Staff Stumper Sussed

Posted on Tue Feb 22nd, 2022 @ 3:24am by Captain Devin Hadenbeer & Lieutenant Commander Dorian Sheppard & Lieutenant Commander Ull Arkyn & Lieutenant Commander R'elle

2,106 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Into The Void
Location: Conference Room, Bridge

The conference room was well appointed, with a large table and comfortable chairs, windows that showed the glory of space, and a lovely mural of the three ships that had been named Lionheart: a Saber, Akira and Chariot class. But there was no Captain Hadenbeer on hand, only a PADD laying on the table...

"Sure. Send those files over and I'll have an answer for you by the end of the day." Qetzal closed the comm link and looked over to the abandoned PADD. She gave it a skeptical look and then went over to the replicator to grab a randomized blended breakfast drink. She tried to avoid eating in front of others, preferring meals to be quiet and private. However, having her stomach announce its hunger during a staff meeting was also not ideal. The fruit combination in the drink was an interesting one and she had the replicator send a copy of the order to her files so she could try it again at a later date.

She returned to the table and added her own PADD to the table before sitting down.

Councilor R'elle walked in. She went over to the replicator. "Coffee, hot mixed with 1/4 hot chocolate." as soon as the replicator provided the drink she took a deep drink. "Ahh better. Morning Commander. So how are you this morning?" She sat down next to the commander and laid her own pad on the table.

"I'm doing well," Qetzal answered and rubbed at the tickle under her nose. In all her years as an officer, she had never served with so many cats and she considered whether she might have an allergy to them. The impending sneeze faded, but then the doors opened once again. When the little felinoid entered, so too the urge to sneeze returned. "Excuse me," she automatically said.

MELL

I floated down the hallway on my grav-platform and onto the turbo lift. I was heading to the first Senior Staff meeting and I was a little nervous. At least the turbo lifts didn’t have any problem with me… My last ship had taken over a week to get the internal sensors to flag me as crew not a pet with no turbo lift access.

After entering the conference room I stopped my grav-platform over one of the chairs around the conference table and said “Good morning everyone.” as I stifled a massive yawn.

R'elle replied, "Morning Mell'una. Good to see you." She took another drink of her coffee/hot chocolate drink.

SHEPPARD

Sheppard enters the conference room at the last minute and without looking up from his PADD. He taps an icon and scrolls through a list of data, slipping silently into the nearest open seat.

Content with his findings, he approves the data and sends it back to LaBrea for her records and official log. It’s only then that he turns the PADD facedown and acknowledges the others at the table. He gives a smile to Mel and a nod to the Counselor and Commander.

“Would anyone like some tea?” he asks, rising awkwardly, noticing too late that both Qetzal and R’elle already have beverages.

ARKYN

Ull walked in holding a mug of coffee in his hand, at least it smelled like coffee but the contents were almost as thick as tar. He say down at the table and placed his PADD in front of him. He had never liked mornings, they just didn't suit him. He smiled at everyone that was already present.

SHEPPARD

He moves to the replicator, saying, “Tea, strong, white, sweet, hot.” He watched as it materializes, carefully takes a sip to test it, returns to his seat with the drink and asks, “Um, has anyone been informed as to our destination?”

He tries to make eye contact with Commander Qetzal, assuming she, if any, would know. “It’s just, I’m pushing the Warp Core and I kinda need to know for . . . uh . . . how . . . long . . .” His voice trails off...

Time moved on and it approached the hour of the meeting, and there was no captain in sight. Nor was there any sign of the new Chief Medical Officer or Alia...

Qetzal returned the look to the chief engineer, "Isn't there a standard set of tests for the core to go through to make sure everything is within tolerances? Did you finish those tests?"

“Um, ahem yes, of course, yes,” Sheppard replies, clearing his throat and squirming uncomfortably in his seat. “It’s just, Warp 6…”

"Warp six is pushing the warp core?" Qetzal asked.

“Well, uh, no. Not the core itself, uh,” he stammers. “Sure, we can maintain that indefinitely, but the maintenance of the systems and balancing of flow controls is taxing on people. They’re mostly Ensigns, and while I’m fully confident in their abilities, I just thought, um, if I could give them a slightly specific time frame, we can modify the roster schedule for maximum efficiency of, uh, staffing…” His voice trails off as he realizes the XO is focused on more immediate concerns.

Qetzal looked puzzled, whether by Sheppard's stammering answer or the Captain's absence, one couldn't be certain. Perhaps both... She watched the clock and the door for the remainder of the senior staff's arrival - for the captain's arrival, specifically. The Ops officer was reported to be under medical care in Sickbay. And the closer to 0600 hours it became, the greater her agitation. At 0600, she grabbed the abandoned PADD that had been on the table before she arrived, "What's the deal?" she asked under her breath.

The PADD had been dormant until the XO picked it up. Then text sprang to life on it:

To admire the beauty of the heavens, one must see it from within.

"What is this?" the first officer gave the door a glaring look that ran short of boring straight through to the captain's ready room. Six in the morning was no time for games. She slid the PADD back to the table and headed for the door to find Hadenbeer.

SHEPPARD

The Chief Engineer looks around the table uncomfortably as the First Officer exits, obviously frustrated. “Um, should we-“ he stands partway, sits again, then stands and says, “I’m gonna-“ and gestures toward the door with the side of his head. He glances down at the unclaimed PADD, makes a mental note of its saying, slides it over to Mell, and then follows the XO.

The junior officers manning the bridge watched the XO stalk out of the conference room and make a beeline for the ready room. The door chime sounded when Junix pressed it but there was no response.

"Ah..."

That was from lieutenant j.g. Shadai, who sat in the Captain's chair...and looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there at that moment; she had seen the look on the XO's face. She cleared her throat and began again, "The Captain is not in, sir. I mean, not unless she transported directly into her quarters last night or this morning. Um, Jor?"

The young man at Ops quickly checked something on his board, "No record of a transporter in use last night," he checked something else, "And nothing in the sensor logs, so no unauthorized use as well."

“Commander,” Sheppard says to get Junix's attention, then taps his Comm. “Computer. What is the location of Captain Hadenbeer?”

There was a pause, then the computer replied, "Captain Hadenbeer's location is classified."

Qetzal sighed, privately thinking, "This woman is going to drive me insane." Out loud, she asked, "Does helm have a heading locked in," she asked the flight officer.

Toelau spared a moment to glance over her shoulder at the XO, "Yes, Commander. We are on heading four two four mark nine."

Qetzal recognized the heading as one directed towards some point between Klingon and Romulan territories. She gave a nod, "Okay, thank you." She turned on her heel and returned to the briefing room.

Meanwhile, back in the briefing room, R'relle picked up the padd and read it out loud. "HMmm, ok. Seems the captain wants us to play a game. Perhaps a test. mmm, so anybody have any ideas?"

Ull took a sip of his coffee and then put down the cup before he looked at R'relle and smiled. "I enjoy games, but feel this is too early..." He paused for a sec. "This is early right? My internal clock has never really seemed to adjust to space travel." He holds out his hand to R'relle. "May I take a look at the PADD?"

"Of course." She hands the padd to him. "You are right though. it is very early. Hard to think this early in the morning."

As Qetzal returned, she grabbed PADD and flipped it back onto its face as she returned to her seat. "Right, let's get started," she said. "Arkyn, have you had a chance to look over the tactical and security systems thoroughly?" On the controls next to her seat, Qetzal tapped in several commands. The computer bleated back at her. She changed tactics and quickly entered a new search parameter.

Ull looked at Quetzal. "Yes, sir. I have reviewed all systems thoroughly. What are we looking to do, sir?"

"Looking to do?" Junix looked at the large Orion, curious. His question was not complete enough for her to correctly answer.

Ull looked at Quetzal with a quizzical expression. "Maybe I used the wrong words... Do you need my teams ready to deploy? Are we expecting combat once we get out of warp?" Ull smiled at Quetzal and then took another drink of his coffee.

"Maybe I was wrong to think that you've never served on a Chariot Class before? But in my experience, it takes a few days to become comfortable with the ship's layout and interfaces. That is how I intended to direct my question. Are you comfortable with the ship's design and systems... if we did find ourselves in a random battle, do you feel confident that you would be able to defend the ship?" Qetzal clarified.

While the exchange between Qetzal and Arkyn continued, Junix split her attention to watch the query results. She was looking for null returns within the internal sensors starting around astrometrics and working her way throughout the remainder of the ship.

The XO noted that internal sensors showed there were three life forms in Astrometrics, and that one of them was...wearing a space suit...

Junix pressed her lips together, suppressing the smile of victory she felt. Using her command overrides, she locked down Astrometrics to prevent anyone from coming or going - emergency shielding around the entire lab and every interface went offline. Then she dropped the gravity generators in the lab, silently indicating the hunt was over.

"And, Lt Commander R'elle, have you had a chance to review the crew records? Any concerns or insights you feel we need to discuss?"

"Well, I find this whole mysterious thing with the Captain and her riddle rather unorthodox but I am reserving judgement for now. As for the rest of the crew, well I have made my way through the senior staff and a good portion of the junior officers. The youngest and most inexperienced of the Jr crew are green and lack experience. I would not put them in charge of anything but that is typical for crew persons that inexperienced. However, I have been informed that a couple of them have made some remarks that might be considered xenophobic or perhaps specist. I am going to talk to said crew members and see what I can determine for myself. I will not mention any names until I am sure this is a problem." R'elle said. "Speaking of the captain has anybody tried to actually contact her about this?"

"The captain is playing hide and seek," Junix replied. "I'm not sure why she is playing, but I presume it is that she has a strange sense of humor. Did you want to play?"

Before anyone could answer the room comm chirped and Hadenbeer's voice was heard.

"Very funny," she noted. It was difficult to tell what mood she was in. Certainly she did not sound angry. Annoyed, perhaps? But annoyed at the loss of gravity or the speed at which the puzzle was solved it was hard to tell, "Now that it seems you have discovered my location I would like everyone to convene down her," she paused, then added on a wry note, "And as it seems someone has locked me in it appears I am not going anywhere..."

 

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