Messages

"Then, sadly I can not trust you, and you are hereby relieved of duty" Kirok replied.  "Computer suspend Lt Commander Kejal Buris's assess to and and all ship command and communication functions.  Authorization Kirok 6 Delta 3 Xi" he called out.  "Command and communication functions for Kejal Buris have been removed" the computerized voice relied.

"You now have two choices, Mr. Buris.  You may return to your quarters where you are to remain until this mission is over.  Or you can leave the ship.  But I can not have you on the Bridge or allow you to participate in the mission if you do not support my decision as the commanding officer of this vessel and as the commanding officer of the task force" the half Vulcan added.

"Aye, Admiral.  I would prefer that both my belongings and I be transferred by shuttle to Starbase Athena, outside of this task group.  At that point, I will tell you now - because I do respect you - that I will be working with their JAG department, pursuing a full court martial against you for seeking to destabilize the Federation.  Because that's exactly what you're going to do.  In effect, Admiral, you're going to be undoing Section 31's work.  And I think you know how that ends; I would prefer that you do not have to transfer your katra to anyone for some time to come.  I do not believe that any member of this crew is suicidal, Admiral."

He stood there firmly, looking back at Filitov and meeting her glare with his own before turning back to the Admiral.  He had been raised by the Resistance and then taught by the Fleet - and both of them had told him to stand firm by his beliefs, by right and wrong.  And right now, he had to.  He could understand the Admiral's motives - the whole truth was important.  But now was not the time.  This was not the place.  By doing this, all he was looking to do was cause trouble to everyone.  Hell, he was endangering most of them; knowledge of Section 31 was considered treasonous, and he'd had to hide the fact that he knew of their existence for years.  Now, he needed to make it clear - these were dangerous people they were talking about going against, shadow warriors of the highest order, who would destroy this ship and its crew without a moment's remorse if it meant protecting their secrets.

Buris glared at the Admiral, and tossed his phaser at Marshall (since he was Sec/Tac), not bothering to respond to Filitov.  His voice was a low rumble as he looked at the Admiral with the kind of gaze that had frozen Cardassian blood as a teenager - a look that he rarely had need of as a Starfleet officer.  Still, the accuracy with which he'd offhandedly tossed the small type-1 phaser might be a bit jarring to those who'd never seen him in the field before.

"Admiral, If she was my sister, or they were my parents, then they would understand that their deaths were instrumental in the survival of the Bajoran people as a whole.  What was done cannot be undone.  What would you do?  Circle a star at high warp, go back in time, and shoot them down?  In doing so, you would doom every Bajoran to more years of Cardassian oppression.  The destruction of Tarna was a brutal necessity.  A few thousand died so that billions might live.  In Vulcan terms, Admiral, the good of the many outweighed the needs of the few; or as you're trying to cause by implying I had blood relatives there, the one.  Those who were responsible have been punished.  The Cardassian Union has suffered for the destruction they brought to Bajor.  Whether they fired that specific shot or not does not matter.  More religious individuals would say that it was their fate to be called to the Prophets, that their souls prayed for us and brought the Emissary.  Whichever way you choose to see it, the destruction of Tarna did lead to the Federation pressuring the Cardassian Union, establishing the Demilitarized Zone, and then taking over the station Terok Nor and redesignating it Federation Deep Space Station #9.  As Doctor Kintiss points out, this information would destabilize Starfleet - imagine if every Bajoran officer in the Fleet suddenly found out that the cause they dedicated themselves to was the same as the one that destroyed that colony and then lied about it?  Hell, imagine if every Bajoran on this ship alone possessed that knowledge."

He shook his head and looked at the rest of the crew.  "I accept that what was done, was done to save greater lives.  To save the spirit of a people.  But I know that I am not typical among Bajorans, nowadays.  This will be... disastrous.  I will respect Starfleet's regulations, which state that we cannot follow an unlawful order.  And an order which will destabilize Federation control of the wormhole and possibly lead to war is by nature unlawful."

[does not matter]

"Thank you, Mr. Buris.  I know this information was difficult for you to dig up, given that they were Bajoran.  But this information simply helps to prove that Captain Lafayette's report was correct.  Members of Section 31 killed the people of Tarna" he said.

Then he put the images up on the view screen for all to see.  "These people were killed because they were Bajoran.  Section 31 orchestrated the massacre and then blamed the Cardassians.  I have taken it as my person crusade to bring the truth to the light.  It is the lease we can do for those who lost their lives on Tarna" he added.

"But seeking the truth has put a target on my back.  The remaining members of Section 31 would have me killed.  So, that puts you all at risk should you continue on with me" the half Vulcan volunteered.  "Should any of you wish to leave the ship, I will understand" he said.

"It is a hard choice.  But it yours to make.  Do any of you have any questions that may help you with your decision?" he asked.

Buris' hand actually went to the phaser on his belt unthinkingly as he moved back, his eyes narrow. "Admiral, with all due respect, all you're going to do is torture the families of thousands of Bajorans and completely destabilize the political balance around the wormhole.  Whether those people died at the hands of the Cardassian Union, or some part of the Federation, it does not matter.  What matters is that they are dead and that we still live.  Your pointless 'crusade' is an insult to their memories."

He stared at the man, and exhaled heavily. "That information cannot be allowed to leave this room, let alone this ship - or potentially become public.  Who killed them does not matter, nor does the motive behind it.  They are dead, you cannot bring them back; and Bajor is all the better for it.  Tarna inspired the Federation to get off its duff and help us, so we weren't just scrounging through abandoned equipment and misfired probes to try and create makeshift weapons and overthrow a group of bloody-minded oppressors."

He knew that his opinion would be different than everyone else - especially since he wasn't leaving.  And with a hand on his phaser still, it was pretty clear he was willing to put some force behind his words.

[Conference Room]

Buris walked into the room silently and looked over the rest of the crew before locking eyes with the Admiral.  He knew why they'd all been called in.  He knew it very well, in fact - because since the Admiral had first intimated any reason to discuss Tarna again, he'd been doing some further, quiet, research.  It was hard, finding names of people killed on the colony.  But he remembered some of them.

When he walked up to the table, he dropped a padd, with pictures of the people who'd been murdered there, in front of Kirok, looking into the Vulcanoid's eyes, unblinking.  Still, even though the tension would be palpable, the challenge wouldn't be clearly visible to those who didn't know already.

I'm here until I have reason not to be.

To any Federation stations receiving, this is Lieutenant Commander Dylan Torngate onboard the freighter Quaritch, Authorization Code 32569-11680-TD. We are in distress and in need of immediate assistance. Please Respond.

When Kirok heard Dylan's voice he was brought to his feet.  What an odd coincidence to run into Athena's Chief Engineer given recent events.  "Reply and let Mr. Torngate know we will be there in minutes, Mr. Buris" the half Vulcan replied.

Without even thinking, Buris had run the authorization sequence through the computer.  Voices could be faked easily - to steal a Starfleet officer's authorization codes, it required getting past the training they'd received and having direct access to the officer in question.  It matched Torngate, along with the voiceprint.  He tapped the comm.

"Torngate, this is Phoenix. Message received, we are enroute; ETA is less than five minutes.  Hold her together 'til we get there."=/\=

Buris kept the channel open, though he wondered if the man would have enough time to send a message while he was trying to save lives.

[anomalies]

Kirok considered the information given.  "Let's try to contact the ship again" he said.  "And check the charts again, looking for anything that could cause a black hole or gravity well" he added.

"Mr. Marshall, please take us to yellow alert.  Also get the Bridge crew up here" Kirok said.  "Ms. Filitov, please set a course put us at top speed" he added.

Steve turned the Co " Aye sir yellow alert raised" He checked in with the bridge crew and sent them a general message to return to the bridge. He continued to monitor his station " Sir all bridge crew contacted and on there way to the bridge."

Katcha nodded.

"Da Admiral." She replied as she altered course and increased to full speed.

"Full Speed Admiral. Ve vill be at ze coordinates in five minutes." She reported.

Buris nodded, a half-step ahead of the Admiral's orders.  Heck, who wouldn't start searching to try and figure out what the heck had happened?  After all, they weren't called anomalies because they were normal.  He thumbed the comm stud and sent out the standard hail for distress response, which wasn't much beyond a statement of the ship's name, that they had received the hail in question, and they were inbound - along with a 'please respond if you hear this'.

They would have to wait, and he sighed lightly.  "Admiral, hailing them on all frequencies, but depending on how they're being affected by the anomaly's subspace field, they may not be able to respond immediately.  We know that singularities can cause time distortion.  I'm pulling the old charts and about to contact Stellar Cartography for more data."

He tapped his comm stud again, selecting a channel for Science, and spoke calmly. "Bridge Operations to Science team - Ms. Falleg, can you get to the Stellar Cartography computer and analyze our current destination for any evidence of recorded subspace anomalies?  Can you find anything that might explain a singularity in that vicinity?"=/\=

"Thank you, Mr. Buris" Kirok replied.  The Bajoran did have a knack for detail.  For that, Kirok was thankful.

"Proceed" Kirok replied.  He leaned forward in his chair.  Perhaps his clandestine trip to meet up with his old friend was going to be put on hold.

Without another word, Buris thumbed a control and started cleaning up the message as he played it across the bridge.  He couldn't get totally rid of the distortion, but then again, he'd always found that a little distortion and static at the beginning and end of a transmission seemed to get commanders to react just that little bit faster.  It was a trick of the emotions, and he knew it, but... it worked.

"At^tention alllll vessels! This is... Freighter Quaritch... ^requesting as^sistance.  ... _engines - ^failed ... being drawn ... can't fight much longer.  I say again, this is Freighter Quaritch!  We're in distress and requesting assistance!  We encountered a gravity well and our engines have failed!  We're being drawn in and can't fight much longer!  Any ship, any station receiving, please respond, this is Freighter Quaritch!  _{Please... help.}"

Buris swallowed hard and hit the scanners. "Captain, scanners do show a vessel matching the computer log of the Quaritch.  She's registered to Deneb V, and when she last was seen, she was carrying a cargo of raw dilithium.  The gravity well shows up on sensors, but not on star charts.  Something strange seems to have happened, sir.  Should we go to Yellow Alert?"

So I had a thought. Would anyone else be interested in revisiting the train wreck that was our first go at the mission in the Holodeck?

Attack Pattern Kejal: Bombard the enemy with rigged probes and shuttles on auto-fire.  Then come around and shove a torpedo up their thermal exhaust port.

Buris was aware of an odd tension on the Bridge, like it had to do with a mirror universe or something like that. Then again, he looked down at his hand and saw the bruise across his knuckles which reminded him of that woman he'd had the unfortunate fate of interrogating about the children.  Thankfully, the issue was a local one, and not likely to bite the ship's crew again. Still, the crisis counseling for the children continued gradually apace, and he was avoiding them for the time being. After all, telling them that he'd been through it wouldn't help, since the way he'd been saved was by killing about a hundred Cardassians, several of which he took out with a makeshift bladed weapon he'd assembled in secret.  Quite frankly, he didn't want to scare them.  The adolescence of a child soldier was not something worth discussing.

The request for a report came in, and Kejal queried all systems to confirm his suspicion - nothing was wrong.  He looked up. "All main systems ready and operational, Admiral. We are holding course and speed at ready condition.  The Officers' Mess is having the replicator bank upgraded with the most recent recipes from Starbase; they should be fully updated and operational by 1705.  We resolved the humidity issue in the Gym, and the ship's Group B Parrises' Squares championship starts tonight at 1800. I note with some pride that the Operations Enlisted team is the favorite to win."

He actually smiled faintly, trying to break the unspoken pressure around here. "Oh, and as of now, both the T'Koris-Arthur girls and Lieutenant Falleg's children are getting very positive initial reports from their assorted educational staff.  They seem to be recovering well from their ordeal."

He looked down at his board after concluding his report and frowned. "Admiral, I'm receiving a distress call, audio only.  Should I put it on speakers?"

The ship's comms array was straining, as he brought it into alignment. Something about that signal pattern bothered hm, it felt stretched.  Either they had a mass of dark matter between the ship and the distress CLl, or the distress was being sent from somewhere near one heck of a gravity well, maybe even a black hole.

As soon as my head stops spinning, I'll tag in!

[Which is it, Petty?]

[Ready Room - NPC - Kidnapped Transport Specialist]

The Transport Specialist was shocked to find that he was now in a new location.  Kidnapped no less!  He looked down at his hand and saw Kirok's com badge.  And by mistake no less.

"Computer, return me to Starbase Columbus" he called out.  =/\=Authorization denied=/\= the computer replied.  "Frack" he shouted.

He went to the door and started pounding on it.  "Open this door and release me.  You have committed an act of war and I will have those responsible brought up on charges!  Open this door, now!" he yelled.

As the doors opened, Buris looked at the man, glancing at his collar - Enlisted.  Good.  He glared at the man before Archangel could speak.  "This is not an act of war, Petty.  You're now a material witness in an ongoing investigation!  Admiral Kirok has knowingly deserted his post!  And you have two choices - either you're just a witness, or you're part of the conspiracy to desert and transmit sensitive classified information to enemies of the Federation!  Which is it, Petty?  Security, take this man into custody and have him give a sworn affidavit!"

He glared the man down with all the rage he could muster (which was quite a lot), and he knew that he'd trigger some of the instincts the man had gained during the basic training all enlistees suffered.  Then he let T'Koris handle the problem, since she'd indirectly given him the conn.

Gabriel's next words were cut off abruptly by a call from the Ops manager.  Sighing, he had to remind himself that, yes, Kejal Buris was a complete and total jackass...but he was also a jackass that had done his best to bring the children home.  That fact alone kept Gabe from snapping a reply back about not ordering a peer around like a deckhand.

=^="Arthur here.  You'll have it, with extra spit and polish.  I'm standing with Falleg, we'll liaise together from here on out, unless you have any objections."=^=

He tapped his commbadge, speaking a bit more gently - he could tell the sarcasm and the edge of frustration in Arthur's voice, and decided to head it off at the pass.  "Thanks, Gabe.  As soon as you get anything usable, tell me.  I'm about to throw this ship and her complement into mortal danger; please make damn sure I'm not throwing all our lives away for nothing."

Kintiss came back next, also sarcastic.  Then again, he really hardly minded that - everyone on this ship knew how to do their job.  The fact that he was telling them to do it was nothing especially new. 

There was an inoculation developed by Starfleet Medical a few years back on a deep space station, a solution of amorathine, hydromanium and chromexaline. Easy to synthesise and administer. "We'll prepare inoculationsss for the whole crew, but they'll need a sssstronger dossse if you plan to go through it, Lieutenant Commander,"=/\= he replied. "And for all our ssssakessss, I do hope that issssn't the casssse."=/\= Still, didn't hurt to be prepared in case they did.

"Doctor, right now, I don't have a plan.  There's people in a freighter, they need help, they've been caught by a singularity and are in a degrading orbit around the event horizon.  My plan is to do whatever's necessary to save their lives while endangering ours to the least feasible degree.  If you'd like to come to the Bridge and discuss that topic, I ask that you do so with hypos for all of us and after you've finished getting the Sickbay ready."

Katcha listened to T'Koris and Buris in horror at their clearly mutinous behavior. She stood up and turned to Buris.

"Niet Commander.  I am relieving you of duty and vill be detaining you on a charge of disobeying a direct order by your commanding officer." She lowered at Buris before turning to the duty Security Officer.

"Please escort Commander Buris to ze Brig and summon a security detail to ze Bridge to take Commander T'Koris into custody as well."  She glared the young officer.

Buris folded his arms over his chest, looking her in the eye.  "Lieutenant, this is not the time for that!  There are civilians dying out there on that freighter.  Get your fingers on that panel and plot us an intercept, now, or they will all die.  After we are at warp, we can discuss your accusations.  No matter who is in command here, those people need our help!  So whether you're helping me to help them, or doing it for yourself, or for Commander T'Koris, or for whatever entities you worship, just bloody well get it done!"

His arms uncurled, and his fists were tight.  He glared her down - obviously, Buris had no problem being a bully; he'd commanded a ship as a teenager through force of will and the willingness to harm people.  He'd given most of his rambunctious rebel crew a bloody nose or two, after which point they'd listened.  He'd run an engine room almost as soon as he'd been an officer, covering multiple departments.  And now, here was Lieutenant Filitov, accusing him of mutiny and disloyalty?  It was literally everything he could do to keep his temper in check.  The ridges of his nose flared as he exhaled, hard, eyes narrow.

"And I received no order from the Admiral that indicated, 'do not bring me back aboard if there is an alert condition'.  He beamed to the station - over the protest of his First Officer, no less - when we were not even at alert status blue.  We intercepted the Quaritch's distress call, we are the only ship on station.  Commander T'Koris and I attempted to follow Starfleet regulation and bring the Admiral back on board this vessel to command in the Red Alert scenario.  He has deserted his post, Katcha!  He has abandoned us!  Why else would this damn fool Petty be standing here instead of him?!  So if you want someone to blame, it's not me.  I'm just trying to save a few hundred lives - and I need your help to do it - they need your help, and on the double.  Blame the damn Admiral, who darted off on some personal mission, who didn't trust his crew; hell, blame me if you must.  But get us to that event horizon so we can do some good.  Please."

He glared at the Security officers, knowing that they'd be confused between the conflicting orders - take the Petty into custody, take Kejal into custody, or get ready to do a search-and-rescue on a ship being pulled into a black hole - as he glared at T'Koris and stalked his way over to her, his voice now devoid of anything but a black rage; though it was obvious he wasn't directing it at her.  "Captain.  You have this Bridge - I sure as hell don't want anything to do with it.  Whatever the hell can be made of it anyway, with a helmsman who's openly disobeying a direct and legal order of highest priority, and allowing civilians to die needlessly.  All departments, with the notable exception of Flight Control, are reporting in and will have reports on the Quaritch and the singularity phenomenon soon.  Should I report to the brig, or to my station, sir?!"

Oh, yeah, he was ineffably ticked off.  Having Kirok run off and abandon them, he could almost tolerate - Admirals (according to what he'd been told when he was nothing but a Crewman) were fickle creatures, prone to flightiness and capable of wild goose chases of nothing but the highest order.  He also understood that the Admiral had a loyalty to the Fleet and the Federation as a whole; rather than just one ship - a good reason for a Fleet officer never to trust them anywhere but ashore.  So he could almost accept Kirok's disappearance.  But to have Filitov suddenly refuse to save people's lives, and then accuse him of mutiny!?  That was the last straw.  If she'd set the course, gone to warp, and then accused him, he'd still be angry, but... at least he'd be able to understand; he'd do the same in her shoes, if he didn't know what had gone on before.

[everyone]

Tag to everyone!

[Mr. Marshall]

As Kejal carried out the order without hesitation, bringing Admiral Kirok back to the ship and shut in his ready room whether he wanted it or not, she wondered why she had thought that he would have refused to carry it out.  For all his knowledge of Starfleet regulations, he had turned twisting them to suit his needs into a fine art, and was someone who would put his own moral code above that expected of officers, and loyal to her in a manner that she could never have imagined when he first stepped foot on her ship.  She couldn't help but feel a little proud of the officer he had become from the Ensign he had been.

The lowered voice and what was said didn't bother her in the slightest.  After the last couple of days she had had, there was probably little that could throw her off stride.  Under normal circumstances, to anyone other than Kejal, she wouldn't have stopped to explain herself, but he had earned that right in her eyes.

"If my instincts are right, yes, he's going after what he thinks is a story about Tarna," she replied in a soft tone, for his ears only.  "But he's going after the wrong people, and the wrong people will do a lot of damage if he and the others perpetuating that story don't stop.  I don't intend to lose my commanding officer just because he found a fittingly evil face to put behind that tragedy rather than looking for the actual culprits."  She then offered him a faint smile.  "I hope I know what I'm doing, otherwise a mutiny won't be possible."  One eyebrow raised slightly.  "I just hope for your sake that you don't actually intend to start one."

Taking a deep breath to try to steady herself, she straightened her uniform and moved away from the operations station toward the door to the ready room, nodding to the Bajoran to let her in when he was ready.

As the Red Alert sounded and the ship went to General Quarters (because after all, they were about to respond to a distress call), he nodded to T'Koris.  Obviously they were both worried about the colony, but in the end, he'd have to see about getting them into a meeting and talking about it candidly.  It didn't matter if someone 'got away' with it.  In his eyes, the killers at Tarna were the most despicable heroes ever to grace the Galaxy.  What mattered was, some people were dead and others didn't die because of those deaths.  That was all that mattered in the end.  Still, he returned her thin but reassuring smile.  He knew that smile, from the trenches and the battlefields.

"I have no intention whatsoever of mutiny against any commanding officer of this vessel, Archangel.  On that, you have my word.  But please, don't get us embroiled in a needless chase against ghosts of the past."

He turned off the diagnostic cycle when she nodded to him, letting her into the Ready Room.  As soon as she was safely inside, he took the conn and looked at the people around him, standing where Archangel did, between the center seat and the viewscreen, at a distance where he could see both his own board and Filitov's.  "If asked by anyone, what happened was 100% according to regulation."

In a commanding way, Kejal cleared his throat.  Still, old habits died hard, and as a commander he was always plagued by an instinct to refer to his staff the way he had as an Enlisted - "Mister" and "Miss".  "Mr. Marshall, report when all hands are at general quarters.  Muster a rescue team and have them waiting in Shuttlebay One in case we have a need to board.  Ms. Filitov, set intercept course for the Quaritch.  When you're ready, engage at maximum warp.  Ms. Falleg, when we scanned that location, it was not at singularity point.  While we're on the way, try and figure out what I'm about to fly us into.  I'm placing the probes at your disposal."

Buris walked over to his Operations board, touching the button for intership communications, opening a channel to SB Columbus. "Starbase Ops, this is Phoenix.  We will be departing for distress call location from Freighter Quaritch.  When we return, we will be either carrying either survivors to offload or towing a Denebian freighter.  We are at red alert and general quarters."

That told them that the Phoenix wasn't requesting departure, it was demanding.  It also gave an indication of the severity of the situation that little Denebian freighter was in right now.

He then tapped the intraship channels, first going to Kintiss in Sickbay.  "Operations to Sickbay.  We're responding to a distress call.  Stand by for any wounded.  Please check the Ops datastream for a full complement of the freighter in question.  And if we need any inoculations or somesuch to survive near a black hole, sooner would be far better than later, Doctor."=/\=

He then switched over to the Engineering channel, hoping he got either Arthur or Lollock. "Operations to Engineering.  Get a team on standby for repairs to a Denebian freighter.  Also, I want full power to the engines, thrusters, and shields.  I'm going to be taking this ship dangerously close to a singularity to save them.  We'll either tow them out or beam them out, depending on what we see there.  Get on sensors, and make sure you're tied into the Science datastream!  Any insight on this phenomenon, or a prognosis on that ship, I want it the moment you have it!"=/\=

He tapped a third channel, and glanced over to Filitov. "I'm going to get a pre-handoff check going down in the Shuttlebay.  If we have to launch, we won't have time for much pre-flight."

"This is Operations calling Shuttlebay.  Operations staff, begin pre-handoff checks and technical handshakes with Flight Control staff.  Ms. Weir, please have a Type-8 Shuttlecraft ready with seating in refugee configuration before we arrive at our destination.  If we need a shuttle, we'll need it on rapid deployment.  Make it happen, and report back to Ms. Filitov on the Bridge when ready and standing by."=/\=

With that, he stood up and took a breath, looking around at the sudden buzz of activity he'd just started around the ship.  He wondered for a moment if this was how the Captain of a ship felt every day; and then realized it would probably become tiresome very quickly - no wonder so many commanding officers tried to hide in their hobbies or side pursuits.

He walked to the center seat area, the whole row currently empty, and shrugged before sitting down in the Captain's chair.  It really was comfortable.