Mission 6

[Amanda Rose]

(Teed/Sam) Mission 6, Day 7: "Poison Banana"

He turned back to the Andorian Ensign and hands now folded behind his back he looked up at the ensign's antennae, noticing their movements and smiling slightly, "And how shall I call you Doctor?" he asked.

Teed watched T'Pani head into the private recovery room and then turned his attention to Sam. His antennae stood straight up in embarrassment. "I thought I had told you. I apologize that I had not. I am Ensign Teed, medical officer, at your service."

"Ah no," Sam smiled, "I would have remembered a name like that. Tell me Doctor, have you experienced Deltans before," he asked, pausing and then adding as if as an afterthought, "professionally, of course."

Teed responded softly, "I have not had the pleasure." His antennae remained standing straight. "There were few in the Academy. I suspect it is because of your Oath of Celibacy."

"The Oath is uncomfortable yes," he replied, "but it prevents sex, not familiarity with Deltans. The Oath only extends to Starfleet service and only so far as sex, which is not actually why Deltans do," he smiled, "what we do."

Teed's antennae drooped slightly. "I see," he said softly. "And why is it that Deltans do what they do?"

"Intimacy," Sam replied just as softly as he watched the Andorian's face and antennae, "sex is the side effect. Not required but it is a nice way of saying 'hello', don't you think?"

Teed's face remained impassive, his antennae moving back slightly interestedly. "It is; however, it could also be needlessly long. I have heard that when I am bonded in my second puberty, I shall no longer crave experiencing the intimacy of anyone or anything interesting. "

"As I have understood that is the case," Sam nodded sagely. "But many Andorians never choose to or just never enter the second puberty and therefore remain without a mate. Oh it is a wondrous thing to be mated truly!" he refrained, "But I understand there is no stigma, in fact, it is highly honorable if one does not take a mate and becomes an explorer or mercenary and continues to enjoy themselves with those they meet."

Teed's antennae wobbled uncertainly. "I do not know that there is a choice in such. And as to stigma, you are incorrect. If we do not propagate, we cannot continue to defend our livestock or property. We constantly must be vigilant. It is our duty to reproduce. If not, we fail our clan."

"Mh," he grunted and added with a small thoughtful smile, "then perhaps you can demonstrate where I've gone wrong in my studies. I had thought that was how much of the genetic diversity on Andoria moved around, since most clans failed to unite for any significant amount of time." He smiled and leaned against the unoccupied biobed, "I am fascinated, I must admit."

"Well, most clans are really just extended families. Any alliances between anyone else does tend to be short lived. I am not really sure why. But, it works for us, I suppose." Teed's antennae drooped a bit.

"I understood it was because of competition for grazing territories which boiled down to food," Sam gestured, "et al, survival. Andoria has a small region of fertile arable land and the grasses that feed your herdbeasts resist cultivation, I am told. So the herds must be where the grass is and the family that owns the herd must move with it."

"So it may seem to an outsider but it is hardly that simple," Teed replied, antennae drooping further.

tag - Sam

[Amanda Rose]

Re: [uss_america_a] Re: Mission 6, Day 8. Morning - Anomalies

Ridika sighed. "Transfer the diagnostic results to a PADD and let's all take a field trip to the Ready Room." She turned to Greg. "You're mighty quiet, Ensign. Do you have any thoughts, before my suggestion becomes an order?"

Mallett smiled over at Ridika, "Oh, I'm betting you would like that, wouldn't you? But no, I have no other suggestions other than making sure your ass stays intact."

T'Pruk looked slightly confused at Myers and Mallett and asked, "Why would your posterior not remain intact, Lieutenant Myers?"

NM

Suddenly, the ship gave such a bone-shaking lurch forward that Ridika had to grab the console in front of her just to keep from keeling over onto the floor.

"...The hell...?" she wondered out loud to herself once she regained balance. Knowing that this was totally unnatural for the America, she looked back at Mallett and T'Pruk with wide, surprised eyes and quickly said, "I'll be in Engineering," before taking off for the door in a fast-paced, yet professional, walk...not even looking back to see whether or not the pair were following her.

Shortly thereafter, Ridika briskly strode through the doors of Engineering and immediately asked, "What the hell was that?! Is everybody alright?"

O'Connor turned back to Ridika, T'Pruk and Mallett and wondered exactly why all of them had boarded the bridge.

Rojan explained to Myers, as if he was explaining to a child, "That was us going to warp. Your engines were not meant for such a quick acceleration and our adaptations were not 100% compatible. It was within expected limits."

tags

[Amanda Rose]

Re: [uss_america_a] Re: Mission 6, Day 8. Morning - Anomalies

Suddenly, the ship gave such a bone-shaking lurch forward that Ridika had to grab the console in front of her just to keep from keeling over onto the floor.

"...The hell...?" she wondered out loud to herself once she regained balance. Knowing that this was totally unnatural for the America, she looked back at Mallett and T'Pruk with wide, surprised eyes and quickly said, "I'll be in Engineering," before taking off for the door in a fast-paced, yet professional, walk, not even looking back to see whether or not the pair were following her. Shortly thereafter, Ridika briskly strode through the doors of Engineering and immediately asked, "What the hell was that?! Is everybody alright?"

Unfortunately Ridika, Mallette and T'Pruk could plainly see that everything was not alright. The CEO was thrown at an awkward position against an alien device. Several engineers were bleeding and the computer chimed, "Warp containment field degradation. Warp containment failure estimated in ten minutes."

Without even a single thought going through her mind, Ridika ran to the comm and yelled, "Medical team to Engineering, NOW!" She looked at Pendragon and the rest of the engineers and motioned towards their consoles and ordered while running to her own console, "Everybody to your stations! Shut it down, SHUT IT DOWN!" Within a few seconds, the decrescendo of the warp core powering down started to be heard. Ridika, then ran to Wells' side just as Medical came through the doors. Seeing that the CEO was lifeless, she turned sharply towards the comm panel, slammed down the button with her fist, and in a calm, but deadly, voice, ordered, "Myers to Security, find Tomar and arrest that motherfucker."

tag - Chambers

A Texan junior grade lieutenant approached Myers and said with a long drawl, "I'm sorry ma'am. We do not know how to shut it down and there's a force field around the Kelvan device which we cannot penetrate."

While the warp core seemed to react a bit to the powering down, the engines were soon back to life with the computer echoing, "Warp core containment failure in nine minutes."

Myers turned urgently toward the young officer. "Can you eject?"

Shields responded, "I do not believe so, ma'am." An Andorian, wearing a medical uniform walked in. His face was impassive but his antennae stood straight up. In a soft voice he asked, "What happened down here, Lieutenant?"

Mallett had moved over to assist some officers and now had some blood on his uniform. "Seems we're in a fine pickle but then again, I never seemed to have relationships last long."

Still majorly pissed off by the situation, Ridika shot a glance at Mallet and asked, "And what is THAT supposed to mean?" Without waiting for his answer, she turned toward the Andorian and quickly replied, "One of those Kelvans fucked up my warp core and when we tried to go to warp, the whole ship jolted and sent everybody flying. Wells is dead and a bunch of my engineers are injured. Take care of them, doctor." Ridika turned to Shields, "You have less than nine minutes...WORK ON IT." She hit the comm button once again, =/\= Myers to O'Connor, we have a MAJOR problem! =/\=

"The Chief Engineer is dead?" the Andorian repeated with an impassive face. His antennae started to twirl out of control.

Shields looked a little shocked at Myers commands and said, "Ma'am, I mean no disrespect, but we can't get near it. Perhaps if you brought the Kelvan here to repair it?"

Mallett looked rather confused at Myers. _Where'd her sense of humor go?_

O'Connor answered on the comm, =/\= What is the problem, Lieutenant Myers? =/\=

Ridika looked at Shields and replied, "If that's the case, it may be the only way." She turned back toward the comm. =/\= Security, belay my previous order and bring Tomar to Engineering =/\= She then switched back to the bridge. =/\= Captain, first of all, we're getting ready to have a warp core containment failure in, oh, about 8 minutes. Secondly, Lieutenant Wells is dead. =/\=

O'Connor could not believe what she just heard. _Well, that's one way to get your job back._ She looked hard at Rojan and Kelinda. "Was this part of your plan?"

Rojan answered, "I assure you, this was not, Captain. There must be some mistake. If you will accompany me...."

O'Connor reflexively pulled out a phaser and said, "I will. Kirk, you have the bridge."

tag - Kirk

Rojan smiled at O'Connor as he pulled Kelinda along. "Come my dear. It seems that our good Captain feels the need to feel secure."

The Andorian started treating the members of engineering that could be helped, which was everyone other than Wells. Most suffered from minor cuts and bruises. There was a broken bone or two but nothing that would not mend with a few days rest.

Shields stood at attention before Myers, trying to avoid looking at the wrecked form of Wells.

Just then, Tomar and Chambers walked into Engineering. Ridika immediately pulled out her phaser, which - in her anger - she automatically set to kill, and pointed it straight at Tomar's head. She growled a single deadly order, "Fix it..."

Tomar had obvious difficulty standing. With a slightly slurred voice he asked, "Fixs whats?"

Ridika shot an angry glance of disapproval towards Chambers. She could feel her ears begin to tingle. Just as the computer chimed, "Seven minutes to warp core containment failure," she looked back towards Tomar and shouted, "You KNOW what!"

"Warp core containsmensh failure? Thatsh...that shoulds not happen."

tag - Chambers

At that very moment, O'Connor arrived with Rojan and Kelinda in front of her. Rojan looked over at Tomar disapprovingly, "You have been drinking again, Tomar. I thought we had told you not to do that again."

Ridika turned towards the group that had just walked in the door and, speaking to Tomar, said, "Oh good! The rest of the Kelvans have arrived! I guess I don't need your drunk ass now and can kill you myself." With her reasoning blinded by sheer anger, she grabbed Tomar's arm, knocked him to the ground, and pressed the phaser to his head in one swift, fluid motion.

Tomar fell easily to the floor but what Ridika did not count on was that when she pressed against her phaser, nothing happened.

Rojan pulled the phaser out of Myers' hand. "That will not be necessary, Lieutenant. We will fix this. It will only take a moment. My apologies for Tomar's behavior."

However, Ridika kept a good hold on her phaser and yanked it back from the Kelvan, pointing it at the pair instead. She replied through her teeth, "No. I don't trust you. I'm going to watch every...single...move you make and I'm going to do it with this phaser in MY possession. Is that understood?"

Rojan snickered. "As you wish, Lieutenant." He looked down at Wells. "It seems you should thank me, however." With that, he touched his belt and moments later the computer replied, "Warp core containment field restored."

Ridika kept the phaser trained on Rojan. She turned her head slightly in the direction of Lieutenant Shields. "Check it, Lieutenant. Make sure it's not just bells and whistles."

Rojan replied before Shields could approach the alien device. "You will not touch it. If you do, you will die or surely get one severe electrical discharge. Everything is in order. Tomar's error was careless."

Ridika's eyes narrowed. "That careless error killed my CEO... Get. That. Thing. OUT. Of. My. Department!"

O'Connor furrowed her brows. "Lieutenant Myers, five minutes in my ready room. Understood?"

Without neither saying another word nor taking her eyes off of Rojan, Ridika slowly dropped her phaser to her side and moved toward the door after O'Connor. On the way out, she noticed that Mallett had taken the PADD with Science's and Engineering's diagnostic reports on it and, as she walked by, Ridika slipped the PADD out of Greg's hands and under her arm.

Rojan told the Captain, "If you will excuse us, Captain. It seems that we need to take care of Tomar. We will be in our quarters when you require us."

TBC

[Amanda Rose]

Re: Mission 6, Day 8. Morning - Anomalies (O'Connor/Myers)

Ridika walked into O'Connor's Ready Room. "I'm assuming you wanted to have a word with me, Captain?" she asked, holding the PADD behind her back, should the case be that she would need to prove a point.

O'Connor scowled. "No, I invited you here for tea, Ridika," was the sarcastic reply.

"That's nice of you, but I'll pass."

"You know, I really should strip you of every level of rank for your behavior back there."

Ridika ground her teeth for a brief moment before raising her eyebrows and replying, "Go ahead."

"You know I already would have done that if that was my intent."

"Well, then, maybe you can explain to me why you believe having an alien species play 'Kitchen' in Engineering and causing an incident that killed my CEO is considered 'acceptable behavior'?"

"I didn't say it was acceptable, Ridika. However, what you did showed a distinct lack of discipline." She sighed, sliding across a PADD to Myers. "You and I are alike. However, I'm red headed and Irish, so my temper is often excused. You have to find a way to control it. I don't like the loss of Wells any more than you do. I don't like having these Kelvans around or letting them modify MY SHIP. But we have no choice. Read."

The PADD began, "Stardate 4657.5, USS Enterprise..." Ridika quickly skimmed through the history of the past Star Fleet encounter with the Kelvans. She looked back up at the Captain and slid the PADD back towards her. "Charming story. Forgive me if I'm not exactly sure what this has to do with us."

"Don't you remember what you found on the planet? All the crystaline dodecahedrons? They're related to these Kelvans somehow. I suspect they're their children. We have to chase them down and stop them. And we can't do it with our technology."

"Well, with the way I've seen things going, we're not going to be able to do it with *their* technology." It was the Captain's turn to do some reading. Ridika slid her own PADD over to O'Connor. "It's too much for the ship to handle. Read."

O'Connor furrowed her brows at the readouts. "Are you sure that this has nothing to do with the accident?"

"Captain... If I didn't find this to be important information, I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of getting the PADD from G-...Ensign Mallett in the first place. This has *everything* to do with the accident." She crossed her arms, subconsciously.

"Now that things are supposedly fixed, though, will the readings be different or the same?"

"Science and I took these readings before the accident even occurred. If they restored the system back to its previous working order, the readings are going to be the exact same...unless they make the appropriate modifications."

"I will speak with them. In the meantime, you're the new CEO again and the information you just read is kept strictly confidential. Remember, they may have some experience with emotions but I doubt they mastered it with the lack of human interaction."

_They fuck with my colleagues again, they'll get *plenty* of human interaction to practice with._ "Permission to make a request, Captain?"

"You may ask, Ridika. No need to be formal here."

"I need them to modify their technology so that humans can work with it safely, as well."

"I'll see what I can do."

Ridika nodded and picked up the PADD, tucking under her arm. She could feel the reality of Wells' death begin to hit, but ground she ground her jaw, determined to force professionalism until the next time she was alone.

O'Connor noticed Ridika's look and softly said, "Hell of a way to get your job back."

Ridika slowly shook her head and replied, "I loved the job...but I didn't want it back quite that bad..." She looked past O'Connor. "She was a hell of an engineer, and, to be honest, it seemed that the America was running just fine without me in charge and even without me at all..." She looked back at the Captain. "Is there anything further, ma'am?"

"It did but it was not the same, Ridika. But that's that nature of Starfleet. As to anything further, no. Just learn to control that temper. I don't want you to suffer my fates. You already have one blemish. You don't need another."

_You have no idea..._ "Permission to return to duty, then?"

"Yeah. Dismissed." She then said, "Make sure as the new CEO you give your schedule some time with Mr. Mallett."

Ridika was turning to leave when O'Connor made the last statement. She furrowed her eyebrows at the Captain, feigning confusion while actually trying to figure out how she knew.

"Oh, don't give me that look. You stumbled over his name. It was a sure sign. You don't get to be Captain without noticing the smallest of details."

One corner of Ridika's mouth turned up in a smile as she nodded. "I see. I'll be in Engineering," she said as she turned to walk out of O'Connor's Ready Room door.

"I would expect nothing less." O'Connor gave her own little smile and turned back to her desk and pulled up a picture of Captain Jayme Kirk. _Just you wait 'til our next meeting!_



JP between Captain O'Connor and Lieutenant Myers