Star Trek Sim/ Star Trek RPG
USS Eagle, NCC 2185
CAPTAIN'S LOGS
Title: More Questions Than Answers: Countdown to Armageddon
Location: The USS Eagle
Setting: The Transporter Room
Captain Kematsopoulos arrives in transporter
room one, carrying the Empress. She is unconscious and feverish. Her sweat
drench body hangs limp like a rag doll in his arms. He shouts to the transporter
crew, "Assist her to Sickbay. Hurry!" He gently gives the Empress' inert
body to the strongest person in the room to ferry her to Sickbay.
Nouri hops off the pad. He shoves
aside what he thinks are genuine feelings for her and takes command. "Status
Report!" the Captain orders the transporter chief.
"The Galadons and Tureth are heading
here for war. That's all I know, sir. I've been focused on trying to find
and get you here in one piece," the Transporter Chief replies.
"Acknowledged. Thank you," he says
quickly exiting for the bridge.
The Captain arrives on the bridge
and looks around and says to everyone, quickly but full of feeling, "Good
to see you!"
The First Officer
sees the CO. He blinks and swallows hard. "Good to see you too, Captain?"
CDR Cline asks haltingly. He stares further at the mutated Captain who now
appears to be totally Galadonese. All external human characteristics have
been lost. This is the first time CDR Cline has seen the full effect
of the mutation on his commanding officer and friend. When they last
parted, the Captain had looked very much like his human self thanks to some
skillful surgical alterations by the CMO. Those efforts had somehow
vanished. He wondered how but knew that now was not the time to ask.
"Yes," the Captain answers wryly.
"In here somewhere," he said trying to make light of his serious situation
and offer what might be his last chance at a joke to reduce some of the
tension on the bridge.
"Status Report!" the CO asks getting
serious again.
"Sir, we are surrounded by two vastly
superior fleets . . . the Galadonese ships have targeted us and are demanding
the return of their Empress. I have told them we don't know where she is.
Shields are down and weapons off line. I am attempting to negotiate with
the Galadonese to ensure them our intentions remain both peaceful and neutral
on issues between them and the Tureth. They seem to think we have sided
with the Tureth," CDR Cline updates.
"The Empress? The Empress is now on
board. Why do they think we have sided with the Tureth?" Captain Kematsopoulos
asks as he approaches the XO.
"They seem to have arrived with that
opinion. The fact that Ambassador Releth was using a secure channel to talk
to his fleet only confirmed it for them," the Commander opines. "Sir,
did you just say the Empress IS onboard?" CDR Cline asks clearly shocked.
He didn't think he heard right.
"Yes, I found her and our captured
female crew. We escaped from the cave. They are onboard safely now," the Captain
gives the short version of their trials.
"That's a relief. All members of my
away team returned safely as well," CDR Cline replies.
"That is good to hear . . ."
he starts and changes the subject. ". . . I . . . I don't know if the Empress
will survive. She is unconscious and very ill. I don't want to tell the
Galadons this yet. I am afraid of what they will do. The situation is too
unstable. We need at least to get them onboard and get the Empress' last
message delivered to them personally," the Captain outlines.
"Sir, we haven't much time. The Galadonese
admiral did not seem the patient type," warns the XO.
The Captain nods and begins
barking off orders in quick succession as he takes his chair.
"Raise shields! We can't afford to
have the Galadons beam the Empress off now or to have them beam our Turethian
delegation into the great vacuum of space when they get here."
"Weapons off. This is to show our
commitment to peace." He thinks quietly to himself, "and they won't
do us much good, an Oberth class ship is no match for even one Galadonese
warship."
The alert Security
Officer, LCDR Unstoffe, replies promptly from the Tactical Station, "Aye,
sir. Shields up. Weapons down." His hands move precisely over
the control panel and the shields appear around the Eagle.
"Security, prepare for battle stations
and for visitors, both wanted and unwanted. Under no circumstances are you
to power up the weapons or fire without my express command," the Captain
emphasizes.
"Aye, sir, understood," Unstoffe acknowledges.
He verifies the ships' weapons are powered down and locks their control
to the bridge. He then accesses the ship's internal communications
and broadcasts, "All hands to battlestations. Security teams set condition
zebra!" Throughout the ship the crew moves deliberately in response.
The Captain punches a button on the
arm rest of his chair and opens up communications with other parts of the
ship. "Ensign Yajiru, prepare a land mobile communications probe. Send it
to the coordinates that you beamed me up from. Put a message in it from
me to K'Arak. 'Captain Nouristao Kematsopoulos invites you to send a representatives
to the negotiation talks. Your representative can be received as early as
0800 Sirius South time. Please reply.' Deploy boosters on entry to cave
at 0.50 km intervals to enhance the signal. Perhaps we will be able to cut
through the interference of the rock formation and talk almost real time.
Otherwise make it clear to K'Arak to let the probe go back to send us the
message," he orders.
"Yes, sir. I'll start working on that
right away," Ensign Yajiru replies via the comms.
With the flick of another switch,
the Captain addresses his Chief Engineer, "Tsiolkovsky, prepare to receive
data from the Galadons and make sure they don't send any little friends
along with it. Get Hanson and his team on this ASAP!" The Captain knew
Ensign Hanson, the ship's reclusive software analyst, was up to the challenge.
"Vhill do sir! Ghood to khave you
back!" replies the excited Russian chief engineer. She cannot contain how
happy she is to have the Captain back. (She is secretly in love with him.
He does not know.)
"Thank you, when the data comes in
from the Galadons have Ensign Ralph analyze it. Let's see if the Orions are
up to more trouble with their sensor fooling technology. If not, check out
the possibility of another party. K'Arak and L'Asaha have told me of some
other group of aliens that they have not met before that is meddling in the
planet's affairs. Maybe it's more than the planet they are meddling in."
He pauses briefly before continuing.
"What is the status of the other projects?" Captain Kematsopoulos asks.
"Presents from dhose green dayvhils
khave been unwrapped and khopied. Beghining tests on dooplicates. Uddher
projects not in test phase yet, Kheptin," LCDR Tsiolokovsky updates.
"Excellent. Keep working on it. We
may need to use everything we've got on the planning boards. Tested or not,"
the Captain cuts the comms with Engineering and opens one to Sickbay.
"Sickbay, update me immediately via
the televiewer if there is any good news on the Empress' condition," the
Captain asks.
"Aye sir, " one of the AMOs replies.
Captain K cuts the comms to Sickbay and
lets the XO and Security Officer continue the preparations. As a sign
that those preparations are nearly complete, two security officers armed
with phasers arrive on bridge and take station on either side of the turbolift
doors.
"Comms, monitor any transmissions
between the Galadonese ships and send them to cryptology for analysis."
Unstoffe orders the Communications Officer.
"Aye." The Commo sets up a routing
system so that any intercepted transmissions from the Galadonese will automatically
be downloaded into cryptology's buffer.
"LT Ralph, coordinate with Ens. Hanson
in engineering and report any results of your analysis immediately," the
XO directs the Assistant Engineer stationed on the bridge.
"Aye sir," nods LT Ralph.
"Communications, Hail the GSS Protectress!
Transmit audio only," Kematsopoulos oddly orders.
Title: More Questions Than Answers: Countdown to Armageddon, Part Two
Location: The USS Eagle
Setting: The Bridge
The tension throughout the ship is
palpable. With the Captain back onboard, everyone feels the situation
is about to reach a climax. The ship's engineers are working feverishly
to prepare a communications probe, interpret data from the Galadons and to
finish a few special projects known only to the Captain and Chief Engineer.
While the ship's phaser and torpedo launchers sit eerily silent, the shields
resonate around hull, ready. On the bridge two armed security guards
stand on either side of the turbolift doors, mute testimony to the crisis
at hand.
"Communications, hail the GSS Protectress!
Transmit audio only," Captain Kematsopoulos orders.
LT Schuler opens the channel as directed.
The Captain takes on the character
necessary to enact his plan. He affects a fair approximation of how the Empress
acts when giving orders. He is about to put what he has learned of the Galadons
and their cultural expectations to the test. His voice takes on an authoritarian
and aristocratic air as he addresses the Galadonese fleet, "This is Captain
Nouristao Kematsopoulos. You are coming in armed and with your shields up.
Please state your intentions."
The voice of the Galadonese Admiral
crackles across the speaker, "Our intentions are to get our Empress back.
Drop your shields and return her immediately! My patience is running short,
Captain."
The Captain, getting louder
and more indignant replies, "We have her safely onboard now. Your security
efforts have failed her as your security failed her at the Palace." Sounding
derisive, he continues, "This makes twice now that the Eagle has played
a part in saving your Empress. You will stand down your weapons and approach
peacefully."
His voice slightly quieter and more
restrained, the Galadonese Admiral counters, "If it is as you say, show
her to us so we know she is safe and not merely your captive."
"She is ill and resting in Sickbay.
I will not allow you disturb her. She has entered the Ankhanahkstoi again
and needs her rest." Captain Kematsopoulos declares.
Commander Cline interrupts worriedly,
"Have you been fully checked out by the CMO yourself?"
"No time," the Captain responds quietly
in an aside to his XO.
The Galadons pick this up and wonder
what it means, but say nothing.
The Galadonese Admiral stabs back,
"Why should I believe you? Your first officer has already lied to me once.
Drop your shields and I will send aboard a medical team to verify your statement."
"My XO did not lie. He did not know
that I had rescued her, again, and had her beamed on board along with others.
We will welcome your team after she wakes up," he says curtly.
Ignoring the response, the Galadonese
Admiral continues to challenge the Captain, "In fact, how do I know this
is Captain Kematsopoulos? Show yourself!"
The Captain grins and tells
LT Schuler, "Transmit visual now with the audio."
Commander Cline watches the viewscreen
intently for the Galadonese reaction to the Captain's transformation.
An image of the Captain appears on
screen. He looks entirely Galadonese. His skin is as pale white as theirs.
His eyes as blue. His nose has their indentations. His Galadonese face is
worn and haggard and his civilian clothes torn. Several of the bridge crew
of the Protectress gasp.
"As you can see,
it is I not the Empress who have been affected by a 'spell'," Captain Kematsopoulos
says, putting his hair behind his newly pointed ears to emphasize his physical
changes.
"Now show me your information to the
contrary!" he demands.
The Galadonese Admiral is clearly
taken aback by this but tries to recover and stall for time. "Why do you
affect this charade?"
He looks to his science officer to
confirm sensor readings that a Galadonese male stands on the bridge of the
Eagle. The Science Officer nods silently, confirming the biosigns for
the Captain are Galadonese. The Galadon male he detected earlier on the ship
IS the Captain.
"Where is your information
to contrary?" Captain K deliberately ignores him and acts more imperious
and dismissively.
The Admiral presses
on, "I cannot divulge our intelligence sources as you well know. Please
explain your 'transformation'"
"Then send us a
sanitized copy for now," he says.
Slowly the Admiral
agrees, "Your request is permissible." With a nod to communications officer,
the data is sent.
The Starfleet Captain reviews the
information quickly. "You have been duped yet again as you were by the Romulans
who claimed to be 'The Party for Purity' and used your uncomfortableness
with other races to destroy your palace and kill most of the royal family.
Transmit your original information to us upon arrival and we will show you
how you've been tricked again." He taps orders out of view from the Galadons
to engineering to start preliminary work on the tapes. He is trying to give
Engineering all the time he can.
The Admiral refuses
to be drawn in by the Captain's recriminations, "This discussion is academic
until I see the Empress. You will drop your shields and allow our
medical team onboard. When I know she is safe, I will exchange intel."
"I will allow your
team on board in four hours and your envoy when you arrive," Captain K says
imperiously.
Almost imperceptibly
the Admiral motions to his tactical officer. The Galadonese weapons
cease targeting the Eagle.
"They have stopped targeting us with
their weps, sir," and "Captain/Kaptein, the Galadonese fleet has stopped
targeting us," the XO and Unstoffe report almost simultaneously.
The Captain merely nods in acknowledgment.
"I will not drop
our shields so you can harm her by beaming her off and interrupting her rest
or harm the Tureth onboard." The Captain hopes that the time delay
will be sufficient for the CMO to revive the Empress. He needed to end this
conversation and move on. Now was the time for the final element of
his plan.
"I hereby invoke
my rights as Hanahk to the Empress," he declares, waving his hand in a manner
identical to that he's seen the Empress use. "I'll see your party in four
hours," he says dismissively while motioning the communications officer
to close the channel.
The viewscreen goes blank. The
last image was that of the Galadonese Admiral clearly taken aback by the
abrupt order and use of the title "Hanahk".
The XO, impressed with the Captain,
exhales and says simply, "Bravo, sir."
Captain Kematsopoulos chuckles and
becomes serious again, "Thank you. OK. Listen up everyone. If we are lucky
I've bought us two hours not four to prepare for them and try and sweet talk
the Tureth. I am going down to Sickbay for a pheromone dampening injection
so I can speak to Ambassador Releth without him wanting to assault me."
"Hanahk? Sir? Are you him as well?"
Commander Cline asks.
He chuckles again. "It
the Galadonese term for my part in the ritual. According to their customs,"
he grins impishly almost like his old self in spite of the mutations, "I have
certain rights." He winks mischievously, "Cline come with me. We can talk
along the way. Unstoffe you have the bridge."
"Aye, sir," Unstoffe responds and
moves from tactical to CO's chair.
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