Star Trek Original Series Sim/ RPG
USS Eagle, NCC 2185

Chief Engineer face, Human female, Russian

CAPTAIN'S LOGS


Title: More Questions Than Answers: Room Service, Part Seven

Stardate: 200103.10

Location: USS Eagle

Setting: The Bridge

Captain Kematsopoulos left LCDR Asimov with the conn and retired to prepare for the evening's activities. Many hours later Captain Nouristao Kematsopoulos put on his dress uniform and got ready for the reception. "If only we could be rid of our 'guests' as well," Nouri thought, "we could try to get back to normal."

He checked the chronometer. It was time to pick up his Chief Engineer for the reception and remind LCDR Tsiolkovsky to keep her family's renowned temper in line. Things were going to be hot enough as it was.

He half wished that someone would remind him. His center of peace and tranquility was becoming frayed with all the intrigue, racial tensions, diplomacy and death onboard. The Admiral's refusal to shed anymore light on the situation only added to his frustration.

As an engineer and mathematician he liked puzzles, challenges and things to be solved. But there were too many unknown variables and the risk of more people dying before the mission was completed was too high. He did not like it one bit, but the evening ahead did promise to get some answers to all these questions. He straightened his collar and headed out the door.


Title: More Questions Than Answers: Room Service, Part Eight

Stardate: 200103.10

Location: USS Eagle

Setting: CENG's quarters

 

Meanwhile in her quarters, the Chief Engineer, LCDR Valentina Tsiolkovsky, fumed about orders to rest and take it easy. Her precious ship had a critical power failure while she lay dying in sickbay, several days ago. She felt strongly that these new repairs and modifications needed her attention and that the warp core realignment just could not happen properly without her constant supervision.

Val paced angrily to and fro. She decided to go polish her dress boots again. As she stared at her boots she thought, "I am much less restful here than I'd ever be in Engineering. After more fuming and polishing and a review of reports, Valentina got ready for the reception.

LCDR Valentina Tsiolkovsky was most eager to leave her room. Val had been limited to restricted duties since she was attacked by the intruder who placed the bomb that killed Ensign Johnson. Tsiolkovsky was accustomed to working very hard and was going stir crazy not being able to work full time in Engineering.

The blond Russian woman was nearly finished with her preparations. She looked more beautiful than ever in her dress uniform. Valentina stared at herself briefly in the mirror. She should have been pleased with her efforts and that the man she loved was coming to escort her to the reception, but she was not.

Val knew that Nouri did not love her and perhaps never would. Ever since she had known him these nine years, he had always been in love with someone else, T'Nar. The fact that his wife had died two years ago seemed to change nothing.

As Val looked into the mirror, she did not see her image as she looked now but as a spindly high school sophomore when she first meet Nouri at the Daystrom Technological Institute's Symposium for Young Scientists back in '87.

Her door chimed to signal that her escort had arrived.

"Ghood evening, Kheptin," LCDR Valentina Tsiolkovsky said as she opened the door and exited her room.

"Good evening, Commander," he replied.

 


Title: More Questions Than Answers: Room Service, Part Nine

Stardate: 200103.10

Location: USS Eagle

Setting: Hallway, corridor

Captain Nouristao Kematsopoulos and LCDR Valentina Tsiolkovsky talked on the way to the reception. When they arrived everything ready and in order.

The room and the food looked wonderful. He smiled. His crew had done an excellent job. The reception was off to a good start.

Stretching the length of the room was a series of white clothed tables heavily laden with foods from all over the galaxy. Captain Kematsopoulos had taken full advantage of Rear Admiral Flayton's budget and spared no expense in trying to compensate his crew for such an awful assignment.

He knew that the reception would be the most difficult event to pull off. The tensions between the Tureth and Galadons remained elevated. The hatred between the two was the most intense he had ever seen. The Captain had directed a series of precautions. All personal weapons are supposed to be left in everyone's rooms. The security posture was high and its forces well trained. Security officers dressed as servers augmented the regular staff, and protocol officers abounded in the reception room.

The meticulous Captain took no chances. He had medical and security constantly monitor the food for poison and the sensors in the check room for weapons. He knew that some disruption was foregone conclusion. But he did not know what form it would take. His precautions should prevent all but the most sophisticated premeditated attacks, but a spontaneous outbreak of violence would be more difficult to contain.

Captain K greeted his guests and circulated about the room trying to make everyone feel important and welcomed. Things were going well. Eventually Nouri ended up at the dessert table as did Ensign Liliana Petrescu, the pregnant widow of Ensign Johnson. Arrayed before them was an impressive array of petit fours, chocolate tortes, gulab jamon, kheer, gin duey, tiramisu, Madagascar vanilla bean creme brulle, and several intriguing dishes that even Nouri had not seen before. Ensign Johnson eyed the dessert table eagerly, having intense cravings for dairy products. Only she and her doctor knew she was pregnant with her late husband's child.

The Captain created a plate with some of the gulab jamon, gin duey, tiramisu, and the creme brulle. He looked up and smiles at Ensign Petrescu and her efforts to get out during this difficult time, knowing how heavily her husband's death weighs upon her. He could empathize with her situation having become a widower just a few short years ago. She returned his smile and saw what the Captain had on his plate and helped herself to the tiramisu and the creme brulle.

A beautiful woman from Galadon approached the desert table and added the treats to her plate. She greeted the captain and introduced her self as the Lady Alara. They began to talk. She openly flirted with him, but he was so engaged in her interesting conversation that he was totally oblivious to her advances. He really was enjoying the conversation on Galdonese customs and linguistic oddities. He loved meeting people from other cultures and learning their ways and languages. It was one of the most enjoyable aspects of his job as CO. Joining them briefly was another woman, a human woman who was not oblivious to the Lady Alara's advances towards the Captain. LCDR Valentina Tsiolkovsky was suspicious of the Galadon's motives, but tried to dismiss her own feelings for the Captain. Quickly grabbing another serving of creme brulle, she turned and walked across the room to the samovar to get some Georgian tea. Captain Kemat continued talking to the Lady Alara while sampling the gulab jamon and finishing off the gin duey.

A handsome man from Tureth approached the CENG and distracted her momentarily from her preoccupation with the CO. She was not oblivious to his attempts to flirt with her. In fact, as she looked around the room again she noticed that both the Galadons and the Tureth were trying to engage, attract and win the crew over to their side in the heated debate. She was thoroughly disgusted with them all and this presumptuous fellow who thought she could be so shallowly won over to his side. LCDR Tsiolkovsky was professional, beautiful and trying to be polite. She was also not ripping off the limbs of the man who was trying to impress her. She had promised Nouri three hours ago to keep her family's famous temper in line. She decided to give the man the dating equivalent of a punch to the solar plexus, despite wanting to give him the real thing. She yawned as if bored with a tedious conversion. She excused herself politely from the conversation and returned to the desert table.

The first thing she saw was the woman still flirting with Nouri and she still said nothing. It was not her place to and she knew Nouri knew nothing of her feelings for him. Nor would he unless she ever told him and that, she felt, was pointless. She picked up some Russian tea cookies, and more of the Madagascar vanilla bean creme brulle. Retracing her steps LCDR Tsiolkovsky went over to refill her glass cup with hot Georgian tea from the samovar.

 

Captain K was still having fun talking about linguistic oddities in the Galdonese language with the Lady Alara. He had picked up a spoonful of the creme brulle and had it mere centimeters from his mouth. Comm Officer Schuler interrupts him.

"There you are, sir. I have something that needs your attention," LT Schuler said.

Captain Kematsopoulos had the spoonful two centimeters from his mouth. Instead of eating it, the CO asked disappointedly, "Now, lieutenant?"

LT Schuler, "Yes, sir!"

The Captain put his spoon and plate down, at an unused table near a blue plate and politely excused himself from the beautiful Galodonese lady. He left briskly with the comms officer.


Title: More Questions Than Answers: Room Service, Part Ten

Stardate: 200103.10

Location: USS Eagle

Setting: Corridor

Exiting the reception area, the Captain accessed a terminal in a nearby stateroom and had a heated conversation with Rear Admiral Flayton. After a lengthy exchange, Nouri's usually calm voice went up a decibel. After having spent so many years on Vulcan and Earth training in the martial arts and related disciplines he had a reputation for being unusually serene, calm and steady going. To raise his ire was very hard, if not impossible to do, but the Admiral and this lousy mission he had sent the Eagle on had succeeded.

"You mean to tell me, sir, that besides everything else going on here, the Eagle has a murderer on board?!" the Captain exclaimed.

The Admiral tried to make more excuses of why he could not talk about things. But Flayton only succeeded in helping the Captain put some pieces of the puzzle together. Nouri hated this assignment, as did his crew. At every turn they found more questions than answers. How were they to succeed at this mission?

Nouri launched into a heated monologue, "I think this is no murderer. I think whoever it is a highly trained assassin and now you've allowed him or her onboard my ship!

We had a diplomatic reception planned, as you know, at 18:00 hours. That was three hours ago! Why did you wait until now to give me this vital piece of information? The Eagle has had to put up with more questions than answers, even before you officially gave us this mission. We've been doing our part to make it succeed, I need you to do yours. Our mission will not succeed if you continue to withhold information.

A diplomatic reception with two groups trying to kill each others is hard enough to pull off. But now you tell me you knew about this. Admiral, an assassin with a specialty in poisons is not the type of "guest" I planned on inviting to a banquet. If I am forced to, I'd at least needed the courtesy of knowing about that fact beforehand."

Captain Kematsopoulos cut the comms on the Admiral and shook his head.

It was an unheard of event for the young Captain to lose his temper. A lifetime of training had had that effect, and only the severest cause ever put that training to the test. Rear Admiral Flayton had just succeeded by putting his crew and the other lives in jeopardy by withholding vital information. Nouri could take almost any insult or assault aimed directly at him, but when it was directed against his crew or those in his charge the stakes became much greater.


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