S3 - M2 The Butterfly Effect Pt. II

[Solluk]

Katra Station - Wildlife Research & Rescue Center - Zoology Lab 1 - Day Three

Throughout the afternoon and evening of the previous day, the Wildlife Research Center had been coordinating medical testing with Katra's medical personnel, along with sample collections of wildlife in the Emerald Peninsula.  It was mid-day before the results were fully collated.

"Thank you for coming down, Commander," Doctor Hagen said, gesturing to an animal on an examination table.   The animal was quite dead, and seemed to have been given a thorough autopsy.  A bio-containment field flickered gently around the body.

"As you can see, the animal is an ungulate.  The Meridians call it a 'Honey Caper' in their own language.  Appropriately, it feeds on beehives, drinking the caloric-intensive and nutritious honey, while its thick hide keeps it safe from stings."

She brought up a medical display.

"It died from the same cause as the insects: A rapid aggregation of minerals at the nerve-endings, blocking proper nerve-signal transfer throughout the nervous system.  The most likely vector of infection would be the beehive, given that the bees were discovered to have endured a colony-collapse from the same cause.  This means the illness can cross the species barrier between insects and mammals."

She looked at Tess, adding one more piece of bad news.

"The Etrosian refugee testing concluded that the Etrosians have all of the same viruses and bacteria in their community that the dead animals have.  In addition, a cultural survey revealed that the Etrosians frequently enter the wilds to pick flowers, collect honey, and even hunt these same Honey-Capers.  So far, no Etrosian has fallen ill... but it's possible they could be carriers for the illness.

An illness we have yet to identify the cause of."

At that moment, Yeoman Dramond held out a PADD for Tess to see.  "Sir.  You'll want to know about this."  On the PADD, a Bajoran news anchor was giving a report on the Meridian quarantine.

"...leading to speculation that the reason for the quarantine of the Meridian 'Emerald' peninsula is related to an illness within the Etrosian refugee population.  We reached out to the Katra leadership for comment, but received no response thus far."

Dramond reached out and touched an icon which pulled up received messages, "They sent a request for comment just one minute before this aired, Commander.  I didn't even see the message until I noticed the news report.  This is deceptive reporting."

USS Healy - Bridge

"Take us out of warp," Solluk ordered, and then thumbed the intercom to Engineering.

"Lieutenant Goodspeed.  Good work.  We've reached Saxon's last known coordinates slightly ahead of schedule, thanks to local subspace topographical conditions."  He wondered if those conditions had anything to do with the nearby subspace conduit.

"We'll be resting the warp drive while we conduct a search... but I can't guarantee we'll be resting for long.  The Thinkers have a ship out here, somewhere.  If they show up..."

He let that trail off.

Looking to Hrafn, he said, "Now I will ask for a minor miracle from Science:  Detect a stealth-runabout that does not wish to be found.  And do it without loudly announcing our position to every potential enemy in the area."

Solluk had no idea whether the shuttle squadron had succeeded or failed.  Whether they were alive or dead.  He hadn't wished to break subspace radio silence to find out.  Even a coded message might potentially give away their position.  He was already deeply uncomfortable about the subspace field strength of the fortified warp drive.  But he wasn't going to exacerbate that beacon by adding another.

To Operations, Solluk ordered, "Yellow Alert.  Shields up.  Bring weapons to warm standby."

[Catherine Goodspeed]

USS Healy - Bridge

"Take us out of warp," Solluk ordered, and then thumbed the intercom to Engineering.

"Lieutenant Goodspeed.  Good work.  We've reached Saxon's last known coordinates slightly ahead of schedule, thanks to local subspace topographical conditions."  He wondered if those conditions had anything to do with the nearby subspace conduit.

"We'll be resting the warp drive while we conduct a search... but I can't guarantee we'll be resting for long.  The Thinkers have a ship out here, somewhere.  If they show up..."

He let that trail off.

Looking to Hrafn, he said, "Now I will ask for a minor miracle from Science:  Detect a stealth-runabout that does not wish to be found.  And do it without loudly announcing our position to every potential enemy in the area."

Solluk had no idea whether the shuttle squadron had succeeded or failed.  Whether they were alive or dead.  He hadn't wished to break subspace radio silence to find out.  Even a coded message might potentially give away their position.  He was already deeply uncomfortable about the subspace field strength of the fortified warp drive.  But he wasn't going to exacerbate that beacon by adding another.

To Operations, Solluk ordered, "Yellow Alert.  Shields up.  Bring weapons to warm standby."[/size]

USS Healy - Engineering room

Catherine Goodspeed  sighed with relief at the Captain's comms message.

Understood Captain and thank you, the old girl could do with a rest

Every hour the ship had been at warp the more her nails had become shorter and shorter until she was now chewing on the side of her nail quicks.

If the Healy was a sparkling-new-just-off-the-assembly-line ship then her nails wouldn't have taken such a chewing. But the Healy was an old girl.  If she'd been whizzing around the station shooting at the bad guys and gals then Cat wouldn't have been concerned, but days upon days at maximum warp had rattled Cat's bones and she had suspected the Healy's as well.

At least the break would give them a chance to check her over.

She tapped her comm badge again  This is Catherine Goodspeed to all off duty engineering crew, please come to engineering ASAP

She turned to the nearest console and began running an internal system check whilst she waited for her crew to turn up.  She only had to wait 5 minutes until all 5 of them were there. 2 must have been sleeping and hadn't even changed out of their sleep wear. Bless them.

"Thank you everyone and sorry for disturbing your free time.  We're thankfully at our destination and hopefully won't be going anywhere else for a while.  I need you to run a full systems check on every part of the ship.  And when I say full I mean full. Do a double check as minimum.  I want to know how she's faring"

"Emily and Timmy, check inner and outer hull; Chris run an internal system wide check on the power flows; Aroon check weapon systems and emergency fail safe systems, Cassandra I need you to help me check the  warp core. Places people, I want it done smooth and fast. Let me know the moment you find something"

The silence over the next 10 minutes as everyone worked was deafening; like a wall of nothing had gone up throughout the entire room trapping all sound out.  Cat was on her back checking the last of the Warp relay conduits for the second time before the silence was broken.

"Chief... Chief... I've found something Chief... Can you come here?" The quiet soft vocals of Petty Officer Emily Parker filled the silent void.

Cat pulled herself upright slowly and walked over to the console Emily was at.  "What's up Emily?  What you found?"

Emily turned a pale face towards the Chief "I've run the diagnostics 6 times Chief, used 3 algorithms as a counter-check... Getting the same readings... " Emily stepped away from the console to make room from the Chief.

Cat looked down at the console screen before her and blinked slowly.  Her fingers danced as she ran a more detailed check and she let out a deep sigh.

"Anyone else found anything wrong?"

A chorus of 'No Chief' filled the air.

"Well found Emily.. Well found.."

Cat tapped her chest slowly whilst smiling sadly at the pale faced Petty Officer.

Engineering to Captain Solluk.  Sir, it's Goodspeed.  We've done a complete scan of the ship's structure; inside and out.  She's... I mean..the Healy is showing significant microfractures throughout; they are not in an isolated area: I repeat microfractures throughout the entire spaceframe and ablative plating; there's a reason there's a maximum rated speed...    Once we start up again I strongly recommend we do not exceed warp 6. Without irony, I can't stress this enough: limit to warp 6.  Warp 6 until we can have a major drydock refurbishment.  If we go above this we may very well tear her to pieces.  Goodspeed out .

[Tess tLhoell]

Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell
[Katra Station - Wildlife & Rescue Center - Zoology Lab 1] - DAY THREE

Katra Station - Wildlife Research & Rescue Center - Zoology Lab 1 - Day Three

Throughout the afternoon and evening of the previous day, the Wildlife Research Center had been coordinating medical testing with Katra's medical personnel, along with sample collections of wildlife in the Emerald Peninsula.  It was mid-day before the results were fully collated.

"Thank you for coming down, Commander," Doctor Hagen said, gesturing to an animal on an examination table.   The animal was quite dead, and seemed to have been given a thorough autopsy.  A bio-containment field flickered gently around the body.

"As you can see, the animal is an ungulate.  The Meridians call it a 'Honey Caper' in their own language.  Appropriately, it feeds on beehives, drinking the caloric-intensive and nutritious honey, while its thick hide keeps it safe from stings."

She brought up a medical display.

"It died from the same cause as the insects: A rapid aggregation of minerals at the nerve-endings, blocking proper nerve-signal transfer throughout the nervous system.  The most likely vector of infection would be the beehive, given that the bees were discovered to have endured a colony-collapse from the same cause.  This means the illness can cross the species barrier between insects and mammals."

She looked at Tess, adding one more piece of bad news.

"The Etrosian refugee testing concluded that the Etrosians have all of the same viruses and bacteria in their community that the dead animals have.  In addition, a cultural survey revealed that the Etrosians frequently enter the wilds to pick flowers, collect honey, and even hunt these same Honey-Capers.  So far, no Etrosian has fallen ill... but it's possible they could be carriers for the illness.

An illness we have yet to identify the cause of."

At that moment, Yeoman Dramond held out a PADD for Tess to see.  "Sir.  You'll want to know about this."  On the PADD, a Bajoran news anchor was giving a report on the Meridian quarantine.

"...leading to speculation that the reason for the quarantine of the Meridian 'Emerald' peninsula is related to an illness within the Etrosian refugee population.  We reached out to the Katra leadership for comment, but received no response thus far."

Dramond reached out and touched an icon which pulled up received messages, "They sent a request for comment just one minute before this aired, Commander.  I didn't even see the message until I noticed the news report.  This is deceptive reporting."

When Tess had received the message that the results of the collected samples were complete, she made her way down to the Wildlife and Rescue Center immediately after informing Beja, so they could meet there. The animal caught her attention right away when she stepped in and only drew her gaze away from it when Doctor Hagen greeted her. Tess nodded at her. She had been following the work a little bit her medical team had conducted in teams with the WRC. But the definite results were new to her.

Tess listened attentively as Doctor Hagen explained their findings to her. While she spoke she couldn't help but feel like having a deja-vu of something that had happened only a couple of months ago. Except that this seemed to be a real medical issue here. Doctor Hagen's conclusion that the bees or their honey might be the cause of the illness made sense to Tess. It was logical. However, her expression darkened a little bit more in concern that apparently the agent, that was causing the disease, was able to cross species barriers. One good thing Tess took from the report was, that the Etrosians - if they were carriers of the disease - didn't seem to be affected by it, since Doctor Hagen said that no Etrosian had died from something that would resemble the cause the bees and the Honey-Caper had died from. Not to a degree that would give the concern for an epidemic. So humanoids might not be at risk - yet.

"So, we're dealing with an agent that causes severe and fatal polyneuropathy. Unfortunately it's very difficult to impossible to treat it, we must find and treat the cause." She thought for a moment. "If the Etrosians and dead animals share the same bacteria and viruses, our first course of action is to find out if there is a type of bacteria that is foreign to them or if a virus has mutated." She looked to Doctor Hagen. "Medical has an excellent virologist team."

Yeoman Dramond held a PADD out to her to show something to Tess. Turning towards her, she read the paragraph. She sighed. "You are right", she said to Alice. "This is deceptive. But I'm afraid there is nothing we can do about it that's how they want to portray it." Tess knew she had to do another public announcement. She didn't have very memories of the last time she had to speak publicly about a probable spreading illness. "Please arrange everything for a public announcement. I also would like to speak to the Etrosians to convince them to stay away from the bee's honey or animals that feed off the honey or the bees. One of the elders of the colony that is affected might be best. And please have Adryel attend also." He had become something like a middleman between the Federation and the Etrosians. She looked to Beja. "I would appreciate your support there, Lieutenant." Then she faltered, not really wanting to bring him up, as she looked back to Dramond. "Um ... does the Meridian President has given any indictation for wanting a talk yet?" The both of them really didn't get along. And she couldn't believe he would let an opportunity slip to come down on them.

[Hrafn Falleg]

"Take us out of warp," Solluk ordered, and then thumbed the intercom to Engineering.

"Lieutenant Goodspeed.  Good work.  We've reached Saxon's last known coordinates slightly ahead of schedule, thanks to local subspace topographical conditions."  He wondered if those conditions had anything to do with the nearby subspace conduit.

"We'll be resting the warp drive while we conduct a search... but I can't guarantee we'll be resting for long.  The Thinkers have a ship out here, somewhere.  If they show up..."

He let that trail off.

Looking to Hrafn, he said, "Now I will ask for a minor miracle from Science:  Detect a stealth-runabout that does not wish to be found.  And do it without loudly announcing our position to every potential enemy in the area."

Solluk had no idea whether the shuttle squadron had succeeded or failed.  Whether they were alive or dead.  He hadn't wished to break subspace radio silence to find out.  Even a coded message might potentially give away their position.  He was already deeply uncomfortable about the subspace field strength of the fortified warp drive.  But he wasn't going to exacerbate that beacon by adding another.

To Operations, Solluk ordered, "Yellow Alert.  Shields up.  Bring weapons to warm standby."[/size]

[Bridge - USS Healy]

"Minor miracles are within the remit of Sciences, Captain, some of which might just work if 'Century' Saxon is as old as he appears to be.  All I'll say is, my husband being who he is, and not just a brilliant Scientist but an Engineer to boot, and having had Lamar on Bajor I learnt a thing or three from old Resistance folks!"  Hrafn said with a smile and started pressing buttons on her console.

"Basically I'm doing a weather scan, thing is... ever seen any holomovies where they are testing new technology ... well new then, but considered ancient now... well they tested for aerodynamics.  I'm basically taking the data I'm getting from all basic passive scans and well I know what I'm looking for let's put it that way.  No-one would think I'm using the data for something else.  Space winds... even when cloaked a solid object is a solid object, the winds can't pass through it thus.... yep, I think maybe... we have a possible at 292 Mark 4 about 400km distant.  There is literally nothing else in the area, not even space dust!"

She sent a picture to the Captain's arm console:

"I've centred the scan on the blip ripple... the lines are space winds."

[OOC - I know this is an image of something else but I'm borrowing the idea!]

[Beja]

Katra Station - Wildlife Center - Day Three

Beja listened intently to Dr. Hagen, and typed out furiously notes onto her PADD. The virus appeared to be running rampant through the wildlife where the Etrosians were living on Meridian. Interesting. Not all of Meridian so far had the virus shown to be infected in it.

"œI don't think the Etrosians are the cause of this virus. If that were the case, it would have shown up before now, as they have been in Meridian now awhile, and nothing has happened like this since they arrived down on the planet," Beja shared with the group, "œBut it might be that someone is trying to blame it on the Etrosians"¦."

Beja's words were cut off when the news report was shown by Yeoman Dramond, which only supported Beja's hypothesis. The most logical conjecture was the Thinkers were trying to drive a wedge and using the Etrosians as a way to do so. If Meridian wanted to cast out the Federation, the Gamma quadrant would be left open for the Thinkers. Something the Thinkers have been quite vocal about wanting for a while now.

"œOf course Commander, I will be happy to ask my friends and contacts with the Etrosians to help out," Beja then continued, "œMay I suggest that we look to see who all has traveled down to Meridian at least 2 weeks prior to finding the butterflies dead. Since we do not know the incubation of the illness yet, maybe someone saw something unusual in that time. Or we could trace to see who has been down there, maybe they came from a place that also had the same kind of virus outbreak recently, and they didn't realize they brought contamination down there?"

Beja thought it less likely it was an accident that caused this outbreak, but it was something that they could not dismiss either. In order to synthesize a cure/vaccine, they had to find the actual cause for the illness itself.

The sooner the better, before things got even more out of control.

"œAlso do you think it wise, that we might bring up some animals here, to keep them quarantined and safe from possible contamination?" Beja worried that the wildlife not yet showing signs of the illness would soon do so, if they could help keep some of them safe, they had a duty to do so.

[Netha-Sar Murselas]

[USS HEALY | Bridge - Helm]
[CENTURY RESCUE MISSION | DAYS 1 + 2]

Maintaining a ship at a speed like this was a lot like spinning plates while surfboarding. Even when he was given some time to rest Netha-Sar was never really at ease. He felt a little better after Eli had shown him around the ship's specifications and layouts. There had been a few controls he had purposely avoided thus far. It wasn't like they had time to prepare or give him a crash course in this class of ship.

Still, a ship was a ship and he could fly it pretty easily and he was more used to jumping in whichever ship was convenient than knowing what was going to happen anyway.

The urgency of their task permeated the air and he kept waiting for the tiniest shift in the wind to knock the plates into one another and send them crashing onto the floor. Somehow he thrived off of the adrenaline. It was nostalgic for him.

There was a lot that could go wrong, there was a lot already going wrong and word got around. The sanitation issues were not only the priority of the sanitation department. Netha-Sar and the Tellarite had been venting their frustrations after finishing a shift. It wasn't possible to hide the build up from having the recyclers powered down. Netha-Sar knew something was up even before the order came to start solid waste removal in individual vacuum bags. The backup on the ship felt like driving a sports car with too much packed in the boot.

It was hard enough keeping the ship steady. And now they had to prepare for the literal poop to hit the fan if something didn't turn around and fast.

"Our mission won't allow us to divert course in order to conduct the rescue," he said softly, a bitter taste rising in the back of his throat.  "But we can't just leave them to the mercy of a Dominion attack ship."

This presumed, of course, that this wasn't just a clever ruse.  But he couldn't write off a freighter and all the lives aboard on such an assumption.

"Thoughts?  The floor is open."

Eli and Kal suggested a bluff and a torpedo, which were good ideas in a bad situation. When the captain asked for volunteers, he felt himself being torn. He wished he could be in two places at once, but he couldn't. So he picked their first mission. The century rescue. The mission that involved keeping potentially very dangerous technology out of hands that would use it against the federation.

They couldn't send their most capable talents off in the shuttles. There was a reason the captain couldn't go. If they weren't already racing towards a goal, Netha-Sar would of course help. But there was something great than all of them at play and maybe it was his ego that had him thinking so highly of his own flying abilities. Maybe it was his past. But he felt like he was needed on the Healy. Particularly since Eli had chosen to go with the shuttles and taken his expertise and experience with him in order to defend the freighter from the Dominion attack ship.

At least if they were lucky it would be just a Dominion attack ship. If they were unlucky this could be some rouse masking a much more sinister greeting upon their arrival. And the Healy wouldn't be able to do a damned thing about it if they needed backup. There was nothing about this that Netha-Sar liked.

USS Healy - Bridge

"Take us out of warp," Solluk ordered, and then thumbed the intercom to Engineering.

"Lieutenant Goodspeed.  Good work.  We've reached Saxon's last known coordinates slightly ahead of schedule, thanks to local subspace topographical conditions."  He wondered if those conditions had anything to do with the nearby subspace conduit.

"We'll be resting the warp drive while we conduct a search... but I can't guarantee we'll be resting for long.  The Thinkers have a ship out here, somewhere.  If they show up..."

He let that trail off.

Looking to Hrafn, he said, "Now I will ask for a minor miracle from Science:  Detect a stealth-runabout that does not wish to be found.  And do it without loudly announcing our position to every potential enemy in the area."

Solluk had no idea whether the shuttle squadron had succeeded or failed.  Whether they were alive or dead.  He hadn't wished to break subspace radio silence to find out.  Even a coded message might potentially give away their position.  He was already deeply uncomfortable about the subspace field strength of the fortified warp drive.  But he wasn't going to exacerbate that beacon by adding another.

To Operations, Solluk ordered, "Yellow Alert.  Shields up.  Bring weapons to warm standby."

[USS HEALY | Bridge - Helm]
[CENTURY RESCUE MISSION | DAY 3]

"Yes Sir," Netha-Sar said as he inhaled deeply and brought the ship out of warp. He half expected the whole thing to just make some horrible noise and slit itself like a papercut. But that didn't happen. He smiled as his hands moved quickly across the controls, stabilizing the ship, and doing everything he could on his end to make things easier for engineering.

He fought against the urge for permission to go down to engineering and lend his assistance there. No, he was needed just in case the Thinkers showed up the way Captain Solluk had mentioned they might. Besides when it came to engineering Netha-Sar was little more than a grunt. He could hotwire almost anything and he could give a ship a quick fixer upper, but nothing this complex.

There were far better engineering minds than his working on it. So for now he would man his station and hold his breath. Thankful that the ship's wellbeing was in good hands.

[Bridge - USS Healy]

"Minor miracles are within the remit of Sciences, Captain, some of which might just work if 'Century' Saxon is as old as he appears to be.  All I'll say is, my husband being who he is, and not just a brilliant Scientist but an Engineer to boot, and having had Lamar on Bajor I learnt a thing or three from old Resistance folks!"  Hrafn said with a smile and started pressing buttons on her console.

"Basically I'm doing a weather scan, thing is... ever seen any holomovies where they are testing new technology ... well new then, but considered ancient now... well they tested for aerodynamics.  I'm basically taking the data I'm getting from all basic passive scans and well I know what I'm looking for let's put it that way.  No-one would think I'm using the data for something else.  Space winds... even when cloaked a solid object is a solid object, the winds can't pass through it thus.... yep, I think maybe... we have a possible at 292 Mark 4 about 400km distant.  There is literally nothing else in the area, not even space dust!"

She sent a picture to the Captain's arm console:

"I've centred the scan on the blip ripple... the lines are space winds."

[OOC - I know this is an image of something else but I'm borrowing the idea!]

And as if to prove the point, Hrafn began telling Captain Solluk about what she had located. Netha-Sar turned around to grin at Hrafn and mouth "great job!" before looking more seriously at Captain Solluk. "Should I begin plotting a course, Captain?"

It was both his way of asking if they should go immediately, or give Cat and the rest of engineering a little more time. Of course time was of the essence they didn't have much to spare. And in any case, Netha-Sar had already begun prepping his controls for the incoming course.

[Solluk]

Wildlife Research and Rescue Center - Zoology Lab

Doctor Hagen shook her head, "The Meridian President personally signed off on the quarantine order... but oddly made no further comment.  I got the distinct impression he didn't want to make a fuss over it.  Which was... unexpected.   As for your virology experts, we would certainly welcome any help from Medical.  I'm afraid we're at our wits' end here so far."

The Doctor then turned to Beja, "We couldn't begin to bring enough animals up here to make much of a difference in saving the native fauna.  However, having some samples of healthy specimens in impacted zones isn't a bad idea.  Not only would it prevent a complete extinction event, but it would ensure that we have a healthy control group to compare results against.  Good idea, Lieutenant."

"I'll set up the appointments for you, Sir," the Yeoman said to Tess, "Do you want me to space them out, or would you prefer them all in a row?  And do you want the Etrosian elder to come up, or did you want to go down?"

From the expression on the Yeoman's face, it seemed likely that she found neither prospect particularly appealing.

USS Healy - Bridge

As Hrafn worked on the problem, a disturbing report came up from Engineering.

Solluk grimaced slightly as he pressed the reply icon on his command chair's interface.  "Understood, Engineering... but we may not be in the position to choose.  See about bolstering the SIF.  We may be asking more of her before this day is done."

Fortunately, all the news was not bad news.  Hrafn began to propose a solution to their dilemma of finding a stealth craft.  Solluk listened to her, a smile forming on his lips as he began to nod.  "I see.  Not looking for the thing we seek, but paying close attention to everything else.  In the absence, we find evidence.  Brilliant, Lieutenant.  Well done."

Looking to Ensign Murselas, he said, "Indeed.   The sensor return is close enough that we can begin with impulse-only.   Once we get close enough to the mystery object, I'll want Tactical to give it a gentle caress with the tractor beam.  We don't know what shape the Starstalker may be in, so minimum power."

[Don Damien Addams]

[USS Healy - Bridge - tactical station]

Odd Kal was focus at his station. His mind was like in a tunnel to stay alert for any surprises. His attention was checking his console for any surprises, his eyes was on the main screen to see there was any other surprises. The security team on the Healy was running exercises and standing by for anything. They even had patrol duty for anything like surprise beam, assisting any department which needed help.

He did not mind, but he was was hoping Eydis and Zex are doing fine on the diplomatic situation with Tholians. Eydis was like in a hot water situation with the head Tholian ambassador. The politics was interesting enough. It was not like being on a starship like the Healy.

Making new friends was not easy too. This silence was not a welcome matt to the fellow crew members. He was just not easy to be move. Perhaps in time he will, but he was not on a rush. Like a warrior hunting for the perfect prey to kill. That was Kal.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Lt Cmdr Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Deck Two - private quarters >>  Deck One - Bridge]  [DAY THREE]

USS Healy - Bridge

"Take us out of warp," Solluk ordered, and then thumbed the intercom to Engineering.

"Lieutenant Goodspeed.  Good work.  We've reached Saxon's last known coordinates slightly ahead of schedule, thanks to local subspace topographical conditions."  He wondered if those conditions had anything to do with the nearby subspace conduit.

"We'll be resting the warp drive while we conduct a search... but I can't guarantee we'll be resting for long.  The Thinkers have a ship out here, somewhere.  If they show up..."

He let that trail off.

Looking to Hrafn, he said, "Now I will ask for a minor miracle from Science:  Detect a stealth-runabout that does not wish to be found.  And do it without loudly announcing our position to every potential enemy in the area."

Solluk had no idea whether the shuttle squadron had succeeded or failed.  Whether they were alive or dead.  He hadn't wished to break subspace radio silence to find out.  Even a coded message might potentially give away their position.  He was already deeply uncomfortable about the subspace field strength of the fortified warp drive.  But he wasn't going to exacerbate that beacon by adding another.

To Operations, Solluk ordered, "Yellow Alert.  Shields up.  Bring weapons to warm standby."

Rayek had been sleeping, hoping to be fully alert when the ship arrived at the last known coordinates of Saxon's stealth ship.  But his carefully planned schedule was thrown off by several hours because the ship made better time than anticipated.  When the ship came out of warp, that subtle shift in the feel of the ship's nearly imperceptible engine vibration woke the Romulan, though he couldn't immediately tell why he'd woken up.

He sat up and glanced at the chronometer on his desk and noted the time.    They should only be arriving in another couple hours.  Or so Rayek thought.   He was just settling himself back down under the covers of his cold and very empty feeling bed, when the Yellow Alert sounded.

Rayek bolted up out of bed and quickly began dressing into his uniform.  Because the alert was only at Yellow presently, Rayek withheld the impulse to race to the Bridge and instead merely speedwalked to the turbolift which deposited him up on the bridge a few moments later.

The Romulan strode a step onto the bridge of the ship before pausing to assess the situation.  The view on the screen showed that they were no longer at warp.  So either another interruption or they had arrived early.   Rayek, rather than head directly towards his seat on the Captain right hand side, decided to do a circuit of the bridge starting off to his left so that he passed Hrafn at her Science station, looking over weather patterns.  This was curious.

Next Rayek passed Kal at the Security station.   Because of the design of the ship Rayek wasn't able to get a good look at the man's console, but he did note that the man was alert and focused.  Excellent.

Turning his head to the right as he passed in front of the Helm console, Rayek looked to the flight crewman.  Mr. Murselas.  The young Orion seemed very eager.   Glancing down at the Helm controls, which were almost at chest height for him because the downward slope of the bridge at the front of the ship, Rayek took note of the current ship coordinates.

Ha! So they had arrived.  That explained the Tactical officer's vigilance - no doubt keeping watch for any Thinker activity, and Hrafn's attention to the weather patterns.  She was looking for the stealth ship.

Rayek gave the flight crewman a brief nod, before continuing on.  He then quickly passed the empty auxiliary station and the Operations station before moving to take his seat.

The tour about had taken him all of 10 seconds and in that time he'd gained a rather clear picture of their situation without a word spoken.

"Captain." he greeted Solluk with a nod and opened his chair's arm display to see if he could assist both Kal and Hrafn by looking for the sensor readings for anything suspicious or anomalous.

After several minutes both Sciences and Engineering had interesting things to report.

[Bridge - USS Healy]

"Minor miracles are within the remit of Sciences, Captain, some of which might just work if 'Century' Saxon is as old as he appears to be.  All I'll say is, my husband being who he is, and not just a brilliant Scientist but an Engineer to boot, and having had Lamar on Bajor I learnt a thing or three from old Resistance folks!"  Hrafn said with a smile and started pressing buttons on her console.

"Basically I'm doing a weather scan, thing is... ever seen any holomovies where they are testing new technology ... well new then, but considered ancient now... well they tested for aerodynamics.  I'm basically taking the data I'm getting from all basic passive scans and well I know what I'm looking for let's put it that way.  No-one would think I'm using the data for something else.  Space winds... even when cloaked a solid object is a solid object, the winds can't pass through it thus.... yep, I think maybe... we have a possible at 292 Mark 4 about 400km distant.  There is literally nothing else in the area, not even space dust!"

She sent a picture to the Captain's arm console:

"I've centered the scan on the blip ripple... the lines are space winds."

USS Healy - Engineering room

Engineering to Captain Solluk.  Sir, it's Goodspeed.  We've done a complete scan of the ship's structure; inside and out.  She's... I mean..the Healy is showing significant microfractures throughout; they are not in an isolated area: I repeat microfractures throughout the entire spaceframe and ablative plating; there's a reason there's a maximum rated speed...    Once we start up again I strongly recommend we do not exceed warp 6. Without irony, I can't stress this enough: limit to warp 6.  Warp 6 until we can have a major drydock refurbishment.  If we go above this we may very well tear her to pieces.  Goodspeed out .

One was good, the other not much.   Limited to warp 6?  Rayek inwardly groaned.  What had taken them 3 days to travel would - if they succeeded - now take them nearly 20 days to return.    He began to wonder if perhaps being an Ensign in the Customs Cargo area hadn't been a blessing in disguise.   At least he'd be assured to be home every night.

With the stealth ship located rather ingeniously, now all they had to do was retrieve Saxon from it.  Easier said than done, Rayek suspected.

USS Healy - Bridge
As Hrafn worked on the problem, a disturbing report came up from Engineering.

Solluk grimaced slightly as he pressed the reply icon on his command chair's interface.  "Understood, Engineering... but we may not be in the position to choose.  See about bolstering the SIF.  We may be asking more of her before this day is done."

Fortunately, all the news was not bad news.  Hrafn began to propose a solution to their dilemma of finding a stealth craft.  Solluk listened to her, a smile forming on his lips as he began to nod.  "I see.  Not looking for the thing we seek, but paying close attention to everything else.  In the absence, we find evidence.  Brilliant, Lieutenant.  Well done."

Looking to Ensign Murselas, he said, "Indeed.   The sensor return is close enough that we can begin with impulse-only.   Once we get close enough to the mystery object, I'll want Tactical to give it a gentle caress with the tractor beam.  We don't know what shape the Starstalker may be in, so minimum power."

Rayek pulled his PADD and messaged Security to send their boarding team to the Transporter Room in preparation.  The few specs that they'd been provided on the stealth ship indicated that the ship couldn't fit in their shuttlebay so retrieval of their man would have to be done by transporter.

"Sir, if you don't need me on the Bridge, I'd like to go over with the boarding team."

[Tess tLhoell]

Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell
[Katra Station - Wildlife and Rescue Center] - DAY THREE

Katra Station - Wildlife Center - Day Three

Beja listened intently to Dr. Hagen, and typed out furiously notes onto her PADD. The virus appeared to be running rampant through the wildlife where the Etrosians were living on Meridian. Interesting. Not all of Meridian so far had the virus shown to be infected in it.

"œI don't think the Etrosians are the cause of this virus. If that were the case, it would have shown up before now, as they have been in Meridian now awhile, and nothing has happened like this since they arrived down on the planet," Beja shared with the group, "œBut it might be that someone is trying to blame it on the Etrosians"¦."

Beja's words were cut off when the news report was shown by Yeoman Dramond, which only supported Beja's hypothesis. The most logical conjecture was the Thinkers were trying to drive a wedge and using the Etrosians as a way to do so. If Meridian wanted to cast out the Federation, the Gamma quadrant would be left open for the Thinkers. Something the Thinkers have been quite vocal about wanting for a while now.

"œOf course Commander, I will be happy to ask my friends and contacts with the Etrosians to help out," Beja then continued, "œMay I suggest that we look to see who all has traveled down to Meridian at least 2 weeks prior to finding the butterflies dead. Since we do not know the incubation of the illness yet, maybe someone saw something unusual in that time. Or we could trace to see who has been down there, maybe they came from a place that also had the same kind of virus outbreak recently, and they didn't realize they brought contamination down there?"

Beja thought it less likely it was an accident that caused this outbreak, but it was something that they could not dismiss either. In order to synthesize a cure/vaccine, they had to find the actual cause for the illness itself.

The sooner the better, before things got even more out of control.

"œAlso do you think it wise, that we might bring up some animals here, to keep them quarantined and safe from possible contamination?" Beja worried that the wildlife not yet showing signs of the illness would soon do so, if they could help keep some of them safe, they had a duty to do so.

Wildlife Research and Rescue Center - Zoology Lab

Doctor Hagen shook her head, "The Meridian President personally signed off on the quarantine order... but oddly made no further comment.  I got the distinct impression he didn't want to make a fuss over it.  Which was... unexpected.   As for your virology experts, we would certainly welcome any help from Medical.  I'm afraid we're at our wits' end here so far."

The Doctor then turned to Beja, "We couldn't begin to bring enough animals up here to make much of a difference in saving the native fauna.  However, having some samples of healthy specimens in impacted zones isn't a bad idea.  Not only would it prevent a complete extinction event, but it would ensure that we have a healthy control group to compare results against.  Good idea, Lieutenant."

"I'll set up the appointments for you, Sir," the Yeoman said to Tess, "Do you want me to space them out, or would you prefer them all in a row?  And do you want the Etrosian elder to come up, or did you want to go down?"

From the expression on the Yeoman's face, it seemed likely that she found neither prospect particularly appealing.

Tess was surprised to hear when Beja expressed the assumptio that it might be someone who wanted to blame the Etrosians for the illness. But when she thought a moment longer about it, that kind of thinking wasn't far off, actually. If she remembered correctly, President Tarin had not been happy about the Etrosian refugees on his planet. Was it a ruse of the Meridians to get rid off the foreign population? That might be the reason why Tarin held still.
But she didn't want to rule out the possibility that a viral agent had mutated over time.

Tess followed the exchange between Beja and Doctor Hagen about bringing animals up to the station. At Beja's suggestion to check on all of the persons that have traveled down on Meridian in the past two weeks, Tess nodded. "A good idea. Many have already departed again by now, but I wouldn't want to leave the opportunity to find the source of the illness there, if we can."

Turning to Yeoman Dramond, Tess could see that she was not happy about her wish to speak to the Etrosians. "No, I think a video call would be sufficient. Maybe when the teams go down to collect the specimens, one of them can seek out the elder so we can speak with him from here." She looked to Beja since she had volunteered to take over the talks. Looking back to Alice, Tess said, "I prefer to have these things out of the way so we can focus on solving the little medical mystery here."

[Catherine Goodspeed]

USS Healy - Bridge

As Hrafn worked on the problem, a disturbing report came up from Engineering.

Solluk grimaced slightly as he pressed the reply icon on his command chair's interface.  "Understood, Engineering... but we may not be in the position to choose.  See about bolstering the SIF.  We may be asking more of her before this day is done."

USS Healy - Engineering room

As the call came in from the Captain Cat was standing over the console with the palms of her hands pressed against the sides with her head bowed.

Without lifting her head she tapped her comm badge  Understood Captain. Goodspeed out

She stood there silent for about 60 seconds before Emily's voice broke the silence.  "What does he mean we might not be able to choose Chief?   We've been running  SIF at full capacity..  Does he mean we'll have to go above Warp 6 Chief?? But she'll break Chief... I don't understand Chief...  I don't..."  The young Petty Officer stopped in mid sentence so she didn't cry.

Cats brain was racing.  "I'm thinking...."  seconds ticked by.  "I'm still thinking..."

Cat pulled her body upright.  "Right.  We need to get a bolster relay system up and running for the SIF. We'll pull power  from personnel decks and rec areas. Everyone can just can fumble about in the emergency lighting to find their socks and sarnies".

"Aroon, Cassandra.  Go to cargo bay 1 and pull out the crates 65.2 and 65.3. They're on the left, in the middle.  The components we need for bolster relays are in those.  Make 3. We can use 1 to boost the feedback to the SIF and another to boost any areas we need to re-enforce. The other in case we need a back up."

Cat turned the console and transmitted her finding to a PADD which she handed to Cassandra.  "Sent you the specs.  Bring them back as soon as you done them... Go!"

Cat watched them run out without moving her head.

"Emily... EMILY!"  Cat shouted to snap the crewman out of her current state of mind.

"I need you and Chris to run another scan of the micro fractures... I need you both to find me the WORST of them.. You understand?  I need you both on this...  Chris.. Look for the ones in the ablative armour... Emily.. .I need you to make a list of the worst internal ones.  A Top 20 list of both OK with exact co-ordinates for each one?    Worst at number 1?  Yes?"

Chris's voice was clear with a 'Yes Chief'

Emily's voice wavered.  Cat walked over and laid a hand on both their arms

"Its scary... I know. But we've had worse!  Emily you survived a drinking session with Klingons!  KLINGONS!  How many people can say that eh?"  Cat smiled.

"and the hangover.. You survived the handover as well"  Timmy chipped in to lighten the mood.

Cats smile broke into a wide grin, barely her  upper teeth. "Exactly!  We're engineers. Sods law is if something goes wrong it'll be in engineering"

"And we can fix this.  It might be messy but we can fix this... OK?" She squeezed Emily's arm in reassurance.

Emily nodded firmly "Yes Chief..."

"Good.. Timmy?  Go to my quarters and pick up the large tool kit directly to the right, you know the one... Biggest thing in the room apart from the bed. Bring it here will you?"

"On it Chief!"

Cat watched as the Ensign ran full speed from the open doors.

We can fix this.  We can fix this.

If she repeated it enough times in her head it might just come true.

[Kirok]

OCC - Day Three

Zex sat at one of the duty stations.   Since being 'thrown out' of the Tholian embassy there had been nothing to report on that front.  And the station had been relatively quiet to boot.

She was curious to know how Eydis was doing and wanted to hang out with Kal again.  So she send a group email to both.    "Hi.  Thinking of you both.  Do you want to meet up soon?  Please?  Zex" she wrote and then sent.

[Solluk]

Katra Station - Wildlife Research & Rescue Zoology Lab

"I'll make the necessary arrangements," Yeoman Dramond said, quickly notating her PADD.

"Oh, before you go, Lieutenant," Doctor Hagen said to Beja, "We could use some more hands to conduct necropsies on the dead mammals.  I couldn't help but notice that you have an Ensign on your staff with experience in the area.   I was wondering if you might spare them for a few shifts, to help us get through the workload?"

When the group finally left the zoology lab and made their way to the main corridors of the station, an unexpected figure was waiting for them.

Katra Station - Corridor near the Wildlife Research & Rescue Center

It was Depp, the Executive Assistant of Director Boz, apparently having been lurking in the corridor.

Although Depp was listed as clerical staff at the Embassy, it was often suspected that she was- like the red-clad Tholians at the Tholian embassy- actually a member of Dord security.  Every Dord suit was a powered armor encasement capable of doing massive amounts of damage.  Depp's suit showed evidence of being even heavier than the normal ones, and a bit newer.  Though the Dord showed no sign of being hostile currently, there was some concern among station security about what they might be capable of if that changed.

"Commander," Depp said, stepping forward, "I wonder if I might have a word with you."

Yeoman Dramond stepped forward, interposing herself between the Commander and Depp.  "The Commander is very busy right now, but I'd be happy to make an appointment."

USS Healy - Bridge

Solluk nodded towards Rayek, "Go ahead, but be very careful, Commander.  We don't know if Saxon is still active, and even if he isn't, we don't know what precautions he might have taken before becoming inactive.  We're going to try to use signal lights to authenticate our identity.  But he knows that the Thinkers have copied this ship and its officers before, and we have no idea what state he's in.  So, be ready for trouble... and be ready to safely subdue him if necessary."

John Saxon might not be the most dangerous person in all of Starfleet, but he surely ranked in the top 1%.  If he decided to doubt the authenticity of his rescuers, there was no telling how much damage he could do.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Lt Cmdr Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Healy - Deck One - Bridge]  [DAY THREE]

USS Healy - Bridge

Solluk nodded towards Rayek, "Go ahead, but be very careful, Commander.  We don't know if Saxon is still active, and even if he isn't, we don't know what precautions he might have taken before becoming inactive.  We're going to try to use signal lights to authenticate our identity.  But he knows that the Thinkers have copied this ship and its officers before, and we have no idea what state he's in.  So, be ready for trouble... and be ready to safely subdue him if necessary."

John Saxon might not be the most dangerous person in all of Starfleet, but he surely ranked in the top 1%.  If he decided to doubt the authenticity of his rescuers, there was no telling how much damage he could do.

Taking the warning to be ready for trouble quite seriously, Rayek gave a single nod to the Captain before rising from his seat and moving at double-timed pace to the turbolift.   The Romulan was all too aware of the danger posed by the former Master Chief.  Rayek had followed the man's career rather closely when he himself was just a Petty officer intending one day to best the man and gain for himself the Master Chief title.  Starfleet Headquarters circumvented all that when they offered Rayek the XO position at Katra just over 2 years ago.

Exiting on deck four Rayek headed first to the armory to quickly don his EVA suit and collect his boarding gear and weapons.  Rayek had had Ensign Jimrec go over drills with these men numerous times - a few of them with Rayek in attendance - because he anticipated Saxon to have been creative with his defence.   These men were as prepared as they could be short of Saxon drilling them himself, but which the man had also done many times in the past.  Rayek could only hope Saxon has taught these crewmen well-enough to survive his 'Century's' own schemes.

Arriving a few minutes later at the transporter room where the transporter pad held not the first wave of security but rather a number active pattern enhancers and high-powered sensor probes.   Due to the stealth technology, sensor reading of the vessel were currently near impossible.  Rather than risk sending in people first - a potentially having them materialize half into a bulkhead, Rayek had planned for this.    High-powered sensors to be able to scan and send back accurate data to the ship and her transporter techs, and pattern enhancers to aid in ensuring that those that did transport over in the second wave - arrived without mishap, because Rayek wouldn't put it past Saxon to have devised something to inhibit normal transporter functions.  He'd done so in the past to safeguard Katra, it would be naive to think the man wouldn't try to safeguard himself.

Of course, Rayek hoped all these measures were unneeded.  That Saxon would recognize the Healy and accept their presence there to rescue him, but he would rather be prepared and successful than dead.

He quickly informed the security team of the slight addition to the boarding team roster turning their three-person team into a four-person (assuming the sensors indicated that there was room for four).  The specs they had been provided on the stealth ship suggested it would be possible.  They would beam over in pairs - doubling the beam strength to counter an possible inhibitors - with Rayek on the first team paired with Petty Officer second grade Trenvale.

Rayek had worked and trained with Trenvale intensely in prep for the attack on the Son'a installation just over a year ago, so the two were still quite familiar with one another's boarding style.  Rayek would beam over in a crouch, ready to lay down a covering fire with his Type 3 hand phaser, if necessary, while Trenvale would remain standing and be ready to move in and engage hand-to-hand, with Rayek backing him up, if Saxon had devised some way aboard the stealth vessel to nullify energy weapons.  A tactic that Saxon was rather known for.  If after 30 seconds, Rayek or Trenvale didn't signal the all clear, the next pair would beam over to lend their aid.  Though this was a rescue-mission, Rayek and the others had to assume Saxon would be hostile to their presence.

Once all were ready, Rayek called up to the Bridge.

"Boarding team at readiness.   The pattern enhancers and high-powered sensors are on the pad and ready to beam over on your 'go ahead', sir."

When the order came Rayek gave a nod to the Ops officer manning them transporter controls and watched the first of three sensors disappear in a shimmer.  If after 3 seconds a sensor reading wasn't picked up showing the interior of the ship, then a second sensor would be sent with slight adjustment to its position.  They had 2 sensors ready on standby and 2 pattern enhancers.

[Tess tLhoell]

Cmdr. Tess t'Lhoell
[Katra Station - Wildlife Research & Rescue Center - Zoology Lab >>> Corridor] - DAY THREE

Katra Station - Wildlife Research & Rescue Zoology Lab

"I'll make the necessary arrangements," Yeoman Dramond said, quickly notating her PADD.

"Oh, before you go, Lieutenant," Doctor Hagen said to Beja, "We could use some more hands to conduct necropsies on the dead mammals.  I couldn't help but notice that you have an Ensign on your staff with experience in the area.   I was wondering if you might spare them for a few shifts, to help us get through the workload?"

When the group finally left the zoology lab and made their way to the main corridors of the station, an unexpected figure was waiting for them.

Katra Station - Corridor near the Wildlife Research & Rescue Center

It was Depp, the Executive Assistant of Director Boz, apparently having been lurking in the corridor.

Although Depp was listed as clerical staff at the Embassy, it was often suspected that she was- like the red-clad Tholians at the Tholian embassy- actually a member of Dord security.  Every Dord suit was a powered armor encasement capable of doing massive amounts of damage.  Depp's suit showed evidence of being even heavier than the normal ones, and a bit newer.  Though the Dord showed no sign of being hostile currently, there was some concern among station security about what they might be capable of if that changed.

"Commander," Depp said, stepping forward, "I wonder if I might have a word with you."

Yeoman Dramond stepped forward, interposing herself between the Commander and Depp.  "The Commander is very busy right now, but I'd be happy to make an appointment."

When Doctor Hagen offered for Beja to help with the work, Tess took that as her cue to get to her own To Do-list that had gotten quite extensive. "Thank you for your excellent work", Tess said to Doctor Hagen. To Beja she said, "Please keep me posted if you find anything that might help us in this case." After giving a friendly squeeze of the shoulder, Tess nodded to Yeoman Dramond and turned to leave the lab.

They didn't get far, because Depp, one of the Dord's clerical staff members, stepped up to them and asked to speak to her. Before Tess could reply, Dramond literally stepped between them to help Tess getting to her work. It was not only Tess' curiosity that had her being very inclined to give the Dord a couple of minutes, but it could always be possible that there was an information that helped them in their current case. If it was something that could wait, Tess would tell him so.

"Thank you, yeoman", Tess said amiably, "it is alright. Please go on with the preparations we have discussed earlier. I will meet you at the OCC." She then turned to look at the shorter Dord. "What can I do for you?"