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Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #75 –
[ Paradise City | The Nimbus System ] Attn: Eve Jenkins (kuro might post too, if so desired)

In the end, Lucan managed to push the drunk woman named Rihen off himself - whom started to hum on a song as she sprawled out on her back. It was by this time that the chandelier hit the last standing Nausicaan.

Barely having gotten back on his feet, the room still spinning, the CMO heard the young Engineer call for a medic - the standard call that training in Starfleet taught them. Lucan was already on his way, picking up his bag on the way. People were highly interested in what they were doing, a small crowd gathering and the bar keeper finally coming around from his shock and starting to scream at them to get out of his tavern.

Ignoring the surroundings best as he might, Dr. Nicander examined Skye's wound after ripping her top enough to bare the immediate area around the injury. His head was still foggy, but he had enough wits about him to not pull out his Starfleet issue medical tricorder from the bag, instead resorting to basic ocular examination, measuring heart-rate and feeling her temperature with the back of his hand.

"Kae," said Lucan, trying to make himself heard over the din when speaking to the Engineer. He removed his own white tunic and started to wind it up into a tight rope. His voice was steady, sure, much because of the focus it demanded of him in his current state. There were no room for malign thoughts outside the effort to diagnose and treat the pilot. No glib remarks or comments on the events. "My med kit does not hold the required instruments to deal with this type of massive penetration trauma. I need to secure and keep control of her air-intake and even get intravenous access in a clinic, infirmary, trauma centre or medical bay. Considering the size of the knife, she might very well have serious inner organ damage and would then need immediate surgery. Until then, I have to prevent blood-loss... You... Make some kind of stretcher so that we can get out of here. Anything will do, just make it quickly."

Methodically, Lucan ran his arms around Skye's torso and tied his wound-up tunic around her - shifting her prone position just as much as he had to - preventing the spreading pool of blood around her from getting even larger. His bare upper body and his white loose breeches were bloodied in the process, but when he finally got the make-shift compress into its proper place - the sleeves tied up into a knot right on top of the stab wound - he tied it all hard around Skye's body. So hard that he used the strength of his legs and his whole upper to secure it tightly around the pilot - almost in danger of dealing hairline fractures to rib or two. If he had, it would still have been better than the alternative. A fractured rib-cage was not lethal.

In retrospect, Lucan would wonder at his own determination in this endeavour, given how he had meant to leave them behind anyway at first given opportunity.

Decorated in blood and with his balance having improved a bit, Lucan stood tall after securing the compression around the pilot. "How comes the stretcher?" he called, seeing that he had actually gotten help from the drunk woman named Rihen in his efforts - the Engineer getting another pair of hands to help him out. "You, can you direct us to the closest clinic?"

Rihen looked up with her heterochromatic eyes, seemingly having sobered a wee bit from seeing the blood she had indirectly caused. "Aye... its not far," she said, and even though her hazy eyes roamed over Lucan, she bit her tongue from commenting beyond a slurry, "...least I can do."

Enlisting help from Kae and Rihen to eventually move Skye to the stretcher, they soon set out into the cool twilight.


[ Deck 08 | Hallway | USS Theurgy ]

According to the latest briefing, the USS Theurgy was due to arrive at Nimbus III in two days.
  
Cadet Ester Hamburg descended the corridor whilst reading one of her PADDs and not looking up for much else than to keep her bearings. She was heading back to Main Engineering after paying a visit to the mess hall for some food, where discussions about the latest ordeal on Niga had become long winded and overtly analytical one. In the end, Ester felt that most of her friends on board had lost perspective, and she bid her leave before it was her turn to discuss her dreams and hazy memories.
  
Preoccupied with her thinking, picked up her pace to reach her destination... but did not look up in time.
   
ThanIda was still in a lighter mood after having left the XO's Ready Room. She contemplated asking David Grayson to postpone the dinner plans so that she might practice drawing the Trill from memory in her scarce off-duty time, but she supposed that drawing him would be challenge enough - should he agree to it. The challenge caused a smile to touch her face but she didn't look up until she saw the commotion down one of the intersections she passed. She stopped, seeing Adam Kingston part two people. Next she knew...
   
Someone slammed into her. Ida hit the ground in a quite unlady like fashion and swore under her breath. Pain fired up her spine, triggering her heart to race and her eyes to water slightly.  She frowned at the Pinkskin girl before her.
   
Meanwhile, Ester landed against a wall - ended up propped up against it with a smarting head swearing in the same manner that the Deputy did, only with less stark vocabulary. On top of it all, she had no idea where her PADD ended up. With a sigh, she did climb to her feet quite quickly, and rubbed her head with her hand before smoothing down her uniform over her bosom and belly. "Pardon me," she said and walked over to the one that she had collided with, without looking who it was. She gave the woman her hand. "I was not paying attention to where I was going..."
  
Then, she realised who the blue-skinned woman was, and her big brown eyes widened a bit. "Oh."
 
"I do not need your help, Cadet," said Ida and offered a tight smile - recognising that look. Once she was standing she picked the PADD that was lying at her feet and handed it to the blonde young human, "I wasn't paying much attention either. As you were."
 
Ester looked after the disappearing back of the Andorian, not sure what to make of her after what had happened. She hugged her PADD to her chest and looked down the side corridor, seeing....

"Oh..." The second surprise made her eyes even wider.

Having just pondered those dreams and memories she retained after the discussion in the mess hall, to see the Security Officer was more than a little eerie, to say the least. Even at a distance, she recognised him, saw him handle the situation where an argument had broken out. Daydreaming, she forgot that she was late to Main Engineering...

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #76 –
[ Paradise City | The Nimbus System ] Attn: Lucan and Kuro

It was a quiet night with no one around in the clinic, leaving a very bored woman wondering what to do with herself.  Eve was so bored in fact that she had already recounted the inventory and made a list of things they needed or could use more of in case of emergencies and now was running a diagnostic on the surgical bed.  It was substandard but Toq didn't care since he did most of his stuff the old fashioned way anymore but they did at least use it for accelerating the healing process and more efficient closure.

The thought of the huge Klingon brought crinkle lines around her eyes.  He and Dhivael made a good team but she remembered once when Dhivael was away he had to deliver a baby.  He preferred his patients unconscious and definitely not small and slippery.  His expression alone was priceless but he handed the infant to her so quickly with a perfunctory "It's a boy," to the woman that even the new mother had started to laugh which made him all the more grumpy and amusing.

Both doctors had taken the night off since there had been entirely too many of these silent nights, Toq proclaiming he was going off with his wife for an intimate night.  "I just hope the place survives you two," Even had quipped and received a toothy grin.  Her mental wanderings were interrupted by the soft voice of Dhivael.

"If you're going to stay locked up in your mind like that it's a good thing I decided to see if you'd like some company," the Romulan woman actually giggled.

"I thought you were going to make dinner for that adoring fan of yours who deliberately gets hurt just to have an excuse to come in and see you," Eve retorted with a sweet smile.

"I don't think he'll be coming by much anymore," Dhivael stated with a bit of a sigh.  "Dinner went well but it was after things sort of fell apart and he left rather abruptly."

"Oh?" Eve said straightening up with a curious look.

"Either he is very inexperienced or it's been a while because he suffered a premature ejaculation ... a rather large one," she said with a raised eyebrow, trying to remain clinical though Eve could feel the laughter inside of her friend.

Both dissolved into a fit of giggles and covering her mouth, trying desperately to look contrite, Eve said "I'm so sorry ... but maybe next time will be better after some reassurances."

"Perhaps," Dhivael said with a slight shrug.  "I will certainly tell him he was quite ... impressive ... the next time I see him," she replied with more amusement bubbling beneath the surface.

Anything else either woman would say was cut off by a man rushing into the clinic.  "Fight at Lorn's an' some woman got stabbed," he rushed out breathlessly and without a thought Eve grabbed up the medical tricorder and gave a nod to Dhivael who she knew would get everything in order.  Stab wounds were fairly common around here and she rushed out the door, nearly running into the front stretcher carrier.

"Bring her over here," she started to say and then spotted a familiar face.  "Luc?"  What was he doing here?  Had her grandfather found out where she was and he was sent here to bring her back?  As good as it was to see him, she felt the urge to run.

A groan from the injured woman snapped her focus back and she placed her hand on the woman's forehead which seemed to soothe the extreme pain Skye was feeling.  "Kae ... Lucan ... safe?" she whispered hoarsely.

"I believe your friends are fine and will be checked out by Dr. Leithoedd.  You my dear have a nasty wound but don't you worry.  When you wake up, you'll be feeling a lot better," Eve promised.

Once Skye was transferred to the surgical bed and Dhivael administered a standard anesthetic via hypospray, Eve placed her hands in the sonic cleanser and discussed things quickly with the physician who wasn't that skilled with actual surgeries.  "You've done these with Toq a hundred times and you'll be fine," she assured Eve who simply nodded.  "Get her clothes off then start an IV and some blood," she ordered.

A curtain was pulled and though the woman on the table might not forgive her later, Dhivael cut away the top and then pulled off boots, pants, and underwear.  Eve cleaned the entry area and checked the data from her scan, grimacing but otherwise remaining quiet as she set to work with the scalpel.  "I can handle this right now if you'll check her friends over," Eve requested and actually sent the doctor out to check on probably lesser cases.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #77 –
     Adam finally was able to let the woman go and did so taking a few steps back just in case.  He made sure to be just outside her reach as he said one final comment. "This is your last warning Kira, if this happens again we're going to have to take you into the brig and lock you up.  Keep that in mind. Next time you run into one of them okay?" He asks anxiously as he turns away from her and begins to make his way down the hallway.  It gets a full three feet before he spots Ester, his eyes doing a quick once over her form and then settling on her chest.  His mind ran over what he knew about her and he resisted the urge to smirk slightly. 
          He calmly approached her and raised his gaze to meet her chin, "ah, Cadet Hamburg.....how are you doing today?   Are you recovering from our...incident alright?" he asked with a hint of concern thrown into his voice.  He carefully formed his next sentence in his mind along with the offer it entitled. "I'd like to try to make what happened up to you, I know I can't take it away, but I can at least show that I'm sorry...Are you doing anything tonight Cadet?" he asks carefully.  His eyes drifting up to meet hers with interest. 

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #78 –
[Sickbay - Recovery Ward | Deck 07]
Attn: Shipboard Hologram Thea and Lt. J.G. Khorin Dpuglas


"Gaddam, cocksuckin, fuckass piece of bitchin, bullshit fuck!" the quickly, almost yelped trail, of obscenities was preceded by by what sounded like the thud of something to the floor followed by the crashing of older terran Iron-type gym equipment clanging against itself.  Every one of the sounds were coming from the direction of the recovery ward's physical therapy room. 

The source was, not to anyone who knew her's surprise, the other recovering member of the Lone Wolves, Evelyn Rawley.  She was standing there seeming to be nursing a foot and by the way she was slightly limping more than likely a toe in particular.  At this moment a few of the lighter dumbbell weights were off their placement racks and one was on the floor.  Also, another rack of the equipment seemed to be halfway empty with its weights scattered under it.

A quick examination of the ships recording devices would easily make things quite clear. As she sat the dumbbell down, it had rolled off and landed on her foot causing her to let loose the string of obscenities and throw the dumbbell off of her foot quickly.  The dumbbell crashed into the rack of small weights making a lot of them fall and caused a loud cacophony of crashing iron.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #79 –
[Edena Rez - XO Ready Room]

"Your pledge is accepted, Lieutenant.  You can report for duty at 0800 tomorrow.  Make sure the Wolves in your care are properly prepared.  They will be your responsibility now, so whichever training exercises you wish to take them through can be carried out of your own accord.  I'll just have to sign off on it first.  Get me a report at least two hours beforehand if you plan to take the Valkyries out of the ship."  Two hours would be all the time she needed to clear all the proper channels, and make certain their launch was scheduled and expected by the crew.  An unexpected sortie of ships from the hanger could raise concerns, especially so soon after a ship-wide crisis.

"You're dismissed, Lieutenant.  the SCO quarters will be yours from now on, so you may move into them at your own convenience."  With new positions often came job perks, which included a larger, more luxurious room to call one's own.Even the alpha dog needed a den to call his own, after all.



[Lin Kae - Paradise City, Nimbus III]

With the need for a stretcher, Kae quickly improvised something up.  A small table with fold-in legs was just about the right size for Skye.  Sweeping an arm across to clear away the snacks that were piled on it, and removing the cloth covering it, he locked the table legs inside and dragged it over beside Skye.  With the help of Lucan, they moved her over like she was being lifted from a crash cart, resting her in the center of the table.  Rihen pitched in with carrying Skye and the makeshift stretcher, towards the hospital ward, where thankfully she received immediate assistance.

Kae had noticed the brief interaction between the Chief Medical officer and the doctor on staff.  They knew each other, but it wasn't Kae's place to ask questions.  Instead, he busied himself wish washing off his hands, which had been covered by a small portion of blood.  He was tense, but still brushed off medics who came to check on him, insisting he hadn't been harmed in any way, but pointing them in the direction of Lucan, and even Rihen, who had both taken a fall back in the bar.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #80 –
He nodded then looked around a bit before seeming to loosen up slightly. His shoulders were no longer quite as stiff looking, and his eyes no longer held the same completely serious look in them as he spoke, "There's one thing I am curious about Miss.  From my information, to be the commander of any group, or be a true senior officer on board, not just the ranking officer of a group. I was informed the required rank was a Lieutenant Commander.   Don't take this as me trying to smooth talk my way to a promotion, but before I came to the Theurgy, in fact before I even attained the rank of Lieutenant, I happened to take the all of the tests for Lieutenant Commander and some of the Commander roles tests even finding a few of the sims for Captain's tests.  I took them to see how I would handle the stresses that those roles could have.  My record shows that took the Leutenant Commander tests on the record and passed all of them well above the required scores.  My curiosity is regarding the rank.  Why am I being given the command of a group without the proper field promotion in rank to exercise these duties?  Our captain seems the type that is a stickler for proper Federation protocol and was wondering what changed her mind on eschewing the usual rank requirements."

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #81 –
[ Paradise City | The Nimbus System ]

Arms leaden and breath heavy, bloody hair in his eyes, Lucan came face to face with someone after having carried Skye together with Kae - someone whom knew him by name. Rihen had helped them find their way and lingered, so when Lucan stood there for a moment and looked into familiar eyes, the blue-and-gold-eyed woman rolled those irises towards the ceiling and went to seat herself in the adjoining room, muttering something about 'typic men' and 'should'a figured'.

"Eve," said Lucan incredulously in reply, recognising her almost right away. It had not been too many years, and the half-blood Deltan seemed having not aged at all. Last he had seen her was just before he graduated at the top of his batch from Starfleet Medical, them having said their farewells rather... thoroughly. As to why she was there, of all places in the Galaxy, and perhaps a liability for the Theurgy's mission, he had no idea, yet the needs of the fighter pilot on the stretcher took precedence.

Having recovered a bit from calling on the winds, carrying Skye had not let him recover enough, so when the pilot was placed on the surgical table, Lucan left to make room - heading to the adjoining ward where Rihen waited. Kae joined him as well just as he sat down against one of the walls - leaning his head back to rest. Or rather... to think. What was he doing? Why did he go to such lengths to save someone he just as readily would kill any second if it benefited him? Oh, how the beasts ridiculed him - terrible laughter filling his head.

The Romulan physician arrived, and while Kae declined any help, the woman - introducing herself as Dr. Dhivael Leithoedd quickly determined Rihen's need for hydration pills and water. She had a few bruises, but none too serious. None she could feel right then, at least, in her inebriated state. When the Romulan came to Lucan, he opened his pale grey eyes and stared into her soul - his smile as tired as it was charming. "My thanks, Dr. Being a doctor myself, I can assure you that the blow I have taken to the torso will bruise, yet nothing more. Otherwise, I am merely weary. Please, attend to our companion instead."

He needed to speak with Kae in private, so when the Romulan had insisted a few times and eventually gone for the pills to Rihen, Lucan nimbly got to his sandalled feet and stepped close to the Engineer - his bare torso and one cheek still decorated in smudges of dried blood. "Next to this room is someone from Starfleet," he said under his breath to the young man, ignoring how Rihen was asking what they were doing, "Her name is Eve Jenkins and she was at Starfleet Medical at the same time as I was. Her father... was Commander Liam Jenkins, and the same Commander that the transmissions revealed to be one of the impersonators."

In fact, Lucan had known long before that how Commander Jenkins had been replaced by one of his own kin. The beast chuckled in mirth. He also knew that Eve Jenkins ought to still be herself, since the last he heard - before he was hung out to dry on the Theurgy and each day risked to be killed at the orders issued by his own - she had vanished... and her 'father' had taken it upon himself to rectify the liability of her being on the loose. It was not like they could afford loose ends, after all. Yet to Kae, he simply said...

"Either she has followed in her father's footsteps... or she is a deserter just like us. For I... doubt that this clinic is a Starfleet cover-operation."

"Hey, lemme in on it, wassit somthan I said?" Rihen came to lean against his arm, seeming so tired that she might pass out.

"Unless she is a part of those still looking for the industrial replicator," he said, ignoring the woman.

"Oh, don'cha mention that..." said Rihen, "not tha cause fo' all my troubles..."

Frowning, Lucan glanced towards her. "What?"

"I rrreally should'na talk 'bout it.I need ta sleep, I donna wanna talk about my work..."

"Your work?"

"Repairin', all days... all nights... No latinum left... Yet soooo close to fortune..." Rihen stepped away and rubbed her temples, her long leather coat trailing in her wake. She groaned and took a deep breath. "How did'a end up with da piece of junk?"

Lucan looked back to Kae, and he could not help the small smile that touched his lips. "The winds blow in mysterious ways..."


[ Deck 07 | Recovery Ward in Sickbay | USS Theurgy ]

Thea looked up from Junior Lieutenant Khorin Douglas while he was examined by the EMH, hearing the crash and commotion from the physical therapy room. "I will be right back, 'Lieutenant. It sounds like your fellow wolf here has having difficulties."

Walking into the room, Thea held her hands folded behind her back, passively watching Wolf-07 in her ailment. She was dressed in a loose recovery gown, and she had not cared to tie it up properly - much to the great embarrassment or delight of some other patients that watched from the opposite doorway. While Thea made her way through the room, she raised a teal-gloved hand and waved them off with a kind smile. "Return to your beds, please. It was just an accident."

Turning her attention back to the Junior Lieutenant Evelyn Rawley - this lone-wolf whom Dr. Nicander and Cdt. Neotin had saved after the last skirmish with Starfleet - she took a deep breath, anticipating the mood of the human already. Chances were that to 9,753 5 of 10,000, the patient would be upset and unruly.

"Here, allow me to assist you," said the hologram and began to lift back the iron weights to their proper places without any great rush, doing so with a perfectly straight face. She glanced up to observe the state of the short woman with shaved head, gauging if there was ought she could say to take her mind of her frustrations. "You might be happy to know that Lieutenant Khorin Douglas just came to in the other room. He is examined by the EMH right now, but he should be able to speak with you, should you wish to do so. "

Frowning a little, she added, "And... your might wish to tie yourself up a bit. Yet most importantly, may I please examine your foot for injury? You are already here, so there is no reason to-"


[ Deck 08 | Hallway | USS Theurgy ]

While the Security Officer, this Adam Kingston, headed her way, Ester Hamburg had frozen on the spot - utterly unable to move. Fingers clenched around her PADD, she watched him like a small deer caught in the headlights of a 20th century auto-mobile.

"Ah, Cadet Hamburg... how are you doing today? Are you recovering from our... incident alright?"

Should she answer? Could she answer? Did she even want to answer? Perhaps she should just walk away, giving him the cold shoulder. He deserved it didn't he? She was facing her rapist, after all. Oh, she knew, she remembered glimpses of this older man, how he gradually made her do things to him. She remembered what he tasted like. What he felt like. How he filled her up. Lips trembling, she stammered something, anything, in reply. "I m-manage."

Right then, she could positively taste the lie on her pink tongue.

"I'd like to try to make what happened up to you, I know I can't take it away, but I can at least show that I'm sorry... Are you doing anything tonight Cadet?"

He better be sorry! He, that brute! He took away her most sacred... "I don't know. I really have a lot to do. My friends, and I, you know. No," she said, shaking her head a bit too many times, with too much emphasis, "No, no." Her discomfort was so plain it was like Warp Core warnings blared in the corridor. "G-Good bye, I need to be back to Main Engineeering."

She turned on her heel and set off, but tripped over her own feet in her haste.

With a loud cry, she went down, her PADD going down the corridor for the second time. She had tried to catch herself and ended up with a sore hand afterwards, and whilst trying to preserve her dignity, she attempted to get back on her feet like nothing had happened. "Oh, clumsy me, I don't know what happened. Perhaps the gravity sequencers are misaligned right here. Like I said, I must go, I..."

Part horror, part intrigue, part shame, with too many feelings at once, she could not do much else than try to flee.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #82 –
[ Deck 07 | Recovery Ward in Sickbay | USS Theurgy ]

She looked back at the hologram as as she snapped back initially, "Put that gaddam tricorder away! All I did was drop an effin weight on my toe."  she said griping, tired of dealing with these photon doctors but mostly just aggravated at not being of any use at the moment.  "And tying up wouldn't be necessary if you damn medics would just design some clothes that make sense.  The hell! You design these things so you have to reach in ways arms weren't meant to go just to keep from showin' yer arse."  She said sitting down and grabbing the weight back and stared at it. then looked back at the Thea. "Seriously what ya starin' at Piss-off, yeh holobitch!  And you guys, I ain't no damn peep show.  You go fuck off to somewhere else too!"  She said looking in the eyes of a few of the lingerers that had not went back when Thea had told them too.

While the woman came off as wanting to be left alone inside she felt completely different.  She hated this, Hated being left behind, hated being in therapy and recovery.  She just wanted to get out and do what she was supposed to do and yet she couldn't.  She had to vent her frustrations somewhere, and at the moment this holographic ship's face was the easiest target.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #83 –
[ Natalie Stark's Quarters | Deck 02 ]

Throughout the captains speech, Natalie stood, starring up at the other woman. Or man. That point was driven home quite well, of the whole speech. She froze up when the captain shifted, between one form and another, just as easily as she did with her hand. It left her trembling, true, but at the same time, an inkling of understanding was starting to take nest, deep in her conscious. It would take her some time to accept the words as truth, and would certainly not be tonight, but perhaps, she'd be able to come to terms with her new found fears.

As for her own lack of confidence, again, the shifters words struck a cord. Natalie could tell that she had a long way to go before she could feel confident in herself, but at the same time, she could almost grasp how her own doubts weren't important, and didn't change her ability, perhaps only hinder her own drive. She nodded, once, just before the comm interrupted the two. She took the pause to try and collect herself, her wits, and wrap her mind around what had been said. It was an intimidating philosophy, but she felt she just might be able to commit herself to it. That, or she was dead tired and fooling herself.

"Aye, sir. I'll be back in the gym in the morning. And Captain?" Natalie looked up again, gulping, "Thank you, sir"

[Sarresh Morali - Lower Science lab 2, Deck 7]

It was starting to become more then Sarresh could bear, the feeling of Amikris pressed close to him, the scent of her filling his nose, threatening to drown out everything else. So it was quite the relief when she finally pulled away, putting physical distance between the two of them. The scent of embarrassment flooded the room, his own mingling with the younger Ash'reem's. He shook his head a bit, as if that would allow him to tune it all out, but stopped mid shake to gape at Amikris.  His eyebrows rose high on his head "You're quarters?" he said in standard, since she had as well, "I barely know any of you"

Before he could go farther down that train of thought, the girls mother spoke up, and drew Sarresh back to the matter at hand. With a labored sigh, the young Lt tugged on his uniform a bit, crossing his arms afterwards. ~~Not just Tachyon emissions. ANything can emit a tachyon, though they tend to be most prevalent in time distortions, you are correct. They are also a commonly used detection system against cloaking devices. Only a massive Tachyon burst would register.~~ He takes on the tone of someone giving a lecture as he continues, ~~This monitors, or will, on a level far beyond what this bucket of bolts should be able to handle, I might add, chroniton emissions. It also scans for sudden discrepancies. I've managed to integrate one small piece of technology left me by the Relativity~~ he raises a hand before they can say anything about the Temporal Prime Directive

~~Its sealed, Lt. I cant actually see what is inside of it, or how it works. I can't browse its contents. Its a snapshot of history, major events, a...timestamp of what is supposed to happen. I can't look at the contents, and the damn thing is impermeable to our scanners. We can't learn anything from it, except this: IT will raise all holy hell if something that shouldn't happen, happens. And it has to be a serious discrepancy, not "captain Jien rolled over on the left side of the bed to get out in the morning, instead of the right"~~ He points to a small, spherical device, sitting in a cylindrical interface, ~~Frankly, I can only begin to comprehend, on the most basic level, how it work. Once I get it set up properly, in any case, it should prove useful~~ The whole time Sarresh does his best to ignore both Amikris, and her question.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #84 –
[Edena Rez - XO Ready Room]

He was right, of course.  Being the head of a department normally required the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and the SCO was no exception to that.  It was an important division of the Theurgy's crew, and needed proper representation, with a rank to match the authority.  "You are correct to bring up the need for a promotion, and your service record does reflect that you would be suited to it.  What it comes down to, though, is that I am not the one equipped to issue that promotion.  The Commanding officer on board does that.  I approved your position change, but it is Captain Ives who will handle your promotion.  That's why your first duty after leaving my Ready Room will be to report to the Captain."  With a nod of her head, Edena finally said, "dismissed," and sent Miles on his way to see Jien, to acquire the rank of Lieutenant Commander to go along with his new title of SCO.



[Lin Kae - Nimbus III]

Kae listened to the explanation of who Eve Jenkins was, and her relation to a person they were already able to confirm was compromised.  It did raise questions about her, especially when they had found her on a planet where no Federation outpost was present.  Why would a commissioned Starfleet Officer be on Nimbus III?  "If only we knew what we were looking for.  If we did, we could confirm whether she was compromised or not."  Lucan must have been thankful they couldn't detect it yet, as it saved him from a great deal of trouble.  "If we aren't sure if she is compromised, should we really leave Ensign Carver alone in there with her?"  What if it was a chance to finish what the knife started, and kill one of the few remaining Starfleet officers who knew about the conspiracy?

With Rihen speaking up, talking about the Industrial Replicator, Kae gave a quick look to Lucan.  This was what he was there for, to handle the repairs of the Replicator.  He could handle speaking with Rihen if Lucan wanted to watch over Skye, and assure she was safe with the unknown factor called Eve Jenkins.  "Repairing?  What kind of problems are you having?"  Kae had his suspicions.  The older designs were lacking a proper cooling system, which left frequent use of the replicator to overload primary circuits.  It was his leading suspicion behind any problems, and he was sure he could not only repair that problem, if he could find the needed parts, but he could likely get rid of the overheating issue altogether.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #85 –
[ Deck 02 - 01 | Stark's Quarters to Captain's Ready Room ] Attn: Miles Renard

"You are quite welcome, 'Commander," said Jien before leaving through the sliding doors, feeling that the visit to Natalie Stark's quarters had gone fairly well, despite the awkward start. There was hope for the morrow, and chances be, the both of them would be able to come to live with themselves - not to mention serve together on board the Theurgy.

With unhurried steps, the Commanding Officer changed... to his male form and walked the corridor of his ship, alone, and burdened with the lives of everyone aboard. It was at times like that when the doubts thawed the hoarfrost around his soul, the undermining tunnels that he dug by himself creeping closer underneath his fortifications. Who was he to challenge the entire Federation, to kill entire crews of Starfleet brothers and sister in the name of truth and justice? How the hell was he supposed to live with himself after what he had done? How he was supposed to prevail in his endeavour was one thing... but how could he ever stand before the masses and validate himself and his actions to all the widows and widowers, or to all the children bereft of their mothers or fathers.

"Ignorant... Beguiled by their very chain of command, by the traditions and principles we aim to uphold." That was what he had said to his former XO in the aftermath of the last battle, "I gave the orders, I raised my hand and I pointed, and I called 'Fire'. Now, widows all over the galaxy will curse our names as they weep themselves to sleep. Fathers will die desolate, knowing that their bloodline is extinct. The Theurgy has carved its mark into the Federation, and while we did, thousands were crying out for want of our mercy."

Grimacing, Jien tried to hold Nerina's wise answer close to heart.

"I could quote you regulations saying that we were justified, Regulation 3, General Order 8... But while we have only served together briefly and under trying conditions, I won't bother trying to convince you that we're legally right. I will say this, however, Captain. I, along with every other crewmember on board, is here. Is still doing his, her, or their duty, to take care of this ship. Every single one of them believes in you Captain, believes in this ship, believes in the truth. No-one has attempted to retake the ship, no-one has demanded to leave. We did not order those other ships to attack us, the moral guilt lies on the imposters in Starfleet who gave the orders. But if you give up on the crew, if you give up on the ship, if you give up on this mission, Jien, then and only then are you truly murdering anyone!"

Taking a deep breath and stopping to lean against the wall with one hand, Jien let it out with a shudder, steeling himself against his doubt, and trying no to think about how he had - whilst infected - caused Nerina such injury that she had to be placed in stasis indefinitely. Perhaps those poor people in the coffins were not so unfortunate, hope being that they would wake up once everything was over, and not have to kill or live in fear... at least not up to the point where they faced the judges. All that he could promise them, was that he would take them home, and try and clear all their names. To set the record straight.

No one deserved a fate such as theirs.

"Computer, where is Lt. Renard?"

[Lt. Renards is in turbolift four, leaving Deck 01 and heading for Deck 05]

Apparently, the new SCO must have had his talk with Commander Rez already, and Jien knew that it was time to summon the man to his own Ready Room - to finish what Edena had begun. "Tell Lt. Renard to report to my Ready Room," he told the computer, and headed up to Deck 01 himself, dismissing his Yeoman and the reports brought to his desk. Before the chirp on the door sounded, heralding the arrival of the new Pack Leader, Jien had placed the black satin box upon his desk - opened to display the black-marked pip and facing the door. He had seated himself in his chair and leaned on the desk, folding his fingers underneath his penetrating stare - the dead black centres of his oaken eyes scrutinizing the fighter pilot after he had called... "Enter!"

Watching the Vulpinian approach and report, Jien made no motion for the man to sit or be at ease. He did not comment upon the box that was set between them. He did not say a word, only sat there, and looked upon the man chosen to be the last line of defence for the Theurgy. For when its shields were gone and they were bare to enemy fire, only the leadership and fortitude of the Lone-Wolf Squadron was all that kept the truth and their mission to become a bleak memory in a dark future.

After a couple of seconds, Jien rose to his feet slowly and walked around his desk, still not having said a word or let the man stand at ease. He approached, and came to stand next to Miles Renard - his stare now upon the profile of the new SCO. What Jien meant to convey, to make explicitly clear to the man, was something he hoped would linger in his mind when he set himself to his new duties. His words were not meant to frighten the man, no, not even to iron out the chain of command, or instil obedience. No, not even making a statement to be taken as a threat. What Jien Ives told the new SCO, was a dire promise. After seconds had passed, the Captain's voice was deadly quiet.

"After you pick up that box," he said, so unmoving where he stood that any moment heralded the sudden explosion of violence, "and you come to fail me and this crew, you will not only fail yourself, your wolves and me. You will fail the future of Starfleet, perchance the very survival of the Federation as a whole. When you don that pip, you have no room for mistakes any more, no leeway and no comforting thoughts to fall back upon. The responsibility of command is yours again, but this time... you serve aboard my ship, where there is no margin for error."

Stepping away from Renard, Jien continued while he returned towards his seat. "You cannot show weakness any more. You will have to save your tears for the day when the pain is all behind. You will take your place at the head of the pack and always be on your feet. You will either stand up to face your many trials ahead, or you will die trying - only knowing that those behind you might die as well. Perhaps also every one you are obligated to protect here, aboard your base ship."

Seating himself behind his desk again, Jien watched the man, to make sure that he knew the responsibility for what it was. Something no to be taken as a privilege. Rather, the very opposite. "At ease. Take it up, and know that I have confidence in you, as long as you have confidence in this mission of ours. Any less... and you will regret it direly, on many accounts. Do I make myself clear?"

Seated, waiting, Jien ended up enquiring about his time since he was pulled from the buffer. "Have you read the debriefing you got about the ordeals we have been through while you were gone, and do you have any questions?"


[ Deck 07 | Recovery Ward in Sickbay | USS Theurgy ]

As only a hologram could, Thea let the rasping insults and verbal abuse shower out of the human's mouth - passing right through her.

"No," she said calmly, clearly, when she in very rude terms was asked by the wolf to leave. Partially, because she now could deny that request from the 'Lieutenant. Also, she meant to say her own piece of mind about the lengthy suffering of the patients around the pilot. "I will not leave unless you can address me civilly, as something less like a irritating spectre and more like the benefactor that I am - trying in vain to help you."

Setting back the last weights, Thea came to stand next to the pilot - folding her arms underneath her breasts and considering what kind of social approach might glean the best results. "The odds of your complete recovery drops substantially if you refuse help and the presence of others, and as I would surmise that your greatest wish remains to leave this Ward, it would be rather counter-productive to worsen the odds, wouldn't it? Do you care to know the numbers?"

Unbidden, Thea moved behind Evelyn Rawley to help her tie up her gown again - her optic sensors taking in the organic's bared skin. Not out of sexual curiosity - despite how such things now lay closer at hand in her daily processing tasks - but simply observing the angry markings of scar tissue upon the pilot's skin. Scars that she had insisted on keeping. Thea did not understand that choice, or why Dr. Nicander had agreed, but made no comment.


[ Paradise City | The Nimbus System ]

A silent accord was made, and Lucan nodded, seeing how it would be best to keep an eye on Skye Carver based on the smaller degree of knowledge that he could admit to. Moreover, Kae had the perfect opportunity to secure the objective or their mission, so the doctor went to the basin in order to clean himself up.

"Troubles? Nothn' but troubles I'd say," answered Rihen in a worn, tired voice, leaning against a wall with one of her gloved hands. Her head hanging a bit in defeat, she glanced up to the young man. "Damn thing didn' wanna start at first, patched and tinker'd with by those who was fool'd to buy it before me. Had to rip off junk that didn' serve any damn purpose - scarred it pretty bad. Overheats like a frigid bitch, ignition sparks crap out n' dies instantly in 'couple o' places, I even have this bastr'd molecular sequencer relay that has decided that it wants to take m' eyes out..."

Rihen trailed off there, watching when Lucan washed his bare upper body from blood. He as just about done, rinsing his fingernails best he could and wet all over. "If you'll excuse me," he said to them both, then smiled to Rihen, "if you are really really kind to this young man, he can take care of all your troubles. it all depends on how forthcoming you are, and if you will let him and I use the replicator once it works again."

"Wh- You can help me?" said the engineer - only a few years older than Kae - and she walked over to the Lieutenant to grab his incognito apparel for bodily support, "Plez, tell m', even bett'r, come with m', I will make it worth yer while. Plez."

Giving Kae a quick smile, Lucan headed out to the other Wards. "Go, I will be here. I can take care of myself," he told the young man, "Come back here as soon as you know a time estimate for the repairs."

With that, he stepped towards the place where Skye Carver was hidden, seeing shadows moving through the curtain - Eve Jenkins performing the surgery. The water on his skin was cool in the desert's chill night, the coolness penetrating the walls of the clinic. He came to lean against a wall just outside the curtain, folding his arms for warmth, and spoke to his old acquaintance from Starfleet Medical in an unhurried tone. He did not mean to distract her from what she was doing, and expected her to only answer once she could.

"By no means can I fathom what you are doing here," he said to Eve quietly, images of her and their night together flashing before his eyes, "yet all the same, it is good seeing you again."

Water dripped from his hair where he stood, studying his nails. His white loose breeches were wet and see-through over the thighs, but also heavily discoloured by Ensign Carver's blood. "I often wondered what became of you, but I had not expected you to leave Starfleet and set up shop in a city like this... You must have quite a story to tell."

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #86 –
[Deck 01 XO Ready Room and Bridge]

Miles nodded, "I was assuming the Captain would have to do such things,"  He said feeling rather accomplished at his correct knowledge of Starfleet procedure.  That said he saluted her and added, "Yes Ma'am, and thank you."  with that he turned around his tail swishing slightly as he walked having a bit of a spring in his step.  He exited the ready room towards turbolift and headed towards his quarters to gather a few things before his meeting with the Captain.

((Continued after Split))


[ Deck 07 | Recovery Ward in Sickbay | USS Theurgy ]

She growled to herself as she started to say somethign but the hologram spoke again saying something hit home.

"The odds of your complete recovery drops substantially if you refuse help and the presence of others, and as I would surmise that your greatest wish remains to leave this Ward, it would be rather counter-productive to worsen the odds, wouldn't it? Do you care to know the numbers?"

The statement hit her like a ton of bricks as she had a look of shock and in a way sadness which she bottled up inside refusing to show the tears she felt wanted to come out. "Dammit!  Why the hell do I have to be in this damn ward" she said to herself her voice rising slightly.  "Why can't my body just heal so I can be of some use.  At least the Klingon was in a coma.  The majority of his actual injuries are already healed, and knowing Klingons he will be out of here in a week now that he's woke up." she paused and sighed looking down, "But I still get stuck here. healing slowly like some weakling."


[Deck 01 Captain's Ready Room ]

Miles stood at attention as the captain spoke. He was looking forward the whole time, not even glancing down at the pip, just listening to the captain speak taking in every word.  He understood the importance of the position and he knew that it was no privilege but a whole mess of new responsibilities.  When the captain finished he simply saluted and spoke two words, "Yes sir."

Once the captain was seated he lowered the salute and took a seat himself.  He shifted the box towards him a little after sitting and looked at the pip starring at it for a second before the captain spoke again.

"Have you read the debriefing you got about the ordeals we have been through while you were gone, and do you have any questions?"

He nodded as he loosened up just a bit, "Not really questions but more concerns, and a few things I wished to go over with you, Sir."  He said simply as he brought out a PADD that he had been compiling information on recently. It served as a sort of notepad he was using to keep track of a few things he had wanted to ask the captain."

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #87 –
[Deck 01 | Captain's Ready Room ]

Pleased that the new SCO seemed to take his obligations seriously, Jien folded his hands in his lap and leaned back a bit.

"If there are concerns that are relevant and pressing to tell me now, instead of minor concerns that the Department Heads respectively can discuss at the next Senior Staff meeting," said Jien quietly with a very faint smile, not being weary of the toll exactly, but rather having his crew in mind and what they had been through, "Then, of course, you should by all means discuss them with me or the Executive Officer."

Shifting his seat a little, Jien felt compelled to change... her form, to mark the shift of their conversation to something a bit more casual than the strictness that she had first maintained. "As for things you want to go over that pertain to the Lone Wolves, the Executive Officer will need to hear it to, and not just I."

She glanced to the PADD, the very faint smile remaining. It appeared the pilot had kept himself busy during the time he had his wings clipped.

"Please proceed."

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #88 –
"Actuially most of the things I had in mind would involve both yourself and the XO as they are advisements regarding the performance and actions of my pack.  To be exact, I have two officers I would like to recommend for promotion.  One of those two I would like to recommend some form of commendation being given to in recognition for his going above and beyond the call of duty.  Another officer, I am very unsure of based on her recent service record.  There is a fourth that I am unsure whether to recommend for promotion or not.  In addition,  I have a proposed rearrangement of the squadron into a 12 ship squadron that will rectify the issues regarding pilots currently flying without wing-men in squadron formations.  This arrangement also includes my recommendations for the two flight group leaders.  However, that can wait." he said shifting his weight slightly slightly examining her form.

"I have a more personal question. It's about the way people are acting regarding each other on the ship in the wake of the incidents at Niga."  He glanced down and back up having not seen the captain in this form as often as he would like glancing to her body for a second his eyes moving back up taking in the new form she took.  He couldn't lie that he did find her attractive but in the same note he knew she wasn't his type, not romantically at least.  Physically was a different story though, and he couldn't help but admire the craftsmanship of her chosen form.  After all he was like her. The face either of them often shown the world was an crafted piece of their species unique biology made to allow them to blend in.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #89 –
[ Paradise City | The Nimbus System ] Attn: Lucan

Dhivael had rounded up the cure for Rihen and gave it to her without interrupting her conversation with the young man.  She'd seen Rihen in the clinic a few times for the same symptoms so instructions weren't necessary.  When she was returning to help Eve, she gazed at Lucan standing there dripping wet with the eyes of a woman and not a physician though his obvious familiarity with Eve held her tongue.  Stepping behind the curtain, she gave Eve and inquisitive raise of an eyebrow and fanned herself but the nurse simply shook her head and continued the internal repairs by hand.

For her part, Eve was quite focused on the case in front of her but his words made her curious ... and cautious.  "Life has a way of making changes for us that we never foresee," she replied as she pulled up the synthetic thread that she was using to repair the large intestine.  "Perhaps we could catch up when I'm done here.  This young lady isn't going anywhere for the night and probably not tomorrow.  All depends on how strong she is."  There was silence as she looked over the body, noting all the features and finding her patient quite interesting.  "She looks strong." Too bad she's most likely not into women from the little I picked up holding back her pain.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #90 –
*****

Days passed and, to a certain extent, life returned to normal.  At least, as much as it could when the entire ship was a huge fugitive being hunted by an unknown and predictably persistent race that was taking over their homes, their lives.  T'Less had sought no congratulations for what she'd done to Niga, and hadn't expected any, but still felt as though those around her both approved and disapproved at the same time.  It was a complicated matter, to be sure, an illegal but entirely necessary action, one condoned by the command structure of the ship.  Even still, it made her wonder whether there might not have been another solution, but she tried to ignore it, not to second guess herself.

Returning to her quarters, she paused at the reminder blinking on her desk.  It had been two-fold, one a reminder to eat, something she hadn't had much time for, and two, she had a meeting with Ida.  With a tap of her combadge, she sought out the Andorian, "Lieutenant Ida, will you join me in my quarters, please."

It was either combine the two activities, or not eat.  Logically, combining made sense, and it would be illogical to weaken one's self with lack of food.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #91 –
[ Deck 01 | Captain's Ready Room | USS Theurgy ]

Listening to the pilot, Jien remained in her seat, moving only her eyes. "I think it prudent, then, that you ask about the aftermath of Niga first, and then, we'll see if Commander Rez is available to attend if you have recommendations for changes in the duty roster."

In a way, since Jien had grown up among humans and almost considered herself human, the appreciation that the pilot showed to her female form was lost on her at first. Yet after a couple of seconds, after that Jien had been prepared to comment acidly on the looks he made, she came to realise the intent - the admiration between shape-shifters. Thus, the comment was withdrawn before it formed.

Just as Jien had come to treasure the beauty of humanity and he finality of their permanent forms, she had soon also come to learn the other aspect - too see the craft of her own and that of others like her. It was a craft, if a very personal and anatomy-oriented one. Chameloids had it fairly easy, while other species of shifters needed more time and effort, and thus she found her own Chosen Forms easily made, only tuned to her own taste's perfection over the decades.

She did not make any comment - regardless of the 'Commanders own dedication to his Federation-adapted form and the time he must have put into it.

[ Deck 08 - 02 | Corridors to Lt. T'Less Quarters | USS Theurgy ]

After having literally bumped into Cadet Hamburg and left her behind, Ida got the message from the Chief Tactical Officer and tapped her own combadge.

"Yes, Lieutenant, I will be right there."

Ida had no idea what the Vulcan might want. At least, she could not remember something specific at the top of her head. It was in the middle of the afternoon, and she had yet a couple of hours of duty left before she would have to attend the dinner with David Grayson - something she had come to regret further and further the more she thought about it. It might be awkward, but at least she might get the chance to draw him - to practice for the pending commission from someone else.

Regardless, she reached the turbolift, taking it to Deck 02, where she soon announced her presence with a tap on the panel next to the door. "Lt. zh'Wann here."

[ Deck 07 | Recovery Ward in Sickbay | USS Theurgy ]

Analysing the behaviour of the pilot, it was plain to Thea that she needed reassurances. At the same time, past efforts to give her such had been fruitless, so Thea chose to do something else.

"Is there anything specific you would like to have arranged for you, something that would actually be advisable in this environment?" she asked the pilot with the rasping voice and the shaven head. She did not know how she might accommodate any wishes, but perhaps there was something worthwhile for Lt. Rawley to do while her body regained its strength.

At least it seemed that Thea's words had gotten through.

[ Paradise City | The Nimbus System ]

Alone on his side of the curtain, Lucan looked out a window towards the stars, commenting on what Eve was saying.

"She ought to be..." he said, weighing the possibility to tell her more with the delectable Romulan woman present as well behind that bloody curtain. Vaguely, he had come to notice how Eve had been alone in performing the surgery up until the point when the Romulan had arrived, which meant she had made progress in their common field of expertise. Which proved quite interesting, in several ways, but the most important thing was her reason for being there - something she had not readily revealed quite yet.

Frowning, Lucan wondered if it was wise to tell Eve about the Theurgy and what had happened to Starfleet while she was performing surgery. Perhaps he should wait until she was finished. Perhaps he should offer to assist them - if nothing else to gaze some more upon the woman whom had ended his Starfleet Medical days on a celebratory note. This woman... whom had no such advanced training in surgery of penetration wounds last he saw her. Perhaps, for appearances sake, to keep Kae - that bothersome liability that ceaselessly foiled his plans - and his ignorant belief that Eve might be an impersonator placated... he should be behind that curtain.

"Do you have any spare scrubs, or at least a mask? I would like to assist, or if nothing else, overview the progress," he asked politely, then directed himself to the Romulan, whom would probably have objections to interject any second. It would reveal that he was from Starfleet, but at this point, the Romulan would know soon enough anyway. "I am a doctor too, studied together with Eve on Terra. I am currently the Chief Medical Officer on the Starship I have been commissioned to, so I can assure you that I will not be in the way."

Figuring Eve might take offence at him imposing himself, he added another truth. "She was indirectly hurt because of me, hence me asking. She is a Tactical Conn Officer that was ordered to protect me - and the young Engineering Officer I arrived with - while we were down here. So I feel... that I have not lived up to my responsibilities, by not being able to do more for her."

The fact of Skye Carvers nudity was no issue, professionals as they all were. He saw a mask hanging on a peg and lifted it up in order to put it on, straps behind his ears, and would enter in his water-pearled state unless they insisted on finding scrubs for him too. He would enter and he would watch the progress, and wait for Eve to reveal more when breaking the silence that predominated critical surgery.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #92 –
"Do you have any spare scrubs ..."  A half-smile formed as she asked Dhivael to suction away some debris and fluids.  "Cabinet behind you though they're usually for a Klingon ... might be a little big."  Without looking from her work, she said "He's one of the most brilliant doctors I've ever seen, Dhivael and I'm surprised he waited this long to ask ... and not actually demand ... that he be allowed to help."

As he told them about the woman on the table, Eve's stomach clenched.  He was definitely still Starfleet and she was probably healing the person who would put the shackles on her to take her back to who knew what.  It wasn't her fault or really Lucan's and her compassion guided her to continue the surgery.  She would only harm someone in self-defense and even then it would bother her greatly.  She still cared for the man she called Luc with such tenderness.

"Dhivael, why don't you go get some rest.  Luc can help me finish up the surgery and I'll handle my usual duties after," she requested.  The physician looked at her a bit shrewdly and knew the absolute calm Eve was showing was not exactly the case but it wasn't her place to ask questions, not really.  "I think that's a good idea and I have someone I should talk to very soon anyway," she chuckled lightly as she handed the suction device to the man.

Once she had left, Eve paused.  "The blade severed the large intestine but I've repaired that and it was an upward angle that nicked the kidney but it was really superficial.  She's a lucky girl the bastard just wanted to inflict pain and let her bleed out," she said with all seriousness.  "If you look though," she pointed a bit lower with actual sadness in her eyes, "the ovary has been completely severed.  There's no way to save it ..."

With a little sigh as she reached up and used her forearm to wipe her brow, she shrugged one shoulder.  "She'll still have the other so it won't be impossible and if she really wants to bear children you know there are ways to enhance ovulation."  She looked up into his eyes, felt and heard nothing from within him, and that old sensation arose.  "Luc ... if you're here to take me back I beg you to say you never saw me, let me live and do something productive with what's left of my life."

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #93 –
Miles sighed as he  began placing his hands on his lap for a moment, before taking a breath. "It's the way the crew behave around each other. Everyone is looking at reach other with the occasional fearful or accusatory glance.  At the same time.  It is of my opinion that the crew is in desperate need for some form of return to normalcy sexually speaking.  Most of the most recent encounter that at least 95 percent of the crew can retain in memory would be the event of the rape they experienced to become infected.  It is my analysis that this has probably left much of the crew very fearful of not only each other but of sexuality itself.  The least thing they need right now is the fear that even in finding a consensual partner in a fellow officer will end up with them in trouble for fear of regulations prohibiting officers from sexual encounters. 

He paused for a moment in stating his piece.  "II just wanted to let you know, as one of maybe no more than 10 people not affected by this tragic event, my opinion on the issue.  The crew needs to just get whatever lusts and fears out of their systems before they can fully begin recovery from this encounter.  I don't know how to best go about this delicate situation, but I know that if I were among the previously infected I would not like to have my most recent memory of any sexual encounter be associated with that damnable infection.   As it currently stands regulations exist that give every officer on board a choice.  Keep going another day with the last intimate memory being from the infection, or screw around behind everyone's back and hope they don't get caught out of fear of protocol.  Frankly, I think consensual sexual intercourse may be a healing agent for many members of our recently tormented crew.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #94 –
[Lin Kae - Nimbus III]

"I actually have a great deal of knowledge about those particular devices.  I've been repairing them for some time."  It was easy enough to pass himself off as an independent tradesman, and not necessarily a Starfleet Engineering officer.  It allowed their cover to remain intact while he was shown the device.  Part of him almost wanted to cry out in pain on behalf of the poor, butchered device, having been given patchwork several times rather then fixing the outlying problem altogether.  Still, he knew he could fix it, and with parts that weren't Starfleet issue either, to further his cover of being unaffiliated with the Federation.

"It's a mess, but I think I can handle it.  If I list off the parts I need, can you tell me if you have them, or at least know where to find them?"  Kae got in close, and started looking through the pieces that needed replacement.  "These replicators are very out of date.  Newer designs have managed to undo a lot of the issues with overheating by swapping out some of the materials with more heat resistant versions.  Even so, I've also found ways to improve their efficiency and to make it cheaper then whatever the Federation is making them out of these days.  First thing is to replace the plating that covers the Replicator.  It needs a higher grade, closer to what is used on a starship hull to allow atmospheric re-entry.  It's currently got a thickness of 1/8 of an inch, so we want to bring that up to a 1/4 inch.  We'll also need three induction coils, smallest size.  The kind used in any starship warp core would do the trick.  We'll also need heat dispersing cables half an inch in diameter.  This quarter inch stuff isn't going to do the trick."

His assessment would have run up a fair tab if all the parts were being bought new, but in their case, they could save a great deal by salvaging parts from old ships, so long as the pieces were in proper shape.  If anyone knew it was that easy to fix an Industrial Replicator, they would likely be much more careful with all those old parts.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #95 –
[ Deck 01 | Captain's Ready Room | USS Theurgy ]

Sitting in her chair, Captain Ives listen to the concerns of the new SCO and remained leaned back in her chair, hands casually in her lap.

The topic was one highly unusual to be brought before her, something there was no text-book answer for given the circumstances. She kept her face completely straight when the infection was mentioned - despite how she had been one of those affected by it. It was no easy situation they had after what had happened to them all, but at the same time, there were ways to make things worse than before, and also there were measures that could remove the focus from their mission. As it were, crew morale was important, but there were limits to what Jien would dictate in her command of a Starfleet crew.

"All of the crew are not in the need to vent sexual frustrations. Some need other solutions tin order to process and recover form the Niga incident. You admit to not knowing a definite solution, and that is well noted, but all of the previously infected are not as concerned as you reckon you would be in regards to their own sexuality - much because they do not fully remember everything. Even if they do remember enough to be very concerned, ashamed, and distraught, it is something for the Morale Officers working for Counsellor Nelis to handle with the assistance of the other departments."

Standing up, Jien folded her hands into loose fists by her sides and walked over to the view of the shooting starts - travelling at Warp 3 as they were. "Even if the most recent sexual experiences the crew have are dimly remembered madness, I firmly believe that the crew has memories far more intact that pre-dates the incident at Niga. Clear memories of committing themselves to love and companionship that will overrule the foggy horror of what the biochemical weapon on that planet did to us."

Remembering how she had sparred with Junior Lieutenant Isley and suddenly been having sex with him instead, Jien still did not know if that had been a result of the pollen that had begun to spread through their broken environ systems during the night before she headed to the gymnasium, or if it was her own free will dictating her actions to one-hundred percent. Still, she considered the choice she made a very good one - something that she had needed. She had been so alone. The memory of that morning had anchored her, and she refused to credit the virus for it.

"As it currently stands, regulations exist and they will not cease to exist. They will not be altered either. We are Starfleet Officers, and we are not to change our protocols simply because of discomfiting and partial memories," Jien rounded on the SCO now, her stare just as hard as the male version of her - only another face framing it, "The moment we begin to shift our rules so that they fit us, we are inevitably inviting the crew to think that the regulations and protocols they adhere to are immaterial and can be circumvented. During our escape from the Sol System and the Niga-incident, enough breaches of protocol has been forgiven as it is, and if your suggestion, 'Commander Renard, is to encourage sexual relations on my ship which would violate our standards further, then the answer is 'no'. I will not sanction more hedonism. We have had enough of that already."

Her shoulders squared, she worked her jaw. "Consensual sexuality is exactly what it says it is: consensual. It is the free choice of people aboard to use as a 'healing agent' as long as they do it without forgetting that we still are Starfleet, and we have a bloody mission to do. Sanctioning anything else would do as much harm to some individuals as it might heal others, and I have not even begun to address the problem differing cultures, or of people using such a decree as an excuse to make sexual advances upon unwilling personnel."

The Captain's word was final, and as much could be seen in her eye. "Anything else but our steadfast belief in our counsellors and ourselves... is to invoke anarchy." With the matter settled as far as she was concerned, Jien tapped her combadge. "Commander Rez, would you mind coming to my Ready Room when you are available. Our new SCO would like to discuss organisation and routine changes."

Looking at Miles, Jien smiled faintly. "I do not hold suggestions offered against the people who come with them, but while Vulpinians have a more... liberated view on the matter, there are other species aboard that would not think this matter so easily dealt with. I hope you will come to understand my ruling in this matter."

[ Clinic | Paradise City | Nimbus III ]

Lucan had opened the cabinet and pulled a set of scrubs out, problem was that the Klingon neckline and the sleeves were too wide, which would have done little to serve in the capacity that they were meant to be worn for. Instead, he had picked up the transparent disinfectant gel and rubbed his hands, arms, chest, neck, shoulders and abdomen with it - merely putting on the mask before entering through the opening in the curtain.

Smiling with his pale grey eyes to the Romulan, he accepted the suction apparatus before she left him and Eve alone. His gel-covered body and his sodden white breeches were cast in stark surgical lighting - skin glistening when he moved and his lower body revealed through the sodden fabric. The edge of the diagnostics table barely preserved his modesty, hiding the most of his thighs and his private parts - the girth of his base and half his length hinted through the clingy Câroon garment. Though he was not completley unaware of this, he coldly did not mind or comment on it - listening to Eve's operation diagnosis.

"Based on your account and what I can see," he said quietly in his deep voice before she looked up, "I anticipate a full recovery besides the need to enhance ovulation at the time she wish to bear children. Should she want to, I might attempt to artificially restore the ovary by cloning her other one at some point, but I will leave it to Ensign Carver if she wants to go through with such a lengthy process when were are on our mission and I cannot guarantee her recovery or the success of the operation unless she is on administrative duties for a couple of weeks afterwards."

Lucan had applied suction as required, and not only did he watch Eve's performance, but her in general. He could not see much more than her eyes, and they met his when she revealed her fears to him. The beasts inside chuckled in the dark void of his soul, but even if he might make a qualified guess as to why she had left - knowing her half-blood nature and the fact of her father's fate - he could not be so presumptuous in his act of being a regulation-abiding and impeccable Starfleet Officer.

"Let you live?" he asked, raising his eye-brows. Of that, he could not make any promises... "Take you back? I am sure you are mistaking me for someone else. I would assume, then, that you are not here on Starfleet commissioning, and that you are a deserter... but how could you ever think I would betray you like that? I, personally, do not care how you left the fleet. besides this fact... now that you bring it up, none of those aboard my ship would hold it against you."

Lifting the suction momentarily since the intestine was sewn shut with the synthetic thread - the ends joined together and fixated - Lucan gave Eve the out-dated yet adequate autosuture instrument that would fuse the ends together seamlessly. He spread his hands and raised his brows, saying, "As a matter of fact... my crew and I are all deserters too."

During his pause, to let her take this in, Lucan prepared the dermal regenerator instrument for later use. He needed a moment to decipher the non-Starfleet issue version, scaling the range so that Eve might close the wound without leaving a mark. Some of the wolves - like Evelyn Rawley - wanted their scars to remain, but he was not going to suggest waking Ensign Carver up to ask just because of pilot barbarism. Besides, he did like the blonde human's flawless abdomen, still not prepared to give up the idea to spend his semen on it on day. Then again, with her recent injury, he might not have to pull out when he came just because of the danger of inseminating her womb.

"Judging from what you tell me, this fear you now hold for the fleet, I would imagine we are all deserters for the same reason," he added, not looking more than any doctor would upon the woman below their hands - instead remembering times together with the half-blood Deltan. Sex with her had been something quite else, for obvious reasons. "Also, my ship left Terra in great hurry after picking up certain transmissions... where your father was revealed to be one of them."

Having said this, his eyes did not turn threatening, yet his tone was now more firm - more official.

"So, as my Engineering Officer suggested... it is I whom should be questioning you, and not the other way around." There was no charming doctor from the academy standing before her now, but a Starfleet Officer on his mission, "Were you sent here by your father, or were you not? What do you know about what happened to him, and how did you come to know that he was not the same man you grew up with? What are the signs, if there are any, and how can we make use of your findings in order to save the whole bloody Federation from being corrupted? Eve, I need you to tell me this, right now. It is, obviously, very important."

Well... he was a Starfleet Officer, only so much more, and about to learn the flaws of his kin. The beasts laughed hysterically in his ears, content with his ploy.


[ Rihen Neyah's Hide-away | Paradise City | Nimbus III ]

The work-shop was dusty, but one could hardly tell from all the sand that had gotten in there. It held boxes and boxes, piled up to the ceiling, and blocking every wall. Each containing dusty memories, good or bad, of the purchases she'd done to make the replicator work.

Rihen Neyah had seated herself by the window on a dirty stool, watching the lights of moving land-vehicles filter past the translucent glass. She was drinking water, had taken the pills that she got at the clinic. She felt much better now, though very tired, and her speech did not slur any more. When the engineer was make his final assessment, she looked up and smiled - so glad to have found hope in her enterprise. She got off the stool and went to her benefactor, answering on her way there. Rihen had tossed her lather coat over the stool and was wearing her black working overall underneath - the zipper pulled down as far as it had before in the bar.

"I am not certain... but I think I can scrape together enough plating with the right thickness. I had thought about overheating and therefore bought the plates, but I was thrown off the scent of the solution by the adjustments the previous owners had made. Heat-resistant machine parts are standard around here, for obvious reasons - the cables no real issue. I a few short length ones we can fuse, but we might need more. I have two induction coils, but I have no credits for a third one. I have a third one that was broken, in case we can make that one work... "

Reaching the young Engineer, Rihen's smile was warm. Very warm. "So... for all your trouble," she said, fingering the zipper of her overall, "have you come up with any way I can thank you? Not only have you given me hope, but the means to become a very rich woman here in Paradise City. And if there is anything we Risans do know... it is how to celebrate."

Indeed, she now revealed where she hailed from before she ended up in her desert hell-hole work-shop, hiding her true identity and posing as a human. She was one of the few Risans banished from her planet, and how she sought to have the lead role in her own rags-to-riches story. And this young man before her was her key, so it was all in good order she thanked him as only her species might.

The Risan Engineer smiled and stepped closer, let him see some more skin. "So... can you come to think of anything..?"

She wanted to share her happiness in the way only Risans might... the preferences of the young man be damned.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #96 –
Dhivael wondered how Eve could not respond to the sight that entered the surgical area but remembered Toq had trained her and when it came to treating a patient, nothing interfered.  Not even his mate coming in and biting his ass.  It seemed Eve had mastered the mind over matter mentality of her mentor.  Either that or the nurse's self-imposed celibacy had completely shut down her sex drive.  There was someone she could train though and a ship passing in the night was better left to Eve if she wished to claim that passage.

"For some reason I would say administrative duties wouldn't suit this one.  Tough girl yet her concern was for you and the other with you so perhaps there's some maternal instinct in there she's just not ready to let out yet."  She'd certainly felt a surge of protectiveness when she said the name, Kae.  "I've no doubt you'll be able to help her with whatever route she chooses," she stated as she gingerly removed the ovary and cauterized the area.  "All of this could already be done if they had proper equipment here," she grumbled.

Her eyes widened when he called her a deserter and then he could see the pain in them when he asked how she could think he would betray her.  "It's hard not to think anyone would betray me when the man who raised me ...," she said quietly but stopped to focus on her patient.  "Time to close this up," she said and worked with him on doing just that.  Even with the dermal regenerator, she let the surgical bed take over to speed up the healing process.  "She will still be sore for a couple of days," she added absently.

As the bed hummed along, she put all the instruments in a pail of solvent and then threw away the biodegradable gloves and surgical cover.  Joining him at the sink to wash up, she finally took note of the man though his previous tone of questioning left no room for old flames to rise.  "The man looks like my grandfather somehow he's changed.  I don't know what happened or anything about these transmissions you're talking about but I do know he tried to send me away and when I felt something off with him when talking with my grandmother, I was suddenly ordered back to San Francisco."

She held Lucan's gaze and he knew she was honest, always had been with him before.  "An escort was sent to accompany me home.  Luckily I overheard their thoughts.  They were going to have a little fun with me before they presented me for execution.  As you can see, I wasn't thrilled with their plans and I managed to sneak away on a freighter."  There was a pause and she shook her head in bewilderment.  "I've heard there's something gong on with Starfleet but I don't have any answers for you.  If I did, you know I would tell you, Luc."

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #97 –
The beasts were disappointed in how the half-blood Deltan could not be more specific about the way she could determine their nature, yet Lucan - whom knew Eve Jenkins from before - was indeed able to tell that she was being honest with him. It motivated a slight change of plans, in how he would have to remain with her and see if she could pinpoint other of his own nature besides her father. At that point, it was also too late to find some new form of transportation and leave the Theurgy behind. Eve would never trust him if he simply decided to leave the ship and crew he had talked about. Eve had also met Kae and Carver already, so he could not leave them behind now. No, he had to make Eve Jekins feel safe.

"I know you would, and I believe you. I am sorry for my tone, it is just that we have been chased by the orders issued by these... impersonators all over the Alpha Quadrant, with standing warrants to all of the Fleet to shoot us down." Lucan had put the mask away from washing before he'd joined Eve by the water basin. He was not too messy after the surgery since he had done little beyond nurse-duties, but he rinsed himself again out of routine. "We have barely made it through, and now we are here to find the spare parts and medical supplies we need."

He reached out to touch her, his tattooed hand brushing against her shoulder and upper arm, "I am sorry to hear how you ended up here, betrayed and everything," he said with the voice of compassion that she knew, and he hugged her close, a gesture more friendly than anything else, even if it did serve to let him feel her against his bare chest once more. "If I had not come, you would not have known how bad things are in terms of scale, and you could have continued in ignorance. You still can, of course. Yet in a way, I realise I have now I come to ruin the new life you have built, even if this is not where you are had meant to be before you fled."

Planting a seed with his words, he moved on to speak of else before he brought up the topic of her future.

Parting, standing before her with his hands on her hips, there were many things to discuss. Lucan resorted to the thing that was most plain to his eyes. "Look at you. Never had I thought to see you again," he said, smiling a little as his pale eyes roamed her and her now damp clothes, this flower of nostalgia he'd found blossoming in a rare location, "and I have nothing to offer you but a ship on a suicide mission not even here yet - bound for Nimbus III as soon as we have collected the medical supplies and spare parts we can find. It leaves us just two days, at most, before I must leave again."

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #98 –
[Edena Rez - XO Ready Room]

"Commander Rez, would you mind coming to my Ready Room when you are available. Our new SCO would like to discuss organisation and routine changes."

Miles Renard certainly did prove to be an ambitious man.  It was only a short time ago that the two of them parted ways so that the Lieutenant could go see Captain Ives and be presented the position of Lieutenant Commander.  Now, he was already looking to mess with the duty rosters that she had spent hours working on.  It was his right, as SCO, to schedule such training sessions, but she still had some say in whether that could go ahead.  Responding to the request with a simple "on my way," she picked up her copy of the roster, contained in a PADD on her desk, and ventured out of her own ready room and to the one of the ship's Commanding Officer.

A brief chime of the door could no one but her, so when the doors opened, there should have been little doubt who was coming in.  Edena positioned herself at an equal distance between Captain and Lieutenant Commander, the three of them creating a triangle of sorts with their bodies.  "Reporting as requested," she said in that usual professional tone of hers, bored into her head by Jona.  She had been far too timid before he came along, never cut out for command.  Now, she could carry herself to appear like she belonged there, deserved her position and it's responsibilities.



[Lin Kae - Rihen Neyah's Hide-away]

Kae was in a focus, his eyes locked to the device as he attempted to strip away the parts that were needing to be replaced.  The parts were charred black with electrical burns, cast to the floor beside him as he made certain everything else was in proper order.  "This has got to go too," he pointed to a device that was extremely recognizable.  It was the power source.  If one of those was fried, it was generally accepted that the Replicator was nothing but a pile of scrap. 

"The power source is completely shot.  There's no fixing that.  Fortunately, I know a workaround.  I can create a wireless energy transfer device, similar to that used on a starship.  Basically, you can power it by creating an energy stream to the device."  What he described was the golden goose.  The limitations of power in a replicator kept it from being completely viable, but the power output of a ship was exponential by comparison.  In the back of his mind, he knew the balance of power and how easily it could shift with such a device present.  He was working out how to handle that issue too.

It was Rihen's shift in position that finally brought her revealing attire to attention.  As quickly as he saw it, he was looking away, like he was accidentally catching her getting out of the shower.  Organic women were such a new thing to him.  His physical contact was limited to photonic lifeforms, and even if the bodies were essentially the same thing with skilled enough programming, there was always something that held him back.  She spoke of repaying him, in ways he wasn't stupid enough to confuse.  Just the mention that she was Risan was like putting a big sign on her nearly exposed chest that said "fuck me."

"I . . . just need to use the replicator for myself.  If you can allow that, it would be more then enough to repay.  I have a lot of ship repairs and supply orders to fill up.  Would be a fortune normally, but with this Replicator, you'd really be helping me out more then you know."  Not exactly what she would have wanted to hear, but that alone would be enough to thank him.  The redness in his cheeks should have been enough to tell her he understood what she had been offering, yet he couldn't bring himself to accept.

Re: INTERREGNUM EP 01-02: Low Profile & New Blood

Reply #99 –
[ Clinic | Paradise City | Nimbus III ]

Eve's trust in Lucan from their days at the Medical Academy had warred with the mistrust she had developed as a result of her 'father' but trust ultimately won because she had to believe there was still some part of her life that was good and honest.  "You don't have to apologize," she said as he pulled her into a hug.

"We've both been through a lot since leaving the Academy, especially recently.  This is never where I wished to end up but seemed the best route at the time."  Though it had been several years, his scent was the same and it felt good to have him pressed up against her.  "If you came along, then I'm sure others will too and they wouldn't be so gracious."

Shaking her head, she hugged him a little tighter for a moment.  "You haven't ruined anything, just made me wonder if this is where I'm really supposed to be now."  When he pulled back, her own white gauzy blouse was stuck to her and revealed her per nipples and served as a reminder to him that she didn't typically wear underwear though like him, she wasn't embarrassed.

Reaching up, she touched the back of her hand to his right cheek and lightly grazed along his jaw until the middle of his chin where her fingertips began to touch along the other jaw line and upward until her palm rested on the left cheek.  "You never need to offer me anything but yourself, Luc," she said in a soft whisper.  "Whether it's for a day or two ... or longer."

The hum of the surgical table stopped and there was a soft groan from Skye, pulling Eve away from Lucan as she went to check on the patient.  Taking one of the warm blankets, she covered Sky's body as she slowly regained consciousness.   "AH!  What ... the hell?"  Then her eyes popped open and she gritted her teeth as she tried to sit up.  "Where's Kae and ..."

"Easy now or you'll mess up everything I just worked on and I'd really rather not have to go back in tonight if you don't mind," Eve said and placing her hand on Skye seemed to ease the pain again.  "Are you always this feisty?" she asked the pilot and then looked at Lucan.

"Yeah, pretty much," Skye replied and followed Eve's gaze to Lucan and his blood stained pants and tried not to look too much at the glistening chest.  "Are you okay, Sir?  What about Kae?" she asked and then bit her lip for calling him Sir in front of someone.

"Oh he's more than fine, just a little winded," Eve stated with a merry chuckle at her own quip regarding his ability to manipulate the air.  "And your other friend seemed to be completely unharmed ... Ensign Carver," she stated which made her whip her head around and groan from the fast movement.  "Yes, I know a little as I've been chatting with your higher up here.  I'm afraid you get to stay here for the night but look at the bright side, it's free and not a flea infested hovel."  Her gaze returned to Lucan and she raised an eyebrow.  "Have you found a place to stay yet?"
 
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