Mission decisions

 Sitting up straight "I will accept the Challenge Sir, otherwise why am I here" Alex said first.

"You were sent here because you are the best person to do the job we expect of you; but that does not mean you have to," the Andorian pointed out. "General Order 27 states that no Starfleet member shall be required by the assignment of standard duties and responsibilities to undergo extended separation from his family. I want you and everyone else that will decide to come to be perfectly clear on that. You understand and accept that you might not see your family again for a long time to come, Lieutenant?"

Shrugging comically "my dads a Marine Diplomat, my Mom in the diplomatic corps, they will understand, so it will not be a problem Captain" Somers said looking at her CO.

"Glad to hear it; it would be hard to find someone with your qualifications this close to launch," answered the Andorian with obvious satisfaction in his voice.

"Touch, yes. See and hear....that's something different." Snowfire mused, idly doodling field interaction equations on another sheet of hardcopy. "If the ansibles are functional, we'll be able to communicate as long as we're in n-space. And given the transit time to our deployment area, engineering a system based off of the Pathfinder Project of the 2370s should be easily within our capabilities which would give us limited real-time communication. Such a system would also allow us to keep Starfleet informed on our progress, which is something I would think would be in all of our best interests." She was just trying to be helpful at this point though, for those who would be more comfortable being able to talk with their families - at least some of the time. For Snowfire herself, ten years was nothing. She'd spent far longer at the Great Academy, for all intents and purposes totally alone, and in this mission she'd be among those who she knew to be friends. And a decade was a minor price to pay, her only worry being if the Vision formed whilst she was away.

Oh quit with the messiah complex Snow, she told herself after a moment, shaking the worry away. She might be able to help when all of that came due, but changing things? Maybe, just maybe, but not on her own. And her siblings could hold the fort for now, like they'd been doing for years now. And the Vision would form when it formed, that was the way of things.

"I have little fear of time, Captain. And," she smiled ever so slightly, "is a ship not also a family in itself?" That was something Starfleet and the IDF shared. "Aboard a vessel of thousands, one is only alone when they wish to be."

"It certainly is... at least for some of us," aknowledged Kheren. 

Clanless, self-exiled from his harsh homeworld where he had never been accepted because of his mutation, his two wives already serving under his command, it was true for him. He nodded appreciatively to Snowfire.

S'Tan spoke up next. "I will go as well, Sir. My only family wants me dead, so I would rather be out in the middle of nowhere, seeing first hand unexamined Undine technology instead of on a starbase that the Tal'Shiar could easily infiltrate."

He nodded as he finished speaking, "I would like to make a request, however. I request that myself and all of my staff be permitted to carry phasers, if they so choose." He held his hand up before anyone could interrupt, as he saw the looks he was getting from around the room. "Don't worry, I won't wear it to any Diplomatic meetings, which I assume I am not going to be privy to anyway."

"These will be issued in case we go to red alert, Lieutenant," the captain explained to answer his request, "along with the doubling of security officers assigned to all key areas of the ship, like main engineering, which are already doubled when we go to yellow alert and always garded and under restricted access otherwise to begin with. As chief engineer under general quarters condition, your personal code will allow you access to all armories and to use all available replicators and transporters to provide gene-encoded weaponry to personnel. As senior officer, you are yourself allowed your own phaser 1 during yellow alert... but not the rest of the crew, except for certified security personnel... and now our Marines."

His tone of voice made it clear this was not open to discussion. And those who had served with him on the Artemis knew why; once, renegade officers sympathetic to the cause of the Horizon Children terrorists had tried to seize his ship, only to be foiled, barely, by the already stringent security measures he had implemented back then. Since this incident, the only one where he had ever lost lives among his crew, he had brought ship security protocols above even what could be found at Starfleet Intelligence Headquarters. Solius and Somers' experience with the normally routine boarding of the ship upon their arrival had shown them but a small example of these.

And there were even a few only the first officer and himself knew about.

S'tan nodded as the Captain finished his comments. It was all the response that was needed. He tapped on his PADD, sending armament orders to Baoule, noting the senior engineering staff was to arm themselves in a red alert event. He knew that this order was a warping of the Captains words, but he would rather take a verbal lashing, something every Romulan lived with every day, than allow the Undine to seize the ship. He was not of Starfleet blood. He was Romulan; and his blood told him to prepare for the absolute worst. And so he would.

The Bynar doctors then spoke up, together as usual. "For our part, we are parent-less, and have no ... strong connection to our adoptive parents. We have no problem being on active duty ... for years, or decades if necessary."

They then shifted in order to access, a second time, the science console in front of them, which was still displaying an image and information about the Undine, identified by the Borg as Species 8472.

"As far as our security is concerned... detection is the best method of prevention. The Undine have a unique ability to change their form ... not only visually, but genetically. This makes it impossible to differentiate them ... even at a genetic level ... from a human or whatever alien ... they are impersonating."

"However, their method of impersonation ... is not without flaws."

Again, interacting with the console in front of them, the holographic display changed from an image of the monstrous, tri-legged form of the Undine to an image showing a very complex three-dimensional representation of a chemical compound. A mass conglomerate of thousands of spheres of various colors an sizes, that represented molecules, were connected via grey tubes and there were several obvious recognizable patterns mixed with seeming chaos. Over each sphere floated a series of letters and numbers indicating the abbreviations and numbers of atoms, isotopes, and ions that made up each molecule.

There were also several noticeable areas of completely empty space where there was clearly missing data.

Again, the doctors spoke. "This is the partial representation ... of the chemical compound necessary ... for the Undine to maintain ... their impersonation. As you can see ... it is quite complex... and what Starfleet Medical knows... about the compound is incomplete. It was reverse engineered ... from a sample obtained by ... Admiral Chakotay, then Commander ... when he became intimately involved ... with one of the Undine."

"With the exact chemical representation ... of the compound, we could detect an Undine who has recently used it." They paused to let the enormity of that statement sink in. Without their means of infiltration the Undine would only be able to resort to conventional means of combat, which had proven to be less impressive when compared to the power of the Borg, already defeated and wiped out by the Federation.

011 then interacted with the console, which highlighted the incomplete parts of the compound and filled in the gaps. "Unfortunately, the sample was incomplete ... and without a complete representation ... we cannot hope to use it to identify them."

"This is another reason why we must ... attempt to make peace. If we are able to negotiate ... with the 'Boothby' leader who is ... bringing us to the table ... to receive an untouched sample ... of their compound, then we will ... not have to worry about infiltration again."

It was clear that Starfleet Medical had already communicated at least part of the Horizon's upcoming mission to the Bynar doctors, who had been briefed to obtain this compound at all costs, and thus had come to the briefing prepared.

"I of course can't speak for my people," Jureth stated "but you can be assured Captain that I won't shy away from what's ahead of us. My recent experience with the Undine alone makes me suited for this mission. My parents were both Starfleet officers at one time, some of the first Bajorans to serve, they didn't back down from their challenges and neither will I."

"Thank you, Commander; the success of this mission would have certainly been compromised without your involvement," said the commanding officer of Lotus Fleet,s flagship with obvious relief in his silvery eyes.

Then he turned his metallic-hued stare towards each one of the officers who hadn't yet spoken, to see who would respond next.

As his eyes fell on Redding the large man simply shrugged. "I never give myself the luxury of deciding if an assignment is something I want to do or not Captain, only if it's something I wont do. Because unless you give me an illegal order, I will find a way to do it, I guess I'm just 'old school' that way."

He took a breath "I think this mission is borderline unnecessarily dangerous, and at this same time impossible to ignore. If anyone wants out now is the time to speak up because tomorrow will to late." and sat back into his chair. "For me? that moment was when I signed up with Star Fleet."

"I share your sentiment," aknowledged Kheren, "except for the unecessary part; working for peace, no matter how dangerous, is why Starfleet exists in the first place. But of course you know that. Your experience and judgment will be most needed in this. And if I would ever give an illegal order, I expect you not only to refuse it, but to make sure everyone else did as well... and, most of all, that I would not do so again."

Anyone that had served at least once with the Andorian knew that the chances of he doing so were as probable as a hologram bleeding honey. But that made the message all the more clear; uncharacteristic behavior while confronting a telepathic species would most probably mean that their commanding officer was compromised... and that the safety of the crew, the ship, the success of the mission and the safety of the Federation and what it stood for were more important than himself.

Only Elisha Leône and Joey Sisko had not yet spoken. To them the captain now gave his full attention.

Sisko spoke first. "I joined this ship voluntarily so that I would not be stuck on the Starbase, and additionally, so I could tend to a special charge that I have been granted the privilege to watch over and help. She needs to be on this ship with the only family she knows... those who were on the previous mission and helped her escape: Commander Oseno, Commander Redding, and Lieutenant Commander K'Leysha. I am the only one who knows enough to maintain her new form, as I am the one who created it. I certainly can't back down or hide away now."

"Thank you, Commander; your own experience and judgment will also be an asset for this mission, I have no doubt," thanked the Andorian. "As for Tess, we have to keep in mind that she is not just an artificial intelligence rescued from the supercomputer of a lost warship; she is a legally recognized sentient artificial lifeform, with all the privileges and rights given to any other sentient being under Federation law, a registered Federation citizen and a graduated Starfleet officer sworn to duty just like all of us. Please make sure that if she comes along, it is just as freely, knowingly and willingly as any one of us. therefore, I understand that your decision might be provisional to hers."

Again, only the chief of ops of the Horizon was left last, this time to answer the call to duty as she would choose; for her sake... and theirs.

The Orion Ops officer sat quietly as the conversations continued among the senior officers as she had done throughout this gathering, until they all had spoken once again in response to the captain's inquiry.

Once all was silent, she spoke.

"I have no home other than the one being provided for me on this ship, nor any family to leave behind. I have been surrounded by danger and deception for the majority of my life Captain, so this aspect of the mission is irrelevant to my decision."

Elisha Leône then gazed around assiduously at her fellow senior officers before continuing.

"My only concern is that we earnestly enter into these forthcoming diplomatic meetings with a genuine intent to establish working relations with this species. That we not allow fear, distrust and preconception to cloud our judgment and dictate our actions or reactions; regardless of the time or efforts involved to accomplish this."

She then looked directly at the captain.

"I have sworn an oath of allegiance to Starfleet and I will fulfill these obligations regardless of any personal sacrifice. Your words Captain are an assurance that we will follow this mission with the best of intentions toward peace and prosperity. I am here to serve and therefore offer my services in whatever capacity you deem necessary for this mission."    

"Thank you, Lieutenant," said Kheren nodding.  "And rest assured, Lieutenant, and all of you, that we are going in with open hands, open hearts but also with open minds and open eyes."

He did not ask either Miramanee Blackbird or Adira Yiral; both had nodded with confident smiles on their faces. They would anyway have time afterwards to reconsider, if they so choose, with the rest of the crew. And so reminded the captain to them all.

"There will be a general meeting of everyone aboard in the main cargo hold at twenty hundred hours. Everyone wishing to go along on this assignment will do so willingly and knowing all the implications, with no consequences for opting out; those choosing to stay will be temporarily reassigned as well as their family if required. As for the consequences for coming, only time will tell. But everyone, all of us included, will have to brush up on Federation Articles and Starfleet General Orders and Rules of Engagement; once we will be out there, we will be Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets."

He stood.

"We will launch tomorrow exactly thirty-two hours after that general assembly. Once we will be underway, there will be no stopping and no turning back. "

Then he looked at each one of them in turn.

"Any last question or recommendation?"

Looking at the others "I got nothing" Alex said.

As no one else spoke further, Kheren straightened himself and his uniform.

"General assembly in cargobay 1 in eight hours; departure in forty hours. See to it, Number One. Thank you all."