From TTy99@aol.com Mon Jun 29 11:47:08 1998 Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 18:06:54 -0600 From: TTy99@aol.com To: INDIGO FLEET List Serve Subject: [INDIGO] [USS PROMETHEUS]: A Vulcan ready room ---OFFICIAL INDIGO FLEET TRANSMISSION--- Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 20:06:17 EDT From: Subject: [INDIGO] [USS PROMETHEUS]: A Vulcan ready room SD 100627.0100 GMT Scene: Captain's Ready Room, USS PROMETHEUS FMD 8.0855 "Lieutenant," intoned Sovak in a very grave voice, "I am familiar with seventy-nine different species, have passing knowledge of forty-one more, and have studied one hundred and sixteen extinct cultures. Never before in my experience have I had to admit that I was totally unfamiliar with a Federation member species. Until you walked in." The two eyes at the end of the grey sausage-like head danced animatedly, though the Vulcan CO was at a complete loss as to how to interpret this behavior. He made himself a mental promise to study the records of this species as soon as possible. They were..... intriguing. Lieutenant Yrex did not speak. The new Tactical officer had, in fact, not spoken yet at all. Then again, Sovak had yet to ask Yrex a direct question. "Mr. Yrex," Sovak pronounced, leaning forward to emphasize his words, "you come aboard at a crucial moment. We are expecting an attack from the Dalriadan fleet at any moment. There is very little time to familiarize yourself with your department and responsibilities. However, you are fortunate to have an experienced tactical officer, Lieutenant junior grade A'Vanya, to assist you. Although she can be a trifle.... enthusiastic at times." Still the little tactical officer sat silently, drinking in Sovak's words but returning none of his own. "Do you have any questions?" Sovak asked after a slight pause, more to hear Yrex speak than anything else. "No, sir," Yrex responded in a high and rapid voice. "Have Mr. Modix call Lieutenant A'Vanya to the bridge, and you can begin immediately," Sovak ordered. "Inform Mr. Pascal, who has been manning the tactical station, that he is relieved and to report to Mr. Modix." "Yes, sir," confirmed the tactical officer promptly. "Dismissed." Though normally Sovak would have immediately gotten right back to work, he instead watched the curious means of locomotion his new officer used. It was almost like a whirling dance on three appendages, constantly spinning to face forward. To a humanoid, it was almost..... disorienting to watch. When the door hissed shut behind Yrex, Sovak shook his head slightly and looked down at his computer screen, knowing that unless the Dalriada destroyed the PROMETHEUS (a very real possibility), .there would be ample time to explore this enigmatic species. **************************************************** Scene: same place FMD 8.0910 "You wanted to see me, sir?" Sovak looked up from the computer console he had been intently studying when Lt jg Gabriel Phoenix had entered. In the perpetual gloom in which this room seemed to be constantly enshrouded lately, lights from the screen bequeathed the Captain's Vulcan features with a flickering, greenish glow, making him appear almost ghoulish in the dim light. "Yes, I did, Lieutenant. Please be seated," Slowly, as if lowering himself into a minefield, Phoenix sank cautiously into the seat. Though he had not known quite what to expect when he had been summoned into the Captain's presence, being politely offered a chair by his stern superior was not high on the list. "It has come to my attention, Lieutenant," began Sovak without preamble, "that we have detained, for lack of a better word, the shuttle that brought our new tactical officer aboard. Furthermore, I have been told that you informed the pilot of said shuttle, one Ensign Anthony Szza, that he was now officially part of the crew of the USS PROMETHEUS. Is this correct?" Phoenix gulped, his head whirling. How could Sovak have possible known about this? The shuttle had landed less than twenty minutes ago! That slimy little..... whatever-the- hell it was, Lt Kyrex or whatever..... that little freak must have ratted on him. That was the only real answer. He would deal with that walking fungus later. Given some time, Phoenix figured he could just bury the details in the mass of reports their massive repairs had generated. Every officer on the ships was backed up, but...... "Lieutenant." The one word snapped Gabriel's mind back to the present. With a heavy sigh and slumped shoulders, knowing that he could well be ending his Starfleet career before it ever began, he acknowledged heavily: "Yes, sir." "Mr. Phoenix," Sovak intoned, leaning forward slightly and interlacing his fingers as he stared intently at his chief Navigator, "your acts were illegal, insubordinate and circumvented several Starfleet regulations. I have thus far found you to be a competent officer, so I will assume you know that your acts were arbitrary and incorrect. A repetition of this incident cannot and will not be tolerated as long as I am in command of this vessel. Do you understand?" "Yes, sir," said Phoenix slowly, waiting for the hammer to drop. "While we do have a need for shuttles, in the future any replacements will come through proper channels and will be cleared with all the appropriate authorities. Including me. Is *that* understood?" "Yes, sir," the chief Navigator responded, beginning to feel like he was back in the Academy and knowing his ordeal wasn't over yet. "As for the shuttle WILLIAM WALLACE, and its pilot, Ensign Szza, they are to be temporarily placed under your command pending their return to starbase OMEGA the next time we report back there." "Er.... I beg your pardon, sir?" Phoenix asked slowly. "The WALLACE is a D- warp shuttle, sir, and it could get back to OMEGA on its own." "I do not believe I asked for your opinion, Lieutenant," Sovak said coolly. "Were my orders unclear?" "Uh.... no, sir," responded the chief Navigator, a slight smile beginning to crease his features. "Concerning Ensign Szza," the Vulcan stated, leaning back in his chair and almost hiding his face totally in shadows as he did so. "Since he is now temporarily under your command, I do not expect that his visit to my ready room in order to complain about the illegality of your appropriation, as he put it, of the WILLIAM WALLACE, will be repeated. As his department head, it is incumbent upon you, Mr. Phoenix, to explain to him the importance of staying within the chain of command." "Yes, *sir*!" replied Phoenix, grinning openly now. So it wasn't the plant-thing, he mused. It was that little weasely-eyed pilot. Time to introduce the poor bastard to some choice holodeck "training programs"...... "There is one more thing," Sovak declared, interrupting visions of mayhem and well- deserved bruises in Phoenix's mind. "I see that you received another shuttle pilot from OMEGA just before we left. Lieutenant Junior Grade Amanda McGuire." "Yes, sir, we did," confirmed Phoenix, wondering why his Captain would even care about one more pilot. Especially after the underhanded (but logical) way he had just helped draft poor doomed Ensign Szza. "Do you have any idea why her personnel file is so incomplete?" "No, sir," Phoenix replied. "She said it was probably just a clerical error." "Lieutenant Commander Jodds on starbase OMEGA may be unpopular, but his efficiency in personnel matters is unquestionable," the Vulcan commented. "It is most unlike him to send us a recruit without all their PADD-work in order. It does not even list her last assignment. I find this most curious." "So do I, Captain," agreed Phoenix. "I want you to find out more about her," Sovak ordered, leaning forward again and resting his elbows on the desk. This brought his face back into the eerie illumination from his computer screen below. "However, given our current status of being actively at war, discretion is called for." "Uh.... why's that, sir?" inquired Phoenix. "We could just throw her in the brig and let Kyran talk to her if you think she's a spy or something." "Inappropriate and premature, Lieutenant," the Captain said flatly. "She may well be who she claims to be, and her explanation may be the correct one. She is innocent until presumed guilty, and if we alert Mr. Kyran, she will know that we know." "That we know..... what, sir?" Phoenix asked, getting more confused by the moment. "Mr. Phoenix, I spoke with Lt Commander Jodds at 1655 hours, and he assured me that there were no more shuttle pilots that could be, in the Commander's words, begged, borrowed or stolen from anywhere in INDIGO fleet. Period. How is it that twenty-five minutes later, mere moments before we left OMEGA, this Lieutenant McGuire suddenly appears? With incomplete records? So we didn't really have time to examine them closely, nor check back with personnel, given that communications are restricted to priority matters during the present emergency." "Good question, sir," Phoenix admitted. "And I expect you to find me an answer, Lieutenant," Sovak concluded. "Quietly, if at all possible. At the very least, you are to keep her under observation." "I'll do my best, sir." "Then I sincerely hope that for the good of the USS PROMETHEUS, that is sufficient," Sovak said. "Dismissed." It took Phoenix a second or two before he could react to the rather abrupt termination of this very strange interview, but he belatedly got to his feet, nodded once to the still- seated Vulcan, already intent back on his hidden computer screen again, and quickly exited. His mind was reeling as he emerged back into the comparatively bright lights of the bridge and made his way back to the helm station. Suddenly I have a lot to do, he realized. But, it occurred to him as his gaze was drawn automatically back up to the viewscreen and its vista of endless stars, only if the Dalriada cooperate and leave us alone long enough.... ****************************************************** [NRPG] Many thanks to Dennis for reviewing this and being such a good sport about me giving his character grief for something that Greg wrote! How's *that* for a twisted sentence? Dennis is developing his own little subplot here, which I was happy to help with, so if anyone has anything to contribute, talk to him. FMD 8.0855 Sovak welcomes Yrex Tim FMD 8.0910 Phoenix and Sovak talk Tim Greg: Actually, I should thank you for giving me the opportunity to demonstrate what a "by-the-book" kinda guy Sovak is...... most of the time. Your character seems real easy to play. Or did I read it wrong? Let me know, because I'm developing something else that involves Yrex. Respectfully submitted, Tim Tyson Captain Sovak USS PROMETHEUS tty99@aol.com ***This message sent by an official member of Indigo Fleet*** Are you also posting your message to the newsgroup?!!! ---END TRANSMISSION---