Season 16: Episode 2: A Night at the Opera

[Lilly Hansen]

[Ensign Lilly Hansen - Sec/Tac Medic | USS Discovery - Deck Two - Armory]

Lilly had just returned from a small leave of absence, That clone of Rayek shot her, so she had to rest a bit. Now I am back and ready to roll.. Lilly grabbed her padd and began to do her checks,Then she stopped. And opened the messaging system.

To: Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
From: Ensign Lilly Hansen

Hello Commander, I hope you are well, When you get a chance, Could we meet about this last mission? If not it is okay, Thanks

Signed
Ensign Lilly Hansen
Sec/Tac Medic
USS Discovery

She finished typing and re-reading, It was good, and She Hit sent. She needed, Or more like to talk about her breach of orders, among other things. She then flipped to the checklist and began to check things off. She then got a message to report to the drill room. Smiled. All right lets go have some fun

With a prompt nod to Rayek, Tanner tapped her combadge and moved to the Turbolift, which opened with a quiet whoosh. She called out her deck and tapped her combadge, the soft hum indicating the lift was in motion catching her ears.

Lachlyn to Lorut and Edriron. Meet me in Security, we're going to run some drills.

USS Discovery - Deck 10 - Security

Tanner held her PADD and tapped a few buttons while waiting for the rest of the security personnel to arrive. They'd been through so much angst that she had a fun idea to grow their team-building skills and complete the drills as requested.

[Ensign Lilly Hansen | Sec/Tac Medic | USS Discovery - Deck 10 - Security]

Lilly strode purposefully into the Security Drill room, her posture exuding confidence and readiness. Making her way over to Lt. Lachlyn, she saluted smartly before stating in a confident tone, "Ensign Hansen reporting for duty and awaiting orders." She probably didn't need to saltue, But did it anyway.

[M'Nia]

M'nia seeing lek come back so soon was concerned. She thought maybe she'd better check on him. She went to his office and asked "may I come in?"

[Lek]

M'nia seeing lek come back so soon was concerned. She thought maybe she'd better check on him. She went to his office and asked "may I come in?"

[Main Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek looked up from his datawork and bit back his initial acid response. M'Nia had done nothing to be treated poorly because his attempt to fix things with Helga had failed. So he took a deep breath and said.

"Actually, I'm quite busy. I would however like you to look at the plasma manifold on the port nacelle of the beta hull. It's been running five degrees hotter than the others and I would like to know why."

[James Ramort]

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge | Science Station 1]

Strange Energy Readings were Science's Bread and Butter. Ghosts of the Mysteries of the Universe leaving behind traces imprinted on reality for a fledging moment, to be discovered, analysed and followed to their source, to be hopefully understood and catalogued for all those beings that followed Starfleet out here to know about and be made a small piece of the great myriade of all things known by the Federation Databases.

All internal poetics aside, actually finding out what was going on out there would keep the entire Science Department busy for the next couple of hours, probably. There was always the chance that these signatures would turn into a much larger phenomenon but following the statistics it most likely was the trace remains of a subspace phenomenon that got caught in the Binary Systems complex and intersecting gravitational fields and collecting gaseous particles from the interstellar medium and exciting them when entering or exiting subspace, causing these energy readings.

Anyway they would need to make sure, after all there was always that statistical probably case where it was something else entirely.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]"

"Helm, adjust course for the second planet in the system. Mr. Ramort, run a level 4 diagnostic on all sensors; lets make sure we aren't chasing ghosts."

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge | Science Station 1]

"Acknowledged Captain, running Diagnostic routines!"

A large part of this process would be handled by the Computer, but manual input was still needed to supervise and cross-check that what the computer test images returned actually made sense and conformed to the expected outputs. Drawing from experience, the task could be done more efficiently and quickly if performed in tandem and also expecting that after having finished the diagnostic they would have to run analysis of the Energy readings too, Ramort judged if wise to call up another one of the junior Science Officers to the Bridge to assist him with the task, to finish it as timely as possible for the Captains satisfaction.

"Ensign Rajagopalan, please report to the Bridge to assist with Sensor Diagnostic." 

While he waited for the Ensign to arrive, he started giving the Computer the necessary orders to disengage the output buffers from the sensors and parse the test patters through the sensor grid. 

[Lorut Vila]

{Ops console|Main Bridge|Discovery}

"Yes, Lieutenant, I will cover your station until either you return or I secure another Ops personnel to cover it for you."

"I inadvertently gave both women the day off, but I am sure that either will be a good choice," she explained. She'd done the roster but hadn't had her calendar in front of her, and besides, she knew the first day of a new mission was just traveling. Why have anyone extra on duty?! She hadn't planned for some dumb drill, though. Of all the people who didn't need battle drills, it was she, but still. At least it was something to do, she supposed.

"Thank you, sir," she said, standing up, reluctantly. She made her way to the Security office.

{Security|Discovery}

As Vila arrived, she assumed her normal cool demeanor. "What is so important that it can't be handled from the Bridge?" She asked Lachlyn. "Was this the Commander's idea?" She sighed. That damned Romulan! 

[Lilly Hansen]

{Ops console|Main Bridge|Discovery}

"I inadvertently gave both women the day off, but I am sure that either will be a good choice," she explained. She'd done the roster but hadn't had her calendar in front of her, and besides, she knew the first day of a new mission was just traveling. Why have anyone extra on duty?! She hadn't planned for some dumb drill, though. Of all the people who didn't need battle drills, it was she, but still. At least it was something to do, she supposed.

"Thank you, sir," she said, standing up, reluctantly. She made her way to the Security office.

{Security|Discovery}

As Vila arrived, she assumed her normal cool demeanor. "What is so important that it can't be handled from the Bridge?" She asked Lachlyn. "Was this the Commander's idea?" She sighed. That damned Romulan!

[Ensign Lilly Hansen | Sec/Tac Medic | USS Discovery - Deck 10 - Security]

Lilly nodded at the Operations officer, a Bajoran with a stern expression mirroring her own. She stood at attention, ready and waiting for her next set of orders. "Hello, I'm Ensign Hansen"

[Miraj Edriron]

Lachlyn to Lorut and Edriron. Meet me in Security, we're going to run some drills.

[USS Discovery - Deck 2 - Shield Generator Control doors]

Miraj was counting the lights in the hallway out of sheer boredom as there was nothing going on. Until she heard something an order coming through her combadge.

"On my way." Miraj said into the combadge and put her arms to her back, straightening herself. "Computer, mark that crewman Edriron is leaving the assigned post at the request of Lieutenant Lachlyn."
She spoke out loud, remembering the academy drill from one of her officers. It wasn't actually necessary as the ship recorded her orders, but was just something extra that got stuck into her during the basic training.

[USS Discovery - Deck 10 - Security]

Quickly traveling through the ship, she arrived at the Deck 10, in the Security Office. Aknowledging everyone else in the room with a nod, she stood on attention and said:
"Crewman Edriron reporting for duty."

[Tanner Lachlyn]

[USS Discovery - Deck 10 - Security]

Quickly traveling through the ship, she arrived at the Deck 10, in the Security Office. Aknowledging everyone else in the room with a nod, she stood on attention and said:
"Crewman Edriron reporting for duty."

Tanner looked up from her PADD and smiled at the new Crewman. A fresh face was always welcome and one that was snappy with their posture,  "Stand easy, and welcome aboard. I'm Chief Lachlyn and I look forward to working with you."

Lilly nodded at the Operations officer, a Bajoran with a stern expression mirroring her own. She stood at attention, ready and waiting for her next set of orders. "Hello, I'm Ensign Hansen"

"Good to see you again Ensign." Tanner said with a soft nod.

As Vila arrived, she assumed her normal cool demeanor. "What is so important that it can't be handled from the Bridge?" She asked Lachlyn. "Was this the Commander's idea?" She sighed. That damned Romulan!

Tanner froze, "I..I guess it's because it was sprung on me so fast I needed time to plan. I didn't think I could explain it that well." She gave Lorut an apologetic look, "If you want, you can do your part of the drill from the Bridge. I don't want to cause an issue."

She looked to the two Ensigns, "We're going to test your ability to handle some situational changes. Somewhere on Deck Fifteen is a device. It's enclosed in a box. It's giving off a very faint signal that you won't be able to pick up unless you're within five feet of it." Tanner motions to Lorut, "When working Security, Ops is your best friend. They can tell you things nobody else can about the ship's status, its systems and what you will come up against."

Tanner grins, "To ensure this isn't too easy, Turbolift access to that deck has been disabled. You can only enter via an access panel." She looks over at Lorut, "You can also throw in a few obstacles if you like, failed systems or rogue force fields."

Checking her PADD, Tanner promptly added, "You have half an hour to find the box, safely. Any questions?"

[M'Nia]

[Main Engineering - USS Discovery]

Lek looked up from his datawork and bit back his initial acid response. M'Nia had done nothing to be treated poorly because his attempt to fix things with Helga had failed. So he took a deep breath and said.

"Actually, I'm quite busy. I would however like you to look at the plasma manifold on the port nacelle of the beta hull. It's been running five degrees hotter than the others and I would like to know why."

"5 degrees? yeah that does bear looking at. I'm on it Cmdr. Hope things get better for you." she didn't want to pry but she was pretty sure things with Helga weren't going too good. Oh well. She went off to check the plasma manifold. She checked he console to see if the correct amount of plasma was flowing through there. It maybe too much plasma at one time was going on and that would certainly cause it to overheat a bit!

[Lilly Hansen]

[USS Discovery - Deck 10 - Security]

Tanner looked up from her PADD and smiled at the new Crewman. A fresh face was always welcome and one that was snappy with their posture,  "Stand easy, and welcome aboard. I'm Chief Lachlyn and I look forward to working with you."

"Good to see you again Ensign." Tanner said with a soft nod.

Tanner froze, "I..I guess it's because it was sprung on me so fast I needed time to plan. I didn't think I could explain it that well." She gave Lorut an apologetic look, "If you want, you can do your part of the drill from the Bridge. I don't want to cause an issue."

She looked to the two Ensigns, "We're going to test your ability to handle some situational changes. Somewhere on Deck Fifteen is a device. It's enclosed in a box. It's giving off a very faint signal that you won't be able to pick up unless you're within five feet of it." Tanner motions to Lorut, "When working Security, Ops is your best friend. They can tell you things nobody else can about the ship's status, its systems and what you will come up against."

Tanner grins, "To ensure this isn't too easy, Turbolift access to that deck has been disabled. You can only enter via an access panel." She looks over at Lorut, "You can also throw in a few obstacles if you like, failed systems or rogue force fields."

Checking her PADD, Tanner promptly added, "You have half an hour to find the box, safely. Any questions?"

[USS Discovery - Deck 10 - Security]

Lily paid close attention. This is going to be a blast. Thirty minutes should suffice. "No, Lieutenant, it seems like a challenge."

[Tekin Nevir]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck One - Bridge]  (enroute to Verallias II)

Rayek watched as the Sec/Tac chief rose from her station without a word.  The bridge crew however was like a well-oiled machine.  No sooner had Lachlyn stepped onto the turbolift then the auxiliary sec/tac crewmember - Petty Officer First Grade Bradley Strider in this instance - assumed her station.  Rayek nodded in approval, until he overheard Lachlyn's call to Lorut's combadge.

Well, he had suggested Lorut's involvement...  But had assumed organizing it could have been done there on the bridge.

Rayek's eyebrow rose at Lorut's statement to the Captain. The only Ops on today?! Had the Vulcan T'Prith and Petty officer Forscher called in sick to her while he was in meeting with Broadshire?  Such should have been reported to him. He'd have to deal with.

His surprise matched her own from a few moments earlier, as she com-called him even though he was standing by the Science station not 3 meters away. Was she mocking him?!  He looked towards the Bajoran woman with a slight frown but nodded.

"Yes, Lieutenant, I will cover your station until either you return or I secure another Ops personnel to cover it for you."

He moved away from the science station and stood by Lorut's chair indicating that she should vacate it.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

The Captain watched Lorut leave and the look on Rayek's face, and he shook his head.

"Trauma, Rayek.  Our first mission after that horror show of Frontier Day and it ended up with officers shooting at each other again.  There have been at least 15 people in the last month who have requested a personal day, and most of them stay locked in their quarters. Better than the last 6 months, but still. Don't give Lorut too much of a hard time; she understands the trauma better than most.  Trust me on this." he stated, turning back to look out the screen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some time later...

Helm pulled the ship out of warp on his command, and they appeared within visual range of the planet in question.  There was evidence of past and recent warp travel, which only added to the questions, since there were no signs of subspace comms or even anything resembling exploration within and out of the system.  But the energy readings were hard to ignore; a very powerful reading in geosynchronous orbit of the planet.  The planet itself looked beautiful; like a larger Bajor or Earth.  Again though, it was devoid of communication satellites, waypoint stations, structures on its nearby moons, and the planet itself seemed to be completely uninhabited.

There was one thing, though.  The source of the signal.  It was something.  A large orbital docking station.

"Scan the planet directly." he ordered, standing up.  "This is only adding more questions."

[Rayek trLhoell]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck One - Bridge]  (enroute to Verallias II)

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

The Captain watched Lorut leave and the look on Rayek's face, and he shook his head.

"Trauma, Rayek.  Our first mission after that horror show of Frontier Day and it ended up with officers shooting at each other again.  There have been at least 15 people in the last month who have requested a personal day, and most of them stay locked in their quarters. Better than the last 6 months, but still. Don't give Lorut too much of a hard time; she understands the trauma better than most.  Trust me on this." he stated, turning back to look out the screen.

Rayek glanced back towards the Bajoran Captain at his explanation and advice to not give Lorut a hard time.  Ten years ago, the Romulan would have likely mocked the idea of trauma being an valid excuse for failing to attend ones duties, now Rayek tended to be a little more open minded.

"Of course, Captain." he acknowledged, before taking a seat at Ops console.  He signed on and immediately noted a message for him.  After ensuring the ship's systems were nominal, he opened the message and read the request.

[Ensign Lilly Hansen - Sec/Tac Medic | USS Discovery - Deck Two - Armory]

Lilly had just returned from a small leave of absence, That clone of Rayek shot her, so she had to rest a bit. Now I am back and ready to roll.. Lilly grabbed her padd and began to do her checks,Then she stopped. And opened the messaging system.

To: Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
From: Ensign Lilly Hansen

Hello Commander, I hope you are well, When you get a chance, Could we meet about this last mission? If not it is okay, Thanks

Signed
Ensign Lilly Hansen
Sec/Tac Medic
USS Discovery

After reading through it once, Rayek quickly responded with a text message in response.  The Romulan was not one to put off tasks, especially when someone has reached out to him to meet.

To: Ensign Hansen
From: Cmdr. tr'Lhoell

Welcome back, Ensign.  Thank you for your pleasant greeting.  Yes, I am well and hope the same for you. 
In regards to scheduling a meeting to discuss last mission, I will send you a notification when I have moment away from the Bridge.

Sincerely,
Cmdr. Rayek tr'Lhoell
Executive Officer, USS Discovery.

Rayek looked over the message a moment.  It seemed to address all the points that that were pertinent.  He thought for a moment of having Tess look it over - she was so much better at pleasantries than he - but then realized that the request to meet might have been sent in written format, rather than a comm message, as it would more confidential.  Privacy was something that Rayek valued and respected.

He sent his response to Ensign Hansen exactly as he originally wrote it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery - Deck One - Bridge]  (arrival at Verallias II)

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]
Some time later...

Helm pulled the ship out of warp on his command, and they appeared within visual range of the planet in question.  There was evidence of past and recent warp travel, which only added to the questions, since there were no signs of subspace comms or even anything resembling exploration within and out of the system.  But the energy readings were hard to ignore; a very powerful reading in geosynchronous orbit of the planet.  The planet itself looked beautiful; like a larger Bajor or Earth.  Again though, it was devoid of communication satellites, waypoint stations, structures on its nearby moons, and the planet itself seemed to be completely uninhabited.

There was one thing, though.  The source of the signal.  It was something.  A large orbital docking station.

"Scan the planet directly." he ordered, standing up.  "This is only adding more questions."

Rayek, who had returned to his own seat, upon Lorut's return, reigned in his own urge to stand.  Instead, he looked over toward Tactical.  "I want a tactical review of that station.  I want to know what armaments it has." he stated.

[Lorut Vila]

{USS Discovery|Security}

Vila sighed. No use in making this woman's life miserable because the Romulan got bored. She smiled tightly at the younger woman.

Hello, I'm Ensign Hansen.

"I am Lieutenant Lorut," she said, with a nod. "Nice to meet you," she said. Luckily for these people, she'd managed a short session with the counselor she'd been seeing-not the one back on Bajor, but the Fleet assigned one. She was grateful that the woman had agreed to see her after-hours; Vila understood that many people were still suffering the aftermath of the Frontier Day events.

She turned her attention back to Lachlyn.

I..I guess it's because it was sprung on me so fast I needed time to plan. I didn't think I could explain it that well...If you want, you can do your part of the drill from the Bridge. I don't want to cause an issue.

Vila nodded. "I apologize for my brusqueness. I understand. Why don't you tell us the plan, and we'll go from there. I am sure that Commander tr'Lhoell will contact me if I am needed," she said. In fact, if she were a less routine person, she might even take a bid five over on the very fact. As the rest of the team appeared, she nodded quietly. She realized she didn't know many people here. She didn't interact with the other departments much while on duty, preferring to do her work alone, and after hours, she wasn't ever invited along to things.

[James Ramort]

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge | Science Station 1]

The Sensor test was going along smoothly. With the added assistance from Rajagopalan. Ramort was able to quickly finish all necessary checks on the Sensor Sub-Grid. All components in fact reported operation within expected parameters. Some miniscule variations in the upper Gamma Bands could be found but those the computer should be more than capable to compensate for.

[USS Discovery - Deck 1 - Main Bridge]

Some time later...

Helm pulled the ship out of warp on his command, and they appeared within visual range of the planet in question.  There was evidence of past and recent warp travel, which only added to the questions, since there were no signs of subspace comms or even anything resembling exploration within and out of the system.  But the energy readings were hard to ignore; a very powerful reading in geosynchronous orbit of the planet.  The planet itself looked beautiful; like a larger Bajor or Earth.  Again though, it was devoid of communication satellites, waypoint stations, structures on its nearby moons, and the planet itself seemed to be completely uninhabited.

There was one thing, though.  The source of the signal.  It was something.  A large orbital docking station.

"Scan the planet directly." he ordered, standing up.  "This is only adding more questions."

[USS Discovery | Deck 1 | Bridge | Science Station 1]

Approaching the Planet Ramort engaged a wide sensor sweep of the Region to find the origins of the Energy Anomaly. Pretty soon it became evident it wasn't merely a trapped Subspace Phenomena but instead based in a very real source. A lone Docking Station orbiting the planet. When he tried to readout the Planets biomarkers or to that effect any other distinguishing factors about the planet all readouts came back with a flat "0". It was like the planet had been coated in a smooth but completely absorbent membrane simply eating the sensors careful rays.

"There seems to be a Docking station in Orbit around the Planet Sir. It features none of the expected local net of Satellites or other minor orbital installations. The planet on the other hand is resisting any effort to scan it. In fact it reflects all attempts to learn more about it. Permission to intensify efforts to pierce and analyse it apparent shielding?"