Status Report

Posted on Mon May 31st, 2021 @ 4:23pm by Captain Henry Crow & Ensign Evelyn Moro & Patricia Crow & Commander Brielle Jayde & Commander Vox Templar & Commander Caressa Melanick & Lieutenant Commander Constance Stewart & Lieutenant Aemilia "Millie" Stepanova & Lieutenant Michael Harris & Warrant Officer Michael Joustra

Mission: Knock Knock
Location: Conference Room

As ordered the Senior Staff, and one lone engineer, gathered in the Conference Room.

Brielle had wondered what was going on. She'd been buried in her own work but when the meeting was called, she made sure she was there. She also arrived with coffee in hand, wondering what the meeting was about.

Joustra entered and was in a very foul mood. Walking towards the replicator. " Coffee, black." He barked. Taking his coffee and seat at the far end of the conference room.

Constance was already in the conference room in her new seat, PADD in hand, cup of black coffee sitting beside her. She had been busy running drills with the officers on the away team and non away team. She wondered what this was about.

Caressa attended with security officers in tow. She shooed them to the back of the room. "I am not going anywhere. Just stand back there."

Millie stood in front of Ensign Moro, reaching out to put a hand on her arm. "Take a breath. You'll do fine."

Evelyn nodded in thanks for the support though she did feel momentarily more confidant. "Thanks."

Edruj stepped into the conference room without a word. The events dealing with Caressa had troubled the Klingon's mind. The presence of the security officers in the room did not do anything to ease those troubles. Edruj was determined to solve this mystery.

Patricia entered and was four steps towards her usual seat in the back when she saw Joustra was already there. For a moment she was a little disoriented before taking one against another wall. It was fine... she supposed. Besides, he was a bonified war hero with 239 reported kills in one battle. Not that she was a fangirl or anything.

Commander Templar followed Banks into the room and almost bumped into her when she stopped momentarily due to the seating confusion. Since the room was rather crowded, he opted to stand against a bulkhead opposite the security detachment, keeping a silently neutral expression.

Henry entered the room, casting a glance at Moro as he stood at the head of the table. "The time has come to bring you all up to speed on our current mission." A holographic star chart rose from the table making their current position and their destination. "In a little under forty-eight hours we will arrive at our set coordinates and deploy what's been under wraps in the cargo bay, namely a very sophisticated and classified device with the aim of gathering needed intelligence on a growing threat. That threat is a combined effort of rogue Gorn and Klingons intent on sparking a conflict the likes of which haven't been seen in a long time. Now, that in itself is dangerous enough but we have a complication and for that portion I have asked Ensign Moro to join us."

Evelyn forced herself to separate from the wall she'd been pushing her back into and step forward. With all eyes on her she was reminded of all the anxious moments she spent in classrooms, which she hated. "Uh, well yes sir. As all of you have I'm sure become aware of the last week, we've had regular interruptions of the ship's power grid. The cause of those disruptions is due to the inadvertent creation of a particle which has drawn power every eight hours and then increased in size. I am very confidant in reporting that it's growth has been stopped though the particle still remains. However, the ship is no longer in direct danger."

Patricia tilted her head. "What kind of direct danger were we in?"

Henry looked at Moro. "Tell them about the couch."

Evelyn had coached herself to expect the reaction. "It ate my couch when it made contact. So it was presumed that if it made contact with the ship itself that it would lead to structural collapse."

Henry looked at those assembled for their reactions.

Templar raised one eyebrow as he folded his arms. "Sounds like it needs to be sent into the nearest sun," he said quite seriously.

"Am i correct in assuming that this is a security matter only now? Or are we going to fuck around with science stuff and engineering stuff for several hours, first trying to find a peaceful solution. Because I can have this solved in 1 or 2 hours." Joustra was looking at a padd.

Caressa's eye grew large. Thinking to herself he should just tell us how he really feels.

Evelyn looked to Vox. "I had considered that but the variable is unknown, that is, its energy absorbtion capabilities. We know it sapped the ship's power systems but I don't know how it would react to the amount of power in a star. Either it would be destroyed or it would be super charged and potentially absorb the whole galaxy...for starters."

Brie eyed Jostrua for a moment before looking back at the others. "Eaten a couch, growth stopped but...did it grow when it consumed the couch? If so, anything at all it comes into contact with would cause more issues. Hell, even phaser fire or transporter beam it might consume."

Evelyn turned to Brie. "The couch got eaten as a result of a growth spurt. Its trigger seemed to be every eight hours reaching out to draw in energy. I've found a way to route the power through the particle back into the ship which is keeping it steady."

Patricia raised a hand. "You're a computer science specialist. How did this even happen?"

"I've always been interested in things like theoretical physics and quantum theory. I....tinker."

Patricia leaned back. "Maybe less tinkering from now on."

"Yes, that's been expressed by the Captain."

Edruj sighed, well the sigh was more of a guttural growl. She wanted to chastise the Ensign for bringing their tinkers to her. For the Science team could have had this contained before it got out. However, that would serve no purpose in the immediate future. "Ensign in the future please bring any of your ideas for experiments to me and I will be happy to assist you so things will not get out of hand. That said... There are two ways that we can end this. The first would be creating a particle collider and hurling a particle of antiprotons at it. This should nullify its power absorbing properties, and destroy it. The other method is to hurl into a black hole in lieu of a sun."

" Oh we don't have to worry about the ensign tinkering. After this meeting she's going straight to the brig and after that it will be either a federation case or starfleet case. Either way 20 to 30 years at correctional facility. Just writing up the report now. Hope for the ensign it's a federation case, better prisons." He put down his padd. " Agree with the Klingon, we got one blackhole in this part of space. We can easily detach part of the hull section and hope for a steady hand at the helm, make a quick impulse turn and gravity will do the rest and hurl the universe towards the blackhole." Joustra looked in the direction of the captain.

Brielle's eyes snapped to Joustra again. "Right now, zip it about any of that, okay? This sounds like an accident, not a brig-worthy purposefully done thing. And don't argue, got it?" There was anger in her voice with the statements. But she took a deep breath and then looked back to both Moro and the captain. "Do we have any other ideas? Black hole might work...but I'm no scientist."

Stewart looked at Joustra. "I agree the ensign needs to be punished for their 'tinkering' but I think you're going a little overboard. I can see spending a few weeks in the brig, but Federation prison is a little much. It's not like the ensign meant for any of this to happen. Just wish they would have said something right after so it could be dealt with then. This is a major security issue," she said with a coldness to her voice. "That can be done later. Right now we need to figure out how to get this weapon off our ship."

"Reported it, filed it, not my concern after I hand the ensign over to Starfleet security. What Starfleet JAG does or doesn't charge her with also not my problem. I just arrest the ensign, read her her rights and you decide brig or quarters. I got a confession, I got the evidence chain, my work is done. Got a problem talk to Captain Talus, JAG sector head." Joustra sat back took a big sip of his coffee. "Just doing my job, sorry... not sorry."

Henry held up a hand. "Alright settle down, nobody's going to prison. Edruj, work with the ensign and figure out what we can actually do with this thing. The rest of you keep preparing for all possibilities with the main mission. Hopefully we'll be in and out but this ship's history suggests otherwise."

Brie was glad Henry had said what he did. But, he was also right about the fact that they had two things they were dealing with right now. "Best that everyone else stay out of their hair too. Things can be monitored without being in the same room." She pinched the bridge of her nose. This meeting had put her in a mood now, so she wasn't going to say anything else, though she did want to.

Constance didn't agree with Joustra. She thought he was being too harsh but what's done is done. Captain Crow had the final say in what happened with the ensign. The only thing that concerned her was the current problem of getting this weapon off the ship.

Henry stood from his seat. "Alright, let's get to work."

"You heard the captain, let's do what we need to do." Brielle looked at the others. Her anger was still high when it came to Joustra, but hopefully that would calm as she worked.

Evelyn walked back to Millie, and by her expression she was doing everything possible to restrain the stress. "I, uh, I have to get back and figure out something to do with this thing."

Henry stopped on his way out and looked at both Millie and Evelyn. "Ensign, if you can figure out a way out of this mess I'm willing to consider it, as they used to say offsetting pentalites. If this goes bad there's not much I'm going to be able to do to hold off people like the Warrant Officer was talking about. Do you understand?"

Evelyn nodded quickly. "Loud and clear, Captain. And thank you for the chance to fix this."

He gave her a nod before walking out and she turned her eyes back to Millie. "Well, six hours and forty-two minutes and we'll know if I'm going to prison or not."

Millie gently took one of Evelyn's hands. "You're not alone in this. You have help, and you have me." She gave the ensign's hand a squeeze. "You focus on the science project, and getting the rest of the team up to speed."

Joustra raised an eyebrow at that. He finished his coffee and placed the cup in the replicator. "A word in private, sir," he said as he headed for the captain and the exit.

Caressa could not believe the harshness of Jostra, but then again she had her own issues. "Come on guys lets go!" She stood and exited with her minions in tow.

Constance couldn't believe how harsh Joustra was being but he had a point. She got up from her seat, put her cup in the replicator and headed back to security. She still had security officers to train.

With the Captain's words Edruj turned toward the ensign. "Ensign meet me in Lab two and bring everything you have on this thing." She left in a hurry the excitement of discovery taking its hold on the Klingon. However, there was a small part of her that wished the Ensign left the science to the scientists.

Evelyn turned from Millie and nodded to Edruj. "I'll let you know how it's going." She followed Edruj out.

Templar had kept silent during most of the conversation. Tensions were rising among the senior staff about what had transpired and what to do about it. He didn't have much skin in the game regarding the ensign. He silently headed out of the room, certain that he'd have to give Brie some venting time after hours.




Captain Henry Crow
Commanding Officer, USS Mercutio



Commander Brielle Jayde
Second Officer, USS Mercutio



Ensign Evelyn Moro
Computer Systems Specialist, USS Mercutio



Lieutenant Commander Caressa Melanick
Chief Medical Officer, USS Mercutio



Lieutenant Edruj
Chief Science Officer, USS Mercutio



Lieutenant Aemilia "Millie" Stepanova
Chief Counselor, USS Mercutio



Commander Vox Templar
Chief Intelligence Officer, USS Mercutio



Patricia Crow
Chief Intelligence Officer, USS Mercutio



Warrant Officer Michael Joustra
Chief Security Officer, USS Mercutio