Posted by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) in Anger and Accountability....Staff meeting #2…when the past doesn’t match the present…or the future (open to all)
SNIP

OOC: I am setting this timeline as a few hours after the attack on the promenade. Chronologically this thread would be picking up from the first staff meeting where the attack began and ended the meeting abruptly. Everyone should have something novel to report from the attack or their new individual story lines they can bring to the meeting. If you have questions DM or email me. I know a lot of us are busy with real life and at times are not able to post as fast or as frequently as others. Please look at this as a working storyline. Please feel free to interject, insert posts, and post as far back as needed to share what you choose. If I call out a character specifically and they can not post at that time I will move on and when that character can post we can expand that part. That means, for our newer players, you can back post to the entrance in the thread even if we are far past that. Yes, it may make the post slightly “messy” at times but life is messy for many right now. I have created a resource sheet for the story if needed or wanted. https://www.star-fleet.com/core/character/1836/

I am going to have two threads going at once here so there are two discussions for the crew to participate in so hopefully everyone who wants to will have a place to post. We can expand each section for as long as people want to reply to it. Not sure if this will work but hey everything is worth a try once right lol. I will add my===== to indicate the separate conversation that we can just assume happened after the linguistics one. This will allow the thread to continuously progress in some fashion as people take vacations and much-needed down time this summer. ~ Kate

Kate All over the ship from comm badges

Out of all the meeting designee’s comm badges rang out a message. =/\=Please report to the conference room in a quarter of an hour.=/\=

===============
Conference room
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Ian entered the staff room and slumped hard into the chair. The PaDD still displayed the meeting information that was presented several hours ago. Tension ran high during that meeting and the subsequent attack on the promenade was only fueling everyone’s emotions. Leaning forward he picked up one of the images of Jessa that were lying on the table. Familial resemblances were mainly up to the eye of the beholder but traits could be seen and noticed. Jessa had Ian’s complexion, face shape, nose, and ears but definitely her mother’s eyes and mouth. “Why are you here little girl,” Ian asked the picture rhetorically. The answer to that question would eventually reveal itself and everyone about to enter the room wanted the bigger reason as to why and not the more personal one Ian was searching for.

As the door swished open, Ian looked up. The request for the staff meeting was deemed ASAP but people were still literally putting out fires all over the ship in their respective departments. It would take them all a minute to assemble here. Instead of stating the common how are your responses, Chris simply walked into the room and tossed a PaDD in the seat next to Ian claiming his spot. Last time it was standing room only and he was exhausted. Moving to the replicator, he got two cups of coffee and handed one to Ian as he took his seat. “You look like sh$+,” he responded to his best friend taking a sip of the coffee. “Ankle bitter with Rinker?”

“Thanks,” Ian replied dryly as he picked up the cup. His comment could easily be replied to Chris’s assessment or the coffee he was given. “O’Neill,” he responded. “We need Rinker here to help us figure out what we are dealing with in regards to her. Scratching his neck, Ian felt the small disc still embedded in his neck from the battle suit. Withdrawing his hand, Ian was careful not to touch it. The last thing he needed was for someone to think one of the aliens was still on the ship.

Ian Bordeaux (Chief diplomat) and Chris Robbins (stellar cartography)

OOC: fixing split

The pair would hear a muffled voice right outside the conference room door, with the door opening a moment later. =^=… and don’t let anyone near that bulkhead unless myself or the Captain allows it. =^= Trainor said aloud, then pressed his badge to end the call. The Ops Manager looked up from his PaDD and groaned.

“Is she really wanting everyone to pile into here?” He asked rhetorically. Tenzing shook his shoulders and rolled his eyes. He didn’t have the energy to question it further, and decided to grab some coffee before taking a seat.

Trainor
COO/CSO

“At least you got here before there was standing room early,” Chris laughed.

“You know,” Ian picked up his coffee and made a show of bumping into Chris with his elbow. “If we stuck her somewhere other than the head of the table where she could not easily bring the coffee to her mouth, she would have us meeting in a conference room the size of a banquet hall.”

River was dreading the meeting she had been through a lot, like so many onboard and her nerves, composure and temper where all but gone. However hew was determined to act better in this meeting then the last one. She looked down at her padd again and double checked her report. While it may seem odd for her to have a report ready already it wasn’t as River had been complying it for the past hour between checking on her wounded and having her NCOs and officers giving her their damage reports.

The report she had with her was the first draft of the one she would send to her superiors, she couldn’t see them being very happy at what happened. but then what exactly could they do aside from kicking the crud out of the equivalents in star fleet. While she didn’t know what her superiors would do, she knew that her report would be damming.

Pulling herself from her thoughts she arrived at the conference room and took a deep breath, as soon as he entered she turned round and double checked the door. She wasn’t going to get trapped again if she could help it. After checking the door she made her way further in, she noted the pair in the room and nodded at Chris but barley acknowledged Ian aside from the anger and hatred that burnt in her eyes, finding a seat as far away from him as she could. It wouldn’t take a genius to realise that River was in a very bad mood and it wouldn’t take much to figure out where, or more precisely whom that mood was directed at.

Lieut Styxx (Marine OIC)

Ian watched Styxx move into the room. Her team had been through a lot but so had everyone else on the ship in their own way. The aliens had not just attacked the ship, they had attacked the crew in a way a repair team could not patch up in an hour.

Just moments after the Marine entered the room Peter waltzed in humming a jaunty toon, a single cup of coffee in his hand, the cup looked almost comically small within his grasp “Good afternoon” He said in a cheerful tone that seemed genuine as if he couldn’t read the tension in the room. Unlike other members of the senior staff he seemed entirely unruffled, his uniform seemed fresh and he looked as if he’d just taken a sonic shower. “Commander, Lieutenant” He greeted the two Starfleet Officers “Lieutenant” He said to Styxx as he took a seat next to her, rather conspicuously between her and the Diplomatic officer.

Ian looked at Peter and took another slow sip of his coffee. Whatever he found out from the situation earlier in sickbay could wait. “Commander,” he responded back curtly to the greeting.

River nodded at peter and noted where he sat. In her mind she was trying to decided if it was on purpose or not. And f it was on purpose was it to protect her from Ian or Ian from her.

The oversized Intelligence officer took a sip from his coffee and then placed it on the table. The last time anyone had seen Peter was hours ago in Sickbay before all hell broke loose where he’d taken a certain doctor/spy into custody. So far there had been no records to indicate what happened to her, she hadn’t been arraigned into custody on any official record. “Tough fight?” he asked the marine, he spoke in a more serious tone, River was a no-nonsense Marine so no-nonsense she got. His facade of carefree joviality had a reason behind it but it did not include speaking of death and battle, at least not yet.

CIO

River sighed and nodded “Thirteen wounded, five critically. Added to the five dead and three wound on the enemy ship and I’ve got twenty one casualties. Nearly a third of my strength. But that number doesn’t count minor wounds that my corpsman managed to treat, if I add that then the number is three times as high” she said quietly, River would go into more detail if she got the chance in the briefing.

Peter nodded gravely “That armor of theirs is really something, We’ll need a special sort of can opener for it in the future” He said dryly “I feel your loss” He added in a more somber tone, something that he seemed to say almost by rote.

River nodded in gratitude “Believe me I intend to find that can opener” she said simply “I just need to find a suit of that armour to test it on” she added after a short pause

“You can use the heap on the corpse in the Promenade, Styxx.” The reply was from Mardusk, the Security Chief, who had just come in the door and was walking around the table. The reports that had come in said that he and Rogan had gone twenty rounds the hard way, but the Security Chief didn’t have a single mark on him.

River shook her head “Sorry Sir. No dice. In order to get Jessa to stand down I had to agree to let her have a traditional funeral of Da’mu.” she aid simply “I hate to think how things would go if we backed down from that” she added.

Ian did not reply but made a decision to stop by Styxx place later. There were a hundred different ways she could have responded to the request. It was time to have a conversation about it.

“But hey I got one of the elders so that’s something” she added her tone dry. Then River leaned in close to Peter ” and I’m pretty sure I found your handy work in the diplomatic sweets.” she whispered so only peter would hear.

Lieut Styxx (Marine OIC)

Peter suppressed a smile although he looked at the Marine with a twinkle of amusement in his eye “I have no idea what you are speaking about” His tone was more than a little amused leaving no other conclusion than that she was correct “I’ve only been tangentially involved in the situation over the last few hours” His voice and expression was innocent to the point of extreme guilt.

River nodded “Of course, of course.” she said her tone knowing.

Mardusk took a seat in the one chair big enough to handle his bulk and tossed a PaDD on the table in front of him.

The door slipped open again, the head counselor walked in, having taken a few minutes away from sickbay to attend. It was a mad house down there, with parents and children in different states of panic and trauma, and then those who had gotten hurt in the altercation as well. It was going to be a very long process and she wasn’t sure there was enough counseling staff to handle it all.

She took a seat between the oversized chair provided for the security chief and Styxx. She set her PaDD down with a small clatter and sipped at her Tieguanyin oolong tea. She leaned toward the Marine OIC, “Lt. I know you and yers have been busy, but my department is at your disposal. Whatever ya need.” The Marines might be separate from Star Fleet, but they were all people and deserved the same level of care as anyone else.

O’Farrell

“Thank you, counsellor.” River said her tone appreciative “I need all the help I can get. But I won’t lie to you it will be difficult. There’s a lot of resentment, anger and feelings of betrayal amongst my men. I’ve tried to dissuade them. But it’s hard when members of star fleet are more then happy to use you as a lab rat. While others withhold valuable information from you” River said her tone turning colder. She didn’t know if Ian could hear her or not but as she spoke of information she shoot him a nasty look. it was only there for an instant but it would be enough for Ian to pick up and those who where trained to read body language

When the doors parted for Aurra to enter, she was looking down at a PaDD in her left hand. Upon looking up, she was surprised to see how many officers arrived before her. She didn’t know everyone at the table but she knew OF them so there were head nods all around. At the replicator, “Coffee, double cream.” Then she took her drink and sat at one of the few available seats left.

—CMO Talisse

A tall and lanky lieutenant burst into the room as if he was being chased instead of just entering it. His arms were filled with PaDD’s which the man unceremoniously dumped on the table barely missing several cups of coffee. “Sorry, Sir…Sir…Ma’am,” he mumbled through the apologies clearly just getting them out and not actually meaning the words. Straightening up he ran his fingers through his hair and pulled at his uniform as if trying to make himself slightly presentable in a room full of high-ranking officers. “Sorry about the wrinkles but the past eight hours have been really really exciting.”

“Well… that’s certainly a word.” Mardusk said flatly.

“Ensign Owens from linguistics,” Ian introduced the man. “So I am assuming you have something for us? Like the codex to deciphering the language?”

“Not exactly. See when you decipher a language you tend to have one of three problems. The first is that the language is known, but not the script, the script is known, but not the language, or you don’t have a script nor the language. A week ago we got our first exposure to the language. Granted it is from the child’s prolific use of the swear words drakk, yatza, jarry, varp, or triff which we have translated to mean fah,”

“A few hours ago we got our hands on their written lexicon. The diary,” his voice raised a bit showing some emotion, “the Marines found gave us a working diaphraph for the language but without a key or rosetta stone if you will it was just gibberish. That was until Commander Bordeaux defined a single word. Karana.” The Lieutenant spoke as if it was something sacred and holy pausing for a second in his speech.

“We have been flooding the linguistics database with the symbols and the few spoken words and nothing until Ensign Ram Singh got made a connection that makes no sense. This language,” he brought up the text on a wall PaDD along with a list of five languages everyone would easily identify and looked back at the crew around the table, “is from Earth. Karana is a Hindi word.”

“Once we fed in some parameters we found it has enough similarities to ancient Sumeria which everyone knows is generally accepted as the first language of humans. It also has similarities to Egyptian, Sanskrit, Mycenaean Greek, and Tamil.” Looking at the room the Lieutenant saw the significance was lost on most of the people. “To put it even more simply, this language,” he pointed behind his back, “has the potential to be the mother of all languages. It could actually be the first language of humanity which all these other languages,” he circled the list of ancient languages, “splintered off from.” Pausing the lieutenant looked at Ian with a steady gaze. “If we could talk to the child and get a historical background?”

Ensign Owens Linguistics and Ian Bordeaux

Peter frowned at the young ensign then transferred said frown to Bordeaux, the Captain wasn’t here, not that he was surprised. But to start the meeting with a nerve wrecked linguist discussion about something that was so low on the order of importance, at least to him, that he wasn’t even mildly surprised by the potential inference of the language being a protolanguage of humans, wouldn’t be the first time something like that occurred. The frown only lasted a few moments before he smoothed his face, his expression was already intimidating enough without the additional frowning added “You’d have better luck conversing with this table” He said dryly and mostly under his breath. “Good work, son” Peter leaned forward, interlocking fingers and lowering them to the table “But beyond the potential historic importance of this potential discovery is there any useful information there?” He asked quite bluntly “And I do not mean useful as in use for the linguistic community to be studied for the next few centuries” He added quickly “I mean useful in the immediate sense, does this mean you can get the universal translator to work with this language, if not what information is required.” He made sure to smooth out any irritation in his tone, Hopefully his answer wouldn’t be too annoying.

CIO

“Well, it is a step in understanding their language. The more language samples we get the more actionable it will become. Barring slang or figurative components with any luck we could have a working beta transcription in,” he let his voice trail slightly distracted by the entrance of more officers.

Rinker walked into the room and took a seat. Luckily he got there before it was standing room only. Physically he looked like the rest of the crew. They were all exhausted The day had been long and was getting even longer. Rarely did he ever partake in a cup of coffee this late in the day but something told him it was going to be just as long of a night. Reaching to the middle of the table he poured himself a cup from the carafe that was sitting out and filled by the yeoman.

River kept her expression neutral for now but she did chip in “I’m guessing you’ll need access to Jessa’s diary. It’s what I used to start the key” she said simply. She could understand to a point why the young Ensign was so flustered, to a linguist a discovery like the one made on the alien ship is something akin to the holy grail. However she needed the ensign to focus so they could get through his points in a clear and concise way. There was a lot to go through and each part had to be quick and clean.

That being said River couldn’t help but get a jab in “That is of course if Mr Bordeaux will let you look at it. But hopefully now that the situation is calming down a bit, he’ll be able to release it. If of course, that is what you need to continue your research” she said after a short pause. While a part of her response was a jab she also had a genuine reason to make the suggestion. Ian needed to pull him self away from the situation, he already had a massive conflict of interests and the more he tried to protect his daughter, the harder it was for those who could do their jobs, without bias, to do what they needed to do.

Lieut Styxx (OIC Marines)

Mardusk looked at Styxx and said “Agree.” and he looked at Ian. “I would even go so far as to say that maybe the Skipper should pull your chain a bit, Mr. Bordeaux. After all… I wouldn’t be allowed to investigate my own kid if they were in trouble, now would I?” Mardusk’s question was direct and to the point, and made no pretense as to where he stood on the matter. Ian was too close to this, and shouldn’t be involved.

Mardusk, CoS

“No, you would lock her in the brig and throw away the key so she wouldn’t inconvenience you. I am not sure which one of you is luckier she isn’t your kid. Jessa or you?” Leaning in Ian locked eyes with the security chief.

Cara looked back and forth between everyone and shook her head. She had to agree with Styxx and Mardusk. None of them would be allowed to investigate their own child. And just because Ian was the captain’s husband should not give him special privileges. Biology did not make one a parent. Ian might have provided, in some way, Jessa’s DNA, but that didn’t create an instant parent/child relationship. Not a solid one. However, Ian was right that Jessa was a child, at least by their standards. However the disruptive pride and anger in the room had to stop. “I suggest we all take a breath. Hurlin’ accusations at each other is no gonna help us figure out what went wrong and how to proceed. Things went badly, very badly. Whether or not we are the cause of that is besides the point. We all made mistakes and everyone needs to own up to that. We aren’t gonna fix this by talkin’ about what should have been done and who should have done it. We need ta remember we’re a team and start listenin’ ta each other so we can move forward.”

Rinker.

The doors opened and Kelly moved in. She looked like she had been at the losing end of a bar fight but was mobile and with a cup of coffee in her hand. The expressions on the faces of her staff were varied but they all were looking at her for answers and a plan. Sliding into her seat, she took a moment to take stock of the two conversations occurring at the moment. “Thank you all for doing an impossible job in an impossible situation. At this time I can tell you Starfeel headquarters has been apprised of the situation and we were ordered to wait for orders.” The frown on Kelly’s face only made her appear more exhausted.

“Commander Mardusk,” she said firmly but in a neutral tone. “Thank you for your opinion and I will see you in my office immediately after this briefing. Commander Sigmundsson please make your self available for a meeting after that. Lt Owens,” she continued without pausing, “while I am sure this is important for you how is this actionable for us? Do we have access to their language or not?”

“Yes and no. We have a basic primer to read it but it will take years to actually be able to completely decipher it even with our computers.” Owen paused and looked around the table clearly nervous. “Ma’am, no one has spoken Ancient Sumerian in six and a half thousand years. If we had someone that spoke it.” The implication hung like a weight in the room.

Kelly drummed her fingers on the table thinking about what was just said. “You mean the child,” she asked for clarification she really didn’t need. “I have heard she is not the easiest to converse with.”

Rinker noticed the slight side glance Kelly had given him. The family situation was a mess with the Bordeaux right now; however, just like the wine of the same name, one Bordeaux at a time was all he could handle before getting a headache. “I would caution against that or at least pursue that course of action with the utmost care because of the power struggle it might create. It might give her an imagined leverage that we need her which would enforce her illusions of power and control. It could also be a stabilizing influence to her mood swings because when she is actively engaged her behavior is more focused. With either situation, it needs to be closely monitored.”

Just ask daddy dearest over there River thought to herself

Trainor sat patiently, sipping from the cup he had secured earlier. If the child knew the language, there were surely some ways besides the computer to decipher a basic conversation through charades. However, finding out meaning through symbols alone would be an impossible task right now.

Trainor
CSO/OPS

“Was Jessa ever alone with the Elders after the transporter attacks but before the promenade attack,” Kelly asked the collective group. She was still unconscious from the injuries sustained but that did not mean Jessa hadn’t been in contact with her compatriots. If the four aliens were together, there could have been a language sample everyone was missing.”

“Gravel,” she called him out specifically, “she was remanded to the brig at one point.” Reviewing her PaDD, Kelly did not care why. What she cared about was what happened. “You were required to call in sick bay. She did not have direct contact with them did she?” The crew had worked at great lengths to control the situation while Kelly was in sickbay due to her injuries. She had no issues with how they handled things but she did have some blank spots as to what occurred and what was not always in a report as thorough as they were. The report was also from six days ago and that was a lifetime right now with the influx of new information.

Kelly Bordeaux

================ part to of the conversation (weapons)

“Moving on to weapons,” Kelly felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. “Styxx, Mardusk, what can you tell me.”

Kelly Bordeaux CO

River stood up and walked over to a screen on the wall “Not a whole lot as we haven’t had time or at least I haven’t had time yet to test them and figure everything out. However I had my quartermaster look over them and here are his findings” she said as she showed NE RSM Qrow’s report. “They use energy weapons just like us and they are comparable in power. Marine armour was able to shrug off the majority of the damage, as that what its designed to do. But in cases where they managed to hit flesh or those unarmoured the damage is similar to if we got shot with a phaser on a high setting. ” she said as she enlarged an image of one of the alien weapons.

“This also means the side effects are the same as if being hit by a phaser. One of my Marines an Andorian was hit, and as Andorians are more susceptible to phase shock she went into full shock. We sent her to sickbay. I’m not a doctor so I can’t elaborate further on the dangers or her chances, but I’m sure medical can” she said as she shifted to a picture of one of the snake like mechs on board the alien ship.

OOC: I don’t know what her damage was when she reported to sickbay. That was before I joined.

“However if you want my opinion captain their energy weapons are not what we should worried about “there are two other weapons they have that are far worse. Firstly their mechs have an acid based weapon, which they can spray out at a tremendous speed. The acid is extremely potent and can melt through Marine armour, flesh and bone with ease.” she said as she showed an image of a melted marine chest piece There is no defense that we have found so far and any pone exposed to that acid at best will lose a limb at worst they will die a most painful death.” River said solemnly she had seen what the acid could do first hand as she watched it happen to one of her marines.

“This was from the ship you boarded? The Beacon of Hope,” Kelly took a sip of her coffee. She had been appraised of most of these events while recovering in sick bay however Kelly had not had the luxury of asking direct questions as she did now.

River nooded “Yes Ma’am. One of their many security measures” she replied simply.

She had no reason to doubt Styxx or her account of the situation. There was something that did not make sense though. “So why did the MECH’s not do this on the promenade and negate our security forces?” Her question was aimed at Styxx and Mardusk on the surface but also was secondary to the other departments in the room. “That question goes to everyone. I know we don’t have a lot of info here people but let’s start spitballing ideas. We were just trounced and that can not happen again.”

“Psyche,” she looked at Rinker and Cara, ” half of the power in any situation is convincing someone else you are in charge. I would think the physical statement of melting our forces would give the Elders a psychological advantage so why wouldn’t they use it?”

River chirped up “I’m no shrink. But I have a theory. When we boarded the ship we where seen as intrudes and dangers to the ship and it’s belongings. So the automated defenses kicked in. Their one goal destroy the security threat. On the Atlantis the elders once they where freed seemed to think they where on some holy mission. From what Da’mu said he seemed to want to try and convert us to his religion. He tried to say his religion was merciful and true and how much better off we all would be if we converted. He tried to play to my misgivings of star fleet and their ability to do anything right. All in an attempt to get me to join his cult. In fact the only way i got him to lower his defenses was to act like i wanted to convert. That allowed me to get close enough to deal with him.” She said simply

“The elders wanted to be seen as saviours and saints. So melting half the ship would run counter to the narrative and image they where trying to present. That would be until you seemed to want to convert. Because as soon as i did he ordered me to prove my loyalty and kill one of my men. I chose to kill him instead.” She continued. River knew she was probably stepping on The counsellor toes. But she was trying to bring her thoughts to the front maybe by explaining her experience it would give the Counsellors something to run with and use to figure out what exactly was going on.

“That was just my two cents. I might be completely wrong. Like I said I’m no shrink” she said truthfully.

Peter nodded “That would seem to fit with the standard ideology of a religious fanatic, fervent belief in their own ideas and faiths to the detriment of their decision making abilities.”

Cara nodded agreeing with Styxx and Peter’s take on the situation. “Religious fanatics that are on a conversion mission and not antihalation want ta control ya, not kill ya. They resort ta that type of violence last. Fear, danger, injury are acceptable. They do these things to force us ta make the first move of aggression. To prove they are benevolent and the saviors. It was all carefully planned.”

“Agreed and we played into that plan knowingly,” Kelly looked around the table. “Forgive me as I play catch up with all the reports and trying to see the larger picture here.” Kelly tapped a button on the wall bringing up a timeline of events.

“Transporter room,” she placed a pin on the timeline. “They attacked first in the transporter room being the aggressors. We followed protocol and sent them to the brig and treated injuries. In the Brig,” she placed another pin, “we interrogated two of the three aliens and no one was hurt except for Della who had her leg broken which we assume was from Rogan to show again a hint at the power they had. So why did they not attack before them? It was like they literally just waited and with the hindsight of twenty-twenty vision I am going to say it was because they knew they were going to be set free. Standing back and looking at this as a puzzle to solve, this entire time the aliens have controlled us and forced us to react to them.”

Going back to her timeline Kelly brought up more pins for each talking point. “Jessa is beamed out of sickbay and into the Brig to free her allies but she does not fire a single shot past some goo to take down the security team there and stuff them in a brig cell. The Quad does not get beamed back to their ship but to Marine Country. The Quad raises a force field as the Marines unleash the fury of hell on them.” Another pin popped up as she spoke, “In the promenade, Da Mu forced Styxx to kill him or sacrifice our crew. Rogan did the same by taking hostages and forcing Mardusk to take him out. Brig, Marine Country, Promenade,” Kelly named the points, “in all of these we had to defend ourselves making it appear we were the aggressors if you wrote the report from a Perkins angle.”

Kelly agreed with River but glanced at Cara for either a new take or a second opinion. “From the preliminary reports, while terrifying the kids taken hostage were completely uninjured and medically are reading as if they were in stasis except for Jax,” she read the report about the one child that seemed to wake up and then go back into stasis. “The parents of course had to live through it and are far more shaken up.” Tapping her stylus on the table, “of the twenty pods how many were civilian families vs. Starfleet families?” The comment sounded cold and callous but her mind was already working the tactical implications. The aliens might not have seen the percentage as strategic however that did not mean someone else hadn’t.

“Dr. Talisse would have to say, but I think it is a bit premature, Captain, ta assume there are no long term affects from the stasis pods. The children were all very disoriented and lethargic after. Hibernation sickness perhaps?” She directed the question at Talisse. “But the psychological effects on the children and the parents, as well as everyone else who was there and saw it, will be long term and far reachin’. As for numbers, what I can tell it was about half. The effect is the same no matter which side they fall on. Parents are parents.”

Aurra piped in. “She’s right, Captain. The children who were in the pods are exhibiting signs of long term stasis sickness. Although it looks familiar and ‘normal’ medically, it’s still possible there could be some kind of residual effect in the near future.”

Kelly put on a stony expression. The crew was not used to seeing her in that fashion but at times she needed to be the Captain who made the hard decisions and brought out blunt facts. “No, the effects are not the same on both sides of that coin. Starfleet does not issue you a wife, kid, or family with your duffle bag and uniform.
That is something we choose to take along.” Her statement was slang from the dawn of time and one well-known within the ranks of a military organization going back as far as the twentieth century.

“The civilian families are made aware of the risks but we all give them some latitudes because they are not wearing this uniform or took the oath we all did as officers. As officers, we all know the risks and costs associated with this uniform.” Kelly looked at Nash and Styxx knowing those two people more than anyone understood her comment. Both Styxx and Nash lost their families putting the uniform first. “As officers we choose to marry and have kids knowing the risks. Civilians however can play the I did not realize card every damn time and it the general population eats it up. A ship of Starfleet officers goes down and it is a front-page heroic story on OMAP with billions saying thank you for you’re service. A ship of civilians goes down and it is a front-page tragedy on OMAP with billions screaming for retribution. Cara, you are correct that both are tragic but we are talking optics, and attacks on civilians are a far different optic than an attack on Starfleet officers.”

“Give the kids what they need and have medical keep an eye on them,” Kelly stated.

The doctor nodded, “Aye, Sir.”

“Engineering…science,” she looked at Nash and Trainor, “what do we have that could do that kind of damage and how strong would their casing have to be in order to contain something that acidic? If we could find out what material they are using as a storage device could we then retro engineer something to deflect it?”

“Medical,” Kelly looked at the docs, “obviously these MECH’s are using acid as a weapon and it is corrosive but do we have something comparable to it?” While Medical was not science, that did not mean they did not treat the gambit of conditions and chemical burns was one such condition.

“Well, obviously we have hydrofluoric, acetic acid, formic, and phosphoric, which would all work of flesh, and then sulfuric, nitric and hydrochloric that would work on flesh OR metal.”

“Peter,” she looked directly at her chief intelligence officer, “you are new to this crew. Your predecessor and I had a finely tuned working arrangement. Your toys tend to be five years newer than what is considered cutting-edge in the fleet. Any chance you have seen something like this in your travels?” Kelly and Peter’s working relationship was in its infancy compared to the rest of the people sitting around the table. It was a well-known fact that intelligence was not always forthcoming with information but that was the nature of their job in working with secrets and cultivating assets. Kelly was not under the illusion Peter was going to spout off everything or anything he knew; however, she did hope the man would throw them a bone if he did know something. If he didn’t she would also accept that fact for now.

Kelly Bordeaux CO

Peter shook his head “No, this extra-galactic methodology and engineering perspective is different to anything we deal with, it’s closer to science fiction than reality. Although there are benefits to using things like drones, mechs have never been popular beyond perhaps hard labor. Combat Mechanicals are something I’m not familiar with” He explained simply.

“The second weapon is by far the most dangerous, the most unpredictable, the most powerful and the most volatile” River said as she brought up an image of the weapon, it was an image of Jessa “That child has the strongest telekinetic abilities I have ever seen and even my Higher ups in the Marine corps have never experienced such a powerful force. She managed to lift up all my Marines and drop them down like a sack of spuds. She was able to focus that energy into bolts, I’m pretty sure that’s what took you down Captain and there is no telling what she could do next. Especially when other outside factors interfere with things” she added her tone serious. River understood the threat Jessa could be and she hoped other saw it too.

Lieut Styxx (Marine OIC)

Lieut Styxx (Marine OIC)

rinker

The intelligence chief half turned in his seat to look at the Marine a look of mild bemusement on his face. The expression hid his inner thoughts of countermeasures against a child, both psychological and physical. He purposefully did not look at Bordeaux as he measured a father’s love against the potential security risk. Within those calculations, he added potential blowback from other crewmembers, he didn’t know them well enough to judge but he was semi-aware of who his friends were. The Captain he placed in the maybe pile, Styxx was likely firmly in his pile. That should even things out, of course, what he’d learned on the now-destroyed Section 31 vessel proved that the girl was still a useful resource. He almost chuckled at his own hypocrisy, a dark laugh that would have been “A teen that shoots lightning bolts and can lift armored soldiers with her mind” He spoke with the same bemused tone as his expression “I suggest an arsenal of snide comments and insults with a barrage of holovids with tonedeaf boys in a band” His tone made it uncertain if he was joking or not.

CIO

“You know Peter you have a singular way of making our current situation seem even worse than I thought it could be,” Ian quipped looking at the CIO. “Tone deaf boy bands? Do you really hate me that much?” His tone held a bit of levity to an obviously tense situation however he was grateful for the CIO’s reply.

Peter made a mock bow “I wouldn’t dare” He kept the same bemused expression, hiding his true thoughts.

Kelly looked around the room. “She has spent time with several of you one on one. Has she used her telekinesis on anyone else?” Looking around the room, Kelly waited to see who would respond first and what their interaction had been like. Jessa had not interacted with the crew at large but some of the people around the table had.

Looking at Cara, Kelly posed another question for those that might not have had direct contact with Jessa. “From a psychological standpoint, if Jessa has telekinesis, why would she hide that from us? She tends to suffer from a Napolean complex so why not make this skill known if it is going to make her more powerful?”

Kelly Bordeaux CO

Cara shrugged. She’d never been allowed near the child or the elders. Why they sent Della to interview them was beyond her. Della wasn’t trained for that kind of thing, nor did she have the experience. And she got terribly hurt in the process. She’d like to know who ordered Della down there and take ‘em out back behind the wood shed for a few rounds. “My guess is it’s no telekinetic, it’s linked to their tech somehow. The one…Rogan? that Cmdr Mardusk went head ta head with shot bolts like that too. Or it expends far too much energy and she can only use it in certain circumstances.”

O’Farrell

“Nanotechnology” Peter mused then almost blinked in surprise as he realized he said it out loud “One thing I’m curious about” He added after a moments pause “The child seemed to occasionally bleed from her nose, did she bleed from her nose when she levitated the Marines and so that it could be an indication of her using those abilities?”

CIO

Aurra looked over at the CIO. “Nanotechnology…” She pressed her lips together as her thoughts formed. “Yes, that might explain a lot. Nanites have a finite life cycle in most cases. If Jessa has them and they are nearing the end of their cycle, it could explain the bloody nose. I’ll get her blood under the scope and see if I can detect them. Taking care of her unusual powers might be as simple as waiting her out. I’ll know more once I see what we’re up against.” She had no idea that Brennan Satis was already taking a blood sample.

The doctors had full access to Jessa’s medical charts and would clearly see a notation about a fracture to the ulna which was treated. They would also see that Jessa received medical treatment for epistaxis while in the brig. The call to the medical staff was precipitated by Jessa appearing to be in a state of mental distress where she was mumbling in an unknown language and was accompanied by a nosebleed which seemed to resolve independently after two minutes.

Kelly Bordeaux CO

The ship’s issue was mostly related to security, but the medical department might be able to help.

—Tallise