled, "Relax Harry, you are doing a good job, you just need to get into the habit of holding a conversation on a level playing field." he finished, patting the younger man on the shoulder before approaching the Chief Tactical Officer:
"Do you have anything T'Brel ?" he asked. The Tactical Officer ran through the data he had so far, but didn't look confident.
"So we could beam out from the southern continent easier ?" Trek asked.
"No, that wouldn't work......" T'Brel began to explain.
< tag : T'Brel >
"T'Brel, We haven't served together until you came aboard. I read your file. You are damn good at what you do, and from what I can gather, should have had at least one more pip on that collar by now. I pride myself in thinking the Command of the Raven is a joint effort, so if you have something to say, be it comment or criticism, then you should voice it." Carl accessed a file on the adjacent screen and pointed to it, "We hold meetings on what was once called the 'Chinese Parliament' system, first set up by the twentieth century Special Air Service in the United Kingdom. Where rank has no meaning in discussions, and everyone is allowed their say. You might want to keep that in mind 'IF' I ever manage to get my seat back ... OK, I'm beginning to feel like the proverbial third wheel here. So if you can use me, then feel free OK. I'd get that information to the Captain, it could make a difference to us succeeding or, failing. But your call, T'Brel." Carl finished.
"Will do Sir, once I figure out which way we can go." T'Brel said.
"Think Captain Watson will be upset if I was to sit in his seat for a few moments ?" Carl said, grinning, then left T'Brel to work.
He sat in the Command seat and watched the stars. He knew now without doubt he had to stop El-Kamat ... Not only to clear his name, because that was petty in the scheme of things, he needed to ensure the safety and well-being of the Federation itself. But he needed to ensure a life for his Children ... THAT, was paramount ! ..........
< tag : T'Brel / Alex / All >
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Feb 14, 2013 0:32:17 GMT
Andae entered engineering for his morning shift. The Raven was on the cusp of the Proxima Oralix system; everything needed to be made ready, even if there had been a form of divine intervention with Q's reparation of the ship.
It felt good to be back in engineering again with some continuity. Too many uncertainties, wondering if he was meant to be taking command, deliberating on the correct course of action and balancing the fate of the entire crew in his hand. Engines were cold and impersonal; they didn't have an agenda, and they couldn't be let down.
"First job of the morning, sir," Milyanov said, presenting a padd in Blakus's path as he tried to get into his office unnoticed.
He frowned, "No it isn't." He took the padd anyway, looking over it rapidly before putting it to one side and focussing on the issue he'd been requested to look at the previous evening. Reports had come through from security and operations about Proxima Oralix, and Blakus had been instructed to put together a team to look into the power sources used by the Proxima inhabitants.
Twenty five plants, seventeen of them on the northern continent, and eight of those packed into an area roughly the size of Italy. That area was extremely densely populated, Blakus saw, although somewhat surprisingly, the maximum average density was slightly offcentre from the position of the plants. And it wasn't just because the residential areas were meant to be separate from the power plants' locations, he was sure.
Andae scratched his head, taking a sip of strong coffee. It implied, perhaps, that the plants were being used for more than just the powering of the species' habitats, and business areas. Something else could be going on, but the Raven would have to get closer to the planet before he could begin to theorise. He could speculate certainly, but it would be more prudent to wait til they were in orbit, where they could conduct scientific methods of investigation, an x-ray spectroscopic scan or a seismological survey for instance.
"Sir?" Blakus's head shot up to see Lieutenant Tinsley standing at the door. "The staff briefing, sir?"
Blakus made a noise of displeasure and tried to pretend he hadn't forgotten. "I'm busy at the moment, Lieutenant. Have Milyanov do it, will you?" He tried not to seem too unhappy with his assistant, forcing a grin. Tinsley began to duck out of his office before Blakus added hurriedly, "Oh and have him, Darwin, Vrieters, Zzen-Boale and Hodgkiss come to my office once you're done."
He would crack this, he thought, watching Tinsley's back receding towards the gathered staff around the 'pool table'. What harm was a little speculation as to the power source? Then an idea occurred to him. He accessed his terminal and logged a request with Ensign Marionette to join them as well.
<Tag Marionette>
Later, Deck 18...
The Raven's sharp claws, pinioned wings had begun to caress the dark film wrapped around the Proxima Oralix system. The system's equivalent of Sol's Oort Cloud was very barren, only one planetoid and a very low number of comets - bizarrely low in fact. Two were swinging in system, where they'd skirt around the star and eventually pass back into the outer firmament. One would come quite close to the inhabited planet actually, but that was the only thing of note.
Blakus's mind rocked back to the present, the couch before him which he still regarded hesitantly, and the woman in the chair beside it, beckoning him to sit there.
He hesitated, lips pursed and hands sweaty. "I don't know if..." he began. He shuffled about, suddenly acutely aware of himself. It probably wasn't of much consequence, but he felt there was a symbolic gesture in taking to that couch.
She looked at him encouragingly, "Just sit down..."
"I'm not really meant to be here, you know," he said offhand, dropping to the couch. His voice hid well his discomfort even if his face did not. "The Doctor virtually ordered me -" The counselor tried to hush him. "- Even though these are extenuating circumstances which we've all acknowledged. The Torek essence -"
"Why don't we take it from the top, Andae?"
"The top," he muttered, "That's quite some story. I'll start from where the dreams started, if you don't mind?"
"When did the first one occur?" She was frowning slightly. Andae hesitated. Perhaps she was aggravated by his reluctance. Of course, she would think she knew better, even though it was his mind.
"I can't remember rightly..." he said, "Sometime after we got underway for Cordovin to deliver the Commodore. One of the first, the first I can remember, was almost a waking dream. I envisaged a wheel of some sort, with the Raven on its edge." He spluttered a laugh in exasperation, regarding her with sudden intensity, "I shouldn't be here! I don't need counselling, in fact I'm regretting having gone to the CMO in the first place. This is a mission critical issue; El-Kamat or some part of him has been left with my mind and the minds of the other essences... Major Tavik and Commanders Watson and Valenti."
"How do you know it's affecting them?" she inquired, "Have you asked?"
Blakus paused. In fact he had not. He'd assumed, summarised in his mind the reasons for the infiltration of his mind. Had he lost a part of his mind, some of his grip on reality, a filament of his unwaking sanity? It wasn't just Kamat, though. There were the apocalyptic sequences. A collage of images had been dumped into his head with his interaction with the split aspects of Torek's personality, through the conduit of the Cordovin drive device that'd held the red and blue stones.
"That's my idea anyway," he said wistfully, and realised too late he hadn't said any of that out loud. He laughed... That kind of apparent non-sequitur was enough to get oneself booked in for a whole month of extra sessions.
As expected the counselor's face was a picture of concern, "Right... Well perhaps tell me some more of the first dream?"
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Feb 14, 2013 18:25:08 GMT
Calli had spent little time trying to come to terms with the events so far. Frankly, this whole 'Q' thing gave her the creeps, she had read reports from several other Commanding Officers regarding their dealings, good or bad, with the omnipotent entity. She had decided long ago that the 'Q' used the Human race, and other races for their amusement. Yes, the ship was back to her former self, so to speak, in fact, from the department reports, the Raven was 'better' then before, with everything seemingly working at peak performance levels ... She entered the Bridge, checking the chronometer above the view-screen, she sighed. Sleep wasn't one of the things that came easy, given her dubious employment, but she was used to the early hours. She noticed Commodore Torek and sat beside him:
"Soooo ... You couldn't sleep either I take it."
"Bethan and Vanessa are well asleep, Chloe is studying, I was jus ...... Nope, I can't sleep either." Carl said, giving up on the excuse and grinning.
"What do you think we're going to find there ?" she asked, nodding toward the on-coming system of suns and their planetary bodies.
"I hope to hell we find this damn 'weapon' El-Kamat is trying to activate. Of course, capturing that lunatic would be a definite bonus, but I'd settle for proof of his remains should it come it."
Calli watched the man in silence for a while. He, indeed everyone, had gone through a lot over the last year, but Torek, as the Commanding Officer, albeit relieved of duty and sentenced to death, still bore the brunt on his shoulders. She knew that she, and the whole of the crew were behind their Captain, and she knew he realized it too, and maybe that was what was hurting him so much. The knowledge that should things go badly they could loose their positions, ranks, even their very lives ...
"We have likely most of the Federation, the Cordovin Fleet after us, not to mention all those 'obliging' people willing to drop a line to the right person to gain a few bars of gold-pressed latinum. We've out-run everyone thus far, but ......"
"You should get back to those children of yours Carl." Calli said, quietly using his name, "We'll get the psychopathic zealot before the Cordovin's or the Federation can spoil our party ... Besides, we've all invested too much in this to sit back and let someone else save the universe." Calli replied, raising her eyebrows as if to emphasize her resolve.
Carl smiled. He and Calli went way back, and he could always rely on her to say the right thing at the right time. He stood:
"You might want to take your own advice, Callista." he said, using her full name which he knew annoyed her no end, then bent and kissed her on the cheek, "The last thing I want is you falling asleep just as he has us right where we want him."
Carl entered the turbo-lift and requested Deck Eight. A few minutes later he reached his quarters, As soon as he lay on the bed he fell into his first deep sleep in a year ... Calli watched the stars, and the minuscule spec that was their destination ..........
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Aeryn Tavik
Command Staff ..
Members Representative
Lieutenant Colonel
Registered: Sept 9, 2010 12:14:15 GMT
Posts: 95
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Post by Aeryn Tavik on Feb 14, 2013 22:36:37 GMT
Moving from one side to the other in the Marine command center, Aeryn still couldn’t make heads or tails of what had happened on the Cordovin ship. Technically speaking, she knew what happened, but it just didn’t hit her in the right spot. She’d read about the appearances of Q on the Enterprise D, and even the few on the Voyager, but happening spefically to her was unimaginable. Even with Commodore Torek personally assuring her that everything was ok, it still made no sense, and sense was something she lived off of. Pacing somehow helped her calm down in these kinds of situations, though it got her no closer to really understanding. All she knew now was what was at stake. She knew that it wasn’t just lives, it was more than that. It was as if the whole universe was at stake.
Aeryn shook her head, trying to get the hopeless thoughts she was feeling from her mind. This was not like her. She was used to being the one everyone relied on to be their rock, the person that was never rattled. Right now, she felt the farthest from that. All she could think about was what might happen and it was never a good sign when the only outcomes she perceived ended in destruction, if only minute. The door to the command center swished open and closed after a moment. Aeryn had been crying, though only briefly, and immediately dried her tears off her face. She was sure it wouldn’t be enough, but at this point, it was the thought that counted. Around some of the consoles came Harry Wedlerson, the last, yet somehow only, person she really cared to see.
Without turning to comepletely face him, she said, “What do you want?”
Harry raised an eyebrow and sighed. “I just came to check on you. They said it was a nightmare coming from th….”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she snapped.
“I didn’t ask if you wanted to talk about it,” Harry said.
“Then why bring it up?” Aeryn was a little forceful now, trying to show a strong face.
“Like I said, I came to check on you.”
“Well I’m fine.”
Harry looked her over before saying, “We both know that’s a load of crap.”
Aeryn turned to face him, tears starting to well up. She said nothing, but looked him in the eye. He approached her, coming most of the way, but stopping just short, waiting for her reaction. As she began to sob, Aeryn’s hard exterior melted away, and Harry stepped forward, embracing her supportively. She fell into his arms, feeling everything being exposed, with her unable to do anything about it.
“It was terrible. Like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
Harry held her close, feeling his own wave of emotions flush over him.
“I saw the ship explode around me. I felt myself burn with it. I saw my unit burn around me. And then….” She trailed off.
Harry stroked her head. “And then what?”
She sighed, “I was here. On the Raven. As if none of it ever happened.” She paused. “But it did. I know it did. I saw and felt my own death and yet I am alive.”
As she began to sob even harder in frustration, Harry continued to hold her close. He didn’t say anything right away. He just held her. She had placed her arms at the top of his chest, as if trying to hang on for dear life. Aeryn was only a heads-length shorter than Harry, so it was a perfect fit. He knew better than to try and comfort her with words. The only things he could really say would ultimately be bald-faced lies, since they both knew what lay ahead. He simply kissed her forehead.
Aeryn didn’t know what to do, but she felt calmed by Harry holding her. He had a protective spirit about him, something she had yet to see in a man when it came to her. She stayed in his arms, letting it all out. The near future would tell her the next course of action.
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Marionette
Commander
Dr. Soong's penchant for whimsical names seems to have no end.
Registered: Mar 2, 2012 3:26:33 GMT
Posts: 285
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Post by Marionette on Feb 16, 2013 20:05:04 GMT
On her way to Engineering, Marionette had been idly trying to rectify how her memory engrams had logged something that had happened - and yet didn't happen.
She could remember every detail of her away-mission on the cordovin 'Pithy' ship, and how it disintegrated around her, and as the bulkhead opened up, she could remember skydiving from orbit for about 12 minutes. Just as she was about to smash into the ground with enough force to pulverize most smaller craft into a slab of slagged alloy and electronics, it had somehow never happened, and she found herself back on the bridge.
The gynoid found it curious that she could remember the emotion of imminent death, and yet not, as if it was a distant echo, or a mere outline of something which was once far more nuanced and detailed.
And yet, according to her robotic understanding of the universe, she technically should not have those events logged into her memory engrams, as the events technically did not happen.
Walking up to the 'pool table', Marionette spoke "Greetings Commander Blakus, You requested my assistance with something ?"
"Yes, i wanted to see what your perspective might come up with on this" and Andae pointed to the readout panel on the sensor section on the pool table.
Quickly analyzing the data, she commented "Such a concentration of power-generation is unlikely to be for the powering of common dwellings, regardless of population size or density. I conclude that itis likely that there is a hidden facility of immense size and productivity. Given the nature of Proxima Oralix, i would also conclude that it is likely to be either a cluster of ship-construction yards, or an orbital launching complex of either cargo-hauling or military purposes."
The possibility of a planetary cannon of immense size was ..... scary.
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Feb 17, 2013 22:48:56 GMT
They were still four hours from the Proxima System ... Carl had spoken to the children, and they understood the possibility that their Father could be taken from them. Bethan had climbed onto Carl's knee and buried her head in his shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably. Vanessa sat beside her adopted Father and cried. She had lost one Father, and now it seemed she could loose this one too. It was almost more than she could bare ... Chloe was sat to one side, trying hard to hold back the tears that threatened to pour.
"Listen ....." Carl said quietly, hugging his children, "I made you both a promise and I intend to keep it. OK ... Captain Watson is going to find this man we're looking for, and he, along with the crew, will make every effort to clear my name. I love you both, and I'll never leave you ..."
"We know." Vanessa whispered, "I love you Daddy, please don't let them take you away." Bethan said through her sobs.
"Hey, do you think Calli, Andae and Alex would let me be hurt. No, they wouldn't, so I want you to stay with Chloe and I'll be back pretty soon. Then, we'll take that holiday we've been talking about .. OK Princess." he said, kissing Bethan on her forehead .... He nodded to Chloe and she took the little girl from his lap. Carl stood then headed out of their quarters.
~~~~~~~~~~
On the Bridge he checked the status of their mission. He had intentionally avoided talking to Alex, he knew full well that the current Captain of the Raven had a lot on his plate, but at the same time, Carl was still aboard and needed to keep himself 'outside' the Command chain. Which meant he had to step back and allow his crew to do the right thing.
"Where is the Captain ?" he asked Wedlerson.
"He's still in his quarters Commodore. He requested no to be disturbed unless it was essential."
"OK, thank you Commander. I'll just stay here for a while."
"Sir ...." Harry said, a little embarrassed at the fact his Commanding Officer was feeling left out. He felt for Commodore Torek, and had always thought the charges were bogus. But it still didn't stop him worrying if they had bitten off more than the ship, or indeed the Federation, could cope with.
Carl sat in the Exec's seat and watched the stars pass by ... Satisfied no-one was watching his movements, he accessed the escape-pod protocols ... Moments later he was satisfied he'd made all the necessary modifications ... He closed the link and sat watching the stars stream past the ship ..........
< tag : Alex / All >
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T'Brel Peers
Commander
The needs of the many outweight the needs of the few.
Registered: Jul 22, 2005 5:39:54 GMT
Posts: 324
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Post by T'Brel Peers on Feb 19, 2013 18:53:45 GMT
"Commodore Oralis is not your ordinary planet," T'Brel said," they have built the best planetary tracking system I have ever seen. We cannot go to Oralis without protection and at the moment I need more time to get our plan together."
T'Brel listened to the Commodore's remarks. He was very different than his other commanding officers. Admiral Keztrek demanded complete trust in her officers and this is what T'Brel expected. It would take some getting used to. As he looked at the schematics, T'Brel once again wished he had the support of the Federation. He would be able to contact his friends among the fleet and get ideas flowing, but at this moment that was the worse thing to do.
"Commodore, the moment I have something more concrete I'll debrief you and the captain, If anyone needs me I'll be in my office," T'Brel said before he headed out.
OOC: Sorry that it is short, I'm getting back into it after a busy week or so. More to come
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Feb 23, 2013 16:42:44 GMT
The half dozen officers stood around Blakus's office, all of them intrigued by the power source but with only the barest of theories at this stage. There were plenty of ideas that were fanciful, but they remained firmly in the realms of speculation. That was until Marionette spoke.
Blakus raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Well that's excellent. Can you be sure of this? Is it possible that the power source could be providing for something that is entirely original, something we've never experienced?"
Marionette cocked her head, "There is a seventy percent -"
"Please!" Blakus bashed the desk with a fist, "No percentages! Please." The officers had turned to look, surprise in their features. He raised a hand slightly, conceding. "I'd just like to know that what we're seeing here isn't necessarily something like a shipyard or spaceport. I would like to be prepared for all eventualities and think we should keep an open mind."
"With all due respect, sir," another officer Hodgkiss said, "You asked for her opinion, calling her away from her bridge duties."
Now everyone looked at Hodgkiss askance. Blakus regarded his engineer, his eyes suddenly graphite steel, "I know. I'm sorry." He said it slowly and methodically, letting the officer know he was out of line, but then relaxed into his usual dry manner. "I'd like to have all your opinions, but please feel free to leave at any time." Slight chuckles passed around the office although noticeably less than usual.
Once the meeting was over Andae called Marionette back into the office. He watched her across the desk, wondering if this was wise, "Ensign, apparently you remember some of what happened on the Cordovin ship?"
"I'd like to study a few of your memory engrams, see if I can decode why you seem to be remembering these things with such clarity. I wouldn't normally do this..." he called up something on his terminal and spun it around. It was a log from the ambulance shuttle Piper, at the time when the white-suited soldiers had beamed in. "... The two minute discrepancy in your timekeeping unit. I'd like to look at your memory engrams for this reason, too."
<Tag Marionette> <All>
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Feb 23, 2013 21:16:19 GMT
Calli had managed to get a few hours sleep, but she was restless. She had been like this before, and it never overly worried her ... Rising, she showered and dressed, it was only then she checked the time. ... 05:47.28 ... "Yikes, earlier than I thought." she said to herself, heading out of her quarters ... She made her way to 'Ten Forward' the ships recreation lounge, and ordered some breakfast. Once done she headed for the Bridge ... "Commander ... What's our status ?" she asked the Duty Bridge Officer, noticing Carl had left. "Three hours fifty two minutes until we enter the outer system." the woman said, "We picked up a brief scan about thirty minutes ago, nothing probing, just a relay buoy. Most likely from the system ahead." "OK, thank you ... I'll remain on the Brid ......" There was a sudden audible beep as the Helm picked up an incoming signal: "Automated system Commander ... Requesting details of vessel and reason for our approach ..... Should I reply ?" the Duty Helm Officer asked. The Duty Bridge Officer looked at Calli, 'The last thing we wanted to do was put the merest spark of suspicion into the residents of the system' she thought, then nodded to the Officer, But quickly held up her hand ! "Give them 'ONLY' the information they are requesting, nothing else. If they require a face to face then we'll deal with that whe we get nearer." "Yes Ma'am." the Officer said, making Calli wince. She sat in the Command seat. Her prerogative being the highest ranking Officer present, and waited. Moments later the Officer turned to face her. he informed her that they had been cleared for nominal approach to the outer markers, where they would be contacted again ... She asked the computer for the current location of the Captain and Commander Blakus. She shook her head on being informed that Andae was back in Engineering already 'Does the man sleep as little as me' she thought wryly. But she was happy to see the Captain was resting, or at least, in his quarters, which amounted to the same thing. She was watching the stars when everything suddenly changed ... The room was enormous ... She couldn't even get a scale, as in her mind there was nothing that could compare. Hell you could lay the four kilometer long Star Base on it's side in here easily, and still have room to spare. It was white, almost white on white. She could see El-Kamat, no, someone 'resembling' him, but then her perspective shifted, and it was Carl, no, Andae, then herself, it was as if a photo album had decided to show every image simultaneously. Her mind began to protect itself. Blackness ..... Blackness ..... Then again, blindingly white light. "Wha ...." she muttered, unable to comprehend the panoramic view. A structure, large, imposing, on the surface of a pla .. NO ! .. Below, inside the vast chamber. It was pulsing, deep resonant controlled, almost 'painful' pulsing ..... A key, a physical 'KEY' not electronic, nor bio-mechanical, but a real key. El-Kamat pointed to the sky, to the stars ..... Laughter ..... Commander, Commmmmm ...... "Commander ... Are you OK. Do you want me to get the doctor to the Bridge ?" She opened her eyes. There were people, real people, the Bridge, stars, she looked around, everything coming back, but her 'dream' was fading, evanescent. She got to her feet feeling instantly nauseous, but hands helped her back into the seat. "How long was I asleep ?" she asked. "Ma'am, you didn't go to sleep, you were talking, as if in a daydream, then you screamed, something about, light, key, I'm sorry but it was very garbled, almost unrecognizable as an intelligent language." "How long before the outer markers ?" "One hour fifteen minutes Ma'am." the Helm Officer informed her. "I'll be in the Captain's Ready Room, inform me at thirty minutes to marker." Calli said, getting to her feet and heading for the Captain's office, "Oh, and if you address me as Ma'am once more I'll have you scrubbing conduit beneath Engineering. Do you understand me ?" she didn't hear the reply as the door closed behind her ... She sat down, head in her hands trying hard to remember the content of the 'dream' but it just wouldn't come back. She tapped her Comm badge: =^= Commander Valenti to Bridge =^= =^= Bridge Ma ..... Commander =^= =^= Contact the Command Staff .. I would like to see them in the Observation Lounge =^= =^= The Captain too Commander ? =^= =^= Yes please =^= Calli confirmed, closing the Comm. 'We need to get together before the outer marker anyway, so may as well be now !' she thought, as the last remnants of her dream faded away .......... < tag : Command Staff > C'mon everyone, let's get to work, okeys ..
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Alex Watson
Commander 1C
All that glitters has a high refractive index.
Registered: Apr 10, 2011 14:30:46 GMT
Posts: 102
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Post by Alex Watson on Feb 25, 2013 23:13:04 GMT
Alex was sat in his quarters, his head in his hands, staring at the computer screen in front of him – as he had been doing almost solidly since his encounter with Q. As a scientist, he'd felt compelled to understand the situation, and he'd trusted the command staff to take them to the next system with minimal help from him. Shutting himself away from the world to work initially had taken him back to the excitement and anticipation of his days at the Science Academy, but he soon lost began to lose sense of time. He had barely slept, his eyes darting from side to side almost mechanically as he read page after page of text – about Q, about Zennai, about Proxima Oralix. It told him nothing, nothing he didn't already know – at least, nothing resembling useful information regarding the mission that they were embarked upon. It was page after page of tedious information, reports, star charts, more reports, economic records, still more reports...
He rubbed his eyes sleepily, breaking his concentration momentarily to look at himself in the mirror over his desk. He winced as he saw how terrible he looked. A thick red beard now adorned his chin, his hair was longer, and the bags under his eyes were almost black against his skin. He realised that he smelled, it had been several days since he had last washed, since he had last moved, in fact. Shaking his head in disgust he stood up and walked to the shower. One of the benefits of being the XO was the real shower he was afforded in his quarters. He stood under the steaming jets of hot water as they cleansed him, both his body and – Alex felt in that moment – his mind or soul as well.
He decided that he would keep the beard, at least for now. It covered up a lot of the scar left across his face by the assassin's blade. He was rinsing the soap from his hair and beard when he felt it – a slight wobble in his equilibrium. He shook his head, trying to clear it, putting it down to his tiredness. The second wobble was far more intense than the first, and Alex fell out of the shower onto his knees. As he was recovering, a third pulse invaded his mind, and everything turned to black.
---
Proxima Oralix - 100,000 years ago:
“I need more time!” the commander shouted down the transmitter. “Alpha Squad, you have to give me more time!”
“Negative, commander. We're overrun. Our left flank is gone. They'll be with you any minute. Sorry, commander. Peace be wi-” The signal cut out into static.
Commander Drashig screamed a curse as he rushed to the consoles around the room. Shutting off all systems that were less than totally and completely necessary, he diverted all power into the sleeper-cells. If he could accelerate the process, then maybe, just maybe –
The ground rocked with the impact of heavy weapon fire. The ceiling cracked and small chunks of it fell, along with a cloud of dust that obscured Drashig's vision and left him coughing and choking on the floor.
The room went dark, suddenly – utterly pitch black for one second before the hum and crimson lighting of the emergency systems took over and vision was restored. Cursing and retching, Drashing stumbled to the main console.
“Computer, damage report.”
“Systems at critical level.” The computer's emotionless voice reported. “Damage to perimeter, eighty nine percent. Damage to emergency shields, ninety two percent. Damage to main power stacks, one hundred percent.”
“Clarify!” Drashig almost howled. He couldn't believe it. Not now, not when he had been so close.
“Damage to main power stacks, one hundred percent. Main power has been totally destroyed, emergency backup only. Damage to emergency power stacks, fourteen percent.”
“But...but the cells!”
“Emergency power can sustain, but not indefinitely. The damage is too great.”
“What do you mean, not indefinitely?”
“Power will eventually start to fail. When this happens, power to cells will be triaged appropriately.”
“You can't just kill them!” Drashig screamed.
“Incorrect, by rationing power in this way, it is the only chance that any will survive. However, the power must be diverted from all other systems into the cell-beds. This will take approximately three minutes.”
“We don't have three minutes!” The walls shook again, and Drashig heard the sound of the enemy inside the sanctum, tearing and murdering as they went.
“This will take approximately three minutes. After that I will seal the bulkhead doors and purge the area. Nothing will survive, or be able to get in afterwards. Our people will be safe, commander.”
Drashig picked up his gun. “I'll make you the time. Divert the power.”
“If you are not within the bulkheads when the diversion is complete, you will be sealed outside. I will not be able to delay.”
Drashig paused. “Understood.”
He racked his gun, sliding a power pack into the slot and strapping two more to his hip. He holstered two pistols as well, both with magazines full of solid, man-stopper rounds the size of his thumb. Powering up his shields, he left the sanctum into a hail of gunfire.
“Here we go...” he murmured, and attacked...
<<<<<>>>>>
“Two, one. Bulkheads sealed.
Drashig stared at the cold, unforgiving metal in front of him, the smallest hint of a smile playing around his lips. The Gandai warrior class were taught from birth that facing death bravely against unbeatable odds was the greatest honour one could achieve.
“I've certainly got that covered...” he whispered under his breath, he heard them behind him and turned. The world seemed to slow down as he pumped the trigger of his final remaining pistol. The rounds roared through the air, exploding an enemy's head like a melon, punching a hole through another's shoulder the size of his fist. As the clip ran dry Drashig dropped it and drew the sword scabbarded at his hip. Howling an ancient battle-cry he threw himself towards his foes. He had barely gone ten steps before his body had been riddled with wounds. He dropped to his knees, his hand still gripping his sword.
“A good death...” The words were as light as the air that carried them, and Drashig keeled forward, his body crumpling to the ground.
Light. Noise. Ringing. Ringing. RINGING!
---
Alex jerked awake, almost crying out in terror from the nightmare. He took a few minutes to steady himself before he realised that the ringing he had heard was the comm beeping by his desk. He wrapped a towel around his waist and moved to answer it.
“Watson.”
“Captain, Commander Valenti has requested a briefing. She asked for your presence.”
“Roger, I'll be up in ten minutes.” He closed the comm with a flick of his thumb.
It took Alex a few seconds to realise that his body was drenched in a cold sweat from what he had just experienced. Sighing, he moved over to the shower again.
Ten minutes after receiving Calli's message, Alex strode into the ready room. He saw that his new beard was attracting quite a few curious looks, but dismissed them in his mind. It wasn't important. He took his seat at the head of the table slowly, carefully, looking out over his crew.
“Ladies, gentlemen, welcome. Let's begin. Commander Valenti...”
<Tag Calli, all>
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Marionette
Commander
Dr. Soong's penchant for whimsical names seems to have no end.
Registered: Mar 2, 2012 3:26:33 GMT
Posts: 285
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Post by Marionette on Feb 25, 2013 23:52:35 GMT
He watched her across the desk, and she watched him, unblinkingly staring, patiently waiting for him to speak. It didnt take long.
"Ensign, apparently you remember some of what happened on the Cordovin ship ?"
"Affirmative, although, i am unsure of how this is, or how to classify such memory files." she said, her face ever-neutral, save for a slight occasional waver of an eyebrow and tilt of the head.
"I'd like to study a few of your memory engrams, see if I can decode why you seem to be remembering these things with such clarity. I wouldn't normally do this..." he called up something on his terminal and spun it around. It was a log from the ambulance shuttle Piper, at the time when the white-suited soldiers had beamed in. "... The two minute discrepancy in your timekeeping unit. I'd like to look at your memory engrams for this reason, too."
"Is there a chair where i can sit ?" Marionette said.
Blakus probably didn't have time to review any of her specifications, what with the funny business the Raven seemed to get into in such a fast hurry.
Marionette's memory cores were adjacent to her upper spinal frame-links. Fortunately, they were where the skull meets the neck, and so would be relativly easy to acess.
In any event, they would have to wait, as the moment she sat in the chair, their comm-badges bleeped.
=/\= All Bridge Command Staff, report to the Observation Lounge. =/\= Blakus let out a sigh, and then closed the tool-case with a glance to Marionette as he walked out. She stood up and followed him.
Marionette was puzzled and curious as to Commander Watson's new beard, visibly lofting a brow as he walked in and took his seat.
“Ladies, gentlemen, welcome. Let's begin. Commander Valenti...”
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Feb 26, 2013 18:06:25 GMT
The Comm chirped:
=^= You wanted informing when we were thirty minutes from the outer markers Commander =^=
=^= Thank you .. Inform me if the ship is contacted before then .. Valenti out =^=
She closed the Comm as the first of the Senior staff entered the Observation Lounge. Each of the Officers took their seats making the usual small talk before any meeting began. Calli realized that the Commodore had not been informed and asked the Bridge to contact him ... Five minutes later everyone, including Carl, was present, except the Captain. Calli had been reluctant to bother the man, given his well hidden distress at the outcome on Zennai, and the 'interference of 'Q' in proceedings, but knew he should be here, after all, he was still the Commanding Officer of the Raven ... A moment later Alex entered ... No-one missed the new beard he was sporting, and Calli wondered if it was some obscure reaction to stress, but dismissed the thought instantly. Maybe the man wanted a change of look, who knows, it was hardly significant. The Captain took his seat at the head of the table. Apart from Marionette's apparent puzzlement at the facial hair, no-one spoke:
"Ladies, Gentlemen, welcome. Let's begin ... Commander Valenti ....."
Calli quickly ran through what information the Federation had on the Proxima Oralix System, and the fifth planet in particular. They needed to get onto the surface in plain sight, to attempt anything else would simply be, suicidal. As she continued the briefing the Comm chirped, the Captain answered:
=^= Watson .. Go ahead Bridge =^=
=^= Sir .. Commander Valenti wanted informing when we are thirty minutes from the marker =^=
=^= Very well =^=
=^= Sir .. We have a vessel on an intercept course .. Light cruiser .. They are hailing us =^=
Alex stood, heading for the Bridge, everyone else following suit. Carl took up the Tactical Station as before then scanned the approaching vessel.
=^= Open a channel =^= the Captain said, watching the screen. A woman appeared, looking at each of the Bridge staff in turn before focusing on Watson:
=^= USS Raven-B .. I am Senior Coordinator Freem from Immigration Central .. You will halt your approach to our system pending customs checks on your ship .. Information has come into our possession that indicates you have ulterior motives other than those stated in your initial 'request to enter' documents .. We require full access to your vessel to ascertain suitability to approach =^=
Alex looked at Carl:
"They're armed, but nothing that could make a dint in our shields." Torek said, re-checking his readings, "But given they don't need to fire themselves, and the fact that the orbital defense systems work to keep people out, as well as in, and we already know we're no match there ....." he finished, shrugging.
"We're nothing to hide." Calli said, glancing at the woman waiting patiently on-screen, "Let her come aboard. If nothing else we can ask a few 'polite' questions of our own while she's here ?"
"Helm ... Halt the ship." the Captain said, before turning back to the Proximian:
=^= We look forward to your visit Coordinator Freem .. We are sending docking instructions =^=
The screen went blank, returning to a view of the stars as Freem closed the Comm.
"Friendly." Calli said quietly ..........
< tag : Captain / All >
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Mar 2, 2013 15:48:54 GMT
Even though Carl had been 'assigned' Tactical during the issues on Zennai, the crew was effectively back at full strength now, with Commander Peers taking up his nominal role, while he had been relegated to passenger once more. 'The proverbial Captain Dunsel' he thought wryly.
He had spent the day with the Children while Chloe had taken some time to herself. After their evening meal together, Bethan and Vanessa went to get ready for bed and Chloe returned. Once the children were safely in bed, Carl said he was going up to the Bridge to check on progress ... Chloe knew full well that the Commodore could have simply used the Comm's but she knew he needed to be there, getting all the information he could, first-hand.
~~~~~~~~~~
As the turbo-lift door opened Carl could hear the conversation, obviously with someone on-screen. Calli out of Freem's line of sight, turned to see him and raised her hand, instantly halting Torek's progress onto the Bridge itself. She held up a closed fist, signifying he should remain stationary:
"We've nothing to hide." Calli said, glancing at the woman waiting patiently on-screen, to see if she had noticed anything untoward, then back at Carl, "Let her come aboard. If nothing else we can ask a few 'polite' questions of our own while she's here ?"
"Helm ... Halt the ship." the Captain said, before turning back to the Proximian:
=^= We look forward to your visit Coordinator Freem .. We are sending docking instructions =^=
The screen went blank, returning to a view of the stars as Freem closed the Comm.
"Friendly." Calli said quietly, then nodded to the 'lift.
"OK if I come in now ?" Carl said.
"Can they get an accurate scan at this range ?" Alex asked quickly on seeing the Commodore.
"No Sir." T'Brel replied ... Alex nodded then jumped out of his seat:
"Commander Peers, you have the Conn ... Keep me informed of Freem's approach, and if they start probing too thoroughly, I want to know instantly."
"Aye Sir." T'Brel replied, nodding to someone to take his station as he moved to the Command area.
"Commodore ... Commander Valenti." Alex said, "My ready room please." he didn't wait for a reply ... Once the door closed he looked at Torek:
"We have a problem !" he said ..........
< tag : Alex >
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Mar 3, 2013 8:52:31 GMT
There was the question of course, of why the Proximians suspected that the Raven was in the system for ulterior motives. Was it merely their standard procedure when a vessel of the Raven's tonnage and affiliation entered Proximian space? Or did they know something about the Raven, something that meant its crew should be wary?
Andae hadn't had a chance to voice his concerns in the meeting, nor his 'findings' on the power plants' secrets, as the crew were quickly returned to their posts. He stayed on the bridge, manning the engineering station and performing his CEO work from there, or as much as the station would allow.
So assuming they got past this customs check, how would they access the world with the Proximians' security measures in effect, and then afterwards escape detection, perhaps to disappear? Who knew what Watson, Valenti and co actually had planned, but Andae's imagination could certainly run.
"The cruiser is manoeuvring to bring its docking mechanism in line with our own," someone reported.
He looked on in apprehension, seeing on the viewscreen the immigration vessel thrusting on a couple of axes, bringing it around to the Raven's port quarter. Ah... One thing they needed to conceal... He worked his console. He doubted the Proximians would be permitted to view the computer logs, but it was wise to conceal the fact that the Raven had made detailed scans of the Proximian surface - searching out the weakpoints, the extensive security screens - and near-continuous scans of those mysterious power plants.
He encrypted the sensor records and data analysis logs to the highest level a Galaxy class starship's firewalls were capable of, while continue to explore features of the planet's surface. The power plants in the Italy-sized region were at a low output, he noticed, lower than they had been in the whole time he'd been scanning them. The Raven hadn't been here long enough though. This could be a one-off event, yes; alternatively it could be part of a common pattern.
He liaised with Wedlerson and scanned the surrounding region, seeing if anything had changed in response to the plants' power reduction. Nothing noticeable. Both officers assumed that there were uptake facilities in place, or that the plants were supplying even less power to the region's habitats than previously thought. Was anything going into them, or was it all being used for the unseen power-eater?
"Keep scanning that region," he instructed, leaning over the Ops console, "Tell me if anything changes or if the power plants do something else unexpected."
"Aye, sir." Harry wheeled around to Peers at tactical who was senior officer on the bridge except Andae, who liked to stay out of the chain of command given his engineering position. "Commander Peers, Freem's vessel is requesting authorisation to begin final approach."
Andae moved across to the helm console and Marionette, who was considerably taller than Harry Wedlerson although he still peered down at her from his vantage point, "If you have time, I'd still like to extract some of those memory engrams."
<Tag All>
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Mar 8, 2013 3:39:02 GMT
Unknown time later, deck 18...
"I don't think you're concentrating on what's important, Andae. You said the clearing was empty. Only an equipment stack tucked in the corner, between slabs of rock? What was that about?"
A deep sigh. "Long story short... It was Borg."
"Borg?" she asked after a pause.
"Yes. I didn't realise it at the time, but later a Dexxeni showed me their deity. It was Borg. The equipment was Borg machinery, the mechanism by which their minds remained, in some way, linked to the deceased Borg they were preserving. It had become a carrion lord to them, the leader of their collective in the same way the Borg Queen is leader of the Borg Collective."
"I didn't know any of this," she said, after another lengthy pause.
Andae looked up. "It's all in the report. Sketchily, I must admit. All of our memories are like that... Mine, Alex's..."
The counselor's look became reinforced, "But they're Commodore Torek's memories. You can't forget that. Confusing your thoughts with his, your memories with a part of his psyche that was never meant to be separate from the whole, is a dangerous path to find yourself on."
Andae squinted painfully. His eyes were almost watering. He'd reclined on the counselor's couch, something he never thought he'd do. The ceiling illumination blinded him, seemed to pierce his inner being, the bared contradictions in his befuddled mind now left to the mercy of the searing light.
"I know. But this is important. It's more than just the Commodore's memories... Something's been fused together... Memories of an ancient time, El-Kamat - and I believe it's really him - intruding on the visions; recollections of the quest for the Quincunx stone, but cut up and rearranged. I don't know which parts are real and which parts I've created myself. I remember holding a knife to Calli Valenti's throat and threatening her with death, some of the quest guides trying to pry my fingers away. I remember riding a native creature and losing control of it, being thrown and injured after it'd galloped for about a mile."
"It's Torek's experience," the counselor repeated. "Your body, yes, but his mind. Some of it may be important. But please for the good of your own health, try to dissociate this memory from your own being. It's an experience that may have some relevance to our hunt, but try to view it as just that. A part of our mission; a professional concern, as opposed to a personal one." She paused. Andae seemed deep in contemplation. "Could you do that?"
Andae gazed straight up, allowing the ceiling light to saturate his retina. "Let me take you to the cave."
Existence seemed to rush around them, a mesh of geometric lines streaming past like a wormhole graphic. The room disappeared from sight and Andae was lost in a melee of colour. Seconds later reality began to reassert itself in discrete steps. Blocks containing images slotted into place, reconstituting the recognisable universe. They were in a cavern, sizeable, with ancient carvings on most of the walls. Rocky outcrops were dotted here and there, and towards the centre, somewhat close to them, was a pedestal holding a blue spherical object.
"How did you do this?" Andae asked the counselor. His voice echoed endlessly around the cavern. They were alone.
"I didn't do this..." She seemed as dazzled as he. "But I am a telepath. Perhaps some combination of this... thing, in your memory, and my skills..."
"This is it," Andae said. The cave seemed luminous. It radiated light in expectation. Something was about to happen. "This is where it all began."
The present...
The console beeped incessantly. Proximity alert. Craft approaching the port bow, lining up for mechanism interlock. The shrill alert slowly cut into Andae's senses, carving away more of his sanity with every passing moment.
The tension on the bridge as the Proximian immigration ship approached had become unbearable. All the bridge crew were on edge, and Blakus's eyes were drawn ever more to the ready room door. What were they talking about?
"T'Brel. Can I have a word?" He waited for the CTSO to come to the back of the bridge before speaking in hushed tones. "Commander. Theorise, why would the Proximians halt us for inspection. What could they suspect about us?"
"Many things, sir. I'd only be speculating. There is the possibility that this is a routine check."
Blakus nodded and turned back to his station. "True. But we need contingency plans. They might know something about the Raven, or about some of the people on board. Considering Doctor Ankh's relation to El-Kamat... I think we should tread very carefully indeed."
"What are you saying?" T'Brel asked warily.
"I think we should consider hiding members of the crew," he turned back to T'Brel sharply, "Specifically the Commodore, the Captain and others of the senior staff. What if the Proximians know all about our involvement with the Cordovin? And the framing of Commodore Torek for the assassination...?"
<Tag Carl, Alex, All>
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Mar 9, 2013 1:39:08 GMT
"Commodore ... Commander Valenti ... My ready room please." he didn't wait for a reply, once the door closed he looked at them both, "We have a problem !" he said. "I'm guessing you think the Proximian's may have information regarding Carl ?" Calli asked. "It's certainly possible." Carl commented, "If El-Kamat has already been here, or is currently on the surface looking for that final piece of his weapon, it stands to reason he wouldn't want the Raven turning up to spoil the party." "My problem with that is this." Calli continued, "If Coordinator Freen, is aware of who we are from information received from El-Kamat, then 'A' why hasn't she simply refused entry past the outer marker. She could have stopped us as we entered the system in my opinion, and 'B' El-Kamat must have been required to give an explanation of how he came across this information, so why would she allow him to continue his work while it would obviously go against everything the Proximian's may believe in ?" "Is it possible Freen or others are working 'with El-Kamat ?" Alex asked, throwing the question out for debate. But the door chime sounded befer anyone could reply, "Enter." he said. Commander Blakus came in. "Andae." "I've been running something through with T'Brel ......." he said, going on to review what he and Commander Peers had discussed. "But how would you explain the ship having 'no' Senior Staff ?" Calli asked, "I'm inclined to think that El-Kamat may have dropped a 'hint' that the Raven could be trouble, but unless Proxima has suddenly taken up receiving updates from the Federation of pending issues, I seriously doubt we'd all be stand out targets for the nearest 'Bounty Hunter' so ... It's a given that they know about the Commodore. The 'trial' and subsequent verdict was breaking news, even for non-affiliated worlds, so we need to get rid of the topic of interest. No disrespect Commodore." she grinned. "Non taken ... Just remind me not to 'REALLY' get on your wrong side." "If I'm right ....." Calli continued, "We should still have the transporter record of Carl beaming to the Cordovin vessel before it impacted with the surface. Maybe that could be made available to her as proof he left the ship. So if we can hide him effectively, following his sudden death in the crash, we were just following up on information received, but are now taking the chance to stop off for some well deserved layover before recall .... Basically, no Torek, no problem." she said, shrugging. The Comm chirped to life: =^= Captain .. The Coordinator's ship is docking at the port quarter saucer section docking port .. Contact in thirty seconds =^= Harry informed them. =^= Complete the docking Commander we wi ......=^= Alex began, but Calli waked to speak: =^= Harry .. Patch me through to Engineering but keep in the loop =^= =^= Done =^= Wedlerson confirmed. =^= Engineering .. Milyanov =^= the Engineer said. =^= Milyanov .. Commander Valenti .. The ship that is approaching .. I want you to open the outer doors one point two millimeters as the ship contacts the seals .. 'LOCK' it in that position and disable the systems until told otherwise by Commander Blakus or the Captain =^= =^= With respect 'Commander' the ship wouldn't be able to ma .... =^= =^= Get it done Milyanov =^= Andae said closing the link, realizing her stalling tactic immediately and nodding. Calli continued: =^= Harry .. The Proxima vessel will attempt to dock but wont get a seal due to damage sustained to the docking port .. Make our apologies and inform the Coordinator we are working on it =^= "We need to hide the Commodore before they dock." Calli said simply, "One suggestion .. Would be to disable the rematerialization sub-routines before we beam him from one pad to another. Lock him in one of the pattern buffers, but there's always the chance of pattern degradation, it's happened before ... The main thing is he needs to 'NOT' be on the ship ... Or at least, anywhere his life-signs could be detected." "Why not beam me onto 'their' ship ?" Carl said sarcastically, "Or stick me in an 'EVA Suit' and plonk me on their hull. They're hardly likely to scan their selves." he said wryly .......... < tag : ALEX / All >
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Marionette
Commander
Dr. Soong's penchant for whimsical names seems to have no end.
Registered: Mar 2, 2012 3:26:33 GMT
Posts: 285
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Post by Marionette on Mar 9, 2013 8:38:42 GMT
"Helm ... Halt the ship." Marionette input the commands for Fullstop. The Raven now moved not one inch further. "Full Stop, Sir"
Andae moved across to the helm console and Marionette, who was considerably taller than Harry Wedlerson although he still peered down at her from his vantage point, "If you have time, I'd still like to extract some of those memory engrams."
Looking up, she replied matter-of-factually. "Of course." Marionette was ....Bugged, if you will, by memories of events that 'did not happen'.
= - = - =
Proceeding to engineering, Marionette was soon in the chair, with blakus running various instruments over her constituent internal parts, trying to find anything at all that would explain this phenomena - to no avail, unfortunately.
"I don't get it" Blakus said, sighing deeply and taking Yet Another Look at the 3rd re-diagnostic of her systems. "You're as healthy as a horse, and yet there's still time-dilation particles and logs of events that, technically never happened, in your systems."
Marionette, with all her panels and flaps open or off, from the neck up, spoke "I very much doubt that there is any relation between me and a horse...."
Blakus smiled and quietly chuckled to himself, and then responded " 'Healthy as a horse' is a turn of phrase denoting good health and heartiness."
I see, so phrases involving horses indicate a positive abundance.... Fascinating. Perhaps another method must be chosen to solve these problems; What do humans do when they have inexplicable memories of events, that they would consider to be.... distracting ?"
"We usually go to the councilor for help with disturbing memories" Blakus said off-handedly, finding nothing wrong yet again, and deciding that he might as well put the engrams back in and close her up, and let Marionette try with the councilor.
= - = - =
Proceeding to deck 18, Marionette was on her way to the councilor's office when a small voice rang out "Hello.... Are you the robot lady ?" Stopping to turn around, and then looking down since apparently, someone was there who was smaller than she had expected, marionette was greeted by the sight of an 8 year old Bethan.
"Greetings, and yes, i am a positronic gynoid."
(tag carl, for bethan's responses ?)
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Mar 10, 2013 0:37:16 GMT
Posting as Bethan Torek ...
They had been to Sick-bay so the doctor could look at Vanessa's wrist, she had injured it on the holo-deck, most likely playing something Daddy had forbidden. As usual, she was running ahead trying to find hiding places from which to jump out and scare her sister and Chloe. Stepping into a recess she waited, trying not to giggle too loudly, when someone walked past her. Bethan instantly stepped into the corridor:
"Hello.... Are you the robot lady ?" she asked, looking at the woman, who turned and seemed confused for a second, before looking down at the little girl before her:
"Greetings, and yes, I am a positronic gynoid."
"A posi-whaty-oid ... Is that a fancy name for a robot then. Whats your name ?" she asked, trying to repeat the android's description of herself as Chloe and Vanessa rounded the curve of the corridor.
"My name is, Marionette."
"Marionette what ?" the little girl asked.
"It is just Marionette. I was never allocated a secondary form of address." she explained, wondering why she was having trouble keeping up with the very logical eight year old mind of the child before her.
"I'm Bethan Torek, I had another name once, but then Mummy died, she was going to marry Carl, Oops, Daddy, said he would be my Daddy, even though I wasn't going to be a bidesmaid because we can't have a wedding anymore. He's Vanessa's Daddy too, she's my big sister you know ! ... My Daddy is the Admiral Captain of 'ALLLLLLL' this ship !" she said, spreading her arms wide to encompass the Raven, pride oozing from every word.
"Bethan, what has your Dad told you about bothering crew members when they are working ?" Chloe said, then apologized to Marionette for the intrusion. Vanessa took her sisters' hand, but she wasn't going to be moved:
"This is the robot lady, she's a posi troni, robot, i think she said !" Bethan explained confidently, before turning back to Marionette, "Do you like ponies ?
"I am not familiar wi ......" Marionette began, but Bethan was already continuing her interrogation:
"Daddy has promised to buy me a pony when we get back to Earth, but I have a pretend one on the holly deck thing, and I can go ride that whenever I want, can't I Chloe."
"Only when the ship isn't being used for serious things." Vanessa said, but Bethan wasn't convinced:
"I'm sure Daddy will make you a horse if you want one." she said, returning her attention to Marionette, who was still trying to figure our her reply to the first query, "Can you swim. I can swim, well a little. Vanessa can swim, but she splashes me in the pool and I get water in my eye's."
"Bethan, we're keeping the Officer from her duties." Chloe said, taking the little girls' hand, "Say 'Bye' and we'll get you both home for something to eat. I'm sure you will bump into the Ensign again."
"Where are you going ?" Bethan continued relentlessly, making Marionette wonder why the 'Tal Shiar' had not snapped her up as their Chief Interrogator, "Do you like pizza ?" her quickfire cross-examination continued relentlessly.
"That's 'ENOUGH' Bethan." Chloe said, realizing the Ensign was getting the child's 'full' attention. Something most people couldn't cope with, including the artificial intelligent ones apparently.< tag : Marionette >"Ah .... OK ...." Bethan replied, as if mentally checking the facts of the statement, but, apparently satisfied, she held out her small hand for what she considered a formal handshake, "Well I think I'll let you come play with my pony next time I go if you would like to."
Marionette knew the gesture of shaking hands from her files. She took the offered hand and returned the gesture, bowing. Then Bethan released her hand, glanced at the palm for a second as if expecting something out of the ordinary, then turned and headed off down the corridor, skipping out of sight ...
Chloe and Vanessa followed her.
Marionette remained motionless for two point one five seconds .. A lifetime in 'AI' terms, before turning and continuing on to the Councillor's quarters .......... [/color][/i] < tag : Marionette >Hope this helps with what you had in mind for the meeting. btw: You'll have your work cut out with my little Bethan ... lo.l
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Alex Watson
Commander 1C
All that glitters has a high refractive index.
Registered: Apr 10, 2011 14:30:46 GMT
Posts: 102
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Post by Alex Watson on Mar 10, 2013 18:57:40 GMT
"Why not beam me onto 'their' ship ?" Carl said sarcastically, "Or stick me in an 'EVA Suit' and plonk me on their hull. They're hardly likely to scan their selves." he said wryly.
Alex looked up at the commodore, his eyes heavy with fatigue.
“That's not a bad idea...” he said softly. Carl looked less than thrilled that his suggestion had been taken seriously. “You're right. The scanners are only calibrated to scan INSIDE the ship. Even if they WERE to widen the range, if we can clamp you to the hull, perhaps over one of the nacelles or impulse engines, the residual interference may well hide your life signs.”
“May well?” Carl was looking less enthusiastic about the process with every passing second.
“It's the best we've got. Whatever happens, commodore, you can't and we can't risk your being on board the ship when we are boarded. It's likely that if El-Kamat got here first, he'll have tipped them off. If we can convince them that you died in the explosion at Zennai, we may get out of this.”
Carl took a deep breath, and nodded.
“I'll prepare your suit, commodore,” Alex said. “It will need some quick modifications. I'll get the science team on it immediately.”
---
Carl couldn't help but feel like an oversized turtle as the clumsy helmet of the EV suit clicked into place. His breath echoed oddly around him and made him feel disorientated. More disorientating still was the fact that the suit shut out nearly all outside noise. It was like he was in his own little world. It wasn't the first time that he had space-walked, but it was his first expedition for a while, and certainly the first he'd ever attempted when the ship was going to be moving.
“Are you alright? You look pale?” Alex's voice sounded through the ear-piece.
“I'm fine...just make sure this works.”
“I'll do my best commodore, but you know there's the chance we could have to get out of here in a hurry. That's why I'm giving you these.”
He showed Carl two rectangular cuboids of metal about half the size of his palm, slotting them into two specially fabricated holders attached to the backs of his hands. Carl looked a little confused.
“Hyper-magnets,” Alex explained. “If we have to get out of here in a hurry, press this button here and they'll stick you to the hull harder than a Klingon's headbutt.
“That isn't very reassuring, Alex,” Carl said half-jokingly...but only half.
“It isn't ideal, but it'll hold you in place long enough so that we can beam you back in before we hit warp speed.”
“Alright, everyone. Let's do this.” Alex said. Carl turned cumbersomely in his suit, moving towards the airlock. His partner, a senior NCO assigned as his “buddy” for the space-walk, moved next to him. The airlock doors closed behind him, the room was slowly de-pressurised and the last of the outside noise disappeared.
“Airlock open in three, two, one...”
<Tag Carl>
---
“I still don't like this, Captain,” Calli whispered as they walked back towards the bridge together.
“Neither do I, much,” agreed Alex.
“It's too...I don't know...I've just got a bad feeling about this...”
“Keep your senses alert, Commander, we may need them before too long. How long before they're docked?”
“About an hour, they're coming in slowly, which makes me uneasy as well. It's like they're testing us, to see if we bolt.”
Alex looked at her seriously, a slight smile playing on his lips.
“My thoughts exactly. If it's true, we'd better not bolt. At least...not yet. There's something down there on that planet...something that can help us. I'm sure of it.”
“You're sure of it?”
“As sure as I can be.”
“You're having those dreams again, aren't you?” Calli asked. Alex nodded. “Go and see the counsellor. She can help.” Alex shook his head.
“In time, but so far they have proved useful. If I can use them to our advantage, I will. For now, let's make ready to receive our honoured guests.”
<Tag All>
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Carl Torek
Command Staff ..
Site Executive Officer Ranks Officer
Fleet Admiral
"UTRINQUE PARATUS"
Registered: Jun 17, 2006 22:34:35 GMT
Posts: 6,164
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Post by Carl Torek on Mar 12, 2013 18:04:07 GMT
"Are you alright, you look pale ?" Alex said, watching Carl closely.
"I'm fine ... Just make sure this works." he replied as Watson tapped the Comm link on the wall beside the air-lock:
=^= Bridge .. Where's their ship now ? =^=
=^= Aft and coming around to our Starboard quarter Sir =^=
=^= Inform me the second this air-lock is out of their sensor range =^=
He closed the Comm and began cycling the air-lock. The Marine Chief stepped beside him and made the required 'thumbs-up' to signify he was ready. Carl returned the gesture.
=^= Bridge to Captain .. You can proceed Sir =^=
=^= Very well =^=
The two watched the outer door cycle and then both stepped out onto the hull of the Raven .....
There was the usual momentary disorientation then his stomach settled. He looked around at the stars, then toward the saucer section of the ship. It was massive from their viewpoint, extending almost one hundred sixty meters past their location. Turning a full circle, he could see the Port nacelle pylon, and above them, the nacelle itself.
=^= Sir .. If I may suggest .... =^= the Chief said through the suit Comm.
=^= Go ahead =^=
=^= We should move below the air-lock and secure ourselves to the port underside of the Star Drive Section .. If we are flat to the hull it's possible we'll not be spotted by some accidental scan .. Plus we'll be secure should the ship need to maneuver suddenly =^=
=^= Agreed Chief .. Follow my lead =^=
Carl began to walk 'down' the side of the massive 'Drive Section, even now still marveling at the engineering accomplishments that allowed such a vessel to be constructed. They reached the lower part of what was effectively the 'center line' of the Section and slowly stepped onto the underside of the ship. Carl looked around and decided this was as good a place as any. He slowly bent his knees and lowered himself to the hull.
He retrieved the magnetic calipers they had brought to secure their feet and placed them on the hull. Satisfied, he activated the devices and stood ... Placing his left foot on the stirrup he felt the device grip his boot. He did the same with the right boot and then tried, unsuccessfully, to lift each foot in turn. He slowly allowed himself to fall back, feeling the stirrup rotate through ninety degrees while remaining fixed in position. He felt momentary motion sickness as the stars rotated in his line of sight, before he felt the hull under his gloved hands then his back. He was now pinned by the boot stirrup's horizontal to the hull plating. Should the ship begin to move they would be able to activate the wrist magnets and pin themselves immovably ... Satisfied he was now a fixture, he signaled for the Chief to follow suit.
Carl tapped the Comm link on his sleeve and spoke:
=^= Limpets to Bridge .. We're secure =^= Carl heard the Chief laugh nervously and grinned, hoping his nerves were holding out.
=^= Bridge .. Confirmed .. We are shutting off all Comms apart from your internal beacons Commodore .. Sit tight and enjoy the view =^=
=^= Very funny =^= Carl replied as the Comm fell silent.
With his helmet resting on the hull, all he could see was stars. He suddenly realized how 'alone' he was out here. Given the Star Drive Section was almost one hundred meters at it's widest point, Carl had the distinct feeling he knew the second the Proximian Vessel made contact with the docking port on the other side. He closed his eyes for a second, hoping everything went smoothly for Alex and the others ..........
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Mar 14, 2013 16:32:54 GMT
"...... How long before they dock ?"
"About an hour. They're testing us, that's obvious." Calli replied.
"Then let's make ready for our guests." Alex said.
Sixty five minutes later ...
"Just remember everyone, this is an inspection. We're not receiving royalty here. Answer anything, within reason, but try not to volunteer information Freem might jump on OK." Calli instructed everyone at the Docking Port.
"Open up." Alex ordered.
The Proximian delegation stepped onto the Raven, five in all ... They were tall, the smallest almost two meters. Slim, almost too slim for their height. Their white hair was long, waist-length. There eye's were stunningly green. they had an inner eyelid which moved horizontally, independent of the outer lid. The other thing that stood out was ... They were all Women !
Freem stepped forward and introduced herself, but to Calli.
"I'm sorry Coordinator Freem. This is 'Captain' Watson. Commanding Officer of the USS Raven. I am Commander Calli Valenti." she said, taking half a step back, ensuring the Captain was closest to the Woman.
Freem looked at the Captain, then around the assembled Officers of the Raven.
"My, apologies, Captain Watson. I am Senior Coordinator Freem. Shall we begin the inspection." the Coordinator said, motioning for her colleagues to begin, "My associates will begin with the Engineering and Storage Sections ... You will accomp ......"
"I don't think so ! ... Pardon me Captain." T'brel said, stepping in their way, "I can not allow you, or members of your team to wander aimlessly around the ship, accompanied, or otherwise. There are sensitive sections that are out of bounds to non-Federation personnel !"
"We shall go where we require to ensure ourselves you are no danger to our planet." Freem answered, suddenly suspicious.
Alex held up a hand:
"My Security Chief is correct Madam." Alex said.
"Sir. If I may ? ... I'm sure you scanned the Raven in great detail before docking." Calli interrupted, realizing that in the Proximian race, the 'female' seemed predominant, "So you are more than aware of our restricted area's. Your scans would have reassured you we have nothing to hide ... From what I read in your own guidelines concerning visitations to the surface, you are required to carry out random inspections of vessels approaching your outer marker. But that inspection should exclude sensitive area's if those sections are required to ensure the well-being of the ship and to safe-guard technology that could be acquired by, should we say, third parties."
"As you wish ...... Commander." Freem said, nodding almost imperceptibly to Calli before turning to Watson, "We will remain together, Captain. I appologize for the presumption on, my part." Alex nodded, smiling and stepped aside, allowing the Proximian to pass. As the group moved towards the Engineering Section, Freem made an almost casual sounding comment, "USS Raven-B ... I'm sure our records show this vessel being Commanded by someone else ... A Commodore Torek, if memory serves ... Or is my information incorrect, Captain ?"
Calli looked quickly at Alex, the five Proximian's oblivious to the glance, she thought of Torek and the Chief stuck to the hull outside. Freem was fishing of course, it was her job to pry, but it was now obvious that she had gained information on the Raven 'before' the ship entered their space. Granted, she could have acquired that information from almost any database. But, the question on Calli's mind was, just how much 'DID' she know ? ..........
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Andae Blakus
Moderator ..
Commander 1C
Registered: Oct 17, 2007 22:48:27 GMT
Posts: 1,452
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Post by Andae Blakus on Mar 17, 2013 4:35:24 GMT
Time dilation... it was everywhere. It almost seemed to be a systemic issue in the gynoid: Components and systems in her structure had the bugging tendency to randomly time dilate. He'd withdrawn three of Marionette's memory cores, within which were contained the majority of the offending engrams. Now it was time to delve into their contents.
Unfortunately there was no technology available to directly reproduce those memories, at least not in the visual and auditory realm of experience. There was an interface available that allowed a user to experience varying levels of electrostatic shock, in line with whatever experiences the memories pertained to. But there was no way to know what the intensity of those shocks were measured against, what they actually equated to in terms of spacetime experience.
Thus Blakus's only option was to physically pick apart the engrams, with his hands, from a viewpoint distant and withdrawn like a god monitoring the faulty reality he'd constructed. If only he'd had access to another android...
The first of the engrams he started analysing pertained to the two extra seconds Marionette had experienced on the shuttle Piper, back in the Zennai system. If he could unlock the secrets of that short time period, the reasons for the discrepancy, it might go some way to resolving the entire issue.
At this point he was interrupted by the intercom. He sighed; this would have to wait. "Commander Blakus, this is Commander Peers. Thought you should know the Proximian craft has completed docking. Captain Watson and Commander Valenti have just greeted Freem..." T'Brel's voice sounded whispery over the comm, "The Coordinator seems very interested in visiting engineering first. But I think we've dissuaded them for now."
"Acknowledged, Commander." He stole a glance at Milyanov before continuing the comm dialogue. "No way we want them poking around down here. Usher them towards the residential decks please?"
"Aye, sir. We will try," T'Brel chuckled lightly, "I think that in itself may arouse suspicion. Note that they have knowledge of the Raven, and they believe Carl Torek should be its CO. Peers out."
Milyanov came over to Blakus, rounding the pool table with a significant look. Of course, both men were aware that with the Commodore on the hull of the engineering section, any move closer by the Proximian delegation, no matter how innocuous, may heighten the risk of Torek's detection.
"I still say we should've slammed him in an escape pod," Blakus muttered, turning away from his assistant and heading for the lift to the upper deck.
"Really, sir?" Milyanov was clearly amused.
Blakus looked back with annoyance. The idea had been slapped down in the staff briefing, too, deemed too dangerous and overly-convoluted. Where of course a hull excursion was a perfectly reasonable suggestion. "We could've ejected the pod before docking and claimed a malfunction. Escape pods are designed for stealth, to mask them from enemy sensors in battle situations." Milyanov followed him on to the lift to the upper engineering level. "It doesn't work 100% but we'd only have needed to hide the interior. They would've seen it as unoccupied, and it would've been well out of reach before they docked. Now we have a situation where Carl is still aboard the Raven, and could be discovered at any time by an already suspicious immigration vessel."
"Don't worry about it, sir. You'll get your chance in the limelight," Milyanov said seriously, moving off the lift before Blakus. "It's not your fault that it's always Captain Watson coming up with the ideas."
Blakus paused, looking askance at his assistant. "You really think this is about competition? You think I'm trying to outdo the other Commanders, to get favour with the Commodore?" The audacity of Milyanov's comment would've astounded him, if he didn't know the Russian was prone to such things. "You're completely mistaken. For a start, I don't need to prove myself in Torek's eyes. I served as XO under him longer than you've been aboard. And secondly, this is about much more than rivalry, this is about - "
"Yeah, yeah. Kamat etc. I get it." Milyanov waved the CEO off and checked the master console next to the warp core. Blakus finally cracked a grin. "I know what you and the others suffered on Cordovin IV. Well, sort of... It puts you in a unique position."
Andae nodded, brushing the matter aside. "Let's get back to the data protection measures." He worked the master console in sync with Milyanov. "How's the computer core security looking? ... Hey wait, I'm getting an external request..." His fingers needled the console, probing methodically. "An automated comm signal from the Proximian craft?"
Milyanov picked up the data as Blakus transferred it across to his panel. "It's being piggybacked on one of their sensor sweeps of the stardrive. Rather clever. They're passing us the encryption information."
"Decoding," Blakus stated, then looked behind him. "Darwin, inform the bridge. Not the Captain... He'll be with the Coordinator."
It took five minutes to fully decode the request. "Displaying audio and visual," Blakus whispered. There was no time to wonder at this move from the Proximians. They could only look at the comm message and evaluate it.
A grainy image appeared in the small visual panel on the master console, a distorted feminine face on a dark background. "I am Auditor Henari of the Proximian Immigration Commission. Full specification of your propulsion systems, including fuel type and current engine efficiency levels, immediately," the woman barked.
"Commander Andae Blakus, chief engineer," Blakus smiled suavely, finding that the channel was two-way. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. Is this clandestinity necessary?"
"No questions. This information is a requirement of the Immigration Commission. Failure to comply will result in -"
Blakus waved a hand to silence her. "Your delegation is already aboard our vessel. Why are you communicating through this channel?"
"As I said, we are obligated to obtain information on your propulsion systems..."
"I would've thought Coordinator Freem would be able to handle all these matters in person."
"Coordinator Freem conducts the hands-on inspection. We demand specifics of your vessel through these channels." The woman's voice developed a fierce edge, "The propulsion details now, Commander. This is not a matter for debate."
"Goodbye, Auditor," Blakus said, the smile fading as if he'd just heard a bad joke. The screen went blank. But in fact it hadn't been him that had cut the transmission; it had come from Henari's end. Darwin called up to Andae from the lower level. True enough, departments across the ship had just received similar demands. The Raven was under bombardment, an invasion of information requests from the slight, silvery vessel clinging to its port quarter.
<Tag ALL - sorry if the post sprawled a bit.>
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Calli Valente
Starfleet Intelligence
"Don't get in my way."
Registered: Aug 4, 2010 21:19:10 GMT
Posts: 534
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Post by Calli Valente on Mar 21, 2013 20:41:05 GMT
The inspection had been going on for almost two hours now, with Coordinator Freem asking questions in every section they entered. At one point she casually asked about Carl again: "So it had been confirmed that the Commodore perished in the crash ?" "He was aboard the Cordovin vessel what it impacted the surface." the Captain said, beginning to feel the tour was a waste of everyone's time, including his own, "There were no survivors." A Lieutenant from Engineering approached the group and attracted Calli's attention. She excused herself and listened to what the man had to report: "This has gone on throughout all Departments ?" she asked, glancing at Freem, who seemed to be questioning Watson yet again. "Yes Commander." "OK ..." she said, thinking hard, "Tell Commander Blakus he did the right thing. Ask him to ensure that ship doesn't get anything from us from here on in." The Lieutenant headed back to Engineering and Calli returned to the group. She waited until Freem was looking at her directory then asked how much longer the inspection was going to last. It was obvious the woman was trying to find some way of legitimately denying the Raven access to orbit, but they had answered every question, albeit with some less than factual answers. She turned with a smile: "I think we are almost done here." she said, the smile never wavering, "I would like to express my sympathy to the Commodore's Children before I leave ..." Alex began to speak, but Calli got there first: "I'm sorry, but that isn't possible." she said, seeing the woman's eyes harden at the interruption, "Vanessa and Bethan have taken the death of their Father very hard. They are currently under sedation in their quarters. Our chief Medical Officer had ordered they not be disturbed, under any circumstances. Their Guardian is in full agreement." "Nevertheless, I think I sho ....." "The Commodore left specific instructions should anything happen to him." the Captain said, stepping in front of the Woman, "One of those specifications was that Commander Valenti be the Children's legal Guardian until such times as we can return to Earth .. I am afraid I could not go against both the Commodore's and Commander Valenti's wishes ... I am sure you understand." The Coordinator looked anything but satisfied, but knew she couldn't insist ... She looked at her directory for long moments, then handed the device to the Captain: "This allows you to enter the inner system and to establish orbit." she said, watching the man, "Please fully familiarize yourself and anyone transporting to the surface of our regulations. 'ANY' infraction could result in indefinite incarceration without appeal. Should you attempt to remove anything, be it material or living, without our express permission, your vessel will be subject to immediate retribution, which, after fully reviewing your ship, would must certainly result in the total destruction of the Raven and all personnel ... Do you understand our regulations, Captain ?" "I am sure we will by the time we reach orbit. Thank you Coordinator. Would you like to join us for supper before departing, I am sure we can offer you someth ....." "No ... Thank you ... I will return to my ship and allow you to begin approach to the inner sensor net. Please ensure you input the access codes supplied on request." She turned and headed back to the Air-lock. Within minutes the connection between the two ships was broken and the Coordinator moved away. They moved back to the Bridge, Alex thankful the Proximian hadn't taken up his less than sincere dinner invitation. "Helm. Full impulse ... Standard orbital approach ... Commander Blakus, do a full sensor sweep." Alex ordered, "I don't want to suddenly find they left something behind." "Let's get the Commodore back in." Calli said, "I can imagine he's getting a little fed-up with the view by now." Andae instructed two of his Officers to bring the Commodore back in off the hull, then began his sweep of the ship and her systems. It was possible that they could have piggy-backed something into the systems while making all those 'requests' for detailed information. Proxima Oralix was a tiny speck on the view-screen, but they had been told to follow approach instructions to the letter, or their permit would be instantly revoked .......... OOC : OK everyone, let's move forward to orbit and see what we can find
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