Cascade – The worst way to start a day
by Captain Tasha Tahir (NPC) & Commander Karen Villiers & Commander Rakka & Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham & Alderman Dorian Gabriel & Lieutenant Commander Steve Wyman & Lieutenant Commander Jarred Wallace & Lieutenant JG Petro & Lieutenant JG Gralthek Sirran & (G) erie'Riov - Sub Commander Rianni Monteros-t'Khellian & Master Chief Warrant Officer James Kaufman & Colonel James Darson
Post Details
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The table was set. The empty seats awaiting an occupants, whilst several large jugs of water sat on the edge of the desk with several glasses and somebody, who Tasha never seemed to meet, had already placed a small bouquet of fresh flowers in the centre of the desk, giving those who did not want to look at one another something else to focus on.
This was the best part of the morning. A clean room smelling of the fresh polish that somehow kept the desk looking immaculate along with flowers and coffee that gave the conference room that sense of newness.
Tasha had not even taken a seat of her own before the door opened.
It had been a long night for the new chief engineer. Inadvertently disturbing the Captain in the middle of the night, checking out the repairs to the hangar bay, meeting with the few members of his staff that were on duty in the wee hours (none of whom were expecting him at such a late hour). Indeed he had only stopped into his quarters briefly to change his uniform and grab a quick bite to eat. Clearly Ceridwen had been busy, as most of what they carried with them on the transport had been put away, and now she was dead asleep. Gwen had stirred slightly when the door opened, but otherwise she was wiped out from being up as late as she had been.
But at the moment his brain was still swirling from the absolutely bizarre happenings in the security office. He wasn't sure if he should mention it to anyone, as for all he knew such a display was completely in character for Trellis and Rakka. However, with his first staff meeting as DS5's chief engineer about to begin, he put those thoughts out of mind. He wasn't surprised to find Tahir already in the conference room, but he was a bit taken aback by the flowers. Gesturing toward them with the coffee cup in his right hand he remarked, "Certainly a nice touch. They really brighten the place up."
At first Tasha was not sure what the engineer was referring to then followed his line of sight to the centre of the desk.
"Oh, the flowers." She shrugged her shoulders. "They just seem to appear. I don't even know who puts them there." She admitted as she glanced away and without thinking, pointed to the chair that would have been occupied by Bruce. "Please, take a seat Lieutenant."
When Petro stepped through the door she saw a new face and worked to jog her memory of who it was. So much had been going on the past few days that she couldn't remember everyone whom she had arranged new quarters for. Her uniform, crisp as usual and her hair, which was long enough to pass her shoulders, was pulled up in a tight bun - something she spent over an hour trying to perfect.
"Good morning Captain, Lieutenant." She said, giving each of them a nod in turn. She took her place at the table and stopped part way through sitting. She stood upright again and turned to the replicator on the far wall, ordering a large hot chocolate, before returning to her seat.
Tasha smiled as Petro toyed with her hair and then took her seat. The Captain said nothing but gave the J'Naii a nod of respect and gratification as she stood.
Sirran walked in, PADD in hand. "Good morning," He said as various sets of eyes noted his approach. He took a seat at the table and set the small device down in front of him.
Karen noted the new faces as she entered the room, her padd held at her thigh in the crook of her fingers.
"Has the IRW Dhelan contacted in yet?" it was important for the away team, DS5 and for the wider quadrant that both sides were fully briefed on what was happening.
Chelsea was next to enter. This time of the morning usually saw her deep into a fit of sneezing and true to form, she arrived in full flood. "Sorry." she apologized between the brief interruptions. "It'll..." "pass..." "Shortly..." "I promise" she punctuated and tried to move away towards the replicator but dropped her PADD onto the meeting table with an echoing crash as she was caught by a sneeze just as she tried to put it down.
She left it there and continued to get the glass of water which she had been intending to fetch although she still had to make two attempts to order it as the computer denied understanding her first sneezed request. Once she had the glass in her hand she sat down at the chair onto which she had inadvertently dropped her PADD as she passed. "Bajorans." "...were clearly" "never meant.." "..to have babies!" she muttered between more sneezes before settling to sip her water in silence... apart from the sneezing fits and the interspersed "Sorry" and "Excuse me".
The Captain nodded with a welcoming smile to Chelsea and hoped the sneezing fit was only temporary.
Having taken the seat Tahir had motioned toward (he assumed it to be the one his predecessor typically sat in), Wyman fought back a chuckle at the sneezing Bajoran. He hadn't served with very many of their species, but their physiological response to pregnancy struck him funny.
~I wonder how many Human women would trade their swollen ankles, compressed bladder, and raging hormones for a few months of chronic sneezing?~ he thought, smirking as he consulted the notes he'd taken down before arriving.
Commander Rakka ducked through the doorway and squared her shoulders. She took a deep, cleansing breath before approaching the table. Already this morning she'd been through several meetings, all of which were rife with stress and conflict. She was not looking forward to more. Fortunately, Trellis had not yet arrived. She could only hope that he wouldn't sit anywhere that facilitated eye contact as she would no doubt have to put up with him shooting daggers from his eyes at her throughout the meeting. Or would he show up at all? If he didn't, Rakka would have no choice but to report his abrupt departure to the Captain, and she did not relish that, knowing he would only become more infuriated with her for 'tattling'.
Rakka was at least pleased to spot an open seat near Petro and eased into it with a sigh. Belatedly remembering the etiquette of greeting, she glanced around the table at those already assembled and gave a silent nod.
Petro noted the look in Rakka's eyes as she entered the room. She hadn't slept well the night before and it looked like Rakka hadn't either. Not that anyone else would have noticed, she thought bitterly. She was glad when her friend sat beside her and gave her a slight smile before turning her attention to Tahir.
Tashas eyes followed Rakka as she made for the seat next to Petro. She paused, allowing the consultant security officer a chance to settle and reciprocated the given nod before asking,
"Has it?" Tasha aimed the question to Petro as well as Sirran in reference to Karens question as she shifted in her seat and pulled the glass of water closer.
"No word yet, Captain," Sirran replied.
"Thank you Lieutenant." Tasha acknowledged.
Rhiana entered the room, four PaDD's in one hand and a noticeably large cup of coffee, and her more Romulan features plainly visible and the obvious signs she was already having a bad day, "Sorry, Admiral what's his face was on my case again about some report that was filed when Mr Gabriel was in charge, plus I have been informed I might be replaced within the next few weeks."
Trellis was still fuming an hour and a half later. He felt as if Rakka had purposely tried to undermine his authority. At every opportunity available she has tried her best to point out some flaw or deficiency, no matter how slight. He knew that she wanted to retain her position as Chief of Security. He just didn't know how far she'd go to get it back.
Regardless, he had worked hard to be where he was and he was not going to let the spirited attempts of his predecessor strop him. He looked around as the doors to the conference room opened to reveal the various officers that had already arrived. It was not difficult for him to notice the Nausicaan Commander sitting across the room. He sighed inwardly and attempted to hide his frustration with the woman and proceeded to take a seat at the opposite end of the table with his padd in hand.
"Everyone," he said, acknowledging the others.
The hatch hissed open once more and Darson appeared through it, his enormous armored bulk filling the doorway. He paused with a gauntlet on the bulkhead and directed an intense stare down the empty corridor, and then muttered a series of obscenities under his breath. He turned back into the room, the cloak furling around his ankles and he made his way to the seat next to Chelsea, giving a nod of deferral to the Captain as he took his seat.
With a practiced eye, he cast a glance around the room. Ignoring for the first moments the epidemic of sneezing erupting from the Bajoran, he took notice of the high tension emanating from some of the senior officers, as well as the general presence of new people who he gave a suspicious glance to before giving the seemingly innocent flower vase in the center of the table a thorough examination. Flower pots like this were the perfect places to hide things. Dangerous things. Things like listening devices, explosives…flowers, though not as often as people would think. He scanned it for the presence of any dangerous toxins or booby traps, and then picked it up for a physical check. Holding it up to the light as a connoisseur of fine, exotic, erotic, antiques would inspect an article, he gave it a shake, and then listened for ticking noises whilst stroking the faceplate of his mask as if he had a thick beard. Satisfied that the vase was not going to explode and take out almost all the senior staff of the station or transmit classified information to anybody, he returned it to its proper place.
Returning his attention to Chelsea who was right next to him, he rummaged around inside his cloak and produced a box of tissues, which he placed in front of her with a meaningful tap on the box.
Chelsea glanced at the box, Darson's finger tapping on it and then up at him. She withdrew the silken handkerchief she had put back up her sleeve and placed it's folds on top of the rough tissues with which she had no intention of reddening her nose! "I'm sorry Colonel." she muttered quietly. "It's Morning Sneezing. Pregnant Bajorans can't help it but it's neither infectious nor wet, even if it IS very annoying. Hence my apology. It will cease in a little while." Almost as if on cue, it did cease, at least for a while as it had generally demonstrated itself in batches of an hour on and a couple off again in sequence.
Darson shrugged. It wasn’t that he was offended, it was simply for her benefit. Leaving the tissues there, he resumed looking around the room.
"Good morning everybody" said Rick entering the room with his mandatory fourth cup of coffee so far this morning. Things had obviously been calm, normally he would be on eight.......nine if he had been kept up all night by his sneezing wife.
"Shall I?" Karen asked Tahir.
Tasha still found herself bemused by Darson's examination of the flower vase. She could see he was being security conscious, but the mere act of lift, check and re-seating the vase made her grin and she nearly laughed aloud when he produced the box of tissues and tapped them to signify their use to Chelsea, the doctor.
"Um?" The Captain responded in a nonchalant manner, her thoughts interrupted, "Yes, Commander, please do." Tasha urged.
Karen got to her feet, "Very well, since yesterday a number of events have occurred, events that may prove shattering for the Federation. Co-ordination is essential, and following the briefings the Captain and I have received this morning I want to present each one in turn," her tone was serious.
Lieutenant Duquesne stood on the bridge of the IRW Dhelan as various Romulan officers went about their assigned duties. Very few happy with the presences of a Starfleet Officer on their bridge, even less happy with the fact that he was using their equipment to communicate with Starfleet.
Rick took out a gum from his pocket, un-wrapped it, put it in his mouth and started chewing on it thoughtfully.
Rianni stepped into view and nodded to the assemblage of her former colleagues, "Good morning, hope you've not been waiting too long for us." She smiled, if Isha had taught her anything it was to get there in her own good time and not a second before, "So, let's get underway, shall we? Mr. Duquesne...."
Duquesne nodded in response as the Romulan Commander addressed him. He then turned to face the viewscreen as the Commander came into focus.
"We have potential Borg activity on Ivor Prime, the IRW Dhelan are assisting our away team. We are implementing a plan to evacuate all non-essential personnel and civilians In the event that the team report back a Borg presence. We will also issue early warnings to strategic relay posts both in Federation and Romulan territory. Preparation and early warning is our best weapon. Lieutenant Duquesne," she addressed the leader of the away team via the link, "Have you anything to report? What is your current eta?"
"We are . . .reparing to ent...the ...Cluster." Duquesne stated. "From there we....begin beaming. . .surface of colo. . ." He tried to report, unfortunately there was an unknown signal attempting to interfere with vessels transmission.
"10:00" Duquesne was able to state clearly.
Tahir looked across to Steve, the newly ensconced Chief Engineer and then to Petro. "Can we try to enhance the signal from the Dhelan?" She asked rather than ordered.
Thoughtfully, Wyman stroked his chin as he regarded the flickering monitor. "There's nothing I can do from the conference room, obviously. But I can try to up the power to the subspace transceiver. Maybe tie the lateral sensor arrays in... make a whole section of the station into a big antenna, basically. I'm just spit-balling, of course." he muttered, more thinking out loud than addressing anyone.
While the engineer was thinking out loud, Petro picked up her PaDD and began moving her fingers about. From an onlooker it might seem as though she were playing a game. In a sense she was. The objective: coordinating the communication relays to boost the signal without interfering with other operations. No sooner had Wyman finished his thoughts, the flickering on the monitor ceased and a crystal clear picture of Duquesne could be seen, as well as the background.
At that, Wyman folded his hands together on the table in front of him. "Or you could do that." he deadpanned, wondering if Uhura ever upstaged Scotty like that.
~Try a 'thank you',~ Rakka thought silently as she shot the Engineer a brief glare as she tapped her foot under the table. Anyone who failed to appreciate the communications officer's talents was not likely to gain any of this Nausicaan's favour today. In Rakka's humble opinion, Petro might as well be a magician and deserved the praise of everyone around the table. Hell, she deserved a goddamn parade.
Lieutenant Duquesne noticed the interference, but then saw that it had cleared up. "Yes, as I was saying before. We are preparing to enter the Ik'ga Cluster and from there we will begin---" However, his sentence was cut short as the transmission was terminated.
Tasha looked across the room to Petro.
"Did we lose them, or they us?" She quizzed in standing and moving to the viewer.
Petro worked her PaDD furiously, fingers almost a blur. "We're sending out and I'm getting a response from their end but it's minimal. In short, it's something on their end though I don't believe it's entirely technical."
"This could be the subspace issues that cycle throughout the region that Chief Ayers had mentioned at a pre mission discussion." Rhiana added.
"Let's work on a solution for that ahead of their next communication," Karen said. There would be no more from the away team for now. She continued, "Next item. Ensign DeRoot is co-ordinating the investigation into the ship we towed in yesterday. I've had a preliminary report from the anthroplogist assigned to the team and the origin appears to be of a species we know little about - an isolated Beta Quadrant people, one that neither the Klingons nor the Romulans have much knowledge of either.
"The Yevad, or Yevadians dislike outsiders - the records suggest that aliens are one of the few things that can make the warring nations put aside their differences. Not even the Romulans or Klingons in earlier days bent on expansion by force made an impact on the Yevad. We are continuing to assess the cause of - Karen hesitated to use the word massacre - the incident that led to the ship being abandoned. Once that is established we will attempt to communicate with the Yevad in order to return their property.
"It is our hope that this will also lead to improved relationships between them and the Federation. Any questions?" she asked those in the room, the comm link having already disconnected from the IRW Dhelan.
"My Father's journals have some information on a similar massacre if they have any value they can be made available, but some of the details are rather graphic in some respects." Rhiana added as a thought.
Karen nodded, "Thank you, Lieutenant t'Sahen, that would be useful to the team but please refrain from using the term 'massacre' outside this room. For now and in the context of our vessel it is speculation that what happened was such. We have an already uneasy population aboard, suggestions that there may be extra danger cannot add to rumor."
Tasha silently agreed with Karens statement and thought it best if the command staff kept things low key.
Quietly, Wyman stroked his chin thoughtfully. This was certainly proving to be an interesting place to be around. "Do we know enough about their language for the computer to translate the logs from the ship? Because I should be able get into their databanks and do a dump of the computer core to our own. That should give us an idea of what became of the crew..." he mused.
"The Anthrologist assigned to the team, Doctor Werbner is working with linguistics to create an algorithm. I'm sure they would appreciate your assistance, Lieutenant," Karen replied. She planned to visit the ship again later in the day, but she thought that the involvement of a more senior officer on the team would be appreciated by Ensign DeRoot.
"Commander," Sirran said, "I'll check in with Ensign DeRoot as well and see how I can help her."
"I'll join you," Karen said as she scrolled her schedule though her memory, "circa 13:00."
Questions answered Karen moved on. "Which brings us back home and to the final item on the agenda. We believe the attack on the Cardassian Embassy to be terrorist related. The latest casualty report tells us that thirty people lost their lives in the explosion, the Ambassador is not among them but is in intensive care. Is there anything further to report on the medical side?" she addressed that question to Doctor Dunham.
The Captain eased her seat around, casting a glance across to Trellis, Rakka and then to Darson, in the hope that between the security and marine contingent, the secreted assailant was in someone's crosshairs.
"Yes, sadly we did lose 30. 24 died on site and were declared DOA on arrival at the Infirmary or in whatever completion of remains they were found. Two more arrived technically alive but survived barely minutes even on life support. The remaining four who we couldn't save were too badly hurt to even survive surgical intervention. We did however manage to save another 56 injured to varying degrees from the Legate who remains critical down to cuts and abrasions.
The Ambassador is predicted to be coming off the critical list as soon as he is 24 hrs post-surgery and treatments are signed off." Chelsea reported. "For the official record, just to keep the Cardassian Legate off his damned soap box about being treated by Bajorans who he has complained MUST have some sort of agenda against all Cardassians, it was the fine skills of Dr Milarno that saved the Ambassador's life this far." she added.
"Thank you. The clean up operation continues. Has any group claimed responsibility for the attack?" she asked the security team, "and if not have we any leads?"
~ They clearly should of tried harder ~ thought Rick to himself wondering why the person most deserving of being blown up on the station didn't get blown up.
Trellis cleared his throat as he stood to speak. "I have led the investigation into the bombing of the Cardassian Embassy. Our preliminary investigation has uncovered that a bomb was placed just outside the foyer of the Embassy and was set to detonate in conjunction with Ambassador Getal's exiting of the location." Trellis said.
"We are still working to determine who is responsible for the attack. Thus far, no organization has claimed responsibility. But I am confident that my department will resolve this mater before it reaches any further level of concern." He concluded as he sat back down.
"Do you have anything to add, Commander Rakka?" Karen asked, aware that the pair were probably still smarting over the meeting the previous day.
"No ma'am," Rakka replied with purposeful detachment. "Lieutenant Trellis has covered it. I've had little responsibility in this particular case."
Tasha stood from her chair, palms flat on the desk.
"Thank you all for coming and welcome to some of the new staff. As Commander Villiers has stated, keep things low key, the civilians are uneasy, the ambassadors are nervous and we must keep up a united front Any questions?" She asked, glancing across and around the table.
"I can aide in the bomb reconstruction if security needs some help, plus we can help with any additional security detail for dignitaries." Rhiana piped up again.
Darson spoke suddenly after several minutes of deep thought, “As always, the Marine Corp. stands ready to assist base security with whatever resources we can provide,” he looked directly at Trellis, “Mr. Trellis, if you need anything at all, contact our security liaison and we’ll see to it that it gets done. I’m going to get in touch with some contacts and see if anybody knows anything about the bombing. If this was a contract job not only was the assassin a dismal failure, but there will be whispers about it. Intelligence will be in the loop,” he gestured towards Rhiana.
Tasha forced up an uneasy smile as she glanced around each and every member of the team gathered around the desk and gave several reassuring nods before standing erect and bringing her hands to her side before one final look at Karen.
"Very well. Never the easiest way to start the day, but productive and informative. You have your orders, directions and duties. Dismissed." She rounded off the meeting, her eyes fell back to the flowers at the centre of the desk and eased herself back into her chair, like an old lady after finishing of the serving of breakfast to a large and contented family as the various members of the team filed out from the conference room until she was left alone let for Rianni Monteros who stood at the door looking in on the old lady, but the flowers still held her fascination.
The colours melded into one mish mashed hue of colour as she stared deeply into them and as she rose her eyeline back, she gave a nod to Rianni who then turned and left.
= Promenade =
It was several minutes later when Bryan Surzchenko rounded the corner heading to his shared office with his love interest, Mercedes that he happened to look across to the boarded up windows of the embassy and he noticed something small and colourful at the foot of the hoarding. Unsure what it was, he took several steps towards the smoke charred building and there he realised as he drew closer, that the colourful object was in fact a pretty posy of flowers.
~ Beautiful. Mercy would appreciate something like that. ~ He thought as he turned away.
Off:
In Order:
Captain Tasha Tahir - CO
Lieutenant Steve Wyman - CEO
Lieutenant Petro - CCO & Quartermaster
Lieutenant JG Gralthek Sirran - CSOO
Commander Karen Villiers - XO
Commander Chelsea Dunham - CMO
Commander Rakka - Consultant & ACSO
Lieutenant JG Rhiana t'Sahen - ACIO
Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis - ACSO
Colonel James Darson - MCO
Commander Richard Dunham - CAG
Lieutenant JG Michael Duquense - Tactical Officer/Security
Sub Commander Rianni Monteros-t'Khellian
CWO2 Bryan Surzchenko - Admin
by Captain Tasha Tahir (NPC) & Commander Karen Villiers & Commander Rakka & Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham & Alderman Dorian Gabriel & Lieutenant Commander Steve Wyman & Lieutenant Commander Jarred Wallace & Lieutenant JG Petro & Lieutenant JG Gralthek Sirran & (G) erie'Riov - Sub Commander Rianni Monteros-t'Khellian & Master Chief Warrant Officer James Kaufman & Colonel James Darson
Post Details
| Title | The worst way to start a day | |
| Mission | Cascade | |
| Author(s) | Captain Tasha Tahir (NPC) & Commander Karen Villiers & Commander Rakka & Commander Chelsea Dunham & Commander Richard Dunham & Alderman Dorian Gabriel & Lieutenant Commander Steve Wyman & Lieutenant Commander Jarred Wallace & Lieutenant JG Petro & Lieutenant JG Gralthek Sirran & (G) erie'Riov - Sub Commander Rianni Monteros-t'Khellian & Master Chief Warrant Officer James Kaufman & Colonel James Darson | |
| Posted | Tue Feb 26, 2013 @ 1:16am | |
| Location | Conference Room | |
| Timeline | SD71 07:25 |
The table was set. The empty seats awaiting an occupants, whilst several large jugs of water sat on the edge of the desk with several glasses and somebody, who Tasha never seemed to meet, had already placed a small bouquet of fresh flowers in the centre of the desk, giving those who did not want to look at one another something else to focus on.
This was the best part of the morning. A clean room smelling of the fresh polish that somehow kept the desk looking immaculate along with flowers and coffee that gave the conference room that sense of newness.
Tasha had not even taken a seat of her own before the door opened.
It had been a long night for the new chief engineer. Inadvertently disturbing the Captain in the middle of the night, checking out the repairs to the hangar bay, meeting with the few members of his staff that were on duty in the wee hours (none of whom were expecting him at such a late hour). Indeed he had only stopped into his quarters briefly to change his uniform and grab a quick bite to eat. Clearly Ceridwen had been busy, as most of what they carried with them on the transport had been put away, and now she was dead asleep. Gwen had stirred slightly when the door opened, but otherwise she was wiped out from being up as late as she had been.
But at the moment his brain was still swirling from the absolutely bizarre happenings in the security office. He wasn't sure if he should mention it to anyone, as for all he knew such a display was completely in character for Trellis and Rakka. However, with his first staff meeting as DS5's chief engineer about to begin, he put those thoughts out of mind. He wasn't surprised to find Tahir already in the conference room, but he was a bit taken aback by the flowers. Gesturing toward them with the coffee cup in his right hand he remarked, "Certainly a nice touch. They really brighten the place up."
At first Tasha was not sure what the engineer was referring to then followed his line of sight to the centre of the desk.
"Oh, the flowers." She shrugged her shoulders. "They just seem to appear. I don't even know who puts them there." She admitted as she glanced away and without thinking, pointed to the chair that would have been occupied by Bruce. "Please, take a seat Lieutenant."
When Petro stepped through the door she saw a new face and worked to jog her memory of who it was. So much had been going on the past few days that she couldn't remember everyone whom she had arranged new quarters for. Her uniform, crisp as usual and her hair, which was long enough to pass her shoulders, was pulled up in a tight bun - something she spent over an hour trying to perfect.
"Good morning Captain, Lieutenant." She said, giving each of them a nod in turn. She took her place at the table and stopped part way through sitting. She stood upright again and turned to the replicator on the far wall, ordering a large hot chocolate, before returning to her seat.
Tasha smiled as Petro toyed with her hair and then took her seat. The Captain said nothing but gave the J'Naii a nod of respect and gratification as she stood.
Sirran walked in, PADD in hand. "Good morning," He said as various sets of eyes noted his approach. He took a seat at the table and set the small device down in front of him.
Karen noted the new faces as she entered the room, her padd held at her thigh in the crook of her fingers.
"Has the IRW Dhelan contacted in yet?" it was important for the away team, DS5 and for the wider quadrant that both sides were fully briefed on what was happening.
Chelsea was next to enter. This time of the morning usually saw her deep into a fit of sneezing and true to form, she arrived in full flood. "Sorry." she apologized between the brief interruptions. "It'll..." "pass..." "Shortly..." "I promise" she punctuated and tried to move away towards the replicator but dropped her PADD onto the meeting table with an echoing crash as she was caught by a sneeze just as she tried to put it down.
She left it there and continued to get the glass of water which she had been intending to fetch although she still had to make two attempts to order it as the computer denied understanding her first sneezed request. Once she had the glass in her hand she sat down at the chair onto which she had inadvertently dropped her PADD as she passed. "Bajorans." "...were clearly" "never meant.." "..to have babies!" she muttered between more sneezes before settling to sip her water in silence... apart from the sneezing fits and the interspersed "Sorry" and "Excuse me".
The Captain nodded with a welcoming smile to Chelsea and hoped the sneezing fit was only temporary.
Having taken the seat Tahir had motioned toward (he assumed it to be the one his predecessor typically sat in), Wyman fought back a chuckle at the sneezing Bajoran. He hadn't served with very many of their species, but their physiological response to pregnancy struck him funny.
~I wonder how many Human women would trade their swollen ankles, compressed bladder, and raging hormones for a few months of chronic sneezing?~ he thought, smirking as he consulted the notes he'd taken down before arriving.
Commander Rakka ducked through the doorway and squared her shoulders. She took a deep, cleansing breath before approaching the table. Already this morning she'd been through several meetings, all of which were rife with stress and conflict. She was not looking forward to more. Fortunately, Trellis had not yet arrived. She could only hope that he wouldn't sit anywhere that facilitated eye contact as she would no doubt have to put up with him shooting daggers from his eyes at her throughout the meeting. Or would he show up at all? If he didn't, Rakka would have no choice but to report his abrupt departure to the Captain, and she did not relish that, knowing he would only become more infuriated with her for 'tattling'.
Rakka was at least pleased to spot an open seat near Petro and eased into it with a sigh. Belatedly remembering the etiquette of greeting, she glanced around the table at those already assembled and gave a silent nod.
Petro noted the look in Rakka's eyes as she entered the room. She hadn't slept well the night before and it looked like Rakka hadn't either. Not that anyone else would have noticed, she thought bitterly. She was glad when her friend sat beside her and gave her a slight smile before turning her attention to Tahir.
Tashas eyes followed Rakka as she made for the seat next to Petro. She paused, allowing the consultant security officer a chance to settle and reciprocated the given nod before asking,
"Has it?" Tasha aimed the question to Petro as well as Sirran in reference to Karens question as she shifted in her seat and pulled the glass of water closer.
"No word yet, Captain," Sirran replied.
"Thank you Lieutenant." Tasha acknowledged.
Rhiana entered the room, four PaDD's in one hand and a noticeably large cup of coffee, and her more Romulan features plainly visible and the obvious signs she was already having a bad day, "Sorry, Admiral what's his face was on my case again about some report that was filed when Mr Gabriel was in charge, plus I have been informed I might be replaced within the next few weeks."
Trellis was still fuming an hour and a half later. He felt as if Rakka had purposely tried to undermine his authority. At every opportunity available she has tried her best to point out some flaw or deficiency, no matter how slight. He knew that she wanted to retain her position as Chief of Security. He just didn't know how far she'd go to get it back.
Regardless, he had worked hard to be where he was and he was not going to let the spirited attempts of his predecessor strop him. He looked around as the doors to the conference room opened to reveal the various officers that had already arrived. It was not difficult for him to notice the Nausicaan Commander sitting across the room. He sighed inwardly and attempted to hide his frustration with the woman and proceeded to take a seat at the opposite end of the table with his padd in hand.
"Everyone," he said, acknowledging the others.
The hatch hissed open once more and Darson appeared through it, his enormous armored bulk filling the doorway. He paused with a gauntlet on the bulkhead and directed an intense stare down the empty corridor, and then muttered a series of obscenities under his breath. He turned back into the room, the cloak furling around his ankles and he made his way to the seat next to Chelsea, giving a nod of deferral to the Captain as he took his seat.
With a practiced eye, he cast a glance around the room. Ignoring for the first moments the epidemic of sneezing erupting from the Bajoran, he took notice of the high tension emanating from some of the senior officers, as well as the general presence of new people who he gave a suspicious glance to before giving the seemingly innocent flower vase in the center of the table a thorough examination. Flower pots like this were the perfect places to hide things. Dangerous things. Things like listening devices, explosives…flowers, though not as often as people would think. He scanned it for the presence of any dangerous toxins or booby traps, and then picked it up for a physical check. Holding it up to the light as a connoisseur of fine, exotic, erotic, antiques would inspect an article, he gave it a shake, and then listened for ticking noises whilst stroking the faceplate of his mask as if he had a thick beard. Satisfied that the vase was not going to explode and take out almost all the senior staff of the station or transmit classified information to anybody, he returned it to its proper place.
Returning his attention to Chelsea who was right next to him, he rummaged around inside his cloak and produced a box of tissues, which he placed in front of her with a meaningful tap on the box.
Chelsea glanced at the box, Darson's finger tapping on it and then up at him. She withdrew the silken handkerchief she had put back up her sleeve and placed it's folds on top of the rough tissues with which she had no intention of reddening her nose! "I'm sorry Colonel." she muttered quietly. "It's Morning Sneezing. Pregnant Bajorans can't help it but it's neither infectious nor wet, even if it IS very annoying. Hence my apology. It will cease in a little while." Almost as if on cue, it did cease, at least for a while as it had generally demonstrated itself in batches of an hour on and a couple off again in sequence.
Darson shrugged. It wasn’t that he was offended, it was simply for her benefit. Leaving the tissues there, he resumed looking around the room.
"Good morning everybody" said Rick entering the room with his mandatory fourth cup of coffee so far this morning. Things had obviously been calm, normally he would be on eight.......nine if he had been kept up all night by his sneezing wife.
"Shall I?" Karen asked Tahir.
Tasha still found herself bemused by Darson's examination of the flower vase. She could see he was being security conscious, but the mere act of lift, check and re-seating the vase made her grin and she nearly laughed aloud when he produced the box of tissues and tapped them to signify their use to Chelsea, the doctor.
"Um?" The Captain responded in a nonchalant manner, her thoughts interrupted, "Yes, Commander, please do." Tasha urged.
Karen got to her feet, "Very well, since yesterday a number of events have occurred, events that may prove shattering for the Federation. Co-ordination is essential, and following the briefings the Captain and I have received this morning I want to present each one in turn," her tone was serious.
Lieutenant Duquesne stood on the bridge of the IRW Dhelan as various Romulan officers went about their assigned duties. Very few happy with the presences of a Starfleet Officer on their bridge, even less happy with the fact that he was using their equipment to communicate with Starfleet.
Rick took out a gum from his pocket, un-wrapped it, put it in his mouth and started chewing on it thoughtfully.
Rianni stepped into view and nodded to the assemblage of her former colleagues, "Good morning, hope you've not been waiting too long for us." She smiled, if Isha had taught her anything it was to get there in her own good time and not a second before, "So, let's get underway, shall we? Mr. Duquesne...."
Duquesne nodded in response as the Romulan Commander addressed him. He then turned to face the viewscreen as the Commander came into focus.
"We have potential Borg activity on Ivor Prime, the IRW Dhelan are assisting our away team. We are implementing a plan to evacuate all non-essential personnel and civilians In the event that the team report back a Borg presence. We will also issue early warnings to strategic relay posts both in Federation and Romulan territory. Preparation and early warning is our best weapon. Lieutenant Duquesne," she addressed the leader of the away team via the link, "Have you anything to report? What is your current eta?"
"We are . . .reparing to ent...the ...Cluster." Duquesne stated. "From there we....begin beaming. . .surface of colo. . ." He tried to report, unfortunately there was an unknown signal attempting to interfere with vessels transmission.
"10:00" Duquesne was able to state clearly.
Tahir looked across to Steve, the newly ensconced Chief Engineer and then to Petro. "Can we try to enhance the signal from the Dhelan?" She asked rather than ordered.
Thoughtfully, Wyman stroked his chin as he regarded the flickering monitor. "There's nothing I can do from the conference room, obviously. But I can try to up the power to the subspace transceiver. Maybe tie the lateral sensor arrays in... make a whole section of the station into a big antenna, basically. I'm just spit-balling, of course." he muttered, more thinking out loud than addressing anyone.
While the engineer was thinking out loud, Petro picked up her PaDD and began moving her fingers about. From an onlooker it might seem as though she were playing a game. In a sense she was. The objective: coordinating the communication relays to boost the signal without interfering with other operations. No sooner had Wyman finished his thoughts, the flickering on the monitor ceased and a crystal clear picture of Duquesne could be seen, as well as the background.
At that, Wyman folded his hands together on the table in front of him. "Or you could do that." he deadpanned, wondering if Uhura ever upstaged Scotty like that.
~Try a 'thank you',~ Rakka thought silently as she shot the Engineer a brief glare as she tapped her foot under the table. Anyone who failed to appreciate the communications officer's talents was not likely to gain any of this Nausicaan's favour today. In Rakka's humble opinion, Petro might as well be a magician and deserved the praise of everyone around the table. Hell, she deserved a goddamn parade.
Lieutenant Duquesne noticed the interference, but then saw that it had cleared up. "Yes, as I was saying before. We are preparing to enter the Ik'ga Cluster and from there we will begin---" However, his sentence was cut short as the transmission was terminated.
Tasha looked across the room to Petro.
"Did we lose them, or they us?" She quizzed in standing and moving to the viewer.
Petro worked her PaDD furiously, fingers almost a blur. "We're sending out and I'm getting a response from their end but it's minimal. In short, it's something on their end though I don't believe it's entirely technical."
"This could be the subspace issues that cycle throughout the region that Chief Ayers had mentioned at a pre mission discussion." Rhiana added.
"Let's work on a solution for that ahead of their next communication," Karen said. There would be no more from the away team for now. She continued, "Next item. Ensign DeRoot is co-ordinating the investigation into the ship we towed in yesterday. I've had a preliminary report from the anthroplogist assigned to the team and the origin appears to be of a species we know little about - an isolated Beta Quadrant people, one that neither the Klingons nor the Romulans have much knowledge of either.
"The Yevad, or Yevadians dislike outsiders - the records suggest that aliens are one of the few things that can make the warring nations put aside their differences. Not even the Romulans or Klingons in earlier days bent on expansion by force made an impact on the Yevad. We are continuing to assess the cause of - Karen hesitated to use the word massacre - the incident that led to the ship being abandoned. Once that is established we will attempt to communicate with the Yevad in order to return their property.
"It is our hope that this will also lead to improved relationships between them and the Federation. Any questions?" she asked those in the room, the comm link having already disconnected from the IRW Dhelan.
"My Father's journals have some information on a similar massacre if they have any value they can be made available, but some of the details are rather graphic in some respects." Rhiana added as a thought.
Karen nodded, "Thank you, Lieutenant t'Sahen, that would be useful to the team but please refrain from using the term 'massacre' outside this room. For now and in the context of our vessel it is speculation that what happened was such. We have an already uneasy population aboard, suggestions that there may be extra danger cannot add to rumor."
Tasha silently agreed with Karens statement and thought it best if the command staff kept things low key.
Quietly, Wyman stroked his chin thoughtfully. This was certainly proving to be an interesting place to be around. "Do we know enough about their language for the computer to translate the logs from the ship? Because I should be able get into their databanks and do a dump of the computer core to our own. That should give us an idea of what became of the crew..." he mused.
"The Anthrologist assigned to the team, Doctor Werbner is working with linguistics to create an algorithm. I'm sure they would appreciate your assistance, Lieutenant," Karen replied. She planned to visit the ship again later in the day, but she thought that the involvement of a more senior officer on the team would be appreciated by Ensign DeRoot.
"Commander," Sirran said, "I'll check in with Ensign DeRoot as well and see how I can help her."
"I'll join you," Karen said as she scrolled her schedule though her memory, "circa 13:00."
Questions answered Karen moved on. "Which brings us back home and to the final item on the agenda. We believe the attack on the Cardassian Embassy to be terrorist related. The latest casualty report tells us that thirty people lost their lives in the explosion, the Ambassador is not among them but is in intensive care. Is there anything further to report on the medical side?" she addressed that question to Doctor Dunham.
The Captain eased her seat around, casting a glance across to Trellis, Rakka and then to Darson, in the hope that between the security and marine contingent, the secreted assailant was in someone's crosshairs.
"Yes, sadly we did lose 30. 24 died on site and were declared DOA on arrival at the Infirmary or in whatever completion of remains they were found. Two more arrived technically alive but survived barely minutes even on life support. The remaining four who we couldn't save were too badly hurt to even survive surgical intervention. We did however manage to save another 56 injured to varying degrees from the Legate who remains critical down to cuts and abrasions.
The Ambassador is predicted to be coming off the critical list as soon as he is 24 hrs post-surgery and treatments are signed off." Chelsea reported. "For the official record, just to keep the Cardassian Legate off his damned soap box about being treated by Bajorans who he has complained MUST have some sort of agenda against all Cardassians, it was the fine skills of Dr Milarno that saved the Ambassador's life this far." she added.
"Thank you. The clean up operation continues. Has any group claimed responsibility for the attack?" she asked the security team, "and if not have we any leads?"
~ They clearly should of tried harder ~ thought Rick to himself wondering why the person most deserving of being blown up on the station didn't get blown up.
Trellis cleared his throat as he stood to speak. "I have led the investigation into the bombing of the Cardassian Embassy. Our preliminary investigation has uncovered that a bomb was placed just outside the foyer of the Embassy and was set to detonate in conjunction with Ambassador Getal's exiting of the location." Trellis said.
"We are still working to determine who is responsible for the attack. Thus far, no organization has claimed responsibility. But I am confident that my department will resolve this mater before it reaches any further level of concern." He concluded as he sat back down.
"Do you have anything to add, Commander Rakka?" Karen asked, aware that the pair were probably still smarting over the meeting the previous day.
"No ma'am," Rakka replied with purposeful detachment. "Lieutenant Trellis has covered it. I've had little responsibility in this particular case."
Tasha stood from her chair, palms flat on the desk.
"Thank you all for coming and welcome to some of the new staff. As Commander Villiers has stated, keep things low key, the civilians are uneasy, the ambassadors are nervous and we must keep up a united front Any questions?" She asked, glancing across and around the table.
"I can aide in the bomb reconstruction if security needs some help, plus we can help with any additional security detail for dignitaries." Rhiana piped up again.
Darson spoke suddenly after several minutes of deep thought, “As always, the Marine Corp. stands ready to assist base security with whatever resources we can provide,” he looked directly at Trellis, “Mr. Trellis, if you need anything at all, contact our security liaison and we’ll see to it that it gets done. I’m going to get in touch with some contacts and see if anybody knows anything about the bombing. If this was a contract job not only was the assassin a dismal failure, but there will be whispers about it. Intelligence will be in the loop,” he gestured towards Rhiana.
Tasha forced up an uneasy smile as she glanced around each and every member of the team gathered around the desk and gave several reassuring nods before standing erect and bringing her hands to her side before one final look at Karen.
"Very well. Never the easiest way to start the day, but productive and informative. You have your orders, directions and duties. Dismissed." She rounded off the meeting, her eyes fell back to the flowers at the centre of the desk and eased herself back into her chair, like an old lady after finishing of the serving of breakfast to a large and contented family as the various members of the team filed out from the conference room until she was left alone let for Rianni Monteros who stood at the door looking in on the old lady, but the flowers still held her fascination.
The colours melded into one mish mashed hue of colour as she stared deeply into them and as she rose her eyeline back, she gave a nod to Rianni who then turned and left.
= Promenade =
It was several minutes later when Bryan Surzchenko rounded the corner heading to his shared office with his love interest, Mercedes that he happened to look across to the boarded up windows of the embassy and he noticed something small and colourful at the foot of the hoarding. Unsure what it was, he took several steps towards the smoke charred building and there he realised as he drew closer, that the colourful object was in fact a pretty posy of flowers.
~ Beautiful. Mercy would appreciate something like that. ~ He thought as he turned away.
Off:
In Order:
Captain Tasha Tahir - CO
Lieutenant Steve Wyman - CEO
Lieutenant Petro - CCO & Quartermaster
Lieutenant JG Gralthek Sirran - CSOO
Commander Karen Villiers - XO
Commander Chelsea Dunham - CMO
Commander Rakka - Consultant & ACSO
Lieutenant JG Rhiana t'Sahen - ACIO
Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis - ACSO
Colonel James Darson - MCO
Commander Richard Dunham - CAG
Lieutenant JG Michael Duquense - Tactical Officer/Security
Sub Commander Rianni Monteros-t'Khellian
CWO2 Bryan Surzchenko - Admin