On the flight to Dodge City (Outpost Three), Cassiadora and Shione are subdued and silent.

The two Runabouts take parabolic trajectory through the interior vacuum. A magnificent solar flare occurs as they pass the star, erupting like a God-sized finger of plasma, several thousand kilometres long.

Dodge City sits at the top of a butte in the midst of a prairie. It is similar to the Freeman's Island installation, only slightly smaller.

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Dodge City Ops contacts the Runnabouts. "Outpost Three to Flight Three Alpha. Welcome to Dodge City, Kitchissippi and Cuyahoga. You are cleared to land. Kitchissippi, you will land first, while Cuyahoga maintains a holding pattern. PO2c S'Forlann out."

The hangar door rolls back, revealing the elevator with its bright red-and-yellow landing target. Kitchissippi settles onto the pad, which descends silently past the ground-level entrance. The hangar is far smaller than the one at Freeman's Island, with only four Runabout spaces, two Type-07 shuttles and a pair of tiny Type-15 shuttlepods.

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The crews are met by two Humans, both in Operations gold shirts. One is a Lieutenant (junior grade), while the other is a severe-looking CPO a couple od decades older, holding a PADD. The CPO steps forward, looks down at his PADD and addresses Mac while the hangar tractor beams clear the elevator for its ascent.

"Mis-ter An-derson," he says in a Teutonic accent harsher than Talja's Bavarian one. "I am Chief Petty Officer Johann Schmidt, head of Dodge City's security detail. Thumb the PADD to log in." The photograph on the PADD next to Mac's dossier is Mac's Academy portrait—an unflattering one at that. "This gentleman is your Technological Assessment Officer, Lieutenant Junior Tonio Gazzo," he says with obvious distaste.

The cocky young man sticks forth a hand with grease-stains embedded in the calluses."Call me 'Fast Tony'—only my old lady calls me Tonio."

Once the elevator has brought the Cyahoga down to the hangar level, Schmidt has Cassy tab in and the whole kit'n'caboodle proceeds to the turbolift. Their is a brief wait for a second car as the lift is only large enough for half the people present. The car takes much the same route to Level One, but instead of going to the conference room, Lt. Atek greets them in the Ops centre. It has the look of a starship bridge - indeed it is a repurposed Ambassador class bridge module with minor modifications. Atek is sitting in the centre seat. He is a slightly pudgy Betazoid Lieutenant with curly dishwater-blond hair.

<Greetings, Lieutenants,> he teeps to the two Betazoids even as he says the same aloud&mdasha Betazoid habit. He continues aloud, "Welcome to Dodge. I hope its quieter than its Ancient West Earth namesake. I see you've met Marshall Earp." Schmidt grimaces with distaste at the nickname. "Johann, you've got to loosen up. I also see you've met our house mobster. Don't gamble with him—regardless of what he tells you, Fizzbin is not a real game and he makes up the rules as he goes along. So, what do you think of our little slice of paradise?"

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 1):

Shione approaches Lt Schmidt and introduces herself

"Lt? If I might have a moment of your time?
I was told,by Commander M'Rel, that you would have a precis of my security report and that I might be able to see it.

A number of people on the Starbase seemed to suspect me of being a Romulan,but the Commander assured me that I had been thoroughly checked out.
Can I trouble you to be able to view that report?"

Schmidt looks startled. "Lieutenant? Sorry, Ma'am, but I work for a living. Chief Petty Officer at your service. You can call my Mr. Schmidt, Chief Schmidt, or just plain Chief. There is no question of your being a Romulan spy. Councillor Sormok is a well-known and highly respected member of the Vulcan Science Council, and your DNA definitely checks out as his daughter. Here is your dossier, with my compliments. I was forewarned that you would want to see it." He hands her his PADD. "You can unseal the file by your thumbprint." He smiles, an expression which seems oddly out of place on him.

Mac sighed. Honestly, the deeper he got involved with Starfleet the more it all seemed to be just some weird exercise in collaborative fiction. Romulan spies? Mobsters?

I definitely owe myself a drink, he thought.

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 4):

Shione smiles back warmly"I held that rank for 7 years myself Chief.I had to almost die fighting a Borg to get promoted to Ensign and that was at the hands of Klingon Starfleet Security Officer,of all people.
Security's good work,and I enjoyed my 2 years working it" she reaches out,thumbing Schmidts PADD
"Thanks Chief for the file.I'll stand you to a drink if you share a story to match the one I've got for ya."

Shione reaches out ,offering her hand to the Chief"It's Shione ,btw when I'm off duty"

She turns grinning at Mac's expression"What's the matter Mac.You look like you need a drink"

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 2):

Shione steps forward nodding to the Lt ,then turning to face everyone
Sir if I might say something?

I have had a number of people look sideways at me ever since I arrived at the Starbase.
They fear I might be another Romulan spy"She spits in a clearly mock fashion

She holds up her PADDI just received the Precis of my clearance from Chief Schmidt ,which clearly states that I am Genetically the Daughter of Councillor Sormock of Vulcan;who is a high ranking member of the Vulcan Science Council"

She grins widely But for anyone stupid enough to doubt Chief Schmidt's report or to question my 17 year career; I'd be delighted to perform a Vulcan Nerve pinch on you to prove my heritage.Any takers?..OK... good?

Thank you Lt Atek" she nods stepping back and turns to face him again
This message was last edited by the player at 22:10, Sat 13 Aug 2016.

"Huh," escapes Gian's lips before he realizes he had spoken; he looked around, trying to find someone else who even knew this was a thing. Was this a thing?

Mac winced and pinched the bridge of his nose. Okay, so my Tac Officer is officially off her rocker. No more guns for my Tac. Got it.

"Uh, JG Kurasa? I sympathize that you've got some notions or something going on inside your head... But grand pronouncements that you're not a spy aren't doing a lot for my confidence in your mental well-being. Report to sickbay, go grab a beer, meditate? Do what you've got to do. You obviously need alone time, so you're relieved for the briefing with Lt. Atek. Collect your nerves, pinched by Vulcans or otherwise, and come back when you're feeling like you're more "conduct becoming." And the next time you've got considerations about your readiness to do your duties, let's throttle the drama back and just work it out with a private sit down, alright?"

"Dismissed," he said as gently as possible. If the JG couldn't control her emotions better he'd rather put one of the science officers at Tac just for the lack of volatility.

Caddy was subdued.  Reporting a grievance against a federation doctor was never going to be easily resolved but she was sure her summary of events had been clear, complete, concise and correct according to the law.   Of course, Shione's pronouncement that was not a 'spy' came at an all to opportune moment and she quietly let Shione's own CO 'handle' matters while she looked to her own crew and tasks.

In reply to Mac Anderson (msg # 9):

Shione spoke quietly to Mac,but others likely can hear

Uh Lt.Did you forget I'm a telepath? I was aware that there have been personnel who suspected me and I didn't need to read anything more than their emotions to know that.

If some of the people posted here thought so, it seemed prudent to speak about it with the proof in my hands.

Why the heck do you think they did such a thorough check on me.?

Look guys and Gals this is the first posting in my career where I've had so many people double checking my clearance, so I guess I was just hoping to clear the air

I guess it seems like drama,but I'm just tired of the suspicions I guess"

"Ahem!" Atek clears his throat loudly. "Belay that dismissal. I'm sure we can all conduct ourselves with the dignity of Starfleet Officers and part of that is attention to briefings. It is now 1100 hours. You have until 1700 hours to yourselves. You may pick out any vacant quarters up on level two. If you want an outside view, I recommend the outer ring, as those rooms have direct view windows—all others have to make do with view screens or holographic tanks. There is a holodeck, lounge and a conference room on the deck, or you can go out to the terrace, reachable by turbolift. The rooms are standard starship junior officers' quarters, quite comfortable for the frontier. Now you are dismissed. Meet in the lounge for the official reception. Dress is casual." <But not Betazoid casual. Image of a grin.>

He returns to his seat and asks S'Forlann, "PO, are the Runabouts secure?"

The V'gelnian Ops manager replies, "Aye sir, as per your orders."

Schmidt leaves the Ops centre through the door behind the centre seat and heads to Security. The group proceeds to the second level.

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Each quarters consists of three rooms—a central living room with a sofa and comfy armchairs, a bedroom with desk and console, and a fresher including storage space and a washroom with sonic shower. The console at the desk has an encrypted communications link, but voice access to the computer and communications is available throughout even when not wearing your communicator. The station library computer has an extremely wide selection of video and audio entertainment and the holodeck has all the standard programmes and will accept personal programmes from a PADD or isolinear storage chip. The rooms at the left of the tower (as seen in the plan) look out onto the terrace.

[OOC Sorry, the plans are a WIP and do not show all rooms or details. The windows in the living rooms are not yet shown. The terrace has a selection of patio furniture and a barbecue/cookpit.]
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:19, Mon 15 Aug 2016.

The Cuyahoga's engineer perks up at the mention of a room with a view. It's been a long time since he's quartered anywhere in open air -- the change will be nice. Outer ring it is.

"Well", Gazzo thinks to himself, "Betazoids and a suspected Romulan. Boss Abbruzzese, (an associate of his father). always said Betazoids were abercrombies", (know-it-alls). "Always wanted to cheat...er beat a Betazoid in a game of chance"...(smiling to himself).

Wanting to get a feel of his new crewmates before the briefing, "Fat Tony" says aloud:

"I could go for some good hooch and a hand or two of Fizzbin...aww...err...or maybe a little poker."

"Anyone cares to join me", he says with a wide grin.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:34, Sun 14 Aug 2016.

Everybody gets a chance to have lunch, a shower and to unpack any personal belongings they'd brought; and take a quick nap or try out the outpost's amenities. Cassy has a chance to start filing out a letter for redress of grievance if she wishes and Shione can seek out Cassy is she wishes for further discussion. Fast Tony has a chance to meet Mac, his new superior, prior to the reception. Gian does indeed get a room with a view, while Argent wonders whether this reception will be anything like the 'party' on Starbase 21 and Rai has a chance to set up the holodeck with her favourite concert programmes.

Mac is somewhat curious as to why Fast Tony was referred to as a 'mobster' until he finds out that Tonio Gazzo is an Iotian, though he has to look up the  files on Sigma Iotia II to find out just why that may be.

Cassy actually considered Fast Tony's offer but given the task at hand she begs off and heads to her room for a shower, an unpacking, and a couple of hours in front of the terminal.

Having gotten situated in her new quarters, Lieutenant Rai spends about an hour or so on the holodeck, playing casually to an empty Royal Albert Hall alongside Jim Morrison, Jerry Garcia and Ginger Baker. Having spent so much of her career in the lab, she's not accustomed to such prolonged periods of interaction with other people, and she's grateful for the respite before the reception.

Gian changes into athletic gear and goes for a jog outside the complex, more to explore the surrounding landscape than to work out. After about an hour outside, his mind wandering from the idea that the sun never sets on a Dyson sphere to wondering if all the Betazoids in Starfleet are on this base.

Speaking of...if Shione could easily pick up surface thoughts and emotions, and if she's actually doing that, does she know how delicious he thinks she is...or Lt. Dul...or Ms. Rai...or Thoma and Commander Samson for that matter...

Oh, geez, this'll be interesting..., he thinks as he heads back to his quarters for a quick sonic shower before the briefing.

In reply to Prashanthi Rai (msg # 17):

Lt Shione changes into her workout gear and heads for the Holodeck only to find lovely music coming from inside

She sticks her head in "Hi Prashanta.The music is gorgeous,would you mind if I listened?

But I understand if you don't wish to be disturbed,I will wait til you're done.
.Truth be told I would enjoy the company"She adds sincerely

Mac picked the closest quarters on the most direct route from where he was coming from. He didn't feel like doing anything, he'd had his crew poached by Samson, had some jacked up technical assignment he'd been directed to follow countermand a direct order he'd given to a member of his crew to his face - the guy didn't even have rank over him.

The one thing he'd always prized about Starfleet was its professionalism. That was gone here - like totally and completely out the window gone. He'd shut his mouth and deal with it, but when the time came to give reviews he was going to complain like there was no tomorrow. This wasn't what Starfleet was all about, and the level of casual disrespect for a fellow officer and basic discipline present at this base was really just incredible. If he was back home, where this sort of thing was more common, he'd have a social outlet - he'd just challenge Atek or Samson to a duel and stab them a little bit to show them better etiquette alternatives. Starfleet was founded on principles though, and there really wasn't a way to fight things when everyone around you decided to take a blanket and smother fundamental things like the chain of and sanctity of command. Why Samson thought he was a glorified bus driver pushing a shuttle around instead of a captain worthy of the basic respect provided the commander of a commissioned vessel might be waived as a quirk, but Atek seemed to think he had unlimited command authority over his crew and wasn't just loaned his ship under Samson's authority... and that pointed to some very, very troubling notions here on Dyson.

Maybe Dyson was a punishment assignment instead of the opportunity he'd presumed. That would explain his Tac officer's strange outbursts at leasts, some sort of psychological issues. He'd have to check everyone's personnel files for more problems before they popped up. He wasn't used to being the person paying attention to the rules anywhere, but if they were playing this fast and loose with basic, structural things inherent to Starfleet then he suspected there would be dire, horrifying things that would pop up eventually as they turned their backs on other founding principles.

He replicated a strong intoxicate and sipped from it, pulling up every personnel file he had access to. If this place was a dead end then it was done to him and he'd had no warning. He'd already lost, and he'd rather resign his commission and go back home to teach his people the right way to maintain a fleet than languish in some punishment detail where people ignored basic principles of command here out in the dark end of wherever for the glory of some strange political entity that had turned against its own principles.

After a couple of drinks and getting acquainted with Mac on his current assignment, Gazzo goes back to his quarters to practice his card skills and relax before meeting with the others later....