USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202112.03
The Penumbra was still parked in interstellar space. Galex's Luxury Liner (a party-barge style yacht) was hanging in space nearby. On that yacht, the Ferengi, Galex, had a Breen Thot, Yurl, who had hired Galex to facilitate a clandestine meeting between Yurl and a Cardassian woman by the name of Yani Damat.
The Penumbra had "rescued" the Cardassian from the airlock of a Zhenkarian Corsaire (using the pretense she might have been subject to human trafficking), but in fact she was a "bargaining chip" to call out the Thot. And when Col. Travis Patterson held a Breen Type 3 Disruptor to her head and threated to vaporize her, the Thot did indeed come forth. Only, the Thot had requested asylum! That seriously changes things!
In Sickbay, LtCmdr. T'Lin, Assistant Chief of Sciences, had performed an autopsy on a Breen Officer taken from the Scout Ship that had brought the Thot to his meeting with Galex. She'd extracted the brain and injected it with Borg nanites previously extracted (or escaped) from LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke, Chief of Security and Tactical Operations, with the hope that the nanites might be able to extract neural pathways and chemical traces to reconstruct the last memories and thoughts that had passed through the Breen's mind moments before his apparent suicide to avoid being captured.
Cdre. Zak Taylor sat in the Executive Officer's seat, having surrendered "command" to Col. Travis Patterson temporarily. At the Thot's request, the Commodore simply sat open-mouthed, glancing between the Breen on the viewscreen and the Colonel sitting in the Command Chair beside him.
Patterson turned to the shocked Commodore and said, "Mr. Taylor ... the parameters of my mission have been completed. I have enough intel to provide to my client about the Breen's recent activity."
Zak finally closed his mouth, then stood and turned to face Patterson. "I relieve you, sir."
Patterson stood, nodding, "I stand relieved, Commodore." With a smirk he took the step to starboard and sat in the XO's chair.
At the Helm, LtCmdr. Jason Carter was also staring slack-jawed at the Thot. Who would have imagined he'd ask for asylum? They'd all been suspecting he was up to some nefarious scheme against the Federation.
Zak, standing in the center of the Bridge in front of the Command Chair, turned to address the Breen on the viewer. "Thot Yurl, I will hear your plea for asylum. If the conditions are right, I might be able to grant it, but only if I feel it is warranted. You can beam over at your leisure."
LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris at the Operations Console, turned towards the Commodore (whom he still called "Captain", as in the person in command of a ship), "Captain, our shields are up and we are at red alert so ... yeah, um, no." They could not use transporters through the shields.
Zak glanced at Tabby, "Um ... right." He turned towards the Tactical Station and said, "Mr. Standin, stand down Red Alert. I think the danger is past."
The quiet Vulcan Lieutenant had taken over for LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke so the Chief of Security could inspect Delta Five (the craft that brought the Cardassian aboard - just in case she'd tried some kind of sabotage or something). Without a word the Vulcan gave a short nod and disabled the Red Alert, dropping the shields in the process.
At the Commodore's invitation that the Thot beam over, the wrinkled face of the aged Ferengi, Galex, thrust itself into the viewer, "No! No, no, no! That doesn't work for me!"
Patterson responded to Galex, shaking his head, "Sorry Galex, but we're in no position to turn down a request for aid. Protocols and all that, y'know?"
Galex huffed. "So, you'd just steal the profit right out of my hands? Uh-huh, ain't happening. I'm coming too."
Patterson raised an eyebrow and responded, "You're more than capable of going wherever you please on your own vessel, Galex ... but frankly, if we take you aboard, you will be arrested for tampering with our communications."
Before Galex could respond, the Commodore said, "Mr. Galex, we wouldn't want to abandon your vessel, so ...," he turned to Patterson, "Think we can make room for his yacht in the Hangar Bay? Then we can take Galex and his ship in for questioning."
Galex flashed a toothy grin. "Excellent idea! I can just fly right into your Hangar and ride with you. That way I can keep an eye on my business while negotiating the transfer of my assets to your control."
Patterson just turned towards the Helm, "Your call, Jason."
Carter was more than merely Helmsman. He was a Lieutenant Commander and senior officer and held the post of Chief of Flight Operations, so the Hangar Deck and all the various craft therein, were his domain. He rubbed his chin then answered, "It would take a bit of work, but I think we could manage it." He paused, thinking, then said, "We'd have to move Bravo Flight to the maintenance bay, and ... we might have to have his dog on a leash, instead of in her kennel," he gestured at Patterson with a wink. "His dog" was a reference to the mythical multi-headed dog that guarded the gates of Hades, Cerberus.
Patterson nodded at Carter, "Get it done, Carter. We're gonna need to make a lot of room for that Ferengi yacht to come aboard."
Carter opened a commlink to the Hangar Deck. "Flight Deck, move Delta Bravo into the maintenance bay, and try and make plenty of room. We're bringing a Yacht aboard."
LtCmdr. Bevin MacArdry, the Penumbra's Chief Engineer, had been inspecting all eight of the Delta Flyers (four of which were deemed Delta Alpha and the other four Delta Bravo). She heard the call from Carter about moving the Flyers around and began helping facilitate the move.
LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke had heard the call too, since he'd been checking over Delta Five for any signs of tampering by the Cardassian woman, Yani Damat, while she was "in protective custody" aboard. He also assisted with the move, but he was more focused on the necessary security precautions that would be required to have Galex's Luxury Liner inside their Hangar Bay.
Back on the Bridge, Zak offered an idea. "Colonel, will the Cerberus ride fastened to the exterior hull?" He glanced at Carter and asked, "Is that the 'leash' you meant?"
Patterson turned to Zak, "Or we have someone fly it manually behind us. Did the Penumbra ever have a Captain's Yacht installed before she was delivered to us?"
"Yeah," Zak responded, "the Darmok-B fits in a niche on the underbelly. I don't think I've ever even started the generator!"
Patterson frowned slightly. "Then someone's gonna have to fly her. She won't stay attached properly if we go faster than maybe Warp 6 ... and frankly, I kinda miss the quiet." He gave him a grin.
Zak nodded, "That works. Let's make it happen."
Suddenly the commlink crackled with a strange sound. After a moment they realized it was the Breen speaking, "Whatever you need to do, Penumbra, but my time here is done. And my ... arrangement ... with Galex will no longer work, so ...," he trailed off.
Beside him the Ferengi soothed, "Now, now, Yurl, we may still salvage our agreement. We may have to negotiate some fee changes, but ...," he too trailed off.
Zak turned his attention to the Ferengi and the Breen on the main viewer. "Galex, bring your yacht to our Hangar Doors. Be prepared for a security team to board and inspect your ship, and you and the Thot will be escorted to the Observation Lounge."
Galex grinned like he just won the lottery. "Nothing like a free ride back home! And, I still might make a profit out of this. After all, I'm bringing the actual Thot instead of just the occassional comm package."
Beside him the Thot gave a growl-crackle, quickly translated as "You are not 'bringing' me, Mr. Galex. I am going. I think my obligations to you have ended, don't you?"
"Don't be hasty, Thot! You know the Ferengi are neutral in this. You can always buy safety in the Conglomerate, you know."
Carter muttered, "Why would he need the Conglomerate if he's safe inside Federation borders?"
While LtCmdr. T'Lin, the Assistant Chief of Sciences, had performed the majority of the autopsy and analysis of the dead Breen, and implanted the Borg nanites to extract memories from the dead brain, once she'd completed that task, she succumbed to her exhaustion and went to take a nap on one of the biobeds nearby.
Her superior, Cmdr. Relok, Chief of Sciences, had arrived just as the data from the nanites had begun to compile into recognizable scenes and had remained to continue the analysis. With him was the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shadow K'Trevala, and Relok's assistant, Lt. Jackson Carshel.
As they were reviewing the data, Relok glanced over at Shadow and said, "It is much easier to interrogate a live person. All we have is just what this Breen thought about when Patterson questioned him. We can't fill in any of the blanks!"
"True," Shadow replied, "but by going this route, they cannot lie to us either."
Relok raised an eyebrow and said, "Hmm, you have a point." He paused and then began making a few adjustments on the data stream. "Maybe we can refine this information a bit before the brain deteriorates any further."
Shadow, an empathic healer from his race of Tayledrians, tried to add some of his life energy into the dead brain, hoping to help refine the contact already established. But, dead is dead, and not much else he could do would change that. The Borg nanites weren't revitalizing the brain, they were analyzing the dead tissue to reconstruct neural pathways, and the chemical traces of decay to determine which paths were last used. Then the nanites would correlate those signals with stored imagery to show a "movie" of sorts recreating the last memories and thoughts of the dead Breen through interpolation and deductive processes.
Slowly, the scene began to show a bit more detail. The Breen's thoughts on the Borg technology they were using had something to do with propulsion. Images of corridors or tunnels began to form.
Carshel was staring blankly at the dead Breen brain. He said, "So, how many times do you think we can basically stab a dead brain for information before it turns to mush?"
"I don't know," Shadow responded, "but I'll do the best I can to get as much info as possible."
Relok turned to his assistant with an expression as if he'd forgotten the younger man was there. Finally, he said, "We're not 'stabbing' it, Lieutenant. Though ... now that you mention it, the nanites are likely tearing it apart from the inside."
Carshel stared at him, no longer the shy and quiet young man he'd once been. He responded, "Relok, face it. We are literally stabbing a brain to mush for data, like how you stomp berries for wine. Yeah, we are the wine makers, the brains the berries."
Relok gave an involuntary shudder at the visual imagery Carshel had just created. Carshel gave a soft chuckle, "Heh, that's kinda funny actually anyway."
Eventually Relok said, "Anyway, we did manage to get another level of detail. The Borg tech is to augment the Breen's propulsion systems."
Carshel asked, "Why the freak would they want that?"
Suddenly Relok turned to Shadow and exclaimed, "Transwarp! The Breen are trying to establish a Transwarp network!"
"Sounds like it," Shadow agreed. "And if the Breen succeed with linking theirs up to the Borg Network ...," he trailed off.
Carshel slumped. "That's bad, isn't it?" He paused and then added, "Something tells me that's a very bad combination of very bad things nobody fully understands. Oh, God, what a mess."
Shadow just nodded. After a moment he explained, "Think of a tangled ball of yarn that can take you all over the galaxy, combined with a second, that's what we're possibly looking at."
Relok said, "I think I need to bring this to the Commodore and the Colonel." He quickly grabbed a handy PADD and downloaded the data to it. Then he turned to the younger man. "Carshel, why don't you keep stomping the mush and see how much more wine we can make?" He gave a smirk as he started towards the exit. Carshel giggled morbidly.
Shadow smiled, "Want me to get some cheese to go with that wine, Carshel?"
"Heh-heh," Carshel chuckled, "Brain wine. No cheese for me, just mushy brain fun." He continued to manipulate the nanites in the dead brain.
"Then have fun," Shadow said as he walked away to other parts of Sickbay.
Carshel mumbled to himself, "Why is the squishing sound so funny to me? It reminds me of wet farts that stain your underwear."
Relok paused just by the exit, groaning at Carshel's last comment as he stepped through the doors.
After a few minutes, Carshel mused, "I don't think whatever the Breen are doing with this Borg tech has enough range. Somehow only our ex-Borg can tell."
A few more minutes passed and Carshel announced, "Oh, and now the brain go splat." It had deteriorated beyond any further usefulness. "Ew," he groaned, "it's like runny soup! Ewww!" He straightened, taking another PADD of data and said, "All right, I'm going to report my theory to the Captain. I'm sorry about the mess. I guess I was having too much fun playing patty cake." He rushed quickly for the exit, giggling softly to himself.
Patterson stood and stepped over to Carter, smiling as he patted the man on the shoulder, "Think this ship'll be able to keep up with me?"
Carter smirked up at him. "Keep up? Easy. Keep track? Hell no!"
Patterson chuckled then turned towards Zak. "Permission to leave the ship, sir?"
Zak grinned at him. "You still here?"
Patterson stepped quickly towards the Turbolift, tapping a PADD-like device that was literally embedded in his left forearm to activate the remote-start for the Cerberus. Suddenly, the doors slid open and Cmdr. Relok rushed out, nearly colliding with the Colonel. "Oh! Colonel! Sorry," Relok said and stepped to the side.
Patterson chuckled, "XO chair is all yours, Relok. I'm gonna see if Carter can keep up with the ol' gal in the Flight Deck." With a grin he stepped into the Turbolift and the doors slid shut.
Zak sat back a bit and said, "Mr. Carter, once the Hangar Bay is secure, take us home, maximum warp. I think Patterson in the Cerberus can keep up."
Relok stepped up to the Commodore. "Sir, I think the Breen are trying to form a Transwarp network." He brandished a PADD in his hand but didn't actually hand it over.
From the other Turbolift, Lt. Jackson Carshel arrived from Sickbay. He started out straight towards the Primary Science Station, but deflected at the last moment to stand before the Commodore. "Hey, um, a word? It's just a theory, but ...," he trailed off.
Zak looked at him standing there and finally said, "Yes, Lieutenant?"
Carshel responded, "I don't think whatever the Breen are doing has enough range to be effective. So far, only Kat and Den picked up on it because of close proximity."
"Not enough range?" Zak said. "If they can open a Transwarp thingie, they'd have all the range they need!"
Relok tried to explain so even the Commodore could keep up. "Sir, I don't think that's what Carshel meant. I think he's referring to the Borg interlink's range. I hope he's right."
Carshel said, "Again, it's just a theory, sir, but the brain ... well ... it's kinda nothing more than runny soup at this point so I won't get anything further."
Carter interrupted to report, "The Cerberus has launched, Galex has landed, and Hangar is secured, sir. Setting a course to Earth." He paused, then added, "We have Slipstream ready as well, sir."
Zak looked at the Chief of Flight Operations, then gave a nod. "Let the Cerberus know we're jumping to Slipstream before we jump. He's supposed to at least try to keep up." He gave him a grin.
But before Carter could respond, a commlink chirped. It was Patterson from the Cerberus, "Penumbra, you chargin' up the Slipstream?"
Carter responded, "Yep. Try to keep up."
Meanwhile, somewhere on Deck 4, LtCmdr. Katarina Hawke, the Assistant Chief Medical Officer, strolled down a corridor headed to the quarters of SgtMaj. Derek Hines. She wasn't used to checking up on a patient. Most of her medical training had come from the Borg Collective long after she was assimilated, and the Borg simply don't do follow up checks (there's no need since they're all interconnected). As she reached the door she stopped and took a deep breath before reaching out and pressing the chime.
Inside, the Marine rested in his "bunk" (he still didn't think of it as a "bed", though it was). It wasn't that long ago that he got upgraded to Deck 4 to live among the "senior officers". He still considered himself "one of the grunts" from when his small apartment was actually right down the hall from the primary Marine Barracks. But after his promotion to Sergeant Major he was assigned to the "Command Division" and while he didn't have an officer's rank, he was considered one of the ship's "senior officers". When he heard the chime, he adjusted himself in the bed and called out, "Come in!"
Kat stepped through the door, glanced around, and didn't see Hines at first. She called, "I came to check on you Seargent Major Hines."
Hines smiled to himself and called from the sleeping room, "Derek, please! Come on in, Kat. Good to see you came to check up on me."
Kat stepped from the sitting room to the sleeping room and smiled at him. She pulled up a chair and said, "I am glad to see that you are doing well." She reached into her hit and took out her Medical tricorder so she could take some scans.
Hines chuckled and stretched, his back making a few little pops as he did. "Yeah. I think that chicken Caesar salad I had helped a bit."
"Food usually does," she responded. "At this rate you'll soon be on light duty." She smiled back at him and asked, "Are you hungry?" She had no problem cooking a meal or two, she'd been practicing.
Hines sat up a bit more, shaking his head as he adjusted himself. "Wouldn't want to eat too much too soon, but I could go for a little bit of dessert ...," he trailed off.
"OK," Kat responded, an innocent smile on her face, "What would you like for dessert?"
A smirk crossed his face for just a moment, then he shrugged. "I think it'd be inappropriate to say I wasn't planning on eating anything nutritious, would it?"
Kat frowned slightly, totally oblivious to the inuendos. "Well, if you don't tell me how can I make it?"
Hines just chuckled again, then scooted over to make room on the bed. "Well," he said, "YOU do look like a treat."
"Oh?" she asked, still not quite sure what was going on.
Hines chuckled once more then said, "You gonna get in the bed with me or am I gonna have to pull you in here?"
Kat was surprised and a blush crossed her face, but she responded, "You've been injured. Why would I get on the bed?"
Hines rolled his eyes then reached out and grabbed her wrists, pulling her into the bed next to him, saying "Because I want you to."
Kat gasped as he pulled her into his bed. Finally, it clicked. She said, "Okay, okay, I get it!" Her face blushed deep red and she giggled.