Season 13 - Mission 12: One Mind

[Ian Galloway]

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

A quiet period of soothing sounds and report filing was interrupted as he felt the deck plate shift as the intertial dampeners compensated for the sudden deceleration.  The Captain turned and looked out his window to see the star streaks shrink to points of light in a sea of black.  Before he could ping the Bridge, Ian called him.  Putting down another PADD, the Captain stood up and headed for the Bridge, stepping through just as a flash of light was broadcasted by the viewscreen, and nothing but sparkles were left.  His head swung to look at Cadbury's report of no escape pods.... that was a ship.

He stood in his place as Ian gave orders, before finally stepping up and walking over to Ian.  The Captain stood facing forward, his eyes focused on the viewscreen.

"Report..."

[Bridge - USS Discovery]

Ian stood up to yield the center seat as he reported.

"Best guess at this point Sir, is a smuggler ran into summat that they weren't prepared ta face and it scared everything that's ever been holy out of them. Unfortunately, they didn't say who that was.

"Whatever had them spooked had them so out of sorts that they wrecked their ship in the process of gettin' away. We're scannin' the debris for whatever information we can find."

[Don Damien Addams]

"Helm, take us ta a thousand kilometers of the nebula. I want ta scan as deep into that mush as we can. Summat in there scared those people so badly that they wrecked their ship ta get away. I need ta know who 'they' are

[USS Discovery - Bridge]

"Aye, aye," Don replied as he placed the order in the console.

Then hell broke right front of them as the ship blew up in a bright flash explosion. He grabbed the side of the consoles in Incase for a impact.

The helmsman was putting commands to the helm to keep the ship facing the way she supposed to. Good news things were not damage from what he can see from his console.

[Nira Said]

Dranik extended his hand forward so she could shake it.

"I am Dranik and I've been part of the security division for a while now. I've been off the Discovery due to medical issues. It's a pleasure to meet you Lieutenant Said." The Hirogen said respectfully.

"Captain ta the bridge. All Alpha shift personnel ta the bridge."

[USS Discovery - Deck 3 - Observation lounge]

A huge long sigh escaped from his lungs. He was caught red handed.

That spoiled his surprise when he was trying to play a game on his wife. He had given her a quick kiss on the cheek.

Of course, Lieutenant Said. I will be down in ten minutes. He replied. He had excused himself from his wife. Starting to walk to his destination to security. Not sickbay this time.

As he was in the turbo lift. Ian had summoned him.

=/\=Lieutenant I need take a rain check. Duty calls. 

Lieutenant Addams on my way.  He tapped his combadge.

[Lieutenant JG Nira Said | Security Office | Deck Eleven | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

"I see," said Nira. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Mister Dranik."

She then heard Commander Galloway's orders for Alpha Shift to assemble on the bridge, followed by Lieutenant Addams' saying he won't make it. Nira shrugged at that. Normally, she worked Alpha Shift, but Commander Felder was on the bridge, and thus, Nira's presence wasn't required.

She looked back at her list...if she could call it a list. She didn't glean much from the starship database regarding the smuggling operations, and she hasn't gone through everything. Of course, computers only go so far, and she wanted to speak to the crew about what had been going on with the smuggling operations they had been dealing with.

Turning back to Dranik, she asked, "So, Mister Dranik, what can I help you for?"

[Bridge - USS Discovery]

"Sickbay, standby for casualties. Security and engineerin' teams ta the transporter room!"

She listened to him, and as she was about to respond to him, she heard Commander Galloway's orders again, for Security and Engineering to assemble at the transporter rooms. The urgency told Nira that something's going on. If Security was required to a transporter room, she thought to herself, then that must mean a smuggler's ship has been detected coming out of the nebula, and the urgency suggests that it took a beating.

Turning to Dranik, she said, "Follow me," and ran for the turbolift. She got to the lift and when it opened, she kept it open for Dranik and, once he was inside, she instructed the lift, "Deck Nine," where the nearest transporter room was located.

"Sickbay, engineering, and security, stand down."

However, it had barely opened its doors to Deck Nine when she heard Commander Galloway to stand down. Nira had to grit her teeth before she ordered the lift to return to Deck Eleven. As it proceeded back, she wondered what was going on. Having Security, Engineering and Sickbay stand down meant either the smuggler's ship wasn't too badly damaged, or it was so badly damaged the crew eventually didn't need thrusters to travel through space.

En route, she asked Dranik, "Mister Dranik, how long have you been on medical leave? Depending on how long you've been gone, have you been hearing about smuggling operations the Discovery has been dealing with as of late?"

She listened to him as the lift traveled back to Deck Eleven and they walked back to the Security Office. She asked him to pause when she got back inside and tapped her comm badge.

"Lieutenant Said to Commander Felder," she said. "Commander, what's happened?"

She knew well enough to contact her departmental head, given he would most likely be on the bridge and thus have seen what was going on, and he was the first person she was to report to.

[Dranik]

[Lieutenant JG Nira Said | Security Office | Deck Eleven | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

"I see," said Nira. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Mister Dranik."

She then heard Commander Galloway's orders for Alpha Shift to assemble on the bridge, followed by Lieutenant Addams' saying he won't make it. Nira shrugged at that. Normally, she worked Alpha Shift, but Commander Felder was on the bridge, and thus, Nira's presence wasn't required.

She looked back at her list...if she could call it a list. She didn't glean much from the starship database regarding the smuggling operations, and she hasn't gone through everything. Of course, computers only go so far, and she wanted to speak to the crew about what had been going on with the smuggling operations they had been dealing with.

Turning back to Dranik, she asked, "So, Mister Dranik, what can I help you for?"She listened to him, and as she was about to respond to him, she heard Commander Galloway's orders again, for Security and Engineering to assemble at the transporter rooms. The urgency told Nira that something's going on. If Security was required to a transporter room, she thought to herself, then that must mean a smuggler's ship has been detected coming out of the nebula, and the urgency suggests that it took a beating.

Turning to Dranik, she said, "Follow me," and ran for the turbolift. She got to the lift and when it opened, she kept it open for Dranik and, once he was inside, she instructed the lift, "Deck Nine," where the nearest transporter room was located.

However, it had barely opened its doors to Deck Nine when she heard Commander Galloway to stand down. Nira had to grit her teeth before she ordered the lift to return to Deck Eleven. As it proceeded back, she wondered what was going on. Having Security, Engineering and Sickbay stand down meant either the smuggler's ship wasn't too badly damaged, or it was so badly damaged the crew eventually didn't need thrusters to travel through space.

En route, she asked Dranik, "Mister Dranik, how long have you been on medical leave? Depending on how long you've been gone, have you been hearing about smuggling operations the Discovery has been dealing with as of late?"

She listened to him as the lift traveled back to Deck Eleven and they walked back to the Security Office. She asked him to pause when she got back inside and tapped her comm badge.

"Lieutenant Said to Commander Felder," she said. "Commander, what's happened?"

She knew well enough to contact her departmental head, given he would most likely be on the bridge and thus have seen what was going on, and he was the first person she was to report to.

"I've been on medical leave for quite a while. Truth be told I've lost count of the exact number of days I was gone. Before the time loop incident I was injured on duty and had to have a lung repaired. I have read up on the smuggling issues The Discovery has been investigating though."

Dranik couldn't help but smile as he looked around the corridors and saw a number of familiar faces. "I have been enjoying my time in StarFleet so far. From what I've seen so far I feel I chose the right organization to join."

He turned to look at Said. "Many of the people I've met are braver than the people I've left behind in the Delta Quadrant. My own people included.

He paused for a moment. Wait...why was I heading for the security office?He shrugged his shoulders. "For the life of me I can't remember why I was in the security office. It was probably nothing."

[Tekin Nevir]

[Bridge - USS Discovery]

Ian stood up to yield the center seat as he reported.

"Best guess at this point Sir, is a smuggler ran into summat that they weren't prepared ta face and it scared everything that's ever been holy out of them. Unfortunately, they didn't say who that was.

"Whatever had them spooked had them so out of sorts that they wrecked their ship in the process of gettin' away. We're scannin' the debris for whatever information we can find."

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

Nevir remained quiet, even as he took his seat at the report.  It startled him.. but there was a concern that was growing into the back of his mind.

"These people are willing to take on Orions, the Tal Shiar, and the Romulan republic.. but they blew up their ships over something in the nebula?  That is concerning." he said, gripping the chair a bit.

"Proceed with the scan.  We may need to enter the nebula." he said, tapping the comm on his chair.

"Bridge to Engineering, I need you to do the impossible and reconfigure scanners to be as effective as possible into the nebula.  Bring shields and deflector to maximum." 

"I don't have much hope for it.. but see if you can get any kind of data from that ship." he said, looking up at his First Officer.

Commander Felder was standing down when the call from Nira came in.  He gave it a moment and then tapped his badge.

"Felder here, nothing happened to us.  Just an unfortunate incident we witnessed.  Stand down for now, and I'll give orders when I receive them.  Felder out." 

[Ian Galloway]

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

Nevir remained quiet, even as he took his seat at the report.  It startled him.. but there was a concern that was growing into the back of his mind.

"These people are willing to take on Orions, the Tal Shiar, and the Romulan republic.. but they blew up their ships over something in the nebula?  That is concerning." he said, gripping the chair a bit.

"Proceed with the scan.  We may need to enter the nebula." he said, tapping the comm on his chair.

"Bridge to Engineering, I need you to do the impossible and reconfigure scanners to be as effective as possible into the nebula.  Bring shields and deflector to maximum." 

"I don't have much hope for it.. but see if you can get any kind of data from that ship." he said, looking up at his First Officer.

[USS Discovery - Just outside the Devari Nebula - Two lightyears spinward of Earth Outpost 34]

Addams brought the ship to a halt at the proscribed range of 1,000 kilometers and at that point, he waited for what the scans would say. The short range scanners found several sections of the shattered ship, but little useful information. Between the various forms of radiation from the nebula and the high intensity radiation from the warp core breach, the debris had little information left to yield. The only thing that the Lieutenant Cadbury and Ensign Danjar-Addms could find was a charred section of hull with Sompeetalay in Bolian on it.

The long range sensors were virtually useless at scanning inside the nebula, even when Cadbury deployed a class one probe, the returns were largely scrambled nonsense. However, as the science officer was concentrating specifically for ships or spatial anomalies, he missed a very weak signal.

Torra, on the other hand, took a more broad search protocol and she found the signal hidden in the lower band of subspace frequencies. Once she found it, she concentrated all her efforts on cleaning up the signal. She couldn't make it intelligible, but she did find it's source. It was just inside the boundary of zones two and three, maybe six hours away at full impulse, the only concern was, that was deeper into the Devari Nebula than any Starfleet ship had ever been.

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

[USS Discovery - Just outside the Devari Nebula - Two lightyears spinward of Earth Outpost 34]

Addams brought the ship to a halt at the proscribed range of 1,000 kilometers and at that point, he waited for what the scans would say. The short range scanners found several sections of the shattered ship, but little useful information. Between the various forms of radiation from the nebula and the high intensity radiation from the warp core breach, the debris had little information left to yield. The only thing that the Lieutenant Cadbury and Ensign Danjar-Addams could find was a charred section of hull with Sompeetalay in Bolian on it.

The long range sensors were virtually useless at scanning inside the nebula, even when Cadbury deployed a class one probe, the returns were largely scrambled nonsense. However, as the science officer was concentrating specifically for ships or spatial anomalies, he missed a very weak signal.

Torra, on the other hand, took a more broad search protocol and she found the signal hidden in the lower band of subspace frequencies. Once she found it, she concentrated all her efforts on cleaning up the signal. She couldn't make it intelligible, but she did find it's source. It was just inside the boundary of zones two and three, maybe six hours away at warp three, the only concern was, that was deeper into the Devari Nebula than any Starfleet ship had ever been.

Ensign Danjar-Torra Addams
[USS Discovery - Deck One - Bridge]

Torra had hoped with her efforts that she would have been able to clear up the signal more, to be certain it wasn't just a signal reflection, but nothing she did amounted to much.  In the end, she'd just have to hope that she wasn't making a bad call in informing the Captain and Commander of her find.

"Sirs, I think there's a signal coming from deep within the nebula. I believe I've narrowed down it's source to just inside the boundary of zone 2 and 3."

Torra played the faint signal which was barely just more than static.  "Unfortunately, it's very weak and I can't yet make out what the signal is intended for ... a call for help... or a warning to stay... someone's old grocery list. But tracing back the route of the Sompeetalay it would have likely passed right by this area.  It's possible the smugglers weren't running alone and their sister ship is still stuck in the nebula."

[Nira Said]

"I've been on medical leave for quite a while. Truth be told I've lost count of the exact number of days I was gone. Before the time loop incident I was injured on duty and had to have a lung repaired. I have read up on the smuggling issues The Discovery has been investigating though."

Dranik couldn't help but smile as he looked around the corridors and saw a number of familiar faces. "I have been enjoying my time in StarFleet so far. From what I've seen so far I feel I chose the right organization to join."

He turned to look at Said. "Many of the people I've met are braver than the people I've left behind in the Delta Quadrant. My own people included.

He paused for a moment. Wait...why was I heading for the security office?He shrugged his shoulders. "For the life of me I can't remember why I was in the security office. It was probably nothing."

[Lieutenant JG Nira Said | Security Office | Deck Eleven | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Nira stared in surprise. Normally, people had something when they came into the security office. And if it was a fellow security colleague, given Nira was of higher rank and thus filling in for Commander Felder, she wondered if Dranik was requesting a security shift or was simply reporting for duty. She had been about to ask when Commander Felder called her.

"Felder here, nothing happened to us.  Just an unfortunate incident we witnessed.  Stand down for now, and I'll give orders when I receive them.  Felder out." 

She was about to tap her comm badge to respond when she realized that if Commander Felder was on the bridge, verbal communication, if going too long, might bother him. So she began typing a message to his console.

"I have stood down already, Commander, along with the rest of Security, when Commander Galloway summoned personnel and then told us to stand down," wrote Nira, smiling momentarily; it was true, in point of fact, Nira had stood down already. "I will be standing by for orders, of course. Also, permission to view the viewscreen footage from down here, Commander? I've heard that we're patrolling for smugglers, and I've been getting up to speed about the smuggling operations the Discovery's encountered the past few months. If there are names mentioned or faces seen, I can check for any records on them. It might help along a clue as to what they could be doing before they entered the nebula."

Of course, Nira was going through the Discovery database about the smugglers to help her get to speed, checking out criminal activity reports filled on the subject, but more thorough records required linking up to the Starfleet Criminal Database, and she wasn't at that stage yet; in any case, she had to get permission from her superiors first. As such, she wanted to see if there were any records about specific smugglers if there were any names mentioned and then go through the computer database for any names. Besides, the ship computers are bound to have enough materials.

Remembering Dranik, she looked back up to him.

"Well, if you didn't remember what you came in for," she said, "we can venture a guess. Did you come in to be request a security shift or did you come in to report for duty, given you've been away on medical leave?"

[Tekin Nevir]

[USS Discovery - Just outside the Devari Nebula - Two lightyears spinward of Earth Outpost 34]

Addams brought the ship to a halt at the proscribed range of 1,000 kilometers and at that point, he waited for what the scans would say. The short range scanners found several sections of the shattered ship, but little useful information. Between the various forms of radiation from the nebula and the high intensity radiation from the warp core breach, the debris had little information left to yield. The only thing that the Lieutenant Cadbury and Ensign Danjar-Addms could find was a charred section of hull with Sompeetalay in Bolian on it.

The long range sensors were virtually useless at scanning inside the nebula, even when Cadbury deployed a class one probe, the returns were largely scrambled nonsense. However, as the science officer was concentrating specifically for ships or spatial anomalies, he missed a very weak signal.

Torra, on the other hand, took a more broad search protocol and she found the signal hidden in the lower band of subspace frequencies. Once she found it, she concentrated all her efforts on cleaning up the signal. She couldn't make it intelligible, but she did find it's source. It was just inside the boundary of zones two and three, maybe six hours away at warp three, the only concern was, that was deeper into the Devari Nebula than any Starfleet ship had ever been.

Ensign Danjar-Torra Addams
[USS Discovery - Deck One - Bridge]

Torra had hoped with her efforts that she would have been able to clear up the signal more, to be certain it wasn't just a signal reflection, but nothing she did amounted to much.  In the end, she'd just have to hope that she wasn't making a bad call in informing the Captain and Commander of her find.

"Sirs, I think there's a signal coming from deep within the nebula. I believe I've narrowed down it's source to just inside the boundary of zone 2 and 3."

Torra played the faint signal which was barely just more than static.  "Unfortunately, it's very weak and I can't yet make out what the signal is intended for ... a call for help... or a warning to stay... someone's old grocery list. But tracing back the route of the Sompeetalay it would have likely passed right by this area.  It's possible the smugglers weren't running alone and their sister ship is still stuck in the nebula."

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

The Captain frowned, shaking his head.  "Perhaps they fared better than their compatriots.  They should consider themselves lucky we are Starfleet.  Alright, we're going to have to go in.  Shields at maximum, start power sequence to phasers and torpedoes.  Bring the ship to Yellow Alert... and helm, take us in, one quarter impulse."

[Lieutenant JG Nira Said | Security Office | Deck Eleven | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Nira stared in surprise. Normally, people had something when they came into the security office. And if it was a fellow security colleague, given Nira was of higher rank and thus filling in for Commander Felder, she wondered if Dranik was requesting a security shift or was simply reporting for duty. She had been about to ask when Commander Felder called her.She was about to tap her comm badge to respond when she realized that if Commander Felder was on the bridge, verbal communication, if going too long, might bother him. So she began typing a message to his console.

"I have stood down already, Commander, along with the rest of Security, when Commander Galloway summoned personnel and then told us to stand down," wrote Nira, smiling momentarily; it was true, in point of fact, Nira had stood down already. "I will be standing by for orders, of course. Also, permission to view the viewscreen footage from down here, Commander? I've heard that we're patrolling for smugglers, and I've been getting up to speed about the smuggling operations the Discovery's encountered the past few months. If there are names mentioned or faces seen, I can check for any records on them. It might help along a clue as to what they could be doing before they entered the nebula."

Of course, Nira was going through the Discovery database about the smugglers to help her get to speed, checking out criminal activity reports filled on the subject, but more thorough records required linking up to the Starfleet Criminal Database, and she wasn't at that stage yet; in any case, she had to get permission from her superiors first. As such, she wanted to see if there were any records about specific smugglers if there were any names mentioned and then go through the computer database for any names. Besides, the ship computers are bound to have enough materials.

Remembering Dranik, she looked back up to him.

"Well, if you didn't remember what you came in for," she said, "we can venture a guess. Did you come in to be request a security shift or did you come in to report for duty, given you've been away on medical leave?"

Commander Felder admired the passion, but right now things were a bit busy.    "Lieutenant Said, I will forward you the information when we get it, but right now we have a potential rescue mission about to go underway.  Secure all stations and switch to alert status... the Captain has brought us to Yellow Alert." 

[Ian Galloway]

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

The Captain frowned, shaking his head.  "Perhaps they fared better than their compatriots.  They should consider themselves lucky we are Starfleet.  Alright, we're going to have to go in.  Shields at maximum, start power sequence to phasers and torpedoes.  Bring the ship to Yellow Alert... and helm, take us in, one quarter impulse."

[Bridge - USS Discovery]

As soon as the captain ordered yellow alert, Ian moved back to the Mission Ops console and began checking ship's systems, but it was only to confirm what he already knew, all systems were nominal. He knew the shields wouldn't last for long and wouldn't amount to much for the time they did operate. One thing that was unique to the Prometheus-class starship was the heavy automation allowed the ship to operate with a crew a third the size of any other ship in Starfleet.

The most useful product of this reduced manning was there weren't excess crew that needed to be moved to be protected from weapons fire or other hazardous conditions. However, given how deep into the nebula they had to go and the fact no one knew the what the conditions would be like when they got there, Ian wasn't going to take any chances.

"Beta and Gamma shifts, move ta the centerline of decks six through eleven. Security, assist with relocatin' those personnel. Once all personnel are in position, activate internal forcefields. Sickbay, standby to receive radiation casualties. Engineerin', shift all available power ta structural integrity. Ops be ready ta shift power as needed."

Ian stood and moved next to the captain's chair.

"Figured it was best ta play it safe before we need ta scramble ta do the same thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as the Discovery entered the Devari Nebula, the ship began to rock from the waves of gravimetric sheer present inside and Lieutenant Addams found himself struggling to hold the ship steady and on course.

Ensign Torra found the shields immediately lost fifty percent of their strength despite her best efforts to keep them balanced even with the augmented power from engineering. The only bright spot was, for now, they were holding the radiation at bay.

New to the role of chief engineer, Lieutenant Quinn had his hands full maintaining power flow under the strain imposed by the horrible conditions within the nebula. Knowing it wasn't his place to comment yet, Lennox kept one skilled eye on his console and the other on the new chief, hoping both would hold up against the demands being placed on them.

Lieutenant Said found herself with the unenviable position of being alarm clock for the members of Gamma shift as she and her team, which included Dranik made their rounds to ensure they were all awake and in the process of moving to their designated safe zones.

[Nira Said]

Commander Felder admired the passion, but right now things were a bit busy.    "Lieutenant Said, I will forward you the information when we get it, but right now we have a potential rescue mission about to go underway.  Secure all stations and switch to alert status... the Captain has brought us to Yellow Alert." 

[Lieutenant JG Nira Said | Security Office | Deck Eleven | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Nira perked up at hearing Commander Felder's words, even as she heard Yellow Alert going. A potential rescue mission? Going into the Devali Nebula to do it? Nira was confident the ship will make it okay in a nebula like that, what with shields and whatnot. Plus, it'll give Dranik something to do until their departmental head will have a chance to sort him.

"Understood, Commander," Nira replied. She then turned off the files and moved her (so far) short list to her forensics lab to work on later; she had a feeling she was going to be busy if there was going to be a rescue mission or something that could, inevitably, go wrong while they traverse the nebula; trouble always finds starships at any given moment.

Once she was finished, Nira was about to tap her comm badge; Commander Felder gave her orders on what to do. Then Commander Galloway added additional orders, prompting her to give something that will enable security personnel to do something.

"Beta and Gamma shifts, move ta the centerline of decks six through eleven. Security, assist with relocatin' those personnel. Once all personnel are in position, activate internal forcefields. Sickbay, standby to receive radiation casualties. Engineerin', shift all available power ta structural integrity. Ops be ready ta shift power as needed."

"Lieutenant Said to all Security personnel,"  =/\=she said. "Alert status. We've entered Yellow Alert. Secure all stations and help relocate personnel to decks six through eleven, centerline."

Her words had, inwardly, amazed Nira. She never would've sounded like that when she was still a fresh ensign. She had come a long way from the surprised young adult who was unexpectedly put onto Tactical when her own departmental head suffered an injury. She had definitely grown confident over the years.

In any case, it made sense to her that Commander Felder had her order stations secured and whatnot; he was on the bridge, she was in charge of the security office for the time being, as well as being in charge of Gamma Shift, in security.

"Mister Dranik, you're with me," she said, then tapped her comm badge again. "Lieutenant Said to Gamma Shift security personnel, assemble at Deck Thirteen, and we'll go from there to relocate personnel. Let's move, people."

Once again, Nira had to admire the workings of a Prometheus-class starship. Because it was a ship that operated on a small crew. And a small crew meant that everybody knows everybody. It didn't take long for Nira to get to know her team, but she liked them in any event. And she particularly knew Petty Officer Strider from back on Carraya IV, and was glad to know he was on the same shift. And she felt Dranik would be especially useful as muscle, particularly if the need arose to repel boarders.

Lieutenant Said found herself with the unenviable position of being alarm clock for the members of Gamma shift as she and her team, which included Dranik made their rounds to ensure they were all awake and in the process of moving to their designated safe zones.

Things passed with a blur, with the exception of Nira making sure her team was on their toes. Before long, she had gotten personnel up to the centerline of Deck Eleven.

"Lieutenant Said to Beta and Gamma Shift Security Personnel,"  =/\=she said, tapping her comm badge.  "Report. Everybody to the safe zones?"

[Dranik]

[Lieutenant JG Nira Said | Security Office | Deck Eleven | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Nira stared in surprise. Normally, people had something when they came into the security office. And if it was a fellow security colleague, given Nira was of higher rank and thus filling in for Commander Felder, she wondered if Dranik was requesting a security shift or was simply reporting for duty. She had been about to ask when Commander Felder called her.She was about to tap her comm badge to respond when she realized that if Commander Felder was on the bridge, verbal communication, if going too long, might bother him. So she began typing a message to his console.

"I have stood down already, Commander, along with the rest of Security, when Commander Galloway summoned personnel and then told us to stand down," wrote Nira, smiling momentarily; it was true, in point of fact, Nira had stood down already. "I will be standing by for orders, of course. Also, permission to view the viewscreen footage from down here, Commander? I've heard that we're patrolling for smugglers, and I've been getting up to speed about the smuggling operations the Discovery's encountered the past few months. If there are names mentioned or faces seen, I can check for any records on them. It might help along a clue as to what they could be doing before they entered the nebula."

Of course, Nira was going through the Discovery database about the smugglers to help her get to speed, checking out criminal activity reports filled on the subject, but more thorough records required linking up to the Starfleet Criminal Database, and she wasn't at that stage yet; in any case, she had to get permission from her superiors first. As such, she wanted to see if there were any records about specific smugglers if there were any names mentioned and then go through the computer database for any names. Besides, the ship computers are bound to have enough materials.

Remembering Dranik, she looked back up to him.

"Well, if you didn't remember what you came in for," she said, "we can venture a guess. Did you come in to be request a security shift or did you come in to report for duty, given you've been away on medical leave?"

Dranik shrugged his shoulders. "I was probably going to check the upcoming duty roster. I've been doing my best to spend my free time with Ciavil since I arrived back on the Discovery." The Hirogen frowned for a moment. "Actually the last time I checked up on her she said she wasn't feeling the best. Perhaps it was something she ate."

As Dranik was about to say more, the ship suddenly went to yellow alert and Dranik's train of thought vanished.

"Mister Dranik, you're with me,"

"Yes, sir." He said respectfully as he walked behind her.

[Don Damien Addams]

[USS Discovery - Bridge]

As they entered the Devari Nebula the Prometheus started to shake and rattle roll. Don's finger had danced across the console to keep the nose of the Discovery facing the destination. The USS Discovery was like a ship in the wide seas. A man made starship up against the wonder natures of expansion of space.

The pilot was continuing doing what he was doing. Nothing funny to say, but that could happen later.

Though he had been in worst situations during his smuggler days. Ships that were old and not fancy like the recent ships. They used what they could get their hands and make it work. Those people who were able to keep a junk together where truly amazing in those days. Not being pamper with other super class starships and starbases to aid you. When you a smuggler. Your on your own with your crew. Then pray pirates don't come raid you. He kind of missed those adventures.

[Tekin Nevir]

[Bridge - USS Discovery]

As soon as the captain ordered yellow alert, Ian moved back to the Mission Ops console and began checking ship's systems, but it was only to confirm what he already knew, all systems were nominal. He knew the shields wouldn't last for long and wouldn't amount to much for the time they did operate. One thing that was unique to the Prometheus-class starship was the heavy automation allowed the ship to operate with a crew a third the size of any other ship in Starfleet.

The most useful product of this reduced manning was there weren't excess crew that needed to be moved to be protected from weapons fire or other hazardous conditions. However, given how deep into the nebula they had to go and the fact no one knew the what the conditions would be like when they got there, Ian wasn't going to take any chances.

"Beta and Gamma shifts, move ta the centerline of decks six through eleven. Security, assist with relocatin' those personnel. Once all personnel are in position, activate internal forcefields. Sickbay, standby to receive radiation casualties. Engineerin', shift all available power ta structural integrity. Ops be ready ta shift power as needed."

Ian stood and moved next to the captain's chair.

"Figured it was best ta play it safe before we need ta scramble ta do the same thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as the Discovery entered the Devari Nebula, the ship began to rock from the waves of gravimetric sheer present inside and Lieutenant Addams found himself struggling to hold the ship steady and on course.

Ensign Torra found the shields immediately lost fifty percent of their strength despite her best efforts to keep them balanced even with the augmented power from engineering. The only bright spot was, for now, they were holding the radiation at bay.

New to the role of chief engineer, Lieutenant Quinn had his hands full maintaining power flow under the strain imposed by the horrible conditions within the nebula. Knowing it wasn't his place to comment yet, Lennox kept one skilled eye on his console and the other on the new chief, hoping both would hold up against the demands being placed on them.

Lieutenant Said found herself with the unenviable position of being alarm clock for the members of Gamma shift as she and her team, which included Dranik made their rounds to ensure they were all awake and in the process of moving to their designated safe zones.

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

Nevir gave a small smile, shaking his head.  "I think at this point I've learned to lean on your expertise for danger, and mine for diplomacy." he said, squeezing the chair as the ship began to rattle a bit.  It was a haunting deception: the serene silent beauty of a star-growing nebula looked like a cloud, but like a cloud it too had its own circulation, its own eddies and flows, and its own disruptions as nuclear fusion began around them.  There were quite a few reasons why ships tried to avoid going into nebulae when they could.

In engineering, and on the engineering console, the warning came up to notify them that the disruption of the nebula made it impossible to sustain a warp field... and it was taking everything they had to maintain a shield grid too.  They would not be able to go to warp while still in there.

"Ensign." Nevir called, turning towards the Ops station.  He had to be honest, it felt more right to see Torra in yellow at the station.  "What do we have?"

[Danjar-Torra Addams]

Ensign Danjar-Torra Addams]
[USS Discovery - Deck One - Bridge]

[Bridge - USS Discovery]
As soon as the Discovery entered the Devari Nebula, the ship began to rock from the waves of gravimetric sheer present inside and Lieutenant Addams found himself struggling to hold the ship steady and on course.

Ensign Torra found the shields immediately lost fifty percent of their strength despite her best efforts to keep them balanced even with the augmented power from engineering. The only bright spot was, for now, they were holding the radiation at bay.

New to the role of chief engineer, Lieutenant Quinn had his hands full maintaining power flow under the strain imposed by the horrible conditions within the nebula. Knowing it wasn't his place to comment yet, Lennox kept one skilled eye on his console and the other on the new chief, hoping both would hold up against the demands being placed on them.

Lieutenant Said found herself with the unenviable position of being alarm clock for the members of Gamma shift as she and her team, which included Dranik made their rounds to ensure they were all awake and in the process of moving to their designated safe zones.

Torra was quick to point out the drop in shield strength but that didn't seem to deter the Captain or his decision to have them continue forward.   As they continued on, she hoped that the engineers were working on finding other ways to boost the shields while in the nebula.

"Sirs, I just want to point out that the nebula's radiation that is interfering with that signal, is also interfering with OUR communications.  I no longer have any contact with an communication relays outside nebula.  We are cut off completely."

Worst of all, their quick 6 hour mission at full impulse... soon became a mission of extended length when it was discovered that the ship couldn't even safely go that speed.  Hour after hour, Torra announced their progress and their current shielding.  She watched the radiation levels closely.

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

Nevir gave a small smile, shaking his head.  "I think at this point I've learned to lean on your expertise for danger, and mine for diplomacy." he said, squeezing the chair as the ship began to rattle a bit.  It was a haunting deception: the serene silent beauty of a star-growing nebula looked like a cloud, but like a cloud it too had its own circulation, its own eddies and flows, and its own disruptions as nuclear fusion began around them.  There were quite a few reasons why ships tried to avoid going into nebulae when they could.

In engineering, and on the engineering console, the warning came up to notify them that the disruption of the nebula made it impossible to sustain a warp field... and it was taking everything they had to maintain a shield grid too.  They would not be able to go to warp while still in there.

"Ensign." Nevir called, turning towards the Ops station.  He had to be honest, it felt more right to see Torra in yellow at the station.  "What do we have?"

[A little later..]

Torra saw the movement of the Captain turning towards her station out of the corner of her eye.  She looked up from her console display and gave slight worried smile.  "The signal is coming in stronger now.  I should be able to filter out some of the interference."  While she set about doing exactly that, she decided to remark on something else. "Sir, radiation levels have been slowly increasing.  They are of course still within acceptable levels, or I would have mentioned this earlier... but perhaps it might be wise to have medical give the crew shots of hyronalin to help prevention any radiation sickness.  Some are more susceptible than others."

A chime from her console drew her attention.  There was still quite a bit of interference and the message was still indecipherable but one thing became apparent.  Torra blanched and her eyes widened.  She hurriedly turned in her seat towards the Captain's chair.

"Captain! The signal! It's of Borg-origin!"