View Full Version : Intermission : Re-assignment
Jackie Clawson
10-26-2005, 15:26
OFF:
Allrighty, let's get the ball rolling. Tying up loose ends with the transfer and opening up room for folks to start posting. Note we've not yet departed for DS13, that's still up-coming, but feel free to post yourself doing things aboard the Horizon and mingle with the crew.
ON
<<Captain’s Ready Room – USS Horizon>>
Absently tapping at her console with one hand, the forever present mug of raktajino by her side, miraculously not lost amongst the stack of PADDs littering her desk, Jackie Clawson wasn’t highly amused with the current ‘mission’ the Horizon was sent on as she reviewed the data on the screen in front of her.
O’Neill was on the bridge taking care of things there; she didn’t have a need to be there at times of normal operations, especially if she had things to do in the ready room. And she always made sure she had something to do all the time that she wasn’t asleep, however rare the feline slept.
Looking over at the latest report from science, Jackie let out a sigh; they still had a lot of information to collect. She was used to action and not scientific missions, as was the task force the ship was a part of despite its class; but it was all a matter of the Horizon being in the right place at the wrong time, and having the right tools to get the job done.
Jackie shook her head lightly; as potent the Intrepid class was in a battle, one of its primary roles was that it was a science vessel. They had the equipment aboard to study all sorts of phenomena arising in space. Although the Horizon was in Task Force Seventeen, a Task Force not concentrating on scientific phenomena as much as some of the other Task Forces, Jackie’s ship was the only one in the area close enough to respond and reach things on time when the particular phenomena arose.
When that happened, Burton informed her to divert course and study the area. Jackie wasn’t all that amused however well she hid that when she spoke to Burton, but orders were orders. Besides sometimes things needed to change, it couldn’t all be battling the bad guys and protecting borders, sometimes calmer things were needed, however Jackie objected to ‘idly sitting by’ that way. Sometimes it just had to be done.
Science wasn’t Jackie’s thing; she freely admitted it; weapons and fighters were her forte, observing a phenomenon that got StarFleet so interested wasn’t all that attention-grabbing to her. But she was well aware that StarFleet was still about exploration to a degree, and maybe the data the Horizon would collect would come in handy.
She stifled a yawn, skimming through the data on – screen.
‘gimme a fighter any day’ she thought to herself.
Her further thoughts where interrupted by a chirp of her comm..badge.
=/\=Bridge to Captain Clawson=/\=
She absently tapped her badge, her ears perking up a little; in hope that they’ve found something of interest.
=/\=Rear Admiral Burton is requesting to speak with you=/\=
Jackie nodded lightly.
‘Finally giving me a real mission?’ she thought.
“Patch it through to my ready room�? she stated.
There was a short acknowledgement from the Operations officer before the connection was cut off. Jackie cleared the science report off her console then tapped at it to bring up the communications panel. Not a second later the StarFleet logo was replaced by Vice Admiral Burton’s face.
“Greetings Captain�? came Burton’s voice a second later
Jackie nodded, placing her hands on her table.
“Vice Admiral, what can I do for you?�? she asked, half hopeful it was another assignment that would mean the end of their current ‘scientific study’.
“I have some news for you, Captain�? Burton said.
Jackie waited for him to go on intently looking at the screen, her eyes not giving off any curiosity she felt inside.
“Shortly I will be stepping down as the Task Force 17 Commanding Officer. Rear Admiral Vince Caldwell, the Executive Officer of Task Force 93 has been named my replacement�?
Jackie blinked.
“I see.�? She said, feeling there was more to this conversation than Burton calling to tell her he was stepping down.
“That said, the Horizon is being transferred to Task Force 93, SEARCH.�?
Jackie curiously raised an eyebrow at that.
“Starfleet's Exploratory and Advanced Research Command Headquarters�?
“Exploratory and Advanced Research? Sir, you have got to be…�? Jackie paused catching herself before she said something she’d regret.
“Kidding? No Captain, I’m afraid not�? Burton replied, smiling lightly.
Jackie nodded. This was turning out to be a very good day in a rather sarcastic way. She took a sip of raktajino before saying anything else.
“Is there any particular reason for the Horizon to go to an Exploratory and Advanced Research task force?�? She asked finally.
‘Surely there isn’t a shortage of the Intrepid class active ships’ She thought to herself
“Indeed, Captain. For one you will be assuming Mr Caldwell’s former duties as Task Force 93 Executive Officer�?
Jackie did a double take at that.
“Admiral?�?
Martin smirked.
“Big step?�? He chuckled a little.
“Somewhat….�? Jackie responded clearing her throat a bit, her mind briefly wandering over to some years back before she took command of the Horizon. It seemed like a short while ago she took command of the Horizon as a new Commanding Officer, the idea of a command planted in her mind by her former CO, Mark Harmon. And now things were about to shift again.
“You’ll do fine. You’ve been quite an asset to TF17; I’m sure you’ll be an asset over at Task Force 93 as well.�?
Jackie nodded lightly, not really sure what to make of this.
“The USS Felger is coming up on your location to relieve you in your scientific …survey. Once you pass on the data you collected their way you are to report to Deep Space 13 under the command of Rear Admiral Vince Caldwell, he’ll get you settled into your new duties then you’ll be on your way. Good Luck Captain. Burton out�?
Jackie stared at the screen for several moments, digesting the news; her hands wrapped around the raktajino mug; the feline looked over at the view portal in her ready room.
“Well it’s better than exploring some anomaly…�? Jackie muttered lightly looking out into the deep space beyond the portal.
She brought up a map of the Alpha Quadrant, to check the location of Deep Space 13. Sure enough it was right there just within the boundaries of the Quadrant. Smackdown in the middle of nowhere, the edge of unexplored space some distance away from Antares Fleet Yards.
“This’ll take some time…�? she muttered, calculating the distance and how long it would take them to get there.
She stood up and strode out of her ready room at a quick pace. Throwing a look around the bridge to see everyone busy at their stations, the Caitain looked a bit thoughtful for a moment as she stared at the huge view screen ahead. The bridge has seen more active days than this.
Lightly shaking her head, Jackie approached the command deck, and approached O’Neill.
“Commander O’Neill, my ready room. There’s something we have to discuss�? she spoke in a low voice as she nodded her head towards the ready room.
OFF
Tag, all crew still up and around. If anyone wants a JP, just gimme a holler!
Amina Jalovel
10-31-2005, 13:32
<<USS Horizon - Sick Bay>>
Where the hell is the CMO? Jalovel was not in the best mood that morning, her head was still pounding after an almost sleepless night and the cup of coffee in hand wasn’t helping as much as it should have. Sick bay wasn’t exactly bustling with activity, but there were patients that needed tending to and the CMO was no where to be found. Forcing a smile on her face, Jalovel set her cup of coffee down on the edge of the desk. It looked like it would be up to her to tend to the patients this morning.
Ensign Nicosa, for her part, was helping as best she could with the injured crew. Jalovel smiled in her direction both as a gesture of thanks and to encourage the woman to continue to administer to the patients. As for Dr. Powell, his whereabouts were still unknown. Taking a tricorder, Jalovel scanned the nearest patient after listening to her complain about the pain in her arm. The yellow shirt probably meant she was in security or engineering.
“So what were you doing when your arm started hurting?�? Jalovel asked her pleasantly.
“Well, I was, umm, in the holodeck with Reginald. He was showing my some new defense moves that one of the other Security Officers showed him.�? The young woman blushed as her affections for the mysterious Reginald were written all over her face. “I guess I should have been paying more attention and raised my arm the wrong way to block a blow. I think I must have bruised something.�?
“Cracked the bone, actually,�? Jalovel commented. She wondered why these security officers were always risking getting hurt by not paying attention to what they were doing. She had half a mind to tell the young woman to let it heal on it’s own. But instead she began to treat the injury. “You should refrain from using this hand for at least a few days to give the bone time to knit back together. You’re lucky you didn’t break anything.�? Jalovel smiled again, but inside she was still wondering about the intelligence level of this silly girl. No doubt she’d been paying more attention to Reginald than the skill she was supposed to be learning. “Come back if you have any more problems with it.�?
“Thanks,�? the young ensign said and left sickbay. Jalovel glanced at the clock. Still no sign of the Chief Medical Officer.
Tag Any
ON
<< Captain’s Ready Room – USS Horizon >>
Sam placed a PADD on the desk in front of Jackie as he slowly exhaled “Well Captain, we have a bit of a trek ahead of us�? he pointed to the location shown on the map “we are here, sector 422 just below Ferengi space and inside of Task Force 72’s area of operations�? he tapped another command in to the PADD, moments later the PADD zoomed out and showed the path down towards Deep Space 13.
“It is going to take us at least 2 months to get to Deep Space 13, possibly longer if we go sight seeing again along the way�? he smirked knowing how much his Commanding Officer disliked their current science mission.
Sam had enjoyed the chance to get to know the ship; he knew he had been remiss in his duties so far as Executive Officer not getting to know the senior staff. An engineer at heart, Sam found himself drawn to the ship before its crew. In the weeks he had spent aboard the ship he had found Horizon was fine vessel, well maintained unlike the last Intrepid he had been aboard.
He knew the ships status came from the pride the crew had in their ship, everyone from Captain Clawson down to Crewman Andrews one of engineering’s newest enlisted crew members took a pride in their job Sam hadn’t seen since his short time as Commanding Officer of the Minerva when it was attached to Deep Space 12.
The only thorn in Commander O’Neill’s side was called Jeffery Jefferson. The Horizon’s lounge manager was a cantankerous old man, as grumpy as they come. No one aboard was entirely sure why, when Sam had tried to pull the old man’s service record he found himself hitting a wall of red tape. Beyond titbits of information about Jefferson’s first posting aboard the USS Challenger little was known about him.
Sam really got the impression Jeffery was grumpy because he knew just as much about himself as everyone else did.
Nothing.
It had crossed Sam’s mind to organise a few visits to the counselling department aboard horizon, what little information he could glean from the previous Executive Officer told him that would be a complete waste of time and energy.
Sam came to the realisation his mind was wandering, looking up he saw Jackie was talking. Her words began filtering through his ears as though someone somewhere was turning the volume of her voice up very slowly a few notches at a time. Sheepishly as she finished he smiled and said “Sorry I didn’t catch that�?
Jackie smirked a little, the PADD in her hands slid behind her back as she was pretty much walking back and forth in her ready room as she talked. She stopped as Sam spoke up, and looked over his way.
“Wandering already, Commander?�? She asked, shaking her head a little; then she smiled.
In a situation like that, she didn’t mind if her first officer wandered off a little mentally; this wasn’t exactly something that needed a snap decision and total concentration; she could afford to relax certain things a little even if she herself refused to ‘relax’ completely.
In fact, right about now she was going nuts with nothing much to do; hence her walking back and forth in her ready room, PADD in hand. Coffee and a PADD was something Jackie was rarely seen without. She stopped at her desk and picked up her coffee mug; the feline took a swig of the caffeine then looked at the PADD in her hands as she replaced the coffee mug back onto the table and resumed pacing.
“As I was saying, I’d much rather prefer a 2 month trek than sticking around here ….sightseeing�? she said. “Though I’m not sure what we’d do once we get to DS13.�? She noted. “If it’s more sightseeing I think I’ll just take the helm and hightail it outta there ASAP�? she said, her tone indicating she was half joking.
As the Commanding Officer of the Horizon, Jackie rarely got the chance to do the things she used to do aboard the Rayden. She didn’t miss security as much as she missed flying.
“I’m not too sure about the… re-assignment�? She noted as she made her way to the replicator thinking she needed more coffee right about now.
The amounts of coffee she drank almost amazed some of the crew members; she heard there were even rumours about her living off of coffee, but that wasn’t really true, well unless the circumstances called for it. She smirked remembering Anise, her first XO. The Trill was a bit amusing at times.
“Don’t you twitch?�? the Trill had asked at one point. To which Jackie just smiled and replied with a solid ‘nope’ then took a sip of coffee and they got back to discussing business.
Anise was still aboard, as one of the ship’s helms officers, and the two still ‘hung out’ in the holodeck and discussed things. The only difference between the two was that Jackie was trained a fighter pilot, more than a helms officer, but with some practice she was able to fly the Horizon itself as well. The Caitain got bored of sitting in the centre chair sometimes, so she tapped the helm officer to hand over the controls to the dismay and sometimes the embarrassment of her senior staff at times.
She wasn’t sure if the double take Burton did the first time she took a communication from him on the bridge with her behind the helm controls was a good sign or not. But as Harmon said years ago, COs perks.
Jackie sighed a little, part of her missed those days; she still kept in touch with Mark; however rare they spoke nowadays. Both always had something going in terms of a mission or some crisis or other.
The feline shook her head lightly, having caught her own mind wandering.
“You’re contagious, Commander O’Neill�? she stated, now 100% sure she needed more coffee. Maybe even something stronger…?
She tapped the console in front of her to bring it online.
“Anything to drink, Commander?�? she asked, keying in her usual order.
“No, no thank you Captain�? Said Sam looking over the PADD containing the Horizon’s route “I’m sorry my mind is a little slow today. This is only my second week back in uniform after three quarters of a year as a civilian.�?
He deactivated the PADD and looked up at the Caitain CO before adding “Starfleet life is a little more fast paced than my asleep by day break awake whenever I feel like it civilian life.�?
Jackie smirked lightly.
“I know that feeling. To an extent.�? She noted lightly. “I’m still not fully used to… command�? she admitted. Which probably might explain her random bouts of taking over the helm controls of the Horizon once in a while.
Sam tapped the PADD against his thigh as Jackie walked over to the replicator, his mind drifted again. This time however, it drifted toward the mission at hand. He chuckled to himself, it wasn’t really a mission just some cryptic comments from Vice Admiral Burton a man Sam knew quite well, at least knew quite well a year previously when he had been Rear Admiral Burton.
Sam’s abortive attempt at Commanding a starbase had been doomed from the get go, every other starbase CO he had ever met had done some time commanding a ship. The only CO he knew of who hadn’t commanded a ship had been Captain Sisko, Sam knew himself well enough to realise he wasn’t a Bajoran Prophet nor a tactical genius. Sam O’Neill had on occasion been described as an engineering genius, something he tried his best to disprove. Geniuses could get from A to D without moving through B and C, Sam on occasion managed to reach D with only B or C, never without either of them.
Picking up a second PADD Sam begin to read through the information Starfleet had provided them on Deep Space 13, the Ratarian Republic and the other unexplored area’s of space near Deep Space 13. Sucking air through his teeth he made a judgement call on the data before him.
Jackie regarded him intently as she withdrew a freshly brewed coffee mug from the replicator and brought it up to her face. She took a whiff of the aroma as O’Neill spoke up again.
“Captain, I don’t think we’ll be doing any sightseeing per say,�? he paused then added “However, I do think Starfleet’s going to put us to work exploring either sector Zulu Beta Three Five or Echo Charlie Five Four. Both of those sectors have some un-catalogued anomalies.�?
He smiled “perhaps the Horizon will manage to fulfil her primary role and do a little exploration�?
Jackie let out a sigh, for a moment staring at her coffee before taking a rather huge swig of the hot liquid.
“Great... should’ve taken a Defiant instead�? she murmured. She wasn’t sure how much more of the ‘exploratory type’ missions she can take without going insane. She wasn’t a scientist, even if the ship itself was a primarily exploratory vessel.
Jackie shook her head.
“Guess we’ll see when we get there and when I meet with Rear Admiral Caldwell.�? She said.
She narrowed her eyes, pondering over the situation at hand. Why transfer the Horizon to Task Force 93? Just so she can take over Rear Admiral Caldwell’s duties? Could she do it? Wasn’t there anyone else in Task Force 17 who could do that? Why the Caitain? Did Task Force 93 specifically request an Intrepid class ship, and the Horizon was the only one in Task Force 17. Why the Horizon? Not like it had an edge in technology over the other Intrepid classes. Jackie Clawson had a lot of questions for Rear Admiral Caldwell; part of her couldn’t wait to get to Deep Space 13.
“The transfer still doesn’t sit too well with me�? she admitted. “And not because of the… primary objective of Task Force 93. I don’t mind exploring once in a while�? she said, admitting to herself that the exploring she’d like to do would’ve been in a fighter at very high speeds. “But…�? she shrugged. “I guess things could be worse�? She paused to take another swig of coffee.
“Any thoughts on…the whole thing, Commander?�? she asked O’Neill
Sam let out a small laugh “Yes Captain, I think Starfleet Command is giving you a transfer to Task Force 93 precisely because you dislike exploration missions.�?
Sam held up a hand to forestall any comments from Jackie, she looked a little shocked by Sam’s comment. Then the Caitain actually smiled, baring her teeth, Sam wasn’t sure if it was a vicious smile or the good kind.
“You have to understand, while the 4th Fleet is predominantly a fighting fleet, Starfleet as a whole isn’t. You may not always be in the 4th Fleet, imagine a change to the 7th or 8th fleet? A life of exploration and diplomacy.�?
He waved his PADD at Jackie “A Starfleet Captain cannot live by battle alone, no matter how much she may want to�?
“Mhm.. suppose so..�? She said. “However why put me up so high right away? Task Force Executive Officer isn’t something I had in mind when I took command of the Horizon�? she paused, smirking a bit. “Granted, I wasn’t even thinking about a command until Mark suggested it.�? Jackie had a feeling Harmon had a hand in the change in her career in such a way.
Science wasn’t her strongest suit, neither was diplomacy, but even she had to admit that a good Commanding Officer had to be a good fighter and a good diplomat. He or she had to know when to fight and when not to. Harmon seemed to have a gift for that, and Jackie learned to be a bit more diplomatic under his wing than she was before she came onto the Rayden. But this would be the first time she’d have to do it without Harmon’s ‘guidance’, just her experiences, and what he taught her when they served together.
She let out a small sigh, then couldn’t help but grin at the situation. Jackie Clawson shook her head, her orange red mane swinging around with each move. What else could she do? Get mad about it? It was done and over with and she had no control over it, all she could do was bite the bullet and go in headfirst.
“Guess we’re up for some fun times�? she remarked, chuckling a tad.
“Quite likely Captain�? Said Sam as he leaned back in his chair “One thing I know, there is no point second guessing the decisions of Command, they dance to their own tune, with their own rules.�? He chuckled “real life and Starfleet Command don’t often mix, in fact in all my years in the fleet they never have yet.�?
To illustrate his point he continued “Starfleet Command once assigned a single Defiant Class vessel to a station; a station on the edge of what they knew would become a war zone at a moment’s notice. You, I or anyone else would have put ten or twenty ships there.�? He threw the PADD in his hand to the desk “Starfleet in their infinite wisdom sent one.�?
Jackie smirked lightly.
“Who knows what they thought at the time�? she said.
Sam stifled a yawn “Do we have more to discuss or can I go give orders to get underway?�? he asked, trying not to sound as tired as he felt.
Jackie shook her head.
“Nope…I think that about covers the preliminaries. Felger’s on it’s way; they should be here in a couple of days, make sure the science data’s ready for transfer once the Felger’s in range. I want to get a move onto Deep Space 13 as soon as possible. We’ve got a long trek ahead of us�? she said.
“That’ll be all, Commander�? She noted, nodding her head as a thank you to her Executive Officer. Jackie took a sip of her coffee and nodded her head towards the door in silence, dismissing O’Neill out of her ready room then rounding her desk, Jackie picked up a stack of PADDs and picking out several of them turned to the screen in front of her and keyed in a few commands. Bringing up the charts of the area Deep Space 13 was in, Jackie got to work.
This was going to be one long journey, the Caitain Captain had no idea what was in store for the Horizon and her crew once they got to Deep Space 13.
OFF
A Joint Post between
Captain Jackie Clawson
Commanding Officer
USS Horizon
Task Force 93
&
Amina Jalovel
11-04-2005, 11:35
[USS Horizon - Sick Bay]
Jalovel was getting tired of smiling. Her jaws were literally aching from smiling so much at everyone in sickbay. The patients that she assisted had been pleasant enough. In fact, there really wasn’t that much going on in sickbay. However, she should have been in the lab by now working on her current round of experiments. But the CMO still hadn’t showed up for his shift, nor had he let any of them know when they might be graced with his presence. She grumbled under her breath a comment about how nice it would have been if she’d been told that he was going to be out today. But no, he couldn’t even do that.
Inside, she was seething with anger over having been taken advantage of and treated in such a manner. Didn’t the CMO think that she had other duties she had to attend to, other things that were important that she could be doing right now if he was only here doing his job! Outside, Jalovel appeared, calm, friendly, polite and cheerful. While she didn’t actively carry on a conversation with her patients, she did listen to their complaints and make them feel like she was there to help them.
At the back of her mind, Jalovel was waging a war with herself. For all she knew some emergency might have happened which made Dr. Powell run late today. More than likely he would apologize for his absence later on today. Although she would remind him to be more polite and courteous next time and at least send her a message letting her know he’d be late. How long could it take to send a little message, for Prophet’s sake? Everyone deserved at least one break, she supposed as she allowed the smile to fade from her face for the first time in several hours. She covered it up by taking a sip from her coffee cup and hiding her face behind it so no one would notice the frown. Jalovel knew she shouldn’t let such things get to her.
With a sigh, Jalovel set her coffee cup down again as someone else walked through the door. She frowned slightly when she noticed it wasn’t Dr. Powell but yet another patient she would have to listen to whine about their aches and pains. She’d never seen so many sick and injured people on one ship before in her life. But then again, she rarely spent much time in sickbay. The nurses seemed to sense something was wrong with her and tried to be as helpful as possible. But they’re friendly helpfulness only seemed to annoy Jalovel that much more. If they felt she wasn’t doing her job well enough, then she’d like to see them try to do it, she thought as one of the nurses proceeded to scan the patient that had just walked in the door. The nurse then passed the medical tricorder to Jalovel to evaluate. “Cheer up, Doctor, I’m sure Dr. Powell is just running late today.�?
“Yes, I’m sure you’re right, thank you Nurse Henry,�? Jalovel responded politely and smiled. Inside, she was still angry, but outside she looked calm and serene. “Now then, Ensign, you’re readings look clean, what seems to be the problem?�?
Tag Anyone
[USS Horizon - Sick Bay]
J'al walked in holding his arm a bit as the Doc on duty was talking to another patient. “Now then, Ensign, you’re readings look clean, what seems to be the problem?”
He let them talk for a minute, and as soon as she saw him he grinned a bit sheepishly. "Hey Doc. My fighter crashed again, and my arm took a pretty good hit." the Caitian said as he sat on a bed. "At least the holodeck safeties were on. Still, you'd be amazed at how real the Gs you pull in there are. Epecially in a Class C atmosphere." he said with a laugh. He could tell she was a little stressed. "Having a rough day?"
OFF: :D There ya go doc ;)
Amina Jalovel
11-05-2005, 15:06
[USS Horizon - Sick Bay]
Jalovel took notice of the Catian as he took a seat on the biobed. She arched her eyebrows slightly as this was the first time she’d actually examined a member of his species. Taking out her tricorder, she examined his arm carefully, and then gently felt along it with her fingers. He winced a few times when she touched over the sensitive spots. The bone wasn’t broken, which was a good thing. That meant a quicker healing time. She was sure the Caitian would be happy to hear that diagnose. She listened to him ramble on about how he’d gotten the injury, and nodded her head at all the right times while keeping a smile on her face.
At least he left the safeties on, Jalovel thought to herself as she began healing the injury. Dr. Powell chose at that moment to drag his sorry carcass into sickbay. Looking up at his red rimmed eyes and frown, Jalovel could tell he must have had quite a night. He barely grunted in greeting and headed towards his office. Great, he’s hung over. So much for getting any help today. Jalovel frowned in frustration. She then remembered the Catian had asked her something.
“Not really a rough day, just busy,�? Jalovel responded truthfully if vaguely. It was a very busy day, and probably going to be even busier. It would, however, be a rough day for Dr. Powell. She’d see to that herself. If he thought he was going to get special treatment just because he was hung over, he had another thing coming. In fact, Jalovel had quite a few reports that were just sitting there, waiting for Dr. Powell to go over. Her smile brightened when she thought about dumping the entire pile of them right on top of his desk. Well, it wasn’t her fault she’d finished so many research projects in such a short amount of time. She could just imagine his headache would be getting far worse by the time he finished going through all of that data.
“How’s the arm feel now?�? Jalovel asked the Catian. No doubt he’d still be sore for a while, but he should have use of it now.
Tag: J’al
[USS Horizon - Sick Bay]
Dr. Powell chose at that moment to drag his sorry carcass into sickbay. Looking up at his red rimmed eyes and frown, Jalovel could tell he must have had quite a night. He barely grunted in greeting and headed towards his office. Great, he’s hung over. So much for getting any help today. Jalovel frowned in frustration. She then remembered the Catian had asked her something.
“Not really a rough day, just busy,” Jalovel responded truthfully if vaguely. It was a very busy day, and probably going to be even busier. It would, however, be a rough day for Dr. Powell. She’d see to that herself. If he thought he was going to get special treatment just because he was hung over, he had another thing coming. In fact, Jalovel had quite a few reports that were just sitting there, waiting for Dr. Powell to go over. Her smile brightened when she thought about dumping the entire pile of them right on top of his desk. Well, it wasn’t her fault she’d finished so many research projects in such a short amount of time. She could just imagine his headache would be getting far worse by the time he finished going through all of that data.
“How’s the arm feel now?” Jalovel asked the Catian. No doubt he’d still be sore for a while, but he should have use of it now.
"Better" he said, sniffing the air a little disdainfully. "Your boss had Saurian Brandy mixed with Bolian Tonic. And a little too much of it at that." he said with a slight smile. "Does this happen a lot? If it does, he shouldn't be here. I might have to file a complaint against him with the Captain. I can't stand to see Senior Officers hungover on duty...."
OFF: TAG :p
Amina Jalovel
11-06-2005, 20:09
“On a regular basis? No I don’t think so.” Jalovel couldn’t recall the last time Dr. Powell had walked into sickbay reeking of saurian brandy. “I wouldn’t worry about it, considering that I’m here and covering the shift.” Why she was making excuses for the Doctor she had no idea. Jalovel should let the Caitian file his complaint with the Captain and be done with it. She frowned slightly. Because if she did, then it would look like she’d gotten her job not through her own efforts but through the incompetence of her predecessor.
If Jalovel had been irritated before, she was really starting to get irritated now. The more she thought about the fact the doctor was hung over, the more upset she became. Setting down the tricorder, she spoke again. “Well, if you have any more problems with the arm, just come back and I’ll look over it again. You’re lucky nothing was broken. Try and be a little more careful next time.” She pasted on a smile at the end of the sentence.
The caitian still didn’t look quite convinced that he should leave the issue about Dr. Powell alone. Well, if he did file a complaint, then that would be Dr. Powell’s problem to deal with and not hers. If asked, she would report the incident as it had happened without leaving out any details. The man had clearly shown up for his shift still reeking of the drink he had consumed the night before (or perhaps had been drinking all night for all she knew) even though synthehol was readily available.
Regardless, Jalovel would be dumping those padds on his desk just as soon as the Caitian walked out the door. The smile returned to her face again as she thought about how Dr. Powell would enjoy going through all of that data. And there was a lot of in depth, extensive information that had to be waded through in order for him to complete his own projects. He would have to get to it that day, as time was of the essence for this project.
Tag Grenn
OOC: Just kind of curious as to the need to recap my previous post in your last one Grenn, seems kinda redundant since this is forum and not PBEM
OFF: I was reitirating a part of the dialogue to tie both posts in. Not the entire post. It's the same way I post on our forums over at DS7, and the way that we encourage others to post. It's worked quite well, and I wanted to be sure I posted things smoothley on here also. That's why I did it.
ON:
The Doc put her tricorder down as she finished up with him. “Well, if you have any more problems with the arm, just come back and I’ll look over it again. You’re lucky nothing was broken. Try and be a little more careful next time.” she said with a smile.
It seemed more a part of her job then anything else, he thought. He nodded his thanks, and headed out of sickbay and on to his shift. Most of it would be spent in his "office" reading up on the latest Intel reports, which was basically a part of his quarters with a desk, and several displays for his use. At least he got quarters on Deck 4. More then he would have gotten in another position with his rank. He was only needed on the bridge if the Captain requested it, or Yellow Alert or better was sounded.
OFF: ;)
Jackie Clawson
11-11-2005, 22:23
ON
<<USS Horizon – Bridge >>
Jackie stifled a yawn, she’s been staring at the main viewer for the past five minutes or so. Or has it been longer? The bridge around her was bustling with daily activities of a normal day-to-day non-crisis run of the ship. Part of Jackie shuddered at that, it was too quiet, but then again this was a scientific mission of sorts; there’s no reason for them to be on a red alert unless the anomaly wasn’t really an anomaly. And so far the data hadn’t shown anything ‘out of the ordinary’ at least not according to the experts aboard.
Jackie absently tapped at the console in her chair, checking the status of the ship’s systems that was reported in; everything was running fairly smoothly. She nodded lightly, tapping at the screen to change it to another readout of data.
“Captain.” Came a voice from behind her. It belonged to Ensign Scuito, the operations officer on duty at the moment. It took Jackie several seconds to recognize it. “Captain the USS Felger is in-range”
Jackie nodded her head, sitting up in her command chair.
“On screen. Maximum magnification”
The ensign complied. The main viewscreen changed to an image of an Intrepid class floating into range. Jackie regarded it for several moments before issuing the next order.
“Hail them.”
“Aye” the Ensign fiddled with the controls. “Establishing contact.” She reported, several moments later a human male in the command uniform filled the viewer.
“This is Captain Murray of the USS Felger.” He spoke. “Captain Clawson I believe” a bit surprised to see a Caitain in command.
Jackie nodded.
“Indeed. “ She smiled, at least they were going to be out of this place very soon. “Captain we’re ready to transfer the data your way, and handover anything relevant once you’re ready”
Murray nodded.
“Eager to get on your way, are you Captain?”
Jackie smirked.
“Does it show that much, Captain?”
“I’d be too given your assignment.”
Jackie nodded lightly.
“Not anymore, we’ll be seeing more anomalies and doing more exploration I’m sure” she said a tad dryly.
Murray chuckled.
“What’s your ETA?” Jackie inquired.
“Several hours” Murray replied, averting his gaze for a moment he nodded to someone off the screen.
“You can start transferring as soon as you’re ready. I’m sure there’s plenty to transfer ”
Jackie nodded, she looked back at Jennifer Douglas.
“Anytime you’re ready, Ms Douglas” she said.
Jennifer nodded her affirmative and her fingers began dancing on the console in front of her, a few moments later Murray confirmed the start of the data transfer.
“I’d like to get a head start as soon as you’re in position, Captain Murray.” Jackie said.
“Eager to get out of here?” The human asked.
Jackie smirked.
“Let’s just say we have a long trek ahead of us. We’re heading off to Deep Space 13”
Murray let out a low whistle.
“Good Luck Captain.” Was all he said.
“Thanks” Jackie smirked. “Clawson out”
<Two hours later>
Felger was in position, all the data that’s been gathered on the Horizon has been confirmed transferred over to the Felger. Murray and Jackie exchanged a few pleasantries before going their own ways. Murray once again wished Jackie good luck on reaching Deep Space 13; it was going to be a long trek indeed. And she still had a lot of questions to ask regarding the transfer.
Jackie took in a deep breath, and glanced over the bridge.
“helm…set a course for Deep Space 13…” she announced.
“Course laid in” Came Anise’s smooth reply from the helm controls a few moments later. Anise waited for the Captain to give the order to engage.
Jackie nodded lightly before saying anything. She looked thoughtful for a few seconds, before grinning widely.
“Anise…” Jackie spoke up, as she stood up from the Command chair.
The Trill looked back, quizzically. Jackie made a sign with a hand, Anise smirked and got to her feet relinquishing controls of the Horizon. The Caitain nearly leapt behind the controls of the starship, her fingers settling in position for a moment before flying over the controls to check the heading. Anise watched for a few moments, before stepping off to the side and taking a seat in the command centre of the bridge.
Jackie felt the looks of her entire bridge crew on her as she took helm control of the ship, seeming to prefer that to the centre seat sometimes. She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling connected to the Intrepid under her command, and now under her control, then the Caitain smiled.
“Don’t mind if I take my ship for a little spin whilst we head over to DS13, do you?” she asked, a smile on her lips as she glanced back at her crew. She was well aware that some of her crew haven’t gotten used to her antics quite yet; not many Captains actually flew their own ship unless necessary. It was rare for Jackie to do it as well, but this wasn’t the first time she’s done it either. Not hearing a reply, Jackie smirked, eager for a chance to finally do something more than just sit around staring at reports and data.
“Thought not” she smirked to herself, whirling around to double check the settings before launching the ship into warp and onto their new adventures.
OFF
If anyone’s up for a JP. Jump me! Tag me! poke me! talk to me! :D
Jackie Clawson
11-12-2005, 07:23
ON <<USS Horizon – Bridge>>
Jackie’s fingers nimbly flew over the helm controls, guiding the ship forward to their destination. Tapping at the controls to slightly adjust the course, the Horizon shot through space at warp speeds.
Jackie smirked to herself, okay so this wasn’t flying a fighter, but the Caitain itched to fly anything other than the training programs in the holodeck. Sure she was command now, and she was no longer new to command, but Jackie still yearned to do the things she did when she was aboard the Rayden. She still longed to be behind the controls of a fighter, more than behind a security/tactical panel. Once a pilot, always a pilot. Harmon himself attested to that on several occasions.
Tapping at the controls in front of her, Jackie let her mind wander a bit to their re-assignment. Why SEARCH? Was it Harmon’s way of telling her she needed to be a bit more diplomatic and a lot less trigger happy and daredevil? His way to say that Command is different. Way different to anything Jackie dealt with.
Over the years in command of the Horizon, Jackie knew she changed. She knew she could no longer allow herself be ‘trigger happy’ or pull too many double/triple shifts and work all through the night for weeks on end like she used to on the Rayden. The Horizon needed its leader, she was it; she had a responsibility to the crew and she had no intention of letting them down by running herself into the ground by working too much.
She was still very much of a workaholic, but she cut down on things over the years; she wasn’t too fond of sickbay still, but she tolerated it as long as she could whilst any injuries she had were worked on; but she still was eager to get back to work as soon as she could pretty much walk and think and ignore any pain. Jackie was still stubborn when it came to resting and taking it easy due to medical reasons. As far as she was concerned, she can be knocked down, but not out.
She got back in the run of things as soon as she could, pushing herself harder than necessary sometimes, but the Caitain knew well that she shouldn’t be down for long. She had a job to do, she had a responsibility to the crew; she took care of herself just enough to get by and not waste time idling away in sickbay or in her quarters. That at least hadn’t changed from the old times. She remembered how she used to drive Harmon nuts by refusing to rest and take it easy, and getting back to work sooner than recommended; but that was her way of dealing with some things. After some years, Mark Harmon understood that. Jackie Clawson was a mystery, sometimes even to herself, even more so to her current crew.
Gently tapping at the controls, the feline checked a few settings; behind her the bridge was deep in the daily workings of the ship; each member of the staff doing their own thing, that is each member aside one.
The Horizon flew on, on its long journey, with the Commanding Officer of the ship behind the helm controls of the nimble Intrepid.
OFF
Okay so about how many protocols *is* Jackie breaking there like that?! LOL
<<USS Horizon – Bridge>>
J'al walked onto the scene of the bridge whistling a little. Or at least trying. It didn't sound that great, but it was indicative of happiness at least. He headed over to the small panel that passed for the Intelligence station behind the command chairs.
Looking up, he noticed Jackie at the helm controls. An interesting sight. Not too many COs took it, or admiralty officers at that. He knew what it felt like to want to fly something. He wanted to get a chance at the Horizon's helm at one point, but she had the privilage. Since Starfleet told him he couldn't fly after loosing his tail in the accident..... with then Lieutenant Clawson..., he had to figure out what else to do. Intel seemed good, and it kind of opened into his lap anyway. They figured that since his natural sense of balance was now handicapped, and he would be prone to black out in a swirling dogfight that he was not fit to fly a small craft. Pah! He flew fine, and took regular trips to the holodeck to stay loose as it were. At least he was still rated at flying a capitol ship like the Horizon.
He uploaded the daily Intel reports that came only to his station console into his PADD using his secure code, locked it with it again, and used the time to shuffle through the latest data on some new Cardassian Scout Ship. They still had to clear all their new designs with the Federations, Klingons, and even the Romulans. Talk about being on a tight leash, he thought.
What a boring shift. He wanted to check a few more things out, then head back to his "office" in his quarters to review the latest data.
OFF: Ok. On the bridge :p Killin time :D Bridge'd only need its Intel officer if it goes to Yellow Alert. Otherwise they get to be bored a lot :)
Jackie Clawson
11-13-2005, 10:08
OFF
Yeah, pretty much killing time, considering where we’re going ;) for now…Hehe
And I hear ya on the getting bored bit… ah.. COs perks… ::whistles innocently::
ON
<<USS Horizon – Bridge>>
Jackie moved swiftly at the conn; this was a far bigger array of controls than one would find on a fighter, and definitely far more vastly spread out, considering that the helm and navigation station pretty much dominated the bridge given its size.
This was her playground for the time being; nothing exciting or out of the ordinary was going on for the time being, so she could afford to allow herself to do something like this. Their journey to Deep Space 13 would take a considerable amount of time, Jackie wasn’t sure what she could do with some of that time, when she wouldn’t be on the bridge. She’d go insane reading reports all the time, much as she would go insane sitting in the command chair with nothing in particular going on.
‘Gimme a fighter anytime’ she thought to herself, her fingers flying over the controls to make a few slight corrections to the settings; with a series of short taps, the Horizon’s speed increased as it cut through space. Jackie reminded herself to be careful and not to get carried away with some things; she was after all flying a starship not a fighter; pity some of the manoeuvres didn’t work well whilst you’re behind the helm controls of a starship.
The Caitain shrugged it off; she had to keep her skills sharp and not just in the holodeck. Yes the holodeck was as real as one could get, if you turned the safeties off, but Jackie wasn’t that insane; not anymore anyway.
Now she was…different in a lot of the aspects. As usual Harmon was right, command did change you. Whether the change was good or bad, depended on a number of factors, Mark refused to let her in on things straight away; she’d have to figure them out herself, and thus far as was well on her way there, step by step at least.
She heard the hiss of the turbolift doors behind her, ignoring it briefly before she heard the whistling ; Jackie blinked, partially recognizing it as belonging to the only other Caitain aboard her ship.
Jackie smiled wryly, half wondering what did the humans think of the Caitains; she and J’al could be considered odd balls in some ways. Well she knew she was an oddball in a number of ways; not just because of the Rayden and her experiences there. Jackie Clawson had her way to do certain things. However annoying it seemed to whoever she went up against.
A gentle beep from the conn brought Jackie back to the moment, she glanced at the panel on the left of her; the Horizon was well on its way towards their destination, but it would take a considerable amount of time for them to reach Deep Space Thirteen on the edge of…nowhere. This was going to be a long journey. Whether there’ll be any exhilarating adventures before they reached the station or not; Jackie didn’t expect it to be a trip full of ‘thrills’; the part of her living in thrills seemed to have shrunk back a little nearly a year after she took command of the Horizon. She knew well command wasn’t all about thrills and excitement and battles; sometimes all you could really do was just sit and wait.
“or in my case, fly the ship to our destination” Jackie murmured to herself, a grin on her face, as the Horizon flew onwards under the Commanding Officer’s direct control.
OFF
Just getting my feet back in. ;)
ON
<< Holodeck 1 – USS Horizon >>
<Several hours ago>
O'Neill swung the weapon in a wide arc, using the power of his swing to break through his opponents block. It was a stupid move; any swords person could have told him that. The power of his blow was easily deflected, and deflected in a way that stopped him being able to parry his assailants return attack.
"Dead again" said Marie sweetly as she removed her mask
"How many times am I going to have to tell you, powerful attacks like that are easy to block"
Sam blushed "I know, I know. It was my frustration again; I hoped to pressure you in to making a mistake"
Marie smiled "The only mistake I made was marrying such a useless swordsman" she winked as she turned away from him and replaced her mask.
Sam tried to calm himself down with a few breathing exercise as he readied himself for their next round, checking the chronometer he realised they only had 15 minutes left in the holodeck.
Hefting his sword he brought it up in to a guard position once again, "Ready?" Asked Marie as she brought her own sword up.
"No" said Sam honestly as Marie moved towards him, watching her muscles tense Sam guessed her first attack would come from the left. Moments later it did, Sam barely brought his sword in to block. Marie had always been quicker than him, Sam was a man suited to power attacks rather than dainty attacks.
With a flick of her wrist, Marie parried his block. The move caught Sam by surprise, it shouldn't have it was a basic response to his block.
As he concentrated on not dropping his sword as he tried to force his hand back in front of him, using brute strength alone. Perhaps, if he hadn't been so intent on doing that he would have seen Marie's knee before it connected with his groin.
"Ooops" she said as Sam lay groaning on the floor in a foetal position, "I'm sorry baby, but you need more object lessons in paying attention.” She leaned down and kissed him lightly on the cheek “Come on now you big baby, we need to be out of here in 5 minutes” She stood and gathered up their equipment, as she walked towards the holodeck’s doorway she said quietly “If you make it out before our sessions up, I’ll make it up to you”
<< Bridge >>
< Present Time >
Sam shook his head as Captain Clawson took the ship’s helm, didn’t she realise she needed to be the ships figure head, not sit on the bridge doing a junior officers job? No he thought to himself as he grinned, she didn’t, she neglected to see it the same way Sam never could understand why he wasn’t allow to fiddle in main engineering because he was the Executive Officer.
The higher up the chain of command a person went the more they seemed to yearn for the good old days, one of the few people Sam knew who broke that rule was Captain Picard. On an off chance he had met him, briefly admittedly, at an archaeological dig. Between them they had shared the grand total of 36 words, mainly their introducing themselves before Picard was recalled to the Enterprise. Despite the Captain’s obvious annoyance at leaving the dig unfulfilled the glint in his eye caused by having a mission was unmistakable.
Quite often it seemed people were elevated to a place where Starfleet needed them, rather than Starfleet letting them rise to a place they’re comfortable in. Sam himself knew how that was, his disastrous attempts at command still haunted him a year later, despite the leaps and bounds he had made in dealing with things he still found his mind wandering back to Starbase 17 regularly.
In an idea world he would never have transferred from Deep Space 12, Executive Officer was right for him. Commanding Officer was a step too far, a step in the wrong direction, a step that ultimately lead to his resignation from Starfleet.
A dull throbbing pain caused him to forget his train of thought, his earlier sparring session with Marie had left a mark on him both emotionally and physically. Despite the advances in modern medicine Sam was unwilling to visit Sickbay and have his bruise checked over. 30 seconds with the dermal regenerator would save him pain, but at the expense of his ego and his training.
For the next few days at least he would remember vividly what he had been told, ‘every time I sit down, walk or do anything’ the chuckled to himself as he felt another twinge.
The doors behind Sam’s head opened, gingerly he twisted around in his chair to see another Caitian arrive. “Intel” he muttered to himself as he called up J’al’s bio on the console before him. Two Caitian’s on the Horizon, more than Sam had ever seen in his life nearly. There was a Lieutenant Soban, but he wasn’t Caitian, he was a Huanni. “Crazy creature” he mumbled as he thought of the biting episode.
With a slight wince of pain he turned towards the security station in an attempt to strike up some conversation “So Mr Kao, I understand you know Rear Admiral Burton? How’s he doing these days, I’ve not heard anything from him since my resignation from Starbase 17.”
OFF
TAG Mack (You want to JP in the JP area?)
Adam Kao
11-15-2005, 07:00
Adam was busy running the usual diagnostics he always run. Having a routine was one of the things Adam was good at. He briefly looked up and around the bridge. He saw people bustling around and the Captain at the helm., the XO in his chair and the rest of the bridge staff working away. It was quiet with the exception of the console bleeps in the background, but the silence was soon broken.
With a slight wince of pain he turned towards the security station in an attempt to strike up some conversation “So Mr Kao, I understand you know Rear Admiral Burton? How’s he doing these days, I’ve not heard anything from him since my resignation from Starbase 17.”
"Vice Admiral Burton, with all due respect sir." Adam didn't like to correct his superiors, but he did take exception when it came to people who were close to him. "And yes, sir, I do. My cousin and I were part of his cadet team on Starbase 281 where we became close with him in a friendly way. We kept contact when I graduated and was assigned onto the Gettysburg and finally the Detroit before it was destroyed. He was the reason I got this assignment here." Adam looked down at his console and tapped a few more commands before continuing. "Last time I spoke to him was a few days ago. He was going dark and couldn't be reached. Some sort of new assignment on Earth somewhere and if I wanted to contact him, it would have to go through the Presidents office. He did tell me, however, that he had stepped down as the commander of Task Force 17, though sir, to take an advisory role. I don't know if that has anything to do with him going dark, but I assume it is." Adam shrugged a little and took a deep breath. "So yeah, he's doing okay. A bit shook up about stepping down I believe, but it must have been due to the fact I just mentioned. If you want, I can give you his secretarys subspace channel who can perhaps arrange a communication between you both to catch up?" Adam said, looking at the XO.
Tag: Dan
Jackie Clawson
11-15-2005, 10:54
ON
<<USS Horizon – Bridge>>
Jackie slid over from one side of the helm control panel to the other to check the course settings once again and see how far off their mark they were. With a swift motion she tapped the controls of the ship feeling quite comfortable with where she was at the moment.
“Capt…Commander O’…uh…Capt…” Scuito’s voice sounded confused, just as much as the ensign herself was confused at the moment. She wasn’t sure who to direct the present query to; considering Jackie was at the helm and O’Neill was in the command chair. Technically speaking it was O’Neill who was in charge right at this moment, but Jackie was still on the bridge so she was in command to an extent as well.
Schuito shrugged lightly to herself as she spoke up again. “We’re receiving a communication from the USS Rayden.” She said.
Jackie’s ears twitched at the familiar name, she smiled, but kept her excitement down as she continued working the helm controls.
“On screen, Ensign” she commented in a brisk voice fighting to keep her feelings settled, as she worked on tweaking the settings on the panel in front of her to divert her attention from the upcoming communiqué. Most of the time a communication from the Rayden could only mean one thing. Jackie smiled to herself, cheerfully tapping at the console in front of her as the connection was being established.
A silvery haired male in his fifties clad in full Admiral’s uniform popped up on the screen, behind him one could see the bridge of a starship filled with activity. He looked directly at the command centre of the Intrepid.
“Capta..” He paused, briefly doing a double take not seeing the Caitain there. The Admiral looked over the bridge, noticing his former crew member at the helm controls.
Mark Harmon shook his head, letting out a slow sigh; he smirked slightly seeing as Jackie has yet to notice him, clearly deeply engrossed in the controls in front of her.
“Jackie Clawson, when they gave you the rank of captain, they didn’t mean for you to take it quite so literally.” he quipped in a stern tone; the tone he used on her whenever she did something ridiculous; which was quite often on some occasions.
Jackie jumped a tad, but recovered quickly, she blushed deeply at the same time looking sheepish as if she’s been caught with her hand in the cookie jar before dinner time.
“Ehrm..Ma..Admiral Harmon….sir…I ah…” she cleared her throat, still looking a tad sheepish as she got to her feet. Jackie motioned Anise to take over the controls with a swift motion of her hand behind her back as she faced the Admiral on the main viewscreen. “What can we do for you?” she asked, trying to appear casual. She clasped her hands together behind her back as she stood on the bridge of the Horizon facing her former commanding officer.
“For starters, you can resume command of your ship, Captain. You’re in command of the ship, not in control of it.” Mark Harmon replied, then he broke up in a huge grin, still enjoying the moments he could catch Jackie in situations like this.
“Ehrm.. of course…sir” Jackie replied, sensing he didn’t just contact her just to leave the Caitian looking rather awkward on the bridge of her own star ship; no matter how much he enjoyed it sometimes. She cocked her head to the side curiously waiting for him to go on.
Harmon smirked.
“Now that’s settled.” Harmon grinned. “I see you’ve yet to lose some of your ….special traits”
Jackie smiled, nodding lightly.
“I no longer have an urge to beam down to an M-class planet and go against a group of Cardassians” She noted dryly, referring to a past experience. “I drove you crazy, can’t do that with my crew”
Harmon nodded lightly.
“Good, because this time I’m not here to get your tail back up onto the ship” he shot back.
Jackie grinned.
“You brought more than my tail back the last time, Admiral” Jackie noted with a bit of a smirk. “I doubt I’d be here otherwise, Mark.” She said, her tone taking on a bit of a pensive note.
“Quite, hotshot” Harmon nodded. “I’m glad to see you’re quite well on your way up the chain of command. A word with you in private, Captain.”
Jackie nodded.
“Of course.” She paused. “Ensign Scuito, transfer Admiral Harmon to my ready room. Commander O’Neill, you have the bridge.” She issued the orders, then taking a look at the bridge, flashing a brief smile at Lieutenant Grenn, disappeared in her ready room to continue the conversation.
OFF
Tag: Sam, Grenn.
ON
<< Bridge – USS Horizon >>
“Vice Admiral?!�? Asked Sam incredulously “well, he’s gone far in less than a year�? said Sam mostly to himself, perhaps with hindsight he should have gotten around to reading Captain Clawson’s briefing documents before now. Up until this point he had managed to wing it each day from the start of alpha shift to the end of beta, now he suspected he would have to get his kit together and start being a Starfleet Officer once again.
“The honeymoon’s over�? he whispered to himself.
Noticing the chair next to him was empty again, as Anise had taken over the helm as Captain Clawson headed for her Ready Room, Sam turned to Grenn momentarily and asked “Want a seat for a bit Lieutenant?�? he could have waited for a reply, but his mind quickly drifted back to his conversation with Lieutenant Kao.
Sam ignored the implied challenge in Kao’s voice, anytime someone used the phrase ‘with respect’ it was obvious little to no respect was meant. He let it slide mainly because he didn’t know the crew, and they didn’t know him. He couldn’t expect anyone amongst them to respect him personally, maybe they could all respect the position he held, but no him personally.
“Perhaps that might be an idea�? he mused “But, I think before doing that I need to read through my briefing documents again, I’m not sure it all stuck in my mind the first time through�?, as he spoke a thought went through his head ‘A little white lie wont hurt too much’
Looking up he realised Grenn was still standing “Don’t want the chair Lieutenant?�?
OFF
TAG Mack, Grenn
<< USS Horizon - Bridge >>
"Sure, why not." he said, sitting down. "This is about the only thing I Have to do on my shift now. Intel doesn't feel the need to send us much Intelligence information since we're not in 17 anymore. So my job's going to get boring really fast around here."
OFF: Can do more later. Going to work and stuff now ;)
ON
<< Bridge – USS Horizon >>
Sam laughed as Grenn spoke “From what I’ve seen of Task Force 93’s Intelligence Reports so far Lieutenant you won’t be bored once we get on station�?
Sam sifted through the data on the monitor in front of him trying to pull up the Ratarian information, eventually he found it and sent a copy across to the Executive Officer chairs console.
“The Ratarian’s look a fairly interesting species, I’m certain they alone will keep you busy�?
OFF
OOC Ratarian info can be found here http://www.ds13.webtrekkie.com/main.php?pageref=ratr
TAG Grenn and Mack
OOC Okay, this show starts now. Kicking the Horizon in to gear.
Hope you guys enjoy this; it’ll rely heavily on your in put. You don’t post it all grinds to a halt.
ON
<< Deck 6 – USS Horizon >>
Ana ran as fast as she could she had been running for a while, no one else on the ship appeared to want to help her no matter how she screamed. Invisible barriers seemed to stand in her way as she tried to escape, 3 times in a minute she found herself sprawled on the floor.
Her screams echoed across the empty hallways “why can’t anyone hear me?!�?
Ensign Ana Polaris fell one last time against a bulkhead, she sobbed as her body slowly slid down to the decking. She screwed her eyes shut tightly as a shadowy form began float around her “go away�? she muttered as she thrashed out with her arms trying to stop whatever it was.
“Leave me the hell alone!�? She screamed once more as her hand hit something hard, despite her deepest urges not too she looked opened her eyes and looked at what she hit.
Ana screamed once more before the blackness took her
<5 minutes later>
Dr. Powell stood over the recumbent form of Ensign Ana Polaris, he wiped his sweaty brow once before sweeping his tricorder over he body. He turned to the ensign beside him “Are you sure this is how you found her?�?
The stern look on the doctor’s face startled James for a moment “Ye.. Yes Doctor�?
Powell’s eyes narrowed slightly before he turned back to his tricorder, the readings puzzled him. Especially in light of the evidence laying before him on the floor, it was hard to refute even if his tricorder did just that.
He turned his head back towards the ensign who had made the emergency call, the young officers body language indicated he was telling the truth. Powell wasn’t sure the young man was telling the truth. The tricorder said the body had been moved, the young man said not. One was lying.
He turned back to the body once again. For a moment he was lost in thought wondering who the girl had been and what her job on the ship was. The grey shoulders of her uniform indicated she was an intelligence officer, one of the many ‘spooks’ assigned to Horizon for some reason or another Powell had never bothered to find out.
He sighed and raked his hand though his now thinning hair. There really was only one thing for it, he tapped his comm badge “Bridge this is Doctor Powell�?
<< Bridge >>
“Bridge here�? replied Sam happily as he looked at the other crew members on the bridge “what can we do for you this fine day doctor?�?
“I need the Captain’s presence Commander, and that of Lieutenant Kao and someone from Intel down on deck 6�? the doctor seemed distracted as he spoke.
Sam looked over at the ready room “The Captain’s busy Doctor, you’ll have to make do with me, what seems to be the problem?�?
Doctor Powell was quiet for a few moments before he replied “I think someone’s been murdered�?
OFF
OOC Tags all round
Ensign Ana Polaris is an Intelligence Officer, Grenn, feel free to flesh out any info on the NPC since she’s from your dept.
Not sure if Doc Powell has a first name, don’t think he does yet. If he does please let me know what it is.
The other young guy there is Ensign Robert Jackson, an operations officer and currently our prime suspect.
Where the plot goes is down to you guys :-D
<<Deck 6, Corridor>>
<<5 minutes later>>
J'al came for Intel, since he was on the bridge, and Department Head anyway. He looked down at Ensign Polaris. She had been there about as long as he had. She was one of the few people he had on his staff of 15 people, and one of only 4 officers. When you work with only 3 other people on a regular basis, you get to know them well enough.
The Doctor filled him in briefly about his readings, and the testimony of the Ensign standing next to him. J'al was pretty mad about this, as this was a person he worked with. He stepped towards the Ensign who found her and grabbed him by the collar, putting him up against the wall. "If you are lying, I will make it MY business to see you thrown OUT of Starfleet, and into a prison cell for suspision of murder. Now... are you SURE she was like this when you found her!?"
<OFF: Tag to him as an NPC, or someone else> ;)
ON
<< Deck 6 >>
Sam strode up a few moments after Grenn, Kao had waited for Sam to leave the bridge as they had all been standing together. For some reason Lieutenant Grenn had chosen to wander straight off the bridge. Sam wondered if he would ever understand Caitian’s, Captain Clawson appeared so together most of the time then would end up having a scatty moment without realising it. J’al appeared the same, at least to Sam’s human eyes, maybe he thought to himself it was just normal for Caitian’s.
Ahead he saw J’al laying in to a very scared looking ensign “Lieutenant�? said Sam softly “remember everyone’s innocent until proven guilty and interrogations are securities ball game, not Intel’s�?
Sam turned to Adam “Lieutenant can you have a little chat with the rather frightened Ensign�? he paused for a moment “a particularly friendly chat please, the last thing we need is him fainting from fear�?
Doctor Powell passed a PADD to Sam, he cast his eyes over it quickly looking to pick out some details
He turned to J’al “Lieutenant Grenn, can you tell us anything about Ensign�? he looked at the PADD once more “Polaris?�?
OFF
OOC I'm adding entries to the Beta Div Infobase for these NPC's, you can access them via this link (http://wiki.tf72.org/index.php/Category:USS_Horizon_NPC%27s) feel free to expand the entries as more info comes out IC, most of this is unplanned so you can start adding bits in.
TAG Grenn here, Mack grab me on IRC about Ensign Jackson.
<< Deck 6 >>
"Well, she's been here almost as long as I have. I know this was her first assignment, and that she was very happy to be here. She even told all of us that at the last Intelligence meeting yesterday."
He looked around for a moment. "This is way too shocking for my taste. I find it hard to believe that anyone on this crew... even our Ensign over there could have done this to her. They all had very thorough background checks done before they came here. I reviewed them, since I was assigned here later. If you like, I can connect with the Intelligence Database at Starbase 43 and do my own checks on every member of this crew."
OFF: tag ;)
Jackie Clawson
11-26-2005, 21:44
OFF
I was working on my CELTA stuff for tomorrow, when…
ON
<<USS Horizon – Captain’s Ready Room>>
"what do you mean you can't do it?�? Harmon’s voice echoed in the ready room as Jackie sat back down with an extra large mug of black coffee.
Harmon’s eyes met Jackie’s for a moment before he went on.
“course you can, Capt..." He smirked. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be in such a position�?
"Not that I had much of a…�? Jackie started,
“Choice?�? Harmon smirked. “Sometimes you don’t get one. But believe me, StarFleet wouldn’t put you in said position should they have though you weren’t qualified for it.�?
“Sir, i don't think..."
"Yeah you don't sometimes" the Admiral smiled slyly as Jackie nearly choked on her coffee
“gee thank you, Admiral" Jackie replied dryly.
“Trust me, Jackie. Don’t doubt yourself so much. Trust me like you did under my command.�?
“I do.�? She said. “But…this is just…�? she fiddled for words
“Unexpected?�? Harmon offered, a tad sympathetic. “There’s something particular you expect?�? He asked.
Jackie cocked her head to the side a little.
“Stumbling onto a coffee nebula might help.�?
“One day, perhaps, hotshot�? Harmon said. “Until then you got quite a handful of a job to do�?
“Well that sounded *very* reassuring�? Jackie pointed out.
Harmon smirked again.
“Wasn’t meant to, why do you think I never took the job?�?
“WHAT?!�? Jackie did a double take, giving Harmon a rather hard look. “What makes you think I’m up for it?�?
“Has my gut ever been wrong?�? Asked the Admiral looking at his former crew member.
Jackie thought for a moment, her hands wrapped around her mug.
“Well there was the time…�? she started.
“I didn’t see you coming.�?
Jackie took a swig of coffee, then smiled.
Mark chuckled.
“In my defence, you shouldn’t be so sneaky, there are times it’s bad for you.�? He spoke. “But I assure you, this isn’t the same as shooting you by accident.
Jackie shrugged.
“Big step.�?
“So was taking command of the Horizon, you’re okay with it now it seems.�? Harmon shot back
“Yeah, but this is… different…�? Jackie said. “Way…way way different. I mean what the hell do I do? What if…�?
“Stop…�? Harmon’s gentle yet authoritive voice came from the other end of the screen. “You’re doing it again.�?
“What..?�?
“Over-analysing things. This isn’t sec/tac nor is this flying, Clawson.�? He said. “This is command.�?
“Old habits die hard, Mark�? Jackie said.
“Yes, so I’ve noticed, when I saw you behind the helm controls. You won’t really have that luxury with your new position.�?
“Oh?�?
“Trust me, you’ll be busy�?
Jackie slapped her forehead.
“Gimme a hint here, Mark.�? Jackie said, nearly making kitten eyes at her former commanding officer. “Busy with what…?�?
“Mhmmm….�? Mark Harmon muttered.
“Maaark!�? Jackie swung a fist, slightly slapping the monitor.
Harmon grinned, clearly enjoying the slight torment of his former crew member.
OFF
Adam Kao
12-01-2005, 08:59
Adam stood in the hallway of Deck 6 looking down at the body while the medical team did their examinations. Sam was talking to Grenn and Jackson when he called Adam over.
Sam turned to Adam “Lieutenant can you have a little chat with the rather frightened Ensign” he paused for a moment “a particularly friendly chat please, the last thing we need is him fainting from fear”
Adam nodded and gently placed his hand on top of Roberts shoulder, maneauvering him round the corner.
"Take a seat, ensign." Adam motioned for him to sit on the floor of the deck. His eyes were glazed over, obviously shock was settling in now. Adam wasn't a doctor, but he knew that sometimes shock can take a while to settle in. Robert looked up to Adam and then back down at the ground.
Lowering himself to Roberts level, Adam reached up to his chin and smiled. "C'mon, ensign. We both know you didn't kill him, don't we?"
"But.. But.. Lt. Grenn, sir." Robert stuttered his reply.
"Don't worry about him. Look, lets get you to sickkbay and get you checked over, yeah?" Adam tapped his commbadge. "Kao to security, can I get a team to deck six, immediately." The voice at the other end acknowledged the call and soon enough, six security members were around him. Adam looked to two of them. "You two, take ensign Jackson to sickbay and get him treated for shock." They nodded as Adam pulled one of them aside. Quietly, he whispered, "Make sure he doesn't go anywhere else until I come see him again." The officer nodded and led Jackson to sickbay.
Returning to the scene with the other four officers, Adam set up a control barrier with them. Basically, no one in without Grenn, Sam or his approval. He wanted to maintain the crime scene as much as possible. He returned to Sam who was just chatting with the doc. "So, sir. What now?" He asked.
OFF
J'al looked around the crime scene bafore turning away and looking down the corridor. This was quite disturbing. He knew what he was going to do. Check the internal sensors to anyone near her in the hallway, check entry logs in the area, and build up profiles on anyone that was in the area at the time using Intelligence access.
First thigns first were to check with the Chief of Security on all of this. No doubt that the access levels for Intelligence may prove helpful. If so, then he was going to be one of many key players in this investigation. Lt. Kao was nearby talking with the XO. He was the first one he would need to see.
J'al walked over to where they were talking and waited for a break in the conversation.
OFF: Go for it Kao and O'Neill :)
OOC Okay folks, lets get things moving here again. Lets try and finish this off by early January.
ON
<< Deck Blah – USS Horizon >>
Sam nodded to Lieutenant Kao “Okay Lieutenant, lets move this up to the security offices. I want you and Lieutenant Grenn to work together on this. Despite your own security levels I’m sure Grenn has been doing more thorough checks on our crew than you yourself.�? Sam leaned forward conspiratorially and smiled wryly “It’s been said Intel is paranoid you know�?
Turning to Grenn he smiled “Come along Lieutenant, we need to start deciding what our plan of action is.
<< Security Office >>
<15 Minutes later>
Sam stood quietly at the back of the room, nodding as one of the younger security officers read from the girl’s service record. He was determined to let Kao and Grenn handle this one as much as possible, they were trained Starfleet Officers and separately neither of them needed their hands holding, so working as a pair Sam really did feel like a spare part.
He noticed there was a lull in the proceedings; tilting his head he asked a simple question. “Have we traced the ensigns where abouts for the last few days?�?
“Yes sir�? said Ensign Mayhew with a nod “she has spent most of her time on duty, and most of her off time in her quarters alone�?
Sam sighed “And that’s it?�?
“Ah no sir�? Mayhew looked around for the correct PADD “Actually she went to two other places, sick bay once for a routine check up and the ships Bar three times�?
Sam looked over to Kao and Grenn, his head still tilted “Jefferson?�? he enquired the question obvious.
<< Engineering >>
Lieutenant Marcus Shane O’Brien stood on the upper gantry in main engineering, despite the coolness of the room he found himself sweating profusely. It had gotten worse since his visit to sickbay the previous day, the doctor had told him it would clear up within 24 hours. That was nearly 27 hours ago now and Marcus really had to admit he felt sick to his stomach.
“Is it just me or is it hot in here?�? He asked as he wiped his brow once more.
Almost without pause a reply came firing back “You always look hot to me sir�? Elara’s voice was breathy and overtly sexual.
Marcus smiled in spite of his ill feelings “Why thank you Pretty Officer West�?
Marcus and Elara had been flirting for quite some time now, the other engineers found it funny. They often wondered why it never went further than idle flirting, the answer was fairly obvious. Despite Elara’s intentions towards Marcus, he appeared oblivious. Like many men Marcus Shane O’Brien needed to be beaten over the head and dragged back to someone’s cave before he would realise they liked him.
The Lieutenant on the other hand knew the reason, he was chasing someone else – he would have been gutted to learn of her death had it not been for his own imminent demise.
Dark shapes began appearing in the corner of Marcus’ vision, dark shapes he couldn’t focus on enough to make out. Initially he tried to put them from his mind as he worked he found the shapes taking form, his breath became short and ragged as he slowly realised what he faced.
“Intruder alert in main engineering he screamed as he tapped his comm. Badge, hands reached towards him in an attempt to grasp him. He knew once the hands got him he would cease to exist, his body would become a vessel for the one thing that truly scared him.
Jumping backwards he escaped their grasp.
Petty Officer West stood silently as she saw Marcus launch himself over the railing, she couldn’t bring herself to utter a word as he fell. The look of triumph on his face would forever be etched in to her brain. It was only when she heard the sickening thud of Lieutenant Marcus Shane O’Brien’s body hitting the floor did she begin to scream.
OFF
TAG’s all round. Think someone can chase the leads while someone else checks engineering?
<< Security Office >>
<15 Minutes later>
“Ah no sir” Mayhew looked around for the correct PADD “Actually she went to two other places, sick bay once for a routine check up and the ships Bar three times”
Sam looked over to Kao and Grenn, his head still tilted “Jefferson?” he enquired the question obvious.
"Didn't seem like the type to even go to a bar. At least to me." Grenn said, looking over at Kao.
A few minutes later, a frantic call came over the XO's commbadge. "Intruder Alert! Main Engineering!"
They all looked at each other for a second before they got up. Grenn ran out of the room, and on his way out, grabbed a phaser from a compartment by the door after opening it with his access code.
All three of them ran as fast as they could to the turbolifts. "Move! Make a hole!" he called out as he ran down the hall past all the crewmembers. Meanwhile, Sam and Kao had called Security to mobilize a team to get down there.
Within minutes, Grenn and Kao arrived at the Main Engineering Doors as the Security teams did. They opened to reveal nothing but several stunned Engineers.
"What happened!?" J'al called out to them. A few of them explained that Lt. O'Brian called the intruder, then jumped off the second level. He had been beamed to sickbay almost immediatly. What he had seen was still a mystery to anyone but him. Hopefully he could be saved in Sickbay, but that was yet to be seen.
OFF: Woo. Moved us up :)
Jackie Clawson
12-20-2005, 21:18
ON
<<USS Horizon – Captain’s Ready Room>>
<Shortly before the incident in Engineering>
The conversation with Harmon piqued her interest highly; Mark had a way of teasing Jackie without releasing any information from which she could guess the real issue. This was no different in one way.
Part of Jackie wished she could strangle Mark; or at least reach out and let ‘im have it one way or another. Their sparring matches in the holodeck alone always revolved around some sort of payback on either the Caitian’s part or Harmon’s. it all depended on who crossed who at the time.
Jackie shook her head, downing the rest of the countless mugs of raktajino she’s had so far. This time things were a little different. Mark was more elusive than before. He planted subtle hints that could’ve meant half a dozen things if you thought about it.
‘Gee.. I wonder why he says I think too much….’ Jackie thought sardonically to herself.
“could it be because you’re always making me think about a variety of things by throwing out all these hints?” she stated out loud, throwing a look at a nearby panel which contained a holo-image of her and Mark Harmon both clad in dress uniforms during the reception at the time he was promoted to Admiral.
Jackie released a sigh, reminiscing at the memories. It all seemed so long ago, yet it was still vivid in her memory. Almost all of what she did on the Rayden was a vivid memory. All but some of the more painful moments, but those were the ones she didn’t want to remember sometimes. The painful moments that caused her to grow overtime, were the same memories that taunted and tormented her to this day were she to run into a situation similar to the series of events that happened back then.
Harmon’s promotion was shortly after the time Jackie’s security team was ambushed and captured on the surface of Cardassia Prime. Harmon was determined to get Jackie and her team back in once piece; determined enough to beam down there himself. And get them back he did. Whether it was in one piece or not remained to be seen for the next few weeks.
Jackie flinched at the memories which came flooding back in, upon instinct her hand flew over to her stomach, covering the spot where the Daqtagh entered; the Caitian blinked back a rush of recollections trying to chase them away. She gritted her teeth, fighting back a wave of emotions.
“it’s over…the Glinn broke you then, but Mark helped you pick up the pieces afterwards” she whispered to herself, her eyes wandering around the room slightly dazed at the onslaught of memories; her gaze finally locked onto the holo-image of herself and Harmon.
Both were smiling, Mark beaming proudly, Jackie by his side grinning widely with no signs of anything bad having happened to either of them just two weeks before the image was taken.
“See…this is you *after* what happened. Does it look like he put a dent on you?” she spoke to herself out loud. Throwing a glance at her stomach and letting go of the spot she was covering Jackie flexed her hands. “He did, but nothing that couldn’t be buffed out over time” she added.
She shook her head chasing away the memories. As usual Mark was right, at the time she didn’t think she could go anywhere; quite literally, her being confined to her quarters didn’t help things any, especially considering how much of a workaholic she was. Harmon was right about her being okay over time.
But still…Jackie could only guess what and how she would react were she to meet another Cardassian. Part of her knew the meeting wouldn’t be pleasant for both parties.
=/\= “Intruder alert in main engineering”=/\= came a scream through the comm. System shattering Jackie’s thoughts in an instant.
Jackie leapt to her feet, adrenaline filling her veins in almost an instant. The Caitian snatched the handheld phaser off her desk.
By the time she tapped her comm. badge she was racing out of the ready room towards the turbolift out on the bridge, the handheld phaser by her side armed and ready to use.
<<Main Engineering>>
Jackie nearly took a flying leap through the main engineering doorway, her phaser drawn, the years of her security training kicked in in an instant, and doubled with her reflexes and experience with security as well as flying fighters, a quick look around Engineering told her all seemed to be clear, at least at a glance it was.
She caught sight of a group of officers off to the side.
“Status report.” She stated curtly, casually holstering her phaser as if nothing just happened. “What the hell is going on?” she demanded before the present officers had a chance to register she was there.
OFF
Tag: Note this takes place shortly *after* J’al asks what happened, possibly during the explanation given to ‘im. Hence the last scene…Yes she really does move swiftly when she has to :P tad whacky too…. :: can just picture the looks on the officers’ faces during that last scene:: (( <J’al, Sam, Kao> ::blink in unison:: WTF? ))
Jump me for a JP if anyone wants to JP things.
I got two finals next week, but then I’m relatively free after the 28th. And we want to wrap this up ASAP to move onto the fun part.
<<Main Engineering>>
She caught sight of a group of officers off to the side.
“Status report.” She stated curtly, casually holstering her phaser as if nothing just happened. “What the hell is going on?” she demanded before the present officers had a chance to register she was there.
"Well, far as we can gather from witnesses, and sensore, Lt. O'Brian jumped off of the second level away from something he believed to be an intruder. We don't know if it was yet, but we are going through internel sensors thouroughly, as well as around the room in the 5 minutes before we recieved the Intruder Alert." J'al said, looking over at Jackie. In less serious circumstances, he would have made a slight joke over her coming in with a phaser as she did, but it was not appropriate right now.
"No word from Sickbay yet, but they'll contact us if something changes. He left here in serious condition." J'al continued. (OOC: If he is to die, let's just have him do it in sickbay. If you need him alive, you can as well)
"I can't help but feel this is related to Ensign Polaris." he said, looking around as Jackie seemed almost normal at the moment. "We have absolutley no idea what killed her, how it happened, or anything. All we know is she died from neural failure. Her brain just switched off and she died." he said, frustrated at what was happening. "I'd reccomend General Quarters, and that we issue hand phasers to the crew. But that's up to you and Lt. Kao. I was about to mention that to him, but I think he may already be on it."
OFF: Ok Kao, doing your job a little bit :)
Jackie Clawson
12-21-2005, 08:44
ON
<<Main Engineering>>
Jackie listened to what J’al told her. One crew member was dead and another one was possibly in critical condition heading off towards death by the looks of things. Has she been in her ready room THAT long?!
The Caitian shook her head curtly. This could’ve been a freak accident, much like Polaris’ death. But Jackie couldn’t discount anything; her security training didn’t let her discount anything.
“If there is a killer aboard, I want weapons access restricted as having a weapon would make it easier for him to kill�? she said, pausing briefly.
But as a Commanding Officer, the safety of her crew was a primary concern to her, Jackie was well aware of that.
“I want security detail on every deck�? she said, her tail flicking behind her was the only sign of agitation. “Report any suspicious activities to me immediately�?
“How can you link the two together?�? she asked. “Evidence…what’ve we got?�? she prodded Grenn and Kao for more information. Jackie Clawson was no longer looking at this from a Commanding Officer’s point of view as she was from a security officer’s point of view.
“So far, I would say that having two deaths on a Starship outside of combat links them. This doesn't just "happen" on a Starship. There has to be an outside force involved" J'al said, as his own tail would be flicking if it was there.
“Indeed�? Jackie responded. “Do you know where Polaris was 24 hours prior to her death and what o’Brien was doing prior to the incident?�? She asked, looking up at the area where O’Brien either jumped or fell from. Or was pushed.
“I gotta take a closer look.�? She announced, her security training in override, the Caitian briskly made her way to the secondary floor of Main Engineering.
J'al followed her upstairs, wanting to see if she could lend any insight into what was going on. "Nothing up here so far. Not even evidence that there was someone walking up here in the area." he said, watching her look around.
“Check the sensor logs of activity in Main Engineering at approximate time of the incident. He reported an intruder on here, who was it and where did he go?�? she announced as she looked over the area. There didn’t seem to be any signs of struggle.
Was the intruder one of their own or someone who’d snuck aboard the Horizon at one point? Jackie’s mind raced over all the possibilities as she surveyed the area, her eyes narrow.
Sensor Logs show nothing strange. They simply show Lt. O'Brien up here working, then he looked.... that way *he pointed towards a side door* and then jumped. Nothing registered where he was looking." he said, surveying the logs. .
“Check and verify that the logs have not been tampered with.�? Jackie stated. “Something made him jump. I want to know what it was�? she said as she tapped her commbadge
“Clawson to sickbay. Report.�?
=/\=�?I’m afraid its not looking too bright for Lt O’Brien, Captain�? =/\= came the voice of the Chief Medical Officer a few seconds later; he sounded a little tired.
“Inform me of any change, Clawson out�? Jackie severed the connection, slightly agitated at what was going on.
She turned to Grenn.
“What about Ensign Polaris. What happened there?�? she asked.
“Same thing. Logs show her running through the corridors then dying suddenly. She came from her quarters, and up until she ran out of them, things look normal. The logs look genuine in encoding and lock-outs are still secure. Nothing out of the ordinary. So we have a little bit of work to do"
“Double check.�? Jackie snapped. “Go through them with a fine toothed brush if you have to, but make sure they’re genuine.�? She paused surveying the area once more “Speculations on what we’re dealing with?�? she asked.
“Either mentally unbalanced crewmembers, or a very good intruder who has experience with Starfleet Encryption Technology." he said straight out.
“Or both…�? Jackie murmured staring up ahead for a moment or two. “I don’t believe in coincidences. But double check their medical records just in case.�? She commented, although clearly something spooked O’Brien and quite possibly the Ensign. “Find out where both of them were in the last 24 hours and let me know if that brings up anything hinky�? she added almost as an afterthought.
"No problem" he said, starting a remote search from his PADD, which he would supplement in his office in a few minutes.
Jackie nodded absently, she looked down at the first floor, the Caitian repositioned herself for a better view of the first floor gazing down at the area as she pondered the situation further.
OFF
Tag: Kao.
A joint post between:
Captain Jackie Clawson
Commanding Officer
USS Horizon-A
And
Lieutenant J’Al Grenn
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Horizon-A
Jackie Clawson
12-21-2005, 09:49
OFF
Wow.. I’m on a roll… O.o
ON
<<USS Horizon -- Main Engineering>>
Jackie stood on the second level of engineering surveying the area. The core glowed brightly in the centre of Main Engineering with engineers muddling about their daily routines to keep the ship’s heart running.
She glanced over at Kao and the group of officers assembled there, discussing what happened most likely.
Jackie took in a deep breath, looking over at the core for a few moments; she was briefly lost in thought mulling over what could’ve happened here and with Ensign Polaris. She had to know more.
<Sickbay>
Powell shrugged, holding his tricorder over O’Brien. There was nothing more he could do. The injuries were too extensive. Murmuring something to his Assistant, he moved to check up on Ensign Jackson.
“You found Ensign Polaris?” Powell queried. “that must’ve been some sight” he stated, scanning the officer with the medical tricorder.
Jackson nodded absent mindedly, his eyes wide, but he didn’t say a word.
Powell shook his head lightly as he started loading a hypospray.
“Don’t worry you’ll be okay” Powell flashed a grin as he applied the hypospray releasing the medication into the operations officer’s blood stream.
“No no no! DON’T!” Jackson nearly screamed. “I don’t want to end up like her!”
“In a few moments it won’t matter.” Powell calmly replied, as the operations officer drifted off for the last time in his life.
Powell moved onto other duties in sickbay.
<Main Engineering>
Jackie was mulling over a possible scenario guessing what could’ve taken place; it was so vivid in her mind that at first she hadn’t realised she was being hailed.
=/\=”Sickbay to Capt Clawson”=/\=
The Chirp of her commbadge brought her back to the present.
“Dr Powell, what’ve you got.” She inquired.
=/\=”Not good news Captain. There was nothing I could do for Lt O’Brien” =/\=
Jackie took in a breath to steady herself mentally considering the news.
“I want a report on my desk in an hour Doctor” she said in a levelled tone. “Clawson out” she stated, an edge in her voice meaning she was deadly serious, Jackie cut off the connection before he could protest or respond in any other way.
The Caitian faced the lower level once again, leaning gently against the guard railing; wondering what would’ve caused the Lieutenant to jump.
Was he mentally unstable? Was he seeing things? Did someone slip something in his food? Did someone push him? Jackie had plenty of questions and very few answers. For now; to get started she needed to see records and know more about what happened. The Caitian was determined to get to the bottom of this and as quickly as possible before they lost someone else.
“Lieutenant Kao” she called out, hands poised on the guard railing, come to think of it it wasn’t much of a guard railing considering what just happened.
“What’ve you got?” she asked pointedly.
OFF
Tag: Kao . JP maybe if you’re around on IRC for long today
Someone oughta question PO West. don't wanna be doing other folks’ jobs unless I have to. So get to it guys. Chop chop ;)
ON
<< Engineering – USS Horizon >>
Sam stood motionless and dumbfounded as Captain Clawson entered the room; the need for him to take charge had evaporated on the spot. Until yesterday didn’t mind that one bit, everything became slightly easier when she was around. Today he had found himself craving the ability to lead without someone else around.
He knew though that life aboard a Starship wouldn’t be for him, Sam unlike other Starfleet Officers craved roots. Somewhere he could feel at home.
The Horizon wasn’t ever going to be a long term gig for him; he had already begun looking for a position on a Starbase.
He listened as Grenn discussed the possibility of handing phasers to the crew, instantly he agreed with the Captain’s choice on the matter. Until the crew could find what they were dealing with handing out phasers would be a bad choice.
“I’m going to sickbay�? he said suddenly.
<< Sickbay >>
“Doctor?�? Enquired Sam as he entered a rather quiet Sickbay “Doctor Powell?�?
He could see several recumbent people, all unattended. No Doctor Powell.
“Is anyone here?�? Asked Sam loudly
OFF
TAG Lori
Adam Kao
01-03-2006, 21:03
OFF: The CO's opening her own restaurant with all this chopping ;)
ON:
With all the comotion going on, Adam had literally been thrown into the deep end. Questions were being asked to which he had no answers to, and although he tried his hardest to answer them as best as he can, it wasn't working. He did remember one thing though.
“Lieutenant Kao” she called out, hands poised on the guard railing, come to think of it it wasn’t much of a guard railing considering what just happened.
“What’ve you got?” she asked pointedly.
"Well, ma'am," he started, "If my memory serves me rightly, O'Brian and Polaris served aboard the Agamemnon together during 2380. I don't know if this is a coincidence, but it might be worth investigating. Maybe if we could get some mission records as well as the manifest of the Agamemnon from that time we could get somewhere." Adam sighed. "Unfortunately, that's the only lead I can think of."
"Are the security teams in place?" The captain asked, inquisitively.
"Yes ma'am. I have Ensign Lopez dealing with that. He has mobilised two officers per deck on patrols so far with a further four teams of two as random deck searchers." Adam nodded while explaining the setup. "Also, I'd like to issue a Yellow Alert until we are clear on whats exactly happening here, ma'am." He said, thinking that was the best way to deal with this, as most of the crew will then be more on their toes than at a condition green status level. Adam continued. "I'd like to interview Ensign Jackson if possible, even though I'm pretty sure he wasn't involved."
Tag: Clawson
Jackie Clawson
01-04-2006, 23:38
Jackie nodded lightly as she listened, Grenn would already be comparing O’Brien and Polaris’s whereabouts on the Horizon to see if any leads can be spotted there.
The Caitian tapped a claw on the railing thinking about what Kao had said.
“Nope on the Yellow alert.” She said simply. “ It might make him want to kill again sooner, step up the security on all levels, that should cover things. Grenn’s looking for more clues and alternatives, liaise with him and lemme know what’s up.” She said. “Interview Jackson and PO West see what they know” Jackie said.
It’s turned into a game of sorts, a puzzle, that was the part Jackie remember she enjoyed about the security part of her double career: the puzzles with a time limit. They had to figure it out before the next person died. Jackie wasn’t about to sit still when some lunatic’s going around offing her crew in a rather mysterious way.
The Caitian growled, in a swift move she leapt over the railing on the second floor, the Caitian gracefully landed on her feet a few feet away from Kao with a devilish smile on her lips.
“Time to go huntin’” She purred, her eyes gleaming as Kao recovered from her sudden move and the engineering stopped everything for a moment to comprehend what just happened.
OFF: Tag Mack. Tag me on IRC for a JP . and interview PO West on what happened ;)
I’m doing crazy things I know… Heh.
Jackie Clawson
01-07-2006, 09:06
ON:
<<Main Engineering>>
Adam stepped back in horror as the captain dropped next to him. Forgetting momentarily she was basically a cat and would land on her legs, he had visions of her breaking her neck. The visions were so intense that he had his hand nearly on his commbadge when she dropped. Engineering had just literally stopped in their tracks, much like being turned to stone. As crewmen stood there, shocked, the captain, in not so many words, told him that she was going with him. As they both exited, Adam finally spoke.
"So, what's your first move?" He asked.
“GO over what we’ve got so far” Jackie said, casually brushing off a piece of lint of her shoulder. “Compare their whereabouts aboard. See if we can find any common things. Grenn should be handling the Intel there. Any theories of what might’ve happened?” she asked her Security Chief, reminding herself to take a step back and let him do his job even if she was eager to be involved and take charge of this investigation.
"I still think it's something to do with the fact they served together on the Agamemnon." Adam shrugged, not knowing why he thought that. "Obviously I'm not jumping to conclusions on this one, ma'am, however, I have a strong feeling about it." Adam called for the turbolift just outside engineering. "As for what we have so far, we have two dead bodies, no real motive and no apparent intruders." The turbolift arrived and they entered. "I'd like to compare the Agamemnon’s manifest to ours to see if there are any similarities. I could use a hand if you're up for it too, ma'am?" Adam smiled wildly.
“Right now I’m not ruling anything out. Sides it doesn’t always have to be an intruder.” Jackie said her eyes narrow. “Check all crew profiles and see where al the crew served before that match the two we have. And find out what PO West seen“ Jackie’s growing frustration was getting harder to hide with each minute, but the Caitian forced herself not to appear too obvious that she wanted to go in for the kill and the sooner the better.
J'al was standing nearby, and stepped over to Jackie. "Feeling a bit like hunting eh? Well, I think I do too." he said, noticing the telltale signs that she was even before she spoke.
Jackie smirked.
“I’ll be damned if I let ‘em win now” she said. “I want the guy found and when he is…” she paused, as she held up a hand with her claws extended as if to get the point across of how she felt. “…he’s going to regret he’s even started messing with my crew.”
Same here" he said, copying the motion a little bit. "I'm headed back to my office. Care to come?" he asked, gesturing.
The Caitian CO nodded.
“Any other leads so far?” Jackie asked as the two walked out of Engineering
"Nothing. Only thing I can think is that its gotta be internal. One of our own people from what I think." he said, almost casually. "We just left spacedock, and every ID scanned to get onboard checked out and is linked to a person that we know is here. Out of 162 people, 18 transferred here within the last 3 weeks, and 4 of those could be considered senior staff. I need to know what to look for to move any farther."
"Of course, for all I know, this is something that we just can't see. As crazy as that sounds."
Jackie nodded.
“Look for any common links between the two officers that died. See if they were in the same places in the last 48 hours. Check their psychological profiles for any history of…” Jackie paused searching for the right word. “suicidal tendencies. We could’ve missed something on the first run. I’d like to see their autopsy reports too, for any signs of viruses or bugs that could cause something like that. ” She shook her head lightly, she seemed to be pulling things out of air, not completely sure what it was they were up again, but she intended to find out. “I’ve reconstructed the last ‘accident’ up there, he jumped because something scared him…” she stated.
"Yeah... I've noticed humans won't do something like that unless they feel that it is their only means of escape. I mean... I wouldn't think much of it... but you know." he said, looking at a PADD in his hand. He rolled up his sleeves and tapped a few buttons to pull up O'Brian's medical records. As he did, they stepped into the turbolift.
“Question is, what are we dealing with here? If it’s an airborne virus, the internal sensors aren’t picking it up. And it seems to be affecting a small number of crew so far. Which means it is likely to be in something specifically O’Brien and Polaris ate or drank in the last 48 hours or so.” She mused out loud.
"So many variables....." he said, looking at his PADD again. "May have to get a complete and full history of their activities for the last week since we left dock, and compare them in the computer to see what they have done that is similar. And if that fails.... we will have to run their entire Starfleet histories back to back and compare." he said with a sigh. "Could take days, even with the computer's help."
Jackie smirked.
“There’s rarely just one variable in cases like this. It takes some digging to get to the bottom of things and pin point the one or two things responsible. Kinda like with fighters, you have to find your target before you can zero in and lock onto it before you take it out. ”
She paused, letting out a sigh, musing over things.
“We might not have days. I need to know what this is. If it is in the replicators, any number of crew could end up dead in a number of ways who knows when.” She said, making a mental note to check in with O’Neil in sickbay to see what he found out later on. “Race against the unknown…”
"Indeed." he said, looking at her as the turbolift stopped. "Care to lend a hand then?" he gestured out the door down the hall.
“Mhm.. I can’t let you have all the fun, now can I, Lieutenant?” She asked.
"'Course not" he said as they headed down the hall, stopping at the third door. He opened the lock with the keypad and they entered. "Pick a seat, any seat" he said, motioning around. The office was about the size of the XO's office, but had one vertical strip of window on the far side that started as a wrap around from the ceiling and went down to about waist height. They were on Deck 3 in the rear of the "bulge" that sat between the bridge. and the apex of the curved top of the Intrepid's upper hull.
“Not here to sit around.” Jackie said, now all-business. “Let’s get to it.” She noted, her eyes narrow, tail twitching lightly as the Caitian was faced with yet another mystery to solve.
"Well, this could take a while. First thing I'm gonna do is get that cross check we mentioned started. After that, I need to get into the Intelligence Files on each officer and add that to the search. Then with that as our backup to catch something we may have missed, we can look over the exact circumstances of each death, the physical conditions, the time.... everything." he said, taking a seat himself and reaching back to turn on the computer with a tap. The room itself was less then half the size of a standard crew cabin "So let's get comfortable. No need to be sore." he said, setting the search up.
Jackie paced back and forth , listening to Grenn talk, as her mind mulled over the possibilities if this *was* a virus they’re dealing with. Why didn’t the sensors pick it up….? If it came in with the food or drink, it should’ve been caught and dealt with, unless it was something new.
Jackie stopped, looking out the window as the ship moved through black void beyond. She was stumbling finding clues here, with the deaths of two of her crew members, right here on her own turf, and Stafleet wanted her to take on a Task Force Executive Officer’s position? When she couldn’t even keep tabs on her own ship properly?
“Lets hope we can get this sorted out before we get to Deep Space 13” she murmured, her frustration showing as she stared out into the darkness beyond the ship.
“Well. We might be able to." he said, clicking the monitor a few times with a claw. "Right off the bat I can see that both of them were in sickbay within the last 2 days complaining of headaches." he said, looking up more info.
“Yeah… though headaches could be an early symptom of this thing…” She stated, turning to face J’Al as she crossed her arms on her chest prompting herself to think more
"Could be. But that's the most recent similarity between the two of them"
“O’Brien jumped. Jackson found Ensign Polaris. We don’t know exactly how Polaris died. Lt Kao is going to speak to Jackson about that. Doc Powell can shed more light on this I hope, let’s see what Commander O’Neill can find in sickbay.” She said.
The more they knew the better it would be, but then aside a few leads here and there, thus far the cause of death of the two crewmembers eluded them. Whatever it was, virus or not, there’s no way it could’ve spread on its own without someone’s ‘help’. Question remained: Was the person still aboard or not.
OFF:
Tag: Kao. Check what West seen, dammit :P I’ll get back to you on that JP
A joint post between:
Captain Jackie Clawson
Commanding Officer
USS Horizon-A
Lieutenant Adam Kao
Chief Security Officer
USS Horizon-A
and
Lieutenant J’Al Grenn
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Horizon-A
ON
<< Medical Bay – USS Horizon >>
“Hello is anyone there?�? shouted Sam once more, the back of his neck prickled slightly as he stood there, a feeling he associated with bad moments. Momentarily he considered locating the nearest armoury and finding himself a phaser, he dismissed the idea and tried to move the feeling of uneasiness to the back of his mind
Until he had something concrete to report or worry about getting a phaser would be over kill.
Slowly he moved through sickbay, several of the bio beds were occupied by sleeping crew members. Sam cast an untutored eye over readings above their heads, everything seemed normal they were mostly sleeping. He tried to remember his basic medical training from the academy, from the symbols he saw many of them had been sedated he frowned as he wondered why that might be.
Sam turned on the spot focusing trying to work out where a sound had come from, he found himself facing the doctors office. He was about to take a step forward when the main doors to sickbay opened.
“Can I help you commander?�? Enquired the ships Chief Medical Officer, Sam turned his head to take a look at the doctor. Immediately he noticed the doctors body language, it was very obvious that Sam wasn’t wanted in sickbay right now. The other thing Sam noticed was the doctors ruffled hair and dirty uniform, it was almost as though he had been involved in a scuffle with someone from this distance Sam thought he could see a few minor cuts on the doctors face.
“Oh nothing Doctor, I was just coming to speak to you about the recent killings�? Said Sam as he turned back towards the doctors office.
“More interuptions?!�? Doctor Polaris almost screamed “what is this? A walk in chat room? How can I be expected to do my job with people coming in asking stupid questions about stupid murders�?
Sam was surprised by the doctors sudden and unprovoked response, the hairs on the back of his neck prickled once more. He decided to try and push the issue a little further.
“Yes doctor�? Said Sam as politely as possible “more interruptions from the Executive Officer, I’m sure you can put up with them. I need to know what else you might know, Lieutenant Kao things he’s identified the killer, we just need to confirm it�?
“Oh?�? Said Powell suddenly much calmer “who is the suspect?�?
Sam opened his mouth to reply and then snapped it shut almost as quickly, something wasn’t quite right. The doctor wasn’t calmer he was sweating, Sam could see the beads forming on his forehead and could see the doctor clasping and unclasping his hands.
“I’m afraid that’s classified Doctor�? as Sam spoke he heard that strange noise. “Did yoyu hear that?�? he asked.
“Here what?!�? asked Powell suddenly angry again “here you are talking about sounds when we should be concentrating on these murders.
Sam took a step towards Powell’s office “I think it came from your office�?
“I think its time you left Commander�? said Powell suddenly his face darkening to a scowl
“One moment�? Sam didn’t look at the doctor, as he moved closer to the office he saw something on the floor that could only be a foot. As he looked in to the room he saw Lieutenant Jalovel laying on the floor, bound and gagged but straining to free herself. The noise Sam had heard was her foot hitting the doctors table.
Sam whirled around as he heard movement behind him, his eyes widened as he saw Doctor Powell rushing towards him, he saw a flash of silver approach his face.
Then he saw nothing.
OFF
Jackie Clawson
01-14-2006, 23:37
OFF:
Moving right along… ^^ Feel free to fill in the ‘gaps’ But we have to get this thing sorted out so we can move on…
ON:
<<USS Horizon – Intel Office>>
What seemed like days have passed by as Jackie and Grenn both dug into Intel records and crew manifests, and ship’s logs to find out what was going on. Jackie paced back and forth, two PADDs side by side as she compared the whereabouts of the deceased crewmen.
So far there were they basic similarities: both had lunch in the Jefferson’s Lounge, both were off and on duty, and that’s where Jackie’s theory fell through. The two dead crewmen didn’t eat the same thing. So whatever it was , wasn’t in the food, unless it was a spice or something akin of it added to the food. But many crewmen had had food with all kinds of spices and there were only two dead so far.
Jackie released a low growl getting slightly frustrated and catching Grenn’s attention as the other Caitian gave the Captain a curious look; they were running out of possible leads to chase to figure out what was what.
Jackie mentally prodded herself to think harder. There was an answer to everything, even if it wasn’t too obvious, in the end everything was obvious just as long as you dug deep enough and removed all the layers to get to it. She growled again, looking at the two PADDs side-by-side.
“Relax, we’ll find ‘im” J’al spoke up from his desk.
“I know we will…question is… WHEN” she murmured, her eyes narrowing as she read the records.
Both were also in sickbay complaining of what appeared to be a headache. Jackie skipped right past that marking it as something to look into later, then her eyes caught something more…she tapped her commbadge
=/\=“Clawson to O’Neill” =/\=
She heard nothing in response, taking in a controlled breath and keeping her cool, Jackie repeated her call with the same results. She exchanged glances with Grenn, this wasn’t like her first officer to not reply to a call.
“Computer. Locate Commander O’Neill” she spoke up letting her voice carry upwards to be caught by the ship’s computer.
“Commander O’Neill is in sickbay.” Came the cool and logical voice of the ship’s computer.
“What the hell’s goi….” Jackie blinked, throwing both PADDs on the table and startling Grenn in the process.
“What…?”
“Powell….” Was all the Caitian Captain said before she nearly flew out of his office leaving her Chief Intelligence Officer slightly befuddled for a moment as the door slid shut behind her.
<Deck 5>
Jackie was out the door of the turbolift before the door could even slide open fully, her phaser held high she moved in the direction of sickbay. What if she was wrong, after all, not that half the crew didn’t think their Captain was insane already. Something told her to call Security, but for the time being she ignored the feeling, her old calling came back, the predator in her was out to do some hunting.
It started making sense now…
She came to sickbay, with her back to the wall near the control panel, Jackie contemplated her next move. Checking the setting on her phaser, Jackie had a second thought and put it away, as she tapped the controls to let her inside the medical facility.
OFF:
Jackie Clawson
01-14-2006, 23:47
OFF:
'Ware the feisty Caitian....
ON: <Sickbay>
Darkness was everywhere as Jackie stepped inside, the entire sickbay was powerless, her feline eyes taking a moment to adjust to the darkness. Her hand on her hip near the armed phaser, Jackie surveyed the area, her senses alert.
Off in the deeper end she heard a noise, barely audible, but she saw nothing at this distance. Something told her to call security once again, something definitely wasn’t right here.
“Commander O’Neill…?�? she called out as she moved forward.
“He’s not here Captain…�? came a voice from the deep end of the room.
“Funny… the computer told me he was here.�? She replied casually, zeroing in on the direction of the voice.
“It must be mistaken, Captain.. I think I’d know if he were here..�?
Jackie’s eyes narrowed.
“What’s the problem here, Doc…? Care to explain why sickbay’s without power?�? she asked, her hand inching towards the phaser at her hip as she crept forward. “Where’s Commander O’Neill�? she asked again, her voice more stern as she passed his office.
“That was your third mistake, Captain…�?
Jackie threw a glance in there and saw what looked like a humanoid figure lying on the floor. Jackie released a low growl at the sight her eyes flashing with anger as she stopped by the office, trying to see if whoever was in there was alive.
“The first one was lettin’ you aboard my ship, apparently. “ she remarked, anger rising.
“Oooh feisty….I think I got something to… cure that�?
The voice seemed nearer now and it was still nearing, Jackie whirled around, her hand flying up to her commbadge =/\=�?Security to Sickba…=/\= she got cut off as she felt a sharp stabbing pain in her side as the medical officer pinned her down
“I think not…�? Powell cut her off trying to pin the Caitian further by her shoulders. Jackie was running out of room to move.
Jackie sneered, her feral instincts taking over for a moment as the sneer showed her fangs.
“How’d you do it?�? she asked.
“Tsk tsk…didn’t you know an old Earth saying…curiosity killed the cat?�? Powell asked, looking into her angered eyes.
“And satisfaction brought ‘er back�? Jackie asked with her teeth clenched, as she released a low growl. With a surge of adrenaline her claws extended to their full length and she made a slicing motion across the medical officer’s stomach ripping his uniform and cutting into his flesh with one swift motion. He yelped in pain and jumped back clearly surprised.
“I’ll teach you to mess with MY crew aboard MY ship, Mr Powell.�? She snapped, approaching him, her eyes gleaming with pure rage even in the darkness of the vast room.
“They’re better off now�? Powell managed to say, his hand over his stomach, clearly in pain and still in somehwat of a shock at being 'attacked' by the feline Captain.
Jackie stormed towards him, grabbing him up by the collar of his tunic and hauling him to his feet as she looked into his eyes, her angry stare which usually made a lot of people flinch, barely left a dent in the medical officer.
“You made a big mistake by messing with this crew, Mister.�? She snarled, her fangs clicking together as she spoke, her anger flaring up.
“Captain…�? a voice spoke up behind her.
Jackie ignored it, fixing Powell with a look as the man stared back at her.
“You’re a medical officer, you’re supposed to save lives not take them�? she snapped, her eyes adjusting to the sudden light as it flooded the room; Jackie could see hints of fear on Powell’s eyes, his blood soaked uniform sliced with the tell tale signs of a Caitian’s claws. This was a Caitian on a warpath, a side of Jackie very few got to see, a side she displayed very rarely. A side that once witnessed left quite a few people to wonder and think twice about pissing her off.
“Captain Clawson…�? Kao spoke up once again, this time with more power in his voice, one thing he couldn’t let her do was kill the guy.
Jackie growled, looking into Powell’s eyes, searching for answers, as her anger simmered down inch by inch. The Caitian was suddenly aware of several sets of human eyes watching their Captain with the Chief medical officer in her grasp. Jackie wanted to fully give into her urge to handle Powell herself, but part of her knew she'd regret it deeply afterwards.
She tightened the grip on his colar and looked him in the eyes, releasing a low growl as Powell seemed to shrink back a little. Jackie's extended claws slid back as the Caitian held the ship's Chief Medical officer in her grasp.
'Don't...' a voice told her in her head. 'he's not worth it...' Jackie clenched her teeth, fighting with herself mentally before she said anything else.
“Lieutenant Powell, you are hereby relieved of your duties as Chief Medical Officer of the USS Horizon.�? She spoke in a crisp tone as she relaxed her grip, pushing Powell towards Kao
“Take ‘im to the brig.�? She snapped, throwing her head back in the direction of the exit as she moved past a startled group of security officers.
Kao blinked as he caught Powell.
“Shouldn’t he… uh.. get medical attention for… those..�? he asked.
“He’ll live.�? Jackie spoke in a low tone as she tugged at her uniform and throwing a glare at Powell surveyed sickbay with the lights on. “Right now our priority is Commander O’Neill and anyone else who’s still there�? she nodded at Powell’s office as security teams swept sickbay surveying the damage and helping a bound Amina Jalovel and Sam O’Neill out of their bounds and checked their injuries.
Jackie released a heavy sigh, shaking her head as Powell was led out of sickbay.
OFF:
Tags all around to wrap it up… yet to figure out what exactly was it that made the crewmen go bonzo ;)
<Sickbay>
J'al watched the Doctor leave the sickbay. "Nice form on those slash marks." he said as he walked in. "I can never get it as clean-cut as that...." he said, contemplating it for a moment.
<tag Jackie>
"Well, it kind of makes sense. Doctors sometimes go crazy with power. When you have the ability to stop death, you can feel you have the ability to cause it just as easily. Somewhat of an immortal complex I suppose." he said, seeing her calm down.
"We're going to look through the Doctor's service record and history. See if we can track down a firm reason. Security should probably be involved with us since they're going to be the ones building the case against him, then delivering him to a Starbase holding facility." he said, sitting down on one of the bio-beds. "So. Feel better now that you made the kill?"
OFF: :p :) Part of it is that he enjoys toying with her a little like that. Also, I think Mr Kao and I have a little work to do together :)
Jackie Clawson
01-15-2006, 09:00
<<Sickbay>>
Jackie only used her claws when the situation called for it or when her instinct took over and she completely gave in and let that lead. Today’s case was the latter, as Grenn spoke she regarded her paws as the weapons they were meant to be at times.
“Takes practice” she murmured, she paused looking around sickbay. “I wanna know why he did it…” she said. “He’s a doctor, they’re supposed to save lives not take them”
Grenn’s reply made sense; sometimes people did go crazy with power, but this seemed like just sheer stupidity; especially on a ship on a long journey like the Horizon was. Did Powell think he was going to succeed and O’Neill caught him in the middle of something nasty.
She shook her head a little as a young human nurse came over to her with a tricorder, she wasn’t too fond of medical personnel especially when they fussed about her. Especially when she clearly was okay, at least physically. Jackie didn’t even want to know how many people exactly witnessed her with Powell and what their thoughts were.
“Check on Commander O’Neill and your personnel Ensign” she said.
The Ensign was about to say something back but caught herself and turning on her heel headed into Powell’s office.
Jackie watched her leave as her steady gaze settled on her Intelligence Officer, Grenn was talking about looking for a firm reason on why Powell did what he did as well as checking into his records.
“I want to know what it was that killed them. Best have the EMH handle their autopsies and report back to me on that.” She said. “Powell gave them something to ‘fix’ their headache and it ended up killing them” Jackie noted her voice a bit dark, not too pleased at what she let happen aboard her ship.
She let her mind wander about what had transpired, her security training still in high gear even if she was no longer in that spot as Grenn talked about what was coming up next for Powell
"So. Feel better now that you made the kill?"
“Better that he’s not going to get a chance to kill anymore people. Not better about what it took to get here and at what cost.” she noted dryly, pushing a strand of loose hair out of her sight.
OFF: taggerz..
don't know if you can catch Mr Kao online for a JP....
<<Sickbay>>
"True enough. Computer, activate EMH." he said, looking over as the Doctor materialized.
"Please state the nature of the medical emergency" it said first thing, as usual.
"Need you to do an autopsy, Doctor. A few, actually." J'al said pointing to a couple of the beds. Power was now restored in Sickbay, so it appeared normal for the most part.
"Where is the Chief Medical Officer?" he asked unemotionally, but questioningly.
"He's the reason you have to do the autopsies. Needless to say, it will be a while before we get another CMO. You're going to have to stay activated for about 3 weeks until we can get back to base, and get a new one." J'al said. Jackie probably would have, but she wasn't exactly in the mood. He was trying to make the best out of everything, like he usually did.
"I trust there is still a Medical Staff?" the EMH asked.
"You have Nurses and Medical Assistants, but you're the only actual Doctor onboard, not to mention the only one qualified to perform surgery. So for a few weeks, you're our CMO. Now I know a bit what Voyager must have been like..." he said, trying to make a joke. "Also, we need a report on their bloodwork."
"That is part of a standard autopsy." the EMH said a little dryley. The Mark I's personality still existed in this model despite the physical differances.
"Okay." J'al said. "Hey... doc... before you start there, my shoulder's been bugging me again. One of the nurses took care of it, but...." he motioned a little with it.
The EMH sighed a little, then picked up a tricirder, scanning it. He put it down when he got a reading. "Extend your arm, Lieutenant." he instructed. J'al did as he said and the EMH gripped it a certain way and pulled. A shallow crack could be heard. He released it, and J'al moved it around. "Wow. Feels good. Thanks Doc!"
"Lighter weight bones build up small air pockets at the joints." the EMH said as he turned to assemble equipment for the autopsys. "Momentarily dislocating them, then rejointing them lets it escape and releaves pressure." he explained as he started.
J'al walked back towards Jackie. "Okay.. I guess we wait for his verdict. You look pretty tired. Why don't you go get a little rest, maybe some coffee or something. I think I'm going to turn in myself while this is happening. Lt. Kao will probably get an interrogation going. I can drop in later. Give him a chance to work his magic." he said, sitting down on next bio-bed over from where she had sat down and turning towards her.
OFF: :D
Jackie Clawson
01-16-2006, 09:39
<<USS Horizon – Sickbay>>
As Grenn was talking with the EMH, Jackie was lost in thought wondering what would Powell’s motive be and how could she have allowed this to happen…what was she going to tell the families of the dead crewmen. Three people had to die before the lunatic was stopped.
Jackie shook her head; she wasn’t prone to loosing her cool like that especially in the years she’s become a Commanding Officer. She thought she could keep her cool in most situations; this however didn’t seem like most situations. Her instinct was also to protect those around her, especially when it came to her crew.
Part of her wished she could go a step further with Powell instead of leaving things as they were left, but at the same time, the Caitian knew that although she would kill without hesitation even now, she has to let StarFleet handle it instead of taking things into her own hands. …or claws as the situation may have been…
Jackie let out a heavy sigh as she sat down on one of the empty biobeds; she was starting to get a headache. Funny how she never used to feel this way when she was on the Rayden, of course back then when this sort of thing happened it wasn’t her who had to explain it to StarFleet Command, all she had to do was explain it to Harmon and fill in a report.
‘hoo boy’ she thought, tapping the edge of the bio bed with a hand as she organized her thoughts.
Her mind wandered over to Powell once again, and the puzzle that was still there of why he did it and how exactly. Up in Grenn’s office she spotted the tell tale signs of what the ‘how’ could be exactly; but the autopsies will prove her right or wrong there. To her knowledge there was nothing in Powell’s record that showed tendencies towards this sort of behaviour, so why did he go over to the dark side was beyond the Caitian just now, but she hoped Kao and Grenn would find something she missed.
She looked up wearily as Grenn started talking to her again, she smirked at him saying she was tired but waved it off.
“Coffee’d help…” she murmured. “No time to sleep just yet.” She said hopping off the bed. “Keep me updated” she said as she strode out of sickbay.
Jackie Clawson
01-17-2006, 20:22
ON:
<<USS Horizon – Captain’s Ready Room>>
Jackie strode in, unclipping her phaser from her hip and throwing a glance at it to make sure it was disarmed placed it on her desk.
“Well that was *brilliantly* done” she spoke to herself as she went over to the replicator and punched up a double shot of raktajino for herself.
The Caitian wasn’t too pleased with things, on the contrary she was quite peeved even if they found the person responsible and hopefully the murders would stop now. She still wanted to know what killed the crewmembers and how did Powell get through all the checks and why he did it.
Jackie let out a frustrated growl as she fiddled with the raktajino mug in her hands before finishing it off in a big gulp and replacing it back onto the replicator. She keyed in another order and as the replicator came to life, freshly brewed mug of raktajino in hand the Caitaian went over to her desk and brought up the records of the dead crewmembers.
There were three. Jackie shook her head sadly, but at the same time, she knew that the count could’ve been much higher should Powell have been around any longer. This situation didn’t particularly make Jackie like sickbays that much more than she hated them as is.
Grenn’s speculation seemed to be on the spot. When you have the ability to stop death, you feel you have the ability to cause it just as easily. Rightfully so. Jackie felt it could be applied to almost any field in Starfleet. Her security part of her background could definitely fall under such things. As a security officer she had the ability to protect those she served with, just as easily Jackie could’ve killed any number of them without a second thought should there have been a need for that.
Fortunately the Caitian kept her temper in check on most days, especially nowadays, which made her recent display in sickbay that much more … curious, and perhaps scary to a number of crew who witnessed her ‘in action’ even if they didn’t see everything.
Jackie looked at the screen filled with the records of the three fallen crewmembers. How was she going to explain this to Starfleet? And what about their families? Their futures cut short not because of an attack by an enemy, but by the twisted mind of someone they trusted, someone everyone on the ship should’ve trusted. They were her responsibility, and she failed them.
Jackie felt a growl rise in her throat as she curled her hands up into fists and for a moment the Caitian was enraged, fighting for internal control of her own emotions.
‘Easy does it, hotshot’ she heard Harmon’s warm and soothing voice in her mind breaking through the rage she felt. Every time he said that, he was standing behind her with his hand on her shoulder as if to bring her down to the level.
She turned around out of habit, but he wasn’t there, not this time, not after so many years; Jackie sighed, throwing a glance at the holo image. But that phrase usually was enough to calm her down to the point of where she wouldn’t blame herself and instead focus on the real issue. She missed Harmon probably as much as he missed her under his command; but Jackie knew that she couldn’t always rely on him being there for her and him calming her down every time she flew into a rage.
Jackie sighed, turning her glance back to the records on her screen. None of them did anything wrong in their careers, why did Powell pick them?
She had a lot of questions, but they would have to wait until Kao and Grenn interrogated Powell and the EMH had finished the autopsies to find out what had killed the crewmen exactly.
Pushing herself away from her desk, the Caitian picked up a PADD and made her way back to the replicator to replenish her coffee mug. She knew she was going to need it for the next few hours.
Fetching her freshly brewed raktajino, Jackie plopped herself down on the couch, PADD in hand. She spent the next several hours putting together a template of a report she’d send to Starfleet command. The extra caffeine helped chase off the headaches that came with handling reports of such nature, but Jackie wanted to get it out of the way as soon as possible, and the sooner she could get the details onto a PADD, the less she’d have to worry about forgetting something important later on, at least that’s what she used to do with cases such as this on the Rayden. Not that the Rayden had any such problems with their medical staff.
Jackie still found it hard to believe Powell did what he did and how he managed to get onboard and why his record didn’t catch anybody’s eye or had anything in it about possible tendencies to murder his patients.
Skimming through what she’s written so far, the Caitian felt herself getting drowsier as she sat there on the couch; chasing away the sleep threatening to engulf her she forced herself to concentrate on the PADD held firmly in her hands. Ten minutes later, she’s lost the as the Horizon softly glided through space carrying on towards their destination, leaving the Captain fast asleep. The only foreign sound that was briefly heard was the PADD clattering to the ground as Jackie released it from her grasp.
OFF:
Tag: Mack and Grenn. (and O’neill if around)
Note, motive for why Powell did it will be revealed later, folks ;)
Jackie Clawson
01-20-2006, 11:09
OFF:
Okay skipping a head a little to wrap things up.
ON
<< Bridge – USS Minerva >>
The deep dark voice of Captain Marcus Jones boomed out over the Minerva’s quiet bridge it awoke Taylor from his thoughts.
“Coming up on the Horizon Mister Taylor”
“Thank you Captain Jones” Said Taylor standing “I have the Bridge”
Jones smiled and bowed his head “I stand relieved sir” he put emphasis on the word sir, so all aboard could realise Taylor’s status. It was uncommon for a civilian to come aboard a Starfleet vessel and assume control, 12 hours previously Taylor had done pretty much that.
It surprised Marcus how little he cared about loosing command of the Minerva, especially after hearing the reasoning behind the ships re-assignment. In the back of his mind it niggled him a little that he didn’t feel bad about leaving, and that he was doing this ship and her dedicated crew a terrible disservice to leave without putting up a fight. In the light of the carrot Starfleet waved before him the choice was simple, leave the Minerva and take command of the next Sovereign Class starship off the production line.
Commanding a ship of the line had always been Marcus’ main goal in the fleet, some people wouldn’t rest until they hit a flag rank, while others were content at ensign or lieutenant. For Marcus he wanted his four plain pips and to conn one of Starfleet’s frontline vessels.
The price for realising his dream was to let his ship go in to the hands of someone who had taken a voluntary demotion 12 short months previously after taking command of Starbase Space 17.
It was a price Marcus would have chosen to pay without Starfleet twisting his arm over the issue.
“Helm all ahead one third impulse, signal the Horizon to heave too and instruct Captain Clawson and Commander O’Neill to receive dignitaries and prepare a shuttle for launch.”
“Aye aye” came a chorus of replies from the bridge.
“Captain, I presume you are ready for this?” Asked Taylor with a gentle smile “I’m aware of the fact it’s all running a bit quickly.”
Marcus nodded “I am, Mister Brak has been notified of the impending changes and will assume command of the ship until the shuttle returns”
“Good, then let us make our way to the Horizon.” Dan turned as he spoke and began striding towards the Minerva’s turbo-lift.
< Several Minutes Later >
The small white shuttle craft emerged from the Minerva’s shuttle bay in a deceptively slow manner. Compared to the larger vessels around it the shuttle was like a gnat, something small and annoying to be swatted from existence.
Aboard the shuttle Dan stood quietly, letting Marcus spend the last few minutes looking at his old command. In the pilots chair sat the Minerva’s chief helm officer, moments before departure he had appeared without being called having previously decided it wouldn’t do for the ships new Commanding Officer to pilot himself back to the ship.
This had caused Dan to smile; the best kept secrets aboard a Starship were always the first to spread through the crew. Captain Jones’ re-assignment was meant to be known by the three people; at a guess it was known by three hundred now.
<< Shuttle Bay – USS Horizon >>
Sam stood uncomfortably in the Horizon’s main shuttle bay, garbed in his dress uniform he waited for these dignitaries to arrive. The communication had taken the crew by surprise; the message prefix caused a greater stir, whoever had sent the orders had done so at the behest of Starfleet Command.
His mind raced as he watched Captain Clawson enter the shuttle bay; could they be ambassadors or admirals? The message had been extremely vague in that regard; in Sam’s mind it would have been kinder to at least give the Horizon a chance to prepare correctly.
Jackie strode in, adjusting her dress uniform as she looked around the shuttle bay. Catching sight of Sam O’Neill, Jackie made her way to his side.
The duty shuttle bay officer sounded the klaxon as the shuttle bay doors began to open, seconds later his voice broke out over the comm announcing the shuttle’s imminent arrival. Sam looked down and checked his dress uniform one final time he picked a small piece of lint off of his arm before turning to Jackie.
“Here they come Captain” he said with a smile as the shuttle broke through the magnetic containment field which separated the shuttle bay from the harsh depths of space.
“Mhmm” Jackie murmured lightly, keeping the shuttle in her sights as she fiddled with her collar. “Wonder what’s up now” she said, half hoping it’d be something better than a science mission or two. Or could this have something to do with her being assigned to 93. “Thought I wasn’t to assume duties of TFXO until we got to DS13 for the trade off…guess Rear Admiral Caldwell couldn’t wait” she clicked her tongue, curious who was aboard the shuttle and what news came with it.
Sam smiled at the Caitian’s reply, as he did so the shuttle touched down. It took a few moments for the shuttles rear door to open, as it did so some young petty officer piped the shuttle’s occupants aboard.
“Taylor” gasped Sam as the first man came in to view “He was Task Force 17’s XO when I had Starbase 17”
Jackie blinked, raising an eyebrow. “So I’ve heard. Wonder what brings him here now.” she wondered in a voice loud enough for just O’Neill to over hear.
The man who followed Taylor out of the shuttle was unknown to Sam, or to anyone in the Horizon’s shuttle bay. At a guess he was around 5 feet 8 inches tall; his grey hair seemed to be receding rapidly across his forehead, while his beard appeared to be big and bushy.
“Captain, Commander” Said Taylor formally as he approached the officers “I am Dan Taylor of” He paused momentarily as if he was trying to decide what he should or shouldn’t say “Starfleet Command” he added finally in a way that suggested he had just told a white lie. “This is Captain Jones, my Starfleet Liaison Officer”
“Mr Taylor, Captain Jones” Jackie nodded exchanging greetings with the two men as she shook their hands. “Welcome to the USS Horizon” Jackie was eager to find out what exactly was the purpose of Taylor’s visit here, but she kept that part of herself tamed.
“Welcome to the Horizon gentlemen” Said Sam as he shook their hands “Forgive me for saying this, but we were told to expect dignitaries.”
Dan let out a small laugh “That would be me” he shrugged to indicate his own thoughts on the matter “My current status within the fleet is at best… complicated”
It was obvious from the tone of his voice he wouldn’t or couldn’t explain things further; Sam decided not to push the issue until later.
Jackie flinched lightly at Taylor’s words. ‘doesn’t it get more complicated the higher you get…’ she thought to herself. And was Taylor the company Mark Harmon mentioned a few days ago.
‘Time to find out what was going on.’ Jackie thought, meeting their guests with a curious look. Jackie looked at Taylor, lightly adjusting the ends of her dress uniform before she said anything else.
“What is the nature of your visit, Mr Taylor?” she asked. “Starfleet command doesn’t usually tag us in such a way without a very good reason. Is there some sort of trouble?” she asked.
Once again Dan smiled “Ah Captain Clawson, I’m here to do the joyful work of the fleet.” Captain Jones handed a PADD to Taylor who took it with a nod of his head.
“Commander Samuel O’Neill” Said Taylor in his command voice “By order of Starfleet Command you are here by promoted to the rank of Captain and requested and required to take command of the Starfleet Installation Deep Space 11. Further more you are ordered to take command of the Excelsior Class Starship Minerva which will be assigned to Deep Space 11 once you arrive there.” Dan pulled a small black box from his pocket which he passed to Sam along with the PADD “Congratulations Captain O’Neill”
Sam’s knees threatened to give out from beneath him as he listened to Taylor’s words, the whole situation overwhelmed him in a way he never thought possible. When he had returned to Starfleet he had flippantly told them command of a base similar to Deep Space 12 would be the only way he would consider command. Reading the PADD before him it seemed Starfleet had managed to arrange just that.
Jackie regarded O’Neill with a smile. She enjoyed watching the reactions of people who just got promoted. Okay so she hated being in those positions herself, but there was something about seeing others promoted up the Chain of Command that one had to like. It was even better when it was someone who was under your direct command.
“Congratulations Captain” she said, smiling, ignoring the blatant fact that she’ll have to start looking for a new XO once O’Neill departs. Right now the promotion and his own command was his moment. Jackie had no desire of spoiling it.
“I.. I.. I..” he was speechless, looking up he could see Dan was still smiling at him “I don’t know what to say” he managed to say eventually.
Dan laughed “You say nothing Captain; you just go get on that little shuttle over there” he pointed to the shuttle he had arrived on “and see your new command. We’ll arrange for your belongings and your wife to beam over to the Minerva before you depart.” Dan turned to Jackie once more “For now there are things I need to discuss with the Captain here”
Jackie nodded, showing Taylor to the turbolift her curiosity levels rising higher and higher with each step she took.
<< Bridge >>
<10 Minutes Later>
The trip to the bridge had been filled with small talk and idle chit chat, Taylor refused to enter in to any conversations which might have shed light on his position within the fleet and his reasons for being aboard the Horizon.
Jackie didn’t pry too much into it, she still had questions on why Taylor was aboard but they would have to wait and of course there were questions that she knew Taylor wasn’t likely to answer given his mission here, whatever that was.
O’Neill’s promotion was one reason, but there’s gotta be something else if Taylor was still around. The whole situation was surrounded by questions. Jackie mentally shook her head at the whole situation. Harmon hasn’t divulged any information regarding this either, this had Jackie slightly unnerved, but the Caitian hid it well as the Turbolift headed to the bridge.
As they stepped out on to the Bridge Taylor gave a genuine smile. It felt good to be on the Bridge of a starship; Dan had to admit that to himself. Life aboard a Civilian Installation didn’t have quite the same feel.
He spent a few moments looking around the Bridge ad the officers who manned their stations before turning back to the Horizon’s Commanding Officer as she took charge of the bridge by taking note of who was present at each station and exchanging glances with a few of them.
“Captain Jackie Clawson, on this day you are requested and required by order of Starfleet Command to assume command of the Fourth Fleet’s Task Force 58. Befitting an Officer of your position you are here by promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral and are now subject to all of the rights and responsibilities there in” From his pocket Taylor withdrew a small black box, as he handed it Jackie his smile widened “Congratulations Rear Admiral Clawson”
Jackie took a step back, her eyes wide as she stared at the box in her hands; the Caitian felt like she’s just been punched in the stomach. Jackie did a double take as she felt the gazes of the entire bridge crew on her. In an instant Jackie Clawson wanted to disappear off the bridge, but she knew that wasn’t possible; she’s been put on the spot, it wasn’t something she liked, as she tended to lose control of the situation, just like now. Jackie steadied herself before the Caitian lost her footing, her eyes met Taylor’s gaze as she spoke.
“There’s gotta be some mistake.. We’re on our way to DS13, I’m taking over TF93XO.. not…” she said, her voice lower a few decibels but barely under control as she fought to regain her ‘footing’ once again. “ehrm.. ” she said, shaking her head to get herself out of the rambling she was about to go into, wondering if this was real or some kind of a joke or…something. “not.. uh..this.. “ She finished, her voice under control almost completely as she glanced down at the black box in her hands. That certainly didn’t feel fake, she was almost uncertain if she should open it to see for herself as a thousand thoughts and questions zipped through her mind.
But how can this be possible? She can’t be a Task Force CO, she can’t just from Captain to Rear Admiral. There’s no way she could even be eligible for either of those things, let alone have a fighting chance of getting either of those things now. Yet here it was, apparently. Had Starfleet Command completely lost their minds? She wasn’t even ready for the position. The number of questions she had before suddenly multiplied ten-fold… Jackie Clawson was suddenly getting a major headache and a craving for a triple shot of raktajino.
“I think we need to discuss this in your ready room Admiral Clawson” Said Dan smiling
“Whu…indeed” Jackie blinked at Taylor’s reference to her, this was getting more real with every passing moment. ‘couldn’t you do the whole promoting business in my ready room too?’ she thought dryly cocking her head to the side as she regarded Taylor.
“This way” She said waving a hand indicating the ready room off to the side as she took a step forward, the little black box still in her hand. Jackie wasn’t sure if she should even open it now or in the ready room or at all. This couldn’t be right. She could hardly believe she was being re-assigned to Task Force 93 and taking over as the Executive Officer there, but a re-assignment such as that put her in a Task Force Commanding Officer *and* a promotion to Rear Admiral seemed…. Jackie couldn’t even find the right adjective to describe this particular situation.
OFF
OOC Note, the Deep Space 11 Mentioned in this post is not a Bravo Fleet simulation.
Joint Post by:
Captain Jackie Clawson
Commanding Officer
Dan Taylor
Civilian Intelligence Specialist
Jackie Clawson
01-20-2006, 15:11
<< Ready Room – USS Horizon >>
Jackie stepped inside and invited Taylor to take a seat as she made her way to the replicator once she placed the little black box on her desk.
“Would you like a drink?” she asked as she keyed in a triple shot of raktajino for herself, having a feeling she was going to need it considering what just transpired.
Dan opened his mouth to speak and then smiled “Excuse me one moment” he turned and left the ready room for a few minutes leaving Jackie alone.
Jackie watched him go, curious as to what was this all about. Maybe this was all a dream, she looked down at the mug of raktajino in her hands, the strong aroma of the Klingon coffee reaching out to her signalling that this wasn’t a dream at all. No coffee smelled so real even in her dreams.
She realised she was still holding the black box Taylor had given her on the bridge. His words came back loud and clear in her mind:
“Captain Jackie Clawson, on this day you are requested and required by order of Starfleet Command to assume command of the Fourth Fleet’s Task Force 58. Befitting an Officer of your position you are here by promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral and are now subject to all of the rights and responsibilities there in”
Jackie shook her head, Taylor’s voice loud and clear; she downed the raktajino with a swift motion and replaced the mug on the replicator. Glancing around, with no signs of Taylor yet, the Caitian held up the little black box in the palm of her hand, part of her afraid to open it, part of her urged her to get it over with.
“kay, Clawson, you’re bound to open it ONE day….” She muttered to herself. “Heh.. Rear Admiral Clawson….” She shook her head, her own verbalization of that line making her blink a little. “They’re crazy they gotta be…” she murmured.
Taking in a breath, the Caitian flipped open the box revealing the truth inside:
Two boxed solid pips glittered at her from inside. She reached in and lifted the pips from the box; yep they were real all right.
“…assume command of the Fourth Fleet’s Task Force 58.” Taylor’s voice rang in her mind once again.
Jackie shook her head, wondering how this could be possible. She was surprised to be named the Executive officer of Task Force 93, but a skip in rank and a Task Force to command? She hadn’t even set her sights out that far. All she did was command the Horizon and her crew to the best of her abilities. Why would Star Fleet throw something like this her way? She hadn’t exactly done anything spectacular to earn something like this, did she….?
Jackie mrred under her breath, setting the black box onto her desk. She wasn’t even sure what to do with the pips next. It seemed strange and indeed she had a lot of questions for Dan Taylor upon his return. She just hoped she could ask them all and not get black walled on some of them.
He returned a couple of minutes later carrying a small wooden barrel and two mugs. “A friend of mine gave me this” he said as he placed the barrel on the Caitian’s desk “I’ve been holding on to it for a few months now looking for the opportunity to enjoy it, now seems a good a time as any.”
Taylor cracked open the barrel and dunked the mugs in to the dark red liquid, when they were both filled he placed the lid on the top of the barrel but didn’t seal it. Still smiling he passed one of the mug’s to Jackie “Admiral may I propose a toast?”
Jackie watched this all with slight amusement, for the moment forgetting why Taylor was here at all. She smiled back as he passed one of the mugs her way and took the mug smelling a whiff off the aroma hit her nostrils. Bloodwine. Jackie seldom drank alcohol, Bloodwine or other, although Mark seemed to indulge into that on some days and special occasions. This could pass for a special occasion she figured. She smiled, raising the mug, an air of confidence around her as she glanced at Taylor.
Taylor raised his own mug after glancing at its contents, in the liquid he could see the tell tale blue spots in it. “To new horizon’s Rear Admiral Clawson, may the sun shine on your face and the wind ever blow at your back” he recited the words spoken to him as he took command of Task Force 86 before draining his mug in one long draft.
Jackie raised her mug in response, her ears twitching a little as Taylor referred to her by her new rank, with each passing moment this seemed more real. She took a long sip of the blood wine, blinking slightly at the taste. This felt a little different to what she was used to, but then considering how rarely she drunk blood wine, maybe that was the taste of it.
“I’m not even sure how to reply to that, Mr Taylor” she said, smiling a little as she felt the signs of an embarrassed blush coming on.
He moved over to the barrel and began to refill his mug “I suspect you have a few questions flitting around inside your mind?”
Jackie looked at the contents of her mug, the blue spots casually letting themselves known. She sipped the blood wine before saying anything further.
“Indeed I do, Mr Taylor.” She said glancing up from the mug. “This seems a bit…too quick.” She commented. “I was under the impression I was to take over as Executive Officer of Task Force 93; the next thing I know you are here giving me these” she nodded at the little black box with the pips on her desk. “and saying I have a Task Force to command…” She said trailing off whilst trying to find the right choice of words to explain what she felt. “Why me, exactly…?” she asked giving up.
Dan chuckled “I remember asking a very similar question myself, why me?” He drank from is mug while he organised his thoughts. “The only answer I can give you is, you’ve been promoted because Starfleet Command believes you are ready and able to do this.” He paused again to drink some more blood wine a glaze appeared over his eyes as he drank and thought.
“When Admiral Wolfe contacted me and offered me command of Eighty Six I was dumbstruck, I remember saying to him ‘But I’m not ready’” Dan chuckled and took another mouthful of his drink this time savouring the taste of K’Hare’s blood wine “I still remember him telling me to trust the judgement of someone who is in command, he decided I was ready.” He shrugged “therefore I got the job”
Dan pointed at the Caitian “I suspect that’s not quite the answer you were expecting, but it’s the only one I have. You were chosen because someone thinks you’ve got what the fleet needs.”
He drained his mug “So, I’d advise you to get on and prove them right. You’re more likely to meet god before you would ever get close to unravelling the mysteries of why Starfleet Command does what it does”
Looking down Dan realised his mug was empty already, these mugs never seemed to last as long as they used too; he turned towards the barrel and began refilling his mug as he waited for Rear Admiral Clawson to speak again.
Jackie nodded slowly taking it all in; she took a swig of the blood wine, savouring the taste, she smiled lightly as she thought more about what Dan Taylor had said and finished off the blood wine in another swig moved to refill her mug as she thought of how to reply to all that.
“I suppose you’re right, we’ll never know why Starfleet Command does what it does.” She shrugged a little “still this is…er…” she shook her head. “I didn’t even have my eyes set for a command; I was comfortable enough on the Rayden pulling a double duty there.” She paused throwing a glance at a holo-image on the side “took a while to…” she trailed off. “So what does...this position exactly entail?” she asked, having a feeling she was going to need way more blood wine and caffeine at the end of this meeting...
“Why had Starfleet Command given you the job to come aboard here and do this?” she asked, curious as to why exactly was Taylor the one who gave her the news. “There’s more to it isn’t there..?” she asked.
“I mean you promote my first officer to Captain and give him his own command and then…” she smirked, shaking her head a little, still not sure if she could say it, let alone think the phrase. “Put me in charge of a Task Force with a skip in rank…” she trailed off realising she was rambling.
Looking down at the blood wine she wondered if it was the wine that was beginning to affect her, but no, it wasn’t the wine, it was her own mind that threw together so many things and scenarios of why and how and who that Jackie was about ready to scream and throw a fit.
Fortunately, maybe the blood wine was a good idea; otherwise she probably would flip off the edge. The Caitian went silent for a moment, looking into her almost empty mug of blood wine as she collected her thoughts.
“It’s just not something I’d expect exactly.” She said. “But then you live life expecting things, you end up disappointed a lot of the time”
Dan smiled “Firstly, Your first officer was well over due his command. His time on Star Base 17 wasn’t handled particularly well by Starfleet, this time they’re going to support him properly”
He took a sip of his drink and paused to gather his thoughts. “As to why I was ordered here, I believe it’s something to do with the support I mentioned for Captain O’Neill.” Pausing once more Dan took a sip of his drink “Starfleet felt I was the best suited to help you get settled into life in the big chair” his wry smile turned in to a grin “plus I was the only person available to do this”
“Life in the big chair…” Jackie smirked, shaking her head a little. “To be honest, I’ve not really settled into the COs chair all that well yet, Mr Taylor” Jackie smiled lightly, recalling her exploits aboard the Horizon, the most recent one was her flying the ship itself, something a commanding officer wouldn’t normally do; and of course the whole Powell situation; there was still a part of Jackie that wanted to be where she was as a Lieutenant, despite the few unpleasant situations she’s been in on the Rayden. She blinked lightly at the memories still vivid in her mind.
‘not now.’ She sternly told herself, looking over at Taylor as she got up to refill her mug with blood wine yet again. The brief pained look on her face was replaced by a firm smile as the Caitian moved to refill her mug.
“I’m sure I’m going to need all the help I can get with this.” She said, looking into the freshly re-filled mug. “I don’t even know where to begin…what to do…what… I mean..” she paused, taking a long sip of the blood wine. “From Captain to…Rear Admiral… that’s one hell of a leap on it’s own.. from CO to TFCO, that’s a whole different story…I don’t even know where to begin” she chuckled lightly, for what seemed like a hundredth time wondering if the blood wine has gone to her head.
Dan smiled a knowing smile “The jump from Captain to Rear Admiral is quite well known to some of us Admiral Clawson” he drank more of his Bloodwine before continuing “I will be staying aboard the Horizon until it reaches Starbase Bravo, I have arrangements in place for my return to Serenity Base.” Dan didn’t go in to details about his arrangements; he suspected trying to explain a Sovereign Class starship cooling its heels at Starbase Bravo awaiting his arrival would be hard to explain away for an Admiral let alone for a civilian.
“So I take it you’re my new Executive Officer of sorts, however temporary…” she inquired.
“Indeed that would seem the case Admiral Clawson, however I’d consider me more of a mentor than an underling.” He smiled once more “As I said in the shuttle bay, my status is difficult to explain.” There was a tone in Dan’s voice that simultaneously dared Jackie to question him further and told her that he wouldn’t give anymore answers.
Jackie nodded, regarding her almost empty mug for a moment. She blinked lightly replaying the last few moments of the conversation.
“I apologize, I didn’t mean to make it sound like an underling, I appreciate any help and assistance you are here to offer, Mr Taylor.” Jackie said, “I’m sure I’ll need all the assistance you can offer. “She noted. “Considering… things..” she shook her head lightly, still not sure if she could ever get her head around what just happened. At least there wouldn’t be any official ceremonies; Jackie disliked those if she was the centre of attention.
“I’m sure your status is difficult to explain considering how Starfleet works at times.” She said, well aware that Starfleet worked in quite mysterious ways. “I’ll arrange for your quarters and let me know should you require anything. The Horizon will do our best to assist you in any way as well.” She said, still curious, she still wanted to ask questions as to why he was here and what was going on but she was all too aware of what’s the response she was going to get, and that was – either a vague one not really detailing anything, or none at all.
She decided not to press the issue at this point, all would become clearer when the time came, besides there were things she wasn’t meant to know. Like what Starfleet was thinking when they made the decision regarding her. Jackie looked at the black box with the pips still on her desk. This wasn’t a dream, yet she was still weary of touching the box or the pips. It was as if she didn’t want to face it, her glance slid back to the remaining bloodwine in her mug. She drained the mug of its contents and put it aside.
Dan moved from his seat and picked the small black box from the desk, after distracting Jackie with further conversation. “Oh one other thing, Sam will be transporting your former Chief Medical Officer to Starbase 311 where he will stand trial for his crimes on the Horizon and his previous ones.
“So he’s done the sort of thing before?” Jackie asked, her mind racing albeit somewhat sluggishly after all the blood wine she just had. Part of her felt she should’ve stuck to raktajino, another part of her suspected she’d be a lot less calmer if she followed the other part of her.
Slowly he nodded in response to her words “Yes, Intelligence only recently made the connection apparently he was prime suspect in a string of deaths aboard the Sarajevo back in 2375.” He pulled Jackie’s Captain Pins from her collar as he spoke and replaced them with the Admiral bars “It was only when we received word of the issues on the Horizon we made the connection” Dan didn’t specify how he knew of the Horizon’s issues, he was fairly sure Admiral Clawson hadn’t made a report on the matter yet. It was a question he would side step if it came.
Jackie stared for a moment, not sure what to be more shocked about: Taylor’s revelation about Powell doing this sort of thing before and there being no mention of it in his record, nor where there any tell tale signs of such behaviour before that or him replacing her collar pips thus emphasizing the reality of her promotion and position to her.
“How did….” She started to ask the question, throwing a glance at a PADD off by the side which still contained the report on the situation she was working on before they got word of the rendezvous. “What brought it on?” she asked, for the moment skimming past the question how Taylor was aware of their situation. Starfleet had ways apparently.
A wry smile appeared on Dan’s face “I doubt you would believe it if I told you” he paused “But I suppose I should. It was love that made him do it, at least in his own mind.”
Jackie tried to speak but Dan cut her off “Let me explain, Mister Powell once performed an undercover operation for Starfleet Intelligence. While he was on mission he became infected with a virus which for a short while made him somewhat mentally unbalanced. It appears he was signed off by a friend before he was actually cured.”
“It is unfortunate he has left a string of bodies behind on almost every ship he has served on, usually young females who spurned his advances” Dan paused for a moment and stared at Jackie’s desk “I just wish we had worked out the connection to Powell before he killed again.”
“Why wasn’t it in his record? Undercover intell, why else..” Jackie said slightly miffed. She wasn’t sure how she was going to explain this one to their families. But it made better sense now; the holes they’ve discovered and the missing puzzle pieces finally started filling up and clicking into place, at least to a certain level.
The Caitian shook her head upon hearing all this.
“Something caught my eye when I and Lt Grenn were tracing the records and looking into this.” She said. “It all came back pointing at Powell, although before there was any confrontation it was all a speculation.” She paused briefly, collecting her thoughts. “A speculation which was confirmed once Commander O’Neill failed to reply to my call and the computer said he was in sickbay. To me that confirmed it was Powell even before the…um..’confrontation’ in sickbay” she harumped a little as if clearing her throat, wondering if Starfleet got word of what she’d done and how she’d acted in sickbay whilst confronting Powell. She hoped she didn’t have to show that side of her all too often, but even she had to admit that she enjoyed the hunt and ‘going in for the kill’ seemed to bring back the old times of her early years in Starfleet.
For the next hours, the two spent time in the briefing room with Jackie mostly listening to what Taylor had to say about her new position and command. From time to time Jackie still wondered how things ended up the way they did and who had all the deck of cards to play the hand in such a way. Whichever way things went, Jackie Clawson never suspected she would ever end up in a position she was in right now; and she had no idea what Dan Taylor’s presence aboard the USS Horizon would entail.
OFF:
Joint post by
RAdm Jackie Clawson
Commanding Officer
and
Dan Taylor
Civilian Intelligence Specialist
Adam Kao
01-22-2006, 02:55
OFF: Tying up a few loose ends :)
ON:
<<Sickbay - Powell's Apprehension>>
Jackie had shoved Powell over to Adam. He had caught the doctor and restrained him with his arm up his back. He tried struggling, but Adam applied more pressure, causing him to wince in pain.
"Take him to the brig, crewman." Adam shoved Powell over to the security detail he had brought in. Powell tried to lunge at the captain again, but was restrained again. The anger and intensity of Powell was completely unreal. Adam had dealt with something similar back on the Detroit when he was assigned there, yet the marvels of adrenaline were still unreal. The crewmen struggled to get Powell out of sickbay, but were successful eventually.
J'al watched the Doctor leave the sickbay. "Nice form on those slash marks." he said as he walked in. "I can never get it as clean-cut as that...." he said, contemplating it for a moment.
"Clean cut?" Adam asked inquisitively. "Hopefully, you'll never have that chance, lieutenant." Adam smiled as he walked over to the captain. "I'll go and interview the doctor and se if we can get to the bottom of this." Adam nodded to the individuals around him as he left.
<< Brig >>
Adam walked in. The hum of the forcefield had become a familar sound in Adams kind of work and the noise had ecome nothing but background. The ensign who was looking after the prisoners nodded to Adam as he walked in. Adam looked round and noticed Powell strolling back and forth in the third cell. He nodded to the ensign and walked over.
"Doctor." Adam began.
"Oh, it's you."
"Look, doc. I need to ask you a few questions."
"Go ahead. I'll not answer any, but you can ask."
"Its formalitie's. Believe me, if I didn't have to ask them, I wouldn't be here." Adam sighed as he got a PADD from the brig desk with the doctors report on it. "I'll remind you docthat you do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on. Anything you do say, can and will be used against you. Do you understand?"
"Ask away, lieutenant." The doctor scowled as he finally sat down and crossed his legs.
"Did you murder any individuals over the last few days?" Adam said, staring straight into the doctors eyes. No reply came and Adam noted it down. "Why did you attack the captain?" Again, no reply came and Adam noted it. He could see this was getting no where. Adam sighed and turned round. Placing the PADD on the desk, he turned back to Powell. "Listen. You're facing murder, assualt and actual bodily harm charges, doctor. The best thing you can do is co-operate."
The doctor sighed and shook his head. It was now more obvious he was taking his right not to say anything seriously. Adam looked to the ensign and nodded. He turned to leave, picking up the PADD again and walking out.
<<Shuttle Bay - Present>>
Adam had just entered the shuttlebay with Powell. Powell was being transferred to a starbase holding facility, which suited Adam just fine. One less person in his care to worry about. He stepped up to the shuttle doors and glanced in. Noticing the XO he smiled.
"Escort duty, sir?" Adam asked, escorting Powell up the ramp. "Some people have all the luck."
"Not exactly, lieutenant." Sam nodded and took control over Powell, sitting him in a seat. "I've been re-assigned to my own command."
"Sir?" Adam raised an eyebrow. "Well, congratulations."
"Thank you."
"Stay in touch though sir. I wish you all the best." Adam extended his hand, noticing the fourth pip that now gleamed on O'Neills uniform.
"I'll try." Sam shook his hand and nodded to the lieutenant.
Adam turned around and headed out the shuttle. =/\= Kao to bridge. Prisoner has been escorted to the shuttle. =/\= Adam said, tapping his commbadge. The person on the other end acknowledged as Adam walked out the shuttle bay.
<< Gymnasium - 10 minutes later >>
Adam walked in to the gym. He saw personnel working out on all the different types of machines. He walked up the stairs to the top level and nodded to the individuals who were gathered round a large matted area.
"Good afternoon everyone. Apologies for my tardiness." He addressed them. He too off his shoes and socks and made his way into the centre of the padded area. Performing a ritualistic bow towards those who wr present, he invited them onto the mat.
'It's about time I got time to unwind from all this' he thought to himself as he began the ninjitsu class, smiling at everyone, knowing he'd done all he can in the latest crisis aboard the USS Horizon.
OFF:
Yay!
Jackie Clawson
01-26-2006, 23:47
Closing this one Rest of the stuff is continued in: http://horizon.taylord1.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=71
vBulletin® v3.8.1, Copyright ©2000-2012, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.