S6: E2 - Truth and Consequences

[Kyan Mackenzie]

[Kyan Mackenzie | Function Room Mayflower, Starbase 185]

With his commission deactivated for the past few weeks and not being in his own quarters, or even on the Challenger, it had been relatively easy to put the things that had happened to him on Land-Ta out of mind. Most of the time anyway. During waking hours, Kyan was almost always with Max and Leran, or Jalen and Lorian, or all of them. He'd had a few dreams about it, but Jalen had given him something for that after a few restless nights. In the next few days he and the other kids from Challenger would be going to the Station's school, which would provide more of a distraction.

But the reporter's question and Jettis' mentioning an "ongoing investigation" brought the whole thing back to the forefront. He wasn't scared or depressed by the ordeal. He was angry that it had had happened and still more angry that he wouldn't have a chance to get back at the Landser that had almost killed him. Not thinking about it had helped, but now it was front and center and there was no distraction. What's more, the brass were apparently coming down on Galloway for it and he was left entirely out of the loop, which did nothing to make him feel better. Kyan knew that there would be questions, a debriefing at least. There always was, but an investigation? That was something else entirely. He was working out how he'd ask Jalen about it later when the side pocket on his shorts vibrated. He fished out his padd and swiped it open.

There were more than a dozen messages he hadn't read, most from a Commander Burnham, whoever that was. The newest one was from some unexpected, Admiral James Carter. Kyan didn't remember much about him, except that they hadn't gotten along when the Admiral came to Katra. And now here he was, summoning him to the conference room. So either he didn't know that he wasn't summon-able right now, or he did and just didn't care. If not for Jettis and the reporter, Kyan would have pocketed the padd and ignored the message. But now that he knew something was going on, the Onlie's curiosity was piqued, along with the anger that still needed somewhere to go. He decided to pay Carter a visit after all and see what he could find out.

~10 minutes later, Interrogation room, Security complex.

Sneaking out of the party had been easy enough. What Kyan hadn't counted on was a diligent member of station security wondering why he was roaming the administration area unaccompanied. After an exchange of words wherein the Efrosian security officer was loudly compared to an old Earth cartoon character from the Yosemite who chased around a rabbit Kyan found himself being hauled off to the security office. Once there, he was unceremoniously shoved into an interrogation room.

Turning around as soon as he was pushed past the door, Kyan yelled "Stick it up yer arse ye ditzy rocket!" he shouted as the door closed. When he turned back around, the Onlie found a wide eyed pair of children looking back at him.

"Maddie? Mo? What are you two doing in here?"

[Nira Said]

[Readiness Cafe - Starbase 185]

Ian listened to Gillespie intently. Even though they had disagreed over things in the past, Ian felt the Admiral was about as close to an ally as he had in this whole mess. He was confident in his decisions and wouldn't have changed anything, but it seemed that admirals stopped being Starfleet and became politicians when the pinned on flag rank. Many decisions, especially the worst of them lately were based on politics and not strategic thinking. However, the offer to tour one of the new ships did sound interesting.

"Yes Sir, I'd be deeply honored ta take a wee look at this ship of yours. I ken I've fought hard ta keep Challenger in the game, but I do keep up with new design developments."

[{NPC} Admiral Hamish Gillespie | Readiness Cafe | Starbase 185]

Gillespie smirked. "Aye, a wee look at a wee ship," he said, with a chuckle of a scoff. "That's good to hear. Once we're done, follow me doon."

[{NPC} Admiral Hamish Gillespie | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B] | Starbase 185]

"Allow me to welcome yeh to the Horizon, Galloway," Gillespie said, despite having to take Galloway though the airlock. "Patrol and escort vessel, like the Defiant in the past. She's been on shakedown for two months noo, had to fix things over on her. Once the shakedown cruise is finished, she'll settle in a new home for assignment at an ootpost.

"You'll find more information in the database," Gillespie continued, "but suffice it to say, it's one of three prototype Aquarian class starships, refitted for more starship assignment since some of their respective Odyssey class ships they're usually assigned to are retired. Aye, I'm not joking," he added, "the Horizon used to be a yacht.

"She's been in drydock the longest due to the beating it took on last year's Frontier Day," Gillespie further explained. "A sister ship, the Revenant, had been on a cruise of her own to check out the capabilities, and when their assignment was complete, the crew reported a good deal in regards to improving the ship, which we took the liberty to get to; the old Aquarian model used to have pylons and nacelles, but the Revenant crew - temporarily captained by your former first officer, Ian - reported hoo vulnerable it was, among other things, so we began patching up the Horizon further, tinkering some, and before the Revenant herself returned to drydock.

"Among some of the things I wanted yeh to look over," Gillespie explained, "is one of the reasons we took so long working on the Horizon at drydock: We had noticed that, dated as the Challenger is, its shields make it the most powerfully defensive starships in the fleet. Point of impact shielding. The shipyard lads had been trying to emulate the design of the shields made by its former Chief Engineer, Mister Lek. Horizon is one of them, we had been intending it to give it as much of a defence advantage as much as teeth. We had hoped the opportunity to have a word with yeh on how close we made it compared to Lek's."

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Starbase 185 - Mayflower Function Room]

Watching the receding backs of the reporters being escorted out, Alex felt mildly irritated by their intrusion, but also curious how much they knew already, and from whom. "Thank you, I think we will." He replied to Mrekrerhas' invitation, following him back to his table after glancing around to see if Ardyn had any other plans. "And please, feel free to call me Alex."

Captain Galloway making an appearance wasn't unexpected, but his annoucement certainly was. Mrekrerhas' unmistakable delight was infectious, and as the skipper left, Alex clapped the caitian heartily on his back. "Congratulations, Commander! Well, I guess we know at least one person who won't be getting fired for this Land fiasco."

Alex didn't bother trying to say anything else over the crew's raucous chants, stepping aside so 'Zhuk' would be unobstructed from view. Grinning, he raised his glass along with Ardyn's toast as the speakers started playing DJ Lahr's first song of his set. "We'll have to find you a mess bell to ring, put that pay raise to good use."

[Lieutenant Commander Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Function Room Mayflower | Starbase 185]

"Ah, uh... I greatly appreciate your congratulations, Lieutenant Jaeger," Zhuk stated, his tone wavering slightly from the emotion. He then turned towards Lieutenant Wu, and offered him a nod, "I am grateful for your words too, Lieu- Alex. But... pardon, what is this about getting sacked?" He asked, doing his best to pay attention to the response, though his mind unfortunately began to go elsewhere.

Lieutenant Commander, he thought, the rest of the crowd slowly disappearing from his mind as he basked in his achievement. Having gone so far, from being a mere Ensign, in two years certainly made him incredibly accomplished and proud of himself. He wished, for a moment, that his family was there to see him. To celebrate with him.

The happiness he felt became soon tainted with a significant amount of sadness that caused him to slump lightly, his figure a momentary shell of his usual self.

His ears flicked as he heard a commotion around the stage. To his surprise, he heard his name being chanted. Almost instinctively, he straightened back up, a smile returning to his face. He gazed over at Lahr as he played a rather catchy, animated song, and offered him a nod. A surge of positive feelings once more washed over him, though accompanied by a certain shyness. Caitians couldn't blush, or at least, not in a way like humans could. Instead of having their cheeks flush with color, Caitian's ears acquired a noticeable reddish pink color, instead of the usual pale pink that Zhuk sported. He hoped that no one would notice, considering that they were most likely not familiar with his species' anatomy.

His fellow crew and friends were too kind. It made him glad to serve alongside them.

"Ah... yes, Captain. Thank you kindly. Hope you have a good rest. _{I... I am not certain I possess enough Latinum... drat..."} Ian's words caught the attention of Zhukdra'shar, and he offered a salute of sorts before his superior left. He supposed that he would be able to ask about the interrogations later. For now, he guessed that the best he could do was to enjoy the party, which seemingly had become a celebration catered towards him. Not bad at all.

[Little Mo | Interrogation Rooms | Starbase 185]

The Efrosian gazed at them with no small amount of suspicious, while Mo tried to smile as best as he could to throw off the Security officer. After a moment, and Maddy's attempt at convincing him, he gave up. Sighing, he glanced over at the children, "Alright... I will let you through. But you need to come with me, and you will wait if your sister is still being questioned, are we clear?"

He spoke, firmly but not aggressively, hoping to indeed be able to convince the children that they should not wander alone. He opened up the gate to allow them in, before following them. Mo, on one hand, was glad that the good Security guard had let them through, jumping from excitement at the little adventure they were having,

"Yeah, okay! Thank you, sith!" Came the words of the Ferengi, as he motioned for Maddy to follow. Fortunately for the Efrosian, he had not wandered very far. And at least, they were only two. It would be easy to keep an eye on them, he thought.

[Kyan Mackenzie | Function Room Mayflower, Starbase 185]

With his commission deactivated for the past few weeks and not being in his own quarters, or even on the Challenger, it had been relatively easy to put the things that had happened to him on Land-Ta out of mind. Most of the time anyway. During waking hours, Kyan was almost always with Max and Leran, or Jalen and Lorian, or all of them. He'd had a few dreams about it, but Jalen had given him something for that after a few restless nights. In the next few days he and the other kids from Challenger would be going to the Station's school, which would provide more of a distraction.

But the reporter's question and Jettis' mentioning an "ongoing investigation" brought the whole thing back to the forefront. He wasn't scared or depressed by the ordeal. He was angry that it had had happened and still more angry that he wouldn't have a chance to get back at the Landser that had almost killed him. Not thinking about it had helped, but now it was front and center and there was no distraction. What's more, the brass were apparently coming down on Galloway for it and he was left entirely out of the loop, which did nothing to make him feel better. Kyan knew that there would be questions, a debriefing at least. There always was, but an investigation? That was something else entirely. He was working out how he'd ask Jalen about it later when the side pocket on his shorts vibrated. He fished out his padd and swiped it open.

There were more than a dozen messages he hadn't read, most from a Commander Burnham, whoever that was. The newest one was from some unexpected, Admiral James Carter. Kyan didn't remember much about him, except that they hadn't gotten along when the Admiral came to Katra. And now here he was, summoning him to the conference room. So either he didn't know that he wasn't summon-able right now, or he did and just didn't care. If not for Jettis and the reporter, Kyan would have pocketed the padd and ignored the message. But now that he knew something was going on, the Onlie's curiosity was piqued, along with the anger that still needed somewhere to go. He decided to pay Carter a visit after all and see what he could find out.

~10 minutes later, Interrogation room, Security complex.

Sneaking out of the party had been easy enough. What Kyan hadn't counted on was a diligent member of station security wondering why he was roaming the administration area unaccompanied. After an exchange of words wherein the Efrosian security officer was loudly compared to an old Earth cartoon character from the Yosemite who chased around a rabbit Kyan found himself being hauled off to the security office. Once there, he was unceremoniously shoved into an interrogation room.

Turning around as soon as he was pushed past the door, Kyan yelled "Stick it up yer arse ye ditzy rocket!" he shouted as the door closed. When he turned back around, the Onlie found a wide eyed pair of children looking back at him.

"Maddie? Mo? What are you two doing in here?"

[Party]
"No need for the formalities, either. Ardyn or Ardy works just fine." Ardyn said, encouraging the Caitian to relax.

Ardyn took a  bit of a swig of the punch.  Her face scrunched a little as she noticed a strange aftertaste of a sort.  Weird. Somebody must have added some prune juice or something.    Either way, she was here to celebrate! "You know, guys for a glorified interrogation and another trial that might give us the boot, this ain't  a bad way to spend it." she said out loud to the partygoers.

What the? A look of confusion hit her as soon as the words left her mouth.  She didn't mean to say it like that. It was honest and blunt, but given that it was the truth... Was it the tequila? She had tried to keep herself NOT to the point of drunkenness. Was she losing her touch? Her head was starting to spin, sending her stomach into loops. "Um, something's not right," she said,  suddenly heading to the nearby trash can and relieving her stomach. "I was feeling just fine two seconds ago. Wasn't even drunk. What the #%&#?"

[As Maddy]

[Interrogation Rooms]

"Okay." said Maddy, also smiling. She knew that if she was extra nice to the Security man it would really help in convincing him. It usually worked that way with grownups.  Maybe it was because she could tell what some people were feeling? She wasn't sure why, but it worked. The Security man'd watch them, but that was okay with her for now. As they followed him into the offices and rooms of the Interrogation room, she hoped Zala was OK after being asked a lot of questions.

The Efrosian  man with the long mustache escorted the two kids to an interrogation room to wait until he could find Zala. This was where she was... Right?

Hopping onto a chair, her legs dangling slightly as she fidgeted. Zala would probably be coming out there really soon. she thought as they watched the general bustle of security officers went about their businesses through the frosted window, albeit with some surprised looks  as to why two little kids were out here alone. Suddenly, She saw Kyan, one of the big kids, coming into that same room.  He was one of the big kids who came over to play with the junior-level classes sometimes.  Why was he here? This was a place for grownups.  "We're here to find his big sis, Zala." she said, pointing to Mo. "She might know if  my mommy and daddy might lose their jobs, 'cause they won't tell me what's wrong."

Suddenly, they heard a man pass by, talking loud enough to be heard through the door.  " -Someday I'm gonna get the Big Chair, Just you wait. Once we convince the Federation that Galloway's  messed up big time, They'll have to have me at the head of the Challenger...

Maddy stood up, very worried. She could feel that Man's thoughts. And it wasn't good.  He was looking to fire the Cap'n! And Maybe everyone else! "

[Ian Galloway]

[{NPC} Admiral Hamish Gillespie | Readiness Cafe | Starbase 185]

Gillespie smirked. "Aye, a wee look at a wee ship," he said, with a chuckle of a scoff. "That's good to hear. Once we're done, follow me doon."

[{NPC} Admiral Hamish Gillespie | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B] | Starbase 185]

"Allow me to welcome yeh to the Horizon, Galloway," Gillespie said, despite having to take Galloway though the airlock. "Patrol and escort vessel, like the Defiant in the past. She's been on shakedown for two months noo, had to fix things over on her. Once the shakedown cruise is finished, she'll settle in a new home for assignment at an ootpost.

"You'll find more information in the database," Gillespie continued, "but suffice it to say, it's one of three prototype Aquarian class starships, refitted for more starship assignment since some of their respective Odyssey class ships they're usually assigned to are retired. Aye, I'm not joking," he added, "the Horizon used to be a yacht.

"She's been in drydock the longest due to the beating it took on last year's Frontier Day," Gillespie further explained. "A sister ship, the Revenant, had been on a cruise of her own to check out the capabilities, and when their assignment was complete, the crew reported a good deal in regards to improving the ship, which we took the liberty to get to; the old Aquarian model used to have pylons and nacelles, but the Revenant crew - temporarily captained by your former first officer, Ian - reported hoo vulnerable it was, among other things, so we began patching up the Horizon further, tinkering some, and before the Revenant herself returned to drydock.

"Among some of the things I wanted yeh to look over," Gillespie explained, "is one of the reasons we took so long working on the Horizon at drydock: We had noticed that, dated as the Challenger is, its shields make it the most powerfully defensive starships in the fleet. Point of impact shielding. The shipyard lads had been trying to emulate the design of the shields made by its former Chief Engineer, Mister Lek. Horizon is one of them, we had been intending it to give it as much of a defence advantage as much as teeth. We had hoped the opportunity to have a word with yeh on how close we made it compared to Lek's."

[Bridge - USS Horizon]

Ian had to admit, this new class of ship was different. Smaller even than a Defiant-Class, this ship was clearly not an explorer. It was an escort, Ian thought of the old sailing ships and thought the term frigate would be appropriate.

"You've certainly loaded the thing with all the bells and whistles. Multi-phasic regenerative shields, neural gel-packs, holographic communications, she has it all. I guess it's a bit a amusin' ta see one of these Pirates of Penzance ship's yachts bein' turned into a functionin' little ship. Seems a good fit as an escort or patrol ship for a space station. Far more juice than a runabout, but short of a beastie like Defiant.

"If she's got point of impact, whoever tangles with her is in for a nasty surprise. That system has done more ta keep Challenger in one piece than all the other systems we have. I think you have a winner here Admiral."

[Alexander Wu]

[Lieutenant Commander Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Function Room Mayflower | Starbase 185]

"Ah, uh... I greatly appreciate your congratulations, Lieutenant Jaeger," Zhuk stated, his tone wavering slightly from the emotion. He then turned towards Lieutenant Wu, and offered him a nod, "I am grateful for your words too, Lieu- Alex. But... pardon, what is this about getting sacked?" He asked, doing his best to pay attention to the response, though his mind unfortunately began to go elsewhere.

Lieutenant Commander, he thought, the rest of the crowd slowly disappearing from his mind as he basked in his achievement. Having gone so far, from being a mere Ensign, in two years certainly made him incredibly accomplished and proud of himself. He wished, for a moment, that his family was there to see him. To celebrate with him.

The happiness he felt became soon tainted with a significant amount of sadness that caused him to slump lightly, his figure a momentary shell of his usual self.

His ears flicked as he heard a commotion around the stage. To his surprise, he heard his name being chanted. Almost instinctively, he straightened back up, a smile returning to his face. He gazed over at Lahr as he played a rather catchy, animated song, and offered him a nod. A surge of positive feelings once more washed over him, though accompanied by a certain shyness. Caitians couldn't blush, or at least, not in a way like humans could. Instead of having their cheeks flush with color, Caitian's ears acquired a noticeable reddish pink color, instead of the usual pale pink that Zhuk sported. He hoped that no one would notice, considering that they were most likely not familiar with his species' anatomy.

His fellow crew and friends were too kind. It made him glad to serve alongside them.

"Ah... yes, Captain. Thank you kindly. Hope you have a good rest. _{I... I am not certain I possess enough Latinum... drat..."} Ian's words caught the attention of Zhukdra'shar, and he offered a salute of sorts before his superior left. He supposed that he would be able to ask about the interrogations later. For now, he guessed that the best he could do was to enjoy the party, which seemingly had become a celebration catered towards him. Not bad at all.

[Party]
"No need for the formalities, either. Ardyn or Ardy works just fine." Ardyn said, encouraging the Caitian to relax.

Ardyn took a  bit of a swig of the punch.  Her face scrunched a little as she noticed a strange aftertaste of a sort.  Weird. Somebody must have added some prune juice or something.    Either way, she was here to celebrate! "You know, guys for a glorified interrogation and another trial that might give us the boot, this ain't  a bad way to spend it." she said out loud to the partygoers.

What the? A look of confusion hit her as soon as the words left her mouth.  She didn't mean to say it like that. It was honest and blunt, but given that it was the truth... Was it the tequila? She had tried to keep herself NOT to the point of drunkenness. Was she losing her touch? Her head was starting to spin, sending her stomach into loops. "Um, something's not right," she said,  suddenly heading to the nearby trash can and relieving her stomach. "I was feeling just fine two seconds ago. Wasn't even drunk. What the #%&#?"

[Starbase 185 - Mayflower Function Room]

"Don't worry about it tonight, that's a tomorrow problem." Alex reassured the Caitian as the 'Zhuk' chants faded into generalized partying. Lahr seemed to have his finger on the pulse, playing just the right amount of energy for the group. His enjoyment was short-lived though, as he saw Ardyn go pale and sway out of the corner of his eye. "Ardyn?" Alex managed to grab the glass before it fell from her hand, setting both on the table. "Hey, you okay?" He followed her to the garbage can, making it just in time to sweep most of Ardy's hair out of her face while she upchucked.

Picking a few bits of soggy pretzel out of the strands which didn't escape the deluge, Alex forced himself not to grimace at the not-unfamiliar smell of partially digested food intermixed with alcohol. There was something to be said for synthehol, which the tequila certainly was not. "Did you sneak shots with Neva while I was in the washroom?"

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Starbase 185 - Mayflower Function Room]

"Don't worry about it tonight, that's a tomorrow problem." Alex reassured the Caitian as the 'Zhuk' chants faded into generalized partying. Lahr seemed to have his finger on the pulse, playing just the right amount of energy for the group. His enjoyment was short-lived though, as he saw Ardyn go pale and sway out of the corner of his eye. "Ardyn?" Alex managed to grab the glass before it fell from her hand, setting both on the table. "Hey, you okay?" He followed her to the garbage can, making it just in time to sweep most of Ardy's hair out of her face while she upchucked.

Picking a few bits of soggy pretzel out of the strands which didn't escape the deluge, Alex forced himself not to grimace at the not-unfamiliar smell of partially digested food intermixed with alcohol. There was something to be said for synthehol, which the tequila certainly was not. "Did you sneak shots with Neva while I was in the washroom?"

[Party]

Ardyn shook her head as she wiped off her mouth after the sudden scene that just happened, face somewhat flushed from embarrassment, given that all eyes were now on her.  "No. I just had the two shots. Was actually trying to avoid a hangover today so I could pick up Mads later," she said, really confused as to why she lost her lunch. If she wanted to, normally she could hold her liquor pretty well. Several years on the circuits would do that.  She wasn't even really drunk right now, at least, she didn't feel that way." Everything seemed just fine before she had that glass of punch.

"That punch had a weird aftertaste, did you guys notice it? she asked the others standing around their table.

[Nira Said]

[Bridge - USS Horizon]

Ian had to admit, this new class of ship was different. Smaller even than a Defiant-Class, this ship was clearly not an explorer. It was an escort, Ian thought of the old sailing ships and thought the term frigate would be appropriate.

"You've certainly loaded the thing with all the bells and whistles. Multi-phasic regenerative shields, neural gel-packs, holographic communications, she has it all. I guess it's a bit a amusin' ta see one of these Pirates of Penzance ship's yachts bein' turned into a functionin' little ship. Seems a good fit as an escort or patrol ship for a space station. Far more juice than a runabout, but short of a beastie like Defiant.

"If she's got point of impact, whoever tangles with her is in for a nasty surprise. That system has done more ta keep Challenger in one piece than all the other systems we have. I think you have a winner here Admiral."

[{NPC} Admiral Hamish Gillespie | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B] | Starbase 185]

"Aye, of course it is," Gillespie said. "They'll soon be finding oot they're facing a corvette when expecting a yacht. And we have it a functioning ship for a reason, it and the others used to be attached to Odyssey class starships heading into retirement." He was grinning at Galloway's calling it a Pirate of Penzance yacht; he distinctly remembered when he and Elizabeth Shelby were having drinks upon the dawn of the new century and singing a few songs from Pirates of Penzance in the same yacht in the same office when it looked less as wide as it was now.

"And it's good to see that we matched the point of impact shields as close as possible to Lek's design. Any raiders will definitely be in surprise. She'll be assigned to the Romulan border for patrol and escort when the shakedown is finished; and Revenant to the Tzenkethi border, and eventually the prototype Aquarian."

"Sirs!" Rusal, having accompanied the party for the tour and conducting her bridge inspection as temporary first officer, perked up at a sensor reading next to Ensign Feeka Olisa at the Ops station. "Sensors are detecting temporal pulses incoming. Starbase 185 has confirmed. And they're getting stronger."

[Ian Galloway]

[{NPC} Admiral Hamish Gillespie | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B] | Starbase 185]

"Aye, of course it is," Gillespie said. "They'll soon be finding oot they're facing a corvette when expecting a yacht. And we have it a functioning ship for a reason, it and the others used to be attached to Odyssey class starships heading into retirement." He was grinning at Galloway's calling it a Pirate of Penzance yacht; he distinctly remembered when he and Elizabeth Shelby were having drinks upon the dawn of the new century and singing a few songs from Pirates of Penzance in the same yacht in the same office when it looked less as wide as it was now.

"And it's good to see that we matched the point of impact shields as close as possible to Lek's design. Any raiders will definitely be in surprise. She'll be assigned to the Romulan border for patrol and escort when the shakedown is finished; and Revenant to the Tzenkethi border, and eventually the prototype Aquarian."

"Sirs!" Rusal, having accompanied the party for the tour and conducting her bridge inspection as temporary first officer, perked up at a sensor reading next to Ensign Feeka Olisa at the Ops station. "Sensors are detecting temporal pulses incoming. Starbase 185 has confirmed. And they're getting stronger."

[Bridge- USS Horizon]

Ian tried not to eavesdrop, but the Horizon's bridge was hopelessly too small for that. As soon as he heard the words "temporal pulse" he knew the source and knew they didn't have a lot of time to do something before the starbase suffered a catastrophic shutdown.

"Admiral, only one thing in the universe makes pulses like the station is pickin' up, Landser Fold Space Drive. If'n we don't get ta Station Ops fast, you are about ta experience the full system shut down of the starbase and every person aboard being rendered unconscious. And that's nae summat you'll be wantin' ta experience."

Ian waited for the Admiral's response and dearly hoped the man would listen, because Ian didn't want to imagine an entire starbase and crew rendered non-functional.

[Nira Said]

[Bridge- USS Horizon]

Ian tried not to eavesdrop, but the Horizon's bridge was hopelessly too small for that. As soon as he heard the words "temporal pulse" he knew the source and knew they didn't have a lot of time to do something before the starbase suffered a catastrophic shutdown.

"Admiral, only one thing in the universe makes pulses like the station is pickin' up, Landser Fold Space Drive. If'n we don't get ta Station Ops fast, you are about ta experience the full system shut down of the starbase and every person aboard being rendered unconscious. And that's nae summat you'll be wantin' ta experience."

Ian waited for the Admiral's response and dearly hoped the man would listen, because Ian didn't want to imagine an entire starbase and crew rendered non-functional.

[{NPC} Admiral Hamish Gillespie | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B] | Starbase 185]

"Cripes," Gillespie murmured. "It's the T'Kori attack on Risa all over again. Helm, get us directly as close as possible to Ops and prepare to transport me and Galloway aboard."

As the helm got ready, Gillespie added, "Quite the call there; temporal pulses, I would've figured it to come from the Krenim if this was the Delta Quadrant, and I would've figured the pulses from chroniton weapons, what with the Krenim's reports from old Voyager of mucking up time. Edward and James are going to get their proof..."

"Helm ready," came the call.

"Punch it!" Gillespie said. "Galloway, enjoy how manoeuvrable this ship can get while you can. Ensign Feeka, site to site transport to Ops, fast. Rusal, inform Ops we're incoming."

"Aye, sir," Rusal said and she got to work.

[Ian Galloway]

[{NPC} Admiral Hamish Gillespie | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B] | Starbase 185]

"Cripes," Gillespie murmured. "It's the T'Kori attack on Risa all over again. Helm, get us directly as close as possible to Ops and prepare to transport me and Galloway aboard."

As the helm got ready, Gillespie added, "Quite the call there; temporal pulses, I would've figured it to come from the Krenim if this was the Delta Quadrant, and I would've figured the pulses from chroniton weapons, what with the Krenim's reports from old Voyager of mucking up time. Edward and James are going to get their proof..."

"Helm ready," came the call.

"Punch it!" Gillespie said. "Galloway, enjoy how manoeuvrable this ship can get while you can. Ensign Feeka, site to site transport to Ops, fast. Rusal, inform Ops we're incoming."

"Aye, sir," Rusal said and she got to work.

[Bridge - USS Horizon]

Ian sighed in relief that he still had enough credibility left that Gillespie was willing to listen and take a chance. Now, hopefully the starbase commander would listen.

"Thank ye Admiral, I just hope we have enough leeway ta take the necessary steps that can protect the station before that probe gets here."

Ian had to admit, it was exhilarating being on a small nimble starship. He dearly loved Challenger, but she wasn't light on her feet.

[Nira Said]

[Bridge - USS Horizon]

Ian sighed in relief that he still had enough credibility left that Gillespie was willing to listen and take a chance. Now, hopefully the starbase commander would listen.

"Thank ye Admiral, I just hope we have enough leeway ta take the necessary steps that can protect the station before that probe gets here."

Ian had to admit, it was exhilarating being on a small nimble starship. He dearly loved Challenger, but she wasn't light on her feet.

[{NPC} Admiral Hamish Gillespie | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B] | Starbase 185]

Gillespie could tell Galloway enjoyed the exhilaration of the ship; he had heard he used to be a pilot, so the feeling was understandable.

"Ensign, open a channel to the starbase," the admiral ordered.

"Channel open," called Feeka.

"Admiral Gillespie to Starbase 185. You saw that incoming pulse?"

"Of course, Admiral,"   came the call.  "We wondered where it was coming from, or if the Krenim somehow got to the Alpha Quadrant..."

"It's nae Krenim. Captain Galloway will explain the finer details later, but he'll give you the short version. Stand by to receive us."

"We're locked on and ready to transport to Ops," Feeka said. The Bajoran girl was doing excellently, but it made sense given she served on the Revenant.

"Energize." And he and Galloway were gone.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Starbase 185 - Function Room Mayflower - center stage]

[Lieutenant Commander Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Function Room Mayflower | Starbase 185]

"Ah, uh... I greatly appreciate your congratulations, Lieutenant Jaeger," Zhuk stated, his tone wavering slightly from the emotion. He then turned towards Lieutenant Wu, and offered him a nod, "I am grateful for your words too, Lieu- Alex. But... pardon, what is this about getting sacked?" He asked, doing his best to pay attention to the response, though his mind unfortunately began to go elsewhere.

Lieutenant Commander, he thought, the rest of the crowd slowly disappearing from his mind as he basked in his achievement. Having gone so far, from being a mere Ensign, in two years certainly made him incredibly accomplished and proud of himself. He wished, for a moment, that his family was there to see him. To celebrate with him.

The happiness he felt became soon tainted with a significant amount of sadness that caused him to slump lightly, his figure a momentary shell of his usual self.

His ears flicked as he heard a commotion around the stage. To his surprise, he heard his name being chanted. Almost instinctively, he straightened back up, a smile returning to his face. He gazed over at Lahr as he played a rather catchy, animated song, and offered him a nod. A surge of positive feelings once more washed over him, though accompanied by a certain shyness. Caitians couldn't blush, or at least, not in a way like humans could. Instead of having their cheeks flush with color, Caitian's ears acquired a noticeable reddish pink color, instead of the usual pale pink that Zhuk sported. He hoped that no one would notice, considering that they were most likely not familiar with his species' anatomy.

His fellow crew and friends were too kind. It made him glad to serve alongside them.

Lahr, who had been watching the Caitian for his reaction to the song, grinned a honest smile when his friend nodded in apparent approval.  DJ Lahr still has the knack for picking the perfect song.

Speaking of which, with the remix being so short, Lahr cued up the next song, and at the appropriate time mark swapped one for the other almost seamlessly.

[Ian Galloway]

[{NPC} Admiral Hamish Gillespie | Bridge | Deck One | USS Horizon NCC-75668-B] | Starbase 185]

Gillespie could tell Galloway enjoyed the exhilaration of the ship; he had heard he used to be a pilot, so the feeling was understandable.

"Ensign, open a channel to the starbase," the admiral ordered.

"Channel open," called Feeka.

"Admiral Gillespie to Starbase 185. You saw that incoming pulse?"

"Of course, Admiral,"   came the call.  "We wondered where it was coming from, or if the Krenim somehow got to the Alpha Quadrant..."

"It's nae Krenim. Captain Galloway will explain the finer details later, but he'll give you the short version. Stand by to receive us."

"We're locked on and ready to transport to Ops," Feeka said. The Bajoran girl was doing excellently, but it made sense given she served on the Revenant.

"Energize." And he and Galloway were gone.

[Station Ops - Starbase 185]

As soon as he was free of the annular confinement beam, Ian was striding forward. As it was an admiral that was visiting, the station Commander, Captain Sonak, a Vulcan was already waiting for them.

Ian spoke with his emotions firmly in check as he knew any attempt at a passionate plea for assistance would fail to sway a Vulcan.

"Captain it is good ta have you receive us. I will get right ta the point. Those temporal pulses you've been detectin' are from a Landser Fold Space Drive and pose an immediate threat ta this station. Normal shields, regardless of strength offer no protection. There is but one defense and I know it is an unorthodox one. However, this knowledge was gained the hard way in the field.

"I know your people have yet ta purge the chroniton particles in Challenger's ablative armor matrix. You are goin' ta have ta raise your shields and flush them into the local space around the station instead of collectin' them for disposal per regulation. Once you have flooded the area inside your shields, you must reconfigure your deflector dish ta emit tetryon particles ta polarize the chronitons. This is the only known defense against a temporal pulse.

"I ken that these instructions fly in the face of many regulations, but until a few weeks ago, Fold Space travel was throught ta be impossible too. If you don't act immediately, every system on this station that relies on isolinear circuitry will be disabled and every livin' thing rendered unconscious."

Ian had made his pitch. Like with any Vulcan, Sonak's expression was unreadable. All Ian could hope for was that he'd made a logical presentation and that Sonak would listen.

[Nira Said]

[Station Ops - Starbase 185]

As soon as he was free of the annular confinement beam, Ian was striding forward. As it was an admiral that was visiting, the station Commander, Captain Sonak, a Vulcan was already waiting for them.

Ian spoke with his emotions firmly in check as he knew any attempt at a passionate plea for assistance would fail to sway a Vulcan.

"Captain it is good ta have you receive us. I will get right ta the point. Those temporal pulses you've been detectin' are from a Landser Fold Space Drive and pose an immediate threat ta this station. Normal shields, regardless of strength offer no protection. There is but one defense and I know it is an unorthodox one. However, this knowledge was gained the hard way in the field.

"I know your people have yet ta purge the chroniton particles in Challenger's ablative armor matrix. You are goin' ta have ta raise your shields and flush them into the local space around the station instead of collectin' them for disposal per regulation. Once you have flooded the area inside your shields, you must reconfigure your deflector dish ta emit tetryon particles ta polarize the chronitons. This is the only known defense against a temporal pulse.

"I ken that these instructions fly in the face of many regulations, but until a few weeks ago, Fold Space travel was throught ta be impossible too. If you don't act immediately, every system on this station that relies on isolinear circuitry will be disabled and every livin' thing rendered unconscious."

Ian had made his pitch. Like with any Vulcan, Sonak's expression was unreadable. All Ian could hope for was that he'd made a logical presentation and that Sonak would listen.

[{NPC} Admiral Hamish Gillespie | Ops | Deck One | Starbase 185]

Captain Sonak had clearly looked at Admiral Gillespie at first; it was no surprise he did, since he had known Gillespie was on the Horizon, and he had been about to ask him a question, no doubt as to why the Horizon had gotten close to the station's top levels, literally, but Galloway explained himself.

He listened carefully and raised his eyebrows with interest...at least, as to how a Vulcan displaying interest would show interest. But Gillespie had read the files, he and Rusal had seen the details. He knew that Galloway knew for the best defense. He listened, but all the same, when Galloway was finished, he looked at Gillespie in a way that asked for confirmation.

"Do as he says, Captain Sonak," Gillespie ordered. "He knows what's coming how to best defend for it, it's nae different from the Borg or the Dominion, or whenever a hostile sends something horribly dodgy one's way."

"Very well," Sonak said. "Raise shields, flood the space within with chroniton particles and reconfigure the deflector dish to emit tetryon particles. Any further specifications, Captain Galloway will help as best as he can."

Gillespie looked at Galloway and said, "Will yeh be needing anybody from your crew to help prepare our defences?"

[Ian Galloway]

[{NPC} Admiral Hamish Gillespie | Ops | Deck One | Starbase 185]

Captain Sonak had clearly looked at Admiral Gillespie at first; it was no surprise he did, since he had known Gillespie was on the Horizon, and he had been about to ask him a question, no doubt as to why the Horizon had gotten close to the station's top levels, literally, but Galloway explained himself.

He listened carefully and raised his eyebrows with interest...at least, as to how a Vulcan displaying interest would show interest. But Gillespie had read the files, he and Rusal had seen the details. He knew that Galloway knew for the best defense. He listened, but all the same, when Galloway was finished, he looked at Gillespie in a way that asked for confirmation.

"Do as he says, Captain Sonak," Gillespie ordered. "He knows what's coming how to best defend for it, it's nae different from the Borg or the Dominion, or whenever a hostile sends something horribly dodgy one's way."

"Very well," Sonak said. "Raise shields, flood the space within with chroniton particles and reconfigure the deflector dish to emit tetryon particles. Any further specifications, Captain Galloway will help as best as he can."

Gillespie looked at Galloway and said, "Will yeh be needing anybody from your crew to help prepare our defences?"

[Station Ops - Starbase 185]

Ian breathed a sigh of relief when Gillespie supported him and Sonak agreed with the highly unusual requests. He shuddered to think how long it would take reset all the isolinear chips on a Watchtower-Class starbase, it would have to be weeks.

"Thank you Admiral, Captain. When we left them, what's now close ta three weeks ago, the Landsers had agreed ta suspend Fold Space operations, but looks like the Land Moot ended up changin' their minds about doin' so. The question that comes ta my mind is what has prompted this visit?"

Ian could only hope there hadn't been more upheaval and a less friendly government was now in charge.