Compromised (Part 1 of 3)

Posted on 02 Jul 2012 @ 9:44pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant Commander Evelyn Coleman & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Lieutenant Commander Chauncey Remington III (KIA) & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Lieutenant JG Kestra Orexil & Tarishiana Barel & Lieutenant Commander Pola Ni Dhuinn M.D. & Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Ensign Rhett Brubwick & Lieutenant Theron Rhodes & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Lieutenant Kiri Cho & Commander Andreus Kohl & Commander Scarlet Blake & Lieutenant Lilou Zaren & Chief Petty Officer Lucalin Mrina Ph.D. & Ensign Im'er Mor'an & Rachel Hardaway Ph.D. & Anthony Hardaway Ph.D. & Justice Abernathy Ph.D. (MIA) & Eric Anderson & Emma Kennedy (MIA) & Lawrence Gibbs & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & General ('aj) D'Grath Son Of N'Vor (KIA)

4,242 words; about a 21 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Bridge, Sickbay, Cargo Bays
Timeline: MD 07 - 2005 hrs

[ON]

For the most part, the transfer of personnel and equipment from the Starbase to Galileo had gone rather smoothly. Granted there had been some rather... unexpected complications, but for the most part, John was pleased with the performance of the crew as a whole.

With the captain still busy finishing up with the commanders of the starbase, John had found himself in command a little longer than he had originally intended, but by this time of the evening, he was used to having the Bridge to himself. What he was not used to however, was the sudden arrival of his Intelligence officer from the turbolift looking more than a little concerned.

"Evening Lieutenant... I didn't expect to see you up here this late into the evening... your Bridge shift doesn't start for another four hours yet you know?"

"This just came through the wire." She said holding up a data PADD. "The Klingon Empire has recalled their citizens and Ambassadors while expelling ours. They're closing their borders."

"What do you mean the Klingons are closing their borders?" John replied, swivelling round in the command chair to bring the Lieutenant directly in front of him, rather than off to one side as she had been just a few moments before. The news of the Federation's longest ally suddenly choosing to make a huge change in their political position wasn't something that generally heralded good news.

Evelyn shook her head, "It means the alliance is over. According to various sensor readings the Klingons are positioning several vessels along their border with the Federation. But the most disturbing one at least for us, comes from our spy satellites. They've picked up half dozen cloaked vessels approaching Starbase 152."

"Then we have a big problem... any Federation support in the area we can call on?"

Eve shook her head. "The closest vessel is the USS Memphis which is in the Vintara system. At maximum warp they'll be here in less than four hours. The Twelfth Fleet is currently stationed at Starbase 123 so no help to us."

"Understood... send a message to the Memphis and also to One-Two-Three and apprise them of our situation... we may need to head towards one of the two for support if we find ourselves severely outgunned."

Evelyn smirked, "I had a hunch that you were going to request that, and already sent a secure communique to them."

The idea of multiple vessels heading towards the Starbase wasn't something that gave the Commander any more confidence in the situation. In fact, if anything it settled in his stomach like a sack of lead, threatening to consume his once calm mood in a heartbeat. If the Klingons were heading towards the station, then there was only one course of action.

As well as recalling the crew to the Galileo, he had to ensure that they were ready to leave at a moment's notice - and that meant giving the order that so far he had tried his damndest to avoid as long as he was in command. Looking over his shoulder to the junior officer at Tactical, he gave the word.

"Red Alert! All hands report to stations. This is not a drill."

Rhett jumped when the klaxon sounded. He instinctively headed for the nearest turbo-lift and ordered it to the diplomatic offices. Surprisingly, it headed directly there this time around. Apparently the reallocation of space had finally proliferated into ship-wide navigation. When the lift arrived, the diplomat disembarked and walked briskly to the small suite. He nearly walked into his office, but stopped himself. Were he to be called to the bridge, it would save him several seconds to be in the reception area. He checked the small type-I phaser every officer carried. It was ready. He placed it back on his belt and sat at the edge of his seat, waiting for an update.

The turbolift doors opened with Commander Remington the first to exit. His quick but unhurried stride brought him to the ops console in short order. He relieved the junior officer and began to review the ship's status.

Kestra holstered her Type I and Type II phasers to her belt as she moved quickly and diligently to the Bridge to relieve Marek. Head down to the Armory in case we need to upgrade to higher gauge weapons, she told him silently, Davidson is triple checking the torpedoes and T'Paaru is on the SecCenter scanners. Marek bobbed his head quickly and bolted for his post. As he cleared the console, Kestra took up her position and began running through the data.

As the lighting around her went red, Pola quickly walked into main sickbay to round up her staff. The only big benefit of having a red alert sound at this hour was that she was already in sickbay, half way through her shift. Looking around, her eyes first checked Dru, wanting to make sure the woman was secure if things should turn bad, in the back of her head she was trying to make contingency plans should the woman need to be moved should the biobed be needed in an emergency. Her thought's flashed back to her first red alert on-board the USS Galileo, she had only been ACMO then, now that she was CMO she had more responsibilities. Turning on her heel she headed for where her team was huddled together, whispering amongst each other.

Delainey entered sickbay, her designated emergency station, and took up position beside Pola, offering reassuring nods and some warm smiles to the junior medical staff that looked her way. She trusted Pola had everyone and everything prepped and ready for whatever was happening. She just prayed it wouldn't be necessary.

Dea exited the turbolift as it arrived on the bridge. Quickly making her way to her station. Updating herself on the incoming data as she took a seat. At this point the only thing she could do is be prepared to handle anything that might be needed from Flight Control. "Flight Control is ready, Sir."

Tarishiana hadn't been able to reach the bridge in the amount of time she would have liked. Excusing the Ensign that was sitting at the primary science console she took her place looking over the sensor information. She was slowly getting used to being on the bridge.

There were few things that could break Mor'an out of a meditation. The klaxon alert was one of them. As the alert sounded, Mor'an opened her eyes and calmly stood to don her uniform. Tying her hair securely in a bun, she walked briskly towards the bridge, the klaxon still wailing in her ears. Mere moments after the initial sounding of the alert, Mor'an was at her station ready to complete whatever duty was asked of her.

For a little while at least, Kiri had found some time to sleep. She hadn't had any at all in the last thirty nine hours, after just an hour and a half she pushed herself off the bed with a stagger. Her uniform was still in place, she'd passed right out on top of the covers. The combination of the klaxon and the red light had brought up with a snap. There were large bags under her bloodshot eyes. Without thinking at all she had pulled a hair tie from her dresser along with phaser and tricorder and walked out into the corridor, before her brain was even awake she was at the turbolift and fighting with her black hair. So much had happened in the last day that she hadn't yet processed it all. Putting together a puzzle that would let her see what was really going on around her. The details of the project they were collecting, the problems with the ship, the crew? Even questioning what her job here really was.

Arriving on the bridge she marched out but not too quickly, she remembered her academy training on that. I didn't do well for crewmen to see an officer run in an emergency, only do so when it was a must. With barely a look around at the situation the ensign went to her station that was starting to feel like her own. In a crisis at least, she knew exactly want to do, even if she was exhausted. With a single furry she brought the probes launched a short while ago into a full scanning mode. Their detection perimeter was set then she started to run a new multiphasic scan of the region. If anything had changed since before, she'd know about it. What she ran into was a roadblock, something that was hampering her entire function on the ship. The sensor array was now only operating at forty five percent of power. It couldn't be a normal power drain to shields, sensors were normally unaffected, was it a computer error or had someone changed the power distribution settings?

She only half listened to the first officer as she found herself almost in a panic, there was no way she could provide a safe level of warning with the current settings. They had one of the most advanced arrays in the fleet and she couldn't even use it right now. Her shoulders shook at she listened to the captain and first officer talk, she needed to change it. A hurried request was sent to operations to increase her power levels to normal levels or higher if possible. Praying that this time it was a human rather than a machine causing her problems.

Lucalin would have much preferred to hide under his desk. There was absolutely no practical reason for him to be on the Bridge in the face of any kind of attack. He was a bioengineer, not even remotely useful in the face of any kind of danger. Unless that danger was in the form of a microbe. He could create competing microbial armies all day long, but those rarely instigated red alerts. His biological impulse was to do what all Bireikar had done throughout history in the face of certain danger - hide somewhere they can't get you. Yet, his orders were to report to his station and his PADD informed him that that was the Bridge. This time, he left Flim Flam in his quarters and proceeded up to where he was supposed to be. He'd come to rely on her extra echoes more than he probably should have and it was difficult navigating the halls through the hordes of people rushing about. And the klaxon was terribly disorienting. Every time he thought he knew where an obstacle was, he ended up tripping over someone, or something, or running into a doorway. Not to mention - it hurt. It physically hurt him. He plugged his oversensitive ears with his hands, wadding his uniform up to stuff against the ridges to protect them. It didn't help much. Neither did the people shoving him to the sides as he winced and fell against the wall. Then it was off - mercifully - but the heightened scents and the continued rushing about let him know that the Red Alert hadn't ended. Just the sound. Thank you, blessed Mera, goddess of heat and life. He kissed his knuckles and touched them to the wall of the corridor; in the caverns of Meratah, the gesture had more meaning, but the symbolism was there. Rubbing his ears slightly, he rode the turbolift up to the Bridge, finally, and found held himself to the wall, unable to guess at where his station might be and unwilling to get into anyone's way who might be doing something useful to save all their lives from whatever threat was coming.

Moments earlier and far away, Andreus Kohl lifted his left hand up to the LCARS panel above the phoretic analyzer. Using his index finger, he tapped a sequence of contact points on the control panel in the secondary medical lab. Before he could finish the sequence, Kohl came to suspect he had done something wrong. Done something very, very wrong. The LCARS display near his face flashed red at him -- once, twice, three times. Only after the panel continued to flash did Kohl understand what was going on. Red alert. The shrilly distinctive klaxon made sure there was no question about it.

Kohl turned away from the laboratory equipment, stepping into the sensor field for the doors. Before he doors had fully parted, Kohl twisted to jump through the opening. Trying not to run, nor to scurry, Kohl crossed the passageway on longer strides than he normally might do. The main ICU ward for Sickbay was at the very next doorway, and he entered the threshold to see most of the medical staff gathering, even the counsellors. Moving as unobtrusively as possible, Kohl sidled in with the junior officers. To Nurse Lin, Kohl murmured, "I don't understand. We're orbiting a starbase. How bad can it be?"

Ens. Rhodes stepped out of the shower with a towel drying the remaining water when he heard the klaxon. He preferred a little moisture with his shower, but timing now was all bad. He tossed the towel aside and dressed quickly. After only a few minutes he walked briskly into the Main Security. Most of his assigned security team had assembled. Looking at his PADD, he confirmed the status on the remaining two.

"Oh bum, bum, bum..." Aria Rice's eyes had widened when the Red Alert sounded. She tied her hair back quickly and grabbed her uniform jacket and put it on before grabbing her boots. She got them on as well and ran, storming into the Main Security, almost nervously glancing around.

Rhodes stepped behind the security console that provided information from the bridge. He looked up and said, "Ens. Rice it looks like you and your team is assigned to the shuttle bay. My team will be in Engineering." He glanced around the room and confirmed that the security personnel were all present and armed. Rhodes stood and stopped saying what has come to be his classic line, looking at Aria with a smile and no contention, "Ladies first."

Aria looked at him for a long moment before rolling her eyes. "You so totally never have been to Luna...no ladies there," she said, but with a friendly smile. "Good luck, Rhodes."

With camaraderie Theron gave her a nod, "Same to you Rice." They both left Security with their teams for deployment.

As the klaxons sounded, Lilou bolted for the turbolift and nearly ran down Willis as the doors opened. "It's not us. Is it?" she asked. There wasn't anything they could have done since they're arrived at the starbase, unless something was going awry with the Sienna equipment they'd brought on board and affecting their mainframe...

For once, Willis didn't have a sly reply. "Pretty sure it's not us," he answered.

"That's something anyway." As the turbolift opened, she saw Quinn barreling into Engineering. "We don't have anyone on the Bridge." She gritted her teeth and stepped back into the lift. "I'm going up. Someone's got to. He's got me if he needs me."

"See you on the other side, kid," Willis said with a half salute and ran off.

Lamar was in the shuttlebay when the alert siren sounded, and the lighting panels on the large gray walls suddenly lit up with red pulses and icons. All hands report to stations, the XO had simply said. The chief looked around confused for a moment and wondered what was going on, yet his training and reflexes kicked in and he quickly moved to organize the shuttlebay's personnel. Several moments passed as he spoke to the various crew members in groups and assigned them tasks. Once that was complete, he jogged over to one of the armory lockers in the corner and unlocked it with his security code. The small panel hissed open and Lamar grabbed several Type-IIIc rifles from the compartment, slipping their slings over his shoulder then grabbing a handful of smaller Type-II hand phasers. He rushed back to the main operations console where the auxiliary flight crews and operations personnel were still standing, and began to pass out weapons.

In a crimson lit corridor, Scarlet Blake rounded a corner with a firm stride, her body straight and coiled with some tension, enough to be prepared for attack under the red alert. It was an automatic reaction that the counsellor couldn't shake. She headed swiftly into Sickbay where her basic field medic training could be put into use under a red alert situation, but she had to admit that even now it still felt strange. When the sirens sounded and there was a call to arms, she still felt the urge to grab a rifle and get ready to head out into the fire fight when needed. She contented herself with taking a spot up by a biobed, her long dark hair tied firmly back and her uniform sleeves rolled up as she looked over the equipment laid out ready.

Pacing back and forward within his assigned quarters, no mean feet given the size, Eric found himself mumbling to himself, uncertain what to do. It had been bad enough being ripped away from their project, watching it being dismantled, but then to be lumped onto a ship, not knowing what to do. Absent-mindedly he rubbed his arm where the bone had been fractured earlier, a quick trip to sickbay had had it repaired but a twinge still existed.

Suddenly ripped from his thoughts, his quarters were bathed in a red light as the announcement came over the speakers of a red alert not being in place. Frozen in his place, Eric found himself full of fear, "Sierra". Leaving his quarters, he ran towards where he knew the cargo bays where, wanting to ensure the project he had sweated blood and tears over was safe.

Anthony was in his quarters as well, relaxing for once and not sure he wanted to. When the red alert sounded, he immediately got up and headed for the door. "Rachel," he called to his wife, "we need to get to the labs and make sure Sienna's safe. Grab the phaser in my trunk."

Rachel had been a step ahead of her husband as was her custom. With an almost blind determination she retrieved the pair of phasers, handing one to her husband as the pair headed for the labs.

Justice looked up as the klaxon sounded and the slashing red light bathed the room. Quickly, he backpedaled across the room to the container he'd been monitoring, a small flicker around his eyes the only reaction to the sudden alarm. Finally, he thought, watching the data stream on the side of the cargo container.

When the Hardaways rushed in, Anthony came first with Rachel close behind him. Anthony surveyed the room quickly and went to a wall console. "Computer, why is the ship on alert?"

"You are not authorized to access that information," the computer's calm, feminine voice informed him.

Aria Rice walked in, taking a breath as she looked over at the others. She gave them a warm smile, waving. "Hello all," she said and moved to look around. "Your friendly Security Officer is here to... err... well, help."

Anthony looked up from the LCARS with a frown and looked Aria over quickly. She had no business being cheerful when his work was in danger. "What is going on?" he demanded, striding towards her, "Why is the ship on red alert?"

She looked at him for a moment, her eyes gentle. "It's just a precaution, Sir. Standard procedure when something unexpected happens. We're quite safe and I am here to assist you." The lie came smoothly and naturally. No reason to scare the visitors.

Anthony snorted, "Do I look like some scared Bolian banker?" he asked her incredulously, "Yellow alert is a precaution, red is immediate danger."

"Well, on this occasion, I don't know what the red alert is all about," she said and looked at him, with firm eyes. "But I know my job and it is to make sure you lot and Project Sienna are safe. So hey... hard times, dude, but you're stuck with it. As am I. So chill and tell me what needs to be done to ensure that this all..." she gestured to the area, "keeps itself all nice and shiny and doesn't explode on me."

Doctor Hardaway looked unimpressed by the ensign's reply. "You can begin by staying out of my way until you're needed."

Lucalin's ears twitched at the incoming message on his PADD, the small earphone informing him that he was now required to go down to the cargo bay to oversee Project Sienna. He had no information on the project, not even it's name, so he wasn't entirely sure why they needed him. Then again, he wasn't entirely sure why they'd wanted him on the Bridge, either. Clicking softly, he withdrew from the Bridge and followed the instructions on the PADD to the cargo bay. There were several bodies along with a mountain of crates and parts; he whistled long and low, assessing the details of the bay.

Turning on Lucalin next, Anthony gave the ensign a cursory glance. "What do you do?" he asked in the same demanding tone he'd used on Aria. But it was commanding too, and that was what he emphasized as he turned again, giving Lucalin no time to answer, and addressed Justice. "Doctor Abernarthy, check the manifold make sure the core is secured in the stasis field. Where the devil is Anderson?"

AberNAthy, Justice corrected him silently, biting back a scowl as he went to do as he was told. How many years have I worked for you, solving your problems for you, you sod, and you still never bothered to learn my name. He inhaled, squatted down next to the container housing the core. Not much longer now.

"Keep your bloody socks on, I'm here", Eric rushed through the door as he heard his name being mentioned, coming to a standstill as he saw the gathered people with additional starfleet officers. "See... Starfleet get bloody involved and everything goes to hell. Is the project ok?"

Stepping out of the shadows, Emma held out a PADD listing all the project equipment which was now onboard, "Sir we have a problem... only 2/3's of the equipment is here according to the last inventory check. Last update from ops was that the rest was being loaded into shuttles not due to depart for another hour or so."

Good news, Justice thought, looking over to Emma and trying hard to hide his fondness for her under Hardaway's watchful eye. "The stasis field is secure and the core is holding, sir." He crossed over to Emma, "Could I see that?" He glanced at Hardaway, "I just want to know what they've yet to bring over." He didn't take the PADD from her, just leaned over to peruse the list, lightly pressing his shoulder to hers for a moment of contact.

As she felt Justice's shoulder brush against her, Emma suddenly dropped the PADD. Realising the room had gone quiet and everyone was looking at her, she could feel her face getting warmer. Looking across at Anthony she was terrified he would shout at her.

Feeling sorry for the woman, Eric picked up the PADD and took Emma by the arm. "Come on, Emma, let's double check your list to ensure nothing is missing." Tugging the secretary, he lead her away.

Lucalin couldn't see Hardaway's expression, but he heard when the focus slipped from him to someone else. That was fine. Giving his resume to the doctor seemed like a poor use of their time given the circumstances.

It was a credit to the years he'd spent hiding his feelings for Emma that Justice didn't snarl and punch Eric in the jaw for touching her. He turned away instead to conceal his expression; had she changed her mind? Had the fact that he'd failed to keep them both on 152 somehow registered in her mind as a weakness on his part? If it hadn't been for her, for his concern for her well-being, he'd have been able to stay. Couldn't she understand that? That he was risking years of planning for the possibility of another of her gentle kisses?

As Eric led Emma off, Anthony looked at Justice then the two Starfleet. "Well?" he asked, crossing his arms, "Are you going to tell me what happened or do I need to go to the bridge myself?"

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

All Player Characters
All Positions
USS Galileo

ENS Rhett Brubwick
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Galileo
NPC'd by Lawrence Gibbs

MCPO Lamar Darius
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo
NPC'd by Lirha Saalm

Rachel Hardaway, Ph.D.
Lead Scientist
Project Sienna
NPC'd by Tarishiana Barel

Anthony Hardaway, Ph.D.
Lead Scientist
Project Sienna
NPC'd by Chauncey Remington III

Justice Abernathy Ph.D.
Scientist
Project Sienna
NPC'd by Lilou Peers

Eric Anderson
Scientist
Project Sienna
NPC'd by Pola Ni Dhuinn

Emma Kennedy
Dr. Hardaway's Secretary
Project Sienna
NPC'd by Pola Ni Dhuinn

General D'Grath Son Of N'Vor
Head of Intelligence
Klingon High Command
NPC'd by Jonathan Holliday

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