Season 16: Episode 2: A Night at the Opera

[Tekin Nevir]

Captain's Log, Stardate 79439.95

Discovery has been assigned to deep space exploration near the Gamma Quadrant.  We are currently mapping the Verallias Sector, including the binary star system Verallias 12. While a big change from the missions that Discovery was built for, the lack of available ships has reassigned many of us to non-recovery efforts, in a show of confidence that Starfleet is still here and still on our primary mission.  At least that is the official reasoning; I have the distinct impression they are either hoping we run into the Keeper Clones again, or just to get rid of the nosy crew that exposed too much from Starfleet Intelligence.

Since we currently haven't found anything really interesting, I have put us on a course for Verallias 12 to let Astrometrics do their job.  I also recently received word of a rechristening of the USS Titan, the ship that fought against the fleet alone. While I respect the ship, I'm not too keen on what they did to her, and that makes me nostalgic for my part in the history of a certain name...

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[USS Discovery - Deck 6 - Holodeck 2]

Nevir sat in silence, feeling the leather cushion beneath him and really wishing Discovery was built for a bit more comfort.  He could honestly fall asleep here.  Just the sounds of the bridge were around him; the hum of the engines, the beeping of the scanners, and the acoustics that followed them.  The lights were brighter than the bridge of Discovery, but he had to remind himself that when he first took command, the lightning on the ship was nearly blinding.  Still, he would take the warm light of this bridge over the sharp light of the Prometheus and her sister ships any day.

"Computer, what is the time?"

"It is currently 1359 hours." came the response, in the old familiar computer voice of the bridge he was standing on.

As much as he would love to stay here, especially with the chair calling for him to rest, he had to at least show up to the bridge to show he was still on duty. Nevir stood up, walking over to the ship's dedication plaque. True history was before him as he looked at the engraving.  'To boldly go where no one has gone before.' Built at Utopian Planetia on Mars.  NCC 1701-D.  USS Enterprise-D.  The relic that saved the Federation, and which he had the honor of being part of the crew that manned her following Frontier day and her final travels, and finally to the Fleet Museum.

"Computer... end program." he stated, turning around and heading towards a bulkhead as the ship around him faded and showed the bare bone emitters of the holodeck.  The doors opened, and he left.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

Nevir returned to the bridge and took his seat, taking the awaiting report from the science teams monitoring the space around them.  He automatically called for a report from the bridge stations while he was reading, and really seemed to be on auto-pilot.

"The best thing about space; it is so very big.  The worst thing about space; it is so very big. With a lot of space between objects." he stated, shaking his head.

[Lorut Vila]

USS Discovery|Ops

Vila sat at the Ops console, her left foot tapping away on the bulkhead in front of her as her fingers tapped away at the keys of the console in front of her, constantly running systemic checks. She wanted to get up and pace around-her pent up energy was a lot, but it always was coming off a mission. Particularly the last one. The Counselor she'd been talking to via Holoprogram said that some of it was understimulation. Vila wasn't so sure.

As the Captain entered, she righted herself. "Ops is smooth, sir," she said. "System repairs from when I...well. Anyway. We seem to be back online fully and running correctly," she said.

[Malik Grippen]

[USS Discovery, Bridge, Helm]

"Navigation systems all within normal parameters, captain." Malik wasn't really sure how to respond to the captain's statement. It was true of course. Space was big. No denying that.

Hopefully this mission would be more relaxed than their previous two and they could get back to doing what they did best - exploring.

[Alexander Graham]

[USS Discovery-bridge]

Alexander agreed with the captain's statement as since space was so big and vast there were probably parts that haven't been explored yet. He hoped that this mission wouldn't be too chaotic. He was doing a diagnostic of the flight systems to make sure everything was operational. If he saw any issues then he would attend to them and get them fixed as quickly as he could. He assumed that since the chief flight control officer was there he would be at a different station for the mission.

[Dem Broadshire]

[Sickbay – First Officers Office | USS Discovery]

"We've been asked to report in sir" he called towards Betaika, sitting in his office a few metres away. He placed some remarkable pluripotent stem cell cultures that he had been working on down as he heard the chief's curt acknowledgement.

"Computer, what is the time?" He asked in a low voice.

"1400 hours" the computer replied.

He swiftly picked up a nearby PADD and walked out the door towards the bridge. He was going to be late to his meeting with the commander. He was currently in limbo regarding his position. He was technically still accredited as a command level officer (yet Malik was really in his position), given relative operational control of the main ward, and in fact he kind of went about as he pleased. That was soon going to change.

He thumbed the corner of the device as he double checked his official letter.

Request to step down as third officer in training.

He took a deep breath and walked towards the commander's office.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck One -Bridge >> Deck Two - XO's Office]

With the Captain's arrival, Rayek rose quickly from his own seat to hand off the Bridge to his superior.  He would have stayed however Lieutenant Broadshire had requested a meeting with him, and as it was Rayek would only arrive at the specified time, instead of already prepared.

In truth, Rayek was glad for the distraction. Mapping, while an important task, was rather dull for him.  He was not overly skill in the sciences.

He was already in the turbolift, when he heard the Captain ask for each stations status.  For a moment, he felt the impulse to respond for Sec/Tac but as he wasn't manning that station, he left it to the officer on duty.

It was going to take some time to get used to the fact that it wasn't his department anymore.  Thankfully, Lorut had already responded for Ops leaving him in the clear.  Vila had become more and more a vital part of Ops, and Rayek would have recommended her for promotion to Department Head but her tendency to overstep her authority.  Rayek was not the type to reward inappropriate behavior.  She would have to learn to work within the rank system, if she wanted more responsibility.

"Deck Two" he called out to the turbolift interface.  A few moments later, he emerged from the lift and strode towards his office.
He was unsurprised to see Broadshire ahead of him - just arriving.

"Lieutenant," he greeted as his long stride closed the distance between them quickly.

Rayek's biometrics and nearly inaudible passcode and voice recognition unlocked his door, which slid open to reveal a sparsely furnished room.

There was a desk, a cozy love seat against the wall near the replicator.  A comfortable arm chair set adjacent to the desk and a wooden stool placed directly in front of the desk.

Rayek entered first, moving to his desk before nodding towards Broadshire.  "Come in.  Have a seat."

[Dem Broadshire]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck One -Bridge >> Deck Two - XO's Office]

With the Captain's arrival, Rayek rose quickly from his own seat to hand off the Bridge to his superior.  He would have stayed however Lieutenant Broadshire had requested a meeting with him, and as it was Rayek would only arrive at the specified time, instead of already prepared.

In truth, Rayek was glad for the distraction. Mapping, while an important task, was rather dull for him.  He was not overly skill in the sciences.

He was already in the turbolift, when he heard the Captain ask for each stations status.  For a moment, he felt the impulse to respond for Sec/Tac but as he wasn't manning that station, he left it to the officer on duty.

It was going to take some time to get used to the fact that it wasn't his department anymore.  Thankfully, Lorut had already responded for Ops leaving him in the clear.  Vila had become more and more a vital part of Ops, and Rayek would have recommended her for promotion to Department Head but her tendency to overstep her authority.  Rayek was not the type to reward inappropriate behavior.  She would have to learn to work within the rank system, if she wanted more responsibility.

"Deck Two" he called out to the turbolift interface.  A few moments later, he emerged from the lift and strode towards his office.
He was unsurprised to see Broadshire ahead of him - just arriving.

"Lieutenant," he greeted as his long stride closed the distance between them quickly.

Rayek's biometrics and nearly inaudible passcode and voice recognition unlocked his door, which slid open to reveal a sparsely furnished room.

There was a desk, a cozy love seat against the wall near the replicator.  A comfortable arm chair set adjacent to the desk and a wooden stool placed directly in front of the desk.

Rayek entered first, moving to his desk before nodding towards Broadshire.  "Come in.  Have a seat."

[XO's Office | USS Discovery]

"Thank you sir."  Dem offered, as he tried to make himself comfortable on the provided stool. Knowing the commander to not be fond of needless pleasantries, he pressed forward with his agenda. "Commander, I wish to step down from the role of acting second officer. Something while I was in command last time just made me realize my place is to help the sick or injured. Not commanding a starship or shooting people" Dem stated, alluding to the time where he abandoned his post to assist injured officers on the bridge after the Villa incident. In reality however, he had found that every time he was in command over the past few years, many officers had died serving under him. That was an alarming correlation that he definitely wanted to stop.

[M'Nia]

M'nia was down in engineering as usual. Things were rather routine right now butt that was fine. It was nice to have some uneventful time. Just routine stuff. No emergency, no clones no crazy rogue ai or whatever. Just a nice, routine day in engineering. She was attending to the maintenance and day to day operations of the engines. Her, lek and the rest of the engineering staff.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck Two - XO's Office]

[XO's Office | USS Discovery]

"Thank you sir."  Dem offered, as he tried to make himself comfortable on the provided stool. Knowing the commander to not be fond of needless pleasantries, he pressed forward with his agenda. "Commander, I wish to step down from the role of acting second officer. Something while I was in command last time just made me realize my place is to help the sick or injured. Not commanding a starship or shooting people" Dem stated, alluding to the time where he abandoned his post to assist injured officers on the bridge after the Villa incident. In reality however, he had found that every time he was in command over the past few years, many officers had died serving under him. That was an alarming correlation that he definitely wanted to stop.

Since this meeting had been requested by Lieutenant Broadshire, Rayek suspected that the usual social expectation of an offered beverage might be dismissed.  As he looked to the medical officer, he pulled his PADD from his hidden jacket pocket and opened a blank window, so that he could take note of anything important.

While Dem's request was disappointing, especially since Rayek had vouched for the suitability of the medical officer, it was not wholly unexpected.  The Romulan knew Broadshire had struggled with the heavy responsibility of the position.  He'd hoped that the stress leave had been more about Frontier Day events than the actual position.. but it seemed he'd been optimistic.

Having heard Tess' laments of missing her doctor role often enough, Rayek was far more understanding of the man's request than he might otherwise have been.

"Are you certain?  The offer might not be made again for quite some time, if you give it up."

However, even as he asked he knew the man's answer and on his PADD began calling up the necessary forms to be filled in triplet.

[Lek]

[Main Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek was pleased. The last mission hadn't done any damage to the ship beyond the main bridge being shot up in a shoot out between the crew and their clones. He was still trying to figure out why, of all the people in the Federation to clone, the lunatics of Starfleet Intelligence had chosen the crew of the Discovery to clone. Especially as they had gotten away, he was glad there wasn't a corrupted version of himself running around somewhere doing Blessed Exchequer knows what.

All he knew was the ship was running well and he wasn't in hiding from the crew. However, there was one thing that he did need to fix, his relationship with Helga. Ever sense she'd been assimilated, they really hadn't talked. He knew she had been severely injured during that time and he'd visited her multiple times in sickbay, but she was unconscious at the time and he doubted she knew he was there. After she regained consciousness, her injuries were severe enough that she required months and months of intense physical therapy to recover her full strength and agility. She didn't have time for Lek as she was driven to return to full duty in security. That didn't surprise him as he knew her pride would not allow her to accept anything less than being the warrior she'd been before her injury, thus, they had drifted apart. Their relationship had always been on and off, but never off for this long and he'd decided it was time to turn it back on again. If she would have him.

He went into his office and spoke softly to the computer.

"Computer, locate Petty Officer Helga Tragnar."

"Petty Officer Tragnar is in the armory on Deck 2."

Lek exited his office and said.

"Lieutenant M'Nia, Engineering is yours. I have something I need to look into. I will probably not be gone long."

Lek took the short walk to the turbolift and was more nervous than he had been in a long time. When the car arrived, he simply said.

"Deck Two."

[Tanner Lachlyn]

USS Discover- Tanner's Quarters

Staring at herself in the mirror was eerie. Never before had the sight of herself caused her to want to turn. Every now and then, she'd catch sight of her reflection and pause, torn between the fear of her own identity and the curiosity of her clone's existence.

She was the original. The clone was gone. Gone?

What did it even matter to her? It wasn't a real person, even though her clone had never turned and never gone in to attack. It was still created to cause trouble. It was still not her. With an internally frustrated sigh, she touched the pips on her neck and set off to the bridge.

USS Discovery - Deck One - Bridge

Taking her place on the Bridge, Tanner touched the familiar controls. A small smile creased her lips and she relaxed her shoulders. It was okay, she knew what to do. She had frozen during the last mission but that wouldn't happen again.

[Dem Broadshire]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck Two - XO's Office]
Since this meeting had been requested by Lieutenant Broadshire, Rayek suspected that the usual social expectation of an offered beverage might be dismissed.  As he looked to the medical officer, he pulled his PADD from his hidden jacket pocket and opened a blank window, so that he could take note of anything important.
While Dem's request was disappointing, especially since Rayek had vouched for the suitability of the medical officer, it was not wholly unexpected.  The Romulan knew Broadshire had struggled with the heavy responsibility of the position.  He'd hoped that the stress leave had been more about Frontier Day events than the actual position.. but it seemed he'd been optimistic.
Having heard Tess' laments of missing her doctor role often enough, Rayek was far more understanding of the man's request than he might otherwise have been.
"Are you certain?  The offer might not be made again for quite some time, if you give it up."
However, even as he asked he knew the man's answer and on his PADD began calling up the necessary forms to be filled in triplet.

[XO's Office | USS Discovery]

"Yes Commander, I'm sure. There's a reason I joined Starfleet so I must peruse it." He stated with a confidence that was found from his new goals within his organisation. He was starting to feel better about many things. "I still retain a command certification right? I mean just in case, you know." Dem asked as a slight sense of doubt entered his mind.

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck Two - XO's Office]

[XO's Office | USS Discovery]

"Yes Commander, I'm sure. There's a reason I joined Starfleet so I must pursue it." He stated with a confidence that was found from his new goals within his organisation. He was starting to feel better about many things. "I still retain a command certification right? I mean just in case, you know." Dem asked as a slight sense of doubt entered his mind.

Rayek's eyebrow rose slowly at the question about retaining command certification.

Typically certification was only granted to officers once they had attained the rank of Lieutenant Commander.  Broadshire was only a Lieutenant.  Early in Broadshire's career, Rayek had negotiated with the Discovery's Captain and StarFleet Command vouching for medical officer in order to secure him as a second-officer 'in-training' despite his lack of rank.  The Romulan had seen so much potential in the man early on... only to have that potential seemingly crumble under the stress of leadership.

It seemed there was wisdom in not rushing to promote officers.  Thankfully, Grippen had stepped up to fill the void while Broadshire had needed assistance from counselors to cope.

The man's phrase 'just in case' had Rayek pause.  Just in case of what? An emergency?! That seemed to be when Broadshire struggled the most; but to say that aloud would be cruel.

Rayek sent the necessary filled in form to Broadshire's PADD.

"Read through and sign at the bottom." he instructed before answering the man's question.  "Once signed, all previous negotiated 'special circumstances' will be null and void.  Your certification will only be valid if you are promoted to Lieutenant Commander."
.
.
.

[USS Discovery - Deck One - Bridge]

USS Discovery - Deck One - Bridge

Taking her place on the Bridge, Tanner touched the familiar controls. A small smile creased her lips and she relaxed her shoulders. It was okay, she knew what to do. She had frozen during the last mission but that wouldn't happen again.

With the meeting with Broadshire completed, Rayek returned to the Bridge.  There he noted the change in some of the Bridge crew - namely the arrival of Lieutenant Lachlyn.  Another case where perhaps promotion had been premature. Last mission had seemed to overwhelm the Sec/Tac officer. Rayek hoped it was just the startling presence of her clone that had put doubt into the woman. The ship couldn't afford to have their Sec/Tac Chief being indecisive at a critical moment.

Rayek offered Lachlyn a nod as he walked past her station to resume his seat.
.
.
.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

PO2 Helga Tragnar
[USS Discovery - Deck Two - Armory]

[Main Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek was pleased. The last mission hadn't done any damage to the ship beyond the main bridge being shot up in a shoot out between the crew and their clones. He was still trying to figure out why, of all the people in the Federation to clone, the lunatics of Starfleet Intelligence had chosen the crew of the Discovery to clone. Especially as they had gotten away, he was glad there wasn't a corrupted version of himself running around somewhere doing Blessed Exchequer knows what.

All he knew was the ship was running well and he wasn't in hiding from the crew. However, there was one thing that he did need to fix, his relationship with Helga. Ever sense she'd been assimilated, they really hadn't talked. He knew she had been severely injured during that time and he'd visited her multiple times in sickbay, but she was unconscious at the time and he doubted she knew he was there. After she regained consciousness, her injuries were severe enough that she required months and months of intense physical therapy to recover her full strength and agility. She didn't have time for Lek as she was driven to return to full duty in security. That didn't surprise him as he knew her pride would not allow her to accept anything less than being the warrior she'd been before her injury, thus, they had drifted apart. Their relationship had always been on and off, but never off for this long and he'd decided it was time to turn it back on again. If she would have him.

He went into his office and spoke softly to the computer.

"Computer, locate Petty Officer Helga Tragnar."

"Petty Officer Tragnar is in the armory on Deck 2."

Lek exited his office and said.

"Lieutenant M'Nia, Engineering is yours. I have something I need to look into. I will probably not be gone long."

Lek took the short walk to the turbolift and was more nervous than he had been in a long time. When the car arrived, he simply said.

"Deck Two."

Helga was unsurprised to find herself assigned to working in the armory when she returned to active duty following her lengthy recovery.  The Armory had been her assigned station prior to her injury... so why wouldn't she return to it upon her return to work?  The fact that it wasn't challenging or at all strenuous physically she shouldn't take as a sign that her chief was coddling her.  She knew this. Yet somehow, Helga found herself now unsatisfied with her job. 

[Lek]

PO2 Helga Tragnar
[USS Discovery - Deck Two - Armory]

Helga was unsurprised to find herself assigned to working in the armory when she returned to active duty following her lengthy recovery.  The Armory had been her assigned station prior to her injury... so why wouldn't she return to it upon her return to work?  The fact that it wasn't challenging or at all strenuous physically she shouldn't take as a sign that her chief was coddling her.  She knew this. Yet somehow, Helga found herself now unsatisfied with her job.

[Armory - Deck Two - USS Discovery]

Lek was nervous as he stood outside the armory, no, that wasn't the word. He'd been nervous buying his recommendation to Starfleet. He'd been nervous telling his father he didn't want to go into business. What he felt now had an emotional component far beyond what nervous could cover. Regardless, now was the time and the place was here.

He entered and immediately spotted Helga, his heart fluttered and for a moment he thought he might run. But he managed to stand his ground. He'd tried all night to come up with something witty and suave to say, but could not, so he settled for something simple.

"Hello Helga, you look well."

[Rayek trLhoell]

PO2 Helga Tragnar
[USS Discovery - Deck Two - Armory]

[Armory - Deck Two - USS Discovery]

Lek was nervous as he stood outside the armory, no, that wasn't the word. He'd been nervous buying his recommendation to Starfleet. He'd been nervous telling his father he didn't want to go into business. What he felt now had an emotional component far beyond what nervous could cover. Regardless, now was the time and the place was here.

He entered and immediately spotted Helga, his heart fluttered and for a moment he thought he might run. But he managed to stand his ground. He'd tried all night to come up with something witty and suave to say, but could not, so he settled for something simple.

"Hello Helga, you look well."

The Klingon/Human hybrid had been 'dating' the Ferengi chief engineer for over 4 years (not counting the last year that she'd been off ship for her recovery).  At first their relationship had been purely physical - which had been fine by Helga; but relationships like that were rarely stable, especially for a species as passionate as a Klingon, and she soon developed rather strong feelings for Lek.  All too soon he was her parmaqqay and she had marked him as belonging to her.

Their romance had always ran hot and cold.  Fiery moments of passionate when their schedules synced, and then weeks of neglect while Lek hyper-fixated on his first love, his career.  Helga had struggled at times not to be jealous of the time he spent with the ship's engines (first Challenger's and now Discovery's), but beneath it all she did believe he loved her so she put up with his quirks - even forgiving him for not even thinking of asking her to come with to his best-friends wedding.

This time, however, it was she who had closed herself off and avoided contact, even after she had made her initial recovery in Discovery's Sickbay.  Because of the intensive ship repairs her majority of her rehab had been done off ship and she had requested that go alone.  Some might think she did this so that Lek wouldn't see her weakened state, but that wasn't the real reason.  Helga was ashamed - she had fallen victim to the Borg's influence during the Frontier Day massacre; and if that weren't bad enough, she'd been ordered to hunt down Lek and eliminate him.

To her knowledge, he didn't know that, and she cowardly couldn't bring herself to tell him.

When the ship and crew had returned to duty, Helga had quietly rejoined.  She knew from past experience that following any repair at a Starbase, Lek and his team of engineers would be kept busy running their own checks on the system.  She figured it would be several weeks if not more before Lek realized she was aboard again.  She'd hoped during that time she could come up with some way to reconcile her guilt and cowardice.

However, as she looked up from her inventory list, hearing Lek's distinctive nasal voice greeting her and commenting on her well-being, her rehearsed apologies and explanations fled her.

All she could manage to say was his name. "Lek."