USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202104.16 Introduction: . The Penumbra was hovering near a nondescript star under a patched-together MIRAGE cloak (that could only be called about 60% reliable) and watching a hodge-podge collection of storage containers and piece-meal connecting corridors that was apparently some kind of space station for pirates, smugglers, and traders. They had followed a plasma trail of a leaking ship to this station hoping it would lead them to the kidnapped Gorn Ambassador named Ssissthiss. . Now, an Away Team was using a beat-up freighter named the Canteen of Sparkles, owned and operated by a Miss Misty Mane, to board the pirate hub to see if they could find out whether this Ambassador Ssissthiss was on the station. The Away Team consisted of Miss Mane, Col. Travis Patterson, LtCmdr. T'Lin, SSgt. Will Davies, and two other Marine Pathfinders. Bridge, Sickbay, & Main Engineering: Too Close for Comfort . LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke was at the Tactical station. He breathed a sigh. "Well, that was particularly close. What was that in the 20th century? Fighting for a parking spot?" . He was referring to yet another small ship that had dropped out of warp dangerously close to the small station and then maneuvered at frightening speed almost to the dock before stopping suddenly and inching up to complete the docking seal. . Cdre. Zak Taylor had strolled over to the replicator where he ordered, "Coffee, hot, black, sweetened." . As the coffee materialized, LtCmdr. Jason Carter, still sitting at the Helm, holding the Penumbra just inside the star's gravity well, said, "Y'know, it might be appropriate to put the shields up." . Across the Bridge, Den's sister, Lt. Katarina Hawke, the Head Nurse and Assistant Chief Medical Officer, was mostly recovered from her bout of food poisoning. She stood at the Auxiliary Medical Station on the Bridge, continuously monitoring the vital signs of the Away Team.
. Cmdr. Relok, the Vulcan Chief of Sciences, was once again the Acting First Officer since Patterson was on the Away Mission. He sat in the XO's seat, trying to appear relaxed, even though he was gripping the arms of the chair tightly each time one of those ships hurtled past them to approach the station. He looked over at Den and said, "Much too close for comfort, wouldn't you say, Mr. Hawke?" . Meanwhile, down in Main Engineering, the Chief Engineer, LtCmdr. Bevin MacArdry stood at a white-board table, furiously writing various equations and schematics trying to pin down her idea for the series of regenerating "onion-skin" style shields to envelop the Penumbra. She hoped, if she could work out the power demands for it, they could protect the ship from incoming objects as large as a small shuttlecraft, maybe bigger if they could manage the power for it without frying their systems. . Elsewhere, Dr. Shadow K'Trevala was enjoying the quiet of an empty Sickbay, sitting in one of the chairs and plucking softly on his harp, while humming to himself. He seemed to be losing himself in the calming music, but he was, in fact, sensing everyone on the ship with his powerful empathy and telepathy, judging their moods and tension levels without prying into personal thoughts. Mad Star . Back on the Bridge, Zak glanced over at Den. "Standin took us to Yellow Alert, didn't he?" Lt. Standin was the Vulcan Security and Tactical Officer that often filled in for Den when he had duties elsewhere. Standin had been on the Bridge earlier while Den had been ensuring the Canteen of Sparkles was safe to bring aboard, and to use for this mission. Zak continued, "We've got shields, right?" He reached into the replicator and retrieved his steaming mug.
. Den double-checked his Tactical station and nodded, "Yes, Captain." Although Zak had recently been promoted to Commodore, many of his crew still referred to him as "Captain". It was an ancient tradition that anyone in command of a vessel had the "job" of "Captain" regardless of rank, and so, it remained a valid term to use to address the commanding officer. . At the Primary Science Station, LtJG. Jackson Carshel was monitoring the star itself. He muttered without looking up, "I really don't like that thing, sir." The star roiled with solar flares and just didn't look happy at all. . LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris at the Operations Console gave a nod. "I agree, that star makes me nervous as hell." He checked back over their power supply and distribution. . Den nodded back, "I would say so, Commander." . Zak sipped his coffee as he stared at the star on the main viewer. "Damn thing looks mad, doesn't it?" . Carter smirked. "I'd dare say that star is an accurate representation of Bevin in a bad mood." . Zak turned and moved back to his seat, then turned it towards the Science area. "Mr. Carshel, keep a close eye on that star and coordinate with Carter. If we need to move, it'll probably be on short notice." . Just as the Commodore said that, a large solar flare erupted from the side of the star. The EM Pulse caused lights and consoles to flicker all around the Penumbra. . "Whoa!" Den called, "What was that?" . Carter belted out, "That would be the star. Captain, I'd recommend we don't over-stay our welcome." Metaphasic Shields . Relok studied readings on the arm panel of the XO's chair. "Captain, we might need more enhanced shielding to resist those flares. Yellow Alert might not be enough."
. In Main Engineering, alarms sounded as the flare passed and the lights flickered. Bevin jumped to her main station to review the data, and made calculations to adjust the shields. Even as she reviewed the data, her mind considered how they might be able to collect that energy and use it, maybe in some of the largest capacitors imaginable! . Up on the Bridge, Zak glanced at Den. "Enhanced shielding, Mr. Hawke. I don't think we need to go all the way to Red Alert, but do whatever you think it takes to keep us secure." . "On it," Den responded. He pulled up several options on the Tactical console, then moved over to one of the Engineering stations to press a few buttons. As he did he said, "Pulling up the metaphasic shields. Okay, that should work." . Suddenly, the Artificial Intelligence known as MAX manifested his face on several pedestals and consoles. "Gravitational fluctuations have shifted." He concentrated himself in a corner of the main viewer and addressed Carter specifically, "New compensation is 2.1 aft, 1.8 ventral, 3.7 starboard." . Carshel acknowledged, "The gravimetric distortion has changed." . Carter gave a nod. "Acknowledged, MAX." He made the adjustments to the ship's trim. . Relok glanced over at Carshel, then back to his armrest display. He nodded, "Confirmed, Captain. That star is unstable." . Carter turned his chair. "Captain, we won't be able to hold this spot for more than 20 minutes." . Down in Sickbay, Shadow had sensed the sudden tension on the Bridge. He called Relok, his Oath-Brother, with whom he shared a psychic bond, telepathically ~Relok, need me to help with anything?~ . Relok responded through their link, ~Shayana, this star is acting up. You might want to prepare radiation treatments.~ . ~Thought it might be,~ Shadow responded, ~And they are already being replicated to be given out as needed.~ Ejection
. As Carshel was watching the star's readings carefully, another flare came from the star, this one even larger, and washed over the Penumbra. But the metaphasic shields deflected it well enough and the ship didn't suffer power fluctuations like it did before. Once again, though, down in Engineering, Bevin collected data and added them into her equations for her upgraded shields. . Relok glanced over at Den and said, "OK, that wasn't nice." . Den grumbled at himself, "Why didn't I think, or we, in general, think of implementing these shields before? I mean, they work. We're fine, but the station's getting issues." . Relok turned back to the front and asked, "Carter, how's our orbit holding?" . But before Carter could answer, Carshel interrupted, "Hey, Captain, we need to move! I think the star is about to do an ejection, and a big one!" . Zak turned to Carshel, then back to Carter. "You heard the man, bug out!" . "Aye, sir!" Carter acknowledged, and quickly punched up full impulse speed. "I hope the solar flares haven't knocked out their MIRAGE system!" . "I can fix that!" Den announced. "Give me 13 seconds. And," he said, "someone telepathically send a message to the Away Team to brace!" He didn't want to risk blowing their cover. . Relok quickly called Shadow over their bond, ~Shayana! Call T'Lin telepathically, warn her about the star! It's gonna launch a coronal ejection. It might get bad over there!~ . Den quickly correlated input from Bevin's shield calculations, with the metaphasic shielding, to ensure what they had of their MIRAGE system wouldn't get fried. . Sure enough, just as Carshel had predicted, the star belched out a coronal ejection and a good-sized chunk of stellar matter launched from the star headed towards the station. It's trajectory showed it wouldn't make a direct hit on it, but it would pass pretty close. Away Team: The Jarhead
. The Canteen of Sparkles, the beaten-up and broken-down freighter belonging to Misty Mane, was finalizing the airlock procedure at the makeshift station. As the airlock finally cycled to green, Col. Travis Patterson remarked, "'Bout damn time." . Beside him, SSgt. Will Davies replied, "It did take a moment, sir." He reached to check the dagger he was carrying inside his boot. . "Oh, I'm sorry," Misty snorted. "A little cramped, Mr. Jarhead? Sorry my baby is made for me and me alone." . Patterson glared at her. "You call me a jarhead one more time, and I'll slice your throat faster than you can draw in your next breath. Until we get back to the Penumbra ... I'm not a representative of Starfleet." . "Geez!" Misty recoiled, "Take a joke, big man, I get the picture, I get it!" . LtCmdr. T'Lin was still sitting in her seat, spending the precious moments while the airlock cycled meditating, mentally preparing herself for the overwhelming emotions that she could already feel tingling at the edge of her senses. She was muttering prayers quietly to herself, "Great Mother, grant me the wisdom and the strength to endure." At the commotion she looked up and stated, "Nobody will be killing anybody until we get what we need." That said, she went back to mumbling her prayers. . Davies flicked his eyes to the Colonel. "Why do you not like that, sir? I find it as a compliment, though Devil Dog would be better." . T'Lin stood and moved to the airlock where the others were. "It will give our cover away. 'Jarhead' tags him as a Starfleet Marine, and we are covering as pirates." . Patterson nodded at T'Lin's explanation, then gave his cover story. "Marine once. Maquis during the Dominion War. Once you become a terrorist ... you either grow a liking to it, or die." He smirked, "Don't ask me how many people I've poisoned in my career." . Davies nodded at Patterson, "Well, yes, but ... we're not inside yet, commander."
. T'Lin glanced at Davies and said, "We are not sure how many telepaths are in there, so we must be more careful with our conversations." . Davies gave a nod. "Conversation won't matter if they are telepaths and don't always adhere to the 'rules.'" He paused for emphasis and then said, "I suggest we keep our thoughts on only what we see, and what our ploy ... or rather ... task is supposed to be, sirs." Heading In . Misty sighed, accepting the need for secrecy, and said, "I understand my place, officer." Then she lifted her chin and stared up at him. "But remember this, and let me make this clear, this is MY world, this is MY ship, and I DON'T want to be here anymore than you do." She paused and then added, "I'm just trying to lighten the mood, 'cause places like this are rather draining." . Davies reminded them, "We have a task, so ... shouldn't we?" He gestured at the airlock. . Misty waved them towards it, "Ready to go when you are." . T'Lin stepped up to Patterson's other side and announced, "I am ... ready." . Patterson gave her a quick scan and raised an eyebrow. "You look a bit ... sweaty. Might want to play into that a bit." . T'Lin gazed calmly at him and replied, "And you look like a moldy slice of cheese." She gave an exaggerated sniff at him, "Smell like one too." She allowed herself to break into a grin. "Might not want to play into that. Or ...," she paused considering and then added, "maybe you should ... we are pirates after all." . Patterson grinned and grabbed a jacket draped over the back of a seat and threw it over his shoulder. "Let's do this." . Suddenly, the comm system of the Canteen buzzed with a call from the Nausicaan bar owner that Misty was supposed to meet, a fellow named Gorg. "Where the hell are you, Misty? I was expecting you two days ago! My customers don't like being told I'm out of supplies! Get your ass down here!"
. Misty hit the comm button beside the door and responded, "I am here! I am here! Like I said before, I had a blowout and was just taking it easy, chill your shit!" . Gorg replied, "Fine, just hurry the hell up! Meet at the usual place." . "Yeah, yeah," she groaned. "Now shut up and get off my ass, all right?" . Gorg replied, "I love you too, bitch!" . "Oh, honey, I know, I know," Misty crooned. "But this girl's taken, buckaroo. My only love is my baby, you know that." She closed the comm link and opened the airlock and they stepped out and walked down a short corridor to another connecting tunnel. In the Hallway . As they entered the cross-corridor, the lights flickered rapidly as a solar flare washed over the station. Misty looked up and gave a slight shudder, "That damn star acting up again. This is why I hate this place." . They rounded a curve in the station to suddenly encounter a Gorn and Nausicaan engaged in a fight right in the middle of the hallway! Misty whispered, "Ignore them. Pay no mind. This is normal here. You get involved and we are screwed, got it?" She walked past without giving the fighters another thought. . Patterson approached the two fighting men, and as he passed, hawked and spit on the floor between them. . Davies just ignored the combatants and walked right past without a second notice. . T'Lin could pick up the strong emotions from the two. As she passed them she commented, "Guys, that girl is NOT worth it. You would be better off making out with a fish!" She moved to stroll past them, wading through the nauseating emotions, and the stench of puke. . But the Nausicaan fighter, holding the Gorn by the throat, looked up at T'Lin's comment and growled, then gave a wriggle of his eyebrows. "Oh, but YOU'D be a beauty, then, eh?" . T'Lin turned to respond, "Oh, please. You would end the night split open from your groin to your gullet hanging off a building by your belt."
. Patterson had stopped and turned to back up T'Lin. He mumbled, just loud enough to be heard, "Not like he has enough below it to hold anything up." . Misty, several steps down the corridor, groaned inwardly, thinking to herself, ~Please ignore them for frak's sake!~ She kept walking, trying to ignore both her guests and the fighting men. . Taking advantage of his distraction, the Gorn kneed the Nausicaan in the crotch, and as he folded, he rolled him off to the side. He turned towards T'Lin and hissed, "Can't take that one, Herlok, blood's too hot for either of us!" Suddenly, he straighted and exclaimed, "Oi! She's Vulcan, ain't she? What the heck's a Vulcan doin' out here, eh?" The Tankard . "Aw, crap," Davies groaned, stopping several paces from Patterson and T'Lin. Misty just kept walking. . Patterson looked over at T'Lin and said, "Ain't got time to be screwing around with these low-lifes. We've got a job to take care of, remember?" . T'Lin tapped the side of her nose, then her temple, a signal indicating that she was collecting information from them and adding even these simple comments to her 'database'. . The Nausicaan recovered slightly and rolled to a wall. He looked as though he was about to say something, then he paled and quickly turned to puke on the floor, splattering himself and the Gorn in the process. . The Gorn groaned, "Aww, come on, Herlok, not again! I just bought these boots!" . T'Lin quipped, "Baking soda and vinegar will get it out real nice." . "Amateurs," Davies muttered as T'Lin and Patterson finally turned and walked past him. He was growing a bit concerned that they were taking too long just to get to their rendezvous. They didn't have time for these distractions. . As they reached an intersection, Misty glanced around, then gestured, "This should be the place, crew, let's go."
. They approached a rough dive with a sign over the door depicting a large mug and with Nausicaan script reading "The Tankard". As they entered, another solar flare washed over the station. The lights flickered several times and then went totally dark for a few seconds before red emergency lighting kicked in. . "Ah, frak!" Misty cursed. She rummaged in a pack at her side. "These damned lights. That's why I bring a headlamp." She pulled it over her head and turned it on. . T'Lin turned to the others, "Crew, got your headlamps? That damned star I warned you guys about is a real pain in the ass." . Davies grunted, "Did. Always come prepared." He rummaged in his pack and dug out two less-than-Starfleet-issue arm lamps. He held up the spare. "Who wants one?" Nobody took him up on it, so he strapped his on and dropped the other back in his pack. Business is Business . Patterson rolled his eyes. He grumbled, just loud enough to be heard by anyone close by, "Great. Just my luck. I get sent to pick up some Gorn named Ssissthiss from a rundown heap of trash, and now we've got this stupid star giving us issues. Guess I'm gonna be asking for triple." . Misty rolled her eyes at Patterson as T'Lin entered, keeping herself on high alert, "listening" to the feelings around her and collecting data from the actions she observed from the patrons around the bar. She tapped Patterson's shoulder lightly, and nodded towards the bar. "Fancy a drink, T?" . A nearby Gorn turned and looked over at Patterson. "You're supposed to pick up a Gorn? Who the hell are you?" . T'Lin shared a look with Patterson as she stepped towards the bar. Patterson turned to the Gorn and said, "Names are for friends, so I don't need one. Just know not to get in my way." He turned and started towards the bar with T'Lin. . Davies sauntered in a slightly different direction to gain more coverage of the area. He was carefully watching those nearby, especially that Gorn.
. A burly Nausicaan came up to Misty and waved towards the others. "Um ... Misty? You hired some new help or what?" . "Yeah," she shrugged. "I need the extra hands. So ... what's up?" . Gorg eyed her warily. "Just know I ain't paying no extra fees! You hire muscle out of your share, not mine, got it? So ... what'd you bring me this time? I've had folks asking for those blue 'shrooms. They'll send you to Warp Nine, eh?" He grinned. . Misty laid a sample of some of her wares on the bar and slid it over towards the Nausicaan, who must have been Gorg. She said, "It's the blue ones, hon. My pay? I'm asking for double, since I needed to fix my ship from a blowout. No, the help are hired from my pockets, but I need to refill those pockets. Business is business, eh?" . Gorg sputtered, "I just told ya, ya can't go raising your rates! We have a deal, girl! What'cha trying to do to me?" In the Dark . Misty just grinned back at him. "Deal for the shroom, yes, deal for the pay. Pirate, remember that. So ... pay up, or no deal." . T'Lin leaned over towards Gorg in an intimidating way and spoke softly. "YOU wanna ride that ship of duct tape out there?" She gave a slight wave towards where the Canteen would be docked outside and continued, "Spend weeks in life-suits 'cause there's a crack in the piping?" She lowered her voice even more. "You want THAT job?" . Davies leaned over towards Patterson and muttered, "I like her, she's feisty." . Patterson smacked Davies in the gut and shook his head, turning his attention to Gorg. "Look, pay the lady her fee. I ain't got the patience to sit and argue. I'm tryin' to find an extra paycheck. Some Gorn named Ssissthiss has a pretty penny on his head."
. Davies took the smack like a champ, figuring something like that would happen, from one of them at least. Still, when he straightened he gave Patterson a glare that said "What the frak was that for?" . Suddenly, T'Lin tensed ever so slightly as she received a telepathic call from Dr. Shadow K'Trevala over on the Penumbra. ~T'Lin, the star is going unstable. Possible coronal ejection soon, so ... be careful!~ . T'Lin began tapping her fingers on the bar. At first it seemed random, but quickly both Patterson and Davied identified it as ancient Morse code. She said "Star unstable ... Nausicaan, east wall, nervous." . Sure enough, a Nausicaan sitting at the east end of the bar suddenly jumped up and rushed towards an exit. At the same moment, the nearby star chose to belch out its coronal ejection that streaked past the station, not a direct hit, but close enough to cause all the lights to go out with its Electromagnetic Pulse!