Your New Assignment, Should You Accept It...

Posted on Fri Aug 30th, 2024 @ 1:32am by Commander Patricia Cooke & Lieutenant Daisheliss "Lissa" Kerr

1,337 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: I-402
Location: Ready Room, Deck 1

Since her and Tsukasa's little excursion to the Missouri's lounge, Patricia had been more motivated to find a replacement for Commander Bakshi. As she had done so, she had gone over all the blue shirts that the Ermiana had dropped off, and noticed a promising candidate to succeed Commander Stevenson, who had chosen to stay behind at Khitomer to be reassigned:

=A="Cooke to Kerr:"=A= Patricia tapped her commbadge. =A="Report to my ready room at your earliest opportunity."=A=

A beckon straight from the Captain herself. Lieutenant Kerr checked her uniform and made her it was in order before responding back" =A= "Lieutenant Kerr to Captain Cooke, on my way."=A=

Lissa quick-stepped out of the lab and to the nearest turbolift, not wanting to make the Captain wait. When her turbolift stopped at the Bridge, she stepped off, taking a moment to catch her breath as she took noted of the officers on duty, and forced an even pace to the Ready Room door. She passed her hand over the sensor announcing her arrival.

"Enter:" Came Patricia's voice from the other side of the door.

Lissa stepped into the Ready Room for the first time. The Captain's desk was right in front of her as she walked in - which shouldn't have been a surprise, but the proximity startled her a bit. She stopped short a few steps in and stood attention. "Lt. Kerr reporting as directed, Captain."

Off to the Captain's left was a small alcove that was lined with books that contained works several centuries old, originating from the Earth country of Japan in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. All the more curious, as Patricia didn't appear in the slightest to be Japanese.

"Have a seat, Lieutenant." Patricia said, indicating one of the two available chairs in front of the desk.

Lissa nodded and stepped forward sitting down in one of the seats as directed. She sat erect in the chair, feeling overly formal in the presence of the Captain. She checked the room out just briefly not wanting to appear nosy.

"Thank you, Captain." Lissa was curious as to what the Captain wanted to see her about, but was certain that would come.

"Lieutenant, has the Daystrom Institute given us any updates about I-400, or any possible ways to defeat it?" Patricia asked, choosing to cut straight to the meat and potatoes of the current situation.

Lissa took a deep, somewhat baited breath. "Well, they've given me what they claim is everything, though you can never be too sure with them. If there's an off button, they didn't send the formula, no." Lissa pressed her lips together and curled her fingers back into what was almost a fist, but it was a way of pointing with her thumb when she was thinking about something serious.

She continued, "When I-400 escaped she was powered with dilithium, that just isn't sustainable. Too unstable, we'd be able to match weapons to it easily. Even some of the close calls you've already had, she would have detonated. So she's STILL evolving. We have got to figure out how to get access to whatever programming is driving her evolution. Nanites, a virus to send us information on her as she's evolving. We'd have to figure out how to infect her. And it would have to be good."

"Perhaps that's why I-400 is targeting the Cradle next..." Patricia speculated. "Perhaps she's found a way to stabilize her composition? Any new information on the artifact that Dr. Banner experimented on?"

"The cradle is... From my understanding, enhanced cellular regeneration. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't lost a little sleep at night thinking of some of the things she could do with that," Lissa commented. "Trying to connect the artifact to it is a bit of a puzzle. At first I thought she may be wanting to integrate some Borg technological advancements for herself. Then I wandered if she plans to take over a hive, rebuild them somehow."

"I believe we are talking about different artifacts, Lieutenant." Patricia said. "The artifact I'm talking about is shaped something like a lantern; has a glowing green porthole. Dr. Luhk speculated that it may have been something from one of the countless worlds the Borg assimilated."

The Orion scientist perked on the edge of her seat, "No, we're not," she said with a smile. "That artifact allowed 1-400 to take control over at least one of the scientists at Daystrum. The scientist was doing I-400's bidding until it blasted her anyway. And there's a reason they had it so well hidden. I honestly don't know what all it can do. I'm just brainstorming, mind control definitely seems to at least one of it's uses."

"Is it possible that the artifact is something of an early Borg assimilation method?" Patricia asked. "If it's from one of the civilizations that the Borg assimilated like Dr. Luhk theorizes it might be, could they have potentially used it to streamline their own assimilation process?"

"Which came first the chicken or the egg?" Lissa quipped. "Something they used early - or something that streamlines - assimilates without even requiring a person to be captured by a Borg. The footage from Daystrum - that's what it looked like happened. Man... I know the Romulans are 'sharing'," Lissa added air quotes around the word, "bits of the Borg artifact with us by allowing some scientists on board. But everyone I know who has gone has said it's still extremely locked down over there."

She continued, "What I'd give for unfettered access to one of those computers for a day. Can you imagine how it would help us here?"

"What I wouldn't give to dig through Dr. Banner's professional history with the institute. Determine if the man has a penchant for conducting dangerous experiments..." Patricia sighed. "Well, I suppose I'd best let you get back to work. It seems we're no closer to cracking this I-400 mystery than we were when we set off..."

"I do think it's fair to say that there is precedent for dangerous - and secret - experiments to come out of Daystrum. We know synth research continued throughout the ban," Lissa commented. She was taking her cue that the meeting was over and preparing to leave when the Captain indicated there was something else she wanted to mention so she settled back in her seat.

"Oh, speaking of setting off; there was one more thing I wanted to discuss." Patricia spoke up.

"Sure, what's that?" Lissa asked curiously.

"The position of Chief Science Officer has been vacant since Lieutenant Commander Rebecca Stevenson elected to stay behind at Khitomer before we set off." Patricia explained. "I can see from how productive this meeting has been that you definitely have the chops of a senior science officer, and I wanted to offer you the position, if you're interested in it."

Chief Science Officer, Lissa blinked a few times to be sure she'd understood her Captain clearly. She'd always thought of herself as a bit of an unknown, and she certainly hadn't felt that she'd been on the ship long enough to get Commander Cooke's attention. "I'm honored, Captain - if not surprised if I can admit that." Lissa tried to keep her composure and prevent the flush from rising to her cheeks.

"It would be my pleasure to serve you and the crew in that capacity, Captain," she responded, concentrating on taking controlled breaths. She could celebrate more freely later - perhaps after it was official.

"Then, let's go ahead and make it official:" Patricia said, standing up and offering a hand for Lissa. "Congratulations, Lieutenant:"

Lissa stood up as well, discreetly checking her palms to make sure they weren't sweating before extending her hand to shake Commander Cooke's. "Thank you, Captain. I'm excited for the opportunity," she said with a smile.


Posting by

Commander Patricia Cooke
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Daisheliss "Lissa" Kerr
Chief Science Officer

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