Posted by Gamemaster CockRoach (Gamemaster) in Main Sim - Bridge - Unknown System Arrival!

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Joe Milligan (XO) in Main Sim - Bridge - Unknown System Arrival!

Posted by Captain John Tiberius Glen (Captain) in Main Sim - Bridge - Unknown System Arrival!
[snip]
With dull thumps the warp capable science probe was sent out on its way, ETA to return scans would be 15 minutes.....

“I think you’ll find Tycho Brahe observed the B Cassiopeiae supernova remnant in 1572,” said Glen, “and that the Islamic and ancient Chinese astronomers observed even more, even earlier, but nevertheless, that’s the point made. As for technology, I must continue to play it by ear. They could have fabulous matter transportation and subspace communications that negate any need for space vessels, or they could have invented spacecraft technology well in advance of ours, but they decided never to use it in case they came face to face with their God. By the way, that isn’t what I expect to find here. It’s more likely that we’ll give them some fancy beads and wampum and they’ll be satisfied.”

Cross looked at William as he spoke ‘’Well I do hope its not what they are expecting from us and don’t any of you find it strange that they have not asked for the boy to be transported back to them?’‘.

“I’m almost certain that is the reason for sending out the children....” replied Glen.

{The Child] was after all still in sickbay, probably looking around and seeing the equipment being used, as the medical team went around their business. What did the man with the funny hat say…In the hope of bringing more advanced technology was the reason of sending those pods* thought Cross

”....Oh! The ‘Child!’ I almost forgot to ask Dol about it,” Glen added.

The female doctor gave a heavy sigh, at that moment she thought hunting for food in the wilderness wasn’t so bad after all. Then she remembered the scar across her cheek ‘’Or maybe be not,’’ Cross muttered in a barely audible tone.

Glen couldn’t understand Cross’ mumbles, but said, “I’m still waiting on reports from Sickbay and Science on the ‘Child’. What has the child said? What is the purpose of the spheres? Does it all suggest that they send out children in ships of returning alien visitors, then allow the children to soak up as much technology as they can, then reel them back in again. Dol said as much, but then he said it didn’t work very well, and they don’t appear to be very technologically advanced so I’d have to agree. However, is the child in any way special? Would he make a good ambassador to take back to the Federation if that is his purpose? Or is it just an ordinary child, who looks frightened and lost?”

Cross did her best to concentrate ‘’Captain, doctor Hunter did tell you that the spheres according to the boy are samples of several local plants and animals from his former home saying they are provided for his new family to study and synthesize food for him artificially if their local biomes are not capable of supporting him normally and they can also be used as a means of emergency power source though he’s not sure of how that works....... these were the boy’s words. As from my perspective the child looks healthy intelligent and inquisitive. Tia brought him some food, maybe she can provide more information since she stayed with him’’ Cross made a mental note to later drag Glen for a physical and psychological evaluation ‘’Anything else Captain ?’‘the CMO asked.

“Well, a full psychological evaluation of the child would be useful, and question him on his ‘mission’ and what he has been told to expect of his ‘new family’,” replied Glen. “And that was useful for Doctor Hunter to tell me that, but he isn’t one of the scientists working on the spheres, so it’s second hand news.”

Cross wondered if Glen was doing this on purpose to work her up into a frenzy ‘’Captain with all due respect Hunter is not a scientist ,he.. em happened to be there cause of the broken nose ‘’she knew this did not made much sense but it was true ‘’When Hunter was at the science dept he saw that the sphere had been opened by the scientists and in it was some sort of egg that when charged with energy it grew and when the watts were increased it grew bigger, though when that energy was removed it went back to its previous size. It was what Hunter had observed, the rest came from the boy himself for he knew what the spheres were for’’ at this point Cross felt the urge to shake the Captain from his shoulders ‘’For the second time, Tia is with the boy and she is in a better position to answer the rest of your questions’‘.

Glen tried to ignore the reference to a broken nose. He had no idea what kind of misbehaviour was going on below decks and in Sickbay, but he was sure that Joe would be on top of it and have it under control. He didn’t want to think about how bad the discipline situation might have got. The reports received about Doctor Hunter made him seem rather unsuitable for his position, but at the moment, Hunter was the only one of his staff that had brought him any information on the child. As for Miriam, it seemed that she couldn’t take a strong hint to return to her work, and discipline was something that came down from the department head themselves.

“Tia was my Chief Engineer last time I looked,” said Glen. “Is she now qualified to make psychological tests and evaluations too?”

‘’Tia took over , it seems she has more maternal instincts then I do ‘’ Cross replied, now choosing her words carefully ‘’I shall go to sickbay and assess the child psychologically myself ,the physical evaluation has already been done and the scans picked up nothing out of the ordinary ‘’Cross turned around to leave ‘’Oh by the way Captain I have just found out that Hunter had to leave for the O.R and doctor Kim took his place’’ with those last words she gave Glen a nod and left.

Joe was starting to feel closed in and uncomfortable. So as soon as he heard the CO speak about waiting for information, he jumped at the idea that he might actually be of use somewhere instead of standing about the bridge. “Need me to light some fires for you Captain?” he volunteered.

“I have my CMO and CSO right here already,” replied Glen. “But maybe that is the problem. The child and the spheres are not here!”

‘’They are in sickbay and can quiet easily be transported to where ever you want, its not such a big deal’‘. What was wrong she wondered, Cross was puzzled for the Glen she knew had the strength of mind and will power.

“I believe that the child and spheres are both in the correct place,” Glen said, beginning to get frustrated now, “but some of my staff don’t appear to be!”

For Cross non verbal communications spoke volumes ,so she wondered what Joe was up too now.

Cross turned to William and spoke to him in a low tone of voice ‘’When this is over would you help me get my strength back in the gym please?’ she actually wanted him to help her the day she came back but never got the chance to ask.

“Another question you can maybe help me with,” Glen said, “what do you think’s the deal with the tin-foil hats?”

Cross rolled her eyes, so now it was the tin-foil hats ‘’Maybe for some sort of protection or they have seen the ‘Wizard of Oz ’ she wonder how long it shall be before being thrown and locked up.

Glen had meant the question for his XO, but as usual Miriam seemed to have no emotional intelligence. Sometimes, her mouth seemed to act independently of her mind.

“Joe?” Glen asked his XO. “Have you any more likely ideas? It makes them appear foolish, and I can’t see what protection it could offer them? I’m going to ask Dol about the child and the tin-foil hats, then arrange for us to go down and meet them in person. If I could have a little quiet on the Bridge once again please! Also, if Tia could update on the spheres, and if I could get some more detailed medical assessments on the child from someone as soon as possible?”

Mike was left standing with his mouth open as he had been about to respond to the CO and was cut off first by Miriam and then the CO himself. Mike turned to Miriam and took her by the upper arm and guided her back to the lift doors away from the CO. Leaning in closely to Miriam, he asked her in a whisper. “Miriam this is a kid. His anyone thought to vigorously interrogate him in the presence of a Tripple chocolate brownie sundae, complete with sprinkles?”

Cross looked a Joe’s hand then at his face ‘’Let me go, did you not realize I was leaving to do the child’s psychological evaluation and has it occurred to you that a Triple chocolate brownie sundae may do him harm psychically? Do you think I’m going to risk that!’’ the doctor exclaimed ‘’Besides the boy is quiet intelligent and inquisitive ,doing a one to one evaluation in my experience is not enough to know whether he’s telling me what I want to hear while hiding his true agenda’’
Cross pulled her arm away ‘’ there is no need to guide me I know my way out ‘’.

William stood up from his chair, walking towards the Captain “Sir, I’ll head down to Sickbay to oversee the tests but I’d like to request a private word with you when you have the time” He said with hands behind his back, posture straight and tone respectful. He looked at the screen “Sir” He said turning towards where the new First officer and Miriam stood and moving out.

Regarding having a private word, Glen replied, “Certainly!” but he said, “Are you really required in Sickbay? The ‘spheres’ are in the science labs. You must have someone working on them who can tell me what they have found out? I’ll also need you to interpret the results of the nebula probe for me when it is returned. I’ll try to get access to their historical records but that may not be possible. I’ll also want you in the landing party.”

“Cross and Joe,” Glen said, “I’ll need you both in a landing party too.”

Glen indicated to the Communications Officer to resume the conversation with Dol.

=/\= Hello again Dol. I have been discussing the situation with some of my senior officers and we would like to personally come down to visit you. Would that be acceptable? Also, you mentioned that the child was placed in one of your ‘seed pods’ and sent away, but that most of these don’t return. If the intention is that they learn about technology and customs of their hosts, and then return to you with this knowledge, are these just your normal children, or are they special ‘ambassadors’ of some kind? And now that we have accidentally interrupted one mission, what would be your suggestion for the child we have woken up? Finally, we can’t help but to wonder about the purpose of your unusual metallic headgear? =/\=

Dol nodded on the open comm line, =/\= Well we would be happy to host you and your officers, Captain. We have a meeting hall for this purpose on our habitat. Sadly it does not get used too often, but we’ll be sure to dust it off and cleaned up before your arrival!=/\= he said in a cheery yet professional tone. =/\= As for our seed pods? Yes many do not return, we do not know why only theory is that either the hosting ship prevented them or something happened to the ship or the child given. As for if these are our normal children? No they are not, these are children who through no fault of their own have been given up by their birth parents for one reason or another, or else something happens to their parents say by an accident. These children are then sent to a special care facility from then on to be raised by caretakers till they reach their first stage of maturity at what our age of six cycles would be. They are then given the choice to either pursue normal educational opportunities and lives, or enter into higher education and selection for training for our seed pod program. After two years of this training they are placed in a suspended animation pod until we encounter a passing ship. If no ship comes by then we awaken them after eight cycles and they return to normal lives of their choosing. As for what you would do having interrupted the child’s original host family ship? Well given I do not know which pod you encountered I can not yet look up which host ship it was assigned too. If possible though and acceptable I might ask you return it to the family that they had originally been intended for at some point..=/\= He said.

Glen had been considering only two options: returning the child to them, or taking the child with them to the Federation. He had not considered taking it to the Alstaireans, which he now realised was by far the most obvious option. He wasn’t sure that their treatment of orphans could be sanctioned under Federation values, but he had to accept that alien worlds had different measures of what was tolerated and socially acceptable, and these were exactly the kind of value judgements that the Prime Directive forbade them to make.

=/\= As for our headwear? It is a form of garb that harkens back to ancient times. Our stories say at one time in our distant forgotten past we once lived on a planet, perhaps in this system or perhaps another, we do not know. But on that planet our ancient ancestors were persecuted for their beliefs at that time and these hats were a symbol of keeping us separate from the ‘normal’ populace. At those times it was a symbol of oppression, but it is now proudly worn as a symbol of how far we have come and grown as a people since those forgotten ancient times=/ \= he explained.

Glen thought that this explanation made them seem even more conspirophilic than the hats themselves did.

=/\= In either case how soon would you like to meet? =/\= he inquired.

“Joe?” Glen asked. “Do you think 2 hours is enough time for us to get ready, to make an analysis of the probe’s nebula data, and for Cross to finish speaking to the child?” Acutely aware that he hadn’t given time to listen to Joe earlier, he asked him, “Any other thoughts on any of this?”

-Glen, CO

“Well,” Joe said as he absently scratched his chin. He hardly knew where to begin. “First off I think we should probably interview the child. And at the present our medical department doesn’t seem to know what species he might be. I think sir that since we have a source of intel, we should at least be taking advantage of it.”

Another thing sir is they said that they had never had one of these children returned. And then they seemed to dummy up really quick about not knowing anything about this program of theirs. Maybe this could be the first child to have returned? As in maybe he was the first in a large number and therefore had penetrated deeper into space than the rest? And then again, their proclaimed ignorance. What sort of people would commit so many resources to a program like this and not keep records? Sir they should know things from launch date to the name of the person launched and all sorts of other things. One doesn’t expend all that energy and resources without record keeping. ”

Joe cleared his throat then and said, “Sir we should be a lot further along in fact finding than what we are. In your place I would ask for a realistic estimate of time from your department heads to give you any information that you think may help you going into any meeting with these people. I wouldn’t want to see you sitting over there with egg on your face. If you need longer tell them your XO has lost his mind and you had to to subdue him and lock him up or something. But don’t go to the meeting uninformed.”

Lt. Cmdr. Joe Milligan XO

OOC: So i just wanted to clarify something given the XO’s reply. Given that the Merrimack crew has not said where/when/who they had only that they had ‘one of the children from this habitat’ it would be impossible for Dol to know who the Merrimack picked up without such information. Hence his reply needing more information. Think of it like this, likely they would have some form of information recording. So the Alstairan sleeper ship could be holding sleeper pod child # 312 but without that information who when where and such or seeing the child Dol could not answer Glen’s question, I just wanted to clarify that point for you all so we don’t go too far into the deep end of people thinking the tin foil hat people are being big bad guys lol

GM CockRoach

Cross contacted Glen =/\= I’m about to start the psychological evaluation ,at the moment all I can give you is that he’s name is Franz =/\= The female doctor waited for any orders before closing her transmitter.

Cross Dr.