Um, Am I In Charge?
Posted on Sat Jun 29th, 2024 @ 7:56pm by Ensign Connor Turner & Ensign Millicent Ambrose & Chief Petty Officer Llaxia & Chief Petty Officer Jol Reena & Crewman Sokichi "Andy" Andresen
Edited on on Tue Jul 2nd, 2024 @ 8:14pm
0 words; about a 1 minute read
Mission:
Episode 15 - The Evil That Lies Beneath
Location: Main Engineering - Deck 11 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD005 1100 hrs
Connor looked further into Elen's disappearance through the computer and much to his disturbance, he could not find a logical explanation for Elen suddenly vanishing from the ship. He figured that he would discuss the problem with the Assistant Chief Engineer in the morning. He could not do anything without permission. Those were the rules.
The moment that he woke up, he called out to the Assistant Chief Engineer. =^= Lieutenant Trelor-Var, can I please talk with you? =^=
The computer answered, "Lieutenant Trelor-Var is not on the Pioneer."
Connor's eyes widened. No! That can't be. "Computer, please verify the location of Lieutenant Trelor-Var."
"Lieutenant Trelor-Va is no longer on the USS Pioneer. He has transferred from the Pioneer."
"Bugger!" Connor cried out. Chain of command.... Chain of command. Who is next in charge? Is that me? Elen made me a lead starting on Monday.... Wait! Maybe I can ask Thex. She's weird but she did give me a recommendation and got me back here....
=^=Lieutenant Thex sh'Zoarhi, this is Ensign Connor Turner. I need to talk to you immediately.=^=
Once again, the computer answered, "Lieutenant Thex sh'Zoarhi is not on the Pioneer."
I'm not alone, am I? The Englishman refused to panic but it was fair to say that he was becoming much more concerned. Running out of options, he tried his comm again. =^=Millie, can you hear me? Where are you? This is Connor, =^= he added for good measure.
Connor's call surprised Millie and she hit her head upon the lip of the Jeffries tube entrance as she exited out. "Ouch" she muttered, rubbing her forehead tapping on her commbadge with the other hand. =^= I can hear you, Connor. Is everything okay? =^=
=^= No, it is not, =^= Connor answered. =^= I do not know if it is a good idea to talk on comms. Please come to Engineering immediately. =^=
This made Millie rather perplexed about the urgency in Connor's voice almost ran to Engineering, when she arrived, she scanned around to see if she could find Connor.
"Connor I am here. What is going on?"
"Something is not right," he told Millie with a great deal of understatement. "Last night, I wandered into After 11 while I was trying to get used to Gamma shift, I learned that some of our chiefs were missing. The computer confirmed last night that Elen was not on the ship. Now the ACEO, Trelor-Var is gone. I checked for the Ops Chief and she's gone too."
He gulped heavily. "I think I might be in charge, Millie...."
One eyebrow raised followed by the other. "You are in charge now? Wait, the senior staff are gone? This is becoming even more of a nightmare. And I had a walking lighthearted I saw, the XO Tremble having died due to someone tampering with his armor electrocuting him." Millie gasped out.
"You what?" Connor asked, not fully comprehending what Millie was saying. "But, um, yeah, check with the computer yourself. Make certain I'm not dreaming."
Millie blinked several times then realized she had confused Connor. "Okay what I meant to say was I had a walking nightmare about Tremble being dead." Millie accessed the computer logs. "What the heck is going on here? And are you certain you are in charge? There are people who have been here longer than us. Though I am not certain who they are. Maybe we have a meeting with the other engineers?"
Connor nodded hesitantly. "I think I might, but I'm not certain. I was made lead of gamma and I don't know anyone in charge of the other shifts. I, um, well, would rather be certain. A meeting seems like the best thing to do, right? Sort it out."
He smiled warmly but nervously at Millie. "I'm glad that I have you to help me."
"That's what friends are for right?" Millie's earlier nervousness where Connor was concerned pretty much gone. She gave him a smile of confidence and assurance. "I know that we can figure out what is happening with the engineering team."
"Of course we can," Connor answered back. "We're problem solvers." He audibly thought for a moment, "Hmmm." Then he decided. "OK, why don't you gather every engineer here. I'm going to do some research on the computers to find out what chiefs are still here and our current status."
"Sounds good to me." Millie responded to Connor, then tapped on her commbadge, "Chiefs Llaxia and Jol please come to engineering as soon as you can, this is Ensign Millie Ambrose. Also, Crewman Anderson would you report to engineering as well." Millie then looked at Connor, "Hopefully we can find a solution to this."
"Me too. You are not going to believe what I have found. I'm not certain that I believe it."
Reena had been in her quarters tinkering with a piece of alien tech she'd purchased on Poseidon Station. After receiving the message, she threw on her uniform jacket, tapped her comm. badge and said, "I'm on my way."
Llaxia was arguing with her sister. Jedeli wanted to go out an have some fun, but Liaxia wanted to sleep. Their argument was ended when the Structural Engineer received the message. The Deltan got dressed and headed for Main Engineering.
Arriving first Reena asked. "Sir, ma'am what's the problem?"
Connor looked at Llaxia and Reena and then immediately looked at his feet. Two Deltans on the ship?! As if the one was not bad enough! So many pretty women.... Is a joke being played on me by God or Starfleet? He looked back over at Millie hopefully and perhaps for some support. In his Exeter accent answered, "I'll get to that when everyone has arrived."
Millie gave Connor a thumbs up of confidence and an approving smile. "It's going to be okay" she said quietly to him. This was one way for her to meet some of the others in engineering.
Moments after everyone arrived, Connor steeled himself and started nervously, "Right. So, here it is. Um, well, see..." he looked over again at Millie, not fully knowing what to do and hoped she could silently communicate something to him.
"Tell them about the disappearances." Millie said quietly.
"I might as well come right out with it," Connor told everyone after a short exhale. "All the Chiefs are missing and apparently some have been gone for days. As near as I can tell, the only people of the command staff that are still here are the Captain, Commander Tremble, and Commander McGowen. The computer says that no other chiefs are on board the Pioneer and has no record of how they left."
He looked down at his feet, then up at the ceiling, and then over one of the shoulder of a woman not named Millie. "As Elen promoted me to Gamma Lead and I cannot find anyone else of higher rank than me or Millie, I think that means I'm in charge at the moment...."
Andy strolled in talking to what looked like a green lump of jelly "So, Sir, we just recabled that bit, and now it seems the problem has gone, but I want to check with the boss on that."
The Jelly, known as Dave, looked at the group "Ay, up what's happened, where the blonde bombsite?"
Connor was glad that he was British. He failed to roll his eyes as Dave belatedly joined the group. "As we had just gone over, we do not know. Nor do we know where the ACEO is."
"Right-ti-oh. Trev's off to Tellar on a course, so whoever is Gamma lead, now is in charge. I'm just the apprentice's trainer. I'll get on the blower to find where El's gone walkabout."
He slithered over to a station, climbed up into a chair, and extended a sausage like arm onto the console, typing. A comm channel opened.
"Hey Malc. It's Dave. You got a beep on Elen Diari's transponder?"
The human on the other side answered, "Naw Dave, not on our screens- I'll look on the tiddies board, see if they've got her," He looked away from the screen "Nope. Temporal Investigations says not with them, Want me to wake up the boys?"
Dave pondered for a minute "You'd better. Cheers Malc, speak to ya soon."
He spun round in the chair "OK, that was Clandestine Services, they haven't borrowed our dear leader; nor have the weirdos in time travel. So, we keep going, and let the experts in Science do their thing, and if they ask for help, try not to ignore them completely."
"Right!" Connor finally concluded, noticing that Dave just mostly went over everything he had. "So, I guess I'm in charge," he told everyone with a large gulp. Think Connor! Think! What would a Chief do? "We still have a ship to run. I, um, suppose I will check with the Command staff to see if they know something we do not. Millie, coordinate with Science to see if we can sort out a way to find our chiefs. Llaxia," Connor stated before swallowing harder and looking firmly at his feet. "I, um, want you to look through all of Elen's logs and trace her steps. I want to know everything that happened before she disappeared: who she was with, what she was doing, and anything else that might give a clue."
He then turned to Andy. Thank God he's male. I can look at him comfortably. "Right. Andresen, um, you and Dave, check that the ship's operation is correct. I want to know of any anomalies, no matter how minute. They might provide a clue."
Connor finally turned to Millie, hoping that he did not miss anyone or anything. He gave her an uncertain smile, "Any questions?" he asked everyone.
"You're doing fine, sir." Reena said encouragingly. "Remember your training, you can depend on us."
"Yeah, what Reena said." Llaxia agreed. "We're a resource, like a computer, utilize our experience and expertise to achieve your goal, sir."
Connor's gaze found his feet as he told the women, "Thank you for your confidence. I hope that I can earn it."
Both smiled, they knew Connor knew his stuff, he just needed some confidence.
Millie had been checking on something herself., "Uh, Connor? " her face going pale, "Major Tremble is gone." She gulped, her mind going to the nightmare she had mentioned to Connor. "Sergeant Major Barr is still here, he is the chief of the boat. And I'll go check in with science. Dr one other person someone you might want to check in with is Captain Merrick."
Merrick was someone that Connor did not understand. He felt that Merrick was unnecessarily pushy. So, he had no desire to meet with Merrick. What would be the reason to do so, logically? He was a marine and not in his chain of command. However, he trusted Millie, so curiosity got the best of him. "Why? Commander McGowen is still here and she probably should be warned first."
Dave piped up "We got anyone on the bridge? They can talk to any command bods left there and get any messages we need. Sitrep on systems, everything's OK, apart from a long list of diagnostics that are queued to run but paused for some reason."
Millie girded up her courage, then announced. "There is some news and whispers that she's not one to be trusted, Connor. I-I think that is something that needs to be thought about. I've seen her recently, she's not seen me but something about her creeps me out. So yes, talk to Captain Merrick, he may know more about what is going on." Millie looked at the others there. "Seriously, have the rest of you heard anything? When it comes to doing things on the ship, at times we're in the background. I also say go talk to some of the other crew members that are left. Intelligence, um security. Anyone who may have information that we may not have." She stopped there, her face going all red, since she just blurted out things.
Connor initially looked at Millie with wonder. He had never heard her utter so many words to anyone ever, let alone so confidently. "OK, Acting Chief Engineer," he told Millie. "I'll take your request seriously, but there is a chain of command that has to be followed. We can't just act on 'giving the creeps,' right?" He shrugged apologetically at Millie, hoping that she understood that he accepted what she said and believed in her but had to follow protocol. Usually she did, from what he could see, so he tried not to fret about it much. Work did have to get done. Trying to bolster Millie, he continued after some hesitation, "And Millie is right. I found out about some of this last night. We're problem solvers, so we're going to figure out the answer to this. Gather data any way you can within the rules, of course."
He then looked at Dave and said, "Find out why those diagnostics were paused and who ordered that, if anyone. I want to know if there's anything in those diagnostics that might provide a clue as to where our chiefs have gone."
At that moment, Connor went pale, as he realized aloud, "I, uh, probably should tell the computer that I'm assuming command of engineering, shouldn't I?"
"That probably would be a good idea. Um also another source of information that could be looked into is... that Chief who is the shuttle bay manager. Um... Chief Xeres. He might have some answers that we can get. We do need to do some networking here." Her eyes widened, realizing that Connor called her his Assistant Chief Engineer. "We've got danger going on that we don't know of at all." She paused then added, "Once this is over, I'd like to get to know the rest of you, you know... maybe go have some drinks?"
Millie asked people out to drinks? She barely was willing to have a meal with me and we never did that! Connor thought to himself, surprised. "Computer, please verify that Connor James Turner is the highest ranking engineer on board Pioneer."
"Confirmed. Ensign Connor James Turner is the highest ranking engineering officer currently on Pioneer."
Connor took a deep breath and then said, "Computer, please take note that I, Ensign Connor Turner am assuming the Acting Chief Engineering Officer position. Please transfer all engineering command codes and authorizations to me until I am relieved."
The computer answered, "I cannot do that without the consent of the Captain or the next highest ranking engineer."
He looked over at Millie, "Would you please confirm for me? And, computer, once you transfer the codes and authorizations, please make Ensign Millicent Ambrose the Acting Assistant Chief Engineer."
Millie noticed Connor looking strangely at her when she suggested that the engineers gathered there they go have some drinks. She will address that after she gave her authorization.
"Computer this is Ensign Millicent Tabitha Ambrose authorization code 04-19-74 Acting Assistant Chief Engineer, Authorizing Ensign Connor James Turner as Acting Chief Engineer. With all necessary codes and authorizations." The computer chirped in answer. Millie looked at Connor "You have been authorized." she leaned into whisper to Connor "That drink invite includes you. Would be a good idea not to turn that down."
"Computer, please note that I, Ensign Connor James Turner as of 1108 am accepting the position of Acting Chief Engineer. Authorization code, Phi-Kappa-Theta-Mu-3-1-4."
The computer answered, "All engineering command codes and other authorizations have been transferred to Ensign Connor James Turner."
"Thank you, Computer," Connor replied with equal parts of gratefulness and trepidation.
It then occurred to him that Millie was whispering in his ear. He nodded his acknowledgment hesitantly. God, please just let us survive this and get back Elen so that perhaps I could just meet with Millie and not everyone.... His head was beginning to spin with all the questions and tasks filling his brain. He had not yet been trained for this. Was sleep going to be possible? Before he could get wrapped up in all of his terrifying thoughts, he asked the group, "Does everyone know what they need to do?"
"I will be heading for Science Department and see if there is some information they can give us." Millie stated. Getting herself mentally prepped.
"Right," Connor replied. "We did agree on that didn't we?" He gulped heavily. "Everyone else?"
"I could talk with Security, if you like." Reena said. "I've been in Security in the past." She added.
Connor blushed lightly. He realized that he had not given Reena a specific task. However, if she had been in security before, this might have worked out in his favor. "Yes, do that please."
"Aye, sir." Reena said and left for Security.
Connor's eyes went wide at "Sir." Technically, as a Chief, even an acting chief, that's how people should refer to him. However, he was quite certain that Elen would disapprove. Consequently, he was torn and startled regarding his feelings on this small gesture.
Dave turned towards the chief, "Ok, head honcho, the diagnostics didn't run, as the computer ran a complete scan of the ship, disrupting things, no name or security code attached, so someone who knows the root codes did it, I'll get a list together."
"How long will it take?" Connor asked, before adding, "Do not give me the answer we would give a Captain. Give me the actual time, please."
"Sure," Dave answered. "As long as it takes for this line to get to one hundred percent, maybe two minutes," pointing to the status bar on the screen.
Millie looked at the others then gave a slight smile, it looked like things were working out well so far. "I'll get going and go talk to the science department." leaving to head out of engineering.
Connor gave Millie an appreciative nod, followed by, "Thank you, Millie." He then turned back to Dave, "Got it. Hardly anything. Well, you all know what to do, right?" Connor asked, wondering how in the world one ended a meeting.
"Yep, I do lad. You're getting the hang of being the boss. Relax, take a few deep breaths, Everything's under control. There's six people on the list who can run programs without tracers. You, Elen and Sandy in engineering. Commander McGowan, Beckett and Kaylara in Intelligence. Sandy's in sickbay with appendicitis, so It's probably the intel mob." Dave explained
Llaxia was looking through Elen's logs, the Betazoid had an unorthodox way of organizing her logs, Llaxia soon got the hang of it, but there didn't seem to be anything of note, she'd had a meeting booked with the 2XO, though that was hardly unusual, only there were no logs after the meeting was supposed to take place.
A Joint Post By
Ensign Connor Turner
Computer Systems Specialist, USS Pioneer
Ensign Millicent Ambrose
Engineering Officer, USS Pioneer
Chief Petty Officer Jol Reena
Damage Control Specialist, USS Pioneer
Chief Petty Officer Llaxia
Structural/Environmental Specialist, USS Pioneer
Crewman Sokichi Andresen
Matter/Energy Systems Specialist, USS Pioneer
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