S:5 E:9 - The Naked When

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger - Deck 13 - Main Engineering Warp Core] (prior to Briefing)

Lahr wasn't sure if Commander Tharn's order to have him be the one to check over the Warp core was the Tellarite's way of acknowledging his increasing skill in the engineering field, or more of a punishment for Lahr's actions having forced the shutdown of the warp core in the first place.   The Andorian would have bet on the latter.  It had been challenging but, in the end, Lahr had managed to meet the Chief's deadline and have warp power for when Commander Said needed it.

Once the ship was on its way, backtracking to hopefully find their missing Captain (according to rumor), Lahr was stationed to keep watch on the injector ports.  A dull, boring task that nevertheless was vital to the performance of the warp engines.   The petty officer leaned back in his chair trying to get comfortable for what he suspected was going to be a long quiet shift.

NPC Chloe Davies - Head Nurse
[Briefing Room]

[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.

[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. "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.

While it was true that Commander Said was new to the position of First Officer, Chloe didn't think that was any excuse not to use some common sense when issuing orders to the crew at large.  Still, she'd gotten her point across so Chloe felt a little better.

She was a bit surprised by the Security officer's question but then recalled that he'd reported some phasers missing.

"Nothing phaser related so far, but we'll be sure to contact Security if anything like that crops up." Chloe assured the Caitian.

A few minutes later and the meeting ended after the Commander received word that an escape pod's signal had been discovered.  Chloe hoped it was the Captain and Dr. Fellows.

The Head Nurse hurried back to Sickbay to help finish up administering the anti-toxicant to the last of the crew.  She wanted to have Sickbay back to its usual efficient state before Dr. Fellows returned.

[Ian Galloway]

[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. "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?"

[Escape Pod - Deep Space]

Ian perked up when he heard Nira's voice. He activated the comm and replied.

"Tis good ta hear your voice Commander. Doctor Fellows has explained the how the two of us ended up in an escape pod. I have ta assume the ship and crew has had some... difficulties as a result of that same reason. You can brief me once I'm back aboard. Once we're back on an even keel, we need ta locate the source of the gravity wave that caused this whole thing. See you soon. Galloway out."

[Nira Said]

[Escape Pod - Deep Space]

Ian perked up when he heard Nira's voice. He activated the comm and replied.

"Tis good ta hear your voice Commander. Doctor Fellows has explained the how the two of us ended up in an escape pod. I have ta assume the ship and crew has had some... difficulties as a result of that same reason. You can brief me once I'm back aboard. Once we're back on an even keel, we need ta locate the source of the gravity wave that caused this whole thing. See you soon. Galloway out."

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

"Of course, Captain," said Nira. "Doctor Fellows must've figured out what afflicted you...you must've recovered faster than we did, if life support on your escape pod wasn't...aye, Captain, I'll see you when you get here," said Nira, stopping herself before she could go on theorizing, stopping herself with the thought, dammit, I'm not an Ops officer... "We'll get you two aboard as soon as possible. Said out."

Cutting comms, Nira called Transporter Chief Grelek and said, "Bridge to Mister Grelek, lock on to the Captains' and Doctor Fellows' signatures once we get in range and beam them aboard as soon as possible."

She looked at Ensign McNair and said, "Mister McNair, get a tractor beam lock onto the escape pod when we get into range and get it into the shuttlebay."

Turning to Lieutenant Espada, she said, "Mister Espada, once we have the Captain, Doctor Fellows and their escape pod back aboard, turn back on course to our destination and punch it up to Warp 3.8. Increase speed once they become available."

Standing up, she looked to Commander Catalan and said, "Commander, you have the bridge."

Arriving at Transporter Room One, Nira had the EMH Mark Eight transmitted to her side. "Please State the Nature of the...Commander?" he asked, his usual greeting interrupted, seeing as he wasn't in Sickbay. "What am I...?"

"We found the Captain and Doctor Fellows. They're coming aboard. We have to brief them."

"Oh. Joy," said the Mark Eight in an unenthusiastic deadpan, sarcastically looking forward to the prospect of recounting his story.

"Don't worry, you won't have to explain alone, this time," she said.

The Mark Eight shrugged skeptically as Captain Galloway and Doctor Fellows beamed aboard. It took Nira much restraint to not burst out laughing at the "married" couple.

"Welcome back aboard, Mister and Mrs...I mean, Captain, Doctor Fellows," said Nira with as much deadpan as the Mark Eight. "This is the EMH Mark Eight, he's been running the ship as the Emergency Command Hologram while we were out of control...I think it may be best to wait to brief you until you freshen up, Captain. You, too, Doctor Fellows, the 'honeymoon' is over."

[Buck McNair]

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

"Of course, Captain," said Nira. "Doctor Fellows must've figured out what afflicted you...you must've recovered faster than we did, if life support on your escape pod wasn't...aye, Captain, I'll see you when you get here," said Nira, stopping herself before she could go on theorizing, stopping herself with the thought, dammit, I'm not an Ops officer... "We'll get you two aboard as soon as possible. Said out."

Cutting comms, Nira called Transporter Chief Grelek and said, "Bridge to Mister Grelek, lock on to the Captains' and Doctor Fellows' signatures once we get in range and beam them aboard as soon as possible."

She looked at Ensign McNair and said, "Mister McNair, get a tractor beam lock onto the escape pod when we get into range and get it into the shuttlebay."

Turning to Lieutenant Espada, she said, "Mister Espada, once we have the Captain, Doctor Fellows and their escape pod back aboard, turn back on course to our destination and punch it up to Warp 3.8. Increase speed once they become available."

Standing up, she looked to Commander Catalan and said, "Commander, you have the bridge."

Arriving at Transporter Room One, Nira had the EMH Mark Eight transmitted to her side. "Please State the Nature of the...Commander?" he asked, his usual greeting interrupted, seeing as he wasn't in Sickbay. "What am I...?"

"We found the Captain and Doctor Fellows. They're coming aboard. We have to brief them."

"Oh. Joy," said the Mark Eight in an unenthusiastic deadpan, sarcastically looking forward to the prospect of recounting his story.

"Don't worry, you won't have to explain alone, this time," she said.

The Mark Eight shrugged skeptically as Captain Galloway and Doctor Fellows beamed aboard. It took Nira much restraint to not burst out laughing at the "married" couple.

"Welcome back aboard, Mister and Mrs...I mean, Captain, Doctor Fellows," said Nira with as much deadpan as the Mark Eight. "This is the EMH Mark Eight, he's been running the ship as the Emergency Command Hologram while we were out of control...I think it may be best to wait to brief you until you freshen up, Captain. You, too, Doctor Fellows, the 'honeymoon' is over."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Buck was glad that he was doing his part in assisting the crew in finding the Captain. Things did feel a little strange having woken in a Dolphin Tank and then straight into working. So much so that he had almost forgotten the damp (if not still wet) uniform that he was wearing. "Aye, Commander." He affirmed as he began to work the tractor beam as they began to get into range; watching both his own screen and the larger visual screen as he waited.

It did not take too long for the beeping signalling that they were ready to beam them. He gave a half smile as he pressed the button allowing him to lock on and begin the process of guiding the shuttle into the shuttle bay, hoping that he had done it correctly. "Commander Catalan, the shuttle is safely on board."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

[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.

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A  - Deck 13 - Main Engineering]

Quiet tasks were not Lahr's forte.  The Andorian was inexplicably tired and a little depressed, with his antennae drooping, in the aftermath of tearing down his masterpiece of a DJ synthesizer.  As a result, he found himself a short while later fighting to keep his eyes open and focused on his console screen.  He thought he was fighting hard enough until....

His jerked his head upwards in reaction to his nodding off a moment prior.  Unfortunately for him, the Chief had witnessed his momentary doze.  Her loud insults to his character and worth were enough to give the sleepy engineer a boost of adrenaline.  His antennae shot up - rigid with attention as he tried not to flinch at her face-to-face tirade.  He didn't dare wipe the spittle from her words off his face in her presence lest it prompt something more volatile.

She made the Captain's outbursts seem almost tame in comparison.  He'd always been told that Tellarite's used insults socially... but in this cause Lahr was rather certain she was just livid with him.

"Get out of my engine room! Go make yourself useful for once!"  There was a pause as she seemed to consider where best to send him.  "T'Prith needed help with the replicators - so go meet up with her.  You're her problem now!"

Lahr signed out of the injector console, letting another engineer take his place, before making a hasty retreat.  He didn't want to be there in case Commander Tharn got so fed up with him that she turned to violence.

"yes ma'am" he squeaked and hurried off to find the calmer Vulcan. 

[Ian Galloway]

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

"Of course, Captain," said Nira. "Doctor Fellows must've figured out what afflicted you...you must've recovered faster than we did, if life support on your escape pod wasn't...aye, Captain, I'll see you when you get here," said Nira, stopping herself before she could go on theorizing, stopping herself with the thought, dammit, I'm not an Ops officer... "We'll get you two aboard as soon as possible. Said out."

Cutting comms, Nira called Transporter Chief Grelek and said, "Bridge to Mister Grelek, lock on to the Captains' and Doctor Fellows' signatures once we get in range and beam them aboard as soon as possible."

She looked at Ensign McNair and said, "Mister McNair, get a tractor beam lock onto the escape pod when we get into range and get it into the shuttlebay."

Turning to Lieutenant Espada, she said, "Mister Espada, once we have the Captain, Doctor Fellows and their escape pod back aboard, turn back on course to our destination and punch it up to Warp 3.8. Increase speed once they become available."

Standing up, she looked to Commander Catalan and said, "Commander, you have the bridge."

Arriving at Transporter Room One, Nira had the EMH Mark Eight transmitted to her side. "Please State the Nature of the...Commander?" he asked, his usual greeting interrupted, seeing as he wasn't in Sickbay. "What am I...?"

"We found the Captain and Doctor Fellows. They're coming aboard. We have to brief them."

"Oh. Joy," said the Mark Eight in an unenthusiastic deadpan, sarcastically looking forward to the prospect of recounting his story.

"Don't worry, you won't have to explain alone, this time," she said.

The Mark Eight shrugged skeptically as Captain Galloway and Doctor Fellows beamed aboard. It took Nira much restraint to not burst out laughing at the "married" couple.

"Welcome back aboard, Mister and Mrs...I mean, Captain, Doctor Fellows," said Nira with as much deadpan as the Mark Eight. "This is the EMH Mark Eight, he's been running the ship as the Emergency Command Hologram while we were out of control...I think it may be best to wait to brief you until you freshen up, Captain. You, too, Doctor Fellows, the 'honeymoon' is over."

[Transporter Room --> Bridge]

Ian bid Jess a quick goodbye and made his way quickly to the bridge. He listened to the EMH's and Nira's reports on the ship's status. Along the way, he saw signs of the chaos that had wracked the ship in his absence. He could only shake his head an amazement at what he saw.

On reaching the bridge, he moved to the command chair as Catalan moved back to Ops. He gazed about at the others and while he knew he wasn't fully responsible for his earlier actions, he felt as if he'd failed the crew and had abandoned his post. He chose not to comment on his previous actions and focus on the future.

"Given what we have all been through, we have ta find out the root cause of the gravitic wave that caused us ta lose our collective minds. Whatever it was is clearly a hazard ta navigation and we have a duty ta make sure we keep it from happenin' again.

"Sciences and Ops, I'm goin' ta need maximum effort from you ta trace the source of that gravity pulse. Whatever it was, we will find it and we will end it. Carry on."

[Nira Said]

[Transporter Room --> Bridge]

Ian bid Jess a quick goodbye and made his way quickly to the bridge. He listened to the EMH's and Nira's reports on the ship's status. Along the way, he saw signs of the chaos that had wracked the ship in his absence. He could only shake his head an amazement at what he saw.

On reaching the bridge, he moved to the command chair as Catalan moved back to Ops. He gazed about at the others and while he knew he wasn't fully responsible for his earlier actions, he felt as if he'd failed the crew and had abandoned his post. He chose not to comment on his previous actions and focus on the future.

"Given what we have all been through, we have ta find out the root cause of the gravitic wave that caused us ta lose our collective minds. Whatever it was is clearly a hazard ta navigation and we have a duty ta make sure we keep it from happenin' again.

"Sciences and Ops, I'm goin' ta need maximum effort from you ta trace the source of that gravity pulse. Whatever it was, we will find it and we will end it. Carry on."

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

Nira could feel something from Ian. It was some kind of downcast feeling. Nira wondered why...was this shame of abandoning ship? Regardless, Nira turned her attention as Ian gave his orders.

"Of course, Captain," she said. "And I absolutely agree. Something could've happened to some kind of stellar body, either a planet or a star, which generated that gravimetric shockwave that altered the water molecules in the air. The EMH Mark Eight had given us the time around when we lost control, so we're on our way back to the coordinates around that time. Lieutenant Espada?" she called. "How long until we return to that area?"

"Shouldn't take longer than a few hours once we get full warp capability," Espada replied, "The EMH informed me we were traveling between Warp Six and Seven when the virus first hit, then increased to high Warp Nine levels as people lost control before all engine systems were shut off."

"Alright, maintain course, Lieutenant," said Nira. "Oh, and in studying the area where we were on that particular stardate, are there any star systems nearby?"

"There's roughly five around our route, spread across two dozen lightyears, given we were traveling between systems. Astrometrics will likely tell us more."

"Sounds like we'll need to consult with Hyperion when we arrive," said Nira, turning to Ian. "Chances are, we won't detect any residual gravimetric traces once a shockwave happened. As such, we're likely going to have to check each of these systems to see if they have a planet or a star missing, although it would be perfectly obvious if the star is gone or reduced to a dwarf prematurely.

"Still, gives us time to complete repairs and maintenance on the ship as we go," said Nira.

As they traveled, she got word that Lahr was helping T'prith repair the replicators. "Much appreciated," she said, when the crewman helping her, a Mister Groff, informed her. "It's a good idea of Commander Tharn's."

"Right. We'll especially need Engineering expertise, particularly with the burnt-out replicators."

A few hours later...

First Officer's Log, Supplemental. We've returned to the point we were at the Psi 2000 Virus first manifested. At least, to the earliest extent of the area we reached. The ship is mostly restored to normal; at least a lot of the decks are clean. There are still some replicators that aren't working, but most are fully functional, thanks to Lahr and T'Prith. As to the source of the gravimetric wave that altered the air molecules into polywater in the first place, we have a choice of five systems to find...

By the time they arrived, the ship was restored to normal. Zhuk had finished his patrol and was at the bridge next to T'Kel. Lahr and T'Prith were inspecting the replicator and door system in the Captain's Ready Room. McNair was standing next to Commander Catalan at Ops.

Meanwhile, Nira was pondering of what to do and was conferring with Ian.

"Well, what do you think, Captain?" she asked. "Should we set course for the nearest system or shall we hold here and launch probes to the five systems? I mean, probes could make the work go faster."

"It's certainly a viable option," said Lieutenant Randall from the Science Station, Savar seated next to him. "Ops and Science can get them prepped."

Nira looked at Ian for a decision, glad to defer to him now that he was back.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

PO1 ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A  - Deck One - Captain's Ready Room]

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

As they traveled, she got word that Lahr was helping T'prith repair the replicators. "Much appreciated," she said, when the crewman helping her, a Mister Groff, informed her. "It's a good idea of Commander Tharn's."

"Right. We'll especially need Engineering expertise, particularly with the burnt-out replicators."

A few hours later...

First Officer's Log, Supplemental. We've returned to the point we were at the Psi 2000 Virus first manifested. At least, to the earliest extent of the area we reached. The ship is mostly restored to normal; at least a lot of the decks are clean. There are still some replicators that aren't working, but most are fully functional, thanks to Lahr and T'Prith. As to the source of the gravimetric wave that altered the air molecules into polywater in the first place, we have a choice of five systems to find...

By the time they arrived, the ship was restored to normal. Zhuk had finished his patrol and was at the bridge next to T'Kel. Lahr and T'Prith were inspecting the replicator and door system in the Captain's Ready Room. McNair was standing next to Commander Catalan at Ops.

Meanwhile, Nira was pondering of what to do and was conferring with Ian.

"Well, what do you think, Captain?" she asked. "Should we set course for the nearest system or shall we hold here and launch probes to the five systems? I mean, probes could make the work go faster."

"It's certainly a viable option," said Lieutenant Randall from the Science Station, Savar seated next to him. "Ops and Science can get them prepped."

Nira looked at Ian for a decision, glad to defer to him now that he was back.

Lahr had arrived on the Bridge Deck not long ago to continue his work on the repair of various lesser systems with T'Prith as the Ops officer supervising his tasks.  There were several issue reported - the Captain's Ready Room door was sticking, the replicator in the Captain's Ready Room was non-functioning, and the recycler system in the Bridge Deck Head was reported to be glitching.

Lahr was most concerned about what that last task would actually entail, but thankfully priority was given to the two Ready Room repairs first.   Lahr set himself up at the Ready Room doorway, testing the door trigger sensors to begin his work.   As expected from the repair request, the door didn't open smoothly and Lahr set the manual lock on it for it to remain open so that he could take the door mechanism apart and figure out how best to repair it.

Being on the Bridge, Lahr was able to overhear all that was going on.  He heard rumor that the ship had turned back to their point of origin where the virus first took hold.  He wondered what the point of it was and if was really all that wise.

[Ian Galloway]

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

First Officer's Log, Supplemental. We've returned to the point we were at the Psi 2000 Virus first manifested. At least, to the earliest extent of the area we reached. The ship is mostly restored to normal; at least a lot of the decks are clean. There are still some replicators that aren't working, but most are fully functional, thanks to Lahr and T'Prith. As to the source of the gravimetric wave that altered the air molecules into polywater in the first place, we have a choice of five systems to find...

By the time they arrived, the ship was restored to normal. Zhuk had finished his patrol and was at the bridge next to T'Kel. Lahr and T'Prith were inspecting the replicator and door system in the Captain's Ready Room. McNair was standing next to Commander Catalan at Ops.

Meanwhile, Nira was pondering of what to do and was conferring with Ian.

"Well, what do you think, Captain?" she asked. "Should we set course for the nearest system or shall we hold here and launch probes to the five systems? I mean, probes could make the work go faster."

"It's certainly a viable option," said Lieutenant Randall from the Science Station, Savar seated next to him. "Ops and Science can get them prepped."

Nira looked at Ian for a decision, glad to defer to him now that he was back.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian was pleased that the ship's systems were close to nominal after the PSI200 induced Bacchanalian havoc had done so much damage. He was also debating whether he should pursue the idea of following up on he and Jess taking things to the next level.

"When drunk, ye speak yer sober thoughts."

Ian mused and, perhaps, this particular sober thought had more merit than others. He was broken out of his internal monologue by Nira's question.

"I believe time is of the essence. Let's launch the probes now and see if astrometrics has noticed a missin' planet or star. If'n they have, that will save us some time, but for now, let's make for the nearest system. Warp Eight Mister Espada, we've got a lot of time ta make up."

[Buck McNair]

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

A few hours later...

First Officer's Log, Supplemental. We've returned to the point we were at the Psi 2000 Virus first manifested. At least, to the earliest extent of the area we reached. The ship is mostly restored to normal; at least a lot of the decks are clean. There are still some replicators that aren't working, but most are fully functional, thanks to Lahr and T'Prith. As to the source of the gravimetric wave that altered the air molecules into polywater in the first place, we have a choice of five systems to find...

By the time they arrived, the ship was restored to normal. Zhuk had finished his patrol and was at the bridge next to T'Kel. Lahr and T'Prith were inspecting the replicator and door system in the Captain's Ready Room. McNair was standing next to Commander Catalan at Ops.

Meanwhile, Nira was pondering of what to do and was conferring with Ian.

"Well, what do you think, Captain?" she asked. "Should we set course for the nearest system or shall we hold here and launch probes to the five systems? I mean, probes could make the work go faster."

"It's certainly a viable option," said Lieutenant Randall from the Science Station, Savar seated next to him. "Ops and Science can get them prepped."

Nira looked at Ian for a decision, glad to defer to him now that he was back.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Buck was conferring with Catalan as he glanced over his station, standing albeit awkwardly to one side to allow the Commander their space to work. It looked as if Ops and Science were going to be working a lot more closely to figure out the root cause of the gravity wave that seemed to have affected their entire crew. "Let me know what I can assist with from Ops, how long are we saying we're working with to get these probes workin'?"

[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 feel something from Ian. It was some kind of downcast feeling. Nira wondered why...was this shame of abandoning ship? Regardless, Nira turned her attention as Ian gave his orders.

"Of course, Captain," she said. "And I absolutely agree. Something could've happened to some kind of stellar body, either a planet or a star, which generated that gravimetric shockwave that altered the water molecules in the air. The EMH Mark Eight had given us the time around when we lost control, so we're on our way back to the coordinates around that time. Lieutenant Espada?" she called. "How long until we return to that area?"

"Shouldn't take longer than a few hours once we get full warp capability," Espada replied, "The EMH informed me we were traveling between Warp Six and Seven when the virus first hit, then increased to high Warp Nine levels as people lost control before all engine systems were shut off."

"Alright, maintain course, Lieutenant," said Nira. "Oh, and in studying the area where we were on that particular stardate, are there any star systems nearby?"

"There's roughly five around our route, spread across two dozen lightyears, given we were traveling between systems. Astrometrics will likely tell us more."

"Sounds like we'll need to consult with Hyperion when we arrive," said Nira, turning to Ian. "Chances are, we won't detect any residual gravimetric traces once a shockwave happened. As such, we're likely going to have to check each of these systems to see if they have a planet or a star missing, although it would be perfectly obvious if the star is gone or reduced to a dwarf prematurely.

"Still, gives us time to complete repairs and maintenance on the ship as we go," said Nira.

As they traveled, she got word that Lahr was helping T'prith repair the replicators. "Much appreciated," she said, when the crewman helping her, a Mister Groff, informed her. "It's a good idea of Commander Tharn's."

"Right. We'll especially need Engineering expertise, particularly with the burnt-out replicators."

A few hours later...

First Officer's Log, Supplemental. We've returned to the point we were at the Psi 2000 Virus first manifested. At least, to the earliest extent of the area we reached. The ship is mostly restored to normal; at least a lot of the decks are clean. There are still some replicators that aren't working, but most are fully functional, thanks to Lahr and T'Prith. As to the source of the gravimetric wave that altered the air molecules into polywater in the first place, we have a choice of five systems to find...

By the time they arrived, the ship was restored to normal. Zhuk had finished his patrol and was at the bridge next to T'Kel. Lahr and T'Prith were inspecting the replicator and door system in the Captain's Ready Room. McNair was standing next to Commander Catalan at Ops.

Meanwhile, Nira was pondering of what to do and was conferring with Ian.

"Well, what do you think, Captain?" she asked. "Should we set course for the nearest system or shall we hold here and launch probes to the five systems? I mean, probes could make the work go faster."

"It's certainly a viable option," said Lieutenant Randall from the Science Station, Savar seated next to him. "Ops and Science can get them prepped."

Nira looked at Ian for a decision, glad to defer to him now that he was back.

Standing with his hands behind his back, and next to his superior, Lieutenant T'Kel, Ensign Zhukdra'shar gazed forward over at the vast space that lay before him. His fur was a little raised, as while his patrol had gone without a hitch, even managing to find the missing weapons over at Engineering, which fortunately had only been used as a crowd control on the mosh pit on their lower settings, he still felt rather self-conscious about his appearance.

People, at least, were polite. But his keen ears had sworn to have heard a few giggles and mutterings about his state. He had done his best to leave it behind, though, instead focusing to the task at hand.

Determining how the other five or so systems had been affected by the gravimetric wave.

He felt the need to speak about his unwillingness to attempt to get close to the systems that could have been possibly affected and considered that the usage of probes was the safest option for them. After all, what would happen if it turned out that they could be reinfected again? It was simply too much of a risk, he gauged, for the entire crew to be exposed to the Polywater virus again in case they investigated by flying directly into those five systems. However, he dared not open his mouth, as he still felt that it was not his place to do so.

He didn't have the rank or the experience. And such, he silently watched as the decision was reached, whatever it may be.

[Nira Said]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian was pleased that the ship's systems were close to nominal after the PSI200 induced Bacchanalian havoc had done so much damage. He was also debating whether he should pursue the idea of following up on he and Jess taking things to the next level.

"When drunk, ye speak yer sober thoughts."

Ian mused and, perhaps, this particular sober thought had more merit than others. He was broken out of his internal monologue by Nira's question.

"I believe time is of the essence. Let's launch the probes now and see if astrometrics has noticed a missin' planet or star. If'n they have, that will save us some time, but for now, let's make for the nearest system. Warp Eight Mister Espada, we've got a lot of time ta make up."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Buck was conferring with Catalan as he glanced over his station, standing albeit awkwardly to one side to allow the Commander their space to work. It looked as if Ops and Science were going to be working a lot more closely to figure out the root cause of the gravity wave that seemed to have affected their entire crew. "Let me know what I can assist with from Ops, how long are we saying we're working with to get these probes workin'?"

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

"Aye, Captain," said Nira. "McNair, Zhuk, Savar, choose four probes, inspect them, see how well they are, and then launch them while we set course for the nearest system."

It did make sense for Nira to only send four probes out while they themselves headed for the nearest system. Plus, they weren't sure how well the probes fared when the crew suffered intoxication.

Nira had just been informed that Espada had set course when T'Kel called out, "Captain, Commander! Ship decloaking off the port bow. Romulan cruiser, Ar'kala class."

"On screen," said Nira, and the image of the pulled up to show what looked like an extremely narrow-looking warbird. Looks of things, it had seemed to catch up and stop near the Challenger's path.

From the rear, it almost looked like more of a mixture of the Mogai warbirds and the antique K'Tinga look the Romulans acquired in their brief alliance with the Klingons in the days of Kirk. But Nira could tell from the two wings that it was an extremely narrow-looking warbird. Nonetheless, Nira's caution was up.

"Sirs, the Romulans are hailing us," said T'Kel.

"Commander Catalan, you'd best go with Zhuk and Savar to inspect the probes, we'll launch them anyway," said Nira. "Take T'Prith with you as well. Mister McNair, open the hailing frequency."

The viewscreen changed to show a Romulan subcommander who, to Nira's surprise, looked young, if not a few years older.

"Starship Challenger?" she said. "This is Subcommander T'Vaan of the Romulan Free State cruiser Joran. Are you all right?"

Nira breathed out relief. So the ship was from the Romulan Free State. Had it been any other faction, she would've been a little more cautious. With the Tal Shiar or any potentially hostile faction, she would be extremely guarded.

"We are, Subcommander," Nira replied. "Why do you...?"

"I beg your pardon, Captain," said T'Vaan, "But your first officer looks famili...oh, of course...Lieutenant Said, wasn't it?"

"Lieutenant Commander, actually," said Nira. "Have we met somewhere?"

"We met as the Starship Discovery was leaving Carraya IV...I remember you, I used to work for Subcommander Ralik. You and Captain Tekin saved his life, if I recall...and Captain...were you Discovery's former First Officer, Commander Galloway? Impressive how you stopped that temporal loop from that ancient..."

"Sorry, Subcommander," interrupted Nira, "but now's not the time for reminiscing. Did you, by any chance, happen to find this ship adrift?"

"Not me, personally," replied T'Vaan, "but less than two days ago, a passing pair of patrol ships, two Harpy-class light cruisers, caught sight of you as they were conducting routine long-range scans during their patrol. By the time they got to your position, however, you were gone. I had been sent to find you to ascertain your status while the patrol ships continued. I'm glad to see we made it in time. Especially since...well, En route, I had been informed by the same two patrol ships that they found a few more Romulan ships adrift as yours."

"Oh?" said Nira with interest. Anybody listening in would have looked at the viewscreen with interest. Even Lahr and T'Prith had stepped out to listen.

"Subcommander?" asked Savar. "Did any of the crews happen to display an aftermath of chaotic inebriation?"

"Now that you mention it, Lieutenant," said T'Vaan, "Each of the ships we came across certainly looked like chaos was reigning. Of the ships discovered, two of them had crews that died, either from disabling the life support or blowing the hatch or just falling victim to the chaos that had ensued."

"Where did you find those ships, Subcommander?"

"The patrol ships found them some eight light-years from here. That's also the closest system."

"Well, would you believe it if I told you the cause of that was the result of some stellar body that had undergone some kind of gravimetric shift?"

T'Vaan raised an eyebrow with interest, in the same way her Vulcan cousins would.

"You mean one of the systems in this area could be missing a star or a planet?"

"That's what we're trying to find out," said Nira.

"In that case, we'd be glad to help you with the search," said T'Vaan. "There's another Ar'Kala some twelve lightyears behind me, and the two Harpies are already helping out..."

"We do have probes we're about to send out..."

"We can send them to escort them," said T'Vaan. "This is, after all, Rator space that's recently handed over to the Free State, but they never did provide us with star charts; chances are, there are plenty of the Rator that want to rub it into the Free State's face by letting us fumble around blindly while potential bandits prey on our ships. I'll have the Harpies transmit what information they discovered."

"Thank you, Subcommander," said Nira in gratitude.

"The pleasure's all mine," said T'Vaan. "I'm glad to help a friend of Ralik's out. T'Vaan out."

The viewscreen switched to the Joran, which was now going alongside the Challenger. Nira felt as if it was like an old Excelsior escorted by a K'Tinga, Romulan or otherwise.

"Well, Captain," said Nira with a smile, "looks like we have some unexpected help." Then, addressing the bridge crew, she added, "Continue with the probes. Espada, maintain course and engage warp when ready. And transmit coordinates to the Joran."

Nira looked at Ian and nodded complementary. After all, given her temporarily being in charge of the ship, she had grown used to giving out the orders, but she still looked to the Captain to see if it was okay.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

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

"Not me, personally," replied T'Vaan, "but less than two days ago, a passing pair of patrol ships, two Harpy-class light cruisers, caught sight of you as they were conducting routine long-range scans during their patrol. By the time they got to your position, however, you were gone. I had been sent to find you to ascertain your status while the patrol ships continued. I'm glad to see we made it in time. Especially since...well, En route, I had been informed by the same two patrol ships that they found a few more Romulan ships adrift as yours."

"Oh?" said Nira with interest. Anybody listening in would have looked at the viewscreen with interest. Even Lahr and T'Prith had stepped out to listen.

While it might have seemed to the Commander that Lahr had stepped outside the Captain's Ready Room to listen in with interest to her conversation, but truth was he was merely testing the door's responsiveness.   That he overheard the entire conversation was just incidental.

As he moved back to the control panel to make another adjustment (the door wasn't opening to standard specs), he was a bit saddened that this incident happened while his Ruth was stuck in Sickbay.  She'd have loved to delve into the science of the gravimetric shift.

He'd have to tell her all about it later, after work... and with that thought the Andorian turned his attention back to his repair.

[Ian Galloway]

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

"Aye, Captain," said Nira. "McNair, Zhuk, Savar, choose four probes, inspect them, see how well they are, and then launch them while we set course for the nearest system."

It did make sense for Nira to only send four probes out while they themselves headed for the nearest system. Plus, they weren't sure how well the probes fared when the crew suffered intoxication.

Nira had just been informed that Espada had set course when T'Kel called out, "Captain, Commander! Ship decloaking off the port bow. Romulan cruiser, Ar'kala class."

"On screen," said Nira, and the image of the pulled up to show what looked like an extremely narrow-looking warbird. Looks of things, it had seemed to catch up and stop near the Challenger's path.

From the rear, it almost looked like more of a mixture of the Mogai warbirds and the antique K'Tinga look the Romulans acquired in their brief alliance with the Klingons in the days of Kirk. But Nira could tell from the two wings that it was an extremely narrow-looking warbird. Nonetheless, Nira's caution was up.

"Sirs, the Romulans are hailing us," said T'Kel.

"Commander Catalan, you'd best go with Zhuk and Savar to inspect the probes, we'll launch them anyway," said Nira. "Take T'Prith with you as well. Mister McNair, open the hailing frequency."

The viewscreen changed to show a Romulan subcommander who, to Nira's surprise, looked young, if not a few years older.

"Starship Challenger?" she said. "This is Subcommander T'Vaan of the Romulan Free State cruiser Joran. Are you all right?"

Nira breathed out relief. So the ship was from the Romulan Free State. Had it been any other faction, she would've been a little more cautious. With the Tal Shiar or any potentially hostile faction, she would be extremely guarded.

"We are, Subcommander," Nira replied. "Why do you...?"

"I beg your pardon, Captain," said T'Vaan, "But your first officer looks famili...oh, of course...Lieutenant Said, wasn't it?"

"Lieutenant Commander, actually," said Nira. "Have we met somewhere?"

"We met as the Starship Discovery was leaving Carraya IV...I remember you, I used to work for Subcommander Ralik. You and Captain Tekin saved his life, if I recall...and Captain...were you Discovery's former First Officer, Commander Galloway? Impressive how you stopped that temporal loop from that ancient..."

"Sorry, Subcommander," interrupted Nira, "but now's not the time for reminiscing. Did you, by any chance, happen to find this ship adrift?"

"Not me, personally," replied T'Vaan, "but less than two days ago, a passing pair of patrol ships, two Harpy-class light cruisers, caught sight of you as they were conducting routine long-range scans during their patrol. By the time they got to your position, however, you were gone. I had been sent to find you to ascertain your status while the patrol ships continued. I'm glad to see we made it in time. Especially since...well, En route, I had been informed by the same two patrol ships that they found a few more Romulan ships adrift as yours."

"Oh?" said Nira with interest. Anybody listening in would have looked at the viewscreen with interest. Even Lahr and T'Prith had stepped out to listen.

"Subcommander?" asked Savar. "Did any of the crews happen to display an aftermath of chaotic inebriation?"

"Now that you mention it, Lieutenant," said T'Vaan, "Each of the ships we came across certainly looked like chaos was reigning. Of the ships discovered, two of them had crews that died, either from disabling the life support or blowing the hatch or just falling victim to the chaos that had ensued."

"Where did you find those ships, Subcommander?"

"The patrol ships found them some eight light-years from here. That's also the closest system."

"Well, would you believe it if I told you the cause of that was the result of some stellar body that had undergone some kind of gravimetric shift?"

T'Vaan raised an eyebrow with interest, in the same way her Vulcan cousins would.

"You mean one of the systems in this area could be missing a star or a planet?"

"That's what we're trying to find out," said Nira.

"In that case, we'd be glad to help you with the search," said T'Vaan. "There's another Ar'Kala some twelve lightyears behind me, and the two Harpies are already helping out..."

"We do have probes we're about to send out..."

"We can send them to escort them," said T'Vaan. "This is, after all, Rator space that's recently handed over to the Free State, but they never did provide us with star charts; chances are, there are plenty of the Rator that want to rub it into the Free State's face by letting us fumble around blindly while potential bandits prey on our ships. I'll have the Harpies transmit what information they discovered."

"Thank you, Subcommander," said Nira in gratitude.

"The pleasure's all mine," said T'Vaan. "I'm glad to help a friend of Ralik's out. T'Vaan out."

The viewscreen switched to the Joran, which was now going alongside the Challenger. Nira felt as if it was like an old Excelsior escorted by a K'Tinga, Romulan or otherwise.

"Well, Captain," said Nira with a smile, "looks like we have some unexpected help." Then, addressing the bridge crew, she added, "Continue with the probes. Espada, maintain course and engage warp when ready. And transmit coordinates to the Joran."

Nira looked at Ian and nodded complementary. After all, given her temporarily being in charge of the ship, she had grown used to giving out the orders, but she still looked to the Captain to see if it was okay.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian arched his own eyebrow when Nira preempted his reply to the Romulan, but wasn't going to admonish her in front of said Romulan either. Once they had finished their exchange, he inclined his head toward T'Vaan and said.

"It is both a pleasure ta meet you Sub-Commander and ta have the opportunity ta work in conjunction with the Free State. We'll launch our probes now and make for that closest system. I was plannin' on warp eight, which I assume a ship with lines as fine as your Joran will nae have trouble matchin'.

"As we are enterin' both an unknown and likely hostile environment, I'd suggest yellow alert and raisin' shields as soon as we drop out of warp."

[Buck McNair]

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

"Aye, Captain," said Nira. "McNair, Zhuk, Savar, choose four probes, inspect them, see how well they are, and then launch them while we set course for the nearest system."

It did make sense for Nira to only send four probes out while they themselves headed for the nearest system. Plus, they weren't sure how well the probes fared when the crew suffered intoxication.

Nira had just been informed that Espada had set course when T'Kel called out, "Captain, Commander! Ship decloaking off the port bow. Romulan cruiser, Ar'kala class."

"On screen," said Nira, and the image of the pulled up to show what looked like an extremely narrow-looking warbird. Looks of things, it had seemed to catch up and stop near the Challenger's path.

[...]

"Well, Captain," said Nira with a smile, "looks like we have some unexpected help." Then, addressing the bridge crew, she added, "Continue with the probes. Espada, maintain course and engage warp when ready. And transmit coordinates to the Joran."

Nira looked at Ian and nodded complementary. After all, given her temporarily being in charge of the ship, she had grown used to giving out the orders, but she still looked to the Captain to see if it was okay.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Buck nodded. "Yes, commander." He took his position at the station, feeling Commander Catalan's gaze peering down at him as he worked as he ran a free hand through his short hair; now dry. "I'm taking a look at the schematics of Probe One." It perhaps wasn't entirely necessary to announce but he thought it would reduce the likelihood of someone having examining the same one that he was looking over. Trying not to get distracted by the conversation that was happening between the Commanders and the Captain on screen as they spoke about the Free State and the way they had found them.

He pulled up the schematics of the probe and turned it around as a model, checking from all angles that the probe was functional whilst it was running their initial scans. "Probe one seems to have sustained a little damage, initial readings tell me that it's at 95% functionality." It wasn't a lot but he was certain that if the madness was over, there could be a chance they would have the probe fully functional by the time they dropped out of warp. "Most likely damage done from when we were intoxicated but if necessary, I can go assist in repairs of the probe?"