TO: RADM Perim, CMDR North, CAPT Freeman;
RE: URGENT: Distress call from SS Kihai
Sirs:
I have decoded a message that came through the standard DS13 Communications Array at the top of the hour. The message was routed to me because it used standard RSE protocols that haven't been in use since the 24th century. The message reads as follows:
CAPTAIN FREEMAN || DS13 || SS KIHAI || MEDICAL DISTRESS || CREW DISABLED || SITUATION CRITICAL || CARRYING SURVIVORS FROM CIVILIAN FEDERATION TRANSPORT VASILIKI || VIRULENT CROSS-SPECIES ANTIMETABOLIC AGENT || USE ENVIRONMENTAL SUITS WITH CONTAINED AIR SUPPLY || SHIELDS DOWN || RESEARCH LOGS UNLOCKED || WATER THE PLANTS
1. I prefer to retain control over all NPCs, but if, for the sake of expediency, you wish to include reactionary dialogue or action, just toss me a PM for approval. Konie gets control of his NPC crew unless they become compromised in some way while on the Kihai. Then they belong to me.
2. If you go quiet for more than 48 hours without warning, the story shall contrive to move you along. I try to avoid the Rock On Head method, but the right is reserved.
3. In the unlikely event that there is player vs. player physical conflict, those conflicts will be resolved between the players themselves in the OOC thread. I will make suggestions, hint at potential outcomes, and, if necessary, make a binding decision regarding the final disposition.
VECTOR
TO CAPT Konieczko, USS VANGUARD CC CAPT Freeman, Commanding Officer DS13 FROM LT Morgan, Operations Officer DS13 SUBJ New Orders - Supplemental
Captain:
We recognize that yours is not primarily a medical ship. Therefore, per Captain Freeman’s orders, I have reviewed the crew aboard the USS Vanguard to highlight useful personnel to assist in the rescue or recovery of the SS Kihai.
MEDICAL: In addition to your capable CMO and the normal complement of your medical staff, your passenger manifest includes a Lieutenant J.G. Thysa Tala, a physician recently graduated from Starfleet Medical. She majored in epidemiology and may be useful in determining the nature and spread pattern of the disease.
TACTICAL: It is unfortunate that your own tactical officer is unavailable; however, your interim officer, Lieutenant Chassy S. Quaen, has a solid service record and extensive field experience.
SCIENCE: Ensign Amset, another recent Academy graduate, may also prove useful. He is an artificial intelligence with an encylopedic knowledge on a variety of subjects. He can read the Romulan language and, if provided a relevant technical manual, should be able to operate the SS Kihai’s equipment.
INTELLIGENCE: The Romulan Republic has graciously lent us the services of Subcommander Aurelia, an Intelligence Officer normally posted at DS13. By good fortune, she is currently at Greywolf Station for a conference; a runabout with Subcommander Aurelia onboard with rendezvous with the Vanguard en route to the Kihai’s coordinates.
The coordinates provided by the Kihai's distress message lead the Vanguard to the Lahkis system at the outward edge of the Ba’aja sector. The system is uninhabited, and uninhabitable by conventional races; the bright blue star at its center has reduced the first three of its four planets to cinders. The fourth planet is a glorious violet gas giant, a wellspring of radioactive and magnetic interference.
Captain Konieczko has command. Lieutenant Quaen holds the tactical station.
Sullen. That might be a good word for the Trill's general mien as she mans her station with the barest minimal vocalization necessary to communicate with the foreign crew. The apparent sulk has no bearing on her competency, insofar as the short shift has thus far shown, but it certainly discourages friendly introductions and idle chitchat.
Thysa stands straight with surprising certainty given her rank, although this is just a ruse to hide her first mission jitters. As the turbolift dings and she strides onto the bridge confidently, holding several data-pads.
"sir," she squeaks to the captain, taking in a deep breath she continues more confidently. "Sir, I have gathered up information on cases that seem similar to what the distress signal indicates, however it's too early to say for sure. I noticed that they picked up crew from the Vasiliki my guess would be that they were carrying whatever contagion is present aboard their ship. If possible I would like access to their travel logs and..."
Amset stands in the dark, waiting. It has been granted this space in which to wait, though it requires no such accommodation. It has been notified that it may be ordered to perform its duty in response to a distress call. It has familiarized itself with the particulars of the origin vessel's design, with the procedures for operating in a biologically contaminated environment, and for supplying emergency aid to the infected lifeforms it may encounter therein. So now it waits for orders, upright and motionless in the dark.
Captain Konieczko exits his ready room onto the bridge of the Vanguard, a padd under arm and a determined look on his face. He looks around spotting the station his tactical officer normally occupies with a new face to which he nods. He takes a few paces around the bridge inspecting work stations and their occupants until the turbolift dings.
He waits until the Lieutenant J.G. finishes and offers a friendly smile, "Lieutenant, once our intelligence officer on loan gets here you two can dig through whatever information we have and whatever information we can get."
He continues inspecting stations until he stands adjacent to his chair. He runs his hand along the chair's arm and lowers himself into it, pinging the intercom.
"Attention U.S.S. Vanguard, this is your captain speaking. Welcome to the Lahkis system, we're here to support and rescue the S.S. Kihai. We have guests on our ship so I ask you to make them feel welcome and perform to the best of your ability. Engineering and medical departments you will be vital in this operation. Available hands be prepared to respond. Tactical.. I hope to god we don't have to use you, but be prepared. Let's find us a ship and get back home."
With the end of his message he pings the intercom back off. Looking over the padd, he reads out the distress call to the bridge crew.
"Sensors, call out anything that looks like something we're looking for."
The runabout docks with Vanguard; Aurelia exits, throws her things in the guest bunk and heads to the bridge. Walking out of the turbolift, she walks up to Captain Konieszko, salutes in the Romulan way, and says, "Permission to come on board, sir," in the Starfleet fashion, of all things.
The officer at the sensor station begins scanning the system as the Romulan and the Captain exchange their greetings. When the initial round of scans shows nothing conclusive, she focuses on each of the planets in turn.
"I think I may have something, sir," she reports at last. "It looks like there's an object in orbit around the gas giant, but there's too much interference from the planet to confirm what it is. If we could get a little closer we'll get a clearer read."
Konie stands from his chair and returns the romulan salute as best he can, "Gladly granted. Welcome aboard Subcommander. If you need anything let me know."
He speaks as he scans around the bridge for Lieutenant Tala, "There's a medical lieutenant and an A.I. we've taken on for this. I'd like them to work with you to see if you can figure out what happened." he pauses and looks at Aurelia, "If you're alright with it, I know you and Andria were close."
As he goes to open his mouth to add more the sensors officer begins her report, he moves over to her station as she reports.
He turns to his helm officer, "Take us closer on impulse, but no closer than we need to be to identify it."
The helm officer complies and the Vanguard edges closer to the fourth planet. The violet shade of the gas giant variegates into several shades of purple as the sensors parse more data from the background noise.
"I'm getting a transmission, sir," says the ops officer. "Audio only. Let me see if I can clean it up." Soft static crackles and then resolves into the following message.
The message ceases. "It just repeats after that," says ops.
"The interference is still pretty high, but the mass is too heavy for what we've got on file for the Kihai," advises the sensors officer. "I have a visual now, sir."
An image appears on the viewscreen, quavering slightly at the edges from the interference. It is the SS Kihai, locked in high, stable orbit around the tumultuous gas giant; parasitically attached to its dorsal surface is a small, unmarked scow - scavengers, intent on salvage, most likely.
"Well isn't that something." Konie again returns to his seat, "I want a tactical assessment, information about this virus and let's see about getting a number of life signs aboard."
He looks down at his padd again to verify something, "And lets get Ensign Amset up here, maybe they'll have some knowledge about this."
The trill's fingertips flit across her console. "Toron shuttle, no insignia or, ah, known affiliation. Scavengers." She says it in a voice so soft it could be easily overspoken. "Given the interference, an exact crew count is unknown, but, ah, based on the Kihai's last reported complement, it's estimated there are fifteen to seventeen hostiles. They appear to have boarded the Kihai fully."
It's only when the Captain's PADD bweeps that he's informed of an unbidden decision on the tactical officer's part-- there's a full assault team readied to deploy- armed with heavy weapons and space-faring environmental suits. The Trill lifts her gaze to him now fleetingly, but the green eyes slide off to the floor like a water drop off the edge of a leaf then refocus on her workstation. "Permission to commandeer the shuttle prior to operations on the Kihai." At least she asked for that one.
Konie drops his eyes down to the PADD as it chirps, reading the message. He looks to the viewscreen and the ship on it, sitting in a moment of consideration rapping his finger on his chair.
The rapping stops and he looks at the trill officer, "Granted, I want non-lethal action. No further than the shuttle until we have more information about the virus."
He turns back to the ship and his fingers begin rapping again.
"There's a lot of interference from the planet, Captain," notes the science officer in a worried voice. "It could cause some problems with the transporters."
"Pattern enhancers could counter that," points out ops.
"Even with pattern enhancers, it could be difficult to get a lock," insists the science officer. "If we approach with a shuttle our people would have a guaranteed trip back."
"Transporters can put them right into the scav ship," counters ops. "A shuttle would have to dock with the Kihai, and it's not like they're open for business."
The science officer works busily with the sensors. "There's another docking hatch like the one the scavengers used on the underside of the Kihai. We could use that."
"But the Kihai's contaminated," objects ops.
"The scav ship could be, too," retorts the science officer.
"If we enhance the pattern and send over the initial security with transporters. The element of surprise should still be intact. We can bring them back with shuttles once it's been secured."
He stops the rapping, "The security teams will be equipped with EV suits which should counter the contamination problem. Once the scavenger ship has been secured we will hail the Kihai and offer the scavengers the opportunity to lay down any arms they may have. We will proceed from there."
Konie stands from his chair and looks around the bridge to all the faces, "Any questions or concerns we should be aware of?"
Somewhat proud of her first briefing Thysa takes a moment to relish her accomplishment. She moves to a vacant console and take begins running a few projections as the Romulan Woman enters the bridge, She remains oblivious to the outside world until she hears the word "Tala" to which she jumps before looking up towards Aurelia and nodding once.
As the approach the ship she starts to get anxious, this wasn't her first time dealing with live disease, but it was the first time she was whole responsible for the health of an entire crew
"No second chances here Thysa." she mutters to herself, before continuing loudly "Captain, I recommend raising shields and making sure that scav ship doesn't leave. We can't afford to let an unknown disease be spread by either that ship, or ours if they try to beam aboard. I also recommend jettisoning an escape pod as a sort of decontamination site to serve as an intermediary before beaming any of our or their crew aboard."
Amset arrives on the bridge. Its blank, metallic eyes take in the scene in an instant; it notes the ranks and stations of each member of the bridge crew, compiling a list ordered from essential to expendable of which lives it would prioritize in the event of a sudden emergency. It announces its presence in a voice like honey and bees. "Ensign Amset, reporting for duty."
The android is a peculiar sight, even to those used to such things. It does not appear to have been crafted in the image of any recognizable species. It is humanoid in appearance, but only vaguely so; its head is bald, it has no ears and only the suggestion of a nose. Its eyes are shining gold orbs looking out from a face the color and texture of vulcanized rubber. It was clearly not designed to be unobtrusive.
The android garners surreptitious glances on the part of the Trill for the duration of her next few sentences: "Permission to lead the away team, sir." She tidies up the virtual readout of her workstation, assuming the answer as she adds: "I'm familiar with close-quarters ship combat."
Konie looks between the three officers addressing him. "Granted. Quaen, take Ensign Amset with you."
He looks to the android briefly, "I trust you don't need to breath? If I'm incorrect, please grab an EV suit."
He then turns to the doc, "Lieutenant, my highest priority is ensuring that that virus does not leave that ship. That's why we're going over there now."
Konie looks around the bridge until he finds his comm officer, "Take the tactical station. As soon as we have confirmation that the away team is seated, raise the shields."
He again looks to Quaen, "You're my eyes, so keep me posted and don't get shot."
Thysa bites her lip as she wanders if the captain has taken her proposal seriously and decides that maybe it's time for her to go to the med lab, she's really just getting in the way here anyway, may as well be useful.
"Captain, if that's all I'll head down to the Medlab and prep for containment and analysis of whatever is aboard that ship?"
