CSI: Merlin

Posted on Wednesday 2 November 2016 @ 00:11 by Captain Melody Jones & Commander Save'ena (Sav) Tillatix & Major David Scarlet

Mission: Old, New Ship
Location: Confrence Room 1 Deck 10
Timeline: MD9 0930 hours to 1030 hours
4731 words - 9.5 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Part of Melody duties as the CFCO was giving lectures to the rest of the flight crew. Today she had decided to take a slightly different track. Melody stood at the front of the room in front of 20 fresh face flyers sat in four rows of five. She had asked Save'ena to come partly because she just wanted to see her, and also she thought she might enjoy the talk.

Sav sat over in front of the Class, next to the first row, far right chair. She angled herself so she could watch Melody and the 20 other pilots in the room. This would allow her to understand more of the personalities of the Marine and Starfleet pilots as they interacted with their instructor, and each other from their answers and jiving of each other. She noticed 15 fighter pilots, 5 Flight Control.

Sitting in the back of the class was the obligatory security person to make sure nothing got out of hand. When there are this many hot headed and ego driving pilots in a room, small perceived slights can get out of hand in a hurry. Also, there was the standing order among Security personnel only that Lt. Jones and Lt. Tillatix were never to be left alone together.

Looking towards Melody, Sav smiled while her ears, tail, and whiskers flicked a 'hello'.

"Good morning all. Today the lecture is going to be slightly different" Picking up a PADD from the desk in front of her, Melody activated the wall monitor behind her. The screen lit up with the letters CSI.

Ensign Seward on the front row raised his hand "Sir, what's CSI?"

Melody smiled "Its from ancient Earth meaning crime scene investigation. I'm going to describe a situation, feel free to take any notes you want. When I Have finished I want to you look at all the evidence and tell me what happened.

Ensign Peete snorted out, "You mean like the MP's?"

Sav held up her hand and called out into the room, "No, MP's don't do that. SCIS, Starfleet Crime Scene investigation Agents do, along with Pilot Liaison corpse representing the Pilots. Now, pay attention. Being able to understand what is looked for will help you in the future to make sure that you are doing the right moves to prove your side of a story, and not somebody else version of it, got it?"

The room took on a brief life as people quickly worked out what was just said, then eyes shifted forward to rivet on Melody. Sav called out, "Ready, Professor."

Melody continued "Right then, this is what happened. Five single manned crafted were on a training exercise near Saturn. There was a collision and one pilot was lost. You will hear testimony from the surviving pilots and a view a partial black box recording from one of the craft. The information that was given is the craft were in a diamond slot formation and had just completed a Yeager loop when the collision occurred. So far the cause of the collision in unknown but the general consensus is the pilot who did not survive caused the crash. We will start with testimony from one of the pilots as he talks us through the visual playback from his craft. Due to the extreme damage only one third of the telemetry was recovered but some valuable clues might be got from this information. Any questions so far?"

Sav already had several questions on her mind, such as, 'Which pilot in the formation was lost?', 'Saturn has many moons, which one were they using for the Gravity well to be able to perform the Yeager Maneuver?', 'What was the data on the other craft black boxes at time synchronization?', etc. But, this was for the pilot's training, not the CAG to do it for them, so, she remained silent.

When no one spoke up Melody pressed forward "Right then, I've asked Ensign Cooper here to play the pilot in question and I will cross examine, when you're ready ensign."

The young man came up next to the wall monitor and activated it. which started showing the view from a single person cockpit approaching a planet. He started narrating the footage "This is the beginning of our run toward Titan. I'm on the right wing."

Sav nodded, her mind already taking into account Titan's gravity and speed needed for the loop. She was the top of her class in this maneuver.

Melody asked "And where was the pilot of who lost at this point?"

"He was on my port quarter, about fifty meters away. We just received the signal to begin the diamond slot formation. That's the squad leader coming into view."

Sav's muzzle scrunched up. The craft, from how described, were in a loose formation of two by three, hard to get into the diamond formation from that. The diamond formation was a 1 by 3 by 1 formation, designed to show and train piloting skills for close orientation and checking your surroundings. A better approach would have been the squad leader directly out front, followed by two by two, so that for going to the diamond formation, the squad leader would drop back, the left front became front, the right front became middle right, the left back became left middle right, and the right back became back. A simple quick shift rather than the mess approaching. If they were still trying to get into formation at the top of the Yeager loop in the gravity well, they would overshoot it in coming back down to complete the maneuver.

He continued to narrate as the view changed "We're in a twenty degree turn, coming around Titan....... We should be coming out of Titan's gravity well about now....." The image on the screen became very distorted and finally broke up.

Sav's expression could easily be seen by Melody. It was one of incredulous and 'WTF?'. Sav knew they could not have made it into a solid diamond formation, and if they were turning, and shifting, and trying to get to the top and drop back into the gravity well... then it hit her, he said 'out of'. She shook herself, wondering how inexperienced the pilots were to have overshot the gravity well as that would automatically cause the maneuver to fail.

Melody turned to the rest of the room "That was all the was recovered" Then turning back to Ensign Cooper "Describe what happened next please."

He took a breath before going on "Once we'd cleared the moon... The squad leader led us into a Yeager loop... about nine seconds later, everything seemed to happen at once: the proximity alarm went off, I tried to veer away, but it was too late... I was hit... I lost control of the ship and a power coupling exploded in the cockpit... I don't know how, but I managed to activate my escape transporter... the next thing I remember was finding myself in the emergency evac station on Mimas with the rest of the squadron... except one."

Sav's tail was flicking as well as her whiskers. She was so hard pressed not to say anything. How Ensign Cooper was describing it, well, rather, the transcripts of the actual pilot describing it were way off. The formation still had to be in the gravity well for this to work. Once cleared of the Gravity well, there was no Gravity to pull on the ships to slow them down and allow the reverse face and acceleration back into the gravity well and then out. If they were cleared, and maneuvering without gravity, then.. Sav thought through her spatial sense, realizing the best case was two pilots facing each other with three in various directions to all five tumbling and at one point facing each other in a one, out two, in two position, a star or circle pattern. Nothing was right in Denmark, as the saying went. A niggly hit Sav, 'What was a 'Denmark' anyway?'

Melody just let that statement sink in for a few moments.

She then continued "Could you describe a Yeager loop for me?"

Using his hand to demonstrate as he spoke, Ensign Copper went on "The ships begin in a diamond slot formation. They climb and loop backwards at a steep angle... at the peak of the loop, all five ships flip over and accelerate in a new direction."

Melody looked straight at Ensign Cooper "So what you are saying is all five craft remained in this formation throughout and just before the collision your squad was in a diamond slot formation?"

"Yes Sir"

Sav's body jerked and then stilled. It was sooooo hard for her to remain silent. Nothing was adding up, at all. What was going on? However, she was to observe the rest of the pilots and watch their interactions, not solve this or raise questions for them. But, none of them were saying anything or raising their hand on anything. She sighed, holding her tongue.

Melody then turned back to the room "I'd like to add some more evidence at this point. Computer, display Saturn NavCon file six dash three seven nine."

The wall monitor behind her changed to a view of Saturn showing two of its moons. Five small objects were also visible in the right hand corner of the screen but were tough to make out.

Melody explained "This image comes from a navigational control satellite in orbit around Saturn was recorded when the ships moved briefly into the satellite's sensor range. According to the time index, what you see on the monitor took place seven seconds after the squadron completed the Yeager loop. Computer Magnify sector gamma three and enhance.

The image zoomed inn and resolved into five single person craft, however instead of bring in a diamond slot they were in a circular formation, cockpit facing towards each other. A murmur shot round the room.

Sav's face scrunched up in confusion. If they had just completed the Yeager loop, they should be flying back towards Titan's surface and then shifting to parallel it. What in the world where they doing out of the gravity well, and facing each other? That was either totally inept or they were trying for a different maneuver. Suddenly, what was going on hit Sav like a ton of bricks. They didn't.. but, it still could be a very inept squadron. She quickly shook her head while her eyes gleamed with more questions and a niggly on what really happened.

Melody turned back to Ensign Cooper "Are these ships in a diamond slot formation?"

He replied "No Sir."

"Can you explain how the ships got into this new formation?" she then asked.

"No Sir, I Cannot"

Sav looked over the room, then spoke up, "So, anybody in the room have an idea as to why this happened, and who is at fault?"

The room looked at each other as Marine WO2 Nynette Dymond, who was sitting beside Sav, said, "You know, Ma'am, don't you. I saw your reactions to the information. So, why don't you let us know?"

Sav churr-laughed, "Yes, I have an idea of what happened, why, who is at fault, besides training and fail safes to put into place to help prevent this in the future. I am the CAG, I am expected to see and know because of my flying expertise." Of course, she did not mention her spatial sense and that she fully plotted what was happening. No, spatial sense wasn't needed for this one, if those in the room would apply their brains. Thinking through this as a pilot, that was what was needed. Sav looked at WO2 Dymond, "So, tell, me, if I solve this, what will you have learned?"

WO2 Dymond blushed, "Umm, nothing, Ma'am." She turned to the rest, "Common, if the CAG already has solved this, why can't we?"

Muttering went through the crowd, then somebody in the back asked, "How can we solve it if the records show what it is and one pilot is already at fault?"

Sav's eyes became steel as her body stilled. She flicked her ears and tail once, her voice having a light growl behind it, and said, "Because your accepting what is there instead of flying what happened within your own heads with your ships, and you aren't asking questions of what is and why. Common people, question everything and strive for best fit answers, don't go by what is said as THE answer. That is what SCIS is all about, best fit scenario for what the facts say, not trying to fit the facts to a scenario. Shift your brains and do this."

Sav looked about the room, and continued, "Clear the desks outwards. We are going to have five people become the pilots in the middle of the room. However, to get the ball rolling, may I ask, what conditions are needed for a Yeager Loop to work?" Sav was going to see if they put two and two together about it being mentioned the gravity well was cleared so something else had to be up, or a very inexperienced team that should never have been cleared to begin with.

Melody held her hands up "Before you all get bogged down in technicalities I'm going to give you some background on this particular squad. They were hand picked by the squad leader because they are the best. They are looked upon as gods..... and that's a hard image to live up to. The squad leader keeps that group together. He's their coach, surrogate father, and best friend all in one... a natural leader. The members of that team love him... if he asks them to do something, they do it... even if it means going right over a cliff. Come on people ask some questions! You have the black box from one of the ships."

Sav took in a breath, but hid her sigh. A tremble went through her body as her tail flicked to get rid of it. More of those who were given leeway to do as they were want and they flowed into the role, instead of trying to not become the role. With pride, glory, and a pedestal, the pilots would just do, never asking for or why, and people would accept anything they did or said. Sav had had enough of those type of people, those who literally got away with murder with organizations backing them up to do so. She quickly threw off these thoughts and concentrated on another, 'They are NOT inexperienced. They were doing another maneuver, and that pattern suggest only three... which one?'

Several crew looked from one to the other. Ensign Carstairs spoke up "The visual playback doesn't provide us with much information......."

Melody blew some air through her lips "It's a flight recorder. There is more information than just the visual you know."

Carstairs frowned for a moment then light seemed to dawn on his face "Did the flight recorder indicate there was a problem with the vessel in anyway?"

Melody smiled "Now you're asking the right questions. The starboard power flow was fluctuating, however, it was well within operational limits."

Carstiars frowned as it seamed she had shot him down. Another Crewman spoke up "Anything else?"

Melody ventured a bit more information "It was found that the pilot had opened his coolant interlock just before beginning the maneuver around Titan."

The room went dead silent as looks of confusion spread.

Sav's full attention came onto Melody. Her whiskers were spread open and at full out from face, her eyes were open and focused, while her ears were fully open and facing Melody. That information narrowed it down to one maneuver, the Kolvoord Starburst, which was banned at the Academy. And, such pilots as these, looked upon as the elite of the elite, who could do no wrong, would of course try and attempt it. Sav shook herself, then stilled herself, and waited to see how many of the others would pick up on the information and what it portended.

Ensign Williams, a tall brunette spoke up, confusion also in her voice "Why would he open the coolant interlock? It doesn't make sense."

Melody sat down in a chair near the front of the room "Well what are the reason for opening the interlock?" She was trying to get them to think "Come on people! Anything and everything. I want every idea on the table I don't care how outrageous."

Murmurs went round the room. Carstairs mused "You can check the coolant levels and fill, but only really in a maintenance hanger."

Melody gestured "Go on........"

Williams threw her hands up and offered a wild card. It was a 'Hail Mary pass'. "It's the first step in purging the plasma exhaust."

Carstairs looked at her as if she had grown a second head "Are you crazy? You do that in flight and the engine would ignite the plasma!"

Sav saw her chance to speak out now in a training moment, with a little humor to break up the intent and try to get those in the room thinking instead of focusing on given only.

Sav stated, "My turn to speak up. Thinking questions for you, if you can wake up your party addled minds. First question, What happens when it does? Anything bad? Anything good? Nothing, just pretty?"

Carstairs thought for a moment. "5 Ships, close together........ Let's say they all did the same maneuver. All that plasma igniting at once......... It would be like a sun....."

"Or a star!!!!!! My God! They were trying.......... No........." Her voice trailed off as Williams face suddenly went white as the penny dropped for her.

Carstairs looked at her, a questioning look on his face "They were trying what? Are you ok?" He added as he say what colour her face was going.

Melody lent forward in her chair. Softly, she said "It's ok Ensign, take your time" then raising her voice "Everyone listen up, Ensign Williams is going to educate you all."

Williams took a moment to collect herself "They were attempting a Kolvoord Starburst Sir."

The rest of the room fell dead silent and astonished looks spread round the room.

Sav's tail flicked twice to show affirmation of what was said. She looked over at Melody and flicked her ears to let Melody know to continue.

Melody nodded slowly and grimly. "Correct Ensign. This is what happened. This incident took place at Starfleet Academy"

That statement alone cased a murmurer to ripple through the room. Melody held up a hand "Please let me finish. The Kolvoord Starburst. Five ships crossing within ten meters of each other and then igniting their plasma trails. One of the most difficult and spectacular demonstrations of precision flying. It hasn't been performed by an Academy team in over a century. Dose anyone know why?

Williams spoke up "Five Cadets died in a training accident........."

"Correct again Ensign" Melody confirmed "This time only one Cadet was lost. The truth only came to light when one of the squad came forward and confessed what happened. The Squad leader was expelled after taking the blame on behalf of the rest of the team. He sad he used his position to pressure the others into performing the maneuver and to cover up what happened."

Sav performed a small shake of her body, her tail fur shifting and then settling down into its natural patterns. She had had enough of prestige and positions getting what they wanted upon the lives of others. She shoved those thoughts and their rabbit hole aside to keep focused on what was happening among the Pilots in the room. Tell tale looks, small mutters, shifting bodies, all could denote the demeanor of the pilot for future reference in dealing with them.

Melody paused for effect then continued "This is teach you one lesson. In the word of Captain Picard" She straightened up and adopted a more formal speech pattern "The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth... be it scientific truth, historical truth, or personal truth. It is the guiding principle upon which Starfleet is based. If you cannot find it within yourself to stand up and tell the truth about what happened... you do not deserve to wear that uniform."

Sav blew out a cleansing breath, her tail shaking twice in affirmation to what Melody said. She followed that motto as close as possible. Well, except for the Counselors who forced their Lies onto her causing her to always say a falsehood about what happened on Apollonia to protect Diostros. Sav's lip on her upper muzzle curled slightly in anger as she also remembered 'Starfleet' Counselors, 'Starfleet Admirals', 'Federation Council Member', 'Federation Aristocrat'. She looked down at the floor and muttered under her breath, the overlays not stopping her as what she was about to say had been echoed by many in public, "Unless it pertains to the Starfleet Powerful getting what they want at the expense of others..."

Melody heard Save'ena's comment and felt a knot forming in her stomach. Also she could feel her cheeks starting to burn. She was lying to Save'ena about what happened. She knew the reasons, but it still didn't make her feel any better. How could she preach about the truth when she couldn't even tell the truth to her best friend. She couldn't face Save'ena's gaze and shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

Marine WO2 Nynette Dymond heard the mutter and glanced over at the CAG, noticing the suppressed anger besides the words. She got a confused look on her face as she now looked at Sav and said, "Sir? What do you mean, Starfleet Powerful?"

Sav looked up at Nynette, then noticed the rest of the room was looking at her. Her anger faded as a blush came over her muzzle and cheeks, showing through the short, silky fur. She shook her head, saying, "Don't pay any attention to me. I had a run in on a remote colony planet before I joined. It's probably just a one-off and does not apply to the majority of Starfleet." The stab of the overlays hit her, but as she had kept it as generic as possible, the pain subsided. However, she felt the script at the ready, in the background just waiting for her to recite again if there were any further questions. Sav flicked her ears towards Melody and said, "Please, let's get back to the lesson. This training session time is almost up."

Melody stood, still unable to look directly at Sav "Are there any other questions?"

Sav glanced at Melody and saw her looking over the students She blushed again and went back to looking over them for herself. She was there to monitor and understand the students and their actions/reactions during this training, not beat them over the head with her past problems. She felt very guilty at having interrupted Melody's class, besides what Melody has said about Starfleet based on pursuing and being truthful. She almost burst out in a maniacal laughter as it was Starfleet who was forcing her to lie, the same Starfleet who was supposed to desire the truth. She glanced down at the floor to still herself, needing to be there for Melody.

Small murmurs went through the group as they quickly assessed if anybody had anything else. As they checked with each other, head shakes were the general consensus. The looks passed back up to Nynette, and so she turned and faced Melody. "No, Sir. We have been shown about facts to shape theories instead of shaping facts to theories, which can apply to pretty much all we do when you get down to it. Thank you, Sir."

Melody raised her voice "Very well, I think we've had a productive sessions today. Thank you all for attending. Ensign Williams, very nice work. Go to the top of the class."

Williams brought herself to attention and smiled "Thank you Sir"

Melody picked up her PADD that had her notes on. "I'm off duty now for a couple of hours so I'll be in my quarters if anyone needs me. Dismissed."

Sav stood up to smile and nod as the pilots left the room. After they were done, she approached Melody, still blushing, as she said, "It was a good lecture again, Melody. Thanks." Her blush deepened as she moved back and forth on her feet, "Umm, sorry for the interruption in class. I let myself think about my past, and the rabbit hole that is." She shook her head, "Melody, I truly wish... wish I could say more, but I am by order of the courts forced not to." Sav was pleased, very pleased, she had got the 'forced not to' out by putting it next to 'order of the courts.' If it had just been the 'forced not to', the overlays would have stopped her and started her spewing the script once again.

Still feeling some shame at her own deception, Melody still could not bring her eyes to meet Sav's. And to make matters worse Sav was blaming herself for something that Melody knew she couldn't help.

Sav sighed out, noticing Melody just not able to keep full eye contact with her. Sav immediately thought to herself, 'Serves you right Sav. She knows your story in your quarters was bogus and you're lying to her. Definitely not living up to the ideals of Starfleet, who of course is making you lie.' She said, "Okay, Melody, I will go. Sorry again, and sorry for making you uncomfortable, especially in the face of Starfleet Ideals laid out by Captain Picard. I... gotta go, bye." Sav turned to leave the room, trying to get out of there before the misting in her eyes could be seen by Melody.

Melody, having found some strength of will, called after her "Hey, wait a minute Sweetie!" She came over to her and took hold of her hand, interlocking her fingers with Save'evna's. "You didn't make me uncomfortable and you don't ever have to apologize to me for being yourself. I want your input, I value your input." She looked deep into Sav's eyes then realized she was standing very close to her. Slightly embarrassed, she took a step back but didn't release her hand.

Sav looked into Melody's eyes, blushing, as she knew Melody could see the wetness in her own eyes. She glanced down at the hand holding hers, squeezing it in response. Looking back up to Melody, she said, "Thank you, Melody. I... am glad you can value and want to Listen to what I can add." She brought Melody's hand up to her muzzle, giving it a kiss, "Your my great friend, and.. I would like to pursue you being my bestest friend, when we can. Okay?

Melody cheeks burned red as she squeezed sav's hand back "I'd really like that and hopefully it won't be too long." She had moved subtlety back towards her.

Sav leaned forward and gave Melody a quick rub of her muzzle over her cheek, "There, your marked with my scent, showing I meant what I said." She smiled to Melody, then began moving off, "Gotta run to my next duty... catch you later?" Sav still held the hand, outstretched.

Melody just stood there for a moment with a dreamy look on her face. Finally she snapped out of it "Hmmmmmm....... Yeah. See you later Sweetie, Don't be a stranger too long."

As Save'ena left, Melody's face became slightly more melancholic. She wanted to spend more time with Sav, but until Wolf gave the ok, security or Wolf would have to be present. Still, her face brightened. She had managed to interact with Sav a couple of times now with no sign of 'the other personality' coming out but still........ Melody knew it was still there, lingering somewhere beneath the surface.

She sent a silent prayer 'Please, Let Sav be ok'

The very bored security watched what happened in silence. He knew Melody would be there a bit longer cleaning up, and then he would escort her to her quarters.

OFF:

Lieutenant Melody Jones
CFCO / Second Officer
USS Merlin

Lieutenant Save'ena A. Tillatix
CAG / Uroboros Squadron Leader
Bridge Command Specialist
USS Merlin