Missing Pieces | Part II

Posted on Sunday, 28 November 2021 - 4:47pm by Captain Pippa Whitley & Lieutenant T'Lanna Vali & Lieutenant K'Var & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley & Lieutenant Ryan Rose MD & Lieutenant JG Adrianna Eberhardt & Lieutenant JG Hayashi Hamura & Ensign Oriana Skye Sety

Mission: Operation: Mirror of Madness

The globular representation of Vulcan illuminated the table. Holoprojected there for them all to see. "The Vulcan system will be our next stop because of recent events," Captain Whitley said. "As you are all undoubtedly aware of, Commander Soral gave a very unexpected speech regarding the vote on Vulcan whether to continue or suspended Federation membership. Commander Soral sought to persuade government representatives to vote to withdrawal from the Federation."

She did not feel compelled to state the obvious, that the First Officer had done so on his own accord and that it bucked with their goals and duty to protect the Federation. "Your former Commanding Officer has conveniently departed and has not been seen nor heard from since. That is aside from one last report that he had arranged transport to Vulcan. We can deduce that Captain Stillwater is not there for the upcoming symposium on protovulcan sculptures."

T’Lanna shook her head, “He’s going after Soral.” She hadn’t meant it to be an open comment, more of a private thought but now she’d thrown the comment out for debate. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it to come out like that” She looked towards Alex before looking around in general. “Soral obviously has his reasons for his vote, we talked before he left, he tried talking me into going home to Vulcan.”

Adrianna nodded in agreement and decided to try and lighten the comment further, for Alex's sake, "furthermore though, if Stillwater has decided to go after him, perhaps he believes there is hope."

Hamura snorted, "You keep telling yourself that honey. He's there to make a Vulcan pound cake." Hamura rubbed the bridge of their nose." They looked at Pippa, "Let's leave aside Soral's speech for a moment and think on this, Vulcan is pissed, Stillwater is probably there to pick a fight. The question is, did he do it on his own, or did Starfleet send him to … silence the Vulcan?"

Oriana's eyes widened. "Haya!" She whispered.

Only absently paying attention, mainly because the entire situation was a personal hell when she stopped to really think about it, Kingsley shot Hamura a look that could kill. "Captain Stillwater heard the speech at the exact same time I did, he made the decision to leave on the spot, nobody told him to do it, he wanted to do it," she told the engineer. "And talking about conspiracy theories and plots to kill Soral is not helping."

"Perhaps the new lieutenant has a point, but it is one that they should have conveyed in a more professional manner and to be more mindful of those in the room, again," Adrianna commented before looking to the captain, "captain, what are our orders exactly? It's not in Starfleet's remit to silence, only to investigate."

Hayashi Hamura bit back a retort. Their head was pounding. "Before we get into that," They turned to Alex, "Did Stillwater tell you what he would do when he found Soral?"

“He didn’t threaten to assassinate him if that is what you are getting at,” Alex replied, feeling her patience wearing thin. Did she dare assume she would have sent him on his merry way if he had without a word of warning to anyone? Probably. Where the engineer was concerned she seemed to consider herself Soral’s shadow and the single authority on his life and it was grating.

Hamura sat back letting out a sign and rubbing the bridge of their nose.

Oriana caught Alex's eye and mouthed I'm sorry.

Adrianna attempted to not roll her eyes at the stupid question. Adrianna felt that Hamura was over compensating again, trying to feel more useful than they actually were in this topic. The unhelpful question seemed almost targeted. It seemed odd that Hamura would be like this-- were they not close to Soral? She looked back to the captain, "sorry, captain. Please, continue."

The newest crewmember was taking this all in. She didn't have the chance to meet the former Captain, but this was all rather interesting to her.

Pippa had sat there taking mental notes on the personalities on full display. "Well I dare say, if this crew is to look up to each if you for guidance and leadership, then whichever God or deity you choose,may he, she, or they save us all" Pippa said shaking her head.

"This is a briefing room, not an echo. Let's get that firmly established before we proceed any further. I am open to and invite constructive ideas and criticism, straight shooting and open communication is my style. That said, I won't tolerate bickering nor am I here to waste my time on conspiracy theories."

Their new Captain took a sip of tea and promptly sat her mug down. "To address the concern of credibility of Starfleet. We are not in the business of vengeance nor assassinations. No body of sound Ethos would sanction Stillwater to partake in those actions. Should he personally pursue that avenue, those actions are to be considered rogue."

The Intel chief nodded, glad of the shut down of Hamura, but equally noting that this was a whole stop on the sparring side. Adrianna ran a hand through her hair before replying, "in my personal opinion, I cannot see Stillwater doing anything stupid. If anything, he would be trying to clarify a personality shift," she replied, "I don't have many contacts on Vulcan, but I'm sure I could try and ask questions. If we are going to Vulcan, is it an extraction?"

"Starfleet is hesitant to place any label on the matter," Pippa replied diplomatically. "We are not going there to cause problems. That is for certain. I will permit Stillwater aboard should be come willingly, same goes for Commander Soral. As it stands we are going to Vulcan for a...eh let's just call it a spiritual retreat."

Hamura rolled their eyes and got a kick under the table from Oriana.

Oriana spoke up. "Captain...what will happen with Commander Soral."

Even though the new CO had already given Alex her view in private, the science officer knew that question was probably impossible to answer. She sat back, knowing their Captain could speak for herself and instead stared at the table trying to curb her temper when it came to Hamura.

"First and foremost," Pippa said a bit crisply, not quite stern, but certainly in a business tone. "Commander Soral has done nothing legally wrong with his speech. Giving it as a Vulcan that is. Now, he may be in jeopardy of losing his commission over this as he broke from the duty and oath of service to Starfleet, but I assure you all that we are not here to be judge not jury. We are proceeding to Vulcan to quell the situation as best we can and ideally find both Stillwater and Soral before matters get worse."

Captain Whitley looked over at the Caitian lieutenant. "Lieutenant K'Var's duties, the duties of all security personnel on this mission will be to ensure the safety of this crew, not to apprehend anyone." She made direct eye contact with the Caitian to ensure he fully understood.

She then looked towards the woman who was expecting, the Chief of Intelligence. "Extremely light duty for you, but I will require your assistance aboard, monitoring all news reports from Vulcan and its territorial worlds, asteroids, and moons. Any mention of Stillwater or Soral's whereabouts, and I will want that information promptly."

Adrianna simply nodded. She didn't like being sidelined, but right now, she also knew her limits. "I'll help how I can," the woman replied.

Pippa could only imagine what the woman was going through, to be in Adrianna's position. "Thank you," she said to her. I will need to meet with her later. I don't want to brush her aside thought the Captain. It was one thing to keep her out of harm's way, it was another to hold her back unfairly. Pippa did not want to end up doing the latter.

"In general, we have to tread very delicately once we reach the Vulcan system. We do not want to be seen as aggressive nor invasive, simply keeping the peace and monitoring the situation. I imagine that we will be constantly vetted and questioned once we are within sensor range."

“We have several Vulcan citizens aboard,” Alex pointed out, “I doubt the Vulcans will be thrilled but equally it is unlikely they will be openly hostile.”

“Soral tried to talk me into going home” T’Lanna sighed. “I guess it’s time I became the Vulcan my father always wanted me to be, it’s time I stepped up and took his place.” She looked towards Alex and Pippa. “I’ll help with the Vulcans Captain.”

Pippa nodded in agreement. "That is what I was hoping you would say, Lieutenant Vali." The Captain brought her attention to medical. "Doctor Rose, I would like for you to continue analyzing Soral's medical records from the past six months and expand outward to twelve if needed. See if you can find any abnormality even if it a slight iron deficiency."

Ryan nodded, the replied. "We have full medical records going back that far, so going through them won't be an issue. What would be the most helpful would be a current scan, even if it's from a basic tricorder. I think it's pretty obvious that something has changed."

"Lieutenant Kingsley, I will be leaving you in command for the next few hours. I want to get settled in properly before our arrival in the Vulcam system."

“Yes Captain,” Kingsley nodded.

Hamura thought a second. "Doctor, captain I can help you both out I think. The transporters carry a log of everyone I can run a buffer scan and create a medical file for you," They looked at the doctor, "To work off of. It can also give us a print of brainwaves. Would you be able to tell about trauma or something from that?"

Ryan thought for a moment. It was a highly unconventional approach, and the data would be very limited. The transporter was not built for intense medical scans, but it might give him a place to start. "I'm not sure how much it will be able to tell us, but it's certainly worth looking at."

Hamura gave a nod. "I can do that. It'll take a couple hours but I'll get you what I can."

"Excellent," Pippa commented. "I believe we have a bit of an understanding of where we are going and what we are or are not doing. Let's do so with discretion."

Hamura seemed to have slipped into their own world for a moment. Their first curled as a wave of pain hit them but they kept silent. Something was wrong with Soral, but what?

The Captain called the meeting to an end, pondering the future.