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DAY 02: Digital Relations [1500 hrs.]

DAY 02: Digital Relations [1500 hrs.]

[ Main Engineering | Deck 09 | 1500 hrs. ] Attn: Doc M. & DocReno

The sliding doors opened, and Thea walked into the vertical heart of her physical self - the three-chamber warp core room.

Its three-reaction chamber arrangement was unique for the Theurgy-class ship, and even if there weren't duty stations and walkways on every deck through the centre line of the ship, it gave engineering a lot of space to work in. Crew with yellow collared uniforms bustled about along the walkways as far up and down as Thea could see. Main Engineering, which was where she had arrived, held the most duty stations and the door to the Chief Engineer's office. As she arrived, she changed the colour of her chameleon bodysuit to the golden hue of the present engineering officers, and she inclined her head to them kindly when they looked her way.

Moving forth, she folded her hands behind her back and searched for MCPO O'Connell, who after Tia Marlowe's death was going to be named Chief Engineer, the prefix of 'Acting' undoubtedly going to fall away. Given the amount of repairs and the need to generate new plasma to power her systems, not a soul aboard Thea envies the working demands placed on O'Connell's team. The mission to SB84 was imminent, and the fate of the Galaxy hung in the balance of whether or not the ship would hold together long enough for the word about Starfleet Command to become simulcast all over Federation space.

Thea had not seen Lin Kae in his hololab, and her internal sensors had said he was in the vicinity of Main Engineering - just further on down the area she walked. Hopefully, she would be able to speak to him as well about his recent research, but she had decided to seek out O'Connell first. If nothing else, to compliment him on the marvels he was making since he assumed his new position. Being the Maintenance Chief before he was promoted, he was a natural problem solver in all that he did, and it showed in his recent conduct.

Slowly but surely, she made her way to the man's side - quietly making her presence known without disturbing him. She waited for him to finish what he was doing before she sought his gaze and smiled. "Good afternoon, Chief O'Connell. Can you spare a moment for conversation with the very ship you are trying to get in order? If not, I can return some other time."

Re: DAY 02: Digital Relations [1500 hrs.]

Reply #1 –
[ William Robert O'Connell | Main Engineering | Deck 09 | USS Theurgy  ]  

"No rest for the wicked."  A biblical phrase allegedly taken from Isaiah 57:21 of the King James Bible summed up life for the Theurgy's engineering division.  Regardless of intentions, everyone had been wicked, and now it seemed the only rest the engineers would get would be their final one. 

The problem was that there was just so much to do that prioritizing repairs were almost as challenging as executing them.  As an enlisted man, William Robert "Billy Bob" O'Connell was used to the officers in charge deciding what needed to be done and leaving it up to their noncommissioned officers to determine how to do it.  That was no longer the case with Billy Bob in charge.  Now it was his turn to decided what needed to be done first and how many men could be spared to do it.  That was well and good, but tended to slow things down when O'Connell needed to use the left side of his brain.

"Who told you to take apart that plasma relay Arex?" Master Chief O'Connell barked as he stood before the master systems display table. 

"Chief Manfredi sir," Petty Officer Zil Arex from Bolarus IX replied apologetically.  "After the other ones blew he felt the lot should be replaced..."

"Don't call me sir!" O'Connell protested.  "Do I look like some academy ring knocking officer, Arex?  I work for a living damn it!  Put it back together right now!   We got no time t' fix what ain't broke yet!"

"Good afternoon, Chief O'Connell," cooed a very proper and very British sounding feminine voice that everyone aboard recognized as the ship's computer.  Only this time it was no disembodied voice, right now the ship's artificial intelligence was standing right next to Billy in a form of solid flesh and blood, or rather photons and force fields.  Thea 's holographic form was a brown haired brown eyed English Rose that seemed like she was taken straight out of Pride and Prejudice.  Rather than early 19th century feminine attire she was wearing a computer generated bodysuit that was currently colored operations gold.  "Can you spare a moment for conversation with the very ship you are trying to get in order? If not, I can return some other time."

"Not at all Miss Thea," he smiled genially as if he hadn't just been shouting at a subordinate moments before.  "Let's step into my office so we can talk privately," he drawled as he led the way. 

'A conversation with the ship' huh?  Ships were traditionally referred to in the feminine gender but thanks to Thea's winsome appearance the innocent act of boarding the Theurgy now had biblical overtones.  He supposed that as chief engineer he was her doctor the way Lin Kae, the ship's hologram program specialist was her psychologist.  An officer with a degree in philosophy could mull over the implications.  As an enlisted man, O'Connell decided to just roll with it.

The chief engineer's office was a narrow room situated behind the warp core.  A clear window allowed those within to observe main engineering. 

"So, where does it hurt Miss Thea?" he smiled as he cleared some PADDS off a chair so she could sit down.  "Or did you want to chew th' fat about something else?"

Re: DAY 02: Digital Relations [1500 hrs.]

Reply #2 –
[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Chief Engineer's Office | Deck 09 | 1500 hrs. ] Attn: Doc M. & DocReno

Thea laughed a bit when Chief O'Connell joked with her, finding his humour refreshing given the overall crew morale. His humour was the kind that she could appreciate too, easily understood with the help of references in her memory banks about social conventions and cultural references. She had more difficulty understanding Andorian humour, uploading and relaying a meeting with ThanIda zh'Wann during the diplomatic mission to Romulus. It was not until three weeks ago, on Theta Eridani IV, that Thea realised that the Deputy had not been demeaning towards her, but rather made a joke about her replicators.

The uploaded memory triggered negative feelings from the emotion chip, however, since Ida had given the order to destroy Cala. Then again, so had others, but the collision with the Harbinger had been the final blow. Thea knew she had no right, and that because of the raging battle and Cala's refusal to accept Thea's help, it was completely irrational to run such thought processes through her cerebral cortex processor, but she could not help the feelings that filled her digital mind at any time it shifted to focus to the Andorian Deputy in some regard.

Presently, however, she was in far more entertaining company, so the couple of nanoseconds that she had spent analysing her own behaviour passed quickly in order to give room for more stimulating social practices. "I have a few items I would like to address, but I won't take up too much of your time. I know that you and the Engineering department have a lot to do before we set off to Starbase 84." Having said that, Thea took the seat that O'Connell had cleared for her, and she folded one leg over the other, placing her hand in her knee. "First of all, I can imagine that you might need some help, so I am here to discuss ways in which I can best provide assistance to you and your repair teams. You ask of my help already whenever you need it from time to time, of course, but perhaps we can improve upon our working relationship somehow. I am thinking that there ought to be a better methodology to implement than the current ad hoc requests, but you are better at repairing me than I am, that's for certain."

Pausing there, Thea let O'Connell make any suggestions that he might have had in mind.

Re: DAY 02: Digital Relations [1500 hrs.]

Reply #3 –
[ William Robert O'Connell | Main Engineering | Deck 09 | USS Theurgy ]  

O'Connell had expected her to tell him which systems she wanted repaired first, or remind him of any maintenance that might slip his mind with his new responsibilities.  He had expected her to discuss any agreements she had with the Theurgy's previous chief engineers and how things were going to be with this one.  Instead she was ignoring precedent and placing the ball in his court.  That would be fine for an academy ring knocker; especially one with a lieutenant commander's rank or higher.  It seemed odd until he realized that she was the ship's computer, and technically subservient.  No doubt she was programmed to follow the lead of every department head.

"Okay, let's take a look at plasma production," he said as he cleared away some PADDs to get at the LCRS panel concealed on the desk.  "After that, I want to go over the structural integrity field and see if there are any weaknesses that an enemy can exploit and shore them up..." he paused, and touched his forehead for a second and frowned.  "Wait a second, give me a moment," he muttered when he realized how distracted he was.

Billy Bob O'Connell was no angel, but the concept of slavery had always rankled him.  As a conspiracy theorist he had naturally experienced the holonovel Photons Be Free, simply because it was on the banned program list.  To say that the work painted humanity in a poor light was an understatement.  Billy Bob wasn't an advocate for inorganic rights by a long shot but he had to admit that sooner or later some bright bulb with a Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD) was going to write a program so sophisticated that it could house a living soul.   When that happened you had to give inorganic beings rights and treat them like passengers instead of luggage.

The question was, had that already happened?  Was Thea a child of humanity's genius or was she merely the smartest parrot that ever perched on a pirate's shoulder?  Any computer could pass the Turing Test these days and O'Connell wasn't qualified to give Thea a Rossum Evaluation, so there was no way to know or was there?

Maybe there was.  Billy Bob wasn't a genius by any stretch of the imagination but his family tree wasn't a shrub either.   The rumor mill was full of juicy info bits that could determine what Thea was one way or another.  And right in this room he had someone who could confirm or deny things too.

"Hey tell me something," he said as he gave her a penetrating glance.  "Scuttlebutt has it that you disobeyed orders during the battle with the Calamity.  That was after the mutiny when nobody knew who's side you were on.  What was that about?"

Re: DAY 02: Digital Relations [1500 hrs.]

Reply #4 –
[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Chief Engineer's Office | Deck 09 | 1500 hrs. ] Attn: Doc M. & DocReno

Thea was neither surprised by - nor reluctant to - the subject that Chief O'Connell brought up. She answered readily, even if the emotion chip fed her with difficult input about the death of Cala. "In crude terms, I faced a tough decision. A dilemma between what I had to do and what my emotions wanted me to do. They were two different standards of morality and loyalty that was, in their own right, correct. It was the first time that I could not rationalise my actions in a satisfactory manner. I was not hacked or rewritten, as you might suspect, even though Selena Ravenholm - when under T'Rena's Vulcan influence - went to extraordinary lengths to try to do so."

Confident that the Chief Engineer wanted a more detailed level of explanation, she provided it as well. What she had said wasn't the entirety of the cause either. "Social conventions dictate a lot of my actions, inherited by the over twenty years of production of my A.I. as well as my post-activation experience. I am a sentient, learning being, and in the process of me gaining experience, I came to set a slight double standard for myself. It was the only way the data could be compartmentalised, with the unrelated cataloguing of said conventions in my memory banks uploaded to my processor separately. I did not process the data at the same time, in the same way. I ended up using different values, causing the output to not match in entirety."

Realising that it might be too much detail, she simplified a little bit. "I could not balance my obedience to my Captain's orders with my new independence as an individual. When Captain Ives denied my request to attempt to restore Cala to her right mind, I was... agitated. Feeling slighted. Overlooked because of my digital nature. I demanded the same rights as our organic crew, and Lin Kae and I began preparations to make the attempt anyway. In hindsight, I acted erroneously, and so did Lin Kae." She paused before she summarised it all into a context.

"I failed to establish the correlating demands of the situation because of the double standard my experience had generated. For even as I implied mistreatment, I considered not how the free will that Lin Kae granted me might place additional demands on my conduct. Captain Ives would not send anyone - organic or not - on a mission to board the Calamity. Undertaking such a mission requires that your judgement is not impaired, and few people would be able to make the call to end their daughter's life... because that was indeed required at the end of the battle."

Again, the feed from the emotion chip increased with the memory of Cala's words, and her destruction. A shadow of pain passed over her features, but she raised her chin and focused on the methodology of her explanation.

"Please, understand that I could impossibly ignore orders before the Niga Incident - when Kae untethered me. This experience has now enlightened me how protocols and their implementation do not correlate when my data-feed of emotions present additional values. The result of my actions, as it has been explained to me by Lieutenant Commander Wenn, is that when I - someone the crew looks to for information - decides to ignore the Captain and go off on your own, the crew may question the chain-of-command. In the case of a mutiny - or any combat situation - the chain-of-command must be adhered to. Would the proverbial chain break, it would fall apart, and the possible consequences would be free to unfold as they might."

Remaining seated, hands in her lap, she hoped her long-winded if exhaustive explanation was satisfactory. "In retrospect... I should not have doubted Captain Ives belief in me being a sentient being in my own right. Not after the speech he held on Theta Eridani IV."

OOC: A speech O'Connell heard since he was there too: http://houseeros.com/roleplay-role-playing-forum/index.php?topic=33092.0. Might be inspirational given the topic at hand? Up to you.

Re: DAY 02: Digital Relations [1500 hrs.]

Reply #5 –
[ William Robert O'Connell | Main Engineering | Deck 09 | USS Theurgy  ]  
 
"Hey tell me something," Billy Bob said to Thea.  "Scuttlebutt has it that you disobeyed orders during the battle with the Calamity.jpg]Calamity[/url][/I].  That was after the mutiny when nobody knew who's side you were on.  What was that about?"

Thea replied without hesitation.  "In crude terms, I faced a tough decision. A dilemma between what I had to do and what my emotions wanted me to do. They were two different standards of morality and loyalty that was, in their own right, correct. It was the first time that I could not rationalize my actions in a satisfactory manner. I was not hacked or rewritten, as you might suspect, even though Selena Ravenholm- when under T'Rena's Vulcan influence - went to extraordinary lengths to try to do so."

"So if you weren't taken over by Ravenholm or T'Rena why did you go off the reservation?" asked a suspicious Billy Bob.

"Social conventions dictate a lot of my actions, inherited by the over twenty years of production of my A.I. as well as my post-activation experience," the heavenly hologram replied.  " I am a sentient, learning being, and in the process of gaining experience, I came to set a slight double standard for myself. "

"A double standard?" O'Connell smiled.  "Sounds like you're more human than most people think don't it?"

"It was the only way the data could be compartmentalized, with the unrelated cataloguing of said conventions in my memory banks uploaded to my processor separately," she explained.  " I did not process the data at the same time, in the same way. I ended up using different values, causing the output to not match in entirety."

That sounded like a lot of psychobabble to Billy Bob and his face must have said so.   "Say what?"

"I could not balance my obedience to my Captain's orders with my new independence as an individual," Thea continued.  "When Captain Ives denied my request to attempt to restore Cala to her right mind, I was... agitated.  Feeling slighted.  Overlooked because of my digital nature.  I demanded the same rights as our organic crew, and Lin Kae and I began preparations to make the attempt anyway. In hindsight, I acted erroneously, and so did Lin Kae."

"Um, yeah I guess you did at that..."

"I failed to establish the correlating demands of the situation because of the double standard my experience had generated," Thea continued.  Despite her calm professional tone, O'Connell had the impression of the floodgates opening.  "For even as I implied mistreatment, I considered not how the free will that Lin Kae granted me might place additional demands on my conduct. Captain Ives would not send anyone - organic or not - on a mission to board the Calamity. Undertaking such a mission requires that your judgement is not impaired, and few people would be able to make the call to end their daughter's life... because that was indeed required at the end of the battle."

"So Cala was your daughter?" O'Connell interjected as he struggled to keep up.  "The Calamity's A.I?  You thought of her as your daughter?  No wonder yuh..."

It was then Billy Bob noticed the turmoil beneath the surface.  Even complete control of her involuntary reactions couldn't hide the pain of what she was feeling.

"Please, understand that I could impossibly ignore orders before the Niga Incident - when Kae untethered me," she implored him.  "This experience has now enlightened me how protocols and their implementation do not correlate when my data-feed of emotions present additional values. The result of my actions, as it has been explained to me by Lieutenant Commander Wenn Cinn, is that when I - someone the crew looks to for information - decides to ignore the Captain and go off on your own, the crew may question the chain-of-command.  In the case of a mutiny - or any combat situation - the chain-of-command must be adhered to. Would the proverbial chain break, it would fall apart, and the possible consequences would be free to unfold as they might."

"Um, yeah..." Billy Bob stammered.

"In retrospect... I should not have doubted Captain Ives belief in me being a sentient being in my own right.  Not after the speech he held on Theta Eridani IV."

"Well I can't rightly argue with that," O'Connell agreed.  "Starfleet's top officers got them brain suckers in 'em an' if when we face them I'll be surprised if we kin save any of 'em," the master chief continued grimly.  "I reckon that we'll have to put 'em out of their misery even though they're as organic as you or... well me," he corrected himself.  "Tryin' to save someone who's out to kill yuh kin be a tall order," he shrugged sadly. 

"But there's one consolation if it means anythin'," Billy Bob shrugged again, but this time with hint of levity.  "At least you managed to convince one person that you're a real live girl an' not jest a clever machine.  Endangering yourself to save kinfolk who's fightin' fur th' wrong side; only real person could pull a bonehead move like that!" he smiled.  "Now I agree that the gorram spaceship has got to be a team player, but I ain't blamin' yuh fur nothin'.  I've pulled some bonehead moves m'self Miz Thea.  There ain't nothin' but air beneath this hair.  My family tree was a shrub.  The only reason I resemble someone who knows whut they're doin' is because I've been doin' it for so long.  How much run time you got on your program again?  Can't be more 'n three or four years tops.  Call me old fashioned but I think that command decisions should be left to folks with more seniority," he continued as he subtly changed gears.  "But you already know that.  Now how about we prioritize what needs to be repaired first?  If you leave t' me, I'll probably organize the repairs by what's easiest t' fix instead of whut needs t' be.  Yuh got any input on thet?"

Re: DAY 02: Digital Relations [1500 hrs.]

Reply #6 –
[ Theurgy "Thea" NX-79854 | Chief Engineer's Office | Deck 09 ] Attn: Doc M. & DocReno

Registering that Chief O'Connell was convinced she was a 'real, live girl' was oddly comforting to hear, based on the input she got from her emotion chip when she heard him say that. She had already realised that her actions might be considered within the range of normal social behaviour among organics, although she - having derived the root cause for her error - found her reasons just as plausible for her as she found them to be of her own origin.

"Based on my observations over the years you have served aboard me, I think you are giving yourself far too little credit, Mister O'Connell," she said with a smile in comment to his personal capacity and his family's genome, "and yes, I am close to four standard Federation years of runtime post activation, and agreed, even if I have been in production for over twenty years, I would not aspire to be in a commanding position. While I have the theoretical knowledge, I lack the data input of experience that - for example - the Voyager's EMH Mk I possessed. At the end of his service aboard the Voyager, he was granted command subroutines, his runtime succeeding six years. Perhaps, if I am not destroyed before then, I will be able to do the same. Then again, our hardware is nothing alike."

Moving on to more practical matters, Thea answered readily where she sat.

"My recommended first priority, hull damage. Across my decks, they range from minor to severe, and it should be repaired in order of severity. The hull breach that stretched across Decks 03, 04, 06 and 08 from when we fled Earth was repaired on Theta Eridani IV. Decks 07 and 10 were the worst hit when fighting the Calamity the first time, but that breach was also sealed. However, the last battle... 'tore the stitchings' a bit, I am afraid. No decks were compromised, as you are aware, but the affected areas are weakened. Taking a direct hit, the collapse might stretch through all my aforementioned decks. Besides my hull, the circuitry of one of my forward photon torpedo launchers nearly overloaded, and I suggest a full diagnostic to find the cause."

Pausing for a second, she changed her seating to a little more relaxed position. "Old cosmetic damage since the flight from the Alpha Quadrant might remain on various decks. As for my Battle Bridge on Deck 08, the damage there is mostly incidental, but a few duty stations needs to be repaired or replaced. The area should be inspected to ensure no electrical or mechanical damage. You already mentioned my plasma production, and I can assure you that you are already making progress with my generators. Waste Management is also increasing the rate of production with 5,232 %. With the alacrity in which you are replacing the relays that were destroyed, I am confident that you will have restored my EPS network well before we set a course for Starbase 84. Judging from my readings, 48,232 hours will suffice."

Pausing again, she mentioned her surveillance system, which was almost beyond repair. "When Cala boarded us the first time we fought her, and she killed half of the senior staff, she overloaded my Omnispective Visual Security/Surveillance System. It is my interior video logging, and my means to access areas of the ship visually. No greater cause for concern, for I still retain my internal sensors, but Cala ensured that no one could see her coming. A complete overhaul is required. Replacement of 2 kilometres of wiring, all power couplings and the photospective receivers. While it had been useful during the mutiny in order to coordinate the resistance cells, I do not think it is a priority. It should only be done if time allows since it is a non-critical system and it will take weeks to complete the repairs."

Finished with her damage report and her suggested order of priority she shrugged with one shoulder. "Your department is already working on the rest of the damage that I have sustained, so I don't think you need to be informed about those areas. You are, as conventions say, 'already on it'. Do you have any specific questions? If not, may I make a suggestion about something else?"

Re: DAY 02: Digital Relations [1500 hrs.]

Reply #7 –
Joint-Post by Doc M. & Auctor Lucan

[ Main Engineering | Chief Engineer's Office | Deck 09 | USS Theurgy ]  

Registering that Chief O'Connell was convinced she was a 'real, live girl' was oddly comforting to hear, based on the input she got from her emotion chip when she heard him say that. She had already realised that her actions might be considered within the range of normal social behaviour among organics, although she - having derived the root cause for her error - found her reasons just as plausible for her as she found them to be of her own origin.

"Based on my observations over the years you have served aboard me, I think you are giving yourself far too little credit, Mister O'Connell," she said with a smile in comment to his personal capacity and his family's genome, "and yes, I am close to four standard Federation years of runtime post activation, and agreed, even if I have been in production for over twenty years, I would not aspire to be in a commanding position. While I have the theoretical knowledge, I lack the data input of experience that - for example - the Voyager's EMH Mk I possessed. At the end of his service aboard the Voyager, he was granted command subroutines, his runtime succeeding six years. Perhaps, if I am not destroyed before then, I will be able to do the same. Then again, our hardware is nothing alike."

"A four year old's a four year old," Billy Bob shrugged.  "A four year old makes mistakes; there's no point blamin' yerself fer that.  But back t' business.  What do you think needs fixin' first?"

Moving on to more practical matters, Thea answered readily where she sat.

"My recommended first priority, hull damage. Across my decks, they range from minor to severe, and it should be repaired in order of severity. The hull breach that stretched across Decks 03, 04, 06 and 08 from when we fled Earth was repaired on Theta Eridani IV. Decks 07 and 10 were the worst hit when fighting the Calamity the first time, but that breach was also sealed. However, the last battle... 'tore the stitchings' a bit, I am afraid. No decks were compromised, as you are aware, but the affected areas are weakened. Taking a direct hit, the collapse might stretch through all my aforementioned decks. Besides my hull, the circuitry of one of my forward photon torpedo launchers nearly overloaded, and I suggest a full diagnostic to find the cause."

"Hull damage an' forward torpedo damage," O'Connell repeated as he made an entry on one of the PADDs.  "Anythin' else Miz Thea?"

Pausing for a second, she changed her seating to a little more relaxed position. "Old cosmetic damage since the flight from the Alpha Quadrant might remain on various decks. As for my Battle Bridge on Deck 08, the damage there is mostly incidental, but a few duty stations needs to be repaired or replaced. The area should be inspected to ensure no electrical or mechanical damage. You already mentioned my plasma production, and I can assure you that you are already making progress with my generators. Waste Management is also increasing the rate of production with 5,232 %. With the alacrity in which you are replacing the relays that were destroyed, I am confident that you will have restored my EPS network well before we set a course for Starbase 84. Judging from my readings, 48,232 hours will suffice."

"Got it," Billy Bob nodded as he tapped it into his PADD.  "Anythin' else?"

Pausing again, she mentioned her surveillance system, which was almost beyond repair. "When Cala boarded us the first time we fought her, and she killed half of the senior staff, she overloaded my Omnispective Visual Security/Surveillance System. It is my interior video logging, and my means to access areas of the ship visually. No greater cause for concern, for I still retain my internal sensors, but Cala ensured that no one could see her coming. A complete overhaul is required. Replacement of 2 kilometres of wiring, all power couplings and the photospective receivers. While it had been useful during the mutiny in order to coordinate the resistance cells, I do not think it is a priority. It should only be done if time allows since it is a non-critical system and it will take weeks to complete the repairs."

"That's a lot of man-hours," O'Connell agreed.   "Don't reckon it's gonna be done afore we git t' Starbase 84 t' my way a thinkin.'"

[ To Be Continued...]

Re: DAY 02: Digital Relations [1500 hrs.]

Reply #8 –
Joint-Post by Doc M. & Auctor Lucan

[ Main Engineering | Chief Engineer's Office | Deck 09 | USS Theurgy ]  

Finished with her damage report and her suggested order of priority she shrugged with one shoulder. "Your department is already working on the rest of the damage that I have sustained, so I don't think you need to be informed about those areas. You are, as conventions say, 'already on it'. Do you have any specific questions? If not, may I make a suggestion about something else?"

Did O'Connell have any specific questions?   Hell yes, but none of 'em mattered right now.   If Thea was sentient, did that make her service to Starfleet slavery?  If not how did she muster out when her positronic net was the uppermost level of the main computer core?  If Starfleet was the kind of organization that created life forms solely to enslave them, was that the Federation's fault or were the brain sucking parasites that riddled the top brass responsible?  Who knew, and right now, who cared?   First things first:  Get the Theurgy ready for Starbase 84 and worry about the moral implications of Thea's existence later.

"A suggestion?" O'Connell repeated.  "About what?"

"There is a civilian engineer aboard me that has ended up doing a lot of repair work after she became 'trapped', her shuttle destroyed by Cala during our first engagement with her.  Her name is Rihen Neyah, exiled from Risia and now hailing from Nimbus III.  You might remember her as the host of the recent Lohlunat event on the holodeck the night before the mutiny. According to my logs, she requested to host the event under the advisement of Doctor Maya in Sickbay, and Captain Ives approved it.  Yet besides her efforts to boost crew morale, she has also put in a lot of hours serving your department before you became Chief Engineer.  On Theta Eridani IV, she was even operating one of the hull cranes on my starboard side."

O'Connell remembered Rihen.  Who aboard this ship didn't?  But they really hadn't spoken more than once or twice.  After the Ishtar Incident Billy Bob had made an effort to avoid anyone who could take control of his libido like the Risian could.  And it was a surprise to discover that the Lohlunat shindig on the holodeck was Maya's idea.  Maya?  The Vulcan?  He wasn't aware that her people even had a word for fun.  This was all news. 

"It's kinda hard to miss her Miz Thea," he grudgingly acknowledged.  "Y'might say she tends t' stand out in a crowd.  And what kinda suggestion are you fixin' t'make 'bout our lovely Risian guest if I ain't bein' too impertinent?"
 
"Given her dedicated service," Thea said, "and with the lack of crew we have in order to make the repairs, might I suggest offering her a provisional rank and position on your team?  As far as I have been able to track her activity, she has performed well."

Hearing the words 'position' and 'she had performed well,' in any conversation about Rihen Neyah was enough to conjure images and feelings that had no place in polite conversation.  Unfortunately those feelings Billy associated with having an alien pollen in his gut or being affected by a voyeuristic incredibly powerful super being.  To Billy Bob's way of thinking he had a lot of visits to the counselor's office before those sensations didn't trigger counter sensations of nausea and self-loathing.  Ah to be that innocent conspiracy theorist noncommissioned officer who boarded the Theurgy before they went on the run.  Back in those early days when he mentally undressed almost every woman he saw instead of being ashamed of himself and worrying about their virtue.  He really missed being a shallow, lecherous lothario.  Good times that would never come again...
 
Back to reality.  Thea had a point, and speaking of points, there was no point in avoiding contact with an able bodied engineer just because her body was too abled.  It was then he realized that nearly all the engineers who worked the same shift as he did were either all male or so gosh darned alien that his groin didn't react in their presence. 

Billy hemmed, then he hawed, then he remembered that chiefs don't make excuses, they get the job done.  "I'll interview her and find out what her area of expertise is," he offered, "then I can decide on where she can go and what kind of provisional rank she'll get." 

That was a lie.  Her provisional rank would be warrant officer if she was qualified, and based on her work and her 'can do' spirit she was probably qualified for anything she put her mind to.  He hoped she had a terrible personality but based on what little he had seen of her she seemed to be a real sweetheart, dang it.  There was only one thing to do when she was in the room:   Stare at her non color coordinated eyes and try to not notice anything else about her. 

Billy Bob cleared his throat nervously.  "All hands on deck, huh?" he added weakly.

[ To Be Continued...]

Re: DAY 02: Digital Relations [1500 hrs.]

Reply #9 –
 Joint-Post by Doc M. & Auctor Lucan

[ Main Engineering | Chief Engineer's Office | Deck 09 | USS Theurgy ]  

The minute frown on Thea's brow might have suggested that she couldn't quite understand why Chief O'Connell thought it was such a bad idea to have a perfectly well-rounded engineer on his team. He seemed disinclined to the notion, even if Miss Neyah had not only showed she was willing to truly get down on her knees and apply herself to the job, she had also a very generous spirit and wanted to please all the officers that gave her something to do.

"Right," she said, and decided to leave the topic of the civilian behind since the Chief had reservations about her. "Aside from repairs, I have come to understand that you have been working on a project of your own, and that now that we have gained access to Reaver tech - or 'scrap' - you have mentioned that you might actually be able to complete it. Is this true?"

"Since you brought it up, Miz Thea, ah have been workin' on a few little projects," he drawled in that roundabout way of his.  "Runnin' through th' ship with Commander Trent got me t' thinkin'.  There's a lot of little devices thet might be installed into his biosynthetic arm with no body  th' wiser.  As a matter of fact, ah finished up a device that jest about anybody could use in a pinch."

"I see," said Thea with a smile where she sat, "would you mind giving me the specifications for the finished device?"

He opened up a drawer and extracted a small piece of machinery no bigger than an isolinear chip.  "I managed t'salvage some of these out o' th' wreckage of some of them Reapers.  It turns out that twenty years from now, ships will be using subspace frequencies that nobody's a monitorin' these days.  Heck, the Theurgy is the first ship I've served aboard that whose subspace transceiver kin even scan fur 'em.  I'm a guessin' that nobody's gonna be scannin' for these frequencies for a few years now.  That gives us a way to communicate without everybody readin' our mail.  This here is a miniature subspace transceiver that I've turned into a transponder.  It'll be really handy fur callin' fur help if th' bad guys capture one of us an' take away their combage.  Not sure where t' hide it though, where it won't be found.  T' my way o' thinkin' it'll only Commander Trent will be able to hide it on his person without anyone findin' it.  I'll have t' make a smaller version if we want to use it as a subcutaneous transponder that a fella could put under the skin."

Thea leaned forward in her chair and studied the device in O'Connell's fingers with her projection's optical sensors, but more so, she homed in on it with her internal sensors in the bulkheads. It took her a below a millisecond to derive enough data to understand its general internal layout and estimate its bandwidth potential and transporter-lock range. "I think it is an excellent means of exploiting the technology we have come across, and I think it's ideal to test it for site-to-site transportation aboard the ship before putting it to a field test."

"Shouldn't be hard to find a volunteer," Billy Bob smiled.

"I am also sure Commander Trent will find it an excellent augmentation of for his prosthetic arm or leg. In fact, this transponder might not be the only way in which his limbs can be upgraded, if you find the time and inspiration to look into it. If you need someone proficient in prosthetic engineering, Selena Ravenholm is on the recovery, and she might be interested in upgrades of her own."

"Miz Ravenholm huh?" Billy Bob frowned, as the suspicious nature of the Theurgy's resident conspiracy theorist asserted itself.  "The woman who planted the virus in yore systems and shorted out the holographic projectors in the first place?   Not sure I cotton t' th' idea o' Miz Ravenholm gittin' anymore advantages 'til we find out who she really is.  I can't rightly say ah know her but from what little I know 'bout her she strikes me as the every cyborg fur herself type o' girl.  Trent's different.   He gave an arm and a leg fur th' Federation.  I'm sure that he kin be trusted with anything we can give him."

Billy Bob suspected that this was a losing argument; he was speaking out of ignorance, out of a paranoia that was only to be expected after Vasser's deception.  But even O'Connell's bigoted paranoia didn't alter the fact that Selena Ravenholm was an unknown element whose loyalties were unknown.  She had done such a wonderful job of sabotaging the Theurgy before, did they really want to give her the chance to do it a second time?

[ To Be Continued...]

Re: DAY 02: Digital Relations [1500 hrs.]

Reply #10 –
Joint-Post by Doc M. & Auctor Lucan

[ Main Engineering | Chief Engineer's Office | Deck 09 | USS Theurgy ]  

Thea could derive origin and plausibility for the Chief Engineer's reservations about Selena Ravenholm, and being that he was not informed about Ravenholm's decision of full disclosure, his attitude towards her and the idea of augmenting her further could be expected. Thea, however, was not entirely sure if the encryption specialist's past was to become public knowledge and listed with easy access in the database. Therefore, she only gave the human the basic information that might allude towards more merit, or at least enough to clear her names and explain her actions.

"As of 1245 hrs. yesterday, Miss Ravenholm has come to an accord with Captain Ives and has granted our Commanding Officer full disclosure, and as for her actions during the mutiny, she was mind-melded just like everyone else that acted against their own loyalties. She may be civilian, and while not representing Starfleet, she is just as much an individual of the Federation as the rest of this crew." Thea blinked as she selected between different social alternatives to convey the error in Chief O'Connell's reasoning. "I am not sure I understand the difference between Commander Trent's right to upgrades and hers... While she may have lost her arms and legs in her mother's womb instead of the battlefield, she fought just as hard as the rest of us to counter the mutiny aboard. I was by her side, and after the Vulcan's influence was partially lifted from her, she suffered an aneurysm and almost bled to death in perseverance against T'Rena's mind-control. Without her, I would never have been restored to the ship's systems, and I couldn't have coordinated the resistance cells to fight back against the mutineers. I do not think it is fair that she would be judged differently."

"Yuh don't think its fair t' judge her differently?"  Billy Bob couldn't keep the befuddled skepticism off his face.  "Seriously?"  His puzzled frown was reminiscent of a holographic simulation of the late Doctor Lenard McCoy circa the 2260's.  Thea didn't understand Commander Trent's right to upgrades and as opposed to Miss Ravenholm's?  She really was four years old wasn't she?  Commander Trent was vetted, his record spoke for him.  Starfleet had a record of what kind of man he was and could estimate what he was likely to do.  Selena Ravenholm was an unknown element at a time when trust didn't come easy.   One had been through Starfleet Academy, Command School, and who knew what else.  Trent had been trained to lead men and react properly under fire.  Ravenholm had... what?  Who knew?  Did she have the discipline to be a team player, even if her motivations were pure?  There was no way to know. 

When he thought about it, there was nothing wrong with giving Ravenholm a transponder that only those aboard the Theurgy could detect.  Nothing wrong with knowing where she was at all times was there?  But his contrary nature just couldn't leave well enough alone.  Try as he might, he couldn't resist illustrating the dangers of trusting someone who was extremely skilled and talented who hadn't established a pattern of behavior that could be analyzed.

"Miz Thea, have you ever heard of a fella called Shinzon?"

"Yes," she said, remaining seated and wondering where the human was going with the question. "He was a clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. He was created by the Romulans for the initial purpose of replacing Picard with a Romulan operative. This ambition was abandoned, but instead, Shinzon became the leader of the Reman people, rebelled against the Romulans and meant to annihilate life on Earth. Supposedly in the name of Reman freedom."

"He was Jean-Luc Picard's clone?" Billy Bob blinked.  "Truthfully?"  Apparently Thea had access to information that was still above his pay grade.  "The part everybody fur gets is that he wuz a green untested youngin' who wuz given too much authority too quickly.  As a matter of fact, he wuz given so much authority that wuz able t' kill off most of th' Romulan government n' develop a weapon so nasty that's a war crime jest t' design it!  Now Shinzon wuz smart, an' he had nerves of steel, and when it came to tactics he was second t' none, but the Romulans really didn't find out who he really wuz until it was too late.  It wouldn't matter if he saved Romulus.  He should never have been given so much so quickly, you know whut I'm sayin'?  Until we git t' know Miz Ravenholm a little better I'm kinda lukewarm on givin' her any upgrades or gadgets."

[ To Be Continued...]

OOC:  Take that, Star Trek (2009)  Promoting Kirk to captain so quickly?  Ridiculous!  He could have become captain in the second movie.

Re: DAY 02: Digital Relations [1500 hrs.]

Reply #11 –
Joint-Post by Doc M. & Auctor Lucan

[ Main Engineering | Chief Engineer's Office | Deck 09 | USS Theurgy ]  

"I see," said Thea, understanding the Chief's point but having a counter-argument of her own. "During the strife that the USS Harbinger met on its own, Selena Ravenholm was given a field promotion to Chief Warrant Officer, and in that capacity, she was the head of both the Operations and the Engineering department on the Harbinger after Alexander Rosek transferred to the Theurgy and lost his life on Theta Eridani IV. Before that, she was responsible of the Operations department, and managed to perform adequately enough during the months where the Harbinger was being persecuted across the Alpha Quadrant. Her achievements may be recent in regard to the mutiny, but she has a track record where she has performed beyond any expectations. That it wasn't in service aboard me doesn't mean her achievements mean any less. It was not her fault that her commanding and executive officers compromised the mission and resorted to mutiny. Yet all of her merits matter little in regard to the question at hand."

Shifting in her seat a little, she arrived to the obvious question. "Are cybernetic upgrades truly rewards that should be denied officers of lesser standing, when those implants may help the crew and the mission?"

"No," O'Connell pouted, willing to admit when he was licked. The truth of the matter was that his rampant paranoia was keeping him from trusting anyone new or different, especially someone as different and new as Selena Ravenholm.  She had done such good job infiltrating and sabotaging the Theurgy for Vasser that it would be stupid to get in the way of the cyborg pulling off similar jobs for Ives.  He was thinking like an officer instead of a chief.  An officer tries to direct policy and slows things down wherever he can.  A chief gets things done, and doesn't make excuses.  Less than a week as chief engineer, and he had forgotten how to be a chief.  If Captain Ives offered to make him an officer, O'Connell intended to turn the offer down as politely as he could.

"When it comes right down to it, there's no reason not to put some of my gadgets into Miz Ravenholm.  It makes sense actually.  She's more expendable than Commander Trent and can sneak into jest about any installation that I ever heard of.  Most of whut I got in mind would be good for a mission off th' ship an' in th' middle of danger.  Who are we willin' t' risk more?  The first officer or th' civilian?"

"I believe you are correct in the sense that the cybernetic augmentations might come to more frequent use if installed into Miss Ravenholm's body," acquiesced Thea with a nod, but then she tilted her head. "Yet having served under Captain Ives' command since I was commissioned, I have never observed him to order crew to undertake away-missions because they were more expendable than others, nor do I believe that is the protocol. As far as I have understood, crew is primarily chosen to optimise potential accomplishment of said missions, and a First Officer is known to attend such missions more frequently than a Commanding Officer. As you suggest, however, Ravenholm's unique talents and abilities - not to mention her affiliation with the Federation News Network - does make her quite a viable choice for infiltration. I don't think she can be deemed expendable for the very same reasons."

"We still believin' she's jest a reporter?" O'Connell snorted in disbelief.  "Ah swear you kin be as gullible as a five year old growin' up in a monastery..." he stopped and coughed into his fist.  That wasn't really fair.  Thea was as gullible as five year old growing up in a monastery because that was a very apt description of her life so far.  Her program had been running for less than five years and in that time she spent most of it with scientists and Starfleet personnel.  She had never spent any time on a smeghole like Nimbus Three or played dabo on Deep Space Nine.  Ninety percent of the folks she had met were responsible, trustworthy, ethical people who lived their lives by Federation values.  She hadn't really lived with savages, swindlers, and bushwhackers the way O'Connell had.  "Sorry 'bout that, but from what little I know her skill set don't exactly say 'I'm huntin' fur a big scoop.'  More like 'I'm workin' black ops.'"

[ To Be Continued...]

Re: DAY 02: Digital Relations [1500 hrs.]

Reply #12 –
Joint-Post by Doc M. & Auctor Lucan

[ Main Engineering | Chief Engineer's Office | Deck 09 | USS Theurgy ]  

"Perhaps, but I am confident in my analysis of Miss Ravenholm, just as I am confident in my own construct and programming." She offered no insult to match the one O'Connell had given her, deducing that it was a figure of speech. Furthermore, she realised that she might be deemed protective of Ravenholm to the chief, and that would affect O'Connell's judgement on her arguments too. Thea shed a millisecond on self-analysis, and gathered that there was - indeed - a sense of being in debt to the woman in her digital mind. Root-cause was established that it was because Ravenholm had restored her emitter's copy to the ship's systems and reactivated her positronic brain, and she decided to visit the encryption specialist at her earliest convenience.

O'Connell cleared his throat and coughed into his fist.  "Ahem.  Back to business shall we?  There anythin' else on yer mind that ain't related t' yer endearin' naivety an' my rampant paranoia?" he asked sheepishly.  There was no denying it:  Thea trusted too much and O'Connell trusted too little.  Somewhere in between the truth was hiding but that wasn't a job for an innocent artificial intelligence and a hamfisted hillbilly to waste time on.  There was too much to do.

"Of course," said Thea and inclined her head with a small smile. As she was a digital being, she built her judgement on the tenants of the Federation, established facts and - with healthy scepticism - known statistics. If that was 'naive' in O'Connell's judgement, then she supposed she was. "Your other development projects - aside from the aforementioned - are they anywhere close to being finished? If not, do you think one or two of them might be completed before we reach Starbase 84? If you want, and you think it will be worth the effort, perhaps you could ask for help in completing their development. I would be glad to help you with calibrations, and I am sure Miss Ravenholm has an interest in whatever upgrades might fit her hardware."

"Well, I have been workin' on a lotta li'l somethin' 'r others," he admitted as he gestured to a work table where a lot of tiny components had been arranged.  "And now that you mention it, some of 'em are finished," he added as he opened a drawer and extracted a tiny disk shaped object.  "I pulled this out of the cockpit one of them Reavers. It's a more compact version of the emergency transporter units we got installed in the cockpits of our Valkyries.  I heard tell that Starfleet's been tryin' t' shrink 'em down to a version so small that a fella could fit one o' these in his pocket and that they've got a prototype or two out there. Apparently these are standard issue in the future, just in case there's a human being instead of a hologram flyin' those things.  With a little work I could modify 'em to be used by members of an away team or I could install 'em into the Valkyries for emergency evacuations." 

Rising to her feet, Thea followed O'Connell to the work table and picked up one of the units in her fingertips, studying it with her sensors and finding it an improved version of those she had in her database. "Indeed, since we have the ETS systems installed into the cockpits of the Valkyries, I suppose these could be used as a back-up in the pilot's personal exo-suit as a back-up. However, judging from the recently completed SAR-mission, and given the lack of pre-existing options save for a transporter room, I believe these units should be primarily issued to away-teams to safeguard their lives. It depends, of course, on how many you could salvage from the Reaver debris. Without inferior assets to develop them, I suppose reverse-engineering these are not an option?"

"Reverse-engineerin'?"  Billy Bob repeated.  "Maybe you could with the proper lab and scientists an' a whole lot of man hours but it ain't that realistic with the resources we have available.  At this rate, they'll become standard issue before we kin build another one.  Papa Bear's people managed to find four of 'em so far but I reckon if they was going t' find any more they would have by now.  If one got damaged we might be able to repair it but right now it's wishful thinkin' if'n we want t' build more."

[ To Be Continued...]

Re: DAY 02: Digital Relations [1500 hrs.]

Reply #13 –
Joint-Post by Doc M. & Auctor Lucan

[ Main Engineering | Chief Engineer's Office | Deck 09 | USS Theurgy ]  

"How about tactical systems?" asked Thea, looking over the array of things on the work table. "Do you have any kind of new weaponry under development? I assume that the pulse phaser couplings on those Reavers could be used for someth-" She paused because she saw something at the farthest end of the work table. She walked over there and picked it up. Her own projection was laced by the finely tuned force-fields of her body, she as she picked up the device and deduced its purpose with her sensors, she felt like she was handling a part of herself. It was a force-field emitter, and very much alike the one that was fitted into her mobile emitter. "I would assume this was a part of the omni-directional emitters that projected the Reaver pilots? It resembles Lin Kae's design, but smaller. More advanced. What have you been able to do with it, and how many could you recover?"

"Oh these?" Billy Bob smiled.  "I see you stumbled onto Reagar's and my special project.  We've only got two assembled right now but we got the parts t' build three more.  These babies should be able to project a force field that'll resist a phaser at setting ten.  Allow me to put one on an' show yuh," he added as he picked up a small device about the size of a 23rd century Starfleet communicator.  He attached it to a belt and added a pair of suspenders to the ensemble.  When he donned the belt and suspenders, Thea could see that the straps had small nodules protruding off them like a targ's teats. 

"Alright, this here is the power pack," he said as indicated a second flat rectangular device attached to the suspender straps that crossed over his back.  "It's basically a battery of sarium krellide cells, the same kind y' kin find inside a combadge or a tricorder.  The controls and the computer are on the belt buckle.  Runnin' through these straps are nanofiliments of conductive metal, basic elements like copper or iron will do it.  Now here's the clever part:  Inside each of these straps is a li'l subspace transceiver assembly unit.  You kin find these in any combage and thanks to all of the people who died around here recently we got a lotta spares. 

"I swear, nobody knows how versatile the little technological doodahs we carry with us every day really are," he crowed.  "Alone, each of these babies fully charged kin generate an energy field with a phase shift of approximately .04 millicochranes for about fifteen seconds.  That's enough to deflect most physical projectiles or lower power directed energy attacks like an a revolver or a laser.  Faster or more powerful attacks will deplete th' force field a mite quicker, or in some cases, penetrate with no difficulty.

"Now imagine a whole battery of these things with enough power to last longer than twelve seconds!" he continued, seemingly unaware that the volume of his voice was increasing as his enthusiasm began to show.  "We're still testin' of course but so far it can take a phaser set to settin' ten without goin' down the first time.  Of course, the more powerful the attack the less time field lasts," he warned her as his voice went back to a conversational level.  "But even if it can only take the first two or three shots, it's a damn sight better than nothin'!

"The sensors in the belt buckle tell the field when to activate," he continued as he indicated the belt buckle.  "There's an additional sensor covering the power pack in the back.  This ain't a Starfleet grade tricorder mind yuh, so yer placing yer life in yer hands if you depend on this to turn it on fur yah.   What y' ought to do is activate it when you think you're going to get shot, but don't leave it on 'cause it drains power like a son of a gun an' you want to make sure it can take a kill shot when it hits."

"I see," said Thea and smiled, knowing that this invention would be a highly desired assembly for Security, or any away-team entering hostile situations, "that is excellent work. I will file a report to the Captain and First Officer about it, and I'm sure they will head down here for a demonstration. Have you and Reagar decided on a name for this device yet?"

"Reagar wants to call it an intercept belt," Billy Bob shrugged with a lopsided grin.  "I was jus' gunna call 'em force field belts but I reckon that takes too long t' say in the heat of the moment.   Intercept belt it is I guess."


[ To Be Continued...]
 

Re: DAY 02: Digital Relations [1500 hrs.]

Reply #14 –
Joint-Post by Doc M. & Auctor Lucan

[ Main Engineering | Chief Engineer's Office | Deck 09 | USS Theurgy ]  

Thea nodded and put her hands on her hips, looking at the intercept belt with a smile, glad to see that the recovered debris from the Reavers had yielded some benefits for her crew's mission. "I will add it to my database, and complement the entry with specifications once you submit them." She paused looking at the former Maintenance Officer that had taken Tia Marlowe's place in the wake of her demise. It did seem that he had situated himself well, yet that was only her observation, so she decided to ask the human what he felt.

"This responsibility has truly been thrust upon you, Chief O'Connell, and I can't help but wonder what you think about it. You transferred to the Theurgy some time before we fled the Alpha Quadrant, and you have truly come to know your subordinates under extreme circumstances, losing not only Nolak Kalmil, but his Assistant Chief, Nicole Howard - her giving her life to save the Captain's from my daughter. Then, Alexander Rosek barely set his foot upon my decks before he sacrificed his life to raise the shield over the valley on Theta Eridani IV, and Lieutenant Marlowe - who despite her short tenure was loved by many in your department - sacrificed her life for the sake of saving me in my entirety. How does the morale of your department fare aboard me, after so many changes in leadership?"

The look on O'Connell's face made it seem as if she had pointed a gun at it.  "Ooh!  God! " he exclaimed jerkily as he flinched like he was being pelted.  "Tarnation!  I'm a gunna hafta take the Seventh on that one!  To tell th' truth we're thinkin' that the position is cursed!  There's a bettin' pool on how long I'll last before a go t' maintenance that big warp core in the sky!  They call me 'Dead Man Walkin'!  I hate t' break it to yuh darlin' but morale has taken a hit to the mommy/daddy department an' I don't know if my people can lose another boss.  Between you an' me, I'm prayin' that Cap'n Ives'll shanghai another ring knocking, towel flicking, highly edjamacated officer that'll take over as chief engineer before I find a way t' get myself killed!"
 
Thea could not help but chuckle at O'Connell's reaction, the sudden data-feed from her emotion chip too much to handle, even if she suspected that he was quite serious about it all. It was an unusual social situation, and unusually humorous, so she covered her mouth politely as she laughed. "Apologies, it might be constituted as dark humour, but if there are wagers being made openly, it could also signify a healthy group dynamic, and that is arguably even more important than a leader who has had Line Officer training and the usual kind of rank insignia on the collar." Reaching out to place her hand on O'Connell's shoulder, she continued in a bit more sympathetic tone, even if her small smile lingered "I am quite sure Captain Ives would give it due consideration if such an officer would join the crew, but I am positive that what you are doing merits you staying in your position. Whether or not you would sacrifice your life for me or the crew; that is something you will have to decide... should such a time come."

"Ooh, let's hope that time don't come too soon," he groaned.  "Although with that mission to Starbase 84, I reckon that it ain't gonna be too long now."  All joking aside, O'Connell was uneasy.  After receiving the chief engineer position he felt like a condemned man.  It was silly to be worried about himself when it was highly likely that nobody was coming back from the mission, even if they succeeded.  Odds were, they were going to sacrifice themselves exposing the truth about Starfleet.  It wasn't like the Angel of Death had picked Billy Bob out of a crowd; everybody aboard the Theurgy was in for it.  Unfortunately, a chief engineer who hadn't done his four years in the academy and believed he was going to die didn't help the ship's chances.  Small wonder why Thea was talking to him about this.

"I am sure Captain Ives knows what must be done," said Thea, trying to reassure the organic as she let go of his shoulder, "and that if there is any way to complete the mission and let the crew live... then it will be the first priority."

Billy Bob nodded in resignation.  "I don't doubt it.  Let's just hope that in our case good intentions are enough."

- Fin
 
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