Senior Staff Debriefing

Posted on 24 Oct 2012 @ 5:34pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Lieutenant Commander Pola Ni Dhuinn M.D. & Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle & Lieutenant Commander Evelyn Coleman & Lieutenant Theron Rhodes & Lieutenant Kiri Cho & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Amril

3,373 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: USS Galileo - Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD 03 - 0800 hrs

[ON]

Lirha stood by the replicator in the observation lounge and watched as a mug of hot chocolate finally materialized in front of her. The past two days had been rather grueling and she had not gotten much sleep, but fortunately Galileo's repairs were coming along nicely. There was still much work to be done but for now, primary power had been restored throughout most sections of the ship. After a brief meeting with her Task Group Commanding Officer, Commodore Damian, Lirha now felt it best to debrief her crew and appraise them of the latest developments regarding Sienna and their confrontation with the Klingon Empire. Slowly, she made her way to the head of the large table and took a seat, sipping her warm drink as she waited for the rest of her senior staff to arrive.

Kiri arrived promptly three minutes early, her uniform fresh, her dark hair pulled back into a low pony tail, for once she was wearing a more liberal application of makeup, covering the bags under her eyes. While they were almost always under attack, she hadn't gotten much sleep, now they were free, she was having nightmares. Dreamless sleep was what she was used to, not having bad dreams since she was a child but now. When her mind relaxed it was as if terror swept through her. Images, thoughts, echoes and feelings that were not even a tangent of her own, quantifying them was hard, they weren't normal. They haunted her, anyone she spoke to about them would think she was crazy. Kiri was convinced they would go away, still she was finding it almost impossible to sleep.

Taking the same seat she had at the last meeting, far away from the door and the only other person in the room, she bowed her head. This time she wouldn't make any mistakes, just listen and keep quiet. Watch what everyone else did.

Amril arrived with a punctuality that would have impressed a vulcan. The chronometer just reached 0800 when the vorta walked in. He wore an outfit that made him look very much a vorta diplomat, a fine, dark material with deep violet patterns across one side. He nodded to those present and then selected a seat at the end of the table opposite Lirha.

"Good morning," he offered brightly to those at the table, in an effort to meet the social expectations of the crew.

"Morning." Holliday replied in a flat voice as he made his way into the lounge, PADD in one hand and a raktajino in the other, reading through yet another set of damage reports and requisition requests. He could have sworn that there was less work than this involved when Galileo was still being built that from simply effecting a set of repairs. He wasted no time in heading round to his usual chair and nodding to his captain as he sat.

Wrecked tired, Pola slightly limped as she made her way into the briefing room. She wished she could say that her uniform was immaculate but it was wrinkled and dirty. She'd been trying to keep herself moving between the medical camps arranged by the colony to help with the overflow of crew from the Galileo. Between the gravity going down and the crash landing, she wasn't certain if there was anyone uninjured. Just heading for the first available chair, she nodded her head as she took a seat beside Holiday.

Delainey followed a moment later, equally tired and alternately alert with shock. She still couldn't believe the ship had crashed, let alone they had all been thrown around like rag dolls in the process. Carlisle had always known she could die in service to Starfleet, but she never thought she would die in the high tech equivalent of a car crash. She took her seat near Pola, this time quietly offering her the extra caffeinated beverage Delainey had brought. As a colleague, she figured the CMO could use it.

Smiling her appreciation at the counsellor, Pola tucked a piece of loose hair behind her ear before taking the offer cup, grateful for even a small kick to get her through this meeting.

Ens. Rhodes stepped into the lounge walked over to a chair and sat down without much to say. A great deal had taken place in the last two days since their not so delicate landing here on Vega Colony. He hoped that this briefing would be short. He was looking forward to some time away from the ship for a couple days. He glanced over to Kiri and did not smile at her. He knew that connecting with her in public was not what she would like.

Markum stumbled into the conference room and immediately did a beeline for the replicator. "Reman coffee, triple strength, double sweet. Chief-size."

As the large mug of steaming potent java materialized, Quinn picked it up and took a sip. "Ahh." was all that was said as he moved to find a seat. As he sat down he took another sip and then placed the mug on the table before him. Taking note of the grease and dirt smudges on his hands. "Morin' everyone...it is morning, right?"

"I damn well hope so Chief..." Holliday replied, taking a large sip from his own mug. He could understand how the veteran engineer felt, with the workload they had been left with in recent days, it was easy to lose track of time.

"Otherwise I'm going back to bed."

Evelyn walked into the conference room rubbing her temples. When her eyes noticed the others in the room, she lowered her hands and quickly took one of the empty chairs by the the table. Not saying a thing to anyone, she sat down on the chair and slid up near the table. Remaining quiet her eyes fixated on her hands as she rubbed them together.

Dea entered the room a bit later than she wanted but the last two days had taken their toll on her. Carrying a mug in her uninjured left hand. "Morning" Taking a seat as she greeted the others.

With her current senior staff assembled and visibly fatigued from the past days' adventures, the captain made a mental note to make the debriefing as quick as possible. Her crew seemed burned out, for good reason, and Lirha was no exception. Standing slowly and bringing her mug with her, she stepped in front of the large wall-mounted LCARS display and tapped several commands into its keypad. The screen came to life with a flash of bright colors, first showing the blue and gold Starfleet emblem, then shifting to a sector map of Federation space. "Good morning." she said softly as she looked across everyone's faces.

"Despite our troubles and resistance from the Klingon Empire, we have successfully completed our primary objective of transferring Project Sienna and its scientists from Starbase 152 to Starbase 001. USS Victorious and the rest of our task group arrived in orbit early yesterday and they have since transported the device and all necessary personnel back to the Sol system." she explained, then paused briefly before continuing. "Unfortunately, Doctor Abernathy and his associate's whereabouts are unknown. He was taken during the initial attack by the Klingons but Starfleet Intelligence has reason to believe that capture was...premeditated. A preemptive investigation into his recent personal logs while aboard Starbase 152 have revealed that he harbored a disdain for the Doctors Hardaway, and suggested that he had been contacted by outside sources...not from the Federation. We now believe that he has defected, and along with him, a great deal of knowledge about Sienna could potentially be in the wrong hands." she explained, then stopped to take a large swig of her warm drink as she waited for any questions to be presented to her.

For the moment Dea just listened to Lirha. Letting her Commanding Officer's words sink in. Sorting the rest out could come later.

These revelations seemed to fascinate Amril, he leaned forward as Lirha finished speaking. "Perhaps I'm a bit behind on my history... is the Klingon Empire an enemy of the Federation again?"

Quinn put his now empty mug back on the table and then answered. "The Klingon people are not the enemies of the Federation. It's the Klingon Government that is the problem. Instability is the only assured thing when it comes to the Klingon High Council. They change Chancellors and ruling families more than a crewman fresh from Basic Training changes his underwear the moment the Warp Core goes offline during a fire fight." Quinn looked around the room and shrugged his shoulders. "What? They all do it."

"Instability is a wild card in any situation," Dea commented. Quinn's assessment was right on. Continuing to listen to others as the debriefing proceeded.

"Mister Quinn is correct," Lirha confirmed to answer the Vorta's question, "The Federation has maintained rather close ties with the Empire since the end of the war almost fifteen years ago. However, during that time there have been... conflicts of interest between both governments. Most recently, there have been several disputes over the handling of the Romulan Empire... or rather, what's left of it. And now, Project Sienna seems to be the latest in this string of altercations." she said, then paused again to take another long swig of warm chocolate before continuing. "Since our return to the Alpha Quadrant, The Klingon High Command has denied any endorsement or premeditated knowledge of the attacks at Starbase 152 and against our vessel. Their official statement has labeled General D'Grath as a renegade who's actions were not authorized by the Empire. And because he is no longer alive, Starfleet has very little proof available to dispute this."

Evelyn leaned back in her chair, here eyes focusing on the spot on the table where her hands rested. "Chancellor Martok ruled for over ten years, his predecessor, Gowron, served for eight." She pointed out, "The High Council is not as chaotic as Quinn suggests." Evelyn lifted her head to look at the Vorta, "I'm more than willing to update you on current events." Her gaze lowered back to the table.

Leaning forwards ever so slightly Kiri listened carefully, her understanding of the current political situation was limited at best. It had been covered in basic training three years ago but that was only brief. Her cultural lessons meant she knew Klingons weren't just warriors and they were smarter than most races gave them credit for. An entire renegade fleet though, that was surprising.

Although listening to what was happening, Pola rubbed her hand across her forehead as she felt a headache going on. She knew very little about the Klingons and the up to date information on the Federation's friendship with the aliens. Despite finding this discussion interesting, she just found herself unable to properly focus.

"General Martok?" asked Amril thoughtfully. "Fascinating. I will need to look into recent Klingon history. Forgive me for my lapse. Very well then, we have potential conflict with the Klingons in the future. But how do you know the scientists who defected are not still alive?" Being a recent defector himself, he did not find their actions unusual, but he felt no connection with them either. He glanced at Evelyn and the Commander Holliday, wondering if they suspected him of being sympathetic.

"My assumption is that they were on the same Bird of Prey, the Captain and I were taken captured on." Evelyn commented.

"Yes," Lirha interjected, "However we cannot base the entire security of Project Sienna on an... assumption." she said. "Starfleet is equally skeptical that they could have been killed in the attack, as such a knowledgeable defector would most likely be transferred to a more secure situation at the first opportunity. Klingons might be rash and aggressive, but they are not foolish. Well... not usually." she added with a smirk, then turned to the large wall display.

Unclipping her PADD from her belt, the captain tapped a couple commands into it and synchronized it with the screen. A couple more delicate touches on the slim device prompted the larger display to shift and zoom in on several key sectors along the border of Klingon and Federation space. "As I mentioned earlier, this recent altercation with the Empire has strained our two government's relationship. The Klingons have closed their borders and expelled all Federation ships from their territory. Sensor net activity over the past forty-eight hours has also revealed Klingon ship yards mobilizing and deploying several task forces along the Federation Neutral Zone." she explained as she pointed towards the location on the screen. "Starfleet has responded by mobilizing the Fifth, Seventh and Ninth Fleets who are en route towards several nearby strategic positions along the border. As of right now, I fear we have entered into a de facto state of war with the Empire."

Quinn studied the image on the screen and listened intently to the Captain. "Well, at least it is de facto, and not vere bellum... yet. So there is still hope. Believe me, for those of you that have not been in an actual war... pray this doesn't turn into one."

"It would destabilize the entire Alpha Quadrant," Amril pointed out, perhaps a bit redundantly.

"Ahh... something your people know all about I suppose... the fact of the matter is if the Klingons decide to go to war with us, it would be the worst move they could have possibly made - they took by far the heaviest losses during the war and as far as I'm aware they're still not back up to full strength... that said we didn't fare much better."

Holliday finally piped up, having been relatively silent for the duration of the meeting. Emotionally he seemed to be flipping between a serene ignorance to the current situation, and a strong hatred of the Klingons for endangering both his ship and his crew.

"Starfleet just has to make sure we don't do anything else to antagonize the Klingons... renegade Generals or not, the Klingons never steer away from a good fight, and there are plenty on the Council that would love to settle old scores with the Federation."

"I agree, commander." Lirha piped up after listening to her senior staff analyze the situation rather fluidly. "The next several weeks will no doubt be a stressful time for Starfleet Command, and the situation is now more volatile than ever. Unfortunately, Galileo is in no shape to head back out towards the line." she added. "The damage and repair reports suggest that we will be stuck here for at least a week as repairs are conducted and our systems are restored to operational status. In light of this, Starfleet Command has granted us ten days of shore leave. In my official debriefing to our task group commander, I noted the severe nature of our previous mission and requested that we all be allowed some down-time... and Command apparently agrees. Our leave officially begins tomorrow, but I would like all personnel to stay in the vicinity of Vega Colony until our task group departs from orbit. After that, however, you are all free to take some time off and leave the system if you like. Please attempt to stay somewhat close to our current position... I have the feeling that as soon as our repairs are completed, we will be re-deployed rather quickly."

Evelyn sighed as she studied the map, there was something she noticed but didn't share because she wants to read the latest intelligence reports. She looked around the table at the faces of each crew member they all sense the tension of the situation. What surprises her she can see a hint of fear. No one wants war, she knows but she felt a strange sense of calm. Eve looked around the table and spoke up. "I'm going to say this, because I feel it's important for all of you to hear it. I've served in Starfleet for over a hundred and fifty years. Never... I repeat, never have I felt this confident that should war happen we will be victorious. I am profoundly impressed with all of you and the challenges Starfleet manages to overcome over and over again. Humanity and in turn the entire Federation, survived the years of struggles with the Romulans and the Klingons, the Dominion, and prevailed multiple times against the Borg Collective. Look at around the table, look at US! Look what we've been through! All of us! You look at the odds we've all faced, the obstacles we all overcame. Sure we lost some friends along the way, but in the end we MADE IT!" She exclaimed. "Whether you want to say it's by luck, good fortune, or ingenuity of all of us, we've proven we can overcome any challenges that faces us. I am damn proud to be serving with all of you. And should the High Council be dumb enough to want a War... fine we will kick their asses like we did before. The Klingons couldn't defeat Humanity before the Federation existed, they sure as hell won't be able to do so now, that my friends, I guarantee you." She said leaning back in her chair, crossing her legs.

"A rousing speech," Amril offered appreciatively. "I'm sure your evaluation is accurate. But I believe the Federation Council will try to find a peaceful solution first. It is the Klingon Empire that they must appease, however." He knew what the Dominion would do, but doubted they wanted to hear such an evaluation as he would provide. Until he understood more of Federation politics, he would remain silent on that count.

Lirha smiled to herself as Evelyn spoke. It was indeed a good speech, as Amril had pointed out. But like the Vorta, Lirha anticipated a peaceful solution... or at least, a proposal. Whether or not it would be accepted or adhered to was entirely outside her control. "I know emotions are high, but we need some time to rest and evaluate what has transpired." she said quietly, then addressed the whole table. "Please inform your personnel of our R&R and shore leave orders... and make sure they get some sleep." she ordered her senior staff as she rubbed her eyes. "I know I will be doing just that in a few hours. If there are no other questions, you're all dismissed."

Nodding her head, Pola was glad to finally have a chance to escape. The headache had built and built behind her skull and she felt at this point that if she didn't get an analgesic, she might actually pass out. Smiling slightly strained at those around her, including her CO and XO, Pola excused herself as she headed for sickbay.

Kiri's plan to do nothing that might come across negatively or get her in trouble was a rousing success. She had done nothing, said nothing and didn't seem to cause any problems, this was good. There were no real questions on her part so quietly she slipped away and headed back to her work station, finalising her report for her new CO seemed more important than the staff meeting had.

Dea nodded to her Commanding Officer. No matter how hard she tried she really couldn't push herself any further. Relieved to know they had orders for R&R. She'd relay those orders for rest and time off to the other Flight Control staff. No matter what as the Department Head, the responsibility fell to Mialin to watch over them.

[OFF]

--

CMDR Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Pola Ni Dhuinn
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Amril
Vorta Defector
USS Galileo

Master Chief Petty Officer Markum Quinn
CoB
USS Galileo

Lt Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Lt JG Evelyn Coleman
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Kiri Cho
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Ens. Theron Rhodes
Security/Tactical
USS Galileo

Lt JG Dea Mialin
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

LTJG Delainey Carlisle
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo

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