Change of Command (Part 2)
Posted on 03/16/2020 @ 5:22pm by Captain Cian D'Anvers & Lieutenant JG Salynn Oram & Lieutenant JG Marcus Giaus Aurilieus & Ensign Romal Seshel
Edited on on 03/16/2020 @ 5:23pm
Mission:
S1E2: The Plomeek Soup Conundrum
Location: Conference Room, Deck 1
Timeline: Day 5 at 1100
Tags: Any
(Continued from Part 1)
Leonie watched the ship's former captain leave, her eyes brimming with compassion, and then turned toward her husband. "If you'll excuse me, Captain, I shall find our quarters and then make myself known down in Sickbay."
"Of course, Doc," he said but while his smile was genuine, it was also obvious that his agile mind was already on about a thousand other things. They had agreed, long ago, to keep the public displays of affection at a minimum and in keeping with that, he only nodded in her direction before turning his attention to his senior staff. "If everyone could be seated," he said as he took his own seat at the head of the table, angling the chair so that he could sit at a slight angle. Long legs and, at least according to his wife, big feet had taught him the wisdom of not sitting squared to the table.
"I'd like to get up to speed on the current mission so here's what we'll do. I'm going to ask a few questions and when you give your answer, please also state your name and position. Let's start with helm. What's the estimated time to arrive at the Blackwell?"
There were precious few places at the table where Salynn could blend in; the only other officers with the same collar color as hers were at the head of the table. She had snuck in to a seat next to the engineers, giving the two of them a half-hearted smile as she tried to comprehend how quickly the change of command had occurred. Thus was Starfleet, of course, no posting was sacred, and anyone could be moved at any time for any reason. Still, it seemed so sudden for Sidonie to leave, and Sal felt a pang of regret that she hadn't gotten to know the officer better. Such was the distraction of her thoughts that she almost missed the question directed at her.
"Oh! Salynn Oram, sir, Lieutenant junior grade," said Sal a little vehemently, due in no small part to her startlement. "Well, with the detour to pick up... you, sir, once we get back underway we should reach the Blackwell within two and a half hours."
"And that's at maximum warp," Cian asked in follow-up. "From what I understand there's some urgency attached to the Blackwell's request."
"That's right sir, at maximum warp. As long as the engines can take it, of course," said Sal tentatively, with a probing gaze at the two officers she had chosen to sit next to.
Tahlin mentally quirked an eyebrow; as far as she'd been aware, the
"Well, maximum warp at the moment is not indicative of our top speed," Archer said cautiously. "We've, eh, opted to keep the engines in low gear, so to speak, pending repairs and the like."
Cian's gaze, tracking hers, moved toward the two officers beside her. "... and are we expecting problems? I understand that the Crazy Horse passed its shakedown cruise without incident."
"Funny story, that." Archer dug his fingers beneath his collar and gave it a tug. "One might say that the shakedown cruise was inconclusive... or possibly not as thorough as could be... which is to say, eh, that, well, we've had a number minor problems, sure." He paused long enough to dry swallow the lump forming in his throat. "But it's nothing a little elbow grease hasn't managed. I just might have to amend the shakedown cruise assessment is all."
"Not a small matter, Lieutenant," Cian said, the start of a frown settling over his brow. "I didn't see it on Commander Ysayne's briefing list. Had you informed her of your assessment?"
"Uh... Not as yet." Archer caught himself biting his lip and willed himself to stop. "My report wasn't ready." There was also the fact that he had made a royal ass of himself in front of Commander Ysayne and hadn't been prepared to address her again with anything short of an emergency. Something told him that was information that was best spared from Cian. "I made the report a priority now though due to the change of command." And then he groaned inwardly at his tacit revelation. Please don't ask why that would matter, please don't ask, please don't ask...
"I trust, Lieutenant," Cian said as he fixed his Chief Engineer with a penetrating stare, "that whatever prevented you from keeping Commander Ysayne up-to-date will not become an issue between us?"
Archer couldn't hold back the first blush any longer. "Yes, sir."
"If you can excuse me, I'm Ensign Romal Seshel, Assistant Chief Engineer. May I speak on current minor problems?" Romal politely asked, wanting to add his take on the state of the ship.
Surprised, Cian turned toward the Assistant Chief. "Go head, Mr. Seshel," he said.
"Well, to begin with, engineering has experienced a sharp increase in small repairs" Romal announced, feeling very uncomfortable, like the bearer of unwelcome news. "Small repairs such as erratic doors, turbo-lifts that get stuck between floors, replicators that will only give Plomeek Soup no matter what you order and of course, these were only the minor systems. Now its spread to the main processors in the Stellar Cartography and Astro-metrics labs. Whenever we repair these glitches, a couple hours later another glitch pops up. At first, we attributed it to shipyard engineers, but now I'm not so sure. So, I thought it wise to start a level two diagnostic on the main computer core, which should be complete in roughly 15 minutes."
Cian's eyes narrowed. "You mean to tell me, Ensign, that you just took the main computer core offline without first asking permission?"
"Sorry sir, please let me rephrase that. I'm doing a holographic simulation of a level two diagnostic on the main computer core." Romal said, deeply wishing he hadn't forgotten to say the word; holographic. "Not as good as a real one, but it does leave the core online."
Archer, whose heart had leaped up into his throat, was just now finding his voice. "Yes," he said, trying to cover for his number two. "The ensign had a theory about a systemic computer glitch being responsible for the slew of repairs, so I told him to run it against a simulation before proposing a diagnostic which could further encumber our maintenance efforts." He actually had said no such thing, but Romal was under the gun and it was Archer's instinct to back up his people.
Marcus' brow furrowed as he listened to the Engineer recount the "small repairs". "Ensign, If I could." interjected the CIO. "This sounds like more than a computer glitch. This sounds like deliberate hacking. Some sort of cascading virus. It may not mean much when you order a snack and get Plomeek soup instead of avocados. However, once it hits our main systems I think we have to look at all possibilities....and threats." Marcus caught himself, remembering that the new Captain had been the one questioning the Engineer. He flexed his hand slightly, before looking at the Captain. "Sorry for interrupting, Captain."
At first Archer wanted to sigh at the suggestion, since it seemed everybody now had an opinion about his ship. But he couldn't form a clear argument against it, which meant it had to be a consideration. "Maybe we'll wait and see what the simulated diagnostic shows," he offered as a middle ground concession.
Cian's eyes turned wintry and a muscle jumped in the Captain's clenched jaw at the notion of a holographic diagnostic. Engineering was saved, however, by Marcus who now had his attention. "No need to apologize, Lieutenant Aurelius," he said, his voice rising slightly as he sought to place the individual. "The idea has merit; enough certainly to warrant investigation. Am I correct in assuming that you have some expertise in this?"
"Not from the technical side, Captain. However, most Intel officers are paranoid by design." he added matter of factly. "A alien intelligence service co-opting a low level crewmember during the shakedown and having them insert some sort of cascading virus into our systems is not that far fetched. If I was planning any sort of cyber attack I would start with minor systems and work my way up to major systems. The minor system issues would be less likely to spark a security response." He looked toward Engineering and Security. "I'll defer to Engineering and Security to determine the likelihood. My task is to be preemptive, not proactive with my scenarios."
Archer considered the Intel Chief's suggestion and weighed the possibilities. "I can't see where there would be an opportunity to insinuate a virus into our systems since we just launched. The odds of a foreign power compromising or impersonating a member of the crew during the shakedown seem pretty slim as well. And even if they didn't get caught, what would the point be? We're not a flagship. We're not even on patrol. Sabotaging us seems like a waste of resources and it would alert us to covert surveillance that would otherwise go unnoticed." Scratching his chin, Archer said, "Still, I can't rule it out completely, and that worries me. I suppose we might need to do something 'bout that."
"Commander D'Anvers, if I may, Lieutenant Lae'Or from Security. Though I would like to attribute these failures to system glitches, I think our intelligence chief's suggestion has merit. I do not know who might have infiltrated us, or even if we have a threat, but I think it prudent if we check. I have people who can assist Engineering, if that is your wish."
"Very well then. Lieutenant Lae'Or," Cian said as he focused on the ship's Chief of Security. "Start an investigation into the ship's computer system focusing on who, outside of assigned ship's personnel, could have had access using the time frame just before the first occurrences as a starting point. Use Lieutenant Aurelius." He turned toward the ship's Chief Engineer. "And you, I want you to investigate the possibility that all of this is somehow connected. Draw on Operations' expertise for the computer system."
Archer squirmed under Cian's stare. "That might require drastic action, sir..."
"Define drastic," Cian said, "and please, Mr. Logan, do try for details."
"Dropping out of warp and deactivating the computer," Archer said, sucking air through his teeth. "Maybe we could wait until we reach the Blackwell first? But it needs to be done to be thorough. We'd be reinventing the wheel otherwise."
"Regrettably, I can't recommend that, Sir." Lae'Or's tone was urgent. "The Blackwell is carrying high priority prisoners, one of whom is highly unstable. Security is ready, however, and I will personally make sure they are extra vigilant, in light of our... Issues."
"Investigation is not the same as initiating a level 1 diagnostic but perhaps, I should be clearer. Our first priority is the Blackwell; however, there is a risk that the Crazy Horse could end up in the same situation as the Blackwell is now. That would be unacceptable." He paused for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand as he considered possibilities. "Ships break down. That's not impossible. But two ships breaking down? And one just off a successful shakedown cruise? Not so possible. I think we need to look into the situation on the Blackwell a bit closer and to any connection that ship has with ours."
"A breakdown while in possession of such dangerous prisoners would not do well for the crew, Captain," interjected Ilos. He then smiled and gave a polite nod. "Pardon me, sir. Lieutenant junior grade Toran Ilos, Chief Counselor. The crew will be on edge with such dangerous people on board, regardless of security measures taken. Minimizing the risk of catastrophic ship failure with prisoners on board might be wise, even if delays our rendezvous with the Blackwell."
Cian nodded. "You have your orders," Cian said and then added, looking directly at the ship's Chief Engineer, "Keep me informed. For now, you're dismissed."
A post by:
Cmdr. Cian D'Anvers
Commanding Officer
USS Crazy Horse
Leonie D'Anvers, M.D.
Medical Officer
USS Crazy Horse
Lieutenant JG Toran Ilos
Chief Counselor
USS Crazy Horse
Lieutenant Archer Logan V
Chief Engineer
USS Crazy Horse
Ensign Romal Seshel
Assistant Chief Engineer
USS Crazy Horse
Lieutenant Marcus Aurelius
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Crazy Horse
Lieutenant JG Lae'Or Tahlin
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Crazy Horse
Lieutenant Salynn Oram
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Crazy Horse
