1.3 Melody and Harmony

[Magellan Lin]

Magellan spent the remaining time on the final approach to Qomar reviewing Voyagers intel on the planet and its people. It seemed they had developed a joy of music during Voyagers encounter but despite being a diminutive race had come across as elitist and superior. Magellan was unsure why such a race would specifically request a diplomatic mission and why command would send the Victory. Yes they were closest but repairs still hadnt been finished from the sabotage, they had a skeleton crew and a possible species 8472 imposter still aboard.

He picked up a padd and reviewed Hood's latest ideas on how to catch their stowaway. He nodded at a few of the more original ideas but many had already been tried by Commander Hope. Perhaps Hoods fresh eyes might be able to track the foe down. A foe so far only engineer Harash-kyat had actually seen.

"Admiral we have just entered orbit" Hope's voice stated over the comm "We have recieved beam down co-ordinates."

Magellan rose and went on to the bridge where he noticed Garron... his now other self was sat at Operations. The young trill turned to face Magellan, it was an odd sensation to know that the Lin symboint was now in this youth and had all his memories.

"Thank you commander. Have Ambassador Tedak and Ensign Hood join me in the main transporter room. The bridge is yours Commander... don't damage it"

[Deleted]

Hood nodded to his two security crewman as he approached. He activated the chime and announced himself.

"Come in," Tedak called out, smiling brightly as the security came walking inside. "Your two guards really aren't necessary but if it makes you feel better, then please invite them in as well. No point in them remaining outside when they can come and enjoy dinner too."

Sev warbled, fanning his wings as he hopped on the table. Nut just chirped, lifted his head briefly then curled up again to continue his disturbed nap. "Don't mind them, they're just as excited as I am. I hardly ever get vistors even though i get the feeling you're not just a regular visitor."

The Romulan gestured towards the couch and the seats, motioning for him to take a seat. "Coffee?" he asked as he moved to the replicator. "And you can ask me anything you want, provided of course it won't cause me a security breach. Either for my government, or yours I mean."

[Allan Hood]

Dec 18, 2014 21:32:38 GMT @tedak said:

Hood nodded to his two security crewman as he approached. He activated the chime and announced himself.

"Come in," Tedak called out, smiling brightly as the security came walking inside. "Your two guards really aren't necessary but if it makes you feel better, then please invite them in as well. No point in them remaining outside when they can come and enjoy dinner too."

Sev warbled, fanning his wings as he hopped on the table. Nut just chirped, lifted his head briefly then curled up again to continue his disturbed nap. "Don't mind them, they're just as excited as I am. I hardly ever get vistors even though i get the feeling you're not just a regular visitor."

The Romulan gestured towards the couch and the seats, motioning for him to take a seat. "Coffee?" he asked as he moved to the replicator. "And you can ask me anything you want, provided of course it won't cause me a security breach. Either for my government, or yours I mean."

“Thank you,” Hood answered as the door hissed shut, “hopefully, they will not be necessary. They are here for your protection.” The security chief did not want to bring up that a member of Species 8472 may be running around, impersonating crew members. Would the admiral mind if he discussed it with the ambassador? Hood rather not find out indirectly. “They have to stay at their posts while on duty. I’ll be sure to tell them you offered.”

Hood eyed the flying lizards carefully. He knew that winged serpent-like reptilian creatures lived on Berengaria VII, Maravel and the Lactra VII Zoo. Maybe the ancient sea-faring sailors were right, beyond the explored regions were dragons. Hopefully the crew will not threaten to hang their admiral from the yard arm if he refuses to turn back, like the sea-faring days.

“Tea, sweet, chilled,” the security chief said as he accepted Tedak’s offer and sat. Hood usually did not have sweet tea until after he was comfortable and at home resting, but, this was a special occasion. “How did you become an ambassador?  Your answers should not cause a security breach,” Hood said jokingly, “either for my government, or yours I mean.”

[Allan Hood]

Back in the security chief’s quarters, Sami-Jo and Gracie dug into a box of centuries old incandescent Christmas lights. Sami-Jo wanted to have the Christmas tree finished by the time Allan came home, to surprise him. Usually, they all take part in decorating the tree as a family, but his work schedule had been hectic since coming aboard, with getting to know his crew and re-assigning duty shifts to his liking.

Mrs. Hood feel like it was best to illuminate their tree from the inside out. She started at the base of the trunk and worked her way up, wrapping lights around every major branch, moving from the trunk to the tip and back.

With the garland, Sami-Jo started the opposite way. She started at the top of the tree and slowly increased the amount of garland between each wave as she worked her way down the branches, using about six strands of garland for every vertical meter of tree. The thin, beaded garlands were hung from branch to branch while the thicker paper, ribbon, and foil garlands were wrapped loosely around the entire tree.

While Gracie busied herself with pulling on the lights and garland, her mother began hanging the centuries-old family ornaments from both families, starting with the largest first, spacing them evenly around the tree, then working her way down to the smallest. The oldest ornaments were beautifully decorated with silver and gold coloring, while the newest featured holographic portraits or holograms of family members from previous generations.

The Hood’s quarters looked very festive, between the Christmas lights and the lighted menorah. The farthest left window featured the menorah, with the tree standing in the middle window. Multi-colored lights trimmed the outside of the three-window view like stars in various life stages dancing around the border.

Finally, Sami-Jo and Gracie left the star for Allan to place at last. The star was from his mother’s side, forgetting the full history of the adornment. Hopefully, he will be back soon from his visit with the ambassador, if not, they can wait until tomorrow.

[Deleted]

The Romulan smiled as his questions were answered, and quietly set the glass of chilled tea in front of his guest. "I became an ambassador because I am good at talking, brokering deals," he answered in return. "But, since my feelings were pro-federation, I somewhat fell from grace and I was sort of banished to Starbase Assailant, where I became the senior diplomat to speak for the Romulan people. By befriending my Federation peers, I fell even more from grace and the worst of it all was that I married a Vulcan woman. I was replaced as senior diplomat." He paused, sipping his own tea. "Ultimately, I divorced my wife but we remain good friends. This happened after our adopted son was killed in a shuttlecrash. To day, we still don't believe that was a mere accident, but we've decided to let it rest."

He watched his guest for a moment, drawing in a few deep breaths. "I have served on other starships before this one, mostly as diplomat, or as mission advisor, wherever Starfleet had use of me. I do what I think is best for my people, but I do keep my friends in mind, and the needs of the federation. the last thing I want, is to start a war over a minor dispute you see. I was once framed for murder, as I'm sure you've already been able to uncover, and my saving grace was that I don't carry or use firearms. The victim had been shot, the weapon did bear my prints but that was because my superior had forced me to carry a disruptor. I did, but I never did charge it witl a power cell. That got me cleared of all charges. Since then I don't even carry an uncharged one anymore, just my blade."

He paused again. "I do have special permission to carry it, all the socalled paperwork for it is in order. If you require to see it?"

[Allan Hood]

Dec 20, 2014 21:56:59 GMT @tedak said:

The Romulan smiled as his questions were answered, and quietly set the glass of chilled tea in front of his guest. "I became an ambassador because I am good at talking, brokering deals," he answered in return. "But, since my feelings were pro-federation, I somewhat fell from grace and I was sort of banished to Starbase Assailant, where I became the senior diplomat to speak for the Romulan people. By befriending my Federation peers, I fell even more from grace and the worst of it all was that I married a Vulcan woman. I was replaced as senior diplomat." He paused, sipping his own tea. "Ultimately, I divorced my wife but we remain good friends. This happened after our adopted son was killed in a shuttlecrash. To day, we still don't believe that was a mere accident, but we've decided to let it rest."

He watched his guest for a moment, drawing in a few deep breaths. "I have served on other starships before this one, mostly as diplomat, or as mission advisor, wherever Starfleet had use of me. I do what I think is best for my people, but I do keep my friends in mind, and the needs of the federation. the last thing I want, is to start a war over a minor dispute you see. I was once framed for murder, as I'm sure you've already been able to uncover, and my saving grace was that I don't carry or use firearms. The victim had been shot, the weapon did bear my prints but that was because my superior had forced me to carry a disruptor. I did, but I never did charge it witl a power cell. That got me cleared of all charges. Since then I don't even carry an uncharged one anymore, just my blade."

He paused again. "I do have special permission to carry it, all the socalled paperwork for it is in order. If you require to see it?"

“Thank you very much,” Hood said while accepting his beverage. Hood took a sip and tried to relax. “How did you develop your love of the Federation?” Hood asked, “an interstellar federal republic based on principles of universal liberty, rights, and equality seems a far cry from the xenophobic character and policies of extreme secrecy and territorial protectionism of the Romulan Star Empire. How were you beguiled to prefer the Federation?” Hood jokingly asked.

“I’m sorry to hear about the shuttlecrash and divorce,” Hood said, “I can’t imagine something like that happening to my family. One of the reasons I sought tactical training was to better prepare myself to protect my family. My love of the stars and the idea of the Federation led me to Starfleet.”

“The 2153 Xindi attack on Earth happened near my hometown of Caloosahatchee, Florida by Lake Okeechobee. No one in my family was killed in the attack, but the vid interviews from that time were passed down through the generations. It’s amazing to relive history through your ancestor’s experiences.”

“As for knives,” Hood continued, “I prefer to carry an ancient Mark III trench knife on away missions, just in case. It’s criticized as being unsuited to more modern styles of hand-to-hand knife fighting, but it suits me fine. It was first issued to U.S. Army soldiers in 1943, with the first knives going to elite units such as airborne troops and the U.S. Army Rangers. It’s also very well-balanced, inspiring me to train in using it as a throwing knife, too, based on holodeck programs focusing on ancient paratrooper and ranger training. The only weakness I can find is the blade’s secondary edge, being too short for backhand slashing.

“At first, I wasn’t sure how well I’d do in tactical training. I fell in love with saber fencing, an ancient Earth sport where two competitors in protective clothing faced off against each other armed with thin, blunted swords. Fencing led to the study of European martial arts and swordsmanship, then Kenjutsu and Aikido at the Academy. This is my first assignment; I graduated from the Academy a few months ago.”

“I’d like to see your so-called paperwork, if you don’t mind” Hood finished, “just following standard operating procedure. You can turn it in first thing tomorrow morning, at your convenience, of course.”

“Maybe this a something you can help me figure out,” Hood started, “Command asked us to do a diplomatic mission to Qomar when we still may have a sabateur on board.  Meanwhile, our ship is still damaged and we have a skeleton crew.  Does this mean anything to you?”

[Deleted]

Section Admiral’s Log, stardate 00.1222. It is certainly interesting to once again be aboard the Hanson, a ship I commanded when it was assigned to the Academy department of Section 47, at least now though it is not crewed with cadets although it does seem strange not having S’reena around correcting some poor fresh faced cadet for having done something wrong. I am pleased to report that the QSD is working and we are heading towards the Delta Quadrant. Funny to think at the speeds we can now travel, I remember when USS Voyager was first reported missing, the Delta Quadrant seemed so far away and now it is just a matter of a few week’s travelling. I am looking forward to seeing Magellan again, I have not seen him in person since the V-D launched.

While the Hanson had still been in the Alpha Quadrant they had stopped over at Starbase 47 to allow Drew to gather some of his personal affects, as well as to meet with Admiral Savot and transfer command of the section temporarily to him for the duration of the Hanson’s time in the Delta Quadrant. Although the ships could now travel fast, instant communication was still not possible so someone else would have to oversee the day to day running of S47 in his absence.

At least now the ready room looked a bit more like a comfortable working space, he had taken some of his favourite mementoes from S47, including his collection of tea cups that was his pride and joy. He was now enjoying a hot beverage in one such cup when he was called back onto the bridge.

Regretfully he left the cup on the desk, hoping that he would get back in time to drink it before it went cold.

Walking out onto the bridge he took note of who was presently on duty, Lieutenant Pillar was at the Ops station seemingly engrossed in some activity, but obviously listening to everything around him. An andorian female was at Tactical, Drew did not yet remember her name, Commander Maxwell was at Engineering and Lt. Commander Serker was at the conn. Gemma Lovegood was at this moment vacating the command chair and moving to the XO chair. He nodded at her as he took his seat and waited for his report.

“We are now in the Delta Qaudrant,” Lovegood told him, “we have powered down QSD while Maxwell gives everything the once over.”

“Begging your pardon Admiral,” Maxwell interrupted, “but I cannot recommend we go any further until I have had the chance to do a complete level 2 diagnostic.”

“Diagnostic yourself out Chief,” Drew said as he logged himself into the computer console next to his chair, “are we now within communication range of the Victory?”

“Affirmative,” Lieutenant Pillar answered.

“Well there will be a bit of a lag,” Maxwell added, “it might not be quite real time.”

Drew nodded his head in understanding and began coding a secure written message to Magellan, just something simple that would explain things. He also ordered Pillar to deploy a subspace beacon and begin sending a transmission to the nearest Federation communication relay confirming to Starfleet Command that they had reached the Delta Quadrant safely. That done, he ordered a channel be opened to the Victory.

“USS Victory, this is Section Admiral Paul Drew commanding USS Hanson, please respond.”

<tag whoever wants to play>

[Magellan Lin]

Just as Magellan exited the turbolift and reached the main transporter room his comm badge unit bleeped,

=^=Go ahead=^= he answered as he tapped it,

=^=We have just received a hail from the USS Hanson=^= came Ethan's voice

=^=The Hanson? I thought she was still in dry dock=^=

=^=Obviously not sir, telemetry shows her in the Delta Quadrant and on an intercept course for us... oh and sir her CO... its the Section Admiral=^=

Drew coming here, now that was both interesting and concerning. Drew had always been a front line officer and had been very disappointed to give up command of the Fang when he was kicked up stairs, in a similar way to how Magellan had been when he left the Victory last time to take command of Starbase Assailant.

=^=Very Good Commander, I m returning to the bridge. Please contact Councilman Kotar that our visit will be delayed... by a technical problem.=^=

Turning on his heel Magellan returned to the Turbolift,

"Bridge." he commanded.

As the lift ascended the ship Magellan assessed the latest turn of events. It seemed to him that everything was constantly in flux. Since taking command of the Victory for the second time so much had happened to him and his crew all in the space of a few short weeks. He was unsure why Drew would be coming all this way out here. He speculated any number of possibilities including mirror impostors to signal fabrication, after all it had happened before, why not again. Perhaps it was genuine, perhaps Drew was concerned about his medical condition and had come here to remove him from command. he could hardly blame the Admiral, Magellan was half the person he once was... literally.

The doors slid open to reveal the bridge again, Ethan rose smartly from the centre seat.

"Its alright Commander you keep the Conn. I ll just observe."
He sat himself in the first officers chair,

"Did you confirm our receipt of his message."

Ethan nodded, "Right away. They should be with us soon."

Magellan looked over at Garron at Ops feeling the same disjointed feelings of envy and relief, "Ensign, kindly scan the Hanson. Check its ID codes and check for any residual temporal signatures and analyse the frequency of the atomic structure to assess for quantum signatures"

"Worried its an alternate Paul again" Garron replied with a lop sided smile

"That's Section Admiral Drew to you" Magellan bit back, "And yes, as you well know things are not always as they seem"

Chastened Garron returned to his screen and began the preliminaries for a discreet suite of long range scans.

"Your still not happy are you sir." Ethan noted,

"Unless you can explain why the Section Admiral himself has suddenly turned up here in an old Academy ship then no I m not happy. Have the ship go to yellow alert and have that new ensign... Hood isn't it up here and at his tactical station."

Hope tapped his badge and requested Hood come to the bridge immediately.

"Okay enough of this" Magellan stated decisively "Open a long range comm link to the Hanson"

Che at the Helm turned to Magellan to notify him of the open link.

=^=This is Admiral Magellan of the USS Victory to the USS Hanson. Please respond.=^= he paused =^= Come on Paul its been a long time since you were my Tac officer on SBA, I don't need you to hold my hand now. What's going on?=^=


TAG Hood and Drew

[Deleted]

[ FYI I was Chief of Starbase Operations – never been a Tactical Officer in my life!]

Since sending the transmission to the Victory, the Hanson had locked in on the ship’s beacon and was now heading at high speed to the Qomar homeworld, there had not yet been a response to the transmission, but as Pillar and Maxwell had both advised there was a time delay. Hopefully now the Hanson was getting closer to the Victory’s location communication would improve.

“Long range sensors are detecting a Federation signature,” Pillar reported from the Ops station, “running background checks to confirm it is the Victory.”

Before the Lieutenant could finish his scan, there was another beeping noise that alerted all on the bridge that there was an incoming transmission. Well, Drew thought as he waited for Pillar to announce the hail, that’s one question answered.

“Admiral,” Pillar said formally, “scans confirm it is the USS Victory, the ship is hailing us, but sir they are at yellow alert and shields are raised.”

Drew chuckled to himself and slowly shook his head, the more pips a man got on his collar the more paranoid he became. He toyed with the idea of ordering the Hanson to alert status as well but decided to go for a show of faith.

“Thank you Lieutenant, open a channel,” he ordered.

“And our shields Admiral?” Pillar asked, “shall I power them?”

“Not yet mister,” Drew replied, standing from his chair and walking to the centre of the bridge, “the Admiral is just remembering old times, open the channel.”

The image on the viewscreen switched from that of the Victory orbiting a planet to the face of Magellan, like Drew he was standing in the centre of his bridge, a look of concern on his face.

“Really Admiral, must it always be this way?” Drew asked, throwing his arms up wide, “your oldest friend comes to visit and your throw up the shields.”

Magellan gave him a careful thoughtful look which Drew knew only too well.

“Very well,” Drew replied, still smiling, “USS Victory computer, this is Section Admiral Paul Drew, security code Pi Pi Alpha 010 Delta confirm my identity through vocal and sensor analysis.

Through the speakers everyone heard the cool vocal confirmation of the Victory computer that Drew was Drew.

“Now that is out of the way, please lower your shields Admiral and prepare to meet with me,” Drew ordered, “Oh” he added with a smile, “and next time make sure to properly greet the Section Admiral, in case you forgot, I outrank you.”

[Allan Hood]

Security Chief Ensign Allan Hood sat in disbelief at his desk in the security office. “Why would Starfleet Command send us on a diplomatic mission to Qomar when we still may have a saboteur on board? Our ship is still damaged and we only have a skeleton crew onboard. None of this makes sense.” Hood poured over PADD reports and security findings, rather the lack thereof. All was impossibly quite on the western front. Hood silently suspected the entire crew was taken over by 8472s, least that would explain the inconstancies in regulation. “In the Academy, I never would have believed I’d be onboard a ship with this situation.”

Yellow alert sounded, “Ensign Hood, please report to the tactical station immediately.”

Hood reluctantly patted his combadge, “on my way.” Hood rose and thought to himself, “I should be stationed here until the 8472 is found. Should I make the request?”

Crewman Otos E’kim, the well-intentioned Ferengi, was quickly proving to be Hood’s right-hand-crewman. He monitored the security view screens well, pointing out potential suspicious activity. He followed Hood to the nearest turbolift, rattling off last minute results of security sweeps, only minor infractions, mostly by unsupervised children.

Hood entered the turbolift and turned. “E’kim, you have the office until I return,” Hood ordered, “remember, ‘Hear all, trust nothing.’”

“Rule of Acquisition #190,” E’kim responded, “yes, sir.” Hood smiled to himself as the doors slid shut. “Bridge.”

After a few moments, the lift’s doors hissed open to the bridge. Hood marched to the tactical station, nodding to Admiral Lin.

[Deleted]

Earlier, Tedak's quarters
“I’d like to see your so-called paperwork, if you don’t mind” Hood finished, “just following standard operating procedure. You can turn it in first thing tomorrow morning, at your convenience, of course.”


"Of course, I will have it ready for you by morning as you say," the Romulan promised.


“Maybe this a something you can help me figure out,” Hood started, “Command asked us to do a diplomatic mission to Qomar when we still may have a saboteur on board. Meanwhile, our ship is still damaged and we have a skeleton crew. Does this mean anything to you?”

Tedak shook his head. "All that this tells me, is that we were deployed in quite a hurry. Perhaps," he mused suddenly, "we could be bait?" He sat back, nursing his own drink. "But what could we possibly be serving as bait for, assuming of course that we might be walking right into a trap?"

[Hood]

Present, Bridge

From the back of the bridge, but outside of screen view, Tedak watched the exchange between the two admirals, giving Hood a polite nod as the man entered the bridge. He studied Drew's face when Magellan dug up old times, remembering how they had gone to rescue one Drew, only to discover that the real one had been replaced by his mirror. He also remembered Magellan's mirror, and remembered how the man had been killed, the symbiont moved to his brother - who had been after Lin all along. Except, getting joined to Lin had left him a changed man.

At least, Tedak thought, there were two people on this bridge that he knew for certain were not mirror universe people: himself, and Magellan. The Romulan frowned, finding it disturbing and odd not to think of his Trill friend as 'Lin'. But where he knew Magellan was Magellan, he couldn't be so sure about Drew.

[Allan Hood]

Dec 23, 2014 20:28:04 GMT @tedak said:

Earlier, Tedak's quarters
“I’d like to see your so-called paperwork, if you don’t mind” Hood finished, “just following standard operating procedure. You can turn it in first thing tomorrow morning, at your convenience, of course.”


"Of course, I will have it ready for you by morning as you say," the Romulan promised.


“Maybe this a something you can help me figure out,” Hood started, “Command asked us to do a diplomatic mission to Qomar when we still may have a saboteur on board. Meanwhile, our ship is still damaged and we have a skeleton crew. Does this mean anything to you?”

Tedak shook his head. "All that this tells me, is that we were deployed in quite a hurry. Perhaps," he mused suddenly, "we could be bait?" He sat back, nursing his own drink. "But what could we possibly be serving as bait for, assuming of course that we might be walking right into a trap?"

"This Species 8472 hasn't caused any harm to the ship or crew at all," Hood thought outloud, "maybe it's waiting to attack when we get to Qomar or another destination.  We're all speculating too much.  We should keep the ship quarantined until it's captured.  I have staff working around the clock to find it and we're turning up with nothing.  I have an alternate plan in the works, hopefully it bears fruit soon."

"Have you noticed anything unusual with the crew?" Hood asked, "anything behavior out of the ordinary?"

TAG Tedak

[Allan Hood]

Dec 7, 2014 20:09:19 GMT Allan Hood said:

Dec 7, 2014 15:56:51 GMT Magellan Lin said:

Checking his uniform he entered the security office.

"Ensign Hood" he greeted and extended a hand to the man sat behind the desk "I m sorry its taken so long for me to greet you. No don't get up." He paced about the front of the desk, "Welcome to the Victory. I m not sure how much you know?"

TAG Hood

"Well let me give you the lowdown. IN our first mission in the Delta Quadrant we brokered a peace with Species 8472 and found out that elements of a splinter group from their government have infiltrated parts of the Federation and they have an as yet unidentified agent aboard this ship, although they have been very quiet of late so may not even be still aboard."

he pasued to ensure the Ensign was keeping up,

"As a result of sabotage we are operating on a skeleton crew. Commander Hope is acting Watch Officer and de facto CO of the Victory, his place has been taken by Ensign Garron Lin at ops" his voice faltered over the mention of the other Trill. "Commanders Harash-Kyat and Jalli-tol, a Grazerite pair bond, are filling in at Engineering and Science respectively. Che'tres is our helmswoman... or equivalent, she's Andorian and I still don't understand their sexes. Lastly Ambassador Tedak has come aboard to help with diplomatic issues."

Ensign Hood left the holodeck and headed to his security office. He still had time to spare but wanted to get there early and check the place out. He never had his own office before, let alone been charged with such responsibility as the security of an entire starship.

Hood sat down and began reading the security reports flooding his screen. Thirty reports came every hour from the 30 decks aboard ship. He began reading a briefing on an intruder alert by Species 8472 when Fleet Admiral Magellan Lin entered his office.

“Admiral Lin,” said Hood as he attempted to stand to attention at his desk. He had not talked face-to-face with a fleet admiral and was not expecting to anytime soon. Hood reached out and shook the admiral’s hand, “thank you, sir. I really don’t know anything as of this moment. I just began reading about our intruder.”

“I am surprised we are not doing more about this potential threat,” Hood said cautiously. “May I ask what happened to Commander Hope?”

TAG Magellan

“Sir, may I remind you that 8472 created a simulation of Starfleet Headquarters on Earth inside a terrasphere in the Delta Quadrant as a training ground for a potential infiltration of the Federation. They learned how to disguise themselves to look like any species in the Alpha Quadrant. This particular 8472 is probably walking around with our crew, hiding in plain sight.”

TAG Magellan

“To find this potential agent of Species 8472, I suggest we consider contacting the help of Borg Cooperative in the area,” began Hood, “Species 8472 consider humans their primary threat and dismiss the Borg as ‘irrelevant.’ We could use this to our advantage. We should persuade the Cooperative to help us simply because we have a common enemy. If 8472 can board us undetected, it can potentially board them undetected as well.”

TAG Magellan

“We may want to consider contacting Axum, Five of Twelve; he tried to get the help of Species 8472 near fluidic space in the Beta Quadrant to fight against the Borg. Maybe we can use him as an ambassador for 8472 when we capture him/her in the brig.”

TAG Magellan

“In the mean time,” Hood suggested, “we can use modified nanoprobes to detect 8472 and alert/track their location on the ship’s computer. The USS Voyager used this process, which scared 8472 back to fluidic space. We could release them into the environmental system so that the entire ship is exposed. We can talk to the doctor about how long that would take and stand ready. We should try to keep this exposure to nanoprobes as convert as possible, limiting it to only you, me and the doctor, after all three of us are tested and cleared, of course.”

TAG the doctor, TAG Magellan

“After we capture our infiltrator,” Hood persisted, “I advise against opening a rift to fluidic space; it may invite a bigger attack by 8472. Instead, I suggest we beam it to the brig immediately to stand trial and send word through Axum.”

“For now, I suggest that we look for members acting out of the ordinary, such as not eating or sleeping well. We were just taught in the Academy that 8472 were completely uncomfortable with the fact they were in the form of ‘inferior’ lifeforms who needed to eat, sleep and were unable to communicate telepathically. Any crewmember that notices another crewmember that hasn’t been eating and sleeping regularly should report them anonymously to me and sickbay immediately.”

TAG Magellan

[Magellan Lin]

OOC: Right Lets tidy this thread up
IC:
Earlier that Day
“I am surprised we are not doing more about this potential threat,” Hood said cautiously. “May I ask what happened to Commander Hope?”

“Commander Hope is fine” Magellan replied brusquely, “He was in charge of the original investigation and following up on the attack on Harash-kyat, since then however ship board matters have diverted all our attentions. At the moment Species 8472 has done nothing more… we are not even sure it is still aboard. They can survive the vacuum of space and could have left when I made contact with one of their commanders”

“Sir, may I remind you that 8472 created a simulation of Starfleet Headquarters on Earth inside a terrasphere in the Delta Quadrant as a training ground for a potential infiltration of the Federation. They learned how to disguise themselves to look like any species in the Alpha Quadrant. This particular 8472 is probably walking around with our crew, hiding in plain sight.”

“I am well aware of that. But we did thorough crew scans before leaving and afterwards. Only the biological nature of the sabotage device and the attack on Harash-kyat seemed to suggest it was Species 8472 at all.”

“To find this potential agent of Species 8472, I suggest we consider contacting the help of Borg Cooperative in the area,” began Hood, “Species 8472 consider humans their primary threat and dismiss the Borg as ‘irrelevant.’ We could use this to our advantage. We should persuade the Cooperative to help us simply because we have a common enemy. If 8472 can board us undetected, it can potentially board them undetected as well.”

Magellan listened to this, “ I agree the borg wil be usuful it is not as if nanoprobes grow on trees however we have no official ties to the cooperative nor a means of contacting them.”

“We may want to consider contacting Axum, Five of Twelve; he tried to get the help of Species 8472 near fluidic space in the Beta Quadrant to fight against the Borg. Maybe we can use him as an ambassador for 8472 when we capture him/her in the brig.”

“Axum is a possibility and its possible Seven of Nine could be persuaded to act as intermediary.”

“In the mean time,” Hood suggested, “we can use modified nanoprobes to detect 8472 and alert/track their location on the ship’s computer. The USS Voyager used this process, which scared 8472 back to fluidic space. We could release them into the environmental system so that the entire ship is exposed. We can talk to the doctor about how long that would take and stand ready. We should try to keep this exposure to nanoprobes as convert as possible, limiting it to only you, me and the doctor, after all three of us are tested and cleared, of course.”

“We don’t have a stock of nanoprobes but Dr Lassiter is resourceful, work with her and Jalli-tol in science to come up with a work around. What about once we have identified the saboteur?”

“After we capture our infiltrator,” Hood persisted, “I advise against opening a rift to fluidic space; it may invite a bigger attack by 8472. Instead, I suggest we beam it to the brig immediately to stand trial and send word through Axum.”

“For now, I suggest that we look for members acting out of the ordinary, such as not eating or sleeping well. We were just taught in the Academy that 8472 were completely uncomfortable with the fact they were in the form of ‘inferior’ lifeforms who needed to eat, sleep and were unable to communicate telepathically. Any crewmember that notices another crewmember that hasn’t been eating and sleeping regularly should report them anonymously to me and sickbay immediately.”

“Agreed. We need to remain vigilant. And I expect you to be our point man on this. Excellent work Ensign… dismissed.”

Three hours later in orbit of Qomar

Magellan gave him a careful thoughtful look which Drew knew only too well.

“Very well,” Drew replied, still smiling, “USS Victory computer, this is Section Admiral Paul Drew, security code Pi Pi Alpha 010 Delta confirm my identity through vocal and sensor analysis.

Through the speakers everyone heard the cool vocal confirmation of the Victory computer that Drew was Drew.

“Now that is out of the way, please lower your shields Admiral and prepare to meet with me,” Drew ordered, “Oh” he added with a smile, “and next time make sure to properly greet the Section Admiral, in case you forgot, I outrank you.”
“Next time I m sure its you I will… Sir” Magellan said with a smile, “I still unsure why you’re here though old friend. I suggest we meet face to face…. Your place or mine?”

[Allan Hood]

Jan 7, 2015 10:33:15 GMT Magellan Lin said:

"Only the biological nature of the sabotage device and the attack on Harash-kyat seemed to suggest it was Species 8472 at all.”

"So, there is no direct evidence connecting a Species of 8472 to the ship?  Can you tell me the nature of this biological sabotaging device? 

Tag Magellan

"Did we take on any new crew members after leaving?" 

Tag Magellan

"We are trying to find whoever planted the device, not really a member of Species 8472?  Where were we when the device was discovered?  When could it have been planted?  Do you know of anyone who would have wanted to sabotage the ship?  When would they have had the opportunity?  Why did the attack on Harash-kyat seem to suggest an 8472?"

Tag Magellan

"As for Seven of Nine, should I try to contact Annika Hansen at the Daystrom Institute to find Axum?"

Tag Magellan

[Deleted]

Earlier, Tedak had been surprised to be questioned about crew behaviour, especially when he'd been on board not for very long. He'd had to admit that no, he had not noticed any perculiar behaviour among the crewmembers but then again he had no way of knowing what was normal for most of them. The only one who, according to him, was out of the ordinary, was Admiral Magellan himself. "Or is that Admiral Riva now," Tedak mused to himself as he made his way to the bridge. The Trill Admiral was seperated from his symbiont, did that mean he reverted to his birth name now?

Tedak, who was by no means a Trill expert, only knew that when host and symbiont were seperated, it was usually through death and the slug had to find a new host within 96 hours, or it would die too. He was almost lost in thought when the turbolift car deposited him onto the bridge, and he caught the last of the questions asked. "We did take on crew recently," he spoke, after hearing the question.

Without pause, and with plenty disregard for the man on the big viewscreen, the Romulan approached the flag officer and his security chief. "Myself, Ensign Hood, and several enlisted crewmembers that I have heard in passing."

tagz

[Allan Hood]

“Very well,” Drew replied, still smiling, “USS Victory computer, this is Section Admiral Paul Drew, security code Pi Pi Alpha 010 Delta confirm my identity through vocal and sensor analysis.”

Through the speakers everyone heard the cool vocal confirmation of the Victory computer that Drew was Drew.

“Now that is out of the way, please lower your shields Admiral and prepare to meet with me,” Drew ordered, “Oh” he added with a smile, “and next time make sure to properly greet the Section Admiral, in case you forgot, I outrank you.”

“Next time I’m sure it’s you, I will…Sir,” Magellan said with a smile, “I’m still unsure why you’re here though old friend. I suggest we meet face to face….your place or mine?”

Ensign Hood could not help but wonder at the coincidence that three hours after entering Qomar’s orbit an admiral makes contact with the security code prefix of Pi, Pi. Hood remembered that the Qomar regarded people higher for the number of decimal places to which they could calculate pi in their head.

Since the Qomar were also relatively new to music and had an affection for Pi, Hood mentally reminded himself to play his Pi song for them on his guitar. Since there are eight notes in the major scale, played each note and chord with assigned corresponding numbers, starting with middle C and Major I.

[Example of Pi song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOQb_mtkEEE]

While at his station, Ensign Hood briefly reviewed Victory’s armory and abilities. The Victory had two Mark XII phaser cannons and a complement of quantum and transphasic torpedoes. The phaser cannons and transphasic torpedoes contributed to Starfleet having the upper-hand during the early part of the Borg Invasion of 2381.

The transphasic torpedoes were brought back in time from the early 25th century by Admiral Janeway. Hood thought to himself, “I wonder how the DTI feels about that…” Designed specifically for use against the Borg, it only took one transphasic torpedo to destroy a Borg cube, before they adapted.

Hood remembered hearing second-hand stories of the Borg from his parents. They moved from New Providence colony on Jouret IV to Caloosahatchee, Florida to stay with family during his birth, fully intending to return to New Providence after he was born. But, to his parents’ shock, all contact with the New Providence colony was lost, only to discover the Borg existed. Thinking of New Providence reminded Hood of his mother, whom often jokingly remarked, “you were looking out for us even before you were born.”

Though it has been almost twenty years since the Borg were eradicated, Hood relished the idea of having transphasic torpedoes at his fingertips…just in case.

The Victory also featured a multidimensional wave-function analysis module. This module allowed the Vesta-class starship to detect interdimensional rifts in subspace and temporal distortions in spacetime up to 23 lightyears away. It also emits a multidimensional graviton shield which reverses the effects of a dimensional wormhole. If a wormhole opened up in front of the ship, the Multidimensional wave-function analysis Module would help push the Victory away from the event horizon.  Hood’s greatest fascination was with the chroniton integrator. Being that chronitons are sub-atomic particles that cause temporal anomalies, the CI harnesses those anomalies and uses them to take sensor readings several seconds into the future when the ship is in slipstream drive. 

After checking in with his transporter chiefs, Hood found that all twenty available transporter sites, including the four cargo transporters and six emergency evacuation transporters, were all secure and in functioning order.

[Magellan Lin]

"So, there is no direct evidence connecting a Species of 8472 to the ship? Can you tell me the nature of this biological sabotaging device?

"I never saw it myself. Commander Hawthorne and Harash-kyat found and disabled it.

"Did we take on any new crew members after leaving?"

Magellan shook his head,

"That's the problem. We had so many casualties that there were several crew exchanges. They were obviously all blood checked, but its possible that the saboteur was on one of the shuttles that returned the critically injured to the Alpha Quadrant. This is the problem, they have sowed the seed of doubt. We can't find the saboteur and we are not even sure they are still aboard...." Magellan paused wondering how much he could confide in the Ensign."

"We are trying to find whoever planted the device, not really a member of Species 8472? Where were we when the device was discovered? When could it have been planted? Do you know of anyone who would have wanted to sabotage the ship? When would they have had the opportunity? Why did the attack on Harash-kyat seem to suggest an 8472?"

"It must have been planted before we left Starbase Assailant, theres plenty of opportunity there. I would interview Harash-kyat himself, he would be able to explain better especially regarding the way Grazerites respond to threats."

"As for Seven of Nine, should I try to contact Annika Hansen at the Daystrom Institute to find Axum?"

"Not for the time being, lets see what your investigation turns up." he paused "What I am about to tell you is highly confidential but my main mission was to meet with a high level representative of the Species 8472. I did and negotiated a peace with him and his people. He told me that he was but one faction and that one of the more vocal had already posted spies into the Federation. This could be all disinformation, but for the time being the Species 8472 in this region are now currently at peace with the Federation so we must act carefully.

=== Later on the bridge===



"As I m the boss lets make it mine. Ambassador it would be a pleasure to see you again" Drew replied, "Why not come aboard as well although you may have to be excluded from some of our talks. Shall we say in 45 minutes"

"Sounds good to me Paul" Magellan replied "I ll see you soon." He turned to Garron and he terminated the link,

"Looks like your with me then Tedak" he stated, "Ethan, until we know why Drew is here we are not sending an away team to the Qomar, if they call to find out why not then stall them. I also want you to support Hood in what ever he needs in his hunt for the saboteur, its about time we found out whats going on."

"Yes sir." Hope replied.

"Tedak, I ll meet you in Transporter Room 1 in say 30 minutes. Ensign Hood keep me updated on your investigation and progress, I've already informed Commander Jalli-tol that you want to work with her." he turned with a wry smile on his lip "You will find her most... enlightening."

There was a little ripple of amusement across the bridge and then Magellan turned and entered the Turbolift.

TAG Tedak, Hood.

[Allan Hood]

"It must have been planted before we left Starbase Assailant," said Magellen, "there's plenty of opportunity there. I would interview Harash-kyat himself, he would be able to explain better especially regarding the way Grazerites respond to threats."

"Where can I find Harash-kyat?" Hood asked, feeling like he was finally getting somewhere.  "Does he, or she, serve on the Victory?"  The first person that came to mind Jaresh-Inyo, President of the United Federation of Planets from 2369 to 2373.  He is remembered as the great "peace-time president" of the Federation.  Hood could not imagine why someone would target a Grazerite unless he/she was some politician.

Grazerites are about as far from a violent people as one can find.  Even in their debates, each speaker agrees with the last one, only to change the argument, ever-so-slightly, to their point of view.  In the end, they debate for hours on one topic, just by dragging out minute points to be edited. 

"What I am about to tell you is highly confidential but my main mission was to meet with a high level representative of the Species 8472. I did and negotiated a peace with him and his people. He told me that he was but one faction and that one of the more vocal had already posted spies into the Federation. This could be all disinformation, but for the time being the Species 8472 in this region are now currently at peace with the Federation so we must act carefully."

"I doubt it to be disinformation considering how 8472s have practiced infiltrating Starfleet.  Why is that confidential?  What role does Harash-kyat play in this?  The Species 8472 in this region are now currently at peace with us or is just his faction at peace?  Does his faction only cover this region of space?"  Hood recalled that Starfleet created a task force to investigate the possible return of Species 8472 nine years earlier, interviewing the USS Enterprise crew and the original USS Voyager crew.


TAG Magellan

[Allan Hood]

"Ensign Hood, keep me updated on your investigation and progress. I've already informed Commander Jalli-tol that you want to work with her."

"Yes, sir," Hood said before Magellan turned with a wry smile on his lips.

"You will find her most... enlightening," Magellan added. There was a little ripple of amusement across the bridge and then Magellan turned and entered the turbolift. Hood turned toward the bridge crew, chuckling to themselves. Hood wondered about the source of their hilarity while he searched the console for the commander’s location.

[Allan Hood]

“Ambassador Tedak,” Lieutenant Hood called into his combadge, “if you are available, I’d like you to meet me at Holodeck 3.” Hood did not know if Tedak had been to the Xindi Incident Memorial, let alone Earth, so he decided to invite him on a tour of his old stomping grounds.

TAG Tedak

Growing up in Caloosahatchee, Florida, Hood was all too familiar with the Xindi Incident. In March 2153, a prototype of a Xindi weapon, a small one-man vessel crewed by a Xindi-Reptilian soldier, carried out the first attack. A powerful particle beam carved a 4,000 kilometer path of destruction from Florida to Venezuela, killing seven million people.

This was the worst disaster on Lake Okeechobee since 1928, the Okeechobee Hurricane crossed over the lake, killing 2,500 people. That catastrophe, on the other hand, was caused by flooding from a storm surge when strong winds drove water over the two meter mud embankment to prevent floods, circling the lake.

[Deleted]

(as this is going a little rag tag and I'm all over the place I'm going to assume that holodeck time with Hood is BEFORE going with Magellan. I'm going to label it as "prior" and "current")

[Prior]
As it was Tedak had never been to the Xindi memorial; in fact insofar he could recall he'd actually never been to Earth itself. "I'll be there shortly," he answered, then headed out of his quarters to head for the holodeck. He firmly told his two firelizards, Sev and Nut, to stay put in the quarters and that unless there was an emergency, they weren't to leave the room.

Taking long strides, he arrived at the holodeck in mere minutes and smiled in greeting. "You called?" he asked somewhat unnecessarily. "What did you have in mind?"

tag hood

[Present]
Thirty minutes was plenty of time to get a quick shower and a change of attire. If he was going to meet with a flag admiral, he reasoned he was best served in formal attire so he donned his formal ambassadorial robes, his blade safely tucked away in the folds of his clothes. This time, he did summon his firelizards, telling bronze Sev to stay on the Victory, while he took brown Nut with him. He still wondered whether, now that Lin was separated from Magellan, Dinas was now with the new host as well. He hadn't seen the bronze since coming aboard, so he assumed the latter was the case.

Exactly thirty minutes later, he entered the transporter room. "Ready when you are admiral," he stated quietly.

tag Lin/Drew

[Allan Hood]

Taking long strides, Tedak arrived at the holodeck in mere minutes and smiled in greeting. "You called?" he asked somewhat unnecessarily. "What did you have in mind?"

“I have an hour before my shift starts,” Hood began, “so I thought I’d invite you along home with me; I have been feeling homesick lately. Earth is a lot like Romulus in regard to climate, except for the firefalls.” Hood tapped the holodeck’s wall panel. “Computer, load ‘Xindi Incident Memorial, Live View.’”

The holodeck doors opened loudly. Hood and Tedak immediately felt the warm, humid air blow into the corridor, in contrast to the cool standard temperature of the starship, bringing a smile to Hood’s face. The brightness and warmth of the sun shinned directly into their faces, causing them to cover their eyes instinctively.

After stepping through the entry, the exit sealed behind them, disappearing along with the computer’s arch. The temperature was a warm 32 degrees Celsius. “The temperature change takes some getting use to,” Hood joked, subconsciously defending his home environment, “seems the only ones truly comfortable in this heat are Floridians and Cardassians.” Hood did not mention that if one took the heat index into account, it felt closer to the internal climate of a Borg cube.

Hood and Tedak started down the boardwalk, heavy with tourist traffic, underneath the tropical hammock foliage. “This is a live holographic view from New Moore Haven, Florida,” Hood said, “there’s a slight delay with subspace interference, so the visitors and the setting may lag unexpectedly.”

The air under the hammock was noticeably less heated, with cool shade being supplied by vegetation soaking up light energy from the sun, seeping cool oxygen back down for the humanoids. Pine trees, water oaks and live oaks guarded the sidewalk, surrounded by hibiscus flowers. Spoiled white ibis and fat grey squirrels approached, looking for handouts from eager tourists. Mockingbirds called warnings to family members about the growing number of humanoid intruders. Male woodpeckers reminded each other where their territories lie by brashly knocking their beaks against their homes. Cardinals chirped, flew and played through the cherry bushes. Allan Hood was home.

While following the path, enjoying the scenery, the two space-faring tourists were abruptly interrupted. Besides the invisible forcefield, there was no obvious safety rail, only an unexpected silence at the edge of paradise. The 4,000 kilometer maw began at their feet, stretching south through the Everglades, the Florida keys and the Americas. The unexpected destruction seemed to mirror the events of the Xindi Incident.

“That was Moore Haven over there,” Hood said pointing toward a seemingly random area of devastation, “over two-thousand people were incinerated without warning in that town before claiming seven million more. They were only the beginning.”

[Lorna Holsen]

Lorna couldn’t say she was happy that operation with her and S’reena had been scrubbed. She had been assured that Starfleet Intelligence had taken over the investigation and she had offered Neilas any help she could. The Rainer had been taken out of active service, Lorna didn’t understand the logic but then she wasn’t part of Section 47’s assignment bureau and nor did she want to be.

So here she was on the way to meet up with the USS Victory-D. She was one of several passengers on the Hanson as the ship whizzed along at transwarp. She was currently sitting along side her wife in the Hanson’s lounge. Cris’s civilian emergency medical placement had actually come through before Lorna’s. There were also ten other former members of the Rainer’s crew onboard: including Mari Tainer, K’Lana, and her husband James.

It was strange to be back on the Hanson, she had never thought that she would see the ship again. She certainly hadn’t heard about the engine upgrades. Since the Hanson was rendezvousing with the Victory anyway Admiral Drew had agreed to transport a dozen new crew. It was certainly a nicer way to travel than a small transport.

She was looking forward to arriving, yes, they would be starting over once again but that was the way things were when you were in Starfleet. She transported over to the Victory. She had a PADD in her hand with her new assignment information on it. She nodded to one of the welcoming crewmen and asked to be taken to see the Admiral.

Admiral Lin was on the bridge when Lorna arrived. She handed over the PADD.

“Doctor Lorna Holsen reporting for duty, Sir.”

Tag: Admiral Lin

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

While Lorna to report in, Cris was escorted to their new quarters. Cris had one bag, they had moved with one bag each and a small crate of momentos. It was a lot given that they had pretty much had the clothes on their backs when they had left the Majesty.

She had to wait until Lorna was in post before she and the rest of the new medical staff could report in. As Cris was a civilian she wasn’t in the Starfleet chain of command but it was still the polite thing to do.

[Magellan Lin]

Magellan and Tedak materialised on to the small transporter pad of the USS Hanson bare seconds after leaving the Victory. A young Andorian Thaan stood at the console and stood crisply at alert.

“Welcome to the Hanson sirs” he said with the faintest twitch of the antennae,
The doors slid back to reveal female commander.

Extending a hand she said,
“Welcome Aboard Admiral, Ambassador. I am Commander Lovegood; Admiral Drew is waiting for you in the briefing room. If you’ll follow me”
“Of course” Magellan replied “I was surprised to find the Hanson all the way out here especially with Drew on board.”
Lovegood led them down the curving corridor to a turbolift,
“You know the Admiral Sir. He gets a bit antsy if he doesn’t get to fly the stars every now and again.”
“Still it’s a long way to the Delta Quadrant even with the Vaadwaur corridors and the slipstream drives.”
Lovegood just smiled and nodded, giving nothing away. Tedak remained taciturnly at his side, observing without comment. Magellan knew that the Romulan would speak only when something important needed to be said.


The briefing room was a simple utilitarian room with a silver table aligned along its length with a large window at one end through which Magellan could see space and the upper hull of the Victory.
At the far end of the table Section Admiral Drew sat beside a computer terminal, he rose and clasped Magellans hand and then Tedaks,
“Good to see both” he extolled, “More so to see you Mag, the reports I was getting indicated that we very nearly lost you.”
Magellan smiled grimly, “In a way you have.”
“Ah yes. I m so sorry about Lin... it must be... Well I can’t begin to guess but you are now a medical miracle.”
“Miracle is one way to look at it. It still feels strange. I still feel an odd loneliness. It’s not as bad as I thought it would be but a part of me has gone and I mourn its passing. I take solace from the fact that Lin lives, if not in me.”
“Here take seat” Drew offered, “Still causing trouble Tedak?”
Tag- Tedak
“Time is short and I have a lot to get through and this mission is important. I am here to give you new orders, orders I couldn’t send over sub space. I need people I can trust on this... I need you two.”
“Go on”
“Command is very pleased with your attempt at reaching detente with Species 8472. We are still concerned of the possibility of infiltrators but on the whole I think we can make this accord work that is if you are successful”
“I sense something ominous”
“True and it’s why I need both you and Tedak on this. V’Shal is back.”
Tedak rolled his eyes,
“I had hoped never again to deal with Saaroks wayward wife, what has she done now?”

“She’s moved into the big league. We have monitored her since your last encounter on Romulus and the other encounters on Assailant, she has been selling her mercenary skills mostly to the Orion’s who have used her for petty thefts, heists and assassinations. This changed 6 months ago, she stole a Valdore class warship and was next recorded in the Bassen Rift.”
“The Rift? Why would she go there?”

“Among her crew included a salvage expert we think she was after something in the debris of the Scimitar. We suspect she has obtained either the plans for or a working Thalaron Weapon. We also believe that the Valdore Class she is using isn’t stolen but was given to her by the Tal Shiar.”
“What makes you think that?” Tedak demanded “Our government would not tolerate the use of banned weapons”
“You did once” Magellan pointed out, before Tedak could respond Drew pressed on,
“Not the government, the Tal Shiar. An agent named Talavak has become obsessed with the idea that Species 8472 have infiltrated every government. He is determined to undermine this threat. We think he plans on modifying a thalaron weapon to wage a biological war on Fludic Space.”
“Do we have any clue where he is?”
“Only that he is in the Delta Quadrant trying to acquire DNA sample we believe he has already made contact with the Hirogen and we believe V’Shal is one her way with the weapon. We cannot allow this to happen. If someone attacks fluidic space, the tentative peace we have will be in shatters, they will see no distinction between Romulan and Federation. I am assigning you a new medical team for the analysis and a marine team”
“Very good, I m not a fan of marines per se but I think we need them for this” Magellan admitted, “V’shal has run rings around us a number of times and I’ll feel safer with an elite unit on board.”
“Excellent. I ll take over the negotiations with the Qomar and remain on station in case you need backup. Thank you gentleman”
“I better get on it” Magellan said rising from his chair.
“Err one moment. Tedak... can you give us a moment”
“Of course” Tedak bowed.


Once the Romulan diplomat had left the room Magellan retook his seat.
“You have your serious face on Paul” Magellan noted dryly
“This is serious. I m sorry old friend but whilst Command is pleased with your work they are concerned about your status given the loss of the symbiont”
“I can understand that”
“Then I hope you realise that they suggest you step down from the command level hierarchy, they don’t feel you are the same person they promoted.”
Although Magellan knew something like this could happen it was still a gut punch.
“I ‘m sorry. I did stand up for you, but for the time being at least you are just commanding officer of the Victory operating at my discretion.”
“What about Garron?”
“That’s another problem, they are not happy with an Ensign having the memories of a command staff Admiral. They see him as a security risk. They asked for him to return to Earth and Starfleet Intelligence. I managed to hold them off, for this mission you need all your senior staff you have left but be ready for Ensign Garron Lin to be recalled and for your actions to be very closely watched.”
“I can’t say I’m happy but I understand I can’t even say that I’m the same man I used to be.”
“Good luck and good hunting” Drew said as Magellan left.