" Difficulties "
(Previous Post was Serena's "Tactical Preparations")
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Setting: USS ANUBIS, CO's Ready Room
Stardate: 60324.1425
The young woman sat behind her empty desk as she looked at the bare
walls that surrounded her on all sides. Decorating her new office would have
been a nice change of pace... but now had definitively not been the time to
indulge in such frivolity. The ship... her ship had come up against an
unexpected problem and now they needed to revolve it as fast as
possible if they were to rescue the crew of the MERCURY.
After a few moments of thinking about the many unexpected surprises of the universe, the CO shifted her thoughts back to the immediate situation and more specifically what the CEO had said... and displayed. Although the young woman had immediately defended the actions of her life-mate, Rikar could not help but wonder what Enaii could have wanted with the Oltharian. This curiosity was made even more potent when considering that the ILO had been enlisted to help the ExO and Sec/Tac officer in coming up with a plan of action to give them the advantage against the 2 GALOR-Class destroyers. From experience the redheaded woman knew the Elan to be a extreme pacifist so it made little sense to her that Enaii would have called upon him to help with anything dealing with combat tactics.
Eventually the young woman's curiosity got the best of her and in order to satiate this need the CO inquired of the computer as to the location of the Oltharian giant and immediately went to see him once the computer had given her the information.
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Setting: USS ANUBIS, Sickbay
Stardate: 60324.1435
The young woman had not been all that surprise to find the Oltharian in
Sickbay, recalling how much Elan and his people admired members of the
medical profession to the point of worshiping them. What did take the
CO by surprise though had been the work that the Robotics Engineer had been
in the middle of performing when she approached him.
"Computer... confirm the status and activation sequence of program Talia-1." The towering giant inquired of the computer, obviously unaware that the ANUBIS' CO had been standing a few steps behind him.
=/\= Program Talia-1 is currently on stand-by and awaiting final activation parameters. Current program sequence is as follows... In case of a level '1 Alert' or upon the immediate detection of a internal parameter breach, internal sensors are to locate and initiate a site-to-site transport of the mechanical unit referred to as 'Floater', Talia Draxx and any small animal life form immediately in her vicinity to the IGC. Should the security of the IGC be breached at that time, Quarantine Bay 2 within Sickbay will be selected as a secondary location for the site-to-site transport. After completion of transport, a level 10 bio-field is to be initiated around the arrival coordinates followed by the addition of a level 10 force field set 0.5 centimetres away from the bio-field. A multi-phasic holographic projection will then be created to visually hide the force fields from anyone in the room and give the hologram the same tactile feel as a normal wall. Internal defensive systems within the ICG or Quarantine Bay 2 in Sickbay, depending on where site-to-site transport was initiated to, will then be activated and brought to full power, targeting any entity deemed to pose a threat to the safety of Talia Draxx. Full life support, including long-term isolation and survival protocols, are to be maintained within the ICG or Quarantine Bay 2 as per command authorization Omega. =/\= The computer announced as if reciting a simple shopping list... but judging by the expression on the CO it was clear that this was something much more complexe.
"Elan? What the heck are you doing?" The young woman inquired, already suspecting that the answer the Oltharian would provide would involve orders that he had received from the ILO.
The giant spun around and promptly offered a respectful bow to the CO when he realise who had made the query.
"Greetings Captain... I was merely performing the task requested by Lt. Cmdr. Enaii. She gave me strict instructions as to the establishing of a protective program aimed to secure her daughter's well being in the case of a crisis befalling the ANUBIS and her crew.
"Don't look at me... when he mentioned that Enaii had requested him to do this, I got out of the way." The CMO announced from a few biobeds away, giving clear hints by her body posture that she had no intentions of going against what the ILO had wished or what the towering giant had been doing.
"Elan... I want you to tell me *exactly* what Enaii told you... and I need you to give me all of the specifics of this program." The young woman requested, the first part of her demand having been made as the ANUBIS' CO while the latter part had been more aimed from the concerns of a mother towards her child.
"Of course Captain..."
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Setting: USS ANUBIS, Conference Lounge
Stardate: 60324.1450
The scene discovered by the young woman as she walked into the
Conference Lounge had been what the CO had expected to find... Her ExO, Sec/Tac and the ILO working together on a plan to gain a tactical advantage over the Cardassians. As she approached, the redheaded woman noticed the
details of the holographic image which displayed two GALOR-Class ships as well as *2* SCARAB-Class vessels. Obviously their plan included evening out the
odds by some sort of subterfuge.
"Progress report." The CO casually demanded of her First Officer who promptly turned to face the young woman.
"In order to gain a tactical advantage, we have come up with the idea to create a holographic twin of the ANUBIS. We hope to be able to use the 3 VIPER-Class Interceptors to create the core of the holographic image, allowing it to move independently from the real ANUBIS adding to the reality of the illusion. We know that this trick will not be effective for very long, but it should provide us with enough time to neutralize 1 if not both of the Cardassian vessels." The ExO offered sounding rather pleased with the plan that the 3 of them had created.
"The plan is simplistic in design but may prove to be more complicated in its implementation." Ens. Eva added as she scratched the back of her head, the idea of having 3 small ships create a holographic illusion the size of the ANUBIS not having come across as being anywhere easy.
"Sounds like a great plan... but before you start working on the details, could I borrow Lt. cmdr. Enaii for an instant?" The young woman asked, the tone of her voice making it sound more like a request than a query. Without saying anything, the ILO stood from her chair and followed the red headed woman out of the Conference Lounge, across the back of the Bridge to eventually vanish inside the CO's Ready Room.
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Setting: USS ANUBIS, CO's Ready Room
Stardate: 60324.1455
"Explain to me why you pulled Elan out of Main Engineering to work on that program for Talia?" The young woman demanded of the ILO as soon as the door closed behind them. Enaii appeared a little surprised, if that was at all possible for the Intel Operative, by the straightforwardness and tone being used by the ANUBIS' new CO.
"Starfleet standing orders are that all civilian lives be protected first and above those of enlisted officers." Enaii offered with narrowed eyes, not at all appearing happy to have to explain her actions to Sabrina.
"*Civilians* yes… like Chef, the bartender or even the waitresses in the Black Hole Lounge… but why single out *Talia?*" The young woman demanded, clearly upset by the single-mindedness of the work the ILO had ordered.
"Because they are adults and she is a child… *our* child." Enaii calmly replied as if those few simple words were the only explanation that she had been require to provide to explain *everything*.
"Enaii... you of all people have to realise the awkward situation you have put me in by what you did. The work that Elan did, which I have to say is impressive even by *his* standards, is making it look like *we* value Talia's life over that of any other member of this crew, civilian or otherwise." The CO said in a mixture of sadness and anger as she rounded her desk.
"Don't we?" Enaii countered with, sounding as if she had been playing the Counsellor against the woman who had been just that when the two of them had begun a much closer relationship.
"Of course we do! But neither you nor I can afford to openly display this. It is necessary for you and I as senior officers of this ship to be *Officers* before being a spouse or a parent. We both have accepted that there are many dangers in having Talia onboard the ANUBIS... and if we are unwilling to accept this, then we should have left her behind and in the safety of NEW ALEXANDRA." The redheaded woman let out exasperated by the turn of events that had led her to be on the opposite side of this conflict with her life-mate... a position that she truly did not enjoy.
"If you believe that NEW ALEXANDRIA is *safe*, then you are more naive than I had given you credit for." The ILO said with a coldness that matched that of the space that stretched out beyond the hull of the ship. Had Enaii been anyone else, the CO would have thrown the officer out of her office and demoted the individual for insulting a superior officers... but Sabrina could not bring herself to do this, especially not to Enaii.
"Enaii... how am I suppose to explain to the rest of the crew that *you* ordered Elan to do this work and that *I* did nothing to stop it even when I found out that it went against everything that a CO should be doing... that is placing the lives of the crew as a whole above any single individual regardless of how close they may be to me?" Rikar demanded as she fell backwards into her chair, seeing her career as a CO ending before it had truly begun.
"Because the work done by that big oaf was the first step to creating a defensive system for the entire ship to be used against those aliens that invaded the ship earlier." The ILO calmly offered, making it sound as if she had anticipated the way the entire conversation had been going from the start.
"What?" Sabrina countered with, obviously not having followed her mate's train of thoughts in this matter.
"The moment Elan completed his task, he received additional instructions via the ship's computer. He was to meet with Maya and help her implement what he had worked on for the entire ship." Enaii explained without going into any specifics.
"You had that planned from the very start didn't you?"
"Of course." The ILO replied with a hint of superiority before she turned around and left the CO's Ready Room without being dismissed, something that the CO had not been about to reprimand the Intel Operative for... not now... not ever.
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Sabrina Jones {sabrina_sweet@hotmail.com}
Captain Sabrina Rikar
Commanding Officer
USS ANUBIS, NCC-18501
"We are Grey, we stand between the Candle and the Star, between the
Darkness and the Light" 2005 post #296
-Entilza Delenn, Babylon 5
