Mission 2 - Siren Song

USS Rhode Island-Bridge
January 12, 2387
1730 HRS

"Commander?" the young Bolian woman filling in at Ops began. "I'm picking up a distress signal."

Autumn sat up a bit straighter in her chair. God, what next?, she thought. If we could have one day where the universe isn't exploding...just one...

"Ma'am?"

"Let's hear it ensign," Autumn replied, a bit more sharply than she'd intended.

"Attention any friendly vessels in range of this message: This is Captain Jacob Kilgore of the SS Siren. We are having severe engine malfunctions and we're stuck dead in the water. Please respond!"

"Patch me through," Autumn said. The face of a middle aged man suddenly appeared on screen, a look of relief washing over his face.

"Oh thank God, Starfleet," he said, slinking into his seat. "I was hoping it'd be you all, and not a Klingon or Romulan ship."

"This is Commander Autumn Darby-Holmes of the Rhode Island. Captain Kilgore, can you give me any further information about your situation?"

"Yes ma'am," he said. "We're having severe difficulties and malfunctions with our warp coils. It's nothing my own engineers can't take care of but...the passengers and my own crew have started exhibiting strange symptoms of illness. My doctor aboard was one of the first to contract it, and I don't have anyone but him that's medically trained. Please, I beg you, we need immediate assistance before this gets any worse."

"Very well, send your coordinates over and we'll be there as soon as we can to assist," Autumn replied.

"Thank you, thank you Commander. I'll send them over immediately. Please hurry! Kilgore out."

Autumn stood, and said "I'm going to go see what I can dig up on this ship. If memory serves, it's the same Siren that my husband and I spent our honeymoon aboard. If it is...the ship is older than dirt. Mister Retol, once you've got the coordinates, adjust course to intercept at maximum warp. Shras, you have the bridge...and get tr'Deletham up here if he's not fist deep in a packet of isolinear chips."

She nodded to Shras, and exited the bridge towards her ready room.

Shras stood from his chair and yanked the hem of his uniform down. He made his way forward until he was standing behind Ayan. "As soon as you get those coordinates, Mister Retol," he repeated.

Tapping his comm badge the Andorian spoke into it. "Centurian tr'Deletham, please report to the bridge at your soonest convience."

He knew that lending aide was one of Starfleet's duties, but he wasn't much in the mood for fooling around and this sounded like fooling around. In his mind they had much more important things to do then mess with an old, broken down cruise ship. Romulas and Remus had just been destroyed, killing millions. They were wasting time, but he would do as ordered.

Garrett rubbed his eyes to ward off his drowsiness and wondered if what had started as a nondescript, uneventful day could possibly go to hell any faster. An entire race of people had just been dealt a near-fatal blow, a sizable number of those people were now on the wrong side of the Neutral Zone, and now the Rhode Island was off to help a ship stricken with some as-yet-unknown illness. He chuckled mirthlessly.

“First Death, now Pestilence. Let’s hope War and Famine decide to take a day off.”

As Galan scrolled down a page on a PADD, he found himself loosing focus, and his mind wandered dangerously. The Empire was in chaos, many of his family members were no doubt dead, and he was still stuck on a ship of worthless aliens. But at the moment, all he could think about was Sela. Even if he couldn't talk to her without upsetting his family, he wanted to know if she was alive. The thought of loosing her on top of everything else left a knot in his stomach.

Suddenly a tinny voice came over the comm, interrupting his thoughts, "Centurian tr'Deletham, please report to the bridge at your soonest convience."

After blinking a few times, he tapped on his comm badge and replied, "On my way now."

He needed a change of scenery anyway, even if it was just the bridge. When he arrived he quickly took his seat from the young Bolian woman.

The Andorian turned to face the Romulan. His antennae, however, did not, they stayed focused on the view screen. "We have recieved a distress call from one SS Siren. It seems they are having medical as well as engine troubles. I am afraid this will set us back a little on our arrival." He stated this as if it wasn't a big deal, but his eyes gave his sincerest appologies to the Centurian.

Feeling that he had filled him in enough, he turned back to Ayan. "Do we have coordinates yet, Mister Retol?"

Feeling that he had filled him in enough, he turned back to Ayan. "Do we have coordinates yet, Mister Retol?"

"Sorry, Sir," he said, tapping away at his console. "They came through garbled the first time. There. Have a lock." He entered the final command and the Rhode Island banked and leaped forward into subspace.

"Reading maximum warp. Arrival at Siren in 35 minutes, Sir."

[tag]

USS Rhode Island - Engine Room
January 12, 2387
1745 HRS

"OK ladies and gents," Craig began as the doors to Engineering parted before him as he walked into the room, revealing Paaku, Ken'zin and Seth dotted at consoles around the room "just got news from the powers that be that we've got a SID in the area that we're on route to assist, they say they're having trouble with their warp coils."

"Do we know what kind of trouble?" Paaku, the lanky Bolian asked.

Craig shrugged "They didn't give specifics, we'll be there in a quarter of an hour and I'd like everyone to be on hot standby for an away mission, equipment and tool kits at the ready, clear guys? Ken'zin were you listening?" His gaze burning into the back of Ken'zins neck as the Ktarian still hadn't turned from his console since Craigs' arrival.

"Yes Chief, I've just completed an quick scan of the freighter, it appears to be Antares class." Finally turning from his console to face the rest of the group, subtly holding his head high.

"Well that explains it." Paaku replied with a roll of his eyes, arms folded.

"Of course it does, if it is Antares class, then that means-"

"That the ship has a lot of history," Craig interrupted "It'll be at least 50 years old, it's ran around Federation space between Cardassian, Klingon and Dominion wars on top of it's regular runs and it's burnt out Warp Coils are as inevitable as... I dunno... Betazoid mind readers, I ran out of wit half way through lunch." He said in reply to Paaku's quizzical look.

A smirk grew across Craigs' face, relieving the earlier frustration "Anyway Ken'zin, I'd like you head to the industrial replicator and start whipping up some parts for Antares class warp coils, just in case they've not got the facilities on board, the rest of you, hot standby."

Galan could see the emotion in Shras' eyes, and quickly turned back to his station after only a curt nod. He hated that look. Loathed it even, because he didn't trust it. And he wasn't sure how he felt about the delay in their arrival. It'd take more than a few words from the captain to make him trust that the Federation didn't have an ulterior motive for helping his people.

Autumn sat in quiet contemplation behind the desk in her ready room. As she stared with mild detachment at the numbers and figures scrolling across the screen, she sighed heavily.

The Siren was an Antares class freighter which had been repurposed to serve as a luxury ship. She remembered the ship being in remarkably good condition for its age, when she’d been a passenger so many years ago. She’d presumed that the ship would’ve changed hands several times, and was surprised to find that it was still being commanded by the same man.

Bringing herself out of her reverie, she opened a secure channel to the Siren, and waited expectantly for the response. Captain Kilgore appeared on the screen a few moments later, his face looking weary and sunken, and the brightness she remembered completely gone from his eyes.

“Jake,” she stated. It was not a salutation or a friendly hello. It was a simple statement of fact.

“Oh Autumn...thank God it’s you. How soon will you be here? We could really use the skilled hands of a good doctor,” he replied.

“I have no idea Jake,” she said. “I left the bridge after I instructed my helmsman to set a course to your location. What in the hell is going on aboard the Siren? Malfunctioning engines, some kind of illness? What have you been running that I need to know about?”

The look of incredulous shock on his face caused her to snort a bit despite herself. He responded “Autumn, I haven’t been running anything! For the last year or two, it’s been strictly passenger and cargo service from Earth to Bajor! I don’t have enough room in my holds to run anything, and if I did, it wouldn’t be anything dangerous! I haven’t had a major refit in six years!”

“You know, for some reason, Jake, I just have a hard time believing that. I presume like a good Commander, you’ve done some internal scanning?”

“Well...of course, but I don’t see how that will...”

“I need you to send those to me now, Jake,” she interrupted.

“O...okay Autumn, whatever you say.” the man looked crestfallen. “Look, I really need help. We’re dead in the water out here and I have panicked passengers and crew running around.”

As the data came across, her eyes widened as she read it.

“Mother of God,” she whispered under her breath. She looked back up at the screen and said, “Jake, I’m going to have to get a second opinion on this. Luckily, I have just the people I’ll need aboard my ship. I’ll be in touch.”

Before he could respond, she cut the transmission, and pounded her fist against the desk.

“Lieutenant Retol Ayan and Lieutenant Commander Eiri Ashsy, report to my ready room immediately. Holmes out.”

((OOC: Will follow up with JP for the next piece ))

Ready Room, USS Rhode Island
January 12, 2387, 1800 hrs

“Wow...to tell you the truth ma’am, I’d hoped never to see any mention of this damned thing ever again, if you’ll pardon my language.”

“I know, Lieutenant. But when I looked up recent activity involving Harkening, your name was one of the first that came up. I guess it’s not as big a secret as SFI wants it to be.”

“Well, no,” the young man on Autumn’s computer screen stated. “I filed a rather extensive report with the late Commodore Blake and Admiral Galen. I wanted to make sure that the actions taken that day were filed correctly, and through the proper channels. I don’t know that anything came of it.”

“Something did come of it, Julian,” Autumn responded. “The problem we face now is that no one is quite sure what to do about it. Every report I’m reading states that the virus is so deadly that people are just unwilling to go near it, and those that are willing tend not to report back. It’s bad. Much worse than I remember when I dealt with it in its infancy on the Olympic.”

Autumn looked up from her computer as the doorchime sounded.

“That’d be Ayan and Eiri,” she said. “I’ve gotta go Julian. Thank you for your help. I’m sure I’ll be in touch further.”

He nodded, and said “Aye sir. Give them my love, and apologize for me that I couldn’t make it to their wedding. Let me know if you need any more help. I’m sure the Yorktown and Captain Morkan can spare me for something of this caliber. Durand out.”

Autumn stood, taking a sip of her tea, and said “Come in!”

Ayan strode into the office, having left the conn in the capable hands of the relief officer. "Ma'am," he said politely, nodding his head to her and stepping out of the way for Eiri to enter. He smiled a little bit at his husband as he entered.

It took Eiri a few moments to get to the bridge from his office. He stood at attention for a few moments before dropping into a more relaxed stance. He could feel that something was wrong. Very wrong. All he was getting from Autumn was the word "virus".

“Hello gentlemen,” Autumn said through a forced smile. “I have PADDs here for the both of you. As a warning, I’m about to drag up an old wound that you’d rather stay closed. Take a few moments to look over the data, and let me know if you have any questions.

Eiri picked up the PADD with trepidation. As he went over the material he gasped. "No! Oh no... but I thought this virus was taken care of. We don't even know it's vectors or how it functions. We can not expose the crew to this. I do not care how broken his ship is. We can tow him somewhere and they can quarentine him there. Captain this is a big risk to the crew." He looked at Autumn his eyes filled with concern.

Ayan had been reading the PADD as he walked over to an open seat. "Oh," he said simply. "The mission that didn't happen with the virus that didn't exist around the Romulan warbird that wasn't destroyed with the Cardiassians who were never there and the SFI people who didn't exist." His face scrunched up, as though he had eaten something tart and unpleasant. "This stuff gives me a headache." He shook his head. "I saw some of the Doc's notes on this. Bad stuff. Recommend 500,000 kilometer distance and no contact, if possible." He looked up at Autumn. "But I have a feeling you already knew that, didn't you, Ma'am?" he asked, starting to think they were going to get more involved than he might like.

"There's a distinct difference in the way this one is behaving though. It's not causing near instantaneous death, and it's not spreading as quickly as it should. I think we're dealing with either a different strain, or a mutated form here. I'd like to get onto pouring over this sensor data and seeing if we can discover anything useful. Eiri, please meet with the medical staff to get that taken care of. Ayan, you've had some basic experience, I'd like you to join up with them and offer any assistance you can. If my suspicions are correct, we stand a chance to do something no one's ever done before: wipe out a strain of Harkening," Autumn said with a serious tone.

Autumn watched quietly as the duo exited her ready room, and took a deep breath as they did. She stood up, smoothed out her uniform, and walked back out onto the bridge.

***Backpost***

[Deck 7, Counselor's Office]

Aaryn had always known being a healer required a certain degree of flexibility. Even before entering Starfleet, she understood the best healers had to adapt to different cultures, value systems, and even changing circumstances, with humor and grace.

Today, she felt neither graceful, nor humorous. Today she just felt out of breath. Thanks to an emergency aboard her last posting, she nearly missed the boarding window for her new one.

Smoothing her uniform one last time, she rang the chime outside Counselor Ashshy's office and took a calming breath.

Eiri stood from behind his desk and pulled on the hem of his uniform. "Enter!" he called out and then focused on who was behind the door and was happy to find Lieutenant JG Aaryn McClain. She was slotted to assist counseling and medical both, as needed. He had been anxious to meet her. He pulled on his uniform one last time and smiled.

"Hello, sir. Dr. Aaryn McClain, reporting for duty," she added respectfully, stepping forward and assuming a somewhat proper posture. It didn't really fit who she was, but she wanted to make a decent first impression.

"You don't have to worry about rank in here. I'm Eiri." He offered a hand for shaking.

Aaryn smiled and returned the handshake, but made sure not to relax too much out of respect.

"So, I hear you've come to help us out. Please, have a seat. Would you like something to drink?" He gestured to the sofa and two chairs with a low table in the middle. In the center of the table sat a Tibetan singing bowl. "This is the office we'll be sharing... since there is not really a proper office for counseling."

Aaryn took a seat on the offered sofa and asked, "May I have a raktajino, please?" McClain looked around and noted the bowl on the table but refrained from inquiring for the moment. She was informal concerning rank, but rather focused on work. She liked the way he phrased why she had come. "Yes, I've come to assist in medical and counseling. I will be sure to divide my time as fairly as possible and try not to step on too many toes. Honestly, some people hear of my dual specialties and fear I'm a bit of an elitist. I really just value both roles equally and want to help where I can. I am curious, though, about why there's no proper counseling office? I realize the ship is small and not strictly dedicated to our field, but I would have thought you'd merit your own space. Are you sure you don't mind sharing?"

Eiri returned to the table with a cup of raktajino and a Vulcan spiced tea for himself. He offered her the cup before sitting in the chair opposite the sofa. "I completely understand, Aaryn. I have the same problem sometimes. Dual roles that is. I am so interested in science and species identification that sometimes I forget I am a counselor," he joked. "I do not mind sharing at all if you do not mind my rather odd collection of objects. I have gathered them from all corners of the quadrant." He smiled. "Each helpful in its own way. So many people respond differently to different meditation techniques that I like to keep a little bit of everything on hand. Feel free to give them out if something seems to speak to someone. I can always go to the matter replicator and get more."

"I do have some things I would like to talk to you about though. For obvious reasons you will have to be my husband's counselor. Is that going to be a problem?" He looked hopeful that it would not be an issue.

"Not at all," McClain replied. "I want every member of the crew to know he or she can come to one or both of us confidentially, and that includes your husband. Are you comfortable with not knowing the details of our sessions, even if they involve something that would normally be reported to you?"

"Of course! I would hope that you could keep his sessions to yourself, that would be terribly unprofessional of me to even ask." He chuckled and took a sip from his tea. "I know that there will be several crew members that have served with me for so long they will be glad of a new face," he teased. "So how do you suggest we get started. I can share how I do things. I am sure you have your own ways, but we should agree on a report that is consistent."

Aaryn smiled, already feeling at ease. It was clear Eiri understood where she was coming from and yet wasn't so focused on work as to be unfriendly. "A report? I'm not sure what ways you're referring to."

"Well, for each appointment we have, we have to make an official report to the captain. I have a value system that I rate each individual with. It does not break any of their confidentiality, but it gives the captain an idea of what kind of individuals are on the ship." He got up from his chair and gathered up a PADD from his desk. "I'll send you the files and of course you are welcome to look at any of the reports I have already filed to get an idea of what I mean. You should have my notes in your PADD now."

"Thank you," Aaryn replied. "I welcome any opportunity to explore new approaches to my work. I find it keeps interest fresh."

Eiri smiled warmly. "I think this is going to work out wonderfully."

Main Engineering, USS Rhode Island
12 January 2387, 1900 hours

Pouring over what little data she had on her PADD, Autumn stepped through the wide doors to the Rhode Island’s main engineering area. She smiled at the efficiency of the officers on duty. The whole operation was like a finely tuned machine, with people working only where they needed to be, and no excess crewmen wandering about the deck. She swept her gaze across the deck, stopping when she noticed Lieutenant Benson bent over a console working diligently.

She approached him, and cleared her throat a few feet behind him, saying “Lieutenant Benson, how’s everything going down here?”

Craig turned on his heels, standing at attention infront of his Captain, "Captain! Sorry, I didn't even hear you come in!" Wondering if he looked as startled as he felt by Autumns sudden appearance, he adopted a serious demeanor and continued, "As you can see I've got everyone under a very fine whip, at the minute me, Paaku and Seth are working on some upgrades for the ships EPS conduits" Giving a nod to both of them as he spoke there names in turn, "And I've got Ken'zin replicating Warp Coil parts for the freighter. I've got an away team prepped and ready, we're all just waiting on your order."

Autumn smiled brightly at his reaction and said "Thank you for being prepared, but as of right now I'd rather not send anyone over until we determine the uh...nature of their medical emergency to quote the EMH. If they've got something heinous, I don't want us being exposed to it. Right now, what I'd like for you to work on is modifying the tractor beam to keep them equally towed and repulsed at the same time, as well as a way of taking down a portion of their shields to beam supplies through. How feasibly can that be done?"

The engineer quickly began working over the technical details in his head, creating several possibilities to the problem, "The tractor beam shouldn't be too difficult to manage" he said, thinking back to a similar scenario he had been involved in years ago aboard the Robinson, turning to his console, his hands began to fly over the controls, inputting data to begin simulations "as for the shields, I can co-ordinate that between us and their ships' chief engineer." Craig paused as the simulation began to unfold on his screen, "I didn't realize the problem was so serious, I'm guessing it's something a bit worse than the flu we're dealing with then?"

"It is," Autumn affirmed. "And Lieutenant, I need you to figure out how to do it strictly by working out the specs of their ship. I don't trust their crew or their engineer. Not with what they have going on over there. I've experienced something similar to it in the past, and suffice it to say it's nasty enough that I'd rather us not have to deal with it if at all possible. No communication with the Siren, and keep this to yourself as much as possible. I need this done quickly and quietly. Can you do that?"

The tone and serious manner of the Captain lent itself to how truly austere the situation was, Craig suspected there was probably a lot more going on here than just a sick crew with faulty engines, keeping his musings to himself Craig simply nodded. "How far will we be taking them ma'am?" Apart from his own curiosity driving the question, Craig began to calculate a rough guess of how long the modified tractor beam would hold, the destination was another unasked question Craig kept to himself,what good was a Star base or colony if the ship was quarantined to begin with? Was there a hospital ship nearby? I guess we'll find out when we get there.

"Not far at all if it can be at all helped. I'll keep you appraised, Lieutenant. That's all for now," Autumn replied with a firm smile. She turned on her heel to leave Engineering. She knew that everything about this situation would seem fishy to Benson, but she had few options on a small ship with a small staff.

{{This JP brought to you by Autumn "Supersecret" Holmes and Craig "Ehwhat?" Benson.}}

[Medical Bay]
[January 12, 2387, 1817 hrs]

Eiri's mind was a whir of questions as he left the meeting and headed straight for the medical bay. He tapped his com badge, "Garrett? would you please join me in the medical bay?" He pulled a PADD seemingly from nowhere and began pouring over it. "I do not care what they say I do not want that virus on this ship." He reached back for Ayan's hand, who was hopefully following behind him. "It may be a watered down version and perhaps even curable, but it was a designed as a weapon. You never know how insidious those can be. None of those people are to be allowed aboard this ship."

Ayan's mind had wandered, and he fell behind the unusually brisk pace of the counselor. He shook his head to clear it and took two fast strides, taking Eiri's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "We have to study it somehow, Eiri," he said. "We can work to see if there are force fields, ways of isolating a cargo bay from the air circulation systems, something. Or something over there. We can't study it through data downlink. It's just not enough." He shrugged as they walked into sickbay. "Heya doc," he called out. "Looks like you're gonna be busy again," he said, smirking at the short doctor.

Fletcher sighed and looked at Eiri and Ayan. "Why don't we just pretend you both are here for your physicals? And why don't we pretend my medical staff are actually here instead of off somewhere. Again."

Cogs in Garrett’s head were spinning and tearing out the cobwebs engendered by his long shift. Biology was his element, and the case of the Siren had presented him with a problem to be solved. The hunt for the solution promised to be exquisitely satisfying, and would perhaps even serve as a welcome diversion from the ugly world of Romulan-Federation politics. As far as he was concerned, the summons from Commander Ashshy was a welcome gift. Still in thought, he strode through the sliding doors and slowed to a stop in front of the Counselor.

“Sir.” He nodded and extended a hand, a hint of a smile drawing back the muscles of his scalp. “Another weird medical case for us to talk about, eh? What’s the situation?”

Eiri took Garrett's hand and squeezed it. "The worst. The Cardassian's used this illness as a form of chemical warfare. When we dealt with it before it was deadly. The Captain assures me that what this ship carries is a mild form of the same virus, possibly curable, which is what we are going to have to work on. As fast as possible we need to find the vector and then some form of inoculation, fast. It is always possible that it will mutate back into its original strain, so the greatest care must be expressed when dealing with the virus or anyone that might be infected."

Garrett grunted, his expression sobering. “Even if the Captain’s right, I’d say we should act on the assumption she’s wrong and that we’ve encountered the weaponized strain. Viruses mutate all the time, for better or worse. We should treat it as if it were airborne and as nasty as when the Cardassians were using it.” He turned to Doctor Fletcher. “If I had your permission and your help, sir, I’d like to inoculate some fresh humanoid cell cultures with a sample of the pathogen from the Siren and get a better idea of exactly what we’re dealing with.”

Fletcher made a pained face. "I hesitate to bring something like that on board," he said. "But you're probably right, and I know simulations won't be enough. If what I've heard, read, and seen is any indication, we have to take extreme precautions. I don't want the first photon torpedo someone shoots at us knocking out our containment." He smiles wryly. "As long as no one has any direct contact with the samples, and we can set it up in an environment that any power failure or other tampering means the samples get spaced, I'll sign off on it. Thoughts?"

“You know me and my aversion to bringing work outside the lab. In the case of this bug, I’ll personally scrub everybody entering or leaving my area with a virucide if I have to.” Garrett lowered his gaze slightly, staring past Fletcher and into space for a moment. “I don’t have the science labs set up for bio-containment as strict as what you’re asking, though. If you’ve got equipment here in Sickbay that would do the trick, great, but otherwise I’ll have to get in touch with Engineering to get the power backups and transporter locks in place. Could take a couple of hours.”

Eiri nodded at Garrett. "Do it anyway. We may not even need them, but a back up system somewhere on the ship would be advised and if you plan on studying it in your labs you'll have to have the containment anyway, might as well do it now. We still have time before we reach the ship, but not much so let us stay focused on what we are doing. Does anyone have any more questions? I have sent the information I have to everyone's PADD."

“Aye, Commander,” Garrett replied. “Doctor, I’ll see that Lab 2 gets prepped to contain viral samples. If Science learns anything new, you’ll be the first to know.”


((JP brought to you by Eiri, Ayan, and Garrett))