Stardate 2365.05.15 - Impact minus 73:12
USS Peregrine, Deck 1, Officers’ Lounge - 1630

As Esel finished booking the Holodeck the COO caught up with him in the corridor. 

 "Long-range scans will easily pick up any communications from this distance. I'll filter through the feeds and take the Calicanian's temperature. If you want to run the math on any large visual interference with the asteroid by Calicanians, we can compare notes tomorrow." with the asteroid by Calicanians, we can compare notes tomorrow."

"large visual interference?" He repeated back to the COO not quite grasping the meaning of what had been said.. after a moments hesitation looking at Ander's as the penny dropped.

"Of course .... emitted light particles ..Radiation? ... Vaporisation of heavy metals?.....so close to the planet ..... " he turned away still muttering to himself as he mulled over the implecations of what had been said, he turned back towards the COO.

"Thank you Sir, we shall run the numbers" 

I almost miss the large labs, and endless sea of bodies on a Starbase now. he mused to himself Now how to block/ redirct the light emitted from the giant explosion of a planet killing asteroid?

Stardate 2365.05.15 - Impact minus 73:12
USS Peregrine, Deck 1, Officers’ Lounge - 1630

During the Captain’s briefing, the doctor remained silent and gazed the black emptiness outside with unfocused eyes. He did hear everything that was being said, even registered most of it. But all the while the Betazoid concentrated on keeping the voices of the emotions out of his core. The mind block itself did not strain the man very much anymore, but the thought of a whole planet being rendered uninhabitable in a beat of a heart wore him down terribly.  

That said," the Captains said, coming to the end of the actual briefing portion of the meeting, "I am not willing to let seven billion lives end when I could have prevented it.  My ideal scenario would be to come up with some way to save the inhabitants of the planet and still uphold the Prime Directive.  So I have called you here to help me figure out how we can do both."

Three of Commander Drake’s words stayed inside of Amris’s head and began to roll around again again: seven billion lives… seven billion lives… seven billion lives… The Doc let out a quiet cry of anguish and grasped the frame of the viewport, visibly shaken. He took a deep breath forcing himself back together. He wasn’t he sure could take the pain of seven billion sentients perishing simultaneously. 

The cacophony of emotions radiating from Calican II would go silent in a single instant and would be a relief as such, but the torment would be replaced by another. As an empath, Amris Veen felt everything a lot stronger than anybody else on board, with perhaps the exception of his fellow Betazoid crew members. He might not be able to bear the thought of so many deaths without losing his mind.

When the XO spoke to him, it took the Doc a couple seconds to bring himself out of his dreary thoughts. He turned from the viewport and nodded to Lieutenant Commander Zai. He tried to hide his own emotions from his handsome face, but to a sharp eye he probably failed utterly. 

“Of course, Sir. I have a feeling Chief Cook may already be ahead of us in her preparations. She seems to be very efficient. But I will naturally make sure the Sickbay is ready for anything and everything, Sir.”

Once dismissed, Amris gave the Captain and the XO a nod and headed out with his hand on his comms unit.

“Veen to Cook and Adama.”

OOC: Assuming a reply from Cook.

=/\= Adama here. Can I help you, Sir? =/\=

“Chief. Mr. Adama. The Sickbay will be on Yellow Alert from now on. We will begin preparations for an emergency response and will change the rotation from 12 hours shifts to six hours for the next 73 hours. Chief, make sure the rotation is as efficient as possible with either you or myself as the backup for the nurse on duty. Minimum 12 hours of rest for everyone. Two nurses on duty at all times. Meet me in the Sickbay as soon as possible.”

=/\= Acknowledged. =/\=

OOC: Unless there’s an objection from Cook:

A few minutes later Lieutenant Veen, now fully in control of himself, stood outside the Sickbay door. He waits for the Chief to arrive and beckons her to enter.

Amris took a deep breath, followed Cook inside and headed straight to Nurse Adama. He called in the staff members on duty with him as well. The Doc looked everyone in the eye, before speaking out.“The Captain has just briefed the senior officers about the situation on Calican II, or rather in its immediate vicinity.” The Doc cast a look at the clock on the wall while he considered his next words and fought down the emotion of despair of his own.

“In the next 73 hours all sentient life on Calican II will cease to exist. There is an asteroid called…”, Amris glanced at his pad. “2365 C41A3 DN17 heading straight at the planet. It is over 30 kilometres in diameter, so the impact will be an extinction level incident. Now, we all are very well aware of the Prime Directive. We cannot let the Calicans know of our presence and following the directive to the letter, it would indeed be forbidden for us to intervene. The General Order 1 clearly states, that the Starfleet is prohibited from helping a society escape a natural disaster known to the society, even if inaction would result in a society's extinction, unless the society had warp technology and had formally requested aid. Unfortunately the people of Calican II do not possess warp-level tech and as they are as of yet unaware of our presence, could not formally request aid anyway.”

The Doc sighed. “So according to the Prime Directive we cannot do anything… But the Captain is not willing to let the people on the planet perish. His plan is to find a solution that allows us to do both: save the Calicans without breaking the PD. So any ideas that could help us accomplish that are most welcome. My mind seems to be still in shock and I cannot think of anything useful on that department.”

“The XO has asked us to prepare for quick response. I am therefore putting the Sickbay into Yellow Alert. While there is no combat to be expected, things may go wrong in many ways when we try to stop the asteroid from destroying Calican II. We need to be prepared for anything that may come down our way and we need to be as ready as possible until the alert is over. In roughly 72 hours we have either saved the planet or watched 7 billion people die. I would very much prefer the first option, PD or no PD.”

“Questions?”

Stardate 2365.05.14

USS Peregrine; Deck 4 - Sickbay - 18:50

 Chief Dana Cook walked into Sickbay at her usual 10 mins prior to the start of her shift, and paused in place.  The new CMO was walking about the sickbay looking at everything as if appraising the readiness of the Medical equipment.

Look all you want, you will not find anything out of place. She thought as she continued into the room; her pride in the efficiency and training of her medical staff was shown in the rising of her shoulders slightly.  If anything were out of place, she knew it would be the newly arrived staff.  She had instructed them on what she expected of them in regards to the Sick Bay and staff's readiness, but thus far they had proven themselves just at reliable as the old staff.

“Evening Doctor,” Cook said as she walked in and approached her workstation. 

Amris looked up from the scanner and smiled to the Chief. He had felt her approach a moment earlier, but sensing her irritation, he had kept his eyes on the devices. “Good evening, Chief.” Waving with his arm around to indicate all the equipment around the room. “I was just admiring the impeccable state of everything. I was not expecting anything less of course… To be honest, I am actually fairly hungry and was simply biding my time until the end of my shift.”

Logging into her station, she looked over the day’s medical log of patients and saw that it had been mostly minor injuries, and such. Her eyebrows narrowed as she saw the appointment of one crewmember with the Doctor for a ‘consoling’ session.  Her eyes darted up to glance at the Doctor then quickly back to her screen.  She wondered if his sessions consisted of his probing the patients mind; though that might help in the treatment, if given voluntarily, but she suspected that Betazoids often did it without permissions.  This was the reason she was uncomfortable with the new Doctor; he seems a decent fellow so far, but she had a distrust of people who could read your thoughts.  She took her privacy, especially her thoughts, very seriously. 

“Any instructions,” she spoke up and said to him, “or anything I should be aware of before you leave?”

Her tone might give it away; but she seems anxious to have him gone from sickbay. 

Dana had not really interacted much with the new Doctor, only seeing each other at meetings or shift changes, since he came aboard.  Her behavior at their first meeting was not the warmest; she had not wanted a new CMO, she did not want to lose Dr. Reine, and then she had learned the new Doc would be a Betazoid.  She did not like that one bit. 

Their first meeting had been professional and punctual, and she no doubt knew the Doc could not miss her stiff demeanor when talking with him.  They had not discussed the ‘issues’ yet, but Dana knew that the Doc could not put it off for much longer.  He was not blind, even without his ‘abilities’, and if he had even once ‘scanned’ her emotions, he would know that he had a problem with his Head Nurse.  A personal problem.

The Doc smiled again and nodded to Dana. “Well not instructions as such, but I did actually wish to speak with you.” Amris beckoned her to sit down and pulled a chair for himself as well. He wasn’t sure how the human would react if he looked her straight in the eye as some of her people were not comfortable with direct eye-to-eye contact. He decided not to test her preference and only briefly glanced at Dana’s face before speaking out.

“Chief… And I say this with total understanding and with absolutely zero judgement… I am aware of your… discomfort with my… abilities and I want you to know, that you are by no means alone. And that is perfectly ok.” The Doc raised his hand to stop any comment the Chief may or may not have had on her mind. “I would very much like to put your mind at ease as much as possible. Now, I do not expect you to trust me completely right away after you have heard what I have to say. But I hope in time, you and everyone in the Sickbay and on board can learn to be at ease in my presence.”

The Doc took a deep breath, smiled again and continued. “As you very well know, my people have the ability to sense emotions and even thoughts of other people. What you perhaps are not aware of is, that not all of us are on the same… well, level, in our abilities. Most Betazoids can sense strong feelings, but only a small number of us are actually telepathic. My empathic ability allows me to feel your joy, your sadness and your irritation.”

Another smile, just as genuine as the previous ones, appeared on doctor Veen’s face. “While it is possible for me to block, in the absence of a better word, the feelings of people around me, it is tiring in the long run. I do not know if you are aware, but emotions are actually quite strong and easy for my people to sense even across distances.  In that sense, as your feelings are.. well, outside of you in a way, my empathy is not breaching your personal immunity.”

Letting it sink in, Amris continued: “Telepathy on the other hand… Reading someone’s thoughts… That is definitely a violation. Yes, I am among the few who have the ability to communicate telepathically. And no, I am not allowed and would never do it without another person’s consent, unless it would be ordered by my superior and it would be the only way to stop something terrible from taking place. And even then I would be forbidden to read the thoughts separate from the purpose of the reading.” 

“The Betazoid actually have a thing called the Code of Sentience. It is not exactly a law, but in fact something far beyond any legislation. The main idea of the Code is that reading the mind of another being without permission is taboo and that we must respect all sentient life as sacred.”

At that moment the Doc turned his eyes to his hands and shook his head before looking the Chief right in the eye. “So, Chief. Even if I for some reason I cannot even fathom, would want to enter your mind. I could not. It would be the worst thing I could do to a person, apart from taking a life.”

Amris raised his arms slightly from his lap and beckoned to Chief Cook with open palms facing up. “But please, Chief. I have talked for a long while denying you a chance to comment. Go ahead and ask me anything. Permission to speak freely.”

Stardate 2365.05.14

USS Peregrine; Deck 4 - Sickbay - 18:50 – 19:00

 Chief Dana Cook walked into Sickbay at her usual 10 mins prior to the start of her shift, and paused in place.  The new CMO was walking about the sickbay looking at everything as if appraising the readiness of the Medical equipment.

Look all you want, you will not find anything out of place. She thought as she continued into the room; her pride in the efficiency and training of her medical staff was shown in the rising of her shoulders slightly.  If anything were out of place, she knew it would be the newly arrived staff.  She had instructed them on what she expected of them in regards to the Sick Bay and staff's readiness, but thus far they had proven themselves just as reliable as the old staff.

“Evening Doctor,” Cook said as she walked in and approached her workstation.

Amris looked up from the scanner and smiled to the Chief. He had felt her approach a moment earlier, but sensing her irritation, he had kept his eyes on the devices. “Good evening, Chief.” Waving with his arm around to indicate all the equipment around the room. “I was just admiring the impeccable state of everything. I was not expecting anything less of course… To be honest, I am actually fairly hungry and was simply biding my time until the end of my shift.”

Logging into her station, she looked over the day’s medical log of patients and saw that it had been mostly minor injuries, and such. Her eyebrows narrowed as she saw the appointment of one crewmember with the Doctor for a ‘consoling’ session.  Her eyes darted up to glance at the Doctor then quickly back to her screen.  She wondered if his sessions consisted of his probing the patients mind; though that might help in the treatment, if given voluntarily, but she suspected that Betazoids often did it without permissions.  This was the reason she was uncomfortable with the new Doctor; he seems a decent fellow so far, but she had a distrust of people who could read your thoughts.  She took her privacy, especially her thoughts, very seriously.

“Any instructions,” she spoke up and said to him, “or anything I should be aware of before you leave?”

Her tone might give it away; but she seems anxious to have him gone from sickbay.

Dana had not really interacted much with the new Doctor, only seeing each other at meetings or shift changes, since he came aboard.  Her behavior at their first meeting was not the warmest; she had not wanted a new CMO, she did not want to lose Dr. Reine, and then she had learned the new Doc would be a Betazoid.  She did not like that one bit.

Their first meeting had been professional and punctual, and she no doubt knew the Doc could not miss her stiff demeanor when talking with him.  They had not discussed the ‘issues’ yet, but Dana knew that the Doc could not put it off for much longer.  He was not blind, even without his ‘abilities’, and if he had even once ‘scanned’ her emotions, he would know that he had a problem with his Head Nurse.  A personal problem.

The Doc smiled again and nodded to Dana. “Well not instructions as such, but I did actually wish to speak with you.” Amris beckoned her to sit down and pulled a chair for himself as well. He wasn’t sure how the human would react if he looked her straight in the eye as some of her people were not comfortable with direct eye-to-eye contact. He decided not to test her preference and only briefly glanced at Dana’s face before speaking out.

Dana seemed taken aback with the doctor’s desire to sit and talk with her, but she shrugged slightly and pulled her chair from her workstation around to face the doctor, then she sat.  Looking at him she didn’t need to be a telepath to read some sense of unease in his current appearance.  She raised an eyebrow and wondered if they were finally going to get to the crux of the problems between them.  It was about time she figured. 

“Chief… and I say this with total understanding and with absolutely zero judgement… I am aware of your… discomfort with my… abilities and I want you to know, that you are by no means alone. And that is perfectly ok.” The Doc raised his hand to stop any comment the Chief may or may not have had on her mind. “I would very much like to put your mind at ease as much as possible. Now, I do not expect you to trust me completely right away after you have heard what I have to say. But I hope in time, you and everyone in the Sickbay and on board can learn to be at ease in my presence.”

The corner of Cook’s mouth lifted slightly when he raised a hand to forestall any response just yet.  She hadn’t be thinking of making one just now; she preferred to hear what people said and gather her words into a coherent reply before giving them.  She continued to listen with interest.

The Doc took a deep breath, smiled again and continued. “As you very well know, my people have the ability to sense emotions and even thoughts of other people. What you perhaps are not aware of is, that not all of us are on the same… well, level, in our abilities. Most Betazoids can sense strong feelings, but only a small number of us are actually telepathic. My empathic ability allows me to feel your joy, your sadness and your irritation.”

Another smile, just as genuine as the previous ones, appeared on doctor Veen’s face. “While it is possible for me to block, in the absence of a better word, the feelings of people around me, it is tiring in the long run. I do not know if you are aware, but emotions are actually quite strong and easy for my people to sense even across distances.  In that sense, as your feelings are.. well, outside of you in a way, my empathy is not breaching your personal immunity.”

The Chief was considering this as he spoke, and while she knew the Betazoids all sensed emotions; she guessed she could agree about them sensing those feelings, and it not being an invasion of Privacy.  After all, most humans carried their emotions outside anyway.  Once could look at someone who was happy, or sad, or irritated, and usually see it in his or her posture, or face.  That wasn’t what concerned her though and she guessed that the Doctor was getting to the part where she felt some anxiety.

Letting it sink in, Amris continued: “Telepathy on the other hand… Reading someone’s thoughts… That is definitely a violation. Yes, I am among the few who have the ability to communicate telepathically. And no, I am not allowed and would never do it without another person’s consent, unless it would be ordered by my superior and it would be the only way to stop something terrible from taking place. And even then I would be forbidden to read the thoughts separate from the purpose of the reading.”

“The Betazoid actually have a thing called the Code of Sentience. It is not exactly a law, but in fact something far beyond any legislation. The main idea of the Code is that reading the mind of another being without permission is taboo and that we must respect all sentient life as sacred.”

At that moment the Doc turned his eyes to his hands and shook his head before looking the Chief right in the eye. “So, Chief. Even if I for some reason I cannot even fathom, would want to enter your mind. I could not. It would be the worst thing I could do to a person, apart from taking a life.”

Amris raised his arms slightly from his lap and beckoned to Chief Cook with open palms facing up. “But please, Chief. I have talked for a long while denying you a chance to comment. Go ahead and ask me anything. Permission to speak freely.”

Chief Cook returned the gaze into those dark eyes and didn’t flinch or shy away from them.  She could understand how some might see such things as intimidating, or fearful, but she had seen far worse.  Lifting her head slightly as she composed her thoughts, she let out a slow sigh before she began.

“Doctor, I just want you to know that my .. feelings towards you are not personal,” She began slowly, “I know most of what you have just told me about your people and their abilities.  I already knew much already about Betazoids, and when I learned you were coming aboard, I made it my mission to learn all that I could, especially regarding your telepathic abilities. I will admit that I have been suffering some unwarranted anxiety about you.  But I have a reason for that, though it isn’t really an excuse for my behavior.”

She paused and seemed to be gathering some courage before continuing. 

“Back when I was stationed aboard the Aries,” she began, as her eyes became unfocused as she thought back to that time, “we recovered an injured man aboard a disabled shuttlecraft.   He was a Cairn, and as you are probably aware, they have don’t really have a spoken language, but communicate entirely by telepathy, and then mostly in images.  They consider it a more efficient form of communication.  He was unconscious when brought aboard, and I was treating his injuries, which weren’t too serious.  When he came to, he naturally attempted to tell me what had happened by projecting images of an attack upon his shuttle.  The sudden intrusion into my mind, of images so real, and not my own, were a severe shock to my mind.”

She paused and took a deep breath as her eyes refocused on the Doctor.

“He didn’t intend any harm,” Cook continued, “but harm was done.  My mind had never experienced anything like it, and it was difficult to separate those images and sensations from my own memories. It was as if it had all happened to me.”

“Since that day,” her eyes dropped for the first time, a look of .. what? … embarrassment maybe, “I’ve found it hard to trust being around any species which can get into my mind.”

“I know it’s not your fault, Doctor,” she said as she raised her eyes back to meet his, “and I know my fears may seem ridiculous, but they are buried deep within my mind.  However, I promise I will make every effort to get past these irrational fears, and learn to trust you and work efficiently with you, as you deserve."

The Chief's shoulders visibly relaxed as she got the reasons for her mistrust about the Doctor off her chest. She just hoped that they could work together, and she could made progress in getting over her fears of telepaths; or at least this telepath.

Stardate 2365.05.15 - Impact minus 73:12

USS Peregrine, Deck 1, Officers’ Lounge - 1630

Once dismissed, Amris gave the Captain and the XO a nod and headed out with his hand on his comms unit.

“Veen to Cook and Adama.”

=/\= Cook here. =/\=

=/\= Adama here. Can I help you, Sir? =/\=

“Chief. Mr. Adama. The Sickbay will be on Yellow Alert from now on. We will begin preparations for an emergency response and will change the rotation from 12 hours shifts to six hours for the next 73 hours. Chief, make sure the rotation is as efficient as possible with either you or myself as the backup for the nurse on duty. Minimum 12 hours of rest for everyone. Two nurses on duty at all times. Meet me in the Sickbay as soon as possible.”

=/\= Understood.  Cook Out =/\=

=/\= Acknowledged. =/\=

Stardate 2365.05.15 - Impact minus 73:02

USS Peregrine, Deck 4, Sick Bay - 1640

A few minutes later Lieutenant Veen, now fully in control of himself, stood outside the Sickbay door. He waits for the Chief to arrive and beckons her to enter.

Chief Cook came down the hallway with her PADD in hand; she nodded to the doctor as she continued past him and into Sickbay. 

Amris took a deep breath, followed Cook inside and headed straight to Nurse Adama. He called in the staff members on duty with him as well. The Doc looked everyone in the eye, before speaking out.“The Captain has just briefed the senior officers about the situation on Calican II, or rather in its immediate vicinity.” The Doc cast a look at the clock on the wall while he considered his next words and fought down the emotion of despair of his own.

“In the next 73 hours all sentient life on Calican II will cease to exist. There is an asteroid called…”, Amris glanced at his pad. “2365 C41A3 DN17 heading straight at the planet. It is over 30 kilometres in diameter, so the impact will be an extinction level incident. Now, we all are very well aware of the Prime Directive. We cannot let the Calicans know of our presence and following the directive to the letter, it would indeed be forbidden for us to intervene. The General Order 1 clearly states, that the Starfleet is prohibited from helping a society escape a natural disaster known to the society, even if inaction would result in a society's extinction, unless the society had warp technology and had formally requested aid. Unfortunately the people of Calican II do not possess warp-level tech and as they are as of yet unaware of our presence, could not formally request aid anyway.”

The Doc sighed. “So according to the Prime Directive we cannot do anything… But the Captain is not willing to let the people on the planet perish. His plan is to find a solution that allows us to do both: save the Calicans without breaking the PD. So any ideas that could help us accomplish that are most welcome. My mind seems to be still in shock and I cannot think of anything useful on that department.”

Cook noticed the Doctor’s apprehension, and she wasn’t a Betazoid; that thought brought a faint smile as she remembered her conversation she had yesterday with the Doc about emotions and telepaths.  She had no such reservation about what the Captain planned to do; saving the lives of billions of people was the Right thing to do.  The Prime Directive made sense, but it was crazy to think that a bunch of aging Admirals, and leaders back on Earth could understand the decisions that had to be made out here.  Easy to sit at home and blindly decide the fate of other planets, without knowing the facts, and watching whole planets die when you could have done something to stop it.  She liked the Captain, and this was a good decision he was making regarding the fate of this world. 

“The XO has asked us to prepare for quick response. I am therefore putting the Sickbay into Yellow Alert. While there is no combat to be expected, things may go wrong in many ways when we try to stop the asteroid from destroying Calican II. We need to be prepared for anything that may come down our way and we need to be as ready as possible until the alert is over. In roughly 72 hours we have either saved the planet or watched 7 billion people die. I would very much prefer the first option, PD or no PD.”

“Questions?”

Cook looked about and let any questions from other people be spoken before she would speak up.  She had no questions, but actions to put into place.

“Okay,” Cook began as she addressed everyone, “the Doctor has declared a Medical Emergency Alert.  We have done this before, and so all I had to do was replace some of the staff names with the new personnel.  We will be working four 6 hour shifts per day; and since we only have 4 nurses, other than myself, it won’t be a difficult schedule to remember.  The Doc and I will be the working 12 hr shifts along with the nurse on duty.  As always, be aware that everyone will be on-call, if an emergency does occur.”

She lifted her PADD and made a few taps and then with a swipe on the screen, she continued.

“I have just sent you the schedule,” she said as she watched them all refer to their own devices, “I will notify those not currently present of their assignment.  The lab personnel will remain on their normal schedules, unless an event occurs that requires their assistant.  PO Barrett will begin watch immediately on the Charlie Shift; alongside of me.”

(Note: I couldnt find a way that two nurses, plus Cook or Veen, could be on shift for 6 hours with 12 hr breaks.  I tried, but I didn't see it.  I figured we can keep it simple, it leave Cook and Veen on their current schedules.  Cook doesnt mind so she figures that the Lt. wouldnt either. ))

“All yours Doctor,” Cook finished as she turned to Lt. Veen, in case he had anything to add to her orders.“If anyone has any issues,” She said after giving them time to look at the simple schedule, “let me know.  For now, be alert and be ready.  Make sure all trauma supplies are ready for immediate use.  Let’s hope for the best, that our services won’t be needed, but be prepared in case they are required”

((If the Doc wants to discuss anything he doesn’t like, she will be ready to discuss it. After he is finished, he will summon PO Barrett to sickbay and will notify all the others not present of their new assignments for the next 73 hrs.))

((Sorry for the table, I couldnt get the lines to appear for some reason.  I think it is still understandable though.))

Stardate 2365.05.15 - Impact minus 73:04
USS Peregrine, Deck 1, Officers’ Lounge - 1638

Silas finished the briefing, gave his instructions, and opened the floor for responses.

Commander Zai suggested a litany of potential angles to examine, but Silas frowned in response.  "Tochi, this is exactly the sort of thinking I've asked for.  Let's investigate these further," Drake replied.  He took a deep breath.  "That said, I hardly think that Starfleet Command will look the other way on a Prime Directive violation if I offer up probes or a debris field as justification.  I absolutely want you to continue looking at effective ways to sea lawyer any possible angles to our advantage, but I don't know that any of these items - at least on the face of them - will be enough to hold up to potential scrutiny." 

Next, Commander Kennedy joined in, her face a stone mask as she described the replicator issue and the need for the Peregrine to remain in the Calican system for another day or two to effect repairs.  Her gaze never blinked.  Her expression never wavered.

She was lying! 

The Captain's eyes narrowed a bit as he considered this development.  The old temper began to flare instantly.  How dare she lie to a starship Captain on a vessel under weigh!  Who did she think she was?  The insolence, the arrogance to think that he would be so foolish as to think that repairs that were on schedule to be completed within the hour would magically take an extra day or two due to a sudden failing of a system that no one had noticed any problems whatsoever with!  What possible benefit could she gain from derailing their mission like this?

Then, his eyes widened as it hit him.  The Chief Engineer was indeed telling a lie... a lie designed to give them plausible deniability as to why the Peregrine stayed in system, to buy them time to work out a solution to this asteroid problem.

Drake's expression relaxed slightly, but momentarily, it mirrored Kennedy's own stony visage. 

"Very well, Commander Kennedy" he spoke, his voice heavy with seriousness.  "I appreciate you keeping me informed of this delay.  The replicator systems are of course vital to the performance of many of our duties; I will trust you to handle these repairs with the utmost thoroughness that such a job requires.  I see no alternative but for us to remain in the Calican system until such time as the repairs can be completed, but given that your alpha shift is already over their scheduled duty watch, I suggest that you give them sufficient time to rest before taking up these repairs.  Since I've heard of no such issue with the personal replicators, there are no threats to crew rations, so I see no need to have repair crews working through the night.  Better for them to be rested and capable of full focus and attention before they engage this task, wouldn't you agree?"

OOC: assuming an affirmative response...

And then Lieutenant Ferrero spoke his piece. 

Silas felt his knees weaken a bit, heard a ringing in his ears.  He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Starfleet Command would be asking the same questions.  The Prime Directive was clear - they were not to interfere in the natural development of a world, even if that includes the death of the civilization. 

The Captain took a breath before responding.  "You raise fair questions, Lieutenant Ferrero.  In today's most literal interpretations of the Prime Directive - no.  There are strong arguments to be made that we should not interfere here.  If the asteroid wipes out all life, so be it."

Drake looked around the table.  "The problem I have is this - the disaster here is through no fault of the Calicans.  This is not some development of their society, this is nothing more than a cruel chance event."

Silas shook his head.  "Were the Cailcans warp capable and asking for help, we would administer it and no one would hesitate to consider our actions.  But because they lag a couple hundred years behind us in technology, they deserve extinction?  I'm having a very difficult time with that concept, Lieutenant."

The Captain's expression grew harder.  "So as I have stated, I wish to find a way for us to save those seven billion lives while upholding the Prime Directive.  Forgive me, but I am not particularly interested at this moment to discuss why that unthinkable number of innocent people need perish.  If there is literally nothing that we can do..." his voice trailed off, and an awkward silence hung in the air for several long moments.  "Until we exhaust all options, I want us to keep looking for a way," he added.

Once final look around the room, and Drake spoke one last time.  "You have your orders.  Dismissed."

Stardate: 2365.05.15

USS Peregrine - Deck 1, Officer’s Lounge - 1635

After she had given her report (lied) to the captain she watched his expression carefully.  The first flash that she saw cross his eyes was anger, it lasted only a moment, but it was enough to cause her to curl her toes up in her steel toed work boots, preparing for a reprimand right there at the conference table.  Then it was gone, his eyes widened and she caught what might have been recognition in them.  Her toes uncurled slightly.  Resolve then came down across his face and he finally spoke, suggesting she do what she had already basically done.  She nodded and responded as such.  

“Yes, Captain.  Already relieved Alpha Shift.  I understand my orders.”  

She sat there for the rest of the meeting, listening to the suggestions and comments from her fellow officers, her own brain already firing away with scenarios and possibilities.  

----

USS Peregrine - Main Engineering - 1650

She reached Engineering a few minutes later, glancing around quickly it seemed the Beta Shift had things under control and so she made her way toward her office.  

“Sir?” A soft slightly accented voice called behind her as she went.  She turned back and found herself looking at her new Ensign, Milvov, the vulcan boy straight from the Academy.  He had a raised brow, the closest she had seen him come to surprise, likely from seeing her in Engineering at this moment. 

“Ensign.”  For a moment she considered bringing him into the office with her so she had someone to bounce ideas off of.  But then she reconsidered, the Ensign did not need a possible blemish on his record if things went south with this.  The less he knew, for now at least, the better.  If anyone was going to go down for what she had said in the meeting, or what was going to be done here soon, it would be her, not her crew.  “I’m going to work in the office, just reworking some design plans on the Angel for Commander Zai, continue on with your work.”  

“Yes Commander.”  He responded with his usual lack of curiosity.  “Is there anything that my shift needed to do for the beacon?”  

“No, that project has been stalled, I’ll be working on it in the morning.  Just go about the regularly scheduled tasks.”  

Again he nodded to her.  “Understood, sir.”  Then he turned and let her finish her trip into the office.  

---

USS Peregrine - CEO Office - 1900

The cups of raktajino were stacking up on her desk, along with the dark little paper cups that held the bite sized chocolates she had been popping in between the sips of coffee.  Her fingers ran through her short dark hair and she scowled a little.  The asteroid was simply too close and too large, and their ship was not equipped for this mission.  

“Seven Billion People… California.  Seven Billion People.”  She frowned and turned to the diagnostic table again.  Scenario after scenario that she had run, however, failed to give her the results she wanted.  Nothing she came up with gave the planet more than 75% chance of survival.  A line of expletives spewed from her, barely heard over the heavy pounding of the rock music she had pumping through the office while she worked.  

They needed a report though, despite the fact that her findings were not yet perfect.  She pulled up her PADD and began to click her fingers across it.  The best course of action was a combination of setting of timed photo torpedoes on one side of the asteroid, timed to go off simultaneously… the ship could then be situated safely on the opposite side and lock the tractor beam onto the asteroid once it began to shift off course and help it along a bit further.  However, the missing torpedos could cause problems for them later on.  A similar plan could be done by using shuttle crafts or phaser beams but the impact would not be as successful as the photon torpedoes.  The report went on to discuss several other lesser options that would be less likely to work, but she wanted to be thorough.  At the bottom she added a small after thought of a note, a post script almost. 

'The deflector shield could be recalibrated to emit a single burst from the dish... aimed at the asteroid it could provided a powerful push, we would be vulnerable for sometime afterward, however.'

It was not the report that she had wanted to send up the chain of command, but time was short and it was what she had.  

Sighing as she popped another chocolate into her mouth she sent it off to Commander Zai, with a note that she would be available at his discretion to go over any points that needed to be, and that after his review he was to send it to the Captain.  

Stardate 2365.05.15

USS Peregrine, Deck 4 Science Labs - 17:00

Having had his train of thought jump started by the COO, Lt Ch'ronoss made his way back to the Science Labs.

As he entered, he noted the fact that the whole department was now on duty and busying themselves at their LCARS. "Good evening all, I would like to thank you all for putting aside your personal time. I'm sure Ensign Eilal has updated as to the currently transpiring events." He paused to allow the nodding of heads and general murmur of agreement to subside "To that effect has anyone here started their weekend and imbued any form of alcohol?" Again, he waited for their responses before continuing.

"So, in short matters arising for the Heads brief just now. The Captain is aware of the impending disaster and so staying within the Prime Directive, we just can't swoop in a prevent what is occurring, but he also cannot just turn a blind eye, so what he requires from the Peregrine is to work out a way we can mitigate the upcoming events as much as possible whilst remaining undetected by the populace of Calican II."

"With that, Skylar can you coordinate with CFC and Ops with regards to current Federation assets in system other than us and how we may utilise them in either moving/ slowing/ deflecting the asteroid and/or any resultant blast we may need to employ."

"Lauren coordinate with TAC with regards to torpedo yields and other energy-based system we may employ on the asteroid, then feed that information into Skylar and Eilal."

"Eilal you are best placed to analyse the effects these may have on the asteroid. Given its material make up, size and its speed I am under no illusions that it will be possible to see with the naked eye from Calican II, so any energy based effect will also be seen, we need to be able to completely mitigate this, and stop any resulting radiation/ heavy metal fall out from poisoning the environment, damaging food chains/ water supplies and future growth."

(OOC: If Eilal would rather be working on another area let me know and I can swap names around.)

"Tanner, Steve work on non-destructive means of re aligning the asteroid no matter how extreme it is, I would rather have us all out in EV Suits mining it and pushing away the smaller pieces by hand, then have to openly blast it and break the Prime Directive, again work with Skylar and utilise all possible in system assets, nothing is off the table."

"With that, there is less than 73 hours to impact which means we have a lot less time to figure this out and get any course of action underway. We will down, test and adjust in six hours for an information cross check and update."

USS Peregrine, Deck 4 Science Labs - 18:15

"Sir" PO Gaultiers voice cut across the silence of the lab "I think we may have a viable non-destructive method in hand or at least a way a minimising any impact, but it will require immediate response as the longer we leave it, the less effect we can have on the object."

"Roger that, let me have a look" he replied as his screen filled with calculations and diagrams. Yes, it's a good plan but do we have enough time he thought, as he quickly typed the required details/ data projections into a file addressed for CFC and Ops and pushed it across.

"Captain, Commander Zai, Lieutenant Ferrero, science has devised a course of action that may, if not eliminate the danger, reduce the overall impact. The solution is time reliant so would need to be implemented as soon as we are able. I have sent over the required information to your respective consoles."

As a computer simulation flashes up on the respective screens, he continues to explain the plan,

"If we modify the Deflector dish into a graviton beam and then supplement its power from the Warp nacelles and focus it one a point of the object, and then manoeuvre the Peregrine in close and start a max impulse orbit of the object we can, artificially increase the mass of the Peregrine and act as a 'Gravity Tractor' to tow the object off course. Though looking at the numbers the power required for the modified dish beam and max impulse flight may leave us vulnerable in other areas of operations. Also, alone there is not enough time for the Peregrine to effect a complete miss of the plant, but if we can enlist the help of at least two or more of the Dilithium tugs/ transports from within the system , the extra mass combined, would indeed be enough to pull the asteroid from its current course with only minimum damage to the planet's surface around coastal areas and maybe volcanic activity. Loss of life at this point is inevitable, and will be a directly affected by the time it takes to set up the Gravity well, but extinction of the planet is avoidable and would keep our activity levels low, and as long as we maintained an orbit between the planet and the asteroid we should not be detected."

Stardate 2365.05.15 (Saturday) - Impact minus 73:04
USS Peregrine, Deck 1, Officers’ Lounge - 1630

...And then Lieutenant Ferrero spoke his piece. 

Silas feels his knees weaken a bit, hearing a ringing in his ears. He knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Starfleet Command will be asking the same questions. The Prime Directive is clear—they are not to interfere in the natural development of a world, even if that includes the death of the civilization. 

The Captain takes a breath before responding. "You raise fair questions, Lieutenant Ferrero. In today's most literal interpretations of the Prime Directive, no. There are strong arguments to be made that we should not interfere here. If the asteroid wipes out all life, so be it."

Drake looks around the table. "The problem I have is this: the disaster here is through no fault of the Calicans. This is not some development of their society, this is nothing more than a cruel chance event."

Silas shakes his head. "Were the Cailcans warp-capable and asking for help, we would administer it and no one would hesitate to consider our actions. But because they lag a couple of hundred years behind us in technology, they deserve extinction? I'm having a very difficult time with that concept, Lieutenant."

The Captain's expression grows harder. "So, as I have stated, I wish to find a way for us to save those seven billion lives while upholding the Prime Directive. Forgive me, but I am not particularly interested at this moment to discuss why that unthinkable number of innocent people needs to perish. If there is literally nothing that we can do..." his voice trails off, and an awkward silence hangs in the air for several long moments. "Until we exhaust all options, I want us to keep looking for a way," he adds.

Ferrero determinedly keeps his face void of expression. So, we're bending the rules then. He had known about Captain Drake's penchant for bending the rules to fit his personal morals before the Lieutenant had ever received the assignment as COO of the Peregrine. The whole court-martial had been prime-time news throughout the Federation. At first, Ander had considered the assignment fortuitous thinking that Drake's lenient view of Starfleet rules would allow him to expand his little black market operation. Sitting in senior officer meetings with Drake, he'd quickly learned that the man's position about rules and law shifted about like the oceans his ancestor sailed. Easier? Far from it. Ander has never walked so gingerly.

One final look around the room and Drake speaks with finality, "You have your orders. Dismissed."

Stardate 2365.05.15 (Saturday) - Impact minus 73:12
USS Peregrine, Deck 1, Officers’ Lounge - 1638

As Esel finishes booking the Holodeck the COO catches up with him in the corridor. 

 "Long-range scans will easily pick up any communications from this distance. I'll filter through the feeds and take the Calicanian's temperature. If you want to run the math on any large visual interference with the asteroid by Calicanians, we can compare notes tomorrow."

"large visual interference?" The CSO repeats back to the COO not quite grasping the meaning of what has been said. After a moment's hesitation where he stares at Ander, Ferrero can see the light dawning in the Andorian's eyes.

"Of course... emitted light particles... Radiation? Vaporization of heavy metals? So close to the planet... " Esel turns away still muttering to himself as he mulls over the implications of what had been said, he turns back towards the COO failing to notice the concerned expression on the 3rd officer's brown face.

"Thank you, Sir, we shall run the numbers." 

"Okay...," Ander responds and watches the man wander off for a couple of seconds. With a slow shake of his head, the Chief Operations Officer starts on his way to his quarters, his right hand rubbing out the myriad of thoughts bouncing around in his head.

Stardate 2365.05.15 (Saturday) - Impact minus 72:57
USS Peregrine, Deck 2, Chief Operations Officer's Quarters - 1645

Seated behind the small desk in his quarters, Ander sighs. His screen shows multiple notifications ranging from standard department reports to communications from his family and friends. Within the cornucopia of messages, a number is encoded and bears specific black market operations details, orders, and offers. Drawing in a deep breath, he swipes the notifications aside and pulls up the communications system controls, then splits the screen horizontally and adds the sensors controls to the display. Using the sensor arrays, he boosts the reception of the communication bands and broadens the cone. Shortly thereafter, the radio waves being dispersed about Calican II begin to filter through his room speakers.

Settling back in his chair, Ander closes his eyes and concentrates on the streams. Verbally commanding the computer to filter out all but the emergency newscasts, he settles in for a long evening.

Stardate 2365.05.16 (Sunday) - Impact minus 56:03
USS Peregrine, Deck 2, Chief Operations Officer's Quarters - 0930

A sonic shower behind him and fully dressed for his day, Ander is all but refreshed by his five hours of sleep. Peering at the weary expression staring back at him from the mirror he allows a dramatic and heavy sigh to escape his lips before straightening and vigorously shaking his whole body. 

"Wakey wakey," he repeats over and over again until he's amused himself enough to elicit a smile. Clapping his hands together, Ferrero rubs them with fervor and commands, "Computer, connect me with Lieutenant Ch'ronoss."

/= Connecting to Lieutenant Ch'ronoss now, sir. /=

"Lieutenant Ch'ronoss," Ander says cheerfully, "Have you eaten yet?"

Receiving the CSO's answer, Ferrero continues, "How do you feel about meeting me for some food and reviewing our findings?"

(OOC: Assuming some kind of affirmative.)

"Great! I'll see you in fifteen."

Stardate 2365.05.14

USS Peregrine; Deck 4 - Sickbay - 18:50 – 19:00

 Chief Dana Cook walked into Sickbay at her usual 10 mins prior to the start of her shift, and paused in place.  The new CMO was walking about the sickbay looking at everything as if appraising the readiness of the Medical equipment.

Look all you want, you will not find anything out of place. She thought as she continued into the room; her pride in the efficiency and training of her medical staff was shown in the rising of her shoulders slightly.  If anything were out of place, she knew it would be the newly arrived staff.  She had instructed them on what she expected of them in regards to the Sick Bay and staff's readiness, but thus far they had proven themselves just as reliable as the old staff.

“Evening Doctor,” Cook said as she walked in and approached her workstation.

Amris looked up from the scanner and smiled to the Chief. He had felt her approach a moment earlier, but sensing her irritation, he had kept his eyes on the devices. “Good evening, Chief.” Waving with his arm around to indicate all the equipment around the room. “I was just admiring the impeccable state of everything. I was not expecting anything less of course… To be honest, I am actually fairly hungry and was simply biding my time until the end of my shift.”

Logging into her station, she looked over the day’s medical log of patients and saw that it had been mostly minor injuries, and such. Her eyebrows narrowed as she saw the appointment of one crewmember with the Doctor for a ‘consoling’ session.  Her eyes darted up to glance at the Doctor then quickly back to her screen.  She wondered if his sessions consisted of his probing the patients mind; though that might help in the treatment, if given voluntarily, but she suspected that Betazoids often did it without permissions.  This was the reason she was uncomfortable with the new Doctor; he seems a decent fellow so far, but she had a distrust of people who could read your thoughts.  She took her privacy, especially her thoughts, very seriously.

“Any instructions,” she spoke up and said to him, “or anything I should be aware of before you leave?”

Her tone might give it away; but she seems anxious to have him gone from sickbay.

Dana had not really interacted much with the new Doctor, only seeing each other at meetings or shift changes, since he came aboard.  Her behavior at their first meeting was not the warmest; she had not wanted a new CMO, she did not want to lose Dr. Reine, and then she had learned the new Doc would be a Betazoid.  She did not like that one bit.

Their first meeting had been professional and punctual, and she no doubt knew the Doc could not miss her stiff demeanor when talking with him.  They had not discussed the ‘issues’ yet, but Dana knew that the Doc could not put it off for much longer.  He was not blind, even without his ‘abilities’, and if he had even once ‘scanned’ her emotions, he would know that he had a problem with his Head Nurse.  A personal problem.

The Doc smiled again and nodded to Dana. “Well not instructions as such, but I did actually wish to speak with you.” Amris beckoned her to sit down and pulled a chair for himself as well. He wasn’t sure how the human would react if he looked her straight in the eye as some of her people were not comfortable with direct eye-to-eye contact. He decided not to test her preference and only briefly glanced at Dana’s face before speaking out.

Dana seemed taken aback with the doctor’s desire to sit and talk with her, but she shrugged slightly and pulled her chair from her workstation around to face the doctor, then she sat.  Looking at him she didn’t need to be a telepath to read some sense of unease in his current appearance.  She raised an eyebrow and wondered if they were finally going to get to the crux of the problems between them.  It was about time she figured. 

“Chief… and I say this with total understanding and with absolutely zero judgement… I am aware of your… discomfort with my… abilities and I want you to know, that you are by no means alone. And that is perfectly ok.” The Doc raised his hand to stop any comment the Chief may or may not have had on her mind. “I would very much like to put your mind at ease as much as possible. Now, I do not expect you to trust me completely right away after you have heard what I have to say. But I hope in time, you and everyone in the Sickbay and on board can learn to be at ease in my presence.”

The corner of Cook’s mouth lifted slightly when he raised a hand to forestall any response just yet.  She hadn’t be thinking of making one just now; she preferred to hear what people said and gather her words into a coherent reply before giving them.  She continued to listen with interest.

The Doc took a deep breath, smiled again and continued. “As you very well know, my people have the ability to sense emotions and even thoughts of other people. What you perhaps are not aware of is, that not all of us are on the same… well, level, in our abilities. Most Betazoids can sense strong feelings, but only a small number of us are actually telepathic. My empathic ability allows me to feel your joy, your sadness and your irritation.”

Another smile, just as genuine as the previous ones, appeared on doctor Veen’s face. “While it is possible for me to block, in the absence of a better word, the feelings of people around me, it is tiring in the long run. I do not know if you are aware, but emotions are actually quite strong and easy for my people to sense even across distances.  In that sense, as your feelings are.. well, outside of you in a way, my empathy is not breaching your personal immunity.”

The Chief was considering this as he spoke, and while she knew the Betazoids all sensed emotions; she guessed she could agree about them sensing those feelings, and it not being an invasion of Privacy.  After all, most humans carried their emotions outside anyway.  Once could look at someone who was happy, or sad, or irritated, and usually see it in his or her posture, or face.  That wasn’t what concerned her though and she guessed that the Doctor was getting to the part where she felt some anxiety.

Letting it sink in, Amris continued: “Telepathy on the other hand… Reading someone’s thoughts… That is definitely a violation. Yes, I am among the few who have the ability to communicate telepathically. And no, I am not allowed and would never do it without another person’s consent, unless it would be ordered by my superior and it would be the only way to stop something terrible from taking place. And even then I would be forbidden to read the thoughts separate from the purpose of the reading.”

“The Betazoid actually have a thing called the Code of Sentience. It is not exactly a law, but in fact something far beyond any legislation. The main idea of the Code is that reading the mind of another being without permission is taboo and that we must respect all sentient life as sacred.”

At that moment the Doc turned his eyes to his hands and shook his head before looking the Chief right in the eye. “So, Chief. Even if I for some reason I cannot even fathom, would want to enter your mind. I could not. It would be the worst thing I could do to a person, apart from taking a life.”

Amris raised his arms slightly from his lap and beckoned to Chief Cook with open palms facing up. “But please, Chief. I have talked for a long while denying you a chance to comment. Go ahead and ask me anything. Permission to speak freely.”

Chief Cook returned the gaze into those dark eyes and didn’t flinch or shy away from them.  She could understand how some might see such things as intimidating, or fearful, but she had seen far worse.  Lifting her head slightly as she composed her thoughts, she let out a slow sigh before she began.

“Doctor, I just want you to know that my .. feelings towards you are not personal,” She began slowly, “I know most of what you have just told me about your people and their abilities.  I already knew much already about Betazoids, and when I learned you were coming aboard, I made it my mission to learn all that I could, especially regarding your telepathic abilities. I will admit that I have been suffering some unwarranted anxiety about you.  But I have a reason for that, though it isn’t really an excuse for my behavior.”

Amris nodded to the Chief. He hadn't really expected anything else. Although he got the suspicious gaze pretty much anywhere he went  even within the Starfleet, not once had he met any hatred or anxiety aimed at himself personally. But despite the fact that he could sense other people's feelings, he wasn't without emotions himself. In fact the Betazoid had very strong feelings and due to his empathy he could experience the same feelings as the person he was talking with.

So hearing Cook say aloud that her feelings were not personal, even if it was not a surprise for hime, still made Amris feel relieved. But as the Doc understood emotions probably better than most, he could "recover" from his own reactions quickly. And yet he was no stoic god, even if he had learned to control perfectly how his own emotions showed on the outside a very long time ago. Amris Veen had been slightly nervous about this meeting with the Chief no matter how absurd that was.

She paused and seemed to be gathering some courage before continuing. 

“Back when I was stationed aboard the Aries,” she began, as her eyes became unfocused as she thought back to that time, “we recovered an injured man aboard a disabled shuttlecraft.   He was a Cairn, and as you are probably aware, they have don’t really have a spoken language, but communicate entirely by telepathy, and then mostly in images.  They consider it a more efficient form of communication.  He was unconscious when brought aboard, and I was treating his injuries, which weren’t too serious.  When he came to, he naturally attempted to tell me what had happened by projecting images of an attack upon his shuttle.  The sudden intrusion into my mind, of images so real, and not my own, were a severe shock to my mind.”

She paused and took a deep breath as her eyes refocused on the Doctor.

The anxiety was clear even if the Chief managed to keep it quite well under surface. And at the moment Amris felt it radiating from her, a wave of compassion ran through his body. He wanted to give the Cook a hug and to tell her everything was alright. But this was the Federation Starfeelt and he didn't know the Chief Petty Officer well enough yet to know, if hugging would be ok with her. So Amris gave her a reassuring, warm smile instead and nodded softly again.

“He didn’t intend any harm,” Cook continued, “but harm was done.  My mind had never experienced anything like it, and it was difficult to separate those images and sensations from my own memories. It was as if it had all happened to me.”

“Since that day,” her eyes dropped for the first time, a look of .. what? … embarrassment maybe, “I’ve found it hard to trust being around any species which can get into my mind.”

“I know it’s not your fault, Doctor,” she said as she raised her eyes back to meet his, “and I know my fears may seem ridiculous, but they are buried deep within my mind.  However, I promise I will make every effort to get past these irrational fears, and learn to trust you and work efficiently with you, as you deserve."

The Chief's shoulders visibly relaxed as she got the reasons for her mistrust about the Doctor off her chest. She just hoped that they could work together, and she could made progress in getting over her fears of telepaths; or at least this telepath.

Veen watched the tension leave Cook's shoulders and forehead. The anxiety had been replaced by relief. She had been very open with him, which was not really rare when people talked with him. But from what she had told him and how she had opened up on her terrible experience, Amris knew it had not been easy and he felt gratitude and honor for being worth of her trust.

"Chief... I had no idea." The Doc held her gaze, now slightly softer he imagined. "You have experienced something so very few of us ever have. Conversing with the Cairn, I am sure, must be quite unsettling for most people. Even for me, their way of communicating with visions takes some getting used to before I can feel comfortable with it. And being hit by a projection of the terrible moments he had gone through and especially unprepared... I can only imagine what it must have been like."

The smile was still on the handsome, bearded face as Amris continued. "Thank you for sharing this painful memory with me... Chief. I am honored by your trust in me and I want you to know that I do not mind, if you cannot completely trust me yet. That is quite natural. But I also want you to know that you can always, and I mean always, let me know if you do feel uncomfortable. And you can always come and have a chat with me even if you do not. We will be working together hopefully for a long time and getting to know you better would make me very happy."

"And Chief, if it is ok with you, I would very much like you to call me Amris at least when we talk in private. I do respond to Doc, Doctor, Lt, black-eyed dude, hey you and various other names as well." The Doc chuckled slightly at his stupid attempt to lighten the mood.

"As you no doubt have noticed already, my former colleagues, especially Neiman and Peter, often use Amris in the Sickbay and definitely do so off-hours. During an operation I prefer Doc or doctor for clarity's sake, but outside any situation requiring my full concentration, that is not needed. But, I can also totally understand if you do not wish your relationship with your superior officer to be too casual. Your call of course."

Stardate 2365.05.15 - Impact minus 73:02

USS Peregrine, Deck 4, Sick Bay - 1640

A few minutes later Lieutenant Veen, now fully in control of himself, stood outside the Sickbay door. He waits for the Chief to arrive and beckons her to enter.

Chief Cook came down the hallway with her PADD in hand; she nodded to the doctor as she continued past him and into Sickbay. 

Amris took a deep breath, followed Cook inside and headed straight to Nurse Adama. He called in the staff members on duty with him as well. The Doc looked everyone in the eye, before speaking out.“The Captain has just briefed the senior officers about the situation on Calican II, or rather in its immediate vicinity.” The Doc cast a look at the clock on the wall while he considered his next words and fought down the emotion of despair of his own.

“In the next 73 hours all sentient life on Calican II will cease to exist. There is an asteroid called…”, Amris glanced at his pad. “2365 C41A3 DN17 heading straight at the planet. It is over 30 kilometres in diameter, so the impact will be an extinction level incident. Now, we all are very well aware of the Prime Directive. We cannot let the Calicans know of our presence and following the directive to the letter, it would indeed be forbidden for us to intervene. The General Order 1 clearly states, that the Starfleet is prohibited from helping a society escape a natural disaster known to the society, even if inaction would result in a society's extinction, unless the society had warp technology and had formally requested aid. Unfortunately the people of Calican II do not possess warp-level tech and as they are as of yet unaware of our presence, could not formally request aid anyway.”

The Doc sighed. “So according to the Prime Directive we cannot do anything… But the Captain is not willing to let the people on the planet perish. His plan is to find a solution that allows us to do both: save the Calicans without breaking the PD. So any ideas that could help us accomplish that are most welcome. My mind seems to be still in shock and I cannot think of anything useful on that department.”

Cook noticed the Doctor’s apprehension, and she wasn’t a Betazoid; that thought brought a faint smile as she remembered her conversation she had yesterday with the Doc about emotions and telepaths.  She had no such reservation about what the Captain planned to do; saving the lives of billions of people was the Right thing to do.  The Prime Directive made sense, but it was crazy to think that a bunch of aging Admirals, and leaders back on Earth could understand the decisions that had to be made out here.  Easy to sit at home and blindly decide the fate of other planets, without knowing the facts, and watching whole planets die when you could have done something to stop it.  She liked the Captain, and this was a good decision he was making regarding the fate of this world. 

“The XO has asked us to prepare for quick response. I am therefore putting the Sickbay into Yellow Alert. While there is no combat to be expected, things may go wrong in many ways when we try to stop the asteroid from destroying Calican II. We need to be prepared for anything that may come down our way and we need to be as ready as possible until the alert is over. In roughly 72 hours we have either saved the planet or watched 7 billion people die. I would very much prefer the first option, PD or no PD.”

“Questions?”

Cook looked about and let any questions from other people be spoken before she would speak up.  She had no questions, but actions to put into place.

“Okay,” Cook began as she addressed everyone, “the Doctor has declared a Medical Emergency Alert.  We have done this before, and so all I had to do was replace some of the staff names with the new personnel.  We will be working four 6 hour shifts per day; and since we only have 4 nurses, other than myself, it won’t be a difficult schedule to remember.  The Doc and I will be the working 12 hr shifts along with the nurse on duty.  As always, be aware that everyone will be on-call, if an emergency does occur.”

She lifted her PADD and made a few taps and then with a swipe on the screen, she continued.

“I have just sent you the schedule,” she said as she watched them all refer to their own devices, “I will notify those not currently present of their assignment.  The lab personnel will remain on their normal schedules, unless an event occurs that requires their assistant.  PO Barrett will begin watch immediately on the Charlie Shift; alongside of me.”

“All yours Doctor,” Cook finished as she turned to Lt. Veen, in case he had anything to add to her orders.“If anyone has any issues,” She said after giving them time to look at the simple schedule, “let me know.  For now, be alert and be ready.  Make sure all trauma supplies are ready for immediate use.  Let’s hope for the best, that our services won’t be needed, but be prepared in case they are required”

The Doc looked at the schedule, thought about it for a while and nodded at his PADD before raising his eyes to meet Cook's. "Looks good, Chief. As everything seems to be clear to everyone, as expected of course, the Sickbay is yours."

Amris looked around the room at everyone present. "I will be in my office for a while longer before I head out for dinner. If you have any questions or anything you wish to say, do not hesitate to drop in."

Stardate 2365.05.16 (Sunday) - Impact minus 56:03

USS Peregrine, Deck 4, Science Labs - 0930

=/\= Lieutenant Ch'ronoss. Have you eaten yet? =/\=

The happy voice of the COO chimed over the intercom. Esel looked up from the console he was working at and checked the time 09:30 it had been a while since breakfast, and he could do with Ops running an eye over the current set of calculations.

"Morning Lieutenant and not recently"

=/\= How do you feel about meeting me for some food and reviewing our findings? =/\=

"I feel that is a most welcome suggestion, I could use a refresh and I different perspective."

=/\= Great! I'll see you in fifteen. =/\=

He chuckled to himself 'see you in fifteen', fifteen what? that is the question' this always made him smile, though it was a very common Terran way to speak, for those not of Earth, it can lead to many confusing encounters and missed appointments. He quickly sent a message to the rest of the Science Team stating he had a meeting with Ops in fifteen 'minutes' and if there was any data they wished reviewed then to forward it to his PADD. He rose from his seat and stretched, picking up his PADD he left the Science Labs, planning to take a long and winding route to the mess.

Lieutenant Collins gestured for Drake to take his seat at the head of the banquet table, and he did so while trying to ingore the rumbling in his stomach.  The smells of the cooking food wafted around the room; admirality had sprung for actual chefs and cooking as opposed to replicators for the occasion.  An attractive woman, Collins took the seat to his right, while an old friend whose face he couldn't quote place took the one to his left.  With a start, it hit Silas that the table was improbably long; more than forty people were seated at it, murmuring politely to one another.

Disquieted, he reached forward, took the wine glass in his hand.  Silas had never been much of a wine drinker, but the alcohol called to him now as he searched for a way to calm the roiling emotions inside.  "A toast!" came a call from a woman seated just a bit further down.  She smiled widely, something that Lieutenant Tal hardly ever seemed to do.  Why was she so happy?

Collins likewise beamed beside him. 

Michelle.

The call for a toast was taken up further down the table.  Eric nearly laughed at the consternation on the Captain's face.  "What's the matter, Silas?" he asked in his easy, familiar manner.  "Have you forgotton how to give a toast?"

"Come now, dear," Michelle urged.  "Give them their toast.  They are all here because of you."

Suddenly, it hit Drake like a warhead.  The attendees weren't just here to honor him - they truly were hear BECAUSE of him.  Kara Tal.  Eric Thorson.  Bradley Garner.  Many whose names he had to pause to recall.

Michelle.

They were here because Silas had killed them.  Or had allowed them to die; what was the difference?

Michelle frowned.  "You know, Silas... I think that we will need a much larger banquet room soon..."

--------------------------------------------

Silas sat bolt upright in his bed, pushing the sweat-soaked sheets off of him as sleep fled his body. 

He couldn't let those people die.  There had to be a way.

Stardate: ?
Coast of Connemara, Ireland

The west wind wasn't particularly strong this evening, but it still carried the familiar salty scent of the sea.  As she walked, Aoife picked up on a related fragrance - the rain was coming. 

The blonde woman didn't quicken her steps, even as she knew that the rain would arrive before she could reach shelter; after all, a spring shower never hurt anyone.  Sure enough, less than two minutes later, the first drops struck her exposed skin.  Rather than flee, she paused, threw her head back, stretched out her arms, and gave herself over to the tactile stimulation of the drops gently contacting her flesh.

-----------

Stardate 2365.05.16 - Impact minus 51:07
USS Peregrine, Deck 5 - 1435

Even after stepping out of the holosuite, Aoife carried the same small smile on her face.  She enjoyed her job here in Starfleet, truly she did.  The ship itself was a marvel of technology, able to transport her to places she had never dreamed of, exposed her to things that she had never imagined could even exist.  But even so, she was surprised at how much she missed the simple rain.  Back home, it rained nigh to two out of every three days; many considered the rain a bother, a hindrance, but Aoife had never really felt that way.  To her, the rain brought renewal, it brought cleansing; the simple walk in the holosuite helped wash away her stress in ways she didn't quite understand.  The ship, though wonderful, was quite sterile, with no variation in the environment.  The rain helped her stay grounded, connected.

Even if her hair did drip for some time after.

-----------

"Na lass, I won' hear of it!  I've nothin' to do today, anyway; I'll grab me uniform on and be on tha bridge in five minutes!" Even as she argued in her singsong Irish accent, Aoife was a model of efficiency, pulling on her clothing and brooking no objections. 

She regarded the Betazoid women's pale, pinched expression.  "You're hurtin' plain as day, Miyahaya.  There's no sense in ya strugglin' through a shift like tha'.  Give me regards to tha new doc, wha's 'is name, Veen?  Ye feel better, I'll handle yer watch, sure."

Petty Officer Amai gave a weak smile in acknowledgement.  "Thank you, Aoife.  I shall do just that."

"Ná habair é, lass," Aoife replied with a grin.  "Don' mention it!"

-----------

O'Connor arrived on the bridge in plenty of time for shift change.  Lieutenant Ferrero was taking over as the officer of the watch, so she presented herself to him with a salute.  "Petty Officer Frist Class Aoife O'Connor reporting, sir.  Petty Officer Amai is medically indisposed, sure.  Herself is on the way to Doctor Veen now; the poor lass 'as a terrible headache on her, so I d'be standing her Ops watch today."

OOC: assuming some affirmative response

"Aye, sir," O'Connor replied.

After taking over the console, Aoife first swept down the various sensor readings, followed by the ship status indicators.  As expected, everything was nominal. 

At least there was a directive in place to work on analyzing the planetary communications.  While comms and languages were not her forte - not like Miyahaya - Aoife was hardly a slouch in the arena.  Having an active task - as opposed to simply keeping a sentient's eye on the various readouts for any abnormalities - was a godsend that would help pass the time so much quicker.

-----------

Stardate 2365.05.16 - Impact minus 47:59
USS Peregrine, Deck 1, Bridge - 1829

More than three hours had gone by, and Aoife had found herself grown numb to the work.  So much of the planetary broadcasts contained fear and sadness; the poor people knew that they would die, and the citizens were dealing with it as best they could, by and large. 

Oh, there were wild plans, arguments about launching nuclear-style weaponry, of sending a desperation rocket... apparently, one had already been sent, and had been a complete failure.  Calican II simply lacked the ability to save themselves. 

Apparently, there was some sort of large religious movement afoot on the planet, as well; the human woman had a hand stray several times to a pendant around her own neck without even realizing that she did so.  Faith was a great part of the fabric of the lives of her family, her people; O'Connor knew that many in Starfleet scoffed at such matters, but faith grounded her, helped her to make sense of the senseless - and to accept what she could not make sense of.

But truth be told, this was quite a test to that faith.  Why did these people all have to die, through no fault of their own?  She brushed blonde hair back behind her ear, trying to set the analytical part of her mind aside.  This was not her choice to make, she had a job to do, and moping about wouldn't get it done any sooner.

Naturally, it was far beyond the ability of any sentient to filter through an entire planet's transmissions; as such, there were many algorithms set up to help filter out the noise, the repetitive items, the unimportant material.  A tremendous amount of processing power was devoted to dividing the proverbial wheat from the chaff and to help Aoife identify anything that might be of interest. 

As it turned out, the ultra repetitive nature of one broadcast is what caught her eye. 

O'Connor almost ignored the broadcast that was being repeated every half hour on the half hour.  In fact, she had ignored it several times; the computer kept presenting this in the batch of items for manual review, and in a fit of pique, Aoife gave an exasperated sigh and started playing the translated recording.  Moments later, her breath caught in her throat and her hand went back to that cross-shaped pendant. 

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

She swallowed, took a breath, and spoke aloud.  "Lieutenant Ferrero," she opened, "I've a broadcast found tha ye need to hear, sir."

OOC: assuming that Ferrero wants to hear it...

"This message is being sent every half hour," she explained.  Aoife pressed a button, and translated audio filled the bridge.

=/\=Attention, space faring beings.  We, the citizens of Archin, know that we are not alone in this universe.  There is no possibility that so many habitable planets exist in our galaxy with no other intelligent life on them.  We may not yet see you, but we know that you are there.

Our world will be destroyed by an asteroid that we cannot prevent.  But if you are here and receiving this broadcast, then you surely possess the technology to do so. 

Please, we beg of you.  Save our children.  Save our species.  Save our world.=/\=

"Tha's all of it," Aoife pronounced as the audio went silent, her alto voice even lower and more husky than normal.  "They're askin' for our help, sure, sir."

How can we deny it?