Epilogue to Episode 2/Prologue to Episode 3

[Cmdr Phil]

"Shaky is a good place to start, Lieutenant, and a significant improvement over 'vague disquiet and pure gut feeling based on a shrewd assessment of personality', which is where I have been hitherto," Phil observed. "Now, you have gone far too long without sustenance, so here," he produced a plate with a selection of biscuits on. "Top up your blood sugar and, as a man renewed, show us your 'shaky' and let's see if we can make it into something rather more certain."

tag

[T-Prime]

TK popped the biscuit into his mouth, chewed just enough not to choke on it, and swallowed.

"The ship's computer is programmed to recognize the voices of the crew; It's a security feature." He explained, "It's a very accurate system, but to account for things like noise and stress levels that cause changes in how people sound it uses heuristics to get what is essentially an intelligent 'best guess' of who's speaking. I basically turned off the guess work and analyzed the audio. It recognizes Whitney just fine, which means we can eliminate any environmental factors from the margin of error, but it can't identify Lt. Khangura. I can confidently say there is less than a fifty percent chance that what we're hearing is actually her voice. And if the voice is faked, then at the very least this video is too suspect to be admitted as evidence in a Court Martial. Doesn't hang Whitney though, but I still think my own conversation with him warrants a separate investigation into him, at the very least."

[KendleRJ]

There was a brief chime at her door, and looking up, Lieutenant Khangura, Assistant Chief of Engineering put on a smile and said, "Come in." A rather harried looking younger Ensign, working regular maintenance and trying his best to keep his focus nodded several times as if nervous and said, "Thank you, Ma'am, I mean, Sir."

Her voice lowered slightly and became more soothing. "Joe, tell me what's wrong." He looked even more flustered and flushed, her knowing his name seemed to set that one off. "Sit down, take a breath, and let me know, all right?"

Joe had a PADD in his trembling hand and he sat down with some relief and gripped the arm with his open palm, extending the one with the PADD in it. "I just came from the Mess..." and he laughed nervously, still holding out the PADD. "And boy, it's lived up to its name all right..."

Nav's eyes narrowed slightly and took the PADD as a small nervous chuckle escaped the Engsign's lips. It seemed... he was correct. His routine maintenance on that level seemed to have been disrupted by two rather overly enthusiastic and hungry people, and in his report people was in double quotes and bolded... specifically Keth and Luke, who had been formally identified two paragraphs later. Joe was, if nothing else, thorough. Two stanzas, an aria and three pages later, Nav had arrived at the conclusion of the report.

"Ah," she said. "They broke it."

"Yes, Ma'am... I mean Sir," Joe replied. "I said so in this second paragraph as well as in the footnotes..."

"Not in the bibliography?" Nav asked teasingly, a slight genial poke levelled at Joe... which went right over his head.

"You mean, I should have included one?" he asked, mortified.

"Um, not at all," Nav said, and smiled. She hoped that it might put him at ease... she wasn't sure what he was so nervous about. "Thank you for the report, Joe. Are you going to go ahead and fix the equipment?"

He blushed and looked at her. "I had been trying, but whenever I had managed to repair it, out spat another sandwich." He sighed deeply. "Much to the delight of Security, I might add." Yes, it would be difficult to call security when they, in fact, had already been on site, and the cause of the rather creative need for a repair in the first place.

"You mean, Keth," Nav said, a smile still in her eyes. "He does tend to get enthusiastic about food..." Her eyebrows lifted in a question. "So, it's still not working?"

Joe pointed a finger and turned almost white. "N-n-no, Ma'... Sir."

Her eyes returned to the PADD and the chapter he was indicating. "Ah..." it spat out a sandwich, and clearly the main meal had been finished, with all of the excess of boxes strewn everywhere. "He wanted dessert."

"And was quite adamant about getting it..."

Nav nodded with understanding. "Of course, Joe. You go ahead and take a few moments to get your thoughts together and the right tools for the next job. I can go ahead down there and see if I can't get the machine to start spitting out chocolate lava cakes and cherry cheesecake... will that work?"

She thought he was about to faint as he slumped noticeably in the chair. "Thank you," he whispered under his breath.

Perhaps seeing a feeding frenzy had put him on edge... or he just didn't like the reaction of the crowd from one more sandwich. Maybe he had his own demons to deal with from Whitney, perhaps threatening HIM with expulsion, or worse... She smiled, thankful to be able to get out and about from behind her desk and the neverending stream of PADDs. Her fingers wrapped around the grip of her tool kits and she almost beamed with the sensation. "You stay here, Joe and breathe, all right?" she said easily as she made her way to the door.

"I'll go take a look and see about Frankie..." one more moment wouldn't hurt, would it? Nav ran a hand across the hull of this ship with a name and reassured it. "I'm on my way, everything will be all right."

"Good to hear, Sir," Joe said from the chair as her door slid shut.

Too bad she hadn't been speaking to the Ensign.

Squaring her shoulders, she began the long walk from the bowels of the ship to the Mess, and before she even got there, she could smell the food, and the sharp tang of burnt electronics. Well, she would do what she could to save their mealtime... and rescue them all from savories... Stepping through the door her foot kicked a few empty boxes.

"Excuse me," Nav said with some authority. "I've heard there's something wrong with..." she waved a hand over the machine and magically, as though the waving had caused it, it promptly spat out another sandwich. "Dessert."

She looked down at her chest where the box had hit it, leaving a small grease stain behind. And so... it began. Was that an actual declaration of war? "Get behind me, everyone," she said, staring down the equipment. "It's already messy... it could get... ugly."

Tags Everyone

[Cmdr Phil]

"...And if the voice is faked, then at the very least this video is too suspect to be admitted as evidence in a Court Martial. Doesn't hang Whitney though, but I still think my own conversation with him warrants a separate investigation into him, at the very least."

Phil nodded, "I'll take inadmissible as a decent start point. Hopefully, I got him to SickBay before he could make his injuries, such as they were, look any worse. With a little luck, we might be able to get some proof out of those - even a bruise should give some indicator of angle, strength, handedness and so forth that might differentiate between intent and accident or the identity of the assailant..." He didn't want to go as far as saying, 'or if it was self-inflicted'. He couldn't rule it out - someone determined enough to falsify evidence to that degree could easily use an accidental injury as additional leverage, but it would take a sick mind to injure themselves in some kind of point scoring exercise.

"Continue your investigations as you see best, Lieutenant and let me know if there's anything I..." he glanced at Marian, "or we, can help with. I'll go and check in with SickBay."

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[Amanda Rose]

Whitney was just leaving sickbay when the Commander arrived. His face was beat red and he was holding his arm as if he was severely wounded. "That was quite unnecessary. I told you that I was up to date on my shots. And, as expected, nothing wrong with me."

tag - Phil

"So, when will you be starting the formal proceedings against Lieutenant Khangura. The sooner, the better, in my opinion."

tag - Phil

[T-Prime]

[lucasausems]

[Sjet]

“Er…Luke? Her name is Khangura, not Divali.” Keth said slowly, looking at Luke and then at the mess around the three of them. “And she doesn’t smell at all happy. In fact I am getting aroma’s of rage, frustration and…pickles?”

Keth leaned down and gave Nav a sniff, which ran along the line of being assaulted by a jet turbine.

“Dill to be precise.” Keth said knowingly. He then leaned sideways and said, in a stage whisper the deaf could hear. “If I smelt that coming off of a Huanni female I would be fearing for my life! But Nav only has small hands compared to those females I have known, and I am sure she will only giving minor life threatening injuries.”

Keth paused for a moment, looking at Nav quizzically, and then at Luke with a even more befuddled expression.

“Is…is this part of the human mating ritual called ‘dating’? Or is it ‘dat-thing’? Human words have SO many meanings.” He said exasperatedly wit ha shake of his head, “I only ask as I can smell each of you on the other. I wanted to comment on it before during our shore leave with the Onions, but I was beside myself with grief for losing all of my gifts for you guys.”

He sniffed: that bag had had soooo many guns and knives in it.

“But I will console myself by being your best mate at the wedding.” Keth slapped Luke on the back, propelling him slightly forward.

TAG-Lucas and Nav

Ensign Keth Soban
Security
USS Legacy
So excited! KETH WILL EAT ALL OF WEDDING CAKE!!!!...Or any cake, so to speak.

[KendleRJ]

"Happy Divali?" Luke continued, remembering she had Indian heritage and that today was in fact the ancient Hindu festival of lights.

Nav's eyes widened further and closed her mouth, the colour reinfusing her face in a rather... unfortunate colouring that bordered on an enfuriated pinkness, and she smiled, without humour. "Happy? Interesting choice of words," she took a breath and bit out the last word, "Ensign. I believe I would have preferred to celebrate Divali in a different manner... but well, there it is."

“Er…Luke? Her name is Khangura, not Divali.” Keth said slowly, looking at Luke and then at the mess around the three of them. “And she doesn’t smell at all happy. In fact I am getting aroma’s of rage, frustration and…pickles?”

Keth leaned down and gave Nav a sniff, which ran along the line of being assaulted by a jet turbine.

She exhibited a wholly out of character spin and looked up at Keth, staring at him with a combination of rage and frustration. Dill and a combination of condiments were the unfortunate sides from the attacking burger that landed, open and wholly pathetic on the deck at her feet.

“Dill to be precise.” Keth said knowingly. He then leaned sideways and said, in a stage whisper the deaf could hear. “If I smelt that coming off of a Huanni female I would be fearing for my life! But Nav only has small hands compared to those females I have known, and I am sure she will only giving minor life threatening injuries.”

Gingerly testing the weight of the toolbox she still wore the humourless smile and said, "Don't count on it, Keth," and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

Keth paused for a moment, looking at Nav quizzically, and then at Luke with a even more befuddled expression.

“Is…is this part of the human mating ritual called ‘dating’? Or is it ‘dat-thing’? Human words have SO many meanings.” He said exasperatedly wit ha shake of his head, “I only ask as I can smell each of you on the other. I wanted to comment on it before during our shore leave with the Onions, but I was beside myself with grief for losing all of my gifts for you guys.”

He sniffed: that bag had had soooo many guns and knives in it.

“But I will console myself by being your best mate at the wedding.” Keth slapped Luke on the back, propelling him slightly forward.

The shock on her face was quite blatant and she levelled a withering glance at the Huanni. "I have NO idea to what you are referring," she said and carefully placed her tool box beside the all but gutted replicator and sighed even more deeply than the first time. "By the way, those were O-RI-ons, Keth, not Onions. And I've been far too preoccupied to smell much like anything or anyone else..." 'except of course court martial,' she thought to herself. "Now if you can give me some room, I think this equipment will need some TLC."

And she would continue to provide it for as long as they would allow her to do so, until they had her dragged off her very first assignment in complete disgrace.

Tags All in the Messiest damned Mess :p

[Sjet]