Fujishiro slightly shakes her head when the senior officers look her way.
Fujishiro slightly shakes her head when the senior officers look her way.
"Very well, then," says the Captain. "Thank you for your time. Dismissed." She, Vargas and Roble stay behind to talk further.
You report to your duty stations on the Bridge and the rest of the watch passes uneventfully, with Lt. JG Bennett in the big chair. The Yorktown takes on supplies at Theta Raled but breaks orbit after just a little more than four hours. Singh then orders a course set for the neutral planet Cavinre VII to "show the flag" and look after Federation interests; there has been some civil unrest there in recent months. For all but Pourtash and Dr. T'Var, what would you like to focus on in your BCDO training during the weeklong trip? What else would you like to do?
This is the time when Dr. T'Var first plays chess aboard ship: http://www.mellophant.com/forums/sho...ays-some-chess
Last edited by Elendil's Heir; 23 Jan 2012 at 09:43 PM.
On their way to the turbolifts, Collins talks to Delaney about the simulation she has in mind. In her off hours, she will work out in the gym, run the sim, and have dinner with Ben and maybe the rest of the evening with him as well.
Delaney is happy to help.
He still needs to concentrate on Nav & Helm for BCDO.
Dr. T'Var, when not playing interesting variations of chess in the Rec Room, will meditate and (of course) spend time working in Sickbay.
Collins works hard but also enjoys some quality time with Ben Cooper. He's a good guy and fun to be around.
Delaney's work on Navigation and Helm functions begins to pay off, and he feels more comfortable at those Bridge posts. Pourtash and Leventhal are able to help him, too.
Dr. T'Var feels like she's found her niche aboard the Yorktown, and is twice complimented by Dr. Villa for her work in Sickbay.
The ship cruises at a steady Warp 5 on its way to Cavinre VII. It passes by and hails several ships along the way: the transport Sweet Anne, carrying settlers and supplies for Morra III; the agricarrier Topgallant Alpha, loaded with quadrotriticale and neorice for Sherman's Planet; and the freighter Antiope, heavily-laden with Telperion lumber and bound for Ardel IV.
As they pass the Topgallant Alpha, Collins thinks about tribbles.
The Yorktown reaches Cavinre VII without incident and enters standard orbit. The Federation ambassador welcomes Capt. Singh with a noticeable sense of relief; riots in the capital were brutally put down by the planetary government just yesterday. So far the protests have been against the government's unpopular austerity measures and the lack of political freedom, and not directed against offworlders, but Amb. Woods is concerned that things could get worse. He does not want to evacuate the 20-person Federation Embassy staff just yet, but it could come to that.
Lt. JG Collins is ordered to lead a Security team of her choosing to the surface to protect the Embassy. It is clear that no shore leave will be granted to the rest of the crew.
"Aye, Sir." Collins taps the Comm panel, "Ensigns Mahmoud and Three Crows and Specialist Nivens: Meet me in Transporter Room 3. We'll be beaming in to the Embassy" She leaves the bridge and goes to meet the landing party.
Collins and her team get phaser-2s from the Armory and beam down to look over security arrangements at the Embassy, a modern thermocrete-and-glass structure in one of the nicer parts of the capital. She meets the head of the local police's diplomatic-protection unit, a stiff-necked officer who makes clear his disdain at dealing with a woman. Nevertheless, he is under orders from his superiors to protect the Embassy from rioters at all costs, and seems efficient and professional.
A week passes and, although there are other riots in the city, the Embassy is never endangered. Two days later, Amb. Woods raises no objection when Starfleet orders the Yorktown to Morra III. Collins and the others return to the ship.
Science Officer Roble asks Ens. Rangin to report to his office.
Upon hearing Science Officer Roble's call, Rangin quickly records his research project in the computer and hurries to Roble's office.
Dr. T'Var continues her daily routine in Sickbay. She is quite impressed with how well the medical department aboard ship runs. She is happy to be a part of it.
The Yorktown breaks orbit and leaves the Cavinre system at Warp 6.
"At ease, Ensign," Roble says to Rangin in his office. He hands the xenobiologist a datapad and says, "Our next assignment should be right up your alley. We're to pick several dozen nonsentient lifeforms at Morra III and take them to the Sakath V research station. They'll all be in travel containers. Prepare a cargo bay with Mr. Delaney and Mr. Fujishiro, and arrange for the animals' care during the trip. Mr. Bennett thinks we'll be about 17 days in transit."
Rangin looks over the pad and sees that the Sakathians have ordered Terran capybaras, Bolian storks and Denebian slime devils - twenty each.
Last edited by Elendil's Heir; 31 Jan 2012 at 09:32 PM.
"Certainly, sir." Does the datapad give a reason for this specific choice of animals? Do they serve any well-known scientific purpose? If not, Rangin will ask the SO if he happens to know what they're intended for.
Having determined that there was little Collins could have done differently during the sim, she resumes improving her BCDO skills during her off hours.
Dr. Villa asks T'Var to take an inventory of the Yorktown Medlab's Rigellian invertebrate cell lines, grow cultures of at least 50 of them, and have them ready for delivery to the research station.
The Science Officer's datapad doesn't say why the Sakathians want these particular animals. Roble has no further explanation, but asks, "I'm sure you've noticed one thing about this selection, though, haven't you, Ensign...?"
Collins takes a turn or three in the big chair in the Bridge simulator, fighting off Orion pirates, delivering emergency aid to an earthquake-ravaged world, and evacuating a stricken passenger liner. Cooper serves as her First Officer for the last sim, which makes for a particularly worthwhile experience, she finds. Cmdr. Vargas reviews her performance after each sim and offers blunt but generally helpful advice. He seems satisfied with her progress towards winning her BCDO certification.
Delaney studies the animals he is suppose to prepare holding cells for to ensure the transport cages have a safety margin at least 3 times the required amount. In his reading he finds it humorous that capybaras were once considered a fish by at least part of the Roman Catholic Church, at least in so far as they lived in the water and thus their meat was acceptable on Fridays. The bolian storks appear to be a bit tougher to secure then the capybaras, it appears they have some problem-solving skills. He will try to get more detailed information from Ensign Rangin.
The Denebian slime devils are the real challenge though. They probably need to be isolated completely from each other and secured in a double containment system. They are large predators and very dangerous with a natural protection against phaser fire so armor piercing slug throwers with explosive bullets will probably need to be issued and perhaps a flail. They are mainly a water creature so a series of large tanks made of transparent aluminum would seem to be in order. Ensure chutes too small for the devils to fit in are devised for purposed of feeding.
Last edited by What Exit?; 31 Jan 2012 at 10:17 PM.
"Well, capybaras are fairly benign. I might not pick one as a pet but I can't imagine many sinister uses for them, nor should they be particularly tricky to transport. Bolian storks are a little more fragile but not really threatening, if I'm remembering correctly. Slime Devils, though, will be quite a handful. We'll have to separate them, and the young vary so greatly from the adults in size; they're hatched under five cm and grow to over 3 meters, if I remember correctly." Does the datapad list the approximate size of the devils? We'll need to know to plan properly.
T'Var does as ordered by Dr. Villa in typical Vulcan fashion -- following a logical step by step process to complete the assigned task properly and correctly.
Last edited by WES; 01 Feb 2012 at 08:30 PM.
Before going to sleep, Collins reviews Cmdr. Vargas' notes and plans a strategy for working on her weak areas. She says goodnight to her roommate, and dreams of Ben.
Roble tells Rangin, "What I meant was, the Sakathians apparently want examples of each of the major classes of Class-M nonsentient animals: a mammal, the capybara; a bird, the stork; and a reptile, the slime devil. Their young arrive through live birth, eggs and parthenogenesis, respectively. No insects, though, which is interesting in itself." The slime devils are apparently all to be juveniles less than a year old, each about a meter long and weighing about 60 kgs.
Roble and Chief Engineer Cheverez both say Delaney's proposals look good.
Dr. T'Var learns that the ship has over a hundred Rigellian invertebrate cell lines, the great majority of which are of worms, molluscs and beetles. The lines are all in stasis and viable cultures can be grown for most within a week or so. How will she choose which to grow?
Vargas suggests that Collins study more intensively the approved theories of command - especially the writings of Pike, Asato and T'Kumbra - and emergency damage control procedures.
Dr. T'Var will attempt to grow as many cultures as possible -- more than 50 to be on the safe side. She will research the cell lines that have the greatest chance of growing without much difficulty and focus on them first, then continue with the others as time permits. She, of course, will ask Dr. Villa for help from medical department members who would be interested in this task.
T'Var decides to grow 80 cultures, roughly equally distributed among the available Rigellian cell lines of worms, molluscs and beetles, and soon has all but three of them (which immediately failed to grow, for reasons which are not immediately apparent) off to a good start. She checks on the remaining cultures twice daily and is pleased by their progress, by and large.
Delaney oversees the Engineering work detail which constructs all the holding containers in Cargo Bay 5. It takes several days.
"Ugh," thinks Collins as she trudges through the assigned readings, "they had digital video recording two centuries ago. Why didn't these guys make vlogs?"
Dr. T'Var will investigate why those three cultures failed to grow -- when she has the time. The results of this research may prove quite useful, she thinks to herself. She keeps Dr. Villa updated on her progress.
In Pourtash's spare time after his duties, unless anything else should come up to intrude upon it, he'll make a study of tactics used in various "no-win" situations in Starfleet history. Both from simulations at the Academy and actual stand-offs. Aside from simply having greater ideas on how to respond to such situations, it also offers a better viewpoint for evaluating at what moment a situation might pass into hopelessness and how real commanding officers have been able to avoid passing that point.
So now they are just dirt-covered English people in fur pelts with credit cards.
Collins remembers, of course, that she had to do quite a bit of reading at the Academy, and that human beings typically can assimilate more information through reading than through watching something in the same amount of time.
Try as she might, Dr. T'Var can't figure out why the three cultures failed. There doesn't seem to be any particular reason for it. All were for Rigellian soilworm cells. Soilworms, which typically grow to a length of about 6-10 cms, are useful in agriculture; they both aerate soil and enrich it with their excretions.
Pourtash finds his studies quite engrossing. He focuses on Capt. Farrell's decisions while in command of the USS Exeter eight years ago, Capt. Liu of the Archon's adroit handling of first contact with the Tayerians almost two decades earlier, Lt. Whitcomb's rising to the occasion after the Mombasa was severely damaged in a Romulan attack and all of the other Bridge officers were killed, and Commodore Vandenbroeck's historic dilemma on New Paris.
Last edited by Elendil's Heir; 30 May 2012 at 03:00 PM.
Dr. T'Var will continue to try and figure out why the three cultures failed and how to make them grow if possible. She will do more research and meditate on the problem -- which to her is more of an intellectual challenge. And T'Var always enjoys a challenge.
T'Var puts in long hours examining the failed soilworm cells and is just stumped. She can't figure out why those particular cultures failed; it seems to have been just a random failure of a minority of cell lines, which sometimes happens. Ens. Rangin looks over her work and has no suggestions of his own.
The Yorktown's trip to Morra III goes smoothly. A Federation colony now almost a century old, it's a beautiful Class-M world with a dozen large, modern cities, as well as extensive agriculture and many unspoiled forests, lakes and parklands. Its mountains are popular with climbers in this sector, its beaches are second to none, and tourism is a big business. The Captain decides to grant shore leave for fifty of the crew at a time. Any takers?
"oh, HELL yeah" thinks Collins. She finds Ben and, checking with Commander Vargas, coordinates her schedule with Cooper's, then suggests they apply together.
Last edited by anyrose; 09 Feb 2012 at 10:46 AM.
Delaney will check with the CHENG and his build team for the space mines to see if he can put in for some Shore Leave.
Dr. T'Var would love to meditate in a natural setting such as a forest or at a lake. She will ask Cecilia Bennett to join her. Perhaps she can get the navigator to open up about anything bothering her.
Vargas approves leave for Collins and Cooper during the same watch. Chief Engineer Cheverez is glad to approve leave for Delaney; he thinks you've been working too hard. T'Var is also approved for leave; Bennett seems hesitant at first to go, but then agrees.
Leaves are for 24 hours. You must take along a communicator and phaser-1. Where would you like to go?
If the description of the planet in post #329 isn't detailed enough, tell me what interests you and I'll tell you if that's available.
Jeremi suggest the beach to Ben, with some snorkeling and parasailing thrown in for fun.
Delaney does a search for the most interesting museums and zoos and landmarks and determines which city would be the best focus. He is as always looking for anything of tech interest. He loves old and exotic tech items.
He inquires if anyone else is interested in joining him and looks to see what others are planning.
Rangin will be off in the tropical hills, collecting samples of the exotic life-forms. This is primarily distinguishable from his work by the large proportion of his pack dedicated to lunch instead of sampling equipment!
T'Var asks Bennett where she would like to go -- forest, lake or park. T'Var would enjoy visiting any of the three.
Ben says to Collins with a friendly leer, "Some time on the beach would be great. I'll pack my suit and snorkel... unless you prefer skinny-dipping?" The Library Computer's records on Morra III list several fine beaches (some of which have very good coral reefs) for you to choose from. Parasailing is widely available.
Delaney learns that the city of Lindy has a large, popular Museum of Science and Technology, with exhibits ranging from the earliest Vulcan history to the present day. The city also has a pretty good zoo with alien as well as native Morranian lifeforms.
Rangin will not have to go off and collect the lifeforms for the Sakathians; they've already been shipped here from other star systems and are being held at the starport, ready for transfer to the Yorktown. Science Officer Roble and you look in on them and see that they're in good shape.
Bennett says, "I'd prefer to go into the forest. There's just something about being out in the woods among tall green trees that makes such a nice change from being cooped up on a ship for months on end." The Morranian National Park system has many good options, and you can rent camping gear, if you wish.
Last edited by Elendil's Heir; 11 Feb 2012 at 12:04 AM.
"I have never experienced camping," T'Var says. "I would like to try it."
Oh, he knows. This is just recreational.Originally posted by Elendil's Heir
Jeremi checks to see if any of the beaches near reefs are clothing optional, then decides that she and Ben ought to save that for when they have a longer shore leave. They are in Starfleet after all, and wouldn't want some tourist's imager catching them emerging from the water sans swimsuits. She picks out a beach with a large coral reef, and packs her suit and gear. She tells Ens. Terezis not to miss her too much and goes to meet Ben in the Transporter Room.
You each beam down from the Yorktown.
T'Var and Bennett rent some camping gear, pack up, get a map and directions, and set off into the woods. It's early autumn in Morra III's northern hemisphere and simply a beautiful day. After several hours, having seen no one else, you reach the top of a big hill. You can glimpse the distant horizon, far away over an expanse of green pine and deciduous trees just starting to turn gold, orange and red. There are at least five crystalline lakes scattered below you, too. It's a breathtaking sight. Bennett looks very happy.
Rangin packs a big lunch. You find the hills of the tropical islands to be a bit warm, but not oppressively so. There are some other hikers and tourists around, and they notice your gear. You happily gather a half-dozen small, exotic local lifeforms and are just putting a pair of strange, three-eyed rodents in a collecting case when a ranger comes up to you. "What are you doing, sir?" the ranger asks.
Ben was only half-joking about skinny-dipping, and is perfectly content to wear his swimsuit (he obviously admires you in yours). By asking the locals, you're able to find a beach in a cove that you can enjoy all by yourselves. It's magnificent, with white, fine-grained sand, warm, turquoise waters and huge clouds scudding across the sky. Palm trees grow all around you. Large, red, pelican-like birds fly past overhead now and then as the two of you enjoy the water together.
Last edited by Elendil's Heir; 12 Feb 2012 at 01:23 PM.
"Beautiful surroundings," T'Var says as she takes in the view. The doctor grins slightly. "Vulcan, of course, if quite different."
T'Var looks at the camping gear and sighs. "I will need your assitance," she says a bit sheepishly. "I have no idea what to do with these items."
If Delaney is still open to having company on his explorations, Pourtash would be happy to join him, as it's just the sort of thing he'd be interested in as well. The native fauna would be of particular interest as he has no experience with them, but museums and technology are always fascinating to explore.
So now they are just dirt-covered English people in fur pelts with credit cards.
Delaney is happy to have the company and open to zoos of course.
As evening approaches, Jeremi suggests she and Ben ask the locals for a good place to have dinner. Locals usually know the good spots from the tourist traps.
T'Var and Bennett hike all day and find a good spot to set up for the night in a clearing overlooking a lake. Bennett has been camping before, and shows the Vulcan doctor how to set up the tent and prepare a hot meal over an ingenious little camp stove.
Delaney and Pourtash have a good time and enjoy both the museum and the zoo in Lindy. An exhibit at the museum on how different races developed warp drive intrigues the engineer, while Pourtash finds the zoo's population of three-eyed island treemice (an endangered species) especially interesting.
The ranger narrows his eyes at Rangin.
Several local folk suggest that Jeremi and Ben go to Glynn's, a restaurant that looks a bit ramshackle from the outside but has terrific and cheap local seafood. You feast on deepcrabs, Dixon's oysters and red prawns.
Last edited by Elendil's Heir; 14 Feb 2012 at 04:40 PM.
"A most gratifying meal," T'Var says.
"I must admit, I am much too tired after today's activities to meditate. Perhaps a good night's rest will better prepare our minds for some quality meditation tomorrow?"
The shadows are growing long, the day is growing cool, and Bennett has no objection to leaving meditation for tomorrow. She'd like to stay up a bit more to build and tend a campfire, though.
Jeremi suggests a little window shopping before heading back to the ship. She's interested in what the local craftsfolk produce. "Then later, with any luck, one or both of our cabinmates will be on shift and we can end this day properly" Her smile contains just a tiny bit of evil.
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