Chapter 3.2

Posted on Tue Dec 20th, 2022 @ 12:23am by Lieutenant JG Rrawran & Lieutenant Hezaar & Lieutenant Talyn Daughter of Moya & Lieutenant Ilbis Ilkun MD & Lieutenant Zomuul jav Ghul & Lieutenant JG Anzai Sulu & Lieutenant JG Stefaniya Losenko PhD & Captain Wilkan Targaryen & Commander Bezru Tua

1,224 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Hope
Location: U.S.S. Enterprise
Timeline: 2431-03-09, 10:00

Doctor Ilbis Ilkun sat in the Deck One Conference Room of the USS Enterprise listening to the briefing. It was strange to be in this room as the Chief Medical Officer for the ship after having served as a Surgeon aboard for so long. With the Enterprise having been assigned to Deep Space 12 as a support vessel the original Senior Staff had been relegated to responsibilities aboard the station. More and more they were finding themselves in the role of Senior Staff on the Enterprise as a result. Not that he minded. It made him part of a grand tradition in the history of Starfleet going back to Doctor Phlox on the NX-01 all the way to Doctor Marner himself.

At the head of the table Commander Bezru Tua was leading the meeting in the Admiral's absence. So far he had enjoyed getting to know Commander Tua personally, but her professional demeanor had left a lot to be desired. The Commander was a lot more stoic than the traditional member of the Trill species - not that that was a bad thing - but it was a little disconcerting when taken with the Admiral both as they were a lot alike. The Chelon had often wondered if the Commander's personality was the result of her history though as she had never wanted to be joined. The Commander had been aboard another vessel, the Katherine Johnson, when they were struck by a swarm of Species GS54. The ship was thrown from warp and their inertial dampeners failed, leading to many injuries and deaths. One of the people severely injured was Captain Anek Tua - holder of the Tua Symbiont. The Doctor was forced to transfer the Symbiont to save its life to the then Science Officer.

"Are we boring you, Doctor?" Commander Tua interrupted his thoughts.

The Medical Officer shook his head, "No, Commander, and my apologies. I was considering our predicament."

"As well we all should be," the Trill answered. "The Admiral has ordered that we all be prepared for immediate departure should the Uhura need our help. Commander Hezaar, we need the Coaxial Drive ready to go on a moment's notice."

The Gorn looked surprised by this, "Commander, respectfully, keeping the engines primed for a Coaxial jump will be severely taxing on the ship and its systems. We run the risk of overload if we leave it on for too long without deploying."

Tua nodded along, but kept her stern look, "I understand, Commander, but we need to be prepared for immediate departure. Take whatever extra personnel or equipment you need from the station, but the Drive needs to be primed."

"It's not a question of manpower or equipment, Ma'am, it's a question of safety," the Engineer pointed out.

"I trust in your ability to keep the ship and station safe," Tua said dismissively.

"Don't worry, Chief," Helm Officer Anzai Sulu interrupted, "we could always just jump around to keep the system primed."

The Gorn shook her head and had an annoyed look across her features, "It's not that easy. Each time we prime the engine and engage it needs time to reset after our travels." She noticed the look on Commander Tua's face, "I know... I'll figure it out."

Tua nodded, "Of course you will, Chief."

Trying to be helpful, Lieutenant Talyn added, "Chief, could we generate a symmetric warp field during the primed period? It could help to maintain stability."

"We can explore that," Hezaar had already ruled it out, "I just cannot overemphasize how dangerous this could be."

"Rrawran," Tua changed the subject, "what's the status of weapons and shields?"

The Rorworr Security Chief tapped a control, "I've had our torpedoes restocked and our phasers are fully charged. Shield generator refits have also been completed so, hopefully, they will better withstand the Interstellar Coalition's weapon."

"I don't deal in hope, Commander," Tua answered harshly. "Either it will work or it won't."

"I believe it will provide us additional support," the alien's universal translator belt translated in a mechanical voice. He paused, "It will provide us additional support. We just won't be able to take as many hits as we would with other, more traditional, weapons."

Bezru looked around the room, "With any luck the Uhura will change that. Our hope of finding a connection to the Interstellar Coalition is that we can use our allies in the Cardassian Union to, potentially, get a working sample of this Pulse weapon used by the Coalition. That would give you the data you need to work on a stronger defense."

Rather than push things much more, Rrawran merely nodded.

Doctor Ilkun had seen this a lot with the crew recently. Commander Tua was a bit of a force to be reckoned with, not too dissimilar to the Admiral in presentation and poise. It was strange. The Admiral had usually picked a First Officer who made up for those deficits in himself. "Commander, does the Admiral have any idea when we will need to deploy?"

"No, Doctor," she was direct in her answer.

"Do we have any current intelligence on the region?" The Surgeon asked.

Tua looked at the Science Officer, "Lieutenant?"

A visitor from Deep Space Twelve, Lieutenant Zomuul jav Ghul had left the Enterprise to be the Astrometrics Officer for the station when the Admiral took over. Because Lieutenant Godfry was traveling with the Uhura, the Admiral had temporarily assigned him back. The Tellarite tapped a control on his desk and a holographic representation of the space near Vlulyr Tuok appeared, "Latest scans indicate that the Uhura has arrived and is in position. We don't detect any evidence of a Coalition ship in the vicinity, but that doesn't mean anything really."

"How old are these scans?" The XO asked.

The Science Officer answered quickly, "They're about 15 minutes old."

"Is there a reason we aren't doing real-time monitoring?" Tua asked.

"The Maelstrom makes such scans difficult," the Lieutenant answered.

Tua continued, "But not impossible?"

"Improbable maybe," the Tellarite countered, "but not impossible."

"Then I recommend you work on getting me more current data," the XO ordered.

"Aye Sir," the Astrometrics Officer agreed.

The Doctor made a note to speak with the Counselor about their new First Officer. Lieutenant Losenko hadn't been invited to the briefing this morning because someone needed to be in command on the Bridge. Ilkun hoped that his discussions with the Counselor about the XO wouldn't be influenced by Doctor Losenko's personal feelings though. While a professional, the Doctor had noticed that Commander Tua often left Counselor Losenko out of things. Not that it was a picnic to be included.

"Bridge to Commander Tua," speak of the devil. Lieutenant Losenko's voice filtered through the room.

Tua tapped a control on her keyboard, "Yes Lieutenant?"

"We've received notice that the Uhura is being targeted."

"Alert the Admiral," the Trill ordered as she rose, "Red alert. Looks like we have our answers. All personnel to battlestations and prepare for immediate Coaxial jump. Dismissed."

The Senior Staff of the Enterprise quickly rose and maneuvered around to prepare for their assignments. As he looked at the XO for a final time, Doctor Ilkun saw a momentary flash of something over the Trill's face. When she noticed his look her visage became stern once more, but Ilkun knew what he had seen. He saw fear.

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