El Sal Mission 13.2: S.O.S....

[Savot]

[Main Bridge: 45 minutes after departing Transporter Room]


Savot returned to the bridge after getting Mr. Valor squared away, wanting there to be some senior presence on the bridge while the students were being settled in in case there were last minute communiques from planetside or other phenomena.  He was pleased to have the students aboard and hoped their time with the El Salvador would be mutually beneficial and give them the experience the program was ideally created to provide.  As though conjured from the ether by the very thought, a signal rang out over the consoles, and Lt. Tamarov sitting in at Tactical for the moment accepted the incoming beam.  


"Incoming communication signal captain, partially degraded... but definitely a distress call", Alexi informed Savot who signaled Tamarov with a nod to play the incoming message over speakers.  =^=...yone in range; ..... is the trans........hip Crosrik .......field.  Engines dis.....ed, we are adrift.  Life Support is.......  Repeat, t......yone in range....=^=


Savot began doling out orders immediately but with his customary calm demeanor, "Lieutenant Tamarov, transfer the incoming signal to the Operations console after triangulating best possible extrapolated coordinates of origin.  Helm, input said coordinates and engage immediately at Warp 1.5; we don't want to overshoot them.  Prepare to alter both course and speed as we narrow the location more accurately in transit."


He then enabled the intraship comms button on his chair arm console and spoke throughout the ship, =^=All hands, this is the captain.  We've received a distress call and are moving to respond.  All senior officers report to stations.  Ensign Valor to the bridge immediately for signal analysis and long-range sensor confirmation.  Commander Irae, escort all non-bridge students to their shadow stations before bringing the remainder to the bridge.  Sickbay stand by to receive potential injured and outfit an away party if we can't bring them to us.  Bridge out.=^=



'Ace' arrived quickly and assumed the Ops station, Savot speaking to him even as he swiveled his chair to face the main viewer, "Mr. Valor, we're moving in the general direction of a fragmented distress call we received.  Try to clear up the signal if possible and work with the helm to narrow their coordinates to expedite our arrival at their location.  Once you've established their location, conduct long-range scans of the area to check for any anomalies that might cause us damage as well.  I believe the field to which the message refers is an asteroid field but that is unconfirmed as yet.  Continue making updated scans of the Crosrik as we get closer to ascertain what damage they've sustained in what areas.  You'll need to forward this information to both sickbay so they can prepare for potential injuries, and to Engineering so Commander Delbridge can begin preparing a repair strategy if their vessel is salvageable."


Savot knew he'd just put a lot on Valor's proverbial plate, being a brand new arrival to the ship, but he would wait and observe Valor's performance, stepping in to assist only if it proved necessary.  The young officer's personnel file; however, indicated Ace would be fully capable of handling the demands of his position.  The El Salvador meanwhile, soared through the spaces between the stars, her engine nacelles and operating lights providing the sole illumination in the perma-blackness between solar systems.



<Tag: All>


(This is a direct follow-up from the last thread with no real jump forward in time, so feel free to continue any tags and/or actions you were in the middle of here in this new thread.  I have no specific story demands for how this plays out, so the type of ship damage, how they sustained said damage, types and amount of injuries, all open within reason.  If people seem hampered by lack of specifics I'll try and add some narrowing guidelines in the Mission OOC in a couple of days.)

[Deleted]

(O.O.C prior to receiving distress call)

Note long after Nayomi had paged the first officer the doors to sickbay slid open and the petite, but fiesty woman entered. "Take er away, Doctor. We can get me procedure done now, ochaye? Then dinner."

"Alright, Commander have a seat up on the biobed, I will have Linayra do another scan of you to make sure we have had no unexpected changes. Now students, Deis is here to have us remove the scaring that has affected her for some time. She was injured in a plasma explosion and was unable to get immediate modern medical attention. Now can anyone tell me why this procedure is important?

Jhal'dok shook his head. "No, I do not understand Doctor, these scars are a sign of honour. I can clearly see the Commander is a brave and fierce warrior. Why would anyone want to remove them?"

Nayomi was not entirely surprised by his response. "Keep in mind Jhal'dok, when treating species of other races and cultures, you need to look at things from their perspective, the Commander is not a Klingon. These scars are not something she wants to continue to carry and it is our duty to assist her in getting rid of them. Anyone else?"

Linayra stopped her scan for a moment. "The injured area will be less affected by ultraviolet light, hair may not grow back there and she has lost sweat glands in the area. There is a reason human skin is normally the way it is, for it to be in this state is not optimum."

"Absolutely." Nayomi was pleased that at least one of her students understood this procedure to be more than about beauty. "Now our first step will be too..."

=^=All hands, this is the captain. We've received a distress call and are moving to respond. All senior officers report to stations. Ensign Valor to the bridge immediately for signal analysis and long-range sensor confirmation. Commander Irae, escort all non-bridge students to their shadow stations before bringing the remainder to the bridge. Sickbay stand by to receive potential injured and outfit an away party if we can't bring them to us. Bridge out.=^=

<Tag Deis>

Nayomi snapped into action. "Alright, Jhal'dok and Hzara you know where the med kits are from earlier today, grab a dozen and make sure they are fully stocked for the away teams. Linayra I want your help prepping the extra bio beds, we may need them. Nurse Cutler, prepare a triage station. I will make sure a secondary sickbay is set up the cargo bays."

With that sickbay was a flurry of activity. Nayomi could not help but wonder if she would be called on to go on the away team, it would be her first away mission with this crew, and quite frankly her first since being a cadet. The thought was both thrilling and nerve wracking

[Deis Irae]

((Previous to the Distress call))

::Deis steps behind one of the little privacy alcoves and changes into something that is sort of like a medical gown, though this one has to leave almost the whole left half of her bare. She has no problem being half nude in front of a bunch of students...which says a lot about the woman these days. And she used to be soooo shy. She takes her place on the biobed and pretty much lets herself be on display for the med students, turning her head and lifting the left arm so the extent of the damage can be viewed while the good Doctor asks a few questions::

::A rarely seen bright almost laughing grin shows up on the Commanders face when the Klingon gives opinion on the scarring. Deis does not laugh much these days...but now she finds herself having to restrain herself from doing so...as the klingon DOES have a point there. She gives the klingon student a little thank you nod of the head and once the Suliban student has finished speaking Deis would have explained that the nerve damage with keloid scarring was ONE of her motivations. She can only feel so much on the damaged areas...but that can be explained later. Once things get rolling though, in comes the Captains voice with the distress call information::

Well Doctor...guess we will pick this up later. Tis nae a rush anyway...these are goin naewheres. Ill get outa yer way. ::And hops back down from the biobed, stepping back behind the privacy alcove to get back into her uniform, tapping her commbadge before its on her:: =/\=Aye Capn, acknowledged. On me way.=/\=

::Snapping things back in place feeling....oddly amused...by this whole thing. Not the distress call, of course not. But the Klingon, the Suliban girl who behaves in such a muted but intelligent manner. That and the realization that she felt no urge to jump in and help in sickbay. That is a good thing. Not only for herself...but the assurance that our Doctor has it handled. Its a confidence that she didnt think would come to her so easily...and yet there it is. She belongs on the Bridge as FO.::

::Stepping back out from the screen, snapping her collar in place the Commander looks to the non med students and says loudly:: Righ then. Non Medical students are wi me. Zhegras, lets get ye dropped off in Engineerin, everone left to tha bridge. Lets move. ::Turning on her heel and heading back out of sickbay, hollering back:: Will comm ye t reshedule, Doctor!!

----------

::After getting the student to her engineering shadow station, Irae and the bridge students arrive. She takes each to appropriate station and then says, turning to the captain and saying without thinking:: Report!

::And then pauses...closing her eyes and making this little groaning sound, just picturing that lifted eyebrow.:: Sorry Capn...had a wee backflash there. I meant...right. ::Holy crap shes blushing in embarassment for throwback captain action there::

[Deleted]

Sickbay’s buzz of activity slowed to a lull after everything was set and now all they could do was wait to rendezvous with the transport ship in distress. Nayomi decided to spend the time learning all she could about the ship and it’s crew.

Fortunately for her, although a Rigelian freighter, the Crosrik did have a profile in the Federation database and did voluntarily register it’s cargo with the Interplanetary Shipping Association. According the the record the ship had a permanent crew of 6 and was currently transporting findings from an archeological dig in a nearby system. It looked like accompanying the shipment was a Denobulan archeologist and his Terran assistant. The permanent crew consisted of 4 Rigellians, an Andorian and a Tellerite. An eclectic bunch. Nothing in her research revealed any sign of what could have caused their distress. Perhaps it was pirates, although they seldom acted in this area of space. She was looking at 8 possible patients.

Puzzled, she headed to the bridge to see if she could learn more.

[Savot]

[Main Engineering]


Zhegras followed along the student congregation trailing Commander Irae on the route to Engineering.  Her roughly ape-like countenance took in the details of the corridors they traversed with great scrutiny, as though mapping the entire ship by visual account.  She noticed Vasrea looking around intently too, but the vulcan girl's expression was almost that of someone thinking an attacker might jump out from any corner they passed.... at least Zhegras thought so, but she never understood vulcans anyway.  They turned a corner into the central hub of the Engineering sector.    


...and Zhegras suddenly had a hand-light unit shining in her face while a human male shoved a tricorder at her bleeping wildly.  The man, clad in an engineer's uniform with the rank of Lieutenant Commander, scrutinized the tricorder screen and looked at Zhegras with a squint, "Good god almighty.... it's some kinda mutated Tribble that shaved its face!  It's learned how to dress... impersonating a Starfleet officer is a criminal offense ma'am!"


Zhegras raised an eyebrow, looked at the man as though he were insane, and then smirked as she spoke, "Whereas impersonating a competent apparently carries no penalty whatsoever, sir."  The man straightened, snapped his tricorder shut with an air of judgement, deactivated his hand light...


...and started laughing out loud briefly before extending his hand, "Lt. Commander Delbridge, at your service.  Cadet Zhegras I take it?"  Delbridge shook her hand and looked at his datapadd, "And Cadets.... Daxacia, and Gruloar, from Lumpur.  Glad to have you.  I'm Chester W. Delbridge, current Acting Chief Engineer of this Excalibur class starship supporting your feet at present.  I've got them from here, boss, tell the Cap'n I said hi."  He addressed the last to Commander Irae with a smile and then immediately faded into the background tending to business, showing the trio of students the various consoles and readouts.


***************************************************************************************************************************************************
[Main Bridge]


Commander Irae entered the bridge with the remaining cadets in tow, and getting them situated at their various stations.  The Corvallen Yul'ryas stood behind Tamarov at Tactical, allowing the Lumpurean student the training seat beside him.  He wasn't generous by nature... but it would be a bit pathetic to make the scrawnier cat-eyed bookworm stand while he sat.  Yul'ryas could've sat in the student slot of the Security station just next to Tactical, but the standing position allowed him to observe both stations with equal ease just by shifting his weight and leaning a bit.  So another Lumpurean sat there, and another took a seat across the bridge to the right of the main viewscreen at another paired station, this one mapped to duplicate the readouts of the Operations and Helm stations without having any active controls that could alter anything on the ship.  They could view and page through various screens to read and analyze whatever was coming through the Ops and Navigational sensors and that sort of thing, but the student station couldn't initiate a degauss of the deflector dish or alter the ship's course for instance.


The Lumpurean male, Graelz, sat at the Nav pseudo-station while the vulcan girl Vasrea took the seat set up to echo the Operations screens.  She raised her eyebrow in an odd manner as Commander Irae spoke in a very gung-ho center seat manner.  Savot's brow arched as well, not so much from amusement since they were under an alert status at present, but moreso with sufficient understanding as to soften his expression and produce a measured reply from the captain, "Quite all right, Commander Irae.  A report is called for, given our lessened proximity to the vessel in question, as well as Doctor Chavet's arrival on the bridge."  Savot finished speaking just after the turbolift opened to admit Nayomi to the bridge.


To Savot's minor surprise, Vasrea's voice spoke up clearly but demurely from her station, "Captain, would it be permissible for me to deliver the Operations sensor report?  I would appreciate the practice, if Ensign Valor does not mind this once."  Jason shrugged and nodded from his station, giving Vasrea the floor.  She spun back to face her station and sorted through the various scan readings, "We've confirmed the coordinates of the Crosrik and have altered course to intercept in 17.3 minutes.  Long range scans confirm an asteroid field in the vicinity and detected numerous impact fractures along the hull, consistent with micrometeorite impacts.  This points to a probable malfunction in their navigational deflector which then ceased protecting the vessel from the particulate matter typically pushed aside by said deflector."


Vasrea continued, "Life support appears to be fluctuating; recommend engineering presence on any boarding party and with the full severity and extent of damage to the other vessel unknown, as well as their cargo, transporters could be unreliable in an emergency therefore boarding via shuttlecraft is more ideal."   Savot looked towards Valor to get his newest senior staff member's confirmation of the cadet's analysis, and Valor confirmed Vasrea's findings.


Savot turned to Deis and Chavet, "Very well, Commander, you'll lead an away team to the Crosrik via the Mini-Sal shuttlecraft.  Include an engineering presence as well as Doctor Chavet's medical team.  Upon arrival we'll halt the vessel's listing with our tractor beam if their structural integrity is sufficient, and you'll board via the secondary docking hatch as the primary received impact damage and won't provide an intact seal.  Have the repair personnel determine as quickly as possible if the Crosrik can be stabilized as we'll have to evacuate all 6 persons if the damage is too severe.  Doctor, I defer to your on-seen judgement regarding injuries.  If any are too severe to treat on-site, determine if beaming to sickbay is possible or if they need to be shuttled back here.  Mr. Tamarov, assign a small security detachment to sickbay, sufficient to defend if necessary but small enough not to interfere with Doctor Chavet's work.  Remaining Away Team assignments are at your discretion Commander Irae, the mission is yours."

[Deleted]

Nayomi remained on the Bridge for the remaining 17.3 minutes, communicating with her staff in sickbay to arrange her away team. Two medics would accompany her. She thought about bringing the students, but decided it would be wise to leave them in sickbay under Nurse Cutler's care until the ship was deemed safe. She didn't need concern about them getting in the way of her work.

The El Salvador dropped out of orbit and the ship was brought up on the view screen. It was adrift, and clearly had some hull damage from the asteroids, but no weapons damage. They where apparently not involved in a fire fight. Nayomi took the medical station near the back and ran a few quick scans of her own. Puzzled, she ran them again. She must have been making some kind of mistake. Again she ran the scans. She was picking up 8 faint life signs for a moment, and then they would be gone, then back again for a moment, and then gone. There must have been some kind of interference.

"Ensign Valour, are you getting the same readings I am?" She asked.

<Tag Valour>

"Captain with your permission I would like to increase my medical team, I don't know what we are dealing with here"

<Tag Savot>

On her way to the shuttle bay she stopped at sickbay to inform her team of the situation in person and grab her med kit. She left with three medics in tow and the rest of her people in high alert. Her heart was racing and had somehow found away way up into her throat. Her first away mission, and such a puzzling situation. She did not know what to expect and could only hope that they would arrive to find a simple explanation.

Little did she know that it would be, in fact, quite the opposite

---------

In the hold of the cargo ship a great obelisk pulsed with faint blue writing emanating from its alabaster stone. It seemed to hum in an almost musical way, both beautiful and horrifying.

[Deis Irae]

Aye Capn, were on it. Doc, be meetin ye at th Mini-Sal. ::Nodding to Capn Savot and then Doctor Chavet, immediately heading out. She pings the Sec chief once inside the lift, gives the orders for one of her Security guys to join us. Its protocol. Stepping out of the lift, heading shuttlebay-wards she taps her comms to ping engineering:: =/\=Lt. Commander Delbridge. Please join us in th shuttle bay, bring th full kit. Yer wi' th away team.=/\=

::By the time the Doctor gets her medical team to the shuttle bay, the Commander is settled inside the Mini-Sal, unable to not smile just a little bit, crankin 'er up. This shuttle has some serious history for her and regardless of how wierd life had gotten, she would never not enjoy flying it. She does get serious though once Delbridge, the Security Officer, and the Medteam arrives and steps inside:: Strap in Everyone.

::Once everyone is settled she signals takeoff and that this area of the shuttle bay will be vaccume. She hasnt piloted this thing in several years but its just like riding a bike...if said bike were fitted with full impulse thrusters and phasers. Shes never forgotten how to maneuver this shiny baby of hers...though technically not HERS. The Mini-Sal leaves the El Salvador shuttle bay and once the main ship has the Crosnik under tractor beam it is quick work to get us alongside::

::Once maneuvered close enough she hits the auto dock sequence and looks around to her people:: Righ'. This be th gameplan Ladies an Gents. Delbridge, get us in. I want Meself an Security out first just to clear entrypoint. Doctor, ye will follow in wi scanners an team once weve cleared. Delbridge, ye follow in th rear. Lets get it on.

[Savot]

[Main Bridge]


Savot looked between medical and Ops as Doctor Chavet asked for confirmation of her aberrant lifeform readings.  Valor did perform his own scan just in case, but he once more allowed the student Vasrea the floor to give the report, and the vulcan girl wasted no time reviewing the data and answering the Doctor, "Confirmed.  Life readings are unstable, cause unknown.  If their cargo were a material that interferes with sensor readings we shouldn't pick them up at all, but their life signs appear one moment and vanish the next.  My best hypothesis is some form of containment leak of equipment or cargo aboard the Crosnik releasing chemical or element that's distorting our scans; though the freighter's last submitted cargo manifest includes nothing that would result in said distortion."


"Captain with your permission I would like to increase my medical team, I don't know what we are dealing with here", Doctor Chavet inquired.


Savot nodded his approval and the Doctor and FO both left the bridge to assemble their personnel.  The vulcan captain then prepared to order the Crosnik's listing be aborted via gentle application of the El Salvador's tractor beam, but Valor spoke first, "Captain, that distortion affecting our lifeform scans is making it hard to get a firm tractor lock on the freighter.  With an unstable lock we could end up doing more damage to them if we're not careful; permission to head to deflector control and make manual adjustments to pierce the interference?"  


Savot nodded and 'Ace' got up to head for a turbolift, pausing to consider for a moment, the vulcan then turned back toward the main viewer, "Cadet Vasrea, do you feel prepared to assume the Ops position in Ensign Valor's absence?"


The vulcan girl blinked in visible surprise, tilted her head in thought and then straightened the posture of her back, "Yes I believe so Captain; I will do my best."  Savot nodded and Vasrea walked over to take her temporary station while he adjusted one of the arm screens on the captain's chair to monitor the Operations console in case the cadet's inexperience required assistance.  He doubted she'd make any significant error but it was wise to take precautions.  Valor soon reported from Deflector Control on Deck 16 that he'd made the necessary adjustments.  Vasrea worked the controls of her station, "Away Team shuttlecraft has left the shuttlebay; engaging tractor beam at low power... suspending Crosnik's forward inertia.  Now suspending rotational motion."


*********************************************************************************************************************
[Mini-Sal]


Delbridge wasted no time answering the First Officer's call.  He grabbed a kit and made good time to the shuttlebay and gave his charming southern boy smile, "Looking forward to seeing you in action, Commander.  Savot's told me a lot about you."  Even from his reserved and somewhat stoic vulcan friend, it hadn't been hard for Delbridge to glean that Irae was an important person to Savot, and the human was genuinely looking forward to seeing her work firsthand.  He secured his gear and strapped in as Deis piloted the Mini-Sal shuttle into space and began a slow progression towards the freighter while the El Salvador's tractor beam reached out and coerced the listing vessel to a stop for easier docking.


"On it boss-lady", the engineer replied as soon as the shuttle had mated docking clamps with the Crosnik, moving quickly to a console by the hatch to remotely access the freighter's commands and open their docking hatch since it was unlikely their crew were in a position to do so.  In just under a minute, the hiss-whirr of pressurizing and hatch opening opened the path into the freighter.  As per Irae's command Delbridge stood back allowing her and security to go first, tossing a friendly wink to Doctor Chavet as he took up position after her, "I got your back, Doc.  Don't worry I swing a mean transducer."

[Deleted]

The shuttle glided over to the adrift cargo ship, dodging a few meteoroids and docked smoothly on its side. After confirming that the ship’s life support was functioning the away team began to exit, starting with Commander Deis, followed by the security team. Nayomi and her medics exited last. What greeted them was nothing short of, well, nothing.

The ship was in decent shape internally, no obvious signs of struggle, well maintained and with the odd homey touch. Clearly it was a privately owned vessel that the owners took great pride in.

The medical team held out their tricorders, searching. After a few moments Crewman Yelany broke the silence. “Doctor, I believe I am detecting a survivor in this direction.” She pointed toward the door that schematics showed leading towards the mess hall. “No, wait, it’s gone.”

Nayomi furrowed her brow and examined her own readings. It was the same as the the readings from the El Salvador, one moment she detected something, the next it was gone. “Clearly something is causing interference. Unless we can locate the cause we will have to search the ship manually. Mr Delbridge, do you think you might be able to find the cause of this?

“Begging your pardon miss but I do believe I can try, Can’t promise you results though.” The engineer replied.

From there the team split up, One team heading to the bridge, the other to engineering while Nayomi took Yelany and a security crewman named Underwood with her to examine the living areas. There was more disarray here. A broken glass there, a tipped over chair and a 3D chess game had been knocked off of a table, its pieces all over the floor.

Nayomi bent down and picked up a knight, turning it over in her hand. “Where is everyone? she wondered allowed. She glanced at her tricorder and it told her an Andorian was standing directly in front of her. Looking up she saw that no one was there. Frustrated she placed the chess piece back on the table and turned to Crewman Yelany. “Found anything?”

The young woman's eyes grew wide as she looked over Nayomi’s shoulder. “Dddddocter.” she pointed. Nayomi turned around to see the little black night spinning in the air, then immediately drop to the floor. Her heart quickened for a moment It’s not possible, something must be wrong with the artificial gravity. She waved her hand in the air where the piece had spun, and felt nothing unusual. Bent down to pick it up once more, it felt the same. Looked her her tricorder, it told her nothing was out of the ordinary. What was going on?

=A=Chavet to Commander Irae, we appear to have encountered some sort of anomaly in the common room. It is difficult to explain, but I believe 20th century humans might believe we have a poltergeist.=A=

[Deis Irae]

Keep comms open Ladies n Gents. Quicker if we split up. Lets get this done. ((because horror movie logic)) ::Doc hitting the commons, Delbridge engineering, Irae herself, the bridge. The oddest thing that the Commander noticed on her way to the command bridge is just random items scattered here and there. To her it just looks like people dropped things while rushing around. It happens. Your under attack, you tend to toss that padd and attend to the situation at hand. So by the time that the Doctor comms her, speaking of poltergeists, Deis is standing on the bridge with this...look...on her face. Deis Irae is notoriously difficult to startle or scare these days...what these eyes have seen and all that. But she CAN be baffled and bewildered. That is the look on her face as she happens to be staring at a coffee mug just sort of floating in front of the main bridge command chair. As though the comm from the Doc snapped the tenuous thread that held it in place, the mug thumps to the seat of the chair and then rolls off onto the floor:: =/\=Aye Doctor...got a wee bit o th same 'appenin 'ere on th bridge. Wha's yer tricorders sayin cause mines confused as 'ell.=/\=

::Deis crouches down and picks up the coffee mug, eyes scanning the rest of the bridge for any further activity as she speaks next to Delbridge:: =/\=Delbridge. Wha 'ave ye got? Th same?=/\=


Delbridge made his way to Engineering in the presence of 2 security members. It wasn't a large freighter so it didn't take long to reach. There was however, a door that refused to respond to either automatic opening or push-button control. Furrowing a brow Delbridge wasted no time in kneeling at the bulkhead next to the door and prying a panel off the wall. The manual pump-release for the door was right behind the control panel... but just as you wouldn't want to open a door with a raging fire behind it, it would seriously dampen his day if he manually overrode the door only to open it into a radiation-flooded compartment. Hooking his tricorder up to the internal sensor lines allowed Delbridge to get a solid reading confirming it was safe to enter Engineering. As he replaced the panel, Delbridge heard Irae's voice on the comm, =/\=Delbridge. Wha 'ave ye got? Th same?=/\=

Savot's friend replied even as he yanked the door panel and began cranking the manual release lever to pump the door open, =/\=Nothing yet, had an obstacle, entering Engineering now. Woah...=/\= As the doors opened and his group went in, Delbridge saw a mess. Chairs had been unbolted from the floor and staged in front of the door like a barricade. Getting through them easily, he then saw that the door panel on this side of the door had been blasted to keep it sealed. =/\=No life signs yet... but someone was trying to keep someone or something else from getting into Engineering. The only door was sealed and barricaded... but there's no one here living or dead, so I'm a tad confused as to who accomplished the sealing...=/\=

=/\=I keep pickin up th same as th Doctor. Life signs one minute, zip th next. Tis nae a soul on th Bridge either. Just levitatin objects 'ere and there. Keep us informed aye? Checkin th main sensor bank n ships logs now=/\= ::She silences then and sits down in the main bridge chair and is suddenly struck by the most direct feeling of "screaming heebeejeebees" that shes ever felt. With a little "Nyah!" sound she jumps back up and rubs arms to make the skin crawly feeling go away. It wasnt that she went cold or heard voices or anything one would expect on a "haunted" ship...but it wasnt nothing either. So she ends up walking to a different console and resolutely NOT sitting down. She so cant help looking over her shoulder at that chair though::

[Deleted]

"This is Shuttle Craft Five requesting permission to dock with the USS Salvador," The shuttle pilot spoke into the comm and waited for a reply.
"Permission granted Shuttle Craft Five continue with docking procedure." Was the official sounding reply.  2nd Lieutenant Quinn Summers glanced to her fellow passenger, A civilian Counselor named T'val Mercy. As the craft dock Quinn stood and smoothed her already immaculate Star Fleet Marine uniform. Her light brown hair was pulled back into a tight braid that looked air tight. Boots polished until they gleamed. Every bit the poster Marine, however there was something dangerous in those gem like blue eyes. She wasn't overly tall and had an athletic build of smooth lean muscles. She bent and picked up her duffle bag and stepped out of the shuttle. 
"Thanks for the lift Ensign," She said to the pilot as she exited. 

Those eyes surveyed the docking area. and anyone nearby would get that feeling that she was committing everything to memory. That's because she was.

[Deleted]

T'Val watched the woman across from her, without being too obvious about it. The way her uniform was crisp and clean, her uniform all ironed with exactly the right creases and folds.... she had to be new to the job and of course highly trained. From her experience in serving on starships, they were generally the best trained officers. Marines, anyways.

Unlike the woman though, T'Val wore a comfortable light brown dress, but would resort to the maternity sciences division uniform when required, without rank insignia attached so she looked like she was part of the crew. But for travel, in her current condition, the light dress was far more comfortable. The officer back on starbase had assured her that her belongings would arrive in time as well and that she'd not have to worry about carrying anything but what she needed then and there. Which, being Vulcan, wasn't much.

When the shuttle docked with the El-Salvador, T'Val departed the shuttle, giving the marine woman a polite nod as she passed her, and headed straight for the tall Vulcan male waiting at a safe distance from the shuttle. Parting her right hand in the traditional salute, T'Val bowed her head briefly in acknowledgement of his seniority (in both age, position and rank). "Doctor T'Val Mercy, reporting in sir," she spoke calmly, though her expression was not as calm as she let on. Her eyes spoke volumes as she took him in, sizing him up.

[Savot]

[Shuttlebay]


Savot stood to the side as the incoming shuttle passed through the containment field and landed to disembark its passengers. Shortly before its arrival Savot had received the incoming transfer notice from Starfleet Command regarding their new Senior Marine Officer and Counselor.  Both positions the captain was pleased to have filled. A Marine command presence would increase the El Salvador's overall security and the potency of any tactical strikes their missions might necessitate. Likewise, Savot had felt the Counselor position useful to the crew particularly during Stacey Jackson's tour in that position, and with students aboard in the new El Salvador's capacity as an Academy vessel said position would likely be even more useful.


The civilian approached first while the Marine took in her surroundings, and Savot returned the Doctor's greeting with a vulcan salute of his own, "Welcome aboard, Doctor Mercy; I am Captain Savot.  Your service honors us.  This data padd lists your quarters and office location.  As a civilian your quarters are on Deck 4, and there is unclaimed space suitable for your office on either the same deck or Deck 9 near the Cadet quarters, whichever you believe more conducive to your work is fine with me; any furniture and equipment you desire is procurable through replication via any Engineering officer and can be moved to whichever office space you select.  The Chief Medical Officer is currently on assignment determining the medical needs of the nearby freighter but the head nurse or EMH stand ready to perform your entry physical after you're settled.  Do you have any questions beforehand?" 


<Mercy, will edit counter-response if warranted>


The new SMO approached as Doctor Mercy departed with the deep whirr of opening doors leading to the corridor, and Savot greeted her with a slight bow of his head handing her a padd as well, though he noted her seemingly taking stock of the details around her and presumed she would commit her room and office assignment to memory regardless, "Welcome aboard, Lieutenant Summers.  I'm Captain Savot.  Your personal quarters are on Deck 3 , and your office as well as the Marine contingent Barracks, Mess Hall, and Lounge are located on Deck 19.  Decks 21 and 24 are the nearest Holodecks and can be configured for any training scenarios you devise for your team.  You may settle your belongings and report for your initial medical exam in whichever order you prefer; then if you wish to begin duty the Tactical Station on the Bridge is available.  First Officer Irae is currently leading an Away Team on the nearby freighter attempting to confirm the cause of their distress and render aid if possible.  The freighter shows no signs of ship-to-ship weapons damage but I feel it prudent to keep an eye on the external sensors as a precaution.  Do you have any questions before getting started?"


<Summers, will edit in counter-response if needed>

[Deleted]

She strode over to the Captain and offered a crisp salute. 
"2nd Lieutenant Summers reporting for duty Sir," She said lowering her salute. Then waited for the Captain to respond before she spoke again. "Thank you Sir, I look forward to serving on the El Salvador." She accepted the padd, glanced at it and committed her berth to memory. "Aye Sir, I will stow my gear and report to the medical bay," Her tone was formal, but that was just her way. You would get used to it. In her mind she was already planning training exercises to test her people. "Am I correct in assuming all of my records arrived before me Sir?" She asked. Her medical file was interesting as she possessed an artificial heart and her spine had been replaced as well. She waited hands clasped at the base of her spine for a response.

[Deleted]

=/\=I keep pickin up th same as th Doctor. Life signs one minute, zip th next. Tis nae a soul on th Bridge either. Just levitatin objects 'ere and there. Keep us informed aye? Checkin th main sensor bank n ships logs now=/\=

=A= Let me know what you find commander. I am going to take my team down to the cargo hold and see if we can find any enlightenment there.=A=

Nayomi was happy to find an excuse to get out of the crew lounge, the place was starting to creep her out. Unfortunately the hallways to the cargo bay where no better. The entire trip she felt like someone was breathing on her shoulder, but every time she turned around, no one was there. She could see that Yelany was starting to get jumpy too, and even the regularly stoic security detail, Crewman Underwood, looked a little uneasy. She tried not to notice him drifting over to her medic’s side and putting a reassuring arm around her shoulders.

The cargo bay was in an unusual state of disarray. A few crates had been knocked over, their contents strewn across the floor. Ancient vases were now broken, and some tools caused an obstacle course of toe-stubbing hazards. A few larger crates were still together and occupying the center of the bay was a large white obelisk with blue, almost glowing alien writing on it. The only term to describe it was breath-taking, but that did not quite do it justice.

“It’s… It’s… What is it Doctor?” Underwood gasped.

“I have no idea, they must have excavated it. It could be very very old.” Nayomi turned her tricorder towards the artifact, and read nothing. She turned towards Yelany, but the women was no longer beside her. The young medic had drifted towards the stone, transfixed. She started to stroll around it. Of course, Nayomi recalled, Yelany had been an art major in university for a term, this was right up her alley.

Nayomi allowed her assistant to admire the obelisk while she scanned the rest of the room. She continued to pick up a few faint Rigellian life signs that soon fleeted and a Denobulan a few times, clearly the Archeologist. The crew was still here, at least in some sense of the word. “Yelany, let’s go and check out some of the crew quarters and the medical bay.”

There was no reply. Crewman Yelany was gone

[Deis Irae]

=A= Let me know what you find commander. I am going to take my team down to the cargo hold and see if we can find any enlightenment there.=A=

=/\=I will tha, Doctor. Be careful=/\= ::Irae replied to the Doctor and then returns her attention to the console in front of her, swiping a tendril of hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear. She works at this for a good solid 10 minutes before she realizes that the logs are not going to just let her in because she has good intentions. The Commander, in her recently previous "occupation" isnt a stranger to hacking a system but it would take time and more knowledge about the ships inhabitants than is currently possible being as how theyre GONE and she cant get into the personnel files.:: Come on ye bloody thing. Lemme in. Were just 'ere t 'elp. Wha 'appened t ye...

::She had been speaking half to herself and half to the ship itsself. But to her utter body chilling shock, before her eyes, the console lights up. The flat paneled buttons flash as they are depressed...slowly. There is no doubt, however, that the combination being punched in is the logs passcode, because the logs open right up for her. A superstitious shiver passes down the length of her spine and prickles at the nape of her bare neck. She stands there trying not to do something silly like yelping or jumping back from the console with the screaming heebeejeebees.::

::The problem with being born in Inishmoor, Ireland is that one is brought up with a certain familiarity with ghost stories. Wraiths, banshees, boggins, kelpies, sprites and spirits. Very few people believe in that sort of thing in this day and age...theyre legends. But still. For the first time in 2 decades she nearly feels the need to cross herself and mutter a rosary. Thank goodness that she is of a more...logical...frame of mind these days. Whatever is going on here is NOT bloody ghosts! Get yer 'ead on straight woman. But...just in case she sort of looks at the chair beside her and says softly:: Ahem...erm...thank ye kindly. ::Then she begins to scan the logs, paying particular attention to the most recent::

=========

::Barely 10 minutes after the commander spoke her last, she is comming the Doctor again, unknowing that there has been a dissappearance among her own crew:: =/\=Chavet...do nae go near tha bloody artifact, d ye hear me woman? Do nae touch it, stay back from it. Respond!=/\=

[Savot]

[Shuttle Bay / Bridge]


Savot nodded to Summers' question, "Indeed. They arrived only recently so I've not yet reviewed them personally but your medical files have been forwarded to Sickbay. I'll see you on the bridge when you're finished getting settled, Lieutenant." A brief nod of his head ended the exchange and Savot departed the shuttlebay to return to the bridge and check in with Irae's team.


Upon his arrival, Savot was greeted by Cadet Vasrea's voice speaking from Ops with surprise, "Sir, request sensor confirmation. My station had a firm lock on the Away Team's life signs even after they boarded the Crosnik but approximately 30 seconds ago one of the signals vanished in the ship's cargo bay. The remainder of the Away Team still register and we continue to pick up life signs consistent with the Crosnik's compliment sporadically. That would suggest my theory regarding sensor interference was mistaken, else we wouldn't be receiving consistent life signs from Away Team members at all."


Savot sat immediately and confirmed Vasrea's readings, =^=Savot to Away Team, please respond. Any Away Team member receiving this message please respond immediately.=^= The vulcan captain looked over to Lt. Tamarov currently sitting at Tactical until Lieutenant Summers arrived.


Alexi met the captain's glance and shook his head, "No response captain; nor anything on sensors that can confirm they even received your hail." Savot arched an eyebrow in thought, "Could we strengthen the communication signal by repeating it through the Mini-Sal shuttlecraft's comm system? Use it as an amplifier?"


Tamarov nodded, "It should work... if the problem is in fact some sort of interference. There could be other factors involved; if something's affecting our people on a mental level it wouldn't matter how strong our hail is."


Savot nodded his understanding and paged Sickbay, "Bridge to EMH. Doctor, is Dr. Mercy still in sickbay? I understand she has a medical background. I'm patching what little sensor readings we have on the Away Team to your screens. We've been unable to establish communication and have lost sensor contact with one member of Irae's party. I'd like Doctor Mercy to examine our readings and determine if they're suffering any mentally deleterious effects. I'll maintain an open line to you via my commbadge so you can keep me apprised of your findings, Savot out."



<Since Savot headed straight to the bridge the above should easily occur sometime before T'Val finishes her medical exam, administered by the EMH program. Whichever point during the checkup you like best T'Val is entirely up to you. And once you start checking the Away Team readings the EMH can give Summers her exam. And once on the bridge, if Summers would have that technical knowledge she can go about setting up the aforementioned communication boost through the Away Team shuttle's comm system to enhance our hailing signal.>

[Deleted]

Quinn would salute as the Captain departed. She would pick up her duffle bag and head to her quarters. It didn't take long for her stow her gear. A combat veteran Quinn traveled light. Most of her possessions she kept at her Grandparents house for safe keeping. Once everything was in order Quinn headed up to the medical bay for her physical.  

She looked around the medbay.
"Excuse me Doctor?" She asked, standing with her hands clasped at the base of her spine.

[Deleted]

T'Val just listened and nodded where appropriate. "I will settle in my quarters first, then report to sickbay for preliminary exam," she told Savot. She gave the marine she'd arrived with a final nod before walking out of the shuttlebay. Using her PADD, she located her quarters on deck 4, which seemed to be quite spacious. She smiled to herself, wondering what Stuart would've said if he'd been here. Still, he was out on the rim again, and out of touch for quite some time. On occasion, she received the odd message that was already days or even weeks old but still, it was news and she was glad to see he missed her, and would like nothing better than to return home to her. But his assignment was of such a nature, that he couldnt and it was quite possible he wouldn't be here when their son was born.

She walked around her new home, putting away the few personal belongings she'd brought from Starbase Assailant. Somehow, that old station would always be her home, no matter what. She blinked when she saw a message waiting for her, her smile widening when she saw it was from her ex-husband, Tedak. Despite their divorce, they were still the best of friends, and he was the one she turned to while Stuart was away, whenever she needed something. His message stated he was on his way to the Victory to serve once again with Magellan Lin.

T'Val found she missed the Trill admiral, and she wondered to what extend she could compare Savot to her old friend. Returning to the living area, she set down a few pictures. Including a small picture that was encased in a black frame. A young boy, no older than three, with Vulcanoid features but clearly neither Vulcan nor Romulan. A brief message framed with the picture stated the child's name and origin, and date of death. Briefly, T'Val covered the picture with her hand and closed her eyes then moved on.

Minutes later, dressed properly in sciences blue, despite being a civilian, T'Val walked into main sickbay. "Counselor Mercy, reporting for medical exam," she stated clearly.

[Deleted]

The ship’s EMH had been online since Dr Chavet’s departure and had been occupied assisting the nursing staff with the regular humdum of sickbay activity. The team had taken to calling it Ernest, Ernest Miller Hemmingway to be exact. It seemed a very odd and lengthy title.

He was called upon with the entry of an immaculately dressed human Marine who stood smartly before him “Excuse me, Doctor?”

“I am the ships EMH, Dr Chavet is with the away team. What is the nature of your medical emergency?”

<Tag Summers>

“A physical, that is no emergency, but I am programed to administer arrival physicals in the Doctor’s absence. Please take a seat on the bio bed and fill out this form.” He handed her a padd with the usual slew of questions. Well she looked over the form he brought up her medical file in his database and began to scan her bio signs. “Artificial heart, and spine. You must have stories to tell. Excellent physical condition…. Anything of note lately regarding your health. Anything out of the ordinary?”

<Tag Summers>

He was just finishing with the Marine when the doors to sickbay slid open and a Vulcan in a pipless blue collared uniform entered “Counselor Mercy, reporting for medical exam."

“Please take a seat counselor, I am just finishing with Lieutenant Summers.”

A few minutes later he had moved onto T’Val, handed her the medical padd of questions and began the usual routine.

<Tag T’Val>

--------------------------------------
Meanwhile on the freighter

=/\=Chavet...do nae go near tha bloody artifact, d ye hear me woman? Do nae touch it, stay back from it. Respond!=/\=

=A= Agreed commander=A= “Underwood, step away from there.” He was starting to drift towards the object, his brow furrowed. Clearly his emotions where getting the better of him

“I… I don’t… She was just here. You don’t think she’s…. dead?” His voice quivered a bit, clearly there was more to his and Yelany’s relationship then met the eye.

“No.” Nayomi re-assured him. “Ok, I can’t be sure, but I expect the same thing happened to her as the crew of this ship. Look.” She showed him her tricorder. “That blip you just saw, those are her vital signs. She ghosting in and out, just like the Andorian in the crew lounge, and this stone seems to have something to do with it. =A= Commander Irae, do the ships record’s show where these artifacts were collected?”

<Tag Irae>

[Deleted]

Quinn slid onto the bio bed and accepted the padd and quickly began to fill out the usual form. "Too many to tell sometimes," She replied to the EMH in reference to the stories comment. The scans would show her artificial parts along with blast scarring on her chest and back. The shot that gave her those parts. Along with claw like scarring across her throat ending just underneath her jaw. "No, nothing to report. Everything is fine. Is there anything else Doctor?" She asked handing back the padd and regarding the EMH with ice blue eyes.

[Deleted]

T'Val studied the PADD for a moment, easily filling in some of the questions. They were similar to what she had used back as chief medic on Assailant, but not quite all the same. No, she didn't have any allergies, at least none that she was aware of. No recent injuries either. Only an accidental overdose a few years ago, back when D'Beren had died. She still experienced a sense of loss there. Even though the child had not been biologically hers, she had felt oddly connected to him. As J'Zhan had indicated, quite possibly because she had Debrune DNA as well.

DId she feel good? Considering her current predicament, yes she felt in excellent health though she felt a little quick out of breath lately. At about six months pregnant, she did feel good, if not a little bloated. But then, her child was half-Human. She already knew she was going to deliver a boy, and she and Stuart had already selected a name too.

T'Val waited patiently for the EMH to return and handed over the PADD. "I assume, you wish to take scans for yourself, as a baseline for my service here on El-Salvador?"

[Deleted]

Sept 9, 2014 2:23:29 GMT @mutt said:

"No, nothing to report. Everything is fine. Is there anything else Doctor?" She asked handing back the padd and regarding the EMH with ice blue eyes.

Ernest took the padd and gave it a quick glance. "No nothing at the moment, In case it interests you Dr Chavet is currently beginning a round of treatments with Commander Deis to remove significant levels of scaring like your own."

"Come now hologram! Don't be convincing another one of these beautiful warriors on your ship to do away with their marks of honour!" A voice bellowed out of the storage room and was soon followed by a young Klingon man in student's uniform. It was Jhal'Dok, one of the Lampurian exchange students who had been pit to work inventorying. "Now what is a women like you doing here when all the excitement is on the freighter?

"Jhal'dok!" Another student, a cat-like Lampurian, emerged from the same room. "You will get your self kicked off this ship, and out of my bed if you talk to the officers like that." she purred.

<Tag Summers>

"Both of you back to work, I will need to talk to Doctor Chavet about this fraternizing, it may be appropriate back at your school, but in Starfleet we expect more discretion."

"Computer, deactivate EMH." Jhal'Dok grinned as the hologram vanished with a cry.

"Alright, that is enough you two! Ernest was right, back to work." Nurse Cutler had decided it was time to intervene. "No try deactivating me!" The students slunk back into the storage room. "My apologies Mame, a training vessel can be an interesting place. Computer, reactivate EMH."

"Please state the... Well I never! Who gave them that ability!" The EMH exclaimed. "Ah, Lieutenant, I think that is everything."

<Tag Summers>

------
*A few minutes later with T'Val*

Sept 10, 2014 19:27:50 GMT @tval said:

"I assume, you wish to take scans for yourself, as a baseline for my service here on El-Salvador?"

"You are correct, especially given your current state. 6 months along and looking healthy, although I expect Dr Chavet will contact you for an exam herself." Ernest began the scans.

As he did so Nurse Cutler approached "I am sorry for the disturbance earlier, the Lampurian academy is a little more lax with their student's discipline and Dr Chavet has been a bit busy to lay down the law. My name is Janice Cutler, I am the head nurse here." She lowered her voice "I hope I am not being out of place, but perhaps when you are settled you could meet with the students? Jhal'Dok and Hzara are in the relationship and it is affecting their work. You did not meet Linayra, but the Suliban is very quiet, one would say shy, and is having difficulty with her bedside manner."

<Tag T'Val>

(OOC A description of the Lampurians and profiles on the 3 medical students can be found in the Mission OOC thread)

[Deleted]

Quinn slid off the biobed, smoothed her uniform out. "That won't be necessary Doctor. They serve as a reminder of deeds done and that we are not immortal." A little in joke amongst Marines and Murphy's law of combat. You are not gods, Marines and fighter pilots take note. The slighest of smirks quirked her lips as she remembered that. She turned to observe the Klingon as he loudly announced himself, she raised a brow at his words. 

"I have only just arrived on board. Lieutenant Quinn Summers. I am the new Senior Marine Officer on board." She paused then spoke again in perfect Klingon "I am pleased to meet you. I look forward to serving with you Jhal'dok." She said. Then turned her penetrating attention to the Lampurian woman. "Hello, and who might you be?" She asked in english as she didn't speak that particular language. She shook her head slightly at the mischief being caused by turning the EMH off. This wasn't her department and she was new on board. To the nurse she spoke next. 
"I certainly hope that my Marines do not behave in such a manner. If so they are in for a very rude shock." Her voice had an underlying tone of pure steel in regards to that particular statement. Then to the Doctor.

"Thank you Doctor, I will proceed to the Bridge." She offered a salute then turned on her heel and strode from the room.

BRIDGE.

Quinn stepped onto the Bridge and headed for the Captain.
"Permission to take the Tactical Station Sir?" She asked in that crisp military tone.

[Savot]

[Main Bridge]


Quinn stepped onto the Bridge and headed for the Captain.

"Permission to take the Tactical Station Sir?" She asked in that crisp military tone.


"Permission granted, Lieutenant Summers", Savot nodded as Lieutenant Tamarov rose to free the Tactical station, giving the Marine a welcoming smile as he passed her on his way to the Engineering station.  Alexi Tamarov was not particularly brilliant in any one department, and in his cadet days had been know to be a little playful for an officer, but after becoming a full Lieutenant he'd grown into a stolidly reliable officer who had sufficient skill in multiple areas to fill in wherever there was a need and it was this versatility that made him nigh-indispensable.  Swiveling his chair to face his readouts, Alexi quietly comm'ed down to Lieutenant Kelbren, the Klingon in charge of Engineering in Delbridge's Away Team absence.


When Summers had taken her station Savot continued, "Ms. Summers, we've lost communication with our Away Team aboard the freighter.  Commander Irae's boarding craft, the Mini-Sal shuttle is still docked with the Crosnik.  It's possible that our signals are reaching the Away Team but some biological problem is preventing them from responding; however, in the event that the silence is due to equipment failure or interference instead I'd like you to attempt to boost our comm signal to increase the likelihood of it reaching our team."


"If you can establish a remote link with the Mini-Sal shuttle's computer system, you should be able to repeat our hail to the Away Team through the shuttle's communication system.  With its closer proximity to the Away Team that will ideally decrease the chance of interference remaining a problem; if that is in fact what's behind their silence at the present time", Savot completed his instructions and then let his people do their jobs.

<Tag Summers reply, if any>

After a moment, Savot tilted his head slightly as he pondered a possibility, rising from his chair to walk the few strides to Ops, "Cadet Vasrea, are you familiar with how to deploy a scientific probe?"  The vulcan girl sat rigidly upright and seeing the slight quiver of her hands on the console for the briefest of seconds before she regained control he almost thought he'd startled her or some similar phenomenon.  But she nonetheless replied quickly and with confidence, "I am qualified in probe deployment Captain; which model should I prepare?"


Savot looked to the viewscreen, narrowing his eyes at the image of the mated shuttlecraft and freighter out in space ahead of them, then looking over the Cadet's shoulder to review the Ops sensor data and its odd fluctuations, "Prepare 2 Class 1 microprobes and deploy them at relative 2 o'clock and 10 o'clock around the Crosnik using the El Salvador's current position as 6 o'clock.  Set microprobe Alpha to scan the breadth of the EM spectrum, and microprobe Beta to scan subspace.  Perform continuous scans on normal wavelengths with the El Salvador's short-range sensors, and at intervals of 10 minutes overlap the readings from both probes and our sensors.  If our readings keep fading in and out, it's possible they're transitioning outside our standard sensor parameters.  No single scan source will get a full 'picture', but perhaps by triangulating and overlapping the readings from multiple sources scanning different categories we'll be able to glean a more complete understanding of the scenario at hand."


Despite herself, Vasrea was increasingly intrigued at the prospect of deriving a possible solution to a problem, and set about prepping the 2 microprobes for launch.  When ready, she fired the probes and the ensign at the Helm moved them into their respective 2 and 10 o'clock positions around the freighter by way of remote navigation.  With the probes in place and another round of scans beginning, Savot returned to the center seat to wait, hoping at least one of their initiatives would prove fruitful and help them re-establish contact with the Away Team and assist the freighter crew as well.