Starbase 47 ◇ Thread Concluded SD: 2408.1129

[Carl Torek]

Carl Torek's Office
Mezzanine Level
Command Center ::

Before finally entering his office, Torek had spoken quietly to one of the Senior Comms Officers, instructing him that if anything came in from the Vicksburg, he was to bring the comm to Carl personally and not discuss it with anyone else:

"How long before we know?" Nia Lemond asked understandably nervous.

"The El Alamein is approaching the Vicksburg now..." Carl said, pointing at the tactical readout on the large screen, "... If all goes well we should know soon,"

"One way, or the other," Nia couldn't help saying as a Commander stopped outside the open door.

"Sir, you asked to be informed if the Vicksburg contacted us..." Carl nodded, and the man rechecked his PADD before continuing, "... They say the new, hydroponics containers have arrived?" the Commander finished, puzzled.

"Thank you, Commander, that will be all," Carl said, his expression neutral, he stood, looking closely at the icon depicting the USS Vicksburg, his eyes wandering o the seemingly empty space directly beneath her.

"So they at least appeared on the Vic' .... That's something," Nia said.

"Let's hope so,"

"Any word?" Gheskori said from the doorway.

"They materialised on the Vicsburg for less than fifteen seconds, so if all went as planned they should be on the unknown ship now,"

One Light Year from Starbase forty Seven
USS Vicksburg ::


Kevin Stafford entered the transporter room, asking the Chief to wait outside, he walked around the console to the transporter controls. Activating the platform but doing nothing else, he then moved away ..... Five minutes passed, then another five, he was about to disengage the transporter when he heard the tell-tale hum of a transport in progress. He watched in silence as five people, clad in full EVA suits began to materialise. A fraction of a second before the transport was complete, the five dematerialised and vanished from sight. Stafford stood still for a long moment before finally disengaging power to the Pad before leaving the transporter room.

"Thank you Chief," he said, heading back to the Bridge and his ready room, motioning for his Comms Officer to follow him.

"Lieutenant, please send the following to the Command Center Starbase Forty-Seven...."

"Just that Captain?" the woman asked, clearly confused, given they hadn't received anything.

"Just that Lieutenant, nothing more... Thank you,"

"Do you think they will be able to make any kind of contact?" Nia asked.

"They were told to maintain Comm silence until they wanted to beam out, so I wouldn't think so..." Carl said, dropping into his seat behind the ornate desk before turning to Gheskori, still in the doorway, "... I'd like t have Commander Blakus ready the Raven for immediate departure, if that ship, or whatever it is decides to take off, it will have our people on it,"

"No, I believe sending another Starship out so soon after the El Alamein could provove whoever is out there. Contact the El Alamein on secure channel, have them ready to pursue should the need arise,"

"Yes Sir," Nia Lemond said as the Section Admiral finally made up his mind and entered Carl's office, he took a seat opposite and fell silent, both men deep in thought ..........

[Deis Irae]

::Deis wakes up with a little jump, immediately sitting up on the edge of her bunk. Hair a little sleep crazy, face pillow imprinted. It was the imagry of a huge freaking starship suddenly dropping out of warp right in front of the Minisal that did it. Nossir. That is a dream that will stick with her for a little while. Probably the first and only time in her career she had literally screamed SWEET JESUS and swerved wildly while piloting anything. She had already dropped off her prisoners so there was noone even rattling around. No damage to the Minisal. T'wasnt a fender bender. Just a near miss. And believe me, when you nearly DONT miss an entire starship...thats a memorable miss. The drop off of prisoners went fine...which is just as well. Being as her chest still dosent feel quite right from taking a shot right in the middle of it, she would gladly have stunned the bejesus out of either prisoner that decided to give her trouble. So save for the near miss, the trip went pretty much by the numbers. Then came the promotion ceremony within which she had her small part. It brought back memories of her cadet graduation and posting to the (HER) first El Salvador. Theres been a lot of water beneath many metaphorical bridges since that time.::

::So it is on the beginning of her first true "day off" since all of this began. Being spun out to other quadrants entirely...and leaving behind many souls there. NOT exactly what she wanted to think about on the day that she is supposed to be taking downtime. Feels like its been years. So she rises from her bunk to make ready for the day, suddenly wondering what shes going to do for the next 24 hours. Shes gotten so used to working that NOT working feels a little weird. While sonic showering, Deis considers perhaps a bit of fun research. But...no. If shes near sickbay, she will be working in sickbay. Not due to a need for it, but just because thats how it usually ends up. Take out the Minisal just on a cruise? Hmm...no. The last time she did that, "things" happened. Shes never been one for totally frivolous entertainment. Perhaps a good workout. Let the body instruct the mind, all that sort of thing. Thatll work for a start. Then perhaps she could tempt the Captain into...something. Dinner, maybe?::

::So it is garbed in black leotards, black but transparent skirting, legwarmers and toeshoes that the Commander leaves her quarters. Hair skimmed tightly back from her face and held with matte black combs. You cant ballet with your hair down. It just isnt done. People would talk, or something. Its been years since shes danced, so to the holodeck it is to summon up aa large empty room with a great sound system. A mirrored wall with a barre clamped in the middling of it for a handhold. Airily high ceiling and sunlight streaming in through mock windows. The Goldberg Variations programmed in for the stretching and limbering up. It is with her ankle rested upon the barre that she realizes...shes actually enjoying herself. Its nice to know that not everything changes so completely::

(not the best post, but hey...its a start)

[Andae Blakus]

Being again in his quarters, Blakus had the fortune to catch an incoming call from Dacian. His cousin's runabout was nearing the edge of the exclusion zone, though it would prove no barrier, Andae realised, remembering talks were continuing to lift the exclusion zone for Federation citizens only, with Starfleet and Fed personnel from outside able to enter the zone from tomorrow morning, and people able to depart the zone if they wished or were ordered to in three days time.

There were still many concerns around station security, considering that its position near (and in the Klingon's view over) the Klingon border put it close to the forces of that Empire as well as in the sphere of influence of the Romulans. Those factions and others were understood to very much want to head towards the Starbase; it was also the nexus of a potential new trading centre, a waypoint for merchants who'd like the opportunity to use it to exchange their wares. The two major Beta quadrant species weren't completely happy, for strategic reasons, that the Federation would first be able to access the new arrival while the two of them were shut out.

With this in mind, as Blakus understood it, the base authorities had conversed with Klingon, Romulan and other non-aligned authorities via subspace, reassuring them that in addition to the prohibition on Feds having been lifted, the base would also be available to other factions soon if the Federation VP's associates thought the base checked out. Apparently the Romulans had accepted the decision, with surprisingly little trouble, but the Klingons were still making a fuss.

He finished at the replicator, returning his mug and plate from the coffee table that was still strewn with PADDs - status reports and the like. The Raven was prepped to go if required. He had no concerns there, and the bridge was well looked after with Valente and Wedlerson rotating the conn, ready to call him if needed.

He headed across the room and accepted the comm, the screen with its scarlet flashing graphics being replaced by the Federation seal and an 'establishing subspace link' caption before being replaced by Dacian Peractio's visage. "My runabout is 4 days away, with your exclusion zone being lifted to Federation personnel, Blakus," he said.

"Very well, Lieutenant. You'd do me a favour and address me by my rank," Blakus quipped in dry fashion, a flicker of a smile barely touching his features.

"You're Starfleet. Marine corps units don't answer to Starfleet, only their superiors if they're stationed on a starship or some Starfleet facility. Anyway, have you thought about what I asked you?" Peractio leaned towards his screen.

"Yes," Andae answered impatiently, "And my answer is the same as it was before, I don't want the inheritance." He tapped his hands somewhat nervously against the table.

Dacian had sat back heavily, "But it's passed to you. You are the oldest surviving member of our branch of the gens, now that Benjamin is gone..."

"Look, Dacian, Benjamin's father is still alive. He must be persuaded to take up his position again - it should fall to him. Why should he do this? There was no need for him to consider whether to inherit, surely he was in possession of the property already?" Blakus knew before his cousin answered that the substance of their clan was held in a trust and possessed by no one directly, but he wasn't finished, "Let's get to the root of this problem, Dacian... You haven't exactly been forthright with me, have you? There's more to this."

Peractio looked down and away, "You're almost right. There was more to this. It was simpler then, but your return has forced us to reconsider... You, like Benjamin, were presumed dead. When our uncle took himself out of the line, the inheritance fell to my mother alone. She wished for me to have it, and... I took it, all of it. Then Starbase 47 returned. After our initial shock and realisation that you were one of those still alive... Yes, I made many queries, getting nowhere, until I made contact with the friend of a friend assigned to the James Clark Maxwell, who gave me access to a current USS Raven crew roster. When I found your name I didn't hesitate for an instant, I began considering the transfer of the inheritance back into trust, prepared for you."

"Dacian..." he warned.

"Ok, I did hesitate, briefly. I mulled over the problem for half a day, no more, then knew I had to do the right thing. I told you, initially, that it'd already been split between you and my mother, partly in the hope you'd acknowledge and thus in effect accept what was only a possible arrangement. I am sorry, Andae. But then I see from your face that it doesn't really matter. The inheritance would pass to you, but you clearly don't want it. I.. am ashamed of my former greed, and don't want the property anymore."

"Then the problem still exists, Dacian."

Peractio laughed suddenly and nodded, "We'll discuss it when I arrive. Runabout Chelyabinsk out."

He sat back and sighed, =/\=Bridge, Blakus. Are we tracking the El Alamein?=/\=

=/\=Yes, sir, of course,=/\= Wedlerson's voice came, =/\=And our sensors have been trying to unlock that cloaked anomaly again. We've been scrutinising the -=/\=

=/\=Stop,=/\= he snapped. =/\=Apologies, Commander. No new active scans, passive only and analyse already collected sensor data. We don't want to draw their attention and let them know we're onto them. We don't know what base command may have planned for us.=/\=

[Carl Torek]

Mezzanine Level
Command Center ::

"Anything from the away team?" Carl asked.

"No, but that's a good thing I suppose," Nia Lemond replied, watching the image of the USS Vicksburg on one of the viewscreens.

"They are confident they can track the unknown should it decide to move?"

"Well, as long as they are using whatever they use to maintain position, then we should be able to keep an eye on them. The gravitational attraction would cause them to drift into the Vicksburg otherwise," Lemond said with a shrug. Carl checked one of the other screens, this one showing the location of every vessel within a two light-year area of the Starbase. He wondered if their 'guests' were waiting for something, it was worrying that the ship or whatever it was had remained close to them for weeks without moving outside the exclusion zone.

"Admiral..." a Lieutenant spoke as both Flag Officers fell silent, "... Section Admiral's compliments, the Vice President is due to depart in the hour, he requests your attendance,"

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Carl said with a mock shudder.

"Well, at least he's leaving, it could be worse," Nia said with a grin as she headed for her office.

Level fifteen
Transporter Room Six ::

"I will of course submit my report to the President on my arrival at Earth. I am sure we can lift the exclusion zone quickly once that is done... " Vice President Jonh Drake said, turning to Carl before walking over to him, "... Fleet Admiral ..... You will be, pleased to know, that I have decided not to pursue charges against you. The matter, as far as I am concerned, is closed. Shall we put your 'outburst' down to fatigue, stress?... Everyone has been under a great deal of both over the last few years I'm sure. We'll say no more of the incident," It was all Carl could do not to deck the arrogant jackass there and then, but he managed to keep his temper in check.

Drake held out his hand, eyes locked on Torek's. Carl looked at Gheskori, then down at the still extended hand. For several seconds he inwardly refused to accept, but knew the man was leaving and it was unlikely they would meet again, for a while at least. He looked back at the man who was clearly beginning to believe his offer was going to be snubbed, leaving him hanging and embarrassed, but a fraction of a second before he lowered his hand, Carl took it. It was very clear that neither man liked the other, but thankfully Carl didn't need the Vice Presidents' adoration, just his unspoken agreement that he keeps out of Toreks' way ..... For both their sakes.

As Drake stepped up onto the transporter pad, Captain Gray approached Carl:

"Goodbye Admiral, I don't believe we shall meet again," he said.

"Oh?" Carl replied, genuinely confused.

"Well, I have a distinct feeling, that given the Charleston's approach antics, I will be relieved of my Command on arrival at Earth, I'm getting past all this so maybe it's a good thing," the man said with a quiet shrug.

"You won't be relieved by my doing Captain. The record shows Drake superseded your Command. My advice, next time tell him to go to hell... " Carl whispered, seeing Drake straining to hear the conversation, "... Safe trip home, Captain,"

"Thank you, Sir,"

With the Vice President's party on the pad, they were beamed off the Starbase, within minutes Command confirmed their request to depart. Carl got back to the Command Center in time to see the Excelsior Class make a slow, sedate turn to port before beginning to put distance between them and the Starbase at a rate of ten meters per second. Torek grinned as Gheskori, Matt Reynolds, and Nia Lemond joined him at the Mezzanine Level railing:

"Wow... Drake must be hopping mad that he can't warp away from here in a blaze of glory," Matt said, the others nodded agreement laughing ..........

[Gheskori]

Gheskori watched as the VP's party boarded the pads, and as Torek and Gray exchanged a few final words he left to return to his office before it all hit the fan, perhaps not wanting to know if there was another ruckus between the Fleet Admiral and the deputy C-in-C.

He thought back to the conclusion of the Enzio's tour in the conference room - Clark's accosting of the Andorian ambassador, Gaston Malthus's obstreperous response, arms waving, while Yarwood and Drake got into a heated debate about what was supposedly occurring under Ghes's watch.

"We ask to know why you were scanning critical ship systems with that tricorder of yours, Ambassador," Gheskori addressed the Andorian after he'd refused to submit to a medical exam. All pretense was over.

"What tri- " the ambassador spluttered as Clark then indicated the device buried in the fold under the armpit of the Andorian's costume.

There was silence for a moment. Bennett from the Section's diplomatic corps spoke, "Admiral, this is hardly necessary; I should think -"

"Until there is an explanation and until further notice, I'm afraid we must hold Mr Sairal," Gheskori made the decision on the spot, causing even louder complaints from the guests. Well, the tour certainly ended well, Ghes thought back, and was glad that in the end he and Yarwood had managed to mollify the other guests as the Andorian Sairal was held for questioning. Only the Alpha Centauran Regent Malthus still seemed put out, and left the Enzio half an hour later under a cloud, separate from the other dignitaries.

"Well, it has been most enjoyable," Drake turned to the other Enzio senior staff as he approached the vestibule with Ghes, Lupa Nec and the others, and smiled with a perfect row of white teeth, "Stimulating, informative, with a healthy dose of perspective on how you honourable people operate in the most, most appalling of conditions," he simulated empathy with a sorrowful expression.

"Mr Vice President," Ghes alerted the man and gestured to the vestibule, departing his ship for now along with the dignitaries. He shrugged sympathetically to his senior officers before returning to the Starbase and his office, while the Andorian Sairal was held on the Enzio and later beamed over to ambassadorial quarters on the Starbase, a guard posted outside his quarters 'til he could be questioned.

Returning to the present, he left the mezzanine ring and the laughter of the admirals to return to his office, surprised to find both aide Barton and his subordinate Burr present. "John! You've returned to duty."

"Yes, Admiral. Barton has me updating the filing system." Gheskori took to his seat. "Sir, it's been confirmed with Starfleet that the exclusion zone has now been lifted. It seems the Vice President was quick to send the message to Tyrrell at Starbase 234 that he was satisfied with things here. It may have been due to fear on his part as much as any good will."

"Indeed, that seems likely," Ghes chuckled. "Well, that is excellent news. Tell me about Fleet Operations now we're free of the zone's limitations." Of course, he thought, Starfleet would still be finding a place for them in the political map of the Alpha and Beta quadrants - an effectively new operational centre on the edge of Klingon space called for a new strategic picture, a retasking of resources throughout this sector and the five sectors with which it shared an extended border, and probably many more meetings than had been held already to work out what to do diplomatically. Despite this, they could still task their starships as they saw fit, until their place in the wider strategic map was decided.

Burr replied, "The USS Oxford has departed for Betazed, with Admiral Basirov aboard. Captain Tymoklis sent a personal message to the brass; he's honoured to be captain of the first ship to head back towards the core of the Federation. The Maracanda is now patrolling the broader region, conducting impromptu space trials with the James Clark Maxwell. The Schrodinger has departed; Vicksburg is still here with El Alamein in close attendance, surveying the probable cloaked vessel. The Enzio's and Raven's maintenance work has concluded, and the El Salvador is freeing itself of the last of the computer bugs affecting its systems."

"Apart from the COs of the El Alamein and Oxford, of course, have the captains bring themselves to the station if they're not here already; I'd like to hold a COs' dinner this evening, final instructions before we're able to resume assignments, or whatever we may allot for ourselves."

<Tag Torek, Savot>

"Admiral, station security are asking when you would like to conduct the questioning of the Andorian ambassador," Barton said.

"Tell them Admiral Lemond, Dimok Bennett and I will be joining the ambassador tomorrow morning."

[Carl Torek]

Earlier ::

Carl had been as pleasant as he could manage as they bade farewell to the, in his opinion, obnoxious, Vice President, John Drake ....

His Adjutant, Jessica Yu, had tried and failed to keep a straight face as the Vice President had made a show of saying 'goodbye' to him, and he had silently vowed to get her back at the first opportunity. That said, he had forgotten about his promise within minutes of the USS Charleston moving away from the Starbase. The reason for this was the knowledge that at some point Drake would lift the one light-year exclusion zone surrounding Starbase Forty-Seven, and they would finally be able to begin moving beyond their recent confinement ..... With the Raven fully operational, he was finding himself keen to get away from the confines of the Starbase.

Vice Admiral Lemond's Office
Mezzanine Level
Command Center ::

"You got the Section Admiral's invite I assume?" Carl asked with a wry grin. Nia's desk looked like a repair bench for faulty PADD's there were that many strewn around.

"I did indeed, maybe he's going to let us off the proverbial leash," the Intelligence Director said, a tad too sarcastically.

"We're all eager to begin again Nia, but you have to admit, letting the general public know the exclusion zone has been lifted would cause havoc!..." Carl said, completely understanding her impatience, "... It was the best thing to keep the information on a 'need to know' basis, at least for the time being. It will get out sooner or later, especially now the Oxford had left,"

"I'm a little surprised that the Enzio or El Salvador wasn't sent out," Nia said, intentionally omitting the Raven from her comment.

"Well... We put a lot of work into getting the Oxford spaceworthy, and Captain Tymoklis had been long overdue for his promotion, it seemed fitting to assign him as Commanding Officer, and to send him out," Nia shrugged, Fleet operations wasn't within her purview, though it never stopped her having an opinion on the matter, as Carl knew only too well, "... Besides, sending the Oxford out to Betazed is purely diplomatic, Captain Tymoklis will be making sure those at home know their loved ones are safe and well. Unfortunately, he will be the bearer of bad as well as welcome news," Carl finished.

"There's a rumour going around that Command are intending moving us back to the Betreka Star System,"

"That's not going to happen, Nia..." Carl said, a little too assertively than he'd have liked, so he tried to change the subject slightly, "... You've gone over Commander Burr's report, so you're up to speed, any thoughts on the El Alamein?"

"They are still following the unknown vessel, hopefully without alerting them..." Lemond said, sifting through the pile of PADD's until she found the one she was looking for, "... According to Commander Helgesen, the unknown vessel was on a heading that would take them towards the Orion System. Your guess is as good as mine as to the 'whys and wherefores' we will just have to hope we can keep track of where they are, otherwise, several people are going to be spending time in the company of who knows who,"

"Deep..." Carl said with a grin, "... OK, you ready?" he said, standing before pulling the tunic of his uniform down,"

"Stop fidgeting, do I have to get Elise here to sort your dress out?"

"HAHA!" Torek replied, heading for the door ..... In the turbolift the two chatted until they arrived at Level twenty-three, they headed for the Banquet Room, something only normally used for Diplomatic or Sovereign functions ..........

[Andae Blakus]

Blakus watched the runabout Chelyabinsk coming into dock, the smooth lines of its port side being shown - as it began a gradual turn to align with its moorings - to those few observing from the docking ring. The craft made contact and soft-docked into place with a quiet hiss.

He approached the section of the dock alongside the Chelyabinsk's mooring as the mechanisms interlocked and drew the runabout in still further; the hatch opened and Dacian emerged. He wore his green marine corps uniform, though informally, and carried only a small bag, not much for a week's stay, Blakus thought.

It was Andae's understanding that Command had decided to compromise amongst themselves to temper the lifting of the exclusion zone. Instead of unrestricted access to the station for Federation and Starfleet civilians and personnel, two civilian ships would be allowed to depart a week, and two civilian ships would be allowed to arrive a week (as long as the same ship didn't leave and return inside that time). Dacian didn't count amongst the arrivals, despite being here on leave, because he was Federation military.

"Peractio," he shook his cousin's hand, and was clapped on the shoulder. They decided to head to an officers' lounge first, not electing Alpha or indeed any of the other promenades while tension was still high from the phaser attack round about O'Toole's shortly after the wormhole transit, and while Beta Promenade was still currently a nest of illegal activity.

=/\=Commander Blakus, this is Milyanov. I'm being routed from the Raven via Starbase comms. We've finished the latest installations, thought you might like to assess our work.=/\=

=/\=I'll be with you shortly, Milyanov. Just seeing to a new arrival.=/\= The lounge was virtually deserted, Andae and Dacian sat and supped at coffee and minestrone soup, discussing the unfortunate business of the inheritance that'd meant to pass to their late mutual cousin Benjamin.

"My mother told me something more." Peractio rummaged in his duffle bag, "Here, have a look at this." He handed Andae a PADD, displayed on which was a data file; the first thing that sprang out at the Raven XO was an image of ten dots arranged in a triangle, four lines: one dot, two dots, three dots, four dots. A tetrad. He looked up from the PADD, staring into the middle distance momentarily. Memories returned to him of the encounter with the quasi-cultists, the cultist hologram's mentioning of the tetrad's mystery, and of something else indistinct... a more distant memory, information that was passed to him in what may as well be time immemorial.

"What is this?" he enquired.

"She wouldn't tell me, she only said you would understand it. She never had a chance to pass it to me as part of the inheritance, before you arrived aboard the Starbase."

"I see... Well, I don't understand it."

Dacian shrugged his shoulders theatrically and then laughed in his curious, restrained manner, to let him know it was self-mockery, "Take it anyway; if you don't wish to receive our clan's substance, at least take that, as a trinket, if you like... Look, if you take a moment to think, you'll realise I'm right. It should go to the eldest of us." He leaned in, gesturing to the PADD, "If you had to guess, what would you say that geometric form symbolises?"

"I don't know, but it's certainly been popping up a bit recently." Andae threw the PADD down. The ten points began engraving themselves on his sight, numinously present for some time wherever he turned his eyes.

"Perhaps the holodeck will help you unwind, Andae. You do seem aggravated." He blinked as he watched Dacian speaking - from the movement of Peractio's lips it appeared he'd said something different from the advice he'd offered - whatever that was Andae couldn't tell, he asked him to repeat it, yet the same thing was heard. "Wait, where are you going?" Dacian said as Andae stood.

"Follow me, I'm checking by the medical bay."

[Carl Torek]

O'Tooles Bar & Grill
Alpha Promenade
Level One Five Five One ::

"I just can't understand why he doesn't want the job Andae," Carl said, his frustration clear.

"I don't know..." Andae Blakus said, "... He's run Engineering since I became Exec' even when I was going down there to see if everything was alright," Blakus said with a shrug.

"What about Tinsley?"

"Under other circumstances, he'd jump at the opportunity Carl, but he has family on Earth, a daughter he's not seen since she was a month old... I think he'll be requesting to go home, or failing that, get his wife and daughter here,"

"I don't suppo ....." Carl began, but Andae was quick to interrupt:

"NO!... It took me long enough to let go of the reigns down there... Look, there are people on the Station that are keen to take up new, better, positions..." Andae stopped talking as Kara came over to refresh their drinks, Mike Cambell, Starbase Forty-Seven's Chief Engineer came over, inviting himself to sit with the Raven Officers:

"I hear Milyanov has turned down Chief..." the gruff Engineer said with a wry grin, "... Tell ya's what, I have a young guy working for me. Young Ensign named Dyson. He had come aboard to catch up with the USS Spokane, but given events, he was stuck with us. He knows his stuff, a little raw, and needs to learn a few things, but I'd give him a go if there's no-one else available," he said with a laugh in Andae's direction.

The Spokane was a freighter, what makes you think he'd be able to handle a Starship?" Carl asked.

"I've seen him work... Oh, don't get me wrong, he'll need some coaching, but given rumour says you have the best Engineers in Starfleet on the Raven, I'm sure someone will be able to look over the lad's shoulder until he settles in," Cambell said, waving his empty glass at a passing waitress, almost but not quite slapping the girl on the behind as she left to get his refill.

"I don't know... He's only an ensign ....." Carl began.

"Through no fault of his own I assure you, Admiral..." the Bases' Chief Engineer said as he took his refill off the waitress, "... He's overseen refit of two of our warp cores, helped with the reconstruction of the dome. He has no family that I know of, so he's hardly likely to jump on the first available ship back to Earth ..... I could be wrong of course, we're hardly friends, but I do have a nose for talent, and he's got something," Carl nodded then went over to the bar. Reaching over he retrieved a PADD Sean kept and accessed Dyson's record. Once he'd finished reading he sent the record to the Raven and returned the PADD. Returning to the booth he slipped in beside Cambell:

"I want a Senior Officer down there Mike,"

"So promote him..." the Engineer said grinning, "... Hell, he's been here four years, keeping himself to himself, getting on with whatever he's assigned to, and all the while making sure things go as they should,"

"Well... I've been bitten before Mike... The last time I took a recommendation, the guy had hardly reported in when he requested a transfer. he wasn't on the ship more than a week!" Carl said.

"Is the Raven leaving Spacedock anytime soon?"

"I doubt it, and before you open your mouth without pouring liquid in it, I know what you're going to say. But running a department like Engineering while docked is a far cry from doing it in deep space," Carl said, looking side-on to his Exec for support.

"You 'could' up his rank," Andae said trying to look serious.

"Then demote him the second he falls flat on his face...?" Carl said, unconvinced, "... No ... If he's going to run Engineering he'll have to do it regardless of the pips on his collar, 'OR' the fact that practically everyone outranks him. Arrange for him to come aboard the Raven, Andae and Milyanov can speak with him. If, and only if, they think he's worth a try then I'll consider it,"

"Well, he's here now, so why not have a chat?" Cambell said, waving a young Ensign over who was stood at the bar ..........




< Tag : Andae Blakus / Matthew Dyson >

[Matthew Dyson]

"Another beer?" O'Toole asked as Matt looked up from his PADD.

"Sure," Matt said. "Why not?"

O'Toole brought it over as Matt thanked him. "What's this anyway?" O'Toole asked. "Working at the bar, you do that too often..."

Matt grinned. "Beer helps me concentrate I guess".

"An Irish excuse if ever I heard one," O'Toole winked, and he left Matt to it. Matt's back ached, but then again four straight hours in a Jefferies tube would do that to you. He stretched discreetly, aware that there were a lot of senior officers in tonight. Matt wasn't one to complain, and he certainly didn't want officers thinking that despite his young age he was struggling with the rigors of the job. Starbase 47 was a hulking mechanical beast, constantly in need of attention. It was Matt's dream job. Far away from Earth and everything it had taken from him, the solace of deep space had kept him sane.

'Right,' Matt thought. 'No more LCARS configuration for today'. He placed the PADD down and ordered another beer. As he gazed across the bar he saw Ensign Yates from the Science Team walk in. Their eyes locked, and Matt looked away, face burning. 'No, no, not tonight...' They had managed to avoid each other for two months, no easy feat on a starbase. He felt Andrew's hulking half-Ktarian frame sidle up to him at the bar.

"Matt? How are you?"

Matt looked up from his beer. "Oh fine, fine, how are you?"

Andrew frowned. "What's up Matty? Come on, it's been two months..."

"Yeah, two months since you shacked up with him huh? How's that going?"

Andrew's eyes flashed. "He's fine... not spending all of his time with his head in a warp core anyway..." Matt bristled as Andrew walked away. He felt like making a rather rude gesture, but then remembered the chorus of senior officers in the bar that night. He downed his beer, the dregs tasting bitter as he wiped at his mouth. As he got up to leave, he spotted Chief Cambell waving him over. 'Oh, what have I done now?' he thought, but he straightened up as he saw Fleet Admiral Torek and Commander Blakus in the booth as well.

"Good evening Chief," Matt said, standing to attention. Cambell waved his hand, telling Matt to stand at ease.

"Dyson, this is Fleet Admiral Torek and Commander Blakus".

Matt shook both of their hands. "A pleasure to meet you both," he said. "Forgive me Admiral, is that a Scouse accent? I'm from Manchester myself..."

< Tag: Carl Torek / Andae Blakus >

[Carl Torek]

O'Tooles Bar & Grill ...
Alpha Promenade ::

"Dyson, this is Fleet Admiral Torek and Commander Blakus".

Matt shook both of their hands. "A pleasure to meet you both," he said. "Forgive me Admiral, is that a Scouse accent? I'm from Manchester myself..."

Carl looked at the man for a long moment, then returned to his seat, Andae Blakus followed suit, asking Commander Cambell and the Ensign to join them. The Raven's Executive Officer took a PADD off the table as Cambell waved Sean O'Toole over and began ordering a fresh round of drinks, adding one for himself, allowing Dyson to order his own preference:

"Scouse?" Blakus queried.

"A dialect specific to people born in what was once Liverpool, oiinhe Merseyside region of the north-west of England, before England was made part of the European Union after the third world war,"

"Oh... Right," Andae said noncommittally.

"Apart from the glaringly obvious lace of advancement, he knows his way around a warp core, Commander," Mike Cambell informed Blakus, who had continued to read, presumably checking Dyson's service record.

"Ensign, it was very astute of you to pick out my accent, I had thought it was indistinguishable," Carl said with a wry grin as Andae looked at him over the PADD.

"As stated Sir, I'm originally from what was Manchester, old 'football' rivals of sorts," Dyson said nervously.

"You were supposed to be joining the Spokane, a freighter?" Carl asked, changing the subject.

"Yes, Sir... But they hadn't reached the Starbase before.... Well...."

"What makes you think you can go from Starbase maintenance to running the Engineering Department of a Starship?"

< Tag : Dyson >

"It's still quite a step..." Torek replied, seemingly giving the young man some further thought. He looked at his Exec' who remained silent, presumably having nothing good or bad to add at this point, "... And you don't foresee any issues with your rank? ... I have Officers down there that have worked hard, earned their positions,"

"I don't foresee any issues, Admiral," Dyson replied before taking a drink from the newly arrived glass.

"Had he been on 'normal' active duty, he would have at least one more pip on his collar Admiral, maybe two..." Cambell said, "... Believe me, I'll be unhappy to see him go,"

"Yet here you are ....." Carl said with a grin, one eyebrow raising.

"He'll make a good Department Chief Admiral, have him shadow your current Acting 'CEO' and see how it goes," Mike Cambell said. Carl glanced at Andae who gave the slightest of shrugs.

"OK, report to Commander Milyanov aboard the Raven at zero eight hundred tomorrow, I'll arrange your transfer orders, they will be waiting for you with Security on the lower walkway umbilicus," Carl said, rising thus making everyone around the table do likewise. Cambell, who had been sat beside Torek, stepped out of the booth to allow him to leave. Once the two Senior Raven Officers had gone, Sean O'Toole came over and asked if they wanted another refill:

"Why now Sean, why not..." the Starbase Chief Engineer said, turning to his companion, "... This is one hell of a chance for you Matthew," ..........

[Andae Blakus]

The Starbase CMO returned to the biobed with a retinal scanner, cerulean blue light stabbing into Blakus's eyes as the device hummed quietly. After frowning and humming himself the CMO looked up, "Eyes are fine." Blakus shrugged and made a face as the CMO moved away. "Your ears, on the other hand, are not."

His cousin Dacian stood nearby, "What's the matter?" he asked.

"Commander Blakus is suffering some sort of sensory-cognitive disfunction and disconnect. The audial information being fed to his brain is being altered somewhere, before it reaches the auditory cortex. He heard you saying something different from what you were actually... saying, Mr Peractio."

The CMO sighed, "I don't know how or why it's happened, but the disconnect may be caused by some sort of sensory stimulus, most likely sight-related. A person, a thing, a shape - some sort of geometric form - in your perception, may be triggering the mismatch, in the nerves connecting ears to cortex. If your mind has been conditioned to respond to this image, it could well have been intentional. I would go to station security." The man looked grave for a moment before suddenly lightening and starting to replace his instruments in a case, "But then, I'm only a doctor. Now, if you don't mind, I have other patients to attend to."

Blakus winced and shrugged at Dacian, he cleaned some wax out of his ears and shook himself.

On their way to Starbase Security a junior officer fell in and handed Dacian a PADD. The marine stared at it only half-interested and passed it to Blakus; he took it, "USS Raven personnel update... Commander Milyanov is requesting - ... Well, really?" As well as Milyanov wishing to step down from his de facto CEO position (celebrating it, too), Tinsley was also requesting an LOA (to travel to Earth on the first available transport, this week's two craft had left already, but Andae understood places were available for Monday's trip).

Dacian was now completely oblivious as he was drawn towards a row of holosuites at one end of Alpha Promenade. "We'll speak about the inheritance tomorrow," Andae called, then redirected footsteps towards O'Toole's - the CO was usually in there this time of day.


O'Toole's bar

He found Torek and after discussing the news a while they were joined by Commander Campbell. The engineer was able to recommend an Ensign Dyson for the vacant post.

He sipped his drink sedately while Torek sparred jovially with Campbell, learning to his surprise Dyson was in the bar. The man was called over and introduced by Campbell. They sat down and talked. "Scouse?" Blakus asked, and Carl explained. "Ah." I wonder if he's able to read the combinations in my accent, he thought, native Italian, English and American in a strange transatlantic lilt, weakened a bit by continuous service on a starship.

"Ensign," Blakus lowered his PADD, "Do you know much about the USS Raven?"

"By reputation only, sir, and it's a fine one."

Blakus nodded sagely, "I was Chief Engineer for some time before becoming XO, on both Raven-B and -C. You know, I was pleased to be able to get a new pool table in the Raven-C's engineering, though it's just not the same as that on the -B... That Galaxy class starship, she is sadly missed. Do you know your way around a Sovereign class?"

Dyson responded in turn to both senior officer's questions. Blakus nodded to himself, while the newbie would be outranked by not a few in the engineering department, he could be selected for fast-track status. There was no shortage of starships training up career department heads, surrounded by senior officers. They concluded the meeting and exited.

"Well, I think that will work out well," Blakus said to his CO outside the bar, "Milyanov's already throwing a party to celebrate his effective demotion, and no, I'm not kidding." He felt dizzy and tapped at his temple and right ear, Torek asking concernedly if everything was alright. "I'm not sure. I stopped by the med centre on the way here and they said there's something wrong with my auditory centre..."

[Nia Lemond]

SD: 2406.04.1113 .. 2300 hrs ...
Office of Vice Admiral Nia Lemond - Intelligence Director
Mezzanine Level
Command Center ::

"He's still not talking? Calli Valente asked.

"No .... He's been in detention for some time now, it must be driving Gheskori mad by now," Nia Lemond said, sipping her tea.

"Sairal is being stubborn, but we all know Gheskori can be just as pig-headed, he's not going to admit defeat, that's for sure..." Calli replied, pouring more Tieguanyin Tea, "... Any special reason we're having your most cherished beverage?"

"A little late, but let's call it a celebration of our getting through the wormhole relatively unscathed, shall we," Nia replied.

"Any word from the El Alamein yet?"

"No, they left the exclusion zone heading out towards the Schrodinger, hours later they both changed course, as far as we could tell, headed out towards open space. My worry is the Schrodinger, the last communication with them was suspect. Hows things aboard the Raven, still enjoying your role as 'Advisor' over there?"

"Yes, it's good to be serving with Carl, the ship has a good crew," Calli replied.

"..... and what about helping us out, you are after all Intelligence?" Lemond said with a wry smile.

"Oh, helping out has been good too, a change from ship-borne life that's for sure... I have to say, I'm still surprised that there's so much animosity towards Command from the Civilian populace... Despite trying, they won't get it into their heads that we can't simply move the Starbase back to the Sol System. Our very arrival must have opened up so many doors people might want to remain firmly closed, wow this 'is' good," Calli said, enjoying the tea.

"It ought to be, it cost a small fortune..." Nia replied, walking over to the small ornately decorated chest on the table, she put her hand on top then sighed, "... I'm down to my last few grams, it crossed my mind to send the El Alamein on a 'Top Secret' mission to my supplier to get more before I end up going into withdrawal,"

"Excellent use of resources," Valente said with a chuckle.

"HEY!... They put these damn pips on my collar, least I can do is use my authority..." Nia said starting to laugh, "... Let's not tell Gheskori or Torek that though, Carl already moans if I don't serve him a cup of this on his visits here,"

Both women laughed then Calli got up.

"Right, thanks for the tea, I'll see you in the morning,"

OK Calli, good night," Nia got out of her chair, stretching the imagined aches in her back then she took the empty cups into the small kitchen area between hers and her Adjutant's offices and rinsed them clean ..........

[Matthew Dyson]

"What makes you think you can go from Starbase maintenance to running the Engineering Department of a Starship?" Torek asked, studying Matt intently. Matt blushed ever so slightly.

"Forgive me Admiral, I wasn't aware I was being considered for a transfer?"

"Chief Cambell has recommended you as my new Chief Engineer aboard the Raven". Matt paused for a second, completely overwhelmed. He had a million questions, but he wasn't about to blow a huge opportunity. "I... I'd be honoured Sir".

"And you don't foresee any issues with your rank? ... I have Officers down there that have worked hard, earned their positions," Torek said.

"I don't foresee any issues, Admiral," Matt said confidently, and was pleased when Cambell stepped in to add some meat to his recommendation.

"Ensign," Blakus lowered his PADD. "Do you know much about the USS Raven?"

"By reputation only, sir, and it's a fine one." Blakus discussed the installation of a pool table on the Raven, and reminisced about the Raven-B. Matt warmed to Blakus instantly. He had all of the scars of having been an engineer, in the figurative sense. Matt couldn't tell if Admiral Torek was convinced or not, but he told Matt to report to the Raven at 0800 for his new assignment. Torek and Blakus left, and Cambell turned to Matt. "This is one hell of a chance for you Matthew," he said, sipping his beer. "I recommended you, trust me, you'd be higher than an Ensign if the circumstances were different. Don't let me down..."

"I won't Chief," Matt said. "Thank you... I don't know what to say..."

"You don't need to say anything, just take my advice, they're a close-knit, tried and tested crew over there on the Raven, they might not be immediately enthused by a new Chief, especially of a lower rank. Just... don't let them push you around okay? You've earned this, and your record speaks for itself. Get some sleep, but before you do that, get yourself over to the bar, grab a beer and learn everything you can about that ship. Good luck..."

____________________

0750 Hours

USS Raven-C

Matt felt waves of nerves as he stepped aboard the Raven-C. Transfer orders in hand, he made his way down to Engineering. The Raven was impressive. Matt had never been aboard a Sovereign-Class Starship before, but he had often gazed at the Raven from the viewport on 47's promenade. In fact, he had been able to see it docked from the viewport at O'Toole's the night before. 'A good omen?' he thought as the turbolift hummed gently. When he reached Deck 11, Matt stepped out into Main Engineering. It was huge, bigger than the schematics had led him to believe, and the pulse of the warp core electrified him. For the first time since his meeting with Admiral Torek and Commander Blakus, Matt allowed himself to be excited.

"Can I help you Ensign?" Matt turned to see a stout, stern looking man. He waited impatiently for Matt's reply.

"Er... I, yes Sir, Ensign Matthew Dyson, reporting for duty Sir. I'm looking for Lieutenant Commander Milyanov?"

The man smiled. "I am Milyanov, welcome, welcome". He extended his hand. Matt looked down at it for a moment, hesitant. "At ease, Ensign". Matt relaxed and shook Milyanov's hand. "We're lucky it's coming up on shift change Ensign, you are in charge here now. Take my advice, don't call me Sir... or stand to attention for me..." Matt blushed a deep crimson. "Come, let's go to my office... er... your office... our office, for now..."

Matt followed Milyanov into the office, a stark, barren room with the bare minimum of furniture. 'This place needs a spruce...' Matt thought, and Milyanov leaned against the wall. "Try it out," he said, pointing towards the desk. Matt walked over and sat down, running his hands over the smooth surface of the desk. "It'll do," Matt said with a smile.

Milyanov laughed. "I didn't get too comfortable, this was only a temporary assignment for me".

"Can I ask..." Matt said. "If you don't mind, why you turned down the job?"

"I didn't want it," Milyanov said flatly. "I'm not planning to stick around here forever Ensign. When I eventually get back to Earth I want to go into teaching. My wife teaches here, aboard the ship. We want to open an academy together. So, I don't want to get too entrenched in a position here on the Raven".

Matt nodded, looking around the room. "Well, I understand that. I wasn't planning to be stuck on Starbase 47, but here I am..." He thought for a moment. "Sir, I er... Commander, I would appreciate any support you could give me. What kind of reception should I expect out there?" He pointed towards the door.

"They know about your new position..." Milyanov said. "They're professionals Ensign, but I won't lie and tell you that there aren't some very bitter Lieutenants out there who had been vying for this job. Saying that though, Admiral Torek knows what he's doing, and if he didn't see fit to promote any of them then that's on them I guess..."

"Well Commander I don't want to ruffle any feathers, a head's up on any problems I might run into would be useful..."

"Stick with me for a few days Ensign. Shadow me. I'll introduce you to the crew, and then I'll step back. Does that work for you?"

"Let's go..." Matt said.

____________________

0348 Hours

Starbase 47 - Ensign Matthew Dyson's Quarters

Matt collapsed into bed, his uniform still on and absolutely exhausted. His mind was frazzled. Milyanov was a fantastic but extremely fast-paced teacher. Any hope that Matt had of a comfortable few days to settle in aboard the Raven had been dashed. He hadn't even stopped for lunch, and the reception he had received from the Engineering crew had been frosty at best. As Matt turned over in bed he looked at the picture on the bedside table of him and Andrew, taking a day out to visit Epcot on the holodeck. They had been so happy, but Matt felt that after today it was time to move on. He turned the picture over and laid it face-down on the night stand.

"Torek to Ensign Dyson..." Torek's booming voice rang out across the room. Matt rubbed his face with his hands and tapped his comm badge. "Dyson here Sir..."

"Please report to my Ready Room aboard the Raven at 0800 hours to meet with myself and Commander Blakus Ensign..."

"Yes Sir..."

"Torek out..."

<Tag: Torek/Blakus>

Matt rolled over onto the other side of the bed. "Computer... wake-up call, 0600 hours..."

[Calli Valente]

Deck Sixteen - Main engineering ...
USS Raven-C ::

Calli was leaning on the 'Pool Table' the newly installed control console displaying all aspects of the Raven's systems. She was speaking to one of the Engineering Technicians about the fact that despite efforts, the replicator in her quarters stubbornly refused to give her a hot drink of any description:

"What I can't understand, Crewman... Is that despite the fact that practically everything but the toilet seats have been replaced or upgraded, I 'still' cannot get hot water from my shower," she eyed the young man, who was clearly overwhelmed at being confronted out of the blue by the Raven's Intelligence Officer?

"Commander, if you'll give me fifteen minutes, I'll come up and see to the issue myself," the Technician said, trying not to glance at the PADD containing the long list of tasks he needed to do that day.

"Good, thank you, Crewman. I appreciate your giving my shower your full attention..." Calli said, beginning to walk away. The Tech' had only just managed to breathe out when Calli turned, "... Oh, just so you are aware. Should I get back and it's still not working, it is going to suffer an unfortunate 'accident' from the business end of a phaser. At that point you'll be fitting a new one, thanks again," she said jovially then curtsied delicately before turning again to be confronted by Lieutenant Commander Milyanov and the new Chief Engineer.

"Commander, you frightening the life out of my Junior Staff, again?" Milyanov asked with a wry grin as Calli put on her best 'Angelic' expression.

"Me, I'm practically half his size," she said, eyeing the Ensign.

"This is Ensign Matthew Dyson, our new Chief..." Milyanov said, then turned to the Ensign, "... This is Commander Callista Valente, she's assigned to the Raven as Mission Advisor, though I suspect she's spying on us all,"

"Hello, Commander," Dyson said, eyes flicking from Milyanov back to the petite woman before them.

"Just so you know..." Calli whispered, "... I don't do 'spying' ..... I am Intelligence, but don't let the black collar worry you, I'm here purely as Advisor unless you give me something worth my attention," she said, grinning to make the young Engineer feel at ease. Dyson returned the smile not wholly convinced the woman was joking. He looked around Main Engineering and Calli wondered if he might feel a little overwhelmed, but she knew that Milyanov, Tinsley, and the other Engineering Staff would make him welcome and any nerves he may have ad would soon dissipate once he was busy.

"It's unusual to see an Intelligence Officer with rank insignia," Dyson said by way of conversation.

"Well, we all 'have' ranks, but they sometimes stick out like the proverbial 'sore thumb' in certain circumstances," Calli said.

"Why are you loitering in Engineering?" Milyanov said, taking the PADD offered by the Technician Calli had been speaking to earlier, before signing off and handing it back.

"Mister Veuut here has kindly offered to fix my shower, haven't you," the man nodded, before locking his gaze on the PADD.

"Thank you, Crewman," Milyanov said, almost feeling sorry for the young, man who was clearly fighting the urge to run. He looked at Calli and shook his head.

"Right, I won't keep you, Gentlemen... I can see you're busy busy," Calli said with her best innocent little girl expression, "... Ensign, when you have off duty time you might want to drop into 'The Wheel' our version of the Galaxy Class 'Ten Forward' .... It's on Deck Three... Commander, maybe you and your wife could come up there too, it's been a while since you've let your hair down," She resisted the urge to playfully slap Milyanov on the behind as she walked away, smiling sweetly at the young Crewman as she left Engineering.

Bridge ::

She stepped onto the Bridge, still seemingly overcrowded with Raven Officers, crew, and Technicians from the Starbase as they finished up the last few things before signing off to the Executive Officer. She dropped into the Center seat wondering when they would be allowed to get back out into space where they belonged. She understood the hesitation from both the President's Office and Starfleet Command itself, but hopefully, now the Vice President had returned to Earth, it wouldn't be long before operations began once more .... Harry Wedlerson came over:

"Are you supposed to be here?" the Operations Officer asked.

"Not really, I'm waiting for Engineering to fix my shower, again, then I'm going over to the Starbase to have an early supper with Kara Boyle, she's got the night off," she got up and meandered to the turbolift.

"Please try not to give whoever is trying to do his job in your quarters a damn heart attack... Say hi to Kara," Harry said, turning to see three people vying for his attention ..........

[Andae Blakus]

Andae had returned to the medbay, this time by himself, with Dacian still using the holosuites, to see to his dizziness and ear problem. He had a feeling it was a certain geometric form which he'd seen recently - one constituted of ten dots arranged in four rows - that was causing the sight-hearing mismatch. It was the shape triggering the issue, as the CMO had suggested might be the case's nature.

"What is that racket?" he murmured, his head encased in a crescent-shaped medical device, its two tapering points positioned over his ears and the centre of the band running under his chin.

"It's classical music. It's meant to help you relax," the CMO spread his arms in protest before resuming his scans. Well, it's having the opposite effect, Andae thought. The CMO moved round the device, "Berlioz."

"What?" Blakus asked irritably.

"Berlioz! The composer." Andae asked the CMO to turn it off. The scans continued for another quarter of an hour before the CMO eventually put his instruments down. "It would seem your mind is responding to a unique set of visual stimuli and attempting to mask something of what you hear as something else. 2.5 mm from your auditory centre, the nerves have been altered by a combination of different cellular structures and amino acid-analogues. Whatever you're seeing in your visual field that's doing this, it may - through your altered mind - be changing audial perception to guard itself against your inquiries."

"The tetrad..." he mumbled, standing up from the device, "It's trying to protect itself." The CMO was bemused. "Or a certain group of people are using it to impede any investigation of them. Ok, thank you, Doctor." This deduction seemed clear to him, after all he'd encountered the group - whose symbol was the tetrad - on SB deck 1491.

=/\=Lieutenant Dacian Blakus Peractio, this is Andae Blakus, will you join me on the Raven tomorrow?=/\= Dacian was still in the holosuite, he promised to attend Andae on the ship.

---

0755 hours, USS Raven

Signing off the latest maintenance reports from SB47 techs, Blakus headed to the ready room, striving to get there before the newbie. It wouldn't look good to arrive after the CEO in his first ship-board meeting with the Admiral and himself. He pushed through the last few techs still aboard; he was told it was decidedly much more empty here than it'd been yesterday when Calli had had the conn for a short time. The finishing touches to the ship were about done.

"Admiral," he nodded as Carl turned in his ready room chair after the XO was called in, "Things seem under control over here," it was difficult for him to admit he'd not been on the ship for a number of days either, sometimes running it remotely, sometimes leaving things entirely in the hands of Calli and Harry.

He sat in the spare seat, "Things are getting slightly hectic on the docking ring," he commented, thinking back to how he'd boarded the Raven in the early hours of this morning, "Civilians are beginning to flood the place, thinking they're a couple days away from a transport to Sol, Vulcan, Risa, Betazed. Most don't seem to know only two ships can arrive and two ships depart a week, let alone that competition for places on the few commissioned transports has already been extremely fierce."

As they were talking about Reynolds and Reekie's tightening security measures - good preemptive action - Dyson arrived, a courteous chime coming before the Ensign entered. Blakus didn't see any sign of tiredness in the engineer, though he must've had a long first day; whatever one did to arrest tiredness and make it less obvious, it would always catch up.

Dyson stated he was reporting as ordered. Torek acknowledged calmly before at last letting the new Chief Engineer know he could relax, just before Blakus was able to burst out that he could do so. Dyson reported to Torek a little of what he'd done yesterday.

"Milyanov been driving you hard? He's a tough officer," Blakus laughed gruffly from his seat and read over a PADD. When did I become such an old sea dog? Blakus thought incredulously, suddenly fearing to look in the mirror. "Holding a get-together celebrating his demotion, The Wheel, tomorrow at 6."

"How have you got on with your new subordinates, Mr Dyson?" Carl asked from behind the desk.

[Carl Torek]

Captains Ready Room
USS Raven-C ...
07:55 hrs ::

Andy had been telling him about the situation at the Docks, people were already expecting to be allowed to leave the Starbase, four years away from family, loved ones, friends... 'Who could blame them' Carl was thinking ... But it was becoming a problem, nothing at this point that couldn't be handled, but they may need to be prepared, just in case .....

The door chime had interrupted their conversation and Carl turned to see the new Chief Engineer enter. Carl waited while the young man gave an account of what he had been doing since coming aboard, finally, when he seemed to have stopped for breath, Torek asked the man to relax, he leaned forward and spoke:

"Matthew, there are going to be times when I need straight answers, not now, but it 'will' happen. During Staff meetings, I have learned it is best to allow my Officers to speak their minds, it saves time in the long run..." he said, getting up before moving to the panoramic window looking out over the Dock, "... I tend to run meetings along what used to be referred to as a 'Chinese Parliament' basis ....."

"Sir?" Dyson queried with a glance at Commander Blakus.

"..... It was something a British military regiment used to employ, hundreds of years ago, where everyone around the table was essentially equal, a kind of informal decision-making, so everyone around the table could voice their opinion, ideas, objections. It happens nowhere else in the Fleet and certainly doesn't happen outside this room, so please, relax, you'll get the idea," Carl said with a grin.

"Aye, Sir," Dyson replied.

"OK, so going off what we've seen thus far, I agree that Admiral Reynolds and Captain Reekie can handle the influx of disgruntled civilians, but let's make sure we have options in place should things change."

"Why not simply restrict access to the Docking areas to authorized personnel only?" Harry Wedlerson said.

"We could, but I have the feeling that will rile people up more than just asking them to be patient..." Carl replied, moving to the small galley bar to pour himself a cup of coffee, "... It's natural that now we're so close to home, relatively speaking, that people will want to leave. We sent notices out stating our situation, but needless to say, word has spread like wildfire that the quarantine has been extended, and they all think that 'they' should be on the first ships out,"

"There's going to be trouble, you can count on it" Calli said, vocalising what everyone was thinking.

"OK, well for the moment it's Admiral Reynolds problem .... So where are we regarding ships' status?" Carl asked.

"The last of the 'Base technicians should be off the ship in two, maybe three days..." Harry informed everyone, "... They are just going around checking that everything done is complete, they would never live it down if one of the monitors fell off the wall. The new console layouts look good, much more interactive, easier from what I have seen so far,"

"We've had almost sixty crew rotations, including our new Chief Engineer..." Blakus said, nodding to Matthew, who returned the gesture, "... Calli has been helping process the new arrivals, flagging any she needs me to look at,"

"OK, good," Torek replied retaking his seat.

"Our former 'Acting' Chief Engineer has organised a 'demotion' party," Andae said, making everyone around the table grin.

"Demotion party, that's got to be a first," Carl said, sipping the hot coffee.

"Maybe Mister Dyson will put a dampener on his jubilation and assign his as Deputy Chief," Calli said, trying not to laugh.

"The Wheel ..... Eighteen hundred tomorrow," Andae confirmed.

"Is everyone invited?" Carl asked.

"I'd assume so, he's already snapping at people who refer to him as 'Chief' so I'll be surprised if the shindig isn't broadcast shipwide," Blakus said, as everyone laughed. He looked at Dyson, who seemed to be finally relaxing into his position, both on the ship 'and' in this somewhat informal, get-to-know-you meeting.

"So... How have you got on with your new subordinates, Mister Dyson?" ..........




< Tag : Matthew / Andae >

[Sean O'Toole]

O'Tooles Bar & Grill
Alpha Promenade ::

"..... And your certain they said the docking ring?" Sean was asking one of his staff, who had overheard something while refreshing a customers' drinks.

"Yes... I'm sure, something about Starfleet lackies not letting anyone go home, saying if ships were coming in then it should be up to them who got on 'em," Emma replied.

"Which table?"

"Booth four," Emma confirmed.

"It's all bluster, we've had lots of people shouting their mouths off, what do they expect, that the Federation will tow us into Earth orbit and be done with it?... Sean asked rhetorically, "... Keep an eye on them, if they get too rowdy then they can have a word with the pavement, I'm not about to be having idiots causing trouble in here," the bars' owner said, heading for his office.

Once inside he accessed the bar's surveillance and focused on the booth in question, it couldn't hurt to know just who was mouthing off, besides, he always thought that 'forewarned was forearmed' and if they did prove to be trouble-makers, he needed to know who they were. He realised he'd seen one of the men before, but for the life of him couldn't remember where. Maybe the gent just had one of those 'faces' ..... He was about to get up and go back into the bar, when someone he 'did' recognise, approached the table: For a long moment he sat looking at the woman, wondering how the hell she was in his establishment.

"Well, well, well ..... Anya Faranov," he muttered to himself.

Locking the camera on the woman, he turned to another screen, checking Starfleet's recent records, almost surprised that she had decided to resurface: Following the attempted 'Civilian Takeover' by her cousin Yelena Serova, some time ago, Anya had pretty much disappeared from public life. Even though she had been kept under almost constant surveillance for over a year, she was believed to be no threat to the Starbase or the wellbeing of those aboard. She was working in the lower levels as a nurse, so had been left to her own devices. Yet the moment their situation changes, she pops up .....

Sean flagged the surveillance, he would have to speak to Nia Lemond, and no doubt the Section Admiral and Carl about this new development.

Turning back to the other screen he watched as Anya sat with the four males, she waved one of the staff over and he could see her ordering a round of drinks for the table. When they arrived she downed hers in one go and waved the empty glass before turning to speak to her companions. They seemed in good spirits, so he could hardly go over there and ask them to leave, but it was still worrying. He accessed Serova's file: According to this, she had had minimal visitors over the last two years, mainly those associated with her failed coup, and Anya had been nowhere near her cousin since her incarceration.

For a brief moment, the Intelligence Officer in him wondered if someone in Security had been allowing clandestine visits to Serova, but he dismissed it as quickly as it had jumped into his head. Yet here was her cousin, sat with four people that only moments ago were discussing their discontent with the status quo!

He entered a code prefix on the panel before him and waited:

=^= Mister O'Toole .. Unexpected pleasure .. What can I do for you? =^= Commander Erin Paquin, Vice Admiral Lemond's Adjutant asked.

=^= I have something the Admiral may be interested in =^= Sean said.

=^= She's left for the night .. Is it important? =^=

=^= It might just be =^= Sean stressed. He sent the footage up to Erin and waited.

=^= Anya Faranov? =^= Erin queried after reading the information which accompanied the footage.

=^= Cousin of our former wannabe Dictator .. .. Yelena Serova =^= Sean informed her.

=^= I'll pass the information on to the Admiral .. .. Do you have audio? =^=

=^= That would be unethical .. Not to mention .. Illegal .. Goodnight Commander =^= Sean closed the Comm, and leaned back in his chair, watching the still very young woman as she downed yet another drink ..........

[Matthew Dyson]

"0600 Hours" the Computer chimed, and Matt awoke with a start. He blinked himself into consciousness and looked down at the uniform he was still wearing. 'Ugh,' he thought, and quickly got undressed. "Computer, Coffee, White, one Sugar" he said, and he heard the gentle hum of the replicator as he stepped into the water shower he had installed for himself. Matt always loved the steam of the hot water first thing in the morning, and preferred an antiquated water shower over the sonic shower any day. He dressed quickly and headed to the Dome, eating a bagel along the way. He loved this time of morning, the Starbase was eerily quiet, and it offered the solitude that Matt often craved even as he went about his work.

He had thought long and hard in the shower about his new position, and the advice that Milyanov had given him. 'I won't lie and tell you that there aren't some very bitter Lieutenants out there who had been vying for this job...' Matt knew he had to put his foot down early. He deserved this, he wanted it, and he needed to play the part. He boarded the Raven and headed down to Engineering, tutting at the mess left by one of the station techs as he passed it in the corridor. 'Not on my watch,' he thought, making himself chuckle.

Engineering was quiet as he entered, just a few officers coming towards the end of a long night-shift. "Good Morning," Matt said, getting a few nods in reply. "Lieutenant," he said, turning to his nearest new subordinate. The squat Tellarite turned to him, looking Matt over with undisguised disdain. "The station tech crew left one hell of a mess in the Section 28-Alpha, could you see to that this morning before your shift ends please?"

"I'll make sure that one of the Crewmen picks it up when the morning shift starts..."

"No Lieutenant," Matt said. "I'd like you to see to it please..."

There was an infinite pause, and Matt's confidence was wavering in his mind. "Yes, Sir..." the Lieutenant spat, and he left Engineering, thudding along the deck-plating as he went. Matt breathed a sigh, and looked up to see the crew looking at him. They looked away simultaneously, busying themselves with their work...

____________________

Matt stepped into the Conference Room and was taken aback by the size. 'The schematics never prepare you for the real thing', he mused, and he stood to attention as the assembled officers stared at him. "At ease," Admiral Torek said, and offered Matt a seat. Matt nodded nervously at the rest of the officers and turned his attention to the meeting.

"How have you got on with your new subordinates, Mr Dyson?" Blakus asked from behind the desk.

"Well Sir, yesterday was a bit of a whirlwind. Commander Milyanov was kind enough to show me the ropes however. I've agreed to shadow him for a few days, get to know the crew a little..."

"The crew are under orders to help you settle in Ensign, let me know if that's not the case..." Blakus said. Matt nodded his appreciation.

"Matthew, there are going to be times when I need straight answers," Torek said. "Not now, but it 'will' happen. During Staff meetings, I have learned it is best to allow my Officers to speak their minds, it saves time in the long run..." he said, getting up before moving to the panoramic window looking out over the Dock, "... I tend to run meetings along what used to be referred to as a 'Chinese Parliament' basis ....."

"Sir?" Dyson queried with a glance at Commander Blakus.

...

"Sir, I appreciate that the issue of departures is Admiral Reynolds' problem, however, I was wondering if it was worth using the holodecks to run 24/7 programs simulating member worlds? Perhaps he'd be open to the idea of allowing the diplomatic and science holodecks to be used temporarily as well? Sort of a welcome home preview, if you will? It could be a good distraction for those eager to get off of 47?"

<Tag: Torek/Blakus>

____________________

Matt entered his quarters and flopped down into a chair. He had gone straight from the briefing to Engineering, and had had another day of Milyanov's whirlwind orientation. A conference with the Admiral and two back-to-back duty shifts had made for a very exhausting day. Matt had considered skipping Milyanov's 'demotion party', not wanting to look like a vulture circling a carcass, but Milyanov had insisted, and the promise of some vintage Romulan Ale had twisted Matt's arm.

Matt jumped slightly as the door chimed. "Come in?" Matt said warily, and Andrew stepped into the room. Matt froze in place, feeling as slight as he ever did when he looked up at Andrew's hulking half-Ktarian frame. "Is now a good time?" Andrew asked.

"Well, it's 0200..." Matt said.

"I know, I just got off shift..." Andrew said. "I saw you walk past the Shuttle Bay, I've been doing the inventory on the medical supplies..."

"Interesting," Matt said, walking over to the replicator. "Coffee, White, one Sugar..." he said. "Do you want anything?"

"No, no..." Andrew said. "I won't stay. I just er... I found out, you're transferring... to the Raven?"

"That's right..." Matt said. "Chief Engineer..."

"Wow, that's great. Congratulations!"

"Thanks..." Matt said coldly, taking his coffee and leaning against the bulkhead. "What are you doing here?"

"I... I wanted to say goodbye..."

"You did that two months ago..."

Andrew looked down at his feet. "I know..." He looked over at the bed. "Our photo... it's face down..."

"I haven't had time to recycle it yet..." Matt said.

Andrew looked hurt. "That was one of my favourite days ever... I'd never been to Epcot before. The food and wine Festival. Do you remember that Ferengi family who asked if the gold leaf in the China Pavilion was worth anything? Or that Xindi Insectoid family who couldn't fit into the seat?"

Matt couldn't help but chuckle... "Yeah I remember..." he said. "It was one of my favourite days too..."

Andrew smiled. "I'm glad. I never wanted to hurt you you know..."

"Yeah? Well you did..."

"I know. I can't take back the way it happened... but... you were never there Matt!"

"That's not fair..." Matt said, bristling. "I work hard, really hard, okay? So do you. We just... I didn't know you felt that way. You didn't tell me. And then you decided to leave me for someone else. I'm not in the wrong here Andrew..."

"I didn't say you were..." Andrew said. "I, I know it's over... that was my decision. But I still care about you Matt, and I wanted to make sure I said goodbye..."

"Well, I hope you and what's-his-name are happy..."

"Jack, as you well know..." Andrew said sternly. "You'd like him..." They both stared at the floor for what seemed like an eternity. "Anyway, I'll leave you to it. Congratulations again, and... maybe I'll see you at Epcot some day..."

Matt smiled, and Andrew started for the door. "Goodbye Matt," he said, and left Matt alone...

[Nia Lemond]

O'Tooles Bar & Grill
Alpha Promenade
11:30 hrs ::

Nia and Erin entered the bar, both we dressed in civilian clothes ..... At the bar, they ordered breakfast and coffee while Sean spoke to them. Once the bar began to get busy for the lunchtime trade, the three went to Sean's office where he showed them the surveillance footage from the previous evening:

"So our bad girl made good has surfaced again..." Nia Lemond said, watching the group, "... Have you identified the men?"

"Yes, and you're not going to like it," O'Toole said before pulling up a list on an adjacent screen:

Pablo Garcia	Lieutenant	Cargo Logistics Supervisor
Horst Kerlin	Civilian	Cargo Loading Supervisor
Rene Szabo	Civilian	Docking Supervisor
Patrick Rysdale	Civilian	Environmental Systems Technician (seconded to Starfleet)

"Great, all four are in supervisory positions..." Erin said, transferring the information to the PADD she was holding. Sean handed her a data chip, saying it was audio from the meeting, "... I thought you said this kind of thing was illegal?"

"Let's call it a Security issue, shall we," he said with a wry grin.

"You know, we could take all this equipment from you," Erin said, feigning seriousness.

"Feel free," Sean said with a shrug.

"Don't you even miss it?" Nia asked, clearly referring to his years in Starfleet Intelligence.

"No... Hell, I was on my last legs when Sato found me in that bar in Tokyo almost twenty years ago, and if it hadn't been for his patience, his mentoring, I'd have drunk myself to death inside a year ..... He got me into Intel' and I was good at it, then I committed the cardinal sin, I fell in love, and being married, or having a family simply wasn't conducive in my line of work. I resigned, went back to Ireland to help run the family business, but after the accident ....." he fell silent, the memory of the crash that killed his wife and daughter came flooding back.

"I'm sorry Sean," Nia said compassionately.

"Yes, well ... I kinda fell to pieces then, went off on my own for a while, then came back, opened this place and began living my life. Alas, over the years, Admiral Tetsutaro always seemed to find little 'tasks' I could help out with, thus ....." he waved his arm, encompassing the equipment secreted in his office. The three remained silent for a long moment.

"So what do you plan to do about this lot?" Sean asked finally, clearly bringing the previous conversation to a close.

"We'll keep them under surveillance, for the time being, they're hardly talking about blowing the Starbase to atoms," Nia said.

"Fine, glad I could help ladies," Sean replied jovially as the three stood and left his office. Nia and Erin genuinely surprised at how the bar had filled since they had entered ......

Shuttlecraft Beatrice
Stored in Cargo-bay thirty six
Level one six eight four ::

OOC : Posting as Anya Faranov ...


The five of them were sat in the rear of the shuttle, the cargo-bay itself was on almost complete darkness, but they weren't taking any chances of being caught by surprise.

"When is the next ship due in?" Anya asked. Kerlin took out a PADD and checked:

"Three days from now, the USS Franco, and the USS Palma, both Cargo Carriers, they are bringing much-needed supplies, stuff we were finding difficult to replicate here,"

"..... And they are taking on passengers for the return trip?" Anya asked.

"Nothing scheduled, according to this they are dropping off only, then making two stops en-route to the Sol System," he confirmed.

"So ripe for some discontent then?" Szabo said with a grin.

"Let's get a few people down there on the day, still up a little discontent..." Anya said, "... Do you have anyone suitable?"

"Yeh, I'm sure we can urge a few to fan the fire," Rysdale said.

"OK, let's not be missing too long, I don't want anyone looking in our direction, at least for now," Arya said, activating the rear access before stepping into the darkened Cargo-bay. The five of them split up, all heading off in different directions and using Jeffries Tubes to climb several levels before emerging ..........

[Andae Blakus]

"... Perhaps he'd be open to the idea of allowing the diplomatic and science holodecks to be used temporarily as well? Sort of a welcome home preview, if you will? It could be a good distraction for those eager to get off of 47?"

Blakus turned to Torek, the Admiral nodded, "I'll pass it along to Base Command and Admiral Reynolds. Thank you, Ensign."

Indeed, it could well be a good idea, Andae thought, simulation of the various worlds of the Federation core had a proven effect of reducing homesickness and things like that. He just hoped the move if carried out wouldn't be met with any negativity: the base's populace couldn't be given what they wanted, they could only have a simulacrum and substitute, no real contact, dialogue or reunion, even if that also could be simulated.

They returned to discussing the movement of maintenance techs to the base and the sixty-odd new officers and enlisteds to the vessel. As the conference ended and the officers filed out, Blakus happened to be following Colonel Burwell, whose green uniform reminded him of his cousin. Dacian, you were in that blasted holodeck on Alpha Promenade yesterday. What are you up to now?

In the late afternoon, he traversed the ship to the umbilical connection and made across the docking ring towards the lifts and Alpha. To his astonishment, Dacian Peractio was no longer in the holodeck. His cousin had a tendency to book holo-time en bloc for two or three days, and remain for a camping holiday or rings of Saturn retreat.

Unable to locate him in any nearby centre, he eventually contacted the Starbase Personnel Office who let him know after a while searching that a Lieutenant Peractio had passed a checkpoint leading towards the USS Raven's berth in the early hours of this morning. Sighing and backtracking, Andae returned towards the docking ring.

As he crossed the space, a few hundred metres down from the Raven's mooring, he noticed someone alone with a tricorder studying intently two support struts of the outer bulkhead - that was, the opposite side of the windows that looked out on the Dock. His curiosity piqued by the man's own slightly suspicious curiosity, he approached, "Can I be of assistance?"

The man glanced at him briefly, if he was surprised by the Starfleet commander's sudden presence he didn't show it, "Oh, no. No, thank you, mister."

"Are you maintenance?" Andae said to the civilian-clothed individual.

The tricorder snapped shut, the man turning abruptly but trying to be pleasant, "Yes, cargo loading. But this is a private hobby." He smiled awkwardly and attempted to move past the Raven XO; Andae stepped out of the way, "Your name's Kerlin?" he said to the retreating back.

The man came sharply to a stand-still, not moving for several seconds before eventually turning, Horst Kerlin's face reappearing.

"I recognise you from a civilian manifest of people who visited the USS Raven last week. Eidetic memory," he tapped his head, "Sometimes." Particularly recently, he thought - the image of the tetrad ghosted into his peripheral vision momentarily before melting away.

Kerlin spoke after a pause, "Good day, sir. I think I need to find somewhere to unwind," he muttered to himself as he went to find Faranov and co, perhaps the Irishman's bar again.

Andae turned back to survey the support struts, squinting to see if he could detect any abnormalities, anything that might've drawn Kerlin here or that bore the sign of his recent presence. All he could really assess was that one of the main civilian thoroughfares to the docking ring began just beyond this set of struts.

He returned to the Raven to find his cousin. The next day went by in a blur, Andae deciding not to report Kerlin's hobby lest hobby was it all was. At about 1815 hours he headed towards The Wheel, wondering how many had shown up early, i.e. on time.

<Tag Any for Milyanov get-together>

[Carl Torek]

Earlier ::

Carl had concluded the meeting and headed back to his quarters ..... For the last few days, he had been suffering intermittent headaches, concentrated over or behind his left eye, it was annoying but hardly something to worry about. With Elise, Vanessa and Bethan at school, he darkened the lighting and lay on the bed to close his eyes for a moment. He seemed to fall asleep immediately, something he'd found difficult since returning from the αCen Star System.

Waking, he checked the time, almost astonished to see it was already early afternoon ... Swinging his legs off the bed he stood, instantly overcome with a wave of nausea and dizziness. Falling to his knees he fought off the urge to vomit as he felt around for his tunic. He smacked the Comm Badge:

=^= Medical emergency .. Admiral Torek's quar .. .. .. =^= He fell into a black void as unconsciousness enveloped him, the pain a thing of the past .....

Main Sick-bay - 21:50 hrs ...
Level Seven
USS Raven-C
21:40 hrs ::

He managed to open his eyes to see Elise looking down on him, concern on her face. She wiped the perspiration from his brow as he saw two others look down on him briefly. One was Doctor Roach, the other, Doctor Yalo, from the Starbase:

"Ahh, you're awake, good..." Doctor Roach said, holding a small box in her hand, "... Elise, time for you to go, I'll contact you once we're done,"

"Whaaa..." Carl croaked.

"Calm down Admiral... Roach said, reappearing above him, "... Those 'headaches' you haven't been having for weeks have finally got the better of you. You were told two years ago this would happen but you 'chose' to ignore the advice about your prosthetic. Well, here we are, and the time has come for action, so to speak,"

"Blak ..." was all Carl could reply, having already been partially sedated.

"Don't worry Admiral, Commander Blakus has already been made aware of your situation ..... The pain was coming from issues with your prosthetic eye itself, the bio-neural interface behind your ear is fully functional ..... After the injury some years ago, it was damaged, but you being you, chose to fight on regardless..." Roach said, her sarcasm obvious, "... Well, around that time I organised a replacement, kept it in the drawer over there actually, but now it's seeing the light, no pun intended," she said as she handed the box to her nurse, who took it away to prepare for the operation. Yalo leaned in and smiled, Roach informing him in his semiconscious state, that the Deputy Medical Officer on the Starbase was assisting, he would oversee calibrations to the new eye. He was about to object when he felt the cold touch of a hypospray .....

Two Hours Later ::

"Wakey wakey..." Carl heard someone talking to him, shaking his shoulder gently, "... Don't try to open your eyes for a moment," someone said, before Carl heard them moving away to return a moment later.

"Wha..." Carl said.

"Hmm, anaesthesia clearly hasn't improved your vocabulary Admiral, hold still I'll raise the bed and lower the lighting..." the Chief Medical Officer said, "... OK, I've placed a patch over your right eye. In a moment I want you to slowly open your eyes, try not to look at anything too bright for the first few seconds while we access the prosthetics' systems ..... Good,"

When instructed, Carl tentatively opened both eyes, pain flooding into his skull until the Doctor changed something in the eyes' programming. He tried again, this time everything seemed fine and the Doctor continued ..... For an hour he was forced to look at all manner of projections, he was told to try out the functions of the new eye one by one, magnification, infrared and a myriad of other functions he would never make use of, but in their 'wisdom' Starfleet Medical had insisted on being part of the functionality of the prosthetic ..... Finally, he was allowed to get off the Bio-bed, the connection between the ships' computer and his new eye broken.

"You'll need to rest up, Doctor Roach is going to keep you here for forty-eig ...." Yalo began, but Torek interrupted:

"I'd much prefer to recuperate in my quarters if that is possible?" he commented, Yalo looked at the Raven's Chief Medical Officer, who nodded, seemingly relieved she wasn't having an overnight guest.

"Very well, Admiral, go back to your quarters, have something to eat and an early night. It should be working as well, if not better, than your old eye in the morning, but no duty for forty-eight hours. At that point you will need to return here to check on the prosthetic, I'm going to assume that is OK?" Yalo asked with a grin while tossing the old orb up and down as if practising for a one-item juggling act. Carl looked at the orb with something approaching awe at the fact that someone could design such a device which was indistinguishable from the real one beside it.

"Can't we turn off all the 'gadgets' this thing has, and just leave me with normal vision?" Carl asked.

"Alas, no ... The functions were incorporated for a reason Admiral, as you well know given your annual protestations. You can of course simply choose 'not to' use the benefits, it is your call," Roach said with a shrug.

"Fine ....." Carl said, heading for the doorway before stopping and turning, "... Thank you both,"

"You're welcome, and if you had allowed me to change it out before it failed you wouldn't have had to suffer the headaches..." Roach said, clearly stressing her opinion, "... It 'DOES' pay to heed our advice, now and then,"

"Thank you again, Doctors," Carl said, leaving Sick-bay to head back to his family.

In his quarters Elise hugged him before shepherding him into the dimly-lit living area. Roach and Yalo had clearly passed on their instructions to his wife. Venessa hugged her father, saying she hoped he would be alright, while the ever-curious Bethan stood on the settee to get eye-level with him .... She peered into the new eye critically inspecting it thoroughly before announcing her opinion:

"It's nicer than the other," she stated matter-of-factly, kissing him on the cheek before jumping down, giving him a hug, then joining her sister in their bedroom.

"Sit down, eat, then bed," Elise ordered.

Carl grinned and got a dig in his ribs for his trouble. He sat, enjoying the light meal Elise had prepared, then with little resistance, he was led to bed, falling into a pain-free sleep almost instantly .......

[Calli Valente]

Calli had gone off duty and was heading for Carl and Elise's quarters ..... As she passed the turbolift on Deck Two, Bethan and Vanessa were stepping out:

"Hi girls, how was school?"

"Hi Calli, you coming to see Dad?" Vanessa asked. Calli nodded then turned to her younger sister as she began talking.

"We did science today and got to look at pictures of the insides of things! ... It was YUCKY!" Bethan said, clearly excited, waving something in her hand as they walked.

"What's that?"

"Oh... It's for Daddy, it's a patch for his sore eye, like erm, log john ermmm ...."

"Silver," Vanessa said.

"YES!... Long John Silver, and his parrot. I couldn't make a parrot though, and my 'Sister' was 'wayyyy' too busy talking to boys to help me,"

"I was NOT!" the thirteen-year-old said, reddening noticeably. Calli tried hard not to grin as they reached their quarters, Vanessa opened the door and they entered, Bethan going straight to her father who was sat in semi-darkness.

"How're you?" Calli asked.

"Sitting around is driving me mad, I can tell you that much," As they spoke she noticed he closed his eyes several times, even though the room was dimly lit, the new prosthetic was still giving him a headache. He said spoken to Doctor Roach, who promised to call to adjust the eye, assuring him that the headaches were his brain trying to cope with the differential between inputs from both eyes, she had assured him that all would be fine if he was patient. He leaned back allowing Bethan to place the patch over his new eye. Calli fought not to burst into fits of laughter as Bethan stepped back then nodded approval.

"I'm going to do my homework," she said, running to her bedroom with a secretive smile at Calli ..... As if on cue, the door chime sounded. Carl got up, resisting the urge to remove the patch as he noticed Bethan in the bedroom doorway.

"Enter," he said, the door sliding open to reveal Doctor roach, who looked at him, then Calli, then back at him as he stepped out of the way to let her in.

"Is that Starfleet issue..." she asked, placing her bag on the coffee table, "... Is Elise not here?" she asked as she took several devices from the bag.

"Teacher meeting," Carl explained, finally taking the patch off to see what was so funny. He couldn't help but grin as he looked at a quite good drawing of a girls eye, complete with excessive makeup and very very long gold eyelashes. He heard a chuckle, and turned in time so see Bethan ducking back into her bedroom laughing uncontrollably.

"We can do this in here, or your bedroom if you prefer?" the Doctor stated without preamble.

"Here's fine,"

Doctor Roach placed a small device over the optical interface behind Carl's ear .... Then for forty minutes she made minute adjustments to the interface, asking Carl to answer a long series of 'yes/no' questions as Calli took the eyepatch and tried it on. She went to the girls' room to keep out of the way, reassuring them everything was fine. They stayed in the room, Calli helping with Bethan's homework until she noticed the lights in the living area begin to rise slowly. She could hear Roach telling Carl that he needed another thirty-six hours of complete rest before she would allow him to return to duty, something Carl was less than happy with but knew arguing was futile.

"The calibration is complete, but you 'NEED' to rest Admiral, allow the prosthetic to ..... Look, just rest, OK ....." Helen Roach was saying as Calli re-entered the living area.

"Will he need this Doctor?" Calli asked, waving the patch Bethan had made back and forth.

"Nooo, though I have to admit, had I known he was wearing it I would have 'insisted' he comes down to Sick-bay for the recal'..." she said with a grin, "... Thirty-six hou ....." she was interrupted by Calli's comm-badge chirping:

=^= Blakus to Valente =^=

=^= Go ahead =^=

=^= Calli .. Comm from Admiral Lemond .. There is unrest in Delta Lounge in the Docking Ring .. Approximately two hundred civilians are demanding passage on incoming vessels .. She's asked if we can send Security over there to assist =^=

=^= We're on our way Andae =^= Carl said decisively, stopping in his tracks as Helen Roach steeped in font of him.

=^= The Admiral is going nowhere Commander .. Doctors orders =^= Roach interjected.

=^= Understood Doctor =^= Blakus replied, inwardly relieved Carl wasn't going to be allowed to put himself in harm's way while recuperating.

=^= I'm on my way Commander .. I suggest we assign our Marine contingent to oversee ships' security .. .. =^=

=^= Already done Calli .. Blakus out =^= Calli turned to leave as the door opened and Elise entered, the Doctor filed past with a nod before Elise and Calli hugged for a second.

"He's not to go out Elise..." Calli said as Bethan entered the living area, "...Bethan, you make sure your daddy stays home, OK?" the little girl nodded seriously and moved to the door as Calli stepped into the corridor, Bethan folded her arms, clearly intent on fulfilling the task assigned to her. Calli ran to the nearest umbilicus, accepting a phaser from one of the Marine Personnel as she stepped off the Raven ..........



< Tag : Andae / All >

[Matthew Dyson]

"You listen to me Ensign..." the Lieutenant said, his stout Tellarite flame towering over Matt as he lay on his back, his head inside the relay housing. "We have protocols on this ship, and this is not the way we replace relays..."

Matt stuck his head out of the relay. "This is how I replace them Lieutenant, and if you'd be so kind as to watch what I'm doing you'll understand why... Could you hand me the Hyperspanner?" The lieutenant thrust the tool into Matt's hand, and he fidgeted inside the relay for a moment.

"Warning..." said the Computer. "Power safety protocols have been compromised".

"Computer, override..." Matt said, as the Lieutenant tutted.

"T'Seng to Dyson," Matt's commbadge trilled.

"Go ahead Commander..."

"The power safety warning just tripped, what's going on down there?"

"I'm on it Commander, Dyson out..."

Matt worked inside the relay for another few minutes, before finally sighing in relief as he fitted the new relay. He ducked out of the alcove, and saw T'Seng waiting for him. "Ensign, can you explain what you were doing?"

"Replacing a relay Commander," Dyson said innocently, both T'Seng and the Lieutenant greeting him with folded arms.

"Ensign, the power safety rules are in place to prevent overloads and harmful power discharges that could injure the crew... I'm not sure how you did it on Starbase 47 however I expect the rules on the ship to be followed..."

"That's interesting Commander..." Dyson said, holding up the blown piece of conduit in his hand... "This relay blew at least two days ago, yet the alert only triggered this morning. That suggests to me that power safety was compromised a long time ago, as somebody had decided to re-route power for 4 decks through a single relay, until that relay couldn't deal with the load and burnt out. The burn out took out the internal sensors in this section, again without any alerts being tripped. Had I not repaired the internal sensors at 0400 this morning as I had spotted the sensor blackout we could have gone into space in critical danger of a power overload. Lucky we weren't in battle eh?"

Matt was seething now, getting tired quickly of the condescending attitudes he was encountering in both Engineering and now from T'Seng. "Is this true?" T'Seng asked the Lieutenant.

"I don't know," the Lieutenant said.

"You should know..." Matt said. "Commander T'Seng, I've already sent a meeting request to your PADD to re-negotiate the power safety protocols agreed between Engineering and Security. I hope we can reach an agreement. Lieutenant, I'd like you to attend as well, I'd value your input..." The Tellarite bristled for a moment, but then nodded humbly.

"I look forward to our meeting Ensign..." T'Seng said. "Impressive work..." Matt nodded thankfully.

"Come on Lieutenant, let's get back to Engineering..."

____________________

Matt stepped back onto the Raven, glad to be in civilian clothes for Milyanov's party instead of his beat-up uniform. He had replaced his tunic twice already this week. 'A sign of hard work,' Matt thought, hoping it was being noticed. The Lieutenant had been markedly more co-operative since their encounter with Lieutenant Commander T'Seng, and Matt was grateful. He'd had a Tellarite roommate back at the academy, and knew that the best way to get them on your side was to humble them, in this case by making sure that the Lieutenant's shoddy work was evident to all. Matt chuckled to himself as he waited for the turbolift, remembering fondly humbling his roommate with the week's worth of dishes that were piled up in the kitchen. Tellarite Canine Stew was not easy to scrape off a bowl, and there was no way Matt was going to do it.

He smoothed his shirt down, a white cotton piece with gold accents. It occurred to him when choosing it that he was wearing it on the holodeck the night that Andrew told him he was leaving him, and determined not to allow it to be some kind of relic to the past, had decided to give it an airing. As the turbolift opened Calli stepped out. "Ah, Commander, how's the shower?"

She looked at Matt for a second before chuckling. "All sorted Ensign, but I'm afraid I'm in a hurry..."

Matt noticed Calli's phaser. "Is everything okay?"

"There's some trouble on the Starbase. If you'll excuse me..."

<Tag: Calli>

Matt nodded and stepped into the turbolift, surprised to see the Lieutenant standing in his civilian clothes. "Ah Lieutenant," Matt said. "Good evening..."

"Good evening," the Lieutenant nodded, standing with his hands clasped behind his back. "I'm surprised you came Ensign?"

"So am I," Matt said, grinning.

The Lieutenant chuckled. "You had every right to haul me into your office today Ensign. Why didn't you?"

"Because you're a good engineer," Matt said. "And I know there had to be a reason you'd configured that relay that way..." Matt looked over at the Lieutenant. "I don't need to know what that reason is. You've seen me work for a few days Lieutenant. I'm open, I'll be honest, and I know good engineers when I see them. I hope we can work together..."

The Lieutenant nodded. "Thank you Sir..."

"Matt will do tonight..." Matt smiled, and they stepped out of the turbolift and into The Wheel. Milyanov greeted them at the door, remarking that it was good to see them getting along before peeling the Lieutenant away. Matt spotted Commander Blakus walking over to him.

"Good evening Ensign, glad you came," he said.

"Thanks Commander - I was promised Romulan Ale. It's the key to my heart," he laughed.

"How are we getting on in Engineering?"

"I'm making some progress..." Matt said, turning to look back at Milyanov and the Lieutenant. "Looks like I'm starting to win over some critics..."

<Tag: Any/Blakus>

[Calli Valente]

Calli had stepped off the umbilicus walkway, almost running headlong into the new Chief Engineer:

"Ah, Commander, how's the shower?" he asked, Calli looked at Matt for a second before chuckling.

"All sorted Ensign, but I'm afraid I'm in a hurry..." Matt had noticed Calli's phaser.

"Is everything okay?"

"There's some trouble on the Starbase. If you'll excuse me..." she said, stepping around the young man before heading for Delta Lounge ....


~~~~~~~~~~


As she came around the corner she could see well over a hundred, maybe two, milling around, all shouting jeering, pushing the Security Officers and Marines trying to gain access to where? ... Apart from the El Salvador and the Raven, both Federation Starships, not commercial transports, there were no other vessels in Dock, unless you counted the cannibalised ships used to replay parts on the remaining Fleet vessels ... A Security Officer approached:

"Commander,"

"How're we doing Lieutenant?" Calli asked appraising the situation quickly.

"There are a few, half dozen maybe, shouting the odds, demanding to be allowed to leave," the man said.

"On what?..." Calli asked, shaking her head, "... OK... First off, contact the Dockmaster and have him polarise those observation windows, there's no need to rile them up any further than necessary, and seeing two Starships meters away isn't helping anyone. So let's take the view away, then we'll concentrate on gathering up the ringleaders,"

The Lieutenant moved away to do as ordered, a moment later the massive panoramic windows turned an opaque silver, obscuring any view into the Spacedock ..... Calli tapped her Comm-badge to give Admiral Torek an update, then once again to speak to Admiral Reynolds, currently overseeing Dock Security, then Starbase Forty-Seven's Chief of Security, Commander Theo Dúpin ..........

< Tag : Anyone >

[Carl Torek]

Torek Family Quarters ...
Deck Three
USS Raven-C ::

"You're disappointed," Elise was saying as Carl seemed to re-read the same page of the novel yet again.

"Doctors orders," he replied, part of him wanting to ignore the Doctor, but part knowing the backlash he would receive from the woman should anything go awry with the new eye. He sighed and began reading once again. Elise got up and went to the ornate drinks cabinet, she poured cognac into two of the set of brandy glasses, etched with the Raven's Name and Registration, presented to Carl on his promotion to Fleet Admiral by Sato Tetsutaro. She went back to the sofa, handing him one of the glasses as she sat beside him.

"It's for the best you know," she said needlessly, picking up one of the PADD's beside her to continue marking homework .....

Next Day ::

"We were going to the holosuite, but we decided to stay home and keep you company," Bethan said, bringing several toys into the living area.

"You can still go, I'll be alright you know," Carl said.

"Nope," his daughter replied without looking up, her full attention now on the dolls as the door chime sounded. Vanessa, who was leaving her room, moved to the door and smiled as it slid aside:

"Good morning Section Admiral," she said, curtseying grandly, Gheskori bowed, one arm waving in a flourish as he smiled at Carl's daughter,

"... Miss Vanessa… I would like to speak to your father if that is possible?"

"He's in, sulking as usual," the thirteen-year-old said before heading into the kitchen. Gheskori entered, Carl standing as his superior approached, Gheskori waved a hand to have Carl sit, then stepped over several strategically placed toys to take a seat. Elise asked if he would like a coffee, Ghes' said yes.

"Morning Gheskori, something you need?" Carl asked.

"I just thought a visit was in order..." the Section Admiral replied, taking the cup from Elise, "... How are you enjoying your, confinement?"

"I'm thinking of rotating my Medical Staff," Carl said, trying to be serious.

"The good Doctor is still putting her foot down then?" Gheskori said as he saw Bethan grin. Carl couldn't help but laugh, he'd often said that Helen Roach was one of the best Medical Officer's he knew, and he was lucky to have her aboard the Raven, but at the same time, he wanted to throttle the woman for her steadfast disregard of all ranks and positions when the health or wellbeing of her patient was in doubt.

"You heard about the trouble on the Docking Ring I take it?" Gheskori asked, handing Bethan a doll that was just out of her reach.

"Commander Valente contacted me with an update. There seems to be only a handful of malcontents, troublemakers inciting the crowd ... It doesn't help when two Starships are practically meters away seemingly doing nothing but gathering dust. Those causing the trouble see two ships, capable of taking well over two thousand people back home, yet they sit there, it just pours fuel on the proverbial fire," Carl replied with a shrug.

"When has the Doctor told you you may return to duty?" Ghes' asked.

"I'm fine righ ....." Carl began, but Bethan interrupted quickly:

"Tomorrow!... After school... That's what the Doctor said,"

"Tomorrow..." the Section Admiral repeated with a wink to the ten-year-old.

Carl, who had always praised his children for their honesty and forthrightness, their total lack of fear if wanting to say something, no matter 'who' it was addressed to, it was in a way refreshing. But once in a while, he wished they would defer to the Old English proverb from around the fifteenth century ..... 'Children should be seen and not heard'.

"Refill Ghes'?" Elise asked.

"Thank you, no, I just wanted to visit my friend to check on his progress, but young Bethan here has told me everything I need to know..." the Section Admiral said, standing before handing the empty cup to Elise before moving towards the door, Bethan stood and ran past him, hugging the Denobulan as he reached her. He returned the gesture enjoying the warmth always shown him by Carl's family, "... We shall speak tomorrow, Carl, Elise, young Lady," he finished with a slight bow.

"You think he wants to get the ships out of the way?" Elise asked after he had left.

"It would seem so, both Raven and El Salvador are space-worthy, there's no real need for their remaining in Spacedock," he said with a shrug, as Bethan returned to the floor, a satisfied expression on her face. Vanessa came from the kitchen, informing them that she was going down to the Recreation Room on Deck Nine to meet her friends.

"Don't be late back," Elise said.

"I won't," she replied, kissing her father on the head before leaving. Carl leaned back and picked up the book he had started a week earlier, still bemused at the fact he was still only on page thirty-six ..........