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((Promenade Deck - Midway Station))

::The team were standing by the bar, Keln guessed that from the way the
Cmdr. had just reacted she had seen the contact they were looking for.
She waited for a while, so Keln just stood glaring around at anyone who
came anywhere near them, not that many people did, the whole deck had
fallen silent when they entered, including the bartender, who did the
opposite, and came nowhere near them. Finally, Greene got annoyed with
this, and called him over, and then grabbed him.::

GREENE: Beef up your service record, pal. We're moving to the other
side. Maybe they'll help us there.

::They moved to the other side of the bar, and Greene shouted at a
Cardassian and a Klingon who were sitting in two unremarkable seats.::

GREENE: Move!

::Keln moved towards them, and they quickly vacated the table. Shame, he
wouldn't have minded a good fight. He watched as Greene picked up a
small chip from the table and handed it to Mondana. The two of them
looked at a PADD Mondana had procured from thin air and Greene beckoned
them all out of the bar.::

((Deck 12))

::Soon they were all on Deck 12 and standing outside the Yevcek, the
only ship in any bay. There with them was their contact, a man Keln
recognised from the brief.::

MARRIN: Hello, I'm Sean Marrin. I believe you want to trade some goods.

GREENE: The name's Tobin Raxna. Captain of the StarShuttle Troy. May we
step on board.

MARRIN: Please do.

::Once inside, he sealed the door and activated a scrambler.::

MARRIN: Sorry about the formalities. There's always someone listening on
this station. Might I add, it's great seeing Starfleet again.

GREENE: Technically, we're not Starfleet.

MARRIN: Right.

GREENE: You have some information for us.

MARRIN: Yes, I do. Browne is still on the station. He's scheduled to
leave in two days. I'm still not sure where he's going but I'm 90% sure
it's to take out his next target. He's working on something big but up
till now I haven't had the manpower to sneak onto his ship or get a look
at his quaters.

GREENE: Okay. We'll split up. Any intel on his ship?

MARRIN: He has a combat vessle docked in Dock 34.

GREENE: My ship is in the same dock. That could be very advantageous.
Any security?

MARRIN: He travels alone but getting onto the ship might be a challenge.
But I've been preparing for this so I'll only need a few minutes to hack
into his system. That means doors, computer, the works.

GREENE: You won't have to. You'll have two hours to teach Soul and
Mondana how to crack his computer.

MARRIN: But, I need to go...

GREENE: You know this station like the back of your hand and you know
Browne. We'll need a diversion long enough to raid his ship and his
quarters. You'll be the diversion. Soul and myself will go to the ship
and Sabdok and Mondana will check out his quarters. Get on it.

::Keln watched as Marrin started teaching Soul and Mondana what they'd
need to know. He didn't trust Marrin, there was something slippery about
him. But then, you needed to be slippery to stay alive in deep cover for
so long. Greene took Keln as her security and went on a stroll around
the station. He remained silent for the duration of it, as Marrin had
pointed out, you never know who's listening. They went by Brown's
quarters and checked out the locking systems. Keln reasoned that as long
as everyone knew what they were doing, they could pull this off. But
could they trust Marrin to do his part?::

Lt. Keln Sabdok
Chief of Security
USS Atlantis

OOC: I've sent this to both the PALADIN list and the ATLANTIS list, in hopes
that everyone will get it. Responses, in a perfect world, would be sent to the
ATLANTIS list, which you should all have been added to. If not, please let me
know ASAP so I can get you on the list.

IC:

((Stardate 238204.08 - 0934 hours))
((Starbase 118 - Transporter Room 4))

::Varaan finished materializing on the transporter pad, and nodded thanks to the
chief operating the system. The chief nodded back, and Varaan stepped of the
raise pad to the deck of Starbase 118. He had been on the station many times
before, but never really had a chance to look around. Seeing as how the
transport from Vulcan he had just beamed off of was two days late getting here,
this stay on the station would be no exception.::

::The doors swished open before him and he walked purposefully down the
corridor, his Starfleet issue kit, containing some personal belongings, slung
over his right shoulder. He was already a day late for his briefing with the
admiral, but the base had been alerted to the transport's engine trouble, and
the briefing had been rescheduled for today, in exactly 6.2 minutes. The
transport would still be stranded out in deep space if Varaan hadn't been on
board. He had offered his engineering expertise, which hadn't been used in quite
some time, and between himself and the transport's chief engineer, they had
managed to strip the engine down and rebuild it in record time, solving the
problem between the intermix ratio and the field frequency in the process.::

::He had spent a very relaxing several days on Vulcan, staying in his own home
and visiting with his wife and daughter. The little one was healthy, and growing
quickly, but still dependent on her mother for everything. That would not be the
case by this time next year. Varaan had enjoyed his leave, but it had only been
a week, and that time was up. It was necessary to return to his duties now. The
rest of the PALADIN crew should be arriving within the next day or so.::

::He stepped into a turbolift with a civilian woman, human looking, who
requested the main promenade level. Varaan spoke up and requested OPS. The
turbolift doors closed and the car began to hum as it moved through the various
shafts to its appointed destinations. Varaan was still somewhat confused,
though. He had queried the base about PALADIN's location, so he would know which
docking tube to use, and was told that PALADIN was not currently at Starbase
118. When he asked about his ship's ETA, the computer had no answer. OPS had
requested he report to them ASAP when he contacted them.::

::Because the civilian did not have clearance to OPS, the turbolift delivered
her to the promenade first. The rest of Varaan's ride was alone and in silence.
Much the way he liked things. He reflected back to the week before, when the
crew was all on MARS, at the UTOPIA PLANITIA complex. He understood the
necessity of keeping up appearances for the most accurate results. It was most
logical. However, most of those who were not Vulcan had a decidedly negative
response to the testing. They were under the sway of their emotions, allowing
themselves to be controlled by their emotions. This, of course, only served to
strengthen the argument for those in favor of automation on starships.::

::He hoped that the crew had sufficient time to "get over" what had happened,
and were prepared to move on. If not, their counselor, Ensign Vessa, would
undoubtedly have her hands full for the next while. He did not envy her that
task. Mostly because he did not feel envy, but also because quite a bit of the
crew's hostility was directed at himself and Captain Daninburg. It was difficult
to perform at your best when your crew did not respect you. He sincerely hoped
that this was not the case.::

::The turbolift stopped and the doors opened for him. He stepped out onto the
stations Operations Deck, into a short, well lit and carpeted corridor that led
off to the left or right. A security officer was stationed at one end. Varaan
approached the man and asked directions to Ops. Upon identifying himself, Varaan
was directed towards the doors at the other end of the corridor, and told to
take a right once he was through. Varaan thanked the officer and proceeded as he
was directed.::

::When Varaan stepped into the station's CIC center, he was stepping into a
beehive of activity. Not only was Starbase 118 a Starfleet facility, complete
with repair and maintenance capabilities, but a center of trade and commerce,
which meant a myriad of civilian ships, cargoes, and people that all had to be
tracked and controlled, apparently from this one room. Varaan visually scanned
the personnel inside and stopped upon recognizing Rear Admiral Teran Izuldi, a
decorated and long-serving Betazoid officer who was currently in charge of fleet
assignments and maneuvers in this sector of the quadrant. The admiral looked up
from the console he was reading and saw Varaan. He used his head to motion to a
doorway off to the left, and finished his conversation with the lieutenant he
was with as Varaan made for the door.::

::Varaan entered ahead of the admiral, and set his kit on the floor beside the
closed door behind him. The room was a fairly standard Starfleet-beige colour,
with a light burgundy carpet. There was, of course, the familiar glass-topped
desk, identical to those in virtually every office in Starfleet. One chair
behind the desk, two chairs in front, a sofa and chair off to the right, and a
display cabinet underneath a Situation Monitor for this sector off to the left.
Varaan had only taken a few non-chalant steps inside before the doors opened
again and Admiral Izuldi entered his office.::

IZULDI: Commander, please, have a seat.

::The Betazoid motioned to one of the two chairs in front of the desk, even as
he moved around behind it. He set a PADD down on the desk, took his seat and
leaned back, folding his hands on his chest. Varaan nodded and sat,
stiff-backed, on the indicated chair.::

VARAAN: Thank you, admiral. When will PALADIN be arriving, sir?

IZULDI: Ahh...she won't be.

::The admiral now leaned forward, propped up by his forearms on his desktop.::

IZULDI: Something's come up, and Captain Daninburg's marine expertise was
required elsewhere. Daninburg and PALADIN are currently incommunicado, and their
location and mission are classified.

::Varaan was a little confused, and allowed it to show by raising his left
eyebrow. The admiral flashed a quick smile and continued.::

IZULDI: The majority of PALADIN's crew have been reassigned, including yourself.

VARAAN: May I inquire as to which vessel?

::The admiral stood up as he spoke, walked slowly around his desk, and leaned
against the front. He picked up the PADD he had set down and handed it to
Varaan.::

IZULDI: Well, you see the simulation which Harris ran a few weeks ago - the one
which has caused all the commotion - was a little prophetical. The USS ATLANTIS
is an actual ship, just like the one you and your crew lived on for two weeks.
Only, this one is complete. She's yours, as is the PALADIN crew. She's out in
the main bay.

::Varaan was looking over the specifications on the PADD. Just like in the
simulation, ATLANTIS was an Intrepid-class explorer. They had based the
holosuite data on the real thing. Only, as the admiral had stated, this ATLANTIS
was finished. There would be no need for the crew to complete the construction
en route anywhere. Eskyys would be happy. Varaan looked up to the admiral.::

VARAAN: Thank you, sir.

IZULDI: I guess that's the kind of response I should expect from a Vulcan, eh?
Well, you're welcome, commander. And if your crew is as competent as they were
in the simulation, I don't expect to be seeing much of ATLANTIS around here.
Which will be a relief considering the kind of schedule we're running right now.
But, I've got a few minutes right now, so why don't we go have a look-see, shall
we?

::The admiral straightened up and motioned for Varaan to proceed him to the
door. Varaan stood and walked to the opening door, stopping only for a second to
pick up his kit and re-sling it over his shoulder.::

((USS ATLANTIS - Deck 8, starboard docking port - 1003 hours))

::Varaan and Izuldi stepped off the docking tube together onto the deck of the
newest vessel in the fleet. There to greet them were two familiar faces, that of
Chief Marquette and Lieutenant Hathaway. Both were beaming from ear to ear.::

VARAAN: [sarcastically] Permission to come aboard?

HATHAWAY: Granted, sir. Welcome home.

VARAAN: Lieutenant, did you and the chief not avail yourselves of the leave
time?

HATHAWAY: I did, sir. I spent a few days with my folks, and got here yesterday.

VARAAN: Chief?

MARQUETTE: You know me, captain. I'm just not comfortable unless I know that the
ship I'm on is in tip-top shape.

VARAAN: And your assessment?

MARQUETTE: She's beautiful, sir. I can't wait to shake her down.

IZULDI: Well chief, like I've been telling the commander here, you'll have to do
that in your spare time. As soon as the rest of your crew arrives, you're
warping out. Your mission specialist is arriving tomorrow, and will advise you
en route.

HATHAWAY: What kind of mission, sir?

IZULDI: Need to know, lieutenant. And right now, you don't need to know.

::The admiral looked around the empty corridor. There were only the four of them
present, with a small security detail at the starbase end of the docking tube.
He shrugged his shoulders and sighed.::

IZULDI: I like to do this with a little more pomp and ceremony, but I guess
this'll have to do. Computer, what is the current time?

COMPUTER: 1005 hours.

IZULDI: Computer, access primary databanks and log. As of 1005 hours on stardate
238204.08, command of the USS ATLANTIS is hereby transferred to Commander
Varaan. Transfer all command codes to him.

COMPUTER: Acknowledged. Transfer complete.

IZULDI: She's all yours, commander. Good luck.

VARAAN: Thank you, sir.

::With that, the admiral made his way back towards the starbase through the
docking tube. Varaan, Marquette and Hathaway watched him go, then the Vulcan
turned to the other two.::

VARAAN: Show me what we've got.

::The three of them left on the inspection tour.::

((Captain's Quarters, Deck 3 - 2153 hours))

::The doors opened and Varaan entered his new living quarters for the first
time. He had been so busy all day that he still had his kit slung over his
shoulder. He would worry about unpacking later. He sat down at the small desk he
had and activated the computer. After a brief supplimental log entry, he
instructed the computer to deliver a message to any senior officers already on
board, or to leave them a message for when they reported for duty. There would
be a staff meeting at 0900 hours tomorrow morning. Then he made his way to his
bed. Normally meditation would be enough, but tonight he would sleep.::

((Briefing Room, Deck 1 - MD1, 0900 hours))

::Varaan sat at his place at the head of the table. Everyone had arrived on time
and were ready and eager to go. He looked around. Most of the faces were
familiar. Greene, his XO. Jamar, Moranta, Sabdok, Soul, Eskyys, Vessa, and
Mondana. However, there were also two unfamiliar faces. The first belonged to a
Lieutenant Commander Dyami Aren, their new Chief Medical Officer and apparently
a joined Trill. Varaan had only a brief look at the man's profile, but was sure
that he would get to know the gentleman better. This was actually the first the
two had met.::

::The other new face was on Varaan's left, and Varaan had first met him roughly
an hour ago when he arrived. Lieutenant Commander Anthony Stark, Starfleet
Intelligence. LtCmdr Stark was to be their mission specialist for the next
little while. They had spent the entire time between when he arrived and now in
Varaan's ready room, going over the mission profile. He would present it to the
staff in a minute, but first thing was first. Varaan stood, getting everyone's
attention.::

VARAAN: To begin with, let me make a comment on the events leading up to your
recent leave. While I cannot say I understand how some of you "feel", I am well
aware of the general sentiments this crew has expressed over the...simulation. I
can say for certain that the Department of Temporal Investigations would not
give permission to change the past, so all I can do is apologize to each and
every one of you who has felt somehow betrayed by me. Somehow I will need to
regain the trust and respect I have lost, and I hope to have your assistance in
this endeavor.

VARAAN: But we are beginning a new chapter in our lives. One that should be
looked on with anticipation. In that vein, could I please have Ensigns Vessa and
Mondana front and center.

::As the two female officers made their way to Varaan, both with confused looks
on their faces, the Vulcan turned to Greene, on his right, who produced a tiny
velvet covered box she had been hiding in her hands. She opened it and Varaan
palmed the contents. He turned back to the two officers standing at attention in
front of him.::

VARAAN: While it is true that the last mission was a ruse, the actions performed
by these two officers during the course of their duties was not. As such, as of
this stardate, Ensign Vessa and Ensign Mondana are both hereby promoted to the
rank of Lieutenant, junior grade.

::Varaan reached up to the uniform collar of both women and added the black and
gold half-pip to the solid gold ensign's pip they already had.::

VARAAN: Congratulations, lieutenants.

::There was a round of applause from the assembled. After some congratulatory
handshakes and hugging, they returned to their seats and Varaan continued. He
indicated the Trill officer.::

VARAAN: I would also like to welcome aboard Lieutenant Commander Dyami Aren, our
new Chief Medial Officer. Since over the next several days we will all need to
report to sickbay for our mandatory physicals, I am sure we will all get an
opportunity to get to know Dr. Aren a bit more intimately. And he, us.

::There were some laughs and some groans at Varaan's attempt at humor. Something
he still needed work on. After the noise subsided, Varaan introduced their new
visitor.::

VARAAN: And now, to business. As you well know, we have already left Starbase
118. This is Lieutenant Commander Stark, from Starfleet Intelligence. He will be
friefing us on our current mission. Commander?

::Varaan sat as the Intel officer stood. Thanking Varaan, the man walked over to
the wall display and brought up a picture of some smoking ruins. He turned back
to the command staff.::

STARK: These images were taken six days ago. Six days ago, this charred heap of
rubble was the Andorian Consulate on Betazed. This act of terrorism cost 87
people their lives, with over 150 others wounded. It is believed to be the work
of the "Paaran", an intragalactic terrorist, about whom we know very little.

::The images changed to a picture of a human male with short dark hair and a
small scar on his left cheek. Curiously, he also wore glasses.::

STARK: Speculation is that the Paaran is in reality Dr. Emilius Browne, a former
Federation scientist and Maquis member. The Paaran and his organization have
taken responsibility for over a dozen terrorist acts within the last year alone.
We've never been able to catch him before, mostly because he has associates do
the dirty work for him. Sources on Betazed say this time, he did it himself. If
that's the case, he's in the open, and now's our chance to capture him.

::The picture changed again, this time to a nebula of gold, fuchsia and blue.::

STARK: This is the Jenatris Cloud. It lies outside of Federation controlled
space, and therefore Federation jurisdiction. Running through the middle of this
nebula is a particle-free corridor, which houses a modified asteroid known as
Midway Station. We believe that this is the Paaran's base of operations. Midway
is entirely people by criminals, but because they're outside our jurisdiction,
we can't legally do anything about it. We think this is why the Paaran chose
Midway.

STARK: This is the plan. A small team will head into the corridor, to Midway
Station, disguised as criminals, to recon the station and see if it is indeed
the Paaran's base, and if he's returned yet. ATLANTIS will patrol outside the
cloud in hopes of catching him on his way back if he's not already there. If the
Paaran's already in the corridor, we'd need to somehow flush him out, back into
Federation space, before we can make an arrest.

::The viewer turned off and Stark walked back to his seat. Picking up a PADD, he
finished the briefing.::

STARK: After going over your personnel profiles, I've chosen four of you to
infiltrate Midway. Comander Greene, Lieutenants Sabdok, Soul and Mondana. I've
got alternate identities prepared, a captured Maquis Raider is in your
shuttlebay, and we've got a deep cover agent on the inside as a contact. Are
there any questions?

ANYONE: <?>

-TBC



--
=^=*************************=^=
Cmdr. Varaan
(son of Solath, son of Myrek)
Commanding Officer
USS Atlantis, NCC-74682
Intrepid-class Light Explorer
=^=*************************=^=
--


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((Utopia Planitia - Temporary quarters))

::Within the bare temporary quarters Michael sat on the bed with his
belongings in an almost eerie silence. He had spent an half an hour going
through the ‘Simulation’ and writing a number of charges on a padd which he
had submitted to the facilities JAG officer. That was an hour ago, since
then he had just sat on the bed, his body pressed against the grey wall,
thinking over the events of the past fourteen days in his head. This mind
focused on two events, twice during the mission he was sure that he was
going to die, once on deck twelve and the other just before the simulation
ended on the runabout as the life support was failing. He could not believe
that an organisation which had effectively taken him from a teenager and
made him into a man had betrayed him in such a way.::

SOUL: Test? Simulation?….no, pure and simple deception, betrayal.

::Michael words were interrupted by the familiar sound of someone at the
door. Michael got up removing his jacket as he walked, throwing it onto the
bed. As the door opened Michael saw a young cadet standing before him
holding a Padd. The cadet smiled before handing Michael the Padd.::

CADET: Lieutenant Summers compliments, sir.

SOUL: (taking the Padd.) Lieutenant Summers?

CADET: The stations JAG officer sir.

SOUL: (nodding) Thank you, cadet.

::With that the cadet walked away, and Michael returned to the position on
the bed with the Padd in hand. Had he been in a better mood Michael may have
been reminded of nostalgic memories of when he had been on his cadet cruse
and the excitment that had filled his body by following in his fathers
footsteps, but as it was Michael sat with an empty look on his face before
reading the Padd.::

<<PADD>>

Lieutenant Michael Soul,

It has been brought to my attention that you have submitted charges against
Admiral Harris. Namely, ‘causing unwarranted physical and emotional distress
to officers under his command and negligence of command resulting in
psychological endangerment.’ It is also my duty to inform you that Admiral
Harris has brought charges against yourself, namely, ‘Conduct unbecoming of
a Starfleet officer and inciting disregard for the chain of command in the
presence of junior officers.’
Due to the fact the simulation was aphorised by Starfleet Command, no
charges can be brought against Admiral Harris, however, I have forwarded
your concerns regarding the simulation to Starfleet Command and you can be
assured that they will be seriously evaluating your comments under advisory
before conducting anymore simulations of this nature.

In consideration to the charges brought against you, due the nature of the
simulation and the shock and emotional distress that you were under,
Starfleet commander has left the matter in my hands. No charges are formerly
being taken any further than my office, however, I must in form you that I
have sent the following recommendations to the Executive officer and
Commanding officer of the vessel of which you are currently stationed aboard
has. The recommendations are as followed, ‘that the emotional state of
Lieutenant Michael Soul be evaluated regularly with a consoler of a
reputable nature until yourselves are satisfied that Lieutenant Michael Soul
has recovered from his ordeal and his emotional state is that of similar
persuasion to that of an officer holding his current rank and position
aboard your vessel.’

It is with satiation that I ask you to put this incident behind you and
continue with your Starfleet career which has until this incident been a
fruitful one.

Singed,
Lieutenant Rangi Summers
Utopia Planitia
Jag Officer

::Michael was almost as angry as when he had confronted the Admiral, he felt
that it had been a ‘white wash.’ As far as he was concerned Starfleet had no
listened to him or taken him seriously, no only that but he was been
punished for speaking out against what he regaurded as a breaking of
Starfleet’s own regulations. Michael looked up at the wall on the opposite
side of the bed and with all his frustration Michael tossed the Padd through
the air. The crash echoed through the room as it crumpled against the solid
surface of the wall.::

::Michael slowly and curly got up from his position and from which he was
sitting and headed for the door of the quarters with the intension of
heading for sickbay and having his implant removed, something which had
taken a back seat to his quarrel with Harris. Michael only stopped to pick
up his jacket before walking out the room.::

--

******==========******
Lieutenant Michael Soul
Chief Helm Officer
USS Atlantis – NCC 74682
Intrepid class
******==========******

_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself with cool new emoticons http://www.msn.co.uk/specials/myemo

((Ensign Vessa's Quarters, USS Atlantis))

VARAAN: =^= Now hear this, this is Commander Varaan speaking. May I have
your attention, please. Ladies and gentlemen, never have I served with a
more dedicated and hard-working crew. You should all be proud of yourselves,
and your fellow crewmembers. I am certain, that in the very near future, we
would have found a way to stop the anomaly and save thousands of worlds and
innumerable lives. Fortunately, we won't have to. Since before we left
Utopia Planitia, we have all been involved in an elaborate holodeck
simulation. That simulation has come to a completion, and is about to be
terminated. Please stand by. Varaan out. =^=

::Vessa stood where she was, shocked. Where she was had been her quarters
aboard the Atlantis, but now she seemed to be standing in a giant holodeck.
The truth started to sink in and her knees seemed to weaken. Standing around
her were all the dead and injured crewmembers of Atlantis as well as
Paladin, in perfectly good physical health. She was so relieved she thought
she might faint, but she felt she had better not in front of so many
officers.::

::An Admiral Harris was now addressing the crews, explaining what had been
going on. Vessa was only half listening, she was far more interested in
observing the reactions of the people around her. Many were relieved, others
were angry. As her profound relief started to wear off, Vessa joined the
list of the angry personnel.::

::Not far from where she was standing, Lt. Soul was speaking with Admiral
Harris, who had finished addressing the crews. Speaking, perhaps, might not
be the appropriate word as Soul was quite expressively telling the Admiral
what she imagined many were feeling. She was not the type to express her
emotions in such a loud way, but she could easily understand why Soul
would.::

::As a counselor, this experiment had been against absolutely everything she
believed in professionally. She realized the importance of testing the
crew’s abilities to handle situations but nothing, in her mind, justified
the torment the personnel had been put through for this ‘mission.’ The line,
she felt, had most definitely been crossed and she was surprised that
Commander Varaan had been a party to it. It had been her impression that her
commanding officer was far less reckless than that. Even as a Vulcan, he
should surely be able to understand how all of these events the crew thought
they had lived through would affect them emotionally.::

((Utopia Planitia - Arboretum, Virtual Testing Building))

::Following most of the crew outside the holodeck where she had apparently
spent weeks, Vessa was interested to observe a similarly angered response to
the news they had just received from Lt. Cmdr. Jamar, which he directed at
Varaan. She caught herself nodding her head in agreement and stopped herself
quickly. That would not do at all. Many of the crew might need their
counselor’s assistance once the new mission got under way; some might still
be traumatized by the ‘deaths’ of their friends, others might have trouble
trusting their surroundings again. She would have to put her own anger aside
to help them.::

::It was good that the crew would now have a week off; they deserved it and
she suspected that many would need the break. She decided she would travel
to Earth. Her friend aboard Atlantis, Rikki, might invite her to join her
visiting family, but she wanted to spend a few days on her own first. She
needed time to relax and gather her thoughts about her ‘first mission’
before reporting to duty for her real first mission. A mountain area,
perhaps, not unlike her home on Napea. She did not want to be indoors- she
might not have actually been in space for weeks but she felt like it, and
knowing that she had actually been kept in a holodeck for all that time even
furthered her feeling of claustrophobia. She wanted to be outdoors, in the
fresh air.::

::Everyone started to wander away from the facility where they had been
kept, against their knowledge, for so long. Vessa wandered away, also.::


OOC: I promise I will SIM better for our next mission. Really.


Ensign Vessa
Counselor
USS Atlantis

_________________________________________________________________
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all your property needs.

OOC: BTW, 'Dictates of Poetics' is a comic reference to ST_VOY(3rd
season):"Worst case scenario" where Lt. Tuvok speaks about a very similar
situation like we just lived to Lt. Paris... It was a nice episode alright.
:)

((Utopia Planitia - Arboretum, Virtual Testing Building))

:: The trees moved slightly as the artificially generated breeze gently
touched their leafs, producing a distant rumor that, to the vulcan female,
remembered her of an earthian classical piece of music. It was a long time
ago since she could get her hands over the piano... C'elest secretly admired
the attention to the details here... And she was more interested in hearing
Mondana's opinion first. ::

MORANTA: You are the one in a position to set an opinion about it. What do
you think?

MONDANA: Well, anything is possible but it would take a strange situation
for it to happen.

MORANTA: In space we are oftenly facing the unknown... so it is quite
logical to foresee we will experience strange situations. However, I still
find hardly possible starfleet officers would be allowed inside a
D'dedirex-class warbird. It is quite similar to the Federation-Klingon
conflict in the XXIIIrd century.

:: C'elest paused for a second. ::

MONDANA: Although many would have said the klingons being allied with the
Federation would have been unlikely.

MORANTA: If we must learn something about History, is that nothing is
eternal, except the change.

MONDANA: Change is inevitable.

:: C'elest nodded. At that instant, Lt. Eskyys entered the arboretum,
voicing everyone's concern regarding Michael's emotional outburst in front
of Admiral Harris... Indeed, Moranta was worried about him but she hoped the
admiral would overlook the incident, considering the special circumstances.
Charging Soul with a court martial would inevitably make the whole incident
public, and that was strictly against the Virtual Testing interests...
Otherwise, the Fleet would know and any future experiment results will be
altered. ::

VARAAN: I guess that would depend on what Admiral Harris...

:: Yet again, the doors to the arboretum opened, Lt.Cmder. Jamar storming
inside and nearly as altered as Lt. Soul had been... only Torin had
controlled himself in front of Harris. In spite of the emotional detachment
as a vulcan C'elest felt, the fact was the experiment might have been
necessary, but totally unethical... It was highly illogical to study a group
and their reactions, without judging first the actions taken by the
responsables of setting the test... And even more illogical to expect
emotional beeings not to react emotionally to the absent friends later found
alive. Indeed, it was strange the group escorting Admiral Harris had just
been security, not counsellors. ::

JAMAR: I remember Anthony in the SOS lab.  He was torn apart!  Everyone
'died' to him!  Now they're alive?  What will that do to him?  How long will
that affect him in his life? I'm very disappointed in both of you!

:: And he left, still complaining loudly to the trees in his way out.
C'elest raised an eyebrow. ::

VARAAN: Mr. Eskyys, I am sure that the admiral will want to speak with me
about Mr. Soul. I will do everything in my power to reduce the negative
impact on our helmsman. Commander Greene, please inform the crew that they
each have a week leave, at the end of which time, they are to report back to
Starbase 118. Their orders will be waiting there upon their arrival. I will
speak to you in an hour. But first I have something to do. Will you all
excuse me, please?

:: A few 'aye-sir' were heard, and Captain Varaan left the group. With the
official leave of absence, the rest of the crew disbanded to their own
affairs. C'elest noticed Mondana was still near. ::

MORANTA: Mondana... Have you got any plans for your leave of absence?

MONDANA: ???

MORANTA: Since there is no time to get back to Vulcan, I have considered
making an Advanced Training session in engineering... and practise for
adquiring a third level rate in the K'tah sword discipline. There are some
great enviroments here to practise that won't require holodecks...

:: The vulcan couldn't help letting a certain edge in her last word. ::

MORANTA: I have some relatives back on Earth... My father's family is from
Valencia, Spain, in the European District. Perhaps I could pay them a visit.
You would be most welcomed if you want to join me.

MONDANA: ???

To be continued.

Lt.Cmder. C'elest Moranta.
Virtual Testing Building.
UTOPIA PLANITIA.
SOL SYSTEM.

((Utopia Planitia - Arboretum, Virtual Testing Building))

::Varaan and Rachel sat on the bench, awaiting their shipmates. It didn't take
very long. Greene was hot on their tail, followed by Moranta and Mondana. Varaan
stood as his executive officer approached.::

GREENE: Varaan, can we talk somewhere...privately?

::Before the vulcan could respond, the other two approached.::

MORANTA: I understand the purpose of the test... but the logic involved is...
quite complex.

GREENE: <?>

MORANTA: I cannot say... According to "Dictates of Poetics" there were a few
inconsistences, for example the romulan's offering cooperation at such an early
stage of their research. Of course, the occasional encounters with their
ambassador have set the grounds for future encounters... But a full romulan
commander willing to admit starfleet officers onboard? [to Mondana] No offense
meant.

MONDANA: Don’t worry a have a long way to go before I become a ‘full Romulan
commander’. ::Mondana smiled, it seemed that Moranta was slightly amused:: Why
do you think we will ever work in cooperation with the Romulans in such a
situation?

MORANTA: You are the one in a position to set an opinion about it. What do you
think?

MONDANA: Well, anything is possible but it would take a strange situation for it
to happen.

MORANTA: <?>

MONDANA: Although many would have said the klingons being allied with the
Federation would have been unlikely.

MORANTA: <?>

MONDANA: Change is inevitable.

::The door slid open again, this time admitting their Chief Engineer. Eskyys
quickly headed to where the clump of officers were, but waited for a signal from
Varaan before approaching. He then moved close to inform them of Soul's
tirade.::

ESKYYS: Do you think we can keep him from a court marshal?

VARAAN: I guess that would depend on what Admiral Harris...

::Varaan was interupted by the arboretum door again. It wasn't even closed
before Torin erupted.::

JAMAR: An experiment!?  A petri dish!?  Is that what we are?  Are our crew
members so easily psychologically toyed with? [Looking from Daninburg to Varaan]

::Torin was highly emotional, moreso than Varaan had ever seen him before. He
didn't even seem to realize the others were standing around him. He continued
before giving Varaan an opportunity to react.::

JAMAR: I remember Anthony in the SOS lab.  He was torn apart!  Everyone 'died'
to him!  Now they're alive?  What will that do to him?  How long will that
affect him in his life? I'm very disappointed in both of you!

::With that he stormed out of the arboretum. Varaan now had an idea of what
Admiral Harris must have endured from Soul. From what Eskyys described, the
arguments were very similar. But of course, being Vulcan, Varaan did not totally
understand where Torin was coming from. But the scientist was his friend, and
Varaan decided to speak with Torin as soon as possible.::

VARAAN: Mr. Eskyys, I am sure that the admiral will want to speak with me about
Mr. Soul. I will do everything in my power to reduce the negative impact on our
helmsman. Commander Greene, please inform the crew that they each have a week
leave, at the end of which time, they are to report back to Starbase 118. Their
orders will be waiting there upon their arrival. I will speak to you in an hour.
But first I have something to do. Will you all excuse me, please?

::Varaan nodded to the group, not waiting for a real response from anyone, then
followed Torin.::

((Later - Utopia Planitia Concourse))

::Varaan could see Torin, staring out the window, holding his drink loosely. He
was standing beside an empty table, staring out at the asthetically pleasing
"desert" landscape of Mars. Torin set his drink down on a nearby table, and
continued looking out the window. Varaan approached him quietly, but not so
quiet that he was sneaking up on him.::

VARAAN: Torin, how are you feeling now?

JAMAR: <?>

VARAAN: I understand. Anger and frustration are perfectly normal, considering.
However, this "test" was important psychologically. There are many professionals
who feel that we should not be out on the frontiers, doing what we were trained
to do. Studies show that stress levels on deep space assignments are higher than
in combat situations. With the high levels of automation, current and future
explorers could be unmanned. This is what some scientists and doctors are
putting forward. Can you imagine not being there for the discovery of something
previously unknown?

JAMAR: <?>

VARAAN: Starfleet is running such tests, in order to reshape their psychological
profiling, testing, and instruction, so that academy graduates ARE prepared for
what is out there. An emotional response like yours and Soul's only goes to
further the arguments of the "nay-sayers."

::There was a moment of silence between them, before Varaan continued.::

VARAAN: There is an old Vulcan proverb: All of life is an experiment. Instead of
feeling angry because you and others were decieved, could you not feel
rejoiceful that those you thought dead are alive and healthy? Could you not
support what Starfleet is attempting by thinking of logical alternatives to what
they're doing, ones which would give similar results, instead of how you
reacted?

JAMAR: <?>

::Perhaps they would simply have to agree to disagree, as long as they could put
this behind them. Varaan continued with what he hoped would be happier news for
Torin.::

VARAAN: I also need to inform you that everyone has been granted a week's leave
before they need to report to Starbase 118 again. What will you do?

JAMAR: <?>

-TBC



--
=^=*************************=^=
Cmdr. Varaan
(son of Solath, son of Myrek)
Executive Officer
USS Paladin, NCC-93172
Prometheus-class Attack Cruiser
=^=*************************=^=
--



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(( Guest Quarters:Utopia Planitia))

:: Eskyys was trying to relax after all the stress of the last few days. He
knew something was still bothering much the crew. After all they had been
threw, there was a lot of feelings hurt. But he was more concerned about
Jenn and some of the other telepaths. They were still being effected by the
'simulated bioelectric weapon" it had given Esk a headache that just would
not go away.
    He had spent the morning in medical while they had been trying to figure
out what had happened. He had left out of frustration after watching them
run around without really helping anyone. He smiled,. the sight of Cmdr.
Greene driving them to produce results was a bright spot from the day. She
could push hard when she wanted answers. Esk could almost feel sorry for the
base personnel.
He was just wondering if he could pull her away for a private dinner when
the ceiling chirped.::

Computer: Lt. Eskyys your are to report to sickbay.

Eskyys: Understood, what do they want now?

Computer: I don't have an answer to that.

Eskyys: Wasn't talking to you..(as Eskyys left the room)



============
Lt. Eskyys
Chief Engineer
USS ATLANTIS
============

Ladies and Gentlemen, Crew of the PALADIN -

As you should all be aware, due to Real Life situations, Captain Rachel
Daninburg is retiring from active service. We wish her well in all her
endeavors. She will be missed.

Consequently, I have been chosen to take temporary command of the crew. If, in
the opinion of the EC (Executive Council of the UFoP), I perform above
adequately as your commanding officer over the next little while, the position
will become permanent. I, of course, will be relying on you, my shipmates, to
help me "blow their socks off". I have no doubts that we'll succeed.

And I believe I've said this before, that although PALADIN will always be my
first home, I have no love for the Prometheus-class design. VOYAGER has always
been my favourite of the Star Trek shows, and I greatly admire, and relate, to
the Intrepid-class design. As such, we will be leaving PALADIN behind, in favour
of our new home, the USS ATLANTIS.

We've already had a semi-run-through with her (which turned out to be a holodeck
simulation). But the real thing should be devoid of Annexes and conspirators.
She will also be already completed.

Part of the IC move from PALADIN to ATLANTIS, also will occur OOC. Our ygroups
list is changing. Obviously, simming on ATLANTIS and using a "sb118-paladin"
ygroup doesn't make much sense. So we've been given our own, new
"sb118-atlantis" ygroup. We'll be sending out the invitations to move shortly.

However, in the interest of keeping things as neat and tidy as possible (because
I tend to be picky about those types of things) we're going to go to a system
that has worked well on other ships of the fleet. Our atlantis list will be used
for IC (In Character) simming only. Everything posted to this list should be a
simming post. Obviously, we'll want to have OOC (Out Of Character)
conversations, or make OOC comments, from time to time, so a secondary list has
been set up for us as well. Anything OOC should be sent to this list, NOT the IC
list.

I'm going to begin sending out invitations to this list now, so that if you've
got anything you'd like to comment on, you may do so safely without compromising
the integrity of the IC simming list.

I'll be sending out a sim on this paladin list, which will end with all of us
going off on shore leave. We'll resume (come back from shore leave) on the new
atlantis list, and assume that a week has passed. We will have returned to
SB118, where our shiny new vessel will be waiting for us. I'd like for all this
to take place by the weekend, so that we can begin our new mission no later than
Saturday.

Thank you for months or years of simming pleasure on board PALADIN, depending on
how long you've been here. I hope we can look to a long and fruitful
relationship on board ATLANTIS...that is, until you all become captains yourself
and get your own vessels.

Thank you,

Commander Varaan


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((Corridors - On route to sickbay))

::Torin walked along with Jen down the hall.  He carried his PADD which had his
casualty report, along with the other department reports.  He had thought that
Varaan might want to see the official report.  Torin still couldn't shake the
feeling that the whole ship was down.  The walk with Jen was unusually quiet,
and he shot her a quick smile.  It was half felt, and he knew that she knew
it.::

((Sickbay))

::Varaan sat up when they entered, and as Jen began, they were interrupted by
the bridge.::

OPS: =^= Bridge to Captain Varaan.

VARAAN: =^= Varaan here. Go ahead.

OPS: =^= I'm not sure how, sir, since our communications array still isn't
functioning properly, but we've got an incoming message from Starfleet Command.
Code..."Azure"?

VARAAN: =^= Route it through to the doctor's console.

OPS: =^= Aye, sir. =^=

::Torin looked puzzled and they headed into the Doctor's office for the call.
Admiral Harris appeared on screen and they had a short conversation.  Varaan
then made an unusual announcement::

oO simulation? What the..Oo

::The surroundings shimmered and Torin, Jen, Varaan were in a huge holodeck
populated by the Atlantis crew, and upon closer look the Paladin crew too!::

::Admiral Harris entered and began speaking, explaining why they couldn't be
told.  He then began listing the agencies that had benefited from this
"experiment".  SM, SAP, SCE, UP, and the Federation as a whole.::

::Yells and shouts of joy sprouted up, but Torin was too incredulous to join
in.  They were, essentially a culture in a petri dish.  They were like the 'lab
mice' of old earth!  Torin clenched his fists and noticed that Captain
Daninburg and Varaan had started to leave.  He went to follow, wishing that the
PADD he held minutes earlier was still in his hand to throw on the floor.::

((Arboretum))

::The door wasn't even closed when Torin erupted.::

JAMAR: An experiment!?  A petri dish!?  Is that what we are?  Are our crew
members so easily psychologically toyed with?  (Looking from Daninburg to
Varaan, forgetting that Jen was in the room behind him.)

JAMAR: I remember Anthony in the SOS lab.  He was torn apart!  Everyone 'died'
to him!  Now they're alive?  What will that do to him?  How long will that
affect him in his life?

::Anger was coursing through his veins - normally he did well controlling his
emotions.  As a kid he had outbursts when really ticked off, and he had thought
he had done better.  Now he remembered his outburst with Commander Weller a
long time ago, and felt this was similar but different.  He felt he should
leave.::

JAMAR: I'm very disappointed in both of you!

::With that he stormed out of the arboretum, wishing the doors were not
automatic.::

((Later - Utopia Planitia Concourse))

::Torin stared out the window, holding his cold drink loosely.  He understood
why they couldn't be told, but the whole deception made him angry.  It must
have happened when he beamed aboard.  Instead of being beamed to a real ship,
they were beamed to the holodeck.  He knew a few had come aboard via shuttle,
and wasn't quite sure how that was done.::

::Torin set his drink down on a nearby table, and continued looking out the
window.::

Anyone:?

OOC:Anyone popping in? :)


Lieutenant Commander Torin Jamar
Chief Science Officer
USS Paladin
NCC-93172



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(( Runabout Guadalquivir - MD 14 ))

::Mondana lay under the consol next to the warp core, the panel was open and
her upper body lying in the mist of much of the circuitry. She could feel
the cold surface of the runabout through her clothes, when living on earth
Mondana was never totally comfortable with the temperature, living on Vulcan
agreed with her much more. The temperature on the Runabout was so low that
there was actually frost on the consol.::

MORANTA: If we do not repair our warpfield integrity we won't have enough
time to put ourselves out of PNO3485's flight path... We are not speaking
about a starship, but an entire star system with many planets heading in
ourway. Ensign Mondana, try to recalibrate our warpfield to 6.7 GW by using
the emergency generators...

MONDANA: I’ll give it a shoot but it could be dangerous...
::Plausing::...not that it matters much

::Mondana grabbed the nearest portable generator and dragged it back under
the consol with her. Connecting it to the consol required had to be done it
a less Conventional way... after many attempts at using an adapter Mondana
forced the generators connectioner into the consol.::

::Mondana slowly got to her feet and attempted to recalibrate the warp
field. As she wiped the frost off the consol a bleep went off that usually
happened when the vessel’s being hailed...::

MORANTA: Fascinating.

MONDANA: What???

VARAAN: =^= Now hear this, this is Commander Varaan speaking. May I have
your attention, please. Ladies and gentlemen, never have I served with a
more dedicated and hard-working crew. You should all be proud of yourselves,
and your fellow crewmembers. I am certain, that in the very near future, we
would have found a way to stop the anomaly and save thousands of worlds and
innumerable lives. Fortunately, we won't have to. Since before we left
Utopia Planitia, we have all been involved in an elaborate holodeck
simulation. That simulation has come to a completion, and is about to be
terminated. Please stand by. Varaan out. =^=

MONDANA: Simulation? Holodeck?

:: Mondana watched as the Runabout disappeared and the crew of both PALADIN
and ATLANTIS joined the runabout crew on a huge holodeck. Mondana was
shocked, she was no longer cold and Soul was no longer injured, he had his
sight in both eyes. There were crew there how made been reported dead
hugging there crewmates. Mondana then saw Captains Varaan and Daninburg
standing in front of the crew looking at an Admiral, Mondana stood to
attention.::

HARRIS: =^= I know how some of you must be feeling. I am Admiral Harris, and
I am the director of virtual testing, here at the Utopia Planitia Fleet
yards.

HARRIS: =^= I would like to thank Captain Daninburg for volunteering her
crew for this assignment. My staff and I weren't sure if you all were up to
the challenge, but Captain Daninburg convinced me otherwise. I see now that
she was correct. At times, Starfleet unknowingly tests its personnel, in
order to achieve accurate results. A good example would be the psychological
testing each of you had to undergo during your application process to
Starfleet. This is another of those times. We apologize for having to keep
you all in the dark, but if you had known that this wasn't real, the results
could very easily have been tainted.

::Mondana looked across to Lieutenant Soul who seemed more agitated than
usual.::

HARRIS: =^= Many groups had an interest here. Your testing was sponsored by
Starfleet Medical, as part of an ongoing study on stress levels. The
Starfleet Association of Psychiatrists had some interest in the outcome of
the simulated bioelectric weapon. Your testing was also sponsored by the
Starfleet Corps of Engineers. They wanted to see the results of a crew
having to finish construction and repairs of a starship within an allotted
time. And your testing was partly sponsored by those of us here at Utopia
Planitia. We are constantly making modifications to starship designs, and
tested some out here, virtually, for the Intrepid-class. On behalf of all of
these groups, I'd like to offer our deepest gratitude. You did incredibly
well!

:: Mondana frowned, she did not enjoy being patronised no matter how high
ranking the officer.::

HARRIS: =^= I know there are still some questions, and I'll try to answer
some of the bigger ones. Those of you who can't remember where you've been
for the last several hours, have been kept sedated and segregated from the
rest of the crew. You were, in turn, replaced by holograms, simulating your
deaths from a bioelectric wave. As you obviously can tell, you're all fine,
though you have heard what some of your shipmates said about you.


HARRIS: =^= Lieutenant Michael Soul. Your "eye" was difficult at first,
especially when your shipmates decided to operate. What we ended up doing
was separating you when you were asleep and no one was around. We replaced
you with a hologram that they could work on, and simulated them to you, as
they worked around you. After, we installed a neurotransmitter to simulate
what their artificial eye would see. You'll notice we've turned it off, and
we'll have someone remove it shortly. It's a painless procedure.

HARRIS: =^= Once again, I would like to thank everybody for their
cooperation. As a reward, by request of Captain Daninburg and Commander
Varaan, you've all been granted a week's leave. Please feel free to enjoy
the hospitalities of Utopia Planitia, or any of the wonderful places here in
the Sol system. Congratulations.

::Mondana stood her ground next to the commander she had come to trust over
the last two days... Mondana was how long they been on the holodeck.::

MORANTA: I understand the purpose of the test... but the logic involved
is... quite complex.

GREENE: ???

MORANTA: I cannot say... According to "Dictates of Poetics" there were a few
inconsistences, for example the romulan's offering cooperation at such an
early stage of their research. Of course, the occasional encounters with
their ambassador have set the grounds for future encounters... But a full
romulan commander willing to admit starfleet officers onboard? (to Mondana)
No offense meant.

MONDANA: Don’t worry a have a long way to go before I become a ‘full Romulan
commander’. ::Mondana smiled, it seemed that Moranta was slightly amused::
Why do you think we will ever work in cooperation with the Romulans in such
a situation?

MORANTA: You are the one in a position to set an opinion about it. What do
you think?

MONDANA: Well, anything is possible but it would take a strange situation
for it to happen.

MORANTA:

MONDANA: Although many would have said the klingons being allied with the
federation would have been unlikely.

MORANTA:

MONDANA: Change is inevitable.

ANYONE: ???

To be continued.
Ensign Mondana
USS Atlantis

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OOC: Will sim tonight, sorry for the delay!

TJ



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(( Engineering: MD 14)

:: Eskyys was bent over a consol trying to think of some way to help the
away team, the shuttle was loosing power.Life support was offline the
mission over... but they would still live long enough to try and move the
runabout out of PNO 3485's way. Esk was determined to not lose an other crew
member. He had been joined by almost everyone of his engineers. Ideas where
flying back nd forth with astonishing speed. Everyone stopped when they
heard the Captain.::

VARAAN: =^= Now hear this, this is Commander Varaan speaking. May I have
your attention, please. Ladies and gentlemen, never have I served with a
more dedicated and hard-working crew. You should all be proud of yourselves,
and your fellow crewmembers. I am certain, that in the very near future, we
would have found a way to stop the anomaly and save thousands of worlds and
innumerable lives. Fortunately, we won't have to. Since before we left
Utopia Planitia, we have all been involved in an elaborate holodeck
simulation. That simulation has come to a completion, and is about to be
terminated. Please stand by. Varaan out. =^=

:: Esk was at first shocked to see the dead back among the living. He was
ready to go and hug everyone of them when the Admiral Harris began to speak.
Esk move to stand with the other senior staff as the admiral spoke.When he
finished there was an outbreak of cheering, and the admiral took this time
to remove himself from the dais. He handed the voice amplifier to one of his
aides, and shook Daninburg's hand. Then he moved to Varaan's position and
shook his hand as well. People were milling around, finding others to talk
to about their personal experiences during the simulation.  He began to
follow Varaan and Greene.He stopped to listen as Soul approached Admiral
Harris.::

HARRIS: (Smiling) Stand easy Lieutenant.

::Michael relaxed his stance but once his stance, he could fell the
adrenalin which was now running though him as hard as ever.::

SOUL: Permission to speak freely, sir.

::The smile was now gone from the Admirals face.::

HARRIS: Granted Lieutenant.

SOUL: During this ‘simulation’ a number of the crew have been put through
emotional and physical distress. Many thought they had lost there friends, I
watched one of my junior officers die next to me in sickbay while anther was
seriously injured, Department heads had been hold that they had lost an
entire shift and most of the crew through they were going to die. I am no
consoler but as far as I can see, this test violates every guideline in the
Starfleet concerning emotional fitness for duty. I most inform you that I
will be putting these events in my personal log and forwarding it to
Starfleet Command along with a number of complaints regarding the
circumstances of this test.

:: Eskyys was shocked, he had never heard Soul so mad.::

Eskyys oO O-damn Soul I hope you didn't just kill your career. Better inform
Varaan and Greene about this.Oo

:: Esk quickly headed to find them in the atrium, they where talking
quietly. Esk slowly approached them until Varaan saw him. He then moved
close to inform them of Soul's actions::

Eskyys: Do you think we can keep him from a court marshal?

Varaan/Greene: ???

============
Lt Eskyys
Chief Engineer(?)
USS (?)
============

(( Runabout Guadalquivir - MD 14 ))

::Michael was setting behind the C’elest and Mondana listening to their
conversation while nursing his arm. He was not sure what was more
disconcerting, the fact that he was continually being injured or his lack or
engineering knowledge which was clearly terrible as he could only understand
half the stuff they were taking about. Michael’s arm was completely red and
yellow covered in large blisters from elbow to wrist. Although Michaels
engineering knowledge was abysmal his Medical was slightly better. The burns
were second degree, quite serious indeed but it could have been worse....
Perhaps.::

:: As C’elest started working on the Helm position he noticed the
temperature drop another couple of degrees, when Michael could see his
breath as he exhaled. Michael’s good arm had Goosebumps running across it
and the hairs where raised. The cold air reminded him of the Training
programme which he used during his days at the academy to get into shape, it
was a programme containing a maintain range in Wales. It was the same range
that 20th Century Special Forces had used to train. It was one hell of a
gruelling programme but it did get the job done.::

:: Michael looked across to C’elest to see how she was coping with the drop
in temperature. After his time on Vulcan with the Commanders Michael was
only too aware of how much hotter Vulcans were used to the temperate, some
did not like the temperature of Federation vessels so he was very concerned
with how the commander was holding up. After a small look he concluded that
she seemed fine, with must have been due to her Human side compensating. Her
then looked at Mondana, she seemed alittle more affected by the cold but she
was still working hard. Michael actually felt a little ashamed because of
how useful he was being. Michael got up and started walking to the back of
the Runabout to get some of the blankets that had been replicated with the
remaining power from a damaged generator. As he was walking some very
peculiar happened.::

VARAAN: =^= Now hear this, this is Commander Varaan speaking. May I have
your attention, please. Ladies and gentlemen, never have I served with a
more dedicated and hard-working crew. You should all be proud of yourselves,
and your fellow crewmembers. I am certain, that in the very near future, we
would have found a way to stop the anomaly and save thousands of worlds and
innumerable lives. Fortunately, we won't have to. Since before we left
Utopia Planitia, we have all been involved in an elaborate holodeck
simulation. That simulation has come to a completion, and is about to be
terminated. Please stand by. Varaan out. =^=

::Michael looked across to C’elest who seemed fascinated by what was
happening. Michael moved to the communications consol but before he could
sit down and examine what had happened the consol diapered along with the
whole inside of the runabout and instead of finding himself floating in the
abyss of space he found himself standing on the solid surface of one of the
largest holdecks he had ever seen surrounded by the crews of the Atlantis
and Paladin.::

::Michael touched some of the crew still in shock of what was happening when
he noticed that his arm was fine better than that, it was completely healed.
His second degree Burns had vanished leaving only the slightly darker than
Caucasian skin and the ripped sleeve of his uniform. As he moved his arm
around he also realised that his eyesight in his left eye was blurred, as if
something was obscuring his sight. Michael gently touched his eye and
realised that his replacement eye had in fact been replayed by a much
smaller device.::

::Admiral Harris stood on the dais and looked over the hundreds of personnel
before him. By now Michael had figured out what was going on, and he was
fuming but he stood where he was and waited for this ‘Officer’ to give an
explanation to the crews.::

HARRIS: I know how some of you must be feeling. I am Admiral Harris, and I
am the director of virtual testing, here at the Utopia Planitia Fleet yards.

::Michael could feel his hand tighten over his wrist as he stood Simi to
attention.::

HARRIS: I would like to thank Captain Daninburg for volunteering her crew
for this assignment. My staff and I weren't sure if you all were up to the
challenge, but Captain Daninburg convinced me otherwise. I see now that she
was correct. At times, Starfleet unknowingly tests its personnel, in order
to achieve accurate results. A good example would be the psychological
testing each of you had to undergo during your application process to
Starfleet. This is another of those times. We apologize for having to keep
you all in the dark, but if you had known that this wasn't real, the results
could very easily have been tainted.

::Michael could not believe what he was hearing, he has suffered multiply
serious injuries and this Admiral was worried about results of a stupid test
being tainted.::

HARRIS: Many groups had an interest here. Your testing was sponsored by
Starfleet Medical, as part of an ongoing study on stress levels. The
Starfleet Association of Psychiatrists had some interest in the outcome of
the simulated bioelectric weapon. Your testing was also sponsored by the
Starfleet Corps of Engineers. They wanted to see the results of a crew
having to finish construction and repairs of a starship within an allotted
time. And your testing was partly sponsored by those of us here at Utopia
Planitia. We are constantly making modifications to starship designs, and
tested some out here, virtually, for the Intrepid-class. On behalf of all of
these groups, I'd like to offer our deepest gratitude. You did incredibly
well!

HARRIS: I know there are still some questions, and I'll try to answer some
of the bigger ones. Those of you who can't remember where you've been for
the last several hours, have been kept sedated and segregated from the rest
of the crew. You were, in turn, replaced by holograms, simulating your
deaths from a bioelectric wave. As you obviously can tell, you're all fine,
though you have heard what some of your shipmates said about you.

::Michael could feel his arm muscles tightening and his teeth clenching
together. Michael then noticed that the Admiral was now looking directly at
him.::

HARRIS: Lieutenant Michael Soul. Your "eye" was difficult at first,
especially when your shipmates decided to operate. What we ended up doing
was separating you when you were asleep and no one was around. We replaced
you with a hologram that they could work on, and simulated them to you, as
they worked around you. After, we installed a neurotransmitter to simulate
what their artificial eye would see. You'll notice we've turned it off, and
we'll have someone remove it shortly. It's a painless procedure.

::There is an old human expression which decribed the situation perfectly,
‘If looks could kill...’ Michael glared at the Admiral with every bit of
fury that Michael was feeling, after a brief second the man turned to the
rest of the crews.::

HARRIS: =^= Once again, I would like to thank everybody for their
cooperation. As a reward, by request of Captain Daninburg and Commander
Varaan, you've all been granted a week's leave. Please feel free to enjoy
the hospitalities of Utopia Planitia, or any of the wonderful places here in
the Sol system. Congratulations.

::After a few moments the crew started conversing with each other swapping
tales and disusing their current situation. Michael was still looking at the
Admirl and the people surrounding him, Michael watched as Captain Varaan and
Commander Greene walked off to talk in private. Michael decided that now was
his opportunity. He slowly walked through the crowed area and approached the
Admiral, Michael was very aware that Captain Duninburg was still standing
with Admiral Harris, the last thing he wanted to do was offend the Captain.
As he approached Michael nodded to the captain and she in turn returned the
acknowledgement, Michael then turn to face the Admiral who had a forced
smile on his face. Michael stood in front standing to attention, his muscles
still tensed and blood boiling.::

HARRIS: (Smiling) Stand easy Lieutenant.

::Michael relaxed his stance but once his stance, he could fell the
adrenalin which was now running though him as hard as ever.::

SOUL: Permission to speak freely, sir.

::The smile was now gone from the Admirals face.::

HARRIS: Granted Lieutenant.

SOUL: During this ‘simulation’ a number of the crew have been put through
emotional and physical distress. Many thought they had lost there friends, I
watched one of my junior officers die next to me in sickbay while anther was
seriously injured, Department heads had been hold that they had lost an
entire shift and most of the crew through they were going to die. I am no
consoler but as far as I can see, this test violates every guideline in the
Starfleet concerning emotional fitness for duty. I most inform you that I
will be putting these events in my personal log and forwarding it to
Starfleet Command along with a number of complaints regarding the
circumstances of this test.

::The Admiral was now fuming, he could not believe that he had been spoken
to as if he where an Cadet by this young Lieutenant standing before him.::

SOUL: Permission to rejoin the crew, Sir.

::The Admiral said nothing and he didn’t have too he face said it all, he
nodded and Michael walked away much slower than he had approached. Michaels
heart was facing and his right leg was trembling as was common for him when
he had a powerful rush of adrenalin as it always did since he had recovered
from his ‘problems’ in his youth. As Michael rejoined the crew he was
certain that he would be standing before Commander Greene and Captain Varaan
within the hour for disciplinary action.::

--

******==========******
Lieutenant Michael Soul
Chief Helm Officer
USS Atlantis – NCC 74682
Intrepid class
******==========******

_________________________________________________________________
Stay in touch with absent friends - get MSN Messenger
http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger

((Corridors - On route to sickbay))

::Jennifer could hear her heartbeat in her ears, her headache pounding on her
eardrums. She was feeling faint, sick even. A third of the crew was gone and
they were stranded within a stupid shell. She felt like banging the wall with
her fists. Torin walked quietly beside her. He shot her a quick smile as they
entered sickbay. Varaan was lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. He sat up
when they arrived.::

::Jen started to talk but was interrupted when a call came over the comm.::

OPS: =^= Bridge to Captain Varaan.

VARAAN: =^= Varaan here. Go ahead.

OPS: =^= I'm not sure how, sir, since our communications array still isn't
functioning properly, but we've got an incoming message from Starfleet Command.
Code..."Azure"?

VARAAN: =^= Route it through to the doctor's console.

OPS: =^= Aye, sir. =^=

::Jennifer frowned. oO What's going on?Oo::

::They proceed to the doctor's office and Varaan took the call. The entire
conversation was very confusing. The way Varaan spoke to Admiral Harris sounded
like he knew what was going on.::

VARAAN: =^= Now hear this, this is Commander Varaan speaking. May I have your
attention, please. Ladies and gentlemen, never have I served with a more
dedicated and hard-working crew. You should all be proud of yourselves, and your
fellow crewmembers. I am certain, that in the very near future, we would have
found a way to stop the anomaly and save thousands of worlds and innumerable
lives. Fortunately, we won't have to. Since before we left Utopia Planitia, we
have all been involved in an elaborate holodeck simulation. That simulation has
come to a completion, and is about to be terminated. Please stand by. Varaan
out. =^=

::Before long, the office they stood in was replaced by a huge holodeck. Jen
found it all just a bit too much to handle. Speeches were made, people hugged
and cheered at the dead "resurrected" and everyone was happy. Then she noticed
it. Her headache wasn't gone. It had eased up but it was still there. The amount
of telepathic surpression she could normally apply wasn't all there as the
emotions and voices flooded her head. Excusing herself, she made way to Varaan
who was sitting on a bench in a domed atrium, a short flight of stairs away from
the holodeck.::

GREENE: Varaan, can we talk somewhere...privately?

VARAAN:


TBC

Commander Jennifer Greene
First Officer
USS Atlantis
NCC - 74682

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

(( Runabout Guadalquivir - MD 14 ))

:: The helm control surface under C'elest's fingers covered with frost as
the cabin's temperature dropped unexpectedly as life support failed. Mondana
was on her own console, trying to divert heated plasma from the engines to
restore temperature, but the smoke was impairing their concentration. ::

MORANTA: If we do not repair our warpfield integrity we won't have enough
time to put ourselves out of PNO3485's flight path... We are not speaking
about a starship, but an entire star system with many planets heading in our
way. :: seeing that Soul's injuries were beeing attended, Moranta turned to
the young ensign. :: Ensign Mondana, try to recalibrate our warpfield to 6.7
GW by using the emergency generators...

MONDANA: ???

:: The vulcan knew the moment the life support went offline the mission
would be over... but they would still live long enough to try and move the
runabout out of PNO 3485's way. Maybe the ship's computer cores would be
enough for ATLANTIS to set the soliton waves to the most accurate setting
ever possible... As she programed the helm, C'elest jumped from the chair to
the engineering control monitors on the back of the cabin, flipped opened
the LCARS sleek surface and begun working on the innards with a tool from an
engineering kit... Suddently, she was sweating hard as the temperature arose
above what was normal on a vulcan summer. ::

:: Annother alarm poured from the runabout's ceiling... ::

MORANTA: oO How many alarms has this kind of vessel have? Oo

MORANTA: oO Twenty Oo

:: Then, she heard annother one... Only this time it was the sound
consistent with.. a ship wide call. ::

MORANTA: :: stopping her task, C'elest stood up in attention. ::
Fascinating.

VARAAN: =^= Now hear this, this is Commander Varaan speaking. May I have
your attention, please. Ladies and gentlemen, never have I served with a
more dedicated and hard-working crew. You should all be proud of yourselves,
and your fellow crewmembers. I am certain, that in the very near future, we
would have found a way to stop the anomaly and save thousands of worlds and
innumerable lives. Fortunately, we won't have to. Since before we left
Utopia Planitia, we have all been involved in an elaborate holodeck
simulation. That simulation has come to a completion, and is about to be
terminated. Please stand by. Varaan out. =^=

:: The small universe of the runabout shimmered and dissolved in harmless
photonic mist, as the standard holosuite grid revealed itself. All around
them were members from PALADIN and ATLANTIS, some still looking astonished,
others simply amused or venting their frustration. C'elest helped Soul and
Mondana to their feet, only he wasn't showing any of the previous injuries
he had, nor his prostetic eye. Captain Varaan, and the rest of the senior
staff was aproximately ten meters apart. The 'away team' walked to their
position... The chief OPS officer noticed Lt.Qhaos had also vanished with
the rest of the simulation. He must have been annother hologram. ::

:: Before they could exchange any words, the huge big doors at the far end
of the holosuite opened and revealed Admiral Jonathon Harris and his staff
entering the holo-cluster. Captain Varaan moved towards the dais, and so did
Captain Daninburg... The senior staff formed into attention, with the rest
of the crew behind. ::

::Admiral Harris stood on the dais and looked over the hundreds of personnel
before him. He had a concealing smile on his face, but the vulcan female
doubted anyone would be foolish enough to show their emotional state in
front of an Admiral... or  directed *to* the admiral. ::

HARRIS: =^= I know how some of you must be feeling. I am Admiral Harris, and
I am the director of virtual testing, here at the Utopia Planitia Fleet
yards.

:: C'elest raised her right eyebrow. ::

HARRIS: =^= I would like to thank Captain Daninburg for volunteering her
crew for this assignment. My staff and I weren't sure if you all were up to
the challenge, but Captain Daninburg convinced me otherwise. I see now that
she was correct. At times, Starfleet unknowingly tests its personnel, in
order to achieve accurate results. A good example would be the psychological
testing each of you had to undergo during your application process to
Starfleet. This is another of those times. We apologize for having to keep
you all in the dark, but if you had known that this wasn't real, the results
could very easily have been tainted.

:: Understandable... Yet, a star system with so many planets... ::

HARRIS: =^= Many groups had an interest here. Your testing was sponsored by
Starfleet Medical, as part of an ongoing study on stress levels. The
Starfleet Association of Psychiatrists had some interest in the outcome of
the simulated bioelectric weapon. Your testing was also sponsored by the
Starfleet Corps of Engineers. They wanted to see the results of a crew
having to finish construction and repairs of a starship within an allotted
time. And your testing was partly sponsored by those of us here at Utopia
Planitia. We are constantly making modifications to starship designs, and
tested some out here, virtually, for the Intrepid-class. On behalf of all of
these groups, I'd like to offer our deepest gratitude. You did incredibly
well!

:: The other eyebrow arose, joining the right. ::

HARRIS: =^= I know there are still some questions, and I'll try to answer
some of the bigger ones. Those of you who can't remember where you've been
for the last several hours, have been kept sedated and segregated from the
rest of the crew. You were, in turn, replaced by holograms, simulating your
deaths from a bioelectric wave. As you obviously can tell, you're all fine,
though you have heard what some of your shipmates said about you.

::At this, some people laughed. Others broke out into tears of relief and
were hugging some of the "dead." Admiral Harris was scanning the crowd,
looking for someone. He stopped when his gaze fell on Lieutenant Soul.::

HARRIS: =^= Lieutenant Michael Soul. Your "eye" was difficult at first,
especially when your shipmates decided to operate. What we ended up doing
was separating you when you were asleep and no one was around. We replaced
you with a hologram that they could work on, and simulated them to you, as
they worked around you. After, we installed a neurotransmitter to simulate
what their artificial eye would see. You'll notice we've turned it off, and
we'll have someone remove it shortly. It's a painless procedure.

::Harris studied the entire group again, taking the time to look many people
in the eye, showing his sincerity.::

HARRIS: =^= Once again, I would like to thank everybody for their
cooperation. As a reward, by request of Captain Daninburg and Commander
Varaan, you've all been granted a week's leave. Please feel free to enjoy
the hospitalities of Utopia Planitia, or any of the wonderful places here in
the Sol system. Congratulations.

:: Moranta felt somewhat dissapointed... But her vulcan side didn't allow it
to surface. She had hoped the admiral would have said something about the
idea of using soliton waves to stop PNO3485's flight, if their analists had
performed their own simulations and tested the solution on annother
scenario. However, she stood her ground with the rest of the bridge crew,
who didn't promptly disband as the rest... ::

MORANTA: I understand the purpose of the test... but the logic involved
is... quite complex.

GREENE: ???

MORANTA: I cannot say... According to "Dictates of Poetics" there were a few
inconsistences, for example the romulan's offering cooperation at such an
early stage of their research. Of course, the occasional encounters with
their ambassador have set the grounds for future encounters... But a full
romulan commander willing to admit starfleet officers onboard? (to Mondana)
No offense meant.

MONDANA: ???

MORANTA: You are the one in possition to set an opinion about it. What do
you think?

MONDANA: ???

ANYONE: ???

To be continued.
Lt.Cmder. C'elest Moranta.
Chief OPS Officer - USS ATLANTIS

Your last sim was fine. It happened before mine did. Just continue on, Eskyys.

Varaan



___________________________________________________________
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OOC: So do I move my last SIM to the morning everyone is back? or just void
it?


>OOC: Anyone have anything to say?
>
>-TBC
>
>
>
>--
>=^=*************************=^=
>Cmdr. Varaan
>(son of Solath, son of Myrek)
>Executive Officer
>USS Paladin, NCC-93172
>Prometheus-class Attack Cruiser
>=^=*************************=^=
>--
>
>
>___________________________________________________________
>$0 Web Hosting with up to 200MB web space, 1000 MB Transfer
>10 Personalized POP and Web E-mail Accounts, and much more.
>Signup at www.doteasy.com
>

((Sickbay))

::Varaan sat up on his biobed. The monitors on the wall behind him hummed
absently, indicating his general state of health. Physically, he was fine, with
the exception of some overloaded neurons. But the humanoid brain was an amazing
instrument. It had already rerouted any vital functions from the damaged
synapses to new ones. If only a vessel could be built similarly, so that a crew
wouldn't have to do it manually. Maybe the future of space travel lay in
bio-vessels? Living ships? An interesting concept, especially from an
engineering standpoint.::

::One of Varaan's "hobbies", as humans called them, was starship design. The
bio-neural gelpacks on board ATLANTIS, and other newer Starfleet vessels, were a
first, small step in this direction. Varaan's mind was already thinking of other
possibilities when the doors to Sickbay opened and Torin and Commander Greene
entered together. It was time for the briefing that Varaan wanted. The two
officers stepped up beside Varaan's bed, and Greene opened her mouth to speak.
She never got the chance.::

OPS: =^= Bridge to Captain Varaan.

VARAAN: =^= Varaan here. Go ahead.

OPS: =^= I'm not sure how, sir, since our communications array still isn't
functioning properly, but we've got an incoming message from Starfleet Command.
Code..."Azure"?

VARAAN: =^= Route it through to the doctor's console.

OPS: =^= Aye, sir. =^=

::Varaan reached over and pulled off the light sheet that was covering the lower
part of his body. He swung his legs over the edge and slid off the biobed. Both
Greene and Jamar had confused looks on their faces. Varaan didn't have time to
explain it to them now; they would find out when everyone else did. He moved
around them and walked across sickbay into the doctor's office. Sitting in the
chair there, he activated the desktop console.::

::Replacing the Federation symbol on the black screen was the face of an older
human male. He was wearing a Starfleet admiral's uniform. Greene and Jamar had
followed the vulcan into the office, and were now positioned on the other side
of the desk.::

VARAAN: =^= Admiral Harris, how can I be of assistance?

HARRIS: =^= Commander Varaan, how is everything?

VARAAN: =^= At this time, events are transpiring as predicted. No aberrations.

HARRIS: =^= Good, good. I've spoken with Rachel already. She agrees. We're going
to call it.

VARAAN: =^= Admiral, our mission is not yet complete.

HARRIS: =^= Commander, I admire your dedication, but this is like the Kobyashi
Maru. It's an unwinable, designed to test responses. Besides, we've pretty much
got the data we were hoping for. We don't see any reason to continue.

VARAAN: =^= Very well, admiral. How are we to proceed?

HARRIS: =^= I'd suggest a ship wide announcement, so they're not scared out of
their wits when it happens. See you in a few minutes, commander. Harris out. =^=

::The screen returned to the black background with the UFP symbol on it. Varaan
stood, looking both Torin and Jenn in the eyes as he spoke to no one in
particular.::

VARAAN: I'm sorry. Everything will be explained. Computer, ship wide hail.

COMPUTER: Acknowledged.

::There was a brief beeping as the communications were activated throughout the
ATLANTIS. Varaan paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. He expected some
of the crew to be disappointed, some to be relieved, and even some to be angry.
Emotions.::

VARAAN: =^= Now hear this, this is Commander Varaan speaking. May I have your
attention, please. Ladies and gentlemen, never have I served with a more
dedicated and hard-working crew. You should all be proud of yourselves, and your
fellow crewmembers. I am certain, that in the very near future, we would have
found a way to stop the anomaly and save thousands of worlds and innumerable
lives. Fortunately, we won't have to. Since before we left Utopia Planitia, we
have all been involved in an elaborate holodeck simulation. That simulation has
come to a completion, and is about to be terminated. Please stand by. Varaan
out. =^=

::Greene and Jamar had been looking at Varaan with ever-increasing stares of
disbelief. They both looked like they wanted to say something, but neither did.
After a moment, everything around them began to shimmer and lose focus, then
everything disappeared. They were standing on the floor of an enormous
holosuite, the black walls lined with familiar yellow. Only, this holosuite was
easily 100 meters square, and at least four stories high. And they weren't
alone.::

::All around them members of the PALADIN and ATLANTIS crews were standing,
staring, shrugging shoulders, turning around. Hundreds of people. Off in one
corner were the almost hundred personnel who had supposedly died in the
bioelectric wave attack, all of them alive and well. People who had been
injured, were fine...including Soul. He was feeling his eye...his natural eye,
that had been there the entire time. He looked at people questioningly. Now was
the time for answers.::

::Just then the doors at the far end of the holosuite opened and Admiral
Jonathon Harris entered, followed by some crewmen who carried a portable dais,
and three other officers. Varaan had met them before; they were part of the
admiral's staff. Many people were still milling around, questioning each other,
but most were now fixing their gazes on the admiral, who was mounting the dais
with a voice amplification device in his hand. Varaan saw across the holosuite
that Captain Daninburg was making her way towards the dais, and he began to do
the same.::

::Admiral Harris stood on the dais and looked over the hundreds of personnel
before him. He had a smile on his face, most likely to try to alleviate some of
the frustration and confusion that people were feeling. He noticed Daninburg and
Varaan coming towards his position, and began his speech.::

HARRIS: =^= I know how some of you must be feeling. I am Admiral Harris, and I
am the director of virtual testing, here at the Utopia Planitia Fleet yards.

::There were a few gasps, but the admiral continued, undeterred.::

HARRIS: =^= I would like to thank Captain Daninburg for volunteering her crew
for this assignment. My staff and I weren't sure if you all were up to the
challenge, but Captain Daninburg convinced me otherwise. I see now that she was
correct. At times, Starfleet unknowingly tests its personnel, in order to
achieve accurate results. A good example would be the psychological testing each
of you had to undergo during your application process to Starfleet. This is
another of those times. We apologize for having to keep you all in the dark, but
if you had known that this wasn't real, the results could very easily have been
tainted.

HARRIS: =^= Many groups had an interest here. Your testing was sponsored by
Starfleet Medical, as part of an ongoing study on stress levels. The Starfleet
Association of Psychiatrists had some interest in the outcome of the simulated
bioelectric weapon. Your testing was also sponsored by the Starfleet Corps of
Engineers. They wanted to see the results of a crew having to finish
construction and repairs of a starship within an allotted time. And your testing
was partly sponsored by those of us here at Utopia Planitia. We are constantly
making modifications to starship designs, and tested some out here, virtually,
for the Intrepid-class. On behalf of all of these groups, I'd like to offer our
deepest gratitude. You did incredibly well!

::There were hoots and hollers from some people, and others jumping up and down
or raising their arms in triumph.::

HARRIS: =^= I know there are still some questions, and I'll try to answer some
of the bigger ones. Those of you who can't remember where you've been for the
last several hours, have been kept sedated and segregated from the rest of the
crew. You were, in turn, replaced by holograms, simulating your deaths from a
bioelectric wave. As you obviously can tell, you're all fine, though you have
heard what some of your shipmates said about you.

::At this, some people laughed. Others broke out into tears of relief and were
hugging some of the "dead." Admiral Harris was scanning the crowd, looking for
someone. He stopped when his gaze fell on Lieutenant Soul.::

HARRIS: =^= Lieutenant Michael Soul. Your "eye" was difficult at first,
especially when your shipmates decided to operate. What we ended up doing was
separating you when you were asleep and no one was around. We replaced you with
a hologram that they could work on, and simulated them to you, as they worked
around you. After, we installed a neurotransmitter to simulate what their
artificial eye would see. You'll notice we've turned it off, and we'll have
someone remove it shortly. It's a painless procedure.

::Harris studied the entire group again, taking the time to look many people in
the eye, showing his sincerity.::

HARRIS: =^= Once again, I would like to thank everybody for their cooperation.
As a reward, by request of Captain Daninburg and Commander Varaan, you've all
been granted a week's leave. Please feel free to enjoy the hospitalities of
Utopia Planitia, or any of the wonderful places here in the Sol system.
Congratulations.

::There was an outbreak of cheering, and the admiral took this time to remove
himself from the dais. He handed the voice amplifier to one of his aides, and
shook Daninburg's hand. Then he moved to Varaan's position and shook his hand as
well. People were milling around, finding others to talk to about their personal
experiences during the simulation. Many people started to filter out of the
holosuite. Varaan and Daninburg were among them. The two senior officers walked
a short way down the polished stone corridor to a short flight of stairs that
led into a domed arboretum. It was quiet and peaceful, and they took a bench to
await the others that would inevitably follow them to get questions answered.::

OOC: Anyone have anything to say?

-TBC



--
=^=*************************=^=
Cmdr. Varaan
(son of Solath, son of Myrek)
Executive Officer
USS Paladin, NCC-93172
Prometheus-class Attack Cruiser
=^=*************************=^=
--


___________________________________________________________
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(SOS Lab MD14 0743 Hrs))

JAMAR: I'd like to know if any of the telepaths were affected.  I know we
only
have a few, but I think there may be a few people who have latent telepath
or
minor ability... or unrefined ability.. something.  We've got to find out
how
they were affected.

ESKYYS: Of course! (Eskyys outburst surprised Jamar.) Sorry, The XO is a
newly discovered telepath, that would explain why she looks dead on her
feet. I would say all other telepath's would have had similar experiences.

JAMAR: Yes, if they were affected too, then there may be a consciousness
behind
this wave, rather than part of whatever normal process this thing might
have.

ESKYYS: I thought it to convent that it was at just the right frequency.

JAMAR: How's progress on something to block future waves?

ESK: Good, we should be able to block anything similar within the next 2
hours

JAMAR: My team has mostly been looking on a way to escape this area of
space.
The only reference to similar phenomena is when VOYAGER was stuck in one
when
some photonic beings created a way into our universe.  After the aliens
left,
the portal and sandbar dissipated.... Unfortunately we don't have any aliens
to
convince to leave.

ESK: Maybe If we can stop the anomaly it will dissipate the field?

(( MD 17: 0645: Engineering))

::Eskyys was finishing the last report from overnight when he stopped to
look around.::

Eskyys oO When was the last time I left engineering? What has everyone ben
up to? Well besides the anomaly anyway. Well it's still early, lets find
out. Oo

Eskyys: Computer send the senior staff an invitation to join me for
breakfast at 0700, in briefing room one.

Computer: confirmed

Eskyys: Good, now I have to go set up breakfast. Buffet stile I think.
(Eskyys had a smile as he left engineering.)

TBC:

OOC: Now somebody better show up>)

============
Lt. Eskyys
Chief Engineer
USS ATLANTIS
============

I am so sorry to hear this. I know what it is like to loose a son. My
sympathy and prayers are with you.     Eskyys/ Eric

>From: qhaos honeycutt <qhaostheninja@...>
>Reply-To: sb118-paladin@yahoogroups.com
>To: sb118-paladin@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [SB118-Paladin] Death of a loved one.
>Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2005 17:11:45 -0800 (PST)
>
>
>
>Sorry to say Qhaos died on his way to the mall. And In his will he asked of
>me to give his SIM friends the news and to ask someone end off his
>character. On March the 28th Qhaos was walking to the mall when he got hit
>by a car.
>
> > Qhaos’ Dad
>
>
>__________________________________________________
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Sorry to say Qhaos died on his way to the mall. And In his will he asked of me
to give his SIM friends the news and to ask someone end off his character. On
March the 28th Qhaos was walking to the mall when he got hit by a car.

> Qhaos’ Dad


__________________________________________________
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

((MD14, 0530 hrs, Guadalquivir.))

::Mondana was manning her tactical station wondering what would happen next,
already a third of the Atlantis’ crew were dead and Commander Moranta was
dazed from the pulse. As she watched her station she got her answer.::

::Something appeared on long range scanners but quickly came closer and
closer, at first she considered the possibility that they were being fired
upon, but it was much to fast for a torpedo even one fired at warp and the
energy readings were incredible strange.::

MONDANA: We got incoming of an unknown object, its going to impact in
seconds!

MORANTA: Shields!

:: As the runabout was hit it rocked from side to side, gripping her seat
mondana was able to stay at her station but she saw that Lieutenant Soul was
not so lucky. The impact unseated him, Mondana gapped him with her remaining
free hand and pinned him to the seat.::

::As the runabout rocked and rolled many consoles blow as did a power
generator next to Soul, with quick reactions Commander Moranta passed a fire
suppression unit to Qhaos who put out the flames before he was hert to
badly. After a another few shacks the runabout steadied itself and every
thing when dark.::

MORANTA: Emergency generators on-line.

:: The emergency lights returned to life, and so did the still working
consoles. ::

MORANTA: (reading the console). We have minimum life support... It's goingto
be cold in here in a matter of hours. Lieutenant Qhaos, as soon as you
havetreated Lt. Soul's injuries, please try to find spacesuits, maintenance
suits, blankets or whatever we might use to stay warm... We also have
impulse and warp drive, but our sensor array has been compromised. Ensign
Mondana, it is your job to determine if it has enough resolution to continue
with our mission... PNO3485 it's still six hours from our current position,
so we might still have time to make repairs.

MONDANA: That might be a problem... ::Looking at the runabout readouts:: We
haven’t got a stable warp field. Going to warp would result in a warp core
breach.

:: C'elest paused for a moment. ::

MORANTA: I know we cannot generate a stable warpfield, and hence, our own
warp drive is inoperative... However, PNO3485 has it's warpdrive
capabilities intact, which means there is a way to generate a stable
warpfield. I will need your assistance as soon as you have finnished with
the sensor array... We will try to recalibrate our own warp field geometry
to withstand the disruptive effect we are experiencing.

ANYONE: ???

MORANTA: Unknown... However, there is the possibility annother ship might
have attempted to get through to PNO3485's interior and this was the reply
to their intrusion. Still, it is vital we continue with our mission and
gather as much information as we can, and transmit it to ATLANTIS... Many
people depend on our research to stop them from hitting Sector 001.

QHAOS: ???

MORANTA: If we do not repair our warpfield integrity we do not have enough
time to put ourselves out of PNO3485's flight path... We are not speaking
about a starship, but an entire star system with many planets heading in our
way.

ANYONE: ???


To be continued.

Ensign Mondana
Science Officer
Runabout Guadalquivir

_________________________________________________________________
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Have a happy Easter all. :) Eric/Esk

((SOS Lab MD14 0730 Hrs))




PADD ACTIVATED......



DECEASED CREW MEMBERS

    Science Department
      Rank       Name            Race      Primary Assignment

      Crewman   Kena Noir       Bajoran   Element Analysis Lab
      Crewman   Melar kamar     Bajoran   Main Science
      Ensign    Lum             Bolian    Element Analysis Lab
      Ensign    Marcus McDowell Human     SOS Lab
      PO 3rd    Tena Nuen       Hallian   Sensor Maintenance
      PO 2nd    Gerad Mekann'ta Benzite   System Maintenance







::Torin deactivated the PADD.  He knew everyone one of them.  Not all of them
well of course, but it pained him to see six of his officers - almost seven
dead in an instant.  He knew casualties were higher in areas that needed more
staff right now.  If it had been a normal night, only a few would have died.
Several people on this list had volunteered.  Volunteered for death.::

::Torin slapped the PADD down on his desk and saved his report.  He filed it
away and sent it to Varaan, who had requested a report of status and of the
dead - even though he already knew the total.::

::The next shift had taken over well, and he had taken a break to do
'paperwork' so to speak.  Their most pressing need was to get out of this
sandbar bubble that surrounded them.  Several ideas were out there, and he let
them loose developing them.::

::Torin started looking in to what progress had been made, and started his own
work, based on what he saw.  Soon he was interrupted by a report coming to his
terminal.  He opened it up and started reading it when his combadge went off.::

ESKYYS:  =/\= Eskyys to Jamar.

JAMAR: =/\= Go ahead

ESKYYS =/\= Are you free? I would like to discus our next move with you.

JAMAR =/\= Certainly, would you like to meet in my office?

::Esk agreed and the link closed.  Torin had a few more minutes to read the
report he had been sent.::

(( A few minutes later))

ESKYYS: I can't quite believe that a simple brain wave pattern could kill so
many. Of course it does explain why all the Vulcan all look like hell.

JAMAR: It certainly does - not only are they more susceptible to them because
of their ability to mind meld - they as a race are tuned differently than
most..

::Torin paused and looked away from the pattern on his office wall display.::

JAMAR: I'd like to know if any of the telepaths were affected.  I know we only
have a few, but I think there may be a few people who have latent telepath or
minor ability... or unrefined ability.. something.  We've got to find out how
they were affected.

ESKYYS:?

JAMAR: Yes, if they were affected too, then there may be a consciousness behind
this wave, rather than part of whatever normal process this thing might have.

ESKYYS:?

JAMAR: How's progress on something to block future waves?

ESK?

JAMAR: My team has mostly been looking on a way to escape this area of space.
The only reference to similar phenomena is when VOYAGER was stuck in one when
some photonic beings created a way into our universe.  After the aliens left,
the portal and sandbar dissipated.... Unfortunately we don't have any aliens to
convice to leave.

ESK?


TBC

Lieutenant Commander Torin Jamar
Chief Science Officer
USS Paladin
NCC-93172



__________________________________
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OOC: Why is it always somebody wants to scratch the paint at the first
oportunity? :)

(( MD13, 0900 hrs - Runaboat USS Guadalquivir.))

:: Her unmatched coloured eyes observed the modified runaboat from outside
as Soul, Mondana and Qhaos entered through the hatch... There wasn't
anything different from other crafts of it's kind, but it would be their
home for the next few days, and her first oportunity to prove herself as
away mission commander. The door sealed behind C'elest, as she got inside
and walked to the ship's cabin, were the crew had already taken place behind
their respective consoles. ::

C'ELEST: You already know what our mission objectives are... :: she looked
at young Ensign Mondana's determined face nodding once. :: This is the first
time we are working together as a team. I have come to know some of you...
others, we will have the chance to meet... this beeing the only living
quarters on the entire ship. :: someone chuckled lightly. :: It is logical
you might have doubts about each other... about the ship. We are all
starfleet officers, we have been trained to face the unknown and today... ::
she paused for a moment. :: ...we have given the privilege today to face
that unknown. I have full confidence in your abilities. :: the vulcan looked
from Mondana to Soul, to Qhaos. C'elest activated the runaboat's command
codes and the ship powered up. :: Ok, all stations, report.

SOUL: ???

MONDANA: ???

QHAOS: ???

:: The three turned to Moranta and confirmed green light on every system.
C'elest gave Qhaos a nod to inform ATLANTIS they were ready for departure,
as the flight protocols stablished. Michael's expert hands moved over his
helm controls and the runaboat GUADALQUIVIR graciously exited from the
hangar, and then slipped into warp. ::

((MD 14, 0220 hrs, Guadalquivir.))

:: C'elest observed space through the frontal viewports, as the rest of the
crew snored lightly in their sleep. She had volunteered to make the first
watch on the controls, taking the first oportunity since she was transfered
to the ATLANTIS to man the helm of a starship... Of course OPS was indeed a
challenging post, but the experience to feel a ship respond under your
fingers (even with the best tuned inertial dampers) was unique... That
certainly brought some memories from the past, and strangely enough, the
vulcan allowed herself to recreate on those memories... but in spite of an
emotional response, a sudden pressure on her brain, like some sort of
empathic wave overwhelmed her telepathic skills and was knocked unconscious
on the floor. ::

((MD14, 0530 hrs, Guadalquivir.))

: As her eyes opened, she registered Qhaos' pointing at her with a medical
tricorder's probe. Moranta had no memory of ever getting to the floor, but
after a quick check she stood up, observing the nightmare the cockpit had
transformed itself with the blink of an eye. Soul and Mondana were already
awake and working hard on the consoles still operative... The news from
ATLANTIS were apalling as they arrived... A third of a crew from each ship
had been killed and nothing could have been done to prevent it. C'elest,
still affected by the empathic preasure, had the obscure thought that this
was not at all a random event, but intentional... Still there was no real
base for a theory without more data... ::

MORANTA: Ensign Qhaos... Please make a medical check also on everyone of
us... Mondana?

::Mondana, who was sitting at the science console, saw something which she
had never seen before and promptly air her concern.::

MONDANA: <?>

MORANTA: Shields!

:: The runaboat was tossed about like a rag doll, the deck under their feet
dissapearing for a second until everyone not sitting on their chairs hit the
floor... C'elest saw on a squematic engineering console the condouit near
the helm station was about to... The generator readout display exploded,
catching Michael's arm. Moranta, knowing she had no time to spare, took a
fire extinguisher and tossed it to Qhaos, who sprayed the console and
Michael's arm... The quemical foam would certainly be painful, but it would
also stop the man's flesh from burning further. With medical probe in hand,
the young medical officer begun assisting Soul. As he was removed from the
helm console, C'elest took his place and keyed for a readout on damage
control as annother consoles shorted. ::

:: And then... There was only dark, and silence. ::

MORANTA: Emergency generators on-line.

:: The emergency lights returned to life, and so did the still working
consoles. ::

MORANTA: (reading the console). We have minimum life support... It's going
to be cold in here in a matter of hours. Ensign Qhaos, as soon as you have
treated Lt. Soul's injuries, please try to find spacesuits, maintenance
suits, blankets or whatever we might use to stay warm... We also have
impulse and warp drive, but our sensor array has been compromised. Ensign
Mondana, it is your job to determine if it has enough resolution to continue
with our mission... PNO3485 it's still six hours from our current position,
so we might still have time to make repairs.

MONDANA: ???

:: C'elest paused for a moment. ::

MORANTA: I know we cannot generate a stable warpfield, and hence, our own
warp drive is inoperative... However, PNO3485 has it's warpdrive
capabilities intact, which means there is a way to generate a stable
warpfield. I will need your assistance as soon as you have finnished with
the sensor array... We will try to recalibrate our own warp field geometry
to withstand the disruptive effect we are experiencing.

ANYONE: ???

MORANTA: Unknown... However, there is the possibility annother ship might
have attempted to get through to PNO3485's interior  and this was the reply
to their intrusion. Still, it is vital we continue with our mission and
gather as much information as we can, and transmit it to ATLANTIS... Many
people depend on our research to stop them from hitting Sector 001.

QHAOS: ???

MORANTA: If we do not repair our warpfield integrity we do not have enough
time to put ourselves out of PNO3485's flight path... We are not speaking
about a starship, but an entire star system with many planets heading in our
way.

ANYONE: ???


To be continued.

Lt.Cmder. C'elest Moranta
Runaboat Guadalquivir.

((Bridge: MD14: 0531))


GREENE: Good work. Keep me updated.

::He obviously saw that something was wrong. He quietly spoke as he came
near.::

ESK: Are you okay?

GREENE: Yes. Do not be concerned about me. Be concerned about the ship.

:: Esk left without saying another word. But his mind was racing::

Eskyys oO Varaan in sickbay and Jenn looking like  she had just gone round
with a Klingon. And at the same time gamma shift died from neurological
shutdown? where was the connection? Oo

Eskyys: B'tal, Roberts I need you two to find a way to block the energy wave
that took out gamma shift.You have 4 hours.Contact PALADIN science
department, a group effort will help. And find out why the Captain and FO
both seem to have been affected.

:: Both left to work on the problems. Esk sat down at his desk and started
going over the morning reports. Including informing the families of the
engineers he had lost. ::

(( 0743 ))

B'Tal: Sir here is the report. It contains some rather surprising data.

Eskyys: (Quickly reads report.) Has Cmdr Jamar seen this?

B'Tal: He should be getting it now.

Eskyys: OK, thank you. You've all done a great job. =/\= Eskyys to Jamar.
=/\=

Jamar: ?

Eskyys =/\= Are you free? I would like to discus our next move with you.
=/\=

Jamar ?

(( A few minutes later))

Eskyys: I can't quite believe that a simple brain wave pattern could kill so
many. Of course it does explain why all the Vulcan all look like hell.

Jamar: ?


TBC

============
Lt. Eskyys
Chief Engineer
USS ATLANTIS
============

((MD13, 9.00 hours, shuttle bay,))

::Against the background of the systems lights flickering the team got ready
to depart, each with their own duties in hand. Michael, Mondana, C’elest and
Qhaos ran though the systems checking that the overpowered runabout was up
to the challenge that would be undertaken. The three turned to C’elest and
nodded confirming that everything seemed fine, she in turn nodded to Qhaos
who opened the com to Commander Greene requesting permission to depart.
Within seconds the shuttle bay doors slowly opened reviling the strange
unknown of space.::

:: Michael genteelly piloted the vessel out of the hunger. In full view of
the four officers was a magnificent sight, two Federation star ships and one
Romulan flying side by side almost in formation. The engine’s glowed
magnificently against the vacuum of space, it looked as if this sight would
be the start of the Federation and the Empire putting their ghosts to rest,
seemingly like a good Oman. Two organisations with different agendas and
values working together in the in the name of science, with differences
aside. A sight that would have wet the lips of any diplomat in the Alpha
quadrant, perhaps this would be the mission that final put the ghosts to
rest.::

::After reaching a safe distance from the Atlantis the ship when to warp,
truly heading for the unknown. The mystery surrounding the anomaly was still
playing greatly on his mind, many questions were running through his head,
How was it created, why had that ship been destroyed when it entered? And,
would the same fate be in store form the small crew of the runabout? Michael
had to answer to none of the questions, but he was sure that time would
provide the answers regardless if they were positive or otherwise.::

((MD 14, 2.20))

::With the living quarters removed from the Runabout to install small
generators the four man crew were asleep at their station. Each in the most
comfortable position possible. Michael was almost lying down in his chair at
the helm fast asleep, he had found it hard to get to sleep and had even
offered to stay awake but the commander had ordered him to get to sleep
after he had programmed in the course for the night. Michael was not aware
at the time that this order would end up saving his life.::

::As the team lay there asleep the ships computer scanned an area of space
forty thousand meters in front of the craft, the scan took less that point
one of a second to complete. In that time the computer recognised a small
energy wave, small but very dangerous, a bioelectric energy wave. The
computer took another point one of a second to recognise the danger and
attempt a course correction, but it was too late. The wave hit the runabout
and ran though the systems like wild fire. On any other day the four man
crew would have been the luckiest officers alive, because being asleep meant
they were unaffected, but this was not any other day. As the wave ran though
the systems it found its way to a linkup with the ATLANTIS and the sos lab.
Within two seconds everybody awake on the ATLANTIS was dead along with those
on the   PALADIN and T'SALVAN.

::It was only when the crew was contacted by the ATLANTIS did they realise
what had happened during their sleep.::
((MD14, 0530))

::If Michael was having trouble getting to sleep before the wave, he sure as
hell wasn’t going to get any now. A third of a crew from each of the ships
had been killed though no fault of their own, it was not something they
could fight or protect against. It was what Michael would describe as a
freak of nature. But at least Michel was certain of one thing, nothing could
possible get any worse…::

::Mondana who was sitting at the science consol saw something which she had
never seen before and promptly air her concern.::

MONDANA: <?>

::Everyone quickly gathered round to see… something travelling a great speed
towards them. Before anyone could react the runabout was tossed about like a
rag doll, half the systems went dead and Michael arm which was resting on a
generator readout display when up in caught fire as the readout exploded.
Before Michael could comprehend what was happening Qhaos dived on him with a
Fire Suppression Unit which he had found under his seat.::

::Michael breathed a heavy sigh of relief before grabbing hold of his Consol
for all he was worth as the ship was yet again rocked like an old house
drawn cart on a rocky road.::


::Michael was gapped by Mondana as another violent shack unsetted him and
attempted to place him firmly on the floor. However, it clearly did not take
into account the power of the young ensign as with one arm she grappled
Michael by the waist and planted him back on his chair as if he were a small
child.::

::Another consol blow follow by two more before the ship finally came to
rest in an uneasy silence.::
--

TBC

******==========******
Lieutenant Michael Soul
Chief Helm Officer
USS Atlantis, Intrepid Class
NCC – 74682
******==========******

_________________________________________________________________
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(( Quarters, MD13 2155Hrs))

::Esk and Torin left the T'SALVAN without further incident, although their
'honor guard' never showed a relaxed moment or anything less than suspicion and
hostility.  Torin was glad that Eskyys had managed to control himself, and
found it unfortunate that the Captain of the ship had felt it necessary to
include such an - unfriendly escort.::

::Plans had also started on the wave generators, although they didn't make much
progress.  Today they had made leaps and bounds forward.  Engineering had been
very accommodating with getting  the parts they needed, and his staff - even
many off duty were working on the generators.  In a few days - at most they'd
have the generators in place and ready for work.  They had several partially
assembled in the SOS lab, and one partially installed on deck 15.::

::To curb some of his department's anxiousness to do something besides
installations like they had in the week before, many were trying to work
overnight to keep things moving along.  They all knew the importance of being
ready for the anomaly they were fast approaching.  Several of his staff,
including McLarn had volunteered to work a double shift - through the night and
stay on for Alpha shift.  He had to tell them he appreciated it, but they would
be better equipped to work when well rested and fed.  Grudgingly the agreed,
leaving 5 people in the lab tonight.  Normally only one would be present, but
he too had felt the pressure to complete the emitters as fast as safely done.::

::Torin set down the boot he had been holding in his hand, and pulled of his
second one.  He quickly changed into his night clothes and climbed in bed.  He
had been busy recently and he was sure he was going to sleep well tonight, even
when filled with nervous energy about approaching this anomaly.  Tomorrow would
be the day that they'd get their real clear images from the shuttle.  Until
now, they just confirmed preliminary readings they had earlier.  Torin closed
his eyes and fell to a deep sleep.::

((MD14, 2:25Hrs -Torin's Dream))

::A great wale swam through the vastness of space, eating everything.  The
PALADIN, the Romulan ship, various other ships racing to the anomaly.  Suddenly
it was in the Sol system.  Eating Mars, Io - his parents!, Earth.  All down its
gaping maw.  Torin wanted to shout out, to warn them, to stop the whale... but
he could only watch.  The Whale turned into a human form.  A female.  She ate
the sun, and things went dark.  She turned and glared evilly at Torin, whose
heart caught in his throat.  he knew her.  By the light of the other stars he
could see that she was Nicia - the devourer of planets was his sister?
But....::

::Emotions coursed through his blood changing so fast and being so many he
could barely identify them.  A face flashed in his mind, that of Jefferson, and
then was swept away.  Another image of Jefferson's office - now Vessa's slipped
by just as quickly.  Nicia - or the thing that looked like her opened her
impossibly large mouth and approached him, saliva dripping.  From the depths of
her mouth came a buzzing, followed by words he couldn't understand... they made
sense... they were saying "Oh five hundred..."::

((Torin's Quarters MD14 0500Hrs))

::Torin blinked and sat up quickly, almost enjoying the blood rush.  He wiped
his hand through his hair, and over his rough chin.  He hadn't had such an
intense nightmare for years, and it had been over a year since he remembered
dreaming of his sister.  He knew Jefferson had recommended periodic
counseling.. but he didn't think he'd need to go back so soon or suddenly.  He
would have to contact Vessa sometime...  Torin slipped on his uniform and
headed to the SOS lab.  Those that had stayed WERE going to sleep.  The new
shift would be up soon and he could handle it alone for a while.::

((Deck 8, 5:14 Hrs))

::Torin entered the lab expecting to find it bustling with activity.  Instead
there was a lone disheveled officer manning a console.  He looked up with tear
filled eyes.::

YATES: Sir I dosed off for only a second! I'm a failure, they're all dead
because of me! Sir I don't deserve to live... why why why?

::As he finished tears started streaming down his face. oO Was there an
accident here that nobody told me about!?  The area looks fine - no explosion..
  Anthony is a mess.. perhaps being stern will get him together...Oo


JAMAR: Crewman Yates!  Please get a hold of yourself.  Tell me what happened.

YATES: Sir.. sorry sir I was supposed to call you.. I couldn't... They're dead.
the whole night shift! The whole ship!  Some sort of field I heard.  I dozed
off over there (indicating to a corner console) and when I woke up everyone was
slumped over or on the floor.  At first I thought they were playing a joke on
me, but then I realized they were all dead!  Even Kena...

::Crewman Yates put his hands to his face and leaned against the console,
moaning.  Torin approached him and set a hand on his shoulder.::

JAMAR: Anthony, everyone knows there are risks on a starship.  They signed up
for it, as did you and I.  Can you explain why I was not contacted as soon as
this was discovered?

YATES: (Sniffing) I was supposed to.. but I couldn't.. I just couldn't.  I told
the medical team that came here that I would...

::Torin still hadn't let the facts sink in yet.  How could the whole night
shift be dead?  Why wasn't he or Crewman Yates.  Obviously Mr. Yates was in no
condition to help.  He'd have to find out what he could.  In the meantime, he
needed help.  He knew just who to call.::

JAMAR: Please head to the counselor's office.  Your shift is over and you are
in no shape to be on duty.  You are not responsible - don't think that you are.

::Anthony left, head hanging.  Torin hated to wake Ensign Vessa early, but in
such times it couldn't be helped.::

JAMAR:=/\= Jamar to Vessa

VESSA:?

JAMAR: I've sent a crewmember to your office, will you be able to counsel him -
at least until he's stable enough to be on his own?

VESSA:

JAMAR: Yes, he woke to find his colleagues dead.... I.. (pause) can't image
what that's like.

VESSA:?

JAMAR: Thank you, Jamar out.

::He had hardly stopped to think of who he had lost.  He could feel the wall he
had instantly put up being probed by the emotions on the other side.  Varaan's
training was helping.  However, now was not the time to mourn the losses, but
to see what he could do in the meantime.  It would be a difficult morning
briefing.::

((0530 Hrs))

::The active console beeped on the left side of the room, and Torin headed to
exaimine what it could be alerting him to.  As he approached, the ship rocked
violently, throwing Torin to the floor with a loud thud.  Torin cried out in
pain, and then struggled to stand.  He made his way to the console and began to
read the information displayed there.::

::Torin fed the information to the OPS station as fast as he could, with
updates on what he saw and what he believed it to be.  A fast response could
help them here.  He needed help and his staff wasn't due in yet.  It was time
to change that.::

JAMAR: Computer, notify Alpha shift they are needed at their science stations.

::The computer acknowledged and in various quarters, crewmen and women were
waking to the computer's alarm and subsequent voice notifying them that they
were needed immediately in the SOS Lab.::

::Torin continued to study information and review logs, sending the results to
the bridge when done, waiting for his reinforcements.::

TBC

OOC: Hope you enjoyed reading that as much as I did writing it!  Didn't really
move along or even catch up.. but that's for next sim :)


Lieutenant Commander Torin Jamar
Chief Science Officer
USS Paladin
NCC-93172



__________________________________
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OOC: Great Sim, I enjoyed reading it. :)

>From: "Karen Nortje" <karen-nortje@...>
>Reply-To: sb118-paladin@yahoogroups.com
>To: "USS Paladin" <sb118-paladin@yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: [SB118-Paladin] Greene: "Pain in the head"
>Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 22:09:11 +0200
>
>OOC: I really had fun writing this one. I'm throwing a spanner in the works
>but should make for an exciting premise. Enjoy!!
>

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