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["I hadn't noticed Lieutenant."]

[Land - Near Town Square]

The advancing figures closed quickly shouting, but the universal translator was only making every third word understandable.

"Heem the conveyance drakma!"

Jettis pushed Neva behind him and shouted.

RUN!"

However, before Neva could, Zhuk unmasked and challenged the crowd. The appearance of a cat-thing in front of them brought the mob up short. The vehicle skewed to a halt and there was a lull for a moment, until one particularly bright spark in the mob unfroze and shout.

"Gar laktra fee!"

This broke the spell and shots began to break out. Fortunately, the locals weren't skilled and no one was hit. However, while they may have been lacking in skill, they made up for it in volume and the away team had to take whatever cover they could find.

Jettis repeated his order to run and began firing as fast as his phaser would cycle. This drew the local's ire and weapons fire toward him, leaving him cut off from Zhuk and Neva. The Landsers were certainly a brave species and closed in on Jettis despite the efforts of Zhuk and Neva to create an escape route. Jettis looked at the others and shouted again.

RUN!"

Torn by duty and loyalty, the pair hesitated. Then the crowd swarmed Jettis which forced Zhuk's and Neva's hand. The last they saw of him before they ducked around a corner was Jettis in hand to hand combat and surrounded on all sides.

Running for their lives, they heard a vehicle closing in on them and as they made their decision to turn and fight, they spotted Kyan waving wildly for them to get in, which they did. As soon as they were aboard, the vehicle, driven by a Landser adolescent sped away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|Landser Planet|Some Kid's Vehicle]

Neva tried to catch her breath, trying to fathom all that had happened. She hated to leave Jettis behind, but there was really no helping him. Turning to Kyan, she asked "Well, Commander, what now? Is there any way we can contact the Challenger? I'm sure I can rig something together to do so if we can find a place to get the parts I need." She gave a hopeful grin.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The ship was still far from recovered from the temporal pulse, but it was slowly coming back to life. Warp and weapons were still out, but life support, shields, communications, along with the impulse engines were fully functional. The main computer had rebooted, but with only about half of the memory storage reset, it was very slow in its response times. Ian's announcement had resulted in several radio signals being beamed at the ship and Lieutenant Booker, now recovered thanks to the medical team's arrival was fielding the messages as fast as the slowed computer could translate them.

It was maddening to Ian that universal translator was so slow in making the Landser language understandable, especially when it was so needed. It was clear that his initial broadcast was not fully understood and it was also abundantly clear he was going to have to make another announcement. However, before he could, Lieutenant Randall spoke up.

"Sir, we have an immanent problem."

"I hadn't noticed Lieutenant." He sighed. "I'm sorry Evan, that was uncalled for. What's gone wrong now?"

"When sensors came back online, I scanned for the Landser fold space probe. As I mentioned it jumped four light years in four seconds. A truly remarkable breakthrough in supraliminal travel. Unfortunately, it looks like the thing, which is fully automated, is getting ready to return to the Landser system."

"Sweet Merciful Maker!" Ian exclaimed. "That mean's another temporal pulse. We're nae ta be survivin' another in the state we're in now. How long do we have?"

"The probe seems to have been given the task of scanning the area of space it jumped to, as they only have simple lightspeed sensors, it will take the probe about an hour to complete that task, then it will fold space back here."

"So we have less than an hour ta figure out a way ta configure our defenses ta resist that bloody temporal pulse. Evan, drop everything else, this is your number one priority."

Ian then addressed the rest of bridge crew.

"If'n any of you have any boffin ideas, now would be the time to bring them up."

[Land - Unknown Small Town]

Zhuk found that with the locals glued to their viewscreens, he was able to procure bandages and other items to treat his wrist and walk out the store undetected. He found an alley and started wrapping his wrist which proved to be a far more difficult task than obtaining the supplies.

He was disturbed that the Challenger was so plainly visible to the locals as that was not the plan. He'd only heard a small portion of what the Landsers had said as they watched their viewscreens as he discovered his universal translator was taking a long time to decipher the local language. Most of the words were lost to him, but he did pick up. "Amazing" and "strangers".

As he finished wrapping his wrist, he found himself wondering what to do next. He hadn't tried to use his tricorder or combadge since arriving and was now torn over whether he should try to use either one now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Land - Six kilometers West of Zhuk]

Neva and Jettis stood at the edge of the wooden area they'd landed in and had a choice. They could continue to remain fully hidden, but unable to learn anything of use or they could risk encountering locals by trying to find out information. From where they stood, they could see a paved road only a kilometer away. It was obvious the road would lead to civilization and only by observing the locals would they learn about the Landsers.

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|Landser Planet]

Neva looked at Dr. Jettis and shrugged. 'Guess its time to go where we haven't before, huh?'

Neva smiled bravely and stepped onto the path, Tricorder in hand and scanning. Pointing, she spoke aloud for once and smirked. "Lifeforms Ho!"

[5km down road, just off town square]

The young Betazoid watched with wide eyes as houses and other buildings became more plentiful as the two Starfleet officers walked along. Neva had been walking ahead of the doctor, her Tricorder still in her hands. Unfortunately, she paid less and less attention to it. She was gawking around so much, she forgot she wasn't supposed to be seen...

Wgmek! n'zrd! A woman screeched as she was walking to a vehicle. She was pointing in their direction and bouncing.

Neva froze in disbelief. She felt the fear and shock buffet her like she'd hit a wall. Before Neva could bring herself to move, others clambered out of the nearby building with weapons of some sort. It didn't take a scientist to know they were screwed, especially when more people came out from nearby brandishing similar implements of destruction.

''Um...so much for stealth?'' Neva uttered apologetically, biting her lower lip as she looked at Jettis.

[Ensign Tora Zalos|Mess Hall|USS Challenger]

"My uncle took me away from Cardassia when I was young. He said to me at the time that he needed to do business there and father and mother would be busy, so they'd entrusted me to him to look after. I didn't know any better. I followed him and my aunt and we basically never left." Tora shrugged. "He never really told me why we didn't leave until I was... fifteen? Mother and father had died in the Dominion War fighting for Cardassia." Tora exhaled slowly. "I'm still processing that, actually. Never really had it figured out."

"How I got here, though? Well, that's a long and rather unorthodox story." Tora smiled mischievously. "One which is best told when I've got more deliciously soft bread and peanut butter filling my belly... so if you coud be so kind?"

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|USS-Challenger|Mess Hall]

Neva nodded a little, bottom lip pouted out, and understanding in her eyes. "Wow. The Dominion War was hell on all of us, no matter the 'side' you were on."

At Tora's request, Neva smiled brightly and reached for the cutting board on the table. Brandishing a laser torch from the kit beside her, she carefully cut a couple of slices of bread. Setting the torch back in her kit, she looked at her friend guiltily and admitted. "I find the torch cuts easiest." She looks around them and then adds. "Besides, aren't knives just tools too?"

Neva spread some peanut butter on one slice, then the other before carefully putting them together. Handing it over, she explains. "You get the best amount of peanut butter to bread ratio by doing it the way I did. Tastes better too!" Neva grins brightly for a moment before grabbing her milk and taking a drink.

Setting it back on the table, she pulls the remains of her sandwich and makes short work of it. Closing her eyes, she sighs contentedly. Opening them once more, she looks at Tora and cocks her head. "Do you like to read?" She pulls the PADD closer to them and holds it up. "I've got a collection of books of many different subjects." She reddens. "Of course, I've got a lot of Technical Journals I pour over. Couldn't be called an Engineer if I didn't, right?"

[ Landser Planet - Forest ]

Jettis was relieved to see it was Cordon who stood. A look of surprise flickered across his features, taking in her suit-less form, but nodded at her explanation. That would make staying undercover a bit difficult, but at this point even getting spotted would probably be game over.

Glancing over in the direction she motioned to,  he made a mental note of the direction to hopefully avoid doubling back again. Especially if being pursued. 'We keep going and try to find the rest of the team. We need to figure out a way to get a message back to the Challenger without being discovered, we have no idea how the landsers will behave in the face of aliens.' He motioned for her to follow, before continuing in the direction he was headed, still occasionally pausing to mark a tree or two. 'Then I suppose we lie low until we get picked up. Our job is recon, so we can try to get some sort of native communications device, or try to watch them without being noticed. Best to avoid groups, though.'

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|Forest on Landers Planet]

Neva nodded. 'Laying low...check. I'm fine with that. I admit though, I'm itching to get my hands on their time-fold instrumentation.' She gave a wan smile. 'Terminal Engineer, I know.'

The forest thinned out to a field of high grass. Neva pulled out her Tricorder a moment then put it away. She crouched down, fingers tracing just above the ground. She looked up at Jettis and pointed. 'Looks like some sort of transport with wheels or something came through here. It looks recent. I suggest following it. We may find something we can use to communicate with the Challenger?' She raised a questioning eyebrow as she stood and wiped her hands on the sides of her uniform.

[and]

[ Somewhere on the Landser's planet ... ]

Jettis' landing was, shockingly, not very hard. Granted, he had no idea where he was, but at least he hadn't fallen through the tree canopy or into any dangerous fauna. His isolation suit was mostly intact, with only a few tears. However, the immediate searing pain from being planetside was another issue. There was an immediate flash in his mind, alarm bells sounding as a wave of nausea crashed over him. Though he couldn't pinpoint its location, he didn't have to wonder what it originated from.

A few seconds, or maybe minutes, maybe hours passed - he wasn't sure. But eventually the Af-Kelt subsided enough for him to straighten and make an attempt to walk straight. Now, he could properly take in his surroundings, though it didn't help him at all. It was a rather generic landscape - the reddish-brown grass and small mounts of rocks gave way to a forest a few hundred meters away from him in one direction, and appeared to be more open field in the other.

Jettis didn't like the idea of an open field, especially not if any more temporal shenanigans were going to be happening. So he turned to make for the trees, partly to stay hidden while he regained his bearings, and partially in the hopes the other three would do the same. His eyes swept the area around him one last time, before he made a break for the cover.

Once within the trees, he slowly pulled out his phaser, though he couldn't exactly use it unless it was an emergency. He had no idea what the Landsers could, and could not pick up, but the knowledge someone was probably looking for them set him on edge. Eyes searching, he looked until he found a reasonably sharp rock to etch a small J into one of the trees, before proceeding deeper into the forest. Despite his best efforts to memorize his path, the terrain looked woefully alike, to where he questioned if he'd accidentally circled back a few times. However every time he stopped to check for markings on a tree, he found none, so he could only assume that he was still going in a straight path.

He saw no evidence of anyone else coming through either. He wasn't sure if that was something he should be thankful for or not, considering it meant he was nowhere near the rest of his team. However, the further he traveled into the forest, the more he could parse out from the regular din of the planet. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks as a chill ran down his spine, abruptly turning to his four o'clock and dropping down. Lifting his phaser, his eyes flickered through the area.

He couldn't see anyone, due to the thick covering of underbrush, but thankfully that hadn't dulled his senses at all. Once he realized he didn't exactly feel any ill-intentions, he slowly straightened. The presence was familiar enough, and after a few beats, he lowered his phaser. 'Don't shoot. It's me.' Though he was confident the person hiding in the brush wasn't a threat, he wasn't entirely convinced there wasn't anyone else nearby. Keeping slightly crouched now, he warily turned back toward the direction he was headed, before looking back in Neva's general direction with a small wave. 'Have you found anyone else?'

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|Somewhere on Landser Planet]

Neva sagged in utter relief, tears forming in her eyes. Standing, she put away her phaser and joined Dr. Jettis. 'Thank the Gods Doctor, it's you!' she replied in kind. 'To answer your question-no, I've seen no one else. That's good and bad I think.'

Neva gestured back the way she'd come. 'I materialized on a rocky precipice surrounded by mountains. I don't think there's anything that'll help us in that direction.' She looked down at her clothes then back up at him, chuckling softly. 'Unfortunately, my suit tore enough to be useless. I buried it by some rocks. So much for keeping hidden.' She gave an embarrassed smile, dropping her head and raising her shoulders.'What now?'

[[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Bridge --> Main Shuttlebay | Deck One --> Deck Nineteen | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A | L7-425977 System]]

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Bridge --> Main Shuttlebay | Deck One --> Deck Nineteen | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A | L7-425977 System]

"Ah, that is certainly relieving to hear," Zhuk placed a hand over his chest, letting go of the tension his muscles had momentarily acquired. He sighed before he proceeded to go back to his serious visage, "It is good to hear that you shalt take my suggestion, too. I am glad to be a useful member of this here team. As for your comment on the 'Flying Tigers' program, I must say that a formal invitation has not been extended towards me. Thus, I did not think that intruding upon the Captain's personal world would be tremendously appropriate. Besides, I am much more fond of entertaining myself with Battleships..."

He felt just a hint of heat coming from his ears as he revealed that, becoming just slightly more pink in color. A Caitian's way of blushing. He felt just a tad embarrassed of revealing that was what he enjoyed. In any case, that was better to admitting than he too enjoyed playing a member of nobility who enjoyed wooing the ladies of the court, and trying to survive the revolution that was soon to unfold upon their respective nation.

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Main Shuttlebay --> Shuttle Onizuka | Deck Nineteen --> Land | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A --> Land | L7-425977 System]

Zhukdra'shar regarded the incoming Neva with a polite nod as he took his suit. While he donned it, he began to ponder on the situation. He was glad to be flying now, as he hated using the transporter. He cherished these moments when the mission required a shuttle instead. Oh, and speaking about greatly enjoyable things, though he found it slightly difficult to fit his tail inside the specially modified suit, he was relieved that it at least would not be stuck to his leg. He was also quite happy to see that his ears perfectly had space at the top of his head to swish and move as they pleased. And his feet entered perfectly on the boots. Magnificent job by Neva.

"I greatly appreciate that thou took mine petition into consideration, Lieutenant Junior Commander Neva. Excellent performance."

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|Shuttle Onizuka]

Neva nodded deferentially to Zhuk, smiling proudly despite herself. "No problem Lieutenant. It's part of being an Engineer." Her smile turned into a smirk. "Besides, I enjoy the challenge." That said, she took a seat and belted in.

Zhuk smiled under the helmet. Then, he proceeded to take a seat and get ready for Jettis to bring them to the planet.

He just hoped the landing would be smooth.

Zhukdra'shar was even more confident things would go according to plan, with the information Booker had provided to descend. Unfortunately, things turned out to be not too pleasant, and indeed, he cursed internally as he noted the appearance of two atmospheric Landser aircraft on the sensors. Soon enough, everyone was aware of the danger, and Jettis asked for ideas.

Kyan piped up with a suggestion to shoot down the aircraft, something that Zhuk was actually on board with. Then again, it was not very Starfleet of them to even think about that, so he returned to the drawing board. He thought of perhaps suggesting for them to find some kind of mountain chain to evade the aircraft, as he was certain they were not as maneuverable as the Onizuka. Correct?

In any case, he had no time to present his idea, as Jettis came up with his own. He sulked as they would need to use the transporters, but he relented,

"Fine idea. Let us proceed."

Soon enough, the quick calculations saw Zhuk disappear into a shimmer, as did the rest of the party. What he was not expecting was to be falling a few meters from the ground. Unable to properly adjust to land on his feet, Zhuk hit the ground hard, letting out a yowl as he could barely roll on the dirt and grass. He groaned, taking a moment to recover, before he finally stood up, and noticed he was all alone.

Great.

He activated the stealth for his suit, soon noticing that his left arm hurt. It particularly showed when he turned his wrist. Not a fracture, certainly, but perhaps a strain? He really couldn't check. Not without risking the mission. Gritting his teeth, he decided to keep his extremity close to his chest and began to look for the rest of his team.

Neva materialized on a precipice of a low mountain. She woke to see reddish brown blades of grass and felt rocks against her cheek. She felt a headache beginning to bloom in her temples. She screwed her eyes shut once more, trying to assess the state of things below her neck. She felt scratches and places where bruises would form, but nothing broken. Thanking The Gods, she sat up slowly. She let her eyes open only slightly, testing as she moved.

With her hands on each side of her for balance, Neva carefully and fully opened her eyes. Looking down at her body, she noticed her suit was ripped and torn in many places. Groaning, she pulled at it, finally tearing it from her like a caterpillar emerging from a cocoon. Thankfully, her phaser, Tricorder, and kit were intact. She put them back on once she was free of that blasted suit.

She took in the vista before her, a gray rocky mountain wall to her right and open air to her left. She held up the mound of cloth that was her hazard suit and frowned. She walked away from the edge and dug her hands into the earth near a group of large rocks. When the hole was big enough for her taste, she stuffed the cloth in. She almost threw the dirt back on it, then. Neva suddenly felt her spine mirror a warp core vibrating through its tower double time.

Neva's dark eyes whipped upward and called out for MacKenzie, Zhuk, and Jettis with her comm badge, but no one answered. Not good...

Scrabbling up, she made for the tree line that thankfully appeared. Once enveloped within the trees' canopy, she flung her back against a trunk facing away from where she'd come.

Neva slid to the ground, nestling between some large roots. She tapped her comm badge again. A buzzing chirp was the answer...not good. She repeated the action to the others of her group and had the same result. She grumbled in annoyance. The comms were dead. 'Isn't that just typical?' she mused.

Neva grabbed her Tricorder in hopes of finding something familiar or at least helpful. Eyes glued to the screen, she swept it in a wide arc before her. Grunting with satisfaction, she put the instrument away and rose.

The Tricorder had shown life forms to the right of her position. Neva set herself a good pace, not fast but ground covering. As she ran, the petrichor of the area tickled her nose. It smelled similar to any other planet's ground, but this had a slight "spicy" tinge to it. She could also tell it'd rained recently, the smell stronger despite the dry day.

As she got closer to the lifeforms she'd detected, Neva suddenly stopped dead. ~~Annoyance...Curiosity...Determination...~~

Neva went into a crouch, letting underbrush cover her. She sat there confused, wondering if it was one of her crewmates. With the slowness of a turtle, she pulled out her phaser.

'By all that's Holy, let me stay safe!' she begged mutely.

Neva felt that whoever it was, they were coming closer. They were looking for someone that she hoped wasn't her. She took in a breath, letting it out slowly and carefully. She could tell whoever it was, they were male and older than her.

[[USS Challenger - Deck 12 - Chief Engineers's Office]]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 12 - Chief Engineers's Office]

Lahr popped the tab on his cola, letting the carbonation out.  The fizz in the thick drink came out sounding like a wet fart - which quite honestly, was a huge part of it's appeal to the comedic Andorian.  He then took a long swallow of his cola draining nearly half the can while the Chief talked and commented that she wasn't going to be like the Tellerite.  Lahr hoped not.

When she stated she was looking for someone to call her to the mat when she screwed up, Lahr finally realized where this was going.  Did he really want to be saddled with yet more responsibilities? No.  But he also tended to give that sort of advice freely anyway - another reason why Tharn hadn't been his biggest fan.  At least this way it would be expected of him, and he'd be less likely to be on the Chief's bad side.

"I can do that, no problem.  But is there any added incentives for me?  Like a hazard pay of extra credits for risking being sent to scrub the hull when you don't like what I have to say?"  It might sound like a joke but Lahr was being serious.  He could use the extra credits to help finance the continued search for Ruth.

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|USS Challenger|Chief Engineer's Office->Shuttlebay->Onizuka]

Neva smiled and nodded her thanks to his reply. When he asked how  HE could benefit from this, her eyes widened a moment as she sat back. She steepled her fingers and was about to ask him about her when her communicator chirped and Commander Kyan beckoned her for an Away Team mission.

Neva sighed and dropped her head, laughing softly. Without raising her head, she answered him. "Acknowledged Commander. On my way." Timing was everything...

Neva got up and grabbed the kit under her desk, slinging it over her shoulder. Smiling apologetically, she sighed as she looked at the Andorian. "Let's pick this up later. I've got some ideas forming on that bit." She gave him a mock puppy-eyed girlish grin from the door. "Would you be a dear and take care of my mug, please?" She wiped her face with one hand as she shook her head, laughing. "Gawds, I hate when that comes out-too girly. In any case, finish your drink & get out of my office. I think you know what work is on your plate, right?" She waved then and walked out and into Main Engineering.
"Ok, kids. We need to replicate FOUR Isolation suits, one of them need to be..." Neva's eyes closed as she pinched her nose as she fought to keep from... "One needs to be Half the normal size. We've got to do it Now!"

[30 hrs later....]

Lahr's sleep had been rather restless - disrupted and filled with nightmares - like it had been ever since he'd heard the news of Ruth being MIA after the Frontier Day massacre.  He was exhausted but couldn't get restful sleep so instead he stayed awake using caffeine or alcohol.    Today was no different. Because he was on shift again today, Lahr chose to start his day with the former rather than the latter.

He brought a large mug with him into Main Engineering.  To stave off the concerns about 'spilled drinks' on sensitive electronics, Lahr had his drink topped with a 'no-spill' sippy cup lid.

"Morning everyone!" Lahr called out cheerily as he took his station, but those observant enough would note that his antennae still drooped.

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|USS-Challenger|Shuttlebay->Onizuka]

Neva hustled in, carrying 2 suits and another Crewman carried the others. Her kit flapped against her hip, eyes full of excitement. Skidding to a halt and pushing an arm backwards to stop the Crewman from butting into her. Seeing the others were boarding, she pointed to the shuttle. The Crewman handed his armful out, and Neva gave Kyan his & put hers on. She waved the kid away, giving him final orders before strapping in.

[[USS Challenger - Deck 12 - Chief Engineers's Office]]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 12 - Chief Engineers's Office]

Lahr's antennae lifted a bit at the offer to replicate something.  For a moment he toyed with the idea of ordering an Andorian ale, just to see the look on her face but that wasn't at all professional and Lahr didn't want a harmless joke to forever be on his record if Neva wasn't the tolerant type.   So he'd order the next best thing.

The Andorian rose from his seat and moved to the replicator as she answered him as to why the special treatment.  It sounded like hogwash to him.  He couldn't recall a mission that the pair had actually been together on.  As an officer, she was selected for important away missions, while he remained behind on the ship.

Oh wait! There had been the one mission when Commander Mackenzie was kidnapped.  He'd volunteered to help on that... but even then they'd been split up almost immediately so hadn't really worked together.

From his position by the replicator Lahr, looked over toward the Betazoid, wondering if the Chief was in his head, reading his doubt.  "Can't guarantee I know what's going on, but yeah.. I'm often told I butt in where I'm not wanted all the time.. - usually about relationships - but yeah I can offer my thoughts on other things too, if you really want me to."

He turned to the replicator and ordered a Slug-o-cola in a can.  The taste wasn't as bad as most people expected - once you got over the thickness of the drink.

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|USS-Challenger|Chief Engineer's Office]

Neva smirked at his choice of drink. It was weird, but then he was Andorian and they had different tastes. Despite this, she asked. "I expected you to choose something else, but whatever..." She took a drink and set the mug down, leaning forward and setting her elbows on the desk. The joking demeanor had settled into a slightly serious one. "I gotta get this out of the way, cuz I can tell even without being sensitive. I'm not going to be like Chief Tharn, so you can relax right there. You gave a very good call on how to handle our less-than-bright friends' antics. I asked for a group think tank and you're part of that. I don't disregard out of hand what I asked for in the first place."

Neva gave him a meaningful look as she leaned back in her chair again and grabbed her coffee. "To be honest, as nervous and doubtful I am at getting this position, I want someone who can call me to the mat when I screw up." Her grin turned a little less confident. "I learned early on in my life that the best intel from is the people who don't outrank you."

Neva downed the rest of her drink and set it down, skating it a little further away with her fingers. She then folded her arms and sat back, a questioning look on her face. "So...what do you think? Wanna run screaming now?" She gave a cocky grin and chuckled softly.

[[USS Challenger - Deck 12 - Main Engineering]]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 12 - Main Engineering] (immediately after briefing meeting)

The unique thing about his earbuds - a gift from Commander Said at his promotion to CPO - was that while they were noise cancelling on sounds, when it came to voices the music faded out and voice came forward.  So when Chief Cordon called on the engineers to gather, Lahr actually heard it.     He watched as the Ensigns and fourth year cadets clustered about her as she stood at 'pool table' - the engineering main console.

As an enlisted, who lacked the years of theoretical training that that the officers and cadets had, there was likely nothing he could offer to the conversation yet Lahr listened from his station.  The idea that this species had figured out how to 'fold' space was rather remarkable.  It was just a damn shame that it came with huge time distortion issues.

The ship needed to be able to navigate through these just in order to approach the system, much less the planet.  Ideas on how to deal with that were brainstormed; and after hearing someone remark that no idea was too outrageous even Lahr offered up one.

He lifted a hand like it he was calling for a teacher's attention. "Yo, Chief Cordon, if real space and time are being distorted and we need to travel through it to get to the planet...  what if we take ourselves out of sync with normal space and time? The distortions shouldn't affect the ship then, right?"

There were numerous incidents rumored to have happened to some of the Fleet's more famous flagships wherein they were out of phase... with normal space and time.   How to actually do that Lahr had no clue... but that's what science folks - like Ruth - were for.   Thinking of Ruth and how she would have had a solution in no time only had the Andorian missing her all the more.   His antennae sagged a bit more.

.
.
.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
[USS Challenger - Deck 12 - Main Engineering] (after planning session)

"Neva..." the Andorian parroted back testingly.  It sounded a little awkward at first, but then Lahr was usually one to prefer things less formal.

"Alright, hope you don't regret it." he remarked, then listened as she addressed the rest of the staff in Main Engineering -  noting her preference for 'Chief Neva'.   That could work, and was less likely for others to claim him being rude or disrespectful.

As he followed her towards her office at her suggestion, he wondered what more formal stuff there was to deal with.
Once in her office, Lahr took a seat.   He looked about, curiously.  In all his 2 years prior within Engineering, Lahr realized that this was the first time he'd actually been invited into inside the Chief's office.  The Tellerite usually would just yell at him from the main room, where everyone could hear.   This was kinda novel.

"So... Neva...forgive me for asking but what'd I do to deserve this 'special' treatment?"

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|USS-Challenger|Chief Engineer's Office]

Neva walked behind him, heading first to the replicator. She asked for her signature coffee, then looked at Lahr with an inquiring eye. "Go ahead and get something if you want." She  then went to her desk, sliding in behind it.

Neva gave a slightly embarrassed shrug at his question. "Well, it's honestly very simple. As I said before, we've worked together enough that you calling me 'Chief' just feels...well, wrong." She cocked her head a little and smiled at him. "I could honestly use someone to help me with this. Someone who knows what's going on and can occasionally-" Neva gave him a hopeful smile. "Give me a push in the right direction?"

[USS Challenger - Deck 1 - > Deck 8 - > Deck 15 ]

Jettis nodded to Cordon at the request. "Sure. I meant to send some over anyhow once I made some more sense of the readings. Distortions and electronics don't typically mix, so I may give you an officer or two to try and head off any future complications before they arise. And you may know a bit more on what type of power source this could be."

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|USS-Challenger|Briefing Room->Main Engineering]

"Thank you, Doctor." She replied, grabbing her PADD. She typed as she walked out of the room, barely noticing anything as she bee-lined it to the Turbolift. She mumbled things as she stood, the gears turning for her.

Neva burst into her Sanctum, head up and PADD held out. "OK my little worker bees! Time to see what you've been taught can translate to real-world needs! We have some juicy problems to sort out, so let's get to it!"

Neva bellied up to the pool table and banged on it to show the data she was given. She surveyed those who gathered at her summons and was pleased. "OK, we've got some distortions that don't look normal from a system at the edge of currently known space. For whatever reason, these lovely beings decided to generate a bit of a space-timey mix that's fixing to make things suck for ehh-vor-ree-buh-dee." She drew out the word because she needed them to understand how godawful these people had made things.

The image expanded and Neva pointed at one planet in the system. "If you look here..." And on it went from there, people bandying about theories, questions, and ideas. Chief Neva had found her true place...

With that settled, he jotted down a few notes on his PADD, before standing as they were dismissed. Headed off by Ian before he could escape to start his busywork, he shot the man a tight-lipped smile. "I feel eternally relieved. Hopefully we don't encounter any full-blown wormholes, though. I can't promise my best behavior." He laughed, shaking his head as he re attached his PADD to his side. "But I think he'll be great for the cadets. Maybe he can even scare them straight with threats of abandonment and airlocking."

Slipping out of the room back to the turbolift, he had three stops to make. The first was to track down all of the brats he had to monitor, which was thankfully made easy by all of them being crammed into the labs currently. He was a bit surprised at who was leading them - Zalos, was it? He'd met her briefly a few times, and gave her a small nod.

"Ensign Zalos, thank you for taking over the tour in my stead." Flashing a wide grin to all of the science officers, his eyes briefly scanned them all for ranks. "I'll give you all half an hour to familiarize yourselves with the labs and ask questions, and then another hour to eat and prepare for the most spreadsheeting you've ever done in your lives. There'll be a special guest once you get back."

His gaze scanned around labs for his unsuspecting next-in-line. Gaze falling on Randell, he grinned and moved to clap two hands on the man's shoulder. "And this will be your designated questions man!"

Ignoring the panicked glares being thrown his way, he marched the Lieutenant out to the sea of wide and fresh eyes. That's what he got for skipping out on welcoming them and making the newbie do it. "Ensign Zalos, you're with me." He grinned, checking his PADD once more before motioning her over to the turbolift.

"Since you seem to be well acquainted with the labs so far, and basically all of the senior scientists are going to try to run away, I think you're the best person to collaborate with our specialist. Tomorrow I'm not going to be able to focus on just running scans, I'm going to be processing the information as we try to track down what exactly is causing it. So..."

The door slid open on deck 15, and he moved over to Stellar cartography. Eyes scanning almost cautiously, he tried to track down the little ant. "Hey, Hyperion! You swimming in data yet? Because you're about to be."

[[USS Challenger - Deck 12 - Main Engineering]]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 12 - Main Engineering]

Lahr was deep into some Tellerite Grunge and focused on his watch of the system that he didn't notice the approach of the Acting Chief Engineer.  When she touched his shoulder and spoke, he was startled and jumped out of his chair and nearly tripped on his own feet.  Righting himself he looked towards the Betazoid and couldn't help the slight self-conscious worry that she was right then reading his thoughts.  Not that he was thinking anything bad at the moment, but there were times when he missed Ruth a little too much.   Lahr cleared his throat to help refocus his attention on the hear and now.  He smoothed back his gelled hair trying to make himself more presentable despite the dark purple circles under his eyes before answering - understanding immediately that the 'baby' referenced was Challenger.

"Certainly is, ma'am. We got green across the board."

He then smiled and offered an up-nod.  "Not sure you if caught my parting call to you as you headed off to the briefing.. but uh.. Congratulations on the promotion.  It's well deserved.  You've done some great work lately. "  Then to explain his knowledge of that he added,  "My buddy Blackfeather was telling me about Zhuk's adventures and well, dropped your name as well at few times.  He was quite impressed - which says a lot.  I look forward to working along side you, ma'am.  If there's anything I can do... just let know."  he offered.

Now was not the time to be saying he would rather avoid away teams cause he had PTSD issues.   He was certain she'd be provided that intel when she read up on his personnel file.

"I know Chief Tharn and I never got along but that doesn't have to be you and I.  I'm here to work."  Even though if truth be told he'd rather be searching for Ruth.  He'd tried his best for 9 months... now the search was in some private investigator's hands and he needed the extra credits to pay for that.

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|USS-Challenger|Main Engineering]

Neva looked equally worried and about to laugh at Lahr's reaction to her. Before she could stop herself, she felt his tiredness and worry over someone. Shaking it off, she smiled. "Thank you, Lahr, that's high praise indeed."

Neva looked around then back at the Andorian. With a smirk, she murmured. "Lahr,  lets drop the 'ma'am' and 'Chief' between you and I. Since weve worked together a good bit before this, lets agree that you can call me 'Neva' from here on." She dropped the smirk to one of slight embarrassment. "Chief Cordon is too damned formal anyway."

Straightening up, she turned away from him and scanned the room. "Hey Gang, listen up!" She called with a smile. "From now on, do not call me 'Chief Cordon' from here on out." She took a deep but shaky breath, then continued. "When you talk to or about me, its 'Chief Neva,' ok?" She smirked as she took in their mostly surprised faces and softly chuckled. Yes everyone, i am serious. Live it, love it, do it! Dismissed!" She turned back to Lahr. "Lets go to my office, ok?" Neva asked with a smile. "We need to get all that stupid  formal stuff out of the way."

[Acting Chief Engineering Officer!]

Hello Mother!

It's good to know you're well and that the House Winter Gala went so well. Despite the chaos that happened on Earth, I'm happy that you were able to make that tradition happen even so.

Yes, Mother, I was able to find and speak to some of Dad's family. I managed to spend some time with them before I got called back to the Challenger.

Yes, Mother, you heard it right. I did get a promotion, and an amazing one at that. Since Starfleet stole any and all senior officers where they could find them, junior staff had to fill the vacuum. Thus my promotion was to-and yes, I'm feeling every emotion on this-Acting Chief Engineering Officer! Can you believe it?? I was at Cousin Ellen's house with most of her children and some of the Aunts and uncles when I got called up. I barely had time to say goodbye before they actually beamed me up from right there!

Luckily, I'd already had my supplies that I'd needed and wanted sent to the ship, so that was a blessing! I was soo thankful I'd brought my backpack to Ellen's that day! I don't know how I'd've managed if I hadn't!

So yeah, I've been trying to catch up on what Chief Tharn left me, as well as get a handle on who I actually have under my command. You wouldn't believe all the people that got purloined, swapped, and thrown at me! They kept showing up like Dad's rabbits almost until we launched! Oh the stories I could tell you!

By all the Gods, Mother, I had one misbegotten soul actually hit on me! Yes, you heard that right! If it wasn't for the calming techniques you kept making me learn, I think violence would've happened! As it was, there was a wonderful way to "redirect" the moron's proclivities. I found out there's a Lt. Blackfeather that makes all misbehaving souls scrub the outer hull with toothbrushes! Yes, Mother, you heard me right.  He makes them get in spacesuits and really clean the various parts with a non-electric brush! I'm telling you the Gods' honest truth, Mother. And yes, the little bugger came back quite contrite and mighty sore afterwards. I admit to wanting him to suffer his aches and pains by hard work in some obscure part of the ship-inside, yes. You'll be happy to know I shoved his misbegotten behind to Sickbay as soon as he showed up in my Department.

Aside from that, we're managing here. As scattered and personell-poor that we are, I'm confident things will turn around soon.

Well, Mother, I think I need to end this. I've got a minion knocking at my door.

I send all my love across the stars to you. Your Chief Engineer Daughter, Nevanthi

Oh, by the way...MOM I'M CHIEF OF ENGINEERING ON AN HONEST TO THE GODS STARSHIP!!! AAAHHHH! *coughs and hmms*

[[USS Challenger - Deck 12 - Main Engineering]]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 12 - Main Engineering]

After the Cordon left for the briefing, Lahr settled into his assigned station - watching the primary intermix flow.  The computer for the most part maintained the flow rates automatically - increasing or decreasing the rate at small increments when it noticed trends up or down.  Lahr's role was to make sure the automation was doing it's job correctly, and to manually adjust in those situations where the downtrend was too rapid and the computer couldn't compensate fast enough.  This meant a lot of attentive watching.  Basically, the same sorta thing he'd done on Deck Twelve.. but now he because he was manning a primary system - the likelihood of needing to actually make an adjustment had increased by over double.

Lahr settled into his seat, stifling a minor yawn, popped in his earbuds and tapped the music icon on his PADD accessing the ship's database of music.  First up was a Risan dance rhythm.  Lahr's head could be seen from across Main Engineering bobbing to the beat that only he could hear.

[Lt.JG ACEO Neva Cordon|USS-Challenger|Main Engineering]

Having formulated a plan to tackle the Anomalous Power Distortion, Neva's crew broke from the table to implement it. Neva watched them with a strange feeling bubbling up from her stomach to her heart. These were Her people, Her responsibility now. Suddenly, a cold tsunami dashed through her. It brought stark reality in its wake, and her eyes widened at the thought. Her responsibility...

Shaking off the melancholic thoughts, she let her gaze trace through the area. In that scan, Neva found Lahr hard at work. Of all those now under her command, she was unsure how she would "handle" him. She thought about how they had worked together in the past and she smiled a little. 'I wonder if we could rig up a playlist for Engineering?' she mused.

That said, Neva walked up and lightly tapped Lahr on the shoulder. "Hey there! How's it going? Our baby's heartbeat still clear and strong?" She smirked a little.

[ USS Challenger - Briefing Room ]

Jettis was the one to pipe up in answer to Mrekrerhas. "Starfleet has virtually nothing on anything we will be exploring. The only information we've managed to glean from our scans is that the distortions appear to be artificial, and there's evidence it may be caused by some sort of effort at power generation."

Shaking his head, he didn't like the lack of information either. He was all for going into the unknown, but foreign temporal disturbances... were not his favorite.

"I don't love the idea of letting a bunch of cadets loose to catalogue and chart the contents of our scans, but I suppose the more hands the better." He raised a brow dubiously. "I suppose I'll have Hyperion double check most of the reports. I may coordinate with Ops as well" He hated having to rely on the bot to essentially check the newbies homework, but they simply didn't have enough hands to do otherwise. He had no further questions - he just had to sort out how to wrangle his department before they got anywhere near the source of the disturbances.

[Lt. JG ACEO Neva Cordon|USS-Challenger|Briefing Room]

Neva nodded and kept looking down at her PADD when the Captain answered. She smiled a little at his suggestion, but perked up a little at the Doctor's mentioning his distaste of having his newer crew doing mundane tasks. She'd have to ask him about sending her wayward "darlings" to him to help him with his task.

Neva's brow furrowed at the mention of the results, such as they were, of the distortion scans. Looking at him directly, she asked. "Is it possible for you to forward those scans to me and my team in Engineering, please? I'd like to see if we can pool ideas on this and maybe set up some protocols we can start with when we get there."

[Ensign Tora Zalos|Mess Hall|USS Challenger]

"No, no, don't you worry. The conversation's part of the fun of it." Indeed Tora's food had gone lukewarm by the time she had another mouthful, but somehow she didn't mind. The newfound company was the perfect additive that made having it much more enjoyable. Besides, it still tasted good, so she wasn't about to complain.

"So, Neva. Tell me more about you. Why are you in Starfleet, where've you been, what your opinion on life and things is. Anything." Tora's amber eyes gleamed. "I'm all ears."

[Lt. JG ACE Neva Cordon|USS-Challenger|Mess Hall]

Neva chuckled and took a bite out of her sandwich, closing her eyes to enjoy the goodness. After a few bites, she washed it down with Almond Milk and once more regarded Tora. She sensed genuine curiosity from her, which was refreshing.

"What got me into Starfleet?" Neva snorted a laugh and smirked. "I didn't stand a chance at being anything else, considering my parents had me when they were still serving on a Starfleet ship themselves." Neva smiled fondly. "Didn't help when I got hold of my dad's PADD at 5 years old and tore it apart and then looked at my astonished parents and said "I fix! I fix!" Neva laughed softly, though her eyes sparkled with mirth. "They knew right then and there that their daughter would be an Engineer when she grew up."

Neva shrugged her shoulders dismissively after that, took another couple of bites of her sandwich, and sipped her milk. She then cocked her head for a moment, looking up at the tapered ceilings. Turning her dark gaze back to her new friend, she smiled a little and then said "As for my opinions on life...well, that's a deep subject. Depends on what you want to know." She shrugged again, still smiling. "I've been to many places and planets since I was born. Many of them I don't remember, to be honest."

Neva balanced her head on a fist by way of her elbow on the table. She regarded Tora inquiringly. "What about you? What's gotten you to this point?" She gestured to the room. "How'd a Cardassian get into Starfleet? And to live on Risa?" Neva sat up again, though she rested her chin on her fingers held in place with both elbows now on the table. "There's gotta be some juicy deets with that alone!" She waved a hand in circles in a gesture of continuance and a raised eyebrow.