The Big Snake of the Night Sky

[Rinaya Riss]

[USS Seleya - Bridge - EQ]

"Aye, Sir.  Going to yellow alert" EQ replied.  Then the duty station screens flashed yellow while the klaxon started to blare.

Then EQ tapped his com badge.  -//Ops to Engineering and Medbay.  We have no one up here from your departments to test out the duty stations.  If you have anyone available, it will help us test all the systems.  And, of course, you can get a look at things from the new bridge\\- he said before ending the link.

"Does anyone know our top speed?  The captain said that this was supposed to be the fastest ship.  But never said how fast" he asked the group in general.

[Seleya, Engineering]

"œOn my way." Rinaya gave the engine room one more appraising look, entering a few more commands on a console before striding to the turbolift, headed for the bridge.

[Seleya, bridge]

Her heart rate quickened as she stepped onto the bridge, feeling simultaneously excited and nervous. Her home was in her department, where she could hear, see, smell, and feel the ship's systems living around her, but, given the assignment, she'd have to make do up here. While the Caitian was anxious to be away from where she felt she could be of the most use, she had to admit she did enjoy being at the heart of all the action.

Striding to the engineering duty station, she sat, making sure to tuck her tail out of the way. With a few quick keystrokes, she was able to pull up the vital engineering systems, and she purred in satisfaction.

"œEngineering ready, sir."

[Gideon Drake]

[Katra Station | Conference Room]

Alpha blew air threw his nose when Kyan did not follow threw with the treat.  It was a sign that he was please with himself that he had won this round with the CS/TO.  He did though answer Kyan's question.

"Tosk were engineered to breed.  With our current shortage, though, we have encouraged them to do so.  To answer your question" he remarked.

When Sirol asked her question, Kirok replied.  "No.  I believe Alpha is warning that the snake may come no matter what we do and that if the station does not move that it might suffer the same fate that Meridian has and likely will again" he explained.

Alpha nodded in reply to Kirok's explanation.  He nodded along when Sirol added her other comments.  "Excellent" he said after Ms. King said it was possible to move the station.

Then he rounded back to something Kirok said earlier.  "There is something better for hunting than Tosk? I would be interested to know what" Alpha admitted.

"Yes.  And things that would not have the same issue with shortages that you are experiencing with the Tosk.  I can load some possibilities on a data padd for you to review" Kirok said.

"For now, lets have a small break.  We will give you the room while we contact the Meridan's.  And deliberate our options.  I'll have the data padd delivered right away.  You and your staff can review during the break" the Captain added.

Alpha nodded.  Kirok stood and addressed his staff.  "Let's adjourn to the ready room" he said.

[Katra Station | Conference Room]

Serena's nostrils flared, but she kept herself in check. She was still annoyed in principle and while the other talk was interesting, she was still an Engineer at heart. When Kirok adjourned the meeting, she narrowed her eyes at the Alpha, but said nothing. Instead, she filled a small plate of food. The summer sausage was quite similar to lap cheong and doing something with her hands allowed her to do anything than want to punch the Alpha on principle. Silently, she left the conference room when she was finished eating.

[Katra Station | Ready Room]

Serena had replicated a paper pad and a pen and was rapidly sketching and annotating. When everyone was assembled, she had a rough sketch of the station and calculations in the margins. "The easy part is the 20 days and the relative distance. If they asked us to move the station across the sector in a few days, it wouldn't be possible. With the small distance and the timeframe, we could do it with time to spare. I'd have to check in with the XO as Chief Engineer and yourself, Captain, as well as Ensign Riss for a second opinion."

She paused as she set down the pen and paper. "If what the Alpha says is true, how is it in the 20 years Katra has been here we've never observed this snake or had to move the station, or have this impending doom?"

She raised an eyebrow, half imitating a Vulcan. "At the risk of also sounding like a party pooper, how would the Prime Directive apply? I haven't read up on our exact relationship with the Meridians, but wouldn't the P-D apply to them as well if this is a natural part of their development? That this snake is linked to them?"

[Ensign Gideon "The Gryphon/Griff" Drake | Ready Room | Deck One | Katra Station]

Griff was relieved the meeting moved to the Captain's ready room. Of course, as they moved away, he made sure he was the tail of the group, and when they were a couple of meters away from the doors, he gestured behind his back in the direction of the Tosk, a gesture that said "up your bum." He did not like these buggers one bit, and he wasn't the only one. Serena kept herself in control, though the way she flared her nostrils, one would think, if her breathing was more rapid, she was hyperventilating only with her nose.

At the ready room, as opinions were given, Griff spoke when Serena finished her notations. "Makes sense. If we have to, we can tractor beam the station with our new ship, and perhaps add additional craft, with their tractor beams, into the mix. I figure, in addition to the Seleya, we get a couple of runabouts and a few shuttles, though the numbers would have to be significantly less, depending on availability of other Flight Control personnel, to move the station."

Griff looked at Serena with her inquisitive question. Now that was something to think about. In fact, it was almost a question Nira Said, reputed as a detective at the Academy (and, for all Griff knew, still is since graduation), would ask. Wonder how they'd prevail in a beauty contest against each other, Griff thought to himself.

[Sirol]

< Katra Station / Conference Room >

Fourth, fondness for Sirol. Both their cultures prided themselves on respect for family and elders, honour, forthrightness and a deep devotion to duty. She spoke quietly to the latter: "I think we need to explore the portals. Even if it's years, the fact of moving the station every so often isn't feasible long term. We can't move away, we are here for the Meridians. Short term though, I have most of the calculations done in my head. Moving the station is something that can be done easily."

Sirol Gave the Engineer a calm nod.
"œI agree with you Ensign." She began quietly and once more leaned over a little to not disrupt the flow of the meeting for everyone else.
"œ...If we were to move the station it would most likely have to be a permanent decision with"¦ Unforeseen political consequences..."

When Sirol asked her question, Kirok replied.  "No.  I believe Alpha is warning that the snake may come no matter what we do and that if the station does not move that it might suffer the same fate that Meridian has and likely will again" he explained.

Alpha nodded in reply to Kirok's explanation.  He nodded along when Sirol added her other comments.  "Excellent" he said after Ms. King said it was possible to move the station.

Sirol gave the Captain a quick nod.
"œOf course." She just quickly responded, not wishing to spend too much time on rephrasing him or Alpha by stating the obvious.
Instead she once more lowered her voice and leaned towards the Captain.
"œSurely his warning can not be motivated by sheer benevolence alone, considering the previous attack on the station"¦ It is likely that there is more to it"¦
I recommend vigilance and caution."

She then leaned back in her chair and folded her hands on her lap again, following the next part of the conversation quietly.
She had hoped that Alpha might have been open to Ensign King's suggestion, yet"¦ A part of her was nevertheless surprised that he indeed seemed willing to listen to suggestions here.
Raising an eyebrow she looked at Captain Kirok, wondering what he may have in mind here"¦

< Katra Station / Ready Room >

She paused as she set down the pen and paper. "If what the Alpha says is true, how is it in the 20 years Katra has been here we've never observed this snake or had to move the station, or have this impending doom?"

She raised an eyebrow, half imitating a Vulcan. "At the risk of also sounding like a party pooper, how would the Prime Directive apply? I haven't read up on our exact relationship with the Meridians, but wouldn't the P-D apply to them as well if this is a natural part of their development? That this snake is linked to them?"

Sirol had tagged along with the group, yet - as earlier - remained silent and mostly observed.
It would have been a lie of her to state that she did not find the entire situation"¦ Fascinating"¦
The interactions between the Hunters and the Tosk; their unique codependency"¦
The snake, the phasic phenomenon"¦ A riddle of the past seeping into the present"¦

Eventually she took a step forward, responding to Ensign King with a polite nod.
"œAlpha did state that the small partial phenomenon occurs once every seven years and the large partial one every seventeen.
The entire "˜Snake' shifts phase every time those two cycles overlap.
If we are in one of those overlapping phases right now, it means that the last complete overlap happened one hundred and nineteen years ago. There was no Katra back then, certainly through Meridians and the chance of legitimate records of the phenomenon."

Folding her arms again she paused for a moment, letting her next question sink in for a moment; musingly looking at her comm badge.
"œTheoretically... Yes"¦ In practise though, their natural development has already been interfered with at the moment their planet was phase locked.
It is"¦ A complex question, and I am not sure as to whether any of us would even be eligible to execute decisions based on it..."

At the ready room, as opinions were given, Griff spoke when Serena finished her notations. "Makes sense. If we have to, we can tractor beam the station with our new ship, and perhaps add additional craft, with their tractor beams, into the mix. I figure, in addition to the Seleya, we get a couple of runabouts and a few shuttles, though the numbers would have to be significantly less, depending on availability of other Flight Control personnel, to move the station."

Sirol tilted her head at his suggestion.
A sound suggestion. Turning around towards Captain Kirok, Sirol gave him an acknowledging nod.
"œA good suggestion, especially when we may have to move fast.
Katra has plenty of Satellite ships, as well as the foreign allied ones.
A sufficiently coordinated tractor beam network might save us immense amounts of time if the situation may call for it.
Do you wish us to make preparations for such a manoeuvre in case we might have to accelerate the process?"

[Kyan Mackenzie]

[Ensign Gideon "The Gryphon/Griff" Drake | Ready Room | Deck One | Katra Station]

Griff was relieved the meeting moved to the Captain's ready room. Of course, as they moved away, he made sure he was the tail of the group, and when they were a couple of meters away from the doors, he gestured behind his back in the direction of the Tosk, a gesture that said "up your bum." He did not like these buggers one bit, and he wasn't the only one. Serena kept herself in control, though the way she flared her nostrils, one would think, if her breathing was more rapid, she was hyperventilating only with her nose.

As he was getting up to leave, Kyan replaced his karambit in it's sheath and walked out onto the OOC. He waited until everyone was out of the conference room and in the Ready room before he stuck his head back in. The Alpha and his cronies looked over as the doors parted. The little Onlie gave a quick glance back over his shoulder to see if Kirok and the others had gone into the ready room, and to make sure those on duty were occupied. Then he threw down the proverbial guantlet.

"If you ugly buggers wanna hunt for something the now..." he chirped casually, "... you could start by lookin up yer arses for yer haids. An when ya pull those out, come find me. Sure and I'd love tae be seein how you lot do against "prey" what fights back!" Then he smiled at the Alpha. "And you? It's me own personal Tosk I'd be makin of you. See ya around!"

He then turned on his heel and strolled over to the ready room. As he was entering, Sirol was just finishing her suggestion. When she was finished, he spoke up.

"And while we're gettin ready tae move the station... I could umm.. show the Drai how the holosuites work? Maybe show em how tae be hunting some of those not sentient creatures ya mentioned earlier in there?"

Of course Kyan had no intention of showing the Hunters how to hunt for deer or wild boars, or even Seh'lats. He had something else in mind entirely. Something much more fun.... for him.

[Kirok]

As he was getting up to leave, Kyan replaced his karambit in it's sheath and walked out onto the OOC. He waited until everyone was out of the conference room and in the Ready room before he stuck his head back in. The Alpha and his cronies looked over as the doors parted. The little Onlie gave a quick glance back over his shoulder to see if Kirok and the others had gone into the ready room, and to make sure those on duty were occupied. Then he threw down the proverbial guantlet.

"If you ugly buggers wanna hunt for something the now..." he chirped casually, "... you could start by lookin up yer arses for yer haids. An when ya pull those out, come find me. Sure and I'd love tae be seein how you lot do against "prey" what fights back!" Then he smiled at the Alpha. "And you? It's me own personal Tosk I'd be makin of you. See ya around!"

He then turned on his heel and strolled over to the ready room. As he was entering, Sirol was just finishing her suggestion. When she was finished, he spoke up.

"And while we're gettin ready tae move the station... I could umm.. show the Drai how the holosuites work? Maybe show em how tae be hunting some of those not sentient creatures ya mentioned earlier in there?"

Of course Kyan had no intention of showing the Hunters how to hunt for deer or wild boars, or even Seh'lats. He had something else in mind entirely. Something much more fun.... for him.

[Ready Room]

After entering the ready room, Kirok walked over to a table and sat a the head stop.  He wait for everyone to gather there.  "Help yourself to my replicator should you need anything.  Then let's get right into it" he said.

He listened as each spoke.  Nodding alone.  They each made good points.

"As to moving the station, Ms. King.  How exactly would we do it.  Break it into multiple parts or keep it whole?  And why?

I do agree that multiple ships will be needed.   Luckily we recently added thrusters, Mr. Drake.   They may come in handy as well.

Sirol is correct.  In fact, the Katra has only been here three years. So it has never experienced the big snake in the sky as of yet.  Nor the 7 or 17 year encounter.

There was nothing provided about the big snake when Star Fleet proposed this location for that Katra in the planning stage.  I have first hand knowledge of that.  The Meridians made no mention of it at the time.

As for the prime directive, the policy of none interference is where I believe we may be in peril.  Yes, it was intended for none warp capable species, but it has evolved overtime.  The concept of none interference being the one component that has transcended time.

As such, I am leery of stopping the big snake from arriving for the simple fact that it will negatively impact a cultural practice that has been in place for eons.  The crew of the ds9 may not have been aware of the connection between the the big snakes arrival and the Meridian's phasing away, but we now are and as the saying goes two wrongs do not make a right, so on that basis alone, we can not interfere with the arrival of the big snake.   For that matter, it may be a sentient creature for all we know.  A creature from another dimension of course, but we know little to nothing about.

So, I need to ask you, Ms Sirol to provide some more back ground information about pocket dimensions and the like.  Are they know to keep a schedule?  Are they predictable like Alpha suggestion?  What is the probably of the entire snake arriving in 20 days time?

Mr. Mackenzie, I would prefer that you spend your time building a list of any aggressive none sentient animal that might offer them a challenge.  Please be sure to include tribbles on that list and feel free to exaggerate their insidious nature.  But I need everyone to disassociate your own cultural bias' for now.

Yes, this is our station.  But we must remember that we are the strangers here.  Guests in their back yard.

Also, Mr Mackenzie, I need to know where they are currently getting their supplies for their clones.  With the dominion being disbursed, it make me wonder if their supply has dried up.  Thus bring a factor if not the primary factor resulting in a decrease in population.  Knowing that will give us some leverage in our next conversation" the Captain said.

[Serena King]

[Ensign Gideon "The Gryphon/Griff" Drake | Ready Room | Deck One | Katra Station]

Griff was relieved the meeting moved to the Captain's ready room. Of course, as they moved away, he made sure he was the tail of the group, and when they were a couple of meters away from the doors, he gestured behind his back in the direction of the Tosk, a gesture that said "up your bum." He did not like these buggers one bit, and he wasn't the only one. Serena kept herself in control, though the way she flared her nostrils, one would think, if her breathing was more rapid, she was hyperventilating only with her nose.

At the ready room, as opinions were given, Griff spoke when Serena finished her notations. "Makes sense. If we have to, we can tractor beam the station with our new ship, and perhaps add additional craft, with their tractor beams, into the mix. I figure, in addition to the Seleya, we get a couple of runabouts and a few shuttles, though the numbers would have to be significantly less, depending on availability of other Flight Control personnel, to move the station."

Griff looked at Serena with her inquisitive question. Now that was something to think about. In fact, it was almost a question Nira Said, reputed as a detective at the Academy (and, for all Griff knew, still is since graduation), would ask. Wonder how they'd prevail in a beauty contest against each other, Griff thought to himself.

< Katra Station / Conference Room >

Sirol Gave the Engineer a calm nod.
"œI agree with you Ensign." She began quietly and once more leaned over a little to not disrupt the flow of the meeting for everyone else.
"œ...If we were to move the station it would most likely have to be a permanent decision with"¦ Unforeseen political consequences..."

Sirol gave the Captain a quick nod.
"œOf course." She just quickly responded, not wishing to spend too much time on rephrasing him or Alpha by stating the obvious.
Instead she once more lowered her voice and leaned towards the Captain.
"œSurely his warning can not be motivated by sheer benevolence alone, considering the previous attack on the station"¦ It is likely that there is more to it"¦
I recommend vigilance and caution."

She then leaned back in her chair and folded her hands on her lap again, following the next part of the conversation quietly.
She had hoped that Alpha might have been open to Ensign King's suggestion, yet"¦ A part of her was nevertheless surprised that he indeed seemed willing to listen to suggestions here.
Raising an eyebrow she looked at Captain Kirok, wondering what he may have in mind here"¦

< Katra Station / Ready Room >

Sirol had tagged along with the group, yet - as earlier - remained silent and mostly observed.
It would have been a lie of her to state that she did not find the entire situation"¦ Fascinating"¦
The interactions between the Hunters and the Tosk; their unique codependency"¦
The snake, the phasic phenomenon"¦ A riddle of the past seeping into the present"¦

Eventually she took a step forward, responding to Ensign King with a polite nod.
"œAlpha did state that the small partial phenomenon occurs once every seven years and the large partial one every seventeen.
The entire "˜Snake' shifts phase every time those two cycles overlap.
If we are in one of those overlapping phases right now, it means that the last complete overlap happened one hundred and nineteen years ago. There was no Katra back then, certainly through Meridians and the chance of legitimate records of the phenomenon."

Folding her arms again she paused for a moment, letting her next question sink in for a moment; musingly looking at her comm badge.
"œTheoretically... Yes"¦ In practise though, their natural development has already been interfered with at the moment their planet was phase locked.
It is"¦ A complex question, and I am not sure as to whether any of us would even be eligible to execute decisions based on it..."

Sirol tilted her head at his suggestion.
A sound suggestion. Turning around towards Captain Kirok, Sirol gave him an acknowledging nod.
"œA good suggestion, especially when we may have to move fast.
Katra has plenty of Satellite ships, as well as the foreign allied ones.
A sufficiently coordinated tractor beam network might save us immense amounts of time if the situation may call for it.
Do you wish us to make preparations for such a manoeuvre in case we might have to accelerate the process?"

[Ready Room]

After entering the ready room, Kirok walked over to a table and sat a the head stop.  He wait for everyone to gather there.  "Help yourself to my replicator should you need anything.  Then let's get right into it" he said.

He listened as each spoke.  Nodding alone.  They each made good points.

"As to moving the station, Ms. King.  How exactly would we do it.  Break it into multiple parts or keep it whole?  And why?

I do agree that multiple ships will be needed.   Luckily we recently added thrusters, Mr. Drake.   They may come in handy as well.

Sirol is correct.  In fact, the Katra has only been here three years. So it has never experienced the big snake in the sky as of yet.  Nor the 7 or 17 year encounter.

There was nothing provided about the big snake when Star Fleet proposed this location for that Katra in the planning stage.  I have first hand knowledge of that.  The Meridians made no mention of it at the time.

As for the prime directive, the policy of none interference is where I believe we may be in peril.  Yes, it was intended for none warp capable species, but it has evolved overtime.  The concept of none interference being the one component that has transcended time.

As such, I am leery of stopping the big snake from arriving for the simple fact that it will negatively impact a cultural practice that has been in place for eons.  The crew of the ds9 may not have been aware of the connection between the the big snakes arrival and the Meridian's phasing away, but we now are and as the saying goes two wrongs do not make a right, so on that basis alone, we can not interfere with the arrival of the big snake.   For that matter, it may be a sentient creature for all we know.  A creature from another dimension of course, but we know little to nothing about.

So, I need to ask you, Ms Sirol to provide some more back ground information about pocket dimensions and the like.  Are they know to keep a schedule?  Are they predictable like Alpha suggestion?  What is the probably of the entire snake arriving in 20 days time?

Mr. Mackenzie, I would prefer that you spend your time building a list of any aggressive none sentient animal that might offer them a challenge.  Please be sure to include tribbles on that list and feel free to exaggerate their insidious nature.  But I need everyone to disassociate your own cultural bias' for now.

Yes, this is our station.  But we must remember that we are the strangers here.  Guests in their back yard.

Also, Mr Mackenzie, I need to know where they are currently getting their supplies for their clones.  With the dominion being disbursed, it make me wonder if their supply has dried up.  Thus bring a factor if not the primary factor resulting in a decrease in population.  Knowing that will give us some leverage in our next conversation" the Captain said.

Serena nodded, scribbling furiously on her papers. First, she acknowledged Sirol: "That does make sense, I suppose. The numbers didn't add up in my head, but that's my misunderstanding."

Once she finished scribbling, she looked up, directing to the entire group: "Gid- Ensign Drake is quite correct, but not in that sense." Her schematic was now annotated. "Seleya tractoring the main body, the Runabouts and shuttlecraft more or less distributed amongst the satellites. The need for experienced FCOs isn't that necessary once we get going. Simple analogy? Many people moving a couch. The initial prep work would take a few hours. We'd start at Red Alert and have ready-reaction teams on standby, but the maths tells me exactly where the weak points are. One Engineer, and pretty much anyone who can follow instructions if something completely unexpected happens. Maybe half an hour of adjusting tractor beams and structural segments on the fly before we actually move."

She waved her hands and pointed. "If we can get up to a delta-v of 0.5 metres per second, we'd be mission accomplished and we can immediately stand down to Yellow Alert, leave everything mostly on automatics and get some shut-eye. Only overheating might be an issue for tractor beams and impulse engines, but moving that slow, normal operations can resume and life carries on as normal. By contrast, a shuttlepod has a delta-v of over 13,000 m/s. It's a walk in the park. In an hour, we can move 30 metres. 1,500 feet is around 457 metres. Even if we assume a gross margin of error of ten. That is, this snake affects everything ten times its length, we can still move that entire distance within 6 days. We could even safely shift it up to 1 m/s and be done in half the time (or travel twice the distance). The scale is easy, the tech is easy. I'm concerned, but not alarmed by this whole scenario on a technical level."

[Kirok]

[Seleya, Engineering]

"œOn my way." Rinaya gave the engine room one more appraising look, entering a few more commands on a console before striding to the turbolift, headed for the bridge.

[Seleya, bridge]

Her heart rate quickened as she stepped onto the bridge, feeling simultaneously excited and nervous. Her home was in her department, where she could hear, see, smell, and feel the ship's systems living around her, but, given the assignment, she'd have to make do up here. While the Caitian was anxious to be away from where she felt she could be of the most use, she had to admit she did enjoy being at the heart of all the action.

Striding to the engineering duty station, she sat, making sure to tuck her tail out of the way. With a few quick keystrokes, she was able to pull up the vital engineering systems, and she purred in satisfaction.

"œEngineering ready, sir."

[Seleya, bridge]

EQ offered the newcomer a nod.  It said both nice to meet you and welcome aboard.  Without saying a word.

As she waited for a reply from Kyle, a holographic navigator slid into place beside Ser.  It punched in coordinates.  Then the ship did its circles around the Hunters.  Then moved off into deep space.

[Eydis]

Since the conclusion of the previously mission and taking on hir new duties and taking up the offer to become part of the the stations defensive capabilities. Eydis had not been seen by anyone, only hir acting second in command. Skaldyr had been seen and all questions about Eydis  were left unanswered. Shi could not be felt over the lattice either, hir normally strong aura gone.

Then today about mid shift Eydis could be felt over the lattice again. But something was off, the tholian commander was somehow different altered. Not as drastic as hir crystalline entity encounter. No shi was if anything lesser. But there was something else very faint with her.

Eydis spoke over the lattice to her friend zex. Sorry for the absence. I will explain all when we meet again friend. Are you freed now

Even that seemed to drain Eydis of energy. Shi slumped back against the wall of hir chamber in the embassy of the station. "œ Welcome Little one" Shi speaks in tholian to glowing red and bluish swirling light in the barely visible in the pool of molten liquid.

The Uropygi Nyx now fully matured along with Erika were both in the embassy with Eydis and both standing at the entrance to her enclave.

[Kirok]

Since the conclusion of the previously mission and taking on hir new duties and taking up the offer to become part of the the stations defensive capabilities. Eydis had not been seen by anyone, only hir acting second in command. Skaldyr had been seen and all questions about Eydis  were left unanswered. Shi could not be felt over the lattice either, hir normally strong aura gone.

Then today about mid shift Eydis could be felt over the lattice again. But something was off, the tholian commander was somehow different altered. Not as drastic as hir crystalline entity encounter. No shi was if anything lesser. But there was something else very faint with her.

Eydis spoke over the lattice to her friend zex. Sorry for the absence. I will explain all when we meet again friend. Are you freed now

Even that seemed to drain Eydis of energy. Shi slumped back against the wall of hir chamber in the embassy of the station. "œ Welcome Little one" Shi speaks in tholian to glowing red and bluish swirling light in the barely visible in the pool of molten liquid.

The Uropygi Nyx now fully matured along with Erika were both in the embassy with Eydis and both standing at the entrance to her enclave.

[Ready Room]

Kirok followed along.  He was no engineer.  But he understood speed and distance calculations.

"That is good news.  You are correct though, we are short handed in many departments.  If a department head is not available to help execute this, I will ask you and Mr. Drake to man the duty station on the Operational Control Center.  I'm not above taking allowing you to lead when and if you have more expertise in a given area.  Especially when it help assures that it keeps us all safe.  That goes for science as well as the other department" Kirok said.

[NPC]

Zex had entered the room and had been silent up to now.  "Dealing with highly charged cultural differences complicates this situation greatly.  And Alpha seems to like to press those buttons when it serves him.  Perhaps in our next meeting, we limit the participants a bit, for efficiently sake" she suggested.

Then she replied to Eydis over the lattis.  "I can speak to you without anyone noticing over the lattis.  We are in the Ready Room.  You are welcome to join us if you like.  Or I can meet with you privately after this meeting is over is you prefer" she thought.

[Gideon Drake]

Serena nodded, scribbling furiously on her papers. First, she acknowledged Sirol: "That does make sense, I suppose. The numbers didn't add up in my head, but that's my misunderstanding."

Once she finished scribbling, she looked up, directing to the entire group: "Gid- Ensign Drake is quite correct, but not in that sense." Her schematic was now annotated. "Seleya tractoring the main body, the Runabouts and shuttlecraft more or less distributed amongst the satellites. The need for experienced FCOs isn't that necessary once we get going. Simple analogy? Many people moving a couch. The initial prep work would take a few hours. We'd start at Red Alert and have ready-reaction teams on standby, but the maths tells me exactly where the weak points are. One Engineer, and pretty much anyone who can follow instructions if something completely unexpected happens. Maybe half an hour of adjusting tractor beams and structural segments on the fly before we actually move."

She waved her hands and pointed. "If we can get up to a delta-v of 0.5 metres per second, we'd be mission accomplished and we can immediately stand down to Yellow Alert, leave everything mostly on automatics and get some shut-eye. Only overheating might be an issue for tractor beams and impulse engines, but moving that slow, normal operations can resume and life carries on as normal. By contrast, a shuttlepod has a delta-v of over 13,000 m/s. It's a walk in the park. In an hour, we can move 30 metres. 1,500 feet is around 457 metres. Even if we assume a gross margin of error of ten. That is, this snake affects everything ten times its length, we can still move that entire distance within 6 days. We could even safely shift it up to 1 m/s and be done in half the time (or travel twice the distance). The scale is easy, the tech is easy. I'm concerned, but not alarmed by this whole scenario on a technical level."

[Ready Room]

Kirok followed along.  He was no engineer.  But he understood speed and distance calculations.

"That is good news.  You are correct though, we are short handed in many departments.  If a department head is not available to help execute this, I will ask you and Mr. Drake to man the duty station on the Operational Control Center.  I'm not above taking allowing you to lead when and if you have more expertise in a given area.  Especially when it help assures that it keeps us all safe.  That goes for science as well as the other department" Kirok said.

[Ensign Gideon "The Gryphon/Griff" Drake | Ready Room | Deck One | Katra Station]

Griff took interest in how Serena wrote things with a pen and paper. It was understandable, if it helped her focus. He especially raised an eyebrow when Serena almost called him by his first name. They seemed to be so close, quite the couple, for her to make that slip.

He then turned back to Captain Kirok as he proposed that the two of them man the duty station if there's no departmental head available. He nodded in understanding; they were short-handed as it was. Still, it was nice to know he and Serena were part of the staff when the other senior officers are away.

[Serena King]

[Ready Room]

Kirok followed along.  He was no engineer.  But he understood speed and distance calculations.

"That is good news.  You are correct though, we are short handed in many departments.  If a department head is not available to help execute this, I will ask you and Mr. Drake to man the duty station on the Operational Control Center.  I'm not above taking allowing you to lead when and if you have more expertise in a given area.  Especially when it help assures that it keeps us all safe.  That goes for science as well as the other department" Kirok said.

[NPC]

Zex had entered the room and had been silent up to now.  "Dealing with highly charged cultural differences complicates this situation greatly.  And Alpha seems to like to press those buttons when it serves him.  Perhaps in our next meeting, we limit the participants a bit, for efficiently sake" she suggested.

Then she replied to Eydis over the lattis.  "I can speak to you without anyone noticing over the lattis.  We are in the Ready Room.  You are welcome to join us if you like.  Or I can meet with you privately after this meeting is over is you prefer" she thought.

[Ensign Gideon "The Gryphon/Griff" Drake | Ready Room | Deck One | Katra Station]

Griff took interest in how Serena wrote things with a pen and paper. It was understandable, if it helped her focus. He especially raised an eyebrow when Serena almost called him by his first name. They seemed to be so close, quite the couple, for her to make that slip.

He then turned back to Captain Kirok as he proposed that the two of them man the duty station if there's no departmental head available. He nodded in understanding; they were short-handed as it was. Still, it was nice to know he and Serena were part of the staff when the other senior officers are away.

[Katra Station | Ready Room]

Serena nodded. "It'll still take me quite a few hours getting Engineers and everyone in place. By the time your discussions with our..." She paused and clenched her fists a few times. "Guests conclude, we can start at any time. If you'll excuse me, Captain, I'll be in Engineering."

Turning to Gideon, she leaned in close. "Come on, Flyboy. I'll need you to start prepping our auxiliary craft and make sure engines and tractor beams are at full efficiency." She bowed to the Captain and wandered off.

[Sirol]

< Katra Station / Ready Room >

Looking at Ensign King, Sirol gave the Engineer a respectful nod.
"œIt is alright, Ensign. We are all in an extreme situation. Communication is key, and we suffice."
Leaning back again, she followed her elaboration and raised an eyebrow.
Ensign King's way of methodically working through a problem with assets given was"¦ Highly satisfying to Sirol.

If only everyone she worked with was as naturally relatable"¦ She spoke without words.

Once the Engineer had finished, what followed was a little pause.
A little pause Sirol used to stretch her legs a little, with one of her knees giving off an audible cracking noise.
All the time walking aided by the exoskeleton had made her joints a little stiff and inflexible. She would have to take care of that once she could walk freely again...

Pushing that thought aside she then followed Captain Kirok's words. She was not surprised to hear that he assessed the situation regarding the prime directive in the same way she did.
She acknowledged his statement with a little nod and let her gaze hover through the room again.

As Kirok addressed her though, Sirol flinched.
He did it again. Referred to her as Ms"¦.
And this time she was less capable of hiding her feelings. She squinted, trying to metaphorically shake off her disgust, yet to everyone vaguely empathic or telepathic (or even sufficiently observant), it was most than obvious that being degraded to her sex was deeply offensive and hurtful to the Romulan.

She forced herself to look at him; at the person who once again publicly humiliated her"¦
"œYou have all my knowledge about pocket dimensions at your leisure, Captain." She spoke slowly, yet no more word than she absolutely had to.
In moments like this she truly missed Captain Solluk. He would have never insulted her"¦
In general, she truly missed serving a Commander who she could more easily relate to; someone more on her wavelength...
Maybe working with Federation personnel had been a mistake after all...

In moments like this she just wanted to grab a shuttle and head for the phasic anomaly herself.
Not like there was anything or anyone here depending on her presence anyway"¦
Barely able to maintain her daily functions in the face of her traumatic isolation, being degraded felt like an additional weight to her shoulders; a weight she was not certain of how long she would be able to endure.
Taking a shaky breath she therefor got up from her seat, excused herself, then left the room.

Surely, it was supposed to be just a few minutes; a few minutes to clear her mind; a few minutes to save face"¦
As the doors hissed close behind her she just leaned against the wall, burying her boiling hot face in her shaky hands.
"œIn causality's name; I need a better assignment..." She whispered to herself in silent desperation...

[Amarande Xiiv]

[USS Seleya - Bridge - EQ]

"Aye, Sir.  Going to yellow alert" EQ replied.  Then the duty station screens flashed yellow while the klaxon started to blare.

Then EQ tapped his com badge.  -//Ops to Engineering and Medbay.  We have no one up here from your departments to test out the duty stations.  If you have anyone available, it will help us test all the systems.  And, of course, you can get a look at things from the new bridge\\- he said before ending the link.

"Does anyone know our top speed?  The captain said that this was supposed to be the fastest ship.  But never said how fast" he asked the group in general.

"On my way."

Her commbadge chirped as she hit it.

"I guess that means I'm on the bridge," Xiiv murmured, a little confused. But that was alright, it did mean she'd get to see things unfold from a new perspective. Raktajino mug in hand, she rode the lift up and strode onto the bridge to take a duty station clearly meant for medical. Fascinating.

"Medical at the ready, sir," she said, glancing over to Engineering to offer a smile of welcome.

[Eydis]

< Katra Station / Ready Room >

Looking at Ensign King, Sirol gave the Engineer a respectful nod.
"œIt is alright, Ensign. We are all in an extreme situation. Communication is key, and we suffice."
Leaning back again, she followed her elaboration and raised an eyebrow.
Ensign King's way of methodically working through a problem with assets given was"¦ Highly satisfying to Sirol.

If only everyone she worked with was as naturally relatable"¦ She spoke without words.

Once the Engineer had finished, what followed was a little pause.
A little pause Sirol used to stretch her legs a little, with one of her knees giving off an audible cracking noise.
All the time walking aided by the exoskeleton had made her joints a little stiff and inflexible. She would have to take care of that once she could walk freely again...

Pushing that thought aside she then followed Captain Kirok's words. She was not surprised to hear that he assessed the situation regarding the prime directive in the same way she did.
She acknowledged his statement with a little nod and let her gaze hover through the room again.

As Kirok addressed her though, Sirol flinched.
He did it again. Referred to her as Ms"¦.
And this time she was less capable of hiding her feelings. She squinted, trying to metaphorically shake off her disgust, yet to everyone vaguely empathic or telepathic (or even sufficiently observant), it was most than obvious that being degraded to her sex was deeply offensive and hurtful to the Romulan.

She forced herself to look at him; at the person who once again publicly humiliated her"¦
"œYou have all my knowledge about pocket dimensions at your leisure, Captain." She spoke slowly, yet no more word than she absolutely had to.
In moments like this she truly missed Captain Solluk. He would have never insulted her"¦
In general, she truly missed serving a Commander who she could more easily relate to; someone more on her wavelength...
Maybe working with Federation personnel had been a mistake after all...

In moments like this she just wanted to grab a shuttle and head for the phasic anomaly herself.
Not like there was anything or anyone here depending on her presence anyway"¦
Barely able to maintain her daily functions in the face of her traumatic isolation, being degraded felt like an additional weight to her shoulders; a weight she was not certain of how long she would be able to endure.
Taking a shaky breath she therefor got up from her seat, excused herself, then left the room.

Surely, it was supposed to be just a few minutes; a few minutes to clear her mind; a few minutes to save face"¦
As the doors hissed close behind her she just leaned against the wall, burying her boiling hot face in her shaky hands.
"œIn causality's name; I need a better assignment..." She whispered to herself in silent desperation...

A audible chirp would rise up from floor. A cat sized uropygi drone had crept and somehow allude detection until now. It had a white marking on the upper mandible. Chirping again the uropygi drone watched Sirol, for some reason hir distress had alerted the drone and called it forth.

Eydis had seen the distress and loneliness of Sirol during their brief interaction and decided to try and solve the issue. Noticing how easily shi interacted with Erika the uropygi given to zex shi had the remaining one unnamed uropygi a mental image of Sirol. Eluding to sirol being important member of the hive.

So the unnamed uropygi which in a a few weeks would be adult had sought out Sirol. Raising its scythe like mandibles a little on either side of its head. It would utter another little inquisitive chirp at Sirol. The poor uropygi were only limited by their meager intelligence but seemed to be at times almost sentient.

Eydis would respond over the lattice to zex. I can not move much until I have recovered enough energy. The little one has taken all that I can give. It needs more memories and energy to truly live. I'm not enough for the offspring it often requires three tholians to create a new one. I have served as third growing the new tholian and had to give some of my energy which is needed from two other tholians to give it life. I will send skaldyr to join the meeting in my stead.

[Sirol]

< Katra Station / Ready Room >

A audible chirp would rise up from floor. A cat sized uropygi drone had crept and somehow allude detection until now. It had a white marking on the upper mandible. Chirping again the uropygi drone watched Sirol, for some reason hir distress had alerted the drone and called it forth.

Eydis had seen the distress and loneliness of Sirol during their brief interaction and decided to try and solve the issue. Noticing how easily shi interacted with Erika the uropygi given to zex shi had the remaining one unnamed uropygi a mental image of Sirol. Eluding to sirol being important member of the hive.

So the unnamed uropygi which in a a few weeks would be adult had sought out Sirol. Raising its scythe like mandibles a little on either side of its head. It would utter another little inquisitive chirp at Sirol. The poor uropygi were only limited by their meager intelligence but seemed to be at times almost sentient.

Just standing there in dispense, feeling her own pulse through the fingertips on her forehead, Sirol could have sworn that she caught a presence, yet looking around, at first she could not spot someone. Only ever at the chirp, the scientist could confirm she was no longer alone...
Her focus came to a rest on a little Uropygi - akin to Erika from the med bay, yet this one a noticeably different one.

The scientist tilted her head and slowly hunkered down to it - at least as far as her exoskeleton permitted her to move - extending one hand towards it.
"œHello there little hero"¦ What are you doing up here all alone? Are you trying to find your way back home too?"
Despite how Sirol felt her voice was soft and welcoming.
After all, no matter how grim and painful the circumstances, the two factors Sirol could never reject were children and pets"¦

Of course the display of Erika's perceptiveness and abilities on the med bay had hinted at a relatively complex intelligence, but then again, this one here was a different one, and visibly younger, so Sirol had not much to base her theory on. Yet.
Gently patting the little one she once more smirked, mimicking it's chirp to the best of her abilities.
"œ...How come you always appear when I need wholesome company the most?" She musingly asked towards the little uropygi.
Not that she expected a profound answer to this rather philosophical question, but she felt that it had to be asked nevertheless...