Posted by Lieutenant Kaia (Chief Engineer) in Main Sim; What is taking so long

Posted by Gamemaster GMM Mousie (Gamemaster) in What is taking so long

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Sebastian d’Aramis (Chief Intelligence Officer) in What is taking so long
Posted by… suppressed (21) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Admiral Riley was pacing, his irritation was doing nothing for the children. They were missing something. He caught her for a moment “We’ll find them.” He said firmly, he was saying this more to assure himself than Livy. They hadn’t seen the child officers for several years in an effort to protect them from Jefferson’s job, he had arranged for them to disappear and separate themselves from the children, it was a last-ditch effort to protect them. If he and their mother were dead, they would be left alone. That had worked well for the last year, just after their youngest, Emily, was born. It was hard, they only got to spend two months with the baby before they “disappeared”.

Contrary to belief, they had continued to keep tabs on Starfleet children through their nanny, Brielle. The last communication that they had had with Brielle, was three days before the fire. She had mentioned that they had received a threat, non-specific, untraceable (at least to Brielle). Brielle assured Jefferson and Livey that the children would be safe. She was putting plans into place to get them away from the station for a period of time. Unfortunately, whoever had made the threat had learned of her plans to leave and now the children were gone and Brielle was dead.

GMM Mousie

As the Admiral paced, a massive ship dwhoed out of warp some distance from the Event Horizon station. Of the three Starfleet ships permanently stationed in the Delta Quadrant, the Manhattan* was by far the largest. And even though it rocked at the station regularly, the sight of the massive Heavy Research vessel never ceased to draw stares and onlookers as its shadow cast itself across the docking bay exterior.

On the bridge of the system’s fleet, Fleet Captain Alexandr Cochrane watched on the view screen as the docking procedures drew his vessel into the station’s docking clamps. The tell-tale clunk of the clamps engaging was heard and he said “Prepare ship for disembarkation and restocking. Ops. Engineering. We will only be here a few hours. Make sure that all necessary repairs are completed and all personnel are accounted for prior to departure. No shore leave is approved. All personnel are required to remain aboard unless cleared by their Department Head to leave.” He looked at the XO and said “Commander, we have an appointment with the Ambassador. Let’s not keep him waiting.” and he stood up and walked to the turbo lift doors.

Cochrane, CO

Shedda stood and followed Alex to the turbolift. The watch Officer strode around and took the seat while making sure the captain’s orders were carried out.

The ruse that they were meeting with Ambassador S’Tek was ludicrous because that would be Viktorsson’s job. Shedda certainly hadn’t been trained for this kind of work. She was also worried about Alex. He had finally agreed to take a vacation and it had been canceled. The man needed a break. There was no use arguing about it now.

As they rewhod the hatch she nodded to the security officer. “Is the seal engaged?”

“Yes Ma’am.” With a nod from Mal’athaishe, the officer opened the hatch and she followed Cochrane onto Event Horizon.

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

Riley was standing at the docking ring waiting. He knew Fleet Captain Cochran, primarily through his mother, Deborah. She had been a piece of work and her behavior brought her to the attention of Section 31. They had to investigate exactly what deals she was making and with whom. They could never bring charges against her because she was very good at what she was doing. She continued to remain on their radar. Riley had seen Alexander on several occasions as well as the other Cochran family members. Riley was fairly certain that none of them knew that Section 31 had been watching them. Now as he waited for Cochran and Mal’athar to step through the door, he was nervous. He knew the Manhattan was a research vessel and he also knew that this was out of their purvue, however he also knew that there were things that they would find that would be of interest to the research teams on board. He would be taking them to places that had not been explored or clearly.

As the command team stepped forward, Riley greeted them both with an extended hand.

Mouse

Cochrane took the man’s hand and gave it a firm, single shake. “Admiral. A pleasure seeing you again. May I introduce Commander Shedda Mal’athar, my Executive Officer.” And he waited for the two to exchange greetings.

Cochrane, CO

Mal’athar shook the admiral’s hand, “Admiral,” she said respectfully and perfunctorily. Covert operations was not the Manhattan’s primary mission, it wasn’t even it’s last mission. However, there were children missing and that didn’t leave any extra time.

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

Jefferson shook both officer’s hands “Thank you for coming to help me out. I know that our station Security is taking care of things here, however I believe that the children are no longer on the station and I’m almost certain that they are in a very rare area that has not truly been explored. Let’s go to my office so we can talk more.” He said leading the way to the main ring and turned left.

Once in his office, he pulled up a map “Unfortunately, the area that we are looking at has not been fully explored by Star Fleet. I can tell you that I was in the area about six months ago on a mission. It is a beautiful area but very hostile both in animals and people.” He said rubbing a tired hand over his face. “Carraya IV. That was where I started out. Everything seemed to be going okay, but then weird things started happening in the jungle. There are new life forms that I don’t know have ever been seen or explored.”

Jefferson looked at the two officers “If I had to guess, the children have been taken here or somewhere in that area. You need to be aware of the Devorians. They don’t like aliens and even less so anyone that is telepathic. On Carraya IV, there was a woman that lived near the transport hub. She seems to know everything that is going on in the area. If there are new people, she might be the one to talk to. I don’t remember her name. She had a small blue house just as you walk out of the transport hub.”

Mousie

Cochran looked at the map as the Admiral spoke. He made note of the system planetary organization, and began contemplating viable approaches to the planet. “If they are hostile to outsiders, has official first contact been made? What level of technology will we be dealing with? And what makes you think that the children have been taken there? Has there been any ransom demand?”

Cochrane, CO

“What strange things were happening, Admiral? And what exactly happened there that makes you think that someone from there came and took your children?” Mal’athar asked.

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO
Riley pulled up his private records “Missing items, mysterious notes, attempts to prevent us from carrying out our duties.” He said “The last straw and why we returned to the station was this.” He pulled up a vid of the three children and the nanny. And then the words “You can’t stop us.” It then showed a holograph of the children being dragged away and something aflame.

“Of course we returned immediately. I left several subordinates to finish up the investigation on Carray IV. By the time we got back here, the children were gone, the nanny dead and our quarters destroyed.” He continued “There is less than 3 minutes of missing time in the security footage. We see the children being led off by our attorney, whom I vetted and whom swears he had received a voice call from my wife telling him to take the children to an aunt near the Delphic Expanse. First, my wife’s family are on Betazed, we know no one near the Delphic Expanse. I truly believe that the children are on Carray IV or near there and who ever did this is trying to do gods know what.” He stopped at looked at the two officers “Does any of this make sense? Or am I finally losing my mind?”

Mouse

Cochrane watched the vid and then shook his head. ” To be blunt, Admiral? No. None of this makes sense. There are so many things we need to know before we take any kind of action. What were you investigating? Why does this group think you are trying to ‘stop them’? Stop them from what? And who are they?” He shook his head ruefully and exhaled slowly. “From a tactical standpoint, this is a nightmare. From a political and diplomatic standpoint, this could effect our very presence in the Delta Quadrant. And again I feel I must ask, Admiral… why us? Why send a science vessel with hundreds of civilians aboard to try and perform a hostage extraction in a hostile environment?” A thought popped in Cochrane ‘s head and he said “This group that took the children… what is there relationship to the government on Carray IV?”

Cochrane, CO

It didn’t make sense to Shedda either. Too many missing details. “Admiral? Was your time on Carray IV an official first contact or were you there observing under disguise?”

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

Bumping for GM

Bump for GM again

Cochrane, CO

Bump for GM

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

Riley sighed “In all honestly I’m not sure how they are related.” He said as his wife entered his office “Or if they are related.” He stood “My wife, Livey.” He said “Captain Cochrane and Commander Mal’athar. They are from the USS Manhattan and they are going to help us find the children.” He said looking at the two officers . Can you think of anything that might tie this to the Government of Carray IV?” He asked her “I can’t think of any.”

Livey looked devastated, dark circles under her eyes. She sat down next to the officers “I can say that the Lt Governor of Carray IV was not happy when we discovered the plot to take over the Governor’s place. But it was only momentary and he left the capital.” She said “I don’t know that Daraska would be able to pull this off unless there was more to him that we missed.”

GM Mousie

“Wait.” Cochrane said and looked sternly at both figures. “You discovered an attempted coup and didn’t think to bring this up?!” He stood up and walked to the window, looking out and clasping his hands behind his back and tried to keep the frustration and building anger from his voice. He stayed quiet until he could compose himself and then turned and looked at the Admiral. “Admiral, I must formally protest this assignment. Ordering a ship of civilian and Federation scientists to walk headlong into an unstable, dangerous, and most-likely deteriorating political situation in a strange world where there is already an antagonistic element at work is akin to asking an Aenar to intentionally pick a fight with a Klingon. The outcome is inevitable… and wholly avoidable.” He paused a moment before saying ” And again, Admiral, I will ask you… why us? And until I get an answer to that question, I will not put my ship and it’s crew at risk. I’m sorry, sir, but this is nothing we are trained or remotely prepared to do. And from a purely tactical viewpoint, our presence would only increase the risk to your children.”

Riley looked at Cochran “Captain, I chose you for that exact reason. I request a battleship to go in there, then yes they are going to be put in more danger. The peoples of Carray IV appreciate when they get to talk about their planet. I will get you a relic and you will go in under the guise of trying to find out more about this item. And as I mentioned earlier, there are areas of Carray IV that have not been explored by anyone. So while this is also a recovery mission, it also has a scientific side to it as well.”

He sighed “Alexander. I don’t want to pull rank on you and order you into this mission. However, I will if I have to. And, I can help you quash your mother’s meddling in your life and life of your family.” He added knowing that Deborah had continued to be a thorn in the side of Alexander and his family. She did have connections, however Riley had information that would sever those relations permenantly.

The XO’s eyes narrowed as he posture shifted slightly closer towards her captain. Was the Admiral bribing Cochrane? She supposed if her children went missing she would do anything to get them back, but that was a low blow.

“Admiral, I strongly advise we bring our Senior staff in before this goes further,” Mal’athar said.

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

Cochrane, CO
“That’s fine to bring your senior staff in. I am not cruel enough to keep the senior staff in the dark.”

GMM Mousie

=/\=Mal’athar to all Manhattan senior staff. Report to mine and Captain Cochrane’s location on Event Horizon immediately. Mal’athar out.=/\=

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

=/\= This is Lieutenant Kreeger what’s your location Commander I’m in route=/\=

Lt. Saxon Kreeger
Chief of Security
USS MANHATTAN

Elsewhere on the ship, Sebastian received the message and quickly replied, =^=Affirmative, Commander. I’m on my way.=^=

+Coumputer, locate Captain Cochrane and Cmdr. Mal’athar on Event Horizon station.=^=

A moment later, the computer chimed in with a reply to the CIO’s queery.

In less than 5 minutes, Lt. Cmdr. d’Aramis was ringing the chime to the CO’s and XO’s location.

Lt. Cmdr. Sebastian d’Aramis
CIO-USS Manhattan

Admiral Jefferson stood behind his desk and granted entry to each of the senior staff that were coming from the Manhattan. Livy sat stoically at the first seat of the conference table in Jefferson’s office. She was willing to go to great lengths to find the children. Somehow their mental bond had weakened and she was having difficulty tracking them. She hadn’t told Riley this yet, because he was busy trying to mount a search party.

GMM Mousie

Kaia stepped into the conference room and jumped up onto a chair, then after a moment of considering, onto the table, sitting cross-legged near where the captain and XO were seated.

Lieutenant Kaia
Chief Engineer USS Manhattan

Saxon stepped into the ship’s conference room nodding to the other senior officers present in the room.

Lt. Saxon Kreeger
Chief of Security
USS MANHATTAN