Disturbing news

Posted on Thursday, 7 May 2020 - 12:09pm by Commander DeVala Victrix Ph.D & Lieutenant T'Lanna Vali

Mission: Operation: Recall
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: 2393 MD2

Having left Sickbay and Soral safely in Ryan’s care, T’Lanna made her way to the bridge to speak with Victrix p, as Soral had requested. Heading to the ready room she pressed the chime and waited for admittance.

Lieutenant Commander Victrix was reading over the operations and engineering reports for the minor repairs that were being made to the USS Fontana when the chime alerted her to an unexpected visitor. It was not uncommon for members of her Senior Staff to stop by. The ship was relatively small in comparison to other classes of vessels. Some preferred to speak to her personally in a face-to-face setting rather than over a comm channel. She accessed the controls from the holodisplay at her desk and permitted access.

"Lieutenant?" she asked seeing it was her Ship's Psychologist. The woman had a slightly concerned look on her face.

“Commander” T’Lanna walked up to Victrix desk at a quick pace. “Commander Soral is in Sickbay, he was telepathically attacked by someone he believes is on a ship somewhere nearby.”

"I see," replied Victrix setting down the PaDD and rising up from her seat. "Have we begun scanning for this suspected vessel or are we still undergoing additional repairs to the sensors?" she inquired. "Have any of the other crew members been 'attacked' by the unknown yet or is Lieutenant Commander Soral the only known victim at this time?"

“I came straight here to see you Ma’am, I didn’t think about anything else.” T’Lanna sighed she should have notified security en route. “As far as I know Commander Soral is the sole victim of this attack. We were meditating at the time, he experienced pain and then he collapsed. I took the liberty of scanning his mind telepathically, all I could sense was that someone had been in his mind. He’s under Doctor Rose’s care now, he asked me to let you know what was going on.”

Vixtrix held her hand up slightly, just to pause the woman from going on. "Captain to Bridge," she said hitting the comm channel. "Yellow alert, keep shields up, initiate rotating frequency, and if possible, scan for vessels in the immediate area" she directed swiftly. The simple response of 'Aye, Captain' was enough to settle her for the time being at least.

She redirected her attention on T'Lanna. "I appreciate the briefing of the Commander's situation, Lieutenant; however, for future reference, if an individual is attacked telepathically or otherwise aboard this starship, please do not hesitate to report it to Security. I have placed you in charge of overseeing Intelligence for reasons beyond that of convenience and lack of a Chief Intelligence Officer aboard, lieutenant. I know you are capable of overseeing intelligence personnel."

“Yes Commander. I’m sorry I wasn’t thinking straight, in future I’ll follow the proper protocol.” T’Lanna sighed she was angry at herself for failing to follow procedure.

Victrix nodded but flashed a disarmingly warm smile at the woman. "This is new for me too. I am used to a setting more like this one where I am behind a desk and discussing situations with individuals, but out there on the bridge or holding a mission briefing? No, that's not natural to me at all. You were with the Commander when he was allegedly attacked by something unseen. Your natural instincts kicked in and you tended to a friend in need and saw to it that he was medically tended to. You came here to brief me of the situation and provide support" stated Victrix. "In a sense, you have been trying to fulfill the duties and responsibilities of a Ship's Counselor which is what you are used to from what I know of your service record. I have tossed you into the deep end, T'Lanna. You have broader duties and more responsibilities aboard the Fontana than that of overseeing the mental wellbeing of the crew."

T’Lanna nodded. “You’re right, I have barely touched any intel reports. I haven’t even been to the intelligence office yet. I’m used to being a Psychologist and a Counsellor. I will try and integrate the intel part into my usual routine, that way I can get myself settled into the role easier. I plan to talk with Commander Soral and see what he remembers about his attack, it could give us some leads as to what is going on.”

"The more he remembers about the experience, the easier it will be for us to know what exactly happened" replied Victrix. "At this point, I only have speculation to say that he was attacked. I believe him if he believes that he was attacked by someone or something, but Starfleet is going to need more than a victim's intuition when reports of the incident get filed. I cannot say a member of my crew was telepathically attacked without further explanation and supporting evidence" explained the Commanding Officer.

She took a sip of coffee and mused for a moment. "This attack" she said with caution, "It is possible that it was just residue effects from the nebula. We still do not know too much about it or the lingering experiences that crew such as Soral and yourself may experience. Though this also could be from a space-born entity with some sort of abilities. Outside of those possibilities remain technology and alien species, and that list of suspects includes Remans, Letheans, and some Betazoids just to name a few."

“I don’t think so Commander” T’Lanna shook her head. “What I...felt inside Soral’s mind was traces of another person. I don’t know who, and I don’t know why. Doctor Rose has fitted Soral with a telepathic jammer of sorts, it’ll prevent any further incursions into his mind.”

Victrix sighed. it was not looking like this was an accident or something the nebula caused, but rather an incursion of the mind. "With that in mind," began Victrix shaking her head. "I need to ponder if this alleged attack was just someone or something trying to 'say hello' and caused pain unintentionally or was the intention to cause harm or gain information from Soral, and with that, was Soral targeted?" She knew that T'Lanna did not have those answers. "I may be overreacting, but I think it may be wise precautionarily to have all members of the crew such as yourself fitted with telepathic jammers, just those of species with heightened abilities."

“I suggested that to Soral whilst in Sickbay, but he seemed to think that this was an attack geared solely towards him.” T’Lanna paused. “My concern is that if whoever this is can’t get information from Soral, they may change strategy and try another telepath to get what they want.”

Victrix nodded fully in agreement. "That is exactly my concern as well" she replied. "Even if Soral was the target, they may shift their target and change strategy. We need to be prepared for that" noted the Commanding Officer. "It would be foolish to leave the rest of the telepathic crew 'unarmed' after one of you was already attacked" she added.

“Perhaps we could leave one of us unprotected and Yes, I’m volunteering. Doctor Rose could inhibit any other telepaths onboard and fit me with a cortical monitor, set to detect any unusual activity.” T’Lanna looked at Victrix to see what she’d think.

"I'm not too fond of letting you be our lab rat, lieutenant" Victrix countered. "Or anyone for that matter, but we do need to explore every option and use every tool at our disposal. So, I will permit it, but if anything happens to you, then I'm pulling the plug and you are getting the same protection as the rest."

T’Lanna nodded. “Yes ma’am. I’m not aiming to put myself or my baby at any risk. I just want to do what I can to help.”

Victrix understood that just as well. "I know. I appreciate that, and I appreciate that you have taken on a lot of responsibility here, lieutenant" she replied. Victrix sighed. "I will let you proceed with this, but the situation with Soral needs to be on the back burner for you. Right now, I need your priority to be slimming down the potential whereabouts of Stillwater and overseeing the intelligence personnel."

“Yes Ma’am. Actually I spoke with Lieutenant Kingsley as you suggested last time we spoke. She suggested possibly Vashti as one place to consider looking but I’ll keep going over what information I have.”

"Vahshti is actually fairly logical," she said with some interest. "It was the hub for Romulan relocation and though it was under Federation patrol and protection, we simply did not have the resources to continue overseeing it" she explained. "We will have to add to the list of places to check out unless we come up with reasons to rule it out."

T’Lanna nodded. “At least that’s something. Hopefully, we’ll find Captain Stillwater sooner rather than later. The hard part will be convincing him to return to Starfleet.”

Victrix nodded. That was an understatement and she knew it. "We will have to cross that bridge when we get there. For now, we need to find a way to that bridge...well, locate that bridge first" she said with a short sigh. "No easy task."

“No it isn’t but I’m sure we’ll do it” T’Lanna smiled warmly.

"Oh yes, we shall" replied Victrix. "Keep me apprised of any developments, lieutenant."

“Yes, Commander.” T’Lanna smiled and nodded.

Victrix stood from her seat and proceeded towards the doorway with coffee in hand. "Back to the chaos we go," she said with a small stifled laugh.