USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202005.01 ANNOUNCEMENT: . This sim marks the beginning of a sim plot initiated and run by Lt. Tabeshk Tibris as he seeks to qualify for promotion to Lt. Cmdr. This series is expected to run at least 4 sims, possibly longer as the story plays out. Observation Lounge (and other Locations): . The Penumbra was parked in interstellar space alongside a "friendly" Kyrathian Colony Ship that was decidedly non-Swarm. We had sent an Away Team over and had a successful conversation with their commanding Noble (mostly via glyphic "text messages" but with some telepathic communication between the Noble and Dr. Shadow K'Trevala). That team had since returned and the Captain had ordered a gathering of Senior Officers in the Observation Lounge for a briefing. . Those gathered were Capt. Zak Taylor, the Commanding Officer; Lt. Col. Travis Patterson, Executive Officer and Commander of the Marine Detachment; Lt. Cmdr. Relok, Chief of Sciences and Second Officer; Lt. Cmdr Bevin MacArdry, Chief Engineer; Lt. Tabeshk Tibris, Chief of Operations; and Lt. Denovan Hawke, Chief of Tactical Operations. . Lt. Cmdr. Jason Carter, Chief of Flight Operations, remained on the Bridge in command in the absence of the other command officers. The other Senior Officer, Lt. T'Lin, Assistant Chief of Sciences, had been given an assignment by Relok and was busy in the Science Labs. . Along with the Senior Officers, LtJG. Katarina Hawke was attending in her role as the Head Nurse, a vital role, and considered, at least in this instance, as a senior advisory position. Also, the Artificial Intelligence known as MAX, formerly the Reconnaissance AI from the USS Darmok and now resident within the Penumbra, could appear on any connected computer terminal on the ship, and was in attendance, his face manifested in one corner of the main screen at one end of the table.

. Down in the Marine Vehicle Bay, MstGny. Derek Hines was preparing for the imminent visitation by the Kyrathian Noble to see that her Incubator Pod and her eggs were safe. That Incubator was held in stasis within a force field and surrounded by electrostatic shielding to prevent any of the Kyrathian Plant Spores from escaping and potentially dissolving any organic materials they came in contact with. . As the gathering was beginning, the Captain strolled into the Observation Lounge and stepped over to the replicator. He ordered, "Coffee, black, sweetened." . While the Captain waited for the cup to materialize, Relok entered from the corridor and strolled around the table to take his usual seat. A moment later, Bevin arrived, carrying with her a glass of sweet tea. . Tabby entered from the Bridge, carrying a PADD in his hand. He muttered half-aloud, "Wow, last time I was in here, I was being lectured! Funny how life works." . Shadow entered, with Katarina at his elbow. Shadow walked around the table and took a seat beside his Shayana, Relok. Kat stood a moment, surprised she was even invited to a meeting of the Senior Staff, but, she wasn't going to say no to such an opportunity! She found a seat at the far end of the table. . Zak collected his coffee and turned, sipping the hot liquid carefully and watching the others as they filed in. Denovan skirted in from the Bridge and Tabby quipped, "Hello, Den, fashionably late, I see." . But just on Den's heels was Patterson, who returned the quip, "If he's late, so am I." He moved to his seat and tossed a PADD onto the table. . Zak smiled, "You're not late ... yet. We're just getting comfortable." He moved to his own seat. . Relok reported, "I apologize for T'Lin's absence, sir. I sent her to do some final analysis on our data." . Before he actually sat, Patterson said, "I think I'll be the first to officially say it: The Aslans are becoming more a liability to our investigation than an asset."

. Zak smirked, "I think Tabby's already said that ... a few times." . Bevin added in her thick Scottish Brogue, "Iffin pawssibil, way naid tae say aiboot maikin mair frainds amang tha aindipindints, sae we dinna hae tae railay an tha Aislins, iffin thay air gaein tae bay sich staiks ain tha maud." . Kat stared at Bevin, still completely at a loss to decipher her heavy accent. Most of the others in the room had worked with Bevin long enough to understand her accent. Zak smirked at Kat's confused expression but only said, "Yeah, it would be nice to have a few more friends out here." . Kat cocked her head to one side at the Captain's smirk. Bevin smiled at Kat's confusion and benevolently supplied the translation telepathically, which, strangely enough, did not bear any trace of accent, ~If possible, we need to see about making more friends among the independents, so we do not have to rely on the Aslans, if they are going to be such sticks in the mud.~ . Now understanding, Kat just shook her head and returned her focus to the meeting. . Grinning, Tabby grunted out, "Sticks in the mud? More like turds in a cow pasture!" . Bevin grinned, "Aye tha tae!" . Tabby grinned back, "I'd rather not be a turd like the Aslans ... like turds!" . Zak turned to Patterson. "So, Colonel, AEGIS and MAX gave you some interesting conclusions. Care to share?" . But Patterson was studying the PADD in his hand and didn't answer right away. The Captain spoke for him, "Well, I can say that it seems that between AEGIS and MAX, they've analyzed the DNA of the Swarm Kyrathians, the Swarm's Plant, and some tiny DNA samples from the incubator and the eggs ...," he trailed off. . MAX continued for him, "Based on the wavelength comparisons done by myself and AEGIS aboard the Cerberus, we were able to distinctly identify the precise geneology that differentiates the independent Kyrathians from those affiliated with the 'Wild Growth.'"

. Patterson stood and approached the viewer, pulling up the files from his PADD. He gestured, "The two on the left are from the 'Wild Growth.' Samples taken from energy siphoning pods and the node sample from T'Lin on the station, as well as from various Kyrathian KIA during our fight on the station and Janidor." . Relok stood and approached the screen to take a closer look. He said, "Yes, I can see the variations, but ... which is the mutation and which is the normal strain?" . Tabby agreed, "They look very similar, but one looks to me to be malformed and twisted. The other seems to have a more ... solid shape." . But the Captain said, "It doesn't really matter which is which as far as that, Relok. What matters is, they're distinctly different. This is the data we gave Yzz to hopefully bring back to the Aslans." . Relok nodded and silently returned to his seat. Tabby muttered, "Let's just hope he does so. We could use them. Like them or not, they are useful." . Zak continued, "So, we need this 'friendly' Noble to tell us more about her 'Pure Plant' so we know where we stand. And ... we should try to find more of these ... independent Kyrathians." . Patterson returned to his seat, then turned to face the Captain, "What about the Ambassador?" . Zak answered, "Let's hope the Ambassador is making progress with the Aslan Queen. Shadow, was there something you wanted to say?" . Shadow had been giving a subtle hand sign that he had something he'd wanted to say but was being polite. He nodded, "Colonel, did you get any DNA samples from the clutch of eggs that we left under the forcefield back on the asteroid? And were you able to determine anything about them, whether they were 'Wild' or 'Pure' according to AEGIS and MAX?" . Patterson's reply was interrupted by a call from Hines down in the MVB. "We're all set in the MVB to receive our guest, when you are, Colonel."

. Patterson glanced at the Captain, then Shadow, then tapped his commbadge, "Acknowledged. Stand by." . Kat had been watching intently, fascinated at the discussion. Patterson rubbed his mohawk as he answered, "I took a few samples when we had the capability, but the eggs don't appear to have any identifying markers. It's quite possible they could be swayed either way. I was able to deduce that it has a direct correlation to proximity to either the 'Wild Growth' plant, or a 'Pure Growth' plant." . The Captain sat back in his chair. "I think we need to talk with this Noble. Is she ready to beam over?" . Shadow nodded in understanding of Patterson's statement. He said, "I think we should tell the great Mother about them and let her decide if she wants to adopt them all." . Zak's brows furrowed a moment and then he said, "We'll take that under advisement, Shadow. Let's see where our conversation goes before we mention we have more eggs stashed away!" . Shadow nodded again, "Aye, sir, but ... I hate the thought of just ... leaving them there." . Patterson turned to Shadow, "We left them the best chance of survival at the moment. We need to ensure allegiances first." . Shadow tilted his head, "Agreed, sir, and they could be a hefty bargaining chip." . Zak responded, "So, let's see what we can find out with more detailed analysis of the DNA data. Relok, that's on you." . Relok tilted his head, "Aye, sir." Then he turned to Kat, "Kat, could you give me some assistance? I'm thinking your Borg medical database could come in handy." . Kat blinked at the Lt. Cmdr. a moment, then answered, "Of course, Commander." . Zak stood from his seat as he said, "Colonel, you and I have a VIP to chat with." . Patterson nodded and stood as well. He said, "Hines said the fields are in place, so we're good to go, Captain."

. Zak glanced around the table, "Good. All right, folks, get back to work. Tabby, you may beam the Noble to the MVB when you get back to your station." . "Aye, sir," Tabby said as he stood and turned to leave, "Heading out now." He paused and then added, "This should be fun! I've never seen a Kyrathian up close! It's thrilling and ... utterly terrifying at the same time!" . Relok stood and began moving towards the exit. As he did, he addressed Kat, "Care to join me in the Science Lab?" . Kat stood with a nod and moved to join him. As Tabby made his exclamation, she smirked at him, amused at the way he blurted out things. . Zak turned to the Doctor, "Shadow, I think you should come with Patterson and I. We may need your help communicating." . "Aye, sir," Shadow replied, then added, "Also, Bevin would be good as well, to help out." . Zak grinned, "Yeah, but she's so hard to understand!" . Shadow raised an eyebrow at him, "Direct mind-speech she loses the Brogue for some reason." . Zak smiled across at Bevin. "I have noticed that. Kinda weird, but maybe the mental connection facilitates clearer understanding. I never did really understand how that works, anyway." . Bevin smiled back and said, "Aye, sair, tha maintil braidge maks ait aisier fer tha traw mainin tae came thraw." As she said the thick Brogue, the telepathic translation came clear in his head, ~Aye, sir, the mental bridge makes it easier for the true meaning to come through.~ . Patterson moved towards the exit. "I'll ensure our guest arrives safely." . Zak nodded at Patterson and started towards the Bridge, "I will be fashionably late as befitting the Commanding Officer." He stepped out onto the Bridge as Patterson exited into the Corridor.

. At the Turbolift down the hallway, Relok paused, holding the door for Kat and Patterson. He spoke to Kat as she entered, "I have been wanting to spend some time working with you, Katarina. I think you have valuable information we need to be able to tap into." . As the Turbolift began it's journey, Patterson remembered a question he needed answered. He tapped his commbadge, "Captain, how many are we allowing over sir? Three? Five? Just the Mother?" . Zak's voice answered, "Let's allow her whatever 'security' she thinks appropriate, provided it isn't an 'invading force'. What do you think of 3 escorts?" . Patterson nodded, "Three makes sense. Might want to have one of our psychics tell her to have her three most trusted in close proximity, so we can identify who's coming aboard." . Zak turned to Shadow, who had followed him out to the Bridge, "Can you relay that message for us, Shadow?" As Shadow did so, Zak turned to Tabby, "Let us know when you have a transporter lock."

@everyone Another Sim Log Narrative is posted. Enjoy!