Posted by Lieutenant Commander Kohr (Executive Officer) in main sim - Senior Staff Meeting (TAG all Senior Staff)

Posted by Lieutenant Markus Woods (Chief Science Officer) in main sim - Senior Staff Meeting (TAG all Senior Staff)

Posted by Captain Rende Asam (Captain) in main sim - Senior Staff Meeting (TAG all Senior Staff)
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻

[SNIP]
“Captain,” he said carefully, taking the back of the chair in his hands. “I feel it is my duty to inform you that I am… unsettled by the mysterious compliment of the alien vessel. Further, I have noticed a disturbing change in Commander Sigmundsson’s normally-dependable behavior. Are we certain that nothing beyond Hab’rabi came aboard with the shuttle?”

Rende paused, total stillness and looked at him. “And where is Sigmundsson now? And what exactly is this change, specifically? And no I’m not. The man makes the whole crew nervous, or those d@m^edable lights do. And he’s slick like a seagull caught in an oil spill. I don’t trust him and I don’t want him on my ship any longer than necessary.”

“I left him in the officer’s mess with Lieutenant Darz,” he rumbled pensively, then added, “another matter entirely, but one I will deal with.”

At her quizzical expression, Kohr briefly explained the encounter with the lackadaisical pair earlier. “I consider it odd that the commander would take his ease with alcohol while on-duty so soon after requesting permission to be dismissed to notify Starfleet of Hab’rabi’s arrival.”

“Crew becoming unnerved during initial contact with a new species is understandable,” he growled, as much to himself as to Rende, “but this… lack of discipline should not be. Not aboard the Viking, nor any other Starfleet vessel. I have set the computer to monitor all crew members’ positions in case of further deviance.”

The Klingon paused to take a breath, to reign in his rising anger. He chided himself for nearly losing his composure. No, he thought bitterly, now is not the time to lose focus. For the sake of the mission, and for the honor of my ship, I will remain composed.
—Kohr, Executive Officer—

Rende nodded, standing perfectly still in the middle of the room, her version of pacing. “I don’t like it. There is no reason, especially for someone of Sigmundsson’s experience and discipline to be acting that way. And he didn’t inform command or intelligence like he requested to do?” She looked at Kohr, “This may need to be addressed later, but if he is so lazy he will not remain on this ship. We, you and I, Kohr, will not tolerate such behavior on the Viking.“

The Klingon could only nod in agreement. As the captain had said, it was unlike him to act in such a manner. He could only assume—and hope—that it had been caused by something outside the Commander’s control.

(leaving room for arrivals)

Forgrave quietly entered the room; nodding to the others already present as he took a seat.

Once the senior staff had arrived. “Updates, where are we, and by any gods that actually exist what the name of Dante’s Inferno are those LIGHTS?”

Rende, CO

Kohr tapped at his PaDD briefly, queuing up the data from the away team’s initial scans. The monitor behind Rende winked to wakefulness, and information began to wash down the glossy surface.

“These are the scans conducted by the away team before returning to the Viking,” he noted slowly. “While I am hoping that others will be able to elaborate, it appears that these autonomous energy pulses act much like our gel pacs—that is, they transmit and temporarily store data. They seem to have bioelectric properties, as they interact with the alien’s physiology and seem purposed to interface directly with his neural network.”

Kohr took a moment to look intently at those gathered, his ridged brow furrowed. “It is not clear if or how these energy pulses will affect the Vikinkg’s systems, or the members of the crew. Until both Chief Asam and Lieutenant Sharvi understand the purpose and risk of these pulses, the senior staff should limit contact with the aliens; Hab’rabi should also be confined to non-critical areas of the ship. We do not know how autonomous these pulses are, and if they can interface with other forms of organic life there is no telling what secure information could be obtained by their interface with either the computer’s gel pacs or the senior staff.”
—Kohr, Executive Officer—

Eldorin leaned forward, setting his elbows on the table and leaning on his fists, “As far as I can tell Captain, te’ energy orbs are what the species believe to be te’ remnants of their race that have died and this is their afterlife. I’ve seen em’ interacting with te’ members of te’ crew and attracted to living organisms, and perhaps there is a chance they could interact wit’ te’ gel packs or other biological based systems. I’m working on a way to ‘discourage’ them interacting with our systems as much as I can, while respecting that these lights may very well be what remains of their ancestors. Don’t want to hurt em’ now do we?”

Eldorin, CE

“So…we have ghosts on our ship? And they also appear to be data collection devices? In other words, we have potential spies on the ship.” She turned to look at Woods, “Woods I want you and Asam to find a way to contain these ‘lights’ and I want it 3 hours ago. Their ancestors or not, I want them contained and off the ship. If they get hurt I don’t care, and they’re already dead, supposedly, so I’m not too concerned with that. And Hab’rabi could be lying about them being ‘remnants of the dead’.” She turned to look at Kohr, “If these things can interact with Hab’rabi and his crew…perhaps they are interacting with ours.” Rende then related Kohr’s report to her about Darz and Sigmundsson. “We may have a bigger problem here. I want it fixed. Lt Forgrave did Darz ever report back to you?”

Issac’s face was tensed, focused as he was on the speculation surrounding the now menacing floating motes of light, and he jumped ever-so-slightly at the sudden shift of attention. “No Ma’am; ain’t heard anything from Lt. Darz. Scans suggest she’s currently in the holodeck, and I have NE Odendecker and NE Pascal running that down now - was tempted to do it myself, but I expect that’d’ve pulled me down a rabbit hole I can’t afford ta get suck in right now.” ‘An hopefully it ain’t serious enough ta warrant my attention right now, either…

“If it as Chief Asam suggests and they are interacting with the crew, it is much worse than spies.” Kohr placed his hands firmly on his thighs and leaned back thoughtfully in his chair. “We have been boarded, nothing more and nothing less. Even assuming Hab’rabi is not aware of their presence aboard the Viking, he knew of their potential and did not inform us. Likewise, no consent was given.”

“I can’t imagine he could plead ignorance to their presence; considering he made mention of them directly when questioned. Now, that is a somewhat separate item form knowledge of their nature or actions - but even that argument holds little water.” Issac’s position was firmly in line with Kohr’s; he wanted to give their ‘guest’ the benefit of the doubt, but that was becoming harder to do with each revelation.

His face screwed up at a thought and he sighed heavily. “However, I feel obligated to mention that this is the first interaction between our species and his. For all we know, it is normal on his planet for this manner of occurrence, that no harm is meant. For all we know, it is simply their custom—a sort of shore leave.”

Kohr did not truly think so. Only his Starfleet training pushed him to even suggest such a benign suggestion. Had this been a ship of the Empire, there would have been no teasing of “diplomatic incidents.” Hab’rabi would have been captured or executed for such dishonor and deceit, likely alongside any crew the aliens had possessed. But this was not an Imperial vessel, whether thankfully or no.

“Computer where is Lt Cmdr Sigmundsson now?” =/\=Lt Cmdr Sigmundsson is in the Holosuite =/\= Luckily for Lt Cmdr Sigmundsson, he was not standing in front of his captain at that moment because her gaze would turn him to ash. “Cmdr Kohr, as soon as we are finished you and Lt Forgrave are to take Sigmundsson into custody and confine him to the brig for dereliction of duty. By ‘virtue’ of his position he knows far too much and is acting out of character.”

“Understood,” Kohr growled.

Issac nodded firmly. “Yes Ma’am.”

“Also, Asam, the Bussard Intake - Starboard was ‘accidently’ released. It’s been reset, but I want it checked and I want Ensign Graham checked. Lt Shar’vi once Sigmundsson is in the brig I want him checked and anyone else acting strangely.”

“Our guest has far too easily agreed to give us full run of the ship. Lt Asam has informed me we have 3 liters of antimatter we can spare them, I’m not sure I trust him to not turn on us. Asam, Woods, I want that ship gone over with a fine tooth comb ‘to ensure the antimatter will not explode upon transfer’ first. Back up generators to save his ‘crew’ is acceptable. Hab’rabi’s mood is far too mercurial for me. Forgrave I want a minimum of a two person security team with each team that goes to the alien ship and at all critical junctures on Viking. He wants a tour, he’s not getting it.” Rende was aware she probably seemed paranoid to some, but she hadn’t survived this long without listening to her gut.

“I got an idea how to stop them or slow them down. A few ideas actually. I’ll see about cobbling something together with the Chief,” he said turning his attention to Eldorin and giving him a nod. “Can check my work. As for that ship… I’ll get Sheridan started on it then catch up once we have a solve for the fireflies in place.”

“What else?”

Rende, CO

Forgrave began tapping at his PaDD; issuing orders to his people. “I can do that Ma’am; it’ll take some time to get everyone in position, but I’ll get it done.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “I think I’d like to take stock of the crew, as well. Or at minimum, anyone who may have had… exposure, if you will, of either the alien vessel, it’s crew, or any of our ‘guest’s’ floating thingamajigs. We have at least one person acting… odd let’s say; potentially more. I don’t want to find out too late that these things are related.”

“With your permission I want to see if I can get anything off the fireflies. Like actual consciousness. Maybe take a look at our wayward crew too? Barring anybody in Medical or Lieutenant Commander Korczak having trouble with them. At least with the lights, I might be able to tell us something our tricorders can’t.”

Lt Woods, CSO

“While they have not brought harm to the Viking we should act as though we have, indeed, been boarded by a hostile force until countermeasures are in place,” Kohr stated flatly. “It is, again, possible that they are simply—what is the Earth phrase? Ah, yes.—enjoying the ride, they could just as easily be experimenting with our systems and biding their time. Once we act directly against them or Hab’rabi, even to dissuade them from their goals, the remnants could react more aggressively. They have already been shown to have access to the Viking’s more-critical systems.”

“Captain,” he turned to Rende, already braced for protest, “I recommend you and Lieutenant Asam take a small detail and move to the captain’s yacht. As the commanding officer and the longest-lived, you both possess key information we cannot afford to fall into enemy hands. We could perhaps route command functions to the yacht that you might maintain remote control of the Viking until we can secure it from Hab’rabi and the remnants.”

The Klingon shook his head and folded his arms across his chest. “The difficulty will be in dealing with an incorporeal foe that can potentially move from host to host. We could enact a contamination protocol, engage containment fields between main sections and decks. Security could then use turbolifts as checkpoints and failsafes against enemy advancement. We should explore the viability of site-to-site transports as a means of movement as-necessary; if the remnants are truly composed of energy, we could use the system’s buffers and filters to separate them from their host bodies.”

“We should, of course, give Hab’rabi the option to relinquish our crew and return to his vessel with his remnants,” he added almost bitterly. “There is also the prerogative to engage the self-destruct system if he does not relent. I believe I am not alone when I say that this cannot be allowed to carry over to other vessels, or the Federation at-large.”
—Kohr, Executive Officer—

-Forgrave, CoS