Milkweed and Nostalgia

Posted on Friday, 24 July 2020 - 8:55am by Commander DeVala Victrix Ph.D & Lieutenant Aristede Hobbes & Lieutenant Ryan Rose MD & Lieutenant T'Lanna Vali & Lieutenant Raith Kolani & Lieutenant Talarn Zilth

Mission: Operation: Jabberwocky
Location: USS Monarch

T’Lanna offered Ryan a warm smile, she could sense his feelings of uncertainty and she’d be right there to help him if he needed it. She also smiled at Raith, it made her feel safe having him along. “So tell us more about this criminal operation Commander.” She looked at Victrix curiously.

It was nostalgic for Lieutenant Commander Victrix to be working with several members of her former crew. She had spent a fair amount of time with them in their search for Stillwater, and to see things come full circle in a way placed a smile upon her face as she led Rose, Vali, Kolani, and Hobbes out of the wardroom to a lift and through the starbase's maze of corridors and navigated their way around the station to where they could board the Monarch. Victrix had been at the briefing with Hobbes and Kolani. The two of them had the information that they needed. "Eight decks," she said more to Kolani than to Hobbes as he knew his way around the Monarch and its twin vessel, the Gentry. "Main Engineering is on deck four, Lieutenant Hobbes can show you the way, Raith," she said gesturing to Hobbes. "Do a pre-flight expectation of the warp core, but have us ready to go as soon as possible. I have a feeling once Commander Stillwater gets back that he will want to get underway."

Raith smiled as he got the chance to try on another starship for a change and already, his Engineering background was kicking in. "Aye, Commander. I'll have the warp core purring and ready to go," he said with a grin. He was looking forward to this.

With the 'gear heads,' as she liked to call Ops and Engineering personnel dispatched to Engineering, Lieutenant Commander Victrix focused on the two individuals that had been recently recruited for the mission. "First off, I apologize for cutting into anyone's shore leave like this. I did not know the Standing Bear would be coming to 118 for repairs, but as luck would have it, you did," commented Victrix. It was a soft lead up to the details. "Some Federation communication relays have been hijacked... or rather hacked in some sense. They are no longer serving the purposes of bouncing communications and subspace communique around. Instead, they have been transmitting 'entertainment' broadcasts of gruesome bloodsports. Fights to the death in most cases, but even more brutal has been the hunting of live prey, and no I am not talking hunting a Targ."

Ryan nodded his understanding. As much as he would have enjoyed a few more days of leave, now hearing the reason behind the mission, he was glad he could be involved. It still never ceased to amaze him how one sentient being could be so cruel to another; he hoped it never stopped being a shock. "How is the Monarch equipped medically?" he asked.

Victrix was quick to reply to the Doctor's inquiry. "Both the Gentry and Monarch are Diligent class starships, but assigned to Starbase 118. They have about the same medical equipment and space that you are used to working with aboard the Standing Bear, but the Monarch and Gentry for that matter do not have their own separate personnel. All personnel come from Starbase 118 such as myself as the stations First Officer. I often undertake leading the missions with the Monarch and Gentry; however, the Chief Medical Officer was just killed in action..." She was not sure how to comfort Ryan about that. "You'll get a nurse and a technician or two, but the starship is equipped with an EMH."

"Well, that's about what I'm used to personnel wise. I'll do my best not to follow in their footsteps."

“How can people be so cruel as to hunt others for fun?” T’Lanna shook her head. “It’s cruelty that is beyond belief and those that watch it are just as bad!”

"Well, both you and I have sufficient education in the social sciences, be that sociology or psychology, T'Lanna," Victrix replied. "I understand the reaction though. Believe me, I had a similar one at first, but we both know the darkest corners of the mind all too well."

T’Lanna nodded. “Indeed we do. They’re not nice places to be.”

"Definitely not," Ryan agreed. He went to reach for T'Lanna's hand but withdrew his hand half way there. As much as he'd like the mutual comfort, now was not the time. "We'll just have to put a stop to this instance," Ryan spoke firmly. They couldn't stop off on social injustice, but they could fix this... hopefully.

Lieutenant Commander Victrix had led them into a turbolift aboard the starship, and then out and down a corridor on the starship and made a corner, heading into the room marked Mess Hall which was on deck two of the starship. She called out for the computer to illuminate the empty room and made her way over towards the kitchenette, a galley where she retrieved a Frankenstein looking machine. "I made it myself," she said with a chuckle. "It's a coffee maker," she explained, as she quickly assembled it and attached the power cell to it, and ground the beans, pouring the pulverized grounds into an area that was lined with a sort of filter.

Victrix grabbed three mugs from a storage cabinet. "I promise, it works and it tastes better than replicated," she added. "Our mission is to ideally put a stop to this bloodsport operation, but first and foremost, we will be heading to one of the relay stations and try to regain control of it and shut down those transmissions immediately."

Ryan took the offered coffee in order to be polite. "Understood."

“Just the one for me.” T’Lanna smiled as she accepted a coffee. “I’m watching my caffeine intake.”

Victrix brought a tray with cream and sugar in case anyone wanted to doctor up their coffee a bit. She gestured towards a table that sat four comfortably, even better for the three of them. Taking a seat at the table and after having taken a few sips of coffee she looked at the two. "So, fill me in on your lives since my departure from the ship. How's Soral? How are you two, and how is Stillwater handling command?"

T’Lanna looked at Ryan then back at Victrix, “Let’s see... Soral is on his honeymoon. Stillwater is still settling in, but I like him. As for me I’m head over heels in love with Raith, and as for Ryan ...” She looked towards Ryan.

"I'm fine ma'am." Ryan was perfectly happy to let T'Lanna take over the social aspects of this meeting. He'd long forgiven Victrix her disruption at comedy night, but that didn't mean he felt comfortable discussing his personal life with her. "Stillwater is doing an excellent job," he added.

"Soral is on his honeymoon and I did not get invited?!" She shook her head. "I am going to have to be sure to send a gift to the Standing Bear for him when we get back from this mission. I hope the wedding was nice one," Victrix added. "I am going to assume it was to Alex?"

T’Lanna nodded. “It was a beautiful wedding, they’re both very much in love.” T’Lanna smiled.

Victrix nodded. "Well, that is good. Somebody needs to be," she replied. It was the furthest thing from her own mind and personal plans for the time being. She sipped her coffee and wondered if there really would be another chance at that for herself, but she was not one to allow herself to dwell on those matters. Lieutenant Commander Victrix tapped her comm badge.

"Victrix to Hobbes. How is Engineering looking? Do you think you can have us ship-shape and ready to go in a reasonable time table?" she asked. Truthfully, she wanted to hear something miraculous, but she knew better. She knew that at best, they would have to wait for at least a couple of hours, but that would give her enough time to at least assemble a skeletal crew from the starbase.

"Hobbes here, Commander," he said. "Give me two, maybe two and half hours, and we'll be ready to go." From his spot at the main engineering console, he had set up a series of queries and was reviewing data reported back from the major systems to the main terminal. Everything seemed to be operating within normal parameters. "I'm not anticipating any problems, but I'll keep you informed."

Victrix was actually pleased with that assessment. She was preparing for the worst, but this was not nearly that bad. She breathed a bit of a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Hobbes. Keep at it and keep me updated if there are any changes on that time table," replied Lieutenant Commander Victrix. She took a deep breath and prepared for her next call. "Victrix out." She ended the signal.

Tapping her comm badge, she struggled with how to word it; however, she had done her homework this time and would not resort to 'mister Stillwater' in the Cardassian's case. "Lieutenant Commander Victrix to Talarn Zilth," she said calmly. She had made the adjustments to the Monarch's comm network so that the's comm badge from Standing Bear would be recognized. "Could you please inform Commander Stillwater we are approximately three hours from having the Monarch ready for departure, and if you would, could you come to the Monarch when you have a moment. I have something that we intercepted from the transmission from the hacked comm relay, it is coded, but I am hoping with your expertise... you may be able to make heads and tails of it."

Talarn struggled for a moment. He was not, by any means, under any obligation to assist in any way shape or form, he was a civilian after all. He could be an ass and point that out, but he also wanted to help and this was helping. He finally decided how to handle the invitation in the most ecumenical way possible. "I would definitely be able to help with that. Coding is one of my specialties. What do I get in return for my expertise?" He was hoping that if he wasn't taken seriously it would simply be passed over as a joke, and a very "Cardassian" thing to say, but one could always hope. Although, he did have a tendency to be bad at delivering humor.

DeVala Victrix had a good sense of humor and a playful nature about her. So, she took well to Talarn. "A big ol' cookie from me" she replied immediately, a small giggle followed before she added, "I will owe you. Honestly, I think a lot of people would owe you. The Federation and Starfleet would if you can crack this thing," she added.

Talarn made an uninterested snorting noise. "I'm afraid, Sir... that I cannot be plied with pastries... but I will look at your codes. Debts, one is owed, can potentially be good things. Are the codes something that can be sent to me directly? Or must I go to the Monarch to retrieve them? Either is fine, I just wish to clarify. I will also pass on your information to Commander Stillwater."

"I will be sure to remember that," Victrix replied. "I will need you to come to the Monarch for them at your earliest convenience, I'm afraid. Don't mean to take you away from that husband of yours, but they were uploaded onto a PaDD as to keep them and the data separated from the Monarch's system. We were a bit worried it could be a Trojan horse of sorts," explained Victrix.

"Ah," Talarn replied simply. "I'm sure Commander Stillwater will not mind loaning me out for as long as needed. He may at some point demand an hourly rate for my use. We normally ask for livestock in return, but given the current situation I believe dinner would be in order instead. I am headed to the Monarch now." He was too. He rose from where he was sitting and started to dress.