Best Laid Plans
Posted on Wed Oct 17th, 2012 @ 10:14pm by Captain Vorn Krace & Commander Acle Walex & Commander Jordan Gunning & Lieutenant Commander Sara Archer & Lieutenant Elizabeth Lynn
Mission:
Heart of an Explorer
Location: USS Iapetus - Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD41 1300hrs
As Krace and Gunning returned to their bridge from meeting their new addition to the crew in the shuttlebay, Acle and Sara were already both present in the observation room, along with the Prefect and Counselor Lynn.
"I apologize for the delay, Prefect," Vorn began, as the two entered the room at the rear of the bridge. "There was a ship matter that required dealing with." He'd already automatically slipped back into what many considered his 'diplomat' voice, which he always used subconsciously when dealing with foreign dignitaries.
"Perfectly understandable, Captain," the woman replied. "You have an impressive ship, and I understand that it and its crew must come first for you."
"Shall we get to business then?" This was the part of the Prefect's visit that Krace had been anticipating since they arranged it with her; the tour was a formality which he extended her on the fact that she was the planetary leader of a planet with whom he had just made First Contact - it was one of the events that almost never went amiss during a first meeting. Now however, was when they would talk about the problems affecting the planet below.
"I believe that Commanders Gunning and Archer have been working on the problem of the virus infecting your world, and have come up with some interesting information as well as a plan of action. Commanders?"
Gunning glanced at Archer as he rose to his feet. An unfortunate drawback of rank was that you always had to speak first and be the first one to look like a dribbling moron.
"Our findings seem to suggest that there are a number of what we would call 'hotspots' on the ground which appears to be the location of the viral outbreaks. Our preliminary findings seem to suggest that the virus is being controlled by some unusual weather systems. We don't know enough to say for sure but the early suggestions is that something's controlling those weather systems."
Sara rises to her feet to join her colleague and hands a PADD to the Prefect. "This shows the areas we are most concerned with. The spread patterns of the virus seem to follow the weather patterns. Even with standard airborne viruses, this is abnormal. Airborne viruses still tend to follow transportation lines, not the weather. My suggestion is that we investigate the causes of these weather systems. That should lead us to the cause of the outbreak."
"Weather control?" the Prefect asked, looking at the PADD she had been given as Captain Krace took his seat at the head of the table, and she settled back into her own. "Our scientists have theorized the possibility of that kind of technology, but even if it were possible the stations for it would need to be huge, and there's nothing in any of these regions which would be able to come close."
Walex cleared his throat quietly. "Modern technology, or at least our modern technology, actively deploys such weather system control machines that are very small relatively speaking. A tend of technology that I am sure you have noticed is for said technology to continually become smaller and more efficient. A society or power with a technology level similar to our own would have access to this same technology at a much smaller level then I believe you are referring to." Acle said, attempting to diplomatically explain the vast technology gap.
"So what is it that you are saying?" the Prefect asked, starting to look at each of those present in turn. "Could someone - some other aliens - be responsible for this?"
"We don't know yet," Krace interjected, holding up his hand in a placating gesture. "But in order for us to help you more, we're going to need to study this disease with our own technology and with live samples."
"How will you do this without getting infected yourselves?" the Prefect asked.
Gunning spoke, not quite sure how his idea would actually be carried out. "We should be able to use a combination of our shuttlecraft and our transporters to allow us to create a hermetically sealed laboratory. At least temporarily. I'm quite sure Doctor Marx should be able to set up some additional protection for us as well."
"All Starfleet personnel travelling down to the surface will be in containment suits," Krace continued on from where the commander left off. "They're completely enclosed environments which will stop my officers becoming affected themselves whilst allowing them to do their work, and with your permission Prefect I would also like to station a few of Commander Gunning's security detachment around the facility as guards - just in case a few of the infected population become... aggressive, such as in the case studies you have shown us."
"Yes, that sounds perfectly acceptable to me, Captain," the Prefect answered, nodding her head as she thought things through. "I can't tell you how grateful my people will be to you for any assistance you can provide. I will return to them now to begin preparations for your plan."
"Of course, Prefect," Krace responded, tapping a command on the wall panel to open the observation room door and call in a lieutenant who would show her back to the transporter room. "I'll have a more detailed plan for you within the next few hours."
Once the Prefect had left, Krace turned towards his officers again. "Acle, I want you to coordinate starting fabrication on the lab. There should be some suitable specifications in the computer which we can use to run through the industrial replicators Starfleet gave us for field repairs to the ship."
"Aye aye Captain." Acle replied, already begining to analyze what he would need to do in his mind, and about possibly bringing in Commander Drex on the project as well.
"Commander, begin preparing a team of your security officers for what they might be expected to face down there and what is expected of them. Plan out a rotating roster, to ensure that they don't become too tired whilst on duty and lose their focus."
"All over it, Captain." Gunning replied with a rye smile.
"Captain," Sara interrupted. "Perhaps it would be good for me to be a part of that team. We may find some information at the control station that may provide insight as to who may have implemented this virus."
"I have a different assignment for you," Krace answered. "You and I will be working with the locals. See if we can make sense of any information they currently have on the virus, and perhaps figure out the exact point of first infection, and how it occurred."
The intelligence officer nodded. "Aye captain." Even though it was not the assignment she asked for, she was still satisfied. Sara mostly wanted a reason to get off the ship and back into the field. She was looking forward to it.
"Counsellor," Krace continued, looking now at the member of the group who had been the quietest throughout the entire meeting. "I'd like you to go down with the science and medical teams. See if you can assess the mood of the populace. It might give us a hint to whether any of them have seen or heard something that might be of importance to our investigation."
"Very well, Captain," Elizabeth nodded once in acknowledgement.
"Let's get to work then," Krace said, clapping his hands together to conclude the meeting and watching as his officers filed out of the observation lounge.
Captain Vorn Krace
Commanding Officer
Commander Acle Walex
First Officer
Commander Jordan Gunning
Chief of Security/Second Officer
Lt. Commander Sara Archer
Chief Intelligence Officer
Lieutenant Elizabeth Lynn
Chief Counsellor
USS Iapetus
