Season 1 - Mission 4: The Spider’s Web

[Hrafn Falleg]

Bridge Science Console

Hrafn continued perusing the logs, finally coming to a conclusion and giving her report.  There was little that she could add but she noticed near the end of the report logs that the crew, which was largely human, had been attacked by an unknown assailant.

"Captain, report on those logs.  Apparently the ship was crewed by a human heavy crew, I don't know if that's relevant but given that Earth First on our last mission was attacking anyone not human this might be the work of a counter-revolutionary group.  Also the attackers came out of nowhere suggesting cloaking, out from behind a planet. They first strafed them,  then sent in torpedoes, shortly after that the record log stops.  The crew were not prepared for attack, shields were down, the attackers were on top of them before they could respond.  The helm did try to take evasive action but it was too late."

Hrafn could understand how that happened, if the shields were down there was a limit to how a crew could minimise damage and/or take evasive action.

[Kirok]

Bridge

Hrafn nodded back to T'Lara.  Always so precise and efficient, Hrafn was proud to have her beside her at Sciences.

"Certainly, Sir.  And yes, thank you the break was most pleasurable, saving the slight pain at saying farewell to a friend!"

She walked up to the Science console and pulled up the reports and started browsing through them.

[Bridge]

Kirok's left eyebrow floated up slightly.  Ms. Falleg's statement seemed to have a Vulcan quality to it.  It caused him to wonder if this was how she typically spoke or if she had adapted her speech pattern to accommodate him.

It was an interesting puzzle.  But one he would have to ponder later.  For now though, he simply offered CSO a nod.

[Bridge]

Kejal stepped out of the turbolift calmly, holding a PADD which he passed to T'Koris (as Kirok was otherwise occupied). He spoke quickly, on the way to his station. "Personnel transfer and provisioning report, Captain. We're a little short on emergency water supplies for my taste, but well within protocol. Dilithium reserve is fully stocked and our complement of probes and torpedoes has been renewed.  Miss Rellek arrived safely aboard the Tempest, and as you can see, new personnel are sliding into place nicely."

It was an appropriate report to a First Officer, though it was obvious that Buris had referred to her as Captain more out of reflex than anything else. He wasn't looking to start a mutiny, after all.

He turned, and tapped the Ensign at his Ops station on the shoulder, sliding into place as the young woman stood up. He quickly pulled up scanner readings of the lost ship, the complement records from their Ops officer, and the Stellar Cartography lab's record of the asteroid field in question. He turned to Kirok. "Captain, I have the stellar cartog record of our destination. Should I put it onscreen?"

[Bridge]

Kirok heard Kejal refer to T'Koris as Captain.  He thought nothing of it.  By all rights, T'Koris did deserve the title even if she was not the Commanding Officer of the ship.

"Thank you, Mr. Buris.  Proceed" Kirok said.  He rose from his central chair and approached the main view screen for the left side.

Bridge Science Console

Hrafn continued perusing the logs, finally coming to a conclusion and giving her report.  There was little that she could add but she noticed near the end of the report logs that the crew, which was largely human, had been attacked by an unknown assailant.

"Captain, report on those logs.  Apparently the ship was crewed by a human heavy crew, I don't know if that's relevant but given that Earth First on our last mission was attacking anyone not human this might be the work of a counter-revolutionary group.  Also the attackers came out of nowhere suggesting cloaking, out from behind a planet. They first strafed them,  then sent in torpedoes, shortly after that the record log stops.  The crew were not prepared for attack, shields were down, the attackers were on top of them before they could respond.  The helm did try to take evasive action but it was too late."

Hrafn could understand how that happened, if the shields were down there was a limit to how a crew could minimise damage and/or take evasive action.

[Bridge]

"Thank you, Ms. Falleg" Kirok said.  With the star map to his right, Kirok pointed to the map.  "This is where the vessel was found - here in an asteroid field.  So the attack could have come from one of these three locations" he said, speaking to the Bridge crew as a whole.

"As we approach, we should do so with shields raised and prepared to fight - so that we don't fly into a trap.  We should scan for life signs in hopes that maybe some of the crew escaped in pods.  And we will need an Away Team who can go over to the ship to assess the status of the ship" he added.

"What else?" Kirok asked the Bridge crew.  He looked from one person to the next.  He wanted to hear their ideas.

[Archangel Koris]

He would make his way to the Bridge, once he arrived on the Bridge, he would stop infront of T'Koris, he would than simply states "Ma'am, Ensign Trittr reporting as ordered" in his traditionally heavily accented voice.

[Bridge]

Standing in her habitual place, half way between the captain's chair and the ops and helm stations, both hands resting on her cane as she shifted the weight off her bad knee, Archangel nodded once to Ensign Tritter to acknowledge his arrival on the bridge.  He was a bright lad, from what she had seen, and had a quiet professionalism about him.  From the reports she had read following the last away mission, he had comported himself excellently.  A young officer to keep an eye on, that was for sure.

"Thank you, ensign, take your post," she replied.

[Bridge]

Kejal stepped out of the turbolift calmly, holding a PADD which he passed to T'Koris (as Kirok was otherwise occupied). He spoke quickly, on the way to his station. "Personnel transfer and provisioning report, Captain. We're a little short on emergency water supplies for my taste, but well within protocol. Dilithium reserve is fully stocked and our complement of probes and torpedoes has been renewed.  Miss Rellek arrived safely aboard the Tempest, and as you can see, new personnel are sliding into place nicely."

It was an appropriate report to a First Officer, though it was obvious that Buris had referred to her as Captain more out of reflex than anything else. He wasn't looking to start a mutiny, after all.

He turned, and tapped the Ensign at his Ops station on the shoulder, sliding into place as the young woman stood up. He quickly pulled up scanner readings of the lost ship, the complement records from their Ops officer, and the Stellar Cartography lab's record of the asteroid field in question. He turned to Kirok. "Captain, I have the stellar cartog record of our destination. Should I put it onscreen?"

As Kejal referred to her as 'captain', Archangel couldn't help but glance toward the ship's commanding officer.  Thankfully, he either didn't notice, or didn't care about the faux pas.  With an officer like Kejal, one had to be careful about how they went about pointing out mistakes.  The wrong manner, as Archangel had found out, could get his back up and lead to a long path of trying to repair the damage done.  At least the pair of them got along relatively well now.  He had been particularly supportive of her family during the time she had been separated from Gabriel, after all.

"Noted, thank you, Commander," she replied with a nod, taking the PADD from him and glancing through the contents before signing off on it.  There was usually little need to review Kejal's work, but it was expected.  Hearing that Julia had transferred off safely was a small piece of reassurance, although she hadn't expected anything to go wrong.  It simply felt a little strange to no longer have the woman aboard.

"What else?" Kirok asked the Bridge crew.  He looked from one person to the next.  He wanted to hear their ideas.

As the orders were distributed, Archangel remained silent, listening in and waiting for any response on the part of the bridge crew. 

[Zero Alpha]

"Well, when I first met T'Koris those two certainly had a lot on their plate with the girls, but they've kept it together pretty well and seemed quite happy. Think they'd get along with Callion okay?"

Jiseth pulled the container into the bedroom and left it between the bed and the closet. One of the packs she managed to slide off her shoulder, but she could not remove the other while still holding the toddler. Luckily the bed was already made for their arrival and with her utmost finesse pulled back the sheets and lowered her daughter onto the mattress, taking care to not wake her.

After she stood fully back up and pulled the sheets up to keep the little one warm, the Romulan took a moment to simply appreciate the beauty of the moment. There lay the embodiment of the legacy that she and Zero would leave behind. With all that had gone on around them on their previous ships it was welcome relief to see her sleep so soundly. She quietly set down the other bag and removed her work PADD from it then moved back to the living room to help unpack without waking the little one.

"It seems T'Koris is going to have Ensign Weir do the flying out of here. Just as well. Any idea who you'll be working with?"

[Quarters]

After taking a drink, Ghost trotted through to the bedroom after the rest of his family and, seeing the little one tucked into the bed, jumped up onto it, curling himself around Callion and resting his head on her shoulder as if to guard her from any possible attacker.  Zero sighed quietly at the sight, as relieved as Jiseth that their daughter was sleeping.  It would no doubt be a long and difficult transition for the little girl to change her biological clock to function on a new ship's time.  It was just as well that Zero didn't need to sleep as much as most humans.

Moving back into the living room, she started to unpack the various boxes that had been beamed over to their quarters from the storage container left behind by the Discovery, beginning to put things away.  She glanced up from a box of her Callion's clothing as Jiseth spoke.

"I believe that Lieutenant Kintiss continues to serve aboard the Phoenix," she replied.  "He was instrumental in my recovery from my experience with the extermist group.  Perhaps, once Callion wakes, it would be prudent to take her to sickbay in order for her to be entered in to the system.  Her immune system is strong, but I do not wish to take chances given her difficult birth."

[Hrafn Falleg]

[Bridge]

Kirok's left eyebrow floated up slightly.  Ms. Falleg's statement seemed to have a Vulcan quality to it.  It caused him to wonder if this was how she typically spoke or if she had adapted her speech pattern to accommodate him.

It was an interesting puzzle.  But one he would have to ponder later.  For now though, he simply offered CSO a nod.

[Bridge]

Kirok heard Kejal refer to T'Koris as Captain.  He thought nothing of it.  By all rights, T'Koris did deserve the title even if she was not the Commanding Officer of the ship.

"Thank you, Mr. Buris.  Proceed" Kirok said.  He rose from his central chair and approached the main view screen for the left side.

[Bridge]

"Thank you, Ms. Falleg" Kirok said.  With the star map to his right, Kirok pointed to the map.  "This is where the vessel was found - here in an asteroid field.  So the attack could have come from one of these three locations" he said, speaking to the Bridge crew as a whole.

"As we approach, we should do so with shields raised and prepared to fight - so that we don't fly into a trap.  We should scan for life signs in hopes that maybe some of the crew escaped in pods.  And we will need an Away Team who can go over to the ship to assess the status of the ship" he added.

"What else?" Kirok asked the Bridge crew.  He looked from one person to the next.  He wanted to hear their ideas.

Bridge

"Do you play chess, Sir? Any variety?  To some extent you need to get inside the mind of your opponent.  In this case we need to think like our enemies.  If I were going to attack a Federation ship then why not come from all 3 locations?  While only one fired torpedoes, there's nothing to say that there wasn't a 3 way attack and had the first volley failed, the second and/or third would have got them in a... checkmate." Hrafn offered.

[Gabriel Arthur]

Bridge

"Do you play chess, Sir? Any variety?  To some extent you need to get inside the mind of your opponent.  In this case we need to think like our enemies.  If I were going to attack a Federation ship then why not come from all 3 locations?  While only one fired torpedoes, there's nothing to say that there wasn't a 3 way attack and had the first volley failed, the second and/or third would have got them in a... checkmate." Hrafn offered.

[Bridge]

Gabriel nodded as he listened to Hrafn's possible breakdown of the situation, tapping his lower lip in thought.  Although the ship was running at normal levels, he believed Captain Kirok when the Vulcan had said there would be need of the Engineering crews later.  Reaching over, Gabe tapped a message out, piping it down to his second-in-command to prep the equipment lockers and have response teams one through four on standby.

"I bet he's forgotten more ways to play chess than we know," Gabriel said, leaning over toward the Sciences station with a grin.  Turning to Kirok, he said aloud:  "Captain...got any indication as to what ship class our wayward Starfleet vessel is?"

[Ashley Weir]

[Mess Hall]

The feel of Gabriel's fingers brushing against hers brought a faint smile to Archangel's face, but she couldn't show any further reaction given that they were on duty.  Public displays of affection were frowned upon in general, and certainly wouldn't be well seen for a command officer to engage in such.  In return to his playful grin, however, and the hidden admonition, she poked the very tip of her tongue out between her lips, much as their girls would do when they tried to hide that they were answering back.

With Julia's departure, the Romulan decided to get a move on in terms of getting the ship out of the dock and on the way to their next mission.  Lifting her fingers to her lips, she gave a piercing whistle that her many years as a chief engineering officer had allowed her to perfect.  She had a whistle that could transverse bulkheads.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please report to your duty stations and prepare the ship for launch.  Star Fleet has need of us back out in space and we must obey!"

With that said, she left the mess hall herself, heading for the turbolift.

[Bridge]

Arriving in the ship's command centre, Archangel moved down to her usual position, between the chairs for the command team and the operations and helm stations, standing with her hands behind her back and observing the bridge.  The absence of an officer in the helm position stuck out like a sore thumb.  Knowing that Jiseth was only just moving in on the ship and was not yet on duty, she tapped her commbadge and put a call in to the next flight officer on her mental list.

=^= "T'Koris to Ensign Weir, report to the bridge for duty." =^=

[Sickbay]

Ashley sat a moment quietly before finally tapping her comm badge to respond. Uh....yes ma'am. I'll be there in just a moment. She responded coming to a stand and leaving the sickbay without a second thought.

[Bridge]

Ashley quietly stepped onto the bridge standing silent for a brief moment before she spoke up. "Ensign Weir, reporting as ordered." She announced in an almost muted tone.

[Kejal Buris]

Buris was looking over his Ops board, trying to figure out what had happened to the ship.  In the back of his mind there was a string of 'calculations' happening - what kind of a ship would be needed to do this much damage?  What would they need to do and how could they accomplish this much damage?  And more importantly... why?  As a former freedom fighter, he'd grown to understand something faster than most people - nothing was ever arbitrary or truly random - least of all the destruction of a starship and its people.  People thought it was, but there was deliberation behind every action.  Even entropy could be followed in a deliberate pattern.

He thought for a moment, and started modelling something.  He glanced back at the other officers on the Bridge, specifically Tactical.  Ensign Tritter - someone he didn't know.  Still and all, if the man was here he knew his job.  "Ensign Tritter, tap into the Ops datafeed and check over my rough scenario.  I need Tactical assurance to cross-check something.  I think the asteroid field is essential to this situation.  A small vessel with nothing but a powerful tractor beam and a solid RCS package could accelerate several rocks to relativistic speed.  True 'mass drivers' have been banned by treaties of all the major powers since the Romulan War, since they're quite easy to deploy and nearly impossible to defeat.  Energy being mass times acceleration... the mass of a small asteroid moving at .9 c; even if we assume that there were no Cochrane field effects acted upon it... if one or more of those struck, let's say a Nova-class amidships with its shields down while surveying... would we be looking at a similar damage pattern?  And the scenario is one with little or no hope of survivors, since the ship's inertia, acted on by the intruding mass, would have pulled the pieces of the hull apart before any emergency systems could take effect..."

He turned to T'Koris and Kirok. "I hope I'm vastly wrong about what we're up against, by the way.  Because if I'm correct, we need to reinforce shields and keep phasers on point-defense."

[Kirok]

Bridge

"Do you play chess, Sir? Any variety?  To some extent you need to get inside the mind of your opponent.  In this case we need to think like our enemies.  If I were going to attack a Federation ship then why not come from all 3 locations?  While only one fired torpedoes, there's nothing to say that there wasn't a 3 way attack and had the first volley failed, the second and/or third would have got them in a... checkmate." Hrafn offered.

[Bridge]

Kirok right eyebrow rose sharply.  "Yes, an interesting perspective, doctor.  From a tactical perspective an attack from all three locations would have a devastating effect" he said with a nod of his head.  "Should you ever decide to switch fields I think you would be suitable for the Security and Tactical Department."

[Bridge]

Gabriel nodded as he listened to Hrafn's possible breakdown of the situation, tapping his lower lip in thought.  Although the ship was running at normal levels, he believed Captain Kirok when the Vulcan had said there would be need of the Engineering crews later.  Reaching over, Gabe tapped a message out, piping it down to his second-in-command to prep the equipment lockers and have response teams one through four on standby.

"I bet he's forgotten more ways to play chess than we know," Gabriel said, leaning over toward the Sciences station with a grin.  Turning to Kirok, he said aloud:  "Captain...got any indication as to what ship class our wayward Starfleet vessel is?"

[Bridge]

"Good question, Mr. Arthur" Kirok replied.  "She was a Oberth class.  A science vessel with a compliment of 78 people" he said.

"She has been assigned to the sector.  She had been in the area for several days before she went silent.  Given that they were a science vessel, they may not have had their shields raised" he added.

[Sickbay]

Ashley sat a moment quietly before finally tapping her comm badge to respond. Uh....yes ma'am. I'll be there in just a moment. She responded coming to a stand and leaving the sickbay without a second thought.

[Bridge]

Ashley quietly stepped onto the bridge standing silent for a brief moment before she spoke up. "Ensign Weir, reporting as ordered." She announced in an almost muted tone.

[Bridge]

Kirok saw the young woman enter the Bridge.  "Welcome, Ms. Weir.  Please take your post.  Please take us out of dock and on course to our destination" he said.

Buris was looking over his Ops board, trying to figure out what had happened to the ship.  In the back of his mind there was a string of 'calculations' happening - what kind of a ship would be needed to do this much damage?  What would they need to do and how could they accomplish this much damage?  And more importantly... why?  As a former freedom fighter, he'd grown to understand something faster than most people - nothing was ever arbitrary or truly random - least of all the destruction of a starship and its people.  People thought it was, but there was deliberation behind every action.  Even entropy could be followed in a deliberate pattern.

He thought for a moment, and started modelling something.  He glanced back at the other officers on the Bridge, specifically Tactical.  Ensign Tritter - someone he didn't know.  Still and all, if the man was here he knew his job.  "Ensign Tritter, tap into the Ops datafeed and check over my rough scenario.  I need Tactical assurance to cross-check something.  I think the asteroid field is essential to this situation.  A small vessel with nothing but a powerful tractor beam and a solid RCS package could accelerate several rocks to relativistic speed.  True 'mass drivers' have been banned by treaties of all the major powers since the Romulan War, since they're quite easy to deploy and nearly impossible to defeat.  Energy being mass times acceleration... the mass of a small asteroid moving at .9 c; even if we assume that there were no Cochrane field effects acted upon it... if one or more of those struck, let's say a Nova-class amidships with its shields down while surveying... would we be looking at a similar damage pattern?  And the scenario is one with little or no hope of survivors, since the ship's inertia, acted on by the intruding mass, would have pulled the pieces of the hull apart before any emergency systems could take effect..."

He turned to T'Koris and Kirok. "I hope I'm vastly wrong about what we're up against, by the way.  Because if I'm correct, we need to reinforce shields and keep phasers on point-defense."

[Bridge]

With this news, both of Kirok's eyebrows arched sharply.  If Buris was right, the little science vessel never stranded a chance.  It caused him to wonder if the Phoenix did.

"Those are good suggestions, Mr. Buris.  Please make a point of implementing them Mr. Tritter" Kirok said.  He was silent for a moment, waiting for additional comments.

"Enemies of the federation do not often follow a rule book.  If they are using a mass driver we will need to be prepared to defend against it.  If that is at all possible" Kirok said leaving the thought hanging in the air.

"As Mr. Buris pointed out, energy is determined by two factor. Mass and acceleration.  Is it possible for us to manipulate one or the other when it comes to asteroids?" he asked the group.

[Hrafn Falleg]

[Bridge]

Gabriel nodded as he listened to Hrafn's possible breakdown of the situation, tapping his lower lip in thought.  Although the ship was running at normal levels, he believed Captain Kirok when the Vulcan had said there would be need of the Engineering crews later.  Reaching over, Gabe tapped a message out, piping it down to his second-in-command to prep the equipment lockers and have response teams one through four on standby.

"I bet he's forgotten more ways to play chess than we know," Gabriel said, leaning over toward the Sciences station with a grin.  Turning to Kirok, he said aloud:  "Captain...got any indication as to what ship class our wayward Starfleet vessel is?"

Bridge

Hrafn grinned at Gabe, he was probably correct.  Vulcans were good at logical problems so chess was probably something that they did for what passed as fun for them.

[Bridge]

Kirok right eyebrow rose sharply.  "Yes, an interesting perspective, doctor.  From a tactical perspective an attack from all three locations would have a devastating effect" he said with a nod of his head.  "Should you ever decide to switch fields I think you would be suitable for the Security and Tactical Department."

[Bridge]

"Good question, Mr. Arthur" Kirok replied.  "She was a Oberth class.  A science vessel with a compliment of 78 people" he said.

"She has been assigned to the sector.  She had been in the area for several days before she went silent.  Given that they were a science vessel, they may not have had their shields raised" he added.

With this news, both of Kirok's eyebrows arched sharply.  If Buris was right, the little science vessel never stranded a chance.  It caused him to wonder if the Phoenix did.

"Those are good suggestions, Mr. Buris.  Please make a point of implementing them Mr. Tritter" Kirok said.  He was silent for a moment, waiting for additional comments.

"Enemies of the federation do not often follow a rule book.  If they are using a mass driver we will need to be prepared to defend against it.  If that is at all possible" Kirok said leaving the thought hanging in the air.

"As Mr. Buris pointed out, energy is determined by two factor. Mass and acceleration.  Is it possible for us to manipulate one or the other when it comes to asteroids?" he asked the group.

"In all likelihood, Sir, if she's a Science vessel, then power would have been routed mostly to sensors, scans etc.  So I agree totally with Mr. Buris. Yes, any captain worth the title would have enough power in reserve to put the shields up but unless you are expecting an attack, routine Science operations they wouldn't be thinking 'I'm going to be attacked' and, if like the report says they were attacked out of the blue, randomly and quickly, shields would not have been up."

Hrafn pondered the statement about the asteroids.  "I have no clue but I can certainly scan the asteroid field and see if we can deduce anything useful from it.  Oh and thank you for the compliment, Sir.  I have a few friends in Security and Tactical, we've had some interesting discussions, obviously their lessons have borne fruit!"

[Archangel Koris]

[Bridge]

As she watched the events unfolding on the bridge, Archangel couldn't help but smile to herself as her gaze turned to each of her officers in turn.  She had a good crew here, sharp and bold, exactly the way she would have wanted them to be.  As each point was brought up, she nodded, having been thinking along the same lines as some of them.

"Thankfully, we are not a science vessel, and we have advance warning that something out there isn't friendly.  If it doesn't look like a asteroid or quack like an asteroid, we should be ready to defend ourselves against it.  Lieutenant Arthur, Ensign Tritter, we're also going to need an engineering- and security-heavy away team.  I appreciate your suggestions for volunteers."

[Jiseth]

After taking a drink, Ghost trotted through to the bedroom after the rest of his family and, seeing the little one tucked into the bed, jumped up onto it, curling himself around Callion and resting his head on her shoulder as if to guard her from any possible attacker.  Zero sighed quietly at the sight, as relieved as Jiseth that their daughter was sleeping.  It would no doubt be a long and difficult transition for the little girl to change her biological clock to function on a new ship's time.  It was just as well that Zero didn't need to sleep as much as most humans.

Moving back into the living room, she started to unpack the various boxes that had been beamed over to their quarters from the storage container left behind by the Discovery, beginning to put things away.  She glanced up from a box of her Callion's clothing as Jiseth spoke.

"I believe that Lieutenant Kintiss continues to serve aboard the Phoenix," she replied.  "He was instrumental in my recovery from my experience with the extremist group.  Perhaps, once Callion wakes, it would be prudent to take her to sickbay in order for her to be entered in to the system.  Her immune system is strong, but I do not wish to take chances given her difficult birth."

[Quarters]

"We'll just have to get as much done as we can beforehand then. Maybe a family outing can be made of it? Wouldn't hurt to attach some fond memories with this moving around ship to ship."

From the container, Jiseth retrieved several bottles of various alcohols of Federation and Romulan origins. They were kept in a cabinet far out of reach of their daughter. Next came three ship models, one for each that she had flown, which were placed on top of a small bookshelf near one of the viewports. There was an Intrepid, Sternbach, and Akira-class there and she made sure to keep enough room for the future addition of a Nebula.

The various framed photos found places on small tables and the bookshelves filled with their reading PADD's. Zero's seemed to be mostly medicine and biology texts with a few on dancing. Her own were equally as singular in focus with her many manuals and procedure checklists with a few science fiction works fit in. There was a fresh sense of satisfaction seeing the place come together until her stomach made a rather audible grumble.

"Uh... Hmm. Want me to grab something from the replicator for you as well?"

[Zero Alpha]

[Quarters]

"We'll just have to get as much done as we can beforehand then. Maybe a family outing can be made of it? Wouldn't hurt to attach some fond memories with this moving around ship to ship."

From the container, Jiseth retrieved several bottles of various alcohols of Federation and Romulan origins. They were kept in a cabinet far out of reach of their daughter. Next came three ship models, one for each that she had flown, which were placed on top of a small bookshelf near one of the viewports. There was an Intrepid, Sternbach, and Akira-class there and she made sure to keep enough room for the future addition of a Nebula.

The various framed photos found places on small tables and the bookshelves filled with their reading PADD's. Zero's seemed to be mostly medicine and biology texts with a few on dancing. Her own were equally as singular in focus with her many manuals and procedure checklists with a few science fiction works fit in. There was a fresh sense of satisfaction seeing the place come together until her stomach made a rather audible grumble.

"Uh... Hmm. Want me to grab something from the replicator for you as well?"

[Quarters]

Along with Jiseth, Zero started to unpack their belongings, although she concentrated on Callion's affairs, getting them moved in to the tiny room on the other side of the living area to the bedroom that she and Jiseth would occupy.  Although very few people knew about the little girl, and Zero had taken pains to ensure that few people knew of her, Callion had nonetheless received many gifts from that small group.  Picking out a fluffy bear that she seemed to favour, the Augment ducked into the bedroom to tuck it under the blankets with the girl.

Returning to the living area, she had just lifted a potted plant, one of Jiseth's new hobbies, out of its protective travel case when Jiseth asked whether she wanted anything from the replicator.  An expression of sheer panic flashed across her face for a brief moment, during which the plant wobbled dangerously before Zero quickly placed it on one of the tables.

Food.  Yet another of the great barriers put in place by Admiral Corinth in her life.  While Leela and Commander T'Koris had made great efforts to help her break that barrier, she had made little progress.  On the other hand, she hadn't eaten that morning, nor particularly the night before, and she found that she too was becoming hungry.

Not looking up at the Romulan, a faint blush of pink embarrassment creeping up in her cheeks, she murmured something about one of her nutritional supplements being required at that moment in time.

[Gabriel Arthur]

"Good question, Mr. Arthur" Kirok replied.  "She was a Oberth class.  A science vessel with a compliment of 78 people" he said.

"She has been assigned to the sector.  She had been in the area for several days before she went silent.  Given that they were a science vessel, they may not have had their shields raised" he added.

[Bridge]

Oberth?  "What were they investigating?" Gabriel murmured to himself, "an antique show?"  As an engineer, Gabriel knew well what the design life of starships was, and...well, the older ones just seemed to be built to last, as evidenced by the workhorse Excelsiors that continued to be part of the Fleet.  It did, however, give him a good idea of what they were going to be up against in the name of repairs.  While the Oberth likely had been refit and reconfigured, there were only so many ways you could stretch the metaphorical tape.

[Bridge]

As she watched the events unfolding on the bridge, Archangel couldn't help but smile to herself as her gaze turned to each of her officers in turn.  She had a good crew here, sharp and bold, exactly the way she would have wanted them to be.  As each point was brought up, she nodded, having been thinking along the same lines as some of them.

"Thankfully, we are not a science vessel, and we have advance warning that something out there isn't friendly.  If it doesn't look like a asteroid or quack like an asteroid, we should be ready to defend ourselves against it.  Lieutenant Arthur, Ensign Tritter, we're also going to need an engineering- and security-heavy away team.  I appreciate your suggestions for volunteers."

Gabe sucked on his teeth, glancing up at Archangel with a cocked eyebrow.  He already had a pretty good idea who he was going to be sending, but it still had to be asked.  "I assume that you'll be leading the away team?"

[Hrafn Falleg]

[Bridge]

As she watched the events unfolding on the bridge, Archangel couldn't help but smile to herself as her gaze turned to each of her officers in turn.  She had a good crew here, sharp and bold, exactly the way she would have wanted them to be.  As each point was brought up, she nodded, having been thinking along the same lines as some of them.

"Thankfully, we are not a science vessel, and we have advance warning that something out there isn't friendly.  If it doesn't look like a asteroid or quack like an asteroid, we should be ready to defend ourselves against it.  Lieutenant Arthur, Ensign Tritter, we're also going to need an engineering- and security-heavy away team.  I appreciate your suggestions for volunteers."

Bridge

Hrafn nodded at the XO "Well T'Lara and I can at least make sure it's Asteroid through and through and not some nasty bug on the windshield, which is what it will be if it tries to mess with the Phoenix!" she said grinning at Tritter, Gabe and Buris, all of whom together with the brains of Kirok and Archangel  behind them and a bit of help from Science and one kick-ass helm made for a great team... if anyone attacked them and lived to tell the tale they'd be dining out on it for years to come.

[Bridge]

Oberth?  "What were they investigating?" Gabriel murmured to himself, "an antique show?"  As an engineer, Gabriel knew well what the design life of starships was, and...well, the older ones just seemed to be built to last, as evidenced by the workhorse Excelsiors that continued to be part of the Fleet.  It did, however, give him a good idea of what they were going to be up against in the name of repairs.  While the Oberth likely had been refit and reconfigured, there were only so many ways you could stretch the metaphorical tape.

Gabe sucked on his teeth, glancing up at Archangel with a cocked eyebrow.  He already had a pretty good idea who he was going to be sending, but it still had to be asked.  "I assume that you'll be leading the away team?"

She looked between the husband and wife and wondered what Nevir was doing right now.  Sometimes it was easier not having to put yourself through the 'here and now' pain, but least you were on hand if anything happened and the children would hopefully be cared for.  Now that they were back to being lovers and the idea of divorce dropped, Hrafn seriously missed her husband.  'Soon... maybe, I'll think of getting back on the same ship with him, but he's going to be mad at me again,... so be it!'

"If I can be of help put me where you best need me, be it on Bridge or away team... dunno that you'll need Science, maybe T'Lara would be better as she has a very logical approach to things, plus with my kne..."  Hrafn began....then looked at Archangel leaning on her cane.  If the XO could do it so could she, also she couldn't site the problems she'd had with the virus either as Archangel had been seriously ill with it too.

"Nevermind, Sir, the Science Department is ready and able wherever you want us."