Decisions (Part 1 of 2)

Posted on 26 Nov 2013 @ 5:44pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Scarlet Blake & Lieutenant Theron Rhodes & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle & Lieutenant Commander Amynta Markos & Commander Norvi Stace & Ensign Im'er Mor'an & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Lieutenant Asahi Kita

2,192 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 04 - Exodus
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD 06 - 1615 hrs

[ON]

Sitting at the head of the large briefing table in the Observation Lounge, Lirha suppressed a yawn while she stared out of the large windows and contemplated the events which had transpired over the past few hours. Galileo's rescue teams had had surprising success infiltrating the Borg cube, and apparently the away team on the surface had been successful in their own right by establishing first contact with the alien race inhabiting the planet. There was now much to discuss and much to coordinate, and Lirha had just finished summoning all of her senior officers for an official debriefing and planning session. Staring down at her PADD, she watched as the various department heads and away team members sent their acknowledgement of her message, then she crossed her legs, leaned back in her chair, and anxiously waited for them to arrive.

Dea was beyond exhausted, but she still had duties to perform. Upon arriving back aboard Galileo she'd been informed Saalm wanted to conduct a debriefing. Quickly making her way to deck 2. Not long after that Dea entered the Observation Lounge. "Ma'am," nodding to Lirha as she took a seat.

Scarlet moved in with a firm stride, still hairless as she made her way to her seat. Sickbay was overrun, her hair would have to wait. No matter how odd it felt. She nodded to Lirha with a small smile, glad to see her looking - well, in honesty - Orion again.

Lt. Rhodes walked into the Briefing Room and attempted to rake his fingers through his absent hair. This was infuriating. Being hairless was not acceptable. The thought constantly made him cringe. He sat down next to Lt. Blake and said, "Captain. Lieutenants."

Allyndra had stopped by sickbay. She had been surprised by all the former members that were now Borg being kept there but there had been no time to really ascertain just how far the research into the deassimilation process had been made before getting the call to attend a briefing. If it wasn't for meetings then work might actually get done. She knew her attitude was brusque but then her back was itching and already sprouts of new hair were forming. She knew that some called her people the Dorian Grey people after some Earth novel about someone who never aged. Akkadians healed remarkably quickly and fully until the very end. The problem was that her body was demanding the energy and the protein and she felt ravenous all the time. Stores were needed elsewhere and she had to make do with a sort of synthetic supplement that did nothing for solving her appetite. Thus, she was in a somewhat foul mood as she made her way toward the Briefing Room.

She noted she was not the first one there and just made a terse nod to the others. "Captain, you are looking more like your old self then the last time I saw you," she tried to be gracious as she took a seat wincing as her tender back came in contact.

Still confused. Maybe that was just going to be Asahi's general state while he was on board the Galileo, or at least until this mission was over. At least he wasn't stuck on that borg cube. That would have been something to get used to, that's for sure.

He wasn't entirely positive as to why he was called down for debriefing either. Apart from leading on one of the away teams, Asahi hadn't realized that between Lieutenant Fahad getting bogged down and Lieutenant Peers stuck in Sick Bay, there were few officers who could step up and help out. This was one way to get to know everyone on the ship, that's for sure.

Shuffling in quietly, the engineer nodded toward the others present, making certain to not meet anyone's gaze before settling himself down in a seat, PADD in hand.

Amynta walked in, looking around at the people there before moving to take a seat. She studied them before frowning, sitting back. She clearly had missed a lot with the First Contact team. And judging by some of them, she had been lucky.

Delainey entered and absently scratched her head, the only indication she was at all bothered or even aware of her hairless state. She supposed she would have been more upset if she'd had time to think about it, but matters in sickbay and concern for the crew overall kept her distracted. Entering with her ever present raktajino, she offered what she hoped would be seen as encouraging if wan smile. "Hi all."

Stace, her face pallid and almost pained, strode silently into the briefing room and took her seat. After her unchecked reaction down on the surface, she wasn't sure how this meeting was going to develop and so decided to take somewhat of a backseat with regards to input. She feigned a smile and sighed, lowering herself steadily into her chair.

Aria still hadn't gotten her hair 'fixed', so she wore an electric blue wig today. She moved to sit down, the fingerless gloves she wore with her uniform feeling like a blanket of comfort. She still wasn't...keen. She still felt shaken. Oh. And pissed off.

Mor'an stepped into the Lounge with an air a calm, as was her norm. She held her head high, despite her disturbing lack of hair. Since the away mission, Mor'an had tried her best to come to terms with her missing hair. She found that, because her hair had been so thick and heavy, its absence actually altered her center of gravity. Granted, it was ever so slightly, but it was noticeable nonetheless. Mor'an took the chair closest to her and waited for the debriefing.

Lirha couldn't help but notice the smooth and bald heads of each member of the surface away team as they came into the briefing room. It was quite shocking to see them with no hair -- even no eyebrows. She remembered Scarlet's similar appearance when she materialized on the bridge to speak to her several hours ago, but had not realized that every member of the team had been affected in the same way. Her curiosity got the better of her and she couldn't help but comment.

"What happened to all of your hair?" she asked, looking at the various bald members in the room and waiting for someone to explain what had occurred.

"Our hosts have a phobia about germs, thus all hair, external dermis was removed. I did get a scan and can see why Captain, if I read the readings correctly their immune systems are very delicate to virtually non-existent. It may explain some of their paranoia."

"Trust me, when Sickbay is less swamped, I'll be beating down the door," Scarlet arched an eyebrow, or at least, an eyebrow would have arched if she had them.

"Paranoia?" Stace cocked her head to Allyndra, her brows now furrowed in both confusion and a lilt of anger. "Lieutenant, this isn't a harmless, xenophobic group of people scared of catching a cold. They're using the Borg to seek and destroy any and all 'contaminant' life that pose a risk to them. I understand the need to protect oneself, but this is taking self-preservation to a completely ruthless and aggressive level. Just look at both our crews lying in sickbay with robotic limbs!" She flicked her attention back to Blake and with a wide-eye silently pleaded for forgiveness. "I don't mean to sound out of line - again - Captain," she began with, now turning her attention to Lirha, "but I don't understand why I am the only one outwardly angry at these people."

The Orion captained listened to both Allyndra and Norvi's report, then rubbed the side of her sore neck for a moment while she contemplated the actions of the strange aliens on the surface. "You are not the only one, I assure you," she finally replied to Stace with a sympathetic nod. "I do not like seeing our assimilated crew members any more than you, let alone the destruction of one of our ships. I understand your concerns."

Lirha's attention shifted to the entire away team and she began to dig for more information. "From a scientific standpoint, what have all of you discovered about their culture? Their psychology and physiology? What about their technology?" She was curious to know more about these beings before she jumped to any conclusions.

"They are completely self-reliant. They've had to be," Scarlet motioned with a hand as she leant back in the chair and crossed her legs. "Technologically, as we could have guessed, they're advanced. Very much so. I would go so far as to say that they're reliant on their technology though. But all their achievement and accomplishment seems to be focused completely on practicality. While their fear of germs would explain some of the sterility of the environment, it seemed to go beyond that. I think I would use the word - bland. Everything seemed so blank - whether out of choice, or necessity, all of their advanced accomplishments seemed to be in aid of the practicalities of their lives and phobias rather than cultural and artistic endeavour. Even the way they spoke was measured. They - even seemed to have difficulty understanding strong emotion in some cases. They truly seemed puzzled over our reaction to our crew mates being killed, injured and assimilated."

Allyndra nodded as Commander Blake made a nice summary. "A very nice summary Commander," she nodded toward the Commander and then looked at the Captain. "Bland and though they say they have a wonderful complex culture and art, there was nothing to indicate that. To add though Captain, unpredictable as well, one moment they tear a ship apart with the Borg and the second claim that they just reacted and now offer facilities for both the repair of the ship and to take care of our injured. However, if I had to sum them up, I would say a mercurial race that is very dangerous. I would urge extreme caution dealing with them"

The Security Chief finally spoke up, "I agree Captain. Extreme caution is called for. I recommend oversight of their movement of any project dealing with the ship." Rhodes looked at the 2 doctors then back to the Captain and added, "The one word that has not been mentioned about the Le'kt is Morality. They do not seem to have a reciprocal level as us. Our perspectives are definately different."

"Interesting..." Lirha thought to herself out loud, not quite sure what to make of the differing opinions of these aliens. On one hand, they had spared the lives of her crew, but on the other -- as Stace, Warraquim, and Rhodes had diligently pointed out -- they seemed to operate with unknown motives, and were mysterious in nature. Most importantly, the captain was very surprised to hear of an offer of assistance, especially for repair of her ship and care for the wounded.

"Do you believe we can trust these aliens?" Lirha asked the away team rather bluntly. "Considering our current circumstances?" she added, referring to Galileo's currently damaged condition and the many crew members in sickbay.

If the air wasn't so thick with silence then Stace's snorted scoff would have gone unheard, but the room was as still as unbroken glass and it cut through like shards of malice. Her eyes widened as she caught herself, once again, pleading the aggressor, and she tilted her head whilst trying to soften her face as the gaze of the captain fell upon her. "Sorry," she said almost meekly, fully aware now that her feelings were completely understood and fully expressed to the group. "Look, I know that I'm not their greatest fan, Captain," she added, raising her eyebrows in confusion as the words seemed to unexpectedly pour from her mouth, "but in the condition we're in, we couldn't limp far enough out of their clutches should they want to turn the tables. We're caught in this spider's web as it is, and the spider can either cut us loose from it or devour us as we inch our way further towards its edges. But either way, we're at their mercy. Or rather the Borg's. So we might as well take full advantage of their assistance whilst they still extend it."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

LT Dea Mialin
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

LT JR Grade Asahi Kita
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Lt Allydnra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Gailileo

LT CMDR Scarlet Blake
Chief Counsellor/2XO
USS Galileo

Lt. Theron Rhodes
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

Junior Grade Lieutenant Norvi Stace
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

LT Aria Rice
Asst. Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

LT Amynta Markos
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

ENS Im'er Mor'an
Operations Officer
USS Galileo

LT Delainey Carlisle
Asst. Chief Counselor
USS Galileo

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