USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202301.27
The Penumbra had been traveling at a slow Warp 3 through territory claimed by the Holy Order of the Kinshayans following a Kinshayan freighter (at a discreet distance). The Cerberus and Deltas One and Two were flying escort alongside the Penumbra (for now). However, EnsFiller at Helm did mention they had begun falling behind the freighter and recommended they increase to Warp 5, or at least Warp 4.
Down in the Wellness Center (what the new Chief Medical Officer called Sickbay), the Penumbra's two senior-most Science Officers, Cmdr. Relok and LtCmdr. T'Lin, were trying to recover from some ancient Vulcan psychic illness that T'Lin's D'Vir guide, N'eia (affectionately known previously as just "Mama"), identified as "The Freeze". Dr. Adonudo T'lanuwa had never heard of it (apparently, neither had Relok), but apparently it was common six or seven hundred years ago when N'eia was alive. It seems it was a kind of reflex to protect Vulcan brains from invasive psychic connections but faded away as Vulcans withdrew from long-range telepathy and developed stronger mental discipline. It still wasn't known WHY Relok and T'Lin developed this ancient mental illness, but they now knew WHAT it was and could begin to treat it.
And in the Hangar Bay they had stashed a gigantic ball of rock and ice that was a fragment of a comet they had captured to prevent it from destroying a planet. Only, during his "scientific study" of the otherwise totally uninteresting snowball, LtJackson Carshel discovered something "artificial" inside it! A team of Marines with heavy machinery melted and ground their way into it and eventually revealed some sort of ancient Klingon casket. The writing on the casket and preliminary scans of its occupant seemed to indicate the thing was over 500 years old. The problem with that date is that it would pre-date the Klingons being a warp-capable species. How did it get out here? And inside the casket was the well-preserved body of an ancient Klingon. Only, he doesn't look like "normal" Klingons. This person had even more pronounced forehead ridges, a severe snarl, and extra-thick brows. He looked almost ... demonic!
On the Bridge the voice of Col. Travis Patterson, currently flying escort for the Penumbra in the Cerberus, came over the comm-link, " Cerberus to PenumbraWe've been traveling at Warp 3 for several minutes now. That freighter's getting further away from us. If we're gonna keep up, we might want to get the Deltas back on-board and push up on speed."
In command while Patterson was off-ship and the Commodore had gone to the Hangar Bay, was LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris, the Chief of Operations. He still sat at his Ops console instead of the "Big Chair" but answered, "Alright let's try Warp 4. See how she handles. Filler, if she handles Warp 4 and nothing feels out of whack, punch 5. I'd rather not go beyond that."
Beside Tabby at the Helm was Ens. Proximus "Proxy" Filler, flying the ship while the usual Chief of Flight Operations, LtCmdr. Jason Carter, was flying Delta One alongside. He answered, "Gotcha, Commander. As soon as Delta is back on board. Um ... is Cerberus docking too? You know, I can't see him when he's out there doing his thing ...," he trailed off.
Tabby smirked, "Don't worry about the Cerberus. Pat does what Pat does and only Pat really understands what it is that Pat does." To himself, Tabby gave an inward sigh, ~I can only hope I'm making the right decision here. I really don't want another crash or another incident of standing in space.~
Patterson had been monitoring the exchange and said, "I suggest having the Penumbra drop to impulse. Get the Delta Flyers back on-board. I'll continue to tail the freighter. Y'all can catch up with me once the Flyers are inside. Carter, Sandy," he called to the pilots of the two Delta Flyers alongside the Penumbra, "you guys go ahead and dock back with the PenumbraShe's dropping to impulse now. I'll stay with the freighter 'til you catch up."
Filler chuckled, "Copy that, Commander! Dropping to impulse to load Deltas."
Over the comm they heard Carter call, "Acknowledged. Sandy?" And CWO2 Sandoval responded, "Yep, I'm on your left."
Tabby grunted at Filler, "Take it slow I'd rather not be stranded in space yet again. Or on a random moon with broken ribs again."
Then the ship dropped to impulse so their two Delta Flyers could return to the Flight DeckThey also took that opportunity to dispose of the remnants of the comet, clearing up space in the Hangar Bay. In a few moments, Carter called from the Flight Deck, "Bridge, Deltas One and Two are aboard."
Tabby and Filler both acknowledged with Filler glancing at Tabby and saying, "Ready for Warp 5, Commander!"
Tabby nodded, "Take it slow."
Filler nodded back, "Gotcha, Commander. Back to Warp 3 and then slow increase to 5." The engines powered back up and the ship jumped back to warp.
Tabby opened a commlink, "Engineering, how's things looking down there? We still good?"
Across the Bridge, at the Auxiliary Medical Station, the Assistant Chief Medical Officer, LtCmdrDr. Katarina Hawke just sat listening to the exchanges. But suddenly she frowned and rubbed her forehead. She glanced around the Bridge nervouslySomething felt "off". But nobody else seemed concerned. She shook her head and tried to focus on the console in front of her, but the feeling persistedFinally, she tapped her commbadge, "Kat to Sickbay. Adon, is everything all right?"
The Chief Medical Officer, Cmdr. Adonudo T'lanuwa, answered, "Kat? Um, well, not exactly all right. Relok's having some trouble with this Freeze stuff. T'Lin, or N'eia, is trying to talk him through it, but ... Well, if you're not busy, want to come give me a hand?"
Kat nodded, "I am on my way, Commander." She logged off and headed for the Turbolift. If she could help, she'd rather be in Sickbay than on the Bridge anyway.
As the ship accelerated from Warp 3 to 4 and eventually to Warp 5, Filler opened the commlink, "Watch out, Colonel, we're coming after you!"
Patterson responded, "Try to keep up, Filler!"
Tabby chuckled, "Hey, this isn't race ... but ... yes, it's a race."
Filler grined, "I get to try out some of what Carter taught me!" He flexed his fingers - just the way Carter did.
Tabby grunted, "Do that Filler and you're losing fingers! This isn't a stunt ship. We're here for Recon, keep it at that." Then he smiled and added, "A little fun doesn't hurt but ... don't be Pat, he's an idiot."
Filler turned to him, "Pat? Heck no! But Carter? Yeah, I'd love to fly like that guy! But, I gotcha again, Commander. Just get to Warp 5 and catch the freighter, nothing fancy."
Tabby mused, "Hmm ... maybe once you have R&R you can fly a plane and do cool stunts."
Having just missed his sister, Kat, LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke stepped onto the Bridge from the Turbolift, having just come up from Sickbay himself after getting checked out after his "experiments" in hacking the Penumbra's systems with his Borg tubules.
From the other Turbolift, Carter stepped onto the Bridge. He started towards his usual post at the Helm, but seeing Filler there and the "Big Chair" unoccupied, he ordered, "Report?"
Den stared across the Bridge at him and shrugged, "I don't know, I just got up here from Sickbay." He stepped to the Tactical Station, relieving the quiet Vulcan, LtRe'Libel Standin who moved to the Recon station.
Tabby didn't even move or turn, simply reported, "We're following a freighter going to warp 5 at a slow climb." Then he turned and said, "Glad to see you back, Carter."
Den scanned the Tactical console and said, "Lets see. The Delta's are back in. We got rid of some junk out of the Hanger bay. There seems to be a party going on there also."
Tabby then added, "Also, I currently have command. Captain's in the Hangar Bay, looking over something weird Carshel found in the rock thing."
Carter nodded toward Tabby, acknowledging that he'd had command, but then considering that all three of them had equal rank of Lieutenant Commander, he thought about their respective postings. Carter figured that Den as Chief Tactical Officer needed to remain at Tactical, and Tabby as Chief of Operations and Carter as Chief of Flight Operations, and the fact that Carter had a longer tenure at the rank, he came to a decision. He addressed Tabby, "Well ... you're better at Ops." Then he nodded at Den, and moved and sat in the Big Chair, taking command, and ordered, "Steady at Warp 5, Mr. Filler. Hawke, continue to monitor long-range scans for that freighter."
The other two LtCmdrs. just nodded, accepting Carter's command. Den checked his readings and reported, "It's still where it's supposed to be ... for now."
In the Wellness Center, Cmdr. Dr. Adonudo T'lanuwa was monitoring Cmdr. Relok while LtCmdrT'Lin, in the guise of her second "soul", her D'Vir guide, N'eia (also sometimes called "Mama") performed a therapeutic session similar to a hypnotic regression on the older Vulcan. Relok was in a deep meditative state, his breathing slow and deep.
Relok spoke softly, "The other ... the Kinshayan mystic ... young but powerful. He didn't 'speak', but ... we felt him. Felt his surprise, his excitement!"
N'eia said, "Someone else's mind was unprotected and unaware. Find them, and listen through them."
Relok continued, "We touched the mystic, but ... we feared he'd find us and we didn't want to be found. We withdrew, only ... he pursued! And ... ah!" He flinched, clutching his head.
Adon rushed back to Relok's side, glancing up at the monitor above the biobed. "The Freeze is kicking in again! When he remembered being touched, then pursued! That has to have been the trigger!"
N'eia soothed, "Endure, Relok." She turned to Adon and nodded. "Yes, often times the Freeze is meant to prevent us from reaching out to another's mind in order to prevent the psionic illness from spreading to others. However, this pain is something we must endure. If I were a telepath, I would volunteer to do it myself. We have only Relok. Can you get him something to ease his pain?"
Adon prepared a hypospray and administred it, but said, "I don't want to numb his mind too much, especially since I'm not quite sure what's going on in there!"
Suddenly, Adon's commbadge chirped and the voice of his Assistant, LtCmdr. Dr. Katarina Hawke, came through, "Kat to Sickbay. Adon, is everything all right?"
Adon was surprised to hear her, but tapped his commbadge and answered, "Kat? Um, well, not exactly all right. Relok's having some trouble with this Freeze stuff. T'Lin, or N'eia, is trying to talk him through it, but ... Well, if you're not busy, want to come give me a hand?"
Kat responded, "I am on my way, Commander."
N'eia continued, "Relok, who else's mind is on that ship? Ignore the mystic. Look for another mind on that ship, and listen through their ears. Feel nothing, search for an opening, and breathe."
Relok tried to calm his breathing. He said, "Looking, but ...," he flinched again, "Ah! No, I can't, it hurts to try to remember."
N'eia tried again to calm the Vulcan who was physically decades older than her current body but centuries younger than the mind currently using it. "Alright, just breatheWe're giving you something to help with the pain, and once you feel more relaxed, I'd like to try once more. If it hurts too much then, then we stop. Is that ok?"
And then the doors slid open as Kat arrived. "How can I help?"
Adon looked up and said, "Relok is trying to remember what happened when they scanned that Kinshayan mystic's ship, only ... the Freeze keeps locking him up." Then his face brightened as an idea came to him. "But ... maybe you can help in another way! You have psychic abilities now, right? Can you ... get inside Relok's mind?"
Kat paused and stared at Adon with eyes as big as saucers on her face. "You want me to use an ability I have no idea how to use to get inside his mind? How exactly?" But even as she asked that she moved to take Relok by the hand in a way that she meant as support but vaguely remembered as Relok doing for her before.
Adon just shrugged, "How should I know? I'm not psionic! But, if you can find a way in, see if you can help him recover the repressed memories."
"I'll try," Kat sighed. She knew this crew had saved her in more ways than one. She wouldn't stand by and do nothing if she could do something to help a fellow crewmate. She took a slow breath and closed her eyes, thinking on all the races the Borg had ever assimilated that had the ability to feel another's emotions or thoughts, and tried to communicate with Relok. Knowing he was Vulcan and she was not, her free hand touched his face, not unlike the way a Vulcan would for a mind meldShe did not think it would work considering she wasn't Vulcan. But, she felt her consciousness begin to drift, and then, suddenly, she could "feel" Relok "beside" her!
N'eia tilted her head as she watched Kat. She muttered, "Not all your mystics are Vulcan." She turned to Adon and asked, "How long until the Merasha wears off? I have an idea."
Commodore Zak Taylor arrived in the Hangar Bay, responding to the call from their senior-most Marine Non-Commissioned Officer, SgtMaj. Derek Hines, saying "Commodore, you might want to get down here." As Zak walked up he saw several people standing around staring at a long box on an antigrav sled.
The Commodore was not exactly a short man, standing 5' 9", but the group he approached towered over him. The shortest of the three was Lt. Jackson Carshel, the Science Officer, who was 6' 5" tall. Hines was 6' 6", but the half-Klingon, half-Nausicaan, MstSgt. Khal'Gon was the biggest one there, towering over them at 7' 1" (plus a few for the big Klingon-style boots he wore).
Hines was first to notice his arrival. He turned and called out, "Sir!"
Carshel turned too and tried to explain, "So, uh ... this is the thing I was a bit enthusiastic about. My apologies."
Zak stepped up to the casket, leaned over, and glanced into the viewport to see the scowling face of the long-dead Klingon inside. Reflexively he jumped back, "Holy sh-!" he exclaimed.
Khal'Gon leaned over beside the Commodore and grunted softly, "He looks a bit like me."
Zak glanced at Khal'Gon towering over him and gave a slight shrug. "A bit ... but, you're half-Nausicaan ...," he stepped back up to the window for another look, then added, "This guy is all Klingon."
Carshel leaned over Zak's other side, eyeing the man in the box again himself. "Kinda cool, but ..this opens many questions."
Khal'Gon straightened and rubbed his brow. "Over 500 years old ... and his features are far more savage than most."
As they stood there ogling the ancient Klingon, technicians and other workers were busily clearing the deck of the remnants of the comet. Moments later, a safety forcefield went up not far from them and the comet fragment was ejected into space. Seconds after that, Deltas One and Two flew into the Hangar Bay and settled to the Flight Deck.
After the two Deltas set down and disgorged their pilots, Sandy called over to Carter, "I'll take care of the birds from here. Best you get back to the Bridge and see if you can't go catch Casper, eh?" Carter grinned back and headed for the Turbolift.
Meanwhile, Zak turned to his Science Officer, "So, Carshel, you said this thing pre-dated the Klingons having warp drive? How do we know this?"
Carshel answered, "Well, Khal'Gon confirmed it, but the scans gave a rough estimate of age." He gestured with the tricorder in one hand. "Five hundred years roughly, give or take."
Hines leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. "How did he get out here, in Kinshayan space?"
Carshel turned to him, "That's a really good question. Further scans with proper equipment might help answer other questions, until then, speculation isn't helping right now."
Hines nodded"Let's get him up to the Wellness Center for an autopsy, then."
Carshel nodded back, turning, "Yeah, I'll leave this to my cousin. I need to be on the Bridge, as the only available Science personnel."
Zak was still struggling with the big question. "But ... we're several parsecs from the nearest edge of Klingon space, and further than that from Q'onos itself! How the hell did that thing ... er, that guy, get out here?"
Khal'Gon stiffened and raised an eyebrow. "Thing?" he glared at the Commodore.
Zak glanced at him, still obviously confused. "No offense, but ... did you see that guy?" He gave a slight involuntary shudder, turned away from Khal'Gon and addressed Hines and Carshel. "So ... what do we do with him now? And ... why was he in a comet orbiting a Kinshayan client world?"
Carshel said, "As much as I'd love to answer that, Captain, that's medical's job right now. I have other duties."
Zak smirked, "Sure, the Science guy just discovers problems and reports them, it's up to others to figure out what to do then, right?"
Hines gestured to the pall-bearers who'd joined them. "Get him up, nice and easy. Let's get him upstairs."
Zak glanced at Khal'Gon and said, "Um, Khal'Gon can you see to our ... um ... guest? Until we know what to do with him, let's keep him ...um ... stored away?"
But before they could approach, Khal'Gon stepped up to the Commodore's very toes, towering a full 18 inches over Zak and snarled down at his commanding officer. "I saw damn well what he looked like ... SIR."
Hines straighted to his full height, only 8 inches shorter than Khal'Gon and said, "Belay that order, Marine." He glanced at Zak, then at Khal'Gon, and moved to step between them, facing the big half-Klingon. "Master Sergeant, I order you to general quarters. I will see to our fallen guest personally."
But Khal'Gon had taken offense at the Commodore's statement and wasn't ready to calm down. He scoffed down at Zak who's head was only in the middle of his chest, but spoke to Hines, who's head was just under his chin, "And if I refuse, Derek?" The fact he'd addressed a senior-ranked non-com by first name rather than rank indicated he was acting on a personal level rather than a military one.
Zak began to realize how he'd said what he said, and what they could have meant to the Klingons' honor. Carshel tried to soothe things, "This is why I mentioned bringing our guest to Medical. If anyone knows what to do it's them. Plus some of science is also there." He looked up at the big half-Klingon and urged, "Khal'Gon, please, enough."
Khal'Gon answered him, "I have no issue with that. My issue is with the Commodore's lack of honor to my ancestors." His gaze shifted back towards Taylor, then down at Hines with a bloodthirsty scowl.
Now it was Carshel's turn to get a bit hot. "You know damn well that the Captain's intentions were of no harm nor disrespect! I understand, but you're cutting it close. You need to calm down, Khal'Gon. Not everything needs to end in battle."
Zak began to try to fix the situation. "Khal'Gon ... I apologize, to you and to our guest. I was just ... shocked, and spoke without thinking. Blame my ignorance of Klingon ways. I truly meant no offense, though I understand why you might have been offended."
But even after this, Hines saw the bloodlust in his friend's face. He lowered his head, gave a slight nod of acceptance, then sighed before saying, "I had a feeling you'd take it this far, Khal'Gon." Without warning, he lifted a knee and slammed it full force into Khal'Gon's genitals, with that full force amplified by the combat armor they all wore. Even after that, as Khal'Gon's body began registering the impact and slowly collapsed, Hines followed the low blow by a hefty head-butt to the half-breed's head, knocking him the rest of the way to the ground. He tapped his commbadge, "Security to the Hangar Bay immediately."
Zak instantly went from confused to commanding. "Hey! That's enough, both of you! That might be the way you Marine non-comms handle things, but ... this is a Starfleet ship, and you two are senior non-comms, nearly officers! Act like it!"
Hines was not cowed. He said, "I've spent more time working with Klingons than you, sir..when they refuse to follow orders? You gotta remind them who's in charge by force."
Carshel just sighed. "Whatever crew isn't busy, let's escort our guest to Medical and pay our respects. If I am dismissed, Captain, I'll return to bridge after."
Zak continued, "I admitted I screwed up. Apology offered. End of dispute, that's an order!" He glared at the two Marines a moment longer then turned to the Starfleet Officer standing beside them. "Now, Carshel, take our guest to the Medical Wing and see to his ... 'quarters', since our Marines won't be able to do so."
Khal'Gon groaned as he slowly got back to his feet. "Yeah ...," he muttered as he rubbed his forehead ridges to discover some blood there. "I deserved that."
Then Zak smirked, "There might be blood elsewhere, Khal'Gon, but we'll let you check that area in private." He turned to leave as four armed Security officer arrived.
One of the Security officers approached Hines, "What's the emergency, Sergeant Major?"
Hines gestured to Khal'Gon, "Accompany Master Sergeant Khal'Gon to his quarters. Make sure he doesn't go anywhere else."