A Prelude to War.. sorta

Posted on Fri Mar 15, 2019 @ 5:20pm by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit & Lieutenant Penelope Naroot & Lieutenant Arashi Tanaka Mr. & Lieutenant Cassandra Kennings & Lieutenant JG Camille Lévesque PhD

4,206 words; about a 21 minute read

Mission: Plaga Navis
Location: Transporter Room...eventually.
Timeline: 3 Weeks after the encounter with the Pirate vessel

[Ready Room 1238 hours]

Since their encounter with the Malon ship (Kennit no longer referred to them or thought of them as pirates). She also avoided the area around the brig, insisting she could still smell their Malon ‘guests’ and frequently threatened to have the entire deck evacuated and sealed off as she found that the offensive odor of the Malon seemed to cling to those who spent any time in that part of the ship as well.

While Dr. Anderson and her crew continued to study the virus, they’d made little further progress. Whoever had created the lethal bio-weapon was a master of genetic manipulation. The Captain had continued to require that the Doctor make reports either during staff meetings, or by reporting to the Ready Room. Rhea wasn’t willingly setting foot in Sickbay where Nicole could point scanners, pokers, prodders, or any of her other medical tricks at her. The re-initialization of her implants held no health concern for Captain. She knew her medical status and the functional and operational state of her implant systems better than any of the Doctors medical doodads and whatzits could ever detect and thus far, remained victor in the eternal struggle between CMO and CO.

A message had arrived that morning, the transport carrying the geneticist and additional equipment would rendezvous with Victory in 12 hours time.

Sending off a quick note for the good Doctor, the Captain let her know to expect the researcher and his equipment and to have the additional space for his gear which had been set up by converting a small and infrequently used training room into a biohazard quarantine research lab following the explicit instructions provided by Dr. Anderson. Along with the message, the Captain added a quick question:

If there are any additional equipment meds or supply items you need, let me know in the next 2 hours so there’s time to pass the request along and have the items loaded on the transport before it departs to rendezvous with us.

Yes, please, Nicole had replied. Send along God, Himself, so that He can smite this plague for us. Other than more general lab supplies, I cannot think of anything we don't already have.

That done, Kennit ignored yet another request from Nathan and rose to walk to the replicator in her Ready Room to morosely poke through the current available options for lunch. Anderson had managed to place a dietary restriction limiting caffeine and other foods deemed ‘unhealthy’. And the Captain was of the opinion that if God had wished for her to subsist on salad she’d have born a bunny.

After a moment, Kennit muttered a vehement curse under her breath and used the Borg tubules in her arm to connect to the computer, bypass the restrictions placed by the Doctor and shortly was happily seated at the small table by the viewport, eating a bacon cheeseburger with gusto, accompanied by fries and with a large mug filled with mocha latte, having been craving the rich coffee for the past two hours.

A few moments later the doors hissed open and Alec strolled in. He saw Rhea eating her bacon cheeseburger and fries and a large mug of something. He walked over and sat down but kept his hands to himself. He didn't relish having his fingers broken over snitching some fries. "Here I was coming to see if you wanted me to bring you something other than a salad and your munching away on a …." He sniffed the air. "A bacon cheeseburger." He smiled at her, "Good for you."

Sliding her plate out of his reach, she replied “Yeah well...I’m not a rabbit and I was sick of salads and whatever else she came up with to torment me.”

Alec watched as Rhea slid her plate out of his reach. "Relax Rhea, I'm not going to steal your food and you are most definitely not a rabbit. Eat what you want."

[Sickbay]

"I didn't ask what the computer said," Nicole growled, staring down a nervous-looking medtech. "I said to run the checks again. And when you're done, run them a third time to be sure. Am I being perfectly clear this time? Do you understand the words coming out of my mouth?"

"Y-yes, Doctor," she said, turning and trying not to run as she left.

"You, most likely, should have chosen a subtler tone," Doctor P'k'ala said, yawning.

"I did," Nicole grumbled. Three weeks of bashing their head in against this virus had gotten them nowhere. A designer virus meant a designer cure, but this abomination was so convoluted it was getting to everyone. The day before, Camille had let out a string of French that no one in the room could translate, followed by Doctor Osika in Russian and Nicole in Rigellian. If the Federation Council was ever reduced to simply swearing at each other, Nicole imagined it would be much like her Sickbay over the last few days.

"Who are they sending us?" Doctor Osika asked, wearily.

"No idea," Nicole said. "But the Captain says we're having a guest and I hope Providence sends us someone who can make more sense of this than we can. So, everyone finish their shift on time tonight. When our guest arrives, we might as well be rested to greet them."

The others nodded and returned to their stations.

Nicole sat back and sighed, rubbing her eyes. An alert suddenly went off and she checked her console. "Bacon cheeseburger....surprise," she grumbled. "I'll be one of her pallbearers."

[Ready Room]

Cassandra walked onto the bridge, padd in hand, and walked up to the Captain's ready room, ringing the chime. As the doors opened for her, Cassandra stepped in and paused. "Captain," she said, then nodded to Hunter. "Commander. May I have a moment of your time?"

"Hi Cass." Alec greeted the counselor. "Have a seat. Just kitbitzing with the Captain while she eats a bacon cheeseburger."

"Thank you," Cassandra said. She sat down and crossed her legs. "I am officially requesting a transfer back to DQ8 as soon as a replacement counselor becomes available."

Alec looked at Rhea and then back at Cass. He was shocked by her announcement and it showed on his face. "Um, I guess the obvious question is why Cass?"

"I came here out of concern for a patient. That concern has been addressed. While there are still members of the crew who require counseling, there are others who could take up that mantle." She paused and shrugged slightly. "I need to go home, and get married. I cannot miss my opportunity to fulfill my obligation to my people and have a daughter."

“I can’t guarantee when a transport will be available to return you to DQ8.” the Captain answered. “Our current mission orders require that we remain here on Station in the fringe.”

"I understand," she said. "And if I can arrange transportation on my own, I will. I won't ask you to go out of your way. I just wanted to put my notice in, so that there are no surprises." She looked at them both and shrugged. "That being said, do we know anything more about this plague?"

“Nothing more than what has already been disseminated already,” The Captain said.

"Well, here's hoping this new pair of eyes will help," Cass said. "If you'll excuse me, I have appointments to get to." She stood and nodded to both of them, leaving the ready room.


[Bridge 1600 hours]

Penny's board lit up and she scanned the space ahead of them. "Oh, they're early," she said, happily. "Naroot to Kennit: the transport is ahead of schedule and should intercept us in approximately thirty minutes and twenty-one seconds."

[Sickbay 1625 hours]

"Doctor Anderson," the computer said, the transport is arriving," the computer said.

She thanked Providence they were early and left Sickbay at a brisk pace, rounding into a turbolift vestibule and tapping her foot impatiently.

When the car arrived, she stepped inside before realizing she was about to step into someone. "Sorry I--oh, Cass," she said.

"Hello," Cassandra said, smiling and stepping aside.

"Shuttlebay," Nicole said as the lift doors closed. "Our guest has arrived."

"That's a relief," Cass said. "Mind if I join the introductions?"

"Sure, come along. You can help carry equipment," Nicole quipped, smirking.

As they stepped out of the 'lift and walked down to the shuttlebay, they saw the Captain and XO approaching from the other direction. "Captain, Commander," Nicole said. "Here to greet our guest, I presume?"

“Actually I came down here to check on work ordered for the Ranger..” the Captain replied in a vaguely annoyed sounding tone. “The transport is arriving ahead of schedule ... Last time I checked the arrival of a transport vessel does not warrant a party in the landing bay.” She continued. “Especially as the equipment and new arrivals will be beaming aboard .. not sauntering across into our hanger. If the transport is here, then the personnel will arrive in transporter room one while their gear is brought over with the cargo transporters and placed directly into the specified lab space.”

"I don't want to waste time, so I thought I'd brief the specialist as we walked to the lab," Nicole said, then gave an apologetic look to Cass. "Sorry, I though transport meant it'd be 'transported' not 'transported'," she said quietly.

"Well, thanks for clarifying that," Cass said, dryly.

“Attendez!” came a small voice coming down the corridor. Camille sped around the corner to catch up with the rest. She caught her breath and kept pace with the others. “Request permission to meet the geneticist they’re sending us, Captain. I presume I’ll be working close with them while they’re here.”

Nicole smiled in spite of herself seeing Camille rushing up, then caught the amusement in Commander Hunter's eyes and scowled. "Stow it," she said under her breath.

For her part, Kennit shot the entire assemblage an annoyed look and walked away, heading out of the hanger and toward the transporter room.

"We're in the wrong place," Nicole said quietly to Camille as they started walking. They followed the Captain to the transporter room and the three of them lined up to the side as Ensign Delacroix checked her console. "Transport is signaling ready to beam over."

Kennit gave a curt nod, “Energize.”

"Energizing," Delacroix said.

The familiar whine of the transporter built and a cascade of light appeared, forming into a solid form. He was human, approximately six feet tall. His hair was graying, but there were still traces of the once-chestnut brown color. He was somewhat darker skinned for a normal Caucasian human, and looked to be in decent shape for his age. His brown eyes were soft and had laugh lines around them, while his face had a healthy dose of age-induced wrinkles. He stood somewhat straight, his posture slightly bent from years of leaning over microscopes and scanners, and he had the air of an academic arriving at a conference. His strong cheekbones and amused smile, however, looked...familiar.

"Hello!" he said, jovially. "You must be Captain Kennit. I was told to report to you for--" he stopped as a strangled cry came from behind him. He turned and the blood drained from his face, leaving him ghostly pale, further emphasizing the resemblance. "Nicole...?" he said, cautiously.

Nicole was breathing hard as if she'd just run a mile. A growl built up in the back of her throat and her eyes blazed red, her fangs coming out. "You..." she snarled. "What the hell are you doing here?"

The man immediately took a step backwards. "I was told there was a man-made virus threat, and that I was needed to--"

Nicole growled and started towards him, raising her hand to strike, but a small burst of violet energy shooting past her head stopped her in her tracks. She whirled around and glared at Cassandra, then saw Camille and immediately stiffened, drawing herself up and stalking out of the transporter room.

For her part, Kennit was ready to strike as well. She was not going to allow her CMO to attack the newly arrived researcher regardless of reason, the tubules in her arm semi extended, just the tips of the Borg tech embedded into her arm breaching the skin of her fingers in preparation.. an instinctive reaction ..

Cass' eyes were glowing, swirling with the colors of the Galactic Barrier. She lowered the outstretched hand that fired the bolt to her side and blinked a few times, taking a deep breath to calm herself. When her eyes returned to their normal violet color she cleared her throat. "Captain, Commander, Doctor," she said, looking at the other three in the room. "May I present Doctor Anderson...senior."

Thomas Anderson looked at them and nodded. "Hello...." he said slowly.

Kennit’s dark eyes turned speculatively toward the new arrival. So this was the good doctors father.. her gaze swept him in a slow assessing study.

“How very interesting.” She said slowly, the cadence of her words reminiscent of another time..reflecting the truth of who she really was.

“Umm,” Camille said, looking around at all present. “I should go talk to Nicole. I mean Dr. Anderson. I mean our Dr. Anderson.” She awkwardly nodded to her superiors and waved politely to not-our Dr. Anderson and scurried out of the Transporter room.

"I'll be right behind you," Cassandra called.

"Cassandra, what is going on?" Thomas said, confused.

"It's a long story, but the short version is we do have a virus we need you to examine," Cassandra said. "The Captain will bring you up to speed. I'm going to go make sure Nicole doesn't kill anyone in the corridor." She hurried out of the transporter room after the other two.

Alec watched as first Nicole, quickly followed by Camille and finally Cassandra left the transporter room. He turned back to Thomas, "Well, that was awkward. Welcome to the Victory. I'm Commander Alec Hunter, first officer of the Victory. Allow me to introduce you to Captain Kennit."

A wry smile that didn’t reach her eyes crossed the Captain’s features. “Dr. Anderson. Welcome aboard the USS Victory.”

"A pleasure, Commander, Captain," Thomas said, shaking their hands. "I'm sorry that my arrival has caused a problem. I'll do my best to not let it affect my work. What can you tell me about this virus?"

“We should be apologizing to you for Our Chief Medical Officer’s unprofessional behavior,” Kennit answered. “As for what I can tell you about the virus. Well. It kills within 48 hours, with 100% mortality rate. Based on the analysis conducted using samples taken from the vessel which was stricken with this disease, it appears to have been modified deliberately to turn a relatively harmless virus into a lethal violation weapon but I would hesitate to state it is ‘man made’. There are a large number of civilizations in this part of the galaxy who have reason to view the Federations intrusion here unfavorably. As the virus is capable of striking regardless of species with the same result.. we need to discover not only who created it, but a cure as well.”

[Corridor]

Camille ran down the corridor, looking for Nicole. She still didn’t understand the entire picture, but she knew enough that this was bad. When she first learned about Thomas Anderson, the words Nicole used were the words of someone who hated the man. So Camille searched desperately for her girlfriend. “Nicole!” she called out ahead of her. “Où es-tu? I know you’re hurting, and I want to help.”

The blood was pounding in Nicole's ears so hard she almost didn't hear the cry of French coming down the corridor. She didn't slow down, however, her nails digging into her palms as she clenched her fists. She was ready to bite someone's head off, and she didn't want it to be Camille. Cass, maybe.

“Nicole!” Camille continued to call. She wasn’t going to catch up. She wasn’t fast enough. She needed something else. She stopped a console on the corridor wall and tapped some keys. “Computer, emergency site-to-site transport. Beam me fifteen meters ahead of the current location of Nicole Anderson. Energize.” She’d never taken advantage of her clearances like this before. She hoped that this didn’t break her promise of professionalism she made to Commander Hunter. She dematerialized and reappeared a few meters in front of Nicole. “Stop and listen to me!” she pleaded.

Nicole came up short, her face a mask of fury. "I don't want to listen, I don't want to talk. I want to put a fist through a bulkhead."

“Okay,” Camille said, her hands up in a surrender/‘I’m unarmed’ gesture.

Cassandra came running full speed around the corridor and skidded to a halt by the two of them. "Oh...thank God..." she said, breathing hard. "Good, everyone's standing." She looked at Nicole. "I had no idea it was him," she said.

"You better not have," Nicole snarled. "Starfleet sent....they sent...." she was breathing so hard she couldn't form the words. She looked as if she were about to hyperventilate.

"The best geneticist in the Federation," Cassandra sighed. "For better or worse, that is him. Now, as I see it, you have two choices: you can turn and march back into that Transporter Room, head held high, or you can go to the quarantine lab and meet him there. Either way, you are going to have to work with him, because stopping a plague pretty much trumps any and all reasons you have to be angry."

Cass looked at Camille and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "And you will have Camille there every step of the way to lean on, right?" she said, looking at the other woman.

“Every step of the way,” Camille repeated. She took a tentative step forward toward Nicole. She extended her hand, offering it to the doctor.

Nicole looked at the two of them. "Fine. I'll see you in the lab," she said to Camille, then turned and marched away, back stiff, fists balled in anger.

Camille stood there, her hand still in front of her, as Nicole walked away. She dropped her head and then lowered her hand. “What now?” She asked Cassandra. “Do we go back to the Transporter Room?”

"I think that's probably a good idea," Cassandra said. "Give her a moment to stew and let the fire burn off." She took Camille's arm and gently steered her back to the transporter room.


[Transporter Room]

As they walked back in, Cassandra swallowed at the Captain's gaze. "Doctor Anderson is on her way to the lab," she said. "I would suggest Lieutenant Levesque escort Professor Anderson there. She can continue informing him of the particulars."

“Perhaps Dr Anderson might like to visit his quarters for the duration of his stay with us and at least put down his personal bag.” The Captain answered.

"Split the baby," Thomas said. "Cassandra, if you would be so kind?" he said, handing her his duffel and gripping his lab case tightly with his other hand and nodded at Camille. "And this young lady can escort me to the lab. I've spent almost three weeks preparing to get here; I don't see a reason to delay. At the very least I'd like to get a look at it before I settle in, if that's all right, Captain?"

Camille smiled sweetly at Thomas. Her feelings about him were...mixed, but she didn’t quite believe him to be the monster Nicole described. “Avec plaisir,” she said to him, gently bowing her head. She motioned towards the door, but waited for the Captain to confirm she approved of this approach.

“You will need to be fully briefed on the research done to this point prior to starting any new research projects. This virus has a 100% mortality rate. All protocols must be followed in order to protect my crew.” Kennit said. “And it would seem that my Chief Medical Officer is unable to behave in a professional manner...which is cause for extreme concern. Until I am certain that the safety of my crew is ensured, no one enters that lab.”

"Captain," Thomas said, facing her and giving her his full attention. "I have run a lab with the most fumbling of fingers of university students for almost three decades now. I assure you, avoiding accidents is one of my specialties. I've reviewed procedures on Starships and I'm familiar with how to avoid contamination. You will have no issues on that front, you have my word."

He looked down, suddenly embarrassed and cleared his throat. "As for your Doctor Anderson..." he cleared his throat again and looked back up. "Captain I would like to take full responsibility for what happened. I should have checked to see who the CMO was on board, and I did not. That was my oversight. If I'd known, I'd have prepared her for this. Please, do not let my error reflect badly on her. She's a fine doctor, and she's going to be invaluable to our success. You have my word, there will be no further issues. I'll make sure of it. If lives are at stake, I want to at least have a sit down session before I turn in. Please." His soft brown eyes pleaded with her in an all-too familiar stare, but at least they stayed brown.

His effort to sway her was wasted. “She’s a pain in the ass, and right now...there is no room for it. We are racing against time here. Whoever designed and created this disease didn’t do so to just take down a single freighter. This is meant to cause chaos and fear. We are the only ones out here who can stop it.”

Thomas bristled a bit at how the Captain characterized Nicole, but held his tongue, nodding in agreement. "Captain, I could not agree with you more. I'll be on my way then. "Lieutenant?" he said to Levesque, gently guiding her out the door to the corridor.

Cass looked at Commander Hunter helplessly, then at the Captain. "If you'll excuse me," she said, "I'll deliver Professor Anderson's belongings." She slung his duffel bag over her shoulder and headed out of the transporter room.

Watching her walk away, Kennit said “I was unaware that playing bell hop was one of the duties of a ship’s counselor...”

Alec didn't answer her instead he gave a curt nod that seemed to say that it was wise that she not tarry in the presence of the Captain long. Not if she knew what was good for her.

Arashi had been doing his security rounds and was heading back to the security office when he noticed that Cassandra was walking with a duffel bag. "Lieutenant Sanders, can I help you with that?" He said as he approached her as she left the transporter room.

Cassandra grabbed Arashi by the arm and pulled him along. "Keep walking," she said until they were safely in a turbolift. She handed him the duffel and sighed. "Thank you," she said. "We need to drop these off in our guest's quarters. Deck Seven," she added, looking up to the intercom. The lift took off and a moment later dropped them three decks below. She stepped out and beckoned Arashi. "Computer, highlight the way are Professor Anderson's quarters."

A panel lit up, indicating the way. She followed it down until she reached a set of doors and keyed in an entry code. "Here we are," she said.

He followed Cassandra to the quarters that was highlighted by the computer and waited for the doors to open. When they did he stepped inside to help the Lieutenant. "So what happened out in the transporter room?" Arashi asked. "You seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. Should I have been there to help?" Arashi was concerned for his crewmate. He thought that she did seemed to be a bit nervous and was wanting to help her if he could.

"It's...complicated," Cassandra said, taking the duffel from him and placing it on their guest's bed. "Suffice it to say, stay out of Sickbay for a few days, as well as the science labs. Avoid the Captain's attention and just pray to whatever gods you believe in that we all get through this with our asses intact."

She stopped and took a breath. "Just be on alert," she said. "I have a feeling we're going to get into something sticky rather soon."

Something serious must have happened for her to say that. I won't press any further about it but I guess that I should take her advice. Arashi thought to himself. "Sounds like a plan. I'll take you up on that advice. Don't want to get one the captain's bad side." He finished and then turned to leave. "If you'll excuse me, I have my rounds to finish." He left the room and then headed to do the rest of his rounds.

 

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