Season 15: Episode 3 - Restless Spirit

[Rayek trLhoell]

Cmdr. Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery-B - Deck One - Bridge] (enroute to the wormhole)

The Bridge was quiet as the crew worked at their tasks efficiently yet without interaction.  It was a very different dynamic than what Rayek was familiar with as XO on Katra.  There, the Operations Control Centre, had been lively with the comms of incoming ships, discussions on topics ranging from politics to science, and on-the-side personal conversations amongst the crew - most notably by one Lieutenant Hrafn Falleg-Tekin.

Rayek found it a bit amusing to note how different in personality the Captain and his wife was.  She was bubbly and an incessant conversationalist... whereas the Captain seemed almost the opposite.   In the two and a half months that Rayek had worked alongside the Bajoran (including their time on the Valdore), Rayek couldn't recall a single casual conversation that the two had.  Everything was ship related.   Rayek wondered if that was just how Tekin was all the time, or if this was because of his history with Tekin's wife..

The Romulan hoped that this lack of 'social connectedness' wasn't what was keeping the others on the Bridge in silence, but he suspected that it may.   With nothing to converse about, Rayek was a little antsy.  He didn't like keeping still.  He considered walking 'the ring of the bridge' to oversee things, but had been told, ever so gently by Tess, that others viewed that as rather invasive of their personal space.  So Rayek remained in his seat and tried to focus on reading what logs he could access on Captain Shaw and his ship.

He'd barely skimmed the first page when an alert sounded at his and the Captain's chair simultaneously along with the consoles at Helm, and Security.   It was a system automated alert noting a signal contact with the USS Titan-A.  A moment later, orders from Starfleet Command arrived with instructions to divert to a specified set of coordinates and intercept the Titan.

Rayek looked up from reading the orders, his expression one of surprise.  He looked to the Captain a moment before turning towards the Helm and Ops consoles.

"Mr. Graham. I believe you have your new heading.  Lay in a course and increase speed to Warp 8"

Warp 8 being standard cruising speed.   Discovery could of course go faster but that was the prerogative of the Captain.

[Lek]

[Main Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek waited until the two ensigns left and went immediately to his office. First thing he had to do was have the computer identify the women as he had never met either and once he had that, he modified the access to Engineering protocol. Normally, the doors to the engine room opened automatically for everyone. Now, if either approached, the doors would not open, but would chime like they would for someone's quarters.

That done, he wrote up a 'serious incident' report on Lorut, sending a copy to Rayek as First Officer and to Lieutenant Banan, the Chief of Operations. Lek had been in Starfleet for a long time and had never witnessed such behavior and was completely baffled by the entire interchange. There was no reason or logic to what happened, and most importantly, no justification.

Once the message was sent, he leaned back in his seat and sighed heavily. He wasn't a disciplinarian and certainly wasn't a task master. He didn't go out of his way to meet new crew members, but he tried to get along with everyone he met or served with. This whole event was beyond his comprehension.

It was then that the holo-dog stood on its hind legs against his leg again and this time Lek picked up the animal and let it nuzzle with him. The dog made itself at home in his lap and immediately, Lek felt his mood brighten and thought.

"Now this is an emotional support animal."

Not wanting to disturb the dog, he opened his terminal and began monitoring the repair teams from his office.

[M'Nia]

[USS Discovery-B | Main Engineering]

Turning and walking out, she paused momentarily at M'Nia's side, giving the woman's sleeve a gentle tug as she whispered, "Good Luck," with a slight smirk before making her way to and out through the main doors en route back to the turbolift. If the Chief Engineer would not give her the time to pick his brain about the recent upgrades, all she had to do was see when the Assistant Chief Engineer was on duty and ask him. Lieutenant Gianetti was known to be the more"¦forgiving of the two, leading engineers.

Why did a simple gesture give her such a charge? M'nia grinned and whispered "Thanks!" .Sydney really did it for her. She was beautiful, smart and yeah sexy! Sydney seemed interested but they really hadn't known each other that long! However M'nia was hopeful that they could have a romantic relationship together!

[Dranik]

Dranik
Near Main Engineering
USS Discovery

Dranik was having a rough morning.

The twins had cried for a good portion of the night and Ciavil had been tossing and turning all night, her second pregnancy was clearly taking a toll on her despite numerous visits to sickbay over the past few weeks. The Hirogen had done his best to keep his wife happy and she was trying to put a happy face on in return but Dranik could tell she was almost always feeling physically uncomfortable. The twins had finally settled down once Dranik had let them sleep with him on the couch in their quarters. He had gotten maybe four hours of sleep total and had spent most of his free time this morning trying to clean up their quarters so Ciavil wouldn't have to.

Raktajino. Need Raktajino. Need a bucket of Raktajino. The Hirogen thought as he headed for a turbolift. As he passed by main engineering he could hear Lek shouting at someone. He briefly thought about checking to see if Lek needed assistance but shook his head. Nope. Not Today. Pretty sure Lek can take care of it himself.

Dranik reached the turbolift and requested that it take him to the armory. There was a replicator near his place of work and he could only hope it could make a decent cup of Raktajino.

[Tekin Nevir]

Cmdr. Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery-B - Deck One - Bridge] (enroute to the wormhole)

The Bridge was quiet as the crew worked at their tasks efficiently yet without interaction.  It was a very different dynamic than what Rayek was familiar with as XO on Katra.  There, the Operations Control Centre, had been lively with the comms of incoming ships, discussions on topics ranging from politics to science, and on-the-side personal conversations amongst the crew - most notably by one Lieutenant Hrafn Falleg-Tekin.

Rayek found it a bit amusing to note how different in personality the Captain and his wife was.  She was bubbly and an incessant conversationalist... whereas the Captain seemed almost the opposite.   In the two and a half months that Rayek had worked alongside the Bajoran (including their time on the Valdore), Rayek couldn't recall a single casual conversation that the two had.  Everything was ship related.   Rayek wondered if that was just how Tekin was all the time, or if this was because of his history with Tekin's wife..

The Romulan hoped that this lack of 'social connectedness' wasn't what was keeping the others on the Bridge in silence, but he suspected that it may.   With nothing to converse about, Rayek was a little antsy.  He didn't like keeping still.  He considered walking 'the ring of the bridge' to oversee things, but had been told, ever so gently by Tess, that others viewed that as rather invasive of their personal space.  So Rayek remained in his seat and tried to focus on reading what logs he could access on Captain Shaw and his ship.

He'd barely skimmed the first page when an alert sounded at his and the Captain's chair simultaneously along with the consoles at Helm, and Security.   It was a system automated alert noting a signal contact with the USS Titan-A.  A moment later, orders from Starfleet Command arrived with instructions to divert to a specified set of coordinates and intercept the Titan.

Rayek looked up from reading the orders, his expression one of surprise.  He looked to the Captain a moment before turning towards the Helm and Ops consoles.

"Mr. Graham. I believe you have your new heading.  Lay in a course and increase speed to Warp 8"

Warp 8 being standard cruising speed.   Discovery could of course go faster but that was the prerogative of the Captain.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

It was the sensor reading he hoped he wouldn't have received.  There was no reason he expected to receive it.  Out here in the Gamma Quadrant.  And yet, the sensor notification went off anyways.  The ship was connecting to the USS Titan-A.  Shaw's ship.  Almost immediately they received updated orders, and Rayek gave instructions to alter course.  Typical intercept.

"Correction, Helm... maximum warp." he ordered, turning to Rayek.  "We're still faster than the Neo-Cons.  And I'm hoping I can talk some sense into Shaw.  If he's running, there has to be a reason.  He is so by the book his quarters match the image under the definition of personal quarters..." he said with a sigh, shaking his head.

He felt the dampeners compensate for the change in acceleration and direction and then hit the comm on his chair.

"Bridge to Engineering.  Lek, I need you to study up on Constitution 3s.  We may need to disable it."

[Kinley Garrison]

Cmdr. Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery-B - Deck One - Bridge] (enroute to the wormhole)

The Bridge was quiet as the crew worked at their tasks efficiently yet without interaction.  It was a very different dynamic than what Rayek was familiar with as XO on Katra.  There, the Operations Control Centre, had been lively with the comms of incoming ships, discussions on topics ranging from politics to science, and on-the-side personal conversations amongst the crew - most notably by one Lieutenant Hrafn Falleg-Tekin.

Rayek found it a bit amusing to note how different in personality the Captain and his wife was.  She was bubbly and an incessant conversationalist... whereas the Captain seemed almost the opposite.   In the two and a half months that Rayek had worked alongside the Bajoran (including their time on the Valdore), Rayek couldn't recall a single casual conversation that the two had.  Everything was ship related.   Rayek wondered if that was just how Tekin was all the time, or if this was because of his history with Tekin's wife..

The Romulan hoped that this lack of 'social connectedness' wasn't what was keeping the others on the Bridge in silence, but he suspected that it may.   With nothing to converse about, Rayek was a little antsy.  He didn't like keeping still.  He considered walking 'the ring of the bridge' to oversee things, but had been told, ever so gently by Tess, that others viewed that as rather invasive of their personal space.  So Rayek remained in his seat and tried to focus on reading what logs he could access on Captain Shaw and his ship.

He'd barely skimmed the first page when an alert sounded at his and the Captain's chair simultaneously along with the consoles at Helm, and Security.   It was a system automated alert noting a signal contact with the USS Titan-A.  A moment later, orders from Starfleet Command arrived with instructions to divert to a specified set of coordinates and intercept the Titan.

Rayek looked up from reading the orders, his expression one of surprise.  He looked to the Captain a moment before turning towards the Helm and Ops consoles.

"Mr. Graham. I believe you have your new heading.  Lay in a course and increase speed to Warp 8"

Warp 8 being standard cruising speed.   Discovery could of course go faster but that was the prerogative of the Captain.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

It was the sensor reading he hoped he wouldn't have received.  There was no reason he expected to receive it.  Out here in the Gamma Quadrant.  And yet, the sensor notification went off anyways.  The ship was connecting to the USS Titan-A.  Shaw's ship.  Almost immediately they received updated orders, and Rayek gave instructions to alter course.  Typical intercept.

"Correction, Helm... maximum warp." he ordered, turning to Rayek.  "We're still faster than the Neo-Cons.  And I'm hoping I can talk some sense into Shaw.  If he's running, there has to be a reason.  He is so by the book his quarters match the image under the definition of personal quarters..." he said with a sigh, shaking his head.

He felt the dampeners compensate for the change in acceleration and direction and then hit the comm on his chair.

"Bridge to Engineering.  Lek, I need you to study up on Constitution 3s.  We may need to disable it."

[Bridge]

Kinley came up to the bridge to hear the captain order the ship to max warp She wasn't exactly sure what was up, but took up her normal place by the science station to take a look at the scanners.  "œMorning, sirs. What are we looking at today? she asked, definitely curious at the situation. Orders from Command? You didn't see that everyday.

[Lek]

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

It was the sensor reading he hoped he wouldn't have received.  There was no reason he expected to receive it.  Out here in the Gamma Quadrant.  And yet, the sensor notification went off anyways.  The ship was connecting to the USS Titan-A.  Shaw's ship.  Almost immediately they received updated orders, and Rayek gave instructions to alter course.  Typical intercept.

"Correction, Helm... maximum warp." he ordered, turning to Rayek.  "We're still faster than the Neo-Cons.  And I'm hoping I can talk some sense into Shaw.  If he's running, there has to be a reason.  He is so by the book his quarters match the image under the definition of personal quarters..." he said with a sigh, shaking his head.

He felt the dampeners compensate for the change in acceleration and direction and then hit the comm on his chair.

"Bridge to Engineering.  Lek, I need you to study up on Constitution 3s.  We may need to disable it."

[Main Engineering - USS Discovery]

When the Captain called, Lek wasn't sure could have possibly heard. He was so surprised, it took him a moment to reply with a simple.

"Aye Sir."

As he stared in blank horror at his terminal, he replayed what the Captain said again and the words were still the same.

"Disable a Constitution-III-Class ship... Madness, because that can only mean one of two things. A Starfleet crew had gone rogue or a Starfleet ship had gone rogue. Despite what had happened earlier in the day, I refuse to believe a Starfleet crew would go rogue. However, this new network program made it all too likely a Starfleet ship could do so."

Having come to this conclusion, Lek pulled up the specifications on the Constitution-III-Class ship and began to look for any weaknesses in the design.

"Blessed Exchequer please do not force use to fight another Starfleet ship. I'm not certain I can have that on my soul when I face you."

He prayed and hoped things wouldn't get as bad as they could.

[Lorut Vila]

MD01
Engineering Office

First off Ensign, you are now on report for insubordination. I don't care what the Ops chief does, but in Engineering, ensigns know their place and yours is not in Engineering. When you become Chief of Engineering, you get to tell me how to do my job. Now I suggest you get out here before I call Security and you find yourself in the brig!

She snorted.
"Please. You seem to have missed the memo. I spent ten years outrunning the Cardassians. If you think for one second that you scare me with your empty threats, you're mistaken." She stood up. "However, it IS the end of my break, and the Romulan already has me on a short leash. Something about being rash, or something." She shrugged. From her pocket, she extracted a shiny object and tossed it at him.

"Here. Some GPL," she said. "Ferengi way, right?" She sailed out of the office, laughing as she did so. Someone had his tighty-whites in a knot. Didn't he know the best way to make friends and influence people was to, like...not be like THAT?! Of course, her personality wasn't much to write home about, but she wasn't like that. She found her way back to the Ops office.

"Ensign Lorut, Lieutenant Banan was looking for you regarding your TPS reports, so you may want to run since I believe I saw him heading this way

Vila simply shrugged as she passed. One of these days, the entire Engineering department would find themselves locked into the deepfreeze or their computers frozen. Which ever was closest when she finally snapped.

"Good! If you see him, tell him I could use some Rakatjino. Also, might want to alert Medical that your boss is about to have a heart attack," she said, the laughter still in her voice. She entered the office and turned back on her Comms.

==/\==Commander tr'LHoell, I have returned. Someone may want to send medical to the Engineering office. I think that Commander Big Ears is having a canary," she said, not at all hiding the mirth. ==/\==Orders?==/\==

[Sydney Reid]

[USS Discovery-B | Deck 13 | Personal Quarters > Cryptology Lab] (Current Mission Time)

Laying flat on her back with her eyes staring at the blank ceiling above, Sydney's eyes faintly glowed gold as her hand waved in front of her, scrolling the information being projected into her view from her personal PADD. After being relieved of duty and unceremoniously dismissed from Engineering by Chief Lek, she'd returned to her quarters to continue her personal research on both the new Comms System Upgrades and continue to theorize how they were related to the Discovery's MVA programming given the similarities she'd previously detected in both. She'd hoped to discuss it with Commander Lek, but after the incident, which included the Chief unsurprisingly restricting some of her access to him, she'd decided to just wait it out for the Assistant Chief. Sooner or later she'd catch him in the Mess or some other public space.

As she felt the ship make a sudden, unexpected change in heading, forcing her to pause her scrolling, the chime of her commbadge caused her to sigh as her research time was being further interrupted. Dropping her hands to her sides, and then reaching up to tap the communicator, Sydney answered, Ensign Reid. What is it?

The call had come from the Petty Officer on duty in the Cryptology Lab. "Sir, one of the alerts you set after the upgrades is flashing."

Sydney's eyes flashed wide as she immediately knew what that meant, even if the Petty Officer didn't.  The excitement was clear in her voice as she answered back in almost a blur of words, "I'll be right there. Launching herself off of the minimalist bed, the Ensign didn't concern herself with glancing in a mirror or hiding her excitement in the least as she nearly clipped her quarters' door before hitting the corridor not far from the what was effectively her lab.

With a blip and a woosh, the doors to the Cryptology lab opened just in time to allow Sydney to swoop in, surely surprising the Petty Officer who turned with a look of shock on his face as he looked up from the primary lab seat. "Woah! How'd you get here so fast, Sir?"

Motioning frantically with both hands, the Ensign just kept repeating, "Move. Move. Move. Move," until the man had finally gotten himself moving upwards and out of her way. The act of taking over the seat was so swift, Sydney barely caught the look the Petty Officer gave her as she slid into the seat, still warm from the previous occupant, and started to enter commands into the console, having logged him out and herself in so swiftly that it was as if it were automatic.

Sydney paid no mind to the man who remained motionless standing behind her, looking at the back of her head in stunned silence before finally finding his voice, "Umm, Sir? What was"¦ What was up with your eyes?"

Still tapping and swiping away, the officer simply answered, "Huh?" which prompted the enlisted man to repeat his question. As her hands stopped to hover over the console, Sydney turned to look up at the man, appraising him for a moment before fully processing the question. "Oh!" she exclaimed before swiping her thumbs over her fingertips and explaining, "Just my ocular implants. Nothing to worry about," as the implants deactivated, returning her eyes to their boring, brown color.

The two were left staring at each other for an awkward, drawn-out moment. It finally dawned on the Ensign that the Petty Officer assigned to basically monitor the system during her off-shifts was waiting on directions on what he should do now that she'd arrived. Shaking her head back and forth quickly, as if trying to shake out the cobwebs, Sydney grinned up at the man, "Oh. Sorry. Umm"¦ You're"¦you're relieved, Petty Officer. I'll take over from here." In her opinion, that should have been enough, but the man's lack of movement and continued staring led her to believe otherwise. "Go to"¦dinner"¦or lunch"¦or whatever it is you normally do when you are done with your shift. If anyone asks, I gave you permission to be off-duty."

Being fairly certain she'd fulfilled all of her requirements to have the Petty Officer be on his way, Sydney started to rotate the chair back towards the console when she realized the man was still hesitating. Stopping midway, she didn't look back at him as she finally answered his initial question, "I got here so fast because I live only three doors down. Don't know who was handing out quarters assignments, but they obviously had efficiency in mind when it came to me and this lab."

There was a slow, "...Oh. Okay, Sir. See you tomorrow, then?" he asked, sounding somewhere between still confused and yet quite hopeful he was understanding his commissioned officer's command.

Turning the rest of the way to reengage with the console, Sydney just let out a speedy, "YeahYeahYeahYeahYeah. See you tomorrow. Now, GOooo." When the door whooshed closed and blipped again to confirm it had engaged the security locks, the woman let out a heavy breath of relief at finally being left alone to delve into the data she'd been waiting to look at since the latest upgrades to the Comms system had been integrated. Interlacing her fingers and cracking her knuckles, Sydney was beyond excited as she quickly filled every screen in the tiny lab with all of the various diagnostic data that came with the Discovery finally coming within range of one of the newer Starfleet vessels that had come pre-installed with the newest hardware upgrades to fully optimize the latest system update.

Looking up at the readouts, Sydney's mouth fell slightly agape before letting out a puzzled, "Huh?" at what she was reading. "The USS Titan? That's one of those 'Retro-Fits' they've been talking about," she said to herself. Normally she could claim she was talking out loud to STEVE, but the ship's 'pet' was surely off following around someone else who had made the mistake of feeding him their jello. The Ops Ensign knew the correct term was 'Neo-Constitution', but loathed the odd way that Starfleet wished to act like they hadn't just replicated the excellent designs of the past to make the senior Flag Officers not feel so ancient.

Regardless of the name of the class, Sydney had strapped herself into her chair - figuratively of course - to excitedly study every bit of data being processed as part of this new system. She wanted to figure out how it worked, and the only way to do that was to see it in action, literally.

[Tekin Nevir]

[Bridge]

Kinley came up to the bridge to hear the captain order the ship to max warp She wasn't exactly sure what was up, but took up her normal place by the science station to take a look at the scanners.  "œMorning, sirs. What are we looking at today? she asked, definitely curious at the situation. Orders from Command? You didn't see that everyday.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

Nevir looked up at his Science Officer stepping onto the bridge, and nodded to her.  "I hope we are just looking at visiting a friend and hearing that there was a miscommunication.  Starfleet has priority orders to find the USS Titan. There is apparently a wanted person on the ship and it was involved in an incident with the USS Intrepid earlier. And Starfleet is making it a top priority." he said, waiting for the ship to arrive. However, the quiet of the bridge was slightly disrupted...

MD01
Engineering Office

She snorted.
"Please. You seem to have missed the memo. I spent ten years outrunning the Cardassians. If you think for one second that you scare me with your empty threats, you're mistaken." She stood up. "However, it IS the end of my break, and the Romulan already has me on a short leash. Something about being rash, or something." She shrugged. From her pocket, she extracted a shiny object and tossed it at him.

"Here. Some GPL," she said. "Ferengi way, right?" She sailed out of the office, laughing as she did so. Someone had his tighty-whites in a knot. Didn't he know the best way to make friends and influence people was to, like...not be like THAT?! Of course, her personality wasn't much to write home about, but she wasn't like that. She found her way back to the Ops office.
Vila simply shrugged as she passed. One of these days, the entire Engineering department would find themselves locked into the deepfreeze or their computers frozen. Which ever was closest when she finally snapped.

"Good! If you see him, tell him I could use some Rakatjino. Also, might want to alert Medical that your boss is about to have a heart attack," she said, the laughter still in her voice. She entered the office and turned back on her Comms.

==/\==Commander tr'LHoell, I have returned. Someone may want to send medical to the Engineering office. I think that Commander Big Ears is having a canary," she said, not at all hiding the mirth. ==/\==Orders?==/\==

The Captain did a double take as he looked at Rayek.  "Did... did she just say what I think she just said?"

[Rayek trLhoell]

Cmdr. Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery-B - Deck One - Bridge] (enroute to the wormhole)

[Main Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek waited until the two ensigns left and went immediately to his office. First thing he had to do was have the computer identify the women as he had never met either and once he had that, he modified the access to Engineering protocol. Normally, the doors to the engine room opened automatically for everyone. Now, if either approached, the doors would not open, but would chime like they would for someone's quarters.

That done, he wrote up a 'serious incident' report on Lorut, sending a copy to Rayek as First Officer and to Lieutenant Banan, the Chief of Operations.

There was an old adage on Earth that Rayek had learned when he was a teen studying the enemy species.  When it rains; it pours.   That seemed to be true at the moment.

No sooner had the network system issued an alert, than orders to intercept had been received and acted upon by Rayek.  Now his PADD chimed with an incoming message - from Lek.  He knew from the pitch of the chime who the sender was - he had most of his contacts with preset 'ringtones pitches'.  To the average Human there was barely a difference but to the Romulan (or nearby Caitian) the sounds were rather distinctive.

Since Rayek next to never received messages from the Ferengi, the First Officer took the time to check his PADD to at least read the Subject Line.  That alone told him that today was not going to be a good day.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

It was the sensor reading he hoped he wouldn't have received.  There was no reason he expected to receive it.  Out here in the Gamma Quadrant.  And yet, the sensor notification went off anyways.  The ship was connecting to the USS Titan-A.  Shaw's ship.  Almost immediately they received updated orders, and Rayek gave instructions to alter course.  Typical intercept.

"Correction, Helm... maximum warp." he ordered, turning to Rayek.  "We're still faster than the Neo-Cons.  And I'm hoping I can talk some sense into Shaw.  If he's running, there has to be a reason.  He is so by the book his quarters match the image under the definition of personal quarters..." he said with a sigh, shaking his head.

He felt the dampeners compensate for the change in acceleration and direction and then hit the comm on his chair.

"Bridge to Engineering.  Lek, I need you to study up on Constitution 3s.  We may need to disable it."

While Rayek opened the missive, he heard the Captain order the correction to Helm, and noticed in his periphery the Captain turning towards him.  Rayek lowered his PADD to give his attention to the Captain as Tekin explained his hope to be able to 'talk some sense into' the Captain.

"His personnel record does seem to make him out to be someone who does not break the rules."

While the Captain contacted Engineering, Rayek lifted his PADD to continuing reading about the incident with Ensign Lorut.

[Bridge]

Kinley came up to the bridge to hear the captain order the ship to max warp She wasn't exactly sure what was up, but took up her normal place by the science station to take a look at the scanners.  "œMorning, sirs. What are we looking at today? she asked, definitely curious at the situation. Orders from Command? You didn't see that everyday.

With his attention on his PADD and the newly forming headache, Rayek didn't notice Garrison's arrival until she spoke.    He gave a nod in greeting but left the answer to her question to the Captain.   He noted that Lek had send the message to Lieutenant Banan as primary, so for the moment was content to let the Department Head deal with the disciplinary action in regards to Ensign Lorut.   It was a shame.   She hadn't seemed to have this problem with authority figures on the Lionheart.  Mind you she was just a teen back then and it had been an entirely different universe.

MD01
Engineering Office

She snorted.
"Please. You seem to have missed the memo. I spent ten years outrunning the Cardassians. If you think for one second that you scare me with your empty threats, you're mistaken." She stood up. "However, it IS the end of my break, and the Romulan already has me on a short leash. Something about being rash, or something." She shrugged. From her pocket, she extracted a shiny object and tossed it at him.

"Here. Some GPL," she said. "Ferengi way, right?" She sailed out of the office, laughing as she did so. Someone had his tighty-whites in a knot. Didn't he know the best way to make friends and influence people was to, like...not be like THAT?! Of course, her personality wasn't much to write home about, but she wasn't like that. She found her way back to the Ops office.
Vila simply shrugged as she passed. One of these days, the entire Engineering department would find themselves locked into the deepfreeze or their computers frozen. Which ever was closest when she finally snapped.

"Good! If you see him, tell him I could use some Rakatjino. Also, might want to alert Medical that your boss is about to have a heart attack," she said, the laughter still in her voice. She entered the office and turned back on her Comms.

==/\==Commander tr'LHoell, I have returned. Someone may want to send medical to the Engineering office. I think that Commander Big Ears is having a canary," she said, not at all hiding the mirth. ==/\==Orders?==/\==

No sooner had Rayek mentally dismissed the issue to Banan to deal with than Lorut called in back on shift.  Adding a bit of commentary at the end that had the Romulan questioning how the woman had made it past the Academy.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

Nevir looked up at his Science Officer stepping onto the bridge, and nodded to her.  "I hope we are just looking at visiting a friend and hearing that there was a miscommunication.  Starfleet has priority orders to find the USS Titan. There is apparently a wanted person on the ship and it was involved in an incident with the USS Intrepid earlier. And Starfleet is making it a top priority." he said, waiting for the ship to arrive. However, the quiet of the bridge was slightly disrupted...

The Captain did a double take as he looked at Rayek.  "Did... did she just say what I think she just said?"

That the Captain overheard the ensign, had Rayek regretting that he had forgone the use of his usual internal ear comms.

"Unfortunately, so Captain."

This was not her first disruption, and Rayek had hoped his first 'talking' to her on the journey to Katra, had put things into perspective for her.  Apparently not.

"Excuse me Captain, I'll deal with this."  By disrespecting Lek in front of the Captain, she had just bypassed her insubordination being something that Rayek could could pass off to Banan to deal with.

The Romulan rose from his seat and strode towards the back of the room where even his mouth movements wouldn't be seen by others.  He wanted this to be a private discussion.

Rayek pressed behind his ear activating his silent comm mode.  Now his internal implant would read his jaw movements and translate into speech on Lorut's end.    Her responses in turn would be sent to his ear comm so his conversation would not be overheard.

"Ensign Lorut, must I remind you that Starfleet officers - even junior ones have a level of professionalism they must maintain?  Your comment was overheard by the Captain so if think your words are merely humorous and will be dismissed with just a warning, well, we are beyond that now.  Lek has sent in report on the incident earlier in Engineering.  Given our current situation, I don't have time to review it fully nor do I have the manpower to waste by letting you sit idle in your quarters until I do.   If you are capable of following orders without the disrespect and if your position on this ship is something you actually want, then prove it. Get up here and assist Lieutenant Addams with Ops on the Bridge - where I can keep an eye on you. If not... then you are relieved of all duties until I can review Lieutenant Command Lek's claims of your insubordination.  tr'Lhoell out."

The Romulan closed the comm line before the woman's rebellious nature had her saying things immediately in reply that she might not truly wish to say. He would give her 5 minutes.  If she didn't show in that amount of time, he'd have Banan go down to the Comms room with Security and have her removed. She could cool her heels in her quarters until he had more time to discuss her future on the ship.

Rayek then opened a new comm - this time to Ensign Reid.  Because there was no real need for strict privacy, he turned off the silent comm mode, with a double tap behind his ear.

"tr'Lhoell to Ensign Reid.  I'm going to need you to cover off Comms duty for the remainder of the shift.  Ensign Lorut should be signing off any minute now.  If she doesn't, you have permission to override  her console in order to assume your new duties.  Understood?"

[Sydney Reid]

[USS Discovery-B | Deck 13 | Cryptology Lab]

Cmdr. Rayek tr'Lhoell

Rayek then opened a new comm - this time to Ensign Reid.  Because there was no real need for strict privacy, he turned off the silent comm mode, with a double tap behind his ear.

"tr'Lhoell to Ensign Reid.  I'm going to need you to cover Comms duty for the remainder of the shift.  Ensign Lorut should be signing off any minute now.  If she doesn't, you have permission to override her console in order to assume your new duties.  Understood?"

No sooner had Sydney started to watch the incoming and outgoing data streams that her commbadge suddenly chimed before an unexpected yet familiar voice came through. Given that she hadn't needed to manually choose to accept the commlink meant that it could only come from a handful of Officers aboard the ship, and none of them were going to be giving her news she wanted to hear given where her attention was focused at the current moment.

After a definite moment of stunned silence that Rayek didn't need to be present for to recognize, having seen such before from the Ensign, Reid finally managed to respond back,
...Understood, Commander. Ensign Reid out."

Sydney let out a groan as her head dropped back to leave her eyes staring up at the ceiling in a moment of disappointment and frustration. If it wasn't for all of the security measures in place around the lab, she was sure those nearby would have heard it. They also would have heard the expletive she let out as she suddenly remembered that not more than a few minutes ago, she had relieved the only Petty Officer she could have passed the duties onto of duty for the day. What had originally started as an exciting time to dig into the minutia of the new upgrades had to now be set aside to put her energy towards vital yet utterly boring duties.

Swiping away the majority of the screens and relegating the data streams to the far, auxiliary screen, the Ops Officer quickly rerouted the Comms Room data stream and controls to her own console, mirroring, for the moment, what Lorut would be seeing up on her consoles. Sydney already knew this decision had something to do with the earlier incident in Main Engineering, and, given Vila's comment to her fellow Ops Ensign, could only imagine what else the Bajoran had said on her destructive path back to her duties. For the moment, at least, Sydney would wait and watch to see if Lorut would be signing off voluntarily, but wasn't giving her more than a few minutes before easily booting her off to assume control of Comms.

In the meanwhile, since she'd already imagined this was an outcome that could very well happen, especially given Commander Lek's previous declaration of putting Ensign Lorut on Report and the continued disrespect to nearly everyone that stood close to her path as she exited, Sydney quickly typed up a very brief report on what she had witnessed and how she'd tried to intervene. It wasn't more than a few sentences, but it did include all of the sensor logs of the incident, from Vila's initial entrance to her and Sydney's departure from Main Engineering with a note about Commander Lek's decision to adjust the cryptologist's security clearances in regards to the Chief's area of purview. If called upon, Sydney had the statement and attachment ready to be sent. She didn't imagine the XO would need much more than that given how thorough the computer scientist tended to be about things that fell within her scope of duties.

If nothing else, she could take solace in the fact that Rayek may appreciate her transparency on it all, and may not come down too hard on her for Sydney's attempt to calm the situation. While the Ensign may have not thought it was initially something worth doing official paperwork on, it had become clear that Lorut had taken things further than what the cryptologist had witnessed.

For now, her duties were clear and the rest of her day was basically a certainty. While one never hoped for anything exciting to happen, since such excitement usually meant explosions and injured crewmates, Sydney did hope she would get called upon to do something besides be the ship's 'Operator' for the remainder of the shift. At least it was a slight step up from 'Sorting the Mail'.

[Tanner Lachlyn]

[USS Discovery - Deck Ten - Security]

Settling in with Security was going well but with no official Chief, Tanner couldn't help but imagine how overwhelmed the XO was with the added weight on his shoulders. Or maybe his shoulders were fine. Maybe he was the kind of guy who could handle all the weight and would make it look easy. That was also a possibility.

"œHey," Tanner looked over at another Security officer, "œWe just went to warp. Do you think it's appropriate to ask for the low down?"

The officer she'd asked, one whose name she hadn't memorized, shrugged, "œIf it's important it'll get to us."

Nodding her head she silently agreed with the comment. True, they would be eventually informed when there was time to do so. However what if there was something they could be doing right now. Tanner pursed her lips, "œBut"¦"

"œIf you want to ask the XO for a download, that's on you. Make sure he knows I had nothing to do with it."

Again she nodded silently.

Picking up her PADD she fired off a quick message to the Commander. It was a concise message. No extra padding around her request for information to prepare for wherever they were heading. Hopefully it would be received well. If not, she'd deal with that moment when it arrived.

[Lorut Vila]

MD01
USS Discovery
Ops-Bridge

She was already on the way to the Turbolift when the Commander's voice came down the Comms system.

Ensign Lorut, must I remind you that Starfleet officers - even junior ones have a level of professionalism they must maintain?  Your comment was overheard by the Captain so if think your words are merely humorous and will be dismissed with just a warning, well, we are beyond that now.  Lek has sent in report on the incident earlier in Engineering.  Given our current situation, I don't have time to review it fully nor do I have the manpower to waste by letting you sit idle in your quarters until I do.   If you are capable of following orders without the disrespect and if your position on this ship is something you actually want, then prove it. Get up here and assist Lieutenant Addams with Ops on the Bridge - where I can keep an eye on you. If not... then you are relieved of all duties until I can review Lieutenant Command Lek's claims of your insubordination.  tr'Lhoell out.

==^==I am already on my way, sir. It wasn't...never mind, the Ferengi needs to calm down. He doesn't own this ship. I am allowed to go wherever I please, I'll remind you. There's nothing in the handbook that says I can't take my breaks wherever I please, so long as I report to the shift leader. I'll see you in a moment.==^==

She stepped out of the Turbolift, and with the same graceful speed that she'd used to outrun Cardassians, she arrived on the Bridge, and found Lt. Addams. She settled in next to her. "Reporting as ordered, Commander," she said, fighting the urge to laugh again. She punched her code into the console. "What are we doing today, Addams?" She asked.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck One - Bridge]

No sooner had he cut his comm with Ensign Reid than a chime came in on commbadge, suspecting it was Lorut, Rayek reactivated the silent mode on the call.   He was glad he did, because her comments would have only aggravated the situation, had the Captain heard.

==^==I am already on my way, sir. It wasn't...never mind, the Ferengi needs to calm down. He doesn't own this ship. I am allowed to go wherever I please, I'll remind you. There's nothing in the handbook that says I can't take my breaks wherever I please, so long as I report to the shift leader. I'll see you in a moment.==^==

Once more he mouthed his reply to the Ensign who was shockingly misinformed.
"That is a fallacy, Ensign.  There are many parts of the ship that are restricted to department personnel and only to those on personnel on shift - Engineering is one such place, for obvious security reasons.   These restrictions are also one of the reasons why it is protocol to ask permission to enter the Bridge, when not scheduled for bridge duty." he explained, once more wondering what was being taught at the Academy if not these basics.

"And I would highly recommend that THE BAJORAN learn better manners when addressing or speaking about a superior officer like Lieutenant Commander Lek, or the ROMULAN will have to re-educate her."

When the turbolift doors opened, moments later, the two, sentinel, security guards that were always present on the bridge had their hands on their phasers.  Rayek waved them off and watched to see what the Ensign would do or say.

She stepped out of the Turbolift, and with the same graceful speed that she'd used to outrun Cardassians, she arrived on the Bridge, and found Lt. Addams. She settled in next to her. "Reporting as ordered, Commander," she said, fighting the urge to laugh again. She punched her code into the console. "What are we doing today, Addams?" She asked.

Nothing apparently; as if intentionally mocking his earlier statement of asking permission.  He watched as she walked to the Auxiliary Ops station to join up with Torra, and only then announced herself to him with a hint of amusement to her tone.

"Thank you for your promptness, Ensign Lorut."

As he returned to his seat, Rayek gave the Captain a 'situation contained' hand gesture that he hoped would alleviate any of the Captain's confusion as to why it seemed like Rayek was 'rewarding' an insubordinate officer.

NPC Lieutenant Danjar-Torra Addams
[USS Discovery - Deck One - Bridge]

Torra, seated at one of the three Operations stations just to the right of the main view screen, was still quietly reeling from the surprise of hearing her fellow Ops officer, Vila, refer to Lieutenant Commander Lek as Commander Bi....   No, Torra couldn't even think it!  Much less say such... and over a comm that the Captain could hear!?   It was unthinkable to the mild-mannered Lieutenant.

The Grazerite, having begun her Starfleet career as a Security Crewman on Challenger, Torra was well familiar with the leadership style of Chief (now Commander) tr'Lhoell.  So had an inkling of what the Commander might do in this situation.

The Romulan hadn't been well liked or trusted back then on the Challenger.   He had been thought of as a bit of a show-off by those in his department, and seemed to only care about his advancement - which was startlingly fast; especially considering that he graduated the enlisted program only 6 months before her.   Yet while she and so many other good personnel got left behind, he'd been promoted not just up to Chief Petty Officer within 6 months... but somehow straight to Lieutenant Commander to be XO of Katra Station seemingly overnight after only a year!

Of course, rumors had abounded about the how and why of the Romulan's sudden promotion, however it was only as recently as two months ago that Torra, while assisting Lieutenant Banan with the 'paperwork' for the transfer of the Romulan Exchange Personnel, that Torra got to see and work on updating the Commander's personnel file.   She had no idea that he'd served 5 years in the Romulan Star Navy making it to the rank of Centurion (on par with Starfleet's rank of Lieutenant) years before even joining Starfleet.  The Grazerite had seen in his file no less than 3 rejection letters by Starfleet in response to his attempt to apply for a commissioned spot at the Academy.    It was on his 4th attempt he was finally accepted .... as enlisted.   Torra felt that was so unfair.  Knowing him the way she did now... but back then, she supposed it made sense for Starfleet Command to be cautious.

Torra viewed Commander tr'Lhoell as very persistent and not easily dissuaded about things once he'd made up his mind.  He came across as rather stern, but what Torra was finding different about the man now was that he wasn't as self-focused anymore.  This made him far more approachable, than he had been as the Chief of Security on Challenger.  She'd enjoyed her face-to-face meeting with him a week or so ago, and had learned a lot about him.  He was so much more open than he used to be.   Less paranoid too.

MD01
USS Discovery
Ops-Bridge

She stepped out of the Turbolift, and with the same graceful speed that she'd used to outrun Cardassians, she arrived on the Bridge, and found Lt. Addams. She settled in next to her. "Reporting as ordered, Commander," she said, fighting the urge to laugh again. She punched her code into the console. "What are we doing today, Addams?" She asked.

So, when the turbolift doors opened to show Ensign Lorut exit onto the Bridge, Torra smiled knowing her notion about the Commander's tactic had been correct.   He was going to keep Vila close so that he could guide her.    Well, Torra was all in favor of that and would help out as well!

Torra dipped her large horned head in greeting to Vila as the Bajoran woman sat next to her.  "The ship has been ordered to intercept what appears to be a rogue Federation ship. So, we are going to prepare briefing notes on the USS Titan-A and her Captain to provide to Security personnel in the event that a boarding party is called on.  Let's do some research and gets these out quickly."