Posted by Lieutenant Commander John McHarrie (Medical (Consultant Researcher - Abell)) in MPT - LS Intel Searches for a Trickster - Raauhl, McHarrie, Remington, Bog

Posted by Lieutenant Icarus Remington (Chief Intelligence Officer) in MPT - LS Intel Searches for a Trickster - Raauhl, McHarrie, Remington, Bog

Posted by Lieutenant Casela Synthi-er (Counsellor / RTF) in MPT - LS Intel Searches for a Trickster - Raauhl, McHarrie, Remington, Bog
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

“Lieutenant Remington, I don’t think…” Cobb’s eyes widened as he began to protest.

“Or someone else,” John quipped with a grin that was inappropriately lighthearted, “I’m sure that whatever his reason for not arriving is clearly important.”

-McHarrie

“Commander, this is not the time or the…” the captain continued to object.

John held up his hands a little displaying his empty palms - A gesture of apology.

Bog noticed the complaints buy the two senior officers, and found it odd for them to be acting in a decidedly Tellarite manner. “ if the lieutenant wishes to use the XO for her sexual gratification and he hasn’t lodged a complaint I see no reason we should be concerned.”

The gruff tone and guileless face did not hint at any humor.

Bog

“Gentlemen! I did not summon you all here to discuss the sexual activities of my First Officer!” Zachariah roared, rising to his feet and slamming an open palm against his desk. “I have long since stopped noticing the countless females, and males, who sigh longingly into their drinks at the mere mention of his name! And until I have solid evidence that his lateness is due to excessive fornication, then I shall continue to attribute it to less salacious possibilities.”

“You’re correct, Captain. It was just an attempt at some good-natured ribbing on behalf of Lt. Synth-ier. Lt., Captain, I apologize for the inappropriateness of my comment,” Icarus replied.

Casela, on some deeper level recognized the supposed good natured antics Remington and McHarrie were attempting, but she neither cared nor registered it. She didn’t blink nor acknowledge their childish antics. At Cobb’s outburst she did turn her head to look at him. “Perhaps Captain I made an error in selecting people for this team. If they are this easily distracted, I don’t need them going. I’d rather,” and she glanced at Remington, “Not have my ‘six’ covered as it were.” McHarrie knew her reputation, better than anyone else in that room. They knew how they each worked. And Remington, thought he knew. She had thought they’d reached an understanding, but apparently nothing was serious enough for the young intel officer. And they both knew she was deadly serious about having made a mistake. She glanced back at Cobb to see if he agreed with her.

OOC: Pasting the XO back in right at the optimal moment…

“Of course it was” Despite what reasons the other staff in attendance had conjured up for his late arrival Raauhl entered the room, “Apologies for my lateness, some junior officers decided it was a good idea to drink within the vicinity of our containment decks inside what they thought to be an unused storeroom, they were wrong.” He straightened himself out and sat himself down, “The matter has been dealt with.”

• Lt Cmdr Raauhl, XO

Collapsing into his chair once again, Cobb emitted an exasperated sigh and ran a hand through his hair. What he wouldn’t give to be drinking inside an unused storeroom at that moment!
“Aye, well, you shall have to fill me in on it later,” he replied irritably to Ryder. Then his mind returning to their prior conversation, quickly added, “Or don’t. I don’t need the details.”

His mug now empty, the captain waved it in the direction of Bog in the desperate hope of an essential refill then, clearing his throat and attempting to claw back some measure of authority, he announced, “Lt Synthi-er, perhaps you should explain why we have gathered everyone here?”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

Finding the captain’s outburst endearing Bog fetched another round for the two of them and sat back down. His mind was already beginning to turn to the work he had to finish.

Bog

In that moment, Casela was reminded why she respected Cobb so much. That simple word “we” shoed a unified decision on their part, and behind the blank mask she wore, she appreciated it. She stepped over towards his desk and picked her PaDD up and glanced at it briefly. “I received a report from a colony on Delotha, on the outer edge of Federation territory. Incidences of practical jokes gone wrong, and much too contemplated for the age of the children committing the pranks.” She looked at the PaDD and read, “Carlin was pushed down in the yard by Vedi, a few hours later Vedi tripped and his leg was broken. Mecona stole Julin’s snack. The next day Mecona choked on his breakfast and the medic almost didn’t make it in time.” Then she glances at Cobb, “Those aren’t all that is reported, and perhaps isolated they aren’t of concern. All these incidents revolve around children living in the orphanage, or who had been living there.” Casela pauses here and looks at each of them. “The most disturbing is a little girl, only 2 years old, who is walking around town with her mother, after being teased about being an orphan. Her mother died in childbirth.”

Icarus was about to say that it seemed simply to be nothing more than kids pranking each other, but the seriousness and ages involved in the retaliation caused him to hold his tongue.

“The captain and I feel that it is worth determining if this is an anomaly or not. The captain asked who I wanted to take. That is why you are here. Feel free to decline.” Casela didn’t want anyone along who didn’t want to be there. “This is a border world, so no uniforms. They trust Star Fleet about as much an Orion Slave trader. You’ll be there for one purpose. A team brought in by a woman named Zanya to assist the village with whatever they need. Tell them her name and no one will question you, for the most part. Keep to what you know, security, engineering, medicine, people skills. McHarrie how are your cosmetic surgery skills? The Cmdr and I will need some before we leave. Trills and Betazoids are too easy to recognize.” She turned to look at the captain. “I’d like to leave as soon as Bog is done.”
Lt. Synthi-er,

“My skills are good enough to fool a stand-alone non-medical tricorder. A sub-dermal translator can be difficult to hide from any tricorder, so it may be best to use an in ear device disguised as a hearing aid?” John offered

“This is more than just pranks going wrong and if it continues, someone is going to end up more seriously injured than a broken leg. The safety of these kids, these orphans, is at stake, you can count me in, Lt. And I peomise it’ll be all business.”

The children being orphans hit close to home for Icarus. He had been an orphan himself after his parents disappeared, from the age of about 10 to 17. He could definitely relate.

Remington (CIO)

The captain fell into silence and allowed Synthi-er the floor as she laid out the details of the operation. Moments of quiet such as this were increasingly rare, but they allowed him to observe and take note of how skilled and talented his crew truly was. Of course, sending so many of his best people off the ship at one time was an unavoidable cause for concern. But chasing anomalies was their business, it was why they were here on this ship. And for more than one in this room, it was the only reason they had been allowed to remain in Starfleet at all.

“I would appreciate if you could start on the surgical alterations straight away, Mr McHarrie,” he decided to add his own voice at last. “As Lt Synthi-er says, the urgency of this mission can not be understated. If she is correct and this is an anomaly at work, then the more information you can all gather, the more chance we have of neutralising it before it can harm anybody else.”

He got to his feet in order to stretch his legs a little, something about pacing always fitting when delivering assignments like this.
“The Leviathan will take up a position within a day or two’s distance for shuttle travel. We must balance providing assistance with remaining undetected. I will have Manhattan prepare an RTF ground team should the situation require such intervention but…it is my sincere hope that it will not come to that.”

“So,” he paused at the large viewing window that made up the whole of his left wall, then turned to face the officers once again. “Questions? For myself or Lt Synthi-er?”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb