Pt 2 • Disaster ... and Tenacity ...

[Gheskori]

Ghes stood stock-still, stunned into silence by what'd just occurred; all the Ops staff were in similar situation, frozen at their consoles or otherwise hurriedly carrying on frantic conversation, trying to piece together what'd just happened. "On screen," he whispered, the upturn at the end of his words - characteristic of the Denobulan - only barely there.

The Ops viewscreen showed down the length of the Starbase a magnified view of the devastated comm array, via a visual sensor affixed to the underside of the Dome. Reports were also spilling in that the Maracanda had suffered a glancing blow to her port-side nacelle complex. It quickly became apparent the ship had thus spun out of control and struck - several times - the lower sections of the base in the region of decks 1670-1690.

"She's adrift, sir," a controller reported, the screen now displaying the Maracanda cartwheeling on its latitudinal axis away into the void, plasma streaming from the port nacelle creating spiral tracers of yellow and green against the starry sable backdrop.

"Confirmed," Captain Manley reported - having been wired into all internal Ops comms - amidst the static-filled channel emanating in audiovisual form on Ghes's arm-panel, "Power surges through the rest of the ship have boosted our shields beyond capacity; they're flickering, could short out and burn out the generators via feedback loop. We've lost warp and mag field generation capability, starboard nacelle is also offline."

And it'd just been cleared for active duty... Ghes thought, shaking his head, however the repairs shouldn't take too long and it may soon be able to join the tentative exploratory fleet - assuming they all got through the present malady.

"What of our people below deck?" Burr asked from behind him; Ghes spun. "The marines and security; Tetsutaro's people, too," aide Burr prompted. "They're right down there, preparing for the op if not already on it."

"No long-range comms for a while..." he found himself murmuring, his senses and thoughts a blur, an amalgam of confused images and ideas such was the speed with which events were unfolding. They at least had comms to cover some of the region of current fleet operations.

While Clark continued to deal with coordination of the Enzio and Oxford, Commander Gordon turned her focus to the base's interior, surveying the levels below the 1620 line; she stated internal sensors suggested the reduction by four of active biosigns in the area round Serova's HQ since the explosion and Maracanda collision.

"Sir? The Intel op - Serova could get away!" Burr said.

Ghes slowly turned, then collapsed in the Starbase Ops central chair, "You don't think she was killed in the blast?"

Burr spoke over his shoulder, "She was warning us not to go any further; Beta Promenade, the resistance in those decks and beneath... Once they - Tetsutaro and co - got into the lower decks, she enacted her final absolute caution: destruction of the comm array - the price we are being made to pay for pursuing her to such lengths. But if it's still just a warning, she wouldn't have carried it out in such a way as to kill herself and her compatriots."

Ghes made the resolution building in him since Burr had begun speaking, "Gordon, if you have the facility, scan for lifesigns displaying indications of Slavic heritage in or around deck 1680. If you find any, coordinate with base Chief of Security and SMO Major Zalmis the redeployment of forces to intercept that or those lifesigns." He spun and tapped a panel on his left armrest, contacting the Intel chief's office, "Admiral Tetsutaro... any news from your teams?" He hoped his voice didn't betray too much of his worry. <Tag Clark (Gordon), Tetsutaro>

"Clark, can the Enzio go it alone in disabling the rest of the spheres? Do we need to mobilise the Oxford - is the Dome clear?" <Tag Clark>

[Sato Tetsutaro]

Command Center ::

Pacing around the mezzanine level, eyes flicking from station to station as he attempted to absorb every iota of information pouring into the Command Center, Admiral Tetsutaro was admittedly nervous. Outwardly though, he appeared the calm, aged, Japanese Director of Intelligence and Head of Starbase Security ... Three paces behind him, his Adjutant, Captain Nia Lemond was juggling PADD's while trying not to disturb her bosses' train of thought ...

The lower 'floor' of the Command Center was almost two hundred meters in diameter. If a person stood in the center of the room he or she could turn through three hundred and sixty degrees and never loose sight of the vastness of space beyond the panoramic windows. The mezzanine, held offices, meeting rooms, dedicated communications, along with a myriad of other functional facilities. The Section Admiral's Office was here, along with the Executive Officers and numerous Heads of Departments. The walkway outside those offices overhung the full circumference of the 'floor' by thirty meters. Truth be told, Sato couldn't actually read the information scrolling past on the countless screens below him, but it gave him comfort that those working so diligently could 'see' his presence and take strength from it.

"Do you have to pace behind me like some stalking predator ?" Sato asked without turning.

"You prefer I sit at my desk ?" Lemond replied. It was often a source of bemusement among those who worked in Command just how the Admiral's Adjutant could speak to him like she did at times, but Sato had known Nia all of her life, trusted her council, she often gave him that vital 'second opinion' he appreciated.

"No, bu ......" the Starbase shook violently, Sato lost his footing, grasping the railing before him, inwardly thanking some long obscure deity for the railing as Lemond and another Officer helped him to his feet, "...... Report." he ordered.

"Admiral, we are picking up, wait ..." One of the Officers turned to look up, Sir, massive explosion, possibly communications arrays below the Starbase. We're getting reports of several vessels being hit, either directly of by sections of the array's hitting the ships."

"Contact the Enzio." he said, his voice calm and measured.

"Trying Admiral. We are getting injury reports from as high as Level fifteen ninety ... Admiral ... Separation Bulkheads at Level one six two zero are coming on-line protocols are being brought up automatically."

Sato eyed Nia for a moment, he like everyone else knew what the emergency bulkheads were there for, they would detach the segment of the Starbase below that Level to prevent decompression or catastrophic destruction of the 'Base itself. He knew that the explosive bulkheads could not simply be activated, protocols had to be followed, but under exceptional circumstances the Starbase could effectively be cut into three massive sections, all independently powered.

* Unoccupied Decompressed Level - Explosive separation bulkheads: Here:

"Do you have Gheskori ? he asked.

"Admiral, the Enzio is contacting us. On Comms now Sir." the Lieutenant confirmed as the Bridge of the USS Enzio appeared on the vast screens suspended around the Command Center:

Sato spoke with his Adjutant while the Section Admiral spoke with his vessel, once done Gheskori turned to him:

"Sato ... Any news from your teams ?"

"We are still trying to re-establish contact Admiral ... What happened ?" Tetsutaro asked, motioning towards the view-screen, which had a moment ago shown the Bridge of the Enzio.

"Massive explosion. They are trying to regroup now. =^= Gheskori said. An Officer managed to get Sato's attention and he looked away from the Section Admiral.

"We are beginning to receive reports ..... The loss of life is not as numerous as first expected. But there are losses. Thankfully most of the Levels had been evacuated prior to the explosion. We believe the damage was intensified when several Levels above the Communications Array's previously devoid of atmosphere and gravity, apparently restored by Serova were destroyed."

"Can we tractor the Maracanda ?" Gheskori asked someone at one of the Command stations.

"Sorry Admiral, tractor arrays were damaged or destroyed in the explosion." A Commander replied, putting the information on one of the suspended screens for review.

"Then she will have to wait." Gheskori decided, his eyes flicking around the myriad of screens as Sato watched, "Scan for life-signs in the damaged areas ......"

"All Sections below the Sixteen hundred twenty Bulkhead are completely sealed. There is no way anyone or anything can get back above the decompressed Level without Command override." Tetsutaro informed the Section Admiral, "Should our prospecting renegade President still be with us in the land of the living she will need to make some harsh decisions if she and her 'supporters' are to obtain assistance of any kind ...... The mines, did we complete the sweep to clear them ?" Sato asked.

"Alas. No ... We are trying to ascertain if the Enzio can complete the task alone.

Then if there is nothing more Admiral. I shall leave you to your tasks while I attend to issues at hand ?" ..........




< Tag : Gheskori / All >

[Gheskori]

As the Maracanda continued cartwheeling out into nothingness the Enzio coursed round the lower section of the base, keeping its weakened starboard side away from the station and any phaser emplacements that may have been appropriated by Serova or the other dissidents. The ship was also surveying damage to the complex of comm vanes and other equipment, broken and twisted metal presenting a gaping maw at the centre of which a series of plasma fires continued to burn, weak but fiery.

The Prometheus class was awaiting advice from Starbase Ops whether it could go it alone in disabling the rest of the spheres - if any more were present - in this last section of the Starbase, and they all had to hope they'd missed none in the 1600+ decks that lay above them... The Oxford was prepped and ready to go in the Dome - would it be necessary to deploy the already weakened vessel whose crew had recently repelled at great cost three dissident boarding parties?

* * *

"Then if there is nothing more Admiral. I shall leave you to your tasks while I attend to issues at hand ?"

In Ops, Gheskori acknowledged Tetsutaro who returned to his office to arrange his team's operations. Ops had attempted to redeploy security and marines to intercept Serova et al - who may have found avenues of escape from their HQ room after the explosion - however local transporter relays - refocussing matter streams - had malfunctioned since the comm array destruction, preventing close repositioning of their teams (they could take their officers back to the Dome at any time, but the fine work of transporting them to other isolated sections was beyond their capabilities).

"Did we find signs of Slavic identity in their HQ?" he asked, walking back and forth along the rail of the projecting platform in the middle of the amphitheatric Ops room and casting glances at the base schematic displayed on the screen.

"Aye, sir... Three present in Serova's central planning room before the explosion. One of Polish extraction, two of eastern Slavic origin."

Ghes nodded, he didn't know who the Pole might be but he could identify the others, "Serova and her brother Serov."

"It might be surmised, sir," aide Adams allowed, being passed new information from the operations console controller, "But Maksym Serov's corpse was found on Delta Promenade during security and engineering teams' attempts to work their way through those decks to disable the spheres. He'd killed himself once he realised his forces were failing to prevent passage, so it seems."

"Then who?" aide Burr asked, looking from Admiral to Adams, to the faces of the ships' COs/XOs displayed on one of the viewscreens.

Ghes thought quickly. Ah, you vanished after all this began, tried to track you down but you eluded us. "It must be Basirov," he concluded lightly, "The unknown personage identified by Intelligence, a fine pilot in his day," he sat in the central Ops chair.

"You're suggesting he was flying the eleventh fighter that attacked the Maracanda - the one that escaped?" Commander Sasha Gordon asked. Ghes nodded. Tetsutaro, his intelligence officers and the marines had their work to do now, but if they failed to apprehend Serova, Basirov and the other surviving dissident leaders, they could at least get out safely, but surely there was no way Serova and co could escape from below deck 1620...

[Iorte Clancy]

Deck 1681

Iorte paced up and down the darkened hall in which the group were trapped. Emergency bulkheads and forcefields had lowered into place and been erected at 10m intervals, along lengths or at junctions, segmenting the 80 deck edifice with its smashed ventral comm array into so many layered serpentine components.

"They're just the other side of that wall!" he voiced his frustration finally, pointing at the bulkhead, adding, "Or they were..." Tan nodded as he walked by, also pacing back and forth and seeing if, with the assistance of a couple of the marine engineers who were trapped in the same segment, they could release the nearest hatch. de Luca lay propped against a wall, slightly concussed and being tended to by a security division medic.

A crackle came over their concealed commbadges, =/\=Infiltration team, this is Sigma Phi Sigma - =/\= code for Tetsutaro's office; it was Lemond's voice, =/\=- can confirm four of five hostiles present in the meeting room at time of the explosion are still active. The other one is dead or otherwise incapacitated.=/\=

=/\=Where are they? And what about through the rest of these decks?=/\= Iorte asked vaguely.

=/\=Sensors are unable to establish definite spatial coordinates for hostiles due to misalignments caused by the blast. But over 200 casualties are reported of varying severity, 67 confirmed fatalities. It's unknown what proportion of those are hostiles. Additionally, team, wherever the dissident leaders are in the decks immediately above or below your location we believe Admiral Basirov is with them.=/\=

They acknowledged as the marine engineers led by their captain continued trying to release the latch on the emergency bulkhead. Clancy murmured, "We're sure Serova can't get out... But what about the matter transporter Elena discovered on Alpha Promenade, in the abandoned shop? Elena? Where did that lead to?"

"There are industrial transporters on this deck," the marine captain confirmed as de Luca pondered, aware of the implication. Did Serova have an avenue of escape onto Alpha Promenade, and if so had she already accessed it?

<Tag Tan, de Luca>

[Simon Clark]

Command Platform, Primary Operations, Level 8, Starbase 47

Simon watched as the Enzio deviated from her flight path to eliminate the fighters bombarding the Intrepid-class Maracanda. Massive gaps opened up in the magnetic field coverage on the levels around 1400. Max's last report said that the Oxford was barely holding the engineering section, and although they had locked down the door and erected a force field on the other side of it, their shields had failed, and dissident combatants were beaming directly into the engineering section.

Admiral Gheskori pinged his console, and his voice was strained. "Lieutenant, how likely do you believe it to be that there'll be a density of quantum spheres below deck 1620? Do we need to be as thorough down there, where Serova has her HQ?"

"Unknown, Sir. Until we can get starships in position, we have no means of detecting the spheres. Unless... no. Commander Gordon confirms: we cannot use the Starbase power grid within the engineering section."

"Copy Simon and thank you, I am looking for shortcuts. Calculate based upon probably location of spheres the best angle of atack for Enzio and Maracanda".

"Admiral, I advise thoroughness." Commander Sasha Gordon said, "I do not want to risk loss of life on board the starbase by leaving any spheres in position, this situation is politically charged enough as it is."

Simon checked the paths of the two ships. They'd left very little margin on the original flight path for errors. They could not increase the speed of the operation without creating gaps in the coverage. In any gap there was a risk that a quantum sphere could be hidden, and could be missed. Even so, the speed of the operation was limited by the rate at which the spheres identified could be removed by the security teams, and in the lower decks, progress had slowed significantly.

"Give me some options." The admiral told them both.

"The science team on the Enzio is looking at alternative methods to nullify the spheres. I am expecting an update in five minutes. I'll get it now." Simon told him, messaging Ensign Heath through his console, to see if he could respond now.

And then the large quantum sphere attached to the base's ventral comm array detonated.

+++
Science Laboratory 2, Deck 10, USS Enzio

=/\= Can we teleport the spheres once the magnetic field has revealed them? =/\= Ensign Heath asked, his flustered face danced across Petty Officer M'Rell's tertiary display.

M'Rell hissed her frustration. Of course they could. Why hadn't she thought of that earlier. "Yesss. But it could break phassse linksss."

=/\= You mean we might only transport the part of the sphere that is in phase with the starbase? =/\=

"Yesss."

=/\= What will happen the rest of the sphere? =/\=

"Not know," she said, "I now tessst."

=/\= Time Estimate? =/\=

"I now tessst. Need transssporter."

=/\= Can you use the starboard side? The shields are already down. =/\=

"Yesss."

=/\= Okay, I have a transport engineer for you on channel eight. Tell him what you need. =/\=

M'Rell communicated her instructions. The anxiety she felt was tough to work through. She hated working under this level of pressure. Even with the advice that the councillor had given her, her words were still halting, and she froze twice as she worked, forcing herself through it. Chief Senior Petty Officer Martha Hernandez placed his hand on her shoulder, just as M'Rell had asked her to if she froze up. It was a calming sensation, and helped her keep her focus.

=/\= Alright, Petty Officer, I am ready to transport the sphere from the laboratory. =/\=

"Containment... -fieldsss active... -Energissse." M'Rell replied.

The test sphere, from which she and Martha had removed the antimatter and temporal field generator removed shimmered as the transporter beam worked.

Martha read out from the panel "The antimatter shell has transported, and the temporal shell has phase shifted into it's place."

=/\= Compensating for phase shift in the beam. Transport is continuing. =/\=

"Temporal shell has transported. Now the power and control shell. Now the phase shell. Now the replication shell. All quantum phases of the slipstream sphere have been transported." Martha said.

"Energissse reverssse transssport."

=/\= Aknowledged. Here it comes. =/\=

One by one the five shells of the quantum sphere shimmered back into position within the laboratory's quantum containment field.

=/\= Transport complete. Took about twice the power, five times as much energy and ten times as long to transport as a normal item that size. No fluctuations in the buffer stream though. Are you going to want to do this again? =/\=

"Yesss." M'Rell said. "Lotsss."

+++
Command Platform, Primary Operations, Level 8, Starbase 47

Simon watched in horror as several fragments of the devastated communication array impacted the USS Maracanda's warp nacelles. He watched the sensor readouts as a power surge from the warp field disabled their ability to control the starship. It spun, port ventral thrusters and port impulse engine flashing sporadically, spinning the Maracanda over it's right shoulder and impacting the starbase structure. The tritanium armour gave way under the inertia of the intrepid class starship. The port section of the intrepid's saucer ploughed three long furrows through the starbase exterior before it careened out into space. "We've lost warp and mag field generation capability, starboard nacelle is also offline." Captain Manley said over the main viewer.

"We're out, Clark." Commander Bligh told him, his face partly obscured by smoke in the intrepid's engineering room. Engineers hurried in the background, tending to the emergency situation the starship was now in.

"Good luck." Simon replied, knowing that there were days and weeks of repairs in store for William Bligh and his team.

"Stop blowing holes in my starbase!" Commander Gordon muttered. Simon looked to her on his left. She had gone a little pale.

"Can we tractor the Maracanda?" Admiral Gheskori asked.

"Sorry Admiral, tractor arrays were damaged in the explosion." Commander Gordon's voice was calm and professional as she turned in her seat to adress the admirals behind her.

"Then she will have to wait. Scan for lifesigns in the damaged areas." Gheskori said to the operations station to Gorden's left. Simon wasn't sure of his name.

"Current count. Sixty-seven confirmed lost. Two hundred injured. Internal sensors in that area have been damaged, and there's a lot of static on primaries."

Gheskori nodded, his expression grave. "Clark, can the Enzio go it alone in disabling the rest of the spheres, do we need to mobilise the Oxford? Is the dome clear?"

"The dome is clear, Sir. Ensign Heath reports that we have a way to transport out the spheres that are identified by the magnetic sweep. We can beam them out into space and burn them with phaser fire."

"Leiutentant," Commander Gorden said, "Outside of the magnetic field the spheres can be controlled by the dissident faction. They could phase out of this plane, and we'd not know where they were."

Simon nodded. "That's correct."

"I proposed repositioning the Oxford adjacent to the commercial ring to maintain a magnetic field in the area so that the Enzio can beam the spheres to the security teams to disable." Commander Gordon said.

"Risks?" Admiral Gheskori asked.

"Possible explosions." Simon replied. "We have tested only one sphere."

"I believe we should be thorough, Admiral. To minimise the risk to the lives our personel of allowing spheres to remain on or around the starbase."

Gheskori considered only for a moment.

"Aide Burr, identify possible secure unpopulated locations for sphere transport in the commercial ring with SMO Major Zalmis, I want to know if he thinks it will work."

"Yes, Admiral." John Burr replied.

<tag Gheskori: (how to proceed)>

[Gheskori]

"Zalmis, you believe this procedure will work as intended, and those sectors are free of all civilian personnel?"

"Mostly free, I would say, Burr," Zalmis turned back to the screen on Burr's subsidiary console beside the Admiral's. Burr considered, that wasn't quite good enough, but considering the urgency of their situation they'd little other option but to carry through and give them the best chance to eliminate the rest of the spheres.

He walked back along the projecting section in the middle of Ops, "Admiral... Zalmis has identified areas of the commercial ring free of civilian populations. It's my understanding that what civs are present are now being evacuated by the SMO's marines, and by security staff not currently engaged in frontline duties against the dissidents and/or disabling the spheres still in the area."

Ghes acknowledged, turning back to the viewscreen; he tapped the intercom that would connect him to the consoles of the primary controllers - as far as this operation went - about central Ops, "Gordon, Clark, Operations and everyone else, you know who you are... You have a go for repositioning the Oxford adjacent to the commercial ring and bringing its mag field to bear in those sections. Enzio will intensively sweep the lower decks and see to the transportation of spheres into designated zones in the commercial ring for disablement by security personnel."

"Sir, the possible detonations of spheres during matter transit... " Clark reminded him, Gordon nodding.

Ghes nodded belatedly, "Have Heath and the teams in science see rapidly to more tests of sphere transportation so as to minimise such risk. Notify me or Burr if any problems."

Simon acknowledged and Ghes leant forward in his chair, glaring at the viewscreen - partly showing a side-on schematic view of the Starbase (myriad sections glowing scarlet, particularly the ventral comm complex), partly the bridges of the three vessels currently deployed, partly the zoomed shot of the Maracanda still tumbling about its longitudinal axis out into bleak nothingness, "Let's finish this," he murmured, as V'Maz on the Enzio signalled to them he was resuming the Prometheus's course about the lowest decks; Ghes saw the aschen face of his acting XO, surmised he was observing the smashed ventral complex whose destruction would limit comm range of the base for some weeks, perhaps months to come.

"Let's get tractors back online, too," aide Adams suggested, as if people weren't already working on it - but Ghes agreed, the expedient recovery of the Maracanda was paramount.

Minutes later, with security now in position to receive the spheres, the first transportations of the quantum slipstream devices up to the commercial ring began, the Oxford just now sliding into position... The process of transport was slow given the multiple phases of the spheres - Ghes hoped nothing else would hinder them in eliminating Serova's last attempts to blackmail them, assuming she was still alive...

<Tag All>

[Iorte Clancy]

Outside Serova's HQ, Deck 1681

They'd finally broken their way through the emergency bulkhead, Iorte following the others down the next length of corridor. The lights were still out, the dark punctuated every now and then by pulses of red emergency lighting, shadows cutting out of the gloom intermittently as their silhouettes ghosted to the next obstruction, this one at a three-way junction. They would want to turn left, following which a door on their left would give them access to the meeting room of Serova et al.

"Wait," he called, Tan and a marine looked back and Iorte changed his mind, "No, go on ahead if you will, I'm going to try breaking through this..." There was a Jefferies' Tube hatch under lockdown to his left, just before the junction; there wasn't a chance he could release the lock, however a phaser beam would break him an entrance and not simultaneously weaken bulkhead integrity in the area such as would be the case with the corridor-wide bulkheads in front and behind them.

"Go on ahead," he said as a marine made his way back, "I'll try to gain access via this conduit; you push on, round to the left and we'll try to catch them in a pincer movement."

"That's if they're still present, sir. You said yourself that Serova, Goras, would've found a way to access the transporter system and beam themselves to Alpha Promen- "

"I suggested as much, Corporal, no more," Iorte interrupted, "Granted they may not still be present, but it's worth a try... Lemond told us they'd left someone behind, perhaps injured; we can use them for information." The corporal nodded and returned to Tan and de Luca.

He stood back and phasered a 75cm hole in the Tube hatch; a burst of white flame and a shunting sound, echoing down the Tube and throughout the passageway, filled his senses, after which he pushed into the crawlway, looking for the first exit either to his left or below him via a ladder access.

Just ahead, he could espy a gap in the floor and a descending ladder; shifting about and withdrawing his phaser, he prepared to descend, and caught a flicker of movement on the ladder. His phaser came up, his eye discerned a humanoid shape climbing, and he fired near point-blank.

"Argh!" The muffled shout was followed by the clattering of a weapon - or perhaps a tricorder - falling down the hatch exit tunnel and dropping with a soft thud on the carpeted floor of Serova's HQ meeting room. Iorte rushed forward crab-like and pushed off the metal grate with his palms, aiming a two-footed kick at the hostile's face. Another cry erupted in the narrow space and the substantial frame of the humanoid fell back through the hatch; Iorte leapt down and into the room.

The man was trying to recover; Iorte picked up the former's phaser and brought it round on him, "Who?!" he barked.

"Mr Sti- ... Mr Stirczki!" the man sputtered, crouching with hands aloft and spitting a bloodied tooth onto the floor. "I just woke up, found them all gone... What in Cygnus has happened?"

Iorte decided to give little a way as to his own identity, "There was an explosion somewhere beneath us, no doubt due to you and your cohorts. Emergency bulkheads have been lowered all throughout these decks, doubtless many casualties; regarding the rest of the base we're incommunicado. Where is President Serova?"

Noise from outside the room to his right suggested the marines and Tan and de Luca had arrived; sure enough, the door was then propped open and marines burst through, rolling into position with rifles raised, checking all the angles. "They've all left, Serova, Grimes, Goras, Basirov," Clancy informed them, "Leaving only Stirczki." Tan emerged, acknowledging and beginning to plan the route to reach the industrial transporters.

"Why, there's one for personal use right here, it leads straight to the industrial - !" Stirczki exclaimed before putting a hand to his mouth in realisation of his folly. They followed where he'd pointed - one transporter pad, doubtless used consecutively by the escaped quartet.

"Last sensor sweep indicated no one present within the industrial transporter room," a marine engineer stated, "That was 40 seconds ago; seems Ops has been working on the sensors here, or their correct functioning is intermittent." The intel officers nodded, agreeing they should risk the chance that dissidents might be waiting for them the other side.

* * *

Industrial matter transport, deck 1681

They'd materialised; the vast room was apparently empty, darkened... deck 1681 has never seemed so lonely, he thought wryly.

"If they used these matter transporters to access the one in the disused shop in Alpha Promenade..." de Luca murmured.

"It doesn't bear thinking about," Iorte was abrupt as security scanned the room. Luminous hair shimmered starkly under emergency lights at the room's limits, a lithe figure stepped forward round secured antimatter containment pods, flanked by tall guards; following these were Noel Grimes and Admiral Basirov, along with assorted other dissidents, some armed, some not.

"David Tan, Elena de Luca, Iorte Clancy... You've followed our trail expertly," Serova's expression was somewhere between a smirk and a grimace, "It would be impressive if we hadn't led you on."

"True adepts, true gullibles," the Lodge Master (of the dissident-aligned lodge/cult Iorte had joined) agreed, stepping forward, a phaser rifle emerging from the long fold of his robe's arm. Clancy looked about the entourage; Wilm Goras was notable by his absence.

"The explosion beneath us... What happened -?" Iorte stopped, "You did this, and to some of your own people."

"Well, we tried to warn you," Grimes tutted at them, "And yet we led you on. Interesting counterpoint."

[Simon Clark]

Main Engineering, USS Oxford (Akira Class).

With the last of the boarders neutralised, Acting Engineering Chief Lieutenant Max Kempton had the chance to look at the Akira's engineering room readouts for the first time in the last hour. The USS Oxford had left the docking dome, and the captain was calling.

=/\= The Oxford is in position alongside the habitat ring, segment 4. We need the mag field, and we need shields. =/\= Captain Tymoklis told him.

"Ventral shield generator is the only one you've got. Magnetic field is charging steady and rotating within parameters. Keep the shield below twelve percent to keep it that way." Max told him.

=/\= Estimate on shield repairs? =/\= the Andorian asked on the comm.

"No, sir. Not at this time." Max suddenly wondered how the hell Clark always had an on the spot estimate of repair. For everything. He'd have to ask him. It was almost impossible to keep track of what everyone was doing. With the very limited number of officers, he'd assigned some temporary leaders for each of the teams, but they didn't have the experience to know how to coordinate effectively. He wasn't getting regular enough reports. He didn't know what the repair teams were working on right now, or when they'd be finished. He could see what was happening in engineering by eye, but with the damage that the boarders had inflicted on internal sensors, the computer was struggling to keep track. He'd resorted to communicating directly with his team leaders, and it was taking far too long to cycle through each of the teams.

Captain Tymoklis glared through the dispaly and looked like he was about to ask something else, and didn't. =/\= Aknowledged. Keep me appraised. =/\= The channel closed, and the direct link to Starbase Ops took it's place.

"Sir?" asked Carnol, the crewman that Security had sent down to cover engineering, "We're setting a perimeter in the corridors around engineering. Squawk if you need us." He nodded, and she went. Half Human, half Xindi Aquatic was not a hybrid combination that Max had worked with before. Not surprising, since she was the only one in existance. She'd been effective, and kept the phaser fire away from his team. His team. What he'd always wanted. If only it could be easier to run it.

[Simon Clark]

(OOC: I think I've caught up now!)
+++
Science Laboratory 2, Deck 10, USS Enzio, alongside Starbase 47

After her success of the test transport of the quantum sphere, M'Rell had been closely following the start of the operation to transport spheres from the starbase's engineering decks up to the designated location in segment D of the habitat ring. Her superior officer - Chief Senior Petty Officer Martha Hernandez - had assumed the role of liason with starbase operations, supposedly to give M'Rell space to focus on the data that was flowing from the transporter and sensor logs. She suspected that Martha had seen her anxiety was getting the better of her, and was protecting her effectiveness. In one respect, M'Rell was releived not to have to speak to the other officers, but on the other, she was disappointed that the techniques the counciller had suggested at her last review were having only a limited positive impact. Chief Clark was visible on Chief Hernandez'z display.

"What do you mean; the Admiral wants additional testing? We've already started the operation." Chief Hernandez said to Leiutenant Clark.

=/\= I want more confidence that the spheres are not going to explode at source or at destination. There are lives on the line, I want to minimise the risk =/\= Clark said.

"What can we test? The transporters are fully utilised extracting the spheres. If we take one of the transporters, we'll slow down the operation by several percentage points."

=/\= I doubt that would be acceptable to the Admiral. How are you monitoring the transports? =/\=

"M'Rell and I are reviewing the data for each transport."

=/\= After the fact? =/\=

"Yes sir."

=/\= Have the computer continuously collate the data in real time, and construct a model of the transport process. If there any discrepancies between the model and the data for the transport, beam the sphere into space within the Enzio's magnetic field. Review the data for the transport, and flag it on tactical overlay three as safe, or not. Commander V'Maz agrees, and Tactical is standing by to vaporise any that look like they are going to explode. If it's safe, transport team will retransport the sphere to the secure area on Gamma Promenade for disposal. This way we will only lose time for anything suspect: a compromise of risk and speed. Clear? =/\=

"Yes Sir. Build a model, review anything suspect, and flag for transport or tactical."

=/\= Great. Good luck, Chief. Ping if you need anything. Clark out. =/\=

The channel muted, and M'Rell could see their Chief Engineer in communication with someone else. She glanced at Chief Hernandez, and met her eyes.

"Here we go, Petty Officer M'Rell." M'Rell watched her turn to her display, "Computer, construct a realtime transporter simulation model using the active quantum sphere scientific database, and the primary transporter log..."

+++

Command Deck, Primary Operations, Level 8, Starbase 47.

"Let's get tractors back online, too," aide Adams suggested.

Simon heard Commander Gordon groan. He concurred. It made sense that they would want to recover the Maracanda, but it was hardly top priority.

It was a common misperception that any Engineering department - anywhere - was capable of doing absolutely anything, and could do it immediately. Even if they had unlimited resources, Simon felt that it was a difficult reputation to fail to live up to. Maybe he was doomed to disappoint?

"No sir," Commander Gordon replied, "base engineering resource is fully engaged on prority activities. I suggest she is towed in after this is over."

"I concur," said the officer at the Starbase tactical station, "The Maracanda is stable, she isn't going anywhere, and she is transmitting good sensor data on the operation."

<tag gheskori: to agree or not>

Simon turned his attention back to the sphere neutralising operation. The Oxford had moved into position alongside the Habitat ring, and Max had confirmed stability of the magnetic field. Simon had tightened the pitch of the helical flight path of the Enzio as it traversed the length of the starbase, to compensate for the absence of the Maracanda. Without engineering and security on the ground inside the starbase, her progress was much slower than they had originally planned. With the transporters now in operation, they were still making progress.

"Give me an update, Simon. How long?" Admiral Gheskori asked.

Simon had mixed views on the Admiral's use of informal names while on duty. Although Starfleet's militaristic training did not mandate the use of formal designations, it was noticable that Admiral Gheskori chose to break from that convention. On the other hand, the Admiral himself only had one name that Simon was aware of, and hearing his own name used in a familiar way added a small sense of homeliness to their position of somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

"So far the density of sphere's within the engineering ring has been consistent with the density we saw on the habitat levels. If it continues the same, we will be clear in two or three hours."

"That long?" Aide Adams asked.

"Yes, Sir. The Enzio is utilising all available transportation capability, including the cargo transporters. Additional engineering resource with the relavent experience has been draughted from Commander Bligh's team, where they could be spared. We are also considering the use of shuttlecraft transporters, but we don't have a reliable way of integrating them into the failsafe model being run by the Enzio's science team, and we are not sure they will handle the power requirement."

"What of the Starbase's transporter systems?" Aide Adams asked.

"Admiral Tetsutaro's team has advised to avoid them for the duration of the operation," Commander Gordon replied, "With all of the dissident activity we have seen, we cannot know that systems have not been compromised, and I don't want to be the cause of any more deaths if I can help it."

Adam's didn't respond, and conferred quietly with the Admiral at his seat.

<tag gheskori>

The operation proceeded steadily, with only a small number of incidents. One of the spheres exploded at source on level 1645. They had no indication either way that the detonation was accidental or had been controlled, and sensors could not tell them if anyone had been in the vicinity at the time, and Simon had to hold his concern along with everyone else. Two spheres were identified as inconsistent by the failsafe program running in the Enzio's model. The first was successfully vaporised off the Enzio's starboard side, and the second detonated in empty space seconds before a phaser beam tore through it's location.

"The Enzio's magnetic field is now intersecting with level 1681," Simon reported.

"Sir, I am detecting moderate volumes of un-registered antimatter in four distinct containment vessels in close proximity to each other." The tactical officer said.

"Location?" Admiral Gheskori asked.

"Industrial Matter Transport."

"But that's where the-"

Gheskori silenced Aide Adams with a hard stare. "Tactical analysis?" he asked.

"The antimatter quantity is equivilent to the warhead volume of approximately seven photon torpedoes. A containment failure would cause significant damage to that section of the starbase."

"Get me some options," Gheskori said, to noone in particular. He tapped a button on his chair's arm panel. "Gheskori to Tetsutaro..."

<Tag Gheskori/Tetsutaro/Clancy>

[Simon Clark]

Grynex Quantum Slipstream Research Laboratory, Segment B, Level 962, Starbase 47.

"I never liked corporate interference in Starfleet research," Lieutenant Almir Marin said.

"They're not so bad, Al," Ensign Vishall Fox replied, "It's nice to have a bit of variety in your suppliers and customers once in a while, it keeps Industrial Replication interesting."

"That's not what I mean, Vish. Starfleet starbases should be just that: Starfleet. Without civilian or corporate interests. See how untidy all this mess is with dissident factions and corrupt research institutions."

Vish's face dropped it's normal joviality, and turned serious. "And Starfleet is the perfect model? You have worked with our perfect logistics department? You know, where you can't get a torpedo tube without months of waiting, unless you happen to be good buddies with the Mat. Rep. production manager? And where your own administrative structure is working to undermine everything we enjoy in our work?"

Almir doubled back on his thoughts. There was politics within starfleet, the same as any other structure. "Yes. Sorry. You are right. It just seems... you know... simpler on a starship."

"It is simpler, man. But you know, I'd get bored with simple. I'm a complicated guy, me." Vish said, with a grin.

"Don't I know it."

Vish grinned, and thumped him on the shoulder. "Come on, tell me why we are here. I've nought to do until I get my Rep Bays back, and you said this might help."

"Maybe I should have left you in sick bay."

"No, no. I was dying in there. Sick bays are for the sick. I appreciate you getting me out, like. That doctor wanted to poke and prod me some more. I'm fine, I'm fine."

"Vish, you took a phaser blast to the shoulder." Almir said, nodding to the sling strapping the Ensign's arm across his chest.

"It'll recover faster me helping you than it will stuck on some boring bunk bed. Laughter's good for the soul, you know. And you're a funny guy when I'm around."

"Sure, Vish. Sure." Almir pulled out a PADD, and handed it to Vish's good arm, as they stopped outside an unmarked standard grey door. "Right, we are here."

"On the Science levels..." Vish said.

"That's right. This is Grynex Corporation's Quantum Slipstream research laboratory."

"I don't know much about quantum slipstream. Although, it seems to have been a theme, just recently... I'm not quite sure... I'm sure I've heard it somewhere."

"Knock it off, Vish. You're not here because you're a scientist, you're here because I trust you, and I know you know how to keep track of a parts inventory. The PADD is loaded with an inventory of all of the equipment, tools and physical materials registered to this laboratory, and two others within the Science ring."

"Really? Inventory. You sure know how to show a guy a good time."

"You want to go back to sick bay? Admiral Gheskori has asked me personally to find any discrepancies between this list, and what is actually in those laboratories. I suspect that some of the false orders that came through Mat. Rep. came to this lab, and if they did, I know you will be the one to recognise it. We've enough authority in this order to commandeer the whole of the Grynex workforce if we need to, but we're not going to play that Ace card unless we need to."

"Now, that sounds fun. But what? You and me are just going to waltz in there and start telling them what's what? Are they gonna buy that?" Vish said.

"Let's hope so, I've a King to play, but I'd rather keep it in reserve."

"Poker's not my game." Vish grinned.

"In that case, I'll ask you to stop beating me at it when we play."

Vish's grin widened. "So which card am I?"

"You're the Two."

"Really? A Two?"

"In this game, the Two is going to trump everything, I think. But don't let them know that, or we'll lose our advantage."

"Got it. Go in, act all pompus and stuff, find stuff that shouldn't be there, and act like it should be there until it's time to act like it shouldn't."

"And don't overdo it. Follow my lead."

"Sure, Al. I do enjoy being late for stuff."

"Vish, knock it off!"

"All right, all right. I'm ready."

"Right."

Almir tapped the panel on the door, which slid open to reveal the lime green and mute purple theme of the Grynex reception area. It was a fairly unpleasant contrast to Almir's mind, though they'd made some nice features with transparent panels, and large white squares. A young man with short hair and a green jacket sat behind a reception desk in the far left hand corner of the square room. Two grey doors led from behind the desk to adjacent spare-, and a large white door on the far wall indicated the main entrance.

"Good morning... er... Lieutenant, Ensign. Welcome to Grynex Quantum Slipstream Research. Can I help you?"

Almir walked forward, imagining himself with the level of confidence that Vish always has. That was the real reason he had brought him. He didn't think he could have pulled this off on his own. He glanced down at the young man's name badge 'Samuel Borstal'.

"Good morning, Mister Borstal. I am writing an engineering paper on the pysical application of Quantum Slipstream propulsion technology in combination with warp field theory. I have been granted permission to explore the Grynex facility."

"Er... do you have an appointment? We don't have many staff on... er... this early to show you around."

"Early?" Vish asked, "It's almost lunchtime, son."

Samuel seemed nervous. "My work is of utmost interest to the starbase 47 science committee lead. I have a note from the section admiral himself to observe the Grynex slipstream research facilities at the earliest opportunity. I have come directly from his office. Did you not recieve his notification?"

"Er... hang on. I'll... er... check..." Samuel moved toward his display, and started pressing buttons at random with one hand. Almir could tell he wasn't actually doing anything. Sweat was beading on his forehead, while his other hand was tightly gripping the desk and repeatly, pressing a panic button beneath it. Beside him, Vish had tensed at the not so subtle actions of the receptionist.

The white double doors slid open, and two men in black armour carrying pulse rifles, raised, charged, one targetted on each of them, emerged from the corridor.

Almir flinched. Vish ducked to the floor. A successive pair phaser pulses from behind them hit the guards square in the chest. They fell, stunned, to the ground.

The receptionist blinked at him, in obvious shock. He looked about sixteen or so, and and he didn't look as if he was enjoying his day.

"Mister Borstal. As I said," Almir said, as calmly as he could through the rush of adrenaline that had surged through his body, as he handed one of his PADDs to the receptionist. "I have a writ here from Admiral Gheskori, who has asked me personally to tour this facility today, could you confirm whether I need a specific appointment?"

"Er... that looks... er... it's the... er..."

"Try the messages panel, Sam," Almir prompted, feeling the shakes starting in his back as the adrenaline did it's thing, "there, on your right."

"Er... yes... your P-PADD matches... er... my messages p-panel... er... Lieutenant Marin... er... Sir?"

"Thank you for your help. Tell me, is this your first job?"

"Yes, s-sir."

"Enjoy it?" Almir asked, hoping that the gently conversation was as calming to the young man as it was to him.

"N-no, n-not... not really, sir. My uncle got me it, Sir. Before he died when the nebula exploded, sir."

"Is there anything else you'd like to do, Sam?"

"W-well... I like cooking, you know, properly, without a replicator."

"Cooking!" Vish said, a slight waver in his tone, "Hey, you know the café opposite O'Tooles is looking for a lunchtime assistant? You know, baked sandwhiches, a bit of fried fish, that sort of thing, why don't you give that a try?"

Sam nodded, slowly.

"Well? Go on, then. Lunchtime awaits you!" Vish urged.

The lad took off his Grynex jacket, hung it on the back of the chair, and made a slow exit.

'Really? An assistant?' Almir said, with some relief.

"Sure, they'll find something for him to do. Right, Al, now you tell me right now how the hell you did that?"

"I had hoped I wouldn't have to play the king card."

"I'm damn sure I'm glad you did... is... he still there?"

A faint double click sounded in the back of room. Security crewman Greg Hampton was concealed behind a prototype personal holographic camouflage device from the Marine Corp office, borrowed with help from the Enzio's XO for 'official testing'. Greg had been more than happy to help, once Almir had explained what they had been asked to do.

"He is on a short time limit," Almir replied. Greg said the device had a limited power pack.

"Man, you could have told me!" Vish said, "I could've lost my breakfast, or something."

"But you don't eat breakfast." Vish had never eaten breakfast; he said he was proud of his healthy approach.

"You know what I mean, Al. So, are we doing this thing, or not?" Vish asked.

"Sure."

Grynex Quantum Slipstream Research laboratories was deserted. There were no staff, there was no equipment, and there were no materials. Empty test benches showed only the detritus of a hastily evacuated space. Almir ran his tricorder over each that they passed.

"It's an easy inventory here, Al. That lad weren't kidding when he said no-one was about. Say, you don't think he's at risk for leaving his desk, do you?"

"Perhaps. Was I too hasty in letting him out?" Almir imagined him being jumped on part way down a corridor.

"You? Hasty? Ha! You don't rush even when you know you are late! You remember that warp mechanics assignment we did in second year at the academy? The one you handed in two days after the deadline? You took a 48 hour penalty and still did better than I did."

"I like to do things right." Almir said, wondering where Vish was going. But still, he couldn't leave the young man unsupported. He tapped his badge

"Marin to Enzio."

=/\= Rivers here, Lieutenant =/\=

"Can you run a background check on a young man, Samuel Borstal, and have someone find him and make sure he is safe?"

=/\= Is it urgent, Sir? I mean, we are in the middle of a minesweeping operation. =/\=

"Yes Ensign, his life may be at risk."

=/\= Understood, sir, I'll fit it in. =/\=

Alison's tone was strained. She'd do it, he knew, he just had to leave her to it. "Thank you, Ensign. Marin out." He could have contacted someone on the starbase, but he didn't really know anyone in operations, and there seemed to be a lot of division of loyalty going around, and he hated that idea.

Vish looked sideways at him, "I like to do things when other people need them done. Like this inventory. Let's find another lab. Maybe one with something in it."

"Just a minute," he said, swinging around to focus his tricorder readings, "There's something not quite right. Look here."

Vish ran his own scan over the bench surface. "Benemite?"

"Yes. Trace amounts, partly subsumed into the desk surface, here in the centre. But look at the quantum scale."

"Whoa! You're right, that is odd. It's like phase-shift-o-rama!"

A barely suppressed snort of laughter came from the empty rear wall.

"See, the King agrees with me," Vish said, "There's been a lot of quantum activity here. And look at how the benches are arranged, Al, and the shelves here, in easy reach of these four stations. And here: four identical configurations around the lab. It's been set up specifically to minimise the spaghetti impact on a manual assembly operation."

"Spaghetti impact? Did you make that up?" Almir asked.

"Course not. Walk time minimisation. Basic operational effectiveness. I think we just found where your quantum spheres were being manufactured. Ooh, here, this is a complex structure, I'd recognise that anywhere! That's tritanium dust from the nanostructure passivation layer of the magnetic containment ring on a quantum stabilisation flow conduit. We completed an order for two hundred of those about five weeks ago, just when our schedule started being messed with. We had to write a whole nanostructure layering routine for that to get the replication stability, and even then, we still got some dust loss at cleanup." Vish pushed his tricorder down to his feet, "Yep, there's adhesive residue on the carpet, too, I think from lane markers. Visual management of value stream flow, see?"

Almir had just about followed. "Sure. But there's nothing here now. Judging by the crystal degradation, it's not been used for maybe ten days or so. Benemite is quite predictable like that."

"I'll take your word for it. But where is everything?"

"I am not sure, but from this, Grynex Corporation has had a much deeper involvement than anyone suspected. I think I need to make a report to the Admiral now."

"All right, you do that. What about me?"

"There's the location of two more Grynex labs on your PADD. Go down and take a look, see if you can find any more of your stuff. You're a good trump card, Vish, I'd never have spotted all that manufacturing detail." Almir told him.

In that moment, Greg Hampton became visible against the back wall. "Ah, power's gone, twenty nine minutes, not bad. Hi Vish, nice of you to see me."

"Right," Vish said, looking from one to the other, "Thanks. But I'm taking the King this time."

Almir nodded, and the three of them made their exit onto the science concourse. Almir found a secure booth, and placed a call to Ops.

<Tag to take the call: Maybe Aide Burr (Gheskori), or someone in intelligence (Tetsutaro)?>

[Gheskori]

"I concur," said the officer at the Starbase tactical station, "The Maracanda is stable, she isn't going anywhere, and she is transmitting good sensor data on the operation."

"Very well," Ghes had changed his mind immediately, knowing well that the officers about Ops knew their own capabilities and that of the station but much better than he. "Let's focus on the spheres." He batted away a protest from Adams which he saw coming, and the aide retreated a couple of steps resuming his position.

Commander Manley, his executive officer and acting CEO Bligh would have things in hand on the Maracanda, he was sure, and had been reassured by the tactical controller such would likely be the case.

The task continued, agonising minutes became half an hour and still their progress seemed slow; what if the time taken to disable the rest of the devices allowed Serova or whoever else a chance to recoup, launch another attack, concoct another plan - however haphazard - to take control of the base? The possibility of using the base transporters was raised by Adams, to which Sasha Gordon made riposte stating Admiral Tetsutaro had advised against their use on the grounds they may have been compromised.

Adam's didn't respond, and conferred quietly with the Admiral at his seat. "Gheskori, we know what Intel are like... They take too many precautions, at least where the rest of us are concerned. If I wasn't so careful of maintaining decorum I'd suggest Tetsutaro was flat-out lying regarding his hesitancy to use the base's transpor- "

"Adams!" Ghes rasped hushedly, but somehow smiled, "I won't hear anything of the sort said against Tetsutaro or his staff. They don't reveal to us everything of course, yet that's in the nature of their operation." Ghes turned to the operations and engineering stations, requesting they consider use of shuttlecraft transporters if those systems could be modified quickly enough to benefit them as regards rapidity and safety in beaming out the spheres.

<Tag Clark, Gordon>

* * *

Their efforts continued, the spheres continuing to be transported - mostly safely though with a small number of mishaps - up to the habitat/commercial ring, and the chronometer ticked over to leave a mere 45 minutes until the estimated time of conclusion of the spheres' clearance.

The Enzio scythed its way lower with its mag field and uncovered the shadowy deck 1681, Serova's HQ level. Rapid conversation flowed between the Ops staff and controllers: antimatter containers of moderate potential explosive yield were present in industrial matter transport, hence in close proximity to Serova's HQ; who among their own officers and the dissidents were still active, who if any near these containers? He requested options and opened a channel to Tetsutaro, "Sato, have you heard from your team on deck 1681, what's their status?"

"Acknowledged," he nodded to himself listening to the Starfleet Intel Director's reply. Contact with the team had been intermittent since they'd beamed in, it'd cut out completely during the ventral complex explosion and had been even patchier since; currently, they'd no contact at all with Tan, the marines, or anyone else down there.

He was aware that due to the blast the sensors were still out of alignment, and that - unlike non-biological matter - biosigns were difficult to detect in the decks 1620-1700. He was on the verge of giving out orders that Ops' controllers see to restoring the sensors but, he took a moment to sit back, observe the displays, the great amphitheatric arena that was Ops, and allowed himself to act the receiver, the analyst, he who could command the situation detached and not tie himself into micromanagement; these people knew their roles and were aware he and the other senior officers were pressing them for results just by their very presence - they didn't need constant vocal reminders from their Section Admiral. He surveyed the various screens, schematics, and tried to recognise patterns, systems of movement of people and events on a grander scale.

He grasped at something that flowed through his mind. They were being led on, he realised; they'd known it partially all along, the warnings given them - as the teams and ships had made their way down - were perhaps invitations from Serova to continue their progress and see where it might get them: indeed, it'd got them the devastation of the comm array. And now Serova, if she still lived, or whoever was commanding the chief dissident faction now, had seen to it that Intel were transported to her vicinity... So she had them where she wanted them, but how would she see to their demise, and what advantage did she feel she had over them? Surely the equivalent yield of 7 photon warheads wasn't intended for Intel and marines' destruction, as that would kill the chief dissidents themselves and a substantial part of their movement.

And the antimatter - a last resort? for a counter-attack on the Dome? or part of original longer-term plans...? As he was pondering these things over fractions of a second, alerts came from the security and ops stations. "What is it?" he turned.

"Unregistered antimatter pods - surely the same - have materialised somewhere on Alpha Promenade!"

"Their containment fields are collapsing..." the controller at ops said falteringly, "Estimate, 40 seconds 'til the antimatter comes into contact with its surroundings. Also, I... I believe I detected new biosigns, two of them [OOC: two dissidents rather than Intel, perhaps Grimes and Basirov?], near the pods during the materialisation. No longer reading them; they may have fled into blind spots, knowingly or unknowingly."

"Confirmed, the pods are the same as detected on deck 1681," Gordon was saying, "That beam-out burnt out the industrial transporters down there... No way in or out from below deck 1620 now." That was something at least, Ghes thought frantically, though if their own people were still down there, they were for now trapped...

He tried to remain calm, realising the quantum spheres were also being transported to those levels, "Can engineering and security teams in the habitat and promenade levels be redeployed to avert the containment collapse?" He saw that only 20 minutes remained before sphere clearance would be complete.

<Tag All> [OOC: Hi all, I'd say we should wrap up the elimination of the quantum spheres in the next post or perhaps two. We might be nearing the completion of the Serova arc (or this one at least, she might be back!). Will respond to the Grynex laboratory post soon.]

[Iorte Clancy]

Industrial matter transport, deck 1681

The stand-off continued until the Lodge Master blinked and lowered his phaser arm, smiling diffidently under his cowl. The marines who'd now joined the Intel officers were unwavering. Iorte glared about warily, the squat frame of Stirczki approaching behind him, Tan and de Luca - unbeknownst to them.

"Mr Stirczki, you've defected," the Lodge Master said.

Iorte turned abruptly, seeing the frozen features of the man now sharply illuminated by the light overhead, "Not so..." Stirczki squeaked, "I was incapacitated, I tried to escape, I was shot by one of them... they wanted me to tell them where you - "

"And you told them!" Serova thundered, "Though to our mutual benefit. Now we have our prisoners, what ransom will these officers - prized possessions of the man we tried to assassinate, or at least my brother did - fetch, considering what our threat will be?" The threat then? Iorte thought impatiently. "Not only your obvious deaths at our hands but the destruction of the habitat ring," Serova said.

As she spoke, a buzz sounded in Iorte's ear - in all three Intel agents' in fact; it was Tetsutaro, "I heard her, friends. Suffice it to say we hold ransoms in no regard, threat of base-wide destruction or otherwise. But rest assured you're safe, we'll transport -"

Somehow Serova had heard him - ransom rejected, she carried out her threat. Iorte thought quickly as things moved physically about him: the dissidents or a part of them must have compromised Intel's communications channels, that was how Serova had been aware they were coming, how she and her compatriots all the more easily had led them onto this place.

Tan had dived forward to prevent the beam-out but to no avail: the four antimatter pods dissolved in cerulean light, presumably to the habitat ring. de Luca's tricorder was screaming before her, indicating something about the status of the pods. She confirmed it: their containment fields were collapsing. They would now have arrived on the habitat ring and wide-spread devastation impended.

Phaser fire lanced across the small space; the fizzle of orange and gold in the darkness, silhouettes falling, scrabbling at thin air, the crumple of bodies' impacts upon the floor freed from the obstructing presence of the antimatter pods. Tan and de Luca progressed but became separated from him. Stirczki was shot down by the Lodge Master who in turn was charged upon by Iorte, the latter kicking his feet out from under him and applying a two-handed blow to the back of the cultist's neck, rendering him unconscious.

The room was now cleared, only Serova and three dissidents in a corner, taking position between and behind crates, the presidential leader snapping orders. Where are Tan and de Luca? Clancy thought, looking amongst the fallen, finding neither them nor Basirov or Grimes. Of course, he remembered now, Basirov and Grimes had dematerialised with the pods.

"Our people will disable them, Yelana. It's over," he said, standing from checking a downed dissident and a marine and wiping his brow clear of sweat and blood. He approached with the remaining marines, signalling to stun Serova unconscious and at last take her into permanent custody. They fired, she collapsed; it was far from over on the decks far above.

"When we regain comms with Tetsutaro, have him transport her and the cultist to the cryo-stasis chambers," he directed. Assuming those rooms would still exist.

[Simon Clark]

Command Platform, Level 8, Main Operations, Starbase 47

"Have you considered the use of shuttlecraft transporters to beam out the spheres?" Gheskori asked.

"Yes, Sir," Simon replied, "The Enzio's science team have already tested it and ruled it out."

"Explain, Lieutenant." Aide Adams asked, his tone pointed in disbelief.

"Sir, the shuttlecraft's computer system isn't poweful enough to interface with the failsafe program we are running at the required speed, and the shuttle's transporter systems are neither powerful enough, or precise enough to transport a device in partial quantum phase over the time period required," Simon replied.

"Lieutenant," said the tactical controller, "The Maracanda has restored partial thruster control, and has an operational transportation system. Can they be of assistance."

"They could, but their communication array is damaged, so they wouldn't have a stable link to the failsafe program, we might miss something, and that might risk lives." Simon replied.

Sasha Gordon leaned over to him, and said quietly, "I know you are under a lot of pressure, Lieutenant, but I want you to think about this on a broader scale. Hear me out," she returned to focus on her panel, "With the spheres in locations on those lower decks, we are risking lives by leaving them in position. The Maracanda could beam them out into space, for the Enzio to vaporise, at least."

"Sir," Simon replied, addressing both higher ranking officers, "the Enzio is making progress, and the Maracanda is dealing with damage to primary sys..."

Admiral Gheskori cut him off. "Lieutenant Clark, I am looking for shortcuts, as I have already said." He addressed the viewscreen, "Commander Manley, if you have the capability, provide assistance to the quantum sphere transport operation. Lieutenant Clark will coordinate you into the sphere transport failsafe program."

"Yes, Admiral. Aknowledged."

Simon felt his ears redden at this rebuff, embarrassment that what he thought was right was not the same as what Commander Gordon and the Admiral thought.

"Steady, Lieutenant." Commander Gordon said to him, "Admiral Gheskori chooses which risks we take, that's his job, and he usually chooses the right ones. I know this is the biggest operation you've ever covered, and you are doing well. Don't let the strain cloud your objectivity, and don't get emotional about it."

"Yes, Sir." Simon replied, hearing the truth of her her words, but not quite being able to force himself to fully believe it.

"Take a breath. Hold it. Now let it go." Simon followed her instruction. "There. Now, do your job."

"Yes, Sir," Simon replied, more confidently this time.

With the USS Maracanda assisting with the transports, although without a stable link to the failsafe program most of these were transported into space where the lance of a phaser beam from the Enzio removed them, the 45 minute estimate for sphere clearance dropped to 31 minutes. Simon was vehmenent in his hope that none of these spheres would phase out and come back to haunt them another day. Eleven minutes of frantic activity passed without any incident. As the timer on the main viewer clocked 20 minutes, alerts came from the security and ops stations.

Gheskori turned to the sound. "What is it?"

"Unregistered antimatter pods have materialised somewhere on Alpha Promenade!" the security controller announced.

"Impossible, you can't transport antimatter in large volume." Commander Gordon.

"Even a small amount of antimatter can cause significant annihilation," the Tactical Controller replied, "And these are industrial transporters."

"Confirmed, the pods are the same as detected on deck 1681," Gordon was saying, "That beam-out burn out the industrial transporters down there... no way in or out from below deck 1620 now."

Their containment fields are collapsing..." the controller at ops said falteringly, "Estimate, 40 seconds 'til the antimatter comes into contact with its surroundings."

"Can engineering and security teams in the habitat and promenade levels be redeployed to avert the containment collapse?"

"Yes, Sir." In unison, both Commander Gordon and the Security Controller responded. The tactical officer focused the viewscreen on the antimatter pod locations, and labelled them.

"Team Gamma is moving to stabilise pod 3, they're close enough." The security controller said, "Lieutenant Clark, cease sphere transport to position Gamma."

Simon relayed the instructions to the Enzio and Maracanda's transport engineers.

"I have a transport lock on the antimatter in pods 1 and 4." Gordon said, "Energising. Transport complete. Antimatter transferred to stable containment. Dome-level cargo transporters are burned out." Commander Gordon said.

"You said we couldn't use the transporters!" Aide Adams protested.

Gheskori silenced him with a wave of his arm. Simon looked up from his own panel. On the main viewer, the one remaining antimatter pod was in a location away from the main focus of the security and engineering teams. There were 23 seconds on the clock. Noone was going to get there in time.

"Two biosigns are showing around pod 2," the ops controller reported. "Visual on screen."

A new division appeared on the main viewer, the antimatter pod partly obscured by one of the promenade's supporting struts, sat in the alcove of one of the shops. Phaser fire flew across the image from the nearside. A man ran into view from the far, phaser in hand. He fired at an unseen target off the screen.

"Basirov," Gheskori said, identifying the figure on the display.

Admiral Basirov reached the antimatter pod, and keyed the control panel, his phaser raised toward the lower right. He fired again, and ducked down. A beam arc returned, right through where he had been standing. A second man ran into view.

"Visual ID. Noel Grimes," the intelligence controller reported.

"Sir, the antimatter containment is stabilising," Ops said.

Grimes ran towards the antimatter pod, his phaser trained on it. Admiral Basirov fired, and Grimes fell to the floor, clutching his midsection. Basirov stood, pointing his phaser at the fallen Grimes. He was speaking.

"Audio?" Gheskori asked.

"No, sir." Ops replied.

Grimes pointed his phaser at Basirov, and fired.

<Tag All>

[Gheskori]

Ghes watched the screen as Basirov fell backwards, spinning to fall on his front as the beam struck him in the left shoulder. "What on Denobula is happening?" he murmured slowly.

Grimes pulled himself along the floor, the screen not disguising the fact his features were wracked with agony, and began a tussle with the admiral on the floor adjacent to the pod; Grimes attempted to throttle Basirov, the admiral's right hand scrabbling round for his phaser and, finding it, discharging a beam into Grimes neck. From the extreme close range the phaser bored a hole right through and out his nape, sparks flying as the beam impacted a bulkhead the other side of the promenade.

Recovering slowly, Basirov rose and cast warily about; he seemed to check the antimatter pod one more time before scanning the vast ceiling's edges in a graceful yet ragged turn; he came to face the surveillance device from which he was being observed - Gheskori realised that with his dark eyes Basirov was staring right at them. After a brief pause he raised his phaser and a beam lashed out; all was static on SB47 Ops' screen.

"He's lost his mind. Whose side is he supposed to be on?" Adams barked.

"Wherever his loyalties lie, he's disabled the pod," Ghes said. "Confirmed?" he glanced towards Gordon, Clark and ops and they nodded. The countdown to the disabling of the rest of the spheres continued. Less than fifteen minutes...

He asked himself whether Basirov might not have turned what his Earthborn friends so quaintly called a lone gun, not satisfied with either side in this veritable civil war taking place on the Starbase; perhaps slightly like Dimok Bennett. It was indeed possible that given the fractured state of the dissident movement, there were sufficient diverging points of view that an atmosphere had been created conducive to the creation of 'one-man armies', parties of one. Or had Basirov been all along a mole for Intelligence? That'd been a viable explanation up to the point he'd fired at the surveillance equipment. In any case, the dissident movement had been in a hopelessly splintered state... it was perhaps now atomising itself completely.

He ordered that security reposition themselves to cut off Basirov - his lifesign was now visible - on the promenade levels before he attempted anything else, unlikely transportation or otherwise. The truth from him would hopefully soon be forthcoming.

"Security have secured the admiral, sir," tactical reported, "He's been beamed to the detention cells, and security are resuming assistance in the disabling of the spheres."

[Iorte Clancy]

Intelligence department, Starbase 47

It'd taken another half an hour to reestablish contact with Tetsutaro's office. By the time they were beamed out into Intel's Starbase HQ the operation to remove the spheres would be over, Iorte assumed, however, finding himself due to weariness suddenly uncaring of the project, he retired to his cramped quarters adjacent to the Intel complex and allowed the first echoes of sleep and myriad thoughts to stream towards and engulf him.

Serova and her Lodge Master - through whom she'd worked to recruit Iorte into their midst, unbeknownst to the Lodge itself including the adept who'd formally invited him in - were now in custody, having been rapidly questioned and effectively indicted by tribunal - for subversion of the existing order, arson, attempted assassination, and a number of other offences.

They didn't have a sufficiently large or well equipped JAG department to handle such matters in the proper manner, the main judicial craft attendant on the Starbase having been caught in the Betreka explosion and destroyed, thus process of justice on the Starbase was at the moment necessarily summary. Especially true this in the current case, where the prosecuted had been attempting to seize the station in the name of a nascent UFP in Circinus.

Grimes was believed to be dead, Lemond had told him. Tan and de Luca had found their way back to the Dome, using transporters that base engineers - in the Dome and those stranded below deck 1620 - had jury-rigged and reactivated for them.

As for Wilm Goras, his whereabouts were unknown, though questioning of Reslik - the turncoat CEO of the Maracanda - had been progressing, and she who'd professed to have worked for Goras (even though her efforts on his behalf seemed to serve the same ends as Serova's, with whom Goras was supposed to be at enmity, according to Intel's reports) would soon prove the instrument by which they found the brother of Safron Nelor.

Iorte thought of the Lodge - how had Demik been taken in so easily, to the point he'd actually sided with them and fired upon him, Brik and Los? Clancy had to trust the El Alamein tactical officer had been playing a role, and that he'd been aiming at Brik's heavies and not himself; the Intel agent smirked, Well perhaps the credulous CTSO can be excused, perhaps we're even, considering I shot him in the ankle.

Now for the first time memories flooded towards him of his being rendered unconscious, that dark gap in his recall between a prospective meeting and the awakening in the Alpha Promenade hotel suite the next morning: shadows, ephemeral outlines in multi-spectral haze all round him as he lay on that icy metal surface, dreams and sensations fading in and out of his visual field as they opened his chest to implant the device.

The pulsing and swaying of his eyes against their lids in his cramped Intel quarters: Yes... the shift in his gut shortly before the firefight with the last of Serova's people, a sphere beamed directly out of his abdomen by one of the starships engaged in the operation. Crafty, very crafty those dissidents... How long would it've been before he was rended apart by the quantum slipstream-driven phase device, how long before the sphere nestled inside of him during that blackout would've devastated the section of the base around him?

More coursed down upon him but he was already rising from the REM state, vestiges of long-forgotten and long-forsaken dreams and ideals; betrayed, he'd never return to the fold of the quasi-vigilantes of his real species, those who'd given him the name which translated roughly to Earth standard as Aak'a'nerei; an outcast he'd remain, a new home and a fleeting dream he'd continue to forge.

[Simon Clark]

Command Platform, Main Operations, Level 8, Starbase 47

After the camera view from the promenade was blacked out, Simon switched his focus back to the operation to clear the spheres.

"Security and engineering teams are back in position."

"Acknowledged, Tactical. Ensign Heath, all secure locations are now available to resume." Simon said into his comm. "The Oxford is maintaining position, and the magnetic field pulses are steady."

Ten minutes later, the Enzio rounded the tail end of the starbase. =/\= That's the lot, chief. Starbase Levels are clear. =/\= Rory told him =/\= We are ceasing... no, wait, ops are picking up spheres still in the debris field. V'Maz is moving to intercept, stand by. =/\=

The Enzio moved slowly out from the starbase, its shields flickering as tritanium dust and other particles were deflected away from the path of the vessel.

=/\= This is horrible, Simon. Look, there, that's our link out to the Raven and the- =/\=

"Focus, Rory. Clear the spheres." Simon told him.

=/\= Yes, Sir. Two spheres detected in the debris field. We've got them. =/\=

Simon smiled. "Commander Gordon wants a complete second pass as you return to the dome, she's waiting to see if the Admiral will agree it. He probably will, so rotate your team, and get a break in."

<Tag Gheskori>

"Lieutenant Clark, Simon, if you would, a summary on the sphere removal oporation?" The Admiral asked.

"At current count, we recovered twelve hundred and thirty six quantum slipstream devices from the starbase, in four classes." He adjusted the overview on the main panel to show the sphere locations on the starbase schematic "The upper levels of the starbase showed the lowest density of spheres, majority medium, and surveillance class. The density was highest on the habitat ring. On the lower levels, we recovered a much larger proportion of the giant spheres, like the one that blew out industrial replication, and the small spheres, matching the one we found concealed within one of our officers a few months ago. Most of these were transported directly from within the bodies of the civilian population."

"Civilians?" Aide Burr asked, "Those are the areas we've seen the most dissident activity."

"Do you think they were aware of their presence?" Aide Adams asked "Could they have been used to threaten the lives of individuals, to force them to take actions against their will?"

Aide Burr glanced across at the officer at the intelligence station.

<Tag Tetsutaro/Clancy>

Simon overlayed red areas onto the schematic. "Here are where spheres exploded before transit, and the areas that were damaged. You can see the damage is limited to small areas at the beginning of the operation on engineering ring, the failsafe program identified most of the threats. Twenty-seven spheres were vaporised by the Enzio in space. We do not believe that any were able to phase out before they were destroyed. The large sphere that detonated on the Communication Ring was triggered prior to the Enzio's magnetic field reaching that area."

Starbase Security reported the status of the engagement with the dissident faction, and operations reported on casualties and the status of the medical facilities.

"All spheres on the habitat ring have been disabled, engineering teams are now moving the materials into storage," Simon said, "The Oxford's magnetic field is no longer required on the habitat ring."

<Tag Gheskori>

[Gheskori]

Ghes stood and clapped his hands together, "Good work, Lieutenant, Commander," he nodded towards the engineers and also took in the tactical and operations controllers who'd contributed a great deal to the success of their efforts. "Inform Captain Tymoklis he can return the Oxford to dock - we have plans to equip his vessel for station defence."

<Tag whoever may like to pick this up>

He watched for a moment longer, lingering in the overhang area of the amphitheatre of Ops - the Enzio returning from its secondary sweep of the debris field, making its return to the Dome - before turning and making for his office, finding Tetsutaro there waiting for him. He came to a halt, allowing Sato to enter first and passing in behind to round the desk, pick up a padd and scan over it cursorily before looking up at the Admiral, "Your teams, successful?"

"Serova and two other prominent dissidents are now in custody; we're preparing to put them into stasis."

Ghes sat, gesturing for Sato to do likewise, "Yes, and of course, the other option would be to execute her and her compatriots, and the Federation has never been in that business. There's the further option, yes," he preempted, "Of simply imprisoning her, yet with her and her associates periodically conscious arises the possibility they and their associates still roaming free may be able to concoct an escape."

Tetsutaro sighed and sipped at tea, "In any case, we have Serova, Grimes and the leader of a secret society firmly in our possession and ready to be placed into cryostasis. The society aforementioned was headed by a cultist-type who was recruiting people into the dissident ranks, the group a front acting as an innocent 'lodge' for disaffected labourers. Grimes' life has been saved, despite a severe neck injury; Basirov is in a cell, refusing to talk; Wilm Goras is missing; Safron Nelor remains in custody and is cooperating - hopefully she and Lieutenant Reslik of the Maracanda will cast light on Goras's location."

"Ah yes, about the Maracanda... We're planning to send her out still, I assume?" Ghes swung in his chair and faced the void, starry stillness as the Starbase remained immobile - this having been for the benefit of the helically descending Enzio and Maracanda.

"Fleet Operations, with input from Admiral Savot the Fleet Commanding Officer on the El Salvador, have confirmed this is a viable course of action," Sato replied.

Maracanda repairs would take nine days at most, Ghes understood; he nodded and called in Admiral Kletchley, one in the Fleet Operations department. Kletchley nodded and proceeded to the wall display, activating a stellar cartographic map of the local region, "We'll have the Maracanda progress to this point where she'll be equidistant between Starbase and last reported positions of USS El Salvador and USS Raven. Of course, owing to the loss of the main transceiver we can't communicate - except via lightspeed comms - with those ships, nor they with us. The Maracanda will relay information to and from the Starbase and ships, so as to update all three parties; she'll then progress towards the USS Raven's position - the last report from Admiral Torek indicated the identification of two separate species perhaps at enmity with one another."

<Tag Raven / Maracanda>

"Very well, Admirals, dismissed. And congratulations," he said to Tetsutaro as the latter neared the exit, referring to the Intel Director's team's success in capturing Serova et al.

[Simon Clark]

Command Platform, Main Operations, Level 8, Starbase 47

Admiral Gheskori clapped his hands together. "Good work, Lieutenant, Commander. Inform Captain Tymoklis he can return the Oxford to dock - we have plans to equip his vessel for station defence."

"Yes, Sir." Commander Gordon replied, relaying the message through the comm at her station.

"Shall we pick up the Maracanda on our way in?" Captain Tymoklis asked.

"That's a good idea, Captain. Coordinate with Captain Manley and see what he needs."

"Understood."

After a few minutes, Simon saw the Oxford move to assist the Maracanda. The USS Enzio continued her slow corkscrew helix back up the length of the starbase. Though he wasn't expecting any additional quantum devices to be detected, he'd stay at his station until Commander V'Maz had confirmed it.

"Lieutenant, before you start on your operation report, I could use your assistance with the starbase damage assessment." Commander Gordon asked.

Simon thought she sounded strained. "Yes, Sir. Though, I am not especially familiar with the starbase systems."

"In their current state, neither do I. All of our hands are out on deck, and I don't have anyone else at present."

"Yes, sir. What can I do?"

"I am running a level three damage report from the ground up. Can you monitor that feed, and call out anything significant?"

Simon nodded, and they began.

"No response from the Communications Ring."

"Nothing at all?" She asked.

"No, sir, but I have a joint feed from the sensors of the Maracanda, Enzio and Oxford."

"Show me." She slid her chair across to his panel.

He brought up the feed, and merged it with the earlier dataset from the Enzio's flyby. "Levels 1693 though 1700 Destroyed. Systems lost are Primary subspace antennas, auxilliary sensors, shield generators, and telescopes. Levels 1681 through 1692: Power and life support connections are severed to the engineering ring. Most systems are running on localised emergency backup power, and emergency life support. There is significant damage to science and cargo bays, and environmental systems. The communications office is intact, though."

"I hope they survived the explosion."

"I don't have access to the station manifest."

"Indeed," she said, "and you don't need it. Let's go through the engineering ring."

The Engineering ring was a mess. From 1653 to 1680, Industrial replication, Environmental Control and Shield generators had all been damaged, and were offline. Various systems could not be reached, the sensor and data connections had been severed, and Ops had no functional control. "Enzio sensor data shows shuttle bays, shield generators, and weapon systems, are intact." Simon told her.

"Up to level 1621: Power systems largely intact, main power is offline - reporting antimatter fuel shortage. Maintenance drone bay is intact, but unpowered. Auxilliary fusion generators are running at maximum output to maintain emergency forcefields. We are leaking atmosphere, duterium, and OPS plasma."

"Sir, I suggest we relocate all shuttle and fighter craft from the lower shuttle bays to starship shuttle bays, and docking bays within the dome until we have the resource to manage access to those levels." The tactical controller said.

"I have no objection." Sasha replied. "Aide Burr, do you concur?"

<Tag Burr/Gheskori>

"Thank you Lieutenant, that was helpful. Aide Burr, I've compiled a list of priority damage containment. Simon, please voice it for Ops while I work on the secondary list."

"Yes, sir." Simon accepted the list to his panel. "Containment in the first instance on engineering ring, repower the antimatter and fusion reactors on those levels, and bring maintenance drone bays online. Emergency drone repairs to the outer hull will follow to reduce the forcefield power consumption. The Enzio shows debris moving away from the starbase on several velocity vectors from the communication ring, and from the earlier sphere explosion in industrial replication."

Sasha took up the thread, "Some of the debris contains intact systems, and I would like to dispatch a sqadron of worker bees and shuttles to recover as much of it as possible before it drifts out of sensor range. In a week or two we should be in a stable enough position to inact repairs to industrial replication facilities, and start to process the recovered debris to rebuild some of the destroyed systems."

"What about Long Range Subspace communications?" Aide Burr asked.

"Likely Eight weeks away if it is rebuilt in it's current location. I propose we modify one of the short range antennas on level six, that will be quicker, maybe a week if we can recover undamaged parts."

"That's a better timescale for the Admiralty. I'll let him know." Aide Burr replied, reaching for his panel.

"Sir, I am still compiling the damage report, I cannot confirm when the work could start, nor have we inventoried the debris field. It'll be in my report, Sir."

"Understood, Commander. Carry on."

<Tag Burr/Gheskori>

[Sato Tetsutaro]

Primary Operations
Level Eight Mezzanine ::

They were stood on the upper level overlooking main Operations ... Sato was tired, but then so was everyone else. The events of the last few months had taken it's toll on everyone on Starbase Forty Seven, now, they were finally seeing an end to the internal hostilities. 'Hostilities may be too strong a word' he thought as he listened to the Officers with him, but then, an attempted coup couldn't be described as a mere 'hiccup' in the day to day running of and facility, regardless of size or compliment .....

"....... density was highest on the habitat ring. On the lower levels, we recovered a much larger proportion of the giant spheres, like the one that blew out industrial replication, and the small spheres, matching the one we found concealed within one of our officers a few months ago. Most of these were transported directly from within the bodies of the civilian population."

"Civilians ?" Aide Burr asked, "Those are the areas we've seen the most dissident activity."

"Do you think they were aware of their presence ?" Aide Adams asked "Could they have been used to threaten the lives of individuals, to force them to take actions against their will ?"

It took a long moment for Tetsutaro to realise that the question was aimed at him personally ... He took a second to recall the query then replied:

"Investigations lead me to believe that the majority of the civilian populace were unaware of their presence, we have picked up a total of seventy personnel, both Civilian and Starfleet who we can confirm involvement on one level or other. mainly they were used as mere messengers, or had their quarters used for storing equipment attained by the dissident factions. My belief is they were coerced rather than being willing participants. Anyone deemed of no risk will be allowed to return to their daily lives, some of course will require observation for periods unspecified at this point."

*****

The meeting continued, good news was forthcoming on most fronts and Sato was finally able to allow himself to relax somewhat.

Would they be able to put the last months behind them, he doubted it. Could this be the last issue Starbase Forty Seven will have to face, no ! ... They had explored less than one hundredth of a hundredth of a single percent of the region of space they were now resident in and the odds were against the next race they encountered being friendly, but then, wasn't that why they chose to come out into the depths of space, to encounter and form relationships with new species ?

He found his mind wandering once more and hardly felt the had taking his arm until it began to apply gentle pressure. he looked to his left to see his Adjutant, Nia Lemond:

"Admiral, you need to rest, the doctor told you not to over exert yourself." she whispered. Sato nodded reluctantly but stayed put, he could see Gheskori looking at him from the corner of his eye, realising Nia had obviously spoken with the Section Admiral prior to her hijacking his arm. Unnoticed by the others, Gheskori motioned toward Sato's office. Tetsutaro finally gave up his resistance.

"Section Admiral .... Gentlemen .... If you would excuse me." he said, "I will be in my office should I be needed further."

"You are going to your quarters Admiral." Captain Lemond admonished, pulling the aged Admiral away before he could complain ..........





OOC : Sorry for the short post, I will add to it in due course ... Regards, Sato.

[Simon Clark]

Grynex Research Laboratory, Segment C, Level 964, Starbase 47

"When you asked if you could show me what you've been working on, I wasn't expecting to see an empty laboratory," Simon surveyed the small clinical space, a number of starfleet science personnel, as well as security were moving around it with tricorders and padds. "there does not seem to be anything here."

"Correct, sir." Lieutenant Almir Marin replied, "But that's the interesting part: This laboratory shows traces of degraded benemite, as well as residues of all of energy shielding, subspace shielding, electromagnetic dampening field, as far as we can judge from the thick container of lead armour around the perimeter. The official line from Grynex Corporation is that this a storage area for radioactive materials prior to disposal, for which they do hold a registered licence."

"We had to have the room decontaminated just so we could enter it without hazmats." Ensign Vishall Fox told him. "A job and a half, that was."

"Whoever was using this space moved out of it fast, within the last few days, and took everything with them. The level of ionisation in the surfaces is consistent with a few days exposure high energy gamma photons, but inconsistent with the long half life of the mix of Caesuim isotopes we cleared. It was a good cover-up; there's not enough evidence for the team here to conclude that it was disguised to hide it's use as benemite storage."

"Was there a response from Grynex?" Simon asked.

"They have officially denied all accusations, Sir." Almir replied, "We have also lost the two tricorders Ensign Fox and I were using to investigate the laboratory on Deck 962. Both went missing from separate locations on the Starbase overnight. The laboratory we investigated showed evidence of a cell-structure manufacturing line, but today is completely refurbished, and new. Grynex told us the refurbishment had been scheduled for weeks."

"You think they were stolen, then? And you didn't upload your readings into the computer system?" Simon asked.

"In the circumstances, I wanted to deliver the data directly to the intelligence team. I hadn't anticipated a theft, I thought we were beyond that, with the dissident leaders in custody. Grynex have been openly supportive of Starfleet during the dissident coup. Officially, they have a clean political sheet since they came aboard." Marin told him.

"Clean as rancid fish," Vishall said. "I'll not deal with them again, if I can help it."

"Bad experience?" Simon asked.

"Too right. They'll be no records of it now, not since that sphere blew up my replication database."

Simon looked from one to the other, "So... you're telling me you've spent a week gathering and losing evidence on a private corporation with an officially clean record, and have only your word, and whatever this team can get here and now, to show for it?"

Vishall looked sheepish, his face toward the floor.

"Sir. Yes, Sir. Ours, a security officer, and a waiter. It's most frustrating, sir." Marin told him.

"Will there be enough evidence from this investigation to draw any conclusions here?" Simon asked.

Marin looked across the room at the circulating science officers, and then shook his head. "Highly unlikely, sir."

Simon sighed. "Almir, I trust you. I believe what you say. Do you have anything solid on where the benemite went?"

"No, Sir."

"Fine. I'll ask the Admiral to assign some other resource to it, we've a lot of work to do on the Enzio if we are going to get her shipshape for our next mission, and with Max still training the team on the Oxford, I need your knowledge of our warp engines in our engine room. Put your report on this to the Admiral, and suggest that someone is set up to observe Grynex's activities. He'll believe you when you say they are not as clean as their record, but he'll need something concrete before he can do anything about it."

"Yes, Sir. Understood."

"The Admiral has scheduled some holodeck time for the Enzio's senior officers. Will I see you there?"

"Yes, Sir. I'm looking forward to it."

"Good." Simon nodded. "Vishall, it was good to see you again. Commander Gordon assures me that Industrial Replication is high on her starbase repair schedule. I think you are going to have a busy few months.

"High on the schedule? I hope I live to see it. Thank you, Sir, the guys will be good to get back down."

"Good luck."

Simon left the laboratory, and headed back up to the docking dome. He also had reports to finish before he could meet the Admiral on the holodeck. It was suspicious about Grynex, but he didn't think that there was anything he or his team could do. Hopefully the missing tricorders would turn up, but if what Almir and Vish had said was true, he suspected they had been expertly disposed of. This sort of monitoring and investigation work was well outside of Almir's experience, and he hoped that someone on the intelligence team would have better luck finding out what was actually going on.

[David Tan]

"...... In summation, we feel confident that all those connected with the attempted coup have been detained or neutralised. It is recommended that a small section of Intelligence personnel be assigned to continue surveillance on those who have been released back into the community until such time as their renewed loyalty is no longer in question.

"Computer, end report. Mark it for Admiral Sato Tetsutaro."

"Report filed." the computer acknowledged.

Standing, David stretched trying to ease the seemingly constant ache in his lower back. He had been to Medical, undergone a battery of tests, yet the only explanation their combined knowledge could come up with was tiredness ... He'd tried numerous 'unconventional' remedies, most of which had been useless, gaining him only good-hearted ribbing from his colleagues, the majority of which came from Elena, David, and Iorte.

'Tiredness, I ask you' he thought as he picked up his jacket and left his quarters .....

Level One Five five One
Alpha Promenade ::

Walking along the promenade, he inwardly marvelled at how 'normal' everything looked once more. Shops had reopened, new establishments too had begun trading. Christmas and New Year had come and gone but the festive season seemed to be lingering, maybe as a result of what had happened over the last almost two years, or maybe people were holding on just to reassure themselves that there was hopefully a proverbial light at the end of the tunnel and they would return home one day. One thing that was a welcome sight were the children running along the Promenade. For obvious reasons they had been kept indoors during the troubled times the Starbase had suffered, but now they were free to return to school, return to the parks and facilities that were steadily being rebuilt.

He slowed before resting his elbows on the railing overlooking the lower Promenade, there too it seemed to be flourishing ... The Starbase, four kilometers in height with a diameter almost the same at it's widest point, the dome, had an area of almost fifty square kilometers. Not all this was accessible to the general public but the majority was, and with their number diminished there was plenty of room for the almost two hundred thousand inhabitants of Starbase Forty Seven ... The fifth of the six warp cores had been brought days earlier, so everything from lighting, food replication, even a large number of public holo-suites were now up and running. The sixth reactor had suffered critical damage when the long-range antenna array had been destroyed and this would take months to rebuild, if it could be at all.

There were less then two thousand Intelligence personnel on the Starbase, the majority of these had been involved in capturing the dissidents, now, many had volunteered to help with repairs throughout the 'Base. Admiral Tetsutaro had been only too willing to grant any request for leave, each and every Officer had more than earned the time away ... He, as one of the most senior Intel Officers, along with Elena de Luca and Iorte Clancy, reported directly to the Director, who had practically threatened to throw all three in the Brig if they didn't take some much needed rest time while they could, thus his visit to the Promenade today. He could hear the music before he reached his destination:

Walking into the bar he was pleasantly surprised at how full the place was. It was relatively early, nearly fourteen hundred hours, but Sean and his Staff had plenty to do. Making his way to the bar he waited patiently to be served.

"David ! ... David Tan ... Oh lord preserve us, I never thought to see you in here again, where the b'jesus have ya been keepin yourself ?"

"Hello Kara, long time." he replied as O'Tooles' Manager came around the bar before flinging herself headlong into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and almost squeezing the breath from his lungs in the process.

"Hey, put that girl down before I have to toss you out on your ear !" someone behind them said. David turned, rotating Kara through one eighty degrees.

"I'll have you know I'll wrap myself around who I bloody-well please ..." she said, kissing David smack on the lips to emphasise her point, "... and if ya have any complaints then you can take it up with the Management."

"Put my wife down David." Sean O'Toole said with a broad Irish lilt, grinning as he took his long-time friends' hand and shook it warmly. Finally, Kara decided she had made her point and climbed down allowing David to breath, "Susan, get David here a dram from the bottle in the cupboard, and don't be skimping on the measure now." he took David's arm, gently moving him and he seemingly attached wife, over to a booth at the right hand side of the bar. given the number of customers Tan was surprised that it wasn't already occupied, but Kara explained that it had been 'out of bounds' waiting for the small group of friends, mainly USS Raven Officers, who had always sat there when in the bar. Sean had apparently made it some ritual that it remained empty in anticipation of their return. The three sat down as Susan arrived with a tray, three glasses, and a bottle of deep amber liquid David thought he would never get to see, let alone drink, again.

The cognac was warm, almost burning his throat as he savoured the liquid, closing his eyes he remembered the days, so long ago now, when the group met here when the Raven was in dock. There were others too, not just Raven Officers, but he couldn't help reminiscing about those that had been lost, those that wouldn't be sitting here again ... Finally, Kara brought him out of his reverie:

"Penny for them." she whispered, David smiled, grateful for their understanding as Sean refilled his glass almost to the brim.

"So who else is coming ?" Kara asked.

"Who said anyone else is coming ?"

"Oh there'll be a few others, I'm sure of it, now, lets get some food in ya before that cognac goes to your head." she said, pulling up the bars menu on the small scree against the wall ..........





< Tag : Elena / Iorte / Anyone else who fancies a drink >

[Sean O'Toole]

One Month Earlier ::

The turmoil of the attempted coup by Yelana Serova and her group had cost the Starbase .... Over one third of the four kilometer tall structure was now uninhabitable. Had these been normal circumstances, the sudden lack of space would have caused massive problems, but with the Starbase loosing over a hundred thousand people when it was flung over fifteen thousand light years into the Omega Centauri Sector of space. But that was, as they say 'history' .....

Now it was time to rebuild .....

Sean stood outside his bar, everyone on both sides of the Promenades' upper and lower levels were returning to their establishments, some managing to open despite the state of their shops, ransacked, fixtures destroyed, windows and door broken and smashed. O'Tooles hadn't escaped unscathed, not by a long way ... Three of the six full-length windows had been smashed and subsequently boarded up, diminishing the light in the once lively bar, tables and chairs had been broken, most of his stock had been 'requisitioned' as Serova's people had politely put it. So, he had a decision to make, not one that admittedly had many options, more a 'toss of a coin' type decision.

Open, or close ...

"You gonna stand here all day or what ?" He turned to see Kara Boyle, his Bar Manager. She was stood with her hands planted on her hips in her usual 'no nonsense, do as you are bloody well told' pose, "If ya think I'm going to be doing all the work here then you are sadly mistaken. Now then, what's it to be ?"

He looked around the Promenade, seeing it busy for the first time in a long long time. It wasn't as if he didn't want to reopen, practically every other person passing had asked when the doors would be open, not to mention the few that asked when they would be back on then opened.

"What about stock ?" he asked.

"You have more than enough in reserve, last I checked it hadn't been touched, yes we need to fix the ol'e place up, but with a little graft and hard work I'll bet we could be open in eight t' ten weeks. I've spoken to the girls and they are willing to put in some extra hours, extra pay of course, so ...." she said, clearly making the time factor more challenge than factual estimate.

"OK, get hold of them, meet here in the morning, we'll sta ...."

"They're here and ready to go." she said, pointing to the six girls leaning against the railing overlooking the lower level of the promenade. Sean grinned. He walked over to them, greeting each warmly then walked back to the boarded up door. looking it over he grabbed one side and pulled, the wood dropped away, dust swirled through the new aperture and he looked into the semi-darkness of his bar. It looked for all the world that the most destructive riot had occurred, then taken place again for good measure. Before he could comment though, his staff were pulling the other boards away leaving gaping holes in need of glass. They stepped inside for the first time in months and looked over the damage.

He walked into the middle of the room, picking up an overturned chair, placing it carefully upright and tentatively making a move to sit. Kara threw a cloth at him saying he had no time to rest. Grinning he let go of the chair and walked to the bar where a good three meters had been smashed, the heads, beer siphons had all been damaged or simply ripped off their fixtures:

"We'll open in four !" he said decisively ........

Today
SD: 2405.03.0106 - 11:00 hours ::

Sean had pulled in countless favours to made his self-imposed deadline. There was no hint of him taking resources, manpower or time away from the ongoing repairs to the Starbase, but he had found himself standing back in awe and at time embarrassment at the number of people who, despite their own issues, had taken the time to lend a hand, so here he was, one month to the day, ready to open the doors for the first time in almost a year ...

"Get the hell on with it, they're dyin' of thirst out there." Kara said lightheartedly. Nodding he walked over and opened the newly installed glass doors. He found himself greeting each and every person who stepped over the threshold, Kara came up behind him and whispered in his ear:

"Are they coming ?"

"I sent out the invites. Raven is out on mission but I'm hoping everyone else can make it." he said somewhat nervously. As it was he had no time to think about who could or couldn't make the reopening as the place was packed within minutes. He'd managed to get the Irish band in one corner playing traditional music, the dance floor was almost overcrowded with people talking but with just enough open space for some to enjoy a little dancing. He was talking to one of his regulars when he heard Kara over the noise:

"David ! ... David Tan ... Oh lord preserve us, I never thought to see you in here again, where the b'Jesus have ya been keepin' yourself ?" He made his way over to the bar and found them in a hug.

"Hey, put that girl down before I have to toss you out on your ear !"

"Sean you Irish reprobate, how you been doing ?" David said, managing to untangle himself from Kara and accept the warm hug from Sean, "Bloody hell the place looks good, where you finding you booze ?" Sean tapped his nose, Tan knew better than to ask. Despite his position in Starfleet Intelligence, he knew when to turn the proverbial 'blind eye' where Sean was concerned."

"Forget my asking." David said with a grin as Kara reattached herself to his hip, "So, do you have anything worth drinking ?"

"Plenty but put my wife down first David, otherwise I might have to ......"

"WIFE !" David asked simultaneously surprised and pleased, "You finally came to your senses !" he shook Sean's hand while leaning close to Kara, "I was minutes away from asking you myself you know." he winked at Sean.

"I've saved our booth." Sean said, shaking his head before leading them across the bar ..........





< Tag : All ~ Fancy a drink ? >

[CSS]

Ladies and Gentlemen

It has been almost two years since we found ourselves beyond the Dark Matter Nebula. So we are once again moving forward

A new thread, effectively Part Three of what has become the 'Disaster Trilogy', has been set up, where we will continue our adventures

Entitled:

~ Small Steps ... Looking Beyond Disaster ~

Will be where threads begun in Part Two will progress and hopefully develop further

Anyone who has been writing events and happenings from their point of view in Part Two, please continue to write on the new thread

We are excited to see what the future has in store for all of us in this new region of space
Exploration, Discovery, New Life-forms, and ultimately, to discover a means to travel back to our own Sun

Please keep up the exceptional writing

Best Regards

~ CSS ~