Star Trek: The Silver Key IC (Closed; see OOC if interested)

Captain's Log: First Entry, Stardate 46242.6, Commander Eva Crowe recording. The Randolph Carter is finally away on her first mission; to explore, chart, and potentially claim the unexplored areas of Sectors 42 through 45 in the Beta Quadrant. The mission seems simple but it's more important than much of the crew realizes: The Federation has spent a great deal in lives and resources to bring the Cardassian conflict to an end, without taking into account the disastrous encounters with the Borg. The resources and allies we might find in these systems could be vital to the peace and security of the Federation.

My crew is almost entirely new; most of them fresh-faced Crewmen and Petty Officers fresh from their basic training and trial cruises. Even the officers are all young, only a handful having served on a starship for more than their cadet cruises. The officers, with the exception of Lieutenant Kratos who was here for the Carter's shakedown, are unknown to me. We're running drills and training to make everyone as ready as they can be, and their records and recommendations speak well for my new Staff Officers. But it takes time to make a group of strangers, even well-trained and capable strangers, into the fluid team that this ship may need.

We had our first staff meeting immediately upon leaving Sol Sector; productive and informative. There are already personality conflicts brewing. I can only hope that the weeks it will take to reach the first sector for our mission will be time enough for us all to find our footing with one another. For, despite all our technology, the truth is that we 80 souls on this ship will be all that we have to depend on out here in the dark.


The thrum of the warp core filled the air of Engineering; a steady, pulsing beat that set the rhythm that the ship moved to. As was natural, it was one of the larger areas of the vessel but despite that it was currently packed with people. Crewmen, Yeomen, Petty Officers, and the two Ensigns assigned to the care and maintenance of the ship were assembled, standing at attention as the Chief Engineer stood in front of them.

He was tall and strong with a muscular form well displayed by his uniform and his skin was a rich royal blue. His hair was a snowy white that fell to just just below his ears. A pair of long antennae were on his upper forehead, moving ever so slightly as they adjusted his perceptions and focused in on one detail of another. Even with the stern expression currently on his face, there was a trace of roguish amusement about the corners of his lips. "I am Lieutenant Kratos, and you will all be reporting to me as the Chief Engineer of the Randolph Carter. Those of you who've been in the service a while are doubtless bracing yourselves for my speech about duty and doing your part for the good of the ship and the Federation and all that."

He grinned, "I'm not a speech kind of officer, unfortunately, so you're out of luck. But if it would make you feel better you can all make something up about how I droned on for a while. Just make it truly appalling if you do; I am an officer, after all. I've got a reputation to uphold."

"The reason I wanted to bring you all here, and at ease, everyone, please. The reason is that by now you should have all looked over your assignments, the extra records I sent to you, and your rosters. Many of you will have some questions." The brawny Andorian gestured, "Anyone?"

There were several moments of silence where the enlisted personnel and the junior officers looked at one another, clearly not expecting this level of participation in the assembly. Finally, one of the Ensigns cleared her throat, her words precise and clearly enunciated, "Sir, I believe the crew's questions will likely be directed towards the two extra duty shifts we have all been assigned and to the non-standard additions to the Engineering consoles." She was on the tall side for a woman, slender, with sharp features, upward canted eyebrows, and forward curving pointed ears that poked up through the fringes of her bob haircut.

Kratos grinned, "Ensign T'Sitak, I thought you might be the one to speak up. Good. The extra time will not be in Engineering." He could almost see their ears perking up. "One of those extra shifts will be with me, and the other will be cross-training with another of the sections on the ship. Sciences, Medical, Security, Navigation, whatever you'd like." He gestured around at the consoles and machines around the gathered crew. "Everything the ship does can be controlled from here; in fact, our control can supersede the bridge's. In case of an emergency, we may need to run a number of the ship's systems from Engineering. We, as a group, therefore will have the training among us that if that need arises, we can do it well."

There were murmurs around the area, but the Vulcan Ensign tilted her head to one side for a moment and then nodded slightly. "The other two things go together," Kratos went on. "If you'll look at the consoles, you'll all notice the rack on either side of them." He moved through a group of enlisted men that parted to show one of them. Each console had a small rack on either end that held a number of what looked like tool handles...with no tools to be seen. Kratos picked one up, "These should be standard on all Federation vessels in my opinion, and according to the official recommendation I sent up the chain of command about it, but they probably won't be. I'm a little too junior for senior officers to take my thoughts seriously. Anyway, these are the latest in modular personal armaments." He lifted the handle and pressed a small hidden trigger; there was a soft clanging set of clicks as a slightly curved blade unfolded from the handle, forming a sword about two and a half feet long. "This one is an Andorian hrisal, for example. But they do have other configurations."

The crew was now looking at the racks and murmuring to one another, some in bafflement, some in curiosity, others in disgust. "Now you're wondering, why are these here?" He tapped the flat of the sword against his shoulder, "Simple answer. The entire ship can be controlled from here. When, and not if, we are attacked by opponents who want to take our ship rather than destroy it, they will move on two places. The arrogant ones will go for the bridge, the smart ones will come here. If an enemy takes Engineering, they take the ship." The crew was silent now; many of the faces registering a certain shock as they'd never considered the possibility. "We will not let that happen. Stocking phasers here is a bad idea; one bad high powered shot and we've got a ruptured coolant nacelle or a breached warp core and we're all seriously dead. So we need to be able to fight another way." He held the sword up for them all to see, "This way."

Kratos collapsed the blade. "You will all be trained in hand to hand combat, armed and unarmed. That is the second extra duty shift you all have. All of you have gone through Starfleet basics, some of you did well, most of you did all right, some of you did poorly. That's not good enough to defend the most vital part of the ship." He smiled again, slow and leonine this time, "You're all going to learn to fight and fight well. And when an enemy force breaks in here to beat up a bunch of techies and take the ship, we're going to hand them their collective asses." There was some blinking and further shocked exclamations at an officer cursing.

The blue skinned engineer returned the handle to the rack and then nodded, "You're all to submit your wishes for cross-training to me within the next twenty-four hours so I can start arranging it with the other departments. Those of you who want to opt out are welcome to but I will also note it in your personnel files. The schedule for your combat training was sent to you while I was talking, so be sure to be on time for your sessions. There is no opting out of the combat training if you're in my Engineering department. You want to transfer, come and talk to me about it. Anything else?" There were a number of murmurs but no clear questions. Kratos nodded, "All right, those of you on duty now, let's get to work. The rest of you, dismissed."

Seles stood at attention in front of her small staff, trying not to let her nerves show. They weren't entirely her nerves, she knew that, but it was hard to keep her awareness of it from showing at all. If only all these fresh-faced younglings weren't so nervous! "Good day, staff," she said, her voice pitched just loudly enough to be heard through the group of 7 other people.

There was a murmur of greeting among them, and she smiled crisply. "I am Lieutenant Seles, Chief Medical Officer here on the Randolph Carter. I am your supervisor, and as such, you will be reporting to me." Seles nodded to the group, particularly the two new doctors that were on staff. "I've been told that my job today is to give you a speech about your duty here, both to your shipmates and the Federation as a whole. This is supposed to be stirring, emotionally, and give you the human proverbial 'fire in the belly'." She clasped her hands loosely in front of her. "I will not be doing that today."

They looked at her, some in surprise. She seemed unassuming, this average-height Vulcan in her light blue and black dress. But she spoke easily, in clipped tones, her dark eyes steady. "I do not believe that you need to be reminded of your duty to this ship or the United of Planets. If you didn't know what your duty was, you wouldn't be here; if you don't know what it is, then you may request a transfer to another department when I am through here." Seles tossed her head, the long braid behind her waving. "What I will tell you is what I expect from you."

The staff seemed interested, or at least not bored, which was more than she expected. One hand went up, one finger extended. "First, I expect you to be on time for your shifts in sick bay. That should be elementary, but I have seen what happens when people ignore that simple detail. Please do not do it; discipline will result with the first infraction, and I am not lenient." A second finger extended. "Second, I expect you to be willing to ask questions, both of your patients, and of your superiors, myself included. If you don't know a technique or what to do in a given situation, I would rather have you ask than do something you are uncomfortable with and make a situation worse. Lives will be at stake here, and I will not tolerate risk to them."

A third finger went out. "Third, I expect you to do a certain amount of cross-training in other departments." A startled murmur went through the group, and they exchanged glances. She raised one arched eyebrow, and they stopped. "This is something that Chief Engineer Kratos had proposed to the heads of the other departments, and I believe it is an excellent idea. There is never any telling when you will be called upon in a time of crisis to do something outside of your ordinary rotation. The cross training will allow you to at least become competent in another field, which eliminates the possibility of having a ship with no one to navigate it, should something dire happen to any of the bridge, as an example."

Seles tilted her head at them. "You may select any department to cross train in, and there will be several people from other departments training with us - it may be that almost every crew member will be required to have regular training in new triage equipment and care. Captain Crowe has not decided, and will be using these first few weeks as a test to see if it is worth the trouble." Her hands went behind her back. "Are there any questions?"

A stout Tellarite, one of the doctors, spoke up. "I don't believe so, ma'am. But, if I may say, this room is quite cold. And I think my uniform might be too tight. Also, you . . . ."

"I know, Ensign Skaar. However, I do not have time to argue with you right now." Seles gave the pig-nosed male a small smile. "If you desire to make my acquaintance in that way, we can argue during evening meal. Are there any other questions?" There was silence, and she nodded. "Very well. Give me your requests for cross-training by this time tomorrow, please. Dismissed."

Thomas looked at the navigational console for a few moments, remembering when he had been an Ensign less than six months before. He might sit at the station again later, Captain Crowe assigned him to be more of an overseer to the navigational section. She said he could take over from time to time, but he needed to leave it in the capable hands of the ensigns and yeomen. She did compromise and gave him position as the shuttle pilot on away missions.
"Sir?"
"Maybe he's lost in a daydream..."
Thomas didn't miss a beat as he turned around to face the small group of ensign and yeomen assigned to the navigational section with a smile on his face.
"Actually, I was trying to think of a nice ling-winded speech for you."
A few of the group groaned and he chuckled softly.
"I'm kidding. I was never a fan of officers' speeches myself. I will keep it short as I can, but keep it under wraps I let you off easy.Your main duty is going to be keeping this baby on track at all times, barring unforeseen events. Now the captain wants everyone on board to be proficient in a second duty, such as medical, engineering, etc. With only two per shift, you will have plenty of time to train plus downtime. Let me know within a couple of days. Any questions, comments, or complaints?"
He looked the group over for a moment before one of the females piped up.
"What about extra time with you, sir?"
He chuckled for a moment as the females in the group blushed.
"Aren't you a bold one...That won't be a problem, Just let me know."
The ensign nodded quickly with a little smile.
"Alright then, off you go. I have some other duties to attend to."
He left the seat to the two ensign assigned to the current shift and made his way to sick bay. The captain had assigned him to medical duties and he figured now would be a good time to get started. Learning from the beautiful Seles was a plus in his book. He waited for the last of the medical staff to come out before entering. He grinned as he spotted Seles at her station.
"Hey doc, did you find a cure for homesickness yet?"

"The cure for that particular illness," Seles replied without looking up from the console in front of her, "is to stop being so emotional about a particular place and the people there." When she finally looked up, her expression bland, with a hint of exasperated amusement. "I could, however, give you a heavy sedative, Lt. Klonger, that would allow you to sleep through the common duration of the so-called illness."

She stood up, tugging the hem of her dress down - the material was just the right weight to move around more than was decorous when she sat. "I assume you're here, Lieutenant, to begin your cross-training with the medical corps, and that your request was an attempt at banter."

Punching a few buttons on the wall, she pulled out a first aid kit. "If that is the case, you should sit down. Your first task is elementary - I need to see how much you know, so you will name and describe the function of every item here. If it isn't, then you must truly be ill, and I'll administer that sedative to inspect you," she added with a small wicked grin that she probably didn't realize she'd made.

There was a soft clunk as Eva Crowe set down a datapad on the conference room table. The commanding officer of the Randolph Carter leaned back the chair at the head of the table and crossed her arms under her generous breasts, "Not even a week in and already you've got quite a laundry list of modifications you want to make, Mr. Kratos." Her voice was steady and warm, a bit wry, with the cultured accent of her native England's upper crust. The expression on her pretty, clean featured face was one of faintly amused consideration.

Eva was in her forties and still remained a beauty; there were more lines by the corners of her eyes and mouth than there had been when she was just a lieutenant herself and a few gray hairs would show up before she did her monthly coloring, but her face was still lovely and her figure kept athletic, toned, and deliciously curved by hard work and good genes. Her hair was a wealth of shiny auburn locks that fell to below her shoulders but was kept in a high bun when on duty, save for a few artfully loose strands here and there. Her eyes were the color of fertile earth and keen. She wore her uniform and her authority with a kind of confident casualness; the result of spending almost her entire life in Starfleet. She reached out one hand and tapped the bottom of the datapad to move the display to a summation of the proposals sent to her and her 1st Officer by the engineer. "I've read over your proposals, of course, but I'd like to hear your reasoning."

"So would I." The 1st Officer turned in his chair to face Kratos more fully, "What do you have in mind here, Lieutenant?" Lieutenant Charles Morgan had maybe an inch or so in height on Kratos and had a similar strong and muscular build. The human man was much younger than his commander, closer to Kratos' age. He was always serious when on duty, his rough features set in a determined expression. He was a contrast to Captain Crowe; her skin was creamy and his was a rick, dark chocolate. Her hair was carefully arranged, his was in a short and simple military buzzcut.

Kratos stood near the wall at ease, his hands folded at his back. The Andorian inclined his head at the X-O's question, "Everything I've suggested is focused towards the success of the mission, sir. While nothing on there is...absolutely necessary, I think that these modifications and the new sensor system could be imperative."

Crowe raised her brows, "How so?"

He almost grinned. "Permission to speak frankly, sir?" She nodded and he went on, "The Carter's perfectly equipped for science and exploration, as long as no one shoots at us." His antennae twitched slightly, a sign of both anticipation and concern. "We've got strong shields for a ship our size, and we've got a lot of phasers, but they're all old. Type X phasers were first put on the Constitution-class ships over 80 years ago." He shook his head, his disgust with that little piece of engineering brilliance written all over his face, "On top of that, we can only do Warp 8, which means we're slow compared to a lot of other ships out there. The only real edge we've got are that our sensors are cutting edge. What I'm suggesting is making our few advantages better and trying to shore up some of our other weaknesses."

Lt. Morgan made a sound of acknowledgment, "That's what this plasma capture and recycling system is for, correct?"

"Yes, sir. It'll make our reactor a little more efficient, maybe 2 or 3%, but that's more power that we can use to regenerate our excellent shields if we have to."

Captain Crowe brought up a specific schematic on her datapad, "And the gravitic sensor system you want to build?"

Kratos did grin now, "Given where we're going, Captain, if we run into trouble, it's likely to be Romulan trouble."

"You're trying to get around the Cloaking Device," Crowe mused, one finger tapping on her chin. "Your theory?"

"We know that the Romulans use, Gods bless their reckless minds, a controlled and contained black hole to power their ships." Kratos took a breath, "That power source is a lot of mass, not to mention the ship itself. The Cloaking Device can hide a lot of things, but I'm betting that it can't change the gravity put out by the black hole combined with that from the vessel's own mass."

The two senior officers were silent for a few moments. Then Lt. Morgan spoke up, "Clever. If it works."

Kratos's grin became a toothy, roguish smile. "Only one way to find out, isn't there, sir?"

He chuckled softly for a moment at Seles's offer to go ahead and sedate him. The wicked grin made him grin and shake his head softly. She was going to be a feisty one to be around.

"No, I never had that problem of getting homesick. I was always able to adapt to my situation where ever I was. Though I might take you up on the offer another time."

He winked and took the medkit from her, taking out the contents.

"I am here to start training for my cross-training. Now let's see if I have everything right."

He ran through each part of the med kit, explaining what each of the instruments were used for.

"How's that? I had to learn how to use the medkit on my last tour. Though I wasn't really taught much more beyond the basic usage of the medkit."

Seles nodded and sat down on one of the tables. "That's good. It is typically appalling to see how many crew members have no idea what to do with a medkit." She shook her head a little. "I dread seeing how Engineering does - they tend to have the least interest in first aid, and the most need for it." She stood up and went to a small panel on one side of the room, pushing a few buttons.

"The next part of your training is going to be practical - you'll be practicing giving injections." A man-sized hologram popped into being next to her, shaped like a man of middle height, with dark hair and eyes, wearing a Starfleet uniform.

The just-appeared hologram blinked, then said, "Please state the nature of your medical emergency."

Seles walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a small pack of syringes and needles, then marched over to Thomas and handed them to him. As she walked she said, "You'll be working with Lieutenant Klonger today, practicing giving injections."

There was a moment of silence, and she turned to look at the hologram, who was looking back at her with an expression of shock. "Doctor, this is highly . . . ." He looked at her for another moment, then said, with a hint of obstinacy, "I'm a doctor, not a guinea pig."

She tilted her head to one side. "Perhaps, but today, you are both. Lay down on the bed, please, and we'll get started."

"Some people just don't know what's best for them, or they just want to tough it out."

Thomas chuckled softly for a moment. He leaned back against the doorway to her office area for a moment as he watched Seles summon the EMH. He looked at the syringes and needles she gave him for a moment. He chuckled for a moment at the exchange between Seles and the EMH.

"I would have to agree a little with the doctor here. It may be safer to use him for practice, but it's not quite hands-on. I think it would be a little better to practice on a live human, so I would actually know when I hit the vein or not. But you are the teacher."

He smiled for a moment as he laid out the syringes and needles, fixing one up for the first injection. He glanced over at Seles for a moment before looking back at the EMH.

Seles grinned. "You may be right - although the good doctor will be able to tell if you've managed to get the needle where it ought to be, I hope. However," she said with only a hint of dry humor, "I haven't discovered which of my ensigns are expendable yet, so I can't risk any of them in case something goes horribly awry."

The EMH looked both shocked and affronted, but stretched out on the bed, rolling up one of his sleeves. "I suppose we should start with the basics," Seles said. "Have you ever given an injection before, Lieutenant? If not, we'll review the basics."

She picked up one of the syringes and fitted a needle to it with practiced ease. "In the med kit, there is a small spray for disinfecting," she grabbed a small bottle from the kit and spritzed a bit in the crook of the hologram's elbow. "Once you have cleaned the area, you select the proper medication for the ailment at hand." She picked up a small vial. "We'll be pretending that the doctor here has a broken bone, and we need to give him some anesthetic, so that he won't thrash about and hurt himself - or us - while we set it." She pulled some of the drug from the vial, then pulled the needle out, clearing it of air. Seles then placed two fingers over the spot she'd cleaned and looked at the arm there. "This vein is the one I want," she gestured to one of the subdermal blood vessels. "Angle the needle, like so," she motioned for Thomas to move closer so that he could get a better view of what she was doing, "and slide it into the skin and vein."

"Expertly done, doctor," said the hologram, slightly disgruntled.

Seles handed the syringe to Thomas. "Your turn."

Sandra circled slowly in a dance of violence with her opponent. Sweat dripped down her forehead as her fingers gripped the metal bo firmly but lightly. She had been fighting the holographic dojo master for the past half hour, barely pausing for breaks. It was the final round of the match, and she was down by one point.
"Twenty minutes till security meeting, Ensign Orteg."
The female voice of the ship's computer spoke as Sandra was moving to attack. Her left foot came down on the wooden planks of the dojo, hitting hard enough to jar her body for a moment. She sighed as she recovered herself and bowed to the master.
"Computer, end program."
The large dojo disappeared, leaving Sandra in a sweaty gi in the middle of a large grey room, holding her metal bo. It had been a graduation present when she had earned her 4th black belt. Her finger ran over a small notch and the eight foot bo collapsed down to a one foot metal rod.
She ran back to her room where she took a quick sonic shower before pulling on a clean uniform. She tied her hair back in a ponytail and hooked her bo on her waist next to her phaser. It wasn't standard issue, but it had gotten her out of jams her phaser couldn't handle.
The meeting with the new head of security was shorter than she had expected. After the meeting, she had a little bit of time before her shift started. She grabbed a data-pad and used it to look over the ship's schematics as she wandered to her station. She had became so engrossed in the data-pad, she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. She turned a corner, running into someone and falling on her ass.
"Oww...."

"You know, ma'am," said an ensign who was busy putting his phaser back together, "I believe the other department heads merely give speeches on the first day."

M'Rana smiled a little, her own paw-like hands working on her own phaser with alarming dexterity. "Yes, they do." Her voice was a low, melodious purr, audible over the sounds of clicking and snapping as the rest of the room tried to put back together their phasers as well. "But I'm not the other department heads."

There was a triumphant cry from the other side of the room, and one of the ensigns toppled over, stunned. "There, you see? It can be done!" M'Rana called to the room, the last piece of her own phaser clicking into place. She pointed it at the ensign facing her, pulled the trigger, and turned away as he toppled to the ground.

What followed was a domino effect as the others who finished reassembling their phasers managed to stun their partners. When only half of the group was still standing, M'Rana smiled. "Very good. Everyone who isn't stunned right now, you will be doing your cross training with engineering, unless you have a particular desire to train elsewhere."

The rest of the group stood up, shaking their heads groggily. "Everyone else, you will see me for your cross-training assignments before you leave today." M'Rana's tail flicked back and forth behind her. "That is all; your schedules are on your datapads."

One of the yeomen who was being helped to her feet said, a little sulkily, "Are you doing the training, too? Or is it just us?"

A baring of teeth that served as a sharp-edge smile punctuated the feline woman's answer. "Of course - I'll be in engineering." She looked at the chronometer on the wall. "In about half an hour, actually."

Eva Crowe

Morgan had the bridge and Eva was quite looking forward to a bit of quiet work and study in her quarters for the rest of the evening. She was still going over crew files, personnel reports, not to mention looking over Lt. Kratos' proposals for final authorization. She was well into the idea of being able to spot the Romulans if they were skulking around; the engineer's analysis of her ship's strengths and weaknesses was spot on but if the new array detracted from the effectiveness of the other sensors, she'd hear about it from the Chief Science Officer.

She was considering the matter as she made her way to her rooms, nodding and offering smiles as crew members would snap upright and greet her as she passed. When she could, she responded with their names and ranks but she didn't know them all yet. The officers, yes. But not yet all of the yeomen and crewmen.

She turned a corner and suddenly ran right into someone. "What the devil?" Eva stumbled back, managing to keep her balance. Having been on a starship under fire tended to teach one how to keep their feet; compared to a rolling deck, a little abrupt bump was nothing. Eva looked down to see the person she'd collided with on her butt on the floor. The pips on her collar made her an Ensign, Ensign Orteg in Security, if she recalled correctly.

Eva smiled to soften the embarrassment of running into your commanding officer and walked up to stand before Sandra, "All right there, Ensign Orteg?" She offered her hand to help the young woman, who looked more like a girl to her, to her feet. "I'm sorry I stumbled into you like that." She gave the younger woman a slightly teasing smile, her eyes warm, "I hope you'll be a bit more alert when on duty."

My, she was gorgeous, this young Ensign. Of course, she had been lucky in that her crew in general was a very attractive group of sentients but especially the officers. Eva was very firm on discipline and regulations, for the most part, but she did have two real vices; pretty young women and handsome young men. "Are you off anywhere in particular, Ensign? Or just getting familiar with the ship?" She paused a few moments and then added, "Please relax, Ensign, I know I'm the captain but that doesn't mean we can't be friendly."

Perhaps very friendly...

Kratos

Engineering was never a quiet place. People were always moving about checking the reactor and the engines' status, making sure power flow was proper and unimpeded, doing the dozens of daily adjustments and tasks that kept the ship working, and watching for the appearance of any glitch or irregular output that could blow the whole vessel into dust. Even without the nigh-constant activity, the thrumming song of the warp core never ceased.

Nevertheless, it was relatively quiet as Ensign T'Sitak scanned over the most recent report on power output and consumption. The Vulcan engineer nodded, her expression coolly approving.

The doors whooshed open and movement and work ceased for a few seconds as heads rose to note the return of the Chief Engineer. The Andorian cocked his head as he entered and smiled, "Nice work, everyone, the core sounds good."

"Sounds good, sir?" T'Sitak raised an eyebrow in a quintessentially Vulcan gesture of disbelief and questioning as she approached Kratos and handed him the latest reports.

Kratos gestured towards his antennae, "My perceptions are better than even a Vulcan's, Ensign, especially my hearing. And I've been on this ship and with this warp core since it was put in. I just...know how it's supposed to sound." He looked at the readouts on the datapad she'd handed over, "Everything's green, right?"

"Aye, sir. Though your method is highly illogical and prone to error."

He winked at her, "For a lesser being maybe." Then he laughed, "Believe me, I don't use that alone. But it's good for knowing if you need an extra diagnostic or if you can relax a bit." The brawny officer grinned then, "Speaking of which, I bring good news!"

"Sir?"

"The captain's approved the first of the modifications I want to make." Kratos seemed to almost want to bounce with eagerness at the anticipation of trying his designs. "Which means more work for us!"

Around Engineering, there was mingled dismay and uncertainty on the faces of the crew. Several seemed to be eying their superior as though he might be mad. One of the yeoman scowled, "How's that a good thing at all? Uh, sir."

"Glad you asked, Yeoman Barnes," Kratos replied with a smile. "Almost every department has decided to do some cross training, a lot of them with us." There was the soft sound of the door opening behind Kratos as he went on. "Which means we'll have more hands around here, and since they won't be highly trained engineers like us, they can do the boring scut work while we do the good stuff!"

He'd expected the faces of the crew, except for T'Sitak, to light up. Engineering ended up having to do a lot of tedious work in their day to day shifts. Most of them, however, were looking past Kratos with expressions of either worry or bemusement.

Kratos sighed, "There's another staff officer behind me, isn't there? Is it the captain?" Kratos shook his head and sighed, "Also, good looking out, team." Then he turned, "Lieutenant M'Rana, a little early but it's never too soon to see you."

A small, amused smile played over M'Rana's face as she walked into Engineering, hearing Kratos talk about the tasks they would give to the others who cross-trained with them. She stood behind him as he finished, her paws fairly silent on the floor. And saw the moment he realized there was someone behind him.

Kratos sighed, "There's another staff officer behind me, isn't there? Is it the captain?" Kratos shook his head and sighed, "Also, good looking out, team." Then he turned, "Lieutenant M'Rana, a little early but it's never too soon to see you."

She beamed at him. "I'm glad to see you as well, Lieutenant Kratos." Her arms folded in front of her body, and she tilted her head. "I hope you don't have any plans to make me do 'scut work' today. I may not be a highly trained engineer, but I know enough not to break your engines."

A small sound came from Ensign T'Sitak. "If I may, ma'am." The Vulcan stepped forward, hands clasped behind her back. "I'm certain Lieutenant Kratos didn't mean that you would be included in . . . ."

The feline woman shook her head. "It's all right, Ensign. I know what he meant." She let the toes of one foot stretch out in front of her. "In any case, Kratos, I'd like to hear about some of the modifications they finally approved."

Kratos

"It's not the engines I'm worried about you breaking right now." The tall Andorian returned the felinoid woman's smile and nodded, "Of course, Lieutenant. Come on over and I'll show you what we've got the okay on." She would have been fully briefed, naturally. Engineering was part of the Ops Division of Starfleet, and as she was Chief Operations Officer, the lovely Caitian was technically his superior.

She also got to work more closely with the Command officers, especially the X-O and was 3rd in the line of command, which Kratos envied. She was closer to the captain's chair than he was. He shook his head slightly as he walked over to one of the large wall consoles. Maybe he chose wrong with going into Engineering, as much as he loved it...

He pulled up a full view of the ship's systems, pulling the ones they wouldn't need "off" to leave just the infrastructure and relevant systems on the console's display. "Captain still hasn't said "yes" to the gravitic sensor, which I'm not happy about. Or the transporter back up power system. But!" He enlarged the section of the ship around Engineering and warp nacelles. "We did get approval for this." He tapped a button and the modifications filled slowly into the display; showing what would be done. "We're going to capture the coolant plasma normally ejected and recycle it into the EPS conduits. This should give us about 2 to 3% greater power yield to non-propulsion systems."

Kratos stepped back to let M'Rana inspect the design closer if she wished. "We're going to be starting the initial preparation today. Cutting through the interior bulkheads and fabrication of the parts." He smiled, "Your choice of duties, Lieutenant. I'm going up into the Jeffries tubes to start the cuts and line preparations. I'd be glad to have you up there with me, if you don't mind being close."

Thomas just chuckled as Seles spoke about the EMH that it was actually insulted. He hadn't had much time with any EMHs, but this was the first time he had ever seen a computer program get so uptight about being insulted. He opened his mouth to comment, but closed it since this was the proper time to say anything.

He nodded every now and then as he watched her worked, taking mental notes. When she motioned for him to move closer, he did so. He placed on had on the medical bed as he leaned close, inhaling her bodily scent for a moment. He straightened up with a smile when she held the syringe out to him. He took the syringe carefully from her, a little grin on his face.

"I'll try to make you proud."

He gave her a playful wink before turning his attention to the EMH. HE found the vein with her free hand, running along the vein to make sure that he was correct. He pushed the needle into the holographic arm, just missing the mark. The EMH winced for a moment.

"Watch where you poke me."

Thomas chuckled for a moment.

"Sorry, I slipped."
"Well don't let it happen again."

He looked over at Seles for a moment before returning back to the job, expertly pushing the needle into the vein and pushing the plunger. He pulled the needle back out and held it out to her.

"How's that?"

Sandra took the offered hand with her right hand as she scooped up her datapad in her other hand without noticing yet who it was that had helped her up. She was smoothing out her skirt as she answered to the question, catching herself in mid sentence.

"I was paying attention..oh Captain!"

She blushed despite the captain's teasing smile, quickly going to attention. She hadn't expected to bump into the captain, and then here she was being flirted with as well. It took her a few seconds to visible relax in front of the captain, still blushing.

"I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention ma'am. I was trying to familiarize myself with Deck C, Sections 12 to 16. I was actually on my way to start up my first shift, and I only have a few moments to report in."

She looked down at the datapad as it beeped softly, displaying a countdown of ten minutes. She smiled back to Eva for a moment, giving a salute.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I really should be going. Hopefully another time."

She turned quickly and darted down the hallway, her skirt flairing as she did her best to dodge the other crewmembers on the way to her post.

Eva Crowe & Nicole Mason

Eva smiled at the young woman's embarrassment, sighing inwardly. It looked like another lonely evening but such was the price of being the captain. "Good luck, Ensign," she called after the retreating Sandra. "Remember your training and you'll do well."

She turned and continued the journey to her quarters. The journey was young yet. She would just have to hope that the Ensign, and the rest of the crew, would become more comfortable with her as it went on. Not too much, of course, there had to be a firm separation but she couldn't have them all so tense around her. It cut into their reaction time.

And maybe she'd find a few "friends" among the crew as well. One could always hope.


Lt. Mason glared at Sandra as she entered the Security Office outside of the Brig area, "Ensign Orteg, nice of you to finally join us." The young Ensign was on time, if barely, but her superior did not seem to think so. Nicole Mason was a Trill, the distinctive spots running along her hairline and then down the sides of her neck and disappearing under the collar of her uniform. There were lots of rumors about how far and what parts of the body the markings continued on to on a Trill, but no one seemed to know for sure. Rumor also had it that no one had ever had Nicole Mason is a position to find out.

She was pretty but her face was set in an expression of firm disapproval and cold disdain. Her auburn hair was pulled back into a tight french braid and her eyes were a bright blue that seemed to almost see through people. Her arms were crossed over her chest, just under the swell of her breasts. "On time is good enough for a crewman, Ensign," she continued with her bright eyes fixed on Sandra, "but I expect better from an officer. I've a mind to write you up for dereliction of duty for your inattentiveness and sloth. Never forget that part of your job is to provide a good example for the rest of the crew, and almost running late isn't even adequate, let alone good." Her eyes narrowed. "Do not let it happen again."

She gestured imperiously for Sandra to take her place among the assembled security crew. "Now then, before we all start, I do have something I want to say." The Trill woman paused a moment to be sure she had everyone's attention, "You have probably met crew from other departments already, and some of them will be coming here to cross-train with us. Some of you may even be rooming with such crew members, and have friends among them."

She stood " at ease," with her hands folded at the small of her back. "I can't order you not to fraternize with non-Security crew but I will say that you should avoid becoming too friendly with them. While we may have to worry about defending the ship from boarding, or protecting foreign representatives, or other tasks, most of what we do will be handling problems caused by the crew. In other words, the crew is our enemy. Any one of them is a potential perpetrator. When, not if, we find criminals among us, they will try to silence you, even if you thought of them as a friend. The only ones we can trust are right here in this room."

"With that in mind," Lt. Mason gestured to a set of belts that lay on the long table in front of her, "I am issuing an order that all Security personnel are to carry a type-1 phaser with them whenever they are on duty, rather than the normal "as needed" procedure." Each of the belts held the small, innocuous looking weapons in a holster, as well as an additional power cell, plastic snap "cuffs," and other security tools. Three of the belts, however, held larger phasers. "Officers, myself and Ensigns Orteg and Sulu, will carry type-2 phasers on duty, and type-1 off-duty."

She lifted one of the longer, far more deadly weapons from her own holster, "Now, although I would like to have these set higher than Level 1, say level 3 or 4-" Before Mason could continue, the deck beneath them rocked violently and pitched to the right, sending everyone and everything tumbling from the sudden movement. The belts with the phasers slid off the table, the weapons clattering on the ground. Lt. Mason tumbled over with a grunt and then there was a flash under her, followed by a pained gasp and the smell of burnt flesh.

The floor trembled and rocked again, less violently, and then subsided. Immediately, there was a blaring klaxon and lights on the walls turned a bright red.

Lt. Mason rolled over onto her back, gasping and gulping for air. Her eyes were wide and staring, a scorched, smoking hole in her midsection. She tried to speak a few times, only agonized, ragged gasps escaping her lips.

The sudden rocking of the ship startled Seles more than she was willing to show. That sort of motion wasn't normal for even starships of this size, and it was very unexpected. She had almost fallen onto the prone EMH, and pushed herself up off of the hologram's chest. "That was . . . unanticipated," she said mildly. "Please, excuse me for a moment. I'm sure there are a few injuries - people falling off ladders or crashing into furniture."

She took a few steps back from the table and tapped the insignia on her chest. "Sick Bay to all Officers. How many injured should we expect from this? Over."

There was a moment of silence, and a shaky female voice spoke up, "Ensign Llewlyn from Operations, Doctor. We've only got one here, maybe a broken collarbone? We'll get him up there right away."

"Roger that, Ensign." Seles waited for other responses, tapping her fingers impatiently on the counter.


The shaking had knocked M'Rana off the ladder up to the Jefferies tubes, but thankfully she'd landed with feline grace in a three-point stance. She straightened up as Kratos was pulling himself to his feet - he'd been jostled off the ladder as well, and landed in almost the same position as she had.

"Kratos, what was that?" she asked, her voice a low, concerned rumble. "It wasn't anything mechanical, all the gauges were normal when we started up there." The pretty cat-woman looked around at the rest of the Engineering staff who were pulling themselves upright, the red light flashing overhead casting the scene in a nightmarish color. "Is anyone hurt? Sing out if you need help!"

Sandra lowered her head a little as she got scolded by Lt. Mason for almost being late. It wasn't exactly her fault, but then blaming the captain probably wouldn't have scored her any points either. So she did the only possible thing, stand there and take the stern lecture for the time being. She gave a quick nod for a moment.

"Yes ma'am. I won't let it happen again."

She quickly went to a seat as she looked around for a moment at the rest of the security staff. She returned her attention back to Lt. Mason as she began to talk about the current situation of duties aboard the ship. She took everything in until the sudden jerk to her world.

She tumbled onto her side on the floor trying to steady herself once the room stopped moving. She blinked for a moment at the smell of burning flesh and them the blaring klaxon. She looked around at the others who seemed more dazed than injured. She saw Lt. Mason was injured and moved over to examine her.

"Just hold on Ma'am. Ensign Sulu, get some medical help up here. The rest of you, break up into pairs and go see if any one else needs help."

Sulu used his comm badge once Seles called for injury reports.
"This is Ensign Sulu. Lt. Mason is down in the Security Office with a phaser wound to her abdomn. She needs immediate help."

Sandra picked up the phasers and placed them on their rack before looking back at Mason's wound. She wasn't sure how to treat something like this.

"Help's on the way Ma'am."

Thomas caught himself with one hand on the med-bed, quickly dropping the syringe. He had been in other situations like this and was able to keep his footing on the rolling deck. He looked at Seles as he stood up, giving her some room.

"Not a good start to our little journey of discovery, eh doctor?"

He grinned for a moment before Sulu's report came in shortly after the call from operations. He gave a slight bow to her.

"As much as I would enjoy standing around with you doctor, I think I should go check things out on the bridge."

He ran to the door before stopping for a moment. He looked back at her for a moment, giving a little wink.

"I look forward to the next lesson doctor."

He was out the door after that and heading to the bridge as fast as he could.

Main Engineering & The Bridge

Kratos let out a grunt as the ship suddenly shook and lurched under him, flinging him off the ladder he'd been scaling. He twisted as he fell, and with muscle and reflexes honed by years of martial arts training, he hit the deck and compacted, letting his body bend with the force and allow it to flow through him rather than breaking inside his body.

He stood up as M'Rana landed in a soft crouch, much like he had done. There was an Earth saying about cats, wasn't there? For once, however, he wasn't smiling. He strode past stunned crewman who were righting themselves and went to the main console, starting to check systems and re-allocate power. "That was an impact, M'Rana." He should have added her rank there, but maybe she'd let him off since it was a high tension situation. "Something hit us. Hit the shields, anyway. Not an energy weapon but something with mass."

He hit his comm badge, "Engineering to Sick Bay, just a few bumps and bruises, Doctor Seles. Nothing that needs attention now, we'll send them up and alert you if things get worse." He clicked the badge again, "Engineering to the Bridge."

"Good." Lt. Morgan's solid, bass voice came from the badge. "Damage Report?"

"Shields did their job, sir," he reported. His eyes scanned the information pouring out over the console. "Systems took a bit of a shake but no ship damage and everything's functioning fine other than the shields. I'm diverting power to them now."

"Understood, keep us posted, Bridge Out."

A few moments later, the 1st Officer's voice sounded "We are on Red Alert, all crew at their stations until otherwise notified. Captain Crowe, Lieutenants Klonger and M'Rana to the Bridge."

Kratos looked over his shoulder at the departing officer, "Have to take a rain check on being ground against you in a tight space, Lieutenant. Good luck."


The doors of the two turbolifts that went to the bridge opened at once, Captain Crowe coming out of one, Klonger and M'Rana from the other. The Captain was tugging down her uniform jacket as she stepped onto the bridge, "What bloody hit us, Morgan?"

The tall, muscular X-O stood up from the captain's chair, standing beside it as Crowe took her seat. "Seems like asteroids of some kind, Sir. Like we blundered into a belt somehow." He gestured at the crewmen on duty at the navigation and operations consoles, the two of them slipping out to allow the officers to replace them.

"Evasive maneuvers, Mr. Klonger, helm's yours until we're clear," the captain ordered. "Tactical, charge phasers and use them to blast anything too big that gets close enough." The striking older woman looked up sharply at her second, "How did we blunder into this?"

Morgan shook his head, "I don't know, Captain. We haven't deviated from our course, and it was clear of any obstacles like this." He grimaced, "And our long range sensors were offline to be recalibrated by Sciences. They were put back online just before you got off the lift."

"Lt. Estevan and I will have a conversation later that he won't like then." The captain glanced at the pretty cat woman, "Mr. M'Rana, full sensor sweep of the area and check our location against the star charts. If we make it out of this, I want to be damn sure how we got into it in the first place."

M'Rana's hands were already moving on the panels in front of her. "Aye, sir." The sensors should have been able to sense something like this before it happened - that's why they were there! She studied the screen in front of her, the pupils in her eyes narrowing to slits. "Report incoming, Captain. We're where we should be - the Carter is on course."

She looked back at the beautiful captain, her face worried. "There are asteroids all around us," she said dryly as a chunk of rock half the size of the ship was blasted into rubble before it would have crashed into the ship. "But there shouldn't be." The sensors blipped at her, and she looked at them, her eyes narrowing, then widening. "Oh. Oh, no."

Crowe raised an eyebrow and strode over to where the feline woman was sitting. "What?" she demanded, looking down at the panel.

"This," M'Rana said, tapping a portion of the star chart, "is where we are." The section obligingly expanded and zoomed in. "There should be a Class-E planet right here." She gestured off to one side where a small star was marked. "This is Tuana-478. But it isn't there. Instead," she showed the sensor inputs, "we're surrounded by these asteroids, all with similar composition to the planetary composition."

The captain straightened up, looking at the Operations officer. "So what you're telling me is that something . . . ."

"Blew up this planet. Most likely, yes, sir." M'Rana's green eyes were serious. "No way of telling immediately if the explosion was recent or not. I'll get to work on it."


"All Medical staff to Sick Bay immediately," Seles snapped over her com link, as she grabbed a portable med kit and walked out of the room. "Incoming injured, one broken collarbone. I am heading to Security to check on Lt. Mason."

Her strides were quick and clipped, not quite a run yet. 'A phaser wound to the abdomen' could be anything from a small burn to . . . she started moving a little faster. Always assume the worst in things like this. And if she needed immediate attention, and wasn't able to respond herself . . . .

When Seles strode through the door of the Security office, she took a deep breath, and immediately regretted it. The room smelled like blood and fear and pain. "All right, everyone out except," one long finger pointed at Sandra and then Sulu, "you two. Go to your stations, as long as those stations are not in this room."

There were muttered, "Aye, sir"s as the others filed out. Seles went immediately over to where Nicole was laying. One hand reached into her med kit and pulled out her tricorder. She pressed a button and passed the sensor over Mason's body, listening and watching. "Well, that's something at least. No serious damage to the kidneys or liver."

Seles sighed and looked at the other two. "I need you both to head up to Sick Bay. I'm going to have us moved there, so we'll see you there." She tapped her insignia. "Lt. Kratos, please transport myself and Lt. Mason to Sick Bay. She's injured and needs to be moved without disruption."

Thomas grinned for a moment when the captain told him to take the helm. He was planning on it anyways since the younger crew had the experience he had. The young woman already at the helm was waiting beside the helm chair as Klonger took the seat, waiting for further orders.

"Yeoman, Kassidy was it? I would suggest you find someplace to strap yourself in till we get out of the little field."

He grabbed the straps and buckled himself in, getting a strange look from the captain. This was routine, but then his method wasn't going to be routine at all. He swiveled around and smiled to the Captain.

"Permission to speak freely sir?"
"Go ahead Lt."

He pressed the comm switch for ship wide address.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you have about thirty seconds to strap or get secure. Things are going to get bumpy."

Thomas took a moment to crack his fingers before speaking once more.
"Everyone is gonna probably hate for doing this, but it's time to pop this lady's cherry, so to speak."

He hit a few buttons and things felt very different as the ship's gravity was cut in half. The ship shot forward as the wild ride began. He pushed the maneuvering limits of the ship to the max, the entire time giving a feeling of being on an out of control roller-coaster. The view screen lit up as asteroids were blasted from the path and the ship barely dodging the scattered debris left behind. The entire ordeal only lasted about five minutes before he brought them to a stop facing the asteroid field. He restored gravity and tapped the ship wide system.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you may resume normal working orders."

The engineering console began to light up with reports of weak areas in the ship's hull from the wild ride.

Sandra looked up as Seles walked into the security room, silent for the time being. She hoped that the doctor would be able to help. She moved back to give Seles room as she told everyone where to go.

"Of course doctor. We're on our way."

She paused at the door as Sulu ran ahead of her to the sickbay. She watched Lt.Mason and Seles shimmer and disappear as they were transported to the sickbay. She moved as quickly as she could through the empty hallway, arriving at the door to sickbay as Lt. Klong made his announcement for everyone to secure themselves.

Sulu had already gotten to a medical bed and pointed to another one.

"Over there Mister Sandra."

She had just grabbed onto the bed when the gravity was cut. She eeked and scrambled to get a more secure hold.