Senior Staff Briefing (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 31 Jan 2013 @ 4:21pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Lieutenant Commander Pola Ni Dhuinn M.D. & Lieutenant Commander Evelyn Coleman & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle & Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton & Lieutenant Lilou Zaren & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Amril

4,837 words; about a 24 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD 01 - 1300 hrs

[ON]

Only ten minutes had passed since Galileo soft docked with Starbase 185, yet time was still a precious commodity when it came to exploration. The discovery of a new star system was exciting and promising, yet also cause for haste. New solar systems were not commonly discovered, especially ones with the potential to sustain humanoid life, and Starfleet had put a priority on the time frame for its exploration and assessment. As such, Lirha had called all of her senior officers into the observation lounge for an expedited mission briefing, including a special guest, Captain Sarah Sutherland, commanding officer of USS Venture. Sutherland was the captain who had initially discovered the new star, and therefore Lirha had decided it best for her to come aboard Galileo and help brief her crew for the upcoming survey mission.

Sitting at the head of the table, the Orion captain patiently waited with her counterpart while the rest of her staff began to arrive.

"You have a nice ship here, Captain. The Galileo is making quite a name for herself." Sarah Sutherland mused as the corner of her mouth tilted upward.

Lirha flashed her own smile at the blond woman and reached over to give her a gentle squeeze on her forearm. "That's what everyone keeps telling me." she replied, "Although I admit, I am somewhat jealous of you. Venture is a very sought-after ship in the fleet...how did you end up gaining command?" she wondered.

"Truth be told I was shocked when I was assigned as well. I served on the Venture during the war, so I'm lucky to get her again." Sutherland grinned, looking up at the Orion woman, "remember Lirha, it's the Captain who makes the ship legendary."

"It seems I have a long way to go to catch up with you, Miss War-Hero," Lirha answered with a playful twinkle in her green eyes.

Dea entered the observation lounge. Nodding to the two Captains. "Good day Captains." She moved over to her place at the table. Wanting to avoid another run in with Galileo's Security Chief if she possibly could.

The diplomatic officer entered next, carrying a PADD tucked behind his back along with his hands. He offered a bow of his head to the staff currently gathered and made his way over to the nearest vacant seat, setting the PADD on the table and resting his hands in a pyramid in front of him. Liyar leaned his chin on his fingertips and waited for the rest of them to file in and for the meeting to commence.

Maenad walked into the briefing room and quickly found a seat opposite from where the others were situated. Without a word she glanced down at the Captain Saalm who was beside a woman she didn't recognise, but who was also wearing the rank of captain. Dea and Liyar were also present. Seated, she then set her PADD on the table and flashed a pleasant smile as a hello, before absently staring outside.

Lilou entered the briefing room by parts; first her head, then her shoulders, followed by the rest of her. If she'd been able to throw her eyes ahead of her, roll them into the room to check its occupancy ahead of time, she would have. She stopped just inside the doors, silently saluting both captains, then found Liyar at the table. She still couldn't get a grip on why she'd felt... dosed when he'd tripped into her thoughts, but it didn't really seem to matter. She felt normal...ish. Now. She grabbed the chair beside him, carefully keeping her gaze stuck to her PADD as she sat down. The Chief Science Officer was on the other side of the table and Lilou needed distance. She hadn't apologized, not well enough, for the bungle in the arboretum and she didn't want to go messing up that interdepartmental relationship just because she was terrible at small talk. Anyway, the levels of the Galileo's power resources were interesting to watch, like a play, and she could also see the Venture's fluctuations through the Galileo's sensor readings. The idea of having another captain, another crew, when she was just barely starting to handle her own, was daunting, but Lilou's jaw was set and she would deal with it. In the meantime, she had plans to make. People to protect. She sent off a quick memo asking Willis to meet her in the CEO's office at the top of his shift. Darting her gaze to Liyar, she smiled fleetingly.

The Vulcan offered Lilou a brief nod, and nodded toward Maenad as she walked in as well, before focusing on his PADD once again and waiting for the briefing to start. As more and more staff filed in, he seemed more or less focused on the PADD.

Not too far behind Lilou, Pola entered the room, her soft smile extending to everyone in the room. As her eyes fell on their Captain, a self-conscious blush moved across her cheeks as she tugged down on her uniform jacket. Compared to the last time they had been in each other's company, Pola had ensured that today her uniform was immaculate. Moving across the room, Pola grabbed a seat opposite Lilou as she placed her PADD on the table in front of her.

Jeremy stopped just outside the door. This was one of those things he wished he could delegate to Rhodes or Davis or Kiwoski, hell, even to Smoak. But it was one of the duties he had as the Chief of Security for the ship and it was expected for him to be here. He knelt in front of a sitting Sidi and playfully tapped him on the nose. Sidi responded by nipping at him. "Okay, boy," he said, glancing at the door. "A lot of people who don't like you merely because they don't like me are behind that door. I need you to be the good boy you are and behave the best, okay? You need to be that charmer that wins people over, let them focus their hate on me, alright?" Sidi gave an excited whine. "We get through this with no problems and I'll see about going to the arboretum on the station. I hear they have squirrels among the park."

He took a breath and entered, frowning at those already gathered and doing his best to avoid substantial notice by Captain Saalm. He found a corner and went to it, using silent hand movements to put Sidi into a 'down' position. Noticing Dr. Dhuinn he self-consciously tugged on his uniform sleeves before folding his hands behind his back. Fortunately, there were some staff in the room he liked - Lt. Maennad, Dr. Dhuinn, Ensign Peers. However, that meant there were others that were more - problematic such as Mialin and Liyar, there would be others as well.

The COB exited onto Deck-2 and walked into the Conference Room. He immediately noticed Sidi and his pet, Lieutenant Stone, as the two were standing in a corner together. Quinn gave a nod to all gathered at the table. "Sirs. " Then he moved to stand to the left and behind the two captains at parade rest.

Amril was the next to arrive. The Vorta probably a shock to Sutherland, looking uniquely out of place, an enemy like the Vorta in a Starfleet uniform so neat that a Vulcan academy commandant would have been impressed. He glanced around the room and seemed inordinately happy to see them all as he wandered over to a seat, PADD in hand, and made himself comfortable. "Good afternoon," he said to everyone, giving the captain a nod of his head.

Liyar pressed the edge of his finger into the side of his PADD as Amril walked in, eyes hooded for a moment. He let out a breath and flipped the internal coding mechanism inside to switch programs, using his finger to draw over the screen and switch the screens.

Lilou wanted with all her heart to keep her gaze on her PADD, but the Vorta had to talk. Before that, it had been readiness and silence and she'd been able to keep to herself. Now... She looked up. She'd had no contact with him since she'd nearly blown up getting him out of his ship. She couldn't just ignore him. The Captain had seen fit to put him in charge of the entire Operations department, basically giving him dominion over all the ship's systems, and she was not ignorant of the word play there. Captain Saalm didn't strike her as a poor judge of character... but then again, here she was as Chief of Engineering and she wasn't exactly... well... likely. "Good afternoon," she replied quietly.

Several others had joined them by the time Maenad snapped out of her motionless glare into space. Miss Peers had arrived, and so had Mister Amril. The Vorta. She didn't look at him or acknowledge his greeting, but her already dispassionate appearance did not reveal her distaste for his species. Her outward appearance, in fact, said nothing at all. She spotted Quinn standing behind the captains and then she noticed Stone with that damn dog. And why was the dog in there anyway? Why did he feel it necessary to walk around with that ferocious animal? Weren't they all supposed to be friends? If anybody needed to kept in line, it was him, not the rest of them. She rotated her chair a bit to cross her legs and picked at the sides of her fingernails in her lap, hoping they would soon begin.

Jeremy stopped and knew it was wrong...some might call it 'rude'...but he couldn't help but stare at the creature in the gold collared uniform. By deduction, it had to be the Operations chief. He flicked his wrist to open his PADD. A Vorta Jeremy read. A search on them turned up basic information, mostly consisting of their connection with a group called 'The Founders' and the subsequent Dominion War. Apparently the Vorta were administrators for the Founders and fought against the Federation in the war. He frowned. That war was more than a decade ago and many traditional Federation enemies had members who also served in Starfleet. He didn't care about the past history of Amril's people, but... was fascinated by the sight of the man himself. And, it was a good distraction from the general hostility of the room.

Captain Sutherland looked at the Galileo's Senior Officers. "A Vorta and a canine...if I didn't see this for myself, Captain I would have thought you were doing an opening line of a joke." Sarah chuckled, smiling widely at her counterpart.

The Orion captain did her best to keep a straight face and a professional appearance in front of her crew, but inside she also let out a mental chuckle at the sight of Starfleet's most misfit crew. "Don't ask," she replied quietly with levity in her voice, "I'll tell you tonight over dinner."

"Indeed." Sarah smiled and winked at Lirha.

Evelyn walked in the Observation lounge, eager to get this meeting done and over with, she moved around the table, not making any eye contact with anyone and took her normal seat beside Liyar.

The Vulcan offered her a bare blink of acknowledgment, equally as eager to be done with this as she was, though any emotion beyond idly blank was expertly hidden both mentally and physically. He'd prepared himself for this. Knew it had to happen. It was unfamiliar, these meetings in this way. The banter, the Vorta hanging around, the social expectations. On Vulcan one was simply given their orders and followed through. This place, this ship, was different. Liyar looked back at his PADD, which contained some half-encrypted Tholian weaving matrices.

Sarah Sutherland noticed the new arrival and her eyes widen a bit, "So this is where you went to."

Evelyn looked up, nodding giving Captain Sutherland a small smile. "It's good to see you again Sarah...sorry Captain Sutherland."

With a nod of her head, Sarah leaned back in the chair, "Likewise Tatiana," she replied.

Lilou's gaze flicked between the two women and then dropped back to her PADD. Who is Tatiana? she wondered, pinching the screen to double check a status change from yellow to green.

Delainey entered and offered an apologetic smile. She didn't like to be late, but she also didn't feel right shooing a crewmember out of her office. It was well-known in her profession that clients always waited to share their most distressing experiences right at the end of session when the therapist had little time to react. Normally, Carlisle had no problem encouraging clients to save the thought for later, but she was learning she had to seize the moment with this crew.

Deciding to break tradition and sit beside Lilou, Delainey did not interrupt Peers' reading but instead she couldn't help but focus on the new face in the room.

Lilou glanced up at Carlisle took the seat on her other side, nodded slightly, and went back to her PADD.

Finally Jacob walked in, his huge frame filling the entire door. He was just in time but still all the eyes suddenly on him almost left him embarrassed. He just quickly nodded to all and sat in the last open seat and waited for the briefing to begin trying to acknowledge any glances his way in a professional yet "cool" manner.

The XO was the last member of the senior staff to arrive at the table, carrying half a dozen PADD's in his arms which he quickly deposited in front of him before settling into his chair.

With all of her senior staff assembled, Lirha finally rose from her chair and slowly walked in front of the large wall-mounted LCARS terminal. She unclipped her PADD from her belt and held the small device delicately in her green hands as she began the briefing. "Good afternoon." she began with a simple nod, her eyes looking at the various crew members assembled at the long table. "I am sure you are all wondering why we are out here in the middle of nowhere, so I will get straight to the point."

"Several months ago, Starfleet signed an order to resume exploration and expansion efforts in the northern Beta Quadrant," she said, then tapped a few commands into her PADD causing the large LCARS screen to light up with a bright display of colors and maps. She highlighted the region of space they were currently in and zoomed in, then continued to explain. "Much of this area of space was previously unexplored due to its close proximity to Borg territory and our volatile relationship with the Romulan Empire. However, with the collapse of the Borg's transwarp network in 2378, as well as the Hobus disaster which occurred two years ago, Starfleet now feels that the area is secure enough to safely resume exploration and colonization efforts," she said, then motioned with her hand towards the fellow captain who was sitting at the table.

Liyar finally looked up from his PADD at this information, switching the screens again so that he could follow along with his own projections of the system.

"This is Captain Sutherland, commanding officer of USS Venture," she continued, introducing the hazel-eyed captain to the rest of her senior staff. "For the past several weeks, her ship has been exploring and charting Sector 025 Block 292. While exploring Grid 04, several of her ship's long range scans detected a new star, designated Rojar 861. After the initial discovery, probe reconnaissance revealed that the star supports a diverse solar system including six planets and multiple satellites," she continued, then tapped more commands into her PADD to display the system's composition on the large screen.

"The star is a Spectral Class G1V similar to Earth's sun, and contains two planets within its habitable zone, Rojar I and II. Rojar I is geomorteus planet which is too hot to sustain humanoid life, however Rojar II is a gas supergiant with over eighty moons, several of which have been identified as Class M worlds," she said, then paused to let the enormity of the discovery sink in to the crew. "Needless to say, discoveries of this magnitude are very rare, and they present Starfleet with an enormous expansion opportunity. Command has dispatched us to work with Venture to chart the system. The Galaxy Class and her crew will provide overwatch of the surrounding area while Galileo conducts the system survey. The Planetary Sciences Division has placed a priority on this mission, and are orders are to map all planets and satellites within the system."

Pausing to take a long breath, Lirha looked at Sarah and nodded, giving her the cue to come stand next to her. "Captain Sutherland will now give us a more detailed assessment of the system and the surrounding space," she said, then stepped aside and turned the briefing over to the other captain.

Sarah Sutherland rose up from her chair, hands clasped behind her back, and turned to the gaze at the officers before her. "Like your Captain was saying, this star system is a truly significant find for Starfleet. We could be looking at, an ancient Earth expression puts it; a real treasure trove for the Federation. Initial scan shows significant amounts of dilithium and deuterium in the outer asteroid belt alone; and there is a moon orbiting Rojar VI that my Chief Science Officer believes may have a flowing river of pure latinum."

Sarah brought her hands to the front, lifting a finger, "I'm hoping this will be a simple mission with no issues, however we are close to Borg space. System J-25 where the Enterprise-D encountered the first Borg Cube, is several hundred parsecs from here. In addition, the Borg Cube that attacked Earth in 2373 passed by the Setisar Nebula." She lowered her hands to her side and smiled. "Starfleet wouldn't be risking both ships if the Borg were still active in this region, however it never hurts to be cautious. Not to mention, the renegade Romulan pirates that have been plaguing the trade routes in this sector could be curious as to what we're up to. The Venture will handle the tactical aspects of this mission, I'll be even deploying my squadron of fighters to patrol around the system just in case." Captain Sutherland shifted her gaze to Lirha, "anything else you would like to add Captain?"

Nodding to her counterpart, Lirha looked down at her PADD and zoomed in on a nearby colorful nebula close to the Rojar system. "As Captain Sutherland mentioned, this is the Setisar Nebula. It lies within a few light years of the Rojar system and is classified as a Class A nebula which contains an H II region...in essence, it is a stellar nursery roughly one million years old. The nebula is currently uncharted but there is a very good possibility that there are more stars located within, and possibly even more solar systems. USS Venture has been given a secondary objective to collect as much data from the nebula as possible while we explore Rojar." she explained, then paused again to look around the table before continuing. "Both Venture and Galileo will coordinate their resources in order to make this as efficient as possible, but there is a good chance that this will become an extended survey. Starfleet has given us a timeframe of fifteen days to conduct our initial survey, after which they intend to deploy additional support ships pending our assessment of the system." she finished, then leaned against the wall as she offered her green palm to the assembled group. "Questions?" she asked simply, opening the floor to anyone who was curious about the information that had just been revealed.

Liyar thought to himself while this information was processed engaging in a bilateral process. Half of his attention was focused on the meeting, but the other half was quickly calculating the ramifications of the Romulan renegade pirates. With a quick tap of his PADD unnoticed by the rest of them as they talked amongst themselves, he was quickly making the comparison. With worlds as rich in resources as those in the Rojar system claimed to be, those pirates would not give up so easily. He continued entering several more calculations with regards to deuterium, dilithium and latinum deposits and their impact on the current trade lines in the nearest sectors. The Borg on the other hand, didn't care about resources. They cared about space. And if the Galileo encroached on their space, and they were still there, that was disconcerting. He calculated the odds of Borg activity still occurring and wrote the results on another portion of his PADD, looking up when he realized the meeting had shifted to officer input.

Lilou was silent. The news of more deuterium and dilithium was exciting; it was nice to think that, should a need arise, there was the potential of replenishing their stores locally rather than having to wait for assistance. If the Venture had been moving through this area for two weeks without sign or sensor of the Borg or Romulan pirates... Well. She couldn't think that Captain Saalm or the Starfleet Admirals would through them into serious harm. They'd taken the liberty of sending the Venture with them. That meant they were taking precautions. They would probably be safe. For now. The longer the survey took, however, the more attention they would call to the system. Then it wouldn't just be pirates they would need to worry about. It would be the Romulans staking claims and who knew who else, looking to expand just as they were. And there was the not so small matter of their seriously underestimating the situation that had been awaiting them when they'd gone to retrieve Sienna... Still, that was a job for Security in concert with the USS Venture. Hers was to make sure the ship was capable of sustaining whatever power was necessary for the sensors and experiments to run smoothly.

River of latinum? Jeremy thought, expanding his analysis past the obvious threats of Romulan pirates and Borg threats. Those were obvious from the briefing, however the less obvious were those whose spies in the Federation would soon learn of this vast wealth. Threats such as rogue Cardassian elements, Ferengi Alliance, Orion Syndicate - he didn't realize his glare at Captain Saalm at that thought. He started formulating a list of tactical intelligence he'd need to obtain and load onto his PADD so that he'd have it available. He wrote a note to speak with Lt. Coleman and get the latest intelligence updates and...he sighed... perhaps Liyar for the latest in diplomatic relations as well.

The Federation obtaining such wealth would paint a target on this sector and require a heavy presence.

Maenad watched the screen, entering attentive notes in her PADD. She looked serious as her long fingers tapped away. She would have to pass all of this on to her department once she had organised it more properly, so she didn't want to miss any important details. The idea, however, that the Rojar system was so close to so many threats had her wondering if this were even worth the trouble. The Klingons and Romulans were near, and even the potentiality of an encounter with the Borg perturbed her. She would have time to voice her concerns in due time. She found the idea of habitable moons around a massive gas giant mesmorising, and at the mention of it, a slight smile found its way onto her lips.

Evelyn shivered when she heard the name of the race that destroyed her world. "The fact the Borg knows about this star system makes this sector of space very dangerous." She replied firmly glaring at the Captains.

"I have calculated the likelihood that we will encounter the Borg on our travels to the Rojar system," Liyar spoke up, sliding his PADD forward. "The system's resource value, which is insignificant to the Borg, versus the system's location within space, versus the generalized movements of the Borg overlaid with their current movements. The possibility that we will be accosted by any Borg vessel is approximately one in one million point seven eight five. As for a more relevant concern: Not only are we dealing with the potential threat of Romulan pirates and renegades, Rojar is quite simply a prime target for any who wish to obtain these resources." He overlaid the trade line work he had been doing prior. "I recommend caution."

"The Borg threat is insignificant?" Jeremy asked, confused. "We're near their space and this system is ripe with the basic building materials of spacefaring technology and fuel? That's insignificant to them? A system like this could represent a very real ability to begin rebuilding and rise as a threat again. If not the Collective itself, then some of the various offshoots. I don't think, Lieutenant, that we should be so quick to discount the threat." Jeremy shook his head. Why had he considered trying to get information from Liyar? "Vulcans," he muttered. They missed the point. The Borg didn't care about territory, they didn't care about resource denial. They cared about subjugation and assimilation. They had no interest in domination and then setting up shop in conquered territory. He shook his head and continued his own plans to make sure that his teams were as prepared as they can be.

Liyar looked up. "I stated the system's resource value was insignificant to the Borg. The Borg are fully capable of building their fleets with their own resources. A Borg vessel operates nothing like a Federation vessel, as they are entirely self-sufficient. They assimilate technology, adapt it and modify it to the point of self-sustainability and repair. They do not mine planets for resources. A Borg vessel operates by way of a specialized room indicated as a transwarp chamber, featuring heavy shielding. They do not have a discernible engineering section, nor a discernible propulsion system. Their propulsion is created by transwarp matrices. If it is near their space, and they are still active, then there is certainly a significance. Not one to be taken lightly. They would not be looking to this system to seek resources. They would prey upon others who seek the same. Should they be present, the probability of which I have calculated to be quite low, they would seek to eliminate us for only two reasons. One: so that we may not have access to materiel that proves useful to our own shipbuilding efforts, and two: because we have violated their space."

Maenad watched the interchange between Stone and Liyar with disinterest. There were more important things to be done here, she thought with a scowl into her PADD. "I am curious about the M-class moons," she began, glancing at her notes. "How many are there, and what is the potential for intelligent life existing either presently or historically? I would like to know, if possible, whether we are dealing with a potential first contact situation. I think it would be premature of us, and ill-advised, to consider harvesting a system of its resources if it is home to life that may see us or advance to a time in which they will need the resources for themselves." A studious frown replaced her blank expression as she leaned back in her chair, looking down the table at Captain Sutherland.

"I am interested to hear of this possibility as well," Liyar said, turning his gaze back toward the rest of the gathered officers.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Captain Sarah Sutherland
Commanding Officer
USS Venture
NPC played by Sarah

Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Amril
Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Dea Mialin
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Commander Pola Ni Dhuinn
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Commander Evelyn Coleman
Chief Intelligence Officer/ 2XO
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Maenad Panne
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

LTjg Jeremy Stone
Chief Security/Tactical Officer/K9
USS Galileo

Lt. JG Jacob Pendleton
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Delainey Carlisle, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Liyar
Diplomatic Officer, VDF/SDD
USS Galileo

ENS Lilou Peers
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

MCPO Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo

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