|
Post by spacedaisy on Oct 23, 2021 8:44:03 GMT
The Person That You Once Were Ens Marika Lenali
It had taken three weeks and countless calls to the engineering department, but her lab was finally in working order. Mari sat at a desk, working on her console when the lights in the room flickered momentarily. Ok, so her lab was mostly working. She sighed and looked back to her console just as the console beeped at her. A notification appeared on the screen of an incoming message. She tapped the screen and found a brief message.
“Recipient: Ensign Marika Lenali
Origin: The office of Admiral King
Recent intel has revealed the deployment of experimental technology by parties whose purposes run counter to that of the Federation. Considering your history and previous research, you were deemed the most suitable scientist to be assigned to this project. Attached are files with what we know about the technology so far, as well as any information about the encounters with this technology that we have deemed important for your research. This is a highly classified project, so your discretion is of utmost importance. A report of your work will be expected on a weekly basis.”
It was intriguing for a message that actually said so little. Perhaps that was why it was intriguing. Mari attempted to open the attached files and discovered they were encrypted. She entered her security code when prompted and waited for a few moments as the files were decrypted and then opened. Her eyes widened as file after file popped open.
Finally they were all open on her console and she was staring at the last one. It took a moment for her to realize what she was looking at. It was her file. Not the personnel file that she had built since she joined. No, this was an accurate file of her life. It included everything about how she came to be here. The kind of details only someone close to her would know. Her stomach knotted and then anger rushed in, making her heartbeat thrum in her ears. “Tessa,” she muttered through clenched teeth. There was no one else that would know any of this. She could only imagine this was some kind of veiled message. SFI knew about her, and now they wanted something from her. But what?
With a growing sense of dread, she minimized her classified personnel file and started looking over the information on this technology. She grew more and more quiet as she absorbed what she was reading and realized why they wanted her on this project.
“Hey neighbor, have you got a spare handheld molecular scanner?” Callum’s voice startled her and her gaze jerked to his figure in the doorway. He eyed her curiously, “Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. I’ve got one in the drawer over there,” she pointed to a drawer on the other side of the room and he trotted over to it. She recalled the order for discretion and closed all the files on her screen as he went to retrieve the requested device.
“Hey! Did they finally get your spectrometer running?” he looked over the device, “Last time I was here it was in pieces.”
“Yeah, it was the last thing I needed them to finish and it took three calls to finally get someone to help me. I’m pretty sure the engineering team hates me now.”
Callum laughed, his eyes twinkling at the idea of the engineering team grumbling to each other about the petite silver scientist who was a huge pain in their ass ever since she came to the base, “Well at least you have working equipment. I still haven’t gotten my sensors online in my lab. I guess I don’t have a pretty enough smile,” he winked jovially at her.
“Oh I dunno, I think you could just flash a smile at Lt. Benson, I’m sure she’ll move you up the list a bit,” she teased him with a wicked grin.
His mouth gaped and his cheeks flushed, “I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
“Oh come on! I saw the way she looked at you in the mess hall at breakfast this morning. I think if you two hadn’t been in a room full of other Starfleet personnel she would have ripped your clothes off right there,” she laughed as she watched his cheeks flush into a deep red. It was just too fun to make him squirm, and it helped her forget her anger for a second.
He stammered something incoherent for a few seconds before lifting the molecular scanner up, “Thanks for this, I’ll get it right back to you once I’m done.” He rushed out the door to escape any more conversation about Lt. Benson. Mari shook her head with a chuckle and looked back to her console where she knew the files lurked. Heaving a sigh, she began opening them back up so she could figure out what to do from here.
|
|
|
Post by spacedaisy on Feb 24, 2022 6:20:18 GMT
Playing With Shadows Ens Marika Lenali
Mari’s fingers were laced behind her head as she sat leaning back in her chair. She rocked slightly as her mind turned over the information she was looking at. Open on her console was a file with the header:
Civilian Ship Ibis/Gaudin, Elise
The contents were far from encouraging about the technology. She stood up and paced the length of her lab, hands stuffed in her pockets, eyes on the ground.
“It doesn’t make any sense.”
She took a few more steps and spun around, biting her lip, deep in thought.
“The only way to know how to go forward is to trace it back. I need to know where it came from.”
Mari dropped back into her seat. “Computer, run a cross reference on the radiation and inverted tetryons detailed in this report. Display all past occurrences in chronological order.”
There was a pause as the computer worked and then a list of just two stardates appeared on the screen. “That’s it? This might be easier than I thought. Computer, open the first file.”
The computer gave a protesting beep, and replied matter-of-factly, “You do not have sufficient security clearance for this file.”
“Figures. How about the second file, let’s take a look at that one.”
The computer once again beeped and informed her again that her clearance wasn’t sufficient to view the file.
“Rel!” she swore under her breath in exasperation. They really weren’t going to make this easy for her.
She opened a message to Admiral King’s office. “If they want me to work on this, they’re going to have to let me see all the relevant information,” she muttered in irritation as she wrote up the request for clearance on the files and fired it off.
The comm buzzed and Lt. Benson’s voice cut into her thoughts, “Hey, I’m at the gym, where are you?”
Mari glanced at the time and groaned, “I’m sorry Liv, I got caught up, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
Olivia laughed, “You buy the next round of drinks when we go out and I’ll think about forgiving you.”
“Deal,” Mari agreed as she rushed out of her lab, shutting off the lights on the way.
After a brief stop in her quarters to change, she quickly made her way to the gym which housed the pool and entered to find that she and Olivia Benson apparently had the place to themselves. She tossed her towel, workout pants, and shoes onto a lounger and she dove into the pool. When she surfaced, she started to take strong, even strokes across the pool until she reached the far end where Olivia was resting against the side, her dishwater blonde hair was tied up into a tight bun, and her one piece suit was colorful, with cut out sections to perfectly accent her curves.
“Callum isn’t joining us today?” she asked Mari, desperately trying to sound only faintly interested and failing entirely.
“I don’t know, I haven’t seen him today. Whatever he’s working on has him holed up in his lab.”
“Oh,” her friend paused and gave a sideways glance to Mari, “I just figured he usually talks to you at least once a day.”
“Want me to sabotage his sensor array so you have an excuse to go see him?”
Olivia’s eyes widened at being caught out, “What? No, of course not! I was just asking…” she trailed off, unable to think of a believable excuse.
Mari laughed easily, “Liv, if you want me to invite him along for our plans, just tell me. I don’t mind. Now you’ve wasted wearing such a fantastic suit for just me to see it,” she teased.
She stretched out onto her back, floating on the surface and looking up at the bland gray ceiling of the room. It had been nice meeting Callum and finding a friend in the science department so quickly. She was surprised when Benson seemed interested in hanging out with her too, they didn’t have a lot in common. Truthfully, she suspected it was a way to get closer to Callum, but it didn’t really matter even if it was.
Olivia pushed off from the wall, taking a few lazy paces forward before flipping over to float next to Mari, “I don’t mean to be nosy, but are you two– I mean, you aren’t– is there something between you guys?”
The surprise about the question made Mari roll over so quick she got a mouthful of water. She sputtered for a second before half coughing, half laughing at the suggestion. “Absolutely not!”
“Really?” Olivia seemed genuinely surprised, “I kind of thought maybe there was something there.”
“I try not to get involved with people I work with. It gets messy and awkward afterward.” She remembered her last one night stand with a crew member on the Zorya. “The worst part is it can really mess up the opportunity for a good friendship.” Mari tipped her head back, wetting her hair and getting it out of her face. “And Callum is my friend, so you don’t need to worry about me getting in the way.”
This clearly put Olivia’s mind at ease, and they spent the next half hour doing some easy laps and chatting. By the time Mari returned to her living quarters, wrapped in a towel at the waist and carrying her pants and shoes in her hands, she was tired and ready to sleep.
As soon as she stepped in the room, she stopped, holding her breath. She could instantly tell she wasn’t alone. She could hear their subtle breathing, silent as they tried to be. And she could see their form sitting in the chair in her living area. The door slid shut behind her and she dropped her shoes and pants on the floor, still clutching the towel around her waist with her other hand as her now empty hand reached out until she felt the familiar shape of the phaser she kept on the desk. Her fingers wrapped around it and she raised it, ready to fire before commanding, “Computer, lights.”
The room flooded with light and she found herself looking at a man in a Starfleet uniform. She didn’t immediately recognize who he was, and her gaze fell to his collar to finally register this was an admiral.
“At ease, Ensign. Unless you intend to explain why you shot an Admiral at your court martial.”
She lowered the phaser and set it on the desk once again. Mari took a gamble, addressing him informally, “I’m guessing this isn’t an official visit or you wouldn’t be sitting in the dark, uninvited, in my living quarters.”
He smiled and waved a hand to the other seat, “I thought we should talk.”
“Sure. How about we start with who are you?” Mari sat on the edge of the seat, perhaps mirroring how on edge she felt in general about this situation.
“Ah, you might not know me, but I know you. You tend to take notice of scientists who find ways to travel between realities and across time.”
“I see. You’re with SFI. How are you explaining your presence here? I mean, doesn’t anyone wonder why someone of your rank with Intelligence comes here to see me?”
His smile never broke, he had the composure of someone who had been in Intelligence for a long time. “Lots of Admirals are taking interest in the progress here. It doesn’t even raise eyebrows if I want to come have a look at how things are going on this project. It’s even close enough to Earth to be a quick trip, hardly anything noteworthy.”
She couldn’t stand his superior tone. He clearly knew he held all the cards and she hated him for it. “I won’t renew my work on my past project. The prototype was lost and it’s best if it stays that way.”
He laughed derisively, “I’m not interested in invading other alternate realities or altering any timelines, you silly girl. I’m here to make sure you understand the importance of your current project.”
“The drive.”
“Of course the drive. If they can work out the application of the technology, the Teffies can jump into and out of Federation Space wherever and whenever they want to and there’s nothing we can do to stop them. But with your background, you seem uniquely qualified to work on the problem.”
“You want me to figure out how to stop them or you want me to make it work before they do?” Mari asked the question pointedly, her eyes sharply observing his every response.
But he remained placid and shrugged indifferently, “Both, preferably. But we can’t sit back and hope the problem goes away. If they get this advantage, the war is over and we will have lost.”
She hated him even more for being right. The technology was dangerous, especially in the hands of the True Federation. “I need access to all the relevant files. I mean all of them.”
“I received word from Admiral King when I was on my way here that you’d requested clearance. Consider it granted. Any information even remotely connected to this technology will be open to you. And if you hit any walls, reach out to me directly. I can move things more quickly and expedience is a necessity in this matter.”
”Hard to reach out to someone who hasn’t told you their name.”
He stood up and straightened his jacket,“Admiral Rumare, and I look forward to working with you, Ensign.”
Mari didn’t rise from the seat or extend any courtesy to him. Instead she leveled a cold gaze on him and asked, “I assume you can see yourself out since you let yourself in?”
The oily smirk of a smile returned and he dipped his head in a slight nod, “Certainly. Goodnight, Ensign Lenali.”
After he left, Mari leaned forward, her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. She tried to quell the nausea in her stomach at the thought of working with SFI, the very group that got Zeke killed in the first place. She wished there was another way, but she knew she had to do this, even if just to stop the drive from working. She didn’t even want to think of the consequences of failing.
|
|
|
Post by spacedaisy on Jun 6, 2022 2:56:26 GMT
OriginsEnsign Marika Lenali, Science Officer Location: Planet Facilities, Ens Lenali's personal quarters Link to original Captain's Log - Captain Oliver Savage, USS TempestMari stepped from the sonic shower and grabbed the fluffy blue towel hanging on the hook. She patted down, drying the droplets of water from her skin. Her bathrobe hung on the next hook and she slipped it on and tied it close before wrapping her hair in the towel. Crossing into the living area, she requested a drink from the replicator, “Computer, one small glass of Intaro, please.” A small, stemless wine glass with a deep reddish-orange liquid materialized and she took it and sat down on the couch. Mari took a small sip and grimaced. “Way too much ‘oba,” she muttered, “going to have to adjust that recipe in the replicator again. Eight tries and you still can’t get it right,” she shot an annoyed look at the offending replicator. She set the glass on her coffee table and picked up the padd she had left laying there before her shower. A shiver ran through her and she drew her bare legs up on the couch, “Computer, increase the temperature two degrees.” The computer chirped, acknowledging the request and she initialized the padd. Once her security code had been entered, the files she had requested access to opened on the padd. Two incident reports, each with a variety of attached files. She opened the first and started reading. It was a report from the Enterprise-D, regarding an incident that occurred while they were charting the Amargosa Diaspora. Apparently they had a hostile first contact situation with a solanogen-based species. Among the attached files were medical files from a handful of the crew and psychological reports as well. It sounded as if they were being experimented upon in gruesome ways. Mari also found some reports of the pocket of normal space the species had created in order to hold the abducted members of the crew in subspace. Interestingly, the sensor readings had a striking number of similarities to the readings associated with the drive technology. She skimmed through a few more of the attached files and then turned to the second file. This one was much more recent, and Mari suspected it would hold a few more answers for her. This time it was the USS Tempest. She recognized the name of the ship instantly. The time traveling crew. When they reappeared, a ship out of time, she followed the story very closely. She had worried at first that perhaps her PTTD had resurfaced, but it quickly became clear that was not the case. Still, she had always felt a kinship with these people who she had never even spoken with before. She scrolled through the reports and files with keen interest, finally opening a log from Captain Savage. Her screen opened to a visual Captain’s log began that began to play. The camera slowly came to life; Oliver’s bloody uniform lay on the floor of the bathroom where it fell when he stripped out of it. He stood in the sonic shower, his arms draped over the open doors with his head resting on his forearms. He had clearly turned up the hydration level and the temperature as light mist hung in the air. He almost seemed as though he was asleep, his eyes remained hidden, buried in his arms. “Where do I start.” He muttered, it was barely intelligible over the thrum of the sonic shower. Slowly he craned his head up opening his eyes, taking a moment to rub at them.
“Captains Duty log, Stardate 74637.38, Supplemental.” He said shifting on his feet. “Where to begin indeed. Once again, the Tempest crew is faced with another temporal dilemma, and it seems that were developing a habit for it. Maybe it is one of those situations. You know in which once you have been involved in at least one Temporal Incursion they just come easier to you. I am going to have to ask Agent Jonson and Johnson when we see them if that is some sort of thing. More than likely, they will be arriving with our reinforcements. I’m actually not worried about it this time, we might have been involved but we are not the cause.” He shook his head.
“I find the more I read about the Away Teams interaction with the Soloanagen life forms the more disturbed I am by the prospect of the True Federation having struck a deal with this species. We know nothing about this species, and the way they are able to move through space…” he paused a moment. “Subspace maybe, it kind of begs the question of what kind of advantage this will give them. Why trade if but to cause conflict and confusion. Is this some sort of mind game? I took the liberty of reading through Captain Picard’s telling of the event, and read the duty logs of those officers involved. It is disturbing to say the least. I can understand Starfleet’s Desire to classify this at the Captain or above level. However, I have to ask myself why. This seems like something you would want to be common knowledge as disturbing as it is because what if it happened again and low and behold here we are years later and a large incursion occurs.”
Reaching and pushing a couple of buttons on the small control panel, he turns the frequency up on the sonic shower, and lowers the humidity level. “From what I’ve been able to gather Sully had a fairly confusing, and candid conversation with this disembodied voice of the Sloanagen life forms and up till the point in which he actually activated and tossed the spatial charges into some void did they finally close the rift between our world and theirs.” He shifted again turning his back to the camera angle, still leaning against the doors.
“Johnny’s account is a bit more fascinating. He rather makes himself out to be the slayer of the Sloanagen’s. Maybe in a way he was, I think he was the only one to manage to injure or destroy one of them. I guess when someone from our time invades the space of one of him or her it causes something of a violent response. I do not know if the science is there to call it anything else yet but maybe through further investigation, we can figure out that. I’m good with giving him that victory despite how it will sound to Fleet when they read his account.” He shrugged visibly.
“We recovered One Hundred sixty five Starfleet Crew, of which One Hundred and twenty seven survived. Thirty-eight dead. We recovered sixteen Klingons from wreckage, of which all survived. Moreover, Seventeen True Federation Crew Members were pulled from Escape Pods, and another five from the disabled ship. Of those, only fourteen survived their wounds. So much loss of life here in a matter of hours.” His voice was somber. “The station suffered losses but the majority of the crew survived. I still am having difficulty grasping why this station, but only its strategic placement really seems to be the answer I can come up with as of yet. It’s right on the edge of Klingon Space, and while it does not handle a significant subspace communications load, it does not have much in the way to offer that would make it a target other than this.” He shook his head and went quiet for a long moment before reaching over and shutting off the sonic shower. Hitting a couple of buttons to unlock the doors, then stopping a moment.
“Computer stop video go to audio only!” he said. The camera feed suddenly went black only showing the Starfleet archive logo. “Sorry, while I’m short on time, no show today!” he said.
“I feel sorry for Ensign Wythe, she came to us after our Temporal incursion so recent events most likely make us look like mad men and women to her.” He gave a slight chuckle at the thought. “Hopefully someone will fill her in soon.” He said.
“Talking with Elianna about the next subject of my log I have to admit part of me was tempted to leave this bit out, but in the interest of being honest, and maintaining full disclosure it should be reported. After all we can’t really delete parts of the flight data recorder and hope no one notices.” There was a slight edge to his voice.
“Sully decided it was time to come clean about at least in part who caused our disappearance.” He hesitated, “You can reference back to our logs on or around Stardate 47938.62, the Tempest ran across a Rogue comet that had not been registered yet. On that comet we found oddly enough a Temple and inside a sort of Sarcophagus. The away team discovered old Greek Runes, Cypriot Syllabry to be exact if my memory serves. The away team detected faint life signs coming from the Sarcophagus, and well the usual Johnny Cleveland fashion had charged in and touched the Sarcophagus. At the time we only had a vague description. Just knew that whatever it was that Johnny released was a woman. After the Science Department had a chance to examine the room we later found the name, it took time for them to piece it together. Turned out to be Empussa. It’s scary sometimes how the past can come back on us and show that what was only thought of as a myth was real.”
“Computer you can restore video.” He said remembering that he had shut it down.
“Where was I.” he said pulling on one of his socks, and then the other. “Empussa, right!” he said as he began lacing one boot up. “Another Omnipotent being to deal with, another ‘Q’ like troublemaker, but we had no idea at the time that she might be that kind of trouble.” He said.
“She said she has a debt to pay back to Johnny, and saving us from the Paris was not enough. Therefore, we have this woman, this goddess rather watching over us. It worries me that she may meddle in our affairs and cause further harm. However, part of me thinks its nice having a supposed goddess watching over us.” He finishes lacing up his other boot, and tugs on his uniform jacket leaving it hanging open for the moment. He stops looking into a mirror situated over his dresser, and reached down picking up his cross, holding it in his hand staring at it for a moment. “Makes you think.” He said.
“So we have our answer, how we were held in suspension. Given the opportunity I would ask her why for so long.” he slowly put on the cross, and tucked it under his Burgundy shirt. “Why not just Johnny if she owed him the debt. While the biggest answer of all has been answered and it’s nice to have that on the record, it still leaves me with questions.” Crossing his bedroom, he exited out into his living space and picked up his rank pips off his dinner table, putting them on his collar.
He paused looking down at his communicator in his hand. “What do I do about Sully, I have a feeling this incident may have given me the opportunity to show him that I trust him. I hope he sees that anyhow. I am grateful he finally got through something, and I am hoping that helps him become more integrated with the crew or closer at least. Then now the focus is Johnny. If this fixes the situation between Sully and I, it leaves Johnny. Johnny freaking Cleveland.” He said grinning. “I love his drive and passion for doing what comes into his head. I just wish he did it with a little more safety in mind, and actually fell back on some of Starfleet Rules and Regulations. However, I would just settle for Safety and integration, or maybe it is buy in that he needs. A reason to care about his job and this crew.”
He stood for a moment in silence as he placed his Communicator on his jacket. He nodded as if finishing a thought in his head. “It’s going to be a long day. Nevertheless, I think that about covers the last twenty-four hours. I’m sure we will have more information forthcoming.” He said and started for the door. “Computer End log!”Mari lowered the padd and looked out the viewport on the outer wall of her quarters as she turned all this information over in her mind. While the second half of his log was not relevant to her work, she still found herself drawn to know more about this crew who had been misplaced in time. In a way, it paralleled her own journey through time, and so she connected with it. Bringing her thoughts back to the information about the station, she pondered what Captain Savage had said about the deal the True Federation had made. Outside her viewport the ringed planet hung low in the horizon tonight. She had to admit, the base had quite the view. It was one of the few things she had come to really enjoy about her new home here in the surface facilities. When she left the Zorya, Mari had dreaded the idea of being planet bound again. The only time she had lived planetside had been during the Academy and she hated every minute of being on Earth. But now she was finding it wasn’t quite so bad. Tonight, however, she was more interested in what she had just learned. “So the True Federation got this technology from the Solanae. That gives me a place to start anyway.”
|
|