Senior Staff Briefing (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 13 Mar 2014 @ 9:54am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Commander Scarlet Blake & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Theron Rhodes & Lieutenant Asahi Kita & Commander Norvi Stace & Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton & Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle & Lieutenant Teth Miir & Lieutenant Commander Amynta Markos & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Petty Officer 1st Class Oliver Morris

2,731 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 7, Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD -07 - 0910 hrs

Previously, on Senior Staff Briefing (Part 1)...

"Ghosts aren't real." the caitian counselor said, mostly to convince himself. "Isn't it more likely that these 'apparitions' are maybe the result of some kind of mass delusional state. They're likely just hallucinating. Maybe something environmental is causing it? Or, you know, it could also be some form of unknown alien life that we aren't necessarily familiar with. In any case, wouldn't our efforts be better spent investigating it in a scientific way? And even if we want some kind of expert on metaphysical apparitions, where would we find them? I don't remember that course being offered at Starfleet Academy."

And Now, the Conclusion...

[ON]

Theron looked at the Caitian. He disagreed with that opinion, but this was the wrong place to drag that conversation out.

Allyndra was about to comment on if the Cardassians would be involved as well, but the Captain had beat her to the question. She thought about what the Caitian said and had to agree. Her people had no such tales or things.

She did raise her hand. "You said Uridium mines. The stuff that is used in sensor arrays. I can not help but wonder that if the material is used for sensors if some of this phenomenon maybe related to the mineral. Sort of like sensor 'ghosts'. Also the system is a Trinary. On Akkadia the Twins..," she wanted to say kiss but no one here would understand. "Have an exchange which gives off all sort of odd extra energy, perhaps some interaction between the suns and the mineral? I would agree it would be best to start with a scientific start than presume a metaphysical one."

Stace raised an eyebrow and shot a glance towards Pendleton and then back to Allyndra. Speaking up with a smile, she added, "I assume that's why we're both here."

Rhodes felt he had to speak up, but for a practical nature. He certainly was not going to argue ghost or no ghost. "Sir, do you feel that our security forces will be necessary in curb any violence in the mines?"

Currently Dea's main concern wasn't whether there were ghosts or not. Far more concerned with the Cardassians. "I'd be interested to know that as well." Security of the ship and anyone they potentially sent to the surface was far more important.

John cleared his throat as he thought on the subject. Whilst the facility was a joint operation between the Federation and the Cardassians, Galileo was simply not equipped to be dealing with that sort of enforcement duty.

"Galileo simply does not have the size of security detail to adequately patrol the entire facility. Existing security officers from the detachment on Lyshan III plus additional staff from the Cardassian vessel en-route should be sufficient to monitor the labour teams. If necessary we will deploy our security teams to protect Federation assets. I don't want to have to do so but it may be a last resort."

So many questions and different points of views all at once. Lirha quietly dismissed the chatter of ghosts and paranormal experts, instead preferring to focus on scientific method and a tangible solution to the problem at hand. Miir and Warraquim had brought up two good points, and Lirha thought them both worth exploring. "The planet is currently in the process of being terraformed, so perhaps there is some type of unknown chemical reaction occurring within the atmosphere which is affecting the colonists' judgement. Or perhaps the atmospheric processors are malfunctioning," she speculated with a light shrug, then looked at Allyndra.

"Uridium is used in Cardassian sensor arrays, however it is a mineral which is then converted into an alloy. I do not see how the mineral itself could be creating problems, especially since uridium has been mined across the galaxy for hundreds of years," Lirha paused and took another sip of her drink. "However, you might be correct, and we cannot rule out any possibility at this time. The science team can focus on the cosmological aspect, and I would prefer you focus on any possible medical causes."

"Until the Gally gets to the system," Stace chimed in again, now directing her attention over to the commodore, "it's almost pointless to speculate on the cause of this phenomenon. A myriad of possibilities could cause a domino effect on anything. Like you said: a cosmological event, a systems' malfunction, mass hysteria..." She paused, conscious of her gesticulation and removed her hands from waving about the desk in front of her. "But I'll organise the Science team to start investigating into the information we already about the planet, and its system, from the database. It might be prudent to already hypothesise avenues for investigation en route ready for when we arrive."

"You also mentioned disappearances," Teth spoke up again, "In what way are they related to the phenomena that the colonists are experiencing?"

"Unknown," Lirha simply replied with a shake of her head. "One of the reports from Starfleet mentioned the colonists have been experiencing power fluctuations with some of their equipment in the mines, and also that there appear to be several sections of underground rock which are impenetrable. Perhaps this could be an equipment malfunction or the result of some type of geological activity...but I do not understand how it could be related to any missing colonists and I would prefer not to speculate at this time."

Again, the tiny engineer's ears perked up during the conversation, this time at the words 'equipment malfunction.' "If we could get specs on the machinery they use and where they use it, I could get an Engineering team to familiarize themselves with it, to prepare for any investigations into a potential machinery cause, especially if we're not ruling anything out." His face lit up like an engineering cadet staring at their first real warp core. "If there is a problem, necessary repairs could me made much faster, and prevent any other disruptions."

"Sir," Oliver turned toward his charge, "I know this sounds familiar. But I can't put my finger on it. Something from Starfleet's past. A mine, mysterious disappearances, and gremlins in the works. Commodore, do they mine anything else but Uridium ore mined there?"

Jacob shrugged, "Scientifically I still believe we must eliminate all possibilities and probabilities so that we can get to the Truth no matter how that Truth might look or be unbelievable. I still urge that we keep as open a mind as possible to any possible contingency. In that vein Commodore, do you feel we should investigate the mine first or the workers or the nearby settlements?"

Lirha didn't want the assembled staff to get too far ahead of themselves, but it was a valid question. "Well, we are a planetary science vessel, first and foremost. I believe the best course of action would be to assess the planet itself before we begin to speak to the colonists or beam down to the surface. Perhaps there is something our advanced sensors could detect from orbit which we might not be able to detect on the surface."

Quinn spoke up, in his soft, raspy voice. "During the Dominion War I was assigned to the USS Thor. One time we thought it would be smart to hide out in the McAllister Nebula, not very far from Lyshan, while we waited for our target to pass by. We drifted while cloaked for about eight days after suddenly losing impulse and Warp capabilities. We had a run in with a ghost ship. Just because we don't understand something doesn't mean it's not any less real."

Scarlet nodded to Quinn's comment. Everything was magic until the scientific explanation was understood. Blake wasn't worried about so called ghosts, far from it. She was far more concerned and tense over a much more real threat...well, what she felt could be. Cardassians. Having grown up in a Maquis cell, it had naturally coloured her view of Cardassians and Vorta. Especially when the cell had been massacred by them. She rarely spoke about her Maquis past though. It was something that could make Starfleet Officers mistrust her, and she'd found the most sensible approach was to not speak about it either way. "There's several possibilities, but we won't know which path to walk down until we get some real data rather than hearsay. For all we know, it could all be one big set up designed to cause disruption. And it doesn't take much to make the fire spread. A few rumours is all you need before people think they are hearing and seeing more than they are because they have the idea in their head."

"Because people are stupid," Amynta commented before arching an eyebrow at them. "Well, they are. People are easily influenced by many things. It's basic psychology too..." she sat back, frowning. "I'd bring plenty of phasers. If people truly believe it, then they might very well disapprove if we try to disprove it."

As the briefing began to take final shape, John knew the time was right for him to issue the next set of orders to his crew.

"Commander Mialin - adjust our heading to take us directly to Lyshan III. Mr Rhodes, I want your security teams bringing up to speed and ready to deploy as a last resort. Lieutenants Amril and Stace, prepare our Science facilities and teams accordingly and ensure the necessary resources are made available."

"There goes the Astrometrics' sensor re-calibration I had planned during our brief stop-off at DS-9," Stace said with a smile to Pendleton quietly and to the side. "I'm sure that the dry-dock engineers aligned everything before our departure, but I'm just one of those people who needs to stick my hand in boiling water before I really trust that the pot is hot, you know?" She looked up to the captain and nodded with a wide smile. "Aye, Sir. We'll ready our teams for our arrival."

Rhodes spoke up, " I will have the Security Teams on standby. It will be a good exercise, even if we do not deploy."

"Understood Captain. Course will be adjusted for Lyshan III," Dea replied acknowledging the orders and Galileo's new heading.

"In addition," Lirha chimed in while addressing the two counselors and the CMO, "I would like you to collaborate your efforts with our psychologist, Lieutenant Crawley. Perhaps she could shed some light on the psychological effects of mine work from a non-medical point of view.

Delainey nodded her acknowledgement. She looked forward to picking her roommate's brain.

"Understood Commodore," Allyndra nodded toward Lirha and then turned her attention back to the Captain. "Captain," she addressed Holiday, "with your permission I would like to work through medical evaluations with Doctor Mott on the miners. I would like to compare their arrival medical with current to see if anything physical might have changed."

"Permission granted Doctor. Use whatever resources you need." John replied in agreement to Allyndra's decision. Being able to eliminate physiological changes as a cause of this mystery would be one more item off the list.

"Of course it should be no problem for the counseling department to assess everyone's mental state." Counselor Miir added boredly, "I am not convinced that this isn't some strange mass hallucination."

"Agreed," Delainey replied. "Even if we aren't talking about mass psychosis, we could be looking at some sort of reaction to mass trauma that has only been exacerbated by some yet to be understood but fully explainable phenomenon."

Lirha turned towards the chief engineer, yeoman, and COB, giving them her last set of instructions. "I will have Mister Morris acquire and deliver the engineering specifications of the mining equipment, as well as those for atmospheric processors. I would like all of you to look over the data and see what you can come up with."

"Yes'm." Asahi nodded, already making a mental note to gather the rest of the engineering crew. He beamed at both the Yeoman and the 'boat chief' (a happy, Asahi-term that made no sense when he uttered it aloud). "If we can butt everyone's heads together, we're bound to find something." Even if it was that there were no issues with the equipment in question itself. "I'll round up the other engineers while those specs are being found."

Quinn nodded. "My family has a large civil engineering firm. I learned to decipher seismic readings and drive a shaft drill before I entered primary school."

Oliver nodded to the Engineer, "I will have my research ready within an hour or so depending on how much data we have. This should be fun."

Nodding in satisfaction the Captain picked up his own PADD and prepared to depart for the Bridge.

"Very well people....let's get it done. Dismissed."

Allyndra stood along with the rest and got ready to head to sickbay. She wanted to let the crew know they would be doing a lot of physicals.

Lt. Rhodes stood and headed to Security. It was time to see how the new replacements responded for this non-practice situation.

Jacob looked over at Stace, "Well, here goes.. something.." He smiled and chuckled a bit and waited to walk out with her and back to the Lab.

Asahi nodded, springing up as happily as ever, nodding toward Quinn and Morris before making a swift exit. He had to inform his crew. Wouldn't want anyone out of the loop.

Oliver stood up from his chair and headed towards the door. He paused for a fraction of a second, looked down at his PADD and began to rework it for a data search. It was going to be a long hour ahead.

Dea exited the Observation lounge in a hurry. Her first priority was to get them on course for Lyshan III, after that she could deal with other matters.

Amynta stood, shaking her head as she walked out. Somehow, she doubted this was going to be an easy mission. People. And some of them extremely intelligent and just as dangerous. She would have to re-examine some things. A slight sneer pulled at her lips. She had lost her homeworld during the Dominion wars. And she never, ever liked Cardassians. Admired their intelligence; yes. And their cunning. But she did not like them.

Scarlet hesitated for a long moment after the others had left. She looked down at the PADDs, frowning. She didn't trust Cardassians. You could never tell whether they were telling the truth, or what they were thinking. They were so bloody clever. She let out a long breath, looking towards the view of streaking stars, pursing her lips. She didn't want to pass her doubts on to others though, and she certainly didn't want to be accused of xenophobia.

It seemed, since the Dominion War, it was now political incorrect to point out the obvious about Cardassians. That they were sly, tactical, manipulative masterminds. And ruthless with it. It seemed so easy for some people to forget what had happened, to forgive and move on. To forgot what they had been like, who they were, and what they believed in. Cardassians weren't bred to be held down under the boot. It wasn't in their blood or hearts. It was only a matter of time before they began an inevitable expansion campaign. Scarlet wondered just how far they would get with it before people were finally allowed to call a lion a bloody man eating beast.

[OFF]

--

CDRE Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Jacob Pendleton
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Asahi Kita
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Theron Rhodes
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Norvi Stace
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

1PO Oliver Morris
Chief Yeoman
USS Galileo

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo

LT CMDR. Dea Mialin
Chief Flight Control Officer/Second Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Amynta Markos
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Teth Miir
Counselor
USS Galileo

CMCPO Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo

LT Delainey Carlisle
Counselor
USS Galileo

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