S:5 E:9 - The Naked When

[T’prith]

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Observation Lounge Corridor | Deck Two | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Nira was certainly taken aback by Lahr's calling her "Hot Stuff." That certainly wasn't like the Andorian, least of all anybody to call her that, unless they were either intimate with her in a positive or negative way. Then she realized that she had, without thinking, pulled up an "all hands" comms. She got some replies, but she heard enough to know that whatever happened to the crew, they were definitely under some kind of influence.

"Alright, listen all hands, I want everybody over to Sickbay to get your heads clear; whatever happened, I'm very sure everybody's hung-over right now. How we got like this, I have no idea, but we must've gotten under some kind of influence. Get the EMHs on if no medical staff is available, then freshen up. Said out."

She then turned her immediate attention to getting the troops together as she specified calling with comms:  "Said to all department heads, whoever's available, rendezvous at the bridge, make yourselves decent on the way, we need to get to the bottom of what the hell has happened. Said to Lahr, Zhuk, McNair and T'Prith, meet us at the Bridge as well."

She certainly needed the department heads, but with the help of the crew she listed, at least they'll be able to have enough people to man the bridge.

There left one person for her to find.

"Computer, locate Captain Galloway," Nira ordered.

There was a negative sounding beep, followed by the computer's reply:  "Unable to comply. All computer functions currently locked out."

Nira furrowed her brow in confusion. "Locked out...? Well, I may have a good idea..."

It began occurring to her that if everybody came under some kind of influence, not in a mind manipulation kind of way, but potentially some kind of intoxication, considering what she had seen so far and from varied reactions by the crew she had passed or heard from...

"Computer, unlock computer functions, authorization Said One-One-Seven-Beta."

"Unable to comply. Command codes withdrawn from Lieutenant Commander Said and from Captain Galloway at present time."

Nira pursed her lips and said, "I thought so. Computer, who currently has the command codes?"

"The Emergency Command Holographic Program."

Nira perked up with relief. She realized that if something happened to compromise even the command staff, then transferring command codes to the new ECH would make sense. And she began to realize it was a good thing Challenger was upgraded with the ECH...not to mention holo-emitters...

"Is there any way to contact the ECH?"

"Unable to comply. Bridge locked out."

Nira pursed her lips. "Transmit the ECH to my current location."

"Acknowledged."

With that, the air simmered as a hologram appeared before her. As much as he was new, she knew who it was at once: The new EMH Mark VIII. His uniform was even different, a reflection of being different as a holographic unit, only the uniform was in red rather than blue.

"Please state the na...oh, thank god," he said, having a deep yet pompous voice, almost like he was a butler rather than a doctor...or temporary commander. "You're awake and returned to normal?"

"As normal as anybody can be when they just woke up from a hangover," snapped Nira. "What's going on?"

"It's long story, one nobody's going to believe," he said. "But first, I think you'll probably need these back. Computer, return command functions to Lieutenant Commander Nira Said."

"Acknowledged." There was a beep that followed. Nira was sure this meant command functions were returned to her...but then...

"Well, that's over and done with," said the ECH with relief. "I've been working nonstop for a while. Computer, deactivate ECH mode."

With a beep, the hologram simmered, his red uniform turning into blue.

"Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

"Well, not necessarily medical," started Nira, but the Mark 8 gestured.

"I know, I know, it's just part of the programming."

Nira nodded at him, distracted by her worried thought...if the command codes only came back to her only...

"Computer, locate Captain Galloway."

"Captain Galloway is not aboard this ship."

"In case you were wondering," the Mark 8 said, "just follow the trail of his furniture."

Nira blinked, but then took in a sharp intake of breath. "Okay, I think we need to get our bearings together. Right now. Meet me on the bridge, I'm going to need your help."

"Of course. At least it's a good thing my transmission commands have been altered by myself so that only you can summon me, then I can bring myself back to my position."

"Beg pardon?"

"Just one of a few changes when the crew was...not themselves. Again, it's a long story."

"And we're likely going to need plenty of coffee to wake us up fully as you tell us. Return to the bridge."

The Mark 8 nodded and disappeared. Nira turned to see an astonished Savar and nodded at him to follow. They got back to their quarters, which was also a mess...discovered that the replicators have been shut off and locked, but at least were able to find some fresh uniforms, then went to the turbolift...also locked off.

"Computer, activate turbolifts and unlock. Authorization Said One-One-Seven-Beta."

With a chime from the computer, the turbolift buttons lit up and Nira was able to call a turbolift. Of course, upon asking to go to the bridge, she was informed the bridge was locked, but she was able to use her authorization to unlock it.

At least, upon arriving at the bridge, she found that it was the cleanest part of the ship. The Mark 8 was already there, although she was surprised to find Hyperion there.

"Hyperion? How did you get up here?"

Naturally, she had time while she waited for the department heads and the crewmembers she summoned to arrive, but she asked the Mark 8 to refrain from giving the account of what had happened, so he won't have to explain multiple times.

As the crew trickled in, the Mark 8 nodded cordially, although when he saw Lahr, he curled his lip and sneered sarcastically, "Ah, 'Captain' Lahr, welcome back from that hellhole you call a mosh pit."

[USS Challenger-Bridge]

T'prith was still in a state of confusion but somehow she managed to understand the orders to go to the sickbay then report to the bridge. "œRoger that lieutenant commander reporting to sickbay after I freshen up and will report to the bridge when I'm done in the sickbay." She made her way to her officer's quarters so that she could at least look professional and presentable. She had hope that they were going to get to the bottom of what happened. She just had to make sure that everything with her was good to go so that she could resume bridge duty.

[Nira Said]

NPC Lieutenant JG Chloe Davies, Head Nurse
[USS Challenger - Deck 7 - Sickbay]

Chloe just barely bit back her retort of what she thought of the Commander's suggestion to use the older models.  Obviously, Commander Said never had to work with the Mark I.  She wouldn't wish that on any of her staff... but even Chloe recognized that pushing back at this point would be career breaking.

She let out an audible sigh before acknowledging her orders.
"Yes sir, Commander.  I'll be there shortly."

She cut the comm and then glanced around the fully packed Sickbay.  She received a few glances that she interpreted as sympathetic.  "Computer.  Activate the Emergency Holographic Medical programs Mark I and Mark II."

The two programs came online and in tandem spoke.  "Please state the nature of the medical emergency." "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

Chloe addressed the two holograms.  "We've got an entire ship of crewmembers that have surcome to some manner of intoxication.  The medical department has been called on to administer anti-intoxicant immediately.  You will assist in this endeavor while the CMO is absent and while I've been called to the Bridge."

Chloe left then left Sickbay to answer the Commanders summons.

[EMHs Marks One and Two | Sickbay | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

The two EMHs looked at each other when Nurse Davies gave her orders and they were looking relieved, also at the sight of the crew that had returned to normal, albeit hungover. They had all seen firsthand the sheer lunacy of the crew's behavior, and so they had expected the hangover. Naturally, with Davies gone, their help enabled the lines to get going faster.

[Dolphin Tank > Bridge - USS Challenger]

Once the pounding in his head had subsided enough, Buck momentarily sighed as he placed his forehead against the cooler dolphin tank; his eyes opening only to find himself almost face to face - eye to eye with the dolphins. Another shock to his system as he backed off, only realising that he had a rather bad leg; ultimately having to resort to pushing himself up by his back to the tank till he was standing upright.

It was at the beck and call of Commander Said coming over the comms that Buck was finding himself staggering over towards the nearest available turbolift. At first it seemed to reject him but after another few jabbing goes, the turbolift doors opened.

"Bridge."

Maybe once the headache and the dull ache subsided, Buck would find himself in a better mood to talk. Or he'd have to buck himself right up as much as he could being summoned to the bridge by the commander. The ping of his arrival to his destination certainly rang loudly in his ears as he flinched. Maybe he wasn't quite recovered from whatever happened last night.

His jacket was slung over a shoulder as he proceeded to try and get it on before he entered onto the bridge but the doors had opened mid-way through. Perhaps Buck shouldn't have minded, seeing the state of undress that the heads of departments were in. He gave a wry little smirk, as much as he could manage as he finally pulled his arm through the sleeve and began to button his jacket up. "Commander." He greeted, voice rough. "What happened?"

Buck glanced over at the hologram, furrowing, trying to remember whether there was something different about their EMH but too much thinking was doing his remaining brain cells very little.

When he came into the Bridge, he was met with a surprise coming from Nira. Immediately, his ears dropped once more, as although he couldn't see his own face, he realized that the shaving probably was beyond where he had seen it. Indeed, from the back of his neck, up to his forehead, he lacked any hair to speak of, all cut in a straight line. The front area of his neck was not much better, with ugly razor marks dotting it. His mood became foul once more as he crossed his arms and looked aside, unwilling and incapable of meeting the eyes of his Commanding Officer, or the rest of the Bridge Staff.

This was humiliating. He should have brought a hood or a cloth to cover his head.

"What transpired yesterday? I have no memories besides fuzzy experiences currently on my mind." He asked, the tone of his voice certainly conveying strong emotion, and not too positive. He really should have ignored orders.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Nira could immediately feel a heated emotion simmering in Zhuk. The poor Caitian, evidently shaved, even with a part of hair like Commander Catalan.

"That's what I was about to ask our relief commander," Nira said, and she had noticed Davies had arrived almost at the same time as Zhuk. "Glad you can come, by the way, Nurse."

Turning to the Mark Eight, Nira said, "Can you explain what happened to us?"

The Mark Eight, glad that he was finally able to explain, replied, "Suffice it to say, everybody on the ship had been in an intoxicated state."

"That much is obvious," said Nira, "but how did it we get intoxicated? I mean, there's not enough synthehol-based alcohol on the ship to do the job, assuming we were all willing to let a buzz get in our brains."

"One doesn't have to consume synthehol to get intoxicated," pointed out the Mark Eight. "It can be breathed in. And no," he added, seeing Nira open her mouth, along with others in the bridge, forestalling the question, "there was no aerosol-based drug that got into the air system, though you're getting warmer. Allow me to present the culprit."

And so, he went to a station, did some tapping and pulled up an image of a complex molecule on the viewscreen.

"The prime suspect. This is the Psi 2000 Polywater Virus."

"It's a water molecule," said Savar in surprise, manning a science station next to Lieutenant Randall. "Except..."

The befuddled pause enabled the Mark Eight to continue. "Correct, Mister Savar, it is, in fact, a water molecule. Except it's been polymerized, hence the name. Can generally transmit through perspiration or blood, but it can be aerosol based if the water molecules in the air are affected. Once in humanoid body systems, it can affect the brain in similar ways to intoxication, only worse. There have been a handful of cases of the virus, the two most famous of which involve two ships both named Enterprise, though in both cases they picked up the virus from two starting points, the first at Psi 2000, hence the name, and from the SS Tsiolkovsky with the second."

There was quite a shock in which there was silence in the bridge for some time before Nira asked, "Did we make stops at any time before this happened, and we happened to pick up somebody infected with the virus?"

"Negative," said the Mark Eight. "We never stopped the whole time."

"Wait...you said aerosol based, it was in the air, did our air systems somehow generate these altered water molecules?"

"You are correct," said the Mark Eight again, with the air of a delighted teacher hearing a correct answer from a student. "Behavior of the crew started becoming erratic on Stardate 77470.07."

"So slightly more than a day," pointed out Savar.

"Precisely," came the reply. "Once the crew's behavior got out of control, Commander Said activated me, via the Emergency Command Hologram, and transferred all command codes to me, and at least she was able to keep a clear head and keep in control before the virus fully took control."

Nira winced; at least under the T'hunga mind control, she did have some memories, but some of them were overriden by some different memories implanted by the T'hunga which, if she still continued in their control, would've rewritten her past to be a different person. This time, there was no memory.

"If all ship functions and command codes were restricted," said Nira, "how were you able to cure us?"

"I had help from the older EMH models and Mister Hyperion," said the Mark Eight. "They were able to determine the virus and synthesize a cure, treating the medical staff first...by the way, Nurse Davies," he added, "you'll probably eventually find a tooth lodged in one of the bio-beds' sides, but that's how we all discovered the virus."

Nira turned to look at Nurse Davies and saw a tooth missing as she grimaced. She turned back to the Mark Eight and said, "Well, if the water molecules in the air were altered, then why are we not relapsing into intoxication right now?"

"Air filters, mind you," said the Mark Eight. "although it was likely to take too long to change the water molecules back to normal, in which case, there'd be worse damage or even the destruction of the ship. As Hyperion mentioned, he was able to put us in a course that put us into the middle of nowhere, where we would be of no trouble. Unfortunately, eventually Engineering was taken over less than half an hour later, and then Lahr, introducing himself as Captain, called the crew over to party there...with the result that the engines became shut down. Had to shut off the warp core thereafter because there could be a risk of a breach.

"Finally, in order for my holographic comrades to distribute the cure without interference from all the chaos that happened, I had to flood the ship with anesthzine to incapacitate the crew, and once the crew was unconscious, then the other EMHs went to work. It took a longer time than expected for the gas to disperse."

"Right, and chances were, Captain Galloway had 'abandoned' ship with Doctor Fellows before the last of us succumbed to the virus, me included, hence why I had to turn over the command codes to you and activate the ECH mode."

"He certainly succumbed long before you did, Commander," he said. "I was amazed by your resilience to the virus, it's like you were fighting a hypnotist's control."

Nira nodded at that, thinking about how much more mental help she had, thanks in part to Savar, so that she could resist further mind control.

"Okay, so we know what afflicted us, so how did it even manifest?"

"Generally, polywater as a whole manifests itself extreme gravimetric conditions, like shifts in gravity," explained the Mark Eight. "Looking to the cases of the Enterprises for examples, with the first case, it was from the planetary break-up of Psi 2000, which is where the particular name for the virus comes from. With the SS Tsiolkovsky, and the Enterprise-D following, the gravimetric shifts came from the collapse of a star, though with that case, the potency of the virus was amplified."

Nira let her jaw drop in shock as she heard out the Mark Eight, and finally, she said, "So...so could it be possible that...that sometime around Stardate 77470.07, some kind of stellar body nearby, a planet or a star, had broken up or collapsed as we passed, causing gravimetric shifts and thus altering water molecules to induce intoxication?"

"That's right. Besides, we wouldn't have to be close to the aforementioned stellar body, you'd be surprised how far a shockwave, gravimetric or otherwise, can travel, depending on the size and mass of what caused the shockwave."

Nira sat back in the captain's chair in shock. She looked around and could see how the news was sinking in with the rest of the bridge crew.

[Ian Galloway]

[Escape Pod - Drifting in Deep Space]

As soon as Ian realized they were no longer aboard the Challenger, he went to the pod's limited controls and ran a sensor sweep, his expression souring.

"Now what?"

"The Challenger is not within sensor range. Not the biggest surprise, after all, the sensors on this can have extremely limited range. The communication system is also of limited range except for the locator beacon. All I can do is activate that and hope someone picks it up."

"How long can we hold out?"

"We're in good shape on that front. This model is designed to hold eight personnel for up to 30 days. That gives the two of us 120 days. Even worst case, we'll be picked up long before we run out of supplies."

"Small favors I suppose."

"Agreed, my question is, what the bloody hell happened ta make us abandon ship in the first place, and why don't we remember why?"

Jess began rummaging around the pod's medical cabinet and pulled out a medical tricorder.

"Guess it's time for some scans."

[Buck McNair]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

There was a lot going on at once, more than his brain could comprehend in its mending addled state; whilst forgetting that he was still dripping wet all over the bridge floor as he stood there. Buck was not used to waking up in odd locations and waking up in the tank was by far the most strange that he could add that one to his list. Of course, he needed to listen to the back and forth between the commander and the EMH who had engaged in what they believed to be the root cause of their intoxication.

Polywater virus.

Certainly that was a new one.

Buck tilted his head, folding his arms across his chest as he thought about what was being said and realising how much of it seemed to be going over his head. What had made sense was the idea that there was a lot of people who had been affected and the realisation that the Captain had 'abandoned' ship. Though no more surprising than the date that was stated the planetary body had exploded a while back as they had journeyed. Buck's eyes widened as he looked around for confirmation of what his water-blocked ears were hearing. "And--" He found his voice eventually, though felt his mind reeling. "And, excuse me for speakin' out of turn, what of the captain's location? Do we know where Cap is?"

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 1 - Bridge]

Lahr's attention remained with this efforts to help Chief Tharn with bringing the engines online, as the other Department Heads and summoned crewmembers assembled.  It was only Tharn paused to listen to the Mark VIII explain the situation that Lahr looked up from his screen to pay attention as well.   He looked over the summoned individuals and only then recognized how motley a crew they were currently.  Two half dressed senior officers - Commander Said and Lieutenant Savar;  a shaved Caitian, and a Tellerite with singed hair and piercings.

That he, Lahr, seemed to be one of the least 'affected' by the virus - with only reverting to his DJing in his Hawaiian shirt was rather amusing to the Andorian... that is until the ECH Mark VIII happened to comment on Lahr's declaration of being 'Captain'.  Oh Roohz!

Lahr could totally understand the Commander Said's decision to lock away the command codes.  It wasn't common knowledge that Ruth had shared her codes with him a couple years back - and since Ruth didn't change her codes... Lahr still had access to everything she had access to.  So yeah, locking the commands away from an inebriated Lahr was a very smart idea.  He wondered what sort of trouble he could have found himself in if the ECH hadn't limited his access.  Moshing in the Engineering room was rather mild.

Talk thankfully turned to the science of how this happened.  Lahr didn't really understand how water could be transformed but just had to accept that it could.   Ensign McNair's question about the Captain's whereabouts, immediately had the Andorian turning to his console thinking of all the different ways that he could search for the escape pod.

But his console didn't have an Operations display with access to the sensors, but rather just an Engineer's screen, showing the intermix ratios and power distribution.  The only way he could help was by getting the engines - which he'd inadvertently been the cause for their shutdown - back online.

Hmph..... the day which had seemed to start off so good at first... just kept getting worse and worse.

He turned about in his seat to look towards Ensign McNair, the Operations officer that sat where he used to.   "All escape pods have an emergency transponder signal that kick in automatically upon launch.  Try searching emergency frequencies.  You should be able to pick it up," he suggested.

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Ensign Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Deck One | Bridge | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Nira could immediately feel a heated emotion simmering in Zhuk. The poor Caitian, evidently shaved, even with a part of hair like Commander Catalan.

"That's what I was about to ask our relief commander," Nira said, and she had noticed Davies had arrived almost at the same time as Zhuk. "Glad you can come, by the way, Nurse."

Turning to the Mark Eight, Nira said, "Can you explain what happened to us?"

The Mark Eight, glad that he was finally able to explain, replied, "Suffice it to say, everybody on the ship had been in an intoxicated state."

"That much is obvious," said Nira, "but how did it we get intoxicated? I mean, there's not enough synthehol-based alcohol on the ship to do the job, assuming we were all willing to let a buzz get in our brains."

"One doesn't have to consume synthehol to get intoxicated," pointed out the Mark Eight. "It can be breathed in. And no," he added, seeing Nira open her mouth, along with others in the bridge, forestalling the question, "there was no aerosol-based drug that got into the air system, though you're getting warmer. Allow me to present the culprit."

And so, he went to a station, did some tapping and pulled up an image of a complex molecule on the viewscreen.

"The prime suspect. This is the Psi 2000 Polywater Virus."

"It's a water molecule," said Savar in surprise, manning a science station next to Lieutenant Randall. "Except..."

The befuddled pause enabled the Mark Eight to continue. "Correct, Mister Savar, it is, in fact, a water molecule. Except it's been polymerized, hence the name. Can generally transmit through perspiration or blood, but it can be aerosol based if the water molecules in the air are affected. Once in humanoid body systems, it can affect the brain in similar ways to intoxication, only worse. There have been a handful of cases of the virus, the two most famous of which involve two ships both named Enterprise, though in both cases they picked up the virus from two starting points, the first at Psi 2000, hence the name, and from the SS Tsiolkovsky with the second."

There was quite a shock in which there was silence in the bridge for some time before Nira asked, "Did we make stops at any time before this happened, and we happened to pick up somebody infected with the virus?"

"Negative," said the Mark Eight. "We never stopped the whole time."

"Wait...you said aerosol based, it was in the air, did our air systems somehow generate these altered water molecules?"

"You are correct," said the Mark Eight again, with the air of a delighted teacher hearing a correct answer from a student. "Behavior of the crew started becoming erratic on Stardate 77470.07."

"So slightly more than a day," pointed out Savar.

"Precisely," came the reply. "Once the crew's behavior got out of control, Commander Said activated me, via the Emergency Command Hologram, and transferred all command codes to me, and at least she was able to keep a clear head and keep in control before the virus fully took control."

Nira winced; at least under the T'hunga mind control, she did have some memories, but some of them were overriden by some different memories implanted by the T'hunga which, if she still continued in their control, would've rewritten her past to be a different person. This time, there was no memory.

"If all ship functions and command codes were restricted," said Nira, "how were you able to cure us?"

"I had help from the older EMH models and Mister Hyperion," said the Mark Eight. "They were able to determine the virus and synthesize a cure, treating the medical staff first...by the way, Nurse Davies," he added, "you'll probably eventually find a tooth lodged in one of the bio-beds' sides, but that's how we all discovered the virus."

Nira turned to look at Nurse Davies and saw a tooth missing as she grimaced. She turned back to the Mark Eight and said, "Well, if the water molecules in the air were altered, then why are we not relapsing into intoxication right now?"

"Air filters, mind you," said the Mark Eight. "although it was likely to take too long to change the water molecules back to normal, in which case, there'd be worse damage or even the destruction of the ship. As Hyperion mentioned, he was able to put us in a course that put us into the middle of nowhere, where we would be of no trouble. Unfortunately, eventually Engineering was taken over less than half an hour later, and then Lahr, introducing himself as Captain, called the crew over to party there...with the result that the engines became shut down. Had to shut off the warp core thereafter because there could be a risk of a breach.

"Finally, in order for my holographic comrades to distribute the cure without interference from all the chaos that happened, I had to flood the ship with anesthzine to incapacitate the crew, and once the crew was unconscious, then the other EMHs went to work. It took a longer time than expected for the gas to disperse."

"Right, and chances were, Captain Galloway had 'abandoned' ship with Doctor Fellows before the last of us succumbed to the virus, me included, hence why I had to turn over the command codes to you and activate the ECH mode."

"He certainly succumbed long before you did, Commander," he said. "I was amazed by your resilience to the virus, it's like you were fighting a hypnotist's control."

Nira nodded at that, thinking about how much more mental help she had, thanks in part to Savar, so that she could resist further mind control.

"Okay, so we know what afflicted us, so how did it even manifest?"

"Generally, polywater as a whole manifests itself extreme gravimetric conditions, like shifts in gravity," explained the Mark Eight. "Looking to the cases of the Enterprises for examples, with the first case, it was from the planetary break-up of Psi 2000, which is where the particular name for the virus comes from. With the SS Tsiolkovsky, and the Enterprise-D following, the gravimetric shifts came from the collapse of a star, though with that case, the potency of the virus was amplified."

Nira let her jaw drop in shock as she heard out the Mark Eight, and finally, she said, "So...so could it be possible that...that sometime around Stardate 77470.07, some kind of stellar body nearby, a planet or a star, had broken up or collapsed as we passed, causing gravimetric shifts and thus altering water molecules to induce intoxication?"

"That's right. Besides, we wouldn't have to be close to the aforementioned stellar body, you'd be surprised how far a shockwave, gravimetric or otherwise, can travel, depending on the size and mass of what caused the shockwave."

Nira sat back in the captain's chair in shock. She looked around and could see how the news was sinking in with the rest of the bridge crew.

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 1 - Bridge]

Lahr's attention remained with this efforts to help Chief Tharn with bringing the engines online, as the other Department Heads and summoned crewmembers assembled.  It was only Tharn paused to listen to the Mark VIII explain the situation that Lahr looked up from his screen to pay attention as well.   He looked over the summoned individuals and only then recognized how motley a crew they were currently.  Two half dressed senior officers - Commander Said and Lieutenant Savar;  a shaved Caitian, and a Tellerite with singed hair and piercings.

That he, Lahr, seemed to be one of the least 'affected' by the virus - with only reverting to his DJing in his Hawaiian shirt was rather amusing to the Andorian... that is until the ECH Mark VIII happened to comment on Lahr's declaration of being 'Captain'.  Oh Roohz!

Lahr could totally understand the Commander Said's decision to lock away the command codes.  It wasn't common knowledge that Ruth had shared her codes with him a couple years back - and since Ruth didn't change her codes... Lahr still had access to everything she had access to.  So yeah, locking the commands away from an inebriated Lahr was a very smart idea.  He wondered what sort of trouble he could have found himself in if the ECH hadn't limited his access.  Moshing in the Engineering room was rather mild.

Talk thankfully turned to the science of how this happened.  Lahr didn't really understand how water could be transformed but just had to accept that it could.   Ensign McNair's question about the Captain's whereabouts, immediately had the Andorian turning to his console thinking of all the different ways that he could search for the escape pod.

But his console didn't have an Operations display with access to the sensors, but rather just an Engineer's screen, showing the intermix ratios and power distribution.  The only way he could help was by getting the engines - which he'd inadvertently been the cause for their shutdown - back online.

Hmph..... the day which had seemed to start off so good at first... just kept getting worse and worse.

He turned about in his seat to look towards Ensign McNair, the Operations officer that sat where he used to.   "All escape pods have an emergency transponder signal that kick in automatically upon launch.  Try searching emergency frequencies.  You should be able to pick it up," he suggested.

Zhukdra'shar Mrerkerhas' ears were directed right towards the EMH Mark VIII, his eyes gazing right at him, arms crossed. He unraveled the information presented to him with both curiosity and bewilderment written all over his face, his brow furrowing as he finally figured out who, or more precisely, what, he could blame for his current state. A virus, borne from the alteration of water molecules.

He found it rather unbelievable for this 'Psi 2000 Polywater Virus' to form from simple molecules of water. Then again, he was no scientist or doctor, and he was sure to have heard that viruses were perplexing 'organisms', if they could even be called that, even during the 24th century. Complex codes of protein that seemingly only activated when they came into living tissue, self-replicating themselves to the detriment of their host. Or something like that.

After a few more moments of thought, he nodded, accepting the explanation that had been provided, once he had reasoned the plausibility of it. Strange, of course, but he very much would doubt that the EMH VIII could be lying. It was a bunch of photons made solid and given human form, after all.

Still, his natural Caitian curiosity meant that he had more than a few questions about the hologram that had apparently placed them out of danger, and had managed to sober them. He was at least happy that he had been knocked out by anesthzine. He really didn't want to know how he looked completely shaved. Or missing a tooth, like poor Head Nurse Davies. His full set of teeth was something he prized as much as his fur.

His new personal objective was to find the one that had left him like this. If only to sate his personal curiosity. And maybe, ask Head Nurse Davies if she could restore his fur through some medical means. He really didn't want to parade himself like this for too long.

"Curious, Emergency Medical Hologram, Mark VIII," He stated, as he gave a couple of steps forward, "are there any other symptoms stemming from infection of this Psi 2000 Polywater Virus that could be of note, besides the loss of inhibition not unlike being within in a heavily intoxicated state? Likewise, are there any long-term effects reported within the crews that experienced such an event? Does the virus affect other species differently, if as you noted, Lieutenant Said was able to exercise a greater degree of control before succumbing to the symptoms?"

He glanced over at Lahr, when he mentioned that Captain Galloway's emergency frequency could be tracked. He nodded. "I mayhaps could assist in locating Captain Galloway, and retrieve him from the capsule, alongside any other members of the crew within. Unless you want me to instead carry out my Security duties within the ship, ma'am?" He deferred to Lieutenant Said, gazing over at her, as he tried to stand a little more upright. He wouldn't allow his own shame to be seen by the other members of the crew anymore.

[T’prith]

[USS Challenger-Bridge]

Only one of her questions had been answered which was what happened. There was still so many questions that needed to be answered like how did they end up in this state. She was glad that there was some clarification on one of the questions she had but she had hope that she would get the rest of the questions answered. However she had concerns about the captains whereabouts like where did the captain end up or what his coordinates were. The captain abandoning ship didn't really make any sense to her. She wondered if there would be more clarity to the things that didn't make sense and the unanswered questions.

[Nira Said]

Buck tilted his head, folding his arms across his chest as he thought about what was being said and realising how much of it seemed to be going over his head. What had made sense was the idea that there was a lot of people who had been affected and the realisation that the Captain had 'abandoned' ship. Though no more surprising than the date that was stated the planetary body had exploded a while back as they had journeyed. Buck's eyes widened as he looked around for confirmation of what his water-blocked ears were hearing. "And--" He found his voice eventually, though felt his mind reeling. "And, excuse me for speakin' out of turn, what of the captain's location? Do we know where Cap is?"

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 1 - Bridge]

Lahr's attention remained with this efforts to help Chief Tharn with bringing the engines online, as the other Department Heads and summoned crewmembers assembled.  It was only Tharn paused to listen to the Mark VIII explain the situation that Lahr looked up from his screen to pay attention as well.   He looked over the summoned individuals and only then recognized how motley a crew they were currently.  Two half dressed senior officers - Commander Said and Lieutenant Savar;  a shaved Caitian, and a Tellerite with singed hair and piercings.

That he, Lahr, seemed to be one of the least 'affected' by the virus - with only reverting to his DJing in his Hawaiian shirt was rather amusing to the Andorian... that is until the ECH Mark VIII happened to comment on Lahr's declaration of being 'Captain'.  Oh Roohz!

Lahr could totally understand the Commander Said's decision to lock away the command codes.  It wasn't common knowledge that Ruth had shared her codes with him a couple years back - and since Ruth didn't change her codes... Lahr still had access to everything she had access to.  So yeah, locking the commands away from an inebriated Lahr was a very smart idea.  He wondered what sort of trouble he could have found himself in if the ECH hadn't limited his access.  Moshing in the Engineering room was rather mild.

Talk thankfully turned to the science of how this happened.  Lahr didn't really understand how water could be transformed but just had to accept that it could.   Ensign McNair's question about the Captain's whereabouts, immediately had the Andorian turning to his console thinking of all the different ways that he could search for the escape pod.

But his console didn't have an Operations display with access to the sensors, but rather just an Engineer's screen, showing the intermix ratios and power distribution.  The only way he could help was by getting the engines - which he'd inadvertently been the cause for their shutdown - back online.

Hmph..... the day which had seemed to start off so good at first... just kept getting worse and worse.

He turned about in his seat to look towards Ensign McNair, the Operations officer that sat where he used to.   "All escape pods have an emergency transponder signal that kick in automatically upon launch.  Try searching emergency frequencies.  You should be able to pick it up," he suggested.

[Ensign Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Deck One | Bridge | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Zhukdra'shar Mrerkerhas' ears were directed right towards the EMH Mark VIII, his eyes gazing right at him, arms crossed. He unraveled the information presented to him with both curiosity and bewilderment written all over his face, his brow furrowing as he finally figured out who, or more precisely, what, he could blame for his current state. A virus, borne from the alteration of water molecules.

He found it rather unbelievable for this 'Psi 2000 Polywater Virus' to form from simple molecules of water. Then again, he was no scientist or doctor, and he was sure to have heard that viruses were perplexing 'organisms', if they could even be called that, even during the 24th century. Complex codes of protein that seemingly only activated when they came into living tissue, self-replicating themselves to the detriment of their host. Or something like that.

After a few more moments of thought, he nodded, accepting the explanation that had been provided, once he had reasoned the plausibility of it. Strange, of course, but he very much would doubt that the EMH VIII could be lying. It was a bunch of photons made solid and given human form, after all.

Still, his natural Caitian curiosity meant that he had more than a few questions about the hologram that had apparently placed them out of danger, and had managed to sober them. He was at least happy that he had been knocked out by anesthzine. He really didn't want to know how he looked completely shaved. Or missing a tooth, like poor Head Nurse Davies. His full set of teeth was something he prized as much as his fur.

His new personal objective was to find the one that had left him like this. If only to sate his personal curiosity. And maybe, ask Head Nurse Davies if she could restore his fur through some medical means. He really didn't want to parade himself like this for too long.

"Curious, Emergency Medical Hologram, Mark VIII," He stated, as he gave a couple of steps forward, "are there any other symptoms stemming from infection of this Psi 2000 Polywater Virus that could be of note, besides the loss of inhibition not unlike being within in a heavily intoxicated state? Likewise, are there any long-term effects reported within the crews that experienced such an event? Does the virus affect other species differently, if as you noted, Lieutenant Said was able to exercise a greater degree of control before succumbing to the symptoms?"

He glanced over at Lahr, when he mentioned that Captain Galloway's emergency frequency could be tracked. He nodded. "I mayhaps could assist in locating Captain Galloway, and retrieve him from the capsule, alongside any other members of the crew within. Unless you want me to instead carry out my Security duties within the ship, ma'am?" He deferred to Lieutenant Said, gazing over at her, as he tried to stand a little more upright. He wouldn't allow his own shame to be seen by the other members of the crew anymore.

[USS Challenger-Bridge]

Only one of her questions had been answered which was what happened. There was still so many questions that needed to be answered like how did they end up in this state. She was glad that there was some clarification on one of the questions she had but she had hope that she would get the rest of the questions answered. However she had concerns about the captains whereabouts like where did the captain end up or what his coordinates were. The captain abandoning ship didn't really make any sense to her. She wondered if there would be more clarity to the things that didn't make sense and the unanswered questions.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

"Well, since you mention additional symptoms," said the Mark Eight, answering Zhuk, "since it's clear that you don't recall what has happened in the past day or so, it is possible that the intoxication has afflicted your brains in such a way, it's caused the brains to stop producing memories for the temporary time period. Almost in the same way alcohol affects the brain. The afflicting of the virus is certainly variable in most races. For some, it's instantaneous. For others, it's slower. In Vulcans, it gradually causes them to lose emotional control, essentially like Pon Farr but without going 'into heat.' But I think the level of resistance depends on willpower, as demonstrated with Commander Said before she succumbed to the virus."

Nira had to cringe at the mention of the brain stopping memories, and she instantly decided she was never, ever going to so much as taste alcohol, no matter the occasion.

Naturally, the question posed by Mister McNair was understandable, and she wondered when the question would be posed. Lahr explained it to him, which made Nira relieved.

"Well, that would be a start at finding him," said Nira. "If he activated the beacon, we'll have a chance at finding him. Question is when he 'abandoned' ship."

"Well, he certainly disembarked with Doctor Fellows before the engines shut off," said the Mark Eight. "When precisely, I'm not sure; some communications had been shut off in various parts of the ship, some audio, some visual, a paltry few with both, and unfortunately, it includes Deck Three, where the escape pods were. It was the Marks One and Two that found out he was gone when they were going around the ship administering the cure for the virus; they followed his furniture from his quarters to the escape pods."

"That's why you said 'follow the furniture,' didn't you?" asked Nira. The hologram nodded.

"Okay, we've got a dual priority right now for most of us," Nira announced, ready to give orders. "That's to find Captain Galloway and to get this ship back and running. McNair, per Lahr's suggestion, get scanning with long-range sensors, keep an eye out for that beacon; as Lahr said, it should be easy to find, there's a good chance we're the only Federation starship in this neck of the woods. If he's not in the immediate vicinity, we'll have to backtrack to look for him...which we'll have to do anyway, in any event.

"Now, Commander Tharn, how long do you think it'll take for Engineering to get up and running fully?" asked Nira.

"Well, a cold start for the engines usually lasts thirty minutes," said Tharn, "but to get Engineering back to normal, and erase any mess made there, it's going to take two, maybe three hours, depending on how bad the mess is."

"Get started, then," said Nira. "Make the engines and the warp core first priority, I need them operational in an hour. Report to me in an hour as well, how things are, use the holo-communicators, the emitters will be able to help transit a message, chances are, you'll likely be busy."

"Will do," said Tharn. "Mister ch'Verret, come with me. I'm going to need your help with this. Chances are, most of the mess will be yours, under the influence as it is, you may likely recognize some of it without realizing and will have a better chance of taking it down. Of course, some of it might be my mess, too."

Once the two engineers were gone, Nira turned to everybody else.

"Zhuk, I'm going to need you a moment of your time, but first to your departmental head: T'Kel, have Security run an assessment of weapons, from the armory to the arsenal, see how they are and if anything will be compromised in any way. Have Mister Blackfeather meet me and Zhuk on Deck Three shortly, as well. Report your assessment to me in an hour

"Nurse Davies, head to any parts of the ship with any or all forms of communication cut off, take one of the EMHs with you, chances are, there's going to be crew that are still unconscious and haven't been given hangover treatment yet, they won't have heard my announcement. The Mark Eight will give you a list of which decks are in that state. You'll have to start at Deck Three, so you can come with me. The chosen EMH will send you the equipment you'll need before he joins you.

"T'Prith, I want you to check out the ship systems, from replicators to transporters, see what condition they are in, at least based with Operations; Mister Randall, you and Savar assess the science-based parts of the ship. Have Hyperion help you with that as well. I will expect a report in an hour.

"And as for you, Mister Espada," Nira said, "have the Flight Department assess conditions in the shuttlebay, see what conditions are, but you yourself have a very vital task: Check the flight charts and determine the course the Challenger has gone since leaving Starbase 153, and check in particular where the ship was at 77470.07. Then prepare a course to retrace the Challenger's previous course and stand by for the ship to move.

"Now, I'm going to take Zhuk and Blackfeather to Deck Three, check out the escape pods and determine when exactly the Captain's escape pod departed. Everybody else can meet at the briefing room in an hour, or send their audiovisual feed via holo-communicator in that same time period. Commander Catalan, you have the bridge."

It made sense, given Catalan was the ranking officer after Ruth, and she was still incapacitated from the injury.

Now that she had everybody at their tasks, Nira set off with Zhuk. She had to admit, she felt like when she instantly made deputy after Commander Aune, back on the Athena, was incapacitated during the battle with the Liberation. Now here she was, the Captain missing and her taking charge in an emergency. However, she had plenty of leads to work with.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Captain's Quarters and Corridors >- Starboard Escape Pod Corridors | Deck Three | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Sure enough, there were plenty of people who had not heard Nira's announcement on Deck Three. Some were waking up, dazed and confused. Others, already awake and bleary-eyed with a hangover, would instantly cover themselves upon seeing Nira, but she gave a reassuring gesture when she saw it; "I know," she would say, "it happened to us as well. You'll get the full details of what happened later."

In addition, there were plenty of others that were still unconscious and sprawled in supine or prone positions and in various attire, some hodgepodge or some lacking.

Blackfeather, fortunately, had heard Nira's call, and had arrived at Deck Three. While he was decent, he was dressed in two different Indian headgear: a turban from India with a huge feather headdress common among ancient Native American chiefs on it. He even had so much war paint splashed on him that his face looked like he bore the brunt of projectile rainbow vomit directly in the face.

Nira arrived at the Captain's quarters first, feeling to start first. Ironically, as she got close, she saw the trail of furniture. Rather than follow it to the escape pods, she followed it to Ian's quarters. She could see that the whole place had been emptied. With that, she backtracked and followed the trail the rest of the way. They arrived at the escape pods and Nira could tell which one was gone because the trail ended at a sealed door, with a banner reading "Just Married," stuck in the door.

"So, Ian was trying to elope with Doctor Fellows?" scoffed Nira at the situation. "And I think it was obvious that he had 'cleaned house,' as they say on Earth, and tried to move everything out."

Sure enough, looking around, she could see an overturned holo-cart with a smaller pile of broken furniture on it. Nira turned back to the escape pod door and checked the launch log, looking for when it launched. Once she got it, she called the EMH Mark Eight.

"Said to EMH Mark Eight," she called. "Can you tell me when the engines and warp core were shut off, and at what warp factor we were at when shutdown occurred?"

When she got the reply, Nira pondered. "Okay, Zhuk, Blackfeather, I think I got a good idea of when and potentially where Captain Galloway and Doctor Fellows will be," she said, making sense to explain to an audience, of sorts. "We can definitely confirm that they 'jumped ship,' again, to coin an Earth expression, while the ship was still at warp. More than twenty minutes later, but definitely less than half an hour, Lahr takes over Main Engineering and turns it into a nightclub, causing the engines to shut off, eventually prompting the Emergency Command Hologram to shut off all further engine systems, the warp core included. We were traveling at a velocity of Warp Nine. Naturally, he's going to be far behind us. Where exactly...that's going to be for what the long range sensors will tell us, assuming he's in the immediate vicinity. Of course, we know for certain they left on the starboard side, so if we backtrack, we're going to have to divert course when Mister McNair finds him."

[Nira Said]

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

An hour later, Nira met back with the rest of the departmental heads, though Tharn was replying via holo-communicators, given the busy state of things. Nira, of course, was at Espada's side when Tharn called.

"How are things down there, Commander?" Nira asked.

After a drawn-out, agitated and deep growl of a piglike squeal, Tharn replied, "Let me just say that the only thing that can do more damage than a whole engineering crew, plus a whole third of the crew under the influence would be a Cascade Virus. I don't know what the whole stinking third of the ship had done down there when it became a nightclub, but lots of the engineering systems have been screwed up! I'm looking at more work than expected in getting this up!"

"But the engines are online?" asked Nira patiently.

At that, at least Tharn didn't glower as much. "Well, that would be the good news on my end. We finished our cold start and we have impulse power by now."

"What about warp drive?"

"I'm having Mister ch'Verret looking at the warp core now," Tharn replied, "but I don't recommend going any higher than Warp Four."

"It'll be enough," said Nira. "We'll need to proceed slowly in any event while we retrace our course, that way, we won't miss the Captain's beacon."

"I can guarantee, however, that full warp capability will be available within the next hour," promised Tharn.

"Thank you, Commander," said Nira. "Keep on working your miracles."

Tharn smiled wider at that, being referred to as a "miracle worker," but Nira knew it was a common compliment regarding Engineers. When Tharn's image disappeared, Nira turned to Espada. "Have you figured out a backtracking course yet?" she asked.

"I have, Commander," he said.

"Good. Get us on course and take us to Warp Three point Five."

"Course laid in."

"Punch it."

The familiar hum of the ship certainly gave indication how it felt alive...after being so still and adrift for a while, Nira realized how much that hum indicated so...

"Okay, everybody else," said Nira, gesturing for them to join her in the briefing room. "Commander Catalan, you have the bridge...again. Mister McNair," she added, seeing McNair was still at work at the sensors, "the moment you pick up the Captain's signal, inform us and let Lieutenant Espada know where to change course."

Catalan shrugged as he took the big chair while Nira brought everybody else in. Gradually, they all came in: T'Kel and Zhuk, T'Prith, Davies, Randall, Savar and Hyperion.

"Report."

"First off, thank you for releasing Misters Blackfeather and Mrekrerhas once you didn't need them for the moment," said T'Kel. "We were able to make our assessments faster. I sent the two ensigns to inspect the armory while I checked the phaser banks and arsenal."

"How bad was it?" asked Nira.

"The torpedoes were certainly locked out, and the ECH did a thorough job," said T'Kel. "Nothing from the warheads to propulsion was tampered with. Unfortunately, the phaser array has been gummed up. By what...you don't want to know. Even more unfortunate: the targeting systems have been tampered with; we're likely going to have to aim manually if we go into battle. Fortunately, they're both being worked on, so we'll be able to have weapons functioning within normal parameters. Mister Mrekrerhas will fill you in with regards to the armory."

Once Nira heard Zhuk out, she turned to the rest of the officers to give their report, one per department (in the case of T'Prith and Davies, they alone represented their respective departments) Randall and Savar being backed up by Hyperion.

[Ian Galloway]

[Escape Pod]

"...and based off the scans, it seems we were affected by the Psi 2000 Polywater Virus."

"What the bloody hell is that?"

"It's extremely rare, to my knowledge, It's only been encountered twice in the past two centuries. The short story is, it's a by product of powerful gravitic fields that alter the water molecules. There is a cure, and we show the antibodies, so someone injected us before we abandoned ship. So, that explains a large portion of the how we ended up in an escape pod."

"Well, that implies there wasn't a loss of the ship. At least that's how I'm goin' spin it."

"I hope you don't mind if I share that delusion."

"Not in the slightest. Hope springs eternal, so the more the merrier."

[Buck McNair]

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

An hour later, Nira met back with the rest of the departmental heads, though Tharn was replying via holo-communicators, given the busy state of things. Nira, of course, was at Espada's side when Tharn called.

"How are things down there, Commander?" Nira asked.

After a drawn-out, agitated and deep growl of a piglike squeal, Tharn replied, "Let me just say that the only thing that can do more damage than a whole engineering crew, plus a whole third of the crew under the influence would be a Cascade Virus. I don't know what the whole stinking third of the ship had done down there when it became a nightclub, but lots of the engineering systems have been screwed up! I'm looking at more work than expected in getting this up!"

"But the engines are online?" asked Nira patiently.

At that, at least Tharn didn't glower as much. "Well, that would be the good news on my end. We finished our cold start and we have impulse power by now."

"What about warp drive?"

"I'm having Mister ch'Verret looking at the warp core now," Tharn replied, "but I don't recommend going any higher than Warp Four."

"It'll be enough," said Nira. "We'll need to proceed slowly in any event while we retrace our course, that way, we won't miss the Captain's beacon."

"I can guarantee, however, that full warp capability will be available within the next hour," promised Tharn.

"Thank you, Commander," said Nira. "Keep on working your miracles."

Tharn smiled wider at that, being referred to as a "miracle worker," but Nira knew it was a common compliment regarding Engineers. When Tharn's image disappeared, Nira turned to Espada. "Have you figured out a backtracking course yet?" she asked.

"I have, Commander," he said.

"Good. Get us on course and take us to Warp Three point Five."

"Course laid in."

"Punch it."

The familiar hum of the ship certainly gave indication how it felt alive...after being so still and adrift for a while, Nira realized how much that hum indicated so...

"Okay, everybody else," said Nira, gesturing for them to join her in the briefing room. "Commander Catalan, you have the bridge...again. Mister McNair," she added, seeing McNair was still at work at the sensors, "the moment you pick up the Captain's signal, inform us and let Lieutenant Espada know where to change course."

Catalan shrugged as he took the big chair while Nira brought everybody else in. Gradually, they all came in: T'Kel and Zhuk, T'Prith, Davies, Randall, Savar and Hyperion.

"Report."

"First off, thank you for releasing Misters Blackfeather and Mrekrerhas once you didn't need them for the moment," said T'Kel. "We were able to make our assessments faster. I sent the two ensigns to inspect the armory while I checked the phaser banks and arsenal."

"How bad was it?" asked Nira.

"The torpedoes were certainly locked out, and the ECH did a thorough job," said T'Kel. "Nothing from the warheads to propulsion was tampered with. Unfortunately, the phaser array has been gummed up. By what...you don't want to know. Even more unfortunate: the targeting systems have been tampered with; we're likely going to have to aim manually if we go into battle. Fortunately, they're both being worked on, so we'll be able to have weapons functioning within normal parameters. Mister Mrekrerhas will fill you in with regards to the armory."

Once Nira heard Zhuk out, she turned to the rest of the officers to give their report, one per department (in the case of T'Prith and Davies, they alone represented their respective departments) Randall and Savar being backed up by Hyperion.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The ship going into warp was a feeling that he certainly felt that he couldn't get over. It was one of those feelings in which there was very much hard to describe, even with them going at a lower warp than they usually would. Part of Buck felt as if he had missed the boat when it came to being engineering or flight control, but the tests and numbers would show that he wasn't quite up to scratch with those knowledge areas than he was with Ops and Security should time come for them to put him in a different position.

He had been sat at his station, watching the radars, watching how it pinged out of nothing as he continued the search for the Captain. Buck made his adjustments and his notes on his PADD as he went, jotting down coordinates they had passed and had already searched. His head jerked up at the mention of his name, frozen in  a position as he straightened himself up as the commander spoke to him. "Aye, commander." For a moment his gaze would linger to check that Nira did not need anything else from him before he turned back to his task.

With so much space, he hoped that the captain had the right mind to have activated his beacon. Buck glanced up briefly to see Nira walked with the others into the briefing room. Time would tell when and where the captain eventually would turn up.

Blip.

Buck switched on, his body language posturing as if something was happening.

Blip. Blip.

Something had appeared on the scanner now as he went to stand, his hands firmly planted on the screen of his station. "I think I might have a trace of the escape pod's signal. Looks to be....on bearing zero-six-five degrees off current trajectory."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 1 - Bridge]

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

"Okay, we've got a dual priority right now for most of us," Nira announced, ready to give orders. "That's to find Captain Galloway and to get this ship back and running. McNair, per Lahr's suggestion, get scanning with long-range sensors, keep an eye out for that beacon; as Lahr said, it should be easy to find, there's a good chance we're the only Federation starship in this neck of the woods. If he's not in the immediate vicinity, we'll have to backtrack to look for him...which we'll have to do anyway, in any event.

"Now, Commander Tharn, how long do you think it'll take for Engineering to get up and running fully?" asked Nira.

"Well, a cold start for the engines usually lasts thirty minutes," said Tharn, "but to get Engineering back to normal, and erase any mess made there, it's going to take two, maybe three hours, depending on how bad the mess is."

"Get started, then," said Nira. "Make the engines and the warp core first priority, I need them operational in an hour. Report to me in an hour as well, how things are, use the holo-communicators, the emitters will be able to help transit a message, chances are, you'll likely be busy."

"Will do," said Tharn. "Mister ch'Verret, come with me. I'm going to need your help with this. Chances are, most of the mess will be yours, under the influence as it is, you may likely recognize some of it without realizing and will have a better chance of taking it down. Of course, some of it might be my mess, too."

The Andorian looked up from the engineering bridge console and his antennae wavered uncertainly at the Chief's comment regarding the mess.  While it technically wasn't his fault, Lahr did felt a momentary twinge of responsibility.  "Aye ma'am."

He got up from his seat and followed the senior engineer down to Main Engineering, where he spent the next hour undoing the work of genius that he'd created with the engineering pooltable.  His magnum opus of a synthesizer - mixing various rhythms and synth music with the everyday sounds of the engines.   He figured he must have been inspired by a 21st century movie he'd recently watched.  He was the August Rush of Starfleet.

Tearing it apart was one of the harder things he had to do.

After that was put to rights and the Chief could at least begin running diagnostics to see what other systems were impacted, Lahr was sent to check on the warp core.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

An hour later, Nira met back with the rest of the departmental heads, though Tharn was replying via holo-communicators, given the busy state of things. Nira, of course, was at Espada's side when Tharn called.

"How are things down there, Commander?" Nira asked.

After a drawn-out, agitated and deep growl of a piglike squeal, Tharn replied, "Let me just say that the only thing that can do more damage than a whole engineering crew, plus a whole third of the crew under the influence would be a Cascade Virus. I don't know what the whole stinking third of the ship had done down there when it became a nightclub, but lots of the engineering systems have been screwed up! I'm looking at more work than expected in getting this up!"

"But the engines are online?" asked Nira patiently.

At that, at least Tharn didn't glower as much. "Well, that would be the good news on my end. We finished our cold start and we have impulse power by now."

"What about warp drive?"

"I'm having Mister ch'Verret looking at the warp core now," Tharn replied, "but I don't recommend going any higher than Warp Four."

"It'll be enough," said Nira. "We'll need to proceed slowly in any event while we retrace our course, that way, we won't miss the Captain's beacon."

"I can guarantee, however, that full warp capability will be available within the next hour," promised Tharn.

"Thank you, Commander," said Nira. "Keep on working your miracles."

Tharn smiled wider at that, being referred to as a "miracle worker," but Nira knew it was a common compliment regarding Engineers. When Tharn's image disappeared, Nira turned to Espada. "Have you figured out a backtracking course yet?" she asked.

"I have, Commander," he said.

"Good. Get us on course and take us to Warp Three point Five."

"Course laid in."

"Punch it."

The familiar hum of the ship certainly gave indication how it felt alive...after being so still and adrift for a while, Nira realized how much that hum indicated so...

"Okay, everybody else," said Nira, gesturing for them to join her in the briefing room. "Commander Catalan, you have the bridge...again. Mister McNair," she added, seeing McNair was still at work at the sensors, "the moment you pick up the Captain's signal, inform us and let Lieutenant Espada know where to change course."

Catalan shrugged as he took the big chair while Nira brought everybody else in. Gradually, they all came in: T'Kel and Zhuk, T'Prith, Davies, Randall, Savar and Hyperion.

"Report."

"First off, thank you for releasing Misters Blackfeather and Mrekrerhas once you didn't need them for the moment," said T'Kel. "We were able to make our assessments faster. I sent the two ensigns to inspect the armory while I checked the phaser banks and arsenal."

"How bad was it?" asked Nira.

"The torpedoes were certainly locked out, and the ECH did a thorough job," said T'Kel. "Nothing from the warheads to propulsion was tampered with. Unfortunately, the phaser array has been gummed up. By what...you don't want to know. Even more unfortunate: the targeting systems have been tampered with; we're likely going to have to aim manually if we go into battle. Fortunately, they're both being worked on, so we'll be able to have weapons functioning within normal parameters. Mister Mrekrerhas will fill you in with regards to the armory."

Once Nira heard Zhuk out, she turned to the rest of the officers to give their report, one per department (in the case of T'Prith and Davies, they alone represented their respective departments) Randall and Savar being backed up by Hyperion.

NPC Chloe Davies - Head Nurse
[Briefing Room]

Chloe inwardly grumbled at being called away from Sickbay once again to report out the Medical Department's progress.  She figured they've be far farther along if she wasn't be pulled away from her duties to report in person what could easily be provided over a comm.  But the Head Nurse held her tongue and impatiently waited while Nira's  favored department was called on to report - first T'Kel, then Zhuk.  Like it was important when they were in the middle of nowhere to know the status of their weapons.  Chloe almost rolled her eyes - almost.

When it finally was the Medical Department's turn to report, Chloe was brief and to the point.

"Medical personnel, with the aid of the ship's two EMH's, have detoxed a total of 374 personnel - just under 4/5ths of the entire ships complement.   We should be done that work within the next half hour.   There were numerous injuries tended to  - 73 at current count most of which were lacerations and contusions from the mosh pit in engineering... there 5 with fractured bones and one undergoing cranial surgery currently, which has slowed down the process of administering the anti-intoxicant.  Triaging the chaos - occupied nearly half our staff - we've prioritized treating the injured, and administering the anti-intoxicant to the Engineering and Security staff."

This lead into Chloe's next topic.  "For future instances of mass infections or casualties, I respectfully request only seriously injured personnel be ordered to Sickbay.  The rest should remain at their stations and we'll send out our medical personnel to the areas of key importance.  Our supply of anti-toxicant thankfully was fully stocked and we have enough on hand to treat all personnel but with rarer medications and with the replicators down.. we would need to prioritize who gets the medication and who doesn't - and that's easier done when we aren't dealing with a potential riot scenario right outside our doors."

She looked then to the others to give their reports so she could get back to her real work.

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Ensign Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Deck One | Bridge | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

"Well, since you mention additional symptoms," said the Mark Eight, answering Zhuk, "since it's clear that you don't recall what has happened in the past day or so, it is possible that the intoxication has afflicted your brains in such a way, it's caused the brains to stop producing memories for the temporary time period. Almost in the same way alcohol affects the brain. The afflicting of the virus is certainly variable in most races. For some, it's instantaneous. For others, it's slower. In Vulcans, it gradually causes them to lose emotional control, essentially like Pon Farr but without going 'into heat.' But I think the level of resistance depends on willpower, as demonstrated with Commander Said before she succumbed to the virus."

Nira had to cringe at the mention of the brain stopping memories, and she instantly decided she was never, ever going to so much as taste alcohol, no matter the occasion.

Naturally, the question posed by Mister McNair was understandable, and she wondered when the question would be posed. Lahr explained it to him, which made Nira relieved.

"Well, that would be a start at finding him," said Nira. "If he activated the beacon, we'll have a chance at finding him. Question is when he 'abandoned' ship."

"Well, he certainly disembarked with Doctor Fellows before the engines shut off," said the Mark Eight. "When precisely, I'm not sure; some communications had been shut off in various parts of the ship, some audio, some visual, a paltry few with both, and unfortunately, it includes Deck Three, where the escape pods were. It was the Marks One and Two that found out he was gone when they were going around the ship administering the cure for the virus; they followed his furniture from his quarters to the escape pods."

"That's why you said 'follow the furniture,' didn't you?" asked Nira. The hologram nodded.

"Okay, we've got a dual priority right now for most of us," Nira announced, ready to give orders. "That's to find Captain Galloway and to get this ship back and running. McNair, per Lahr's suggestion, get scanning with long-range sensors, keep an eye out for that beacon; as Lahr said, it should be easy to find, there's a good chance we're the only Federation starship in this neck of the woods. If he's not in the immediate vicinity, we'll have to backtrack to look for him...which we'll have to do anyway, in any event.

"Now, Commander Tharn, how long do you think it'll take for Engineering to get up and running fully?" asked Nira.

"Well, a cold start for the engines usually lasts thirty minutes," said Tharn, "but to get Engineering back to normal, and erase any mess made there, it's going to take two, maybe three hours, depending on how bad the mess is."

"Get started, then," said Nira. "Make the engines and the warp core first priority, I need them operational in an hour. Report to me in an hour as well, how things are, use the holo-communicators, the emitters will be able to help transit a message, chances are, you'll likely be busy."

"Will do," said Tharn. "Mister ch'Verret, come with me. I'm going to need your help with this. Chances are, most of the mess will be yours, under the influence as it is, you may likely recognize some of it without realizing and will have a better chance of taking it down. Of course, some of it might be my mess, too."

Once the two engineers were gone, Nira turned to everybody else.

"Zhuk, I'm going to need you a moment of your time, but first to your departmental head: T'Kel, have Security run an assessment of weapons, from the armory to the arsenal, see how they are and if anything will be compromised in any way. Have Mister Blackfeather meet me and Zhuk on Deck Three shortly, as well. Report your assessment to me in an hour

"Nurse Davies, head to any parts of the ship with any or all forms of communication cut off, take one of the EMHs with you, chances are, there's going to be crew that are still unconscious and haven't been given hangover treatment yet, they won't have heard my announcement. The Mark Eight will give you a list of which decks are in that state. You'll have to start at Deck Three, so you can come with me. The chosen EMH will send you the equipment you'll need before he joins you.

"T'Prith, I want you to check out the ship systems, from replicators to transporters, see what condition they are in, at least based with Operations; Mister Randall, you and Savar assess the science-based parts of the ship. Have Hyperion help you with that as well. I will expect a report in an hour.

"And as for you, Mister Espada," Nira said, "have the Flight Department assess conditions in the shuttlebay, see what conditions are, but you yourself have a very vital task: Check the flight charts and determine the course the Challenger has gone since leaving Starbase 153, and check in particular where the ship was at 77470.07. Then prepare a course to retrace the Challenger's previous course and stand by for the ship to move.

"Now, I'm going to take Zhuk and Blackfeather to Deck Three, check out the escape pods and determine when exactly the Captain's escape pod departed. Everybody else can meet at the briefing room in an hour, or send their audiovisual feed via holo-communicator in that same time period. Commander Catalan, you have the bridge."

It made sense, given Catalan was the ranking officer after Ruth, and she was still incapacitated from the injury.

Now that she had everybody at their tasks, Nira set off with Zhuk. She had to admit, she felt like when she instantly made deputy after Commander Aune, back on the Athena, was incapacitated during the battle with the Liberation. Now here she was, the Captain missing and her taking charge in an emergency. However, she had plenty of leads to work with.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Captain's Quarters and Corridors >- Starboard Escape Pod Corridors | Deck Three | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Sure enough, there were plenty of people who had not heard Nira's announcement on Deck Three. Some were waking up, dazed and confused. Others, already awake and bleary-eyed with a hangover, would instantly cover themselves upon seeing Nira, but she gave a reassuring gesture when she saw it; "I know," she would say, "it happened to us as well. You'll get the full details of what happened later."

In addition, there were plenty of others that were still unconscious and sprawled in supine or prone positions and in various attire, some hodgepodge or some lacking.

Blackfeather, fortunately, had heard Nira's call, and had arrived at Deck Three. While he was decent, he was dressed in two different Indian headgear: a turban from India with a huge feather headdress common among ancient Native American chiefs on it. He even had so much war paint splashed on him that his face looked like he bore the brunt of projectile rainbow vomit directly in the face.

Nira arrived at the Captain's quarters first, feeling to start first. Ironically, as she got close, she saw the trail of furniture. Rather than follow it to the escape pods, she followed it to Ian's quarters. She could see that the whole place had been emptied. With that, she backtracked and followed the trail the rest of the way. They arrived at the escape pods and Nira could tell which one was gone because the trail ended at a sealed door, with a banner reading "Just Married," stuck in the door.

"So, Ian was trying to elope with Doctor Fellows?" scoffed Nira at the situation. "And I think it was obvious that he had 'cleaned house,' as they say on Earth, and tried to move everything out."

Sure enough, looking around, she could see an overturned holo-cart with a smaller pile of broken furniture on it. Nira turned back to the escape pod door and checked the launch log, looking for when it launched. Once she got it, she called the EMH Mark Eight.

"Said to EMH Mark Eight," she called. "Can you tell me when the engines and warp core were shut off, and at what warp factor we were at when shutdown occurred?"

When she got the reply, Nira pondered. "Okay, Zhuk, Blackfeather, I think I got a good idea of when and potentially where Captain Galloway and Doctor Fellows will be," she said, making sense to explain to an audience, of sorts. "We can definitely confirm that they 'jumped ship,' again, to coin an Earth expression, while the ship was still at warp. More than twenty minutes later, but definitely less than half an hour, Lahr takes over Main Engineering and turns it into a nightclub, causing the engines to shut off, eventually prompting the Emergency Command Hologram to shut off all further engine systems, the warp core included. We were traveling at a velocity of Warp Nine. Naturally, he's going to be far behind us. Where exactly...that's going to be for what the long range sensors will tell us, assuming he's in the immediate vicinity. Of course, we know for certain they left on the starboard side, so if we backtrack, we're going to have to divert course when Mister McNair finds him."

Zhuk remained attentive as the Mark VIII answered his questions. Just as he had imagined, the virus seemed to possess diverse effects on different species, though he did note that Vulcans were the only ones whose effects were seemingly known with relative precision. Maybe, it would be ideal if some kind of research would be carried out on the Polywater virus, though with how sparse the incidents had been, it certainly sounded like a nightmare for any Science Officer. Fortunately, he wasn't one.

The mention of willpower did make him think. How much willpower did he have? Had it managed to keep him from succumbing to a loss of inhibition, or had he fallen right away? Those questions were now bugging him, though he figured out it would be a matter of investigation. That he could do much better than trying to figure out a rather obscure virus.

Orders began to be stated, and Zhuk shook his head to liberate the thoughts that remained in order to pay attention to the instruction of Lieutenant Nira. His ear flicked as he overheard that she wanted him alongside Blackfeather on Deck Three, realizing that his petition to aid in locating had been acknowledged. A small smile came on his muzzle, and he promptly nodded, following after her.

"Of course, ma'am. I shalt follow."

[Ensign Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Deck Three | Starboard Escape Pod Corridors | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Zhuk did his best to suppress his laugh as he came across Blackfeather, who truly was a hodgepodge of color and native attires. He really shouldn't make him feel too bad, considering that he wasn't that presentable, either. So, he instead acknowledged his presence with a singular nod, before taking a look around, trying to connect the dots as he explored the escape pods. He was surprised to find a banner of 'Just Married' on one of the doors, and he shook his head. Of course, laughter soon came by, just by the time Nira returned.

Soon, however, she made her findings known. He crossed his arms as he listened, pondering on the information provided by her. "I believe we have a large piece of the puzzle already solved, in that case. What remains is for us to find the pieces."

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

An hour later, Nira met back with the rest of the departmental heads, though Tharn was replying via holo-communicators, given the busy state of things. Nira, of course, was at Espada's side when Tharn called.

"How are things down there, Commander?" Nira asked.

After a drawn-out, agitated and deep growl of a piglike squeal, Tharn replied, "Let me just say that the only thing that can do more damage than a whole engineering crew, plus a whole third of the crew under the influence would be a Cascade Virus. I don't know what the whole stinking third of the ship had done down there when it became a nightclub, but lots of the engineering systems have been screwed up! I'm looking at more work than expected in getting this up!"

"But the engines are online?" asked Nira patiently.

At that, at least Tharn didn't glower as much. "Well, that would be the good news on my end. We finished our cold start and we have impulse power by now."

"What about warp drive?"

"I'm having Mister ch'Verret looking at the warp core now," Tharn replied, "but I don't recommend going any higher than Warp Four."

"It'll be enough," said Nira. "We'll need to proceed slowly in any event while we retrace our course, that way, we won't miss the Captain's beacon."

"I can guarantee, however, that full warp capability will be available within the next hour," promised Tharn.

"Thank you, Commander," said Nira. "Keep on working your miracles."

Tharn smiled wider at that, being referred to as a "miracle worker," but Nira knew it was a common compliment regarding Engineers. When Tharn's image disappeared, Nira turned to Espada. "Have you figured out a backtracking course yet?" she asked.

"I have, Commander," he said.

"Good. Get us on course and take us to Warp Three point Five."

"Course laid in."

"Punch it."

The familiar hum of the ship certainly gave indication how it felt alive...after being so still and adrift for a while, Nira realized how much that hum indicated so...

"Okay, everybody else," said Nira, gesturing for them to join her in the briefing room. "Commander Catalan, you have the bridge...again. Mister McNair," she added, seeing McNair was still at work at the sensors, "the moment you pick up the Captain's signal, inform us and let Lieutenant Espada know where to change course."

Catalan shrugged as he took the big chair while Nira brought everybody else in. Gradually, they all came in: T'Kel and Zhuk, T'Prith, Davies, Randall, Savar and Hyperion.

"Report."

"First off, thank you for releasing Misters Blackfeather and Mrekrerhas once you didn't need them for the moment," said T'Kel. "We were able to make our assessments faster. I sent the two ensigns to inspect the armory while I checked the phaser banks and arsenal."

"How bad was it?" asked Nira.

"The torpedoes were certainly locked out, and the ECH did a thorough job," said T'Kel. "Nothing from the warheads to propulsion was tampered with. Unfortunately, the phaser array has been gummed up. By what...you don't want to know. Even more unfortunate: the targeting systems have been tampered with; we're likely going to have to aim manually if we go into battle. Fortunately, they're both being worked on, so we'll be able to have weapons functioning within normal parameters. Mister Mrekrerhas will fill you in with regards to the armory."

Once Nira heard Zhuk out, she turned to the rest of the officers to give their report, one per department (in the case of T'Prith and Davies, they alone represented their respective departments) Randall and Savar being backed up by Hyperion.

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 1 - Bridge]

The Andorian looked up from the engineering bridge console and his antennae wavered uncertainly at the Chief's comment regarding the mess.  While it technically wasn't his fault, Lahr did felt a momentary twinge of responsibility.  "Aye ma'am."

He got up from his seat and followed the senior engineer down to Main Engineering, where he spent the next hour undoing the work of genius that he'd created with the engineering pooltable.  His magnum opus of a synthesizer - mixing various rhythms and synth music with the everyday sounds of the engines.   He figured he must have been inspired by a 21st century movie he'd recently watched.  He was the August Rush of Starfleet.

Tearing it apart was one of the harder things he had to do.

After that was put to rights and the Chief could at least begin running diagnostics to see what other systems were impacted, Lahr was sent to check on the warp core.

NPC Chloe Davies - Head Nurse
[Briefing Room]

Chloe inwardly grumbled at being called away from Sickbay once again to report out the Medical Department's progress.  She figured they've be far farther along if she wasn't be pulled away from her duties to report in person what could easily be provided over a comm.  But the Head Nurse held her tongue and impatiently waited while Nira's  favored department was called on to report - first T'Kel, then Zhuk.  Like it was important when they were in the middle of nowhere to know the status of their weapons.  Chloe almost rolled her eyes - almost.

When it finally was the Medical Department's turn to report, Chloe was brief and to the point.

"Medical personnel, with the aid of the ship's two EMH's, have detoxed a total of 374 personnel - just under 4/5ths of the entire ships complement.   We should be done that work within the next half hour.   There were numerous injuries tended to  - 73 at current count most of which were lacerations and contusions from the mosh pit in engineering... there 5 with fractured bones and one undergoing cranial surgery currently, which has slowed down the process of administering the anti-intoxicant.  Triaging the chaos - occupied nearly half our staff - we've prioritized treating the injured, and administering the anti-intoxicant to the Engineering and Security staff."

This lead into Chloe's next topic.  "For future instances of mass infections or casualties, I respectfully request only seriously injured personnel be ordered to Sickbay.  The rest should remain at their stations and we'll send out our medical personnel to the areas of key importance.  Our supply of anti-toxicant thankfully was fully stocked and we have enough on hand to treat all personnel but with rarer medications and with the replicators down.. we would need to prioritize who gets the medication and who doesn't - and that's easier done when we aren't dealing with a potential riot scenario right outside our doors."

She looked then to the others to give their reports so she could get back to her real work.

[Ensign Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Deck One | Bridge | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Zhukdra'shar remained on attention, head slightly raised up as he waited for T'kel to give her report. He certainly was concerned about the state of the phaser array, and the tampering with the targeting systems. It was a shame that individuals had not been locked out of both systems faster. Now they were quite vulnerable if any type of hostiles attempted to attack their ship. He hoped that both could be repaired as soon as possible.

He stepped forward, in order to inform of his findings to Lieutenant Nira concerning the Armory. His two hands were placed behind his back, one holding the other. "Both Chief Petty Officer Blackfeather and I made a thorough inventory of the Armory, whereby we determined that due to the prompt lockdown exercised, most of all the equipment available was fortunately secured. However... even though we verified it twice in order to determine the validity of our next statement," He glanced over at Blackfeather, sighing as his ears fell flat on top of his head. "we were unable to locate one standard Type-3A phaser rifle and two Type-2 phaser pistols. We believe that an individual with Security access retrieved both weapons and left, just before the lockdown could take place."

He fell silent, as he awaited Nira's statement. He was sure to listen over at the report offered by Head Nurse Davies. Once she had finished with her statement, he stepped forward towards her. "Apologies, Head Nurse Davies, but Medical does not report any type of phaser-related injuries? In that case, probably they weren't fired, but they should still be located as soon as possible." Zhuk seemed visibly relieved, as his ears returned to a more neutral stance, and he sighed, hand on his chest.

[T’prith]

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

An hour later, Nira met back with the rest of the departmental heads, though Tharn was replying via holo-communicators, given the busy state of things. Nira, of course, was at Espada's side when Tharn called.

"How are things down there, Commander?" Nira asked.

After a drawn-out, agitated and deep growl of a piglike squeal, Tharn replied, "Let me just say that the only thing that can do more damage than a whole engineering crew, plus a whole third of the crew under the influence would be a Cascade Virus. I don't know what the whole stinking third of the ship had done down there when it became a nightclub, but lots of the engineering systems have been screwed up! I'm looking at more work than expected in getting this up!"

"But the engines are online?" asked Nira patiently.

At that, at least Tharn didn't glower as much. "Well, that would be the good news on my end. We finished our cold start and we have impulse power by now."

"What about warp drive?"

"I'm having Mister ch'Verret looking at the warp core now," Tharn replied, "but I don't recommend going any higher than Warp Four."

"It'll be enough," said Nira. "We'll need to proceed slowly in any event while we retrace our course, that way, we won't miss the Captain's beacon."

"I can guarantee, however, that full warp capability will be available within the next hour," promised Tharn.

"Thank you, Commander," said Nira. "Keep on working your miracles."

Tharn smiled wider at that, being referred to as a "miracle worker," but Nira knew it was a common compliment regarding Engineers. When Tharn's image disappeared, Nira turned to Espada. "Have you figured out a backtracking course yet?" she asked.

"I have, Commander," he said.

"Good. Get us on course and take us to Warp Three point Five."

"Course laid in."

"Punch it."

The familiar hum of the ship certainly gave indication how it felt alive...after being so still and adrift for a while, Nira realized how much that hum indicated so...

"Okay, everybody else," said Nira, gesturing for them to join her in the briefing room. "Commander Catalan, you have the bridge...again. Mister McNair," she added, seeing McNair was still at work at the sensors, "the moment you pick up the Captain's signal, inform us and let Lieutenant Espada know where to change course."

Catalan shrugged as he took the big chair while Nira brought everybody else in. Gradually, they all came in: T'Kel and Zhuk, T'Prith, Davies, Randall, Savar and Hyperion.

"Report."

"First off, thank you for releasing Misters Blackfeather and Mrekrerhas once you didn't need them for the moment," said T'Kel. "We were able to make our assessments faster. I sent the two ensigns to inspect the armory while I checked the phaser banks and arsenal."

"How bad was it?" asked Nira.

"The torpedoes were certainly locked out, and the ECH did a thorough job," said T'Kel. "Nothing from the warheads to propulsion was tampered with. Unfortunately, the phaser array has been gummed up. By what...you don't want to know. Even more unfortunate: the targeting systems have been tampered with; we're likely going to have to aim manually if we go into battle. Fortunately, they're both being worked on, so we'll be able to have weapons functioning within normal parameters. Mister Mrekrerhas will fill you in with regards to the armory."

Once Nira heard Zhuk out, she turned to the rest of the officers to give their report, one per department (in the case of T'Prith and Davies, they alone represented their respective departments) Randall and Savar being backed up by Hyperion.

[USS Challenger-bridge]

While she was feeling frustrated she remained calm as she had to report what was going on. "œLieutenant commander looks like the replicators aren't functioning right. Unfortunately there are a few that are burnt out. The transporters however are functional but are scuffed and need to be cleaned. I've spent some time trying to fix the replicators that aren't functioning right." Luckily her frustration didn't shine through as she was giving her report. She figured that afterwards she could go back to work and figure it out. The last thing that they needed was operation systems that weren't working even after multiple ideas to try and fix them so they were functional.

[Nira Said]

NPC Chloe Davies - Head Nurse
[Briefing Room]

Chloe inwardly grumbled at being called away from Sickbay once again to report out the Medical Department's progress.  She figured they've be far farther along if she wasn't be pulled away from her duties to report in person what could easily be provided over a comm.  But the Head Nurse held her tongue and impatiently waited while Nira's  favored department was called on to report - first T'Kel, then Zhuk.  Like it was important when they were in the middle of nowhere to know the status of their weapons.  Chloe almost rolled her eyes - almost.

When it finally was the Medical Department's turn to report, Chloe was brief and to the point.

"Medical personnel, with the aid of the ship's two EMH's, have detoxed a total of 374 personnel - just under 4/5ths of the entire ships complement.   We should be done that work within the next half hour.   There were numerous injuries tended to  - 73 at current count most of which were lacerations and contusions from the mosh pit in engineering... there 5 with fractured bones and one undergoing cranial surgery currently, which has slowed down the process of administering the anti-intoxicant.  Triaging the chaos - occupied nearly half our staff - we've prioritized treating the injured, and administering the anti-intoxicant to the Engineering and Security staff."

This lead into Chloe's next topic.  "For future instances of mass infections or casualties, I respectfully request only seriously injured personnel be ordered to Sickbay.  The rest should remain at their stations and we'll send out our medical personnel to the areas of key importance.  Our supply of anti-toxicant thankfully was fully stocked and we have enough on hand to treat all personnel but with rarer medications and with the replicators down.. we would need to prioritize who gets the medication and who doesn't - and that's easier done when we aren't dealing with a potential riot scenario right outside our doors."

She looked then to the others to give their reports so she could get back to her real work.

[Ensign Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Deck One | Bridge | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Zhuk remained attentive as the Mark VIII answered his questions. Just as he had imagined, the virus seemed to possess diverse effects on different species, though he did note that Vulcans were the only ones whose effects were seemingly known with relative precision. Maybe, it would be ideal if some kind of research would be carried out on the Polywater virus, though with how sparse the incidents had been, it certainly sounded like a nightmare for any Science Officer. Fortunately, he wasn't one.

The mention of willpower did make him think. How much willpower did he have? Had it managed to keep him from succumbing to a loss of inhibition, or had he fallen right away? Those questions were now bugging him, though he figured out it would be a matter of investigation. That he could do much better than trying to figure out a rather obscure virus.

Orders began to be stated, and Zhuk shook his head to liberate the thoughts that remained in order to pay attention to the instruction of Lieutenant Nira. His ear flicked as he overheard that she wanted him alongside Blackfeather on Deck Three, realizing that his petition to aid in locating had been acknowledged. A small smile came on his muzzle, and he promptly nodded, following after her.

"Of course, ma'am. I shalt follow."

[Ensign Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Deck Three | Starboard Escape Pod Corridors | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Zhuk did his best to suppress his laugh as he came across Blackfeather, who truly was a hodgepodge of color and native attires. He really shouldn't make him feel too bad, considering that he wasn't that presentable, either. So, he instead acknowledged his presence with a singular nod, before taking a look around, trying to connect the dots as he explored the escape pods. He was surprised to find a banner of 'Just Married' on one of the doors, and he shook his head. Of course, laughter soon came by, just by the time Nira returned.

Soon, however, she made her findings known. He crossed his arms as he listened, pondering on the information provided by her. "I believe we have a large piece of the puzzle already solved, in that case. What remains is for us to find the pieces."

[Ensign Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Deck One | Bridge | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Zhukdra'shar remained on attention, head slightly raised up as he waited for T'kel to give her report. He certainly was concerned about the state of the phaser array, and the tampering with the targeting systems. It was a shame that individuals had not been locked out of both systems faster. Now they were quite vulnerable if any type of hostiles attempted to attack their ship. He hoped that both could be repaired as soon as possible.

He stepped forward, in order to inform of his findings to Lieutenant Nira concerning the Armory. His two hands were placed behind his back, one holding the other. "Both Chief Petty Officer Blackfeather and I made a thorough inventory of the Armory, whereby we determined that due to the prompt lockdown exercised, most of all the equipment available was fortunately secured. However... even though we verified it twice in order to determine the validity of our next statement," He glanced over at Blackfeather, sighing as his ears fell flat on top of his head. "we were unable to locate one standard Type-3A phaser rifle and two Type-2 phaser pistols. We believe that an individual with Security access retrieved both weapons and left, just before the lockdown could take place."

He fell silent, as he awaited Nira's statement. He was sure to listen over at the report offered by Head Nurse Davies. Once she had finished with her statement, he stepped forward towards her. "Apologies, Head Nurse Davies, but Medical does not report any type of phaser-related injuries? In that case, probably they weren't fired, but they should still be located as soon as possible." Zhuk seemed visibly relieved, as his ears returned to a more neutral stance, and he sighed, hand on his chest.

[USS Challenger-bridge]

While she was feeling frustrated she remained calm as she had to report what was going on. "œLieutenant commander looks like the replicators aren't functioning right. Unfortunately there are a few that are burnt out. The transporters however are functional but are scuffed and need to be cleaned. I've spent some time trying to fix the replicators that aren't functioning right." Luckily her frustration didn't shine through as she was giving her report. She figured that afterwards she could go back to work and figure it out. The last thing that they needed was operation systems that weren't working even after multiple ideas to try and fix them so they were functional.

[Lieutenant Commander Nira Said | Briefing Room >- First Officer's Ready Room >- Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Nira heard out each of the different reports. Naturally, Nurse Davies was grumpy. Nira had a feeling that the nurse didn't like her. The body language spoke volumes.

"I'll bear that in mind for future reference, Head Nurse," said Nira. "After all, I'm still new to the job."

She looked to T'Prith for the report about the replicators. That was certainly serious that not all the replicators were working okay, and that a few of them were burnt out.

"Well, I'll talk to Commander Tharn and see if she'll spare some Engineers to help with getting the replicators up and running again."

The science team had just finished their briefing when Lieutenant Espada called.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The ship going into warp was a feeling that he certainly felt that he couldn't get over. It was one of those feelings in which there was very much hard to describe, even with them going at a lower warp than they usually would. Part of Buck felt as if he had missed the boat when it came to being engineering or flight control, but the tests and numbers would show that he wasn't quite up to scratch with those knowledge areas than he was with Ops and Security should time come for them to put him in a different position.

He had been sat at his station, watching the radars, watching how it pinged out of nothing as he continued the search for the Captain. Buck made his adjustments and his notes on his PADD as he went, jotting down coordinates they had passed and had already searched. His head jerked up at the mention of his name, frozen in  a position as he straightened himself up as the commander spoke to him. "Aye, commander." For a moment his gaze would linger to check that Nira did not need anything else from him before he turned back to his task.

With so much space, he hoped that the captain had the right mind to have activated his beacon. Buck glanced up briefly to see Nira walked with the others into the briefing room. Time would tell when and where the captain eventually would turn up.

Blip.

Buck switched on, his body language posturing as if something was happening.

Blip. Blip.

Something had appeared on the scanner now as he went to stand, his hands firmly planted on the screen of his station. "I think I might have a trace of the escape pod's signal. Looks to be....on bearing zero-six-five degrees off current trajectory."

"Commander?" he called.  "Mister McNair has found the escape pod's signal. Bearing zero-six-five degrees on our current trajectory."

"Divert course and drop us to half impulse when we get within a thousand meters of the signal, Lieutenant," Nira ordered. Her relief was surging. They were closing in on the Captain.

"Alright, everybody, dismissed," said Nira. Once they were gone, Nira called the EMH Mark Eight.

"Said to EMH Mark Eight."

"Go ahead, Commander."

"Doctor, would Captain Galloway and Doctor Fellows likely be still be under the influence of the Psi 2000 Virus?"

"Unlikely. They were the first to be inoculated by the older EMH models. They were only able to do so when they dropped in on their...'wedding.' Unfortunately, it was going to take time for it to take effect and things were chaotic enough, as you know, for us to administer the gas to render the crew unconscious."

"Well, I think we're going to be catching up with the 'honeymoon jalopy' soon," said Nira. "Said out."

Heading to her ready room, she ordered Catalan to remain at the conn and busied herself in reviewing whatever security footage there was that showed what happened in the past day or so. Naturally, things were calm at first at around Stardate 77470.07. But then things gradually got out of control. Sure enough, as the Mark Eight indicated, Nira was the one that put up the struggle the most and was one of the last to succumb to the virus.

And there was, for sure, a wedding between Ian and Doctor Fellows...except it was not so much a wedding as something put together by toddlers on sugar highs. She did notice the older EMHs inoculating the two before the pairs went their separate ways.

Other examples of footage included most of the departmental heads using the shuttles as bumper cars; T'Prith throwing tantrums; McNair swimming with the dolphins. And in Sickbay, the EMHs had, in fact, used Nurse Davies as their guinea pig to inoculate the cure, administering it as she was biting savagely into a biobed.

As for Nira herself...well, she and Savar were practically roaming the ship, changing clothes faster than a Klingon changing bloodwine tankards. At one of the bars, Savar had punched Lieutenant Espada when Espada tried to flirt with Nira, while Nira was having a lot of turns dancing with the palm tree. Which surprised Nira herself because, as much as she was an exotic dancer, she never danced with anything that braced itself from floor to ceiling, no matter what angle it took. The way she swung, it strongly reminded her of an ape gone bananas...as they say on Earth.

Finally, there was the culprit that had shaved Catalan and Zhuk, but she was going to keep that to herself for the time being, because, given how Zhuk was feeling, the poor crewman involved would have to be confined in quarters and removed from duty for a few days until Zhuk grew his hair back.

Deciding she had had enough of the footage, she returned to the bridge.

"How far are we from the Captain?"

"We'll be in range in a few minutes," said Lieutenant Espada.

Nira nodded and took her seat. After a moment, the ship dropped out of warp. And there it was, quite the distance away.

"Good work, Mister McNair," said Nira with a smile. "Hail the escape pod."

T'Kel nodded, and when comms came on, Nira called, "Captain? Doctor Fellows? Are you alright over there?"