S12 - M7: Back to Basics

[T'Ra Jones]

[Bridge]

Steve chirped in reply, as if promising to be on his best behaviour. It was a cheerful addition to the constant cacophony of sound that greeted her on the bridge every morning. It was no chorus of birds singing, but to her it wasn't any less natural, and T'Ra trusted her officers to alert her if any of the chimes actually warranted her attention.

[Bridge]

"Hate to break up the morning chatter, Captain, but we've got a distress call hailing us." And boy, what a time for it to happen with the Admiral on board! She turned in her swivel chair. "And the Admiral is head up as we speak, so that's nice."

[Bridge]

"I'm afraid you're going to have to elaborate, Miss Reyes," T'Ra remarked, standing so she could face the Chief Ops Officer. After all, Evan clamoring about the little raptor could be a 'distress call'.

"Can you put it on screen?" she asked, before adding, "Where is it coming from?" She tugged at the hem of her tunic while she waited for a reply, smoothing it out and getting ready to not only receive the admiral on the bridge but to address an unknown wretch as well.

"No need to apologize, Lieutenant.  Rest assured that your position of embarrassment shall stay safe with me,"  T'Lulu paused.  "And the rest of Ward Three."  She grinned.  Though emotionless, T'Lulu had practice with manipulating the emotions of sentient species for the better.

Evan Buehler's face flushed slightly, but he decided to laugh at his own expense.

"The Admiral is visiting today.  Have you met Admiral Adeyemi before?"

"I have not," T'Lulu replied.  "I look forward to his impression of our medical bay.  I hope he will be pleased.  Tell me," she paused.  "What does he think of androids?"

[Sickbay - NPC Evan Buehler]

Evan tugged anxiously at his collar as his face got all flushed and warm. Ach du meine GÁƒtte, he thought to himself. Why do I need to get so red in front of an android? Androids didn't really worry about that sort of thing, very much like the Vulcans. Come to think of it, she even kind of looked like a Vulcan.

"I don't think my wife is ever going to let me live it down either," he chuckled before changing the subject. "When T'Ra did a stint with the admiralty, I ended up meeting more than a few of them, but Adeyemi wasn't one of them. All I know of the bloke is just hearsay."

[Alexander Wu]

[Transporter Room 2 - P-Way]

"Admiral Adeyemi." He enfolded the other man's hand in his own, gave it the requisite two pumps, and ended the handshake. "Our drive core kept polarizing and then un-polarizing itself. We managed to fix it for the time being, but the runabout will need permanent repairs soon."

The Prometheus class vessel was as sleek on the inside as it was on the out. As Wu had said, lights on the bulkheads guided them to their destination. Such a vessel made Adeyemi a bit uneasy, however. The Discovery was a warship in everything but name. The Multi Vector Assault Mode feature actually made it three warships. The class of vessel had been designed at the height of the war with the Dominion. Why it was the flagship was beyond him. Still, he supposed a show of force here and there on the frontier did not hurt, and by all accounts Captain Jones was a level headed commanding officer.

"I believe I will make myself presentable and greet the captain," Adeyemi declared in his accented voice. "Thank you for your help, commander. I'm sure we'll link back up soon."

[Deck 3 VIP Quarters]

Adeyemi's silent observations hadn't slipped by Alex's notice, though he stayed neutral, allowing the Admiral to formulate his own opinion of the Discovery. "Due to our unique position of having three individual warp cores, we have some of the best engineering specialists outside of Jupiter Station." he mentioned with a hint of pride in his voice. "They'll have your runabout running smoothly well before your departure date. Your quarters, sir." They continued down the corridor, Alex pointing out several of the more interesting or important design aspects onboard.

Alex paused outside a nondescript door, keying the access panel. The VIP quarters weren't luxurious by most standards, but they were fairly well appointed for a Federation starship. There was even already a spare uniform set hanging by the closet, as suggested in a 'What the Admiral needs' cheatsheet forwarded to them by a helpful officer from Starbase Columbus. "My pleasure, Admiral. I know Captain Jones is eager to welcome you onboard as well. Please take your time. When you're ready, I can escort you the bridge." He smiled slightly, stepping back outside the room, resigned to a long wait. Tapping his commbadge, he gave T'ra a friendly warning. "Jones, this is Wu. Just to let you know, the Admiral is in his quarters, we'll be up shortly."=/\=

After several minutes bouncing on his heels, Alex had to hide his surprise when Adeyemi stepped back out earlier than he had expected, freshly shaven and dressed. "If you're ready, Admiral, right this way." He led the way back to the turbolifts. It wasn't a long ride from Deck 3 up to the bridge.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Deck 3 VIP Quarters]

Adeyemi's silent observations hadn't slipped by Alex's notice, though he stayed neutral, allowing the Admiral to formulate his own opinion of the Discovery. "Due to our unique position of having three individual warp cores, we have some of the best engineering specialists outside of Jupiter Station." he mentioned with a hint of pride in his voice. "They'll have your runabout running smoothly well before your departure date. Your quarters, sir." They continued down the corridor, Alex pointing out several of the more interesting or important design aspects onboard.

Alex paused outside a nondescript door, keying the access panel. The VIP quarters weren't luxurious by most standards, but they were fairly well appointed for a Federation starship. There was even already a spare uniform set hanging by the closet, as suggested in a 'What the Admiral needs' cheatsheet forwarded to them by a helpful officer from Starbase Columbus. "My pleasure, Admiral. I know Captain Jones is eager to welcome you onboard as well. Please take your time. When you're ready, I can escort you the bridge." He smiled slightly, stepping back outside the room, resigned to a long wait. Tapping his commbadge, he gave T'ra a friendly warning. "Jones, this is Wu. Just to let you know, the Admiral is in his quarters, we'll be up shortly."=/\=

After several minutes bouncing on his heels, Alex had to hide his surprise when Adeyemi stepped back out earlier than he had expected, freshly shaven and dressed. "If you're ready, Admiral, right this way." He led the way back to the turbolifts. It wasn't a long ride from Deck 3 up to the bridge.

[Passageways - VIP Quarters]

Adeyemi had nodded affably when Wu was going on about their specifications. It wasn't a surprise: division officers were always proud of their vessel's specs. Had Wu said anything different the admiral would have been confused, perhaps suspicious.

He was pleased to find a fresh change of uniform in the well appointed quarters. He stripped bare and used the sink to wash the days of travel and grime from his body. Quite unconcerned with keeping Commander Wu waiting, Adeyemi stepped into the shower for a quick rinse, and to shave off the tiny pinpoints of stubble on his head and face. Even with his nonchalance, it wasn't long before he appeared, considerably freshened up, before the pilot officer again. A lifetime of Starfleet routine had hardwired him to move fast, with little wasted time. Now it was just another habit.

Adeyemi found the old fashioned writing implements that all visiting dignitaries and flag officers seemed to crave at their desks. The admiral wasn't one for nostalgia, but he had to admit that the outdated materials suited his present purpose quite admirably. He scrawled a quick note on the paper with the metal pen, tore it from the pad, and carefully tore the paper so he only had a tiny scrap containing his message. The rest of the paper went back into the pad, for its next user to puzzle over.

[Turbolift]

"I understand you were quite close friends with my predecessor on the Starbase Columbus," Adeyemi declared on the short ride. His own face was expressionless as he studied Wu's for any reaction. "The former captain has fallen off the map. Scarpered, you might say. The official position of Starfleet Command is that he has deserted his duty and is a nonperson. Should he ever be found, he would be subject to all kinds of disciplinary boards, I'd imagine."

" Halt turbolift. " Adeyemi said abruptly. When it had glided to a smooth stop, he pulled the scrap of paper from his pocket, and held it up in front of Commander Wu's eyes.

The admiral clearly wasn't used to writing by hand. In a broad, childish script the note read:

MEMORIZE FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

EMPERADOR IV "SUPPLY DEPOT", STARDATE 71689.1. FIND FILE NAME PLUMBAGO PASSWORD ARGANTHONIOS

GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS COMMANDER

The moment stretched for what seemed like eternity. Adeyemi's brown eyes were locked onto Wu's black ones as the latter read. Once he was sure that there was no doubt that the other man understood, quite purposefully, the admiral crumpled up the note and ate it. A few awkward moments of chewing and moistening, including some funny facial expressions from Adeyemi, and the note was gone, never to be recorded or seen again.

" Resume. " Finally breaking his stare, Adeyemi nodded slightly to the other officer with a fiercely respectful expression in his face, as if Wu had just singlehandedly won a war.

[Bridge]

The bridge of the Prometheus class Discovery was too brightly lit for Adeyemi's liking. The Starbase was very dark, due to its size: it simply wasn't an efficient use of power to keep it too explosively illuminated. But he had to concede that the smaller size of it was an improvement on the Columbus. He couldn't imagine how the former CO had gotten around with his injuries in such a large area.

"Thank you for the tour, Commander," Adeyemi's Nigerian English rang out in the small space. He had a battlefield voice, one that came from his guts. It wasn't obtrusive or overly loud to turn heads, but there was no mistaking it, either.

"Captain Jones," The admiral went on, and stepped towards the Vulcan hybrid. His tone was formal. "It is an honor, captain. I am at your service."

[Kali Reyes]

[Bridge]

"I'm afraid you're going to have to elaborate, Miss Reyes," T'Ra remarked, standing so she could face the Chief Ops Officer. After all, Evan clamoring about the little raptor could be a 'distress call'.

"Can you put it on screen?" she asked, before adding, "Where is it coming from?" She tugged at the hem of her tunic while she waited for a reply, smoothing it out and getting ready to not only receive the admiral on the bridge but to address an unknown wretch as well.

[Bridge]

Technically, the Joe Schmo behind the Communications console was supposed to go through the static gargle when calls came in, but Ensign Ru looked just as puzzled that it came to Kali's console instead. She could only offer him a shrug and chalked it up to luck on his end. After all, he just had to sit back and let the Ops lady do all his work for him.

"It's all garbled," she replied, her fingers working the screen. "Utter junk static. No point of origin, nothing. It's corrupting whatever is trying to come through. Give me a minute to isolate it." She did however toss up the visual, if there was any on it. For all they knew it was audio only, but it didn't hurt to try.

The Admiral took that moment to come in and introduce himself while she worked, so the only sounds coming from her was tapping at the console in a rather irritable fashion. Why can't distress calls ever be simple?

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Bridge]

"Well, do your best not to get us lost while the admiral is on board," T'Ra mused, an arched brow the only indication that she was still amused. "Though if we do get lost, be sure to disable communications so that the admiral won't be able to inform Starfleet of the fact."

Stretching her shoulders to ease the tension that had been building up in her muscles, she added, "I'm sure the admiral knows where to find me when he's ready. And Steve better be on his best behavior." As fond as she was of the little guy, she would not be happy if he created an embarrassment for the ship.

[Bridge]
"See? He promises to be good!" Ardyn grinned, her usual wry smirk on her face. She was one of the few people who understood the Vulcan Captain's signature brand of humor, perhaps from spending so much time with her, and her subtle empathetic reading. "If I get lost, I'll tell you, and you can tell me "I told ya so'". Ardy joked.

Out of habit, Ardy straightened up at her seat. She wasn't usually so much a stickler on appearances, but this was one of Starfleet's bigwigs here, and she at least wanted to put on the appearance of being a good Officer as she put the ship on an intercept with the distress signal.

[T'Ra Jones]

"Jones, this is Wu. Just to let you know, the Admiral is in his quarters, we'll be up shortly."=/\=

[Bridge]
"See? He promises to be good!" Ardyn grinned, her usual wry smirk on her face. She was one of the few people who understood the Vulcan Captain's signature brand of humor, perhaps from spending so much time with her, and her subtle empathetic reading. "If I get lost, I'll tell you, and you can tell me "I told ya so,'" Ardy joked.

Out of habit, Ardy straightened up at her seat. She wasn't usually so much a stickler on appearances, but this was one of Starfleet's bigwigs here, and she at least wanted to put on the appearance of being a good Officer as she put the ship on an intercept with the distress signal.

[Bridge]

Technically, the Joe Schmo behind the Communications console was supposed to go through the static gargle when calls came in, but Ensign Ru looked just as puzzled that it came to Kali's console instead. She could only offer him a shrug and chalked it up to luck on his end. After all, he just had to sit back and let the Ops lady do all his work for him.

"It's all garbled," she replied, her fingers working the screen. "Utter junk static. No point of origin, nothing. It's corrupting whatever is trying to come through. Give me a minute to isolate it." She did however toss up the visual, if there was any on it. For all they knew it was audio only, but it didn't hurt to try.

The Admiral took that moment to come in and introduce himself while she worked, so the only sounds coming from her was tapping at the console in a rather irritable fashion. Why can't distress calls ever be simple?

[Bridge]

-/\-Acknowledged, Mr. Wu,-/\- T'Ra replied, lightly tapping her comm badge before folding her arms behind her back. "Well, Miss Jaeger, it would seem we're about to put that theory to the test. I would estimate roughly two and a half minutes until the admiral reaches the bridge. And I'll be sure to give Steve extra orange jello should he behave."

All things told, she wasn't too worried about how the little raptor comported himself; Steve could be rather dignified when he wanted to be. What did trouble her though was that distress call. If it was all garbled, perhaps it was just a prank or some sort of spam. Nothing was certain at this point, and it wouldn't hurt to at least look into it. T'Ra wouldn't feel right if they didn't try.

The main viewer went black as the Ops officer tried to patch the distress call through, remaining lifeless as the audio struggled to squeeze out the speakers. It was indeed a garble, but she could hear what seemed to be words, and though the universal translator was noticeably struggling to comprehend, it was starting to become clear that it was repeating itself, as if on a loop. "See what you can do to untangle that mess, Miss Reyes, and we'll see about getting science to help track down where it's coming from. Speaking of which--"

-/\-Jones to Tekin, please report to the bridge.-/\-

[Bridge]

The bridge of the Prometheus class Discovery was too brightly lit for Adeyemi's liking. The Starbase was very dark, due to its size: it simply wasn't an efficient use of power to keep it too explosively illuminated. But he had to concede that the smaller size of it was an improvement on the Columbus. He couldn't imagine how the former CO had gotten around with his injuries in such a large area.

"Thank you for the tour, Commander," Adeyemi's Nigerian English rang out in the small space. He had a battlefield voice, one that came from his guts. It wasn't obtrusive or overly loud to turn heads, but there was no mistaking it, either.

"Captain Jones," the admiral went on, and stepped towards the Vulcan hybrid. His tone was formal. "It is an honor, captain. I am at your service."

[Bridge]

"Na'shaya, sir,"� T'Ra replied, bowing her head briefly as a sign of respect. It was the first time she had met the man, but she had heard of Adeyemi before, and it was something else to see him in the flesh. He was tall, as she imagined, his figure imposing. His voice though, intrigued her. It was strong and authoritative, yet there was a whimsical undercurrent in his thick, accented English.

"It is an honour to have you on board. It seems you joined us just in time for a little puzzle," she added, indicating the screen which remained black.

[Tekin Nevir]

The main viewer went black as the Ops officer tried to patch the distress call through, remaining lifeless as the audio struggled to squeeze out the speakers. It was indeed a garble, but she could hear what seemed to be words, and though the universal translator was noticeably struggling to comprehend, it was starting to become clear that it was repeating itself, as if on a loop. "See what you can do to untangle that mess, Miss Reyes, and we'll see about getting science to help track down where it's coming from. Speaking of which--"

-/\-Jones to Tekin, please report to the bridge.-/\-

[Forward Lounge - Deck 6]

A tumbler of Bajoran Agave Juice sat about half full, the distilled fruit flavor being a comfort when Spring Wine wasn't proper.  Nevir reached over and took occasional sips; not too much to overwhelm him.  In his hands were a group of PADDs of each department.  It was the task that every First Officer loathed; crew evaluations.  These weren't even do for another couple of weeks, but the Bajoran was using them as a reason to stay off the Bridge.

It had been a very uncomfortable period following the polywater incident, and Nevir was thoroughly embarassed over his actions at the end.  It wasn't his fault, but the intoxication didn't make him say things, it just removed inhibitions.  Yes he found the Captain attractive, but he would never say no consider anything about it.  And yet... it was blurted out.  He was making sure to avoid the bridge until the Captain was gone.

T'Ra had other plans, as usual.

He sighed, putting the PADDs down and tapping his commbadge.    "On my way." .  Clearing the PADDS, he stared at the tumbler, deciding to just down the rest.  No alcohol due to synthohol, but still... it helped.  He left the lounge leaving the staff to clean up.

[Bridge]

He ended up doing a double-take when he entered the Bridge, forgetting that there was an Admiral coming.  Mentally chastising himself for not being there, he walked down and took his place with the First Officer's seat.

"Captain, Admiral." he said, acknowledging both.

[Alexander Wu]

[Turbolift]

"I understand you were quite close friends with my predecessor on the Starbase Columbus," Adeyemi declared on the short ride. His own face was expressionless as he studied Wu's for any reaction. "The former captain has fallen off the map. Scarpered, you might say. The official position of Starfleet Command is that he has deserted his duty and is a nonperson. Should he ever be found, he would be subject to all kinds of disciplinary boards, I'd imagine."

" Halt turbolift. " Adeyemi said abruptly. When it had glided to a smooth stop, he pulled the scrap of paper from his pocket, and held it up in front of Commander Wu's eyes.

The moment stretched for what seemed like eternity. Adeyemi's brown eyes were locked onto Wu's black ones as the latter read. Once he was sure that there was no doubt that the other man understood, quite purposefully, the admiral crumpled up the note and ate it. A few awkward moments of chewing and moistening, including some funny facial expressions from Adeyemi, and the note was gone, never to be recorded or seen again.

" Resume. " Finally breaking his stare, Adeyemi nodded slightly to the other officer with a fiercely respectful expression in his face, as if Wu had just singlehandedly won a war.

[Turbolift]

Alex started in surprise when the Admiral brought up Luke's name, rapidly stiffening in anger as he disparaged his friend's name in the next sentence. Stafford was a stubborn, crotchety, soul who had given his mind and body to Starfleet. It was inconceivable to him that the man would leave the only life he knew. True, times had been tough, that whole mess with T'Koris and Arthur, being separated from his children, but desertion? Never! Opening his mouth to defend Luke's honour, regardless of the fact that he had no idea where the old bastard had gone off to, Alex hesitated as the Admiral raised a note to his eyes.

MEMORIZE FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

EMPERADOR IV "SUPPLY DEPOT", STARDATE 71689.1. FIND FILE NAME PLUMBAGO PASSWORD ARGANTHONIOS

GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS COMMANDER

Confused, Alex nevertheless read the note, his brows furrowing into a frown. Emperador IV. 71689.1. Plumbago. Arganthonios. Luke, what the hell have you gotten yourself into? Staring back at the Admiral as he destroyed the note, Alex barely noticed when the turbolift arrived at it's destination. He only stepped out of the turbolift just before the doors automatically closed, a troubled expression still on his face.

Still, when he saw what was on the viewscreen, Alex forced himself to come back to the job at hand. Jaeger was at the helm, and he was in no mood to have to face her ontop of the enigma that had just been dropped on his head. While Adeyemi went to speak with T'ra, Alex made his way to the Ops station. "Good morning, Kali. Got any coffee left in that?" he asked, nodding towards her thermos. "And what's going on?"

[T'Lulu May Soong]

[Sickbay - NPC Evan Buehler]

Evan tugged anxiously at his collar as his face got all flushed and warm. Ach du meine GÁƒ¶tte, he thought to himself. Why do I need to get so red in front of an android? Androids didn't really worry about that sort of thing, very much like the Vulcans. Come to think of it, she even kind of looked like a Vulcan.

"I don't think my wife is ever going to let me live it down either," he chuckled before changing the subject. "When T'Ra did a stint with the admiralty, I ended up meeting more than a few of them, but Adeyemi wasn't one of them. All I know of the bloke is just hearsay."

[Sickbay]

"You check out A-OK, Lieutenant."  T'Lulu snapped her tricorder shut and fastened it to her waist.  She extended her hand to the superior officer and bowed her head a bit.  "I greatly appreciate the warm welcome."

Evan Buehler was her last patient for the morning, so Doctor May had some time to visit the bridge and meet Admiral Adeyemi.

Captain Jones--Cadet May here.  May I come to the Bridge to meet the Admiral?

After awaiting confirmation, T'Lulu made her way to the turbolift.

"Computer--To the Bridge, please."  She stood with her hands folded neatly behind her back as the lift brought her to her destination.

[Bridge]

Stepping onto the Bridge, hands still behind her back (this happened to be her default position of non-confrontation) T'Lulu took a quick survey of her surroundings and calculated the current situation.

On one hand, we've got Kali Reyes at tapping away at her console, trying to decipher a distress call that had just been received by the Discovery.  On the other, Admiral Adeyemi and Captain Jones stood exchanging pleasantries.  Meanwhile, other Bridge personnel were stationed at their respective positions.

"T'nar pahk," she said, after waiting for a chance to politely introduce herself.

[T'Ra Jones]

He sighed, putting the PADDs down and tapping his commbadge.    "On my way." .  Clearing the PADDS, he stared at the tumbler, deciding to just down the rest.  No alcohol due to synthohol, but still... it helped.  He left the lounge leaving the staff to clean up.

[Bridge]

He ended up doing a double-take when he entered the Bridge, forgetting that there was an Admiral coming.  Mentally chastising himself for not being there, he walked down and took his place with the First Officer's seat.

"Captain, Admiral." he said, acknowledging both.

[Bridge]

Stepping onto the Bridge, hands still behind her back (this happened to be her default position of non-confrontation) T'Lulu took a quick survey of her surroundings and calculated the current situation.

On one hand, we've got Kali Reyes at tapping away at her console, trying to decipher a distress call that had just been received by the Discovery.  On the other, Admiral Adeyemi and Captain Jones stood exchanging pleasantries.  Meanwhile, other Bridge personnel were stationed at their respective positions.

"T'nar pahk," she said, after waiting for a chance to politely introduce herself.

[Bridge]

As always, T'Ra was pleased by the first officer's quick response. Providing he wasn't asleep, it was almost immediate. The doors to the bridge were constantly in motion, opening and closing to a steady stream of officers coming and going. It wasn't long before they parted to let Tekin through, shortly after the arrival of the admiral. Judging from the look on her first officer's face, it was clear he had forgotten about this scheduled "visit", or perhaps he was still experiencing lingering embarrassment from what transpired during the recent infection. Whatever the case, he was quick to recover.

"Na'shaya, Tekin," T'Ra offered, nodding slightly before moving forward. "We may potentially have a situation on our hands," she informed the XO. "We have received what appears to be a distress call, but it is garbled and its point of origin unclear. I would like you to coordinate Ops and Science to decipher and locate the message."

The doors parted yet again, but this time it was to admit T'Lulu. T'Ra had seen no problem granting the android permission to come to the bridge, perhaps almost as eager to see the admiral meet the android as the android to meet the admiral. "Na'shaya, Miss Soong."

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Bridge]

"Na'shaya, sir," T'Ra replied, bowing her head briefly as a sign of respect. It was the first time she had met the man, but she had heard of Adeyemi before, and it was something else to see him in the flesh. He was tall, as she imagined, his figure imposing. His voice though, intrigued her. It was strong and authoritative, yet there was a whimsical undercurrent in his thick, accented English.

"It is an honour to have you on board. It seems you joined us just in time for a little puzzle," she added, indicating the screen which remained black.

[Bridge]

He ended up doing a double-take when he entered the Bridge, forgetting that there was an Admiral coming. Mentally chastising himself for not being there, he walked down and took his place with the First Officer's seat.

"Captain, Admiral." he said, acknowledging both.

[Bridge]

Adeyemi didn't love a mystery. To him, the world was a set of principles and laws laid out by the Almighty. Science and communications were just another piece of it. Still, his own curiosity and duty demanded that it be solved.

The admiral nodded to the XO when he presented himself, and to the younger officer who likewise did so. Captain Jones had the habit of speaking Vulcan. Perhaps it wasn't the most formal way to greet other officers, but Adeyemi saw no reason to fault her for it. There was also some joking and work chatter going on at the Operations station between Commander Wu and a high ranked enlisted woman there.

He decided to hang back, to observe. Communications weren't exactly his specialty, anyway, and he knew firsthand how an enthusiastic newcomer could throw a wrench into the works. The Discovery crew was accustomed to one another and working together.

Instead, when Captain Jones was finished issues orders, he addressed the two members of the command staff:

"You seem to have this very well in hand." Adeyemi told them with careful courtesy. "If you think I can help, let me know."

Truth be told, he was itching to get his hands dirty. For far too long it felt as if he had been reduced to chair parade. When he'd gotten promoted it seemed as if he had traded in his phaser and tricorder for a desk and a 5 star headache at the end of the day.

[Declan Vincent]

[Cargo Bay]

Declan had the manifold stripped, the runabout's 'heart' exposed. It was clear that the warp drive vortex couldn't create a negative warp bubble. Reason unable to build a new magnetic-electrostatic polarization, which increases the negative gravitation and keeps it mono-polar above the central accumulator.

Physics 101 though messing with antimatter might be routine in this faster than light speed era, Declan still treated it as if it was an active bomb....Only a lot more impressive and a lot more devastating.

What the Admiral and Smythe had done, which Declan had taken note of, did create negative gravitation but the stresses were causing reverse polarity. Another hour or two, and they would have been  crawling among the stars. Continued reverse polarity and the strain would have reduced the central accumulator to dust. There were stress points along the accumulator as is but the engineer could repair that. However, it was the effects that was damaging the accumulator, not the cause of the reverse polarity.

It required a sleuthing mentality and Declan had all but ignore Johanssen's peppered questions to Smythe about all sorts of bizarre theories that would remain a mystery since the other engineer simply assumed was still Starfleet black operations. Even the recent assassination of the Federation President. Was it a Gorn, masquerading as a Rigellian cleric at a Bajoran spiritual conference ...Declan zoned it out.

He was not above being intrigued by the arrival of a Command level officer - THE Task Group commander - and was sure the scuttlebutt would soon be plaguing the ship with all sorts of reasons. As long as he didn't listen to any of Johanssen's, he might still retain a sane mind.

Declan was going to have to replace 19 T-14 modules that had been fused, any of them might have been defective but it would be impossible to know in their current state. Being in the Cargo Bay made it less time consuming since he simply located a crate that contained Engineering parts that had yet been inventory and shelved.

He only hoped he had the necessary parts.

[Inzjana]

SCIENCE LAB 2

Inzjana walked in to science lab two just as a cleaner had exited hold a sonic mop in one hand and a PADD in the other, he obviously had a few allotted jobs to rush off too so Inzjana was left in the lab alone, a situation she like all Vulcans was very fond of. But at the moment, she wish she had someone to talk to, because even though she was under the influence of polywater she couldn't believe that she actually froze the ship. Even though she used cytoprethaline before doing so, every crew member apart from herself and two others were literally frozen solid and she could never forgive herself if someone could not be revived afterwards. Inzjana kept trying to tell herself that that didn't happen and every one came out of the ordeal relatively unscathed except for some mental difficulties as to their actions while under the influence of polywater, she just couldn't believe she was capable of such an action.

It bothered her so much that she was seriously thinking of resigning from starfleet and taking her personal Jellyfish Class runabout that was happily docked just outside their family home near Shi'Kahr on Vulcan and living as a hermit studying spacial anomalies.

But Inzjana was a Vulcan, with a Vulcan mother and a Romulan father, which meant that above all she was here to serve and what better organization that starfleet to serve in. After all with humans being so curious and sticking their noses in everyone else's business they were always bound to come across something that would actually interest and so she pressed the flashing icon on her console that annoyingly but thankfully brought her out of her revelry and self deprivation.

"Inzjana to Lieutenant Spielenberg, science lab two stands ready to assist sir." Inzjana told the chief science officer, who was obviously on the bridge at his station.

"Thank you Inzjana, but I am pretty sure we can handle everything up here!"

Lieutenant Johan Spielenberg was the kind of scientist and officer that had an unerring ability to rub everyone the wrong way and make them feel inferior to his intellect and Inzjana had met a few scientists that were like that, not her friend Professor Andre Offenbach of course, he was too laid back and was the kind of person every one just loved to be around with his infectious love of science and the unknown. He didn't have to prove just how smart he was, he just loved life and lived science, but many of his colleagues were just like the Discovery's current chief science officer, it just came with the territory unfortunately.

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Bridge]
Ardy glanced over at the newcomers, but quickly turned back. Oh great, Wu. To say it was still awkward at the very least, to work with him after the Polywater incident three weeks ago was... an understatement.

Noticing the Admiral, she briskly straightened up. It was definitely unusual for an admiral to be onboard for no apparent reason, well at least no apparent reason for her. She had met the man once before, back when he was CO of the Starbase. Nice fellow, but it was rather odd that he just happened to pop by. It could've been nothing more than official inspections, but  more than likely, he'd probably caught wind of the reckless behavior that she and Alex did, separating the ship and just having a race. Sure, they were in an inebriated state, but they still broke the ship big time. And given her past history with really stupid decisions, she wouldn't be surprised if the Powers That Be on the Admiralty would look into it. It wasn't in her records, that she knew, but the fact that her co-pilot was killed in one of those races still would be around, if someone chose to dig deep enough. And she didn't want to be fired because of some stupid decision. (she tended to make a lot of those).

"Hey... Kali, could you give me a general direction with the distress signal? The signal seems to be reverberating and I can't get a good lock on it." Ardyn asked.

[T'Lulu May Soong]

[Bridge]

The doors parted yet again, but this time it was to admit T'Lulu. T'Ra had seen no problem granting the android permission to come to the bridge, perhaps almost as eager to see the admiral meet the android as the android to meet the admiral. "Na'shaya, Miss Soong."

[Bridge]

Adeyemi didn't love a mystery. To him, the world was a set of principles and laws laid out by the Almighty. Science and communications were just another piece of it. Still, his own curiosity and duty demanded that it be solved.

...

He decided to hang back, to observe. Communications weren't exactly his specialty, anyway, and he knew firsthand how an enthusiastic newcomer could throw a wrench into the works. The Discovery crew was accustomed to one another and working together.

Instead, when Captain Jones was finished issues orders, he addressed the two members of the command staff:

"You seem to have this very well in hand." Adeyemi told them with careful courtesy. "If you think I can help, let me know."

Truth be told, he was itching to get his hands dirty. For far too long it felt as if he had been reduced to chair parade. When he'd gotten promoted it seemed as if he had traded in his phaser and tricorder for a desk and a 5 star headache at the end of the day.

[Bridge]

T'Lulu nodded and bowed to T'Ra with a smile.  As the admiral conversed with the captain, T'Lulu glanced over at Reyes' console to get a glimpse of the encoded distress call that she was working on.  T'Lulu was quite curious if the message was a legitimate one, and if so, why it was coded in such an obscured manner.

"Admiral Malcolm Adeyemi?" T'Lulu approached the admiral after she had noticed him step back to observe for a bit.  "It is an honor to finally meet you," she extended her hand. "How does life treat you at the Starbase?"