S6: E2 - Truth and Consequences

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

As the department heads or acting department heads checked in, Ian knew the Challenger was not ready for her full range of operations. The thing that was most concerning was nearly 150 members of the crew were disabled due to the spiking of the punch at the party. By stripping Bravo, and Gamma shift, he could put together a full Alpha shift, but there were just be skeleton crews for the later shifts or he could run light on all three shifts for more balance, but with reduced capacity. Neither option was particularly good, but he ended up choosing the latter with as many crew as possible concentrating on bringing the systems to full capacity. Everything depended on time, because if wherever they were needed took a week or more to get there, then they would be ready, less time meant less readiness. On the up side, the last three missing members of ship's complement, two children and Kyan had been located, in the starbase's brig no less. Kyan had some explaining to do about that, but at the very least, it would be an interesting story. It better be or the Onlie would find himself in a space suit scrubbing the hull just like any other problem child.

"And the little git was the only one who could live long enough ta do the whole hull." Ian grumbled. To Evan at Science One, he added.

"Let us know when the Landser ship folds, we will need ta brace for impact."

"Aye Sir."

"Ops, raise the Horizon and let them know we are capable of limited operations."

"Aye Sir."

[Bridge]

Ardyn nodded, It looked like she wasn't the only one in the dark. Who knew what the Brass were thinking at  any given moment? It wasn't like, y'know, they had things to do before getting back onto a ship that wasn't even finished with upgrades just yet. " she  mentally grumbled.

"You might want to ask  Neva and Tora about that. I had to get checked out, but last I looked, they might have found something on that end." she said to the captain and Zhuk as she prepared her pre-flight check. Or, perhaps, more accurately, checking what was actually working. The basic systems were up, thank goodness, but everything else beyond navigation was either not responding or needed some major calibration. "Looks like she can move at least. Maybe even navigate."

[Nira Said]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

As the department heads or acting department heads checked in, Ian knew the Challenger was not ready for her full range of operations. The thing that was most concerning was nearly 150 members of the crew were disabled due to the spiking of the punch at the party. By stripping Bravo, and Gamma shift, he could put together a full Alpha shift, but there were just be skeleton crews for the later shifts or he could run light on all three shifts for more balance, but with reduced capacity. Neither option was particularly good, but he ended up choosing the latter with as many crew as possible concentrating on bringing the systems to full capacity. Everything depended on time, because if wherever they were needed took a week or more to get there, then they would be ready, less time meant less readiness. On the up side, the last three missing members of ship's complement, two children and Kyan had been located, in the starbase's brig no less. Kyan had some explaining to do about that, but at the very least, it would be an interesting story. It better be or the Onlie would find himself in a space suit scrubbing the hull just like any other problem child.

"And the little git was the only one who could live long enough ta do the whole hull." Ian grumbled. To Evan at Science One, he added.

"Let us know when the Landser ship folds, we will need ta brace for impact."

"Aye Sir."

"Ops, raise the Horizon and let them know we are capable of limited operations."

"Aye Sir."

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

"We're getting a hail from the Challenger, Admiral," Feeka called in.

"On screen," Gillespie ordered. The viewscreen was on and Gillespie was informed of the status.

"I hear yeh," he said. "Still, bloody limited capacity...it's a pity all those new laddies and lassies haven't completed their new year-long programs at the Academy...We're standing by, of course..."

He could tell the helmsman of the Horizon was itching to fly, and to especially fly circles around the Challenger, old-looking as she was, but the lad had some good restraint exercised.

[Kyan Mackenzie]

With his interest peaked, Alex offered his hand to exchange introductions, keeping his tone light. "Lieutenant Alexander Wu, of the Challenger. And coincidentally, this is Commander Mackenzie, Challenger's XO. Congratulations on your new assignment, sir."

"Aye an it was dat Efrosian wanker what put Maddie an Moe in the room when they was just tryin tae find Zala, and me too when I was going tae see Admiral Carter...the snotty git!" Kyan told Wu. "But Maddie heard sommat about sommat an left tae see what someone was on about."

"It wash him!" Mo supplied, pointing at the balding Commander. "He shaid that they were gonna..."

Burnham's eyebrows raised and he suddenly looked like that old cartoon where the cat gets caught eating the bird. He jumped in before Mo could finish.

"What an imagination." Burnham laughed nervously. "But really. I don't have time to ..."

"What's yer name?" Kyan asked pointedly. "I dinnae hear it when ye said it."

Burnham looked put out at being interrupted himself. "I'm Commander Frank Burnham."

Recognition flashed across his face as Kyan recalled his encounter with the reporters, and then his unread messages, Kyan put the two together. For starters, Burnham was Admiral Jellico's aide, not a First Officer. And although he didn't know exactly what the reporters at the party had done, he knew that they'd done something and that Burnham was involved. If not for Maddie and Mo....and the pesky fact that he wasn't supposed to be working, he'd have arrested him. He couldn't do that now. He'd have to get a confession out of the reporters first.

Having decided, Kyan shrugged. "Oh." he replied casually for lack of anything better to say. "You dinnae look like no criminal mastermind so ye don't." He turned to look at Maddie and Mo. "Sure an I think ye better go back with Mister Wu. An I gotta go find Jalen an his lot before I get in trouble for runnin off."

He have them a wink before turning back to Burnham. "An you probably got important stuff tae be doing too so ye have. So..."

Burnham looked a little confused at first, but then nodded almost eagerly. "Right... Yes well.. no harm done then. Kids will be kids."

"... Very well," he sighed. "I will assist in your... Plan." He paused. "You do have a plan, do you not?"

The fact was that they didn't have a plan. Neither lacked for wits, but Max and Leran were out of their depth. It was Max who spoke up, the punch still very much in effect as he shook his head. "No... we never broke anyone out of jail before... have you?"

"What?" Leran almost giggled. "He's a Vulcan! And he's in Starfleet..."

"So?" the smaller Onlie replied. "He might have. You shouldn't say he can't be a criminal because he's Vulcan Leran... that's racist!"

"I'm not a racist!" Leran defended himself. I was just saying that he's not a criminal... because umm.. well..."

Max shook his head. ".....cause he's a Vulcan! That's racist! Vulcans can be criminals too! It's not just Romulans and... and he might be part Romulan too... but it doesn't matter... he can be whatever he wants to!"

The Onlie turned to Savyn. "Don't worry Mister Savyn...You can be a criminal if you want... well.. you shouldn't... but you can. And you'd be great at it...probably... Uhh... but no.. we don't have a plan."

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian took in the reports and his jaw clenched to know someone had doctored the punch at the party leaving a sizable portion of the crew in sickbay. He knew that his officers were only the messengers and he would not take his anger out on them. Instead, he began to issue orders.

"Zhuk, coordinate with station security. See if'n they have any sensors logs of the party that might show who mucked with the punch. Evan, standby ta generate chronitons and tetryons in case the station is unable ta do so. There's goin' ta be a temporal pulse and we're ta be ready ta deflect it."

Ian turned to Ardy and said.

"I'll be buggered if'n I ken Lieutenant, Admiral Gillespie gave the order ta report back ta the ship and I wasn't about ta ask questions."

Ian then turned to Lieutenant Booker at Ops.

"Adelle have you confirmed all crew are aboard?"

[Bridge]

Ardyn nodded, It looked like she wasn't the only one in the dark. Who knew what the Brass were thinking at  any given moment? It wasn't like, y'know, they had things to do before getting back onto a ship that wasn't even finished with upgrades just yet. " she  mentally grumbled.

"You might want to ask  Neva and Tora about that. I had to get checked out, but last I looked, they might have found something on that end." she said to the captain and Zhuk as she prepared her pre-flight check. Or, perhaps, more accurately, checking what was actually working. The basic systems were up, thank goodness, but everything else beyond navigation was either not responding or needed some major calibration. "Looks like she can move at least. Maybe even navigate."

[Lieutenant Commander Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Bridge | Deck 1 | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

"Acknowledged, Captain Galloway. I shalt assemble a team. Permission to leave the Bridge?" Zhukdra'shar prepared to stand up from the chair, figuring it would be much better to direct the efforts in person. Suddenly, though, a few words were detected coming in his direction. His ear swished to be better able to perceive them.

If Tora and Neva knew anything that could assist them with this mystery, then his work would be made much easier. Mrekrerhas nodded in Ardy's direction, "Truly appreciated, Lieutenant. I shalt strive to ask what they may have elucidated."

He decided not to waste much time and contact the two of them right away,

"Lieutenant Cordon, Ensign Zalos. Lieutenant Jaeger informed me you came across a vital discovery on the spiked punch. If you could relay it to me, I shalt carry on with thy investigation and find the answers that still elude us."

Then, he tapped on it again,

"Chief of Security, this is Lieutenant Mrekrerhas from the USS Challenger. I wished to petition for us to coordinate our efforts to discover who or whomst are the culprits behind a case of intoxication upon our vessel. I am certain that you have thus far also received reports of station crewmembers heading to thy Sickbay, correct?"

Zhuk did not have to wait long for a response. A nasal, though masculine voice, came to greet his sensitive feline ears,

"Aha! Quite wise, Lieutenant Commander! Yes, that is true. We are too dealing with sick people troubled by stomach illness. We did suspect that someone might have tampered with the food in that little... celebration you organized. I asked one of the doctors to run some tests when possible, but thus far I have not received a response. Yet, I suspect you know something I don't, hmm~?"

The Caitian had to admit he was not certain what to think of this man thus far. He seemed as if he was committed to his duty, but the voice. The voice he found quite irritable and grating. Still, Zhuk kept his inner thoughts for himself, as he usually did,

"Certainly. It seems as if two of the USS Challenger's officers managed to discern that the punch was the source of contamination. Cardassian Truth Serum, in fact." 

"Cardassan Truth Serum? Ah... that is... hrm... strange. It shouldn't be acting like that, I don't think. It is meant for people to spill their secrets out, not their guts... right?"

"Indeed. I suspect that the liquid deteriorated somehow, perhaps, due to the punch's components, or when it was transported. In any case, I believe that we should focus our efforts on finding the miscreants behind this."

"Mm... yeah, yeah. Allow me to take a look over at our recordings. We can parse them together if you want."

"Of course. I shalt head to thy office shortly..."

[As Maddy]

Maddy couldn't believe it. The man was lying and saying she was making stuff up!  She wasn't!  She could hear him lying with her mind! Didn't his mommy teach him to not lie?   She gave an indignant look toward the bad man. She didn't know what her daddy was going to do with what she was going to say. If she said anything now, it would just look like she was tattling, so frustrated, she looked to her dad to try to convince him. " I'm not lying, dad.  Pinky promise!"

[Little Mo | Interrogation Rooms | Starbase 185]

The bad man stated that he had not said all those mean things about the Captain. But he had heard them! He could not read minds like Maddy could, but he was sure that he had picked up those ugly things he said. Thus, Mo quickly vouched for Maddy, "Yep, yep! Maddie's daddy, she is not lying!"

[Starbase 185 - Interrogation Center - Reception]

Listening to Maddy ramble on, Alex didn't have Ardyn's advantage in being able to 'sense' whether she was telling the truth, or really, what she believed was the truth. They were learning sometimes that her personal preferences affected her moods, like when being served asparagus for dinner. No matter how much Alex tried to reassure her it was healthy vegetables, she was deadset that they would sprout in her tummy.

"Okay, okay, that's enough." He held up his hands towards both children, putting a pause on their tall tale at the mention of Kyan. How the commander was involved with his daughter being there, he didn't even want to try and decipher at the moment. "Nobody's losing their jobs and I'm taking you both back to the ship. Mo, I'm sure your family is trying to find you as well, what's your sister's name?"

When Mackenzie showed up, Alex was ready to dismiss the entire story out of hand as some game he'd been playing with the children, not something entirely out of the Onlie's repertoire. Alex was convinced many of his grey hairs had prematurely made their initial appearance years ago, when their roles were reversed. "It's alright, I caught them before they left. Thanks for looking after them."

He only realized the officer who'd nearly run into him earlier had stepped back into the office when the man began explaining what Maddison and Mo had overheard and apparently misinterpreted. The fact that he'd thought it necessary to play off the antics of children surprised Alex, moreso because it confirmed that Maddy had been truthful in part, at least about overhearing a conversation. "We'll talk about this later, Maddison. And that's alright, Commander, children do tend to embellish sometimes." I don't think I've ever heard of someone being made first officer without knowing their ship assignment...normally it's the first thing you ask. Strange. But why would anyone want to get Galloway replaced?

With his interest peaked, Alex offered his hand to exchange introductions, keeping his tone light. "Lieutenant Alexander Wu, of the Challenger. And coincidentally, this is Commander Mackenzie, Challenger's XO. Congratulations on your new assignment, sir."

"Aye an it was dat Efrosian wanker what put Maddie an Moe in the room when they was just tryin tae find Zala, and me too when I was going tae see Admiral Carter...the snotty git!" Kyan told Wu. "But Maddie heard sommat about sommat an left tae see what someone was on about."

"It wash him!" Mo supplied, pointing at the balding Commander. "He shaid that they were gonna..."

Burnham's eyebrows raised and he suddenly looked like that old cartoon where the cat gets caught eating the bird. He jumped in before Mo could finish.

"What an imagination." Burnham laughed nervously. "But really. I don't have time to ..."

"What's yer name?" Kyan asked pointedly. "I dinnae hear it when ye said it."

Burnham looked put out at being interrupted himself. "I'm Commander Frank Burnham."

Recognition flashed across his face as Kyan recalled his encounter with the reporters, and then his unread messages, Kyan put the two together. For starters, Burnham was Admiral Jellico's aide, not a First Officer. And although he didn't know exactly what the reporters at the party had done, he knew that they'd done something and that Burnham was involved. If not for Maddie and Mo....and the pesky fact that he wasn't supposed to be working, he'd have arrested him. He couldn't do that now. He'd have to get a confession out of the reporters first.

Having decided, Kyan shrugged. "Oh." he replied casually for lack of anything better to say. "You dinnae look like no criminal mastermind so ye don't." He turned to look at Maddie and Mo. "Sure an I think ye better go back with Mister Wu. An I gotta go find Jalen an his lot before I get in trouble for runnin off."

He have them a wink before turning back to Burnham. "An you probably got important stuff tae be doing too so ye have. So..."

Burnham looked a little confused at first, but then nodded almost eagerly. "Right... Yes well.. no harm done then. Kids will be kids."

Mo felt worried as Maddy's daddy did not believe them. A soft sigh of dejection came soon afterwards, as he deflated, "It is... uhm... Zala"

He supposed that his sister would have wanted him to be truthful now, though a sense of unease became prominent as he realized that he might get in trouble now. What could he do now? He really wanted Maddy's daddy to believe him and Maddy! But he wasn't sure how to make him trust them. His brown eyes glanced around to try and find anything that could aid him, finally looking over at Kyan, almost pleadingly.

Gathering enough strength, he decided to be brave, once more pointing at Burnham and denouncing him. Yet, once more disappointment set in, as Kyan seemingly brushed it off. Still, he nodded, obeying the Only after he asked him to follow along with Mister Wu.

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[As Maddy]

[Interrogation rooms]

Maddy nodded. She wasn't sure what they were going to do now. At least Mommy and Daddy weren't gonna lose their jobs.  That was something.  She knew she was in big trouble, and probably going to be grounded,  but knowing she could still see spaceships with them was worth it.

The Bad Man was talking to her dad now.  But he was certainly being weird about it. She couldn't quite tell, but maybe her daddy was at least believing them just a bit?  She wasn't sure what Kyan was going on. He wasn't like the ordinary big kids, however. Maybe he knew of something she didn't?

Either way, they had to go back on the spaceship. "C'mon Mo. Let's go back to the ship and find your big sis. Maybe she's there?"

[Nira Said]

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

Gillespie then gave some additional words: "Also, Captain Galloway, I have made a definite decision. I feel to declare yeh as...not guilty, in the matter. After the Landsers have showed up today, I think even that withered git Jellico will have to agree with me. Even Carter would easily agree."

Rusal looked up with eyebrows raised. "Hell of a decision to make," she said in a low voice, but she understood; a whole Starfleet facility had seen proof of the Landsers, and what they can do, after all.

[Ch'e N'ok Savyn]

The fact was that they didn't have a plan. Neither lacked for wits, but Max and Leran were out of their depth. It was Max who spoke up, the punch still very much in effect as he shook his head. "No... we never broke anyone out of jail before... have you?"

"What?" Leran almost giggled. "He's a Vulcan! And he's in Starfleet..."

"So?" the smaller Onlie replied. "He might have. You shouldn't say he can't be a criminal because he's Vulcan Leran... that's racist!"

"I'm not a racist!" Leran defended himself. I was just saying that he's not a criminal... because umm.. well..."

Max shook his head. ".....cause he's a Vulcan! That's racist! Vulcans can be criminals too! It's not just Romulans and... and he might be part Romulan too... but it doesn't matter... he can be whatever he wants to!"

The Onlie turned to Savyn. "Don't worry Mister Savyn...You can be a criminal if you want... well.. you shouldn't... but you can. And you'd be great at it...probably... Uhh... but no.. we don't have a plan."

[Starbase 185 | Function Room Mayflower]

Savyn stared at the two, seeming almost bewildered as his gaze jumped back and forth between them.

"I do not suspect I would make a good criminal," he said slowly. "However... I believe I can come up with some sort of plan that will... Hopefully not result in a discharge from Starfleet..." His face dropped slightly at the thought, but he did his best to push that thought to the side.

Savyn seemed to stand there for a long moment, his head aching slightly as he tried to formulate a plan. He'd never even met the people he was supposed to be looking for, but... He could figure this out, couldn't he...? Right...?

"I do have some experience in computer science... And I've broken into one locked starship door before this..." He sighed softly, thinking out loud. "Hypothetically speaking, I could at least attempt to break the code on the door to the interrogation room, assuming there aren't any security officers..." He grimaced slightly. This was... Not going to go well. He had a feeling.

[Ian Galloway]

[Captain's Ready Room - USS Challenger]

The Challenger was en route to the newly reactivated space station Solaere. They were cruising at warp 8, which made it a two week journey. As the ship was freshly out of the yard and had launched early, it fell to the crew to complete several of the upgrades Starbase 185 had not finished. Along side the Challenger was the USS Horizon the new ship Admiral Gillespie had shown Ian while the trial was ongoing. The Horizon was going to be assigned to Solaere as a guard ship and scouting platform for the station. After dropping off the Horizon, the Challenger was to return to operating out of Starbase 153 again.

Ian was busy writing or giving final approval to the 549 other members of the crew's fitness reports. It was a tedious task, but it was an essential part of everyone who served in Starfleet career. What his own fitness report would say he didn't know, but he had no interest in the admiralty, and after the verdict in his own tribunal had come out in his favor, he wasn't going to be asking too many questions.

Gillespie had started the ball rolling by finding him not guilty of violating the Prime Directive and the visit by the Landsers to Starbase 185 had removed all doubt that they were a starfaring species even if they didn't use warp drive. First Carter and finally even Jellico couldn't deny the evidence of the Landser Travelers. It was also possible that the Federation Council might have had a hand in the verdict. Regardless of why, Ian had been found not guilty and that's all that mattered. He was still captain of the Challenger and he was happy despite being mired in datawork. What the next mission would hold was unknown, but that was the most fascinating part of being in Starfleet, the unrelenting unknowables of pushing the boundaries of what the Federation did and didn't know.