Several hours later, the sky overhead begins to flicker then snaps on with an early morning dawn light. Several runabouts converge on the area, transmitting an overhead view and a message, "Captain Samson to USS Thames. We have received a missive from the Sphere computer indicating the night-cycle disruption has been alleviated. Cdr M'Rel is inbound with the Lena to pick up Lt Leiliri and LCdr Gaius Glaucus is coming to supervise the First Contact situation, while LCdr Adonidas is also inbound with a full medical complement. Cdr Talbot will be overseeing the Romulan crash." site.


The Chirpers are quite exited by the onset of the day cycle and the arrival of more flying buildings. The runabouts land in a vegetated area about a kilometre from the crash site. Chiree indicates this is part of the flock's hunting preserve. Chiree allows as how the Federation personnel have saved many lives and are apparently responsible for the return of daylight, he will take them to the Humans' "wounded brother". This turns out to be a Kapecki who has suffered grave wounds including the traumatic loss of one arm and apparent memory loss. He is huddled in a dark recess in one of the flock's buildings wearing dark homespun robes with a grizzled beard and a grey scar beneath his right eye.


"Hello," he chirps in the language of the diminutive green aliens. "I am afraid I cannot introduce myself, as I have lost my name." He gestures with his arm, which has been severed mid-humerus and is coated with a thick layer of what appears to be clotted cottage cheese. There is a slight sickly smell to the layer of white curds. "The younger brothers have saved my existence. I perceive that you are different in nature from my life form, however we may resemble each other superficially." He speaks a much more polished—one might even say adult—version of the Chirpers' tongue. Those who have interacted with the Finorii will recognise is as being closer to their language.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:02, Sun 28 July 2019.

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 1):

Jon was naively expecting the "wounded brother" to be human, and is surprised to see a Kapecki. "Do you know how you got here, and how long you have been here?" he asks.

The wounded Kapecki replies in the Chirpers' speech, "My first memory engram is some 65.935 cycles ago. It was at this point I self-diagnosed a major injury to my right arm, mid-humerus. I reduced pain signals to that area but was unable to initiate self-repair procedures. The non-caste Droyne made me comfortable and have concealed my from the mature Droyne Sports since then, supplying me with nutrients. I have been unable to retrieve my memory engrams. My right ocular receptor is also disabled, as are my locomotor limbs."

He pulls himself up into a sitting position and pulls a bound volume from his robes. It turns out to be a case of golden medallions encased behind what appears to be  transparent aluminum.


"The non-caste ones supplied me with these coyns and begged me to transform them—I got the impression they meant to transform the creatures rather than the coyns—but I was unable to decipher how this was to be done."

Talja takes Jon by the arm and murmurs, "Perhaps we should ask Capt Samson to summon Cdr R. Olivaw (she pronounces the name Arr Oh-lee-vow), the Kapecki commander? Perhaps he'd know how to recover this one's memories. After all, he did indicate that the Finorii began their attack by compromising the programming of the Kapecki stationed here."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:49, Sat 06 July 2019.

In reply to Wounded Kapecki (msg # 3):

"Good idea! Is Captain Samson around?" Jon decides to go through proper channels and finds Zed. "Sir, Talja suggests that we summon our resident Kapecki, Cdr Olivaw."

"Look at this Talja, Tony!" Jon exclaims, looking at the medallions. "Some of these seem to indicate a progression. Like from 1 line to 6 lines, or from a humanoid to this ummmm ... centaur looking thingy!" Jon checks the databases accessible via his tricorder to find out if there are any records using similar symbology.

LCdr Gaius Glaucus arrives from the landing site. He overhears the question Jon has just asked and replies, "No, Capt Samson is overseeing the search for more Romulan infiltrators. She's detailed me to oversee First Contact operations. I agree that the Kapecki should be involved, though."

He is a tall man with curly blond hair and piercing blue eyes. He gestures to his companion, "This is Lt Arapet. I've had a frank conversation with her regarding First Contact procedures and parametres. I've done a little looking into the Finorii species with Krrsh and the prisoner Farl. They confirm that these Chirpers are an offshoot of their species. The Droyne, as the overall species is known, are from the alternate timeline known as the Third Imperium, where they are one of many sapient species. The Chirpers are a juvenile form which have mostly lost the ability to caste, a process which involves psychological and physical transformation into the mature form. It's a vastly complex subject I'm afraid I don't fully comprehend, but the FC Department is processing all information we can gather."

He taps his commbadge. "Glaucus to Samson. Request you contact the Kapecki liaison regarding a wounded Kapecki unit. He's lost an arm, loss of his legs and is amnesiac." Turning to Nathan and Aquaal, he says, "Lt Pierce, I understand you've garnered considerable medical information of the Chirpers. Good job, and we've transferred information on Finorii—Droyne, I should say—physiology to the Thames's data banks to enable more precise treatment. Lt Leiliri, your assistance has been astounding and we're arranging to expedite your return to Starfleet Medical Academy to complete your xenomedical studies. Finally, Lt Xelox, I understand you're been dealing with the juvenile Chirpers. Your name will go down as First Contactee for this subspecies... No insult, ladies and gentlemen, but you all look like you've been ridden hard and put up wet. I recommend a full meal and a few hours of sleep."
This message was last edited by the player at 19:50, Mon 12 Aug 2019.

Lt Nathan being very tired has said little.
He does extend his mind to see what basic information he can pick up on the Kapecki.
However he decides not to push things very far as he wants to talk to another Kapecki before trying find more about the man.

Lt Nathan nods LCdr Gaius Glaucus.
I have done my best to help the Chirpers.  They are funny but good race to be with.
It would be good to study up more on them.  However I would like it to be put on record that we need to think long and hard before interfering with there current development and environment.  They understand there are other species around them and that these species have devices and abilities they do not.  The Chirpers are not jealous or angry about this.  They do not have an over powerful desire to gain the knowledge of others.  They are more fascinated by technology but clearly do not have the ability to understand a lot of it.
We need to study their history in this timeline and also the history from the other timeline if we can.
Their may be a very good biological or social reason why they have stopped the process of caste, Casting?

LT Nathan looks very series.
We must not assume that giving the Chiprers the ability to Caste in this time line is a good idea.
They are.  To all intense and purpose a non warp species here and we need to treat them as such.
If we do give them the ability to Caste, it could have very big implications.  The results may not be good for this timeline.  They are in fact an invading species in this timeline and containing them may be our best policy.  I am not saying what we should do Sir, as I do not know all the facts myself.  All I am saying is care must be taken.

Lt Natham then looks across to Lt Leiliri.
Lt Leiliri has been most helpful.  I am not sure how she feels about the Chirper's but with respect Sir.  Maybe you should give her the chance to develop her biological skills in field of first contact with new complicated timelinked species.  I am very happy to work along side her any time.
Then again she may wish to return to Starfleet Medical Academy right away and be back with her friends there.
I would suggest you ask her Sir. 

It seems Lt Nathan has a bad habit of speaking his mind in a respectful way.
One that may help him not get a promotion any time soon.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:24, Thu 11 July 2019.

The Kapecki does not register on either your telepathic or empathic senses. Since they are androids of an unknown technology, this is unsurprising. LCdr Data of the Enterprise is similarly dead to psionic senses.

LCdr Glaucus says in reply to Nathan's observation regarding the Chirpers and casteing, "Quite correct, Dr. Pierce. If they are indeed an undeveloped juvenile form of the Finorii or Droyne or whatever they are properly called, there is obviously some unknown mechanism at play here, whether physiological, psychological or cultural; and it is not our place to subject them to this process. They are undoubtedly sapient, and their right to self-determination must be addressed, but we must be cautious. This must be decided at the highest levels of the First Contact Division in consultation with the United Federation of Planets Sapient Rights Commission, the Federation High Courts and all relevant authorities including the Kapecki, the Finorii, this Möbius person and—if possible—the so-called Grandfather before any determination can be reached. Frankly, it makes the situation between the Klingon Empire and the BortaS'ngan look like child's play."

Dr. Adonidas breaks in, "As for Lt(jg) Leiliri, your comments will of course be taken into account but ultimately the decision rests with her and her careers counsellor on Starbase 21. And, of course LCdr M'Rel, as both her immediate superior and the Commander: Flight Group will have input as well. However, I'm pleased to note your concern as regards her career wishes."

Following LCdr Glaucus's orders, the Thames's crew crawl into their bunks for the next six hours. When they awaken, they hear a low keening noise coming from outside. Curious, they pull on their uniforms and step out into the daylight.

In a large grassy area, the assembled Chirpers are performing funerary rites for their dead. There seem to be more Chirpers than before. LCdr Claucus informs the officers from the Thames that Chirpers have been arriving for several hours, comprising at least a half-dozen individual flocks. Hunting parties have brought game and many have been preparing a funerary feast. Families are mourning their deceased relatives while extended clans care for the wounded.

At the crash site, the remains of the Romulan runabout are being lifted from the city by the tractor beams from a pair of Federation Danube class runabouts. Near the Thames sits a second Atlantic class mission module in medical markings. As the crew looks around, Dr. Adonidas steps out of the module and approaches them.

"G'Day, eh?" she greets them, "How's it goin'?" She holds a steaming mug in her hands and the smell of coffee wafts through the air. Several young Chirpers tag along behind her playing with the consoles Billy had replicated for them a chorus of musical tones coming from the toys. "Cdr R. Olivaw arrived a couple hours ago and he's seeing to the damaged Kapecki unit, now identified as R. Baley. He says that within the week they'll have R. Baley all repaired and will be able to restore his base programming." She sips her coffee and continues, "You'll be happy to know we've captured one Romulan ship and destroyed three more. We're not certain that's all of them, but we're not detecting any more of them. We've determined which portal they've been using and R. Olivaw has had the Sphere computer restrict access to its controls and we've installed monitor satellites both inside and outside all twenty portals."

[OOC: Just a recap of the last few days...

SD 53108.12, 0800 hours, February 08, 2376 - Briefing for BortaS mission begins.
SD 53128.13, 0800 hours, February 11, 2376 - Crew leaves for BortaS mission.
                       0900 hours, February 11, 2376 - Crew meets Cdr K'Pok and Cdr Vaughn. Final briefing.
                       2000 hours, February 11, 2376 - Klingon meeting/ceremony. Introduction to the komerex the'Durgath Aron.
                       2300 hours, February 11, 2375 - End of ceremony. K'Pok and crew invited to A'Ron's quarters.
                       2345 hours, February 11, 2376 - Riot begins. K'Pok wounded, Vaughn shot.
                       0030 hours, February 12, 2376 - Crew pursues Klingon intruders.
                       0130 hours, February 12, 2376 - Crew catches up with Klingons.
                       0145 hours, February 12, 2376 - Crew infiltrates Klingon building. Fight ensues, Jon wounded.
                       0200 hours, February 12, 2376 - Klingons captured, Jon taken to Dyson Station.
                       0245 hours, February 12, 2376 - While Jon is being treated, crew introduced to Fast Billy Xelox.
                       0600 hours, February 12, 2376 - Debriefing at Dyson Station. Nathan Pierce introduced to crew.
                       0700 hours, February 12, 2376 - Romulan attack on Dyson Station. Klingon prisoners attempt to escape.
                       0900 hours, February 12, 2376 - USS Thames downs Charon class runabout. Romulans captured.
                       0930 hours, February 12, 2376 - Crew makes First Contact with Chirpers. Nathan and Leiliri begin triage.
                       13:00 hours, February 12, 2376 - Plasma fire is extinguished.
                       16:30 hours, February 12, 2376 - Surgery on Chirrip successful. Chiree introduces crew to wounded Kapecki.
                                                                            - Day cycle reset.
                       17:00 hours, February 12, 2376 - Glaucus & Adonidas arrive, crew ordered to sleep.
SD 52131.44, 23:00 hours, February 12, 2376 - Crew awakens. It is noon-ish at the portal.]

Fast Billy, Nathan and Aquaal are mostly rested after their six-hour nap. Zed, Jon, Fast Tony and Talja are still quite tired, having been up and quite active for most of the prior twenty-four hours. Dr. Adonidas administers a mild stimilant with their breakfast (or is it lunch?). Cdr R. Olivaw arrives with the wounded Kapecki in a hover-chair. The severed arm has been cleaned up and an IV unit is feeding a milky substance into the stump. A bandage has been applied to the wounded eye, and the wounded android seems at ease, no longer in pain.

Olivaw begins, "My thanks for rescuing my comrade. We have been unable to identify him, so we have designated him with a Human name. Meet R. David. We will be providing him with a new set of memory engrams and will be assigning him as our liaison to the Dyson Sphere Exploration Mission. Our colleague R. Daneel, formerly Chief Researcher for this megastructure, will be assigned to your Starbase 21 as our ambassador to your United Federation of Planets with R. Thera as his security advisor.

"It is my understanding that these... Romulans are a competing stellar nation to your UFP and have infiltrated the Sphere computer and invaded the Sphere itself. We are upgrading the Computer's AI and it will be working with R. David and your Starfleet Security to deny them further access to the Computer's systems."
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:43, Mon 22 July 2019.

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 1):

> The Chirpers

> Several hour later, the shy overhead begins to
> flicker then snaps on with an early morning dawn
>  light.

OOC I didn't know there was a day/night cycle disruption.  I am not clear on how shooting down a Romulan Runabout has addressed that.

> The Chirpers are quite exited by the onset of the
> day cycle and the arrival of more flying buildings.

OOC: They hang in the sky in the precise way that bricks don't.


>  This turns out
> to be a Kapecki who has suffered grave wounds
> including the traumatic loss of one arm and
> apparent memory loss.

OOC: Who are the Kapecki again?


> "Hello," he chirps in the language of the
> diminutive green aliens.

OOC: May I have a link to the Finorii?


> Lt (jg) Jonathan Clare
> In reply to Relic GM (msg # 1):

> "Do you know how you got here, and how long you
> have been here?" he asks.

> Wounded Kapecki
 NPC, 1 post

> The wounded Kapecki replies in the Chirpers'
> speech, "My first memory engram is some 65.935
> cycles ago.

OOC: How long is that, roughly in Earth time?

> It was at this point I self-diagnosed a major
> injury to my right arm, mid-humerus. I reduced
> pain signals to that area but was unable to
> initiate self-repair procedures. The non-caste
> Droyne made me comfortable and have concealed
> my from the mature Droyne Sports since then,
> supplying me with nutrients.

OOC: Why was hiding the Kapecki from the Droyne Sports necessary? Does my character know about the different flavors of Droyne?

> I have been unable to retrieve my memory engrams.
> My right ocular receptor is also disabled, as
> are my locomotor limbs."

> He pulls himself up into a sitting position and
> pulls a bound volume from his robes. It turns out
> to be a case of golden medallions encased behind
> what appears to be  transparent aluminum.

> "The non-caste ones supplied me with these coyns
> and begged me to transform them—I got the
> impression they meant to transform the creatures
> rather than the coyns—but I was unable to decipher
> how this was to be done."

OOC: Okay, so there is a conflict between the Finorii and the Kapecki?  How much does Billy know of this conflict and how much does it involve Starfleet?

OOC: Sorry for the long reposts, I just wanted to be sure I am reading the whole thing.


> LCdr. Gaius Glaucus

> The Chirpers

> LCdr Gaius Glaucus arrives from the landing site.

> The
> Droyne, as the overall species is known, are from
> the alternate timeline known as the Third Imperium,
> where they are one of many sapient species.

Billy: "How long have deese people been here, Sir?"


> The
> Chirpers are a juvenile form which have mostly lost
> the ability to caste, a process which involves
> psychological and physical transformation into the
> mature form.

(snip)

> I recommend a full meal
> and a few hours of sleep."

Billy: "Sir.  Yes, Sir."


> Lt. Nathan Pierce MD
>  All I am saying is care must be taken.

Billy: "I agree, Sir.  We're a long, long way from dat sorta decision.  We don't know a fraction of what we'd need to know to know if we were helping these people or not. Fer instance, why have they lost this ability to 'caste'? Dere may be somet'in in da envrionment which make 'casteing' a bad idea.

We're gonna need to have teams wit' dese people for a quite some time before we can even talk intelligently about what casteing or not-casteing even means, really."



> Following LCdr Glaucus's orders, the Thames's crew
>  crawl into their bunks for the next six hours.
> When they awaken, they hear a low keening noise
> coming from outside. Curious, they pull on their
> uniforms and step out into the daylight.

billy grabs coffee on the way

> In a large grassy area, the assembled Chirpers
> are performing funerary rites for their dead.

Coffee forgotten, Billy grabs a tricorder and sets out to record this ceremony, from a distance

> Dr. Adonidas steps out of the module and
> approaches them.

> "G'Day, eh?" she greets them, "How's it goin'?"
> She holds a steaming mug in her hands and the
>  smell of coffee wafts through the air. Several
> young Chirpers tag along behind her playing with
> the consoles Billy had replicated for them a chorus
> of musical tones coming from the toys.

That's a good idea.  Also get an idea of their hearing accuity and how they experience music.


> The Chirpers

[OOC: Just a recap of the last few days...

OOC: That was a busy day!

> Fast Billy, Nathan and Aquaal are mostly rested
> after their six-hour nap. Zed, Jon, Fast Tony
> and Talja are still quite tired, having been
> up and quite active for most of the prior
> twenty-four hours. Dr. Adonidas administers
> a mild stimilant with their breakfast (or is it
> lunch?). Cdr R. Olivaw arrives with the wounded
> Kapecki in a hover-chair. The severed arm has
> been cleaned up and an IV unit is feeding a
> milky substance into the stump. A bandage has
> been applied to the wounded eye, and the wounded
> android seems at ease, no longer in pain.

How are the Kapecki built?

> "It is my understanding that these... Romulans
> are a competing stellar nation to your UFP and
> have infiltrated the Sphere computer and invaded
> the Sphere itself. We are upgrading the Computer's
> AI and it will be working with R. David and your
> Starfleet Security to deny them further access
> to the Computer's systems."

Billy: "How will we know if you're sucessful, Sir?  How would we know if Ya wasn't?"

[OOC: Way back when you shot the Charon down, in message 72 of The BortaS Part 2, the day/night cycle was disrupted. There was a lot going on, so obviously Billy's memory simply filed it under "irrelevant - deal with it if it becomes important", but here's the relevant passage:

Relic GM:

[OOC: Since Billy was waiting for the order to fire, to keep the flow going I'm going to assume he does so. Not to step on your toes, Billy, but everyone's waiting...]
Billy immediately presses the fire icon on the tactical console and the Thames's full complement of phasers cut loose. The Atlantic class carries two standard type VI phasers and two type V pulse phasers in retractable mounts. The beams and pulses slash through the Romulan runabout's shields, causing the shield generators to overload and the cloak to fail. Tracers of green lightning flicker over the ship's hull and it begins a dive for the Sphere's surface, trailing drive plasma. As it passes through the upper reaches of the internal atmosphere it reacts with the fields retaining the atmosphere, causing them to polarise and cast the area below into night mode. The blazing drive plasma shows up as a fiery green comet plunging down towards the heavily built up city section below.

]

The Kapecki? Much of this happened before Billy arrived in the Sphere, So I'll give a quick précis. The Sphere was originally created by an alien being known as Yaskoydray, the Grandfather, from the classic Traveller RPG. He's a mutated Droyne with immense mental powers—what we used to refer to as a YAGLA (Yet Another God-Like Alien) in the old TREK Echo on FiDOnet—who was known for creating a series of bubble universes. Originally, the Grandfather used a faction of cloned Droyne as his henchmen, but they rebelled and he resorted to using a series of androids. That much is given in the Traveller books.

The Sphere was one of his experiments, this one in an alternate timeline (ie: the Trek universe) rather than a custom bubble universe, for reasons not fully understood. The Droyne faction Sons of the Grandfather (known in-game as the Finorii) attempted to wrest control of the Sphere from the Grandfather after his disappearance as detailed in the Traveller universe by reprogramming the Kapecki androids within the Sphere and using them to eliminate the Federation presence in the Sphere. The Finorii regarded the Federation as an obstacle to their seizing power in the Sphere. The reprogrammed Kapecki attacked Dyson Base on SD 52850 November 1 2375, killing 6 Starfleet personnel and destroying two Danube class runabouts, the original USS Thames and the USS Tiber. The Kapecki were defeated when, for reasons unknown they all suddenly deactivated. One severed Kapecki head was recovered and subjected to forensic examination.

The origins of the Kapecki remained a mystery until just over a month ago when the USS Cuyahoga and USS Kitchissippi were investigating one of the alien installations in the Sphere dubbed the Gamma Stations and encountered Commander Olivaw, who advised them of the situation. Starfleet had previously encountered mention of the Grandfather from a mysterious entity known as Möbius, who claimed to be his protégé. Zed, Jon and crew subsequently met Möbius and confirmed some of Olivaw's information).

It now appears that the Chirpers are an offshoot of the Droyne species, though unaligned.

[Whew! That was a bit of a data dump!]

Suffice it to say that Billy does not personally have much, of this information, but can readily access it through the LCARS system or in the stack of PADDs he's been given as deep background hand has not had time to peruse.

The Kapecki seem to be biological androids [OOC: actually, they're patterned after the synthetics Ashe, Bishop, Call and David in the Alien movies] rather than an electromechanical androids like the Exo III androids, the Planet Mudd androids or the Soong-type androids Data and Lore. They have gelatinous internal mechanisms filled with a viscous milk-like fluid over a ceramic/polymer skeleton with fibre-optic "nerves". They ingest carbon-cycle organics to power a chemical fusion reactor. It is known that they come in two genders but it is unknown whether they reproduce sexually or if the apparent genders are merely cosmetic. All the males seen so far have the same appearance, differing only in hair and eye colouring and complexion. (Actually, male Kapecki all look like Michael Fassbender and females look like Charlize Theron.)

The wounded Kapecki's memories begin just prior to the Kapecki attack on Dyson Base. It would appear that his new programming did not "take", possibly due to his physical damage.

With regard to the Computer security measures, Olivaw says, "The Computer Avatar is a self-aware AI subroutine which was largely able to resist the Finorii hacking attempts. We do not as yet have an understanding of how the Romulans gained access to its systems, but Thera is our foremost computer security expert and we'll also be working with Starfleet experts with knowledge of Romulan information technology."

The Chirpers funerary rites involve supporting the bodies on three-metre tall platforms and gathering around the area, chanting songs about the virtues of the deceased. Only the adults participate in the ritual, the juveniles watching the children in the meantime. Billy gets close with his tricorder, recording every nuance of the proceedings. He's been able to identify the leadership of four separate groups and notes how their leaders interact with Chiree as they celebrate the lives of the decedents. It seems to him that although their is an undertone of grief the main gist is to remember the positive impact the deceased Chirpers had on their families and flock, as well as the contact they had with the other flocks. Even their rivalries are cast in a positive light. Competition is seen in Chirper society as an impetus for the individuals to make themselves better and improve the whole society. At the end of the ceremony, Chiree uses a primitive fire-starter to light a torch and set the biers—which have been doused in an accellerant—alight. The bodies blaze away and are quickly reduced to ashes which are gathered and spread over the field. From beginning to end, the cremation ceremony takes about six hours.

Billy notices Cdr Glaucus observing him intently and seemingly approving of Billy's attention to details.

Lt Nathan decide to continue helping the little Chirper.
Setting up an area so they can come to him for medical help.
The help he give he carefully balances not to be to much to make them over dependent on him.
If any of the Chirper seems to have any medical understand of their species and willing to talk to Lt Nathan then he does his best to learn what the Chirper know.
Trying to learn more about the little creature.  He also tries to find if this knowledge is passed down and how they do this.

OOC: Thank you, rest saved for reading at work

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 12):

Jon, not being a xenologist or sociologist, does not find the funeral rites as fascinating as some of the Starfleet personnel in the crowd. After the excitement of the last 24 hours, he welcomes the chance to relax a little. But he eventually starts to become a bit bored, and spends more time looking at the surrounding landscape and sky than at the Chirpers.

-------------quote--------------
Suffice it to say that Billy does not personally have much, of this information, but can readily access it through the LCARS system or in the stack of PADDs he's been given as deep background hand has not had time to peruse.

The Kapecki seem to be biological androids

(Snipped, but read)

With regard to the Computer security measures, Olivaw says, "The Computer Avatar is a self-aware AI subroutine which was largely able to resist the Finorii hacking attempts. We do not as yet have an understanding of how the Romulans gained access to its systems, but Thera is our foremost computer security expert and we'll also be working with Starfleet experts with knowledge of Romulan information technology."
Relic GM
-------------quote--------------

OOC: Okay!  Thank you.

-------------quote--------------

The Chirpers

The Chirpers funerary rites involve supporting the bodies on three-metre tall platforms and gathering around the area, chanting songs about the virtues of the deceased.

[Snipped but read]

Billy notices Cdr Glaucus observing him intently and seemingly approving of Billy's attention to details.
-------------quote--------------

How people relate to death tells us important things about how they relate to life.

OOC: What are they going to do with the Damaged Kapecki fellow?  He may be one of the earlier attacking Kapecki.  They'll need to find a safe place to repair him, but keep him from doing any harm.

And how are such creatures repaired/healed?


-------------quote--------------
Lt. Nathan Pierce MD
 Medical Officer, 24 posts
 Betazoid male
 Lieutenant

Lt Nathan decide to continue helping the little Chirper.
Setting up an area so they can come to him for medical help.
The help he give he carefully balances not to be to much to make them over dependent on him.
If any of the Chirper seems to have any medical understand of their species and willing to talk to Lt Nathan then he does his best to learn what the Chirper know.
Trying to learn more about the little creature.  He also tries to find if this knowledge is passed down and how they do this.
-------------quote--------------

OOC: Good idea!

In reply to Lt (jg) Jonathan Clare (msg # 15):

While Jon is looking around, examining this and that, he notices a sudden movement in the grass. Looking more closely, he spots some scorched spots on the vegetation. Nearby, he spots something skittering along the ground. He also smells a faint trace of burnt lubricant. Pulling out his tricorder, he detects airborne particulate matter which appears to be the residue of the plasma fire. Looking closer, he sees a heat-discoloured bit of metal inching its way through the undergrowth. The tricorder does not detect anything other than the plasma residue. The object appears to be a part of a self-sealing stem-bolt assembly warped out of shape and barely recognisable. The object does not seem to be giving off any heat, but Jon is wary of touching it. There are no energy readings coming from the object.

Tony comes up behind Jon and says, "Ay, paisan! What's up? You as bored by all the administrivia as I am?"

Jon is so intent on observing the object that he almost jumps out of his skin at the interruption.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:27, Mon 05 Aug 2019.

In reply to Billy's concerns, Olivaw says, "As androids, we do not see ourselves as true individuals but rather as autonomous units in a vast network. No, not like the Borg that Captain Samson has described. We are not a hive intelligence, but you can think of us as an advanced peer-to-peer network. It's difficult to put it into terms you can understand constrained as you are by spoken language, but the closest I can come is comparing us to the Bynars, a Federation species. Indeed, several Bynar pairs are on the liaison team with us at Starbase 21. We find dealing with them most... satisfying.

"With our damaged compatriot, we will copy his entire engram to a buffer and run a thorough scan to detect any... malware, I believe your term is... and check his components and operating system for his original identity. We will them scrub his cortex and reinstall software to his original specifications and reintegrate the recovered memory engrams. This will take approximately six of your stardates, or two days. During that time, a surgical team will be repairing his injuries. It's closer to biological microsurgery than anything you would recognise as robotics and should be done by the time his reprogramming is complete.

"After R. David [He pronounces it Dah-veed, much the way it is pronounced in Hebrew] is restored to operational status, he will be inspected by Commanders La Forge and Data of the starship Enterprise in coordination with Cdr Bruce Maddox of Starfleet Cybernetics, all of whom consult with the liaison team at Starbase 21. Once this review is completed, he will be assigned to Dyson Station."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:47, Mon 05 Aug 2019.

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 17):

Jon takes a moment to calm his racing heart. "Dammitall Tony!" he hisses quietly, not wanting to interrupt the last moments of the funeral rites. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Jon then points to the piece of metal that is making its way slowly across the ground. "Look at this! I have no idea what it is"

[OOC: How big is this piece of metal?]

Double checking that the metal is not giving off any heat, Jon very gently nudges it with the toe of his boot.

When Jon looks back at the ground, the bit of metal is nowhere to be seen. The only trace is the hand-sized patch of burnt grass and the smell. The tricorder still does not reveal the piece of metal, though Jon runs it through a full spectrum of bands. The airborne particulate still shows up and he takes a full scan of it and the burnt area. Jon even notes a small pebble immediately adjacent to where the metal bit was. It gives him a size reference—the pebble is about 2.5cm across, and the metal item was about twice that size. It was flexing at the half-way point and was heat discoloured an iridescent range of colours from deep titanium gold to vivid violet.

Tony says, "What're you doing on your knees? Praying or something? Didn't know you were religious."

When Jon describes the item, Tony replies, "That's odd. Let me get my kit. Wait right here!" and runs off. He returns about five minutes later with his tech assessment tricorder and a small engineering tool kit including a sample container large enough for an object twice the size of the one Jon had described.

By then Jon has located the metal item under a leaf, which seems to be completely inert and now shows up on the tricorder as a simple bit of monotanium. There are no energy readings and no sign of a joint where it had been flexing. It is no longer hot even though it is clear that at one time it had been hot enough to burn living plant matter, at least a few hundred degrees. Jon wisely does not touch it with his hands. Tony hands him a pair of insulated gloves.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:47, Tue 06 Aug 2019.

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 20):

"That's odd!" exclaims Jon. "I've never seen a piece of metal hide before"

Jon puts on the glove and then gingerly tips the piece of metal over so that it is lying on its "back". If that doesn't provoke any reaction, he gently picks it up and puts it in the sample container.

"Any sign of residual heat?" Jon asks Tony. "Just a few minutes ago this was scorching grass!"

Jon also looks around to see if there are any other patches of scorched grass. Maybe this thing left a trail, or maybe there is more than one of them.

Actually, the grass was scorched several hours ago, consistent with the crash time. There is no smell of freshly burnt grass, just the burnt lubricant smell. The trail of disturbed soil from the burnt patch of grass to the leaf where the metal was found shows no signs of heat. The metal is not flexible or jointed but just a bent piece of monotanium, according to the tricorder. Jon's never heard of monotanium, but the database indicates it to be an alloy only previous logged in the Delta Quadrant by the USS Voyager, as reported via Project Pathfinder. Monotanium is a metallic alloy typically used in the armor plating of Hirogen warships and space stations. It also has the added effect of scattering targeting beams. Although the metal seems to be part of the wreckage from the Romulan runabout, there is no record of the Romulans using the alloy.

"Where in Finagle's Damnation did the Roms get an alloy from these Heerogen. Would this property of scattering targeting beams futz around with the tricorder?" Tony muses as he links an engineering PADD to the LCARS network and begins typing on the touchscreen."See any more?"

Jon's been looking around and finds only a couple more burnt spots, both associated with spatters of molten and cooled alloys of diburnium and osmium, conventional in Romulan space vessels. He collects these in a pair of small sample tubes.
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:34, Sat 10 Aug 2019.

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 22):

Jon scans the monotanium sample again.

"Tony," Jon says. "Give me a hand here. Can you help me determine when this fragment was broken away from whatever it was attached to?" Jon explains his hypothesis that the monotanium was not part of the Romulan ship, and that it was already here when the ship crashed, or was part of its cargo.

"Hah!" says Tony. "Gotcha. One of my specialties is metallurgy. Let's get back to the Thames where I can do some more specific scans!"

He takes the sample box and leads Jon back to the runabout  and enters the functioning airlock. He heads over to the Technological Assessment station and places the piece of metal on a scanning platform. "Hmmm," he says, " It looks like pitting from some sort of welding process. I'll run a check to see if it was welded to another alloy." He positions a scanner probe over the metal fragment and activates a display screen.

"Mmmm-hmmm... Yeah..." He mutters to himself. "OK, definitely gamma-welded... Molecular traces of diburnium... Residual antiproton traces... Chroniton readings twice background level... What does that all indicate to you?"

He focuses more closely on the specimen. On the screen, Jon can see several bits of slag on the surface. They look like microscopic spiders melted to the chunk of metal. "What the hell? You see that, Jon? Those look like nannites, but a plasma fire should have vapourised any known type of nannite."

Jon gets a sinking feeling in his gut...

In reply to Lt (jg) 'Fast Tony' Gazzo (msg # 24):

"Ah, shit Tony!" Jon exclaims. "Could there be active nanites in the area? Was that what was making this piece of metal move? Start scanning!"

Jon taps his comm badge. "Lt. Clare to Lt. Sloane and LCdr. Glaucus! Could you come to the runabout please? We may have a situation!"

Jon also starts scanning the area, hoping that knowing what to look for will yield more informative results.

"Gotcha. Calling up external sensors," reports Tony, tapping away on the planetary mission ops console. "Scanning for nanites... Beginning a scan of a hundred metre radius centred on the crash site."

Jon's combadge chirps. "Glaucus here. What's up, Sloane? Just saw you and Gazzo running for your ship. What do you have for me?"

In reply to Lt (jg) 'Fast Tony' Gazzo (msg # 26):

Jon answers his communicator "Sir, we've detected what appears to be an unknown type of nanites mixed in with the debris of the crashed ship. We've also found other discrepancies with the debris, but the nanites are our main concern. We are doing more detailed scans of the area now."

Jon turns to Tony "Does your scanning area include the runabout and the place where we found this weird sample? We don't know if what we've found is actually related to the crash." To be on the safe side, Jon starts doing a detailed scan of the runabout, and kicks off a diagnostic of the runabout's computer systems.

"Nah, we're almost a klick and a half from the crash site. The monotanium was found about 90 metres from the crash, so it's within my scan radius. I can increase the scan to two klicks if you want but it'll wa-a-ay slow down the processing time." says Tony. "Damn, if we had an intact sample it'd be so much easier, but all we have are nanoscale crispy critters. The plasma fire altered the molecular makeup of the nanites."

The door opens and LCdr Glaucus steps in. "Sloane's right behind me," he says. "Got any imagery on these nanites?"

Jon calls up an image showing the fried nanites.

In reply to Lt (jg) 'Fast Tony' Gazzo (msg # 28):

"Just to recap," Jon says, "Tony says that, although these are partially melted, the plasma fire would have completely vaporized any known nanites. Also that piece of metal is monotanium, previously only seen in the Delta Quadrant.

"One more thing..." Jon hesitates for a moment, "I know this sounds crazy but I swear I saw this piece of metal crawling over the grass outside. That is what brought it to my attention."

"Excuse me, but you're getting a bit out of my area of expertise. I'm primarily a social scientist. This looks like a simple piece of metal. How does a solid chunk of alloy move? Were the nanites responsible somehow?" Glaucus looks puzzled.

Tony breaks in, "If I can get it into a full Technology Assessment lab, I may—just may—be able to tease out some of the subatomic makeup of the nanites. That could possibly point to an origin. The only way I can conceive that the nanites could be responsible would be if they were manipulating one or more of the four basic atomic forces."

Glaucus's eyes glaze over. "Four basic forces? You mean like electromagnetism and gravity and so on?"

Tony nods, "And the strong and weak nuclear forces. That's right. Unfortunately," he grimaces, "We don't have the equipment here to work at that level."

"Anyhow," says Tony, "Here's a standard medical nanite as used by Starfleet." He displays an image on the screen.


"And here's a Borg nanoprobe..." A second image replaces the first.


"A lot of what we know about these li'l buggers comes from LCdrs La Forge and Data, based on their examination of nanoprobes taken from Capt Picard after he was briefly assimilated. The rest comes from USS Voyager by way of the Pathfinder Array. Apparently they have a tame Borg on their crew. Gotta wonder how they keep it in check," he muses. He gives a shudder. "Nasty stuff. You'll notice they're smaller and more versatile than our medical nanites. The USS Challenger, Talja's sister's ship, just got back from being MIA in some sort of time loop where they were in a Borg-infested alternate reality for two years. Let's hope thay brought back some useful intel."

"Do you think these nanites are actually Borg nanoprobes?" asks Glaucus.

"Nah. How would the Rommies get hold of Borg nanoprobes? At least without getting 'similated, anyhoo?" Tony scoffs.

OOC.  Getting caught up.  Will post a reply tonight or tomorrow.

In reply to Lt Zedrick Sloane (msg # 32):

Zed questions.  “First are we sure it came from the Romulan runabout or is it just a coincidence?  Second we have to assume like the Federation, the Borg have engaged the Romulans as well.  So they may have had similar success obtaining nanites. If it is the latter, we need to ask why a Romulan runabout would bring them here.  Is it possible that they were hoping to utilize them to take control of the sphere? Lt. Gazzo, can you tell if these are Borg tech, and if they have been modified?”

"Well, like I said, Boss, there's evidence that it was gamma-welded to something, and when we do some deeper scans we should be able to detect atomic traces of just what it was welded to or at least what specific gamma-welding techniques were used. It's kinds like forensics—every bit of info we can find is just another brick in the wall. 'Nough bricks and we can reconstruct the most likely culprits. Starting out, we already have some bricks—The material is monotanium, the only known source of which is the Delta Quadrant. Secondly, the Delta Quadrant is the territory of the Borg. Third, the Romulans had contact with the Borg before we did, back on stardate 41986.0, when they assimilated several Romulan bases along the Neutral Zone. Not jumping to any conclusions, that does give us the basis for a working hypothesis. Could be nothing. We need to ask Cdr Olivaw what kind of nanotech they have, and whether they use monotanium." This is a long speech even for Tony, but he eventually stops for breath.

Glaucus looks toward Zed. "Sloane, what's your opinion - do you trust these Kapecki? Are they actually potential allies or are we jumping to conclusions led by a story of victimhood? After all, we've had some unfortunate encounters with android societiesmdash;the Exo-III androids, Mudd androids, even the Borg—yes, I know they're not technically androids but they are computer intelligences merely wrapped in stolen bodies. It reminds me of a century ago on Magna Roma before First Contact with the Federation. Artificially created beings are not so different from the slaves we used to depend on. We have horror stories about slave rebellions. Earth had its share as well, like the story of Spartacus though we of Magna Roma regard it as perverse that he's regarded as the hero of the story."

Tony says, "Yeah well, Terrans have some crazy ideas. Back in the 20^th and 21^st centuries they has whole genres of fiction about robots, androids and cyborgs revolting and causing an apocalypse. Talja showed a a holodrama called Frankenstein where a primitive android causes a panic even though he's just a misunderstood goombah."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:24, Sun 25 Aug 2019.

Meanwhile, while R. Olivaw is seeing to R. David, Dr. Adonidas takes Nathan in hand and inspects the hospital in the medical module. This is the special-purpose lower module dropped off by an Atlantic class runabout before the sleep break. Nathan is familiar with the specs of the medical module, but since the Atlantic class is new he's never seen one in operation.

The module has two rows of medical beds along the walls (11 beds) and a nursing station, with a transporter module between the entry airlocks. At the front of the module is a low alcove with two stasis beds, and at the aft end are two surgical suites with sterile fields. Between the two surgical suites is a double door leading to a triage space with an external ramp, flanked by medical and drug storage rooms. Chirrip, Chiree and Churuu's bearer, has been moved to one of the medbeds and is sleeping peacefully, a terile dressing over her wounded arm and the stump of her wing. Unusual among creatures with compound eyes, Chirpers—and presumably Droyne or Finorii—have eyelids and new scar tissue generated by the protoplaser is visible on the eyelid over her damaged eye. Churuu looks up at Nathan with a look of deep and abiding gratitude which Nathan can also feel through his empathic senses.

Billy, on the other hand, seems to have been left to his own devices. He decides he has two logical choices—go over and talk to the gathered flock leaders after the funeral rites—or follow Glaucus to see what the urgent message from Jon was.

In reply to LCdr. Gaius Glaucus (msg # 35):

"Excuse me," Jon interjects. "We have some Romulan prisoners beamed directly from the ship before it crashed. Perhaps we should ask them these questions about the Borg and nanotech. I mean, they've been hurt and stunned. They will probably answer questions pretty readily right now..." Jon adds the last bit somewhat timidly, since he doesn't have a lot of interrogation experience and isn't sure if questioning semi-conscious injured persons is kosher Starfleet procedure.

"Sure," says Tony. "Some of the buggers are wounded, but some are only stunned. The Intel and Security guys should be able to interrogate them as POWs just like they were doin' wit' the Klingons. Probably already talkin' to 'em!"

"Will you be taking Xelox and Pierce with you?" asks Glaucus. "We could still use them here with the Chirpers."

Lt. Nathen if ask.
I am happy to go or stay here.   I will be most useful.

Glaucus taps his commbadge and says, "Glaucus to Pierce and Xelox. The Thames will be returning to Dyson Base to assist with the interrogation of the Romulans. Dr. Pierce, I'd like you to remain here assisting Dr. Adonidas, as you're our most experienced doctor where the Chirpers are concerned. Lt Xelox, I need you to remain with the First Contact team—you're our point man. Make me proud."

He then continues, "Glaucus to Bras d'Or... Captain Taliaferro, LCdr Gaius Glaucus here. If you would be so kind as to swing by the Portal and do an intensive scan of the Romulan crash site, I would be indebted to you."

A voice comes from the communicator, "Roger that, Commander. We'll be there in... (there's a brief break) about an hour, as soon as we clear up a few things. Taliaferro out."

Glaucus again continues, "Glaucus to Talbot... Mr. Sloan has some important findings for you that I won't reveal on an open circuit, but it pertains to your Romulan guests. He's returning to Dyson station presently." and again, "Glaucus to LCdr M'Rel, can you fast-track Lt Leiliri's report on the Chirpers to Lt Xelox? He'll be heading up our First Contact with the Chirpers."

[OOC: Jon and Zed continue in the thread The Thames, while Billy and Nathan continue this thread.]
This message was last edited by the player at 14:26, Tue 10 Sept 2019.

Once Nathan has been contacted by LCdr Glaucus, Dr. Adonidas hands him a PADD. "Jon Clare just copied this file to me. You should be aware of its contents."

The file on the PADD requires Nathan's thumbprint and genetic scan to access. It has the header <tt>RESTRICTED STARFLEET EYES ONLY - No Unauthorised Access - SECLAR 5 SECRET</tt> and contains a holofile recapitulating the information on nanites beginning with Msg#24 above. Appended to the file is a note from LCdr Glaucus: Please scan any materials relate to the Kapecki unit designated R. David for nanites. Do not allow R.David or Cdr R. Olivaw to become aware of this. Treat any bodily fluids, et cetera, from R. David as potentially contaminated.

Billy notices Glaucus exiting the Thames. Glaucus waves Billy closer and says, "Get any personal effects you have from the Thames. We're going to do a little more research into these Chirpers and their relationship with both the Kapecki and with the Finorii or the Droyne or whoever they are today."

Glaucus seems to be somehow offended by the ambiguity regarding the Finorii. "I'm not so sure I trust the story about this Finorii takeover of Kapecki personnel that lead to the attack last year."

Lt Nathan take the pad from Dr. Adonidas.  He follows the instruction and reads the message.
He hands the pad back to the other doctor.
Well it going to be nice to get back to simple medical research and study the chiper after many years of other type of work I been doing.  It be so nice have simple straight forward mission for once.

He was sure Dr Adonidas would have some understand of Lt Nathan background and pass mission to do with diplomacy.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:44, Tue 10 Sept 2019.

Dr. Adonidas's eyes widen momentarily—she's not used to telepathic communication—then her face breaks out into a wide grin and she winks at Nathan. "Yeah, I know—battlefield surgery on unfamiliar species with cutting edge medical technology can get so boring, eh?"

Lt Nathan smiles back.
Jokes aside you know what is way more boring than that?

Nathan can sense her puzzlement when she asks, "No, what?"

Listening to the delegation from the Commonwealth of Menk and Valakis for the tenth time arguing  over which, The Menk or The Valakis would be on the right or the left side of the podiam they where both going to stand on to make their speeches to the rest of the federation.
Both would insist on going through their own speech in detail each time they made their many different reasons as to why they should be on the left side and not the right one.  Ahh!
And the only reason your in the room is in the one in a millionth to one chance someone has a hart attack and need medical assistants.  Which had somehow happened to one of the Valakis in such a situation some 30 years before and so a medical officer always has to be present.
I was not allowed to help or make any suggestions to resolve the situation.

Only thing that kept me going was thinking about the poetry my second wife would reed to me in the morning before I entered the room that day.  My dear Clare.

A big soppy smile cover Lt Nathan face which seem to go from ear to ear when he says Clare's name.

OOC:
Hope you did not mind me making this up.  I tried pick a minor set of species so the idea would not mater.
Also hope this idea would make you giggle.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:27, Thu 12 Sept 2019.

Dr. Adonidas asks, "Your second wife? How many times have you been married?"

Before Nathan can answer, a medical technician steps up and says, "Doctor? Have you seen Dr. Dovan? He was supposed to be tending the patient in bed 15, but I can't find him... or the patient. This was on the deck next to the bed." She holds out a medical tricorder which appears to be damaged. Dovan is the Deltan lieutenant who delivered the experimental medical replicator.

Adonidas looks at Nathan, "Can you feel where he is—maybe contact him telepathically? Perhaps his commbadge is out of order."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:45, Mon 23 Sept 2019.

Lt. Nathan smiled at Dr. Athena Adonidas.  It had taken him a few years to get use to how other cultures got confused about his family and the relasionship he had.  He had now found it funny and like to study the different ways different people coped with the extended family Nathan had.
Usually the biggest problem for most people was Nathan openness about the whole thing.
He realise that it was in a way his own coping mecnise with dealing with other races inablity to cope with who Lt. Nathan was.
This had given him his very human ability to playing on the meaning of words.  Something some of his own race found hard to deal with.

I have never been, married Dr. Adonidas.  I am, married.  Twice.  He informed the other Doctor.

Anyway I will try to find Dr. Dovan as best I can.  It does not always work.

Relaxing and clearing his mind.  Lt. Nathen shuts his eyes.
So he can focus on his sixth sense.  He slowly expands his mind reaching out to the world.
Slowly finding the lights in the darkness.  Each light a active brain thinking feeling.
He lightly touches each one.  Finding the memory.  That which help him know which light belongs to which person.  His own touch soft on them.  Most would not even know he had touch their mind.  One or two would feel something.  Only the ones with some psi ability would really feel anything.
It was Lt. Nathan nature to be gentle in all things.  But when using his mind he was even more so than normal.  Heavy feet always did damage to things they touched and damage was something that Lt. Nathan job was to help undo not to create more of it.

So bit by bit.  Mind by mind Lt Nathan tried to find Dr. Dovan.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:54, Mon 23 Sept 2019.

Dr. Adonidas chuckles. "Threeway? Sounds like it could be fun."

Nathan is unable to detect Dovan's presence. In fact, the lack of Dovan's unique presence sticks out like a lost tooth. Now that Nathan is aware of Dovan's absence it becomes a part of reality. Dovan is just... missing. The tricorder found by the medtech, Mirabelle, seems intact but nonfunctional; as if the power cell were completely dead or the circuity burnt out. Examining it more closely, the tiny screen seems fractured in a spider-web pattern only visible when the screen is tilted at an angle, and when the access plate is removed a faint smell of overloaded wiring can be detected. It's almost as if it's been subjected to a massive electromagnetic charge. Nathan has never seen anything like it, and when he shows it to Dr. Adonidas she, too is baffled. Scanning it with her own tricorder she finds that the power cell has been totally disrupted.

"Damn!" says Adonidas. "The Bras D'Or won't be here for at least 45 minutes. A lot can happen in that time!"

"Problem?" asks Petty Officer Mirabelle. "Let me have a look. I've got a specialist's rating in small equipment repair."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:54, Tue 24 Sept 2019.

"Great zarking fardwarks!" exclaims Mirabelle. "Something sucked the energy out of the sarium krellide cells so fast it superheated the circuitry—flash-fried it! Look at the characteristic shatter pattern in the transparent aluminum viewscreen. What in holy Zarquon's eternal name could do that?"

Dr. Adonidas taps her commbadge, "Get one of those runabouts in the air and do a hi-res scan for Deltan life signs. And patch me through to Cdr Taliaferro stat!"

Seconds later, her commbadge chirps. "Dr. Adonidas, Tom Taliaferro here. What's up?"

"Sir, we've got a man missing. He's a Deltan—no communications and our Betazoid MD can't read him in the area. And we've got something screwey going on with our tech. I've dispatched a Danube to scan, but I really need your ship's sensor suite. Any chance you can get here ASAP?"

"I'll try my best, Doc, but thirty minutes looks to be as fast as I can get there!"

"'Preciate it," she replies. "I've got a ba-a-ad feeing 'bout this!" She looks at Nathan. "Pierce, are you absolutely sure you can't read him? I understand that Betazoids can contact unconscious people."

Her commbadge chirps again. "Mac on the Cuyahoga here, I'm about to run a scan for Deltan lifesigns. Anything else I need to know?"
This message was lightly edited by the player at 03:39, Fri 27 Sept 2019.

"Just that. We're missing a 35-year old Deltan male. Scan for Deltan life-signs and pheromones in particular. Have Engineer Seingalt do a high-res scan for his communicator and ping it for an autolocation. His access override is available to you... now!" she says, tapping an icon on her PADD.

As this is taking place, PO Mirabelle is taking instruction over her own commlink and running a tricorder peripheral over the Deltan doctor's inert tricorder. She has activated a link to Nathan's device as well.

Lt. Nathen Pierce face fronds.
He had taken his time.  When dealing with missing people he was very careful.
He did not like go around saying people had disappeared for now good reason.

He turns to Dr. Adonidas.
Dr. Dovan is gone.  Missing.  I cannot feel him around here at all.
Given time my mind can cover some distance.  Reaching out to other minds.
I am good at it.  Wasted child hood with nothing better to do.

He thinks.
I am sure he gone.  Not dead, not passed out but gone.
With the energy reading and what I do not feel.
Was it not true the Chirpers are not from this time and space.
We must consider all possibility from Romulas to time and space rifts.

What was the last communication we had with him?
Who was the last federation person to see him?

"Thank you, Doctor. I can tell this is stressful for you. I lost several people during the war. It never gets easier." replies Dr. Adonidas. "So. Here we are, with a missing doctor and, as far as we know, a missing patient. There's nothing we can do except wait for the Cuyahoga and the Bras D'Or to complete the scans. The Thames hared off back to the station after finding something. Is it connected?"

She taps her commbadge again. "Adonidas to Sloane. We've got a missing doctor and patient..."

While Dr. Adonidas is on the comms with Dyson Station, Nathan has a sudden idea. Dr. Dovan is a Deltan—Deltans exude a constant supply of complex pheromones which make the sexually irresistible to most humanoids. Since Dovan disappeared so recently, there may be traces of these airborne pheromones in the vicinity. Taking out his tricorder, Nathan can get a reading on the pheromones. The module is awash in them, very faint, as the Deltan has been working here for a couple of hours. The pheromones usually persist in any one area for about an hour, so if Dovan had left the medical module, there may be traces of pheromones leading to his current location. Add to that the fact that Dovan is the only bald humanoid in the area; even the Chirpers who may not be able to tell the various Starfleet personnel apart should be able to pick him out. Perhaps it's time for old-fashioned investigative techniques.

Suddenly, there is a tug on Nathan's sleeve. Looking down, he sees Chiree standing there. Though Nathan cannot read his facial expressions, his emotions are clear—he is frightened and worried. "Friend Doctornathanpierce I ken that you are worried about friend Doctordovan. I, too, am worried about one of my flock mates who was with Doctordovan when something badveryterrible happened to him. May I share something with your mind?" he says as Nathan feels a tentative push on his mental shields.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:31, Wed 09 Oct 2019.

Lt. Nathan starts to work through his ideas and what would be the next action to take to find out what had happened to Dr. Dovan.  The little Chirpers speaks to him.

"Chiree." Lt Nathen says simply to let the little creature know he was listening.
Finding the missing doctor was important but the Chirpers are too.
They seemed to get into everything that was happening here and often seem be the course and answer to most things all in one.

After listening to Chiree he answers.
Then we must work together to help each other get our friends back if possible.
It is good you ask to share what is in your mind than just show it.  Thank you.
Please share it with me and I will try to help find your flock mate.

Lt Nathan opens up his mind carefully so he can gain the information chiree has.
However he keeps all his mind protection ready and prepared for the worst when it come to the images he will get.  It is not that the little Chirper would try to harm Lt. Nathan but that the images he will see may not be pleasant or nice.  He is a doctor after all and is use to dealing with such things.

As Nathan closes his eyes to better separate the psychic impressions from normal sensory input, he finds "himself" lying on the medical bed, staring up at the ceiling. He notices the lettering on the wall panel above his head as a standard medical display, but in his vision he is incapable of deciphering its meaning. This sort of phenomenon is  common where the subject of telepathic contact is observing a language they do not read. Clearly, he is "seeing" the Chirper patient's impressions. A shape moves into the Chirper's field of vision—Dr. Dovan—holding a tricorder. The tricorder suddenly seems to explode in a ball of light. Dovan attempts to drop the tricorder, but a series of gleaming cables erupt from the duritanium casing and enter Dovan's arm. Dovan stiffens into a form of rigor and his normally tanned face goes pale, a sheen developing on the skin. Dovan's hand moves into the the Chirper's view and a pair of the same gleaming cables shoot out from between Dovan's knuckles into "Nathan's" neck. Nathan feels a sharp pain as the cable tips puncture "his" skin, then his vision goes dark and he feels himself falling from a great height. He impacts the floor and passes out.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 02:47, Thu 17 Oct 2019.

Nathan hears an inner "voice" chanting <Friend Doctornathanpierce wakeupwakeupwakeup>

He feels a hypospray injection on his shoulder and wakes up to Chiree pulling at his sleeve repeating, "Friend Doctornathanpierce wakeupwakeupwakeup" over and over.

Dr. Adonidas' voice breaks in, "Nathan, wake up! Whatever Chiree here showed you seems to had overloaded your brain and put you in shock."

"Yes Doctornathanpierce, Doctorathenaadonidas is correct. Chiree is so veryverysorry," says the diminutive green alien.

Nathan feels dizzy. He tries to stand but can only get to his knees before again collapsing. All he can remember is the face of Dovan transforming into the face of the Borg Collective. Now, he sees the face of Athena Adonidas with a worried look on her face. "Here, drink this," she says softly. The liquid burns his throat and he begins coughing. "Slowly, it's strong stuff," she says, lowering the miniature bottle of amber liquid. "Canadian Club - 80 proof - good for what ails ya."

Nathan manages to catch his breath and stand up.

Dr. Adonidas presses a hypospray to Nathan's neck and says, "Would you like some tri-ox compound to clear your head?"

If Nathan agrees, she gives the shot. "You gave us quite a turn there when your eyes rolled back and you said 'Resistance is futile,' then went pale and passed out. I've reported it to Capt Samson and the Thames is on the way back with Lt Dahlakino. You've not met her, but she's an alien with a... unique... skill set."

As Nathan's head clears, whether from the sip of whisky or the tri-ox injection, Nathan reflects on the sensation of being assimilated, as filtered through the Chirper patient's sensations, further filtered through Chiree's psychic transmission. The feeling of one's personality being torn away will be with him forever, but he is able to compartmentalise it for later reflection.

To be continued in the thread The Thames:

Notes:-


Confused me a bit.

Now I am on my feet and had tri-ox compound.  Do i remember everything?

So am I right in saying the chiper was converted into a borg.
Was the doctor too?

Just make my understand clear.  Thanks.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:26, Mon 21 Oct 2019.

Yes. Nathan remembers Chiree showing him a vision through the eyes of the Chirper. The Chirper observed a number of Borg assimilation tubules erupting from the tricorder and assimilating Dr. Dovan. He then in turn assimilated the Chirper. Nathan felt everything the Chirper felt as he was assimilated and passed out from the shock. Nathan is now able to stand and think clearly. The whole episode was very distressing, but Nathan is able to cope with it. The tricorder must have been infected with Borg nanoprobes. Since the three Starfleet personnel (Nathan, Dr. Adonidas and Mirabelle) present have all handled the tricorder without being assimilated, it is possible that the nanoprobe supply has been exhausted, but it's probably best to avoid touching it until the Thames has arrived and Tony Gazzo examines it as Tech Assessment Officer. The Thames should arrive in a few minutes, if Dr. Adonidas is correct.