Artemis senior officers briefing

Cargobay 1 of the starship Artemis was the largest room available to Lotus Fleet personnel outside of Starbase 10. Even then, it was quite filled with the seven hundred and forty-six crewmembers all assembled on its wide, empty expanse, except for the senior bridge officers who were all on the catwalk overlooking the immense room.

All the chatter and whispers then died out instantly when a voice suddenly clamored:

"Captain on deck!"

Kheren was not fond at all of this particular protocol; in fact, he had all but banished it under his command. To him, it was as pompous as it was useless. On the bridge of a starship, even the bridge of the largest vessel of Lotus Fleet, it didn't take more than a second or two for all bridge officers to notice him, or anyone else. And in his pragmatic mind, they had better things to do than stand at attention each time he poked an antenna.

But here, in such a vast room with so many people packed in with so many questions and apprehensions in their minds, it did feel useful for once. And as soon as he joined with his senior officers on the catwalk, he wasted no time.

"By order of Lotus Fleet Command, the USS Artemis is being called to serve on Operation Horizon, aimed at neutralizing the threat of the Azimuth Horizon anomaly. All of you have been near and even through this phenomenon and back numerous times, more than anyone alive anywhere. You know better than anyone else what we have to do and the risks involved."

He paused as he could observe the looks of acknowledgement and the expressions of remembrance on the vast sea of faces leveled at him.

"Our venture will be a joint one with all the ships of Lotus Fleet, and the Artemis is specifically paired with the USS Alsea, the most powerful warship available this side of the Neutral Zone. But this will not make things any easier. Doctor..."

The chief medical officer activated a large holographic display over the heads of the entire crew complement assembled in the cargobay, using the emergency holographic emitters disseminated throughout the immense room to conjure up the image of a dark, wide-winged vessel resembling some giant bat of metal. Kheren then explained further:

"The Artemis and the Alsea are also tasked to stop a Romulan attempt to destroy the anomaly, which would threaten not only this universe but the other universe we have all been to once. We believe this attempt might involve what you see here: a Scimitar class dreadnought."

Now there were whispers and mumbles across the whole room, carrying a feeling of surprise, even of dread, the captain did nothing to alleviate.

"This ship is four times our size, twice as protected, carries three times our phaser power and ten times our torpedo fire; and it can use all that while perfectly cloaked, beyond any conventional capability to detect. And if you think all this is dangerous enough, think again..."

As the Andorian captain spoke, the image of the monstrous Romulan starship expanded as some vast crown of curved spires deployed slowly all around its central hub, like a hand opening to grab everything before it.

"This type of warship has been known to be also outfitted as a giant thalaron radiation generator, large enough and powerful enough to obliterate all life on a planet in a matter of seconds. Against this, only metaphasic shielding can offer any possible protection."

He didn't have to say more. Any Starfleet officer who had been in actual combat at least once, as they all had on the Artemis, knew well that loosing shields during a space battle was a most distinct possibility. And so, Kheren went straight to the point:

"Our ship will be called to offer cover and protection to the USS Alsea as it concentrates its greater offensive power against this formidable foe... and any escort it might also have to boot. This means that this ship, because of her size, power reserves, armor and shields, will have to expose herself willingly to the brunt of enemy fire. Computer projections estimate, at best, severe damage... and casualties."

They were all silent now, either from shock or from dismay, or both, it was up to each of those hundreds of individuals. And as he spoke, the silver eyes of the Andorian commanding officer went to meet each and every stare he could see.

"Unless we first manage to reason peacefully with the Romulans, confrontation is a high probability and the damage level will be unavoidable; but we can minimize the casualties... and we will."

Straightening to put his hands behind his back to stand at attention before his own crew, Kheren then stated with a strong, firm voice:

"This ship will do its duty with the smallest crew possible; I ask for no more than seventy-five volunteers, including senior officers and myself. I do not want heroes, bravos and prideful opportunists who think they must be aboard, out of some misplaced sense of personal honor or need to prove oneself. I want officers and crewmen ready to do their duty, follow orders instantly and unfailingly... and who will not expect to come back alive."

The silence was so deep in the immense cargobay that one could almost hear the confused thoughts that were carried by all the stares that were exchanged among the hundreds assembled. Kheren waited a moment before concluding:

"Those who will stay on the starbase will do so with no prejudice to their record or to their assignment and status aboard this ship. They will in fact prove themselves sensible and reliable officers, showing that they know they can contribute more significantly to the fleet's effort by serving as anomaly-experimented personnel here at Fleet Command Center than by needlessly sacrificing their lives just to serve as cannon fodder."

He sighed and then added:

"To the few needed here on board that would, free and sound of mind, still elect to stay and offer their lives... please report immediately to First Officer O'Conner. But please remember this; the more who will, the more deaths we will have to mourn afterwards. Seventy-five lives is already too high a price to pay.''

The Andorian lowered his head a moment as if shouldering an immense weight, then finished by ordering with a barely audible voice:

All department heads, report to conference room 1 in thirty minutes."

Without any further word, Kheren looked one last time at his crew then left the catwalk and the cargobay, leaving only thoughtful silence in his wake. As he did O'Conner could only stare dumb fondly at his captain his respect for this once rising all but gone.

To O'Conner this moment needed an inspiring speech to rally the crew to full readiness, but instead Kheren merely looked like a defeated man before the battle had even began. His ideals were in the right place but as the saying go plans only last until the first contact. Should the scimitar not show or it's thalaron weapons but thwarted by the Artemis' shield and/or the doctor's knowledge, having the ship understaffed could be pointless at best or deadly to the fleet should larger than expected forces or unexpected forces arrive. But more than O'Conner had no desire to serve on a ship with a captain that in his mind had already planned to die in a suicidal run.

Only one voice was heard after a moment. It was the same that had proudly announced the arrival of the commanding officer; and now, it spoke only one word, with a tone slightly strangled by emotion.

"Dismissed!"

O'Conner quietly walked out of the cargo bay, heading for the mess and a drink to think with.

Syntron was not fazed by the grim announcement given by the stern Andorian commander to the entire Artemis crew. In fact, he was prepared to meet with Captain Kheren to discuss several pertinent ideas and proposals related to confronting the Azimuth Horizon Anomaly that potentially connected to the impending Romulan attacks on the anomaly as well. Having just completed the meetings with his entire staff it was confirmed that the science stations were primed and his team was ready. He knew without a doubt that all of his department heads would choose to participate in this mission. They were experienced and operated at maximum efficiently; even under the direst of circumstances: as they had demonstrated during all of the previously perilous missions.

After the captain dismissed everyone, Syntron walked away slowly with his assistant science chief Lieutenant Valencia Irksos and the head of the Astrometrics lab Lieutenant T’Val by his side. It was a hushed saunter at first as they moved away from the crowd, until Lieutenant Irksos turned and stated rather firmly:

“You know that I am not going anywhere Sir… we are in this together until this mission is resolved; one way or another!”

The intensity and conviction in her voice left no doubt in the science chief’s mind that she was fully committed as she stopped and faced him directly as she spoke.

“Understood Lieutenant” Syntron acknowledged to Irksos. “In that case, your next task is to immediately streamline our science department. Determine the minimal amount of crewmen required per station and then work with your staff to establish which crew members that are willing to remain would be best suited to fulfill each requisite position. It would be preferable if you could select individuals that have multiple specialties… to help fill in any imperative vacancies that occur during this mission.”

It was again a grim reminder to the dangers that lay before them on this ominous two-pronged mission.

“Ultimately Lieutenant, including you and I, we will need to narrow down our staff to about 18 total science crewmen.”

Before either officer standing with him could respond, Syntron added:

“I need this finalized list ready in twenty-three minutes… prior to the upcoming senior staff meeting. I will be in my office preparing my final notes for this meeting.”

He then turned to T’val and stated stoically “You will assist her with this task.”

“Yes sir” the Vulcan scientist acknowledged.

Syntron then stated “Dismissed” as he headed out of the cargo bay and back toward his office.

Nineteen point five minutes later Syntron was presented with the revised science crew list from Lieutenant Irksos. There were twenty names on the registrar; each mapped out with specific primary and secondary duties.

The human assistant science chief noting Syntron’s subtle reaction to the elevated total number stated succinctly “This is as small and efficient a group that I could narrow down from the 153 available science crew members. Any further reduction would jeopardize our ability to handle any given number of emergency situations that could arise during this mission.”

Sitting in his science office the Vulcan science chief looked from the PADD up to Irksos standing rigidly in front of his desk and stated “Noted Lieutenant. Please have the remaining crew packed and ready to depart the ship as expeditiously as possible.”

Transferring the crew member file to his PADD he returned Lieutenant Irksos’ PADD back to her as he then stood up and stated “I have a meeting with the Captain and the senior staff. Depending on the outcome of this meeting, we may need to utilize some of our additional science crew members before we depart. I will apprise you of any possible strategies and consequences ascertained at the conclusion of our meeting.”

Walking toward the exit Syntron turned and added “Meanwhile Lieutenant, meet with your abridged crew and run them through a series of potential emergency exercises throughout the science stations; preparing them for a variety of given system failures and lost crew members. Note the outcome and your recommendations based on these scenarios in your next report.”

“Yes Sir,” was the quick and decisive response of Lieutenant Valencia Irksos.

Syntron headed out of his office and toward the turbolift.

All this time, Captain Kheren stood in silence before the large transparencies of the conference room adjoining the bridge via a short corridor, waiting for the arrival of his senior officers; those that would elect to face death with him in the cold darkness of space.

"You certainly have a way with words..."

The Andorian did not turn to greet his chief medical officer, nor did he answer the sarcasm in his voice. And so, the Deltan simply sat in the nearest chair to the door with a smirk on his handsome face but a definite seriousness in his purple eyes that etched his otherwise pleasant tone of voice.

"After all we've been through together, they deserve to know the truth... and they need to decide for themselves how to face the truth," finally grumbled Kheren after a moment, without turning away from the window.

"Of course... but did you need to be so blunt and so gloomy about it? So... Andorian?"

This time, the Andorian turned to face Elliago squarely.

"Do I look Human to you, Doc?"

"No... but most of your crew is." argued the Deltan.

"Yes Doc... and yes, I am Andorian; I am ready to fight with all eyes open until victory or death. But I am not ready to pep talk those people into delusion, with bombastic promises of glory, duty and honor and false hopes of triumph and victory that can only come at the cost of our own blood, their blood. Some of them have families; some of them want families..."

Elliago kept quiet. He knew how the concept of family was most important to Andorians. Especially to this one, who was denied any. After a moment, the Deltan then slightly shifted the subject.

"It will be difficult to handle this ship with such a small crew."

"Doc, this is an Ambassad0r Class starship," reminded Kheren. "One man alone can handle this entire vessel at the multitask operations console. And it does not take a lot to use this ship as a target to cover another... Which is why, the less will come, the less deaths we will have on our conscience."

"You speak as if we were only going out there to die..."

"Doc, I do not intend to die out there... and even less to have anyone die out there for no reason. We will be hit first, hard and often and then we will come back for more; and we will have to stay there and take it in full until we prevail or fail. Going into this with a full crew, with scientists and nurses and technicians and so many people that will make no difference but to the deathcount would be more than irresponsible; it would be unworthy of my duty and responsibility. I am the captain; and the first duty of the captain is to his crew, even before that of his ship."

His four eyes bore straight into those of the Deltan.

"And nothing is more important than my crew."

Elliago simply nodded, finally starting to understand the lonely Andorian outcast that was his commanding officer.

But one that already understood it all for a long time now entered the conference room at this moment. Her antennae had caught all the conversation from the moment she had walked into the corridor leading from the bridge to the meeting chamber at the other end. Waiting until only silence followed the last words of the captain, acting chief of tactical Tyvya then stepped beyond the sliding door and went straight to Kheren, PADD in hand.

"Tactical summary with Alsea tactical chief Oseno Jureth, Sir," she said as she handed him the data retrieval apparatus. Kheren looked at its content and, after a moment, nodded approvingly.

"Sound approach. Good man this Oseno Jureth. between you two, we have a good chance to pull this off... all the more if we can significantly reduce the cost in lives."

"About that, Sir," the giantess then asked. "If we are boarded with a reduced crew..."

"Lieutenant; in over three hundred years, even before the birth of the United Federation of Planets, the Romulans almost never attempted a boarding action. It is simply alien to their way of thinking and their doctrine of war. And with their current objective aimed solely at destroying the anomaly, especially with such a massive ship as the one Starfleet Intelligence has warned us about, doing so would be totally pointless, even idiotic. Romulans might not be logical as their Vulcan cousins, but they are not idiots... and like them, they are very intensely focused."

"Sir... they might have Reman troops on board," then objected Tyvya; "and they did board the Enterprise during the Shinzon incident. And I would remind you of the attempted theft of the USS Prometheus... and more recently the attack on Starbase 10..."

"Make sure our antiboarding protocols are fully active then," agreed Kheren. "And with a reduced crew, cutting life support in unoccupied areas to concentrate more power on our defensive systems will certainly make us a risky target to board as well."

"I'll see to it, Captain," she aknowledged as she sat on the second side of the triangular table to wait for the other senior officers to join them.

The door then wooshed open and all eyes were drawn to the peculiar three-legged gait of the Edoan assistant chief of operations Cheonghi. The red-skinned face seemed even redder than usual as he smiled sheepishly and went to his commanding officer.

"Sir... Captain, I have just been informed by Lieutenant Danik Brie that he will be... staying on the starbase."

The six-limbed officer gave him a PADD in which Kheren found the transfer request of the Bolian engineer that had served as his chief of operations for the last months. In polite words, he explained that he understood the need to minimize casualties in the upcoming operation and that he would prove more useful as an anomaly technical consultant on the base than just as another button pusher on the Artemis. He also recommended a list of operations crewmembers that were cross-trained in security and medical, or engineering and piloting, that would prove more valuable than specialists like him during this operation... enough to assume all essential duties, support damage control and medical teams and even pilot every craft on board.

Kheren sighed and nodded. He had hoped to be able to count on Brie to be there; but he understood his reasons... and those between the lines. Bolians too had family ambitions that went beyond the obligations of the service.

"Very well, Mister Cheonghi. You will therefore now serve as our chief of ops. Please have a seat."

The Edoan again smiled akwardly, looked at the unorthodox table and finally chose to sit with his peculiar spread-legged tripod stance beside Nasaro-Myth, reassured by the presence of the friendly Deltan doctor.

The door opened again, this time to admit a tall, bald, black-skinned man who stood at attention before the captain.

"I guess Mister Scott has decided to stay on the station, Mister Baoule?"

The assistant chief engineer looked a bit surprised for a short moment before he nodded and aknowledged formally.

"Aye, captain; he sent his transfer request to your ready room a short while ago. He asked Lieutenant Blakely to replace him on board, but she then requested that I do so instead so that she may remain assistant chief engineer... with your approval of course, Sir."

"Glad to still have you and Lieutenant Blakely with us, Mister Baoule," simply aknowledged Kheren, moving a hand towards the conference table.

"You should not lack engineering personnel either, Sir," declared then the black man with a small smile. "I hear there is currently a challenge between engineering and security as to which department will have the most on board when we will launch."

"WE have fifty percent of our people cross-trained as technicians," commented Tyvya with obvious pride and confidence.

"I'd prefer for those who will to compete as to which will have the most of them alive when we return," gloomily retorted the Andorian, silencing for a moment the burgeonning friendly verbal bout.

As Baoule sat beside the giantess and quietly resumed their amiable dispute to lighten the tense atmosphere, they all now only waited for the science chief and First officer to arrive so that they could finalize their next rendez-vous with destiny.

IF they will come... thought Kheren.

The Vulcan had been unscrutable as ever, even after his terse, cold speech to the crew and there were as many logical reasons for him to stay on board as there were for him to stay on Starbase 10. As for O'Conner... Kheren had noticed the change of attitude of the man over the past week, since their return from their week long study of the anomaly... and the revelation by Temporal Investigations of their astonishing part in a dramatic time travel incident. Afterwards, the man had been silent, isolated, offering nothing to support or advise his commanding officer and fellow crewmates, spending all his time with people from other crews... Still, his blatant insubordination at the meeting had surprised him and he had relented a bit then, trusting the experience of the man; but the way he had looked at his captain during the meeting with the crew afterwards... then moving off, without a word to anyone... O'Conner visibly did not understand at all what they were getting into, how they could best face it... or worse, he didn't care.

And just as bad; the Andorian had immediately perceived from the body, the face and the eyes of his first officer that he seemed to have lost all respect and trust in his captain. It was the same attitude he had seen former chief engineer N'Eligahn show months ago towards O'Conner himself, and eventually to the entire command staff, when things didn't go the way he thought best.

Maybe its about time you get your own captaincy, then wished him the Andorian... although he now wondered, reflecting on what was happening, if he was not instead cursing him with such a wish.

Exiting off of the lift onto deck 1 just then, the science chief headed directly to the conference room.

Entering the conference room, he noted Captain Kheren standing resolutely toward the window with his back to the meeting table. Sitting quietly at the triangular table were Doctor Nasaro-Myth, engineer Baoule, operations officer Cheonghi and acting chief of tactical Tyvya.

Syntron could sense a bit of apprehension in the air as he sat down across from this imposing Andorian female as she was busily entering information into her PADD.

Syntron surmised that this was mostly a result of the upcoming mission and her reluctance to once again have the role as the chief tactical and security officer aboard the Artemis thrust upon her. This was a position that she handled most masterfully in the past, yet illogically, she had no inclination to accept the role permanently.

But Syntron also recalled their brief meeting in his office at the conclusion of their last mission when the giantess, in her own convoluted manner, eventually professed her conflicting emotional reaction and attraction to the commanding officer of the Artemis. Recognizing the futility of such an affinity toward the captain, she declared her intention to suppress all superfluous emotions to allow the captain to focus on his primary role to command this ship, and for her to fulfill her duties efficiently as well; clearly a confounding burden for her to bear.

Glancing toward the intently preoccupied Andorian officer, Syntron simply stated:

“Felicitations, Lieutenant Tyvya.”

Both antennae on the thick platinum mane of the Andorian woman shot up in surprise as she raised her clear blue eyes towards the bearded Vulcan.

"Sir?" she asked, obviously confused.

Syntron could sense that Lieutenant Tyvya felt a bit awkward as he peered back into her eyes; as if reacting to him suspiciously knowing her well-guarded and most discomforting secret.

He merely stated “I was merely acknowledging your presence here Lieutenant and conveying continued success to you as our representative of both the tactical and security departments once again.”

For a moment, the towering blue-skinned woman looked at him, eyes blinking. Then she shrugged.

"Thank you, Sir... I guess. Well, as Humans say, somebody has to do it. We certainly can't leave our captain alone with so much ahead of us now, can we?"

The way she said it, it sounded more like a solemn vow than a simple statement of fact.

O'Conner paused as he stood outside the conference door. He spend the last 30 minutes collating the crew's many requests to both stay, leave and even transfers. As expected all of the Andorian and Kilingon officers had quickly elected to stay. Oddly all of the senior science officers had chosen to stay. Also, while only a couple of the bajorians had elected to stay, the remainder had asked to be transfer to other ships in the fleet, living up to their fighting spirit. A number of humans had asked the same but the majority of them and the other races of the Artemis had elected to stay behind after the captain's everyone is going to die speech.

All in all a total of 96 had elected to stay on board, 39 crewmembers and 57 officers. While a further 151 had requested transfers to other ships in the fleet and O'Conner was one of them asking to be transferred to the Spectre. It had not been an easy choice for him, he truly grown to love the old girl. O'Conner had always believe one makes their own fate and if the captain believe they were going to have throw their corpses in front of the romulans to slow them down. It was an almost certainty that Kheren was going to do that and ignore any other options. So while O'Conner had no doubt he would willing go down with the ship as the saying goes, he had no plans to be Kheren's cannon fodder.

After a taking a deep breath, O'Conner glanced around the bridge as if it was his last time before stepping in to the room, nodded to the officers and took his seat, his report and transfer request in hand.

Even in the diffuse reflection of the transparency he was facing, Kheren could clearly see that his first officer entered as a man with his mind made up. There was a purposefulness in his step and a blankness in his eyes that together spoke of it plainly enough.

Hope for you that you made the right one, Michael, the Andorian thought before he aknowledged his arrival with a nod as he turned and went to sit beside him and face the rest of the senior crew.

"Gentlebeings," started Kheren without any formality, you all know the mission laid out before us, the ressources we will have available and the challenges we will have to face. Status report of each of your departments please."

"Medical stands ready for the worse, captain," Elliago Nasaro-Myth first said. My twelve senior doctors will be with me and we have thoroughly updated and checked the EMH shipwide grid with emergency protocols and supplies. Cargobay 1 and the Bow will be converted as supplementary sickbays, so we will even be able to care for any casualties other ships might need to have treated if their own smaller facilities can't suffice Fortunately with such a reduced crew, we will not need it much for ourselves, if all comes down to the worst."

"Engineering is ready as well, Sir," now reported Robert Baoule. " I have three shifts of skeleton crew but our twenty-one very best engineers are with us. Level 1 diagnostic of the entire ship has been successfully completed and the secondary computer core is fully programmed for automated damage control and circuit bypasses to face even the worse damage. Sir, the Artemis has never been in better shape and she can stay operational even with more than fifty percent of her hull and system destroyed. Also, we received technical specs from Starbase 10, courtesy of Marksus Sangliar, about how to convert our propulsion to some alternating impulse drive that allegedly will allow us full mobility within the anomaly."

"Ops will provide seventeen cross-trained officers to also support either medical, engineering or tactical as needed, captain," now stated the Edoan Cheonghi with his typically shrill voice. But there was only confidence in its deceptively shy tones. "Each is also an accomplished pilot, including Mister Snow our chief helmsman; we can launch all our shuttles together if ever the need arises and all auxilliary crafts have also been checked, primed and placed in full readiness. We also rechecked all systems after Engineering went through them; the Artemis is in the best condition ever, Sir."

Tyvya then made her own report.

"Security and tactical personnel, systems and programs have been extensively prepared for the apprehended confrontation, Sir, be it in space or aboard. We have our twenty-six top personnel volunteering, including of course Lieutenant Mrriish and Ensigns S'Kon, De Paul and Graalthrii, the security officers that came with you and I from the Lotus. All are also cross-trained as technicians and medics with piloting experience. Cargobay 3 has been converted into a large brig capable of holding several hundred prisoners under sealed reinforced bulkheads, transport inhibiters, level 10 forcefields and anesthezine gas. The reduced needs for life support will provide us with a lot of extra power for internal security, maneuverability, shields and phasers. All our tactical systems have been checked, primed and our torpedo complement has been doubled with starbase supplies: five hundred photon torpedoes and as many quantum ones are available for our three burst V launchers. Tactical sensors, communication channels and programs have been integrated with those of the Alsea and the Pel sensor-reflex program added to serve both against the anomaly and any cloaked ship, as it is also linked to Mister Syntron's spatial sonar. We might be called to offer ourselves as a target, captain, but we will definitely not be an easy target."

Kheren now turned his four oculars towards his chief science officer.

“Captain Kheren” Syntron immediately responded “All primary science stations have been thoroughly tested and re-tested and are currently operating at optimal levels. Lieutenant Irksos has created a science team manifest abridging our complement of 153 science crew members down to that of 20 requisite members. Each remaining individual is currently engaged in a series of emergency and cross-training exercises throughout each of the science stations in various configurations in preparation for a multiplicity of given system failures and potential incapacitated crew members. The crew members not remaining aboard are currently packing and preparing to depart the ship.”

The Andorian nodded to his bridge officers before turning to his First officer.

"You confirm these numbers, Commander? Anything more to report?"

O'Conner glanced at his fellow senior officers. During the academy O'Conner had studied the works of Sun Tzu, so while he was proud of his peers' fighting spirit but he honestly surprised by it. As the art of war says the general who wins the battle make many calculations before the battle is fought, but Kheren's plan seemed to only have two calculations. As far as O'Conner can figure Kheren's plan was either he talks the romulans down or the Artemis dies so that the Alesa can defeat the scimitar. That just didn't sit well with O'Conner as there were no plans for the escorts, if the scimitar didn't show or option to support the other sections of the fleet should the need arise. To him overall it was just a shortsighted plan that he wanted no part of, but he was a Starfleet officer so he would do his duty should he be denied his transfer.

"Yes Sir" O'Conner said as he slide the PADDs to the captain."39 crew members and 57 officers requested to stay on board. Additionally 151 crew members requested transfers other ships of the fleet." After a short pause, he added. "As do I sir. I still think this plan of yours is shortsighted and the Spectre could use an experienced Chief Engineer, few officers in this fleet know Akiras as well as I do."

Syntron’s thoughts were abruptly interrupted by First Officer O’Conner’s stunning announcement of his impending departure to the Spectre. He has been an integral member of the Artemis senior staff for many of these challenging missions and the loss of his respected leadership would certainly create a noticeable void on this potentially treacherous undertaking in which they were all about to embark; especially with a skeleton crew manning the ship.

Understandably at this point in the meeting the science chief hadn’t even been provided the opportunity to share his proposal with the Captain or the first officer; not that this would have any impact on his decision… but the discussion may perhaps have at least opened proverbial doors to other options and opportunities in regards to their impending strategies.

Kheren did not turn his head as the PADD slid in front of him. His four eyes went down to it, and he took all the time needed to read it with the respect and attention it was due. He then sighed, input his autorisation to the document and gave it back to O'Conner.

Then he stood up to face him. If he felt any surprise, his rigid face did not show any of it. But in his silvery eyes, there was a definite emotion clouding them.

Disapointment.

O'Conner still acted with the proper decorum; but he had clearly lost all respect and trust in him and his crewmates, even after all they had been through together. His very superficial criticism of a plan he had but just learned only summary reports of the broad lines a moment ago, showed a lack of judgment that was simply apalling for an officer of his years. And this very transfer request simply compounded plainly this severe lack of judgment; the man was not only ready to go and remorselessly bump out a competent engineer for his own personal benefit, not only was he pretentiously expecting his former commanding officer, Daniel Summers, to go with it, but he needlessly asked to step down to a lower position on his former ship, when he was the best man in all the fleet to provide no less than three ships with the first officer they desperately needed... and one of them being the flagship no less.

Even more; the Alsea was in need of the most experienced officer available to replace it's captain... and he just overlooked it all, deciding that he would save the day for the galaxy as a grease monkey and not as a proven command grade officer.

The Andorian however refrained from even just suggesting it to his departing XO. Since the man clearly had no respect for his judgment, not enough to have come up even once with any objection or proposal for the whole last week they were preparing for this operation, Kheren doubted that his suggestions would even be considered. With his current state of mind, O'Conner might even reject these opportunities just because he despised so much now the one making them.

Better let the man himself, hopefully, think of it, since he thought so highly of his own private judgment.

Kheren stood at attention before O'Conner.

"Best of luck to you, Mister O'Conner."

The dismissal was as clear as it was final.

O'Conner sighed lightly as Kheren gave his authorization. For a moment he had hoped Kheren would reject or at least try to talk him out of it, but it seemed that Kheren had no interest in that.

"Best to luck to you as well, sir." O'Conner said with a salute before heading to the door. Pausing at the door he added, "and may the old girl bring you all back safety" and he really did hope whatever plan Kheren and Syntron had created and implemented without his input worked and didn't get them killed.

"Now for the hard part..." He mumbled to himself as he quickly headed to his now former quarters.

Kheren watched the man leave with a curious feeling of emptiness inside of him. For a brief moment, he had felt as if O'Conner regretted his decision, now that his captain had endorsed it. But he shook himself out of the feeling. He was obviously projecting his own regrets on the departing officer. Michael O'Conner had made his decision a long time ago, as the Andorian knew him well enough to have learned that he never made rash decisions; and a whole week of silence and absence up to the last minute told about it well enough.

Michael O'Conner had made his decision. And Kheren for his part still respected the man enough to let him assume his own decisions and not stand in the way of his chosen destiny.

Sittimg back down, now alone on his side of the table, he turned towards his remaining officers.

"Well, gentlebeings; in case Mister O'Conner would be right; any further inputs and recommendations you feel relevant to this mission?"

There was a moment of akward silence as everyone, each in his own way, adjusted to the brutal departure of one most had served with since the Artemis' launch. But they were professionals all; and they fully trusted the captain who had lead them out of the anomaly thrice, helped them to succeed in a first contact with an advanced species while repulsing a klingon incursion, to prevail against a deadly rogue AI and in facing a cosmic-shattering time paradox.

Robert Baoule blinked. If there was but one captain in this entire Fleet who never went half-cocked into any situation, who even expected the unexpected, it was Captain Kheren. That is why, as always, he was now asking for recommendations, for his specialists to flesh out his plan. Baoule recalled that it was this very preparedness that had made a former chief engineer storm off of the Artemis!

O'Conner's reasons simply made no sense to him. However, he understood that the man had to decide his own fate, and that the captain would not in this stand in his way. But Baoule put it all behind him. He was not a counselor; his concern was for the ship.

"Sir, all on board should wear PIDs," the acting chief engineer recommended. " This way, we can reduce inertial dampers to provide much more power to propulsion, shields, deflector and structural integrity, increasing both maneuverability and protection. And any possible boarder will conveniently smash into bulkheads."

"If I may add," then chimed in Doctor Nasaro-Myth, " with so few people aboard, at least all engineering and medical personnel should be in hazard suits, security people in combat armor, and ops people in flight suits. This will not only reduce casualties from hull breaches and hazards, but it would allow us to shut off life support on two-thirds of the ship and reduce decompression damage without hampering us... but further hamper uninvited guests."

The Deltan doctor spoke with his usual easiness. He had not been surprised. In fact he had expected this after the First officer's insubordination at the fleet meeting. O'Conner visibly had just looked for an excuse to bail out for some time now, even if with unfounded reasons as those he gave. Throwing his resignation in the captain's face like this was his second attempt in mere hours to corner and publicly provoke the Andorian, evidently to have him emotionally compromised before other officers for some hidden personal agenda. Unfortunately for him, Kheren was anything but the typical short-fused Andorian. Despite all the time they had known each other, O'Conner had completely misjudged his commanding officer. Elliago just hoped now that the man could live with the consequences of his own actions and decisions.

The Edoan acting chief of ops didn't know what to think. Cheonghi in fact never understood why so many humanoids so often went out of their way to create conflict, even without any good reason to do so. Why couldn't they talk it out like any civilized being? He shook his head and smiled to chase off his uneasiness before saying,his voice a bit shriller than usual:

"Sir, the transporter protocols for security and medical alerts could also provide our crewmembers with site to site transport if anyone has to move throughout the ship, avoiding all uninhabitable sections and speeding up responses and actions on board. With our skeleton crew, the computer now certainly can handle it all."

"All of this will considerably improve our efficiency in combat as well as for rescue and evacuation scenarios, captain," concurred acting security chief Tyvya. "Speaking of which, Sir, I propose for the trip that all of us but one should go again one last time through all the basic possible tactical situations we have trained for all week, adding the new one we now expect. The holodeck is ready as we speak, Sir."

"All but one?" inquired Elliago with a skewed stare at the giantess.

"Why yes... you, Doctor," she said. "You're the only one of us who vowed to never do harm... but you have enough basic training to keep the ship fly straight and watch sensors from the multitask station while we, bloodthirsty barbarians, sharpen our swords."

Tyvya tried to talk with a light tone, but everyone heard the growl of her anger still boiling. She had almost tore the table off the floor to throw it at O'Conner's face when he had, again, publicly insulted the captain and now betrayed him at a crucial time... And he miserably failed his exec duties when over a hundred of their crewmates turned rats fleeing his twisted vision of a sinking ship! Or was this unfounded fear the real reason he himself was fleeing?

Her anger was also towards herself, not seeing it coming; and truth be told, her attention was not focused on him... So It had taken every ounce of her Starfleet discipline to grip her chair and stay silent while the man simply abandonned them all with but token respect and not a thought about what they had all shared together for so long.

Maybe Syntron's presence right next to her had helped her stay outwardly calm; but inside, she knew she would not forgive Michael O'Conner for what he had done and especially how he had done it to his crewmates, to them...

To him.

Fortunately, the voice of the Vulcan, last to speak out, helped her keep quiet and dim the fire in her icy blue eyes.

After a slight pause following the other officers’ reactions and subsequent recommendations, Syntron cautiously added. “Captain, I do have a proposal for you to consider regarding our upcoming mission.”

Syntron then explained to the Captain that during his meeting with Doctor Jolie Bindo and Doctor Nasaro-Myth on Starbase 10, they were examining their options of eliminating the ominous threat of this enormous anomaly in this endeavor metaphorically; in terms of a biological approach. The doctors were struggling in their discourse to determine a cure or remedy to address the anomaly as a macro cancer-like invader. While they were all engaging in this dialogue, Syntron came up with an alternative proposition. If they viewed this situation as imposing hypothermia within the entity instead, then theoretically speaking they could devise a method to deprive the anomaly of the extreme temperatures required to maintain its high energy state of existence. If successful, then the energy of this anomaly would eventually be reduced to the point of deionization, causing the anomaly’s plasma-like power source to revert back down to an innocuous gaseous state of matter.

The means to accomplish this mammoth endeavor would result in an equally precarious solution. Syntron’s proposition if approved would commence with preparing a series of trilithium probes; each containing a minute amount of trilithium precisely placed into each probe and equipping each of the probes’ exterior with metaphasic shielding. These adapted probes would then be divided up and placed within each of the fleet’s starships participating in this aspect of the mission.

"Easily feasible while en route, Sir, since trilithium isotopes are a toxic waste of our warp cores... all the more now that we are misaligning them," offered Baoule then. "Shielding something as small as a probe however is problematic."

"What if... we instead adapted the Laforge Metaphasic Program 1 on their navigational deflector field?" asked Cheonghi.

"Yes... that just might do the trick... at least long enough for a class IX probe to do the intended... snuffing out job." agreed the tall, bald black-skinned man with a shiny white smile.

Continuing with his recommendations, the science chief then explained that each ship could then be positioned at pre-designated coordinates around the anomaly. Then the probes could be strategically launched to enter into nearby subspace fractures. As they crossed through the subspace thresholds, the fractures would then be sealed using the inverted ionic pulse emitters; trapping the probes and their ultimate reactions solely within the time-space of the anomaly as the ships immediately warped out of the region as a safety precaution.

"Engines will have to be realigned first, Sir," remarked Tyvya, "or else, we will dig behind us a subspace fracture for it to catch us by the seat of our pants."

The captain aknowledged the comments, but his attention stayed on his science officer. With his own personal background education in cosmology, he could follow his reasoning without difficulty as he explained that the probes would automatically be aimed from different coordinates and travel slowly toward the center of the anomaly. Then once simultaneously detonated by synchronized timers, the net implosive force could potentially eliminate sizable aspects if not all of the fusion reactions occurring within the anomaly. The resultant oscillations of shockwaves as an inverse result of the implosion would theoretically counteract each other through the destructive interference of each set of waves and thus minimize any potential damage inflicted on either system.

As the Vulcan finished, Elliago Nasaro-Myth then added:

"Captain... there is one other thing. We know Romulans are aware of trilithium's effect on plasma..."

"Yes... their plasma torpedoes, especially the ancient ones, have a trilithium component," completed Tyvya. Then her eyes went wide as she looked at Kheren. "Sir! If... if the Romulans uses those on the anomaly..."

"It would make the Armagosa supernova, even the Hobus one, look like a firecracker," finished the Andorian captain. "And if they do come with a ship that can fire up to twenty-seven of them at once..."

The silence was now ominious.

"And I thought shielding the Alsea alone was going to be risky," mumbled Baoule. "Now we'll have to shield the whole monster as well..."

"Mister Syntron," then ordered Kheren; if you have not done so already, send your data and report to Fleet Captain Samji so that he can make all the fleet aware of all this and prepare accordingly."

He then looked straight at the Vulcan.

"One other thing, Lieutenant; as the senior officer on board, I will have to ask you to double up as first officer of the Artemis. I need someone I can trust by my side if I ever falter."

“Affirmative Captain” Syntron responded to the first part of the ship's commanding officer's statement as he slid over and activated his PADD.

He then brought up a series of proposals related to the anomaly that he had been recently modifying. After scrutinizing each individual report, he carefully integrated the concise components of each of them to provide the most comprehensive amalgamation of all the relevant data files. After entering in a brief introductory synopsis of the pertinence of the file to the upcoming mission along with a summary of the comments and suggestions of his fellow senior officers that he had noted during the discussion, he immediately forwarded the completed file and message directly to Fleet Captain Samji.

After activating the transmit button, Syntron looked back up to the commanding officer and confirmed:

“Data files and report sent Captain.”

Stating this, he noticed the four oculars of the Captain peering directly at him and noting the serious nature in the tone within his second message, he then added “I will abide by your request to fulfill the position of first officer.”

Although he was bewildered at Commander O’Conner’s sudden departure, Syntron knew that the captain would need a replacement that would be reliable and forthright; especially given the volatile nature of this upcoming mission. He easily possessed the earnestness and skills to adequately fill this role. The question still lurking in Syntron’s mind: would he excel beyond mere sufficiency?

The captain lifted his chin in typical Andorian gesture of respect.

"Thank you, MIster Syntron. Your service will already be most important in the upcoming days. I am hereby promoting you as acting Lieutenant Commander; your effective promotion was due anyway, so I'm a just barely anticipating on official approval... which will however have to wait after the operation... a successful operation of course. "

Kheren now turned to the rest of the bridge crew.

"Now, let us use the time before launch to refine as much as possible our part in it, make sure we cover all contingencies... then, we'll try to surprise ourselves with the improbable."

And so, they all went to work.