Thread the Needle (Part 1 of 7)

Posted on 25 Mar 2017 @ 6:55pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Aren Ban & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Min Zhao & Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin & Lieutenant JG Stephanie Fraiser (KIA) & Commander Marisa Wyatt & Ensign Miraj Derani & Ensign Mimi & Senior Chief Petty Officer Martin Caine (KIA) & Ambassador Soral Varro & Sub-commander S'anara Valdran & Lieutenant JG Eelim Galan & Petty Officer 1st Class Eviess

2,642 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 14 - Statecraft
Location: IKS DuJa'Q, Sector 040 Grid 3801
Timeline: MD 06 - 0450 hrs

[ON]

Asleep in a solemn dream, Lirha was rudely awoken by an unfamiliar sound which took several seconds to identify. It wasn't the familiar soft chirp of her commbadge, nor was it as severe as a Klingon alert siren -- it seemed to be somewhere in between, and with her groggy eyes now opening, she searched for its source. "...What...?" she mumbled incoherently.

"General!" barked Commander Chorag over the comm channel, "We are approaching Federation Starbase 234. Long-range sensors report multiple contacts in the vicinity and one of them is on a direct course to intercept our vector in twenty minutes." His tone was one not wholly of concern, but rather of irritation. Lirha had gone over their course plotting with him and Ko'raH together, checking and double-checking that the latest intelligence intercepts of Starfleet communications wouldn't put one of the vessels in their path. Combined with Lirha's own knowledge of fleet operations, there should be no reason why a Starfleet ship would be on an intercept course, no matter how distant. Space was big enough that it had to be more than a mere coincidence.

She reached over to her bed's nightstand and pushed a button on the communicator. "Acknowledged. I'm on my way," she said in a soft voice.

Rising from her sleeping position, she rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath before climbing out of bed and quickly putting on her uniform. She made her way over to her desk's data terminal and activated the ship-wide comm frequency. "All hands, this is Saalm. Report to your stations immediately."

Lirha was out of the door in less than two minutes and arrived on the bridge after a brief turbolift ride.

Miraj felt the change in the disposition of the ship and awoke instantly, Rolling out of bed before she was really awake. A second later, Lirha's voice filled the room, demanding general quarters. She debated changing, decided against it in case the uniform didn't fit. She didn't want to waste time. She'd replicated the closest thing to a pair of pyjamas that the Klingons had. A pair of soft, almost silky, loose pants in the metallic grey the Klingons seem to universally adore, and a loose top that wrapped around her and tied at one side in the same grey. It gaped a bit, so she tied it tighter, and ran for the turbo lift, not bothering to put on shoes or tie her hair.

She hit the bridge thirty seconds later, and slid into the helm. Reading the panel was easier now, and showed everything steady and normal. She frowned. So why general quarters? She didn't dare ask. She just had to wait for the others.

Amaranai did not sleep well. In fact, ever since the loss of the Galileo she had not slept well. She had recurring nightmares of seeing people she cared about dying as they tried to escape. Even on Kraenus, the nightmares lingered and adding new people as part of the dead. It was with heavy eyelids that Amaranai sprung from bed at the call to the bridge. Sitting up in her bunk, she got up and went to the shower. It only took two minutes in cold water to wake her up fully and another two to be ready and headed to the bridge.

Arriving along with several of the others, they reached their stations without talking. Whatever was going on, it was something big enough to wake them all up before 0600.

Martin heard the call and though he didn't one-hundred percent trust this new commanding officer, it was still her mission. However it had happened she had got as much of her crew through safely. The form-fitting uniform was strange. The current uniforms were much more comfortable. Martin was puzzled as to his location for a scramble the armory he thought 'Well, they tell me and I go.'

"Dadda?" JJ called out scared thumb in her mouth.

"It's okay honey, Daddy just needs to go to work" Martin kissed her cheek and then her forehead before he left muttering 'Stupid Klingons, they can never get nothing right.'

Aren had been having some difficulty sleeping, not that it was difficult to sleep on the ship, it was more with the abundance of work that he had. Between being an XO and writing what is essentially translation manuals for Federation standard to Klingon for many of the crew from scratch, that didn't leave much time to sleep or do anything else. When he heard the call to proceed to the bridge, he saved his work and made his way to the bridge.

Marisa woke and dressed quickly. There wasn't much a counselor could do, but she could head to sickbay and help out where needed.

Pippa was stirring from other other bunk. "I'd join you, but I'd only be in the way. I feel so helpless here. There's less call for a forensic archaeologist than there is for a counselor. At least there will be people who need you."

"Don't get too comfortable," Marisa cautioned. "You may be needed before this is over," she said as she hurried out the door.

Varro had just been settling in with a cup of peppermint tea when all hands were called. Sighing he threw on his clothing and headed out. Somehow, in the shuffle and confusion he found himself in engineering.

When Lirha and the rest of the the Federation bridge crew entered the command chamber, Commander Chorag was the first to step up to the Orion to give the status report. "General, we have detected several vessels in the vicinity. One appears to be on a loose intercept course if we maintain our current speed and heading," he began before lowering his voice and speaking to her in earnest. "This is not as you predicted. You assured us there would be no..." His voice trailed off when he suddenly took sight of Derani entering the bridge in mere Klingon night garments. There was no uniform or pride adorning her, and she look disheveled. It was unacceptable.

"You!" he pointed, his eyes wide, "..you dare report to your station in the dress of a harlot?!" His voice boomed across the bridge. "Return to your quarters at once and correct yourself!"

She quailed under his glare. The admiral had said immediately. so she'd come immediately. What more did they want at half past the crack of dawn? And harlot? She was perfectly decent. She got up from the helm and slunk away. She'd only done what she'd told. Between him and the admiral she was obviously not going to be winning any prizes on this flight.

"Belay that order," interjected Saalm. She'd recognized Derani's unique attire -- female Klingon nightwear, if she recalled correctly. And while not a proper duty uniform, she nevertheless saw it as an attempt to fit in among the Klingon ship's foreign culture. Her call for action stations hadn't left much time for proper attire and it was something Lirha was willing to overlook. Chorag was a competent first officer but also aggressive and disdainful at times. A strong hand was needed to keep him in line.

"Do not speak to any of my officers in such a manner ever again, commander," she threatened, "or you will find yourself scrubbing the deuterium storage tanks for the remainder of this mission." Her eyes then snapped over to Miraj. "Return to your station, ensign," she instructed.

Miraj turned back towards the helm, not sure she liked being in the middle of a tussle between the Orion and the chief Klingon. It probably wouldn't end well. For her.

When the young helm officer walked passed her towards the conn, Lirha briefly closed the distance and gave her a small wink while gazing over the fabric clinging to her body. "...I think you look wonderful," she quietly whispered in the woman's ear so no one else could hear before stepping away and returning to her priorities.

Miraj froze, stooping dead in her trip back to her position, she didn't take any comfort in that, not after her first night aboard. She hadn't thought that showing up déshabillé would have attracted the admiral again. "N-no," she stammered turning pinker than her hair. "He's right. If there's time to change I will." She turned round again.

Lirha frowned while keeping her voice low. "Are you disobeying my order, Miss Derani?" she asked, her voice rising slightly. There was no time for wardrobe games and the green-skinned general certainly wouldn't allow for her correction of Chorag to be openly questioned within the bridge and in front of fellow officers.

"No, Ma'am!" she said quickly, turning a third time, and slipped back into the seat she had occupied a few moments before, face flushed with embarrassment, and now acutely aware of the way the silky fabric was clinging to her. She wanted the deck plating to open up and swallow her.

Aren arrived on deck. He looked around at the Klingon bridge, taking a quick moment to survey the various stations, making sure that all were maned. He made a bee line for tactical, looking over the tactical officer's shoulder to get a good understanding of the situation, before stepping up to where the admiral, general, he corrected, was sitting. "Sir." He said with respect, and a nod, as he took his post on her right.

Naturally a light sleeper Mimi had slept even lighter since her altercation with the Klingons Mimi darted to her feet when she heard Lirha's voice calling for all hands to their stations. Throwing her uniform on and totally ignoring the state of her fur she quickly headed for the bridge.

Upon the announcement from General Saalm, S'anara's eyes snapped and groaned. She hated Klingon ships, most especially the beds. She quickly got to her feet and stretched before putting her uniform on and heading to the bridge.


Deck 7, Engineering Hull - Armory

There were already half a dozen Klingons awaiting his and Torgeir's arrival. Martin hated being out numbered especially in a place that was brim full of weapons.He slipped int to chair in front of a console. he tapped in the needed information and breathed a sigh of relief when all the weapons that were supposed to be there were.

Eelim had just been about to change when he got the call. He was out the door before the call to action finished Sprinting all the way he made it to the Armory in record time. Being around the Klingons made him a bit nervous but the natural poise that Cardassians were blessed with came through so he stayed calm. He waited for his Starfleet security colleagues to show up.

"Morning Lieutenant Galan, how are you this morning. Enjoying your day, apart from being woken at some crazy time of the morning?" Martin said with a smile as he thought, How am I able to stay so positive.

Eelim looked around. "Oh it has been an interesting few weeks. And you sir? How are you doing?" He said.

"It's okay Sir, you don't have to call me Sir, I worked my way up from the ground level. Chief will do or Senior Chief would be better. They have been busy, getting used to a battle cruiser, and getting to know all the junior sailors. Then there is JJ my little escapologist and not to mention Steph, apologies Lt Fraiser."

Eelim smiled, "Chief it is. The question is will they let us participate or are we to just stand around as extras."

"At a guess sir the Klingons have only two thirds of the crew that they actually need to run the ship, so though they would prefer to keep us out of it there will come a time that we will be needed." Martin said with commitment.


Deck 9, Command Hull - Sickbay

After being used to her own quarters, the battlecrusier though big was not set up the way the Galileo had been. The captain's and maybe the executive officer's quarters might be single but the rest was pretty close quarters. So Allyndra had taken to sleeping on one of the biobeds. The place was quiet and she did not have to deal with the Klingon crew. When the call came in she groaned as she awoke and got up. All she needed to do was pull a top on.

"Now what?" she mumbled out loud.

The door opened and Marisa walked quickly into the room. "Hello. Nothing like a rude wake-up." She went to the replicator and got to mugs of what passed for a protein drink. She handed one to Allyndra. "It's not good, but it'll give you something. They don't like fruit much around here."

She wished for something else but it was thoughtful and at least she could partake. She took the mug and nodded, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'll see about something proper later," Marisa said--as long as they were given the time. She still had no idea what they would be facing.

=^=Sickbay ready. What is going on?=^= Allyndra asked.

As the doctor was speaking, two large and muscular warriors entered the medical bay. Each carried with them supplies and combat provisions while they made their way throughout the starship delivering the necessary pieces of equipment. One of them deposited three disruptor pistols on the nearest biobed and took the opportunity to reply to the Akkadian.

"We have been ordered to stations. Arm yourselves and prepare for battle," he explained before turning on his heels and promptly departing the quaint medical facility in search of more crew members.

Allyndra made a motion with her hands. "Come on then, jump to, pick a weapon." She made the move toward them. She figured the last thing was to make a deal about weapons and sickbay. The Klingon crew had answered and expected that there would be no question. It would be best to act accordingly she thought.

"Battle?" Marisa said. She took a disruptor and clipped it to her belt, but she wasn't going to fight anyone unless it was in self-defense. Still, a disruptor could definitely come in handy. She slipped a blue smock over her uniform, partly to keep it clean if they had to treat wounded, and party to disguise the disruptor.


Deck 9, Command Hull - Science Lab

T'Lin was already at the science station. She refused to be in close proximity to Klingons. It was decidedly the smell and thus had taken to just doing mental exercises to relax when there was time.

=^=Science is ready=^= she remarked.

Steph was already wide awake and had been checking out sciences ... back passages so to speak she liked to know what she might have on hand in an emergency. Coming out of a cupboard she nodded to T'Lin.

=^=Research is ready=^=

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

GEN Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
IKS DuJa'Q

Ensign Miraj Derani
Chief Flight Control Officer
IKS DuJa'Q

SCPO Martin Caine
Chief of the Boat (CoB)
IKS DuJa'Q

Ambassador Soral Varro
Chief Diplomatic Officer
IKS DuJa'Q

Lt. JG Eelim Galan
Security/Tactical Officer
IKS DuJa'Q
[PNPC Varro]

Petty Officer Eviess
Medical Officer
IKS DuJa'Q
[PNPC Varro]

Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical and Second Officer
IKS Duja'Q

Lieutenant JG Marisa Sandoval
Counselor
IKS Duja'Q

Petra Varelli
Forensic Anthropologist
IKS Duja'Q
[PNPC Sandoval]

Lieutenant JG Amaranai Franklin
Assistant Chief Security / Tactical
IKS Duja'Q

Commander Aren Ban
Executive Officer
IKS Duja'Q

ENS Mimi
Operations Officer
IKS DuJa'Q

LT Min Zhao
Operations Officer
IKS DuJa'Q

LTJG Stephanie Fraiser
Chief Research Officer
IKS DuJa'Q

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