The Disaster

Posted on Sat Aug 3rd, 2024 @ 5:57pm by Captain Rueben Gregnol & Executive Officer Jake Ford & Delaney O'Callaghan & Teresa Forrest & Chief Engineer Michael Burnstein & Chief Comms Rivek & Chief Helmsman Kalahaeia t'Leiya & Chief Armoury Rormu Yazlin

Mission: Shackles
Location: Rec Room
Timeline: MD - 03
1735 words - 3.5 OF Standard Post Measure

"Rivek's personal log stardate... I don't know. Federation stardates never made sense in my mind.”

"...you know, I can't decide whether I think Liha or Kali is more hot in that 'tie you up and torture you' sort of way..." Curtis' voice echoed over a few others.

"I do not even know if anyone on this ship likes me. They know me as the bomber who blew up..." Nollel’s voice admitted.

Gregnol winced at the sounds around him as he heard layer upon layer of voices. It was how he imagined a Borg cube might be if he had ever gotten into that type of trouble. The cacophony was overwhelming, an endless stream of chatter of what sounded like people's personal logs. “What's going on?” Gregnol demanded, his voice cutting through the din as he looked around for someone who could provide answers.

Hungover… How is it possible to be hungover haven’t I been through enough to enjoy a drink without having to wake up and have a head that hurt? I’m writing this on a scrap of paper. It orders my thoughts despite no longer officially being in Starfleet so to speak, it is still a habit one that I intend to use despite Barton's teasing. It would do him some good too if I am honest.

But where do I start, I saw her Jeassaho Jeastraxe Kea, My JJ and the only reason I put up with what I have from the moment the bastards Cartels attacked the shuttle searching for me killing the crew to use in an attempt to find Barton, to the moment we got the hail from the USS Helix to say that they had arrested the Cartels and Starfleet Intelligence wanted a word with me. They let Barton escape and go to god knows where he has been for the last few months and took me in for questioning. I was given orders and sent back into the universe, to serve a purpose again.

I didn’t want this, I wanted to return to Starfleet but yet again I am torn into two people, Lieutenant Commander Gregnol, the Starfleet Officer full of duty, pride and obligation to the universe and Federation, the man Barton despises and then there is Rueben, the man who fights for everything and every one no matter what. Always divided between two worlds… I hate this.

Gregnol could remember the personal log like it was yesterday and not nearly six years ago sat at his desk, a mixture of frustration and vulnerability in his expression as he recorded his personal log trying to make sense of everything. “We are all in the same boat.” He said as the entry played over the ship’s intercom, exposing his private fears to the entire crew. The weight of leadership suddenly felt even heavier on his shoulders but it soon shifted to someone else’s log.

"Look, since you sons of bitches haven't answered my last sixteen messages; maybe you'll find this one more compelling: I am not interested in a free voucher for your - " a string of rapid fire untranslated Rihannsu swear words flowed off Kali's tongue in the nearly-blends-into-one-another way only native speakers could manage, then back to Federation Standard a few moments later " - cruise line as compensation for your company almost killing me; so you have three weeks to offer me something else or I'm suing you. My aunt is a lawyer, too, so you better believe I'll pick the least advantageous venue for you bastards. That is not a threat. That is a fact. And - " Kali's voice cut out mid-rant, giving the impression the letter to the ill-fated Holoworld's parent company continued on for rather longer.

Gregnol glanced over to Kali and offered a smile. He knew exactly where that was from and he could not at all blame her for the outburst. "Well at least everyone knows when and where that is from."

"They did eventually offer me something better. But not better enough to stop me from also leaving a couple hundred scathing reviews on every travel site I could find, and reporting their piss-poor emergency supply setup to a variety of regulatory bodies." Kali grinned back, seemingly not at all embarrassed at what had come to light on her, or of the conduct itself.

Rivek stood firm as he heard his own voice echo throughout the ship. He went through this before.

"... I feel out of my depth here. I'm surrounded by some of the most competent field agents in the quadrant. Me? I just came out of my hole in Epharia City. Hell, this is the first actual starship I've been on. I don't know how to fit in. They call red alert, and my heart leaps. I'm commanded to open hailing frequencies, and I press random buttons and hope it works. I miss my old apartment. I miss my old life.I have a plan. To 'prove' myself. I will focus on what I'm good at—data security. The comms subsystems here are held together with tape and a prayer. That's a simple enough task, but one that will streamline operations by a calculated 38%. I'm sure this will be the thing that will get everyone's attention."

Rivek felt his cheeks warm after hearing his log. No doubt, they were flushed with green. The embarrassment he felt didn't come from his personal log, but from fudging a basic system repair. He took a deep breath, "Well... what can I say? I definitely did what I intended."

Nollel rolled her eyes. "We need to explain to the Captain and then we can sort it out more." She pointed out.

"Right," said Rivek. His throat felt coarse, and he swallowed hard. "Uh... the Captain. He should know what's going on."

"...so, I know you had been hoping for a big family wedding, but this just, um, ...happened. We didn't know the custom was for marriage, but we decided not to annul it, so... I'm married! You can stop bemoaning your son still being single into his thirties, okay? Just please don't start asking about grandkids yet, obviously we didn't even plan the wedding. Speaking of that, though, I know Sophie will be sad she missed getting to be flower girl. Let her know I'm planning a 'planets of light' tour so we can have a proper honeymoon. I'd like to start it with a renewal of vows somewhere we can have fireworks, so she maybe can still get the chance. But don't mention it on comms, I want to surprise Nollel..."

Burnie facepalmed. So much for making it a surprise.

Noelle walked into the messhall with her 2 cohorts in toe. None of them were really at fault but she would back them up as they all faced the music. She offered a wink to Michael as she saw him and heard his words. "We will talk about it later." She promised.

Any rely on his part was interrupted by a burst of seemingly random clicks, taps, and near-static finally ending with "...Y'hhau."

Burnie looked over at Liha, who chuffed a laugh and smirked. "Some of us have the sense to encrypt our personal comms."

"Some people do not have big secretes to hide," Nollel said with a wink as she held out a PADD to Gregnol that detailed what was going on. The Captain looked at it and then Rivek thoughtfully.

"What happened?" He wondered softly.

Rivek took in a deep breath before speaking. His heart pounded as he faced the CO. His words came out weakly. "I was trying to streamline the communications relay subroutine. It would help secure our internal systems from potential hijackers." He lifted his hands defensively. "I promise I can get this back to normal before the logs go further back. I just need some time... and some help."

"I just passed Curtis running down the hallway faster than I've ever seen him move," Jake responded, entering with a slightly weary expression. "He's probably headed for the computer control unit, hopefully to help start fixing things on that end." He glance around. "Have we gotten to any of the juicier bits of gossip yet?"

“Something about a hammock.” Leiddem commented with a smirk as he wandered in looking confused. “He isn’t going to blow it up or anything drastic is he?” The man confirmed.

“Nollel? Rivek?” The Captain demanded turning his gaze on the pair.

"..Sometimes feels like it might've been a mistake. I realise running around the quadrant hunting spoonheads wasn't a careerpath with great potential for growth and diversification, but serving on the same boat as one.. There was a lull in the recording from the Bajoran Security Chief, it gave Rormu and opportunity to wince as she knew exactly where that train of thought was going. "I should do my due dilligence on that man, perhaps there's a good reason for a short stroll out the airlock." And there it was, just casual consideration of cold blooded murder. "Taev wouldn't put me on a ship with one of them, though. Unless.."

Gregnol glanced around and looked at Rormu and inclined his head. He fully understood what she meant and how it was meant to be a private thought. It would be a conversation for later on for the pair of them.

"Ummm..." said Rivek in thought. He rubbed one of his ear lobes as he thought. "Maybe if we flood the system with more logs, it'll overload the routing and cause a shutdown without substantial memory loss." He was speaking more to himself than to the others. He walked over to a comms panel. "The security system is still in tact. It's just unencrypting a comm at a time. But if I completely disable the log's security system, it theoretically will blare all of them at once, causing it to overload."

Gregnol rolled his eyes as he heard more communications and glanced around at the crew that were avoiding each other's gazes as things were spilled out. "What is the worst that could happen?" He finally decided giving his permission.