The Big Snake of the Night Sky

[Amarande Xiiv]

[USS Seleya]

"Carry on, Helm." Kyle said from his seat. "Bring us into a stand......" He was cut off by sparks now shooting from the Tactical station causing Jimrec to be thrown backwards in his chair. He had definitely been hit harder than the earlier officer. "Got another one for ya there, Doctor." he said as he stood. "He seemed to be hit pretty hard. Take him to Sickbay if you think you need to."

From behind, he heard EQ ask a question. "Yes. Shut down power and reroute the station to my chair." he replied. "Ensign Riss. Can you handle tactical as soon as possible? I don't want to be out here without full weapon capabilities." he said.

With all that handled, he turned his attention back to Helm. "Standard orbit and give Science the scanners. Lieutenant. Scan away." he said to Hrafn

He sat back down and let his crew do their jobs.

[USS Seleya - Medbay]

He had been hit harder, even with instantaneous transport to Medbay, Xiiv found the man completely unresponsive. His artificial pacemaker had shorted out completely and she didn't have a replacement nor could she perform the delicate procedure needed to replace it. That was for a cardiac surgeon to perform. Frustrated, she attempted to keep him going anyway because that was her job.

"Come on," she murmured. "Come on."

She'd lost patients before but not like this, this was different. She'd watched him fly from his seat and done everything she could to keep him going and yet she was going to lose him if she didn't get him to a facility that could handle his pacemaker issue, the only thing she could do was to find some way to keep him alive until more qualified personnel could take over.

She rigged an external pacemaker up but found that Kal was effectively in a coma, the damage clearly too severe. Xiiv sat by his bedside and rubbed at her eyes. She needed to update Briggs on this since it was, well, serious.

She tapped her commbadge.

Xiiv to Briggs. Kal's in pretty bad shape. I've got him stabilised for now but he needs more treatment than I can reasonably provide here or on Katra. I'd need a full cardiac suite even if I could perform the procedure he needs. I'll keep him stabilised for transport to a medical stabase out once we're home. I'm sending someone else up to the bridge to cover my station. I'll stay with him until he's home.

There were no options and that's what frustrated her the most. The only thing she could do, she'd done, and now all she could do was sit and closely monitor the man until this mission was finished and they were back at Katra. She ordered another raktajino and blew across its surface as she stared at Kal's prone body. Everyone had their tipping point, she knew that. She hoped against hope this wasn't his.

"I'm so sorry, Kal," she murmured, "but we'll try to make it right. I promise we'll do what we can."

She sent a message to their nearest Medical Starbase, updating them on his condition and her need for assistance. They were ready to receive him once the mission was in pocket and she breathed a sigh of relief. A secondary message was sent to Kirok informing him of the circumstances in which Kal's injuries had come about, her recommendations to send him to a medical starbase for proper treatment, and her current efforts to keep him stable.

She took a sip of her drink and grimaced the raktajino had never tasted so bitter.

[Kirok]

[Katra Station | Ready Room]

Minutes later, the Meridian president was looking at them threw a video monitor in his office.  The tensions between the federation and them had been damaged when a portion of Katra fell onto their planet.  Kyle and that away team had made up some ground in that regard when they recovered the president's daughter.

"President, it is good to see you again.  With me is one of our new officer.  Mr. Jyur.  The reason for my call is that a group of Hunters has asked us to move the station to make way for a being they call the Big Snake.  Alpha suggested that the arrival of the big snake is connected and signals the next time your planet will phase away.  Before I make such  a decision, I wanted to get you input as this will obviously affect you.  What do you know about the modification that were made to your sun to alter your phasing intervals?  And are you aware that the next time your planet phases could be the very last?" Kirok said.

The president nodded.  Yes he know what the big snake was and was aware that the DS9 crew had do something to their sun 28 years ago.  "We expected to be in phase for 60 year, but then have 30 plus years in the real universe.  We returned about 5 years ago, but did not know that the snake was connected to us at all.  But yes, I had heard that if we phase again, we might disappear from both realities.  So, we might need to evacuate the planet" he replied.

Kirok nodded.  Then turned to Jyur.  "Do you have anything to add or any questions?" he asked the counselor.

[Hrafn Falleg]

[USS Seleya - Bridge]

EQ tilted his head slightly.  Confused.  They were currently scanning the M class planet not the volcanic gas planet in the L-S system with Changeling DNA.  But it could be possible, he guessed.

"Ma'am.  The planet I was talking about was in the opposite direction.  This is an M class planet.  Are you reading changeling dna?" the XB replied.

[Bridge - USS Seleya]

"Sorry, not from this planet... from the probe I sent out to the other planet.  I was excited by your words before and since we were here... I call it multitasking!" Hrafn said with a wink.

"That said I still have the parameters set up so no harm in seeing if it's here too, might not be enough to warrant a search but you know, maybe they were here en route to that other planet, and if so it's still valuable information, since it would help determine how they got there."

[Schatzi Jyur]

[Katra Station | Ready Room]

Minutes later, the Meridian president was looking at them threw a video monitor in his office.  The tensions between the federation and them had been damaged when a portion of Katra fell onto their planet.  Kyle and that away team had made up some ground in that regard when they recovered the president's daughter.

"President, it is good to see you again.  With me is one of our new officer.  Mr. Jyur.  The reason for my call is that a group of Hunters has asked us to move the station to make way for a being they call the Big Snake.  Alpha suggested that the arrival of the big snake is connected and signals the next time your planet will phase away.  Before I make such  a decision, I wanted to get you input as this will obviously affect you.  What do you know about the modification that were made to your sun to alter your phasing intervals?  And are you aware that the next time your planet phases could be the very last?" Kirok said.

The president nodded.  Yes he know what the big snake was and was aware that the DS9 crew had do something to their sun 28 years ago.  "We expected to be in phase for 60 year, but then have 30 plus years in the real universe.  We returned about 5 years ago, but did not know that the snake was connected to us at all.  But yes, I had heard that if we phase again, we might disappear from both realities.  So, we might need to evacuate the planet" he replied.

Kirok nodded.  Then turned to Jyur.  "Do you have anything to add or any questions?" he asked the counselor.

[USS Katra - Ready Room]

When the screen flickered to life, Zero pulled all of his attention to the Meridian President. When Kirok nodded to him, he dipped his head in greetings and acknowledgement, but didn't interrupt. He felt somewhat uncomfortable, not yet settling into his position here. It would take some time to do so, but he managed to project the air he was ready nevertheless. Slowing his breathing, he folded his hands together subtly, watching the Meridian's movements.

There were no signs of deception - maybe some discomfort, but nothing related to the Captain's request. So, when Kirok turned to him for input, he felt confident in shaking his head. "I have nothing to add that I'm sure your engineers have not already thought of. But the planet only being in phase for five years - that's exceptionally shorter than any other cycle you've experienced." He was careful to phrase it as a statement, rather than a question. He wondered if the President would reveal any further information, or if he'd genuinely given away all the info he had.

[Kirok]

[Bridge - USS Seleya]

"Sorry, not from this planet... from the probe I sent out to the other planet.  I was excited by your words before and since we were here... I call it multitasking!" Hrafn said with a wink.

"That said I still have the parameters set up so no harm in seeing if it's here too, might not be enough to warrant a search but you know, maybe they were here en route to that other planet, and if so it's still valuable information, since it would help determine how they got there."

[Bridge - USS Seleya - EQ]

EQ frowned.  With all the things going on he must have missed the probe being launched.   "Apologies, Ma'ma.  My mistake" the XB said.

Then he set about to tracking the probe.  Trying to be helpful.  "It looks like the probe it making good progress.  You should be able to start pulling data any second now" he added.

[Kyle Briggs]

Bridge - USS Seleya

"Very well, Helm. Coordinate with Science and move us accordingly as they scan and launch buoys." Kyle said. "Science. Scans and buoys are at your discretion. Collect as much data as you can. We'll need to return to base soon." The comm chimed just as he finished.

Xiiv to Briggs. Kal's in pretty bad shape. I've got him stabilised for now but he needs more treatment than I can reasonably provide here or on Katra. I'd need a full cardiac suite even if I could perform the procedure he needs. I'll keep him stabilised for transport to a medical stabase out once we're home. I'm sending someone else up to the bridge to cover my station. I'll stay with him until he's home.

Understood, Doctor. Do what you can for him and we will return to Katra as soon as possible. 

"œOf course, sir." She strode to her duty console and started the diagnostic. While that was running, Rinaya got to work on rigging up a work-around for the tactical station until main power could be restored.

A few commands allowed her to bypass what she now saw to be a cell that had shorted out, likely due to whatever else was going on with the grid. The bypass would allow usage of the console if it was needed until they were able to return to the station for a full tear-down and assessment of the damaged systems.

"œTactical back online." She said with a small, satisfied smile, and offered a brief explanation. "œA shorted power cell beneath the console is what sent that charge up. I've bypassed it for now but will need to swap it out when we get back to the station. Diagnostics are running and we should have an answer regarding the grid shortly."

"Great work, Ensign. Let me know what you find." he said to Riss before turning and nodding to the Ensign that was waiting to take over the station since Kal had been taken to Sickbay.

"Science. I can give you two hours. After that, we need to get our wounded back to Katra." he added.

[Kirok]

[USS Katra - Ready Room]

When the screen flickered to life, Zero pulled all of his attention to the Meridian President. When Kirok nodded to him, he dipped his head in greetings and acknowledgement, but didn't interrupt. He felt somewhat uncomfortable, not yet settling into his position here. It would take some time to do so, but he managed to project the air he was ready nevertheless. Slowing his breathing, he folded his hands together subtly, watching the Meridian's movements.

There were no signs of deception - maybe some discomfort, but nothing related to the Captain's request. So, when Kirok turned to him for input, he felt confident in shaking his head. "I have nothing to add that I'm sure your engineers have not already thought of. But the planet only being in phase for five years - that's exceptionally shorter than any other cycle you've experienced." He was careful to phrase it as a statement, rather than a question. He wondered if the President would reveal any further information, or if he'd genuinely given away all the info he had.

[Katra Station | Ready Room]

The Meridian president turned slightly to Jyur.  "Truth be told, we were informed that when we returned that we would have at least 30 years of real time.  If not more.

"We are, of course, thankful for the 5 years we have had.  But this news is coming much soon than we expected. By about 25 years.

Thank you for at least tell us.  We have much to consider.  We will get back to you as soon as we can" the president said before signing off.

After the screen was black, Kirok turned to Jyur.  "What is your assessment?  Counselor?' he aske Jyur.

[Hrafn Falleg]

[Bridge - USS Seleya - EQ]

EQ frowned.  With all the things going on he must have missed the probe being launched.   "Apologies, Ma'ma.  My mistake" the XB said.

Then he set about to tracking the probe.  Trying to be helpful.  "It looks like the probe it making good progress.  You should be able to start pulling data any second now" he added.

[USS Seleya - Bridge]

"Oh no need to apologise EQ, it was me talking in shorthand so to speak.  But thanks for the update on the probe!" Hrafn said with a bright smile at the XB.

He freaked some people out, still having some Borg implants visible but, and the CSO knew this wasn't really a recommendation given how friendly her kids were, the ginger midgets all knew, liked and had dubbed him 'Uncle'.  However, she had a gut feeling with people always and she'd warmed to him when they first met.

Sure enough the data started coming in from the probe and she hummed happily as her information flooded in.

Bridge - USS Seleya

"Very well, Helm. Coordinate with Science and move us accordingly as they scan and launch buoys." Kyle said. "Science. Scans and buoys are at your discretion. Collect as much data as you can. We'll need to return to base soon." The comm chimed just as he finished.

Understood, Doctor. Do what you can for him and we will return to Katra as soon as possible. 

"Great work, Ensign. Let me know what you find." he said to Riss before turning and nodding to the Ensign that was waiting to take over the station since Kal had been taken to Sickbay.

"Science. I can give you two hours. After that, we need to get our wounded back to Katra." he added.

The CSO pulled a mock 'sulky' face at Kyle which turned quickly into a grin to show that it was just her teasing him.

"Two hours is plenty for us to decide if it's worth further investigation sometime later.  I already know we need to go to that volcanic planet!" she said almost bouncing in her seat.

"As for the Class M - nothing remarkable other than potentially, and I'm talking miniscule amounts here - of the same readings I'm getting from the volcanic planet.  Like I mused before, potentially the Founders stopped off briefly on the Class M while looking for somewhere to settle down, they may have been weakened, whatever the reason, I've never had enough time to either interact with one, or study their DNA so... Ooooh what's that?!"

She studied the information coming in, and then smiled.  "I could be wrong but hoping I'm not since it would be handy to have that too... I think that's strobolin that it's just picked up, we might need to go down and dig out a bit of that... leave enough that it grows naturally on the planet of course but bring back enough of a starter that we can grow it ourselves in the arboretum.  If you're not familiar, it's the only cure for Choriocytosis... and I only know about it because of my good friend Dr. McGellen, who developed a working vaccination with Lt. Tempest the CSO on the ship bearing his name which had almost half their crew down with the disease.  It kills Vulcans unless you're lucky, I'm not sure about Romulans or Remans, likely anyone with copper based blood... those with iron based are still very poorly.  So I imagine Dr. Xiiv might be quite happy to have some in stock and a source less than a day away, even if we have to move the base."

[Schatzi Jyur]

[Katra Station | Ready Room]

The Meridian president turned slightly to Jyur.  "Truth be told, we were informed that when we returned that we would have at least 30 years of real time.  If not more.

"We are, of course, thankful for the 5 years we have had.  But this news is coming much soon than we expected. By about 25 years.

Thank you for at least tell us.  We have much to consider.  We will get back to you as soon as we can" the president said before signing off.

After the screen was black, Kirok turned to Jyur.  "What is your assessment?  Counselor?' he aske Jyur.

[Katra Station - Ready Room]

Zero listened intently as  the man answered. Nodding along at the appropriate times, he allowed his listening demeanor and appropriate social cues disguise the way he scrutinized him. Eyes searched for any manner of deception, as well as reaching out empathically. However, when the man finished he leaned back, nodding empathetically. "Of course. I'm sure this is coming as a shock, and we will do everything we can to help your people make the transition as smoothly as possible."

Hopefully his words would come as a reassurance for any doubt or suspicion. When the conference ended, he turned his gaze to Kirok, who expected his counsel. Giving a light shrug of his shoulders, he tipped his head. "His body language betrayed no deception, sir. I think we can safely assume that they only know what we've told them." He responded.

[Kyle Briggs]

[Bridge - USS Seleya]

Kyle turned to face the science station.

"Definitely sounds like something worth having." he said. "But giving the time restraints, I'm afraid we'll have to return for it. We need to get back to the Katra and check up on that whole moving the station thing. Like you said, we're only a day out."

He turned back toward the front. "Helm. Take us home. Warp eight."