Starbase 152 (Part 3 of 3)

Posted on 29 May 2012 @ 10:57am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Lieutenant Commander Chauncey Remington III (KIA) & Lieutenant JG Kestra Orexil & Lieutenant Commander Pola Ni Dhuinn M.D. & Lieutenant Commander Evelyn Coleman & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Lieutenant Kiri Cho

3,645 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Bridge, Conference Room
Timeline: MD 07 - 1415 hrs

Previously, on Starbase 152 (Part 2)...

Evelyn shifted in her chair, giving a few seconds to organize her thoughts. "I did not send this information to Starfleet, nor was this image taken recently." She answered the different questions asked of her earlier. "You mentioned knowledge..." she said addressing Kestra. "This is what we know. The Petersham's Captain at least knew about Sienna. When the vessel disappeared Starfleet asked the Empire knowledge about the missing vessel, they replied with not knowing anything. That image proves they were lying." Her gaze shifted to Holliday, "The sensor readings showed no lifesigns on the Petersham and I believe the Klingons captured or killed the crew. The ship was taken to a Klingon strong hold there is no hope for a rescue mission."

Evelyn sighed turning her attention to Lirha. "Captain. I feel the reason why we made it to Starbase 152, is because the Klingons know of our mission. Whether they know the exact details or not, depends on if they tortured the Captain or not. I assume they do know, and the moment we re-enter their space, they'll attack us. The alliance between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire is over as far as they are concerned."

And Now, the Conclusion...

[ON]

Shifting in her seat, Pola start to feel extremely uncomfortable. All this talk about engaging the Kligons and the perception of them being a threat was something she was unused to. This was the second time today some assumptions were being made. For the second time today she found herself having to take on the role is acting chief counselor. "Ok guys. There's quite a few assumptions being made here without concrete facts. The only fact we have is the ship being tractor beamed by the Klingons. Who's not to say something happened to their engines and the Kligons offered help? You have to look at this from every angle, rushing into this could endanger life's unnecessarily."

Turning to face her CO and XO, Pola cleared her throat, "Even though the Kligons are an aggressive race they also act based on honour. Where is the honor in capturing a defenseless ship and taking their crew? I hate to be the devils advocate here but everyone needs to think logically and stop relying on emotions."

"The honour is in securing a new technology that makes the Empire superior in combat against any surrounding force" John interjected, finally starting to get a grasp of the situation. It had taken him some time to get his raging emotions back under control to avoid wanting to take the nearest shuttlecraft and avenge their lost colleagues, but by now he was starting to see exactly whatw as going on.

"Being remembered for letting the influence of your people expand over dozens of additional starships would grant far more honour than the loss of a tiny portion for attacking a supply vessel....sorry Doc but I'm with Coleman on this one...if the Klingons have the Petersham, our people are long gone, and they'll know everything we do."

The pieces of the puzzle were starting to come into place slowly but surely. John himself had felt it a little unusual that they had been given such a rude and hostile welcome to Klingon territory, but now that he could associate that response with the impatience of the Klingons wanting to get their hands on Sienna, it made perfect sense.

"I don't think we can risk going back the way we came....we may have to give our allies the benefit of the doubt sometimes....but when it's a mission of this much importance....there's more to consider."

"Doctor." Coleman spoke up. "You want logic? We are responsible for all of this." She said honestly, "Our dear leaders in the Federation council. They sowed the seeds of division between us and the Klingon with the terms of surrender for the Dominion. The Klingons were fighting a war with the Cardassians before they joined the Dominion, they lost far more ships, warriors, than any of the allies. And what did they get? Nothing. Tell me Doctor, did we show honor to our allies when the council passed the condemnation resolution for the Empire's actions towards the Gorn and Romulans?" Evelyn shook her head, "You have a generation of Klingons thirsty for war. Thirsty for honor. You have an older generation feeling betrayed by their closest ally." Evelyn leaned back in her chair. "Add a secret project in a highly secure base, and you make us seem more secretive, more deceptive then then the Romulan Tal-Shiar. What happens yesterday affects today."

Frowning, Pola tried to figure out if the aggression she perceived from Evelyn was an overreaction. Focusing instead on the woman's words, she casually sat back in her chair, not letting the woman get to her. "Lieutenant, my job where is the welfare of the crew and to ensure any decisions made are made with a clear mind especially where the crew maybe put in danger. All you've proven to me is your dwelling on incidents in the past. To decide what needs to happen now we have to look as this isolated situation and nothing else. This crew matter, not what happened in the past."

Evelyn leaned forward, "Tell me, Doctor, you have a regular patient, who's always been healthy, fit as a fiddle. Then one day they return to you from an away mission, with a minor cut on their arm. Did the normal scans, there are minor elevations in certain patterns but nothing too drastic so you let it go. Then several days later he's on your bio-bed in a coma. Do you focus on the illness then? Or do you look to see if it's associated with that original cut? Or is that just the past?"

Narrowing her eyes slightly, Pola maintained her natural position in her seat, "Very simple. I weigh up everything, the safety of the patient and the crew. Can the illness can be spread? Do I need to contain it before others are effected? Never mind what caused the coma, what do I do to treat the patient straight away. How do I stabilise their vitals? What medication do I administer? What equipment do I need to use? I deal with the facts, the patient is in a coma right there and then and if I stop to speculate on the mights I could cost that patient their life. Only when the patient is stabilised, out of danger would I then stop to speculate. Speculation could cost people their lives."

Evelyn arched her bow, "You speculated in order to stabilize the patient. You do not know the cause of the coma so you had to guess what medication to us, which worked, what didn't, you'd have to form up a theory if it's contagious or not based upon it's the one patient. Trial and error, speculation, whatever. How do you find out the cause of the coma?"

"Lieutenant I'm not going to have this discussion with you here. The reason for this meeting is to sort out the transfer of the people on the station to our ship. This matter with the Kligons should have first been brought to the CO and XO directly in which instance they would decide if it needed to be broadcast to all of us. Now it has been broadcast I'm doing my job, protecting the welfare of the people of this ship by ensuring no rash decisions are made in the heat of the moment or on speculation. When it comes to people's lives, the people matter. If you wish to continue our conversation You know where sickbay is." Turning to the CO and XO, Pola considered the matter closed, there was no way she was going to be dragged into a conversation on how she did her job at this table, infront of her superiors and her colleagues, this was not the place nor the time.

"We're losing sight of the issue here," Kestra interjected, looking around the table. "For the sake of clarification, all that we know for certain is this: first, the Klingons are currently towing the Petersham in a tractor field. Second, the sensors from the satellite show there are no crew on the ship. Third, when asked, the Empire told the Federation they had no knowledge of the ship's whereabouts. I have questions, as I'm sure do we all; would it be possible for you to answer them, Lieutenant, without adding your opinions for a moment, so the Captain can have a clear view of the evidence?" She held up a finger, "When was this image taken relative to the time the Federation contacted the Empire?" She held up a second finger, "You mentioned the Petersham had been taken to a stronghold - how do you know that and where is it?" She held up a third finger, "How do you know the Petersham's Captain knew about Sienna?" She folded her hands on the table, alert and centered. "I have more, but we can start with that for now. I hope I don't have to remind everyone in this room that we are Starfleet officers, not vigilantes."

"Enough!" Lirha called out in a loud and firm voice, her frustration apparent by the lack of composure of some of her senior staff. Panicking and bantering with one another was hardly an efficient use of time or resources, she thought, and they had a mission to accomplish regardless of the changing circumstances around them. "Calm down and get control of yourselves." she said, her green eyes narrowed as she stared at Evelyn, then the rest of the assembled officers. The captain did not look happy. "Lieutenant Coleman and I will discuss this matter privately in a short while. In the meantime, it changes nothing about our current mission. Lieutenant Orexil is correct and we cannot afford to divert from our current assignment. We will have to contact Starfleet for a rescue operation after we depart One-Five-Two." she explained, then clasped her hands behind her back and glanced back at the monitor. "Does anyone have any further questions about the transfer?" she asked, anxious to get out of the briefing room and underway with the mission.

Kestra almost sighed aloud with relief and it took real effort to conceal her feelings, though she was sure the other Betazoids must have felt the internal emotional release. She shook her head and waited silently for the others.

Evelyn shook her head, "No, Ma'am" she responded softly, as she looked down at the table Elx auriex nex ooria, elx Reo she chanted in her mind.

Having gotten the information she needed from Remington and knowing Kestra could handle the security surrounding the security of the personal transfer, Pola had all she needed, shaking her head and saying nothing further.

Remington had been silent and frowning gently to himself, occasionally taking a brief note on his PADD. Now, at last, he spoke up. His voice was quiet compared to the words which had passed from the others moments before. "Regardless of..." he waved his hand, "all this, we should proceed quickly, but with caution. Now, if we all know what we need to do, we should not delay here a moment longer. Our time may be shorter than we think." He looked ready to depart then and there.

"Agreed." the captain replied to the lieutenant commander's assessment. Tensions were running high amongst the senior staff and they were now working against the clock. It was important for them to stay focused and proceed with the mission. "Very well, dismissed." she said curtly, then turned to a couple members of her senior staff. "Lieutenant's Coleman and Ni Dhuinn, please remain." she ordered, then looked at her XO. "You too, Commander." she said, then waited for the rest of the officers to file out of the room and get to work.

Remington was the first to rise. He stood swiftly, but calmly, picking up his PADD and walking out of the briefing room with it. As he left, he glanced back at the two department heads who were to stay behind, giving a shake of his head. Then he was on his way to make preparations on the bridge.

Kestra tucked her PADD under her arm and inclined her head to the XO and the Captain before aiming for the door. She and the other Betazoids needed to have a serious conversation about holding back negative overflow emotional responses in these meetings. She simply couldn't do it all alone. As she exited the room, she immediately began compiling her requisition list on the move. The quicker she had it in, the faster she would be able to know what had been approved and what not and how best to organize her team to gather the approved items efficiently.

Remaining seated in her seat, Pola ensured to keep her body language neutral. She had no idea why she was being held back and not allowed to go finish her prep work.

Evelyn knew where this was going. She looked at Pola and frowned. As everyone was moving out Eve leaned close to the CMO, "Hey Doc, sorry about this," she gestured between them, "I didn't mean for it to go that far. You're a great doctor, and if I implied otherwise, I'm sorry. My only point was that the past matters. I'm sorry it escalated."

John stayed unusually silent for now. It was unusual for him to be held back by his captain, in fact it was something she had never done since he had been under her command, albeit for a short while. He was not intending to make anything resembling an apology, but for now was content to see where this was going.

Watching Jonathan, taking from his queue, Pola didn't respond to Evelyn except for a small shake of her head. If they were all in trouble she got into this by speaking up. Once they were finished here, she would have a conversation with Jonathan about the emotions and rumors and assumptions happening, between this meeting and the senior meeting this morning this was becoming a farsical.

The captain tapped a button and turned off the large wall monitor, then moved to the head of the table and folded her arms, looking at the three officers before her. "Just so we are all on the same page," she began in an even-tempered voice, "I have no problem with discussions, exchanges of ideas, even disagreements. However, there is an appropriate place and time for everything. And a staff meeting is not the time or place to be bickering like adolescents!" she said loudly, her brow furrowed in anger and her eyes locked on Evelyn and Pola. What had taken place inside the conference room had been an embarrassment, in her opinion, and she was lucky that none of the junior staff were around to witness it. "Whatever problems the two of you have with each other, deal with it. Now! You are senior officers and I expect you to conduct yourselves as such and not squabble with each other in front of everyone during an important mission briefing. You are supposed to set the example for the junior crew, not act like first-year cadets." she said with a huff, then shifted her feet. "Understood?"

This generation is far too sensitive. Evelyn thought to herself as she nodded. "Understood, Captain. For the record, I have no personal issues with Pola. I thought we were just having a disagreement on how we should view the problem, that's all. But I apologize for my role in the matter, and I promise I'll just stick to listening." She finished in a positive tone while thinking bitterly That's apparently all my species is good for.

"It won't happen again ma'am....I'll see to it" John acknowledged, saying little more than he felt necessary. The discpline laid down by the captain was equal in tone and meaning to how he would have handled the situation himself, but in his head John did admit, he would have preferred to hand it out himself.

"There never has been personal issues between myself and Lieutenant Coleman, nor will there be going forward Ma'am." Pola stayed seated where there was. Here she was, sitting in the middle of a room where people had showed obvious ignorance or the safely of this crew, wanting to rush into fights without thought of the firepower of the ship or the fact that a majority of the crew was scientists, and instead of that being addressed, she was getting a telling down for a situation she had tried to end. If she ever needed anymore proof as to why she went into medical and stayed away from positions where a person was disregarded for weapons and combat, the proof of it was here today.

Satisfied with the answers she had received, Lirha nodded curtly and focused her attention on Evelyn. "In the future, Lieutenant, I want you to bring any information to me prior to the briefing. For now, I want a full report on your findings sent to my PADD within the half-hour." she instructed. "You're dismissed." she added, having nothing further to say to the gray-collared woman.

Evelyn rose from her chair, and walked towards the Captain, and handed Lirha the PADD Evelyn walked in with. "I had a hunch you were going to ask for it." She whispered as she then moved to exit the conference room.

Lirha took the PADD and quickly scanned it over as Evelyn exited the room. With a sigh, she looked back at the remaining executive officer and medical chief. She pushed several stray strands of hair back behind her ear as she prepared to speak. "I know we have been through several stressful days but our mission is only going to get harder from here on." she said in a quiet voice. "It's important to remain calm and focused," she said, staring at John for a couple long moments.

John didn't need to be an expert in body language to know when the Orion captain was aiming her words squarely at him. He knew full well that he let his emotions make several decisions for him earlier in the staff briefing, but so far they had served him well, giving him an edge in situations where the cold and logical Starfleet regulations might not have been quite so perfect. Knowing he would probably be able to do nothing more than fire back across her bow over the recent events with Lt McCarthy, for now, the XO remained silent.

Looking back over to Pola, the captain continued speaking. "The tension level aboard the ship is high and it's obviously spilling out at important times. I need you to keep an eye on crew morale. When you return from Starbase one-five-two, coordinate your efforts with Master Chief Petty Officer Darius, he is the Chief of the Boat and responsible for overseeing the enlisted crew." she said.

Having watched Evelyn walk out of the room, Pola felt slightly deflated. She had hoping to catch the intelligence officer after the meeting and have a quick word to explain that she didn't blame her and to suggest maybe meeting up sometime, showing the crew that there was absolute no bad feelings between either of them. She actually like Evelyn, the woman wasn't afraid to speak her mind and stand up for what she believed in.

Turning her attention back to Lirha and Jonathan, Pola kept her neutral body language. The Commander had been right, a bad example had been set and now she was being offered the change to prove that she truly had the interest of this crew at heart. Smiling gently she nodded her head, "Yes Ma'am."

Very well." the Orion captain said, then looked over both officers one last time before nodding her head. "Let's get to work. Dismissed." she said simply. They had a job to accomplish and they were wasting time sitting in the conference room.

"I'll be in my office. Paperwork to complete." John replied coldly, picking himself up from the chair, collecting his PADD and heading towards the nearest turbolift. Knowing that a Federation starship was in danger, and it's crew probably dead was enough to make him begin to forget all rational thought with the exception of the Galileo riding to their rescue, however improbable that was going to be.

Nodding her head shyly, Pola collected her PADD from the table and got to her feet. With nothing left to say, she slowly limping her way back to sickbay, making a list of what she would need to do in preparation for the transfers from the station. Her mind briefly flicked to Evelyn and her words before they had been given a talking to by the CO. Adding an additional note to her internal list, Pola realised she should track down the Lieutenant once her shift was over later tonight, whenever that might be the way things were going at the moment.

[OFF]

--

CMDR Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lt Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Kestra Orexil
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Evelyn Coleman
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Pola Ni Dhuinn
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Chief Warrant Officer Markum Quinn
Chief Engineer
USS Galileo

ENS Kiri Cho
Science Officer/Sensor Specialist
USS Galileo

Lt. Cmdr. Chauncey William Remington III
Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Dea Mialin
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

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