S6: E2 - Truth and Consequences

[Novi]

[Lietenant JG Novi - Starbase 185]

Novi had been promoted! After her situation on Discovery she as granted a promotion, a small reward for her,,,dramatic...time on Discovery. Despite her lingering problems from the few major missions she has been on her promotion felt well earned, but at the same time it made her transfer request a little bitter. But she needed to get out of there. She had made a few "friends" there but she knew she needed to re-center her career and a warship was not where she saw that career being on. She was glad when it got approved and saw her new ship would be the Challender-A. It appeared the Challenger has also had a good run but as a more dedicated exploration vessel she was confident she could focus on her career here with more vigor.

Yet upon arriving at Starbase 185 her idea of a more organized vessel was quickly dashed as she heard news of the entire crew being under a court-martial and the ship impounded! The irony of the situation technically made Novi, with her recent promotion, ranking officer of the ship while Starfleet processed and managed all the crew and their apparent involvement in the previous mission. A matter she didn't know much about. Thankfully this technical position came with no responsibilities except for just keeping track of the few crew who WEREN'T under investigation. Currently only 4 people were in that list and 2 of them weren't even scheduled to arrive until the Challenger would be allowed to leave again. Only Crewman Savyn, the interesting Vulcan she helped train on the Discovery was on station and doing some minor tests for the Starbase staff so Novi was free to simply continue handling her duties.

Speaking of duties she was taking advantage of the moment to run some tests, she managed to get a side job with the Trill Science Academy while they were dockside and was using their position to run some tests for them in this region of space and send it back. She was more then willing to partake in these studies, anything to prove to them she was capable of taking a symbiote. She was sitting in the mess hall writing a few of her reports for them after she ran some spectral scans on a few distant stars. She was sipping some coffee, plenty sweetened, and was enjoying the down time. Although she was excited to try and get to know her new crewmembers, maybe she'd try and see if anyone was free later...

[Tora Zalos]

[Ensign Tora Zalos|Function Room Mayflower|Starbase 185]

The party had only just begun - as much as it could be with the current somewhat less than desirable mood among the crew. The room itself had been simply decorated with brightly colored ornaments tastefully placed where possible, with comfortable lounge chairs placed strategically around to let partygoers sit and converse if they wanted to. Centerpiece of the room was a table with a small spread of various dishes that the organizer had thought people would like - finger foods, mostly, with drinks dispensed from small cambros placed around the room. Notably, alcohol was absent from the available selection. Perhaps the organizer had wanted everyone to have some good, clean fun that evening. A small elevated stage sat against the far wall, thus far only with empty chairs waiting to be filled.

Speaking of the organizer, Tora mingled with the crowd, chatting and laughing along with them. A palpable air of uncertainty had been hanging over everyone she'd met over the past few days, and, well, she'd felt obligated to do something about that. Someone had to bring up morale somehow, and instill some hope that, come what may, things would probably turn out fine. She'd reached out to everyone she could get to appealing for help between round after round of interviews and questioning, and after a few days had managed to put together a crack team of five people to help her with making her idea come to fruition. She'd done the bulk of the work herself, arranging the logistics and publicity together with Zhuk while the rest sourced food, drink and entertainment from around the starbase - the end product had been this small but simple party which she'd hoped would buoy her crewmates' moods. She'd put one hard rule in her invite: Dress comfy, dress cute, but no uniforms. What they all needed was a distraction from the big, kinda-sorta looming-over-them fear of the unknown hanging over them and, just for tonight and the next two days, just be people who needed to find comfort in each other.

"Is the music in order?" Tora said to her co-organizer as soon as she emerged from the crowd with her empty drinking glass. She'd opted for a tank top and jeans tonight, with a jacket to keep her warm. "I think we're set to get the first performance underway."

[Alexander Wu]

[Starbase 185 - Administrative Block - Offices]

The sterile interview room with it's long grey table, three chairs, and four barren bulkheads was not an unfamiliar place for Alex, and by policy standards, it was downright textbook. Even the single narrow window offered only a brief glimpse of stars when standing perfectly inline, coincidentally with the entryway, else the view was blocked out by the width of the external hull otherwise. He'd been in many of these types of rooms before, on both sides of the table, and that was something his current interviewers knew. After establishing that Alex had very little technical knowledge of the Landser's fold-space device, they'd refocused on the other objective of their investigation. "Tell us why you decided to breach the prime directive."

"Potential breach." Alex reminded him, glancing at the commander's aide who was operating a holorecorder. "Arguably, the fold-space technology transcends warp technology, something which we've struggled to develop beyond the theoretical ourselves. And Commander Mackenzie's team was deployed specifically to follow Section 2's guidelines of gathering information without contact."

"During which time they exposed themselves to the Landsers and were promptly discovered by the indigenous populace."

"Well I don't think that was their intention." Alex still wasn't sure why Kyan hadn't just aborted the mission and returned to Challenger instead of doing an emergency beam out, but in hindsight it'd been the right choice, the alternative being asphyxiation in a disabled shuttle. He'd gone down to sickbay and visited the commander a few times during their trip to Starbase 185, but the onlie was often too lethargic to talk much, and he hadn't stayed long. "I highly doubt anyone planned on being discovered."

"Are you implying that Captain Galloway was unprepared for the eventuality of a mission failure?"

Alex eyed the interviewer testily, well aware that the accusation had a specific intention to make him uncomfortable. Spread a net wide enough, poke enough times, and eventually something of value would come out. He was careful to keep his tone neutral. "I only arrived onboard Challenger the day before the mission, so I wasn't present during the pre-briefings, and I didn't sit in on the after-action debriefs. Nor am I privy to the Captain's reports. That's something you'll have to ask Captain Galloway."

"If you were new to both ship and crew, why would Captain Galloway place you in command when there were other lieutenants and actual senior officers onboard?"

"Considering who was on the bridge at the time, I'm not sure he had the luxury of other options. Lieutenants Randell and Booker were more essential performing their previously assigned tasks, and both were more prepared in performing those tasks." Alex watched as the aide jotted something down on a PADD, though he couldn't see what from his side of the table. "And I think it's fair to say that I have more command experience than most of the crew left onboard put together."

"And yet you never seem to stay in command..." Alex's expression tightened marginally, something which didn't escape the interviewer's attention. Seemingly content with his small victory, he moved on. "Since you brought it up, let's go over your command decisions. Starting with...allowing Captain Galloway to personally lead the second away team. You're well aware that it's against regulations. Why didn't you try to talk him out of it?"

---------------------------------------------------

After his role had been dissected and examined to the investigator's gratification over several exhaustive hours, Alex was finally released with the usual message about staying available for future conversations. Waiting until the door had closed behind him before letting out a long sigh, he quickly made his way to the turbolifts, eager to get back to an area of the station where he didn't feel as though someone was questioning his every move. "Main promenade." Alex stated as soon as he stepped into the lift, tapping his commbadge once it began moving.

"Wu to Jaeger. Just got out of the interviews, heading down to the Promenade. Have you picked up Maddy yet, or do they still need you back today?"

[Kyan Mackenzie]

[Kyan, Max, and Leran | Kartos Quarters, Starbase 185]

Bat'leths & BiHnuchs had been as fun as advertised. In the end, all three of them died honorable deaths in an epic struggle against a mighty Tribble host. Chancellor Martok himself had posthumously inducted everyone into the order of the Bat'leth. Once the game was put away, the trio sat lounging in the living room area.

"œI wonder if Klingons still have to eat worms in Sto'vo'kor." Leran mused from his perch on the sofa as he fiddled with a puzzle box.

Max looked up from the padd he was reading. "œHow would they get it? Do Gagh worms go to Sto'vo'kor?" He and Leran looked over to Kyan, who was on the floor with Jo-Jo. The Onlie had one end of a chew toy and the Onaskat was tugging happily on the other end. He eventually sensed the eyes on him and looked up. "œWhat?" he asked, looking from one boy to the other.

Max sat up in his chair. "œGagh. Do Klingons get it in Sto'vo'kor?"

Kyan pondered the question for about as long as anyone probably ever had. "œI don't know. Probably they do."

"œSo if Klingons eat gagh in Sto'vo'kor, then their gods let worms in." Max laughed.

"œKlingons dinnae have gods. They killed them all." Kyan replied matter of factly, having gone back to tugging the toy that Jo-Jo was trying to wrench from him.

Leran looked at him as though he'd suddenly grown a second head. "œYou can't kill a God."

Kyan let go of the toy and Jo-Jo pranced off to the corner where his bed had been placed. He flopped onto the cushion and continued to gnaw on the rubbery toy while the three boys carried on their theological debate. His attention now fuly on the conversation, Kyan replied. "œMaybe ye cannae, but the Klingons did. The first two Klingons that got made was called Kortar and Shelka. After they got made, dey killed off all the gods. Den Kortar had to be the Captain of the Barge of the Dead, an Shelka had to stay with the living. And they're never allowed to see each other again."œ

"œBut if they killed the gods"¦ then who punished them?" Max asked. "œSomeone had to."

Kyan shrugged. He'd probably asked the same question himself at one point. But the fact was that in issues surrounding the various stories and lore of various religions beliefs it was often best to ignore the trivial details and focus on the lessons taught. At least that's what Juniper Mackenzie had told him... probably when he'd asked that very question.

"Kahless probably. He was divine." Kyan offered finally. "But maybe the gods punished them before they got killed. Or maybe it was some other gods from some other planet."

Max was satisfied with that answer, but Leran mulled it over. He had his own "gods" after all, and his dad had never mentioned them putting in work on behalf of other gods. He was still considering it when Max spoke up again.

"We could ask some Klingons." the Onlie said to no one in particular.

"I've nae seen any on the station." Kyan replied with a hint of disappointment.

'Well, there's a Klingon music show tonight. Look." He held out his padd, which blinked with an advertisement depicting a group of rowdy looking Klingons with musical instruments. Kyan's eyes nearly bulged out of his skull as he scrambled from his seat to where Max was sitting and snatched the padd from him.

"OH! It's a music band! An they're after having a concert tonight! We gotta go!"

The other two weren't as excited about it, but they were interested. In Leran's case because he could possibly get some more insight about this gods killing business, and Max because his friend's enthusiasm was infectious.. and because it was something new and cool.

"Let's ask when Jalen and Lorian get home." Max agreed. "Do you think they'll let us go?"

"Maybe." Leran replied, coming over to look at the advertisement. He couldn't read Klingon, but the accompanying video told him everything he needed to know.

Kyan was already making plans. He was definitely going. He'd decided that already. Whether it would be a sanctioned outing was immaterial. He had every intention of being there, and damn the consequences. Of course he let that unsaid. The Powers had a way of getting funny when you announced your plans. "Yeah!" he agreed finally, with undimmed excitement. "We'll ask when they come home.

A little while later.....

"œCome now, we have 3 kids to deal with in there, and they got that expansion today for their game, so they will be a little high strung, I am sure. So, we'll need all our faculties to wrangle them for dinner." Jalen nodded and set himself as if for battle as he hit the door controls and opened the doors on what they would find inside.

No sooner than the doors hissed open and the grownups had entered, they were mauled by two excited Onlies and a Bajoran boy who'd been whipped into a frenzy by the others.

"NuqneH loD! (Hello adult)" Kyan yelled, pouncing on the first on through the door. "pIvlu'choH nuv! (Prepare for battle.)

Max and Leran were on the other one, working to drag him to the floor. "bIjeghbe'chugh vaj bIHegh!" (Surrender or die!) they laughed, which did something to the translation, but the point was the same.

Switching to Federation standard, or his own tortured version of it, Kyan thrust Max's padd with the advertisement out to his victim. "Canwego!? Can we!?"

[Ardyn Jaeger]

After his role had been dissected and examined to the investigator's gratification over several exhaustive hours, Alex was finally released with the usual message about staying available for future conversations. Waiting until the door had closed behind him before letting out a long sigh, he quickly made his way to the turbolifts, eager to get back to an area of the station where he didn't feel as though someone was questioning his every move. "Main promenade." Alex stated as soon as he stepped into the lift, tapping his commbadge once it began moving.

"Wu to Jaeger. Just got out of the interviews, heading down to the Promenade. Have you picked up Maddy yet, or do they still need you back today?"

[Promenade]

Ardy breathed a bit of a sigh of relief as she heard from Alex. Something other than bad news this time. It seemed like he was also out of his interviews, thank goodness. She was pretty sure his interview started earlier than hers too.

"œNot yet, babe. I just got out of mine as well, for now at least. They were less than helpful in saying if they wanted to call me back or not, so I don't know. I certainly hope not though.  "œ   she said as she made her way down to the promenade herself to hang out with Neva at some point.  Surprisingly enough, she saw him as she came down the stairway in the area. Reaching up with a quick ambush kiss, she caught his attention. "œHow'd it go, Imzadi? Think we're fired yet?"

[Jalen Kartos]

[Kartos Quarters, Starbase 185]

Jalen was the first through the door and found himself in a mortal struggle with a very dangerous forever child. He fought the little scamp, who scurried about him like a squirrel on an energy drink high. Eventually Jalen had to fall to his knees as he caught the squirming child and held him out at arms length, and listenend to his demand in federation standard.

Lorian on the other hand was the more dangerous of the two of them, at least when it came to combat skills. Though he was also the more restrained, so when he was tackled by both Leran and Max he quickly overwhelmed them and got both pinned, and began to tickle them ruthlessly.

Jalen looked at the PADD and laughed.

"œI don't know, especially given the run around you game me today." Jalen tried to look strern, but failed as the smile on his face spoke louder then his words.

[Alexander Wu]

[Promenade]

Ardy breathed a bit of a sigh of relief as she heard from Alex. Something other than bad news this time. It seemed like he was also out of his interviews, thank goodness. She was pretty sure his interview started earlier than hers too.

"œNot yet, babe. I just got out of mine as well, for now at least. They were less than helpful in saying if they wanted to call me back or not, so I don't know. I certainly hope not though.  "œ   she said as she made her way down to the promenade herself to hang out with Neva at some point.  Surprisingly enough, she saw him as she came down the stairway in the area. Reaching up with a quick ambush kiss, she caught his attention. "œHow'd it go, Imzadi? Think we're fired yet?"

[Starbase 185 - Promenade]

As usual, Alex paused after stepping out of the turbolift onto a busy throughway, orienting himself as to which direction to go. Moreso sensing then feeling someone lean into his personal space, he turning to face them and was promptly startled by a kiss. The instinct to pull back was quickly quashed by her familiarity, Alex kissing her back. "Sorry stranger, I'm actually taken. And she's the jealous type." He teased, wrapping his arms around her. For a few seconds, the hectic noise and bustle around them faded away, replaced by Ardyn's presence alone. Imzadi. He lived for those brief moments every day when she and Maddison were all that mattered.

"They didn't tell me if they'll need me back either. I wouldn't be surprised though, it seems like they're aiming to go after everyone involved. Hopefully most of the crew will fall under the 'following orders' indemnity." Alex reached down for her hand as they began to stroll casually along. "Would it be so bad if we got fired? Could go back home to our lake." He didn't really expect Ardyn to answer, knowing she had only previously conceded to settling down on Earth because it'd been what he wanted. "Where were you heading off to, by the way?"

[Nira Said]

[Admiral's Quarters - Starbase 185]

Ian remained silent as Gillespie spoke as he knew he wasn't on the best of terms with him and his aide seemed particularly hostile over something that happened to her during the Frontier Day debacle. When given leave to talk, there was little he could add to what he'd already told.

"Aye Sir, that's the rub of it innit? How is it possible for an otherwise mid-21st Century society could develop a technology that has eluded 25th Century Federation technology for centuries. Our best boffins have nae even gotten anything off a drawin' board with fold space and the Landsers have done it. I suppose when you put the collective effort of an entire planet behind summat for 150 years, you get results."

Ian then stopped and waited to see what else Gillespie would ask as he surreptitiously kept an eye on the aide, because one didn't need to be a Betazoid to feel the waves of resentment radiating off of the Commander.

[{NPC} Admiral Hamish Gillespie | VIP Suite | Starbase 185]

Gillespie was about to open his mouth when he saw Galloway look at Ruzal. He had a good idea why she looked so angry; she must be resenting Galloway, resenting the fact that he was gone and miraculously spared when she saw God knows how many killed that day. It was no surprise, either; she had seen similar carnage as a girl during the Dominion War, and her previous host was a mere petty officer instantly made senior officer when most of them were slaughtered by Jem'Hadar.

"Yeh'd best keep yehrr opinions to yehrrself, lass," Gillespie said warningly, his Scottish accent more pronounced than Galloway's when he got angry. Ruzal sat back but still stared angrily at Galloway.

"Be it as it may, Galloway," Gillespie continued, "for all their being more advanced, the fact that they had a twenty-first century mannerism is certainly concerning, and it can bring a case about the fact that they would qualify as a pre-warp civilisation warranting why contact is forbidden, via the Prime Directive.

"After all, the first half of the twenty-first century was certainly when humanity was at its most savage and dangerous. The COVID Pandemic, the Bell Riots, the Third World War, these were times that brought the worst of humanity before First Contact paved the way to permanent peace and unity. I shudder to think that these Landsers would've been feeling the same way..."

[Starbase 185 | Conference Room | Now]

As soon as Carter had materialized on the station he adjusted his uniform. Even now he didn't feel like uniforms ever quite fit just right. They were always just a bit too restrictive. He likely could have gotten away with wearing a field uniform on official business when he was a Captain. Maybe he could have gotten away with it when he was a Rear Admiral. But as a full Admiral? It seemed...unprofessional. However it didn't matter, right now he just had a job to focus on. He quickly made his way to the stations conference room which he had requisitioned to be a temporary base of operations during his stay on the Starbase. Admiral Gillespie, this is Admiral Carter. I apologize for the delay in my arrival, there was some trouble on our journey that side tracked the Athena, admittedly I should have seen that coming. I'd appreciate a debrief as soon as you're available to get me up to speed on everything you've looked into since we last spoke. Carter out.

Gillespie looked startled when he heard from Admiral Carter. Still, he made his reply.  "Gillespie to Carter...I'll be on my way over with my aide...and I'll be bringing Captain Galloway along. Gillespie oot."

He then looked at Galloway and said, "We'd best move this over with Admiral Carter, so as we don't take things twice. Computer, locate Admiral James Carter."

"Admiral James Carter is in the starbase conference room."

"Then we'd best get a move on," said Gillespie. "It's a debrief, in any case; and as Captain, you'd be able to provide firsthand details. Still...I can say, before we head out..." he stopped and looked at Galloway. "Given the circumstance, the unusual circumstance of the Landsers' technological prowress could work in you favor. I will see what I can do to ensure you stay in Starfleet, given how shorthanded we are, even with the accelerated year-long program at the Academy.

"However, I had warned you before, Ian Galloway," he added in a hardened way. "I warned you aroond a year ago that the worst I can do to you is change your ship on the ooter hull. So bear that in mind; even that will be a better option to consider than removal from Starfleet. Noo, shall we?" he finished, gesturing to the door.

[Kyan Mackenzie]

"œI don't know, especially given the run around you game me today." Jalen tried to look strern, but failed as the smile on his face spoke louder then his words.

"Sure and ye had yer minions out there lookin for me, but they could nae handle the job, sad lot that they are." Kyan laughed. "They been sitting here on the station gettin fat and happy. I heard em tryin tae squeeze in.... where I was. Besides... in a few days we'll be in school anyhow... an ye won't hafta send em after me, the which they'll be happy for."

He'd nearly given away his position, which on second though didn't matter because Jalen had to have known it anyway, given the tracking patch he'd put on him. In all honesty, when he'd realized that it wasn't the El-Aurian chasing him around the station, Kyan was disappointed and relieved at once. Jalen probably would have caught him eventually. But the minions? They never had a chance. The Onlie would have been able to shake them and sneak over to where Galloway and the rest of them were staying had he wanted to. But he didn't. He'd decided when Jalen told him about the IRT that he would actually do it this time...for the most part.

Kyan told himself that he was going along with the IRT chiefly so that he could spend time with Max and the Kartoses. That was a big reason, but he also didn't want to rehash the events on Land Ta just yet. He almost died there, for real this time. It was definitely as close as he'd ever come to it, and he didn't know how to process it all. Luckily he didn't have to, yet. For now he could simply put the whole thing out of mind and recover, physically at least. But that meant he had to follow the treatment plan.

That meant that he couldn't go talk to his captain about what was going on with the ship or find out about the inquiry into the Landser debacle. Even though neither Jalen or Lorian had mentioned it, Kyan didn't need them to. There was always an inquiry about potential Prime Directive violations. Why else would they have been made to come here? Refits? That was an excuse, and not a good one either.

But right now, Kyan didn't need to worry about all that. Instead he could focus on more immediate concerns... like seeing a Klingon rock band. He looked at the old El-Aurian expectantly. "So?" he said "Can we go?" Then he grinned. "'Cause if not... it's yer minions that'll hafta suffer!"

[Ian Galloway]

[{NPC} Admiral Hamish Gillespie | VIP Suite | Starbase 185]

Gillespie was about to open his mouth when he saw Galloway look at Ruzal. He had a good idea why she looked so angry; she must be resenting Galloway, resenting the fact that he was gone and miraculously spared when she saw God knows how many killed that day. It was no surprise, either; she had seen similar carnage as a girl during the Dominion War, and her previous host was a mere petty officer instantly made senior officer when most of them were slaughtered by Jem'Hadar.

"Yeh'd best keep yehrr opinions to yehrrself, lass," Gillespie said warningly, his Scottish accent more pronounced than Galloway's when he got angry. Ruzal sat back but still stared angrily at Galloway.

"Be it as it may, Galloway," Gillespie continued, "for all their being more advanced, the fact that they had a twenty-first century mannerism is certainly concerning, and it can bring a case about the fact that they would qualify as a pre-warp civilisation warranting why contact is forbidden, via the Prime Directive.

"After all, the first half of the twenty-first century was certainly when humanity was at its most savage and dangerous. The COVID Pandemic, the Bell Riots, the Third World War, these were times that brought the worst of humanity before First Contact paved the way to permanent peace and unity. I shudder to think that these Landsers would've been feeling the same way..."
Gillespie looked startled when he heard from Admiral Carter. Still, he made his reply.  "Gillespie to Carter...I'll be on my way over with my aide...and I'll be bringing Captain Galloway along. Gillespie oot."

He then looked at Galloway and said, "We'd best move this over with Admiral Carter, so as we don't take things twice. Computer, locate Admiral James Carter."

"Admiral James Carter is in the starbase conference room."

"Then we'd best get a move on," said Gillespie. "It's a debrief, in any case; and as Captain, you'd be able to provide firsthand details. Still...I can say, before we head out..." he stopped and looked at Galloway. "Given the circumstance, the unusual circumstance of the Landsers' technological prowress could work in you favor. I will see what I can do to ensure you stay in Starfleet, given how shorthanded we are, even with the accelerated year-long program at the Academy.

"However, I had warned you before, Ian Galloway," he added in a hardened way. "I warned you aroond a year ago that the worst I can do to you is change your ship on the ooter hull. So bear that in mind; even that will be a better option to consider than removal from Starfleet. Noo, shall we?" he finished, gesturing to the door.

[Admiral's Quarters - Starbase 185]

Ian knew better than reply while Gillespie was talking. Regardless of the uniqueness of the Landser situation, how things broke was very much up to interpretation and he wasn't about to give Command anything to hang him with. He was a little baffled by reference to modify the outer hull of the Challenger, but again, in this situation, the junior officer's role was to nod and say 'yes sir' which he did.

"Aye Sir."

[Ch'e N'ok Savyn]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Starbase 185 - Sickbay]

After several long hours of being detained by Starfleet investigators, who didn't seem to grasp the fact that he couldn't provide them the information they wanted, Lahr was finally released.  A glance at his chronometer showed he was two hours late for his scheduled check-up with the starbase doctor who he'd been assigned to.

When he arrived late to the admitting nurse, he was given a rather sour look.  "Dr. Omajali has a full docket.  We won't be able to fit you in.  Are you willing to be seen by a technician?  I can probably get the temp staff to check your glucose and ketone levels."

Lahr readily agreed.  "Sounds good to me"

"Take a seat in alcove 5.  I'll send a medical technician."

Lahr gave another nod, his somewhat droopy antennae bobbing along with.   As he made his way to the mentioned alcove he could hear the Admitting Nurse put out a call to any available  temp medics to attend a patient in alcove 5 for bloodwork.

[Starbase 185 | Sickbay]

Savyn got the call for a new patient just after he'd finished cleaning, a sense of gratitude falling over him as he was thankful to have actual work to do now apart from mixing lab samples like a first year lab technician.

He made his way over to Lahr, medkit in one hand and a PADD in the other.

"Greetings," he said stiffly, begining to set up his supplies. "You are in need of blood work, correct?"

[James Carter]

[Frontier Day | Stockton, California]

James had been invited to Frontier Day festivities, another play by his father to try and get him to return to Starfleet. But after everything he'd gone through he'd made the choice to settle in Stockton with his wife and daughter away from the busy life of a Starfleet Admiral - something his own father had never done for him. This day, like many others, had started entirely uneventfully. Tessa and Mary were playing outside while Carter himself was inside cooking dinner for them all. A soft comm chirp rang through the empty air from his bedroom.Quietly he glanced at his watch, who was calling while the fleet would have been doing their demonstration above Earth? He sighed, shaking his head lightly. Whoever it was, they could wait until after he'd finished cooking dinner"¦or so he thought. Moments after the first hail dropped a second one started. His eyes darted back as he moved the pan off the heat and made his way into the bedroom. It was his father, probably another attempt to get him to rejoin the fleet. With another sigh he answered the hail. Pops. I'm not-

Jame"" A heavy static cut the silence between words. There was- -attack- -waited for Frontier Da"" ""in the ships- -assimilated crew Assimilated? A term he was all too familiar with. He'd encountered the Borg before, long ago when he was just a first officer when he decided to get"¦ingenuitive with the first Athena, effectively making it a very large torpedo by timing a warp core detonation to coincide with crashing it directly into a Borg Cube to stall it as it was headed towards Federation occupied space. How did a Cube even get to Earth undetected? His mind swirled with the possibilities of what could be going on.

Pops the connection is unstable, what's going on? James asked, completely forgetting to control his volume to make sure the girls outside couldn't hear him.

-assimilated our crew- -all the ships at once- -need urgent assis- With the last word he heard phaser fire and then the line went silent.

Pops? Pops, can you hear me? He already knew what happened, but it was as if he was in shock.

"James? What's going on?" The voice of his wife called out from behind him.

James paused a moment, not having had time to process what he'd just heard over the comms connection. "You and Mary need to get to the safe room. I need to get to Starfleet Headquarters. There's been an attack on the Frontier Day festivities. It's the Borg."

"And your dad"¦" Tessa began.

James shook his head before cutting her off. "No time to think about that now. Right now we focus on the ones we can save, not the ones we might have lost. I'll deal with what just happened once all this is over with." Before he could finish his wife had already started to hug him.

Now a third voice called out to him. "Daddy? Is everything okay?" His daughter asked timidly.

"Of course sweetheart. Daddy just has to take a trip, but you and mommy are going to play a game of hideout okay?" Ever diligent, he and his wife had always prepared for an emergency like this, framing camping out in a small room under the house as a game called "œhideout" where the two of them were outlaws hiding away from the world.

[Present | Conference Room | Starbase 185]

James didn't have much time to let his thoughts dwell on the tragedy of Frontier Day before Gillespie and Galloway arrived. He stood to greet them as they entered the doorway, his mind quickly getting back on task. "Ah. It's good to see you both. Please have a seat Captain." Carter said, motioning to the seat directly across the table from him.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Starbase 185 - Sickbay]

[Starbase 185 | Sickbay]

Savyn got the call for a new patient just after he'd finished cleaning, a sense of gratitude falling over him as he was thankful to have actual work to do now apart from mixing lab samples like a first year lab technician.

He made his way over to Lahr, medkit in one hand and a PADD in the other.

"Greetings," he said stiffly, begining to set up his supplies. "You are in need of blood work, correct?"

While waiting for the lab tech to come over and get his bloodwork, Lahr entertained himself by envisioning the order of songs he was going to play at the later today. He'd start off with a few danceable classics like 'Get Lucky' by Daft Punk, 'YMCA' by the Village People,  'Last night a DJ Save My Life' by Indeep and his current favorite, 'Blue' by Eiffel 65.  No sooner had he decided on the latter song, than the chorus began to play unbidden in his head causing him to bob his head to the mental beat and murmur the lyrics to himself "I'm blue, Da ba dee da ba di, Da ba dee da ba di -"

However at the approach of a Vulcan in medical blue, he cut off mid-chorus.  The Vulcan's stiff sounding greeting had the Andorian wishing he'd not missed his appointment earlier, cause Dr. Omajali had a much better bedside manner.

Lahr gave slight nod in answer. "Yeah. CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret.   I had an appointment earlier to have my blood-glucose levels checked, but I ran late. Hoping you can run the tests he was gonna do and send the doc the results."

[Ian Galloway]

[Present | Conference Room | Starbase 185]

James didn't have much time to let his thoughts dwell on the tragedy of Frontier Day before Gillespie and Galloway arrived. He stood to greet them as they entered the doorway, his mind quickly getting back on task. "Ah. It's good to see you both. Please have a seat Captain." Carter said, motioning to the seat directly across the table from him.

[Conference Room - Starbase 185]

Ian took the indicated seat and replied with a simple.

"Thank you Admiral."

The then sat exactly as he had been taught, back straight, arms running along the tops of his legs, his fingers straight, both feet flat on the floor and facing directly ahead. He then waited to be addressed, because was one did in a situation like this.

[Ch'e N'ok Savyn]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[Starbase 185 - Sickbay]

While waiting for the lab tech to come over and get his bloodwork, Lahr entertained himself by envisioning the order of songs he was going to play at the later today. He'd start off with a few danceable classics like 'Get Lucky' by Daft Punk, 'YMCA' by the Village People,  'Last night a DJ Save My Life' by Indeep and his current favorite, 'Blue' by Eiffel 65.  No sooner had he decided on the latter song, than the chorus began to play unbidden in his head causing him to bob his head to the mental beat and murmur the lyrics to himself "I'm blue, Da ba dee da ba di, Da ba dee da ba di -"

However at the approach of a Vulcan in medical blue, he cut off mid-chorus.  The Vulcan's stiff sounding greeting had the Andorian wishing he'd not missed his appointment earlier, cause Dr. Omajali had a much better bedside manner.

Lahr gave slight nod in answer. "Yeah. CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret.   I had an appointment earlier to have my blood-glucose levels checked, but I ran late. Hoping you can run the tests he was gonna do and send the doc the results."

[Starbase 185 | Sickbay]

Savyn nodded, looking through his PADD for a brief moment to find the reports he needed before pulling out his supplies.

"Understood," he nodded, preparing his supplies. "Please roll up your sleeve or remove your shirt, whichever is simpler. Have you eaten in the past twelve hours? It is ideal that you have not."