Season 7, Mission 05: Cracks

[Scott Bradley]

Scott was on the bridge surrounded by the senior crew, all going about there day to day duties. It had been a relatively quiet period for the Discovery recently. Only last week several crew members left to join the U.S.S Churchill. A lot of friends had left in this latest transfer. He understood Starfleet was suffering from shortages, but breaking up an experienced crew like the Discovery didn't make sense.

They wouldn't have done this to Kawolsky. Scott could only feel disgruntled, again he felt he was being mistreated by the admiralty because of his Iconian nature. This rejection and prejudice made it even harder for Scott to accept himself. There was so much for him still to work out. But for now, with this almost new crew, save a few stalwarts he had to try and lead by example.

The Discovery herself was making some Trading runs between outer colonys. She was taking on some goods and heading towards her next destination.  He took a PADD from a crewman, signing off on some minor repairs that the engineering department had to do. As he handed the PADD to the young Bajoran woman, he turned to Chief Greegy.

" Chief, what's the status of our shipment? Are we ready to get going? "

[H0D3H0]

Lance Krol skipped aboard the U.S.S. Discovery. Well, maybe he trudged. He may possibly have waltzed aboard, if he could dance. In any case, he boarded the U.S.S. Discovery. Noting small details, the state of the various consoles he passed, the looks on the faces of the crewmembers, the state of the upholstery. It's these little things he liked to know, because they allowed him to know how much the maintenance men - himself included - cared about the ship.

Lance passed a brand spanking new console. He took a closer look. Plasma conduit control, which meant there had recently been a power overload so big that this conduit at least had had to be replaced. Well, he'd heard rumours about a race. Probably pushed the warp drive too hard. Or possibly the impulse.

Moving on. He strode, or possibly floated, past the turbolift, did a one-eighty and strode into it. Remembering his limited training in using these things, he muttered the only department name he remembered. "Engineering," and the computer responded. Just like that.

Damn, MarTech never had stuff like this in his crummy office.

Collecting his thoughts, he resolved to be more consistent in his way of walking. Didn't want to annoy the chief engineer on his first day as a Starfleet Officer. The turbolift took an age to get where he wanted to go, but at least it didn't need to stop for anyone else.

With a sharp, resounding hiss like an airlock opening, which for all he knew they were, the turbolift doors slid open and Lance almost tripped into the engineering deck. Quickly, he thought, Find the chief engineer and get a place to work.

He wandered around till he found someone with an officer's insignia. He followed the uniform up to its owner's face - she looked surprisingly like an old actress he'd seen before during one of his nostalgia trips. He stood to attention, like he'd been taught, in front of an unimpressed-looking Safi Larson. Or maybe she was impressed. or maybe she didn't care. It was hard to tell.

"Ensign Lance Krol, reporting in, Ma'am."

He waited, his feet already tingling with pins and needles, for a response.

[Michael Ferdinand]

Flashes. Several flashes of white light crept into her dreams. An image, gone before it could be registered. The astral projections of the ones she loved standing over her, as if keeping watch until she were to pass and be among them. She could see them all in the dream; darkened skin remaining accompanied with fragments of intact bone; blood stains decorating the faces that could be used for excellent Halloween masks; their hands nothing but bone that was quickly dematerializing into nothingness. Memories plagued her dreams from her very first train rideÁ¢â,¬" which had ended in disaster Á¢â,¬" to her first moments on the Port Royal. And then it got worst. Panting, she was breathing heavily as cold beads of sweat ran down her forehead and manifested themselves throughout her body. Something was chasing her, something that was pure evil, yet she dared not look back. She could hear its heavy footsteps coming closer and closer. Whatever it was extended a hand and reached for her shoulder, sinking its claws in as it met its target. Alyssa turned and screamed when she saw the face. It was the face of...

Alyssa's eyes flew open as someone grabbed her shoulder. She was lounging in the green chair in her office that she had grown fond of over the past few weeks, her heart pounding violently. She looked up to see who had grabbed her shoulder, for the chair was turning towards the person when she opened her eyes. It was Trisha, her wonderful nurse. She had the crease of a frown on her face and her normally smiling eyes that contained the calmness of ocean waves were clouded with worry.

"Are you alright?" Trisha asked in a gentle tone.

Alyssa nodded. "Quite actually." she said. "It appears that I have dozed off while reading up on the newest breakthrough and suffered a nightmare." Alyssa got up slowly, making sure that this was the real world and not just another phase in her twisted mind. "Well, I guess we better be getting back to work." she smiled at Trisha

"After you."  Trisha replied with a hesitant facial expression.

[Seth Sinclaire]

Seth reached the Holodeck doors and tapped his fingers nimbly on the console until the computer responded with - "Please select a scenario."

Seth immediatly responded, knowing precisely what he was after.

"Standyby Scenario, USS Omega 2357, security personel test sequence four."

There was a beep, then silence for a brief moment before the holodeck doors slid open and Seth stepped inside. There he was greeted with a ship of similar design to the Discovery, but with notable difference in the layout and floor colour. The scenario was a seldom used one buried amongst the Security Personel's training archives. It wasn't unknown, but many cadets considered the scenario to be impossible, and it most certainly was. The scenario was designed to make cadets learn from every mistake, and once they ratified that it came up with new and interesting ways to elude them, pointing out the importance never to stop analysing the situation. The goal however, was simple.

Find and arrest a traitor aboard the ship, with enough evidence to convict them. He was not to be killed.

As Seth stepped through he found himself in an unpopulated corridor. The doors hissed shut and as he turned a corner he found himself face to face with a phaser.

"Games up," where the only words Seth heard as shock breached him.

The stranger fired before Seth could even get a look at the man, and the simulation quickly disipated into the black and yellow cube of an unoccupied holodeck.

"Now that was just unfair..."

With a sigh, Seth restarted the simulation.

[Riley T. Munro]

It had been some time since she woke with the sun beaming through her window down on her face, the warm, yellow, and utterly annoying being that was the sun. Although today, her quarters happened to be on the sun side of whatever system they currently passed through.

"Ugh." Being the only word she could muster. She had quite a dislike of solar activity, no matter the sun. A flaming ball of gaseous materials that shown brightly over an entire realm of a people life. Depending on the sun, there were varying degrees of time that they encountered it. But nevertheless, she'd much rather prefer the dark side of Remus. That would be a pleasantry she could not deny. Cool, quiet, night air all of the time, except for the occasional screams from the mines. She could tune that out easily. Although she did miss Earth's moon.

Standing up and rubbing the sleep/sun combo out of her eyes, she made her way to the sink to wash up before getting dressed.

After some time she managed her way to the bridge. Nodding at Scott, she sat in her chair looking over the busy work that was taking place around her.

"Should have had coffee... " She muttered under her breath still hardly wanting to be actively awake.

[RoxanneProsser]

Roxanne awoke to the sight of trees. She looked around, nothing bu greenery, and small flashes of red among them.

"What the...." She couldn't finish her sentence before some manner of large creature burst through the shrubbery, pinning her to the floor.

A gaping mouth and large white fangs filled her vision. A mixture of saliva and blood dripping onto her body. She screamed loudly.

Roxanne sat bolt upright in her bed screaming.

"Oh jeez." She said to herself. She jumped out of bed and headed straight for her sink, throwing water over her face. She looked up in the mirror. Her hair was also wet. Sweat. How long was that nightmare going on for?

She slowly walked over to her replicator.

"Coffee.... no!" She quickly changed her mind. "Tea. Earl grey. Hot."

Seconds later the cup of tea sat there. She picked it up and held it in both hands before moving to sit down. She sat on one side of her couch, and then put her feet up. She sighed and let her head fall backwards, as she stared at the ceiling.

She'd been having the same recurring nightmare. Well, recurring wasn't the right word. It didn't happen all the time, just most of it.

"Computer. Time?"

---Time is oh eight hundred hours.---

"Thank you computer." Roxanne sipped at her tea.

She leant over to her table and activated her laptop. She re-read the latest message from Jola. He had entered another race, came second. He had alot of prize money. The rest was just gibberish she didn't care about.

[Scott Bradley]

It had been some time since she woke with the sun beaming through her window down on her face, the warm, yellow, and utterly annoying being that was the sun. Although today, her quarters happened to be on the sun side of whatever system they currently passed through.

"Ugh." Being the only word she could muster. She had quite a dislike of solar activity, no matter the sun. A flaming ball of gaseous materials that shown brightly over an entire realm of a people life. Depending on the sun, there were varying degrees of time that they encountered it. But nevertheless, she'd much rather prefer the dark side of Remus. That would be a pleasantry she could not deny. Cool, quiet, night air all of the time, except for the occasional screams from the mines. She could tune that out easily. Although she did miss Earth's moon.

Standing up and rubbing the sleep/sun combo out of her eyes, she made her way to the sink to wash up before getting dressed.

After some time she managed her way to the bridge. Nodding at Scott, she sat in her chair looking over the busy work that was taking place around her.

"Should have had coffee... " She muttered under her breath still hardly wanting to be actively awake.

Scott couldn't suppress a small chuckle at Riley's reaction.

" Well. you'll have plenty of time to wake up. This trading run is a nice change of pace, and I doubt we'll have anything too pressing. So take your time commander. "

[Riley T. Munro]

Scott couldn't suppress a small chuckle at Riley's reaction.

" Well. you'll have plenty of time to wake up. This trading run is a nice change of pace, and I doubt we'll have anything too pressing. So take your time commander. "

"I will take my time, but in the entire time you have known me, I have never been a morning person. Might as well get used to it." She said in a sarcastic yet humorous way.

[Safi Larson]

Lance Krol skipped aboard the U.S.S. Discovery. Well, maybe he trudged. He may possibly have waltzed aboard, if he could dance. In any case, he boarded the U.S.S. Discovery. Noting small details, the state of the various consoles he passed, the looks on the faces of the crewmembers, the state of the upholstery. It's these little things he liked to know, because they allowed him to know how much the maintenance men - himself included - cared about the ship.

Lance passed a brand spanking new console. He took a closer look. Plasma conduit control, which meant there had recently been a power overload so big that this conduit at least had had to be replaced. Well, he'd heard rumours about a race. Probably pushed the warp drive too hard. Or possibly the impulse.

Moving on. He strode, or possibly floated, past the turbolift, did a one-eighty and strode into it. Remembering his limited training in using these things, he muttered the only department name he remembered. "Engineering," and the computer responded. Just like that.

Damn, MarTech never had stuff like this in his crummy office.

Collecting his thoughts, he resolved to be more consistent in his way of walking. Didn't want to annoy the chief engineer on his first day as a Starfleet Officer. The turbolift took an age to get where he wanted to go, but at least it didn't need to stop for anyone else.

With a sharp, resounding hiss like an airlock opening, which for all he knew they were, the turbolift doors slid open and Lance almost tripped into the engineering deck. Quickly, he thought, Find the chief engineer and get a place to work.

He wandered around till he found someone with an officer's insignia. He followed the uniform up to its owner's face - she looked surprisingly like an old actress he'd seen before during one of his nostalgia trips. He stood to attention, like he'd been taught, in front of an unimpressed-looking Safi Larson. Or maybe she was impressed. or maybe she didn't care. It was hard to tell.

"Ensign Lance Krol, reporting in, Ma'am."

He waited, his feet already tingling with pins and needles, for a response.

*Safi was looking over the Engine Readouts from the Warp Core from her time away the Discovery had undergone some repairs she looked over seeing the young officer she then took an breath she was the experienced officer and now there sending green officers come though her mind*

"Ensign, welcome in Engineering you ether call me Ensign or Chief I am not Ma'am" Finished Safi Picking up an Blank Padd and entering some information "your assignment for today is the following, Head up to Deck 2 and replace power relay for Junction 12-Alpha its having an power drain after that you are to head down to sickbay and run an Level 2 Diagnostic on the Sickbay Standalone power grid following that head down to Impulse Control  and run an check on the new coils that were just installed after that I want an full Level 1 Diagnostic on all Ani-Matter safety systems you have till 14:30 to complete any questions?"Finished Safi

[Seth Sinclaire]

Seth allowed the holodeck to dissipate back as he failed the scenario once again. With a sigh, and a slightly sweaty forehead, he stepped out into the busy corridor heading towards the crew lounge.

Upon entering, he faced three other recruits, spread sparsely apart on individual tables. They were either looking at PADDs, poring through some tedious data or staring lazily out of the window towards the bright orange sun of the system the USS Discovery was currently in. Seth but his lower lip out of nervous habit and turned his back to the room as he faced a replicator.

"Tea, any brand, two sugars, gold." Seth muttered at the repilcator. It responded with efficiency and produced the tea in a dark container which he quickly grabbed before seating himself at the nearest table, facing towards the door.

'Damn my awkwardness!' Seth screamed in his head, 'I couldn't do the normal thing and just sit with someone new and have a conversation. Nooo! That's too scary for Seth Sinclaire!'

He quickly shook head free of the thoughts; there was no point in being self-depricating. If he couldn't talk to someone first, all he hoped was that someone would have the guts to try talking to him instead. It really wouldn't pay off well for his superiors to see him acting like this on duty.

[Scott Bradley]

"I will take my time, but in the entire time you have known me, I have never been a morning person. Might as well get used to it." She said in a sarcastic yet humorous way.

" That's true. "

Scott stood up and pulled down his uniform top, which had risen up.

" Helm, lay in a course for our next drop off. Warp 5. "

The duty helm officer complied, and Scott felt the ship leap into warp, heading for her penultimate drop off sight.

[H0D3H0]

*Safi was looking over the Engine Readouts from the Warp Core from her time away the Discovery had undergone some repairs she looked over seeing the young officer she then took an breath she was the experienced officer and now there sending green officers come though her mind*

"Ensign, welcome in Engineering you ether call me Ensign or Chief I am not Ma'am" Finished Safi Picking up an Blank Padd and entering some information "your assignment for today is the following, Head up to Deck 2 and replace power relay for Junction 12-Alpha its having an power drain after that you are to head down to sickbay and run an Level 2 Diagnostic on the Sickbay Standalone power grid following that head down to Impulse Control  and run an check on the new coils that were just installed after that I want an full Level 1 Diagnostic on all Ani-Matter safety systems you have till 14:30 to complete any questions?"Finished Safi

"Non at all, Ma - Chief," Lance corrected himself. He saluted and turned to leave. Freakin' officers think they're being informal when they refuse to be called by protocol. 'Chief' Larson would still be a chief engineer. You have to be pretty anal-retentive to get that high up. But another ensign? Why would an ensign be given basic control of the ship?

--------------------------------------------------

Lance finished logging the information from the diagnostics and headed to the mess. Well, he asked directions to the mess. Why a level-1 diagnostic on the anti matter safety? If anti-matter leaked, nothing much would save us. A level 1 diagnostic would only reveal glaring problems and would be inefficient. he put the thoughts out of his mind. This was his first day in Starfleet. He probably just didn't know how it worked.

Strolling in, he saw lots of people. Lots. Autism kicked in, and he immediately quick-marched to the replicator. "Grape juice, red," he ordered. Giving it a quick taste, he decided what people said was completely wrong. What synthetic taste? It was just electrically transported sub-atomic particles rearranged to make grape juice. Hell, you could make solid gold bars out of this thing and they wouldn't be any less golden. Come to think of it, maybe you could use this thing to make cannabis...

No. It would be blocked and he had to stay straight. That's what he was here for.

He turned around. More people. Quick-marching to a table, he sat down and noted with muted horror that there was someone sitting across from him. He awkwardly hunched down over his juice, then decided, The hell with it.

He extended his hand across the table to Seth Sinclaire. "Hi, I'm Lance. Krol," he added hastily. "I realize I outrank you, but I'm completely new to starfleet. Do you have any idea what one does in their spare time here? Is there anything to do? Not that I couldn't entertain myself - " You're babbling. He slapped himself mentally, and let the other man speak. He realized too late that he hadn't asked for his name.

[Seth Sinclaire]

He extended his hand across the table to Seth Sinclaire. "Hi, I'm Lance. Krol," he added hastily. "I realize I outrank you, but I'm completely new to starfleet. Do you have any idea what one does in their spare time here? Is there anything to do? Not that I couldn't entertain myself - " You're babbling. He slapped himself mentally, and let the other man speak. He realized too late that he hadn't asked for his name.

Seth raised his eyes as Lance sat across from him, eyes widening in shock. He noticed Lance seem to react similarly when he finally noticed him, Seth thought furiously in his head over what he should do while the awkwardness lingered like a bad smell.

Without warning, Lance extended his hand and began to introduce himself with apparently more confidence than he had and Seth blinked for a couple of seconds, staring at the hand in surprise. He took in a quick inhale and regained control of his senses as he pushes his hand forward to grip Lance's and shake it.

"Er-Hi! I'm Seth Sinclaire. And um, I suppose I go to the holodeck most of the time. I mean, I don't really know anyone here and so I just spend most of my time there going over the impossible training scenario and-yeah." Seth cut himself short and gulped slightly as a slight smile crawled onto his face. Someone finally talked to him! he thought wildly.

"So..um, tell me about yourself!" he asked, as he let go of the handshake, exhaling with a shaky smile.

[H0D3H0]

Seth raised his eyes as Lance sat across from him, eyes widening in shock. He noticed Lance seem to react similarly when he finally noticed him, Seth thought furiously in his head over what he should do while the awkwardness lingered like a bad smell.

Without warning, Lance extended his hand and began to introduce himself with apparently more confidence than he had and Seth blinked for a couple of seconds, staring at the hand in surprise. He took in a quick inhale and regained control of his senses as he pushes his hand forward to grip Lance's and shake it.

"Er-Hi! I'm Seth Sinclaire. And um, I suppose I go to the holodeck most of the time. I mean, I don't really know anyone here and so I just spend most of my time there going ovr the impossible training scenario and-yeah." Seth cut himself short and gulped slightly as a slight smile crawled onto his face. Someone finally talked to him! he thought wildly.

"So..um, tell me about yourself!" he asked, as he let go of the handshake, exhaling with a shaky smile.

Krol looked obscenely nervous. What can I tell him about my past that isn't drugs or autism? Maybe I'll just tell him what I am now...

"Well," Lance smiled slightly, "If I told you details you wouldn't believe me. I'm 33 and I joined Starfleet because of... personal problems. I WAS the chess champion of the world and a professional civilian engineer. Let's just say I'm not what I was."

He registered a challenge. "Did you say 'Impossible'?" He leant in closer.

[Seth Sinclaire]

Krol looked obscenely nervous. What can I tell him about my past that isn't drugs or autism? Maybe I'll just tell him what I am now...

"Well," Lance smiled slightly, "If I told you details you wouldn't believe me. I'm 33 and I joined Starfleet because of... personal problems. I WAS the chess champion of the world and a professional civilian engineer. Let's just say I'm not what I was."

He registered a challenge. "Did you say 'Impossible'?" He leant in closer.

Seth kept his shaky smile and nodded as Lance talked about himself.

"Sounds impressive," he announced "I won't ask what isn't my business. But to answer your question, yes. It's a security training scenario and it's designed to change depending on how you play. You have to arrest a traitor AND gain enough sufficient evidence to convict him. You can't kill him. Just as you think you've got him, the computer finds a way to beat you. Last time I tried it, I got phased the second I stepped on board, it was bloody ridiculous!"

Seth chuckled lightly, feeling a bit more self-confident. Sudenly, an idea popped into his head.

"Hey, Lance, would you like to try the Scenario with me? Together we might just be able to crack it!"