USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202109.24

 

Introduction:

The Penumbra was in interstellar space within the boundaries of the Breen Confederacy. They had met with a Zhenkarian Corsaire, V'rot Ka'Gun, to whom they'd been directed by Admiral Sulyk through various Starfleet Intelligence connections.

With Ka'Gun, Patterson struck "an accord" in that Ka'Gun will be able to brag to the other Corsaires that he can "call upon the Warship Penumbra", and Patterson promised he'd at least "answer the phone" when Ka'Gun calls (without promising any actual action on the part of the Penumbra). In exchange for this "accord", Ka'Gun gave the Penumbra the coordinates to rendezvous with a Ferengi merchant, Galex.

As it turns out, Galex is someone they knew, or at least knew of. He was the owner/operator of the Casino on the Plaza Royale deck of the ISS Reciprocity back when Captain Adam Android was in command. The Penumbra's Chief of Operations, LtCmdr. Tabby Tibris was born on the Reciprocity and spent the first few years of his life there. While Tabby didn't have any personal memories of interaction with Galex (he was very young and the Casino owner wouldn't have interacted with a small child), Tabby did hear stories of Galex from his parents and his "Uncle Adam" in the years afterward. He feels he knows Galex, well enough, at least, and knows they shouldn't trust him.

The Penumbra has been flying at Warp 7 to the location of Galex's "luxury cruise liner" for a while and was expected to arrive at the last-known coordinates (and his usual cruise route) shortly.

Meanwhile, in Sickbay, LtCmdr. T'Lin and Dr. Shadow K'Trevala have come up with a blend of herbs and other medicines they think should treat the Hawkes' hallucinations. There are a few side-effects. The physical ones are relatively minor, things like upset stomach, bad breath, moderate headache, maybe a little diarrhea. It's the mental side-effects that may be problematic: first, the Hawkes will lose their Borg interlink with each other while taking the medicine (this would be temporary); second, their other "Borg abilities" dependent on the interface between their brains and their implants, may be "impeded"; third, this medicine is a temporary solution to a problem for which they still hadn't fully identified the source. The Hawkes were trying to decide if they should take the medicine and deal with these side-effects, or continue to suffer the hallucinations.

As for the ship, the Chief Engineer and her teams had fully repaired the damages caused by the Commodore's (apparent) incompetence with Slipstream and by their sojourn in the Badlands, and they had allowed the engines the necessary time to "warm up" before engaging the warp drive. Everything was back to normal (for now, at least).

Col. Travis Patterson returned command of the ship to Cdre. Zak Taylor, though he continues to assert that the "mission" with the Breen is still under his command, by order of Admiral Sulyk. After all, he says, we tried it Zak's way, now it's his turn.

 

Bridge:

Traces

Cdre. Zak Taylor was back in the Command Chair where he belonged. Col. Travis Patterson was in the XO's seat and Cmdr. Relok was at the Primary Science Station with Lt. Jackson Carshel across from him at the Secondary Station. LtCmdr. Jason Carter was back at the Helm and LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris was back at the Operations Console. SgtMaj. Derek Hines was at his station at the Reconnaissance Console. Everything seemed back to normal except that LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke was not at the Tactical Station; that spot was filled by Lt. Re'Libel Standin for now; and LtCmdr. T'Lin was in Sickbay helping deal with Den's and his sisters hallucination problem.

A call came over the communications link from LtCmdr. Bevin MacArdry-Tibris down in Engineering. Her thick Scottish Brogue said, "Caiptin, I'm gaein tae raikammind tha we pit taegaithir a crawss-trainin prawgrim, sae tha paipul kin haelp aut ain mair thain ane daipairtmint, whain we gait dane wi tha Breen." She was recommending a cross-training program for after they'd finished with the Breen, so that people might be able to help out in other departments. It wasn't a bad idea.

LtCmdr. Jason Carter checked his navigation sensors and reported, "We're approaching the coordinates in 5 minutes at our current speed."

"Excellent, Mr. Carter," the Commodore responded. He turned his head towards the Tactical Station and asked, "Standin, any sign of Galex's ship?"

Patterson got up and walked around to the Recon area. He asked Hines, "Derek, have we located the yacht yet?"

Hines answered, "Just whispers on the scans so far. Definitely a trace of travel in the area, though."

Standin gave a nod of agreement and answered the Commodore, "There are traces, sir. This area shows signs of continuous warp travel."

 

Galex, Former Criminal?

Relok offered, "Commodore, I suspect Mr. Tibris has some knowledge of this Galex character he has yet to share with the rest of us."

Zak raised an eyebrow and said, "Is that so, Mr. Tibris?"

"Yeah," Tabby groaned, "I know some things about Lex. He's not exactly someone I want to think about much. I know him as the man that ripped off my dad in business affairs."

Relok suggested, "Commodore, would you like me to search our database on this Mr. Galex?"

Zak studied Tabby's back a moment, then turned to Relok, "Since Tabby is being a little hesitant to talk about him, Relok, maybe you should see what we can find out."

"Aye, sir," Relok responded. "Let's see what we can find on him."

Suddenly Hines straightened, raising an eyebrow then giving Patterson a nod. "Got him. He's traveling at Warp 6.5 towards the coordinates given. We'll get there about 2 minutes before he does."

Patterson nodded and turned with a grin. "Commodore?"

Zak smirked back at him, then turned to the Tactical console. "Mr. Standin, engage the MIRAGE." He turned his head towards the Helm. "Carter, park us just off his projected course. I don't want a collision, but ... close enough we can reach out and stroke his hull."

Standin activated the Multiphasic Image Redirection And Graphics Emitters, the MIRAGE, and the Penumbra disappeared. Relok announced, "Commodore, I've downloaded the file on Galex. He was the Casino operator on the Reciprocity when Ambassador Android was in command. He has a record for illegal weapon trading some 40 years ago or so, but nothing since."

Carshel muttered, "Why a pirate? Why a former criminal? Why would such an outstanding man have contact with such people? What is going on here? It doesn't make sense! Nothing makes sense." He was referring to how Admiral Sulyk could have had dealings with the Zhenkarian Corsaire named Ka'Gun, and the Ferengi weapons dealer known as Galex.

 

In His Shadow

Patterson glanced at Relok, then looked over at Tabby. "I doubt you'd be aware of any ... leverage we could use, Mr. Tibris?" But Tabby just shook his head. Patterson gave a slight shrug and turned towards Carter as the ship dropped out of warp. "Once we're in position ... let's go completely dark. Minimal power signature."

"Aye, sir," Carter said, using maneuvering thrusters to put them into position, then giving Tabby a nod to turn off the power.

Zak turned to Patterson. "How do you want to handle this, Colonel? We need him on our side and cooperative, but ... I get the feeling he'll not want to be."

But before Patterson could answer, Galex's luxury liner came into visual range, cruising along at Warp 6.5 along the indicated route Ka'Gun had given them. Tabby groaned, "Ugh, just as flashy as ever, now that I remember."

Standin reported, "That ship is hardly more than a yacht, sirs. It's like ... a, what'd they call it? A ... party barge?"

Relok raised an eyebrow at the description but said nothing. The Turbolift doors slid open and SSgt. Will Davies stepped out onto the Bridge. He glanced at the yacht, or party barge, on the main viewer, then slipped into an auxiliary station in the Recon area next to Hines.

Zak glanced at Patterson again. "Do we hail them from our unseen position? Or do you have another plan?"

Patterson returned to the XO's chair and took his seat. He drummed his fingers on the armrest for a moment and then said, "Hines, we're gonna need to see through his ship. Anything and everything we can get scans of. Tabby ... prepare a tractor beam. Relok, how quickly can we implement a directed energy dampener with tetryon particles to disrupt shielding enough for transport?"

Relok answered, "A directed tetryon particle beam could disrupt shields, but ... it would likely reveal our location as well, sir."

Hines pointed out, "Once he sees he's being scanned, he's gonna throw every defensive system in the book at us, too, so he'll know we're in the area."

Patterson nodded, "I'm well aware of that. Carter, keep us in his shadow, but keep the signature as little as possible."

 

Weird Place To Stop

Suddenly, Standin interrupted, "Sirs! He dropped out of warp! Why?" Galex's ship just coasted on it's previous trajectory.

Tabby groaned again, "Cat and mouse."

Carter flinched as an alarm went off on his console, the Proximity Alert. He quickly disabled it, knowing they were aware of the proximity of the two vessels.

Zak tensed. "Hines, detailed scans of the area. Why'd he stop here? Is he meeting someone? A cloaked ship anywhere nearby?"

Patterson snapped at Standin, "Bring weapons and shields to active standby."

"Aye, sir," Standin quickly brought both to standby, then he asked, "Do you want Yellow Alert, or just a generic wariness?"

Patterson shook his head, "Just standby for now." Standin nodded the acknowledgement but said nothing else.

Hines reported, "There's nothing on the Recon scan ... at least for the moment. Could he be awaiting a rendezvous?"

Relok said, "Sirs, didn't the Zhenkarian say he was aware of Galex's route? Could this be a 'regular stop' for him? Maybe an opportunity to rest his engines?"

Hines tilted his head. "Kinda a weird place to stop."

Patterson nodded towards Hines. "Hines, begin the scan. Tabby," he turned slightly, "as soon as we have something solid, lock him down with your Grabby Hands thing."

Hines said, "Initializing molecular detection matrix. He's gonna know he's being probed in a few seconds."

Patterson nodded. "Tabby, activate the tractor beam, deactivate MIRAGE ... and hail him."

Tabby nodded, "Understood. Here we go. Deactivating MIRAGE, charging the beam, hailing now." Then he muttered, "I'm gonna regret this, aren't I?"

 

"Release this vessel at once!"

So, the Penumbra suddenly materialized directly in front of Galex's yacht, with weapons on full power and shields activated. A pair of Tractor Beams reached out like hands and grabbed hold of the tiny ship. Tabby muttered, "C'mere, Uncle Lex," and giggled softly. He thought to himself, ~Hey, remember that deal you ripped off my dad? Maybe you should pay it back because I'm not my father, I'm more like my mother and I will find your weaknesses.~

In the back of his mind, Tabby's wife, LtCmdr. Bevin MacArdry-Tibris, called to him. Strangely, her strong Brogue was not present in her mental communications. ~You know you're going to have to introduce me to your good 'Uncle Lex'.~

Tabby mentally waved Bevin off. ~Hon, we made a deal. Get outta my head.~

Bevin sent him a "mental kiss" and said, ~OK, sorry.~

Zak gestured for Patterson to speak to Galex and the Colonel stood and stepped to the center of the Bridge. With a nod he signaled Tabby to open a channel and began speaking. "Galex of Fereginar. I am Patterson of the Warship Penumbra. We are currently scanning your vessel for anything of interest to us ... shall we make a deal?"

The wrinkled visage of an old Ferengi appeared on the viewscreen.

"What is the meaning of this?" Galex screeched. "Release this vessel at once!"

Patterson smirked, knowing he'd gotten on Galex's nerves already. He said, "I have it on good conscience that you've made dealings with Zhenkarian Corsaires, and your operations in Breen space have piqued my interest. I've got 10,000 strips of latinum for the right merchandise, or whereabouts of how to acquire certain items." He paused to let that sink in and then said, "We will release your ship once our conversation is over. Don't want private business becoming public scandal, do we?"

Galex responded, "I've had several Zhenkarian passengers on my ship, Mr. Patterson. And I have registered with the Breen Confederacy to operate my liner in their space. Have you? I'd be interested in seeing what they'd have to say about a Hoo-mon Warship in their space!"

Behind Patterson in the Recon area, Hines mumbled, "This is a helluva Rubik's cube I'm having to hack through."

MAX's face manifested on a screen near Hines. "Curious how well that puzzle is designed against nefarious AI ...," he trailed off.

 

Guest

Zak stood and moved around to the Sciences area, casually walking up behind Carshel. As he did, Patterson stepped to the center Command Chair and took a seat. He continued speaking to Galex on the main viewer. "There's one issue with that, Mr. Galex. Without cooperation of the terms of contract I'm about to offer ... there's a high likelihood that there will be no one to tell the Breen about us. What was the Rule? A contract is a contract, is a contract ...?"

Galex looked frustrated now. "Don't go trying to banter the Rules of Acquisition with me, Hoo-mon! I'm getting old and sometimes don't remember all the numbers, and they don't matter that much anyway. But ... I'm guessing you're looking to buy something, and your starting price has piqued my own interests. Can I invite you aboard? Get you a drink?"

Tabby rolled his eyes. He'd almost had enough of Galex already! In his head he thought, ~Dear God, don't put me or my wife on an Away Team to see Lex! Just ... don't.~

Zak now leaned down and whispered to Carshel, "Can you get a lock on the Ferengi's bio-signs? I wouldn't think there's more than one over there, they don't like to share their profit."

Carshel flinched, his innate paranoia being a bit heightened lately. When he saw who it was that had "snuck up" on him, he relaxed but still snapped, "Can you not do that?" He took a breath and then answered, "Yes, I have it, and its only one."

Relok muttered, "Tetryon beam ready, sir."

Patterson responded to Galex's invitation with a nod. "That would be beneficial for us both, Mr. Galex. If you would be willing to lower your shields, I can beam over in just a few minutes." He turned towards the Science area and smirked at the Commodore, then pointed to the screen, then the floor, as if to say "Him, over here."

Zak looked to his Chief of Sciences. "Relok, do it. Observation Lounge, please."

Galex was speaking, gesticulating at the room around him. "I'm sure my ship is much more ...," but he was cut off by the shimmer of a transporter beam. He completed his sentence standing in the Penumbra's Observation Lounge, "... comfortable." He glanced around. "What the --?"

 

Sickbay

Side-Effects

LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke and his sister, LtCmdr. Katarina Hawke, were in Sickbay, having been relieved of duty because of hallucinations they were experiencing as the result of some kind of feedback loop their Borg implants were receiving. The source of the signal had not been confirmed, but it was speculated that the malfunction began around the time the Breen Heavy Cruiser showed up at Lampros Three.

LtCmdr. T'Lin and Dr. Shadow K'Trevala had devised a sort of "drug cocktail" of a variety of herbs and other medicines that they felt ought to remedy the hallucinations, but there would be a range of side-effects and the Hawkes were trying to decide if they wanted to risk the side-effects or just endure the hallucinations.

Den was looking at his sister and said, "So ... what do you think? I mean they did say it would be temporary."

Kat sat on the bio-bed next to him. "Nope," she shook her head, "I'd rather be sedated than have those side-effects." She pouted, looking for all the world like a small child refusing to take her medicine.

"Well," Den said, "we kind of have a choice. Do it, and suffer with that for a while, or ... keep degrading and die."

Kat continued arguing against it. "And don't even think of thinking it's just because of the temporary side effects to our connection, but the physical side effects too! Nope, not something I wanna go through, thank you very much." She pouted again, looking even more like her 6-year-old self than the adult she was. She didn't like being sick and these side effects were basically worse than the flu.

 

Death As a Side-Effect?

"Actually," Den said, glancing over at Shadow, "come to think of it, we can't take it. You'll have to find something else. If our implants are shut off, particularly the cortical node, it'll kill us! They are in our brains and cannot be removed. They have to function to regulate our bodies and the other implants that weren't able to be removed."

Shadow nodded, then asked, "What can be used?"

"Exactly!" Kat responded, happy that Den was on her side again. "There's no telling if our bodies will adapt or not to not having our cortical nodes stop working." She was also happy with not having vomit and diarrhea as a side effect. Not to mention say ... dying!

Shadow countered. "We can dial back the amount of active ingredients in there so that it won't harm the implants, but ... it won't be as effective either."

Den made a face. "I don't know then. The nanites aren't an issue, they will just stay dormant. I don't even know if Kat even has the assimilation-interface tubules still. For some reason, never asked, but I do. Just mentioning, because it's kind of part of my left hand."

Kat frowned. "Mine are still intact, they are in my left hand. It was the right hand I lost."

Den nodded at Shadow. "Dilute the dose so we can actually function and get back to work."

Kat said, "As long as I don't get sick, then by all means dilute it." She hoped to never get sick. She didn't like being sick. She remembered it from when she was a kid.

Shadow acquiesced. "Yes, that is a possibility we can look at, if you want." He cut the dose for each in half, and mixed in an antiemetic to help deal with any nausea the drugs might cause.

Den said, "I'll take it first and we can see what it does before it's given to my sister."

"All right," Shadow said, handing him the medication. "Here you go."

Den eyed the vial Shadow handed him. "No injection?" He raised an eyebrow, then lifted a hand to draw a "smiley face" in the air on ... something only he could see.

Kat watched her brother, chewing nervously on her bottom lip.

Shadow said, "Sorry, Den, not with all the plants involved this time. And we'll have a better chance to deal with it if anything goes wrong if it starts out in the GI tract."

Den shrugged and tossed back the vial, swallowing, then said, "You know, that's not very reassuring."

Kat, as a concerned younger sister as well as the Assistant Chief Medical Officer, watched along with Shadow to see if Den had any ill effects. Shadow kept a hypo of antihistamine handy, just in case.

Den moved over and sat on a biobed. He shrugged, "I guess this is going to take some time to start working. At least the devil-man looks better with a smiley face drawn on it."

Shadow chuckled and Kat laughed out loud. She could imagine the shadow demon with a hand-drawn smiley face on it.