After Action Report (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 10 Jul 2014 @ 2:24pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Commander Scarlet Blake & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Min Zhao & Lieutenant Asahi Kita & Commander Norvi Stace & Lieutenant Jacob Pendleton & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Commander Luke Wyatt

1,960 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 1, Conference Room
Timeline: MD 05 - 1455 hrs

Previously, on After Action Report (Part 1)...

Sighing John looked down at his foot and the sensation of a tribble that had recently rolled against his leg. With yet another exasperated sigh he picked up the ball of fluff from the floor and dropped it on the table in front of him.

"And is anyone anywhere close to finding out where the hell these things are coming from? This morning there was one in my sonic shower and another behind the replicator panel in my Ready Room!"

And Now, the Conclusion...

[ON]

Asahi looked up from his notes, attempting to clear the haze of tiredness and fear from his mind, attempting to not focus on the member that they had lost down in the mines. Sure, he wasn't leader, but he felt at least somewhat responsible. The tribbles, though annoying, brought him some focus to the situation. "The mess hall, sir. I have a small team tracking down the source of exact location, they've been at it all morning. I should have an update on that within the hour, and if I don't, I'll go down there myself and make an update happen."

Lirha's green eyes went wide. "The mess hall?" she repeated. Of course they would congregate in the mess hall, she thought with even more frustration. Where else on the ship would the tribbles find a nearly endless food source and plenty of nooks and crannies to inhabit.

"Should we suspend food service in the galley and use replicators-only?" Lirha asked, wondering what the proper protocol for the situation was, if there was any at all. In all her time at the Academy and throughout her previous deployments, she had never once had to prepare for the possibility of a tribble infestation.

Dea would have said something if she'd has a good answer. However so far there'd been no way to determine where the tribbles were coming from. The flight control department's efforts had been focuses on keeping them out of the shuttles and other critical systems. "My departments efforts have been focused on trying to keep all them clear of all vital flight control systems including the shuttles."

John wracked his brains for further information on the tribble problem - there was certainly a set of regulations to follow, but what exactly they were eluded him - most likely there was a file somewhere in the main computer with a liberal covering of metaphorical dust that would shed some light on correct procedure.

"That sounds sensible - Lieutenant Zhao would you coordinate the removal of all foodstuffs from the galley to be transferred to a secure containment area?"

Min's mind was already going over containment procedures for the food stuffs. Tribbles could get into almost anything it seemed so standard securement wouldn't work. "I'll have to figure out a tribble proof storage system but that shouldn't be a problem Captain."

"If you need extra hands security will be able to spare a few extra bodies in aid of the clean up" He looked at the tribble and shook his head "How did they get aboard again?" He asked knowing the answer but he had given his opinion on the tribbles before rigel.

"Several crew members including myself acquired pet tribbles during our shore leave on Rigel VII," Lirha answered plainly enough. It momentarily dawned on her that Galileo might not be in this situation had she not decided to bring her colleagues to the tribble farm that one day, but in hindsight, it had seemed like a good idea. And for the most part, all of the tribbles on board the ship were being taken care of properly...except for one.

"Do I need to say I told you so?" He teased turning back to the bigger issue than just being able to tease the Commodore about her decision to go to the tribble farm during their leave.

Asahi had his head down in his PADD before he could respond to the order given, though found his head snapping back up again as he realized what was about to occur. "Sir, Ma'am, with all due respect, I actually had an idea to flush a vast majority of them out of hiding and ready for smooth capture, but it'd potentially involve a temporary shut down of the replicators, but it's the fastest thing I can think of without using lethal means."

John was really looking for a more lethal option - simply put, he wanted these things off his ship, and if that involved something like a phaser, he wasn't about to stop the idea.

"What did you have in mind Lieutenant?"

"The easiest way I can think of to get a bunch of fuzzy locusts in one place at one time; give them food." If Asahi had any opinions on whether the tribbles should have been tossed off the ship or kept in holding pens, he spoke nothing of it. As far as he was concerned, finding a place for the poor things wasn't his job. Flushing them out, however, definitely was. "We bait them into a glorified trap. We shut down the replicators and lock down the food, except in one specific location, where we'd set out some sort of feed that they'd be attracted to but wouldn't cause another spurt of spontaneous reproduction. Once we have a bunch of them there, we close the room off, round 'em up, and figure out what to do with them from there. Something like that wouldn't take too long to pull off; an hour at most to lure them in, and all we'd have to do is find the one room that can hold that many tribbles... I can take a look at schematics and get a team working on the engineering bits, but it'd require a little more manpower than that to get them outta here."

"Put a plan together and get it on my desk Mr Asahi." John replied with a nod, it was a good idea - at least it might help to contain the problem - and was therefore worth a try.

Quinn raised a hand. "Can we go back to the mine topic? What if the phenomenon going on down there is man-made, like something went wrong?"

Allyndra nodded in agreement to Quinn. She was not as concerned about the Tribbles but knew that they could become a real nuisance and besides the little things seemed to give her a wide berth so they were not as much a concern to her.

"I agree, I think another investigation is in order," Allyndra voiced her agreement to Quinn's suggestion.

The Orion commodore nodded with her own agreement of the assessment. Little, if anything, had been discovered down in the mine so far, and Galileo's investigation of the subterranean network was far from complete in her opinion.

"My thoughts as well," Lirha chimed in, then turned to Holliday. "I would like to send two more away teams down into the facility. Commander Blake can lead one, and you will personally lead the other." It was rare to send a ship's CO down on an away mission and definitely against proper protocol, but given the circumstances, perhaps his experience would yield more results than the previous attempts.

"I suggest taking extra stores this time," she added. "We have several containers of portable scientific equipment in our cargo bay, as well as additional phaser rifles in our armory. I want everyone to be as prepared as possible, and also to be safe. No more casualties."

John was a little taken aback at the comment from the Commodore that he was to lead a team himself - usually a CO would be essentially banned from setting foot into a hazardous situation, and it was a rule that had kept the Captain twiddling his thumbs on the Bridge when he would have preferred to have been part of the action.

"Yes Ma'am - I agree - I also want all both teams to take a set of transport enhancers - in case things get complicated. Commander Blake - you will be in charge of selecting the teams."

Jacob spoke up immediately, "I want on the first team if you would be so kind Commander Blake. I believe that those layers and layers of immense clear quartz crystal might be worth our looking into..." Just then a Tribble rolled against his leg. He looked down and smiled; gently picked it up, pet it and put it on his massive left shoulder, then continued, "The harmonics that those veins of pure crystal could be a conduit for much of our dilemma."

Scarlet nodded firmly, picking her PADD back up to start making notes. "I'll get the teams drawn up," she assured the Captain. She had a major objection to the Captain heading up one of the Away Teams in such a dangerous place, but she could keep the objection for the privacy of an office.

Lirha looked around the room as the conversation began to fade and decided now was as good a time as ever to wrap up the discussion. No doubt the away team members who'd recently returned from the planet's surface needed some food and rest, and she herself had other matters to attend to. Matters of the furry kind.

"Very well. If there are no further items to discuss, you are all dismissed," she said. "The next away teams will be scheduled in two days. Please get some rest, and in the meantime, continue your research."

"Nothing further here," Dea replied, gathering up the PADDs she'd brought with her to the meeting.

Allyndra sat for several moments as others began to leave. Her mind was busy thinking and trying to make some sense of everything in the mines. Well perhaps and answer might come to her later for now she probably should get a few winks in and then scare the little furballs out of sickbay.

Min got up from her spot at the conference table. Pausing a second as a small cramping feeling played across her stomach, then disappeared as fast as it came. ~Just another braxton-hicks,~ Min noted to herself. ~Nothing to worry about.~

Luke pushed his chair back and stood up looking around the room he didn't see anyone he had to discuss with any further points and proceeded to leave behind the seniors who had already started filtering out of the room.

At this point, Stace could barely look anybody in the face. With a sunken head, she slipped out as quickly as she could to return to her quarters.

Asahi took another look up, just in time to see the fleeting form of the Trill scientist. An odd feeling of sadness washed over him, but, as much as he wanted to follow after her with petty comforts, he had a job to do. Slowly, he stood up, nodding towards the others, and left the room to hunt for tribbles.

[OFF]

--

CDRE Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

LTCMDR Dea Mialin
Chief Flight Control Officer/Second Officer
USS Galileo

Senior Chief Petty Officer Luke Wyatt
Acting Chief of Secuity
USS Galileo

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo

Command Master Chief Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Norvi Stace
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Asahi Kita
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

LCDR Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

LT Min Zhao
Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo

LT Jacob Pendleton
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

LT Amynta Markos
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

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