What happened?

Posted on Wed Mar 16th, 2022 @ 8:34am by Captain Rueben Gregnol & Executive Officer Jake Ford & Chief Engineer Michael Burnstein & Chief Helmsman Kalahaeia t'Leiya & Liha t'Ehhelih

Mission: Mission 14: Holoworld
Timeline: MD06 10:00
2092 words - 4.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Gregnol sat in his favourite chair in his quarters looking at the people around him as he tried to make sense of the experience that had happened. He had chosen his quarters on Jeassaho's suggestion that it was comfortable and would allow people to relax. He needed to know it from their POV, he needed rationales for what had accrued and why he had two crew members dead but so bodies. He had stopped his investigations as soon as everyone had joined up with his group and he had decided to get everyone back and get more information but now as he sat there, he really wished he had carried on. Kendra was there as she was the person who had not been affected by any of it which made her perfect to take it all in better.

“Someone started with explaining what happened to them?” He asked looking around at the people he had chosen.

"Long story short? I said yes to what I thought was a free cruise and some easy money; when in retrospect I should have told people to go screw themselves." Kali's tone was a mix of dry humor and angry exhaustion, but stabilized a bit for the rest of the summary, falling into perhaps a similar cadence speaking to Gregnol as she might once have giving a report summary to superiors in the fleet...though given the level of ping-pong-ball energy she still put into things, possibly one had to pity those superiors a bit at having once tried to manage her.

"The slightly longer version is, I survived the crash, woke up alone and injured, discovered the ship wouldn't recognize or respond to me, spent several days eating stale casino appetizers, and met Kaleetha, the other survivor, when she found me stuffing my face with cheesecake in the kitchens. Then we explored the ship and it tried to collapse on our heads, and eventually, you guys showed up and things took a detour for a bit while we tried to make sure you weren't a bunch of pirates and you tried to make sure we weren't a bunch of saboteurs who'd crashed the ship ourselves. Once that was...mostly...settled; we went to try and figure out more about what had happened; but then the holograms went completely bananas and tried to attack people. Since they seemingly couldn't see Kaleetha and I though, we went with Burnie--" Kali waved a hand slightly towards Burnie "--to protect him and he blew the core up."

"Right up until we went to the casino the holochambers seemed to be working fine," Burnie added with a perplexed shake of his head. "...and then suddenly they wanted to kill us. Liha and others drew off the holograms so I could blew the console in the casino, and like Kali said, we headed to take out the core. We also got a nice assist since Nollel thought to send K-9 to help out."

Liha tipped her head fractionally in acknowledgment. "Let the fighters do the fighting and the mad bomber do what he does best. Once we were out, we found Ka'see and fought our way out to crew spaces that didn't have holoemitters. We were going to make for the comm array so he blew the core just in time to save us going the long way up Jefferies tubes."

"Curtis is still looking over the data we did manage to capture," Jake added. "He said his best guess is some sort of advanced computer virus. But...different. Maybe programmed to hide and then ambush. Hard to say at this point, but damned effective if that was its purpose."

Kali twitched hard at this latest pronouncement, seemed to consider things for a moment, then dug reluctantly inside one pocket and came out with the little silver square Burnie and Eva had both seen her use to crack both the casino safe and the core room and tossed it towards Jake. "Have him look over that too then; it interfaced with a couple of security seals on the ship and its systems. It's not supposed to be able to be infected by stuff like that because it's built not to be, but better safe than sorry. If he finds it compromised, I'd like to know. If he finds it was but managed to clear the contagion...Well, might help him decipher the rest of things." She shrugged and gave a weak but sheepish grin for a split second. "Though either way I'd like it back when he's done with it." If it did turn out to somehow be infected; she'd have to destroy it herself anyways at that point...But she might as well not tip her hand on that part; in case this 'Curtis' might then be prone to making up a story that it was as an excuse to keep it.

Gregnol had stayed silent up until that point as she watch the interactions and allowed everyone to as what they had to. "Seems like it got blown up with just a few minutes to spare." He said trying to not think about the deaths that has occurred in the moments before though.

"Sadly, not blown up soon enough," Burnie said with a frown, resolving that he'd bring more explosives with him for future trips anywhere not 100% secure. "We spotted holograms carrying off what looked like a dead body at one point."

"We believe it was Robertson. What Curtis and J said lines up with the timing of it all." Gregnol murmured growing just a little more if it was at all possible. "You were not to know but I think we have an idea of where the crew and passengers are now." The Captain said looking at Kaleetha and Kali intrigued. "I want you two checked properly. Liha can you do that from a science point of view... Cassie is busy as is Jinx." He said gently knowing fully aware that Kaleetha was a Chief Science Officer but he wanted it from someone unaffected.

One of Kali's eyebrows rose a bit; she wasn't sure what on Earth they thought they might find; considering she was, well, 100% organic and therefore not susceptible to computer viruses. Unless they were worried being zapped by her fried passenger badge had somehow made them susceptible, which, as far as she knew, was not how electronics worked unless self-replicating nanites were involved, too. Which would be creepy as hell.

Liha nodded firmly. "My sister was the scientist, but I'll check them as thoroughly as I possibly can," she said eying the pair as though imagining all the ways they might be hiding something detectable with a scan, as opposed to intense interrogation. "Is there anything specific I should be looking for?"

"I do not know right now but something allowed them to survive whilst others did not," Gregnol said holding up his hand as Kaleetha opened her mouth to argue. "I do not believe it was anything that you consciously did but I need to know if this some sort of advanced computer virus on the ship that took over holograms has somehow crossed over I need to know and protect you both and my crew," He said firmly. Kaleetha conceded without words that he did have a point there and she would have done the same.

"Fair enough." Kali half-shrugged a single shoulder; when it came down to it if someone had done something to her, she very much would like to know so it could be undone.

"You, uh..." Jake hesitated. "You want me to contact Robertson's family?" he asked tentatively.

"No. I will." Gregnol assured simply. He knew he could ask a lot off of his first officer sometimes but something like that had to be done by him. Captains had to do that duty, it seemed only appropriate especially as the person he was sure Roberston would want to know was in statis still and they had not been able to find anything from that ship to help her yet.

"At some point someone should probably notify the Federation authorities and the shipping company, too." Kali sighed; she somehow suspected that like a lot of the people out in these parts of space, no one here for the most part - with the possible exception of Kaleetha - would be too thrilled with having to be the one to carry out that contact. "If there was any sort of tampering involved like it sounds like, it's possible a distress signal never went out besides the local one one Kaleetha rigged later. The family of the crew and passengers deserve to know."

Burnie nodded. "They need to be informed, though it would be better if we knew what happened to the bodies first and had some idea of what we were dealing with down there. If there's a virus lingering anywhere the systems that survived my 'emergency computer shutdown', the last thing anyone needs is some corporate recovery crew bumbling around to pick up and spread it across the whole quadrant." He'd already run every scan and diagnostic possible on K-9 and every tricorder that had they had taken down there, but those showing clear didn't mean there was nothing to worry about. He had all of the salvage quarantined inside an isolation box in a cargo bay - just in case.

"Starfleet is already aware," Gregnol said darkly trying to not think about what could have happened to bodies. Why he had delayed the meeting for so long as he wanted to get support.

"Who do you know?" Kaleetha demanded narrowing her eyes.

"Ehestri." The man said looking over at her and it clicked for Kaleetha a few things about him and why he still had a moral compass as straight as his seemed to be from the way he treated them to the fact this whole session was going on. If he knew Ehestri and she was not in here guns blazing she had to think these people were good.

"How long?" She asked.

"I do not know. Not quick enough." He said. "We have time to figure things out first."

Kali silently debated with herself the merits of actually bothering to file a more detailed report with SFI (as agreed on when she'd first taken the job she'd been offered on the cruise, to watch the Romulan delegations ) versus a rather more succinct one along the lines of 'The people you hired me to watch are dead in a ship crash; Bye!'. If the captain here knew a Starfleet Admiral, though. Well. Things got more complicated as to how she navigated the situation. All the moreso depending on how any potential foul play came out; as it sounded there might be; as they would expect her to report that sort of thing; but if she did, they'd also try to give her a follow on job related to it probably; and she'd have to figure out a way to get out of: If they'd wanted her for that level of work, they should have kept her in the first place.

"Or blow things up," Burnie quipped with a quick grin. "I wish I could say I trust Starfleet to be cautious, but I've met people who served on the Enterprise, so... If we have all the data we need to provide them, my vote is to cleanse it with fire." His grin got a bit bigger. "Massive amounts of high-yield fire."

"Ehestri is good." Kaleetha piped up making Gregnol raise an eyebrow. He would inquire on her connection to the Commodore much later but for the Captain had questions he needed answering and the ship was the only place that was offering them. Kaleetha just smiled back at the man as he looked at her interested, Ehestri was the best if they asked for more of her opinion but she would say that about the woman who had survived being her roommate at the academy for longer than four days that she had been the previous record.

"I am hoping it won't come to cleansing with fire but I trust that you are the man for the job if it comes to that." He had no doubt in Burnie's abilities to make something go boom. Maybe it would be needed, maybe it would not be. Time would tell.