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Stardate: 70628.69

"Well, back to Starfleet and back to work.  I've got Alanoth with me, so I don't feel too lonely but I still miss Tani."  Levinia chewed on her bottom lip which was a habit of hers and one she didn't realize she was doing until it was pointed out.  Not that Tanibak cared, he probably found it endearing.  Her eyes fell upon their child, three years old and already broody and dubious about the universe.  That was the Romulan part of him.  Without duty it seemed like the child was afloat, so being back to Starfleet gave him a sense of duty.  It made her happy to know this and see him wearing his child combadge with pride.

Levinia reached out and gently caressed the softened ridges on his forehead which made the boy look older than he was.  He was already tall for his age, but that was to be expected and she was glad he wasn't short like her.  She turned back to the recording device and continued her log entry, "The lead we had on Douglas was too good to pass up but it was too dangerous for me to go in with Alanoth.  I hate the separation but I understand the need for it.  If I hadn't figured out that my brother was still alive who knows what would have happened to him.  As it is, we fear telling my family in case Tanibak gets too him too late.  Of course I'm saying all this because the truth is, it has nothing to do with espionage or the Federation just some bad deals and my brother's stupid decisions."

She shook her head, "Once father hears about this, Douglas is going to be in REAL trouble.  I just want him home safe and I know if anyone can get him out it'll be Tanibak.  So, I'm glad to be back, I feel safe with Alanoth and I think we're all going to be just fine."   Levinia smiled and turned off the recorder.

tag Bridge crew ^.^'

[Bridge]

Bridge

Levinia waited and chewed on her bottom lip as the ship entered the creature's body.  She kept an eye on the scans which started to come up with what the creature looked like on the inside.  It was amazing how biological it was and not very different from other biological life forms.  "Its crust seems to be planet like, with a live version of magnetic shielding which is probably what protects it from solar radiation and keeps those life forms on the surface growing.  It looks like the life forms act as a skin cleaning service and in return the creature provides them with nutrients to grow.  Fascinating really,  with future study we can figure out what it eats..."  She leaned in further, reaching over the shoulder of the science cadet and scanning the information that scrolled before her.

[Bridge]

"I could fire at anything that gets close enough to us. Not enough to kill anything. Just enough to repel them." James finally said as he read over the information displayed on the primary tactical station. "We'll also have to be a bit more conservative with firepower to reserve some power to the shields."

Levinia made her way to tactical and studied the display.  She knew a bit about tactical, but mainly from studying what Tanibak did.  Still, it was a skill that she had not quite gotten yet, like flying she was always working on it.  "It's okay if you kill them, they're individual antibodies not sentient and they have a short life anyway.  Their goal IS to kill us, so don't hold back from killing them first."  She chewed on her lip and suggested to the lieutenant, "Perhaps we can make our shielding unappealing or better yet, disguise ourselves as part of the creature's body, that way they won't attack us anymore and we can run free?"

Bridge

"Phagocytosis..." murmured Paige.  Her colleague at the academy had been a Dr McGellen, a virologist and immunologist.  What they'd discussed over copious beverages was beginning to make sense now.

Speaking out loud so that anyone would be able to hear she said "Even if we are acting like an antibiotic medicine, any living beings automatic defense systems kick in.  That's half of how a body fights illness and the immune system works. We as a 'foreign body' are forcing the planet-creature to activate it's defense mechanisms, or 'immune system' and thus indirectly the planet is trying to heal itself."

Paige allowed herself to feel the planet for a moment letting down her guards against the empathic side of her for a moment.

"Does or has anyone ever lived on this planet?" she asked vaguely mostly at Sciences as they were most likely to know or be able to find out.  "It's just a feeling I'm getting that the pain this planet creature is in... isn't self-inflicted, but something that's been caused over time and is now almost like a wide-spread, but hopefully not inoperable, cancer."

Levinia nodded at Paige as the pretty doctor made her comments.  "Could be, but it could also be something the creature was born with.  We won't know until we get to it; but right now we need to get to it without getting ourselves stuck, or worse, destroyed."  She shivered slightly at the thought of slowly being eliminated by the bodies natural defenses.  It made getting blown up sound enjoyable.

[Bridge]

"Carter, Deacon, get me an analysis on this attack, if that's what it is." Stafford said. The red alert klaxons were buzzing in his ears, a constant reminder of the danger of the task at hand. "And return fire. Like you said, take it easy, we don't want to hurt this thing or waste power."

The commander walked to the tactical station and studied it briefly before meeting the eyes and VISOR of the two officers. "Could we have Crewman Ezac modify a torpedo to disperse the blood clot cleanly and painlessly?"

Stafford was out of his element by just a bit. He had been a general practitioner in his day, not an experimental micro-surgeon. It was difficult to interpret the situation on such a scale, and with an unknown exobiology twist to boot.

Levinia grinned at the XO's brilliant idea.  "Brilliant! That could work we can disperse the clot and allow the body to naturally absorb it.  The only problem would be to get it aimed correctly, we don't want to hit something that we shouldn't have.  Still, I suggest perhaps a bit more study on where the clot is located.  I mean, if it's going to cause more damage to remove it, perhaps, like Dr. Wardropper said, it could be inoperable." 

[Bridge]

Bridge

Levinia watched with bated breath as Ensign Deacon made the cut.  She crossed her arms to avoid clenching her fists at her side and winced when the young woman made the wrong cut.  It happened however, to all surgeons and the thing to do was to correct the mistake instead of making it worse.  Walking over to the ensign she placed a hand on the woman's chair and whispered some encouraging words.  The last thing the woman needed was to be yelled at.  "It's alright, although it seems to be in some sort of pain the incision is not what is causing its main pain."

The CSO turned to the cadet manning the science section.  "I want a progressive report on the creatures bio readings.  Are there any spikes in the thresholds.  Is it bleeding, if so we need to close it up before it bleeds too much."  She returned to the viewscreen and turned to the Commanding Officers.

"Well, if you wanted to go inside right now is a good time.  However, like any bleeding creature it will try to close itself up which means it'll be throwing platelets at the opening.  If it's a typical biological and all our readings show that it is."  Levinia gave them the possible problem but then gave them a solution.  "I'd have tactical on alert to shoot any biologicals aimed at us, because we will be a foreign body.  This won't hurt the creature one bit, since each cell is basically an individual, but they can cause a lot of damage if they manage to stick to the hull or even infiltrate it.  We won't know for certain until we're inside."

"If we follow the blood flow we can maneuver basically anywhere."  She continued, "As soon as we've passed the creatures outer crust we can get a better reading of what's inside and find the source of the problem.  I believe this is what we want to do, isn't it?"   She gave Leonard a nod, agreeing with his words and turned back to the Command staff. 

[[Bridge]]

[Bridge]
After a pause, Leviania broke in, "Then study it Ms. Black. I have a feeling that we will have the chance to examine it up close and rather personally here very shortly."

The Captain's words were accompanied by the data from the medical scans being projected on the main screen.

The scans, treating the planet like a medical subject, were able to ascertain that it had problems with it's blood flow. Just before the creature's massive beating heart, an organ with the mass of a small continent, there appeared to be a clot that was partially obstructing the blood flow. It was buried near the core of the planet.

"That clot must be the size of a ship. The only way to clear a clot that deep down would be to do it with explosives- maybe even photon torpedos. Unfortunately, we will need to travel in there and eliminate it. It's far too deep in the planet to be able to take any other course of action and we might nick something vital otherwise. Do you concur Dr. Vaughn?" She suggested, deferring to the chief medical officer. This was, strangely, her patient.

On the view screen part of the planet's fauna, a patch that had to be 50 miles wide, almost like it understood what the Captain had just said.

"It looks as though it is indicating... and incision point? Tactical. Please target that. If the Doctor agrees, please make an incision and, helm, pilot us into that bloodstream."

This would be the second time in as many missions that the Athena would be breaking atmosphere. Though... to be fair... this time it under very different circumstances.

Bridge

Dr. Black spun around at the mention of that, and tapped Lizzie on the shoulder.  Before she could speak someone else did.

[Bridge]

Chris turned to face the Captain "You can't be serious! The ship wasn't designed for...for Internal Medicine. There's no telling what it's insides could do to the Hull or the ship's systems." He shook his head "Belief me Captain, your going to be spending the next six months in Spacedock looking at your ship getting new outer hull segments."

"I concur!"  She began, speaking her two cents worth.  "We don't know what that creature has as a defense system inside itself.  Captain, if you really want to go in there, I'd suggest a shuttle, something smaller and with a great deal of defensive and offensive weapons.  Some of our own anti-bodies are beasts, I can only imagine what those thing's anti-bodies look like."  She turned to the tall red head next to her and stepped back, "Anyway, those are my thoughts." 

[Bridge]

Bridge

Lizzie's head shot up at the mention of hostility.

"Have there been any actions apart from the message Commander?" She queried. "Because I'm reluctant to assume hostility until we have some evidence of it." She turned back to the science station and looked at the readings that were coming in. She gasped in amazement.

"I don't believe it." She said in shock, recognising what she saw but not really believing it. She looked up at the viewscreen then at the Captain. "Captain there is evidence of a network of what appear to be electrolytic strands that connect he majority if not all of the flora and fauna of the planet. The way it's arranged, it looks like a primitive brain."  She stared at the display not really believing her own eyes.

Bridge

Vinnie joined Lizzie and began to read the information herself.  "This is amazing!"  She gasped her blue eyes wide with excitement.  She leaned in and tapped the system to get the readings from the probes.  "Dr. Vaughan is correct, Captain.  The entire planet is one huge symbiotic creature, where it ends and starts will require further research."

Bridge

Suzie had been sitting quietly at the engineering station as nothing that was going on had anything to do with her. She did gasp in shock when the doctor mentioned a primitive brain. This caused her to wonder if this planet had emotions and not just primitive responses. Without thinking too much or really considering the risks, she started to open up her mind. What she felt made her head hurt. Pain, if there was one way to describe it, it would be pain and a great deal of it.

"Captain." She called out in a slightly weak voice. "I don't feel any hostility but whatever this creature is, it is in a great deal of pain. I've never felt so much pain come from one creature before. We need to help it Captain, we can't allow it to continue to suffer." She finished, trying to get her mental barriers back up and only just managing it.

"Well there you go, if it's injured then it could easily become hostile if it senses danger."  Levinia didn't ask how the woman knew that the creature was in pain, "Perhaps upon close inspection we can figure out what's wrong with it.  I'm not opposed to helping a wounded space creature."  She placed her hands on her hips and smiled.  Her first assignment was turning out to be quite an adventure.  She couldn't wait to tell her father about this one.

[Bridge]

Bridge

Lizzie listened in amazement at the Captain's words.

"A sentient planet!" She breathed, her brain working overtime. She turned to the science station and saw that Levinia was manning it.

"What sort of readings are we getting?" She asked Vinny, needing more information.

Bridge

"A sentient planet?"  Levinia echoed Lizzie's amazement.  She looked at Lizzie, "All our readings are for planets."  The CSO turned to Cadet Rennston, "Run bio scans, wide, start at the top pole and work your way down."  She returned to Lizzie and the captain, "The bio scans will work similar to what a biobed does for a patient, but I do suggest some probes, Captain; and perhaps some samples."   She grinned, "How I would love to get my hands on that thing, I just hope its not hostile."   

Tag Levinia and the Captain

Do you have a planet sized hypospray, Liz?  XD

[[Bridge]]

[Bridge]

"Confirmed Ms. Black. Continue scanning. I want to know everything about this Á¢â,¬Ëœjerking'. Mr. Scott- please keep us at a safe distance. Mr. Stafford, I don't want a Yellow Alert yet but please activate one the moment we see any signs of hostility."

Bridge

Levinia tapped her wedding ring on the smooth console top as she summarized her thoughts.  "The rate of change of acceleration, is technically called a jerk."  She began, knowing most of the bridge crew would know this, but thinking it best to just review it again.  She hoped she didn't cause anyone to lapse into evil physics classes again.

She stood up, and continued explaining, "When a small body like ours jerks it's very easy to see, when we stop, when we start, but when a larger body such as the rogue planet does it it's a slower rate but still, compared to its size to manage to record it, it's amazing."

[Bridge]

Kyle followed Black to her station, listening intently. It was nerve-wracking being on the bridge. Even knowing he was supposed to be there, it felt odd somehow. He looked over the Lieutenant's shoulder, eyeing the information she was analyzing. At the moment, there wasn't much he could do until he was told, but he hoped he'd catch something that might be able to help out.

Dr. Black turned to the cadet and pointed at the console, "Keep monitoring the rate of change, Mr. Rennston, and let me know if there's a change."  She then turned her eyes back to the captain.

"So now that we are all in the know about the Á¢â,¬Ëœjerk', we need to figure out why it's jerking."  Levinia continued, "We jerk for several reasons, such as, we reached our destination, but mostly because something got in our way and we jerk to avoid collision."  She turned to the viewscreen and furrowed her forehead in thought, "Another important thing we need to figure out."  The science officer hugged herself, "Jerking takes intelligence or instinct."  She smiled ironically, "And last time I checked, planets don't think."

tag Renniston and tag the captain

[Science Department]

[Bridge]

"=/\=Stafford to Science department." The commander said after having tapped his commbadge. "=/\=We have arrived at the Cluster. You may begin your analysis when ready."

Science Department

Levinia stood up at the call of the commander and responded promptly.

=^= Aye, Commander, I'm on it. =^=

"Dr. Freeman and Dr. K'Tall."  She motioned to the scientist in charge of astronomical bodies and physics.  "Start your scans from here, I'm going up to the bridge to work directly with the Bridge Crew."  She nodded and motioned for a cadet that was standing nearby.

"You, Cadet Renston?"  She hoped she had gotten his name correct.  Levinia had a very good memory but sometimes things slipped by, especially now.  "You're coming with me, cadet."

Bridge

"If you apply Bayes' Theorem to the chances of all these phenomenons occurring in one place, it'd have to be in the 5th or 6th standard deviations... maybe even beyond that. While I accept that the universe is a big place Commander, I'll submit myself for psychiatric evaluation if these phenomenons are not directly correlated..."

What Constance was saying, in her normal overly analytic fashion, was that the chance of all these thing occurring at once was extremely small and she'd sooner consider herself crazy if they weren't related.

The sensors on the navigation readout in front of Leonard started saying rather weird things. They were beeping and sending back loads of feedback to the helmsman. The planet, which normally should have had a predictable course though space, was... slowing? Rogue planets couldn't put on thrusters to "stop", but... this one seemed to be.

Levinia walked in when the captain was speaking.  She nodded at the assessment and quickly got to the science station where she logged in and quickly reviewed the information.

The beeping of the console brought Leonard's attention back to his station. He had never encountered such a thing. He quickly adjusted course to make sure they didn't start wandering away from the planet, or worse, falling into the atmosphere.

"It may be a wee bumpy, but nothing too bad," he said to the captain. "It may take a little bit of time to predict a pattern, but you can bet your pips I'll have us sailing smooth in no time."

He didn't want to sound too cocky, but also wanted to convey expertise.

"Captain."  Levinia chimed in, "I wouldn't get too close...it's not acting properly."  She licked her lips in thought, "Perhaps sending some probes would be best for now.  It's actually slowing down and I don't mean in the regular millions of years way either.  Technically speaking it's jerking, as much as a thing that big can jerk."

[CSO's Office]

CSO's Office

Levinia went over the rosters, which were a bit more difficult than the medical ones.  For one thing, there were different science departments, and unlike the different medical specialties, not every scientist could handle what another would do.  Still, the similarities were there, and it didn't take her long to find her rhythm.  Going back to work after a few years of family time was not as difficult as she imagined, if anything Dr. Black fell back into work quickly.

Her son did not seem to have noticed that anything was different, except for the ship and the fact that his father wasn't around.  Still, he was a perceptive child for his age and not prone to whine or complain.  If anything, Alanoth wasn't prone to doing much talking and at age three had refused to say a word.  It wasn't that he couldn't, more like he didn't want too.  As a doctor, Levinia had checked him thoroughly but he was fine and she realized that he would talk when he was good and ready to talk.   Her child was only half Romulan, but just as stubborn as his full blooded father, so for the moment she let it be.

The CSO shook her head and went back to planning the rosters and making sure that there was a scientist available if the captain ever required one.  She, on the other hand, would always be available and was just glad that she had help with her son.  Levinia got the Shift Leads worked out and now she turned to the lower ranking officers and the cadets.  So many new faces and she sighed at the thought that not long ago she was a wide eyed cadet herself.  She put those thoughts away and continued her work..

[Character Details]

Character Details

Character Name: Levinia Black-Qeller
Character Age: 30
Character DOB: 2361, May 23
Character Image: Emilia Clarke (dark hair) *Archangel said this was okay with her.
Character Species: human
Gender: female
Character Family:

Mother: Georgia Serna - Black
Father: Ambrose Black
Brother(s): Ambrose Black Jr, Douglas Morgan Black
Sister(s): Tabitha Clara Black
Spouse: Tanibak Qellar
Child: Alanoth Douglas Qellar-Black (3 years old)

Character Bio:

Early life

Levinia was born as the third child to Ambrose and Georgia Serna.  Her father was a doctor for Starfleet when he met the civilian scientist.  When his second child was born, Ambrose decided to cleave Starfleet and go into private practice.  He started with a small office on the moon settlement called New Berlin.

By the time Levinia was born, her father had a successful practice and her mother worked for a local laboratory.  Her brother Douglas was born only 11 months after Levinia was and they grew up more as twins than as regular siblings.  Levinia and her brother Doug, grew up very close.  They were inseparable sharing all their time reading and, once their father purchased a holodeck, they would spend every moment they could on adventures they brought to life from their favorite books.

As they all got older, each sibling decided to follow in their parent's footsteps.  Ambrose Jr., Levinia and Douglas all took the path of their father and became doctors.  While Tabitha became a researcher like their mother.

Levinia went to medical school on Earth, choosing the prestigious and very old Cambridge, her father's Alma Mater.  School was never difficult for Levinia and it was made much easier when she was joined by her brother douglas.  In the middle of her schooling, she attended a Starfleet recruitment meeting and Levinia decided to join.

Starfleet career

Her mother was not happy, having a dislike for Starfleet, but her father, a former Starfleet officer was fine with it.  So now Levinia had the difficult job of finishing medical school and Starfleet Academy.

Again, the school work was not difficult but she had a hard time with the physical aspects of the training.  Still, she managed with the help of her fellow cadets.  She in turn, helped them with their studies.  She did well in command scenarios, but not so well with operations or flight.  Cadet Black, however, did well enough to graduate not only from the academy but from medical school.  Her medical clinicals were handled by Starfleet as Levinia started her career as a medical cadet.

Her career blossomed and grew with every mission.  She quickly made her way to Chief Medical Officer of the USS Arizona, achieving the rank of Lieutenant before being reported MIA during her last mission with what Starfleet has dubbed the "Sphere Makers".

Levinia, with the help of Lt. Tanibak, returned to Federation space where she began to serve on the USS Archer as CMO, achieving the rank of Lt. Commander until she needed to quit her commission due to medical problems.  She has returned to Starfleet, with a new family member in toe.

Your Details: My primary is Jamie Shen

Previous Role-Playing Experience: 15+ years
Department Preference: Medical
Secondary Department Preference:
Commissioned, Enlisted or Civilian: If I can get at least a Lt (jr) rank then please commission me, if not then Civilian doctor will be fine.  I'm open to any assignment ^.^'

Sample post:

On the Shuttle

Jamie turned to him, the adrenaline of the mission must have washed away her sense of humor because she actually believed him for a moment.  When he revealed his joke she rolled her eyes and called out unprofessionally, "You ass!"  Then went back to her patients, sighing with relief as the Athena confirmed their return and prepared.

Jamie's fingers sought out the Caitan's soft fur and comforted him, "I know, K'lizh, but if I give you the wrong thing it will harm you.  Stimulants are funny that way.  We'll be back on the Athena in no time.  Don't worry."  She smiled at him realizing what a handsome being he was and refitted the mask over his breathing orifices.

She left him and went to stand next to Ezac as the Breen watched their stowaways who were now their guests.  "You know."  Jamie began, directing her words at Ezac.  "I've been thinking about what you told me and I suppose you're right.  I mean..."  She held on to him when the shuttle hit a pocket of turbulence, but once they cleared the stratosphere it would be smooth sailing.  "...whoa there...."  She continued, "As I was saying, you haven't needed medical help so far..."  She shrugged her lips, "....so either your luck lasts and you never do, or..."  Jamie looked up at him and frowned sadly, "....you're lucky run is almost over?  Either way, big guy, it's up to you, and if you wish, I will not share the information with anyone."

Additional information:  I'll be NPCing her 3 year old son, Alanoth Douglas.

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