Chapter 3: Good Tides and Fair Winds (part 2)

Chapter 3: Good Tides and Fair Winds (part 2)

Humming to himself, Doctor Cyl stepped on to the bridge, a PADD and a combadge in hand, looking far more confident then at the meeting. He paused a moment and took a good look around the ship's command deck.

"Hmm..."

He then stepped to the Captain’s chair and put the PADD down before moving to his station to get familiar with it.

At the same moment, Commander Hartzer on deck 5 checked her PADD, making sure she didn’t have anything else to do.

Ah! Doctor Cyl,she thought, and my medical exam. Oughta be quick… and maybe while I’m dere, since I’m dere, I’ll ask about that thing with Mistuh Archer.

“Computah, location of Doctor Cyl.”

“Doctor Cyl is on the bridge.”

“Thanks. Bridge,” she ordered the turbo. It took a minute to arrive, and when it did she exited quietly. Everything seemed in order on the bridge; some officers were missing, but she assumed they would be here very shortly... except... the Captain wasn't there.

How odd. She wanted to give him her report. Alarm bells began to ring in her mind.

"Where'd da Cap'n go?" she asked curiously.Commander Hartzer moved to her own seat; the Captain should be back soon. Settling herself, she nodded to Falcar and proceeded to run a final systems check.

As Jayvin quietly thought about all the things he still needed to do before being really ready for launch. He still needed to bond with his crew, give them their assignments, set up a lecture schedule, review the research requests, test out the emergencies crews and emergencies triage centers procures. This was making him think that Starfleet and the Captain were both going insane, as this would normally take a good week at spacedock; but they were giving him hours.

With that and Cyl's forcefully personality, Jayvin believed that he might had to take some less than standard methods to get these tasks done.

“Doctor Cyl, I was wonderin’ if you got a minute t’ gimme my checkup,” Hartzer then said.

Upon hearing his name, Doctor Cyl looked up from the console and turned to Commander Frazetti and smiled.

"Of course, Ma'am" As he moved over to the XO, he added. "Don't know, he told me to meet him up here in three minutes and that was about two minutes ago."

He then took out his trusty medical tricorder and gave the new first officer a quick medical scan. After a short moment to look over the results he said;

"Everything looks good Ma'am. The majority of alpha shift has had their medical exams. Nothing major to report other than that a few stragglers like the ship's counselor never showed up though. The other two shifts should be cleared with the next 2 hours. The duty rosters have been setup as described in the PADD on the Captain's chair."

Frazetti blinked. "....Huh. Thanks, Doc. Say, what was that about earlier, with you an' Lieutenant Commanduh Archer?" she asked casually.

''Mister Cyl usurped the authority of the ship's chief medical officer before being confirmed following Starfleet regulations by the ship's counselor as to his psychological fitness for duty... abused of this authority to disrupt ship business, openly threatened abduction of officers of this ship, used emergency transport protocols without any emergency situation in progress and without security clearance... and thus mightily pissed off the security chief, Commander M'am.''

There was no mistaking the petulant voice coming from the turbolift; nor the seriousness of the stare of the green-skinned man despite his jovial tone and his casual entrance.

''I got here the full deposition of his medical staff concerning the incident... just got it a few minutes ago while they confirmed my already established medical fitness for duty,'' he added, putting down a PADD in her hands, as there is no officially recognized CMO on board... yet.''

He looked straight at the Trill as he finished:

''My final report on this officer's psychological evaluation is also included for the Captain's final judgment... Commander M'am.''

With a final glare and a shark-like smile at Cyl, Pasqual went to the station assigned to him and started reviewing communications protocols and those systems' final diagnostics reports.

Doctor Cyl listened to Pasqual, whine and whine, all the while he just smiled at the ridiculousness of the counselor. Then once the counselor finished, Doctor Cyl step over to him and looked down at the counselor.

After quiet moment of watching the Orion, Jayvin talked calmly to the counselor but with a fair a bit distain for him.

"How did you ever get to be a counselor? From the moment I got on board you have insulted me and continue to try to undermine me instead of just informing me that you were in a meeting and would be by later. You attacked me over the com, in front of both the Captain and the XO. Now you embellish my actions to sound like I went around and kidnapped engineers and broke consoles. I won't say my actions weren't a bit over the top but you and the other officers of this ship 'disrupted ship business' by ignoring my order to come to the sickbay and now despite the Captain wanting these exams to be over as quickly as possible you interrupt ship business but interrupting my staff for your questions. I willing admit I used the normal ship transporters to coral a few the more stubborn officers, but then there are over five hundred crew members that need to be examined. I do not have the staff to go around the whole ship to find them. Now I ask you what is your problem with me? Did a Trill kick your pet when you were a boy? Or are you just a bully doesn't like being pushed back?"

Ray listened to the long, bewildering ranting of the Trill with professional patience. Everything he said and the way he twisted every fact just confirmed his analysis of him; this time under the bridge's computer record.

And so, he did not need to really answer the man; but he did so anyway:

''Mister Cyl, I will tell you what is my problem with you: you're the bully on this ship, plain and simple. And I have no tolerance whatsoever for bullies like you. My professional analysis and recommendation have been given to the Captain. Now it is his decision to make, not mine... lucky for you.''

With a smile that gave no warmth at all he finished;

''Yes, I am the worst ship counselor you will ever meet... and I always push back.''

As Frazetti sat down she nodded to Falcar. Janus turned his head and nodded back, with a slight smile. He turned back and continued to prepare for launch.

Then the arguing came. He turned around to see what and who was carrying on like that. He noticed the Medical Officer and Counselor, in a heated argument.

The Romulan shook his head in disapproval, and returned his focus up front.

Some Starfleet Officers they are. They are a joke, he thought as he finished tapping at his console and then leaned back in his seat. Well, Helm is ready for launch, although it was rather hectic, doing so. The Captain mentioned other stops. Wish he had told me where, do I could have plotted a course, ready for his approval.

Despite those thoughts, he leaned back, closing his eyes, trying to relax before launch.

From the tactical station, assistant tactical officer Lieutenant Aaron Callen listened as the argument between the doctor and the ship's counselor grew more intense. He did not like the direction it was going as he had been briefed by Commander Archer on both men. Without hesitation Callen stood up from the tactical station and let out a long shrill whistle.

"Hey! Knock it off! This is the bridge of a Starfleet vessel. If you gentlemen wish to continue this discussion, I recommend you do so somewhere other than here, or do I need to call Commander Archer and have him bring a security team with him when he returns to the bridge?"

The Orion Lieutenant Commander turned a cold stare at the tactical officer.

''You, Lieutenant, are out of line. And so were you... Mister,'' he finished, turning again to Jayvin before simply turning his back to him and returning to his pre-launch work at the communications station, clearly dismissing them all.

Of course, Ray was well aware that the junior officer was quite right in his assessment, even if he was not in his proceeding. But that was the problem with this whole crew.

And the ship's counselor was determined to make it flare in the open before they left spacedock.

He had no intention of getting himself killed out there.

Doctor Cyl rolled his eyes and chuckled at the counselor's response. Then as he moved back to his seat he turned to the lieutenant added. "I said what I needed to say to the Narcissistic Orion."

He then quietly sat down and went back to work on his station checking the status of the exams.

''Ooooh, look who knows so much!'' laughed Ray between his teeth. ''Self-awareness is not your strong suite for sure.''

Callen glared right back at the Commander, he knew he was the junior officer, but he also knew he was part of the ship's security force. He was not about to let the slightly intimidating Orion Counselor back him down.

"With all due respect Sir, you may outrank me, but I am the ranking security officer present. I know my regulations Sir, and I will have a security team come up here if necessary. Do you think it will be necessary..Sir?"

''It might.'' answered the counselor, this time with a genuine smirk.

His eyes however lighted with respect towards the Lieutenant. He was right and he was showing the initiative, the poise and the discipline and yet also the calm confidence expected from a Starfleet officer, especially in such a difficult and crucial job as ship security.

Too many people thought security was just about boarding Klingons and Romulans spies. But it was first and foremost to ensure order and safety on board a starship. Two senior officers arguing on the bridge could spell doom at a crucial moment... and it was the job of such officers, even junior ones, to intervene and stop any disturbance.

Pasqual had no fear of the brig or even of loosing rank, position and commission; he had been there often enough before and he wasn't even sure he wanted to be here now... but if at least ship security was this competent, they just might get through this mission after all; and if they were that good, maybe without any scratch and thus, without any need for this... doctor.

Anyway, it had been fun... but time to get to work now, he told himself. There will most assuredly be many more opportunities to play ''tick-off the Trill!''

With a nod of acknowledgement to the Lieutenant Callen, he went back to his console.

At least security had passed his testing with flying colors.

Callen frowned at the counselor's response and returned to the tactical station shaking his head. He made a mental note to brief Commander Archer when he finally returned to the bridge.

Frazetti opened her mouth to speak before things got out of hand with the escalating argument- but an enterprising young security officer did it first. She blinked. This Callen guy had balls. She approved. But this was disorder on the bridge; her bridge, partially, and it was odd how possessive she felt of it even after so short a time... and she was the ranking officer on duty and by God this was a Federation starship, not a kindergarten classroom. They were Starfleet officers, not bickering kids. This stops now.

Knowing her luck, Cap'n Sterling would walk in and then she'd look more of a moron than she felt in the ready room.

So she quickly gathered her courage and rose smoothly, calling attention to herself and moving over to the sec-tac console where Callen was. She put one hand on it casually, a tactile support of his opinion.

"I'd prefer dat it weren't, Mistuh Pasqual, Mistuh Callen. Ya beat me t' da punch, Mistuh Callen, thanks," she said, directing that last bit to him with a smile, and looking at everyone with a steady blue gaze under her red and grey fedora.

"Doctor Cyl, Counselor Pasqual has a valid point in da use of da transporters; I t'ink da Boss'd allow you da extra time, rather than causin' da confusion an' disruption dat occured. Next time, if dere is a problem wit’ da crew skivin’ dere checkups, contact mahself or hisself, an' we'll take care of it."

It was, after all, her job directly, and if nothing else he’d like to know if the crew wasn’t in top condition. Her Iotian accent grew thicker as she spoke, perhaps the single indicator of the uncharacteristic nervousness she felt at being, well, first officer-ly for the first time, and exercising her authority in a public fashion.

Especially in front of Pasqual.

She reminded herself to be as diplomatic as possible... Sometimes a challenge for the blonde.

Think of what'd da Boss would say.

She took a breath and turned her gaze to the Orion.

"Counselor Pasqual, yah job entails solvin' problems, not creatin' dem. We're goin' t' be relyin' on ya very much on dis mission, an' on diplomacy, an’ on teamwork. On a ship fulla what is essentially strangers, thrown t’gether last minute for what might be da greatest exercise in diplomacy since da Khitomer Accords, I understand you’ll have ya work cut out for ya, but please- you’re our counselor, not a lawyer, despite ya obvious skills in debate.”

She grinned.

“Save it for da Romulan delegation,” she added with wry humor, an attempt to diffuse tempers and the situation itself through the addition of a bit of humor.

And that might be a mistake... one of many, he almost blurted out, but instead stood formally and answered in a contrite tone, at least for him:

''Of course, Commander M'am.''

Jayvin turned and nodded to the XO.

"Aye ma'am."

She had been prepared for an argument, so the almost meek compliance she received put her off balance for a moment. It was almost too easy, which was weird... But she'd take it nonetheless.

Still, 'Commander Ma'am' sounded pretty good to her ears.

"Thank ya, suhs."

She moved back to her seat and took it once more. Her final systems check came up on the screen as she reactivated it. Science wasn't ready yet; apparently, they needed some parts. But other than that, they seemed good to go. She realized some of those parts she had seen in the cargo bay she had assisted with.

Well, that was easily fixed.

"Mizz M'elena, didncha need a power coupling for the science department? I was in Cargo Bay 5, an' I believe dey just got some in, if ya wanna go grab it. An Ops or Engineering ensign should be able t' install it without too much problems," she said, looking at the Caitan.

Sterling then exited the turbolift, walked past his command chair and noticed a PADD perched there. He reached over and picked it up and then stepped toward to ops station. His First Officer was busily inputting information in the ops console as he addressed her.

“Commander Hartzer, if I could have a moment of your time once again in the Ready Room…” he stated formally as his free arm swung out to gesture her toward the Captain’s office adjacent to the conference room.

Frazetti jumped up from her Ops console.

"Absolutely, suh," she replied, following him in.

What could this be about? The argument? She needed to inform him about that of course. Had she messed up already??

No. No, that couldn't be it.

So she followed him into the ready room with her usual attitude, determined to do this right.

Entering the Ready Room, the Captain walked over to his chair and sat down as the First Officer followed his lead.

It then occurred to Sterling to offer her a beverage; especially since he had been forgetful about this basic courtesy in their previous meeting. Plus, it was a good idea to keep his guests, especially his second-in-command, well-hydrated during these frantic and hectic times.

He stood up and walked over to the replicator and then turned toward Hartzer.

“May I offer you something such as a beverage, Commander?”

Frazetti took her seat across from him, sitting straight, no slouch, in deference to him and his rank. She blinked when he offered her a drink, the smiled, and nodded.

"That'd be darb, Boss. Do you have soda pop?" she asked.

An iced root beer sounded fantastic right about now. She also reminded herself to watch her accent around him.

Absently, she took off her hat, shook her blonde mane of curls out, ran a hand through them and put the hat back on, satisfied, while he was getting them drinks.

Sterling tried to hide the somewhat quizzical expression that exposed his surprise regarding her drink order. He hadn’t had an inkling to partake in one of those ancient beverages since he was but a boy. Fortunately, somehow the replicator processed the order in a tall glass; filled at the top with cubes of ice.

Sterling could hear a bit of fizzing emanating from the beverage in the glass as he walked over and carefully handed the chilled item into the hands of its anxiously awaiting recipient.

After returning back to the replicator and ordering and receiving a chilled iced tea with lemon, he returned back to his leather upholstered chair sat down and enjoyed a few sips.

Placing the cup into the cup-holder built into the wooden desk, he turned his attention back to the first officer.

“Well Commander Hartzer,” the Captain began with a bit of a sigh “it would seem to accompany our many ongoing challenges here on the Icarus, that we also potentially have a saboteur hidden somewhere onboard.”
Sterling then began to provide the First Officer with the details of the incidents discovered by Lieutenant Lien followed by their discussion with Lieutenant Commander Archer on deck 21 and their immediate plans.

* * *

Archer looked up from the desk as Cassie Strider walked into the office followed by Cadet Thran. Brian had decided to brief the cadet on the sabotage because he knew that Thran was not a suspect and while he might be a cadet he had experience in the Andorian Defense Force.

"What's up Brian?" Cassie asked casually.

"Sit, both of you."

The pair sat on the other side of the desk, and exchanged a glance of curiosity.

"We have a serious problem. A routine inspection by a Starfleet Corps of Engineers officer turned up a pair of isolinear control chips in deflector control that had been sabotaged."

"Sabotaged..." Cassie said repeating the word "any leads as to who did it?"

"No," Brian replied "I've been going over the internal sensor logs and there were three officers from the ship in that area prior to the inspector and Petty Officer Vance and then there were the engineers from the Starbase that worked in that area. All of should be considered suspects."

"Who were the three from the ship?" Thran asked

"They were all members of our department. At the time two were guarding the deflector control room on my orders, and the third was on a routine patrol."

"What do we know about them?" Cassie inquired

"All of them have clean records, but at this point we're to assume one of them is the saboteur, and we somehow need to bait a trap."

"Why not simply bring them all in and interrogate them?" Thran asked. "It would be the most efficient method."

The cadet had a point.

"I will bring that up with the Captain. He was going to speak with Admiral Kelek about the engineers from the starbase. Perhaps starbase security can interview them. Until they are cleared either by us or Starbase security everyone is a suspect. The Captain has made it clear that we are to tell no one outside of himself and Commander Hartzer about this. I want you two to think of a way we could out a saboteur from the ship's crew. I need to be on the bridge for launch, otherwise the saboteur could get suspicious, whoever it is and if he or she is onboard. Remember, trust no one except each other, myself , the Captain , or the XO. You're welcome to work here, I know this office is secure. I will be back later."

"We'll get on it," Cassie said "and don't worry, we'll get 'em."

Brian nodded grimly.

"I just hope we get them in time."

He left the security office and walked to the turbolift.

"Bridge,"

As the lift moved, Brian's mind raced. What other damage could the saboteur have done? Were they using compounds that the ship's internal sensors would miss? What kind of damage were they trying to inflict? Were they trying to cripple the Icarus, or injure her crew, or both?

None of those questions had good answers in Brian's mind, and he had half a mind to lock down the entire ship. For now, he knew the only people he could rely on were Cassie, Thran, Captain Sterling, and Commander Hartzer and with a saboteur on the loose that was not a lot of people.

As he arrived on the bridge, Brian walked straight to the tactical station where Lieutenant Callen was sitting. Callen rose as Brian approached.

"Status, Lieutenant."

"All systems operational Sir, and if you have a minute Sir I'd like a word."

Brian looked at Callen with concern.

"Of course, in the conference room."

The pair of security officers exited to the ship's conference room and, as the doors closed, Brian turned to his subordinate.

"What is it, Lieutenant?"

"Sir, there was almost an...altercation earlier between Doctor Cyl and Counselor Pasqual. They argued openly in the middle of the bridge, Sir. It’s clear they don't like each other. I'm concerned it could lead to trouble."

Ugh...not again...Brian thought.

"What happened, Mister Callen?"

Brian listened as Callen told him about the exchange between the two men and how Pasqual had responded when Callen had tried to intervene. All Brian could do was shake his head.

"Thank you for telling me, Lieutenant, and know that you did exactly what I would have done. I will speak to the Captain about this."

"Thank you, Sir."

Brian nodded, "Dismissed."

The pair exited the conference room, and Brian returned to the tactical station while Callen headed for the turbolift. Brian sat down and, using his security clearance, began running a level 3 diagnostics; the highest level diagnostics he could on all of the Icarus major systems without taking them offline.

Brian sat at the tactical station watching the diagnostic reports as they came across, but the going was slow. The activity on the bridge was commensurate with a starship getting ready to launch, but launch was the least of things on Brian's mind.

He knew the saboteur was likely someone in his own department, and even had it narrowed down, but, as much as he would have liked to, he couldn't just imprison all three of them.

Locking down the tactical console with the diagnostics continuing to run in the background Brian crossed over to the Captain's ready room and rang the annunciator.

* * *