Borg Central
Posted on Wednesday 22 May 2019 @ 08:45 by Captain Melody Jones & Commander Save'ena (Sav) Tillatix & Lieutenant Marbim Rejal & Master Chief Petty Officer Harris Zim
Mission:
The New Collective
Location: Shuttlecraft Gimli
Timeline: After An Open Wound
2384 words - 4.8 OF Standard Post Measure
ON:
Master Chief Petty Officer Harris Zim had been on quite the long boring shuttle ride. He had been traveling from Obsidian Command to the USS Merlin. What irked him the most was that his orders came through just as the USS Crane was putting in for some Shore Leave. He wanted to get away from it all for a bit. However, just as he was about to go running from the ship the message came in that he was to report to the USS Merlin for duty as Chief of the Boat. Why this transfer couldn't wait until after shore leave, or after the Merlin completed it's mission Zim would never know. "Heh, we are simply just puppets for those officers and their shiny pips. Ain't that right Gimli." He spoke aloud which prompted a response from the shuttle's computer. "I am sorry, I do not understand the request. Please rephrase." Harris sighed and cancelled the request.
He was about to put his feet back up on the console and get some more shut eye when the computer informed him that not only had he arrived at the Merlin's coordinates but he had arrived into a debris field. "Crap... Initiating evasive. Computer evaluate the debris field is it the Merlin?" The shuttle bobbed and weaved around floating parts of ship. As the ship made a sharp turn around what looked like a Borg computer core the computer responded that the debris could not be the Merlin. The next two minutes were silent and intense as Zim maneuvered the shuttle through debris. Just as he cleared it the vastness that is the USS Merlin came into view. He quickly scanned her in an effort to get a handle on the situation. All he could learn was that the Merlin was ready to fight with shields raised and weapons armed. She must be at red alert. What in blue blazes is going on here. He thought and then opened a comm channel. "This is the shuttlecraft Gimli hailing the USS Merlin." His gruff voice went through the comm channel.
Sav 'felt' the shuttle coming through the debris field and towards the Merlin. Its IFF showed friendly, and it was still under nav shields only. She shifted to have a clear space near by for the shuttle to move into to be near the Merlin and then she waited for Tactical to pick up the hail from it. Sensors told her one lone occupant inside.
Having passed a medical, Melody returned to the bridge. She crossed over to the command area and Lieutenant Rejal. "Turn out I'm fit for command Lieutenant. Anything to report?"
"No mam. We haven't located the Captain yet. Using the tractor beam, we have moved several large pieces of debris into a 'pile' off our stern. We've also found a few smaller pieces of what looks like salvageable materials, and those are under security forcefields in Shuttlebay 2. Would you like your chair back mam?"
Melody smiled as she sat down in the Captains chair. “Thank you Lieutenant but do you think we could drop the mam? It makes me feel old.”
With one of his famous grins, Marbim replies "Sure thing, uh, Captain, no more Mams, check."
Sav shifted Merlin to the next section for pinpoint scans while keeping the shuttle in the clear nearby. It wouldn't do to have a careening piece of debris on a shift and hit trajectory to hit and take out the shuttle.
Zim was not sure what to make of the lack of response from the Merlin. During his long ride over here he had read up on what was going on in the sector and the Merlin's missions. Was it possible that the ship was assimilated. But if it were surely the Merlin would have fired on the shuttlecraft by now. He thought that it would be best to play it safe and so he laid in an evasive pattern into the helm. It was placed on standby the merest touch of one button would engage the maneuver. He hailed the Merlin again "Say again this the Federation Shuttlecraft Gimli hailing the USS Merlin. Captain Barstow sir are you there?"
Melody looked at the panel in the chair arm “Ah, that must be our new Chief of the boat. Open a channel.”
=/\= Shuttle Gimli. This is the USS Merlin. Commander Jones speaking. =/\=
Zim smiled at the image of the woman as it appeared. "With all due respect Commander you are sight for sore eyes. I am your new Chief of the Boat, Mind if I come aboard."
Marbim will look around the Commander to look at Zim, “We’ll make a hole for you to slide in through, then please join us on the bridge.”
"Yes ma'am beginning final approach. Gimli out." Zim spoke in his official voice. Fact was he did not really have any other voice other than his official one. When the channel closed, Harris spoke aloud to no one. "The Commander greets me, not the Captain. The ship holding position on full seek and destroy. On top of all that they want me on the bridge even before I find my quarters. This is not how I wanted this assignment to begin." He ran his hand through his hair as he waited for the all clear for Ops, then he glided the specially equipped type 9 shuttle into the Merlin's bay. When the shuttle was parked he hoped out and turned to the Bolian Shuttle Bay Manager and issued orders without letting the poor man know who he was. "Touch nothing on that shuttle, as a matter of fact don't even look at it." Harris smiled at the Bolian and stepped up into a jog as he headed for the Bridge.
Sav's voice came from the helm speaker, "Sir, shuttle docked and our COB is on his way to the bridge." There was a pause, then a continuation, "He is particular about his shuttle, just FYI." Sav knew Melody would pick up on the COB being another highly rated Pilot type.
About twenty minutes since the channel closed Harris stepped off the turbolift and onto the Merlin's bridge. Well more accurately put he ducked onto the Merlin's bridge. He saw sitting in the center chair Commander Jones. Following strict protocol as was commonplace among Capellans he snapped to attention in front of the turbolift. "Master Chief Petty Officer Harris Zim, reporting as ordered Commander. Permission to come aboard and enter the bridge?"
Melody rose out of the Captain’s chair. “Of course. Welcome aboard Chief. This is Lieutenant Rajal, our acting first officer.” She extended her hand to Zim. “I’m afraid you’ve joined us at rather a bad time. Captain Barstow was recently killed when that Borg Cube.....” She motioned to the debris field on the viewscreen “Exploded. Our previous first Officer up and disappeared as well. I hope your trip here was uneventful.”
Harris exhaled deeply through his nose. "Not as eventful as what is happening here..." He said with a half smile. "The loss of the Captain would explain the extended seek and destroy. The XO is missing as well, sounds like I got here just in time as soon there won't be any officers left." He chuckled at his attempt at a joke. He turned to Rejal as the introductions were made. Although Zim concealed it well the shock of a Cardassian in a Starfleet uniform hit the old Chief hard, there were some things he never got over from his time in the war. The Capellan was ready for anything and as such took in his surroundings. The Merlin's helmsman was of interest, he had read about Mephtian's but never met one.
Melody gestured round the bridge. "At the helm we have Lieutenant Tillatix and over at the science station is Lieutennat Lomar. I'm sure you'll meet the rest of the senior staff in due time."
At the helm in the right chair, the Mephetian Helmsman seemed to be asleep, her body hunched over while her right hand was touching the right side, the left hand the top of the panel before her. Yet, on the viewscreen, the Merlin smoothly shifted and dodged a large debris piece that had suddenly changed trajectories and then returned to slow maneuvering for the current task the Merlin was performing.
Stepping forward Marbim throws his hand out, "Lieutenant JG Marbin Rejal, Chief of Operations and recently promoted to First Officer. Glad you have you aboard Zim. So you're our Chief of the boat, that's great. Did you spot anything interesting amongst the debris on your way through by chance, I have high hopes that there is a piece floating around out there with some amount of atmosphere and Captain Barstow on it."
Zim took the Cardassian's hand as he pushed the feelings to the bottom. "Pleased to meet you Lieutenant. Sir, I would say that the only things I noticed about that debris field were two-fold. The first is that there are some pieces radiating chroniton energy out there intact, which is simply odd for a cube that exploded. The second is that it doesn't read on sensors. When I approached the area at warp my sensors should have told me that there was a debris field. However, when I came out of warp there was the debris and no warning. Hence my evasive maneuvers."
Melody thought for a moment. "We better leave some warning beacons in place to warn other starships of the debris field. Helm, once they have been deployed take us to the colony at maximum warp."
The speaker at Helm station answered in Sav's voice, "Aye Aye, sir, course plotted and ready when given the word."
Marbim will look over to the tactical officer, "Let's get those beacons launched, and send a coded message to Starfleet that there's a debris field of a Borg cube out here that they may wand to harvest, especially before say any Ferengi show up."
Melody turned back to Chief Zim "Would you join me in the ready room?" Melody led the way into the Captain's ready room.
As they entered Melody gestured to the sofa. "Please sit down. Care for a raktajino?"
"I would love one. Thank you ma'am." Harris took the seat offered. This greeting was very non standard when reporting to a new assignment. But then again it seemed that the Merlin was not in a standard situation.
Melody went over to the replicator. "Two racktajinos, one with a hint of vanilla." She turned and handed one of the cups to Zim. "The first thing you learn on this ship is to expect the unexpected. So, tell me a little about yourself."
=/\= Captain, the beacons have been launched, and we've sent a coded transmission to Starfleet about the debris field. We are leaving at Warp 6 until we clear this region, then we’ll power up to Warp 9. Commander Tillatix estimates we should be there shortly, as long as nothing else crops up today, Marbim out. =/\=
Melody tapped her comm badge "Acknowledged Number One."
At first Harris thought it a little strange that the Commander did not already know about him, she should have read his service record. However, he realized that she probably did not have time given the circumstances surrounding the Merlin. "In the few moments that I have been here, I have come to learn that the hard way." He said with a chuckle by way of response to her comment about the Merlin. "Well, I am Capellan and an enlisted man through and through. Originally trained in tactics and weapons I was to be a Man At Arms. However, Captain Thompkins of the Churchill saw something in me. He appointed me to be his Yeoman and trained me in Command. I fought in a few engagements during the war, served on a Defiant Class during that time as well. And here I am there is not much to me. Starfleet is life after all."
"And the academy never appealed to you?" Melody asked while sipping her coffee.
"With all due respect ma'am if someone called me sir all the time I would get twitchy." He said with a laugh. "In truth I find the life of the enlisted to be freeing, not as rigid as an officer's. I am a grunt and that is my job. I am damn good at my job." His gravely voice rang out and he paused to have a sip of the coffee. All at once Zim knew what was going on here the woman knew his service record but not the man. She wanted to know the man. "Commander you can call me Zim if you like. Every one else does. So tell me is the Merlin always this exciting? And more importantly do you really believe your Captain to be dead?"
Melody thought for a moment. "Someone once said there are always possibilities but I fear in this case we might have to face the terrible reality. And to answer your first question Chief, yes it seams there's never a dull moment on this ship. I remember shortly after I came on board, the Captain pulled a surprise Kobayashi Maru test on me, on the bridge. Since then, I've tried to expect the unexpected but...... sometimes things still sneak up on us. A version of the Merlin from the future, The Borg controlled by an unknown AI...... Don't worry Chief, I wont be pulling a Kobayashi Maru test on you....... Just yet....."
"You just try and I will pass with flying colors. Remember it is my job to know what you need before you need it." He said with a broad smile. The two sat and chatted for a little while as the Commander got a measure of what Harris Zim was made of.
OFF:
●●● Commander Melody Jones
Executive Officer
USS Merlin
●● Lieutenant Marbim Rejal
Second Officer / Chief of Operations
USS Merlin
●●● Commander Save'ena Tillatix
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Merlin
>>>> Master Chief Petty Officer Harris Zim
Chief of the Boat
USS Merlin
