[Round 3] Bridge Flashback

[Guest The Ambassador (Ventu)]

(( Main Bridge, USS CRAZY HORSE))

:: Admiral Rocar Drawoh appeared lost, a look of sorrow sharply spiced with the pain of regret on the Kzinti's face. Feelings on the bridge were mixed - from a perhaps trivial exercise, the crew had now witnessed an awesome matter/anti- matter explosion as the Prospero met her end, but then the explosion did not appear to be part of the exercise. Although the Prospero had been located, there had been no contact with her crew. Then the explosion. The training exercise had just turned from concentrated focus to deadly serious. The fate of the USS Prospero and her crew had to be investigated. Questions would have to be answered. ::

Obsidian: well guess that answers the question if it was a trap or not. Was there anyone on that ship?

Rocar: There was… an away team of 6. Begin scanning for survivors.

Obsidian: response

:: Ensign Rogg brought up the briefing for the training exercise which had lately concluded in tragedy. The Dachlyd engineer leafed through the Prospero's crew manifest. ::

oO Major Heath West, diplomatic envoy. Lieutenant Pedro Alonzo Sanchez Ramirez, chief science officer. Lieutenant Commander Lily Ventu.. Oo

::Ensign Rogg's thoughts departed from the display terminal. He recalled days spent at the Starfleet Academy on Starbase 118.::

(((Flashback) ))

((A lecture hall on SB-118))

:: The students were gathered to learn about contact with alien cultures. Their regular instructor had assured them that there were all too many ways that encountering the unknown could end badly for both parties. Although the Federation strove to promote peace with other sapient beings, oftentimes the best outcome which could be hoped for was a neutral parting. Misunderstandings were guaranteed to occur. Positive, mutually beneficial results took patience. ::

:: Then the lectern had been yielded. Ltcmdr Lily Ventu stood before the assembly of eager cadets. She was presumably lecturing as a favor to the instructor.. Or perhaps her sense of dedication to Starfleet was foremost in her mind? The commander was very late into pregnancy - that much was obvious. ::

:: The commander told them that often there was a misrepresentation of the fleet's efforts - the public seemed to think either that the Federation was a doddering relative with deep pockets to be taken advantage of, or that the Federation was too willing to lend its personnel and resources to weak and underserving civilizations. ::

VENTU: Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, it is because of Starfleet and the Federation's wise investments in research, colonization, and alliance with many different ::she hesitated:: "alien" cultures, that we are able to continue the broad scope of our effort. Our quadrant of the galaxy has benefitted more from mutual cooperation than any single military empire or religious doctrine could ever achieve through force or indoctrination.

VENTU: Peaceful co-existence and understanding are their own rewards, ::she smiled:: not to say that there have not been practical rewards as well.

:: The class laughed at the small joke. A cadet next to Rogg made an obscure reference, completely alien to the Dachlyd. "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar." Although curious about the idiom, Rogg's distraction by his classmate was short-lived. ::

VENTU: ... Cadet Rogg, please stand.

::Rogg stood, embarassed. His normally slow heart rate quickened somewhat.::

VENTU: ::glancing down at a PADD:: Cadet Rogg, you are a Dachlyd, correct?

ROGG: Yes, Commander, I am.

VENTU: How long have the Federation and Dachlyds been in contact with each other?

::Rogg thought hard. Had he been more humanoid, he would have bitten his lower lip or screwed up his face in concentration. However, his reptiloid expressions seemed stoically thoughtful-- or perhaps dim--to those watching.::

ROGG: I do not know precisely. Since Stardate 2355, at the latest.

:: The lieutenant commander did not bother with cross-checking her PADD. She continued to her point. ::

VENTU: At least thrity years the Federation and Dachlyd society have exchanged their unique cultures, communicated, and traded.

::She paused for effect - most of the cadets present were not even thirty years old. For them, the Federation and Dachlyds had known of each other's existence for more than a lifetime.::

:: Commander Ventu glanced briefly back down at the PADD. Rogg was going to know the next fact precisely. ::

VENTU: Cadet Inarr Rogg, in the thirty-odd years of cooperation between the United Federation of Planets and your people, how many Dachlyds have applied with Starfleet Academy for admission as cadets?

ROGG: One, Commander.

:: There was an awkward pause as Rogg missed a beat. ::

ROGG: Me.

:: The lecture continued. ::

:: Inarr Rogg d'Squamos was quite glad for the attention. He was used to attention in general. Sometimes it was the sort which caused others to avoid him. Too often, he attracted the sort of attention demanding a physcial confrontation. This had been a pleasant sort of attention. He was glad because of Commander Ventu, a whole class of cadets were not going to be mistaking him for a Gorn. ::

(((End flashback)))

:: Rogg had always meant to thank Commander Ventu for the unsolicited attention, but his Academy days had been busy enough without such extra efforts. Looking back to his cadet cruise in the massive holodeck of Starbase 118, he realized he might have missed his last chance to thank Lily Ventu in person. ::

oO Well, hopefully she was not in the USS Prospero. Hopefully none of the officers had been aboard the vessel as it disintegrated. From the look of the Admiral, I would guess that there was insufficient time for them to escape the explosion or the pull of the gas giant. Oo

:: Rogg snapped back to the matter at hand. Admiral had ordered a scan for survivors after the matter/antimatter. Though they hadn't seen any escape pods launch, there was the matter of the warp signature. The signs pointed to a shuttlecraft. ::

::Rogg realized a strange encrypted noise had been coming from the Communications console.::

Readdy/ Obsidian: responses

Rocar: Play it on speakers.

=/\= Pozdrav, prostor plovila. Me küsimuse oma kohalolekut meie linn, dan heran jika anda berhubungan dengan kami baru pengunjung =/\=

:: In truth the message said: "Hello, space vessel. We question your presence at our City, and wonder if you are related to our new visitors." , however, there was no way for anybody to know that yet at this point… not until it had been decrypted and made sense of. ::

Rocar: Is it from the PROSPERO's attackers?

Rogg: There is little likelihood of any other ships in our zone - we were scanning thoroughly in our search for the Prospero. Either the ship's signature is occluded by the gravity well of the gas giant. Or ::the ensign hesitated - this was no longer some Academy holodeck fantasy, but actual space:: ..or perhapss the messsage comess from the giant itsself?

oO Not likely. Oo

Rocar: Ms. Readdy and Mr. Obsidian… work together to decrypt that message… I want to know exactly what it means and what they're telling us.

Obsidian/ Readdy: responses

:: The Ktarian Admiral retook his seat at the centre of the Bridge. And glanced over at the Engineer's console ::

Rocar: Ensign Rogg… are you able to scan the debris and work out exactly what kind of attack caused the Prospero's destruction?

Rogg: Scanning the debris field. There is little evidence left for any visual confirmation.

::While the Crazyhorse's scanners analyzed the tiny bits which remained of the Prospero, Rogg programmed the computer to analyze the records of the ship's final moments. Really, they were quite lucky the Prospero had broken from the nebula or there would have been next-to nothing to work with.::

oO Wait, that was unlikely - more unlikely than receiving a meaningful communication from a gas giant. How would the USS Prospero have escaped from the gravity well even as all its systems failed? Oo

Rogg: Does it seem odd to anyone else that the Prospero did not just fall towards the planet?

ANYONE: response?

::Rogg checked the computer for output. What had the scanners revealed?::

Rogg: Admiral! Computer recordss for the impulse drive of the Prosspero againsst the gravity of the giant do not add up. They suggest that the Prospero was being operated on by a third force - say, some kind of tractor beam. I would caution that the decrepitude of the USS Prospero might not have been able to cope with the pull of the planet, its own engines, and a third vector. Under that kind of stress, the vessel might not have even been attacked; it would be more than enough to rip the ship apart.

::Rogg continued monitoring the computer's analysis. Beyond simple theories, Admiral Rocar would want to be certain what had destroyed the USS Prospero.::

Rocar: Any clues as to what kind of race we're dealing here would be helpful at this point.

Rogg: Starfleet records indicate that the only lifeforms indigenous to gas giants are hydrocarbon- based. Further information is lacking.

Rocar: response

Rogg: Admiral, I recommend sending probes to gather nebular debris, and to sample the upper atmosphere of the planet. Endangering our own ship would be unwise.

Rocar: response

:: The Ktarian leaned over and whispered something to Ensign Faustuus' ear which Rogg could not quite make out. ::

:: The Admiral once again stood up and glanced at Lt.Cmdr. Sharee. She looked a little shaken and for a moment he thought perhaps he ought to excuse her from the Bridge. After all she was far closer to the 6 officers now dead than he had been. Sighing slightly he decided against it however: as a command officer Sharee would have to get used to not only seeing her closest friends pass away but also to ordering them to their deaths.::

Rocar: You have the Bridge commander. See if Mr Rogg needs a hand. I'll be in my ready room.::

:: Nodding at the First Officer, the Ktarian removed himself to his ready room where he nearly tripped over Faustuus' luggage and found himself cursing under his breath. Standing in the viewing window for a few seconds he watched pieces of debris from the Prospero drifting by before sitting at his desk. ::

Tag / TBC...

Ensign Inarr "Sssteve" Rogg

Engineering Officer

Starbase 118