Angels And Ministers Of Grace

Posted on 04/26/2020 @ 12:58am by Captain Cian D'Anvers

Mission: S1E2: The Plomeek Soup Conundrum
Location: USS Crazy Horse, Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: Day 5 at 1430

Tahlin entered Crazy Horse's ready room to find Commanders D'Anvers and Othran already there. "Sirs," she saluted as she spoke, "The prisoners we have are accounted for and in the brig, but I have some... Concerns..."

Cian looked up, one eyebrow arching up in surprise, at the interruption to the away team debriefing he was conducting with his First Officer. He kept his body relaxed, refusing to transmit anything of what he was feeling, and turned his attention toward the ship's Chief of Security.

"I apologize for interrupting, but I wouldn't if I didn't think it were necessary... Our aliens are telepathic, and appear to have no concept of spoken language... They also appear to be capable of causing significant pain if touched, and... I'm concerned about how they've been treated by the Federation. We may have, inadvertently I'm sure, been killing them. Do we have any idea what they're accused of? It also might be related to the... Disappearance... of the Chameloid."

Cian's expression turned wintry as he listened. "First," he said quietly, "there's a lot of supposition in that report and to be honest, I prefer hard fact always. Once Doctor S'Lace has stabilized them, we will begin an evaluation, both Medical and Science, which is what," he gestured toward the ship's First Officer, "I was just discussing with Commander Othran."

"And for the record, Lieutenant, we use names on this ship ..." Cian said quietly. He had never been one to bluster or even raise his voice. On his world, that often meant a death sentence, but as he grew, leaving those days behind, he learned the value of a measured tone. "... or would you rather I call you ...the Bajoran... from now on?"

Tahlin lowered her head, shame-faced. "I apologize, Commander D'Anvers... I'm afraid I let my sense of right and wrong override my better judgment... I also recognize that I am going off of hunches, except for perhaps the telepathic contact and pain aspects."

"Tell me more about that. I understand that you were one of the recipients? Did it feel like an attack," Cian asked. He reached for his tea cup and took a long sip as he listened to the Lieutenant's response.

"Not an attack, necessarily... More... Defensive in nature, as though it was the only reaction that could possibly get some point across... There were impressions along with the pain, almost words, but I couldn't understand exactly what they meant. Ensign Blackfeather, as a Betazoid, might be able to tell you more."

Cian nodded. "From what I've read, they haven't presented a problem up till now so that fits. What's your take on Ensign Blackfeather? Would she be a good choice for the job of reaching out to them?

Tahlin considered. "Not ideal, but probably the best choice. She's a little eager to please, and jumps to conclusions, but I really don't want anyone touching them. A Vulcan would be better, but I don't have anyone on my staff I'd feel comfortable asking. Even if someone were to wear gloves or something, Vulcans are very careful about who they make telepathic contact with."

"I'll speak with our Counselor; I'd rather it be someone with some experience in these matters," Cian said. "But all of that has to wait until they are in better physical shape. "

"I believe that Dr. S'Lace is working on them as we speak," Alvar said, "although I do not know how long it will take to nurse them back to health, given their unknown physiology. Counselor Toran, while not a telepath or empath, would know how to proceed after they're better. As I recall, he has had some past experience with working with trauma patients."

"He does... Rather extensively, actually... We had lunch just before we got to the Blackwell, and he told me a little." She tried to keep the color out of her face, and was mostly successful.

"Now, that that's been dispensed with," Cian said, returning to the more interesting matter at hand, "and since I was about to call you in anyway, have a seat. How is your investigation going with respect to Sifir's disappearance?"

The woman sat, grateful she'd escaped more reprimands for now. A frown crossed her face as she considered the question. "We picked up some sort of readings that could be a stealth vessel, but its confused. I asked Ensign Mendyar to see if he can get a warp signature out of it. I don't hold out much hope--the whole thing was garbled, at best. If we get anything, I might recommend deploying our runabout, but I just don't know..."

"Stay on that," Cian said. "Even if we aren't in a position to give chase, we can definitely let Starfleet know." He paused a moment. The teacup was back on his desk with one hand looped around the base, idly rubbing one side with his thumb. "Am I alone in thinking that the problems both we and the Blackwell have been experiencing are probably related to this escape?"

"You would not be alone, Sir," Alvar said. "While I do believe that coincidences occur, this is not one of those times. There are too many specific things happening for it to be entirely chance."

"I concur with both of you... Ensign Mendyar told me that the modeling he and our engineer ran shows no possible motive for sabotage, but that leaves us with no idea for how these glitches could have occurred... Unless...?"

"We are dealing with members of unknown species," Alvar said, "who may be working with technology not familiar to us. Who is to say what is and isn't possible under such circumstances?"

"Modeling aside, I think it's prudent to go under the assumption that this was planned as a way to facilitate Sifir's escape." He continued rubbing the side of his teacup as his mind worked the possibilities. "Easier to go after him in transit than break into a penal colony."

"Quite... I had a thought though... How familiar are you both with the history of the Enterprise-D?"

"Some," Alvar said. "More than some of the ships of Starfleet, though it's not like I can cite chapter and verse on everything they did."

"Make your point, Lieutenant," Cian said as he lifted his teacup and took a sip.

"Early in their missions, they went to assist a fellow Galaxy-class starship dealing with, at the time, what were thought to be system failures. The Enterprise downloaded the data logs of the other ship, and they eventually discovered that an alien computer virus had made its way into their systems via the data download... I'm wondering if we're dealing with something similar?"

"Operations agrees with you that that is the likeliest scenario," Cian said. "They've come up with a plan to fix the problems on board. Once that's done they'll be able to backtrack and find out when and where the problems started."

"Should this turn out to be a computer virus," Alvar said, "and I also think that it is very likely, I would be curious as to when and where it was inserted into the Crazy Horse's system. This was a rather impromptu assignment on our part, so whomever did this would not have had much time to work with when they did their deed."

"Hmmm, who would have thought my History courses could come in handy..." The very slight smile was quickly quashed. "We're still dealing with an escaped prisoners, and two dead ones..." She broke off, unwilling, or unable, to continue.

"One escaped. Two dead. Two ships in bad shape," Cian said, his expression turned grim, "to say I'm not pleased would be an understatement."

"I'm not pleased, as well," Alvar grumbled. "This makes us look very bad, and I know I, for one, do not like being made to look bad."

"Then it's time to get some answers. You are dismissed."

A Post by:

Commander Cian D'Anvers
Commanding Officer
USS Crazy Horse

Lt. Commander Alvar Othran
Executive Officer
USS Crazy Horse

and

Lieutenant JG Lae'Or Tahlin
Chief Security Officer
USS Crazy Horse