USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202105.21 Introduction: . The Penumbra had finally received a "ping" from the Cerberus providing coordinates for a rendezvous and headed to that location at Warp 7. Previously, Ens. Al Thums had been brought to Sickbay with several minor injuries: a lump on his head (with a mild concussion), some burns on the inside of his left hand (one of which blistered and peeled), a cut on his right index finger (that has become infected), a hairline fracture in his left ankle, and several bruised ribs (but none appear to be actually broken). During his brief time in Sickbay there have already been several devices malfunction, a tray of medical tools was knocked over, and at least one cabinet door no longer latches properly. . Other crewmembers were asked to find a way to track the Cerberus when it is in stealth mode on a mission. This task has shown to be exceedingly difficult because the small ship was specifically designed to be undetectable. The latest working concept is to have AEGIS (the Artificial Intelligence of the Cerberus) communicate directly with MAX (the Artificial Intelligence formerly from the Darmok and now on the Penumbra) on some kind of prearranged schedule using microbursts of binary data. It worked this time, but only because it was originated by AEGIS. The Commodore wonders if there might be a way to make this two-way in real-time? Bridge: . Cdre. Zak Taylor stood at the starboard replicator at the front of the Penumbra's Bridge. As he retrieves his mug of sweetened, black coffee, he turned and asked with a smirk, "So ... are we there yet?" . LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke at the Tactical console muttered in response, "I don't believe we are there yet, no." . Col. Travis Patterson stepped out of the Turbolift onto the Bridge after taking the opportunity to go to his quarters for a quick shower and to change into a duty uniform. As he stepped out he said, "Did I miss anything?"
. LtCmdr. Jason Carter at the Helm said, "We're approaching the coordinates, sir." . Cmdr. Relok, the Vulcan Science Officer and Second Officer, turned as Patterson arrived. He said, "Just the flight to the coordinates MAX received." . LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris was still messing around with the Operations console, reconfiguring after Ens. Proxy Filler had manned his station during the senior staff briefing. "Damn Ensign," Tabby muttered, "and his left-handed crap." It seemed every time one took over for the other, all of the controls had to be reversed to the opposite hand (though nobody ever heard the Ensign complaining about it). . SgtMaj. Derek Hines was at the Reconnaissance station. He reported, "I've got two Gorn vessels and a Nausicaan vessel on recon sweeps. They're quite a ways out though, and I don't think they can detect us yet." . Zak took a sip of his coffee, then looked across the Bridge to his Tactical Officer. "Den, check our MIRAGE. Let's hide as well as we can." He paused then muttered, "We gotta get those emitters installed if we can ever get the time." . Den double-checked their invisibility system and reported, "It's holding like it should." They all knew the system was only working at around 70% of its usual effectiveness because they hadn't had the chance to replace many of the Multiphasic Image Redirection And Graphics Emitters after the damage taken from the fiery explosion of the Heart of the Ancients and the passage through the Rift back from the Mirror Universe. ==/\== . At the Auxiliary Medical Station, Lt. Katarina Hawke was following the treatment of Ens. Al Thums in Sickbay even while listening to the various conversations going on around her on the Bridge. She wondered to herself whether she should stay on the Bridge, or head back to Sickbay. Some of her readings on Thums didn't look so good. She knew Dr. Shadow K'Trevala was down there with him, but ... she just chewed her lip nervously.
. A call came over the commlink, "Cerberus to Penumbra, uh ... I intercepted some communications you may want to know, sir." . Zak tapped his commbadge, "Sandy! Good to hear from you! So, AEGIS didn't shut off life support on you. You still have to answer to Patterson for stealing his ship, though." . Patterson raised an eyebrow as Sandy's chuckle came back over the comm, "Actually ... we already had that conversation, Commodore." Sandy paused, then grew more serious. "Relaying the intercepted communication to MAX now. He should be able to play it for you." . Patterson looked over at the Helm, "Carter, how long to the rendezvous?" . Carter checked, then answered, "Arriving now, Colonel. Dropping out of warp." . Zak sipped his coffee and then said, "Den, Hines, keep an eye out for the Gorn and Nausicaans. We're outside Federation space out here in the midst of a war zone. Stay sharp." . Relok asked, "Commodore, if there are Gorn and Nausicaans in the area ... are there any Klingons?" . "Got it," Den nodded, then added, "because ... let's not have this go particularly easy." . The Cerberus maneuvered around the Penumbra and slipped within the MIRAGE system. Carter called Sandy, "Penumbra to Cerberus, you're cleared to dock." . The head of MAX, the A.I. they'd inherited from the Darmok appeared in a window in one corner of the main viewer. "Commodore, you're gonna want to have a listen to the message the Cerberus intercepted." . Zak looked at MAX and asked, "You have it already, MAX?" He gave a nod and said, "OK, let's hear it then." . "Acknowledged," MAX said, "repeating message." ==/\== . The recording was audio only, but one could imagine the face of a burly Nausicaan as a voice said, "Hurgis, there was some Human asking about that Ssissthiss fellow. You gotta move him. There's a big bounty on his head or something."
. A different voice responded, another Nausicaan, "Grosh, relax, just because the Klingons got their lap-dog Humans to hunt for Ssissthiss doesn't mean anything. We've almost got the deal worked out, then we'll send him back home. Go back to the bar and have another drink!" . Relok raised an eyebrow. "Did you notice, sir, that the first Nausicaan, Grosh, referred to the Ambassador by name?" . Tabby grumbled, "Lap dog Humans? Why I oughtta ...," he trailed off. . Den gave a slight shrug. "I thought it was funny." . At the Medical Station, Kat was noticing some very strange readings from Sickbay. She accessed the visual feed and could clearly see Thums apparently fine in spite of the readings showing he'd died! She muttered, "Seems Al Thums is causing electronic problems in Sickbay." . Patterson overheard Kat's comment and raised an eyebrow as he tapped his commbadge. "Bridge to Sickbay. Shadow, what's going on down there?" Kat looked over at Patterson as he made the call. . Shadow's voice came back, "The electronics here are going absolutely bananas, with erroneous readings all over the place. Probably from the EMP from that loco star." . Kat responded, "I kinda figured that. I was linked in so when the biobed malfunctioned I was getting different readings." . Shadow replied, "Understood." He could be heard growling softly, mostly to himself, at the vagaries of machinery and electronics. . Kat smiled to herself as she said, "Always happy to help. Let me know if you need me there." ==/\== . But as Kat and Shadow were talking, three Klingon Birds of Prey decloaked nearby and started firing on one of the Gorn ships. Hines was first to report. "I've got weapons fire! Klingon BOPs. They're engaging one of the Gorn ships!" . Den nodded, "Well ... the cat's out of the bag. Three Birds of Prey." . Zak choked on his coffee, spewing a mouthful on Tabby's back. "What the hell?"
. Tabby flinched, "Captain! That coffee is hot you know, and I just got these dry-cleaned." . Zak whirled around. "Den ... take us to Red Alert, but hold fire. This is their war, not ours, and it's already been established the Klingons don't take kindly to interference in their fight." He stepped over to his chair and took his seat. . Den pressed the big red button. Klaxons sounded and the lights flashed red as the ship went to Red Alert. As the alert sounded, Kat added to Shadow, "I think he's panicking though." . Shadow answered, "He's not the only one! Now that I know not to trust the bed sensors, things will be easier to deal with." . About that time, LtCmdr. T'Lin, the Assistant Chief Science Officer, stepped out of the Turbolift just in time to see the Klingons decloak and open fire. She stood there a moment. "Oh," she said softly. . Hines asked, "What about the ambassador? If he's on one of those ships ...," he trailed off. . Tabby muttered, "Eh ... we don't need the Klingons. If they want to have issues with human-kind it's on them. Besides, we have two of the best hybrids of all time on this ship, if I do say so myself." He was referring of course to himself, a half-Klingon, half-Romulan, and MstSgt. Khal'Gon, a half-Klingon, half-Nausicaan. . Patterson smacked a hand on the arm of the XO's chair. "Hate to say it, Zak, but ... Hines has a point." . Relok chimed in. "Logically, Mr. Hines, the Ambassador is not likely on any of those three. He is probably on the other Nausicaan ship that is elsewhere. What we need to do is find that one." . As Relok said this, Kat turned to her console and her fingers began to fly nimbly over the bio sensors, searching the ships for the ambassador's biosigns. ==/\== . Zak glanced at Relok, then to Patterson. "But ... we need this Nausicaan to find the other one, right?" . Patterson nodded at Zak, "A favor for a favor? But ... at what cost?"
. Tabby grumbled, half under his breath, "We should get the ambassador but ... eff them!" . T'Lin still stood just in front of the Turbolift, blankly staring at the situation in front of her. "Well," she began, "that is not ... ideal." . Kat noticed T'Lin and smiled at her, "Oh, hey, welcome to the party." . T'Lin nodded back and muttered, "Like toddlers on a sugar high." She turned and strode towards the replicator. "I need tea," she said simply. . Kat smirked at her comment about toddlers but kept her thoughts to herself. . Carter commented, "We're still not close enough to do any sort of biometric scans of those vessels, but ... I'm not sure I trust the MIRAGE if we get closer." . Zak glanced at Patterson. "I don't like this. If we get the Ambassador, who are we supposed to give him to? He was on a mission to the Klingons, but he'd just piss them off. He works for the Gorn, but the Nausicaans are working for the Gorn now, aren't they?" . From the replicator, T'Lin asked, "Can we track the warp signature from the station?" She retrieved her tea and held it in front of her as she commented, "We know the dock they came from, and I can remember the direction they went, but ...," she lifted her cup and sipped her tea. . Patterson considered what T'Lin said for a moment, then tapped his commbadge. "Sandy, did the Cerberus identify the warp signature of that vessel you were tailing?" . Sandy answered from the Flight Deck, "Um ... I'm pretty sure AEGIS did. I've no idea, honestly." . Relok turned to Zak and said, "Commodore ... what if this was all just a setup? To bring the Federation into the war? What if the Gorn are trying to get the Federation's help to fight the Klingons? If we open fire on the Klingons, we've taken their side." ==/\==
. Tabby cut in. "If I may," he said but didn't wait for any acknowledgement before continuing, "I may be Federation, but I will not fight against my own people. I say give the ambassador to the Gorn and we turn away. This is not our fight. There is no honor in this." . T'Lin tilted her head at Tabby, "We should not have to, Tabeshk." . Den said, "Why don't we just lie. Tell the Klingons we already know where he is and it's not on those three." . Hines raised an eyebrow. "But," he said, "how do we know the Klingons even know about the Ambassador?" . T'Lin shrugged. "Why would we get involved? Any action from us would drag the Federation into a war that we do not want to be in. We do not need to find the ambassador, considering the fact that we know that his mission was to antagonize the Klingons." . Relok turned to T'Lin as she approached her workstation. "We don't know it, we suspect it, based on a preponderance of circumstantial evidence." . T'Lin stared at Relok, a quizzical expression on her face before she spoke slowly, as if explaining it to a small child. "We know the Klingon's culture. And that sending a lower-ranked ambassador would be an insult to them. The most logical conclusion is that it was intended to be a provocation by the Gorn to the Klingons. And, knowing Klingon culture, us getting involved at all in their battles makes us enemies of them." . Zak nodded at T'Lin even as Relok stared calmly at her with one eyebrow raised. The Commodore said, "And our truce with them is on shaky ground ever since they pulled out of the Khitomer Accords. They don't need any provocation."
. Patterson was drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair. Finally he shook his head and said, "Carter, 3/4 impulse. Take us closer. Tabby, keep the MIRAGE at full strength to the best of our abilities. Mr. Hawke, take weapons offline for now, but keep the shields up ... if they do detect us, I don't want us going in with guns drawn and provoking them. We're here answering a call for amnesty from a Gorn Ambassador, nothing more." . Den made a face at the order to power down weapons, but did as he was ordered. . Carter spun around, one eyebrow raised. "Closer?" he asked as he glanced around the Bridge. . Suddenly, a torpedo from one of the Birds of Prey got through the shields of one of the Gorn ships and it exploded! ==/\== . Patterson shrugged, "We do what we do best. Poke our nose into other peoples' business. Send a message to Starfleet Command that there's increasing hostilities on the border of Federation space? Have them mobilize additional resources to K-7?" . "That is also my conclusion," T'Lin said, leaning against the railing holding her cup of tea. "I understand your perspective, Tabeshk. We should never have to fight our own kin. Sometimes that is unavoidable, but we will do everything we can to prevent that." . Tabby smiled at the Vulcan D'Vir, "I understand T'Lin, but I would much rather not have to fight my own kind. That is dishonorable. I think Khal'Gon can agree to this." . She responded, "There is honor in fighting those unjust." . Tabby smirked, "I do agree, the Klingons are being ... well ... idiots!" . Carter gave a shrug and turned back to the Helm. "All right ... closer ... got it." . Zak gave Patterson a look and said softly, "Colonel ... I think we've been played." . As the ship moved closer, Kat reported, "Captain, there are three Gorn biosigns on the Nausiccan ship."
. Zak turned to face her. "Three? Damn, that makes things complicated. And we don't even know if any one of them is the Ambassador." . T'Lin said, "I would assume that it was a way to keep contact between them easily. Possible emissaries?" . Relok said, "Commodore, I remind you that Nausicaan mercenaries work with the Gorn against the Klingons. There would be Gorn advisors or commanders on one of their ships." . Kat suggested, "I could do a skeletal lock beam out. Have them out before anyone knows it." . Zak shook his head then said, "Hines, Den, Carter ... let's get close enough to that Nausicaan ship to plant a tracer. I want to know where it goes if it leaves here. Well ... if the Klingons don't blow it up, anyway." . As he said this, the Nausicaan ship made a powerful strafing run on one of the Birds of Prey. The Klingon ship erupted in flames but didn't explode. Still, it was probably out of the fight. ==/\== . Patterson thought a moment and then suggested, "What about a holo-probe?" . Tabby saw another ship in flames and suggested, "Sir, I think we should leave. It is unsafe. And seeing this ... hurts." . Relok seemed to agree for once with Tabby. "I must say, it is a bit uncomfortable being in the area of a firefight and not joining the fray." . Tabby spun his chair and glared across at Relok. "Those are MY people being killed out there! People I can't help because they're stupid, but ... I don't want to see this, and I don't want to fight against them. We should leave." . T'Lin just stood, leaning against the rail calmly sipping her tea. Finally, she turned to her station and sat, pulling out one of her archaic notebooks and a pencil and begun writing down everything she'd witnessed at the bar on the pirate station, a diary of sorts to help her keep track of which emotions were, or were not, her own.
. Finally, Patterson rubbed his chin and leaned over closer to Zak as he said, "I'm inclined to agree with you, Commodore. I think we've been played." . Hines reported, "I'm seeing additional subspace distortions on long-range sensors. Possibly more cloaked vessels approaching. Looks like 2 or 3 more." . Zak leaned towards Patterson as well, their voices low. "Colonel ... why are we even on this mission anyway? What's the point? It was a request from the Gorn, blamed on Nausicaan pirates, and we know that even if the Ambassador got to Q'onos, he'd just piss off the Klingons. What were the Gorn trying to accomplish? I don't get it." . Carter interrupted them, "In tracker range, but ... we're riding dangerously close to detection." . Patterson shook his head then straightened, "Hawke, tag the Nausicaan vessel. Carter, bring us about and align for K-7." He turned back to Zak, "It's a martyr tactic. Sacrifice your Bishop to bait the enemy's Queen ... and draw the Federation into the war." . Zak agreed. "Tag it and pull us out, Carter. We need to think about what we're doing out here. Are we joining the Gorn to fight the Klingons? Joining the Klingons against the Gorn? What does the Federation get out of either?" . Den nodded, "Tagged." . Carter also nodded, "All right, full reverse and aligning with Deep Space K-7." ==/\== . Zak stood and straightened his shirt. "Mr. Patterson ... a moment, please?" He started towards the Ready Room. . Patterson nodded, standing also. He turned to Relok, "You have the Bridge." The Vulcan simply nodded as Patterson turned to follow the Commodore. . But Tabby jumped to his feet. "Captain, may I join you both in the Ready Room?" . Zak paused and studied his half-Klingon Chief of Operations. "Um ... for a moment, Commander." He passed through the door into his private office with Patterson and Tabby right behind him. . Carter looked at Relok. "Alignment to K-7 ... are we jumping to warp?"
. Relok stood and stepped to the center of the Bridge. He answered, "Take it slow away from the battle, then take us to Warp 5, Commander, when you feel we're clear." . Carter responded, "Accelerating to full impulse. Should be clear in a few minutes." . Relok turned towards the Tactical station. "Hines, Den, confirm telemetry on our tag before we jump to warp. We need to track it at extremely long range." . Den looked over his board, "It's ... hmmm ...," he pursed his lips a moment then gave a nod, "looks good." . Carter announced, "Alright, free from conflict." . Relok turned back towards the front. "Mr. Carter, take us back to Federation space, please." . Carter nodded, "Engaging at Warp 5, back to K-7." . Hines gave a deep sigh. "I hate where this is going ... I really do." . Kat looked over at him, "What do you mean?" . It was Carshel who spoke next. He'd remained quiet all this while. "I don't like this either. I'm just a man, but ... something feels ... off." . Relok took a seat in the Command Chair. As he did he said, "I agree with you in that I am uncomfortable, but ... wherever the Commodore decides to take this ship ... we go where he leads, understood?" The Ready Room: . Cdre. Zak Taylor entered his Ready Room and strode over to his desk where he turned and leaned back against it. Col. Travis Patterson followed behind him but walked all the way across to the window and peered out. LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris had come with them. He stopped just inside the door and began with his reason for asking to join them. . "I wanted to stress the facts on my feelings regarding this war," Tabby said. . Zak answered, "I understand your predicament, Tabby. I would hate to be in your shoes. But ... that said ... I need to know that if I give you an order ... even one to fire on a Klingon ship ... that you'll follow my orders. If not ... you can wait it out in your quarters."
. Tabby bristled slightly. "I'm not just any Klingon," he said. "I'm the head of my house. I cannot and will not join in this petty war full of idiots, sir. If you agreee to join and fight against the Klingons, take me home to Vulcan first." . Zak sighed. "Commander, like I said, I understand, but ... if you refuse a direct order, you will be confined to your quarters until I can turn you over for court martial. Is that where you're going with this?" He gave him a stern look. . Tabby shrank a little at that. "I do not wish to be court martialed. So far, I have a clean record I'd rather not have stained. But ... there is no honor in this, sir. I'm ... not sure what to do." He lowered his gaze a moment and then added, "It's worse for Khal'Gon, however. Both of his people are on opposite sides. I worry for him too, sir." . Patterson turned around and stared at Tabby for a solid minute. When he spoke, his voice was a bit harsh. "You're a half-breed. Klingons look at that as dishonorable to begin with. I wouldn't think they'd care for a second to fire on you if they were in our shoes." He paused and then added, "Then again, I'm not a Klingon, so ...," he trailed off with a shrug. . Zak stood from his perch on his desk and approached Tabby. He placed a hand on Tabby's shoulder and said, "First off, I have no intention of opening fire on the Klingons anytime soon. But, I need to trust my officers, especially my senior officers. Resume your post, Commander, your concerns are noted." . "Thank you, sir," Tabby said and did an about-face and exited the Ready Room to return to his station. . Patterson turned back to the Commodore after the door slid closed behind Tabby. "This is a ploy of something larger than I think the Federation is willing to get involved in, sir." . Zak ran a hand through his greying hair. "Colonel ... could the Commander of K-7 be involved in this? Did he help play us or was he played too?"
. Patterson raised an eyebrow. "That's ... not something I really wanted to consider, but ... with my background?" He gave a sigh then nodded. "I'll have to do some digging ... and, sir? The actions that may or may not come from such could be extremely sensitive, and almost guaranteed to be a violation of several directives." . Zak sighed again and ran his hand through his hair once more. "Inquire discretely, Colonel." He straightened his uniform and said, "For now ... let's get back home." Sickbay & Main Engineering: . Down in "the Dungeon" of Main Engineering, LtCmdr. Bevin MacArdry returned to her multi-tasking, coordinating the various teams working on their ongoing projects: the last of the MIRAGE emitters (that they hoped to get installed soon if they'd ever stay parked for a few hours), more of the Point Defense Turrets (that again needed a few hours parked to get installed), and the conceptual designs of her high-energy rotating power shield (trying to find a way to reduce it's power demands yet still remain effective). . In Sickbay, Ens. Al Thums was strapped to a biobed. He tugged at the restraints and asked, "Is this really necessary?" . Nurse Ratchett was the one who answered him. "Yes, Al, since we don't need you messing up everything in here!" . Dr. Shadow K'Trevala made his way over and checked Al's biosigns. In addition to his natural desire to heal people, physically, mentally, and emotionally, he was eager to get the incredibly unlucky Ensign out of Sickbay and back to doing whatever it was he did. . Suddenly, the biobed gave a warning signal. Al's blood pressure was dangerously low. Shadow quickly grabbed a hypospray of medication and administered it to the Ensign, then pulled out his own medical scanner to determine why the man's blood pressure had dropped so significantly. . Al asked, "What you giving me, Doc?"
. But before Shadow could answer, the biobed suddenly showed that Al's heart had stopped. He had NO heartbeat! . Reflexively, Shadow dived into CPR procedures until Al cried out, "Ow! Doc, stop it, I'm fine!" . Shadow stopped and studied his patient, using his advanced empathic abilities. He thought to himself, ~I'm gonna have to talk to Bevin about recalibrating the biobeds.~ . Al mumbled, "I'm guessing we've got some shorts in the sensors or something. I can take a look at 'em if you want." He tugged on the restraints hoping the doctor would let him up. . A call came from the Bridge. It was Col. Travis Patterson. "Bridge to Sickbay. Shadow, what's going on down there?" . Shadow tapped his commbadge and answered, "The electronics here are going absolutely bananas with erroneous readings all over the place, probably from the EMP from that loco star." . It was the voice of Lt. Katarina Hawke, the Head Nurse, from her station on the Bridge, that responded, "I kinda figured that. I was linked in so when the biobed malfunctioned I was getting different readings." . Shadow replied, "Understood." He grumbled softly, mostly to himself, at the vagaries of machinery and electronics. . Kat smiled to herself as she said, "Always happy to help. Let me know if you need me there." . Suddenly, a klaxon sounded and the lights flashed red as the ship went to Red Alert. Al struggled against his restraints. "Lemme up, doc, I got work to do!" . As the alert sounded, Kat added to Shadow, "I think he's panicking though." . Shadow answered, "He's not the only one! Now that I know not to trust the bed sensors, things will be easier to deal with." Flight Deck (the Cerberus and the Canteen):
. The stealthy reconnaissance fighter named Cerberus had followed a Nausicaan ship and now hung in space not far from it. Within the small craft was a single occupant, the highly trained flight specialist, CfWrnt. "Sandy" Sandoval. Sandy opened a secure commlink, "Cerberus to Penumbra, uh ... I intercepted some communications you may want to know, sir." . The Commodore's voice came back, "Sandy! Good to hear from you! So, AEGIS didn't shut off life support on you. You still have to answer to Patterson for stealing his ship, though." . Sandy chuckled, "Actually ... we already had that conversation, Commodore." He paused, then grew more serious. "Relaying the intercepted communication to MAX now. He should be able to play it for you." . Once he'd relayed the data, he received a signal from MAX that gave AEGIS the exact location and orientation of the Penumbra. The larger ship was under its MIRAGE system and hard to detect, though AEGIS could see the shimmer and ripple caused by the missing emitters. Sandy maneuvered the Cerberus towards the Flight Deck and requested docking clearance. LtCmdr. Jason Carter soon responded that they were clear and Sandy settled the Cerberus to the floor of the Flight Deck. . As the Cerberus wound down its engines, Sandy heard another call over the commlink, this one from Col. Travis Patterson. "Sandy, did the Cerberus identify the warp signature of that vessel you were tailing?" . Sandy opened the commlink and replied, "Um ... I'm pretty sure AEGIS did. I've no idea, honestly." . Meanwhile, within the Hangar Bay, the somewhat old and dinged up freighter called the Canteen of Sparkles that was owned and operated by their new friend, Misty Mane, sat steaming softly on stand-by mode.
. They'd only recently returned from pushing the old ship pretty hard chasing the same Nausicaan the Cerberus had been following, and Misty had been kicking back in the only place she truly felt comfortable, the pilot's seat of the Canteen. She'd tried some of her snacks she kept in a sealed compartment only to find they'd gone stale and was now investigating. She muttered to herself, "Why the hell is there airflow in my snack drawer?" . As she dug into it, she found several loose bolts and washers in the storage compartment. Holding them up in her hand she asked herself, "What in the hell? What moron did this?" She glanced around a bit then said, "Okay, so ... what came from what and what goes where?" She gave a sigh. "My ship was fine until I came here, now its worse off and literally falling apart at the seams!" . She went to work fixing what she found loose or out of place, putting every nut, screw, washer, and bolt back where, and how, they belonged. While she was putting her ship back in order, she wondered to herself if there was a way she could continue to help out her new friends. She needed to learn more about this ... Penumbra ... and their mission. . While she worked, a sleek-looking ship maneuvered through the Hangar Bay doors outside her forward viewport and settled itself onto the Flight Deck. She noted it but returned to her work without comment. . After a while, she sat back and wiped her forehead. "Okay," she said, "now ... a test run!" But before she could do that, she heard a klaxon wailing and red lights flashed all around her.