Cold Orders (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 09 Apr 2020 @ 2:31pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant JG Matthew Plumeri & Ensign Mimi & Ensign Callin Mastrel & Commander Andreus Kohl & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Oliver Sylver & Senior Chief Petty Officer Goldie Brown & Cadet Senior Grade Jemima de la Coeur
Edited on on 09 Apr 2020 @ 2:33pm

4,203 words; about a 21 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: Latari System Outskirts, Task Group Staging Area
Timeline: MD 04, 2150 hrs

Previously, on Cold Orders (Part 1)...

Kohl folded his arms across his chest, briefly scowling at the viewscreen. That placed two of their objectives on the surface of Latari B III. One to rescue and one to obliterate. Multi-tasking both would prove problematic. Angling his head towards Operations, Kohl requested, "Open a channel to the Lagrange."

Mimi tapped a few buttons on the Ops console "They're responding, channel open Captain." She called out.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Andreus Kohl dropped his hands to his sides and smoothed the front of his uniform tunic. He took a single step back, closer to the command chair, when Captain Rasmussen appeared on the viewscreen. For a moment, Kohl felt dizzy; it was strange watching the bridge of the Lagrange from a distance. Normally, it would have been Kohl himself, sitting there by Rasmussen's side. But it was only dizzying for a moment. Kohl knew where he was now.

"Captain," Kohl reported, "we've received a distress call from the away team aboard Vincenzo. They've located a settlement of Federation survivors on Latari B III. They've also encountered proto-Tholian lifeforms."

The robust Lagrange captain inhaled sharply at the revelation and sucked in his round gut. "What? Another one of these proto-things on the first colony too? ...It's infected both worlds?!"

If true, their current plan to destroy the silicon life-form on Latari A III was now complicated by the presence of a similar menace in the neighboring solar system. "Are you certain, Kohl?"

Like a kid caught passing a note in class, Kohl begrudgingly admitted, "We haven't authenticated the sensor logs of the proto-Tholians. The distress call was too badly degraded. And, really, we've only seen one of them so far, so soon after it's transmogrification. All we really have is the word of the away team." --Kohl folded his hands behind his back and any diffidence in his voice melted away-- "But I trust Commander Blake with my life."

Rasmussen's hard eyes stared into his XO's through the holographic viewscreen. "Ready room, now." The bridge channel closed.

Tilting his head to one side, Andreus Kohl was left standing there, staring at the starfield on the viewscreen. He let out another breath he'd been holding. "Okay," he said, whispering to himself, mostly to remind himself to keep moving. "You heard the Captain," Kohl relayed the order more clearly to the bridge crew: "Patch him into the ready room."

Kohl marched himself across the command platform, taking the step down to be level with the ready room door. Over his shoulder, Kohl remarked, "Lieutenant Plumeri, you have the CONN," before he disappeared behind the ready room doors.

Lifting his eyes from the display in front of him, Matt acknowledged the Commander’s order. “Aye sir. I have the CONN.” It was more muscle memory than it was a conscious thought. He tapped a few commands and logged out from Science I and rose to his feet. He strode to the command chair and took a glance to the retreating form of Commander Kohl. Then sat down. Kohl sounded like he was going to get his ass chewed for something. And Matthew wondered if the man would end up standing his ground and doing the right thing for the mission? Or, would Rasmussen pressure him to comply? Plumeri pushed aside the thought and pulled up the situation summary on the arm of the command chair. A kind of summarized status report of the ship. He said in a clear voice, “Helm, steady as she goes. Ensign Mimi, let’s see if we can clean up that comm signal from the Vincenzo some more.” He looked over at Callin, “Ensign Mastrel, I want that degraded transmission reconstructed as best you can. And if the colonists really are still alive…”. He swiveled the other side to look at Goldie Brown and asked, “If we have to rescue survivors or captives, we might have to do it in a hurry. How many people can we beam up at a time using all the Galileo’s transporters?”

Sylver resisted the urge to turn around, eyes focused on his work. Keeping the ship steady wasn't really going to be an issue. Keeping his nerves steady with everything that was going on though, that was a while other matter.

"Aye sir." Mimi responded turning her attention back to her console after taking in the conversation between Rasmussen and Kohl. Finding survivors from a Federation ship and signs of the proto-Tholians on the other planet had certainly been a surprise.

"You work on the signal, I'll look for colonists," Jemima said to Callin. She pulled up the long-range sensors and began to look. "Sir, there are colonists still alive."

Matt acknowledged the report, "Finally...some good news. Looks like we're going to be rescuers today."

When Brown responded, Matt turned to listen to her, "Two transporter rooms and three cargo bay transporters," she said, calculating. "If we use both transporter rooms and two of the cargo transporters, we can bring up sixty, but the cargo transporters aren't as reliable as the others. Eighty-four if we use everything."


Ready Room

In the Captain's Ready Room, Kohl circled the desk and dropped himself into the office chair. "Oh god, here we go," Kohl muttered to himself, and he steepled his fingers to prevent himself from fidgeting. Shifting his weight in the chair, Kohl stared at the desktop LCARS display. Five heartbeats later, Rasmussen appeared on the display.

"Just what the hell is going on out there in that system?" the captain started in a demanding tone. He didn't pause to allow interruption. "You're reporting both colonies are now infected by this thing along with possible survivors...possibly infected like that one earlier." Rasmussen shook his head. "I need actionable information, not speculation and incomplete data! Cut the BS and give it to me straight. You know our orders."

Rolling his shoulders back, Andreus Kohl set his jaw and his gaze went flat. Having been born from one of the Federation's pleasure planet, Andreus had always tended towards a people-pleasing nature. However, Kohl had served the past few months under the command of a Captain who knew no pleasures. Alone aboard Galileo, Kohl had received only questioning stares from his old colleagues and bitter silence from his bridge crew. In this room, with that question before him, there were no feeling to hurt.

"There's only one question, isn't there?" Kohl said, speaking slowly and softly. "Do we have the time and power to rescue the survivors from Latari B III? That's the only unknown. I may not know what a proto-Tholian is, but we have enough evidence to suggest the colony sites on both planets have been impacted by the Genesis device." --Kohl blinked heavily-- "We must obliterate both colony sites."

Rasmussen humph'd then readjusted himself in his seat. He looked back at Kohl through the screen, pleased by his XO's decision. "I agree." There was a momentary pause before he added, "but we can't take any colonists. If they're still alive, they've likely been exposed by now. We can't risk the chance of another patient zero - or worse, an outbreak aboard a starship. Genesis quarantine protocol is active and this is how it must be."

Kohl stared back at Rasumussen, just stared at him blankly, as if he were half asleep, or drugged. But he wasn't fully unresponsive. He said, "We can't, uh, we can't take any colonists." There was something hesitant about the way he said it, but it wasn't a question. It was more like he was testing the way the words sounded, saying them out loud. He didn't look sure about what he thought it sounded like.

"It's a hard call and a shit situation, Andreus," replied Rasmussen with subdued candor. The senior captain could sense trepidation in his XO's voice, if ever so subtle. It was understandable.

"In any other sector of Federation space, we'd be closer to a starbase that could send reinforcements," Rasmussen continued. "But we aren't. We're on our own out here until we get to Regula One and the closest support station is four months away at maximum warp. It's up to us to handle this. We have to contain it. I briefed you on the Genesis files and the damage it can permanently do the galaxy...you know what's at stake."

Andreus' shoulders slumped and he gripped the edge of the desk. Staring back at Rasmussen, Andreus breathed in through his nose and he held his breath. "I know what's at stake," he echoed. Having served as a Captain for only a few days, Andreus Kohl was no expert on the Genesis Project, but he had seen the extremes of its possibilities. The technology had been birthed as a gift to the universe, offering the paradise and plenty of the Federation core to the galaxy at large. In that time, Starfleet analysts had taken advantage of the passing decades to imagine what terrors this technology could inflict on living beings.

"I can follow my orders," Kohl said, approximating a steely determination. "Today, I will follow my orders." --He took a breath and he sat back in his chair-- "But if I follow my orders and we survive this... I don't know what I'm can do after that..."

Rasmussen huffed while waving a dismissive hand across the screen. "Ahh, don't be so dramatic. It's a dangerous mission but we'll pull through. You don't want to kill your career over this."

The large captain then paused, leaned closer to the screen, and spoke in a quieter voice. "...Don't forget, our convoy's original mission and destination is classified. In my experience, that means Starfleet Intelligence is most certainly on board with us. Watching," he cautioned.

As Rasmussen slid back into his utmost-practical self, Kohl found the energy to return the determined-Starfleet mask to his own facial features. "I'll worry about tomorrow tomorrow," Kohl affirmed, dismissing his earlier comment too. He tilted his chin up slightly, and he asked, "What're your orders?"

"We leave in one hour for Latari A III. All of us," Rasmussen answered. "I'll start recalling support and maintenance craft immediately. When we arrive above the planet, Lagrange and Kali will give cover while Galileo executes a sub-orbital strike with tricobalt devices against the Genesis site.

"Get in fast, launch, then pull out before the blast takes out your tailpipe," he continued. "The atmospheric radiation readings your away team recorded will definitely interfere with targeting systems, so this one has to be up close and personal." He paused to wipe his lips and stroke his chin. "Once the first site is destroyed, we'll warp to Latari B III and do the same. The Tholians probably know we're coming so we have to counter with a quick strike. No time for distractions."

He shuffled through a few PADDs on his desk then looked back up to his XO. "And, for once I have some good news." He retrieved the correct rectangular silver device from the stack and started to review its contents. "We've analyzed Galileo's combat logs from its last battle. Lieutenant Diego thinks he's found a way to re-modulate our shields to repel their tetryon weapons. Temporarily, at least, until they adapt. It's a start. I'm sending him and Matheson over to your bridge as extra hands."

Leaning closer to the screen again, the captain gave a final caution. "Galileo is yours now. Their CO and XO are lost and the crew have no leadership except you. They're scared and paranoid. I can't have anymore incidents aboard that ship. You have to control them...tell them only what they need to know to get the job done."

His lips pursed, Kohl nodded at each of the points Rasmussen made and the instructions he provided. By the end, Kohl inhaled a long breath through his nose; otherwise, he held his posture perfectly still. He didn't even blink. "Understood," Kohl replied. "We leave in one hour for Latari A III," he said, although the weight of his words spoke to the final orders. "All of us."

"Good. I'm counting on you, Andreus. The entire Federation is counting on you," he reassured. "Dismissed." The channel closed and the screen blinked to now display the UFP emblem.

Gripping the edge of the desk until his knuckles lost their colour, Andreus Kohl sat there, staring at the LCARS display --unblinkingly-- even after it had gone dark. It felt like years passed by for Kohl, while he struggled to process everything that had been said. As far as Kohl knew, the star systems had already been overrun by Tholians and a Genesis wave, and the Galileo's deuterium tanks had run dry, and the dilithium crystals had all cracked, and the space frame was slowly deteriorating from decades, from centuries of service. An entire lifetime of indecision passed inside Kohl's mind, but for everyone else, it was only a few seconds.

And then Kohl could breathe again, and Kohl stood up, and he marched back out to the bridge. He locked his eyes on the command chair; offering not a single glance to any of the bridge crew.


Bridge

There was a short chirp from the Ops console which caught the nearby officer's attention.

"Captain the Langrange is transporting two people over, directly to the bridge." Mimi reported after checking why her console chirped.

Two bright transporter signatures materialized with vertical sweeps and deposited their occupants at the rear of Galileo's bridge before shimmering away. Now present on the Nova-class' bridge were two new security officers clad in crisp yellow-collared uniforms with hand phasers on their hips. Standing over six feet tall, the young and muscular officers quickly looked around to take in their new surroundings. The one with the short dark hair spotted Kohl and stepped forward.

"Commander," Lieutenant Diego reported with hands clasped behind his back. "Good to see you again. Cap'n sent me and Matheson over to help with bridge ops," he explained.

Stepping up on the command platform, Kohl slowed his stride to greet the security officers he'd been serving with aboard Lagrange. He offered each of them a solemn nod. Lieutenant Diego had been teaching Kohl the kind of classic tactical strategies no one thought to teach you at the Academy, and he was on Kohl's parrises squares team to boot. Despite his familiarity with them, Kohl couldn't even fake a smile. "We're going to need you dearly," Kohl said in confirmation. Continuing towards the command chair, Kohl asked, "Have you been briefed?"

Lowering his voice slightly out of precaution, Diego answered, "Yeah and I have the shield remodulations on my PADD. I studied the Tholian's tetryon weapons signatures and think I found a way to tune our deflectors into the subspace spectrum." Diego tilted his head cautiously. "It's risky because subspace is so unstable, but I can almost guarantee we won't damage it. Should offer us some protection but I'm not sure how long the adjustments will hold."

Matheson surveyed the bridge while taking mental notes. A small cadre of blue-collared eggheads lined one alcove while two Ops officers manned the rear stations and a single red-collared conn officer sat at the conn. There was no XO in sight. The bridge was smaller and more cramped than Lagrange's...and decidedly more uncomfortable. Rumors of the crew's recent insubordination kept his attention on edge.

"Where do you need us?" asked Diego, looking around for the nearest auxiliary or tactical console.

Jemima stared at the new arrivals for a long moment before making herself focus on her console. She began to bounce, ever so slightly, on the balls of her feet, knowing something was about to happen, but not sure what.

Goldie bit her lip when she saw the new arrivals. First the departure of Saalm, then the dismissal of Wyatt and Kohl put in as the new CO, and now this. Kohl and these new arrivals concerned her greatly. She didn't like Kohl, and she really didn't like the looks of the Brute Squad.

When Commander Kohl stepped out of the ready room, Matthew was already in a standing position. Matt was about to speak but there was something about Kohl's eyes. They hard edge to them, the way he focused only on the command platform and how he never made eye contact with Matt. Moving aside and away from the chair, Plumeri was going to let it go. He figured that Kohl had gotten his ass chewed out and was in no mood for chit-chat. Instead, Plumeri simply returned to Science I station. The crewman that was manning the station returned to her console across the other side of the bridge. And Matt observed the unexpected arrival of the two security officers. Plumeri sat down and logged into the terminal. He located the Vincenzo and the computer had run enough analysis that it had extrapolated back the Vincenzo's path back to the planet.

Their voices were low, which was suspicious enough. It's not everyday that armed security guards, Starfleet officers or not, beam directly to the command center of a starship. That was...irregular...to say the least but not unheard of. Matt worked on the computer while he listened and attempted to hear what was being said. His uneventful dismissal from the CONN proved to him that Kohl had bigger fish to fry.

Mimi spared a glance across at the new arrivals, wondering why they'd been sent, did Rasmussen not trust the crew to do their job?

Plumeri worked quickly, he typed as carefully as he could, making mental notes. There was something not right about what was going on. He looked at the position of the LaGrange too and he observed that she had not altered her course. As if it didn't matter that survivors had been found. Matt looked up at the armed officers and their muted conversation with Kohl and he got a bad, a very bad feeling in his gut. Something was wrong. He looked over at Science II, at Callin and then at Science III at de la Coeur. He simply said to them, "Analysis complete. The computer has isolated the comm signal from the Vincenzo, good work people. I'm transferring the data to Astrometrics." Matthew finished the program with a few keystrokes and hit the execute button. A lot would depend on how the other bridge crew would respond now. A lot would depend on their loyalties.

Jemima nodded. At least they'd done something useful. She glanced at the new CO and the security officers with him and frowned. She hoped they'd go after the away team, but the looks on their faces worried her.

Plumeri's console started to beep with an alert. He looked at it and started typing, "There's....there's a solar flare developing on the star. A magnetic instability...highly charged particles. Commander? I recommend that we move closer to the source of the distress signal - lest we lose it again." Plumeri looked up at him, "Shorten the distance between us and them. It's likely we'll have drops in the sensors until the magnetic flare passes. Other systems might be affected too."

Scared? Callin was definitely that, though he had it under control for the moment. Paranoid? Definitely - he tried very hard to block out the worry from everyone else, but even if he didn't sense it he knew that it was there. Imagination was a powerful thing, and it made him worry all the more. A too-serious face and a brief nod was about all he could offer Matt in return of his praise. Black eyes turned towards Kohl, weighing, but Callin's look of mistrust was more from what the crew had gone through than anything personal against the man. Still, he gave that same look to the other new officers from the Lagrange, wondering if they were enough to save all of them.

Seating himself in the Captain's chair, Kohl waved a hand at the fore auxiliary station. The Lagrange security officers had asked him for direction; given their knowledge of the mission, and their loyalty to him, there was only one place for them. Looking to Diego, Kohl affirmed, "That one can be reconfigured to tactical." For just a moment longer, Kohl held that eye-contact with Diego. But only for a moment.

Angling his head in Plumeri's direction, Kohl asked, "What's the word from Astrometrics?" He took a breath and he stared down the viewscreen, as if he could locate the missing away team by sight alone. "Have we located the origin point of the transmission?" Kohl asked. His formal timbre cracked with a tinge of hope beneath his words.

Matt worked the problem, "We've narrowed it down quite a bit. The star is emitting high energy photons which are interfering with a more positive location."

The solar flare expanded out and away from the surface of the Latari star. Like a great arch it reached out into space before it fell again back to the surface of the sun. All that was left were the billions of photons that it spewed out into space. The skin of Galileo's hull glistened with the energy released; her crew safely protected from the intense radiation.

Matthew's science station beeped at him with new data, "Solar flare passing. One-hundred and fifty-five thousand petajoules of energy released or 0.00003 percent of the stars energy composition. Sensors are re-calibrating...there. Got something! Signal lock. Bearing zero-nine-zero, mark two-two-five. One-hundred million kilometers. Wait...the headers are clearer now. They're not short. They're not truncated as we suspected earlier. Its from a probe Commander. I'm sure of it. This is from a probe." Matt said as he looked out at the main view screen.

Jemima grinned at Plumeri. They still had the probe's signal. "Good job," she whispered, not sure if he'd hear her.

Matt looked up at Jemima, he heard her words of support and winked at her and gave her a thumbs up. Even though he had a bad feeling about the new security officers and the apparent lack of urgency in retrieving the probe, he still appreciated the gesture.

After Commander Kohl had given his orders, Diego looked around the bridge then moved to his station while trying to decipher the commotion. The eggheads seemed excited now - something involving a distant signal source. Possibly Federation? He wasn't sure. The security officer shook his head and refocused on his task, manipulating the LCARS display with his fingertips to interface with the PADD on his hip. "I'm uploading the new shield modulation frequencies," he announced.

As the data was uploaded, the computer ran the new shield modulations through the LCARS at Science I. Most of the routine calculations the computer auto-checked and verified. What was new was highlighted for Matt to review. Looking at the formula and then the algorithm used to determine how to modulate the shield grid everything looked to be in order. What was curious about this program was that it didn't randomly modulate the shield frequencies. It would adjust the shields every time they were hit by Tholian disruptors. Essentially, "tuning" themselves and creating a range. In theory, with enough hits, there would a point when the shield harmonics would start sending disruptor energy back along the same path. A process known as "sympathetic vibration". The Tholians would then be unable to fire their disruptors. It was a damn good idea. Matt said out loud, "Shield modulations are loaded into the shield harmonics array. We're ready."

"Good work," Kohl affirmed with a nod. He lowered himself into the command chair and took a glance at the shield modulations on the LCARS display to his side. Frowning at the realities they faced, Kohl remarked, "We're going to need it." He cleared his throat, he sat up straighter, and he called out orders to the bridge crew: "Let's recall all maintenance craft and request navigation coordinates from Lagrange. We can't leave those colonies, and our away team, to the Tholians ministrations. Let's go get 'em."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

LTJG. Matthew Plumeri
Science Officer/Historian
USS Galileo-A

CAPT Rasmussen
Commanding Officer
USS Lagrange
[PNPC Saalm]

LT Diego
Security Officer
USS Lagrange
[NPC Saalm]

PO1 Goldie Brown
Operations Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Sandoval]

Cadet Senior Grade Jemima de la Coeur
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Sandoval]

Ensign Callin Mastrel
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

Ensign Mimi
Asst Chief Ops
USS Galileo-A

Commander Andreus Kohl
Acting Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC ir-Llantrisant]

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